Written: June 29, 2004

Setting: Pre-episode, "Something Wicca This Way Comes"

The Phone Call

I sat, staring at the phone. It rested on the table that served as a place to eat meals and, simultaneously, a large coffee table. I wasn't too picky about furniture these days. I was sitting at one of the table chairs, arms folded on the table, chin on top of my hands. Staring. At the phone.

Most people in that position probably looked like they were willing it to ring. Willing that call to come through, for whatever reason. Boyfriend, job offer. I didn't have either in my immediate future, so willing the phone to ring was out of the question. No. I had to find the courage to pick it up, and use it to call someone else. Still, I suppose if I was truthful with myself, a part of me did wish it would ring, that the person on the other end being the exact person I wanted to speak to. But that would be kidding myself. That wouldn't happen.

I've never been shy or hesitant or overly cautious in my decisions. Even when I was little, I exuded some sort of rash confidence in most of my actions. Under normal circumstances, I'd just pick up the phone and call, and not sit there worrying the way I was now. It was so unexplainable that I was frustrated with myself. You have every right to call home, I told myself for the hundredth time. You've done it before, you can do it now.

But for some reason, I couldn't.

About six months ago my grandmother died, and right after that, I decided to come to New York. For a whole slew of reasons. At that time, I was living with my sisters and my grandmother and the house seemed much to crowded for me to fit in. It also didn't help that school wasn't going well at all. The way things had been looking at the end of February, I probably wouldn't have passed my third year anyway. I skipped too many classes, turned in too many papers late, didn't turn up for some of my tests. It got progressively worse when Grams got sick and Prue and Piper moved back to the manor. And once she died, well, there just didn't seem to be any reason to stick around.

Plus my oldest sister was making accusations that I'd done something with her idiot fiancé Roger. That pissed me off. I may have been a wild child and somewhat irresponsible at times, but there is no way in hell I would ever do that to one of my sisters. The whole time I've been here I've only spoken to Prue once. It was soon after I moved here, and she called, as angry as I've ever heard her, to tell me her engagement had been called off. And she blamed me. After that call, I avoided talking to Prue, and I'm pretty sure she did the same with me.

Piper was a different matter. We'd had our share of disagreements over the years, but with Piper they never seemed to amount to such cataclysmic results. Probably because Piper hated to rock the waves too much. Like Grams, she tried to act as a glue to hold our increasingly shrinking family together. But so far, she wasn't succeeding.

Still, I was going to call her tonight. And I was going to tell her I was coming home. It was just a matter of getting up enough nerve to do it. I could do it. It wasn't a big deal. I mean, the house was mine too, after all. I guess maybe I just felt a little guilty about running away from everything all those months ago. Okay, very guilty.

I groaned. This was getting ridiculous. I was almost twenty-three years old after all; I could make a simple phone call to my sister.

Resolved, I picked up the phone and dialed the number. No pacing allowed, I reminded myself. The phone wasn't cordless.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Then a click, and it picked up. Please be Piper, please be Piper, please be Piper, I repeated rapidly. Then I heard: "Hello?" Thank God.

"Hi, Piper. It's Phoebe."

"Phoebe! Hi," said Piper cheerfully. "Haven't heard from you in awhile. How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. A little stressed and a little tired, but okay. How are you?" This was ridiculously formal. Why didn't I just get to the point?

"I'm fine. So is Prue."

"That's good." Then there was a slight stall in the conversation. I could feel the words forming in my mouth. I knew what I had to say. But for some reason, I wasn't saying it.

"So, what's up Pheebs?" Piper finally asked.

I hesitated only a second. "Oh, nothing much," I said. Time to bite the bullet. "I think I'm coming home."

"What? Seriously?" Piper's words were rushed, excited. "You better not be kidding around."

I laughed. "I'm not kidding. I...I need to come home. At least for a little while."

"A little while is better than nothing. We've missed you Pheebs."

Maybe you missed me Piper. I'm not so sure about Prue.

"This is wonderful," Piper continued. "We left your room the way it was before you moved you know. Well, I mean, I've been keeping it dust- free of course but-"

"Piper, you're babbling." Piper always seemed to babble in heightened emotional states.

"I don't babble."

Keep telling yourself that. "Uh huh. Look, Piper, I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I'm not really coming home because I want to. I...I've run into some debt and I kind of lost my job, and right now staying in New York just doesn't seem like much of an option."

"You're always welcome here, no matter what the reason," Piper said, as though it was a reminder. As though it was something I'd forgotten.

Maybe it was something I'd forgotten.

"I love you Piper." "I love you too. And you hurry home. You've been gone too long."

Mmm...one more thing Piper. Please. "You'll tell Prue?"

"Phoebe..." She sighed. "I think you should probably be the one-"

"Please Piper. You know how things have been between Prue and me."

Another sigh. Almost a groan, actually. "Fine, you win. I'll tell Prue. When are you coming?"

"Um...I'd say about two weeks or so. When I get the plane ticket I'll give you another call, okay?"

"Sure. That's fine. Look honey, I've got to go. I've got a date with Jeremy tonight."

I smiled. Piper had been dating Jeremy for awhile now, and considering Piper's bad luck with guys, it was something pretty special. "How's that going?"

"Very well, actually. He'll be so excited to meet you, I'm sure."

"Yeah, I can't wait to meet him either."

"So I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah. Soon. Have fun tonight."

"I will. 'Night Pheebs."

"Goodnight."

I hung up the phone. That hadn't been bad. Not at all.

Now all I had to do was make it home and face Prue