Josh Dun imagines

Elevator

Josh Dun imagine

You stretch out your stiff limbs, cringing when you hear a few, loud pops and roll over in bed, hitching the covers up to your chin. You slowly peel your eyes open, rubbing away at the crusted sleep. It's too bright. So, so bright and your alarm hasn't even gone off yet. Wait. Your alarm hasn't gone off yet. Why hasn't your alarm gone off yet? You flings your arm out to the bedside table, smacking down on the wood blindly until you grab your phone. Preparing for the worst, you light up the screen to realize that it's 6:17 in the morning. 6:17 as in, you haven't overslept your alarm; no, in fact, you're nearly an hour early.

With a loud sigh, you flop back down on your pillow, your hair fanning out and falling over your eyes. You turn, facing the window to your right that's currently the source of the god-for-saken bright light illuminating your entire room. Of course you forgot to close the curtains last night and of course it would wake you up at 6 o'clock in the morning. You lay still for a moment before accepting the fact that you'll never be able to fall back asleep and instead, shove the blankets off.

With another glance at the time, - now 6:20 - you decide that you might as well get out of bed and take a hot shower. But you'd be damned if you didn't do exactly that with an abundance of mumbles of discontent because really, you just aren't a morning person.
...
You normally leave your apartment at 8:00, walk the twenty minutes to work, and pull your coffee-serving-apron on by 8:25. Your routine has been perfected and now you've gone and messed it all up by leaving the curtains open. You have an extra thirty-seven minutes to spare.

You're quite literally bouncing around on the balls of your feet, freshly showered, completely dressed, hair styled, bag all packed up, and you even made yourself a bagged lunch for the first time since middle school and now... you have absolutely nothing to do.

