"No Tom and Fred tonight, then?''
Alec asked as Ellie came back from the kitchen. She was carrying two wine glasses filled with the wine Alec brought for the both of them. She set them on the coffee table. "No. Just us. My sister offered to have the kids for the weekend. Its good though because it gives chance to spend time with their cousin. They don't get to see much of Olly since he got a job at the agency." Alec hummed. "Too bad he can't get a job at a proper agency. Probably cause he's a nosey piece of horse shite." He said. Ellie made a face. "Well, as I told him before, his time'll come." Ellie pointed a finger at Alec. "And that's my nephew you're talking about."
"I know." He smirked. Ellie shook her head and tried her best not to smile. "Anyway, what film do you wanna watch?" She asked as she wondered over to a small shelf stacked with DVDS. Alec shrugged. "Whatever you want." Ellie picked out a DVD and examined it. "Well, some of these belong to Joe. I could never bring myself to throw them out." Alec frowned at the reminder of Joe. He noticed Ellie had turned quite after a moment or two. "You okay?" He asked. Ellie looked up to find him watching her.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." She said through a cheerful grin. Ellie placed the DVD back on the shelf and pulled another one. She held it up for Alec to see. "Want to watch this? She asked. Alec smiled softy. "Go on, then." Ellie walked over to the television set and opened up the case. Alec moved his head to get a closer glimpse of the cover.
"So, what is it we're watching then?" Ellie placed the disk in the DVD player and grabbed the remote. "It's something I picked up from the shop the other week. Here." She passed him the case to look at and sat herself beside him on the sofa. Alec raised his eyebrows. "A horror film?" He asked. Ellie watched him closely. "Yeah." She replied, grabbing a handful of popcorn. "Why don't you like horror films?" Alec pulled the DVD away and scrunched up his face.
"Not really. Was never keen on them as a teenager to be honest." Alec reached for the bowl of popcorn and popped it into his mouth. Ellie looked at him with a mouth full of popcorn. "I can always put something else on if you want?"
"Nah, your alright. I'll just try and brace myself for whatever happens." Alec ate another piece of popcorn. Ellie held the remote in her hand, waiting to start play the film. "You can always hold my hand if you get scared, Alec." She teased playfully. Alec looked at her swiftly.
"Just start the film, Miller." He couldn't help but grin at himself. Ellie aimed the remote at the television set and started the film. Alec shifted uncomfortably on sofa. If he could handle murders, surely he could handle horror films.
As Alec and Ellie watched forty five minutes into the film, Alec was already starting to feel scared but didn't dare show it. Ellie looked at him. He was frozen to the screen. "You okay, Sir?" Alec stared at the screen. "Fine." He leaned a bit more into the sofa. Just in case. Ellie rosed up from the sofa. "I'm going to get another drink. Do you want one?" Alec rolled his eyes to his nearly empty wine glass and then back to the television screen. "Please." Ellie picked up the glass from the table. "It's alright to admit it if your scared, Alec." She said. Alec looked at her. "Who said I'm scared?" Ellie signed. It was impossible not to smile at that man. She headed into the kitchen to get them some more wine, leaving Alec to watch the film so he could tell her what she'd missed.
In the kitchen, Ellie poured of what was left of the wine into both glasses. She placed the empty bottle aside, just as she heard Alec yelling from the other room. "Whoa! BLOODY HELL!" Ellie grinned at the sound of his voice. She picked up both glasses and carried them into living room. Alec was buried deep into the sofa when Ellie returned from the kitchen. "What are you yelling at, scaredy cat?" She asked as she set both glasses on the table. Alec give her a look. "I'm not a scaredy cat."
Ellie arched her eyebrows. "Really? That's not what I heard coming from kitchen." For minute or two, she and Alec gave each other death stares, until he eventually admitted he was a little scared. Ellie smiled with achievement. She had managed to scare Alec and get him to admit it. "See? I told you there was nothing wrong with admitting your scared. Not that hard, was it?" She walked over to dump herself on the sofa next to him. Alec leaned forward to observed her smile, knowing fully well she enjoyed torturing him. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Pretty much." She looked at him with smirk. Alec scoffed, turning away for second and back. Ellie could swear that there was a hint of a soft grin on his face. "You're impossible at times, Miller."
