Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. The song Rose Bouquet is by Phil Vassar.
Discoveries
Coop sat down on his and Phoebe's shared bed after he materialized in her loft. He had moved in several months ago. The two had gotten serious, and with the future knowledge of an upcoming wedding, living together had seemed like the next logical step. After the wedding, and a long honeymoon, Coop and Phoebe were supposed to go back to their home and start a family. The little girl Phoebe had seen in a vision years before was presumably going to be his.
He stood up with a sigh, wiping the tears from his eyes. None of that was going to happen anymore. As much as he loved her, Coop wouldn't be second place in her heart. He couldn't handle it. He may be a Cupid, but he had never found love for himself until Phoebe. He wanted her to love him just as fully as he loved her. But that wasn't possible. Even though her ex was now nonexistent and therefore she would never leave him for the guy, at least not physically, Phoebe wasn't ready for a marriage to someone else. In heart and spirit, Cole would always be her soul mate. Not necessarily meant to end up with her, but definitely her greatest love. Like he'd told Henry, Coop had helped destroy the protective barrier around her heart. And now that she was finally facing the past and ready to let love in again, she apparently wanted that love to be Cole's. Coop shook his head.
He wasn't a Cupid for nothing. And although he couldn't get a read off of any relationship involving a demon because technically they weren't supposed to ever be in love, Coop knew, Coop was, Love. And he had both eyes and ears. There was no mistaking the emotion in Phoebe's voice or the passion in her eyes when she'd finally answered him back at the manor, answered him with the name of her demon ex-husband.
Coop would let her go. He'd offer Phoebe an annulment.
I saw you staring at each other.
I saw your eyes begin to glow.
And I could tell you once were lovers.
You ain't hiding nothing I don't know.
There's an old flame burning in your eyes that tears can't drown and make- up
can't disguise.
Now that old flame might not be stronger,
But it's been burning' longer than any spark I might have started in your eyes.
Coop looked up as the song started to play on the radio he'd turned on at his arrival. Isn't that fitting? He thought dryly. He started to turn it off, but changed his mind halfway to the stereo. Turning around, he headed to the closet instead. He grabbed a suitcase, throwing it, open, onto the bed. Then he started pulling out his clothes and haphazardly stacking them in the bag. He listened to the heartrending music with half an ear as he worked.
You said it ended when he left you.
You say your love for me is strong.
But those old memories still upset you.
And I might be a memory before too long.
There's an old flame burning in your eyes that tears can't drown and make- up
can't disguise.
Now that old flame might not be stronger,
But it's been burning' longer than any spark I might have started in your eyes.
Lost in his own thoughts, Coop was startled by the crash he heard several moments later. Looking at the floor, he realized his hand must have accidentally knocked down the box that was lying there in his haste to rid the space of his belongings. Hopefully, Phoebe didn't have anything breakable in there.
Bending down to pick up the fallen items, Coop realized that he had never noticed the cardboard cube before, as it must have been shoved to the back of the closet. Moving it out of the way, his fingers encountered the dark material of a man's dress shirt. It wasn't his and Coop realized right then that he should shove everything back in the box and put it on the shelf again, out of his line of vision. Then, he could finish packing, talk to Phoebe, and return to his job of finding love for others. And, with a bit of luck, he'd be able to find a real love, one that could last, for himself.
But curiosity and the feeling that he already knew who's shirt it was caused Coop to probe longer. He discovered pictures of a smiling couple, another shirt- light blue this time, a jewelry box containing not only an engagement ring but also two wedding bands, a couple despairing, apologetic love letters, what looked like a page torn from the Halliwell Book of Shadows that was covered with descriptions and more pictures, and various other mementos of a relationship once thriving and a man long dead.
Coop sat back, disbelieving. Phoebe may not have consciously faced her past with Cole until recently, but, subconsciously, she must have held onto his love, buried it in a box she probably hadn't looked inside of for almost four years. It was a box she'd more than likely made herself forget existed, though some part of her remembered enough to take it with her when she moved all those months ago.
Coop had to restrain the tears that were once again threatening to fall. He'd never stood a chance with her.