( GO HOME )
by iwritetrashimagines
Reggie knew as soon as you stepped out of your car dressed like you'd just rolled out of bed that you didn't feel good. When he came up to you and could see the dark circles around your eyes, of course he worried. He knew you weren't going to just miss school. You weren't the type. So there you were, standing at your locker with Reggie, despite feeling like death. He wasn't going to just let you suffer at school when you should be at home
"You don't feel good." Reggie said, leaning against the locker next to yours. It amazed him that you could feel so horrible and still look just as beautiful as any other day. You were perfect in every aspect to him, but you didn't know that.
Reggie has been your best friend since your freshman year when you moved to Riverdale and Chuck Clayton had tried to make a move on you. Reggie hadn't even known you existed before that moment, but for some reason he just couldn't let Chuck do that to you. Right after Reggie's fist made contact with Chuck's jaw, he had flashed you this goofy smile, and you knew that you and him would be friends. Little did either of you know, you were going to develop feelings for each other, Reggie probably more than you. Now, you weren't just Reggie's best friend, you were his world. There wasn't a moment where he wasn't thinking of you in some way. Reggie Mantle was in love with you. He'd realized that a while ago. However, he had no clue how to tell you, or whether he should or not. You were so good, and he was nowhere near as good. Also, how does one tell the person they're in love with that they're in love with them when they have no experience in being one with their feelings? Reggie had never had a serious relationship. He'd only ever messed around. (Y/N) was the only girl that Reggie had ever seriously seen himself with long-term. He was struggling to find a way to tell her how he felt. She made him nervous. She awoken butterflies in his stomach. She made him feel things that he didn't understand, but he loved it.
"I don't know what you're talking about." You replied, side-eyeing him. He looked great. Of course he knew you didn't feel good. He knows you better than you know yourself sometimes.
Reggie raised an eyebrow at you for a moment before putting his hand against your forehead. This simple skin-to-skin contact would've left you blushing if your skin wasn't already warm.
"You're running a fever. Why are you here?" Reggie's hand slipped from your forehead to your cheek as his thumb ran loosely over your cheekbone. You leaned into his hand, finding the movement comforting.
"I have a trig test 5th hour. I couldn't not come."
"I have that same test and I'm telling you that you definitely could've stayed home. So. You're going home."
"No, Reggie, I'm not." His name slipping off your lips made his heart swell.
"(Y/N). The first bell hasn't rang yet. You still have time to leave. Go home."
"Make me, Reginald." You said, a smirk pulling at the corners of your mouth.
"I will. Come on, I'm taking you home." Reggie took your hand in his, pulling you out of the school and to his car.
"Reggie. My car." You groaned. You really didn't want to leave your car at school.
"I'll bring you up to the school to get it once you're better. For now, you can just deal with mine. My Lady," Reggie sent you a goofy smile as he opened the door for you.
Reggie closed my door with my backpack in his hand. As he got in on the other side he sat it in the back. The last time you were in this car was before Jughead and Archie used it to stage a drag race. Reggie turned his car on and looked at you.
"Now, if you feel like you're going to be sick, tell me to stop. I don't care if you're my best friend. Don't you dare throw up in my baby." Reggie loved his car. Rightfully so, it was beautiful.
"Reggie, I'll be fine." You laughed, knowing he was serious. He gave you a stern look before pulling out of the school parking lot. The distance from the school to your house was short – a ten minute drive – but there was a grocery store between the two locations, and Reggie wanted to stop.
"I'm gonna go inside and pick up a few things. I'll be right back, stay in the car." Reggie patted your knee before getting out of the car.
As you played with the radio stations your phone vibrated.
Cheryl: I saw you leave with Reggie. Lovebirds couldn't wait until after school? Joking, of course. But seriously. ;)
You: Nothing like that. I'm sick, and he's taking me home. No choice.
Cheryl: I'm sure you left on your own free will. There can only be so many longing looks and cute moments before the two of you give in. You know it. I know it. The entire school knows it. Something's there.
You: Go to class.
Rolling your eyes, you sent your reply before locking your phone. Right as you locked it, Reggie opened the door. Of course there were people that assumed you and Reggie were together. Sometimes, it even seemed like you were together to you. There were moments that made you wonder, that made you hope. Reggie walked you to your classes and met you outside of them right after the bell rang, even if it meant he had to rush from his last class on the other side of the school. On Valentine's Day, Reggie surprised you by filling your locker with small, heart-shaped balloons and taping little notes all over. You and Reggie had weekly movie nights at either his place or yours and he always let you choose the movie, even if it meant watching Dirty Dancing for the millionth time. Not to mention all the cuddling that goes down on those nights. It was hard not to have feelings for Reggie. He made it hard.
"What'd you get?" You asked as he placed the bag in the back with my backpack.
"You'll find out later." As he started the car you looked at him, admiring how the morning sun hit him. Reggie Mantle was a beautiful human being. "You're staring."
"I'm thinking." You turned your eyes towards your house as Reggie parked where you'd normally park your car. Before you could open the door yourself, Reggie reprimanded you for trying.
"Don't you dare!" He joked. With a smile on your face, you sat back and waited for Reggie to open your door for you.
