Disclaimer: I don’t own them. They belong to the WB



Prue-22
Piper-20
Phoebe-16


The three lone figures stood at the graveside, the rest of the mourners stood back as the three young women said their final goodbyes to their Grandmother as the coffin that held her saw its last glimpses of daylight. They watched as the soil was scattered on the top, blurring their vision of the gold plated plaque on the coffin, they didn’t need it to be visible to know what it read, “Penny Halliwell – R.I.P.” those words were engraved in their memories forever. It took Prue a minute to heed the priests prompt, her mind was focused on staying strong, she wouldn’t and couldn’t let herself fall apart on front of her sisters, she was in charge now, the authoritative figure in their lives.
She stepped forward, letting the rose drop from her hands and land in the centre of the coffin, muttering a ‘love you’ quickly so as to disguise the tears she was struggling to withhold.
Piper took her cue next, she stood longer than her sister, saying nothing, just focusing on the hole in the ground, trying to come to terms with her Grams death. Seeing the coffin in the ground served as a reminder that the previous few days had not been a nightmare, her grandmother was dead. She threw her rose in and returned to her sisters. Prue wrapped her arm around Piper’s shoulder, offering her all the support she could muster without breaking herself.
Phoebe stood for longer, silently talking to her grams, she was sure her words could be heard, Penny had promised to always be with her, if this was true, and Phoebe believed it was, then there was no need for volume in her words. She carefully let the rose fall in so as it landed next to those of her sisters. Once again she stood next to Piper, like Prue she fought to keep strong, blinking back the tears that blurred her vision.

As they watched more soil being spread over the coffin Prue reached for Piper’s hand as did Phoebe on the other side. The three sisters joined for only a moment, before following the rest of the congregation out of the cemetery. Everyone went back to the manor where someone had prepared sandwiches and drinks. Prue knew this was a tradition, but it felt wrong to her. She listened as People she didn’t know and people she’d rarely seen talked and laughed as they recalled memories of her grams.
Piper had busied herself in the kitchen, helping with the food preparation. She preferred to do this than make small talk with complete strangers as Prue was.
Phoebe had shown face for a while before retreating up stairs. She curled up on her Grams bed, clinging to the soft toy she’d bought for Penny when she was a child.

Prue had noticed Phoebe’s absence, she was angry with the teenager, both her and Piper had endured the crowd all afternoon, neither of them relished in the comfort these people offered, yet they’d both graciously listened to the kind words and allowed the mostly strangers to hug them and assure them everything would be ok. Prue hated this, she knew things would not be ok, not for a long time.

As she extended her final fake smile of the evening she closed the door tightly, turning her glare in the direction of the stairs. “Leave her Prue” Piper could always predict her older sisters mood
“Not this time Pipe, that was rude as well as unfair, we had to stick all those people, she had no right to piss of like that” Piper sighed as Prue was already climbing the stairs, two by two. She hated this, another fight was about to break out and as always she’d be stuck in the middle while trying not to take sides. Reluctantly piper followed behind her sister. Prue eventually found Phoebe fast asleep on their grams bed. Her heart told her to be gentle as she took in the sight of her little sister’s tear stained face, the teddy tucked tightly under her arm. Her head told her to be firm and strict, it was her responsibility now to teach her sister right from wrong, to make sure she didn’t get in trouble. Prue went with her head, she didn’t want to let Phoebe away with anything and she knew Phoebe knew it was wrong to leave their guests and hide upstairs. “Phoebe” Prue shook her sisters shoulder roughly
“Prue” Piper pulled her sister back, even Prue could see how exhausted the youngest had been since her grams death, piper couldn’t believe Prue would wake her from what she was sure was the first sleep she’d had in days.
“No Piper, she has to learn”
“Learn what Prue, she’s sixteen, give her a break, she just lost the only mother she ever knew, we’ve had practise at this, she hasn’t its all new to her” Piper tried not to raise her voice, but Prue was annoying her. They could both remember their mother’s funeral, as they could the aftermath of their father’s departure, but Phoebe couldn’t recall either the people or the events. She felt the loss and missed the people she never knew, but the funeral experience was new to her, she’d needed the time alone.
Prue wanted to listen to Piper but she’d already decided to give out to the youngest and as she watched Phoebe’s eyes blink open as they adapted to the bright light in the room, she chose to stick to her decision.
Phoebe listened as Prue shouted at her, she hadn’t meant to upset anyone, she’d only come up for a few minutes, it wasn’t her fault she’d fallen asleep. She cuddled the teddy closer to her, she said nothing, just letting her sister release her anger in her direction. Piper knew Phoebe was only trying to keep the peace by not arguing back but she knew Prue would see this as Phoebe ignoring her. She was right, Prue grew more frustrated as her little sister just sat there, she couldn’t help what she did next. Shocking even herself she reached out and slapped the youngest across the face. All three were silent for a moment, that was the first time one of them had hit another, apart from petty fights they’d had as children. Phoebe rubbed the spot with her hand as Piper pushed Prue out of the room.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?” Prue knew what she did was wrong, she’d taken all her built up emotion out on Phoebe, Piper couldn’t make her feel worse than she already did, but Prue was not about to admit she was wrong to her sisters, she couldn’t apologise despite knowing she should.

