Once Lacey's studio time ended it was time for laundry. The dreaded campus laundromat that was closest to Lacey's dorm was always mobbed. Phoebe had found another place just off campus that always seemed to have open washers available so Lacey went there.
She struggled through the door with her bags and saw none other than Danny Desai staring back at her from the far end of the laundromat. He was leaning on top of a washing machine and had been scrolling through his phone until the door chime made him look up.
He watched her, eyes laser focused on her the moment she caught sight of him. She lit up, he realized, and that made Danny's heart warm in his chest. They both just darted glances back and forth as Lacey stuffed her laundry into a machine and started it up.
Once she was finished, Lacey walked slowly toward the back of the laundromat, scoping out the sights.
"Excuse me, ma'am?" Danny said low enough that only Lacey would hear him and not the three other people inside.
Lacey looked around her and pointed to herself, "Me?"
Danny couldn't help but smile, "Yeah, you. Are you following me?"
"No, sir."
"You sure? You look familiar—" Danny reached for her and pulled her into him for a sweet embrace.
"No, but you're a very friendly guy." Lacey giggled in his arms, initiating a kiss that Danny returned immediately.
"Is this your last stop before you come and see me?"
"I promised Phoebe we'd have dinner together."
Danny nodded, "Okay. How was your day?"
Lacey's mind wandered back to their painting.
"Well, I officially met Jo." Lacey pulled back and scooted herself up onto the washer they were leaning on.
"How'd that go?" Danny asked as he settled in between her legs, sliding his arms around her waist.
Lacey noted what looked like hope pass over Danny's face.
"Fine, she cares about you a lot, that's obvious. She brought our homecoming painting to the studio."
"Oh, so, you've seen it." Danny winced.
"What happened?"
"It fell before it had the chance to dry."
"It fell."
Lacey recalled that this six foot canvas was leaning against a five foot wall and could not have fallen over it without some help. It could not have fallen forward as it would have just gotten hung up on the string lights.
"It got wedged in the alley, water dripped all over it. I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner. I didn't want to ruin the memory of that night. Once it dried I figured maybe you'd want to try to fix it?"
"You said you're an honest person, blunt, right? What happened after I left Friday night?" Lacey pressed lightly.
Danny looked up at her, "I stayed on the roof."
Lacey nodded, "When did you notice it had fallen?"
"After I watched you walk away."
"Listen, I'm not saying Regina pitched it off the roof, but your girl pitched it off the roof." Lacey shrugged.
Danny stood up straighter, "It's done. Would an apology from Regina Crane really make you feel any better about it?"
"She needs to own her shit."
"Let's just make a new painting."
Lacey grabbed Danny's shirt and bunched it up playfully, pulling him back toward her.
"Regina shouldn't get away with her bad behavior just because it's easier than dealing with it. That's bullshit. I don't allow anyone to walk all over me, Danny."
"You're right."
"You talk to her or I will, your choice."
"I'll talk to her." Danny answered without hesitation.
Any confrontation between Lacey and Regina is not one he ever wanted to see.
"Thank you." Lacey smiled.
"Welcome." He smiled back.
She kissed him again, relaxing her grip on his shirt and wrapping her arms around him.
Lacey looked around, "What about here?" She bit her lip.
"Can't."
"Why not?" Lacey pouted.
Danny pointed, "Cameras everywhere."
"You're not into making some videos?" Lacey questioned, endlessly excited to test out their new parameters.
"Not for the owners of the laundromat—" Danny hugged her tight.
Danny quizzed Lacey for her statistics class to help pass the time. They folded their laundry together, finding happiness in their everyday mundane chores. They parted ways after so Lacey could meet up with Phoebe for dinner.
Phoebe and Lacey dished on all the things they hadn't gone in depth with when they had their tiff before the dance. They sat together in a booth at their usual pizza place, pepperoni pizza almost half gone at this point.
"Vitamins, huh?" Phoebe giggled.
"He's beyond—I cant." Lacey danced in her seat from side to side, "I can't wait to see him tonight. When do you see Cole again?" Lacey asked between bites.
"It's tough, college athletes have zero time, I don't know how you do it." Phoebe shrugged, "I'm sure Cole's banging other people, he shot me down for tonight. I don't know."
"Damn, I'm sorry."
"Eh, whatever. He's hot though, not gonna lie—"
The girls heard boisterous laughter from a few booths away. Phoebe was the one facing that direction, "The princess is here, eating hot air or something, I'm sure."
"Yaaay." Lacey cheered sarcastically.
"Do you think Danny will really talk to her?" Phoebe asked, still highly skeptical about Danny's merit at this point and trying to remain the friend she promised Lacey she'd be.
"Danny's here." Lacey said in total shock, she wiped her mouth.
