Summary: All Ellis wanted was to spend Christmas with his 'family.' All Nick wanted was to get the hell away from them. Oneshot. [Hinted NickxEllis]
Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead 2 and all it's characters do not belong to me.
Warnings: Strong language, possibly offensive material, hints of boy love, gore/violence, character death
Author's Note: I really love this game hurr. Nick's my favorite character. Ellis is a close second. PUT THEM TOGETHER AAAAND~ you have love. I've got an idea for a somewhat crack-ish AU NickxEllis fic that I'm going to be working on. So hopefully I can get that first chapter up soon.
He'd been trapped in this godforsaken state for much too long. He didn't belong in the South, didn't appreciate the hot sun constantly beating down on him. Why was it so damn hot all the goddamn time? Even when it rained it was hot! Hot, humid, disgusting.. And in December of all times! Now Nick wasn't all into the 'holiday season' (you had to have a family for that, and he was a definite loner) but snow was just something necessary so close to Christmas. Back up North he was sure there was heaps of the white stuff, but down here in Louisiana... Nothing.
Just stifling heat, occasional torrential downpours, and zombies. So many fucking zombies. Just when it seemed they had all been wiped out, more came, like it was some sort of fucked up video game.
His once pristine, white suit was now stained crimson with blood, coated in dirt and soiled with murky swamp water. Someone had told him getting a white suit was a dumb idea, but he'd ignored them. He didn't think he'd end up in a zombie apocalypse in the asshole of America. He never saw it coming actually.. Honestly, zombies? That shit was for B rated movies and sci-fi losers.
"Nick? 'Ey Nick!" The conman blinked his hard green eyes, training them on a tanned, grinning face that must've appeared when he was zoning out. Ah, the most annoying member of the group, a country hick by the name of Ellis. The kid had a mouth bigger than a Tank, and shitty stories seemed to constantly pour out of it.
"Y'all looked like you were thinkin' real hard."
"Yeah, I was. You should try it sometimes Overalls." Nick skillfully ignored the somewhat hurt look that crossed the younger male's face, getting to his feet with a low grunt. They'd spent the night in one of the numerous 'safe houses' and now it looked as though they were just about ready to leave. Good because sleeping on hard concrete did wonders for his already sore body.
"Why you gotta be like that Nick? It's Christmas Eve! I remember last Christmas Eve, me n' Keith wanted to go to this concert, but Keith totaled his truck n' -"
"Ellis. I'm going to be completely honest with you right now. I don't fucking care." Unconsciously his voice had risen, attracting the attention of the other two members of the quartet, a young black woman and an older, slightly overweight black man. Rochelle, the woman, was shooting daggers at Nick with her eyes, clearly displeased with his rudeness. No surprise there. She turned her angry brown eyes on Ellis and they softened considerably.
"Aw sweetie, don't mind him. We'd all love to hear your story but now's not really the time.." It was never the time in Nick's opinion. He was sick of hearing about this 'Keith' kid, who sounded like a clone of Ellis, just a hell of a lot stupider. There was a reason why the conman lived alone and kept to himself.. He just wasn't a people person.
"Oh. Okay. Yeah, sorry. Jus' excited, it bein' so close to Christmas n' all. But 'least I got other people to celebrate it with!" Ellis' baby face broke into a grin, hiding the sting of hurt he still felt from Nick's coldness. He really liked the older man.. But he was so gosh darn hard to get through to and please!
When he smiled though.. It was worth all the trouble.
Like seeing some sort of pretty sunset, or something cheesy like that. Ellis never really gave relationships much thought; he'd had a girlfriend but she'd dumped him after he forgot about one of their dates. In all honesty he was just too much of a little kid to be in a relationship, too focused on enjoying life to be pinned down. However he sometimes felt lonely, and wanted someone else there.
For a while that person had been Keith (they'd messed around a bit, revealing that Ellis was a closet bisexual) but then his buddy had gone off to some fancy school in another state, leaving Ellis with nothing but memories. The apocalypse was the one good thing that had happened since Keith left.
It'd brought him Coach, Ro', and Nick.
Sometimes he didn't want them to be rescued because he feared they would all go their separate ways and he'd lose his make-shift family. Luck had been on his side though, with each of their escape attempts failing; Jimmy Gibbs' car being unable to pass through the endless Whispering Oak traffic, the helicopter pilot becoming infected, the boat running out of gas then dropping them off in this city..
Now it seemed like they might actually make it out though, and he knew the others were thrilled by this thought. Especially Nick.
"Mm Christmas. Gotta love all the holiday food! Turkey, roast beef, mashed potatoes, eggnog! Wonder if we can fix ourselves a nice dinner tonight." Coach mused, placing a hand on his ample belly that gurgled in agreement at his next statement. "It's been too long since the last decent meal I had!"
"Yeah, chocolate bars don't really cut it, do they Coach?" A slight smirk touched Nick's lips, and he easily shrugged off the larger man's unamused glare. The pair of them had an interesting relationship, to say the least, with Nick poking fun at the ex-football coach as often as he could, "Anyways we can spend all our daylight gabbing or we can keep moving to that highway. No offense, but I really don't want to spend my Christmas with all of you."
