Skyscrapers

by Ruby Ruby Ruby

*Repost - Written 2009* Piper and Prue live in an apartment and attend the same college while Phoebe and Paige are living at home with Grams in the manor. With a little persuasion Grams rounds all four sisters up and unites them for a weeklong cottage vacation.

Skyscrapers

One week. One cottage. One too many secrets. And five lives that will be changed forever.

Chapter 1- The Usual Suspects

Somewhere deep within the swirling images of Prue's dream the distinct sound of a phone was making its presence known. Prue groaned in frustration as the insistent ringing brought her consciousness to the surface and thrust her back into reality. A reality that consisted of her near unemployment for falling asleep at her desk. Again. Prue's head shot up and she made a mad dash to grab the phone before it cut off to the law office's answering machine.

"Hello, John Molton Law Offices, how may I help you?" Prue asked as coherently as possible, meaning that she slurred the first few words and finished the rest in monotone.

"Prue?" Piper's hesitant voice was on the line.

"Yeah, it's me. What's going on?" Prue moved her hand to her hair in an attempt to remove any evidence of desk head. To her surprise she found a post-it note accidentally stuck to her forehead. She peeled it off and read over her bosses' scribbled instructions for the Edwards case research.

"Prue? You there? Prue!" Piper's annoyed voice interrupted Prue's thoughts.

"I'm here."

"Well then I've got a question for you, why aren't you home?"

"Huh?" Prue looked down at her watch and squinted her eyes in confusion, her shift wasn't over for another hour.

"Grams. Dinner. Family Meeting. Sounding familiar?"

Prue bit her lip in realization. "That's tonight?" Piper's silence was enough of an answer for Prue. "Look, I'm not done here for another hour. I'm really tired and I have a huge paper due in my nine am art history class. You should just go without me."

"Nu uh. You used that excuse last time, and the three times before that. You're coming."

"I'm just not in a family mood Pipe."

"You're never in a family mood Prue. I'll pick you up at six." Prue opened her mouth to argue but the click of Piper's hang up beat her to it.

---

Phoebe weaved left, right, then left again before she saw her opening and dashed towards the goal. With one swift kick, the soccer ball bounced effortlessly off her foot towards the top left corner of the net. The goalie saw the ball flying towards her in slow motion but knew there was nothing to be done; Phoebe Halliwell's golden foot had struck again.

"I don't know how you do it Phoebe, you're completely stoned and you can still kick the other team's ass." Jenna said as she appeared beside Phoebe with an dramatic pout. "I on the other hand seem to be incapable of doing anything but falling down and staring at the ball intently." Phoebe grinned goofily at her best friend.

"I don't need my mind to play Jen, just my body and its instincts."

"Lucky bitch." Jenna said uncoordinatedly punching her friend in the arm. They started to jog back to their side of the field when they noticed their coach glaring at them intently. Both girls gave a big grin and waved with enthusiasm.

"When is this going to be over? I'm having some serious munchies." Jenna exclaimed as she took her place in as midfield. Phoebe shrugged silently and moved up to her starting position of centre forward with her game face on. The ref placed his hand in the air and Phoebe snapped her fingers three times as per her routine. The whistle blew and Phoebe was off again.

---

Paige sat up on the bed and looked down at her helpless victim, easily pinned down beneath her. She slowly shifted her weight so she could straddle Glenn while still sitting on his hands.

"Give up?" Paige asked as she ran her free hand along his side, knowing exactly where his weakness lay. Glenn shook his head and Paige grinned evilly, instantly finding the small circle right below his armpit that was most definitely his most ticklish area. Glenn's squirm was powerful, but Paige held her grip and successfully remained in control. "Any time now Glenn…"

"Okay, that's it. You're going down." Glenn muttered as he swung his seemingly trapped leg over Paige's and flipped her onto her back. His unexpected maneuver took her by surprise and she soon felt herself trapped by the weight of his body. He smiled triumphantly before bringing his lips onto hers. Paige tried to hide her devious smile as she kissed back passionately, doing that swirly tongue thing that she used to practice with Kevin Peters. Within seconds, his hands pulled away from restraining hers and began roaming up her body. Just as Paige saw the perfect opening to make her move, Glenn's hand disappeared under her shirt and she was mysteriously uninterested in enacting revenge. Right now anyway. Paige responded to his touch and wrapped her legs around his, shifting their weight slightly to the right.

"Ow. OW!" Paige yelled out in surprise.

"What? Am I hurting you?" Glenn pushed himself off her frantically. Paige's hand quickly disappeared behind her back and she yanked out a pencil. She looked between it and Glenn's amused face for a split second, before throwing it across his room.

"I guess that's what happens when you try to tutor me." Glenn said with a grin before returning to where they left off.

---

"Grams?" Prue yelled out as she opened the front door and hesitantly stepped into the silent manor. Piper tagged along behind her, silently maneuvering herself around the many shoes carelessly scattered in the entranceway. Prue's jaw dropped in absolute amazement as she glanced around the living room. The books spread haphazardly across the floor were shocking, but the piles of empty plates left on the coffee table and the presence of Phoebe's muddy soccer ball on the carpet floored Prue. There was no way that Grams would allow such chaos. Prue swiveled towards Piper in confusion and found no comfort in Piper's unsurprised expression. Before Prue could question anything, Grams' head appeared from around the corner with an excited yell.

"Oh good, you girls are here." It took no time at all for Piper to barrel past a bewildered Prue to give her grandmother a tight hug. Grams smiled quickly at Piper before looking up into Prue's face. "Close your mouth dear, you'll swallow the flies that are congregating in the living room." Prue gave a small snort before moving into Grams' outstretched arms. "It's been far too long since I saw you last Prudence."

"I've been busy with school and work." Prue said simply as she pulled back from the embrace and made her way into the kitchen, ignoring Piper's rolling eyes and Grams' sigh. Prue immediately opened the cupboard and grabbed herself a mug, emptying the last of the coffee pot. She rested her forehead on the door for a moment while chugging her coffee, before spinning around to face Grams and Piper as they entered the kitchen with smiles.

"So what's with the living room?" Prue asked as she sat down on a stool and glanced at the book lying on the kitchen counter. Grams sighed and walked over to the stove, stirring the two pots simultaneously.

"Phoebe refuses to do her chores and I refuse to clean up her mess." Grams paused as she pulled a series of herbs from the cupboard and began sprinkling them over the boiling sauce. "I'm going to smack some responsibility into her if it's the last thing I do." Grams stated angrily and Prue nodded absentmindedly while scanning through the book that clearly belonged to Paige. Contemporary Issues in Bioethics was no light read and it wasn't the first time that Prue felt that her baby sister easily surpassed her in intelligence. Prue held the book up to Piper and smirked at her pained expression. Both girls had just finished a heavy two weeks of college exams and had the erratic sleep schedules to prove it.

"Where are you two going to stay over the summer?" Grams asked as she joined silent granddaughters at the kitchen table. Piper stomach clenched in nervousness as she hesitantly looked over at Prue. Neither sister had discussed what they were going to do now that the rent contract on their apartment was up.

"We don't know yet Grams." Prue said without a moments pause, her eyes never leaving the empty coffee cup resting in her hands. Piper relaxed a little and gave Grams a small comforting smile.

"Well you girls are always welcome here." Before Piper could respond with a thank you, a loud bang erupted from the back door and a pair of muddy cleats came flying into the kitchen. "PHOEBE!" Both Piper and Prue jumped at Grams' raised voice, astounded by the sheer intensity of it. Sure Grams was scary when she was angry, but this was unreal.

"What?" Phoebe muttered with attitude and Prue raised her eyebrows at Piper.

"Pick your cleats up and put them in the laundry room. I cleaned this floor yesterday."

"Why? I thought you said I was grounded until I cleaned up after myself. Well I'm not going out tonight so I might as well leave them here." Phoebe said sarcastically before appearing from around the corner. She halted in surprise as she noticed the extra two people in the room, but soon shrugged it off and continued to stomp her way upstairs. She disappeared from view and Grams closed her eyes in frustration

"You let her get away with that?" Prue asked in shock.

"There's not much I can do, you know how stubborn she is. If I yell and threaten her she'll just sneak out and get herself into some real trouble." Grams sighed at Prue's look of disbelief. "It's a phase, she'll out grow it. After all, you two did."

"Hey! I was never that bad." Piper said with a pout.

"No dear, you weren't."

"But I was." Prue said quietly as she held her grandmother's gaze. Grams smiled at Prue's defeated expression and gently reached out to pat her hand.

"No Prudence, you weren't either. You certainly had your moments but Phoebe is one of a kind. A very irritating one of a kind." Prue laughed and Grams stood up and moved back towards the stove.

"We'll help set the table." Piper stated as she picked up Phoebe's cleats and moved towards the laundry room. She could hear Prue grabbing the plates from the cupboard as she turned the corner and made her way towards the backdoor. Piper yanked the old door open and threw the cleats outside, jumping in surprise as Paige yelped and dropped a half-finished cigarette.

"I'm sorry!" Piper exclaimed with wide eyes as she watched Paige rub her head where the cleat had left a muddy footprint in her hair. Paige blinked a few times before turning towards Piper in complete confusion.

"What are you doing here?"

"Family Dinner. Grams wants to talk to all of us about something." Piper said as she looked Paige up and down. The fifteen year old was still superbly skinny but she had suddenly begun to fill out in ways that Piper envied. Paige's dark curly hair hung loosely around her face and for the first time Piper saw a young woman in her kid sister. Paige's childish scowl at the pain in her head brought Piper out of her reflection but she still felt unnerved by Paige's rapid changes. It was in this moment that Piper remembered the cigarette burning quietly on the ground beside Paige's worn sneaker. She narrowed her eyes at Paige. "Why are you smoking?"

"Because I want to." Paige muttered as she pushed past Piper, channeling Phoebe's attitude perfectly. Piper placed the cleats by the door and extinguished Paige's smoldering cigarette with her shoe, before entering the manor with a heavy sigh.

---

"Prue, Piper, would you like some wine?" Grams asked as she set the final dish of food down and took her place at the head of the table. Prue nodded eagerly and Piper gave Grams a polite smile, both grateful as their glasses were filled.

"I'd like some too." Phoebe said as she held up her glass and looked at Grams hopefully.

"Nice try." Grams said with a smile as she ignored Phoebe's puppy eyes and placed the wine well out of reach. Phoebe scowled and went back to grumpily inhaling the excess of food on her plate. Piper exchanged an amused look with Prue before happily digging into the first home cooked meal she'd had in a month. Food on a student's budget wasn't exactly the feasts that she'd grown up with and nothing could recreate the feeling of home like Grams' homemade garlic bread.

"Paige, you're not eating." Grams said as she noticed her youngest granddaughter artistically spreading the food around her plate in symmetrical patterns.

"I already ate at Glenn's."

"Oh. I thought you were working at the library." Grams said as she passed Prue the plate of bread.

"We needed the computer so we went to his house."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's why you went to his house." Phoebe replied with a grin.

"Phoebe." Grams warned offhandedly without even looking up from her plate.

Paige glared at Phoebe. "What's wrong Paige, worried I'll tarnish your perfect image?" Phoebe taunted as she leaned forward on the table.

"Phoebe, that's enough." Grams said as she slammed her fork to her plate. Phoebe didn't even flinch and Piper gulped as Paige narrowed her eyes at Phoebe dangerously. Suddenly, Phoebe broken the intense staring competition and turned to Grams with a childish expression.

"Come on Grams, if this were me you wouldn't be sitting here calmly. Paige went to a boy's house without telling you, and all she gets is an oh."

"Fuck off Phoebe, just because you're a slut doesn't mean everyone else is." Paige snapped at Phoebe.

"Language!" Grams exclaimed as she threw Paige a look. Paige continued to stare Phoebe down and Grams cleared her throat, finally attracting Paige's attention. Paige sighed under her grandmother's scrutiny and mumbled an apology, her eyes returning to her plate. Once she was sure that Paige was defeated, Grams turned to Phoebe with a hard glare. "You can finish eating upstairs in your room."

Phoebe smiled triumphantly and slowly began to fill up her plate with a third portion. Prue exchanged a glance with Piper as she downed the rest of her wine. After taking the last piece of bread, Phoebe gave Paige one last snide look before skipping away to her room.

After a moment of awkward silence, the manor filled with the sounds of heavy metal blasting away in Phoebe's room and Grams gave the table a strained smile. "Paige dear, why don't you tell us about the new book you're reading?"

"I really don't want to." Paige said quietly as she sat back in her chair and continued to play with her food.

"Please. I'm sure your sisters would really like to hear about it." Grams said as she tried to dish out more spaghetti to Piper and Prue.

"I said that I don't want to!" Paige yelled loudly as she pushed her chair back from the table and stood up angrily. "I'm finished with dinner."

"I guess that's two for two for the moody teen phase then." Prue muttered as she watched the Paige storm by with her plate.

"I can hear you!" Paige yelled out angrily from the kitchen and Prue and Piper exchanged an amused look. Before anyone could comment, Paige re-entered the dining room and stomped towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" Grams asked and Paige put on her jacket with an overly dramatic sigh.

"Out." Grams simply raised her eyebrows and Paige growled in frustration. "I'm going to the park."

"Fine, but you need to be back at seven. I have to talk to you and your sisters." Paige nodded and quickly opened the door. "And Paige, you better not go to Glenn's. I'll be phoning his…" Grams trailed off as the door shut in the middle of her sentence.

"Well, aren't they a delight." Prue said after a minute of silence. She carefully refilled all three wine glasses before giving Grams a sympathetic look.

"There are no words to describe what they are."

The slam of the backdoor signified Paige's triumphant return and Prue sighed in relief. The eventful evening was coming to a close and Prue would soon be able to separate herself from Grams' all-knowing glances and her little sisters' teenage tantrums for an entire summer. After a few minutes of shuffling in the kitchen, Paige appeared in the living room and threw herself onto the couch next to Piper, tossing her feet onto the table. Prue was resting on a chair and Phoebe sat on the ground next to Prue's feet rolling a soccer ball around on the floor in front of her. Neither Phoebe nor Paige acknowledged the others presence and Grams let out a sigh of relief at the implied truce. Grams soon seated herself on the remaining couch and glanced over all four expectant faces.

"I have some good news for you girls." Grams paused and smiled. "We're going on a vacation."

Prue sat up straight. "What?"

"I managed to rent a lovely little cottage from my friend Alison. We're leaving early Saturday morning and we'll be staying in Bomerville for a week." Grams said with a proud smile and Piper paled visibly. Phoebe gulped and frantically looked at Paige, their earlier fight instantly forgotten.

"But I have a job interview next week. And I have to sign up for summer classes. And I have a doctor's appointment." Prue stuttered as she looked pleadingly at Grams.

"Reschedule them dear, this is a very rare opportunity." Grams said as she looked meaningfully at all four of her granddaughters. Phoebe and Paige were having a silent conversation with their eyes until Paige nodded slightly and turned her attention to Grams.

"I can't go, I have to work on my science fair project."

"The Science fair is in a month Paige, I hardly think you need to finish it by next week. Glenn needs to learn to do some of the work by himself anyway." Grams said with a knowing look. Before Paige could retaliate Phoebe stood up from her place on the floor and moved to the empty seat beside Grams, signaling for Paige to be silent.

"But Grams, I have the tristate provincials next week. This is a big game, coach said that scouts will be there." Phoebe whined, making sure to add a pathetic pout at the end.

"Phoebe, you've already been offered scholarships to your top three schools. I'm sure your team will survive without you for one game. And as for school…" Grams paused as she glanced over at Paige's scowling face behind Phoebe's pleading one, "I've already talked to your vice principal and she approved a week off."

"What? But they never do that…" Paige paused as she glanced up at Grams in confusion. "They never do that unless it's an emergency." Grams noticed the flicker of fear in her eyes and instantly shot her a reassuring smile.

"There's no need to worry dear, I'm just rather persuasive when I want to be." Paige nodded hesitantly.

"I still can't go Grams." Prue said a moment later.

"Prudence, I'm not asking, I'm telling. We are all going on this vacation and we are going to have a fun time. This is the last time we will do this for a very long time."

"I'm twenty-two years old Grams, you can't tell me what to do." Prue shot back defiantly.

"Maybe I can't tell you what to do, but I can certainly tell the bank to stop paying for your education." Prue sat in stunned silence as Grams words reverberated off the walls. Yelling was one thing, but threatening her college fund? That was an unmistakable challenge of authority in Prue's life and she was having none of it.

"I'm not going." Prue spat as she narrowed her eyes and glared at Grams.

"I'm not going either." Phoebe echoed as she sat back on the couch and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Me neither." Paige chimed in eagerly.

Grams sighed and went to open her mouth to argue when Piper suddenly sprung up from her position on the couch and turned to them. "Can't you see that Grams is trying to do something nice for all of you. You." Piper pointed her finger aggressively at Paige. "You can live for a week without your friends." She shifted her gaze to Phoebe and glared. "You can live without soccer." Piper finally turned towards Prue, but unlike with her younger sisters, Piper was unable to look Prue in the eye. Instead she looked at her feet and attempted to hold back the tears. "And you. You have no doctor's appointment, summer school registration isn't till the 16th and your job interview is tomorrow, not next week. I'm so sick of your drama and your poor me routine. This could be the last time we ever go on a family vacation together and all your worried about is yourself. I'm sorry that you're disappointed in us as your family, but we need you Prue, and if you can't do because you love us, do it because you owe us one final goodbye before you abandon us for your wonderful new life." Piper's words hung heavily in the air as she silently disappeared from the room and slammed the bathroom door shut. Phoebe and Paige exchanged identical glances of confused hurt, while Grams looked at the bathroom door with a sad sigh and Prue picked at her nails silently. After another moment of awkward silence, Prue pushed herself up from the couch and quickly walked towards the front door, stopping only when her hand rested on the door handle.

"Tell Piper I'll be at Tom's. She can have the car, I'll get a cab." Prue said quietly as she pushed the door open and moved onto the outside step. She paused again and sighed. "I'll see you on Saturday."

Grams gave a tiny nod and Prue soon walked out the door without another word.

"I'll go to the cottage too." Paige said as she stood up from the couch. Grams gave her a thankful smile and Paige shrugged self-consciously, before disappearing up the stairs to her room. Phoebe sat motionlessly on the couch, uncharacteristically quiet.

"Piper is just stressed, she didn't mean what she said." Grams said as she moved beside Phoebe and placed a comforting arm around her stiff shoulders.

"I still don't want to go on vacation Grams." Phoebe said as she sat back against the couch with a sigh, pulling away from Grams' embrace.

"Well listen here young lady, you're going whether…" Grams stopped mid-rant as a tear made its way down Phoebe's cheek. "What's really going on here Phoebe?"

"It's just…we fight too much Grams."

"Who?"

"All of us. I mean, Prue and I never got along. Paige still holds Piper's you're not my sister comment against her. Paige and I completely ignore each other at school. And now Piper and Prue aren't even friends. It's…we're bad sisters Grams."

"No darling, you're not. You're just different people and it will take some time to figure out how to get along."

"But what if we go away and have a fight… like the ones we used to have as kids but about grown up things. I'm really stupid sometimes Grams, and Prue might really leave for real…like Piper thinks."

"Phoebe, do you know what kind of car Prue drives?"

"What?" Phoebe looked at Grams in confusion, shifting nervously when Grams waited for her response. "Uh, a blue one?"

"What about her final research paper? Do you know the topic?" Phoebe shook her head. "Have you ever been to Piper and Prue's new apartment?"

"No." Phoebe answered quietly.

"So maybe instead of making things worse, this vacation might actually make things better. For all of us."

"But what if it doesn't?"

"But what if it does?" Grams replied with a look. Phoebe sighed and dropped her head on Grams shoulder.

"I guess." Grams smiled as she kissed Phoebe on top of the head.

"I'm glad you agree. Now…" Grams gave Phoebe one last squeeze before pushing her off the couch. "Be a dear and go make sure Paige is okay? I know you two don't get along all that well but she needs her big sister to make her talk about things. She keeps too many things to herself Phoebe and I worry about her." Phoebe nodded and Grams gave her a thankful smile. Phoebe soon disappeared up the stairs and Grams let out a sigh of relief she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. She slowly made her way towards the bathroom and the heartbreaking sobs coming from within.

"Piper honey, it's me." Grams said quietly as she knocked on the door gently. The distinct sound of the door unlocking could be heard and Grams hesitantly made her way inside. Piper sat silently on the edge of the bathtub, sniffing loudly as she looked up at her grandmother. "Oh Piper." Grams whispered as she bent down and pulled her granddaughter into a tight embrace. Piper collapsed into her grandmother's embrace and sobbed loudly. After a few moments Piper calmed down and sat peacefully beside Grams.

"What's wrong darling?" Grams asked quietly, stroking Piper's long hair.

"You're dying Grams." Grams scoffed at Piper's remark and tilted her face so that they met eye to eye.

"I am not dying. You don't think that I'd let some little heart flutter kill me, do you? I face Phoebe every day and live. The medication is going to get the condition under control and I'll be good as new in no time." Grams pulled Piper closer and rested her chin on the top of Piper's head. "You don't need to worry so much Piper, I'll be fine."

"But we're going on this vacation as a last trip, you even said it yourself. And no one even cares."

"We're taking this trip because we don't spend nearly enough time as a family. Phoebe is going off to college next year, and Paige soon after that. You'll all have your own lives and will soon have your own families. This isn't a last trip because I'm dying Piper, this is a last trip because you're all growing up. You can't get rid of me that easy."

"You're really okay?"

"I promise Piper. On my first husband's soul." Piper smiled at Grams' comment and relaxed. "Piper, your sisters don't know about my heart condition. You can't hold it against them." Piper sighed and shuffled her foot along the tile.

"I know. It's just…they're so wrapped up in their own lives, they forget about you and how much you need our help."

"Piper, I'm not an invalid. I am fully capable of taking care of myself and your sisters."

"I just wish you could count on us…all of us."

"I'm sure if I ever needed any of you, you'd all be there" Piper gave her a doubtful look and Grams smiled down at her. "Well you'll be pleased to know that thanks to your little outburst all three of your sisters have decided to come to the cottage with us."

"Really? Even Prue?" Piper asked in amazement.

"Especially Prue. You really got through to her Piper, and as much as she'll never admit it, she's glad you stood up to her."

"Mmm, I'm not so sure about that." Piper sighed and leant into her grandmother's embrace a little more. "We don't get along anymore Grams. She's so distant."

"She's growing into herself Piper. Just give her some time to figure out who she is and she'll come back to you." Piper sighed and nodded, resting her head on Grams' shoulder. Just as Grams was about to comfort Piper a little more the sounds of a door slamming could be heard upstairs.

"Fuck off Phoebe, I don't want to talk!"

"Well sooorry for trying to help. I can't help it if you're a bitch Paige!"

"GET OUT!"

"MAKE ME!"

Grams sighed and smiled at Piper, chuckling as the distinct sounds of a full-fledged Paige and Phoebe brawl broke out.

"God help us next week." Piper said as she snuggled back into her grandmother's arms.

"Oh don't be ridiculous darling." Grams said as she kicked the bathroom door shut, substantially muffling the sounds of the fight above them. "God's isn't going to want to have anything do with us."

---

Chapter 2- As Good as it Gets

"Phoebe, keep your feet on your side of the line or I'll kill you." Paige threatened, quite sincerely, as she whipped her ACDC sweatshirt at her sister's face. Paige was not a morning person, and nobody knew that better than her sisters.

"No." Phoebe mumbled incoherently as she cuddled up to Prue and fell back asleep. Paige growled and shoved Phoebe's feet violently off of her lap, curling her legs up to prevent Phoebe from putting her feet back where they were. In a rather uncoordinated flop, Phoebe's head knocked against Prue's bony shoulder and she sat up with a yelp of pain.

"Would you two quit it, we haven't even left yet." Prue stated grumpily as she looked longingly out the window at her car sitting in the driveway. Half of Prue's morning had revolved around a lively discussion with Grams about being able to take two separate cars. Grams had won out in the end and here Prue was, stuck in the back seat with the two most annoying people in the entire world.

"Prue, can I sit by the window?" Phoebe asked as she squirmed in the uncomfortable middle seat and purposely elbowed Paige in the ribs.

"No." Prue stated without even acknowledging her sister. Phoebe flung herself back into the seat dramatically as Paige turned her headphones onto full blast and closed her eyes in satisfaction.

After a moment of staring at the ceiling, Phoebe was bored of her pouting and poked Prue. "Do you remember the road trip song?"

"No."

"Mum used to sing it, remember?"

Prue rested her forehead on the cold pane and grunted in frustration. "Shut up Phoebe." Phoebe rolled her eyes as she readjusted her seatbelt, making sure to cross Paige's imaginary line. Twice.

"I bet Piper will sing it." Phoebe muttered just loud enough for Prue to hear.

Soon Grams and Piper appeared in the front, throwing the final bags into the car at their feet. With one forward jerk the car began moving and the Halliwell family vacation officially began.

"Are we all having fun yet?" Grams asked as she pulled out onto the street and pushed the pedal to the floor. Her only reply was Phoebe's light snoring as she keeled over onto Paige's shoulder, and the consequent smack as Paige shoved her off.

"Grams, I need to pee." Phoebe repeated as she threw a tennis ball into the air and caught it with her worn baseball glove. Prue rolled her eyes and went back to reading her book, attempting to send Piper a frustrated look through the side mirror. Unfortunately, Piper was too busy being confused by the exit signs and their lack of presence on the large road map she held out in front of her.

"Uh Grams, I think we missed the road." Piper said as she flipped the map over and turned in upside down. After one more minute of careful observation she put the map down and grunted. "Yep, we definitely missed it."

"No harm done, we'll just turn around and retrace our steps." Grams said happily as she pulled off the highway.

"Grams…" Phoebe whined. "I really do need to pee." Grams sighed quietly and stared Phoebe down in the rear view mirror. "Please." Phoebe restated without any trace of a whine.

"Okay dear." Grams said as she noticed a sign for a shopping mall and swung into the right lane. For the next few miles, the only sound that could be heard in the car was the rhythmic pattern of Phoebe's ball bouncing up and down and Paige's light breathing as she slept heavily with her face pressed against the window, her headphones still blaring bass. Grams soon pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store and killed the car engine. Prue was the first one to open a car door and she stood up stiffly, stretching her arms out beside her. Phoebe immediately scrambled from the inside of the car and ran towards the entrance of the supermarket, tossing an "I'll be back in a minute" over her shoulder to anyone who was listening. As Piper and Grams continued to argue about the map, Prue quietly retrieved her camera from her bag and made her way around the car, smiling at Paige's face cutely smushed against the window pane. Prue crouched down and lined her lens up, zooming in on Paige's flat nose perfectly. The camera flashed brightly and Paige's eyes flung open in a panic. Prue quickly hid the camera behind her back and opened the door to pull her disorientated sister from the car.

"Are we there yet?" Paige murmured as she glanced around in confusion.

"No dear, we're about two hours away. We stopped to get groceries." Grams said as she appeared from the car and began to fuss over Paige's wild hair. Whilst that little squabble got underway, Prue placed her camera back in her backpack and hesitantly made her way over to Piper.

"Hi." Prue tried, offering her hand out to pull Piper out of the car. Piper gave her yet another hurt look and turned her attention towards the map in her lap. "Okay, so I know you're still mad at me…but I came, right? And this is supposed to be a family…thing, so maybe we should call a truce for the week?" Piper continued to ignore her. "Please Pipe?"

After a few tense seconds, Piper put down the map and looked up at Prue, silently reading her sister's face.

"Prue! Piper! Come here please." Grams voice interrupted from the other side of the car. Piper hesitated for a second as Prue looked at her with that lost look she sometimes got when she was around water. Maybe she should forgive Prue? So what if Prue hadn't actually come home all week. Hadn't said a word to Piper until yesterday. Hadn't actually said sorry. At all. With a determined glare, Piper sprung up from her seat and pushed past her big sister. Prue threw her head back against the car and groaned, wondering for the millionth time how she had been so easily guilted into the worst trip of her life. But as she snuck a look at Piper, standing mournfully next to a pouting Paige, she knew she didn't really wonder. With one determined breath, Prue pulled herself together and made her way over to her dysfunctional family.

"Now I'm giving you girls $75 dollars each for food." Grams announced once Prue appeared at her side.

Paige glanced at Grams skeptically. "We can get whatever we want?" At Grams' nod, Paige perked up considerably.

"Is that really such a good idea?" Piper asked quietly as she watched the many possibilities of unlimited junk food flash through Paige's mind.

"Yes, you girls are all old enough to make decisions for yourself. It's your vacation and you can spend it eating whatever you want." Paige nodded eagerly with her hand already out. Soon, Prue stepped up beside her, happily embracing the concept of free food, while Piper remained glued to her grandmother's side, looking concerned.

A few minutes later, Paige ran her hand along the shelf holding an assortment of candy and chocolate bars as she assessed her options. So far she had cherry lollipops, cookies, popcorn and pop tarts in her basket. Ice cream would definitely be a good investment, but Phoebe would surely buy more than one carton, and although her sister was not good at sharing, Paige knew she'd be able to steal some. Paige also knew that she could count on Prue for having some type of fruit, just in case (and god forbid) she got sick of her sugary, starchy and amazingly calorific goodness. And as for real meals, American food guide style, she knew she could depend on Piper and Grams. Paige was suddenly hit with inspiration as she noticed a display of condiments at the end of the isle. One large, family sized container of peanut butter and another slightly smaller but just as important jar of Nutella later, Paige slammed into Phoebe and her fully stocked shopping cart.

"Hey sis." Phoebe said cheerfully as she reached around Paige and threw a jar of pickles into her pile. Paige narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Why are you being nice?"

"Can't a girl be happy that she's getting the food she wants and the chance to spend time with her family…" Phoebe trailed off as she looked at Paige's arched eyebrows. "Yeah, okay, I need your help."

"With what?" Paige asked as she examined Phoebe's cart's contents, trying to calculate how much of it she liked.

"I want alcohol and I need you to be my lookout."

Paige looked up in surprise. "But how are you going to buy it?" Her voice dropped to an excited whisper as she leaned in towards her sister. "Do you have a fake ID?"

"Shh! Do you know what Grams would do to me if she caught me with that?" Both girls paused in horror before Phoebe continued. "No, I'll just hit on some guy and get him to buy me it."

"Oh." Paige paused as she looked around nervously. "I want some too."

"No way."

"Why?" Paige glared at her sister.

"Because you'll get us caught."

"Uh, no I won't."

"Alcohol makes people do…strange things, and I don't think that the first time you drink should be around Grams..." Paige's snicker cut Phoebe off.

"You really think I've never been drunk before?" Paige shot her sister an amused look. "God, you're as bad as Prue."

"Hey! I am…" Phoebe paused and took a breath. "Fine, whatever, you've been drunk. I'm still not buying you alcohol."

"I'm only two years younger than you."

"Well then try again in two years." Phoebe said with a grunt. "Now, I need you to stand by the freezers and…" Phoebe stopped as Paige started to walk away from her.

"Grams! Oh Grams!" Paige yelled out as she flipped Phoebe the bird. "I have something to tell you GRAMS!"

"Shut up!" Phoebe hissed as she launched herself at her sister, pinning her against a wall of canned spaghetti. Paige smirked and opened her mouth.

"GRA..ow!" Paige rubbed her arm where Phoebe had pinched her. "Ready to cooperate Pheebs?"

"No you little…"

"Graaaaaaaaams!"

"Fine!" Phoebe screeched as she pushed herself away from Paige. "I'll get you something. Now shut up and stand by the freezers."

"Yes master." Paige yelled out as Phoebe stomped away towards a particularly dodgy looking twenty-something man in the next aisle over. "Bitch." Paige muttered to herself as she leant on Phoebe's cart and watched her sister giggle her way through an introduction. With a sigh, Paige pulled her attention away from the performance and pretended to read the ingredients on a package of fruit. "Ooh strawberries." Paige said to anyone who was listening. Which appeared to be one old lady loading up on frozen spinach at the end of the aisle. Paige threw the bag into the cart and stole another quick look at Phoebe, snorting as her sister did that hair flip thing she was secretly jealous of. Phoebe caught her eye and gave an overly animated wave, clearly channeling her inner blonde. Paige returned it hesitantly, desperately trying to keep a straight face. She didn't think that her efforts were all that successful because the man was suddenly pointing at her whilst Phoebe shook her head repeatedly. "Uh oh." Paige gulped as Phoebe shot her sister a rather unimpressed look over the man's shoulder and made a come here gesture.

"What's up Pheebs?" Paige asked brightly as she dragged the cart over to her sister.

"Well Paige, Mark wanted to meet you." Phoebe said in a sugary sweet tone that made Paige arm hurt with phantom punches.

"Um, hi?" Paige said as she turned to Mark with a confused smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Paige. Your sister was just telling me about the college party you two are having this weekend." Mark said as he shook her hand. Paige tried to bite down a laugh, rather noisily, and realized a bit too late that she suddenly looked like a giggly ditz. Mark's smile grew and Paige eyed up the bottle of vodka in his hand.

"Yeah, it's going to rock." Paige took in Phoebe's frown and glowed. "My sister's always telling me I get a little out of control when I'm drunk…" Paige leaned over the car, flashing Mark a fair bit of cleavage.

"Ha ha. You're are such a comedian Paige." Phoebe said with a fake laugh as she yanked her sister up and stepped on her foot. "Well, we're in a bit of a rush…with everyone arriving for the party and everything." Mark nodded, still running his eyes over Paige. "So here's the money and we'll meet you outside. "

"Well let's just wait a minute. I'm taking a pretty big risk for you ladies and I'm not so sure I'm getting anything in return." Mark said as he pocketed Phoebe's money.

"You can keep the change." Phoebe said through a strained smile.

"$4.50? Not really worth a jail sentence is it?" Mark said as he gave Phoebe a look.

"We're both 21." Phoebe snapped, finally tiring of her flirty routine.

"And I'm Brad Pitt." Mark replied as he carefully placed the two bottles of vodka into his cart. "So, how about I buy you these, and in return, I get to take your sister for a bit of a ride?"

"I don't think you want to do that… I get car sick really easily." Paige said, interrupting their stare down with a flirty smile. Mark's lecherous grin disappeared and Phoebe groaned, pulling her sister towards her.

"So not an option. We'll pay you twenty bucks extra." Phoebe said she wrapped a protective arm around Paige. Mark looked the two of them over, before shrugging.

"Deal. I'll meet you out front in ten minutes." Mark grabbed the extra money and turned towards the checkout line.

Both sisters starred at his retreating back for a moment before Phoebe pushed Paige away from her and smacked her on the head. "Don't ever do that again!"

"Phoebe, I…" Paige stopped as she dodged to avoid another hit.

"Do you know how dangerous a guy like that can be? God Paige, you were all over him" Phoebe continued to rant, smacking Paige as she went.

"Phoebe!" Paige said as she held her hands up in front of her.

"He could have…" Phoebe paused for a second mid-hit and Paige took the opportunity to shove her sister away from her.

"Phoebe, I knew exactly what he meant." Paige panted slightly out of breath. "I'm not stupid. I just played stupid to turn him off."

"What?" Phoebe said as she looked her sister over.

"I only acted like that cause you were there. I was trying to piss you off, not turn him on." Paige paused. "Well okay, I was trying to turn him on…but in like, a funny way, not a serious let's fuck in the parking lot kind of way."

Phoebe blinked, "Don't swear." Paige rolled her eyes and Phoebe sighed. "Just…be careful, okay? You might have a weird nose and absolutely no social skills, but you're kind of hot now, and guys are going to try to take advantage of that."

Paige opened her mouth to argue but came up with nothing. So she chucked a bag of frozen strawberries at her sister's head and took off running instead.

---

"It was a pleasure doing business with you." Mark said as he passed Paige their bag of liquor.

"Mmmhmm. Sure." Phoebe replied as she snatched the bag out of Paige's hands and hid it in her backpack. "Goodbye."

Mark shook his head in amusement and focused his attention on Paige again. "I always do what I can for a beautiful woman."

"Thanks," Paige paused awkwardly, "you know, for doing this and all." Phoebe rolled her eyes and rested her chin on Paige's shoulder, clearly staring Mark down.

"No problem." Mark flashed a cocky grin at both girls. "Are you sure I can't interest you in a drink?"

"Yes, I mean, no…no drink." Paige shuffled her sneaker on the ground. "We have to…"

"Well hi." Paige and Phoebe jumped apart with girly screams as Prue stuck her head in-between them. Prue gave Mark a quick once over before pointing to Phoebe. "Jail..." Prue switched her finger to Paige. "Bait."

"I was…"

"Just leaving? And so soon." The sarcasm in Prue's voice was almost as scary as the death grip she had on Paige and Phoebe's arms.

"Right. Well it was nice meeting you." Mark said as he gave Paige one final look. Prue narrowed her eyes dangerously and Mark stepped back. "See you around." All three sisters watched silently as he disappeared into his car and drove away.

A few tense minutes later, Prue spun her sisters around angrily. "What were you thinking talking to a guy like that?"

"That he'd make a great sugar daddy?" Phoebe replied with a nonchalant shrug.

Prue glared. Hard. "You cannot…" Prue paused to take a deep breath. "Drop the attitude Phoebe, I'm not in the mood."

"What attitude?" Phoebe grinned as Prue's jaw clenched.

"We were just talking Prue." Paige chimed in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "He was…" She faltered as Prue and Phoebe's attention swung to her, "…being nice?" Paige would have laughed at her sisters' simultaneous eye rolls if Prue's grip on her arm didn't hurt so much.

"Men like that aren't nice Paige." Prue replied offhandedly before focusing back on Phoebe. "I know you have this tortured teen thing going on, but you cannot put your life at risk like that."

Phoebe scoffed. "Risk my life? I was talking to one guy…well, Paige…never mind." Phoebe stopped as she shook her head, obviously rethinking that strategy.

"Paige was what Phoebe?" Prue asked with an icy cold tone. Phoebe sighed and pulled free of Prue's grip.

"Paige was trying to stop me." Phoebe answered with a sarcastic grin. Paige concentrated on her shoes and Prue regarded her carefully. After a few seconds of tense silence, Prue cleared her throat expectantly and Paige raised her eyes up, wincing at Prue's undivided attention.

"No, I..uh, I was the one talking to him." Paige admitted quietly. Prue gave Paige one disappointed head shake before angrily spinning towards Phoebe.

"That's what I thought. I cannot believe that you would let your little sister talk to a stranger! You are so damn irresponsible."

"Wait, what?" Phoebe stared at Prue in disbelief. "Paige just tells you that she was the one who was talking to him and I get in trouble?" Phoebe threw her hands up and started to walk away. "You haven't changed a bit."

"Prue, it was my idea. I…" Paige trailed off as Prue ran after Phoebe.

"Me? You're the one that still acts like a five year old! Do you even know how hard you make Grams' life?" Phoebe spun around at Prue's words and stepped right into her personal space.

"At least I see her more than once a year!"

"Hey!" Paige yelled out pushing her sisters apart. "I was the one talking to the guy and I don't see anything wrong with it."

"Well I certainly do." Prue scoffed as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"I'm fifteen. It's not like I've never talked to boys before and I can handle…"

"Yes, boys. But men are a very different thing. You have to…"

"Stop patronizing me Prue! I was talking to the guy for two minutes, not following him home." Paige paused to take a deep breath. "Neither of you needed to protect me from him."

"But Paige…" Phoebe stopped abruptly as Paige threw her hand up, clearly one step away from tears.

"Just leave me alone." Paige shot Prue a glare. "Both of you." And with those final words, Paige spun around and stomped away towards the car. Phoebe and Prue watched her walk away silently, before Prue shook it off and turned towards Phoebe.

"You were protecting her?" The question in Prue's statement was too much for Phoebe to take and she gave Prue one last hateful glare, before storming away in the opposite direction. Prue shook her head in disbelief. This was going to be a long week.

---

Piper was beginning to see where Prue was coming from. She loved her baby sisters, wholeheartedly, but they could certainly be…difficult. After their grocery store stop, Piper had given up her spot in the front seat for the peace of sitting the back, free of navigator obligations. Of course, the obligation of keeping herself sane as Phoebe chewed her gym like a horse and Paige crooned along to her music was a bit underestimated in her original calculation. And what was that smell?

"You're so gross!" Paige suddenly exclaimed as she ripped her headphones off and wound her window down frantically. There was no need to clarify the "you" in that statement, Phoebe's proud grin was all the proof Piper needed to connect the dots

"Damn Phoebe, that's disgusting." Prue chimed in from the front seat as the odor wafted its way into the front.

Grams was in the process of giving Prue a reproachful look for her poor language when she too was overwhelmed with the horrendous smell and decided to pass up eliminating her granddaughter's potty mouth for survival. "Oh my."

Meanwhile, Piper was choking to death on an infamous Phoebe fart bomb with no possible exit. Yes, Piper was beginning to see where Prue was coming from.

---

Ten minutes later, the car was free of noxious gases and Piper was back to silently observing her sisters. She knew something had gone down at the grocery store, Paige's red eyes and Prue's clenched jaw were textbook signs for a good old fashioned brawl, but like most things the Halliwell family, Piper remained firmly in the dark. Usually, she'd just wrestle the truth out of Prue and be done with it. But she couldn't really do that and keep up her passive-aggressive silent treatment. And Prue was really pissing her off. With a deep sigh, Piper sank back into her seat and watched the scenery fly by. Maybe she could talk to Phoebe? Phoebe certainly couldn't keep a secret to save her life...but Phoebe's version of events tended to be a little on the biased side, and well, Piper had learned that taking Phoebe's word on anything was asking for trouble. Plus, Phoebe had been her normal perky self since she got into the car. Who knows if she was even involved with the fight? No, the key to the puzzle was Paige. Which was really unfortunate because there was no way Paige would talk to Piper.

Like always, Paige remained a complete mystery to Piper. To some degree Piper had made peace with this fact, she knew that Paige was highly sensitive about being their half-sister and that her littlest sister would always be fiercely independent. Which was fine, except for the fact that Paige spent most of her childhood alienating herself from her sisters in an attempt to be different. Piper understood her need to have a separate identity, living under Prue's overachieving shadow was lesson enough, but somewhere along the way, Piper had lost Paige to the sullen teenager sitting beside her. Piper always had the sisterly instincts for Phoebe and Prue, she knew how they worked and what they needed, but Paige had never opened up enough for Piper to figure her out, and their relationship remained awkward at the best of times. Naturally, Prue barreled through Paige's defenses as a mother figure who wouldn't take no for an answer, whilst Phoebe bonded with her as a best friend, the two of them always teaming up against Grams and Prue's authority. But Piper was too quiet to be forceful with Paige, and like Grams always said, Piper and Paige were too similar for their own good. And so, when Paige snapped at Grams last Christmas saying that she didn't want to be part of the family, Piper had jumped to her grandmother's defense by reminding Paige that she was only half related to them anyway. Paige had camped out at Glenn's for three days before the whole thing blew over with cherry Garcia ice cream and a lot of apologizing, but Paige had never looked at Piper in quite the same way.

With a heavy sigh, Piper pulled her attention away from Paige and jumped as she came face to face with Prue. Clearly her inner monologue had been a bit more sigh laden then she thought and Prue had spun in her seat to check up on her sister. Piper scanned her sister's eyes, and after seeing nothing but concern, she slowly leant forward. Dwelling on her past with Paige had made Piper a great deal more devoted to keeping her sisters' around. Especially the ones that liked her. Prue raised her eyebrow, clearly not expecting Piper's amenable response, before she was smacked on the head. Piper sat back in her seat, satisfied.

"You're an ass...but I forgive you."

"Piper!" Grams chastised from the front as Phoebe pumped her fist with an energetic, "Go Piper Go!"

And all Prue could do was grin.

---

"Seriously?"

"Oh girls isn't it delightful!" Grams exclaimed as she unlocked the rickety front door and entered the rustic cabin.

"No electricity?" Phoebe asked as she trailed behind her grandmother in a daze.

"Seriously?" Prue repeated from the front yard where she was still frozen in shock. Piper grabbed her hand and yanked her inside, rolling her eyes all the while.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. It's like…camping." Piper tried as they looked around the small room that doubled as a living space and kitchen. The walls and ceiling were built out of aged wood, the slate floor was covered in rich red carpets and the centre piece of the room was an ancient woodstove. Paige wandered in behind them, silently inspecting a few odd pieces of vintage furniture and a bookshelf of dusty books.

She caught Grams' eye and smiled. "Very cool."

"Uh, guys….you're going to want to take a look at this." Phoebe muffled voice interrupted from a room in the back. Prue and Piper exchanged concerned looks, whilst Paige skipped past them in curiosity.

"You have got to be kidding me." Prue groaned into Piper's shoulder as she took a look inside. Aside from a wooden bedside table, all the bedroom contained was two sets of bunk beds pushed against opposing walls.

"Dude, I'm so on the top!" Paige declared with fervor as she dumped her backpack onto the floor and scrambled up to a top bunk.

"I bet you say that to all the boys." Phoebe teased as she gracefully hoisted herself up onto the opposing top bunk without the use of a ladder.

"Only to Jimmy." Paige shot back playfully in light of her good mood. Paige certainly hadn't forgotten the fight with her sisters, but the general awesomeness of the cabin was putting her in a forgiving kind of mindset. For now.

"Now girls..." Grams interjected as she appeared behind Prue and Piper, rather concerned at the words she'd heard echoing around the cabin.

"Don't worry Grams, I'm not actually sleeping with Phoebe's boyfriend." Paige clarified with a laugh. Grams made a few vague tutting noises, generally unconcerned with their nonviolent squabble, before she turned her attention to Prue whining away at the doorway.

As Grams' turned her back, Phoebe stuck her tongue out at Paige and wiggled it around in a rather suggestive matter, freezing mid-thrust as she noticed Piper staring at her. By the time Prue and Grams turned around to check on the source of Piper's gobsmacked expression, Phoebe was swinging her legs back and forth over the side of the bed, grinning innocently. Paige laughed so hard she nearly fell off the bed, and for the first time in a long time, neither Grams nor Prue could bring themselves to tell Phoebe off.

---

Chapter 3: Breakfast Club

"You're up early."

Prue looked up from her position on the floor, surrounded by an assortment of camera lenses, film rolls, tripods and technical bits. "Couldn't sleep."

Piper pursed her lips as she sat down next to her sister. "What time did you wake up?"

Prue shrugged as she turned back to fiddling with her equipment. "Don't know." Piper remained silent and Prue sighed. "Probably around six. I took a walk to check this place out."

"And?"

"Tree tree squirrel." Prue noticed Piper's unimpressed glare. "Oh stop, I slept fine. My insomnia is not back. Phoebe was kicking around all night and the birds woke me up at dawn. You worry too much."

"Yeah yeah." Piper muttered as she grabbed a lens and peered at Prue through it.

"No touching!" Prue barked as she snatched it off of her sister and placed it back into its rightful pile. Piper rolled her eyes and stretched her legs out in front of her.

"You suck."

"Mmhmm." Prue mumbled distractedly as she finished winding up the film in her camera. "Done." Piper smiled and they soon fell into a comfortable silence.

While Prue packed up her gear, Piper leant back against the couch and looked around. "This place looks better in daylight." Prue paused what she was doing to raise her eyebrows, obviously unconvinced by Piper's enthusiasm. "Well okay, it's still a bit dusty. And small. But isn't it nice to just get away from it all for a while? No phones, no tv..."

"No coffee." Prue added.

"There's coffee. I bought instant yesterday."

"Instant is not coffee."

"Well it's what we got, so stop being a scourge and enjoy the simple life." Piper said with a teasing finger wag in her sister's direction. Prue didn't smile like Piper expected, and she suddenly found herself being stared at a little too intensely.

"So...if I drink instant coffee you'll stop being mad at me?" Prue asked, aiming for casual indifference, but Piper could hear the undercurrent of tension in her voice.

Piper's smile dropped and she sighed. "I'm not mad at you."

"Yeah, you are. I know you Piper, and this is you being mad."

"I'm..." Piper paused to think. "Okay, I was mad. Very mad. But you're here now, and well, it's not so wrong for you to want a life of your own. It's just... it hurts when you don't want to be with us Prue..."

"It's not you I don't want to be around. God Piper, you're the last person I want out of my life." Prue reached out grab Piper's hand. "Grams, Phoebe and Paige? I love them, I truly do, but they're just too damn hard to be with. I'm never good enough for Grams, and all I feel when I look at Phoebe and Paige is guilt."

"What? Why?" Piper asked in confusion.

"Because I resent them for their freedom."

"Prue, you gave up so much to raise us. You don't have to keep sacrificing yourself."

Prue pulled her hand back in frustration. "Look, I'm either Prue the girl or Prue the big sister. There's no in-between. The only way I can live my life, for me, is be separate from this family. And the second I get sucked back in to the... madness of everything, I lose myself. I'm not a confident twenty-two year old around them, I'm an orphan desperately trying please her grandmother and save her sisters, and I hate it."

"Oh Prue." Piper pulled her sister in to a hug. "You're such an idiot." Prue's watery snort by her ear made Piper pull back with a smile. "I'm not sure if you've ever realised this...but you're a control freak." Prue gave Piper an incredulous look. "Oh shush, I'm not done. You want to be everything to everyone and you can't."

"And?" Prue motioned for Piper to continue.

"And that's it. You're tearing yourself up over nothing. Grams is already so proud of you, she doesn't want anything but you in her life. Well okay, I'm sure she'll still go at you for your rather revealing taste in clothes. And language. But generally, you'll make the grade without even trying. And as for the dynamic duo, they just want their big sister. They want someone to give them advice on boys and makeup and all those popular kid things I never mastered. It's not rocket science Prue, you just have to be there."

"But I can't be there...wait a minute, what's wrong with my clothes?"

Piper laughed before resting her head on Prue's shoulder. "You can be there, you just have to stop putting so much pressure on yourself. You're already great, stop worrying so much."

Prue used the back of her hand to check Piper's temperature. "Stop worrying? Are you feeling okay?"

"Ha ha." Piper replied dryly, before pulling herself off the ground. Piper loved her sister dearly, but she was a stubborn ass and it was just going to take several more verbal smacks for some semblance of the truth to sink in. So Piper did what Piper always did best. "Breakfast?"

Prue quirked an eyebrow as Piper held out her hand to help her up. "In that kitchen? Good luck." Piper looked over her shoulder in concern. There was no running water in the cottage, so the sink was a mere bucket. In the corner there was an ice box, currently lacking ice, and thus, nothing more than an off green box holding their slowly defrosting food supplies. And the kitchen utensils were limited to a single knife, two plastic bowls, a baking tray, one large wooden spoon and a few cooper pots, blackened with use.

"I can handle it." Piper stated confidently as she walked over to the wood stove and inspected its old fashioned charms.

"Ah huh." Prue added doubtfully once she was on her feet. She walked over the window, and yanked it open, smiling as the warm spring air swept into the dusty room. Immediately outside the cabin's front entrance was a lush garden, filled with impressive flowers, mowed grass, stone sculptures and two padded sun beds. An overturned row boat lay off to the side, almost hidden behind a rickety utility shed, and at the edge of the lawn was a series of steps that led to an impressive wooden dock, floating ominously on the calm lake. The back entrance of the cabin opened up into a dense forest and the long winding gravel road they had traversed to get there. It really was an amazingly scenic place, but Prue couldn't quite get over how close lake was to the cabin or how trapped she felt in the middle of nowhere.

Whilst Prue continued to muse silently at the window, Piper was busy rummaging around in a rather sparse stack of wood. Once she was satisfied with her odd selection of kindling, she unlatched an oversized handle and struggled with the rusty door of the iron stove. With a few flamboyant pulls, it grudgingly creaked open and Piper tossed her wood in with a 'take that' nod. The cabin itself was dimly lit with the daylight streaming in from a few small windows, but the inside of the stove was pitch black, so when Piper peered in to check out the chimney, the last thing she was expecting was a rat to come flying out of nowhere, bounce off her nose and squeal its way across the floor. Piper screamed. Prue jumped. Phoebe fell out of bed. Grams appeared out of nowhere, broom in hand. And Paige slept. Soundly.

By the time Phoebe stumbled out of the bedroom and into the living room to see what the hell was going on, Piper was on top of the kitchen table screaming unintelligible things with her hands over her eyes. Phoebe's stunned expression lasted for as long as it took for her to notice that the rat, Prue and Grams were barrelling towards her in a comedic procession of squealing, yelling and broom swinging, respectively. With a jump, Phoebe leapt out the way, grabbed a cushion from the couch and joined the chaos, a bit taken back at Grams' spryness and Prue's less than lady like threats.

"Left! Left Prue! Oh, don't hurt it!" Piper shouted as she watched through her fingers. As they all made their third circuit around the room, the rat finally decided that it'd had enough, and it doubled back on its pursuers. Prue was first in line, and as the rat made a mad dash towards her feet, she leapt up onto the first piece of available furniture with a less than dignified shout. Phoebe was next, and with a shriek that put Piper, Prue and the rat to shame, she vaulted over a side table and body slammed Prue into the couch. Meanwhile, Grams calmly swatted at the rat, pushing it out the front door and out of their lives forever. By the time she reappeared, dusting off her hands casually, Prue was groaning in a concussed state, Piper was still standing on the table with her eyes completely covered and Phoebe was sprawled out on the floor.

"The world might be in a bit of trouble." Grams grumbled to herself as she took in the state of the future Charmed Ones.

---

"Phoebe, that's disgusting." Piper muttered as she watched her sister make a corn pop and ice cream sandwich. After the rat fiasco, Piper limited her breakfast making ambitions to coffee and her sisters had been left to fend for themselves.

"What? The ice cream is already half melted cause we don't have a freezer. I have to eat it now."

"Yeah, but with corn pops?"

Phoebe shrugged. "It's breakfast."

"Phoebe logic." Prue clarified as she stole another bite of Piper's untoasted toast despite her numerous claims that she wasn't hungry. "So Pheebs, what exciting things are you going to do today?"

Phoebe snorted. "Well I thought I'd do a few coke lines, invite some prostitutes over, take a ride on my Harley. You know, the usual."

"Fabulous." Prue deadpanned.

"Well you said exciting things. There's not much around here that's exciting."

"That's not true. There's the lake, obviously, and I found a couple of bikes in the shed, and there's lots of space to kick a ball around. Or throw a ball around. Or roll..."

"I get it." Phoebe cut off, giving Prue a strange look. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm just trying to be nice."

Prue shot Phoebe an overly enthusiastic smile and Phoebe turned to Piper accusingly."What did you do to her?"

"She didn't do anything. I'm just getting into the vacation spirit." Prue replied evenly, downing the rest of her coffee in one gulp. Piper nodded in support and Phoebe made a face at them.

"You're both very weird." Phoebe paused to take a bite of her melting sandwich, generally unconcerned with her diagnosis. "Where's Grams?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Prue chastised and Phoebe rolled her eyes. "She went into town to find out about a generator. She won't be back till dinner."

"Great. So we're stuck here with no car."

"Not stuck...blessed...we're blessed to be here with no car and tons of things to do. I bet that today will be so much fun." Prue said as she stood up from the table with an animated head bob and disappeared into the bedroom.

"Weird." Phoebe repeated and Piper couldn't help but agree.

---

"God I'm bored." Prue stated as she threw her book down onto the grass. Piper looked up from her romance novel with a groan.

"You're not relaxing Prue."

"I'm trying...but it's too hard." Prue rolled over onto her stomach on her sun bed with a dramatic sigh. After breakfast, Prue and Piper had retired to the lawn with drinks, snacks and a promise to do nothing all day. Prue lasted an hour. Piper lifted her sunglasses to glare properly.

"Try harder."

"Yeah, ye..." Prue trailed off as she noticed two figures making their way up from the dock towards the lawn. "Little sister alert." Prue muttered to Piper out the side of her mouth.

"Crap." Piper said as she put her book down and closed her eyes.

"You can't leave me with them!" Prue whispered angrily.

"I can't hear you...I'm sleeping."

"I'm going to..." Prue trailed off as Phoebe and Paige entered hearing range. There just wasn't time, and Prue only had her book as a weapon. With a heavy sigh, she grabbed it and held it up over her face, double checking to make sure she had it the right way up. Because, well, it wouldn't be the first time she'd been caught pretending to be a tad more academically inclined than she was.

A few seconds later, two dark shadows loomed over Prue, effectively blocking the sun and any chance of escape. "I'm sooo bored." Phoebe whined as she poked Prue's thigh.

Prue looked up from her book casually. "Oh Phoebe, I didn't see you there." Phoebe grunted and Prue smacked Piper on the ass with her book. Piper opened her eyes in a vaguely sleepy manor and grinned at Prue.

"Sorry, I must have nodded off." Prue was about to comment, undoubtedly with a few choice words, when Phoebe flung herself onto Prue's bed.

"Get off! Get off! You're wet!" Prue cried out as Phoebe' dripped all over her. Paige and Phoebe had obviously been swimming in the lake, and Phoebe was soaking wet, freezing cold and barely covered by a –Prue's! – bikini. "That's mine!"

Phoebe looked down at her cleavage and shrugged. "Piper's didn't fit."

"Hey!" Piper interjected, sitting up on her bed to glare in Phoebe's general direction.

"Whatever." Phoebe said with a wave of her hand, getting comfortable on Prue's bed. "Whatcha doing?"

Paige was still hovering around Prue's feet, looking miserable in long sleeves, knee-length shorts and a big floppy hat. To say that Paige was not a fan of the sun was a severe understatement. Prue pushed Phoebe away from her and moved to the side, giving Paige room to sit down.

"Piper and I are having a wonderful time relaxing." Prue answered as she put her hands behind her head, blatantly ignoring Piper as she laughed into a pretend cough.

"That's nice, we're bored." Phoebe said as she leant back, trying to rest on Prue's legs. Prue pulled them away and Phoebe glared, moving to Piper's lounge chair in retaliation.

"Well find something to do." Prue readjusted herself in the extra room. "Piper and I aren't here to entertain you."

"What are you reading about?" Paige asked as she checked out the cover of the book still clutched in Prue's hands.

"The Rococo Period."

"Like Boucher and Vigée-Le Brun type stuff?" Off Prue's impressed look, Paige blushed and shrugged. "I like art."

"That's reall..." Prue was interrupted by a commotion on the bed beside them.

"Phoebe!" Piper screeched as Phoebe leapt off her chair and took off in a sprint. Piper was in hot pursuit, but Phoebe artfully dodged her sister's advances around the lawn, reading aloud from the book she had stolen from Piper as she went.

"Antonio pulsated with love for Elisa, and he lunged towards her..." Phoebe paused to leap over Prue and Paige sitting on the sun bed.

"You're reading porn?" Prue asked incredulously.

"It's a love story!" Piper yelled as she cleared the sun bed a moment later. Piper chased after her sister for a few laps around the yard, before Phoebe spun and pretended to give Piper the book. As Piper reached for it, Phoebe snapped it away and grinned.

"Her lily-white bosom heaved with the knowledge that this was heaven." Phoebe walked backwards, holding the book just out of Piper's reach. "He was bestowed with such..." Phoebe snorted, "looove that reared to life as he stilled his hand against her beating heart." Piper groaned and doubled her efforts, continually lunging after her bratty little sister. A few swipes later, Piper's plan came together and Phoebe slammed into a wall, having inadvertently backed herself into a corner with her diverted attention.

"Give it back." Piper commanded as she held her hand out. Phoebe grinned and telegraphed a move to the left, only to spin around and dash through an opening on Piper's right. But Piper wasn't done yet and she made a last minute grab to pull at whatever she could. Phoebe's top popped off with a cartoon like fling, and she knew she was done for as she tripped over herself in an effort to cover her ample chest and hold on to the book. She soon felt Piper catching up to her from behind, and in a last minute attempt to save herself, Phoebe chucked the book at Paige. It didn't work, and Piper tackled her sister into an undignified heap. Across the lawn, Paige caught book triumphantly, but her victory was short-lived as Prue eagerly snatched it out of her hands. Piper sighed in relief, rolling off of Phoebe to catch her breath, eternally grateful for her big sister's intervention.

"And he moved towards her with the familiar rhythm of the steam engine train he drove by day, and now, by night..." Prue read loudly, looking at Piper in disbelief. Piper turned to the sky and groaned.

---

A few minutes later, Derailed was back in Piper's possession and Phoebe was once again partially clothed in her bikini. Paige was still sitting on the end of Prue's lounge chair, doodling away her sketchpad while Phoebe flipped through a magazine, banned to grass beside her sisters.

"This is still boring." Phoebe singsonged as she continued to whip her way through more what not to wear sections than she had time for. Paige shrugged without taking her eyes off her drawing while Prue and Piper didn't even acknowledge her complaints. Phoebe quirked an eyebrow at their inattention. "Wow this sure is a nice dress, I wonder if $400 is too much to spend on clothes?" Still no response. "And this tattoo looks cool. Maybe I should get it on my shoulder?" Phoebe grinned as Prue turned the page a little too carelessly. "Well hello dangerous looking man of an unacceptable age...break me off a piece of that." Flip. Flip. Flip. "And look...tips for the bedroom. Now what can you do with ice, rope and choco..."

"Phoebe! For the love of god, shut up!" Piper snapped as she threw her book down. "Go find something to do."

"Hey guys, I found a quiz for you. Are you boring?" Phoebe smirked as she lay back on the grass. "Question one..."

"Get!" Prue ordered without even looking up from her book.

"But beloved sister, how could you deprive yourself of my presence?"

"Because I'm a glutton for suffering, now go!" Phoebe rolled her eyes and pulled herself off the ground.

"Come on Paige." Paige looked up from her drawing sharply.

"But..." Paige was cut off by Prue.

"She doesn't have to leave because she's behaving herself."

"I'm going to do that thing we said we'd try to do earlier." Phoebe said, completely ignoring Prue.

"The..." Paige paused to point to the sky. "Or the other thing?"

"The..." Phoebe gave Paige a subtle nod.

"Cool." Paige replied as she tossed her sketchbook to the side and jumped up. Phoebe shot Prue one smug look before the two of them walked away towards the cabin.

"Should we be scared?" Piper asked as she watched them go.

"Very."

---

"Now this is fun." Phoebe stated as she looked over the edge of the cabin roof. Both girls had climbed the big oak tree near the back door, jumped onto the window ledge, and scaled the roof with practiced ease.

"But...isn't it just like sitting down on the lawn? But you know, high?" Paige said as she plunked down beside her sister. Phoebe brushed her off, focusing on spreading out the towel she had brought up with her instead.

"It's fun because...well because." Phoebe lay down. "Now give me your walkman."

"Funny." Paige muttered as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Uh dumbass, I'm not kidding. If I'm supposed to lay here all still and shit, I might as well listen to something."

"You hate my dance music Phoebe." Paige said as she looked at her sister in confusion.

"Desperate times and all that." Phoebe pouted a little when Paige looked unconvinced. "Come on, I'll even share with you."

"Share my own walkman with me? My sister...my hero!" Paige exclaimed with an exaggerated swoon.

"Shut up runt." Off Paige's unimpressed eyebrow raise Phoebe tried again. "I mean, because your skinny and all."

"Who am I, Prue? I don't care about being skinny." Paige paused. "Much."

"Well regardless, you're skinny...beautiful...magnificent. Whatever you want. Now can I have your music?" Paige gave Phoebe once last doubtful look before pulled her walkman out of her pocket and gave Phoebe a sheepish grin.

"It's Nirvana."

"My Nirvana CD?"

"Whoops?" Paige tried, holding out the walkman like a gift.

"You know, I liked this you copying me thing much more when we were younger and my things didn't get stolen..."

"I'm not copying you, it's just...Glenn said they were good so I borrowed it last week."

"Ah huh." Phoebe paused a moment to turn the device on and put the earphones in her ear. "Just for that, I'm not sharing."

"Whatever." Paige mumbled, resting her chin on her knees. Phoebe closed her eyes and relaxed. For a minute. With a resigned sigh, she opened one eye to check on Paige and felt some concern stir as her sister gazed at the lake with a tiny frown.

"Fine, whatever. You can listen." Phoebe sat up and offered the right ear bud to her sister. Paige looked at Phoebe suspiciously as she attached the device to her ear.

Once she was certain that her sister wasn't going to snatch the earpiece back, Paige spoke up. "Turn it up. Are you Grams?" Phoebe glared in teenage indignation and spun the dial to its highest setting. A few songs later, Paige let go of her knees and joined Phoebe at the edge, swinging her legs over the side of the roof with a smile.

---

Piper snapped awake from her PG-13 rated dreams when a horrendous noise infiltrated her consciousness.

"Come as you are. As you were. As I want you to be." Piper blinked in confusion as she turned around and watched two figures singing and dancing on the cottage roof.

"Is that? Are they?"

"Yep." Prue stated, eyes never leaving her book. "Stop looking, it'll only encourage them."

"And I swear. That I don't have a gun. No I don't have a gun. No I don't have a gun." There was out of control giggling between lines, echoing loudly across the lake. "Memory ahh. Memory ahh. Memory ahh!"

"Wow, that's not pleasant." Piper stated the two very off key voices continued on, air guitars in sight.

"No, but they're having fun and leaving us alone, so just pretend...It. Never. Happened." Prue instructed with a look, and Piper shrugged, more than happy to return to her mid-afternoon nap.

---

"All day?" Grams asked in shock.

"All day." Piper replied, as she dipped another dish into the lukewarm water. "I mean, there were little...disagreements, but not real fights." Grams shook her head in amazement and finished clearing the dining table. Her search for a generator in the next town over had been less than fruitful, despite her formidable inquiries, but she had managed to gather up enough ice, candles, flashlights and tinned food to last them the week. Naturally, Prue and Phoebe made complaints upon her return, but with far less zeal than she was expecting, and Grams had a sneaking suspicion that her girls might just enjoy the cabin after all.

"I'm finished." Prue announced she appeared in the kitchen and dropped a lighter onto the table. Whilst Grams and Piper cleaned up after supper, Prue had been assigned the task of lighting up the living room with candles and Paige and Phoebe had been sent out back to chop wood. Although the weather was nice for April, the nights still had a bit of bite, and Grams felt that the heat and smell of a fire in the wood stove would be a welcomed comfort. Piper finished up with the dishes, and Grams declared their evening chores done. Soon Paige and Phoebe tramped their way inside, rosy cheeked from their efforts and giggling about something or another. Grams nearly choked on her tea as Phoebe gave Paige a friendly punch on the arm.

"What now? Are we going to sit around and tell ghost stories?" Phoebe asked, somewhat seriously, as she stacked her arms load of wood into the fire. Paige dumped hers by the side of the stove, and sat down on the arm of the oversized chair Prue had claimed.

"What, like the woogey man?" Piper teased as she joined Grams on the opposing couch, beaming triumphantly at Phoebe's embarrassed glare. She may have been holding onto a little bit of grudge for the book incident. Maybe.

"There will be no ghost stories." Grams stated, a little more forcefully than she intended, and Paige rolled her eyes.

"I'm not five anymore Grams, I can watch horror movies without having nightmares for weeks." Paige tried for an indignant tone, but she was a bad liar, and everyone in the room knew that it wasn't quite the truth. She had always been very sensitive to scary things, and although Phoebe had repeatedly traumatized her as a child by forcing her to watch her favourite horror films, Paige still couldn't stand watching someone suffer...even if it was pretend.

"Be that as it may, I am on vacation with my four beautiful girls and I would rather not hear about ghosts or any other such nonsense." Grams said as she leant back on the couch, shooting Phoebe a look that spoke of painful torture for any Paige-related teasing.

"Fine, no ghost stories. But we're going to share, and care, and grow, right?" Phoebe asked sarcastically as she moved in the last free chair, a little annoyed at the way she was being picked on.