"And why is that?" She asked with a puzzled look. Alec glared her in the eye. "Because your down right stubborn."
"Well, at least I'm not the one who's grumpy all the time." Ellie couldn't help but smirk at him. He shook and bowed his head to hide his face. Ellie could tell he was hiding that cheeky grin of his. Alec lifted his head and looked at Ellie. His face was serious. "You really are a pain in the arse to work with, do you know that?"
"I most certainly do." Alec's lips spread into a helpless smile as he turned his head toward the television. "You know, what? Lets just watch the rest of the film, shall we?" Alec said, folding his arms and leaning back into the sofa. Ellie watched him approvingly. "Given up already, have you?" She asked.
"If you mean, by me talking to you then, yes." He turned his head to face her. "I am done talking to you, Miller." Ellie knew he was fooling around. She could tell when he was serious or not serious but decided to play along with his little game." Fine." She said, displaying a fake frown. "Suit yourself. Sir." Ellie settled herself against the sofa. Alec twitched his mouth to one side in a helpless smirk. ''You really are a piece of work, Miller.'' He thought to himself before joining Ellie to watch the rest of the film.
Once the film had finished, Ellie was clutched to a cushion as she viewed the ending credits."Now that wasn't too bad, was it?" She turned to her side to look at Alec and was surprized to see him asleep. Or maybe he was just resting his eyes? She wasn't sure. She quietly called out to him. "Sir?" He didn't answer. He was definitely asleep. Ellie studied the sleeping life form beside her and thought that he had never looked so peaceful, or beautiful for that matter. She smiled softly and picked up her phone from the coffee table, aiming it at him. She pressed a button and it made a clicking sound. Ellie had taken a picture of a sleeping Alec Hardy! She pulled the phone back toward her and looked at the photo, grinning. "Your gonna kill me for this, Alec." She whispered.
"Why?" Came a croaky voice. Ellie quickly looked to her side to see Alec awake. "What did you do, Miller?" He asked, his voice more clearer. Ellie hid the phone behind her back. "Nothing." Alec noticed her movements and knew she was hiding something. "What are you hiding?"
"Nothing." She said. Alec wasn't stupid. "You bloody liar." Ellie protested. "I am not!"
"Show me what you're hiding then." "No."
"Miller." He warned. "Honestly, Sir. I've got nothing to hide. Even if I did I wouldn't show it to you." Alec knew she was playing the innocent party, but he decided to let it go without hesitation. "Fine." He said, getting up from his seat to straighten his posture. "You win, Miller. I guess we all can't win every battle now can we?" Ellie watched him with a careful eye while keeping her arms behind her back. "No. We all can't win every battle. Or any battle for that matter." Alec nodded in agreement. "I'm going to make a brew." Ellie said as she stood to her feet. "Would you like one?"
"Please." He replied. "Okay. I won't be a moment." Ellie was about to pick up the wine glasses when Alec called out to her. "Ellie." He said, his voice demanding. Ellie stopped and looked in shock. "Leave the wine glasses. I'll get them." Ellie was surprized by him offering to help. "You sure?" She asked. "Yeah, go on. Get that kettle boiling, Miller." Ellie painted a smile. "Okay. Sir." She said the last word in a funny way before wondering off into the kitchen. Alec picked the wine glasses and carried them into the kitchen.
Ellie was stood at the sink when he came, fiddling on her phone as the kettle began to heat up. Alec wondered over and placed the glasses in the sink. He stood behind Ellie, placing his chin of her shoulder. "Texting someone, are we?" He asked. Ellie concentrated on her phone. "I just texted Lucy to see how the boys are doing. You know, how a mother worries when her kids aren't around." She said. Alec hmm'd.
Ellie looked back at him. He was still resting his chin on her shoulder. "Have you ever heard of personal space, Alec?"
