A/N: Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Just so you know, I changed the story a
bit, so reread chaps 3 and 4 ok? Well, I made this chap really long, so I
just though I'd warn you. Thanks to my loyal reviewers!!
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Sam walked to school, feeling the cool breeze from November. She kept her arms wrapped around her so it would make her warmer. She tried to close any parts of her sweater that would let any cold breeze in. Her lip shook a little, and she stared at the sidewalk as she walked.
She wondered about her mother. She wanted to see her, bad. I mean, she hasn't even seen one single image of the person, so how was she to know if they had the same eyes, or the same beautiful brown hair. Most of all, she never had a real mother figure in her life. Sure, Aunt Pam was a big help, but she was never what she really wanted. She simply wanted not just any mother, but hers, to hold her in her arms, and to say how proud she is of her, and say how much she loves her.
She wondered about her father. It hurt her so much to see the neighbors next door, the little boy playing a game of catch with his dad. She never knew what he looked like either. She didn't know if they had the same chin, or if she had his dimples or something like that. She wanted her dad to carry her, and to smile and call her "Daddy's little angel". All she wanted was a perfect family. Something that she had never experienced in her life.
But why now? She had never wondered THIS much about her parents before. Was this like a certain time to be wondering about them? Was she realizing how empty her life has been the past few years? That's another thing. She had never felt these empty spaces in her heart before. Was it because she was fourteen? She didn't know. All she knew was that she wanted answers.
The next thing she knew, a car pulled up on her left. She turned to see who it was. The car was a black BMW 3954i. She knew exactly who's car it was. The window rolled down and Sam peered in to look at the driver.
"Hey Sam." The driver said. Sam smiled. It was her best friend. Not really her best friend. A close friend. The school counselor. Don't get her wrong now. She went to her school counselor all the time when she had a problem. She wasn't mental or anything. The counselor was someone to talk to. And the counselor helped her A LOT. "Prue!!!" Sam exclaimed. The woman with long, black hair grinned has her smile brightened the dark car. "Hey kid. You look cold. You want a ride?" she asked. Sam smiled. Prue helped her through everything the past few years. They were seriously like best friends. And since she didn't have many friends at school, she was happy hanging out with Prue. She didn't want many friends at school. They would get too close, and then they would realize her weird powers. She didn't want that.
Sam opened the car door and quickly got into the car. Prue motioned for her to put on her seat belt and she did what she was told. Prue started the drive. "So how's school Sam?"
"Fine..I got my grades up for biology. Now I just have to work on geometry."
"That's good. I'm proud of you." She said. Sam grinned. Prue was like an extra aunt for her. She and Aunt Pam were great friends, so it was really like they were related. "And, how are things at home?"
Sam's grin disappeared at the question. The memories of her recent thoughts flooded back to her mind. "It's...ok."
Prue sensed there was something wrong. "Uh oh. What happened?"
"Nothing, really....nothing." Sam said as she turned away to look out the window.
"Oh no, you're not gonna get out THAT easy. When you go from bouncy, happy face to a sad, hurt face then I could tell something is wrong. Did something happen at home?"
Sam shook her head. "Promise you won't tell?" she asked. Prue shook her head, took one hand off the wheel and raised up her hand. "I promise."
Sam sighed and gave up. She needed to tell someone. She couldn't keep it all bottled up. And who better to tell it to, then Prue? "I've been wondering about my parents a lot."
Prue seemed to flinch at the subject. She looked nervous and started to sweat. "Honey, what about your parents?"
"It's just that. I don't know. It's like, for some reason, I'm wondering about them a lot at this particular part of my life. And I'm not saying that I never did wonder about them and I'm not saying that I'm not going to think about them in the future, but I've been thinking about it too much. Also, when I'm around Aunt Pam and Uncle Art, I just want to get away, because I get this really bad feeling about them. Like something bad is going to happen..."
There was a pause. Prue didn't know what to say. She kept her eyes steadied on the road and then looked back to Sam. Sam looked helpless, she looked worried, and she looked hurt. "Honey, I don't know what to say. I....Maybe you should be telling your aunt and uncle instead of me..."
