Take This To Heart

“Ashley wake the fuck up!” I heard someone pounding on my door. It was probably Jake and Chris. Why can't they let me sleep? I managed to glance at the clock. 12 PM. Damn it all. I climbed out of bed and walked to my front door.
“Calm your asses down, I'm coming.” I yelled unlocking the door slowly, and sure enough, my two best friends were at the door. Jake Pitts, my best friend since middle school; and Chris Ceruli, my friend from work. “What the fuck do you want?”
“It's Saturday bro! You know what that means?” Jake smiled letting himself in.
“Jake, I'm not in the mood right now.” I complained sitting down on the couch.
“Hear that Chris, he said he's not in the mood.” Jake laughed sitting next to me.
“He says that every week until he starts drinking.” Chris laughed heading for the kitchen.
“I'm serious guys. I'm not in the mood for a party today.” They kept laughing, until Jake saw the expression on my face.
“Whoa. Hang on a sec Chris, I think he's actually telling the truth.” He scooted closer to me. “What's wrong Ash?”
“Frigging next door neighbor filed another complaint on me yesterday. Manager called and said that if I get another complaint I'll get kicked out.” I sighed leaning against the arm.
“So, whats the big deal? You just move into another building.” Chris said sitting down in the chair next to us.
“That's the problem though. I like my apartment. And, if I try to move, the new guys will just call the manager here and then they won't give me the apartment because of the noise complaints and shit.”
“We don't have that problem.” Jake chuckled.
“That's because you live next to a night club. They don't care about your parties because it's already loud over there.”
“Then just move over there! I'm not seeing the problem.”
“I don't have the money to afford your apartments. Not right now anyway.”
“Well, then go talk to your neighbor. Maybe it's a hot chick.”
“It's a guy. I met him on the elevator a few weeks ago. I don't know if he's alone, or maybe his Mom or girlfriend or something is complaining, but he seemed like a cool guy. I'm not understanding why he would complain.”
“Well, the least you could do is go talk to him.” Chris said yawning.
“Yeah. You go talk to him, and we'll wait here not playing your Xbox.” Jake laughed reaching for the controller on the table.
“You two are assholes.” I groaned getting up and walking out the door.
“Yeah, but you love us.” Whatever. Love doesn't actually exist though, it's all just a giant lie made up by greeting card companies.
I walked over to my neighbors door. My heart was racing at the thought of having to talk to him about this stupid shit. How in the hell did I let those two assholes talk me into this? I reached and rung the doorbell once. I waited for a while, nothing. So I rang it again.
“Hold on! I'm coming!” I heard a voice from inside. Oh lord, here we go. The door opened slowly, and the smell of strawberries filled my nose. A man with bright gray eyes opened the door. He wasn't all that taller than me, a little buffer than me though, but those weren't the eyes I remembered as my neighbors. “Um, can I help you?”
“Oh, I'm sorry. I was looking for the guy who lives here. Tall, skinny, blue eyes. Is he here?” I mumbled. Nothing can make this situation more awkward.
“Andy! Someone at the door for you!” he yelled back into the apartment, keeping an eye on me. “He's kinda cute too!” he laughed when I started blushing. I've never been called cute by a guy, and it made this more awkward. I was wrong.
I heard the stomping of boots coming from a room in the back. “Who is it Jinxxy?” Andy asked turning the corner and looking at me. “Oh! It's the guy from the elevator! What was your name again?”
“It's Ashley Purdy.” I mumbled.
“Oh yeah! Ashley! Now I remember.” He laughed. His friend just stood there and watched us. Andy turned to look at him. “You can go away now Jinxx.” Andy stepped out of his apartment and closed the door behind him. “So, what brings you here today?” he asked.
“Um, my friends actually sent me over here. They wanted me to talk to you about the noise complaints you've been giving the manager about our parties...”
“Wait a minute. You're the asshole in 7G? The guy who parties all night every Saturday?”
“Yeah. That's me. And that's also why I'm here.”
“Let me guess. You want to throw a party, and you're tired of me complaining, so you're gonna shut me up. Yeah, I saw this coming. If you're gonna yell or hit me, get it over with.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Well, I've lived in nine different apartments since the year started, and I moved each time because my neighbors didn't like my complaints.” He laughed.
“Well, they all sound like assholes if you ask me. Tell you what. I'll throw my party tonight, but, it's gonna be hard for you to complain if you're there, right? What do you say? Wanna stop by? You can even bring your friend with you.” I smiled pointing to the door.
“Oh Jinxx? No, he'll be busy with his girlfriend tonight.”
“Does he live with you or something?”
“No. He was visiting, but he's leaving today.”
“That's great. So you'll show up tonight?”
“Hmm... I guess. I'm really not one for parties, but I'll show up.” He smiled.
“Awesome! See you tonight.” I waved walking back to my apartment.
“Bye Ashley! Nice pajamas by the way.” He laughed going back into his apartment. Fucking fuck! I slammed my door shut and glared over at Jake and Chris who were laughing at me.
“Why did you let me go still in my pajamas?!” I yelled throwing pillows at them. I had forgotten that I was shirtless and wearing pink Hello Kitty pajama pants.
“We thought it would be funnier to not tell you.” Chris smiled.
“Fuck you guys. Seriously.” I groaned sitting on the couch.
“Whatever. What did he say?”
“He said we can have the party. I also invited him over.”
