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.
Chapter 13: Strength
" Hey lady." I said to my unconcious mother. She looked so peaceful and calm, but I could tell there was confusion there. I watched her waith a scary patience and an even eerier silence, " It's my birthday, you know. I'm seventeen. Making with the seventeen years of existence that is me. I'm thinking of getting a landrover or my own personal orbs. Maybe I'll..." I said, stopping. I looked down at the floor, " It's hard. Mom in a coma, Dad and brother awol, and nobody knows how I feel. I have the Halliwells, but it's different. Can't cry. If I cry, then it's me crying once again. I can't fall apart now. If I do, I'm screwed." I said with the slightest sadness coming through my voice.
" Maybe you should cry." a voice said, making me jump. I looked at mom and realized whose voice it was! I whirled around saw Dad standing in the doorway, " I mean, get your agressions out. I was hoping you had already so I could avoid the whole thing." he said.
I looked at him in shock, " Why didn't you call? If you had called I'd have known not to be here." I spat.
Peter smirked, " sam old wit." he said in his same sarcastic voice, " Look, i didn't come here to fight. I came to see you and your mother." he said innocently.
" Really? She's been here for months and you weren't worried then. I mean, she's not mobile!" I said, stopping when I realized he had said 'you and your mother', " Why would you need to see me?" I asked.
He looked at me in shock, " It's your birthday. I may not be a perfect father, but I am your father and I love you. You're turning seventeen and you should be having fun, not being a workaholic. Your brother thinks so too." he smiled.
I looked at him uncertainly, " How'd either of you know that?" I asked.
" We know you." he said seriously. He looked through me. There was something different about him...he was more confident and his stare made my blood run cold, " Your brother really misses you."
I picked up my backpack and looked at him, " If you know me, predict what I'm about to do." I said, heading for the door.
" I know you have sinned." he said quickly.
I stopped, " How long have you been here?" I asked.
" Who said I ever left?" he smirked. I looked at him in realization and left the room.
" So what? he's back and he doesn't expect Drake to unload on him?!" Piper asked angrily.
Leo sighed, " He is Drake's father and he expected Drake to remember that." he said, not even believing himself.
" Stop it!" Piper shouted.
" Stop what?" Leo asked.
" Stop protecting him! You don't believe that and your not gonna get me to believe it." she said with anger oozing from her voice!
" Look, I..." Leo said, but he stopped at the sight of Chris.
" What?" Piper said, turning to see Chris, " oh, hiii Chris." she said chipperly.
Chris looked at her in shock, " Hiii, mom. What's going on." he asked.
Piper sighed, " Nothing." she said calmly.
" Peter's back." Leo said quickly, causing Piper to jab him in the stomach.
" What?" Chris said quickly, " How's Drake?"
" He's dealing with it." Leo said.
Piper frowned, " Not well, but he's dealing." she said.
" Workaholic?" Chris asked.
' no, worse, he's not even working anymore." she said.
Chris nodded, " He's distance. Disconnected." he said.
Leo nodded, " Yes. He showed anger, finally, by telling Peter how disgusted he was with him." he said.
" Bet he was thrilled to hear that." Chris said.
" I can just about imagine. Wish I was there." Piper said, removing the cookies from the oven.
" Piper." Leo said, " It wasn't an ideal situation."
" Of course not, but it is good to finally be able to let all the things he's been keeping to himself go." Piper said, shuffling the cookies, " He deserves that much."
" I agree." Chris frowned, " I'm tired of watching him hurt. Don't get me wrong, he's on a roll when he's angry, but I miss my friend."
" Doesn't help thatit's his birthday. I made the cake and you invited his friends, right?" Piper asked, recieving a nod from Chris, " The party has to take his mind off stuff." she said, revealing the cake.
Between Leo and Chris' 'ohhs' and 'ahhs', Wyatt orbed in and his appearance reflected that he was a college student. His hair was tied back in a ponytail and his clothes looked disshelved. he was also carrying books and had a blank expression on his face.
