Disclaimer: I don't own the series Charmed or any of the original characters.
A/N: Hey guys! It's been a long while since the last time, so apologies are in order. There's a possibility that it will be a LONG while until the next time, considering I've got to study for my finals and I have tiny writer's block, but you never know. So this is a small chapter, but it's better than nothing, right?
A couple of months ago, in April, this story turned one year old, and I want to thank everyone who stuck with it. Really I appreciate each and every one of you who's read this story, whether you've reviewed it or not. It doesn't matter if you were here from the beginning or not, all that matters is that you guys enjoy reading this story (a story that is at its best mediocre, imo) and you spend minutes of your free time reading it. I'm really grateful for all of you
And here's the chapter;
Phoebe could hear the words coming out of her mouth, she could see Jason's angry and betrayed expression, she could feel all his confusion coming off of him in waves and crashing on to her, crashing her. But it didn't feel real. It was like a nightmare, a really bad one and she could only just wish to wake up.
"So why don't you just tell me, Phoebe, huh? Tell me how I feel, because I don't know, but you," Jason let a little scoff, his left hand roaming through his hair, "You always seem to know-"
"Jason, just stop." Phoebe pleaded. She took a step forward, only to have him back away from her and crashing onto the furniture behind him. Phoebe flinched; this was worse than a slap in the face "I didn't want you to find out like this, I-"
"Did you even want me to find out?" Jason snapped.
Phoebe brought both her hands up to her mouth, willing herself not to start crying, but it was so hard. At this point she couldn't even tell apart her feelings from Jason's, and the tornado of emotions inside of her was making her dizzy.
"No." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but in the silence of the office was easily heard "No, I didn't want you to find out." Jason scoffed and shook his head "I didn't want you to look at me the way you're looking at me right now."
"What did you expect me to do, Pheebs? Pretend that I'm okay with all this and say 'let's forget about it'? That's not going to happen."
"Will you at least give me the chance to explain myself?" Phoebe asked looking at him pleadingly "Because I think you owe me that much."
"No." Jason raised his hand to stop her "No, I don't owe you anything."
"I didn't mean to fall in love with you. I didn't mean to start lying, can't you see how difficult this has been for me?" Phoebe demanded pressing one of her hands against her heart.
"All I can see is that you're the definition of selfishness; you sprung something like this to me, and you expect me to care of how much you lying to my face have made you suffer?" Jason's tone was incredulous.
"Please, just...just listen to me." Jason crossed his arms, his eyes pinning in hers "W-when we first met, I'd come out of a difficult relationship." Phoebe paused and chuckled darkly "Although 'difficult' doesn't really explain the hell he'd put me through." She muttered massaging her crown "I'd vowed to myself to not fall in love again; it's just messy, and it hurts – that's what I reminded myself of every time I liked someone. But then you happened to my life and I-" Phoebe looked at him, her lips twisting into a smile as she remembered the day she realised that she loved Jason, the man standing so close yet so far away from her, looking at her like this was the first time seeing her "I fell for you without realising it. It was easy at first, you're an easy man to love Jason Dean. But then the lies started and...it got complicated."
"You said you didn't intend to tell me." Jason stated, and she nodded. He took a small step forward, just to be able to see her face better "What changed that plan?"
"The past coming back to haunt me." Phoebe said laconically, and he frowned "The man I told you about, my ex-husband-"
"Ex husband?" Jason's eyebrows rose to his hairline "You were married?" Phoebe's gaze turned guilty, and he huffed in indignation "What else don't I know about you?"
"Nothing, I've told you everything else, but Cole-" Phoebe had to stop; saying his name was difficult even after all those years "Is not something I like to talk about-"
"Not something you like to talk about?! Phoebe we've been together for sixteen months and you haven't ever mentioned being in a serious relationship before!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, but if I could keep the whole Cole thing in the past, and never talk about it again I would! It's not easy Jason, you don't know what I've been through!" Phoebe yelled, losing her composer.
"Well how could I, with you keeping everything a secret?" Jason mumbled, looking more sad than angry. Phoebe's irritated expression softened, knowing that if she were in his shoes she wouldn't have acted much differently.
"I could tell you all about Cole, if you want. It would take us forever and a day, but if it will make you feel any better, I'll tell you everything."
