Busted

The following morning I woke up to the sound of the floorboards near me creaking loudly. I groaned and slowly opening my eyes. Standing over me was Andy's dad, looking quite confused. I slowly sat up, rubbing my eyes. Should I say something or wait for him to make the first move? I wasn't sure if he was going to be mad that I was there.

"Morning, Prue," he said pleasantly.

"Morning, Mr. Trudeau," I murmured quietly.

"Prue, please. Call me Alex. Mr. Trudeau is so formal," he commented.

"I'll try to remember that," I sighed as I looked around. Where was Andy? It had to be time for school soon.

"Um…are you alright?" he suddenly asked me.

"I...yeah…why?" I mumbled.

"You look pale. And it looks like you've got a bruise under your eye," he responded. I lifted my hand to touch my cheek. It did sting still. At least my headache was gone.

"I'm ok. Maybe I just need to eat," I lied. I didn't feel fine at al.. In fact I just wanted to curl up into a ball again and sleep.

"Well help yourself to the fridge. Andy should be up soon. You two have school," Alex called over his shoulder as he grabbed his coat and keys. Without another word he was out the door. God I would hate to be a cop. I was not a morning person. I slowly lay back down on the couch, not wanting to go anywhere. I must have drifted back to sleep because the next thing I knew I felt a hand shaking me.

"Prue, come on get up. We need to grab something to eat," I heard Andy's voice instruct me.

"I don't want to," I murmured, trying to shrug his hand off. The hand did not go away.

"I'm serious. We can't be late for school," he protested. I finally opened my eyes and looked at him. I squinted and he went flying backwards.

"That's not fair," he accused.

"Sorry," I yawned and slowly sat up again. I wasn't really hungry but I figured I should eat something or else I'd be starving by lunch. I tossed the blankets off and stood up, following Andy into the kitchen. Andy looked at me as he pulled open the door to the fridge and grabbed the carton of orange juice.

"What do you want?" he questioned. I shrugged. I didn't care. I suddenly felt really bad about using my powers against him. Sure it was just a little mental shove but he didn't deserve it.

"I'm sorry for pushing you," I said softly, knowing I'd already apologized.

"Don't worry about it. I know it's your defense mechanism. I understand," he sighed, taking my hand in his.

"But that doesn't mean I can just use it on innocents. I promise it won't happen again," I promised.

"Here," he said changing the subject as he handed me a glass of juice. I took it and sat down.

"How about some oatmeal?" he offered. I nodded my head 'yes' even though the though of oatmeal currently made me want to puke. I sipped my juice as he set about making breakfast. My mind wandered to last night again. I closed my eyes to try and remember more clearly what had happened but it was all still a bit of a blur.

"Prue," I heard Andy calling again, pulling me from my thoughts. I opened my eye and looked as he placed a bowl of cinnamon oatmeal in front of me. I took a deep breath as I picked up the spoon and took a bite. It was ok but it still made my stomach churn. He sat down across from me and we ate in silence.

For the first time in all the years we'd known each other it was uncomfortable. I caught him looking at me a few times and it made me nervous. I know he doesn't have any powers but it felt like he was trying to read my mind.

"How'd you sleep?" he finally asked.

"It was ok. Thanks for letting me crash here last night. I just couldn't face Grams," I said with a small smirk.

"No problem. I just hope she doesn't get too mad today," he chuckled.

"Me too," I mumbled as I took another spoonful of oatmeal and forced myself to eat it.

Some ten minutes later I watched him head upstairs to get dressed. It was then that I realized I couldn't show up to school in the same clothes I'd worn yesterday, especially sine they were all wrinkled. When he finally came back down I was leaning against the wall near the front door.

"You ready to go?" he questioned, pulling his coat on.

"Yeah….can we stop back at my place. I need to change. Wouldn't want to show up to school looking like this," I replied.

"Sure thing," he assured me and we headed out the front door.

A few minutes later he had pulled up to the Manor. I climbed out of the car and headed for the tree in the front yard. I jumped and managed to grab a low branch, pulling myself up. I knew Andy was watching me and probably thinking I was a complete idiot but I didn't want to risk running into Grams. Hopefully my window was still open. I finally reached my room and peeked inside. No one was in there and the window was indeed open. I slipped in and heaved a sigh of relief. I grabbed my brush and ran it through my hair and reapplied my make up. Next I began to root through my closet to find something decent to wear. Just as I was pulling on clean underwear and jeans the door opened and Phoebe poked her head in.

"Prue?" she whispered.

"What are you doing?" I hissed at her, knowing Grams could appear at any moment. She opened her mouth and I could tell she was about to yell Grams' name. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the room.

"Don't, please," I begged my baby sister.

"But Grams is mad. You didn't come home last night," Phoebe informed me. Like I didn't already know that?

"I know…I'll talk to her after school. I just….please keep your mouth shut," I ordered her. I didn't really expect her to keep it a secret. Phoebe was horrible at keeping secrets. As long as she kept her mouth shut long enough for me to get to school I would be ok.

"What do I get if I don't tell her?" Phoebe asked. It was always something with her.

"Can't you just keep this secret for me…just once because I'm your big sister?" I begged. She tapped her chin for a minute in though.

"Ok…just this once," she agreed before heading out of the room. I sighed once more and pulled on a new shirt. I checked myself in the mirror one last time. I'd managed to hide the bruise fairly well with concealer. I grabbed my backpack and tossed it out the window. I was halfway out the window myself when I heard a very stern voice call my name.

"Prudence, get back in this room right now," Grams demanded. I climbed back in. Damn it, Phoebe. I slowly turned to face her.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"School," I answered. It was the truth.

"By climbing out the window? Why not use the front door like civilized people?" she taunted.

"Look, Grams. I'm going to be late. Can we just talk about this when I get back from school?" I asked, hoping she'd say yes.

"Do not change the subject. I want to know why you did not come home last night. I was up half the night worried sick," she informed me.

"I'm really sorry, Grams. I just…I'm going to be late," I repeated and walked past her out of my room. I passed Phoebe and Piper's room but didn't say anything. I was going to kick Phoebe's butt when I got home. I slammed the front door behind me and climbed back into Andy's car.

"Things go ok?" he asked gently.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said through gritted teeth. I caught him from the corner of my eye and seemed to just drop it. He revved the engine and we sped off towards the school. We pulled up just as the final bell was ringing.

"This is just great. Now we've got detention," I groaned.

"Come on, it won't be that bad," he urged me. I just shook my head and climbed out of the car. We made our way towards the office to get hall passes. I took the slip from the secretary and headed for my locker.

"I'll see you later," Andy whispered in my ear and kissed my cheek. Just as I shut my locker I felt a hand on my shoulder. I spun around to see Piper.

"What?" I snapped.

"Grams wasn't the only one worried last night you know," she said, not fazed by my grumpy mood.

"Whatever. I'm already late enough as it is," I muttered, trying to ditch her. I half expected her to follow me but thankfully she just continued on her way to the bathroom.