O You

Jack doesn’t really like his apartment building. It’s located in the suburbs, it’s hauntingly old (God knows how many people have died in there over the past years), there have been many cases of unidentified odours filling the corridors and someone keeps cutting off the heating in Jack’s room every second night, even though the landlord pretends to know nothing of such occurrences. Overall, Jack hates living there.

But cons don’t come without pros. Such as a very good-looking neighbour who Jack can hear singing in his shower every morning. Jack’s no creep; he doesn’t get off to the stranger’s voice. He does, however, start waking up two hours earlier just to hear him sing. His voice is soft yet can quickly switch into this raspy tone that just drives Jack insane, forcing him to lie in his bed and question his entire existence. He never knew he could be attracted to a person’s voice yet here he is, with his schoolgirl worthy crush on his neighbour whose name he still doesn’t know.

That changes a few weeks later. Jack finds himself getting in the building's elevator with John O’Callaghan, the guy who lives at the end of Jack’s corridor. The man seems to be friends with literally everyone in the house which Jack isn’t really envious of but still, he wishes he was as outgoing as the man next to him. He’s only ever talked to him a couple of times but it’s always a relaxed conversation so Jack doesn’t really try to hide his curiosity when he finally asks John about his neighbour. He does, however, imply that he only wants to know who the guy is because he’s started taking showers too early in the mornings and the sound of water running through the building's pipes keeps waking Jack up. He couldn’t possibly tell John that he’s already been awake for about an hour before the neighbour even steps inside his shower.

‘Oh, that’s Kennedy. He moved here from Arizona a couple of months ago. Haven’t you two met yet?’ John asks, tilting his head and looking at Jack like that’s the most preposterous thing he’s ever been asked.

‘No,’ Jack responds, trying to come up with an excuse that seems less creepy than I get flustered every time I see him and wait for him to either enter his flat or leave before I even move. ‘We never seem to be here when the other is,’ he explains, scratching the back of his head.

‘Oh. That’s probably because he’s in his gap year. He works down at the record shop in city centre, you know? I think he works early shifts. Pretty certain he has a few hour break after that and then he has late shifts at the recording studio. He plays guitar on some tracks there when it’s necessary,’ John tells him. Jack feels his heart drop because if John knows this much, it means Kennedy has had proper conversations with him, and suddenly Jack feels a pang of jealousy, which is just ridiculous, and he has to bite the inside of his cheek to remind himself he’s being stupid.

‘That makes sense,’ Jack concludes.

‘Do you want me to talk to him about the noise? I’m sure he’s just unaware he’s being loud,’ John suggests and Jack’s heart wants to jump out through his throat.

‘No!’ Jack exclaims before he realizes just how loud he had been and blushes. ‘No, it’s fine. I’ll see if he carries on doing it, and if does, well, I guess it’s the perfect opportunity to finally introduce myself,’ Jack adds. Fortunately for him, John seems to miss the blush and smiles.

‘Okay, Jack, whatever you say, I really gotta go now though, I’ll see ya next time, buddy,’ he says before rushing off to his friend's car. Jack makes his way towards the bus stop, thinking about just how much the name Kennedy suits his neighbour.

---


Jack’s very clumsy but he’s never considered himself unlucky. That’s why it comes as a low blow when he comes home one night about a week after his conversation with John to see a girl knocking on Kennedy’s door. Jack slows his pace and watches Kennedy open the door, blinded by his soft smile. His heart drops, however, when the girl stands on her tip-toes and kisses Kennedy on his lips. Kennedy takes her hand in his and pulls her inside the flat, closing the doors behind him.

Jack spends the rest of the night eating ice-cream while watching 200 Cigarettes, ignoring the giggles he can hear through the wall. He’s not sure what he’s feeling because it’s not like he’s ever even talked to the guy and he’s sure Kennedy doesn’t even know he has a neighbour, and yet there’s this feeling of heartbreak lurking inside Jack, slowly pulling him apart.

---


A few weeks later Kennedy’s girlfriend has moved in with him, which means that Jack hears Kennedy’s singing voice considerably less. And that, in return, means Jack goes to his lectures either grumpy or miserable. It doesn’t really affect his grades because Jack is a great student, nor does it depress him. However, he can feel sadness constantly nagging at his mind, and suddenly he wants to move out. He knows he’s overreacting and it’s funny, really, because Kennedy’s not even aware of the war that’s going on inside Jack’s head.

