A/N: Aww after all this time, people still read my story! Thank you! I was so happy I updated nice and fast... or my writer's block lifted a little for me to squeeze this chapter out, which, by the way, I had the most amazing fun writing. Enjoy!

A/N: Reminder - last chapter Paige dropped the bombshell she wanted to move out. So you don't have to go back and check. Ain't I sweet?

A/N: One last thing - language again my little friends. This time it's none other than Phoebe who's tarnishing our worlds with her horrendous vocabulary. And we thought she was such a nice girl (okay so we didn't. At all).


Psychosis





Phoebe stared at her sister. Her face was utterly blank; Paige's statement had shocked her completely. Slowly, her eyes began to narrow and her brow creased as a cold anger set in.

Watching Phoebe's painstaking reaction to her words, Paige began to regret speaking. It hadn't been the best time to bring up her willingness to move out of the manor, to escape, but then again, in this house, was there ever a best time? Or even a good time?

"What?" Phoebe choked through clenched teeth. She raised her eyes to look directly into Paige's and saw the small fear amidst defiance. And guilt. Slowly and slightly, Phoebe began to shake her head, her disapproval and hurt too much to hide. "You're just going to... abandon us?"

How poetic, Paige thought to herself, once this family had abandoned her, and now it was her turn. Life always evened things out.

The irony wasn't lost on Phoebe either. "I can't believe this," she began. "I just..."

"Phoebe," Paige cut her off, even though it was clear not one of the two sisters really knew what to say. "I can't stand it here any longer. It feels like I'm only here to keep together the Charmed Ones, and I don't even know if the Charmed Ones even exist any more."

Phoebe leapt up off the bed and whipped around to glare at her sister accusingly. "So you just run away, is that it?"

Paige brought her legs together, physically trying to make herself smaller. If there was anything she'd had enough of in her life, it was fights with those she loved. But then again, did she love Phoebe? Did Phoebe love her? The answer to both of those questions was a straight-up no. "I'm in hell," Paige said somewhat admittedly.

Silence fell over the two sisters at they both looked away from each other momentarily. Phoebe was the first to speak again. "It's not like this is my idea of sisterly bliss either, Paige," she told her sister. "There isn't a moment that goes past when I don't wish..." she trailed off, speech becoming difficult through her voice which was thick with emotion. "When I don't wish..." she attempted again, choking slightly on her tears but trying to swallow them back down.

But Paige had gotten the message. "When you don't wish things were the way they were before," she finished Phoebe's sentence.

Thinking Paige had understood her a little, and that this was a good thing, Phoebe connected her eyes with her sibling's and let a tear fall. "Yes," she whispered.

Feeling the bitter pain building up inside her, Paige quickly stood up and glared at her older sister. "Right, that's all you ever wanted, isn't it? For things to be back the way they used to be. Back in the good old days, huh? Back when Prue was alive and I was a shadow!" She walked over to her closet, throwing it open. She was too angry to actually put into action what was running through her head, but she couldn't bear to be that close to Phoebe right then.

"No - no that's not what I meant!" Phoebe cried, rushing to Paige's side and attempting to embrace her sister. "Paige, I-"

Pushing Phoebe off, Paige stalked away to the other side of the room. "I don't want to hear it, Phoebe. I know that's exactly how you feel. I tried my hardest, and I'll give you that I'm sure you tried too, but nothing's changed. I'm still not your wonderful Prue, and you know what? I never will be. So I may as well just... get the hell out of here before I go insane too."

Suddenly Phoebe found that rage was coursing through her own blood. She felt her cheeks heat up and anger will it's way into her stomach. "So this is it? When the going gets tough, Paige leaves her family to fend for themselves."

"Isn't that what mom did to me?" Paige screamed, all her hidden hatred finding itself hurtling towards Phoebe. "Didn't this family abandon me? Let me refresh your memory - yes, you did! When I was a baby, no less!"

Phoebe's jaw dropped at this atrocity. How dare Paige throw all this on her? "You're pinning that on us now? Mom and Sam did that for your own safety, for the protection of the Charmed Ones, so demons wouldn't find out about you and if they hadn't done it, you'd be dead by now!"

"They did it because they were afraid of the Elders, not for any benefit of mine," Paige shot back. This was it; everything was coming out now. She couldn't stop herself. All of these thoughts, emotions, her sorrow... she had intended to keep them to herself for as long as she lived, but something inside her had just snapped. Her pillar of strength had found itself crumbling and dissolving right down to the ground, and all that was left was her pure emotion with no restraint.

