A/N: Thanks to funluvr151, lizardmomma, Rocky, thaatgirrl, Shadow Cat17, Cole + Phoebe = Love Forever, Draco's-Loyal-Longing, and Angelspot for reviewing. Sorry I'm not reviewing individually yet again, but I've just been so pressed for time lately. Glad you all still like the story. Sorry it took me so long to update, but I hope you like this next chapter.

Chapter Seventeen

By the end of the week Paige was moved into the manor, and she had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, she was glad that her sisters had finally accepted her and asked her to move in. But another, stronger part of her felt as though she were betraying Phoebe. She felt as though she, Prue, and Piper had completely thrown Phoebe out, and that didn't sit well with Paige.

She knew this was ridiculous because that was one of the first things Piper had assured her when she asked her to move in. You aren't taking the place of Phoebe, this is just a necessary step in truly becoming a Charmed One.

Paige didn't feel so reassured. It almost seemed as though they were at war with Phoebe and this was just a way to get under Phoebe's skin.

But, no matter what the reasons were behind the move, the end result was Phoebe's things boxed up in the attic and Paige's things taking their place.

When Paige woke up on Monday morning, the first thing she noticed was Prue and Piper's raised voices. They were arguing about something. Again.

Sighing, Paige threw the covers off her and threw on her robe, trying desperately to get the sleep out of her eyes. She started downstairs, and as she did so she noticed her sisters' voices were coming from the kitchen.

"...I'm just saying I think we should come up with a plan for getting the Book back!" Piper was saying very heatedly.

"How many times do I have to tell you that we can't risk it? Phoebe will be expecting us to come after it. She's probably already had her legions of demons set a trap for us by now!" Prue snapped.

They both sounded as though they had been arguing for quite some time. Paige decided to make a decent entrance and pretend she hadn't heard anything. To her surprise and annoyance, Prue and Piper stopped talking when Paige entered.

"Hey, Paige." They both plastered on fake smiles, trying to cover up the fact that they had just been arguing, but Paige wasn't going to let them get away with it.

"So, what are you fighting about, girls?" she demanded.

Prue and Piper glanced at each other before answering. "Nothing. Nothing important, anyway?"

Paige gave them a disbelieving look. "Since when is the Book of Shadows nothing?"

"You heard?" Piper asked, her smile disappearing.

Paige nodded. "Yeah, and I can't figure out what bothers me more. The fact that you guys are fighting over it, or the fact that you haven't included me."

Prue and Piper exchanged guilty looks. Prue spoke up first. "We didn't think it was anything for you to worry about. I mean, it's not like a demon stole the book."

"No, it was just our evil, Queen of the Underworld sister. I'd say it's in great hands," Paige replied sarcastically, sitting down at the kitchen table.

Her older sisters joined her. "This is why we didn't want to get you involved. And please don't take this the wrong way, but you don't know Phoebe like we do. She didn't steal the Book of Shadows to use it against us. She needed it for something, and when she gets what she wants, she'll return it," Prue explained, earning incredulous looks from both Piper and Paige.

Prue looked at them, not looking as though she understood their disbelief. "What?"

"Prue, don't you think it's a little naive to think that Phoebe will actually give us back the book once she's done? She has this special connection with it. She's had it ever since she said that incantation so we could receive our powers. She's not going to give it back willingly," Piper said, and Paige knew that their argument was starting up again.

"But Piper, Phoebe's smart enough not to let her pride get in the way of her smarts. She's not going to risk keeping the book down in the Underworld where swarms of demons will be making hourly attempts at stealing it," Prue insisted.

"But what makes you guys think that Phoebe and Cole even live in the Underworld?" Paige interrupted suddenly.

Prue and Piper gaped at her. "I don't know, Paige, maybe the fact that they're the rulers of the Underworld!"

But Paige wasn't listening. "Prue, you said it yourself. She wouldn't risk keeping the Book of Shadows down in the Underworld with all those demons. And Piper, don't you think that if she actually lived in the Underworld, she wouldn't have stolen the book in the first place?"

"What are you getting at?" Prue asked, crossing her arms.

