No Other Heart

Snap out of it.

You walked into your apartment, kicked your shoes off, took off your bra and took a deep breath. Finally.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

You jumped at the knocks. Uhhhhhhhhhh, You turned around, not bothering to look through the peephole. It's was your neighbor Charlie, with a soft smile on his face.

"Hullo, I know you probably just got home but I was wondering if you had any plans for dinner."  He rubbed his neck with his index finger before crossing his arms I've this chest.

You narrowed your eyes at him and smiled, "You asking over for dinner, Barber?"

They both of you laughed. Charlie hid his face behind his hands,then crossed them across his chest again. "Only if you're hungry," He finished his sentence by saying your last name, mocking you.

"Well,I'm not starving but uhh, yeah I could eat."  You nodded your head. He smile was so big.

"Great, I made a Cesar salad and lasagna is in the oven." He moved his hands from crossed over his chest to his hips.

"Okay, bye, " You smiled, blushing. "I'll only be about five minutes." Charlie nodded in response. You smiled and waved goodbye at him, he did the same and walked away while you shut the door.

You second you shut the door,you picked up your bra off the floor,ran to your closet, grabbing a black mini-skirt with thin white stripes, black tights, and a old sweater of your dads. After putting those on you ran to your bathroom, making sure your makeup looked okay, made sure you smelled good.

Once you were finished you grabbed your much loved Mary Janes. Making sure you looked okay you walked to Charlie's apartment. You knocked on his door, your stomach growled. "Oh shut up your about to eat."

"Excuse me?" You didn't hear the open, you looked up to see Charlie smiling. You put your hands to your cheeks embarrassed.

"Sorry, I was talking to myself." Charlie laughed lightly in response.

"It's okay, come on in," he moved aside, letting you in. You could feel him watching you as you walked passed. "So, the lasagna still has about twenty, uh fifteen minutes left, so I was thinking we could start a movie, eat dinner then finish it after?" You looked behind you, actually taking a moment to look at him, he was wearing a light colored button up, black pants and dress shoes. You raised your eyebrows,blinked slowly and smiled.

"What?" You asked him.

He walked closer to you. Standing right in front of you, towering over you. "I asked, if you wanted to watch a movie before dinner is ready?" You felt like the only thing you could do in response was nod. "Okay, you pick a movie, do you want anything to drink?" He walked away to and into his kitchen. You eyes followed him. "I have uh, water, wine, or apple juice." He perked his head around the corner, smiling.

"Umm, yeah I'll take an app- water, I'll take a water." You smiled back at him. He nodded his head and went back into the kitchen. You looked around his apartment. Looking at the pictures on the wall, some of them with the little boy you passed on your way out of your apartment the other day.

"Did you pick a movie yet?" He asked walking into the living room with a glass of water.

"Oh no sorry," You said as he placed the glass down. He walked over to you again. "Hi." You'd aid nervously as he towered over you again.

"Hi, are you okay, you seem distracted?" He placed his hand on your shoulder. He held eye contact with you. "I can feel you shaking," You we're shaking?" "Come sit." He stepped behind you and placed his hand on lower back.

The two of you sat on his couch, "I'm sorry, I think I'm just nervous, I don't know why so please don't ask me." You took a deep breath and smiled.

Charlie smiled back at you but with his eyebrows raised like he was about to laugh. "Okay, is there anything I can do?"

"You can stop being so hot." You eyes went wide. "Woah," you slapped your hand over your mouth. "I didn't say that." you said muffled.

Charlie laughed as you covered your face with your hands, embarrassed. He moved closer to you so your knees were touching. Charlie grabbed your wrists,pulling them away from your face. "I'm sorry I didn't mean too." You said looking up at him.

"It's okay, don't be embarrassed, words slip out sometimes it's okay." He rubbed your back. "For the record, I think your really pretty."

Charlie watched your eyes go soft. His eyes searched for a reaction "Awwwww."

He started laughing, hard. You at there and watched him with a smile on your face. "I'm sorry, your just adorable."

He stood up "God I have t laughed that hard in a while," he looked at his watch, "mmh. We only have about five minutes left. Do you want to decide on a movie after we eat."

You nodded your head, "Sure, can help you out in the kitchen?"

He smiled and put his hand out for you to take. You got off the couch and took his hand, but his hand felt too big so you switched to holding his pinky and ring finger. He looked at his hand and smiled.

                                         ———

"That's a terrible movie." Charlie shook his head setting down the bowl of popcorn he made for the two of you.

"No it's not, it's funny and it's basically a love story." You said defensively. Charlie sat down on the couch, and immediately scratched his forehead.

"How. How is the Lego Batman movie, a love story?" He laughed lightly.

You moved closer to him. "It's The Batman and Joker fighting because the Batman is in denial and "can't ever be in a relationship", have you ever even watched it?"

"No I haven't," He said still laughing lightly.

"No even with your son?" You point to the picture of Charlie's son.

"No, I haven't, but I guess i will with you. Put it on, crazy."

You squealed excitedly and jumped to grab the remote. Charlie laughed under his breathe, leaned forward to grab his beer from the coffee table.

He placed his hand on your hip, pulling you over to him. You were focused on the movie you didn't even realize. Charlie smiled.

———

After the movie Charlie walked you to your apartment, you told him it was like five steps but he said he didn't care.

"Give me your number, I wanna talk to you more. You're funny, sweet, and like I said earlier very pretty."

After giving him your number, you hugged Charlie goodbye and unlocked your apartment. After spending some time in the bathroom, washing your face and getting ready for bed. You changed into some pajamas and laid in bed.

You stairs at the ceiling for a bit, smiling you kicked your legs in the air, rolled over and yelled into your pillow. Once you were done, you took a couple deep breaths calming yourself and closed your eyes.