"No, we're going to talk. Like normal families do." Grams replied with an expectant look, knowing that Phoebe was on the verge of a little teenage tantrum. "And you can start by telling us about the schools you've been accepted into."

Phoebe groaned, throwing her legs up over the side of the chair. "I don't want to...annoy someone else."

Before Grams could respond to her charming granddaughter, Piper interrupted. "I know you don't want to be interrogated, but I'd like to know what schools you got into Pheebs... I want to be able to brag about my sports star sister."

Phoebe snorted, seeing right through Piper's flattery, but Phoebe was Phoebe, and she appreciated the attention. With one final half-hearted glare of annoyance at Grams, Phoebe dropped the attitude and made eye contact with Piper. "Well, I was recruited to SF State and City College, and then down south at Cali State LA and LACC."

"SF State is pretty nice, I used to date a guy from there." Prue said with a small smile.

"Yeah, but the Gators are fifth in the western division, and well, I guess if I'm going under a scholarship, I might as well go for the best team." Phoebe said as she watched for Grams' reaction out of the corner of her eye.

"But what about the school part of it?" Piper asked in confusion.

"Figures." Phoebe complained and Piper looked a little lost.

"What Phoebe means is that she and I have had many...discussions about whether she should be looking at the academics or at the athletics of her choices." Grams clarified for Piper.

"Oh." Piper paused and tried to hold it in...but couldn't. "But whatever school is the best, degree wise, she should take." Piper turned to Phoebe who was watching their exchange warily. "You're not going to have a career as a soccer player, right?" Phoebe shrugged. "Well what are you going to study?"

"I don't know." Phoebe picked at her nails, rather uncomfortable with the question. "I applied for that arts thing, cause math and I aren't good friends...but I don't have to pick my courses until June."

"But I'm sure you have some idea...what about Sociology? Psychology? Politics? English? History?" Piper paused at that one. "Well okay, even I know you won't pick History."

"And what's wrong with History?" Prue interrupted, in a half-serious, half-humorous attempt to calm Piper's rant down.

"Yeah, what she said." Paige added with a little nod.

"It's History." Phoebe stated, clearly not understanding why they didn't get it.

"Exactly." Prue replied with an arched eyebrow. Phoebe rolled her eyes and Prue smiled, it was nice to see that some things never changed. "Well, for what it's worth, I agree with you that shouldn't just pick on a school on academics." Phoebe's eyes widened, almost comically, with Prue's uncharacteristic support. At Piper and Grams disapproving glares, Prue huffed a bit. "Well it's true...there's the housing, the social life, the kind of teaching they use, the difficulty of the classes, the ability to switch majors..." Phoebe sort of nodded in a dazed way and Prue continued. "Plus, what's the point of her going to a really great school if she's going to be miserable with a shitty sports team?" Off Grams stern expression, Prue corrected herself. "With a really crappy sports team?"

"Yes, but soccer will only matter for another four years...she has to use her degree for the rest of her life."

"Pipe, you know as well as I do that being happy counts more than anything. You might be studying business, but you want to go to culinary school."

Piper looked a little shocked at that one, and Paige, Phoebe and Grams were watching the increasingly heated exchanges between the two like a tennis match. "No, what I want is to run a restaurant...and I need both business and cooking skills to do it. Don't make this into a big thing about you not being able to go to the east coast and do photography. Phoebe needs to get the best education that she can get, and soccer has always been an ideal way to do it. She would be making a huge mistake to pass up a school like SF State for four years of fun."

"What Phoebe needs is to be able to explore her options without being caged in to classes that are too hard for her or a degree she doesn't want."

"No, what Phoebe needs to do is-"

"What Phoebe really needs is for everyone to stop talking about her like she isn't here." Phoebe cut in testily. "This is my decision, and believe it or not, I am capable of thinking for myself." Both Piper and Prue looked a little sheepish as they backed down from their fight.

"Uh, sorry." Piper said as she sat back in her seat and gave Prue a nervous glance. Prue returned the apology with her eyes.

"So...who wants to help me pick between Calculus and Home Ec?" Paige asked a moment later, in an attempt to break up the awkward silence that had engulfed the room.

"Calculus." Piper responded at the same time that Prue said, "Home Ec." Paige blinked at their ferocity before dissolving into laughter.

"Guys...it was a joke. I've already got my courses picked."

"Of course." Phoebe muttered grumpily.

"You're a brat." Prue proclaimed as pulled Paige onto her lap and began tickling her side. As predicted, Paige squirmed to get away but Prue held her tight, laughing as Paige jerked against her.

"Grams!" Paige squealed in defence, trying to pout her way out of Prue's onslaught.

"Sorry darling, I'm otherwise indisposed." Grams responded with a straight face, doing absolutely nothing on the couch beside Piper.

"Say Prue's the smartest girl in the world." Prue said with a particularly well placed tickle. Paige snorted in laughter, trying to free herself and Prue's grin grew. "No? Not interested? How about...Prue is queen of the world?" Paige continued to struggle and Prue doubled her movements. "Let's try Prue vincit omnia?"

"Potes meos suaviari clunes." If there was ever a time for Prue Halliwell to be speechless it was now. She knew Paige was smart, really smart, but teaching herself Latin whilst going to Baker High and being a moderate pain in Grams' ass? Beyond phenomenal. Paige looked up from the upside down position she had twisted into on Prue's lap and grinned at her sister's slack grip. "Yep, I'm that good."

"No, plenus stercoris es." Phoebe chimed in, desperately trying to keep a straight face at Prue's near aneurism. Sure, Phoebe's pronunciation was a bit off, but...Latin? Latin! Wait a minute... Latin?

"You two memorised Latin insults to piss me off." Prue deduced as she narrowed her eyes at Phoebe, who was practically vibrating with restrained giggles. Paige tried to roll out of Prue's reach while she was distracted, but she just wasn't quick enough, and Prue easily hauled her back into her lap.

"Wrong move Paige." Prue reprimand as she pinned Paige's hands down with her own and inched up the bottom of Paige's shirt with her nose.

"No Prue! No!" Paige shrieked as Prue took a deep breath and blew a ridiculously wet raspberry on Paige's stomach.

Piper watched with a fair bit of bewilderment as Prue and Paige acted like the closest, most loving sisters in the world. Evidently Phoebe and Grams couldn't quite believe what they were seeing either, if their wide eyed expressions were anything to go by, and soon, all three of them upgraded to open-mouthed gapping as Prue let Paige go and Paige willingly stayed all curled up on Prue's lap.

"What drugs are you two on?" Phoebe asked in an attempt to be playful, but it fell a bit flat as tried to make sense of the surreal scene in front of her.

"Funny." Prue scoffed as she adjusted her arm around Paige.

"It's so nice to see you girls getting along." Grams interjected, looking like Prue had just rescued an entire bus load of children from impending doom, discovered the cure to cancer and married Andy.

"Look, can you all stop staring at us? I know that we're not the most...cuddly people, but the fire's nice, and this trip is all about being together, so I'm..." Prue paused as Paige looked up at her with a shy smile. "We're giving it a go."

"Yeah." Paige agreed quietly, looking more and more uncomfortable as everyone's stares wore on. "So how about them forty-niners?"

Phoebe laughed a little at Paige's joke and patted Piper reassuringly on her hand. "It's okay Piper, I still like you best."

Piper couldn't help but smile as Phoebe and Paige continued to banter back and forth. Maybe Grams was right to be eternally hopeful about her sisters. Maybe things would be okay, and Prue wouldn't keep pushing them away, and Phoebe would grow up a bit, and Paige would be willing to let Piper make things up to her, and...

"Earth to Piper!" Phoebe said as she waved her hand in front of her sister's face. Piper blinked and took in the four faces staring at her.

"Uh, sorry. You were saying..."

"No, Prue was asking if you were going to bed." Phoebe said as she pulled away from her sister.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Piper said as she covered up an embarrassingly timed yawn with her hand. It had been a long day out in the sun, and knew that she was ready to climb into bed. Well, as ready as she could be for a lumpy uncomfortable bunk in a cold, dark room.

---

Chapter 4: It Happened One Night

As Piper, Prue and Grams disappeared into their respective bedrooms, Paige threw her feet up on to the coffee table and settled into the chair Prue left behind. She'd slept in to nearly noon, and as the youngest, Paige had a thing about going to bed later than everyone else. Naturally, Phoebe refused to be outdone by her little sister, even in matters of sleep, and the two of them were in the middle of a silent standoff in the living room. As Phoebe continued to stare at the ceiling in a mute sulk, Paige knew it was only a matter of time before... "Since when are you and Prue such great friends?"

Paige refused to flinch at Phoebe's heated glare. "Don't be jealous."

"I'm not." Phoebe defended and Paige stared her down. After a minute to intense scrutiny, Phoebe caved with a dramatic sigh. "Well I don't like that you're teaming up with her."

"Oh." Paige hesitated. "That's not...I mean, I thought you were jealous of me?"

"Because Prue's fawning all over you?" Phoebe snorted. "Not likely."

"Riiiight." Phoebe's glare intensified and Paige held up her hands in surrender. "Sorry. Come on, you know that was like...a one time deal. Prue and I are hardly allies. She's probably just feeling guilty about our fight yesterday."

"Oh please, you've been clinging to her all day."

"Excuse me?" Paige sat up straight. "I do not cling."

"Oh Prue, I'd love to sit beside you on the sun bed. Oh yes, I'll have the rest of your dinner. Oh stop tickling me, I'm just too nerdy to handle it." Phoebe mocked with increasing vigour.

"You are unreal. You sat beside Piper at dinner. And borrowed her sweatshirt. And went to the outhouse with her cause she was too chicken to do it on her own. Are you being clingy?"

"Of course not." Phoebe shot back.

"Then why are Prue and I different? Is it because I'm not following you around like a lost puppy? Or are you just pissed that Prue wants to be around me when she's so clearly annoyed with you?"

"Just shut up Paige." Phoebe muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Your cries for attention are so freakin' obvious it's embarrassing."

Paige groaned. "Like you're not the most..." She stopped to take a deep calming breath. "Can we not do this? I've had a really good day and I don't want to fight." Phoebe narrowed her eyes and Paige bit her lip, partly to look cute, but mostly to stop herself from hurling insults at her infuriating sister. "Please?"

"Yeah, okay." Phoebe mumbled as she rolled over to her back and started tossing a cushion over her head.

After a few minutes of tense silence, Paige spoke up hesitantly. "So what do you think is up between Prue and Piper? They're fighting...well, like us."

Phoebe sighed and dropped the cushion against her chest. "I don't know, but man do they have issues."

"I get Prue's deal...she's mad that Grams forced her into UCSF and wants her freedom, but Piper's killing me with this responsibility crap. It's all she ever talks about. She's responsible enough for all of us...what's the point of everyone living like an overbearing martyr?"

"Not that you have an opinion on her or anything." Phoebe added in amusement. At Paige's rather fierce glower, Phoebe relented. "Piper's just...trying too hard. You know that all this family stuff really gets to her, she wants the perfect fairytale thing where we all sit around and -"

"Crochet?" Paige interrupted.

"No." Phoebe shot her a disgruntled look, then paused. "Well maybe. But my point is...she's just trying to do what she thinks is right. Her heart's in the right place."

"Mmm." Paige muttered cynically and Phoebe rolled her eyes.

"Watch it, your true colours are showing." Paige's eyes flashed dangerously and Phoebe backpedalled. Paige might have been small, but her Piper-related fits were nothing short of apocalyptic. "Right, well, there's no need to obsess...they'll either kill each other or make up indefinitely. Nothing we can do." Phoebe sprung up from the couch with an overly bright smile "Drink?"

"No." Paige muttered grumpily, refusing to accept Phoebe's unspoken apology.

"Drink?" Phoebe asked again with the proper emphasis and Paige jerked up from her brood.

"Well..." Paige hesitated, awkwardly torn between pouting and nodding. When it was clear that Paige wasn't going to be forthcoming with a more decisive response, Phoebe shuffled off into the kitchen and pulled a bottle of vodka from the darkest corner of the lowest cupboard. "OJ okay?"

"Whatever." Paige mumbled, silently flipping through a magazine she found on the coffee table. Architectural Digest was quite possibly the most boring thing she'd ever read, and when Paige was involved that was saying a lot. Phoebe soon appeared beside her and shoved an overflowing plastic cup into her hands.

"Cheer up." Paige growled and Phoebe backed off. "Fine, I won't be nice."

Paige tossed the magazine away and sniffed at her drink. "Please tell me you put the same amount of alcohol in mine as you did in yours."

Phoebe made a face at her before sitting back down on the couch. "Yes, I did. This time. You get too happy and I'm not giving you any more."

Paige rolled her eyes at her sister's threat and took a big sip. Good, Phoebe wasn't lying and the drink actually had some kick to it. Now all Paige had to do was down it and ignore her stupid, annoying sister all night.

---

"You're my most favourite person ever!" Paige exclaimed as she leapt onto Phoebe's back with a squeal of delight.

"Paige! Get off!" Phoebe smacked at her sister, turning in circles as she tried to dislodge the bucking beast from her back. After seven? No, three times two, then one, then two, minus one... too many drinks, her little sister was drunk as freshman at a frat party. They really hadn't meant to drink the entire bottle, but Paige had refused to talk to Phoebe for the first three rounds, then there was the inevitable drinking competition, and finally, the labour-intensive process of creating their own list of college criteria. It included such highlights as favourable male:female ratios, not living at home, distance to the beach, infamous party scenes and the general coolness of the school's acronym. Of course, every round brought a new slightly stronger drink, and before either of them could say 'good cafeteria food', Paige was ripped and Phoebe was dragging her giggling ass as far away from the cabin as possible. So here they were, lost in the woods with an empty bottle of vodka and no way of finding their way home. Phoebe couldn't believe that this is how she would die, all alone...well, all alone with uselessly trashed sister in a dark forest, in the middle of...she squinted a bit. Oh, okay, so they might be able to find their way back along the path that led to the cabin's back door. Forty feet away. Phoebe grudgingly accepted that she may have been a bit less than sober, but at least she wasn't as bad as -

"Oooph." Paige grunted as she landed face down in a very large mud puddle. Phoebe rushed to her side, staggering from spinning in circles as much as drunkenness, and quickly checked her sister over for external damage. It was awfully hard to tell with all the mud, but Phoebe suspected that Paige now had a baseball sized bump on her forehead. Phoebe crouched down, trying to find the best place to poke her sister, when a Paige shaped mud puddle leapt up and tackled her backwards.

"You..." Phoebe sputtered, ass deep in mud. "Arg! Paige!"

"I love you so much." Paige threw her arms around her sister happily.

"Yeah, well, the feeling's not mutual." Phoebe gripped as wiped her hands off on the back of Paige's jeans. "You are a terrible drunk."

"But I'm not drunk." Paige cocked her head in confusion.

"Right." Phoebe paused to rub a mud splatter off Paige's forehead. "Are you still feeling okay?"

"The best." Paige looked around curiously. "Where are we?"

"Outside."

Paige may have been drunk, but she wasn't certainly stupid. "Duh."

However, Phoebe was too preoccupied with trying to shove Paige off her lap to bitch back. Phoebe pushed at Paige's thighs aggressively, but she didn't budge. In fact, all Phoebe's efforts seemed to do was make Paige hold on tighter. "You're like a leech." Paige blinked at her in confusion. "Get. Off." Phoebe enunciated slowly. Paige did, but not before she accidentally elbowed Phoebe in the eye and left a muddy hand print in the middle of her chest. By the time Phoebe recovered from her injuries, Paige was halfway up a tree.

"Oh for fucks sake." Phoebe muttered as she yanked her sister down from her precarious position. "You sure know how to sober a girl up."

Paige struggled against Phoebe's fierce grip on her waist. "Stoooop. I've been climbing trees since I was forever."

Phoebe scoffed. "Cause that makes sense." As Paige continued to whine, Phoebe rolled her eyes. "This is ridiculous."

"You're ridiculous." Paige shot back with a sniffle. Phoebe groaned and let go of Paige, wanting to avoid drunken tears at all costs.

"You know, this pretty much constitutes a told-you-so moment." Phoebe turned around to try to wipe the mud off her ass and Paige snuck away on another attempt to climb the tree. "I knew you'd never be able to handle your alcohol-" Phoebe swung back around at Paige's suspicious silence and growled. "Paige! Get down right now! You're going to break a bone."

As per usual, Paige ignored her sister, and Phoebe hauled her down by the back of her sweatshirt. Paige tried to pull away, but this time Phoebe's hold was firm, and all Paige could do was turn in endless circles as she attempted to free her hood. Eventually Phoebe tired of the game and she yanked the material over her sister's head and held her down.

"Stop struggling." Phoebe said with practiced ease as Paige flailed about. After a few minutes of muffled whines Paige stopped and Phoebe let go, stepping back from whatever wrath Paige intended to enact. To her surprise, Paige just shook it off and gave her a cheery smile.

"You're cool."

"I...am?" Phoebe stared at her suspiciously.

"Yeah, you're like so pretty and confident, and everyone wants to be your friend." Phoebe stared. "And you're amazing at soccer. And all the boys like you. Everyone calls you a slut but you don't care, and I love that. You do want you want, when you want. And you're just so nice."

"Did you just call me a slut?" Phoebe shook her head, trying to sort through Paige's ramble. "Did you call me nice?"

"Well you are. You try to be a bitch all the time, but I know you're not. I see you trying to include people that get left out. And you always talk to strangers, even if they're scary looking. And you always help people if they ask. And -"

Phoebe cut her off. "And why are we talking about this? It's flattering and all, but...why are you..." Phoebe stopped not knowing how to ask what she wanted to know. Mainly, at what point had Paige gone insane?

"You're you."

"Huh?"

"I don't know." Paige truly looked like she didn't know. "I don't want to be in the woods anymore."

Phoebe tried to keep up with Paige's digressions. "Okay, sure. Do you want to go to bed?"

"No." And now the attitude was back. Fabulous.

"How about the lake? It should be far enough away from the cabin for us to talk." Paige nodded eagerly at that suggestion and Phoebe grabbed her hand cautiously. When there was no screaming, kicking or spontaneous mud throwing, Phoebe guided Paige towards the lake. Every so often, Paige would stumble and Phoebe would catch her before she face planted into the dirt. It was an effective system, and it worked perfectly until Paige caught sight of the dock.

"We can go swimming!" Paige exclaimed loudly and Phoebe froze. In order to get to the lake from the forest, they had to pass right by the cabin, and naturally, Paige had chosen to yell out just as they walked by Grams' bedroom window. Phoebe quickly covered her sister's mouth and listened for any indication of impending doom. When nothing happened, Phoebe sighed in relief and hauled her sister across the lawn and down the steps none too gently.

"You are the least stealthy person I know." Phoebe complained, pulling her hand away from Paige's mouth. "And no, we can't..." Phoebe continued once they reached the edge of the dock, but Paige was already dashing away with more speed than Phoebe ever would have credited her with. "...go swimming." Phoebe finished to herself as she watched Paige cannonball into the lake. "Great. Just great." Phoebe looked up at the cabin nervously. Even although the cabin was pretty close to the water, there was a cliff-like bank separating the two, and Phoebe prayed that it was enough of a sound barrier to stop Paige's giggles from waking up the bad-tempered members of her family. With a deep, put-upon sigh, Phoebe made her way over to the edge of the dock and sat down, watching as Paige doggy paddled in uncoordinated circles. "Having fun?" Phoebe asked wryly.

"I'm a dolphin!" Paige replied as she did a flip under the water. Phoebe thought about finding a deeper meaning in Paige's response, but at this point in the night and after so many bruises, she just couldn't be bothered. So instead, she stretched her legs out and watched as Paige stuck her head under the water and started thrashing about wildly. The movement reminded Phoebe of a duck diving for fish, as Paige surfaced again with great sweeps of her arms, Phoebe couldn't help but laugh.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Synchronised swimming." Phoebe snorted, wishing she had Prue's camera. As Paige swam away, undoubtedly to embark on yet another strange game, Phoebe lay down and stared up at the stars. Paige was a strong swimmer and on the off chance that she got into trouble, Phoebe could hear everything she was doing. Well actually...Phoebe jerked up at the eerie silence. The lake appeared to be empty, and Phoebe peered over the edge of the dock in panic. The surface was still moving, so she knew Paige hadn't gone far, but no amount of logic could ever stop Phoebe from being paranoid about her family drowning. Just as Phoebe was about to strip off her sweatshirt to dive into the lake, Paige's head popped up right in front of her.

"Dun dun...dun dun...dun dun."

Phoebe jumped in surprise. "You scared the shit out of me."

"I'm re-enacting jaws," Paige explained helpfully, reaching out to grab Phoebe's leg. With a yelp, Phoebe shook her off and moved away from the edge.

"Okay, that's it." Phoebe latched onto Paige's outstretched hand and pulled with all her might. Within a few seconds, Phoebe's backwards lean overtook Paige's weight in the water, and both girls flew backwards. Phoebe landed with a painful grunt, and the momentum of her fall brought Paige right down on top of her.

"I was getting to the gore." Paige shot daggers at her dazed sister.

"I'll show you gore." Phoebe threatened under her breath as she pushed Paige off her and checked the back of her head for dents.

"Okay." Paige sat back on her heels impatiently.

"No, no more Jaws." Phoebe commanded as she sat up and scowled at Paige.

"More Jaws." Paige disagreed with a pout.

"No, no more..." Phoebe paused at the absurdity of the conversation. "Okay, I'm really sick of you not listening to me. I'm the big sister here, and you're going to-" Paige stuck her tongue out and scrambled back towards the edge of the dock. "Oh no you don't." Phoebe easily grabbed Paige's ankle and hauled her back. "You know what, I never thought I'd say this, but you used to be a whole lot less annoying." In response, Paige lunged at her sister, teeth first, and Phoebe readjusted her hold just in time to avoid a painful nip. Paige wasn't fast, but she was certainly determined, and Phoebe's patience was wearing dangerously thin as Paige repeatedly tried to bite her hand.

"Okay, now you really need to stop." Paige didn't, and Phoebe had no other choice but to slam her down against the dock. The knock stunned Paige enough for Phoebe to pin her hands down above her head, and move any edible body parts well out of harm's way. "Sorry, but you had it coming."

Paige blinked at her blankly. "It's cold."

Phoebe was skeptical of Paige's complaint, but when she remained cooperatively still and began to shiver in her wet clothes, Phoebe yielded. "Yeah, yeah...you can wear my sweatshirt." Phoebe released Paige's hands warily and pulled her up into a sitting position. When Paige remained motionless, Phoebe interpreted it as a sign of acquiescence and she reached towards Paige's shirt.

"I can do it." Paige snapped, pushing Phoebe's cold hands away from her. Phoebe pulled back with an annoyed sigh, hovering as Paige fumbled around with edge of her t-shirt and sweatshirt. It wasn't that Paige didn't have the dexterity to pull the clothes up, but rather, that she was doing everything with a bit too much gusto. And true to Phoebe's prediction, one frantic jerk later Paige was stuck with her shirt over her head and her hands tangled in her hair.

Phoebe turned away from the spectacle in embarrassment. "Thanks for not wearing a bra." Paige's only response was a mumble from beneath the layers of fabric, and after a few minutes of unsuccessful struggling, Phoebe was forced to turn back around to check on the wriggling mess that was her sister. With something between a chuckle and a groan, Phoebe reached around Paige and yanked everything off her head. Whilst Paige pouted over the turn of events, oblivious to her surroundings and completely topless, Phoebe couldn't help but blanch at a deep red hickey. And were those teeth ma...Phoebe quickly covered Paige in her own hoodie and latched onto her sister's wrists. The last thing she needed was Paige doing another runner at the lake.

"So Paige, how is Glenn these days?"

Paige sighed dramatically. "Failing math."

Phoebe raised her eyebrows at Paige's forlorn expression. The night was cold, especially now that Paige was wearing her sweatshirt, and Phoebe decided that she might as well take advantage of her sister's rare sociability. Whilst Paige was distracted with Glenn-related day dreams, Phoebe easily manoeuvred her between her legs, so that Paige's back was pressed up against Phoebe's front. It was warm, it was snugly, and it was the perfect way to interrogate her sister. Paige leant against her drunkenly and Phoebe grinned. "Sleeping with him yet?"

"Oh yeah." Paige answered without a second's pause and Phoebe snickered. "We've been doing it for like a year." The snicker caught in Phoebe's throat and she gawked at her sister.

"A year? But...but...you weren't even dating him last year."

Paige paid no attention to Phoebe's sputtering as she spun around excitedly. "And he totally loves me. It's like, I look at him and I know he's the one. I'd marry him if he asked. And he goes down on me all the time and Cathy says that's how you know that a boy loves you." Phoebe balked. "And I know having sex in school probably isn't the smartest thing to do, but it's like we can't get enough of each other." Paige paused wistfully. "I can't wait until he gets his licence next year."

"If only Grams could hear her little angel now." Phoebe muttered, desperately trying to shake off enough of her shock to take full advantage of Paige's openness. When Paige failed to respond to her snarky comment, Phoebe waved her hand in front of her sister's face. Paige blinked to attention and Phoebe pounced. "How big?

"6.23 in."

Phoebe burst into laughter. "You measured him?"

"I wanted to see how much it grew." Paige scowled. "But Glenn couldn't stop getting it up." Phoebe tried to stop laughing, she really did, but Paige's sincere exasperation was priceless.

"Oh god, this is so much fun."

"Why?"

Phoebe took a deep breath, trying to suppress her giggles. "Because you just handed me so much blackmail material I won't be doing chores for years. This is like Christmas."

Paige frowned, clearly trying to process Phoebe's words. "You're going to be mean to me?"

"No, not mean...ruthless." Paige liked that answer even less, and before Phoebe knew what hit her, Paige was sobbing against her shoulder. Phoebe gapped at her sister's animalistic howls. "Hey, calm down. I was just kidding." When Paige continued to wail, Phoebe gently rubbed her back. "Oh come on, this is what we do. I tease you, you tease me...it's just a big circle of fun." Paige's tears stopped instantly and she nodded against Phoebe's shoulder.

"Yeah, I know. It's like when I tell people you're a lesbian."

"Yeah, exact... what!" Phoebe yelled pushing her sister away.

"Well you're all butch and everything." Paige stated casually, rather distracted by her new freedom. She was in the mood for cookies

"I am not a lesbian Paige." Phoebe declared as she yanked her back down. "Who did you say this to?" Paige was too busy trying to get loose to hear her. "Hey, loser!" Phoebe waved her hand in front of her sister's face until she got her attention. "Who did you say this to?"

"Say what to?" Paige wrinkled her nose up in confusion.

"Who thinks I'm a lesbian?"

"The hot boy in my French class, my art teacher, Grams, the dentist, the -"

"Wait, Grams? Grams? You told Grams that I was a lesbian?" Phoebe asked in disbelief.

"Well she asked if I knew what was wrong with you and I said that lesbianism would explain a few things." Paige paused to think. "Or satyriasis...but she didn't like that idea much"

"Satyswhatis?"

"Sex addiction." In her complete and utter astonishment, Phoebe let go and Paige crawled away happily.

"What? You...what?" Phoebe tried to process Paige's admission one more time. "No really...what? You told Grams that I was addicted to sex?" Paige paid her no mind, stumbling her way across the dock towards the stairs. Phoebe blinked. "Paige." Paige froze at her sister's stern voice, and Phoebe easily caught up to her. "You are going to stay here and...and...explain!"

"Huh?" Paige said looking at Phoebe blankly.

"Why do you think I am a...Sex. Addicted. Lesbian?" Phoebe pronounced each word slowly.

Paige looked at Phoebe like she was an idiot. "Cause my book said so."

"Oh no. No no no. I told Grams not to get you that book, I knew you'd start getting all these weird id–" Phoebe froze mid-word as she felt something warm explode down her front.

"I don't feel good." Paige mumbled looking far more pale than usual.

"You...you..." Phoebe stammered as she looked down at herself. "You puked on me!" Paige groaned and Phoebe instantly aimed her at the nearest bush, cringing as Paige emptied her stomach. Repeatedly. "God, what did you eat?" Paige heaved again and a partially digested version of their dinner came out. "You know, that was sort of rhetorical." Phoebe muttered as she rubbed Paige's back. Paige soon sank to her knees, moaning each time she felt her stomach protest, and Phoebe pulled her sister's tangled hair back into a somewhat secure ponytail. The sickness continued for a good ten minutes, and just as Phoebe was beginning to wonder if Paige had anything left in her body, Paige heaved one final time and sat back on her heels. "Done?"

"Yes." Paige rasped softly, and Phoebe could hear the exhaustion in her voice.

"Come on then, it's definitely bedtime." Paige nodded silently, obviously beginning to see the less fun parts of being drunk, and Phoebe hoisted her up against her side. As they inched their way up the stairs, Phoebe checked her sister over; Paige's swim in the lake had washed the mud off her skin, and luckily enough, her projectile vomiting had managed to keep most of the puke off of her clothes, but the bump on her head was more than a little noticeable. And with a grandmother like Grams, and sisters like Prue and Piper, it wasn't going to be so easy to explain. "We're going into the cabin now so we need to be quiet." Phoebe paused nervously. "Like really quiet. Only whispering, okay?"

Paige looked up at Phoebe sleepily. "Can you get Slappy?"

Phoebe gulped, she hadn't seen Slappy in years. "Um... "

"He's in my backpack." Phoebe nodded as she opened the cabin door. She lead Paige in slowly, anxiously waiting for unexpected vomiting, an angry Grams or a suspicious Prue. When nothing happened, Phoebe took a much needed breath and dragged Paige into their bedroom. Fortunately, Prue and Piper were fast asleep, and Phoebe was able to help Paige up onto her top bunk without much fuss. The possibility of Paige falling out of it made her a bit nervous, but the likelihood of Prue or Piper accepting a wet, drunk teenager into their bed without questions was slim to none. As Paige shuffled around with her blanket, trying to figure out how to get it to cover her completely, Phoebe rooted around her backpack. And surprisingly enough, amongst a package of cigarettes, Hamlet and a picture of Glenn, was a well worn Slappy. Phoebe grinned a bit at his weird looking face before passing it up to Paige. The youngest Halliwell received it gratefully, cuddling him close to her chest as she closed her eyes.

"Love you." Paige whispered as she drifted off to sleep, and as Phoebe climbed into her own bed, tossing her puke covered shirt out the window, she couldn't help but grin.

"Not for long."

---

"Hey Prue, do you want orange juice?" Piper asked as she rummaged around in the ice box in the kitchen.

"Sure." Prue responded from her position outside the cabin's front door. She was attempting to take a picture of a bird dead set on being the most hyperactive thing she'd ever tried to capture on film. Just as she had her shot lined up perfectly, the bird soared up into the sky without a glance back. "Oh you stupid thing." Prue muttered, lowering her camera angrily. This nature thing was harder than she thought. With a resigned sigh, Prue packed up her gear and followed the pleasant smells into the kitchen. Piper was in the process of making a semi-cooked breakfast and Prue was itching for more coffee...even if it was instant. With a cheerful whistle, Prue entered the kitchen and was unexpectedly greeted with a spray of orange juice directly from Piper's mouth.

"Did you just spit on me?" Prue asked in disbelief as some juice dripped off the end of her nose.

"No! Well yes! But alcohol!" Piper yelled as she stared at the glass of orange juice in her hand in astonishment.

"I can't believe you did that." Prue muttered as she wiped her face on her t-shirt, completely oblivious to Piper's hysteria.

"Alcohol!" Piper yelled again, thrusting the glass at Prue.

Prue froze mid-wipe to squint at her sister. "Wait, your drinking? It's 7 am in the- "

"Prue!" Piper said exasperatedly. "It's not mine." Prue looked Piper over critically. "Not. Mine."

"Oh." Prue paused to look at the drink. "Then why are you drinking it?"

"I thought you'd already poured a glass. It was just sitting here." Piper explained, pointing at the dining room table.

Prue's eyes widened. "I knew they were up to something at the grocery store talking to that creep."

"Maybe it's Grams'?" Piper tried hesitantly.

Prue smelled her shirt. "Vodka? Grams doesn't drink vodka."

"Oh." Piper looked at Prue. "What do we do? I mean, Grams should know, right? We don't even know if it's both of them..."

Prue scoffed. "Oh it's both of them."

"But still...do we tell..."

Prue seemed to snap out of her daze and shook her head. "No. I'll deal with it."

"But Prue..."

"No Pipe, I can handle it, okay? I've got a plan."

---

Chapter 5: The Perfect Storm

"Oh holy fuck." Paige moaned as she opened her eyes and spat a piece of grass out the corner of her mouth. She slowly, very very slowly rolled over onto her stomach to check on Phoebe, happily snoring away on the other side of the room. From her position on the top bunk, Paige could tell that Prue was already up, but she didn't have the balance nor the stomach to lean over the edge of her bed to see if Piper was still lurking below. "Phoebe!" Paige whispered, recoiling as the noise made her head throb. "Psst! Phoebe!" Paige lifted her head up ever so slightly to see if her sister was stirring.

"Whassit? Paige?" Phoebe whined sleepily as she ducked her head under her blanket.

"What the hell happened last night?" Paige asked as she returned her head to her pillow in an attempt to stop the room from spinning.

Phoebe moaned. "You were drunk. Leave me alone."

"Oh." Paige paused as she shifted in her bed. "Uh, why are my pants wet?"

"Jaws." Phoebe mumbled, already half-asleep.

Paige squinted at her sister in confusion, before she was sidetracked with a connection between the agonising pain in her head and an actual injury. "What the...?" Paige exclaimed as she gingerly poked a swollen bump on her forehead. Phoebe offered no response and Paige was suddenly aware of Slappy clutched tightly against her chest. With a startled yelp, Paige shoved him under the covers and out of Phoebe's eyesight. Her sister would never let her live that down. "Uh...we didn't get caught, right?"

"No thanks to you." Phoebe muttered in annoyance, very unimpressed with her interrupted sleep.

"Oh." Paige replied warily, desperately trying to remember last night. There was a drinking contest...then nothing. "Did I throw up?"

Phoebe stuck her head out from underneath the blanket to glare properly. "Everywhere." At Paige's embarrassed grimace, Phoebe woke up a bit. "Of course, that was after you smothered me in mud, climb a thousand trees and tried to bite me."

"Bite you?" Paige echoed dubiously.

"Oh yes." Phoebe sat up on her bunk and eyed Paige's forehead critically. "Crap, your head really is as bad as I thought."

Paige sighed, rolling onto her back. "I don't think I want to know."

"Okay, story is...you walked into a tree."

"A tree?" Paige asked skeptically.

"Well the ground isn't hard enough to do that kind of damage." Paige nodded, far too hungover to argue.

"I'm never drinking again."

"You got that right." Phoebe stated grumpily. "My ass is bruised because of you."

"If it helps, I think my everything is bruised because of me." Paige muttered as she snuggled down into her blanket.

"It doesn't." Phoebe stated with a glare. "Don't get too comfortable, we have to get up."

"Well that's going to be a problem because I don't think I can move right now." Paige moved to sit up and felt her stomach protest before she even lifted her shoulders off the bed. "Yeah, really not happening. Possibly for a week."

Phoebe climbed out of her bed and threw on clean clothes. "It's nearly 1:30...Grams is probably suspicious."

"Phoebe, if I move I'm going to puke all over you."

"Well it wouldn't be the first time." Paige blinked at that comment, before Phoebe whacked her in the face with a pair of jeans. "Move it." When Paige remained motionless, Phoebe sighed. "If you don't get up, I'm going to tell Grams all about you and Glenn's sexscapades."

Paige pulled her blanket up to her chin and snuggled in even more. "Glenn and I aren't having sex."

"Oh really Miss-I-think-he-loves-me-cause-he-goes-down-on-me-all-the-time."

Paige gapped at her sister. "How did you..." She closed her eyes with a groan. "Stupid question." After a moment of consideration, she opened her eyes. "I'll just deny it. She'll take my word over yours."

Phoebe positively beamed. "Not with that colossal hickey on your chest she won't."

Paige opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to wrap her head around the concept of Phoebe having that much information about her love life. "You...how..."

"See you in five Paigeypoo." Phoebe blew her sister an air kiss as she skipped out the door.

Prue, Piper and Grams looked up from their lunch as Phoebe walked into the living room, smiling to herself. "Good afternoon sleepyhead, we were wondering if you two were even alive." Prue patted the empty chair next to her. Phoebe hesitated, a little taken back at the attention she was getting, but she soon made her way over to Prue's side. "Hungry?"

"No, I'm good." Phoebe paused for a second, clearly thinking something over, before she spun around to face Grams. "Just so you know, I am not a sex addict." Piper chocked on her bowl of soup whilst Prue froze, a piece of bread half way to her mouth. "Or a lesbian."

Grams sipped her tea nonchalantly and nodded. "Well of course not dear, I do realise that Paige can get a bit carried away with these things."

Piper was very confused. "Paige gets carried away with...a lesbian sex addiction?"

"No Piper," Grams stated dryly, "Paige gets carried away with psychoanalysing us all to death."

"Oh." Piper paused, letting that sink in. "Well that does make a lot more sense." Prue nodded, still a little stunned with the conversation.

"Anyway," Phoebe said annoyed at her sisters' idiocy. "You'll never guess what Paige did last night." When no one looked particularly intrigued, Phoebe sighed dramatically. "She ran into a tree."

"A tree?" Prue asked skeptically.

"Yes. She didn't bring a flashlight to the outhouse last night, and she walked straight into a tree. She has this huge bump on her head and everything." Phoebe took a quick look at Grams' expression. "What a retard."

"Phoebe." Grams chastised sternly. "I do hope you helped her."

Phoebe scoffed. "I'll have you know that I was the best big sister in the world."

"Somehow I doubt that." Prue exclaimed with a snort, but before another fight could break out, Paige appeared from the bedroom looking like she'd did everything she did last night and more.

"Oh darling." Grams cried as she leapt up to inspect Paige's forehead.

"It's okay Grams, it's just a bump. I walked into a..." Paige sighed, "tree."

"Phoebe told us. You look pale, are you dizzy?" Grams ushered Paige towards the dining table, and she sunk into the chair next to Piper.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Paige muttered, resting the unbruised portion of her forehead on the table. Grams hovered over her, frowning in worry, whilst Prue and Piper exchanged knowing looks.

"You may have a concussion...we're going to the hospital."

"No!" Paige and Phoebe exclaimed at the same time. Prue stuck her nose in her coffee to hide her smile.

"Now girls..." Grams started with her no-nonsense tone, and Paige sat up slowly.

"I'm okay, I promise. You know how I hate hospitals, and the thought of being in a car is...nauseating."

"Have you been sick?" Grams asked, feeling for a temperature.

"No." Paige said uneasily, floundering with her lie.

"What Paige means it that...it looked worse last night...she's healing already, so there's no point in going." Phoebe trailed off as what she said registered in her brain. She might have been a little more hungover than she thought.

"It was worse?" Grams asked shrilly.

"No." Paige said, glaring at Phoebe. "It was-"

"Grams, sit down." Piper interrupted as she shot to Grams' side. Grams looked at her blankly. "Now." Prue and Phoebe gawked at Piper's authoritative tone but Paige was too busy trying to control her stomach to care.

"Yes dear...yes." Grams said softly, breaking out of her daze. She took a seat next to Paige, brushing her hair away from her face to get a second look at the red bump.

"Maybe Paige is dizzy because she hasn't eaten." Prue suggested from across the table, sipping her coffee casually. Paige gulped, leaning all of her weight against her chair to keep her upright.

"No, I think I'm okay."

"Well, it's a worth a try before we all trapeze off to the hospital for this grievous injury." Prue said with a shrug.

"Stay there, I'll get you some soup." Piper said as she gave Paige a small smile. Paige tried to return it, but it turned into more of a grimace. A few seconds later, Paige held her breath as Piper placed a bowl of clam chowder in front of her. The pungent smell of almost made her puke, but when it became apparent that everyone was staring at her expectantly, Paige picked up her spoon.

"Thanks." Paige muttered as she lifted a tiny bit of soup towards her mouth. Phoebe felt like she was watching a car crash as Paige swallowed it slowly, trying to suppress her gag reflex. Once the miniscule drop of liquid was down, Paige turned towards Piper with a pained smile. "It's great."

"Well...it's from a can, but thanks." Piper said, desperately trying not to laugh at Paige's obvious distress.

"So... aside from attacking trees, what did you two get up last night?" Prue asked as she focused her full attention on Phoebe.

"Oh you know, harmless gossiping about college, boys...school." Phoebe said with a shrug, resting her elbows on the table.

"That's nice, I'm just so glad you two are still so young and innocent. I mean, staying up all night talking about nothing," Prue paused to sigh. "Those were the days, huh Piper?"

Piper looked a little startled at her name. "Uh, yes?"

Prue ignored her, getting increasingly into her dramatic tirade. "I know you two have to grow up sometime, but I'm just so thankful it isn't today. Your college experiences will be all about alcohol and parties, so make sure you hold onto your unspoiled naivety as long as you can, because once it's gone, it's gone and-."

"Honestly Prudence, there's no need to be so dismal." Grams cut Prue off in exasperation.

Phoebe smiled nervously. "Right." She checked Paige's progress on the soup and sighed. "How're feeling Paigey...er, Paige?"

When Paige failed to respond, Phoebe kicked her under the table. "Huh? What..." Off Phoebe's expectant nod, Paige pushed her nearly untouched soup away from her. "Amazingly enough, I feel much better. Guess we don't need to go the hospital after all."

"I don't know darling, I'd rather be safe than sorry."

"I swear I'm okay." Paige paused to give Grams her legendary pout. "It's just a bump, I hardly even feel it."

"Well, I-"

Grams was cut off as Phoebe banged her fist on the table in excitement. "I know what we should do! We should go rowing."

"Row-ing?" Paige asked slowly, looking like that was the last thing she'd want to do. Ever.

"Yes, it'll be fun." Phoebe shot Paige a look.

'"Okay..." Paige tried to smile for Grams. "I'm in, especially now that I'm feeling better."

"I don't-" Grams was interrupted again as Phoebe jumped up from the table.

"We should go now." Phoebe said as she reached out to grab Paige's hand. "The tide is probably going out soon."

Prue lifted an eyebrow. "It's a lake."

"I know." Phoebe responded snottily as she hauled Paige from her chair, making sure that her movements went too jarring. She'd been puked on enough last night.

"I...yeah." Paige swayed on her feet a bit, before turning to Grams. "I'm fine, honest."

"Well I suppose the fresh air might do a bit of good," Grams turned to Phoebe, "but I expect you to come right back if your sister gets any worse...this is a very serious matter."

"Yeah, yeah. Come on squirt." The two disappeared out the door, and Grams sighed heavily.

"I do hope she's alright."

Prue smirked, clearing the dishes from the table. "I think she'll live."

---

"Prue knows." Paige said as she lay on the bottom of the rickety row boat, trying to lamaze breath through her queasiness.

"Nah, it's good...we're still alive after all." Phoebe assured from her position on the rowboat's front seat, happily sunning away with feet dangling over the side. They were drifting aimlessly in the middle of the lake, happy to escape their inquisitive family and in Paige's case, standing up.

"She was looking at me funny." Paige maintained, just before a wave of nausea swept over her and she was forced to puke over the side of the boat. Phoebe remained motionless, completely unperturbed with the retching to her left.

"Nice one."

Paige groaned in response and dropped back down onto the bottom of the boat."I want to die."

"I bet." Phoebe paused to put her movie star sunglasses on. "I believe this is what they call karma."

"No, they call it alcohol poisoning." Paige muttered, covering her face with her arm to block out the excessively bright sun.

"Then I guess you shouldn't drink so much." Phoebe grinned, lifting her head to gloat.

"Fuck off." Paige mumbled, groaning as her stomach clenched again. "Oh god, make it stop."

Phoebe sighed, rolling their water bottle towards Paige. "It should be over soon, I'm never this sick."

"Yeah, well, we're not all alcoholics."

Phoebe squinted at her sister. "Excuse me? You're the one that told me you get drunk all the time."

"I did not." Paige held up her middle finger in what she hoped was Phoebe's general direction.

"Uh, yeah, you did." When Paige remained stubbornly mute, Phoebe groaned. "Oh god, you totally scammed me...this is the first time you've been drunk, isn't it?"

"No." Paige pulled her arm away from her face to glare resentfully. "Glenn and I drink wine coolers in his basement all the time." Phoebe raised her eyebrows and Paige huffed in annoyance. "They taste good...and...and I'll have you know that I can drink at least four of them."

Phoebe tried to hold in her snort. "Four? Wow, that's hardcore sis. I mean, I wish I could drink four wine coolers. I'd been the talk of the town, everyone would say there goes that girl with the superior alcohol tolerance, I once saw her drink four...yes, four wine coolers in one sitting!"

"Shut up." Paige grumbled, kicking her sister as hard as she could...which turned out to be a lighthearted tap at best.

"And to think that I just thought of you as a big brain." Phoebe put her hand on her forehead in mock despair. "Alas, I have been usurped, you are now the number one party girl at Baker High."

Paige groaned. "Are you done?"

"No, not really. But reaming you out for lying to me is much more fun."

"I didn't lie."

"You kinda did." Phoebe pointed out as she reclined a little more on the bench, trying to look like she was completely at ease even although she was actually rather close to falling off. "But it's okay, I get that you were just trying to impress me. I am awesome."

Paige glared furiously. "I was not." Before Phoebe could reply with a baited insult, Paige shot up from her position and puked over the side of the boat with a moan. "When will it stop?"

Phoebe sighed as Paige sat back down, near tears. "Soon... come on, just stop thinking about it."

"Well considering that I can't actually think right now, I'd say I'm doing a damn good job." Paige snapped.

"No, you need to distract yourself. That's why hangovers are best done in bed with movies and junk food."

Paige groaned and emptied her stomach again. "No, no food."

"Right, let's talk about Glenn. When'd you start sleeping with him?" Phoebe rolled onto her stomach to loom over Paige as she curled back up on the bottom of the boat.

"That's really not a conversation I want to have right now." Paige grouched between stomach convulsions.

"Too bad. You told me you'd been doing it for a year last night...what's that all about? What happened to Vincent?"

"Nothing."

"Well how did nothing turn into cheating on him with Glenn?" Phoebe asked as she rest her chin on her crossed arms.

Paige shot Phoebe a warning look. "Not talking about it."

"Well I'm sure that Grams would love to hear the story." Phoebe threatened without a second's pause, and Paige sighed.

"Look, it's really personal. As in, private, no interfering sisters allowed."

"I don't interfere!" Phoebe exclaimed, completely insulted.

"Tell that to Danny Hawkman."

"I'm telling you, he fell."

"On to your fist?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Well, it wasn't for you...he made other far more socially important girls cry too."

"And that fact that you punched him the day after I got upset was a coincidence?"

"Yes." Phoebe huffed. "Anyways that whole thing is so two months ago. It's not relevant."

"Of course." Paige replied sarcastically.

Phoebe's eyes narrowed. "Stop changing the subject."

"You changed the subject." Off Phoebe's glare, Paige sighed. "Right, so...Glenn and I have had a thing since...uh, a lot longer than you know."

"Yes, we've covered that." Phoebe said impatiently.

"No, I mean a lot longer. Like eighth grade longer."

"Whoa." Phoebe sat up on the bench, looking very intrigued.

Paige paused at her sister's excitement. "You know what, this is a bad idea. A really bad idea. And I'm pretty sure I'm still drunk because you don't need to know this. Ever."

Phoebe snorted. "Paige, please. You really think that you can start a story like that and not finish it?" When Paige remained warily silent, Phoebe grinned. "I'd sure hate to have to tell Prue all about your incriminating adventures. I mean...sex on school property, what would our fiercely overprotective big sister think?"

"That you're a bitch trying to set me up."

"Maybe, but she'd still remember it...and next time you and Glenn think about getting a little frisky, guess who'd be watching? She's neglectful, not dumb."

"What do you want from me?" Paige asked angrily, trying to look as menacing as one could curled up into the fetal position on a bed of life jackets.

Phoebe simply leant over her even more. "Well darling, you can start by finishing your story, and then when we get home, you can stop telling Grams when I sneak out."

"Oh for the love of...Phoebe, I didn't do it. She just knew."

"Bullshit." Phoebe grinned victoriously. "Oh, and another thing...I want your jean jacket."

"What? But I love -"

"Your boyfriend? Cause Grams can sure get cranky with boys who defile her granddaughters."

"Yes, well, you have a lot of experience with that, don't you?" Paige muttered as she attempted to sit up.

Phoebe scoffed. "I'm not the one who was sleeping with two boys at the same time."

Paige's eyes narrowed and she chucked a foam buoy at Phoebe's head. "Try again Freebie."

Phoebe easily caught the weak toss in front of her face. "Oh that's mature." Paige growled and threw another buoy at her sister. Phoebe grabbed it and whipped the first buoy back with ten times the force Paige used. It bounced off Paige's injured forehead and into the water.

"That fucking hurt!" Paige yelled, holding her hand to her forehead. Phoebe rolled her eyes and reached over the side of the boat to grab the buoy before it floated away. Her weight shift rocked the boat and Paige's stomach dropped immediately. With one graceless lunge, Paige let go of her bruised bruise lean over the side of the boat to spew. At this point it was pretty much dry heaving, but the force of her body's reaction in combination with Phoebe's forwards lean was enough to knock the boat completely off balance.

"Oh fu-" Phoebe yelled out as she tumbled out of the boat, then watched as the whole thing tipped over. Phoebe had been thrown far enough away to miss being hit with flying debris, but Paige was none so lucky, and Phoebe lost sight of her sister as the boat overturned. "Paige?" Phoebe yelled as nothing but a floating life jacket appeared in the water. Phoebe ducked under the water without a moment's pause. The water was murky, but within a few seconds, Phoebe could make out Paige's silhouette floating underneath the boat. With a burst of speed, Phoebe shot towards her sister and surfaced under the overturned boat.

"Oh god, are you okay?" Paige asked the second Phoebe appeared above the surface. Phoebe latched onto a rail on the underside of the boat and tried to get her breath back.

"Yes, I'm fine." Phoebe paused to take another deep breath.

"Sorry, I got hit on the head with an oar and I was sort of out of it for a minute." Phoebe looked at her sharply. "I'm fine." Paige laughed anxiously. "Although, at this rate I really will have to go to the hospital for a concussion by the end of the day."

Phoebe's breathing was almost back to normal and she swam over to Paige. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. Actually, I'm feeling a lot better than I have all day. The water's kind of nice, knocked me out of my daze a bit."

"Stomach?" Phoebe asked a little nervously, suddenly realising how close to her sister she was. Being puked on was vaguely tolerable, but swimming in it was a little past her boundaries.

"Good...for now anyway." Paige said as she moved to float on her back. Phoebe soon followed and the two of them lay in the darkness, listening to the water softly lapping against the sides of the boat. A peaceful moment later, Paige flicked some water at her sister. "I'm sorry I threw a buoy at you."

Phoebe splashed back. "I'm sorry I threw a buoy back at you." Phoebe stopped to think. "Well no, I'm sorry I threw a buoy at you so hard." Phoebe paused again. "Kinda."

---

"Do you want some coffee Grams?" Prue asked as she refilled her cup in the kitchen. After Phoebe and Paige's triumphant exit, the three eldest Halliwells had decided to retire to the living room for a lazy afternoon of reading.

"Yes de..." Grams trailed off at Piper's displeased headshake behind Prue's back. "Er, actually, I'd much rather a cup of Camomile tea."

Prue paused mid-pour to give Grams a confused look. "Since when do you drink that hippy crap?"

"Your Aunt Gail introduced me to it, it's delightful with a..."Grams scratched her head trying to think."Well, it's delightfully healthy anyway."

"Mmm." Prue mumbled, passing Grams her mug. "This wouldn't be another boyfriend's influence would it? Because the last thing you need is another husband."

Grams sat up straight in her chair. "I'll have you know that I haven't been married in two years. And I don't appreciate the insinuation that I would change myself for a man."

Prue and Piper exchanged an amused look. "Of course not."

"The groupie phase, as you girls so kindly put it, was a lifestyle choice that I would have done with or without Gregory."

"Don't you mean Mr. Helloween?" Piper asked with a giggle.

"That was stage name, it's not like I called him that at home."

"Ah huh, and what about Steve?" Prue asked with a teasing grin.

"Steven was a nice man." Grams declared indignantly.

"Nice boy." Prue corrected with a snort. "He was half your age and you wore a pink disco number to impress him."

"It was rose coloured and you'd do well to remember that you're only as old as you look."

Prue laughed. "Fair enough. So really, no men in your life right now?"

Grams settled back into her seat and sighed. "No, I'm investing in a dog instead."

"But you told us that you were allergic to dogs."

Grams grinned coyly. "It seems they've cleared."

"You lied to us? All I ever wanted growing up was a dog!" Prue complained loudly.

Piper snorted. "Right, like you didn't write three page lists to Santa for barbies, bikes, clothes, tacky makeup kits and a horse."

"Well what I really wanted was a dog." Off Grams and Piper's unsympathetic expressions, Prue pouted. "It was more of an unspoken desire."

"Well dear, you're getting your wish. I'm picking a puppy up from a local breeder in a month's time."

"Oh cool." Prue said giddily and Piper shot her a surprised look. "Puppy!" Prue gushed in explanation.

"Man, you really did want a dog." When Prue gave her a 'yeah' expression, Piper held her hands up. "Got it...yay puppy."

"Yes, well it's going to be a surprise for Phoebe's graduation so I'd appreciate it if it stayed between us." Grams said casually, placing her empty mug on the coffee table.

"Oh my god!" Prue gestured at Grams accusingly. "You're using a dog to try to keep Phoebe in San Francisco!"

"Must you be so cynical? Can't a grandmother give her granddaughter a gift without it being a bribe?" When Prue crossed her arms with a raised brow, Grams sighed. "Well you could be partially correct, Phoebe needs to stay in San Francisco, and if it takes a dog to convince her to be here, so be it." Grams held her hand up when Prue opened her mouth to comment. "And I think that a dog would be good for Paige. You know that I have to work a lot, and with Phoebe out of the house, Paige will need something around to keep her company."

Prue sunk back into her chair in defeat. "Well...maybe."

"I'm so glad you agree." Grams said with a grin. Prue narrowed her eyes and Grams cleared her throat innocently. "So girls, how are the men in your lives?"

"Well, Tom thinks he might get a contract-" Prue paused when Piper jumped up from the couch.

"As lovely as your company has been, I think I'm going to go take a nap in the sun." Piper downed the rest of her coffee in a single gulp and dropped her mug into the kitchen bucket. "Play nice." Piper waved over her shoulder as she ran out the front door.

"Well...okay." Prue said once the shock of Piper's exit had worn off.

"Indeed." Grams replied, with an amused grin. "Is there perhaps a new man in Piper's life?"

Prue scratched her head. "Um...no? Of course not. I mean, not that I know of..." When Grams crossed her arms with a look, Prue sighed. "Well there was this one guy she had a...uh, who stayed on our couch after a party...a book club party-"

Grams cut her off with her hand. "Yes, dear...that's more than enough. Please stop before I understand more of what you're trying not to say. Who is he?"

Prue tried to hide her grin. "Her T.A."

Grams shook her head in dismay. "Always the forbidden with that girl. If it isn't her manger or Andy's cousin, it's her T.A. Well, she's certainly her mother's daughter."

Prue shifted uncomfortably. "Uh, right."

Grams gave Prue's arm an energetic pat. "Your mother was many wonderful things, but she didn't exactly excel in following rules."

"And you do?"

"I certainly do not." Grams responded, entirely offended. "Boring lives are for politicians, parolees and the unemployed."

Prue blinked. "Uh, of course." She finished the last of her coffee and sat back in her seat. "Well, for what it's worth, Piper's guy seems nice. Plus, he's smart. A lot smarter than that jerk Phoebe's dating."

"Well she's not exactly interested in his brains." Grams replied with a shrug.

"Grams!" Prue exclaimed incredulously.

"Well dear, men are only useful if they're attractive or affluent, and Jimmy's isn't going to be a millionaire anytime soon."

"Yes, but shouldn't you be encouraging Phoebe to find a boy who isn't repeating his senior year for a second time?" Prue asked with a sigh.

"I don't really feel that it's worth the effort, she goes through them like-"

"You?" Prue interrupted with a snort.

Grams shot Prue a reproachful look. "No, Prudence, like you go through clothes."

Prue rolled her eyes. "I'm not that bad."

"Well I'd hate to see what you'll be like once you get a full-time job. You'll probably spend your life savings on a coat."

"Well as long as it's a nice coat." Prue replied with a grin.

"Mmm." Grams sighed and sat back in her chair. "Speaking of the future, what are you going to do once you graduate?"

Prue's smile dropped from her face. "Uh, well, I have to pass my summer course first."

"I hardly think you'll have a problem with that."

"Well, you never know...things can happen." When Grams remained silent, Prue sighed. "But... if all goes well, I have the option of doing an internship with the historical society of San Francisco."

Grams smiled proudly. "Thanks wonderful dear, I know you worked very hard to get where you are today."

Prue cleared her throat nervously. "Yes, well that's one possibility, but I sort of got a better offer."

Grams eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What kind of offer?"

"A grad school offer." Prue gulped as Grams stared her down. "Look, I wasn't going to stay anything till August, but I want to act like an adult here. So I'm going to tell you something, and you have to stay calm, open-minded and quiet, and you need to hear me out, okay? I just found out last week, and well, things being what they are with Piper...I haven't said anything. So this needs to stay between us, and I just want you to remember that we're adults and you need to-"

"Prudence." Grams commanded frostily.

Prue took a deep breath and looked Grams straight in the eye. "I'm moving to London."

---

Chapter 6: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

"Honestly Prudence, if you're going to do it like that, you might as well not do it at all." Grams snapped as she ripped the sponge of Prue's hand and shoved her away from the kitchen counter. Prue took several calming breaths before she picked up the duster that Grams had abandoned in her haste to steal Prue's cleaning job.

"You know, you could talk about why you're so mad instead of pulling a housewife of the year."

"Mad? Nonsense!" Grams said as she shook a bottle of cleaning solution a little too aggressively.

"Ah huh...you missed a bit." Prue said as she pointed out a corner of the kitchen counter that hadn't been scoured violently. Grams scowled for a minute, before she caved and rubbed at the spot. "It's not like I'm going to London to spite you."

Grams doubled her speed. "Well that fact is a bit inconsequential because you're not going."

Prue sighed. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity Grams. Do you know how many grad students would love to study at Kings College? I'd be working at the Museum of London! There's no history in North America. But Europe, god, I could stand where Julius Caesar invaded Britannia. I could see the Crown Jewels. I could visit the Louvre on the weekends."

"Well as luxurious as your delusions are, you are needed here in San Francisco."

"For what? Babysitting? I know you're going through a rough patch with Phoebe right now, but she'll straighten up once she gets to college." Prue paused in consideration. "Well, at least by her senior year."

"Your sisters are only part of the problem, you have a destiny here."

"The only destiny I have in San Francisco is to work myself to death."

"Oh don't be so dramatic, it's most unflattering." Grams threw her sponge down and grabbed a bottle of Windex. Prue trailed behind her as she went at the windows.

"Grams, you raised us as strong women who go after what they want. This is what I want...why can't you see that?"

"I wasn't aware that you listened to most of what I said." Grams snapped back.

"Yes, well, something was bound to sink in eventually." Prue blocked Grams' access to the next window. "Anyways, I am going to London. I'd prefer to have your blessing, but...well, this means too much to me to give it up for someone else."

Grams simply stuck her head out the window to clean the outside ledge instead. "And what about Piper?"

"What about Piper? She'll be cool with it...unlike some people she just wants me to be happy."

Grams sighed that disappointed way that always made Prue cringe. "And that's why you haven't told her you're leaving?"

Prue crossed her arms in annoyance. "Look, I know she'll be upset, but with time and a lot of explanation, she'll get it. I'll tell her as soon as this vacation is over, but right now she's having fun and I don't want to ruin it."

"Well as noble as that gesture is," Grams said with a tone that indicated that Prue was being anything but noble, "I'm sure your sisters would prefer to know that you're abandoning them as soon as possible. After all, you know what that feels like."

Prue's jaw dropped. "I can't believe you just compared me to Victor."

Grams paused in her frenzied wiping and sighed. "I'm sorry, that was unfair. No one should be compared to that beast of a man."

"Yeah, somehow that apology doesn't make things much better." Prue grumbled.

"Well I'm sorry dear, but I think you're making a terrible mistake and I refuse to stand by as you endanger you and your sisters' lives."

"What the hell are you talking about? I'd be just as safe in London as I would here. And none of my sisters need protection."

Grams dropped her cloth on the window sill and spun around to face Prue. "I know this argument seems trite right now, I promise with time, you'll understand my concerns. I'm only trying to do what's best for you."

Prue stared at her defiantly. "You have no idea what's best for me." Grams reached out her hand but Prue recoiled away from Grams' touch before she could make contact. "I just don't understand, why do insist on destroying everything that makes me happy?"

"Now Prudence-"

"No Grams. I gave up NYU for you and your stupid expectations. I'm not about to do it again."

Grams sighed as she took in Prue's heartbroken expression. She knew this wasn't fair, but no destiny in this family was fair and she'd rather her granddaughters be unhappy than dead. Her death was looming and if her girls were to receive their powers without a strong bond between them, they would be sitting ducks for everything she had protected them from over the last two decades. Everything their mother had died for. With that thought in mind, she pulled herself together and faced a child who deserved more than Grams could give. "I'm sick Prudence."

Prue looked like she'd just been kicked in the stomach. "What?"

"It's my heart darling." Grams reached out for Prue's hand and this time, Prue was too shocked to shake her off. "Two months ago I had a heart attack. A minor one, but it did do some irreparable damage. Since then, I've been stabilized on heart medication and a dreadful diet, and the doctors think that I'll be fine for a time yet...but we never know with these things."

"I..you..." Prue took a deep breath, trying to fight tears. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry. You still have a life to lead darling, but unfortunately it cannot be in London. Piper is wonderful, but she won't be ready to take care of Paige and Phoebe if something happens. I know you are a young woman, but Paige will need someone to be her legal guardian and Phoebe will always need someone to keep her on the right track. Now, I have transferred all the bank accounts in your name, the manor is willed to all four of you equally and I set up-"

Prue interrupted Grams angrily. "But you said you were going to be okay. You said it was minor."

"Yes, it is, but I cannot take the chance. I know you have given up so much for your sisters, but I'm afraid this is just one more thing you have to do. I am truly sorry Prudence, but you are the eldest and they need you."

Prue tried to take it all in. "Piper knows."

"Yes, she was called to the hospital after I had my attack. Don't be mad at her sweetheart, I asked her not to say anything."

Prue closed her eyes. "I cannot believe..." Prue took in a deep breath. "You know what, I can't take this right now. I'm sorry...but I just can't." Prue backed away from Grams.

"Prudence, wait!" Grams said, moving towards her, but Prue shook her head fiercely.

"No, this isn't fair." And with that, she ran out the front door.

Grams sighed, leaning against the window frame like the old woman she was. "Forgive me Patty."

---

"Hey P-" Piper cut her greeting short as Prue stormed over to her. "Prue, what's wrong?"

"How could you not tell me Grams was sick!" Prue exclaimed, pushing Piper off the sun bed.

"I...she..." Piper stammered, looking up at her enraged sister.

"I get that you were mad at me, but she's our grandmother Piper. I would never lie to you about something like that."

"I didn't lie Prue, I...I just didn't say anything. You-"

Prue turned away from her sister and started pacing around the sun beds. "No way. You're not playing that game with me. You could have told me a million times over, but you didn't."

Piper watched her sister. "She begged me not to say anything. She didn't want you guys to worry."

"I don't care what she said, you should never have kept that a secret. What if she had died? Would you have even bothered to tell me the truth?"

"Don't be ridiculous." When Prue spun towards her aggressively, Piper scurried backwards with her hands up in surrender. "Look, the heart attack was scary, but I've been with her to the doctors. She's okay. As long as she stays on her meds and takes it easy, everything should be fine."

"Everything is not fine. Our grandmother is..." Prue trailed off as Phoebe and Paige pulled up to the dock in the rowboat.

Piper followed her sister's gaze and bit her lip. "Prue, you can't tell them."

"Why? So I can deceive them like you?"

Piper tried not to show her hurt. "No. Look, I get what you're saying...but please let Grams handle it. It's her secret to tell, and if you blurt it because you're mad, you'll just upset Paige and send Phoebe off the rails."

"I refuse to cover this up Piper, they have a right to know." Prue declared furiously.

"I'll make Grams tell them, I promise, but please don't do this. They need to hear it from her." Prue remained silent. "Please?" Piper pleaded, begging her sister with her eyes. Prue stepped back just as Phoebe and Paige reached them.

"Is everything okay?" Phoebe asked suspiciously, eying up her tense sisters.

Prue took a deep breath and gave Phoebe a weak smile. "Nothing to worry about, Piper and I are just..."

"Fighting?" Paige supplied nervously, still looking a rather rough. Even although her stomach had settled since the swim in the lake, she was much paler than her usual pale.

"Something like that." Prue said as she turned away from them all, gazing out onto the lake. After a moment of silent consideration, Prue spun around and pointed at Phoebe and Paige. "Go get your vodka."

Paige's eyes widened but Phoebe remained utterly calm. "I'm sorry?"

"Your alcohol Phoebe. I want it...all of it."

"I don't have any alcohol." Phoebe shrugged. "Drinking is bad. I would never partake in such a scandalous pastime. What would my elders think?"

Prue moved into Phoebe's personal space. "I'm not in the mood for this. Get it now or I'm going straight to Grams."

"Well that's going to be a bit hard because it doesn't exist." Phoebe replied stubbornly, refusing to fall into whatever trap Prue was laying out. Prue grunted and shoved her out the way as she zeroed in on Paige.

"Paige, you're busted." Prue grabbed onto Paige's shoulders and held in her place. "So give up this ridiculous game and go get it."

"We don't have anything Prue." Phoebe said as she shook her head at Paige over Prue's shoulder.

Paige hesitated, looking back and forth between Prue and Phoebe. Prue ignored it on her quest to break Paige. "I'm waiting."

"I...uh..."

"I'll search all of your stuff until I find it."

Paige gulped, fearing Prue's tone and the deadly threats Phoebe was now throwing at her with her eyes. "Are you going to tell Grams?"

Prue continued to stare Paige down. "I promise I won't tell Grams if you go get it right now."

Paige looked at Phoebe pleadingly. "I have to Pheebs."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "No you don't dumbass, she's going to make you tell Grams. The second she gets the proof in her hand, she'll make you own up to everything."

Prue grunted. "Well there goes that idea. Of course, it was going to be garnished with a fun drinking session in which I'd make you drink until you puked, then I'd make you drink some more."

"Been there, done that." Paige muttered to herself.

Phoebe shot Prue an amused look."Like I'd fall for that."

Prue shrugged. "You weren't going to have much of a choice. Anyway, that plan's scrapped. Far too lenient. Good thing I'm creative, huh?" Paige paled even more. "Now, we all know that I'm going to get a hold of that alcohol somehow, so it's really up to you whether this ends here or goes on...well, as long as it takes to find it. I'd sure hate to have to pull the entire house apart." Prue quirked an expectant eyebrow at Paige. "So, what's it going to be?"

"I..." Paige started.

"You owe me." Phoebe reminded Paige sternly.

"Okay, I'll extend the house search to your room when we get home...I'm sure you've got something you'd rather keep hidden in there." Prue continued in a dangerously sweet tone.

Paige bit her lip. Phoebe had all kinds of dirt on her, but Prue was scary as shit and she did have things in her room she'd rather keep secret. Phoebe would happily spill everything about her sex life, but then, Prue would find the condoms in her room. Plus her cigarettes, and all the clothes she'd permanently borrowed from her sisters over the years, and the book she'd told the library she'd returned, and a bracelet she stole from Macy's last summer, and a picture of her dad they didn't know she had, and the lingerie Glenn gave her as a somewhat serious joke, and...

