Phoebe took a deep breath as she reached forward to knock on the door of the penthouse. Having knocked she stood back rocking on her heels impatiently. As the door opened she sucked in her breath in anticipation of what was to come. Then Cole's head peaked out from the crack in the door.
"Phoebe?" asked a bewildered Cole "What are you doing here?"
"Can I come in?" Phoebe asked.
Cole looked shocked but nodded and opened the door wider. She walked in and turned around to face him. She tried to slow her heart, which was pounding so loudly that she was sure he could hear it too.
"Phoebe what are you doing here? I was under the impression that you did not ever want to see me again." Cole stated in an empty voice.
"I don't know how you could be under that impression, since you did not stick around long enough to give me a chance to talk" Phoebe said.
"Well you said you did not know what to say, so I thought I'd save myself whatever insults and rejection would be coming once you got your thoughts and words together." Cole said sadly.
"Well you should have stayed" Phoebe said and paused, unsure of how to go about saying this. "Look Cole, I feel like I have so much to apologize for. I should have seen that you weren't yourself, and I shouldn't have been so quick to assume you had gone back to evil, and I defiantly shouldn't have been so quick to vanquish you."
"It's alright Phoebe, you did what you had to, and I understand that." Cole said softly
"No it's not alright; I said vows to stay with you and love you and I promised you that we were forever, that I'd never give up. And at the first test of that I turned and ran. And I did not even give you a chance to explain." Phoebe said giving him a guilty expression.
"You don't have to apologize to me, it's not necessary. I forgave you even before you did those things." Cole said.
"Oh god, I don't deserve you" Phoebe said.
"I was under the impression you did not want me, so what difference does that make." Cole said.
"Ya well maybe you've gotten the wrong impression of me" Phoebe replied.
"I don't see how I could have, since I got this impression from your telling me that it was over and that you did not want anything to do with me, I think that's pretty clear and easy to understand" Cole said sadly.
"Ok look, I'm not going to dance around this any longer. Cole, I think I was too quick to judge you and to throw away what we had. If you'll have me, I'd like to give us another chance." Phoebe said not meeting his eyes.
Cole looked shocked, he opened his mouth several times but nothing came out till he finally said "Is this some kinda of cruel joke?"
"No" Phoebe said finally looking him in the eyes "I'm serious; I want you back, if you'll still have me."
"Of course I'll have you, I love you, you're my world. How could you ever think otherwise?" Cole asked.
"Well, I didn't want to assume that I could just throw you aside and take you back as I pleased." Phoebe said sounding sheepish.
Cole smiled, the first real smile she'd seen since she came in. She returned the smile and slowly took a step closer to him. He looked surprised.
"You say you love me. Prove it." Phoebe said, in an echo of what she had said before their first kiss.
The smile on his face said that he understood the reference. And with that he reached out and pulled her up against him and leaned over, and inches away from kissing her he stopped and looked into her eyes, as thought looking for something. He must have found it, because he closed the inches between them and captured her lips in a passionate kiss.
"I'll always love you, nothing can stop that" Cole said once they came up for air.
"Good, and this time I promise I won't let anything take that love away from us. I love you Cole, and this time, this time its forever" Phoebe said softly.