"Might have." He said in the cutest way possible. "But where would the fun in that be?"
"I dunno." Said Ellie, staring into the screen of her phone. She felt Alec shift his face closer to hers. "I know one thing though." She said. Alec watched her with fascination. "What's that?" He asked, his breath warm against her neck. "It'll be fun to kick you up the arse if you don't crack on with getting that tea ready." Alec's face blew into a smile. He left Ellie's side to carry on with making the tea while she waited for a reply from her sister.
Once the kettle had boiled and Ellie had received a reply from Lucy, Alec finished making the tea as Ellie watched him with a careful eye. "Thought I was the one making the tea." She started to complain in the smallest way. Alec drained the teabags out of the mugs. "Well, you obviously had other ideas. So I thought I'd make it." Alec passed her a mug. Ellie appeared lost for words. "Thank you, Sir. You really didn't have to you know."
"Ah, it's alright. Wanted you to make sure the boys were alright. I know I was the same with my little'un." He took a sip tea from his mug. Ellie wondered over to the fridge. "You sure you don't take milk with that?" She called from across the room. Alec shook his head, his mouth full of tea. "Nah. Could never drink the stuff. Used to think of as white paint in a cup as kid." Ellie returned to join Alec at the counter. She placed a bottle of whipped cream on the side and when into the cupboard to bring out the biscuit tin.
Alec looked unsure of what she was doing."What you doing, Miller? Trying to dig your way into China or something?" She had to smile at his confused face. She grabbed the mug of tea and sprayed whipped cream around the edge of the mug until it was completely covered.
"It's a little something my mum used to make for me and Lucy when were kids." Ellie went into the biscuit tin and brought out a chocolate finger. She dunked the chocolate finger into the cream. She looked at it before turning to Alec. "What do you think?" Alec studied the cream cover tea. "Is it meant to look like a 99?''
"Yeah. Well, sort of." She snapped off a piece of the chocolate finger and placed into her mouth. "What my mum used to do was instead of using milk, she'd cover the whole thing with whipped cream and stick a chocolate biscuit on top. A bit like a dessert of some sort." Alec raised his eyebrows. ''Really? Does it taste nice?''
''Here.'' Ellie picked up the mug and held it out to him. ''Try it.'' Alec placed his own mug on the counter and took Ellie's from her grasp, studying it. He sniffed the cream before taking a sip of the cream covered tea. He made a face in disgust. ''Oh, god.'' He held the mug out to Ellie which she took back from him. She had to smile at the way he reacted. ''I guessing it's not your cup of tea.'' Alec shook his head. ''No. That stuff is revolting, Miller. Can't believe you actually drink the stuff.''
''Oh, thanks. Nice to know that someone appreciates the tea I made.'' She joked lightly. Alec cleared his throat. ''I think what you mean is what I made. I'm the one who made the tea, Miller.'' Ellie shrugged. ''Whatever.'' She said. Alec turned to face her and she noticed something odd about his face. ''Er, sir.'' She pointed to her nose as if to direct him to his own. Alec swiped his nose with his wrist, cream was on the tip of his nose. ''Oh, very funny, Miller.''
''It's not my fault. You should been more careful. At I least I'm more careful with what I do.''
''Not careful enough.'' Alec dipped his fingers in the cream of Ellie's mug and splashed it over the side of her face. She gasped in shock. ''Oh, no. You didn't.''
''I just did.'' He grinned. Ellie placed her mug on the counter and grabbed the bottle of whipped cream. She sprayed it in a line on his face. It looked like his had a grey moustache. She had to laugh at the expression on his face. ''You know, if you look in the mirror you could pass off as an old Santa Claus.'' She grinned helplessly. Alec didn't looked pleased. ''Oh, your in for it now, Miller.'' Alec made a grab for whipped cream, but Ellie didn't let go. Soon, she and Alec got themseleves into a playful fight, spraying cream all over each other which made them both laugh and squeal.
They eventually stopped when the realised they were nearly half covered snowmen.