IMAGINES ▹ ROSS BUTLER

↳ cruising for a bruising

( CRUISING FOR A BRUISING )
by imaginexmeintheuniverse

Usually you were the one taking care of your boyfriend's battle wounds after he'd recklessly get himself into a fight, which is why you heavily considered not showing up on his doorstep battered and bruised as you are now. You didn't know where to go. You couldn't go home because you'd get hell from your parents, or they would make a way bigger deal out of it than it actually was, so you ended up here. However, you didn't consider the fact that your boyfriend is Reggie Mantle and that might actually be worse because he'd probably go on some sort of rampage across the school over whoever hurt his girl. As soon as you ring the doorbell you regret your decision and attempt to run away, but you don't even get the chance to turn around before the door opens to reveal a surprised Reggie.

You both freeze for a moment; you, because you're currently facing away from him, not wanting him to see your black eye, and him, because he's wondering why the heck his girlfriend looks like a fugitive. To hide the scratches and bruises you sport, you're wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap, and you have your hood pulled over your head. Also the sun has already gone down, so you look like a burglar.

Even after having been dating for some time now, you still find yourself in moments where you simply don't know what to do because you're afraid of what he might think of you. That's totally irrational of course, because the guy is head over fucking heels for you, but insecurities get the better of all of us now and then.

"Hey," you squeak.

"Hey babe," he greets you, ushering you inside. As per usual, his folks aren't home. He leads you to the kitchen, the first place you usually go to when you're at his house. Without even needing to ask, he gets a tub of ice cream and a spoon, whilst you take your spot on the counter. It's become a little routine you two do: you sit on the counter whilst he stands comfortably between your legs (you're still shorter than him) and you share a spoon, passing the tub back and forth.

You try to hide your face the best you can but accidentally let out a slight wince of pain when he kisses your cheek. The sound alerts him, and if your appearance wasn't enough to be wary about, the noise you made certainly is.

"So are you going to tell me why you're wearing sunglasses indoors, at night?" he questions, an eyebrow raised. "Or why you look like you came to rob my house..."

"Um... Uh..." You feel stupid trying to hide it from him when he's literally right in front of you, but you try anyways."I'm trying out a new trend?" If the blatant lie you tell doesn't give it away, the fact that it sounds more like a question than an answer sure as hell does.

He rolls his eyes and reaches to take off your hood, hat, and sunglasses, totally ignoring your protests. You try to shove his arms away, but this giant boyfriend of yours is way stronger than you and drops your items to the floor when he sees your face.

"What the fu-"

"It's not as bad as it looks!"

"Did you get hit by a car on your way back from school?!"

"I-I'm sorry- I didn't know where else to-" You start stumbling over your words in your nervous ramble, your sentences becoming incomprehensible.

"Y/N," Reggie snaps you out of your trance. "What happened?"

"I-It's nothing!" You insist, worried he might make too big of a deal out of it.

"Don't give me that bullshit," he says in a tone much calmer than you'd expect. He turns away for a moment to grab a package of frozen peas he then presses to a particularly nasty bruise on your temple. "Who the fuck did this to you?"

You let out a long breath, knowing you've been beat before telling him the truth, "These girls from your little fan club were talking shit about us- about how it was 'just a matter of time before he dumps her pathetic ass' and I couldn't just-" You stop yourself, your mind having gone into overdrive with insecurities. What if it was true? He's the guy every girl in school wants to be dating but he's with you; why?

"And since when do you let idiotic comments like that bother you?" His eyebrows knit in concern as he shifts the bag of peas from your temple to your eye.

"They said other stuff too- I swear I didn't swing first!" Although you did provoke them, but let's leave that out for now. "I just miscalculated how aggressive they were."

Reggie stays silent as you recount the events leading up to when things got violent. When you finish the story, he leaves, returning with a hot cloth for your scratches. He goes straight for the one on your face without warning, causing you to let out a little whimper as you flinch away from steaming fabric.

A cocky grin appears on your boyfriend's face as he has a flash of déjà vu, roles reversed.

"What's so funny?" you grumble at him. You know exactly why he chuckles at your narrowed eyes. He's probably enjoying this, especially with all the times you've chided him for being so careless and hot-tempered. You're expecting him to do the same to you too but instead he gently kisses your slightly swollen lips.

"I've never been more in love with you."