strawberry blond ᡣ𐭩 challengers. [ on hold ]

four - 1 step forward, 3 steps back.

༘˚⋆𐙚｡⋆𖦹.˚

[ 2006 ]

since their heated exchange in art's hotel room, nothing monumental occurred. they were closer and more romantic than before. art took phoebe on a few dates that ended in tangled limbs under the covers of phoebe's bed, but that was all. there were no professions of love nor did either ask to make it official. the only thing that was established between the two was a silent yearning. phoebe's heart fluttered at the thought of being with art

however, the thing about phoebe russell is that she is not stupid.

while she liked to pretend that he hid it well, she knew from the grimace on art's face that he was jealous of the relationship between patrick and tashi. she could tell from the annoyed roll of his eyes each time he spoke about the two as a couple. she noticed it in his body language when the four of them went out together during the summer. it's not as if she could ignore his covetous ways when he talked about it all the time. even as phoebe lay with her head in his lap, dressed in his t-shirt and her underwear, he continued to criticize the relationship. phoebe paid him little mind, one earbud in the ear not facing art and a magazine held over her face capturing her attention.

"pheebs?" art called, noticing he no longer held her attention.

"mm?" phoebe released a lukewarm hum in response. she still didn't look at him, more interested in the contents of the magazine. art took the magazine from her hands and closed it, tossing it to the foot of the bed as phoebe held her hands up in slight disbelief. "dude."

"oops, were you reading that?" art gave her a look of false sympathy before it dropped into a deadpan. "i called your name like three times."

"oh, sorry. i stopped listening because contrary to popular belief, i'm uninterested in the relationship between patrick zweig and tashi duncan," sarcasm seeped through phoebe's tone as she reached for her stray earbud and mp3 player. as she went to put the earbud in, art took her device. she sat up, looking at him in mild annoyance. "dude, what?"

"i'm just saying—," he started but phoebe quickly interjected with a frustrated groan.

"i don't want to talk about patrick and tashi," phoebe stated firmly. art scanned her face before scoffing and shaking his head at her words. "art, you're really starting to piss me off with the whole being upset that patrick won tashi's number thing. it's been months so get the fuck over it."

"you're getting pissed about me bringing them up because you're a little jealous," art accused. phoebe stared at him, dumbfounded, before beginning to laugh.

"art, you're-you're joking, right? like you can't be serious right now," phoebe spoke through her chuckles before sobering up with a shake of her head. "you're a funny guy, art."

"you're not denying it," art pushed. a beat passed before pheobe stood up from his bed, grabbing her shorts and slipping them on. as she removed his shirt and pulled her own over her head, he sighed. "where are you going?"

"don't worry about it," she said, monotonously. she tossed a few of her things back into her bag before throwing it over her shoulder and standing up.

"pheebs, i'm sorry," he said, standing and reaching out to her. she moved out of his reach, waving a hand in his face and bumping his shoulder as she passed.