Neighbor Next Door - Stephen Strange x Female OC
18+ | minors dni
- Summary: anna had always thought the doctor next door was attractive. and one interaction left her itching to get more of him.
- Tags: age gap (25F & 40M), cheating (but not in the way you’d think), strong language, smut.
Chapter 15: The Same
anna had possibly the horniest dream she’d ever had in the longest time.
her brain was hooked on stephen even while she was sleeping.
they met. there was tension, so much tension. and then, they pretty much had sex the entirety of the dream until she woke up.
“jesus christ” she mumbled to herself as she awoke, hissing as the sting of the tattoo returned. she looked down “oh right.”
anna finally dragged herself out of the couch and headed to the bathroom, checking out her tattoo in the mirror. “shit, that’s actually really good.”
she bit her lip, grabbing her phone, contemplating.
she eventually gave in, groaning to herself as she headed to her bedroom and closed the door, as if there was anyone else in the apartment. she grabbed her vibrator with a sigh and went to stephen’s profile. “alright brain, i officially hate you.”
there was something about stephen. she could swear he was a part of some sort of an experiment god had going to test out some special pheromones because she was absolute obsessed with this man. not just mentally and emotionally. but physically and sexually too. everytime she was away from him, it was as if her body screamed out to be close to him again. she just wanted his skin on her at all times. she thought about all the times he was on top of her, the way his strong arms gripped her waist. the sounds that would leave his swollen lips as he thrusted into her. the feeling of him filling her up and hitting nerves like they’d been there just for him.
the way the sweat glistened down his skin, and everytime he called her a good girl.
“oh fuck” anna whimpered softly to herself, feeling her legs shake as she arched back slightly, gripping her bed sheets. “fuck stephen. fuck fuck fuck.”
anna lay there panting once she came down from her orgasm, looking back over at his picture, sighing. she eventually drifted right back to sleep, her muscles relaxed and eye lids heavy from the orgasm.
anna stirred later at noon, whining as she felt a headache coming on. alcohol may not impact her too much but sleeping in too late surely did.
she woke up and looked at her phone, tapping on it. it opened to a picture of stephen and she blushed, swiping away from his profile. maybe she missed him a bit too much.
she felt filthy and decided to get up and take a shower.
after her shower, she put on a tube top to make sure the tattoo didn’t rub against anything and healed properly. she also pulled on a pair of shorts and headed to the kitchen.
her damp hair fell down her shoulders as she started to make breakfast.
as the door bell rang, anna ran to it, seeing that it was stephen waiting on the other side.
she probably shouldn’t be so excited, she was still mad at him, but she couldn’t help the giddiness.
anna opened the door, trying her best to show no emotion.
“anna, i- oh.. h-hi” stephen fell short of words as his eyes landed on her. she looked absolutely ethereal. he swore she was the only person that could look good with wet hair.
“hey” anna blushed a little. she could feel and, clearly see the way stephen’s gaze was glued to her.
“i… i thought i’d come in person to explain” stephen mumbled softly, looking away so he’d be able to form words. “i just need you to know nothing really happened.”
anna shook her head. “and what does that mean? nothing really happened implies something else did happen.”
“okay, i” stephen sighed. he had to fess up and it didn’t seem like he was going to be invited in. “christine had been bugging me for a few days and i just uh. i guess i was lonely that night when she texted me again. and i did ask her to come over. and we um,”
“we did make out but that was it” he mumbled, still unable to meet anna’s eyes. “it just… it didn’t feel right. i realized i didn’t want to do it. it didn’t feel… good. so we just ordered take out and ended up talking, trying to see if we could patch things up but it led to a dead end. all we really did was that she insisted to stay the night and wear my shirt. and it honestly felt like she deliberately went out to answer the door and offer no explanation when she saw it was you that was outside.”
anna wanted to protest but wondered if it was fair for her to keep being mad. after all, they weren’t exclusive and he technically didn’t owe her anything.
