Chapter 2: Chinwag

Phoebe stood at the door of their guest room, where they have temporarily placed Cole, away from all the temptations of his previous life, but giving him the idea that he was separate from her. She couldn't postpone the moment any longer. While her sisters were still arguing about his existence, she had too feel him out, make sure he wasn't going round the bed again cause as such, she was the one responsible for his way of life, because she brought him back. Taking a deep breath, she knocked softly. Just barging in would've either meant she didn't trust him, which she tried to avoid making him feel at this time, or it would've given a wrong idea of intimacy between them. But as there was no answer, she stuck her head in the room.

Cole turned his head at the noise and smiled faintly at her, "hello."

She studied him for a minute, "are you all right?"

"Yes," he untangled himself, realising her question indicated him lying in the foetal position on the bed, "why? Why did you get me back? Not that I'm not grateful or anything, but it's really confusing being back and forth from the dead by the same hands."

"Demons are not supposed to love. And even though I killed you, there was only concern about me in your eyes when you saw the beast coming...but that's enough about that. How about we start a new sheet? Do you know what you want to do now?"

"Staying with you is out of the question, right?"

"I brought you back so you can have a real chance to prove yourself, the right way. And that is regardless of me. Me? I don't know. Let's forget about me. You. We have to make sure you don't get into the same pitfalls."

"But I never really screwed up, Phoebe. I was under the spell of evil! You don't really have a choice as a demon. It is your nature. There are certain things you can keep yourself from doing, when given a good reason, but essentially the demon reigns. Besides, evil's existence serves the perfection of the whole, the universe would be less perfect if it contained no evil. Thus fire could not exist without the corruption of what it consumes; the lion must kill in order to live, and if there were no wrong doing, there would be no sphere for patience and justice. White magic has no uses without black magic."

"You really believe that? Because if you do..."

"Yes…I mean still, I understand I will get to hell sooner or later, but I don't understand why I should be punished for things I didn't really do. By you out of all people. I would've never done anything close to obnoxious if I could stay human. I took in the Hollow to save you…speaking of you...how can I forget about you when I saw you agitatedly ask for Leo to heal me when I was hurt. Or did I hallucinate?"

"Yeea..ps," Phoebe didn't elaborate any further. She scanned his ex's body instead, soaking in every curvature for the last time, before she told him Darryl had found a job for him in Los Angeles and he will have to go. There wasn't all that much skin exposed, but there didn't have to be. She was familiar with every inch of him by heart, burned into her memory the first night they spent together at his old district attorney flat. She licked her lips involuntarily, her eyes making their way up to Cole's face, only to meet piercing blue eyes staring into hers, seemingly surprised and hopeless at the same time. Phoebe looked down, embarrassed. Now he didn't only put coal on Cole fire, he made it explode.

Cole raised his chin, looking at his ex disdainfully. This amount of caring coming from the towards him was unreal and it made him suspicious. He blinked a few times. It was all too intimate, "you care? A-about me?"

"Yes," Phoebe admitted, "but I don't want complications. I need you to go take this job in LA..."

Cole closed his eyes, and nodded permissively, but left his head hanging, "Phoebe?"

"Mmm?" said Phoebe.

"Why are you doing this?"

Phoebe's movements froze for a second, "I'm sorry, Cole, I didn't mean it the way...I can't explain it all that well..."

"Yes, you can. Don't lie to me. You told me when we last met in this reality. You feel nothing for me."

"That's not true, I didn't mean that, I was scared of what you were capable of and angry because I felt you cheated on me with that shapeshifter. I didn't loose my memories just because I never talk about old times, now did I? We used to have magnificent times. All we had to do is think about how the other one touches and we made love. Just mentally, or physically, it was almost the same. And now you did think about the exact same thing I did," Phoebe whispered, and leaned down to him on the bed, brushing their lips together.

Cole froze, dazed, unsure and a little aroused. Phoebe was kissing him for the first time since that last kiss just before they vanquished him as the source. Phoebe was touching his face and kissing him. This was a dream, he was going to wake up any minute now, alone in bed, his arms still sore and itchy. He felt those much-loved hands reach down to touch his upper body, and he even trembled a bit when those hands drifted down, brushing gently against his smooth skin.

"Cole?" Phoebe whispered waiting for him to react in some way.

He pulled the love of his life into his strong arm, "whatever you wish, Phoebe," Cole's voice sounded honest.

"I do really need you to go," she said, still hugging him, "we bought you the ticket."

"Can I go in hope?"

"I don't know...maybe," she entangled herself and deposited the bus ticket into his pocket, "it's for tonight," she left him, not looking back.

But Cole could still see her tears. He sighed and looked at his ticket. It was a return.

The End.