-1I decided to stick to the plan after all. I must just remind myself of what I wrote last time…
A Seldom Part
Prue sat anxiously waiting for Roger to return. He hadn't actually bothered to tell her when he'd be home, and Prue couldn't help pondering all the possible scenarios where Roger got hurt. Seriously hurt, even if it did make her feel guilty for wanting someone else hurt. The key sounded in the door, and Prue jumped up hurriedly, walking to the hall and standing there facing the door, preparing herself for what she was about to say, even if she didn feel sick with fear.
Prue glanced down at the engagement ring nervously. It took Roger almost a minute to notice her, but when he did, a small smile spread onto his smug face.
"Prue!" He said brightly. Prue didn't answer, and concentrated on all the feelings of hate she had for him. "Sorry I'm late…I got…delayed." Roger smirked.
"Really?" Prue asked expressionlessly. "That's a shame. I've really been looking forward to you coming home."
"You have?" Roger said suspiciously.
"Yes. I want to talk. About the wedding."
"Oh yes?" He asked, narrowing his eyes, and putting his bags down so he could move closer to Prue.
"There isn't going to be a wedding. Not now, not ever." Roger's eyes widened in surprise.
"What?" He said faintly, and then seemed to regain his confidence, and stepped forward so he was right in front of her. "If this is joke, it isn't very funny."
"A joke? This whole relationship has been a joke right fro the start. Now get out of my way."
"No. You're my fiancée. You can't just leave. Where would you go? You don't have anyone. You need me."
"You know what?" She said, smiling slowly. "I don't need you, or your stupid ring. I don't want your stupid ring." Prue pulled the ring from her finger and hurled it at his face as hard as she could. "I hate you! I've never loved you! And don't you ever fucking well even think about coming near me again, or my family, or my friends."
"You can't do this to me!" He said, looking shocked. He forced a calm smile. "You can't break up with me, Prue," he said warningly. Prue laughed to hide her fear.
"I just did."
"Don't you dare walk out! If you stay, then I'll still forgive you! After all, with the wedding, and all the pressure, it's understandable that you'd-"
"Fuck off," Prue said coldly. Roger grabbed onto her arm and swung her around to face him.
"Don't you ever talk to me like that. We are getting married whether you like it or not. You are not going to embarrass me in front of all my friends."
"You've done that yourself. I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man alive." Roger slapped her in the face. "Do that again, and I'll report you to the police," Prue said calmly, even though everything was telling her not to. "I think I've got a good enough case. Leave me alone, and it won't come to that."
"Even if you did get me locked up, which I seriously doubt you would, I have friends. Connections, so to speak." He smiled. "And I don't think they'd be happy if I had to go away for a couple of years."
"A couple of years? I think you'd get a good deal more than that, but don't worry. You're friends will keep you company."
"You bitch! I've offered you everything and this is how you repay me? You can't leave me! You don't have anywhere else to go. You can't go back to your sisters. You'd be a failure. More of one than you already are."
"I'm not a failure!" Prue said, her voice rising.
"Stop fooling yourself Prue, and take a look in the mirror. Remember what happened to Phoebe when you crashed the car? Remember how you just stood and watched your own mother drown? Even your own father walked out on you. You've achieved nothing and you never will. You don't even have any friends!"
"That's because you took them all away from me! And don't you dare mention my mother! You're nothing! You never will be anything! You're the failure!"
"Shut up!" Roger began pushing her towards the wall, keeping a firm grip on her arms. Prue tried to push him away, but he was pushing to hard.
"Let go!" Roger thrust her into the wall and Prue hit her head painfully on it.
"You can't leave me, Prue. I love you. You know I do, don't you? You wouldn't leave me. You love me! Please Prue!" Prue scrambled up and Roger tried to help her.
"Don't touch me. Leave me alone." She backed away from Roger, towards the door.
"I'm sorry I scared you Prue! I didn't mean to hurt you! Don't leave!" Prue turned and ran, and as far as she knew, Roger didn't follow her further than the front door. She was in her car in seconds and shoved the keys in, thankfully starting the engine.
She could hardly see through the windscreen for the heavy rain, and she had to stop herself from going fast. It wouldn't be clever to have an accident now. The torrential rain soaked her as she got out of the car and stuck her hair to her face, but Prue hardly felt it. She just concentrated on getting up the stairs and knocking on the right door.
"Andy!" She propelled herself forward and flung herself at him, leaning back after a moment so she could look at his face. "I'm so sorry! I couldn't go to my sisters, not yet, and I'm so scared Roger will find me there and I didn't know where else to go! I'm so sorry I was so stupid! I'm just so sorry!"