“okay” anna’s voice was quiet. it still hurt to know that he would so easily crawl back to christine. she knew she was no competition for her. “i… i just. i don’t know. i know it wasn’t my place to say anything but i can’t help the way i feel. i can’t stop the… jealousy. it’s so stupid but i feel it.”
“no anna” stephen shook his head and met anna’s eyes. she’d always been honest about her emotions up front and maybe it was time that stephen did the same. “i feel the same. i should’ve told you this before. i feel exactly the same. i’ll be honest. the reason i left early was because i couldn’t stand seeing you with marc. and when you told him you wished that they could be more as well i thought i’d lost you. and that was the end of it. i felt so pathetically lonely and fucked up anna. the only reason i asked christine over was because i just i felt so pathetic. so i did the pathetic thing. she wanted me and i gave into that constant need i seem to have for validation. all to forget the pain gnawing at my chest. it’s so, so wrong but that’s the truth.”
anna let the words sink in as she watched stephen talk, he appeared so…small. she almost felt bad for him. she had a feeling being vulnerable like this was probably very hard for stephen. he couldn’t even hold her gaze anymore. she could tell he felt powerless.
“that’s what i did too” anna whispered. “when i went out with marc yesterday. but uh, nothing happened there either. and i… i, okay.”
she sighed loudly. “i said that to make you…jealous? i just… i’m sorry too. i didn’t think it would work. it just seemed like i was always the jealous one and i just wanted it to seem like well, not so pathetic. ”
stephen finally met her gaze. “it’s okay. i haven’t made any of this easy for you.”
anna looked down. “you- were you really that afraid of losing me? you know i’ll always be your friend.”
stephen stepped closer, aching to reach out but he felt like he’d lost the right to. “i know. but it scares me to think that that’s all you’ll ever be.”
anna bit down on her lip. “what do you mean?”
her voice was so small, it made stephen’s heart melt. “i can’t stop thinking about you, anna. and not just when it comes to hooking up. when i’m alone, i find myself wanting to be with you. to listen to you talk, to hear your laugh. you have one of the brightest most creative minds ever. i love listening to your ideas, your jokes. any time spent with you feels like quality time. i like you a little more than a friend might.”
anna looked up to meet his gaze. “i just… i’m sorry, it’s a little hard for me to believe.”
“it was just so easy for you to have christine over yesterday and it just… doesn’t make sense.”
stephen stepped back, feeling immense guilt. “i know. i’m sorry i screwed this up.”
“well thanks for coming over to explain” anna spoke softly. she so badly wanted to wrap her arms around him and call him hers. she wished christine never happened. she wished none of this was ever an issue. part of her just wanted to say fuck it and take him back.
but her ego held her back. she felt like she had to do this just to preserve her self respect.
“yeah… yeah no problem” stephen’s heart dropped. he figured there was no mending this. “um, i should go. thanks for hearing me out.”
“of course” anna smiled. “always. and stephen? we’re still friends, okay? i just need some time.”
“of course” stephen smiled sadly. “thank you.”
they said goodbye and anna closed the door, watching him leave through the peep hole.
she turned and leant her back against the door, sighing to herself.
“why does this have to be so complicated?”
a thought nagged at her, questioning if she should even believe him about christine? but she found it easier to believe stephen. she felt he’d always been honest, even if it meant hurting her. so that wasn’t necessarily something that she thought was worth pondering over. she went back to making her breakfast, and all she could think of was the sad look on stephen’s face when she turned him away.
stephen decided to reach out to sam.
usually, this would be nearly impossible for him to do. he felt like he’d progressed as a person ever since he’d been around anna. he was more open to expressing himself and letting people in.
asking sam for help had still felt really hard but after the way he’d poured his heart out today, he knew this wasn’t as intense.
and it really helped that sam seemed more than keen. he offered to come over.
stephen felt like anna had given him so much unknowingly. she didn’t deserve to hurt because of him.
to his surprise, sam brought over some snacks and gave stephen a hug as soon as he came over. “i’m so glad you reached out. let’s talk, buddy.”
they sat down on the couch, snacking on chips as stephen opened up to him.
