Work Text:
Pablo felt a shift in the wind when he heard a new tenant would be moving into his upstairs neighbor’s apartment. Old man Richards had been one hell of a dick, and Pablo was relieved to hear the old coot decided to move down to Florida. He went from relieved to overjoyed when he peaked out his door to see the new tenant moving her stuff in.
A tall woman, around his age too. Long, dark, curly hair. Eye shadow so smudged he couldn’t tell if she is setting a new trend or just never fully cleans it off each night. Bright brown eyes he could lose himself in, and hips strong enough to prop up what looks like a way too heavy box on the side of the wall as she fidgets with her jacket. She is perfect.
She drops her keys, mumbling a quick curse, and bends over. Pablo immediately retreats back into his apartment. Slamming his front door a bit too rough as he braces himself against the frame, only now realizing he was holding his breath.
“Well that settles it,” he says, shaking his head, “I can never talk to her.”
Despite his brain telling him to avoid her before he embarrasses himself forever, he can’t help checking the mail more often each day, just in case. Strolling down the stairs a bit slower, holding his keys in the door a bit longer. Spending hours in the parking lot working on his motorcycle, to the point of completing the monumental task of getting it running again in less than a week.
All to no avail. The most success he’d seen was sharing a quick nod and stretched smile when they happened to get their mail at the same time. He didn’t even want to think about the awkward wave from his doorway to her down the hall, causing him to spill Slurpee all over himself while she laughed at him, continuing on her way.
~
After two weeks of failed attempts, Pablo couldn’t help but show his dismay so openly even the completely aloof old-timer Ash took notice.
“What’s wrong with you today,” Ash asks, leaning back in his chair to take his second nap of the shift, “Don’t want to cover for me anymore?”
“No, that’s not it,” Pablo sighs.
“Okay, great! I’ll see you in twenty then,” Ash replies, “actually make it thirty.”
Pablo takes the seat across from Ash.
“Can I ask you something?” Pablo leans in, leg bouncing with anxiety.
“Sure, but this doesn’t count against my naptime,” Ash warns.
“Of course, whatever,” Pablo continues, “so there’s this girl,”
Ash perks up, eyes sparkling with a newfound energy. Pablo struggles to word everything in a way that won’t cause Ash to use his boorish charms on the lady he is trying to woo.
“Spit it out, kid, what’s she look like?” Ash asks, hands crudely miming breasts.
“No, it’s not that, she’s hideous. Never in a million years. Anyway,” Pablo lies, sweating profusely.
“I wouldn’t’ve pegged you as the type to go for low-hanging fruit,” Ash says, “but if you prefer ‘em easy.”
“Ash, would you just listen?” Pablo interrupts.
Ash lifts his hands, overacting an apology.
“As I was saying, she moved in two weeks ago…”
“You haven’t made a move in over two weeks?” Ash loudly interrupts again.
Pablo closes his hand into a fist, pausing for a moment to contain his anger before continuing.
“She’s around my age and looks…cool. And I’m desperate to hang out with someone that doesn’t smell like cheap beer and Bengay.”
Ash sneaks a sniff at his own pits. He thought he’d been doing all right with the current routine of deodorant and an ungodly amount of aftershave each morning.
“So you want to approach a woman, without planning to have sex with her?” Ash asks, dumbfounded.
“No! Yes. I mean sure, let’s go with that,” Pablo replies.
Ash narrows his eyes, not sure he can believe what he’s hearing. Who doesn’t want to bang a lady? Even if she is bad on the eyes. A grin spreads across his face.
“Is this your round-about way of asking me out?” Ash smirks, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed behind his head like he’s slicker than cat shit on linoleum.
“Dude, you are literally impossible right now,” Pablo says, deadpan with frustration.
“Not if you buy me dinner first,” Ash winks.
“Can you help me or not?” Pablo sighs, still in need of any assistance on how to solve this neighbor issue.
“Of course, I have plenty of lady friends,” Ash lies, “Just walk up to her, say something cool, then invite her over to your place. That works for me like 80% of the time, maybe 60…”
“Again, I am trying to approach her like a normal human being,” Pablo says.
“Fine! I don’t know, offer to show her around town? Or better yet, invite this little minx over to one of our boy’s nights,” Ash says.
“That’s a great idea!”
“Perfect! I can come over tonight,”
“No,” Pablo interrupts, “I mean I just finished my bike. I can offer to drive her around town.”