Prue turned and went downstairs, ignoring Pipers question. Piper heard the car pull out of the driveway. She locked the door downstairs, knowing Prue was going back to the apartment she shared with her boyfriend. Neither her nor Phoebe cared much for Roger, or him for them. For the first time it was just her and Phoebe in the house. When Piper returned to her sister she found her curled up on the bed crying, a large red mark formed on her cheek. Wrapping her arms around her sister they both drifted of to sleep, the emotions of the day coupled with the stress of the previous days catching up on them.

Prue slammed the door of the apartment, alerting roger to her presence. He hadn’t been expecting his fiancée back that night. She’d stayed in the manor since Penny’s death. “Hey go easy” he shouted as the noise woke him, he sat on the couch, three empty cans next to him and the TV playing. Prue immediately felt angry, how could he sit here getting drunk while she’d had to face the funeral without him, it hurt her that he hadn’t even bothered to come. “So this is what you’ve been doing all day?” She picked up the empty cans and threw them in the bin. Roger watched as she cleared up around him. “You’re blocking the TV” he told her as she passed it on the way to the kitchen. “Fuck the TV” she muttered under her breath but Roger heard her. He got up and slapped her across the face hard, “Don’t talk to me like that” Prue sank into the chair as he made his way to the kitchen to get another beer. He’d hit her before but always for a reason. This time Prue couldn’t work out what she’d done wrong.



As Roger settled down on front of the box, Prue retreated to the kitchen. Things with Roger used to be great. She was truly in love with him, that was why she didn’t leave him at the first sign of trouble, that and the thought of proving her grams right. Penny hadn’t approved of Prue moving in with Roger, she’d only been 20 at the time and she needed Prue at home to help with the girls. Prue had been stubborn and demanded her freedom, her grams had put a stop to her going away to college but she couldn’t control this, Prue was 20 and legally entitled to leave and do her own thing.

Sighing at the pile of bills on the table, Prue made some coffee. She sat down and sifted through them. She knew what was causing Roger’s bad mood, on top of the phone bill and the overdue mortgage, their electricity bill had arrived that day. Prue always seemed to be the one taking care of the money issues. Roger gave her something towards them but nowhere near enough to cover it. Now on top of everything she’d have to pay her grams medical and funeral expenses and support Piper and Phoebe. She didn’t know how she was going to do it. For the first time that day she didn’t try to stop her tears from falling. She had never felt so alone, she couldn’t talk to Roger, he was drunk and in a rotten mood, she couldn’t call her grams, she’d never be able to do that again, and Piper and Phoebe were mad at her, not that she could blame them.

Later that night she lay in bed, she heard the door open and the man stumble in. It seemed to Prue that Roger was coming to bed drunk more and more often. She closed her eyes to convince him she was sleeping. The smell of alcohol and tobacco was enough to turn her stomach. Somehow she managed to fall asleep that night.
The next morning Prue woke late, Roger was already up, showered and dressed. Prue smiled to see him in a much better mood than he had been the previous evening. He brought her breakfast in bed much to her surprise; to her it felt like the early days when they’d first moved in together. She’d missed this side to her fiancée.

When Phoebe awoke it took her a few seconds to recognise her surroundings, Grams room except it wasn’t her grams room anymore, her grandmother would never again sleep here or even be there. Phoebe made the bed before seeking out Piper. She found her sister in the kitchen, still clearing up from the previous day. Without being asked Phoebe joined in the clean up. Finally when the place was sparkling, they sat down to breakfast. Neither had much of an appetite, but picked at the food anyway.
“Pipe” Piper looked up at her baby sister, she noticed that the red mark was gone from her face, but knew the inner pain of Prue’s actions hadn’t cleared so easily. “Ummm, do you think Prue’s going to come over today?” Piper sensed the uneasiness in her sisters voice
“Do you want to see her?” To Pipers surprise Phoebe nodded
“I want to apologise, I know I shouldn’t have just left yesterday, I hadn’t meant to stay up there but I fell asleep” Phoebe sighed, leaning her elbows on the table and resting her head in her hands.
“Phoebe, Prue’s the one who needs to apologise”
“That’s up to her, I’m going to do my part, and after that its her call”
Piper was proud her little sister was being so mature about the whole situation, if Prue had hit her she didn’t think she’d be so understanding or quick to forgive. She didn’t think they’d see Prue that day unless they went to her so after breakfast Piper drove Phoebe over to the apartment. They rang the buzzer, hoping Roger wouldn’t be home.

Prue was still in bed, cuddling next to Roger when they heard the bell. Immediately his mood changed, not happy to be interrupted while spending time with Prue. He got up angrily and hit the talk button, not caring who it was he just rudely said ‘What?; into the intercom. Piper noticed Phoebe tense up at the mere sound of his voice. “Is Prue there?” Piper asked, they got no answer but the door opened so they made their way in and towards the stairs.

