Thank you very much for the reviews! Sorry for the long wait!

Chapter 20

Discussions, Date and Dramatic

"Okay say Aunt Phoebe," Phoebe pronounced clearly in an over the top slow voice as she tried to teach Abbie how to say her name. Abbie opened her mouth and Phoebe waited patiently with hopeful eyes, only to hear Abbie blow a loud slevery bubble. Phoebe bit her lip to stop herself from laughing as drool ran down Abbie's chin. "Now that sounded more like Aunt Paige," She commented with a playful smirk.

Abbie giggled, her bright blue eyes sparkling mischievously as she fell back against a large cushion that was currently propping her up while Phoebe sat across from her on the living room floor. Phoebe reached over and Abbie immediately gripped onto her thumbs still giggling helplessly. Then suddenly with all her might she yanked Phoebe's thumb and stuck it on her mouth, chewing it with the two tiny teeth she had growing at the front of her mouth. Phoebe couldn't help but laugh as she eventually pulled her thumb out which was completely covered in drool. "Did that taste good?" She cooed tickling her chin affectionately, "Okay now enough games, back to work…say Aunt Phoebe…"

She was interrupted by a shout from Prue, "Ooh that's your mummy, will we go see what she wants?" Phoebe asked in a baby voice to Abbie while carefully picking her up and resting her on her hip then making her way into the hall in time to see a rather distressed looking Prue walk down the stairs, simply dressed in neat fitting jeans and a cute white sleeveless top.

"What's wrong?" Phoebe inquired sensing Prue's concern straightaway.

"Eh…well its Paige, she's not here and her bed was definitely not slept in," Prue explained while biting her lip and rubbing her head in an anxious way.

"Is that it?" Phoebe asked bluntly raising her eyebrows at Prue.

Prue shot her a look of disbelief, "Well, yeah, I think its cause enough for concern! Aren't you even the slightest bit worried?"

Phoebe shrugged her shoulders lightly and feeling Abbie slouch down her side bounced her further up again. She kept her eyes on Abbie, making funny faces at her as she spoke nonchalantly to Prue. "She probably just stayed at Glen's,"

Prue clapped her hands together suddenly causing Phoebe to jump slightly and shoot Prue an annoyed glare, "What was that for?" She demanded.

"Oh glad to see I have your attention," Prue shot sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

Phoebe smirked, "Hey it's your fault I can't concentrate!" She retaliated.

Prue gave her an odd look while raising an eyebrow, "Huh?"

"Well if you didn't have such an adorable daughter," Phoebe grinned and kissed Abbie's forehead and ruffled her soft dark hair lovingly. Phoebe looked back round just in time to see Prue give a slight playful roll of her eyes. She flashed a grin at her then turned more serious, "Listen about Paige, she probably told Grams who just forgot to mention it to us because she's all stressed out from her job right now," She pointed out rationally.

"You know Grams shouldn't be taking on so much stress at her age," Prue mentioned with concern getting quickly sidetracked from their conversation.

Phoebe shook her head and laughed, "God you're such a worrywart," But before Prue could retaliate the doorbell rang.

"Hmm, saved by the bell I think is the phrase I'd use," Prue smirked shooting Phoebe a playful dirty look.

Phoebe grinned, "Okay I'll get it," She volunteered handing Abbie over to Prue who in turn immediately brightened and showered Abbie in kisses.

"And you said I was bad," Phoebe muttered, laughing to herself as she moved over to the manor door. She pulled it open to reveal…

"Lee," Phoebe said surprised but pleased. She smiled brightly as he leant in and kissed her lightly on the lips without hesitance. "Do you want to come in?"

"Eh, no actually I want you to come out," He grinned slightly.

"What?"

"I'm taking you out to breakfast Phoebe Halliwell," He elaborated bowing like a proper gentleman and holding out his hand to her.