"What does he have to do with you telling me the truth about being a...you know a..." Jason trailed of, gesturing towards her.
"A witch?" Phoebe asked, and he nodded "I've learned recently that he might be coming back to my life, a little down the road. And I've done everything to get over him, t-to forget about him-"
"Did it work?" Jason cut her off, his eyes examining her face.
"It did. I love you, not him Jason. And-and I understood that, for this relationship to last, you had to know the truth. Because I want us to last Jason, I want to be with you. I'm so terrified of losing you, and going back to him." Phoebe's voice broke, her head falling forward.
"So, what you're saying is; you're afraid of being with your ex again, so you decided to tell me the truth, in hopes I'd still want to be with you afterwards?"
"No, no. I told you the truth because I love you."
Jason let out something between a sigh and a laugh. He rubbed his face with his hand, and moved closer to her, his eyes pinning in hers. He stood in front of his desk, arms crossed.
"Phoebe, you need to understand, this is...so far out of my reality."
"I know. I'm just hoping we can work it out somehow."
"I don't think I-I don't think I can do this. It's too much for me." Jason whispered. Phoebe lowered her head again, pressing her lips in a thin line.
It's not like she expected him to be okay with it, not after they way she'd handled it. But hearing him say the words out loud, it hurt more than she thought it would.
"Deep down I knew you were going to say that." She said with a small smile, looking at him under her lashes "I just didn't want to believe that we're over. This is not the ending I'd hoped for."
"I'd never thought there would be an ending." Jason said truthfully, holding her gaze. Phoebe chuckled softly, feeling her eyes tearing up.
"If I could change anything-"
"No." Jason stopped her before she had a chance to finish her sentence "Don't go there. I...I wouldn't change a thing."
"Not even the last couple of hours?" Phoebe inquired, kinking an eyebrow. Jason offered her a smile.
"Not even them."
"You are a lovely man, Jason Dean." Phoebe said, wiping at her eyes "Don't ever let anyone say otherwise." Jason nodded.
"I won't. And..don't be afraid of forgiving Cole." He said and saw her shivering "Someone who loved you can't be that bad a guy, right?" he asked with a small, amused smile.
"Right." Phoebe whispered. Jason studied her expression for a moment, and then his eyes moved to the stack of folders on his desk.
"I gotta go back on my notes for the merge."
"Oh yeah, and we have...a business to take care of."
Phoebe couldn't take her eyes off him. This was, realistically, the last time she'd ever see him, and she wanted to memorize all of the lines on his face, she wanted to be able to remember just how his eyes shined when he looked at her, to imprint in her memory the slope of his nose, and the cute little scar that was hiding in his left eyebrow. The tears burnt her eyes, and Phoebe had to get out of there. She swiftly turned around, and rushed to the door.
"Goodbye Pheebs." His voice reached her ears, just as a lone tear made its way down her cheek. Without pausing, and without a last word, she walked out, leaving behind the one man that could've offer her a simple, normal life.
The house was quiet as Melinda made her way to the kitchen. Piper had come to check in on her sometime around dawn, covered in filth and looking tired as hell. Melinda wanted to scold her for going after the swarm demons when she'd made it perfectly clear that she and Chris could take care of them, but she was too tired, and opted to wait until morning.
Now though, walking into the empty kitchen, and grabbing the milk carton from the fridge, she regretted that choice. Piper had a parent-teacher meeting at Wyatt's pre-school, or what they hoped would be his preschool; he'd been going for almost two weeks now, as a trial period. Melinda didn't want to add more pressure on her, knowing how worried her mother could get.
She drank her milk, pondering what Chris would do once he woke up and realised that he'd somehow slept for fifteen hours straight. She decided that whatever her brother might do, wouldn't be worse than what Paige would do once she found out that Richard had tried to cast a spell on himself.
She stopped her mind before it drifted over to her own family; thinking about them wouldn't help. She put her glass in the sink, and she made her way out, heading straight for the stairs. She still had to go through Chris' list of potential threats for Wyatt.
"Hey Wy." She greeted cheerfully when she saw the baby standing in the foyer. She'd climbed up the first steps, and then she stopped, pivoting around "Why aren't you at school Mister?" she asked crossing her arms. Wyatt's eyes flickered from her to the wall behind her, his head slightly tilting on the side. Melinda walked back down the stairs, and scooped the little boy up "Did you orb here from the pre-school?" she asked pressing a kiss on his cheek.