“i get how tough this is” sam mumbled. “i don’t think she’ll be upset for long. she doesn’t let go of people and friends that easy.”
stephen nodded. “yeah but it’s more than that. i don’t know if she’ll ever trust me again.”
sam thought about it for a moment and spoke up. “stephen, can i ask you something?”
“do you wanna be with anna, like really be with her in an exclusive relationship?”
stephen found the courage to meet sam’s eyes. there was no use hiding from the truth. he’d already admitted it to himself and he’d practically admitted it to anna as well. “i- i do, sam. i really do.”
sam smiled. “sorry.” he grinned. “i just. i can’t hold it in. i’m trying to be unbiased and professional here but. oh fuck, you guys would be so cute together.”
stephen chuckled at sam’s enthusiasm. “i doubt she’ll ever trust me again.”
“it might take some time to build trust. but i should really tell you this. i think she wants to be with you too. but she’s confused, just like you were. this isn’t a conventional situation at all. but the more i talk to her, the more it seems like she…she really seems to like you, stephen.”
stephen’s eyes lit up. “you think so?”
“i’m trying not to give too much away about her feelings but” sam smiled. “i know so, stephen. i think you should pursue this. try and win her trust over again. okay, how about this? i’ll see what she has to say about this and i’ll give you the green light. but i’m pretty sure she wants to continue pursuing this. or well, you’ll have to pursue it a bit more because you gotta win her over.”
“i was planning on taking the lead, anyway.”
“oh yes!” sam clapped his hands excitedly. “okay buddy i know this feels like absolute shit right now. give yourself time to feel it, but when you feel a little light, try and see this as an opportunity to be even more romantic. swoon her. to be her knight in shining armor.” sam sighed dramatically. “oh, i love love.”
stephen laughed softly at that. “you’re making a lot of sense, actually. i’m already feeling better.”
“i’m glad i could help, buddy.”
“and i’m glad you’re my friend” stephen smiled, feeling extremely thankful for sam’s companionship.
“me too” sam smiled, winking at stephen. “gotta thank anna for being a total slut, or this wouldn’t have been possible.”
stephen’s brows shot up, he didn’t really know how to respond. “oh?”
“it’s cool” sam laughed. “she doesn’t mind. it’s a thing. but don’t you ever call her that. unless… she wants you too” he elbowed him suggestively.
stephen blushed and shook his head, laughing. “please for the love of god, stop talking.”
the two burst out into laughter.
stephen had received the “green light” as sam put it. he wondered what anna had said to sam precisely but sam hadn’t specified. he’d just said stephen was “free to pursue anna without coming off as a creepy weirdo.”
sam was totally right about seeing this as an opportunity. stephen was always a bit traditional, despite how he’d been behaving for a while with anna. he loved being a romantic. he loved being the one to ask someone out, to spoil them, to romance them.
he got to thinking. what should he start with? he didn’t know if he could ask her out yet. buying her something would just give the wrong impression.
it was probably better to give her some space to start with. some time to cool off and then he could try to get them to hang out again. he really hoped anna would forgive him soon. everything he’d told her was absolutely true. he always missed her company and was already starting to feel her absence.
stephen kept himself busy for a week or so. he wondered if it would be best to get together with sam and have anna be there? this way it wouldn’t be too overwhelming for her. and he could prove through his actions and the way he treated her how much he truly cared for her.
he would check her account regularly, his heart pounding as he anticipated any more posts with marc. thankfully, nothing popped up. but that didn’t mean nothing was happening behind the scenes. stephen was hoping nothing was going on. he didn’t want that son of a bitch getting to anna before he did.
on thursday night, after work, stephen made himself a bowl of cereal because he couldn’t be bothered with anything else. he was sat in front of his tv as he texted sam if they could hang out so he could be around anna.
sam’s response was quick. ‘i’ll think of something.’
stephen bit down on his lip as he contemplated his next question. would it be pushing a boundary to ask?
stephen: i know it’s really not my place to ask but is anna seeing marc?
the 5 minutes it took sam to reply felt like forever.
