“ You're all dressed up just to go to the club," Phoebe noted.

"I'm not just going to the club," Piper replied.  "Leo's coming over.  We're going to stop in the club first so I can check on a few things because it's Saturday night.  And then we're going out."

"On a date?"  Prue asked.

"Yes, on a date.  Why does that surprise you?" she asked half squinting at her.

"I didn't know you were letting yourself get that close to him," Prue said.

"We've only really gone out once," Piper said defensively. "We're not getting that close." She looked at Prue and Phoebe, stopped and exhaled. "I know we are," she admitted. "Every time Leo is around I feel drawn to him. It's a lot different being around him in real life than it is on Charmed."

"I'm sure it is," Phoebe said.

Piper cocked her head.  "Speaking of being close, what's happening between you and Stuart?  You seem to be getting pretty close, yourself."

"He's so different from the other men I've gone out with," Phoebe said.

"Different - yes," Piper said. "He's not a Hollywood hunk.  Not even close to being any kind of a hunk."

"I've gone out with...regular men, too," Phoebe replied, indignantly.

"There was such a rumor, but it was never confirmed," Piper retorted, as Prue chuckled.

"Look, I know...if you stood Stuart next to - Greg...no one's going to confuse Stuart with Greg," Phoebe admitted.

"If you stood Stuart next to Greg, no one would even notice that Stuart was there," Piper said, pointedly. For that matter, if Stuart stood next to Brian, no one would notice him, either.  Or even next to Roger-"

"Roger?"  Prue said.

"Or Jack, or-" Piper went on.

"Stop," Phoebe said. "There's nothing wrong with Stuart's looks. It doesn't matter that he's...uh-"

"Not very sexy," Piper interjected.

"Not as handsome as an actor," Phoebe continued, giving Piper a  look.

"This isn't like you," Piper said.  "Before we came here, you wouldn't have given someone like Stuart a second thought."

"Maybe it takes his saving my life twice to get my attention," Phoebe said, "that maybe I shouldn't be looking for another hunk again.  That for once, I should be looking more at what's really inside, instead. That's a lot more important. And what's inside Stuart is sincerity.

"His thoughts about love, his perspective on relationships, are so different.  He's...so caring, so sensitive. And there’s respect...for me...for who and what I am.  He's not trying to prove anything, to be anyone other than...just himself. He's genuine.

"And he's romantic, too. We're going out again tonight."

"Maybe you should...slow down,” Piper said.  “I...I just don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Hurt? You're afraid of Stuart hurting me??" Phoebe asked.

Piper shook her head.  "I'm afraid of you hurting him."

Piper exhaled.  "He just isn't your type, he isn't your style.  At least, not Alyssa's.

"We're in an artificial environment here," Piper continued. "This isn't how you, how we, really live back home.  And when we do go home, and you're back in your real life as Alyssa Milano, TV actress...you'll look at him and see that he doesn't fit into your lifestyle. Maybe being Phoebe is affecting how you're looking at him."

"Maybe being Phoebe is helping me look at him a lot clearer than I ever would have being just Alyssa," Phoebe said. "And maybe seeing someone who's not 'Hollywood' is what my life needs right now." She stopped and thought for a moment.

"And what about you," Phoebe asked. "You're setting yourself up to be hurt when you're back in LA. You'll have a problem when Leo isn't there."

For a moment Piper was silent.

"I'll have a problem," she said slowly, "if Leo is there."

"Right now, we have to deal with what is here," Prue said. "What are you really feeling for Stuart?"

"I can tell you what his feelings are for me," Phoebe said. "He's falling in love with me."

"I don't need your power of premonition to know that," Prue said.  "That's been obvious.  But what are you feeling?"

Phoebe hesitated.  "I don't know.  I thought - no, I know...that I was starting to..." She stopped, unable or unwilling to express the thought. "I feel so comfortable when he's around," she continued, "so...happy.

"Or at least I did.  The last few days...I feel like I'm going backwards.  It's as if Phoebe's fear of opening up her heart, her fear of being hurt, has taken over me."

"Piper and I also have also discovered that we have new feelings," Prue said.  "It's part of our becoming who we have.  The feelings are part of The Halliwells so they're a part of us now, as well.

"But they could also be building upon our own feelings and our own fears," Prue continued. "Fears we didn't know that we had - or didn't want to admit that we had. You have to separate your heart from your mind and give it a chance to be heard."

Ding-dong

"That will be Leo," Piper said and went to the door.

"Darryl," she said, surprised.

"Hello Piper," he said.

"Come in," she said, and closed the door behind him.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "You don't look very happy."

"I'm not," Morris said. "There's been another murder.  And the victim's body was surrounded by pentagrams."

"And you want one of us to come with you," Piper said rather than asked, the thought of losing her evening with Leo flashing through her mind.

"I'll go.  I have nothing else to do," Prue said, frustrated.  "I seem to be the only one around here without a date - again."

 

"It was all based upon his not really meaning what he told her," Stuart said as they walked down the street after leaving the theater.  "He never really believed what he was telling her though he sure sounded like he did when he said it.  Seems a bit contrived."

"I don't agree," Phoebe said.  "I've known people like that.  People who have said things, even convinced themselves that they believed what they were saying.  But over time, their real attitudes became obvious."

They walked down the block to the Powell-Mason cable car stop and waited near the corner.

"You really believe all of those things you said about love and relationships, don't you," she said.

"Believe?" he said. "It's more than believing, it's...who I am. Everything I said...that's...that's me."

"Good," she said, "just checking."

Stuart smiled.

"Of course, they weren't right for each other, anyway," he said, getting back to the movie. "If she  had been looking for the important things in him while they were going out she would have seen it."

"I don't know about that," she said. "She seemed to know exactly what she was looking for."

"Well, it's not what I'm looking for," Stuart said, shaking his head. "People don't look at it the right way. They go out together and have a good time, have fun.  Throw in a little romance, some sex and they think 'this is it - we're right for each other'."

"Those can be pretty good indications," Phoebe said.

"That’s a starting point," he said, "but that's not life.  Life is complex.  I look for a companion, a partner.  Not just to have a good time with...but to have life with.”

"So what do you look at?" she asked.

"What's inside the person," he said. "You have to take the time to really look and see what's beneath the surface. I look for someone who has that...that intangible inner radiance...that’s connected to a good, warm, caring heart."

"That's all you look for?" she asked, a bit surprised.

He thought for a moment.  "And...for someone who is intelligent,  who is capable and confident...and outgoing," Stuart said.  "Someone I can respect.          

"But there's no substitute for a good heart.  Without it, those other things don't mean anything. And if someone has that kind of heart, then anything...everything, can be worked out."

“You haven’t rejected romance, or the other things, with me,” Phoebe said with a smile.

“No,” he chuckled, “I guess I haven’t. They’re fine...as long as they’re also a way to see if the important qualities are there. 

“And they are,”  he said, as the cable car approached. He looked into her eyes and they softly kissed her.