Phoebe looked over, both girls surprised to see him. Danny was dressed nice, dress pants, shoes, belt, a nice button down shirt. He had his hair pulled up in a bun, he was smiling, happy to interact with the host when he walked in.
"How does he get hotter every time I see him?" Phoebe shook her head.
Lacey left him a little less than an hour ago with plans to meet two hours from now, was he dressed up for her or did he have another date first?
Danny hadn't seen Lacey and Phoebe, too distracted by the welcoming he received from the five squealing spirit team members who ran up to drag him to their table.
"Wow." Phoebe said, "I honestly wish I had their energy."
Lacey peeked over her shoulder. Regina had Danny tucked in beside her and the other girl from the roof of the homecoming after party. The other teammates sat all around them, sharing laughs and easy conversation with great enthusiasm. Lacey could see how that could be uplifting, that is, if you were lucky enough to be on the right side of it.
"What's he doing here? You gonna say something?"
Lacey scowled and shook her head no, "Why would I? Maybe he's asking Regina about the painting, he said he would—"
"In front of the whole squad? Danny's not going to embarrass her like that."
Phoebe flagged down their server and ordered desserts and coffee for both of them, she wasn't about to pass up a complete free meal.
"Can we just focus on us right now? It's our time—" Lacey asked, a little reservation to her voice.
"Oof—" Phoebe tipped her head up and gave a half-hearted smile and wave to someone behind Lacey, "Yeah, he saw you."
"Is he coming over?"
"Oh, yep. Yep."
Phoebe collected their plates and slid them all to the edge of their table as both a courtesy to their server and to form a literal wall to try and protect Lacey from what Phoebe suspected could be some epic awkwardness, especially if Regina got involved.
"Lacey, hey—" Danny's smile sparkled.
Phoebe couldn't help but smile too, Danny was obviously genuinely happy to see her. Maybe she should cut him some slack.
"Hey." Lacey smiled back.
"Phoebe, nice to see you." Danny said politely.
"Date tonight?" Phoebe went straight to the point.
Danny was a blunt guy too, he appreciated Phoebe's approach.
"No. I help out the squad with their routines, just here to talk about some new stunts. We still have a couple hours, right?" Danny checked his phone.
"Plenty of time." Lacey smiled, the server returning with two huge brownie sundaes.
"Danny, we need you—oh, hey Lacey, person sitting with Lacey—" Regina nodded toward Phoebe before squishing her face up in disgust at Lacey, "Oh, eating good I see, that's great."
"Hi Regina." Lacey acknowledged her, "Want a bite?"
"Oh, no no. I have self control." She placed her hand on her own chest and nodded to herself, "My body is a temple, wouldn't want to make myself less desirable for those who might find me attractive." Regina's eyes moved to Danny and she smiled big.
Danny took a deep breath and looked up. Here we go. Lacey took a big scoop of the messy dessert and shoveled it in her mouth.
"Mmm, more for me then. My body is just fine, but I understand your concern."
"Please come back now? We drew out the choreography for you." Regina pulled on Danny's arm, her whole body grabbing onto it like he was her own personal stripper pole.
"I don't like the way you're treating Lacey." Danny said flat out to the surprise of literally everyone within ear shot.
"What? I'm just not hungry—" Regina shrugged. She had never been challenged by Danny like this before.
"No, that's not it. You don't have to be friends, I get it, but you won't low-key drag her when all she did was say hello—"
"Fine." Regina grumbled through her teeth, supremely embarrassed, "I apologize."
"Okay." Lacey gave her a nod, "Thanks."
The other cheerleader that Lacey recognized now as Regina's minion came bouncing over, "Guys, we're waiting—"
Danny wasn't done.
"Tell me what happened to the painting on the roof after homecoming." He asked Regina, her cheeks now pink.
The other cheerleader knew the answer and lit up, "Oh! The one you launched?" She giggled, Regina closing her eyes.
"You really did throw it off the roof?" Danny was honestly surprised. Regina may be jealous, but she had never hurt him like that before.
"Well, she flipped it over with her foot. It was huge, she wouldn't have been able to throw it—"
"THANKS—you can stop talking now." Regina cut off her friend and shoved her back toward their group.
"Listen, this stops now." Danny commanded, stepping a little closer to Regina, "Maybe we shouldn't be friends at all if you think this shit is acceptable."
"I'm sorry, I'll leave you two alone." Regina promised, eyes glued to the ground.
"Danny! Come ONNN—" The collective group of spirit squad members begged for him openly.
"I'm being summoned." Danny locked eyes with Lacey, "I'll see you soon?"
Lacey licked her lips, "Yep."
Danny smirked and nudged a sulking Regina back toward their booth.
"Well SHIT, now I wanna fuck 'em." Phoebe chuckled into her coffee cup, "Look! You two melted my damn ice cream!"