Prue appeared before her niece in a flurry of white light.

"Aria!" She exclaimed upon seeing the teenager. "How are you? What am I doing here?"

"Mom and dad just had a big fight. I think he's left for good now. Mom's going to need you." Aria explained.

"Oh." Prue said as she sat down on Aria's bed. "How is she taking it?" She asked.

"She blew up the grandfather clock." Aria replied, by way of an explanation. "Do you think she still has feelings for Leo?"

Prue looked up, slightly taken aback by the question. "Why do you ask?"

"I heard her talking about it with Phoebe and Paige earlier. Phoebe said he'd clip his wings for her."

"He probably would." Prue agreed. "Their love was forbidden and epic. It probably won't ever go away. I know that's not what you want to hear..." She started before Aria interrupted.

"I like Leo. Besides, my dad's a cheat and he broke her heart. I don't feel any loyalty to him."

"He'll always be your dad though. You can't change that." Prue argued from experience.

Aria was quiet for a while, thinking over what Prue had said. She'd been so angry at her dad since she found out about his affair with Meredith that she'd forgotten about the good times they had. He'd always been there for her and she knew he loved her. She just didn't know if she could forgive him for what he'd done to their family.

After a while Aria spoke up. "I guess you're right." She commented. "You should go and see my mom."

"Ok." Prue agreed. "Come and get me if you need to talk about it though."

"I will. Thanks Aunt Prue." Aria smiled softly.

Once Prue had left the room Aria opened up her laptop to start work on her English assignment. She was just about to start typing when her phone vibrated by her side.

What happens when daddy finds out about mommy's secret? Kisses. –A

"What the hell?" Aria whispered loudly, not wanting to shout so as not to panic her mom. Just as she was about to send a message to her friends about the text her phone vibrated again.

And don't go crying to your mom this time or Rosewood will get to enjoy a nice witch hunt. –A

Aria started to panic. What was she going to do? She couldn't let the town find out that they were witches but at the same time her mom would want to know what was going on. What did 'A' mean anyway? Were they going to tell her dad? Were they going to make her tell him? She dreaded to even think about it. Sending a quick S.O.S text to her friends, she headed downstairs and drove to Hanna's, who had been the first to reply to say that her house was free.

Meanwhile, Prue was downstairs with her sisters trying to comfort Ella when Leo orbed in to the living room in front of them.

"Leo!" Ella exclaimed.

"Piper, Phoebe, Paige." He greeted with a smiled before his eyes landed on the fourth sister in the room. "And Prue?" He added, questioningly.

"I'm here for Piper." She said. "It's nice to see you again."

"You too." Leo smiled at her. "I was just coming down to see if everything was alright." He said to the sisters, although it was clear the question was directed at Ella.

"We're fine." Ella said, forcing a smile to hide the fact that she'd been crying.

"I'm going to get a drink." Phoebe announced. "Prue and Paige, do you want to give me a hand?" She hinted. Ella shot her a glare at her less than subtle plan to get her and Leo alone together.

Once they were alone Leo spoke up. "Why do three of them need to...? Never mind." He finished, knowing that it wasn't worth it. "So why is Prue here?" He asked as he sat down next to Ella on the couch.

"Aria summoned her after me and Byron had a fight."

"Is everything ok between you two now?"

"Me and Aria or me and Byron?" Ella asked, rolling her eyes at how messy her life was becoming.

"Both." Leo replied.

"Me and Aria are fine. I mean we need to address the Ezra thing eventually but so much has happened that it's never really going to be a good time." Ella explained. "As for me and Byron... I don't think we're going to get through this." She admitted.

As much as Leo hated seeing Ella upset, he couldn't help but feel slightly happy that Byron was out of the picture. Since becoming more involved in her life, Leo was starting to realise that his feelings for Ella had never really gone away.

"Don't give up on your marriage, Piper." Leo finally said, cursing himself for his need to be the good guy. "He'd be an idiot to lose you." He added.

"I don't know if I can trust him again."

"At least give yourselves a chance to talk it out."

"We tried that. I almost blew him up."

"Piper!" Leo exclaimed.

"Don't worry I went for the clock instead." She said. "Which you could fix if you're feeling up to it." She smirked.

"You know I hated pretending to be a handyman." He laughed. "Why not use another spell that you think the Elders don't know about?"

"They know?" Piper asked, guiltily.

"I shouldn't be telling you this but they're cutting you a little slack after all you've done for them. Just don't abuse it." He warned.

"I won't." Ella promised, placing her hand on Leo's leg. His eyes were drawn to her hand as she pulled it back, realising what she'd done. "Sorry." She muttered.

"Don't be." Leo replied quickly. Ella looked up to meet his eyes. "I mean..." He hesitated.

"What?" Ella whispered, not breaking eye contact with him.

