When Chris was nineteen years old, he got his first tattoo. He was finally settled into New York University plus his apartment in New York, had two jobs and therefore a pretty good chance to save enough money for something he wanted for quite a long time.

So he searched for tattoo parlors in the proximity of his apartment. The search brought him to "Kelly's Tattoo Maniacs" where he met Kelly, a pixy like woman with blonde hair and a beautiful tattoo sleeve who could talk her head off. She smiled when Chris entered the parlor for the first time and was so nice and welcoming that Chris liked her from the start. After he told her he wanted a tattoo but wasn't sure about the style she handed him books and drawings for him to choose from. She talked so fast and reminded Chris a lot of his Aunt Phoebe which made him smile. The start of a great friendship.

After some thinking and a good night sleep Chris chose a black tribal tattoo. While the bigger part of the tattoo was inked on his right shoulder, the beginning of the tattoo was on his shoulder blade and the end on his upper arm, just enough to get a peek of it when Chris was wearing short sleeves.

It took some time but the outcome was great. Chris loved it from the first time Kelly drew it on his skin.

Needless to say from this day on Chris was hooked.

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While the tribal was just a tattoo he wanted and thought it looked cool, his next tattoo had a lot more meaning than this. The second one got Chris not long after his first one. And this time he knew exactly what he wanted. He showed Kelly what he planned, explained how he wanted it and where and she dragged him towards her studio.

Not so long after that Chris left the parlor with a black mitsu-tomoe on his neck. The flames in a perfect circle representing the threefold of the cosmos. Earth, Heaven and Humankind. For him as a whitelighter Chris found it very fitting because all three of them mattered to him.

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Chris' third tattoo was when he was twenty and initiated by his three best friends Kacey, Robbie and Vivianna. Or rather a demon attack. A group of Warlocks attacked each friend separately and each of them left the fight with injuries. Sure they all could fight demons on their own. Vivianna was a witch, Kacey was half witch, half darklighter and Robbie was the Manticore baby the sisters saved a long time ago. But the warlocks had the element of surprise on their side and were able to cause some serious wounds.

The friends met at Chris' apartment and while their personal whitelighter healed them, they made a plan to find and kill the Warlocks. It would be much easier to attack in a group than to fight them alone.

After all demons were vanquished Kacey looked at the ground plastered with burn makes and solemnly said: " Alone we are strong...together we are stronger."

Chris raised his head and looked at his friends who had the same look as him on their faces. After Chris got his first tattoo his friends followed and added ink to their own skin. They talked about a friendship tattoo to symbolize their friendship since eighteen years. Kacey's quote made the perfect tattoo for the clique.

Kelly simply laughed when the clique entered her parlor a day later. "You know you don't get group discount when you come as a group." she teased but sat down with them and let them explain what kind of tattoo they wanted.

The only difficulty they had was to decide where to get the tattoo. Although after some advice from Kelly they settled all for different places. Vivianna chose her left lower arm, Kacey her left shoulder blade and Robbie chose his upper back. Chris was the last one of his friend to get his quote. From this day on the skin on the left side of his ribcage was permanently inked. And while all of his tattoos were important to Chris, this one was under the top two who meant the most.

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Now Chris was twenty-two and some more ink was on his skin. On his right shoulder blade was probably the most meaningful tattoo he ever got. It were two simple words but these two words meant the world to Chris. The tattoo itself said "You matter."

When he was sixteen years old he hated his life. Bullied in High School not only from students but also from his algebra teacher who loves his brother and hated his guts, Chris felt like the black sheep of the family and because he skipped school that often his parents were really angry and disappointed in him. To make it short, Chris hated his life pretty much at this point and felt like a waste of space. It went to the point where he tried to kill himself with some pills.

Today, six years later, Chris was happy that fate decided he wasn't ready to die this day. He got a second chance and he used it. Now everything was better. He loved his apartment, he loved his university, and he loved his life.

But the day he tried to take his own life was burned inside his memories and he would never forget this fateful day or the following days. When Chris told Robbie one day later what he tried, his best friend stared at him for a long time before he said the two words Chris needed to hear at this time more than anything: "You matter!"

Robbie was also there when Chris got that tattoo. The young demon honest to god started crying when he saw which motive his best friend chose. It was very emotional and Kelly simple handed him a tissue box. That made Rob laugh again. Yep, his friends were crazy but Chris loved them to death.

