Lego House

Anakin sat on the bottom of the attic's stairs, hair still wet and pale blue shirt only half buttoned. He had half an hour before the limo would arrive as its last stop before heading to the high school. Despite looking forward to the fifth annual Winter and Ice Dance all year the events of the past week had driven it clear out of his mind until the previous night. Lucien and he had been fighting all week mainly through text messages as neither felt ready to have another screaming match. If it had been up to him he would have skipped the dance all together, but his position on the school's swim team required he make an appearance. The dance also served as the kick off party for the swimming season despite the depressingly cold weather.

Anakin fiddled with a button while he stared aimlessly at the mural of family pictures hanging on the opposite wall. He never really took the time to look at the pictures, but now he saw they told a story. It was a wall covered in the history of the Charmed Ones from a picture of his mother, Aunt Prue, and grandmother who was pregnant with his Aunt Phoebe to anther one of the three original Charmed Ones standing outside the Manor. His mother looked so young in the picture. Further down the wall was a picture of Phoebe and Paige all dressed up and another with his mother, dad, Wyatt, and baby Chris; his dad was blurred out in the picture. Then pictures started to include his sister Prue and finally him. Some had his cousins scattered throughout. The one that caught his eye was a candid shot of him and his mother when he was only three or four; he was laughing and his mom was grinning despite being covered in flour. They were a very happy family, and yet some part of him felt wrong.

He stood up and buttoned up the rest of his shirt. Deciding he probably should at least make an effort to tame his slightly too long hair he turned in the direction of the bathroom his once shared with his two brothers, but Chris was away for school and Wyatt lived in the apartment above his mother's restaurant in the city. Prue had recently moved across the country to share an apartment with their cousin and work on her cooking show. The Manor felt very big and empty without his siblings.

He reached the end of the hallway and spotted his father laying on the floor with a tool chest next him. An ornate but ancient cabinet was propped up on a bunch of books and his dad was half way underneath the precarious contraption.

"What you doing?" He asked crouching down next to his father.

Leo jumped and a crack told Anakin he had hit his head. "Annie! Aren't you supposed to be at the school?"

Anakin shrugged despite his father not being able to see him. "Still getting ready. So, what are you doing?"

Leo shimmied out from under the cabinet. "Your mother wanted me to wire the cabinet with lights, but it's too fragile to lay on its side."

"Right." Anakin raised his hand and healed his dad's forehead.

"Personal gain." Leo admonished, but he smiled.

Anakin shrugged again. "The Elders can torture me later for looking after my dad."

Leo arched an eyebrow. "Everything OK? You've seemed a bit down lately."

Anakin sighed and traced over the Celtic design of the cabinet's lower doors. "Luc and I are fighting."

Leo nodded sagely. "Everyone fights. It's completely normal."

"Yeah, but this feels different. We've not really talked for over a week and whenever we do it's to yell at each other. He texted me this morning saying he wasn't going to come tonight. Texted, dad!" Anakin punched the wall, hard. "I don't know what to do."

Leo hummed. "I—uhm—what are you guys—uh—err—fighting about?"

Huffing Anakin ran a hand through his hair. "Everything and nothing."

Leo was about to ask another question when Piper stepped into the passage.

"How's the cabinet, honey?" Piper asked, balancing a fill laundry basket on her hip.

"I need some stuff from the store still."

Piper shifted the basket to her other side. "Really? I thought you had Henry drop off more wiring."

Anakin noticed his father shoot a glance in his direction and could not help but smirk.

"My wire cutters snapped."

Piper gave him a disbelieving look. "Right, well hurry up. I want to move my great-aunt's china to this cabinet so I have room for the set Prue sent us last week downstairs."

Leo retreated giving Anakin an awkward good-bye salute. Feeling slightly better because of his father's antics Anakin headed into the bathroom. He was about to close the door when his mother stepped into the doorway.

"I take it that had something to do with you," asked Piper kindly. "Is everything alright, sweetie?"

Anakin pulled out a comb and a tube of gel. "Boyfriend problems."

Piper put down the laundry basket. "He still not coming tonight?"

Anakin shook his head as he rubbed gel between his fingers. He pulled his fingers through his hair giving himself the sexy bed hair so popular with the wannabes at his school. He stared at himself in the mirror and smirked remembering the last time his hair had naturally looked like this. The smirk vanished as his thoughts returned to Lucien. He nearly jumped when his mother placed a soft hand on his arm and squeezed; he had forgotten she was there.

"Everything will work out for the best," said Piper quietly. She reached up and brushed a few stray hairs back off his forehead. "You have your whole life ahead of you, sweetie."

Anakin turned around, comb in hand. "You never liked Lucien, did you?"

Piper frowned. "That's not true. I think he is a wonderful person, and he's made you very happy. There is just a part of me that wonders what would have happened if…"

"If the other Anakin and Lucien had not been here." Anakin finished for her turning back to the mirror and throwing the comb on the counter. "We'd all be dead, right?"

"Sweetie!" Piper wrapped him in a hug and he hugged her back. "Nothing is set in stone."

"I love him, mom. This isn't the other Anakin talking about Lucien. I love him." Anakin murmured into his mother's hair, not letting her go.

Piper hugged him tightly a moment longer and dropped her arms to her side. "So then what do you want to do, tonight?"

Anakin bit his lip. "The limo is going to be here any moment."

"It doesn't matter. What do you want to do?" Piper picked up the comb and gel, packing them away in the draw.

Anakin took a deep breath willing himself to not break down. He had been strong the whole day; he would not start crying now especially in front of his mom. "I'm the captain of the team, and we're—we're—reigning state champions."

