BAD NEIGHBORS

AND OUTSIDE IT'S DARK

"It's just that...

That when you don't come back,
and it's already late,
and outside it's dark
There's no solution, this house smells like you
And I'll listen to your footsteps and with each step I'll feel better
And with each glance outside I lose interest
This grips me with fear, so much fear
A fear of feeling good
Of choosing and making mistakes
But what makes me feel good now is you, my love"

(Tiziano Ferro- E fuori è buio)

"Talking" was a completely unknown word in Wang He Di and Sui He's vocabulary.
Their dates, which had reached twelve, were quite interesting.
They went to the cinema, of course, and to restaurants, to the mall... But all they did was... Devour each other's faces.
Dylan didn't even know how old she was or what job she did.
Neither did she.
Neither of them cared about any of that.
"So? Do you really like her?" Shen Yue asked him one day, while they were shopping at the supermarket.
"Yup".
"Tell me a little about her, come on! Why are you so mysterious?!"
Dylan rolled his eyes.
He wasn't being mysterious... He just didn't know what to say.
"Um... She is... Sweet, kind, caring... And funny!"
"When will I be able to meet her?"
"Never, tiger".
"Why?!"
"Because you would be jealoooous..." Dylan sang as he searched the shelves for his favorite shaving cream.
Shen Yue stepped on her foot.
"Who am I supposed to be jealous of, you idiot?" she grumbled.
"Simple: all my attention would be for her and not for you. It would drive you crazy."
"You're so full of yourself! You can even marry her, for me!" she replied.
"Tsk! I know as soon as you see her you will pull your claws out to rip her off of me" he grinned.
"I would only do it if she made you suffer" Yue said it softly, but Dylan heard it loud and clear.
He put the shaving cream in the cart and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek.
Yue smiled and rolled her eyes.
Those little gestures of affection from him warmed her heart.
"And what about that idiot you went out with last night?" Dylan asked her suddenly.
The day before, Shen Yue had accepted an invitation to dinner from a vet who only worked twice a week in the same clinic as her.
"He's not bad at all" Yue replied.
Wang He Di didn't like her satisfied face.
"What do you mean?"
"Um... There was a... Kiss" the girl said thoughtfully.
Dylan stopped short, shocked.
Yue, who was a little ahead of him, didn't notice.
"Hey!" he called her.
"Yup?"
"Did he kiss you?!"
"I kissed him."
"WHAT?!"
"Why are you screaming, you fool?"
"Why did you kiss him?!"
"I don't know... Let's say we had both had a few too many drinks... And while we were in the car the atmosphere got hot and I let myself be carried away by the moment".
"What... What does it mean that the atmosphere got hot?! Shen Yue!"
Yue laughed to see Dylan in such shock.
"What is this reaction?" she asked.
"You only went out with him yesterday!" Dylan exclaimed.
"So?"
"So... You kissed him! Why did you kiss him?! And then... The atmosphere got hot?! Shen Yue, really!"
Yue laughed even more.
She walked over to him and pinched his nose with two fingers.
"You're the last person I expected a sermon from" she grinned.

They finished shopping and went home.
Shen Yue kept talking about this and that as she helped Dylan fix the things they had bought, not realizing how disturbed he really was by what she had told him.
His mind had become a real cinema, where each film featured Yue and the idiot she had kissed.
He didn't expect that to happen...
It wasn't the first time he'd seen his beloved neighbor dating a man, but he had grown accustomed to the fact that after every dinner, she would show up at his door with two bottles of beer in her hand.
In his heart, selfishly, he hoped it would always go that way, because he loved their nights of talking and giving each other stupid advice.
The night before he had waited for her for hours, ready to console her... And instead he had heard her come back without even passing by to greet him.
A very strong sense of abandonment pervaded him...
"Didi? Are you listening to me?"
"Let's go to the house in the woods," Dylan said quickly, without thinking.
Yue smiled.
"You mean on the weekend?"
"Yes! Let's spend two days there!"
He wanted to be alone with her for a while, away from all those damn men who were buzzing around her.
He marveled at his own thoughts.
He was acting like a madman...
"Great idea! I'll text the guys right away! Why don't you invite Sui He too? I really want to meet her!"
"Cutie... I meant just you and me" he muttered.
"Just you and me? It's always just you and me, we'd be bored! Come on, let's invite the others too!"
Wang He Di hugged her from behind and rested his forehead against her shoulder.
"Since when do you and I get bored, tiger?"
"What's the matter with you, huh?" Yue asked him. She caught a hint of sadness in his voice.
"I need cuddles".
Shen Yue laughed and turned to him.
"You're such a baby!" she teased him.
"Yes! And I need cuddles!"
"Call your girlfriend..."
"Awwww! See? You're jealous!"
"In your dreams! HEY! HEY! PUT ME DOWN!"
Dylan picked her up and carried her into the living room, where he sat her down on the sofa, then he settled next to her and rested his head on her lap.
Yue raised an eyebrow.
"What does it mean?" she asked.
"I told you. I need cuddles."
She sighed and began to caress his face softly.
"You know that all this has to stop, right?" she whispered.
"What?"
"You know, Didi. Your girlfriend wouldn't like to see you like this with another woman. You wouldn't be happy to know that she lets herself be pampered like this by some other guy. No more Cutie, no more Tiger..."
"She's not my girlfriend. And stop talking nonsense, CUTIE."
Suddenly, Yue's cell phone rang.
Yue answered and she immediately blushed.
Dylan knew it was the fool she had kissed.
She wanted to get up, but he didn't let her.
She glared at him, but Dylan ignored her and he closed his eyes.
He was silent listening to their conversation.
He hated the cheesy tone with which Yue was talking to the boy on the other side of the line and those silly giggles of her.
He opened his eyes and paused to observe her lips... He just couldn't bear the idea that some idiot had touched them!
"Ok! Ok, see you later!" Yue hung up and then gave Dylan a small slap on the forehead.
"Do you like to overhear other people's conversations?" she mumbled.
"Let's go to the house in the woods..." Wang He Di sighed, almost desperate.
"Ugh! Why are you acting so strange today? I have an idea: we could go on Saturday, just you and I... And invite our friends to join us on Sunday" Yue proposed.
Dylan's eyes lit up with joy.
"I'm in!" he exclaimed.
"Good! Now get up and walk, I have to go get ready!"
"Are you going out with him again?"
"Yes!"
"Isn't that a bit too much, two nights in a row?"
"Wang He di! Go!"
"Ok, ok!"

