Piper Halliwell sighed as she bent down to take a look at her watch. She knew she was in deep trouble; if she didn't move faster she would come home to a demon way worse than anything she has ever faced her whole entire life. She closed her umbrella as she attempted to grab her keys out of her purse. She unlocked the door and winced as she called her older sister's name, "Prue?"

"In here!" Prue called out, "working on the chandelier," When Piper walked into the living room, she saw her sister on a ladder attempting to fix it. She knew she was going to hear it from Prue, being late and not waiting for the electrician.

"Sorry I'm late," she apologized taking a strand of damp hair behind her ear. Prue climbed down the ladder and set her steely blue eyes on her.

"What else is new?" she sighed, but then calmed herself down. Even though she had to work for her sleazebag ex-fiance, she wasn't going to allow herself to take it out on her only remaining sibling she was talking to still, "You know I would have been here, but my job is too demanding for me to be here in time to take care of it,"

"I'm sorry...I guess I didn't realize how long it took me in Chinatown," she apologized once more, and Prue shook her head. Quickly changing the subject she questioned, "Did Jeremy call?" she asked, hoping that her wonderful boyfriend had called her.

"No he didn't," Prue said, "and what were you doing in Chinatown? I thought that you had a job interview at North Beach," she sighed, wishing she could just leave work any time she wanted and just hang out with friends. She thought for a moment, what friends? There wasn't anyone that wanted to be around her ever since she called off her wedding to Roger.

"It was...and I had to go to Chinatown for some ingredients for my audition recipe tomorrow," she said to her, "and hopefully there will be more of a financial stability once I land this job at Quake," she was very confident in her abilities as a chef. This is what she trained herself to become, so what better way to do this than getting a job there? "Oh flowers!" she said when she spotted them on the table as she put her groceries on the counter.

"They are from Jeremy," Prue said, and it came with a package, she said bending down to pick up the box. Piper's eyes widened in delight, and she handed her the package. She opened up the box and saw a bottle of alcohol. "Jeremy bought you port?" she questioned, eying her sister with a questioning glance.

"The final ingredient for my recipe for tomorrow," she squealed. Piper grinned in delight, and her older sister couldn't help but envy her. She was like that only months ago; until their Grams had died, and the straining relationship between her and her youngest sibling and her fiance clashed. They had broken up, and things had gone downhill ever since. She plastered on a smile for her sister, and walked towards the kitchen table. She picked up the old spirit board she had managed to find in the attic.

"Look what I found in the attic," she said, and Piper gave her sister a shocked look.

"Is that our old spirit board?" she asked, walking to her and picking it up. She turned it over, and saw that the inscription was still on the back. "To my three beautiful babies, may this give you a light to guide you through the shadows. The Power of Three will set you free," Piper read off the back, "we really never found out what that meant did we?" she questioned. Looking down at the board, it reminded her of the youngest sibling that they hadn't seen since Grams had died. She frowned at that note, she heard Prue say something but didn't quite catch what was said. "I'm sorry, what'd you say Prue?" she questioned.

"I said we should send that to Patrick, that kid really would need this," she snapped irritably, rolling her eyes. "He is so in the dark right now, a little light could help him right now,"

"Prue do you have to be so hard on him?" Piper questioned, "its not like things were perfect around-,"

"He has no vision, not a care for the future!" Prue said throwing her hands up in the air.

"You always base everything on what he has done in the past-," she started.

"As I should," Prue said darkly, "its not like he has shown his face around here since Grams died," she said, "there is nothing showing that he has tried to do anything with his life since,"

"Well I have talked with him," Piper said, "and I think he is coming around..."

"Well as long as he doesn't show his face up here," she said darkly before storming out of the kitchen. As she stomped up the stairs, she started to think about her brother. He was the baby of the family, and she had been on the best terms with him forever. All three of them had been extremely close, ever since they were little. Though Prue had always been more of a mother to her siblings than anything. She pushed the thoughts out of her mind, and went to change out of her work clothes before fiddling around with the circuit breaker anymore.

Minutes later she was at the breaker, wondering why the hell it wasn't working. "The chandelier should be fine, I just don't understand why it isn't working," she sighed, slamming the door irritably. "If we had more money I would just hire someone to do this..."

"Well...speaking of that, I was thinking with the spare room and all..." Piper started, wincing internally as she thought about what was going to happen when Patrick would be walking in the door any minute.

"You finally agreed to let someone take the spare room? Good we can use the extra hands around the house, and the extra money,"

"Pat's pretty good with a wrench," Piper reminded her sister.

"Yeah, an he's still in New York..." Unbeknownst to the two sisters, he was just arriving on the front porch. He heard them behind the closed door and frowned. Apparently Piper hadn't told Prue that he was coming back. Patrick bit back a sigh; it shouldn't have been Piper's job to do this. He should have tried harder to keep in contact with both of his sisters while he was up in New York.

