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“Mornin’, neighbor!” a croaky voice called. It was, of course, Thomas, the guy from next door Newt had met during his move the day before.
Newt was carrying in the last box when the neighbor showed up. He was sweaty and flushed –he had obviously been running– and Newt stared for a second too long before shaking his hand. “I didn’t know you were moving in today,” the neighbor said, cheery (Newt was sure his name was Thomas – he was too busy looking into his eyes to listen), “I would’ve stayed and give you a hand!” Newt wanted to say it was alright, he didn’t have that many things anyway, but all he could mumble was an “Uh…”
“Here, why don’t I take this box?” Thomas said, taking the box from Newt’s hands before he could answer. “Least I can do for my new neighbor,” Thomas smiled and winked, walking through Newt’s open door carrying the box in one arm as if it were weightless. Newt was too dumbfounded to move until he realized he had a total stranger inside his new home.
He walked inside at the time Thomas was on his way out. He smiled a crooked smiled and Newt thought he looked right at home under his living room archway. “What else can I help you with?” Thomas asked. Newt blushed at his dimples before replying that it was alright, he could take it from here. “Oh, well then, if you ever need anything at all, I’m just a knock away.” He winked again and left, leaving Newt utterly stupefied.
Now Newt was drinking a cup of tea on his stoop, enjoying the morning sounds of the city, and his neighbor Thomas was there too, on his own stoop, a cup of coffee that looked too small in his rough hands. “Morning,” Newt replied when he remembered how to speak.
“Are you all settled in now?” Thomas asked.
“Uh, yeah, pretty much.”
“Cool, cool. So where you from?”
“Southwark– uh, London.”
“Oh, English aren’t ya! Barely noticed the accent yesterday,” Thomas chaffed, taking a sip of his coffee. Newt flushed and looked away. He wasn’t sure he had really managed to say anything at all when they met. Thomas chuckled quietly and moved on. “Just got here, then?”
“Uh, I moved to the States a couple years ago.” Newt took a shaky breath – he needed it if he wanted to keep producing full sentences. “I moved to the city for work.”
“Oh, cool, what do ya do?”
“Uh, I’m a manager.”
“Cool, so you boss a lot of people around, huh?” There was an edge in Thomas’s voice that made Newt swallow. He sipped his tea to hide it.
“I mean, yeah I guess.” Newt dared look over at his neighbor again. He was very relaxed on the steps, fully dressed despite the early hour. His hair looked soft and a bit shiny in the morning sun. Newt had heard Thomas’s music and bad singing the night before through their shared wall and he had thought he really wouldn’t mind the noise every night. Not if it came from Thomas.
“That’s really cool, Newt,” he said with that crooked smile. At the mention of his name, Newt nearly dropped his mug. He was sure Thomas could see him blushing and fumbling. “You seem like a great guy, ya know,” Thomas said. “I think I’ll like having you as a neighbor.”
“I hope you do– I – I mean –” Had he really let that out?! Fool!
“I know what you mean,” Thomas replied, so confidently that Newt stopped breathing. He looked over at his neighbor again and saw him blushing ever so slightly. “You know,” Thomas’s voice has hoarse, deep, “if you ever need a cup of sugar for that tea, you can just come over.”
Newt couldn’t wait to run out of sugar.