"Not again, Paige!" cried Piper, scrambling to freeze time before their entire potion supply hit the floor. "You've got to be more careful."

"I'm sorry, Piper," replied the upset witch as she twirled her hair nervously between her fingers. She did her best to turn the vials right way up and set them back on the table but her hands were shaking badly. She was new at this whole witchcraft thing. She was glad when her older sister Phoebe walked into the room.

"What happened here?" Phoebe questioned. Piper and Paige both shot her a look that said 'don't ask!' Sensing she'd just interrupted some drama, she tried to change the topic. "So, Cole and I are going on a date tonight. You know, I think this could be the real thing".

Piper didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Phoebe had thought a lot of guys were "the one" before, but the idea of her little sister marrying a demon (even a reformed one) made her uneasy. She felt even less confident about her sister's reignited love life, now that they were once again being hunted by a demon. She let Phoebe go on about her perfect boyfriend, glad for the interruption. She finished clearing away all the potions and returning them safely to the cabinet while Paige was busy listening to her other sister.

Later that day, Paige was standing in front of the mirror. She looked like her sister, Phoebe, although she had Piper's eyes. The same eyes she had to watch every day, looking at her with utter disappointment. Her own eyes were filled with sadness. Shouldn't she be happy? She'd finally found her family. But she didn't belong here. They'd lived their whole lives without knowing about her, and now they did, she didn't fit into their already established lives. There was only room for three Halliwell sisters, and sadly she was not one of them. A knock at the door jerked her from her thoughts.

"Paige, it's Phoebs, I need you outta the bathroom. Cole'll be here in 20 minutes!"

This was just another thing she was new to – having sisters. She could deal with Piper being constantly mad at her, but she couldn't bear to piss off Phoebe too. She was her only ally in this house. With that Paige splashed her face with water and quickly left the bathroom.

Like all things that are going well for a Charmed One, Phoebe's date with Cole was cut drastically short. They'd not even ordered their meals when Phoebe felt Cole tense.

"The demons are here," was all he said. Swiftly he pulled Phoebe by the arm and led her out of the restaurant. The waiter looked puzzled as they passed, and asked if there was any way he could entice them to stay… perhaps with a free entrée? When they reached the dimly lit car park, a cloaked figure attacked. Phoebe levitated out of the way of a fireball while Cole deflected it back at the cloaked being. Just before impact the demon shimmered away.

"He'll be back," Cole assured.

Paige was sitting on the couch when she heard the front door bang open. Oh brother, she thought. Phoebe and Cole must be in the middle of an err, passionate moment. But when she turned she was surprised to see them not with their arms around each other, groping wildly, but rather hurtling towards her looking worried.

"Demons. On their way. Get Piper." Phoebe managed to splutter, catching her breath. Paige orbed upstairs and was back with the eldest Halliwell in seconds. Cole was pacing the living room, as if trying to sense when the demons were coming. In the end, he needn't have bothered. The demons made no effort to hide their arrival when they came crashing through an upstairs window. They all rushed to the source of the noise – Paige's bedroom.

The demon stood at the foot of her bed which was now covered in glass from the window. A fireball just missed the Charmed Ones as they appeared in the doorway. Cole reacted first, sending a shard of glass straight for the demon using telekinesis. The demon shielded himself effortlessly, the glass falling to the ground uselessly with a clatter. The demon launched himself at the closest target, Phoebe, who levitated and kicked him hard in the head. The demon shrugged it off, as if he'd felt nothing. Another fireball erupted from the demon, but Paige swiftly orbed it straight back at him. Again, he shielded himself. Piper's hands rose so fast, the demon did not have time to use his shield again. He was blasted across the room and slumped against the chest of drawers.

"Orb the potion up here!" Piper yelled. But the sister she was talking to merely stood as if frozen on the spot, staring at the demon. It was Phoebe who noticed that if was not the demon where Paige's eyes rested but the photo frame on the ground beside him. Or what was left of the photo frame. The impact had broken the frame in at least four places and the demons claws had left the photo itself with similar, irreparable damage. Perhaps it wouldn't have mattered so much, but the photo was of Paige's happy family. Not this family, her adopted family. Phoebe knew it was one of the last photos Paige had with her parents where they all looked happy. Paige was about thirteen and her parents were positively beaming as they stood on either side of their little girl. Soon after then, Paige had gone off the rails and the happy family photos from that point on became quite forced.

For Paige, it felt like hours had gone by, just staring at the remains of that photo. In reality it was less than a few seconds. The demon was stirring. She had to collect herself. But when she opened her mouth to call for the potion, she found only a gasp escaped. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't stand to feel the hurt welling up inside of her, but she couldn't suppress it either. Suddenly a fireball shot straight at Phoebe, who distracted by her distraught sister, bore its full impact. Summoning the courage from somewhere deep inside she called "potion" and tossed it at Cole, who shimmered behind the demon so quickly that he managed to throw the potion at him before he even knew what was happening. He disappeared right in front of their eyes, leaving nothing but a scorch mark, but nobody's eyes were on him anyway.

Piper was cradling Phoebe while Cole was holding her hand. Paige had kneeled beside her bleeding sister, placing a hand on her injuries but it was no use. She'd not yet learnt to heal so no matter the love swirling inside of her for Phoebe, or her desperateness save her could yield any result.

"Leo!" she yelled, tears coming thick and fast right now. The Whitelighter appeared almost instantaneously, and taking one look at Phoebe's pale body, knew what to do. He ever so lovingly cupped his hands around the burn mark that covered her chest and shoulder. A warm glow erupted from them and the wound healed over. Phoebe sat up, Cole taking her in his arms.
"Phoebe, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault!" Paige choked. "I didn't mean to freeze up like that. Oh my god, if something had happened to you I never would have forgiven myse-"

"Something DID happen, Paige! You could have killed her. Phoebe may forgive you, but I won't. How dare you put my sister's life in danger. That's not how we Charmed Ones work. We would give our own life to save each other. Hell, Prue DID give her own life to save me. Prue would never have put Phoebe's life at risk"
At those words, Phoebe jumped in to protect her younger sister, but the damage had been done. Phoebe swore that what had happened that evening was not Paige's fault, but deep inside Paige knew it was. She also knew that she would never be accepted as family in Piper's eyes, not if she couldn't be Prue. And that was one thing Paige knew she could never be. With a pain in her chest threatening to break it in two, Paige ran from the room.