"Okay, I'll go get it." Paige said, refusing to meet Phoebe's eyes.

"Oh you stupid bitch!" Phoebe cried as she lunged at her little sister angrily. Prue jumped in front of Paige and bounced Phoebe off to the side. Once she regained her balance, Phoebe shot Paige a look that promised mass amounts of bodily harm for getting her into trouble.

Paige bravely turned her back Phoebe's wrath to address Prue. "I'll go get it because it's mine. I was the one who brought it, and I was the one who said we should drink it last night. Phoebe only had one glass, I drank the rest."

Prue snorted. "Right, because that's a likely story."

"It's the truth." Paige said, trying to stand tall like Phoebe always did when she faced Prue.

"Mmm, I bet." Prue said, not fooled for a minute. "Go get it."

"Uh, okay." Paige caved, backing away from her seething sister.

"Don't think that you just saved yourself a lot of pain." Phoebe hissed as Paige passed by on her way towards the cabin. The second Paige disappeared inside, Phoebe kicked the ground with a frustrated yell. "Paige is sleeping with Glenn."

"Great." Prue spat. "Just what I need."

"Is that true?" Piper asked, finally breaking out of her compliant silence.

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Yes."

Piper looked at Prue anxiously. "What should we do?"

"We? We? Why don't you figure out something to do since you're so good at protecting people in this family." Prue raged, throwing herself onto the sunbed. Phoebe and Piper edged away from their sister's ferocity.

"I...uh..." Piper paused to take a calming breath. "What do you want from me Prue?"

Prue clenched her jaw. "What I want is a life of my own, but since that's obviously not a possibility with this fucked up family, I could really use a stiff drink."

"You're going to drink our alcohol?" Phoebe asked before she could censor herself.

Prue grinned scarily. "You betcha." Phoebe and Piper exchanged a look of disbelief before the threesome lapsed into a very tense silence. Prue stared straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge her sisters, whilst Piper and Phoebe kept glancing between the cottage and one another. Just when it felt like the tension would never end, Paige reappeared with a half empty bottle of vodka. Phoebe's eyes widened, Paige had clearly spent her time emptying out half of the bottle into something else...maybe her little sister wasn't such a lost cause after all.

"Hey Prue, this is all we've got left." Paige shoved the vodka into her eldest sister's hands and scurried over to the others without a look back. Phoebe checked to make sure that Prue and Piper were distracted before she gave Paige a grin. Paige furrowed her brow, obviously asking Phoebe if she had ratted her out, and Phoebe winced apologetically.

The awkward silence crept in again, and Paige began to fidget in lieu of her impending doom. When nothing disastrous or loud happened, she shared a puzzled look with Phoebe and cleared her throat. "So...um...what are you going to do now?" Prue looked up at her voice, as if she forgot her sisters were there, and sighed deeply. Paige tried to resist the urge to hide behind Phoebe.

"Now, I'm going to make you two promise me that you won't drink again until your twenty-one."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Like that's realistic."

"Well, you better make it realistic, because if I ever catch you drinking when you shouldn't, I'll take you to the cops myself."

Phoebe snorted. "Yeah right."

Prue slowly set the vodka bottle down at her side. "I talk to Mr. Trudeau all the time, so unless you want possession of alcohol on your record alongside your oh so complimentary shoplifting and vandalism charges, I'd be very careful."

"What the hell is your problem Prue?" Phoebe spat, glaring at her sister with all she was worth.

Prue hesitated. "Nothing."

"You drank when you were seventeen."

Prue shrugged. "Yep, you're right. But guess what Pheebs...life isn't fair, and I'm saying no." Without a glance in anyone's direction, Prue picked up the vodka bottle and stood up from the sun bed. "We'll talk about punishments later. I'm sure you two would love to help me pack up all my stuff to move out." Piper swallowed nervously. Did this mean that Prue was leaving the apartment before their lease was up? Was she moving back to the manor because of Grams? "Our discussion isn't over." Prue spat as she stormed past Piper on her way towards the woods, bottle in hand.

The second Prue disappeared into the dense forest, Phoebe turned towards Piper with her best puppy dog expression. "You're not going to tell Grams, right?"

Piper regarded her sisters carefully. "I don't know."

"Please Piper? We learned our lesson."

Piper crossed her arms. "Ah huh, and what lesson was that?"

"That alcohol is evil and we shouldn't drink till we're twenty-one?" When Piper appeared unmoved, Phoebe pouted. "Okay fine, I learned that Paige is an awful drunk and that I'm never giving her alcohol again." Paige took the insult as she knew better than to incriminate herself in this kind of conversation.

"Oh?" Piper looked at Paige in interest.

"Yep, and I swear I won't drink again. Ever." Phoebe nodded at Piper enthusiastically.

Piper snorted. "Pull the other one Phoebe."

"Okay, I promise I'll drink responsibly." Phoebe amended. "Oh, but not till I'm twenty-one. Obviously."

Piper rolled her eyes. "That's Prue's gig, I know you'll never make it. But what I do want is an assurance that you're being safe. No driving, no blackouts and no getting yourself into dangerous situations."

Phoebe looked at Piper suspiciously. "But I thought you were going to tell on us?"

"Yeah, so Grams could make you feel guilty and repentant."

"Oh." Phoebe and Paige exchanged a confused look. "Are we supposed to be feeling that now?" Phoebe paused. "Er... because we so are. I mean, just this morning Paige and I were talking about how much we regretted her drinking."

"No Phoebe, you're not supposed to be feeling that. Yet. But I think I can cover it without Grams' help." Phoebe and Paige looked at her doubtfully and Piper sighed. "I know that everyone at school is probably drinking, and I have no doubt that for the most part it's harmless...but alcohol can lead to bad things and-"

"And this afterschool special is brought to you by Grams 2.0." Phoebe interrupted with a bored look.

Piper glared. "Do you remember when Prue was your age?"

"I remember that she was a lot more trouble than I am." Phoebe retorted snottily.

"Well, I'd say that's debatable." Phoebe sulked and Piper rolled her eyes. "But regardless, she used to spend a lot of her time partying with Carl." Piper pronounced his name like a disease.

"Was that the guy with the mohawk?" Paige asked, a great deal more interested in talking about other people's mistakes than her own.

"Yep, he was cute." Phoebe added, fondly remembering her preteen crush.

"He was dangerous." Piper stressed. "One night, Prue was drunk and he attacked her because she wouldn't have sex with him. Luckily, she managed to fight him off and called me, but it would never have happened if she hadn't let herself get into that situation." When Phoebe and Paige remained silent, Piper continued. "Now, I'm not saying that anything like that will happen to you, but if you're out there getting trashed with no knowledge of where you are or who you're with, you could find yourselves in a lot of trouble. Prue didn't say what she said to boss you around, she said it to keep you safe. Personally, I don't think waiting till your twenty-one is a practical solution, but she's doing what she thinks she needs to do. So do me and her a favour, and think about what you're doing before you drink yourselves into oblivion."

"Guilt." Phoebe muttered as she looked at her feet.

"Repentance." Paige added with a sigh.

"Told ya." Piper said with a sad smile. Neither Phoebe nor Paige looked at her, and Piper cleared her throat self-consciously. "And...just a suggestion, Grams has already had a really hard time with one granddaughter, so I'm sure she would appreciate it if you tried to keep your teenage rebellions to loud music and tight clothes." Piper stole a quick glance at her sisters' ample chests. "Well...not too tight."

Phoebe cracked a small smile. "But how would I ever get anything I wanted?" Piper rolled her eyes and Phoebe's smile faded. "Was Prue okay...you know, after it all?"

"She was a bit shaken at first...but she got over it eventually. I certainly wouldn't suggest bringing it up now, but the issue's been resolved for a long time. Lesson learned."

Phoebe snorted. "Subtle." Piper smirked and turned towards Paige, standing off to the side in thought. "You okay over there?"

"Yeah, it's just...I was such a little shit to her that year with her trying to move to the east coast and all."

Piper smiled gently. "You were just a kid, you couldn't have known."

"I know, but..." Paige shuffled her shoe along the ground.

Piper waited until Paige made eye contact with her. "No buts, it was no one's fault but Carl's. Prue rebelled because...well, because she felt like you two do now. And the only thing she'd want you to feel bad about is last night." Paige nodded and Piper sighed in relief. The last thing Prue's temper needed was Paige bugging her about one of her most painful memories to date.

"So...you're not going to tell Grams?" Phoebe interjected hopefully.

Piper thought about it. "No, not right now. But if you ever pull a stunt like that again, nothing will save you from-" Phoebe cut Piper off with a squeal.

"Thank you, thank you! I knew you'd understand." Phoebe wrapped her arms around Piper happily. After a few sloppy kisses that Piper tried her best to fight off, both girls turned their attention to Paige, gazing out at the lake somberly. "Come here." Piper gestured to her free side. Paige blinked and looked at Phoebe for a rescue. "Come on, I promise I won't bite." Paige nodded but didn't move. Piper rolled her eyes and slowly shuffled her and Phoebe's huddle towards Paige. Once she was close enough, Piper grabbed onto Paige's hand and forced her into the group hug. "Relax...I know Prue's mad, but she'll get over it. She always does." Paige squirmed restlessly in the middle of the sister sandwich, and Piper and Phoebe exchanged an annoyed look as they detangled themselves from the embrace.

"Do you really think she'd really turn us over to the police?" Phoebe asked once she plunked down on a sun bed with her hands behind her head. Piper settled on the other bed and Paige quickly sat at Phoebe's feet.

"Honestly, I don't know. It's pretty hard to get a read on Prue's thoughts these days." Piper ran her hand threw her hair. "But I certainly wouldn't risk it...she'd probably do it just to spite you for doubting her."

"Probably." Phoebe agreed, pulling her knees to her chest. "What were you two fighting about? It looked really..." Phoebe trailed off, trying to find a word.

"Scary." Paige added, watching carefully for Piper's reaction.

Piper looked away from her sisters. "I can't tell you."

"But maybe we can help?" Phoebe tried optimistically.

Piper shook her head sadly. "No, it's not something that can be fixed." Phoebe furrowed in brow in concern while Paige sighed deeply. Piper tried to give them a smile. "But I promise that Prue has a pretty legitimate reason to be mad. So let's just give her space, okay?"

Phoebe and Paige nodded, and Piper tapped her fingers on the side of the sun bed. Now that the drinking was sufficiently dealt with, there was the issue of Paige's sex life to resolve. Not that Piper was going to be the one to bring it up...the last thing their relationship needed was another opportunity for Paige to reject her. Yep, she was just to have to ignore the problem and...Piper blinked as Phoebe nodded her head at her none too subtly. Piper checked on Paige, anxiously fiddling around with the seam of her sweatshirt, before she responded to Phoebe with a perplexed expression. Phoebe gave her another head bob, this time clearly in the direction of Paige, and Piper scratched her head. After a minute of contemplation, Piper furrowed her brow in confusion and shrugged. Phoebe gritted her teeth as sent Piper yet another meaningful look and Piper held up hands up helplessly.

"Are you guys done?" Paige asked in a bored tone, now clued into sisters' silent argument. Piper jumped at the vocal interruption and Phoebe leapt up from her sun bed.

"Would you excuse us?" Phoebe flashed Paige a fake grin and yanked Piper across the lawn without so much as a look back.

"Don't mind me." Paige muttered sarcastically as she watched her sisters argue. With an irritated sigh, Paige curled up onto the sun bed and decided to take a nap. Who knew how long dumb and dumber would take to decide on who would give her the sex talk.

Across the lawn, Piper ripped her arm from Phoebe's fierce grip. "What are you doing?"

"You have to talk to her about sex."

Piper looked at Phoebe in horror. "Why?"

"Because she's fifteen!" Phoebe whispered heatedly.

"Right." Piper paused, trying to get a read on Phoebe's neurosis. "Why can't you be the one to talk to her?"

"I'm...I'm the fun one." Phoebe stated matter-of-factly.

"I'm trying really hard here, but I have no idea what that means."

"Paige thinks of me like a friend, I can't lecture her about sex."

"And I can...?" Piper tried, still in the land of bewilderment.

"You're her big sister. She'll listen to you."

"We're talking about Paige, yes?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Yes. Look, I know that you two have your ridiculous soap opera relationship, but she looks up to you a lot more than she'd ever admit. And as colourful as Prue threat was, it isn't going to stop Paige from messing around."

"Right...but I still don't see why I have to be the one to talk to her. Sex isn't exactly my thing, Phoebe."

"Oh, well, we can work on that." Phoebe tried to give her sister's arm a sympathetic pat but Piper snatched it away. "Anyway, Paige doesn't need a demonstration...she needs someone to tell her about stuff."

"Stuff?" Piper echoed, trying to read between the lines.

Phoebe sighed loudly. "You know, safe sex stuff...birth control, love, what's normal...etiquette..."

"Etiquette? What the hell is sex etiquette?"

"Like you stick around for the morning after and you ask someone before you spring something freaky on them?" At Piper's startled look, Phoebe shrugged. "I don't know, I'm new at this."

"Well what did Prue say to you?"

"She threw a package of condoms at my head and told me that she gave up. Then she got Andy to pretend to arrest my boyfriend until he promised to keep his hands off me."

Piper thought about it. "Well, if it ain't broke..."

"Piper." Phoebe said pleadingly. "She's so in love with Glenn that she'd do anything for him."

"Well, he's a good kid. Aside from the obvious ick factor, it's really not that big of a deal."

Phoebe sighed. "I know I'm not exactly the kind of person who can be throwing phones in glass houses-"

"That's not really how that..." Piper stopped at Phoebe's serious expression. "Sure, go on."

"Their thing is far too serious."

"What do you mean?"

Phoebe checked on Paige, sleeping on the sun bed, before she met Piper's worried gaze. "Paige pretends to be boy crazy, but she's only ever had eyes for him and someday soon, he's going to hurt her."

Piper furrowed her brow. "Okay, I get what you're saying and as much as I like Glenn, I agree that they're probably not for forever. But isn't a least one painful break up sort of inevitable? If it isn't Glenn, it'll be some other guy, and well...that's just part of life."

"My hearts never been broken." Phoebe stated without a moment's pause.

"Well..." Piper licked her lips nervously. "That's because you've never been in love."

Phoebe crossed her arms. "I love Jimmy."

Piper sighed. "Look, I think it's sweet that you're trying to protect Paige but I think you're projecting a bit here. As much as Paige may be setting herself up for a fall, what she's getting out of their relationship is most definitely worth the risk. If there's anyone I trust with Paige, it's Glenn. So I'll give Paige a sex talk, but I won't ever tell her to be careful of Glenn because the fact that she's not holding back is what makes a first love so magical." Piper gave Phoebe's shoulder a squeeze and started on a path towards the sun beds. Phoebe remained motionless for a few seconds, silently mulling over Piper's words, before she headed back to her sisters for the show.

Paige's eyes fluttered open as someone sat down on the edge of the sun bed. She sat up sleepily as Piper fidgeted in front of her. "Hey."

Piper took a deep breath. "So we're going to have to talk about something horribly awkward, and I know that you'll probably try to ignore me, but it's important to listen because you're growing up and things change and you need to be ready for being an adult. Relationships are like a good stew, so you need to have substance and flavour, and it can't be all one thing, and you can always freeze it for tomorrow. You cook it on a low setting, for a long time and..." Piper trailed off at Paige's bemused expression.

"You are talking about sex, right? Cause the food metaphor is kind of freaking me out."

Piper shifted uncomfortably. "Yes. So, were you safe?"

"When I went to the skate park last week?" Paige tried, but Piper didn't take the bait. Paige huffed. "Yes, I was safe. I'm not stupid." Phoebe reappeared and plunked down on the free bed, stretching out like she didn't just orchestrate the most awkward conversation in her sisters' lives.

Piper tried to ignore Phoebe's presence. "What did you use?"

"Whip cream and handcuffs." Phoebe didn't hold in her snort very well but Piper refused to be anything but serious. Paige rolled her eyes. "We used condoms and I've been stealing packages of Phoebe's pills."

"Hey!" Phoebe exclaimed, slapping Paige on the thigh.

"Oh, so you want to become an aunt?" Paige asked sarcastically.

Phoebe stared Paige down. "No, but if I have to shell out twenty bucks to be baby-free, so do you."

"Why bother when I can get it from you?" Paige asked with a shrug.

"Because you're no longer getting it from me." Phoebe declared conclusively. "If you're having sex, you have to be ready for the consequences."

Piper rolled her eyes at her sisters' bickering. "If it shuts you up, I'll pay you both twenty bucks to be baby-free."

"Really?" Phoebe questioned, watching Paige out the corner of her eye.

Piper hesitated. "Uh, well I guess if you need it...but I'd really rather you didn't need it cause I don't think Grams would appreciate me giving you a sex fund."

"It's not like I'm going to write you up an invoice." Paige said with a snort.

"Still...only if you really need it." When Phoebe and Paige remained silent, Piper let out a sigh of relief. "Well, okay...birth control done. Uh...so, what do you know about sex etiquette?"

Paige blinked. "Is that like a 'say please' kind of thing? Because teasing is great and all, but we usually just stick to..."

"No! NO!" Piper exclaimed, cutting Paige off. "I meant...actually, I have no idea what I meant." Piper sighed. "You love him?"

Paige looked at Phoebe nervously. "Well...yeah." Phoebe squinted at Paige's hesitancy, but when she went to catch her eye, Paige looked away.

"And this is your choice? No pressure from Glenn and no doing it because everyone else is?" Paige nodded and Piper tried to remember what she was supposed to say next. "Okay, that's good. That's...yes, good. "So let's talk about what's normal..."

Paige grimaced. "Could we not? I've seen enough movies."

"Well, see, there's something...watching porn is, well...normal." Piper paused. "There's no shame in watching two people-"

"I don't watch porn!" Paige interrupted loudly. "Well okay, Glenn and I watched one once, but it was awful, and we spent most of the time making fun of...uh, the acting."

"Okay, your honesty was... valuable." Piper took her best therapist pose. "Thank you for sharing."

Paige groaned. "Is this over yet?"

"No. What else is normal Phoebe?" Phoebe shrugged and Piper glared at her. "You're not helping."

Phoebe turned to Paige. "Well what kind of things are you doing?"

Paige laughed. "Like I'm going to tell you." Phoebe shot Piper a 'told you so' look and settled back into her seat.

Piper frowned. It figured that the first time Paige listened to her in years, Piper had nothing to say. Shouldn't there be a book on giving responsible sex talks? Hmm...maybe she could ask Paige? Or not. "Okay, well, let's talk about desire. Everyone has needs, and even although something might feel good, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's appropriate." Piper took stock of her audience; Paige looked appalled while Phoebe looked overly amused. "Lust is a hard emotion to master...right now your body is changing, and-"

"Okay, Grams gave me the puberty talk years ago, can we please move on?" Paige begged pitifully.

"Sure, right, well...what I was trying to say is that teenagers are -"

"Horny." Phoebe interjected gleefully.

Piper and Paige groaned simultaneously. "Well...yes, so, you're bound to be curious about...sexual experiences and...and your body's reactions, and that's normal."

Paige stuck her head in her hands. "Oh god."

Piper braved on. "And I just want you to know that you can ask me anything you want...about your body or your emotions, or hell, what to do sexually. I know it might be uncomfortable, but I promise that I'll listen and I won't judge. I'll always try to help, or advise...or show you a picture or something." Paige lifted her head slowly. "I know we're not exactly close, but sex is a big deal...especially with the possible risk involved, so if you're ever curious or confused or in trouble, I'm here." Piper stopped abruptly, trying to gauge Paige's reaction.

"I...yeah, thanks." Paige said quietly, a little taken back. "I really appreciate that."

Piper nodded, trying not to grin stupidly at the awesomeness that was Paige looking at her like she was someone she respected. "So...do you have any questions?"

"Well..." Paige hesitated. Piper took a deep breath and gave Paige her best approximation of an encouraging smile. "Does this mean you're okay with me having sex?"

Piper bit the inside of her cheek. "Sort of." When Paige looked a little bewildered, Piper sighed. "I'll be honest here, I don't like it, but I want you to be happy and...sex can be pretty great. So as long as you and Glenn are careful, I don't have a problem with you doing...whatever it is you want to do."

Paige nodded gratefully, then spun on Phoebe. "See! That's what you're supposed to say."

Phoebe blinked. "Huh?"

"Come on Phoebe, your 'stop Paige from having sex' campaign is a little obvious."

"Who? Me? I'd never do anything like that!" Phoebe denied vehemently.

Paige snorted. "Please, you're anything but subtle." Phoebe faked a dramatic wound to the heart and Paige rolled her eyes. "But it's okay, I hate the thought of you having sex too."

Phoebe paused. "What?"

"Well, the guys you date are assholes and you deserve better. Call me protective, but I don't like it when my sister goes for a quickie in the backseat because her boyfriend's too cheap to take her on a date."

Piper shifted backwards on her seat in preparation for the fallout of fists and hair pulling. Instead, Phoebe looked entirely touched. "Thanks Paige."

Piper narrowed her eyes. "Oh, so when Prue and I make comments about your taste in men, you yell at us...but when Paige does it, she gets love?"

Phoebe nodded. "Yep, cause she's cute." Paige gave Phoebe a high five.

"I think I like it more when you two fight." Phoebe stuck out her tongue and Piper glared playfully. "Okay, last topic...Prue."

Paige fiddled with the bracelet around her wrist. "What about her?"

"Well, like I said, I don't think you're doing anything wrong, but Prue's isn't going to be exactly on board with this. She let Phoebe have sex at sixteen...so maybe in a few months you can negotiate with her?" Piper tried hopefully.

"I think 'let' might be a bit too strong of a word." Phoebe added a little bitterly.

Paige looked at them. "You guys...Glenn has been my best friend for ten years, I think he knows what Prue's like. He can take anything she dishes out, and he loves me enough to put up with whatever shit you guys want to fling his way. This is the real deal, and I'm not going to apologise for showing him how much I care."

"Oh gag," Phoebe exclaimed, "Hallmark called...they want their card back."

Piper ignored her and focused on Paige. "I think that's great, I really do, but you're fifteen."

Paige shrugged. "Maybe, but I can make my own decisions."

"Yeah, until Prue kills you." Phoebe stated seriously.

"First of all, Prue isn't around enough to kill me."

"I'm sure she'd pencil it in." Piper stated wryly.

Paige ignored her. "And second, nobody tells me how to live my life." Phoebe and Piper sighed together...fiercely independent and hung-up-on-my-half-sister-issues Paige was rearing her ugly head. That was a battle no one could win, so Piper gave in and changed the subject.

"How are you feeling anyway? You looked awful this morning."

"I told you they knew!" Paige exclaimed as she shot Phoebe a triumphant look. "Man, I felt so sick."

"You were so sick." Phoebe pointed out.

Piper shook her head in amusement. "That bad huh?"

"I never want to drink again." Paige stated eagerly, before she realised what she said. "You know, because I'm not supposed to and all."

Piper grinned. "Now I have to ask...what the hell happened to your head?"

Phoebe sat up in excitement. "Well it all began when Paige decided that..."

---

Chapter 7: Fight Club

With one final readjustment, Prue settled into her place at the top of an oak tree, resting her back against the trunk and balancing both of her feet on a solid branch below. Prue loved heights, she always felt like she was in control of the world when she was looking down on it. She rested her head back against the rough bark and took a sip of vodka, trying to drown out the quiet hum of the forest. What would be considered peaceful serenity to everyone else was a constant reminder of the worst five minutes of her life. There should have been screaming. There should have been frantic thrashing. There should have been her mother's voice telling her that she was okay and that Prue would get the ice cream she'd been promised. Instead, there was nothing but chilling stillness of nature. The whistle of the wind blowing through the trees. The call of birds in the sky. The noise of a hundred million creatures continuing their lives despite the fact that nothing would ever be the same.

Prue tipped the bottle up and counted to five, trying not to gag as she poured the fiery liquid down her throat. It'd been a few months since she'd drunk heavily, and even then, it was just a few too many fruity cocktails with the girls on a night out. Still, she doubted that half a bottle of vodka would be enough to numb her pain. In hindsight, she should have grilled Paige a little more to make sure that this really was the last of their supply...because a bottle of vodka for a week between two? When Phoebe was involved? Not really all that realistic. But Prue had a been a little preoccupied with the whole trying not to have a complete mental breakdown thing, so she supposed she might as well let it slide. Just like the rest of her life.

Chug chug chug. Well at least she was drinking quick...that would lead to fabulous head swimming in a few minutes. Prue took another sip and looked around. She had no idea where she was, apart from the middle of forest, and that suited her fine. The last thing she needed was Piper searching her out for a talk...because right now the only talking Prue wanted to do was with her fists. She knew she should probably be worried about her increasingly violent tendencies, but she was just so sick of having her world ripped away from under her. As if it wasn't enough to lose a mother, a father, her childhood, a place at NYU and Andy, now she had to lose every hope she had for the future and Grams. Prue knew that Grams was probably going to be okay for a while, but it really was just a matter of time before she was gone. And then Prue would have to face the world by herself.

Prue picked at the label on the bottle with her nail. And this time the crushing disappointment was worse than usual because she hadn't even seen it coming. At least with NYU, she knew that Grams would throw a fit and she'd applied to other schools in San Francisco. But London...god, she'd done everything but buy a plane ticket. And not only that, but she'd spent last week walking around like some drugged up idiot, grinning at everything and everyone. She didn't avoid her apartment because Piper was mad at her, but rather, because she was bouncing around like Paige on a sugar high and didn't want to have to explain why she, Prue fucking Halliwell, was the happiest she'd been since she was seven years old. Of course, that should have been the first clue that it was all about to come crashing down. It didn't matter how hard Prue worked, how hard she tried to fit in, how much she gave up...she would never get the happy ending.

Prue took another drink. She would have to stay in San Francisco, that much she knew, but how was she supposed to hold her family together when she didn't want to be part of it in the first place? Prue loved Grams and her sisters, she really did, but they weren't enough to make her want to get up every day. She wanted to have a fling in Paris and not have to worry about Grams' expectations. She wanted to jump on a train and disappear for a week without having to consider how Piper would feel left out. She wanted to be able to stay out all night without having to regret setting a bad example for her baby sisters. She wanted to be herself.

With a deep sigh, Prue downed the last of the vodka and threw the bottle as hard as she could. A second later, she heard the smash of glass somewhere on the ground below her and it was a whole lot less satisfying than she'd hoped. She should have known something would go wrong. It always did.

---

"Phoebe, you do not need that much bread. Please leave some for the rest of us." Grams snapped as she spooned a mammoth helping of rice onto Paige's plate. Not only had Grams been in a surly mood all evening, she'd also spent the entire afternoon cleaning the cottage from grimy baseboards to dusty ceilings. Which was, to everyone who had ever met the woman, a sign of an apocalypse. Piper and Paige exchanged a nervous look, but Phoebe continued to saw at the two day old loaf without a care in the world. "Phoebe."

Phoebe quickly cut through the last of the crust and pulled her piece free. "Sorry Grams but I think 6.23 inches is a pretty decent size." Paige choked on the first bite of her dinner.

"Uh, actually, I'd say that's more like three inches." Piper said looking at Phoebe like she was crazy.

Phoebe snorted. "I guess Piper's a tough audience to please." Paige was a still a bit preoccupied with her lack of oxygen, but Phoebe could tell she appreciated the joke all the same. Piper just raised her eyebrow.

"Phoebe, stop whatever nonsense it is you're doing and eat your dinner. Paige, please stop shoving so much in your mouth." Phoebe gave Paige an eyebrow wiggle at the unintended innuendo but Grams' rapt attention kept her check.

Paige fidgeted in her chair, desperate for a subject change. "So do you think we should look for Prue after dinner?"

Grams shook her head. "No dear, it's best to give her space. She'll come back when she's-" Grams was cut off when the front door flew open and a very drunk Prue stumbled into the cottage.

"Honey, I'm home." Piper instantly leapt up from her chair, rushing to Prue's twig covered side. "Aw, did I interrupt a family dinner? How unbearably inconsiderate of me." Prue chirped as brushed past Piper and plunked down onto her vacated chair.

Phoebe gave Prue swift kick under the table. "Prue, I think you're really tired right now and need to go to bed."

"Ow. Don't kick me." Prue glared and Phoebe sat back in her chair with a sigh. She could just tell this was going to end with her being grounded...again.

By this point in time, Grams had snapped out of enough of her shock to remember her ass kicking ways. "Prudence Victoria Halliwell, what in heaven's name do you think you're doing?"

"Having dinner?" As if to prove her point, Prue snatched the bread out of Phoebe's hand and took a bite, chewing in a very un-Prue like way.

"I'm talking about your drunken behaviour on my family vacation." Grams drummed her fingers on the table angrily.

"Oh no, that's Phoebe and Paige's thing." Prue dusted the spray of crumbs off her shirt nonchalantly.

"Thanks sis." Phoebe ground out through gritted teeth as she snatched her bread back. Paige dropped her forehead onto the table in defeat. This really really wasn't her day.

"Oh?" Grams echoed, arching an eyebrow at Phoebe.

"Paige did it?" Phoebe tried innocently.

"Hey!" Paige lifted her head up to glare. When Grams turned towards her, Paige easily deflected the attention back to a more interesting target. "Uh Grams..." Paige pointed at Prue, now chugging orange juice straight from the carton. Both Phoebe and Grams reached out to grab the offending item, but Grams got there first and Phoebe was faced with the arduous task of holding Prue back from reclaiming it.

"Don't fucking touch me!" Prue yelled as Phoebe grabbed onto her hands.

"Language!" Grams chastised sternly.

"Fuck. Shit. Hell. Damn. Ass. Bastard. Bitch." Prue listed as she struggled against Phoebe's hold. After a particularly painful jab to her ribs, Phoebe realised that this was not a battle she wanted to win and let go with a giant leap back.

"Prudence." Grams warned angrily. "I will not tolerate this kind of behaviour, you may think that you're an adult, but I am your grandmother and this is-"

"Grams?" Piper interrupted softly. Everyone in the room turned to look at her. "Maybe I should just take Prue to bed? We can sort everything out in the morning..."

Prue snorted. "Like I'm going anywhere with you."

"I know you're mad but-"

"Nu uh, I'm not talking to you." Prue pointed at Piper angrily. "After I say this." Prue paused again. "Now."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Come on, you'll feel much better after a sleep." Prue crossed her arms defiantly. "Right, not talking to me. Well I'm going to take your silence as a yes."

"Well it's not Piper. I don't need to go to bed, I need to get away from this family." Prue slapped her forehead dramatically. "Oh, but wait! I can't."

"Come on Prue...things haven't changed that much." Piper picked her words carefully. "I'll deal with everything that needs to be dealt with and you can go on with your life. We will make it work, but right now you're causing a scene and you need to leave."

Prue scoffed. "Things haven't changed? You have no idea what's going on here Piper so butt the fuck out."

Piper looked at Prue quizzically, but before she could respond Phoebe cut in angrily. "Hey." Her big sister might have been the scariest person she knew, but nobody talked to Piper like that.

Prue spun on Phoebe. "Oh don't get me started on you." Phoebe opened her mouth to defend herself, but Grams slammed her glass down onto the table before she could get a word out.

"That's more than enough!" Grams stood up and stared Prue down. "I understand that you are upset, but this is neither the time nor the place to discuss your problems."

Prue laughed humourlessly. "What happened to Prue you're just like your father, you need to tell them the truth?"

"Don't you dare." Grams stepped towards Prue. "If you won't do it for me, then do it for your mother." Prue gave Grams one hateful look before she turned away. "Now, I think it's high time that you went to bed and left the rest of us to clean up after dinner. Phoebe, can you get the-"

Prue swung back around. "So that's it? One reminder of mum and I'm supposed to take everything in stride?" Prue crossed her arms across her chest. "My entire life is ruined and you care more about the dishes."

Grams stopped gathering up the plates to take a deep calming breath. "I do care Prudence, a lot more than you will ever know, but everything happens for a reason and-"

"Oh no no no...things don't happen for a reason, things happen because you make them happen." Prue accused, heating up again.

"I am no god." Grams said dryly. "I only do what I have to keep you girls safe and I'm sorry if that isn't enough for you."

"It isn't" Prue retorted callously and Grams eyes flashed.

Piper jumped in between them. "Okay! Let's just take a time out. Prue is very drunk and very angry, and I don't think that this an opportune time for sharing." Piper turned to Grams. "Why don't I take Prue for a walk while you, Phoebe and Paige clean up?" Grams regarded Piper carefully. "Please?" With a resentful sigh, Grams returned to the table to stack more dishes. Piper turned to Prue with her hand out. "Come on."

Prue shot her an incredulous look. "I already told you, I'm not going anywhere."

Piper dropped her hand with a sigh. "Well what about a walk with Phoebe or Paige?"

"I don't need to be babysat by my baby sisters." Prue rested her elbows on the table. "I'm fine, this isn't like when I was a kid. I know my limits."

Grams snorted as she moved towards the sink. "Not from where I'm standing."

"Oh lighten up Grams, it's not like you're dying."

"Prue." Piper warned angrily.

Prue threw her hands up. "I'm supposed to be mad at you, not the other way around."

"Don't you think you're being a bit dramatic?" Phoebe interjected with a raised eyebrow.

Prue spun on her furiously. "You have no idea what it's like to lose everything you have over and over and over again."

"And you have no idea what it's like to never have anything in the first place." Phoebe met her sister's fiery eyes dead on.

"I wasn't talking about mum."

"Neither was I." Phoebe stated coldly.

"Girls." Grams smashed a dish on the counter. "I have better things to do with my time than listen to the two of you regress." Grams turned to Prue. "Piper was trying to protect you, just like you've protected her all these years, and if you cannot appreciate how much she's done for us all over the last few months, then you are not the granddaughter I raised. I know that this situation is not fair, but I am certain that you will find a wonderful life for yourself in San Francisco once you stop acting like a petulant child."

Grams stopped to take a breath and Piper hovered nervously. "Grams, be careful." Prue backed away from them both like she'd been slapped. "Maybe you should just-"

"I am perfectly fine." Grams snapped in annoyance, sidestepping Piper's attention in a move towards Phoebe. "And you...I will not tolerate you involving you sisters in your antics. I put up with so much from you, but I have my limits and you are dangerously close to crossing them. Paige has a bright future ahead of her and Prue has come a long way from her youthful mistakes, despite this evening's events... they do not need your help in leading them astray. Do you understand me?" Phoebe glared at Grams. "Do you understand me?" Grams repeated ferociously.

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Yes."

Grams scrutinised Phoebe intently. "I mean it Phoebe, there will be consequences for your actions." Phoebe shrugged defiantly but Grams' attention was already focused on Paige, trying to hide behind a glass of orange juice. "And as for you...you're smarter than this." Paige nodded mutely, shrinking down on her chair. "This is the last time I ever hear of this kind of behaviour."

"Yes Grams." Grams gave them all one last potent glare before she began picking up pieces of the shattered dish spread across the kitchen floor.

Phoebe groaned. "Oh come on, that's it? We did the exact same thing and I get the 'worst child ever' speech while Paige gets a light slap on the wrist?"

"She wasn't the one who set a smoke bomb off in the principal's office last week." Grams gave Phoebe a look.

"Oh that was a joke." When Grams looked unconvinced, Phoebe sighed heavily. "Just cause she feels insecure about her dad, it doesn't mean that you can't yell at her." Phoebe watched for Paige's reaction out the side of her eye and was rather unsurprised to find a lot of hate directed her way. It was a sensitive subject, but that didn't make her words any less true. Grams babied Paige because she felt guilty about her almost adoption...their mother had abandoned Paige at a church for three days before she couldn't take it anymore and reclaimed her newborn. But as much as the favouritism made Paige feel wanted, it also made Grams blind to any faults her youngest grandchild might have. Phoebe was the first to admit she was trouble, but Paige was no angel, and Phoebe had spent most of her childhood getting the blame for things both of them had done.

"That completely irrelevant Phoebe. You will be punished in equal amounts, but seeing as you're already grounded for two months, have no phone privileges and spend Saturdays doing community service, I believe that she can be sentenced in a different way."

"Yeah, yeah." Phoebe grouched, throwing her fork down in frustration.

A tense pause followed, and no one dared to break the ominous silence. Prue sat apart from everyone looking decidedly pale, while Piper lingered at Grams' side, Paige glared at Phoebe and Phoebe poked at her half-finished dinner in righteous anger. Finally, Grams finished clearing up the broken dish and returned to the head of the table.

"Well girls, I believe that this has been more than enough fun for one night. I think it would be prudent for us all to go to bed and think about our actions." Phoebe snorted, but when Grams gave her a look of death, she wisely kept her mouth shut. "Goodnight." Grams gave Piper's shoulder a comforting squeeze as she passed on her way into her bedroom.

Within a few seconds, the door slammed shut and the ensuing silence dragged on...and on...and on. Phoebe glanced at her sullen sisters. "So what's this big secret everyone's yelling on about?"

Prue looked at Piper out the corner of her eye. "I think this one's all yours."

Piper glared at Prue, before turning to Phoebe. "There's no secret." Phoebe arched her eyebrow in disbelief and Piper sighed. "Fine. You'll find out soon enough, please just let it be?"

"Oh come on, we won't tell."

Paige snorted at Phoebe's statement. "You mean I won't."

"Shut up Paige."

"Make me." Paige remarked snidely, just daring Phoebe to try it.

"Paige." Piper warned half-heartedly.

"I say you let them have at it...far more interesting than watching you dodge their questions." Prue muttered with a shrug, and all three of her sisters froze.

"Wow, I didn't know you could be that..." Paige trailed off trying to explain it in a way that wouldn't incur Prue's wrath.

"Bitchy." Phoebe completed with a look of respect. Paige nodded, but Piper looked less than pleased.

"Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"I don't like liars." Prue stated as she drank the rest of Paige's unfinished orange juice.

Piper narrowed her eyes. "Okay, I've tried to be nice...tried to give you the benefit of the doubt because you've had a bad day and far too much to drink, but enough is enough. I didn't tell you because she didn't want me to. This is not the end of the world Prue...everything is going to be okay."

"She? Who? Huh?" Phoebe glanced between Piper and Prue in confusion.

Prue leapt up from the table, knocking her chair over in the process. "Everything is not okay Piper! I just lost everything! I spent the last four years of my life working my ass off and -"

"Prudence." Grams cut Prue off as she reappeared at her bedroom door. "You do not want to finish that sentence."

Prue ignored her, kicking her chair across the room. "I don't care Grams. I don't care about any of your stupid rules, or being the eldest or doing the right thing. I deserve to go to Kings College, and you had no right to spring this...this shit on me. I know that I'm never going to have a perfect life, but -"

"Wait wait wait!" Paige interrupted in excitement. "Kings College? That's like an amazing school."

Piper stared at Prue in shock. "You were going to leave?"

"Oh right, in London." Paige muttered gloomily. She tried to catch Phoebe's eye but she was too enthralled with the drama.

Prue continued on her rampage, oblivious to her sisters. "I really thought that this was it...my...my chance to do something. To matter. To be good enough. I was going to get to do what I've been dreaming about." Prue paused to search out Piper's horrified eyes. "But don't worry, all of that's been ruined, just like everything else I've ever wanted. I'll be here forever, saving everyone's life but my own."

Piper looked away, trying to hide the tears streaming down her face. "That's not my fault."

Prue choked back tears of her own. "No, it's not...but if you had told me the truth I would never have let myself think that it was all going to be okay. I would never have built my life up just so everyone else could tear it down."

Piper took a shaky breath as she locked eyes with Prue. "The only one tearing things down around here is you. I'm sorry that things are they way they are, and I'm sorry that you lost your dream, but life hasn't been fair to any of us." Piper wiped her tears away angrily. "And maybe instead of worrying about what you don't have, you should consider what you do have before it's gone." Piper turned away from Prue abruptly. "Grams?"

Grams pushed Prue out of the way in her dash to Piper's side. "Yes darling?"

"Can I stay with you tonight?" Piper knew that she was being a big baby. That she was twenty years old, living away from home and brave enough to face this without her grandmother. But when Prue looked at her with such fierce hatred, Piper need to be somewhere safe...and Grams' arms was the safest place she knew.

"Of course." Grams wrapped her arm around Piper's shoulders and directed her towards the bedroom, carefully shielding her from Prue's view. Once she deposited Piper safely inside, Grams levelled her gaze at Phoebe and Paige. "I want you both to get away from your sister. She needs some time alone." Grams gave them one last look, before spinning on her heels and slamming the bedroom door shut behind her.

Phoebe turned on Prue angrily. "Sober yet?"

"Am I crying?" Prue retorted bitterly.

"Guys, can we not fight?" Paige asked pleadingly.

"No." Prue and Phoebe barked together.

Paige sighed. "Look, we're all mad...but if we take it out on each other, it's just going to make things worse."

"This is all your fault anyway." Phoebe shot offhandedly, refusing to break eye contact with Prue.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Paige snipped grumpily, watching as Prue sized Phoebe up. "Hey! Sisters! The pissing contest is kind of lame...how is this all my fault?"

Phoebe spun on Paige. "You couldn't hold your liquor so Prue found out and got shit faced drunk and took this out on Piper."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Of course, because god forbid you ever take some responsibility."

Phoebe scoffed. "You're the one who gets away with everything. Everyone else might think that you're nice and sweet, but I know you Paige, and you're nothing but a-"

"Hey, cut it out. Both of you." Prue snapped as she sat down on the arm of the sofa looking decidedly more tired than violent. "Today has been shitty enough, I don't need you two adding to it."

"Oh I'm sorry that we're such an imposition on your life." Phoebe said sarcastically.

"Imposition? My what a big word for a D student." Paige taunted scornfully.

"Enough." Prue sent both of her sisters reproachful looks. "Just go to bed."

Phoebe crossed her arms over her chest. "You can't tell me what to do...you're not Grams."

Prue laughed hollowly. "You're right, I'm not." And with that, Prue disappeared out the front door without a look back.

"Great going dumbass." Paige stood up from the table. "I think Prue has enough to deal with without your ridiculous posturing."

"She was fighting back." Phoebe defended sullenly.

"Well of course she was...she's Prue. But did you ever stop to think that maybe she needs us to be on her side when Grams and Piper aren't?"

Phoebe snorted. "Oh don't make this into a whole you versus Piper thing...Prue made Piper cry and she doesn't deserve any sympathy."

"You of all people should know that there are always two sides to a story, and Grams and Piper's unholy alliance isn't exactly fair trial material. I just thought that you might have had an idea of what she's going through, you know, because of your numerous claims of unfair treatment. But hey, it's pretty obvious that you're incapable of thinking about anything but yourself...so instead of giving the fight you so desperately want, I'm leaving."

"Thank god!" Phoebe yelled out as Paige stormed past on her into their bedroom. "Because this is what I wanted you to do the whole time!" The door slammed closed. "Bitch!" Phoebe waited for a snide response...but none came.

---

Prue shivered as she pulled her flimsy shirt down around her clenched fists. It wasn't as if San Francisco was spoiled with hot weather, but the cold wind blowing off the lake was a bit more than she was used to. Prue's earlier outburst had take a lot more out of her than she'd first realised, and after a quick pace around the back garden, Prue had curled up onto a sun chair, defeated by chills, regret and exhaustion. She was still angry, that much was sure, but now everything seemed too overwhelming...too raw, too painful, too much to deal with at once...and Prue just wanted the whole world to go away.

"Room for two in that pity party?"

"Go away Phoebe." Prue muttered without a glance in her sister's direction. Naturally, Phoebe responded by coming closer. Prue groaned. "Grams is right, you shouldn't be around me right now."

Phoebe snorted. "Please, like I'd listen to her." When Prue remained stubbornly silent, Phoebe pushed Prue's knees away from her chest, plunked down on her lap and covered them both in a thick blanket she'd brought from inside.

Prue's mouth hung open as Phoebe wriggled into a comfortable position. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Phoebe leant her head on Prue's shoulder. "Pissing you off." Prue blinked. "Now, as satisfying as an epic knock-down, drag-out fight would be, I'm a bit wary of bruising my bruises. You might be an intolerable bitch, but you're still my sister, and I know that you need someone right now." Prue's glower expressed a rather divergent opinion. "And before you get all aggro on me, you should know I come bearing gifts." Phoebe pulled out a water bottle from the front pocket of her sweatshirt. "And I have painkillers...but you only get them if you promise to let me stay." When Prue narrowed her eyes testily, Phoebe smacked her on the nose like a bad dog. "Bad Prue." Prue instantly tried to throw her sister off her lap, but Phoebe clung to her like a psychotic monkey, and Prue soon realised that she couldn't win this fight.

"Let go."

Phoebe stuck her tongue out. "No."

"Phoebe!" Prue snapped in exasperation. "I'm tired, pissed and in no mood for...whatever this is."

Phoebe grinned. "This is love."

Prue glared icily. "Love? You're sitting on my bladder and annoying the crap out of me."

"Well if Paige is anything to go by, I'd say that's about right." Prue looked at Phoebe blankly. "Oh nevermind."

"You're treading a very thin line here."

"No, you are." Prue grunted and Phoebe grabbed onto Prue's hand. "Look, something's obviously bothering you and I think we should talk about it."

Prue snatched her hand away. "You are the last person I'd ever want to talk to."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Oh? Because I could have sworn that you hated Piper and Grams more than me right now."

"I'd say you're all about tied." Prue responded dryly.

"Come on Prue, you know this isn't right. You might be a hard ass, and a pretty big snob, and well...your sense of humour could use a little work..." Phoebe trailed off as Prue cleared her throat threateningly. "But making Piper cry? That's not like you."

"You have no idea what's-"

"Because nobody will tell me!" Phoebe interrupted in frustration. "So what if Grams says you can't go to that fancy school in London. She's not the boss of you. If you want to go...go!"

Prue sighed heavily. "It's not that simple Phoebe."

"So make it that simple Prue."

"Look, I appreciate you trying...but things are what they are, and I'm not going to London." Prue pulled away from her sister as much as someone who had someone sitting on their lap could.

"Is this about money? Because I'm sure you could use your inheritance from mom. She'd be proud that-" Phoebe stopped as every muscle in Prue's body tensed. "Or not." Prue said nothing, and Phoebe sighed. "So, this school...is it as amazing as Paige thinks it is?"

"Ivy League." Prue summarised frostily.

"So...that's good. Great even." Prue remained silent. "Good? Great? Any of this getting through in there" Phoebe tapped Prue on the forehead.

Prue flinched. "Don't."

"Don't what? Don't worry that my big sisters are fighting? That you're all hiding some big secret from me? That this vacation, which was supposed to bring us all closer together, has now made everything a hundred times worse?"

"What do you want from me Phoebe?"

"The truth."

"Well I can't give you that. And if you took a moment to stop judging me, you might realise that there's a lot more going on here than you think."

Phoebe sighed in disappointment. "Why are you so stupid?" Prue offered no response and Phoebe bit her nail in consideration. "Well...what about if I guessed this secret? Then you wouldn't be breaking whatever oath you and the other two crazies have taken."

"I can't tell you." Prue stated with a frustrated sigh.

Phoebe ignored her sister completely. "Right, you keep going on about a she...so it has to be...Grams? She's the only one you'd both get so damn emotional over."

"You're never going to-"

"Maybe she's getting married again? Wait...no, because why would that affect you? And she hasn't been singing in the shower..." Phoebe trailed off in thought. "Oh, I know, Grams finally got caught for tax fraud and your name is on the deeds so you can't leave the country?"

"...Phoebe."

"No? Hmm...okay. Well maybe it's not about Grams at all...but rather that Grams was making you cover something up...it...being...Piper's engaged! Eloping! I knew she was up to something with that guy!"

Prue rolled her eyes. "Piper is not engaged."

Phoebe ploughed on. "Okay...but why would anything in Piper's life stop you from going to London? So maybe it's really all about you." Phoebe paused to pout. "Like always."

"Are you done?"

"No. Now...you...London...anger...you applied for a visa and they rejected you because you're...adopted! And Grams didn't tell you?" Prue raised an incredulous eyebrow and Phoebe huffed. "Oh like that's such a stretch in this family."

"I am not adopted." Prue responded wryly. "And I'm not going to tell you, so drop it."

Phoebe threw her head back with an overly dramatic sigh. "Are you normally this boring when you're drunk?"

"I'm not drunk...I'm hungover." Prue explained grumpily.

Phoebe smirked. "Why Prudence, are you admitting to an act of debauchery?" Prue stared defiantly. "Grumpy sisters don't get Tylenol."

"Dead sisters don't get to talk." Prue threatened

Phoebe wrinkled her nose in distaste. "That was weak Prue...weak."

Prue scowled for a minute before she sagged into a defeated sigh. "Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" Phoebe nodded and Prue held her hand out. "Gimme the drugs."

Phoebe pulled out the package from her pocket. "Roll away." Prue stuck two pills in her mouth and downed the entire water bottle without a second's pause. Phoebe raised her eyebrows. "Gutsy move sis."

"Like you'd actually give me drugs." Phoebe stayed silent and Prue paled. "Right?" Phoebe shrugged and Prue sat up in a panic. "Phoebe!"

Phoebe burst into laughter. "Chill...it was just Tylenol." Prue glared angrily and Phoebe rolled her eyes. "It was a joke." Prue's glare intensified. "Funny? Ha ha?"

"Yeah, not so funny Phoebe."

Phoebe waved her off. "Like it would be a new experience Ms. Teen Rebel."

"So says the pot." Prue sighed deeply. "That wasn't supposed to be a joke..."

Phoebe laughed despite herself. "You know, you're not so bad when you're drunk."

"Hungover." Prue argued.

"The fact that you're joking about drugs instead of beating me senseless is a pretty good indication of how not hungover you are."

Prue paused. "Maybe. But I'm still in charge. And right."

Phoebe blinked. "About...?"

"Everything." Phoebe rolled her eyes but Prue was too preoccupied with a wave of self-pity to see it. "Well no...not about everything."

Phoebe looked Prue over. "Are you going to start moping? Cause I was sort of into this fun Prue thing."

Prue tried to hold back her tears. "I screwed up Phoebe."

"Yeah, you did. But guess what...you're human, and it's human to get ridiculously, inappropriately angry over...err...something you won't tell me about." Prue frowned even more. "But Piper's a pretty forgiving girl, and with the right amount of grovelling you'll be back to being super sisters in no time."

"Super sisters?" Prue echoed dubiously.

"Yeah, Prue and Piper...a tale of two overachieving bores who have more co-dependency issues than Paige and Glenn."

"I'm not co-dependent."

Phoebe snuggled into Prue. "Then why are you so upset?"

"I..." Prue paused uncomfortably. "Piper's really hurt."

"Aw...now who will you share every detail of your tedious life with?"

Prue glared. "Not that it's any of your business, but Piper and I don't spend much time together these days. Living at the apartment isn't like high school...we're lucky if we pass each other in the hall."

"Maybe so, but you two are still two anal retentive peas in a pod."

"Look, I get what you're saying...and you're right, Piper is the person who knows the most about me...but that best friends shtick was over years ago. We have separate lives, and as much as I love her, I don't want her glued to my side."

Phoebe glanced at Prue nervously, clearly debating something in her head. "That's..." Phoebe took a deep breath. "...bullshit. I get that admitting that you need someone makes you too vulnerable, but you're majorly freaking out about Piper lying to you, so something in your relationship matters an awful lot."

"Of course there's something matters, she's my sister."

"And yet you still think that the only way you'll be happy is if you leave?"

"Yes." Prue exclaimed loudly. "It's not like it's an ultimatum, I can have a relationship with Piper and go to London. I even heard that they invented this crazy thing called a telephone."

Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "Strange words from the girl who's spent the better part of the last five years trying to estrange herself from her family."

"That's different...I..." Prue trailed off with a frown.

"Mmmhmm...that's right. Welcome to the real world Prue...you're the one who turns everything into a my life versus my family drama. Yes, you were forced to play the role of mom when we were younger, and yes, Grams was wrong to tell you that you can't go to London...but you're the one who's decided that your role in this family is all or nothing. We want you in our lives as much or as little as you decide to be, and no one in this family is out to ruin you."

Prue grunted. "Try telling that to Grams."

"You don't have to listen to her!" Prue's jaw clenched and Phoebe sagged in defeat, knowing that was as far as she could go without earning herself a black eye. "Well I wouldn't worry too much...after tonight, I'm sure she'll give you lots of space."

Prue cringed guiltily. "God, she was so angry."

Phoebe licked her lips. "Uh...about that, I'm pretty sure most of it was about me."

Prue shook her head. "No Pheebs, it was about me. I blurted out the London thing, and I told her she did a terrible job raising us, and-"

"I hate to burst your little self-hating bubble, but you acted like a triple haloed angel in comparison to my usual flare." Prue looked skeptical but Phoebe smiled sadly. "Don't get me wrong, she won't be building you a shrine anytime soon, but as much as you hurt her feelings and...well...pissed her off, it takes a lot more than that to earn a bad granddaughter title. Trust me."

"You're not bad." Prue proclaimed a little too vehemently.

Phoebe snorted. "Yeah, see, the fact that you said that without an inch of sincerity pretty much prove my point."

"No way, you're..." Prue trailed off at Phoebe's amused expression. "Okay...so you might be a little bit of trouble but that doesn't make you bad."

"Did you even listen to Grams tonight?"

"Yeah, I listened to her give all three of us what for." Phoebe opened her mouth to argue but Prue threw her off with a poke in the side. "And don't start on that Paige being babied crap, you're both treated exactly the same."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Prue, you're one of the people who babies her...of course you can't see it."

"What I see is you getting grounded, suspended and arrested while she reads in her room."

Phoebe grunted. "And when exactly do you see this?"

"I'm around enough to know what's going on in your life."

"Oh please."

Prue crossed her arms. "You're dating Jimmy, you're failing math, you got suspended a month ago for getting caught on the principal's desk in flagrante, and you play centre forward in soccer."

"Does Piper tell you what I eat for breakfast too?"

"No." Prue muttered with a sheepish grin.

Phoebe leant back against Prue victoriously. "Ah huh, that's what I thought."

"Listen Phoebe, just because I don't know every...concerning detail of your life, doesn't mean that I don't know who you are." Phoebe snorted and Prue pointed a finger at her. "You love black and white horror movies because good always triumphs, you have the restraint of a five year old, you're far smarter than you let on, you always stand up for what you believe in, you gather friends like moths to a flame, you're a talented storyteller even if you refuse to do anything constructive with it..." Prue paused to wrap an arm around her sister. "And you have the most atrocious taste in men. Ever."

Phoebe pouted. "It's not that bad."

"Uh...Jimmy, Todd, Peter, Ken, Kyle, Steve, Tony, Mike -"

"Okay okay! While I admit that some of those guys might have had their issues, I've matured...seen the error in my ways...learned my character building lessons. I mean, I hardly even hang out with Rick and Todd anymore...well except for that smoke bomb thing, and last Friday with the...studying we did." Prue raised an eyebrow and Phoebe moved on quickly. "But despite what all you jaded adultish people think, Jimmy is...right for me."

Prue sighed. "Paige the less adultish person certainly doesn't think so."

"Yeah, well Paige dates losers. I mean, the mathletics champion?"

"Paige does not da..." Prue furrowed her brow. "Wait, Vincent was a mathletics champion?"

"Two years in a row."

Prue groaned. "For god sakes, I was head cheerleader!"

"Dirty knees and all."

"Phoebe!" Prue exclaimed in shock.

"Are you denying it?" Prue glared and Phoebe grinned triumphantly. "That's what I thought."

"Yeah...well..." Prue lit up with inspiration. "At least I didn't get caught doing it in a museum."

Phoebe shrugged. "It was a boring field trip...you know you're just jealous."

"Yes, history really turns me on. Who needs flowers and poetry when I have stone tools and 12th century battle plans. Meow."

Phoebe shuddered. "Ew."

"Although, come to think of it...stone tools are usefully shaped..." Off Phoebe absolute horror, Prue lost it. "Your face..."

Prue let out a full on snort mid-laugh and Phoebe's mouth fell open. "Who are you and what have you done with my sister?" Prue continued to giggle to herself for a few minutes, before she finally calmed down and pulled Phoebe back against her chest. "Sorry, it's been one hell of a day."

"Apparently." Phoebe snuggled into Prue's embrace happily. However, Prue's morose sigh was a pretty big tip off that things were still looking bleak for her big sister and Phoebe knew what she needed to do... "I think I got a STD from my last S&M orgy. Any advice?"

Prue blinked. Twice. "You're not funny."

"Not even this much?" Phoebe held up her thumb and forefinger an inch apart.

"No."

"Not even as funny a knock-knock joke?"

"No."

"Scathing political satire?"

"No."

"Sticking Paige's hand in hot water to make her wet the bed?"

"No."

"Piper's freshman photo?"

"No."

"Andy biting your tongue during your first French kiss?"

"No."

"Grams' history with men?"

"Definitely not."

---

Chapter 8: Texas Chainsaw Massacre

"Well she's your daughter!"

From the middle of a hastily constructed summoning circle, Patty Halliwell rolled her eyes. "And your granddaughter." Off Grams resentful snort, Patty sighed. "She was upset, you of all people should know what it's like to say something you regret."

Grams stomped around the perimeter of the circle. "And just what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well you've never been the most tactful person."

Grams waved her daughter off. "Oh I have tact in spades, I just don't care to use it."

Patty grunted, but Grams paid her no attention, already lost in another round of frenzied muttering. "Prudence thinks she can...why I oughta...know what's good for her...the gail!"

Patty floated down into a sitting position, watching the rant with obvious amusement. "Whenever you're ready..."

Grams looked up gruffly. "Well I suppose we are on a time limit."

"Indeed." Patty said as she tapped her transparent fingers on her thigh.

Grams deflated in resignation. "I'm sorry Patty. I'm just concerned, I don't think I have much time left and if things remain as they are, Prue, Piper and Phoebe will never build the sisterly bond they need for the power of three."

"They will, I know it...you just have to have faith in them." Patty assured confidently.

Grams shook her head. "Faith isn't enough. You aren't here Patty, you don't see the anger they throw around."

Patty smiled sadly. "They're just so young... give them time."

"We may not have time." Grams sighed. "If I die tomorrow, they wouldn't stand a chance."

"Maybe, maybe not, but we'll never know until it happens. This is their journey and you've done your part. The rest is up to them."

"I used to think so too, but I just don't know anymore. Prue's so angry, Piper's too fragile, and Phoebe...well, she's in no state to receive anything that requires responsibility." Grams turned back to Patty solemnly. "Maybe they'll never be ready, maybe this isn't the destiny they were supposed to have...and Paige really was born to destroy the power of three."

"That's nonsense." Patty snapped angrily. "Paige is the twice-blessed child just like the prophecy says."

Grams gave Patty a pained look. "I know you and Sam want to believe that the prophecy is about her, but it just doesn't add up. 'Magic will rest for a holy day'? Her birth was miraculous, sure, but magic didn't rest and the elders certainly didn't consider it holy."

"It was metaphorical." Patty replied dryly.

"Magic isn't known for its subtlety dear."

Patty crossed her arms in annoyance. "Well regardless of any prophecy, Paige is a whitelighter. Her powers may be bound, but she's extraordinarily perceptive, sensitive to people's feelings and a quick learner." Patty paused for a proud grin. "You know, if she'd been studying magic books all this time she'd practically be an elder by now."

"Be that as it may, all we know is that the elders let her live because they foresaw only good in her future." Grams reminded somewhat bitterly.

"Which is proof that she is tied to her sisters' destiny!"

"No, it's only proof that she has a destiny with good, not with them. The triquetra is three pieces linked together and-"

"With a circle around it." Patty interrupted. "A circle that could represent a power of good that holds them together...like a whitelighter."

"The girls already have a whitelighter." Grams snapped. "Besides, whitelighters are pacifists and the power of three is an offensive force."

"And Paige is a witch by my blood, meaning that she could be an offensive whitelighter-witch."

Grams looked away from her daughter with a sigh of defeat. "I just don't know Patty...I'd like to believe it, but I can't. These girls are just so far off that path that it doesn't seem possible. The power of good is about love and selflessness, and they are only interested in themselves. Maybe the power of three rests in the next generation."

Patty shook her head. "No mother, I refuse to believe that. I may not be by my daughters' sides, but I know who they are. When it's needed, they will be there for each other and the world."

"I hope your right...for all our sakes." Grams readjusted her coat around her. "I really thought that they'd come together on this trip, I know they all miss each other, but they're worse than Lazarus demons."

"That's my children you're talking about." Patty warned, albeit half-heartedly.

Grams huffed. "Oh you wouldn't last five minutes with them Patricia."

Patty let out a breath of irritation and floated into a standing position. "Look, I know they can be trying, but please have patience. You've done a marvellous job raising them, and your actions are not for naught. They are very special girls and they will go on to do very special things. When they come into their powers they will understand everything you've done for them and they will forgive you."

"I can only hope." Grams sighed sadly. "But you're right, their safety must come first...Prue can fight me all she wants, I can't give in, no matter how much I want to."

"You don't need to fight her, you need to help her. She's always been ten steps ahead of herself, and you need to remind her that she doesn't have to do everything at once."

Grams snorted. "Well that's much easier said than done dear, the girl is as stubborn a mule."

"Hmm... I wonder who she gets that from." Patty said with a pointed look in Grams direction.

"Yes, Victor did have some dreadful genes, didn't he?" Grams grinned innocently.

Patty groaned. "Mother."

"I know, I know. I'll try not to be so hard on her." Grams replied as she started gathering the various invisibility charms she'd left around the area for protection.

"And Phoebe."

Grams grunted. "The elders give more respect than that child."

"She's just trying to find herself."

"Well she could certainly find it is less flamboyant ways." Grams stated as she packed the Book of Shadows into her séance bag.

"She's a good person." Patty defended.

Grams looked up sharply. "Of course she is...that's why it's so difficult to watch her try to destroy herself like this." Grams bent down to pick up a candle. "I will try to endure her behaviour Patty..."

Patty sighed. "Understanding mother, we're aiming for more understanding."

"Honestly, there's only so much understanding one can have." Patty narrowed her eyes as Grams tossed the last satchel into her bag testily. "But I suppose I shall have to see what I can do."

Patty floated back into the centre of her circle with a grateful smile. "Thank you." Grams returned the smile as she began blow out the candles one by one. "Take care of our girls." Patty's voice echoed out as she disappeared in a swirl of white lights.

"Always." Grams whispered to the empty forest.

---

On the other side of the forest, Phoebe cracked an eye open, absolutely terrified of what she might find beside her. The bright sun was a pretty good indication that she'd spent the night outside, which was always a bit of a concern, but the fact that she was wrapped in the arms of someone who was most definitely not Jimmy certainly upped the craptastic nature of whatever situation she'd drunk herself into. Man, Grams was going to kill her for staying out all night. With a deep sigh, Phoebe began the process of detangling herself from the embrace, mindful of the sleeping...

Prue! Well thank god for that. Phoebe sat up the rest of the way with a chuckle, mostly about her stupidity, but partly in response to Prue's current hair styling.

"But sir, my elephant is a Warhol." Prue whined as she yanked the blanket away from Phoebe's moving form and snuggled back down on the sun bed. Phoebe snorted, placed a quick kiss on her sister's forehead and started on her way back to the cabin. It was rare for Prue sleep past...some ungodly time that Phoebe had never bothered to wake up for, and she figured that it was best to let her sister sleep off as much of her hangover as she could.

Plus, Phoebe wasn't really sure how she felt about Prue right now.

Obviously, her sister was having some dramatic quarter life crisis, but like usual, Phoebe just didn't get it. Her sisters, all three of them, lived their lives in fear. Prue was terrified of loosing someone and kept her heart on lockdown, Piper was afraid of change and hid under Grams' shadow, and Paige tried too hard because she was scared of not being good enough. More often than not, Phoebe felt like giving them an open palmed smack of reality. Life was what you made of it, and they were all so busy dwelling on their issues that they forgot to live. Phoebe saw things as they were, not as she wanted them to be, and she was convinced that her family would be a lot happier if everyone stopped taking themselves and their lives so seriously.

And as nice as it was to spend time with Prue, Phoebe couldn't help but walk away from last night feeling like a complete failure. Prue didn't trust Phoebe enough to talk about what was really going on, she hadn't listened to a word Phoebe said, and once again, Phoebe had been grouped with Paige as a little sister who couldn't help. Which really pissed her off because a) she was actually kind of good at the counselling thing and b) she was older than Paige by a year and nine months.

But more to the point, Prue's rejection hurt, and Phoebe was about ready to give up on trying to get through to her big sister. Prue and Phoebe's childhood relationship had been rather... tumultuous...but Phoebe had always assumed that Prue would learn to understand her by the time they were adults. But here they were, on the verge of adulthood, and Prue was more clueless than ever. It was as sad as it was frustrating, and Phoebe knew that with her going off to college and Prue trying to move to London, their lives would spiral farther and farther away from each other until there was no common ground left.

With a heavy sigh, Phoebe strolled into the kitchen, hoping to encounter Piper so she could start making up for her shortcomings with Prue. To her disappointment, and slight confusion, Paige was the only one in the room.

"Oh, it's you." Paige turned back to her book without another word, obviously holding a grudge about their fight last night.

Phoebe grunted and went in search of sugary cereal. "Where's everyone?"

"Grams was gone when I woke up and Piper's reading in her room." Paige glared as Phoebe dumped half a box of Corn Pops on the table. "We have bowls."

Phoebe shrugged as she sat down. "Don't wanna do dishes."

The kitchen was soon filled with Phoebe's obnoxious crunching, and Paige threw her book down with a groan. "So did you and Prue beat each other unconsciousness or something?" Paige had been quite startled to wake up alone this morning, but after a bit of discreet searching, she'd found Piper pouting in Grams' room and her other sisters asleep outside.

"Yep, the bitch has got a wicked right hook." Phoebe said around a mouthful of cereal and Paige had no idea if she was joking or not. Phoebe rolled her eyes at her sister's apprehension. "No, we talked and stuff."

Paige raised an eyebrow. "That's statistically impossible."

Phoebe glared. "Prue and I can talk." Paige snorted in disbelief and Phoebe sighed. "Fine, Prue and I can talk loudly, but last night was the normal kind."

"And?" Paige asked a bit more eagerly than she meant to.

"And nothing."

"She didn't say what Grams' secret is about?"

"No." Phoebe sighed deeply. "She won't talk about it."

Paige nodded and stretched out on the couch. "Maybe you should ask Piper again?"

Phoebe harrumphed. "Why don't you ask Piper?"

"Uh, because she's Piper."

Paige gave her a look. "Oh come on, you two were all buddy buddy yesterday."

"No, I was playing along so she wouldn't blab to Grams."

"You're not that good an actress." Paige narrowed her eyes but Phoebe continued to happily munch on her cereal. "Face it Paige, you liked Piper's attention."

Paige glared defensively. "I did not."

"Yeah, you did. Don't you think it's time you let this all go? So she made a mistake-"

"I'm over it. We'll never be close. End of story." Paige interrupted with air of finality in her tone.

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Oh would you stop...Piper's sorry, and-"

"Phoebe, I am not having this conversation." Paige snapped as she stood up from the couch and washed out her mug in the makeshift sink.

Phoebe snorted at her sister's back. "Oh yeah, you're so over it." Paige continued what she was doing as if Phoebe hadn't said anything. "You know, you're the only one who cares about this half-sister thing." Paige slammed her mug down on the drying rack and stormed past her sister. "In fact, it's kind of hypocritical of you to hold this against Piper, you've been telling us that you're not our real sister for years."

Paige froze at the doorway. "Real sister?"

Phoebe sighed. "I meant full sister."

