Hello! So, this is my second L4D fanfiction. I just wanted to give you a little summary. There is potentially going to be two pairings within this. Nellis and Kellis. The beginning of this story is before the outbreak. This first chapter, for example, is years away from the whole thing. Both Keith and Ellis are seventeen years old. That's about it! Thanks.

The sun in the Savannah sky was blazing hot, gently caressing the Southerners skin like a familiar touch. Raising a hand, he blocked the blinding light from his hazel eyes, attempting to see in front of him. It had been a slow day today, making him that much more eager to get home. After all, there was a mighty beautiful Mercedes just waiting in his garage, ready to give him some lovin'.

With a small movement, Ellis dropped his hand, placing his hat back on his head with a large grin and took the stairs three at a time. There were a few other students littering around, however, most had made it home by now. Unfortunately, Ellis had to stay after class to vouch for his buddy Keith. Apparently he had been blamed for breaking some kid's nose earlier this afternoon. Even though Ellis had no doubt Keith had probably caused the accident, he found it hard to believe that his buddy would ever purposely break someone's nose. So, he stayed behind and gave his friend a solid alibi. Besides, Keith would've done the same for him.

He had only made it a few feet before he found himself tackled from the side, meeting the grass with a painful jolt as body connected with ground. He grunted, half-laughing half-crying, before he rolled over, finding Keith hovering above him with a huge, boyish grin. "Awh, fuck, man..." Ellis swore under his breath, holding his side as he stared up at the rugged male.

The dark-haired male rolled to the side, no longer hovering over his friend, as he continued to grin. "C'mon, Ell. We gotta' work on your reflex's 'n such," he replied, a hand running through his mess of hair before he shifted his position so he was lying beside Ellis with his hands behind his head.

Ellis rolled his eyes, his head rolling to the side to stare at his best friend. "You are one crazy son 'a bitch, Keith. Knockin' me over every second day 'aint gonna' help my reflexes. It's just gonna' make me as dumb as you..." He watched the other male's expression feign anger and for a moment, he wondered how many times he had seen that face. How long had him and Keith been friends? Longer than Jimmy Gibbs had been cool, apparently. Ellis knew everything about the man, including his thoughts. From Keith's slightly unkempt hair, to his bright green eyes, even to the constant stubble that existed on his jaw... Keith was simply Keith and he always would be.

"What you up to today, Ell?" Keith questioned, ignoring the jab at his intelligence as he sat up. "You want 'ta come over? My momma's probably makin' pie sometime tonight. 'An I got somethin' 'ta show 'ya anyway."

Ellis winced as he sat up, slightly amused by the fact Keith still thought he had to lure him over with the offer of food. "'A course, Keith. I'd love 'ta."


It was a short walk from the school to Keith's house. It was a small suburban home, nestled in between three or four other houses. The paint was white and blue and even though it was peeling, Ellis still thought it looked better than new. And if he turned around and craned his neck, he could see the roof of his own house from across the street. That was how the two had become best friends in the first place.

Ellis had just gotten a new bicycle for his birthday and, being the adventurous boy he was, decided to go exploring with it. As he raced down the street, he noticed the large van and came to a halt, staring at the large vehicle with wide eyes. He always loved trucks, cars, motorcycles... Anything that could move and move fast, he had to get his hands on. He was about to continue adventuring with his bike, but something caught his eye.

It was a boy around his own age, balancing on the porch railing with a boyish smile engulfing his face. Ellis couldn't help but to smile. Keith was just one of those people – you had to like them. Watching with awe as Keith walked the length and back, he wondered if he should introduce himself. Ellis was generally a fairly sociable kid, but for some reason, Keith seemed too cool. And what if he didn't want to play with him?