You sigh before pulling on a pair of gloves, tossing your purse over your shoulder and huff as you decide to just leave early. Maybe you'd just stop at a different coffee shop along the way to work.
...
"WAIT! HEY! PLEASE HOLD THE DOOR!"
"Oops! Sorry, here!"
You race down the rest of the hall to the elevator and run in just in time. You look up with a soft smile, slightly out of breath to see the most beautiful human being... ever. The air gets sucked right out of your lungs in a gasp of sorts and the man – the beautiful, oddly, yellow-haired, brown eyed, muscular man laughs out an actual giggle. A giggle. Oh Jesus.
"Hey, breathe! It's alright, you made it. You good?" Another giggle.
And wow. His voice is just as beautiful as he is. All smooth but deep, slow, almost like melted honey and wow. You are not even sure if he's real... or human for that matter because, well, wow.
"Uh... you okay?"
Right. Yeah, You've been starring and that's not normal. Of course. Right. Darn it.
"Oh.. uhh.. I.. um... hi. Yeah, I'm good sorry. Guess I'm a bit more out of shape than I thought. Thanks."
The man smiled and pointed at the lobby button with a quirk to his eyebrow. With a nod from you, he pressed the button and shuffled to the left so you could settle to the right of the lift and you could both go down together.
Okay, so maybe waking up just a bit earlier wasn't such a bad thing after all.
...
Your day gets worse after being yelled at by numerous customers, acquiring less than four dollars in tips, and spilling jelly from a croissant on your blouse.
But, you have the closing shift, so you work and work and work. You collect dishes and take orders, you wipe tables, serve food, make coffee.
Hours later, and the shop is closed and you're free to head home, it's fifteen minutes later than when you normally leave. You fasten your mittens back on and, start the walk back to your apartment complex.
You shuffle to the elevator and bounce on your heels trying to keep warm. You shove your gloved hands into your pocket, tucking your chin under the zipped collar of your jacket and can only think about getting to your apartment and into your bed as soon as possible.
A pair of feet scuttle up next to you suddenly and stand waiting for the elevator too. You notice a pair of bright sneakers and nods in approval. They're quirky and you could never wear anything so flashy yourself, but you like them.
So, you say so.
"I like your shoes," you start off as you looks up to face none other than elevator boy from earlier this morning.
The man smiles gently and nods before scuffing his feet on the floor.
"Thanks! Uh.. weird running into you again huh? Twice in one day!"
You nod and let the man step into the elevator first when the doors slide open.
"Well, nice to see you, have a nice night!"
You nod and watch for a moment before turning around and heading to your own room.
And although you would never admit it, you realize that maybe working late wasn't so bad if it meant running into the boy for the second time that day.
...
The next morning your alarm goes off at 6:20 and you're up and out of bed as fast as you can, actually excited to get ready for the day for once.
This time you don't bounce around, waiting around aimlessly. Instead, you peek out of your door through the peephole in search of a certain head of yellow hair. When you spot him, he checks the time - 7:20 and steps out of his door just as the man presses the down button.
You walk over slowly as the door slides open and throw the man a smile as you steps into the elevator behind him. The man presses the lobby button this time with only a small quirk of his eyebrow towards you.
As the doors slide closed the man shuffles his feet, almost like a nervous habit that you notice, and mutters out, "Second day in a row, funny huh? Don't think I've seen you around before yesterday."
"Yeah, funny that. I actually just made a bit of a change in my schedule, so I leave the apartment just a bit earlier than I used to. And last night I was working late. Quite the coincidence though."
It's not a complete lie. You did in fact work late last night, so bumping into him was accidental and you did actually change your schedule around so you do plan on leaving a bit earlier each morning. But the man beside you being the reason for this slight schedule change is totally false and even if it were true, (which it's so not) it's nobody's business but your own.
"Oh that's cool! Maybe I'll see you around again soon then? I usually head out around this time."
"Yeah, that's definitely a possibility!" The doors slide open and there's an awkward pause before you smile and say, "oh, uh, have a great day!"
And with yet another tiny smirk, the man walks off.
....
You have no need to stay late at work. Everything is washed and ready for tomorrow and yet, you stare at the clock, wondering what could extend your night another fifteen minutes. You end up lingering around, rewashing tables and triple checking to make sure all the napkins are full, until you finally head out at quarter past five. So what if you happened to bump into the elevator boy (god you need his name) again? Not that you were hoping for that... no way.
"Hey! It's you again. Should I be worried that you're stalking me?" The man laughs, obviously kidding... if only he knew. But you're not stalking. You really aren't.
"Oh shit, you've caught me.. and to think I thought I was being sly about it. Figuring out your schedule and all that, working my schedule around it. You're a clever one."
So maybe there was more truth to that than elevator boy realized, but that's definitely not his concern.
The man chuckles softly and steps into the elevator and pushes the first floor button so that it glows a pale orangey-yellow.
"Working hard and late again?"
"I work for the coffee shop down the road and it's been so busy lately — One of the workers just left so it's just me for a little while, until they hire someone new."
"Ouch," he says, "That sounds rough."
"It's not so bad, the extra cash is a gimme. What about you? Where do you work?"
The door slides open and the two of you step out, but wait and finish up your conversation.
"The gym down the road actually. Hence the sneakers and sweatpants every day."
"Oh, that sounds nice!"
"Yeah, it's not bad. Well anyways, good luck with your extra hours!"
"Yeah, thanks!"
And with that, you both walk off.
...
"Morning! Just in time, the elevators on its way up."
You smirk a knowing smile (of course you'd watched through the peephole again).
