#ralex

s2 was okayish from what i remember but granted i could’ve blocked a lot out in a rage 😂

Alex stared at the black rectangle on the table before him, scowling. Usually he liked his phone-it enabled him to play endless levels of Candy Crush during long road trips, supplied him with music and podcasts galore for the gym and study time, and it house innumerable pictures that portrayed a swath of happy memories.

But he hated using it for its intended purpose-making phone calls.

He had never liked making calls, often rehearsing what he was going to say beforehand, until his father had heard him doing so and admonished him for it-be a man was an oft quoted phrase whenever his anxiety reared up and froze him from completing simple tasks that wouldn't daunt anyone else.

Unfortunately it was due to said anxiety that he had to use this blasted contraption in the first place-he needed to see his doctor for a new prescription, and that involved calling to make an appointment-Alex's least favourite kind of call. It was stupid, he knew it was stupid, but he had always been bad about admitting he even needed the meds to cope, and felt judged asking for them.

He knew of course, that was his father talking, but it didn't overwrite things, and thus, still hated making this call.

"Hey babe, what did your phone ever do to you?" Reggie asked, kissing him on the cheek as he passed, setting the milk and other groceries he had gotten in the fridge. "Unsolicited dick pic from a fan? Lose your last level of whatever game you're way too invested in?"

"I have to call Dr. Kirkland," Alex grumbled.

Reggie paused at that-he had been there through the whole journey, through too many panic attacks to count, taking them out for a walk after the downstairs neighbours complained about the pacing. He got it, if anyone did. "Do you...do you want me to call them for you?"

Alex looked up at Reggie then, surprise and relief painting his face. "Would you really?"

He shrugged. "You know I don't mind."

"And you don't think I'm weird or crazy for being so scared of making a phone call?" Alex asked, his voice shrinking with each syllable.

"Nah, besides I love your crazy-it matches mine," Reggie replied, supplying him with another kiss before picking up the phone and dialing. "Hello, I'd like to make an appointment for Alex Mercer?"

Alex felt a warm glow as Reggie managed to get Alex an appointment that worked for him, all without breaking out into a sweat, or fumbling over his words as Alex often did. All without making him feel lesser than because of his anxiety like so many more had done before.

Being loved was wonderful sometimes.

"There, done and dusted," Reggie stated as he handed Alex back his phone. "Any other calls you've been putting off you need me to make?"

"No, that's all for now," Alex quipped. "But-thank you. For everything."

"Anything for you babe," Reggie shrugged. "Now I am going to make a salad for lunch and grudgingly enjoy it because I can't listen to another lecture about eating healthier from Victoria."

"She loves you and wants you around as long as possible. As do I."

"Fine," Reggie sighed, "But I'd still rather have a pizza."

~

Reggie had never liked bugs. Not scared of them per say, but he had never been a fan. He hadn't been able to avoid them growing up on a farm as he had, but he always preferred riding horses to catching fireflies.

He never killed the bugs though-he was too soft hearted for that, and thanks to reading Charlotte's Web far too young, he couldn't bear the thought of killing bugs.

He'd had people scoff at that in the past-hell, Luke still did whenever Reggie whimpered whenever he stomped on a bug or swatted at a fly.

"Dude you eat meat, where do you think it comes from?"

"I grew up on a farm," Reggie snarked. "I know where meat comes from. But for some reason...I dunno, bugs are different."

"You don't even like them!"

"I know, and while I don't want them anywhere near me, I still can't bring myself to squash them."

Alex was no real fan of bugs either, but he also hated how much killing them upset Reggie. They weren't together back then, but after he offered to release them outside, or kill them out of his view, well it wasn't long coming.

So today when he came home and found Reggie curled up on a kitchen chair, eyes wide and skittish, he could figure out why pretty quick.

"Spider?"

Reggie nodded, his bottom lip plush and red from how hard he had been biting it. He pointed a shaky finger towards the kitchen, letting out a shaky breath.

