Never Should've Lied

Chapter 4: Curse

He'd been up for hours. Had he actually even slept? It didn't feel like it, but he had not had a good night's sleep in so many years. Sleeping had become a time when his memories would come back, would trickle into his mind. They would seep into his unconscious and show him the future he could have had, that he used to have.

Waking up, in a cold sweat with tears clouding his eyes but never falling, his barely conscious mind would utter one question. One that would continue to haunt him for the rest of day. It never left his mind. Plagued him.

Did he really make the right choice?

Grandpa was waiting for him, he knew he was up. That was one of the reasons he loved his grandpa, he understood Chris. He knew when Chris needed that extra time to just lay in, or when he should just walk into the room and drag the boy out.

Slowly he pushed himself out of bed, his body and mind protesting. His heart throbbing at the thought of talking about what happened, but also aching to go speak to the one person who did understand him. The person who loved him unconditionally.

The person who trusted him, no questions asked.

Moving into the kitchen, he watched as the older man stood in front of his stove with a bag of noodles in one hand and a knife in the other. He still couldn't cook to save his life, but he always tried when Chris was over. He wanted the best for Chris, so he tried to give him the best.

"You don't add the noodles until the end Gramps." Chris called out, his voice raw and scratchy. Victor snapped his head up, taking in the sight of his grandson. The young man moved more into the kitchen, sliding around his elder to over the role as cook. "Chicken Noodle Soup?"

Victor gave the boy a small smile, "Always made you feel better when you were a kid."

Chris gave a soft "hmm" in agreement, because that was true. "Not a kid anymore grandpa," even as the words left his mouth he moved around the kitchen, bringing out all the ingredients the recipe called for.

Victor watched as the boy moved fluidly around his kitchen, finally starting to look like his grandson again. He wasn't quite there yet, but it was a start. And really, he wasn't asking for any more than what he knew Chris could give.

Chris hadn't changed.

Victor had noticed this fact as he watched his grandson grow. Chris was the same as he had been in the future. He was sarcastic, passionate, loving, bold, neurotic, and sacrificing. God…he had never met a boy, or hell a man, that would willingly give up their own existence to make sure that the world was safe. And Chris had done that. More times than he should have.

As Chris made them both bowls of the soup, he paused. His eyes taking in the familiar appearance of the soup, his nose filled with the spicy smell.

"Why…" Victor watched his grandson, eyes full of worry and heartache. "Why Grandpa?" Chris wasn't sure how to ask what he needed to ask. Why was his family so different? Why had they kept this from him? Why?

"I don't know son," because he didn't. He didn't know why this had happened. He bit back the feeling of hate for his daughters, and their husbands, and their children as well.

Chris looked down at his soup, giving a simple nod in reply. He knew his grandpa didn't know the answer, he didn't know why he had even asked in the first place.

They ate in silence, and although it should have been awkward, it wasn't. It was peaceful. Like it always had been between them. It was always nice with them. Because they understood each other. They didn't judge.

An hour and a half later, Chris found himself back in his room. Alone with his thoughts. It had taken forty minutes to convince his grandpa that yes he needed to go to work and that he would be fine by himself. The rest was spent helping his grandpa get ready to leave.

Out of all people from the future that he had changed, he couldn't help but feel that Leo had been the most truthful with him. He had told Chris how he felt about him, told him who Chris really was.

"I never wanted you. I was happy with just Wyatt. I would have loved to of had Melinda too. But I got stuck with you instead. You're a curse Chris. Nothing but a curse. You're going to be the reason this family falls apart. Not me. And I hate you for it." The Alternate Leo's words echoed in his mind, his memories of his lives finally complete and in order.

Leo was right, of course. He was a curse. He was the reason his family was torn in the alternate future. He was the reason Leo had left, leaving a wife and son he adored behind as he ran from the curse that only he seemed to be able to recognize. He was the reason his mother could never have the daughter she had dreamed of having, his birth being too critical and Leo departing without healing her. He was the reason his mother was caused so much heartache, and ultimately he was the reason she had died. The demons had been after him, choosing to kill his mother because they knew his pain of losing her would be so much sweeter than just the pain of torturing him. He was the reason his Aunt Phoebe had lost her daughter and her mind, the loss of her only daughter had been his fault since he had been watching her. He was the reason his Uncle Coop lost his vision, the demons were aiming for him and Coop had stepped in the way. He was the reason his Uncle Henry had become paralyzed after Chris pushed him out of the way of a bus, he had hit a car. He was also the reason the twins had been caught by witch hunters, causing them to be tortured to insanity because he had been their target and they had got in the crossfire. This had caused his Aunt Paige to slowly become depressed before throwing herself full force into her whitelighter life. She still took time to raise him and Wyatt after his mother had passed, but her smiles had always been sad and full of sorrow.

And lastly, he was the reason Wyatt had taken over the world. Wyatt loved him; no one could deny the two brothers were close. So when Wyatt, even in his slowly warped mind, realized the world had dealt his brother a bad hand…he took it in his own. He was the real reason his brother had become both the ruler and destroyer, all at once, of the world.

This was why he had never been given a title. Like his mother and Aunts had, The Charmed Ones. Like his brother, The Twice Blessed. Like his twin cousins, The Devine Ones. The list went on.

And then there was him. No title. No name. No anything.

Except…Leo had given him something. He had given him a title, a name. Curse.

Reviews:

Star Mage1: Thank you for your review! I have to say…I want the same thing. I love their relationship. And yes, Chris did his job. He saved his brother. So why shouldn't he go back to his family. Haha that reaction would be the best!

Sarah Zitter: I am glad you liked the last chapter! I cannot promise Chris and his family getting a happy ending. I really don't know how I am going to end it. I know how I want this to go. I want him to realize that he has a reason for exsisting. That he is needed. Maybe not by his parents and the rest of his family. But to others. Victor will continue to play his role in Chris' life. No matter what. Thank you for your review!

Evil and Proud: Thank you for your review! I agree I loved that season as well. It should have been focused on more. There were plenty of times they could of given him a bigger role. Oh yes, Wyatt was definitely the one character that was brought in the story to solve all the impossible things. You bring up a good point, one that I have thought about plenty of times. If Wyatt had projection…why didn't he change Chris' morality? It was clear in the episode Chriscrossed that Wyatt has believed Chris should have been on his side. So the question is…did Wyatt try to turn him and Chris refused to change? Because it makes no sense for Wyatt not to try. And I cannot promise no bashing. I cannot promise a happy ending with Piper and Chris. I love them. I think, I hope, that in the original future they had the best relationship…but I can only judge their relationship from end of season 5 to 8 and it sucked. So I am just going to have to go with what I see from the series. I do know that in the end Chris will get a good ending.

(A/N): Hey sorry…yes it has been so long. I got inspired to write tonight (10/03/2013). And I love this story so much I knew I had to come back and get one more chapter in before I went to bed. I still want to add more than just Victor into this story. I may make a poll. I don't know. But I would like to add someone in by the next chapter…or the one after. Depends how it all goes. Oh! Also! Bloody Hope is going to be rewritten if anyone reading this has read that as well. I realized that I was way off topic, trying to push all of the things I wanted into one story line. So I am rewriting it, give me time please, and it will have a new name as well. I believe I decided on Last Hope, it seemed more fitting.