"Not anymore..." Piper said, barely containing a groan.

"What?" Prue snapped back at her.

"He's moving back in with us," she snapped right back at her.

"You are kidding me right?" she growled. Patrick winced; she was still furious with him. He had to admit to himself that he should have handled it better when he saw Roger hitting on another girl while he was bar tending still.

"Well I could hardly say no Prue!" Piper snapped back. Patrick sighed, knowing that if he didn't find the hide-a-key soon, that they would really get at it. "It's his house too," He finally found the key, and unlocked the front door. He wheeled his suitcase into the house, and opened up his wallet. As per usual since he moved out, he was out of cash. Prue's head wheeled around and she saw her brother. He definitely looked thinner than he used to. Her mother-like instinct was about to kick in, but she stopped herself. She was still furious with him, and didn't want to show him an ounce of niceness.

"Hey...found the hide-a-key," he said weakly. The cab started to honk the horn, and before he could find some excuse to say why he couldn't pay it Piper started at a run for the door.

"I got it," she said, grabbing Prue's purse. Considering how mean she had gotten, Piper saw it as poetic justice that Prue pays his fare.

"Hey!" Prue started as their sister ran out the door, "that's my purse!-," Patrick felt bad that she had to pay for something of his...again.

"I'm sorry Prue," he said honestly, "I'll pay you back," he promised, wondering if he should try to give his sister a hug.

"Save your pennies," she replied quickly eying his one and only suitcase, "Is that all you brought?" she questioned.

"Its all I own," he said softly. He had to sell a lot to even get enough money for a ticket back home. Even before that he had to sell things to just get by. "Well except my bike...unless you guys sold it," Prue shook her head, and he was glad about that. Maybe in the back of Prue's mind, she had hoped that he would come back. "I...I know that you don't want me here..."

"We aren't selling the house Patrick," she snapped at him.

"Do you think that is the reason I came back?" he bit back all the hurt that he was feeling, trying not to be too hurt by how his sister was acting towards him. "Do you really think that I would ask that of you guys? If you really want me to leave and go somewhere else, I will. I don't want to be any more burdensome than I have already been," he didn't mean to snap like that. After his outburst, Prue's eyes softened.

"No..." she sighed, rubbing her eyes, "it is your house too," Piper walked back in closing and locking the door behind her.

"Hey!" Piper said happily, glad to have what was left for her family back in the same roof. She pulled her little brother in for a hug. He squeezed her gently, and she pulled away. "So I was thinking..." she said, vaguely remembering the last time she suggested this Patrick had left for New York, "maybe I could whip us up something to eat..." she was hoping that her two siblings wouldn't bail out like they both did last time.

"I can't...I have to go back to work," Prue said, actually sorry that she was going to be leaving once again, "got to finish what Roger wanted to be stocked up tomorrow," at the mention of her ex's name, Patrick's face turned into a scowl. "How about tomorrow night?" she questioned; maybe it was time to let bygones be bygones. Piper seemed pleased about Prue doing that, and glad to see their brother nod as well. "Alright...I guess I will see you guys later," she said, taking her keys from her purse. She walked out of the house, wondering what was going to happen when she got home later.

Piper let out a deep breath and turned to her little brother, "Come on...I'll cook us something to eat," she said, walking towards the kitchen. "Come on...I know how bad it has been up there for you," Patrick smiled for the first time in months. He followed her into the kitchen and saw the old Spirit Board, "Prue found it in the attic apparently," she said to him.

"That is so awesome," he said, placing it on the table. Piper chuckled, glad to see a youthful and playful look in his eyes. "Come we gotta play with it," Piper laughed, "Come on sis," he complained.

"We can in a little bit," she giggled, "but right now I am going to get some food in you," she looked at him. She couldn't help but ask, "Why didn't you tell me how bad it is was?" she questioned, stopping him from starting on the Ouija board. "You know I could have convinced Prue in a heartbeat,"

"She already thought I was a huge screw up," he murmured truthfully, bringing his eyes downwards. "And I didn't want to put you in more of an awkward position than I already had,"

"Prue may have been pissed off at you, but of she knew how bad things were..." she started.

"Its in the past now," he said, "please stop blaming yourself..." Patrick said. His stomach grumbled, and Piper laughed her worries off. She went over to the stove, and he looked at the board. He wondered if his sisters would ever truly forgive him. Being him, he just placed his fingers on it, and made the pointer move to Y E S.

"I see you still move the pointer," Piper said with a chuckle, as she placed a plate of steaming hot food in front of him. "I had some extra ingredients...its for my audition recipe," she said, "I hope you like it..." she murmured.

"You got an audition?" he questioned, "that's great Piper!" he exclaimed taking a bite. His eyes widened, "This is really good," he said to her, and she smiled sitting down as well. After a few minutes of silence he murmured, "Grams woulda been proud,"

"Thanks," she said after a moment. "So what should we ask it?" she questioned, placing her fingertips on the pointer as well.

