Work Text:
You were sitting across from your front door, your back uncomfortably resting against the metal balcony railing. It was cold and dark on the floor of your apartment's access hallway, and if you turned your head to the parking lot you’d see that it had started to snow– except your gaze was fixed on your front door. On the other side of which was your warm, albeit small and messy apartment. With your shower, your kitchen, your bed and– oh yeah,
your keys.
Don’t cry. God, please don’t start crying.
“Woah,” came a voice above you. You jolted, startled by the man you hadn’t realised was there. It was your next door neighbour Wriothesley.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you there,” he said awkwardly.
Upon the realisation that he must’ve almost tripped over you and your bag, you snatched it off the ground and clambered upright.
Oh no, why did it have to be him, out of all neighbours– why did it have to be the stupidly handsome one?
Wriothesley cleared his throat. “Sorry, but ehm, are you okay?”
The state of you must’ve been pretty obvious. You had just come back from a long, busy shift at work and you looked and felt the part too– including the pressure of an incoming headache.
You laughed unconvincingly.
“It’s nothing,” you said. “I just seem to have locked myself out. I was just thinking about what to do next.”
Wriothesley looked at you alarmed, eyes flitting to the door and back to you.
“That sucks. You got anywhere you could stay? I doubt you’ll be able to find a locksmith at this hour.”
You panicked, hating to burden him. Wriothesley wasn't a stranger, you might even say you were friends, but far be it from you to ask him for help. You’d gone to tea at his apartment once or twice, but that had been about it. In truth, you’d love to be better friends with him, but if you were especially honest– you would especially like something more with him. And so, the fear of rejection kept you from getting closer to the man.
“Oh no, please don’t worry. I’ll be fine, I’ll figure something out.”
He seemed unconvinced and eyed you up and down. “How long have you been sitting out here?”
“O-oh, you know… Not that long,” you lied. “I was just gathering my thoughts.”
Wriothesley sighed and scratched the back of his head.
“Man,” he said looking at your front door “Guess we have no choice, huh?”
He had said it with a sheepish smile, causing butterflies to come alive in your stomach.
“Wait here.”
“H-huh, no– you don’t have to, uh–”
But he had already disappeared inside his own apartment. Meanwhile, your heart took on a crazy BPM. What was he doing? He wasn’t… going to suggest you stay with him, was he?
The thought made you wobble on your own feet. You caught yourself from falling right as Wriothesley came back outside, a small black pouch in hand.
“I know what this looks like,” he said and got down on his knees in front of your door. “but I swear I only use this for benevolent purposes.”
You curiously walked up behind him as he unfolded the pouch on the ground. Inside were ten or so metal tools. You had never seen them before, but you realised quickly that these were lockpicks.
“You can get my door open?” You exclaimed hopefully.
“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Wriothesley said, picking out two pins from the pouch. “I learned this from a buddy in college. It’s been a while, but these types of locks aren’t too difficult to crack.”
Well, that was certainly comforting to hear. Perhaps you should ask him on how to better fortify your door later...
“I thought you were a security guard, not a criminal?”
He laughed. “I guess that means I’m multifaceted, no?”
The lock opened not long after that. You realised that you would hate for him to see the state you were living in so you quickly hopped in front of him, blocking the mess.
“You’re a life saver, thank you so much– You know, I’d better get started on cooking before I–”
You stopped when you felt the back of his hand touch your forehead.
“Aahh, I knew it,” he said, feeling how hot you were. “You’ve been sitting outside for a while, haven’t you?”
You pointed your gaze down at the ground. This was so humiliating.
Wriothesley shifted on his feet, finding a way to make his towering height less intimidating.
“Look, I’m not judging. I’ve been there myself. I see how hard you work–” his eyes widened, realising how stalkery that sounded. “A-anyways, It’d weigh heavy on my conscience if I found out you collapsed while I could’ve done something to help.”
Your stomach growled loudly on que and you deflated against the doorframe. “H-help?” your voice scritched. You looked to your right towards your kitchen. There was a pile of dishes in your sink you hadn’t gotten down to tackling yet. You really wanted to freshen up too before going to sleep… It was all too much.
You don’t know how it happened, but that conversation led to you taking a shower, with Wriothesley in your kitchen washing your dishes. When you got out not longer than half an hour later, the man had damn near cleaned your whole kitchen– no idea how he’d managed it.
Wriothesley hung the tea towel back in its place, turning to you with a soft smile. The domesticity of the situation made you dizzy.
“I put some of my leftover mac ‘n cheese in the fridge,” he said. “You should eat something before going to bed. Please take care– oh, and you can message me if you start feeling worse, m’kay?.”
You fiddled with the jumper you had pulled over your PJ’s in an attempt to preserve some modesty.
“T-thank you. If I can somehow repay you, please say the word.”
Wriothesley chuckled. “You’re welcome.”
Ahh… His voice was so warm… this wasn’t good, your crush would soon spin out of control if you didn’t–
“And, ehm,” he began, interrupting your spiraling thoughts. “You could always repay me by taking me out for dinner? As a date?”
Oh.