Okay, not the best chapter and some of you will be upset to hear that Joey isn't in this one much but I hope you enjoy it anyway :)
Valentines Day
Phoebe glanced over at Ethan once again to see him glancing at her. She blushed and looked back at the front of the class with a smile on her face.
She tried to understand what her professor was saying but the giggling behind her was distracting. Finally, she had had enough and turned around.
"What's up with my study group having fun without me?" she asked, narrowing her eyes teasingly as they smiled at her.
"Sorry, Phoebe, you looked busy." Andrea said and Phoebe smiled.
"Use your time in section tomorrow, tail line your group's thesis, be specific. Better yet, just spell check. See you next week." The professor said and everyone started packing up.
Phoebe turned around and bit her lip when she saw the cover of the book her three friends were giggling over.
"Is that a book of love spells?" she asked amused.
"Yeah, found it in the valentines display over at the campus bookstore." Andrea passed it to the young witch.
Tessa rolled her eyes. "It's stupid."
"Is not." Brooke scoffed.
"We just figured, you know, since we're dateless this year, maybe it'll give us some laughs." Andrea said as Phoebe flipped through the book, laughing to herself at how wrong the spells were.
"What?" Brooke asked.
"Oh, nothing. It's just they've got it backwards. You'd never say it in that order. First you say what's lacking and then what's needed. Here, try this. 'From strike of twelve count twenty-four, that's how long the spell is for, if to abate my lonely heart, enchant these gifts I thee impart.' See?" Phoebe asked but her smile faded when she saw them staring at her. "Um, I'm doing a paper on the growing popularity of witchcraft." She handed them back the book and carried on packing. "Hey, if you guys want something fun to do tomorrow night, you should check out my sister's club."
She handed them a flier. "Cool." Brooke and Tessa said together.
"No dates required." Phoebe added and Andrea smiled.
"Okay." She agreed.
"We'll be there." Tessa said as they all stood up.
"See you at the section tomorrow." Phoebe said before walking over to Ethan. "Hey, there's a party tomorrow night." She handed him a flier from out of her bag and gave it to him. "You should come."
Ethan looked down at the flier for P4. "Why?"
Phoebe paused. "Because I'll be there."
Piper and Bella looked at Prue in surprise when she walked into the kitchen looking like she'd just woken up.
"What's wrong with this picture?" Piper asked.
Prue smiled. "Okay, is that rhetorical or do I actually have to open my eyes to look at something?"
"It's weird." Bella said, staring at her oldest sister like she had never seen her before. "It's a weekend and Phoebe's already at the campus while you, Prue Halliwell, master of the morning meetings, sultan of scheduling and queen of - "
"Cut it." Prue sent her a mock glare.
"How's it feel to be footloose and office free?"
"Amazing. You know what I'm gonna do today?"
"What?" Piper asked.
"Absolutely nothing."
"Really? Really, Prue? Nothing entails physically doing nothing, thinking about nothing and worrying about nothing, as suppose to your sister here who's so in the middle of something." Piper ranted, making her two sisters watch her carefully.
"What's wrong?" Bella asked.
"Well, for starters there is tomorrow." Piper said but the two of them just stared. "Valentines day." Prue's eyes widened in realisation while Bella groaned in distaste.
"I hate valentines day." Bella complained. "Why spend one day showing your love when you can do it all year?"
Piper and Prue rolled their eyes in amusement. She said that every year.
"I completely forgot. See? I'm doing nothing already." Prue said with a smile.
"And Dan wants me to have a V-day dinner with him." Piper said with a sigh.
"Oh...that's good."
"Yeah, except for the fact that there's..." Piper trailed off with a sigh.
"Leo. I mean, he is mortal now, doesn't that change things? Piper, you're our sister and we're with you whatever and whoever you choose." Prue said kindly before turning to Bella who had gone quiet. "Same goes for you."
"How is Joey anyway?" Piper asked curiously.
"He's fine. Except for the fact that he has to hide away in case someone recognises him." Bella sighed before picking up two mugs and taking them upstairs. She knew Joey was getting restless and would be happy when the suspension is all over - something she wasn't sure that she wanted.
Piper sighed as she carried the huge heart made of roses over to the bar before freezing when she noticed as small bunch of flowers lying on the bar.
"Who are these for?" she asked to herself and Leo suddenly popped up from behind the bar.
"They're for you. I know they're not much."