“Who was it?” Prue asked as Roger stormed back into the room.
“”Your damn sister” he made his way back to the living room and turned the television on, as Prue answered the door to Phoebe and Piper. “What happened your face?” Piper asked noticing the mark on it
“Uh that, it was probably just the way I slept” Prue lied, as she had many times before.
She led them through to the small kitchen to avoid Roger.

Piper listened as Prue and Phoebe made up. She was relieved that Prue didn’t give Phoebe a hard time and that she found it in her to apologise for hitting her. After the awkwardness was out of the way the three sat and chatted for over an hour. Prue didn’t know why but she found herself confiding in her sisters about the money troubles. She’d been racking her brains for a solution and the only thing she could come up with was for her to move home. The only problem was Roger, she didn’t want to live apart from him but wanted to ask her sisters how they felt before she talked it through with him. Phoebe’s mouth fell open at Prue’s question, she hated Roger, her other sister knew this but Prue didn’t. Piper said nothing, she could tolerate him if she had to but she knew it wouldn’t be easy.
The question hung in the air as Roger came in demanding his lunch. Piper and Phoebe used the distraction as an excuse to leave. They hugged Prue goodbye and promised to think about it.

Phoebe was silent the whole way home in the car, Piper wasn’t in a talking mood either. She knew whatever happened they couldn’t just refuse Prue.

“Phoebe don’t slam…” before she could finish her sentence the hall door slammed “..the door” Piper finished defeated. She watched as her younger sister ran up the stairs and yet another door slammed. Piper knew Phoebe was upset.
The longer they left this the harder it would be so Piper decided to talk to her sister about it straight away. Without knocking Piper entered Phoebe’s room. The loud music meant Phoebe didn’t even notice her come in as she sat on the bed with her back to the door. “HEY” Phoebe was pissed of as her music suddenly stopped, “what ya do that for?”
“We need to talk” Piper told her as she sat on the bed next to her
“No, we don’t we both know Prue doesn’t actually care what we think, she’ll move him in here anyway” Phoebe got up to turn the CD back on. Piper grabbed her by the arm, forcing her to sit back down “Pheebs if she didn’t care what we thought she wouldn’t have asked us” Piper reasoned.
“Well you wanna know what I think?” Phoebe looked seriously at her sister, Piper merely nodded “I think the whole thing sucks, first Prue moved out to live with that creep, then Grams dies and now we’ve to share a house with the bastard, it’s bad enough our sister lives with him, why the hell should we have to too” Phoebe screamed the words out, then without waiting to hear Pipers reaction she ran down the stairs and out of the house. Piper knew it would be pointless to chase her, Phoebe would come back in her own time, she always did.

Phoebe sat on the swing, going really high, then letting it slow down until it nearly stopped completely. She kept doing this as the thoughts ran through her head. She couldn’t pin point any one thing she hated about her oldest sisters boyfriend, she just didn’t feel comfortable around him. Everything about him seemed false to her and it baffled her that her older sister who was the smartest person Phoebe knew could be so blind to it. Her grams felt the same, although she never came out and said it Phoebe knew, she’d overheard the fights with Prue, she’d listened in and heard her grams warnings to her sister. Phoebe had sat outside the door as these fights took place, silently praying that Prue would heed Grams words and dump Roger, or at the very least not move in with him.

Somehow Phoebe found herself walking towards the cemetery, she hadn’t made a conscious decision to go there but she figured all the thinking about her grams had caused her to go in that direction. She sat down beside the freshly covered in grave, a small wooden cross with her Grams name on a plaque was staked into the ground, she remembered Prue saying the headstone would have to wait a while. Phoebe was hoping and wishing desperately that Roger wouldn’t move in with them, she considered praying but she didn’t have enough faith anymore, nothing she’d ever deemed important enough to pray for in her sixteen years had ever come true, the most recent and heartfelt prayers had been for her grams to get well, but these weren’t answered just like all the rest.

Piper paced the hallway in the manor, Phoebe still hadn’t come back, it was dark outside and nearing midnight. If she knew where her sister was she would relax but not knowing was killing her. Prue had called twice earlier to see if they’d discussed her idea and Piper had lied telling her Phoebe was spending the day with friends and they’d talk tomorrow, she hated lying to either sister but if Prue knew Phoebe had taken of, regardless of the reason, she’d go mad and Piper was not ready for the next Prue vs Phoebe argument so soon after the last. She also figured her baby sister could do without the grief considering how upset she’d been when she stormed out of the house. The later it got the more worried Piper became, Phoebe had had more than sufficient time to cool down and yet there was still no sign of her. Piper couldn’t call Prue because she’d have to admit she lied to her. At one am Piper picked up the phone, she was past worry and onto panic, the fear that something had happened to her baby sister was overwhelming so she did the only thing she could think of, she called Prue.

