Time frame: After being rescued
Rating: M for language, m/m sex
Established relationships: Nellis, mentions of Frochelle
Description: Nick and an epic battle of the feels. Events take place in which the secret of their relationship is blown open to someone that didn't know.
*Note: Passages in italics and not in quotations are thoughts.
"Jesus Christ, go shower right now. Don't even fucking touch me until you stop smelling like tires. Goddamn it, Ellis." Nick complained as soon as Ellis came in through the front door from a long day at work.
Nick was under a lot of pressure, still having failed to be assigned to any manner of work. Not to mention, Ellis was always coming home from work in a great mood and it grated on Nick's last nerve. There was nothing more irritating than dealing with a happy person when stress was looming overhead.
He heaved a heavy sigh when the southerner went down the hallway into the bathroom.
"Okay, let's take it easy, now. Pull yourself together, Nick" he said to himself when he was sure Ellis couldn't hear him.
"You're not a jealous guy. You don't give a shit and you don't have shit to worry about."
But did he? He wasn't sure anymore. He always felt like he had nothing to worry about when he came to his ex-wife, and both of them were cheating on him.
But part of that was on me for being such a dick all the time. What did I expect?
What did he expect now? Did he drive a wedge into his past marriages and practically push his exes into cheating on account of his cold, self-serving personality? Was that what he was doing now, pushing Ellis away because he was too consumed with not needing anybody to simply hold on?
Ellis is not cheating on me. I give him everything he wants and why the fuck would he mess around on me with that guy?
In Nick's eyes there was no contest between himself and the other southerner his boyfriend was spending so much time with. Nick was charming, Keith was a dork. Nick was good-looking, Keith was more...rugged.
Did Ellis like rugged guys? Did Ellis like other guys at all? As far as Nick remembered, he was Ellis' first guy.
But he did say that Keith kissed him that one time. Was that a thing? Ellis said they were drunk and nothing else happened.
Right? I don't know, and I don't care. Fuck him if he's cheating on me.
"Fuck..." Nick groaned.
I gotta get this out of my head.
"Nick?"
He snapped out of his thoughts, eyes meeting his housemate and lover, standing at the base of the hall and kitchen in his underwear.
"Yeah?" He answered, leaning back against the countertop.
"You been standin in the kitchen this whole time? You okay?" Ellis asked, stepping forward and placing a hand on the older man's forehead.
"I'm fine. I was just thinking." Nick answered, pulling Ellis' hand away from checking him for a fever. Instead of letting go, he linked Ellis' fingers with his and squeezed gently.
"Bout what?" the mechanic asked, wrapping his free arm around Nick's waist. The gambler softened almost instantly, resting his forehead against Ellis' and meeting curious eyes with his own.
"How was work?" Nick had no idea how to get to where he was going in this conversation without starting a fight.
"Fine. Well, Keith damn-near burnt up a manual we needed because he sat a lit cigarette on top of it. Ended up destroying the English instructions so I had to do all the work while he read me the French instructions." Ellis was calm, completely calm. Not a hint of guilt or fear laced his voice.
"That guy can read French?"
"Yeah, speaks it pretty well, too." Ellis answered, "he was learnin it when we were kids, took a blow in the head when he tried to jump the dog on his skateboard and when he woke up-"
"Ellis." Nick stopped him from another crazy story.
They made love that night, the same as almost every night they'd officially been together. Nick could only remember twice having gone to bed recently without first having an orgasm and both times were due to him having a migraine. This time, though the actions were the same, something felt different. It wasn't a bad different, just an overwhelming different. Rather than the normal heat of pleasure coursing through Nick's body, something else was making itself to the front of his mind. There was a presence that had been hiding out for weeks, ignored by the gambler.
It was a tightness in his stomach, a flutter in his heartbeat, a warm sensation that tingled every time Ellis touched him. It was longing and need every time he touched Ellis. It was the desire to see pleasure in the younger man's expressions as Nick thrusted on top of him. It was the way his name sounded when moaned from plush lips. It was the way Nick didn't let go of Ellis even after they were finished.
He stayed awake that night long after the southerner fell asleep in his arms. Nick was relaxed and satisfied but didn't feel like sleep would come. He watched the younger man, feeling the slow rhythm of his breathing. His nose would crunch up momentarily when he was dreaming and his mouth would pull closed when he half-consciously realized he was snoring. Goddamn, he was a sight. He was more than a sight. He was quite a man, and Nick didn't tell him that often enough.
