A/N: Meenyrocks, what Wyatt? Okay, I think I confused you. It's just how the storyline in Charmed followed, only they weren't magical, and Leo had sisters, too. Remember how in the end of Season 2, Piper chose Leo over Dan? In my story, she chose Dan over Leo. No Wyatt, only Ally. Okay, I think I confused you even more now…

This takes place three days later…

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Chapter Three--From Solace to Suspicion

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Ally reached up and pressed the doorbell. She waited patiently until the door opened. Her eyes lit up. "Leo!"

"Hey, Kiddo."

"I hope you don't mind. She wanted to see you."

Ally took in a breath. "And I want to say you don't have to worry, 'cause we will see Elizabeth in People Heaven."

Leo smiled a little. "Thanks."

"That, and you can always remember that she is watching us and she's taking care of," Ally took another breath, "my goldfiss."

"Don't ask what they're teaching her in school," Piper warned. "I mean, in Preschool, all we ever did was sleep and eat sugar cookies."

"Yeah, we do that, too," Ally said matter-of-factly.

)))()((( (that means some sort of break, short or long. I use it a lot…)

"Watch Ally, I gotta go," Piper called to Dan as she headed for the door.

"Where're you goin'?" Dan asked as he came down the stairs. Ally came skidding into the foyer and fell right down. She scrambled up and ran into the kitchen. "I didn't give her soda."

"It's okay, I did. The caffeine'll bring her up and drop her down in about half an hour. I'll be back in a couple hours. My cell phone's on."

"Where're you going?" Dan asked again.

"Um, over to Leo's. Like I said, I'll be back just after dark."

"K."

)))()(((

Leo opened the door and Piper offered him a small smile. He held it open for her to come inside. She turned around in the foyer and stared at him as he closed the door. A long moment later, he could finally meet her gaze.

In all the years Piper had known Leo, she had learned how to read his face. It only took her a second and she understood everything. He felt guilty. She understood that, but she didn't understand why. That was why she had a concerned look on her face and Leo looked as if he was about to be hanged.

"Why?" was Piper's question.

Leo knew what she was talking about. "Because for seventeen years, one way or another, I found a way to take care of her. No matter what happened, or what went wrong, she got what she needed and I managed to get it to her. I mean, when she was twelve, I could protect her, because she needed that. Then she started growing up and branching out, but she always came back when she needed me. But now…" He shook his head. "There was nothing I could do to protect her from this."

"Leo… None of this was your fault. It was no one's fault. It was her time."

"How could it? She was only twenty-nine. She made it through the struggles just after college and finished her work. She worked for her dreams and was just settling into them…"

"And that gives you no right to blame yourself."

"Says who?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, who's to say who's not responsible? You can sit there and deny it, but it doesn't make it any less true."

"It doesn't make it any easier blaming yourself, Leo. No one could have predicted what would have happened."

"…I was going to go with her that morning…" Leo led Piper over to the living room and they sat down on the couch. He spoke slowly and quietly, just barely getting some of the words out. "Then the phone rang, and you had called saying Amanda was sick, so I told Elizabeth that I would take a rain check and we decided to meet up at my place for dinner. She just got promoted and wanted to celebrate…" He took in an uneasy breath. "And just after I got to the club… the phone rang and…" He shook his head.

"Oh, God, Leo… I never… I am so sorry, I never meant…"

"You didn't know…" Leo had been staring at the ground, and he looked back up at Piper with tears in his eyes. "I was thinking… If you hadn't called… I probably wouldn't be here today…"

Piper closed her eyes and took in a deep breath before opening them again.

"So thank you," Leo continued, "Piper, you saved my life."

Piper smiled and choked down a small sob in her throat as she pulled Leo down to her to hug him.

)))()(((

Piper opened the front door quietly and snuck inside, closing it behind her. She hung her coat up on the coat rack, walked into the kitchen, and set her purse down on the table.

Dan came down the stairs. He looked up at the clock. It was a quarter past midnight. He walked into the kitchen. Piper was sitting at the table, her head resting in her hands.

"…Piper?"

Piper looked up. "Hey."

"It's midnight."

"I know and I--I'm sorry, but I just… With the funeral today and all…"

"How'd it go?"

"It was beautiful. Melissa did most of the planning… Leo just couldn't… Amanda's going to be back at work, so he's gonna take a week off…"

Dan nodded.

"There was a big turnout… All of her friends… She had a boyfriend, and he was there… It all went well."

"Good… Where were you, at Leo's?"

"Yeah. After the funeral, we went back there to talk… Then Melissa came over and left a few hours ago… Sorry I stayed so late, but I just…"

"Yeah, I--I understand."

)))()(((

Over the next week, Piper was with Leo every night. She stayed with him sometimes past midnight. They talked a lot. Elizabeth's death was a major impact on Leo. Piper had managed to talk him out of feeling guilty, but she wasn't sure if what he said was what he felt. If maybe Leo was telling her that he agreed and said he didn't feel guilty when really he did.

But the impact of Elizabeth made Leo put life into perspective. He talked to Piper about it, too. How nothing seemed the same anymore.