This didn't strike any sort of chord with Phoebe. For just like her sister, Phoebe also had unresolved issues that were begging to come out. It was horrendous that it had to be in this situation where she could be honest with herself - and Paige. "I get it," she said in much quieter tones, "You're just searching for someone to blame. Anyone but yourself, right?"

"That's because it's not my fault!" Paige volleyed back, "I'm not the first one who's doing the abandoning here - I've been on the receiving end of it and maybe now it's your turn!"

"You think I've had the perfect life? You think I'm so fucking happy all the time? I haven't been abandoned? Where is Cole, huh? Where is he? He's fucking evil, that's where he is!" Phoebe grabbed the open door of the bedroom and swung it hard, slamming it shut with force that chipped the paint on the sideboards. "You want an even better example?" she challanged, "Here's a great one. I was abandoned by my big sister at one of the times I needed her the most!"

Perhaps she should've felt sad, or sympathetic at least, but Paige couldn't bring any emotion of the sort to the surface. As it happened, she was even more enraged at the mention of Prue.

Continuing from where she began, Phoebe's eyes blazed with anger and misery. "Maybe you are more like her than we originally thought," she told Paige. "She left me, and now you're about to."

"Don't you dare," Paige growled. "Don't you dare even start comparing me to her. You're always doing that! Sizing me up, testing me, what the hell is it achieving Phoebe, huh?" Her voice took on a mocking tone. "Have you got a little chart that you measure us up on? 'How much like Prue was Paige today?'"

Changing her mind swiftly, Phoebe narrowed her spiteful eyes. "You'll never be like her," she spat, completely livid.

If Paige had an offensive power, she would've used it long ago. "Damn right I won't," she hissed. "My ego couldn't handle it."

Phoebe couldn't take it anymore. This so-called relation of hers was ultimately insulting her dead sister. "You bitch!" she screamed and lunged at Paige, delivering a well-aimed slap to her cheek. "She was the bravest, most selfless woman in the entire world-"

Paige responded to Phoebe's attack by roughly shoving her heavily, having to take a step backwards from the force with which she pushed her older sister. "Well to be honest she sounds a lot better than the way you act."

"What can I say," Phoebe uttered in a low voice, standing up from the bed where she'd landed after Paige had shoved her, "Some people just bring out the bitch in me."

"Seems to me like that's all there is to you, Phoebe!" Paige yelled. "You're just a callous, selfish bitch!"

"Fuck you," Phoebe shouted back, "I didn't ask for this to happen!"

"And you think I did?" Paige retaliated, "I didn't ask to be born!"

"Yeah, and neither did mom!" Phoebe screamed. As soon as the tiny echo of her voice died down and she saw the effect her terrible words had on her little sister, remorse flooded into her heart and clung there. "Oh God," she uttered and sat on the edge of the bed, before sinking onto the floor. "Paige, I-"

"No," Paige cut her off, her voice equally as strangled. "You're right. I was a mistake. A stupid, stupid mistake. That's why mom got rid of me."

When Phoebe looked over to see her distraught sister sitting on the floor, her face striken with agonising sadness, legs awkwardly drawn up, she couldn't hold herself back. Quickly she crawled on her hands and knees to Paige's side and gathered her little sister up into a tight embrace.

Paige openly cried onto Phoebe's shoulder, her hot tears making her face feel stretched and sticky. Her burning eyes felt tired and swollen, and she just wanted to be snuggled into bed, warm and forgetful. She was thirsty, but her past had taught her that drink was never the long-term answer.

As Phoebe held her little sister, she realised she was scared. Scared that Paige would keep to her word and leave them all alone. That was the last thing she wanted, in spite of all the things she'd just said to her. She felt sad and guilty and afraid.

"I'm really sorry, Paige," Phoebe began quickly. "I didn't mean to-"

"Phoebe, you don't have to apologise for your feelings," Paige stated calmly, "And I won't apologise for mine, except for what I said to hurt you."

"Okay," Phoebe whispered quietly.

There was a long, thick silence where the two sisters simply sat together leaning against the closet. The quiet was interrupted by the frequent snifflings and tiny whimpers as each woman tried to get a hold of her own tears. After a long while, Paige finally spoke. "Phoebe?" she questioned, her voice thin and ragged.

Phoebe didn't reply, not trusting her own voice, but instead nudged Paige slightly, letting her know she was listening.

Waiting another few seconds before asking her question, Paige took a shuddering breath. "Do you think... Piper will ever get better?"

Even if she wasn't crying so hard, Phoebe still would not have spoken.