fallout - r.b.

eleven

I woke up to sunlight creeping through the blinds, casting shadows across the room. I was feeling warm, and my breath hitched when I noticed Reece's arm was draped over my waist. My heartrate quickened as I hesitantly slipped out of his embrace, careful not to wake him. I sat on the edge of the bed and pressed my hands to my face. The events of last night were hitting me like a bus.

My head started to throb. I felt like I had a hangover despite not drinking. My thoughts were so fucked that I couldn't even choose one emotion to stick with. I was worried about my parents, I was embarrassed that I'd told Reece everything, I was confused why he was so nice about it, and I was mortified that I just woke up in the arms of my best friend's brother...who had a girlfriend.

All of that seemed to just blur together into a feeling of sadness, but as I glanced over my shoulder at the sleeping boy beside me, with his mouth parted slightly and his hair strewn messily across his forehead, somehow the trace of a smile made its way to my face.

I shook my head, trying to manually clear the thoughts from it. What was I thinking? This was Reece. He was just Shayla's annoying older brother, that was all. A complete dickhead most of the time... a beautiful dickhead... I hardly even knew him... yeah, just for three years, I fought with my own brain. All we had was bad timing, he just happened to see the most vulnerable, damaged part of life. And he listened, and comforted me, and helped in ways that I didn't even think were possible.

The truth was, I did know Reece--long before last night. I'd known him since he had that stupid little fringe on his head. I knew his family, I knew he hugged his parents every day, I knew how much he cared for his little sister, how passionate he was about music, how much he loved George and Blake, I knew how kind he could be. I knew he cried watching Toy Story 3. I'd seen the way his dimples popped out when he smiled and how his eyes could practically sparkle. I knew there was something going on below the surface that made him think he should settle for the way Aydan treated him, and I knew that despite the fact he could act like a jerk and that he could be with someone like her, that's all it was: an act. I knew how he treated me last night, and that was all I needed to know.

I let out a sigh and stood up. I quietly slipped out of the room, feeling a bit like I was doing the walk of shame, even though obviously nothing happened with Reece. I made my way to the bathroom, turning on the tap, and splashing some water on my face. I frowned at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were puffy and accented by purple dark circles underneath.

I was always told I looked like my dad, and with the worn out appearance of my face right now, I could see the resemblance. I had to go home and check on him.

I entered Shay's room and put on my school clothes that I'd left in there. I contemplated borrowing a bit of her makeup, but I was slightly more pale than her, so I chose not to bother.

I slipped back into Reece's room to grab my phone. He was still sleeping, and I smiled at his peacefulness.

Practically on cue, I got a message from Blake--almost as if to remind me that it's him I was supposed to like. To be fair, I did like Blake, he was sweet and cute and... well, sexy as fuck when he wanted to be, but I don't know, something was just missing.

The text was to the group chat again, "GUYS. check youtube, the cover blew up..." I raised my eyebrows and sat on the edge of the bed as I pulled up YouTube.

My jaw dropped when I saw the video had over 50,000 views. I reached over, frantically thwacking Reece on the arm. He groaned, rustling around under the duvet.

"REECE! Wake up!" I shook his shoulder. He opened his eyes looking extremely confused for a moment, probably temporarily forgetting I was even there.

"What is it?" He asked, his morning voice was raspy and I had to stop myself from lingering on it too long. He propped himself up slightly and blinked the sleep out of his eyes. I held my phone up for him to see. His eyes widened.