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"I've got to go," Chris said just as his lips parted from Peter, unable to keep the little chuckle that escaped him when Peter started pouting at him.
"I hate all this sneaking around, I wish you'd stay one whole night for once," Peter murmured, his hand stroking the side of Chris's stubbled face, his captivating blue eyes holding Chris in place. This was Chris's downfall. This was what was ruining him. The gentleness, the affectionate words, the thoughtful attentions. In the brutal world he was raised in, there was next to no room for affection. There was only tough love, because a soldier didn't survive on cookies and kisses. So he was only getting what he never got, and he never knew he'd enjoy it as much as he did now.
"I know," Chris replied, forcing a smile before giving one last quick peck to Peter's lips. He got out of bed and retrieved his clothes quickly, putting them on neatly before giving one last glance at his...boyfriend. "I'll call you?"
"Yeah, sure," Peter said, and Chris could detect a little edge in his voice. It wasn't right, after two months of dating, to be sneaky about things. It was starting to get on Peter's nervers, and Chris hated it just as much as Peter did. He worried over his bottom lip, head down as he left the bedroom, and he drew in a long, deep breath once he got outside into the cold night air.
The problem was clear in his mind: he was actually falling for Peter, for the werewolf he was supposed to seduce into leading them to the whole pack. An entire family of werewolves. So many werewolves to watch over. He was crushed when he found out about Peter, right after the first date they'd gone on. A pretty exciting date, no less. He'd hated the thought of using Peter like this, and he still did as of now, but he also knew back then that this was going to be asked of him, and he knew they would convince him to do it. So he did. He kept seeing Peter, and every single time he did, his joy to see the man was overshadowed by the knowledge that it wasn't real. Not entirely. Even if his feelings were genuine, he still reported back to his family after every date, every late night call. It only took three weeks for Peter to tell him he was a werewolf. It pained Chris to see how true and sincere Peter was about them, when Chris was nothing but a manipulative liar.
So many times he'd wanted to end it all. So many times he'd puked his guts out, disgusted by his own actions. And it had been two months now. Two months and he was afraid to admit to himself he was in love with Peter Hale. He was livid, as he drove back home in the middle of the night, thinking this all over. He was going to end this charade. He was going to break up with Peter before things could get any further. He was going to get away from his family, from this life. He wanted his shot at happiness, he wanted his shot at a normal life. A life without werewolves.
"It's funny how it's taking you longer and longer to come home after your little escapades with your wolfy 'boyfriend'," Kate said as soon as Chris stepped into the dark kitchen, her voice startling him.
"There was traffic," Chris grunted, opening the fridge door so he didn't have to see her face. It was so easy to blame her for the way things were right now, since she'd been so adamant about this whole plan, but Chris knew most of the blame was on him. In the end, he was the one hurting Peter, and the latter didn't even know it yet. Chris lived in fear every day, in fear of the day when Peter would finally realize what he'd been doing all this time.
"Traffic?" she cocked an eyebrow at him. "At four a.m.?"
"Do you always have to wait on me, Kate?" Chris spat, slamming the fridge door closed as he finally turned to face her. He was on edge; he'd just left his boyfriend in the middle of the night for the billionth time, under the pretence that he had to go to work early. He had a feeling this wasn't going to be pleasant, and he didn't want to wake his parents up and have them participate in the conversation as well, so he stepped outside onto the backyard, Kate on his tail. "Can't you wait till morning for me to tell you what I got on him?"
"It’s been two months now, Chris, you had one job and you haven’t been very good at it," Kate's tone grew serious, unfazed by his speech, her arms crossed over her chest. Her words made his heart skip a beat, his eyes growing wide briefly, leaving him unguarded for one second before he recomposed himself. One second too long for his sister to see the truth. She scoffed at him, averting her eyes away. "I just knew this was going to happen. Men!"
"Hold on, Kate, I have done everything by the letter, I have done everything you've told me to do—"
"It doesn't matter, Chris," Kate cut him off, her tone dry and cold as she pinned him with her gaze. "You love him. You're a liability now, we can't trust you."
"Are you serious? I do not love him, and I am perfectly capable—"
"This, " she cut him off mid-sentence again, grabbing the collar of his shirt, holding it up firmly, "isn't your shirt you left with earlier."
"I left quickly to come home, what does it matter?" Chris countered, not having even realized he'd grabbed Peter's shirt by inadvertence. He was starting to sweat, and his heart had picked up a pace under Kate’s intense gaze. He hated being on the grill like this, and he hated how his sister was able to see through him.
"This is a list of all the phone calls you've exchanged with him," she continued, ignoring Chris's last response as she handed him a couple pages of phone bills she'd been holding the whole time. "And these are all the disgustingly sweet love letters he wrote you that you keep under your bed. These are the receipts of every single one of your dates with him. You care about him, and you're not even hiding it well!"
"Fine, I like him, you happy now? What do you want me to do? I'm already betraying him and using him to help you," Chris hissed, throwing all the pieces of paper at her, feeling completely defeated by this turn of events. He shouldn't even be surprised his sister had been going through his personal stuff, he should've known. He just couldn't believe she could be so cold-hearted and cruel.
"You mean to help all of us," she corrected him, her tone unforgiving and reproaching at the same time. "Have you forgotten you're part of this family, Chris? The fact that you just said that proves how unreliable you've become."
"Kate—"
"You had one job, Chris, and you screwed up," she stopped him before he could say anything else, and Chris was glad for it, because he honestly didn't know what to say anyhow. She was right. He did want to back out of it after all, had thought about it more than he should have. But he'd never hated his family more than this instant, for giving him responsibilities he'd never wanted, for training him all his life like a real soldier, for getting in the way of his happiness. Werewolf or not, Chris could actually see himself building a life with Peter, and it killed him to know it was never going to happen.
"I'm taking over," she continued, chuckling at him when she saw his horrified look. "Relax, Chris, I'm not going to go anywhere near your sloppy seconds—which, by the way, if it wasn't clear already, you are not to see ever again—I have a backup plan. Derek Hale."
"He's a teenager, Kate!"
"So? He's legal of age," Kate shrugged, stepping closer to him. "You're going to Seattle for a little while, I'll take care of your boyfriend and the break up. This is your mess I'm going to clean up, Chris. Be glad I'm not telling the parents about your...weakness."
"Why should I listen to you?" Chris asked as he glared down at his sister, his heart pounding against his chest, his hands shakings ever so slightly.
"Because if you don't, your boyfriend's as good as dead."