"I got it sweetie, no worries," Alex assured him, grabbing a cup and sheet of paper-he always had them handy for situations like this, and approached the floor by the fridge.

Fuck that is a huge spider.

"How the heck did you get in here buddy?" Alex asked, hoping his voice wasn't wavering-and really hoping this guy wasn't venomous-as he laid the paper down. "I really hope you aren't somebody's pet."

"Why would you ever have a spider as a pet?' Reggie asked, half a hysterical laugh came choking out as he did.

"You said if you could have a pet capybara you would."

"Capybaras are just really big guinea pigs. Spiders are eight legged arachnids that you can't cuddle or pet, or play fetch with."

Alex lowered the cup, giving a little cheer as it fit over the spider, carefully lifting the trap over to the window, and tossed the spider out onto the fire escape, watching it skitter away. Maybe he should have killed it-invasive species at all. But Reggie was at his back, breathing a sigh of relief as the bug went on his way, and Alex knew killing the spider would have made it all the worse.

"Me hero," Reggie said, hugging Alex around the waist. "What would I do without you?"

"Be stuck on the kitchen chair for one."

"Meanie."

"You love me."

"I really do. Wanna spend my life with you," Reggie confessed; vulnerable and sweet.

They had discussed the subject before, of course. Alex had never really cared about having a ceremony and a ring-commitment was enough for him, though they had never really made a move to solidify their relationship. Reggie was firmly against the institution, but given how miserable his parents had been, Alex couldn't blame him.

"I can do that," Alex said, turning in Reggie's arms. "We promise ourselves to each other, and then we're stuck with each other."

"Really?" Reggie asked, his spring green eyes almost verging on grey from how watery they were. "Well, then you have to promise me that you'll come to Comic Con with me in matching cosplay."

"Can I choose the costumes?"

"We can discuss it." Reggie was smiling now, that disarming smile that made Alex fall for him all those years ago. "Any other promises?"

"I promise to always kill the spiders if you promise to always make my doctor's appointments. Deal?"

"Deal," Reggie said, rising up on his tiptoes to seal the deal with a kiss. "I now pronounce us stuck together for life."

"We should get a cake, invite everyone over to celebrate."

Reggie grinned at that. "Sounds good to me. You can be the one to tell Victoria."

Reggie's first soulmate memory is of church-which is weird since he's Jewish, but he never assumed his soulmate would be. Faith isn't all that important to him-he mostly goes to Temple to mollify MeeMaw, but he doesn't mind it either; he likes the flow of the Hebrew, even if his pronunciation is terrible.

So yeah, it's a bit of a jolt to see flashes of crosses, boys in white robes, and the taste of wine on his tongue (it's awful and he will never understand how his mom can down a bottle of it on her own).

He wonders what his soulmate sees-is it memories of Temple, of the ranch, of learning to ride a horse? He hopes its of Old Red and the open fields of Georgia-those are some of his favourite memories.

His net memory is of a teenaged girl-long blonde hair and sensible glasses, surrounded by boxes, a packed car, a John Hopkins sweatshirt.

So his soulmate had a sister-older, and off to college. Reggie had always been an only child, so the prospect of losing a sibling, even if it was only for school. He had grown up with cousins and friends, but he supposed a sister, even one who was so much older, was different. He wished he could hug his soulmate, because even if he couldn't feel what they were feeling, he was sure it made them lonely.

Reggie got lonely-even with all those friends and cousins, plus the hoses, he never had someone super close. And now that they were going to be moving to LA, leaving all that behind them, Reggie was sure that feeling would only get worse. He held himself tight, akin to a hug, and hoped that somehow, that feeling would go through the ether to his soulmate, wherever they were.

For the next little bit, Reggie's memories are all his own-missing the ranch so much it hurt. Wishing he could have stayed behind with MeeMaw and Pops, but he knew he couldn't. Even though he loved the beach by his house, learning the bass that Pops had gifted him with before they left, and the sunny weather.