She giggled softly and accepted his hand, to which he gently pulled her outside and from behind his back produced a single flower for her. It looked very similar to the ones in the flowerbed of Mrs. Hunter, their next door neighbour's house but it was too sweet a gesture for Phoebe to say anything.

She smiled softly at him as he placed it in her hand but she looked down at her feet, "Lee you don't have do all this for me…" She started quietly but he cut her off.

"I know," He answered softly, "But I want to. Listen Phoebe I don't want to be just another one of the guys you date once and then never look back on. I want more…with you," He spoke looking directly into her eyes showing he was being very serious.

Phoebe tensed slightly and let out a deep breath, "Woah," Was all she said for a moment while she processed the information.

Lee noticed her tensed figure, "I'm not asking you to jump into a serious relationship, we'll take it slow," he promised.

Phoebe nodded silently.

"I mean we're just talking about going for breakfast," He let a small smile appear on his face.

She nodded again more enthusiastically this time as she came to her senses. Why was she making such a big deal, like he said it was only breakfast, she slightly laughed at herself for being silly and smiled at him "Yeah, of course."

He smiled happily, "Good, well come on then or it'll be lunchtime soon." He took her hand and started to walk down the steps when she suddenly inexplicably and unexpectedly dragged him back to her and pulled his lips to hers igniting a much more passionate kiss than his greeting kiss earlier. She slowly came away from him a smile playing on her lips at his confused face. Without explaining herself to him she jumped in front of him and ran down the steps calling out, "Last one there pays!"

He watched her go touching his lips in a daze then smiled before snapping out of it and chasing after her, "Hey!" He called after her while she looked back and winked at him but kept going. He laughed and finally caught up with her taking her by surprise as he wrapped his arms around her waist and tickled her, she giggled and allowed him to kiss her again falling back into his arms and sighing contentedly.

Paige sat up groggily, barely able to open her eyes. She had the worst taste in her mouth and the worst pounding in her head. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and saw a familiar figure standing by the window in a definitely unfamiliar room though. "Kyle?"

The figure turned to look at her mildly surprised, "Well good morning, I didn't expect to hear from you for a while yet," He smiled at her while a puzzled expression crossed her face, "Can't remember much about last night, eh?" Her brow creased in concentration as she tried to wrack her brain for a moment then she looked up at Kyle defeated. "Yeah well you were pretty drunk," He commented dryly.

A blurry memory came to her of it and she bit her lip suddenly looking nervous, "Did I say anything…?" She gulped.

He studied her for a moment and then spoke quietly with a serious tone, "Is there anything you want to tell me now?"

She looked carefully at him, almost considering it…then slowly shook her head looking away from him.

Kyle hid his disappointment and smiled slightly, "Then no," He answered softly.

Paige nodded slowly continuously chewing her lip throughout the awkward silence that had fallen on them. The two just stared at each other, each wanting to say something but not knowing how to.

"So…I remember getting a bottle of vodka and going down to the river…the rest is all blurry but I do remember seeing you there," She recalled straining her memory.

"Seeing me?" He laughed slightly, "You didn't just see me, you yelled at me, pushed me, hugged me, kissed me…" It slipped out without him meaning to, he trailed off embarrassed. She remained silent then after a few moments he caught her eye.

"I did?"

Ooh that stung. She didn't remember. Some kiss it must have been, well to be fair she didn't really remember anything from last night but still…

He shrugged casually, "Just on the cheek," He covered up quickly avoiding her eye again.

"Oh," Was all she said after a moment with a tone he couldn't quite identify, then she smiled slightly, "Well at least I didn't make a full of myself then,"

He suddenly broke into a wide grin, "Oh you made a fool of yourself all right,"

She groaned burying her face in her hands, "Ugh what did I do…no wait don't tell me,"

He watched her for a moment lost in thought until she lifted her head and looked sheepishly at him, "That bad huh?"

