Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:03:56 -0800 (PST) From: Jason Decade Subject: Charming the Halliwells ch23 All rights to the Halliwells and Charmed go to The Wb and Aaron Spelling. This is a spin-off of his creation, of which we're all thankful for. please do not plagiarize or anything. LOVE YA Chapter 23: Changes pt.1 After closing, Melinda and Chris sat in P3. Chris rested while Melinda counted the money. She chuckled to herslef when she was done and looked up at Chris. "What?" Chris asked, eyeing her weakly. "Nothing." Melinda chuckled, " It's just that, he's been back for months now and you haven't so much as made a move on him." Chris looked around, " What?" he asked quietly. "I mean, what's the deal? You like him, he likes you..." Melinda continued. "He likes me?" Chris asked. "He loves you." Melinda said. "But is he in love with me?" Chris asked, " I haven't even talked to him much since he got back." "That's your fault." Melinda smirked, " He wanted to hang out with you, but you had to open the family business." "We need the income." Chris sighed. "Yeah because you live with a doctor and a famous columnist." Melinda said cheekily. "Maybe you're right." he said. "Of course I'm right." Melinda said, " Where's crazy chick." "Bianca?" Chris asked. "Yeah." She said. "Could be worse. I guess we should talk." Chris said. "I could just kick her ass." Melinda suggested, " There's totally this spell where I could turn her into a vase and throw her against the wall." "Have you seen mom and dad?" Chris asked. "Duh. They're good. I love their condo. Sucks though, they're more 'Jeffersons' than 'Sex in the City' now a days, but good." Melinda smirked, " That's where we come in." "Do you really think I should tell Drake? I mean, I think I've been avoiding him for a while. Him and Wyatt have been hanging out instead of me, when he's not with Tristan." Chris said. Melinda stopped, " And by the way, how'd that happen?" she asked. "Whaddya mean?" Chris asked, " Them? I don't know. That's a little creepy, I mean, he tortured Drake all through high school and now he's in love with him...fishy." "Definitely because...um, wasn't he straight?" Melinda asked. "Apparently not." Chris chuckled. "So, maybe we should get out of here." Melinda said quickly. "I like the way you think, sis." Chris said, hugging his little sister and leaving the club. - - - - - - - - - Wyatt and Tristan sat opposite each other. There was an awkward silence between the old friends as they exchanged confused stares. It was noon and they had agreed to meet for lunch, which neither thought was a good idea at the moment. "So, how have you been?" Wyatt asked, breaking the ice. "Dating your ex, what about you, bro?" Tristan asked. Wyatt chuckled, " Someone sounds jealous." he said. "Somebody is jealous." Tristan said. "You shouldn't be. He's super monagomous." Wyatt said, " I'm happy for him and you." "Sure you are." Tristan smirked. "I am." Wyatt said, leaning in, " Buf if you hurt him, I'm going to orb you into a volcano." Tristan chuckled nervously, " You can't do that, can you?" he asked. "I can do a lot of things." Wyatt said, " We used to be best friends and I think I know you more than anyone and I don't get this. You taunted him about who he was all through school. Not just high school, but school in general and now you're in love with him?" Wyatt asked. "Yes." Tristan said simply. "Any particular reason?" Wyatt asked. "You've been in love with him. You should know." Tristan said, " Besides, he wouldn't marry me." "He would have, but you broke up with him." Wyatt said. "He lied to me, like you did, since we were little." Tristan said angrily. "For good reason, " Wyatt said, " Think about you when you were younger, would you have been able to handle it?" "I could have tried." Tristan said honestly. "My destiny is a little more important than that." Wyatt smiled. "I know. I know, but it's still a lie." Tristan said. "Why him?" Wyatt asked. "I've always liked him. Before he left, when we were in college, I told him, but he still left and I know that he deserves so much better than who I used to be, that's why I'm changing." Tristan explained. "I just think you should know, I'm always gonna love him and I'm gonna fight for him." Wyatt said. Tristan nodded. "And I'm not the only