The One With The Fake Dating

Phoebe to the Rescue

Joey's POV

After a cab ride that ended much more smoothly than the previous one (thank god Joey actually had money on him this time), Joey found himself standing in front of the door to Phoebe's apartment, trying to build up the courage to knock. He had grown more nervous about his plan on the short cab ride over, worrying about how Phoebe would react to his questions. He wasn't sure if he should even tell her about him being bisexual, especially since he had remembered the context in which she had originally mentioned the concept. What if she thought Joey was just kidding himself? What if she thought he was some kind of confused weirdo? What if she decided that this was all too much for her and she never wanted to talk to Joey again? What if-

"Joey?" 

He had gotten so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed the door swing open. 

"Oh, hey Pheobes!" Joey replied, trying to sound as confident as possible. "Just thought I would drop by to see you. Did I come over at a bad time?"

"Not at all!" Phoebe replied with a smile. "I was actually just leaving to go see you guys, but I guess the universe wanted us to hang out here instead." She moved aside so Joey could step inside. 

They both moved towards the couch and sat down across from each other. They sat in silence for a few seconds before they both tried to speak at once. 

"I need to ask you something-" Joey started, as at the same time Phoebe began to ask-

"So what's wrong-"

"Oh, sorry, you go- wait, what do you mean what's wrong?" Joey asked once he processed what Phoebe had just asked. 

"I mean what's wrong? You haven't come to my apartment in forever, and now when you do you show up, you show up looking like a nervous cat. Clearly something's wrong." 

Sometimes Joey hated how easy it was for Phoebe to read him. 

"Alright, there's something I've been kinda stressed about lately, an' I need to talk to someone about it or I feel like I'm going to explode. But there's somethin' else I think you should know first." Joey paused and looked at Phoebe, who was now leaning forward with a look of curiosity. He took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm-" He couldn't get past that one word before he froze. He tried again. "I'm-" Nothing. Wow, this was harder than he thought. 

"You're what?" Phoebe asked, clearly growing concerned for her friend. "You know you can tell me anything Joey."

"Yeah, I know," Joey replied, and he meant it. Come on man, just say it. I'm bi. 2 words, it's that simple. If you're too much of a pathetic coward to tell her that, how the hell are you planning to ask her about all of your shit with Chandler? He took one last deep breath, and closed his eyes, hoping that would make it easier (even though he knew it wouldn't). 

"I'm bisexual."

Huh, saying it out loud felt stranger than he thought it would. But also a lot better? He didn't hear anything from Phoebe and opened his eyes, scared of the hatred or disgust he would find on her face. But when he looked up at her face, there was no hatred, or disgust, or anything negative at all. In fact, she looked completely unphased by his news, which she then confirmed by asking- 

"That's it?"

"What do you mean 'that's it'? This isn't a big deal to you?"

"Why would you telling me something I already knew be a big deal?"

Joey looked at her in shock and confusion.

"What do you mean you already knew? I didn't even know until today!" Phoebe furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head questioningly.