"Prue! What are you talking about? You're soaked!" He pulled some of her wet, dripping hair from her face. "What the hell are you doing? I don't think I understood what you said properly. I think I misheard." Andy pulled her inside and shut the door, while Prue refused to let go. "Wait, what happened to your head?" Andy tried to push her away slightly so he could look properly. "No, don't tell me. I can guess. What'd you do this time? Breathe at the wrong time?"
"I left him," Prue said, shivering from the cold.
"What?" Andy said in surprise.
"I threw the ring in his face and ran."
"Okay, I didn't mishear earlier. I didn't misinterpret what you said. You actually did it?"
"Mmm, yeah."
"That's wonderful!" Andy threw her arms around her and then let go again.. "Okay, you're soaking. Let me get you some towels. Actually maybe you should just have a very hot shower or bath or whatever. Right, bathroom. Go." Prue obediently did as he said. "Have a bath or a shower while I find you something to wear that isn't wet." Andy shut the bathroom door behind him. She'd have to wear one of his old sweatshirts, but if she was going to sleep, it wouldn't matter. They could get the rest of her clothes tomorrow. He dropped the sweatshirt around the door and shut it again.
A few minutes later, Prue came out now dressed in his sweatshirt.
"Are you hungry?" He asked, concerned.
"No."
"Cold?"
"No."
"Do you want to go to sleep now?"
"Andy! Stop fussing! I'm fine!" Andy smiled
"I missed you."
"What? You saw me yesterday."
"I mean I missed you. Not what you became with Roger, what you used to be before." Prue rolled her eyes.
"Stop being stupid Andy! I'm the same person I always was."
"You are, now. Are you tired?"
"No…I don't want to go to sleep." Prue sat down on the couch, and Andy sat next to her . "Andy, I think Roger might know where you live. I wrote your address down, and it's in our room. It depends whether he finds it or not."
"Is he likely to find it? Find it soon that is?"
"Yes, if he looks through the chest of drawers on my side of the bed. Which he probably will do, knowing him."
"Well if he's got any sense he'll stay away, won't he?"
"No."
"Can I take a look at the back of your head? How'd that happen exactly?"
"A wall. You get the idea…"
"Mmm, yeah." Andy parted her damp hair to look at the cut. "It doesn't look so bad."
"I'll be fine." Prue shrugged and pulled her head away. "You don't mind, do you? That I just came?"
"No! You left him! That is what matters! The whole wedding invitation really freaked me out, Prue!"
"It surprised me too. Roger's scum. I hate him."
"So do I."
"Yeah, well…I'm not looking forward to starting all over again, with everything. I'm going to have to find a job straightaway. Don't suppose you know about any? Need a secretary at the police station?"
"Hmm, I can't really see you as a secretary. Especially working for me. On second thoughts, I'd like to get the opportunity to boss you around." Prue hit him playfully.
"You done enough of that to last me a life time."
"I want you to go to sleep now."
"Hey! You're doing it again! And I don't want to sleep. It means I have to think, and thinking is bad right now." Andy out his arm around her and Prue smiled sadly, leaning on his shoulder. "I just don't want to be alone with the darkness."
"Ah, you don't have to be alone. I could keep you company, if you like…"
"Andy!" Prue said in a scandalized voice, giving him a strange look. "Please!"
"What?" Andy said defensively. "Come on, it's not like we haven't shared a bed before!"
"Yeah, when we were four and Phoebe was being born! I think circumstances were a little different then."
"Only twenty years or so different."
"Exactly! Everything. Twenty years? I didn't realize we'd known each other that long."
"See? Who knows you better than me? I know you secretly would love to share a bed with me!"
"Okaaay, you're a little too cocky for your own good!"
"Oh, come on Prue. It wouldn't mean anything." Prue fiddled with the front of his shirt.
"Suppose not." They both jumped as a ringing sound filled the apartment.
"Mine or yours?" Prue half fell off the couch and grabbed her cell phone.
"Mine. Hello?" She held her hand over the phone. "It's Piper!" She hissed, climbing back onto the couch next to Andy. Andy leaned his head closer to hers so he could hear what Piper was saying.
"Prue! Where the hell are you? In fact, don't tell me, I already know. Roger's been calling, and he's even been over here. He's worried sick Prue! I just can't believe how selfish you are being! He doesn't even know why you're doing this, although I think I have a pretty good idea. I mean, come on Prue, Andy comes back after six fucking years and you just drop everything in your life, for him. You can't screw with people's emotions like that! It isn't-"
"What? Piper, I really don't think this is any of your business. You have no right to call me and start judging. You don't know what the situation is." Piper was silent for several seconds.
"Prue, you could at least tell him why you're doing this? He'd been crying, I swear."