competition." Wyatt said. "Really?" Tristan asked. "Really." Wyatt nodded. - - - - - - - - - - I threw the potion at the demons and dodged the fireballs. I ran across the attic, panicking when I saw a swirl of orbs and Wyatt and Tristan appeared. "WHOA!" Tristan said, looking sick. Wyatt looked from me to the demon and pushed me out of the way, throwing the demon into the wall! I grabbed his shoulder and he smiled down at me, then turned back to the demon and threw a force wave at him, which obliterated the demon. I looked over at Tristan and walked to him. "Are you okay?" I asked. Tristan nodded, " You?" he asked. "I'm fine. Where've you guys been?" I asked. "Lunch." Wyatt answered, " I could tell you were stressed. I could feel it. What did he want?" I shrugged, " Me dead." I said. "Oh. Maybe we need more than on person here at all times." Wyatt suggested. "No. Everyone has things to do and we're kick ass witches with lives." I said quickly, " Where's that whole whitelighter we were promised.." I thought about Kyle and our relationship, " Nevermind." "So, anything on the new threat?" Wyatt asked. "Well, since Prue's very dire, cryptic warning, no, but I can say that there is nothing on three brothers or even cousins." I said. "Well, maybe you should take it easy." Trisan said, grabbing my waist and pulling me into him, " You shouldn't get too stressed." he said, kissing me. "I'm alright." I smiled, " You guys went to lunch?"I asked. "Yeah." Tristan replied. "And you felt my stress?' i asked, " Empath thing?" "No." Wyatt said, " I think it was a whitelighter thing." I looked at him in shock, " We haven't...there hasn't been that type of connection between us since before we were Charmed." I said. "Yeah, I know. Strange." he said, looking at Tristan as he left the room. I reluctantly looked at Tristan, who shared the same shock I did, but for different reasons. "There's a connection?" he asked. "Not a 'connection' connection, just a connection. Telepathic." I explained, " Before we were Charmed, we could do things telepathically and we lost that when we became Charmed and now, I guess it's back." "Oh, goody." Tristan groaned. "Don't be..." I said, trying to calm him. "No. I...I just need some air." Tristan said, walking away, " Call me." "Sure, I couldn't be in love with my actual boyfriend. Always Wyatt...why don't I just marry him?!" I said to myself. "Why don't you?" Melinda asked, walking in. I looked at her and smiled, " Because I have a..." I started. "That was your excuse when you were a kid, don't tell me you have a new one." she smiled. "What?" I asked. "When you and Wyatt started actually admitting things to each other, you were, what? Semi-dating demon boy? Now you're dating Tristan. While I applaud you for dating the manwhore that he was, you know you're going to end up in this family...more." Melinda said casually. "Wow, you just say whatever pops into your head, don't you?" I asked. "Mos Def." Melinda chuckled, " You know I love you, right? Like a brother and whoever you marry, which should be my brother, I'll be semi-happy." she said. I smiled, " I can't keep Wyatt from...but Chris could care less. I've been here for months now and he's less than stellar to even have me around." I said, " Tristan deserves more." "Or less.." Melinda added. "...Than this. I love him, but he can't handle the magic thing, even if his mother was a...umm...mandalorian? Well, anyways, when he looks at me, I can tell he's taking all the pain and the abuse from Wyatt in stride." "Why would you date someone who tormented you in the first place?" Melinda sked. "At first, it was because he did. When he first told me, I was...I left as fast as I could. Then I met him in New York and he...gave me a reason to like him. We were friends for five years before we even...We fell in love. Somewhere between him breaking up with me and us getting back together, I figured something out. He changed to fit someone who didn't exist and for him to change again, that's impossible because he didn't change in the first place." I said. "What?" Melinda asked. "Before we got here, before he saw that he actually had competition, I figured that he might have done some things that...strippers and not male ones." I said carefully. "And you stayed? You didn't even..." Melinda looked at me, " I'm sorry." "Bachelor