Talia increased the speed of her foot tapping, crossing her arms in a huff. She could think of a million places she'd rather be than trapped in Selina Kyle's stupid Corvette. Like, anywhere else, actually.

"Why don't you have a car?" Selina asked, breaking their prolonged silence, but not taking her eyes off the road.

"I do have a car."

"Then why is your sister always picking you up on her motorcycle? Do you guys ship Anna and Elsa, or something?"

"I don't know what that means."

"It was a little niche…" Selina admitted, pausing at a red light before taking a right. "But stop avoiding the question."

Talia rolled her eyes, looking out the window now at the rain attempting to wash everything down. Flush the grime from the streets….it would only succeed in briefly making things smell a little better…and then worse again. "I could have a car," she amended. "I have my license, I just…haven't asked yet."

Selina scoffed. "Daddy gets Nyssa a motorcycle and you're left to beg for rides? I thought you were his favorite."

"I think I hate you, Selina."

"I think you want to be me."

Talia could think of several responses to that assertion…but none wanted to come out of her mouth, so what she finally landed on was, "Whatever."

Selina raised an eyebrow, finally turning to her as she made the last turn into the Batburger parking lot. "That's it, tough guy? That's all you got?"

Talia shook her head, her hand on the door handle before Selina even came to a stop. "Someday you'll be on the outside looking in and you'll get it. I'll make sure of that." She popped the door open to get out, but Selina quickly leaned over her, grabbing the handle and yanking it closed again.

"How about we both focus on looking down from that podium, and then we can decide who's in and who's out," Selina suggested, not retreating from her extended position. "We're so close to succeeding on our own merits, Talia. Let's not let a boy fuck that up."

/

"—I don't know, it was kinda weird," Harley laughed, on her second lap around her small bedroom, phone pressed to her ear. "Like, I sometimes forget Coach Kane is even in charge of us because Selina basically runs the show, so it was the first time we'd all really hung out."

"What's she like?" Pam asked on the other end of the line.

"Who?"

"Coach Kane."

"Oh, I dunno, really," Harley shrugged even though Pam couldn't see her. "Kinda private, I guess? Like, reserved? She did ask about you, though."

"About me?" Pam seemed curious, though she ended her question with a chuckle. "Why?"

"She just asked me how you were handling everything," Harley told her, climbing onto her bed and crossing her legs. "I wasn't really sure what she meant by everything so I told her you were fine."

"Huh…"

"You are fine…right?" Harley wondered. "You said we could talk later about the thing at the assembly, but it's way later and we haven't yet, so…are you OK?"

It took Pam a moment to respond and, in the silence, Harley heard running water, either the sink or the bathtub, she wasn't sure. "I'm fine," was her eventual (and pretty unconvincing) answer.

"OK, but like, somebody yelled a slur at you in front of the whole student body," Harley pressed. "That's pretty messed up, Pammy. You don't have to be fine if you don't want to be. And you definitely don't have to be fine with me. Like, you can tell me if that hurt your feelings or scared you."

"I'm scared for a number of reasons, Harley," Pam admitted with a sigh. "But I don't think you scare me, and that's a relief."

Harley laid back on her pillows with a laugh. "That is a relief." She allowed a brief silence to descend between them. "I'm glad it was just the team that went tonight. Thanks for makin' that happen, I think we needed it."

"You're very welcome," she could hear Pam's warm smile through the phone.

"What'cha up to?" Harley let her eyes slip closed.

"Oh, just…about to step into the bath."

Harley bit her lip to contain her grin. "…naked?"

"I don't make bathing with clothes on a habit, Harl," Pam giggled. "I should let you go, if I don't this bath will take a lot longer than it needs to."

"Or…you could let me in," Harley suggested. "Open your window, I climbed the ivy plant thingy."

"The lattice?"

"Yep, exactly."

Chuckling, Pam said, "I'll see you tomorrow, Harl."

"Yeah, OK," Harley smiled against the phone. "Love you, Pammy, see you tomorrow." And then her eyes immediately shot open, her blood running cold in her veins. Fuck.

"W—,"

Harley cut her off by hanging up the phone in a purely autonomic fear response. "What the fuck was that?!" she demanded, out loud, to herself. "You're supposed ta be playin' it cool, ya dumb idiot! And then you hang up on her?"

