Chapter 7: Awkward Moments

A/N: Thanks to all of my lovely reviewers. You make my day! A special thanks for Carmen, for listening when I constantly talk about this in French and history. In honor of Carmen, Patience's middle name is Carmen. By the way, I like long reviews. Enjoy.

Two days had passed since Aidan had appeared in the attic. Grams had done a good job explaining his appearance. He was now the son of a family friend that I had never heard of. We had relaxed a bit on the whole getting home thing. It wasn't going anywhere, so there was really no point in pushing it.

I saw a lot of Phoebe and Piper over the time I was in the past. Aunt Piper mostly stayed out of my way, but the young version of my mother wanted to be my best friend. Just like the mother I knew, she wouldn't leave me alone.

Melinda wasn't any better. I was glad she was back; ecstatic even. She just wouldn't stop her relentless teasing. Every time I saw her, she would mockingly think, 'Patience likes Aidan.' Loud enough for me to hear. If she teased me telepathically, no one else could tell her to stop. My cousin was too crafty for her own good.

It wasn't as though it was true or anything. Aidan was my friend since childhood, nothing more. He was a bit clumsy and awkward at times, but it wasn't as though I liked him…in that way. I liked him as a friend, sure, but nothing more.

When Piper and Phoebe were at school, Grams had no choice, but to leave us home alone. We were supposed to be researching a way to get home, but that got boring after a while.

We had gone through the book of shadows dozens of times, and that was pretty much our only source of information. The spell Aidan had used to get here would be of no use because it was a one time thing. Aidan didn't think things through enough.

Melinda had gotten a strange idea into her head. She loved horror movies, and she wanted us all to watch a really old one on TV. She made a really big deal about it, making us popcorn and everything. Chris decided to take a rare break from his demon hunting, and joined us as well. The order on the couch was me, Aidan, Chris and Melinda. Melinda had sworn to me that the order was totally coincidental.

I had never seen the movie, but Aidan told me he had seen it hundreds of times. He was into that sort of thing. The movie was much scarier than I had expected. People eating other people just didn't bode well with me.

A particularly scary part, with the main character being eaten alive flashed across the screen. I screeched, and grabbed onto Aidan's arm. I realized what I was doing, and practically jumped off him. I felt myself begin to blush. Then I screamed, because a fake plant in the corner burst into flames.

I'd like to take this opportunity to explain something about Aidan. When he gets extremely nervous, things tend to burst into flames. Once, he was really nervous about a test he didn't study for, everyone ended up with a burnt paper. I guess that the movie really scared him. Come to think of it…he wasn't much looking at the movie.

The fire was put out quickly, but that didn't stop my cousins' relentless teasing. "So when's the wedding?" Melinda asked mockingly. I glared menacingly at her. Aidan was a good friend, and nothing more. Her statement was totally ridiculous…wasn't it?

Aidan was unusually quiet during our improvised lunch. I didn't dare ask him about the fire. Instead, I observed him. He was chewing his cheese sandwich slowly, with an almost mournful expression on his face. I found myself looking at his lips. He did have nice lips. 'No. I mustn't think about that', I scolded myself.

I wanted more ketchup, so I stood up in my chair to get some. The table was pretty crowded. I had to reach over Aidan to get the ketchup. Predictably, I chose that moment to be clumsy. I tripped over thin air, and landed in Aidan's lap. Again.

The lid of the ketchup I was reaching for burst into flames. I was quick to pick myself up and blow out the fire. It didn't matter. The damage was already done. Aidan turned the brightest shad of red that I had ever seen, and mumbled inaudible words of apology. I was sure that I was blushing too. Melinda ran out of the room, laughing hysterically. I was glad that Chris had decided to go demon hunting. If he was here, I'd never hear the end of it.

Of course, I didn't like Aidan in the way Melinda though I did. Still, he was a really nice guy, and I felt a bit sorry for him. I had never seen him that nervous before, and I had known him my own life. All of the fire incidents had preceded an embarrassing incident involving me. Did I really make him that nervous?

I hated to admit it, but he made me sort of nervous too. That didn't mean I loved him. Did it? I liked him as a friend. He was smart, nice, and maybe a little cute. He did have nice eyes, a sort of grayish blue you could get lost in. That so didn't mean that I liked him in that way.

Whether or not I was in love with Aidan Pierce truthfully, was a mystery to me. What did happen was that for the next few hours, I did my best to avoid Aidan. It wasn't as easy as it seemed. Halliwell manor suddenly became very small. Right before Piper and Phoebe were due to be home, I literally bumped into him. I saw smoke rise from the carpet, but it quickly subsided. Perhaps he was beginning to control his fire starting.

