You stood in the movie theater lobby and watched the people pour out of room #4. It was the last show of the night at almost the end of your shift.
You and Elmer had been working together for a few months now and a majority of your shifts at the theater overlapped, so you were not surprised that he was here tonight. It was storming outside and you were ready to go home and relax.
"Hey y/n" He said from beside you. You didn't even notice him approach as you were too busy watching the people. He handed you a broom and you both walked through the theatre doors. You knew what to do and both got quickly to work.
Row by row you swept off the theatre steps, the mess seemingly endless.
"God these people are fucking slobs" Elmer said, picking up yet another half empty soda cup.
"No kidding." You said, emptying your sticky, popcorn-filled dustpan, banging it on the trash bin in a desperate attempt to get the candy off of it's surface.
Once you deemed that row done you checked your watch and realized that your shift had ended 5 minutes ago.
"Oh shit, our shift ended five minutes ago" you said. Elmer looked up from sweeping and then back down at the mess in front of him. He shrugged and swept the dust pile under one of the seats.
"Well then what are we doing in this shithole?"
~~~~~
You sat in your car in the theater parking lot listening to the rain and warming up your hands on the heating vents. Your windows were still a bit foggy but they were good enough for driving. You were just about to shift gears into drive when you heard a 'tap tap tap' on your window. Elmer was standing out it the rain.
You rolled down your window an he leaned into the car, drops of water dripping from his blonde hair into the car.
"Could you give me a ride home?"
"Uh sure, hop in." You say, unlocking the door. Elmer made his way quickly to the passenger seat and slammed the door behind him.
"Thanks" he said, drying his hands on his pants.
"No problem. So where do you want me to drop you off?"
"I live a couple blocks down East, on the corner of 8th." He responded.
"Wow, I'm on 7th, we're basically neighbors." You responded.
"Small world"
~~~~~
Most of the drive was spent in a comfortable silence, but it was broken when you were only a few blocks from Elmer's apartment and he got a phone call.
He answered it, talking quickly with whoever was on the other side, answering mostly with a series of quick yeses. The call was finished in about 2 minutes, after which Elmer slammed his head hard against the dashboard, groaning
"Fuck!"
"What happened?"
"My building is getting sprayed for fucking cockroaches and nobody decided to tell me." He explains angrily
"You got anywhere to stay?"
"No."
"Shit man. You wanna just crash at my place for the night?" You ask.
Elmer's expression softened and for what is possibly the first time ever, you see Elmer genuinely smile.
"Yes, that would be great"
It didn't take long to arrive and for the both of you to speed walk to the building, escaping the still pouring rain. You both walked up the stairs to the second floor where your apartment was.
You turned on the lights as you both entered the apartment.
"Feel free to make yourself at home, grab a drink if you want."
You told him. He walked to the living room and sat down, you went into your room to change out of your still damp work uniform. After you were done you came back out to see Elmer sat on the couch staring into space.
"Hey Elmer do you need a spare change of clothes or something?"
He turned his head to face you, being pulled back into reality.
He looked at his work uniform that he was still wearing. It wasnt the most comfortable thing.
"If you have something that would be nice."
You nod, motioning for him to come to your room. You pick him out a pear of sweats and a t-shirt and he goes to the bathroom to change into it.
"Thanks...again" he says after coming out of the washroom. You nod again.
"Now," he says, "where is the alcohol"
~~~~~
You and Elmer both sat on the couch, empty drinks littering the coffee table.
"Y'know I usually drink alone, didn't know it'd be so much fun with someone else." he said after taking another swig of his drink.
"Yeah?" You responded
"Yes" he replied.
"We could do this more often if you want"
"You mean that?" He asked.
"Promise." You replied. He once again gave you that rare and genuine smile. He paused, looking away for a moment. He looked like he was about to say something, but instead he just poured himself another drink.
"How long have you worked at the theater?" You asked. You had worked there for awhile and Elmer worked there before you had. It had never occurred to you to ask.
He just shrugged.
"I can't remember. Seems like forever ago I started. I used to HATE it there. You have to deal with so much shit. Literally and figuratively."
"Why don't you hate it anymore?" You asked, scooting a little closer to him.
"Well now I have someone else there to help deal with the shit. That and I like being around you"
"I like being around you too Elmer."
Elmer blushed. The red wasn't very subtle at all, but his expression remained as if nothing changed. He took another sip of his drink and let his head rest gently on your shoulder.
He closed his eyes then said in a tired voice, almost too quiet for you to hear:
"I've never felt like this before..."
"Huh?" You asked, only half hearing what he had said.
He turned and looked up at you, speaking very clearly this time.
"I've never felt like this emotional about someone before. At this point I don't know if I'm just tired and drunk, or if I'm in love with you."
You pause, flustered and dumbfounded. Up until today you had been utterly convinced that the man didn't feel emotion. But now as your eyes stare deep into one another, you seem to have been proven otherwise.
His head turned toward yours, still resting slightly on your shoulder. You catch his eyes momentarily dart to your lips, before his gaze returned to your eyes.
In response to his statement you simply ask;
"Wanna find out?"
He nods, lips parted ever so slightly. you lean down and place your lips gently on his. The kiss was short and sweet and left a lingering taste of alcohol in your mouth. You parted after a moment, but your eyes remained closed until you felt Elmer stop leaning on you and your eyes opened. You were worried you had done something wrong.
He had repositioned himself so he was sitting more beside you and less on you.
"So?"
Elmer looked confused. Then repeated you slowly.
"So???"
You replied with a question.
"Are you in love with me or are you just drunk and tired?"
"I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you" he said before yawning.
You let out a small laugh,
"And tired. We should get to bed"
He nodded and you both made your way to your room.
~~~~~
The next day you awoke in someone's arms. After a very confused moment you remembered last night and smiled. You moved your head to look at the time on your clock.
It was your day off so there was no rush to get out of bed, but you did know that you needed to clean the living room eventually. You probably also could use a shower given that you could still subtly smell alcohol on your clothes.
Very carefully, you wiggled away from Elmer and out of bed. He was still sleeping so you decided to go take a shower before cleaning anything.
~~~~~
When you got back Elmer was sitting up in bed with the usual unreadable expression on his face. He turned and saw you in the doorway.
"Good morning y/n"
"Morning Elmer" you said walking over and sitting down on the bed beside him.
"What time is it?" He asked. You looked over at your alarm clock to see that it read '12:13'
"It is 12:13. So not good morning i guess."
Elmer laughed a little, still clearly waking up.
"Is it alright if I go for a shower? I smell like shit." He asked.
"Sure, I'll get started with the livingroom."
~~~~~
Once the mess from last night was cleaned up, you two hung out at your place for the rest of the day. It wasn't until around 7:00PM that
Elmer got a phone call interrupting one of your many conversations.
Once he hung up the phone he said;
"My apartment is fine again so I should probably get going soon."
"Thats good.." you were a bit sad to hear it. But you continued;
"Well thank you so much for coming."
"Thanks for letting me stay..." he paused.
"And for last night..."
You softly laughed, before leaning in and softly kissing his lips once again. This time the sweetness came without the drunken aftertaste. When you parted you gave him a push on the shoulder.
"Anytime blondie. Now get on home."
And before long you were alone in the apartment.
~~~~~
Work at the theatre was never quite the same after that.
~~~~~
Hope you liked it (;
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