Eventually he gets some more memories from his soulmate-a warm pink sweatshirt that conveys comfort, a pamphlet for the school's GSA-which raises a whole lot more questions than it answers for Reggie-and a set of drumsticks that help calm them down.

Reggie likes that they have music in common, and finds it kind of funny that they both chose rhythm instruments-but hey, it was important to have a good beat! Plus Reggie could always play another instrument-his grandparents had taught a little piano and banjo as well.

He wondered for a bit about his soulmate being gay-but if that was what fate wanted, who was he to question it? Sure Reggie had always been equal opportunity, but he always kind of figured he would end up paired to a girl. This was an adjustment-not a disappointment.

But then-there's a memory of a boyish smile, of a stolen kiss, of intertwined hands that then let go just as quickly as they clasped together.

Reggie tries not to feel hurt-lots of people date before meeting their soulmate, he had just never been one of them. He had always hoped that-but no, he wasn't going to judge, he was no stranger to crushes, he was just too awkward about his braces and love of D&D to do much of anything about them.

He will admit though, that he does feel a little twinge of pleasure when the next memories are of a Dirty Dancing marathon with a pint of ice cream-even though the subsequent memories of the tummy ache due to his soulmate eating dairy were less pleasant.

Then he's in high school, and everything is different. Bigger, louder, and more overwhelming. He finds everything harder, especially since he's at a different school from the few friends he made at middle school. But this place was supposed to be good for kids into music, and somehow he had scored himself a scholarship.

Still he clung a little bit tighter to his bass strap as he traversed the halls, thankful the pretty girl with curly brown hair helps him find his class, and tells him which teachers to avoid. He forgets to get her name, but hopes he sees her later to give her his thanks.

His classes are difficult and boring in equal measure-aside from math, Reggie loves math, and is surprisingly good at it. While his dyslexia made letters squibble and change, numbers never betrayed him. Plus with all his time playing D&D, numbers became an essential skill-even if the guys he played with hated his dungeons more often than not.

Then it's music class, and Reggie feels like he can breathe again. No matter what, he was home when he was playing.

Except...these kids are good. Sure, they would be in a music focused school, but their skill makes Reggie feel small, since they've all had lessons and he had to teach himself.

But then...there's a really cute blonde guy on the drums and Reggie swears his heart is keeping beat with the song, and it makes his fingers itch to play with him.

He gets his chance to play next-opting for his bass, since he didn't think Cali kids would much appreciate his mad banjo skills. But they seemed to like him well enough, since they were clapping wildly at his performance until Reggie's cheeks were pink and hurting from how wide his smile was.

"That was amazing!" the cute blonde drummer said, offering him a high five after class. "Finally someone who can keep up with me!"

Reggie was about to respond when another boy came up behind the drummer, throwing an arm over his shoulders. "Oh Lex, you know I can speed up the tempo any time you want."

"Get off," he grumbled, pushing the cheeky boy away.

But Reggie froze-"I know that smile."

"What?' both boys turned to look at him.

"I know your smile," he said to the second boy. "I saw it in my soulmate memories-you were in a relationship with my soulmate."

The blonde groaned. "Ugh, worst decision of my life...." Then he looked at Reggie. "You're my nerdy cowboy!"

Reggie grinned, and mimed tipping his hat. "Sure am. But you can call me Reggie."

"I'm Alex, and this is Luke who is going to leave now," Alex said, glaring at Luke who smiled and saluted before running off after the same curly haired girl Reggie had seen earlier.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"So what was the first memory you got?" Reggie asked, the two of them slowly walking down the hall towards the quad to eat their lunch.

"Horses," Alex replied. "You?"

"Church," Reggie said, screwing up his nose.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Alex said, ducking his head. "I don't really go anymore-my parents only want me to go to repent my sins and all that, and I prefer living my truth."