"I don't think they would really understand. And besides, I don't want them to worry about me or anything. It's like I want to protect them so badly."
"Why do you feel that?"
"As I said, it's just a big feeling I have."
Prue paused again to think for a moment. She gave a big sigh. "Well, about your parents. It's just feelings inside you. Maybe you're feeling jealous, I really don't know. Just, try not to think about it that much. And the same goes for your feelings about your aunt and uncle. Try not to think about it, but if those feelings get to strong, you HAVE to tell them. I'm here only for your guidance and support. If you need me just call, but it's you who has to do the actions. Ok?"
Sam seemed satisfied. Prue turned back to the road as she pulled up at the curb of the school. Sam opened the door slowly, but then glanced back before she went out. "Thanks." She said in great gratitude. Prue smiled as she waved goodbye.
Sam slammed the door, but then looked back into the window. "Aren't you coming? You are the counselor of the school you know...." Sam asked in suspicion. Prue glanced back to her nervously.
"Not right now. I'll be there later. I have to go to the school across town for some work....I'll see you." She said quickly. Sam shrugged and ran to the entrance of the school. Prue exhaled, and turned around to head back to the house.
****
Prue pressed the lighted button on the big two story suburban house. She waited patiently on the steps of the house. She brushed her long black hair out of her face and rang the doorbell again. From outside the door, she could hear voices coming closer and closer to her.
At last, the door opened. She smiled as she saw the female in front of her. "Hello Apolla." She said as she hugged her. Apolla grinned and embraced her. "Prue! Oh, so glad you finally came to see us! I haven't seen you in a while." She said, enjoying their little hug.
They let go of each other and Apolla gestured for her to come in. "Please Prue, come in. Artemis is in the kitchen, and I just got out a pot of tea. We'll talk there." She said as she pulled Prue into the house. They walked to the kitchen and as Artemis saw Prue he put his mug of tea down and stood up.
"Prue! You're here! Apolla and I haven't seen you in practically a month!" he said as he went over to her to shake her hand. Prue grinned as he shook the man's hand. "It's good to see you too Artemis."
Artemis pulled out a chair for her as Apolla poured her a cup of tea. Prue sat down and so did the other two. Artemis laid his hands on the table and folded them in front of him. "So, how are you doing Prue?"
"I'm doing good. I'm still getting used to the variety of charges though. I mean, the past 16 years, I've mostly only had about 1-3 charges since I was a rookie. But now that I have kind of advanced into the intermediate level, it's at least 15 charges a day. And with the special attention I have to give Samantha, it's very hard to keep it all up."
Artemis laughed. "Yes, I remember those days. But it gets better after 50 years or so. Now that Apolla and I have been in the business for so long, and we're practically a top advanced whitelighters, they only give us one here and there. It's like a thank you for taking care of so many charges and their problems over the years." He said. Apolla chuckled and nodded in agreement.
"I'm sure it will get better Prue. It just takes time. Being a whitelighter is never easy." Apolla added. Prue nodded, storing the knowledge in her head. She was quickly reminded about her reason for coming. "Artemis, Apolla, I came here to talk to you about Sam."
Both their faces fell at the sound of her name. The worries they had flooded back to her minds. "Yeah, you're having problems too?"
Prue nodded. "She said something about worrying about you two, and her parents. I was sort of shocked, because she sounded different this time when she mentioned Piper and Leo. I mean, not only being her whitelighter, but being her aunt, I wanted to help her so bad, but I don't exactly know how."
"Same thing with us, only she barely talks to us. She's always locked in her room doing something. She started smoking."
"WHAT? When did this happen?" Prue said, surprised and concerned for her niece. Artemis sighed. "A couple weeks. She's doing it to take her troubles away. It's terrible." He said, shaking his head.
"Poor girl. I hear her cry at night, from where I'm working. It's horrible, truly horrible." She said. "You do?" Apolla asked. Prue nodded her head. "She is my personal charge. I can hear every cry. I always keep an extra ear out in case something comes for her or something. Not like it's really going to happen, but I mean, I really want to protect her. She's my sister's daughter, I feel like I have to care for her, you know?"