Piper blushed. "They're beautiful. Um, but Leo - "
"But it's, you know, the best I could do. You know, no I.D., no transportation, no money. I just wanted you to have something to mark the day."
"Thank you. I have something for you too. Although not nearly as romantic but still a good thing." She held up some money. "Your first pay cheque, or cash rather. I thought it would be easier."
She handed it to him. "So did I. Anyway, thanks. Looks like after everything, I'm still working for the Charmed Ones."
"Is all this... you doing okay with it?"
"Better than Joey. We gotta make it up as we go. Piper, if me being here is awkward for you - "
"No, um, what's there to be awkward about?"
Leo didn't answer the question. He picked up a tray of glasses. "These go in the back, right?" he asked and Piper nodded, watching as he walked to the store room before noticing Dan walking over to her.
She smiled when she saw that he was carrying a big bunch of flowers. "What are those? I thought that we were gonna wait until tonight."
He put them on the bar, on top of Leo's flowers, before pausing. "You're right. I should take them back." He picked them back up, smiling at her teasingly.
She laughed, taking the flowers back. "Don't you dare. Give them to me. They're beautiful. Thank you." He smiled pulling her into a hug but when he pulled back he wasn't smiling.
"Uh...Piper." He said slowly. "Is there something you wanted to tell me?"
She stared at him. "Not that I know of."
"You sure?" he asked as Leo walked over to them.
"Dan." He said quietly.
"Leo." Dan said, through his teeth as Leo picked up the huge heart and walked away. "You never mentioned he was here."
Piper bit her lip. "Leo's here. You're right. I meant to and then things got busy, so, um, I didn't and I'm sorry. He's just helping out."
"With what exactly?"
"Um, you know, handy man, busboy, bar back, security type stuff. He needed a place to and it's really not a big deal, Dan."
"That's just the point, it is. When he's around, you're, I don't know, different. We're different. How do you want me to handler that?"
"And to tell you truth, if the situation were reversed, I don't know how I would feel. But I do know how I feel right now."
"How do you feel?"
"Like for the first time in a very long time I'm actually looking forward to a valentines day dinner and you're the the reason." She smiled up at him and he smiled back before pulling her into another hug, neither of them noticing Leo watching sadly.
Bella and Joey laughed as they watched the screen.
"I've missed this." Joey chuckled, taking a handfull of popcorn.
"Nice to know that you missed me." Bella said, mock glaring and he rolled his eyes.
"I always watched over you, like I said I would. I could hardly miss you." He smiled at her and her heart did back flips. "I missed not being able to talk to you, though."
Bella smiled happily before turning back to the screen.
"Uh, is Brianna there?" Prue asked down the phone before sighing when she heard the answer. "Of course she's at work. Um, yeah, hi, this is Prue calling. No, you can actually just erase that number. She can reach me at home. Home, I'll be home. Okay, bye." Prue hung up before looking at the flowers on the dresser. She tried to center it by using her power but it always slid across too far. She jumped when the phone rang and immediately picked it up from her lap. "Prue Hal...hello?"
"Hello, yourself. How is the life of leisure going?" Phoebe asked down the phone.
"It's great. I don't know why you ever gave it up."
"Yeah, because that house is only big enough for one home bound Halliwell. Hey, I'm just on my way to class but I wanted to know if Brooke or Andrea or Tessa called."
"No, no one called. Nobody. Zip. Nada. Zilch." Prue said dryly, bored out of her mind.
Phoebe frowned as she walked to her next class. "That is so weird. They never showed up for our section today."
"How could you do this to them?" she heard someone exclaim and looked over to see a man yelling at guy cooking sausages. He suddenly scooped up the sausages from the grill and threw them in the air. "Run, run my brothers! Run free!" He yelled before running off. Phoebe smiled and shook her head.
"Um, so hey, Phoebe, I was wondering if maybe we could meet for lunch and if you're pressed for time, then I can just come to campus." Prue asked, drawing her younger sisters attention back to their conversation.
"Actually I was gonna pick up a sandwich on the way to class."
"Okay, so what about after class? We could go to the gym." Phoebe froze as she looked up to see a blonde guy holding a girl against a fence. "Pheebs?"
"I gotta go, Prue." Phoebe said uickly before hanging up.
"You're hurting me! Stop! Get off!" The girl cried as Phoebe got closer to the pair.
