Note: Melinda (as in Wyatt and Chris's little sister) does not exist in my story. Just works better for me.

“What the hell was that, Chris?” Prue shrieked barging into the Manor where she knew Chris was after the confrontation with Bella. “I told you she wasn’t ready!”

“Actually, it seemed like her little outburst at me was long overdue,” Chris replied simply.

“Don’t go all white-lighter on me, Christopher!” Prue yelled. “Don’t act like you know what she needs from those five minutes, especially after five years! You weren’t there the first two years after the Wedding. She was a complete mess. It took her so long to get over you, to finally start moving on. And you had to come back today, when she wasn’t ready. She was doing so well, and then when you showed up, it was like nothing had changed since the past five years.”

“What are you talking about?” Chris said.

“That’s right, once again, you weren’t the one who had to watch her crumble to the floor and completely break down… again. I was. I was there to hold her and rub her back and try and tell her everything’s going to be okay when I really don’t know if that’s the truth. And it kills me to see my best friend hurting like that, it really does,” Prue said surprised at the tears burning her eyes, “You’re my cousin, Chris, and as much as I love you, I hate you for what you’ve done to her. You’re her worst addiction, and she needs to stay away from you if she wants to ever completely get over you.”

After a moment, Chris replied, “Now that you got your chance to vent, can I get my time?”

“She’s not ready,” Prue instantly replied.

“Not to Bella, of course, not yet. But to you?” Chris offered. Chris knew that the first step to getting a chance to talk to Bella was to get Prue on his side first.

“You’ve got ten minutes. I just told Bella I’d be out to get some groceries,” Prue replied, lips pursed.

“Okay,” Chris said, taking a deep breath, “You have to understand that I love Bella so much. I always have, I always will. But that’s why it hurt so much, when she chose Wyatt over me. You know I’ve always had an inferiority complex with him anyway. Being the best man at their wedding was worse than spending an eternity in purgatory.”

“But she didn’t marry Wy,” Prue interjected. “And you know now the reason she chose Wyatt then. She was pregnant.”

“I know that now, but after five years of thinking something else, it’s just hard to accept and digest,” Chris said. “But there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about Bella. Every damn time I closed my eyes, I saw her face, the pain in her eyes as she told me goodbye that night I asked her to leave my brother. I love her so much. But at the same time, I hated her. I hated her, I loved her, and I missed her. I didn’t know what I felt anymore.”

“But five years, Chris?”

“I know.” He ran his hand through his chestnut hair, “I was just so angry and hurt and confused those first couple of years. And then, when I finally wizened up and realized how much I truly did love her, how much I needed her, I got scared. What if I had waited too long? What if she had moved on and didn’t love me anymore? And so I took the easy way out and just did nothing.”

“So why now, Chris? Why now, after so long?”

“Aunt Phoebe,” he replied, “Your mom had a premonition. She told me that if I didn’t act soon, I would lose Bella. Forever.”

“Forever?” Prue asked, eyes wide, wondering why she hadn’t heard this tidbit of information from her mother before. “By forever you mean…”

“I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me. But the look in Aunt Phoebe’s eyes was proof enough for me that this was serious. I can’t lose her, Prue. I need her.” Chris looked up into his little cousin’s eyes. Prue was surprised to see his green eyes shining with unshed tears, full of emotion.

“She needs time, Chris,” Prue said softly.

“I know,” he replied, his voice raspy. “I’ll wait.”

Bella looked at herself in the mirror as she splashed cold water in her face. Her brown eyes were puffy and red from crying, she had on no makeup, and her hair was a mess. She dried her face with a towel and headed back to her room.

Prue said that she was going out for a bit to get some groceries, but Bella knew that she was most likely going to go talk to Chris, probably at the Manor. Even though only Piper and Leo still lived in the Manor, it was still a popular hangout for the entire Halliwell clan.

Just as she was getting warm and comfortable in her bed, the phone rang shrilly. She let it ring a couple of times before reluctantly reaching her harm out of its warm haven to answer the phone.

“Hello?” Bella said hoarsely.

