the only exception

chapter 42

"Sorry, I gotta go. Talk to you later?" Phoebe spoke into the phone, offering a smile wave to the two women.

"Okay, let me know what your parents say."

"Will do," Phoebe agreed, hanging up the phone and standing up.

"Hi, sorry." She smiled nervously, "Hayden called me."

Hayley hummed before turning back to the other woman, "Mom, this is Phoebe. Phoebe, this is my mom, Cristi." She introduced.

Phoebe offered her best smile and waved, but was quickly pulled into a hug, "Oh, it's so nice to meet you! Hayley's told me so much."

"Oh!" Phoebe smiled nervously into the hug, giving in for a second before pulling away, "Nice to meet you too."

"You're so cute!" Cristi gushed, "It's a shame it took us this long to meet." She shook her head, "Shame on you for hiding her away, Hayley." She grinned, lightly bumping her daughter with her hip.

"I was just letting her get settled," Hayley reasoned nervously, a tight smile on her face, "Also, it's cold, why don't we head inside? You're gonna get a cold." She told Phoebe, gesturing for them to move back into the house.

"So, who's Hayden?" Cristi asked politely, trying to make conversation as they settled at the kitchen island.

"Oh," Phoebe blushed, "he's my boyfriend."

Cristi smiled brightly at the news, but Phoebe saw both Hayley and Taylor stiffen at the announcement, Hayley spinning away from the fridge, "He's what?"

"You didn't know?" Cristi asked, making Hayley close her opened mouth.

"It's new." Phoebe told them slowly, more so to Taylor and Hayley than Cristi.

"Oh, well isn't that sweet," Crisiti grinned at Hayley, "Don't look so shocked! Now you know how I felt with all your boyfriends when you were younger."

"Yeah, yeah," Hayley waved her hand as the doorbell went off again.

"I'll get it," Phoebe decided, wanting to escape the semi awkward tension in the air as she quickly moved towards the front door. However, she didn't quite think about the fact that she didn't really know anyone and opened the door to a bunch of Yorks smiling brightly at her. "Oh, hi."

"Hi, sweetie! You must be Phoebe," an older woman smiled, "I'm Michelle, Taylor's mom."

"Nice to meet you. They're in the kitchen." Phoebe replied quickly, feeling her social self shut down at the amount of people in the doorway. She led them back to the kitchen and walked over to Hayley, positioning herself slightly behind the singer.

She watched them all exchange happy greetings before Hayley and Taylor properly introduced her to everyone. She offered them all a sweet, albeit quiet, hello, still just following Hayley around the kitchen.

"Everything should be set to eat in about twenty minutes if you guys want to go to the living room or dining room?" Hayley suggested, "Taylor, you can go with them, I can finish up here."

"You sure?" Taylor asked, knowing how stressed she'd been.

"Positive, Phoebe can help me." Hayley smiled, watching them all walk away. Without missing a beat, she turned to face the teen, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Phoebe assured her, "it's just... A lot of people." She smiled guiltily, feeling a bit bad knowing this was Hayley and Taylor's families and not just a group of random people.

"I get that," Hayley smiled sadly, "They're all really nice though, I think they'll love you. I hope you love them, too."

Phoebe suddenly realized just how important this was to Hayley and felt a bit bad for how awkward she'd been during the introductions. "I'll be okay." She told her, trying to sound as confident as possible.

"Good," Hayley smiled, moving one of Phoebe's braids over her shoulder absentmindedly, "Wanna help me set the table, then?"

"On it," Phoebe smiled.

They set the table and before Phoebe knew it, they were all sat around it, eating and laughing and telling stories. It took a little while to warm up to everyone, but she didn't feel too awkward as she positioned herself between Hayley and Taylor at the table.

Everyone seemed to welcome her in the family with open arms, never once bringing up the whole fostering thing and instead treating her as if she'd always been there, but still explaining inside jokes and backstories.

Before long, Phoebe even thought she was having fun. Cristi, Peter, and Michelle were sweet and insistent on telling Phoebe stories of Hayley and Taylor in their childhood and teen years. Justin and Jana were nice as well, Justin falling into a casual habit of teasing Phoebe like Taylor did, although she didn't take any offense to it seeing as they'd done the same thing to Justin's kids who were years younger.

After dinner they all gathered in the living room, a football game on the TV, but none of them really tuned in as they continued to talk.

By the time everyone left, Phoebe was leaning against Taylors shoulder on the couch, trying to keep her eyes open as the conversation died down and everyone began to slowly leave. She moved so Taylor could get up and say goodbye to his family, smiling and saying her own quick goodbye to them before shifting to lean on Hayley who was on the other side of her.

"Tired?" Hayley asked, a small smile on her face, earning a nod from the teen. "Why don't you go on up and go to bed? Everyones leaving anyway."

Phoebe hummed, not really feeling like moving as she watched the TV with glazed over eyes. "Oh, forgot to ask." She mumbled, shifting her head to look over.

"What's up?" Hayley asked, just as Taylor made his way back in the room from walking everyone out.

"Can I go out tomorrow?" She asked, a little nervously, but too tired to really dwell on the nerves.

"Out?" Hayley asked.

"Like... On a date?" Phoebe tried.

"Like a real date or a party date?" Hayley asked, and Phoebe resisted the urge to roll her eyes, even if she knew Hayley had a perfectly good reason to be asking.

"Aren't you too young to be dating?" Taylor asked with a frown.

"It's fine, T." Hayley sighed, "With Hayden, I'm guessing?"

Phoebe nodded against her arm, "yup."

"We'll talk about it and let you know in the morning, okay?" Hayley decided, sharing a silent look with Taylor.

"Okay," Phoebe sighed, a little worried that meant it was going to be a no.

"Now get to bed," Hayley told her, sitting up and in the process pushing Phoebe to sit up too.

"Mkay," Phoebe yawned, "Night."

"Night, kid." Taylor replied.

"Night, love you." Hayley echoed.

"Love you too." Phoebe mumbled sleepily, making her way upstairs.

***

a/n

big day! first phoebe meets the family and now she's wanting to go on her first real date omg