I spent the next few weeks waiting for a chance to speak with Chris about what happened between us. We never seemed to be alone in the same room room anymore. There were plenty of opportunities for him to come see me, I still went over to baby sit Wyatt regularly and I knew Chris was also in the Manor somewhere. He could have even just orbed in at any time. But, he hasn't even tried to say 'Hi'.

I've gone through a range of different emotions since the shock wore off. Giddy with excitement, anxious with dread, upset he hadn't tried see me, until I finally settled on simply being pissed off.

How could he just walk up to me, sweep me off my feet and then saunter off like nothing happened? So not cool.

After trying my best to just forget the whole thing, I was now at my wits end. I couldn't ignore this, needed to talk with someone about it, so I decided to confided in Beth. If I tried to talk with any of the sister about it they would just tease me, and Chris. I didn't want to deal with that.

"I told you so, I knew you liked him!" She tells me in a sing-song tone.

Okay, I'd still be getting teased, but at least it wouldn't get back to Chris!

"Yeah, okay, you were right," I say to appease her. "Now, what am I meant to do about it?"

She shrugs and I groan helplessly. "How am I meant to know? I'm not exactly an expert in men if you haven't noticed," she chuckles.

I grab a pillow from beside me on the couch and shove my face into it to cover my building scream of frustration.

"Look, have you tried talking to the guy?" She asks.

I shake my head and lower the pillow clutching it to my chest, "He kissed me! Why should I be the one to bring it up?"

She laughs at my misery. "Honey, it sounds like you both kissed each other. Besides he made the first move so isn't it your turn now?"

I groan again, muttering sulkily. "I don't like that logic. He should talk to me about it, tell me what the hell he was thinking."

Beth shakes her head at my childish antics. "Well then, you're just gonna have to wait then."

I sigh, wishing that wasn't true. I just want to clear the air so we can figure out where we go from here. The not knowing is so frustrating!

When the movie we were watching finishes we bid each other goodnight. Just as I'm about to slip under the covers my hair stands on end in a familiar way - someone's about to orb nearby. I'm grateful for the slight warning as I drive under the covers, hoping I can pretend to be asleep and not have to talk to Chris. As much as I wanted to see him, it was pretty nerve wreaking to think of confront him about our kiss.

I can't tell if I'm relieved or not when I spot strawberry blonde hair through my squinted eyes. "Paige? What are you doing here?" I ask, sitting up in bed.

She looks to me with tears in her eyes and when she opens her mouth, all that comes out is a sob.

I'm on my feet in seconds, wrapping my arms around her and guiding her to sit on my bed.

It takes a while but eventually she calms down enough to confide in me what happened. The man she had been temping for, Larry, was killed by a demon right in front of her. She mentions how strange it was, he was getting all his affairs in order; finalising his will and making hefty donations.

She had managed to vanquish one demon, getting it to fall on its own energy ball, but the other one threw one towards her and Larry jumped in front of it to save her.

"I tried to save him, but he wound up saving me," she tells me tearfully, "I just don't understand."

"Sounds like he was trying to get you out of there," I murmur thoughtfully, "It's almost like he knew something was coming for him."

Her eyes fill with tears again, but I can see the wheels turning in her head at my suggestion. It's still too fresh for her to talk about logically.

I hold her as she cries it out, it's not until the sun comes up that she properly seems to settle.

It took a while, but I manage to convince her to go back to the manor to talk about it with her other sisters. They'll be better equipped to handle a situation like this, considering what they've been doing for the last five years. Usually I would go with her, but I'm honestly looking forward to spending my day off as far a way from the manor as possible. There were a few things I wanted to get sorted out for myself, Beth would be at work today so it was the prefect opportunity for me.

I spend the start of my day cleaning the house, making sure all the common areas are tidy and I sweep the floors as well. Once that's done I put in a load of washing and organise my closet.

When there is no more cleaning to be done for now, I decide to browse online for local defence combat training classes. I'd thought about it for a while and decided it was for the best, I couldn't rely entirely on my passive ability to keep Wyatt safe if someone attacked. I had done a few basic ones in the past, especially after that mugging attempt, but wanted to expand my arsenal a little. I manage to find one that looks pretty good, and sign up for their next available class - I'll decide from there if its worth paying for the whole 3 month course. I make a mental note to talk with Piper to make sure I get that day off.