"What? No…well yeah but…" He grinned again then slowly became serious, "You scared me for a while aswell,"

She nodded solemnly, "I'm sorry, I was in a rotten place. I shouldn't have dumped it on you though,"

"You shouldn't have dumped it all on yourself!" He argued moving to sit on the edge of the bed beside her.

"I'm fine," She shrugged waving it off.

"No you're not, not from what I saw last night anyway," He said firmly with concern.

She nodded again silently agreeing, "It was a stupid thing to do, I know that now,"

"Really stupid," he corrected. His gaze fell to her stomach and lingered longer than it should have.

She followed his gaze and gulped nervously, she closed her eyes and looked down at her thumbs, which she was absentmindedly twiddling about. "I did say something didn't I," It was more a statement than a question.

He just watched her for a moment, her now tense figure. When he didn't answer straightaway she looked up at him with vulnerable eyes, he swallowed realising he was about to get into a very intense conversation, then he nodded slowly, "You said something," He answered quietly, a vagueness to his words giving her the chance to tell him herself.

She nodded and chewed her lip, as if not able to think of anything to say.

He continued in soft tone, "I want you to know that, that something is safe with me, I won't tell anyone unless you say so," He watched her continue to chew her lip vigorously but obviously interested in what he was saying. "Also I'm here for one hundred percent if you need me and even though I really don't understand why you're doing this alone, I respect that its your decision…you know you won't have any lip left soon," He offered a slight smile.

She automatically stopped chewing but didn't smile, her expression was very much serious yet she had a look of gratefulness in her eyes. "Thank you…" She mumbled then she sighed, "But I don't think I'll ever be able to tell anyone,"

"Well then when the baby comes we'll just hide it, I'm sure no one will notice," He joked in an attempt to lighten the situation.

"It's not funny Kyle," She whispered quietly in a very serious tone while becoming engrossed in her thumbs again.

"I know, I was just…"

"No, its not funny because I'm not keeping that baby," She cut in looking back up, her tone expressionless.

"What?" He asked shocked by her sudden confession.

"I'm giving it up," She replied without any sign of emotion and giving a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"Paige…"

"You can't change my mind," She stated firmly.

"I wasn't going to, its your decision, I was just going to say there is no way you'll get away without telling anyone, what happens when you have to give birth, the hospital will surely contact you Grams and sisters," He reasoned.

She shrugged. He looked closely at her and his eyes widened, "Oh my God you were not thinking of doing it alone, please tell me you weren't?"

"Well I wouldn't be alone, I have you, right?" She smiled weakly a pleading look on her face.

His mouth dropped open in shock, "Are…I…what…no…are you crazy?" He suddenly exclaimed jumping off the bed, "Neither of us knows how to deliver a baby! There is no way…"

"Kyle will you calm down please!" Paige suddenly shouted gaining his attention.

"You tell me all of this and expect me to be calm! You know I think you should join me up here in the opposite of calm world!" He exclaimed thrusting his arms about, his eyes almost popping out.

She couldn't help herself but slightly laugh then she caught his look and bit on her lip to stop herself, "Its crazy I know…but we have months to figure this out…"

He breathed out and closed his eyes, turning his back on her. She waited silently and patiently. After a few moments he turned back round, a much calmer expression on his face. "Okay," He said quietly.

"Okay? You mean you'll help me and not tell anyone?" She asked standing up, a hopeful glint in her eyes.

He nodded and smiled weakly.

She broke into a smile and threw her arms around him. "Thank you so much Kyle, I know it's a lot to ask and hell we don't even know each other that well and I know you don't even understand why I'm doing this but… thank you." She came away from him long enough to see him just smile again without a word. Then she hugged him tightly again. He took a deep breath and tightened his grip on her. There was no way he was letting her go through with her plan, he didn't know at that exact moment how to convince her otherwise but like she said he still had months to figure it all out.

