Just The Boy Next Door

~5~

The next morning, I woke up to find myself alone in Andy's room. On the bean bag chair I had sat on the day previous were my clothes, neatly folded and a rose placed sweetly on top of them. Grinning from ear to ear, I moved the rose and replaced the batman t-shirt with my clothing from the day before. Breaking the stem of the rose just short enough to fit in my jean jacket pocket nicely, I checked my face and hair in the bathroom mirror before leaving the room.

Descending the stairs, I smelt something amazing being prepared for breakfast. It took a minute before I could hear Naomi's voice come from the living room. Making my way into the large living space, I was spotted by her, Jinxx, CC, and Andy, who were watching Saturday morning cartoons.

"Good morning, beautiful!" Naomi shouted gleefully and smiled, waving me to come sit next to her.
"Good morning, best friend," I replied back cheerfully and plopped down next to her.
"I didn't want to wake you, princess," Andy got up from the over-stuffed arm chair in the corner and sat on the opposite side of me, "You were sleeping so sweetly, I just couldn't do it."
"You are sweet, Andy," a grin played on my lips as my temple received a kiss from his soft lips.

The smell of bacon, eggs, and coffee beckoned me as I excused myself to explore the kitchen. Ashley stood in front of the coffee pot in a Hello Kitty onesie with matching coffee mug in hand as Jake flipped eggs at the stove, whistling a random tune.

"Morning, guys," I made my way over to the cabinets, "Which one of these have coffee mugs in them? My hangover is killing me."
Chuckling, Ashley pointed to the cabinet to the right above the sink and I grabbed the second biggest one available. Filling my cup and doctoring it up a bit, I smiled at him and patted Jake's shoulder before heading back into the living room.

"Hey," Jake's voice called back to me, "Tell everyone breakfast will be done in about fifteen minutes!"

Apparently the rest of the bunch had heard him for they were making their way to the large kitchen table that was in the dining room. Naomi eyed Jake who turned her way for just a moment and smiled, his eyes shining. I smirked, knowing they had a night similar to ours.

"Okay, so I have toast and bagels, and their are biscuits on the counter cooling. The eggs are done to everyone's liking, and bacon is separated into crispy and fatty. Dig in, I'm fucking exhausted."

Naomi patted Jake on the shoulder as he dotted her nose with left over biscuit mix, leaving a white dot. Scrunching her face, she removed it and playfully shoved Jake. This was entirely too cute.

"You guys should get a room," CC shot at them as he was filling his plate.
"We are in one, wild child." Naomi hissed, making CC laugh and Jake rolled his eyes.

Breakfast was successful enough. I knew I had wanted to spend the day with Andy, but that all depended on his schedule. Naomi and Jake were going to the Byrd Theatre to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a two dollar movie feature, that afternoon, and CC was heading off the the gym with Ashley. Jinxx planned on heading to the library to start work on some of his classes for this semester, so he was going to be gone for most of the day.

"So, what do you want to do today, princess?"

Andy stood in the middle of the kitchen watching me put my plate and glass into the sink, looking cute in his black skinny jeans, ankle boots, and a black, torn up Misfits shirt.

"I am not sure," I pursed my lips, thinking for all of a minute before it hit me, "Hollywood Cemetary or Cary Town?"
"Oh man, hard choice," the tall, handsome man before me said as he wrapped his arms around me, nuzzling into the back of my head, "How about both? Cary town, then lunch, then a walk in Hollywood to work off the lunch."

We chuckled and agreed on our date.

"I can drive the house car," Andy ran his hand through his hair, "unless you want to hike back to your house and get your car."
"No, no no," I shook my head and laughed, "I'm good with this plan."

Finally making it out to his car, he opens the passenger door.

"For you, my lady," he bowed as I got in, chuckling.
"Oh so gentlemanly."

The ride was short, but parking was horrible. Deciding to park next to the pet store, Dogma, we prepared ourselves for a little shopping as well as lunch.

"So, what made you come to Virginia in the first place, love?" I asked as I looked around our first stop, a boutique with gently used stylish clothing.
"Well," he bit his lip, "Truthfully VCU was always my first choice in schools. When I met Scout, she had sent a transcript off the UCLA, so I did, too. Call it dumb or stupid, but I learned a lot there. Including how to follow your gut and brain sometimes, and not your heart. Scout was so bad for me at that time."
"Oh, I'm sorry you had to endure all of that mess," I scrunched my face at the thought, "I'm glad you are out here now, though."

His blue eyes twinkled as his smiled grew large enough fill the room with light.

"Yea, me too."

Picking out a few new-to-me pieces of clothing, and a vintage travel bag for over nights at my mom's, I purchased my goodies and we made our way to One Eyed Jacques.

"So, why do you shop here again?" Andy looked around with a confused look on his face.
"I play Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons," pausing my train of thought, I picked up a limited edition Monopoly game, "And games likes this. Oh my god, it is only twenty bucks! I'm buying this shit!"

I exclamation made Andy break out into laughter, making me smile. I was glad we had such a great time together. Leaving the store with yet another purchase, we decided to head back to his car to store my purchases.

"Just how much money do you plan on spending, anyway?" He shot at me, smirk playing on his lips.
"Well, my rent is paid and same as my bills. Gas tank is full, same as my fridge. I don't rightly know. Why?"
"Just wondering how much you actually have to spend."
"I'm afraid I will have to kill you if I tell you." I said with the most serious face possible.
"I'm sorry, I-"

I doubled over in laughter as soon as I realized he thought I was for real, resulting in a slight shove.

