[ psl ]

[blackascole]

WHO Cole Turner (blackascole) and Chris Halliwell (chriscross)
WHAT dumb teenagers dealing with each other
WHEN fixed timeline, idk when exactly I'm too lazy to do math
WHERE the manor and other various places
WHY because this is probably Leo's fault

Things never seemed to go right in his life. His father murdered before his eyes when he was a child, his mother raising him as a demon and pushing him to become a mercenary, and then finally taking this job to find the weakness to get at the Charmed Ones. He had been forced to deal with the middle child of the oldest Charmed One since they were about the same age and no matter how hard he tried to keep his distance, he became friends with him and eventually, fell in love with him. This was what he was warned again, but yet he still did it because he couldn't help it.

Of course, things went from bad to worse with the revelation that he was a demon and that he had been sent to take out the sisters. For once though, things turned for the better. His mother was vanquished, he was free, and he had been taken in by one of the sisters to give him something resembling a normal human life. The downside was that Chris was still angry at him, feeling betrayed because he had originally used their friendship to try getting at his family.

Cole had talked to Paige about it a lot when they had their chats about things that were on his mind and helping him deal with both halves of himself. She knew her nephew far better than Cole could ever have the chance to in his short time as his friend and she had given him some advice as to how to deal with him and maybe try to start repairing their broken friendship. So one Friday afternoon after school, Cole decided to be a proper demon and attack the problem head on. With Kat, Tamara, and Henry Jr in tow, he headed over to the manor so that not could they hang out with their cousins, but so Cole had a reason to be there that wouldn't have him be kicked out of the house. After saying hello to Piper and Leo, Cole headed upstairs to look for Chris and when he found him, he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway.

"So, I wanted to talk. About things. And maybe you could help me with my history homework," he said calmly. "You think you'd be okay with that or do you still want to toss me into a wall?"

Comments

[chriscross]

Chris had heard when Cole arrived. It was hard not to, when it was heralded by a gaggle of loud younger cousins all making their presence known with tromping footsteps and loud greetings and everything in between. He gritted his teeth and tried to focus on his homework, even if there wasn't much he could do to actually concentrate now that Cole was here. What did he want? No matter his actual living circumstances and how terrible his demonic mother was, he'd used Chris and played him for a fool and it just figured.

He didn't want to deal with that. Like, ever.

Of course, that meant the problem was coming to him because Chris would never be going to the problem. He turned from his spot at the desk and glared at the half-demon standing there like he deserved Chris listening to him after the hurt he laid on. With a quick motion, he threw Cole inside the room — not against the wall despite his bitterness, but onto Wyatt's bed none too gently. If he'd gone with the wall, he knew his parents would be up immediately to break them up. Chris was just so tired of not being in control.

"Wall's looking better and better. What is there to even talk about?"

[blackascole]

Cole expected Chris's reaction and despite that, allowed him to toss him onto Wyatt's bed, letting out a soft grunt of pain as he made contact with the bed. He didn't move at first, but then finally moved so that he was sitting on the bed instead of flung face down onto it. It was obvious that Chris was still hurt, but that's why Cole wanted to explain things to him, wanting some of their friendship back even though he doubted there'd be anything more than that between them.

"The truth. You deserve it more than anyone else," Cole pointed out, not doing anything other than sit on the bed and see if Chris would let him talk to him. He had screwed up with him, yes, but it wasn't until he had brought the Charmed Ones in that he was able to fix things.

[chriscross]

For all that he hardly moved, Chris was watching him from the corner of his eye. It was easier to pretend he had something to do despite his focus on homework being completely shot now. Having Cole right here was going to mess with him completely, and he was angry and upset that Cole wasn't just leaving him the hell alone or just being as terrible as his manipulations implied. It was wrong, somehow, that Cole still wanted to make amends.

"You already told us the truth," he said flatly. His mother was a terrible demon who raised Cole to be the same as best as she could, and even if his human soul was winning out, it didn't undo any of the things he had done.

[blackascole]

There was a long moment where he didn't say anything, just looking down at his hands and thinking about this. Chris had every right to be angry at him, but Cole still wanted to try to explain things to him and prove that everything he did wasn't just a lie. Finally, he let out a sigh and looked over at Chris, finally prepared to answer him.

"Not the part that really mattered. I never got the chance to tell you it," he responded and went back to looking down at his hands. It was obvious that he was definitely nervous because he didn't want to make things worse between them.

