A/N: Hello all

Now that I've got over my little funk, it seems to be rolling. Hopefully it would stay that way.

7. Ifs, Buts and Maybes.

Prue had decided to use her current outsider position within the house constructively and immersed herself in her work. She had been down in the darkroom for sometime and planned on remaining there, at least until Andy arrived back.

She had started to become concerned with the amount of time he had taken, until remembering the length some of Leo's trips took. Andy might not be a whitelighter but she assumed it must be somewhat similar.

So to pass the time, she was going through some of her assignments, grateful for the distraction. Hardly ever would anyone venture to the basement, especially knowing Prue was in the darkroom. Added to the fact they were all angry at her, she was guaranteed peace and quiet.

"Prue." she heard Paige call through to her.

Well there goes my theory, Prue thought, with a soft sigh.

"Yeah." she replied a little guarded, not wanting an argument at this point.

"Can we…um, talk?" her youngest sister asked carefully.

Prue clipped on the light, once making sure none of her photographs would get ruined. She then turned to the sheet that she knew Paige was standing behind. Prue pulled it open, to find a slightly stunned half whitelighter.

"Is it to talk or argue? 'cause if it's option two, I'd rather wait till later." Prue answered, while cleaning away some of her equipment.

"It's option one." Paige smiled, walking into the small room and looking along the hanging photos that were drying. "These are great, Prue." she commented, briefly forgetting her reason for being there.

"Thanks." her sister replied with a smile, as her head appeared just above the work table. She pushed something underneath, then stood back upright and looked at Paige, who was still gazing at her work. "So, you wanted to talk…" she stated.

Paige turned round with a small smile. "Yeah, I…uh, wanted to know if you were alright?" she asked.

"Me?.." Prue replied a little surprised. "I'm fine." she answered by habit. To Prue it was the most natural thing to say, whether true or not.

"You know, you say those words so often and I am still waiting for your nose to grow." Paige laughed softly.

Prue began to busy herself with some of the containers left on the side. "I'm fine, Paige, honestly."

"I'm not mad, Prue, if that's what your thinking…" the youngest responded, figuring out why her sister was being so distant. "…I understand. I can't say it was right, but I know why you did it. I'm just kinda grateful Piper had at least one of us…"

The eldest Halliwell turned to face Paige, who smiled softly.

"Even though I'm a little miffed you got extra time to be world's greatest aunt…but I'll work on that and I'll soon take the crown, you wait and see." the youngest added with a smirk, playfully glaring at her oldest sister. "By the way, that photo there is the best." she pointed to one hanging up, before leaving the room.

Prue smiled to herself and shook her head in a slightly disbelieving manner, while watching her sister walk away. Trust Paige, she thought, wandering over to the photo her baby sister had pointed to.

She gazed at it for a moment, before pulling it off the line. It was of all four of them before the battle…before the entire mess. Although she had gotten Paige's forgiveness, a little part of Prue kinda wished it was Phoebe's.

Not that she didn't cherish Paige. It was just when Phoebe and her fought, it brought back far too many bad memories and with it, an insecurity that maybe one day Phoebe wouldn't forgive her.

---------

Cole walked back through the front door of the Halliwell manor, after spending sometime thinking. He had strolled around the neighbourhood for what seemed like ages.

He went to the kitchen first to see if Phoebe had returned yet. Instead he found a very tired and pensive Piper.

"Hey." he greeted, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Hey." the pregnant witch replied, looking at the demon and then passed him. "Where's Phoebe?" she asked, not hiding the worry in her voice.

"I, uh, don't know. We kinda got into a fight and we both stormed off." Cole answered.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault." Piper apologised, resting her head in her hands with a noticeable sigh.

"Actually, Phoebe's blaming Prue at the moment."

Piper looked up at him. "Again, my fault."

"It's okay, I'll go find her." the demon replied, heading for the door.

"Cole, which way did she head?" she asked suddenly.

"Um, she turned right, then she went down the second road on the left…I'm not sure after that I'm afraid." Cole answered.

Piper climbed out of her seat. "I think I might know where she is….would you mind if I went?"

"No, that's fine. She's probably less likely to pummel you." he smirked.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Piper responded, heading for the front door. "Thanks."

----------

"Hiding never was your strength."

