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"I'm not sure this is a good idea," Chris stated, folding his arms and staring at Phoebe with a horrified look. She kept insisting that as an empath, she could already feel what he was going through, and she had somehow managed to convince him to talk to her. Chris tried to tell himself that he was only going along with this to shut her up – God, could she talk, he must've blocked that fact out of his memory – but a part of him knew that if he didn't start sharing some of the crap in his head soon, he was going to lose his mind. Or what was left of it.
"It's a great idea. Since your parents have found out who you are, I've been getting hit with your emotions all the time. It's a little hard to concentrate," Phoebe stated. She took a sip from her mug of coffee and patted the seat next to her.
"This is definitely a bad idea," Chris muttered under his breath. He sat down next to her and tapped his fingers on his thighs.
"So…" Phoebe said.
"So…" Chris met her annoyed gaze and shrugged. "I'm not sure what you want me to talk about."
"How are you doing?"
"I'd be better if we knew what happened to Wyatt to make him evil."
"Chris, this isn't about Wyatt right now. This is about you."
Chris groaned and covered his face with his hands. He said, "I'm not good at this stuff. My mom used to say…" Chris stopped. Used to. Past tense. Chris stiffened and did his best to keep his breathing even. This was definitely not a good idea. Hanging out with his family, talking to his aunt like nothing was wrong...Chris couldn't let himself get too comfortable in this time because his future didn't include his mother and aunts. And after everything that happened with Bianca and Wyatt, he was on his own.
Except he really didn't want to talk about that with Phoebe.
"Oh boy. The sadness you're carrying around, kiddo, is going to eat you up," Phoebe replied, gripping onto the edge of the sofa. She said, "If it's anywhere near as powerful as the wave I just got off you, there's a lot of emotions bottled up."
"I learned a long time ago that it got in the way of what had to be done," Chris replied with a mirthless laugh. He leaned back and said, "I was never very good at it. I let myself care about people, even though I knew what would happen."
"I can't really imagine your future and how hard it must have been."
"I'm hoping it won't be the future anymore. That's why I'm here."
"But you're not really, Chris. You're avoiding your mother and harboring so much anger toward your father and you're just so sad. That's the stuff that leads to recklessness, believe me, I know from experience."
"I appreciate what you're trying to do, but—"
"Talk to me. It's okay."
"I tried to warn Leo when it started. He wouldn't believe me. No one believed me. Wyatt loved it. He loved how easy it was to manipulate everyone."
"It was probably hard for your dad—"
"—Leo was not my dad, not really. He was never around for me. I didn't matter."
"Chris, that's not true. Your father loves you. Do you think he would be trying so hard if he didn't?"
Chris scoffed. "He doesn't know me, Phoebe."
"You won't let any of us really know you."
"I can't. I don't want to risk messing up the future even worse."
"Stubborn idiot."
"Gee thanks."
"If you ask me…"
"…I didn't…"
"If you ask me, you use the future as a shield. And I get it. You've been through a lot, sweetie, but it's tearing you up."
"I'm not completely hopeless yet. I still believe I can fix this and save Wyatt."
"And save your future."
"I hope so. There were people who weren't so convinced, ya know. Some people thought that this was just what happened when two powerful entities had children. That Wyatt was born this way. But I could never believe it. He was strangely protective of me. He never let anyone touch me. Even when I went back with Bianca, he was willing to forgive me, said that anyone else would've been dead already. And it was true. He was always quick to make examples out of traitors."
"Chris…"
"He turned the manor into a shrine, but it wasn't really about any of you, it was all about him, to show all the power that ran through him."
"Oh."
"I watched as his dragons destroyed the city and he murdered the Elders…and I did nothing. Because he was all I had," Chris said. He felt his eyes stinging and he swiped at them mindlessly. He cleared his throat and added, "And I've told you too much."
Phoebe reached over and hugged him. She said, "We're going to fix this. I promise you. I won't rest until I know that both my nephews are safe."
"Thank you."
"Hey, it's what I'm here for. I get that you don't want to worry your mom and I understand that things with Leo are complicated, but if you need someone to vent to or just watch a movie with, I'm here."
"You took me to my first R-rated movie. Mom was so pissed off."
Phoebe laughed and said," Yep, that's me. The rebel."
"You were great."
Phoebe smiled. "You're not so bad yourself, Chris."