#i miss math homework... omg... making realisations..

hanging out with reggie constantly wasn’t the issue. you’d spend an eternity with him if you could. it was the way he reached out to give you a hug, or a kiss on the cheek - and you’d have to dodge him every time. you always brushed it off with a sneeze or a lame excuse; he didn’t ever seem to notice anyways, and if he did, he never said anything. you just couldn’t bring yourself to let him touch you.

you saw how luke was with julie. he tried to reach out to her (many times, actually) and he’d watch his limb pass right through her body. you figured it had to be the same for everyone, ghosts are ghosts. they’re made of air, and cannot physically be touched.

as much as you had the curiosity to check, just to make sure you really couldn’t touch them - you couldn’t bear it if you’d tried it only to be met with disappointment. the constant reminder your boyfriend wasn’t really there with you, and never would be - because he was dead.

it was an average day listening to the band rehearse some of their new songs, and you were sitting on the couch with flynn working on some schoolwork. you were just finishing up your joint efforts on the math homework as the song came to a close. you smiled up at the guys, clapping along with flynn at the insane progress they and julie had been making.

“sounds great guys.” you complimented, beginning to pack up your supplies. it was getting late, and though you wished you could spend the rest of the night listening to them play, you had a family to get back to and responsibilities to tend to.

“are you leaving already?” a voice peaked over your shoulder, and you jumped back, holding a hand over your heart. you rolled your eyes when you realized it was just reggie, but shook your head with a smile.

“one of these days reg, you’re gonna give me a heart attack.” you sighed, throwing your school bag over your shoulder. “and yeah, i gotta bounce. told the fam i’d be home for dinner.” you shrugged, and he pouted, but nodded.

he went to reach for a hug, and you noticed - quickly spinning and walking around him as if you hadn’t noticed. you watched as he crossed his arms a little awkwardly, but you smiled and blew him a small kiss, before leaving the garage and heading home.

an awkward silence followed, and reggie quickly picked up on the fact everyone was watching him. “what?” he asked, turning frantically. “is there something on my face?”

“bro, what was that?” flynn asked, and everyone (save for reggie) tensed.

“what was what?” reggie was very obviously confused, had something happened he missed?

luke sighed, looking around to everyone who quickly turned away, realizing he was left with the responsibility of explaining. he slowly walked over to reggie and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “reggie, have you noticed y/n’s been a bit.. dodgy recently?” he struggled to word his phrase, and julie and flynn mumbled a sound of disapproval before flynn marched over, never being one to shy away from telling the truth.

“listen close. i don’t know why, but y/n’s been dodging you. like physically won't touch you. at all. like, ever. haven’t you noticed?” she gave her signature ‘duh’ look, and reggie frowned, thinking back to every time he’d tried to make a physical move with her, only to realize flynn was right.

“why won’t she let me touch her?” reggie wondered aloud, and alex gave him a sad smile from across the room.

“reggie, we’re ghosts. we can’t touch them. she’s probably scared of you going through her or something. it’s not like any relationship she’s had ever.” he explained gently, and reggie felt like he’d been stabbed in the heart. had him being a ghost really upset her that much? without another word, reggie ‘poofed’ out of the room.

he stood outside the front of your house, pacing nervously back and forth. he desperately tried to sort out his thoughts, ultimately giving up and deciding he needed to talk this out with you before he drove himself crazy. he teleported himself outside your bedroom door, swallowing his nerves before lifting his hand to knock - momentarily forgetting he was a ghost. his arm - as he should have expected - went right through the door, and in his off-guard state, he fell directly through the door.

he expected to hit the ground with a thud, but instead he heard a small squeak of surprise and landed on something much softer than he anticipated. said thing started groaning in pain, and it took reggie another second to realize it was you. he quickly pushed himself off, offering you his hand. you took it without a second thought, helping yourself to your feet when you looked up and processed who was in front of you. who was touching you.

“reggie?” you whispered, purely shocked. he frowned at you, before following your gaze to your interlocked hands. your hands that weren’t passing through one another. “reggie.” you stated again, a smile slowly tugging at your lips as the two of you came to terms with what you were experiencing. you could physically touch him.

“wha- how?” he stuttered, but neither of you knew how to answer so you simply shrugged, eyes trained on your hand clasped in his. you stood in silence for a moment, before coming to reality and looking up at him, quickly dropping your hands and surging forward, capturing him in a tight embrace. he stumbled, laughing in response but held you just as tightly. he swayed the two of you gently, and you couldn’t help but let the pooling tears fall and a few sniffles escaped your lips.