"I've never been to church, and we stopped going to Temple pretty much after moving here, but I did get Bar Mitzvahed back in Georgia because my MeeMaw demanded it."

"Did you do the whole chair dance thing?" Alex asked.

"The hora? Yeah, it was super fun," Reggie replied.

"Pity I missed that memory," Alex said, their hands sliding together.

You would think after nearly dying from tainted street dogs, Reggie would learn his lesson. But he was sure that that kind of thing only happened once, and expiration dates were really more of suggestion anyways right?

This of course, came back to bite him in the butt-quite literally as he found himself becoming violently ill no less than an hour later. And every fifteen minutes after that for the next few hours.

Reggie honestly never wants to look at a can of tuna ever again.

"Stupid fish," he muttered as he heaved for breath while lying next to the bathtub. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Ate it for one."

Reggie looked up and there was Alex, kneeling next to him and placing a blessedly cool cloth on his forehead. "Fair."

"You're a mess," Alex commented dryly. "Think you could sit through a bath?"

Reggie shook his head, which meant he was well and truly sick, baths were one of his favourite things, and half the reason he got this apartment was the rather large tub. "Don't trust myself not to puke or worse, and that would ruin the bath."

"Sponge bath then," Alex offered. "Because no offence man, but you reek."

"I am aware," Reggie said, letting Alex help him into the tub. "I can barely stand myself."

"Well maybe now you'll have learned your lesson about keeping food for years after they expire," Alex commented, wetting a cloth and washing off his sweaty and disgusting face.

"Works for hoarders and preppers," Reggie said, ducking his head at Alex's glare. "Alright, I'll go through the pantry and do a purge."

"What do you think I've been doing while you've been re-enacting the Exorcist in here?"

Reggie chuckled, but then clutched his stomach as the movement made it clench. "Oh, don't make me laugh."

Alex mimed zipping his lips as he washed over Reggie's arms and torso. Shielding his eyes as he drenched his hair, softly working shampoo through the greasy strands.

Reggie hummed at the feeling, it had been a day or two since he had gotten to wash, so this felt luxurious. He peered at Alex who was never one for dealing with bodily fluids or sick people, but here he was, cleaning Reggie up after the worst bout of food poisoning known to man. "You must love me a lot."

Alex snorted. "Obviously, you idiot."

"So now you're insulting a sick person?"

"When said sick person self inflicted themselves? Yes," Alex replied, still washing Reggie the whole time.

"Thanks," Reggie said quietly.

"You'd do the same for me," Alex shrugged.

"Still, I appreciate it," Reggie said, feeling much better as Alex lifted him from the tub, towelling him gently. "I will get you the best thank you present. You want a new drum set? it's yours."

"I'm good," Alex chuckled. "Just...don't do this again, you really scared me. Thought I'd have to call paramedics there for a hot second."

Reggie shuddered-none of them were fan of the hospitals after the street dogs, and he really didn't want to deal with the surely judgemental nursing staff who would lecture him worse than anything that Alex could come up with. "I promise no more dodgy fish."

At this his stomach made a weird noise, causing him to groan. Alex looked at him. "Doubt you're eating much of anything for the next little bit, seafood or not. Now, do you think you can be okay on the couch for a bit while I sanitize the fuck out of this bathroom?"

"I can try?" Reggie replied, working his way into an oversized pair of sweats that surely belonged to Alex and a shirt that might just be his own, but their wardrobe was too mixed up for him to tell any more.

Alex situated him in front of the TV with cartoons playing on low, a bucket in case he needed to yak, and a sleeve of saltines, in case he wanted to nibble on them, as well as a glass of ginger ale. Then he went off to make the bathroom lemony fresh.

Reggie let himself sink into the cushions, his stomach still gurgling, but settled for now, and hummed along to the music Alex was playing as he wiped, sprayed, and scrubbed.

His body might hate him right now, and Reggie knew it should. But his heart? It was well and truly full, and that made up for everything else.