Nick reflected on their time together, good and bad. He thought about how often they had each other's backs when they were fighting to survive, their first kiss, the first time Nick ever put someone else's needs ahead of his own when it hurt Ellis too much to have sex. He remembered the sadness in those eyes when he told Ellis that he was basically just body he intended to use for his own needs. There were times when they would just shoot the shit and nothing that Nick ever said about his sordid past brought with it any judgment. He thought about the times Ellis expressed such deep feelings toward him and he was met with cold silence. It was only days ago that Ellis got into the shower with Nick wanting only to hold him from behind, plant a kiss to a scar on his left shoulder, and stay pressed into his back until he had to go to work.
"Goddamn it." Nick sighed.
I'm fucking in love with him.
That was what he'd been afraid of. Nick, the guy that had a gun in his face several times. Nick, the guy that had gone to both rehab and jail. Nick, the guy that showed no fear and no remorse for anything he ever did...was afraid of love. Because loving something makes you weak. Love has the ability to hurt so much and also bring so much happiness and he wasn't sure which it would do. He didn't want to ever fall in love with Ellis at all. He'd spend days worried about losing him to another man and it was out of love and fear. He believed Ellis didn't cheat on him, but for how long could he treat the younger man like shit before all that would change?
"Mmmkay. Slick as fuck." Nick said to himself after finishing with his hair.
He was examining himself in the mirror, having done the best he could do at finding a new suit. This one was dark on color, but he did manage to find almost the same shade of blue for a shirt. This was considerably less expensive than what he was used to wearing, but it was a means to an end.
"Ya look good." Ellis smiled from the hallway, standing on one leg to tie his boots one at a time, rather than kneeling down on the floor.
"You're goodamn right I do." Nick was in a good mood.
He'd just been given assignment based on his "skills" assessment. He was asked to come in and do some digging on anyone the military had on their list. It was all people that were living in Zone 15, people that the higher ups thought had something to hide. He was allowed to do pretty much anything short of assault to get answers from them, and he was told that his job would mostly be boring, listening to interviewers and looking for the tell-tale hints of lying. He didn't care. He wasn't going to have to have a 'regular' job. That was all that mattered, being allowed to be a dick.
His immediate superior informed him that there were several new rescues that he needed to check out, just to make sure they weren't dangerous criminals or otherwise a threat to the zone's inhabitants. This new measure of security was put in place because the soldiers failed to notice 'rapey Joe' until it was almost too late.
Upon stepping into the holding area that all new rescues were unloaded into if they weren't injured, one of the soldier's waved him over. This soldier was the man he reported to. This was the same soldier that shot rapey Joe in the face and asked Nick to tell the others that the now-dead victim came at him with a knife. Nick agreed, and that was how he got the assignment.
He was a much older man, seemed pretty laxed and had a heavy accent, possibly Kentucky. He introduced himself as Foghorn something or other, some military title Nick didn't pay attention to. He was especially surprised when he received no reaction to, "Your name is Foghorn? Perfect." He didn't seem to mind when Nick called him "Colonel" jokingly. Maybe it was the truth he held over the old man. Maybe it was respect.
"You got three new ones. All split up, first one is in 21." He said.
Nick nodded, wordlessly heading down the hall and turning the door handle to Rm 21. Inside stood a woman. She was young, brunette, and had on a dirty pink hoodie.
"Oh, this is too fuckin rich." Nick laughed, but it was barely a laugh. She looked surprised.
No it isn't. This sucks ass. I thought I had to worry about Ellis fucking his best friend behind my back, now I have this bitch to look out for.
"Uh, is there some woman out there I can talk to instead?" She snarked.
"Nope. You're shit outta luck. You got me, and you don't get to leave until I clear you. Did the doc already come in to screen you?"
"No, your mug is the first one I've seen." She was clearly annoyed with him. "Did everyone else make it, or did you leave them behind?" Zoey asked.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Nick lied. He knew, and he could have told her that his three companions were just fine, but he liked making people squirm, especially if he didn't like them.
When Nick returned home with an extra spring in his step, it was flattened out when he came home to Ellis and his best friend hanging out in the living room.
"Hey Nick." Ellis called.
"Hey." Keith nodded politely.
"How was work?"
"You'll never believe who I just interrogated." Nick said, getting himself a beer.
