This is, at its core, just some mindless, Piper/Leo fluff, set post-Forever Charmed. I guess it could be seen as a prequel of sorts to another, longer story I've been mulling over, but we'll just see how this one goes for now. Hopefully you enjoy it.

Have you ever thought about what protects our hearts?
Just a cage of rib bones, and other various parts.
So it's fairly simple to cut right through the mess,
and to stop the muscle that makes us confess.

And we are so fragile,
And our cracking bones make noise,
And we are just breakable, breakable, breakable girls and boys.

- Breakable, Ingrid Michaelson

Piper paced back and forth across the kitchen, her eyes fixed firmly on the tiled floor in order to avoid meeting the cautious gaze of her husband. She didn't want to be angry with him; she had no right to be. Not after all she had just gone through to get him back. She was trying desperately not to be that person; the person she had been before. The part of herself she could only live with by imagining it as a separate being entirely; one she had come to hate. She didn't want to start a screaming match with Leo, when she knew she should be grateful just to have him in her life again. It was more of a second chance than any other couple had been granted before her, and it was definitely more of a second chance than she deserved.

Unfortunately, repeating this to herself was not helping her calm down in the least.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed? Is that it?"

"Piper, it was one, stupid, lower level xatyr demon; you know they work independently. We had just walked in the door, what did you want me to do?"

The tension had been mounting for days, maybe weeks. She wasn't sure. She had been pushing every remote hint of annoyance he stirred in her to the far corners of her mind because she was determined not to fight with him anymore. She was determined to never take their relationship for granted again. Damn it, she was not going to be that person. Not for the first time, she wished she could kill that part of herself which needed Leo so fiercely, held on to him so tightly, displaced rage was the only way it knew how to combat the crushing fear that stole her breath and stopped her heart when he was in danger.

She had been keeping a tight rein on her emotions since coming home, kept the forced, borderline painful smile on her face for the sake of her sons. But now, it was just her and Leo, and with the absence of Wyatt and Chris, it was taking a lot more out of her to remember her planned approach; the boys were napping upstairs, and she was going to keep her voice down. She was going to keep control of herself. And if she couldn't, if it proved too difficult a task for her, she was going to walk away and hope he didn't follow; for his sake just as well as hers.

She took a deep breath, but when she saw the patient, expectant expression on his face as he leaned casually against her counter, her practiced calm flew out the window. Her fists clenched and unclenched involuntarily at her sides, and it took every ounce of self restraint she possessed not to punch him right in his infuriatingly unflustered mouth.

"How about live? Is that too much for me to ask you to do? To not put yourself in dangerous situations and make dumbass decisions?"

Leo winced and pushed himself off of the island. She had come home less than an hour ago; in retrospect, perhaps the news of the demon attack – and subsequent vanquish – would have been better received had she been given time to at least remove her coat before Wyatt excitedly rushed her at the door and gave her his rather embellished version of the events.

"I understand you're a little upset, but…"

"Upset? I am not upset. Leo Wyatt I am pretty fucking pissed off, that's what I am. Is this another phase for you? Another one of your stupid, 'I have to prove myself since my life sucks, because I don't have powers,' diatribes? There is nothing good about magic, and I wish you would just get over it already!"

The words were out before she could stop them, and as was always the case, there was no taking them back. Although suddenly, she didn't want to. So much for keeping her voice down, keeping any semblance of control, or walking away; she had, instead, apparently opted for the trifecta of failure.

A beat passed as her forceful words filled every space in the room.

"What?" Leo finally questioned in disbelief, "That has nothing to do with this."

And at the time, it really hadn't; he had simply reacted with the wellbeing of their sons in mind, and no one had come out any worse for wear in the end… demon exempted. Which was why the longer he stood there, Piper's unfair statement circling his head, the angrier he became with her. He had expected a negative reaction, but this was ridiculous. The casual slouch disappeared completely as he stood straight and defensively crossed his arms.

The gloves came off.

"And even if it did, you want to tell me about getting over it? 'Magic ruined my life,' … 'I just want a normal life,'… isn't that the Piper mantra? The sentence everyone in your life has to hear over and over and over? As if you haven't had enough time to accept it by now. As if eight and a half years isn't enough of an adjustment period for a person." He snapped sarcastically.

The sound of her accelerated heartbeat pounded in her ears, and what she wanted to do more than anything was blow his ass straight from here to wherever the hell the Angel had taken him all those months ago. The woman could keep him if he was going to act like this.

"You're being kind of a jackass right now." She chirped factually, putting a conscious effort into keeping her tone light. If she couldn't blow him up, she sure as hell wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing exactly how deeply he had managed to bury himself under her skin.

"And you're being a bitch, so I guess we're square."