party." I said. "What?" she asked. "Demon." I said, " I couldn't tell him then, but a demon set him up. I had a preminition." I said quickly, " Not only is my life a danger to him, he's my weakness." I said. "So, when you went to the future, did you see anything..." Melind asked. "About me or you?" I asked. "Both." she replied. "I was pregnant and had a boy with Wyatt. Then there was you, married with kids. Nevermind that part though." I laughed. "Wait...you were pregnant?! And...I was married to..." Melinda asked. "The future's changed...surely it's changed." I said. "I don't know. I mean I saw you and Wyatt doing what you two do." Melinda smirked. "Huh?" I asked. "You know what I mean. You and Him. Sorta flirty." she said. "Was I?" I asked, " I didn't mean to be." "Do you love my brother?" Melinda asked. "Which one?" I asked. Melinda looked at me in shock, " What? You like them both?" she asked. "Wha-No, I...I just wanted to make sure we were clear on which one..because..." I stammered. "Come on, you can be honest with me." Melinda smiled. "Alright." I said, " I do find myself crushing on a certain brother that was getting married and...I'm saying way too much." I said, stopping. "No. It's kind of obvious. To everyone but you guys." Melinda scoffed, getting up, " I have to get ready, I'm going on a date with a guy named Ted. He's cute in a non-magic way." I nodded, " Maybe's he'll be the one." I smiled. "Nah. Love is for losers and quitters." she said, leaving. As she left, Chris walked in, excited. "You will never believe what just happened!" Chris smirked. "What?" I asked. "I booked Rooney!" he said excitedly. I looked at him in shock, " That's AWESOME! See, I told you that you could do it!" I said, hugging him. "There's so much to get ready, not to mention there's a demon." he said. "Well, turn that frown upside-down, I'll help." I said quickly. "Seriously?" he asked and I nodded, " You're pretty awesome yourself." "Now are you happy that I'm back." I asked. "Huh?" he asked. I shook my head, " Nothing." I said. "No, really, what?" he asked. "Nothing...I...I just wonder sometimes if you want me here." I said sheepishly. Chris walked over and sat beside me on the couch, " What does that mean?" he asked. "It's just that since I've been back, if I'm in the room, you've most likely out of the whole house." I said nervously. Chris sighed, " I'm sorry. It's just that with the wedding and Bianca and the club..." he looked at me, " That's not really an excuse is it?" "I can't really talk, I've been wrapped up myself." I said quietly. "You were unwrapped enough to notice that I was..." Chris said. "I'm so sorry." I said. "About what?" Chris asked. "Leaving." I said simply, looking straight ahead. Chris looked at me, " That wasn't what killed me." he said, " You didn't write or anything and you shielded yourself." "I had become Wyatt." I smiled. "Nope, Wyatt visited every once in a while." Chris said, still looking at me. "So, what are you saying?" I asked. "I'm saying that having you back is the best, but there are some problems that you can't fix. Some issues that you can't...I guess you could, but..." Chris trailed. "What? You've been hiding this big secret from me since we were kids! I mean, you never say anything, but..." I looked at him slowly, " Chris...are you..." Chris looked at me and was about to say something, but before he could a demon shimmered in. "Aww, look at the happy couple." the demon smirked. Chris and I looked at each other quickly. "Time to die!" he said, hurling an energy ball at us! I stood and froze the energy ball in mid-air. The demon looked at me and I felt intense. "Do it, now!" I said, reversing the energy ball and causing it to obliterate the demon. I looked at my hands, " Tell me I didn't just reverse time." Before Chris could say anything, another demon shimmered in and waved his hands and I felt something shift in me. I raised my hands to blow him up but he only flew backwards. I looked back at Chris who just stared. I looked back to the demon, who was now hurling a fireball at me but I felt myself disappear and reappear in orbs. Chris raised his hand and a shockwave flew out of his hand, and hit me and the demon! The blast sent me flying but the demon got away! Before I hit the wall, I felt myself disappear from the room.. TBC