The phone rang out in the apartment, waking both Roger and Prue, as Roger moaned Prue ran to answer it. The last midnight call they’d received had been about her grams, whenever it rang during the night she got a bad feeling; no one called at that hour to give good news. Prue listened as Piper panicked on the other end of the line, she didn’t pause to think about what she was hearing, the only words penetrating her mind were ‘Phoebe missing”. Without thinking she’d grabbed her car keys and a jacket. She headed straight for the manor still wearing her pyjamas.

As Piper hung up the phone she heard the creak of the back door, cursing herself for having called Prue she quickly drew the youngest into a hug. Then as impulsively as she’d hugged her she pushed her back and started shouting at her.
“you scared the crap outta me Pheebs” Piper was on a roll, her panic gone she was filled with rage at the youngest for having put her through the worry. Phoebe stood and listened to her sister, she’d honestly lost track of time and was too tired to even defend herself and she knew she deserved the lecture.

Phoebe’s eyes widened in shock as she heard the all too familiar sound of Prue’s car pulling up outside “you didn’t?” she looked at Piper in disbelief, Piper knew the last thing Phoebe would want was to give Prue more ammunition against her
As Piper watched the fear grow on her sisters face she felt terrible, even though Phoebe had left her with little choice “go upstairs, I’ll deal with her” Phoebe hesitated, not wanting to leave Piper to take the fall alone, as they heard the key turn in the lock Piper reassured her to go. Fear taking over Phoebe fled to the bathroom; she locked the door and ran a bath for herself.

“Is she back, what the hell happened?” Prue wasted no time interrogating her middle sister
“Yes she’d back, but before you start let me talk ok?” Prue scanned the surrounding rooms with her eyes looking for Phoebe
“Where is she?”
“Let me talk ok?” Piper sounded a lot more confident than she felt
“fine but it better be good, I need coffee” Prue headed straight for the kitchen, Piper waited until they both had a steaming hot cup of coffee on front of them before starting. “Prue, Pheebs took the idea of Roger moving in pretty bad”
“Ugh she always has to be awkward doesn’t she”
“What? No Prue you wanted to know what we think and that’s how she feels, god you can’t really expect us to be thrilled with the idea can you?” Prue looked shocked, she had expected Phoebe to cause trouble, she always did stir things up but to hear Piper wasn’t happy either was a knock back, “look Prue its not that I don’t like him, I barely know him, it’s just that Phoebe needs time, Grams is gone and she’s, we’re both having a hard time adapting to life here without her, and now she’ll, we’ll be unsettled even further” Piper kept correcting herself speaking in the plural so as to show she was on Phoebe’s side.
“Where was she all day Piper?” Pre was hurt that her sisters felt this way, she hid the hurt by getting angry
“I don’t know, she took of and I didn’t see her all day”
“WHAT? You said she was at a friends” Prue was fuming “God Piper grow up, how can I leave you two alone, she’s immature and you’re pretty damn irresponsible for not telling me sooner, anything could have happened to her” Piper winced as Prue stood up, slightly afraid her sisters temper would lead to her receiving the same treatment Phoebe did the night before.
“Incase you haven’t noticed Prue, you did leave us alone, Phoebe and I have been taking care of each other and of grams for over a year now, so don’t you dare lecture me about being irresponsible” Piper had waited until her sister was a safe distance away before shouting her come back.
“Well in that case I guess it’s about time I took the big sister thing serious, Roger and I are moving in and that’s the end of it” Prue grabbed her keys of the table and stormed towards the front door “oh and tell the little coward that this isn’t over, she won’t be getting away with stuff like this anymore” Prue shouted loud enough to make sure Phoebe could hear her.

Piper watched in shock as Prue left the house, She’d tried to stand up for herself and her little sister but the only thing she’d succeeded in doing was making things worse.
Phoebe listened from the bathroom, her whole body shaking as she heard Prue’s words. Roger was moving in and there was nothing Piper or Phoebe could do about it.

“Careful with that” Phoebe heard Roger’s voice from her bedroom window. The day had arrived all too soon for her and now her sister who’d spent the last few days completely ignoring her and her creepy boyfriend were moving in. Phoebe turned on her music in an attempt to drown out Rogers annoying voice as he shouted angry comments at the removal men. He didn’t make an effort to help with anything he just stood back as though supervising their work and offering his very unwelcome opinions.

Piper and Prue were helping with the boxes, taking them into the house. Everything was about to change again, Phoebe knew that by staying in her room and not helping she was in for further hostile treatment from Prue. At that moment she didn’t care,, she hated the way things were, Prue wouldn’t look at her anymore, let alone talk to her, Piper had tried with her but Phoebe had pushed her away and Roger had made no secret of letting her know he disliked her, but not in front of her sisters, he was too smart for this. On top of everything Phoebe had barely been sleeping since her grams death. The only times she’d been able to get any rest was when she lay on her grams bed, it was her one way of feeling close to the person she needed but couldn’t have. Now Prue and Roger were moving all Grams things so they could have the largest bedroom, No one had consulted Phoebe on this, as far as they were concerned she was just a kid and her opinion and feelings didn’t seem to matter. She’d managed to grab the teddy from the top of a box before Roger could take it down to the basement for storage. Phoebe knew she’d never have the courage to go down there and get it, and now every memory of her grams was going to be stored in the one place she wouldn’t go.