Hours later Prue returned home, and saw that Patrick's light was still on. She walked out to the linen closet, and pulled an extra quilt out of it. She walked towards his room, and when she arrived she saw him alone. She was surprised that Piper wasn't in here she thought as she knocked on the door. "Hey..." she murmured.

"Hi Prue," he said softly. He was surprised to see her with a comforter; she was always warm. She tended to keep her room ice cold. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Well...your room was always the coldest when we were growing up," she offered the comforter.

"Thanks..." he said numbly. "Are we ever going to talk about what happened?" he asked, barely managing to look up to his sister's eyes. Her face turned to one of anger, and he sighed. "Come on Prue...me you and Piper used to talk about everything,"

"Well that is one thing we aren't talking about Patrick," she said, "go to bed," she said turning around and walking away from him. He let out a sigh, but before he could close his door he saw Piper.

"She'll come around," she informed him, holding two steaming mugs of tea. "You want some?" she questioned, offering one of the mugs. He grinned, and took a mug. "Watching the news eh?" she questioned, as he offered to let her in. "Hey...that's my boyfriend," she said as Jeremy Burns came on the screen. "So what's going on?" she questioned as he sat down on the bed.

"Some chick got whacked," he replied taking a sip of camomile tea.

"You stayed in New York way too long," Piper replied with a chuckle. He yawned, and she placed a hand on his arm. "I think you should get some rest, you really do look tired," she admitted. He nodded his head, but before he laid down, he turned to her.

"Are you mad that I left?" he questioned.

"Patrick..."

"Piper, please," he begged, "Prue isn't talking to me about why we aren't talking, please don't shut me out too," he murmured. His sister sighed, and sat down next to him.

"I was never mad at you," she promised, "I was just really upset that you left," she assured him. "But that doesn't matter now, because you are home," she smoothed his hair out from his face, much like she used to when they were kids. "Get some rest ok?"

"Night Piper," he said, crawling into bed.

Only after a few hours of sleep, a roaring thunder woke up Patrick Halliwell. He threw off his covers, and heard Prue and Piper bickering about something, "What's going on?" he questioned.

"Circuit breaker is out...and Piper doesn't want to come down and hold onto the flash light so I can fix it,"

"There is a murderer out there, and we are stuck in this big house-," while Piper rambled, Patrick heard a door upstairs opening.

"And like I have told you hundreds of times already tonight, Jeremy isn't going to be home for hours," she snapped, "will someone please just go down with me?" Before anyone could reply, she grabbed onto Piper dragging her towards basement. This gave Patrick enough time to run upstairs and see what was in the attic. He never saw inside the attic before; Grams had always told him and his sisters that it was closed off. Thunder crackled loudly, and he involuntarily jumped. As he looked around, he saw a chest. There was a feint light coming from inside it, and he made his way over to the phenomena. He opened it up and found a book with a weird symbol on it. Patrick had no idea why he was so drawn to it. He slowly opened up the old tome to the first page. The Book of Shadows, he thought to himself.

He had never seen this, but yet a familiarity was radiating from it. As he turned through the numerous pages, he saw pictures of men and women fighting against creatures. The flipping stopped as he turned to the page to regain powers once lost. His fingers drifted over that page up and down, then up and down again. Before he was clearly conscious of what he was doing, he started to read it out loud, "Hear now, the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night," thunder crackled again, "The oldest of Gods are invoked here, The greatest works of magic is sought, In this night and at this hour," Patrick was wondering if he should bother continuing. It was creepy anyways, but nonetheless he continued, "We call upon the ancient power, Bring your power to we siblings three, We want the power, Give us the power," As he uttered the last words, the lights came back on. "That's strange," he said just as he was about to close the book, until he heard footsteps.

"Patrick!" Piper called out, and he knew that he was busted.

"In the attic!" he called back, and his two older sisters walked in. Prue instantly wondered how he had managed to get the attic door open. She had professionals come in and try to bust the door open, but they couldn't. How could her little brother do this by himself when six adult men with the builds of bouncers couldn't.

"What are you doing?" Prue asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I found this book.." he said, "and read this-," Prue yanked the Book of Shadows out of his hands.

"You didn't read this out loud did you?" she groused.

"Why would he read it out loud?" Piper snapped at her sister before getting a look at it herself, "wait...this would include us?" Patrick was excited about a prospect of this, but after seeing the look on his sister's faces he deflated. "Patrick!" she exclaimed.

"Its just a book!" he said back, snatching it out of her hand. "And I am going to go back o bed," he said, not wanting to fight with his sisters. He slammed the door, and locked it behind him. He knew he was going to hear it from his sisters the next day, but for now he just wanted to look at this weird book. .

I am not sure if I am liking this idea yet so far....I think I want to continue...let me know what you think of Patrick...I know its not the same as Phoebe...but who knows? Maybe you'll learn to like him ^^