Elijah was fuming. His first apartment was a dump—he'd been fooled by the old woman. If he hadn't invested nearly all of his savings into the apartment, he would've moved out as soon as he saw the place.
"Old bitch got me living in a fucking dump." He grumbled, pausing the TV. He peeled his attention away from the screen after hearing a knock. The thought of his deep dish pizza lightened his mood.
The man slide on a pair of sweats and walked towards the front door. When Elijah cleaned up the place, it didn't look half bad—he'd hung a few Basquiat paintings along the wall to hide the aged texture of the tacky wallpaper and bought a few pieces of furniture from Craigslist, along with some plant and conversation decor. The place was now furnished and looking a little better than before. He was still pissed though.
"Who is it?" He called, annoyed at the fact that he didn't have a peephole. He'd simply have to hope for the best when someone was at the door.
"Hi, I live next door." The voice called, sounding awfully cheery. Elijah frowned. Leave it to this awful apartment complex to have overly friendly tenants. He cautiously opened the door to be greeted by two men—one stood with a smile that could stretch miles while the other awkwardly stood behind him. They seemed to be a couple—one was about Elijah's height with his mouth turned downwards into an aggravated frown. and the other a bit shorter with a head full of tamed, neatly trimmed coils.
"Um..hi?" Elijah spoke first, fidgeting under the couple's curious gaze.
"Aw, I like those glasses." The shorter man cooed. It grew silent again until he pulled his hands from behind his back and revealed a container of cupcakes. "Welcome to the neighborhood, hope you enjoy it here." He cheesed, proud of his own act of kindness. The taller man simply shook his head, motioning for Elijah to take the offer. The man obliged, grabbing the store bought cupcakes from the other man's hands.
"Thank you; I really appreciate it." He returned a smile.
"I wanted to cook but," The curly haired man started, frowning as he looked over at his companion.
"He can't cook." The taller man deapanned. His partner looked mortified at the confession.
"I thought you said you liked my food." He frowned, visibly upset.
"Anyways." The guy sighed, nuzzling closer to the man in an attempt to soothe him. "I'm Chresanto and this is Jacob. We live beside you."
"Oh, okay. Nice to meet you, I'm Elijah." He grabbed the man's hand after it'd been extended.
"We should get to know eachother a little more; we could be good friends." The man, Jacob, said—he offered his hand as well.
"Totally." Elijah grew bored, his expression dull and unamused by the man's bubbly behavior.
"We can exchange numbers." Jacob suggested, his eyes pleading and overly friendly. Elijah didn't want to be rude so he simply replied with a 'next time I see you, we will.'
That man from the previous day came strolling through the hallway again, this time his gaze focused on the couple standing in front of Elijah's doorway. His eyebrow was raised in curiosity, exchanging a concerned gaze with Chresanto. He looked as if he were about to speak but decided against it. He shuffled into his apartment, the same as he did before and slammed the door behind him. Elijah turned to the two people in front of him.
"Does he always look so...angry?" He asked in hopes of earning a better answer this time.
"Kinda. He's been here a while." Chresanto shrugged. They stood around for a few moments before saying their goodbyes and retreating back to their own apartment.
Elijah used his alone time to organize his clothes and trying to properly store his belongings away in the small, studio apartment. After a while, he grew bored and decided to step outside.
"Hi, neighbor," Jacob's cheery voice echoed throughout the hallway. Elijah was startled as he turned in the direction of the voice. Jacob peeked his head from his apartment, waving at the frowning man. Elijah returned the wave and headed down the stairs towards the mailboxes.
He nearly forgot about the man who'd been asleep on the stairs—almost failing to step over him this time. He wondered about Jacob as he searched for his number on the mailbox; he thought the boy kinda excitable and annoying, like an adolescent. Chresanto didn't even seem bothered by the way Jacob acted though—Elijah shrugged off his thoughts about their weird dynamic. Whatever floats their boat.
He'd finally found his mailbox and nearly gagged at the cobwebs he had to reach through just to grab his mail. He was hating this place more and more.
"Can you move your ass?" Elijah flinched at the loud, snarky comment, nearly dropping his mail. He turned around to see the man who lived across the hall. He looked a little different than last time, his hair was in a low bun and he seemed to be wearing a set of pajamas—a cigarette was resting between his lips. Elijah noticed the lip ring he wore, wondering how he missed such a thing. The man was still attractive; piercing or no piercing. The guy seemed to be yelling at the sleeping man. "Get your old ass up and get a fucking job." He grumbled, headed towards the mailbox.
He noticed Elijah and flashed the man a quick, closed mouth smile. "Thirty-four B?" He recalled, pointing to the man. He quickly nodded in response, sending him a smile in return.
"Yep, that's me." He smiled, internally cringing at how awkward he sounded. The man simply chuckled as he gathered his mail, flipping through each of them carefully. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip, reading through a few envelopes. Elijah nearly fangirled.
"I see you just moved here," He pointed out, opening a few articles of mail. His eyes didn't peel away from the paper as he tried to initiate a conversation with Elijah. "Ms.B tricked your ass too huh?" He joked, causing Elijah to laugh.
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"She's been trying to rent that apartment for the past year—people move in then move out as quick as the previous tenant did. I told her ol' mean ass that she couldn't keep fooling people like that." He explained, finally setting his eyes on Elijah. Elijah nervously shifted his weight from one foot to another, shaking his head at the information. The man continued. "And I see you've met Chresanto and Jacob?"
"Yeah, he's something else," Elijah smiled, looking down at his slippers. "Jacob, that is."
The man laughed, tucking his mail in his back pocket. "I'm Rayan, by the way."
"Elijah." He said, extending his hand towards the man. Rayan simply looked at it before turning away and retreating back up the stairs. Elijah awkwardly put his hand down.
(A/N)
I really like Jacob's character for some reason.
Be prepared to see more of him.
أنت تقرأ
34B. |raylijah
قصص الهواة❝ he has saved me from everything that is not here. ❞ Sparks fly unexpectedly as Rayan and Elijah navigate the labyrinth of their shared apartment complex, uncovering a chemistry that defies the ordinary. -mindless behavior au. raylijah. & f...
