Still light-headed, but sober enough to just about recognise her voice. Phoebe's brain struggled to distinguish and formulate some sort of sense to the words she was saying. Must sound normal, she thought, as the mahogany floor weaved colourful spinning shapes before her irises and darted around her; it refused to remain still long enough to allow her to stand up unsupported. The cream wall rushed at her faster than she expected. She fell into it and remained there; propped up like a broken piece of furniture in a hallway filled with the cold, judging eyes of her ancestors.

"Phoebe? Phoebe! Are you even listening to me? How much have you had to drink, exactly? And for the last time, am I going to have to take you to hospital because you've taken drugs?" Piper was beside herself with worry, anger and humiliation. Prue was going to kill her when she got home from her night shift. It always seemed to be on her watch that Phoebe decided to get off her head with those brain-dead so-called friends of hers. If Phoebe wasn't in some sort of reasonable state when Prue got back… it didn't bear thinking about.

"Pipaar… Shtob warryang. I'm totes fine. Waaartar would beee gwud," the sixteen year old girl slurred.

"Oh sure you're fine Phoebe, you've only thrown up three times since I picked you up from Dylan's- twice in my car in case you forgot!" Which you are so cleaning up tomorrow morning when you can actually stand, thought Piper furiously.

That was when the sickness returned. Phoebe's stomach clenched and heaved and she tasted bile in the back of her throat. She pushed away from the wall and, with Piper's reluctant help, swayed through the foyer and down the corridor into the grapevine bathroom. She hit the light switch and finally threw up the illegal drugs she had spent the last hour or so denying to Piper she had taken.

"Oh Phoebe…" Piper sighed and put her fingers to her temples to try and stop the massive headache that had been forming from the moment her sister had got in the car, yelling and singing at the top of her voice, earlier that evening. With such a sombre expression Piper could easily have been mistaken for a twenty-five-year-old and not a young woman who had barely turned nineteen. She temporarily pushed away her irritation with her baby sister and kneeled down next to her, pulling long dark brown tendrils out of Phoebe's face and slowly massaging her back.

When eventually the after-effects of the substances had worn off, Phoebe stopped vomiting. However, instead she began to shiver violently and small, silent tears dripped down her face.

"I've done it again, haven't I?" She whispered to a grave-looking Piper. "I've screwed up big time and Prue's gonna nail my ass the second she gets through that door." Phoebe gazed at the manor's smart stained glass front door with genuine terror in her eyes.

"Hush now, Phebes, it's not as bad as all that. Let's just get you to bed. There'll be time to talk about everything in the morning." Despite it being Phoebe's fault that she had ended up like this, Piper hated seeing her look so fragile and frightened – she was used to seeing the overdramatic, confident and rebellious streak in her sister. It was the side of Phoebe that got her into trouble most. It was also the side Piper secretly admired and wished she had inherited more of from the family gene pool.

"Kay," Phoebe sniffed dispiritedly, pushing herself up from the floor with obvious effort and shuffling out of the bathroom, her cheeks reddening slightly in embarrassment. I must look horrible and totally pathetic, she thought with a heavy heart and if it were possible, her mood plummeted even further.

Twenty minutes later, after downing glass after glass of water, Phoebe was out cold. Piper quietly closed the door to her sister's unruly mess of a bedroom and found her feet leading her into the kitchen. It was Sunday: Piper had college Monday through Friday. Might as well get some more prep work done while I wait for Prue, Piper thought. She grabbed her heavy duty rucksack from the ground and started pulling out various cookery books and the technique notes she had taken down during lectures. Who knew becoming a culinary master took so much writing? She thought acerbically, but soon became lost in the world of experimenting with food. Before Piper knew it, she heard the front door being pushed open with exaggerated care. She quickly took everything off the heat and prepared herself for the mental onslaught that was sure to follow when her older sister discovered what had happened.

"Hey Prue, how was work?" Piper asked, careful to keep her voice down.