"Hey, is there a problem?" Phoebe asked, grabbing the guys shoulder before being pulled into a premonition of the guy biting someone. She came back into reality as the guy turned around and she tripped him quickly.
The guy got up and ran off while Phoebe turned to the girl. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.
The girl nodded. "Yeah."
Phoebe ran after the guy around the corner to find him standing on the wall. She watched wide eyed as he jumped from one wall to another in one leap.
"Oh, we so have to cancel your Martha Stewart subscription." Prue asked as she and Bella sat down next to Piper who was wrapping Dan's present.
Piper rolled her eyes. "When I start making flower boxes out of milk cartons, then you can shoot me."
"Do you need a hand with anything here?" Bella asked before Prue got a chance too.
Prue frowned at her. "I thought you'd want to spend more time with Joey?" she asked and Bella looked down.
"Why? So I can get attatched for him to just disappear again?" she whispered, making her sisters look at her sadly.
"Maybe you should just enjoy the time you have together." Piper suggested softly but Bella shook her head.
"He can't wait to get his wings back, he's bored and restless. I can't exactly enjoy it when all he wants is to leave."
Piper bit her lip before changing the subject, much to Bella's relieve. "Put your finger on this." She said quietly and Bella put her finger on the ribbon. "It's for Dan."
"I'll be very worried if it was for the guy across the street." Bella said dryly and Piper sent the younger girl a mock glare as Prue chuckled.
"What did you get him?" Prue asked.
"A book on San Francisco architecture. I know, I know, it's a little too impersonal for valentines day but - "
Prue shook her head firmly. "No, no. Show's that you know him. It's perfect for him. Uh, what did you get Leo?"
"Leo? But should I? Tonight?"
"Yeah." Prue said and Bella nodded.
"Hi." Phoebe said, sitting down next to them. "Okay, guess what I saw on Pheeb TV."
Piper groaned. "No, not a premonition. It's valentines day. Can't there be some kind of supernatural day off?"
"What did you see?" Prue asked.
"There was a guy on campus harassing this girl, so I tried to stop him and wham! it was really weird. Like a guy biting a girl."
"Are you sure it was biting and not kissing?" Bella asked and Phoebe hesitated.
"Hmm, maybe, it could of been I guess."
"Most people kiss on valentines day, except of course for witches. No, witches don't get to kiss on valentines day because something always comes up." Piper said sarcastically but she was ignored.
"Okay, so maybe it was just some drunk frat guy and his chick of the moment." Prue suggested.
Phoebe sighed. "Yeah, maybe. It just, it wasn't very clear. And then I followed him and I think he jumped over this wall."
"He jumped over a wall?"
"Yeah, well, there was a ladder pretty close." She admitted, biting her lip, as her sisters shrugged the entire thing off.
"Phoebe, come on. Doesn't anybody care that I have dinner plans tonight with Dan?" Piper asked, holding up the book.
"Oh, honey, is that what he got you?" Phoebe asked sympathetically, not seeing Prue and Bella shaking their heads frantically. "I mean, it's nice and all just a little impersonal." Prue and Bella sighed as Piper groaned and buried her head in her hands. "What'd you get for Leo?"
"Thanks for keeping me company." Piper said as she, Bella and Phoebe walked through the shop looking for cards.
"Better here than at the club with Prue. Her boredom has turned her into the demon of declaration." Phoebe sighed.
"She's just restless. Joey's just as bad, unfortunately he's stuck in his ex girlfriends house." Bella bit her lip. "I wonder if there's a card that says 'sorry you lost your job and your now stuck with me for god knows how long!'"
"I would need a, 'you used to be my whitelighter and now your wings are clipped and now you're sleeping in my club'." Piper said.
"Or how about, 'you snooze, you lose and now I'm getting naked with the neighbour.'" Bella laughed while Piper hit Phoebe's arm. "How about this one?" Phoebe asked, opening one up and reading it. "Oh, yeah, yeah, very sweet. Ta assussa sasa."
Bella raised an eyebrow. "And what's that in english?"
"That says something in Portuguese but at least Piper won't have to worry about him taking it the wrong way."
Piper smiled before picking up another card. "'To the special person who lights up my day. I'll treasure you always'." She read before rolling her eyes. "And then I'll spit up on myself."
Phoebe and Bella laughed.
"Ooh, the girls in school are reading this." Phoebe said, picking up the book of spells from a stand. "The ones in my class. We are so in right now."