Prue watched as the last of their boxes were unloaded, she was exhausted as was Piper. Roger had already made himself comfortable in front of the TV and was asking Prue when his dinner would be ready. Neither of the girls were in the mood for cooking so Prue and Piper decided to go out and get pizza.
While they were gone Phoebe ventured downstairs, her stomach had gotten the better of her and she was craving some of Pipers cooking. She passed the living room, making a face upon noticing the man sitting there, she checked the kitchen for her sisters. When she couldn’t find then she chose to ask Roger if he knew where they were, this went against her better judgment.
“They went out” he answered sarcastically,
“Well duh, Where?” Phoebe’s sarcasm matched his
“They can’t stand the fuckin’ sight of you so they left” Roger knew this was a sore point for the youngest Halliwell, after losing so many people in her life
“You’re such a prick, just tell me where my sisters are”
“What did you call me?” Roger stood up right in front of Phoebe, her courage replaced by fear “Go on then say it again” he taunted her, a sly grin on his face
“Forget it” Phoebe answered quietly before turning to leave the room
“Not so fast you little bitch” he grabbed her by her arm and twisted it behind her back “now why don’t you tell me what you called me” Phoebe struggled to break free but he had a strong grip on her, she didn’t have a death wish so she wouldn’t repeat her words, she refused to cry not wanting to give him the satisfaction. Moments later and just in time they heard the key turn in the lock, he let go just before Prue came into the room. Prue threw Phoebe a dirty glare and hugged Roger “she been giving you a hard time?”
“Nothing I can’t handle” Roger brushed the comment of jokingly, smiling at the youngest. Prue missed the face Phoebe made behind their backs as they walked towards the kitchen but Piper didn’t. She was concerned about her little sister, she didn’t seem to be adapting to life without grams at all and Piper was worried about the effects the latest changes would have on Phoebe.

The dysfunctional ‘family’ of four sat at the kitchen table, sharing two large pizza’s. Roger ate greedily ignoring both Piper and Phoebe and throwing the occasional grunt in Prue’s direction, usually to moan or complain about something. Piper and Phoebe never opened their mouths. As soon as Piper finished she started to clear up, Prue said nothing so Phoebe got up to leave
“Uh where do you think you’re going?”
“Upstairs”
“Things are changing here Phoebe it’s about time you learned some manners, now sit back down” Phoebe rolled her eyes and noisily plonked herself back down on the chair, she sat back in it with her arms crossed.
“Phoebe sit up straight” Prue’s tone was calm but held a strict warning
“Ugh fine, whatever” Phoebe sat up
“now if you want to leave you can ask to be excused”
“WHAT?” Phoebe felt like laughing, their family had never been so formal, Prue raised her eyebrows letting her sister know she was serious “but Piper never did” Phoebe hadn’t wanted to drag Piper into yet another fight but she couldn’t take the different treatment
“Piper’s 20, I’m not her guardian I’m yours”
“Can I be excused?” Phoebe’s cheeky tone mocked her sister
“PHOEBE” Prue had enough of her sisters rudeness, she dragged her sister from the table and pointed her in the direction of the stairs.
Piper looked uncomfortable as they left, she thought Prue was being too harsh but she’d hoped Phoebe would have gone along with it to keep the peace. The smirk on Rogers face did not go unnoticed by the middle Halliwell.

“Oww, you’re hurting my arm” Phoebe rubbed the spot as soon as Prue let go.
“Now stay in your damn room until you learn to behave,”
“I HATE YOU” Phoebe shouted after her “Grams would never treat me like that, you can’t just come back here and try to take her place” Prue barely heard the last of Phoebe’s words as she returned downstairs. Phoebe let herself fall onto the bed, sobs racking her body.