"Oh Piper, hi. You know how the bar is, not my favourite of all the jobs I've had to keep down. I did get some high tippers tonight though!" Prue said happily, and reached into her top to pull out a bunch of crumpled twenty dollar bills. Piper gave her sister the once over and smiled. Of course she had got tipped big. Prue's high cheek bones complimented her near translucent skin and a wave of long, raven black hair flowed down onto a figure-hugging, dark purple cocktail dress. Prue was often so wrapped up in working hard, taking care of the bills and bringing up Phoebe, that she failed to notice how beautiful she was becoming with maturity. The guys sure noticed it though.

"What are you smirking at?" Prue asked bewildered, laughing good naturedly at Piper's expression, with her hands on her hips.

"Nothing, it's nothing. You're just a catch that's all and you don't even realise it."

"Oh come off it Piper! If anyone is in denial about their potential in that department it's so you. How many times has that slightly-dorky-but-cute male specimen asked you out this semester?"

"Like eight…" Piper mumbled and blushed. Oh God! Prue is actually in a good mood for once, so why Phoebe? Why did you choose tonight of all nights to be the out of control teenage brat I have to tell-tale on?

"My point exactly: you should really give him a chance one of these days. Whoa! What have you been doing in here? I though all the practical stuff was done at your college?" Prue gaped at their chaotic kitchen. "Not that it doesn't all smell great or anything…" She added hurriedly, seeing the hurt look that entered Piper's eyes whenever anybody criticised her food.

"I just thought I'd get some extra practice in, you know while I waited for you to get home…" Piper trailed off biting her lip. This was it, she had to either say something to Prue now or end up covering for Phoebe for the umpteenth time that month. Prue was staring at Piper fixedly, watching the internal struggle play out. When Piper began hand-wringing Prue decided to help her out: she didn't want to be sat in the kitchen all night while Piper played jury, judge and executioner.

"Honey, what is it?" Prue ventured gently. Piper puffed out and in the end simply said: "It's Phoebe." Prue's blood ran cold as she allowed Piper's tidal wave of information to engulf her.

"She's drinking again. And for all I know probably popping pills too. It happened when she was with that stupid idiot Ryan that her and her friends idolise. He's such a bad influence on Dylan… Anyway, she was really bad when I picked her up, not worse than… you know, but almost as bad. And she wouldn't tell me if she'd been with anyone there. Like if she'd had it with anyone there, so I have my suspicions that -"

"And you waited until now to tell me all of this, why?" Prue practically screeched at Piper. Her hands were curled around the kitchen table making her knuckles turn a grotesque white and her eyes were blazing with rage.

"I…I just… I didn't want to ruin your evening," Piper stammered, completely disarmed by her sister's unyielding anger. It's not my fault Grams died and we have a messed up kid sister to look after, Piper screamed at Prue inside her head, lacking the spunk to say it aloud.

"Whatever Piper, where is she?" Prue demanded irritably.

"She's in her room, in bed," answered Piper honestly. "But wait! Prue stop!" Piper squeaked after her as Prue began to march up the grand staircase with her face set in grim determination. "What?" Prue yelled at Piper, turning round exasperated.

"Nothing… Well no, it's not nothing. Phebes only got to sleep an hour ago. Don't you think the third degree can wait till morning? She's been through enough emotional drama tonight." Piper tried to reason with her older sister, but only succeeded in flaring her up again.

"Do you think I enjoy these stupid conflicts every damned day Piper? It's not my fault that girl can't sort her own frigging life out! She's been a failure everywhere she goes. Expelled from Baker High so she had to transfer, arrested for shoplifting; caught smoking, drinking, taking drugs, sleeping rough, sleeping around –it's always been left to me to deal with her fall out! So fine Piper, you know what? I will leave her alone tonight: but don't blame me when the police turn up here with that little horror in tow like last time, and this time do turn her over to the social. Why do you have to be so damn naive all the time?" Prue stormed up the remaining stairs and closed her bedroom door with an almighty whack. Piper stood motionless, ashen-faced, her naturally awkward limbs wrapped around her suddenly aching and worn through body.

Meanwhile, Phoebe had been wide awake from the moment Prue had raised her voice. It was like she was weirdly attuned to Prue's anger after all their years of arguments. She had sat bolt upright in her double bed, groggy and sweaty from her hangover, but without much effort heard the entire heart wrenching conversation word for word. It took a while to sink in. So that was what her big sister really thought of her. It hurt. Of course she had always suspected Prue to have views like that, but hearing it aloud just made it so much worse. Without consciously meaning to she disintegrated into tears and rather than suppressing her emotions as she always did, Phoebe let everything go until her slight body wracked with sobs. Never had the youngest Halliwell sibling felt so utterly alone in her own home.

