Chapter 14: Rest and Recuperating
"Hey, have you seen Kate?", Piper asked, as her and Phoebe walked into the kitchen a couple of days later.
Phoebe thought about it for a moment. "Come to think of it, no, I haven't seen her at all for a couple of days now", Phoebe answered.
"Me either. Any idea where she is?", Piper asked.
"Not one. Has she been in her room at all?", Phoebe replied.
"She left to go somewhere and she did come back, but I have no idea where she ever went after that. I checked her room yesterday morning and she wasn't in there, but the bed looked perfectly made, if it was ever slept in", Piper said.
"Do you think a demon got her?", Phoebe asked. It was the only obvious explanation for what was going on, even though they didn't want to have to face that.
"No…no, that's ridiculous. Why would you even think like that?", Piper replied.
"Oh come on, don't tell me you weren't thinking the exact same thing", Phoebe said. " We are witches, it's entirely possible that a demon kidnapped her ad we don't know it yet."
"I know it is, I just don't want to think like that. All she was doing was trying to help find who turns Wyatt, not really going into the Underworld like Chris was", Piper replied.
"What's going on?", Paige asked, as she joined them in the kitchen.
"Have you seen Kate?", Piper asked.
"No, not for a couple of days…why?", Paige answered.
"Well, it's just that we haven't either and we're starting to wonder if something happened to her", Phoebe replied.
"That's ridiculous. I mean, yes this happens every day, but Kate couldn't be the one to get kidnapped, it doesn't make sense", Paige said.
"Have you checked her room?", Piper asked.
"No. I didn't even think she was missing. What if she's just out helping find the demon who's after Wyatt? Or, because she doesn't believe it was demon anymore, what if she's out looking or clues about that? Chris does it all the time and doesn't come back for a few days at a time", Paige replied.
"You know, I didn't think of that. Oh that's probably it", Phoebe said, smiling now.
"Okay, good, now that we've got this sorted out, could you make a quick sandwich for me, Piper?", Paige asked.
"Why me?", Piper replied.
"Your sandwiches are the best I know. And because you can make them fast as well, I have to go to Magic School", Paige answered.
Piper smiled. "Thank you. And why do you have to go to Magic School?", Piper replied, already pulling contents out of the fridge.
"Just research", Paige replied.
"Okay", Piper said, putting some meat, lettuce, and cheese to start on the bread.
"Here you go", Piper said, handing her the finished sandwich.
"Thank you", Paige replied, orbing out.
"So, what are we gonna do about Kate?", Phoebe asked, as soon as Paige left.
"Well, I'm not sure I believe that she's out there looking for leads without telling us, but it could be quite possible. I say, give it a few more hours, she'll show up eventually", Piper replied. " Right now, I have to go do a sound check at the club."
Kate sat on her bed and stared at the floor. She had cooped herself up in her own room so she wouldn't have to face the sisters. Seeing Chris as she had had broken her heart. She didn't want the sisters to know how she felt.
He had been in the office of the club with some blond, and they definitely looked like they were getting along well. Just the memories of it brought tears to her eyes and new wave of pain to pierce her heart.
It was like some kind of cruel joke. First the nightmares and then actually falling for the younger brother of the guy she had befriended who had also tried to kill her in the process. No, it was not her lucky day.
"Kate! Are you up here?", she heard Phoebe yell.
She had been given a couple of days to rest and recover, which she had done, so now it was time to face the sisters.
Phoebe opened her door and saw her sitting on the bed. Kate looked absolutely awful, she had dark circles underneath her eyes and grim lines around her mouth. She did not look happy.
"Hunny, are you okay? You look horrible", Phoebe asked.
"Not really, no. But, I'll be fine. Tell me we have a demon to vanquish, I could use a good outing", Kate replied, getting off the bed.
"Where have you been the last couple of days?", Phoebe replied.
"Here. In my room, thinking", Kate answered.
"About what?", Phoebe asked.
"Stuff. Just stuff. So what's been going on in my absence?", Kate asked.
"Not a whole lot. Still trying to get Piper and Leo back together, but according to Chris, we only have until midnight tomorrow. Other than that, nothing at all", Phoebe answered.
"Oh, ok, good. At least nothing bad has happened", Kate replied.
"Have you been eating? You look like you could use some food", Phoebe commented.
"No, I haven't eaten for a couple of days now", Kate admitted.
"Okay, something's wrong and I know it is. Tell me what happened", Phoebe ordered.
Kate hesitated. She didn't know how to tell anybody this. Especially without balling her eyes out while doing it. Although, Phoebe was an advice columnist, maybe she could help her out.
"Okay, well, I was going to find Chris. I knew he would probably be in P3, so I started there. I went down to the office, and I saw him and some girl going at it real good", Kate recalled.
"Okay, so why are you so down in the dumps?", Phoebe asked. She knew what was coming but she wanted to hear it admitted to her.
"Because I like Chris, a lot. And seeing that, my heart just broke into a million pieces. So, I've taken these past couple of days to try and recuperate, all the while avoiding him", Kate admitted.
"Okay, well, hunny, all I can say, he's a guy. It's never easy, but just, I don't know, I wouldn't say run away from your problems, but just try to make Chris see what he's missing", Phoebe advised.
It wasn't the advice she was expecting, but she didn't know what else to try anyways. It wasn't easy, and subtle suggestions might just be worth it, all the while, treating him as though he didn't exist. It just might work.
"Okay, now let's get some food into you", Phoebe said, leading her downstairs.