Number Neighbors | Jeff Wittek
Idea by me, but requested by everyone who liked my post about it.
dedicated to my baby @daviddoughbrik because I love when she texts me constantly
You'd never really been into social media, being too busy to have a social life, let alone a Twitter account, but your little sister kept you up to date. You didn't get to see eachother very often, but you would call eachother once a week. Even if what your sister said made no sense, it was always a relief just to see her smiling face.
"What's the tea this week?" You smiled into the phone. "Did I use that right?"
"Yes, kinda." Your bubbly sister smiled back. "It's been a trend to text your number neighbors, and I texted mine, and some old lady texted back and yelled at me." She laughed as she rambled.
"What's a number neighbor?"
"It's your phone number but like plus or minus the end digit, so like, mine was. . ." She explained, you laughed, and then continued talking for an hour before she had to go.
You went about your night, watching some Netflix show before deciding to go to bed. You thought about your sister and how much you missed her. She was back home in New York, and you were across the country performing in Vegas. It was hard work, and you were doing what you love, but it sucked not being able to see her all the time. Thinking of her reminded you of the whole number neighbors thing and you decided to try it out. You didn't think anyone would answer, but it seemed fun and it was worth a try.
You sent a simple "hey number neighbor!" to the two numbers above and below yours, and then drifted off to sleep.
The next morning you woke up in a panic, you'd missed your alarm and were late for rehearsal. You quickly grabbed your phone, not even having time to look at it, and ran out of the door. You changed clothes in the car and apologized as you walked into the rehearsal area thirty minutes late.
It wasn't until dinner time that you really had time to look at your phone. One of your number neighbors had texted you back.
A simple 'hey' was all they said.
You went with some cliche questions, wondering if they would text back again.
They texted back instantly. You wondered if they still lived in New York, or maybe somewhere else.
It was okay, do you live in New York?
You learned that his name was Jeff, he's two years older than you, he lived in LA (only a short flight from you), and you grew up around the corner from eachother. His favorite type of soup is tomato, and he uses Old Spice body wash. Texting brought out a lot of different conversations than the phone did.
You stayed up a little later than you should've texting him, but he promised to text you in the morning.
In LA, Jeff had been smiling all night. Y/n was funny and new, and he wanted to know everything about her. She was a breath of fresh air from his friends and his life, and he couldn't get enough.
"Who are you texting?" Todd asked Jeff, peering over his shoulder.
"Just some girl." Jeff played it off, wanting to keep y/n his secret for a while.
"Yeah, she's hot." Jeff played along.
"Probably not." Lucky for Jeff, David called Todd over, distracting him from their conversation.
You smiled at Jeff's text before replying. Seeing his name on your phone made you so happy for no reason. You've never had anyone to talk to like this, and you couldn't be more grateful. The two of you texted all day. And night. And the next day. And the next night.
For two straight weeks you texted constantly. You shared very intimate secrets with eachother. Things you've never told anyone. You also knew all the stupid things about eachother. Pet peeves, favorite colors, turn ons, turn offs. Stories about friends, your parents names, you even knew about his ex girlfriend.
His text scared you. There was something wonderful about the animosity of it all. You weren't pressured to look good, you weren't self conscious, you weren't worried about anything physical.
Can we start with a phone call?
Taking it slow was nice. Obviously you had a crush on him, but it felt so real and so fake. You loved him for his personality, but you had no idea what he looked like. You were scared to find out. What if he was horribly ugly? Not that looks were everything, but you'd have to be physically attracted to him at least a little bit for it to get anywhere. Jeff was thinking the same things, and agreed that a phone call would be a good next step.
I'm scared. What if my laugh is too ugly and you never talk to me again?
Who says I'm gonna make you laugh?
Jeff, your texts make me laugh until I pee a little bit, I know talking will be the same way.
He agreed to press the call button. You would get too in your head and never end up pressing it.
You were cross legged on your bed. You looked like a twelve year old girl waiting for her crush to call. Your ringtone blared and you stared at your phone. By the time you answered he'd almost gone to voicemail.
Both of you were silent for a minute.
"Are you as nervous as I am?" His New York accent soothed your ears. He sounded like home.
"Yeah, I almost didn't answer." You let out a sigh of relief. Once you started talking, your conversation didn't stop.
"I thought you'd have an accent." You could practically hear him smirking.
"I didn't think you'd have one." Your words were slow and gentle. You didn't wanna push any boundaries. You were afraid to curse, even though you'd cursed like a sailor in text.
"You sound very pretty." He flirted with you, making you blush. You were very thankful it was just a voice call and he couldn't see how red you were.
You talked for three hours before you fell asleep. Apparently Jeff fell asleep too, because when you woke up, the call was still going.
"Jeff?" Your voice was groggy, but at this point you didn't care. He didn't answer right away, and you were about to end the call when he spoke.
"Did you know you talk in your sleep?" His voice was deep and gruff, a little chuckle coming through the phone.
"Do I really? That's so embarrassing." You rubbed the sleep out of your eyes, trying to remember what you dreamed about.
"You were talking about me." Jeff smiled in his bed, staring at your name and the ever-growing time of the phone call.
"Oh my God. I'm so sorry."
"You said 'you're probably really cute' and you kept whisperin' my name. It woke me up like three times."
"I mean, you sound like you're really cute, so I'm not wrong." You pulled your phone off the charger before bringing Jeff with you too the bathroom. "I have to shower, so I gotta go."
"No, we already slept together, you can shower in front of me." His joke made you burst out laughing. "And you thought your laugh was ugly, huh?"
"Okay, okay, I really have to go, Jeff." You noticed yourself in the mirror, smiling like a doofus. "I'll call you tonight?"
