If I did own Charmed, I wouldn't anymore because cancelled. But I don't. So there.

Hello! I'm hoping that you haven't forgotten about this fic since it's been two months. But I'm sure your memories will be refreshed now. Since writing this, Ally (That's BlueOrbs998- the amazing co-writer) and I have discovered countless more Cole/Paige (Or 'Fated Hearts' as we fangirls like to call them. Hah.) shippers. And we're glad we can share this fic with you!

This was initially the final chapter, but –heck- we decided to make it a little longer (just by a couple chapters though, don't get too excited.) Enjoy! And reviews are very welcome!

Uninvited Valentine

Chapter Two- Run

Paige was in such a state of sheer shock that her senses of speech were temporarily disabled. A meek, whirring noise was emitted from her throat as she took a step backwards, but the seemingly timid sound did not match the furious glare Paige shot towards Cole… If he was even there at all.

Maybe she was just seeing things! That was it! This was her mind playing a sick and twisted joke on her! Maybe she was asleep in her bed and she was enduring some horrifying nightmare! Maybe she had even somehow gotten herself sent back in time!

…Or maybe Cole Turner was actually alive and standing in her bedroom.

Unfortunately, the latter seemed like the only feasible explanation. Cole was back… again.

Quickly, her mind beginning to function, Paige ripped the vase of paper flowers from her dresser and tipped it upside-down. Wyatt's valentine's gift scattered all over the floor, but the convenience of the heavy object she now held in her hand was too great to feel guilty about her nephew just yet.

"You have a total of 5 seconds to leave or die." Defiantly she spat her words at him. He looked almost… sorry?

The tall, dark and handsome ex-demon (or maybe just demon; Paige was unsure as of yet) brought a hand up to his heart and gave a meek smile. He knew Paige would never be open to what he had to say. "I won't be here long, I just want-"

"Save it." Paige cut through his voice, not even making eye contact with her visitor. "Why aren't you dead? Wait - don't answer that, I don't care." This time she did meet his eyes, but hers were too full of venom to even notice a trace of the compassion which resided in his. "Just leave."

/I'll sing it one last time for you
Then we really have to go/

Cole, trying to look as though what she had just said had not phased him, threw his arms up to his sides in a gesture of innocence. Unluckily for him, having once been the Source of All Evil, apparently not may gestures of innocence looked convincing in the slightest, as Paige was beginning to prove. It seemed that with every fracture of a move Cole made, the youngest of the Charmed Ones would take another threatening step towards him, her vase still looming in her right hand. Cole would have joked about the unusual role reversal, had he not been so perturbed by Paige… who seemed to have forgotten about her choice in clothes, or lack thereof.

"Uhm…"

When Paige saw his sudden discomfort, she almost forgot about her desire to kill him (again.)- Or at least cause him harm. She couldn't figure out why on earth he was suddenly averting his eyes to the carpet. "What the hell are you playing at?"

Eyes still glued to the floor, Cole gestured with his hand to Paige's chest, a crimson flush creeping through his cheeks. "…You might want to…uh, put your shirt back on?"

Paige narrowed her eyes and remained glaring at Cole, but confusion was also sweeping through her. Realising what he had just said, her head shot downwards and she inhaled a shocked gasp. "Shit!"

With no more than one violent word, she spun as quickly as she could possibly manage and scuttered towards her bed. Her cheeks were blushing more furiously than Cole's. She had just been threatening him, wearing her bra?

Self consciousness was soon the prominent emotion coursing through her veins, and to save herself any further embarrassment she turned to make sure Cole was not taking advantage of her humility. His eyes were not shut.

"Stop looking at me!" She screeched in a rage.

"Sorry." Cole uttered surprisingly genuinely, slapping a hand over his eyes. It remained there even when Paige turned her back to him again. He had to respect her if she was going to listen to him.

"Why does this crazy stuff ALWAYS happen to me?" Paige kept muttering to herself as she pulled her shirt back over her head. Cole resisted his urge to smirk.

"Can I open yet?"

"NO!" Of course, her shirt was on, but she waited until she had straightened it out and smoothed it down before she made a move. "Now." She made small coughing noise in the back of her throat as she cleared it before picking up her vase once again and taking a step towards Cole.

