Nick hadn't bothered with rummaging through the dark to find a new pair of boxers. His OCD will just have to wait until morning to start itching him about his hygiene.

The kid was still sleeping, only now he was splayed out on his back, one arm over his eyes so his hand lightly touched the bandage of his stitches. The other hand rested on his chest, over his heart, the hand rising and falling in an awkward rhythm in cadence with his chest.

Nick slipped into the snug cavity of the blankets. The shifting in the bed and shrill creaking of the springs had only jostled the boy to remove his eye-covering arm, but the other stayed in place.

The thought that Ellis' hand was there to check subconsciously if his heart was still beating had crossed him. After all the brokenhearted looks he had been earning from the scarred blonde he wouldn't be shocked if the organ had just gave out entirely.

Nick snorted, he was becoming such a sap. He began to roll onto his side as to not have to face the kid, but stopped mid turn. The small whimpering sounds that the kid had been making before had sounded through the room.

They were hushed, resembling as if he was being forced to keep quiet. They started coming out in shaky gripes, and he could feel the tensing fabric beneath his back of the sheets being gripped. He froze in his uncomfortable position and waited.

The kicking underneath the blankets had started slowly, small spasms. Then as the whines became more desperate so had his kicking. His legs started flailing, throwing the blanket into the air and just jolting it back up before it could cover him again.

Nick hastily turned and reluctantly started pinning his shoulders down. The boy's eyes were open, but he was still dreaming. They looked above Nick's head, the pupils reflecting off the moonlight like a strobe light as it moved from place to place. Tears had started matting the golden curls on the side of his head together and his lips had started to form apart.

Nick, in his rush, started shaking Ellis helplessly.

"Ellis! Ellis! Wake up! Wake the fuck up!" The volume of his voice didn't seem to matter.

He shook him more violently, but the kid's moans had started becoming more urgent and his mouth had started opening more and more. The pain of his injury had been anchoring him from screaming fully. It wouldn't last long.

Finally out of pure fear he pushed his knees onto Ellis' lap keeping his jerking legs down to the bed and restraining his shoulders as well. Then his head went down so fast that it became one big blur.

And just like in the fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty always woke up once the Prince had kissed her.

Ellis' breathing shuddered in Nick's mouth as he sobbed and kissed Nick back at the same time with an intense amount of force. It made him look hysteric, just hungrily nipping and pursing his lips to diet the deprivation while at the same time fat drops of tears and high pitched grunts escaping him.

Nick hadn't had his eyes open long enough to tell if the boy had his open the whole time. He could only guess that he did in fact keep his eyes open. Probably thinking this was just a dream and needing ocular proof.

Along with tangible proof apparently so, which was why he now started feeling a quivering hand make its trail down his stubbly cheek.

Then through the bawls and through the waterworks, Nick picked out the radiating, absolutely illuminating smile that made its own source of light for the older man to see. He never believed that a smile could be contagious, thinking only as sicknesses could be, thanks to the apocalypse.

Then he noticed that it was excoriatingly painful if he did not smile with the lovable hick. He even chuckled at how annoyingly contagious anythingthe boy did could make him beam.

"Fucking hell kid. It was like being strangled by a smoker all over again." Nick embarrassedly pushed off of the slightly trembling boy and laid on his back, his arms being a second pillow for his head.

He turned his head away, knowing that if he looked back at Ellis he would be wearing that same apologetic puppy dog face, but his body rested still on his back.

Ellis' breathing had become a stiff and forced wheeze of air, eventually grading down to his usual uneven inhale exhale. He heard the bed covers shift across the mattress and suddenly the weight on his side was becoming heavier.

Then there was a damp and sleepy head on top of his chest, an equally damp arm resting just above his belly button. Nick looked down to be greeted with the sight of the boy's blonde locks. His mouth drew open to decry the thought of 'cuddling', but when he hear the calmed sigh and caught the small whitish pink of the bandage he closed it.

"I hate you so much. Look at what you make me do." His words were empty, just there to fill in for his character. When he felt angelic lips kiss his chest, he knew Ellis knew the true meaning of his message more than he did.

The nightmares were kept away the rest of the night. Ellis had dreamt of nothing, but Nick had dreamt of everything.

Something pulled his body deeper into a heat-stemming object. It felt like a pair of tendrils pinning his arms to his sides and his forearms to his chest. They pulled him along the mattress toward the large figure, they were squeezing him tighter.