"Great thanks! By the way, considering we've been at this for a while, I should probably introduce myself. I'm Y/N."
"I'm Josh. Live down on that end of the hall. Apartment 312 to be exact."
"325."
Josh extends his hand out to you - finally a name for the pretty face - . You're totally shocked when a giant hand encompasses your own in a firm, but soft and friendly shake, accompanied by a smile. A beautiful smile with a cute little dimple that you nearly missed because you were too busy staring at Josh's massive hands.
"Nice to meet you Y/N."
And you thank whatever Gods there were for making you leave your curtains open one crummy Monday night and wake up just a bit too early on a stupid Tuesday morning.
...
It's been a week (not that you're counting or anything like that) and you have figured out this much about Josh from your shared elevator rides in the early mornings and late evenings:
1) He's beautiful.
2) He has a wide variety of sneakers.
3) He dyed his hair yellow in the dead of winter because he missed the sunshine.
4) He's definitely a morning person. Cheery even on Mondays.
5) He works in the opposite direction as the cafe.
6) You really missed him over the weekend; how pathetic is that?
7) He has tattoos - a big one all down his arm. It's possibly a scenery of some sorts? maybe art? You think it's art.
8) Josh loves to work out, but hates to eat healthy.
9) Josh is two years older than you and had gone to school in Columbus.
10) Josh just moved to the apartment building about a month ago after graduating with a degree in personal training and getting a full time job at the gym.
11) You're very much screwed.
...
"Whoa, Y/N! Do you need a hand?"
Josh rushes forward as you haphazardly hold three giant bags filled to the brims each with groceries. You were trying to reach for the elevator button, but if you leaned over ever so minutely more, you probably would have lost the majority of your meal for the night.. or maybe week.
You peaked your head up over the bag a bit and smiled immediately when spotting Josh. You hesitate before handing over a bag.
"Throwing a party or something? Lots of food."
"No, uh, I'm just cooking tonight for um, myself and a friend. Haven't had time to in a while so I took my normal time off work to my advantage and decided to go shopping."
"You cook?"
The elevator starts to move up and you nod.
"That's awesome."
With a blush spreading over your cheeks, you mumble out, "I mean I'm not a chef or anything, I just like cooking is all."
"No, shut it, I bet you're a great cook. Well, I mean anyone is compared to me I guess. I'm twenty-eight years old and I can barely make Ramen noodles correctly."
You laugh at his comment as the door open. Josh walks you to your apartment door.
"I spent a lot of time cooking with my mom back home... got used to always helping out with dinner and baking. Anyways, thank you!"
Josh hands over the bag again and their fingers brush against each other.
And no, that definitely doesn't send a spark down your spine and it definitely doesn't leave you with the traces of a smile the rest of the evening either. You're not some hormonal high school student anymore.
...
That night you tiptoe down to apartment 312 with a small Tupperware contained filled with food in your hand. You pin the sticky-note with a messy scrawl on it saying "in case you get sick of Ramen" and leave it outside Josh's door.
...
A week of "hi!" "hey there!" "how was your day?" "great how about yours?" "not bad!" "how's the gym?" "great!" "Shop has been good lately." "Any new employees?" "no, not yet!" "that's too bad!" "I know!" in the mornings, and exchanges of "out for a run again?" "yeah, trying to stay active!" "wish I had that motivation. Also those neon sneakers. They're bold." "thank you!" "I was teasing Josh" "shut up Y/N" or "let me help you with those groceries" "thanks!" "Jesus what did you buy Y/N?" "just stuff to make dinner tonight." "for who? Yourself or the entire state of Ohio?" "shut up Josh"
It's becoming a thing now for you both, but you don't even realize it. A constant routine of meeting up at the elevator in the mornings, talking about whatever comes to mind so god forsaken early, and then repeating the routine again at night with the bonus of groceries.
It's a thing and even if neither realize it, you appreciate every morning and evening that you get to see each other.
And this morning is no different than the others when you rush into the open elevator doors, shocking Josh, who was already standing and waiting inside, arm against the doors, into a small jump and loud gasp. Yeah, he holds the door open for a while now if you're running a bit late. It's nice. And really cute. It's a thing.
"Thanks, Josh."
...
You're worried. You've pressed the elevator button three times to keep it open for Josh and well, still no Josh. See, it's not like him to just not show up without telling you beforehand because he always tells you when he won't be there in the mornings - like one time Josh had a doctors appointment and was going to sleep in, and another time the gym was closed for some simple renovations and he wasn't going to be on the elevator in the morning or evening. You don't really remember when it started, but you both started telling each other when you wouldn't be on the elevator the day before so that the other isn't left waiting like you are now. Waiting. You have never had to wait like this.
It's 7:54, and that's around 34 minutes later than the normal time Josh would come out, and nearly 20 minutes later than Josh would ever be if he were running late (which had happened one particularly rainy day that Josh had admitted to wanting to spend in bed). You know that you can still make it to the cafe in time if you just leave now, because your old routine was leaving around 8, but you have this weird twisting feeling in your gut and you're honestly worried, worried, worried and you don't want to leave without at least checking on Josh.
So that's what you decide to do - you'll check on Josh. Just to make sure he isn't late for work. That's a reasonable excuse... Right?
You're really worried.
You walks down the hall and stands outside room 312 and just stare at the small numbers on the door. Just checking. Just making sure. Reasonable.
You knocks on the door with a mostly steady hand and wait.
And wait.
You panic - mostly about Josh's well being, but also about looking like a total stalker. Except, just before you try to take a step back, the door opens and there stands Josh.
