Written: Christmas of 2021

"Silver bells, silver bells, it's Christmastime in the city.."

You pressed your ear to the wall of your third floor Chicago apartment, a long sigh escaping your lips.

Whoever your new neighbor was has been singing and playing Christmas carols on the piano ever since the beginning of this month, and it was only the sixth of December. It's not that you were exactly annoyed with it; it was clear he had a great voice. It was just that he tended to stay up late, and you had work very early each morning, which meant you were usually depending on coffee to stay awake all day long.

You were contemplating saying something, but you had waited, hoping it would stop.

However, it obviously didn't.

You moved away from the wall, deciding to test the waters before marching over to his apartment and telling him to stop.

You knocked on the wall loudly, but after waiting a couple seconds, it hadn't gotten his attention.

You balled up your fist tighter, pounding again, but harder.

"Hey!" You said loudly. "It's late!"

However, the piano continued to play, and his voice rang through your apartment still.

You crossed your arms over your chest, letting out a loud huff as you turned, walking over to your front door.

At least you wouldn't have to walk far. His apartment was directly next to yours, which was why you were the only one who heard his singing, apart from the vacant apartment across from his.

You opened up your door, stomping out into the hallway where you made your way to his.

You pounded loudly, the reached over to the doorbell, ringing it a few times.

Suddenly, the singing stopped, and the silence was music to your ears.

You heard footsteps come over to the door, and the door being unlocked, before it opened up, revealing a pale man wearing a cardigan and a fedora.

You were a bit surprised by his looks, honestly, but you played it cool, crossing your arms over your chest again.

"Hi there." He smiled. "Can I help you..?"

You bit the inside of your cheek. "Hi, I'm your neighbor." You mumbled. "Listen, I've gotta wake up work early tomorrow, and.."

"Oh my gosh.." he interrupted, his face showing clear signs of guilt. "I'm so sorry, Have I been keeping you up? I didn't know anyone else lived up here.."

You felt a bit better that this guy wasn't being a jerk about it, and let a small smile creep onto your face.

"It's fine, I get it." You Said, then stuck your hand out. "I'm Y/N."

He smiled, taking your hand in his and shaking it gently. "I'm Patrick." He said. "Sorry again for the music...I'll try to play it while you're at work."

"Hey, it's all good." You smiled. "Besides, I wouldn't mind hearing it once and a while."

"I'll keep that in mind." He chuckled. "Occasionally, But not daily."

You chuckled as well. "Well, Nice to meet you, Patrick." You Said. "I should get to bed."

"Nice to meet you, too." He said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." You waved to him before walking away, but you stopped, turning back as he began to close the door.

He stopped when he met your gaze, and you smiled a little.

"By the way, you have a nice voice." You Said.

He blushed a little, smiling a bit. "Thank you." He said, before nodding and closing the door.

The next day, after a long day of work, you were happy to come home to absolute silence, which meant you could watch your shows and eat your dinner in peace.

However, things soon became too quiet.

You had become so used to hearing Patrick singing from his apartment, and now you felt kind of sad.

You shook it off, though. You at least deserved one night of silence, right?

An hour later, you were browsing through the television channels mindlessly, looking for something other than paid programming, though nothing was really on.

You ended up just leaving it on The Weather Channel, where there were talking about snow passing over Illinois.

You looked over at the window curiously, then decided to get up and look out to see if it was snowing yet.

You walked over and pulled the curtain back, smiling when you saw a thin blanket of snow covering the streets.

"Baby, it's cold outside.." The piano from Patrick's apartment began to play again, and his voice rung quietly through your home.

Your smile got a little bigger as an idea popped into your head, and you rushed into the kitchen.

You quickly made two mugs of hot cocoa, adding exactly five marshmallows in each of them. You put on a pair of slippers, and, through you were in your pajamas, you made your way out into the hallway.

You stepped up to Patrick's door, quickly realizing that there was no way you could knock with two mugs full of chocolate in your hands.

"Hey!" You called, kicking the door a bit with your foot. "Patrick?"

Patrick continued to sing, as you continued to call his name repeatedly.

That didn't work, so you decided to wait until he stopped. In the meantime, you began to absentmindedly sing along to his song.

"And least I can say that I tried.."

"What's the sense in hurting my pride?"

You hadn't realized it, but your voice had gotten louder, especially at the last, "I bet it's cold outside," and Patrick suddenly stopped singing.

You froze, completely forgetting what you had been doing here in the first place as you heard footsteps approach the door.

You attempted to compose yourself, standing straight and taking a deep breath, before the door opened.

Patrick was dressed in his pajamas as well, and his hatless hair was slightly messy.

A smile immediately appeared on his face as he looked at you. "Hi, Y/N." He said cheerily.

"Hi, Patrick." You Replied, smiling at him. You held out a mug of chocolate. "I made hot cocoa and thought you might like some?"

He smiled, taking the mug from you. "Oh my goodness," he said. "That's sweet of you. Would you like to come in for a bit?"

"Um.." you thought for a moment. You really had nothing to do since tomorrow was Saturday. There was no harm in spending a little time getting to know your neighbor.

"Sure," you nodded. "That sounds great."

"Come in!" He said, opening the door with so much excitement that you began to wonder if he didn't get many visitors.

He led you over into the living room, where he had a small heater going, and the curtains open, showing a perfect view of the snowy city.

He sat down on the couch, patting the spot beside him with his hand as he looked up at you and smiled. "Sit!" He exclaimed.

You smiled a little, making your way over and sitting next to him.

To your surprise, he scooted closer, giggling a little. "Sorry, I don't get to do this much." He smiled at you, lifting up the mug of hot chocolate for a sip.

You smiled back at him, chuckling a little. "It's okay." You Said. "I don't get much company either...I'm not a great hostess, to be honest." You took a sip of your hot cocoa, letting out a small sigh. "I'm sorry I never welcomed you to our building."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "It's fine." He said.

"But you moved here quite some time ago.." you mumbled. "I just...I guess I try to avoid social contact all I can. I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay." He reached over, laying his hand on your shoulder so gently that you hardly even felt it. "I get it. Besides, you work a lot, don't you?"

"Yeah.." You Sighed, taking a sip of your cocoa.

He took a sip of his, then hummed. "This is good." He smiled at you. "How did you make it?"

You laughed a little. "It's a secret." You joked.

"Then how do I get more of it?"

You bit your lip. "Well, maybe you'll have to come over."

He smiled a little. "Really?"

"Sure." You smiled back at him. "I think it'd be cool to get to know each other better, don't you think?"

"We are neighbors." He nodded, then lifted up his mug. "To becoming friends?"

"To becoming friends." You lifted up your mug and clinked it on his, before you both took a sip of your chocolate.

The two of you sat together for hours that night, with soft Christmas music playing in the background as you watched the snow fall outside.

Little did you know, you wouldn't just become friends, but you'd become closer than friends.