Phoebe spun round at the sound of Piper's voice, only slightly surprised that her sister had came. "Neither was keeping secrets." she bit back, causing Piper to breath out heavily.

The eldest sister took a seat on the swing next to the youngest. They were in the local park, which was Phoebe's sanctuary when they were little. Often when she had had a row with Grams or Prue, Piper would find her at the swings and if not there, she wouldn't be far away.

"Pheebs, I'm sorry." Piper stated thoughtfully.

"I don't know why, you obviously don't think you can trust me."

"Phoebe, that's not true." she responded to her sister's words, who turned to face Piper.

"Why didn't you tell me then?" Phoebe replied, unable to hide the hurt in her voice.

Piper looked down at the floor, trying to distract herself from the pain she had caused her younger sister. "I didn't want you guys to know. I believed if I kept it to myself, I could go to the battle. I wanted to be there for you all."

"But then why tell Prue?" the original youngest questioned.

"I didn't tell her…. Do you remember when you first got drunk and spent the majority of the night in the bathroom?" Piper asked, playing the night as if it happened yesterday.

"Yeah…" Phoebe laughed, although at the time she didn't even crack a smile. "…Prue came in with a glass of water and gave me twenty questions? Not that I could answer most of them."

"Yeah, well, I could…and along the way it came out… Phoebe, I know you won't see it this way, but Prue was just doing what I asked of her, the same she did for Paige and the same she would do for you."

"She should have told us." the younger of two replied stubbornly.

"No, I should have done." Piper argued.

"You both should have done."

Piper sighed again. "Phoebe, I made the choice. It may have been the wrong one but it was made. You, of all people, should understand about the choices we make and sticking with them."

"If you remember rightly, Piper, none of you understood my decision, especially not Prue." Phoebe replied heatedly.

"Is this what this is? Pay back for Prue not accepting your decision over Cole?" Piper shot back in the same tone.

"No." Phoebe answered, with a small glare.

"Then what is it?"

"You were my one thing that hadn't changed. You were my safety net." she answered, trying hard to not just run away from the situation.

Piper looked stunned and watched Phoebe for a moment. "Sweetie, can you explain? 'cause I'm not following."

"Everything is changing…fast. It's scary and makes me feel completely insecure." Phoebe answered.

"Pheebs, most of these changes are good for us."

"I know…but don't you ever wish for the days where it was all simpler." she smiled wistfully.

"Sometimes, but then I'd never have what I have now." Piper replied with the same expression. "You wouldn't be with Cole; I mean your relationship isn't exactly simple." she mused.

"Well, that's another change." Phoebe muttered.

Piper looked sharply at her sister. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all, really I should be on cloud nine." the younger of the two explained, but when Piper raised an eyebrow in puzzlement, Phoebe realised why her sister looked so lost. "Cole asked me to marry."

"That's great." the pregnant Halliwell replied. "Wait, why is this a bad thing? You love Cole, right?"

"Of course I do, but what if I'm useless at being a wife? What if we end up getting divorced? What if-"

"-you never try and end up regretting it." Piper cut into Phoebe's ramble. "Phoebe, you have far to many ifs and living by them will only hold you back. It's your decision, sweetie, but you need to stop listening to this…" Piper prodded her sister's head. "…and start listening to this." she indicated to Phoebe's heart.

Phoebe smiled. "What happens though, if this…" she prodded her sister's head, mimicking Piper's actions. "…won't let this…" she then pointed to Piper's heart. "..decide?"

"You just used if again…and ifs only leave you with a migraine." Piper grinned.

"Well that clears it up." Phoebe sarcastically shot back with a small laugh.

"Maybe you should get another opinion."

"You want me to talk to Prue." Phoebe translated, with a little smile.

Piper stood form the swing and kissed the top of Phoebe's forehead. "You are so smart."

"I'll see what I can do." her sister responded, who wondered whether her oldest sister would speak to her anyway.

"That's all I ask." Piper smiled. "You wanna walk back with me, give me all the details moment by moment?"

"Would you mind if I stayed here a little while longer? I kinda need to think some stuff through." Phoebe answered.

"Sure, sweetie, just hurry back or I'll have to question Cole."

"I will, promise." Phoebe grinned, watching as Piper left the park.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and support with this.

I'm now going to go to work and let you guys go.

Bye.