"You can't hurt me with that, you know." Cole stuttered as he peered through his eyelashes. He opened his eyes fully and, once more, attempted to look innocent by throwing his arms into the air.

"Really?" Whether she believed him or not, Paige certainly did not let her stance drop. With a deafening WHACK she had slammed the vase off of the nearby counter and caused shards of jagged glass to fly in all directions. What was left in her hand seemed perfect. "How about now?"

Cole knew no other way of responding, and gave a nervous chuckle. He thrust his hands into his pockets so that Paige would be unable to notice the clammy sweat forming on them. "They have a saying in Limbo." He began. This was where Paige and Cole had a similarity: when a situation became uncomfortable, a joke would emerge. "Painful words and threats may hurt my soul, but sharp glass vases can never hurt me."

"That's catchy." Paige sneered, clearly not amused; the vase was now mere centimetres from Cole's neck.

"Do you have anger issues with me?" He asked, trying to mask his discomfort.

Paige's eyes narrowed for what seemed to be the thousandth time "I have death issues with you." Her head cocked to the side. "You. Won't. Die."

"Hate to tell ya," He rose his left eyebrow. Clearly he was going to tell her anyway: "I really am dead."

The arrogance was too convincing to be an act so Paige finally decided to give up on the vase, no matter how much fun it had been just to see this, this man- if he could even be called that!- squirm. "How?"

"Oh... you vanquished me."

"I know that! I meant... how... why are you... here?"

Finally, civilised conversation! Cole's shoulders dropped to their natural position and he began to relax a little. "Because," He began, as if it had been as clear as day, "It's Valentines Day: The most romantic day of the year." Removing a hand from his pocket, he placed it slightly suspiciously behind his back. When he revealed his hand to Paige again, however, in it was not something she had been expecting, or particularly hoping to see: Yet another perfect red rose.

"...That was you?" She asked in disbelief.

"Mmhm." When Paige hesitated to accept her gift, Cole extended his arm further towards her. This only caused her eyes to become more accusing. Cole felt like sighing; with Paige, he could never win. "It's for you." He assured her, "It's not poison."

Gradually, almost as if she was moving in slow motion, Paige reached out to take the rose from the hand of a man who had once been her worst nightmare. The most unusual thing was, she was finding it difficult to suppress a smile…

/You've been the only thing that's right
In all I've done/

"This is really weird…"

"I can explain, honestly." This was good! Progress was being made! He just needed to convince her again, "But believe me, I'm as dead as Prue."

…Oops. That had been a bad move. Paige shot Cole a worse scowl than the one she had given him when he had first appeared.

"Sorry." He winced, "Bad analogy."

Paige brushed it off, but her suspicion was back. "How did you get here?"

Cole shrugged and forced himself to look at her, trying desperately to win her back onto his side. "Strange, isn't it?" He mused, "They let me come back for 24 hours."

"They?"

"Elders."

Paige almost choked on air. "That was…" She blinked in disbelief, "Oddly nice of them."

"So are you going to let me explain why?" He took a step towards her. She didn't flinch. "Or do I have to fear your mighty vase?"

"Just..." Overcome with her own discomfort, she began to gesture wildly at her bed. She was feeling significantly calmer- and significantly more confused- but still, she knew not to trust Cole. "Sit down and do it quickly."

Casually, Cole sauntered the few steps it took to reach the bed and took a seat. His calm exterior infuriated Paige something chronic, but she tried not to let it show as she loomed over him, staring through hard eyes

"If this isn't a good reason," She stated threateningly, "I'm vanquishing your limbo ass."

"Here come those anger issues again." Cole mused with a chuckle, only causing Paige's eyes to narrow further. "I swear it could have been Piper talking there."

"Shut up." Paige said sternly. This night was definitely not going as she had hoped it would…

"You even look like her now!" Cole continued, provoking Paige further and finding endless amusement in her reaction.

"Damn it, Cole! I'm about to - in three seconds – go and get my sisters."

Cole smirked. The arrogant look on his face, in itself, was enough to make Paige groan. "You can't."

