A/N: Please don't hate me. I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update, RL has been crazy...but that's a really crappy excuse. So instead I'll just say I'm sorry again and: feedback, as always, is very much appreciated.


Phoebe stared at the door, shifting uncomfortably.

'How can a door look intimidating? It's a door!'

"Do we…knock?" She waited a moment and then turned to her older sister.

Piper's eye were shut tightly, she seemed to be breathing in an out very heavily, as if trying to calm her fragile emotions.

"In…stomach…out through…feet…" Mumbled Piper.

"Piper!"

Piper's eyes snapped open. "What?"

"What did you just say?" Phoebe's forehead wrinkled in confusion, "Something about feet?"

Piper smiled genuinely, "In through your stomach, out through your feet. It's a breathing exercise; it's supposed to calm your nerves."

"Oh…did it work?"

"No," Was the short response.

"Oh…so, do we knock? On the door, I mean."

Piper raised an eyebrow, "Well, it's not gonna knock on itself." And with that, she banged on the door three times.

Then held her breath.

And waited.


Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sound echoed around the small apartment and caused Paige to stiffen in alarm.

It was Piper and Phoebe; she knew that, Prue had told her that.

They were outside her door, wanting to…what? Apologise? Ask her to go back to the Manor?

Paige stood up, then sat down and then slowly stood up again. Steeling her mind, she walked towards the door. She would let them in and they would talk to her and she would listen. Then she'd talk to them, and they'd listen.

And maybe, just maybe, everything would be okay.


The door swung open and Piper and Phoebe were greeted by Paige's tear stained face.

"Hi." Paige said softly.

"Hi." Said Piper, in a whisper.

"Paige," said Phoebe, "I…" She trailed off. Phoebe was not a girl who could keep things, particularly her emotions, calm. Her thoughts were running riot, she felt angry at herself, devastated at how much she'd hurt her sister and more than anything, she wanted to throw her arms around Paige and wipe away her hurt.

So she did.

Carefully, she walked towards the youngest Charmed One and placed both arms around her, drawing Paige into a much needed embrace. Closing her eyes, she sent a wish to the Powers That Be, praying that although she was the cause of Paige's hurt; she could also be her comfort.

Paige was shocked at the gesture and her first instinct was to pull away, Phoebe felt her tense up and hugged her tighter, pleading silently that she was doing the right thing. A burst of emotion pulsed in Paige's chest an instead of fighting her conflicted feelings, she allowed herself to be her held by her older sister, relishing in the warmth that Phoebe's arms offered.

Piper awkwardly watched the embrace that her two younger sisters shared. On the one hand, it did her heart good to see them together. Phoebe, because of her powers and simply because of who she was, dealt with her emotions head on. She needed physical contact; she needed to give physical contact and clearly Paige needed, wanted and deserved it as well.

On the other hand, Piper couldn't help but feel slightly…jealous? Is that the word? Perhaps frustrated would be more accurate, frustrated at herself. Why didn't she try to hug Paige? Why wasn't her natural reaction the same as Phoebe's?

A frown crept onto Piper's face, which was rather unfortunate as Paige chose that particular moment to look up at her older sister. Piper watched as a dozen emotions crossed the Whitelighter-Witch's face, before she pulled back from Phoebe's arms and stepped aside, leaving clear a pathway into the apartment.

"You should," Paige's voice came out in a squeak, an annoying trait that seemed to occur whenever she was nervous. She cleared her throat and wished her face wasn't heating up. Blushing was not fun when your skin was paler than Snow Whites. "You should both come in."


"What the hell is wrong with Piper? Is she completely heartless? No…completely stupid more like! Does she not have any idea as to what she's doing to Paige? I thought you brought her up better than that!"

Penny Halliwell raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, Prudence, would you like to try that again? Perhaps this time you can try not raising your voice at me, and think before you speak words which you know to be incorrect about your younger sister."

Prue blushed and looked away, suitably chastised, "Sorry, Grams."

"Hmm…" Said Penny.

"It's just…she's hurting Paige, it seems like that's all she ever does! Did you see that look she shot her? I thought she was supposed to make things better, not worse!"

"Your sister is trying very hard to make things right, unfortunately, like most people, she makes mistakes."

"But she's peacemaker Piper! She's not supposed to make mistakes like that!"

"No," said Grams sharply. "She is the eldest sister and the leader of the Charmed Ones. Her big sister, her protector, died, leaving her to lead her younger sibling and a new found baby sister. She is not peacemaker Piper anymore, she's just Piper, who's still hurting from your death."

Prue's face fell and Grams was immediately sorry for being harsh, but Prue needed to hear the facts and not to lay blame on her younger sister.

"Do not misunderstand me, Prue, I am, in no way, excusing Piper's behaviour, or Phoebe's for that matter, how they have both have treated Paige is…well, it's not even close to the standards that we raised those girls to have. However, they're hurt and they're trying. You must give them that."

Red rushed to Prue's cheeks and Penny could tell (Grandmother's intuition), even before Prue opened her mouth, that she was angry. "Oh! Oh, okay then! It's my fault! It's my fault that I went and died, oops, you've discovered my freaking plan! Get killed at 31 and leave my sisters to fall apart and fuck up their relationship with Paige! Who, by the way, I am so happy I didn't get to meet while I was alive, it's not like my sisters mean anything to me anyway!"

"Prudence, I would very much recommend, for you own safety, that you stop talking, right now." Penny marched towards her oldest and only dead granddaughter till they were standing toe to toe.

Prue stopped talking. You don't mess with Grams. She wasn't the Halliwell matriarch for nothing.

"Grams…."

"No. You listen to me. You listen to me very closely, young lady. It was not your fault that you were killed, it was not your fault that you didn't meet Paige until today and it was certainly not your fault that Piper and Phoebe were and are devastated by your death." Grams' voice took on a softer tone and she lifted a hand to Prue's cheek to wipe away a tear. "You cannot blame yourself, my darling; it was…meant to be."

Prue shook her head, trying to will the tears away, "but if I'd have been stronger, we could have found Paige later and maybe-"

"No. It was fate, Prue. You were meant to die, you are meant to be what you are now, where you are now. You cannot think of the 'what if's', they're pointless." Penny fleetingly wondered how they'd gone from a discussion to Piper's attitude with Paige, to Prue's death, but she knew Prue needed to hear what she was saying. "It wasn't your fault Prue; it was never your fault."


Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story so far, you have no idea how much I love each an every review and they honestly do inspire me to keep this story going!