Chapter 8:

This (HOT!) guy looked just as shocked as I did, though I'm not sure why. I mean, really – I was wearing a pair of shorts, knee high socks, my black converse and one of Paige's oversized shirt: Not attractive at all. Not in my opinion anyway.

Whoever this guy was though, he seemed to be comfortable around the Manor. Hm… Was this who I thought it was?

"Who are you?" he then asked me, his voice guarded.

"Uh, I'm Bella. Nice to meet you." I put my hand out towards his, but he didn't shake it – didn't even glance at it.

"What are you doing here?"

Wow, he's certainly straight forward.

"I'm Paige's new charge," was all I said in reply. He seemed to get an expression of realisation.

"Oh yeah, the vampire girl," he commented. I smiled sheepishly.

"Yep, that's me. I'm guessing you're Chris?"

He only nodded and then turned back round to the counter, giving me a lovely view of his butt again. I peeked over his shoulder and saw that he was cutting up ingredients for a potion. He was stiff in his movements, those beautiful green eyes flitting anxiously over to something I couldn't see.

I saw that he was very close to cutting his fingers off so I gently put my hand over his, the one with the knife. He tensed instantly under my touch. I almost frowned but refrained from doing so.

"Here," I said softly, taking the knife away from him and slicing the ingredients like a pro – the result of years spent cooking. He simply watched me for a second, before focusing on whatever that thing I still couldn't see was.

After a few minutes of silence, I was finished, and turned to look at him.

"So," I began, fidgeting, "what are the potions gonna be for?"

He granted me a quick glance from the corner of his eye before shrugging.

"Demons, what else?"

I let out an exasperated breath. "No, I meant what kind of demons?"

"The evil kind."

I could see a grin fighting its way onto his luscious lips, and punched him lightly on the arm.

"You know that's not what I meant." I couldn't quite contain my own grin either.

"I know," he responded as he gathered up all of the ingredients. "Well I gotta go."

"Oh, right." Even I could hear the disappointment in my voice.

"I'll see you around," he called after himself as he orbed away.

As he disappeared, I let out a sigh. "Yeah. Right." I bit my lip and played with the necklace I wore. I stood in the same position for a few minutes before sighing again and walking out.

"Bella, do you think I should put Wyatt in nursery?"

I glanced up at Piper as she watched me play with the toddler in question. I furrowed my brow, but made a big smiley face at Wyatt who giggled hysterically.

"Um, what about his powers? You know, like he orbs out or something."

She nodded thoughtfully and sipped at her coffee.

"Yeah, I thought about that. But, don't you think it's be a good idea?" she pondered.

I let out a huge breath. "I don't know, Piper. I never went to nursery and I turned out all right." I shrugged.

"Oh yeah, a girl who attracts danger and hangs out around vampires – totally all right," she joked.

"Hey!" I protested with a pout on my face. She only grinned at me.

Wyatt tugged at my t-shirt and made a whining noise.

"Oh!" Piper jumped up. "He must be hungry. I'll go feed him."

I sat on the floor silently and she picked him up, gave me a smile and went into the kitchen. There was suddenly the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and I stood up to see who it was.

The gorgeous Chris Perry was creeping down the steps as quiet as possible (didn't do much good; those poor stairs were old and creaky). He hadn't noticed me yet so I just leant against the wall with a smirk on my face.

"Piper and Wyatt are in the kitchen," I spoke.

Chris stiffened but I had to give him credit for not jumping a foot in the air. He slowly turned to look at me.

"Thanks," he said softly.

"No problem." There was a short silence before I ended it. "So… why are you sneaking around exactly?"

He smiled sheepishly and some hair fell into his hairs. Hm, his pretty, pretty eyes… Focus!

"Uh, no reason." It was a lie but I decided to let it slip.

"Hey, I was wondering," I started as I glided toward him, "do you want to go out sometime?" I gave him a flirtatious look and stopped within hair length of him. I could feel his sculpted body against mine, and it gave me shivers.

He awkwardly stepped back and looked anywhere but at me. I felt my smile diminishing. He cleared his throat. "Actually, I'm really busy… you know, with demon hunting and… stuff."

My heart plummeted. "Oh, right. Yeah, of course," I waved it away as if it made no difference. Secretly, I fought back tears.

"Um, I better…" he trailed off and then seemed to stop and shake himself. He gave me one more glance and then orbed away.

My bottom lip trembled slightly and I quickly ran up to my room. As soon as the door was shut, tears streaked down my cheeks. I slid my back down the door until I was hunched up on the floor.

Why did this hurt so much? Why was this guy so different than all the other guys I flirted with – like Pete? Why, oh why, did this guy matter?

I couldn't find the answers to my questions so I angrily gave up and shook my head. Roughly wiping my face free of wet tears marks, I got up off the carpet and went to change.

I would not let Chris Perry make me cry. And I would not let him know it hurt me. After all, maybe he really was just busy… I hope.