Artemis and Apolla nodded. "Prue. We're afraid. Her whitelighter senses and instincts grow faster and faster. The Elders may sense it. Darklighters could sense it."
"I know, I've tried my best at covering her tracks. We have to do everything in our power to keep her from the Elders. We cannot let them find out. For our sake, and for Leo's sake. We know what they're capable of, and we know what they can do. The Elders just think that Sam is a normal human that is my charge to guide. They don't know that she is my niece. Of course, I didn't either until you guys discovered who I was, but that's besides the point."
"I've been getting strange feelings Prue. About her, about her danger, about us. Every single day the feeling gets stronger. It's nothing I have felt before." Artemis said.
"We both feel it. We can't forget that Sam, alone, with all of her powers, is one of the most powerful beings on Earth. She'll be a target and who knows if she's not a target already. It's our job, as her angels to protect her in anyway we can." Apolla added. Prue and Artemis agreed.
Prue got up to leave. "I'm going to be late for work. Just know, that I'll be keeping an extra eye and ear out for her. If something happens, I won't be far. I'll see you two." She said, as she orbed to her car.
****
Paige shuffled through the papers on the dining room table. She had been working all night on her work. It has been nothing but work for her lately. She hasn't had the time to date, or have any fun with work, witchcraft and demons on her schedule.
If she didn't hurry, she would be really late. She had to go to a school across town to speak to some of the teachers and staff etc. about some of the kids she had at social services. It was a very complicated situation. "Dammit...." she muttered as she stuffed everything into her briefcase and ran to the kitchen to grab a quick cup of coffee.
Piper sat at the kitchen table, typing away on her laptop. P3 has gotten really successful over the last decade. Her club was one of the top 5 in the San Francisco area. They had made a lot of money lately, but Piper didn't seem to care one bit.
Things were never the same between the sisters. It's like they grew more distant. Piper had the same old thing in her mind. Her daughter and Leo. She was desperate to see Leo again, but whenever she saw him, it was just too painful to think about all the problems they had over the years.
She wanted to hold her daughter in her arms sometimes. She would have given anything to just see her, but she knew it was forbidden. Piper knew that her mother went through the same thing when they gave up Paige, but her mother had had three other daughters to love. Piper had none.
She wanted to see what she looked like, and how she turned out. She should be about 14 years old now, and it hurt to know that she had never seen a glimpse of what she looked like. She wanted to know, if Samantha had her hair and her eyes or if she had Leo's chin or his smile.
Paige and Phoebe didn't want to bother her most of the time. They didn't want to offend her, or make her think about it even more. They didn't know how to help her at all in this time of situation, so they laid low.
As Piper typed, Paige ran in and grabbed a mug from the cabinets. "Hey Pipe." She said as she poured herself a cup of joe. Piper grunted a little and didn't take her eyes off the screen. Paige sighed and took a sip of the cold liquid. As soon as she tasted the stuff, she spit it back into the cup.
"Ewwww. Who made this coffee? It's cold and it doesn't taste very good."
"Sorry, I was up all night. I...just made myself some coffee last night and forgot to make the new batch."
"Piper, why were you up last night?"
"I don't know. Part of me was hoping that Leo would come and see me, the other part just wanted to think. It doesn't matter, I don't really need sleep anyway."
"Well, of course you do! Piper! You are running one of the most successful clubs in San Francisco! You need to look good when they interview you and when famous bands come to meet you and other stuff! Come on!" she pleaded. Paige hoped to hear some kind of laugh from Piper but it obviously didn't work.
"I don't really care." Was all that Piper had said. Piper seemed dead lately. Like a zombie that had been brought back to life. She had not been showing any emotion or feelings. She had just been quiet and robot like most of the time. Paige sighed.
Piper closed her laptop and turned around. "So what are you going to do today?" she asked, leaning on the back of the chair. Paige shrugged. "See a couple teachers from a school across town for some charges, I mean, clients. I'm really starting to mix the two up."
"Well, what do you expect when you're a social worker and a whitelighter for the last few years?" Piper said sarcastically. Paige gave a half smile and kissed her sister on the cheek. "I'll be back by dinner. Don't wait up."