His even, overly bright tone matched hers exactly, and she grinded her teeth in irritation. Oh yes, there was definitely going to be a fight.

Her next retort, however, died in her throat when she watched a look of surprise pass over Leo's face, quickly followed by a euphoric smile.

"What the hell are you so happy about all of a sudden?"She spat venomously, arms akimbo.

To her utter fury, Leo actually laughed, and he stared at her with such an intense love in his eyes, she felt the childish impulse to stomp her feet and demand that he take her seriously. He took a step forward, and her eyes narrowed as she saw his bright green irises darken in a manner she was only too familiar with. She may have actually growled at him; she would never be sure. If he wanted a fight, that was fine; but this was just insulting.

She drew herself up to her full height, all imposing five feet, two inches of it, and stared him down, defiantly challenging him to lay a hand on her; how dare he look at her like that now? What the hell was his problem? If he thought they were having sex now… if he thought they were having sex ever, he had another thing coming.

"I've missed you, Piper." He whispered fondly, ignoring every hostile signal she was sending, drawing ever closer.

"Did you land on your head at any point during your little demon –

Before she could finish her sentence, Leo had closed the gap between them, put his hand on the back of her neck, and pulled her into a kiss; stepping forward and forcing her backward until she was pinned against the basement door.

The kiss was good; she would never even bother denying it. There was a part of her, and a part of Leo, that always recognized one another. And because of this, her body, her stupid, good for nothing, hormone driven, ever sexually attracted to Leo, body, responded to his kiss with an enthusiasm outside her influence.

It took more than a moment for her lips to adhere to her mind's outraged, 'stop' command, and when she finally regained control of her traitorous body, she shoved her husband roughly away from her.

"What the hell, Leo?"

The demand was indignant, shadowed with a fury that was partially for him, but mostly for herself and her loss of an even playing field. When did he learn to cheat? Leo was supposed to play by the rules. He could yell, or apologize, or try and walk away, but sex was hers to use as a weapon, and if neither of them were planning on fighting fairly anymore, there was going to be trouble.

Piper again resisted the urge to stamp her feet, or at least stamp on his. Leo didn't appear overly concerned with answering her question; he was too busy smiling that same goddamn satisfied smile.

"I'm sorry, I just…" his smile increased tenfold and he ran a hand through his hair, "You were yelling at me."

"You deserved it." She snapped, folding her arms across her chest and planting her feet shoulder's width apart. If he tried to surprise-kiss-her-and-put-her-through-a-door again, she would be ready.

He took her hands in his, ignoring the way she violently – repeatedly – wrenched them out of his grasp. "When was the last time you've done that?"

"Done what?" she asked impatiently, already fed up with this stupid new game she didn't understand.

"When was the last time you yelled at me… or raised your voice… or even used that annoying, snipey tone you're so good at." He clarified with a half smile.

"Leo-

He put a finger against her lips, "Just humour me. Please."

She gazed at his mouth, still turned back in that unexplained smile, still exhibiting slight signs of swelling from the aggressive kiss. Unable to deny that mouth, even now, she rolled her eyes and thought for a moment.

"Last week, when you and the boys made those sundaes in the kitchen. And even though you remembered to put the ingredients away, you left the table covered in caramel and chocolate syrup. How does anyone walk away from a mess like that?"

Leo shook his head, "No, Piper, you didn't say a word. I thought you might, for a second, but you walked back into the kitchen and scrubbed everything clean, and then you never mentioned it again."

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "You did that on purpose?"

He shifted uncomfortably, "Well, yeah, kind of. Maybe."

"What, annoying me is so entertaining for you that you're doing it intentionally now?" Piper scowled.

"No! No, of course not." He forced an uneasy laugh, "Could you just answer my question first?"

"Could you answer mine?"

"Piper-

"I don't know!" came her exasperated reply, "A few days ago, I was really stressed out about the club, and you kept telling me to calm down and breathe in that way that makes me a lot less calm than I was to begin with, because I'm so mad over that being the best advice you have for me, and it kind of made me want to kick you in the shins."

Leo's eyes lit up as he laughed again, this time gathering her in a tight hug that was so genuine, she didn't have the heart to break free. Their anger had always burned hot and fast; regardless of the awkward tension usually left in its wake, sometimes for days following the initial blowout. She was a lot more confused than angry now anyway.

"I pretty much got that impression from the way you glared at me before gathering your things and walking out of the room." He murmured.

"Then what are you-

"Piper, I love you. I love you more than I would have ever thought I was capable of loving anyone. You complete me. And at the same time, you are capable of making me so frustrated, I can't even think straight."

