At lunch, Phoebe sat at the Plastics table. She was uncomfortable to say the least; she would usually be staring at this table, and now she's sitting at it, next to Regina herself. Again, many of her classmates in the cafeteria were staring at her, but she had almost gotten used to it; Regina seemed unbothered by the attention, probably because this was her everyday.

Regina ate her cheese fries as she gossiped with Gretchen and Karen about something. Phoebe, who had slightly zoned out, was mindlessly doodling in her notebook deep in thought about her situation with Janis. She was honestly kind of terrified that Janis would unleash some sort of revenge plan on her, like she had tried with Regina. Just then, Cady cautiously walked up to the table, making the other three fall into silence and knocking Phoebe out of her thoughts.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Regina snapped at Cady, who flinched.
"I'm really sorry about what happened, I was super drunk. How can I make it up to you?"
"You can't," Regina simply started, "I mean, that was just the final straw. First you give me those fattening bars as some sort of cruel joke, and now you force yourself on to Phoebe? No way, go sit at the freak table, where you belong!" Regina exclaimed, bringing some more attention to the table. Cady stood there, frozen and dumbfounded.
"You heard her, you can't sit with us!" Gretchen echoed in her high pitched tone. Cady turned around, walking straight to Janis and Damien, who welcomed her with open arms while shooting glares at the Plastics table. Phoebe frowned at this, somewhat jealous of the redhead. Regina, noticing this, placed a comforting hand on Phoebe's thigh.

"Don't worry, it'll all blow over soon enough. She's just got to get used to the idea that you're not under her control and you can date whoever you want." Regina reassured, squeezing Phoebe's thigh. Phoebe nodded, unconvinced. She then went back to mindless doodling in her notebook. Regina then grabbed a pen and joined her, drawing little hearts and flowers over the page. Phoebe smiled at Regina's adorable behaviour as Gretchen and Karen stared at the two, never having seen Regina act this way; she was never soft.

"Hey, do you wanna come over to mine? We can watch some movies, maybe that one you were talking about a couple weeks ago?" Regina asked Phoebe, referencing But I'm a Cheerleader.
"Sure!" Phoebe grinned, excited. Gretchen and Karen exchanged a glance.
"Are we invited?" Gretchen asked.
"No way, go do something else. We don't have to hang out all together all the time." Regina scoffed. Phoebe frowned at Regina's rudeness towards her so called friends.

Before long, the bell for next period rang, and Regina walked Phoebe to class again.

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That afternoon, Regina met Phoebe outside her last class, giving her a kiss hello on the cheek and taking her hand. They then walked out to Regina's car together, Gretchen and Karen in tow as she had to drop them home first. Phoebe once again hopped in the passenger seat as Gretchen slumped in the back next to Karen, who was indifferent as she had always sat in the back. As she started up the car, Regina handed Phoebe her phone.

"Here, pick some music." Regina said. Gretchen's eyes widened in anger.
"What? You never let us pick the music!"
"Yeah, I never let you. Phoebe can though."
Phoebe felt bad being treated better than Gretchen when Gretchen had arguably done far more for Regina than Phoebe had, though kept quiet. She put on some Chappell Roan.

"Oh, I love this song!" Karen said as HOT TO GO! came on, bopping her head. Phoebe and Regina both grinned at the brunette, while Gretchen stared out the window, ignoring everything and everyone.

After a few minutes, they reached Karen's house. Karen stumbled out of the car, waving her hand goodbye rapidly before turning and walking to her front door. Once Karen was safely inside her house, Regina sped off.

After a few more minutes, they reached Gretchen's house. Gretchen just silently got out, still fuming. Regina barely let Gretchen close the door before speeding off. Phoebe looked over at Regina.
"You know, you should really be nicer to her. There's only so much she'll take before she ditches you for good." Phoebe said cautiously.
Regina rolled her eyes, "She's just so annoying! Like I can't help it that everything she does makes me mad!" She exclaimed as Phoebe laughed.
"Then, why are you even friends with her?" Phoebe questioned.
"I don't know, I just want to. Just because she annoys me, doesn't mean I don't want her around. She's like my personal assistant!" Regina explained as Phoebe nodded, trying to be understanding.