For a second Ella was sure Leo was leaning in to kiss her before abruptly moving away and sitting up straight on the couch.

"We can't." He said. "You're married."

"I know."

"You should give things another try with Byron." Leo insisted.

"Is that what you want?" Ella asked.

"You know it isn't." He replied quietly, his tone serious.

"Then why ask me to do it?"

"I'm not going to be the guy who breaks up your family."

"You're not. Byron is." Ella said.

"Your kids won't see it that way." Leo argued.

"I love you."

Leo's jaw dropped at her confession. She loved him? After all this time?

"You..." He started.

"I... I'm sorry." Ella stuttered. "I shouldn't have said anything."

Leo hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should admit to his feelings. Seeing the hurt look in Ella's eyes made up his mind. Slowly, he brought his hand to her cheek and stroked it softly as he whispered. "I love you too."

"You do?" Ella asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"Always." He confirmed, leaning in to kiss her. Their lips met and it was as if the past two decades had melted away and they were back to being young newly-weds. The kiss was familiar yet new, exciting and passionate at once. Ella made a move to deepen the kiss and Leo obliged, relishing in the moment until Ella pulled away slightly out of breath.

"We can't..." She started.

Leo put his finger to her lips. "Shhh." He whispered.

Ella nodded, leaning in to rest her head on Leo's shoulder.

"What are we going to do?" She asked.

"You should talk to Byron. Find out where you stand. After that we'll..." He trailed off.

"I don't think I can face him right now." Ella admitted, feeling emotionally drained. Her life was becoming a rollercoaster of ups and downs and she hoped that it would settle down again soon.

"Don't leave it too long." Leo advised, and Ella was sure she heard a slight pleading tone to his voice.

"I won't." She promised. "You should go now though. No doubt my sisters have been listening in and are ready to bombard me with their opinions as soon as you orb out."

Leo laughed. "Ok. Bye Piper." He smiled, kissing her on the cheek before orbing out.

Ella didn't need a premonition to know what would happen next.

"I knew it!" Phoebe exclaimed, coming out of the kitchen triumphantly.

"Can we not make a big deal out of this?" Ella pleaded. "I don't know what's going to happen. I mean it's not just me to think about here. There's the kids and..."

"Aria's fine with it." Prue interrupted.

"She's what?" Ella asked. "She talked to you about it?" Prue nodded and Ella sighed. Was her love life the topic of everyone's discussion today?

Paige interrupted, sensing that her older sister didn't want to talk about what had happened. "Should we order a take out for dinner? I don't think any of us feel up for cooking."

Ella mouthed a 'thank you' at her and she smiled back before arguing with Phoebe about what they should order.

A few streets down, Aria and her friends were arriving at Hanna's house.

"So what's the big emergency?" Hanna asked once they were in her bedroom.

"I got another text from 'A'." Aria started as she fished out her phone from her purse. She showed them the texts, receiving gasps from her friends as they read the threats that 'A' was making. "What should I do?" She asked once they'd finished reading.

"You have to tell him." Spencer figured.

"But he'll completely freak." Aria protested.

"Even if you don't tell him he'll find out anyway." Emily pointed out

"I know I just don't think mom ever wanted him to know."

"She'll be thankful that you told him if it means your secret stays safe." Spencer added.

Aria paused for a moment, thinking over their arguments. It was nothing that she hadn't been over in her mind herself but she needed to hear it out loud to really take in that they were her only options.

"How do I even go about telling him?"

"Well how did your mom tell you?" Hanna asked.

"She didn't. I walked in on her talking to her mom and grams. That kind of let the cat out of the bag." She laughed.

"Then maybe try showing him some magic." Emily suggested. After noticing Aria's confused look, she continued. "If you bring the subject up out of the blue he won't believe you but if he sees someone doing magic he'll have no choice and you don't have to open with the awkward 'Hi dad I'm a witch'."

"I guess that makes sense." Aria considered. "I mean he's got to have some suspicions after mom blew up the clock earlier."

"So are you going to do it?" Hanna asked.

"She doesn't really have a choice." Spencer replied bluntly.

"Spence..." Hanna warned.

"She's right." Aria said, interrupting Hanna. "It's not like 'A' is known for playing fair. Hopefully the sooner I do it the better it will be for everyone."

"Good luck." Emily said as Aria picked up her purse and car keys. She thanked her friends and said goodbye before heading out to her car and calling her dad. She got the address of the hotel that he was staying at and drove straight there, not wanting to waste and time, giving 'A' a reason to make more threats to expose them.

Once she arrived she got the room number from the woman behind the desk and followed the signs to the room that Byron was staying in. She knocked on the door and her father opened it. A quick glance behind him assured Aria that he was alone and she wouldn't have to deal with Meredith.

