no strings attached - j.b

work

Phoebe made desperate growling noises when her alarm clock woke her up much too early on Tuesday morning.

She knew that studying at the UC would not be easy, the university had quite a good reputation, but she had not expected that the professors would demand so much already in the second week.

She already had the feeling that she couldn't keep up with the material, even though she was the only one in her group who regularly took notes in class, spent every free minute summarizing everything in detail, and almost fell asleep in the library last night, where she had gone to get some sources from books after her last class.

She'd managed to get a lot done, had been totally drained last night, and had canceled her meeting with Kim only to come home, get in the shower, and immediately fall into bed exhausted.

Still, it felt like she had so much to do to really get up to speed with the material, and when she was already thinking about the fact that she still had essays and other things to work through in the next week, she would have liked to pull the covers back over her head and pray that maybe the world would stop for a few hours until she felt ready to move on again.

But it was no use. She had to get up. Tired and exhausted, she slipped into her clothes, which were lying around disorganized in her room, she hadn't even found time for that, put on her makeup and fixed her hair, which was also her enemy today and just wouldn't stay the way she wanted it, so she ended up tying it in a tight braid, hoping that it would at least look somewhat neat that way.

She packed her bag and left her room. Her mood was already down and her day hadn't even really started yet. At the moment she was really wondering how she was going to manage the university, the work at the Bengals and the housework she shared with Tris. Plus the parties and events the group wanted to go to together, seeing Kim, Sam, her family and of course not forgetting Joe. It seemed like an impossible task.

Sighing, she noticed that Tris didn't seem to be able to get anything done either, because when she went to the kitchen to find some breakfast, all she found were several empty cereal boxes and not even anything in the fridge that she could make into a quick breakfast.

She decided before her first class to get something to eat somewhere on campus and definitely get a coffee, a very strong one, so she would last until lunch and not sleep through the lecture.

It was one of her hardest, with a professor who demanded the most from them, but the way Phoebe was feeling right now, she wouldn't be able to listen to him for two sentences.

Fortunately, she really did feel a little better after coffee and a snack, and more or less forced her way into the class and sat down next to Jasmine.

"You look like you pulled an all-nighter. Was Luca with you?" Jasmine nudged her with a grin as Phoebe yawned loudly after only a few minutes.

Although Phoebe had had a good talk with Luca at the party on Saturday, slightly drunk, where she had told him that she didn't want him to make a move on her because she thought he was nice but didn't want to start anything with him, which Luca had taken well and the two had agreed to just stay friends, Jasmine still teased her with it every free minute.

Phoebe had a hunch she was jealous because she had the attention of a boy, while Jasmine wasn't even looked at by Phil, who was also part of their group.

"Just tired. Everything is still so overwhelming" Phoebe mumbled back as she pulled out her laptop while the professor in the front was just greeting the students.

Phoebe's battery was already dead after lunch, and that despite the fact that she had just three classes and hadn't even written the summaries for one of them. She desperately needed to get it done today, or she might be working through this weekend and with the Bengals' first game of the season on Sunday, she couldn't afford to do that.

On short notice, she texted Paige to ask if she could send her work that Phoebe could do from home today for once and described the situation with her studying.

Paige, of course, was immediately understanding, sending Phoebe some files to look over, but also telling her that her studying would take precedence and not to worry if she couldn't get things done today.

After Phoebe had been in the library for a couple of hours doing her write ups with a few books and articles, she finally decided to go home. She would work on a few more summaries there, skim the file Paige had sent her, and maybe do some housework if she could still find time.

Her eyes were burning, she'd been staring at the screen for so long today as she flopped down on the couch at home with a bag of chips. At least Tris had been shopping after her rather angry message to him this morning, leaving her alone.

He could see that she was pretty exhausted and had therefore agreed to cook something to eat for both of them, for which Phoebe was very grateful to him. The meal had been very tasty and really strengthening, but could not save Phoebe from the rest of the work.

She was going through some videos Paige had sent her to see which ones she could post as short clips on TikTok when the doorbell rang.

Surprised, she looked at Tris, who was on his way up. "Are you expecting someone?" but her cousin shook his head. "In that case, it's not Burrow coming to see you?" Tris asked. Phoebe shook her head, pushed the laptop off her lap, and patted the chip crumbs off her pants before running to the door.

"Sammy, hey, what are you doing here? Come on in!" she looked at her best friend in surprise as she opened the door and heaved a sigh of relief when Sam immediately pulled her into one of his powerful hugs.

He immediately noticed Phoebe's body slump as her arms wrapped around his torso. "You're all worn out, Pheebs" he remarked anxiously. "Just a little busy. Don't worry about it" Phoebe broke away and smiled at him.

"So, what are you doing here?" she asked him. "Oh, I was planning on seeing you at the facility today, but Paige explained to me that everything is too stressful for you right now and that's why you're not coming today at all. So I thought I'd come see you and bring some stuff" he lifted the bag in the air.

"Cookie dough ice cream, Oreos and a few cans of Monster engery. Thought this should get you through all the work" he explained and handed the bag to Phoebe, who beamed as she took it and fell around Sam's neck.

"You're the best, you know that?" she pressed a kiss to his cheek before pulling him along by the arm. "Come on I'll get us two spoons and we'll eat the ice cream" she left him standing in the living room before running into the kitchen for a moment.

"Is that your hoodie?" Sam asked, lifting up the hoodie that was lying over the back of the couch. Immediately, Phoebe's head shot up. Fuck, she had put Joe's hoodie over the couch yesterday to take it to the facility today and give it back to him.

"Uh, no. It's probably Tris. He leaves his stuff everywhere, why?" Phoebe was glad Sam didn't see her face, because then he'd probably realize she was lying.

"Oh, no reason...Joe has the same one" Sam shrugged and put the hoodie back over the back of the couch while Phoebe walked over to him and handed him one of the spoons before they both flopped down on the couch.

"Oh, really? That's quite a coincidence. Both seem to have good taste in fashion" Phoebe shrugged, stabbing her spoon into the soft mixture and immediately popping it into her mouth to keep from blabbing any more before pulling her laptop onto her lap.

"while you're here, you can help me out! I have a couple of videos that I really like and I need a second opinion to know which one to upload" Phoebe quickly changed the subject.

"And that's what you want my opinion on?" Sam asked her laughing as he too took a scoop of ice cream. Phoebe nodded. "Another opinion is always good" she mumbled as she clicked on the first video.

It's already FRIDAY which means its not that long anymore until the Bengals play again, so excited!!!

WHO-DEY 🧡