It’s about four days after this realization that Jack finally, finally forces himself to move on. It’s not like he was actually crushing on Kennedy. No. He was just… obsessed with the idea. It was simply his pastime, he decides.

---


He sees John a couple of times a week but the guy seems to have forgotten about Jack’s made up problem he had with Kennedy. It’s a whole two months later and they’re both on the same bus into the city centre when John suddenly seems to remember this detail, and Jack wishes he could burn a hole in the floor of the bus and escape.

‘Oh, mate, Kennedy invited me to this acoustic set he’s doing in the shop tomorrow night, wanna come along?’ John asks, popping his phone back into the pocket of his jacket.

‘He doesn’t really know me, I don’t think he’d want me there,’ Jack points out.

‘He barely knows me but he still invited me! Come on, I bet it’s just because he hasn’t seen you yet this week. I bet he was about to ask,’ John tells him.

‘No, I mean, he really doesn’t know me,’ Jack explains awkwardly.

John stares at him like that’s the most absurd thing he’s ever heard. ‘Dude, are you telling me you still haven’t even met him?’

‘Uh.. Yeah,’ Jack says and the way John’s eyes widen would be hilarious if it wasn’t Jack who was dying from embarrassment.

‘You’re coming with me, man. No buts, we’re going and I’m introducing the two of you,’ John says, leaving no room for discussion, and gets out at his stop before Jack can even attempt to protest. He’s damned.

---


Jack’s been to the record shop a couple of times before but it’s mostly in evenings so he’s never seen Kennedy there. When he follows John in, he’s surprised to see the place decorated and cleaned up. The light has been dimmed and there are fairy lights on the walls. In the corner of the room there’s a little stage, a wooden chair and an acoustic guitar resting on it, and there are already quite a lot of people in the shop. Jack doesn't exactly know what he was expecting but it wasn’t this many strangers. He’s sort of relieved, though, because the more people, the less likely it is that Ken will notice him staring. Jack’s sure he’ll be gaping.

The crowd claps when Kennedy comes out from the room behind the counter, and Jack tries really hard to fight a blush because Kennedy’s wearing a suit and it just looks so good, and he knows then that he’s going to die.

‘Let me stop you right there, I know you’re all here for the free brownies and wine rather than me singing,’ Kennedy laughs and so does everyone else in the crowd. It’s sort of cute, Jack thinks, the way Kennedy hides his nervousness behind a smile. His heart flutters.

‘Right, so. I’ve got three covers and two originals, if you’ll bear with me,’ Kennedy states.

The moment Kennedy starts singing the first lyrics, Jack’s heart is in his throat. The voice is so much more beautiful than how he remembers it being. It’s deep, then goes soft in places before the same raspy effect returns, and Jack’s left there, trying not to gape because, honestly, of course he’s been in denial about crushing on this man for over a year now and he knows he won’t be able to get over this for a couple more months now.

Jack tries to control his expression because he knows John would know what’s up the moment he looked at him, so he tries to focus on anything but Kennedy’s voice and lips. For some reason that anything turns out to be his hands. He watches him strum the strings, memorizes the chords he plays and follows the easy flow of his hands. Jack’s fucked. He doesn’t even notice the pair of hazel eyes watching him as their owner carries on singing, a smile on his face.

---


When the set’s over, Jack finds himself dumbly following John to get a glass of wine. He totally deserves it for not passing out mid-set. People are chitchatting between themselves, and Jack just wants to get out of there as soon as he finishes his glass. John has different plans though. ‘Hey, Kennedy!’ he hears John exclaim from beside him. His eyes widen and he downs his glass of wine before grabbing another one and turning around to face his end.

‘Hey, man! Glad you came,’ Kennedy replies with a genuine smile. He looks happy and Jack finds himself smiling shyly.

‘Of course I came. Fuck, I don’t know what I expected but this blew my mind,’ John compliments. Jack wishes he could come off as supportive and hyped as John is. Instead he stands still, watching, dreading the moment he’ll be acknowledged because this is John, and John won’t let him live in peace. ‘Oh, Ken, this is Jack. Hope you don’t mind I brought him along,’ John introduces him and, fuck, Kennedy’s eyes are so bright and mesmerizing. Jack’s heart skips a beat or two.

Despite dying internally, he remembers how humans are supposed to interact and holds out his hand. ‘Hey there,’ he says, hoping he doesn’t sound as shaky as he feels.

‘Hey, Jack. You live in our building too, don’t you?’ Kennedy asks with a smile, eyes sparkling.

