"Are you sure we need this many chocolate chips?" Reese asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow and gesturing to the large bowl piled high with chocolate chips. Phoebe continued to bustle around the cosy kitchen, gathering an egg from the fridge which she cracked into the bowl and began mixing energetically while Prudence sat on a stool beside Reese, rolling balls of dough between her palms before placing them on a cooking tray.

"Are you kidding!? They're not called choc chip cookies for nothing!" Phoebe explained with a smile, continuing to mix the ingredients together before sprinkling a considerable amount of chocolate chips through the mix.

"Is she always like this?" Reese whispered, covering her mouth with her hand and leaning toward Prudence so that Phoebe wouldn't overhear them. Prudence smirked in amusement and nodded before grabbing another handful of dough.

"I heard that!" Phoebe said with a scowl, stopping her stirring to place her hands on her hips in annoyance. The doorbell sounded from down the hall and Phoebe looked up and wiped her hands on her apron before removing it over her head. She turned back to her daughter and Reese, saying, "You two keep rolling dough!" Prudence rolled her eyes at her mother's overly cheery nature and scooted back her stool, heading for the sink to wash her hands, clearly having had enough of cookie making.

"I think she's trying to sabotage me. At this rate I'm going to end up as fat as a house!" Prudence said in exasperation, wiping her hands on a tea towel. Reese let a small smile cross quickly over her lips before she said, "Well at least no one will ever mess with you again for fear of being squashed." Prue let out a pleased laugh before swatting at Reese's arm playfully.

"Thanks for the moral support!" She said with a frown, looking up when her Mom re-entered the kitchen, her usual chipper nature gone and sporting a grimace.

"Prue, honey, can you go upstairs and finish your homework?" Phoebe said simply, her voice sounding tired and almost sad.

"But Mom, it's Saturday!" Prue complained, hands on hips.

"Come on, sweety, I'll give you a hand." Phoebe continued, placing an arm around Prue's shoulder as she pushed through the kitchen door and that's when Reese spotted him. Chris was standing in the front hall, his expression pensive and unsettled. He ran a hand nervously through his hair, his eyes finally falling on her sitting at the bench in the kitchen, her shoulders hunched and her hair pulled up into a messy bun.

"Hi." Chris said simply, entering the kitchen and standing awkwardly before her, his hands shoved deep in his jean pockets. His hair was shorter than when Reese had seen him last, spiked slightly at the front and he had day old stubble across his chin. She felt the pang in her chest return, wishing he would kiss her, tell her this was all a dream, that the past three weeks was some kind of trick that the whispering voices in hell had conjured up for her to suffer. Reese also felt the overwhelming urge to run from him, to leave if only to make this pain stop. Every time she saw him was merely another reminder that she couldn't have him and that tore her apart.

"Hello." Reese finally said in a soft voice, avoiding his eyes and biting her lip apprehensively. Chris took in the familiar sight of the woman before him, the way her brown eyes warmed whenever he was in the room, they way her hair always smelt like flowers but he also saw the dark shadows beneath her eyes and noticed the slimness of her frame and he felt a sharp pang of worry and regret fill his gut.

"I wanted to see how you were." Chris said, finally gaining the courage to say something in between their awkward silence. Reese looked up at him strangely as if she were thinking about what to say before she answered, "I'm good."

Her words were hollow and monotonous, as if she had said the same thing many times previously and he knew she hadn't meant it. Reese looked down at her hands in her lap, letting out a tired sigh before asking, "Does she make you happy?"

"What?" Chris couldn't believe what he was hearing and didn't know what to say.

"Does Bianca make you happy?" Reese asked again, her voice choking up as she said his girlfriend's name, refusing to look at him.

"Yes, she does." Chris answered simply and Reese nodded but said no more. Bianca had come into his life just six months ago, her happiness and caring nature refreshing after so long of endless demon hunting, his grief over Reese's death consuming him completely. He had been entirely devoted to hunting down Barbas but he had never found him. But what he had found was a chance to start over, a chance to love again. And though Bianca was human, his feelings for her didn't change. She was what he had been looking for in a time of his life when everything seemed so messed up and he cherished that. Cherished the normality she gave his life. Bianca had known his secret for over three months, embracing it with a strong will and understanding and listening when he needed to vent. She had turned his life around for the better and he had grown to love her.

"Do you love her?" It was as if Reese had read his mind and when he looked up at her again he saw the dire need to know and he nodded and answered, "Yes, I do." Chris moved closer to Reese, tried to touch her shoulder, anything to comfort her, anything to help reassure her that in time everything would be okay but she flinched away and stood up from her stool, stepping back from him while saying, "Don't. I can't have you walking in and out of my life as you please. This is too hard. I love you, Chris, I can't pretend everything isn't falling apart. I can't pretend I'm okay. For god's sake please just leave." Reese said, her eyes brimming with heart broken tears and her lip trembling wildly. Chris shook his head in bewilderment, his eyes sad and confused. Just seeing him was destroying Reese all over again. Those long, hard three weeks she had spent trying helplessly to rid his memory from her mind had been undone. Her every effort to forget had unravelled and now all she could think about was him, the unbearable ache in her heart exploding inside of her at the realisation that he would never be hers again.

"Reese, please, I-"

"Don't you understand? Just seeing you is tearing me apart. I hurt so badly. I can't do this any more. Please, just leave, now." Reese's voice was soft and tired, her eyes again haunted and distant as tears spilt onto her cheeks. Chris nodded, understanding and wanting to make this as easy on Reese as possible. It was hard for him too. He had loved her more than he ever thought he could love anyone. He had loved her so fiercely that he had nearly destroyed his own life in order to get his revenge. But there was nothing he could do to help her, nothing he could do to ease her pain. It was something Reese would have to figure out on her own. Chris began to orb, catching the last echoing over her voice as it filled his mind.

"And don't ever come back."