Gerald POV

I turned off the shower and stepped onto the floor mat, wrapping myself in a towel. I suppressed a tiny grunt of pain. The conditioning yesterday still had my muscles sore and throbbing. At least the hot water had eased my headache somewhat. College was way harder than I thought it would be. I had taken one or two AP courses in high school, but with a full class load and basketball practice, it was no walk in the park. But I had to stick it out no matter what. If not for myself then at least for my girl. As soon as I got to my room I pulled out my phone to text her. It was only eight a.m on a Saturday but something told me she had been up much, much earlier.

Good morning babe. I texted and pressed send.

I barely had time to put my phone down before her reply came.

Phoebe: Good morning sweetheart. How are you?

I texted her as I got dressed. Missing you. But what else is new? Haven't seen you in forever.

Forever as in a week and two days. We spotted each other once or twice in the quads but whenever I tried to spend any real quality time with her, the guys or the coach had different ideas. Practices, team bonding, or group study sessions to keep our GPAs up. The last one I thought went away with high school.

Phoebe: Gerald I told you.

Phoebe: In order for us to spend time together it would be best if you told me ahead of time.

Phoebe: So I can plan around my studies.

I sighed with a small frown. Babe, I don't want to make an appointment just to see you.

She didn't answer for a minute so I was worried that I pissed her off. Most people don't know this but my girl had a real temper in the form of silent treatments and cold tones. But then my phone vibrated again.

Phoebe: I really miss you Gerald.

"Forget texting." I declared out loud and my finger went to the call button.

"Gerald man, what's taking you so long!" Steve suddenly burst into the room before I could press it. "We were supposed to meet Mickey twenty minutes ago!"

"Yeah man give me a sec," I said barely glancing up from my phone, "I gotta call my girl real quick."

"Uh-uh man, nope." Before I could stop him, Steve snatched my phone right out of my hand.

"Hey what the hell!?" I jumped up, not sure if I was about to fight my own roommate. "Steve, dude, what are you doing."

Steve shrugged and put my phone in his pocket. "Rules man. The day of the game the team has to spend the day together. No girls allowed. Straight from Mickey."

No girls allowed? I gave him a weird look, wondering exactly what kind of team I signed up for. Steve rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. But I doubt we joined a cult. I think it's some kind of team-building thing."

"Whatever it is, can I have my phone back?" I held out my hand impatiently. "I really have to call my girlfriend before she thinks I'm ignoring her."

Steve chuckled and handed me back my phone. "Sure dude, but I'm telling you the team is supposed to come first today. That HG must really have you whipped."

"Okay, first of all, I'm not whipped. And second of all, what's an HG?"

"High school girl. You know, a high school girlfriend you keep to college. The ankle weight that slows you down." Steve bounced on his heels impatiently. "Can we go now, man? We're late enough as it is."

"Yeah, yeah, we're going." I wanted to chew him out for that HG thing, but I didn't feel like dealing with that level of bull. Besides, the only reason why I could even afford this place was because I was on this team. As I headed out the door with Steve I shot Phoebe at least one message.

I'll text you later babe. Don't forget I love you.


Phoebe POV

Late afternoon sunlight came through the window. I sat on Helga's bed at her place, trying hard not to look at my phone every five seconds. My head felt foggy from lack of sleep. It had been another late night studying followed by early morning classes. I've had to stick to a strict schedule lately just to work in yoga, weekly calls with my parents, socialization, and eating. This was the only amount of free time that I've had all day. Helga had convinced me to forego my nightly homework to go with her to Gerald's basketball game. Currently, she was shuffling through her closet looking for something to change out of her business clothes. She out of her heels but she still wore a skirt and a blouse I let her borrow.

"Stupid chore schedule." Helga huffed. "Arnold probably took my favorite hoodie when he did laundry."

"But Helga isn't that a good thing?" I asked. "You probably haven't washed that old thing in ages."

"I know, but I would appreciate it if my oh so considerate boyfriend to actually put it back afterward."

"But don't you usually just leave your hoodie on the floor?"

"Exactly."

I stifled a laugh at my best friend's messy habits and my eyes drifted to my phone again. Still dark. Which meant that Gerald hasn't texted me since this morning. It was unusual, to say the least. Our relationship always had a steady consistency to it that most relationships took years and years to achieve. Even if we couldn't spend the day together, we texted or called each other constantly. Sure our schedules had been kind of full lately, me with my academics and him with basketball, but at the very least we tried to keep in contact with each other. What if this meant-

"Hello, earth to Phoebe!"

I jumped and looked up to see Helga standing in front of me, peering down at me in concern.

"You alright there Pheebs?" She asked. "You were staring at your phone with this weird look on your face."

A light blush warmed my cheeks. "Oh, it's nothing really. I'm just… antsy that's all. Gerald appears to have been too busy to text or call me in a while."

"Ah, I see." Helga flopped down on the bed next to me. "Guys can be such jerks sometimes. How long has it been? A week? A couple of days?"

