Friday Night, After The De-Possessing Suite 518/520

[sensethevisions]

After Lana and Marie left, Phoebe sat on the couch without saying a word. She just stared down at the floor for a very long time. She was blinking back tears and she had her arms wrapped tightly around herself , her nails were digging into her arms.

Possessed. Possessed for as week.

She felt cold and sick all at the same time.

Comments

[demonbelthazor]

"It's okay, love," Cole said, sitting with his arm around her shoulders. "You're okay now. You're safe."

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe didn't look up. "A week. She was in control of me for a week?"

[demonbelthazor]

"I'm not sure how long," Cole admitted. "I think Lana got hit first, then she dragged you and Marie into it later."

[sensethevisions]

"Not Lana," she mumbled, feeling protective of her best friend. "Her... the witch. She called me, asking me if Marie and I could meet her Sunday night."

[demonbelthazor]

"The witch, that's what I mean," Cole said. "Lana would never try to hurt you like that. Anymore than you or Marie would do . . . what you did."

[sensethevisions]

"Tell me." Her voice was quiet. "Tell me what I did."

[demonbelthazor]

"You-- she froze me," Cole said. "I realized she wasn't you and she nailed me with a spell to keep me from telling anyone."

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe dug her nails into her arms hard enough to draw blood. Then she looked at him in the face.

"What else? I'm picking up all of these emotions and my head feels like it's full of cotton."

Right now she wanted to kill the witch all over again for casting a spell on Cole.

[demonbelthazor]

"It doesn't matter what she did, it wasn't you," Cole said firmly. "No one is going to blame you."

[sensethevisions]

"It was my body used to do whatever she did," Phoebe said, looking back at the floor.

[demonbelthazor]

"I know, Phoebe," Cole said. "More than anyone I know. But dwelling on what you can't change won't help anything. You know that."

[sensethevisions]

"Do you remember the things that he did when he was in control of you," she asked, already knowing the answer to that one. "Could you see and hear everything that was going on?"

[demonbelthazor]

"Yeah," Cole said reluctantly. "I wish I couldn't, though. I still have nightmares about it."

[sensethevisions]

"I know you do, love," she said, looking back at him.

"For a week I was trapped in my body while someone else had use of it and there is a week's worth of information that I don't have," she said softly. "I need to know, Cole. I need to know what you know about what she did."

[demonbelthazor]

"No," Cole said firmly, shaking his head. "Just trust me, Phoebe."

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe looked back at the floor. "It's that horrible that you're trying to protect me from it," she said dully.

[demonbelthazor]

"Everyone's okay now," Cole insisted. "No one was really hurt." Yet.

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe clenched her arms and then looked back at him. "Really hurt?"

She was getting suspicious. Something had happened and he was avoiding telling her.

[demonbelthazor]

Cole stiffened. "Phoebe, it's best if we don't talk about this," he said quietly.

[sensethevisions]

Yeah, now there was that feeling again. She looked at him suspiciously.

"Cole..."

[demonbelthazor]

"Phoebe, don't, just don't," Cole pleaded. He didn't want to think about it. If he did he was going to end up going to find Anders and killing him.

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe looked at him, and tried to fight back the feelings she was strting to feel. Something was wrong.

"Alright. I won't ask you anymore questions," she said quietly. "Because obviously whatever I did was so horrible it messed with you." She swallowed. "I'll listen to the radio podcats and then I'll ask my nephews... or Parker. She always knows what's going on about everything."

[demonbelthazor]

"Or you could just let it go," Cole said. "You aren't responsible for what happened. For any of it."

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe looked at him. "If I'm not responsible, then it won't do any harm for me to know where I lost an entire week." She sighed. "Secrets don't work between us, love. We've done this before."

She was cold.

"I don't know what she did to you that hurt you so much, but I'll find out."

[demonbelthazor]

"Just let it go," Cole said. "Please?"

[sensethevisions]

"I can't. She did things that I can't remember and she hurt you. She hurt you." She swallowed, tears finally starting to fill her eyes and she fought them back as best as she could.

"Chris. Chris will tell me. I mean, I have two classes with him. He would know what I did."

[demonbelthazor]

"I can't stop you then," Cole said flatly.

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe buried her face in her hands.

Possessed by an evil witch that had hurt her soulmate and now she had upset him more beacuse she wanted to know the truth. Which meant whatever she had done had been really, really horrible.

She wasn't having the best night.

"Didn't mean to hurt you," she said, sniffling.

[demonbelthazor]

"I know," he said softly. "I know."

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe felt like crawling into deep, dark hole right about now.

She had been used to hurt Cole and that devastated her. The fact that she didn't know what had happened just made it worse and made her imagination run away with her about what it could have been.

"There are times that I really hate this place," she said tearfully.

[demonbelthazor]

"Me, too," Cole said, looking down at his hands. "What do you want to do when we graduate?"

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe took a deep breath. "I hadn't thought about it yet. Do you have any ideas about what you want to do?"

She was still looking down.

[demonbelthazor]

Cole shrugged. "I don't know. Whatever you want to do, I guess."

[sensethevisions]

Tension between them? Not really on her top ten list of favorite things. She felt tears start slipping down her cheeks.

"I don't know what I want to do except be with you."

[demonbelthazor]

He softened a little and put his arm around her again. "I just want to be with you, too," he said.

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe tentatively leaned into him. She needed him to hold her, but he was upset.

"We have time to decide."

[demonbelthazor]

Cole tightened his embrace. "Yeah, we've got time, a few months," he said.

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe put an arm around him and just held on.

[demonbelthazor]

Cole did the same, content now to just quietly hold her.

[sensethevisions]

"I love you," she said softly.

[demonbelthazor]

"I love you, too," Cole said.