Take Me Higher

Chapter Six-Reggie

Hope you like it, thanks for reading!
Chapters 7 through 10 are available on Radish if you want to read ahead! ❤️❤️

"Reggie," a voice whispers, shaking my shoulder.

The glow from the TV allows me to see the outline of Olivia standing over me, hair twisted up into a towel and her body covered by a large t-shirt. I sit up in her bed, massaging my temples with my fingertips to subside the banging migraine.

"Where the hell have you been, Livi?" I question. Just the sound of my own voice makes my head ring with pain.

"I went over to Blake's after work," She answers. "It was kind of last minute and I just lost track of time."

I only spent three hours worrying like a fucking moron while Frankie gave me shit over it, which made things even worse. After he passed out on the couch, I came into her room thinking that if I couldn't wait up to make sure she got home okay, then she'd wake me up when she got back.

Apparently Olivia doesn't know how to work her goddamn phone. My mind could've been at ease a long time ago. At least she's home now.

"Why are you in my room?" Olivia demands, untwisting her hair from her towel, leaving her damp curls to spring free.

"I tried to wait up for you, I wanted to make sure that you were alive since you didn't answer your phone," I explain, not wanting my worries to come off as anger.

It's not like her to stay out until three AM and she wasn't responding to my messages. I was half tempted to take Frankie's car and drive around town looking for her, but I was too fucked up for that.

"Reggie, I'm fine," she assures me, seeming amused.

I stare at her, waiting for her to apologize or something, but she doesn't. Not that she has to because I do this kind of thing all the time, maybe this is her unintentional payback. I have a life here, she's still new to the area and its' people. It just worries me.

I spent the beginning of my night up at her work with the intentions of learning more about this Blake guy until we were ready for the party. I got a little side tracked with the drinking and then once Frankie and Angie got into it, I knew we'd be staying and she'd be taking off. I swear she just picks fights so he'll chase her around.

"Are you laying down or what?"

She huffs in protest, but gets on the bed next to me, pulling the covers over herself. "You have a bed, you know," she says playfully.

"Yeah but I don't have all these fluffy pillows and shit," I point out, sinking back into the mattress. I reach out, snaking my arm around her waist to pull her closer to me. She's hesitant at first, but she relaxes against me, keeping her tired eyes on the TV.

There's been a few drunken occasions when I've blamed the alcohol on my need for the simplicity of her lying close to me. Sometimes it helps me sleep or at least keeps my mind from staying awake and wandering off into dark places. We don't ever talk about it, but I'm sure she finds a little comfort in it too.

"So how was it?" I find myself asking.

Olivia cups her hand over her mouth, covering her yawn. "Good, we just talked, it was nice."

"What about?"

Her shoulders shrug against me. "Everything. Can we talk tomorrow, I'm tired," she mumbles and within minutes I hear the soft and utterly adorable sound of her snoring.

*

With barely any sleep from the night before, the aroma of bacon wakes me up around eleven in the morning. I stumble into the kitchen to find Olivia cooking bacon, eggs, and French toast.