“YOU DID WHAT?!” Jake yelled.
“What? He can't complain if he's here, so I invited him over. Plus he has a friend visiting who's leaving tonight, so I figured it would be better than him just sitting in an empty apartment alone.”
“Ashley, it's not like you to care about someone else other than yourself.” Chris said looking at me. “Are you OK?”
“Yeah, I'm fine. Come on. We've gotta go get food and booze for tonight.”

There was a knock on the door at about nine-thirty. I fought through the crowd of people to reach it. I opened the door and Andy was there, dressed in all black, his eyes the only thing of color on him.
“Hey! Glad you could make it.” I smiled at him.
“Well, I had nothing else better to do, so I figured I might as well come drink your beer.” He smiled. I stepped aside and let him in.
“Did your friend leave?” I asked leading him to the kitchen.
“Yeah. He left at about four, so I've just been at home, watching TV, writing, etc.” He grabbed a can of beer from the counter and stood next to me.
“You write?”
“Yeah. It's kind of my job. I work for a publishing company. Mostly for teen fiction and crud. What about you? What do you do for a living?”
“My parents own a music shop, and a bike shop that I help manage. It's not much, but we make good money.” I smiled at him.
“That must be so awesome! Can you ride a motorcycle?”
“Please. I'm a Purdy. Motor oil and rock n roll pump through our veins.” We laughed. It was nice having someone other than Jake and Chris to talk to. Speak of the devil they walked through the kitchen, Jake falling over everything.
“Hey Ash! Who's your little friend?” Chris asked. In height comparison Andy was shorter than him. That's weird.
“This is my neighbor Andy. Andy these are my ass hole best friends who tricked me into this stupid ass party. The giant is Chris and the drunken ass wipe over there is Jake.”
“He makes fun of us a lot to mask the fact that he loves us.” Chris laughed. “It's nice to meet you Andy.”
“It's nice to meet you both too.” He laughed. He had a cute laugh. Wait, what the fuck am I thinking. I just met this guy. Chris and Jake left the kitchen, leaving Andy and me alone.
“Hey, so I know this isn't the greatest place to try to get to know each other, how about we go to the other room?” I asked leading him towards my room.
“If I didn't know any better, I would assume you were trying to get into my pants.” he laughed. I felt a jolt in my heart. I wouldn't mind. He's cute and I haven't had sex with a guy in a long time. Lets see how far I can take this.
“Honestly, you're kinda cute. I wouldn't mind a little look at least.” I winked at him, turning on the trademarked Purdy Charm. His face flushed red. “Come on. Let's go talk.” He followed me slowly into my room. There wasn't much in it. Bed, TV, private balcony that overlooked the city with a dinette set outside.
“Do you mind if we sit outside?” He asked as I was about to sit on my bed.
“Uh, sure.” There's always a first for everything. Usually they pin me to the bed, but I guess not this one. I walked over to the patio door and opened it, letting him out first and following after. The cold night air hit my face softly. Andy sat his beer can on the table and stretched his arms up, revealing his ivory skinned stomach. I bit my lip, trying to hide the obvious sexual frustration he was causing me.
“It's nice out here. I love the cold weather lately.” He sighed leaning against the railing. I sat my beer next to his and leaned backwards against the railing with him. “The view is nice. Some nights I'd sit on my balcony with a nice ho cup of tea and just write.”
“I usually just come out here to think. It's peaceful. No one else to bug me. I can get my thoughts straight.” I sighed closing my eyes a bit. “Hey, I have a question for you.”
“Sure, shoot.” I opened my eyes again and placed my hand onto his, squeezing his hand tightly.
“Do you ever feel, lonely, living by yourself? I've lived his apartment for a while and I never see anyone visiting you.” I looked over at him. He had looked the other way.
“Well, to be honest, I get a bit lonely. Because I don't ever have anyone to spend time with you know? After I broke up with my last boyfriend I never really talked to anyone. Jinxx is my only friend, but he's got his girlfriend.” He tuned back around and he looked at me, his bright blue eyes filled slightly with tears.
“Andy, I. I'm sorry.” I pulled hm into me a bit. Oh Ashley, you've gone too far again.
“It's OK.” He laughed wiping away his tears.
“If it makes you feel better, I'd be your friend. You seem like a cool guy to hang out with.” I smiled at him, and I saw that his eyes flicked quickly from my eyes, to my lips and back. He wants to kiss me. I can feel it, this tension between us. I pulled him closer into me and pressed his soft lips against mine. Andy wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer into him. We stood like that for while, soft moans, slight giggles now and again from me nibbling slightly on his lip ring. Andy started swaying our hips slightly to the song playing inside the house. He broke away from me, but I didn't want him to.
“Do you, maybe wanna come over to my place for breakfast tomorrow?” He asked in the cutest tone.
“Yeah. I'd love to.”
“Great! Stay in your pajamas. We'll hang out all day and have fun. I gotta go though.” He pecked me one good time on the lips before turning away and running for the door. “Bye Ashley.”
“Bye.” I smiled. When I heard the bedroom door close I sank into the chair next to me. Was any of that real? Did we just arranged a date? This was all new to me. He managed a lot of things tonight that I've never done. I've never gone to bed alone during one of my parties, I've never hit on a guy like that, or kissed a guy like that for that long and never wanted him to let go, I've never actually dated anyone, just fuck and leave. But Andy is different, special somehow.