Bets, Beds and Treads || 18+

𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊.

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ xxɪɪ
| ғ ʀ ɪ ᴇ ɴ ᴅ s﹖|
𝐑 𝐄 𝐈 𝐍 𝐀

𝗠𝗬 𝗘𝗬𝗘𝗦 𝗙𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗞 over to Reign, sitting across the room, looking completely unaffected as usual. It's like he doesn't even try, and it just works for him. I wish I could pull off that level of cool.

"Are you listening?" Bianca's voice cuts through my daze.

"You keep staring over there. What's going on?" Marissa leans in, winking at me.

Bianca, with a half-chewed snack in her mouth, lowers her voice just enough to be sneaky. "Something's definitely going down. I can tell you're holding back."

"Yeah, you've gone full ghost on us too. Miss you, y'know?" Marissa sighs, her voice dripping with playful exaggeration.

I let out a heavy sigh, barely registering their words. How could I, when all I can think of is how last night was a disaster, an absolute mess?

I can still hear my own laugh, that loud, carefree sound as I spun in the downpour, oblivious to how ridiculous I must've looked. What was I even thinking? I can't believe I did that. I'd been so careless, so reckless. I'd locked my keys in my car, had no money or phone, and, of course, no way to get back home.

I shift in my seat, feeling the heat rise in my face as the hazy memories flood back. The night is still a blur, but some things are too vivid to forget. What I can't shake off, though, is this morning.

The ache in my neck was the first thing I had felt. I'd woken up on something firm yet soft in a bus shelter, my head pounding and my clothes still damp from the rain. It took me a second to realize where I was and even longer to remember why I was there.

My head was on Reign's lap. He was sitting, his arms crossed and his head leaned back against the shelter wall. His dark hair, still slightly wet, stuck out in messy strands, and even though he looked exhausted, he somehow pulled off that annoyingly composed vibe that made him seem completely unaffected by anything.

I'd tried to sit up quietly, hoping to not wake him up, but of course, he had. His sharp gaze flicked to me, and the second his tired eyes met mine, I was hit with pure, unfiltered mortification.

"You're awake," he'd stated, his voice dry and rough, like he'd spent the whole night awake.

"What... happened?" I'd croaked, avoiding his gaze.

He had tilted his head, his eyes narrowing. "You don't remember?"

I racked my brain, piecing together the fragments of last night. "I remember... the rain."

The rain. Right. It had been torrential-streets flooded, cars barely crawling by. A cab wouldn't have made it through the mess even if we'd tried. The storm had practically trapped us here.

"Good." He'd said it, sitting up, elbows resting on his knees. I couldn't figure out why it sounded so damn sarcastic, but I didn't bother asking.

"So..." I gestured around. "We stayed here?"

"Unless you had a better idea." His gaze flicked to the shelter around us.

I'd looked around then, taking in the fogged glass panels and the wet pavement outside. The city had still been quiet, just waking up. And there we were, sitting in a bus shelter like a couple of stranded fools.