"Hi dad." She greeted as he let her inside.

"Hi honey, what brings you here?" He asked.

"I have something to tell you." She started.

"If it's a message from your mother tell her to come here and tell me herself. She can't use you as a messenger."

"That's rich coming from you." Aria scoffed. It was clear to Byron that he wasn't his daughter's favourite person in the world right now but he wanted to change that. He still wanted to be a part of his children's lives.

"I know what I asked you to do was wrong Aria but I couldn't hurt your mother like that."

"Did you think of maybe not cheating on her?" She asked sarcastically.

"I'm sorry." He apologised. "I deserve your anger, I know that. But I'm still hoping one day you'll forgive me."

"It won't happen any time soon." Aria replied. "But this isn't why I'm here. There's something big that I need to tell you because if I don't me and mom could get in a lot of trouble. Don't ask how, just listen." She warned as she sat down on the bed. Byron took a seat next to Aria and turned to face her, bracing himself for whatever she was about to tell him. He hoped that it wasn't something else about Ezra. He hated the man enough already and knew he wouldn't be able to restrain himself if he'd hurt his daughter.

"So what do you need to tell me?" He asked.

"It's probably easier if I showed you." She started, remembering Emily's advice. She squinted at one of the pillows on the bed, sending it flying across the hotel room and landing by the door. Byron jumped up from his seat in shock.

"What was that?" He asked, half shouting.

"I'm a witch." Aria replied, her voice so soft with nerves that it was almost a whisper.

"A witch?" Byron shouted again.

"Dad please calm down." Aria pleaded.

"How did this even happen?" He asked.

"I got it from mom. All the women in her family are witches." She started to explain.

"You mean your mom's a witch as well? All this time I've been with her and she never thought to mention it?" He said; his voice getting louder as his emotions became heightened. He couldn't distinguish between anger, fear and surprise but he knew whatever he was feeling was bad and Aria knew it too. "I have to go see her." He declared.

"That's not a good idea." Aria said. "Wait until you've calmed down."

"Calmed down? How do you expect me to be calm about this Aria?" He asked. "We're going home to see your mom so I can ask her what the hell she was thinking keeping this from me for all of these years? And yet she feels she has the right to kick me out for lying to her."

As much as Aria wanted to tell him exactly what she thought about his last statement, she bit her tongue.

"Fine we'll go to mom but I'm not letting you drive." She said, grabbing her purse and following Byron, who was already half way out of the door.

The drive home was tense, neither of them saying a word to one another as they tried to process the situation that they were now in.

Once they arrived, Byron stormed into the house and straight to the living room where Ella was sat with her three sisters.

"You're a fucking witch!" He shouted, causing all four women to jump a bit.

"What?" Ella screamed.

"Aria told me."

"She's making it up." Ella stuttered.

"Did you really think I'd fall for that? She showed me her freaky powers."

It was then that Ella noticed Aria starting to cry by the door.

"Aria?" She asked, half concerned and half accusingly.

"I didn't have a choice." She whispered.

Immediately, Ella's anger towards her daughter subsided. Of course there was no way Aria would've told Byron their secret if 'A' hadn't made her.

"What did they say?" Prue asked, getting up and walking towards her niece.

"That they'd tell the whole town. I couldn't let that happen." Aria cried.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Byron shouted.

"Aria, why don't you go and stay with a friend tonight?" Ella suggested. Aria looked at her gratefully, not wanting to be witness to the big argument that she was sure was brewing between her parents. She headed upstairs to pack an overnight bag and text Spencer to ask if she could stay over. Spencer replied immediately, saying that she was glad Aria had asked as she couldn't stand having to play happy families with Melissa for the rest of the evening. Aria smiled at her friend's attitude towards her sister and promptly left the house, avoiding any more contact with her father.

Meanwhile, Byron and Ella were still fighting.

"You should've told me what you were!" He shouted.

"Given how you're acting right now is it any surprise I didn't?" Ella spat back.

Byron turned to Ella's sisters. "Do you want to give us some privacy?" He asked rhetorically.

Phoebe answered nonetheless. "I think we should stay here." She said firmly. She didn't want to leave her sister to deal with the fallout on her own.

"This doesn't concern any of you. It's between me and my wife."

"If you think we're leaving her alone with you like this you're mad." Paige told him.

"Paige, it's fine." Ella insisted. "You three don't need to be dragged into this."

Prue, knowing that her sister could stick up for herself, gave her a hug before suggesting that Paige orbed them elsewhere. Paige nodded, grabbing hold of both Prue and Phoebe's hands and orbed them to the attic. Once they arrived there was no communication needed as to why she'd taken them there. None of them really wanted to leave Ella alone and they wanted to be there for her straight away once Byron had left. Paige had a sneaking suspicion that Ella knew exactly where they were as well.