Piper walked over to the window of hers and Leo's apartment that overlooked a busy street below. Whenever Leo was at work and she was alone she could quite contentedly sit there and watch for ages. There was rarely a dull moment with all the different people that would walk past in a day. Settling herself in a recently bought blue comfy chair from a second hand shop thanks to a bonus Leo had earned she gazed out.

Her eyes were suddenly drawn to a group of three girls on the other side of the pavement walk by together, their arms linked. One looked about her age with long blonde hair down to her waist, the other looked older, she was taller but had the same bright blonde hair only about to her shoulders though. The last was definitely the youngest, she was a good bit smaller and had long hair but her blonde was duller in colour.

Piper felt a tug at her heart as she watched them go by laughing and joking together. She suddenly felt a desperate urge to see her own sisters. She quickly grasped her cell phone off the side table beside her and hesitantly fingered the buttons before eventually typing out a message.

She took a deep breath as her finger traced over the send button. What could possibly happen if she sent her sisters a message? As long as she didn't give details so Grams could track her down and force her to come home then it would be okay, right? She nodded reassuringly to herself but finding courage to push the button.

After a moment there was a bleep and the on the screen flashed- message has been sent.

Paige took a deep breath to steady herself as she slowly pushed open the manor door. She just prayed that there wouldn't be too many questions about last night.

Stepping inside the hallway she sighed with relief at the sight of the empty space. She made for the stairs at a fast pace, imagining all too well her comfy bed. She didn't have the most peaceful sleep last night, now all she could think of was lying down and closing her eyes. Her headache had died down now but she still had a sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't sure whether it was the symptoms of a hangover or an immense feeling of guilt. Maybe it was both…

"Paige!"

She cursed under her breath and sighed while closing her eyes tightly for a moment bracing herself before turning around from the top of the stairs. She forced a bright smiled onto her face. "Hi,"

Prue and Phoebe emerged from the living room, smiling their youngest sister.

"Hi, where were you? We were kind of worried," Prue immediately inquired in a serious tone.

Phoebe gave her a look and nudged her, "Excuse me, 'we' I was so not worried!" She rolled her eyes before turning to Paige. "I knew you just stayed at Glen's right?"

Paige gulped. "Glen's?" She repeated faintly then found herself slowly nodding, "Yeah that's right," She lied, her fingers crossed tightly behind her back as she tried to ignore the guilty feeling she had.

"Told you so," Phoebe boasted with a smirk to Prue.

"Wait a sec," Paige started suddenly noticing the interaction between Prue and Phoebe, "You two made up!" She noted happily, with a warm smile.

"Well if you could call it that," Prue muttered with a playful roll of her eyes.

"Hey Prue you know bickering and sarcasm is our way of communication," Phoebe explained a grin appearing on her face.

Prue raised an eyebrow, "Right," She nodded slowly with sarcasm. Then she turned to Paige and smiled at her, "So what did you get up to last night?"

"Uh…" Paige started with hesitance before Phoebe cut in with an excited squeal.

"Oh my God!" She clapped her hands together and jumped on the spot, "Lee kissed me last night and then we went out today and he is so great!"

"So are you going to go out with this one more than once?" Prue asked carefully.

Phoebe rolled her eyes already to give a sarcastic comment, which they were both expecting but instead she softened and smiled genuinely, "Yeah I am,"

"Aww Pheebs that is so great!" Prue exclaimed hugging her tightly to which surprisingly Phoebe accepted. When Prue let go she looked at Paige with a smile on her face, "Paige you were right,"

"Huh?" Paige looked at her with confusion.

"Well I said I wished Phoebe would get a steady boyfriend," She ignored Phoebe's look of outrage and continued, "And you said well you never know what told holds and hey presto, she did!" Prue explained happily.

Paige's mind flashed back to her words the day before. "I have a feeling today is going to be good," She let out a melancholy laugh, "Yeah I was right," She replied with little emotion the added under her breath, "At least about that,"

Prue nodded brightly, "So I take it you had a good day…or night even," She grinned, "So what did you get up to?"

