Finding The Light

9

Warnings:
-Mentions underaged drinking
-Throwing up

Reggie's POV

I had no clue how I got into Clay's house, but when I woke up, I was cuddling with him and honestly enjoyed it. However, the joy was overwhelmed by nausea and a pounding headache in the front of my head.

I groaned and gently moved Clay's arm away from my body, trying to sit up straight to go to the bathroom in case I had to throw up. But I hadn't even sat up for a few seconds as I felt my stomach turn around.

!! throwing up !!

I gagged and immediately felt bile filling my mouth. Because I really didn't want to throw up on their floor, I swallowed the stinging acid, feeling it burn as it went back down my food pipe.

Quickly, I raised myself up from the couch, but the second wave of nausea overtook my body when I was only a few steps away. Yet, this time, I wasn't able to swallow it and gagged even louder, a mix of acid and alcohol coming out, right onto the wooden floor.

!! over !!

'Oh, shit,' I whimpered, stumbling to the kitchen to grab a sponge and some water with soap. I was filling up a bucket with hot water as I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I gasped and turned around, seeing Clay behind me with a smile. 'Lay down, Reg. I'll clean it for you,' he said, but his voice sounded demanding. I knew he always wanted to take care of others, but I felt guilty and wanted to be a good friend for once.

'No, I shouldn't have-,' I started, but I felt another wave numb me. Heat rushed to my face and formed itchy sweat drops on the top of my head.

!! throwing up !!

Clay noticed it right away and emptied the water bucket in the sink, pushing it under my nose right before I threw up again, mostly bile coming out. My throat started stinging even more and sweat covered my back as not even a minute later, I felt more bile entering my mouth.

!! over !!

'My goodness, what did you take?' Clay asked once I was finally done. He emptied the bucket once again and cleaned it. 'Please, lay down and hold this bucket tight.'

I nodded slowly and grabbed the cleaned bucket, reluctantly walking to the couch to lay down. 'Do you maybe have some painkillers I can take?'

'Yeah, I'll get them for you once I've cleaned this. Please, act like you have a stomach bug if my father figures it out, he's not too keen on people who drink a lot and you have already been quite loud yesterday.'

'I don't remember anything about yesterday,' I replied honestly. 'But I'm sorry nonetheless, I shouldn't have ditched you, but it's just... Never mind.'

Clay glanced at me and then looked away again, an awkward look in his eyes. 'You asked me to rail you and called me daddy, in case you wanted to know.'

'Oh my goodness!' I yelled, slamming my hands to my face from embarrassment and shock. 'No, I did NOT.'

'Yeah, you very surely did,' he answered with a laugh, rolling his eyes. 'And I tried to keep you quiet, but you got even louder, so it was a fun time!'

'I'm not uh- into you, just so you know,' I muttered with a dark red face. 'I think uh- yeah.'

He raised one eyebrow and then chuckled. 'I've never heard something more believable than that,' he answered with a chuckle. 'I know I'm hot, don't worry.'

'Sometimes I wish I could hit you,' I grumbled, but laughed right after that. 'My body feels so sore, dude.'

'Probably because you have sex up to ten times a day,' Clay said, his voice more annoyed than before. 'But, you do you.'

'It just feels good,' I answered him. 'Have you truly never fallen in love before? It's okay if you haven't, but I just can't imagine it.'

'I haven't, but you've just admitted that you have fallen in love before, but I'm pretty sure it's not one of your hookups.'

I felt the shade of my cheeks turn even darker, shrugging casually. 'It's not important.'

'Oh, is my best friend shy when it comes to true love?' Clay asked with a grin. 'I didn't expect that from you, but there's still some sweetness inside of you.'

I rolled my eyes at his joke, but he ran up to me and started tickling the sides of my chest. 'Who is it? At least tell me if it's a guy or a girl.'

I laughed softly and grabbed his hands to make him stop the tickling. 'I refuse to tell you who it is, but it's a guy.'

'Do you have romantic interest in girls as well?' Clay asked with a genuine voice. He sat down next to me and looked me into my eyes.

'I don't know, I think so?' I answered with a questioning tone in my voice. 'I have only been in love once, but it turned out to be a crush that lasted months and it's a boy.'

'How have I never noticed you're in love with someone, dude? You never look at anyone or hang out with people next to me, not counting the people you hooked up with.'

'I have my ways,' I said, but quickly turned my eyes away again because I didn't want to become uncomfortable and accidentally say too much that I didn't want anyone to know.

'I'm going to figure it out, I swear,' he told me, and knowing Clay, I knew he would figure it out within weeks if he tried.

'Sure, but I'm sure you won't anyway,' I responded. 'What time is it?'

'I'm almost going to school, but I figure you're skipping again, like usual.' His voice sounded disappointed, almost sad, which made me sit up and smile at him.

'I'll come with you,' I said with a dedicated voice. 'I already ditched you yesterday, acted like a complete fool at night and threw up in your house, so it's only fair for me to suffer from my own actions.'

'It would mean a lot to me if you would come to school with me, even though you're not feeling well.'

I smiled softly when I saw the excited glance in his eyes and wrapped my arm around his shoulders. 'Clay, I'm sorry for the way I am... I know I'm an asshole sometimes, or actually, most of the time, but-. No, no buts, I'm just sorry.'

'Thank you for saying that, it means a lot,' Clay replied. 'And yes, there is a but. You've gone through trauma and there's a lot of unspoken things going on in your life. I wouldn't still be your friend if I knew you were a total idiot. I'm your friend because I know there's a good person inside of you, that I love dearly, but one who copes with trauma in the wrong ways.'

I didn't manage to say a word, because I knew I would start crying if I did. Instead, I gave him a hug, which I normally didn't do. Yet, he accepted it and wrapped his arms around me as if he needed it just as much as I did.

1216 words