Elevator Confessions

It had been a long day. Long enough for Keith to want nothing more than to pick up some takeout, head home, change into sweats, and lose a few more brain cells watching whatever network television had to offer this evening. Alone.

He rolled his eyes as someone jostled him. There was plenty of room in the elevator lobby on his floor. Why run into him on your way to the stairs? Jerk. Keith thought briefly about taking the stairs as well. He used to, even though he was on the twenty-first floor, but he had his reasons to wait for the elevator.

By the time the ding sounded and the doors slid open, he was the only one left waiting. Shit. He figured he worked too late. He looked at his phone and nodded. Definitely too late. The guy would have already went home, but Keith needed to finish the proposal for tomorrow or his boss would not have been happy. He sighed. Oh well. Maybe Keith could see him tomorrow.

Still, as the elevator neared the eighteenth floor, his heart sped up. Maybe he did work late today? The cute Hispanic guy Keith noticed months ago. Keith had no idea what his name was, or even what he did for a living. The eighteenth floor housed three different businesses. Keith never had the courage to speak to the brown-haired beauty. He would admire from the back of the elevator as it made its way to the lobby.

He always dressed nice - usually pastel colored button downs with khakis. Always different colored Vans, too, to make it a little more casual. His dark-colored skin and bright smile reminded Keith of summer sunshine and tropical places. And his eyes, oh god his eyes. Once, shoved close together during the elevator rush at quitting time, Keith got a good look at his eyes. He'd never seen eyes that particular shade of blue before. And sue him if he found a print a few weeks ago to hang in his office of a beach scene where the water was about the same shade as those eyes.

Yeah, sue him. He was weak.

Keith didn't see Sunshine Boy, as he liked to call him in his mind, often. With hundreds of people using one of the three elevators lined up in a row in the middle of the office building during quitting time, it was rare they got in the same one. Keith lived for the days it happened, though. When his elevator stopped at Floor Eighteen and Sunshine Boy got on.

Not that it mattered. Keith stared at the numbers counting down above their heads and couldn't muster up the courage to do more than quick glances at the man, turning his gaze away quickly when their eyes caught.

Someday. Maybe someday, he'd say something. Though he couldn't think of anything to say, other than "Uh, hi, I'm Keith?"

The elevator slowed and Keith panicked. It was almost to Floor Eighteen and he was the only one in the elevator. Ok, don't panic. The odds that it would be him were one in a million.

But shit, what if it was? Should he say something, since they would be alone? At least for a few seconds? Smile and say hello? Ask his name? Introduce himself? Ask Sunshine Boy to marry him? Fuck, stop! Jesus, gay panic, not now.

His gay panic shot straight up into his heart as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open, framing Sunshine Boy briefly before he stepped in alone. He was dressed in a light blue shirt today with the sleeves rolled up, showing off his long and tan arms. He had a messenger bag similar to Keith's slung over his shoulder and dark khakis today, a dark gray, with Star Wars Vans. Fuck. Sunshine Boy liked Star Wars and Keith's heart throbbed harder.

He flashed Keith the polite elevator smile, which Keith returned, though he thought he probably looked sick. He certainly felt sick. Sunshine glanced at the buttons, but didn't press any as the lobby button was already lit. He turned away from Keith, who wilted against the back of the elevator as he felt his heart drop down into his feet.

Then Sunshine let out a small chuckle and said, "I love you."

Keith stared at the back of his head. What? Did he mishear him? Sure they'd exchanged glances for months, but honestly? He liked Keith back? The heart lodged in his feet jumped up in excitement, up past his chest into his throat. Love was a bit extreme, but who was Keith to argue love at first sight? Or, he guessed, love at twenty-fifth sight? Before he could think, he gasped, "I-I love you, too!"

Sunshine Boy whipped around, a startled look on his face, to eye Keith. "Yeah, Silvio. Tell everyone else I said 'hi' and I love them too." He pointed to the wireless Bluetooth in his ear as he looked at Keith. "Uh huh. Yeah. I'll call tomorrow. Bye!"

Keith felt every ounce of blood drain from his face. His heart sank again, this time to the floor - or rather, through the floor and all the way to the basement, flying down the elevator shaft. Keith wanted to follow it - fling himself into the void - anything to avoid the now-amused glance from Sunshine as he thumbed his phone, obviously breaking off the phone call. Keith felt humiliated and there was literally nowhere else to hide in the tiny elevator. Fuck fuck fuck. Why the fuck would he say that? He thought he was an intelligent person, but apparently a cute guy saying 'I love you' could short-circuit his brain.

He reached up to cover his face, because all the blood that drained away now shot back up into his head, flooding his cheeks with the worst blush he thought he'd ever had. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry," he mumbled into his palms. He waited for the yelling or the mocking from this Sunshine Boy.

Instead, he got a merry laugh. The kind of laugh that made his heart maybe want to start again. Or at least crawl back up from the basement. "An 'I love you' before you buy me dinner? I thought you might be a bold one. Good to know, I was right."

What? Keith blinked a few times behind his hands. What the hell did that mean? He peeked over his fingertips to see the guy smiling, arms crossed in front of him, one hand still holding his phone. "That was a mistake. I thought," Keith dropped his hands and gestured in a vague way toward the other man. "I don't know why I thought anything. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It broke the ice at least."

"The ice?"

He shrugged. "I've been trying to figure a way to say hi to you that didn't make me look like a complete idiot," the guy confessed, giving Keith a sheepish sort of smile. "I'm glad you figured out a way."

"You wanted to meet me?"

The elevator dinged at the fifteenth floor and two women got on the elevator. Sunshine Boy shuffled closer to Keith to give them room. "Well, yeah. You're cute." He said it with his own blush now, and Keith thought nothing looked better than this guy with his tan cheeks stained red. "But, I didn't know if you'd be interested, so..." he left it hanging.

"Yes!" Keith exclaimed so loud, the two women looked back over their shoulders at them, getting Lance to laugh. "Yes," he repeated, in a quieter tone.

"I'm free for dinner tonight," Sunshine said. "If you are too, I know a good restaurant a short walk from here. The name's Lance, by the way, and just so you know, I was telling my nephew I love him. You don't have to worry about competition."

"I'm Keith," Keith gasped out with a laugh as the doors slid open to the lobby. Now that the ice was broken, as Lance had said, he felt a little less awkward. Dinner with Lance sounded much better than his lonely couch and takeout. Feeling a bravery he hadn't possessed in all these months he reached over to take Lance's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Lead the way!"

devooshawrites at Tumblr / devoosha on AO3