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Ever since Nico Kim has gotten his dog, the little Chihuahua keeps running and hiding. First, it was under the couch, then in his shoe, later he found Ninja in the bathtub. She is so little, he has no idea how she could ever get in there. He spends most of his day finding her and keeping her occupied with toys and treats so she won’t leave his side.
It had been about two hours since the last time he took her outside to use the bathroom. He has a fenced in yard, so he doesn’t bother putting her on a leash or collar. He slides his back door open and Ninja goes running wild, chasing things that aren’t even there. He hears her yapping happily and rubbing her back on the grass, living her best life. He laughs and sits down in a chair on his back porch, going on his phone. Ninja has stopped barking and now she is grazing the lawn, taking in every detail of it. Nico looks up every few minutes to make sure she’s okay and she is.
He gets distracted watching Shane Dawson’s Jake Paul series and doesn’t notice that Ninja found a hole in the fence and snuck out. After 10 minutes of beginning the video, he looks up to check on Ninja, but he doesn’t see her. His yard is big, but it’s very open and her black fur makes an obvious contrast to the green grass around her.
Nico stands up from his chair and begins to call out for her.
“Ninja, Ninja honey, come here! I have a treat for you, who wants a treat?” He runs into the house and gets a bag of treats, knowing that every time he shakes the bag Ninja will drop what she is doing and run towards him.
Nico begins to panic, his breathing increasing dramatically and he doesn’t know what to do. He knows she couldn’t have gone far because she is only a puppy who gets tired so easily. He starts thinking worst case scenario.
What if she was run over by a car? Taken into a strangers house that wants to keep her? What if animal control took her? What if she fell into a pool and drowned? What if a wolf ate her?
Nico was spiraling. He ran into the house, got some proper shoes to leave the house in, kept the bag of treats in his hand and walked out the door. He went onto the sidewalk. Continued to call out for Ninja and shaking the bag of treats. His eyes were filling with tears of the thought of her being gone. He loves his dog so much and he feels completely stupid he took his eyes off her.
——
Levi Schmitt is still living with his parents. But, they went out of town this weekend and he gets the place to himself. All he has been doing are dishes and tidying up the place. They just recently moved into the neighborhood and their stuff is a mess, but it doesn’t look as bad as it did when they first moved. Boxes everywhere, furniture that was left by the people who owned the house before, hundreds of paintings and fake flowers. It was covered in “life, laugh, love” signs that Levi despised, so he threw them away. The house is finally up to his standards.
He is walking down his driveway to get to his mailbox, wearing plaid pajama pants and a plain black t-shirt, when he notices a dog on his lawn. This dog is small, very cute, and very out of breath. It runs up to him and jumps on his legs, clearly wanting his attention. He smiles and picks the dog up.
“Hi, there sweetheart. Where did you come from? Did you run away?” Obviously the dog didn’t answer, so Levi kept her in his arms and continued to get his mail. He couldn’t hear anyone calling for the dog, so he thought he would let it in and give it some water before going to find the owner.
He brings the dog in and lets it down, the dog immediately sniffing everything. Levi walks towards the kitchen, grabbing a bowl from the cupboard and fills it with water. He calls out for the dog.
“Hey, puppy, come here sweet girl, I have some water for you,” He hears clicking of paws and then the dog is right at his feet, eager for water. He laughs and puts it down, the dog nearly attacks the bowl. He sits down next to her and pets her back as she drank.
“After you drink we should go find your family, I bet they miss you,” The dog stops drinking and jumps up into his lap, wanting to cuddle and sleep after such a long day of running and not knowing where she is.
They sit there for a few moments before the doorbell rings. Levi gets up with the dog in his arms, not asleep, but drowsy.
Levi opens the door to see a very handsome, but distraught man in front of him.
“Hi, I was wondering if you have seen- Ninja?!” The man questioned. Levi sees the relief in his eyes and he then realizes the dogs name. Ninja. Huh, interesting. He hands the dog to his eager owner, Ninja licking his face, her tail going a million miles per hour.
“Oh, uh, is this your dog? She was lying in my front yard, so I brought her in to get some water. Didn’t want the sweet girl to pass out,” Levi’s hand goes to his neck and scratches, something he does in situations he isn’t sure how to feel about.
“Thank you so much, cutie. That means the worlds to me,” Levi blushed and did a double take.
“Cu-cutie? You think I’m cute?” Levi could not believe how random this was. A lost dog came into his house, only to have his owner be the hottest man on the planet. Life is crazy.
“Yeah, sorry if that was blunt. I swear I’m not doing this just because you found my dog, I really think you’re cute. And now that I know you’re in the neighborhood, I would love to get to know you better,” Levi stopped breathing for a few moments, he simply stared at the boy.
“Yeah, I would like that a lot. Um, would you like to come in? My name is Levi by the way,” He held out his hand to shake.
“I’m Nico,” Nico shook his hand was lead inside. The two began a friendship that quickly evolved into something bigger.