#my brain literally said: no feet only taylor swift lyrics 😐

[handcoversheart-76]

26 for reggie and alex but platonic please!

STELLAR choice queenie. and since you are my taylor swift buddie I will take that into account <3

bonus: touching feet and immediately screaming and recoiling (the way I didnt even PUT THIS IN THE FIC IM CRYING. I JUST COULDN'T WRITE ABT FEET WITH A STRAIGHT FACE! I hope you like it anyway!)

Maybe it was weird, but Alex is the type of person to have least favorite sounds. He feels like he's at least justified by the fact that he lives in a world where people deliberately scratch their nails on chalkboards. Other than that, Alex can't stand the sound of shoes squishing in mud, creaking doors, and hoarse throats- which he has a lot of experience with considering he's best friends with Luke.

But his least favorite sound of all time, literally in the whole world, is hearing his friends cry.

Call him soft, call him sensitive- it doesn't matter, he's heard it all before. He can't change what's true. When his friends are crying, it's like some alarm inside Alex goes blaring and all he wants to do is stop them, help them, make whatever's hurting them go away.

So when he pops into Julie's studio after his date and the first thing he hears are Reggie's muffled sniffles, he's instantly on alert.

"Reg?"

No answer.

Alex finds Reggie, tucked into a back corner against the wall, his knees against his chest. His cheeks are bright red, his eyes are wet, he's got his hands curled around himself.

Alex immediately drops to his knees by Reggie's side. "Reg- Reggie, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

There's a familiar panic building in his chest, tight frenzied worry in a tight ball sinking low in his stomach. His mind is already flipping through the possibilities- Where's Julie? Is she alright? Maybe Reggie's hurt? Can ghosts even get hurt? What if it's Caleb?

Reggie takes a deep shaky breath, blinking at Alex quickly. " 'Lex? Wha- you're back?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm back. What's going on? Can I touch you?"

Reggie's brow furrows like he's confused. He brings up an arm to wipe at his face, sniffling loudly. "Yeah, I'm okay Alex- I just-"

Reggie shifts and- oh.

In Alex's panic, he totally missed Julie's laptop which was next to him, open to Spotify, Luke's favorite app of the future, oh my god, Alex, it just plays the music you ask for-

"I was bored," Reggie explains, voice thick, "so I just put on some music and-"

"Oh Reg," Alex sighs, that tight panic fizzling out into exasperated fondness. "You listened to Folklore by yourself? You know what that does to you."

Reggie nods, biting his lip and in his head, Alex counts three beats before-

"She was just, 'don't want no other shade of blue but you-' what the heck am I supposed to do with that?" He wails and Alex tsks before pulling Reggie in and gently rubbing his back.

"Yeah. yeah I know Reg. I know." Alex says. "It's a great song."

Alex waits until Reggie has cried himself all out again, before letting him go. Now, the sight of Reggie with red-rimmed eyes and wet cheeks merely makes Alex snicker. He stands and offers Reggie a hand.

"Come on, let's go find Luke and make him cry with us."

Reggie pauses, smiles, then takes Alex's hand to help him up.