I'm sure you know what it's like when parents fight. Everyone does that once in a while, no matter how well they get along. I got the idea for this from such a fight (more or less). There's no Paige, sorry.

Disclaimer: i don't own the characters. WB and some other do.

Prue 19

Piper 17

Phoebe 12

She slowly opened her eyes. The curtains to her window were open and she could see the dark sky, the stars and the moon. She looked at her watch. 9:45pm. There was something cold and hard lying next to her on her bed, her one hand covering it as she lay on her stomach. The moonlight exposed the thick science book and the pile of sheets all over the mattress, and she realized that she must have fallen asleep again while doing her homework. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she had not eaten any dinner yet. Why didn't Piper wake her? The last time she looked at the clock, it showed 4:20. 'Man I must've been more exhausted than I thought I was…' She talked to herself inside her head. But then her attention was paid to something else, to something she heard. She concentrated on the noises and in an instant, it was clear what it was. Voices. Loud voices. Her heart started to beat faster and the uneasiness inside her grew. She slowly got off her bed and walked towards the wooden door. The moment she opened it, the voices got much louder and now she could even make out what was being said. She felt the lump starting to form in her throat. This rarely happened. Her older sisters were never in a fight, not the two of them. Mostly it was herself and the oldest that were screaming at each other. The voice of the middle sister rarely rose to a level one could call shouting. And that was exactly why it scared her so much whenever she heard Piper shouting. It emphasized the seriousness of the fight. After Grams was taken to hospital - she still didn't really understand what was wrong with her - the number of those fights increased. But it wasn't something she could get used to. She was still scared to bits, scared that maybe one of them would say something to the other and unintentionally hurt her. She had already lost her parents and she couldn't stand more hurt in this house. She walked down the stairs and heard the voices getting louder and louder with each step she made towards the kitchen.

"Piper didn't I make myself clear! The answer is no! I'm really, really sorry about this but I can't change the fact that Grams is ill and we have to take care of everything here. How can you do that when you're on some isle lying on the beach with your friends?" Prue said loudly, her hands on the kitchen table as she sat across from Piper.

"You don't have to tell me what's wrong! I know about Grams' condition! But it's only for four days! FOUR DAYS! If I don't get a break soon, I'm going to end up the same as Grams, too!" Piper shouted back. It was surprising that they were still sitting on chairs.

"You can take a break at home as well, can't you!" At this, Piper started to laugh sarcastically. It shot tears in the twelve year-old's eyes as she stood by the doorframe, not daring herself to step in further.

"Yeah sure Prue! Maybe I can find some precious minutes between going to school, cleaning the house, cooking and doing the laundry! I'm sure it'll be the vacation of the year! Wanna join me!"

"I AM SORRY that I can't work to earn the money AND do all the housework! I can't multiply myself, Piper!" Phoebe just leaned on the doorframe, the first tears already trickling down her cheeks. But the loud voices continued mercilessly.

"There we go! There it is again, the 'w' word! Prue that's the problem! You can't keep working like this, it's too much! Neither can't I!"

"Excuse me but I have to feed two people in this house! Plus myself! We've got bills to pay, too, Piper. I HAVE TO take care of all that, and we need MONEY for that!" Prue slammed one hand on the table for the God knows how many time.

"Nobody asked you to take all the responsibility on your shoulders! Dammit you're only 19 yourself!"

"Nobody asked me to! That's right, I wasn't asked! I didn't have a choice and I still don't! I don't know for how long Grams' heart can still work. What happens when she isn't here anymore? It's me who has to take care of everything. Phoebe's barely twelve years old, there are still some years left until she is able to take care of herself. Do you think I'm happy about our situation? Do you think I want to do all this!" Phoebe was now sitting on the cold floor, her face buried in her arms that pulled the knees to her chin, the tears never stopping. Now they were talking about her. She felt as if she was a burden, as if she was now the cause of the fight she hated so much.

"That's exactly what I'm saying all along! You can't do all this! Prue, you're getting more and more aggressive with the time passing because of the stress. No wonder Phoebe picks up fights in school seeing her big sister like this." Piper looked down at the table as she talked.

"So you're saying it's my fault that Phoebe had that fight last week! Then what would you do, huh! How would you raise a 12 year-old? And you know exactly how hard it can be with Phoebe." Phoebe's head shot up. Now it really was her fault that the fight continued. And she couldn't ignore that. She stood up again and entered the kitchen, not caring about the tears that were still falling.

"I'm sorry Prue! I promise I won't do it again! Please stop fighting, please…I…" She looked down and the tears came faster. The older sisters now realized that they had a third person in the room. Prue in her anger, not at Phoebe but at the whole situation she was in, didn't really hear what her baby sister had said and that she was crying.

"Phoebe don't interrupt here! This is important now. So go back upstairs!" She instantly turned to Piper again and opened her mouth to continue but Piper was quicker.