Paige shook her head. "No, you meant real. Thanks a lot Phoebe, you're the one person I thought I could count on. I should have known you'd agree with Piper."

"Oh would you get over yourself!" Phoebe exclaimed in sleep-deprived frustration. First Prue, now Paige...why were her sisters so damn stupid? "You're not treated any differently than you would be if we had the same father. We didn't have anything to do with your birth and your genes are never going to change, so this tragic 'woe is me' routine is pointless. You walk around like everyone owes you so much because you have such a tough life. Well that's crap, you have a damn good life and you should be glad that you got to grow up with us."

"Yeah, well maybe I'm not." Paige shot back spitefully.

Phoebe pushed the rest of her cereal away and sat up. "See! That's what I mean, if I turned it around and said that to you, you'd flip out. But because you say it to me, it supposedly doesn't matter. I'm sick of walking around on eggshells. You have a different father...toughen up."

"I'm not..." Paige growled. "Whatever, I'm done here. You can throw around all the theories you want, you'll never know what it's like to be the odd one out."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Right, because I'm so in sync with Prue and Piper."

"You got me beat." Paige replied as she walked away.

"That's right Paige, play the perpetual victim!" Phoebe yelled out as Paige slammed their bedroom door shut. "You know, if you don't cut this shit out, we really will start treating you like you're our half-sister."

Paige ripped the door open and stalked back into the main room. "So do it Phoebe! Treat me however the fuck you want to treat me because I don't need your pity, and I certainly don't want your judgement."

Phoebe raised an amused eyebrow at Paige's dramatic outburst. "Chill."

Paige stomped right into her sister's personal space. "No. Everyone else might let you get away with your queen of the world attitude, but I won't."

"Oh please, you're the one who gets babied."

"No Phoebe, I get favoured because you're such a fuck-up." Paige spat angrily.

Phoebe stood up from her chair. "Okay, now you're crossing a line."

Paige went toe to toe with Phoebe. "No, I'm not. You know how much this half-sister thing hurts me, yet you bring it up again and again."

"I'm not trying to hurt you, I'm trying to help you." Phoebe stated with thinly veiled exasperation.

"By threatening to treat me like I'm the half-breed I already feel like I am? Yeah Pheebs, real helpful."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to give into your tantrum. It's time someone started calling you on your bullshit."

Paige gawked. "My bullshit? Okay Phoebe, let's talk bullshit. You are a selfish bitch. You think that you should get what you want, when you want it, and you'll trample anyone that gets in your way. You're mean, you're cruel, and no one has ever hurt me as much as you do."

Phoebe gave her sister a patronising pat on the back. "Well Paige, that's because you're desperate for my attention. I'm sorry if rejection upsets you, but I don't have the time to cater your ego."

Paige shoved Phoebe's arm away from her violently. "Are you kidding me? I don't want to be friends with someone like you."

Phoebe snorted. "I wouldn't be so picky."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Paige snapped as she took a threatening step towards her sister.

"It means that you don't have any friends." Phoebe held her hand up to stop Paige's predictable argument. "Glenn doesn't count, you met in kindergarten. He's obligated to like you. Apart from him, no one at school even knows who you are."

"Sure they do, they know I'm Freebie's little sister." Paige sneered.

Phoebe clenched her fist at her side. "You're playing with fire Paige."

"Go ahead, beat me up...all it will do is prove how much of a spoiled brat you are." Phoebe lunged forwards, but Paige pushed her away with more force than Phoebe was expecting. "I'm not one of your groupies that you can scare into submission. I let you boss me around, but I won't let you treat me like crap."

"Please. Do you have any idea how much I do for you?" Phoebe leaned into her sister. "You live a fucking bubble and you wouldn't survive a day without me!"

Paige laughed. "Man, even I didn't know you thought that highly of yourself."

Phoebe poked Paige's shoulder. "Second grade, I had to stay with you for your entire first day of kindergarten."

Paige poked Phoebe back. "That's what you're holding against me?"

"Fifth grade, you broke Grams' favourite vase but were too scared to admit it so I let her ground me." Paige scoffed dismissively but Phoebe continued on her rant. "Seventh grade, I get asked out by Colin Wellington, the hottest boy in school, but I had to turn him down because you needed someone to take the bus with you. Summer of eighth grade, I stage a huge fight so that you get to spend extra time with Prue before she leaves for college. Last year, I called you in sick for three weeks straight when you tried to cut your own hair. Last month, Grams finds a pack of smokes in the couch and I take the blame even although they're yours."

Paige looked less than won over. "I've never asked you to do any of that. And if caring about me bothers you so much, feel free to fuck off."

"You sure make it tempting." Phoebe muttered just loud enough for Paige to hear.

Paige threw her hands up. "Go ahead. I don't want your stupid protection! I know you're just jealous of Prue and Piper's friendship, and that all of what you just said was your attempts to get me to depend on so you wouldn't feel so left out. Well our relationship won't ever be like theirs and I'm sick of being used."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "I'm not using you, I'm being your sister. You might want to try it sometime."

"Are you going to clarify that? Or is it just one of those immature insults you do so well?" Paige asked with an impatient foot tap.

Phoebe rounded on Paige aggressively. "I do so much for you, but you do nothing for me!"

"Are you serious? Do you know how many times I day I defend what's left of your honour?"

"Oh wow, you deny made up rumours. How can I ever repay you?" Phoebe replied sarcastically, pulling back from the confrontation to pace around the kitchen.

Paige snorted. "They're not exactly made up Phoebe, and I do a bit more than refute gossip. I help your friends drag you through your window when you're too drunk to stand up. I tell Grams that you've got cramps when you're hungover and strung out. I screen your phone calls when your psycho ex-boyfriends try to get you back. I lend you all the money I have. I give your number to boys I like. I wrote your college essays. I never -"

"You wrote my college essays? I wrote my college essays!" Phoebe interjected incredulously.

Paige paused in thought, clearly debating something in her head. "Have you ever thought about how you got into college Phoebe?"

Phoebe bristled. "I got in because of soccer."

"Yeah, you're not that good." Phoebe narrowed her eyes and Paige took a step forward. "There's no way any of those schools would take you without a semi-decent GPA, passable test scores and an influential essay."

"Well I got in without that stuff." Phoebe replied matter of factly.

The corners of Paige's mouth twitched. "No Phoebe, you didn't. Athletic scholarships have standardized cut-offs and you were barely passing your courses. Plus, the essay you wrote was awful."

"Hey, my essay was-"

"Crap." Paige summarized arrogantly. "And the fact that you photocopied it four times despite the fact that each school asked you a different question is beyond idiotic."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Oh whatever...it's not like it matters."

"Uh, actually it does. In fact..." Paige paused for dramatic emphasis. "I'd say my extra credit projects and college essays are what got you in."

Phoebe's eyes widened. "You wrote my essays?"

"Dumbass, I just told you that."

Phoebe gapped. "But..but...I thought you meant you edited it or changed the title...or...or something...not...oh god." Phoebe started to hyperventilate. "They're going to take back all my offers!" As the horror of this realization sank in, Phoebe turned on Paige with a murderous expression. "I'm going to kill you."

"They'll never know!" Paige yelled out over her shoulder as she leapt over the couch and ran for her life.

Phoebe chased after her. "You just ruined every chance I had for college!"

"I gave you a chance at college!" Paige argued as she grabbed the broom and swung around to fight Phoebe off.

"You're not the genius you think you are." Phoebe growled as she ripped the broom from Paige's grip and tossed it across the room.

Now weapon less, Paige raced towards the front door in a bid for freedom. "It's not about smarts Phoebe, it's about actually trying...and you didn't. At all!"

"I did!" Phoebe exclaimed as she jumped the dining room table and landed in front of Paige, effectively cutting off her escape route.

Paige chucked a chair at Phoebe and tried for the back door. "You wrote better things ten years ago! You might think you're some kind of rebel, defying the rules and sticking it to 'the man', but you're really just a failure."

Phoebe sprinted after her sister with newfound motivation. "Just because you read a lot of books doesn't mean you know anything about my life."

Paige successfully reached the back door, but before she could open it, Phoebe slammed into from behind. The door knob dug into Paige's stomach painfully, but she still managed to twist around enough to glare at her sister. "Oh, you mean your world of drugs? And one night stands? And skipping school to go spray paint lyrics on teachers' cars? You're right, I really don't know anything about your pathetic take on life."

Phoebe pushed Paige against the door even harder. "Okay, that was uncalled for."

"No, I really don't think so. If you can tell me to get over my half-sister issues, I can tell you to get over being a delinquent whore."

Phoebe's eyes flashed. "I know you're not deluded enough to think that you can take me on."

"What's wrong Phoebe, hit a nerve?" Paige asked mockingly, before she kicked her sister in the shin.

"You are so fucking dead!" Phoebe shouted as she grabbed her leg in pain. Paige was halfway across the room by the time Phoebe managed to stop cursing.

As Paige neared the front door, Phoebe grabbed a book from the bookshelf and chucked it as hard as she could. "You're the one sleeping around!"

Paige squeaked at the unexpected projectile and dove under the kitchen table. A second later, Phoebe's words sank in. "Ha!" Paige crawled across the kitchen floor as another book thumped against the table top. "You slept around at my age." Paige peeked her head out. "A lot!" Paige ducked as Phoebe tossed two books at once.

"With guys a whole lot more interesting than Glenn!" Phoebe shot back as she continued to fire books at her sister in rapid succession.

"Glenn loves me, and I know that doesn't mean much to a girl like you, but I'd take him over any of your meaningless fucks." Paige covered her head with her arms as Phoebe finally stumbled upon the right combination of height and speed to get the books to fly under the table.

"No, you take him because no one else would take you." Phoebe clarified as she ran out of books and started advancing on Paige's hiding spot.

Paige poked her head back up. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

"That Glenn's the only guy who would want to go out with you? Yeah, I did." Phoebe waited for Paige's predictable sprint to the front door. The second Paige's hand hit the door knob, Phoebe spoke up. "Just ask Danny Hawkman."

Paige paused, mid-movement. "About what?"

"About the bet he had with his friends to sleep with you."

Paige swung round. "What?"

"You didn't really think he kept pestering you because he liked you, right? I mean...a senior, a football player...not a chance Paige."

Paige looked a little shell-shocked, but she played it off well. "Well...whatever, I turned him down. And you punched him...so he got what he deserved."

Phoebe scoffed. "Yeah, I punched him because he was doing it to get back at me. It had nothing to do with you."

"He still got a face full of fist. I'm satisfied. But I do wonder why he was getting back at you. Could it be that there's actually someone out there you wouldn't spread your legs for?" Paige pushed herself away from the door and readied herself for the inevitable fallout.

Phoebe looked her sister up and down. "You really want to keep pissing me off?"

"Sure do Freebie."

---

Piper pulled her headphones off as she heard another bang from the kitchen. What the hell was Paige doing out there? She sounded like an angry Sasquatch rearranging the furniture...and knowing Paige's morning temperament, that probably wasn't that far from the truth. With an uninterested shrug, Piper put her headphones back on and sprawled out on Grams' bed.

She'd spent most of her morning trying to entertain herself with romance novels, cooking books and her diary...but try as she might, she couldn't stop thinking about last night. Prue was going to London. Or rather, Prue planned to go to London.

Which was that last thing Piper was expecting because Prue had told her, in mind numbing detail, all about her internship with the San Francisco Historical Society. Plus, she was supposedly in love with Tom, the soon to be NFL signed superstar. And she hated fried food!

Piper rolled onto her stomach and sighed. Prue hadn't even bothered to tell her. She knew Prue had been pulling away from her for a while now, but deciding to move halfway around the world without saying a word? That made Prue a stranger, and destroyed any hope Piper had for her family. Prue was the centre, the heart, and without her everyone fell apart. Piper had been visiting Grams, Phoebe and Paige at the manor ever since she moved out, and the only time it ever felt like they were a real family, like how things were before mum died, was when Prue was there. Otherwise, it was all small talk and awkward glances.

And Piper had been counting on Prue to help with the Grams situation. Not only with the day to day stuff like taking Grams to her appointments, checking in and worrying about her sisters, but also with figuring out the future. Piper was terrified of loosing Grams, and she'd been waiting for Prue to find out so they could make a plan to survive this. So that Prue could assure her, the way she always did, that they would get through it together. But now...well...Prue wasn't being assuring and Piper didn't feel like she was surviving.

Prue was Piper's big sister, her best friend...but clearly, the relationship didn't go the other way. Prue saw her as a burden, as something she needed to escape, and to Piper, that felt like the end of the world. She had been left out in elementary school, bullied in high school and ignored in college, but through it all, Prue had always been there. And to find out that their relationship was a chore, that Prue had never really cared...well, that reminded Piper of everything she'd be secretly fearing for years. That she wasn't smart. That she wasn't strong. That she wasn't anything special at all.

---

"You you don't pick me up from school because you're too stoned! You don't talk to me in the halls! You don't-"

"You don't bother to talk to me at school! You don't come to my soccer games! You're not willing to hang out with my friends-"

"Like you'd let me!" Paige screamed as she shoved Phoebe backwards.

"Like you'd put the effort in!" Phoebe countered as she returned the push. "Even if I stopped doing everything stupid thing you just listed, you'd still hold it against me. You'd rather hide in your room with your grudges than try to fix our relationship."

Paige growled. "I don't try because you've blown me off so many times. The only time you ever want to hang out with me is when you're between flavours of the week."

"That's because getting you to talk is like pulling teeth." Phoebe pointed at Paige accusingly. "I know more about Prue and she hasn't been home in six months!"

"I don't tell you anything because you use it against me!" Paige yelled in Phoebe's face.

"You're no better than me!" Phoebe snarled back.

Paige narrowed her eyes. "I have never treated anyone like you treat me."

"Oh please, you cheated on Vincent. Who knows who else you've slept with behind Glenn's back."

Paige laughed coldly. "See, there you go. I told you that because I thought I could trust you, but like usual, you use it for your own selfish needs."

"No Paige, you told me because you were drunk off your ass." Phoebe spat as she took an ominous step towards her sister.

"Which is a situation you completely took advantage of!" Paige shot back as she took a step of her own.

"Are you kidding me? I wasted an entire night chasing you around to make sure you didn't hurt yourself!" Phoebe used her slight height advantage to loom over Paige.

"No, you chased me around to stop us getting caught!" Paige retorted as she squared her shoulders and refused to back down from Phoebe's bullying.

Phoebe's eyes flashed with anger. "Oh come off it Paige, if that was the case, I would have left you in the middle of the woods."

"I find that really hard to believe when the only thing you seemed to care about yesterday was getting caught." Paige laced her words with venom, and Phoebe tensed.

"That's bullshit, I put my ass on the line for you and this is the thanks I get?"

"No, Phoebe...this is the thanks you get." And with that, Paige threw a vicious right hook at Phoebe's face. Phoebe's retaliatory punch was as brutal as it was quick, and a trickle of blood immediately began dripping down Paige's chin from a split lip. Both girls paused in shock...because as much as they fought, they'd never actually laid a hand on one another without holding back.

Phoebe stretched her hands out.

Paige wiped the blood off her lip with her sleeve.

Phoebe reformed her fists.

And then they charged.

"You don't belong in this family." Phoebe slammed her fist into Paige's cheek.

"You'll never amount to anything." Paige fought back with a nasty uppercut to Phoebe's chin.

"Mom should have left you in that church." Phoebe threw her elbow into Paige's bruised forehead.

"Jimmy's cheating on you." Paige feigned a hit to the right, then followed with a well-timed shot at Phoebe's left eye.

"You're the reason my dad left." Phoebe yelled as she rained down shower of savage blows.

Paige stumbled back from the onslaught, regained her footing and spat out a mouthful of blood. "Prue hates you." Phoebe ran at Paige with a cry of rage.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Piper asked as she emerged from the bedroom, just in time to see her sisters crash to the floor in a tangle of fists and elbows. "What the...stop! Stop stop stop!" Neither Phoebe nor Paige did, and Piper watched in horror as they began to roll around, throwing wild punches as they went. "Phoebe! Paige!" Paige kneed Phoebe in the head. "Stop it!" Phoebe slammed her fist into Paige's stomach. "NOW!" At Paige's pained cry, Piper rushed into the fray. She hooked her arms under Phoebe's arm pits and hauled her backwards as fast as she could.

Paige locked eyes with Phoebe as she was dragged away. "You're the reason she doesn't come home."

And suddenly Piper was holding air and Paige was being well and truly pummelled by Phoebe's unrelenting fury. "You're the reason mom went to the lake to see Sam!"

Paige reared up, threw her elbow into Phoebe's nose and tackled her sister with an animalistic growl. "And you're the reason Grams is DYING!" Phoebe landed on her back, and Paige was instantly on top of her. "You gave her a heart attack and now she's going to leave me all alone!" Paige brought her fist down again and again, seemingly unaware of the tears streaming down her face. "I. Hate. You." Paige punctuated each word with a hit, and Phoebe's face exploded in a shower of red. "I hate you!" Paige continued to wail on Phoebe without an ounce of resistant until someone caught Paige's bloody fist.

"Don't." Prue commanded as she wrapped her arms around her baby sister and lifted her away.

"It's all her fault!" Paige screamed as she fought against Prue's tight embrace.

"Don't." Prue repeated softly into Paige's ear.

Phoebe looked up at them from the floor, completely stunned by Paige's assault. "I...she..." Phoebe trailed off and looked at the front door.

Paige kicked out at the air. "Do it Phoebe! Run away like you always do." Prue hauled her another couple of feet away and looked Phoebe over.

"Are you okay?"

Phoebe sat up and touched her nose gingerly, blinking at blood that appeared on her fingers. "No."

Piper instantly knelt at Phoebe's side. "What hurts?"

Phoebe stared at Piper, as if she didn't know who she was. "I..." Phoebe frowned. "...have to go."

"Well try to hack it for more than week this time!" Paige spat as she renewed her fight against Prue.

"I..." Phoebe's eyes darted between Piper to Prue nervously. "I didn't..." Phoebe closed her eyes.

Piper placed her hand on Phoebe's shoulder. "I think-" Piper paused when Phoebe shrugged her off. "Phoebe?"

Phoebe stood up. "I'm sorry." Piper reached out again, but before she could make contact, Phoebe made a mad dash towards the front door. A second later, Phoebe was gone and Piper was left in the middle of the room with her arm stretched out in front of her.

Prue immediately turned her attention to Paige, shaking in her arms. "What the hell is going on?"

Paige kicked out again. "Let me go."

Prue tightened her hold. "No. You're going to tell me what-" Prue cried out in pain as Paige stomped on her foot as hard as she could. "Son of a!" Paige freed herself from Prue's distracted hold and ran at their bedroom. Piper tried to play interference, but Paige was far too fast and the door slammed shut before she was even halfway across the room. The lock soon clicked into place, and short of breaking down the door, Piper knew that there was no way she was getting in to see her sister. With a heavy sigh, Piper turned back around to check on Prue.

A hangover, combined with confusion, anger and a great deal of pain, wasn't doing Prue's temper any good, and she hopped around the living room in a fit of profanity. "I'm going to kill her! Then ground her! Then-" Prue froze when she noticed Piper's piercing gaze.

The sisters stared at each other silently, overcome with the intensity of what had just happened and plagued by everything that had been said the night before. Prue didn't know what to say and Piper didn't know how to feel... and even although no words were said out loud, both girls knew exactly what the other was thinking.

What now?

---

Chapter 9: Walk the Line

"Look Piper, I...I'm..." Prue's awkward start at an apology was cut off as Grams crashed through the front door with her hand flung out in front of her.

"What on earth is going on? Phoebe just ran past me like a bat out of hell!" Grams looked around the room in panic. "Are you girls alright? Did something attack?"

Prue hopped over to Grams on one foot. "Paige and Phoebe attacked."

"Oh." Grams seemed relieved for a second, before she frowned at Prue. "What happened to you?"

"Paige." Prue grunted angrily. Grams raised an eyebrow and Prue sighed. "She didn't enjoy my company."

"Hrm." Grams responded, apparently in support of the sentiment. "Well I can't say I-"

"We don't have time for this." Piper interrupted as she appeared at Grams' side. "Phoebe and Paige had a huge fight." Prue tried to catch her sister's eye, but Piper was having none of it.

Grams waved Piper off. "Phoebe and Paige always fight." That was all Grams intended to say on the matter, and she turned back to Prue with a fierce glare of condemnation. "Now Prudence, I expect yo-"

"Not like this." Piper persisted as she stepped in-between Grams and Prue. "They beat the crap out of each other."

"They did what?" Grams exclaimed as she swung around to face Piper. "Are they okay?"

Piper bit her lip in consideration. "Yes, I think so. Well...Phoebe's nose might be broken."

Grams' eyes widened. "Good grief. What happened?"

"I don't know...I came out to see what all the noise was and they were rolling around on the floor."

Grams zeroed in on Prue. "And what's your role in all this?"

Prue glared resentfully. "I came running when Piper started yelling."

"Oh." Grams paused in confusion. "Well then what were they fighting about?"

Piper furrowed her brow. "Prue, you, and then Paige started yelling about Phoebe staying away for a week or something." Prue's eyebrows rose at the mention of her name, she'd only caught the tail end of Paige's assault.

"Well, who ever knows with your sisters." Grams muttered as she turned away to right the overturned chairs.

"I don't know, it seemed pretty-"

"So you two are talking now?" Grams interjected as she eyed Prue and Piper's close proximity.

Prue looked away in guilt, but Piper narrowed her eyes. "No. Why are you changing the subject?"

Grams hesitated. "I'm not. Now where's Paige?"

"Grams."

Grams rolled her eyes as she began picking up books scattered across the kitchen floor. "I'm not changing the subject Piper, I'm hoping to get an understanding of what happened from Paige, who is, as far as I can tell, the only one who knows what's going on."

Prue turned back around to study Grams. "What was Paige talking about?"

Grams sighed in exasperation as she began shelving the books on the bookshelf. "Nonsense by the sounds of it." Prue glanced at Piper out the corner of her eye, and this time, her sister met her gaze with a small nod, assuring Prue that her question was well founded. "What happened to Phoebe?"

Grams concentrated on Alphabetizing the books. "Girls, this is none of your con-"

Prue's eyes flashed with a protective fire Piper hadn't seen in years. "What happened to Phoebe?"

After a minute of tense silence, Grams slumped against the bookshelf with a sigh. "A few months ago, your sister ran away."

"And you didn't tell us?"

Grams spun on Prue viciously. "No, I did not. It was fairly evident that she wasn't with you, and when I called, neither of you had talked to her in weeks."

Prue tensed with fury, but just as she was about to go off on Grams, Piper grabbed her arm to hold her back. "Where did she go Grams?"

Grams closed her eyes. "We don't know."

"What?" Prue screeched.

Grams gave her a withering look. "You better watch yourself, I've had more than enough of your insolent behaviour. Both the police and I have tried to get information out of your sister, but she refuses to tell anyone where she went. She left in the middle of the night and returned a week later."

"But anything could have happened!" Piper exclaimed, moving towards Grams herself.

Grams tried to give them both a comforting smile. "She was forced to undergo an examination at the hospital, and they assured me that she didn't suffer any physical damage."

"That doesn't mean that she's okay. She could have-"

Grams stormed into Prue's personal space. "Now you listen to me Prudence, I will not tolerate a list of worse case scenarios. I have been over every possibility in my head, and used all the resources I have, but your sister will still not talk. I know this situation is hard, but obsessing over the what ifs will do nothing but make us more upset." Grams locked eyes with Prue. "If you have such fierce concern for your sister, then you should concentrate on helping her as she is now, not how she was then." Prue turned away, silent and sullen. "Until Phoebe tells us what happened, we have to trust that she made the right decisions and kept herself safe."

"But Grams..." Piper trailed off as Grams shot her a steely glare.

"No, no buts. Dwelling on the issue will simply alienate Phoebe more. Your sister has returned to us, and if she is not willing to discuss what happened, then we need to treat her as we always do."

"You don't." Piper muttered quietly.

"I'm sorry?" Grams asked in disbelief, unaccustomed to such a response from Piper.

"You don't treat her like you did before." Piper shrunk back at Grams' glare, but pressed on. "You let her get away with so much more. Like not doing her chores, and staying out later, and dating Jimmy. I just thought she wore you down or something, but really, you're trying to stop her from running away again..."

Grams sighed. "Yes dear. But that doesn't mean that I am giving into her unruly behaviour. I let her get away with certain things because I'd rather know about her habits than not. Phoebe needs boundaries, but she also needs the opportunity to learn from her mistakes, and I am doing my best to ensure that she has a secure environment to come home to...that she'll want to come home to." Grams paused to look out the window. "Which is why I don't want her to find out about my heart."

Piper cringed. "Uh, well that cat is out of the bag."

Grams spun on Prue angrily. "I told you not to say anything."

Prue held up her hands. "It wasn't me, Paige told her."

"Paige? Paige doesn't know about my heart."

Prue and Piper exchanged a confused look. "Yes, she does."

Grams turned to Piper with a raised eyebrow. "Well I didn't tell her!" Piper defended incredulously.

"Then how could she..." Grams trailed off with a deep sigh. "Where is she?"

Prue scowled at the bedroom door. "She locked herself in after the fight."

"Then I guess we need to have some words." Grams declared as she crossed the room on a war path that rivalled some of her great vanquishes.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Prue muttered as Grams started knocking on the bedroom door.

"Paige, sweetheart, it's me." Grams waited patiently for a response, but as everyone in the room predicted, none came. "Darling, I'd like you open this door." Grams accompanied her second attempt with a series of aggressive knocks. Prue and Piper watched the proceedings with mild amusement...Paige's stubbornness was always high grade entertainment when it wasn't directed at them. "Paige Samantha Halliwell, open this door at once." Grams ordered, becoming increasingly agitated as the silence wore on. "Or else." The threat brought chills to Prue and Piper, but Paige remained locked in her lair of despair. With a grunt of annoyance, Grams blocked Prue and Piper's view of the door and threw the lock open with a flick of telekinesis.

Piper blinked. "Wow, I didn't expect Paige to give in that easily."

"There's no way..." Prue trailed off as Grams opened the door and slipped inside. Piper bit back a grin at the embarrassed glower on Prue's face. "Oh whatever, she would have let me in too."

Piper rolled her eyes, but refused to respond to Prue's statement with her usual banter. Prue was quick to pick up on Piper's not so friendly vibe, and she bite her lip self-consciously, trying to sneak quick peaks at Piper without wanting to look like she was looking at Piper. A tense silence overpowered the room, and both girls fidgeted awkwardly.

"Prue-"

"Piper-" They paused when they spoke at the same time.

"You-"

"I-"

Piper rolled her eyes at their second failed attempt.

"I'm sorry." Prue threw out quickly.

Piper nodded, and leant against the couch. "I know."

Prue edged closer to her sister. "I swear I was going to tell you about London. But I only found out last week, and you were already mad at me, and I-"

"Prue?" Piper interrupted with a heavy sigh.

Prue swallowed nervously. "Yeah?"

"It doesn't matter."

Prue frowned. "It does to me."

"No, it really doesn't. But that's besides the point...Phoebe and Paige need us right now."

Prue continued to look at Piper in confusion. "Okay, but...we still have issues here Piper. You're obviously upset and I want to-"

"I'm not upset." Piper gave Prue a smile.

"Really?" Prue asked, almost hopefully.

"Yeah, don't worry about me."

Prue squinted at Piper's casual tone. "Okay, well I do. Am. Are you sure you're not mad?"

Piper shrugged. "There's nothing to be mad about."

Prue scratched the back of her neck, not wanting to press her luck, but really not understanding where Piper's uncharacteristic forgiveness was coming from. "Uh...I'd go with not telling you about London for starters?"

"It's hardly the biggest lie you've ever told me." Off Prue's questioning eyebrow raise, Piper sighed. "Look, we're adults, and we live together for financial reasons. You wanting to move out isn't that big of a deal."

"Oh I get it." Prue let out a sigh of relief. "You're pretending not to care."

Piper groaned. "Oh get over yourself Prue."

"You can drop the act, I get your point." Prue stated as she sat down on the arm of the couch.

Piper shifted away. "There's no act...I understand now. You were right, our relationship has been broken for a long time, and I think it's time we gave up this charade."

Prue grabbed Piper's hand. "I never said that. You mean the world to me, and I would never-"

Piper yanked her hand away. "You don't need to pretend Prue, I don't really like you all that much either."

Prue opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. Then closed it. Then finally managed to find something coherent to say. "Okay, I guess I deserved that."

Piper sighed impatiently. "Whatever, I don't have time for this." Piper stood up from the couch. "Tell Grams I took the car."

Prue gapped at her sister in disbelief. "You're leaving?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "No, not all of us run away from our problems. I'm going to find Phoebe."

"She's long gone by now." Prue stated with complete certainty, having been the official babysitter during the "hide n' seek" years.

Piper grabbed the keys out of Grams purse. "Well, unlike you, I have to try." Piper's words echoed around the cabin as she disappeared out the door. She jumped into the station wagon, peeled out of the driveway, and made it two miles down the road before she pulled over in a fit of sobs.

---

Meanwhile, Paige was living a nightmare of her own as Grams stormed her away across the bedroom. Paige hadn't been expecting anyone to come after her so soon, and had mistakenly taken refuge in Prue's bottom bunk. Now she was exposed, cornered, and looking more than a little pathetic all curled up in her big sister's sweatshirt.

"Paige?" Grams' footsteps neared the end of the bed, and Paige wiped the blood and tears off her face as fast as she could. "I heard you and Phoebe had a fight." Paige buried her face into Prue's pillow, promising God many many things if Grams left her alone. "Look at me." Paige tried to remain hidden, but Grams grabbed onto her shoulders and forcefully turned her around. "Good heavens!"

"I'm okay, itlooksworsethanitis." Paige announced in a panic, wary of the wild look in Grams' eyes.

Grams reached out to touch Paige's swollen face. "What happened?"

Paige cowered from her touch. "Phoebe pissed me off."

"I have no doubt." Grams trailed her thumb over the edge of Paige's bruised cheek. Grams was no doctor, but after a daughter, four granddaughters and six decades of demon fighting, she could diagnose fevers, broken bones and gapping flesh wounds with the best of them. "But why was this fight so different from the rest?"

Paige looked away. "I snapped."

Grams gently tugged Paige's face back towards her to continue her inspection. "Because of you were upset about Prue?"

Paige winced as Grams poked at her bruised forehead. "No."

"Hmm." Grams muttered, moving on to Paige's split lip. "Drinking, fighting and lying...every grandmother's dream come true."

"I swear I didn't mean to hit her, she's just so..." Paige trailed off meekly, unwilling to get herself into any more trouble.

"Pleasant?" Grams finished with a twinkle in her eye. Paige started to laugh, but her lip throbbed, so she ended up with a sombre nod instead. "I am no stranger to your sister's talents, but you can't let her get to you."

"I know." Paige looked at her bruised knuckles then back up at Grams. "I'm sorry."

Assured that Paige's injuries were of the non-fatal variety, Grams sat down on the edge of the bed. "I know you are, but this behaviour is unacceptable." At this, Grams' features hardened into the look Phoebe had nicknamed "the mother L.O.A.D"... aka the Look Of Angry Disappointment. Always capitalized. "I do not expect you and your sisters to always get along, but I will not tolerate violence in my house."

"I know Grams, I do. I didn't sleep much last night...and Phoebe said the wrong things, and I got stupid."

Grams crossed her arms angrily. "I don't care, I raised you both better than this." Paige nodded obediently, but it did nothing to slow Grams' incensed tirade. "I don't know what's going on with you, but I don't like it. You have a tremendous potential, and I refused to sit back and watch you squander it away."

Paige continued to nod, until she realised what Grams said, and backtracked with a vehement head shake. "Wait! I'm not! I made a mistake, and I prom-"

"Mistakes Paige, mistakes. I am so-" Grams took a breath and changed tactics. "What were you and Phoebe fighting about?"

Paige fiddled with the edge of Prue's sweatshirt. "I don't want to talk about it." Grams cleared her throat in warning. "Uh...well...we were fighting about school and stuff."

"Well that's delightfully explicit." Grams responded dryly.

Paige sighed. "It was a bit of everything."

"And which bit made you break your sister's nose?"

"I broke her nose?" Paige asked in a slightly awed tone.

Grams narrowed her eyes. "That wasn't a compliment."

Paige blinked. "Oh, right. Yeah, I meant...I'm very sorry I broke her nose." Grams glare intensified. "Oh I am sorry, but I've never won before."

"Would you like your prize?" Grams asked with a look that spoke of groundings, garage cleaning and Sundays at Aunt Gail's.

"No." Paige muttered as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Sorry."

"Not as sorry as you're going to be when we get home." Grams paused to savour Paige's fear. "But we'll talk about punishments later."

"Great." Paige whispered to herself.

"Now..." Grams leant back on the bed, "how do you know my heart?"

Paige paled. "I don't know what yo..." Paige trailed off when Grams' jaw clenched. "I found your meds in your bathroom."

Grams pursed her lips. "The medications I hid in my private makeup bag?"

"Yes. But I was just looking for eye shadow." Paige squirmed under Grams' unimpressed glare. "I was going to return it."

Grams sighed. "Well inappropriate borrowing aside, I'd still like to know why you didn't say anything?" Paige just shrugged. "That's not an acceptable answer young lady."

"I dunno." Paige said with a Phoebe-like drawl.

Grams took several calming breaths. "I'll give you one more chance for a more appropriate answer." Paige stared at Grams for a beat, then rolled over to face the wall. Grams' blinked at Paige's turned back. "I've had just about enough of this nonsense, turn back around and answer my question." Paige didn't, and Grams eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't make me forbid you from getting your learners permit..." Paige remained silent, and Grams pushed herself off the bed in fit of rage. "That is it! I have tried to be patient, tried to understand where this atrocious behaviour is coming from...but I am at the end of my rope. You will tell me why you hid the truth, or you will be spending the entire summer in your room. Without books or art supplies!" Grams shot Paige one last dirty look, before spun on her heels and stormed out the room.

---

Prue fell off the couch when Grams burst out of the bedroom, spewing an exotic assortment of curses under her breath. After Piper's exit, Prue had been trying to take a nap in an effort to battle her head-pounding-nausea-inducing-emotion-triggering hangover.

Prue quickly pulled herself of the floor, but Grams stomped right past her to pull the kettle from the cupboard. She filled it with water, slammed it onto a burner, and flung ten times the normal amount of kindling into the stove. Within seconds, the new supply of wood was alight, and the kettle was engulfed in a series of spectacular flames that shot up through the stovetop. Satisfied, Grams stalked back into the living room and threw herself onto the couch.

Prue eyed Grams and the raging inferno with wary curiosity. "Thirsty?"

"Don't start with Prudence." Grams snapped in irritation.

Prue raised her eyebrows in alarm. "I'm not." Grams huffed and Prue looked a little lost. "Is Paige okay?"

Grams pointed at Prue accusingly. "She's certainly your sister."

Prue blinked. "Uh...true?"

Grams grunted. "I don't know why I bother." When Grams offered no further explanation, the twosome lapsed into an awkward silence.

After what felt like an eternity, the kettle's whistle went off. "I'll get it." Prue sprung up with her best rendition of 'helpful granddaughter'. "Coffee?"

Grams eyed Prue suspiciously. "No, not with my heart."

"Oh right." Prue bit her lip. "Herbal crap?"

"Please." Grams replied, with a slight thaw of her ill-tempered mood. Prue scampered into the kitchen, puttered around and quickly reappeared with two cups of chamomile tea.

Grams eyed the second mug with a ghost of a smile. "Trying something new?"

Prue shrugged self-consciously. "It doesn't really seem fair to drink coffee when you're...you know."

"Fabulous?"

Prue smiled sadly. "Something like that."

Grams waited for Prue to take a sip before she spoke up. "Well dear, as nice as your thought is, it isn't necessary. I don't want you or your sisters changing your lives for me." Grams paused. "Except the obvious."

Prue returned her mug to the coffee table...one sip was more than enough. "Yeah, the obvious." Prue took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

Grams sat back with her tea. "For?"

"Being an ass?" Prue winced at the accidental profanity. "Er...drunken idiot?"

"I think ass covered it just fine."

"Right, okay...well, I shouldn't have said what I said last night." Prue tried to read Grams' blank expression. "It's not your fault you're..." Prue took a shaky breath. "...sick, and I shouldn't have blamed my problems on you."

Grams nodded. "I agree."

Prue tried to look as sincere as she could. "I was out of line...and I owe you an apology."

Grams set her own tea down with a sigh. "I don't need an apology, I need a promise that it will never happen again. I don't care what you said to me, I've certainly heard worse, but exposing your sisters to your drunken rage? That's what I found entirely unacceptable. I know you may not think much of this family, or your role in it, but you impact your sisters' lives in ways you can't even imagine." Grams eyes bore into Prue. "And I'm not ready to forgive you for hurting them like that."

Prue slumped against the couch. "I made a mistake Grams, a regrettable one, but a mistake. I can't be perfect all the time."

"And neither can life." Grams replied instantly.

Prue bit down a sarcastic retort. "It's not wrong for me to be disappointed."

"No, it's not. But life's going to throw a lot more disappointment your way, and until you learn to see the good with the bad, you'll never be happy with what you have."

Prue frowned. "I do see the good...I just see a different kind of good than you do."

Grams reached out to grab Prue's hands. "But do you? Could you tell me ten things you already love about your life? Could you show me three friends who would do what your sisters do for you? Are you happy?"

Prue sighed again. "No...but that's because I'm working towards something better."

Grams squeezed Prue's hands. "Just like how you spent your high school years working towards college?"

Prue scoffed. "Well I didn't get to go to the college I wanted now did I?"

Grams graciously ignored Prue's outburst. "You still went to a school you wanted to get into. So was it everything you thought it'd be? Were the last four years as great as you expected?"

Prue squirmed uncomfortably. "Some of it was."

"And tell me, is everything you used to complain about in high school as tragic and horrible as it was back then?"

Prue rolled her eyes. "No, not really."

"So maybe, just maybe, you have a lot more going on for you than you think?" Prue looked away angrily. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad, or disregard how much you wanted to go to London...but staying in San Francisco isn't the end of the world." Grams waited until Prue turned back to her. "And your responsibilities as the eldest aren't as terrible as you think." Prue tried to pull her hands away, but Grams' held on with supernatural strength. "Being a leader is hard, believe me I know, but hearing your sisters call out your name when they're scared? Being able to solve their problems just by being there? Knowing, for better or worse, that you made a difference in their lives? Those are the kind of rewards that you'll never be able to find out there...no matter how far you run." Grams gave Prue one last meaningful look, before she released her hands and reclaimed her tea. "Well, enough of that. Lucky for you, even I am lacking the will to ground a twenty-two year old, so we'll just agree that the events of last night never repeat themselves." Prue nodded hesitantly, suspicious of Grams' casual manner, but thankful for this strange peace offering. Grams settled back into her seat with a relieved sigh. "Good. Now, let's try to enjoy the rest of our vacation as best we-"

"Can?" Phoebe stepped out from the shadows of the front entrance way. Grams dropped her mug on the carpet when she caught sight of Phoebe's battered face. "I know you guys were talking, but-"

Grams sprung up from the couch. "Where the hell have you been? I have been worried sick! You know you can't run off like that!" Phoebe staggered back at Grams' ferocity. "I thought we'd gotten over this, but apparently, you're as reckless as you ever were!"

Grams stormed forward, ignoring Phoebe's stuttered apologises. "Beating up your little sister? How could you? Even I didn't think you'd stoop that low! When will these ridiculous cries for attention stop? When you're expelled? When you're in jail? When you're dead! I'm just glad your mother isn't here to see this." Phoebe recoiled from Grams' words, scrambling backwards as fast as she could. "Don't you dare!" Grams warned, instantly aware of her granddaughter's intentions. But Phoebe was already on the move, and Grams' threat did nothing to stop her from darting towards the open door. Grams lunged forward, but Phoebe slipped out of her grasp and raced away at an extraordinary speed. "Phoebe!" Grams yelled as she took off in pursuit. "You get back here this inst..." Grams trailed off as Prue streaked by her in a full on sprint.

"I'll get her!" Prue yelled over her shoulder as chased after her sister. Grams slowed her run to a walk when she watched her granddaughters disappear into the forest at a pace she'd never be able match.

A second later, Grams bent over in excruciating pain. She tried to take shallow breaths to relax her spasming heart, but for the first time since her heart attack two months ago, it didn't seem to be working. She'd had sharp twinges throughout the day, most particularly when Paige was at her brattiest, but nothing like the debilitating pain that was radiating throughout her chest and down left arm. With a stifled cry, Grams stumbled back into the cabin and pulled a sealed bottle of pills from her purse. It took three tries to remove the lid and two glasses of water to successfully swallow the pills, but she did, and slowly but surely, the strain on her heart started to loosen...not a moment too soon.

---

Phoebe picked up the pace when she felt Prue catching up to her from behind. She had to admit her sister was fast...no one on her team could keep up with her like this.

"Phoebe! Stop!" Prue called out as she burst forth with more determination than skill. The first leg of their impromptu run had been easy...flat ground, open space, few obstacles...but now they were running straight up a hill. And highlights of Prue's athletic background were horseback riding, cheerleading and croquet. "For god sakes, stop!" In a strange turn of events, God, or someone like him, actually seemed to be listening, and Phoebe took a nasty tumble over the next tree branch. Prue, in all of her big sister glory, aimed a flying leap at Phoebe and landed...a foot short. "Ow." Prue mumbled as she lifted her forehead off the forest floor. Phoebe lay in a heap beside her, clutching her nose. Prue crawled over and batted her hand away. "Is is broken?"

"No." Phoebe spat, eying Prue's proximity with hostile intent.

"Let me check." Prue ordered as she pinched the bridge of Phoebe's nose as lightly as possible. Phoebe winced, but didn't complain. "You're right, it's okay." Prue ran her eyes over Phoebe's black eye, bruised chin and swollen nose. "Okay, not okay okay, but I don't think you need to go the hospital."

"Great." Phoebe muttered as she tried to sit up. However, Prue was in no mood for any more spontaneous exercise, and she straddled Phoebe's stomach, knocking her back to the ground. "Get off me!" Phoebe exclaimed with a violent buck.

"No." Prue sat back on her haunches, bring her entire weight down. "We need to talk."

"Prue!" Phoebe whined with a few ineffective kicks.

"Where did you go?"

Phoebe continued to squirm. "I went to the bluff and back. I needed to clear my-"

"Before." Prue clarified.

Phoebe stopped struggling. "I...what?"

"Don't play dumb with me...where did you go?" Prue repeated as she searched Phoebe's eyes.

Phoebe looked away. "I'm not going to tell you."

"Yes, you are." Prue stated calmly.

"It doesn't matter where I went. Nothing bad happened, and I came back."

Prue shook her head. "That's not good enough."

Phoebe steeled her nerves, then turned back to Prue. "And why do you care?"

"Because I'm your sister."

Phoebe burst into horrified laughter. "Clueless to the bitter end, huh Prue?"

Prue frowned in confusion. "What hell are you talking about?"

Phoebe let out one last incredulous chuckle, before she tried to sit up again. Prue permitted it, but refused to budge from Phoebe's stomach. Phoebe rolled her eyes and leant back on her elbows. "I'm not going to run."

Prue raised a doubtful eyebrow. "How stupid do you think I am?"

Phoebe levelled her gaze at Prue challengingly. "Stupid enough to date a tool like Tom."

Prue's eyes flashed but she remained in place. "It isn't going to work Pheebs...you helped me last night, and against my better judgment, I'm going to help you now."

"I didn't try to do shit for you last night. Paige locked me out of our bedroom and I had nowhere else to go." Phoebe snarled, none too happy with Prue's unexpected insight.

Prue rolled her eyes. "Like a lock has ever stopped you before."

"Whatever." Phoebe muttered as she threw her head back to look at the clouds.

Prue wiped a dribble of blood off Phoebe's nose with her sleeve. "You were right, you know. Grams forgave me." Phoebe grunted in response. "And you were right about Piper...I do depend on her a lot more than I realized." Prue paused. "Not that she seems interested in making up with me, but anyway..." Phoebe snuck a quick peek at Prue, curious about the hitch in her sister's voice, but unwilling to submit to Prue's dubious kindness. "And I don't know what happened between you and Paige, but I remember what she was like as a kid, and I know she gives as good as she gets." Prue tried to catch Phoebe's wandering eyes. "Plus, the little shit stepped on my foot so you know, ice her ass." Phoebe knew Prue was joking, but somehow, the thought of Prue cheering her on in a fight made the giant cesspool of suck that was her life...better.

"Happily." Prue's smile slipped off her face when heard the seriousness in Phoebe's tone. "Oh chill, your little angel is safe."

Prue gave Phoebe a warning look, before she stood up and offered her hand. "Come on kiddo, you have a date with a first aid kit." Phoebe took Prue's hand reluctantly. "I know Grams seems mad, but truthfully, she's far more worried, and the sooner you face the music, the better off you'll be."

Phoebe rolled her eyes, but allowed Prue to pull her to her feet. However, as soon as Phoebe put weight on her left leg, it buckled and she pitched forward with a cry of pain. Prue moved to catch her, but Phoebe pushed her away. "It's okay, it's okay...I just landed on it when I tripped."

Prue held Phoebe in place and rolled up her pant leg. "Ouch." Phoebe's knee had swollen to twice it's normal size.

Phoebe shrugged. "I've had worse."

Prue stood up, spun around and showed Phoebe her back. "Jump on."

Phoebe snorted. "You're not serious, right?" Prue looked over her shoulder with 'serious' stamped across her forehead. "Come on Prue, it's like two miles back to the cabin. You'll never make it."

"Wanna bet?" Prue asked with a cocky grin.

Phoebe sighed heavily. "No, not really." Prue raised an expectant eyebrow and Phoebe hopped up grudgingly. "This is stupid."

Prue started to walk down the hill, careful to avoid roots, logs and boulders. "What's stupid is that you didn't tell me you're hurt."

Phoebe rolled her eyes, but didn't have the motivation to come up with a snarky comeback. A few minutes later, she'd worked up enough courage to ask about what had been on preying in her mind. "Prue?"

"Hmm?"

Phoebe bit her lip. "Is Grams sick?"

"Yes."

Phoebe tightened her hold on Prue unconsciously. "When did she have her heart attack?"

Prue hesitated. "I don't know...Piper didn't tell me."

"So it could have been my fault." It wasn't a question.

Prue stopped walking. "No."

"But Paige-"

"No. Paige was trying to find someone to blame. She's obviously having a hard time dealing with...it, and she was trying to make you feel as bad as she did." Phoebe remained silent. "Heart attacks aren't caused by 17 year old brats."

Phoebe's lower lip wobbled. "But I make her so mad, and-"

"Grams has been mad many times in her life, and it would take more than anger to trigger a heart attack. She has always had high blood pressure, and Piper told me that the doctors put her on a special diet...so obviously something was wrong in the first place, and our family has a long history of heart disease."

Phoebe sniffed. "But-"

"No." Prue interrupted. "She survived and she's okay. You can't change the past Phoebe, so the only thing left to do is try to avoid fights in the future." Prue started walking again when she felt Phoebe nod against her neck. "Not that she makes it easy." Prue added as an afterthought. "But you can start with an apology when we get back."

Phoebe started to wipe her tears away. "Do I have to?"

"Yes." Prue hoisted Phoebe further up her back. "And you should tell her where you went when you ran away."

Phoebe followed a bird's path in the sky. "No way."

"I'm going to find out one way or another." Prue stated lightly, but Phoebe could hear the underlying sincerity in her statement. Secrets had always driven Prue insane and Phoebe knew that it was going to take a lot more than avoiding the question to get Prue off her case. But Prue could never find out where Phoebe went.

It would break her heart.

With a disheartened sigh, Phoebe rested her chin on Prue's shoulder and let the rhythmic motion of Prue's walk lull her into a sleep that was free of fist fights, sick grandmothers and big secrets.

---

Several hours later, Piper opened the bedroom door, expecting an onslaught of flying objects or a raving sister. Instead, she got a motionless lump in the corner of a top bunk. With a deep, courage finding breath, Piper shut the door behind her, and deposited her food laden tray on her bed. The room was pitch black, apart from a slight glimmer of moonlight shining through the small window, and Piper's first order of business was to light the candles spread haphazardly around the room. Once that was completed, Piper started up the ladder. "Paige?" Piper called out as she neared the top. "I brought you dinner?" Paige remained under her pile of blankets, silent and still. "Come on sweetheart, you've been under there all day." Piper crawled up the bed until she was kneeling beside Paige's head. "Knock knock?" Piper rapped gently against the bump in front of her and received no answer. However, Paige was lying far too still to be asleep, and as Piper lifted the blanket away from Paige's face, Paige rolled away from her. "I'm not mad." Piper assured as she sat back on her heels. Paige made a noise, and Piper leaned forward to hear what she was saying.

"Go away." Paige repeated as she grabbed a pillow and threw it over her head.

"And miss the chance to infiltrate your secret hideout? Fat chance." As predicted, Paige remained entirely unamused, and Piper stretched out bed beside her. "You know, when Grams' had her heart attack, I cried for three days straight." Piper waited, but Paige didn't acknowledge the statement. "She told me you found by yourself. I wish I had known, we could have talked about it." Piper rested her head beside Paige's buried one. "You do know she's going to be okay, right?" Piper tried to pull the pillow away, but Paige was less than a willing participant. Every time Piper managed to pull some material from Paige's iron grip, Paige wriggled down the bed and disappeared again. After a few near rips, Piper gave up and rested her hand on Paige's shoulder. "There's really nothing to worry about munchkin."

At this, Paige jerked the pillow away from her face. "I would appreciate it if you didn't patronize me with your stupid pet names."

Piper winced at the sight of Paige's bruised face. "I'm not the enemy here."

"You're here to spy on me for Grams." Paige alleged as she ducked her head back under the covers.

Piper stared at the mess of dark hair that was her baby sister. "No, I'm not. Grams is too busy with Phoebe to worry about you right now." Piper cringed. "Not that she isn't worried about you, I mean...you matter just as much as-"

"Seriously, go away." Paige mumbled through the blanket.

Piper rolled on to her back to inspect the cracked ceiling. Truth was, the living room was a battle zone. Grams and Phoebe were still going at it, albeit more civilly than Piper would have expected, but Prue's less than subtle alliance with Phoebe was doing nothing to quell Piper's feelings of abandonment. "You know, what Phoebe said about mum isn't true. Sa...your dad wasn't responsible for her death, and you weren't the reason they were up at the camp." Piper paused to check Paige's reaction...which was, of course, silent under the covers brooding. "Phoebe was just trying to rile you up." Piper made another attempt to move the blanket, but Paige held on tight. "I don't know what happened out there, but she was wrong to-"

Paige poked her out again. "What happened between me and Phoebe is our business."

Piper sighed heavily. "Okay. Then how about some food? You haven't eaten all day."

"Not hungry." Paige mumbled at a barely audible level.

"Not even for my world famous grilled cheese?" Paige shook her head. "I know you're upset, but you really need to eat."

Paige's tense posture indicated how truly unwelcome Piper's was. "I've had the worst day ever, I really don't need to top it off with you shoving food down my throat."

"Not even a lollipop?" Piper tried as she pulled the cherry flavoured weapon from her pocket.

Paige ripped it out of Piper's hand and hurled it across the room. "I'm not some stupid kid anymore! You can't make everything better with a lollipop."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

Paige covered her face with her arms. "Whatever."

Piper licked her lips nervously. "So there's nothing I can do? To help? At all? Because you're sad and I –"

Paige lowered her arms to glare. "Piper, I'm fine."

"Right." Piper sat up with a heavy sigh. "Well just in case you decide that you're not fine, I'll be in the living room." Paige looked at Piper blankly. "Okay, then I'll just..." Piper motioned to the door awkwardly. Paige's indifference faltered for a second, but her hurt expression was gone as fast as it came, and all Piper was privy to was a snotty stare. "I'll leave the tray on my bed if you get hungry." Piper began to move back down the bed. "And I'll be back later." Paige glared resentfully and Piper made a hasty retreat down the ladder. "To sleep. Because this is where I sleep." Piper explained with a sigh. Paige could hide her thoughts, but not her feelings, and it was in moments like this that Piper really understood how big the rift between them was. "Well...things will be better in the morning, I'm sure." Paige rolled her eyes and turned towards the wall. Piper blinked at the cold dismissal. "You know, you're going to have to let someone in eventually." Piper took once last lingering look at Paige before she made her way towards the door.

Paige sat up the second Piper shut the door behind her. She listened carefully, to make sure Piper was really gone, before she reached under her mattress to grab her stashed water bottle of vodka. It was nearly full, but Paige managed to down the contents in a matter of minutes, refusing to let herself cough or gag. It didn't taste good, and it certainly wasn't a smart thing to do, but as Paige crawled back under her blanket, desperately trying to muffle her sobs with a pillow, it seemed like the answer to her prayers.

---

Chapter 10: Adaptation

"Paige, wake up."

"Influenza." Paige muttered as she batted Grams' hand away from her face.

"Up. Up. Up!" Grams command with a pat on Paige's leg.

"Incubation." Paige moaned, burying her head under her blankets.

"Come on sleepy." Grams persisted as she pulled the covers off Paige's face, stroked her forehead...and continued to pat her leg?

Paige's eyes shot open. "Prue!"

"Paige!" Prue mocked from where she sat beside Paige's head. Paige blinked and turned her attention to Grams, standing impatiently on the floor. A tag-team wake up? That was only for special events, like the first day of school, and family portraits, and...the day after you beat your sister to a pulp. Paige closed her eyes as yesterday came hurling back at her.

However, Prue mistook this as another attempt at sleep, and she ripped the blankets off of her sister with a mischievous grin. Paige yelped at the cold morning air, but before she could make a more articulate protest, Prue started tickling her sides. Paige tensed, suddenly aware of every drop of alcohol she'd consumed last night. "Stop Prue!" Not only was her hangover making everything the room spin, it was also making Prue's playful tickling feel like the Heimlich manoeuvre. "I need to pee!" Paige exclaimed in a panic, desperately trying to crawl away. Prue's tickling slowed, but didn't stop, and Paige looked at her sister pleadingly. "I'm up, I swear! Just stop!" Prue blinked at the waver in Paige's voice.

Prue stilled her hands on Paige's stomach. "What's wrong?"

Paige took a breath and fought her nausea. "Nothing."

Prue narrowed her eyes and looked down, catching sight of something under the edge of Paige's t-shirt. "Grams." Both Grams and Paige jumped at the seriousness in Prue's tone. "Take a look at this." Prue lifted Paige's shirt and pointed. Paige gulped...surely Prue couldn't see her hickey from that angle? Just as Paige was about to launch into an explanation about suction cups and allergic reactions, Grams pressed down on Paige's stomach.

"Ow!" Paige groaned as her queasy hangover was catapulted into unparalleled levels of unpleasantness. "Does the expression 'I need to pee' not mean anything to you people?"

Grams continued to man handle the massive bruise on Paige's stomach. "Nothing's ruptured."

"That's because I was hit with a knee, not a bullet!" Paige whined pitifully, doubled over in pain.

Grams gave Paige's stomach one last suspiciously hard poke, before she pulled back. "She'll live."

"It's a miracle." Paige muttered as she pulled her shirt around her protectively.

Prue sat back on her heels. "Sorry kiddo, I didn't know you were hurt."

Paige grunted. "Fine. Now can I go back to sleep?"

"No." Grams stated, somewhat testily, and Paige had the feeling that she was about to get some payback for yesterday. "We are having a family breakfast."

Paige sighed. "Why?"

"Because I said so." Grams replied with an unimpressed glare. "Now get dressed and come join us."

Paige threw her head back onto her pillow. "I'm sick."

Grams scowled. "Acting up is not a disease."

Paige sighed and gave Grams her best puppy eyes. "I'm serious, I don't feel well. My stomach hurts." Paige paused. "Maybe the bruise has something to do with it?"

"You have five minutes." Grams warned as she tossed Paige her backpack and stalked out the room.

Prue held out her hand. "Nice try."

Paige eyed Prue's hand like it was a snake. "I don't need a babysitter."

Prue narrowed her eyes. "Don't get mouthy with me."

Paige huffed. "Or what?"

Prue fixed Paige with a menacing glare. "Or I'll remind you of the fact that you stepped on my foot and owe me lots of penance."

Paige rolled her eyes. "I didn't step on you that hard."

"Well my bruised toe has a different opinion." Prue took a minute to look Paige over, before she leant back against the wall and crossed her arms. "So this is the way things are going to go...you're going to drop the attitude, tell me what's wrong and go back to being the happy kid I love and miss."

Paige groaned. "Not you too." When Prue did nothing but glare intently, Paige sighed dramatically. "Look, I had a bad day yesterday. I'm sorry I was mean to Grams and Piper, but they just wouldn't leave me alone."

"But why are you taking it out on me? What did I do?"

"Nothing." Paige admitted reluctantly.

"Right, so let's try this again. I'm going to offer my hand..." Prue held out her hand, "And then you're going to take it without the snide remarks and eye rolling." After a tense beat, Paige gave in and reached out. "See, isn't respect fun?" Prue pulled Paige into a sitting position before she could come up with a reply. "So, we're good? Moving well past muttered insults?"

Paige sighed. "I guess."

"Oh stop it...your overflowing love and flattery is just embarrassing." Prue teased as Paige sat in front of her, sulky and sullen. When Paige refused to crack a smile, Prue decided that her clown routine was sinking ship. With a heavy sigh, Prue pulled Paige into a tight hug, pointedly ignoring her less than enthusiastic response. An affectionate hair ruffle later, Prue pulled back to look Paige in the eye. "What's going on in that overcrowded head of yours?"

Paige glared. "Nothing."

"Paige." Prue warned.

"Look, I'll go to Grams' stupid breakfast, and I'll play these fake family games, but you can't make me talk. This is my life and I don't want your help." Paige snapped as she pushed Prue away from her and started to climb down the bunk bed's ladder.

Prue latched onto Paige's arm, holding her in place. "Well that's too bad because you're getting it."

"You're my sister, not my warden, and I don't have anything to say to you."

Prue tried to read Paige's angry expression. "Is this just a teenage thing? Or is there really something going on here?"

Paige yanked her arm out of Prue's grip and landed on the floor. "I'm fine."

Prue leant over the side of the top bunk. "Is that a real fine or a Paige fine?"

Paige growled and started riffling around in her backpack. "It's a fine fine. Now I need to get dressed and I'm sure you're just itching to go report my misbehaviour to Grams, so this conversation is officially done."

Prue jumped off the bunk bed and landed in front of her sister. "This conversation is anything but done."

Paige searched the floor for her jeans. "Well then you can be the one to explain to Grams why I can't make her family breakfast."

Prue narrowed her eyes, but didn't have anything to say. Even she wasn't brave enough to mess with a family breakfast. "Well fine, we don't have time. But this isn't over."

"Joy." Paige muttered as she walked around Prue and tried to get out the door with a pile of clothes in her arms.

Prue threw her arm across the doorway. "We're going to finish this talk after breakfast."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Actually, I'm going to take a nap, so unless you want to have a conversation with yourself, your lame crack at parenting is going to have to wait." And with that, Paige knocked Prue's arm aside and strolled out of the room. A second later, Prue heard the backdoor bang as Paige made a successful escape to the outhouse.

Prue was so shocked it took her a minute to remember that she could actually move. That was not how this was supposed to go. Paige was the easy one...Piper freaked, Phoebe fought, and Paige listened. Silently and compliantly. Sometimes she'd ask a few difficult questions that threw Prue though a loop, but she'd never raised her voice, questioned Prue's authority...talked back! Admittedly, Prue hadn't had a "serious" talk with Paige in a long time, possibly since the 7th grade 'how to go downtown by yourself debacle', but still...who the hell did that little punk think she was?

With an angry grunt, Prue threw on a sweatshirt and stormed her way back into the living room. Piper and Phoebe looked up from where they sat the dining table, overly annoyed at how long Grams was taking to get breakfast ready.

"No luck?" Grams asked from the kitchen, already knowing the answer. Prue shook her head walking over to an empty chair.

Almost instantly, Phoebe noticed Paige standing in the doorway. "What is she doing here?"

Prue ran a hand threw her hair. "She's joining us for breakfast."

Phoebe pushed her chair away from the table. "I'm so out of here."

"You certainly are not." Grams declared as she breezed through the front door with two buckets of water. "We are going to have a family breakfast."

"I'm not hungry." Phoebe and Paige exclaimed at the same time.

Grams dumped her buckets on the ground and spun around with her hands on her hips. "Well hungry or not, you're both going to sit at that table until we've all eaten something."

Phoebe crossed her arms petulantly. "Everyone better eat fast."

Grams rolled her eyes and sat down. When Paige continued to linger in the back doorway, Grams shot her a disgruntled look. "Sit." After a moment's hesitation, Paige slunk over and sat down, refusing to look anywhere but her plate. Grams gave herself a satisfied nod, and picked up the nearest dish. "Who wants pancakes?"

Prue glanced around at the sullen table and held up her plate. "Hit me."

"Gladly." Phoebe muttered quietly, so that only Prue and Piper heard. She'd been suspicious when Grams had offered to make her breakfast, but she wasn't expecting her sisters to be accomplices in this blatant attempt at a peace summit.

Prue gave Phoebe a warning look and dumped three pancakes on her plate. "Eat up chickadee." Phoebe snorted, rather unimpressed with the pet name, knowing that it was Prue's attempt at 'humour'.

Soon, the room was engulfed in a tense silence, and Paige looked up from her plate, hoping to catch a glimpse of Phoebe without anyone noticing. Unfortunately, Phoebe had similar thoughts, and both girls froze when their eyes met across the table. Paige ran her eyes over Phoebe's black eye, bruised chin and swollen nose, feeling simultaneously guilty and proud. Phoebe, for her part, refused to look anywhere than Paige's eyes, unwilling to face the damage she caused. After a lengthy pause, both girls tore their eyes away with hateful glares.

When no one appeared to have anything else to say, Grams cleared her throat. "Piper, I'd like you to go to the dump."

Piper swallowed a mouthful of pancake. "Today?"

"Yes. We don't have enough room in the car to take all the garbage on the way home." Grams paused to shoot Prue a glare that not so subtlety indicated that her well packed bags were the problem. "Now there's quite a lot to carry, so you should take Pr-"

"Paige!" Piper interrupted loudly. Prue and Phoebe frowned, rather insulted at Piper's blatant favouritism.

Paige jumped. "I didn't do it!" When everyone stared at her blankly, Paige paled. "I did do it?"

Grams sighed in exasperation. "No dear, Piper was suggesting that you join her on her excursion to the dump."

"Oh." Paige furrowed her brow. "Why?"

Everyone at the table turned to Piper, obviously wondering the same thing. Piper grinned nervously. "Because I want to spend time with her?" Which wasn't a lie...but "I'm trying to cut Prue out of my life" and "Phoebe's giving me the cold shoulder because I hid the truth about Grams" didn't really have the right ring to it.

"Well, I think that's marvel-" Grams delight was swiftly axed by Paige.

"I'm not going."

Grams' eyes narrowed. "You certainly are. Your sister is trying to -"

"Con me into telling her what you want to know. I'm not stupid Grams, I know this is your doing." Paige accused none too delicately.

"Paige, I didn't even-"

"Don't you dare start-"

"Now you listen here youn-" Piper, Prue and Grams spoke over one another, only pausing when Paige shrunk back at their combined volume. Grams cleared her throat and tried again. "This isn't up for debate, you are going with your sister."

Paige threw her fork down angrily. "Why?"

Grams narrowed her eyes. "Because I said so."

Paige dropped her anger, and turned on Grams with a pathetic pout. "Please don't make me go. I'll be good, I swear, but I just...I can't!"

Grams frowned. "Why?" Paige bit her lip and looked away. "Either you give me a compelling reason, or you go with your sister..."

Piper raised her hand nervously. "Um...if she doesn't want to go, I really don't think-"

"She's going." Grams cut in, having waited long enough for Paige to come up with an answer. "It's a long drive, so I suggest you two get started."

Paige pushed her plate away with a growl, and Piper gulped. "Uh, maybe I should take Phoebe instead?"

"No, I want you to take Paige." Grams instructed firmly.

When Grams said nothing else, Piper turned to Paige. "Are you...uh...ready to go?"

Paige sighed. "Yeah, just let me get something?"

Piper nodded and watched Paige walk away to the bedroom. Once she was out of earshot, Piper spun on Grams. "You know I can't handle her when she's like this. If you force her to go, she's going to hate me more."

Grams waved her off. "She'll do nothing of the sort." When Piper looked less than convinced, Grams sighed. "You'll be fine Piper, she's a teenager, not an axe murder."

As if on cue, Paige reappeared from the bedroom, wearing a ridiculous pair of oversized sunglasses and Phoebe's Dodger's cap pulled right over her eyes. Phoebe, in the spirit of never talking to Paige again, declined to comment.

Prue didn't. "Feeling famous?"

Paige sighed and turned to Piper. "Are we going or what?"

Piper was still a little thrown by Paige's strange accessorising. "Uh..." She shook her head and stood up from the table. "Right, let's go."

Prue and Grams watched them walk out the door, while Phoebe concentrated on staring her last pancake to death. They all heard a few thuds at the side of the cabin as Piper and Paige collected the garbage, and then the sounds of the car driving away. Once she was sure they were really gone, Grams let out a sigh of relief and began to gather up the dishes.

"We'll do that." Prue exclaimed as she jumped to her feet.

"We will?" Phoebe echoed in distaste.

Prue shot her sister a glare. "Yes, we will."

Phoebe sighed and pulled a dish from Grams' hands. "Oh right...we will!" Phoebe punctuated her fake enthusiasm with an air punch.

Grams snorted and sat back down at the kitchen table. "Well who am I to stand in the way of such love and devotion." She knew that Prue and Phoebe were overcompensating for their guilt...but a little pampering never hurt anyone. "Oh darling, you missed a bit." Grams commented as she pointed out the pan Phoebe had just scrubbed, her feet on a chair and a giant grin on her face.

Piper tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as the car flew down the dirt road. 19 minutes. Piper started listing her favourite wines in her head. That 1975 Dominus Estate Cab Sav was good. And her lemon pepper salmon dish went really well with... Piper sighed and shifted in her seat. This wasn't working...even food wasn't enough to distract her from Paige's stony silence. So far, Piper had endured 19...no, wait...20 minutes of pure panic. The radio had been broken for years, after a suspicious incident involving Prue, Andy and makeout point, and the resulting silence was turning this drive into the worst car trip of her life. And they were only a quarter of the way there.

Piper sighed for what felt like the millionth time, and fiddled with the radio, desperately trying to pick up a station. Any station. Any noise. Anything.

"It's not going to work." Paige muttered as she cracked an eye open from where she'd been pretending to be asleep. She was still wearing her baseball cap and sunglasses, looking every bit as miserable as Piper felt.

Piper gave the dial one last spin. "Yeah, you're probably right." When Paige said nothing more, Piper went back to concentrating on the road, sneaking inconspicuous peaks at her sister when she could. "So..." Piper ran her tongue along the roof of her mouth. "I guess you'll be getting your learner's permit soon?"

Paige rested her head against the window. "No."

Piper squinted. "What? Why?"

"Because my entire summer is ruined." Paige replied mournfully.

Piper bit her lip to hold in an amused smile. "I think that might be a slight exaggeration."

Paige watched the scenery fly by. "Whatever."

Piper sighed and upped her speed. "Look, Grams' isn't really going to ground you for the whole summer. If you tell her what she wants to know, I'm sure you'll get off with a few days of house cleaning."

Paige remained silent, staring out the window with a blank expression. Piper rolled her eyes, but really had nothing to add. If Paige wanted to sulk, then Piper didn't stand a chance at talking her out of it. In fact, anything Piper said from this point on was probably going to make things worse. So with a defeated sigh, Piper sat back in her seat and prepared for another 37 minutes of torture.

