#or maybe it's just the chemistry between Ian Bohen and JR Bourne

[fiction-justanotherstateofmind]

Headcanon of the last minute.

Chris

What if Chris didn't want Melissa to know he was in town because the last time they'd spoken was when he'd broken up with her?

And what if he did it because he realized how much he felt for Peter and being a man of honor he decided he couldn't be with someone he didn't really love?

What if, once in Beacon Hills, he's nervous about being forced to team up with his ex-girlfriend and the man he left her for even though he knew he'd never be with him?

And what if he'd felt in competition with Peter because he subconsciously wanted to impress him and was jealous that the wolf was trying to impress Melissa instead?

And, again, what if, seeing Peter's interest in Melissa, he resigned himself, also remembering the soft spot that the man already had for her, and in the end, given Allison's return, he preferred to put himself aside to concentrate on his daughter?

Peter

What if Peter didn't know that Chris and Melissa had broken up¹, or that the hunter was the one who broke up with her² anyway, and was showing off to Melissa and competing with Chris just to poke and provoke him (all the jokes about prey and predator, wolf and hunter)?

And what if Peter didn't make bolder moves with him because, even though he was jealous, 1) he respected Melissa and didn't want to make Chris feel uncomfortable by getting in the way of their relationship or 2) he thought that given Chris' nervous and competitive attitude, he was still in love with Melissa and in the end respected him too much to throw salt in a still open wound?

What if in order to convince himself to give up on Chris he needed to paint him again as the villain / he still wanted to redefine their roles by clearly opposing the Argents and using Allison as an excuse?

Melissa

What if seeing them compete together Melissa, clever woman, understood that there was actually something between the two of them and connected the dots and guessed why Chris had left her and now felt like the mother of two hormonal teenagers (again)?

And what if, even though she didn't like Peter very much, she was sorry that the wolf seemed to reject Chirs and tried to console the hunter by agreeing with him and supporting him?

Some visual evidence: