This one's for the girls- who I don't own but will surely miss.
Chapter Five
Piper had had quite a few bad moments throughout her life, moments when she knew, instantly, that something was afoot, and that no good could possibly come of it. There was the moment she saw Phoebe, who turned out to actually be Paige, try to levitate but end up spinning uncontrollably in circles instead. There was the moment she first saw her husband orb into their bedroom wearing the gold and white robes that proclaimed him an Elder. And, most recently, there was the moment she glanced at Gideon's seemingly innocent expression as he reached out his arms for Wyatt. Yes, Piper was familiar with that tiny lurch of suspicion, of misgiving, that was all too often followed by a life-altering catastrophe. However, the countless stomach-jerk inducing events that came to Piper's mind as she stood behind the bar at P3, eyes narrowed, did not come close to the feeling of near panic that hit her as she watched Alexis enter the nightclub.
"Piper?" Phoebe asked in a voice filled with concern. "Piper"
"What's with her?" Paige asked from across the bar, leaning close to Phoebe as they examined Piper's frozen, scowling form.
"She's been glaring at the door since Alexis walked in, and I'm starting to fear both vision damage and eye wrinkles on her behalf. Seriously now, Piper!"
"What?" Piper growled, eyes still locked on Alexis, who was drawing nearer, cutting slowly through the crowd.
"Stop glowering at Alexis!" Paige hollered over the music, waving one hand energetically in front of Piper's face, only to have Piper shoot her right hand out and grab her arm, effectively and unexpectedly stopping her forward motion. "Okay. Ow."
"Piper," Phoebe ventured hesitantly, prying her sister's fingers off of Paige's reddening wrist. "You invited Alexis, remember?"
"Of course I remember," Piper replied through clenched teeth. "But I sure as hell don't remember her looking like that when I invited her."
Phoebe and Paige reluctantly nodded their agreement and turned to watch as Alexis caught up with Chris and, with one smile, drew him effortlessly away from the attractive girl he'd been talking to. The young demon had been pretty enough when they'd met her, in her faded blue jeans and Texas Longhorns t-shirt, dark brown hair hanging loose past her shoulders, framing a makeup-free face with sparkling brown eyes and an easy smile, but now… Dressed in a dark blue halter top dress that clung to her upper body and swirled around her knees, hair pulled up and curled, eyes darkened and lips reddened, she looked nothing short of absolutely gorgeous, a fact that was obviously not lost on Chris. Piper's eyes narrowed even further as the duo made their way to the bar.
"Hi Mom, Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Paige," Chris greeted the three witches in turn, as Alexis smiled broadly at them, though faltering a bit upon seeing Piper's barely concealed grimace. "Having fun?"
"Loads," Piper replied in a voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Hey, you guys!" Phoebe interrupted hastily, stepping in front of Piper, leaving Paige to silently admonish their surly sister for her rude behavior. "Alexis! I'm glad you could make it! You look fabulous, by the way."
"Agreed," Paige seconded, having succeeded in forcing Piper to lower her expression from fuming to merely grim. Alexis blushed slightly.
"Thanks. It feels good to be out and about again," she replied, before turning to Chris expectantly. "Dance?"
"I don't," he began with a grin, but Alexis already had him by the hand and was dragging him forcibly to the crowded dance floor. "But it looks like I'm going to." Piper groaned.
"My little boy is dancing with a demon!" she whined melodramatically, dropping her forehead to the counter and banging it lightly against the polished wood. "Where did I go wrong?" Phoebe and Paige glanced in Piper's direction and rolled their eyes, glad to see Leo headed in their direction.
"Piper," Phoebe said. "Quit with the head banging; there's sanity in sight."
"Hey, everyone," Leo greeted the sisters as he stepped behind the bar and intercepted his wife's forehead as it traveled towards the bar. "What's wrong, honey?"
"That's wrong!" Piper whimpered pathetically as she pointed towards Chris and Alexis, who were currently dancing enthusiastically in the crowd.
"Wow!" Leo exclaimed, apparently shocked. "Chris is dancing!"
"Leo!" Piper cried, lightly smacking his arm. "Focus! Check out who he's dancing with, specifically."
"What? She's pretty!" Leo said, before leaning forward to examine the girl his son was spinning around. "Wait… Is that Alexis?" Leo caught sight of Piper's expression and hastened to calm her down. "Hey, Piper, it's okay. Chris is smart. He knows what he's doing when it comes to magic and he's not going to do anything stupid. Okay?" Piper sighed heavily.
"Okay," she agreed reluctantly, finally taking her eyes off the dancing couple and turning back to the business at hand. Her sisters had disappeared into the crowd as well, both with cute guys on their arms, as usual, and her sons were in the competent hands of her father, leaving her alone with Leo, which was one place she didn't get to be often enough. She leaned over to her husband and whispered nonchalantly in his ear, "Meet me in the office in three minutes." Leo grinned and ducked under the bar.
Meanwhile, Alexis and Chris settled down at a table at the side of the club, sweating, laughing, and nursing cold drinks.
"What happened to you not dancing?" Alexis asked, eyes dancing.
"I'm serious, I don't dance!" Chris replied with a laugh. "It's hard!"
"Hard?" Alexis asked, raising one eyebrow in challenge. "All guys have to do is stand there and hope for the best. The girl is the one exerting the effort. And you're not half bad at it, either."
"I guess I just needed the right inspiration," Chris said, waggling his eyebrows exaggeratedly in Alexis' direction.
