Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, don't sue me.
A/N: I apologise for the late update once more. Only have a few weeks before my first day at university, so I'm spending a lot more time freaking out. Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed imagining it.
Cole grit his teeth together as Phoebe applied the disinfectant to his wound, less gently than he would have preferred. He was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, and she was crouched in front of him, a stern look on her face.
"You're angry." He pointed out the obvious. Phoebe paused and glanced at him, before applying more disinfectant to his wound. He grimaced. "Phoebe, please. . ." He started.
"Sorry." She said, somewhat nonchalantly, as she removed the cotton pad she had been using.
"I wasn't talking about your healing abilities." Cole said, trying to catch her eye. "Talk to me." She glanced at him again, before turning away and selecting an appropriate bandage.
"You almost got yourself killed." She stated simply, meeting his gaze.
"That's why you're angry?" Cole asked, giving her a half smile.
"Partly." She said, her expression softening. "And because I know you could have stopped it." He hesitated before speaking.
"Phoebe, he overpowered me. It's that simple." Cole said, frowning slightly.
"No, it's not, Cole." She said. "I don't believe that he overpowered you. I think you let him. Because somewhere inside of you, you feel indebted to him."
"That's not true." Cole said firmly. Phoebe smiled for a moment, forgetting her anger. She placed the bandage gently on his chest, and using the packaged adhesive strips, pasted it on softly. She pulled back.
"It was crazy what you did, going after him like that." She said, standing up.
"I had to." He replied simply, looking away from her and slipping on his shirt.
"You didn't have to, Cole." Phoebe said, feeling her previous anger begin to rise within her again. "You have this inclination to go out there and prove yourself-"
"I was trying to protect you!" Cole burst out, jumping to his feet and towering over her.
"You don't have to go out and get yourself killed to protect me!" She shouted back. She took in a deep breath to calm herself. Shaking her head slightly, she looked up to meet his eyes. "And you don't have to prove anything to me."
Cole frowned. "What are you saying?" He asked.
"I'm saying that everything that happened is in the past. You don't have to go on these valiant. . ." She hesitated, "quests, to prove that you're good." She smiled slightly. "You've done that already."
"Phoebe-" Cole started uncertainly.
"But I'm still angry at you." Phoebe interrupted, her smile indicating otherwise.
"Right." Cole said, smiling. He hesitated, before stepping towards her. He reached up and brought his hand to her face, gently tracing her jaw line with his fingertips. "When it comes to protecting you, I'm not doing it to prove anything. I'm doing it because if anything happened, and I didn't try to stop it. . .I would never be able to forgive myself." He hesitated, dropping his eyes. "I care about you too much."
She smiled gently and paused for a moment before replying, "I care about you, too."
Cole gave her a half smile. "Look, I know it's not something you're ready to hear, but-"
"Hey." Piper said suddenly, standing in the doorway of the bathroom. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything." She said, turning to Phoebe. "But Jason's downstairs."
"Now?" Phoebe asked, confused.
"Yeah." Piper said simply, giving them both an apologetic smile.
"It's okay." Cole said to Phoebe. "Go. We'll talk about this later."
Phoebe glanced at him. "Okay." She gave him a small smile, before brushing past Piper and heading downstairs.
"Hey." Phoebe said, stepping off the staircase.
"Hey." Jason replied, smiling at her. "I just wanted to see how you were. I haven't seen you in a while."
"Yeah." Phoebe replied after a moment. "I've been kind of busy."
"I noticed." Jason said. "You haven't returned any of my calls, either."
Phoebe glanced at the ground. "Jason, about that. . ." She hesitated. What was she supposed to say? That she didn't know if she wanted to be with him anymore? "A lot of stuff has been happening lately."
"What does that mean?" Jason asked, frowning slightly. Phoebe took in a breath.
"We're not happy anymore, Jason." She burst out. "We're just biding time. . .waiting for something to come along and liven up our relationship. This isn't how we should be."
"We obviously both see our relationship differently." Jason said, shrugging. "Because to me we're in a good place."
"And to me we're in a safe place." Phoebe replied.
"And that's a bad thing?" Jason questioned. Phoebe let out another deep breath.
"No." She said. "Unless that's the only thing you have going for you." Jason let out an incredulous laugh.
"So what are you saying?" He asked. "You don't love me anymore?" Phoebe opened her mouth to reply, but couldn't find the words to express what she wanted to say.
"I'm sorry." She finally let out.
"I don't believe this." Jason breathed, taking a step away from her. "I come here to see how you are, and you're breaking up with me, after everything we've been through." He paused. "But I can't say that I didn't see it coming."
"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked gently.
"You've been acting weird for a while now." Jason said, glancing upwards. His eyes fell on Cole, standing upstairs behind the staircase railing looking down at them. "I can see why now."
Phoebe followed his gaze towards Cole. She glanced at her feet. "Jason. . ." She began.
"Do you deny that he had something to do with this sudden revelation that our relationship is stagnant?" He burst out.
Phoebe met his gaze. "No." She finally said. "But our relationship would have ended somewhere down the track anyway, irrelevant to Cole's being here. I think somewhere inside of you, you know that too."