"I'm sure Harvey and Tyler can make one speech."

Anakin choked. "Not likely."

His two co-vice captains were excellent swimmers and extremely popular with the females of their school, but geniuses they were not. If it was not for their younger sister tutoring them every night, he doubted they'd be making their current passing rate of all Ds. They were his best guy friends outside of his family, but he would not trust them with anything that required thought. On the other hand most of the school would be wasted by the time of the rally speech.

"I have to text Serena," said Anakin searching his pockets for his phone.

"Do you want me to order some pizza, and we can have a movie night?"

Anakin forced a smile not that it was entirely difficult. "Thanks, Mom, but I think I just want to be alone for a bit."

"Right," said Piper, "well I'll be folding your dad's laundry if you change your mind."

Anakin found his phone and gave his mom a one armed hug. "Maybe later."

His mom exited the bathroom, and he entered his phone's pass code. He had four text messages from random people from school which he ignored. Three messages were from his sister asking him to send photos and wishing him luck for the night. He sent her a quick blurb telling her he was not feeling well and was not going to the dance. Half a dozen messages were from a girl he had foolishly flirted with a few weeks ago at Harvey and Tyler's birthday party; he deleted the whole bunch. Wyatt had sent him one message asked if he could fill in as a waiter tomorrow night at their mom's restaurant. He ignored that one, not feeling up to being guilted into helping; it was Wyatt's own fault he was short a waiter. There were no messages from Lucien and Chris still had not answered his previous message.

Anakin scrolled down to Serena's name and opened their conversation. The last message from around lunch time was from Serena inquiring about his outfit. After Lucien's text message he had immediately called Serena and she had convinced him to still go tonight. She had gone on further and said he should look "bloody fantastic" to ensure when Lucien saw pictures he would realize just how much he was missing. He really wished that Serena was still at their school, but she had been whisked away at the beginning of the school year by her father to some private school in England that was more suited to someone of her social standing.

He quickly typed out a message informing her that he would not be attending the dance and that they would talk later. He sent the message and said a silent wish that she would take the hint and not bug him about it. They usually saw eye-to-eye and rarely fought, but she could on occasion be a nuisance when it came to keeping up a public image. He could not blame her; it was how she was brought it. A car honked outside.

"I'll get that!" his mother called from down the hall.

Anakin sighed and pocketed his phone. "Thanks," he yelled back.

The limo would be filled with the swim team and their dates. They would also already know that Lucien was not going tonight. He was sure the girls would all be gossiping away about that and coming up with outlandish reasons for the trouble in paradise. Ordinarily he could ignore the gossip, but he was exhausted tonight.

A knock on the bathroom door announced Chris's presence.

"Chris!" Anakin exclaimed.

Chris smiled. "Hey. I take it you decided to skip the dance."

"Mom's getting rid of the limo."

Chris nodded along. "Well, I had the night off and thought I'd hang out with my baby brother."

Anakin laughed in disbelief. "Yeah, right."

Chris shrugged and led the way out of the bathroom and up to the attic. "Well, after the text this morning I was a bit concerned."

"It was about the use of runes in building wards."

Chris opened the attic door and flipped on the light. "Precisely. You never need help on homework."

Anakin ignored the opening and orbed the beanbag chair from his room into the attic. He dropped into it avoiding Chris's eyes. The message had been his way of trying to start a conversation with his brother, but it was much harder to ask the questions he wanted to with Chris in the same room as him. He picked at his nails as his older brother conjured a beanbag of his own and settled into it.

"So how is Professor Granger?"

"As boring as when you took her for Advanced Runes."

Chris chuckled. "Well at least she has other features that keep your attention."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "She's not my type."

"Oh, right—forgot." Chris grinned sheepishly. "Have you discussed the polarity of runes yet?"

"Oh yeah. She even assigned your term paper to us for homework reading."

Chris blushed slightly. "Seriously! She gave me a B on that."

"Oh the horror," mocked Anakin.

Chris conjured a pillow and chucked it at Anakin who covered his head with his arms. "I'll have you know that I actually put effort into that paper."

Anakin picked up the pillow and tossed it back at Chris. "Well clearly it grew on her even if the reversal of a warding system is still entirely theoretical."

They fell into silence. Anakin heard their mother come back into the house and shut the front door.

"So why aren't you going to the dance?"

Anakin pulled his knees to his chest. "Lucien isn't going."

Chris mouth formed a silent 'O'.

"We've been fighting lately."

Chris remained silent.

Anakin started to rock slowly. "He thinks—well—he thinks one thing and I don't agree."

"That tends to be how a fight starts."

Anakin glared at Chris. "I can't tell you."

"Is it something I don't need to know about?"

Anakin cringed. "God no! Gross! Ugh—me ask you about something like that. Are you crazy?"

Chris waved his hands. "Alright. Then it's a secret."

"Obviously," snapped Anakin.

"I'm just trying to help, Annie," said Chris placating.

Anakin squeezed his eyes shut. "Sorry. It's just a touchy subject."

Chris uncrossed his legs. "Do you think you can overlook it?"

"No," said Anakin slowly. Shaking his head he continued, "No."

"And you can't see any truth in his side?"

Anakin thought over everything Lucien had said about his beliefs on Jonathan's survival. "No."

Chris licked his lips. "Err—well what about him seeing things your way?"

Anakin sighed. "Thanks, Chris, but this isn't helping."

"So then what do you want to do?" asked Chris unfazed.

"Get drunk," joked Anakin.

Chris stood up abruptly. "That's easy enough…"