Biting his bruised lower lip, his eyebrows furrowed, eyes fixed on the other boy with an almost ridiculous amount of intensity. After a few seconds of debating, he made up his mind and started to turn the bike around, swinging his leg over the side once more. However, Keith had seen the reflection of the red bicycle and glanced over, distracted enough to fall. Ellis had heard the small grunt and whipped his head around, eyes wide. Dropping his bike, he ran across the green lawn at top speed and bounded up the stairs onto the porch. And there was Keith, in the process of sitting up, blood running down the front of his face.

"Christ in a hand-basket!" Ellis whispered before he ran over, dropping to his knees. "Y'all right?" The worry was evident in his seven year old face. But Keith simply grinned and nodded. "It's no big deal," he replied, shrugging as he ignored the blood. "This one time, I climbed on my roof and got attacked by a bird... Fell fifty feet, I did!"
From that day on, they were like brothers. Especially when Ellis insisted on telling 'Keith Stories.'

Pulled from his memory by the sound of Keith's dog, Cobalt, Ellis wondered how long he had been zoned out. Apparently not too long, considering Keith still hadn't come back with the beers. Sighing, Ellis leaned back in the old rocking chair. Keith's bedroom was almost identical to his own, now that he thought about it. Most of the furniture was mismatched, all antique and made from scratch. There were posters of Jimmy Gibbs on the wall, along with the Midnight Riders and the Bull Shifters. Sometimes their mothers joked about how they were actually brothers separated at birth.

"Hey, Ell," Keith pulled Ellis' attention away from the poster as he tossed him a cold can of Bud. "What'cha think' 'bout? Don' get all serious on me, buddy." The scruffy male smirked as he cracked open his beer, taking a long swig before he dropped down to sit on his bed.

"Nawh, I was jus' think' 'bout how similar we are. 'Ya know, secretly brothers 'n shit." Ellis shrugged, mimicking Keith's actions with a bit less vigor. The beer was refreshing, especially because hardly any houses had a decent air conditioning system. Ellis could feel the small bit of perspiration building up on the back of his neck, clinging to the fabric of his Bull Shifters t-shirt. He wore it a bit too often for his momma's liking, but hey - a man's gotta' show love for his music.

"Fair 'nuff," Keith replied, taking another swig before he set it aside loudly, standing up as he stretched, face contorting as he attempted to hide a yawn. "Now, b'fore my momma finishes with dinner, I wanted 'ta show 'ya something." He paused to wait for Ellis to nod and stand, slightly amused by the excited expression on the dirty-blonde's face. "Al'righ, c'mere..." he trailed off, disappearing into the hallway that connected to his bathroom.

Slightly confused, Ellis followed, not bothering to question. Keith would never tell him nor would it be cool to ruin the surprise. Whatever it was. However, he did raise an eyebrow when Keith closed the door behind them and locked it, glancing around with an almost anxious expression. After a few moments of silence, he grinned widely and walked over to the toilet, lifting up the porcelain top and setting it on the side of the tub. From within, he pulled out a large bag of what looked like green grass. Tilting his head, Ellis frowned, leaning against the sink as he watched Keith roll some of the grass into something that resembled a cigarette. However, Ellis obviously knew it wasn't a cigarette.

"Um, what'cha doin', Keith?" Ellis questioned, hesitating for a moment as the odd cigarette was passed to him. Waiting for an answer, he raised it to his nose, sniffing it lightly. It didn't smell bad, almost kind of sweet, if he thought about it.

"Jus' be patient, 'Ell," Keith replied, keeping his voice significantly quieter than the other males. "Jus' gimme a sec." And so, Ellis stood in silence, watching as his best friend rolled three more of the strange things and rolled the bag back up, slipping it back into the toilet. The porcelain top followed, concealing whatever Keith was hiding.

"Alrigh'," Keith finally said, motioning for Ellis to sit on the tub beside him. "C'mere. It's fun, trust me." Even though Ellis didn't really need reassurance, he had never smoked anything and it was slightly unnerving not even knowing what it was. Noticing his apprehensive expression, Keith patted his shoulder. "It's jus' weed, Ell. 'Ya know, to get high."

