Flower3 - My fic is cool? Yay :) Thank you for giving information about the age differences, however I didn't use your information, see below>>>
Badgirl21 – Good to know you're still reading and liking my story :)
Sehar – I'm glad I could cheer you up with my update. The spoilers sure are drepressing... but I did read that the new man in Phoebe's life is in only 6 episodes, so maybe there's still some hope. (Okay, I think I'm still in denial )
Phoebe Turner Halliwell – I actually find it really hard not to tell you whether your thoughts about the flasback were right or wrong. But you just have to wait some more chapters before you'll find out... I have no plans for bringing Paige into this story. Prue was definitely better than Paige.
Maricole – I know this story is different and the number of hits for this fic is low. So I'm really happy there are some people, including you, here who do enjoy this story :D
>>>Okay, because you people said two different things about the disparity in age of the sisters, I searched on the web myself. But actually I got tired of that very fast, because my computer was so slow. So, because you, Phoebe Turner Halliwell, was very sure of it ( I think) I used the one year difference between them. My apologies if your information, Flower3, was the correct information.
Here comes chapter 3...
- 3 -
"A gunfight because of you?" Prue asked confused.
Phoebe nodded absently, having her attention more focused on Matt who just left the saloon. She hadn't slept at all last night. She had felt the hands of Matt still touching her skin, over and over again. She hoped that feeling would fastly while away as time passed.
"How did this happen?" the oldest Halliwell sister asked now she still hadn't heard some kind of explanation. Phoebe brought her attention back to her sister.
"Matt kissed me and..."
"Phoebe, kissing someone isn't quite what I meant by subtle dumping," Prue interrupted.
"Well, it's kind of hard to say you're not interested, when that person is sticking his tongue in your throat."
Prue gave a disgusted gaze to her sister who seemed to be upset.
"And your advice about going for a boring guy, wasn't that great. He wanted to shoot me," Phoebe said.
"What!" Prue yelled.
However Prue didn't get a further explanation, because Piper walked into the saloon with Leo. Piper and Leo spent a lot of time together lately. Their relation was going faster than Phoebe and Prue had expected. It probably was going faster than Piper had expected as well.
"They're going to begin," Piper informed her sisters.
Phoebe looked surprized that it was already time. Quickly she walked outside with her sisters and Leo following her. There were many other people standing outside, which was usual whenever there was a gunfight. Some people were interested, because it was the sheriff's son in a fight this time, some were just after blood.
Matt and Cole already stood in the middle of the sandy road with the agreed distance between them. They both were looking at the big clock in one of the wooden buildings on their left-side. When it would struck twelve they would fire. It was only a matter of who would react as first. Everything could be decided in a split second.
Matt had his heart in his mouth, feeling his heart beating faster by every second that went by. A gentle slant of wind ran through his bronze hair. His eyes were glued to his opponent and the hands on the clock, forgetting about the spectators and the fierce sun. It was just him, his enemy and the clock. He held his hand even closer to his side to pull out his gun faster. Phoebe looked from Matt to Cole, feeling the tension. She held her breath when the hand of the clock finally jumped to the twelve.
He took hold of his revolver and pulled the trigger, expecting to hear the reliable sound of a shot. However he only heard a dull click. Matt glanced confused and scared to his fire-arm, questioning why it didn't work. Then he gazed to Cole who had his pistol pointed at him, but hadn't fired. Matt casted off his surprise of all the things he hadn't expected to happen and calmly focused all of his attention to the man he had been fighting with.
"What, Cole?"
Matt threw his revolver down on the ground since it was useless without bullets and walked slowly towards Cole, through which a crunching sound was heard by every step he made.
"You're afraid to kill me?" Matt laughed disdainfully.
The bystanders were curious what the stranger was going to do and looked expectantly to Cole. Matt stopped walking when he was right in front of Cole. Cole let his gun down, so that it wasn't longer aimed at Matt.
"Don't tell me you're still holding on to your idiotic resolution not to kill anyone ever again," Matt whispered, while he narrowed his eyes as if the person standing next to him wasn't worth to look at, " You know it only will be a matter of time before you'll break it..."
Cole narrowed his eyes as well as he looked right in the eyes of Matt, which gave Matt the pleasure of knowing he stirred a tender chord by his enemy.
"I don't know how you sabotaged me, but we'll fight again someday, Cole and then I will have bullets to kill you."
"I can't wait," Cole said sarcastically.
Matt turned round and walked aside, making his way through the crowd. The most of the bystanders went away as well, disappointed that not any blood was drawn. Cole saw a woman walking towards him and gave her a slight smile.
"Thank god you're alright," Alma wrapped her arms around him.
Phoebe had a feeling she would love not to have, but she couldn't help it. She felt jealous seeing the blonde hugging her saviour in the distance. But what else could she have expected? That she would be the one hugging him? That she would be the one taking care of him?
He probably didn't even care about her. She wondered if he would have saved her if it hadn't been Matt trying to kill her. Maybe he just wanted to cross Matt's plans. The hate between them she had felt was undeniable.
