Please Be Careful With My Heart

Disclaimer: 'Charmed' is not mine. I just love it so much so I did this. So, please don't sue me.

A/N: Thanks so much for all your reviews. It means so much to me. Oh, and maybe you'd like to be a staff/subscriber in my C2 Community "Addicted to Piper". It would be an honor for me. Thanks.

to CharmedMilliE: this is an AU fic so he didn't ran away when the sisters were little. but he will eventually as the story develops. can't tell you though, what will push him to do so.

Chapter 6

Phoebe and Prue were playing at the video games center downtown after they had finished the spa trip. The details of the party should be a surprise for Phoebe so Prue took her there to at least give everyone at home time to prepare without the birthday girl bugging them. Phoebe was having so much fun with Prue, they were getting closer with each other, she hoped it'll lasts. Then Prue's phone rang and vibrated, 'Oh just wait, I'm almost done.' Prue thought as she hit the last lap of the car race. The phone has been bugging her for 5 minutes, 'This better be good.'

It's a phone call from home. "Phoebe, stay here, I'll just answer it, ok?" Phoebe just nodded, too busy to even look at Prue.

Prue stood up and went to a quieter part of the game center. "Hello? Grams? What is it? Phoebe and I were having a blast, too bad Piper's not here." Prue rambled with happiness about her day with Phoebe, and then noticed that her grandmother had been quiet the whole time. "Grams? Are you still there?"

'This is not easy.' Grams swallowed hard. "Yes, sweetie. Uh… you two need to go back here at home. Your father and I have to go somewhere."

Prue, noticed the strain and tiredness in her grandmother's voice, she asked, "Why? Where are you going?" There was a moment of silence. "Grams?"

"Hospital." 'One word at a time? This is insane!' Grams thought it would be better if her granddaughters understand everything. It's about their mother. They should be informed about everything, though Grams was sure that this would be a very painful experience a child could go through, if not the most painful. Especially, with the closeness the three shared with their mother.

"Hospital. Why are you - what happened?" Prue asked frantically. 'Something's wrong. Please don't let me be right.' she thought.

"Your mom… she's gone." Grams said, cried on the phone to her granddaughter, with so much sympathy to her granddaughter, also to herself for loosing a daughter. 'This should not be this way. I should go first, not the other way around.'

"Gone. Gone - gone, what do you mean 'gone'?" Prue asked with tears already flowing freely from her eyes, though she knew what her Grams meant, she still wanted to ask. Maybe this is some kind of a practical joke. That grams would laugh on the other side and say, 'You've been punked.' like celebrities on TV. But no, this is about death, death of a family member. No one jokes about death.

"I'm sorry, dear." Grams said, she didn't know what to tell to a child who had just lost her mother, especially her grandchild. She heard her granddaughter breathe heavily and then a dialtone, Prue didn't even say goodbye before hanging up, but she couldn't blame her.

She didn't know the details of what really happened, just the fact that she lost her mother, that's all she needed to know. Prue didn't want to breakdown right then and there. She composed herself, wiped all of her tears, failing miserably because every trace of tear that she tried to erase, another one appears. The tears, they can't seem to stop. She had stopped trying and just went to Phoebe, who's still playing like a little girl in Disneyland, she wanted to try every game. Prue didn't know how to tell her, 'I'll tell her when we get home.'

"Phoebe, that's enough, let's go home." Prue said in a monotone manner looking everywhere but Phoebe.

Phoebe, too happy to notice Prue's sudden change of behaviour, said, "We still have 5 token. Come on, let's play again." She pulled Prue's hand and led Prue to play motorcycle race.

"No, Phoebe! I said let's go!" Prue said, pulling her hand from Phoebe's grip with more force than she intended to.

"But Prue…"

"When I said, 'Let's go.' We will go. Now come on. Or do you want me to pull you out of here by your hair?" Prue said sternly and started to walk away. Phoebe's excitement and happiness were irritating her. Though she knew Phoebe didn't know about their mother yet, she felt that no one had the right to be happy when she's mourning.

Phoebe just sighed and followed her sister. 'How can she change from cool to bitchy in just minutes?' When they got into the car, she noticed that Prue looked disturbed, also the puffy eyes. 'Maybe it was the call.' She decided to ask her sister directly. "Prue, what was that call about?"

"Nothing important." Prue lied, immediately, she tried to start the engine. She wanted to get home as soon as possible. But she can't seem to insert the key to the ignition. Her hands were shaking.

"Why don't you look at me straight in the eyes and say that again?" Phoebe dared. She hated always being the last one to know every time something important happens. They think that she's too young to handle it.

Prue couldn't take it anymore, slammed her hands on the steering wheel and just exploded the words, "Mom's dead, ok?!!"

The words sank in slowly to Phoebe, and then silence prevailed. Just their heavy breathing could be heard.

"That is NOT TRUE. You're lying. That is not true!" Phoebe exclaimed with such venom in her voice. But her tears were already streaming down her cheeks, deep inside she knew that it is true just by the looks of her distraught sister, she knew. But she couldn't just accept it. No.

Prue stared at the steering wheel and just started the engine. She didn't comfort Phoebe, she didn't know how. How can you comfort someone and tell her that everything will be fine, when you're still in the denial state yourself? Suddenly remembering the sister who comforts everybody, Piper, 'What happened to her? If mom's dead then how is she? I'm too caught up with the news I forgot about her. What if she's fighting for her life this very moment? Oh please, God. You've taken away enough. Actually, you've taken away too much. Don't let me be right.', she thought as she accelerated the car.

The trip home was quiet, Phoebe hugged herself and just stared at the window. Her mind repeating, 'She's not dead. She's not dead. When I get home, mom will embrace and greet me 'Happy Birthday, Baby!' This is all an act. A surprise for my birthday.'

A/N: There, another dramatic chapter. Oh if you're wondering why Prue's driving. She got her driver's license right when she turned 16.

Now, please leave a review. I just wanna know what you think.