“Hey, Bella. It’s Wyatt.”

“Hey, Wyatt.”

“Are you okay? It sounds like you’ve been crying.” Worry was evident in his voice. Bella couldn’t help but smile at his concern.

“Yeah, I’ve been crying,” Bella admitted, “But I’m alright now.” Usually, Bella would have given him her usual short, vague answer, but after Chris’s visit, she figured what the hell?

“What happened?”

“Just a blast from the past I wasn’t exactly ready for,” Bella replied wryly.

“Are you sure you’re alright? ‘Cause you know I can be there in a second if you want me to.”

Bella bit her lip. After years of keeping her distance from him, should she finally let her guard down? After all, if Chris can barge back into her life unexpectedly, couldn’t she let Wyatt back into her life too? She had to admit, she had missed Wyatt just as much as she had missed Chris.

Prue might have had a different opinion though. But Bella didn’t expect her to be back so soon. Despite being able to “heart” herself just as quickly as orbing, the half-Cupid half-witch was never on time for anything.

“Bella, are you still there?” Wyatt asked.

“Yeah, I’m still here, sorry. But yeah, why don’t you come over for a bit, and we can catch up over some tea?” Bella replied, genuinely excited to see her former fiancé. A smile crept onto her face.

“You sure? I mean, if you’re not ready –“

“Wyatt, just orb your butt over here before I change my mind!” Bella scolded jestingly.

“Still impatient as ever, huh, Bella?” Wyatt said as blue orbs materialized into her room, cell phone still to his ear.

“Bella, you look beautiful as always,” Wyatt complimented, putting away his cell phone and holding out an awkward hand to shake.

“After knowing each other practically our whole lives and not seeing each other for years, you want a handshake?”

Wyatt’s infamous grin broke out on his face as he chuckled and engulfed Bella in a hug. “I’ve missed you so much, Bells,” he whispered into her hair.

“I’ve missed you too,” Bella replied, full of emotion.

“So why were you crying, Bells? Whose ass do I need to kick?” Wyatt asked half serious.

“Depends. Do you mind kicking your own brother’s ass?” Bella asked, deciding to be completely truthful to him from the start.

“Chris was here?” Wyatt asked in a serious tone.

Bella nodded. “But really. I’m fine now.”

“You don’t look fine,” Wyatt said, taking in her dreary appearance.

“Thanks, Wy. You always knew how to make a girl feel like a princess,” Bella replied sarcastically.

“You know what I mean, Squirt,” Wyatt said, using his old nickname for her. “How you holding up?”

“I’m not clinically depressed, if that’s what you mean,” Bella replied with a small smile. “But I’m not exactly making plans to see him again anytime soon.”

Wyatt nodded in understanding. “Things will get better soon. I just know it.”

“Since when have you been so optimistic?” Bella teased.

“Well, ever since this beautiful, amazing girl I loved left me at the altar because she really loved my little brother, I figured, ‘Hey, I can only go up from here’,” Wyatt joked back. “But you must have me confused with said little brother because I’ve always been optimistic, and Chris has always been my antithesis.”

“True,” Bella conceded. “Let’s go to the living room and I can make you that tea I offered.”

The formerly engaged couple situated themselves in the small living room; Bella curled up in the old, yet comfortable arm chair, while Wyatt sat on the nearby sofa. They fell into a comfortable silence as they sipped at their tea.

“Why is this so much easier with you, Wy?” Bella wondered aloud.

“What do you mean,” Wyatt questioned.

“Making up with you, catching up and acting as if nothing had happened. Why it is so easy, so… right, yet when I saw Chris, I instantly broke down?”

Wyatt took a sip of tea before answering. “Because sometimes it’s easier to be forgiven than to forgive.” Bella gave him a puzzled look. “I’m not the one who kept you waiting for years. I’m not the one who broke your heart. I’ve forgiven you, so the tension is gone; things are like before between us. Well, minus the sex.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “But things between Chris and you are unresolved; neither of you have completely forgiven the other, and until then, nothing’s going to change.”

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