A/N: As I said in Chapter 1, Cole is human. Therefore we don't have to worry how Cole reacts to hearing that she is a witch. And, yay- Someone caught on to the fact that the window is *EVIL*

Part 7 of

I'm Not There

Leo is home today. He and I are all alone, because Piper went to P3, and Prue is at work. They left me alone with *him*. They don't know how much I hate him. They couldn't know. It would tear us apart. I would stay home with him for a year before I let them know how I really felt.

Leo thinks that I need to be helped. Helped with what? He corners me all the time with silly questions about what I would do in the attic, what I was planning to do. I think that I missed the memo that said I wasn't allowed to look out windows, because I seem to be getting in trouble for doing just that.

I'm in the one place that he can't come for me- the bathroom. I've locked the door and layed towels on the shower floor so I could climb in here. I admit that it's not that comfortable, but it's warm inside of here. The tiled floor is cold. I would rather be uncomfortable then be cold. And I would rather be cold and uncomfortable then be outside with Leo.

I know that I eventually have to go out there, but not now. Not when I don't have the protection of my sisters. I can't stand all the questions. I can't take all the accusations. I know what I am doing up there... Well, not really, but I know what I'm NOT doing up there. I certainly do NOT want to be accused of doing something... dark. I'm a good witch, for god sake. I am NOT performing the dark arts.

He's knocking on the door. He wants to try and corner me again. I just know he does.

"Phoebe, come out of there. Cole is on the phone. I won't ask you about the attic, but you have to answer the phone."

I wasn't sure if I should believe him. What if he was lying? What if he was using it as an excuse to get me out of the bathroom? I decided to risk it. I wanted to talk to Cole.

I opened the door and Leo held the cordless out to me. "Thanks.", I said and put the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Aww.. My lovely Phoebe. How are you this morning? Piper really mad at you?", Cole asked, concerned.

"No.. Not really. She just said that with.. um.. our schedule that she prefer I didn't have you spend the night. Not right now, anyway. So.. Have fun last night?", I asked as I made it to my room and layed down on my bed.

"Yeah.. I really liked waking up with you in my arms, Phoebe. It just drove me crazy knowing that you were right next to me all night."

I smiled weakly. He was so sweet. He IS so sweet. He knows exactly what to say, and exactly what to do to make me smile. I wished I could spend more time with him. He could fill up the empty feeling that I had.

Suddenly, I was wondering why I was thinking about this instead of talking to Cole.

"So how are you today?"

"Good.. Just doing some.. book work, kind of. Researching the background, filling out forms... It's nothing too serious. In fact, I could put it off until tomorrow. I just.. wanted to get it done that way I could spend tomorrow with you."

"We spend a lot of time together...", I said. I suddenly felt scared at how real and serious this relationship was. Wasn't it just earlier that I like the stability? Wasn't I just thinking about how I loved spending time with him? Maybe I was wrong.. Maybe I should just stay away from him. Maybe I should listen to him.

"You think that that is a bad thing?"

"No.. Not really," I lied. Although, I didn't feel like I was lying. It felt like I was telling the truth. Maybe I was. Maybe my opinon had changed.. again.

"Good. Because I would hate for you to not want to spend time with me.. I can't go out tonight, but I can spend all day with you tomorrow."

All day. With Cole. Tomorrow. Cole tomorrow all day. With Cole, all day tomorrow. I rearranged the words in several different ways, even some ways where they didn't make sense. They still brought joy to my heart. No matter how they sounded. All I could think about was how I would love to spend the day with him tomorrow.

"Of course, if you don't want to..," he was saying. I had been thinking too long.

"No," I interupted. "I would love to spend all day tomorrow with you.. I was just thinking about how fun it would be. I can't wait for it.."

"Good. I was thinking that maybe I would pick you up at.. I don't know.. Ten in the morning?"

"Ten? Ugh... Why not.. 11-ish. I sorta.. sleep in. Everyday. And I couldn't wake up at 9 to get ready for the life of me. It's impossible for me to get up that early."

"You do realize that when you get a job, that's gonna have to change.," Cole said, jokingly.

"Well, yeah.. Of course I do. But why start now?"

"Because you have a great guy for a boyfriend and he wants to spend as much time as possible with you."

"I have a boyfriend..? I thought we were just.. dating," I said absentmindedly. I didn't think about what I was saying.

"Well I was hoping that you were my girlfriend. We spend every minute with each other that we can and well... I sorta had plans to stay dating you for a little while."

"Oh.. yeah... Right.. Haha.. Sorry.. Haven't been thinking clearly lately."

"So you've said.. Hundreds of times. You ok? Is there something you haven't told me?," he asked.

He was asking out of genuine concern for me, because he really did care, but I still couldn't just out and say, "Fine. I hate my whitelighter, and I think that I need to do something about my emotions because they change faster then a colidoscope can." I would sound crazy to him! If there was anyone in this world that I wanted to be seen as sane by, it was him.

"I'm fine, Cole.. Don't worry about me."

"But I do worry about you. I HAVE to worry about you.."

"Why?," I asked shyly.

"It's not something we should discuss over the phone."

"Well, then.. Tomorrow."

"Yes, tomorrow."

We exchanged our goodbyes and then hung up. Tomorrow would be a good day.