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Visiting Reggie was a new favorite thing of Bailey. How can it not be? He’s adorable and happy. He causes her to get butterflies but in a good way. She is smiling as she knocks on the door of the band’s home. Her smile fades as no one answers. She swore Reggie would be home.
She rings the doorbell. Maybe he’s off somewhere he couldn’t hear her. Normally he spends his time in the living room. There is no answer. It makes her a little worried. So, she calls him, only for it to go to voicemail after the standard amount of rings. She then calls Julie, since she’s the most responsible member of Reggie's band.
”Hey, Bailey,” she says. “What’s up?”
"I'm supposed to be hanging out with Reggie but he hasn't answered the door or my call," she says.
"There's a key under the mat. I don't think he was feeling well this morning. Can you text me if he's alright?"
"Yep, I can," she says. She hangs up after saying goodbye to Julie. She grabs the key and unlocks the door. She looks around, trying to find Reggie's room. Reggie and her haven't went to his bedroom. They mostly just hang out in the living room watching movies and cuddling. She only knows where the bathroom is besides the main area of the house. She notices that all the bedroom doors are open except one. Reggie once explained to her that Luke has a problem with walking through doors and the sock on the doorknob doesn't work. So, the door closed means privacy unless there's a fire. They all trust each other anyways to leave their doors open.
Bailey doesn't know if she should knock or just walk in. He hasn't answered her which means something could be horribly wrong. She decides to knock and give him a few minutes. There's not even a sound of shuffling so Bailey decides to walk in. His room is clean. To be fair the only guy's room she has ever seen is her brother's and he's a mess. She sees a box of tissues on the nightstand with a garbage full of tissues next to it. She then sees Reggie sleeping on his stomach all sprawled out over the covers. She tries not to blush when she realizes he's only in a pair of boxers. She sits on the edge of the bed gently.
"Reggie," she says, gently. He doesn't move. She hovers a hand over him. She doesn't want to touch him and make him uncomfortable when he wakes up, but she also needs to make sure he's okay. She lightly rubs her fingers through his hair. "Reggie, honey?"
"Mmmm," Reggie sighs, stirring a little. He moves his head to face her, still lying down. His eyes don't open. "That feels nice."
"Can you wake up for me?" she asks. He groans a little, but wipes his eyes. He shifts, laying on his side, looking up at her. She keeps her eyes on his face, concerned.
"When did you get here?" he asks.
"A few minutes ago," she says. "I found the spare key after calling Julie. She said you weren't feeling well earlier."
"Yeah, I'm f-" he coughs roughly into the crook of his arm. He falls to his back, taking in a deep, shaky breath.
"That's not fine," she says, shaking her head. She fluffs his pillow. "Do you have other pillows?"
He nods, pointing to his closet. She piles the pillows on top of one another. She grabs his upper arm, lightly pulling on it so he would lean up against the pillow, his head raised up.
"That helps already," he sighs.
"You should always keep your head elevated when sick," she says, sitting back down. She puts her hand on his face. She frowns. "You're burning up."
"Bailey, you don't have to," he says.
"I'll be back," she says, determined to help him. She comes back with supplies, setting it all down on the nightstand. "Open."
"Bailey-" She puts the thermometer in Reggie's mouth and under his tongue.
"You're sick, Reg," she says, pulling out her phone, sending a quick message to Julie saying that he's sick, but not dead. The thermometer beeps. "Reggie, you have a fever. Does anything hurt?"
"I-" She gives him a look. He sighs. "My throat."
"Okay," she nods. She lays a cool cloth on his forehead. He can't help by sigh. "That should help your temperature go down. Make sure you sip that water. I'm going to go make you some tea. No moving."
"Yes, ma'am," Reggie says.
As Bailey is in the kitchen looking for the tea, Alex and Luke walk in. They each have a bag of groceries. They seem surprised to see her digging through their cupboards.
"Where's the tea?" she asks.
"Here," Alex says, grabbing it for her. She sends him a small thank you as she starts to make Reggie his tea. "What's up?"
"Reggie's sick," she says. "I figured I'd make him tea with honey."
"Reggie's letting you take care of him?" Luke asks. Bailey gives him a confused look.
"Dude," Alex lightly hits Luke's arm.
"Sorry," Luke puts his hands up.
"Look, I can't explain Luke's reaction," Alex says, sending a glare to Luke before he turns back to Bailey. "It's Reggie's story. Just know, he's bad at letting people take care of him."
"Okay," she says. "I'm pretty stubborn so if I need to, I might ask you guys for help."
"So, we're the muscle?" Luke asks.
"Yeah. Want some tea?"
Bailey brings in the tea to see Reggie up and walking around. He has on a pair of jeans and seems to be looking for something. She can't believe he's rummaging after she told him to rest.
"I'm thinking a date?" Reggie asks, when he notices Bailey. She sets down the mug, before forcing Reggie to sit on the bed. "Bailey?"
"You need to rest," she says. "I want you to get better."
"I feel fine," he says. He then coughs roughly again.
"Drink that tea," she says. "I'll get you a change of clothes. You're going to change into them and if you don't I'll get my muscle. Luke looked pretty excited about getting that job."
"Bailey, why are y-"
"Reg, you need to take care of yourself," she says. "You could get worse." He looks at her, still determined to play his game of being fine. "At least. At least do it to humor me. Okay. I'm worried and taking care of you makes me feel better about this situation."
And that somehow worked. He instantly started to drink the tea, which worries Bailey a little bit. He's so down to help others, but not himself. Bailey now not only has a mission to help Reggie through this sickness, but help he realize he deserves to be taken care of too. Bailey comes back in once he's dressed. She did make Luke stand in the room with him in case he got dizzy. Now she's sitting next to him, eating some soup because the only way she could even get him to eat it was if she had some too.
"Why wouldn't you let me take care of you?" she asks. He shrugs. He looks down. She reaches forward, lightly putting her hand on his wrist. "Reg?"
"I haven't gotten sick in a while," he whispers. "At least like this. I- The last time I was 17. I had a panic attack that time. It reminded me of-" He gulps, feeling his eyes tear up. "-of my childhood. Being sick in the Peters household wasn't like most households. I had to go to school and when I was sent home, I was left to fend for myself. I'm pretty sure I had the flu so bad I should have gone to the ER. I don't know how I'm still here."
"So, you aren't used to it?" she whispers. Reggie nods, looking at her with tear eyes. She puts their bowls on the nightstand before lightly grabbing his face. She wipes away his tears, then lays down. She softly sings: "Lay your head down with me darling, pick your heart of the floor."
"I love that song," Reggie says, laying down next to her.
"I'm not as good as you at singing," she blushes.
"You're pretty good," he says. "I'd sing back, but my throat still hurts."
"That's okay," she says. She pulls him in so his head lands on her shoulder in the crook of her neck. her arms are wrapped around him. He feels tears well up again. Sure, he's had his friends hold him, but this feels different.
"I promise I'll take care of you if you get sick."
"You can," she nods. "As long as you let me hold you when you need me to."
"Yeah," Reggie sighs. "I promise."