"Drinking more like."
"Prue! Anyway, it's no wonder after the way you've acted! Admit it Prue. You left Roger because Andy just waltzed back into your life after six years of no contact."
"Piper, shut up. You don't know what's happened or what the situation is. How do you know that I don't have a perfectly good reason for leaving Roger? What if he cheated on me? He's hardly going to tell you that, is he?"
"He cheated on you?"
"No, but if he had, he wouldn't tell you, would he? Think about that before you just ring me up and start accusing me of things. Goodbye Piper. We'll talk tomorrow." Prue hung up and threw the phone away from her.
"No. It isn't." Prue placed a hand on her forehead to hold her hair away. "It's not okay, but maybe it will be. Just not right now." She smiled a watery smile at him. Andy smiled back apologetically.
"Things might seem bad now, but they're a hell of a lot better than they were this morning, right? You don't have to worry about marrying Roger now, and you aren't with him anymore. That has to be better."
"Yeah, but it doesn't help make things better right now." Andy hugged her.
"That's true." He stroked her hair as she closed her eyes. "Don't worry. Think about the here and now, not what has happened."
"I am," she muttered. "Or at least I'm trying to."
"It's okay."
"No. It isn't." Prue placed a hand on her forehead to hold her hair away. "It's not okay, but maybe it will be. Just not right now." She smiled a watery smile at him. Andy smiled back apologetically.
"Things might seem bad now, but they're a hell of a lot better than they were this morning, right? You don't have to worry about marrying Roger now, and you aren't with him anymore. That has to be better."
"Yeah, but it doesn't help make things better right now." Andy hugged her.
"That's true." He stroked her hair as she closed her eyes. "Don't worry. Think about the here and now, not what has happened."
"I am," she muttered. "Or at least I'm trying to."
"Prue, you realize I still love you, right?" Andy asked into her hair. He felt Prue's grip on him weaken.
"What?" She let go altogether and looked at him, her face shocked.
"You must do. When you said I was jealous of Roger, you were right. I was so angry at him for getting you and then treating you the way he did. I just kept thinking that if I were him…things would be so different is you were with me. If I'd never left for Oregon maybe…"
"Maybe what?" Prue managed to say.
"Well maybe we'd be engaged, or we'd be married, with kids."
"I'm not sure…what…to…say…"
"I don't expect you to say anything. I shouldn't have said that at all. Sorry. Forget it."
"You bastard! Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Why, what would it have done?"
"I'd have…uh, I don't know." Prue looked away.
"See?"
"No, wait, I didn't mean that. I'd have left Roger! I mean, hmm, Roger or you, Roger or you?" She held her hands up in front of her as if she were weighing something.
"But that wouldn't have meant you loved me. It just would have meant you liked me better than Roger."
"But…I do. And I do…"
"As a friend you do."
"Sort of. Maybe." Andy shrugged. "We can't share a bed now, Andy! It'll mean something now."
"Prue! I'd never have said anything if I knew you'd say that. We can still be friends, though."
"Why did you say something?"
"I don't know. It was stupid."
"No, it wasn't. Shall we go to bed?"
"Okay, I'll just get some spare blankets from my room, and then you can go to sleep."
"No! I meant both of us in your bed! I don't want to be alone!" Andy grinned. "As friends though!" Prue said, walking to his room.
"Sure," he said, following her.
"I mean it Andy!" Prue said, beginning to laugh.
"I said sure!"
"In your 'I don't mean it but I'm going to say it to make you think I do' voice."
"Ah, how well you know me! I'm so happy you left Roger!" He grabbed her waist and spun her around.
"I am too. Now stop that, I'm dizzy!" Andy stopped abruptly and let go. Prue fell on to the bed and giggled. She rolled over under the covers.
"I'm going to change in the bathroom."
"I won't look…"
"I don't trust you…"
"Anyway, it isn't like there's anything I haven't seen before!"
"Prue!" Prue pulled the covers over her head.
"No, seriously, I won't look. Promise."
"You had better not!"
"Why all this secrecy? Is there something I should know?" She said, her voice muffled by the covers.
"Can't hear you!" He said.
"Done yet?"
"Yes," he said, climbing in next to her. Prue remerged from under the sheets and moved closer to him. He smiled at her.
"What?"
"Nothing," Andy said, continuing his smiling.
"What?"
"Nothing! I just forgot how…wonderful and beautiful you are."
"You'd better not have!" He leaned forward and kissed her, and Prue kissed him back. She lay back, putting her arms around him.
"Are you sure…?"
"Yes, definitely."
AN: Actually the reason I don't update very regularly is because I hate reading anything I've written once I know someone else has read it. I get all paranoid about it.