sam: sorry buddy. they’ve been hanging out a lot. but it doesn’t seem like they’re dating or anything.
stephen wished sam had added some extra detail, assuring him that they hadn’t… hooked up.
but he’d lost the privelege to ask.
that is, if he even had it in the first place.
sam: don’t worry armani suit. she still has the hots for you. i walked in on her scrolling through your profile yesterday. don’t tell her i ratted her out.
stephen laughed as he read sam’s text. was that how sam referred to stephen behind his back, too? stephen was a tad bit relieved to find out anna did exactly what stephen did as well. he just wished marc would go far far away from them.
stephen: thanks, man. take care of her. and yourself, too.
sam: you too. i’ll let you know if i hear something about marc.
stephen thanked sam once again, returning his attention to the TV, but the exchange was still running in the back of his head.
after some incessant rumination, stephen decided there was no use overthinking this. he would only find out anything once he got there.
stephen suggested that he take everyone to a nice place to eat and sam relayed the information that marc was probably going to tag along as well.
stephen hated the idea but he was willing to do whatever it took to make it up to anna.
he made a reservation at a nice italian place and also offered to pick everyone up on the way to the restaurant. however, sam told him that anna was probably going to arrive with marc.
now stephen didn’t know if this was happening because anna wanted to get back at stephen, if they were hooking up or if they were just back to being friends.
he just hoped what sam said was true and that he still had a chance.
this time, he wasn’t going to fuck this up. he was going to put his ego and self pitying aside and do whatever it took to get anna back.
her absence made him realize just what he was missing when she wasn’t around.
he always felt so … happy with her around. she was caring, and sweet. she was the best company he’d ever had in a while.
being around her always felt incredible. she had a way of making you feel really good about yourself and just happy to be there.
she was smart, funny and adorable. he loved her wit and the things she said. he could listen to her and gaze into her eyes all day.
he wanted to know so much about her and her deepest thoughts.
it was odd. being around her was comforting and yet he always felt this incredible rush. she was so beautiful he could never look away. her skin was so smooth, her smile so pretty, and her curves…
stephen snapped himself out of his thoughts. it was friday night and stephen had to get dressed to go pick everyone up. so as much as wanted to, he didn’t have the time to think about how hot anna was.
and then he thought about marc.
stephen began to get dressed. he settled on a black button up and a pair of slim fit black pants. he unbuttoned the top button and rolled up his sleeves, checking himself out in the mirror.
he’d heard that women loved rolled up sleeves and anything black and he hoped anna would feel the same way.
he fixed his hair and left to get to his car, heart thumping in his chest. he was so excited yet anxious to see anna. he’d missed her and he knew she’d look fantastic tonight.
stephen swung by wanda’s place to pick her and sam up, since she was the closest to him. he recalled the time wanda had snooped in on him and told anna. he knew they were best friends but he’d found that kind of behaviour quite disrespectful. but he’d decided to let it pass this one time and address it if something like that happened again.
“stephen, hey!” sam flashed a smile at him as he opened the door before getting inside the passenger seat. wanda got in at the back and greeted stephen, thanking him for picking her up.
“you guys look great” stephen beamed before making sure everyone was seated and comfortable and driving to the restaurant.
they arrived at the place and saw that anna and marc were already waiting. he admired her as they walked toward the front door, quickly checking her out before they approached.
she had a beautiful pink dress on. it hugged her waist and then flowed down to her knees. the dress was low cut, exposing the tattoo she’d gotten a week ago. it was so hot.
stephen smiled as he approached the two. and all he could say was “hi.”
anna looked breathtaking. her hair flowed down to her shoulders and the red tinted gloss on her lips had stephen feeling all sorts of ways. he then noticed marc’s hand around her waist and it made his blood boil, but he kept his composure.
anna responded with a simple hi before walking over to hug sam and wanda. she seemed a lot happier to see them than she was to see him.
what he didn’t know was that anna was absolutely floored by how handsome stephen looked. the all-black look, the rolled up sleeves and the little peek of his chest, it was all way hotter than anna could handle.
