How (not) to date your neighbor

A/N: Valentines Day inspiration....! Why not? As a warning, I don't usually do *mushy/cute/funny* so we shall see? Fingers crossed! *** ALIYAH Aliyah wasn't stalking. No, because stalking would imply that she was a crazy person and she wasn't. So she lingered around in the hall. Maybe she took another minute to find her keys and what if she almost broke her back bending backward everytime she heard a footstep? That wasn't stalking - no sir, no! That was - merely - she was a friendly neighbor. Yes, a friendly neighbor a concerned neighbor who wanted to make sure her unfairly good-looking next-door neighbor made it back home. Was that crazy? Okay. Fine. So she was stalking him a little. But really, it wasn't her fault the man was s*x on a stick. She'd run into him the day she moved in. He's been walking out of his apartment - a shiny police badge hanging off his black leather belt- and she'd swooned. Dark unruly hair, piercing blue eyes, and a towering height of atleast six feet tall. Then again, with her being nothing more than barely five-feet-on-the-dot, anyone towered over her. But that was so besides that point. The point was, she had stood there like an i***t, a giant cardboard box in her hands, while he ran off past her. There have been a brush of the shoulders, one hadn't noticed, and then he was gone. Not a glance, not a smile. Ever since that day- a month ago- she's been trying to force a encounter and make a memorable first impression. So far ? She had failed miserably. His crazy hours didn't help. She'd mostly catch him coming home, looking absolutely exhausted after an obvious way-too-long shift, and then she'd feel awkward bothering him for a chitchat. He didn't adhere to a normal schedule, meaning there was no way for her to plan to run into him. She had to leave it up to fate and well- fate? Fate hated her. All of that wrapped together left her a stalking mess. Great!!!! Maybe she'd know his name by the end of the year. She gave up, retrieving her keys and unlocking her door. Aliyah used her white ballerina -covered foot to kick the wooden door open, allowing her to pass through the tiny space. Her apartment wasn't the biggest but it was enough. Anyway, it wasn't like her salary allowed her to afford much more than this. For now, her master's in Library sciences had only managed to land her a bookstore gig. It was better than nothing and it put food on the table, but it was far stretch from her goal workplace of an academic library. One day at a time. Aliyah sighed, dropping her keys in the yellow ceramic bowl at the entrance. Her dark bangs covered her face while the bottom of her long ponytail was glued to the nape of her neck. The day had been insanely humid and she had been on her feet for the last nine hours. She raised her arms, swiping away a layer of sweat that had built it on her forehead. She forced her long bangs backwards, glueing them to the top of her head, and finally plopped down on a little black chair. Nothing was better than star-fishing on a chair. Except for maybe a shower. Yes. a shower. She hurried to undress, discarding clothes and disrobing as she walked towards the bathroom. Aliyah left the door open, peeling the green curtain away so that she could turn the shower on. She tested the water with her hands before slipping inside. She let the water hit her body, unwinding all her muscles and freeing her from the sweat she had been covered for hours. She felt like a new woman. Now that her muscles were not tight and aching, she was convinced that she could pass out and nap forever. Once she was done, she reached out for the silver round knob, turned off the water and grabbed the nearest towel. She wrapped the blue fabric around her body how long went dark locks hanging over her shoulders and dripping water on the white tiles of the floor. She was about to take another smaller cotton towel to dry her hair when suddenly she saw it. "YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Herr heart stopped, her blood froze in her veins and she was done, for ready to die. Her entire body was shaking like a leaf while she desperately grabbed the green shower curtains, hanging on for her dear life. Oh God, it moved!. Her heart now raced while her mouth was like paste, the fear paralyzing her. This was it. This was how she died. As she kept on screaming, she became faintly aware of the sound of footsteps and shuffling, but her mind was too preoccupied with the treath in front of her to actually register and process any of it . "Are you okay?" And that was -not- a familiar voice. Her eyes left the imminent threat to travel to the left where.... a very tall, dark, and handsome man was standing. He was holding a baseball bat, his captivating blue eyes searching the vicinity for a burglar or a murderer. Except it wasn't a tall, dark handsome stranger. It was her tall, dark handsome neighbor. The large muscles of your arms were tensed and bulging as he readied himself into a battle stance, his long powerful legs grounded into the floor. The whiteness of his t-shirt only served to highlight his tan skin and she suddenly found herself staring for a bit too long- until her brain reminded her for her clad state. "GAH!!!!!!" And now she was screaming for a whole new reason altogether. "What, where?" he asked. "I'm naked!!!!" "You.... -what?...." Eyes widened. Mouth fell open. "I- I heard screaming," he finally defended as he dropped his baseball bat to the ground. "I-hm, I live next door. I'm - the neighbor.... And I ....." "I'm naked," she repeated again, never letting go of the curtains she was clutching for her dear life. They were not a very opaque