"Don't worry, we'll probably have chinese anyway. I'm not even in the mood to cook." Piper said. Paige gave a worried look to her sister and bolted out the door with her things. Phoebe came down the steps as she was leaving.
"Hey Paige."
Paige turned around to see her sister. "Oh hey Phoebe. Your off day?" she asked. Phoebe nodded. "Yep."
"Well, take care of Piper, and don't drink the coffee. Bye." She said as she slammed the front door of the house. Phoebe processed the words for a minute, wondering what she meant but then just gave up and walked to the kitchen.
She saw her older sister's head on the kitchen table. She was sound asleep. Phoebe shook her head.
'God, she stayed up all night again.' She thought. She glanced over to the pot of coffee on the counter. She walked over to it, and dipped her finger in it. She pulled her finger out quickly, seeing that it was cold as ice. She poured the liquid into the sink and made a new hot pot of coffee.
She poured some in a mug and set it beside her slumbering sister. Phoebe sat down next to her and stroked her messed up hair. "Piper, honey." Piper opened her eyes and saw her younger sister in front of her. Realizing that she fell asleep, she sat up quickly and rubbed her eyes. "What?" she asked. Phoebe pushed the mug of coffee towards her. "I made some coffee. How are you feeling?"
"Like shit." Piper said as she grabbed the mug and sipped it.
"You should go sleep." Phoebe said. Piper shrugged. " Not really."
"You can't go to the club if you're going to fall asleep every time you sit down. Go to bed, I'll call Collin at the club and tell him to take over while you call in sick." She said. Piper shook her head. "No, I can't." she said as she was about to open her laptop again. Phoebe stopped her.
"Yes, you can." She said, in a serious tone. Piper gave up and started to walk to her room with the mug of coffee in her hand. As she was about to leave the kitchen Phoebe called: "Piper."
Piper whirled around to see her baby sister's face like she never seen since the last life threatening situation. It was the look of fear.
"Piper. I'm here for you. Please, just know that."
There was a silence between them, until Piper just stayed silent as she walked out of the kitchen and up to her room.
__________________
Sam walked to school, feeling the cool breeze from November. She kept her arms wrapped around her so it would make her warmer. She tried to close any parts of her sweater that would let any cold breeze in. Her lip shook a little, and she stared at the sidewalk as she walked.
She wondered about her mother. She wanted to see her, bad. I mean, she hasn't even seen one single image of the person, so how was she to know if they had the same eyes, or the same beautiful brown hair. Most of all, she never had a real mother figure in her life. Sure, Aunt Pam was a big help, but she was never what she really wanted. She simply wanted not just any mother, but hers, to hold her in her arms, and to say how proud she is of her, and say how much she loves her.
She wondered about her father. It hurt her so much to see the neighbors next door, the little boy playing a game of catch with his dad. She never knew what he looked like either. She didn't know if they had the same chin, or if she had his dimples or something like that. She wanted her dad to carry her, and to smile and call her "Daddy's little angel". All she wanted was a perfect family. Something that she had never experienced in her life.
But why now? She had never wondered THIS much about her parents before. Was this like a certain time to be wondering about them? Was she realizing how empty her life has been the past few years? That's another thing. She had never felt these empty spaces in her heart before. Was it because she was fourteen? She didn't know. All she knew was that she wanted answers.
The next thing she knew, a car pulled up on her left. She turned to see who it was. The car was a black BMW 3954i. She knew exactly who's car it was. The window rolled down and Sam peered in to look at the driver.
"Hey Sam." The driver said. Sam smiled. It was her best friend. Not really her best friend. A close friend. The school counselor. Don't get her wrong now. She went to her school counselor all the time when she had a problem. She wasn't mental or anything. The counselor was someone to talk to. And the counselor helped her A LOT. "Prue!!!" Sam exclaimed. The woman with long, black hair grinned has her smile brightened the dark car. "Hey kid. You look cold. You want a ride?" she asked. Sam smiled. Prue helped her through everything the past few years. They were seriously like best friends. And since she didn't have many friends at school, she was happy hanging out with Prue. She didn't want many friends at school. They would get too close, and then they would realize her weird powers. She didn't want that.
