"So Cole, what do you have planned for today?" Leo asked in a friendly manner as Cole prepared a cup of coffee for himself.
Cole carefully turned around, sipping at his steaming mug, before leaning against the counter casually and eyeing Leo. Leo, who was sitting on a stool at the counter, rested his elbows on it.
Cole shrugged, as he finally answered, "I've no idea."
Leo chuckled softly at Cole's lost expression, "You're only human."
Cole finally cracked a smile and nodded, "That I am, my friend, that I am."
Leo opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut and looked at the ceiling in an annoyed manner. Cole raised and eyebrow and asked, "Gotta call?"
"Yeah," Leo sighed as he stood and dumped the remains of his coffee down the sink, "There's always a problem somewhere."
"See ya." Cole bid, raising his mug as Leo grinned and disappeared in an array of bluish white lights.
"Those are entirely too bright." Muttered Paige as she shuffled into the kitchen looking worse for wear.
Cole pursed his lips and nodded, agreeing silently as he continued sipping at his coffee. Paige washed her hands in the sink and gently pushed Cole away from the counter so she had room.
"Hey!" Cole protested, the grin on his face giving away his tone.
"I need caffeine, dude." Paige stated as she proceeded to get it.
"You could have asked politely you know," he muttered into his mug.
"And I could have shoved you to the floor but I didn't, so shut up and be happy." she retorted back, enjoying the brother-sister bonding they began to form.
Cole scowled but walked towards the kitchen table anyway. He sat down and began to drum his fingers on the table in a bored fashion.
"Nothing to do?" Paige asked, sitting across from him with a cream cheese bagel in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
Cole shook his head and sighed, "I have an idea…it's been bothering me for some time…but…" he trailed off.
"But what?" Paige asked, interested.
Cole waved his hand, "Nothing, it's complicated."
"Complicated? You're a former demon living in a house with three witches and a dead guy…how much more complicated can it get?"
Cole chuckled at this, nodding once again in agreement.
"Well, when you put it that way…"
"So, what is it?" she asked.
"What's what?" Cole asked, suddenly lost.
"What's the idea you have?" she pressed, biting into her bagel.
"Oh, uh, really it's nothing." He sipped from his coffee in order to avoid having to answer the simple question.
"Right. Nothing. See I'm beginning to suspect it's something. Fess up, Cole." She placed the bagel on a napkin and eyed Cole suspiciously.
"Well, I might try… I may want to," Cole sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "I might be trying to find a way to find my son…Phoebe's son…our son."
Paige scoffed and gave Cole a look that showed how absurd she thought the whole idea was. Cole chewed on his bottom lip; ignoring the look Paige was giving him.
"You mean your dead son? The unborn one?"
"That's the one." Cole said half-heartedly, giving her a small smile.
"Cole, do you even know where he is?" Paige shook her head and placed both hands on the table, "Did you even talk to Phoebe about this?"
"Well, no, but…" Cole looked away childishly, unable to form a valid response.
"No buts about it Cole. You can't go looking for you lost, unborn, dead son when you didn't confront Phoebe on the issue."
"Think you could add any more adjectives to describe my son?" Cole joked lamely, casting his blue orbs to the suddenly interesting floor tiles when he felt Paige's glare piercing his skin.
"Cole!" she snapped.
Cole sighed and finally met her eyes, "Look, Paige…I know. I'll talk to Phoebe, it's just that…she…God this is going to sound terrible…she doesn't act differently."
"Excuse me?"
Cole rolled his eyes slightly and leaned forward towards Paige, "She lost her son, and she doesn't act differently. Shouldn't she be upset? Angry? Anything?"
Paige stared at him openmouthed, "So. You think because she's not showing how hurt she is…she's not?"
"See, I knew I shouldn't have-"
"Cole, how could you even think that?" Paige interrupted.
Cole seemed to deflate as he slumped back into his chair, "I don't know."
Paige seemingly relaxed when she saw the battle of emotions in Cole's eyes; his pain and hurt evident in his posture, his face and most importantly…his eyes.
"Talk to her, you'll probably find she's hurting as much as you are." She murmured supportively before standing and heading over towards the sink, "I gotta go to work, you know somebody needs to work around here."
Cole, glad for a subject change, laughed.
"Piper and Phoebe have jobs too, you know." He pointed out.
"Hmmm, touché." She quipped, bouncing out of the kitchen grinning.
When she left, Cole let out a prolonged sigh as he closed his eyes and pressed the palms of his hands against his forehead.
"Smooth, Turner…as always." He muttered to himself before downing the rest of his lukewarm coffee.
TBC...
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