Neighbors

11

Lin's POV

I came to her last performance to be supportive. She was in tears by the end, obviously for good reason to be. But once the spotlight shone on her to bow, the tears were gone. Ah, what a lovely actress she was.

When I found my way to her dressing room, she was in tears again, hugging all of the girls. I smiled at the sight and let her have her moments with them. It's always emotional when a cast member leaves for good. But they're always off to do bigger and better things, so everyone was usually very, very, supportive.

"I'm gonna miss drinking to you guys." Pippa laughed. I smiled and knew it wasn't real alcohol, but still.

"Promise is that if you ever have time to come visit." Her friend, Brittain, asked while wiping her tears.

"Of course. I could never forget my Russian family." Pippa always got them laughing. After another hour of waiting, she finally emerged from her dressing room. "Ready to go?" She asked. I nodded and took her bag from her. My arm automatically wrapped around her shoulders while hers wrapped around my waist.

"So this is him?" A blond haired guy scoffed from a room down the hall from Pippa's. "This man is who you decided to be with?" He asked.

"Yes. Nothing is going to change that." Pippa said while looking at me. "Have a good rest of your shows Lucas. I wish you the best." She smiled. He looked completely dumbfounded at her words. She just laughed as we walked away from the little venue.

"You were amazing tonight." I whispered in her ear.

"Thank you." She smiled. I threw her bag over my shoulder and held her hand since now we were going through the busy streets. Eventually we made it to the train station and caught our train. There were no seats unfortunately which left us standing. I held onto the bar above me while Pippa hold onto me. Luckily it wasn't that far of a ride for us.

When we got close to the apartment, Pippa started acting weird... Like she had seen a ghost...

"Pips what's wrong?" I asked her.

"He's back.." she frowned. I looked over and saw the man that had pinned her up against the wall that night... he was just standing there smoking a cigarette, leaning against the stoop... "I... I can't.." she panicked. I held her tightly and took her through an alley near by. "This is even worse!" She cried.

"It'll be okay... Just keep quiet and you won't wake up the rats or hobos." I said in a hushed tone. She gulped and held onto me tightly. There was a rear entrance that only tenants would know about. Some people used to park their cars here but those people have since then moved out and left us with an empty parking lot that was changed into a little gated in basketball court. I opened the gate and let her walk in first. Once I shut the gate, Pippa latched herself back onto me. I'll admit, this place was terrifying after dark. I unlocked the rear door and we walked through the brightly lit hallway to the elevator.

"Thank god..." She sighed. "I didn't know we had a back entrance." She giggled.

"You've only lived in the building for how long now?" I laughed. She shrugged and looked back at the front entrance. No one could get in unless they were buzzed in, had the code, or key to get in. Thank god that guy had none. "Want to stay at my place tonight?" I asked her.

"No thanks. Jasmine is a pain to wake up in the morning. And we still have to get a lot of pre-rehearsal shopping to do before we start on your musical." She laughed. We boarded the elevator and waited for our floor to come up. I kissed her cheek, which caused her to giggle. She blushed too. I was such a charmer. "You... Sir... No." She laughed.

"Ahh you got me." I smirked. The elevator dinged and the doors flew open. Pippa was first to get out with me after. "So, are you excited to start this new show?" I asked her.

"I don't know... The guy who's running it is pretty cute. I don't know if I'll ever be able to perform right." She said sarcastically.

"Yeah I hear he's pretty cute too." I joked. She hit my arm playfully and took her bag from me. "I see this is goodnight." I smiled.

"Goodnight Lin." She kissed me briefly and unlocked her door to walk in.

"Goodnight Pips." I smiled. Everything felt right with her. It always felt right when I got to hold her hand, or just be in her presence. She was amazing just being herself. And when she sang... Just... Wow.... She was perfection... A pure angel sent down to bless us with everything she could offer... "Oh, Tobi. I fall deeper and deeper in love with her as I spent time with her." I sighed. Tobi barked at me while wagging her tail. I knew Tobi liked Pippa too. Who couldn't love Pippa? She was amazing... 

~~

Pippa's POV 

"Just let me go!" I cried. The dark figure held me down and laughed deeply. "Please let me go!" I screamed. "Someone help!" 

"No one can hear you scream." The figure growled. I saw a glimmer of light held up above me and then brought down to me. 

"No!" I sat up in a cold sweat and looked around in my room. My laptop was sitting next to me with the end credits of the movie I was watching. "I really need to stop watching horror movies before bed..." I sighed. They were my weakness... I loved them so much, but not when they invaded my nightmares. I picked up my phone and shot a text to Lin explaining my nightmare to him. He asked if I wanted to go over, and I decided against it. We hadn't really spent the night with each other yet... And me freaking out over a little nightmare probably wasn't the best ways to do that...