Chris burst into laughter, " Hey, bro, what's...up?" he asked.
" I have to read more than sixty pages and write a ten page essay on what I read this weekend, but no worry. I'm here for good ole' family fun." Wyatt smiled, putting his book on the counter. He stopped when he felt their nervousness, " What?" he asked seriously, " What's wrong?"
Piper sighed and looked down at the cake, " Peter's home." she said.
Wyatt's smile turned to a frown, " What? You're kidding, where's Drake?" he asked.
" Probably finishing up his internship with Phoebe." Leo said.
wyatt paused, " i thought he already did that." he said, walking to stand by Chris.
" He did, but Phoebe said that he appealed to the teenage audience and we didn't tell him, but he's getting a teen advice column." Piper said, " It's a birthday present. You know he's been trying out jobs and he's finally decided to follow in Phoebe's footsteps." Piper said excitedly.
" Sounds like he's going to be psyched." Chris said happily.
Leo smirked, " Hope so. I've been thinking maybe we should invite Peter." he said, knowing they'd disapprove.
They all stopped and looked at him, then Piper spoke, " And why in THE hell would we do that?" she asked.
" He is Drake's father. look, he's back to try and rebuild hisf amily, Piper and whyc can't we help them?" Leo asked.
Piper sighed, " Even if we wanted to, it's not up to us, it's up to Drake." she said, taking a cookie and biting it.
" Well, I'm going to see Drake. Last time we saw each other, it wasn't under the best circumstances." Wyatt said, kissing Piper on the cheek and hugging Leo and Chris before leaving.
" Soon Chris'll be leaving." Piper said tearily, " They're gettin gso old. That means we're getting old!' she said frantically.
" Don't worry mom, it's not that soon." Chris said, walking away.
" I think you're just a beautiful as you've always been." Leo said, kissing Piper and sneaking a cookie.
Piper smacked the cookie back onto the cookie sheet, " Nice try." she smiled, kissing him again.
" I get my own column?!" I said with excitement. Phoebe and Elise were offering me a teenage advice column! Apparently I had fans and my advice was good. I wanted to scream 'YES!YES!YES!' but I nodded cooly, " Of course, I mean...thanks." I said, shaking Elise's hand, " What does that mean?" I asked.
" You get an office, given it's as big as mine or Phoebe's, but that could change. You bring another dimension to the Mirror. Teenagers." Elise said, " you have a unique outlook on life and kids love it."
" I...don't know what to say." I said slowly, " Thank you so much!" I said softly.
" I have to get back, so when you come back tomorrow, be ready to work." Elise said walking to the door, " Happy Birthday, kiddo." she said, leaving Phoebe and I to stare at each other.
" THANK YOU SO MUCH PHOEBE!" I said, hugging her.
" YOu deserve it. You've helped at the Manor, at Magic School, here, with Paige's charges, tutoring...and so many other things." she said, noticing my head fall, " You're taking so much in stride. Remember when I todl you about Cole?" she asked.
" Yeah." I nodded.
' when I broke up with him, or sent him to hell, I threw myself into my work." she said, " And now, looking back at it, it wasn't the right thing to do. You have to face things and move on." Phoebe said softly. I was about to speak when I saw the swirl of orbs bring Wyatt before us. Phoebe cleared her throat and spoke, " I need to go, lock up, okay?" she said, shutting the door on her way out.
Wyatt smiled nervously and walked over to me, " Hey." he said, looking down at the floor.
" Hey." I said shyly.
" I, um, wanted to say congrats." he smiled, " And happy birthday. Seventeen is great." he nodded.
I cleared my throat, " Wyatt. There is...are things we need to say." I said anxiously.
" I'm sorry for going away and staying away when you obviously needed me." he said, catchin my sour look, " That's not what I meant. It's just that I am your best friend, your future...person and the truth is that I needed you as much as you needed me." he sighed.