It was time to face facts, Paige just wasn't going to talk to her. And truthfully, Piper didn't blame her... no one wanted an intervention, they just wanted to feel better. Piper sat up a little straighter. Feel better...maybe Piper couldn't fix Paige's problems...but she could distract her from them. Piper looked at Paige out the corner of her eye. Right, she was 15 and angry at the world...what did she want? Piper blinked in realisation.

Before she could get a chance to second guess herself, Piper pulled over onto the side of the road and killed the engine. Paige sat up in her seat and looked around at their surroundings.

"Why did we stop?" Piper's only answer was to open her door. "Piper?" Paige asked as Piper got out of the driver's seat and made her way around the front of the car. "What are you do-" Paige paused when Piper dangled the car keys in front of her face.

"Think you can handle it?" Piper leant against Paige's door with a challenging grin.

Paige's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?" Piper nodded, and Paige pulled off her sunglasses in shock. "Like, serious serious?"

Piper laughed. "Yes, I'm serious. Now get your ass into the driver's seat." Paige snatched the keys from Piper's hand as if they were about to be taken away.

"But I don't have my licence yet." Paige said as she undid her seat belt.

Piper shrugged. "We're in the middle of nowhere. I'll drive when we get closer to town, but for now..." Piper gestured to the open road in front of them, "it's all yours."

Paige swallowed as she stood up. "And you're going to show me how to do it? Like, everything? Cause I've never driven before, and I tend to crash things. Like go karts. And sleds. And bikes. And I'll probably make a lot of mistakes, and-"

"Paige!" Piper interrupted as she sat down in the passenger seat. When Paige cocked her head in confusion, Piper smiled. "You'll do fine." Paige hesitated for a second, before she broke out into a grin and started to bounce away. "Not so fast!"

Paige's shoulders sagged. "I knew this was too good to be true."

"Still good...but I will be taking those." Piper plucked the sunglasses out of Paige's hand. "And the hat."

"But I like the hat." Paige clutched the brim protectively.

Piper held out her hand. "It's not even yours." When Paige made no attempt to explain her bizarre hat attachment, Piper sighed. "Well you can't drive with it on." Paige bit her lip in heavy indecision...and after a long pause, tossed the cap at her sister. "Good choice."

Paige shrugged self-consciously, before she darted to the other side of the car. "Glenn's going to be so jealous!"

---

"Cheater." Prue accused as she moved Phoebe's red car back three squares on the game board. Phoebe grunted, but declined to reply, seeing as she may have taken two turns when Prue went to the bathroom. "Now, I believe someone owes me $100,000 the production of a rock video."

Phoebe turned around and pulled the money out of her hidden cash supply. The Game of Life was serious business in the Halliwell family. "This sucks, you haven't landed on a police square once."

"That's because I have good karma from all the cheating I didn't do." Prue snarked as she took her next spin. After the dishes had been done, Prue and Phoebe had torn the cabin apart in an effort to find something to do. The weather was particularly dull, with a high chance of rain, and neither of them were good at being stuck indoors. After half an hour of complaints, Grams had tossed some board games their way and locked herself in her room for some "well earned peace". So here they were...sitting by the firing, playing games and trying to drink Prue's stab at "Cocoa", which had three times the chocolate and a severe lack of sugar. Prue moved her little green car seven spaces and picked up a Life Tile. "Oh would you look at that, I just won the Nobel Peace Prize." Prue took a moment to add it to her overflowing stock of life achievements. "I'm just so great."

Phoebe sighed and spun again. "This game blows."

Prue sat back with a satisfied grin. "That's because you and your four children live on $30,000 a year."

"Don't forget the trailer...because that's the pinnacle of my fabulous existence." Phoebe gripped as she moved her car forward. A space.

"Oh cheer up, at least you found the time to build a better mouse trap. How many police officers can say that?"

"I suppose." Phoebe paused to check the square she'd landed on. "Oh come on! More kids? I don't even have any more room in my car."

Prue snickered and grabbed another little figure out of the box. "Here you go mommy."

"That's it, I'm divorcing this machine of a man." Phoebe yanked the blue figure out of the passenger seat and stuck her new child in. "From now on, it's just me and my five babies. Bo. Jo. Po. Shmo. And...Dough."

"I sense a theme." Prue said as she reached for the spinner.

"Do you think that this is really what it's going to be like?" Phoebe questioned after Prue spun an eight.

"What is?" Prue asked as she moved her car around the board.

"Life."

Prue looked up. "What, you want to know if I think I'll..." Prue read over her new Life Tile, "...become President?"

Phoebe sighed. "No, not specifics. Just in general...like I'll have a bazillion trailer park kids and you'll be some ultra rich superstar."

Prue raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Well last time I checked, my art history degree isn't quite what Hollywood is looking for."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "I'm being serious here. What do you think we'll be like in 10 years?"

Prue paused, sensing an underlying tension to Phoebe's question. "Well, okay...I hope to be married to some gorgeous guy, working as a head curator at a museum, and living an all around glamorous life."

"And me?" Phoebe asked with uncharacteristic shyness.

Prue bit her lip. "Well, I think that you'll be dating some exotic hottie, who probably rides a motorcycle and drives me insane, whilst travelling the world...maybe Europe? Oh, and you'll definitely be working to help people... as a travel agent? Or a journalist? Or even an ambassador for the UN."

Phoebe blinked. "Really?"

"Yes." Prue nodded, rather pleased with her little narrative.

"Cool." Phoebe paused. "So what would I take in school to do all that?"

Prue narrowed her eyes. "Probably Politics. But I was just making that stuff up, don't take it seriously."

"Oh." Phoebe deflated. "So you don't think I could do that."

Prue pushed the game to the other side of the coffee table so that she could slide closer to Phoebe. "Of course you could...you could do that and so much more. But do you really want to?" Phoebe shrugged. "See, that's what I mean. You have to do what you want to do."

Phoebe sighed. "But I don't know what I want to do."

Prue smiled sympathetically. "You'll figure it out."

"But how?" Phoebe whined. "I've been trying, and I haven't got a clue. You've always been into history, and Piper's got her cooking, and Paige is good at...well, everything, and I just can't figure out what I'm supposed to be."

"You're supposed to be Phoebe." Prue stated with a poke to Phoebe's side.

"Oh yeah, that really cleared it right up." Phoebe grumbled with an eye roll.

Prue laughed. "No, what I mean is...it might look like we've all got our lives sorted out, but we don't. Or at least, I certainly don't. I'm trying to get a job at a museum, right?" Phoebe nodded. "Right...so there's about twelve decent museums in San Francisco...and every art history, anthropology, archaeology, sociology and history graduate is applying for the same damn thing. So not only did I just spend the last four years studying things that don't even exist anymore, I'm now dedicated to pursuing a career that will probably go nowhere."

"So you regret doing what you did?"

Prue sighed. "Maybe. I don't know. I love art. And I love history. I'm just worried about what it all means for my future."

"Oh." Phoebe looked uncomfortable.

Prue moved away. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offload on you like that. I...I'm just really stressed right now with London falling through."

"No!" Phoebe exclaimed a bit more loudly than she meant to. "I like that you offloaded on me...it's just..."

"What?" Prue asked nervously.

"Well, you always seem so confident. Like you've got it all figured out. I didn't think you'd ever be-"

"Normal?" Prue interrupted in with a raised eyebrow.

Phoebe grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess."

Prue smiled and wrapped an arm around Phoebe. "Look, I can't give you the answer you're looking for...you have to be the one to decide what you're going to do with your life. But I will tell you that you have a big heart, and a real talent for inspiring people," Prue paused to give Phoebe a look, "sometimes for mischief, sometimes for good...and even although it might take a while, you are going to figure you what you're supposed to be. And whatever it is...it's going to be great."

Phoebe rested her head on Prue's shoulder. "But what if it's not. What if I really want to be a soccer player? Or a mechanic? Or a pole dancer?"

"Then I start saving up for all those games, garages and strip clubs I'll be sending my future children to."

Phoebe laughed. "Okay."

"Okay." Prue echoed, giving Phoebe a quick kiss on the forehead. "So, are you ready to get back to the game? Cause I'm so ready for my Millionaire Estates."

Phoebe grinned and pulled the game board back between them. "Dream on...me and my sprogs are feeling mighty lucky. In fact," Phoebe paused to move her car the two spaces she'd spun, "we are officially going to..." Phoebe leaned over to read the next square. "pay $30,000 because a tree fell on our house! My stupid crap ass trailer isn't even worth that!"

---

"Please Piper."

Piper shook her head and took the exit for 'Bomberville Population: 1300'. "No."

"Come on. I'll...I'll give you twenty bucks?"

"I don't want your money." Paige sat back in her seat with an annoyed grunt. "Like I told you, if you tell me why you want this hat so badly, it's yours."

Paige scuffed her sneaker on the dashboard. "I want it because my hair's a mess."

Piper snorted. "This from the girl who refuses to get her bangs cut?" Paige growled and said nothing, knowing that Piper was going to see right through any lie she tried to spin.

The driving lesson had gone extraordinarily well, there were smiles, and 3 point turns, and very few screams of "slow down", but ever since Piper had jumped back into the driver's seat, Paige had done nothing but beg for her hat and sunglasses. Incessantly. 10 miles back, Piper had surrendered the sunglasses in a moment of weakness, but she fully intended to keep the hat safely stowed in her purse until they returned to the cottage.

"Well, what if I told you a secret?" Paige tried a minute later, slowly sliding down her seat.

"About?" Piper asked as they started to enter the outskirts of town.

"Phoebe." Paige revealed as she took off her sunglasses, shook her long hair in front of her face and put them back on.

"Sure." Piper answered absent-mindedly, on the lookout for a coffee shop. Despite her placating comments to Prue, Piper did miss real coffee, and there was no way she was going to pass by town without some caffeinated goodness.

"She has a tattoo."

"Oh." Piper squinted...did that shop look open?

"So give me my hat." Paige demanded impatiently.

"No." Piper stated as she took a sharp left onto the main strip.

"But you said!" When Piper ignored her, Paige slid further down her seat, so that everything below her nose was hidden by the car door. A few seconds later, Piper nearly swerved off the road when she finally caught sight of Paige's Cousin It styled disguise. "What are you doing?" Paige readjusted her sunglasses to provide maximum coverage. "Are you...hiding?" Paige peeked out the window suspiciously. "Paige! What are you doing?"

Paige looked at Piper over the top of her sunglasses. "I can't let them see me."

"Is this about someone at school? Because no one here even knows who you are, and I hardly think that your presence in town is going to start a media frenzy." Paige shook her head, but refused to elaborate, and Piper sat back in her seat with a sigh. Everything had been going so well until Paige went crazy. And even crazier than her usual neurotic self. "Right, well I'm going to stop for a coffee, then we can-"

"NO!" Paige yelled near tears. "We can't stop!"

Piper scratched her forehead. "Paige, you're being really weird. In fact, you're acting beyond we-" Piper paused when Paige unbuckled her seat belt and dove to the floor. She would have slammed on the brakes if it wasn't for the police car on the opposite side of the street. With a gasp of realization, Piper veered off the road, swung into an empty lot and threw the car into park. "What the hell did you do?"

Paige blinked from her crouched down position. "Huh?"

Piper grabbed the front of Paige's t-shirt and dragged her off the floor none too gently. "Why are you hiding from the cops?"

Paige cowered against the car door. "They can't see my bruises."

Piper's fury crumbled into confusion. "What?"

"If they see my bruises, they'll take me away." Paige explained as she looked around the parking lot in fear.

Piper frowned. "To jail?"

"To foster care!" Paige yelled angrily.

This time, Piper was more than confused. "Why on earth would they take you away?"

"Because Grams is sick." Paige retorted, trying to hold back her tears. "And if someone sees my bruises and goes looking, they'll find out about Grams."

Piper blinked. "But they wouldn't..." Piper shook her head in disbelief. "Is that seriously what you think?" When Paige only stared, Piper unbuckled her seat belt and grabbed onto Paige's hands. "Sweetheart, no one is going to take you away."

Paige pushed Piper away from her. "I'm not stupid, I know that Grams is only going to get worse."

Piper shook her head. "No, she's going to be okay."

"Piper, no one gets better after a heart attack...they get stable, and then they go back to worse."

"No, that's not..." Piper trailed off, stumped by Paige's sound reasoning. Piper's stomach clenched, maybe Grams really was going to get worse? And then Piper would be alone, and everything would fall apar...Piper shook it off and reached for Paige. "Even if Grams gets worse, no one is going to take you away."

Paige jerked herself away from Piper's touch. "Yes, they will. They'll see Grams as an unfit guardian, and they'll put me into care."

Piper still couldn't quite believe that Paige was saying this, but from Paige's tear stained face, it was obviously a reality. "No way." Piper climbed over the gearshift and pulled off Paige's sunglasses. "If anything was to happen, Prue would become your guardian."

Paige shook her head adamantly. "No."

"Yes." Piper argued.

Paige rested her chin on her knees. "Prue wouldn't want me."

Piper couldn't think. Couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. "Of course she would." When Paige did nothing but cry, Piper tucked Paige's unruly hair behind her ears. "Prue loves you more than anything and she'd never let you get put in foster care."

Paige met Piper's stare dead on. "Just like mum, right?"

Piper took a shaky breath. "Paige, that was a horrible mistake. One that no one in this family is ever going to repeat." Paige tried to pull away again, but Piper held on tight. "No, you listen to me. You were a gift that we almost didn't get to have, and no one in this family would ever let you go."

Paige ripped herself away. "That is such utter bullshit! From the day mum brought me home, Prue thought I was one responsibility too many, Phoebe wanted to go back to being the baby, and you hated me because I ruined your perfect family."

"Paige...how could you..." Piper tried to find the words, but they just weren't there. "That's not true."

Paige ignored Piper, if she even heard her at all, as she broke down in a fit of violent sobs. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything but Grams' heart, but she wanted everything to be like normal, and I tried, I tried real hard, but I couldn't stop Phoebe from running away, and Prue didn't come home even when I asked her to, and you always act like Grams is about to break, and it doesn't matter what I do, I can't fix it, I can't fix us and now everything's going to go away." Paige could hardly speak by the end of her speech, having worked self up into a hyperventilating frenzy.

Piper blinked and pulled Paige into her arms, becoming increasingly alarmed when she encountered no resistance. "Paige, nothing is going to go away, we're all still here and we all still love you."

Paige shook her head against Piper's chest. "No, it's wrong, it's all wrong."

"What's wrong?" Piper asked in confusion, pulling back to see Paige's face.

"I don't know!" Paige exclaimed in near hysterics. "I just know something's not right. We're broken, or dead, or something, and it's my fault."

Piper sighed, and pulled Paige back against her, rubbing her back with the zig zag pattern she'd liked as a baby. "Calm down honey, you're not making much sense. And even if something was wrong, it couldn't be your fault. We're a family, and families fight, and change...and grow up."

"We grew apart, not up. And you know that just as much as I do." Paige sniffed as she tried to wipe her tears away with the back of her hand.

Piper shifted uneasily, glad that Paige couldn't see her face from where she was pressed against her. "We're just going through an adjustment period."

Paige pulled away from Piper sharply. "No, were not. You know we're not. Prue's got one foot out the door and Phoebe's never coming back from college. Without Grams we're nothing."

Piper bit her lip. "But what about us, Paige? What are we?"

"We're the ones that get left behind."

"But what are we? You and me?" Piper asked with a certain degree of intensity.

"We're..." Paige trailed off, diverting her eyes away guiltily.

"We're enemies, right? We both like to pretend that it happened when I made that comment last year, but it didn't. It's gone on as long as I can remember. You always went running to Prue and Phoebe instead of me. You let them know about your nightmares. You let them name your goldfish. You let them see your drawings. But not me. Never me. And I just want to know why." Piper leant forward, purposely trapping Paige against the door. It wasn't nice, and it wasn't right, but Piper need answers, and Paige's claustrophobia was the only tool she had. "Why Paige? Why am I so different?"

"Because you can see!" Paige blurted out as she pushed Piper away from her.

Piper backed off, but continued to search Paige's panicked expression for a clue. "See what?"

"That I'm not supposed to be here."

"What are you ta-"

Paige eyes flashed. "It's like...you've lost something, but you can't remember what, right? And sometimes, when all four of us are together, you feel like something's happening...something's coming, but it never does? Well I feel like that all the time. And I know it sounds crazy, but I've seen the way you look at me, and I know you feel it too."

Piper hesitated. "When you were ten months old, we were playing in the kitchen. You were a smart little thing, always babbling away to yourself, usually with noises of your own making, but occasionally, you'd stumble across a real syllable or two. Anyway, I handed you a toy and you looked me right in the eye and said "Mommy gone." You could hardly even say the word "mum", nevermind the rest. Three hours later, Grams told me that mum had drowned." Paige's eyes darted away from Piper's. "I never told anyone about it, but over the years I started to notice little things. Like, remember when the house got broken into? You told me you 'felt' a bad man before we even got home. Or, your imaginary friend Sasha? Andy and I rifled through his dad's files and found out that a girl named Sasha had been murdered weeks earlier. And that weird enchantress fairytale you used to repeat over and over? No one ever read you anything like it..." Piper shook herself out of her memories. "You scared me Paige."

"Oh." Paige picked at the rubber sole on her sneaker.

"I wasn't..." Piper closed her eyes as she tried to find the right words to say. "We were so young when...when things happened, and I thought that if I ignored it, if I pretended like it didn't exist, then no one would ever find out." Piper took a shaky breath and opened her eyes. "I never realised that you knew I was treating you differently. But I swear to you, on mum's grave, that it's not because you don't belong. You do, so much. I just...I wanted you to be normal. I've been on the outside my whole life, and I wanted to protect you from knowing what that felt like."

Paige laughed mournfully. "Piper, I was born on the outside. I never wanted to be like everyone else...I wanted to be like you."

"What? Why?" Piper asked before she could stop herself.

"Because you're amazing. Everyone loves you. Everyone. And you're smart, and funny, and you look just like mum. Prue adores you and Phoebe does whatever you say. And Grams, god Grams brags about you constantly. You mean the world to them, and I'd give anything to be as special as you are."

"You think I'm special?" Paige nodded slowly, as if she was confused to why Piper was questioning it. "That's...wow." Piper sat back on her heels, rather stunned by Paige's admission. After another moment of dazed thought, Piper turned to Paige in concern. "You're just as special as I am." Paige shook her head vehemently, refusing to voice her pain out loud.

Piper sighed and crawled back into the driver's seat. Paige watched warily as Piper left the car and made her way round the front. A second later, Piper pulled Paige's door open and crouched down to meet Paige's downcast eyes. "You are damn special." Paige tried to look away, but Piper reached out to capture Paige's face, not pulling her back, but holding her from turning away any further. "Nu uh. Look at me." It took two minutes, but Paige finally brought her eyes back to Piper's, not quite managing to hide the tears silently sliding down her cheeks. "You are brave, and caring, and ever so loyal." Paige let out half of a sob and tried to look away again, but Piper's eyes were already right there, waiting for her. "You're funny, and smart, and gorgeous, and I wish I had half of your artistic talent." Paige's bottom lip wobbled, but she quickly bit down on it, hard enough to draw blood. Piper took a minute to search Paige's defiant eyes and sighed. "And you're not listening to a word I'm saying." Piper ran a hand threw her hair and let out a heart broken sigh. "Look, I get it, okay? I know what it's like to feel like you're not good enough, like you don't matter and like nobody wants you, but it's all in your head baby." Piper paused to measure Paige's reaction, and took the increasing in tears as a move in the right direction. "You are an extraordinary person and we love you more than you could ever imagine. It doesn't matter that you think you shouldn't have been here with us, you are, and nothing is going to take you away. No creepy thoughts, no social workers, no inferiority complexes...nothing."

"You can't know that." Paige accused, desperately trying to hold it together.

"Yes, I can." Piper stated with a soft smile. "I might not be able to predict what's going to happen with Grams, or if Prue's going to stay, or if Phoebe's going to end up in jail, but I can tell you that I'll be here for you. Even if it means moving back to the manor to help Grams. Or applying to be your guardian. Or holding Prue at gunpoint." Paige let out an unexpected laugh, and Piper squeezed her hand. "My point is...I love you. And I want you. All of you...every flaw, every doubt, every piece of your complicated backstory. You're my sister, and I'll do whatever it takes to keep you. Got it?"

Paige blinked. "But-"

"No, no buts. You either trust me or you don't." Piper argued as she wiped the tears off Paige's face with her sleeve.

After a moment's hesitation, Paige nodded. "I trust you."

"To what?"

Paige sighed, a little annoyed at the interrogation. "To keep me."

"So you're not worried about social services taking you away? Or that you don't belong in our family?"

"Prue and Phoebe-" Paige started, but Piper quickly cut her off.

"Are idiots who love you just as much as I do. I know you have your issues with them, but we're not leaving this parking lot until you understand how much you mean to all of us." Piper waited for a confirmation, but got none. "Paige?"

"I just...I really don't think..." Paige looked at Piper apologetically, not really knowing how to say what she wanted to say.

"That they love you?" Piper tried gently.

Paige shook her head. "No, that they love me as much as they love each other. And you." Paige let out a sigh of relief, having finally said what she'd been thinking for years.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You are our baby sister, and the fact that we need to protect you, all three of us, is the most powerful kind of love there is. Prue wouldn't let just anyone borrow her clothes. And Phoebe certainly wouldn't tolerate anyone but you puking on her. I know that things are a bit weird right now, but make no mistake, you are important. And very very loved."

"I guess." Paige muttered, trying to hide her smile.

Piper grinned. "You guess? Man, talk about a tough audience. Here I am offering up endless love and devotion, and all I get is an 'I guess'. Glenn must do something real special to show you his love." Paige looked at Piper nervously, unsure if that was a joke or not. Piper pushed her playfully. "Not that I want to hear any of those details." Paige blushed and Piper stood up to stretch her legs. "So, are you okay?" Piper paused. "A real okay?"

Paige looked at Piper shyly. "Getting there."

Piper gave Paige's knee a proud squeeze. "Then I think we both deserve a coffee." Piper walked back over to the driver's seat and started up the car. "Unless you want to go home...but as far as celebratory rewards go, I think we might find it lacking."

Paige giggled. "I like coffee...well, that is if you actually let me have coffee. Grams still tells me it's going to stunt my growth."

Piper pulled out of the parking lot. "Stunting growth? I approve. You're getting far too tall."

Paige rested her forehead on the window with a smile. "You know, I think that's just a part of this funny thing called growing up."

---

"Come on Prue, get your ass out here!" Phoebe yelled as she spun around in circles, completely intoxicated with the rain pouring down around her. Phoebe had always been a fan of thunder storms...the energy, the force, the excitement...and as she stood with her arms spread towards the sky, she could help but feel alive.

Prue leant against the doorframe, safely tucked underneath the cabin's overhang. "No way, I'm wearing my good jeans."

Phoebe stopped spinning to glare at her sister. "But it's raining."

Prue shrugged. "So?" It took one second for Phoebe to decide what she was going to do, and two more for Prue to start backing away. "No! Phoebe!" Prue shrieked as Phoebe tossed her over her shoulder in a fireman's carry and charged out into the rain. Phoebe made two glorious spins, laughing as Prue squealed, before she dumped her sister in the middle of the lawn and tried to take off in the opposite direction. But Prue was a wrestling protégé of a Mr. Andrew Trudeau, and Phoebe ended up on her back with Prue rubbing mud in her face in no time. The two rolled, wrestled and mudded until they were both out of breath and utterly exhausted.

"Magical." Phoebe remarked as she lay in the mud and watched the lightning streak across the lake.

"Magical." Prue concurred as she rested her head on Phoebe's shoulder, closed her eyes and let the rain wash over her.

---

"Stop the car." Paige commanded as another clap of thunder sounded over them.

Piper looked at her sister in concern. "What? Why?"

Paige sighed. "Please?"

Piper pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned towards Paige with a wounded expression. "I thought we agreed that you were going to start talking to me? It's been less than an hour and you're already hiding things! I mean, I'm not giving up, not by a long shot, but some effort would be nice, and I don't think-"

"Piper?" Paige interrupted with a grin.

"What?" Piper snapped, completely preoccupied with her minor meltdown .

"I want to stand in the rain."

"Oh." Piper looked Paige over. "Why?"

Paige squirmed in her seat, suddenly a little shy. "I just...I want to feel like a kid again."

Piper grinned happily. "Go on then."

Paige went to open her door, but paused. "Would you come with me? You don't have to or anything, but I like the rain, and I'd feel kind of stupid doing it at the cottage, so I was hoping that-"

"Paige?" When Paige turned around with a sheepish grin, Piper opened her own door. "Of course I'll come."

The second they left the confines of the car, both girls were drenched, but as Paige skipped around trying to catch rain drops on her tongue and Piper hopped up on the hood of the car to watch the lightning strikes in the distance, wet clothes were the last thing on their minds. Paige soon tired of her game, and she made her way over to Piper, shaking her wet hair out like a dog as she went. Piper laughed and patted the space beside her. It took three tries, but Paige finally managed to get far enough up the slippery hood to sit down. Piper slid into place behind her, swept the wet hair out of her eyes and pulled Paige into a tight embrace.

"You know, I've always thought that rain's kinda magical." Paige commented a few minutes later, after the heart of the storm had passed them by.

Piper nodded, resting her chin on Paige's shoulder. "Like the whole world stops and restarts."

"Yeah." Paige whispered, interlocking her fingers with Piper's. "That part rocks."

---

Chapter 11: Good Night, and Good Luck

"Hey Paige, we're..." Piper trailed off when she heard a snore from the other side of the car. "Home." Piper pulled the keys out of the ignition and sat back in her seat with an amused grin. So much for the power of caffeine.

In a way, Paige's unconscious return to the cottage was probably for the best. After their rain inspired snuggle, Paige had jumped back into the car full of life, conversation and a startling assortment of dirty jokes. Of course, there were moments when she went a little shy, rather uncomfortable with Piper having seen her so vulnerable, but all in all, Paige was more like her usual bubbly self than she'd been in years. And when Paige started to get that look in her eye, the one that said she was feeling embarrassed about her breakdown, Piper simply reminded Paige of a few of her own 'finest' emotional moments, including that time she drunkenly cried on all four members of Duran Duran. It worked, and for the first time since Prue had stormed off into the woods, Piper felt like things were looking up.

So naturally, something went wrong.

As Piper pulled onto the final stretch of dirt road, cursing the station wagon's substandard shocks, Paige's mood started to slip. She went from babbling about white dwarfs and supernovas to a few listless grunts and absent-minded window staring. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the problem was, but aside from reiterating how much Paige was loved, there wasn't much Piper could do to ease Paige's anxiety about facing Grams, Prue and Phoebe. Which is why, when Piper pulled into the driveway, the last thing she was expecting was Paige to be asleep. But clearly, emotional hang-ups were no match for a long drive and a stomach full of warm coffee, and her baby sister was well and truly dead to the world.

Piper made her way around to the passenger side, none too pleased with the sea of mud she had to wade through, and opened Paige's door. "Paige?" Paige remained still and Piper shook her gently. "Come on munchkin."

"Hear now the words." Paige mumbled as she swatted Piper's hand away from her, wrapped her arms around the seat belt, and promptly fell back asleep. Piper sighed, but couldn't really be annoyed when Paige's open mouthed snoring was all kinds of cute and innocent. "Sweet dreams kiddo." Piper grabbed the two overflowing groceries they had picked up in town and began to trek to the assortment of puddles looming ominously across the lawn.

Her first try at door opening was to reach for the door knob with one hand whilst balancing the groceries with the other, but she came so close to dropping everything she scrapped that and all other hand-based plans immediately. Her second attempt was using her knee to twist the knob, which resulted in ¼ of a turn, a cramp and a colourful assortment of swear words...but ultimately, no success. Her third strategy was to kick the door three times.

Which is, of course, precisely when it started to rain again.

"Oh come on!" Piper exclaimed as she kicked the door harder, making enough noise to wake the dead. Which was apparently less noise than it took to wake Paige, who, in her great tradition of sleeping through anything and everything, continued to drool in the car slowly getting drenched in the rain with the open car door. "Hey! People!" Piper kept on kicking. "Helllllo? A little help out he–"

Prue ripped the door open in nothing but a towel, which had the unfortunate side effect of turning Piper's swift kick at the door into a swift kick at Prue's shin. "Ow!" Prue yelped as she clutched her injured leg and struggled to keep her towel in place.

"Sorry." Piper said, not sounding all that sorry as she pushed past her sister.

"Where have you two been. You've been gone for-" Prue caught sight of Paige in the car. "What happened?! Is she okay?"

Piper rolled her eyes at Prue's dramatics. "She's sleeping." Piper tried to move into the cottage, but Prue hopped in front of her with narrowed eyes.

"Then why are you acting weird?"

"Because..." Piper trailed off, no longer sure of the answer herself. "Because. Now move."

Prue eyed Piper with a great deal of suspicion. "Is she drunk?"

Piper grunted. "No."

"Stoned?"

"No."

"Sick?"

"Prue!" Piper snapped in exasperation. "My arms are numb, my clothes are wet, and you're pissing me off!"

"I was just asking." Prue muttered as she moved to the side.

Once she'd made it through the door, Piper stormed towards the kitchen, partly in anger about Prue's interrogation, but mostly because she was seconds away from dropping everything in a not so picturesque way. Once she'd deposited everything on the table, she turned around to make her way back into the rain. Prue was still standing in the doorway staring at Paige.

"She's sleeping." Piper restated as she pushed past her sister and walked over to the car. "Paige. Come on kiddo, time to wake up." This time Piper was more aggressive in her shaking and Paige's eyes started to flutter open.

"Piper?"

Piper wiped at the water dripping down her nose. "Yes."

"Are we there yet?"

Piper let out a deep sigh, reaching for Paige's seat belt. "Yes."

"Oh." Paige looked around in a dazed, half-asleep state. "Why are you wet?"

Piper grabbed the hat and sunglasses off the car floor. "Endless suffering."

"That's nice." Paige murmured as she snuggled up to Piper's shoulder and closed her eyes. "Wake me up when the ice cream is home."

Piper shook her head in disbelief and started to run her fingers through Paige's unruly hair. At the strange sensation, Paige reopened her eyes and looked up at Piper. "Hi." Piper whispered as she tucked a piece of wet hair behind Paige's ear.

"Hi." Paige echoed softly.

"Hi." Prue interrupted from the doorway, watching her sisters' interaction with a hawk like intensity. "What the hell is going on?"

Piper felt Paige tense. "Back off Prue."

Prue raised an incredulous eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"

Piper pulled Paige from the car, carefully navigating them both around the puddles and into the cottage. "Look, I get that you're concerned, but Paige needs a bit of space right now."

Prue pointed to where Piper was holding Paige's hand. "That is not space. That is space invading. That is bonding. And that is really really out of character!"

Piper pulled Paige past Prue and into the bedroom. "You're overreacting."

"I am not!" Prue retorted defensively. "You two couldn't stand to be in the same room as each other this morning...and now...now you're cuddling."

Piper sighed and let go of Paige's hand. "Paige and I have come to an understanding."

Prue's eyebrows rose even more. "About?"

Piper glanced at Paige, now sitting silently on the bed. "Things we'll tell you about when we're ready."

Every suspicion Prue had quadrupled. "Oh?"

Piper sighed. "Come on Prue, it's not that big of a deal. I promise I'll explain, but not right now...I'm wet, tired and all talked out."

Prue tried to stare Piper into submission, but Piper stared right back, and eventually Prue threw her hands up. "Fine, go take a shower. I need to talk to Paige anyway."

Paige sat up so fast she made herself dizzy. "What? No." She latched onto Piper's arm in a panic. "Don't leave me!"

Prue squinted. "You're not in that much trouble."

Piper gave Prue a dirty look, before she turned to Paige. "I know you don't want to talk to her, but maybe you should just get it over with?"

Paige shook her head frantically. "I don't need her, I have you."

Prue blinked. "Excuse me?"

Piper held out her hand to shut Prue up and locked eyes with Paige. "You do, but that doesn't change the fact that Prue needs to know how you feel. Things aren't going to get any better unless you open up."

"Please don't make me do this." Paige begged pitifully.

Piper sighed and turned back to Prue. "Look, I tried, but she doesn't want to talk. You're going to have to wait."

"I'm sorry, but when did I ask for your opinion?"

Piper ground her teeth. "When you got in over your head. Trust me, this isn't a good idea."

Prue scoffed. "Thanks for the concern, but I think I can handle it."

Piper glanced down at Paige, still clinging to her tightly enough to leave bruises. "Not this time."

Prue narrowed her eyes. "Go have a shower Piper."

Piper leant back on the bed. "No."

"I'm not going to tell you again."

Piper sighed at Prue's challenging glare. "Well that's good, because I'm not leaving."

Prue let out an incredulous laugh. "Man, I knew you could be immature, but using Paige as a pawn in your little vendetta against me? Beyond juvenile."

Piper snorted. "Oh please, you're the one who's acting like a school yard bully, trying to pressure me into telling you a secret you're so desperate to know."

Prue rolled her eyes. "I'm not trying to pressure you, I'm trying to talk to you. You know, like an adult does. But hey, you wouldn't know m–"

"Stop!" Paige interrupted loudly. "Just stop!" When Piper and Prue turned towards her in surprise, Paige dropped her eyes to the bed. "No more fighting. I'll talk, but Piper has to stay."

Prue hesitated. "If she stays, you're still going to get into trouble. You've been acting like a real brat and I want to get to the bottom of this."

Paige nodded solemnly. "I know, I just...I want Piper."

Prue took a moment to look both of her sisters over. "Well...I guess, if that's what it takes to–"

"It is." Paige interrupted forcefully.

Prue grunted. "Fine, she can stay." Prue looked down at her towel and cringed. "But I need to get ready..." Prue picked a pair of jeans from her suitcase, "so look at the ceiling or something."

Piper and Paige exchanged a bemused look and lay back down on the bed...even in the most serious of situations, Prue remained entirely dedicated to her appearance.

Whilst Prue busied herself with getting dressed, Piper wrapped a comforting arm around Paige's shoulders. It wasn't hard to see the tension in Paige's body, and Piper knew, without a doubt, that Paige was panicking. Piper had gotten through to Paige, but Paige's Prue-related insecurities were beyond her realm of control...and they were far from soothed.

Prue threw a t-shirt over her head and Piper sighed, knowing that her 'alone' time with Paige was running out. She leant forward and rested her lips against Paige's ear. "Whatever it takes." Piper gave Paige's hand a tight squeeze. Paige held Piper's eyes for a beat longer than would usually be comfortable for either of them, before she gave a hesitant nod.

Prue looked over from where she was tying her hair back. "You guys can sit up now." Piper rolled her eyes and pulled Paige up into a sitting position, making sure that she was sitting close enough to offer physical reassurance, but far enough away to let Prue do her thing. A few seconds later, Prue walked over and sat down on Paige's other side. "So."

Paige nodded. "So."

Piper made a promise to herself not to intervene. This was Prue and Paige's talk and she was only here for moral support.

Prue cleared her throat.

Paige squirmed restlessly.

Prue tapped her fingers on the bed.

Paige picked at a piece of lint on her shirt.

Prue inspected a crack in the wall.

Paige crossed her legs.

... and Piper cracked. "Prue, do you have a question you'd like to ask Paige?"

Prue eyed Paige out the corner of her eye. "What's wrong?"

Piper grunted. "Do you have a better question?"

Prue sighed. "Sorry, but it's weird with you here. I feel like I'm on stage or something."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Well pretend I'm not here. Just do what you'd normally do."

"But I'd yell." Prue complained.

"So yell." Piper stated, shooting Paige an apologetic side eye.

"Yeah, but I don't know what to say."

Piper leant forward so she could see Prue's face. "What, you need a script?"

Prue rested her elbows on her knees and gave Piper a frustrated look. "No, but you're making me more mad than Paige is, and it feels sort of silly to yell at her when I want to yell at you."

"Oh." Piper frowned. "Yeah, I see how that would be weird." Without the slightest hesitation, Piper pointed at Paige. "She thinks you'd give her away to social services."

"Hey!"

"Huh?"

Piper turned to Paige. "Sorry kiddo, but this was going nowhere. You might think you want Prue to leave you alone, but you don't, not really. So tell Prue how you feel, how you really feel, and then listen to what she has to say."

"Yeah, but..." Paige trailed off, still a little too stunned to put Piper's betrayal into words.

Piper gave her a small smile, then gestured towards Prue, who, after listening to their little conversation, had gone from confused to horrified. Paige turned slowly, as if she was facing her worst nightmare, and nervously met Prue's tear filled eyes.

"Do you really think that?"

"No, I uh..." Paige looked back and forth between Prue and Piper. "I didn't, I mean, I was–"

"Paige." Piper and Prue warned at the exact same time, seeing the lie flash across Paige's face long before she voiced it out loud.

Paige sighed deeply. "Oh now you get along." Piper and Prue remained silent, waiting for Paige to run out of defence mechanisms. Paige leant against the wall and drew absent-minded designs on the bed with her finger. "Look, I get it, okay...you're too busy to...you're busy. And I just...if Grams can't take care of me, I don't want to be a burden." Piper prayed that Prue could see through that self-deprecating speech, and bit down on her lip to make herself stay quiet.

Prue cleared her throat and waited for Paige to raise her eyes from the bed. It took a bit, but Paige looked up, entirely too blank and calm, and Prue saw more of herself in her kid sister than she ever wanted to. With a heavy sigh, Prue tipped her back and stared up at the ceiling. "I almost committed suicide once." Piper and Paige looked at her sharply, and Prue dropped her head back down to meet their concerned stares. "Not now, a few years ago. After Phoebe and I got into that accident."

Paige shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not suicidal or anything."

Prue gave her a small smile. "I know, but let me finish." Paige nodded, and Prue took a deep breath. "Phoebe was mad at me because she couldn't play soccer, Grams had just forbid me from going to New York, and then Andy broke up with me." Prue swallowed, a little overcome with the memories. "Anyway, I was standing on the bridge, watching the cars go by, and I thought why not? I wasn't happy, no one cared and I just wanted the whole world to go away. So I put my hand on the railing, stepped up to jump...and changed my mind." Prue turned to Paige. "Do you want to know why?" Paige nodded earnestly. "Because I'd made a bet with you about the 49ers winning the Super Bowl."

Paige frowned. "Didn't you lose that bet?"

Prue let out a laugh. "Yeah, I did. But it wasn't the bet itself that stopped me, it was the fact that you expected me to pay up, that you thought that everything was normal, and that if I did it, I would be leaving you..." Prue wiped away a stray tear away so quickly it was like it was never there at all, "just like mum left me."

Paige blinked back tears. "Prue–"

Prue cut her off with a head shake. "No, listen. I choose to live, not because it was the right thing to do, or because I couldn't go through with it, but because you matter more than me." Prue reached out and grabbed Paige's hands. "Which is why, when I say that I would do anything for you, that you mean the world to me, and that I'd never let someone take you away, I'm telling you nothing but the truth." Paige sniffed and Prue gave her a small smile. "And I know I haven't been around much these last few years, but I walked off that bridge for you, so can be damned sure that no matter where I go or what I do, I will always want you in my life." Prue met Piper's eyes over the top of Paige's head and gave her a subtle nod that indicated that she was talking to them both. Piper let out a silent sob and Prue turned her attention back to Paige, searching her eyes for some semblance of understanding.

What she got was a flying leap that knocked her flat on her back. Prue was rather dazed by the abrupt change in position, but snapped out of it the second she felt Paige's tears soaking though her sweatshirt. "I'm sorry." Paige cried as she clung to Prue with oxygen depriving strength. "I'm so sorry."

Prue sighed and pulled Paige fully on top of her, letting Paige's weight dictate how their limbs intertwined. "You have nothing to be sorry for." Prue whispered as she ran her hand up and down Paige's back. Paige mumbled another apology, but between her noisy sobs and the muffled effect of talking into Prue's sweatshirt, Prue didn't understand a word she said. While Paige cried into her neck, Prue lifted her head to check on Piper, and was unsurprised to find a two very worried eyes staring back at her. "It was a long time ago." Prue assured as she slipped her hand under Paige's t-shirt to trace designs on her back. It was something they'd done as kids, Prue would spell a word and Paige had to guess what it was, and Prue hoped that the feeling of Prue's fingers on her skin would bring Paige out of her growing hysteria. Piper eyed her sisters' embrace and started to move off the bed. "Where are you going?"

Piper gave Prue a small smile. "To find Phoebe."

"But –"

Piper cut Prue off instantly. "All she needs is you." Prue felt Paige shudder against her and nodded in understanding. Piper gave her a proud smile and slipped off the bed. "Pipe?" Prue called out before Piper could get too far.

Piper turned around. "Hmm?"

"Can we talk tonight?" Prue shifted Paige so she wasn't kneeing Prue's bladder. "Really talk?"

Piper nodded. "I'd like that." Prue opened her mouth to say something else, but Paige started to choke on her tears and her attention was pulled away.

Whilst Prue was busy consoling Paige, Piper crept across the room and opened the bedroom door. Phoebe jumped back in shock, obviously not expecting Piper to be standing on the other side of the door was about to open, but before she could make a comment, Piper covered her mouth and pushed her back into the living room.

Phoebe stumbled backwards, let out a muffled squeak and licked Piper's hand. "Oh ew!" Piper hissed as she yanked her hand away and wiped it on Phoebe's towel. "I know exactly where your mouth has been."

"Hey!" Phoebe exclaimed in offence.

"Shush!" Piper chastised as she backed Phoebe further into the room.

Phoebe crashed into the side of the couch. "What the hell?"

"Shush!" Piper repeated as she glanced at the bedroom door.

Phoebe finally picked up on Piper's nervousness, and she peered around in the room in paranoia. "Why are we whispering?"

Once she was sure that Prue and Paige hadn't been disturbed, Piper turned back to Phoebe. "Prue and Paige are...talking."

Phoebe blinked. "So?

"So they need to be alone." Piper explained as she sat down on the couch.

Phoebe looked skeptical. "To do what?"

Piper grunted. "To talk. So be quiet and stay out of there."

Phoebe looked down at her towel. "But my clothes are in there."

Piper threw her feet up on the coffee table. "Too bad."

Phoebe frowned. "It's cold."

"Of love of..." Piper snatched a blanket off the back of the couch and threw it at Phoebe. "Here."

Phoebe eyed it warily. "What if someone's had sex on it?"

"Phoebe!" Piper exclaimed in annoyance.

Phoebe pouted. "What? I'm nearly naked here...there's a lot of blanket on skin action."

Piper rolled her eyes. "I think you'll live."

Phoebe grumbled, but soon gave in and wrapped the blanket around herself. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic." Piper muttered as she cast another nervous look at the bedroom.

Phoebe threw herself onto the couch with an overly dramatic sigh. "Why are you so grumpy?"

"I'm not grumpy." Piper snapped defensively. Phoebe raised an eyebrow and Piper sighed. "Fine, I'm a little bit grumpy."

"And yet you hide it so well." Phoebe teased, but Piper remained entirely unamused. "It was a joke Piper."

Piper caught the flicker of hurt in Phoebe's eyes and let out a sigh. "Sorry, I've just got a lot on my mind."

Phoebe rested her chin on the edge of the blanket and gave Piper some high quality puppy eyes. "Like what?"

Piper hesitated. "Paige and I had a talk today."

Phoebe sat up straight. "Really? What about?"

Piper paused to look Phoebe over. It was one thing to tell Prue about Paige's fears to force them to talk, but another thing entirely to spill to Phoebe. Primarily because she couldn't keep a secret to save her life. "It's not important...what does matter is that we've decided to put the past behind us."

"Oh." Phoebe stated quietly. Piper waited for a sarcastic comment, or incessant badgering, or a cross-examination...but it didn't come. After a tense pause, Piper searched out Phoebe's eyes and found something wasn't expecting...concern.

"Are you okay?" Piper asked with a frown.

"Are you okay?" Phoebe repeated with a bit more seriousness than the situation required.

Piper blinked. "Uh...yes?"

"It's just...I know you and I know Paige, and something serious must have gone down for you to get over your issues. I don't have to know the details, but with Grams and everything, I need to know if you're okay." Phoebe finished rather eloquently, and Piper was entirely taken back with her sister's perceptiveness and maturity.

"That's..." Piper shook her head. "That was a very nice thing to say."

Phoebe shrugged, almost in embarrassment. "No big."

Piper grinned, her little Phoebe was growing up. "I'm very okay." Phoebe looked up with an unspoken question and Piper sighed. "Paige is...upset, but okay."

"Oh." Phoebe hesitated. "Not that I want to know or anything, because I'm still pissed at the bitch, but why?"

Piper laughed...okay, so her little Phoebe was growing up in baby steps. "It's not my place to say anything."

"Right." Phoebe deflated immediately. "That's...yeah, cool." Piper sighed, she hated when Phoebe was like this. Sure it was hard to see Prue or Paige disappointed, but Phoebe was like a little puppy, all bouncy and loving, and when she felt rejected...well, there was no sadder sight.

"Paige–" Piper paused...did she really want to do this? It was betraying Paige's trust, but maybe it would help her little sisters get over their feud? And it was for Paige's benefit...not only would Phoebe be more likely to forgive her, she would get why Paige said the things she did. Plus, with things being the way they were, it might take a long time for Paige to get around to telling Phoebe on her own, and well, Phoebe's less than gracious nature could do some serious damage. Not that Piper thought Phoebe would purposely hurt Paige, but the two were never the most civil of fighters, and Paige could easily take something that was said in the heat of the moment to heart...as Piper knew all too well. With that painful memory in mind, Piper squared her shoulders and faced Phoebe. "Paige has been worried that social services will take her away if Grams can't take care of you guys anymore."

Phoebe's eyebrows raised for a split second, before she burst out into hysterical laughter. "No she hasn't."

Piper's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Yes, she has."

"No way, Paige is too smart to think that." Phoebe replied offhandedly.

Piper shook her head sadly. "No Phoebe, we all made a mistake in thinking that. She might be smart, but she's still just a kid."

Phoebe gave Piper's arm an amused pat. "Piper, she played you. And Prue, by the looks of it. She probably didn't want you to get mad at her about the whole Grams thing." Phoebe paused wistfully. "If I didn't hate her so much, I'd be proud."

"Don't say that!" Piper snapped angrily.

Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "I'm proud?"

"No, that you hate her. You don't, and she shouldn't hear things like that."

Phoebe blinked at Piper's ferocity. "Whoa there momma bear."

"This isn't a joke Phoebe, Paige is really upset."

Phoebe huffed. "As well she should be, she nearly broke my nose."

Piper glared. "You deserved it. You told her that she was the reason mum died."

Phoebe waved her off. "Oh please, I told her that her father was the reason mum died. Plus, she said mean stuff to me too."

At this, Piper paused. "You're being a brat."

"I love you too." Phoebe stated dryly. Piper stared Phoebe down and she squirmed uncomfortably. "What?"

"You're being too much of a brat. What's wrong?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe the thought of Paige's fist slamming into my–"

"Try again." Piper interrupted impatiently.

Phoebe sighed. "It's just..."

Piper's eyes softened, there was some real pain in Phoebe's voice. "Just what?"

"Paige gets upset over something stupid, and you and Prue rush to her side." Phoebe blurted out.

Piper tugged on the side of Phoebe's blanket and slid into place beside her. "It's not stupid to her, and you know we'd do the same thing for you."

"Mmm." Phoebe muttered cynically and Piper rested her chin on Phoebe's shoulder.

"We would."

"Well you haven't." Phoebe shot back resentfully.

Piper pulled back to look Phoebe in the eye. "Why are you upset?"

Phoebe picked at the edge of the blanket, refusing to meet Piper's gaze. "I'm not, I was being hypothetical."

Piper gave Phoebe a sad smile. "Prue, huh?" Phoebe looked away guilty and Piper shuffled closer. "Join the club."

Phoebe let out a heavy sigh when Piper's warm arm wrap around her shoulders." I'm not like you Piper...this isn't some fight, it's us. We're just not supposed to get along."

"You've been getting along just fine for the last two days." Piper pointed out calmly.

"Because you've been avoiding her." Phoebe grumped as she burrowed further into the blanket.

Piper gave Phoebe an intense once over, and sat back with a sigh. "You know, we're idiots."

Phoebe frowned, unimpressed with the insult, but confused by the plurality. "Huh?"

Piper gave Phoebe a small smile. "Let me guess...you're worried that all the progress you've made with Prue is going to disappear when I make up with her. You're jealous that Paige has Prue's attention, but you're also upset that you're not the one comforting Paige. You're happy that Paige and I worked out our problems, but you're scared that it means that we won't need you to be in the middle anymore. And you're being defensive because Paige's fears are pretty much identical to your own and they seem kind of silly when you see them in perspective. How am I doing so far?"

Phoebe furrowed her brow, admitting nothing. "Why would you think that?"

"Because I feel the same way."

Phoebe's eyes widened. "You do?"

Piper let out a laugh at Phoebe's gobsmacked expression. "Of course I do Phoebe. You might not be able to see it, but you and Prue have this super intense bond that I can't come anywhere close to. And with Paige? You practically speak your own language."

"Yeah, but...it's not like..."

Piper cut her off. "Yes, it is." When Phoebe remained entirely unconvinced, Piper sighed. "Look...my relationship with you isn't anything like my relationship with Prue. It's not better, it's not worse...it's just different. So there's no point in comparing them...any of them."

"Maybe, but it still sucks that Prue babies Paige. I mean, Prue was my hang-up...couldn't she find something of her own?" Phoebe whined in a half-humorous, half-serious tone of voice.

Piper smirked. "Well, if you want to get technical...it was my hang-up first."

Phoebe snorted. "Was not."

Piper narrowed her eyes. "Was too."

Phoebe shook her head. "No way. I was all insecure way back in elementary school."

"Well I was insecure when you were born."

"You were 3! That doesn't count...I wasn't even born, or I guess I was like a second old, but still...not fair."

Piper sat back with a triumphant grin. "Sure is. I said I had it first...and that would be first."

Phoebe huffed. "Well...fine, but I still have Paige beat."

"Congratulations." Piper deadpanned as she gave Phoebe's hand a shake.

Phoebe pulled her hand away with an eye roll. "Weirdo."

"Idiot." Piper reprimanded with a serious undertone, letting Phoebe know that she hadn't forgotten about the subject at hand.

Phoebe sighed and rested her head on Piper's shoulder. "Look, I get what you're saying, I do...and I know it makes me a bad person to be jealous, but I just...I wanted to be the one Prue comforts."

Piper looked down at Phoebe. "It doesn't make you bad, it makes you human...and you can be the one Prue comforts. You just have to ask her."

"But it's not the same. Paige got there first, and now I'm sloppy seconds."

"It's not a competition Phoebe." Piper reminded gently.

"That's easy for you to say, you're her friend. Paige and I are the little sisters, and unfortunately, Paige does it much better than me." Phoebe sighed deeply. "Not that I should be surprised."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Look, Prue and I might be friends...but I'm still younger than her, and trust me when I say she has no qualms about reminding me of the fact. And as for the rest...well, you're our little sister and Paige's is our baby one."

"That's the same thing." Phoebe muttered resentfully.

"Actually, it's not. Prue and I trust you a lot more than we trust Paige." Phoebe snorted in utter disbelief. "I'm serious. Can you imagine Prue's reaction if she found Paige doing half of the things you do? She'd be bound and gagged for life. Not that we like your less than admirable behaviour, but we let you get away with it."

"Yeah, cause you can't stop me." Phoebe stated, almost proudly.

Piper poked her. "Don't count on it." Phoebe scoffed and Piper gave a deadly serious look. "We could take you down, but we don't...because we trust you to take care of yourself."

"Great." Phoebe exclaimed with fake enthusiasm.

Piper narrowed her eyes. "Not that we don't worry, or intervene when we need to...but generally, you figure things out for yourself. You always have. Paige? Not so much. She's smart, that's for sure, but she's also naive, cocky and impulsive, and more often than not, she ends up in over her head. It's not that we favour her, it's that she needs our help more than you do, and believe it or not, you can do something Paige can't...you can relate to Prue and I as an equal who doesn't need rescuing, or lectures, or babying."

Phoebe pursed her lips. "You know, that's...kinda cool."

"Yes, it is, because you're a lot of fun to be around...when you're not throwing tantrums or being a smart ass or picking fights or running away or being annoying or–"

"Yeah, okay, I got it." Phoebe interrupted with a wry grin.

Piper nodded. "Good. So... my first move as your equal is to tell you to let go of this jealousy for once and for all."

Phoebe narrowed her eyes. "But you said you were jealous too."

Piper sighed. "Yeah, I am, but I see it for what it is...an idiotic insecurity...and move on with my life."

Phoebe snorted. "Bullshit. You're obsessing over Prue and I's new friendship."

Piper huffed. "Am not."

"Are too." Phoebe argued gleefully. Piper glared, but had no comeback, and Phoebe positively beamed. "Sooooo...my first move as your equal is to tell you to let go of this jealousy for once and for all."

Piper made a face. "Cute."

"That's what they tell me." Phoebe stated with complete sincerity and Piper rolled her eyes. "But seriously, you have nothing to worry about...all Prue's done for the last two days is whine about you."

"Oh." Piper tried to hide her smile, but Phoebe caught it and began to bounce in her seat.

"So you'll forgive her? Please? Pretty please?"

Piper laughed. "I'll see what I can do."

Phoebe gave Piper an enthusiastic hug. "Yay!"

At few seconds later, Piper was tired of being squished and she pulled back to study Phoebe. "So does this mean you're over the Grams thing?"

Phoebe let out a heavy, not so happy sigh. "I could have handled it Piper. I know you were trying to protect me, but I could have helped you. I could have helped Grams."

Piper gave Phoebe a big kiss on the forehead. "Thank you."

Phoebe rubbed the slobber mark away. "For what?"

"For being you." Off Phoebe's confused look, Piper rolled her eyes. "Prue's mad because I lied to her and Paige is...well, not mad...but you, you're mad that you couldn't help, and that makes you the nicest one of all."

Phoebe narrowed her eyes. "You take that back. I'm not nice, I'm rebellious, and tough...and...and badass."

Piper giggled. "Sure you are." When Phoebe sulked, Piper gave her a nudge. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

After the appropriate amount of pouting, Phoebe let out a small smile. "Oh whatever, no one will believe you anyway."

Piper laughed and rested her head against Phoebe's. "You know you have to talk Prue, right?"

"Can't I just go on being secretly miserable?" Phoebe asked somewhat seriously.

Piper gave her an unimpressed look. "No. She needs to know. Plus, all the cool kids are doing it."

Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "You? And Paige? Cool?"

"Hey!" Piper gave Phoebe a playful smack. "We're damn cool." Phoebe snorted and Piper pointed in warning. "In fact, this cool kid is going to show you just how cool she is."

"Piper!" Phoebe squealed as Piper reached under the blanket to tickle her side. "Kinda naked there!"

Piper pulled her hand back like it was on fire. "Good point, let's do this later."

Phoebe laughed and readjusted her towel. "Don't worry, you missed the good bits."

"And with that highly disturbing thought, I think it's time to get you dressed."

Phoebe frowned. "But you said I couldn't go into the bedroom."

Piper grinned and stood up from the couch. "I said you couldn't go into our bedroom..."

"What? No! I'm not wearing Grams' clothes. She's...old." Phoebe finished weakly.

Piper held out her hand. "Oh come on, there's got to be something you could tolerate."

Phoebe grabbed on reluctantly. "Well fine, but only because Prue can go on and on and on." Piper pulled Phoebe off the couch with an eye roll. "And on. But let's be clear...I will not wear anything with flowers. Or shoulder pads. Or frills. Or tartan. Or buttons."

"Buttons?" Piper questioned as she dragged Phoebe towards the bedroom.

Phoebe nodded. "Buttons have to be done up, and quite frankly, my cleavage deserves better."

---

Prue let out a sigh of relief as Paige's sobs started to taper off into small sniffles. Prue was no stranger to Paige's crying fits, she had been the one Paige went running to when she was hurt as a child, but this was different. This time Prue's soothing words and gentle touch had done nothing to calm Paige down, and in the end, it was simply a matter of letting Paige cry herself out.

After a few more shaky breaths, Paige lifted her head from Prue's shoulder. Paige's eyes bore into Prue's with such a piercing intensity that Prue had to force herself not to look away. "Don't die." Paige commanded with an authority that rivalled Grams'.

Prue nodded sombrely. "Not by my own hand." Paige looked like she wanted Prue to say more, like she needed a promise of forever...but that was something that Prue knew she couldn't give. "For as long as I live, I'll be here for you, whenever and however you need it."

Paige held Prue's gaze for a minute, grave and pensive, until she let out a tiny giggle. Prue raised her eyebrow in surprise. "Sorry, but I think you just tried to marry me."

Prue rolled her eyes. "That's the last time I try to tell you that I care." At this, Paige's smiled disappeared. "Hey, I was joking. Big big joke. So big you can see from space."

"Yeah, I know," Paige said quietly, resting her head back down on Prue's shoulder.

Prue ran her hand down Paige's back and sighed. "Then why does it feel like you're taking it seriously?"

"Because you have issues?" Paige sassed half-heartedly.

Prue nudged the top of Paige's head with her chin until she looked up. "Don't do this, okay? I saw you cry, I know you're upset...you don't need hide it." Paige nodded silently and Prue wrapped her arms around Paige as tight as she could. "So, let's start at the beginning again...do you get how much I love you? For real?"

Paige nodded against Prue's shoulder. "Yes." Prue took a minute to check Paige's expression for sincerity, and was relieved when she found it.

"Okay, good. Then what can I do to make you feel better?" Paige shrugged and Prue sighed. "What about if we hung out more? I know it's not so cool to hang out with your big sister, but I'd really like to take you out sometime...just you and me."

Paige looked away. "I don't want your pity Prue."

Prue laughed. "Trust me kiddo, that isn't pity. Pity would be me coming over every day, picking you up from school, checking your homework, monitoring your TV habits, screening your friends, chaperoning your dates..." Prue smirked at Paige's horror-struck look. "See...no pity. I just want the chance to enjoy your company and find out if there's anyone I need to beat up. No more, no less."

Paige eyed Prue for a tense minute, until she cracked with a smile. "Yeah, okay. Well, not the beating up, because I can do my own beating up thank you very much."

Prue nodded. "Noted. Okay, next point of conflict...your recent behaviour." Paige looked down at the bed and Prue playfully traced the word 'brat' on Paige's back. Paige let out a sheepish smile and looked back up. "So the attitude, the fighting, the hiding...it's all been because of your feelings about me and Grams?" Paige nodded and Prue sighed. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Love me and forgo punishment?" Paige tried with a hopeful grin.

Prue shook her head in amusement. "Well this time...yes." Paige hugged her happily, but Prue wasn't finished. "But what I actually meant is...what am I going to do with you because you clearly don't ask for help when you need it."

Paige jerked away. "I didn't need help."

Prue gave her a look. "You did. You were worried and upset, and if you had talked to someone about your problems, you would have known that Grams was going to be okay, and that I'd never let social services anywhere near you, and that Phoebe was trying to start a fight with you because you're the easiest target."

Paige huffed. "I knew what she was doing."

"I have no doubt, but if you had gotten help, you wouldn't be so eager to fight and you could have walked away."

"So what? It's my fault that Phoebe provoked me?" Paige tried to sit up but Prue imprisoned her in place.

"No, you're both to blame, but that's not what's important here. You had big concerns Paige, and had we not gone on this vacation, no one would know you had them. I get that you want to be independent, I really do, but you need to talk to someone when you're upset. I know it's hard, and scary, but–"

"Like you have any right to lecture me about talking to people." Paige interrupted angrily, still struggling against Prue's hold.

"You're right, I don't. But that's not going to stop me because I ended up on that bridge because I didn't ask for help."

"I am not suicidal!" Paige yelled as she broke free of Prue's grip and rolled away.

Prue caught Paige by the waist and hauled her back against her. "I know, okay, I do. But what I'm trying to tell you – lie still – is something that has taken me 22 years to learn...no one can save you but yourself." Paige continued to squirm and Prue threw her leg over Paige's to pin her in place. "Listen to me...that whole white knight thing? Is crap. And I don't mean boyfriends, even although they can be quite crappy...but life. So many people spend their lives waiting for someone or something to rescue them, to fix all their problems and save them from themselves. Well it isn't going to happen. Other people can help you, but they can't read your mind, so you have to be the one to tell them what you need. You have to make the first move and you have to be open to their help. I know that you're a teenager and that you want to do your own thing, but by keeping information from us, you're setting yourself up on a destructive path that's leading nowhere good. I'm not saying that you have to be open all the time, or to everyone, but you need to talk to someone when things get rough."

"I talk to Glenn." Paige admitted after it was clear that Prue was waiting for a reply.

Prue gave her an uneasy smile. "That's good, but it's not enough. I meant that you need to talk to an adult."

Paige glared. "Why?"

"Because as great as Glenn may be, he's still a fifteen year old boy who is as confused about the world as you are."

"I'm not confused."

Prue tried not to look too amused. "If you say so."

Paige narrowed her eyes. "I'm not."

Prue sighed. "Look, it wasn't an attack on you, or him, but you're fifteen...and I know that it feels like you're a grownup, but you've got a lot of things left to learn."

Paige eyed Prue suspiciously. "This isn't turning into a sex talk, is it?"

Prue grimaced. "No, that's a subject for your 25th birthday." Prue tried her very best to ignore Paige's snort as she moved on. "Anyway, as I was saying...I need you to promise me that you'll get help when you need it. You don't have to come to me, although I'm more than willing, but I want a name so I can check to see that you're making an effort."

Paige bit her lip. "Can it be Phoebe?"

Prue nodded. "Yes, it can."

"Oh." Paige paused in thought. "What happens if it's you?"

"Then you and I will talk whenever you want us to."

"Will you talk to me?"

"What do you mean?" Prue asked in confusion.

"About your problems." Paige elaborated quietly.

Prue narrowed her eyes. "Yes, I will...which means your stab at reverse psychology isn't going to work." Paige grunted and Prue pinned her down a little harder. "I'm serious about all this...you messed up, and until I can trust you to take care of yourself, I'm going to be watching."

Paige tried to match Prue's powerful stare, but came nowhere close, and soon surrendered with a sigh of defeat. "Fine, I'll talk to Piper."

"Is that a promise?"

Paige nodded. "Yes." Prue searched Paige's eyes until she found what she was looking for.

"Thank you." Prue released Paige and gave her a bit of space. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Paige answered a little too quickly.

Prue looked over her over. "Stomach?" Paige sighed and let out a small nod, knowing that Prue knew her better than anyone else. Crying had always made Paige's stomach hurt, and even although she was kinda pissed about the lecture, and feeling stupid about her doubts, and a bit too overwhelmed to make sense of most of her emotions...Paige still let Prue pulled her into her arms and rub her stomach like she was a five year old. "I'm sorry I have to be so hard on you, but you matter far too much for me to let this slide." Prue explained softly, trying to walk the line Paige needed her to walk...part mother, part sister, part friend. "And I'm sorry that you felt like I didn't want you. I do, more than you could ever imagine."

Paige rested her head against Prue's heartbeat. "It's okay."

Prue could feel Paige slowly relaxing against her, breath by breath. "I was always coming back."

Paige looked up in confusion. "Huh?"

Prue smiled and wiped the remaining tear marks off Paige's cheeks. "London. I was going to go for two years...have some fun, find myself, do the grungy travelling thing...but then I was coming home. To you, Grams, Piper and Phoebe...because that's what you are, my home." Paige teared up again and Prue sighed in frustration. "Don't cry, you'll make your stomach worse."

Paige let out a teary laugh. "Sorry, I'm having a really emoti–" Paige stopped when a scream rang out from the side of the house.

Paige rolled off of Prue at the exact same time Prue sat up, and both girls spirited out the room at full speed, following Piper's frantic cries to Grams' bedroom.

Paige made it through the doorway first, but she skidded to a halt the second she caught sight of Piper, crouched beside a motionless Grams. Phoebe looked up from where she was listening for Grams' breaths. "Help me!"

Paige remained motionless, but Prue rushed into action, pushing a hysterical Piper out of the way. "Is she breathing?" Phoebe nodded and Prue pressed two fingers into Grams' neck. When she felt the erratic throb, she spun on Piper. "Get the car."

Piper blinked. "But...we...911."

Prue shook her head. "No phone." As Piper started to hyperventilate, Paige snapped out of her daze.

"I'll get it!"

Prue looked up in concern, but Paige was already out the door, and Prue didn't have time to dwell on the issue as she checked on Phoebe, counting out Grams' breaths on her fingers, and then focused on Piper, going increasingly pale. "Breathe." Piper did and Prue nodded encouragingly. "Okay, I need you to get Grams' purse and meet Paige outside. Can you do that?"

"Y-yes." Piper gave Grams one last look, before she race out the door.

Prue loosened Grams' shirt and sought out Phoebe's eyes. "You're doing great." Phoebe let out a shaky breath and Prue gave her a tense smile. "I'm going to need to you to take care of her in the car while I drive. Do you know how to do CPR?"

"Yes, well I mean, I know how to do it on dummies, and Grams is real, like really real..." Phoebe babbled on nervously.

Prue rechecked Grams' pulse and cut Phoebe off. "If her pulse disappears, I'll stop the car and help you, but the faster we get the hospital–" Prue looked up when Paige flew through the door.

"The car is outside."

Prue nodded and gestured to Grams' legs. Paige and Phoebe grabbed one each and Prue slipped her arms under Grams' armpits. On the count of three, they lifted together, and it took less than a minute to get Grams through the cottage and into the backseat. Phoebe and Paige knelt on the floor, with Phoebe beside Grams' head, while Piper riffled through Grams' meds in the passenger seat.

"Hold on." Prue commanded as she jumped into the driver's seat and pushed the gas pedal to the floor. "Just hold on."

---

Chapter 12- Fantastic Four

"I want to see my grandmother!" Prue yelled as she slammed her hands down on the reception desk.

Phoebe cringed at her side. "Prue, they're –"

"Now." Prue added in a dangerously low tone, completely ignoring Phoebe, the lingering security guard and the poor nurse whose well practiced apologies did nothing to pacify Prue's rage. After passing Grams off to the emergency room staff, the sisters had been relegated to a small waiting room to wait for news...that hadn't come.

"Ma'am, as I told you before, I do not have any information on her condition. Her doctor will–"

"It's been three hours! Is she okay or not?" Prue snapped, glaring at the nurse with all she was worth.

Phoebe was just as interested in the answer, but as Prue and the nurse had already had this argument five times, she wasn't expecting to get it. "Come on Prue." Phoebe grabbed Prue's hand and tried to pull her away from the desk. "You know she can't–"

Prue ripped her hand away from Phoebe's. "No! I can't do take this anymore...these could be Grams' last moments, and we're just sitting here!"

Phoebe glanced over her shoulder, to where Paige and Piper were curled up on the blue plastic chairs, very much in hearing range. "Don't go there."

Prue spun on Phoebe furiously. "Why? It's the truth, isn't it?"

"You need to chill." Phoebe stated quietly, knowing that Prue was spiralling out of control. Prue had been a god send on the drive there, issuing orders and keeping everyone calm, but the second Grams was wheeled away, Prue had started to fall apart. Without anything to keep her busy, she'd become increasingly fixated on getting in to see Grams. Luckily, Piper and Paige had been so out of it they hadn't noticed Prue's somewhat scary decline, but Phoebe didn't know how much longer she'd be able to keep Prue from blowing up, and when she did...well, there was no telling what she'd do. "Why don't you go get a coffee or something?"

"You get a coffee, I'm going to see Grams." Prue shot back under her breath.