it literally hurt to know she couldn’t reach out to touch him. but she had to seem a bit offstandish.
stephen tried his best but he couldn’t keep his eyes off anna. he kept stealing glances in her direction. when he ordered food, while eating, while he poured everyone water. anna had caught him a couple times, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t help but look in her direction once a while even though she wasn’t even engaging in conversation with him or looking in his direction.
it bothered him that she was ignoring him and paying so much attention to marc.
at one point, he watched them talk and noticed how in the middle of anna talking, marc got distracted by a woman that passed by, completely ignoring her. he noticed anna’s smile falter a little and looked away.
maybe now he knew why her and marc were never exclusive.
poor anna. it made him even angrier with marc.
what was he even hanging around her for if he couldn’t even pay attention to her when she talked?
was it not worthwhile to listen to a woman when she talked and give her your full attention? he didn’t understand why guys did so many not too subtle things that were actually really disrespectful. maybe it was because they always got away with it.
knowing that, he couldn’t stop himself from what he did next.
“marc i think anna’s trying to tell you something” stephen cleared his throat. anna glanced over at stephen and then back at marc, her cheeks warming.
“what? oh yeah yeah” marc turned and looked at anna. “he was listening to… what was it? an old album?”
“i said he was reading- never mind.”
“oh come on, tell me. don’t do that.”
stephen rolled his eyes and looked away, catching sam looking at him.
sam raised a brow at him and gave him a thumbs up, mouthing, “daddy.”
stephen smiled and shook his head, trying to hold back a laugh.
anna was still blushing from the way stephen swooped in and demanded attention from marc. he was such a man.
she looked over at stephen, quickly looking away when their eyes met.
stephen gazed down at his food when anna looked away, upset that she refused to even hold his gaze for more than a second.
“so stephen, how long have you been working as a doctor?” wanda spoke up.
stephen was a little surprised because wanda hardly ever spoke to him.
“oh, uh…for like a decade?” stephen murmured. “i’ve been doing it for a while now.”
“oh that’s cool. what made you want to be a surgeon?”
“oh um” stephen put down his spoon, his demeanour changing. “i just wanted to… help people.”
he didn’t think he could talk about his sister here in front of everyone.
“that’s so honourable” wanda smiled and stephen looked up, returning her smile. “i’m just curious, what’s the process for the kind of cases you get? because from what i know, you’re one of the best doctors around.”
“usually i get extreme cases” stephen responded thoughtfully. “or even cases deemed impossible. but i also do basic surgeries. really depends on our schedules.”
wanda nodded. “you ever… refused a case?”
stephen’s heart dropped at the question. it reminded him of a time he was even more arrogant than he was now. he would refuse cases that were too “simple” for him only because they brought him no glory. he would also refuse cases that were too risky so he wouldn’t mess up his perfect record. he’d lost his way down the line, forget the real reason he was in this profession to begin with.
he’d been too swayed by external attention and media validation. but he finally found his way back to himself, and worked on becoming a better person.
now that he was reminded of this, a disturbing thought occurred to him.
he wondered if anna would even want him if she knew?
“i uh… yes” stephen said. “again, sometimes there are… schedule conflicts. or sometimes i’m not the best fit for that particular situation.”
“hm funny” wanda nodded. “i just know you as the best of the best.”
stephen smiled, nodding. “you’re very kind. i’ve gotten a lot better, but i wasn’t always this way. it took a lot of practice.”
anna was listening as well, trying to hold back a smile.
he really was the best of the best, huh?
was there any flaw that this man had? he seemed so… competent at everything.
everything except maybe keeping it in his pants.
and then it occurred to her.
all men were the same, weren’t they? no matter how “perfect” and accomplished they were.
the thought saddened her. she just didn’t want to be here anymore. she couldn’t believe she thought she had any chance with stephen even though now that she looked at it, he never gave her any signs that he wanted to be with her up until a week ago.
stephen noticed anna’s energy change. he wished he wasn’t sitting so far from her. she was on the opposite side, a seat to the left.
okay, maybe not too far but far enough.
he wanted to text her and ask if she was okay but he was still blocked and he didn’t know if texting her on her social media would be too much.
he decided eventually to try and engage her in conversation.