I blinked, then looked up at him, " There are choices. You have to make choices and in the end, the consequences..." I said simply.
He stared at me, " What about them?" he asked.
I shook off the feeling of dread, " Ever had that feeling. The one where you know something strange is about to happen, but you don't know what it could possibly be?" I asked.
Wyatt sighed and sat on the couch in Phoebe's office, " I feel it. It's the only thing I can feel lately. The whole fear thing. I've been trying to solve mysterious deaths at the college. People scared to death." he said.
" I read. A demon who induces fear...oddly familiar." I said, thinking back to where I'd seen it in the book.
" Doesn't matter. I came to get you." Wyatt smiled," And to have a heart to heart. Last time we talked..."
" I was in an almost-three way with Chris and Kyle?" I said quickly.
Wyatt's eyes widened, " I was going to say I tried to kill you, but hell, that sums it up." he smirked, " So you remember everything?"
" Enough. You?" I asked.
" Just the parts where I cursed my best friend and roomate, almost killed my brother and other best friend, and oddly, the sight of Kyle on his back and you on top of him, and Chris unbuckling his belt. Other than that, it's very unclear." Wyatt smirked.
I smiled and looked around, " Is this really happening? I mean, I'm going to have my own column. In the midst of all the drama it's good to have something great happen." I smiled weakly.
" You mean your dad coming back?" Wyatt asked.
I leaned on the desk, " Good old Pete. I think this is the longest he's stayed. I'm sure if Caly was awake, she'd want me and him to kiss and make up, but I can't. My lips are all sore from where they tried to kill us." I said, trying to keep in control.
" Why?" he asked.
" What do you mean?" I asked slowly.
" Why not? I mean, maybe he changed. He left for Africa, but came back to be your father. Why not let him?" Wyatt asked.
I scoffed and hopped up, " You don't get it, he's had seventeen years to be a 'father' and now he wants to?! You've always had Leo and that's great, but you'll never know what it's like to be fatherless. You've always been Wyatt, the role model, the limelight...getter. You have always been the perfect one, not sure why, but you're always trying way too hard. And it doesn't seem real. He's trying to hard...and it doesn't seem real." I said breathlessly.
Wyatt looked offended and rose from the couch. He paced back and forth, biting his lip, " What do you mean, trying too hard? I...And I'm not always in the limelight? I never claimed to be perfect. Neither did he. I would say that maybe you're right, I'll never know what life is like for you but maybe he does. It takes more to forgive that to apologize." he said heatedly.
" You don't get it, do you?! I lack the thing!" I said angrily.
" What?" he asked.
" Strength." I shouted, " I have nothing left. I'm on empty. I've been on autopilot for months because I can't deal with this! My life...I get thrown into being a power, no scratch that, one of the most powerful beings on Earth, get a boyfriend, get my parents, find out my future, but then everything goes to hell. My best friend leaves, my mom goes into a coma, my dad goes away, and my future changes." I said, looking down at the floor, " Do you know how it feels to die?"
" Die? When did you die?" Wyatt asked.
" Months ago." I replied, " God, you have no idea! You really don't have the faintest idea what I'm feeling, do you?" I chuckled.
Wyat smiled angrily, " I don't?! Are you kidding? Do you know what it felt like to leave you? I had to cast a spell on myself to leave and it didn't work after I left. At school it's hard to focus on work when I want to be with you or I can't focus because my powers are in overdrive. When I wanted to come back, I remember how much it hurt to leave you in the first place. So yeah, I do know what it feels like sometimes." he said angrily, " I'm an empath, remember."
" How could I forget?" I asked, " There's no easy way to say this, but I've met somebody."
" When you say 'met', you mean..." Wyatt asked.
" Dating. You know, actual wooing." I said quickly, " Then there is the fact that..."
" You had to keep it hidden." Wyatt said just as quickly, " I guess autopilot means something different."
