The Neighbor Next Door

Recovering; Reflecting

It was Saturday now, and OJ was getting worried. The last time MePhone responded to any of his texts was Tuesday, and that's when they were at their most concerning. He hadn't seen or heard anything from the house, either, just adding to that worry. OJ tried texting him through this time, but none of them had even been put on read. He didn't really understand why he was so worried, and nervous about a guy he barely knew, but... He'd probably hate himself forever if something had happened, and he wasn't able to do anything, despite picking up on the upset tone in his texts last time he replied. He had been concerned all week, but he had also been working, and keeping up with his own life. It wasn't exactly his problem to worry about, but... He still did. Yesterday, he had considered trying to go over and see if he was home. It was always so hard to tell when the guy didn't have a car, or anything to really show that he was away or not. But regardless, OJ didn't gather the courage.

Today though, he was planning on it. It was just after he had finished making lunch for himself and the Cherries when he was provided an opportunity. It was barely noticeable at first, but as he was doing the dishes, he swore he could hear scratching against the back door. He opened it with caution, only to be meowed at. He blinked, looking all the way down to the ground. A scrawny white cat stood at his back door, meowing like crazy at him.

"Uh-- Sorry, I don't... Have cat food, uhm," It just meowed, and moved over to the fence that separated his yard from MePhone's. The cat meowed again, and hopped up onto the fence.

OJ just tilted his head, confused, as the cat hopped down into his yard. He stepped outside into his yard, peeking over the fence into his yard, watching the cat walk through the yard, going to a section that OJ couldn't see, but OJ swore he could still hear it meowing, and scratching at something.

OJ just frowned, ducking back into his house, and making his way back out through the front door. He hoped he wasn't intruding, but he was worried. He'd see if MePhone was home.

...

His routine had essentially been ruined this week. He'd have a lot to do on the day he was set to catch up with it all, but right now, he didn't care. For the past four days, he had been sleeping on and off, not even having the energy to leave his bed again. This was awful, and he knew it. He had gone through one bad day, and now he was in a spiral that was going to last for Gods know how long. He was just so tired now. He didn't even end up making dinner on Thursday, which just made him feel even more guilty. He had just woken up from another long nap, and he was still exhausted. More mentally so, but... It was still there.

He hadn't... given up, he was just... Resting. Yeah. He needed time, whether this lasts for just a few days, or over a month, time was all he really had, anyways.

He really wished he hadn't fallen this hard. He was just... so out of energy. So out of the drive to do anything. So he just remained in bed.

Or at least, he really wanted to. Just as he closed his eyes to fall back into slumber again, he could hear a knocking on the front door. He let out an annoyed groan, nuzzling his face further into his pillow as he planned to ignore it, or wait for whoever it was to go away, but after a solid minute, it was clear whoever was at his door really wanted to talk to him. Normally, he'd shrug it off in states like these. Whoever it was would go away eventually, but... He really should at least get out of bed once. It... It had been a few days, after all.

MePhone let out an annoyed groan, more towards himself as he reluctantly sat up, already wanting to flop back down, but his body moved quicker than his mind, standing himself up. He stumbled a bit, gripping onto the desk for balance, growing more annoyed every time there was a knock. He'd get there eventually, and all the knocking was just annoying. Whoever it was needed to be patient.