She frowned and started to pull away, but he wouldn't let her. "And I know, I know that I have the same effect on you; you used to get so mad at me you blew me up… literally, and frequently. And it's like I've been living with half of you for the last three months. The woman I love is beautiful, and passionate, and opinionated, and she has one hell of a temper. I've missed her."

This time when he smiled, she gave a slight smile of her own in return, finally understanding the trigger behind his drastic fluctuation in temperament. The familiar, volatile onslaught of emotions bubbled into her throat, and Piper ducked her head as she struggled to put her feelings to words.

"You were gone a long time," she began, "and in the beginning, when it was too hard for me to function beyond taking care of the boys, all I could think of… all I could think of was the way we had spent essentially the entire month before that fighting. And we weren't even fighting about anything that mattered. We were- I was petty, and mean, and I wondered…" her voice thickened and trailed off as she stared fiercely at the countertop, drawing composure, "I wondered if there were even going to be any decent fresh memories of me for you to think about. I wondered if… if you could even be absolutely one hundred percent certain I cared… I know things were better, just before- they had been getting better, but I still… and how stupid was I? Nothing we had been arguing over was significant. Nothing. And I wasted all that time, precious time we could have spent together, because I have to always be right, and I throw tantrums until –

Leo cut her off with another kiss, this one softer than the one before. He cupped her face in his large hands and slowly, tantalizingly, deepened the motion, slipping his tongue past her lips. She sighed contently into his mouth, and when it was over, he took a step back, leaving her with a slight feeling of vertigo.

"Some kiss." She murmured, disoriented.

"Yeah." He answered, equally breathless. He had been trying to prove some sort of point with that particular move, only the problem was, he couldn't for the life of him remember what it was now.

When it came back to him, he cleared his throat, "That feeling, that feeling that takes over every time we're together, every time you hold my hand, that is the way you are captured within my head. The way all your teeth show when someone makes you truly laugh, the way none of them show when you're laughing at – instead of with – someone who doesn't know you well enough to tell the difference, the way you let the boys help you in the kitchen, even though it always takes you at least an hour to put things back in order once you're finished; those are the details I remember, Piper."

"I don't know how to get her back." She whispered. "Sometimes I look at you, and I forget, and everything is almost normal until it comes back and leaves me…"

"Leaves you what?" he pleaded.

"Ashamed." She finished. "Ashamed of myself, so much so that I can't even think; I feel frozen in this guilt that just rips apart my heart."

Her face flushed with the baring of her soul, and she wondered when it was that she completely lost her ability to trustingly, easily, express herself. She wondered when it all became too complicated for even her own understanding; when the words and the feelings all began to bottleneck in her throat where she couldn't reach them.

A sponge was in her hand; she wasn't sure how it got there. She scrubbed the island counter, flecked with bright red stains from dripping juice box straws, and concentrated on a memory game.

A is for Abraxus. B is for Barbas. C is for Crone.

Leo spoke, knowing his voice would carry through to her regardless of how stubbornly she struggled to block out everything outside of the sticky, semi-dried spots on the marble.

"I have never once held anything you've said in anger or frustration against you. You shouldn't hold it against you either."

She instantly threw the sponge across the countertop into the sink, and whirled around to face him, blinking back sudden tears she couldn't really explain to herself, let alone him. But that was part of Leo's beauty; she didn't need to explain anything. He knew. He always knew. He lived in her head almost as much as she did, and she wanted to hate him for it, because it didn't seem fair that she made so much sense to him, when she could never seem to make sense to herself.

"But you should." She said hoarsely, fighting to keep her throat from closing completely, "And the fact that you don't only makes it worse."

"I don't know why you're so quick to name yourself the villain." Leo said with a soft smile, "I've seen evil; I've seen cruel, and vindictive, and you're none of those things. We're human; mistakes, arguments and the occasional harsh word come with the territory. Despite what you believe about magic and the way it dictates your life, intentionally or not, you will always be human first and protector of the universe second. You can't change that. Besides, I'm sure you've noticed I'm more than capable of holding my own against you."

She raised an eyebrow at his choice of words, knowing him well enough to interpret them as the veiled challenge they were intended to be. And with his grin, the tears faded, and her heart started beating, and her throat opened, and she could breathe again. There was no denying his gift; his ability to sometimes say the exact right thing to make the panic recede. To restore her to a state of rest that made her want to laugh for allowing such a minor issue to get under her skin. The fear seemed trivial around him, and she could relax. Until the next time.

He flashed her his signature, boyish grin, easily pinpointing the exact moment her self-assurance returned.

"In the long run, the stupid fights are just that; stupid. And with each stupid fight, we find a less roundabout way of getting to the root of the real issue behind it; it used to take up to a month… I think we had it down to about a week, the last time." He joked.