Sam opened the car door and quickly got into the car. Prue motioned for her to put on her seat belt and she did what she was told. Prue started the drive. "So how's school Sam?"
"Fine..I got my grades up for biology. Now I just have to work on geometry."
"That's good. I'm proud of you." She said. Sam grinned. Prue was like an extra aunt for her. She and Aunt Pam were great friends, so it was really like they were related. "And, how are things at home?"
Sam's grin disappeared at the question. The memories of her recent thoughts flooded back to her mind. "It's...ok."
Prue sensed there was something wrong. "Uh oh. What happened?"
"Nothing, really....nothing." Sam said as she turned away to look out the window.
"Oh no, you're not gonna get out THAT easy. When you go from bouncy, happy face to a sad, hurt face then I could tell something is wrong. Did something happen at home?"
Sam shook her head. "Promise you won't tell?" she asked. Prue shook her head, took one hand off the wheel and raised up her hand. "I promise."
Sam sighed and gave up. She needed to tell someone. She couldn't keep it all bottled up. And who better to tell it to, then Prue? "I've been wondering about my parents a lot."
Prue seemed to flinch at the subject. She looked nervous and started to sweat. "Honey, what about your parents?"
"It's just that. I don't know. It's like, for some reason, I'm wondering about them a lot at this particular part of my life. And I'm not saying that I never did wonder about them and I'm not saying that I'm not going to think about them in the future, but I've been thinking about it too much. Also, when I'm around Aunt Pam and Uncle Art, I just want to get away, because I get this really bad feeling about them. Like something bad is going to happen..."
There was a pause. Prue didn't know what to say. She kept her eyes steadied on the road and then looked back to Sam. Sam looked helpless, she looked worried, and she looked hurt. "Honey, I don't know what to say. I....Maybe you should be telling your aunt and uncle instead of me..."
"I don't think they would really understand. And besides, I don't want them to worry about me or anything. It's like I want to protect them so badly."
"Why do you feel that?"
"As I said, it's just a big feeling I have."
Prue paused again to think for a moment. She gave a big sigh. "Well, about your parents. It's just feelings inside you. Maybe you're feeling jealous, I really don't know. Just, try not to think about it that much. And the same goes for your feelings about your aunt and uncle. Try not to think about it, but if those feelings get to strong, you HAVE to tell them. I'm here only for your guidance and support. If you need me just call, but it's you who has to do the actions. Ok?"
Sam seemed satisfied. Prue turned back to the road as she pulled up at the curb of the school. Sam opened the door slowly, but then glanced back before she went out. "Thanks." She said in great gratitude. Prue smiled as she waved goodbye.
Sam slammed the door, but then looked back into the window. "Aren't you coming? You are the counselor of the school you know...." Sam asked in suspicion. Prue glanced back to her nervously.
"Not right now. I'll be there later. I have to go to the school across town for some work....I'll see you." She said quickly. Sam shrugged and ran to the entrance of the school. Prue exhaled, and turned around to head back to the house.
****
Prue pressed the lighted button on the big two story suburban house. She waited patiently on the steps of the house. She brushed her long black hair out of her face and rang the doorbell again. From outside the door, she could hear voices coming closer and closer to her.
At last, the door opened. She smiled as she saw the female in front of her. "Hello Apolla." She said as she hugged her. Apolla grinned and embraced her. "Prue! Oh, so glad you finally came to see us! I haven't seen you in a while." She said, enjoying their little hug.
They let go of each other and Apolla gestured for her to come in. "Please Prue, come in. Artemis is in the kitchen, and I just got out a pot of tea. We'll talk there." She said as she pulled Prue into the house. They walked to the kitchen and as Artemis saw Prue he put his mug of tea down and stood up.
"Prue! You're here! Apolla and I haven't seen you in practically a month!" he said as he went over to her to shake her hand. Prue grinned as he shook the man's hand. "It's good to see you too Artemis."
