"God, I'm so sorry." Piper looked at her sister with genuine woe.

For a second Phoebe felt a flicker of sympathy for Piper rush through her body. She waved it away. She loved Piper, and always did. Piper was the one who had comforted her through hard times, but she couldn't talk anymore. She just couldn't.

Piper didn't know what to say, she felt on the surface that there was nothing to say, but she knew deep down she wanted to ask Phoebe questions. Piper hugged Phoebe as hard as she could, and stroked her damp brown hair. "I promise I'm never going to leave you again, Phoebe." She whispered into her sister's ear.

"It's okay," Phoebe said in a cracked voice, pulling away from Piper, "I have to go."

Phoebe ran upstairs and into the closet that had given her peace for three months. She was seeing things again. She heard a gunshot and breathed hard in the darkness. The old closet was filled with out dated clothes and a mothball smell, but no one went in there, and no one noticed the smell of beer either. Phoebe fell to the floor, her head being brushed by her mother's dress. She felt like she was back at the crime scene, her leg pulsing in pure agony. Phoebe could see his smiling, dimpling face again, smell his strong cologne, she almost felt his skin, warm against hers. His voice rumbled slowly, and made her feel safe, "Phoebe, go! I'll handle this." The voice rang out in her ears. It happened so fast; she didn't have time to blink. One minute he was there, warning her and the next he was on the floor gasping for breath. It only took a minute for him to die. Her legs gave out underneath her and she toppled to the floor, on top of the dead boy, on top of her boyfriend, Tim.

Phoebe's breaths were husked and fast, she felt her heart in tatters. The darkness went into her head, and through her eyes. She screamed inaudibly, opening her eyes so the images wouldn't float past. Taking a can of beer, she chugged it, and sucked until the last drop.

She took another beer out and let the smell of it float up her nose. She felt sick and revitalized at the same time. One beer was a lot of alcohol for even a seventeen year old, but her body had gotten used to having at least three at once. She drank another one, it's putrid smell and taste filling her mouth, and mildly burning her taste buds. The putrid bubbles hit the back of her mouth, seemed to be attacking it, but she still swallowed; something that would make anyone's organs shudder. Phoebe's urge was to throw up but she was strong and weak at the same time.

She drank more and more, sitting in the extreme dark of the closet until she passed out.

Prue dragged her mother out of bed and looked at the lifeless form that stood before her, "Mom you have to snap out of this!"

"What's the point?" Patty asked tiredly.

"Mom you always told me never to give up. What kind of example are you setting?"

Patty sighed and shrugged her shoulders; "Maybe you would feel the same way if your life crashed down on you in one shatter."

"Mom, I think we're beginning to feel that shatter. You're not the family you used to be. We love you though, we'll never give up on you, and I guess that's what makes us different."

Patty's eyes were fiery, "How dare you talk to me like that Prudence! After leaving for so long. You have no right to tell me what I should or should not be doing."

"Fine mom, but I'm not going to leave again. I guess from now on I'll be the mother of the family, and I will make this work!" Prue's blue eyes sparkled angrily and defiantly as she slammed the door shut. She looked at the wood, "And maybe one day, I'll get through to you too."

Paige walked up to the door of the manor, waving goodbye to her father. She didn't exactly love spending time with him, but it was better than what awaited her at the manor. When she was with him, she felt like father and daughter, instead of totally screwed up and alone. She wouldn't give that up for anything in the world. Of course, now Prue and Piper were back and they were going to try to make everything perfect. That was inevitable on Prue's part. Sometimes Paige thought that they actually might do it, but other days her cynical side took over and wondered, how could they? Her cynical side had been popping up more and more often. She was always some sort of a cynic, but not a downright disgusting pessimistic one. This side of her definitely weirded her out, and if she were another person, she too wouldn't want to be friends with her anymore. Or Phoebe. But Phoebe did have a social life, even after the shooting. She dropped all of her cheery sleepover gal friends and got drug addicts and party animals in exchange. Paige hated to feel bad for herself, so instead she felt bad for Phoebe and now Piper and Prue. Phoebe lost herself almost entirely. Sometimes Paige thought that there was still a part of the old her left, but it was buried deep within her layers. Everyday she would pray for it to come out, but it never made a guest appearance.

"Paige! What are you doing sitting outside, its freezing!" Prue was referring to the below fifty weather.

"I'm thinking."

"Come on in,"

Paige looked as if she was thinking of fighting Prue, but she shrugged her shoulders; as if maybe she could get the piece back little by little by obeying Prue.

The warm air hugged her like an old friend when she entered. Paige looked at her sister's eyes; they were angry and sad. Paige hugged her for a long time.

Piper seeing them smiled and ran down the stairs. She watched her sisters for a little bit, but then saw she had to interrupt them. "Guys, have you seen Phoebe?"

"Go check in the closet between the bathroom and mom's room." Paige said. She knew Phoebe's secret, her hiding place for her beer. She thought it was about time to tell her sisters, not that they could talk Phoebe out of it. It was funny how Phoebe thought no one knew about it. In a sense no one did know. Paige was no one.

"Thanks Paige!" She said cheerfully and ran upstairs. She wouldn't be cheerful when she found Phoebe though.

Piper stopped in front of the closet door and wondered what her sister was doing there. She was afraid to open the door, but she figured she had to, and how bad could it be figuring all that she had found out this week? She opened it quickly with an edging creek of the door. She felt sick to her stomach when she saw her sister. Her hair was sprawled out on the hard wood floors. Her stomach churned especially when she saw the bottle of beer next to Phoebe's open hand. Piper knelt down next to Phoebe and grazed her hand past her sister's cheek. Her thin face was warm and flushed, and Piper, in a worried frenzy reached down to Phoebe's wrist for a pulse. She let out the breath she wasn't aware she had been holding when she felt a faint beat. Piper turned Phoebe on her side like she was taught to and screamed for Prue and Paige, and anyone who would listen.