Chapter 27

That night Piper had nightmares about what happened.

They were all short segments of Greg trying to do what he tried earlier in the evening.

When she woke up after only a few hours of sleeping, she realized there was someone else in bed, and immediately she assumed it was Greg.

She started screaming as loud as she could manage, and tried to find her way out of the bed.

"What... Piper? Piper!" She heard someone say, and it took her a while to realize that it wasn't Greg at all.

Leo turned on the light next to the bed, then quickly got a hold of Piper, who was still screaming and shaking.

"Piper! Piper, it's just me!" He said, trying to top Piper's screaming.

Piper finally realized who it was, and still crying hysterically, she threw herself in Leo's arms.

"Shhh... It's ok... you're ok..." He repeated, holding her and gently petting her back.

"What happened!?" Prue asked, as she flung the door of the room open, and rushed in, "I heard screaming..."

"It's ok, Piper just had a dream." Leo said.

Prue set on the corner of the bed and stroked Piper's hair a couple of times.

"Are you ok?" She asked her.

Piper finally pulled away, and nodded.

"Sorry." She said when she collected herself.

"It's ok honey." Prue said.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" Leo asked carefully.

Piper shook her head no.

"I can't sleep. I'll go downstairs." She said, aware that it was barely 3 in the morning.

"Ok, I'll come with you." Leo said, starting to get out of bed.

"No, Leo, I don't want to bother you." Piper said.

"I know you want me to come." He said, and was right.

She wanted him to come down with her more then anything.

"Ok, I'll see you in the morning then." Prue said, and after giving Piper a kiss she went back to her room.

A few minutes later Piper was sitting on the couch in the living room, waiting for Leo to come back from the kitchen with some tea.

She looked around her, and suddenly realized she wished Grams was there with her.

But she wasn't, and she never will be again.

She noticed that Leo has come back only after he took a seat on the couch next to Piper, and handed her a cup of tea.

"Peach flavor, your favorite." Leo said.

Piper forced a smile, and tasted her tea.

Tea never tasted so bad in her mouth.

"I thought he was just a customer you know," Piper suddenly said, which drove Leo's attention right away.

"Piper..." He started, putting a hand on her shoulder, but she continued before he had the chance to say any further.

"And the funny thing is, that I didn't ever recognize him until there was no one left in the place, and even then only when I heard his voice..."

"Why were you there alone? Where was your boss?" Leo asked

"He left about three minutes before." Piper mumbled.

"How did that happen?" Leo asked after a few moments, gesturing at Piper's forehead.

"I was... trying to get away, but he didn't let me. I got as far as the kitchen, and I even managed to grab a knife" Piper said with a small despirate chucle, "but the... the next thing I knew I was on a table and he was taking my clothes off..." At that point Piper was crying, and covered her face with what was probably humiliation.

They both settled themselves in a lying position on the narrow couch, Piper half on top of Leo, and it didn't take long for either of them to fall asleep.

When Piper woke up she was alone.

She set up, and the oddness of it all was annoying.

It took her about quite a few minutes to remember why was she sleeping in the living room, and when she finally recalled what happened that night, she wanted to berry herself in a hole somewhere very very far away. The moon would do.

She remembered how she woke up screaming, and it took Leo a while to calm her down.

Then she remembered Prue's expression as she walked into her room.

She covered her face with her hands and moaned silently.

"Piper?" She heard Prue say, which dragged her back to reality.

Piper removed her hands, and saw her older sister kneeling in front on her, looking worried, as though she is trying to read Piper's thoughts.

"Hi." Piper said with a crooked voice.

"How are you feeling?" Prue asked, taking a seat next to Piper.

Piper sighed.

"I... I don't know. Where is Leo?" She asked, not wanting to be the subject of the conversation.

"He left just about an hour ago, but he'll be back in time for dinner." Prue said.

Piper was a bit surprised that he was leaving for that long, but then after she looked around the room, and finally at the clock, she turned to Prue;

"It's seven thirty in the evening?" Piper asked a bit shocked.

"Yes honey, you've been out all day."

Piper looked at her for a moment, and then remembered something.

"I was supposed to have lunch with Phoebe today..." Piper said, more to herself then Prue.

"Phoebe called, I told her what happened. She is upstairs." Prue told her.

"And you guys actually talked?" Piper asked with a smile curving her lips.

"Yes, believe it or not." Prue said, then changed the subject;

"Are you hungry? I can get you something; dinner will be ready in about 40 minutes."

"Dinner? You made dinner? Yeah, right."

"Ok, I admit, I ordered Chinese. But... I made a cake!"Prue said proudly.

Piper smiled again.

"Ok. I can't wait to try it. Oh and don't bother getting me anything, I can wait for dinner."

"Ok, if you're sure. You know your boss called earlyer." Prue said.

"Am I fired?" Piper asked, not caring much.

"Actually, he was pretty nice. He did sound a bit mad, but he said you can come back on the job when you're ready. Of course that doesn't mean you have to come back..."

"It's ok Prue. I really dont want to come back to that place now." Piper admitted, getting up.

"Where are you going?" Prue asked.

"To get myself some water, my mouth feels dry."

"Sit down then! I'll get it for you." Prue said, and bounced towards the kitchen.

Seconds later Phoebe appeared from downstairs.

"Prue, I can't find it anywhere! Where did you..." Phoebe started, but then she noticed Piper on the couch.

"Oh my god, Piper!" Phoebe exclaimed, as she embraced Piper with a tight hug.

Piper was more then glad to see her sister; it's been a while since she was in the manor.

Phoebe pulled back after a few moments, and looked at Piper's forehead.

"How does your head feel?" She asked with much concern in her voice.

"A little woozy... but considerably better then yesterday." Piper said.

"Oh, Piper I can't believe it happened again, When Prue told me on the phone I started crying, and Jason thought somebody died."

"Phoebe..." Piper started, but Phoebe didn't let her.

"No Piper, don't even say it, what that piece of shit did to you, or tried to do, is unforgivable, and he is going to pay for every second of suffering, and every single tear that you spilled because of him after the trial. I swear he will." Phoebe said with so much determination that Piper never saw in her young sister before.

A trial.

This was all just the beginning, Piper thought, and let out a long exhausted sigh.

A/N: next chapter, some conflicts come up at dinner, and some neat PiperLeo moments... (hehe) Review please.