"You know Nick, I'm really getting sick of your attitude. You don't always have to be alone you know. Rochelle had her arms crossed under her decent sized chest, looking rather fearsome with an ax and assault rifle strapped to her back. Nick didn't appear to be intimidated however, choosing to ignore her and face the red metal door, stepping out into the street.
Yes, he did have to be alone. If he could go off by himself he would, but the onslaught of zombies made that impossible. Teamwork was essential if anyone wanted to survive, this they had all learned early on.
Still, it didn't mean he had to be all 'buddy buddy' with these people. Hell, he didn't know if any of them would die along the way or not. It was possible after all; there had been some close calls, especially with Ellis, who seemed to attract Special Infected more than anyone. So why should he make a bond with people who might just end up leaving him permanently?
It would cause too much emotional pain, something Nick had sworn he'd never have.
But this entire group seemed to be latching onto him, forcing that bond to be made much to Nick's dismay. Ellis appeared to be trying especially hard, something that frustrated the conman to no end. There was no doubt in his mind that the mechanic was straight, while Nick was... well, Nick wasn't sure what he was.
But he did know he was attracted to Ellis, not just physically (because the young man was absolutely adorable) but mentally too. He was everything Nick wasn't; optimistic, cheerful, friendly. The perfect yin to his yang.
But, he was a Southerner. And stereotypes told Nick that Southerners hated homosexuals, supported incest, and all sounded like they had negative IQs. So Nick wasn't going to bother with Ellis, despite how much he wanted to, instead pushing the other boy away and trying to remain stoic and cold. It was hard when Ellis gave off completely different signals though. Like now the hick was walking beside him, having rushed out after him once he left the safe room. He was so close.. Nick could feel the heat of Ellis' arm through his suit jacket and purposely moved away, only to have that heat follow him.
"Hey Overalls, could you back off? You're invading my personal bubble."
"Oh, sorry Nick. Jus' making sure nothin' gets ya, ya know? Those jumper things.. They're sneaky bastards. Get ya when yer alone." Ellis shuffled away, and as he did so a tell tale shriek sliced through the humid air, causing all the Survivors to look around frantically.
As though magnetism were pulling him, Ellis quickly moved back to Nick's side, clutching his shot gun tightly, eyes darting around. Another screech sounded, and then a black shape was soaring through the air, clawed hands outstretched and eager to kill. It landed squarely on it's intended target, tearing into flesh and staining the blue dress shirt with blood.
The force of the pounce had knocked Ellis on his ass, and for a few precious moments he could only watch in shock as that hooded creature ripped his 'crush' apart, blood spraying and landing on his white t-shirt. Coach, seeing that Ellis was pretty much useless, let out a loud war cry, bringing his blood-stained katana down on the rabid beast's back, severing it's spine. The corpse fell limply on an equally still Nick.
Ellis seemed to be pulled from his trance as the blood finally stopped spraying.
"Oh shit! Shit I knew this was gonna happen! I thought if I was close I'd be able to help quicker but.. Shit look at all his blood!" Ellis stood and roughly seized the dark sweatshirt the now dead Hunter wore, heaving the body away from Nick. Rochelle was inspecting the damage, feminine hands gently pulling back the tattered shirt to revel deep, bleeding gouges.
"Ellis sweetie, calm down. How about you keep a look out for zombies with Coach while I try and patch Nick up?" Her calm voice disguised her worry, which was shown clearly through her eyes. Nick seemed to be unconscious, his chest moving up and down shallowly, eye lids fluttering furiously. Suddenly Rochelle missed his sarcastic voice and smartass comments, disturbed by the silence. A nudge from Coach jolted her from her sad thoughts, and she took the hint, getting to work on bandaging Nick up.
It took a while, considering the extent of the wounds, and the blood soaked through the white gauze as soon as it touched. Rochelle knew Nick was going to die unless they found a doctor, and that would be impossible.
"Let's take him back to the safe room.."
"I'll grab him-"
"No! Let... lemme take him. It's my fault he's like this.." Ellis bent over and slipped his arms gently beneath Nick's prone form, letting out a grunt as he lifted the larger man. He knew Nick would never let him do this... Knew that this was serious.
Knew he was going to lose him.
The journey to the safe house was quick and silent. Ellis set his precious load down on one of the weapon tables, wiping his face with the back of his eyes, "'m sorry Nick.. I.. I shoulda done something.. Shoulda not just.. sat there.. Shit I.."
The tears came unbidden, spilling from his eyes as he leaned over Nick's body, clutching him tightly. He startled as a hand touched his arm, and looked into dimming green eyes with shock, "S...stop crying.. Overalls.. It's Christmas.. R.. Remember? And.. I'd... like to spend it... with you..."
"Ya will Nick.. Ya will."
Author's Note: I KILLED NIIICK. I'm not happy with the ending. It's rushed. But I'm too lazy to add onto it.