Chapter 3 – Thank You, Jack.

Warning: Contains scenes of a sexual nature and strong language.

About two and a half bottles of whiskey later, Steffi and Cole were in drunken hysterics on her sofa. Cole was sliding off the sofa, and Steffi was laid across the length of it with her legs draped over Cole.

"Shhh," Steffi slurred between giggling fits. "The old hag from downstairs is in the hallway! She's the steward for this block of apartments, and she is soo mean!" Cole pulled a serious face, and Steffi relapsed into giggles. Cole put his hand over her mouth to try and quieten her down, and there was a knock on the door.

"Carmella? It's Mrs Munro… are you alright in there?" Cole released Steffi long enough for her to say, through her giggles;

"I'm fine, you evil old crone. But you're really just being a nosy bat aren't you?" Cole clamped his hand back over her mouth and grinned.

"Really! I would like to talk to Phillip please, Miss Marcello."

"Phillip's not here, Mrs Munro," Cole shouted, mimicking the lady's posh accent. "But I am, and I intend to take Miss Marcello far, far away to San Francisco!!" Steffi giggled, and then chimed in with a drunken chorus of 'Is This The Way To Amarillo?', changing the word Amarillo to San Francisco.

"Who is that man? Carmella, I insist you let me in here at once!" There was a jingling of keys, and a scrabbling at the lock. "If you don't let me in, I shall have to let myself in!!" Steffi looked at Cole with a panicked expression, and he slid off the sofa completely. When he resurfaced, he pulled her off with a thump, and held her down there.

"If she comes in, all she's going to see is an empty room! And if she investigates… well I'm sure we can put her off," Cole whispered with a grin. Steffi grinned back and kept quiet as Mrs Munro opened the door.

There was a shuffling of slippers as Jackie Munro made her way into the studio apartment. Miss Marcello and her companion must've had a meal together, for there was the remainders of a key lime pie on the table, with two candles burnt down to the bottom, and there were two finished bottles of Jack Daniels next to the candlesticks. Jackie shook her head gleefully at the prospect of gossip; Mr Gregory probably wouldn't know about this male visitor, and if he found out… boy, would he be mad. There was a sound, like tittering, and the old woman swung around quickly to see who it was. She couldn't see anyone, but she thought she could see a length of blonde curly hair next to the sofa. She made her way over, and gasped when she saw a man of about thirty, who was on top of, and clearly having his way with, Miss Marcello. The man looked up at her and grinned.

"Don't mind us, Mrs Munro. I'm just, uh, dislodging some pie from Carmella's throat." Steffi choked compliantly, and Cole pressed down on her chest. "Cough it up now, there's a love."

"Do you need an ambulance?" Jackie said, hoping to find out more about their evening. "I could ring emergency services for you…"

"No thank you, Mrs Munro. I am in fact a doctor, and I'm perfectly capable of dislodging this piece of pie." A sound was emitted from Steffi's mouth not unlike a giggle, and Jackie looked at her sharply. But Steffi was a clever enough actress to turn her laugh into a cough, and Jackie turned on her heel and walked out.

"Did we ever piss her off?!" Steffi was shrieking with laughter as soon as she heard the elevator ping from outside. "I don't think I've ever seen that old busy-body so anxious to help!" Cole, who hadn't moved off Steffi since the old steward had come over, smiled down at Steffi. She leant on her elbows and looked at him for a long time, just looking. Taking in every inch of his features, which were still so familiar to her. Gently, she stroked his cheek with her hand, and slowly brought her hand down to his lips. She left her fingers there and gazed into his eyes once more. He kissed her fingertips softly, before grabbing her arm and kissing the length of it, from fingertip to shoulder, supporting her with his other hand. Steffi closed her eyes and let her head fall back, relaxing completely into him. Cole kissed along her collar bone and up to her neck, then her face, avoiding her lips completely. She wrapped both arms around his neck, and he picked her up, carrying her into one of the three bedrooms of the flat.

"Not this one," Steffi whispered huskily. "This is Katy's room." Cole moved to the next one, and Steffi shook her head. "The next one's mine. This is Marcus's." When they finally reached Steffi's room, Cole dropped her onto the bed and started taking his shirt off.

"When does everyone get home?" Steffi got up on her knees and helped him unbutton it, murmuring;

"Marcus is working the late shift at the restaurant, so he won't be back tonight. He'll stay at his girlfriend's house and he probably won't be back till seven. Katy is with her parents for the week, and Phil finishes at seven. With New York traffic and his beaten up old car, he won't be back until half eight." She slid one of the straps on her dress off her shoulder slowly, and Cole got onto the bed and ran a hand up her thigh. Steffi reached out to her bedside lamp and pulled the cord, and the room was enveloped in darkness.

"Was this just a one-time thing?" Cole asked an hour or so later, as he stroked Steffi's arm gently. She laughed quietly.

"Can we ever be a one-time thing? Because we asked ourselves the same thing last time, and look how that turned out."

"I guess so, but it's different this time. I mean… I'm in love with you."

"I know."

"And all evening, all I've wanted to ask you is if you still love me, and if you could ever take me back."

"I know."

"Look, about those pictures of me in the paper. It was just business, especially with Phoebe. Her column was being sued and so Elise hired me as her attorney. I did take her out, but only as a business thing."

"I know."

"And Katie Couric? For a comic, she can be so boring! I mean…" Steffi placed a finger to his lips, cutting him off, and nodded.

"I know. You don't have to explain yourself to me, Cole. It's just me – it's Steffi. Your Steffi. Now say thank you."

"To who?"

"Jack, of course."

"Jack who?"

"Jack Daniels. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be lying here with you, telling you I love you and I never want to be without you again."

"Thank you very, very much, Jack."

A/N and Disclaimer: 'Charmed' is obviously nothing to do with me, cos I'm a 16 year old kid from Essex. I'm supposed to be a bleached blonde chavette with a really bad dress sense. Well, I'm a third of the way there then.

Hope you enjoyed that! I just thought they needed a little bit of fun before they end up getting split up again.