Readers: So I realized I made a mistake...AJ's eyes are blue...lol anyways thank you to those who followed this story and are reviewing it =) Thank you all! Here's a new chapter for you!

CHAPTER TWO

Saturday morning cartoons blared through Gabby's apartment as she woke up that next morning. She rolled onto her back and stretched out her arms as a big yawn escaped her mouth. A soft smile then took it's place as the sound of Tom and Jerry filled her ears. It was her favorite cartoon...and had been since she was just a child. Simon meowed fom the floor before jumping up onto the futon mattress.

"Hey there buddy," she said as he pressed his head against her face and nudged her to get up. "You must be hungry..."

He meowed again making her smile as she put on her thick glasses. She slowly got out of the bed and made her way into the kitchen, where she got a can of cat food from the cupboard. After cleaning out the cat's bowl, she placed the food in it and placed it back on the floor. As she made her way to the trunk behind her couch, her house phone began to ring.

"Probably mom..." she said as she walked back to the kitchen. She picked up the phone as it rang for the second time, seeing her mother's name on the caller ID. With an eye roll, she hit the talk button.

"Hey mom..."

"Hey sweetie, how have you been?" Her mother asked.

She leaned her back against the counter and sigh, "Fine...what do you want."

"I-I just called to check on you, I haven't heard from you in over a month." her mother said. "I mean I was just worried about your mental state after-"

"-I said I'm fine mom...really..." she said as she glanced at the small basket of clothes she needed to wash. "How are you?"

"Well it's been hard but I'm getting through it one day at a time." she explained.

Gabby immediately felt awful for sounding so cruel. Although her and her mother didn't have the greatest relationship, it didn't give her the right to act like she wasn't married to her father. She walked over to her desk in the far left corner and turned on her laptop.

"What are you planning to do for Christmas?" Gabby asked her.

She was silent for a moment, feeling shocked that Gabby wouldn't even ask. "U-Uh well I was hoping you'd come here for Christmas dinner. I hate you being in that city all alone."

Gabby smiled to herself thinking about her hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. She hadn't been back there since her father's funeral and 5 years before that...As much as returning there sounded like a good idea, the thought of walking into that house without hearing her father's voice broke her heart.

"Um let me think about it OK mom?" she said.

"Oh OK no problem dear, did you need anything or,"

"No I'm good here," I told her. "Don't worry I'll call you if I'm going to come or not,"

"Alright sweetie, well I'll call you tomorrow or something," her mom said.

Gabby nodded, "Ok. Bye mom."

"Bye Gabrielle."

After hanging up the phone, Gabby walked back over to the trunk behind the couch and opened it up. She was just about to pull out her pink robe when the sound of loud country music came blasting from next door. The sudden sound scared her so much she fell back onto her butt.

"What the heck is that?" she asked as Simon walked over and rubbed himself against her. "Looks like we have a neighbor Simon..."

She didn't know why, but the thought of having a neighbor made her extremely nervous. For so long it had only been her on this side of the floor, giving her the freedom to sing as much as she desired...now she would have to be careful...She resumed getting up, grabbing her robe as she did so. After putting it on she grabbed her small change purse full of quarters, her detergent, and her basket of clothes and headed towards the door. She could still hear the music playing in the hall but she chose to ignore it...although the lyrics somewhat soothed her mind about who was living on the other side of that door...

She headed down to the laundry room that was at the end of the hall. Normally the lights here stayed off but she was surprised to find it on...when she got to the door, she nearly stopped in her tracks at the sight of a man standing in front of one of the washers wearing nothing but boxers. He was taller than her, with light brown hair that grew to his shoulders, and from what she could tell, a firm body...She felt her cheeks beginning to burn as she walked up to the washer beside him and sat her basket down on the floor. The man glanced at her and immediately rolled his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to be alone but at the same time the girl did need to wash her clothes.

"Hi." she said timidly when she noticed him looking at her. She tried hard not to blush at the sight of those icy pools looking down at her, but she had never been able to control her bashfulness around men...especially attractive ones. How dare he stand there in his underclothes and expect her not to react this way...

"Hey," he said sternly, while studying her features. She was definitely not his type with those geeky glasses on her face and that awful pink robe covering what he assumed was a plump body underneath. She was probably one of those cat ladies he feared his mother would turn into one day...

The sharpness in his voice caught Gabby off guard. Did she do something wrong? She put her money in the washer and got it started before measuring out the detergent and pouring it in the washer. She could feel the man burning a hole through her and she wondered if she had offended his space.

"Is something wrong?" she asked as she began loading her washer.

"No. I just didn't think anyone else lived on this floor..." he lied.

Gabby nodded nervously, "Y-yea I live here...did you just move in?"

"Yesterday." he answered shortly.

She didn't understand why he was so snappy, but it made her uncomfortable. She quickly finished putting her clothes in the washer and then went back to her apartment. As for AJ...he leaned against the washer and ran his hand through his hair. He could tell this girl was as timid as a mouse and probably the most harmless creature he'd ever met but he didn't want or need any friends. He picked up his basket and headed back to his apartment to finish cleaning it up.

2 hours later

Gabby couldn't stop thinking about the man she seen. Although he was somewhat rude to her, he was the most attractive man she'd seen since high school. She sighed and quickly pushed any ideas of talking to this man out of her head. There was no way she stood a chance and knowing him he probably had a woman already. She frowned as she folded her freshly washed clothes. She knew that she would forever be alone in this world especially now that her father was gone. But while she thought about AJ, he too thought about his awkward encounter with her. How long had she lived there he wondered...was she alone? He didn't know nor did he think he cared...he needed to figure things out for himself and that's what he planned to do.