A/N: Everyone thank Jewel-Halliwell for the retrieval of this chapter! I had lost the entire...ness of this story when my disk screwed up and I'd sent her this chap. Thank god she saved it (must be a huge fan of mine).
A/N: Might be a while before I post the next chapter, since I have to rewrite it and all... grr... however, the more reviews I get, the more I might be encouraged to write hey hey?? Lol.

pp





Chapter Sixteen: Is It Really Over?


Mid-term was over. Piper and Phoebe were back at school, Prue was back at college.

It was her first day back after not seeing Matt for over a week, and Phoebe was terrified of what would happen in homeroom where they would definitely meet. Slowly and steadily, she paused outside her classroom. Could she do this?

"Phoebe!" a familiar voice called from behind her. Phoebe breathed in relief.

"Hey Marie," she smiled, turning around. Marie was one of Phoebe's closest friends.

"Going in?" Marie grinned, before the look on her face suddenly changed to a very strange stare. "Phoebe?" she said quickly, then paused.

Phoebe cocked her head to one side questioningly, signalling Marie to continue. They stepped out of the way of the door to a more private place, where the hall wall jutted inwards slightly to create a little opening in the wall where they could stand.

Marie shifted her weight. "We haven't talked for ages," she said, to which Phoebe nodded in agreement. "I just wanted to know... is it true?"

Phoebe's face remained expressionless, though her mind became frenzied. "Is... what true?" she asked suspiciously.

Marie had a characteristic ritual where she scrunched her face up whenever she was finding it hard to say something. She did this now. Phoebe recognised the look.

"Tell me," she urged.

"About you and Matt - how you went ten rounds in bed with him and wanted more, a couple days after you'd started dating."

Phoebe's face fell, even though she knew it was what was coming. But what Marie said was a huge lie! She hadn't wanted more - it made her sound like a slut!

"No!" she cried, her tone of voice conveying her disgust. The bell rang. "Can I tell you the real story later?" she implored. She couldn't have Marie thinking of her that way - Marie was the type of person you only wanted to show your good side to, though Phoebe had no idea why.

Marie nodded, and walked into homeroom with Phoebe following. Many pairs of eyes watched them. There was a low murmer of whispers which followed Phoebe all the way to her seat. Phoebe couldn't hear what people were saying, but she knew it was about her. She sat down beside Marie in silence. Mr Broker their tutor wasn't there yet, but Phoebe wished he was, if only so she could sit in peace.

The door swung open, and as Phoebe got her hopes up, they were smashed down. Sandra and several of her giggling cronies stalked into the room. Sandra surveyed her surroundings before locking onto her target.

"Hello, Freebie," she smirked down at the anxious girl. Several snickers travelled around the room at this new nickname. But thankfully, that was as far as she got, for Mr Broker finally decided to grace the class with his presence.

Matt didn't make an appearance. All day. Phoebe couldn't have been more grateful.

*

It'd been a tough day for the youngest Halliwell, struggling through all the whispers from the quiet kids and name-calling from the louder ones - especially Sandra and Matt's friends. Everybody seemed to have taken an extreme liking to Sandra's latest derogatory phrase: Freebie.

Phoebe sighed as she started the short walk home. Prue was supposed to have been giving her a lift, but she hadn't showed. Neither had Piper. No matter, it happened a lot. Besides, it was a beautiful day to be outside. The warm sun really lifted Phoebe's spirits, and she became considerably more cheerful. Maybe she could put this all behind her! She hadn't seen him yet but she knew Matt would stay out of her way, she just knew it!

She walked happily along the quiet road, gazing all around her at everything she could see. 'That looks like Matt's car,' she thought to herself on passing a black car, parked at the side of the road. It didn't even register in her head that it was his car before she was roughly grabbed from behind, had a hand clamped over her mouth, and dragged towards the parked vehicle.

Matt was very prepared. He ignored the biting and scratching Phoebe was attepmting to inflict and slammed open the car door before throwing her inside the front seat. He then grabbed her right wrist and snapped it into the set of handcuffs that was already attached to the steering wheel, before slamming the door shut.

"Help me!" Phoebe cried while he dashed round to the driver's door and clambered in. She'd already re-opened her own door and was struggling to release herself, but the handcuffs were too strong.

Matt leaned over her wrenching body and closed her door again, before clicking on the autolock, so her door would remain shut. While he did so, he received a smart punch on the ear courtesy of Phoebe's left fist.

"Ow, fucker!" he cried, nursing his now throbbing ear.

"Let me go," Phoebe warned, tugging viciously on the handcuffs, but they held tight.

Without replying, Matt started up the car and swung them onto the road. His turn of the wheel made Phoebe's arm move with it.

"Careful," Matt said, his voice sounding perfectly calm. "If you pull on the wheel, we'll crash!" He sounded almost normal. But Phoebe was enraged. So enraged, that she ignored Matt and pulled against the handcuffs again, causing the wheel to jerk in her direction. But, 'luckily', Matt was strong enough to maintain control. "What did I just tell you?" he grinned at her.

"Matt, please," she begged. She was terrified of what he might do. Why didn't she see this coming?

"Pheebs, we're just gonna have some fun," Matt told her, "Remember when I took you to those woods?"

Phoebe nodded timidly.

"Thought we might go back, for old times sake!"

"No..." Phoebe whispered. "Please... please just let me go!" Her eyes were feeling the pricks of tears now, and one escaped down her cheek. If Matt saw it, he either didn't comment or didn't care.