A/N: The Mistake… Sorry, I'm still stuck on that deep, dark tone…

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Chapter Four--The Mistake -- Look, there it is again!

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Piper looked up from the bar at P3. Leo and Melissa were sitting in the alcove. She could barely see into it to see them. A moment later, Melissa stood up and left, coming up to the bar.

"Hey."

"Hey, Melissa, how are you?"

"I'm… doin' okay." Melissa smiled a little. "Like I just told Leo, I'm going to go to New York for a month. Go stay with a friend of mine for a little bit."

"When are you leaving?" Piper asked, coming out from behind the bar.

Melissa sighed. "Tomorrow."

"Oh. You'll be back, right?"

"Right."

"What about your house? What--What about your cat?"

Melissa smiled. "Leo has offered to take the cat, and our cousin, Julie, is going to live in the house…"

"Take care."

"I will, and you take care of my brother."

Piper smiled. "I will. I promise."

Melissa smiled and Piper returned it with a hug. "Thank you."

"Anytime."

"And remember, you promised."

"You know me."

"I'll call and write and everything like that."

"Okay, I'll see you in a month."

"I love you."

"Love you, too." Piper hugged Melissa again and watched her leave. Leo walked up. "Hey."

"Hey…"

"You uh… You wanna get out of here?"

"We have to stay to lock up."

"Ah, Amanda can take care of it. Come on, we'll go back to your place…"

)))()((( (A/N: Does that thing remind you of a spider?)

Leo pulled into the driveway, he and Piper both laughing.

"No, no, but seriously, I walked up to this guy and I've got this proud, drunken-girl walk with a beer in one hand and I say to him, 'Hey, dude, you look like the guy that goes hoo-hoo on the biscuit can!'" Piper laughed even harder. "And he looks at me and says, 'Piper Halliwell, so you finally learned how to cook, huh?' So I stared at him for a second, and I realize he was my old Home Economics teacher. And I got the biscuit thing because he used to take the Pillsbury Biscuit can and act like the Doughboy. He'd stand there at the front of the class and go, 'Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo!'" Piper imitated her teacher.

"So you're drunk, and you see your ex-teacher and tell him he looks like the guy on the biscuit can?"

"Yes, and Prue and Phoebe came up and dragged me away, and I came into the manor going, 'Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo!'"

Piper was laughing so hard at the memory that she didn't realize Leo getting out of the car and opening her door. She looked up and smiled. "You know? You kinda look like the Doughboy," she said, her voice choked with giggles.

Leo smiled. "Come on."

Piper stepped out of the car and closed the door behind her. She walked with Leo up to the steps to his door. It was dark out. Piper suddenly felt the way she had before. Something wasn't right. This was too right… Piper knew she had walked up Leo's steps to his door with him many times, but something felt different about this time. She couldn't tell what, though. Just... Something…

They got to Leo's door and he turned to Piper. She felt the warning feeling even stronger. Something was different about this night. She smiled at him, but her smiled dropped when she was hooked. Her eyes were locked in his, and, though her heart was pounding so hard she couldn't hear herself think, she could tell her hand was in his. She pulled him down and kissed him on the cheek.

But when Piper turned the other way, Leo looked at her and she was lost. She looked back at him and seemed to freeze. Everything was happening in slow motion. There was nothing she could do to stop it.

She melted. She always melted when he looked at her like that. The kind of look that made her knees. Before she could even truly understand what was happening, they were both coming closer.

It was Piper who started the kiss, pulling Leo down to her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kept one arm around her waist, the other hand resting on her cheek.

And Piper was lost once more, so she didn't move. She stood on her ex boyfriend's front porch, kissing him. She opened her mouth gently and let the kiss deepen… The way things used to be…

At the same time, they both seemed to understand what was happening and pulled away quickly.

"Piper…" Leo started.

"I… should go…" Piper said.

"…Yeah."

Piper stared at Leo for a few seconds. She turned away hesitantly and walked to her car.

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A/N: Ooh, I wonder what happens next… Question: Could this have been called "The Way Things Used To Be"? I'm not ditching the name "The Mistake", 'cause I love it, but it's just a question I've thrown out in the air…