"Oh well nothing really…it was pretty dull actually," She shrugged casually as she lied through her teeth.

"Well mine was quite dramatic," Phoebe put in smiling at the memory, "There was crying, shouting, kissing…"

Paige gave out a high pitched fake laugh, "Dramatic? Yeah well that was not the case with my night," She said so unconvincingly it made Prue and Phoebe look at her strangely.

"Paige are you okay?"

"Yeah is there something you're not telling us?" They quizzed suspiciously.

She gulped and closed her eyes feeling a tightness in her chest, "Yeah there is something…" She admitted then took a deep breath as they both shared a concerned look. "I…I…well…em…Glen and me broke up," She silently cursed herself. Once again she hadn't managed to say it.

At once their faces relaxed as if they were expecting worse then almost as quickly fixed into a look of sympathy. "Aww Paige I'm so sorry,"

"Yeah, wow I didn't see this coming." Phoebe added following Prue up the stairs and hugging Paige. She nodded sadly and tried to look upset, well she was upset but truth was she had actually forgotten about their break up, which was weird since it was the thing that pushed her over the edge the first place. Making her feel like she was all alone but then Kyle came along…

"Are you okay sweetie?" Prue asked in the motherly way she had grown accustomed to since having Abbie.

Paige weakly smiled and nodded, "I'll be okay," She assured them.

They nodded while a thought suddenly came to Prue. "Wait if you broke up with Glen, then where did you stay last night?" She inquired with a puzzled look.

"Oh…em well Kyle's," She mumbled while fake coughing at the same time and conveniently avoiding their eyes.

Phoebe and Prue shared a look and grinned at her, "Oh right,"

"See I knew I'd get those looks that's why I lied in the first place," Paige shook her head at them, "We're just friends," She stated firmly.

"Right," They smirked at her.

"God I just broke up with my boyfriend who happens to be my best friend too and all you guys can think of is…"

"Okay, okay, it was insensitive of us," Prue agreed looking serious but a second later she turned to Phoebe and grinned knowingly.

"Just friends," Paige repeated more to herself than to her sisters. The words floated around her head. "Just friends," She said again slowly.

"Okay we get it…but you know you and Glen were 'just friends' aswell," Phoebe smirked.

Paige rolled her eyes and glared at her.

"Well you know you don't look too upset for someone who just got dumped," Phoebe commented insensitively.

"Oh come on you know I don't do the whole crying thing," Paige shrugged slightly smirking at the thought of her many tears she had shed last night. When had she turned into such a liar? What was that like the third lie she'd told since walking into the front door?

Phoebe nodded seeming satisfied with her answer, "Yeah I guess, me and you both, we leave that to Piper and Prue," She grinned at Prue who didn't seem to agree.

Before she could argue though her cell went off, so instead she shot Phoebe a dirty look and made her way down the stairs to where her bag lay on the side table. She started rummaging through it while Phoebe couldn't help but comment while rolling her eyes, "I wonder what lover boy wants now,"

Prue briefly looked up flashing a not very amused smile, "Haha,"

Phoebe smirked and turned back to Paige while Prue brought out her phone and continued their discussion on how Piper and Prue were saps for crying and that they were much more in control of their emotions.

They suddenly stopped mid conversation when they heard Prue gasp, turning to look at her, she had a surprised expression but a very noticeable smile shone through.

Phoebe gave her a look of distaste, "Oh God what's lover boy written now…a poem maybe? Roses are red, violets are blue…" She recited in a song like fashion while Paige stifled a laugh as she continued, "But they are not as pretty as Prue…"

"It's from Piper," Prue interrupted softly. The other two became silent and smiled before jumping down the stairs two at a time in excitement.

"What did she say? What does it say?" The asked with squeals of delight nearly knocking over Prue as they bounded over. They crowded round her while Prue read outloud.

