Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Charmed characters all belong to the WB and Co.

Gosh, I know it's been ages but College has just started and, well I don't have much work to do yet, I just haven't had time to do anything with this and, if I am being 100 honest, I didn't know what to write. I couldn't think of a way of putting it down on the page/screen, whatever. I tried on and off and finally managed to get something done, so if this isn't what you expected or something, please let me know!

Thank you to:

Princess in the Pea, heather1021, Charlie, MaqieElvenCompanionkcdancersupermouse627 and PiperandLeoFan101 and -Holly-Fan-1-

"You take it so slowly and your eyes look so lonely, but it's only when you think about me."

- Think About Me, Goo Goo Dolls

As Time Goes By – Chapter 11

"Thanks Piper," an old man said to Piper as she served his dinner to him. She smiled at him and shook her head.

"No problem Al, you know I love you.' She joked and then turned on her heels and walked over to the bar. She turned around and looked at Al again. He was eating his fries and drinking his soda. She smiled to herself. Al was a regular customer at the diner. He would come most nights and order the same thing. His wife had died a few years ago from cancer so Piper thought that he probably came here so often because he got lonely and he just needed a chat and she didn't mind being the reciprocator of his stories of his travels with his wife or his time in the army.

"Flirting with the customers again Piper?" A voice said and she turned around and laughed.

"You know me, I can't resist a guy with a flannel shirt and hairs up his nose." Piper joked back. "But seriously, Al is such a nice guy. I'm sure in his day he was a charmer with his witty comebacks and stories. His wife was a lucky woman."

"Yeah, you're right. He is quite charming and you know he likes you. I mean, he always asks you to serve him." Laura winked at her and then walked away to attend to a customer down the bar.

Piper wondered why all guys couldn't be like Al. Al was kind and generous and he was a big softie yet, he was old fashioned and Piper liked that. She liked that he opened doors to let people in and out and that he smiled at people who passed him by. Piper couldn't recall when she last met a guy like that. Even Leo, who had been a gentleman, didn't seem to be as charming as Al. Actually, Leo was charming.

When they used to go to dinner he'd pull out her chair for her and he wouldn't start to eat until Piper had received her meal. He would open the door for her and he always paid for the taxi and the meal. Leo had been perfect. Sometimes he was so perfect that she felt she paled in comparison to him and that she didn't deserve him. She often felt she wasn't good enough for him. That he would tell her that he had found someone else and that he'd leave her. That day came eventually except he left things behind.

After he left she thought about him a lot but after a while she thought about him less and less. You learn to move on as time goes by and she did. Or so she thought.

Ever since she saw Leo in the Diner, she couldn't get him off her mind.

Ever since she had met Leo he had been impeded in her being and she couldn't rid herself of him. He would always be the father of her children and she couldn't change that.

Piper took one last glance at Al and smiled. Then she looked at her watch and then down to Laura. "Hey, I'm off now. See you tomorrow." Laura waved to her and Piper grabbed her coat from the hanger and waved at Al and then walked out the door. She pulled her coat on and then pulled her hair out of the clip it had been in. She shook her head and her hair fell down her back and onto her shoulders. She set her bag down the wall and searched for her keys.

"Ugh," she groaned. "Where are they?" she mumbled to herself.

"They're on the ground." She heard a voice from behind her say. She turned around to see Leo standing there. She watched as he bent down and picked them from the ground and hold out his hand to her. Without speaking, she reached out to take her keys. When she touched Leo's had she felt her heart beat rapidly in her chest. She quickly pulled her hand away.

"Thanks," she said though Leo barely heard it.

"Piper, please-"

"Leo, don't." Piper cut in. She didn't want to hear him speak; she couldn't handle it.

Leo watched her closely in the hope that he could read her emotions. In the hope that he could get something from her. He looked at her face and noticed how tired she looked. Her brown eyes that had once lit up her face were sunken and had deep bags under them from her late night shifts.

"Piper will you please just listen to me." Leo pleaded.

"No Leo, I don't have time to listen to you. I have to get home." Piper said and she dug her key into the lock.

"I know you don't want to talk to me, I understand but will you please just hear me out."

Piper widened her eyes and laughed slightly. She spun around violently and looked right into his eyes. "Hear you out? Leo, I have had the last 5 years to 'hear you out' but you never bothered to enlighten me to your sudden departure." She seethed.

Leo flinched at her last comment. She was right. She was always right.

"I, uh, I just." He stuttered over his words and then looked down at his shoes. He didn't know what to say. How could he say anything to that?

"What's this? Leo Wyatt at a loss for words?" She asked in a mock tone. "We all have our bad days I guess." She arched an eyebrow at him and turned on her heels. She didn't have time for this.

"Piper, wait. Please. I just want to talk to you. To explain myself. At the most I deserve that." He pleaded. The voice inside him told him she wouldn't speak to him. That she would tell him to go and throw some profanity at him. Which he deserved but he wanted, no he needed, to explain himself. Not only did he deserve that chance, but she deserved to know, once and for all.

"Fine. But not here, it's too public." She said as she looked around and noticed people had begun staring at the small argument they were having.

Cliffhanger, of sorts. The next chapter will definitely explain Leo's departure. This chapter was just a way of bringing in the 'explanation' sequence. Please review. Thanks, Molly.