no strings attached - j.b

stressed out

"Thank god, you're here" Phoebe jumped up at her desk with a sigh and threw herself into Joe's arms, who was a bit surprised at the tumultuous greeting, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her to him.

"Are you okay? You texted me to come as soon as I could. We weren't supposed to meet until later" Joe worriedly brushed a strand of hair from her face before pressing a kiss to her lips.

It was Friday afternoon, sadly the two of them had had to leave Columbus last Sunday and head back to Cincy, where Monday morning had already begun the daily grind again.

Joe was busy with practice and preparation for the game against the Chargers this weekend. Phoebe had to go back to attending her classes every day, working at the facility on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and studying in her free time.

Still, the two had tried to spend as much time together as possible, which usually meant Joe helping Phoebe study and her explaining to him the topics she needed to know for her exams. It usually only went well for so long, as Joe was so turned on by smart Phoebe that they usually took a sex break before going back to studying.

"I'm stressed out. And I just don't have time to do stress baking, so I asked Tris to hide all our baking stuff, but now I'm mad because he really did it and I can't let the stress out with baking and I'm...I'm freaking out" it blurted out of Phoebe and she took a deep breath as she finished.

"Stress baking?" Joe asked in surprise. "Yeah, stress baking. When I'm stressed, I bake. At least that's what Tris and Kim always say, but I think they're right. All I can think about is recipes and my mouth waters just thinking about cookies, cupcakes or cakes" Phoebe sighed "I even tried squeezing my stress boobs but even that didn't help"

"I have stress balls you could try" Joe grinned mischievously at her. "Joe" Phoebe giggled softly. "You know I like dirty Joe, but right now I need more supportive boyfriend Joe".

He had to grin. "That's the first time you've ever called me that" he noted. "Dirty?" Phoebe asked confused. "Boyfriend" he improved her.

"but take a deep breath first, babe" Joe inhaled along with her before leading her to the bed and the two sat down while Joe set his backpack down on the floor. "and tell me, why are you stressed?"

Phoebe sighed. "Because of you" she admitted softly. "Because of me? What did I do?" Joe asked, surprised. "It's...complicated. It's nothing you've done. It's more what you might do" she shrugged.

"I...what?" Joe was totally confused. Phoebe sighed again. "I have to tell you something. I haven't been completely honest about why you should come to me today" she mumbled. "So I'm not here just so you and I can spend time together?" he asked.

"Well, yes you are, but...I have a date with my study group tonight. They are all coming here and we want to study together" she explained. "And the whole study group means that Luca is coming too and I know you're probably still not positive about him even if we're dating, that's why I wanted you to be present tonight too. That way you'll officially meet my friends and see that you don't have to worry about Luca still being in the group"

"But you're stressed because you're worried I might do something against Luca?" Joe asked, surprised. Phoebe nodded slightly. "don't get me wrong. I don't trust you to physically go against him. I...I don't know, I just don't think you're being very nice towards him" she shrugged.

Joe sighed. "Phoebe, look, yeah, you're right. I still can't stand him after he was almost the reason we didn't work out and...well, I don't want to like him. But he's part of your friend group, I have to accept that he's there. Besides, then I can show him what he's missing, after all, I have you" he grinned at her.