"Not if I call you first."
You texted all day once again, and he called you as soon as you said you were home.
"I missed your beautiful voice."
"I missed your sexy accent."
The events of the previous night repeated, this time with more flirting.
It became a cycle. You would talk all night, fall asleep together, wake up and talk about your dreams and his snoring and then you'd text all day until you could do it again. He became your first priority, only delaying or skipping a phone call when you talked to your sister or he had to do something with his friends.
After a few weeks you felt ready to know what he looked like. Your phone was facing the ceiling as you hit the FaceTime button. He answered the call, his phone also facing the ceiling.
"We gonna do a three, two, one, go kinda thing or one at a time, or what?" He chuckled. Suddenly your nerves were all lighting up at once. The curiosity was killing you.
"What if we go slowly? Like our hair first and then our eyes and yeah?" You suggested. Your hair was in a bun, and you weren't wearing makeup, but you wanted him to see you for you.
You picked up your phone slowly, peeking the top of your head into the frame. His hair was incredible. He had the type of hair you see in shampoo commercials. It was brown and floppy and slightly styled. "Even your hair is attractive, wow."
"Your messy bun is incredible." He took in every detail of your hair. "Eyes?"
"Okay." The two of you stared at your phones, staring at eachothers foreheads as your eyes slowly came into frame. His eyebrows were bushy yet manicured, and his beautiful brown eyes were so bright. You could see the attraction he saw in you as he took in your long lashes and your sparkling eyes.
"You look exactly as I pictured you so far." As he laughed his eyes scrunched up and you started to see his cheeks.
"You look so much better than I pictured you." You laughed as well, your eyes squinting. "Okay, noses." Jeff's nose was slightly big, and a bit crooked, but it was handsome nonetheless. He seemed like a manly man, and you were very into it. The more he showed of his high cheekbones and his nose, the more you started to see his moustache and the edges of a beard. "You have a beard?"
"Yeah, I'm a gorilla." His cheeks perked up as he smiled at you. Your nose was much smaller than his. "You have such a cute nose."
"Let me see the rest of your beautiful face." He demanded and you obliged, showing him the whole of your face. "Wow."
"Wow." You were both stunned. The beard suited him. Jeff was hot. Like, male model hot.
"I think I'm falling in love with you, y/n." His lips mesmerized you to the point where you barely heard what he said.
"What?" You were suddenly out of breath. This beautiful man was falling in love with you.
"I was pretty sure before I saw you, but now I'm really sure. I'm falling in love with you. Your beautiful face. Your beautiful personality. All of it. The way you don't mute yourself when you pee, the way you laugh, they way you're smiling at me right now. All of it. Everythin' about you." His words squeezed her heart, a heavy warm feeling filling her chest.
"I'm falling in love with you too, Jeff Wittek."
You FaceTimed every night for a month.
"Hey." Jeff's handsome face filled your screen, except this time he wasn't in his apartment, he was walking somewhere.
"Where are you?" You asked, hearing voices in the background. You started to wonder if his friends knew about you.
"I'm getting on a plane." He smiled.
"Ooh, where are you going?" You knew about his job now. You'd laughed at his own videos while on FaceTime with him just a week prior, and you knew his friend David tended to take him on spontaneous trips to Chicago or New York.
"Guess." He said, a playful tone very obvious in his voice.
"Um, New York." You smiled at him.
"Chicago?" You were more uncertain this time.
"Just tell me, I suck at guessing." You pouted at him, your eyes noticing his friend Todd in the background.
"Vegas." His smile widened as he saw your shocked expression.
"Really?" You almost started to cry.
"I'll be at your door in a few hours."
"Is this really happening?" You asked.
"Do you wanna pinch yourself?" He chuckled.
"No, I just have to clean my entire apartment and put on makeup and find my cute underwear and-"
"Cute underwear?" He asked, that smirked you loved so much tugging at his lips.
"Damn right." You laughed.
"Okay, you can do that, but you don't have to put on makeup if you don't want to."
Your were crawling out of your skin for three hours, frantically running around your apartment as you made everything perfect for Jeff. You had your best underwear on, ready for him to rip it off. You didn't know if you were gonna have sex, but you wanted to be prepared. You were wearing some random shorts and a large shirt, minimal makeup on.
You were afraid you might wear holes in the floor from pacing so hard, but you couldn't help it.
You refreshed his location constantly. He was getting closer to you every minute.
You froze in your tracks when he knocked on your door. Life didn't feel real as you opened the door.
"Hey, could I crash here tonight?" Jeff asked. He was even more beautiful in person, he was also taller than you thought. You ran into his arms, his bag falling to the ground as he enveloped you in his arms. He smelled amazing. His grip was tight as he squeezed you.
He wouldn't let you go and you didn't want him to. You hugged for a good three minutes before finally dragging him inside.
"I can't believe you're real, or that you're here."
"I can't believe how beautiful you are." His eyes scanned your body before landing on your face. "Come 'ere." His hands holding your waist, bringing you in. Your eyes locked as your faces drew closer together. Your eyelids fluttered closed as you focused on the feeling of his touch. His hands on your waist, his lips on your lips, your fingers in his hair and on his jaw and in his beard. You couldn't get enough of him.
"I have a question for you." He pulled away gently, your eyes opening.
"Okay." You muttered, still stunned by him. His hands dragged up your body and cupped your face.
"Will you officially be my girlfriend?" His eyes flickered between your eyes and your lips. You nodded, smiling as you leaned in to kiss him again.
"I feel like I'm dreaming." You smiled, pulling away once again.
You showed him around your apartment, putting his stuff in your room. You cuddled and talked for a while before you finally got to show him that special underwear.