Two weeks after Elizabeth's death, they ended up talking about it again…

)))()(((

"It's like… I don't know, I just look at things different. Everything. The little things count more now… It sounds weird, I know, but…"

"No, Leo, it doesn't. It sounds right."

"And I don't mean that bigger things don't count, just… I guess we started taking each other for granted, me and my sisters… Like because we made it through out parents' deaths and through school and how we put each other through college, it was some sort of sign. One that meant that because we had gone through so much together, nothing could ever break us apart. So we spread out and just followed life. Melissa took Liz in and they lived off of each other… Then you and I got together and…" Leo trailed off.

"Yeah." Piper smiled. "We had some good times, huh?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah, we did."

Piper went out on a limb. "…Um, Leo? I was wondering… Why did we break up? I--I mean, just before I first started dating Dan…"

"Mmm… I don't know, really… Little things, I guess…"

"I have to go, it's late."

"I'll see you at the club tomorrow."

"K."

Piper wrapped her arms around Leo and hugged him. Something didn't feel right, though. She was too comfortable.

)))()(((

Piper walked up the steps to her house and stuck the key in the hole. Why was it a problem that she felt comfortable hugging her friend? What even triggered the thought that I was too comfortable? She'd hugged Leo thousands of times over the years. So why was then different? Maybe because of Elizabeth… Maybe it meant more… No, that wasn't it. It wasn't a "goodbye" hug. How could she know the difference, though? Was there a difference? Why was something not right then?

…It felt like old times. Like when there would be a problem and Leo would be there for her. How they could just sit in a long embrace like that forever, never wanting to move. That was what it was. It was an "old times" hug. Piper nodded a little to back herself up. An "old times" hug.

"Piper, it's two o'clock in the morning," Dan's voice sounded from behind her.

Piper whirled around. "Dan, I am so sorry that I'm so late, it's just that time got away from me and… You're mad," Piper noted.

"No, it's just that lately you've been doing this a lot."

"Doing what?"

"Staying out hours later than you say you will, coming home at two in the morning, leaving here and going straight over to…"

"Leo's?"

"Yes."

"That's a problem?"

"No. Not… Not at first. But it's been two weeks--"

"Dan, if your sister--Jenny's mother--died, would it take you two weeks to move on?" Piper asked.

"No, but--"

"Then what makes you think that it would take Leo two weeks? Somebody he loved--somebody he cared for for so many years--was killed for no reason. How is two weeks supposed to cover it all?"

"He's got his other sister, Piper."

"Dan, if, God forbid, anything happened to Prue or Phoebe, you would want me to find some comfort somewhere, correct?"

"Yes."

"And if I turned to you and my other sister, that would seem right."

Dan nodded.

"What if I also went somewhere else? To someone who's been my friend for so many years… Someone I can call at two or even three in the morning just to talk… Would that be a problem?"

"No, Piper, I just worry."

"And I'm sorry. But you shouldn't. I'm fine. Just caring for a friend."

)))()(((

At six in the morning, Dan woke up to someone opening the bedroom door and leaving the room. He silently got up and followed Piper's footsteps into Ally's room, watching from his bedroom doorway, the door barely cracked. He could see into his daughter's room and saw Piper bend over and kiss the top of the little girl's head before leaving. She closed the door quietly behind her and crept down the stairs. Dan followed silently and watched as she grabbed her coat and purse before heading out the door.

Dan sighed. There were two explanations for everything, but only one of them was true. Either Piper was telling the truth and was only consoling a friend, or he was right and something else was happening behind it that Piper was telling him. Maybe there was something between Leo and his wife, and maybe there wasn't. But, of course, Dan suspected the worst. Who wouldn't? He knew all to well Piper and Leo were together before he was with her. But then… they were married, and Piper was faithful. Right?

Dan left his thoughts and worries and went back to sleep.

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A/N: This chapter was about five pages long, so that's actually pretty good, I think. Anyway… Um… Since I can't think of anything to say about this story, I'll comment on Houses. For those who are reading this and also read Houses, I'll have the next chapter up in a few days, and I am very sorry for the delay.

And if there's any delay in this or Home Sweet Home or Houses, it's because I'm moving everything from my computer to my laptop, and it won't all go on a disk that I can just pop in my laptop and download everything into it. I have to type everything in. Every… single… story. It is hell on earth… Home Sweet Home has a few more chapters written on my computer, so I have to type them into the one I'm using now, so it may take a few days… Houses won't take as long, since it's a Work In Progress. And this story is, too, so don't worry people. I am working on it, I promise.

Next chapter: The Mistake

Ooh, you know? When you say it in a deep, dark tone it sounds so morbid and almost evil… The Mistake…

PS: Okay, this is my last thought, then you guys can turn your attention to someone that is more interesting than myself… I was watching a re-run on TNT this morning, and it happened to be That Old Black Magic. (You know, the Season 2 one write after The Devil's Music.) At the end of the eppi, I tried to be brave and watch Piper say that it was over, and I laughed at Dan's hurt face, then I heard her say it was over between her and Leo. So I stayed strong and kept watching and I wasn't prepared for what I saw. I saw them kiss. And I don't mean a peck on the lips, I mean like… Ew… ::shudders:: So a warning: do not watch the end of That Old Black Magic if you are part of the I Hate Dan club, or any of its branches.