The sound of Phoebe's muffled cries echoed down the hall until Piper couldn't bear it anymore. She hurriedly finished getting ready for bed by tying her hair back into a ponytail and, before she could lose her nerve, knocked on Prue's door. To her astonishment Prue stood on the other side of it looking sheepish and, if she wasn't mistaken, guilty.

"I know Piper, I know. She must have heard us. Well me. She must have heard me," Prue added, almost talking to herself. Her intense blue eyes suddenly met Piper's wary hazel ones and Prue realised that Piper had been crying too. Shit, what is wrong with me? Prue thought. I make the people I care about the most, unhappy. Prue held out her arms to offer Piper a hug and the other woman cautiously put her arms around her big sister in surprise.

"I'm so sorry I was a bitch to you," Prue whispered into Piper's soft, mahogany coloured hair. "None of this is your fault. And there's a big difference between being naïve and just looking for the best in people. You are definitely not naïve Piper."

"Let's go see if you can work your magic and make peace with Phoebe too," Piper half smiled nervously. Prue grimaced.

Phoebe was really trying to calm down. She'd tried to stop the tears by blocking out the memory, but random words from Prue's rant kept tearing themselves free and booming in her head over and over again. That girl. Failure. Little horror. She felt rather than heard someone come in. There was a slight draft and then a presence next to her. Oh God! Phoebe thought immediately, she decided to come in and shout at me after all. I can't take this right now!

Prue hadn't set foot in Phoebe's room in weeks. She had refused after Piper had caught Phoebe smoking in there. It was a tip in all honesty and Prue couldn't understand how Phoebe lived like this. Then again, when I was sixteen how tidy was my room? Though it was hardly long ago, she couldn't remember. Things had changed so much since then. In all honesty, Phoebe looked a wreck and Prue no understood why Piper had been so apprehensive to tell her. This was very nearly as bad as that time.

"Phoebe it's us. We're both really, really sorry, we didn't mean to get you so worked up about this sweetie. There are always agreements we can come to and compromises we can make to help you out. Please don't be so upset," Piper's soothing words seemed to have the opposite effect to the one she desired. Her baby sister appeared to curl up even tighter into a ball in an attempt to hide her face from her sisters' looks of concern. Piper sat down on the bed beside Phoebe and although her little sister tried to push her away, gathered her up into her arms and rocked her like Grams had done when they were younger. Piper nodded at Prue as if to say, 'your turn'.

"Phebes? I… Phoebe… I didn't mean that horrible stuff I said. I was just mad. You know what happens when I get into a rage- it just all tumbles out like lava and then there's no taking it back. Please Phoebe, I really care about you, you know that. No matter what, you'll always be my baby sister."

Piper was looking at Prue pointedly as if she hadn't said the most basic and important thing. The truth was she hadn't. Prue took a deep steadying breath.

"Phebes I love you, okay? I love you and I would do anything in this world for you. "

Silence. Then with a little sob Phoebe gently detangled her limbs from Piper and threw herself into Prue's unsuspecting arms. Piper couldn't suppress her large smile. The two stood there for a long time, immobilised almost. Neither one quite believing what had just happened.

"Stay with me tonight?" Phoebe pleaded. "Please Prue? You too Piper."

"Of course," replied Piper, already fussily trying to re-arrange the blankets into some sort of semblance of order.

"Okay, if that's what you want," Prue obliged, wondering if she had in fact underestimated how much Phoebe missed their Grams. Phoebe acted out when she was emotional, it was an unavoidable fact. Yet she had seemed totally devoid of emotion at the funeral, to the point where Prue had ferociously asked if she was bored and had somewhere better to be. Looking around Prue spotted the photo of Grams and an eight-year-old Phoebe that usually stood in a corner of the foyer. She had badly misjudged her sister.

The three lay together, each lost in tumultuous thoughts –but nonetheless comforted by the others presence – and slowly fell asleep.