Phoebe bit her tongue and tried to remember that Prue wasn't her normal self. "Prue, we have to let the doctors do their thing."

"Don't patronise me." Prue hissed as she turned back towards the nurse.

Phoebe threw her hands up, finally tiring of Prue's attitude. "Look, this isn't helping. We're all worried, but –"

Prue took an aggressive step towards her sister. "I will not sit around while–"

"Prue!" Piper yelled from her chair, speaking for the first time since they'd arrived at the hospital. Prue eyes flashed with unbridled anger at her sister's reprimand, but Piper crossed the room and wrapped her arms around her sister without the slightest hesitation. "Let it go." Phoebe fully expected Prue to push Piper away and lash out at them both, but Prue simply dropped her head against Piper's shoulder and gave a silent nod. Piper held her close and locked eyes with Phoebe over Prue's shoulder. "Why don't you take Paige for a drink?"

"But –"

"Please." Piper pleaded as Prue stiffened against her. Phoebe opened her mouth to complain, but something about Piper's expression threw her off. It took her a minute to figure it out, but when she did, she obediently stepped away. Piper wasn't trying to bully her into submission or beg for sympathy...she was trying to form an alliance.

"Just come get us if Grams..." Phoebe couldn't finish her sentence, for good or bad, and Piper smiled sadly.

"Of course. And please please don't give Paige a hard time, she's..." Piper froze when she caught sight of Paige's empty chair. "Gone!"

Prue jerked out of Piper's arms. "Gone? What do you mean gone?"

Piper pointed to the empty chair. "Gone gone!"

Prue looked around the tiny waiting room in panic. "Oh god, okay. We should split up and look for her."

Phoebe jumped back from their arm flailing hysteria. "Uh, guys–"

Piper cut her off. "Yes, definitely. Should we tell security?"

"I'm pretty sure –" Phoebe tried, but Prue quickly interrupted.

"Good idea. What was she wearing? Red sweatshirt and jeans, right?" Piper nodded in confirmation, and the twosome made a frantic beeline towards the bored security guard, fiddling around with his walkie-talkie.

Phoebe grabbed onto the back off her sisters' shirts and spun them back around. "What the hell are you doing?" Prue and Piper blinked. "Paige has probably gone to the bathroom."

Piper frowned. "She wouldn't leave."

Phoebe gave her sister a look of disbelief. "Of course she would!"

Prue shook her head defiantly. "No, Piper's right. After everything that's happened, Paige knows better than to go off on her own without permission."

Phoebe didn't know whether to laugh or scream. "Permission? Paige has been going off on her own since...always! I get that you're having a protective fit, and clearly, some serious amnesia, but I can assure you that Paige is fully capable of taking care of herself for two minutes."

"Yeah, but..." Piper looked close to tears. "She needs us."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "She's fifteen." When neither Prue nor Piper seemed to understand the relevance of this information, Phoebe grunted. "Okay, you two need to get over yourselves. Right now."

Piper gave Phoebe a stern look. "Phoebe, this so isn't the time for your issues."

Phoebe clenched and unclenched her fist, letting the anger pass through her. "This has nothing to do with me. If you run out that door and smother Paige because you're feeling guilty, you're going to undo all the progress you both made."

Prue gave Phoebe a sad smile. "I know you're just trying to help, but you weren't there and you didn't see the state Paige was in. She's really fragile right now, and she needs us to take care of her."

"And while I'm glad you're finally paying attention, you can't go from nothing to stalker, and expect Paige, of all people, to accept it!" Phoebe explained, somewhat heatedly. Phoebe knew her sisters could be...overprotective freaks, but this was a recipe for a Paigetastic temper tantrum and some really hurt feelings.

Prue sighed. "Look Pheebs, I appreciate your concern, but Piper and I need to do this."

"Unbelievable." Phoebe muttered to herself. "Look, while you two were off doing whatever it is that you responsible type people do at college, Paige and I have had each other. I'm not saying we're best friends, because...well, she's a little shit, but I do know that she isn't that 10 year old kid you walked away from all those years ago. I get that you're worried, but try to have some perspective."

"Yeah, but –" Prue began, but Phoebe interrupted her with a foot stomp.

"No! She has to come to you when she's ready and you need to sort yourselves out." Phoebe gave both of her sisters a measured look, indicating that the 'sorting' reached far beyond Paige-related matters. "So I will find her and take her for that drink while you two talk, or bitch, or do whatever it is that you need to do to get over your issues because we have to stick together. For Grams." And with that, Phoebe spun on her heels and stormed out of the waiting room, pointedly ignoring the dirty look the nurse tossed her way.

A few seconds later, Prue pointed at the swinging door in confusion. "Did she just boss me around?"

Piper nodded. "Yep."

---

It didn't take Phoebe long to find Paige. In fact, she hadn't even bothered to check the bathroom, already suspecting that her little sister had disappeared outside to escape the claustrophobic atmosphere of the hospital. After all, crying in bathroom stalls was Piper's thing, and as her fashion sense clearly demonstrated, Paige was anything but a follower.

"Hey." Phoebe said as she joined Paige on the curb in front of the hospital.

Paige took a long drag off of her cigarette. "What do you want?"

Phoebe stretched her legs out and watched Paige blow an impressive smoke ring. "How about a cig?"

"No can do. I bummed this off a doctor on break." Paige explained with a hint of a smile.

Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "That's wrong on so many levels."

"You don't say." Paige stated as she took another hit and peered up at the star covered sky. Phoebe followed her gaze, and both girls took a minute to marvel at the brightness of the stars away from San Francisco's big city lights. When the silence started to drag on a little too long, Paige glanced at Phoebe out the corner of her eye. "What are you wearing?"

Phoebe looked down at the ankle length skirt and collared shirt with a sigh. Amish was so bad for her image. "I had to borrow Grams' clothes." Paige furrowed her brow, even more confused than before, but Phoebe had neither the patience nor the heart to explain. "It's a long story. How are you holding up?"

Paige flicked the ash of the end of her cigarette. "Numb. Like I'm living someone else's life."

"Oh."

Paige refused to meet Phoebe's eyes as she watched her cigarette burnt down to nothing. "Sorry for abandoning you in there, but I couldn't stand..." Paige sighed. "Well, you know."

And Phoebe did know. Prue not having the answer to a problem was as scary as Grams' heart attack, and after the day they'd both had, neither girl was looking to face reality. "It's okay."

Paige dropped the rest of her cigarette onto the pavement and crushed it with her worn sneaker. "So... how are you?

Phoebe met Paige's eyes hesitantly. "Honestly? All I want to do is run."

Paige scrutinised Phoebe, taking in her tense posture and bruised face, before she pushed herself off the curb and offered out a hand. "Then let's run."

Phoebe kept her hand at her side and raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Paige, I'm not running away with you. Not only would Prue and Piper kill me, Grams could...and I'd never forgive myself if we weren't here."

Paige nodded. "I know, that's why we're going to run laps in the parking lot."

Phoebe snorted. "That's ridiculous."

Paige reached down and grabbed Phoebe's hand, ignoring her less than amenable response. "No, it's not. You need to run." Phoebe looked rather lost and Paige rolled her eyes. "Phoebe, sports are your crutch...anytime anything gets to be too much, you use your body so you don't have to think." Paige tried to pull Phoebe off the curb, but she refused to move, and the sisters ended up playing a strange sort of tug of war with Phoebe's outstretched arm. "Come on, I know this isn't exactly like running away, but it's the best I can do without finding you some poor med student to jump."

"Paige! That is so not..." Paige gave her a look, and Phoebe grunted. "Well, okay, it might be a little bit true...but we kinda have some issues here. Or do you not remember beating the crap out of me?"

"I remember." Paige stated quietly, looking like she wanted to get the hell out of there, but to both of their surprise, she stepped forward and tightened her hold on Phoebe's hand. "But I need you right now...not to talk, or get comforted, or make up, but to hang out and do something stupid like nothing's wrong, and we're not mad, and Grams is going to be alright."

Phoebe looked at her little sister with concern. "Paige –"

"No, listen. I can't act like everything is okay between us...I'm still pissed at you, and you're still pissed at me, and if you and I start playing happy families because Grams is sick, then everything's changed. I like that we don't small talk, or have big emotional scenes, or spare each other's feelings...it makes us honest, and real, and as fucked up as each other." Phoebe's eyebrows rose in offense. "You shouldn't want to run, but you do, and I shouldn't want to hide, but I do, so why do we have to pretend? Why can't we just put everything on pause and escape?" Paige bit her lip anxiously. "Together."

Phoebe eyed Paige for a minute, torn in every direction she could be, then slipped on her flip-flops and let Paige pull her off the curb. "This doesn't mean that I forgive you."

Paige nodded in agreement. "Totally hate your guts."

"And this whole thing is embarrassingly lame." Phoebe complained as soon as Paige started moving towards the side of the hospital.

"That's because it's based off your neurosis."

Phoebe narrowed her eyes, but couldn't really argue with her sister's logic, so she moved on. "And for the record, I tried to talk. So if we're still holding grudges in ten years, it's all your fault."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Like we won't have newer, more important grudges to hold on by then."

"No..." Phoebe paused to think about it. "Well, probably."

Paige grinned and tugged her sister towards the hospital's five story parking garage. "First one to the roof and back?"

Phoebe looked up at the concrete structure. "Twice."

"Three times." Paige declared as she started to pull off her sweatshirt. "What are the rules if a car comes?"

"Don't get hit." Phoebe adjusted her skirt for maximum speed. "No stairs."

Paige took a minute to scout the locations of the ramps that lead to and from the next level. "Can I jump barriers?" Phoebe may have been the faster runner, but Paige had strategy.

Phoebe snorted. "It's a waste of time, but be my guest."

"On the count of three?" Paige asked as she finished tying her hair back and got into position.

Phoebe readied herself for the start. "One."

"Three." Paige exclaimed as she took off, leaving Phoebe standing at the starting line.

"Paige!" Phoebe yelled as she chased after the sister, letting out an accidental smile as she went.

---

"Piper?"

Piper grabbed Prue's hand and looked deep into her eyes, trying to give her sister as much reassurance as she could. "Yes Prue?"

Prue flicked Piper's forehead with her free hand. "Stop staring at me."

Piper dropped Prue's hand. "Oh." Prue made a shooing motion, and Piper shuffled backwards, so she was no longer thisclose to being in Prue's lap. "Right. Sorry." Prue cleared her throat and Piper reluctantly removed her other hand from Prue's shoulder. "Sorry again."

Prue avoided her sister's gaze as she scanned the busy waiting room. "Look, I know I freaked out for a minute there, but I'm okay now. I swear."

"Oh I know." Piper stated in a placating tone of voice.

Prue groaned. "Stop it."

Piper placed her hand on Prue's knee. "Stop what sweetie?"

Prue batted it away in aggravation. "That! I appreciate your overwhelming concern, but I want my sister back. You know, the one who's been giving me grief for the last week?"

"I haven't been..." Piper trailed off at Prue's look and sighed. "Well, fine...I was giving you a bit of grief, but I'm over it, and I'm sorry if I upset you."

"Well that's certainly not how you felt, oh, six hours ago." Prue stated with an eyebrow raise.

"Things changed." Piper replied in a painfully chipper tone. "Gum?"

Prue banged the back of her head against the wall. "Ugh. I can't deal with this right now." Prue took several deep breaths before she made up her mind. "I'll be...around." Prue jumped up from her chair and disappeared out the door before Piper could even think about responding.

The women's bathroom was empty, and Prue briefly considered shoving the large garbage can in front of the door to keep it that way, but the security guard was already watching her like a hawk, and well, 120 L of paper towel wasn't going to be much of a defence against...anything.

Prue rested her hands on the edge of the counter and counted to ten. She wasn't going to break down here. She wasn't. Tears didn't save grandmothers, or fix dysfunctional sisters, or bring mothers back to life...

Prue forced her memories away with a violent head shake and turned on the faucet. Grams was going to be okay. Grams was going to be okay. Grams was going to be okay. Prue splashed some cold water on her face and looked into the mirror.

What the hell was she going to do? Prue didn't know anything about taxes, or what to do when the furnace stopped working, or how to change the oil in the station wagon. She was petty, and impulsive, and she liked being a little bit bad. She didn't eat properly. She forgot to water plants. She hated vacuuming. She wasn't ready to be...

Prue swept her bangs off her forehead until she found her mother staring back at her in the mirror. Like always, Prue could only stand at the resemblance for a split second until it became too much and she had to smooth her bangs back into place. "Get a grip." Prue muttered as she splashed another round of water onto her face and turned off the tap. "You can do this." Prue liked the way her voice echoed around the room, as if someone else was giving her these words of encouragement. "For them." Prue added as she took one last look in the mirror and turned towards the paper towel dispenser.

"Hi." Piper said from where she was leaning against the bathroom wall.

Prue jumped back with a shriek, entirely startled by Piper's presence. "Jesus! How long have you been standing there?"

Piper pushed herself off the wall and offered Prue a piece of paper towel. "Long enough."

Prue wiped her face and tried to calm her racing heart. "Well next time, give me a little warning. You scared the shit out of me."

Piper shrugged. "You looked lost in thought."

Prue grunted and tossed the paper towel in the bin. "What are you doing in here anyway?"

Piper hopped up on the counter. "Making sure you're okay."

"Get off of there, it's wet." Prue chastised as she fiddled with her shirt in the mirror. "And I already told you, I'm fine."

"If you say so." Piper replied as she swung her legs back and forth, refusing to budge from her position.

Prue spun on her sister angrily. "Piper! I'm fine. You don't need to treat me like I'm about to..." Prue trailed off as the pieces fell into place. "Oh."

Piper's shoes crashed against the underside of the countertop and a loud bang echoed throughout the small space. After a tense pause, Piper levelled her gaze at her sister. "I won't let you kill yourself."

Prue leant against the counter with a heavy sigh. "I'm not going to." Piper's tears started to flow and Prue ran a shaky hand threw her hair. "Come on Pipe, don't cry. I haven't had those feelings for a long time, and they have nothing to do with what's going on between us. I want you to be mad at me." Prue paused at her words. "...okay, no, I don't want you to be mad at me, but I also don't want you to treat me any differently. I'm not on suicide watch and I'm not going to break."

"But Grams, and London, and–"

Prue cut Piper off with a head shake. "Are all things that I can handle. I'm not going to lie and say that I'm okay with it all, because I'm not, but you don't need strap me down just yet."

"How can you be joking about this?" Piper questioned incredulously, feeling a surge of anger seep through her tears.

"Because I don't want it to be a big deal. If you hadn't been that room, I would never have told you."

Piper's entire body tensed. "So what? You'd only tell Paige?"

Prue groaned. "Piper, don't play the favourites game. I did what I had to do to get through to her. I didn't want you to know because I didn't want you to overreact. You know, kind of like you are right now?"

Piper glared at Prue with an intensity she rarely showed. "You almost died, there is no such thing as overreacting."

"It's not –"

Piper cut Prue off furiously. "No! Your life might not mean much to you, but it means a hell of a lot to me. You are my big sister, and I will put up with anything to keep you safe. How can I be mad about something as stupid as my hurt feelings, or our fight, when you could have been gone? Forever?"

"But I'm not gone." Prue stated firmly. "And your feelings aren't stupid."

"They are when your life is at stake." Piper muttered as she tried to wipe her cheeks with her sleeve, but her tears weren't stopping and she soon realised she was doing nothing but soaking her shirt through.

Prue slid closer to her sister. "I'm not suicidal."

Piper shook her head vehemently. "I don't care...feelings like that don't just disappear, and you haven't faced troubles like you had that year until now. You can't shrug this off, we need to get you help."

Prue let out a sigh. "Look, I was 17...I had crazy hormones, an undiagnosed case of depression and really shitty luck. I'm not saying I don't still carry some of that around with me, because I do, but it's been five years, and I've changed. I spent an entire afternoon drunk in those woods, cursing everything under the sun, and not once did I ever think of killing myself. I wanted everything to go away, sure, but not at the expense of my life."

"Yeah, but –"

"No buts. I'm not that screwed up kid anymore, and you're worrying over nothing. I might hate my life, but I don't hate myself, and that's how I know that I'm okay." Prue finished her statement with a forceful nod, as if she was putting the subject to rest.

"But what if you're not?" Piper wiped around round of tears away. "What if you're lying right now, just like all the times I asked you if you were okay after the accident, and you die." Piper's voice cracked, but she made herself continue. "You die and you don't ever come back."

"Piper..." Prue tried to pull her sister into a hug.

Piper pushed her away. "No Prue. How do I know? How do I ever leave your side when there's even the slightest chance you might do something?"

"You trust me." Prue stated simply.

"I didn't trust you before I found out about this." Piper grabbed Prue's wrist and jerked her forward so she could inspect it in the light. Prue rolled her eyes and shook her other wrist in her sister's face, proving that there was no damage. Piper narrowed her eyes. "Well, what am I supposed to do? You don't show up when you say you will, you don't tell me where you've been or where you're going, you don't tell me how you feel –"

"I do!" Prue interrupted, before she realised how loud they were getting and took a moment to compose herself. She was almost positive that this hospital had a psych ward, and if someone came in to see what was going on, Piper might just try to get her committed. "Look, I don't need therapy because you were my therapy. You're the one who got me through everything."

"Obviously not." Piper commented icily.

Prue grabbed Piper's hands. "You did. You helped me get over Andy, you convinced Grams to let me move out, you bridged the gap between me and Phoebe, you forced me to babysit Paige, you dragged my ass out of bed and sent me to my classes, and most importantly, you loved me when I couldn't love myself."

Piper snorted in disbelief. "Well that's some nice revisionist history you've got there, but it still doesn't make up for the fact that I had no idea what was going on. And after this, and London, I'm beginning to wonder if I know you at all."

"Of course you know me." When Piper did nothing but stare, Prue decided to try a different tactic. "Well it's not like you tell me everything that goes on in your life either."

"Grams wasn't my secret to tell." Piper stated angrily.

"I'm not talking about Grams." Prue pinned Piper in place. "I'm talking about this 'I'm mad-I'm not mad-I'm mad' game you've been playing with me since high school."

Piper tore her eyes away. "I don't want to fight. Not now."

"Come on Piper, you agreed to talk with me when we were with Paige." Prue gave Piper's hands a loving sqeeze. "Just forget about this suicide thing, and Grams, and being peacemaker Piper...and tell me what's wrong."

Piper ripped her hands out of Prue's and gave her a violent shove back. "Why the fuck should I? You don't tell me your secrets, what gives you the right to hear mine?"

Prue rubbed her shoulder, trying not to show how much it hurt, and regarded Piper carefully. "Okay, you want secrets? I'll give you secrets." Prue hopped up on the counter beside her sister. "Let's see...after mom died, I told Grams you had nightmares so we could share a bed. Phoebe, Paige and I used to bring the neighbour's cat into the manor when you and Grams weren't home. I cheated on my 8th grade math exam. Grams walked in on me and Andy going at it in senior year." Prue waited for some sort of reaction, but Piper just glared. "Okay...what else? I was the one who dented Grams' car, not Phoebe. I totally threatened Missy at the homecoming dance. I lost those earnings you lent me. Sometimes I actually like Grams' music." Prue tapped her fingers on the counter. "I've had two pregnancy scares. I eat Kraft Dinner when you're not home. I didn't fall out of that tree when I broke my arm, I jumped. I wish Sam was our dad. I was the one who threw that baseball through Mr. Wilson's window."

"And what Prue?" Piper interrupted in a tone laced with venom. "All of that nostalgia is supposed to make me forget that you would rather get on a plane, or jump off a bridge, than be with me?"

"Of course not." Piper's eyes hardened and Prue sighed. "Look, I know this isn't what you want to hear...but you're taking everything far too personally. London had nothing to do with you. It was an opportunity to go to a good school, and try something different, and get away from –

"Me." Piper added in a self-depreciating tone.

Prue sighed. "Piper, we've had this conversation before. Many many times before. You're one of my favourite people, and if I could, I'd give you all the time in the world. But I can't, I have a job, and a thesis, and a boyfriend, and obligations to the Historical society...but it doesn't mean that I'm pulling away, or that I'm ditching you for something better. You weren't a part of my decision to go to London because I know that our relationship is strong enough to withstand the distance."

Piper scoffed. "The world according to Prue, huh?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Prue asked, trying to remain composed, but ending up somewhere near peeved.

"It's really that easy for you, isn't it?" Prue blinked at the not quite rhetorical question and Piper's resentment grew. "You actually think that you can disappear for two years and have everything remain the same? That I'll be here pinning away until you return?"

"That's not what I said." Prue replied warily.

"No, but it's what you mean. You assume that no matter what you do or how you treat me, I'll still be at your side. That there's no line you could cross that I couldn't forgive you for." Piper's tone was amicable enough, but there was no mistaking the dangerous glint in her eye.

Prue hesitated. "But isn't that what our relationship is about? Being there no matter what?"

"Yeah, except that our relationship only exists when it's convenient to you!" Piper exploded in rage.

"That's not true." Prue countered calmly.

Piper held up her finger. "Do you know I got promoted to manager at work?" Prue remained silent, so Piper lifted finger number two. "Do you know that I was accepted into an advanced sous class this summer?" Prue bit her lip as Piper ticked off a third finger. "Do you know I'm looking into buying a car?" A fourth finger appeared. "Do you know Joe broke up with me two weeks ago?"

"Okay, that's not fair." Prue interrupted, feeling the conversation slip away from her. "You didn't tell me any of that stuff. If it was that important, you should have said something. I might be busy, but I'd never turn you away when you're upset."

Piper smacked her hand against the counter. "I shouldn't need to be upset to deserve 10 minutes of your time!"

"You're twisting my words."

Piper growled. "No, I'm not. You treat me like an inconvenience...you lie, you freeze me out, you try to leave the country, and then you think there won't be consequences for our friendship? That things won't change between us? That I'll take it because we're sisters? Well let me tell you something Prue, you're not that great."

"Okay, ow." Prue muttered, trying to fight the urge to hit back.

Piper looked away, steeling her resolve to say what needed to be said. "I'm sorry, I am...but your life is all about you and you make no room for anyone else."

"I think that might be a tad judgemental." Prue remarked dryly.

Piper's head whipped back round. "Oh yeah? How come Grams practically had to tell you she's dying to get your attention? And Paige had to have an emotional breakdown? And Phoebe...well, poor Phoebe's still trying..."

"Okay, can we please keep them out of this? This is between you and me."

"Fine..." Piper crossed her arms, looking every bit like Grams' prodigy. "I'm sick of your all about me attitude."

Prue hesitated for a split second, as if she couldn't quite believe that Piper had said that, before the reality of the accusation sunk in and she leapt off the counter with a decidedly violent jump. "And what about your attitude Piper?" Prue stalked across the bathroom, counting out each step in her head. "Do you have any idea how much you demand from me? How unrealistic your expectations are?"

Piper narrowed her eyes. "Don't even try to turn this around."

Prue spun on her heels and headed in the other direction. "No, I really think you need to hear this. You have put me on such a pedestal that I have nowhere to go but down. It doesn't matter what I say, or what I do, I'm never going to live up to the great Prue Halliwell you've envisioned in your head. Even when we were kids, and together 24/7, I was supposedly with Andy too much, or neglecting you for Paige, or hiding when I just wanted a minute alone."

"That's not –" Piper started, but Prue took an unexpected turn in her pacing and popped up at her side.

"I do spend time with you Piper. We went the movies two weeks ago, and out for drinks at Maloney's, and shopping last Tuesday...but like always, instead of enjoying our time together, you wasted it being mad. I know you insecure, and I know you're always waiting for the other shoe to drop, but you are never satisfied with what you have."

Piper looked her sister straight in the eye. "Don't you dare try to pin this on me. Those drinks were only because you can't stand Dana and you wanted me to play interference. That shopping trip was your lunch break. And we only went to movies because Tom cancelled your date. I might ask for too much, but you give far too little, and I am the only one who gives a shit about this relationship."

"I care Piper." Prue replied with a heavy sigh, sick of the never-ending battle between them.

Piper ground her teeth. "See, you keep saying that...how this is all in my head, how close we still are, how important I am...but when push comes to shove, when I need more than empty promises and flowery declarations of love, you're not there."

Prue threw her hands up. "Well what do you want? A confession? An apology? A play date? Because as far as I can tell, we just spent the last four days together and didn't have much fun."

"I want my sister back." Piper answered, almost instantly.

Unshed tears welled in Prue's eyes. "I am your sister. I'm the same girl who fought the monsters under your bed, and taught you your primary colours, and showed you how to kick a boy in the nuts. Just like you're the same kid who was scared to start kindergarten, and who freaked out on her first date, and who didn't think she'd ever be able to make it through a year of college. I'm not saying that I haven't made mistakes, or that we don't have issues to work through...but things haven't changed that much. I know you think that everything was better when we were little, but I wouldn't trade the last few years for anything. I mean, come on... crazy bar nights, catastrophic dates, exam-related insanity, pointless debates, bad tv movies, that never to be spoke of again one night stand that never happened...that's the stuff our preteen fantasies were made of."

Piper gave Prue a hollow smile. "Yeah, but we sure didn't envision the fights, or feeling like strangers, or being apart for two years."

"But that's normal. Sisters fight, and disagree, and have problems they need to fix." Prue explained softly, trying to ease the pain in Piper's eyes.

"Not us." Piper muttered bitterly.

Prue sighed. "Yes us. Our relationship isn't perfect, we're always going to have something to overcome. But that doesn't mean there's something wrong, or that we're not what we used to be...it just means that we're growing up, and that our relationship needs to evolve."

"But what happens if it evolves into something we hate? What happens if we wake up one day and who we were is gone?" Piper looked up at her big sister, standing just out of reach. "You are my rock, my strength, and if I let you turn us into acquaintances who share their lives over a weekly coffee, then I've lost the only constant in my life. Mum died, dad left, Grams got married, Phoebe and Paige change, almost daily...but you, you're Prue, and I believed you when promised you'd always be there. You are the reason I survived all these years, and I cannot do this without you. "

Prue took a step forward and placed her hands on Piper's shoulders, leaning down until they ended up eye to eye. "Of course you can. I don't plan on leaving you, not even a little bit, but if I did...if I went to London and stayed, or moved out of state, or died, you would be fine." Piper looked entirely horrified and Prue backtracked quickly. "Not that the situation would be fine! Not by a long shot. But you would get through it because you're as brave I am, and twice as smart, and god help the person who tries to hurt someone you love. I get that you're scared, believe me, I do...but you can stand on your own two feet. In fact, you've been doing it for years. I might have been at your side, but you're the one who faced the bullies. You're the one who suffered through braces and acne and walked away stronger than ever. You're the one who decided you were too mature for the dorms and asked to move in with me. I will protect you till the day I die, but I will not let you hide in my shadow...you have too much to offer, and I have too many plans for our future that require you to have a fabulous life." Prue backed off until she could see Piper's entire face. "So this obsession with us stops right now. Right here. I love you, I need you, and nothing will ever tear us apart."

"They're just words Prue." Piper let out a poorly concealed sniffle. "Words I've heard before."

Prue closed her eyes in frustration. "Then what do I do? Because as it stands, I'm hiding in a bathroom while Grams lies at death's door, with a life I don't want, a past I can't shake, and burdens I can't handle...and I have nothing else to give you." Prue opened her eyes and let Piper see the tears start to fall. "I'm sorry that I'm not good enough, and I'm sorry that I failed you, but you have no idea how hard it is to be me. I am the eldest, the protector, and I have struggled through every day of my life. Do you think I was born knowing how to beat up boys, or put on mascara, or apply for student loans? No. I had to learn all by myself. This feeling you have... that the world's too big, that someone's out to get you at every turn, that you'll never figure it all out? I've felt like that since I was seven years old. Grams is amazing, but she wasn't mom, and she was so busy trying to take care of Paige, and keep Phoebe out of trouble, and make sure your voice was heard, that she forgot about me." The tears continued to slip down Prue's face, but the act was silent, like an illusion, and Piper was having a hard time reconciling Prue's frantic words with the impassive face in front of her. "Do you know what I want more than anything? More than mum, and dad, and Andy? More than the perfect life?" Prue's lip wobbled precariously. "To be a little sister. To have someone who will pick me up when I fall. And help me with my homework. And give me advice on boys. And show me how to be a grown up. To have someone who will lie to me and say it's all going to be alright." And then Prue's head sunk to her chest and she began to sob. Loud, heartbroken sobs that echoed out around the bathroom and tore at Piper's heart. Piper was off the counter with her arms around Prue's trembling form before she even knew what she was doing. Prue made a few half-hearted attempts to turn away, but Piper's hold was firm, and it was only a matter of time before Prue pressed her face into Piper's shoulder and clung to her like a child. Piper hugged back, and the power in their embrace brought them to their knees.

Prue cries raged on, releasing the pain of empty chairs and promise rings, B grades and bad hair days, London and Grams...and Piper could do nothing but hold on with the strength of three sisters.

After what felt like an eternity, but was probably more like ten minutes, Prue's sobs started to ease, and eventually, she was doing nothing more than breathing heavily against Piper's sweatshirt.

When it was evident that Prue wasn't going to make the first move, Piper sat back on her heels, slowly peeling Prue off her shoulder. "Prue?"

Prue dropped her eyes to the floor the second Piper pulled away. "What?"

"I'm sorry." Prue let out another strangled sob and went to stand up, but Piper lunge forward and held her in place. "No! You were right, okay? I wasn't being fair."

Prue shook off Piper angrily. "Why? Because I cried and made you feel guilty? Just do me a favour, and –"

"Don't!" Piper exclaimed in panic. "Don't ruin things because you're feeling vulnerable." Piper paused to gauge Prue's reaction, and let out a sigh of relief at the stony silence. "I've been waiting for that for years."

"What? To see me suffer?" Prue spat out, well aware of her childish reaction, but unable to make herself care. She was weak, a failure, and now Piper knew.

Piper smiled at Prue's defensiveness, almost happily. "To prove that you're still you."

Prue glared, but had no idea what her sister was talking about, so she concentrated on wiping the lingering evidence of her breakdown from her cheeks. "Of course I'm still me."

Piper rolled her eyes and reached out to stop Prue from smearing her mascara all over her face. "Well ever since you hit puberty, you haven't really been acting like yourself."

"Yes, I was a horrible teenager, woe was had by all." Prue grumbled, wondering if she had any weak spots left for Piper to poke.

Piper laughed. "No...well, yes, but that's not what I'm getting at. It's like...you're so worried about what other people think that you've build your entire life around being something you're not." Prue opened her mouth to argue, but Piper cut her off with a head shake. "No, listen. I understand, I really do...you have all this responsibility and you're just trying to prove that you can handle it. To yourself or to everyone else I'm not sure, but fact is, you work hard at being popular, and a good student, and a valuable employee because you need to keep up appearances. That's how the world works, you fake it until you can do it, and naturally, you've done it better than anyone else I know." Piper inched closer while Prue was distracted by her words. "But the thing is...you don't know when to stop. You come home and you keep pretending to be that person...the girl who has to look busy, has to impress, has to hold it all together...and you forget that I knew you before you turned yourself into all those things. You seem to be under the impression that I want more time with you, well I don't, I just want you to be with me when we're together. The real you, the one who likes chocolate ice cream despite the calories, and watches chick flicks even although there's no artistic value, and tells tasteless jokes just because she can. But right now? I'm just a task on your to do list. Another person to please and another role to play. And I hate it. You are the only person in the whole world who lets me be me, the place that I go when I want to get away from expectations, and stress, and having to be a million things at once...and it kills me that I can't offer that back. That you don't feel safe enough to let everything go and just be yourself. No walls, no masks, no games."

"I don't do that with anyone." Prue muttered self-consciously, as if she was diverging a terrible secret.

"Did you hear the 'only' part of my speech? You're the one. The only person I trust completely. So believe me, I know how scary it is."

Prue growled in aggravation. "But I'm not like you Piper! I can't open up. If I could, you'd be first in line, but it's just..."

"Hard?" Piper supplied when Prue couldn't find an answer. "Has it ever occurred to you that I'm only open when I'm talking to you? That I might be just as hesitant to share my feelings, especially after so many years of teasing? That maybe I'm taking as big a risk crying in front of you, as you are with me?"

Prue squirmed. "You know I'd never make fun of you."

Piper shuffled forward until she was kneeling at Prue's side. "Of course not, but why can't you understand that it goes both ways? I know you've been burned with Dad and Andy, but it's me Prue...I would never leave, or use your tears against you, or run off to tell everyone we know. It's more than a promise, it's logic...it couldn't physically happen. I don't have it in me."

"I know Piper." Prue let out a disheartened sigh. "But it's just not that simple."

Piper threw up her hands. "Why? Why am I not allowed to see you cry? Or know when you have a problem? Or hear how you really feel about Tom? We have thin walls, we share a bathroom, we've been through the same schools, lived the same lives...if there's anyone in this world who can help you, it's me, so why do you insist on doing everything alone? Why do you make life so hard for yourself?"

Prue paused, trying to hide how much she was shaking. "Because mum should be here."

Piper frowned in confusion. "What?"

"Mum was..." Prue swallowed and started again. "When I was a kid, mum was the one who stopped my tears, fixed my problems...and now, no one can do what she did." Prue gave Piper an apologetic look. "Even you."

Piper took a deep breath. "Mum's dead."

"You think I don't know that?"

Piper ignored the fire in her sister's eyes. "No, I don't think you do. She's gone Prue, she'll never be here to comfort you, give advice or protect you from the world...so holding out, refusing to let anyone else in because they would take her place is pointless, if not entirely destructive. She wouldn't want you to suffer out of loyalty or grief, and she certainly wouldn't want you to lose out on life. Just because you can get through things by yourself, doesn't mean that you have to. Why live your life as the daughter she left behind, when you could be the sister who got to stay?"

"Because..." Prue trailed off, unwilling to voice her thoughts out loud, terrified that it would make them real.

"I'm not her, I'm not going anywhere." Piper assured, seeing all she needed to see in Prue's expression.

Prue leant back, as if she could ward off Piper's promise with physical distance. "But you could Piper! If I let you in, if I let myself rely on you like I relied on her...and you die, I would be destroyed. I would cease to exist. The pain of death is the worst feeling in the world, and I would rather face a thousand heart breaks alone in my room than go through a second of that again." Prue looked away. "I'm sorry...it's not fair, and it's not right, but I can't put myself in that kind of position. It's just too much to ask."

"So where does regret fit into this master plan of yours?" Prue turned back around and Piper raised a challenging eyebrow. "Because I think I know you well enough to know that if you keep me at a distance...and I die, just like you fear, you're going hate yourself for everything we missed out on." Piper tipped her head to the side so she could catch Prue's wandering eyes. "I mean, I get it, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't...but do you really want to spend your life preparing for my death, just so you can sit back and say it didn't hurt as much as it could have? Is that really worth forgoing a lifetime of memories? Friendship? Love?"

"I..." Prue stopped, unsure of her answer.

"Look, I'm not trying to guilt you into this, but mum was an only child. She knew what it was like to go through life alone, and she had me because she wanted you to have someone to grow up with. So don't let that go to waste, don't let your fears ruin the happy ending she tried to give you...regardless of whether she was alive or not. I can take care of you just as well as you can take care of me, and there's no reason for you to do this alone."

The room lapse into a tense silence as Prue mulled over Piper's words. Just as Piper was beginning to think that she'd pushed it too far with the mum issue, Prue cracked a smile. "When did you get so damn insightful?"

"When you became so damn dumb. It might not seem like it, but I've done a lot of growing up over the last two years. I'm not the awkward teenager I was once, and it's all because you told me to start facing my fears, instead of running from them."

"Subtle." Prue commented wryly.

"As your subject change." Piper retorted with a pointed look.

Prue sighed. "I don't know Pipe, I really don't. This emotions stuff doesn't come easily to me. Most of the things you're talking about are subconscious...things I've been doing for years, and don't even notice I'm doing anymore. I will stop taking you for granted, and I'll try to make more time for us, real time, but the rest...the feelings, and the trust, and the opening up? I don't know if I can do it. I mean, I can say what you want me to say, but when the time comes, when you want me to expose some part of myself that I've never exposed before...I just can't predict how I'll act."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Why do you always do that? Why do you always take something simple and blow it up into this major catastrophe? I'm not asking you to list all your sins, or expose your darkest desires, or make profound speeches...I just want to be part of your life. I want to make dinner together and talk about our days. I want you to knock on my door after a date and tell me something juicy. I want you to phone me when your boss is driving you crazy and you need to bitch. Nothing special, nothing big...just us, being us. So that we can get back to where we were when we could tell each other anything. These things take time and effort, and honestly, we might never get there...but all I need is for you to want to get there too."

Prue eyed Piper for a lengthily pause, before she gave a small nod. "Okay."

Piper blinked. "For real? No more lies, or holding back, or pretending that your fine?"

"Yes. But I want some things from you too. No more sulking or silent treatments. If you have a problem, you come to me and we solve it. This is a fresh start, so you can't hold the past against me. No insecurities about your place in my life and no more accusations about me not being around. Things aren't always going to be perfect...I'll screw up, you'll screw up, but what matters is how we handle it, okay?"

Piper nodded. "Okay. But I'm adding another promise."

Prue groaned. "Of course you are."

"This is serious." Piper replied gravely, killing the playful mood. "I want you to promise me that you'll never hurt yourself."

Prue stared back steadily. "On mum's grave."

Piper read Prue's eyes for a minute, testing her sincerity, before she broke out into a grin. "So...are we up to hugging yet?"

Prue rolled her eyes and opened her arms, laughing as Piper pretended to tackle her to the floor. "We're too old for this shit." Prue decided once they'd settled into a more respectable side hug.

Piper snorted. "Speak for yourself, I am a specimen of youthfulness and vitality."

"Like Viagra?" Prue asked with a raised eyebrow.

Piper nodded solemnly. "Exactly like Viagra." After a moment of silence, Piper pursed her lips. "You're trying to work out a dirty innuendo, aren't you?"

Prue scoffed. "Please. Like I'd ever...wait, I got one. Piper Halliwell, always happy to see you."

Piper giggled and leant into her sister. "So where does this leave us?"

Prue looked around. "On the floor of a public bathroom...with a sick grandmother and two rebellious teenagers."

Piper sighed. "Yeah. I've been thinking–"

"Would the family of Penelope Halliwell please report to the front desk." A dull voice interrupted from the intercom. "Family of Penelope Halliwell."

Piper swallowed and sat up, trying to quell the sudden queasiness in her stomach. "I guess we should..."

"Yeah." Prue replied in a detached tone of voice, staring at the speaker like it was something she'd never seen before.

When it was clear that Prue was lost in a daze, Piper stood up and pulled Prue off the floor, bravely leading them both towards the door. "Prue?"

Prue took a deep breath. "Yes?"

"It's all going to be okay."

---

Twenty minutes later, Piper stared at the still figure on the bed. The doctor had used the various medical terms Piper had been accustomed to since Grams' last heart attack...resuscitation, defibrillation, thrombolysis, blood transfusion, nitroglycerin...but the only part that stuck with her was the phrase 'pulled through'. The doctor had said Grams' heart had been severely weakened and that he'd need to run more tests, but she was alive and that was all that mattered.

Piper placed her hand on the bed, not quite touching Grams' hand.

The steady beep of the machines that surround them assured Piper that Grams was okay, but there was just something so unnatural about seeing the all powerful Penny Halliwell lying motionless on a hospital bed.

Grams' eyelids flickered. "Patty?"

Piper swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. "No Grams, it's Piper."

Grams eyes opened in a panic. "Patty!"

Piper grabbed her hand, stilling her grandmother's movement on the bed. "You're at the hospital Grams, you had another heart attack."

It took a moment for Piper's words to sink in, but when they did, Grams inspected her IV tube and hospital bracelet with a sense of wonder. "She was there."

Piper shifted on her chair, unsure of what to do with that comment. "Grams, do you know who I am?"

Grams turned towards Piper, as if she was seeing her for the first time, and everything snapped back into place. The room focused, the pain returned, and Grams' grip on Piper's hand loosened. "Yes, dear." Piper tensed, unsatisfied with the ambiguous response, and Grams heaved the best sigh she could manage. "Piper." This time, there was no mistaking the 'Gramsness' in her voice.

"Oh thank god! I really thought I'd lost you this time. The drive was so long, and your lips were so blue, and I was so scared." Piper blurted out all at once, dissolving into a weepy set of tears. Grams squeezed her hand, and Piper tried to get control of herself, realising that this wasn't the kind of thing Grams needed to hear. "I'm sorry." Piper wiped her nose on her sleeve. "I'm sorry. Prue went to go find Phoebe and Paige..." Piper trailed off with a frown. Now that she thought about it, her sisters should have been back a long time ago. The coffee shop was right beside the ER. "Uh...so they'll be here soon." Piper moved on quickly. "Do you want me to call a nurse? You're not supposed to be awake yet."

Grams nodded , the pain in her chest was making her nauseous and as much as she loathed to admit it, her thoughts were anything but clear. One second it was Piper talking to her, then it was her mother.

Piper pushed the call button and quickly returned to her seat. "How are you feeling? Can I get you anything? Water? Ice chips? Another blanket?"

"I'd like to sit up." Grams replied, hating the helplessness tone in her voice. As much pain as she was in, and as little energy she had, Grams knew she needed to look presentable to her other granddaughters. And lying flat on her back, drugged up to all hell, wasn't quite the look Grams was aiming for.

Piper shook her head. "I don't think you should move yet. You have stitches, and the –"

"Please. Your sisters –"

"Would like to you to stay exactly where you are." Prue announced as she walked through the door, dragging Phoebe and Paige behind her. Piper raised her eyebrow at her little sisters' sweaty state, but Prue shook her head with a 'don't ask' message. "Causing trouble already? At least we know where Phoebe gets it from." Prue made her way to the other side of Grams' bed and gave her a very uncharacteristic kiss on the cheek. "It's good to see you. I've been worried."

"To say the least." Piper teased as she relinquished her hold on Grams' hand and sat back to let her sisters have a turn.

Prue gave Grams a sheepish grin. "Let's just say the receptionist will be very glad you're okay."

Grams gave Prue a heartfelt smile, the likes of which Prue hadn't seen in years, before turning her attention to the two silent figures, frozen in the doorway. "Well?" Grams questioned and Phoebe gulped, still trying to wrap her mind around seeing Grams looking so frail. "I won't bite."

And that was all it took for Phoebe to race across the hospital room and throw her arms around her grandmother.

"Gentle!" Prue admonished as she went to haul Phoebe away, but Grams' hand shot out and pushed her back.

"It's okay." Grams said, trying to mask the waver in her voice. "Let her be."

Phoebe clung to Grams' neck, taking in her familiar smell. "I'm going to be so good. You won't have to yell at me ever again." Phoebe squeezed even tighter. "I'll even clean my room."

Grams let out a pained laugh. "I'm glad to hear it." Prue and Piper exchanged nervous looks, picking up on Grams' discomfort.

"Just don't leave me." Phoebe mumbled into Grams' hospital gown.

"Come on Pheebs, let's give Grams a bit of space." Prue interjected when it became clear that Phoebe had no intention of ever letting go, and this time, Grams gave Prue a grateful look as she reached out to lift Phoebe away. After a few gentle tugs, Phoebe moved into Prue's waiting arms, leaning back against her big sister like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Ew. You're all sweaty." Prue complained as she tightened her hold.

Grams eyed the display with a certain degree of suspicion, but didn't have time to comment, as there was still someone trying to be forgotten. "Paige, sweetheart, come here." Paige looked up from where she was slumped against the wall, scuffing her sneaker along the floor.

"Uh...right...yeah, okay." Paige took a shaky step forward.

Grams gave her a sympathetic smile. "Please darling, I'd like to see you." Paige nodded, but remained rooted to her spot, staring at Grams like she was some sort of alien. "Today. Grams added with an edge of impatience.

"Um..." Paige moved an inch.

Grams opened her mouth to give some firm encouragement, when Piper jumped off her chair, grabbed Paige's hand and dragged her to Grams' bed.

Grams' mouth snapped shut at Piper's horribly presumptuous move. Paige was going to have a fit, which would set Phoebe off, and then Prue would get involved, and Piper would run off to cry, and Grams couldn't...

Grams gulped and turned her attention to Paige, mentally preparing herself for every apocalyptic situation...

Except the one that happened.

After a mere second of hesitation, Paige sat down on Piper's lap, welcomed Piper's arms her around middle and burst into tears. "I'm sorry! I was so mean, and rude, and stupid, but I didn't want to leave, and you were acting so okay, and I thought it didn't matter, and I'm sorry." Paige wailed as she clung to her big sister.

Grams blinked, entirely stunned by the spectacle in front of her.

"Hey, hey. We talked about this. Grams will understand why you acted the way you did." Piper stated, twisting to look Paige in the eye.

"I will?" Grams questioned dumbly, distracted by the way Piper's hand trailed through Paige's hair without the slightest complaint.

"Go on squirt, let it all out." Grams whipped her head round, taking in Prue's sympathetic expression. It had sounded like Prue's voice, but there was no way Prue would encourage Paige to ramble on. Patience was not her strength, and emotional disclosures tended to take on an interrogative format in her presence.

"No escaping." Phoebe added, giving Paige a playful grin. Okay, maybe Grams had been asleep for da...weeks? And her granddaughters had been so distraught that...but Piper and Paige were wearing the same clothes they wore at breakfast.

Maybe the drugs were giving her hallucinations?

Grams sighed. Regardless of her confusion, Paige was upset, and that had to be her priority. "What's wrong sweetheart?"

Paige sniffed from where she was hiding against Piper's shoulder. "I gave you a heart attack."

"You did not. I had a heart attack because I'm an old woman who's done far too many things in her life. I certainly don't enjoy your bad behaviour, but it's hardly the most stressful part of my life." Phoebe tensed at Grams' words. "None of you are. Everything happens for a reason, and one day...well, that's for another time." Grams lifted her head off the pillow to give Paige a conspiring smile. "Plus, I probably shouldn't have been rearranging the furniture in my room."

"Grams!" Piper scolded for show, seeing straight through the lie.

"See? It's no one's fault." Prue whispered to Phoebe as Grams stretched her hand out for Paige to take.

Paige hesitated, but only for a moment. "I'm really happy you're okay." Paige said as she clutched Grams hand like a piece of China.

Grams squeezed Paige's hand as hard as she could. "Me too."

"Me three." Phoebe added with a big grin.

"Me four." Piper echoed as she readjusted Paige in her lap.

After a silent pause, everyone in the room turned to Prue. "What are we, the Brady bunch?" Paige and Piper gave her a freakily identical glare. "Oh whatever, me five."

Piper snickered at Prue's embarrassment, before she turned back to Grams. "Speaking of wacky living arrangements, Prue and I have been talking, and we think it would be best if we moved back into the manor."

"Really?" Phoebe asked in excitement, practically bouncing in Prue's arms.

"Yes." Prue answered with a nod. "Grams will need some help, and you two need –"

"Absolutely not." Grams cut in sternly.

Piper sat up in alarm. "Are we not allowed to come home? I mean, you said –"

Grams sighed. "You're always welcome at the manor, but I'm not some helpless invalid, and in a few weeks time, everything will be back to normal. Now, you're right to assume that I'll need your help to look after your sisters, but the arrangement will be temporary, and you two can return to your apartment as soon as I'm back on my feet."

Prue rested her chin on Phoebe's shoulder. "But we want to come home."

Grams shook her head. "I don't want to hear any more of this nonsense, I am more than–"

"We know Grams." Prue interrupted with an eye roll. "But Piper and I want to help. This is your second heart attack, and we all think it's time you slowed down. We're not going to shackle you to the bed, or take away your independence, but you've looked after us for all these years, and it's our turn to return the favour. Plus, I miss Phoebe and Paige, and it would be nice to spend some time as a family." Grams would have pinched herself had she not had 26 painful stitches to remind her of her consciousness. "Piper and I have already worked it all out. I'll reduce my hours at the office, and Phoebe can have my car to drive her and Paige to school, and Piper can take weekend shifts. Money might be a little tight, but we won't have to pay rent, so we'll manage. Summer's coming up, so I'll finally be able to take a salaried job. Piper and I can move back into my room, and Paige can move back into Phoebe's room..." Prue stopped to check with her little sisters, knowing how particular they could be able their living arrangements. "If that's alright with them, that is."

Phoebe shrugged. "It's cool." Paige supported her sister's sentiment with a nod.

Prue gave them both small smiles, before she turned back to Grams. "See? We've got it covered. So the only thing you need to worry about is getting better."

Grams looked at all four of her girls in amazement and opened her mouth to speak.

"Well, this is quite a gathering, isn't it?" A nurse breezed into the room, depositing Grams' chart at the end of her bed. "Although I do wonder how all four of you managed to get in here when it's well past visiting hours and the hospital policy restricts post-op patients to two guests at a time."

"I'm stealthy." Phoebe explained with her good girl smile.

"I'm small." Paige added in her innocent voice.

Prue bit her lip to keep a straight face. "Sorry. It was my fault, I didn't want to leave my little sisters alone at a time like this." Prue paused for effect. "They've just been so distraught, you know? Weeping endlessly. I mean I haven't been able to leave their sides for hours. Hours." Piper shot Prue a look, not so subtly indicating that she should knock off the dramatics. "But we're all good now." Prue ended cheerfully.

"Mmm." The nurse replied as she examined Grams vitals on the machines. "And what about you Miss Halliwell? I suppose you have an equally colourful explanation to why you're awake two hours before you should be?"

"I fancied a shot of morphine." Grams remarked with a grin, and Phoebe laughed into a pretend cough.

The nurse shook her head and checked Grams' respirator. "Well, it will be a shame to see you go."

Prue frowned. "What do you mean?"

The nurse noted something on the chart and looked up. "Dr. Michaels has cleared your grandmother for a transfer to San Francisco General. Our hospital is a bit short on beds, and we prefer patients to be attended by their regular cardiologist." The nurse busied herself with attaching a bag of morphine to Grams' IV pole. "She flies out tomorrow afternoon."

"Like, in a helicopter?" Phoebe asked excited and nurse nodded absentmindedly. "Can I go too?"

Prue rolled her eyes. "No Phoebe. We have to get our stuff from the cottage and drive home."

"Oh." Phoebe pouted. "That's no fun."

The nurse released the valve on the Morphine and stood back. "There we are...one psychedelic cocktail to go." Phoebe and Paige exchanged a look, highly amused by the thought of Grams being stoned. The nurse returned Grams' chart to its rightful place and crossed her arms at the doorway. "Well ladies, as entertaining as your visit has been, it's time to give your grandmother some rest. She's had a difficult day, and right now, she needs to sleep. But you're all welcome to come back tomorrow morning...two at a time, of course." The nurse turned to Prue. "But I'm afraid I'll need someone to fill out some paperwork tonight."

"I'll do it." Piper volunteered as she removed Paige from her lap. "I know her history the best." Piper gave Grams a quick hug and headed towards the door, stopping when she realised that the nurse wasn't beside her.

The nurse cleared her throat at the other occupants at the room. "I'll go too." Paige quickly announced, scurrying to Piper's side.

The nurse gave her an appreciative smile, satisfied with the dwindling numbers in the room. As nice as these girls seemed to be, her job was to take care of her patient, and right now, Penelope Halliwell needed to rest. "Five minutes." The nurse warned Prue as she lead Piper and Paige out the door.

Prue and Phoebe shared an annoyed eye roll, before Prue released Phoebe from her arms and moved to Grams' side. "I'll book us into a motel for tonight so we can be here first thing tomorrow. But before we go, do you want anything?"

"No dear, you've done more than enough." Grams replied with a weak smile.

Prue took a moment to examine Grams' weary expression, before she turned to Phoebe. "Can you go get the car? There's money in my purse for parking."

Phoebe nodded and gave Grams a long hug. "Feel better soon."

Grams smiled at the emotion in Phoebe's voice. "I already do darling."

Phoebe gave Grams one last squeeze, before she pulled back and made her way towards the door. "See you tomorrow." Phoebe waved as she left the room, quiet and subdued.

Once she was sure she was gone, Prue turned back to Grams. "Okay, now it's just you and me. I know you're in pain, and I know you're more worried than you're letting on, so please tell me what I can do. Is the morphine working? Do you want me to get the nurse again? I can send Piper with Phoebe and Paige if you need to me to stay with you tonight."

Grams remained silent for a few minutes, giving Prue an intense once over, before she patted the bed beside her. "Sit with me Prudence." Prue hesitated, unsure about invading Grams' personal space. "Please."

Prue soon sat down on the edge of the bed, careful not to jostle Grams' fragile form. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just want to talk to you."

Prue held up her hand. "Wait. I already know what you're going to say. I promise I'll take care of them. I know I haven't been the best granddaughter or sister, but –"

"Stop." Grams said softly, putting her hand on Prue's knee.

Prue shook her head. "No Grams. I swear I can do this. I know it'll be hard, but I'm –"

"Prudence, stop!" Grams interrupted forcefully.

Prue looked away and felt the sting of tears in her eyes. "Okay." Grams didn't believe her. It's not like Prue didn't understand, but still, didn't Grams know that Prue would do anything for her family? Did she see how hard Prue was trying?

"Go to London."

Prue turned back to Grams, certain that she'd misheard. "I'm sorry?"

"Go to London and live your dream."

Prue blinked. "But...but I can't leave. Not with you...and Piper, and Paige. I...thanks, I mean, really...thank you, but I can't."

Grams eyes narrowed. "Now you listen here, you have given up the last fifteen years of your life for me and your sisters. It's your turn to get out there and find your happiness."

"Yeah, but you said–"

Grams shook her head. "No! I was wrong. You're ready, you're all ready."

Prue glanced at the morphine drip out the corner of her eye. "Ready for what?"

"It doesn't matter. What does matter is that you take this opportunity to be young, and free, and normal. You did it, you found the power of three, so now you go and make the most of the time you have left. You go and enjoy the life I always wanted to give you."

Prue licked her lips. "Grams, you're not making much sense."

Grams continued on as if Prue hadn't said anything. "But when that day comes, when your destiny finds you, you have to remember how you felt tonight, how much your sisters mean to you."

"Of course they –" Prue started, but Grams cut her off.

"Promise me Prudence. Promise me you'll keep them together."

Prue was rather freaked out by the urgency in Grams' tone. "Grams, I –"

"Promise." Grams commanded, grabbing onto Prue's hand with bone crushing strength.

"I promise." Prue affirmed, looking Grams straight in the eye.

Grams collapsed back onto the bed in relief. "Good...good."

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Prue cleared her throat. "Right. Well, I should...go. Let you sleep."

Grams gave Prue's leg another pat. "Yes darling. Your sisters will be waiting."

Prue bent down and gave Grams a hug, making sure to avoid all the sore bits. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Survive." Grams answered, believing it for the first time in years. "You'd survive." Prue opened her mouth to argue, but Grams shook her head authoritatively. "No dear, no more of that. It is what it is. Now, you better go get those sisters of yours into bed or tomorrow will be miserable for us all." Prue let out a laugh as she climbed off the bed.

"No truer words have ever been spoken." Prue picked up her purse and slowly walked to the door, dreading the thought of leaving Grams behind. "Are you sure you don't..." Prue trailed off at Grams' look. "Right, you're good." Prue sighed when she realised she couldn't linger any longer. "Goodnight Grams."

"Goodnight." Grams whispered as Prue disappeared out the door.

Moments later, in the quiet of the hospital room, Grams stared up at the ceiling with tears in her eyes. "We did it Patty, we made the Charmed Ones."

---

Chapter 13- My Girl (Part 1)

"I could –"

"No."

"Well what about –"

"No."

"I just want to –"

"No!" Prue exclaimed as she unlocked the manor's front door and lead her sisters inside.

Piper heaved a dramatic sigh. "But my pizza is so much better."

Phoebe tossed her duffel bag somewhere behind her and threw an arm around Piper, completely oblivious to Paige's curse as she tripped over the abandoned luggage on her way through the door. "Of course it is...but I want food now."

Piper huffed. "It would take an hour, tops."

Prue rolled her eyes as she listened to the messages on the answering machine. "There aren't any groceries in the house Piper."

"So? We can go to that little place down the road to get some Mozzarella, and then we can go to Marcel's to buy some vegetables, and then over to – "

"Or I could call the pizza man and have him deliver premade goodness right to our door." Prue sat down on the couch and threw her feet up onto the table. "In 40 minutes or it's free."

Phoebe joined her sister on the couch, placing her hands behind her head. "What she said."

Paige jumped over the couch arm and squeezed in on Prue's other side. "Sorry Pipe, but they speak nothing but sense."

Piper crossed her arms in indignation. "You all suck."

"And swallow." Phoebe added with a wicked grin.

Prue smacked the Phoebe on the back of her head and nodded towards Paige. "Watch it."

Paige grunted and reached for the remote. "I am a sophomore you know."

"Animals! I'm living with animals." Piper gripped as she picked her suitcase up off the floor and started up the stairs. The only response she received was the TV being turned on. "I'm going to take a shower." Piper announced to anyone who was listening.

Prue waved over her shoulder while Paige tipped her head back to look up at Piper. "There's shampoo and conditioner under my bed."

Piper paused in confusion. "Why isn't it in the bathroom?" Prue snatched the remote out of Paige's hand while she was distracted.

"Because Phoebe uses all of my stuff and doesn't replace it." Piper rolled her eyes and Phoebe lifted her middle finger, but Paige ignored them both. "I'm making a statement."

"Good luck with that." Piper muttered as she disappeared around the top of the stairs.

Paige turned back to the TV and snorted at Prue's choice in programming. "You want to watch football?"

Prue shrugged. "Tom might be playing."

"But Prrrrrrue. It's boring." Phoebe whined as she eyed the remote in her sister's hand.

Prue lifted the remote out of reach and gave Phoebe a hard look. "Too bad, I want to watch."

Unfortunately, out of reach for Phoebe was precisely in reach for Paige, and the youngest Halliwell snatched the remote out of Prue's hand without a second's pause.

Phoebe groaned even louder when she saw what Paige picked. "The news! God, what's wrong with you two?"

Prue tried to grab the remote back. "I was watching something!"

Paige twisted away and shoved the remote down her shirt, repeatedly smacking Prue's hand away. "I was watching first."

"Yeah, well..." Prue managed to snake her hand halfway down Paige's shirt. "I was born first." Prue pinned Paige to the couch and yanked the remote away. "Let that be a lesson to you." Prue declared as she smoothed her hair back into place and turned back to the TV, a bit surprised to see MTV blaring away. "Nice try Pheebs." Prue commented as she pointed the remote that TV. "But we're going to watch –" Prue paused when her button pressing yielded no results. "What the..." Paige giggled as Prue pressed the buttons frantically.

"Shush!" Phoebe threw her sisters a scathing look. "I'm watching this!"

Prue noticed the footstool Phoebe had shoved in front of the sensor when she'd gotten up to manually change the channel. "Oh please, MTV is just commercial crap. I mean, really, what's the point in –" Prue's eyes widened at Kurt Cobain's appearance on screen. "Hello."

"Mmmhmm." Phoebe mumbled as she leant forward to see better.

Paige tilted her head to the left. "He looks like he's got a really big–"

"Guitar." Prue cut in forcefully.

"Mmmhmm." Phoebe echoed and all three girls lapsed into a harmonious silence in respect to the eye candy in front of them.

However, the allure of attractive men could only so far, and Prue's thoughts soon slipped away from rock stars to London. London and Grams. London and her sisters. London. Prue had been putting off telling her sisters for the last 24 hours...there was enough to worry about with Grams' transfer and the drive home, and Prue needed some time to make sense of everything in her head. But now they were here and time was running out. Not only had she made a promise to Piper to be more open, they were going back to SF General tomorrow morning and Grams was not one to bite her tongue. But what was Prue supposed to say? How could she tell Piper and Paige that she was still thinking about leaving after everything they'd just been through? How could she tell her little sisters, the three people who looked up to her, that she was selfish enough to go when Grams' heart was so weak?

But more importantly...how could she lie to them and say she wanted to stay, when everything in her was crying out to go?

Twenty minutes later, Piper came down the stairs and groaned at her sisters' zombie-like states. "Have you even ordered the pizza yet?"

"Phoebe, go get the phone." Prue muttered without taking her eyes off the screen.

"Paige, go get the phone." Phoebe commanded instantly.

Paige looked over her shoulder and gave Piper a pathetic pout. "Pipe? Can you get the phone?"

Piper grunted and tossed the cordless at Prue. "Large, light on the sauce, Italian sausage, pan seared not pre-cooked, yellow pepper, thinly sliced, extra garlic, extra oregano, a sprinkle of parmesan, freshly grated mozzarella and a few slices of tomato at the end."

Prue dialled the number she knew by heart. "Hi Mike, delivery for the Halliwells. Extra large pepperoni. Yeah, great. Bye." Prue pressed end and handed it back to Piper with an innocent grin. "All done." Piper narrowed her eyes, but before she had a chance to come up with a choice reply, the doorbell rang. Prue and Piper jumped in surprise, while Phoebe and Paige remained entirely engrossed in the TV. "That's some delivery service."

Piper rolled her eyes as Prue cracked up at her own joke. "I'll get it."

Prue jumped up from the couch. "No, I will." Prue pushed Piper into the free space on the couch. "Sit. Relax. Enjoy."

Piper glanced at the music video on screen and raised an amused eyebrow. "Prudence Halliwell, are you willingly watching...let me see, how did you put it? 'mind controlling garbage that marginalises women, glorifies hedonism, and degenerates the core values of our society'?"

Prue made a hasty retreat towards the front door. "Gotta go!"

Once she reached the front door, Prue peered through the peephole and sighed at the person waiting on the other side. With a quick look over her shoulder to make sure that her sisters weren't looking her way, Prue opened the door and slipped out onto the porch.

Glenn looked up from where he was playing around on his skateboard. "Prue! Long time, no see. Is Paige home?"

Prue pulled the door shut behind her firmly. "She is."

Glenn grabbed his backpack from the ground and moved towards the door. "Awesome." When Prue made no move to let him inside, Glenn paused, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Uh...so...can I go see her?"

Prue leant back against the door. "In a minute."

Glenn's smile faltered as he noticed her tense body language. "Is this about Grams? Because Paige phoned me from the hospital." Glenn paused to riffle around his pocket. "See!" Glenn produced a slightly squished package of lollipops. "I brought her comfort food." Glenn went to open the bag. "You can have one, if you want."

Prue was momentarily thrown by his enthusiasm, as if everything in the world could be solved by lollipops and best friends. God, he reminded her of Andy. "No thanks. That's very kind of you Glenn, I'm sure Paige will love it..." And this is where Glenn's adorability ran out because no matter how cute, or how many years she'd spent babysitting him, Glenn was a boy who had put his hands on her baby sister. "But we need to have a talk."

Glenn jumped back, so much so that the backs of his shoes tottered over the edge of the top step. "She made me do it!"

Prue blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Paige. She asked me to go down –"

Prue threw her hand out. "Whoa! Okay, I don't need the details."

"...town." Glenn finished with a puzzled frown. "Wait. What talk are we having here?"

Prue squinted in suspicion. "What talk do you think we're having?"

Glenn hugged his backpack against his chest. "I just want to see Paige. Please?"

"No." Prue crossed her arms. "Now, why did Paige ask you to go downtown?"

"She wan–" Glenn paused abruptly. "Were you talking about...um, dating or something?"

"Or something." Prue replied icily.

Glenn's mouth went dry. "Oh."

Prue took a minute to run her eyes over Glenn, taking in his floppy hair, ripped jeans and recent growth spurt, before she pushed herself off the door and strolled forward. "So here's the thing...I like you Glenn. I really do. You've been Paige's best friend since you were four and I think of you as a little brother. But I will not tolerate you having sex with my sister."

"I...we...it..." Glenn squeaked out a poor attempt at words.

Prue took a deep breath. "There's no point in denying it. You're busted. Now, you can't change the past, and I do understand that things can happen in the heat of the moment, but from this point forward, there will be no sexual activity in your relationship." Prue cringed as the various speeches Grams had given to her over the years echoed through her words.

Glenn looked at his shoes to hide his blush. "But we're careful about stuff."

"You better be." Prue threatened angrily, before she remembered that it wasn't actually what she was concerned about. Paige was smart enough to use protection, hopefully for the sake of remaining without child and STDs, but failing that, the ever present threat of Prue's wrath. Because if she even thought about forgoing at least three kinds of birth control, Prue would chain her to her bed...er...kitchen table. Prue took a minute to enjoy the overprotective fantasies in her head. Grams, the scariest woman in the history of the world, had taught her that the most important part of any lecture was the pause. The moment when every worst case scenario was looming. Glenn started to squirm and Prue knew it was time to continue on. "Sex is an adult act with adult consequences, and you and Paige are far too young to understand the complexities of such behaviour."

Glenn scuffed his shoe along the ground. "I love her Prue."

Prue gave him a curt nod. "Okay."

"And I try to make it good." Prue raised an incredulous eyebrow and Glenn jerked his head up in panic. "Wait! I didn't mean it like that. I mean I try to make our relationship good. I'm not like Vincent. We only did stuff when Paige wanted to do it. And I did my best to make sure it didn't hurt when we..." Glenn gulped. "And...and I care about her, you know? As a girlfriend, and a...a...lover. I don't do things she doesn't enjoy...like, sometimes she's gets scared, or it hurts, or we feel stupid, and we stop. So I swear I'm not in it for the..." Glenn trailed off in defeat. "I just want to make her happy."

Prue tried to sort through Glenn's somewhat horrifying ramble in her head. "Hold on...what did you mean by 'I'm not like Vincent'?"

Glenn froze. "Um. I didn't...shit. Can you forget I said that? Paige would kill me for saying anything."

"Glenn, I need to know if something happened." Glenn looked away and Prue grabbed his shoulders. "If he did something to her..."

"No! No. It was nothing like that." Glenn leant forward to eliminate any chance of Paige hearing them. "It's just...he wanted her to do stuff she didn't want to do. And when she said no, he dumped her."

"The bastard."

"Yeah." Glenn added with a barely suppressed snarl.

After a tense beat, Prue released Glenn from her death grip. "She said no?"

"Oh yeah."

Prue couldn't help but be amused by Glenn's gloating, but this was a serious sex talk, and Prue had a duty to scare the shit out of him. "Good. That means she understands the concept of abstinence. Do you understand the concept of abstinence Glenn?"

Glenn gulped. "Yes."

"Fabulous. So let's just go ahead and declare that your new motto. Now, you're a pretty smart guy, so I'm sure you've figured out what I'm saying here. But just in case you feel like its open to interpretation, I'll give you some specifics. Your hands will remain outside of clothing, your mouth will remain on hers, and you'll keep it in your pants at all times. You will not be alone in an unsupervised environment, you will not brag about Paige in any sexual way, and you will not say anything to my sister that you wouldn't say to your mother." Prue shoved her hands in her pockets and leant back with calculated nonchalance. "You will not look down her shirt. You will not use her in your fantasies. You will not have any physical reaction to her presence whatsoever. And..." Prue pulled out another lengthy pause, "...you will smile, because you are damn happy to be respecting Paige's virtue. Do I make myself clear?" Glenn nodded. "First time you get caught I tell your parents and Grams. Second time I chaperone all your time together. Third time...well, let's just sum it up as the end of the line. Got it?"

Glenn let out a dejected sigh. "Got it."

"Oh buck up kid, you've still got the girl." Prue stepped aside, giving Glenn access to the door. "So go get her." Glenn hesitated, as if Prue might take a swing at him as he passed her by. "Go on." This time Glenn decided to take the risk as he darted forward, praying to make it through the door without further incident. But he only got halfway there before Prue called out again. "And Glenn?"

Glenn swallowed, fearing the absolute worst. "Yes?"

Prue gave him a tiny smile. "She choose the right guy. Five years too early...but still. Thank you."