‘Yeah, um, I’m your neighbour, actually,’ Jack admits with an awkward laugh.

‘Woah! Seriously? I’ve seen you around, I never figured you lived next to me. I thought my neighbour just wanted to avoid me at all costs,’ Kennedy laughs and it’s the second most beautiful sound Jack’s ever heard, right after his singing voice.

Jack wants to say something pointless like why would I ever try to avoid youwhen a woman’s voice interrupts him. ‘Kenny, you looked so handsome up there,’ his girlfriend giggles. Kennedy wraps his arm around her hips and ducks his head to give her a kiss, although he gives Jack a somewhat apologetic smile.

‘Guys, this is Gabi, Gabi, this is John and that’s Jack,’ Kennedy says and Jack smiles politely even though his insides are all twisting up. He’s going to befine, he reminds himself. He tells John he’s going, and even though the other man tries to protest, Jack’s out of the shop in seconds, leaving Kennedy staring at the door.

---


Needless to say meeting Kennedy doesn’t miraculously change things. Jack still avoids him as often as he can and his heart still aches every time he hears Gabi giggling inside the other flat. He feels selfish and like an absolute jerk because it’s not his place to judge her. He just can’t help it.

His uni friend Alex seems to think that Jack needs to have a little more action in his life, so he gets him a blind date. Jack doesn’t think he’s ever wanted to punch someone quite as much but it’s a Saturday and going out really seems better than staying at home, so he agrees, even though he reminds Alex he still hates him.

The date goes horribly wrong. It could be blamed on Jack’s clumsiness but, honestly, he knows it’s a mistake the moment he sees the guy. He’s not Jack’s type at all but Jack forces himself to smile and greet the man because he knows he shouldn’t judge anyone based on their appearance. Unsurprisingly, the man who’s dressed like a member of some late 90s boyband has nothing in common with Jack at all, so Jack suffers in silence and orders way more wine than he thought it was possible to drink on a single date.

After a couple of torturous hours of Jack pretending to be interested in what the man was saying, the date’s over and Jack cusses God for having to sit through the painful misery. He ends up paying too, because his date is just fresh out of high school and in Jack’s book of manners it means the oldest has to pay the bill. He gives his date an awkward hug but when the guy asks for his phone number, he gives Alex’s number instead. The bastard deserves that.

Jack isn’t really a lightweight; he just doesn’t drink alcohol all that often. That’s why he surprises himself when he enters a bar he was about to walk past. And that’s how Jack finds himself getting wasted on a Saturday night for no reason other than being tired of life and wanting to have fun. The last one doesn’t really happen because once he’s spent way more money than he wanted to, he finds himself walking home, swinging from side to side. He’s giggling and mumbling to himself, and at some point he’s pretty sure he walks right through a bush, but he still gets inside his building without having broken anything so he’s quite proud of that. He presses his floor’s number in the elevator and hums to a song he doesn’t really recognize as he waits for the elevator to reach his floor.

And once it does, he realizes he was far too quick to think he wasn’t going to break anything. He’s only two steps out of the elevator when his foot gets caught in something and he lands face first onto the hard corridor floor.

‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry,’ he hears a voice exclaim, rushing to Jack’s side and helping him up. Jack cracks his eyes open, wondering just how he ended up falling on his face, when he sees endless numbers of clothes and other personal items laying on the floor, his own feet tangled in a grey jumper.

‘Ow,’ he finally says, like an idiot, before looking up at Kennedy who’s staring at him with worried eyes, cheeks tinted crimson.

Kennedy helps Jack lean against the wall behind him before studying his face. ‘Fuck, are you okay? You’re gonna have a bruise on your forehead. Does your nose hurt? It doesn’t look broken but-’

Jack cuts him off. ‘Why are your clothes on the floor?’ he asks, furrowing his eyebrows. He’s pretty sure he’s not drunk enough to be imagining this but Kennedy’s clothes are literally scattered around the corridor and, even though he’s drunk, Jack knows they should be in Kennedy’s drawers, in Kennedy’s flat. Probably. Unless he lives like Jack because then his clothes should be scattered around the floor of his flat instead of the corridor.

‘Uh, it seems I’ve been kicked out of my own apartment,’ Kennedy laughs awkwardly, running his hand through his hair. It’s then that Jack notices that something else is a little different about how Kennedy looks.

