HEY! GUESS WHAT! I didn't write this chapter. A friend of mine did after seeing some screenshots from my first attempt at doing some GMod stuff. So after writing it and giving it to me as a present she gave me permission to use it as a chapter and publish all around the internet.
It was far too quiet for Ellis' liking. At night, when he was on watch, he was used to Coach and Rochelle's sleep noises filling up the quiet of night. Coach snored like no one's business and Rochelle often made those little muffled sounds against her pillow, curled up against her pillow. Because of those two, he had never noticed how quiet Nick was while asleep.
Now that it was only Nick occupying the room with him, it became blatantly obvious.
The concrete room was set up so the two run down couches were facing the steel, sloppily red painted door, meeting each other at an angle. Nick was laid out on the reddish, softer couch with one hand hung off the side, knuckles pressed against the hard floor and mouth open just slightly. And so eerily quiet. How was he even supposed to know the conman was alive?
The southerner turned a bit in his seat on hard, green stripped fabric, shotgun carefully cradled in his lap and his fingers gripping his knees. Damn, he wished Ro and Coach were here. But at least they were safe. Nick and him had missed that helicopter flight playing bait for a tank, and were now just trying to survive. Ellis hoped that they would find another rescue helicopter, but his company was rather pessimistic.
It was as his thoughts turned to Nick that the con artist made the first sleep-sound of the night, a just barely audible sigh, little more than an exhale. The first sign of his being alive of the night. Ellis felt the need to celebrate.
Rising from his spot on the old couch, the younger man approached the sleeping conman, shotgun left resting on the green cushions. Nick had turned his head away from the back of the sofa, arm now placed on his rising and falling chest, one of the mutliple ring reflecting some of the dim light. Ellis sat on the arm rest next to Nick's head, staring down at him thoughtfully. The boy wondered if the gambler would shout at him for waking him. Or maybe he'd just glare sullenly, or maybe speak to him in that hushed, angry voice. Or, just maybe, he'd simply open his eyes and smile at Ellis, laugh at his antics and shake his head.
Ellis kind of hoped for something resembling that last option, but it seemed a little far fetched. But it was a nice thought. He liked it when Nick smiled. In the end, he didn't even need to touch Nick to wake him up. The man seemed to sense the other's gaze and groaned, the hand laying flat on his chest moving up to rub his eye. Ellis gazed down at him in surprise, feeling like a kid with his hand caught down the cookie jar. When the hand retracted and pale green eyes opened to return the surprised stare, the conman's eyebrows furrowed, lips pursing.
"Ellis?" The boy blinked and his heart skipped a beat. "Yeah Nick?" "What the hell are you doing?" Ellis smiled crookedly, shrugging, his cheeks and the top of his ears turning a bright shade of red.
"Uh, I was gonna wake you up. Your turn for watch." It was Nick's turn to blink, nodding and sitting up with a yawn, his back popping when he stretched. Then his attention returned to the boy and he pulled his hand back, smacking Ellis upside the head.
"Ouch! What was that for?" The hick exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head, fingers tangling in curly hair. Nick smirked, laughing sleepily. "For being a fucking creep, that's what. Watching me while I sleep." Ellis pouted, though he wouldn't label the expression as such, and shook his head. He kind of had been, but the gambler didn't have to be a jerk about it.
"I wasn't watchin' ya sleep. I said I was gonna wake you up, but you woke up before I could." There was that smile he had been anticipating, a bright flash of white teeth, the green of Nick's eyes catching the light as his ring had. Ellis felt a little breathless. "Whatever you say, El." He muttered, checking the muddy watch they had picked up from one of the infected after Nick's own watch got smashed. The conman glanced back up at Ellis, one eyebrow raised.
"Your shift isn't over yet. You still have thirty minutes." Huh. He had been closer than he thought. The hick had estimated that there had been an hour left. But Nick might get pissed at him for that, so he pretended he had no idea. "Oh, shit man! Sorry 'bout that. Guess I have to get better at reading this thing." The older man sighed, running his fingers through dark hair. Ellis wonder if it was soft. It would explain why Nick was messing with his hair all the time.
"It's fine. I'll just stay up with you until your shift's over." The boy smiled, and Nick returned the expression half-heartedly, scooting over so Ellis could plop down beside him. His heart skipped a beat again and his fingers itched to touch, but the mechanic just folded gripped his knees again.
"What were you dreamin' of? You were awfully quiet." Nick rest his head against the back of the couch, one eye nearly hidden by shadow. The other eye's lashes cast a strange shadow across his nose.
"I don't remember." The simple answer disappointed Ellis, having hoped for maybe a mention of himself. No, not himself. He had just hoped for a story. Instead, he spent the pause in the conversation taking in Nick's sleep reddened cheeks and muse hair, gaze lingering on slightly parted lips. He bit his own, wondering.
They spent most of the thirty minutes in a companionable silence, Ellis speaking every once in a while and Nick responding with short sentences and yawns. Eventually, the boy checked the watch and found that he had lost ten minutes of precious sleep. Not that he really minded, but he probably would a little in the morning. No matter what, though, he would be happy to have had this easy conversation with Nick.
"Nick, it's your shift." He said softly, holding out the watch for the other man to take. The gambler sighed and nodded, moving to his feet with a grunt. Ellis watched the man take the few steps needed to reach the sofa he had been occupying earlier and pick up the shotgun, smiling tiredly at the hick.
"Night, Ellis." This time his heart felt like it had stopped. Ellis licked dry lips. He suddenly didn't feel the least bit sleepy. He wanted to stay as they had been, Nick sitting besides him and the infection forgotten for the night. The mechanic wanted to stretch that moment out as long as he could, so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"Aren't you gonna give me a good night kiss?" The southerner asked, trying for a teasing tone but failing miserably. He flushed and managed a strained smile, desperately wishing Nick would see the whole thing as just him messing around. The conman had seemed to freeze at the question, face blank and gun pointed toward the ground, making Ellis even more nervous. Nick's silence stretched forever, but eventually he spoke, taking a step forward.
"Sure." Crossing the distance again, the gambler leaned down, cupped Ellis' cheek, and pressed his lips to the younger man's. It wasn't much, really, just the touching of lips, a kiss much more chaste than the ones Ellis had thought about. But the touch felt as if someone had set him on fire.
And all too soon it was over, Nick stepping back and walking back to the couch one more time, not looking back. The boy couldn't do much more than stare after him. "Get some sleep, kid."
Ellis didn't know how he was going to sleep after that.
