The A-hole Next Door (completed)

FIFTEEN

Zayn leaned at the balcony's railings, his eyes fixed on the empty balcony on his left.
It had been a week since the tenants of his apartment building moved back to their own spaces. The fire and gas team declared the building gas leak free, and Luigi and Dustin helped him and Lauren to clean and fix their units.

When the gas leak happened a month ago, Zayn seriously thought about moving to a new apartment. He actually found a better one and was supposed to pay for it last week but he had a sudden change of mind. The reason? He didn't really know, but he thought maybe he was too lazy to pack his things again.

A pair of arms slid around his waist, breaking his thoughts.

"Morning, babe."

"Morning, Chloe." Zayn said, facing his friend who had been his company for the night. She was wearing his shirt over her undies.

Chloe kissed his neck. "Want to hit the shower with me?"

"Uh, you go ahead." He replied. "I'll join you later."

"Alright." The girl smiled, then walked back inside. Zayn looked at the streets, silently watching the people. His eye was fully healed and he didn't need to wear eye glasses anymore.

The morning heat was already intense, yet he was feeling a bit chilly and he didn't know why. His throat was also itching and he couldn't help his coughs. His non stop gigs were starting to affect his health.

He heard a screeching sound and his blank face broke to a smile when he saw Lauren stepping out to the balcony. She was on her oversized shirt and fluffy Doraemon slippers; the Japanese cartoon character that he never knew about before.

"Good morning, Doraemon!" Zayn yelled happily to Lauren, who gave him a soft glare first but snickered right away.

"Hello there, Trunks." She replied before taking a sip of her tea.

"Trunks?" Zayn frowned. "Is that a new cuss word you invented or what?"

Lauren rolled her eyes. "No, you idiot." She walked to the corner of the balcony to be closer to him. "You seriously don't know who Trunks is? Haven't you heard about Dragon Ball?"

"I heard about it. I think I saw some few episodes."

"Well." Lauren took another sip of her tea. "Do you know Vegetta and Bulma? Trunks is their son, the one with the lilac hair like yours." She explained, looking at Zayn's hair which turned from purple to soft lilac after a month.

Zayn gave him a serious stare. "Vegetta and Bulma? You're shitting, right? I mean, how? Vegetta is an asshole he never got along with anyone?"

Lauren laughed gently. "I know right. Plot twist of the anime world, and basically the best in love and hate relationships."

Zayn watched her as she spoke. He found it really amusing whenever Lauren talked about art, animes and classical music. He liked how her eyes would sparkle while sharing her favorite things, and how Lauren would smile excitedly like a little girl who was so eager to share her discovery.

Api strutted to the balcony, his left leg now free from cast. He rubbed his head to his owner's feet. Lauren picked her up, and the cat looked at Zayn with sorta 'okay' gaze. The boy was already glad about it. At least Api wasn't giving him glares of murder or bite of death anymore.

"Hi, ugly Api." Zayn greeted to the cat, and it just looked away.

"Stop calling him ugly." Lauren sighed. "That's the reason why you two can't go along."

Zayn chuckled. He almost didn't notice it when Chloe appeared on the door, dripping wet and wrapped in a towel.

"Come on, babe." Chloe chimed in. "You're taking a long time."