/And I can barely look at you
But every single time I do/

The witch-whitelighter's porcelain face drained of what little colour it held. Her stomach lurched and her eyes closed in utter dread. "Why...?" She questioned, "I swear, if you did something-"

"No, no! I simply... sealed us off." He signalled around the room with his hand and allowed a smile to play at the corners of his mouth; apparently the Halliwell women were still as protective as ever about their sisters.

"…What?"

"Nobody can hear you talk," Cole explained. Paige's shoulders sank. "Or hear me talk. Or see us. Or get in or get out…"

"…I hate you."

"Well you only have to do it for one more hour. I go at midnight."

Paige's face held an expression which conveyed anger, disgust and aversion. Her fists clenched tightly and her mouth fell into a small 'o'. "One hour? No. Freaking. WAY!"

"One hour won't be so bad." Cole tried to reassure her with a cocky grin. She still glared at him. "And I'm hoping you won't have your anger issues with me by the time it's up…"

His remark went unheard as Paige turned her back on him. "God, this sucks." Her feet began to shuffle across the floor and she brought her hands up to massage her throbbing temples. "I mean this is the mother of all sucks;" Her hands moved to her stomach and she found herself leaning against her dresser to keep herself from hitting something. "I could vomit!"

"There's nothing wrong with my cologne!" Cole replied in mock offence. He had been watching her every move with great interest. Something about the way she held herself; about the was she shuffled her feet across the floor and still managed to look graceful; even the way her arms seemed to constantly dart from place to place was enticing. He did not know how to react to Paige other than to do what he did best: make a sarcastic remark.

"No, it's you!" Paige retorted. This was too much for her to handle. "You- you... why the hell are you bothering me! " She turned to face him again and glared daggers into his eyes, "You have an ex-wife, and I much as I would hate for her to see you again, GO BOTHER HER!"

Cole could not say he was not slightly taken aback by that outburst, but- offended as he may have been- he kept his task in mind and remained level headed. "I already dealt with her."

It took a moment for what Cole had said to register in Paige's rage filled mind, but when it did the angry expression on her face turned –almost as suddenly as the flick of a switch- turned to one of utter bewilderment. "What!"

"And Piper too." Cole raised both of his eyebrows and glanced at Paige, wearing an expression which screamed 'you want to talk now, huh?'

"Right..." Apparently, she did not believe him.

"Seriously." He assured her with a nod.

Her mouth hung open like a goldfish. "W-what? How -- when?"

"Not too long ago." Cole began to explain. Again, he was beginning to find humour in the situation. "Remember the whole Leo 'fall from grace' thing?" He waited for Paige to give a confused but understanding grunt before he continued, "I'm the one that saved your sister." He had to restrain himself from snorting in laughter as Paige's face compressed in puzzlement. This was going to confuse her even more: "Saved one from death, and saved the other one from giving up on love."

Paige's eyes did a series of quick, repetitive blinks. "…What?"

"Ugh." It appeared that Paige's extent of talking had now become one-word sentences, and the word 'what' seemed to be featuring quite regularly. It was beginning to try what little patience Cole Turned had. "Limbo!" He exclaimed surprisingly loudly. "Piper was stuck in Limbo with me. I coached her on what to do."

"You're such a freaking liar!" Paige hissed, not even waiting seconds before retaliating. "If that had happened, I would've known!"

Cole's brow furrowed. He was slightly shocked by Paige's outburst; did Paige not know? "Huh? They didn't tell you…?"

"No!"

"I know what I did, though." Cole persisted. Paige's harsh glare was fading quickly from her face and he took the opportunity to describe to her what he had assumed she already knew. "I helped her 'die' so Leo would return." Paige still looked confused, and, for a brief moment-at the mention of Leo's name-, a sad look washed over her. Cole rolled his eyes. "Although I'm not sure it did much good…"

Paige gave an aggravated grunt of disbelief and spun a three-hundred-and-sixty degree circle, with her hands pressed firmly to her temples. She had the sickening feeling that by the end of the night her head was going to explode in emotion overload: first she had felt guilty for ruining 'sister night; then she had been bemused even further by a mysterious Valentines gift, which had out to be from the one (dead!) man she had least expected- and wanted- to see! And now she was discovering- by mouth of Cole, (!)- That her big sister had been keeping secrets from her for almost a year! "She - seriously - saw you?"

