Reading Between The Lines | Basil Hawkins x Reader

03 - the Day After

Waking up on your sofa with a banging headache and around fifty missed calls from Nami was not a good start to your day.

With a groan, you swung your aching legs over to the floor and leaned forward. Both hands were pressed into your forehead as if you could stop the pain simply by physically suppressing it. Your phone was on the coffee table, god knows how it got there. You could see the rows and rows of notifications declaring that Nami had called, including a prolonged string of text messages.

Nami - Are you okay?

Nami - (y/n) replyyyyyyyy

Nami - did you go home? Are you okayyy helloooo?

Nami - (y/n) I swear to god, PICK UP!

Reaching forward, you stretched the muscles that were hurting along your back and picked up your phone in the process. Shooting her a quick reply to reassure that you had gotten home completely fine and were okay, you flopped back down. It felt like someone was trying to cut through your head with a chainsaw, digging into your brain and making it unbearable, the phone's light not helping. You still hadn't unpacked your stuff, so maybe taking it easy and doing a bit here and there would be your plan for today...

Pulling yourself to a stand, you ambled over to the kitchen. You had already put a small box of medication in one of the cabinets, opening it up to take it out. Filling a nearby glass, you leaned against the counter and swallowed the paracetamol that you had found; feeling the pleasurable feeling of the cold water sliding down your throat. You sighed with contentment as you felt the beginnings of the painkiller working, only to look down your own body and realise that you still had your clothes on. Boots, too.

"Time to put that shower to good use."

Off the side of the kitchen, there was a small bathroom. It was nothing fancy, just had a sink, loo and a bathtub that doubled up as the shower. There was no longer any need for you to worry about someone walking in as you didn't live at your family home any longer, shamelessly stripping off every article of your clothing and turning the knob so the hot water came gushing out.

Once you stepped under the warmth of the water and you could feel it pattering off your shoulders and arms, you closed your eyes. You took the time to enjoy the blissful peace, considering you swore you could still feel the thump of music in your head. It was a good thing that medication was kicking in, the headache was slowly fading away bit by bit.

"I'll be damned if I ever drink like that again..."

Grumbling away to yourself, you pulled the shampoo off the in-shower shelf. Putting a glob of it in your hands, you ran it through your hair; making sure to massage your scalp at the same time as it bubbled up. Next came conditioner which you let sit in your locks as you lathered lavender scented body wash over your skin.

Although it was merely a blur, you could slightly remember the man who had helped you and what had happened as you hummed tune to yourself. He had blonde hair and pale skin, that much you knew. He was also tall, very much so, definitely towering over you easily.

As you stepped out of the shower and wrapped one of your new fluffy, white towels around your body, you knew you would thank the man should you ever meet him again.

If you knew who he was, that it.

After drying off and walking to your bedroom, you slipped on something comfortable. Your outfit consisted of a pair of beige, wide-leg corduroy pants and a tucked-in graphic t-shirt in a coffee colour. The picture on the shirt was one of your favourite bands growing up, slightly faded and was peeling off in places but still just as pleasing as when you got it. Settling for some socks and your slides to create optimum comfort when unpacking, you got to work.