the only exception

 "Phoebe?" Haylely asked, sounding more awake now. The teen just shook her head, another sob escaping her lips.

She could hear Taylor somewhere asking what was wrong, which Hayley quickly echoed back to the girl, "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"I don- everything is just-" Phoebe tried, only making herself cry harder. She didn't feel good, and while logically, she knew nothing was going to happen to her and the boys were just hashing out their petty drama, she couldn't help but to be freaked out.

Couldn't help but to think about the other angry men she's been around.

"Phoebe, come on. Deep breaths, honey." The blonde tried to tell her, her voice soothing, but filled with worry.

"I'm sorry," the teen sobbed, feeling bad that she'd woken Hayley up and was bothering her, yet again.

"What're you sorry about?" Hayley asked, "Where are you?"

Phoebe just shook her head, shrugging, even if she knew the blonde couldn't see her through the phone.

"Phoebe," Hayley tried again, sounding more panicked now, "Where are you? I'll come get you."

"No!" The teen quickly denied, already feeling embarrassed that she was crying. Embarrassed that she couldn't even think straight due to the intoxication.

She heard Hayley sigh, her words quick, "Do I need to call someone? What do you need?"

"I don't know," Phoebe told her, trying to steady her breaths through her slurred words, "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, honey. Just tell me where you are, please. I'm worried about you." Hayley begged, and Phoebe could hear her moving around.

"I don't know," the teen told her honestly, looking around the unfamiliar street.

"You can tell me, it's okay." Hayley assured her, the sound of a door shutting on the line. She listened until she heard a car engine roar to life.

"No, I just- I don't know. I think it's Beachner street or Baker street or something, I don't know." Phoebe shook her head, feeling ridiculous. "It's okay. I'm okay. I'm sorry for calling you."

Before Hayley could say anything, Phoebe was hanging up the phone, burying her head in her hands. People were coming in and out of the house, and it was becoming increasingly crowded, so she decided to get away.

With no clear direction in mind, she started stumbling down the sidewalk. Her feet and eyes felt heavy, the sound of crickets overwhelming her.

Everything had felt overwhelming lately. She felt like she couldn't catch a break, like the universe hated her. Even now that she was in a somewhat decent home, she still wasn't treated all that great, just okay.

She was tired of her life just feeling okay at best. Tired of being alone and people yelling and hitting and...

She was just tired. So tired.

Eventually, Phoebe sat down on the side of the road, happy that she was still out in a neighborhood and not on the busy streets.

It was dark, the only light being from the few street lights scattered about. She was far enough away now that the party wasn't in sight. She couldn't even hear the bass that had been vibrating through her body not even 20 minutes ago.

She was alone, though, and if she was honest, scared.

She felt her phone vibrating in her pocket, the feeling echoing throughout her entire body.

Phoebe looked down at her phone, seeing Hayleys contact. She stared at the picture, the one Taylor had taken of them a week ago while Hayley was teaching her guitar.

She felt guilty.

She didn't even realize she was staring at the phone for long until the call went away, her eyes landing on the notifications showing she already had 6 missed calls from Hayley and 4 from Taylor. There were a few texts thrown in there, but she hadn't even bothered to look at them as she shakily hit Hayleys contact again.

"Phoebe?" Her voice instantly rang through, "Are you there?"

Phoebe hummed in response, no longer crying, but her breathing was still shaky. Her skin and her lungs and her head felt weird. She didn't want to try and talk anymore.

Hayley seemed to accept the small sound from her as a good thing, instantly letting out a shaky exhale, "Please don't hang up again."

Phoebe nodded, her voice hesitant and small, "m'kay."

"Can you please tell me where you are?" She tries again, sounding desperate, "Send me your location or something? Pull up google maps, I don't know."

Phoebe does as she's told, going to google maps and taking a screenshot of her location before sending it to Hayley.

"Okay, okay," the blonde speaks again, "I know exactly where you are. I'll be there soon, okay? Are you with anyone?"

"Just me," Phoebe whispers, drawing shapes on the concrete with her fingers. Her eyes felt heavy and all she wanted to do was fall asleep.

"Are you safe?" Hayley asks then, "are you okay?"

"I'm okay," Phoebe tells her slowly, obviously not confident in the answer. "You don't have to come here."

"I'm already on my way, honey." She replies, and Phoebe feels her heart soften a little at the name of endearment. "Why are you alone out there?"

Phoebe doesn't answer, instead just laying her head on her knees and closing her eyes.

There's a beat of silence before Hayley speaks again. "Are you still there?"

Phoebe just hums again, closing her eyes. It felt so warm outside, it was making it increasingly harder to stay awake.

Hayley keeps the teen updated on her whereabouts, even if the most she was getting was small sounds in response. It wasn't until headlights shined in her face that Phoebe opened her eyes, seeing them slam on the brakes and Hayley quickly jump out of the driver's side.

Phoebe stands up, stumbling a little as Hayley quickly pulls her into a hug, wrapping her arms around the girl's shoulders. She's comforting and kind and everything the teen needed at the moment.

The contact doesn't last nearly as long as Phoebe's hoping before Hayley's pulling back, grabbing her face and examining her with quick eyes.

"What were you thinking? What happened? Are you okay?" Hayley asked in a quick succession before pulling the teen into another quick hug.

Phoebe could feel her let out a breath of relief before pulling back.

"What'd you have?" She asks suddenly, her face stiff.

Phoebe frowns, shakes her head.

"Did you drink? Smoke? Take pills?" Hayley asks again. "I just wanna make sure you're okay."

Phoebe shrugs, "Drink. Smoke."

"Have you ever drank before?" Hayley frowned, "Smoked before?"

The teen just shook her head in response, causing Hayley to sigh.

"Getting crossfaded when you haven't even been normal faded was a bad idea."

"I'm sorry." Phoebe whispered, looking away.

Hayley just shook her head as she threw her arm over the girl's shoulder, leading her to the front seat, "you don't need to apologize. I'm just glad you're okay."