“how’ve you been, anna?” stephen asked her softly, gazing at her with adoration. he hoped she was okay.
anna looked up, surprised that stephen was talking to her.
she wanted to have an attitude with him but she also didn’t want to embarass him in front of everyone. “i’m okay.”
“how’s work coming along?”
“it’s good” anna smiled and nodded and stephen could tell it was fake. how had he let this get so out of hand?
“actually i think i’m gonna head out early.”
stephen blinked, his eyes widening. “oh? are you okay?”
“nooo stay!” sam protested with a pout.
“my tummy’s a little upset” anna lied. “i’m just gonna head out. i’ll just pay my half-“
“don’t worry about it” stephen spoke up. “tonight was my treat.”
“i can pay for myself” anna stated, a little more firmly than she should’ve.
stephen was pretty embarassed. “i just wanted to give you all a treat.”
“okay yeah s-sorry.” anna spoke shakily. “thanks stephen. i’ll see you guys later.” she smiled at everyone and got up.
the vibe at the table had turned extremely awkward really fast. no one seemed to know what to say.
“c’mere, give me hugs” sam extended his arms and stood up, hugging anna and wanda followed after, telling her to feel better.
marc just waved at her and said goodbye.
“that was weird” marc raised a brow.
stephen nodded and looked down.
marc glanced at him. “did you guys have a fight or something?”
“uh” stephen hesitated, letting out a soft chuckle to make it seem less serious. “a little argument. nothing too bad.”
“oh i’m sorry. i’ll try and calm her down when i speak to her again.”
oh because you know her so well.
“thanks” stephen faked a smile.
he couldn’t stop feeling bitter toward marc and the guy was nice to him.
sam tried to engage everyone in a conversation and all stephen could do was think about anna. he’d obviously blown this.
everyone seemed happy enough as the dinner came to an end and stephen dropped everyone off, including marc because he’d had some drinks.
at the very end, it was just him and wanda and the silence got really awkward.
“how’ve you been, wanda?” he decided to make some light conversation. he didn’t know too much about her. “how’s work coming along?”
it turned out he only had 2 questions up his sleeve to break uncomfortable silence. how are you, and how’s work?
“good and good” wanda smiled. “i mean work does get hectic sometimes but it’s been good. i enjoy it.”
“can i ask you something?”
“sure” stephen murmured, not sure what was coming next.
“how were you so okay with me and anna hanging out… despite the fact that you know, we hooked up?”
stephen blushed. “i’ll admit i felt jealous for sure. but i knew how important your friendship is. and i decided to deal with appropriately.”
“you’ve changed a lot, hm?”
stephen raised a brow. “what do you mean?”
“something tells me you weren’t always this…mature.”
“oh?” stephen‘s brows shot up. he didn’t know where this was heading.
“let’s be honest, why did christine cheat on you in the first place?”
stephen was taken aback and the question cut through his heart like a knife. “what do you mean?”
“i mean, women don’t just cheat for no reason.”
“are you implying it was because of something i did?” stephen was shocked at how insensitive wanda was being.
“i’m not implying anything, just curious.”
stephen stayed quiet, his jaw clenching. it seemed more and more as if wanda had it out for him. “i don’t want to talk about this.”
“why? what are you hiding?”
stephen was growing frustrated. what was with this interrogation? what was he hiding? what the fuck did that mean? he breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled up to her house, “good night, wanda.”
he didn’t look at wanda and didn’t see her smirk as she undid her seat belt. “goodnight, doctor.”
stephen finally looked at her as she walked away, his heart racing. what was with the tone?
what the fuck had just happened?
a/n: a little bit of stephen pov for you all :) i hope you all enjoyed the chapter. at least anna didn’t get drunk this time! please let me know what you think. i’ve been super sick this week and completely out of it but i did my best !! :) see you all next week!
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