She smiled and rolled her eyes, and that was all the encouragement he needed to continue. "And in the months that follow, it's always the good that stands out in my mind over the bad. There is a lot of good between us. You shouldn't feel guilty; it is okay for you to be angry with me. It is okay for you to tell me you're angry with me. We fight as passionately as we love, and I don't think we can expect to keep all the benefits of one without the negative aspects of the other."

She accepted this with a nod, and then leaned against the island, watching Leo watch her from his position by the kitchen table.

"It worries me when you pull stunts like the one you did today." She said softly, "I just got you back. And it drives me crazy that you don't take those risks seriously."

"I believe that statement was the very definition of the pot calling the kettle black." He teased.

"Who even uses that expression anymore?" She retorted.

He chuckled, and suddenly the four ceramic tiles between them was too great a distance. He moved the half step over and settled against the counter space next to hers, smiling contently when her head fell comfortably atop his shoulder.

"It's a hard thing," he began carefully, "knowing someone you love is doing something dangerous… something that could potentially get them killed. I've watched you throw yourself directly in harm's way more times than I can count. And it never gets any easier. But, I do my best not to let you see that… not to make it known that what I really want to do, is take you and the boys and lock us in a bubble on some remote island where nothing devastating will ever happen. I keep myself sane by believing in your abilities, by believing that you need to believe in your abilities; and I need you to believe that I would never do anything rash and chance losing you all again. I just got you back too, Piper. And I'm not ready to let go of that yet either."

"I know that, I do. I'm just, still not used to worrying about you. And I think I've gotten a little better, but when Wyatt came running to the door, telling me about this epic battle in the manor…"

"I know." He kissed the top of her head, and she gratefully turned her face into his shirt, inhaling the comforting scent that was Leo. "You're going to be okay, Piper. You always are. You're the strongest woman I know."

"I don't feel that way." She muttered, "I feel like an idiot."

"You're a lot of things." He laughed, "Idiotic isn't one of them."

Just then, the baby monitor – which had been ungracefully slammed atop the kitchen table prior to her tirade – crackled to life, alerting Piper and Leo to the fact that, for at least one of their sons, naptime was over.

"Out! I want out!"

Piper gave an amused shake of her head as Chris's demand filtered through the speaker. Getting Wyatt to talk had been like pulling teeth, but Chris had been throwing sounds around, communicating in his own made-up language, far before he started stringing legitimate sentences together around his second birthday.

"They're as different as you and your sisters, aren't they?" Leo mused aloud.

"They certainly are." She agreed.

"I'll get him."

She smiled and let him leave, but the truth was, as soon as he was out of her sight, the familiar twinge of panic was back; making her hands sweaty and her heart jump out of rhythm. Because, while it wasn't constant, it was unpredictable, and the only guaranteed way to keep it at bay was to stand by Leo; to touch him and reassure herself that, at this very second, he was there with her. She was too ashamed of herself to admit this last piece to him; ashamed, and pissed off, because no matter how many years passed, or how far she fought to get, she could never manage to outrun the scared, motherless five-year-old girl inside of her. It was always the small things that made her want to cry.

So Piper thought of Prue; Prue and her uncanny ability to bury her fears so far down, even she herself came to believe they didn't exist. And she felt an unexpected stab of yearning for the sister who had managed to be everything she couldn't. For the sister who had always been strong for her when she hadn't been able to be strong for herself.

Leo's soft, soothing voice came over the monitor, settling the increasingly plaintive wails of the two year old trapped in his crib. In a month or so, Chris would be sleeping in a toddler bed, she was sure. It was just a matter of finding the time to shop for one. He had developed an annoying habit of climbing out himself, but a minor fall the week before had temporarily stunted his courage.

"What are you doing up, buddy? You're supposed to be sleeping."

"Not tired."

"Shhh. You have to use a little voice, okay? Wyatt's still asleep."

"Up daddy. Up please."

"Alright, here we go. Are you hungry?"

The voices faded as Leo moved away from the monitor, and Piper listened to the sound of his footsteps traveling across the boys' room and into the hall. She struggled with her insubordinate heartbeat, and even as it pounded, she vowed to make a change. She could not keep living like this. She would have to get past it, even if it meant lying to herself. Even if it meant forging her own coping method, combining fractions of Leo's calm, rational words of comfort, and Prue's denial. She would never, could never, maintain the façade of control her sister had rarely let slip, but she would bury it. She would bury it until she couldn't bury it any longer, and then she would deal with the fallout.

"Look who's awake?" Leo grinned as he rounded the corner with Chris in one arm.

He flipped his son's body and blew gently on his soft stomach, drawing a series of shrieks and giggles from the child's wiggling form.

Piper smiled while the anxiety roared indignantly beneath her skin.