Artemis pulled out a chair for her as Apolla poured her a cup of tea. Prue sat down and so did the other two. Artemis laid his hands on the table and folded them in front of him. "So, how are you doing Prue?"
"I'm doing good. I'm still getting used to the variety of charges though. I mean, the past 16 years, I've mostly only had about 1-3 charges since I was a rookie. But now that I have kind of advanced into the intermediate level, it's at least 15 charges a day. And with the special attention I have to give Samantha, it's very hard to keep it all up."
Artemis laughed. "Yes, I remember those days. But it gets better after 50 years or so. Now that Apolla and I have been in the business for so long, and we're practically a top advanced whitelighters, they only give us one here and there. It's like a thank you for taking care of so many charges and their problems over the years." He said. Apolla chuckled and nodded in agreement.
"I'm sure it will get better Prue. It just takes time. Being a whitelighter is never easy." Apolla added. Prue nodded, storing the knowledge in her head. She was quickly reminded about her reason for coming. "Artemis, Apolla, I came here to talk to you about Sam."
Both their faces fell at the sound of her name. The worries they had flooded back to her minds. "Yeah, you're having problems too?"
Prue nodded. "She said something about worrying about you two, and her parents. I was sort of shocked, because she sounded different this time when she mentioned Piper and Leo. I mean, not only being her whitelighter, but being her aunt, I wanted to help her so bad, but I don't exactly know how."
"Same thing with us, only she barely talks to us. She's always locked in her room doing something. She started smoking."
"WHAT? When did this happen?" Prue said, surprised and concerned for her niece. Artemis sighed. "A couple weeks. She's doing it to take her troubles away. It's terrible." He said, shaking his head.
"Poor girl. I hear her cry at night, from where I'm working. It's horrible, truly horrible." She said. "You do?" Apolla asked. Prue nodded her head. "She is my personal charge. I can hear every cry. I always keep an extra ear out in case something comes for her or something. Not like it's really going to happen, but I mean, I really want to protect her. She's my sister's daughter, I feel like I have to care for her, you know?"
Artemis and Apolla nodded. "Prue. We're afraid. Her whitelighter senses and instincts grow faster and faster. The Elders may sense it. Darklighters could sense it."
"I know, I've tried my best at covering her tracks. We have to do everything in our power to keep her from the Elders. We cannot let them find out. For our sake, and for Leo's sake. We know what they're capable of, and we know what they can do. The Elders just think that Sam is a normal human that is my charge to guide. They don't know that she is my niece. Of course, I didn't either until you guys discovered who I was, but that's besides the point."
"I've been getting strange feelings Prue. About her, about her danger, about us. Every single day the feeling gets stronger. It's nothing I have felt before." Artemis said.
"We both feel it. We can't forget that Sam, alone, with all of her powers, is one of the most powerful beings on Earth. She'll be a target and who knows if she's not a target already. It's our job, as her angels to protect her in anyway we can." Apolla added. Prue and Artemis agreed.
Prue got up to leave. "I'm going to be late for work. Just know, that I'll be keeping an extra eye and ear out for her. If something happens, I won't be far. I'll see you two." She said, as she orbed to her car.
****
Paige shuffled through the papers on the dining room table. She had been working all night on her work. It has been nothing but work for her lately. She hasn't had the time to date, or have any fun with work, witchcraft and demons on her schedule.
If she didn't hurry, she would be really late. She had to go to a school across town to speak to some of the teachers and staff etc. about some of the kids she had at social services. It was a very complicated situation. "Dammit...." she muttered as she stuffed everything into her briefcase and ran to the kitchen to grab a quick cup of coffee.
Piper sat at the kitchen table, typing away on her laptop. P3 has gotten really successful over the last decade. Her club was one of the top 5 in the San Francisco area. They had made a lot of money lately, but Piper didn't seem to care one bit.
Things were never the same between the sisters. It's like they grew more distant. Piper had the same old thing in her mind. Her daughter and Leo. She was desperate to see Leo again, but whenever she saw him, it was just too painful to think about all the problems they had over the years.