Piper rolled her eyes. "We are not in. Love is and this stuff gives people hope that they can find it."
"Yeah, the problem is people think they can get into magic without dealing with the consequences."
"But it's not even real spells. It won't...well, normal people can't make it work." Bella said and Phoebe froze. "Right? Pheebs?"
"Not without a little help. Um, I have to go call Prue. I think I need her help with something. Bella, come on." Phoebe muttered before grabbing her wrist and rushing off.
"Something to do? She'll be thrilled." Piper muttered, picking up another card. She smiled. "Now that's a card." She put the card back before picking up another one. "This'll do."
When Piper walked into the club she saw that no one was around. "Hello? Worker bees? Anyone?" she called before noticing flower petals on the floor. She followed them into the alcove and pulled back the curtain to see Dan standing next to a table with a tulip in his hands.
"I'm sure this'll ruin the dinner that I'm gonna buy you tonight but…" Dan trailed off with a shug.
"You are so sweet." Piper smiled, looking at the bottle of wine. "Piper red label?"
"Well, with a name like that, I figured it would be the best. I mean, this is our first holiday. The holiday invented by Hallmark. But it's just the same." Dan said, noticing the card in her hand. Piper remembered that the card was Leo's and tried to hide it behind her back. "Is that for me?" he pulled it out of her hand. He read it and his smile faded. "'To a dear friend on Valentines Day.' Piper, it's nice to know that you're deeply in like with me. It isn't for me, it's for Leo, isn't it?"
Piper sighed. "What do you want me to say?"
"How about no."
"Dan, you read it. Read it again. It says to a friend. And I'm sorry but I'm not interested in ending that particular friendship."
"I'm not sure that's all he sees it as."
"I come with a past. We all do. It's a package. One I would like to share with you but you can't pick and choose. You get all of me." Piper said and Dan frowned.
"Do I?"
Piper bit her lip. "Okay, um, I've gotta work, so why don't I just see you tonight."
"Fine." He said shortly before storming out.
"Oh, I just love valentines day." Piper said sarcastically under her breath.
"How can a mortal cast a spell that actually works?" Bella asked as she, Prue and Phoebe walked through the campus.
Phoebe sighed. "Look, I know that book is probably a total cheese fest, but what if? The spell called for living objects, my premonition and that guy who could leap tall buildings in a single bounce. Something is wrong, I know it."
The three of them smiled when a guy walked past them wearing only a towel. "Oh, hire education. Maybe, I need to come back to college to study something." Prue said.
"Can't wait untill I go to college." Bella muttered as they came upto Tessa's, Brooke's and Andrea's room where a man was waiting.
"Oh, Ethan." Phoebe said as they came to a stop.
He smiled. "Hey."
"What happened, honey?" she asked when she caught she of a cut on his forehead. Prue and Bella shared a look, 'honey?' Prue mouthed while Bella just shrugged.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just some drunk frat guy." Ethan said.
"Yeah, seems to be a lot of that going around." Prue said dryly.
"Um...these are my sisters, Prue and Bella." Phoebe explained quickly.
"Hey." They said and he nodded back.
"Well, I just knocked buy nobody was in. I thought I'd give them some hell for missing section today but, I mean, Andrea and Brooke would totally bail out but it doesn't really seem like Tessa, you know. Then again, it is valentines day, maybe they had something better to do." Ethan said and Phoebe stared dreamily at him.
"Do you?" she asked.
"Okay, gotta go, busy, busy. Nice meeting you, Ethan." Prue said impatiently.
"Nice to meet you," he said to her and Bella before turning to Phoebe and giving her a charming smile, "and I'll see you tonight."
He walked off and Phoebe would've followed if Prue and Bella hadn't have pulled her back.
"Sorry." Bella said quietly when Phoebe pouted.
She sighed. "It's okay. Love needs a backseat to duty."
Prue used her power to unlock the door and they walked in. Prue pulled a face as she looked around. "God, this place is a mess. I mean, boys are bad but this is a pig sty."
Phoebe frowned. "I don't think they did this."
"Is this the book?" Bella asked picking it up from the floor.
"Yeah."
The three of them froze as they heard noises. "What was that?" Bella asked warily.
"It came from the closet." Phoebe said quietly and they walked closer to it, holding their breath as they pulled the door open quickly. Their eyes widened when they saw Tessa in the cage, crying her eyes out.
R&R