"This morning."

Helga sat up and gave me a look. "This morning? You're worried because he hasn't texted you since this morning?"

"I'm not…worried, per se." I bit my lip. "I just wish I knew why. Gerald was always so attentive to me before. When we were in high school we were so close no matter how busy we got."

"Yeah, except this is a completely different league," Helga said unsympathetically. "He's probably just busy."

"Well I'm busy and I still make time to try and contact him," I said defensively. "He thinks that I have time to just sit around and wait for him to call or text me back?"

"Then don't." Helga's face softened and she put an arm around my shoulders. "Look, I don't mean to sound like I don't care. I get that you miss your guy. But I seriously doubt you have any reason to panic. Everyone knows that guy is nutso for you."

"Everyone but him." I pouted miserably.

There was the sound of the front door opening and closing and Arnold's voice sounded in the front hall. I felt just the tiniest amount of jealousy. No matter how busy Helga and Arnold were, at least they got to see each other at the end of the day. But a small glance at Helga's face told me that maybe she didn't feel so lucky herself.

"Oh yay, the man of the house is here." She mumbled sarcastically, "you think he wants his slippers and a martini?"

"Problems?" I asked curiously. A distraction from my own problems would be great right now.

A worried crease appeared on her forehead and her eyes dulled a little. "Yes. No. I don't know. We've been fighting over chores lately. It's stupid but… I'm scared that we're turning into Bob and Miriam."

My eyes widened in surprise. "W-well Helga I'm quite surprised. I didn't even know that you two were considering marriage."

"What!?" Helga jumped up with a half shriek and half laugh. "No! Oh my gosh no! We haven't said anything like that to each other. Especially not now! I wouldn't be surprised if he was looking for a way out of this lease right now."

A soft knock on the door interrupted her. We both exchanged a look before Helga went to open it. Arnold stood on the other side looking tired and a little sheepish. His eyes flickered to me and he gave me a little wave.

"Hey Phoebe, do you mind if I borrow Helga really quick? I want to talk to her about something." He said.

Without waiting for my response he grabbed Helga's wrist and tugged her out into the hallway. I sat for a moment, half concerned and half curious. I wondered if my earlier theory was right. Now that they were living together, were they going to be more incented to settle their disagreements or were they fighting in the hallway right now? Their voices were indistinct, low, mummers. Helga was talking rapidly and Arnold's voice was quickly rising. Sounded like things were taking their usual course.

"Well, I've been wrong before." I sighed.

But there was a sudden thud and Helga uttered a muffled yelp. I jumped up from the bed and peeked my head into the hallway, just to make sure that everything was alright. As soon as I saw them, I had to stifle a giggle. Arnold had pressed Helga into the wall, his hands cupping her face, and his lips devouring hers. Helga was responding just as adamantly to his fierce kiss, her fingers tangled in his hair.

"Ahem." I interrupted gently.

They jumped apart at the sound of my voice and began blushing furiously. Helga hurried back to room fixing her hair and blouse.

"Um, thanks, Arnold we'll be ready in a few." She shot him a smile as she pushed me back into her room and closed the door.

A soft swoon fell from Helga's lips and she leaned against the door. The color still hadn't faded from her cheeks and her eyes held a soft, loving glimmer. It was almost a one-eighty from only a few minutes ago.

"Do you two… always make up like that?" I asked.

Helga shrugged, still blushing a little. "Sort of. Sometimes I think he kisses me just to shut me up. Not that I'm complaining."

"Hey girls, we're going to be late if we don't get going!" Arnold called from the hallway.

"Oh criminy." Helga sighed and moved to her closet, shedding her work clothes in favor of jeans and a t-shirt.

Inspired, I picked up my phone again to call Gerald. Our making up may not be as passion filled or as fiery as Helga and Arnold's were, but it was always every bit as loving. The phone rang a few times before it connected.

"Gerald I-"

"Uh, this isn't Gerald." An unfamiliar voice interrupted. "It's his friend Mickey."

"Oh. Um…" I took a quick glance at my phone screen to double check I pressed the right contact. "I was calling to speak with my boyfriend. Is he around by chance?"

"This wouldn't happen to be Phoebe would it?" Mickey asked instead. "Gerald's little HG? We keep hearing an awful lot about you."

There was something about his tone that put me off a little. "Is that so? Well, I would really appreciate it if I could talk to him for a minute. It won't take long."

"Hold on, I'll see if he's available." There was a moment of silence and I waited with growing impatience. "Sorry. He's too busy to talk right now. He'll call you when he feels like it. Later."

The dial tone echoed. Mickey had hung up. My jaw dropped and I stared at my phone in shock.

"Okay, phone, keys, book if I get bored; you ready Pheebs?" Helga asked.

I clutched my phone in my hand, feeling anger starting to bubble up inside me. It seemed like I would have to talk to Gerald about his so called friend after the game. "Ready, Helga."