knj imagines

elevator || o. guerra

My teeth ached from clenching them together but the pain was worth it because if I wouldn't have done that, I would probably be fired right now. Rather than the holidays bringing people together like it should, it made people more rude than usual.

The warmth of my apartment complex somewhat relaxed me and the prospect of being snuggled in my bed in the next two minutes made my shoulders completely drop from my ears. I pressed the button for my floor and slumped against the back wall of the elevator, closing my eyes and waiting for the doors to shut.

A shuffle of feet and a grunt made me open my eyes, just in time to see an arm shove between the small gap and stop the doors from closing. I mumbled an apology as the figure stepped in, reaching across me to close the doors again. "Well hello (Y/N)," he said, and I looked up to see my neighbor Oscar's smirking face.

"And seeing you is the icing on top of the cake that has been today," I groaned, rolling my eyes so hard I think I actually saw my brain. He leaned against the wall beside me, still smirking, and I pushed as far away from him as I could get. "Not a compliment, by the way."

"Ouch. It's the holiday season, where's your Christmas spirit?" He clutched his heart dramatically and I glared at him.

"Dead, I suppose." He looked taken aback by my cynicism and opened his mouth to reply when a creaking noise interrupted him. The elevator stopped moving and we exchanged a confused look. "Why did we stop?"

"How should I know, do I look like an engineer?" He took a step forward to push the button to our floor again, but the movement made the elevator shake and we heard a snap above us before the elevator fell a short distance.

I shrieked and gripped his shoulder as he braced himself against the wall with one arm, his other arm wrapping around me. He lowered us both down to the ground, keeping me close against his side. "Are you okay?"

"Oh my gosh we're going to die. This is not how I want to die Oscar," I whimpered and he laughed but I could hear the nervousness in his usually confident tone. "I especially don't want to die here with you," I added as an afterthought, even though I was clutching onto him for dear life.

"We aren't going to die, it's probably just a cable malfunction." He slowly reached up to press the emergency button, making the elevator shift again and I buried my face in his shoulder. "Hey, we're going to be fine."

Even though he was being nothing but nice, I felt myself snap, and once I started I couldn't stop. "No we are not going to be fine. I am going to die in an elevator after the worst day in the history of days and I just want to go to bed!"

"What happened?" I pulled my head up to frown at him and the sudden movement caused the elevator to make another creaking sound. "Your day, what happened?"

He was looking straight down at me, his arm still wrapped around my waist and I suddenly realized how close we were. "It doesn't matter," I said, pulling my gaze away.

"Well we don't really have much else to do." He gently squeezed my side, making me look back up at him. He was giving me a genuine smile, and for whatever reason, I let it all out, crying over the verbal abuse I endure at my job every day and how much I wanted to quit but I knew I couldn't. He listened and nodded in all the right places and waited until I was done before taking a deep breath. "That really sucks. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, and all I wanted to do was get in bed and sleep for the next twelve hours but instead I'm going to die in this stupid elevator with you. No offense," I added, making him laugh.

"Again, we aren't going to die and none taken, I think?" Since the elevator was no longer operating, that meant the heat was also not working and I tried to not shiver but my body betrayed me. "Do you want my coat?"

"No because you'll have to take it off and then we'll fall more." He assured me he would be careful as he released me from his grip and moved as slowly as possible. He draped it over my shoulders and put his arm around me again. I couldn't tell whether it was the fear making me feel warm and fuzzy towards him or if it was actual feelings. But it was probably the fear.

"Thanks," I whispered and he smiled. Despite my looming death hanging over me in the form of a broken elevator cable, I opened my mouth in a yawn.

"You can sleep if you want," Oscar said and I frowned at him. As if reading my mind he shook his head in amusement. "No, you aren't going to die in your sleep."

"I wasn't going to say that." I was totally going to say that but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking he knew even the smallest bit about me. He was always so annoying but for whatever reason the usual annoyance I felt was completely gone now.

I was obviously too tired to care about my near death experience because when I opened my eyes I was on a couch, curled up underneath a blanket that smelled oddly familiar.

The layout of the living room was identical to mine, but none of the furniture was the same. Through my sleepy haze I realized that Oscar was sitting at the other end of the couch, glancing over when he heard me stir. I was in fact not dead and napping on the couch in his house.

"Hey sleepyhead. I decided to just bring you back here instead of try to find your keys in your bag. Did you have a nice nap?"

I ignored his question, choosing instead to pat my body down in disbelief. "We're alive?" He laughed at my shock and I shook my head. "No, I'm serious. I really thought we were going to die."

"Christmas miracle," he said with a shrug. He gestured to the TV where he had the Hallmark Channel on. He had put it on mute so as not to wake me up and was reading the captions instead, which made the warm fuzzy feeling come back. "Do you like these?"

"Why does it matter if I do? Do you?" He smiled and nodded, unmuting it and breaking the silence of the room.

"We can watch something else if you want," he said, but he looked very invested in whatever had been happening prior to me waking up.

"Who said I was staying?"

He looked over and gave me his signature Oscar smirk that told me he knew what I was thinking: I actually wanted to stay curled up on his couch and watch Hallmark Christmas movies with him.

I gave him a flushed smile and rolled my eyes, directing my gaze on the television. "So what have I missed?"