"I honestly thought our relationship was fine, Phoebe." Jason said obstinately. "I'm not going to ease your guilt by saying that any part of me believed it wasn't." He looked up at Cole, then back at Phoebe. "I hope you two have a great life together." He finished bitterly, walking towards the front door. He threw it open and stepped outside, not looking back as he let it shut firmly behind him. Phoebe stared at the closed door for a while, and took in a deep breath. She glanced up at Cole on the landing, who gazed down at her gently. He gave her a slow, reassuring smile, which she returned only half-heartedly. A moment later, she had turned away from him, and disappeared into the kitchen.
It was two days later when Cole began to grow concerned about Phoebe's behaviour towards him. She hadn't spoken to him much, and when she had, her tone was nonchalant.
He gazed at her across the dining table, and she averted her eyes, as she had been doing recently. The rain was coming down in sheets outside, and Cole was amazed how the weather so often reflected mood.
Phoebe suddenly stood up, pushing her plate away. "I have some work to do. I'll be in the lounge if you need me." She said, stepping away from the table. Her eyes met his for a split second, before she drew away into the next room. Cole stood, and paused when Piper and Paige did the same.
"Can I?" He asked.
"Um, sure." Piper replied, sitting down again. Paige did the same after a moment.
"Thanks." He said genuinely, tucking his chair back under the table and heading into the lounge. Phoebe was already seated on the couch, leaning over her laptop that was placed on the coffee table. As he entered the room, she looked up. Her gaze lay on him for a moment, before she glanced back down at the screen. He sat down opposite her, the coffee table between them. "Hey." He said simply.
"I have a lot of work to do, Cole." Phoebe said, not taking her eyes off the laptop screen. Cole sighed. He reached over and grabbed the laptop, ignoring Phoebe's protests, and placed it on the couch beside him.
"Talk to me." He said gently.
"Cole, give me my computer." Phoebe said defiantly, holding out her hands.
He hesitated. "No." He said finally. Phoebe let her arms drop, letting out an exasperated breath. "I know that you feel bad about Jason. And I know you're angry with me for making it worse by standing there and watching. I'm sorry about that, I am. But I'm not sorry that you did it. I think that was the best thing you could have done for yourself."
Phoebe hesitated for a moment. "I hurt him." She said simply.
"He'll get over it."
"He's a good guy, Cole. He didn't deserve that." Phoebe said, shaking her head.
"And you blame me?" Cole questioned. "Is that why you've been ignoring me?"
She stared at him. "Well, you are part of the reason this happened."
Cole tilted his head and smiled slightly. "I'm not going to apologise for loving you." He said. Phoebe was caught off guard by his admission.
"Cole. . ." She began, shaking her head.
"I know you're not ready." He said. "All I'm saying is that you did what you thought was right. You can't punish yourself for that." Phoebe glanced away, and they remained in silence for a moment, the sound of the rain outside easing slightly. Cole stood up and walked around the coffee table, sitting down on it just in front of Phoebe. He leaned forward and took her hands, reassured when she didn't pull away. "You told me, a little while ago, that all you wanted was to release you inhibitions. To do something spontaneous." He met her gaze. "Do you remember that?" He whispered.
Phoebe smiled slightly, before nodding. "Get on a bus not knowing its destination. Go out in the rain in my best clo-" She broke off, he eyes growing wide. "Cole. . ."
He smiled suspiciously. "That's one of your favourite tops, isn't it?" He questioned.
"Cole, don't. . ." Phoebe started, standing up. It was a mistake. As soon as she left the couch his arms were around her. He lifted her off her feet in one movement, one arm behind her back, the other under her knees. He didn't release her when she struggled. "Cole!" She screamed. He laughed, heading into the foyer. Piper ran into the room, Paige and Leo behind her. She frowned slightly. "Piper, do something." Phoebe pleaded.
"Piper, the door, if you will." Cole said, ignoring Phoebe. Piper smiled slightly, walking towards the door.
"Piper. . ." Phoebe warned, becoming desperate. Piper reached out and opened the door, stepping away to let Cole though. Cole walked carefully down the steps, smiling at Phoebe's screams as they got immediately saturated. When he was sure they were both completely soaked, he placed her gently on the pavement in front of him. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. "Oh, you're going to pay for that. . ." She said loudly, to be heard over the sound of the rain.
"Maybe." He called back, stepping away from her and looking up at the sky. He couldn't make out the clouds in the darkened night, but he gazed at it anyway, before he turned to face her again. "Unless you realise that this is actually enjoyable."
Phoebe stared at him. He was crazy, he really was. But she couldn't help but tilt her head back slightly, squinting through the rain. She opened her mouth, like a child would do on a rainy day. She felt herself smile. "I suppose it's kind of enjoyable." She said, releasing her hold on herself and spreading her arms outwards. She spun around.
Cole watched her, smiling gently. "It's more than enjoyable." He said softly. He stepped forward and stopped her in mid-spin, caressing her face in both hands. Her smile grew smaller, but didn't disappear as he gazed down at her. Her hands relaxed flat on his chest as he lowered his head. Her eyes closed just before their lips met gently, and he felt his unconsciously do the same. The world ceased to exist, as it always did when he kissed her. There was no rain. They weren't standing in the middle of a street, in the middle of the night. There were no demonic threats hanging over them. There was only him, and her. And for now, that was all that mattered.
Don't worry, that wasn't the end of the story. Weird to end a chapter in the middle of a story like that though. Anyway, please review. I know it was a lot to put in just one chapter, but let me know what you thought of it.