Chapter 24: Just a Kiss

Disclaimer: If I didn't feel like the only one aware of the fact that Brad Kern is quite possibly full of more BS than the normal human being could conceivably withstand, I might own Charmed.

A/N: Is it just me or is only one person reading this? I know I've been told that more people are, it's just that they're afraid to review, but I'm not gonna pretend like I understand that. I mean, what I am, a mind reader? If you don't tell me what you want then I have no idea. So it'd be real nice if you guys who aren't reviewing could find the time to write even one word just so I know that you're listening.

Three hours after Andy had left her standing in the desert, Prue pulled into the driveway of the Manor. Cole had shimmered Piper and Phoebe home, leaving her to think about what had happened as well as what her next move would be.

Had Andy really just as well as told her that he was willing to kill Bane for her? She didn't think it possible that someone like Andy—a good guy in every right—would be able to harm; murder another individual so recklessly.

This had all been her fault—she knew it. All for something she didn't even have a reason for. If Andy killed Bane his blood would be on her hands. All over a kiss—just a kiss.

She got out of her car and wiped her still-wet face before entering the Manor cautiously. When she did she was greeted by an eccentric Piper.

"Prue, where the hell have you been?" She questioned as she gave her older sister a worried hug.

Prue was glad to know that it seemed like Piper had finally actually forgiven her. She let this thought sink in for a second before answering.

"I, uh, stopped to think," Prue said quietly, almost a whisper, "Where's everyone else?" She asked, breaking away form Piper and walking beside her.

"Cole put Phoebe to bed—apparently she was wiped out—he's upstairs in their room now. Leo's up with the Elders explaining what happened—"

"What?" Prue said, her eyes alight with awareness.

"With Cole's mother I mean," Piper filled in.

"Oh," Prue said simply, calming down a bit.

"But speaking of that other thing," Piper continued, "Bane's in the kitchen with Pam."

"And what about Andy," Prue asked, deliberately keeping her eyes from meeting Piper's.

"You don't know?" Piper inquired.

With a confused expression from Prue Piper continued.

"He never came back—I thought you might know where he was."

"Never came back?" Prue questioned, fresh worries arising in her mind.

"Don't worry sweetie," Piper consoled, pulling Prue into another embrace, "I'm sure he'll be back soon. He loves you too much to stay away. You know that."

"Yeah I do," Prue commented, "And that's what scares me."

Piper furrowed her brow at this comment but seeing the deep red tear streaks on her sister's face refrained from inquiring further on the subject. After a moment, Leo orbed down in front of the two looking slightly troubled.

"Leo," Piper leaded, "What is it?"

"Huh?" Leo said, trying to act innocent, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't give me that Leo," Piper said sternly, "What's going on?"

Knowing he had lost, Leo sighed and hesitated a moment before answering.

"It's...the Elders," Leo started, "I just got finished talked to them."

"Uh-huh," Piper remarked, "Keep going."

"They—they want Cole to leave," Leo finished.

"What?" Piper said, craning her neck forward, "Why?"

"Well they think it's too easy for him to turn," Leo said matter-of-factly, "After what happened with his mother they think that maybe Cole's still to influenced by evil. That maybe he'll go too far and hurt one of us." Leo looked as if he were going to continue and Prue noted this.

"Andy you agree with them," she said knowingly.

"Well…they're not completely wrong," he noted.

"For once," Piper gibed.

"You saw what he did to Phoebe," Leo pointed out.

"Yeah, after his insane mother subliminally planted her voice telling him to," Prue pointed back.

"He was ready to throw an energy ball at Andy and Bane just to get them to stop fighting," Leo continued.

"A low-voltage one, I'm sure," Prue retorted.

Both Leo and Piper took a moment to process this. It gave both of them a bit of a start to hear Prue defending Cole. They both raised they're eyebrows at Prue who herself found a bit of oddity in her words.

"What?" Prue questioned of her sister and her brother-in-law. The two of them kept their faces in a confused manner and Prue continued talking.

"Okay, alright I know it's weird," she said, "I've not always been exactly gun-ho about Cole and definitely not one to defend him," with a skeptical look from Piper Prue added, "And I know that might be a bit of an understatement. But Cole's also saved us plenty of times. It would be unfair to throw him out over something like this—I mean, we get into trouble like this everyday—it just happens to be that this time the way we got into trouble had to do with him."

Piper and Leo kept their unbelieving faces on Prue, but tore their gaze away when they heard a voice coming down from the top of the landing.

"Talking about getting rid of me, are you?" He said in inappropriately cheery tone.

Prue, Piper, and Leo fiddled around awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to that.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Cole said with a wave of his hand as he reached the bottom of the stairs and the rest of the group, "I can't say I wasn't expecting it…after all this."

"Cole, it's just..." Leo started.

"Just nothing," Prue jumped in, "Nothing more than another useless suggestion from the Elders. Think nothing of it."

Cole gave the same skeptical glare Prue had received from Piper and Leo, clearly believing he had heard wrong.

"You?" Cole said, pointing at Prue, "Defending…me?" He continued, pointing at himself and looking around to the others to make sure he wasn't the only one who had heard what Prue had said.

"If one more person gives me that look I think I'm gonna have to get ugly on them," Prue concluded jokingly.

Piper exchanged a quick glance with Leo before speaking.

"Naah…too easy," She said with a laugh.

"Well I don't know about you three but I'm starving," Cole said, "As you all may remember, I didn't exactly get to my breakfast this morning."

"Okay," Piper said as she began walking into the kitchen, "I'll fix us all something."

"Sure," Prue complied as she, Cole, and Leo followed Piper. A thought then crossed her mind as an afterthought, "Piper where did you say Pam and Bane were again?"

They rounded the corner into the kitchen and all took in a collective breath of shock.

"Right in front of us," Cole answered for Piper somewhat quietly.

They all simply stood there with nothing remotely audible to say.

They stood there and watched what to someone else may have been considered nothing.

To someone else, it may have seemed highly unusually for them all to be utterly stunned all over a kiss.

Just a kiss.

A/N: So some of you saw that coming from way back when. Oh, what a predicament we have in the Halliwell home. Don't forget what I said earlier—I really did mean it. Please review and I'll have a chapter up nice and speedy.