===

Once again, Wang He Di had a sleepless night..
He did everything he could to keep himself busy, but his thought always came back to Shen Yue and to that sentence that he just couldn't digest... To that hot atmosphere that the girl had mentioned to him.
He wondered if it had happened again, if they had even gone beyond just kissing.
And the more he thought about it, the more he felt the urge to call her or run to her, wherever she was.
A small alarm bell rang in his head...
Why did he feel that way? Why was he so obsessed with her?
The answer frightened him so much that he didn't even dare formulate it in thought. It was not possible.
At five in the morning, when his eyes were now red and tired and his face pale, he finally heard a few footsteps in the corridor.
He ran to check at the peephole and he saw Yue from behind, intent on opening her front door, in an adorable floral dress that highlighted her perfect curves.
That was the second time she hadn't knocked at him with two beers.
It meant the night had gone smoothly.
Wang He Di sat down on the floor with a sigh.
If she had been out until then, he had no doubts about what had happened between her and the vet...
A strong sense of nausea forced him to lie down there on the floor.
He had never felt so hurt and disappointed in his life... And the worst part was that he had absolutely no reason to feel that way. Who was he for Shen Yue? A good neighbor. A good friend, perhaps.
But nothing more.
While she... Who was she to him?
Again, Dylan closed his mind so as not to hear the answer.
He struggled to get up and crawled into the bedroom.
He didn't want to think anymore.
But a message made him open his eyes instantly.
"I saw the light on... Are you awake? Can I come?"
In less than two seconds, Wang He Di returned to the entrance and opened the door.
Shen Yue had taken off her flowery dress and put on a glowing yellow pajamas.
"Hey... You were sleeping, right? I'm so sorry, look at those tired eyes!" she said softly.
"I wasn't sleeping... Come in."
Yue took a seat at the kitchen table, as usual.
"So? No beer?" Dylan asked, without the slightest hint of cheerfulness in his voice.
"I wouldn't be able to drink a beer at this hour! Do you have some chamomile tea?"
"Um? Yeah... Wait, I'll make it."
"I can do it!"
Yue stood up and Dylan showed her where to find everything she needed.
"So beer is for bad dates and chamomile tea for celebrations?" the boy grumbled.
"What celebrations? I told him I don't want to go out with him anymore," Yue replied, without looking at him.
Dylan squeezed the arms of the chair...
"Why?" he asked her.
"I don't know".
Shen Yue always answered like that.
"We went to the theater and then he invited me over to his house. I wanted to tell him no, but then I accepted. After we talked for a while... Well, the atmosphere got hot again. That guy really has a sexy aura surrounding him, I don't know how to explain it... "
"Okay, don't explain it" Dylan snorted, offended.
He was sure his sexy aura was much more powerful, but that little idiot seemed the only one who didn't notice.
"Anyway... Well, there was a few caresses... And another kiss... And then something inside me clicked and I pushed him away so hard that he fell off the sofa.
I was so embarrassed! But he was not angry and he was not too upset, I think".
After the kissing and caressing part, Wang He Di seemed to come back to life in an instant.
"You haven't done... Anything?" he asked for confirmation, to be sure he understood correctly.
"No! Of course we haven't! I realized that I really could never do something so important without love" Yue sighed.
Dylan took his mug with a stupid smile on his face.
"You know what, my little tiger? I love chamomile tea!"

Author's Corner
Ciao!
How are you? ☺️
These days are a bit hectic, but I always try to find some time to keep writing 😊
I think that our Didi is beginning to realize in his little mind what his heart has already known for some time 😁
To the next chapter, with a nice weekend in the woods 😉
Thanks for your comments, I always smile like crazy when I read them 💛💜
A big hug,
Lucrezia