[chriscross]

That had some of the desired effect. Chris looked up at him, eyes narrowed and body language cut off. He didn't want to deal with this, didn't want to have to admit how much Cole's betrayal cut deep and what might have been lying underneath to now lay exposed and raw. Even if he were to admit what was there, he didn't know what to do about it, and that was even worse. He just wanted it to all go away, go back to how much less complicated it was before Cole had gotten involved in his life.

He shook his head, not sure what to make of that statement. Was there really something more important to say or was he just trying to buy time? "Then say it. If it's that important, you should have told us from the start, Cole."

[blackascole]

"If I had told you from the start, you would have never believed me," he pointed out with a loud sigh. Cole knew Chris was upset now, but he had been even more so when he had first found out. Anything he could have said previously would have not gotten through to him and that they needed some time before they could really talk, which is why it took so long for Cole to even think of deciding to tell him.

"When I was put on this mission, all I thought about you was that you were just a jumping point to my real goal, but early on I realized that our friendship had become real and not just some means to an end." He never looked up while he was speaking, instead just focusing strongly on his hands so he didn't lose the nerve to say what he wanted to. "I--I cared about you, Chris, and I still do. You think I was manipulating you, but I wasn't. You're my friend and the reason why I went to your family for help. I didn't want to lose you."

[chriscross]

He... what? Chris stared, sat back in his chair and slowly shook his head. That it was real was something he'd only considered in his nightmares, his thoughts wandering to what might have been if he hadn't been born a Halliwell whose life was destined to be irrevocably tied to magic making a mess of everything. Having a friend had done him good, and having that friend turn out to be a traitor had practically undone it all. Now Cole was saying the friendship wasn't a ruse but the motivation, and he didn't know how to deal with it.

"Is that some kind of joke?" he asked, tone tight and displeased. He was angry that it might have been real this whole time, that it was real and Cole hadn't come for help sooner, that it was real and this was going all wrong, that this was how it might stay because he was just so mad. He couldn't understand it, no way to fathom the fear and the relief underneath it all making the anger only more visible.

[blackascole]

"I wouldn't joke about that," Cole said as his head jerked up to look at Chris and seeing that he was angry, turned to look away. Somehow he had screwed things up even more with Chris, he could tell, and he honestly had no idea as to how to make things better between them. It was frustrating, but at the same time, he knew that he didn't deserve things to go well for him.

"You're the first person I've ever lo-cared about, Chris. I know I've made a total mess of things between us, but I want to fix it." Not that he was expecting it to happen, but he wanted Chris to know that he was going to try to do right by him.

[chriscross]

That reaction was both satisfying and not what Chris wanted. His insides were twisting this way and that, and it just wasn't going to end. There was no way to make simple of the situation where they found themselves and he desperately wished there was some way to hit a reset button and make it not an issue anymore. Yet... life wasn't that easy and here they both were trying to untangle some kind of mess when neither could see the other end.

"Yeah?" he asked shortly. "And how you do plan to do that?"

[blackascole]

"Honestly? I don't know, but I'll do everything and anything I can to make things right between us," he replied sincerely. Cole loved Chris, cared for him more than anyone else in his life and he was going to do right by him no matter what he had to do to make him no longer angry.

"How about we start simple? I wasn't lying when I said I needed help on my history homework," he said with an awkward smile. "I mean, if that's okay with you. If not, I'll get help somewhere else and figure it out myself."

[chriscross]

Shifting uncomfortable, disbelievingly, Chris hunched back over his homework as some sort of display for Cole. He didn't know what to do with this, he was just so angry, betrayed and confused. Did Cole think this was going to make everything better again, claiming a real connection and trying to repair what had already been torn to shreds?

"You want help from me when, at some point, you were genuinely planning to have my mother and aunts murdered?" It was harsh and probably overblown, but cornering an injured animal was never the smart move. Cole had come to him for this and all Chris wanted to do was drive him out. This was his space... his emotions were flooding it like someone had broken the valve. It was too unexpected.

[blackascole]

"Last I checked, your mother and aunts actually went and killed my brothers and yet I happen to love you even though I'm well within my right to hate your family and still want them dead after everything," he pointed out and then paused when his mind finally caught up with his mouth and he looked incredibly embarrassed. That wasn't what he wanted to say.

His first reaction was to bolt and he stood up, shifting his backpack on his shoulders and walking back over to the doorway, avoiding looking at Chris. This was only going to complicate things and he was wanting to avoid Chris now that he had let that out. "You know what, forget about the homework. I'm going to go back downstairs and help wrangle the kids. I'll see you at class."