1.

FEAR. A strong, uncontrollable and unpleasant emotion caused by actual or perceived danger or threat. This was all Dylan Blake could feel as he opens his eyes while expecting an excruciating pain from his chest area, in particular, his heart. He was naturally born with a weak heart but the accident he was in a week ago proved that the fact that he was alive was a miracle to him. As his eyes closed, having been on life support machine for days while waiting for a donor, all he could think of was dying in the hand of his lover but who was he kidding. She wasn’t present next to him at that moment, she wasn’t even in existence anymore. The accident had taken her life and left him in solitude and pain.

“Mr. Blake, your surgery was a success.” Dr. John, a brown haired professor in his mid-fifties from the cardiology department stands not far from Dylan’s bed as he does some medical check-up to ensure the surgery went well and give himself some assurance that no signs of complications surfaced.

“After a day more in the ICU, we’ll be moving you to your ward room while watching how fast your recovery goes before we finally discharge you.” He continues while staring at Dylan’s face hoping to get some kind of response from him, even if it was a gesture.

Dylan nods his head twice and this sends a smile of accomplishment to the good looking doctor next to him. The doctor strides out of the ICU gracefully, his white gown following his every move from behind. From such a view, one could definitely see the amount of pride Dr. John had in his profession and it didn’t look like he was quitting anytime soon.

Dylan is left alone once again and given the quiet environment, his mind wanders to how life outside this hospital would feel like for him. He had literally done everything together with Hannah for the past three years and starting this new life without her in it was like forgetting an important part of his life. He wasn’t ready for that life yet and just the thought of going on without her by his side sends two drop of tears from both sides of his eyes.

Dylan wouldn’t be seeing those brown curls bounce again whenever Hannah was laughing at his cheesy jokes or the funny expressions he often made. Three years earlier, he wasn’t the kind of guy that would try to make a joke just to impress a lady or would he relocate to her location just to feel closer to her. That was definitely not his style, but love did make him change. His ever frowning and stoic expressions were replaced with little smiles from time to time but his cockiness was something that could never be replaced.

She didn’t create a new version of him, but showed him that everyone was entitled to be happy and he didn’t have to make everyone around him walk on ice. With time, his soft sides were brought to life and he often wondered how she was able to bring the best out of him by just staying next to him. But now she wasn’t there to remind him anymore that he could be happy as life goes on.

He was heartbroken and felt like his heart was torn into pieces over and over again in an unending circle. No amount of tears could ever be enough to express the pain he felt right now and the anger he had towards life in general. It wasn’t fair to him that he had to move on and decided from that moment, happiness had walked out of his life completely.

He cries in silence while wincing in pain once a while before the anesthesia given to him kicks in fully and sends him sleeping for a long time.

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It was 9:00 in the evening when Anna struggles to find the keys to the entrance of her apartment from her light brown bag that contained both necessary and unnecessary stuffs. What she considered necessary included her purse, keys to both her office and her apartment, her personal notepad where she made little notes while trying to analyze the personalities of people around her, her laptop for research purpose and her pink knitted muffler which she got from Josh, last year’s Christmas along with a necklace whose pendant was shaped like an x-mas tree.

Glasses, hair brush, makeup purse and an extra pair of slippers were the unnecessary stuffs she had in her bag, which she never got to use but always hoped that someday, the need for them would arise.

“That was such a hassle.” She sighs when the key is finally brought to light.

The roaring engine of a big truck that comes to a stop in front of the house next to Anna’s, draws her attention and as the body read ‘we make moving easier’, she knew someone was moving in next-door. It’s been six full months since she moved into this neighbor-hood and she still wasn’t fully familiar with the residents around. Most of the contacts she made, had been with teenagers and middle-aged moms.

Maybe if it was someone within her age-range, she might finally be able to make a friend and stop being a loner in this neighbor-hood. She opens the door to her apartment and walks in to the silence that welcomes her. She was already getting used to this lonesome lifestyle, but the feeling of emptiness the apartment brings out, whenever she steps into it just never changes.

Unlike in some relationships were the girl often stays over at the guy’s place, it was the opposite for Anna and Josh. He literally lived at her place since he was there most of his free time rather than in his own apartment. So whenever she walked into her house, his scent always welcomed her and that would often send her crying at the thought of his absence. The apartment made a part of her feel missing and the recurring whispers of loneliness messed with her head. If she stayed there any longer, she knew for sure that she might lose her sanity which is quite ironical, given the fact that her job required her to help people live a normal life.

So she made a decision and like a coward, she ran away. That was the only solution she had within her grasp and if it was the only way she could save her sanity and keep doing what she loved, then it was worth the try. Six months from making such a decision, Anna doesn’t seem to have regretted any moment of it.

She turns on the light to the living room and heads straight to the kitchen to grab a cold water from her empty fridge. Her mom was definitely going to nag her if she saw the current state of her fridge and since she would be visiting soon, she definitely needed to go grocery shopping.

The sound of an engine roaring to life told her the truck had left, meaning her new next-door neighbor was in. She was living a boring life and adding a friend to it, might just give her the distraction she actually really wanted. 

After thirty minutes of showering and changing into more comfortable clothes, Anna finds herself standing on the porch of her new neighbor. Introducing herself first didn’t seem like a bad idea to her but the environment didn’t seem welcoming. It was dark and the night breeze seemed to be having fun, given how forceful the wind keeps blowing towards her direction. But what seemed creepy to her was how this apartment was without light, not even in the entrance.

There was no power outage, so the darkness was definitely a choice the neighbor had made. And as a psychiatrist, this already said little about the person’s personality to Anna. Hiding one’s self. She rings the bell once but gets no answer. She tries it a second time and places her ears on the door in other to try and pick up any sound movements. 

At that moment, the door swings open in full force like the person behind it was already pissed. Right in front of her is a male figure whose facial features are hard to depict due to the darkness around. When he doesn’t utter a word, she wasn’t sure if the friendship she had hoped for was going to work out as planned.

So she decides to speak first.

“Hey. I’m from next-door.” And that didn’t sound bad in Anna’s ears.

In response, the male figure stretches his right hand towards her in the position of a handshake. A low breath of relief escapes from Anna’s mouth as she thinks he might not be as difficult as she had thought him to be. She grabs his hand to shake it but became confused when the hand wasn’t budging.

“stop being clingy and move out of my way.” The cold masculine tone affected her more than the night breeze and this was the first time a feeling of regret crosses her mind since she moved here.