The strangest thing happened when Piper and Phoebe got home. Piper went up to her room with nothing more than a mumbled hello. That wasn't what was so strange. The moment Phoebe walked in the door; she attached herself to Aidan's arm. I was satisfied that nothing burst into flames.

"I like your hair", Phoebe said a little too sweetly.

This was so wrong, sick and wrong. My mother was flirting with one of my best friends, who just happened to be 14 years old. That was wrong, disgusting even. A daughter should never be in competition wither her mother. Not in a million years, no matter the decade.

'Was that what this was? A competition?' I asked myself. I realized that it was. I had just recognized that the boiling angry feeling that had just formed in the pit of my stomach. I was jealous, jealous of my own mother. I had nothing to be jealous of. It wasn't as if he was my boyfriend or anything. But did I want him to be?

My mother led Aidan forcefully into the other room. It took all of my willpower not to transform into my demonic form and follow them. I was about to act on the impulse when Melinda came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"What's up?" she asked cheerfully. Obviously, she had forgotten about her teasing fun. I sat down and sighed. Melinda sat down next to me. This reminded me of our late night conversations in our time.

"Aidan", I said simply. Melinda understood, even better than I did at the time.

" I know you like it, and it's okay to admit it", Melinda said sincerely. I wouldn't admit it, simply because it wasn't true. I began to get defensive.

"I don't like him. Well, not like that. Well…he's nice and all, but not that nice. I mean, I don't want him to be my boyfriend", I said at a lightening speed. I was mumbling, and Melinda knew it.

"You're hopelessly in love with Aidan Pierce", Melinda said matter of factly. "The sooner you admit it, the easier it will be." I said nothing, thinking I had nothing to admit. Melinda walked away in a huff, clucking her tongue in maddening superiority. I hated when she did that.

Much to my dismay, my insistence that I didn't like Aidan was tested. Grams had returned, and had forced use time-travelers back to work. On one hand, I was grateful that Grams had forced Aidan away from my mother. That was just gross. On the other hand, I didn't want to get back to work.

The "work" we were doing was entirely pointless. Melinda was flipping through the Book of Shadows, trying to appear as though she was doing something. Chris was pouring over complex maps and was pouring over complex maps and charts, looking impressive. Grams was making an unidentified potion, telling no one what she was doing.

Once again, I was paired with Aidan. We were in charge of composing a spell. I was doing my best not to make eye contact.

"What rhymes with time?" he asked, scratching his head.

"Lime, dime, rhyme, chime", I listed ticking them off on my fingers. He scribbled something on the piece of paper he had been using. He then crossed it out, and wrote something new.

"Okay, how does this sound?" he asked. The he began the first verse of the spell he had come up with. He chanted, "We travelers throughout time, we ask for help with our rhyme…"

I was silent, pretending to seriously ponder the question. I tried desperately to hold back the laughter that I knew would come. "It was…sucky", I said with the straightest face I could muster. I began giggling, which turned to chuckling, which eventually became hysterical laughter. Much to my surprise, Aidan was laughing as well.

"That's so mean", Aidan said while laughing. He punched me playfully, and we fell to the floor in a great laughing heap. This was how it usually was; two friends having a laugh together. I loved how it was minus all of the tension.

"It was a sucky suckfest", Aidan admitted when we had composed ourselves. I bit my lip to keep myself from bursting into laughter again. After a few deep breaths, I was pretty much calm.

"We should" – I began. I was cut off by the appearance of two burly demons. Before anyone could do anything, before the presence of the demons had really registered, before I could even scream, one demon grabbed me, and one grabbed Aidan, and we shimmered out.

We ended up in a dark dank cave. It was stereotypical underworld cave. There was nothing really special about it. The moment we entered the cave the demons left. Why would they leave us alone like this? It was so dark that I could barely see two feet in front of my face. I nearly tripped over Aidan. "I am get out of here", I said confidently.

I could shimmer now, so getting out of here would be a piece of cake. I concentrated, imagining myself disappearing, and reappearing out of the cave. I felt myself dissolving, and my invisible form floated through the air. The invisible form of myself approached the wall. I hit the hard stone wall, flying backwards. I reformed in mid air, and hit the ground with a loud thump.

"Damn", I said, brushing the dust off of my pants. " There must be some sort of magical force field."

"Damn is right!" Aidan yelled, kicking the cave wall for no apparent reason. Several small pebbles fell from the ceiling, and Aidan leapt out of the way.

'This was great, just great', I thought very sarcastically. The worst possible thing had happened. I was stuck in a dark cave with Aidan Pierce, and I was bound to make him nervous. This was going to be a long night…

TBC…

Up next: Chapter 8: Teeth, Darkness, Fading…and All That Jazz