the only exception

"Hi, Pheebs, what's up?" Hayley asked into the phone.

"Hi, sorry. Me and Emily just got to her house and she forgot the keys this morning so we can't get ready. I was just wondering if... Well-" Phoebe shook her head, eyeing Emily who was sitting on the front step of her house, "Is it okay if we get ready for the game there?"

"Yeah, of course." Hayley quickly agreed, earning a sigh in relief from the teen. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous about asking to have someone over, but couldn't help it. None of her friends even knew of her home situation and this was going to be the first time she'd brought a friend home ever.

"Sweet thank you," the teen smiled, sending a thumbs up to Emily, "We'll be there in like thirty minutes."

"Is it just you two? Do you need a ride?" Hayley offered. Phoebe still felt bad about Hayley driving her around all the time, but she really didn't want to walk anyway.

"Yeah, if you're not busy that would be great," she smiled.

"I'm just working through some lyrics, I'll be there in a bit." Hayley assured, already discarding the notebook she was writing in.

"Okay, thank you! See you soon, bye." Phoebe replied.

"Bye, love you."

"You too," Phoebe smiled, hanging up the phone before walking back over to Emily.

"We all good?" The blonde asked, pushing herself up off the stairs.

"Yup," Phoebe told her, "she's gonna pick us up too."

"God, your mom is the best." Emily sighed in relief, leaning against the railing to continue the wait.

"Yeah," Phoebe agreed with a small smile, "Speaking of, before you come over there's probably something I should tell you?"

Emily raised her eyebrows curiously, "Do tell."

Phoebe blew out some air dramatically, "Well, for starters, I'm a foster kid." Phoebe told her, deciding to start with that. She didn't want to explain too much about her home life, but knew that seeing a certain someone pick them up was going to raise a lot of questions.

"Oh, I had no idea," Emily replied softly, eyebrows knitting together.

"Yeah," Phoebe nodded slowly, unsure how to continue with the conversation.

"What happened to your parents?" Emily asked.

That was a question Phoebe really didn't like to think of, so she quickly shook her head, "Doesn't matter. Anyway, I just know you're a fan of paramore so... Well, I don't know..." Phoebe scrambled her sentences, trying to decide how to word it.

"Paramore?" Emily asked, now seeming amused.

"Yeah, Paramore." Phoebe nodded, "You know how I'm kind of friends with them?"
Emily snorted, crossing her arms, "How could I forget? It's not everyday you get invited backstage by your favorite band."

"Right," Phoebe agreed, "Well, I sort've live with-" She paused, suddenly remembering she's not supposed to talk about how Hayley and Taylor are together. "I live with Hayley."

Emily stared at her for a second, clearing confused and trying to gauge if she was just fucking around or not. After a moment, she seemed to realize her friend was in fact telling the truth, "What? How? What?"

"It's kind of a long story, but yeah, I just didn't want you to be shocked when she picked us up. So, you know, I thought I'd tell you." Phoebe shrugged nervously, fiddling with the braided bracelet on her wrist.

"This is crazy..." Emily shook her head, a shocked look on her face. "Absolutely insane, you know that right?"

Phoebe shrugged, she did know that, but it wasn't exactly an insane concept to her. Although she could see how shocking it would be to find out your best friend lives with one of your idols.

They sat and talked for a while more and by the time Hayley had pulled up to the house, Emily was mostly back to acting normal. Phoebe still noticed her usually confident friend's hesitant movements as she got in the car.

"Hi, Emily, right? It's nice to see you again." Hayley smiled, pretending not to notice the wide eyed look on the girl's face. Phoebe put on her seatbelt, thankful that they both seemed to be playing along with the role of parent and childs friend instead of idol and fan.

"Yep, thanks for the ride." Emily basically squeaked, making Phoebe grin.

"Of course, anytime." Hayley smiled, putting the car into drive, "Are you guys excited for the game?"

"I guess," Phoebe shrugged, leaning back in the seat and looking out the window.

They arrived home not too long after and made their way up to Phoebe's room to get ready (minus a quick detour for Emily to freak out over seeing the Alf in person and giving the pup plenty of love.)

Seeing as they couldn't use the face paint Emily had locked in her house, they instead borrowed some of Hayleys eyeliner, drawing the little black lines on the top of the cheeks.

"Phoebe, can you come down here for a second?" Hayley called from down the stairs. The teen didn't even bother to respond, instead just quickly stood from the bed she was lounging on and ditched Emily to jog down the stairs.

She found Hayley in the living room, sitting on the couch, "Hey," the singer smiled before gesturing under her eye, "that's cute."

"Thanks," Phoebe smiled, "What'd ya need?"

"Okay, so, a few things." Hayley started, absentmindedly scratching Alf's side, "First, you remember what we talked about last night, right?"

Phoebe nodded.

The previous night, Hayley, Taylor, and her had a short conversation about parties and some new rules involving them. Rules including her not being allowed to drink or smoke anymore. They weren't hateful about it, in fact, they seemed more so nervous and regretful of the request, but Phoebe had just agreed, not wanting to go against their wishes anyway.

"Okay," Hayley sighed at the nonverbal response, "Also do you guys need a ride to the game?"
"Nah, Hayden, James, and Henry are gonna pick us up. They're already on the way." Phoebe informed her easily.

"Okay, well just be safe, yeah? Text me when the game is over, and when the party's over. Don't hesitate to ask for a ride. I'd rather have to get out of bed late than you getting in the car with someone who was drinking or smoking and driving, okay?" Hayley asked, eyes pleading and serious.

"Will do," Phoebe nodded quickly, "I'll call you if I need anything." She assured, watching as Hayley visibly relaxed.

"Okay, have fun," Hayley smiled, standing up from the couch, "Zac and Taylor are picking me up and we're gonna go to dinner, so I'll probably be gone before you guys leave. Just make sure to lock the door behind you."

"Yup," Phoebe agreed, popping the p as Hayley passed by to go to the front door, briefly resting a hand on the top of the teens head, smoothing down some hair.

"Love you, buddy."

"Love you too," Phoebe hummed, smiling before heading back upstairs.

***

a/n

hiii. hope you all enjoy this chapter!! would've been posted earlier but i decided to touch up my paramore stick n poke and then got distracted bc hayley was lurking on twt again oops.

also, if you havent seen it yet, i started another tayley family fic laugh out loud. its actually fully written and just sitting in my drafts, but im slowly uploading it. if you haven't checked it out yet, give it a go! it's called miracle and the first few chapters are already psoted<3