Just Another Romance (A Gay Furry Story)(COMPLETED)

"My Neighbor Has The Keys"

As soon as we get into the car, Ryan is bouncing up and down with joy. And all through the car ride to my house, his smile never falls. He insisted that my hand sit on the console in the middle, between the passenger and driver seats, and holds onto it when he doesn't need both hands to drive.

"You good?" I ask when I start to feel his palms go sweaty.

"Hmm?" He gives me a curious look, and his head cocks to the side. "Nah, I'm just..."

I laugh, and I speak his words for him. "I live by myself, so... you don't have to go through any of the awkward stuff."

"Ah, that's cool," Ryan says, and keeps driving straight. He still squeezes my hand as we go, and I can't really tell if it's because he's nervous or because he's... is he into me? Is he? Because there's that would kinda make sense if-

"Oh! Turn here!" My mental navigation screams out at me, and I in turn scream at Ryan. The car swerves off the highway, much to the annoyance of a few choice drivers, and in a matter of moments we're driving down a quiet road full of modest homes. I give him a few more directions, mainly for his benefit and not my own. As soon as I spot it, I grab Ryan's arm.

He almost swerves off the road in shock, but stops the car as calmly a driver can. "What?" He asks, prying my hand off his arm.

"We're here."

"Oh." He points to one of the homes, and with a laugh he asks, "You mean that dinky one right there."

I scoff, and playfully punch his arm. "No, stupid. That one." I point towards a small, forest green painted home, and Ryan parks in the driveway. Since I don't drive, and I live by myself, there's no car in the driveway, though Ryan gladly takes the spot. As we get out of the car, the few details that pop out come back to mind: it's short, one story stature, the patch of paint that scraped off that one time when I was moving a shelf, the yard that almost needs to be cut despite me being lazy.

"It's cute," Ryan says as he walks onto the porch, making himself home on the one chair I sat outside. "I like it."

"Eh... it's just a temporary thing, until I get a place of my own," I shrug off the compliment, and start messing with the piece of wood on the porch that's not laying down right. "Plus, rent's really bad, and I don't have a stable income at the moment. I... hah, I'll probably end up in the homeless shelter until I get a place of my own," I joke.

"What? The shelter?" Ryan's eyes go wide. "Come on, the rent can't be that bad... lay it on me, what's the price?"

I don't even want to think about it, rent is the least of my worries right now. But I say it anyway.

"Sweet Jesus!" Ryan almost falls out of his chair, and I let out a laugh. "Jeez, that's twice than what I have to pay!"

I shrug, and start towards the door. "I make do with it. What, you got any better ideas?"

"Hmm, maybe one." Ryan wiggles his eyebrows, and adds, "I might tell you if we go inside now. It's kinda cold today..." That last little bit came out as a whisper.

"Okay, chilly boy." I reach into my pocket, expecting to hear the jingle of a set of keys, but I don't. In fact I don't have anything in my pockets, which is slightly more embarrassing. "I don't have my keys..."

Ryan tilts his head, and seems to get the message. "Ah, so you hide your keys? Cool, it'll be like a scavenger hunt then!" He gets up and starts looking around for potential hiding places.

"Um... that's not really what I meant..."

"Are they under the doormat? No, too obvious. Maybe it's taped underneath the chair...? Oof, not there." The wolf searches for a few minutes, and each spot is more hilarious than the last. "Ooh! I think I see a key in the windowsill! Uh, no, never mind... Bruh, are they on the roof?"

"Ryan," I say quietly, pulling him away from my window before it gets broken. "I know where it is."

"Oh." Ryan puts his hands on his waist, and gives me a frown. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?" He doesn't let me answer, and he looks around again. "So where are the keys, then?"

"Um..." I let the memories come back from the day that I went to the bridge. It feels like a long time ago, though it's only been a half a week... I remember throwing them to my left as I walked out the door, so that's... oh.

I trace my movements again, and I turn towards the garden facing my left. I stare at it a moment, and quickly whisk myself over there in search of the keys. I can't tell what any of these flowers are, but I looked through all of them, and there aren't any keys anywhere.

"So... we're just gonna play in the flowers now?" Ryan chuckles from behind me. I turn around, and he has his arms crossed, as if he's making fun of me.

"No," I scold. "This is where I put them. But... hah, they're not here..." I frisk the plants once again, but I only see green and not shiny metal.

"Ah, so you threw them in the neighbor's yard. Smart," Ryan looks away, a slight smile on his face. "I'm gonna have to remember that..."

"I didn't do it on purpose," I hiss, a bit embarrassed. "I... uh, got mad, and threw them. I figured the neighbors would find them and try and give them back... though, uh... I wouldn't be there to take them..."

"Oh. That..." Ryan rubs the back of his head, and adds, "So you already made plans, that's... cool... not really..." He pauses, and asks, "Do you know how bad that could end up?"

"Uh, which part?" I ask, folding my ears down a bit.

"Giving your keys to your neighbors. No offense, but at any given time they could come and steal all of your stuff," Ryan says with a bit of disappointment.

"But what's the point of worrying about them stealing my stuff if I'm-"

I cut off the rest of my sentence when I see the look Ryan's giving me. It's icy cold, and I know that I need to drop the subject now, or I'll have to deal with Angry Ryan.

"Lets just go get my keys," I say with an eye roll, and I start to walk over across the garden.

"Dude!" Ryan hisses at me, and I stop to give him an eyebrow. "Don't do that! Show some manners!" He runs around the garden, towards the sidewalk, and makes a u-turn as he runs straight for the neighbor's door.

I literally cannot even say anything when he knocks on the door, except for maybe a squeak of disbelief.

Ryan rings the little doorbell, and in a few moments the door opens. My tiny bit of anxiety goes off, and I stand a little ways away from the door as Ryan converses with them. To be honest, I don't even really know anything about my neighbors. I just stayed to myself for the month that I lived here, and I kept to myself more than anything. I feel a bit nervous when Ryan looks back at me, but am reassured when he gives me a wink. He turns back around and continues talking for a moment, and then comes walking back with a key ring looped around his finger.

"Got iiiiiit-!" He cheers in a sing-song voice, and tosses the keys to me.

"Wait, that's it?" I ask, throwing my hands up in the air. "You just got buddy-buddy with them and they just handed over the keys?"

Ryan thinks for a moment, and nods. "Mmmmyeah, pretty much." We start walking back over to my house, and I play with the keys a bit as we walk. "They think you're weird, by the way."

"W-what?"

"Yeah," Ryan chuckles. "They know you're quiet and never have anyone around, and sometimes there's weird noises that come from there."

"That's... ugh, I hate people," I grumble as I go to fit the key into my door.

"Yeah, but you love me," Ryan replies with a toothy grin that's a little too close to my face.

"Mhmm, sure. If that makes you happy."