“are you crying?” he whispered, though unlike the typical reggie, there was no sign of sarcasm or teasing tone. it was purely soft and caring, the side of him that reggie only shared with you.

“can you blame me?” you replied, pulling back slightly to look him in the eye. he chuckled, shaking his head gently. you hesitantly raised your hand, caressing his cheek and smiling as you watched his face reddened in response. reggie gently kissed your palm before moving your hand, then leaning in so you were almost touching noses.

“can i kiss you?” he asked, and you smiled brightly, nodding enthusiastically before he closed the distance between the two of you. you pulled away for air, and reggie let out a low whistle, earning a slap from you along with a quiet giggle. “man, why haven’t we done that sooner?” he exclaimed, and you suddenly remembered all your fears, and shrugged.

reggie sensed the change in mood, and frowned. he hadn’t realized what he said, but thinking it over, he suddenly remembered why he had come in the first place. he grabbed your hand, pulling you onto your bed and sitting you down next to him. you fiddled with your fingers nervously, knowing you couldn’t avoid what was coming next.

“i actually had a reason for coming here today.” reggie spoke quietly, his gaze directed at the wall in front of him. “luke mentioned you’ve been acting dodgy.” you shot him a look, and he recalled flynn’s (far better) explanation. “every time i’ve tried to touch you in any way, you moved or found a way around it. i just want to know.. why?”

you hadn’t realized how hurtful it must be from reggie’s end until you heard his voice break as he tried to rationalize your avoidance. you sighed, hanging your head. “i was scared.” you admitted after a moment, seeing reggie turn your way out of the corner of your eye. “i was scared that i’d get my hopes up and then i’d have to be reminded you're not alive all over again. do you know how many times i’ve dreamt of touching you? holding you, kissing you.. i couldn’t risk having it thrown in my face just to realize we could never have that relationship. it’s all i’ve ever wanted with you.”

a long silence followed, you sitting with tear-stained cheeks and reggie deep in thought. it wasn’t awkward, but it wasn’t quite comfortable either. finally he turned to you, without hesitation pulling you into his chest and holding you close, lovingly stroking your hair. you cried a bit in relief, holding onto the fabric of his shirt tightly. the two of you sat until you calmed, and then you laid down, motioning for reggie to do the same. you comfortably positioned yourself and he did the same, wrapping his arms around you and began humming the tune of ‘edge of great’. you felt your eyes fluttering shut, and soon you fell asleep to the soothing sound of reggie's voice and the rise and falling of his chest.

reggie had an itch on his back, and he cursed himself silently. he shifted his body to scratch, brushing his hand over your stomach ever so slightly and feeling you flinch in response. he froze at this, but realized you were still asleep and continued on. when he attempted to shift back into his original position, he somehow managed to poke your side, feeling you flinch again. his eyes widened when he realized: you were extremely ticklish. and he could touch you now.

he knew he’d probably regret it later, but he gently slid out from underneath your frame, before rubbing featherlight touches over your skin, causing you to roll back and forth slightly. you began mumbling incoherently in protest, and he could tell you were waking up. he began actualling tickling you, and your thrashing got more and more intense until you shot awake with a squeal, attempting to fight him off. at this point he smirked, throwing a leg over you so he was straddling you and got a better angle for his attack.

he kept this up until you surrendered and were struggling for air, laughing uncontrollably. he smirked, rolling off of you and laying back down, arms open for you to resituate yourself against him.

“absolutely not!” you pouted, huffing. “you really just went out of your way to wake me up from a nap to tickle me. not cool reg.” you crossed your arms over your chest and looked away, feigning dramatic effect.

he frowned, thinking you were actually upset. “oh c’mon y/n, i’m sorry! i just got really excited - i’m literally touching my girlfriend for the first time! please don’t be mad at me!” he pleaded, his natural puppy dog eyes pulling you out of your acting.

“fine. but you better cuddle the shit out of me to make up for this.” you smirked, and he smiled brightly, reaching for you and pulling you against him once more. looking back, you understood your reasoning, but you realized if you’d only talked it through with reggie, you could’ve gotten way more cuddles and way more kisses. you pouted at the thought, and reggie gave you a questioning look as to say ‘what’?

“nothing. just upset we waited so long for this.” you sighed, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.