And even now, they were by his side. Twenty years since they met at the tender age of two and build sand castles together. Chris wouldn't want it any other way. He was glad to have three people he could trust without a doubt.

Sure, he had his family and he loved them, but sometimes the Halliwells could be overwhelming and Chris need some time to escape the chaos in his family. Nevertheless he would do anything for his family. And he liked the semester breaks when he came home from New York and stayed in his room in the Manor. Wyatt still lived here the whole year although he got paid enough at P3 to rent an own apartment. Maybe it was easier that way for the Twice Blessed. Chris didn't care. It was Wyatt's thing, he was old enough.

These thoughts were running through Chris head when he pulled a black tank top over his head. It was very sunny today and Chris planned meeting his friend at the park. A steady breeze flowed through the town and so the sun was bearable. The young witch checked his outfit one last time and then exited the bathroom and walked toward the kitchen for breakfast.

Piper and Leo were already at work, Chris' and Wyatt's younger sister Melinda was at the mall with her friends, and Wyatt should be lounging somewhere in the house. Maybe he was gone too because the Manor was so quiet.

But when Chris walked into the kitchen his Brother sat at the table and read the newspaper.

"Morning, Wy." Chris greeted and opened the fridge to help himself to an ice-cold glass of orange juice.

"Morning." answered Wyatt without looking up, too engrossed in the newspaper.

Chris chuckled and poured a glass of orange juice. Then he searched the cupboards for his favourite kind of cereal.

"Wyatt, where are the Fruit Loops?"

"In the left cupboard."

"Nope, I looked there."

Wyatt stayed still, still reading the newspaper. Chris patiently waited for an answer of his twenty-four year old brother. After two minutes of silence, he cleared his throat.

"Wyatt?"

"What? Oh, then on the right. Sorry, I was reading this article about Whoa!"

Chris turned around and raised an eyebrow at Wyatt who was now looking at him with a look of utterly surprise and a little bit disbelieve. "What?"

The blonde Twice Blessed shook his head. "Nothing, just didn't know you had so many tattoos."

See the thing with Chris tattoos were that they weren't a secret per se. His family knew about them. They saw some of them (means: the mitsu-tomoe on his neck and the black Triquetra he got on his left wrist half a year ago) every day. It wasn't a secret Chris liked his tattoos. Chris just wasn't the type of man who showed his tattoos off and with his wardrobe mostly consisting of t-Shirts and his favourite leather jacket, it wasn't usual to see the tattoos on his shoulders and/or shoulder blades. So maybe Wyatt's reaction was perfectly normal.

"Thought I told you about them." said Chris.

Again Wyatt shook his head. "Nope. Not one single time. I would remember something like that."

"You sound like I'm covered in tattoos." His tattoos belonged to him; he was very protective about them. So one word against the symbols inked on his skin and it was a word against Chris and his story. Wyatt seemed to realise this because he held his hands up in a calming gesture.

"I didn't mean it like this. It's just unusual, okay?" He stood up and walked towards the kitchen counter where he sat down on a stool and watched his little brother, curiosity clearly written over his features.

"Did it hurt?"

Chris raised the second eyebrow, now in amusement. "It's a needle. Yeah, it hurts. Not much...Well, it depends where you get a tattoo and how good you can handle pain. It's bearable. Why? Plan on getting one?"

Wyatt looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cooking jar. "Thought about it, yeah." He said sheepishly. Something you didn't see very often from one Wyatt Halliwell.

"Do you know what or where?"

The older snorted. "Thinking that maybe I would be interested in getting a tattoo was the only thought I had about this. So I have no idea. I don't even know if I want a tattoo." He scrunched his nose.

Chris smiled. "Are you afraid of the pain?"

"Well...You said it yourself, it's a needle."

"You fight demons on a daily basis and are afraid of needles? That's glorious!"

"Shut your cakehole! Everyone is afraid of something."

Chris just chuckled. "True that. All I can say is that if you really want a tattoo you keep up with the pain. And it's not hurting that bad."

Wyatt didn't look convinced. His brother sighed.

"If you really want to do this sometime I can come with you. It's easier if somebody is there with you. Trust me, I know."

"You would do that?"

"Sure. You're my brother and I can recommend the best tattoo artist I know. She's great and made all this!" Chris pointed at himself. "So, let me know if you're interested."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks, Chris."

"Anytime. And now I have to go. Meeting with my clique. Bye."

And with that he orbed himself out of the kitchen, leaving Wyatt deep in thoughts.