Piper tip-toed up the stairs, hoping that Grams was still asleep. She'd almost made it to her bedroom when a familiar voice called out, "Stop."

She turned around slowly. "Grams... good morning."

"Don't 'good morning' me, young lady. You didn't think I wouldn't catch you trying to sneak in? Piper, how could you?"

"Grams... I'm sorry..." Piper started, at a loss for words. But then she thought of Jared and how good he was to her, and anger started to take over. "You know what? I'm not sorry. He's the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm not a little girl anymore, no matter how much you and everyone else insist on seeing me as one."

"Lying and sneaking around is hardly acting like an adult, Piper," her grandmother shot back. "You are still a child. And as far as this Gerald or whoever the hell he is, I don't want you seeing him again, is that clear?"

"You can't do this," she screamed. "You can't tell me who to see, who to talk to, who to fall in love with."

The last phrase hit Penny like a slap in the face. "Well, then," she said, regaining her composure, "I suppose I can't send you to your room, either. Very well. I'll just go to mine."

With that, she turned around and walked off. Piper leaned against the wall, tears forming behind her eyes. The hurt look on her grandmother's face, the bereaved tone in her voice, knowing that she, Piper, was the cause of that pain made her sick.

Weakly, she walked over to Prue's room and knocked on her door. Her big sister had always been the one to talk her through a problem. Now she needed her to help her through a crisis.

Prue yelled that it was okay to come in, so Piper opened the door a crack and slipped through before closing it again. "I need to talk to you," she said, her voice quivering.

"Piper, what's wrong?" Prue asked, rushing over to hug her sister. She paused, noticing that Piper was wearing the exact same thing as yesterday. "Honey... did you just get home?"

Piper nodded. "I was..." She swallowed hard, looking for the words to continue. "I was out with Jared."

And then, she broke down crying. Prue hugged her, assuring her that it was okay, and maybe if they just talked about it she'd feel better.

"I slept with him, Prue," Piper confessed once her sobs had been reduced to a few free-flowing tears.

"You mean, where you lie side-by-side in bed and actually... sleep...?" Prue ventured. Piper shook her head, struggling not to let her crying jag begin anew.

"Oh, honey," Prue said, pulling her closer. She was at a loss for what to say. She'd expected to one day have this conversation with Phoebe, in a much less civil manner, of course, but Piper was a different story. This was the last thing she'd ever expected. Trying to figure out how to handle this, she led Piper over to her bed, figuring that it would be easier to talk if they were sitting down.

"Did you... want to?" she asked awkwardly. Prue honestly wasn't sure which answer she wanted to hear. If Piper said yes, then it meant that her little sister had potentially made the biggest mistake of her life. If she said no... Well, that just meant that Prue would have to kill the bastard.

"Yeah," Piper answered quietly. "I mean, I was scared... But mostly I was just afraid of losing him. He told me I didn't have to, but guys have expectations, you know? And even though he said he didn't want to do it until I was ready, at the time I thought I was."

"Now what do you think?" Prue questioned softly.

"I don't know..." Piper answered. She hesitated before adding, "I don't think so."

Prue once more put her arms around her sister, gently rocking her. "It's all right. Everything's going to be okay. I'll help you deal with this. If you want, I'll go with you to talk to Jared. If he's as great as you say he is, he'll understand why you can't see him-"

Piper pulled away abruptly. "I never said I don't want to see him again," she interrupted. "I may not want a repeat of last night right away, but I don't want to cut him out completely. Prue, he's the best thing in my life right now."

Prue winced at the last statement. She remembered a time when their family was the best thing in her sister's life.

"Aside from you and Grams and Phoebe," Piper quickly amended, seeing the hurt look on her sister's face and not wanting it to erupt into another Grams-esque arguement.

"It's okay, I know what you meant," Prue said. Truthfully, the eighteen-year-old had had her own share of time-consuming boyfriends. However, Prue had never slept with any of them to fullfill any kind of perceived obligation. She was just starting to wonder what had happened to make her sister think this was the only way to keep a guy, when there was a small knock on the door.

Piper and Prue looked up, and thirteen-year-old Phoebe poked her head into the room. "I just saw Grams downstairs. You guys might want to stay away from her, she's pretty upset."

Piper snorted. "Great. So now not only do I hate myself, but she hates me, too. Can't say I don't deserve it, though."

"I can," Prue said. "She doesn't hate you, Piper, she'd just disappointed. And you need to stop being so hard on yourself."

"What did you do?" Phoebe asked innocently, coming over to sit with her sisters.

Piper pulled her little sister close to her. She knew that Phoebe had already taken an interest in boys and clothes and such, so she figured a warning might be useful at this point. "Honey, promise me that no matter what any boy says, you won't do anything you don't feel comfortable with, and you won't let yourself be influence by what you think they expect. Trust me, no guy is worth it, okay?"

Phoebe nodded, a worried frown forming on her face. "Piper, what's wrong? Did that guy you're seeing hurt you or something?"

Piper shook her head. "No, I'm okay. Just promise me, and don't forget."

"I promise," Phoebe swore.

Piper nodded, satisfied. She could only hope that her sister didn't make the same mistakes she did.