By Sunday morning, Danny's anxiety had reached heights he had never felt before. Lacey wouldn't be back for hours and there was no way in hell he was ready to reach out to Phoebe. He needed to talk to someone who understood him. Someone who understood the pressure he was under and could help him navigate it.
8 am
Danny: Please talk to me
Regina: Wrong number
Danny: I need help with calculus
Regina: Ah, yes. You need something from me
Danny: I'll help you with chem
Regina: I don't need your help
Danny: If you get less than a 98.1% on your chem final, I'll be valedictorian
Regina: Thanks asshole, I'll risk it. I'm busy now, but I'm sure Phoebe can help you out
Regina didn't know about Phoebe and his dad. She was trying to hurt him a little, but she wasn't aware of just how much.
10 am
Danny: I'll lose my spot behind you if I can't pull at least 96.0% on the calc final
Regina: That's not my problem
Danny: Fine, you can write your speech with Doug or Phoebe, I know how fond of them you are
Regina: What do you want Danny?
Danny: I want to be friends with you. I'm also missing class notes from May 4th
Regina: From what I've heard, May 4th was the day you decided to have sexual intercourse in a filthy school bathroom. Does Lacey know? Oh what am I saying, of course she does
Danny: I didn't do anything wrong, why are you giving me such a hard time?
11 am
Regina: You're correct, you didn't do anything wrong at all. Your friendship is simply just not good enough for me. Your standards are so low, do you even still have standards? I don't have time for whatever this is, so here is what I'm going to tell you: You're the one whose priorities are not in order. I was in class, I have the notes. Good luck on finals.
Danny: You know, I think you like fighting with me
Regina: "Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?"
Danny: You're quoting Keats to me now?
Regina: Is it working?
Danny took a break and jogged to Regina's neighborhood, not on purpose, not really. Still, he was nearby, might as well pop in and check on her. He ran through the Keats quote over and over to himself as he made his way to her house and began climbing up the lattice under her bedroom window.
12 pm
Danny slid Regina's bedroom window open and stumbled in with relative grace. Regina froze at her desk in disbelief.
"What are you doing here?!" She stood up and then self-consciously combed her fingers through her study hair.
Danny shrugged, "I was in the neighborhood, thought I would drop by and see how the mentally elite work during crunch time."
Regina tied her hair up and wrapped her arms around herself, "Mentally elite." She smiled back at him and shook her head.
Danny stepped toward her, finally connecting that she was wearing a skin tight tank top and the smallest running shorts he had ever seen. Although he wanted to check her out, make it obvious and maybe earn an opportunity to touch her, he stayed focused on his own mental health and his undying need to work out this friendship and gain her back in his life.
"I don't need help with finals—" Danny admitted as he kept his eyes off her body. He found it difficult to say what he was really feeling.
"Okay?" Regina squinted at him and moved to pull a second chair over by her desk before sitting back down, "Sit."
Danny sat and grabbed one of her pencils to drum her desktop with.
"How long is this going to take exactly?" Regina's focus was back on her laptop and she resumed typing away.
"The quote you sent, am I soulless right now?"
She sighed and paused to look Danny in the eye, "Look, what Keats meant was, whatever you're going through, the struggle, the pain, it's a blessing."
"A blessing." He gave a grim chuckle before looking down.
"Learn from it, use it or leave it, evolve into your next stage and keep going."
"Maybe. Keats was no stranger to sadness and pain, that's for sure."
Danny exhaled loudly and leaned back. He rested his head on the back of the chair and stared up at Regina's ceiling for a long time.
"Where's Lacey?" Regina asked, careful to keep her tone truly curious and not try to push him further into the corner he was stuck in.
"She's been visiting family." He replied before looking over at her with desperate eyes.
"When will she be back?" Regina stood up and pulled Danny out of the chair.
"Tonight. Late." Danny followed as Regina dragged him over to her bed.
