Of course, nothing lasted forever.

While I had been optimistic about matters for a short while, that didn't remain a permanent state of mind. A few days later, I felt my heart rate increase, as my worries over whether I was going to be able to speak to Courtney increased with it.

"Hey," I said, as I finally, finally got through to Courtney on the phone.

"Hi," she said. I could tell by the tone of voice she had that something was wrong but knowing Courtney and her usually stubborn self, I wasn't sure if she was going to share that information with me any time soon.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, "Can you meet up today?" I added, as I hoped that the tone of, well, hope in my voice wasn't too apparent.

I really had missed her, which was surprising given that only a few days had passed by since the last time that we had seen each other, but I supposed that just came with my feelings for Courtney. They weren't exactly going to wear off any time soon. I could only hope that was the case for Courtney, too, but when she pushed me away in the way that she was doing now, it did make me curious.

"No," she said, with a cold edge to her voice that made my stomach twist. "No, I can't, Phoebe. I have to help out my dad who's sick and apparently even more obnoxious for being that way. I have to stay here today and then listen to music in my room, in an attempt to make me feel even a fraction better."

"I could come over," I suggested.

"No, you couldn't. Are you forgetting that my dad is...my dad?" she asked, as she released a dry laugh of discontent. "I've been trying to get him to think differently but if he sees you and works out you're my girlfriend, he'll...I don't know, Phoebe. All I really do know is that you should keep out of this mess," she told me, with an emphatic tone, as if that was going to stop me from wanting to see her. It certainly wasn't going to stop me from being concerned. Regardless of whether her father was sick or not, he ultimately still had no reason to treat Courtney in the way that he often did. "This isn't anything personal, alright? If you were allowed over then...that would be great. I've never had any problems with you but-"

"I get it," I said.

When you cared so much for someone, you sometimes had to accept even the hard parts.

"I swear, I'll try and come over later. I'll rebel against my father's stupid rules about me staying in on Sunday and studying the Bible of all things. A book written ages ago that isn't going to have any impact on the fact that I'm gay..." Courtney trailed off.

I could imagine that her fist was probably clenching up on the other side of the line, now, in all honesty. That much wouldn't surprise me. Courtney hated people telling her what to do. I could only imagine that the fact her father was the one telling her what to do was making matters worse.

"Screw this. I'm coming over. I'll call a nurse or someone to take care of my dad right now because... I want to see you, Phoebe and I'm so sick of feeling worried about doing so," she said.

"Okay, when can I-"

"I'll be there in fifteen," she told me and then ended the call.

I couldn't help but feel a smile of amusement make its way onto my face. I loved the fact that Courtney would rebel against her father even in situations like this. I just hoped that she wasn't going to get into colossal amounts of trouble over this entire situation.

Fifteen minutes passed by and I soon found Courtney outside my house.

I walked out of the front door to join her and found her smiling at me.

It was a relief to see her looking more positive, especially when she had sounded so stressed and unhappy on the other side of the phone.

"My dad's a jerk," she said, after she gave me a quick hug.

"Maybe he'll come around," I offered.

Courtney simply scoffed at that suggestion.

"This is my father, we're talking about. He's as set in his opinions as I am. He's as set in his opinion that being gay is this terrible thing as I am in the opinion that he's a complete and utter-"

"Okay, okay. Slow down. I understand, Courtney. Your dad's an asshole but he is not going to hurt you. He's not going to hurt us. I won't let him," I said.

Courtney raised an eyebrow at me, as the corner of her lips twitched up a little, then.

"What? Are you going to protect me?" she asked me.

"Always," I vowed, as I felt the most serious of expressions make its way onto my face.

It was true, though. I never wanted to allow anything or anyone to hurt Courtney. She meant the world to me and I wasn't about to let her father stop her from being happy with me. She was happy with me and that was one of the best things I had ever been knowledgeable to in my life.

"I'm happy with you and he can piss off," she said.

"Yeah!" I said.

Courtney chuckled.

"You're so adorable, Phoebe Clarke. I really am lucky to have you," she told me.

"Well, you're sort of stuck with me. So, where do you want to go now? Did you eat breakfast this morning?" I wondered.

Courtney seemed to become quiet for a moment and I wondered why, until I saw some guys walk past the two of us and watched as they glared at us.

"Hey, piss off!" I yelled.

They did so.

Courtney looked towards me with an impressed expression.

"Wow, Phoebe. You really are a little tiger, huh? Maybe I was wrong about calling you bunny all this time. Now...breakfast?" she suggested.

I smirked.

"Perfect," I said.