Feeling good for having ticked so many things off my list already, I do something that had been too frightening to try previously.

I light some incense and sit cross legged in my bedroom, closing my eyes. Breathing deeply, I imagine a white light over the top of my head that slowly spreads down to cover my entire being. I focus on it, making it brighter and feeling the energy of it. Once it feels stable enough, I try to push it to expand further. It's stiff and ridged, fighting against every millimeter. Sweat starts to drip along my furrowed brows and I cant help but tremble slightly against the force of it.

Eventually, I'm able to make it flex slightly with the rhythm of my breath. It's only a small achievement but something. I let myself relax and try to embrace the strange sensation. I'm not even sure if this is actually doing anything, next time I'll need to ask Paige or Chris to stay with me while I do it - he can let me know if he feels anything.

I scowl at the name, and the multiple implications of my thoughts, and it breaks my concentration. With a huff, I decide to leave it be for now and go deal with the finished load of washing I had put on earlier.

"You what?!" I explode, as Paige tells me the story of what had transpired on my day off.

She tries to explain herself by claiming, "Cas, we saved so many innocent lives-"

"You sold your soul to a DEMON?! Without even telling me about it first?!" I yell over the top of her, absolutely fuming.

She has the decency to look ashamed, but doesn't back down, "I knew you'd try to talk me out of it if I told you, Cas. Besides I knew Richard would tell Phoebe and Paige so they could set all the souls free."

I hold a hand to the bridge of my nose and mentally count back from five to stop myself from screaming at her. "Okay, firstly, you had no idea how or if they would be able to save you."

She tries to interrupt, but I raise a hand to stop her and continue.

"For all you knew burning the contracts could have dammed you all, Paige! You didn't think it through. You should have told me, I could have done in your place," I tell her.

She looks horrified at the idea, "Cas, I would never let you endanger yourself."

"You're a Charmed One, Paige," I remind her, "You have an important destiny to fulfill. Compared to you, I am entirely disposable."

She shakes her head, "Don't say that Cas, that's not true."

I don't argue anymore, knowing it's a lost cause. Then I remember my second point, "Oh, also, who the fuck is Richard?"

She blushes a little and reminds me that he's the guy whose family was feuding with the neighbours. That time she almost suffocated to death with him in a tomb while I was drunkenly passed out a few weeks ago comes to mind.

"Well," I tell her plainly, "There is no way I am ever going to get along with that guy."

"You haven't even met him yet!"

I laugh bitterly, nothing about this situation is funny. "That ship sailed the moment he let you go through with this. If he can't stay up for you when you're doing something stupid, hes not good enough for you," I declare.

She gives me a look and says, "You'll change your mind once you meet him."

I give her a tight smile and don't bother telling her that will never fucking happen.

Author's Note: I've gone back and edited this entire story over the past two days. God, I can't believe how many errors slipped through, so embarrassing! And it's been good because I honestly forgot some of the things I had written haha

Hello Guest, you're still here! haha. Yeah, I agree the sisters always seem to be way too harsh on Chris. That's one of the things that motivated me to write this, the poor guy needed someone on his side! But, I think it's important for Cas to still stand up against him and not support him all the time, finding that balance is hard - I'm trying to make their relationship believable and not too toxic or anything.

The fact that the sisters barely even question how he got his witch side is really weird to me too. I do think Phoebe was definitely trying to help him, but just didn't do a very good job of it hahah I'm really looking forward to writing more of the episodes with juicy interactions with Grams and the Genie and everything!

Thanks for reviewing, and I'll definitely keep in mind what you said and just keep writing because I'm enjoying the story :)

SIDENOTE - DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW OLD CHRIS IS? I want to make this as close to the facts as possible, but don't know if they said he was twenty-two or if I just made that up... I've tried googling but can't find the answer, and like I said I can't watch the show at the moment.

Best of luck with all the things! Oxoxo