Introduced (Reece Bibby fanfiction)

Chapter 4

Two weeks have passed since Lewis died and today was the funeral. I could tell today was going to be a tough day and I was not looking forward to it. However, Reece was going to be there and I was excited to meet him. Over the past few weeks me and him have become really close and he's become a really good friend to me. He's like my shoulder to cry on and I already feel like I can tell him anything.

When I arrived at the church where the service was being held I saw Reece standing outside. He knew what I looked like because we'd facetimed a few times before. He began to walk over to me and gave me a huge hug. I'm really small and so I only just reached his shoulder.

"You okay?" He asked, looking down at me. I shook my head, staring at the floor. I can't do this, I'm not ready for it. Reece took my hand in his and squeezed it tight.

"You'll be fine, I'm here for you the whole way through this." he said as we walked through the doors.

I don't remember much of what happened, I think I just cried a lot. Reece was really good though, he just sat there with his arm around me. It wasn't much but it still helped.

Once everything has finished me and Reece went to the park across the road. We sat down on the swings and sat there in an awkward silence.

"Soooo..." I said, trying to break the silence. It funny how you can talk to someone for hours over text but when you meet in person you have nothing to say. He looked at me and laughed. This was getting really awkward. Reece looked back at the ground and as he did he must have caught sight of my wrist because he grabbed my arm.

"Alice what's this?" He said, I could hear the urgency in his voice. I had slipped into cutting regularly again and you could see a few fresh cuts on my wrist where my jacket didn't cover. I stared at the ground, not wanting to tell him the truth.

"Alice? Did you do this to yourself?" I could feel him looking at me. I felt sick, I couldn't lie to him.

"I um... I'm sorry" I muttered, still staring at the ground. "I just, I don't know, it's my way of coping with everything" I could feel tears filling my eyes and tried so hard to blink them away. Reece stood up and pulled me into a hug. I nuzzled my face into his shoulder and began sobbing. We sat down on a bench and he pulled me close to him.

"Right, tell me everything" he said, "tell me everything that's ever happened that makes you want to do this." So I began, I explained about my mum running away and problems with my dad and then everything that had happened at school and then obviously Lewis, how it felt to lose him. I must admit it helped to tell someone everything. After I had finished Reece just looked at me. I thought I'd fucked everything up, like I always do.

"Look at me" he said, lifting my chin up lightly. "You're beautiful Alice, I want you to know that, and you're amazing too. You've been through so much shit and you're such a strong person. I understand why you self harm and how you use it as a coping method but I want you to try and stop okay. I know it will be hard but I hate seeing you unhappy and I'm going to help you every step of the way."

Tears were still trickling down my face and Reece lifted his hand to wipe them away. As he did he began to lean towards me and I lent towards him too. The sun was setting behind us as our lips touched. I don't know what made me do it but it was everything I would dream it to be. I closed my eyes and just let it happen. When we pulled away I lent onto his shoulder and he pulled me close to him.

"I love you Alice and I'm here for you no matter what." He whispered in my ear. I looked up at him and he looked at me.

"Love you too." I replied, a smile creeping across my face.