‘Where’s your shirt?’ he asks as he stares at Kennedy’s bare chest. He’s done being discreet. He can blame it on being drunk later but for now he can’t help but memorize the image.

‘Oh,’ Kennedy breathes out and suddenly he’s kneeling on the floor, rummaging through his clothes as he tries to find a shirt. Jack’s brain pictures a different scenario, and as soon as that thought crosses his mind, his cheeks are burning. Thankfully Kennedy’s up a second later, pulling a white shirt over his head, protecting Jack from the knee-weakening sight of his smooth chest.

Jack looks up and carries on staring at Kennedy’s eyes instead. He knows in his mind that he’s being a weirdo but, hey, he’s drunk and he’s been crushing on the guy for so long now no one can hold it against him. ‘Um. You can like,’ Jack finally says and gestures with his hands. Kennedy tilts his head, confused. ‘Like… Ugh, fuck, I’m too drunk. Just,’ Jack tries again, reaching in his pocket to grab his keys. He slowly makes his way to his room, nearly falling over again because the God damn jumper is still twisted around his ankles. Kennedy stops him and frees him from the jumper before helping him to his door. Jack tries to put the key in the lock three times before it finally works and then he kicks the door open before taking a step back and shoving Kennedy in, the hazel-eyed man nearly tripping.

‘Woah, dude, what-’ Kennedy tries asking after regaining his balance, an undeniable blush on his face.

‘Just… Stay. Wait,’ Jack says, hiccupping, as he starts picking up Kennedy’s clothes from the floor and throwing them inside his flat. ‘Actually, no, help would be great,’ Jack orders him when he realizes the motion of constantly bending down might end up making him sick. Kennedy quirks an eyebrow but starts picking up his clothing, folding it up and dropping it by Jack’s door. It takes around six minutes and when Jack’s done, he stumbles into his flat, Kennedy following and closing the door behind him.

‘So, was this your attempt at asking me to move in with you?’ Kennedy laughs, watching Jack make his way to his bed.

‘It’s night. You’re cute. Cuddle-worthy. The heating’s off. Why did she kick you out?’ Jack mumbles, falling face first onto the bed before his face twists up in pain because he definitely feels like he’s taken a punch. Did he? He can’t remember. Oh, right. He facepalmed the floor.

‘I told Gabi I might be bi. She took that as me telling her I was cheating on her with someone else,’ Kennedy laughs. ‘Which I wasn’t. I was just finally coming to terms with the fact that I still liked my neighbour more than my girlfriend of three months.’

‘M’sorry,’ Jack mumbles and turns to look at Kennedy, who’s still lingering by the door, before he realizes what Kennedy’s just said. He runs through every possible scenario in his head, even considers that maybe Kennedy’s talking about John, but the way he’s looking at Jack tells him otherwise. Jack decides not to jump to conclusions because he’s drunk and he doesn’t want to make that much of a fool of himself. ‘You’re single?’

Kennedy smiles. ‘That I am.’

Jack blinks and leans on his elbow. ‘You’re single and you’re in my flat.’

Kennedy furrows his eyebrows. ‘Indeed.’

Jack blinks again. ‘You’re single, you’re in my flat and you like guys.’

The other man snorts. ‘I guess. My oblivious neighbour, more specifically.’

No fucking way. Despite the disbelief, Jack decides it’s the perfect time to drop the bomb. ‘Can I ask you out on a date tomorrow? When I'm not messed up?’

Kennedy grins. ‘You sure can. I’ve been waiting since last autumn,’ he admits and Jack’s heart explodes right there. He’ll feel ashamed the next day when he’s puking his guts out and realizes that what Kennedy said meant he had known about Jack’s crush from the very start. ‘But for now I’m content with taking up your cuddle offer, if that’s alright? It’s 2am, and you really need to fix your heating.’

Jack nods happily, moving further into his bed and making space for Kennedy. He doesn’t quite believe his luck but the next time he blinks, he’s met with Kennedy’s hazel eyes staring at him, lips quirked in a smile, and for the first time Jack knows he’s not going to die because of this man. Oh, no. He’s going to date the hell out of him instead.

Notes

everyone needs some cheesy stuff in their lives
(looking at you, ilovetea. what with your cheese/cheesecake obsession)

you'll be getting quite a few of those kennack fics from me in the following weeks. kennack or brockat? like i said before, kennack's all pancakes and brockat's all broccoli in my head. so, someone decide which one's the best because i obviously can't.

maybe leave some feedback because i'm lonely and listening to this xo