AN: Hey Everybody! This story has been a long time coming, like years in fact (it's true), seriously I've been thinking about this since like four years ago or something like that, and first started writing it now. Anyway... It's here! Now it's not complete - far from - but I do have some of the chapters ready on my computer which I will be publishing soon as well, but when they run out I'm afraid updating will become a little slow. Also I know that this chapter is a little on the short side, but the next ones wil hopefully be longer :)

I would really appreciate reviews from those who read this story, later in the story I will be asking you readers to make important decisions concerning the story, so stay tuned ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Phoebe

Living on your own had its up's and down's; the peace and quiet was wonderful when she had to work at home, no screaming nephews woke her up in the middle of the night and no angry demons tried to kill her while she ate her breakfast or came home from a hard day's work. But living in a house full of people who loved her was really not that bad after all, something which she had acknowledged already twice this week when she woke up too late for work because no one was there to wake her up.

A problem which had occurred this morning too, when she had once again forgotten to set her alarm and therefore overslept. Hurriedly she had rushed through her shower and breakfast before grapping her keys and flying down the stairs to her red car.

Traffic was relatively easy and while holding still at a pedestrian crossing she was relieved to see that she was only half an hour late. The wave of pedestrians was overwhelming and as soon as the road had cleared she pressed the speeder again. Because of the huge amount of people rushing around in the morning it was hard to see where everyone were going, which was why she didn't notice the blonde woman trying to cross the road before it was too late.

Pushing down hard on the brakes the quick action sent her straining against the seat belt and took the breath right out of her. She looked up just in time to see the blonde woman's shocked face as she fell to the asphalt.

"Oh my god, what have I done?" she breathed to herself hearing nothing but silence and her own quick breathing, before finally moving her shaking body, she hurried out of her seat and out the car door.

Seeing the young woman lying on the road made her freeze until she saw that she was trying to sit up. Dropping to her knees she crept to the seemingly uninjured woman and put a careful hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Where does it hurt? Should I call an ambulance?" she asked quickly trying not to let her anxiety show.

The young woman's eyes caught her gaze and despite the situation she was in she felt herself calm down at the sight of the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen in her life. It took her a moment to realize that the young woman's lips were moving and that she was in fact saying something.

"I'm sorry what did you say?" she said and rested her knees on the hard road.

"I said you didn't hit me." Her voice was shaken but not laced with pain as Phoebe had expected.

She frowned when her brain registered what the blonde had actually said. "I didn't?" she asked confused. The woman laughed breathlessly and shook her head.

"You just scared me and I fell on my butt in surprise."

"Oh." The witch replied and helped the young woman up and making sure that she didn't falter. The surrounding people who had stopped to watch the scene began to leave when they saw that no one had been hurt by the incident.

Lifting the bag that the blonde had dropped she held out her hand "I'm really sorry about this ..."

"Billie," She replied and grasped the offered hand in hers " and you don't have to apologize, I was practically running and with so many people rushing to work it's hard not to hit someone".

"I'm Phoebe," she said with a smile and pointed to her car "and the least I can do is offer you a ride". She hoped it didn't sound as desperate to the blonde as it had in her head.

After a few seconds hesitation Billie agreed and Phoebe opened the door for her to get in and they drove off without slowing the traffic any more than they already had. "So Billie, where are we headed?" Phoebe asked once they had escaped the pedestrian crossing.

"Just drive straight ahead until you reach the traffic lights, then turn left."

Doing a mental checkup she came to the conclusion quickly "By the college?" she asked hoping that she would say no.

"Exactly" Billie said with a smile.

Making a face internally her thoughts raced on 'Really a college student! Stop thinking she's hot, that's really gross! Oh my god she's probably half your age'.

Arriving at campus a minute later Phoebe was thinking how you'd say goodbye to your almost victim when Billie turned in her seat and looked at her.

"Thanks for the ride and I'm really glad you didn't hit me back there" she grinned and opened the door.

"Yeah me too!" Phoebe remarked and smiled back at the blonde who waved one last time and hurried towards the school. Meanwhile the witch followed her with her eyes until she was out of sight.

Shaking herself out of the trance, she reprimanded herself for creeping on a college student like that and drove off towards The Bay Mirror now more than an hour late.

On the plus side, work was relatively slow that day, so she didn't miss any deadlines that she couldn't quickly catch up with. Her boss Elise, was however much more interested in pointing out the fact that this was the third time this week that she was more than a couple of minutes late. It had all resulted in a couple of scowls and exaggerated sighs. So it was no surprise that she was happy to be sitting in her car driving to the Halliwell manor hours later.

Entering the house she was immediately assaulted by her oldest nephew, Wyatt, who threw himself into her arms the second he saw her. She hugged him tightly, stepped out of her shoes and walked into the kitchen with the small boy still in her arms. The familiar smell of Piper's cooking was a blessing and she felt relieved to find her family spread around the big room preparing the dinner.

It was Paige who turned to wash her hands that discovered her first.

"Pheebs!" she exclaimed, making Leo and Piper look up as well. The next minutes were spent with hugs, greetings and tons of questions; it seemed her family was very interested in knowing how she handled living on her own.

"Do you like the silence?"

"How are the neighbors?"

"Are you eating anything besides fast food?"

Their questions were curious and sometimes very odd, but it was relieving to know that they cared so much about her. The most spoken one was of when they could see the apartment for themselves. They had all been surprised when Phoebe had forbidden them to help her move in, and now after having been living there for almost a week they were all begging to see her new home. But there were still a couple of things she needed to get in order before she felt it was finished and ready to be shown.

An hour later, they were all gathered around the dining table enjoying the tasty food that the oldest Halliwell had produced. Paige and Piper were talking excitedly while Leo was busy teaching Chris how to hold a spoon. Phoebe was sat at the end of the table silently enjoying being with her family, while trying not to think of when the night ended and she had to go home alone.

She had apparently been quiet for too long, because several heads were slowly turning her way, and she suddenly heard Piper shouting her name for what sounded like the tenth time.

"Phoebe! Are you alright?"

The sudden attention shocked her and she smiled apologetic at her oldest sister. "I'm sorry what were you saying?"

"I asked if you had had any kind of unwanted visits in the apartment, you know demons?" Piper said and raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"No I haven't, actually I hadn't even thought about that" she mumbled thoughtfully and took a sip of her wine. "How about you guys?"

"Neither. Actually, we haven't seen a demon since you left." Piper answered.

They were quiet for a while mulling over this new piece of information, and it was Paige who spoke first.

"Maybe they have a harder time finding us when we're apart? I mean, maybe it's not a coincidence that they always appear when we're together."

It made sense, and Phoebe drove home two hours later hoping it was true and that she wouldn't suddenly find herself face to face with a demon in her apartment. It was also nice knowing that Chris and Wyatt were safer now without the constant traffic of unwanted guests, her nephews' safety was always on her mind, and she cursed herself for not having moved out sooner if their new theory was in fact true.

She turned the last corner that would lead her to her apartment and had to use the brakes quickly for the second time that day; a cat had chosen to casually walk across the street and she nearly hit it.

The car lurched to a stop as she stepped on the breaks. Shakily she leaned forward in her seat and saw the cat glaring right at her, it hissed at her car before it quickly dashed away.

Immediately images of what nearly occurred that morning entered her mind and she took a sharp breath of air when she thought of what could have happened had she not been so quick to react.

Calming herself down, she parked her car and walked up the stairs to her condo. Once more she cursed the silence that enveloped her as soon as she closed the door. She went to bed straight away, escaping the loneliness the second her head hit the pillow.

AN: That was it guys, now what do think? Review? :)