green- although combined with the towel - it -sorta- helped? Gah. "I h-m, nice meeting you. I will be going now....." as he was walking backwards, his eyes closed and his arms stretched out in front of him to shield her from him even more. She watched him walk away, his feet nearly exiting the bathroom when she cringed. Aliyah knew she should let him leave, salvage what was left of her dignity but..... did she really want to be left alone with that? "Wait" She was going to regret this. He only half turned, which she hoped would help preserve some of her dignity, and he paused. "There's a hm, there's a ....." "A what?" "You know." For God's sake. He was going to make her say it. "There's a spider on the counter." She watched as his eyes widened, and then it happened. He laughed loudly and bent over in a fit of laughter. A rich, deep laugh boomed through the small room, and tears of joy pooled at the corner of his eyes. Ego? Bruised. "Yeah, when you're done laughing...... if you could just......" Her mouth was twisted, her cheeks were red as blood and she could absolutely not met his gaze. The word i***t did keep running on a loop in her head though. Would it be possible for her to simply melt into the ground until she disappeared? He let out a few more chuckles before nodding his head. He leaned forward and grasped the tiny spider in his hand, cupping it without killing it. "I'll escort it out for you". That was his last time of teasing before he turned around and finally exited her apartment, a burst of Small laughter still shaking his entire body. Aliyah crumbled to the ground and hid her face in her wet knees. She was not quite certain if she wanted to die of shame or fear. Both. Once the shame left her body, she wobbled back to her feet, her fingers barely grazing the counter where the enemy had been earlier. She needed to learn how to lock her doors. She peaked out of the doorway, inspecting and ensuring her loneliness, and once it felt safe, she stepped out. She ran to her bedroom and slammed the door shut. Atleast she would be sure that this one was closed. She rummaged through some drawers and finally found a purple top and a pair of shorts that she hurried to put on. Once she was dressed she made a messy ponytail out of her wet hair and exited her bedroom in a flash. She had to do some damage control. She took a deep breath, hoping it might give her some sort of courage, and she stepped out of her apartment. She let her arms rest by her sides and the shook them to shake off the shiver from the earlier encounter with the evil spider. She hated those things. Once she felt better, she forced herself to knock out his door. It was a soft timid knock but it should have been enough. She balance herself from the balls of her feet to her toes as she waited patiently. The door creaked as it opened only to reveal the same pair of piercing blue eyes as earlier. There was a big grin on his face as he leaned against the doorway. As she stare at it, feeling her inside melting like goo, she forgot that words existed. His square jaw had a short stubble covering it and for a second she wondered if it was prickly. Twitchy fingers. "Spider Girl". She cringed. Daydream over.... "It's Aliyah actually," she corrected, her nose crunched up. "I'm Mike," he said as he offered his hands. She timidly shook it and quickly retracted her hand back. "I'm not a crazy baseball bat murderer by the way." "Your bat," she exclaimed as she grabbed he head with her hands. "It's still on my bathroom floor." She had completely forgotten abot it, too mesmerized by the killer spider. And her hot neighbor in her bathroom while she was like- basically-naked. He chuckled. "Keep it. If you're gonna keep your door open like that, you should have a weapon." This time her expression shifted to one of annoyance as her eyebrows knitted. Her hands moved to her hips and she leaned forward. "I forgot". I had a long day -and....." She raised a finger at him. "And who walks into people's houses like that ?" He moved his hand to his back pocket, reached deep into it, and pulled out something she could not quite make out. "A cop?" he suggested as he showed her a shiny badge. Oh. Right.Right. She'd been a little insulted and had allowed that tiny detail to slip her. Then again, she wasn't suppose to know. "And I'm an i***t who's gonna go now," she said as she hid her face in her hands, hoping to mask away her shame. "Trust me, I've seen worse." "Really?" "Yeah." He wrapped his arms around his head, palming at the nape of his neck. "And I made it worse. Sorry about breaking and entering. Force of habit when I hear someone scream. Especially in the building." She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "It's my fault. Open door remember?" "Yeah, you really need to stop doing that." "Did I mention the tired part?" Or the i***t part ? "Let's not forget the part where you almost died." "It was huge!" Her eyes narrowed. "Where did you put it?" He chuckled. "It's outside, learning to live in the wild again." "It better be." "Yes ma'am." Aliyah knew she should find the use of ma'am maybe....insulting ...but instead? The sultry tone of his voice was enough to send tingles all the way to her toes. Damn it. She wasn't good at this. The sedond she had seen him, her stomach had done flips. Part of her hoped that once they actually talkes he would turn out to be dud.... no such luck. "Well, thanks for coming to my rescue." Yup. 10/10 best flirter around. Damn it. She might as weel have said, Hi I'm Aliyah, I'm socially inept. "Anytime," he answered with a smaal bow, clearly teasing her some more. "You live alone?" She nodded. "First apartment without a roommate."