Wyatt mumbled something she didn't understand, his right hand pointing towards the staircase. Melinda looked at what he was showing at her, and she frowned when she saw the big, heavy, wooden door.
Even if it wasn't a part of the house, Melinda knew that door. She could recognise it anywhere. She looked at her brother, then back at the door. Had Wyatt something to do with it appearing in their house? He was staring right at it when she'd found him, so that was a possibility-
"Wyatt? Honey, you can't keep doing that." Piper's voice reached her ears, and Melinda turned around, just in time to see her Mom and Aunts enter through the front door.
"Hey, look who's up! Morning, sleepy head." Phoebe said cheerily, making Melinda frown.
"You are happy." She said slowly, and Phoebe nodded, reaching to get Wyatt from her "Didn't you just broke up with your boyfriend? Why do you look so happy?"
"Oh, don't you know? Phoebe is too old to actually care about breaking up with Jason. She has no time for that." Paige said sarcastically, flipping her mobile shut.
"Richard is still MIA?" Piper asked, kinking an eyebrow, and Paige sighed heavily.
"Ugh, I don't think he's going to answer that any time soon." Melinda muttered. Paige looked at her, her eyes narrowed "You should probably drop by his house."
"Do you know something that I don't?" Paige questioned, crossing her arms over her chest, and Melinda shrugged feigning ignorance.
"Guys, I don't wanna alarm you, but there's a strange door right there on the stairs." Phoebe said, before Paige had any time to go into interrogation mode.
"What the...?" Piper trailed off, as she walked closer to the staircase.
"Oh, this is just the door to-"
But Melinda had no chance to finish her sentence. The door opened, and a short man clad in a black robe, walked out, looking relived to see them there. He was about to say something, when the neighing of a horse echoed throughout the house, and the dark rider raised the hand he was holding the sword with.
Piper turned her head on the side, and Paige hid her face on Phoebe's shoulder, as the sword came down with a whooshing sound, chopping the man's head off. His body fell, lifelessly, forward as the head rolled down the stairs, and stopped in front of Phoebe's feet. The horse neighed once again, and the door closed.
"..The magic school." Melinda finished off, crouching next to the severed head "Sigmund?" she muttered and he gave her a nervous smile.
"Do we know each other?" he asked, studying her face. Melinda shook her head, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
"No, not yet." She muttered.
"Melinda." Piper called her name, using her sweetest tone, the one that used to mean Melinda was in trouble when she was a kid "Do you have a moment?" her mother questioned.
"Ugh, yeah sure. Let's just move Sigmund's head." She said, carefully picking up the head of her Charms professor "Sorry." She said when her finger slipped, pocking his eye.
"It's okay." He said reassuringly. Melinda slowly walked towards the table, and cautiously placed Sigmund's head on top of it. She took a step back and smiled at him.
"There you go."
"Thanks, you are very kind." He bid her, and Melinda flashed him another smile. Piper cleared her throat, and motioned towards the kitchen.
"I'll be right back." Melinda promised, and then followed her mother and aunts to the kitchen.
"What the hell did just happen?" Phoebe questioned, still holding Wyatt in her arms.
"Well you guys now finally know that the legend of the sleepy hallow is real." Melinda said, with a fake but cheery grin.
"Is she serious?" Phoebe asked looking at her sisters, who simply shrugged "Are you serious?"
"No." Melinda admitted shaking her head "This was the Headless Horseman, but it has nothing to do with the legend."
"I'm sorry, sorry you said-" Piper scratched her ear "He was the Headless Horseman?"
"Yeah...We'd called him during my fifth year, as a prank-"
"A prank?" Piper demanded, looking disapprovingly at her daughter.
"Wyatt's seventh year class called the fourth horsemen because they thought the apocalypse would be easier to deal with than their finals, and Chris' fourth year class managed to piss off a bunch of grim rippers, so I'd say our prank was pretty harmless." Melinda said defensively, crossing her arms over her chest. Piper's jaw had gone slang during her mini rant.