She wanted to hold her daughter in her arms sometimes. She would have given anything to just see her, but she knew it was forbidden. Piper knew that her mother went through the same thing when they gave up Paige, but her mother had had three other daughters to love. Piper had none.
She wanted to see what she looked like, and how she turned out. She should be about 14 years old now, and it hurt to know that she had never seen a glimpse of what she looked like. She wanted to know, if Samantha had her hair and her eyes or if she had Leo's chin or his smile.
Paige and Phoebe didn't want to bother her most of the time. They didn't want to offend her, or make her think about it even more. They didn't know how to help her at all in this time of situation, so they laid low.
As Piper typed, Paige ran in and grabbed a mug from the cabinets. "Hey Pipe." She said as she poured herself a cup of joe. Piper grunted a little and didn't take her eyes off the screen. Paige sighed and took a sip of the cold liquid. As soon as she tasted the stuff, she spit it back into the cup.
"Ewwww. Who made this coffee? It's cold and it doesn't taste very good."
"Sorry, I was up all night. I...just made myself some coffee last night and forgot to make the new batch."
"Piper, why were you up last night?"
"I don't know. Part of me was hoping that Leo would come and see me, the other part just wanted to think. It doesn't matter, I don't really need sleep anyway."
"Well, of course you do! Piper! You are running one of the most successful clubs in San Francisco! You need to look good when they interview you and when famous bands come to meet you and other stuff! Come on!" she pleaded. Paige hoped to hear some kind of laugh from Piper but it obviously didn't work.
"I don't really care." Was all that Piper had said. Piper seemed dead lately. Like a zombie that had been brought back to life. She had not been showing any emotion or feelings. She had just been quiet and robot like most of the time. Paige sighed.
Piper closed her laptop and turned around. "So what are you going to do today?" she asked, leaning on the back of the chair. Paige shrugged. "See a couple teachers from a school across town for some charges, I mean, clients. I'm really starting to mix the two up."
"Well, what do you expect when you're a social worker and a whitelighter for the last few years?" Piper said sarcastically. Paige gave a half smile and kissed her sister on the cheek. "I'll be back by dinner. Don't wait up."
"Don't worry, we'll probably have chinese anyway. I'm not even in the mood to cook." Piper said. Paige gave a worried look to her sister and bolted out the door with her things. Phoebe came down the steps as she was leaving.
"Hey Paige."
Paige turned around to see her sister. "Oh hey Phoebe. Your off day?" she asked. Phoebe nodded. "Yep."
"Well, take care of Piper, and don't drink the coffee. Bye." She said as she slammed the front door of the house. Phoebe processed the words for a minute, wondering what she meant but then just gave up and walked to the kitchen.
She saw her older sister's head on the kitchen table. She was sound asleep. Phoebe shook her head.
'God, she stayed up all night again.' She thought. She glanced over to the pot of coffee on the counter. She walked over to it, and dipped her finger in it. She pulled her finger out quickly, seeing that it was cold as ice. She poured the liquid into the sink and made a new hot pot of coffee.
She poured some in a mug and set it beside her slumbering sister. Phoebe sat down next to her and stroked her messed up hair. "Piper, honey." Piper opened her eyes and saw her younger sister in front of her. Realizing that she fell asleep, she sat up quickly and rubbed her eyes. "What?" she asked. Phoebe pushed the mug of coffee towards her. "I made some coffee. How are you feeling?"
"Like shit." Piper said as she grabbed the mug and sipped it.
"You should go sleep." Phoebe said. Piper shrugged. " Not really."
"You can't go to the club if you're going to fall asleep every time you sit down. Go to bed, I'll call Collin at the club and tell him to take over while you call in sick." She said. Piper shook her head. "No, I can't." she said as she was about to open her laptop again. Phoebe stopped her.
"Yes, you can." She said, in a serious tone. Piper gave up and started to walk to her room with the mug of coffee in her hand. As she was about to leave the kitchen Phoebe called: "Piper."
Piper whirled around to see her baby sister's face like she never seen since the last life threatening situation. It was the look of fear.
"Piper. I'm here for you. Please, just know that."
There was a silence between them, until Piper just stayed silent as she walked out of the kitchen and up to her room.