"Maybe you did," she teased right back, loving the way that Chris had loosened up throughout the evening, and shamelessly wondering just how loose she could get him to be.
An hour later, Piper stumbled out of the P3 office, Leo's arm tight around her waist, grinning like a fool and feeling better than she had since she'd been kidnapped. She pondered this for a moment, then turned around and pulled Leo right back into the office, never noticing the laughing, tipsy Alexis and Chris who were staggering out the club door, arm in arm.
Later that night, Alexis rolled over in her bed and grinned sleepily when she cracked her eyes open and saw Chris' sleeping form draped carelessly beside her. She opened her eyes completely and watched him sleep for a moment. God, he was gorgeous. Alexis bit her lip, momentarily concerned with what would happen when he woke up, and then snuggled deeper into his arms, choosing to leave that unpleasant confrontation for the morning.
When the sun came up the next morning, Chris knew without even opening his eyes that he was in big, big trouble. Huge trouble. Quite possibly the most trouble he'd ever had the misfortune of finding himself in. He slowly opened his eyes to evaluate the badness of his current situation, and when he noticed that he was fully dressed he decided he was safe enough to risk a glance at the girl who lay sleeping in his arms. Big mistake. Chris had been attracted to Alexis since he'd first laid eyes on her, and seeing her now, sleeping peacefully, lips parted and smiling slightly, was making it very hard for him to remember why he couldn't just lean down and kiss her. He knew that the only thing he could possibly do to remind himself of her demonic nature was not be near her, so he did the one thing that came to mind. He leapt out of bed, jostling Alexis abruptly into consciousness, and headed for her bedroom door.
"Chris?" she asked, annoyed at having been rudely awoken and ignored. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Leaving," he replied, doubling back to look for the shoes that he had abandoned the night before. "I can't stay here."
"Why not?" Alexis demanded, irritated. "We didn't do anything last night, Chris, I swear. We danced, we laughed, we had a great time together. That's it."
"I know, Alexis, I remember last night," Chris said shortly, struggling to untie his shoelaces and avoid looking at her. "That's why I have to go."
"What?" Alexis exclaimed disbelievingly, struggling out of bed.
"I have to go because if I stay, we might continue to have a great time together," he elaborated, looking towards her for the first time.
"Chris, that's what normal people want out of their relationships," she said stubbornly.
"I know," he insisted, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "But this, you and me, it's wrong. I'm sorry, but I have to go."
"I don't think so," Alexis replied, launching herself at Chris in desperation and pinning him to the door he'd been trying to escape through. Grateful that his surprise and shock had left him motionless, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently, persuasively, until she felt his rigid body relax into her own. As Chris gave in and began to respond, the kiss escalated into a passionate, all-consuming kiss that left them both breathless and amazed. As they broke apart, Alexis rested her forehead against Chris' and whispered,
"Does that feel wrong to you?" Chris closed his eyes and shook his head in resignation.
"No," he sighed. "It feels more right than anything I've done in a long time." He opened his eyes and looked into hers, smoothing down the top of her sleep-tousled hair. "So what do we do now?"
"Well," she said, "We sure as hell don't tell your mother, that's for sure!"
"Why not?" Chris asked curiously.
"Did you miss the death glares she was sending my way last night?" Alexis asked incredulously. "I think she hates me."
"She does not," Chris replied, laughing. "She just-" He broke off, looking up towards the ceiling as he heard a faint jingling in the back of his mind. "They're calling."
"The sisters?" Alexis asked, still hazy on how the whole witch-Whitelighter connection worked.
"Yeah," he replied, looking concerned and reaching once again for his shoes. "It sounds like it might be at least vaguely important." He finished with his feet and stood up, looking down at Alexis expectantly. "Well?"
"Well, what?" she asked, bewildered.
"Are you coming with me?" he asked, causing Alexis to duck her head to hide a pleased smile, slide her feet into a pair of flip flops, and take Chris' hand to orb away.
The days slid slowly by for Chris and Alexis, filled with encounters with the demon of the week, lunches with the sisters, and dinners followed by long nights together. They were settling down in front of a Spurs-Lakers game, arguing energetically over the assets of Duncan vs. Kobe, when Chris broke off in the middle of a sentence.
"What's wrong?" Alexis asked, noticing his panicked expression.
"Paige is hurt. I think the Manor is being attacked," he replied, grabbing Alexis' arm and orbing into the dining room, only to be pulled forcefully down behind the overturned dinner table by his mother. "What's going on?" he asked, grasping Paige's hand as Leo healed a large fireball wound on her right thigh.
"Demon," Phoebe replied, reaching over the side of the table to lob a potion towards the doorway. Chris peered around and saw one enormous demon take the potion with a grimace and launch another fireball at the table. Piper took the opportunity to blast the demon, who recoiled with a shudder and hollered,
"This isn't over, witches! I will have my revenge for the destruction of my life's work!" At this, Alexis joined Chris in peering around the edge of the large wooden table. She froze when the demon stared at her and grinned in a distorted, evil sort of way. The demon extended one talon-like finger in her direction and said, "Their deaths will be on your head, shapeshifter!"
"What?" Chris, Phoebe, and Leo cried in unison. Piper reached around to blast the demon once more, but he shimmered out, leaving the blast to hit the wall behind him. Leo helped an unsteady but fully healed Paige to her feet, as everyone stood to alternate between surveying the damage caused by a single demon, and staring in confusion at a very bewildered Alexis, who could do little else but stare right back.