"I'm raising three hooligans." Piper muttered finally. Phoebe scoffed, earning a glare.
"Oh relax! So the kids didn't grow up to be goody- two-shoes like you, what's the big deal?" Paige said with a small shrug.
"What's the big deal?" Piper repeated, in a high pitch tone "The apocalypse Paige, that's the big deal!"
"Hey no fighting." Melinda interjected "I didn't tell you to piss you off." Piper huffed and crossed her arms "Point is, this little prank is getting out of hand; the horseman came way too close to getting out of the school."
"And why is that bad, exactly?" Paige asked.
"Well, as long as his victims stay inside the school, they are still alive. But if he gets out, if he kills someone in the real world..." Melinda trailed off.
"Then they stay dead." Phoebe ended her sentence.
"That, and plus the Magic School would shut down." Melinda added.
"Okay...how is that our problem?" Piper asked, and Melinda let a surprised breath out, looking at her mom.
"How about because of the door appearing in the middle of your stairway, or the severed head who serves a centrepiece on top of your table? How about because if we don't do something about it, the younger generation of witches won't have a place to practice and learn about their magic?" Melinda jammed let a sigh, her shoulders slamming "How about because I ask you to make it your problem?"
Piper took a step forward, reaching for Melinda's hand and was secretly delighted when the girl didn't pull away. They'd came a long in the past few weeks; Melinda had started to trust them, and let them in, little by little, and Piper had learned not to be so judgmental and quick to blame everyone. It was not much, but it was some progress in the relationship, and the same couldn't be said for her relationship with Chris. The last thing Piper wanted was to mess things up.
"Look." She started, squeezing Melinda's hand with her own "I know that this is important to you. But right now, we have Wyatt to worry about-"
Melinda pulled her hand away, a soft scoff leaving her lips. She shut her eyes and shook her head.
"Forget it. I'll help Sigmund, you guys." Melinda bit on her top lip as she looked at them "You guys do whatever you wanna do."
"Melinda." Piper started, but the girl ignored her walking back to the foyer. Piper sighed, running a hand through her hair "Oh don't give me that look." She said to Paige, who was looking at her, her head tilted.
"It wouldn't hurt to help with the Magic School, you know." The youngest Charmed One said.
"We don't have time for that. We got to get back to Wyatt's pre-school."
"Piper, I know that you are worried about Wyatt having a normal school experience, but shouldn't we stay and help Mel?" Phoebe asked.
"And, from what it looks like, Wyatt ended up in Magic School, whether you like it or not." Paige said, playing her eyebrows. Piper gave her a saccharine sweet smile.
"Maybe that's why he turned into a young hooligan." She said, leaning closer to the boy and dropping a kiss on the tip of his nose. Paige simply rolled her eyes.
"So, Piper, what are we going to do?" Phoebe questioned, looking at her older sister.
"Hey, sorry for that." Melinda said, walking closer to the table "The sisters can get pretty demanding when they have questions."
"Oh, no it's okay. I didn't mind." Sigmund said with a pleasant smile, and for a second Melinda was taken back to the time before Leo had shut down the Magic School "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine." Melinda shrugged his worry off "I should probably get you back to Magic School, huh?"
"I was actually hoping for the Charmed Ones to agree to help-"
"They have too much on their plate already." Melinda said vaguely "But if you give me a chance you'll see I'm pretty good. Plus I have a partner in crime, and I'm sure that between the two of us, we'll figure out this 'Headless Horseman' thing in no time." Melinda said with a small wink. Sigmund gave her another smile.
"Okay." He said "We need to find Gideon, and fast."
Gideon...Now, why does that sound familiar?
"I'm guessing his the headmaster, right?" Melinda asked, gently picking up Sigmund's head, and starting for the stairs.
"That's correct. His office is right by-"
"Oh, I know exactly where his office is. No worries." Melinda cut him off, remembering of the countless times she had to wait at the headmaster's office until he was done lecturing Wyatt, so they could get back home. Chris usually decided to wait for them in the library, not really enjoying witnessing his brother getting scolded.
"Are you a student, in the school?" Sigmund asked, giving her a confused look. Melinda pushed the door open, taking a deep breath as she stepped into the long corridor.
"Not yet."
A/N: Good? Bad? Awful? You tell me!
Till the next time!