Reggie took your hand and led you into your house, you both kicking your shoes off at the door. As you closed the door behind you, Reggie went into your kitchen to set down the groceries he bought.
"Are you going to tell me what you got now?" You asked, leaning your head against his back as he began unpacking everything.
"I'm making you soup." He turned around, pulling you closely before placing his head on top of yours.
It was an unknown fact that Reggie liked to cook. Was he a master chef? No. Could he cook? Absolutely. Sometimes Reggie would come over and just want to cook together.
"Go lay down." Reggie said, pulling away from you. You turned away from him and jumped up on the kitchen counter. Reggie shook his head at you before coming to stand between your legs. In this position, it made you just as tall as he was, allowing you to look him straight in the eyes without having to stare upwards.
"Or, I could sit right here and wait."
"Don't be difficult." He gave you a strict look.
Reggie pulled you off the counter and scooped you up in his arms. He sat you down on the couch and grabbed a blanket off the arm of the couch. Once he was content with how he'd set you up, he walked back to my kitchen.
"Stay there." He warned. After a few minutes of listening to Reggie move around in the kitchen, he came back with some medicine and water in hand. "This'll break the fever."
You took the medicine and laid back down as Reggie retreated to the kitchen once more.
"Soup's ready." Was all he said as he came back into the living room with a bowl in his hand.
Reggie watched as you sat up before handing you the bowl. He then turned on Netflix, pulling up The Office. (ok i guess this is my go to show when I write about watching something??)
"Reginald Mantle, you amaze me." You spoke after eating some of the soup. "This is so good."
"Anything for you." He winked.
It wasn't long before you'd emptied the bowl. As soon as you sat the bowl down on the coffee table in front of you, Reggie laid down on the couch, pulling you on top of him.
You could feel the medicine going into effect as your eyes began to droop. The sound of Reggie's heartbeat and Michael Scott was putting you to sleep. When Reggie noticed your breathing slow down, all he could do was admire you. It was hard to be in love with your best friend. It was hard for Reggie to keep from kissing you all the time. There were times when he'd look at you and all he could think about was what it would be like to kiss you. Reggie was far from sappy, but you made him want to be. He wanted everyone to know how great you were, and how great you were for him, but he couldn't even tell you that yet. Reggie wasn't scared when he was fighting Serpents with the other Bulldogs, but he was terrified every time he slipped up around you. There was that time when Archie wanted to ask you out, before Veronica was even in the picture, and he asked Reggie for advice. Reggie nearly lost it. To put it simply, he came clean to Archie about his feelings for you after he told Archie that he wasn't allowed to go after you.
Ever since day one, Reggie has been trying to figure out how to confess. Within the first few days of getting to know you, Reggie knew he wanted to be with you. However, he still had no clue how to tell you that he was in love with you. Here you were, his entire world was laying asleep in his arms.
"God, I love you." He whispered, placing a kiss against the top of your head before deciding that, as long as he's here, he might as well get some sleep too.
When you'd heard those words come out of his mouth, you were sure you were dreaming. Like Reggie, it didn't take long for you to realize you were in love with your best friend too. Before you could put too much thought into it, you'd fallen asleep.
When you woke up, Reggie was still asleep. You looked up at him, admiring how cute he was when he was asleep. Reggie Mantle was truly a work of art.
"You're staring. I can feel it." He opened his eyes.
"I'm thinking, Reg. I don't stare."
"Tell me what you're thinking about." He watched as your cheeks tinted red. Little did he know, you were thinking about coming clean. You didn't want to ruin your friendship with him, but you also didn't want to keep hiding your feelings.
"Ya know, I love you." You said before laying your head back down on his chest.
"I love you too, (Y/N)." He said.
"I know." Then, there was a silence. The Office was still playing in the background.
"I don't think you do." Reggie sat up slightly, pulling you up with him. "(Y/N). I love you." He said, watching as confusion took over my facial expressions. "I'm in love with you. And, I don't know how you feel, but I've been trying to find the perfect way to tell you. I now know that there's not a perfect way, so I'm just gonna say it. I am in love with you. I don't want to just be your best friend. I want to be able to have cute sappy moments and not have to tell myself that we're only friends. I want to be your boyfriend."
"Then be my boyfriend." You cut Reggie off. As much as you loved hearing this, you'd been waiting so long that you just wanted to be with him officially. "Be my boyfriend, so we can have all the cute, sappy moments we want and not have to tell everyone we're only friends, because it is so hard just being your friend, Reggie, when you just look so cute all the time, and you're cuddling me, and dancing with me at Pop's (God, that episode made me almost fall for freaking Chuck it was sO GOOD), and filling my locker with cute notes. God, I just want to kiss you all the time, so if you could just be my boyfriend, that'd be great." Reggie laughed for a moment, and then, before he could think about it, he pressed his lips against yours.
Here you were, his entire world, telling him everything he wants to hear. Sick or not, he wasn't waiting any longer.
"So. I'm your boyfriend."
"And I'm your girlfriend."
"Glad we've got everything figured out." Reggie kissed you once more before pulling you back down. "But you're still sick, so we're gonna go back to napping."