A/N: I know, I know- I should be updating my other stories, but this idea hit me at three am a few days ago an it refused to leave until it was written. I hope you enjoy it- an, as always, feedback is very much appreciated.
Cigarettes
Paige crept down the stairs, wincing each time a creak was audible. She hadn't lived at the Manor long enough to know which steps made the loudest noises.
Eventually, she made it to the front door, and smiled as a small breeze hit her face. Closing the door softly, making sure she had her keys, she couldn't help but mouth a silent triumphant 'yes!' She had done it! No one was awake or any the wiser at what she was about to do.
She'd been living at the Manor for exactly two weeks and felt about as welcome as a Nazi in a synagogue. She knew her sisters were trying, she knew they didn't mean to be short with her, hell, they were still grieving. It can't help to have someone dropped into your lives so soon after your sisters' death, especially when that someone needs constant protection, lessons and warnings.
The problem was that although she knew all these things, that didn't stop her from hating every second at the Manor. Kind of ironic really, considering how she'd spent years searching for her biologically family, and now, when she found them, every second away was counted as a blessing.
It was so damn hard to learn magic, let alone be a valuable member of the Charmed Ones.
Thrust into a role she didn't wanted, with a family who didn't want her…
"Thank God for cigarettes," she whispered with a slight chuckle.
Paige sat down on the porch and pulled a cigarette from her packet; she placed it between her lips and lit up, relishing the slight burning sensation that coursed through her lungs after the first inhale.
She began smoking when she was thirteen and was slightly ashamed to admit that the reason was a very stereotypical 'because all my friends did'. Funnily enough, she stopped smoking when she started drinking. It seemed one person can only have one extreme vice at a time; and Paige was most definitely an extreme alcoholic. Later, after she stopped drinking, she started smoking again, but she had yet to tell her sisters, she wasn't sure of their reaction and definitely did not want to give them another reason to be angry with her.
At first, she only smoked when was around her friends, it became almost a game, trying not to get caught. She smiled briefly when she thought of a time where she and Glenn had almost been caught by a teacher at school….
"Smoke, Ma'am?" Glenn looked around, a perfect picture of confusion and innocence painted onto his face. "I don't smell any smoke, do you, Paige?" He elbowed her swiftly in the side, needing her to join in the charade and stop looking like the guilty teenager she was.
Unfortunately for Paige (and Glenn, for that matter), all she could think about was her parents discovering her dirty secret and grounding her till she was thirty. A quick stamp on the foot however, worked liked a charm (no pun intended), and she nodded, dumbly.
After a few more moments of terror, the teacher pursed her lips once and left the two unruly students to celebrate their victory with a first kiss, which promptly made Glenn turn and run as far away from his best friend as possible.
Paige vowed to call Glenn the next morning, she missed her best friend, and right now, she needed someone who truly liked and cared for her, especially after spending two weeks with her sisters as constant company.
She took in another long drag and froze as she heard the door open behind her. Piper stepped out, eyes widening as she took in Paige, sitting on the porch, cigarette in hand.
"Paige?"
"Piper! Wh-what are you doing out here?"
Piper sat down next to Paige, ignoring her question, "you smoke?"
"Erm…" Paige blushed and looked down at her feet, she felt like a little girl, about to be yelled at by her parents, "yeah…"
Piper picked up the pack of cigarettes, pulled one out, and lit up. Paige stared on in shock.
"Don't mind, do you?" Paige gaped in response, Piper breathed out the smoke happily, "I haven't smoked menthol in years, I'm a Marlboro girl normally, but this is pretty nice."
"What are you doing?"
Piper stared at Paige strangely for a moment, "smoking," she said slowly.
"But, but, you can't!" Paige exclaimed, stumbling over her words.
Piper cocked an eyebrow, "I can't?"
"You're Piper!"
"No!" Piper gasped, "Really?"
Piper continued to puff away, blissfully unaware that her sister had lost the ability to stop her jaw from hanging open.
"You smoke." Paige finally managed to regain the power of speech.
Piper breathed out another lug, "apparently so."
"You really smoke?"
Piper turned and glared at her younger sister, "go on," she said, "Ask me again."
Paige wisely decided to stop talking and light another cigarette.
"Does Phoebe know?"
"Nope."
"Leo?"
"Nope."
"Did…does…Prue?" Paige regretted the question as soon as it passed her lips, she forget the most important rule of living with the Halliwell's, never, ever say the P-word!
Once again, however, Paige was shocked, for Piper didn't get angry, or upset, instead she laughed.
"Prue would've killed me! That's the reason I didn't tell Pheebs or Leo, and now…" Piper's face dropped momentarily, "I guess it's just habit."
"Huh," Paige said in response, not quite knowing what to say.
Piper eventually stubbed the cigarette out and stood up, her nicotine fix well and truly quenched, ready to go back to bed. "Are you coming in?"
"Erm…no, I think I'll have another one."
"Okay," Piper smiled, "same time tomorrow night?"
Paige looked up in shock, "really?"
Piper rolled her eyes, "really, really."
"Well, okay, night, Piper."
"Night, 'sis."
Piper closed the door, leaving a smiling Paige to light another cigarette.
Just in case you didn't already know: smoking kills.