"Sure did." He nodded, watching, with concern, Paige's emotions flash across her face, "She really didn't tell you?"

"No! And I can't believe that they wouldn't tell me something important like this..."

Cole flashed a smug grin. "I'm important?"

/I know we'll make it anywhere
Away from here/

"No, not you! Just the fact she saw you." Paige did not realise how insensitive her response was until after she had said it, and even then she was too intrigued to care. "-Wait ...You saved who from giving up on love?"

"Phoebe, of course." He replied dryly. All this questioning was becoming rather tedious; he would never achieve what he was sent here to do if Paige would not cooperate.

"You saw Phoebe too?"

"Why? Are you jealous?" He smiled flirtatiously with her but her enraged glower knocked him from his high horse. "And no. Actually, I made someone do the dirty work for Me."

"Do I really want to know...?" This was the point when Paige felt the need to groan yet again.

"You knew him, I believe." Cole hesitated, unsure of how well Paige was going to take this news, "His name was Drake."

Paige's head, which had been pointed directly towards the carpet, shot upwards and her eyes bulged open. "Drake?" She gasped, "As in m-my-- P-Phoebe's Drake!"

"That Drake. Ex-demon, worked at Magic School, had three weeks to live..."

"No freaking way." Her tone no longer sounded angry, but surprised, and almost as if realisation was dawning on her. "You sent him?"

"I was also the one to get him the deal with the Sorcerer; that was all me. After I saw Phoebe pushing herself farther away from love, I figured I needed to do something about it. Because, lets just admit it, as messed up as our relationship was, we loved each other. And Phoebe really hasn't had a relationship like me since I... y'know, died."

Paige nodded slowly and took up the opportunity to gain an upper hand in the snide remark department, "Yeah, I know." Her turn to smirk now, "I, 'y'know' vanquished you."

"Come on, have a heart, Paige. Don't bring up that sore spot." Though he spoke in a sarcastic tone, his eyes held some sincerity.

Paige noticed it, but tried to forget she had. "I had to, y'know, vanquish you, because you went, y'know, CRAZY."

This left a tense silence lingering in the room for what seemed more like hours than minutes. The two refused to look at each other. Paige's attention again turned to the carpet, and the red duvet on which he sat suddenly fascinated Cole. It had been so long since he had been in her presence that he had almost forgotten how hot tempered they both became when they were near one another.

"See," It was Cole who spoke first, "I knew you had unsettled feelings and issues with Me."

"I." Of course that was leading to another angry reaction, "Do." Cole had known it would. "Not." Her face grew an angry red, and Cole could have sworn he saw a tear grace her eye before she turned sharply away from him.

At this point his concern reached its peak and he rose quickly from the bed. Although Cole had found amusement in tormenting Paige, he had not meant to infuriate her to this extent. Softly, he took small steps towards her. When he placed his hand on her shoulder he was mildly surprised that she did not flinch or push him away. With a tender, apologetic gaze over her shoulder, and a meek, sorry smile, he whispered to her. "I'm here only to make amends."

As soon as the final word had left his mouth Paige had aggressively turned to face him. In fact, she was so close to him that if Paige had been any taller their faces would have touched. She did not look even mildly comforted by his words. "Sit back down." She spat firmly.

Impressed by her confidence, but on the verge of giving up, Cole quickly sat back down on the bed. With a dispirited shrug of his shoulders and a disheartened blink of his eyes, he tried to make eye contact. She was hovering over him again.

"The only reason I'm going to even try to talk to you is because of Drake." A reluctant grumble ended her sentence and it took all of her will not to roll her eyes. "If he could,"
Her face hardened in reluctance, "…Guess I can."

Cole smiled, and was finally able to relax in a small amount of joy, "Finally."

/Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear/

-End Part Two-

AN- The lyrics used in this chapter are 'Run' by Snow Patrol, which I do not own either. As I said before, reviews are welcome. And please don't ask about LOM. It's a long story (no, that is not a pun…) and I suck.