After the same dull ache pulsed in his chest he had given up on shutting the outside off. Two sleep packed eyes slowly opened, then accelerating blinks followed to shy the fatigue away. Though it wasn't the morning blur making his vision swirls of peach and black, it was the bare chest embracing his face.

He braced his hands on the chest as delicately as he could, and then pushed back against the containing arms. They did little to protest and they had willingly become flaccid to give him more space to breath.

He didn't want to move too far from the large body lying beside him. He didn't want to ever leave the protection that any part of this body held for him. He snuggled his head closer to the man's shoulder, his bandaged face feathering the skin above Nick's breastbone.

He heard the sweet hum move in undulated vibrations. Nick's hand had found the back of his head while the other was flat against his back, similar to the ministrations Nick had done to him the night before.

The soft blue hues had now tilted upwards, expecting to see the man's jaw, instead he was pulled into a verdant gaze that had some hidden glow to give the simple stare more feeling. Ellis had never felt a more wonderful feeling in his young life.

He wanted to say so much, talk about the feelings he was feeling and praise the man who gave him the little miracles. He wanted to speak to him so badly, tell him everything that was on his mind.

Instead his scar had cornered him to stay silent or bleed. So he showed his feelings by pressing his lips chastely to the gambler's own, slowly, lingeringly, and sweetly.

Nick felt something fuss in his chest when the good morning kiss had ended. He looked down at the same eyes that he had woken up to and frowned, the expression in them clear as day, but wrong as anything.

They held a naïve trust for Nick. They looked up at him eager to feed off of more of his lies and lighten at more of his dishonesty. Then his eyes slid to the pink tinged bandage and his Adam's apple bobbed anxiously.

Ellis' eyebrows drew down curiously upset. Nick didn't need to hear his voice to know the question decipherable on his face.

"I have to go to work." Nick had said his walls coming up so that his apprehension was hidden more easily, still he couldn't help the eschewing of his pupils, looking to a miniscule dot at the edge of the bed.

Ellis shimmied out of his longing hold and turned on his other side to face the door, using the palm on his temple to elevate his head several centimeters above the pillow. He knew that Nick would leave. It didn't mean he would have to watch it.

Nick licked his lips and started to motion out of bed. During the time he was dressing he would sneak peaks at the kid. The whole time though he had been on the same position facing the door, his fingers dancing along his elbow, with his eyes swaying with them.

He unplugged his phone to find that he had received an alarming amount of messages from Talen.

He clicked the first one, first looking over his shoulder at the resting boy.

'The Fioretti's said they need to talk to you! Come to your office ASAP!'

Not bothering with the other texts, he pushed his phone into his pocket, letting it sink with no outlining of it on the outside of his pants. He made it to the door, ignoring the feeling of being watched as he walked casually. He turned back with the door open behind him, finally acknowledging the kid's attention on him.

"I'll be back for lunch later." In the midst of his sentence, El had turned his back on him, now facing the windowless wall again. He wasn't angry; he just couldn't watch Nick leave. Even though it was an irrational thought of him never coming back, it still had raised some hairs on his neck.

Nick blinked, then closed the door behind him and walked toward the office. He was hoping Talen had stalled the family long enough to buy some time.

Talen had in fact not stalled them, only informing them of his boss' absence. He didn't go far to make an excuse, using something as mundane as an appointment with a fellow dealer.

He wished that he could have just told them 'No, I'm sorry, my boss is not in right now because he's sleeping in like a lazy pig.' Such inadequacy for a fucking mafia lord.

Once he had hung up he had actually begun to realize he was in his employer's office alone. He never had been alone in here, it was a thrilling feeling though.

He looked at the closed door and smirked, then he looked back at the desk.

Slowly he eased himself into the Head's chair, his feet propping up on the desk, scuffing the wood harshly and his hands folded on his thighs.

He needed to get used to the feeling of the chair, make sure it would be the right one for his coming of power. He made an uninterested puckering noise with his lips, finding it not as extravagant as he had hoped.

He raised a light brown eyebrow at the two drawers and his grin broadened.

The assistant pulled the first one open and wrinkled his nose. Nothing interesting. A few papers, pens, some files that held little importance. He moved to the next one, only finding a book by Shakespeare. He snorted. This said a lot about Nick's character.

Out of boredom he leafed through the pages until he reached the bookmark. Then his eyes widened greatly.

The bookmark was the file picture of the hick. It looked cut around the borders like there was more to the picture, but it only showed the happy faced idiot.

Now this knowledge could come to some use later.