When Prue and Roger had both finished and Piper had the kitchen to herself she prepared some of Phoebe’s favourite dessert to take to her. As she was taking it up the stairs she ran into Prue
“Who’s that for?” Prue questioned, already knowing the answer, Piper looked uncomfortable “No way Piper, you’re not undermining my authority by rewarding her bad behaviour”
“Jeez Prue you swallow a parenting manual or something?” Piper asked sarcastically
Prue smirked at her sister “Look I’m taking it to her, end of story, she’s been through a lot, we all have, I think you’re being way too hard”
“Well Piper I think it’s time someone was hard on her, god, look at the way you treat her, bringing her up dessert after the way she behaved, I bet Grams was the same, no wonder she’s such a spoiled selfish little brat” Piper motioned with her eyes for Prue to look behind her.
Phoebe was standing in her doorway having heard every word, Piper could see the look of hurt on her face, as could Prue.
She ran back into her room and slammed the door, Piper walked past Prue towards Phoebe’s room. This time Prue didn’t stop her, she felt bad that Phoebe overheard.
“Phoebe come on let me in” Piper stood outside her sisters room. Phoebe had locked the door, something she never did. Piper didn’t even think she had a key.
“Get lost” She’d listened to her sisters incessant knocking on her door and was going past upset to angry, all she wanted was her space and piper was making this impossible
“I won’t give up Pheebs, you know that so you could just save us both a headache and let me in” Phoebe got up and opened the door, knowing Piper could be stubborn when she wanted to be.
”You ok?” Piper watched as her little sister sat back on her bed,
“Oh Yeh I’m just fine” Phoebe replied sarcastically “I mean why wouldn’t I be? My sister hates me, and her boyfriend is a complete asshole”
“She doesn’t hate you and you’ll get used to Roger”
“I don’t want to get used to him, that’s the whole point, we shouldn’t have to” Phoebe managed to fight back her tears but the whole situation was frustrating for her
“Honey, we don’t have a choice, and you know I’m not exactly thrilled myself, god I feel terrible it’s my fault he’s here”
“no it’s not Piper, it doesn’t matter about what you said, its her, she was going to do it anyway, that was just a convenient excuse for her”
“Still I didn’t help the situation by getting mad at her” Piper took Phoebe’s hand in hers “we’ll get through it sweetie, things will settle down, I promise”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep” Phoebe muttered under her breath, there was silence for a while, both girls collecting their thoughts. Piper wanted to assure Phoebe she could keep her promise but she couldn’t get the words out.

“you know I feel really bad, Prue’s right I am selfish” Piper looked up surprised to hear the seriousness in her sisters voice
“Phoebe, you’re the least selfish person I know, you’d do anything for anyone”
“Prue obviously doesn’t think so”
”She doesn’t know you like I do” Piper commented, she knew both her sisters but she realised they really didn’t know each other.
“Pipe, I would have agreed to him moving in you know” Phoebe thought back to the night she spent sitting at her grams grave, she had made a decision then that if it would help Prue she’d agree to it
“Really?” Piper looked surprised
“Well Prue never talks to us, well not to me anyway and that day she poured her heart out about her money troubles, then sprung that question on us, how could we have refused her? But now I’ve managed to mess everything up and now she hates me” Piper sat next to Phoebe and put her arm around her shoulder, the youngest rested her head on her sisters shoulder
“Do you want me to talk to her for you?” Phoebe shook her head “what’s the point, she‘ll never listen”

“Try me” Phoebe and Piper looked up to see their oldest sister standing in the doorway, Phoebe pulled away from Piper suddenly becoming nervous
Prue had thought about things after her little sister heard her cruel words, words she didn’t even mean, she realised that she had been unfair. Her sister was only sixteen and yet she’d expected her to handle things in the same way she and Piper did. They’d had experience dealing with losing people, and while Phoebe had felt the loss the same as them she’d never really known any different than having her grams as her primary guardian. She’d realised that for Phoebe it must have felt more like losing a mother than a grandmother, and this only served to make her feel worse for the way she’d been treating the girl. She still didn’t think Phoebe’s behaviour was justified but was at least willing to hear her sister out.
“can I sit down?” Prue looked to Phoebe for a response, phoebe nodded slightly
“Um I’ll leave you two to it” Piper got up to leave only to feel Phoebe’s hand grip hers, the look on her little sisters face told her she wanted her to stay
“Pipe its fine, stay, it involves all of us anyway” Prue was slightly hurt that her sister was afraid to be alone with her, “Phoebe why do you hate Roger?” Prue asked the question Phoebe had been dreading, she didn’t answer because she wasn’t ready for the inevitable fight her answer would cause.
“Prue that’s not fair, you can see she’s not comfortable around him, and she’s hardly about to bitch about him to you” Piper understood Phoebe’s reluctance to talk about Roger, she was concerned because at the very mention of his name her little sister had tensed up again
“Ok well is it just him you don’t want living here or would you prefer I didn’t too”
“Prue” Piper warned, getting angry at her sister for upsetting the youngest even further
“Piper she says I don’t listen but how can I if she won’t even talk” Prue got up to leave, she could feel herself losing her temper again.
As soon as the door closed Phoebe broke down crying in her other sisters arms, Piper just rocked the youngest back and forth until she eventually cried herself to sleep.

After tucking the youngest in Piper went in search of the oldest, she found her curled up in Rogers’s arms on the couch.
“Prue can we talk?” She felt bad interrupting but she needed to talk to Prue,
Roger looked up disgusted,
“What about?” Prue asked, clearly a a lot calmer than she had been earlier
“Phoebe” Roger couldn’t stop the moan that escaped, to him it felt like every time he and Prue were relaxing together they were disturbed by Phoebe or something to do with her. Prue kissed him, before getting up and following Piper to the kitchen
“This better be good Piper” Prue made some coffee while Piper sat down
“She just cried herself to sleep Prue” she noticed Prue pause for a second before brushing the comment of “always the drama queen!”
“No Prue, she’s not a drama queen, she’s hurting bad and you’re not helping, she’s just a kid”
“I know that, look I tried what else can I do?”
“You could have tried harder, you know be a bit patient with her, she’ll talk eventually”
“Ok I’ll try again tomorrow” Prue sighed, giving up,
Piper seemed satisfied y this and left the room to go to bed.

