Chapter three…Hidden Lives
Author's note: Due to popular demand and the most reviews I've gotten in a two day period I have decided to continue. I'm glad you guys are enjoying it.
Phoebe stumbled out of the bushes a bit dazed. So Leo was right Charlie did know where she was but…but… Ok maybe she couldn't just ignore this any longer.
From the porch Piper noticed her sister stumble out of the bushes.
"Pheebs? Are you ok? What where you doing in there?" Piper asked confused. An uneasy feeling struck Piper and she knew that she wasn't going to like the answer to her question. Phoebe nodded and Piper caught a thin line of blood on her cheek.
"Pheebs your bleeding." Piper said running to her sister. Phoebe shook Piper's hands off of her face.
" I'm fine Piper I just got scratched on the bushes chasing a stray cat away." Phoebe said trying to collect herself. By this time Leo had joined them.
"That's a pretty nasty scratch. It looks more like a cut." He said innocently enough.
"It's not a cut it's a scratch ok!" Phoebe denied it passionately.
"Down girl." Piper put in.
"Sorry." Phoebe said looking at her feet. Why did she have to get so worked up about it? She had to relax or they'd start asking questions. She could tell Leo may not be buying it but she wasn't sure about Piper. If she kept it up however Piper would be on to her too. This conversation had to end.
"Let me heal that for you." Leo offered as she started to walk away.
"No!" Phoebe shot out a little to quickly. If Charlie came back he'd notice. "I mean that's ok. It's not like the cat was a demon or something." Phoebe said shrugging it off.
"I thought you said it was the bushes that scratched you." Piper said. Stupid Phoebe. Really stupid.
"Did I?" Phoebe asked. "Well whatever I said. I think I'm going to go lie down or something I'm getting a killer headache." She finished with her excuse and started to walk away.
"What about Cole? Weren't you suppose to meet him for lunch?" Piper asked.
Phoebe stopped in her tracks. She couldn't go out now, not with Charlie out there. Damn, he was still controlling her. It didn't matter she couldn't let him know where Ethan was and if that meant holing up in the house then she'd just have to do that. Still if nothing was wrong she would have remembered about Cole. That wasn't something she'd forget about. If Piper wasn't on to her she should be now.
"Oh yeah. Um Piper could you call him and tell him I won't be making it. My head is really starting to bother me." She finished and rushed into the house before anyone could say anything else. Who cares if they are suspicious now?
"Ok sure. You're welcome." Piper said to the empty space that Phoebe had been standing in then turning to her husband, "ok what's up with her?"
"I don't think there was a cat in those bushes." Leo said
"I do. But just not that kind of 'cat." Piper said. "What do you know about this Charlie?" she asked.
"I know that Phoebe has to tell you about him." Leo said.
"That really gets annoying sometimes you know that." Piper complained.
"I didn't think you knew that I knew." Leo complained back.
"Honey, I'm not blind. You're my husband and she's my sister. Did you really think you two could hide it from me?" Leo shook his head 'no.' "Good, come on then. I've gotta make a phone call and then we've gotta talk to Phoebe about Charlie."
Phoebe looked at her reflection in the mirror and wiped at the quickly drying blood. How come she let him do this to her? She could have fought back. She probably could have taken him too. But she just stood there.
Her eyes started to well up and she rolled her eyes. No she wasn't going to let him have the satisfaction. She wasn't going to let him make her cry again. But then memories of Ethan filled her mind and she couldn't stop the tears from slipping past her carefully guarded heart.
Cole shimmered in behind her.
"It was Charlie wasn't it?" he asked from behind her. He sought for her eyes in the mirror and when she turned away from his look he gently turned her head toward him. He grimaced at the small puncture wound on her cheek. Then he started to get mad. She could feel the anger building in him.
"Don't." she said simply. "Come on. Let's get the others. It's time I learned how to ask for help." He pulled her in for a quick hug.
"If anything happened to you…If I lost you I…" he struggled to get out.
"You won't." she assured him.
They didn't have far to go before they found Piper and Leo; they had been waiting just outside the door.
"Let's go sit down somewhere. I have something to tell you all." Phoebe said.
"Ok this isn't going to be easy." Phoebe said as the group gathered in the solarium, Cole sat by Phoebe and Leo stood behind Piper.
"Start with Charlie." Leo offered. Phoebe nodded.
"I was in New York two days when I met Charlie. He made me feel so innocent and pure and I liked the feeling. I hadn't made the best choices back then and Charlie made me feel like it was ok. That was my first mistake. We started dating and eventually I moved in with him. Charlie didn't take anything from anyone and I quickly found myself adapting to his needs and his schedule. If things weren't done or if I was in the way he'd…well bad things would happen. Once I lost track of time when I was out and when I got home he was already there and…I didn't spend the night there. When I got out of the hospital a few days later things were better. Charlie was so nice I thought he'd changed. I wanted to believe it. I really, really did…I was so alone and afraid. I wanted to come home so badly but I couldn't. Things were so different back then you know." Phoebe stopped talking and looked down at the floor remembering how different things really were. Back then Prue would have turned her away and Piper would have felt bad about it but would have gone along with it.
"It's ok Pheebs. We were all different back then." Piper said guiltily. Phoebe nodded then continued.
"About a week later I found out that I was pregnant. It wasn't about just me anymore and I had to get out of the situation so I did. I ran and I hid. I knew if Charlie found me then our child would never have a chance. Those next seven months were hell. I lived in alleys in shelters in abandoned buildings wherever I could stay warm and dry. I went to bars just to find someone who would take me home for the night. I'm not proud of what I did but I had to do it to keep my child safe. I knew that when he was born I'd have to give him up. He deserved so much more then I could give him. About seven and a half months into the pregnancy I stumbled into the wrong bar and Charlie was there waiting. I ran but he caught up with me. He was mad. I've never seen anyone so angry. He cut me with a broken bottle." She said gesturing to her side, "There was so much blood I didn't know what to do. Luckily a passerby called an ambulance and I was taken to the hospital while Charlie was taken to jail. I almost lost the child, the doctors had to take him early."
"Oh Pheebs. I never knew. I'm so sorry." Piper said getting up to hug her sister.
"I named him Ethan. He was so sweet and perfect. I wanted to keep him so badly. But I couldn't do that to him. They placed him with a woman named Julie. She had wanted a child so badly but she wasn't able to have one. I knew that her husband and her would make good parents. They didn't know who I was. I didn't want them too. After I lost Ethan I was lost for a while. I didn't have anywhere to go and I didn't know anyone. Charlie was in jail and I hadn't made any friends in New York. That's when I met Clay. He was perfect for forgetting the past with. That is until I found out that Julie was his sister. After that I couldn't stay away. Julie and I grew close and I considered telling her about Ethan but it was easier to go along with it. I think she may have suspected something though. She always called me to watch Ethan and she called me for little things. Whenever I visited which was often she always gave me time alone with him. I caught her watching us once through a window and she gave me one of those looks you know, like she knew and she was ok with it all." Phoebe shuddered and Cole pulled her closer to him. "But I was running out of money and things with Clay were getting complicated for reasons that I have already mentioned. I knew they wouldn't keep Charlie locked up forever and that when he was out he'd come looking for us. I also knew that I couldn't keep pretending. So I ran. I came home. There was nothing left for me to do."
"And now Charlie is back." Leo said.
"He's not going to get to you." Cole said holding her close as if holding her could keep her from all the pain in the world. The phone rang and Piper went to answer it. She came back moments later with it in her hand.
"Pheebs it's for you…its Julie."