"I'm saying that I don't think Phoebe and Cole live in the Underworld. I think they live somewhere else, somewhere far away from the Underworld."

Paige waited for her sisters to see the logic in this explanation.

"It makes sense, I guess. Hiding out in plain sight," Piper began.

"And different. I mean, they're human still, and humans generally live above ground," Prue finished.

"But that doesn't change anything," Piper went on. "It doesn't mean that the book is any safer. Just because they live above ground doesn't mean that there aren't still demons shimmering in and out. Cole is the Source, after all."

"Piper, the Book of Shadows protects itself against evil," Prue pointed out obviously.

"That didn't stop Phoebe from getting it," Piper argued.

"Well, she must've said a spell or something. Look Piper, I don't like this any more than you do, but we have to face it. Phoebe has the book, and until she gets what she wants from it, we aren't going to get it back. She's going to be expecting us to come for it, and when we don't, she might realize that we trust her with it. She might even give it back," Prue explained.

Piper snorted in disbelief. "Yeah, right. Just don't come crying to me when you realize that you're wrong."

And with that, Piper left the room, leaving Prue and Paige alone, wondering if maybe they were giving Phoebe too much credit.

When Phoebe woke up Monday morning, the first thing she noticed was that the Book of Shadows was gone.

She shot up from bed, not bothering to make it in her growing panic. She threw open the bedroom door.

"Cole! The Book of Shadows is..."

She let the sentence hang when she saw Cole crouched in front of the kitchen table, looking as though he was about to sneak up on a sleeping animal. Across from him, the Book of Shadows was laying on the floor. Phoebe had the impression that they were both trying to get the best of each other.

Amused, she sat down on the sofa and watched as Cole sprang for the book, and the book glowed bright yellow and jumped out of his reach.

"Damn it!" Cole exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table in frustration.

Phoebe couldn't help it; she let out a snicker, causing Cole to whip around to face her.

"Phoebe. I, uh, didn't see you there," he said, giving up his attempts at touching the book and going to sit beside her.

"Obviously," Phoebe replied. She stood up as Cole sat down and bent down to pick up the large green magical tome. It let her, and Phoebe couldn't help but feel a small surge of satisfaction.

"Well, obviously your little spell only worked on you," Cole said, leaning down to catch his breath.

"It was only meant for me. I wrote it in the first person." Phoebe didn't want to say that she had intentionally written it that way.

But Cole wasn't fooled. "You didn't trust me enough to let it work for me as well?"

Phoebe closed her eyes, really not wanting to get into this particular conversation. "It's nothing personal. But I'm trying to make a point to my sisters. I'm trying to tell them that the book is safe with me. If I wrote a spell that would allow the Source to touch it...that might cause some problems."

This was the understatement of the year, but she hoped Cole would leave it at that. Luckily he did, and went into the kitchen.

"I'm making scrambled eggs. Want some?" he called.

"Sure," she replied, breathing a small sigh of relief now that he wasn't in sight and tried to calm her heart down, which was still beating madly in her chest from thinking that a demon had stolen the Book of Shadows. She opened it and flipped through the pages, trying to see if anything was missing. Of course nothing was since Cole hadn't been able to even lay a finger on the cover, but she thought it better to be safe than sorry.

"So, are you going to look through that thing to find a spell to not let outside magic interfere with us?" Cole asked from the kitchen.

Phoebe shrugged, then realized he couldn't see her and called, "After breakfast!"

Truth was, she wasn't really in the mood to do anything he asked after finding him attempting to get the Book of Shadows. It wasn't like she didn't trust him; she guessed old habits just died hard.

Neither Cole or Phoebe said anything else as he finished making breakfast. Phoebe continued to look through the book, wondering which demons her sisters had vanquished without her. There was no way of knowing, of course, but she couldn't help but think about it. Maybe there was some spell she could cast that would allow the book to magically show her.

But then she shook her head. What did it matter if she knew which demons they vanquished or went up against? It wasn't like she was a Charmed One anymore. She wasn't, therefore their vanquishes no longer concerned her. That didn't mean she didn't feel a small stab of betrayal.

Get a grip, Phoebe, she ordered herself. You chose to be with Cole. What they do isn't your business, and the sooner you let them go the sooner you'll be happy again.