They sat in silence for the rest of the drive to Regina's home. Once they reached Regina's, Regina quickly turned the car off and hopped out, yelling "Wait!" as Phoebe went to open the door. Phoebe obliged as Regina ran around to her side, opening the door for her. Phoebe laughed.

"Milady," Regina curtseyed, holding a hand out for Phoebe to take. Phoebe took her hand, and climbed out of the car.
"Thank you, kind lady." Phoebe said, laughing and curtseying back. Regina laughed then cringed at herself for acting so weird.

The two girls immediately ran up to Regina's room as Regina's mom yelled out behind them, "Hey, honey! How was school? Oh, hi Pheoebe!" Phoebe quickly waved and said hello to the woman as Regina continued to pull her upstairs. As they entered Regina's room, Phoebe immediately dropped her bag on the ground and flopped down on Regina's bed as Regina shut the door. Regina laughed, "I'm beginning to think you like this bed more than me!"

"It's true, I'm only dating you for this comfy, comfy bed." Phoebe groaned as she rolled around on the bed. She kicked her shoes off, then preparing to get under the covers until Regina exclaimed, "Hey! No outside clothes in my bed! I'll grab you something comfy to wear and then you can hop in." Phoebe groaned at Regina's rules, but obliged. Regina handed her a set of silky pyjamas. Phoebe laughed, "Wow, how sophisticated!"

"They're just pyjamas." Regina replied.
Phoebe then got changed in record time, jumping under the covers. Regina soon after joined her, in an almost identical pair of pyjamas. They huddled up together and embraced each other, creating warmth. After a while of sitting like this, Regina pulled away to grab her TV remote. "Okay, so what were we going to watch?"

"But I'm a Cheerleader?" Phoebe asked, eager to show Regina her favourite movie.
"Okay! You search it up." Regina said, handing Phoebe the remote. Phoebe then put the on, periodically looking over at Regina to see her reactions. Regina looked at the TV sceptically during the intro scenes, but then grew to enjoy it. The two girls snuggled together, sharing a laugh every now and then.

"Damn, Graham is hot." Regina commented.
"I know, right?" Phoebe gushed, glad that Regina was seemingly enjoying the movie. They lay watching the movie for another half hour, before they were interrupted by Regina's mom bursting in. Regina quickly separated from Phoebe, sitting up in surprise.

"Hey girls! What are we watching?" Her mom said, looking over to the TV screen and perching herself on the edge of her bed,
"But I'm a Cheerleader," Regina answered, "What do you want, mom? We're trying to watch this movie."
"Oh, nothing. Just wanna see what movies are cool nowadays. Is this that lesbian one?" Regina's mom asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes." Regina replied.
"Oh, okay. Well don't turn into a lesbian!" Regina's mom joked. Regina glared, nostrils flaring at her mother's insensitiveness.
"So what if I was?" She asked.
"Oh, honey. You know I don't care about that! I just want you to be able to have a good life and that's only possible if you settle down with a man and have kids! Being lesbian is just a phase you'll grow out of. I used to think I was a lesbian in college but I grew out of it, and look how happy I am!"
"Happy? You're a divorcee who craves the validation of her teenage daughter! Maybe I don't want to live like that!" Regina exclaimed. Phoebe sat still, trying not to make a noise as to draw attention to herself in this personal moment.
Regina's mom gasped, placing a hand over her chest. She then said, "Phoebe, I think you should go." Phoebe followed her orders and quickly packed up her bag, not even bothering to change out of the pyjamas before walking out. Regina ran after her, "Wait!" she called out. Phoebe stopped and turned.
"Let me drive you home!" Regina insisted. Phoebe accepted the offer, and went out to Regina's car.

"Hey, sorry about that." Regina said after quite some time of sitting in silence, "She just thinks everyone should fit into this perfect box that she envisions for them and she hates when anyone steps out of it."
"It's okay, I understand." Phoebe responded, placing a comforting hand on Regina's thigh. Regina smiled over at Phoebe.

Soon after, the girls pulled up at Phoebe's house. They shared a quick kiss goodbye before Phoebe hopped out of the car and walked barefoot up her driveway and into her home. Regina made sure the brunette was well inside the house before driving off, dreading what she would be met with at home.