Her phone vibrated beside her where she'd dropped it on the bed, Pam's name and picture flashing on the screen. She snatched it up, staring in panicked deliberation for another ring or two before she declined the call, tossing her phone off the bed completely and covering her face with a pillow.

/

Selina spotted Harley across the quad, watching with one eyebrow raised as the blonde sprinted in her direction, her backpack swinging as she hurdled a bench that obstructed her path.

She skidded to a stop right in front of Selina, breathing heavily, her cheeks pink from exertion. "You're sweaty," was all Selina offered her before turning towards the building to drop the books for her afternoon classes in her locker.

"Yeah, I'm—did you talk to Pam?" Harley asked, jogging for a step or two until she was caught up.

"When?"

"I don't know, today? Last night?"

"It's not even 7:30 in the morning yet, Harley, what would Pam and I possibly have to talk about before coffee?"

"Nothing! I just—there was a—I made a…well, maybe not a mistake, but…" Harley spun to Selina's other side to avoid Professor Dent's open classroom door. "I accidently let the L word slip."

"Oh, yeah, I skipped around on that one too," Selina replied distractedly, watching Bruce chat with Dick at the other end of the hallway. "Abandoned the first season mid-way through and went right to the 2nd. It was all just too…2004."

Selina could hear Harley's frown even before glancing over at her. "What?"

"I wasn't listening," the brunette admitted, stopping at her locker and twisting the code into the dial. "Repeat yourself quickly, I've already lost interest."

"I told Pam I love her last night!" Harley blurted out, so loud. So, so loud.

Selina stopped, though her fingers didn't unclench from the book she'd been holding. "You did what?"

"I told Pam I love her!" Harley repeated, in a harsh whisper this time, looking around to make sure no enemies of the cause were within earshot. "We were on the phone and it just—it slipped out, Selina!"

"What did she say?"

"I don't know because I hung up on her."

"Why would you do that?"

"I don't know!" Harley said again, her voice rising in pitch. "I guess I—well, I mean, like—I do. I do love her. I guess that's why I said it and I just felt so normal but, like, she can be so…hot and cold sometimes, ya know? Like she goes into her own little mind palace and I'm not sure I have a room in there yet."

Selina raised an eyebrow. "Have you been watching Hannibal?"

"Yes, obviously, but can you try to take this seriously, please?!"

"I am taking it seriously," Selina finished shoving her books into her locker and then slammed it closed. "I need a minute to process, fucking Christ."

"What did she say when you told her you loved her?"

"What?"

"When you told Pam you loved her," Harley reiterated. "How did she react?"

"No, I—it wasn't like that," Selina shook her head, re-shouldering her bag and heading towards the AP Lit Classroom. "I don't know, you don't have a blueprint on this one, sorry, Crotch Rocket. She probably hasn't heard it from her parents either, so you're braving uncharted territory."

Harley stopped dead in her tracks, fear stricken, and Selina followed her eyes to see Pam on her way to their same destination. "Shit!"

"You dug your own hole, Harl," Selina admonished, pulling the classroom door open. But as she watched Pam approach them, and saw the blush rise in the redhead's cheeks and her smile grow to grin territory, she became sure of two things: 1) Harley was going to be fine, and 2) being their 3rd wheel was about to get a lot more nauseating. And then, she had to look away.

/

"Hey…" Pam grinned, her teeth moving to bite her lip, trying her best to contain whatever emotion this was incase she'd misheard her.

"Hiya," Harley's face was fire hydrant red, her smile similarly apprehensive. "I, uh, sorry about last night. I had a bad connection, and—,"

Pam checked over both shoulders before leaning forward to plant a kiss on Harley's cheek. "Don't worry about it," she said, hoping her smile portrayed a certain knowing. "We'll take it up with the cellphone company. Shame the call had to cut off before I could respond."

Harley blinked, her blue eyes widening with something between surprise and relief. "You love me too?"

"Well, maybe this isn't the time or place for this conversation," Pam gestured to the hallway with a chuckle. "But…I think I just might."

"Fuck," Pam watched Harley's shoulders relax, the fear leave her, replaced with a confidence she'd perhaps been lacking before. "You're right, this isn't the time or place for this because now I really wanna make out with you."

"Oh, I'm sure that could be arranged…"