She imagined this was exactly what Cole would tell her if she expressed these concerns to him. This is what anyone would tell her, even her sisters. Though maybe not in so many words. They'd kick her to the curb, telling her that she made her bed and now she had to sleep in it. God she hated that saying.

She hoped that the book might give her a third option. A way to make a truce to her sisters without betraying Cole.

Only she wasn't going to tell him that. She wasn't sure how he would react to that. He had barely held it together when he found out her sisters had summoned her against her will. And she didn't know if she ever would. At least until it was too late for him to do anything about it.

Phoebe was about to go through the book one more time when Cole reappeared, two plates in his hand.

"I wasn't sure what you wanted with, so I fixed some toast. The coffee is being made, so that'll be ready in a couple minutes," he said, placing the plates on the table.

Phoebe pushed the book to the side and stood up, joining him at the table. He had made scrambled eggs, buttered toast, and some fruit. She sat down at her place and waited while Cole went back into the kitchen to get the coffee.

She found it a little strange that Cole was playing house all of a sudden. Back before they had met, she knew that he had been a full-time demon. It was hard for her to imagine him fixing breakfast and making small talk. But then again, he was a changed man.

He returned with two steaming mugs of coffee, setting one down in front of her. Then he sat down across from her and picked up his fork, but stopped when he noticed that Phoebe wasn't moving.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

Phoebe looked up. "What?"

Cole frowned. "I asked if everything was all right?" When Phoebe didn't answer right away, he put his fork down and directed his full attention on her. "Are you okay? You seem a little distracted."

Phoebe looked up to meet his gaze. "I'm sorry, honey. I guess I'm still not quite awake yet."

It was an excuse and they both knew it, but neither one wanted her to elaborate any further. Cole nodded as though he understood, but Phoebe knew better. She knew him, and she felt as though she said something to upset him.

To her surprise, she actually felt guilty for telling him that she didn't trust him with the book. Of course she hadn't directly said that, but it had been implied in her explanation. But did he really expect her to think that all he wanted was to touch the book? Maybe on some level that's really what he wanted, but part of him was the Source, and the Source wanted to use that book against the Charmed Ones. And that would be the biggest betrayal in the world.

Phoebe and Cole ate in awkward silence, their thoughts taking the place of an actual conversation. When they were finished Cole took their empty plates to the kitchen.

"Don't worry about the dishes. I'll do them. You just go down to the Underworld and take care of any business you might have," Phoebe said as she joined him in the kitchen to refill her coffee cup.

"Are you sure? I know you like to be down there when I conduct business," Cole said, sounding somewhat hopeful.

Phoebe nodded. "You go. I have some business of my own here, anyway."

"Like..." Cole trailed off, giving her a knowing look.

"Yes. By the time you get back, the only divorce we'll ever get is a legal one," Phoebe said, smiling. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He leaned down so that she was able to. "Nothing will ever tear us apart, Cole."

Cole smiled. "I certainly hope not. See you tonight?"

Phoebe nodded. "I'll be waiting."

Cole gave her a quick peck on the cheek, then shimmered out in that special way that only the Source could.

Phoebe paused for a moment, aware of her husband's presence still all around her. Then she did the dishes that she and Cole had used for breakfast. When she was finished she put them away and went back into the living room.

She sat back down on the sofa and placed the Book of Shadows back on her lap. She wasn't expecting to find a solution to her problems in there, but she flipped through it as if it did. There were so many issues now, so many different ways of looking at things, and she had no idea which way to turn. A part of her wanted to keep fighting, to be on Cole's side completely as she had once been, but after seeing her sisters and the pain she was putting them through, she was beginning to see things differently.

Phoebe was sick of fighting. She was sick of fighting with Cole, with herself, and especially her sisters. There had been a time when she would've rather flayed her skin off than do anything to hurt them. Now it seemed that was all she had been doing lately, and she couldn't believe how guilty that made her feel.

But there was no way she could explain any of this to Cole or her sisters. None of them would understand. They both saw things so black and white that they didn't think there was any room for compromise.

So she kept looking through the Book of Shadows, determined to find some way to get past this, once and for all.