"What the fuck was that?" Byron asked.

"Orbing." Ella commented. "Now are you going sit down and talk with me rationally about this or do you want to have a screaming match and annoy the neighbours?" She asked.

"How do you expect me to talk rationally with you? You've lied to me for the entire time I've known you. I don't even know who you are any more."

"I'm still the same person." She argued.

"How can you justify kicking me out of the house for what happened when you've been lying to me from day one?"

"Firstly I didn't kick you out – you left." Ella reminded him. "And secondly you cheated on me! That's hardly a small lie."

"And the fact that you're some freaky witch is?" He asked.

"That's not what I meant." Ella backtracked. "I just mean that what you did hurt this whole family and for what? For the sake of you being selfish! I lied to you to protect you. I couldn't drag you in to that part of my life with all the demons and warlocks that came after me."

"Now you're being ridiculous! There's no such thing as demons. Next you're going to tell me that there are ghosts as well!"

Ella smirked. "Actually Prue is a ghost. You saw her just now."

"This isn't funny Ella. Tell me the truth."

"I am. If you don't believe me then that's your problem!"

"You know what? I can't even stand to be around you! I'll come by tomorrow to grab the rest of my things and then I'm moving away from you and your freaky sisters!" Bryon shouted.

"Fine by me." Ella remarked. "But just know that if you ever tell anyone about this I know some pretty powerful spells that could make life very difficult for you." She lied, hoping that his lack of knowledge would fuel his fear enough to keep him quiet.

"Oh don't worry. I don't want to end up in Radley going on about witches and ghosts." Byron scoffed. Without another word he left the house, slamming the door so hard Ella could swear she felt the house shake.

Hearing the door slam, Phoebe, Paige and Prue headed downstairs to check that Ella was ok. They saw her slumped against the wall, her body curled up and shaking with tears. Phoebe was the first to reach her and enveloped her sister in a hug while she cried. Prue and Paige quickly joined them and they stayed like that until Ella had no more tears left to cry.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Paige whispered once she had calmed down.

"I don't think I can right now." Ella admitted, her voice hoarse from crying. "I'm going to try and get some sleep." She said, standing up and heading to her bedroom.

The next morning Ella left early to go to work hoping to avoid Byron when he returned to pick up the rest of his belongings, especially after what had happened last night. She felt exhausted, having not slept well at all. The argument she'd had with Byron had kept her awake for most of the night and she was sure the evidence for that was written all over her face. She walked in to her classroom to find a man rummaging through her desk. She cleared her throat and the man looked up at her guiltily.

"Sorry mo...ma'am." He stuttered. "I was just looking for some paper to leave you a note."

"Well I'm here now." She pointed out. "Who are you?"

"I'm the new guidance counsellor, Wyatt." He smiled, offering her his hand nervously.

"And why did you want to see me?" She asked sceptically as she placed her bag down on her desk and started up her computer.

"I was just hoping to introduce myself." Wyatt said, trying to cover up the fact that he was snooping around in her classroom. "I started yesterday and your name came up in a couple of conversations. The students think very highly of you." He added, hoping that flattery would win her around somewhat. He needed to talk to her in private to find out more about her. "Would you like to come by my office later and we can get to know each other? I don't really know anyone here and would like to see a friendly face in the halls."

Ella agreed, hoping that his motives were as pure as he was making them out to be. The last thing she needed in her life was any more drama. They decided to meet for lunch in Wyatt's office and go from there.

Once lunchtime arrived, Ella headed to the guidance counsellor's office. She was just about to knock when the name on the door caught her eye. Wyatt Halliwell. Could he be any relation to her? She figured there was no harm in asking as she knocked gently on the door.

"It's open, come in." Wyatt smiled. He finally got a good look at Ella, having been preoccupied earlier. The first thing he noticed was how young she looked but then he looked closer and could see the tiredness and pain in her eyes. He wanted nothing more to destroy whoever had put that there but knew any mention of those feelings would make her suspicious, which was something that he couldn't afford right now.

"Hi." Ella greeted. "Did you want to go to the cafeteria for lunch?" She asked.

"Actually I bought my own with me." He said, pulling a Tupperware pot out of his bag.

"That looks delicious." Ella commented as he opened the lid.

"Thanks, my mom taught me how to make it. She's a great cook." He replied, a hint of sadness in his voice for reasons that Ella couldn't identify.

"I noticed on your door that your last name is Halliwell." Ella asked, a tone of question in the statement. "I only bring it up because that's my maiden name. Do you reckon we're related?" She joked.

"You never know." Wyatt laughed.

The pair spent their lunch break getting to know one another. They didn't get too personal, despite Wyatt wanting to know what was bothering her, but Ella found herself enjoying the young man's company.