"Knock, knock?" Reed breathed next to her ear. It's been around three hours, she's come accustomed to it by now.
Rolling her light green eyes. "Who's there?"
"Who would you like it to be?" It was so soft in her ear, the sweet smell of his cologne ta...
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┌────── ❀ ──────┐ REED CHERIE └────── ❀ ──────┘
FIRST NON-DATE
THE SECOND he saw Birdie walk out of her hotel room yesterday morning, he could see the emotions swarming and crashing like waves in her light green eyes. He felt the unsure and nervous emotions radiating off of her, even if she didn't know it herself. The way her whole body seemed stiff as she walked beside him to the elevator, and even though she looked cute to him — to see how vulnerable she looked — he made it his mission yesterday to cheer her up and help her shake off that extra stress and tension in her shoulders. But as he teased her and messed around with her, blowing at her hair, or poking her, or telling dumb jokes, her reactions managed to bring happiness and life to his soul. He doesn't remember the last time someone managed to do that without even trying.
For the past year he's been hanging around his mother's place and visiting Coal on occasions, making sure he was doing okay and not drinking himself down a rabbit hole of depression again. Just thinking about the struggles his mum, Coal and himself have been through, stinged his heart at the memories of when it was fine and okay, and when there were laughs of joy, and random movie nights Coal and he would hold for her.
Her.
He didn't want to forget her. Or admit to himself that he couldn't just call her and ask for guidance, even if she was younger than him. She was the wisest one he knew.
Shaking his thoughts before he could allow himself to feel the warm tears falling down his cheeks, sitting on the floor and screaming into his hands because of how much it pained him. He started thinking about how Birdie curled her lips, scrunched up her nose a bit, and glared at him to oblivion when he teased her; he had to admit it, it was probably the most adorable thing he's ever seen. Who could be intimidated by her angry face? Certainly not him, that's for sure.
His phone rang, the annoying ringtone reverberating throughout his hotel room, the early morning sun kissing the walls of his room with soft oranges and yellows. Tearing his blue eyes away from out the windows, losing himself in his thoughts, he rolled onto his sides and picked up his phone, staring at his cousin's caller ID.
When will he learn to text me instead of calling? For fuck's sake.
Answering the call: "Fucking hell, Coal, stop calling me so fucking early!"
"Excuse me?"
That wasn't the sound of Coal's annoyingly calm and obnoxious voice. . .it was sweet like ice tea and sounded like goodnight kisses. Reed's heart stopped beating the second his mother spoke, her offended and outraged voice being her only way to hit him on the back of the head. It was painful whether she was here with him or not.