"Hi, I've been wanting to do this for ages but now I can't really think of what to say. I'm sorry if you guys are pissed at me for leaving but I want you to know I'm happy, very happy. Things are great! Leo is taking good care of me. So don't worry about me but I do worry about you lot. I mean who is mediating your arguments lol. I love you guys so much and miss you! Love always Piper xxx,"

Once finished they shared a happy but emotional look for a moment but then Phoebe suddenly grabbed the phone out of Prue's grasp. "Em what are you doing?" Prue demanded.

"Replying of course," She grinned while the other two smiled and began dictating things to say.

"…we're fine and we love you too, say hi to Leo for us, love your sisters who miss you so much! xxxxxxxxx," Phoebe read out the last part of their message and smiled warmly before clicking send.

They all then hugged noticing greatly the missing person from the hug but they got great comfort in the fact that she was happy.

Piper jumped up as her cell phone bleeped and she grabbed it straightaway. A smiled played on her lips as she read it through several times, her eyes becoming watery.

At that moment Leo entered, whistling in a cheery tone to himself. He hung his jacket over the back of a chair and went over to Piper leaning over the couch where she was sat to kiss her cheek when he noticed she was crying.

"Piper what's wrong?" He asked with concern as she suddenly turned round and threw her arms around his neck and lay her head on his shoulder. Confused he rubbed her back soothingly.

"I miss them," She cried softly in a muffled voice.

He nodded and smiled slightly understanding at once what she was upset about, "I know you do and I missed Cole and my parents too…but this isn't forever, we'll see them soon, promise," He brought her face to his and gave a reassuring smile, "You going to be okay?"

She sighed and nodded, "Yeah…I have you," She smiled.

He grinned slightly, "Well that's reason enough…"

She swatted him playfully while he laughed and wrapped his arms around her again, "I love you so much and I'm always going to take care of you,"

"Thank you," She sighed appreciatively and then added, "Oh and I love you too," She smiled and snuggled closer to him, closing her eyes and just enjoying being in his arms. It made her feel safe.

Phoebe walked into her bedroom, a wave of tiredness washing over her. She sank down on her bed and kicked her ridiculously high heeled and uncomfortable sandals off and wriggled her toes, sighing with relief at how much better that felt. She smiled satisfied and pulled herself to her feet, enjoying the feel of the soft carpet below her feet. She plodded over to her cupboard and set her sandals in neatly then stood up again praising how good they looked, albeit they weren't the comfiest but hell did they look good!

Her eye was suddenly caught by something she hadn't seen in a few months. Slightly hesitant as to how she felt about it, she reached up and pulled it down. She let out a small sigh as she ran her finger along the now quite dusty from in which a beautifully captured photo of her and Cole was. His arm was wrapped around her and he was flashing his grin that she loved and could make her melt instantly, while she couldn't have looked happier. She studied the smile on her face in the photo and realised she had not worn it for a while, since Cole left to be precise.

Then she studied Cole intently, her finger tracing over him while she smiled weakly feeling her eyes begin to water. "I love you, you know," She whispered in a choked voice to the photo. "But…I need to move on…you don't blame me for that do you? Oh my God I'm talking to a photo." She let out a soft laugh then took a breath as if to stop her eyes from watering any further.

"Lee's good for me. He's always been a good friend. He's sweet and kind and caring…" She trailed off but gave herself a reassuring nod then sighed. A smile crossed her lips though, "You were my first love, they say you never really get over your first, somehow I think that's going to be true with us," She slightly grinned and paced over to her dressing table where she gracefully set down the picture and nodded. "That's better,"

She gazed at the photo for a few seconds more and smiled. "Goodnight Cole," She whispered softly.

Over in New York Cole smiled sadly at the photo he held tightly in his hands and traced the outline of the love of his life, Phoebe Halliwell. Carefully he set it down on his bedside table and rolled over onto his side whispering, "Goodnight Phoebe."

It took a while to be posted but it was a long one to make up for it. Hopefully it was worth the wait! Please review!