Moss and the Irishman - IT Crowd

The End Of An Era

"I'm sorry, okay!? Just, please. I need you."

"Roy, I could never lose you from my life. But this is it. Never again. This entire situation is ludicrous."

My best friend was trying to appear serious, but I knew him incredibly well at that point. He was just excited to have not lost my friendship.

-

"Roy, why on earth are you taking me to work?" at this point, Roy's hand was firmly attached to mine and we were less than a street away from Reynholm Industries.

"Oh, but we're not working, Moss," Roy's thick Irish accent only made him sound more cheeky.

A large grin was spread across my buddy's face and he appeared the happiest I'd seen him since, "Roy, I could never lose you from my life."

And yet, he seemed even happier than that time. Or perhaps excited was a more appropriate assessment. I slowly let myself relax, just slightly. Seeing Roy this excited, it couldn't be that anything too bad was about to happen. I let a grin slip from myself, as well. What could be the harm?

We made our way to the main entrance of Reynholm Industries and Roy's hand let go of mine. I was disappointed, but soon realised that he had done so, so that he could begin rummaging through a side-bag that he had been keeping on his person. I watched as he pulled out what looked like a key card and pressed it against a censor on the side of the door.

I stayed in a quiet confusion as Roy took my hand again and put his key card away.

Roy pushed the door open and quickly ran us over to a security system situated on the wall. He began to punch in a code, and I decided to speak up.

"One: is this illegal? Two: how did you get that code? Three: what in the world does that code do? Four: are we allowed to be here?" I stood entirely still with a straight face as I relayed my list of concerns to the, seemingly out of his ruddy mind, man currently holding my hand.

Roy simply laughed and shook his head in a very dismissive Roy fashion.

"Douglass accidentally emailed the code to me instead of Ross on the top floor. It stops the security system so we won't get caught," he explained, seemingly with a calm tone, despite the fact that what he just explained sounded incredibly incriminating.

"One: that sounded awfully illegal. Two: why was Douglass allowing Ross access to that code? Three: what the flip are we doing here!? F-" I was cut off at three; an unlucky number, but not as unlucky as seven.

"It's not illegal 'cause we're not gonna get caught," Roy said, oddly seriously, and placed a sympathetic hand on my cheek.

He then lead me to the elevator without allowing me a second thought and pressed the button for the top floor.

"But, Roy, I'm not sure I've ever been to the top floor without permission from one of the Mr Reynholms," I pleaded.

"And you've also never seen the view from the top floor at night," Roy's face seemed smug as he was proud of his 'big idea'.

I let a little smirk form across my lips. At least he'd put some thought into this. However, I still wasn't sure why we were here. Surely it wasn't just to see a view.

The elevator dinged and the doors smoothly opened, something unseen for basement-dwellers.

I almost forgot to step out as I realised the view that could be seen from the windows at the end of the room. However, Roy gave my hand a tug and I began to follow.

The windows were so clean that it felt as though there were none between us and London. Skyscrapers stood amongst a navy blue late night sky. Stars twinkled in contrast with the ambitious lights of the city.

The room sat in complete silence. I almost forgot where I was, until the silence was halted by a gentle Irish voice.

"Moss?" Roy looked directly at me and our eyes met as I turned to face him.

"Yes, Roy?" I asked expectantly.

"I'm gay," two words, so simple, yet so sharp.

Those two words had haunted this man for his entire life. And yet, here he stood, looking into my eyes, his hand firmly grasping mine.

I watched as tears filled my best friend's eyes, and mine followed suit. A rare thing it was for either of us to cry, let alone for us to cry together. This had been a difficult few weeks for both of us, and yet we'd come out stronger.

I let go of my friend's hand so that I could pull him into a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I could feel him lean into me.

"I love you, Roy," I smiled, though crying seemed to strain my voice.

"Oh, thank fuck," he sighed, causing us both to chuckle.

There was a pause. It felt comfortable, but Roy was obviously considering what to say.

"I love you too, but," he pulled away, placing his hands on my shoulders, an action that worried me terribly, "I need to take things slow. No kissing in public or announcing things to the world. I want to be with you, but it's gonna take some time."

I smiled and nodded, "I can do that."

I then, on an impulse, I sat on the ground and crossed my legs as I gazed out at the view.

"What are you-" I grabbed my boyfriend's hand and pulled him down onto the ground next to me.

"It's pretty," I smiled.