Prue sat at the table staring at the cup of coffee in front of her until it was cold and undrinkable, her mind was focused entirely on her little sister, she was beginning to worry, the Phoebe she knew never let things upset her enough to make her cry herself to sleep. She realised that her little sister had changed and she hadn’t been taking the time to get to know her. In the year and a half she’d lived with Roger she’d barely talked to Phoebe, she’d only seen her at family occasions or on her infrequent visits to the manor. Her and Piper had remained close often going out for dinner and drinks or shopping together, but she’d never included Phoebe in this, she’d never really though about it before.

Piper lay in bed staring at the ceiling. She was still upset after seeing her baby sister so sad. It was very unusual for Phoebe to get so upset about words, however cruel they were. She knew something else had to be bothering her sister and she couldn’t help but assume the problem stemmed back to Roger.

Prue went back to the living room eventually, only to find Roger fast asleep on the couch, smiling she covered him with a blanket and headed up the stairs. She paused outside Phoebe’s room wanting so badly to go in and tuck her sister up just like she always had when she lived at the manor. She hesitated not sure she’d be welcome. She took the plunge and went in. Phoebe was sound asleep, the blankets scattered on the ground having been kicked of by her baby sister. Prue couldn’t help giggling, “some things don’t change” she muttered to herself as she took in the sight of Phoebe sprawled out across the bed, she picked up the blanket and wrapped it around her little sister. She knew it’d just get kicked of again later but it was a formality she’d missed, something she’d done every night since her sister was a toddler. She leaned over and kissed her sleeping sister on the forehead, gently wiping away the lone tear her sister had cried in her sleep.

Piper stood in the doorway, smiling as she watched her older sister let her guard down. “Cute isn’t she?” Piper smiled as her sister almost jumped in shock, she hadn’t noticed Piper standing there
“Piper is it too late?”
“For what?” Piper looked confused
“for me and Phoebe to have what you and I do?”
“No it’s not too late Prue but it will take work, and just so you know, she has your whole stubborn thing so good luck” Piper giggled as Prue linked her on their way out of the room
“bet she hasn’t mastered it like I have” Prue teased
“Oh you’d be surprised” Piper kissed Prue goodnight before retreating to her own room, leaving Prue dreading the task ahead of her the following day.

Later that night Phoebe woke up, she knew there’d be no chance of her going back to sleep, so she got out of bed to go get a drink. She poured herself a glass of water and headed for the living room. She turned on the telly not noticing the sleeping figure on the couch. She often came down in the middle of the night to watch a video when she found it difficult to sleep. She hadn’t counted on Roger being there.
The sound of the telly going on woke him up, he was pissed of to see who woke him. Anyone else he’d have gotten over but for some reason he couldn’t stand the youngest Halliwell and he knew the feeling was mutual.
“you stupid little cow” He was careful not to shout too loudly for fear of waking her sisters
“I’m sorry” Phoebe was taken by surprise “I didn’t know you were there” she got up to leave but before she could she felt a sharp blow to her stomach. The glass of water spilled down her front as she doubled over in pain.
“That’s for earlier” He spat the words out at her “no sisters here to protect you now” Phoebe had fallen back onto the chair in pain, he kicked her once more before leaving the room. She didn’t let the tears escape until she heard him go upstairs and close the bedroom door. Eventually Phoebe managed to get back to bed, as she lay there she decided not to tell her sisters, hoping it was a once of. She knew even if she did tell that Prue wouldn’t believe her and she’d just put Piper in an even more awkward position