Suddenly, Ellis recognized the faint smell and grinned, unable to believe he had been so stupid. "Righ'," he replied, somewhat sheepishly. Lifting it to his lips, he let Keith flick the lighter, igniting his joint with a small burning sound. As Keith took care of his own, Ellis took a deep drag, half expecting it to cause him to cough. However, it was pleasant. More like a fragrance.

"Not too bad, eh Ell?" Keith questioned, nudging his friend with a large smirk. "Jus' wait until it sets in. 'Ya feel like 'ya can fly." The two sat where they were, slowing inhaling the drugs, both smiling stupidly after less than two minutes. Ellis felt as if he were in a haze, like a cloud had settled around his brain and relaxed every inch of his body. His vision was soft, all the edges seemed blurred, but when he glanced over to Keith, he could see him perfectly. Stress, frustration, boredom, tiredness... It all left.

And for some reason, his hand moved on it's own, slowly rising until his fingers met with Keith's shoulder, the fabric of his t-shirt barely making contact with Ell's skin. He held his hand there, watching for a reaction. When all he received was an interested raise of an eyebrow, he began to laugh and dropped his hand to his side, wondering what the hell had come over him.

"I'm sorry, Keith. I don' know what I'm doin'. Musta' been thi-" His apology was cut short as a pair of lips secured themselves of his own. He continued to attempt to talk for a few moments, until he realized what had happened. Slowly frowning, he tried to pull away, thinking it must have been a mistake on Keith's part. However, Keith shifted his body weight, enough to press Ellis' against the wall beside him, preventing him from pulling away.

Ellis' hands came up, on a mission to push the other male away, but instead, the simply rested against Keith's chest. Their lips were still pressed together, Ellis' mouth open slightly, due to the fact he had been talking. One of Keith's hands found it's way to the dirty-blonde's knee, resting on his knee cap as his head tilted to the side and his tongue was added to the mix. It slowly slid across the others slightly fuller bottom lip and into Ell's mouth, earning a surprised moan from the Southerner.

Meanwhile, Ellis' brain was attempting to keep itself from overloading. Wasn't this wrong? Why was Keith kissing him? And most importantly, why the hell did it feel good? Many girls liked Keith, but he had never paid them any attention. He'd called them a waste of time. Hell, many girls seemed to like Ellis himself, but he was too oblivious to notice and by the time he did, they had found someone else. With a start, he realized this was his first kiss.

Swallowing thickly, Ellis found himself closing his eyes, mimicking Keith's actions by sliding his own tongue forward until the two connected. His grip around the fabric of his best friend's shirt tightened, surprised by the jolt of desire that surged through his stomach, into his lower abdomen. Before he knew what was happening, Keith had pulled away, an almost satisfied expression on his face.

"Y'all right, Ell?" He questioned cheekily, lips curving into a devilish smirk. The hand on his knee was slowly sliding up Ell's thigh, barely moving more than an inch at a time. Confused, Ellis nodded and then shook his head, before nodding again.

"I'm... ye-... I'm mighty warm," he replied quietly, wondering if his cheeks were as red as they felt. "'N why'd 'ya kiss me, Keith?" He hadn't meant to ask, mostly because he didn't like having to ask questions. But it had just fallen out of his lips, like he had no control over his mouth anymore. Or his tongue, it seemed, as he recalled the last forty seconds.

"'Cause I like you, Ell. 'N it feels good. So, why not?" Keith replied logically, his green eyes darker than usual and slightly glazed over. Not to mention, his voice was somewhat huskier, as if he had just run a mile. "Did'ya like it?" He added, taking another drag of his joint.

Ellis was silent for quite awhile, listening to his heart beat against his ears and the faint drip of the tap behind him. He could hear the movement of skin against fabric as Keith's hand moved up his thigh and the soft exhales he made as he continued to smoke his weed. He decided that yes. He did like it. Very much.