"Prue! This is what I mean! Exactly this! Don't yell at her when she hasn't done anything! Can't you be a bit nicer? Look, she's crying and you scared her even more!" She then turned to Phoebe who was standing a few feet away from the table, her chest heaving as she sobbed quietly. Piper instantly got up and went over to her little sister, kneeling down in front of her. "Hey sweetie." She said in a sweet and soft voice, smiling and brushing away the tears with her hand. "It's okay, we're not mad at you or anything." But Phoebe's tears didn't stop. Piper quickly pulled her into her arms. "Honey it's okay, you're okay. Stop crying. There's no need to cry." She ran her hand over her baby sister's back. But then she turned to Prue again. "Look what you did now! It's always the same with you! Why can't you be a little more understanding?" Prue then stood up from her chair.

"Fine Piper! If you're so good in handling everything, why don't you do it by yourself then! I can follow your advice and throw away the responsibility, you know! I can live a normal life! I'm outa here!" With that, she was about to storm past her two sisters and out of the kitchen but was stopped by a small hand holding onto her wrist.

"NOOO! Stay Prue please! Please don't leave us! Piper didn't mean what she said, even if she's yelling at you she loves you! And I love you, too!" Phoebe sobbed uncontrollably as she held on to her big sister who was now looking down at her, a bit stunned. "I promise I'll be good! I won't pick up fights anymore and I'll do my homework every day! I'll help Piper clean the house and I can help you with work! I promise you can have anything you want and I'll do anything you want me to, but please don't go anywhere, please don't leave me!" Prue's heart broke as did Piper's as they heard the youngest fighting so desperately for peace in the house. Prue felt the tight grip on her wrist. She never thought Phoebe had this much strength in her small arms, her wrist almost hurt already. Tears welled up in her own eyes as she saw her baby sister falling to her knees, literally. In an instant, she picked up the sobbing girl and started rocking her.

"Sshhh Phoebe it's alright. I'm not leaving you. I would never leave you, hear that? Never!" She tilted her head to look straight into her sister's brown and tear-filled eyes. "I know that you love me and I know that Piper does. And I love you, too. So much that I couldn't live without you. There's no way in hell you can get me away from you, ok? I'm so sorry I yelled at you sweetheart, I really didn't mean to." Phoebe just buried her face in the crook of Prue's neck as she listened to her sister's now soft voice.

"Are you still mad at each other?" Her voice was quiet and muffled. Piper and Prue shared glances with teary eyes. It was then Prue gave Piper a weak smile. Piper did likewise.

"No honey, no. Your sister and I just had a few things to dicuss, you know? It doesn't mean we're mad at each other." Prue said, looking at Piper all along. Piper then approached her sisters and with ease took Phoebe from Prue. She held her with one hand and with the other she brushed a stray piece of hair out of her baby sister's face, looking deep into her eyes.

"Prue's right Pheebs. You know that Grams isn't doing too well, right?" Phoebe nodded, still sniffing a bit. "See, there are so many things that Grams always used to do for us, you know? And now we have to do it ourselves, it's all new to us. So it's kinda hard for us to handle it. We will handle it but it's still not easy. That's why we get into fights more often, it's only to find out the best way to deal with everything. We fight because we want to help each other." She saw Phoebe's confused expression and couldn't help but let out a laugh. She kissed her little sister on the nose. "Just keep in mind that we always know how much we love each other and how much we need each other. I know this is all hard but if we just stick together, everything will be fine." The last part was said with her eyes fixed on Prue. The latter smiled and nodded.

"Piper, maybe you should have your four days with your friends. You really do a lot and it's not fair to keep you trapped in here."

"Prue I really appreciate that but I think I don't want to leave you alone here. But I think we could all go somewhere together. Just to take a break. What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me. I'm sorry I wasn't around a lot. We should take breaks regularly from now on."

"It's ok. That's a good idea. Prue I'm sorry, too."

"For what?"

"For saying what I said to you. I didn't mean it. You're great with Phoebe, you're great with me. I couldn't imagine anyone being better in handling this all." Piper gave Prue a greatful smile.

"Aww Pipe. And I didn't mean what I said, either. It's true I had no choice and I do have a lot of responsibility to take but I really don't mind. In fact, I wouldn't swap this with anyone." She smiled back.

"I love you, Prue." Piper pulled her big sis into a warm hug, leaving Phoebe sandwiched between them.

"I love you, too, Piper. I love you so much." Prue whispered as she returned the hug. After a few seconds, she realized that Phoebe had been quiet all the time. She stepped back. "She asleep?" Piper tilted her head and let out a quiet laugh as she saw her little sister's eyes closed.

"Yup. She's gone." She lovingly brushed her palm over Phoebe's forehead. "Guess all the crying tired her out. I'll put her to bed, ok?"

"Yeah do that. Piper?" Prue got her little sister's attention as she was about to leave the kitchen. "Wanna watch a movie when you come back down? Or do anything else? Just us two, you know? We haven't done that for a long time."

"I'd love to. Be back in a minute." She then shiftet Phoebe's weight a little and went out of the kitchen.

They still had a long way to go and it sure wouldn't be the easiest trip but they had each other and that was all they needed.

Ok I still think it was a cheesy ending but why not, right? hope you enjoyed. There'll be more stories with Paige soon.