She saw Cole finally letting go of the woman. Phoebe already knew from the beginning he was taken, but she hadn't really pictured him with a woman. Especially not with a woman like Alma, who exactly was what Phoebe wasn't. Someone who was responsible and didn't get mad for no good reason.
Only an idiot would choose a bloody-mind, wild girl who searched for danger above a nice, good girl. It was just a ridiculous thought she would ever be with him. She hated her heart for wanting the opposite her mind told her to do.
Suddenly Phoebe became aware she was still staring at Cole and he was looking at her now as well. She was too shocked to look away or maybe she just didn't want to. She didn't know why he exactly looked at her. It was as if he tried to read her mind from far away. After a few seconds, although it seemed to be longer, he turned his gaze away from her, through which she looked away as well.
She realized no one noticed that short moment between her and Cole. Everyone was the same as before. It was like it never happened.
"That was... strange," Prue said about the gunfight.
Phoebe turned her head to Prue, while she saw out of the corner of her eyes Cole and the woman going away.
"Did you by any chance had something to do with that?"
"Well, I couldn't let Cole die in a gunfight that was caused, because he saved me," Phoebe admitted, while they walked back into the saloon.
"Phoebe, what if Matt would have checked his gun before the fight? What if he would have seen you removing the bullets? You are so lucky to..."
"Yeah, I know I could have been caught..." Phoebe cut her off, "... but everything went alright. Just calm down, okay?"
Prue fell silent, although her worried expression stayed. Phoebe sighed, not really reassured either. It probably wouldn't take long before Matt would suspect something and find out. On the other hand he already hated her for rejecting him, it maybe wouldn't make much difference.
At least that's what she hoped. Having Matt as an enemy would mean his father, the sheriff, would also be against them. That was the last thing she wanted. She already had brought her sisters into enough trouble through all those years without this.
Phoebe wondered whether Matt would owe her sister a grudge after she would leave this town. The thought of not having to see Matt ever again if she would go away, gave her a feeling of relief.
"But I don't get why Cole didn't shoot him," Phoebe puzzled, pushing away her worries. She sat down by a table and Prue sat beside her.
"Maybe he isn't such a good shooter," Prue suggested.
Phoebe raised one of her eyebrows, remembering he shot Matt's revolver out of his hands last night. Besides if he indeed was a bad shooter, he probably would have fired anyway.
"I've never pictured him to be someone shooting people..." Prue said.
The palmist looked confused to her sister and then realized something.
"You knew Cole before he came here?" Phoebe asked.
"No, not really. I've only seen him like twice or thrice before he left this town. I didn't even talk to him or something."
Prue remembered the tall, lanky boy wandering through town. She didn't exactly know why she hadn't expected him to be aiming a fire-arm at someone someday. Probably because he was just a child then.
If Jodie hadn't told her Cole had been home again, Prue hadn't even recoginized him. Not that his looks were changed a lot, but there was definitely something else changed in him. Something Prue couldn't really tell what it was, but she did know it was something she didn't like at all.
"He lived in this town?" Phoebe asked.
"No, at the ranch."
"Why can't I remember him?" Phoebe said disturbed, her thoughts going back to the past.
"Because you were probably too busy with finding trouble. Besides I think he actually didn't come a lot to town. And he left kind of sudden after his father was murdered... or his mother... or both... I actually can't remember anymore what happened..."
"His parents were murdered?" Phoebe asked surprized. She had known Cole's sister for some years now, but she actually never had wondered why Jodie lived by her uncle. It just had been a fact to her, never a question. Besides she never had talked with Jodie about serious issues.
"I'm not sure whether..." Prue muttered, while she noticed Phoebe's sudden curiosity. Her baby sister usually wasn't that interested in lives of other people.
"Why did he leave town? Where did he go?" Phoebe interrupted her, wanting to know more.
"I don't know, okay?"
Phoebe was disappointed by Prue's answer, but she didn't want to let the subject go so easily.
"Come on, Prue. You have to remember more than that."
"I really don't know," Prue answered a bit annoyed, because of her sister's insistence, "It was about 8 years ago, Phoebe. I was 15 and I had other things to do than following the latest rumors. Like taking care of you and Piper."
Prue knew the right words to say for Phoebe to maintain silent this time. Phoebe knew their conversation about what happened years ago was finished and her interest in talking any longer started to disappear.
"Now, what exactly did happen between you, Matt and Cole?" Prue repeated her question that still hadn't been answered.
Phoebe sighed, before she began to talk about last night.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZA/N: Yeah, I know, it was a shorter chapter this time. Next chapter will be longer again, I promise :) And maybe I'll update sooner too.
I don't know what the most common way of a gunfight is (I actually haven't seen many westerns... shame on me), so I just used the clock, because I saw that in a movie once.
Well, what did you think of this chapter? Was it an anti-climax nobody shot? And what about Cole not killing anyone ever again? Is he really going to hold on to it this whole story?
Next time: More flashback and Phoebe & Cole have a longer conversation than the first two times...