Love Your Neighbour

Chapter 26

Last chapter... Dun dun da... (Have no idea how to spell that but that was supposed to be dramatic!) I've loved writing this story, but I feel like it has been drawing to a close for a while, so, THIS IS THE END...
Thank you for those who have stuck with me til the end, even through the long waits, and poor updating... I am very sorry... Thanks for reading, all of you!
The song fits this chapter/whole story so well!
Song: Today Was A Fairytale by Taylor Swift / Cologne by Selena Gomez

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"Mike! I've missed you!" I pulled him in for a hug as he appeared around the corner of the kitchen.
"What are you doing here?" I leaned into the hug. It felt like he'd never left.
For the past two weeks, I had realised how boring it was without Mike. School was its normal self, and I now understood how having a boy in your life really did make you happier. (Well, according to the majority of romantic comedies...)
"We're staying for dinner, apparently." Mike said he pulled my face closer to his.
"Sounds great."
"But I'd rather just spend time with you alone, than talk to your brother, and your mum..." He leaned closer until our noses were touching.
"Glad to see you two aren't at each other's throats anymore..." Louis walked into the kitchen and I groaned.
"Can you knock?"
"The door was wide open..."
"I didn't mean literally. Just don't walk in on a special moment..." I rolled my eyes.
Mike pulled Louis into a manly hug and I rolled my eyes again.
Why did I feel like my life was turning into a movie? The guy comes back and you fall in love all over again, and the brother has to interrupt and have his time with the guy and it was just a typical love story.
"Okay, bro time over."

All through, dinner, I couldn't help but stare at Mike and giggle whenever I caught his eye. I noticed my mum giving me a look as if to say 'you're being way too obvious with the staring'. It wasn't like I had a crush on Mike, I liked him way more than that. I could stare at him all day and I wouldn't feel ashamed or embarrassed about it.
Mike seemed to like the attention anyway.

I think I had really changed as a person, during the whole ordeal with Mike. I had been so insecure that I hadn't given Mike a second chance to prove himself to me at first. When you truly open yourself up to someone, I guess you have to risk it all, but it was definitely worth it with Mike. He wasn't the person I thought he would be, and he was way better than I thought he would be. He was all I looked for in a guy, but I had dismissed him for so long. I had just thought of him as my neighbour, and someone who rejected me years ago. I had never got over it, but now I could let go of it.
I had learned that it's not right to put a label on something, and that nothing good will ever come out of it. I had put a label on Mike for too long. I had thought he was a player, someone who broke girls' hearts, and just the person next door that I would never have, but he was more than that.
Yes, it was true, he had broken a lot of hearts. He had also annoyed the hell out of me, just because he happened to live in the house next door, but I had judged him because of one incident.
And I'm so glad that I got rejected, because I wouldn't be where I was now if it wasn't for that. I wouldn't have thought so seriously about Mike. I probably wouldn't have cared as much, and neither would he have.
And that's how I won't look back and regret. There isn't much to regret.

So, as the night went on, and I went up to my bedroom with Mike. We just sat, and talked on my bed. My dream didn't become reality, and I was glad that I hadn't gone there yet with Mike.
It was nice to do something that was so simple, but felt so good.
I lay down on my pillow as I felt Mike's body next to me. He leaned over and placed a kiss on my head.
"Lauren."
"Yeah?" I mumbled sleepily.
"I'm gonna sleep with my shirt off, is that gonna bother you?"
"Ugh! I was just on the edge of sleep. Why do you have to ruin a perfect moment?" I opened my eyes to see him smirking in the dark.
"No, I haven't, I've just made this moment more perfect." He wrapped his arms around, and I could feel his body warmth against my body. It was just like those times when we had kissed, and the warmth I had felt the first time we kissed on my birthday. I think he remembered that moment too, because his arms seemed to tighten around me as I drifted off to sleep.