In Real Life ✓

14. Good Guy Greg Puts You In His Bed & Sleeps On the Couch Himself

Apparently, I'd fallen asleep. Not a very good idea...

When I woke up again the next morning to the sound of an unfamiliar and very annoying alarm clock, I had a fucking heart attack. I fell out of the bed I'd been sleeping in and got up with a groan to find out I didn't even know whose fucking bed it was.

The fact that I woke up with my head pounding like crazy didn't make my situation any less confusing, either. I had one of those classic whoa-what-happened-last-night moments until I realized that I was fucking asexual. Besides, I could perfectly remember what happened. I hadn't gotten drunk and somehow ended up in a stranger's bed. I had only been with Gilbert. We talked and ate pizza and watched movies. All normal. Nothing weird. Apart from the drugs, though.

I let out a breath.

But my parents...

"Shit."

I glared at the alarm clock, which was still blaring like a siren, and called Gilbert's name as I turned the noisy shit off. He didn't reply, but since my head did not appreciate me raising my voice above three decibels either, I left the room to look for him. I found him asleep on his couch and pressed my toes into his face, because that was totally an acceptable way to wake someone up.

He frowned and mumbled something, before opening his eyes, squinting up at me as if I were as bright as the sun. "What?"

"Why does your alarm clock go off at 7:30 on a Saturday?"

"What?" He rubbed his face, clearly no clue what I was talking about. Also, clearly not a morning person.

"The alarm clock."

"Oh," he croaked. "Sorry, forgot to turn it off."

"Did you tell my parents I'm here or do they think I died?"

"Would they think you were dead after one night?"

"Most likely. Speaking of parents, where are yours?"

"They don't live here."

"You live alone?"

He shrugged and stretched out on the couch, his legs sticking out at least three feet. Boys with long bodies like Gilbert shouldn't lie on couches and I was not saying that because I felt bad for him. Because it didn't just look uncomfortable. It looked stupid.

"I couldn't tell your parents where you were because your phone is locked and you wouldn't wake up, but they stopped trying to call you after two tries, so I guess they weren't that worried."

"They probably thought I was staying over at Tamara's or Leslie's then, I guess. Hmm... That's a good thing actually... If you had called them, they wouldn't have wanted me to stay over at your house, because you're a boy and all."

"Do they not know you're asexual?"

I had no idea if they knew, honestly. Humming thoughtfully, I scratched my head and said, "Now that I think about it, I never bothered to tell them, but even if they knew, they still wouldn't have wanted me to stay over. My brother ruined their image of innocent sleepovers for them. Fucking sex addict."

"Ladies' man, huh?"

"More like a gentlemen's man," I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"Oh. Really?"

"Yep. My parents got a gay son and an ace daughter, because the Bridges are meant to have no offspring and go completely extinct."

He snorted and then started snapping his fingers. "Wait, I remember now. Your brother on Twitter."

I nodded and, at the mention of Twitter, I took my phone from his coffee table, where it had been lying all night. The battery was almost dead, but I could still see that I indeed had two missed calls, and a shit ton of messages from the group chat with Leslie and Tamara, of whom the latter said that her date with Darren had gone splendidly, which brought a smile to my face.

Then my phone died. Sad lyfe.

"Would you like breakfast?" Gilbert asked, his head buried in his kitchen cabinet. "I have, uh... cornflakes and chocolate."

"Do you have any milk with that?"

He looked in his fridge and produced a carton that sounded just about empty when he shook it. He gave me an apologetic shrug and said, "You can have the last bit."

With a sigh, I took the carton from him. "You're a mess."

"Thanks."

"Also, remind me never to smoke weed again."

"Didn't like it?" He handed me a bowl so I could eat my cornflakes with my last few droplets of milk. Feeling adventurous, I added the chocolate as well. I thought his question over as I chewed and eventually said, "I guess there's upsides to it as much as downsides, but you know, I think I can live without it."

"Fair enough."

"Also, I love how my first date turned into getting high and having an unplanned sleepover that ended far too early because of your stupid alarm clock."

He scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. I wouldn't exactly call it my proudest moment. I've had better dates."

"I'm so offended, Gilbert. Where are my roses?" I said before spooning cornflakes into my mouth and smirking at his awkward expression. "I had fun, though."

"Oh, okay, that's good."

And then he showed me that cute, crooked smile of his.

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