Josh's hair is sticking up in all directions except for the front bits which are sticking to his sweat damp forehead. He looks paler than a ghost with the exception of his very, rosy cheeks. His eyes are blinking rapidly and trying to stay open and his nose is irritated and red as he continues to sniff pathetically. But stupid, stupid, stupid sick Josh just notices you standing at his door like a knob and breaks into a huge smile, before breaking into a coughing fit. Stupid sick Josh.
"Y/N! Sorry, hi, what're you doing here?"
His voice is scratchy and he sounds slightly nasally and stuffed up and you immediately feel the urge to wrap your arms around his waist and pull him into a hug and baby him.
"Oh my gosh, are you alright? I, uh, I mean... I was waiting at the elevator - thought you might have um, slept in? So, I wanted to check on you. You know, make sure you didn't, uh, sleep in? Are you okay?"
Josh had started coughing again as you spoke, but as soon as he stops, he just smiles and mumbles out a, "shut up."
"Don't tell me to shut up, I was worried about you!"
And fuck, you really didn't mean to tell Josh that you were worried.
But stupid sick Josh just smiles even brighter and looks ready to burst from the light shining in his eyes and it's so incredibly endearing. Stupid sick Josh.
"Just sick," he pauses and sniffs before adding, "it's cute that you came to check on me. But I'm fine. Really."
Except, as Josh tells you that 'he's fine. really,' he starts to sway a bit on his feet and he sniffs more and more before beginning yet another coughing fit.
"Yeah, right. 'I'm fine' my ass, you're practically dying for all I know - I mean, that's what it seems like anyways. Get inside. I'm taking care of you today."
And the thought hadn't really processed in his mind until you babbled them out, but you can't very well just take them back now, so you stand with the decision, but add on a feeble, "That is... if you're okay with that?"
Josh nods - not reluctantly, but nonetheless, he's also obviously trying to bite back a grin, and well, that's all the confirmation you really need, so you follow him inside.
You walk behind Josh into the living room and notice the heap of blankets where Josh had probably been lying only minutes before. He plops down on the couch again and curls up, looking like he's about to fall asleep at
And only after one last sigh, a soft smile sent in your general direction, and a murmured "thank you," Josh dozes off.
You make sure to call work, putting on your best sick voice before settling in.
"arg, Y/N?"
You spin around in surprise and spot Josh leaning against the door frame with sleepy eyes, mussed up hair, and a slightly less, but still very red, nose.
"Shit, did I wake you? I didn't mean to, damn it. I was trying so hard to not make any noise to wake you up and then the damn door slammed shut. God, I'm sorry, go back to sleep Josh, really, I'm sorry. So sor-"
"Shut up Y/N," he cuts off with a smile, but then he steps a bit further into the kitchen and you watch the way he tugs at the blanket wrapped around his shoulders into a cocoon of sorts. "What're you doing, Y/N?"
You smile softly.
"Remember how you said you can't cook to save your life? Like so bad that I can't even make Ramen noodles?"
"Of course, why do you think I accept your leftovers?"
You smile and nod, "right, yeah, of course. Well anyways, I'm making homemade soup...you've been asleep for like three hours and I was feeling rather creepy just sitting in your living room watching you sleep, so I went to the store and picked up some stuff..."
Suddenly, a pair of gangly arms are wrapped around you, trapping you in the blanket cocoon, and oh my god... oh my god oh my god oh my god... Josh is hugging you what the hell... oh my god Josh... hugging... me... hugging... oh my god. But you wrap your arms around Josh's waist and pray he doesn't actually have to let go.
He does.
"You're amazing. Thank you."
"You haven't even tried the soup yet Josh.
"Shut up."
For once, you totally agree.
"Yeah, okay."
...
It's nearly 8 at night, and you're still with Josh in his flat.
After making soup, and then having Josh eat the soup (which he admitted to being amazing), Josh napped for a little while longer.
After waking up, you made him tea and gave him some crackers, but Josh ended up just falling asleep again.
After waking up again, you put in a movie, but Josh ended up falling asleep again less than halfway through.
After waking up again, Josh made you put in his favorite movie, and that's where you left off. With Josh in the corner of the couch, very content and feeling much better and you, tucked into his side, resting your head against his chest and your hands against his thigh. The blankets are covering the two of you and you can't really begin to fathom what has happened today, but you can't quite complain since it lead you to this moment.
As the movie ends and the movie fades into the credits, Josh pulls you closer into his chest and mumbles something about how excellent that movie is no matter how many times he's seen it.
"You're such a sap Josh, that movie is so sappy. Are you always this sappy, or is it just your being sick?"
Josh laughs softly before snuggling in more.
"I'm always a sap, but I think you're a sap too you know."
"Oh yeah? What's that supposed to mean?"
Josh just laughs and places his head on top of your, his nose pressing into the top of your head. You aren't a sap.
"I'm not complaining you know, I hope you know that I appreciated today. I quite like getting to spend this much time with you and seeing you somewhere that's not... the elevator. I mean like, when else will I ever get to see your fuzzy socks? I don't get to see enough of you, or spend as much time as I would like in a two minute elevator ride. I, um, actually, well, I was thinking that, uh, maybe we could do something like this again... or maybe, like, more often? If you want. I mean, I would, um, I would like to."
Your face breaks out into an enormous grin, "I quite enjoyed today too," you mumble and lean into Josh with a smile so radiant you could probably see it from space, "and I would love to do something like this more often. I would like it too. Maybe with you less sick though? I can't very well kiss you without risking getting the plague. I can't even believe I risked an entire day camped out in your apartment while you're like this."
Josh sits up and turns to you with a smile just as radiant as your own, and murmurs, "Kiss?"
You smirks and press a soft kiss to Josh's cheek before nodding and, in a voice mocking Josh's, you sigh, "Shut up, Josh."

Credit to joshdunfics on tumblr