"Would you stop? I'm sure Prue is fine." Phoebe admonished as Piper cast another worried look at the closed door. "Grams probably called Mrs. Trudeau to come and check up on us. You know how weird Prue gets with her."

"Maybe." Piper muttered as she slumped back in her seat, unconvinced.

Paige nodded on Piper's other side. "You're worrying over nothing Piper. I mean, really, what's the worst that could happen when Prue stepped outside willingly?" As if in answer, the front door swung back open and three heads pop up over the back of the couch to see who was there.

Glenn cleared his throat awkwardly. "Hey guys."

"Oh god." Paige whispered as Prue followed him inside, an extraordinarily satisfied smirk on her face.

Phoebe let out a poorly concealed snort. "Oh that's fantastic."

Piper hit Phoebe on the arm and gave Glenn a friendly smile. "Hi Glenn."

Glenn gave her a shy wave. "Hi Piper."

Paige leapt up off the couch and dashed to Glenn's side. "Let's go upstairs." Paige went to grab his hand, thought better of it halfway through, and turned the movement into a hard shove in the direction on the stairs. "Now."

Prue stepped in between the couple, blocking Paige's path. "Door open."

Paige went to step around Prue. "Yeah right."

Prue clamped down on Paige's shoulder, holding her in place. "Door open."

"But Grams–" Paige started in the tone that always got her what she wanted, but Prue was unexpectedly immune.

"Isn't here. So either you keep your bedroom door open or the two of you sit down here with us." Prue gave Paige a big grin. "I mean, I'm sure we can find some home movies to watch. Maybe that one where you and Glenn run around the backyard naked? Wouldn't that be a nice walk down memory lane? With everyone here?"

Paige narrowed her eyes. "Don't threaten me."

Prue tapped Paige on the nose. "Don't do things I need you threaten you for."

Piper and Phoebe exchanged a concerned look. Prue and Paige were as stubborn as each other, and if left to their own devices, their arguments tended to end up as an endless cycle of yes versus no. Piper stood up from the couch. "Okay guys, let's–"

"You're not the boss of me!" Paige cut in with a petulant foot stomp.

"Wanna bet?" Prue let her eyes linger on Glenn.

Paige growled, but knew she was beat. Prue was in charge while Grams was away, and as much as it pained Paige to admit it, Prue's manipulative skills were not something to be messed with. "Arg! Fine. Whatever. I'll keep the stupid door open."

"I'm glad we agree." Prue stepped back and gestured at the stairs. "Be free."

Glenn scampered up the stairs as fast as he could. "Don't spy on us!" Paige warned over her shoulder as she chased after him, refusing to give in without the last word. Prue rolled her eyes as the twosome disappeared around the corner.

Phoebe pouted. "That wasn't entertaining."

Prue waited at the bottom of the stairs, listening for the slightest indication of door closing. "Sure it was."

Piper sat back down on the couch with a groan. "Please tell me you didn't."

Satisfied that Paige was sticking to her word, Prue turned around and skipped over to her sisters. "Okay, I didn't."

"Prue!" Piper smacked Prue's leg as she passed by. "You can't forbid them from having sex."

"Can. Did." Prue flopped onto the couch between her sisters. "And boy was it fun."

Phoebe snickered. "Did you threaten to beat him up? Break his legs? Destroy his manhood?"

Prue threw her feet up onto the coffee table. "Phoebe... I'm a big sister, not a thug."

"Oh." Phoebe muttered in disappointment.

Prue leant towards Phoebe conspiringly. "But I left plenty of opportunity for future...persuasion."

Phoebe grinned. "I know people who know people. Just say the word."

Piper grunted. "Could you two stop planning a hit on a 15 year old kid?"

"Oh please, it's a misdemeanour assault charge at best." Prue stretched her arms above her head. "Mr. Molton could get me off with ten hours of community service."

"You scare me." Piper replied, rather seriously.

Prue beamed. "Exactly. Trust me Pipe, I just bought us another year at least."

"Do you not remember what you and Andy were like? Forbidden sex is like the ultimate motivator."

Prue snorted. "Well you would know."

Phoebe wrinkled her nose. "Ew."

Piper locked eyes with Prue. "I bet Paige and Glenn get caught going at it by the end of the summer."

"This summer? No way. Paige's too much of a wimp." Phoebe stopped, an idea forming. "So let's call it. Piper says summer, I say within the year, Prue says after 1 year. We each put in $20, winner gets all."

Prue gave Piper a challenging grin. "$50."

"Easiest money I ever made." Piper pretended to scuff her nails on her shirt. "I could do with some new knives."

Prue's smile disappeared. "You can't encourage them to have sex."

"I'm not that hard up for win." Piper replied dryly.

Prue nodded, then turned on Phoebe. "That goes for you too. This bet is a game, Paige's innocence isn't."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Well, first off, Paige's innocence is long gone. And second, I'm the one who's going to have to share a room with the ho, so I have a pretty big interest in keeping Paige's activities as Prue-friendly as possible." Phoebe gave Prue a look of pity. "Although...I have to admit that sharing a room with her pales in comparison to the horror of what they've been doing on your old bed. You will be taking that back when you move in, yes?"

Prue cringed and Piper reached out to give her a consoling pat on the back. "I just hate to add to your distress...but I also used it last summer." Piper snickered. "Sorry."

Prue turned to Piper and gave her an equally enthusiastic pat on the back. "That's okay Pipe. You're sitting on the couch I lost my virginity on." Piper and Phoebe leapt off the couch with a synchronised shriek of horror. Prue collapsed in a fit of laughter.

"Ew ew ew! What's wrong with you?" Phoebe ripped her sweatshirt off and threw it across the room. "I'm telling Grams!"

Prue tried to control herself, but one look at her sisters' expressions, and the giggles started all over again. "I can't believe you fell for that!"

Piper whacked the back of Prue's head. "You're so gross!"

Prue dodged to avoid a second swipe, wheezing in laughter. "And. You. Are. So. Gullible."

Piper landed another hit. "You think it's funny, huh?"

Prue nodded, too overcome with hysterics to form complete words.

"I had sex in your car."

Prue chocked mid-laugh. "Piper!"

Phoebe covered her ears. "Ah! I'm deaf! I can never listen to another word again, for fear it might be about wantonness and depravity! Woe my purity and honour!"

"Because you're so angelic." Piper commented as she whipped a pillow at Phoebe's head.

Phoebe lowered her hands to catch the incoming projectile. "Yeah, but that's me. I don't want to know about you two..." Phoebe made a strange swooping gesture.

Prue's mouth twitched. "You mean, you don't want to know that Andy and I did it in the shower upstairs?"

"No!" Phoebe shrieked as she dropped the pillow to protect her ears.

"Or that Barry and I got a little carried away in the laundry room?" Piper yelled right by Phoebe's ear.

Phoebe swung around to glare, and Prue crept up on her other side. "Or that Carl and I used to make good use of the basement?"

Phoebe started humming and Piper leant even closer. "Or that you're using my old sheets?"

Prue tickled Phoebe's stomach, trying to force her to drop her hands. "Or that I had phone sex on the phone in your room?"

"Or that –" Piper paused. "Wait, what?" Piper leant backwards so she could see Prue. "You had phone sex on my phone?"

Prue shrugged. "You had sex in my car."

Phoebe glanced back and forth between her sisters, unable to understand their muffled words through her sound barrier.

"Yeah, but...ew!" Piper exclaimed in disgust.

Prue rolled her eyes. "Andy and I used to talk for hours. What did you think we were doing? Homework?"

Phoebe lowered her hands slowly.

"I didn't think you were getting him off! What if someone had picked up the phone?"

Phoebe yelped and put her hands back into place.

Prue grunted. "We were careful. Do we really need to discuss this?"

"You're so lucky Grams never caught you."

Prue grinned. "And that's why I'm the best."

"Mmm..." Piper muttered. "You're certainly something."

"Why thank you." Prue took a tiny bow.

Piper turned to Phoebe. "You can become un-deaf. We've stopped."

"WHAT?" Phoebe yelled, keeping her hands in place.

Piper yanked Phoebe's hand off her right ear. "We're done. Prue broke me."

Phoebe lowered her left hand warily. "You're sure?"

Prue rolled her eyes. "Yes. Next time I have sex in a place you frequent, I'll keep it to myself."

"Prue!" Phoebe whimpered as she looked around the living room. "That's not funny!"

Prue lay down on the couch and stretched out in the space she'd won for herself. "I'm amused."

Piper settled into an armchair on the opposite side of the room. "Kids these days. No sense of adventure."

Phoebe sat down in the middle of the room, far far away from any piece of furniture. "You're both mean. Mean and slutty."

"What's that pot?"

Phoebe huffed, but had no intention of starting a slut-off. Not when Prue would use Phoebe's competitive nature to get her to admit things she'd really rather not. "Whatever. You win. I'm scarred for life."

"Lightweight." Piper muttered as she threw her legs over the side of the chair and closed her eyes.

Prue rolled onto her stomach and gave Phoebe a devious grin. "Maybe I should go call Tom to celebrate my–" Prue paused. "That's it! I should call Tom." Prue leapt off the couch and grabbed the phone. "He doesn't even know I'm home."

Phoebe frowned. "We've only been home for half an hour."

Prue riffled around her purse. "Yeah, but I really need his advice on..." Piper peaked an eye open as Prue stopped to pull money out of her wallet. "Something. Here's twenty bucks. Remember to tip." Prue tossed the money in Phoebe's lap and raced out of the room.

Phoebe looked at Piper in confusion. "What the hell was that?"

Piper sat up in her chair, a very worried expression on her face. "I have no idea."

---

"So then I asked Steve's brother's roommate's cousin's friend, and he said it would cost $100...which seems pretty expensive to me, but what do I know? And I had to meet him in this dodgy alley. Well, it was on the campus, and more of a loading zone, but still...I was totally freaked out. Anyway, here it is." Glenn pulled the bottle of whiskey out his backpack and offered it to Paige. "Noogie?" Glenn questioned when she made no move to grab it.

Paige jerked out of her daze and accepted the bottle. "Sorry. I was..." Paige jumped off her bed to hide the bottle in her laundry hamper. "Nevermind."

Glenn frowned. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Paige gave him a firm nod, then started to walk back across the room with a mischievous grin. "Soooo...I kinda missed you this week."

Glenn shifted nervously. "That's nice."

Paige gave Glenn a funny look, but soon shook it off and climbed onto the bed. "Missed your smile." Paige ran her hands up Glenn's chest. "Missed your laugh." Pushed him down on to the bed. "Missed your smell." Straddled his waist. "Missed your hugs." Leant down to kiss him. "Missed your –" Glenn rolled away and Paige face planted into her bed.

Glenn backed away until he slammed into the wall. "We can't!"

Paige groaned into her bedspread. "Glenn, she was just trying to scare you."

Glenn pointed at the open door. "Your sister? Is scary!"

Paige rolled her eyes as she sat up. "She was bluffing, I don't think she'd actually do anything."

"You don't think?" Glenn questioned in disbelief. "And what about Phoebe? I saw what she did to Danny Hawkman."

Paige flinched. "That was...personal."

"Yeah, cause he went after you!" Glenn took a breath. "Look, I love you. And I love doing stuff with you, but I really don't want to piss off your sisters. Not only are they the craziest people I know, they're your family and I want them to like me. And being the guy who got caught with you behind their backs isn't a great way to start."

Paige stared at Glenn for a tense beat, then flopped back on to her bed with a frustrated groan. "Fine! I'll be on my best behaviour at the manor." Paige lifted her head to glare. "But we give up this crap up the second we get your place, understand?"

Glenn grinned. "Yes dear."

Paige grunted and rolled over to open the top drawer of her desk. "And just so you know, if you ever tell Prue that her little coup worked, you'll have blue balls for life." Paige threw a pack of cards at Glenn's head. "Your deal."

"Yeah, you too. Bye." Prue stared at the wall as she hung up the phone.

Prue had called Tom for some magic advice. He was good at magic advice. Like when her car made funny noises, he always knew where to kick it. Or when she got frustrated with her family, he always reminded her she didn't have his overbearing mother. Or when she felt like deleting every single line of her thesis and starting again, he gave her silly football couch pep talks that made her laugh. But apparently, his counselling skills were limited to medium sized problems, because his reaction to the question 'do I stay or go' was 'if you stay, we can get married'.

Like that was the solution to everything.

Honestly.

Well, it was officially time for plan B. Prue had been over every scenario in her head, used every form of logic she possessed, made a thousand lists, called the one person who had been at her side through the whole London saga...and none of it gave her the answer she was looking for.

So now she would leave the decision to her sisters. If one of them, any one of them, didn't want her to go, she wouldn't. It was a simple as that.

And as for Tom...well, the fact that his proposal did nothing but make her head hurt pretty much gave away her true feelings. If she stayed in San Francisco, she would have to try to think of better answer than 'very funny', but for now, Prue could continue pretend that Tom wasn't being serous even although she knew he was.

Prue shook herself out of her daze and stood up from the kitchen table.

Men.

---

By the time Prue made her way back to the living room, the pizza box was nearly empty. So either Piper and Phoebe had eaten twice their weight in pizza or Paige had made a brief appearance to steal some to take back up to her room. Which was a blatant violation of Grams' golden rule...that all dinners must be eaten as a family, but damned if Prue was going to add more drama to her life.

"How's Tom?" Piper asked as Prue reached for a slice of pizza.

"Committed."

Piper waited for more, but Prue seemed entirely lost in thought. "Um...right. Well I told Paige she had to eat with us, but she said she wasn't interested in socialising with autocrats, so –"

"Piper gave in and let her get away with more bad behaviour." Phoebe finished around a mouthful of pizza.

"Fine." Prue muttered absently as she sat down on the couch. Should she just blurt it out? Should she tell Piper first? Should she just forget it all and tell Grams she'd lost her place?

Phoebe squinted. "That's...awfully understanding. Are you okay?" Prue stared back at her blankly. "Are you okay?" Phoebe repeated, and this time it wasn't a joke.

Prue jerked upright. "Huh?"

Piper leant forward to catch Prue's eye, an anxious look on her face. "What's going on Prue?"

Prue hesitated, then threw her untouched piece of pizza onto the coffee table. "Okay, I have something to tell you guys."

Piper stomach dropped. "Did Grams-"

"She's fine." Prue assured quickly, locking her hands together to stop herself from picking at her cuticles. "But we had a bit of a talk last night." Prue took a deep breath. "And she told me that I could go to London."

And then there was silence.

Painful, all encompassing silence that made the moment feel like an eternity.

Prue eyed Piper nervously, trying to decipher the look on her face. "Pipe? I won't go if you don't want me to. I just–" Phoebe jumped up and ran out of the room. Prue watched her go, then turned back to Piper. "I wanted you to know what was going on. I know that things are difficult with Grams, but she should be back on her feet by the end of the summer...and well, King's College is a really good school. But I'm not going to leave without your permission. Without knowing that things will be okay between us. London means a lot, but you guys mean more...so I'm leaving the decision up to you. All three of you." Prue fidgeted at Piper's painful silence. "So...uh...what do you think?"

Piper stared at Prue. "I think you should go find Phoebe."

Prue nodded. "Okay, but I want to–"

"No Prue. Now."

"But –"

Piper shook her head. "We'll sort this out, I promise. But right now, you need to talk to Phoebe."

After a tense beat, Prue went to stand. "Are you sure that–"

"Yes." Piper cut in impatiently.

Prue stood up the rest of the way with a suspicious frown. "You'll be here?" Prue pointed at the couch. "To talk? After I'm done?"

"Of course. Now go!" Piper commanded with a small smile.

Prue gave Piper one last hesitant look, then started on her way towards the kitchen.

---

Chapter 14- My Girl (Part 2)

Well Prue should have seen this coming.

Empty kitchen.

Missing boots.

Vanished sister.

Prue knew she had to be logical, Phoebe was upset and had done the typical 17-year-old thing, but it was awfully hard to stay calm when Phoebe was capable of disappearing for a week.

Or an eternity.

Piper would go to the cemetery, Paige to Glenn's...but Phoebe? Phoebe changed her hangouts on a daily basis. No boy too sketchy, no car too fast, and terrifyingly, no drug too hard. Or so Prue assumed from the various stories floating around the neighbourhood.

Prue snatched the closest jacket off the hook and started back towards the living room. Her pull with the SFPD only went so far and Phoebe's record really couldn't handle another arrest without some serious consequences. "Piper! Phoebe's..." Prue trailed off as she caught sight of a puff of smoke out the kitchen window. "Dead."

Prue spun on her heels, stormed across the room and kicked the back door open. The garden looked empty, but Prue followed the trail of smoke towards the tiny space between the side of the shed and the fence. "Phoebe!" Prue yelled as she rounded the corner and caught sight of Phoebe's hidden form. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Phoebe's head snapped up from where she was sitting, a bottle of beer in one hand and a burning joint in the other. "4 years of college and you can't figure it out? Man, there really is an education crisis in this country."

Prue ignored Phoebe's comment as she reached down and snatched the joint from her sister's hand. "Are you crazy? What if the neighbours call the cops?"

Phoebe snorted. "It's San Francisco. Nobody cares about weed."

"I care!" Prue exclaimed as she threw the smoke to the ground and crushed it into oblivion.

Phoebe sighed, watching as the last of her stash got ground into the dirt. "You're not going to overreact about this, are you? Cause I'm not even buzzed yet."

Prue growled but said nothing. Once she was completely satisfied that the joint was beyond any form of salvation, Prue stepped towards Phoebe with her hand out. "Give."

Phoebe clutched her beer tightly. "Fuck off."

"Phoebe." Prue snapped in irritation.

Phoebe glared. "No way. I bought this fair and square."

"You're 17." Prue informed with very little patience.

Phoebe shrugged. "You're 22 and can't hold your liquor for shit. So clearly age isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Prue made a quick grab for the bottle, but Phoebe moved it out of reach. "For fucks sake Phoebe, I'm not playing your games. You're underage and this not up for debate."

Phoebe eyed Prue for a tense beat, then turned around and tipped the beer upside down, chugging with all she was worth. She managed to down half of it before Prue knocked the bottle out of her hand. Phoebe choked on the excess of liquid in her throat and turned to glare at her sister. "God Prue, you're so lame. I mean –OW!" Phoebe yelped as Prue latched onto her ear and tugged her head around so she had no choice but to look Prue straight in the eye.

"Now listen here rebel. I get that you're acting out because mom and dad are gone. And because you're not sure where you fit in the world. And even because you're a hormone driven teenager. But enough is enough. You're old enough to know right from wrong, and you're smart enough to know that this ploy for attention work won't."

Phoebe tried to twist away, but Prue's grip was painfully strong. "Lay off. It's only weed."

Prue tugged on Phoebe's ear a little harder. "Don't you think we all have enough to worry about without your antics?"

Phoebe glared from her compromised position. "I think you need to take a long hard look in the mirror Prudence."

Prue's eyes flashed with something Phoebe couldn't identify. "If you think being mad at me justifies smoking drugs in the backyard, you've got another thing coming." After a tense pause, Prue released Phoebe's ear and crouched down in front of her. "I just don't get it." Phoebe scoffed. "You have so much potential. So much to give to the world. But all you seem to want to do is destroy yourself."

Phoebe stared at Prue for an uncomfortable few seconds, then reached up to snatch her black lighter from the shed's window ledge. "You know me."

Prue studied Phoebe's face. "Yeah, I do, and this isn't you."

Phoebe flicked the lighter on and off, holding up the flame for Prue to see just how practiced she was. "Then who am I?"

Prue concealed her hands in her jacket pockets and balled them into fists. "You're kind. Smart."

Phoebe laughed obnoxiously. "Right."

Prue swallowed down a retort and kept going. "Beautiful. Fearless. Funny."

Phoebe passed her finger through the flame, entirely indifferent to Prue's speech. "Would a kind person steal someone else's boyfriend?"

Prue hesitated. "Phoebe –"

"Would a smart person lose their virginity at 13?"

Prue's jaw clenched. "Are you telling me you–"

"How about hotwiring a car? Do you think that's something Phoebe Halliwell can do?" Phoebe interrupted without a single glance in Prue's direction. "Sneak into Mission clubs? Stay out all night?" A vein in Prue's forehead pulsed as Phoebe clicked the lighter off. On. Off. On. "Steal money from Grams' purse? Make Piper pick me up from parties?" Phoebe cocked her head to inspect the plastic melting down the side of the lighter. "Buy Paige cigarettes?" Prue went deadly still as she forced herself not to lash out. Phoebe glanced up Prue's non-reaction. "Cheat on exams? Sleep with 25 year olds?" Prue ground her teeth but didn't say anything and Phoebe started to get frustrated. "Drop Es at playgrounds? Burn down abandoned buildings?" Phoebe waited, but Prue remained stubbornly mute. "Come on Prue, you can't possibly think you still know me." Prue pursed her lips in one last stand of restraint and Phoebe exploded in anger. "Fuck you! Fuck you! You don't know me!" Phoebe threw the lighter at the shed as hard as she could, oblivious to the fact that it did nothing but bounce off the side and land in the dirt. "Not after everything I've done."

Prue took a moment to process Phoebe's outburst. "What did you do?"

Phoebe growled and wrapped her sweatshirt around herself. "Nothing. It's an expression."

Prue crossed her arms. "No, it's not." Phoebe let out an indignant snort but Prue wasn't willing to let this one slide. "What happened Phoebe?"

Phoebe jumped to her feet and pushed past Prue on her way to the exit. "Nothing. You're such a –" Prue swept her foot out and knocked Phoebe back on her ass.

"You leave when I say you can leave."

Phoebe fumed from her sprawled out position. "Screw you."

"What did you do?" Prue repeated without the slightest regard for Phoebe's tantrum. Phoebe went to stand, but Prue grabbed the bottom of her sweatshirt and hauled her back down. "Answer the question Phoebe."

"No!" Phoebe yelled as she shoved Prue's arm away from her.

"What did you do?" Prue questioned again, running her eyes over Phoebe's face in the half-lit space. Phoebe kicked out but Prue already had her hand up to bat Phoebe's leg away. "Answer me." Phoebe scrambled backwards until her back hit the fence. "What. Did. You. Do."

"I..." Phoebe opened her mouth, but instead of finding words, a bubble of bile rose in her throat. She moved as fast as she could, twisting away in time to empty her stomach onto the ground beside her.

Prue jumped back in surprise. Once she was done, Phoebe rested her forehead against the fence. She wouldn't tell. Wouldn't explain. Wouldn't think about...

Prue knelt down, ignoring both the dirt and vomit to be at Phoebe's side. "Phoebe?" Phoebe let out a strangled sob and Prue rested a wary hand on her back. "What's going on?" Prue's tone was now quiet, subdued with the seriousness of the situation, and Phoebe hated that a wave of tears flowed down her face without the slightest control.

"Go away."

"Not a chance." Phoebe closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on the cold wood against her forehead. But the contact was abruptly ended when Prue yanked her away from the fence and smothered her in a tight embrace. The urgency behind the gesture took Phoebe by surprise, and without quite realizing was she was doing, Phoebe crumbled into Prue's shoulder.

"He didn't come."

"Who didn't come?" Prue asked softly.

Phoebe's sobbed into Prue's jacket. "Jimmy."

Prue frowned in concern. "Where didn't he go?" Phoebe simply clung to Prue and cried. After a few minutes, Prue tried again. "Phoebe?" Phoebe tried to hide her face in Prue's chest, but Prue pulled away so she could look her sister square in the eye. "Where didn't Jimmy go?" Phoebe felt her stomach protest, but Prue nudged her gently, bringing her back from the past. "Where Bug?"

And that was it. The love and concern in Prue's voice was too much for Phoebe to take and she let everything go with two simple words. "The clinic."

Prue searched Phoebe's eyes frantically. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Phoebe gave a hesitant nod and Prue felt all the air rush out of her lungs. "Oh god." Prue took a good hard look at her little sister. The tears on her face. The stains on her clothes. The loss in her eyes. "Come here." Phoebe flung herself at Prue, burying into her warmth like she'd needed to for the past six months. "I'm sorry Pheebs." Phoebe let out a pained sob and Prue pressed her forehead into the side of Phoebe's face, letting their tears mix together. "So so sorry." After a few minutes of heavy crying, Phoebe started to calm down. Prue wiped Phoebe's cheeks with her jacket and tipped her head so that she had Phoebe's complete attention. "Is this why you disappeared for a week?"

Phoebe sniffed. "I-I went to New York."

Prue closed her eyes. "Dad."

Phoebe took a shaky breath. "I needed him to sign for the abortion." Prue reopened her eyes with an unasked question. "I couldn't go to Grams. She would have been so disappointed."

"Maybe, for a bit, but then she would have got over it and helped you."

Phoebe sighed. "She thinks so little of me Prue, how could I tell her that I got pregnant at 16?"

"Then why didn't you come to me?" Prue asked in a wounded tone. "I might not have been around much, but you know I would have dropped everything to help you."

"But you weren't there Prue." Phoebe pulled herself out of Prue's arms. "I was scared, and alone, and I didn't know how you'd react. You and I have hardly said two words to each other over the last four years, do you really think that I wanted to make mine 'I'm pregnant'? That I wanted to give you one more thing to hold against me?"

"I don't –"

Phoebe spun on her sister. "You do Prue. It's in your voice . The way you look at me. Like I can't do anything right. Or be trusted to take care of myself. And that everything I do is a waste of time."

"Phoebe –"

Phoebe cut in. "Don't. I know, okay? Actions speak louder than words and I've screwed up my life. But I didn't..." Phoebe's voice cracked. "I didn't want to tell you because I knew you'd give up on me."

"Hey." Prue grabbed onto Phoebe's shoulders. "I will never give up on you. We might not always get along, but there's nothing you could do to ever make me stop loving you." Phoebe tried to look away, but Prue shook her back to attention. "I mean it Phoebe, I would do anything to keep you safe." Prue leant forward so their noses were almost touching. "You couldn't get away from me even if you wanted to."

Phoebe let out a teary snort, not quite knowing whether she wanted to hug or hit Prue. It was a battle she fought often, but unlike most times before, the hug won. Prue welcomed Phoebe into her arms gratefully, needing the physical connection to reassure herself that Phoebe was okay. "Alright, tell me what happened in New York."

Phoebe leant her head against Prue's shoulder. "Dad signed my consent form."

"And?"

"And nothing." Phoebe answered sullenly. "He's married."

"Oh?" Prue questioned in a tone that was a dangerous mix of righteous anger, curiosity and hurt.

"Yeah." Phoebe looked down guiltily. "I...uh...asked him if I could live there." Prue narrowed her eyes but Phoebe continued before she could get a word in. "Don't worry, he told me it wasn't a good time."

"And then?" Prue probed when Phoebe said nothing else.

Phoebe took a shuddery breath. "And then he told me that he'd give me all the money I needed, but–" Phoebe wiped a tear away angrily. "But I had to go back to Grams." Prue slipped her hand into Phoebe's. Phoebe tried to hold it in, but the pain was too much, and she burst into another round of frenzied tears. "He-he-he didn't even care! He didn't yell at me. Or give me a lecture. Or even bother to give me a hug." Prue pulled Phoebe against her, comforting her as much as she could. "He just signed the form and put me in a cab."

"Oh Pheebs." Prue rubbed Phoebe's back, soft and slow. "He's the one that's missing out." Phoebe cried harder and Prue rested her chin on the top of Phoebe's head. "I'm sorry. For not being here. For thinking you were just acting out. For making you go through all of this alone." Prue waited out Phoebe's sobs, knowing that she needed to let everything go. But once she'd calmed down to the point of half-cries, Prue continued. "Piper and Paige wanted me there, but you...you needed me." Prue pulled back slightly, just enough to get a good look at Phoebe's downcast face. "And I should have been here. I'm sorry."

Phoebe wiped her nose on her sleeve. "It-it's okay."

"No, it's not okay. None of this is."

Phoebe started disentangle herself from the embrace. "I deserved it."

"No." Prue pulled Phoebe back against her.

Phoebe was too exhausted to fight her off. "I did. I was the one who got myself into that situation. I denied everything for way too long. Drank. Smoked. Ate crap. I don't even know when it happened. There were so many nights we were too drunk or stoned to remember protection."

"Phoebe." Prue chastised in a half-sad, half-angry kind of way.

Phoebe slumped against Prue. "And when I found out I was pregnant, all I wanted to do was get it out of me. I hated it. I hated me. And I couldn't raise a child like that." Phoebe let out a tiny sniffle, but managed to hold herself together. "That baby would have ruined my life. I would have resented it till the day I died and I couldn't let that be who I was. Who I am. I'm a bad person, but I won't be a bad mother."

Prue jerked Phoebe upright, terrified of the vacant look in her eyes. "Now you listen to me. This was one of the hardest decisions you'll ever have to make and there isn't a way to walk away feeling like you did the right thing. But you did Phoebe. You made the right choice. Something inside of you told you that you weren't ready, and you had to listen. You are not a bad person. This decision does not make you a bad person."

Phoebe looked away, unable to stop the tears coursing down her cheeks. "But I killed my baby."

Prue grabbed Phoebe's chin and yanked her head back around. "No, you are a child. And you have much left to do. One day, you'll be a mother. A great one. But you need to live your life first. You need to love, and laugh, and play, so that when that day comes, when you're finally ready for a baby, you'll be able to give them the kind of life they deserve." Prue eyes welled with tears. "But not now. Now you need to concentrate on you. You need to forgive yourself for making a decision that you had to make and start moving forward." Prue let go of Phoebe's chin and searched her face for some kind of understanding. "Pretending that you're tough and bad ass doesn't make you tough and bad ass. All these habits...the drinking, the drugs, your attempts to make people mad at you wherever you go? They're not helping. You know they're not helping."

Phoebe squeezed her eyes shut.

"It's okay to be relieved." Prue's words were whispered gently, filled with all of the love of a big sister, Phoebe felt something within her release. She didn't feel guilty about her choice, she felt guilty about not feeling guilty. But somehow, knowing that Prue understood, knowing that she'd made the decision Prue would have wanted her to make...

That made Phoebe less of a failure.

That made Phoebe feel like maybe, just maybe, she wasn't the monster she'd imagined herself to be.

Phoebe opened her eyes and found Prue staring right back at her. "Are you okay?"

Phoebe let out a laugh and cry at the same time, so overwhelmed with everything that she didn't even know how to start answering that question. "Maybe?"

So Prue wrapped a comforting arm around Phoebe's shoulder and gave her the time she needed. To think. To hurt. To remember. But at the end of it all, Phoebe still had no idea where she stood. She'd been so hopeful that Prue would fix her. That she'd admit everything and Prue would be able to snap her fingers and make it okay again. But it hadn't worked like that, and for the first time in her life, Phoebe knew what being a grown up felt like. "Prue?"

Prue gave Phoebe's shoulders a loving squeeze. "Yes?"

"When are you leaving for London?"

Prue frowned at the subject change, but went along with it for Phoebe's sake. "Well...if you'd actually stuck around to hear the other half of my speech, you'd know I was only going to go to London if you guys didn't need me. And you do, so the answer is never."

Phoebe glanced over in surprise. "You're not going?"

Prue kissed the side of Phoebe's head. "Nah."

"No." Phoebe pulled away from Prue and sat up. "Prue, you have to go."

Prue shrugged. "Not with everything that's going on around here."

"You mean me."

Prue hesitated. "Yes. I'm not leaving when –"

"Oh yes you are." Phoebe cut in with a scarily Grams-like intonation. "You're not giving up your dream for me."

"Come on Phoebe, I can't possibly leave you alone with this."

Phoebe crossed her arms testily. "Prue, this is my mess. You can't be with me every minute of every day. I appreciate your concern, but I'll never have a chance to move on if you're always looming over my shoulder. Plus, I'm going away to college in a few months."

Prue shook her head stubbornly. "I still can't do it. What if you need me? A fresh start is great, but it doesn't make the past go away."

Phoebe grunted. "What are you, phone phobic? We can still keep in touch. I'll even have my own phone line."

"Yeah, but –"

"No buts. We have the whole summer to spend together. Then, you go on your adventure and I go on mine."

Prue bit her lip, hearing the determination in Phoebe's tone. "But..." Prue trailed off at Phoebe's threatening look. "Are you sure this is what you want? I have no problem staying here. In fact, I'd rather –"

"This is what I want." Phoebe interrupted with an affirming nod.

Prue bit her nail nervously. "Okay, but if I go and you need me I'm taking the first plane home."

Phoebe considered this for a minute, then shrugged. "Sweet."

Prue relaxed. For a split second. "Wait! No, I can't do this. What if you need to talk to me in person? Or want money for school? Or need help with your classes?" Prue paled, thinking of just how far she'd be. "What if you eat shellfish? Or get meningitis? Or lock yourself out of –"

"Prue?"

Prue turned to Phoebe, practically hyperventilating in a haze of worst case scenarios. "What?"

"Shut up and be happy."

Prue took a deep breath. "Right. Sorry." Phoebe rolled her eyes as she snuggled into her sister's warmth.

---

"But Ryder, I thought you knew your father was my mother's lover's cousin's ex-wife's butler!" A voice cackled on the living room TV.

"That bitch." Piper whispered to herself as Ryder did a dramatic turn to the left and covered his eyes with both his arms.

Somewhere behind Piper, the back door opened.

"The shame! Oooooh the shame!" Ryder crooned on the screen, pausing for his close up. Piper leant forward in exhilaration, there was a knife concealed in Ryder's hand.

A pair of footsteps sounded in the kitchen and Piper glanced at the doorway. Sisters or Y&R? Sisters or Y&... "Ryder no!" Piper exclaimed as he spun back around to thrust his knife against Carly Jessica Hope Anna Nicole Alexis Melissa Rodriguez's throat.

Piper reached for the remote. Okay, she really needed to go see her sisters. Who knew what kind of state... "Behind you!" Piper yelled as a mysteriously masked man appeared in the right of the screen.

"Pipe?" Prue's muffled voice called out from the kitchen.

Piper cleared her throat. "I'm fine!"

Prue said something Piper couldn't hear then started banging around the kitchen.

Piper turned back to the TV. Ryder and the man were now rolling around the floor, guns and knives flying all over the...Piper sat up straight. Wait, Prue was cooking? That was not a good sign. Piper killed the TV and sprung up from her seat.

By the time she'd made it to the kitchen, Prue had managed to pull out 5 of the 7 pots from the cupboard and was head deep in the fridge. Piper leant on the counter and waited. After a moment of deep thought, Prue grabbed a carton of milk, spun around to put it down, and shrieked at Piper's sudden presence.

"Hi." Piper gave her sister a big grin. "Whatcha doing?"

Prue huffed and kicked the fridge door closed. "I'm making hot chocolate."

"You don't like hot chocolate." Piper commented wryly.

Prue poured the entire 1 L carton into a frying pan, filling it to the brim. "No, but Phoebe does."

Piper looked around the kitchen. "Does she know you're trying to poison her?"

Prue made a face. "Very funny. No, I'm going to surprise her. She went upstairs to shower."

"So..." Piper drummed her fingers on the counter. "Does this mean you resolved things?"

Prue paused in her chocolate measuring, had they resolved anything? Not really, but at least Prue understood where Phoebe was coming from...and for today, that was enough. "Some things." Prue dumped four cups of chocolate into the milk, forgetting that she'd already added two.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Well that tells me a lot."

Prue shot her an annoyed look over her shoulder. "We're working on it, alright? These things don't work themselves out overnight."

Piper held up her hands. "Don't get mad at me. I'm just trying to find out if you're both okay."

Prue tried to stick a wooden spoon her chocolate mixture, but every time she did, the milk threatened to overflow over the side. "Hmm..." Prue riffled around in the drawer until she found a metal chop stick. She stuck it in the frying pan, grinned when it took up far less volume, and made a million little circles on her quest to turn the whole thing into a disturbing colour of brown.

Piper groaned to herself, but said nothing. It was the thought that counted, and Prue could be rather adverse to constructive criticism.

"Phoebe and I will be just fine." Prue abandoned the chop stick mid-stir and spun around to face Piper. "But will we?"

Piper gave her sister an affectionate smile. "Always."

Prue crossed her arms and leant against the stove. "Okay, but what about London?"

"Well..." Piper looked Prue up and down. "I'm going to guess that you'll need a good rain coat."

Prue blinked. "You mean...?"

Piper laughed and pushed herself off the counter. "Of course I mean it Prue. You deserve this."

Prue squinted suspiciously. "Don't you dare say yes because you think you have to. This is huge, for both of us, I don't want to go if it's going to mess anything up."

Piper hovered at Prue's side, desperately trying to ignore the lumps floating around the hot chocolate. "Will London make you happy? Happier than you are right now?"

Prue took a moment to think about it, really think about it. "Yes."

"Then you go." Piper announced without the slightest hesitation.

Prue narrowed her eyes. "What's with you people and your commands? I asked for an opinion, not marching orders."

Piper smirked. "Getting cold feet are we?"

"No. I..." Piper raised an amused eyebrow and Prue groaned. "I just don't like the idea of being so far away from you guys. What if something goes wrong?"

Piper slung an arm around Prue's shoulder. "Then we deal with it." Prue looked less than convinced, so Piper tried again. "Look, I'm not going to lie and say we won't miss you, because we will, but we're ready to take care of each other and let you do your thing."

"But –"

Piper cut in. "Don't even try it. You told me how much this meant to you. Screamed it actually. So you need to do this. For yourself."

Prue locked eyes with Piper. "But are you really okay with it? You're not just saying yes to please me?"

Piper grunted. "Why on earth would I want to do that?"

Prue stared her down. "I'm serious Piper."

Piper grinned. "So am I."

After a tense beat, Prue reached up and flicked Piper on the forehead. "You're an ass."

Piper pointed over Prue's shoulder casually. "Your hot chocolate is burning."

"What!" Prue spun around and turned the heat off extreme high. "Shit. Do you think its drinkable?"

Piper stared at the blacked sludge. "Um...I don't–" Piper's diplomatic response was cut off as Prue shoved her out the way and grabbed a container of cinnamon from the cupboard.

"This will mask the taste." Prue threw two tablespoons into the frying pan and stood back in satisfaction.

Piper leant on the centre island in utter disbelief. "How am I related to you?"

Prue glanced over. "Well Piper, when a man loves a –"

Piper whipped a dish towel at Prue's head. "Yeah yeah."

Prue caught the towel with a smirk. "You asked."

Piper rolled her eyes and hopped up onto the edge of the island. "By the way, I do have one condition for London."

Prue used the dish towel to chip blacked lumps off the side of the pan. "Anything."

The corners of Piper's mouth twitched. "You let me come visit you."

It took Prue precisely .23 of second to launch herself at her sister. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Piper flew backwards under the onslaught, landing with her back on the island and a squealing Prue on top of her. "I guess you like the idea then."

Prue lifted her head, flushed and happy. "We can go on a European roadtrip! Roadtrip! Europe!"

Piper grinned Prue's childlike enthusiasm, but before she could reply, Phoebe's voice broke in from upstairs.

"Hey! Hands off the sister!" Prue was off Piper in an instant.

"She's joking!" Paige cried out in panic. "Phoebe, that's not funny, tell them you're joking!"

"I'm not joking. It's a full on porno up here." Phoebe hollered from somewhere above Prue and Piper.

Prue slowed her rush towards the stairs, knowing that Phoebe would be far less blasé if her accusations were true.

"Phoebe!" A door slammed.

"Door open!" Prue warned as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"It is! I just slammed it for effect!" Paige yelled in frustration. Prue waited where she was, preparing to intervene at the first sound of a brawl, but all she heard was a series of muffled voices and footsteps across the floor.

A minute later, Phoebe came down the stairs, sporting a low-cut shirt and a humungous grin. "Not a hair out of place." Prue let out a sigh of relief and Phoebe's eyes twinkled with mischief. "But she'll never have the guts to try something now." Now that Phoebe had showered and changed into new clothes, she seemed much more like herself. But Prue wasn't so easily fooled, and she gave Phoebe's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

Piper stuck her head in from the kitchen. "Don't you two have something better to do than ruin a 15 year old's love life?"

But Prue and Phoebe were too busy high fiving to hear her. "I've taught you well." Prue stepped back and caught sight of Phoebe's ample cleavage. "Going out?"

"Yeah." Phoebe readjusted her top self-consciously. "I'm going to Jimmy's for a bit."

Prue shoved her hands in her pockets and gave Phoebe a concerned look. "Oh."

Phoebe shifted awkwardly. "Uh...yeah...I kinda..." Phoebe took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "I'm going over to break up with him."

"Oh!" Prue exclaimed in excitement, then realised that it wasn't quite the right reaction to a break up. "I mean...oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

Phoebe snorted. "No you're not. But yeah, apparently the jerk was cheating on me."

"Son of a bitch!" Prue exclaimed angrily. "I'll kill him! I mean it, I'll hunt his little punk ass down and kill him."

Piper waved her hand in the doorway. "I'll help."

Phoebe stole Paige's jean jacket out of the closet and checked herself out in the mirror. "It's okay, I've got it covered."

Prue grabbed her keys off the table. "Let's go."

Phoebe applied some of Paige's lipstick. "No, I think I'll just walk." Phoebe tried to give Prue a sign to tone it down, but she was too busy staring at Phoebe's outfit with that disapproving look she'd perfected so well.

"There's no way you're walking around like that."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Thanks Grams, but I want Jimmy to know what he's losing."

Prue appeared behind Phoebe in the mirror. "I get that." Prue wrapped an arm around Phoebe's shoulders and gave her a meaningful look. "Butnnot at the expense of your safety."

Piper walked over to see what all the fuss was about and gave Prue an incredulous look. "Seriously? Your workout wear is more scandalous."

Prue gave Piper a look of death. "Yeah, well, we're not talking about me...we're talking about our little sister."

"Of course." Piper snarked as she walked out the room. Then changed her mind and reappeared in the doorway. "Jimmy is a jerk." Piper paused. "Wow, it's nice to be able to say that out loud." Phoebe grunted. "Well, anyway...he is a jerk and you deserve better, but I know how much you liked this guy so I'm here for you to talk, or cry, or possibly, with an easily accessible fire extinguisher, burn pictures of him."

Phoebe slid out from under Prue's arm and made a hasty retreat to the foyer. "You guys, I'm fine." Phoebe looked at Prue. "There will be no bogeyman on my four block walk." Phoebe turned to Piper. "And there is no heart break." Both of her sisters looked back at her in concern. "Really." Phoebe stressed as she stuffed the change from the pizza into her pocket.

After a beat, Prue moved to open the door for her. "Give him hell."

"Don't worry, he's getting the Halliwell special."

Prue leant against the doorframe and Phoebe started down the front steps. "That's my girl."

Phoebe gave Prue a thankful smile over her shoulder, then started on her journey. One step at a time.

---

Chapter 15 – Risky Business

Paige peered down at the living room from a crouched position. From what she could see, Prue and Piper were talking on the couch, completely oblivious to her movement down the stairs.

This was suspicious.

Not only had all three of her sisters left her and Glenn alone for extended periods of time, Prue had successfully refrained from spying when Paige had said goodbye to Glenn on the porch. It was as if Prue was trying to butter her up, and as much as Paige would like to have believed that it was her silent treatment that had cracked Prue's will, she didn't.

Not for a second.

So here she was, hiding at the top of the stairs, putting her years of eavesdropping to good use.

"Paris! We have to go to Paris." Piper exclaimed just loudly enough to Paige to hear, her eyes sparkling with the prospects of gourmet food, attractive men and the Eiffel Tower.

Prue nodded eagerly at the suggestion, clearly as into the discussion as Piper was. "Definitely. And Rome. God, can you imagine being at the Coliseum? The Fontana di Trevi? The Piazza del Campidoglio?"

Paige frowned, sliding down a step to hear them better. This was a strange subject, even for her sisters.

"And Greece. The Islands. Mezedes. Ouzo!" Piper looked up in excitement. Paige held her breath, sure that she was about to be discovered, but Piper was far too caught up in European destinations to notice Paige's visible presence on the stairs.

"Scotland. Scotch." Prue added enthusiastically.

"Ireland. Guinness."

"Germany. Beer."

"Russia. Vodka."

Paige leant closer to the railing, growing more confused by the second. Obviously Prue and Piper were planning some kind of trip, but since when her overly sensible sisters have the time to go partying in Europe?

"Spain. Sangria." Piper giggled and Prue swivelled so her feet were tucked under her. "You do realize that even if I don't go to London, we're going on this trip."

"Oh you're going, even if I have to throw you on the plane myself."

Paige shifted backwards, out of sight and away from the rest of the conversation. Prue was leaving? After Grams, and all their summer plans, and her promise to be around more? Paige felt the sting of tears, but refused to let them fall as she crept back to her room, heel-toe, just like Phoebe had taught her. But she messed up on the second to last floorboard and her sisters' voices cut off at the telltale squeak. "Paige?"

Paige closed her eyes and stayed completely still.

"Paige?" Prue's footsteps started up the stairs and Paige dashed into her bedroom.

The room felt small, claustrophobically messy with book strewn across the floor and a pile of clothes heaped on her bed, and Paige needed to escape.

Paige threw on a pair of old sneakers, grabbed Glenn's sweatshirt from her desk and climbed out the window, disappearing down the trellis just as Prue started knocking on her door.

---

Paige arrived at Jimmy's house at 10:30. Way past reasonable knocking on door hours and not exactly the way she wanted to introduce herself to Jimmy's parents, or brother, or whoever he lived with...because from Phoebe's wild party stories, it was rather hard to tell.

But it was an emergency, so after one long courage finding breath, Paige pushed the doorbell and shoved her hands in her pockets. She was just going to go in, find Phoebe, and get out.

The door swung open and Jimmy stumbled out on the front step. "What?"

Paige peeked behind him, but couldn't see much past an empty hallway. "Is Phoebe here?"

Jimmy gave her an appreciative once over then gestured inside. "Sure."

Paige stepped into the house tentatively. "Okay, but she's here...right?"

Jimmy laughed as he led her to the living room, where he had heavy metal blasting and collection of bongs lining the coffee table. "She's upstairs."

"Oh." Paige stood in the doorway awkwardly. "I really need to talk to her about something."

Jimmy sat down on the couch and picked up a half finished joint. "She'll be down in a bit."

"It's kinda important."

"Oh come on, it can't be that important." Jimmy moved over and patted the space beside him. "Do you like video games?" Paige glanced at Duck Hunt, paused on the TV.

"Um, well–"

Jimmy didn't wait for her answer as reached behind him and grabbed a beer from a mini fridge. "Drink?"

Paige walked over and sat down on the edge of the couch, accepting the bottle Jimmy tossed her way. "Thanks."

Jimmy gave her a grin and restarted the game. "So which sister are you?"

Paige glanced at the beer in her hand. The closest Jimmy ever got to the manor was honking his horn in the driveway, and on the odd occasions he actually attended school, he wasn't too observant of nerdy sophomores. "Uh, Paige?"

"The little one." Jimmy passed her the red Nintendo gun and sat back in his seat to watch.

Paige nailed the duck on the screen and took a swig of her drink. "Maybe that's just what Phoebe thinks."

Jimmy laughed. "And the secret comes out. You should hear Phoebe when she's drunk. Paige this, Prue that. It's like you guys are your own little cult or something."

Paige looked over and was unnerved to find Jimmy staring back at her. "Yeah, we're...close."

Jimmy moved until he was pressed against Paige's thigh. "Really? That's not how Phoebe tells it." Paige shifted away and chugged the rest of her beer, praying for her sister to come down the stairs. "More?"

Paige tensed as Jimmy's arm crept along the back of the couch."Excuse me?"

Jimmy grinned. "More beer?" Paige blinked as Jimmy replaced her empty bottle with a full one and sat back in his seat.

Paige took a relieved sip. "Oh right. Thanks. So what's Phoebe doing?"

Jimmy picked up the plastic gun from Paige's lap and started shooting at the ducks on the screen. "Packing up her shit."

Paige furrowed her brow. "Uh, why?"

Jimmy hit three ducks in a row, then without the slightest explanation, reached down to yank his entertainment system's power cord from the wall, killing the video game, tv and stereo all at once.

Paige's heart sped up at the eerie silence.

"Drink up." Jimmy placed a third beer in front of Paige, despite the fact that she'd only finished half of her second one.

Paige glanced at the stairs. "I really think–"

"Phoebe won't care." Jimmy cut in as he reached under a couch cushion and produced a small bag of pills.

Paige eyed it nervously. "What's that?"

Jimmy unzipped the top and grabbed a book from under the coffee table. "Something to help you relax."

Paige pressed herself into the arm of the couch. "I don't want any."

Jimmy pulled a couple of capsules apart and shook some white powder out. "Oh come on. It's perfectly safe."

Paige shook her head. "No thanks."

Jimmy pulled a business card from inside the sleeve of the book and cut several lines. Once he was sure that they were evenly dispersed, he rolled up a twenty and took the first hit. "Your sister does it all the time." Jimmy slid the book towards her.

"I'm not my sister."

Jimmy pressed the bill into her hand. "Coulda fooled me."

Footsteps sounded on the stairs. "That's the last of my stuff from your room." Paige dropped the rolled up twenty like she'd been burned. "I'll leave your jacket in your locker." Phoebe rounded the bottom of the stairs and Jimmy launched himself at Paige, ignoring her squeak of surprise as he pressed his lips against hers. "And you can keep my –" 3 CDs tumbled from Phoebe's hand as she walked into the room.

Paige bit Jimmy's tongue and gave him a violent shove back. "Get off me!"

Phoebe's jaw dropped. "Paige?"

Paige jumped off the couch. "It's not what it looks like!"

Phoebe gawked at her sister. "What are you doing here?"

Paige ran towards Phoebe, staying as far away from Jimmy as she possibly could be. "I'm here for you. I came to find you."

Phoebe took a dazed step forwards and caught sight of white powder laid out on the table. "What the fuck?" Paige opened her mouth to explain, but before she could get a word out, Phoebe reached out and yanked Paige towards her. "Get away from that!"

"I didn't do anything!"

Phoebe tightened her hold on Paige's wrist. "Right, that's why your breath reeks of alcohol and you have powder on your fingers." Paige glanced down, and true to Phoebe's words, the rolled up bill had left some residue behind.

"I didn't Phoebe, I swear I didn't." Paige stated near tears.

Phoebe searched Paige's eyes. "How could you?" After a tense beat, Phoebe pulled Paige tightly against her and turned on Jimmy. "How could you do this to me?"

Jimmy lowered his hand from where he had been checking his tongue for blood. "She came onto me."

Paige tensed, but Phoebe gave her a comforting squeeze. "My sister wouldn't go anywhere near you Jimmy."

Jimmy pointed to the beers Paige had drunk on the table. "Well she did."

Phoebe clenched her jaw. "Right. I'm supposed to think it's a coincidence that we break up and suddenly you're trying to get my little sister drunk?"

Jimmy snorted. "There wasn't much trying."

Phoebe growled, but held back her retort, shoving Paige towards the door. "Okay, we're leaving."

Jimmy turned back to the coffee table. "Call me when you need to get laid."

"Go to hell." Phoebe muttered as she bent down to pick up her CDs.

Jimmy snorted two lines then glanced over his shoulder. "I wasn't talking to you."

"Okay, that's it." Phoebe threw the CDs to the ground and stormed towards the couch. "You can say whatever you want to me, but don't you ever–" Paige grabbed onto the back of Phoebe's jacket and hauled her back. "Paige! Let me go!"

Paige dug in her heels. "No Pheebs. He's not worth it."

Jimmy watched the struggle with amusement. "Better listen Pheebs."

"Hey asshole!" Jimmy raised an eyebrow at Paige's heated address. "My sister could kick your ass all over this room. But she's not going to. You know why?"

Jimmy sat back with a grin. "Now this I have to hear."

"Because you are scum. A pathetic middle class kid who couldn't even pass his senior year." Phoebe stopped struggling in Paige's arms. "My sister didn't date you because you're cool, she dated you because she wanted to piss my grandmother off. You are the dumbest, least ambitious jerk she could find, and you served your purpose perfectly." Jimmy fumed on the couch but Paige didn't let up in the slightest. "But she is so out of your league it isn't even funny. To you, she'll always be the girl that got away, but to her, you're the guy she's already forgotten. So good luck with your life. You're gonna need it." Paige released Phoebe and stepped back to see her face. "Ready?"

"Ready." Phoebe grabbed Paige's hand and led her out the room, making sure to step on what remained of her broken CDS scattered across the floor.

Paige stumbled as Phoebe tugged her down the street. They were still holding hands, but instead of it being the loving gesture it was before, Phoebe was dragging Paige behind her on a rampage towards the manor. Paige had put up with Phoebe's breakneck speed for the last two blocks, but her arm was starting to go numb and she was feeling more and more like a prisoner with each violent jerk. Paige waited until they passed the Harper's house, then yanked her hand free. "Are you mad at me?"

Phoebe spun around in annoyance. "What?"

"Are you mad at me?" Paige repeated quietly, rather wary of the wild look in Phoebe's eye.

"Did you do something I should be mad about?"

"Uh..." Paige looked at her sneakers. "I drank a beer. Well, a beer and a bit. Like a 1/3rd. Or maybe 2/5ths." Phoebe stared and Paige swallowed nervously. "I'm sorry. I wasn't–"

"Anything else?" Phoebe interrupted impatiently.

Paige kept her eyes on her shoes. "No."

Phoebe rolled her eyes and started walking again. "You are so bad at being bad."

Paige's head jerked up. "You're not mad?"

"No." Phoebe called out over her shoulder.

Paige was so relieved that it took a few seconds for Phoebe's comment to sink in. "Hey! I can be bad!" Paige raced to catch up. "I told Jimmy off."

Phoebe glanced at her sister out the corner of her eye. "Yeah, you certainly did."

Paige bit her lip. "Uh, which I'm sort of sorry about. Cause he was your boyfriend, but he's also kind of a jerk. A big one actually. You really should have–"

"Yeah, okay, enough." Phoebe cut in frostily.

Paige closed her mouth and concentrated on keeping up with Phoebe. But after another block of silence, she decided to try again. "I really am sorry you guys broke up."

Phoebe stopped walking. "How did you know he was cheating on me?"

"I saw him kissing Carly Winters."

Phoebe took an aggressive step towards her sister. "And you didn't think to tell me?"

Paige squirmed. "I kinda thought you guys had an open thing going on. You had Todd in your room a couple weeks ago."

"Studying!" Paige gave her a look and Phoebe grunted. "We were. I haven't cheated on Jimmy in like...3 months."

Paige wasn't sure if she was supposed to be impressed or discouraged by that statistic. "Okay, well, I'm sorry. I would have told you if I'd known that you'd want to know." After a beat of tense silence, Paige cleared her throat. "And I'm sorry for the way I told you. I shouldn't have said that stuff...or punched you."

Phoebe looked away. "Yeah, me too."

"And I love you." Paige blurted out, rather quickly.

Phoebe turned back around with raised an eyebrow. "Right back atcha hot stuff."

Paige rolled her eyes at her sister. "I'm serious, okay? You're like...my everything. The one person I can count on."

Phoebe squinted, suddenly doubting Paige's sobriety. "...really?"

Paige nodded. "Yeah. I mean we fight a lot, but when it matters...when things go wrong and my life falls apart, you're the first person I run to."

Phoebe blinked. "Since when?"

"Since always." Paige replied evenly.

"Okay, but..." Phoebe scratched her head. "You don't talk to me about anything. In fact, you just spent the last few days spilling your guts to Prue and Piper even although I've been here the whole time. I mean, I love you to death, but you can't honestly think that we have a good relationship."

Paige bit her lip to hold in her tears. "Okay, fine. We don't have a good relationship."

"Come on Paige, I didn't mean it like that. I just...we don't ever talk about the important stuff. You don't come to me when you need help, you clam up every time I try to talk about something serious and I have no idea how to deal with your crazy mood swings."

Paige scrapped her sneaker across the ground. "Oh."

Phoebe sighed at the miserable look on Paige's face. "Okay, you know what? Neither of us are in the right mindset to deal with this tonight. Let's just go home and talk another time." Phoebe went to walk forwards, but Paige reached out and spun her back around.

"Prue's leaving."

Phoebe frowned. "For...?"

"London." Paige spat out angrily. Phoebe waited for more and Paige's eyes widened. "You know?"

Phoebe nodded, rather confused by the whole situation. "I told her she should go before I left for Jimmy's."

Paige whirled around and started walking in the opposite direction of the manor. "Of course you did."

"What the...Paige!" Phoebe took off after her sister. "She said she was going to tell you after Glenn went home." Paige kept walking and Phoebe fell into step beside her. "I thought you'd be okay with this? You were before." Paige said nothing so Phoebe jumped in front of her, forcing her to stop. "What's going on?"

Paige glared. "I overheard Piper and Prue's conversation."

"So?"

"So I left."

Phoebe's eyes widened. "You what?"

Paige went to step around Phoebe. "I'm staying at Glenn's tonight."

"Ha!" Phoebe exclaimed as she shoved Paige back. "The only place you're going is home. Prue and Piper probably have the cops out looking for you." Phoebe paled at that thought. "Oh shit, Prue is going to kill me." Phoebe smacked Paige on the arm. "Why didn't you tell me you snuck out?" Phoebe smacked her again. "Why did you come to Jimmy's?" Phoebe lifted her hand to hit her again and paused. "Wait...why did you come to Jimmy's?"

Paige shrugged. "I wanted you."

"You wanted me?" After a beat, Phoebe lowered her hand. "Crap. You came to me...and I yelled at you for never doing it."

Paige sighed. "Don't worry about it. I know that we're in a weird place right now."

Phoebe ran a hand threw her hair, trying to decide whether she should phone Prue from the payphone two blocks down or finish the four block walk to the manor. "No Paige, I was overreacting. I'm all on edge with this Jimmy thing and I didn't even think to ask you why you were out at..." Phoebe hit the indiglo button on Paige's watch. "11:30 on a weekday. Oh man, we're so dead." Phoebe grabbed Paige's hand and raced forward. "Go! Go! Go!"

Paige wrenched her hand back. "No."

Phoebe forced herself not to groan out loud. "Okay, you didn't hear the full story about London. Prue isn't going to go unless we all agree, so let's go home and the two of you can talk it out. I get that you're upset, but the longer we're out here, the more trouble we'll both be in."

Paige shook her head defiantly.

Phoebe grabbed Paige's shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "If I thought Prue was pulling another one of her stunts, I would the first one to take you away. We'd hide out at Todd's, live off Mr. Noodles and write passive-aggressive letters to her future children. But she's not. I promise you she's not. You and I might not always get along, but we've always been honest with one another." Phoebe gave Paige a bit of a smile. "A little too honest at times. So please home come. For me?"

Paige surrendered with an annoyed grunt. "You do realize that this is emotional blackmail, right?"

Phoebe released her shoulders and stepped back. "It's all in the name of love." Phoebe nudged Paige until she started walking. "A love that is special to you."

"Thanks...I think."

Phoebe linked arms with Paige, partly in affection, but mostly to get her to pick up the pace. "There's no one in this world that I love and hate so completely."

Paige snorted. "Prue might qualify."

"Nope. Prue and I are not the kind of people that should be screaming our inner most thoughts at one another."

Paige raised an eyebrow. "And we are?"

Phoebe nodded. "You know me Paige. You've seen me at my best and my worst, and somehow, you love me just the same. You were right when you said we don't need to hold back with each other."

Paige sighed. "Maybe we should."

"Or maybe we should just stop worrying so much. You're my best friend and I'll forgive you for anything."

"Even telling you that you gave Grams' a heart attack?" Paige asked as the manor appeared in the distance.

"Yep." Phoebe yanked Paige away from the lit part of the sidewalk, knowing that the view from Grams' room went straight down the street. "Wanna go to the pier tomorrow night?"

Paige frowned at the question and the subject change. "It's Friday."

"So?"

"...so you go out with your friends on Friday." Paige paused. "Unless you're grounded. Are you grounded again?"

Phoebe thought about it. "Probably. But no, that's not why I'm asking. I want to talk to you about what happened when I ran away."

Paige tripped in surprise. "Really?"

Phoebe crept up their neighbour's driveway and peaked over the fence. "Tomorrow, okay? Tonight, we worry about getting you into your room." Only the downstairs lights were on at the manor. "And we might just actually pull it off."

---

"Use the drain pipe!" Phoebe hissed five minutes later, watching as Paige tried, and failed, to reach the ledge of her window.

"I can't." Paige whined as she lifted her foot up...and put it back down in exactly the same place.

Phoebe groaned. "Oh come on, haven't you ever done this before?"

"No." Paige whispered as she hung off the trellis in a decidedly ungraceful manner.

Phoebe banged her head against the side of the house. "Great."

"Need some help?" Both girls jumped as Prue stuck her head out Paige's bedroom window and offered up a hand. After a moment's hesitation, Paige took it, scraping her sneakers off the side of the house as Prue dragged her through the window.

"Thanks." Paige panted as she landed on her bedroom floor.

Prue peered down at Phoebe. "I'd suggest you take the stairs." Phoebe sighed, but did as she was told, disappearing around the side of the house.

Satisfied with Phoebe's response, Prue slammed the window shut and turned on Paige. "Where the hell have you been? We've been worried sick."

Paige glanced between Piper sitting on her chair and Prue standing at the window. "Uh...Jimmy's."

Prue frowned, but before she could question anything more, Phoebe burst into the room. "It's okay! She was with me!"

Prue crossed her arms testily. "So we just heard."

Paige stepped forward. "Don't get mad at Phoebe, she didn't know I was coming. I snuck out by myself."

Prue narrowed her eyes at them both. "Why?"

"I wanted to see if Phoebe was okay." Paige replied before Phoebe could start talking.

Prue looked to Phoebe for the answer, and was rather surprised to see her mouth 'London' behind Paige's back. Prue turned back to Paige with an unimpressed look. "Try again."

Paige swung around and gave Phoebe an annoyed glare. "Okay, fine. I overheard you talking about London and wanted to be with Phoebe."

Prue accepted the answer, but remained thoroughly pissed. "You still snuck out Paige. I don't care what's going on, I need to know that you're safe."

Paige looked at the ground. "I know."

Prue had no idea how she was supposed to proceed from there, so she focused on Phoebe. "I called you at Jimmy's. Why didn't anyone pick up?"

"Because I fake numbered Grams?"

"Ugh, Phoebe." Prue grumbled, with far less anger than anyone in the room was expecting. "Oh well, as least you made curfew."

Phoebe glanced at Paige's clock and found 11:58 glowing back at her. "Well that's embarrassing." Prue gave her an amused look. "Wait, does this mean I'm not in trouble?"

Prue squinted. "Should you be?"

"...no?" Phoebe tried with a hopeful grin. Prue tapped her fingers on the window ledge and Phoebe caved. "I just thought you'd be mad at me for trying to help Paige sneak back in."

Prue thought about it for a minute. "You brought her home safe, so this one is a free pass."

Phoebe tried to hide her pleased smile. "Oh. Cool."

Prue nodded in agreement. "Very. Now get out of here and go to bed. I need to grill your other half."

Paige threw herself onto the bed with a sigh. "Great."

Prue ignored her as she looked at her other sisters. "This might take a while, so I'll see you guys in the morning." Piper gave Prue an understanding smile and started towards the door. "I'll wake you up for school."

Piper paused. "Okay, I know you didn't just say that."

Prue rolled her eyes. "Not you. Phoebe. Although, you should probably..." Prue trailed off at Piper's dirty look. "But, uh, you can make that decision for yourself."

Phoebe huffed. "I don't want to go to school. Grams promised us the week off."

"No, she promised you a week at the cottage. But now we're home and there's no reason why you can't go to school tomorrow."

"But couldn't we have a 'sick' day? Watch movies, pig out on leftover pizza?" Phoebe turned on the pout. "Just like when we were kids?"

Prue gave Phoebe a look. "I seem to recall most of those days ending with jello filled whoopee cushions, peanut butter in Paige's hair and you being sent to your room for a time out."

"Don't forget the question game." Piper added bitterly.

"What question game?" Prue asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"The one where you had to..." Piper trailed off with a glare. "Oh ha ha. You're hilarious."

"Am I?" Prue questioned instantly.

Piper made an annoyed noise, but kept her mouth shut, having been the official question game loser for 17 years running.

"Please Prue? Please please please?" Phoebe cut in impatiently, bouncing on the spot like a five year old. "I'll take out the garbage. And do my homework. And refrain from all peanut based food groups."

Prue pursed her lips. "Okay–" Phoebe cheered, but Prue held up her hand. "Wait wait wait. I didn't say yes, we're making a deal here." Phoebe's enthusiasm died down considerably. Prue's deals were never fun. "If I let you stay home, you have to promise me that you'll be on your best behaviour all weekend. No trouble, no boys and no parties."

"Yes master."

Prue folded her arms. "I mean it Pheebs. I want 3 days of a rebellion-free sister." After a beat, Phoebe gave a consenting nod. "Good. Oh, and under no circumstances are we watching 'Kill it Before it Dies.'"

"Seconded!" Piper exclaimed quickly.

"Motion passed." Paige muttered from the bed, still not quite speaking to her sisters, but embracing the idea of a school-free, Kill-it-Before-it-Dies-free day.

Phoebe sulked. "No fair."

"Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve." Prue quoted with a grin.

"You're such a dork."

Prue beamed. "Life is–"

"Come on Pheebs, let's go." Piper interrupted before Prue could get started on whatever speech she was planning to unleash upon them. She grabbed Phoebe's hand and pulled her towards the door.

Phoebe willingly followed. "Sweet. You can make popcorn and we can watch movies all night."

"All night?" Piper repeated, thinking of how not fun all nighters seemed in her twenties.

"Don't worry, I'll make you coffee so you're not lame." Phoebe pulled the door shut behind them, but it did nothing to mute Piper's shrill response.

"Lame! I am not lame!"

"You're totally lame."

Prue rolled her eyes as their argument continued down the hall. Once she was convinced that they were on their way down the stairs, Prue walked over to the bed and sat beside Paige's still form. "I'd never leave without telling you. Not after everything we've just been through." Paige stared up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling. "I'm sorry you found about London like that, but I wanted to give you some time to cool down from the Glenn thing." Prue leant back on her elbows and studied Paige's face. "I was worried. With everything that's going on with Grams, I didn't want to make you more upset."

Paige looked over at Prue in annoyance. "You don't need to baby me."

Prue lowered her hand from where she had been about to tuck a piece of hair behind Paige's ear. "...I know."

Paige rolled her eyes and sat up. "I'm sorry I left, but I thought you lied to me."

"No way. You and I don't lie to each other about anything anymore." Prue gave Paige's shoulder a playful nudge, but instead of a receiving a smile, Paige looked even more distraught. Prue shifted backwards and tried again. "Okay, so here it is...I want to go to London, but I have no idea if you're old enough to take care of yourself, or if Phoebe is ready for college, or if Piper will be okay without me. I want to know what you think about me leaving. I need your opinion...so if it doesn't feel right, then I won't go. No guilt, no drama."

Paige hugged her knees. "Of course I want you to go. I know what it's like to want to have an identity outside of this family. But with Grams' heart, Phoebe leaving for college and you going London...it feels like it's the beginning of the end."

"Of what?" Prue questioned gently.

"Of the four of us. What if you go to London and find some guy, and new friends, and this whole new life that doesn't include us?" Prue opened her mouth to speak but Paige cut in. "I know you don't think it'll happen...but that's what people do. They move out, they get married and they leave their childhoods behind."

Prue grabbed a lock of Paige's hair. "See this? How your hair is thick, and wavy, and looks like a rat's nest after it rains?" Prue lifted a strand of her own. "My hell." Prue grabbed Paige's hand and held it up to the light. "See your hand, how it's long and thin? Mom's." Prue dropped it and pointed at the dirty plate sitting on Paige's desk. "Dipping your pizza in ketchup? All Phoebe." Prue gave Paige a small smile. "And your ability to obsess over things you don't need to obsess about?"