" You think so? No, autopilot means fuck you!" I said, heading towards the door.
" Look, I'm sorry. I'm happy if you're happy...see, me happy." he said.
I shook my head, " No, you're not. That's okay, I wasn't telling you that so you could say, 'I'm happy! Let's party!'. I'm going to be honest. I want you to hurt as much as I am." I said angrily, " Stop playing the knight in shining orbs, I love you and you thought you loved me until you changed your mind. You casted a spell on yourself? really, could you have cast a 'grow some balls' spell? While you were away, Chris, Kyle and I picked up the slack. We fought demon after demon without you. We don't need you." I said, turning off the light, " And I don't want you anymore." I said, slamming the door.
As I entered the Manor, I noticed the lights were off and despite that, I continued. I walked further and stopped at a bunch of people shouting, " SURPRISE!" and I acted surprised. They had their hats and thingns and I noticed Wyatt bring the cake out and I couldn't speak. The cake was beautiful...it all was. My joy was cut short when a demon materialized and I froze the non-magical guests. The demon threw an energy ball at Wyatt! He dropped the cake, but I froze it and Chris swung his hand and the demon flew back into the grandfather clock, smashing it to pieces! Wyat grabbed the cake and stepped backwards. The demon got up and I raised my hands and blew him up, but not before he threw one last energy ball and that struck the cake, splattering it all over the walls and Wyatt. At first, I was unable to grasp the concept of the cake being destroyed. I stood, tyring to form words while the gang looked from me to the cake, then to me again. I walked farther into the Manor and sat on the couch in the sun room and I burst into tears. I fel tit all just burst open, all the emotions I had been holding just spewed from me. Then I felt someone's hand around me and looked up to see Chris.
Wyatt sighed as he sat in the local bar. He had seen that Drake was right. Chris and Kyle were the ones fixing him now, so he left. The bar was right off from campus and everyone hung out there. Wyatt had made friends there. He and Tristan had made friends. wyatt laughed as Tristan hit on those poor ladies, being turned down for his cheesy come-ons.
" What are you laughing at?" Tristan asked testily.
Wyatt took a peanut from the bowl, " You. You are persistent." he laughed.
" At least I'm trying, haven't seen you getting any since we left." Tristan said.
" That's because I don't want herpes." Wyatt said, punching Tristan in the arm.
" Yah, like I'd ever get herpes." Tristan said, grabbing his crotch, " only the hottest chicks get this."
" So says the guy whose prom date dumper him for scammin on his best friend's girl." Wyatt smirked.
" They were hot." Tristan said, watching the waitress sit drinks on the table, " Thanks." he said, checking her out.
" What's this?" Wyatt asked, " We're underaged."
" Come on, Wyatt, you can lie now, we're in college." Tristan said, taking a swing of beer.
Wyatt looked at the beer for a minute, then grabbed the beer, " Cheers." he said, downing the beer, " Waitress! Another!" he shouted.
" LEO! How can that be?" I shouted. I was now in his office at Magic School, questioning him on the fact that my father knew details of my life that even they didn't know, " He's like a protective father without the father part." I said angrily.
Leo sighed, " Just relax. We'll figure this out." he said calmly.
" You should listen to Leo, he's making with the big calm." Peter said behind us.
We both swung around to see Dad behind us, " How did you get in here? Evil can't get in here!" I said frantically.
" And what does that tell us, kids?" he said.
" You're not evil anymore?" I asked.
" Duh, glad you picked up on that...I mean, you are in school." he chortled.
I chuckled in anger, " Can I not get away from you? I mean...you didn't stay long with her. Was it just a quickie?" I asked. They both looked at me in horror, " I mean the visit was quick, not that you...Look, I'm not up to talking about anything right now." I said, turning to walk away from the room.
" Maybe you should be. I mean there are so many things even I can feel you're holding in, but now you have a chance." Leo said sypathetically.
" I haven't been...I'm doing great." I said, trying to make myself believe it.
Peter laughed, " Great? You closing yourself off from not only me, but from the Halliwells isn't fine. When your mother and I couldn't talk to you, they could. Just vent. It'll make us both feel better." he smiled.
I looked at him in disbelief, " Us? You want me to feel better, or you? You're not only selfish, you're pathetic. You should suffer." I said with disgust.
He looked at with an intensity that I had never seen in him and if I were younger, I'd have been scared. He looked at me as if I had cut him with an old, rusty instrument, " You're entitled to your own..." he said weakly.
" Not an opinion." I said quickly, " what you did was wrong."
Leo looked at me, but Dad had stopped staring at me and turned to the wall, " I admit that." he submitted, " But she begged me."
" And you should have said no." I said, breaking quickly.
Dad began to chuckle angrily, " So noble and honest, sitting here with all the magic. Never had to make a really tough decision in life. Everything handed to you, everything I earned, you didn't. You're playing hero and the martyr, but you're neither. You're a conflict." he said angrily. I looked at him in shock and Leo began to say something, but stopped, " I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." he started.
" Yes. I am nobler than you! I am noble because I would do anything for her, to help her deal. I wouldn't have given her the option to go to the darkside! I'm not a quitter and I don't give up! I don't bitch out when things get rough. I don't run to Africa when I can't deal. I'm not a hero, I'm not a martyr, but if I'm the only thing standing between my mother and all evil, that's who I'll be. I would think you'd wanna be a conflict." I shouted. I had had enough of this! He's such a loser and I couldn't take it, " To think, I wake up in the middle of the night and worry for you and mom and Caleb and...I can't do it anymore. I'm scared, but it'll pass." I said righteously, turning and walking from the room.
" I wasn't ready for that...I asked for..." Peter started.
" Honesty." Leo said angrily, " I'm going to give you some advice, because you are, or were my friend." he said, sitting at the desk.
" Yes?" Peter asked.
" Listen to what he says. He might be young and had a lot given to him, but he's more than earned it. From not having you and Caly there for him, to becoming the person he is, to being a super witch...and having to see his parents go through what you did, it's a wonder he's a hero, and I did say hero, at all. When he joins my family, I will be proud, because in my family, he's not a conflict. He's not the martyr. He's part of the solution." Leo said, looking straight at Peter. Peter sneered and faded out, leaving no trace that he'd been there at all.
" Well, class here ends our lesson." Professor Michaels smiled, " Be ready, we'll be getting ready for finals soon." he said, dismissing the students. The students left, the girls giggling and whispering about him. He was attractive. Only twenty-four and easily the most attractive teacher, besides Leo, and there were so many fantasies to be had with him. Don't even ask. I was bumbling with the papers, trying to get them all to stay put when they all fell on the floor, falling out of place. I sighed in frustration and kneeled down to pick them up and bumped heads with him.
" OUCH!" I said, rubbing head.
" Sorry," he said, picking up papers, " It seems like your having a bad day." he said, shuffling papers.
" More like a bad year." I chuckled, " Just keeps coming. you'd think a Charmed One's day would go smoothly, but no." I said.
He smiled, " Just seems like you're always on autopilot and then today, I saw some emotion...real emotion. Anger, but it was still an emotion." he smirked.
" Seems to the only emotion I can muster at the moment." I said with exhaustion, " Things could be worse, I guess. I mean demons could rush in and stab me, then kidnap me and have their way with me..." I laughed.
He laughed too, then stopped and poked me, " Are you trying to tell me something." he asked.
" No. If I..." I noticed his eyes, finally noticing his eyes. I felt as if he was staring right through me, but I continued, " I've gotta go. Homework, real work...magic. It's all blurring." I said, grabbing my backpack and walking to the door.
" Drake." he said, causing me to stop, " I want you to know that I think you're amazingly strong, intelligent person." he smiled. I smiled too and walked out of the door.