"You little shit," he laughed, "You had me for a second there."

He pulled me in for a hug, and kissed my forehead. I cooed under the warmth of his lips. Deciding now was as good a time as ever, I pulled out my pack of cigarettes and lit one, offering one to Andy.

"Thanks, babe," He grabbed one from my pack and lit it, spewing the smoke into the air.
"So, what made you choose VCU?" He looked at me quizzically.
"It happens to be a really great, well known school for music majors. That and I didn't want to move too far from home. I'm really close to my entire immediate family; well, except for my Aunt Margaret. But that is a long story I would like to save for another day."
"Sounds good," he took one last puff of the smoke, and stomped it out on the pavement, "So, lunch?"
"Baker's Crust sound good, babe?"
"Perfect!"

Lunch with my sweet friend went well; we caught up on each other's lives and enjoyed some seriously good food. The waitress, however, was a bit too friendly with him which made him uneasy. I had to call him my husband and make up a story about how it was our wedding anniversary to get her to stop with the come on's.

Leaving the eatery, he was impressed with my ability to remain cool-headed. He ranted about how he had had admirers in the past who had made it their goal to constantly tell him that they loved him and cared about him; he wasn't all about that.

"I guess that is another reason why you moved here, huh?" I looked up at him after a few moments of silence as we made our way up to World of Mirth, a cute store with odds and ends, "I can only imagine how that was for you in California, land of the pretty people."
"Hey now," he looked at me sharply, "Not everyone is beautiful. You can be gorgeous on the outside and ugly on the inside. Venomous people live in Los Angeles."

Smirking again, he nudged my shoulder and grabbed my hand. Strolling along in silence, I came to the conclusion I wasn't going to rush things. He had had a hell of a time in his two previous relationships and I wasn't going to give him a third to run him in the ground with.

Reaching the quirky store, his eyes lit up like a kid in a candy shop. He broke down and bought this pillow that was in the shape of bacon and eggs, and I bought the french toast one to match. After laughing at the organ and body part pillows, we left and officially decided to make our way back to the car to head on over to the cemetery.

"I had no idea how much there was to do around here," He said as he pulled into the cemetery parking lot, "I mean, there is almost too much to do, in one small area."
"There is a bit of something for everyone, I think." I sighed and got out once we were parked.

The walk around the cemetery was uneventful but wonderful in it's own right. He took pictures and read the map as we approached various grave sites, tombs, and the Confederate Pyramid. It wasn't until we reached the back end of President's Avenue that we took the time to sit down and look out over Belle Isle, another historical attraction and place to go to swim in the James River.

"This is beautiful," he finally exclaimed over the view as we settled onto our chosen perch, "You have lived here your whole life. I wish I could have done the same. Ohio doesn't have places like this."
"I'm sure it does," I glanced over at him and look his hand, "You just have to look for them."
"And have to look for them with the right person," he looked down at me, eyes shining.
"Maybe one day, we can do that together then, Andy."
"I would like that. A whole lot, actually."

Sitting in silence for a bit, I felt his arm around my shoulder. Pulling me close, he placed his chin on head. Closing my eyes, I leaned against him and rested my head against his shoulder.

"I know what I want, but I want to deserve it when I get it. Does that make sense?"

His statement and question caught me off guard as I glanced up at him looking down at me in a loving manner.

"Do you believe in love at first sight, Andy?
"You didn't answer my question, DJ."

I sighed, frustrated that this is where our afternoon was going to leave off.

"Fine, Biersack, fine. Yes, babe, it makes enough sense. Now your turn."

Snickering a bit, the young man stood from his perch and reached for my hand to help me up. As I stood, he looked at me with the same look he had had earlier, kind of romantic like.

"To answer your question, princess, no I didn't until I met you."

I felt my heart beat speed up and my stomach flip with that answer. While I barely knew him, I felt like I loved him. I felt the most relaxed with him and could talk to him about anything. It just felt natural.

"That is good to know."

We decided to call it a day and head back to my house; I offered to cook dinner for the two of us and he offered to help me with my radio show line up for the following Monday.

The drive back to my place was uneventful besides the blaring of The Misfits on Andy's cd player. He was cute as he sang each song, not quite fitting in with the vocalist. His voice was powerful, angelic and deep; something you would hear in an old timey movie or musical.

"So which one is your's, Deege," he pointed to my house and giggled, as he saw my Nirvana flag on the flag pole, "I bet it's that one."
"Oh hush, you!"

Pulling into my driveway and putting the car in park, Andy offered to help with my bags and we carried everything to the front door. I dug in my pocket for my house key and unlocked the door.

"Wow, this is your place?" He looked around in amazement.

I had decorated my house with not only music posters and band merchandise, but classical pieces as well as my awards from my time at VCU and my radio show competitions.

"You won first place in a Local Radio Personality competition?" His eyes were wide with amazement, "I didn't know they had that shit here."
"Richmond is pretty diverse, so I was lucky to win that award. 'Best New Comer' I believe it was for. I was pretty excited, so was Naomi.
"I'm lucky to have met such a talented woman then," He smiled cheekily as I sarcastically bowed.
"Thank you sir, thank you."

The night following went smooth and without incident. By the time Andy had to leave, I felt sad and a little let down. Not his fault, but I was quickly becoming attached to him, which I have never done.

"I will see you tomorrow, DJ. Have a great night, princess."

He smiled and rubbed my cheek. I held his hand there for a moment, closing my eyes and feeling his touch one last time before we parted.

"You drive safe please. I will see you tomorrow."

Notes