New Baxley fic. This time it's an idea I got from a Tumblr post about 100 different ways to say "I love you". So basically this is what it's going to be about. Will I get to the 100th?

Please, note that the prompts are not chronollogical/correlative and they may not belong to the same AU. That's totally up to you. What I'm pretty sure is that they will be modern AU.

Once again, English is not my mother tongue, so sorry for any mistakes you can find. Hope they don't interfere with the reading.

Disclaimers: I don't own DA and Baxley

1 - Pull over. Let me drive for awhile

She was so pissed off. He had never seen her like that in their 8 years of solid friendship and frankly it was fucking frightening. When she had called him at work telling that she needed to see him, he prayed that he wasn't the cause of her mood.

When he got out at the end of his shift, she was already there, inside her white Toyota. Joseph approached and bent down to look at her from the window.

"Hello stranger" he ventured in a silly attempt to lighten the mood. She remained motionless looking ahead with her fingers griping the steering wheel tightly and literally fuming.

- Phil? - He was worried now. As she didn't say a word, he decided that it would be better to get into the car. As soon as she heard the click of his seatbelt, she pushed the accelerator to the floor and took off.

Joseph knew how much Phyllis loved driving and that it used to help her as some sort of therapeutic activity. Whenever she had a bad day at work or at home, she took her car and drove off for hours. She had always been a careful driver who never let her anger or frustration cloud her responsibility towards other drivers. But right now, the increasing speed was alarming. Grabbing the door handle and taking a deep breath, he tried again.

"Hey Phyllis, you know you can talk to me. Whatever you need me for, I'm just right here. But you have to slow down"

Her breath was coming in short, irregular gasps, that Joe quickly recognize as one of her panic attacks.

"Hey, hey. It's ok" he soothed placing his hand over hers on the steering wheel. "Just take a deep breath and pull over. Let me drive for a while"

Eventually she did as she was told and pulled the car over the empty road. As soon as it stopped, she hid her face in her hands and began to cry frantically. Joseph unbuckled his seatbelt to be able to get closer to her and tried to steady her with his hand on her back. After five long minutes, she managed to calm down a bit. Drying her eyes with a tissue from him, she took a deep breath.

"Oh fuck" she uttered and he crooked a small smile. That curse was the first symptom of herself coming back and he felt some sort of relief.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks Joe. And sorry about this. I must have scared the shit out you"

"Oh yes definitely" he said joking around while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and using his thumb to wipe a stranded tear from her cheek. "But you know, I was having a pretty dull day at the office so I think it should be me thanking you"

He was so glad to see a genuine smile drawing in her face. He always managed to do that.

"You said you wanted to drive?" she asked, sniffing a bit.

"Yes, but first, I want you to sit in the back" he said reaching out to unbuckle her seatbelt

"Why?" she frowned in confusion not moving from her seat.

"Because I want you to be comfortable while you tell me what the wanker did this time. Now move"

She did as she was told and sat at the back seat, tucking her legs under her and wrapping herself with a blanket she had there. Meanwhile, he had moved to the driver's seat and as soon as he saw from the rear view mirror that she was comfortable, he started the engine.

He drove them across the outskirts, where lines of houses began to disappear and in their place, farms scattered over crop fields.

"How did you know it was him?" she asked shortly after he took a detour towards the seaside. Her favourite place.

Joseph snorted "It's always about him, Phil" and immediately regretted the tone of his voice "Sorry"

She drew a sympathetic smile when their eyes met at the rear view mirror and looked away.

"I just thought things could get better with him, you know. He had promised he was going to change. God I'm so stupid, Joe"

A light drizzle was threatening to fall and he immediately put the heater on. "What happened?"

"Everything was a lie"

"Everything? What do you mean?" he asked, not fully comprehending.

"He never went to that anger management counsellor. For 6 bloody months he's been going God knows where twice a week while I thought he was trying hard to get better. For him and for us"

"Shit" he muttered

"But there's more" she carried on after she drying her eyes again "All the money from our shared account is gone."

"What?"

"Yeah. Three years of savings, MY savings, wasted"

"Jesus Phil"

He had reached the end of the road he had been driving and instead of turning around, he decided to pull over. When he switched off the engine he unbuckled his seat belt to be able to turn around and look at her "I… I don't know what to say"

She smiled sadly and looked down at her lap "I've never felt so stupid in my whole life"

"Hey, don't say that" he said placing is hand over hers "You are not stupid, Lissy. You are the most amazing woman I know and as I said, he's a wanker who should kiss the ground you walk on"

Phyllis rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile at his endearment and laced his fingers with hers.

"What are you going to do?" he enquired tentatively looking at their joined hands.

She sighed in defeat "I have no idea. Truth is, I don't even know if I really want to go back to our place"

"Come live with me" he blurted without properly thinking.

Those four words left her speechless. "I… I mean, until you find something" he added hastily "I have a spare room and you know it's close to your workplace"

"Joe, I don't know what to say"

"Hey, we are friends, aren't we?" he asked smiling

"Yeah"

"And friends are there for each other"

She rolled her eyes good naturally and nodded.

"Then just say yes" he pleaded hopefully and she saw something in his eyes that stirred a warmth within her. A wonderful feeling she began to wish that it never faded away. Just like the feeling of being safe whenever she was with him.

"OK" she breathed