"Piper." Paige supplied with an eye roll.

"Mmhmm." Prue gave her a knowing look. "No boy or friends or new life could ever replace all of that. Family is a forever kind of thing, and there's nowhere in this world that will feel like home without you there."

Paige flopped back on the bed. "You should go. King's College is an amazing school and you'll have a lot of fun in England."

Prue lay down beside her, amazed to see the tiny P + A still scratched onto the top of the closet door. "That doesn't answer my question Paige. How do you feel about it? If I go and you don't really want me to, our relationship will never be the same. "

"I want you to go." Prue rolled onto her side so she could see Paige's face. "I promise. It's just...it sucks being the one left behind."

"I know that feeling." Paige snorted in disbelief. "I do. All of my friends went away to college and I was stuck in San Fran, sharing my childhood bedroom with my 16 year old sister and commuting to school in a station wagon. But you know what? I made new friends, and joined the historical society, and tried all sorts of things I never would have done if my high school gang had been around. I know you hate being the baby of the family, but your turn will come. And you're going to have so much to keep you busy over the next two years. Driving tests, SATs, prom, college applications...you probably won't even notice I'm gone."

"I'll notice."

Prue sighed and pulled Paige against her, wrapping a comforting arm around her middle. "Then I won't go."

Paige relaxed against Prue's warmth. "You're going. And you're going to bring me back lots and lots of presents."

Prue gave Paige a sloppy kiss on the forehead. "Deal."

---

"Phoebe!" Piper whipped a pillow at her eavesdropping sister, camped out at the top of the stairs.

Phoebe caught it and placed it behind her head. "Shush! I think I hear something."

Piper turned back to her movie. "I don't care. Give them privacy."

Phoebe strained her hearing. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. This was the most boring eavesdropping experience of her life, and Phoebe had listened in on most of Piper's high school study dates that were, annoyingly enough, comprised of actual studying. "This sucks. They both have no qualms about yelling at me. Why can't they–" The bedroom door creaked open and Phoebe sprung up from her position. "Incoming!" Phoebe raced down the stairs, catapulted herself over the back of the couch and landed directly on top of Piper.

"Phoebe!" Piper yelled as popcorn exploded from her bowl.

"They're coming." Phoebe explained as she searched for the remote in a strange, halfway-off-the-couch position.

Piper glared, cradling the surviving popcorn in her arms. "So?"

Phoebe found the remote between the couch cushions. "So we need to turn the sound up so they don't know we were listening."

"We?" Piper questioned incredulously.

"Oh please. You're just as..." Phoebe trailed off as the bathroom door closed and all upstairs movement ceased. After a few seconds of continued silence, Phoebe slumped back against the cushion. "Phew. That was close."

Piper snatched the remote out of Phoebe's hand. "Serves you right."

Phoebe shrugged and rolled onto her stomach to start eating popcorn off the floor. "Kill it Before it Dies?"

---

Once Prue disappeared down the stairs, Paige slipped into her room and closed the door. There were two half finished coffee mugs sitting on her desk. Prue and Piper had obviously been waiting on her return for a while.

Pushing her guilt aside, Paige walked over to her closet and changed into a comfy pair of pyjama pants. Like everything she owned, they were a hand-me-down from Phoebe from Piper from Prue. But these pants were extra special, a gift Prue got from their Uncle Gordon the year he stayed for Christmas. He was only relative, apart from Grams, all four girls shared, and Paige had fond memories of upside down piggybacks throughout the house.

Satisfied with her outfit, Paige crossed the room and dug through her laundry hamper until she found the whiskey bottle that had been on her mind all night.

By the time Paige made it into the living room, her sisters had set up the requisite blankets and pillows for an all night movie event. Piper was sitting on the couch, flipping through channels, Phoebe was chowing down on her second bowl of popcorn and Prue was riffling around in the video drawer, trying to find something they hadn't seen a thousand times before. Paige stood in the corner of the room, feeling her hands shake and heart hammer in her chest. "Um, guys?"

They all looked up at the same time, smiling at the sight of her in her pyjamas. "Hey kiddo, we were ju–" Prue narrowed her eyes when she caught sight of the item in Paige's hand. "That better not be what I think it is."

Paige set the whiskey down on the coffee table and backed away. "I–I don't want it."

Phoebe gave Paige a 'what the hell are you doing' look while Prue leapt off the floor to snatch the bottle from the table. "Where did this come from?"

Paige shifted uncomfortably. "Glenn –"

"What? That little–"

Paige jumped forward. "No! I was the one who asked for it. He didn't want to get it, he didn't even know where to get it, but I called him from the hospital before we knew Grams was going to okay, and I was crying so hard. He just wanted to–"

Prue tightened her grip on the bottle. "I don't care, you shouldn't be anywhere near–"

"Hold on a sec." Piper interrupted, ignoring the vicious look Prue threw her way, and turned to Paige. "Let me get this straight...you phoned Glenn, from the hospital, for alcohol?"

Paige nodded timidly.

Prue and Piper exchanged a long heavy look, before Prue cracked the seal on the bottle and made a beeline for the kitchen. All three of her sisters raced after her, appearing in the doorway just in time to see Prue start to pour the alcohol down the sink. "How could you be so stupid? Off all the things to do. Of all the stupid fucked up things to do, you had to pick this?"

Paige hugged herself. "I'm sorry."

"A sorry is nowhere near enough of an explanation!"

Phoebe moved to intervene, unable to stand the hurt look on Paige's face, but Piper yanked her back.

"What were you thinking? You're fifteen. How could you do this at FIFTEEN?"

Paige shrunk back at Prue's volume. "I...I..."

"This is too much. This is far far too much." Paige wasn't sure if Prue was talking to herself or the other occupants in the room, but Paige had never heard Prue be so hateful. Not even when Phoebe was at her worst.

"I didn't mean to..."

"To what Paige?" Prue questioned furiously, shaking the bottle as if sheer force could empty the contents of the bottle even faster. "To abuse our trust? To destroy your future?"

And then something inside Paige snapped. "You said you'd help me! You said that I had to come to you when something felt wrong!" Paige moved towards Prue angrily. "Well I'm doing it and all you're doing is yelling at me! I bought one stupid bottle. One! And I only brought downstairs because you said we don't lie to each other anymore!" Paige took a moment to catch her breath, surprised to feel her cheeks wet with tears. "Phoebe drinks all the time and you don't–"

Prue threw the half empty bottle across the room, away from her sisters, but with enough force to smash it into a million pieces all over the floor. "You're NOT Phoebe!"

Phoebe shoved Piper off her and raced to Paige's side. "Leave her alone!"

Piper stepped into the middle of the room, gesturing for everyone to calm down. "Prue, they don't know."

Prue held onto the edge of the sink and tried to keep herself from collapsing. "I don't care, she can't..." Prue dug her palms in harder.

Paige glared at Prue. "What don't I know?" Prue remained silent, so Paige turned on Piper. "What don't I know?"

Piper swallowed, unsure of what to say. "Maybe we should–"

"Your father is an alcoholic." Prue interrupted quietly, watching as the last of the whiskey swirled down the drain.

Paige glanced between Prue and Piper. "What?"

Prue took a deep breath and turned to face Paige. "Your father is an alcoholic."

Paige stepped out of Phoebe's arms. "No."

Piper reached out to stop Paige from walking into a chair. "Paige, let Prue–"

"You said he was a hero! You said he helped people!" Paige yelled as she pushed Piper's arm from her. Phoebe moved to Paige's side, not saying anything, but clearly showing where her loyalties lay.

Prue ran a hand through her hair, not quite meeting anyone's eyes. "Your father took mom's death really hard. He can't forgive himself for not being able to save her and he drinks because he doesn't want to remember what happened."

Paige took a moment to absorb this information. "Is this why I can't see him?"

"He's not ready to see you Paige." Prue said, sadly but firmly.

Paige leant into Phoebe's presence. "But we could help him. Put him in rehab. Get him into counselling."

"No kiddo, we've already tried all that."

Paige narrowed her eyes. "Well we've never tried with me. I'm his daughter and–"

"Paige..." Piper cut in softly.

Paige swung around angrily. "No! He's my father and I want to help him!"

Prue and Piper exchanged a quick look, before Prue pushed herself off the sink and moved towards Paige. "When you were little, your father had custody of you." Paige's eyes widened. "We saw you on the weekends, but for the most part, you lived with him in an apartment in Telegraph Hill."

Paige glanced at Piper, who gave her a glum nod in confirmation.

Prue stopped in front of Paige. "He adored you, gave it his all...but it was hard and he fell into some pretty bad habits." Prue took a deep breath. "When you were 2, he drove straight into an 18-wheeler. He was drunk and that the car was entirely obliterated. Neither of you should have survived." Prue swallowed, pushing the painful memory away. "It was the last straw for Grams, she took you away and forbid him from coming near you until he was sober..." Prue trailed off, knowing that Paige could figure out the rest.

"I want to see him." Paige's words were shaky, but there was no mistaking the resolve in her tone.

Prue shook her head sadly. "No baby, not now."

"Yes now! He is alone! Drunk, and sad, and alone!" Paige felt her tears start to fall. "What happens if he hurts himself? Or passes out? Or–"

Prue reached out and grabbed Paige's hands. "Calm down. He's okay. Not great, but okay."

"You don't know that." Paige accused angrily.

"Yeah, I do. I saw him last week." Paige was too stunned to do anything but stare. "He lives up at the lake. Every couple of weeks, I swing by to see how he's doing. Sometimes he's good, sometimes he's not so good, but he always asks about you. About all of us actually." Prue glanced at Phoebe over Paige's shoulder, concerned about her uncharacteristic silence. "I remember him from before mom died. He used to take us to the beach. And give flying piggy backs. And read bedtime stories with all the voices." Prue pulled her eyes away from Phoebe and turned back to Paige. "He was a great man. A great father. And I promise you that when he's sober, I will take you to meet him. But not now. Not when he's just a shell of himself."

"I want to see him."

Prue dropped Paige's hands, unsure of what to do, when Phoebe spoke up. "No you don't."

Paige pushed herself out of Phoebe's arms, furious and betrayed. "You knew about this?"

Phoebe gave her sister a solemn head shake. "No. But I know what it's like to want to see your father." Prue heard the waver in Phoebe's voice and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Phoebe gave Prue a sad smile then turned back to Paige. "I ran away to New York."

"What?" Piper yelled in surprise.

Prue glanced up and gave her a 'not now' head shake. Phoebe locked eyes with Paige. "I thought that my dad would be this amazing man who was the answer to all my problems. But he wasn't. He was a man who walked away from his kids. If Prue says that your dad isn't ready to be with you, then he's not. I get that you want him in your life, but if you see him right now, you'll never be able to take it back. You'll never be able to imagine him as anything but a disappointment."

A tear slipped down Paige's face. "He's my dad Phoebe."

"And if he can't pull his life together, he doesn't deserve you. You have a family. We might be half sisters, but we're related by the half that matters. You don't have to know him to know where you come from."

After a long, drawn out pause, Paige launched herself at Phoebe and broke down in sobs. "It's not fair."

Prue let out a quiet sigh of relief, knowing that for now, the battle was won. Piper was pacing in the doorway, and Prue stepped back from Phoebe and Paige to calm her down. "Breathe." Piper tried, but the thought of Phoebe seeing their father was too much to take. Prue grabbed her hand and pulled her to a standstill. "Phoebe saw him for an hour. He's employed, married and just as much of an ass as when he walked out on us."

Piper gulped. "Oh."

Prue squeezed her hand. "We're better off without him here." Piper looked away and said nothing. After a few seconds, Prue knew she wasn't going to get anything more from Piper, and turned back to Phoebe and Paige. "Let's go into the living room."

Phoebe nodded and led Paige out the kitchen. Piper sat in the big chair, while Phoebe and Paige shared the couch, sitting together with noticeable closeness. Prue knelt down in front of Paige. "Okay. I need numbers here. How much are you drinking?"

Paige wiped away her last of her tears with the back of her hand. "Um, not much. I had the whiskey in my room, beer at Jimmy's tonight, some vodka at the cottage and that night with Phoebe." Paige paused. "Okay, that sounds like a lot but..." Paige trailed off, thinking things through. "But it is. Oh god, I'm an alcoholic." Paige looked up at Prue in panic. "Help me!"

Prue put her hand on Paige's knee. "Relax. It's not exactly a healthy amount of alcohol, but you're not an alcoholic, okay? You have a genetic predisposition towards alcoholism, but that doesn't mean you'll be addicted every time you have a drink.

"But I want to drink. I like the taste."

Prue swallowed. "Okay, that's...well, not good. But it's not the end of the world. Everything you just listed was in the past week. What about before?"

"Sometimes Glenn and I drink wine coolers. Like one or two each."

Phoebe bit her lip. "You told me you drank four."

Paige shook her head fervently. "I lied. I was trying to impress you."

Prue glanced at Phoebe, trying to get her read on that statement. Phoebe gave Prue a helpless shrug. Prue turned back to Paige. "You promise me?"

"Yes. I swear. You can ask him."

After a beat, Prue gave her knee a squeeze. "It's okay. I believe you. Anything else? Drugs?"

"No!" Paige exclaimed loudly.

"That one's the truth." Phoebe supplied, having seen Paige refuse weed at school.

"You smoke." All three of them turned around at the sound of Piper's voice.

"Cigarettes." Phoebe added before Prue could start freaking out. "And it's like a pack a month." Phoebe spun around to examine Paige. "Right?"

Paige nodded. "Right."

"Well that stops right now, but as far as dangerous combinations go, it's not so bad." Prue took a much needed breath and focused in on Paige. "Okay, so this is what we're going to do. No more drinks for a while. Maybe when you're a bit older, we can work something out, but right now, I don't think that you should be consuming alcohol." Prue looked at Piper. "We're going to lock up all the alcohol in the house in the dining room cupboard." Prue turned to Phoebe. "And no bottles in your room, okay?" Phoebe gave a sincere nod and Prue directed her attention back to Paige. "If you're going out somewhere where you might drink, you need to let us know. We're not going to stop you, but we need to know to keep watch."

"I don't really go to parties." Paige muttered in embarrassment.

Prue gave her a sympathetic smile. "Maybe not now, but next year. Or college. My point is, you can't avoid alcohol for the rest of your life. You're going to have to deal with this. But you're not going to do it alone. We're going to be here to keep tabs on you and your habits." Paige nodded and Prue moved from the coffee table to the couch, wrapping her arm around Paige's shoulders. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. You did the right thing by coming to us. I freaked out because I've watched your dad destroy himself and I couldn't take the thought of you doing the same thing. But you're going to be just fine. You have to be careful but you don't need to be scared. We won't let anything happen to you." Prue locked eyes with Phoebe over the top of Paige's head, silently telling her that she was getting thanked for being such a big help.

Phoebe gave her a shy smile, then looked over at Piper. "Get over here." Piper eyed the three-way embrace. She knew that her sisters had a lot going on, but she couldn't quite shake the feeling of being left out of everything. Phoebe gave her a look. "Idiot."

Piper pursed her lips at the meaningful remark, then got up and plunked down on the couch beside Phoebe. Phoebe grabbed Piper's hand, wrapped it around her shoulder and turned them into an extension of the Prue-Paige, Paige-Phoebe sandwich. Piper rested her chin on Phoebe's shoulder and Phoebe turned to whisper in her ear. "I'll tell you about dad tomorrow." Phoebe had spent three weeks investigating things about her father before she'd left for New York. Prue and Paige wouldn't be interested to know what kind of car he drove, where he worked or what university he went to. But Piper would, and Phoebe needed to tell someone her New York story, start to finish, with no details spared.

Piper gave Phoebe a big smile and relaxed into the hug. Satisfied with her sistering, Phoebe reached over and flicked the tag out of the back of Prue's shirt.

Prue jumped at the weird sensation. "What are you doing?"

Phoebe smoothed the tag back down and pulled her hand away. "Nothing." Prue gave her a funny look, but couldn't quite figure it out.

Piper poked Phoebe in the shoulder. "Oh no you don't."

Phoebe grinned at Piper. "Dibs."

Piper shook her head. "No way. I lived with her for a year. If anyone gets her wardrobe, it's me."

Prue balked. "Excuse me?"

Paige leant forward. "I call her TV."

Phoebe turned to Piper. "What about...you get jackets, I get shoes?"

Piper thought about it. "Okay, but I want that blue dress."

"Uh, people?" Prue waved her hand. "Those are my clothes."

Piper snorted. "What? Are you going to take 15 suitcases to London?"

Prue huffed. "Maybe."

"I want hats!" Paige exclaimed with excitement.

Phoebe started counting things off in her fingers. "I get belts."

Prue cleared her throat. "Aren't you forgetting someone?"

Phoebe waved Prue off. "Grams won't want your stuff. Oh, what about her VCR?"

"My VCR." Piper replied with a warning tone.

"Damn." Phoebe muttered. "Futon?"

"Only if I get the dresser."

Prue crossed her arms. "No you pilfering vandals, me. And how I'm coming back in two years?"

"What about her Van Gogh poster?" Paige asked without the slightest regard for Prue's comment.

"Done." Piper authorized. "I want her cassettes."

"CDs!"

"Books!"

"Videos!"

Prue sat back in her seat and decided that the three of them were going to be just fine.

---

Epilogue - The Day After Tomorrow

Two years later...

Prue looked around the busy terminal with a great deal of annoyance. Her flight had taken off two hours late and her bags had been the last ones on the carousel. Naturally, she'd spent the 10 hour flight sandwiched between an obnoxious kid and a sleazy business executive, and she could still smell the tea she'd spilt on her pants in the rushed cab trip to Heathrow. Prue shifted her bag to her other shoulder with a heavy sigh and took another look at the crowd. Piper had promised to be there, but with everything that had happened in the last two days, Prue wasn't sure if anyone was...

Prue squinted at a couple in the distance. The girl had long hair, a well-tailored jacket and killer pair of heels, but there was no mistaking Phoebe's flirty laugh as she chatted up some guy beside a payphone. As if sensing the sisterly exasperation, Phoebe tore her eyes away from Mr. Right Now and scanned at the arrivals entrance. Prue twirled her fingers in greeting.

Phoebe pushed the guy aside and moved to meet Prue at the entrance of the arrival zone. When they were less than a foot apart, Phoebe whipped out a hastily written 'Prudence Halliwell' sign. "Hey lady, have you seen my long-lost sister Prue? About your height, dark hair, kind of bossy?"

Prue knocked the sign aside and wrapped Phoebe in a giant, bone-crushing hug. "God I've missed you."

Phoebe rested her chin on Prue shoulder and held on just as tight. "Damn straight."

Prue let out a snort and pulled back from the hug to get a good look at her little sister. Long gone was the baby fat, heavy makeup and leather jacket, and Prue was astounded by how beautiful Phoebe really was. "You're so grown up."

Phoebe grabbed the handle of Prue's suitcase and slid her keys out her pocket. "Don't let Piper's boots fool you, I'm still 100% brat."

Prue blinked. "Those are Piper's?"

Phoebe gave Prue an amused look over her shoulder as she started towards the nearest exit. "Oh they're Piper's alright."

Prue shook off her surprise and followed Phoebe through the airport. Once they were alone in the parking elevator, Prue searched out Phoebe's eyes. "So...how are things?"

Phoebe slumped against the wall with a heavy sigh. "We had a rough night last night."

"Grams meant a lot to all of us."

Phoebe took a deep breath and successfully fought back the tears that had been threatening to fall since Grams' death two days ago. "Piper's...inconsolable. After she got off the phone with you, she locked herself in her room and hasn't come out since."

Prue nodded silently, expecting as much. The elevator arrived at their parking level and both girls stepped out. "And Paige? Is she...okay?"

Phoebe grunted and made her way over to Piper's brand new Jeep Cherokee. "You mean sober?"

Prue narrowed her eyes. "Among other things."

Phoebe unlocked the jeep. "She's fine Prue. Just like she's been fine for the last two years."

"You know why I worry."

Phoebe put Prue's suitcase in the trunk and closed the hood with a little more force than she needed to. "Our father is a stuck-up ass. Does that make us that too?"

Prue leant against the side of the jeep. "Alcoholism is genetic and–"

"You and Piper are putting too much pressure on her." Phoebe finished angrily. "Paige is a good kid. She's graduating top of her class, spends her weekends volunteering at the shelter and is going to Berkeley in the fall. What else do you want?"

Prue deflated with a tired sigh. "I don't know." Phoebe raised an eyebrow at Prue's uncharacteristic surrender, but knew better than to say anything. Prue levelled her gaze at Phoebe. "And you? How are you doing?"

Phoebe eyes dropped to her keys. "There's just so much to do, you know? Funeral arrangements, insurance claims, bank accounts, the will, death certificate–"

Prue reached out. "Okay, but how are you?"

Phoebe swallowed. "I...don't know. I miss her. A lot. But Piper won't get out of bed and Paige hasn't eaten in two days, so I don't really have time to–" Phoebe stopped, at a loss as to what she wanted to do.

"Cry." Prue filled in, feeling the connection she and Phoebe had developed over the last two years. They still fought about everything, most loudly over Phoebe's decision to drop out of college, but beneath Prue's frustration with Phoebe's lack of direction and Phoebe's infuriation at Prue's micromanaging, they found a common ground in having to be strong for the family. Without quite meaning to, Phoebe had fallen into the void Prue had left behind. She rallied Piper into standing up for herself, dragged Paige away from more than one questionable boy and forced Grams to slow down. And more often than not, Phoebe found herself on the phone seeking out Prue's advice on the latest crisis.

"We need to go home." Phoebe stated quietly. A parking garage simply wasn't the time or place for the talk they both needed to have, and if Phoebe broke down, she felt like she'd never stop.

Prue gave Phoebe a sad smile. "Okay. But we have a date with a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough."

Phoebe nodded. "Each." Then, in one synchronized move, both girls went for the driver's side of the jeep.

Phoebe stopped and Prue held her hand out for the keys. "I'm driving."

Phoebe clutched them protectively. "So you can drive on the wrong side of the road?"

"I'm not that incompetent." Phoebe gave Prue a look that said otherwise. "I'm not. Just because I've been in London for two years doesn't mean I don't remember what San Fran is like."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Come on Prue, you look like you're about to fall over and there are two people desperately wanting to see you." Phoebe jingled the keys. "Alive."

Prue frowned, but was far too exhausted come up with any reasonable comeback. "Fine. But don't think you just outsmarted me by playing the sister card."

Phoebe slid into the driver's seat before Prue could change her mind. "It's good to have you back."

Prue settled into the passenger seat and rested her head on the window. "It's good to be back." Phoebe sped out of the parking space and took a sharp turn around the corner. "SLOW!" Prue yelled as she jerked up in her seat.

"Gotcha!" Phoebe exclaimed as she slowed to a more reasonable speed and gave Prue a mischievous grin.

---

Same house. Same steps. Same potted plant sitting on the porch. Prue pushed the manor's front door open and was bowled over by a fluffy bundle of energy.

New dog.

"Rasputin down." Phoebe commanded as the dog jumped at Prue. "Down!" Rasputin wagged his tail and bounced higher. "Get down." As per his Halliwell heritage, the dog didn't, becoming more and more joyful with every leap. "Come here you little..." Phoebe grabbed Rasputin's collar and hauled him down, dodging his tongue as he tried to lick her face. "Yes. Hi."

Prue snorted at the spectacle. "Paige told me he was getting better."

Phoebe sighed, poking Rasputin's back until he sat. "She's grading on a curve." Rasputin barked in agreement. "It looks like he remembers you."

Prue grinned and bent down to let him sniff her hand. "Hi buddy. You were just a little puppy when I saw you last." Rasputin whined in Phoebe's grip. "He's adorable."

"He's something." Phoebe muttered, having been Rasputin's number one target for shoe chewing, bed puking and I'm-going-to-lie-on-your-head-even-although-you're-sleeping over the last two years. After a few seconds of Rasputin sitting like the good dog he selectively decided to be, Phoebe looked up at Prue. "Ready?"

Prue braced herself against the hall table. "Yes." Phoebe released Rasputin's collar and he exploded forward, taking Prue to the floor with practiced ease.

Prue giggled as she rolled away from Rasputin's slobbery kisses.

"He likes you." After several failed attempts, Prue managed to push Rasputin away from her face long enough to see the owner of the voice standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"You're tall." Prue turned to Phoebe in accusation. "She's tall."

Phoebe leant against the banister. "Really? We hadn't noticed." Paige rolled her eyes. All Piper and Phoebe did was complain about how short they were.

Prue climbed to her feet and stared at Paige in awe. She'd seen pictures in the care packages her family had sent to her over the last two years, but they did no justice to the changes that had taken place in her baby sister. "And old!"

Paige glanced at Phoebe. "Do you think I need remind her of how this birth order thing works?"

The Piper-like tone in Paige's voice was even more surprising than her physical appearance, but the comment was enough to remind Prue of what was really important. "Come here smartass."

Paige strolled forth with the calculated coolness of high school senior, but Prue didn't have the patience and quickly swept her up in a smothering hug. After a few seconds, Paige squirmed away, looking equal parts embarrassed and pleased. Prue ruffled Paige's hair with a giant grin.

"Hey!" Paige swept her hair back into place. "That took me an hour to do." Prue pursed her lips in amusement, but didn't say anything. For years Paige had informed Prue that girly habits were a waste of time.

Phoebe watched their interaction from the bottom step, glad to see Paige doing something other than cry. Paige had been an absolute godsend with Piper over the last 48 hours. Their big sister's sadness was suffocating and Phoebe just couldn't bring herself to lie beside Piper and wallow in grief. But Paige could and Phoebe and Paige had come to unspoken arrangement where Paige dealt with Piper and Phoebe dealt with everything else. But now that Prue was here...well, Phoebe didn't quite know where they all fit in.

"Pheebs?"

Phoebe snapped out of her thoughts and found both of her sisters staring at her in concern. "Sorry. What's up?"

Paige shoved her hands in her pockets. "Have you heard from Jeremy?"

Phoebe sighed. "No." Piper's boyfriend had been missing since the night Grams collapsed on the stairs, just when Piper needed him the most. Paige had always maintained that Jeremy was a jerk and Phoebe had simply written it off as Paige being jealous...but now, after 2 days of ignored phone calls, Phoebe was beginning to revise her opinion. Not that Phoebe had room to talk. Clay had disappeared off to New York for another one of his 'business' trips, leaving her with a post-it note stuck to his bed.

Paige glanced up the stairs. "Do we tell her?"

"Not unless she asks." Prue interjected forcefully. Phoebe let out a tiny smile, glad to have someone else around to make the decisions.

Paige nodded, still staring up the stairs with a worried expression. Even although Paige had made the effort to shower, style her hair and put on makeup, there was no hiding how upset she really was. In fact, her mascara was already smudged from tears, not that she seemed to be aware of it.

Prue pulled off her jacket and stepped into the middle of the hall. "Okay. This is what we're going to do. I'll go get Piper out of bed while you two grab four bowls and all the cereal in the cupboard."

Paige let out a heavy sigh, knowing that Phoebe had told Prue about her eating habits. It wasn't that she didn't want to eat, but rather, that she felt overwhelmingly sick every time she thought about Grams. She'd thrown up right after she'd got the call from Phoebe, and somehow, all the extremes of emotion she was going through manifested themselves as a perpetual feeling of nausea.

Phoebe pushed herself to her feet and offered out a hand out towards her little sister. "Come on kiddo."

Paige took it silently. Of all her sisters, Phoebe was the only one who still treated her like a baby. It was a frequent point of friction in their lives, but Paige knew better than to start a fight on a day like this. Once Phoebe had pulled her to her feet, Paige directed her attention to Prue. "Be gentle with Piper. She's…" All three girls let the statement go unfinished, knowing exactly who and how Piper was.

Prue gave her sisters a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I've got this."

Phoebe tugged on Paige's hand and they disappeared into the kitchen without another word, leaving Prue alone in the middle of the hall. And suddenly, all the confidence Prue had felt with her sisters disappeared. Grams' smell lingered everywhere and it felt so wrong to be home without Grams standing there and chastising her about wearing impractical shoes on the plane.

Refusing to give into the sadness, Prue started on her way up the stairs. The creaky floorboard was now three times as creaky, and as Prue reached the second floor landing she came the startling realization that she didn't even know where Piper's room was. Back when they were living together Prue and Piper had shared the bedroom beside the bathroom, but now that Phoebe had moved in and out three times and poor Paige had been bumped around like a yo-yo, Piper's room could be anywhere.

Deciding that she had no choice but to search, Prue made her way to the closest door and looked inside. The easel in the far corner was a dead giveaway, but Prue still flipped on the light to take a look at her little sisters' current decorating tastes. The lime green furniture and eccentric jewellery on the left side of the room were rather jarring, but the freehand sketches pinned up on the bulletin board reminded Prue of just how talented her littlest sister was. Prue had urged Paige to go to art school, but after much debate, Paige chosen the more sensible route of social work. Prue didn't think it was a mistake, necessarily, but more like Paige was settling because she was afraid of failing everyone's expectations.

Phoebe's side of the room was predictably messy, every piece of furniture covered with clothes, makeup and magazines. It didn't look she'd been living there full-time, if the half unpacked duffel bag was anything to go by, and Prue felt her stomach clench at the thought of Phoebe moving in with Clay. While it was true that she had never met the guy, Prue knew enough from what Phoebe didn't say to judge him as trouble.

After another few seconds of noisy observation, Prue turned off the light and made her way down the hall. She bypassed what she assumed was still Grams' room and opened the last door.

There was a distinctive sniffle from somewhere underneath a pile of blankets. "I'm not getting up Phoebe."

Prue crossed the room and sunk down on to the bed. "Guess again."

The blankets shifted slightly. "Prue?"

Prue lifted up a corner to see Piper's face. "Surprise."

Piper squinted at the daylight streaming in from behind her sister's head. "I thought you were coming home on Thursday."

"…it is Thursday." Prue broke gently.

"Oh." Piper swallowed, feeling the sting of tears start again. "I didn't –"

Prue slid into the bed beside her sister, pulling the blankets back over both of their heads. "You don't have to explain." Prue could hear Piper's choked sob in the darkened space and wasted no time pulling her into a tight hug.

Piper buried her head into Prue's shoulder. "I want her back."

Prue sighed, running a hand through Piper's matted hair. "I know." Piper clung to Prue's warmth and Prue revelled in the feeling of having her sister back with her. After a few minutes of quiet tears, Prue pulled away from the embrace. "You know she wouldn't want you to do this." Piper looked away, trying to stop her tears. "Grams raised us to be strong women and I refuse to let you sink into a depression. You have to get up Piper."

Piper shook her head. "I don't want to."

Prue reached out and interlinked her fingers with Piper's. "I get that you're sad. And I know you're hurting. But this isn't the way to deal with things."

Piper pulled away from her sister angrily. "She's gone Prue. You can't pretend like nothing's changed. No get up and at 'em speech is going to change the fact that we will never see Grams again."

Prue yanked the blanket off their heads, exposing Piper to the cool air. "I'm not going to fight with you. You've been in bed for 3 days. You need to take a shower, eat some–"

"How?" Piper cut in desperately. "How can I live my life without her here?"

Prue paused halfway out the bed, feeling the blow of Piper's grief. After a long beat, she sunk back down and let out a heavy sigh. "You just…do."

The sisters lapsed into silence, staring up at the ceiling, still decorated with glow in the dark stars from Phoebe and Paige's childhood. After a few minutes, Piper let out a shaky breath. "Does it ever hurt less?"

"Yes." Prue replied, quietly but resolutely. "When you start making new memories." Prue shifted so she could see Piper's face. "It's never going to be okay, but it's going to get easier."

Piper nodded, understanding the logic of the statement but nowhere near believing it. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Prue asked in confusion.

"For not understanding."

Prue felt her eyes well with tears, so glad to have her sister in her life. "Thank you." Piper's mouth twitched, not quite a smile, but enough to reassure Prue that she was going to be okay. "I love you."

Piper rested her head on Prue's shoulder. "I love you too."

Prue looked down at her sister. "I'm glad…but you stink and I'd really like to figure out what's going on with your hair." Prue pulled at a piece sticking out the side of Piper's head. "Bangs?"

Piper sighed. "Layering."

"Huh." Prue dropped the hair and slid out from underneath Piper. "Alright, are you going to get up or am I going to have to blackmail you out of bed?" Prue sat up. "Don't think I don't remember that drunken dial from your birthday."

Piper grimaced at a vivid memory of her hangover. "I'll get up."

Prue offered out a hand. "Smart choice."

Piper took a deep breath and reached out, letting Prue pull her into a sitting position. "I can't cook…not without…."

Prue squeezed Piper's hand. "No cooking, I promise. Just the four of us being together."

Piper slid off the bed and followed Prue to the door. "I think she'd like that."

---

Three days later, Prue stood in the kitchen trying to resist the urge to punch a wall.

"You need to eat something dear." Mrs. Morgan scolded, the way she always did, as if Prue and her sisters were helpless orphans starving on the streets.

"No thank you." Prue replied, averting her eyes from the piece of lemon cake being offered her way. Grams' funeral had been a successful affair, despite the large number of guests in attendance. Prue had known that her grandmother was a social butterfly, but the sheer number of people who shown up to both the funeral and reception was astounding.

"You're far too skinny Prudence." Mrs. Morgan continued, eying Prue's off the shoulder shirt with a look of church lady disdain.

Prue gritted her teeth, counting to 10 in her head. When she was nine, Andy's uncle had died of cancer. Grams had taken her to the funeral insisting that she was grown up enough to be there for her friend...but it was too soon after her mother's funeral, a mere 8 months, and Prue had been so overwhelmed with the memories that when Grams had given her a piece of lemon cake, she'd thrown her plate across the room. Andy, not wanting Prue to get into trouble, had done the same, splashing a hearty helping of red jello against his mother's cream wall. They'd gotten off with some yelling and a timeout in Andy's room, but that horrible feeling of losing control had stuck with Prue till this day.

"What kind of example does this set for your sisters?" Mrs. Morgan added and Prue resisted the urge to scream. She knew that if she refused the cake one more time the rumours would start to fly. Anorexic. Overwhelmed with grief. Incapable of being Paige's guardian. Prue was aware that the only opinion that mattered in the custody case with the district judge...but these people were Grams' friends and Prue felt like she needed to prove that she had done a good job raising them all.

"I…"

"Have been saving a piece for me?" Prue felt her world tilt as Andy slid into place beside her, intercepting the plate with his boy scout smile. "Thanks Prue, you're the best."

Mrs. Morgan's eyebrows raised at the newcomer. "Andrew. Your mother didn't tell me you were back in town."

Andy shifted the lemon cake away from Prue, leaning back against the counter with apparent ease. "Transferred home a month ago."

"Well." Mrs. Morgan took a step back with the coy smile Prue and Andy had seen all their lives. "Then I guess you two have some catching up to do." She paused, as if she was about to say something more, but simply decided to reach out and give Prue's shoulder a tender squeeze. "Take care of yourself sweetheart." And then she was gone, undoubtedly to start a vigorous round of living room gossip surrounding the status of their relationship.

Prue took a deep breath in preparation of seeing him. In person. For the first time in 7 years.

But by the time she'd worked up enough courage to turn around, Andy wasn't looking at her.

He was staring at the lemon cake.

"Andy." Prue warned without thinking.

Andy gave her a conspiring grin and tossed his paper plate into the air, watching as the cake splattered down onto the floor in a giant pile of goo.

Prue stared at Andy.

Andy stared at Prue.

And then Phoebe burst into the kitchen. "Prue! I've been looking for you everywhere. Piper's disappeared and there isn't enough–" Phoebe came to skidding halt when she caught sight of the other person in the room. "Andy!" Phoebe rushed forward and gave Andy an overly enthusiastic hug. "Oh my god! It's so been so long!"

Prue shot her sister an annoyed look over Andy's shoulder, urging her to be a little less excited about seeing Prue's ex.

Phoebe pulled back from the embrace quickly. "Uh, I mean...hi."

Andy leant against the counter, backing away from Prue. "I'm sorry to hear about Grams."

Phoebe gave him a sad smile. "Thank you. Grams always said that you were–" Phoebe caught sight of Prue's warning glare, "...nice."

Andy could remember a number of times Grams didn't think he was so nice, most specifically when he'd been caught sneaking out Prue's window, but he gave Phoebe an appreciative nod nonetheless. "Thank you. That means a lot to me. How are you guys doing?"

"We're –"

"Fine." Prue interrupted curtly, turning away from them both to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. Andy glanced at Phoebe for the real answer, but she just shrugged, not wanting to say anything in front of Prue.

"That's...good." Andy replied carefully, watching as Prue downed all of the water bottle in one go.

Phoebe moved towards the cutlery drawer, well aware of the tension in the room. "We're running low on–" Phoebe paused when she nearly stepped on the smashed cake in the middle of the floor. "What happened?" Prue and Andy exchanged a guilty look and Phoebe's eyes drifted to the empty counter space behind her sister.

Prue jerked away the counter, knowing exactly where Phoebe's mind was going. "It fell."

Phoebe bit her lip to hold in a laugh. "If you say so." Andy grabbed a cloth from the sink and bent down to start clearing up the cake.

"Didn't you say something about Piper?" Prue questioned as she joined Andy on the floor, reaching under the dishwasher to retrieve a fork.

Phoebe pulled out a selection of spoons. "She was with Jeremy, but now I can't find her."

"Maybe they went upstairs?"

Phoebe paused. "I really don't think Piper's in the mood."

Prue grunted. "To talk Phoebe. Piper probably needed a break from everything." Prue glanced at Andy out the corner of her eye. "Why don't you go look?"

Phoebe grinned and hip checked the drawer shut. "Maybe later."

Prue narrowed her eyes. "Maybe now."

Phoebe jumped up onto the counter, placing herself in perfect position to watch Prue and Andy crawl around on the floor. "So Andy, how long are you in town for?"

Andy lifted his head from where he had been picking up crumbs. "Indefinitely. I got posted with the SFPD."

"How nice." Phoebe swung her legs back and forth. "You know, Prue's just back from London. Maybe you two should–"

"Hey, are your parents here?" Prue cut in forcefully, snatching the plate from Andy's hands and making her way to the garbage.

Andy did one last inspection of the floor before standing up. "They're out there meeting Paige's boyfriend."

"Kyle." Phoebe muttered, instantly losing all of her cheerfulness.

Prue rolled her eyes as she tossed the plate into the garbage. "Don't start Phoebe."

Andy glanced between the two in concern. "Why? Is this guy trouble or something?"

"No." Prue turned towards her sister in warning. "Phoebe is just being protective."

Phoebe glared back unapologetically. "I'm telling you Prue, there's something wrong with that kid."

Prue sighed, having had this same discussion over the phone for the last 9 months. "He's adopted. There's bound to be some emotional turmoil. But he's done nothing but treat Paige right, so we have to give him the benefit of the doubt."

Phoebe crossed her arms testily. "You'll see."

Andy gestured for the fork still clutched in Prue's hand. "Well, I'm always here if you need me." Prue relinquished the fork, accidentally brushing his fingers. They locked eyes for what felt like a second, but from the huge grin on Phoebe's face, Prue could tell that it was a lot longer than that. Prue stepped back and Andy cleared his throat. "I mean for Paige's boyfriend."

Prue turned back to the garbage. "Of course."

"Riiiiight." Phoebe added, positively delighting in Prue's discomfort. Prue pinched Phoebe's leg where Andy couldn't see it, but it did nothing to remove the sparkle from the younger Halliwell's eye. "Are you dating anyone Andy?"

Prue grabbed Phoebe's arm and jerked her off the counter. "Goodbye Phoebe."

Phoebe stuck her tongue out at her sister, but obediently grabbed her collection of spoons and moved towards to the door. "I need to go find Piper anyway." Phoebe stole a half full glass of red wine from the counter and turned around so she could see Andy. "Despite Prue's hormonal rage, it was nice seeing you."

Andy gave Phoebe a heartfelt smile. "You too."

Phoebe grinned and held up the wine glass in salute. "And FYI? Prue loves Fellini movies."

"Phoebe!" Prue yelled, but she was long gone, the kitchen door swinging shut behind her. Prue turned back to Andy with a groan. "Sorry. I'm looking into getting her muzzled."

Andy laughed. "It's okay. It's nice to see that some things haven't changed."

Prue rubbed her temples. "Phoebe driving me insane?"

"Among other things." Prue sighed and Andy took a step towards her. "Are you okay?"

Prue looked up, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes. "I've been better."

"Grams?"

"And sisters. And unemployment. And a million other things that I have no idea how to deal with."

Andy gave her a small smile. "If there's anyone in this world who can handle this, it's you."

Prue let out a bitter laugh. "Of course."

Andy tilted his head so he could look her straight in the eye. "Prue, you're the strongest person I know. I'm not telling you this to put pressure on you, I'm telling you it because it's true. You can do it. All of it."

Prue bit her lip. "But Grams was always here to get stains out of clothes. And cosign bank drafts. And make decisions about what the fuck I'm doing with my life."

"You know my mom will always help you."

Prue shook her head sadly. "It's not the same."

Andy took the final step and pulled her into a tight hug. "Okay." Prue closed her eyes and leant into the embrace, taking in the familiar smell she'd missed so much. It was warm, and comforting, and…exactly what she shouldn't be doing.

Prue jerked back from Andy. "Sorry."

Andy looked down at her. "Don't be." The couple stared at each other for a tense second.

"Andy."

"Prue."

Both of them paused when they spoke at the same time. After a beat, Prue tried again. "You can go first."

"8 ½ is playing the revival theatre..."

Prue raised an eyebrow. "You're asking me out at my grandmother's funeral?"

"No. Well...yes, but..." Andy stepped back from Prue. "You're right. Nevermind." Andy moved to walk away, but Prue grabbed his hand and turned him back around.

"I didn't mean it like that. Really. I just...everything is a bit much right now. Can you give me some time? "

"Of course." Andy replied, trying to hide his smile.

Prue bit her lip. "I should...go."

Andy nodded and moved back to let her pass. "Call me."

Prue reached up and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

Andy frowned. "For what?"

Prue moved towards the door, feeling ready for everything that was waiting for her on the other side. "For being Andy."

---

Prue made it ten steps from the kitchen when Paige called out her name. With a poorly suppressed sigh, she veered away from the stairs and made her way across the living room to where her sister was standing beside a middle aged couple and teenage boy. Paige looked a thousand times more put together than she had at the ceremony. Which meant that the over-gelled boy standing to her left was Kyle. Archaeology genius, FBI candidate and the one person who had pulled Paige out of a yearlong depression.

Paige gave Prue a shy smile and tugged Kyle forward. "Prue, this is Kyle. Kyle, this is Prue."

Kyle held out his hand with just enough confidence for Prue to know that Paige had been prepping him for this very moment. "Nice to meet you."

Prue took his hand, squeezing it with big sister strength. "Likewise." If Kyle felt any pain he didn't let it show, disentangling his hand from Prue's only when she started to pull back.

Paige looked at the other two members of the gathering. "And these are Kyle's parents. Sarah and Jack Matthews."

"I'm sorry so for your loss. Penny was so proud of you girls." Sarah took Prue's hand with a gentle squeeze.

"Thank you."

Jack stepped up, offering a hand of his own. "Paige has told us all about you."

"Believe half of it."

Paige rolled her eyes but kept quiet as Sarah drapped an arm around her shoulder. The ease in which Paige accepted the gesture took Prue aback. She was always going on and on about family dinners at the Matthews, the way Sarah taught her to sew, how Jack showed her to change a flat tire and the lax rules Kyle was allowed to live by.

Sarah pulled back and looked down Paige with such open affection that Prue couldn't hold anything against her even if she tried. "Paige has missed you a lot."

"Prue who?" Paige joked, but there was a heaviness in her voice that gave her away. Sarah caught Prue's eye and gave her a reassuring nod. Without giving herself the time to obsess over this strange display, Prue reached out and snared Paige in a bone crushing hug.

Paige yelped, trying to get away. "Prue!"

Prue knew that they were causing a scene. And that Paige's squeals weren't exactly funeral reception material. But she was being the sister she wanted to be, and somehow Prue knew that Grams couldn't have been prouder.

Prue placed a sloppy kiss on Paige's forehead. "Remember me yet?"

"Vaguely." Paige muttered, rubbing at the wet spot. They were surrounded by disapproving stares, but Sarah and Jack were grinning, and for Prue, that was more than enough of a passing grade.

"You never told me she was the fun one." Sarah said as Prue smoothed down Paige's pristinely straightened hair.

Paige snorted. "False advertising."

Jack chuckled and Prue found herself liking these people more and more. "Well munchkin–"

"I'm taller than you!"

"Isn't irony cool?" Paige made a gesture that Prue ignored. "I need to go find Piper. Tell me–"

"Piper's missing?"

Prue sighed, obviously Paige hadn't outgrown her annoying habit of cutting people off. "Yes. But Phoebe went to go find her."

"I'm coming." Paige turned to Kyle gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. "I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

Kyle nodded, standing to attention as he turned to Prue. "It was nice meeting you."

Prue levelled her gaze at the boy. "You treat her right and it'll stay that way." Kyle swallowed and Prue cheered in her head, pleased that she still had it. She turned towards Sarah and Jack. "Thank you for coming."

Jack wrapped an arm around his wife. "It was a beautiful service. And she was a special lady."

Sarah nodded, reaching out to squeeze Prue's shoulder. "Please call if you need anything."

"Thanks." Prue glanced at Paige. "Coming?"

"Obviously." Paige replied with an eye roll, walking away from her sister without a glance back.

Sarah reached up and ruffled Kyle's hair. "Five months and counting."

"Mom." Kyle complained, ducking away from her. "You're not supposed to want me to go away to college."

Jack grinned, patting his son on the back. "That's just one of those lies parents tell you. We've been planning our games room for years."

---

"...and then they stared into each other's eyes for like a hundred years." Phoebe said as she rested her head on Piper's shoulder.

"What did he look like?"

"Andy."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Did he look older? Broader?"

Phoebe thought about it for a minute. "Nope, still just like Andy."

Piper rested her head against Phoebe's, looking around Grams' closet. "Do you think she even wore any of this stuff?"

"In the 70s."

Piper pulled out a scarf that had seen better days. "I remember this." Phoebe sat in silence, letting Piper relive a memory she didn't have. "She used to wear it when she worked at Walgreens."

The closet door swung open and the small space was flooded with light. "Told ya." Paige stepped into the closet and flopped down at Phoebe's side.

Prue hovered at the door. "Guys, you're supposed to be downstairs. I know you don't feel like it but..." Prue stopped. "Fuck it." She pulled the door shut and sat down by the shoes. "Grams hated most of these people anyway."

Paige leant back against Phoebe's knees. "What were you talking about?"

"Prue and her lover boy."

"Ugh, Phoebe." Prue moaned, grabbing a purple foam finger from the shelf with a perplexed look.

Paige looked between the two. "Who? What? Where?"

"Prue and Andy, the remix."

Paige nudged Prue's knee with her shoe. "You sleeze."

Prue rolled her eyes, moving to sit beside Piper. "All he did was ask me out."

"He asked you out?"

"What did you say?"

Prue sighed at Phoebe and Paige's synchronized onslaught. "That I'd think about it."

Phoebe shot Prue an overly amused look while Paige waved the foam finger in front of her face. "Every time, every guy."

"Very funny." Prue smacked Paige's hand away from her. "Kyle's cute."

Phoebe made a gagging noise and Paige kicked her leg. "Stop it."

"You stop it." Phoebe muttered, rubbing at her shin.

Prue took the opportunity to look Piper over, increasingly aware of her silence. "How are you doing?"

Piper accepted the arm Prue wrapped around her shoulders. "I've been better."

Prue pulled Piper against her and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "I think we all have."

Paige leant into Phoebe who cuddled up to Piper who rested her head on Prue's shoulder, a lifetime of Grams' lessons growing inside them all.

---

"Piper." Prue shook Piper's shoulder, glancing at the door.

Piper batted Prue's hand away. "G'away. Headache."

Prue shook her harder. "Come on Piper. Wake up." Another thump sounded above Prue's head and she moved onto poking Piper's side. "Piper. Piper. Piper."

Piper's eyes slid open at the incessant badgering. "Whassit? Prue?"

"Get up." Prue commanded, tugging on Piper's arm to pull her out of bed. "There's something upstairs."

Piper rolled over grumpily. "It's probably Clay trying to get into Phoebe's room." The noise sounded again and Piper's eyes flew open. "That's not from outside."

Prue shook her head and crossed Piper's room to peak outside. Nothing seemed out of place, but Prue couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. "Let's go."

"What? No!" Piper pulled her blanket tightly around herself. "We should call the cops."

Prue took a step into the hall, feeling a lot braver with Piper at her side. "It's probably a raccoon."

"What if it's not?" Prue ignored Piper, creeping her way towards the attic stairs. "Prue!" Piper hissed as Prue got farther and farther away. "Don't leave me!" Piper jumped out of bed and ran after her sister. They climbed the stairs slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible.

"Look." Prue whispered when she reached the top and caught sight of the attic door, slightly ajar.

"Prue." Piper whimpered. "I really really really don't like this. I think we should–"

Prue tapped the door with her foot. It swung open, almost of its own accord.

"Hey guys." Phoebe greeted cheerfully, sprawled out on the floor beside Paige.

Prue dug Piper's nails out her arm and stepped into the room. "How the hell did you two get in here?"

Phoebe went back to the book she was reading. "It was open."

Prue crossed her arms testily. "How many times have I told you not to pick locks? It jams the pins."

Paige rolled her eyes from where she was digging through a big cardboard box of their old toys. "She's telling the truth."

Prue tried to stare her sisters down, but as neither of them were actually looking at her, it didn't make much of an impact. Prue grunted and sat down. "What are you doing anyway?"

Paige held up a scruffy looking cabbage patch doll. "Reminiscing."

"Molly!" Prue yanked the doll out of Paige's hands. "I used to bring her everywhere."

Piper knelt down with a snort. "And scream bloody murder if any of us touched her." Whilst Prue was distracted with straightening up the doll's clothes and Paige was pulling out My Little Pony after My Little Pony, Piper leant over to see what Phoebe was reading. "What's that?"

Phoebe held up the cover for Piper to see. "Some book I found in the truck. It's like a million years old."

Prue glanced over. "Try 400. The cover is made of semi-cured leather."

Phoebe ignored her, flipping through the worn pages. "It's full of weird poetry. Somebody in this family must have been smoking a lot of drugs."

Paige held up a Cyndi Lauper cassette with a giant grin. "Oh Piper..."

"Give me that." Piper snatched the cassette out of Paige's hand, remembering one too many dance recitals.

Phoebe ran her finger over a page in the book. "Hey, listen to this." No one responded, too caught up in the memorabilia to care about her discovery. "Hear now the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night. The oldest of gods are invoked here–"

Paige's head snapped up from where she and Prue were fighting over a pound puppy. "The great work of magic is sought. In this night and in this hour I call upon the ancient power."

Prue glanced between Phoebe and Paige. "What are you–"

Phoebe looked at Paige, then at the book, then back at Paige. "Bring your powers to we sisters three. We want the power."

"Give us the power." Paige finished quietly, looking entirely freaked out.

A clap of thunder sounded outside and all four sisters went completely still. After what felt an eternity, Piper turned to Paige. "What was that?"

Paige swallowed nervously. "That's the poem from my dream."

Prue pushed herself to her feet. "Yeah, okay, enough. Whatever joke you two were planning to play on us needs to stop now."

Paige stared up at Prue. "It's not a joke. I –I've always had this dream where mum –"

"Paige." Prue warned dangerously.

Paige snapped her mouth shut and turned towards Phoebe. But she was far too wrapped up in reading a page on Melinda Warren to defend her little sister. "The book says we're witches. One of us has the power to move objects with her mind. One can see the future. And another one can stop time..."

Paige bit her lip. "Three."

Phoebe glanced up. "What? Oh." Phoebe turned back to the book and started flipping through the pages. "Well there's got to be more powers somewhere. Maybe I can give one of mine?"

Prue walked over and slammed the book shut. "This is ridiculous. We are not witches. We do not have magical powers. And you are not dragging Paige into whatever...thing you're trying to do."

Phoebe pushed Prue's hand off the book and flipped it back open. "Chill out Prue, I'm just reading."

"Do you know anything about this?" Piper asked Paige under her breath. Over the last two years, Piper and Paige had a few conversations about the weird things in Paige's life. Like the bad feeling she'd had at a party when one of her friends had been attacked. Or how she didn't know how she'd avoided a falling bookcase during an earthquake.

Paige shook her head. "Mum used to recite that poem to me in my dreams, but I've never heard it out loud."

A shiver ran straight down Piper's spine.

Phoebe pointed to a section of the page. "Look. This says we're protectors of the innocent. There are people who need our help."

Prue stared at her sister in disbelief. "Are you even listening to yourself right now? How can we help people? We're just –"

"The Charmed Ones." A voice echoed around the attic, bringing a series of glowing lights that swirled around until they manifested themselves into the ghost of Grams. "Hello my darlings."

Nobody moved, staring at Grams see-through form in complete and utter shock. Phoebe was the first to find her voice. "You're...you're dead!"

"Unfortunate, isn't it?" Grams stepped forward, transforming from a ghost into a physical form. "But we mustn't dwell. You girls have a lot to learn in a very short amount of time."

"But you're dead." Phoebe restated stubbornly, as if the very words would make Grams go away.

Grams moved and Prue jumped in front of Phoebe protectively. "Stay away from her!"

Grams stopped, an irate look on her face. "Really Prudence, is that any way to talk to your grandmother?"

Every muscle in Prue's body tensed. "My grandmother is dead."

Grams sighed. "Always the difficult one. Well ask me anything I would know."

Prue glanced down at Piper and Paige and was unsurprised to find them still staring at Grams with wide eyes.

"Ask something." Phoebe hissed in Prue's ear, hugging the book against her chest.

"You ask something." Prue muttered, eying Grams with hostile intent.

Phoebe swallowed and turned towards Grams. "W-where did my parents get married?"

Grams snorted. "Tijuana."

Phoebe and Prue exchanged a look at the answer, then Prue stepped forward. "What university did Piper and I go to?"

"Gold State."

"When did I break my ankle?"

Grams narrowed her eyes. "When you rode your bike down the stairs despite me telling you not to."

Prue opened her mouth to dispute that rather biased version of the story, but a small voice cut in. "Grams?"

Grams slowly turned towards Piper. She might have been sent down to play the role of a detached advisor, but the truth was that she missed her girls just as much as they missed her. She knew that the four of them needed to prepare themselves for the coming days and that sentimental attachment to her ghost form would only get in the way...but Piper, her little Piper, had always felt things so much more than the rest. "Hello sweetheart."

Tears started streaming down Piper's cheeks. "Is it really you?"

Grams nodded and Piper leapt up, throwing herself at Grams with bone crushing strength. She sobbed against Grams' shoulder and Grams held her tight. "Oh Piper." Grams pulled back and grabbed Piper's chin. "You and your sisters are going to be just fine. The only thing you need to fight evil is each other."

"Evil?" Prue broke in shrilly.

"Warlocks." Phoebe answered without thinking. Prue shot Phoebe a wicked side eye and she shrunk back. "I...I think."

Grams wrapped her arm around Piper. "Yes dear. And demons." Grams pointed at the Book of shadows. "You'll learn about all that in time. But for now, you need to concentrate on your own magic." Grams turned to Piper. "You have your mother's power, the ability to freeze time." Piper looked entirely lost, but Grams moved onto Phoebe. "You my darling have the power of premonition, visions of the past and future."

"Cool."

Grams smiled at her enthusiasm and turned to towards Prue. "You have the power to move things with your mind. The strongest power in the Halliwell line."

Prue threw her hands up. "This is crazy!"

Grams sighed at Prue's dramatics, but purposely moved onto the person, still sitting on the floor. "And you, my dear..." Gram offered out a hand to lift Paige off the floor. "You are the Source."

"Of what?" Paige asked as Grams pulled her to her feet.

"Of all good magic."

Paige blinked. "Pardon?"

Grams grinned with pride. "I didn't know it when I was alive, but now...now all the pieces fit. A being of light born to balance the scale against evil."

"Me?" Paige questioned in alarm.

Gram nodded, placing her hand on Paige's shoulder. "With a triad of good to protect you. What could be more powerful than big sisters?" Grams laughed. "I always wondered why my binds on you didn't stick. Your magic just kept leaking through."

Paige nodded, in a somewhat dazed kind of way. "Do I get powers like them?"

"Oh darling, you already have them." Paige went to ask what they were but Grams waved her hand and fluttered back across the room. "All in good time dear."

Piper looked at Paige in concern. "You okay?"

Paige stared at Grams as she showed Phoebe the premonition page in the Book of Shadows. "Yes."

"Well I'm not!" Prue cut in, pacing back and forth across the room. "This is insane. I do not have powers. Grams is not here. I'm dreaming, or hallucinating, or something." Prue pointed to Grams angrily. "I didn't do anything wrong! I don't deserve this!"

"This isn't a punishment darling, it's a gift."

"Well I don't want it! Take it back!" A walkman at Prue's feet skidded across the floor.

"Prudence–"

"Stay away!" Prue threw out her hand to keep Grams away. The old rocking chair flew backwards, smashing into the wall.

Piper reached out. "Prue–"

"No! Everyone just stay away!" Prue yelled, backing away from them all.

"Prue."

Prue froze as the corporeal form of Patty Halliwell walked into the room. "Mum."

Piper glanced at Grams for reassurance, while Phoebe's hand found Paige's, the both of them looking at Patty in awe. Patty gave all her girls a smile, but made her way to Prue's side. "I know this is hard, but your sisters lives depend on you accepting this. Magic is real. Think back, back to when Phoebe was born and you and Piper used to play with your powers. Or Paige's birth. You were right there beside me when she was born, wrapped in blue glowing light."

"But..."

"No buts sweetheart. You have to trust what's in your heart, not in your head."

Prue swallowed, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes. "Is this real?"

"Yes."

Prue reached out tentatively, making contact with Patty's solid form. Patty held out her hands, offering a hug, and Prue launched herself forward, collapsing into Patty's welcoming embrace. "I missed you. So much."

"I've been with you the whole time." Patty pulled back to see Prue's face. "I promise." Patty rested her hands on Prue's tear stained cheeks, looking into her eyes. "You've made me so proud Prue. What you've done for your sisters..." Patty shook her head, unable to put her appreciation into words. "I haven't doubted you for a second. You're everything I always wanted you to be and more." Patty placed a tender kiss on Prue's forehead and turned to Piper, hovering at Grams' side.

"My beautiful Piper. I know death is hard, but there's so much waiting for you in life. Your turn at happiness is coming. Just believe in yourself sweetheart. The rest will follow."

Patty gave Piper a loving hug then moved on to Phoebe and Paige. "And my babies." Patty reached out and took both of their hands. "Phoebe. My little miracle. I know things haven't always been easy for you, but you've made me so proud. Your spirit is the most amazing thing about you, don't ever worry about having to change." Grams cleared her throat and Patty rolled her eyes. "Ignore her. She's dead." Phoebe cracked a teary smile and Patty looked at Paige. "My little angel. I know how much you struggle with your identity, but there is no doubt you belong in this family. You're destined for such great things Paige, use your difference as your strength, and trust that everything happens for a reason."

Piper looked up at Grams at the familiar words and she nodded back, reiterating the statement as Patty pulled Phoebe and Paige into a hug, her own eyes burning with unshed tears.

The peaceful moment was disrupted by the doorbell. Prue walked over to the window and peered outside. "It's Jeremy."

"Crap. I told him to come over after his assignment was done." Piper looked between the door and Patty. "He'll think we're sleeping. He won't stop until I go down and let him in."

"Patty, it's time." Grams said, moving back into the middle of the room. Patty nodded, holding Phoebe and Paige that much tighter.

"Don't go." Paige whispered, holding onto Patty.

Patty kissed both her and Phoebe on the forehead. "I'll never be far away." Patty stepped away and let Phoebe slide into place, hugging Paige as she cried.

Patty pulled Piper into a tight hug. "It will get better. I promise." The doorbell rang again but Piper took a moment to savour Patty's loving touch.

Finally, Patty faced Prue. "I wish I could have been there when you needed me. But you have to start letting people in." Patty reached out and tucked a piece of hair behind Prue's ear. "Let your sisters take care of you." Prue sniffed and Patty gave her one last hug. "You deserve to be happy."

Patty crossed the room reluctantly, moving to Grams' side. She gave them all one last reassuring smile. "Take care of each other. And remember the power of three will set you free."

"Power of three?" Phoebe asked in confusion, but it was too late, their spirits disappearing into a swirl of bright light.

The doorbell went again and Piper moved towards the door. "I'll get rid of him." Prue, Paige and Phoebe stared at each other, overwhelmed by everything that had just happened. Then Piper screamed.

Prue took off first, but it was Phoebe that made it downstairs in time to see Jeremy holding a knife over Piper, silent and still. Paige and Prue landed beside Phoebe and Jeremy shook it off, bringing the knife down where Piper used to be.

"Piper!" Prue yelled as Jeremy lunged again. A phonebook flew into his side.

"Really Prue?" Phoebe asked as she grabbed an umbrella and ran at Jeremy's back. She smashed it into his head and it splinted into two, leaving Phoebe with nothing but the handle in her hand

"Really Phoebe?" Prue echoed as Phoebe backtracked and Piper darted underneath Jeremy's arm, all four girls converging in front of the door. Phoebe reached out to pull Paige behind her and was thrown into a premonition.

A second later, her eyes snapped open and she shoved Paige in front of them all. "Hold onto Paige."

"Phoebe!" Paige shrieked as Jeremy turned around.

"Do it!" Phoebe exclaimed, her fingers digging into Paige's arm. Prue grabbed Paige's hand and Piper latched onto Paige's shoulder, all of them backing away from Jeremy's advance. "The power of three will set us free."

Prue and Piper exchanged at look then joined Phoebe. "The power of three will set us free." A tiny golden ball of light started to appear in Paige's hand. Jeremy moved forward and Prue held out her hand, bringing the grandfather clock down on Jeremy.

Paige watched the ball grow in her hand, golden flames rippling across the surface.

Jeremy staggered out from under the clock and Prue and Piper threw up their hands to stop him. A plant behind him exploded, but instead of the debris scattering around the room, it passed through Jeremy's body, the clock and the wall, disappearing out of sight.

"Did you...?"

"Did I...?" Piper and Prue questioned at the same time.

"Chant!" Phoebe yelled as Jeremy charged again. Paige's hand started to tingle, the energy ball swirling faster and faster. Jeremy lifted the knife above his head and Paige threw it. The ball slammed into Jeremy's chest, throwing him backwards and surrounding his body in golden light. He let out a roar of pain and exploded, the blast vaporizing his body and sending out a shockwave of white energy that left a scorch mark on the floor.

Prue, Piper and Paige stared at the empty space in front of them while Phoebe closed her eyes. A second later, she opened them and pointed at Prue. "Telekinesis and molecular manipulation." Switched to Piper. "Freezing and exploding." And finished with Paige. "A fuck ton of battery power."

Prue frowned. "How do you know that?"

"I can time travel." Off their blank looks, Phoebe grunted. "My premonitions? They're physical. I can go into the future or the past."

Paige bit her lip. "It's that like really...dangerous. Messing with the space time continuum?"

Phoebe huffed at their less than enthusiastic response. "I can't change anything. Just walk around and see. Like right now, I just went to the future and watched me looking up our powers in the Book of Shadows."

"Oh." Paige paused. "So all I do is power your...powers?"

Phoebe grinned. "Nope. You, little sis, have every power under the...well, whatever's above us. Fireballs, orbing, shapeshifting, summoning, conjuring, regeneration..."

"I don't know what half of those are." Paige replied warily.

"You will." Phoebe dusted off her pants and started to make her way up to the attic. "You will."

---

Twelve hours and one extra long hot shower later, Piper walked into the kitchen and found Prue on the phone and Rasputin asleep in his bed.

"Sounds great." Piper raised her eyebrow at Prue's painfully cheerful tone. "Yes, I know where it is. I've only been there a thousand times or so." Piper started a new pot of coffee, knowing that Prue had been up for hours. "Alright. See you then." Prue hung up the phone and skipped over to her sister. "Morning."

"Date with Andy?" Piper asked as she pulled out some bread.

"Nope. Date with a job." Piper gave her sister a confused look. "A guy from the museum called for an interview this afternoon. Apparently he called the art history department and got a list of top grads."

Piper dumped the tar Prue believed to be coffee and started on a new pot. "Look at you. All employable."

"Interviewable." Prue countered as she sat down at the table with a sigh.

Phoebe stumbled into the room. "Coffee. Need coffee."

"It's on its way." Piper assured, filling up the toaster with more bread.

Phoebe slumped down beside Prue and dropped her forehead onto the table. Prue raised an eyebrow. "What's with you?"

"Stayed up all night reading the Book of Shadows."

"Phoebe reading. The surprises just keep coming." Prue commented as she finished the last of her coffee.

"Ha ha." Phoebe mumbled against the table.

"Phoebe!" Paige stormed into the kitchen dressed in a towel. "You used all the hot water! Again!"

"It happens."

"I'm just gonna..." Prue stood up and ducked out the kitchen before the fight took off. Piper poured herself a cup of coffee and buttered her toast, completely immune the insults flying around behind her.

"You're such a bitch!" Paige finished as she spun on her heel and stomped away.

Phoebe flipped her off, still face down on the table.

"Mature." Piper commented, dropping a cup of coffee in front of Phoebe. She looked up and grabbed it, downing a third of it in one go. "Come on, let's go sit outside."

Phoebe got up grudgingly, following Piper into the living room. "Hey, I hear a man's voice."

"There are pills for things like that."

They stepped out the front door and Prue looked up from where she was sitting on the step, watching Andy walk away. Phoebe pushed Piper's shoulder. "It's Andy. I told you I heard a man's voice."

Piper sat down beside Prue and passed her a piece of toast. "What did he want?"

Prue sighed. "He asked me out again..."

"And you said?"

Phoebe picked up the cat rubbing itself against her legs. "I started to say yes then I stopped. I wondered if I could date. I mean, do witches date?"

"I certainly hope so." Paige interjected as she joined them, dressed in jeans and one of Phoebe's favourite t-shirts. "Kyle's taking me to the park in an hour."

Piper gave Prue a small smile. "You should go out with him."

"It just feels like everything will be different now."

Phoebe sat down beside them, the cat on her lap. "Well at least our lives will never be boring."

Prue looked at her. "But they'll never be the same."

"And this is a bad thing?"

"No." Prue stated quietly, looking out onto the street. "But it could be a big problem."

They sat in silence as Piper and Phoebe finished the rest of their coffee. "Prue's right, what are we going to do?"

"What can't we do?" Phoebe replied with a giant grin.

"Fly. Cure cancer. Stop Hitler. Get along." Phoebe kicked Paige's foot and Paige kicked her back.

Prue turned to her sisters. "We're going to be careful, we're going to be wise and we're going to stick together."

"This should be interesting."

The cat jumped out of Phoebe's arms and slipped into the manor. Paige and Phoebe exchanged a panicked look before a loud crash came from inside.

"Why did you leave the door open?"

"Why did you have a cat here?"

Prue and Piper stood up and moved into the house at a more leisurely pace. "Still glad you came home?" Piper questioned as Rasputin, the cat, Paige and Phoebe ran past them, knocking over two vases and a lamp.

Prue wrapped her arm around Piper's shoulder. "There's no place I'd rather be." And with that, she waved her hand and shut the manor door.

But not quite in time to muffle Phoebe's curse as Rasputin knocked her over. "Damn it Paige!"

"Oh go fuck yourself Phoebe!"