Achievement Hunter one-shots

Neighbour

So it turns out Michael's neighbor to his right had moved houses not long ago- Without him even noticing! He was always kind of busy with work so it would make sense he hadn't noticed but it was still a let down to find out the nice little old lady had moved away. She had left him a note, telling him to be a good boy and that she left him some brownies and biscuits that the new neighbor would bring to him. He'll miss her, for sure, but god damn he liked the new neighbor. Or at least what he saw of him so far.

The new neighbor was lanky, had scraggly-looking hair, seemed to be rather nice, and was British.

It was odd that he hadn't seen the new neighbor in a while, though. He saw him when he was moving in, only just heard his voice (that wonderful, wonderful voice) talking to someone who was moving his things out of the van, but that was it. Does the guy not leave his home? Is he always indoors? He looked rather tan from where Michael could see him out his bedroom window, so it couldn't be that he never left- What if- Oh no. What if he was ill. 

He shouldn't even be that worried, Michael had never even met him before (and most likely thought about him far too often) but what if he was ill? What if he had a cold or a fever and couldn't leave even if he wanted to? It was summer now and he looked like he was probably worked outside a lot so maybe he had gotten heat stroke?!

Okay, Michael, calm down. He's fine! He's fine. Perfectly fine. Despite the fact that you haven't seen him at all since he's moved in. And that you haven't heard any noise coming from his home since he moved in.. Fine. He's fine. 

Michael tried to convince himself that he shouldn't be this worried, he knew nothing about him and this was probably all paranoia and he should just wait it out and see if the new guy shows up tomorrow, so he should just stay in his own home and finish his house work.

Well that was what he was telling himself as he walked over to his neighbour's front garden and knocked on the door, yes, the guy would be fine, no need to worry! No need to go see if he's okay, no, there's no reason at all. 

The American could hear some shuffling about behind the door, the noise of something sliding across the floor (probably a box) and then silence. With a jump in his chest, he realised that his new neighbor was probably looking through the peep-hole at him and that was rather unnerving. What would he think of Michael? Would he like him? Think he was an okay-looking neighbor? 

Through his jumbled thoughts, he hadn't heard nor seen the door opening, revealing someone with a white square thing on his head (considering it was dripping, it was probably a wet paper towel but Michael didn't have time to think about that), very ruffled hair, and wide but tired eyes. Michael could only stare. 

"Are you okay?"

"Am.. Am i okay?" Michael repeated. The question had startled him- Was the guy joking? Michael had apparently been right, his new neighbor was ill and that was probably why he hadn't left in a few days but why the hell was he asking if he was okay?

"Are you okay?" Michael all but hissed back at the new neighbor, earning himself a surprised look. He couldn't help the anger that flared in his chest, it was just something that happened, but the new guy was clearly sick and Michael wasn't going to take that (despite that he knew nothing about him, but he felt like he needed to know everything).

Although, he had just shown up out of the blue and maybe he had awoken him from resting. But it also didn't seem like anyone was there looking after him.. Then again, he was clearly old enough to look after himself. But he was ill! Someone has to help him when he cant get out of bed!

Noticing that the man standing before him was clearly having some kind of internal fight, the ill neighbour pillowed his shirt lightly before pulling at Michael's arm, bringing him inside, and all Michael could do was accept and watch his neighbor close the door behind him.

Standing before Michael again, he bought himself closer to his face (too close, too close) and asked again, "Are you okay..? Did you need something maybe?"

Michael could only stutter out a few words before he managed to get out, in one big flurry of words, "I'm sorry if i woke you up, or something, but you've been livin' here for a few days now and i hadn't seen you at all and i just wan'ed to know if you were okay. A-And uh- My old neighbor said you had stuff for me.. Yeah."

He expected the Brit to say something, to maybe ask him to repeat what he had said (Michael didn't even hear most of what he said), or to maybe scowl and tell him to get out. He didn't expect the guy to laugh and to hold out his hand with a big, friendly smile on his face.

"I'm Gavin. Thanks for worryin' about me, I'm just a bit ill is all."

Michael hesitantly took the other's- Gavin's hand and shook it. He didn't understand why he was acting this way. Usually if he got a new neighbor, he wouldn't even go by to say hi and welcome them, he would just continue his life without a second thought- so why was this guy any different?

"Oh-!"

He jumped at the sudden exclamation, brown eyes widening behind speckled glasses, and watched as Gavin shuffled over to his kitchen, his socks rubbing on the carpet, Michael thinking distantly that he should avoid shaking the others hand again unless he wanted to get shocked.

There was some rustling, some banging and more boxes being moved about, he could hear some swears until he heard "Ah-a!" and the Brit emerged from the kitchen once again, a tin in his hands. He stood before Michael with a smile on his face (why was he so happy? Who was this happy when ill?) and presented the box to Michael. "This is the brownies n' stuff! The lady who lived here before me was super nice and wanted me to give these to you because she couldn't do it herself."

Hesitantly, Michael took the box and opened it up. Sure enough, there were chocolate biscuits and many delicious looking brownies all laid out nicely inside the small tin. "Thank's.." Was all he could say. He should say more, offer Gavin some medicine if he didn't have any, maybe help sort out all these damn boxes that filled up most of his home, just be a good neighbor.

"So uh- Gavin, D'you want.. Help? Maybe?"

Gavin didn't even wait to answer and nodded his head quickly, explaining that he most certainly couldn't sort out everything all on his own considering he was ill and his arms ached.

As the day began to pass, going from late morning to early evening, Michael stayed at Gavin's to help him unpack, leaving the tin near his front door along with his shoes. They unpacked things from the front room first, placing small ornaments everywhere and a few cards he had gotten from family and friends on the mantle piece.

Gavin had excused himself a few times to re-wet the paper towel on his forehead or to take some stomach medicine or headache pills. Michael thought while Gavin was gone, were they friends now? He was over at his home, a place personal to him, and was unpacking personal items. Gavin didn't seem to mind and seemed to be a pretty care-free person, letting Michael touch and unpack anything as long as Gavin told him where to put it.

The day slowly came to an end and Gavin's living room looked rather home-y and cozy. Michael smiled to himself and was glad he had visited to see if the new neighbor was okay, he was glad he had spent all that time with him but even so, he struggled to get those words out as he stood at Gavin's front door, shoes on his feet once again and the tin in his hands.

Gavin seemed to notice and chuckled, a soft, happy chuckle, and said "goodbye" before Michael smiled back and made his way back to his own home.

 Michael walked back across the grass to his home, a tin of biscuits and brownies in his hands and a smile on his face. Glancing back at the home, he saw Gavin looking out the window with a soft smile on his face, waving back at him, the woollen blanket falling off his shoulders. He smiled back, of course, before entering his home and locking the door, his smile not fading, not even a tiny bit. 

Maybe Michael had a crush on Gavin.

And maybe that wasn't a bad thing.