𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 ➤ 𝑹. 𝑩𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒆𝒚

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

┌─────────────────┐

"𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙚"

└─────────────────┘

𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡, 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 getting dark, Valerie observed as she drove, her eyes taking note of the paling blue sky distracting her from the road. Every few seconds she'd glance over at Robin, who wasn't speaking either but humming contently along to the radio. It was a little annoying, but it was better than her asking questions.

Valerie realised that she actually wasn't sure where she was going. She figured she'd take Robin to her house, but she also wasn't aware of where she lived. Despite memorising every annoying habit of hers, there was a lot Valerie still didn't know about Robin Buckley.

"So, we're really not going to talk about all that?" Robin voiced abruptly, earning her attention, "Your cousin, your dad, the whole house arrest thing..."

Valerie's eyes flickered to her momentarily, signalling she'd heard her, if not begrudgingly.

"What's your address? I'll give you a ride home," she asked, changing the subject swiftly. She kept her eyes trained on the road ahead, doggedly avoiding Robin's gaze, even though she could feel her staring.

Robin knew more than she was comfortable with and El's existence wasn't even her secret to tell. While she wasn't a total outsider Valerie supposed, not to her anyway — she'd been reluctantly spending far too much time with her lately — nevertheless she was collateral damage.

The girl peered over at Valerie, nonplussed.

Valerie stared back, not quite sure why she was so surprised. Surely, she didn't think she was going to answer any of that. There was a pregnant pause before Robin finally spoke up, the familiar bold grin spreading across her lips as she scrunched her nose at Valerie.

"Tell you where I live? No way. You'd probably sneak in and shave my head while I'm sleeping, I don't wanna take the risk. You hate me too much."

Valerie scoffed indignantly, quite frankly, the statement was a little offensive, but only because she largely underestimated her. Scowling, she ignored the playful expression on Robin's face.

"That's setting the bar low. Whether or not you have hair makes no difference to me. I do hate you though, so you've at least got one thing right," Valerie retorted scornfully; however, she couldn't bite back a smile when she hear the girl laugh adjacent to her. Cursing herself, Valerie pretended to wipe her cheek to hide it. Robin didn't notice, or if she did, she at least didn't say anything.

"Oh, come on, you totally care," Robin argued, shifting her body to face Valerie, who eyed her suspiciously, "I'd look absolutely badass with a shaved head, and there'd be nothing to distract you from my overwhelmingly good looks."

"And why exactly would I care about your looks?" Valerie countered curiously, and while in Robin's eyes she may have appeared confused by the conversation, it didn't mean her cheeks weren't growing warmer by the second. Robin's grin faltered, realising what she'd said.