The Broken Elevator (Jalex One Shot)

Jack was late as fuck for work. And not that, 'oh I'm so sorry I'm running a few minutes late' kind of late either. He was bordering on 'fuck it, might as well take a sick day' late. However, Jack's boss had informed him not-too-nicely earlier in the month that if he missed anymore days he would in fact be fired.

Terrified that he might loose his job and after that his apartment and all of his other possessions that he loved dearly, he decided to skip a shower and breakfast for the morning to save time. He'd barely gotten his pants on when he bursts through the door, remembering halfway down the hall that he needed to lock said door. Once he finally made it to the elevator he smashed the button seven times before realizing that the little light was not turning on and that there was a sign on the elevator doors that read "Out Of Order" in bold red lettering. Good one, Jack. That was hard to miss.

Stairs were the only other option. He jetted down one floor with no problem. It was only when he came to the one below when the problem arose. He came across the assholes carrying up a fucking couch that was taking up the entire stairwell. Jack cursed under his breath because of course this would happen.

The men were at an impasse where they stood, yet none of them could come up with a solution as the precious seconds Jack had managed to gain back ticked away. Fuck the stupid, kind-of-handsome guy carrying the couch and fuck Jack's boss for being a prick.

Jack, being the bigger person obviously, backtracked enough to let the gigantic couch and kind-of-hot guy and his friend pass. Jack scowled as they tried to balance the couch and carry it. Their communication skills were poor, which was why it was taking to goddamn long.

Once the blockage was out of the way, Jack was really late and had to run all the way to the bus stop where he barely caught the leaving bus. Realizing that he'd in fact gotten on the wrong bus that was taking him across town opposite of his office, that was the last straw for Jack. This was absolutely the worst day to ever exist ever.

He thought about really just calling it a day and returning home to the comfort of his cozy warm bed, but thought better of it when the image of the prominent vein in his boss's neck throbbing as he yelled at Jack for being late again.

He wasn't wrong either, despite only being forty-two minutes late his boss was still furious and Jack was lucky he wasn't fired on the spot. Instead, he was assigned the most annoying tasks by the brute of a manager and talked down to the rest of the day. As if all of the events up to then wasn't enough, Jack also managed to some how spill four cups of coffee on himself. Luckily for him they were iced coffees, and yet that didn't make him feel any better as he tried to dab the enormous stain away with the one napkin he could find. At the end of the day he was beyond ready to leave the terrible environment and catch a bus, hopefully the correct one, back to his apartment complex.

Stopping to say hi to the door man Zack, Jack found out that the elevator wouldn't be working until the end of the month. He didn't want to blame Zack for the terrible news, but he didn't have anyone else to blame it on so he felt bitter towards the door man as he climbed the stairs four floors to his level.

Jack wanted nothing more than to go straight into his apartment and throw himself down for a long nap, but the door across from his was wide open and he couldn't help but notice that the couch inside that room was the exact one from this morning. Jack half wanted to give the kind-of-attractive guy a piece of his mind and let out some aggression and half didn't have the energy. He told himself he'd yell at the new guy some other time. Then the new guy popped his head out of the door and spotted Jack staring into his new home. Jack averted his eyes quickly and coughed not-so-nonchalantly.

"Hello," said the kind-of-actually-super-hot-now-that-Jack-was-getting-a-proper-look guy. "So you live across the hall."

"I do," Jack replied.

The new neighbor leaned casually against the door frame. "Name's Alex, Alex Gaskarth."

"Hi, Alex, Alex Gaskarth. I am Jack Barakat." Jack mimicked, cringing because that was a stupid thing to say and he really wanted this Alex guy to like him for some reason.

Alex laughed lightly in a non-sarcastic way. "Nice to meet you." He stepped forward and extended his hand for Jack to shake. He took it, surprised slightly at the grip Alex had. It was stronger than he expected. "So I've got this problem that I could use your help with."

"What's your problem, Alex Gaskarth?" Jack asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, I bought all this beer, see, cause I thought my buddy Rian would be here to drink it with me but he just took off because he has this girlfriend he had to get back to. I simply can't drink it all on my own and well, it looks like you've had quite the day." Alex smiled, gesturing to Jack's completely ruined shirt. "So, maybe you'd like to come over and drink it with me?"

Internally, Jack instantly agrees and jumps up and down because that sounds absolutely fucking peachy in this moment, but on the outside only said, "Sure, thanks man."

"No problem," Alex smiled and Jack noticed he was beginning to like his smile. "Plus I owe you for holding you up earlier today, man."

Jack shrugged, although he secretly agreed with this guy. There had been a lot of unnecessary trouble in his life today and it all started with that broken elevator and got worse. But, hell maybe Alex could cheer him up and make it all worth wile.

And shit, he kind of did. Jack quite liked talking to Alex and found him to be a witty guy. They had the same taste in humor and came to find out they enjoyed a lot of the same things as well. Throughout the night he seemed to be changing his opinion of the guy from "asshole who blocked the stairs and made me late" to "the cute funny guy who lives across the hall".

Neither of them got very tired and when they did Alex offered coffee and Jack accepted. They stayed up late playing Call of Duty Zombie maps, trying to see how far they could get. Alex had to teach Jack how to play but by the break of dawn Alex and Jack were both pros at the game. Jack noticed that he went from 'oh it's time to get ready for work' to 'wow, it's pretty late I should go to work' to 'fuck it I haven't had this much fun in years, I hate my job anyway' in the span of a few zombie rounds.

Once they lost for the last time and Alex chucked the remote controller across the room, Jack decided he needed some sleep. His new friend offered him a spot on the couch but yawning, Jack declined. His bed was a few yards away and it was calling his name.

"You're a pretty cool dude, Jack." Alex commented as Jack walked across the hall.

Jack stopped in his doorway, looking back at Alex. "You are as well, my friend."

"You'll have to stop being so cool or I very well may fall for you," Alex said with a wink.

Jack felt his insides twist and flutter. His cheeks turned hot and he backed into his apartment with a rather large smile on his face. He finally collapsed on his bed, passing out the moment his head hit the pillow.

Jack was fired the very next day but he honestly did not care. He felt this new wave of freedom and decided he'd finally take his cousin up on the offer of the job at the music store he owned. Anything had to be better than the shitty job he used to have. It was.

That fucking elevator never got fixed and constantly bugged the shit out of Jack, but Alex assured him that if it'd never broken they might never have met, which Jack didn't think was actually true because either way they would be living across the hall from each other. He didn't say anything though. If Alex wanted to say it was because of the broken elevator Jack wouldn't be the one to tell him it wasn't.

Alex and Jack hung out frequently and one night their relationship changed from "bromance" to "romance" when Alex confessed that it'd happened, he'd fallen for the cute guy across the hall. And Jack as well that he had fallen for that kind-of-hot asshole carrying up the couch and blocking his way.

All was right in the world, except for that fucking elevator.