The first thing Piper did the next morning when she woke up was check on her little sister. She was still worried about her sister having cried herself to sleep. She pushed the door open as quietly as she could so as not to wake the youngest. Phoebe was already awake, she hadn’t been able to sleep again after Roger had punched her in the stomach.
“Honey what’s wrong?” Piper knew from the pained expression on her sisters face that something was bothering her, she also noticed how Phoebe had moved her hand away from her stomach as soon as she’d heard her come in.
“Nothing” Phoebe lied, hoping to hide things from Piper
“Ok spill, I know when you’re not feeling the best, may as well tell me, get it over with, you know I’ll find out anyway” Phoebe groaned, at times she really hated that Piper knew her so well, she could never hide anything from her sister.
“Honest Pipe I’m ok, my stomach just aches a little” Phoebe told the truth without giving her secret away, her stomach did hurt, but she knew Piper would assume it was from sickness rather than injury. Sure enough the first thing the middle Halliwell did was check her sisters forehead for a temperature.
“Well you’ve no fever, do you feel sick” Piper moved Phoebe’s hair out of her face
“Not really, just my stomach”
“I’ll get you something to help settle it, I think you should stay in bed today ok?” Piper knew that wouldn’t go down well, Phoebe was too energetic to spend a whole day in bed, to her surprise her baby sister just nodded her head.
“Ok should I call the doctor now?” Piper teased her, but she was starting to worry, she knew her sister was feeling really crappy if she wasn’t even arguing about staying in bed. Phoebe managed a slight smile
“Serious baby, what’s wrong?” Piper sat closer to her sister who was curled up in a ball on the bed, she reached out and started to rub Phoebe’s back.
Phoebe desperately wanted to tell her sister the real reason she felt so bad but she couldn’t. Things were hard enough for everyone and she didn’t want to cause further upset by adding this to it. The more she thought about it the more upset she became, as Piper rubbed her back she stared to cry. Phoebe couldn’t help but think it might not have been a once of, she was afraid Roger would hurt her again.
“Still your stomach?” Piper asked slightly suspicious and concerned about her sister’s tears. Phoebe nodded.
“Ok I’m gonna go get you something for it, I’ll be right back ok?”
“Pipe I need painkillers k?”
“Ok spill, what exactly is wrong?”
“it just hurts bad ok” Phoebe avoided eye contact
“so you don’t feel like getting sick at all?”
“not really” Phoebe did feel like throwing up, the whole situation made her feel physically sick, Roger living with them, him hitting her, her lying to Piper, the more she thought about it the sicker she felt.

Piper headed straight for the bathroom, the door was closed and she was about to open it when she realised someone could be in there, she still wasn’t used to sharing the house with two extra people. She knocked on the door
“Be out in a sec” Prue shouted
“Hurry up ok?” Prue opened the door as soon as she heard the urgency in her sisters voice
“Where’s the fire” she asked as Piper brushed past her
“Phoebe’s sick”
“What’s wrong with her?” no matter how bad things were between her and her youngest sister Prue always went into protective mode at the mention of her baby sister being sick.
“Not sure, she says her stomachs sore, but not too sick, I’m going to give her two of these” Piper held up the painkillers she’d grabbed
“Uh they’re kinda strong, maybe just one will be enough” Prue took the pack of Piper to read the recommended amount on the back
“You didn’t see her in there crying with the pain, oh and she didn’t even try to argue about staying in bed today” Piper knew that would get the message across to her sister.
“Oh its bad then, you go on back to her and I’ll get her some water to take these” Prue wanted to go to her baby sister but knew Piper would be more welcome than her.

Phoebe looked up when Piper came back, she hated taking tablets but she knew they’d help with the pain and maybe even allow her to get some sleep.
“Prue’s just getting you some water” Piper sat down again with Phoebe, this time pulling her upset little sister onto her knee. “just rest a bit ok? You look tired”
“I am tired” Phoebe rested her head on Piper’s shoulder, closing her eyes.

Prue came up ten minutes later “Ok it says too take them with food and I’m no Piper in the kitchen so toast was the best I could do” Prue rambled on until she noticed Phoebe’s eyes were shut “she asleep?”
Phoebe opened her eyes to assure her sister she was still awake,
“Uh Prue how did it take you ten minutes to just get toast and a glass of water?” Piper asked amused
“Well I burnt the first lot” even Phoebe managed a smile, only Prue could burn toast, it always amazed Piper, she couldn’t understand it because the bread pops up when its ready, it was almost impossible to mess it up but her older sister managed it every time.
“any way here ya go” Prue set the toast and water down on Phoebe’s bedside table “how are you feeling?” She reached out to check for a fever as Piper had, Phoebe buried her head deeper into Pipers shoulder.
“I’m ok” Phoebe knew pulling away like that had hurt her sisters feelings and she felt bad
“Hey could I trust you two not to kill each other if I go have a shower?” Piper wanted the two to spend some time together and she knew Prue would go easy on the youngest because she was sick
“You have my word, Pheebs?” Prue looked to her sister who’d somehow managed to cling tighter to Piper
“Sweetie, I’ll come straight back I promise, she won’t bite” Phoebe nodded her head and crawled of her sisters lap. Piper kissed her on the forehead before leaving, she felt terrible but knew her sisters needed the opportunity to talk

After Piper had left there was an awkward silence, neither Halliwell knew where to begin
“um you should probably take those tablets” Phoebe nodded and reached out for them, the sudden movement causing her to wince in pain. Prue noticed and automatically moved to help her sister.
“Can you sit up?” Prue watched as Phoebe pulled herself up on the bed, the pain coupled with the exhaustion showing on her face. She watched as Phoebe swallowed the tablets, then she insisted she eat some of the cold toast. Phoebe barely nibbled on it before pushing it aside
“Ok so you’ve no objections to spending the day in bed and you’ve no appetite, see now I’m really worried”
“don’t be, and no offence but I’ll never have an appetite for anything you make” Phoebe smiled at her sister, trying to lighten the mood, she hated that she was the cause of both her sisters worrying
“none taken kiddo, I wouldn’t either” Prue was happy that Phoebe was even talking to her “I think you should try get some sleep”
“I don’t think I can, I haven’t been able to