Danny stared back at Regina in confusion. Regina pushed him backward to sit on the bed so she could pull his sneakers off. She reached and she pulled the covers back and motioned for him to get in. Danny scooted back and laid down, Regina tucking him in gently.
"Now, if there's one thing I've learned while being your friend, it's that this mind of yours thrives after a good nap."
"I'm not tir—"
"Ah! Nap time." Regina said firmly.
Danny took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Regina watched as he slipped away faster than expected, this guy was exhausted.
3 pm
Danny's eyes opened slowly and his mind raced to confirm where he was and why. He spied Regina at her desk working hard on something, as she would. He pulled his phone from his pocket to check the time, he had been asleep for three hours.
Regina heard Danny wake yet kept herself engrossed in her work. Danny crawled out of her bed and stood beside her.
"This was the best Airbnb I've ever stayed in. Five stars." Danny quipped.
Regina reached over and patted the extra seat. Danny sat and took in Regina's freshly washed hair and new outfit, Stanford sweats.
"Feel any better?" Regina asked, eyes still on her computer.
"A little, yeah. Thanks." Danny replied softly.
Regina closed her laptop, resting her chin in her hands as she turned her full attention to Danny, "Check your email, I sent you the notes. Please ace this exam, don't make me write a speech with Doug." She deadpanned.
Danny nodded, "Thank you, but you're right I'm just, I'm not focused right now. It's my problem—"
"What's going on?"
Danny just stared back at her for a few beats, "Are we good?"
Regina nodded, "You sleep when things get overwhelming, and for me—well I guess I tend to push people away. I'm sorry."
"Did I just get an apology from Regina Crane?" Danny smiled at her.
Regina rolled her eyes.
"For the record, I don't tell Lacey everything." Danny wanted her to know she could trust him.
"Okay." She didn't offer him the same safety.
Danny sat up straighter, "I should get back, review those notes—"
"Are you going to tell me what else is going on with you?"
Danny ran his hands through his hair, "Phoebe."
"Phoebe—" Regina nodded, truly irritated that he chose someone that she saw as superficial and boring, "She's at the center of pantygate?"
"Yes, but it's bigger than that. She's—" Danny shifted uncomfortably, "She's also sleeping with my father."
Regina's mouth hung open in shock, "Oh my god—"
"Yeah, I didn't know—before. I'm just, I've been trying to deal with knowing my father is a total asshole and that Phoebe was lying to me by omission and that I lost you as my friend in the middle of it all. I'm sorry, Regina. Lacey is my best friend and I'm also in love with her and you're my friend too, I care about you and I honestly want you both in my life. You can trust me, I'm not going to tell Lacey what we talk about and vice versa, but her and I—"
"Whoa, slow down. This is what I meant when I said your priorities are not in order. You're talking about relationships in your life, you haven't mentioned anything about school."
"I'm not a robot, my family and my friends matter to me too—" Danny countered, happy they could at least be debating together right now.
"It is fucked up and really bad timing, but take a minute to break it down. It's less than a month before finals, your focus should be on acing your exams and winning your soccer games. You chose to add Phoebe into the mix, but what happened between her and your dad has nothing to do with you."
"It feels like it does. It's my mother and I that are hurting and it's because—"
"It's because they have issues within their marriage, Danny. You didn't cause it and neither did Phoebe. All you need to do with this is to decide if keeping Phoebe as a friend is something you want."
"What about you?"
"Me? I want you as a friend, but I'm not a ride or die type of person like Lacey. I surround myself with like minds, which so far has been just myself. I distance myself from people that hold me back or waste my time. You're the first person to consistently surprise me. Lacey too, sometimes."
"Thanks for giving me another chance then, but I can't promise I'll always be focused where you think I should be."
Regina shrugged, "It doesn't matter, just be yourself and I'll either be there or not. Then you'll know what I think about how you're living your life."
"Okay."
"Okay."
Did he feel better? Yeah, mostly. Maybe. Nope.