“Hell yeah! Chicks totally dig bikes,” Ash replies, “But I still think I should meet her first, you never know.”
Pablo is already halfway out the break room door, “Thanks, Ash! I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.”
~
Still vibrating with anticipation, Pablo takes the steps up to his apartment two at a time, practicing what he wants to say to her in a shaky voice.
“Hey…you! We’re neighbors! We should go for a ride sometime? No,” he shakes his head, “You should get inside my apartment now, it’s really cool! Oh! Lord, help me.”
Pablo hurries into his apartment, wanting to change out of his work clothes as fast as possible. Throwing his bag and helmet down he makes his way to the bedroom, already tangling out of his shirt. By the time he’s pulling on a new pair of jeans he hears a series of gentle knocks on his front door. Pablo startles, staring at himself in the mirror, no socks on, shirt still not fully buttoned. He prays it’s not the landlady again. He does not want to deal with her noise complaints about his bike right now. Or worse, what if Ash somehow raced him home to get in the way of his plans? Knocking, a bit harder this time, interrupts his thoughts. He pads his way to the door, grumbling. It must be Ash, he’s the only person who knocks this incessantly.
“Hey there, I’m Kelly,” the upstairs neighbor introduces herself to a shocked Pablo.
His scowl melts into a surprised smile. Her eyes are a bit bloodshot, with heavy bags under them. A tissue crumples in her hand as she sniffles. Her outfit now a comfy ensemble of sweats, slippers, and an oversized hoodie. Somehow, her eyeshadow looks exactly the same. Perfect in every way.
She continues, “Sorry to bother you, but you’re, like, the only person that doesn’t look like a total weirdo and I need to borrow some cold medicine.”
Pablo stares at her in stunned silence, blood pumping faster than ever as he attempts to piece together a coherent response.
“Thanks, I’m definitely not a weirdo! I’ll see what I have,” he props the door open all the way, rushing back inside to fulfill her request.
She offers a soft “thank you,” leaning on the doorframe still sniffling. Pablo quickly returns, arms full of every single medicine he owns.
“I don’t think I need that much,” Kelly looks incredulously at the bright-eyed bushy-tailed man before her.
“For sure, I didn’t know what you’d want so I…grabbed everything,” he smiles sheepishly.
Carefully, Pablo makes his way backwards into the cramped living room, scattering the medicines across the coffee table to rifle through. Kelly invites herself in, closing the door behind her.
“How about this?” Pablo holds up an orange bottle of cough syrup, startled to see her plopped down on the sofa in front of him.
Kelly nods, reaching for a bag of cough drops as well.
Pablo gulps. All that planning and she ends up waltzing right into his apartment anyway. He cleans up the unused bottles and packages, putting them back into the cabinet before returning to Kelly with a box of tissues, sitting on the floor beside her.
“Thanks,” she smiles, “What was your name again?”
Pablo smacks his forehead. Of course, his name!
“I’m Pablo,” he sputters, “Welcome to the worst apartment complex in Michigan!”
She laughs, and he feels heat swell in his chest.
“Nice to meet you, Pa-ah…CHOO!” Kelly sneezes all over his face.
Pablo is too stunned to even blink. She profusely apologizes between blows of her nose. All he can think about is how badly he wants to kiss her right now.
“One more time?” he says, wiping his face with a fresh tissue.
“Nice to meet you, Pablo,” she snickers.
She takes a swig of the cough syrup, scrunching her face at the flavor before popping a cough drop in her mouth.
“Hey, uh, if you want, I was going to order take-out tonight anyway, if you want to stick around?” he asks.
Kelly thinks for a moment. No one has gone out of their way to show any hospitality yet. The complete opposite, if she’s honest. She could really use a friend right now. Especially a nice, goofy one like Pablo seemed to be. Who else would react so nonchalantly to someone sneezing all over their face?
“Sure,” she replies, “I probably shouldn’t be anywhere near a stove like this.”
“I shouldn’t be near a stove ever,” Pablo laughs.
Handing Kelly the throw blanket, Pablo sits on the sofa next to her and picks up a handful of various take-out menus for them to peruse. He knows it’s silly to crush this hard on the girl-next-door at this age, especially while she’s oozing snot all over his stuff, but somehow it just makes her that much more endearing. Either way, he’s happy to finally have a friend.