"I probably will. Just tell me." Ellis was not playing along.
"Remember those people we ran into?"
"Yeah. Louis, Francis, and Zoey?" Ellis recalled, proceeding to start filling Keith in on who he was talking about.
"Well, they came in today. New rescues."
"No shit? How are they?" Ellis wondered.
"All alive."
"Damn, Ro's gonna freak out." He added.
Rochelle? Not Ellis? No mention of Zoey? No reaction to her fucking existence?
Nick felt his pride swell and his affection for the southerner reach new meaning. Ellis mentioned Rochelle and her little crush on Francis and said nothing about Zoey other than explaining who she was to Keith. In that explanation he didn't drag out the words 'beautiful' or 'angel' once. Instead the entire time he spoke, he was watching Nick. Nick was watching him. Their eyes undressed one another until Keith went home for the evening. No sooner after the door click closed behind him they were on each other. They kissed as Ellis' fingers made short work of the buttons on Nick's shirt, pushing the offending fabric off of his shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. Calloused hands kneaded the smooth flesh of Nick's back while heavenly lips trailed heat over his chest.
The gambler pressed Ellis against the kitchen table, wasting no time pulling his pants down and dropping to his knees to pleasure him. He took the mechanic's thick cock into his mouth for the first time, earning a gutteral groan from above almost instantly. He wasted almost no time adjusting and reading the responses of his lover's body as he attempted to satisfy him. He tried to mimic every good blowjob he'd ever had and reflect this new action and infused it with his natural talents.
"Nick" he moaned, gripping the edge of the table with white knuckles.
It wasn't but a few minutes before the younger man was panting and his legs started to tremble. He was close and Nick was not done with him. He pulled away, stilling Ellis' hips with his hands.
"Not yet." Nick stood again, embracing the warm, sensitive body before him for offering his index and middle fingers to Ellis' mouth.
"Nah, don't stretch me. I want ya to just take me." Ellis panted.
"I don't want to hurt you." Nick started.
"I didn't say to take me dry." Ellis smirked, pulling his leg up enough to reach the cargo pocket on the side of his pants, withdrawing a small tub of petroleum jelly before dropping his leg again.
"You plan this?"
"No. I had some ball-bearings at work that-"
"Goddamn it, Ellis..." Nick kissed him while the younger man worked his pants open, pushing them down to lubricate his erection. His pants bunched at his thighs but they were down enough to freely thrust into Ellis' fist several times before turning his mechanic around and easing him face down into the surface of the table. He pushed his lover's tshirt up, placing gentle kisses to his shoulder blades as he slowly entered the willing body under him. Ellis hissed and once Nick was fully sheathed in him he held still, letting the other adjust to the sensation of being suddenly filled.
"Ready?" He asked after a short time.
Ellis nodded.
Nick pulled out inch by inch before plunging back in, pulling a groan from his lover's lips. He did it again, holding him in place, slowly sliding in and out of him until he loosened enough to enjoy a quicker, harder thrust. He quickened his pace and then slowed it again to penetrate Ellis deeper and with deliberate aim toward his sweet spot, just the way he liked it.
"Nick"
His hips snapped hard against the southerner's, just the way he always did when trying to keep a steady pace, though this was anything but steady. It was needy, rushed, and Ellis was tight like a vice. The moans he released were practically begging Nick to finish him quick and the heat radiating between the two of them was becoming unbearable. They were lost in each other, so much that they did not notice the open and close of the front door. Neither noticed the presence in the room as Ellis reached between his legs, desperate to finish at the same time Nick got to. He didn't notice eyes glued onto his body when he arched his back up enough to where he could kiss the gambler on the mouth.
"I'm gonna come...goddamn it, Ellis...I'm coming." Nick grunted, driving his thrusts home with enough force that Ellis used his free hand to grip the table so that his hip bones wouldn't bang into it.
"I love you" Ellis whispered as Nick painted his insides, thrusts slowing, moans and grunts turning into panting.
"Ellis, what the fuck?!" came a familiar voice.
Keith.
It felt like he'd been standing there for hours, frozen in place with his jaw slacked open, but in reality he's seen a brief four seconds of this would-be private moment before coming to his senses, shouting and then turning away, not wanting to look anymore. In panic, Keith put his arms over his head, trying to block out the sounds Nick made while getting off on his friend.
"Aww no." Ellis was talking more to himself than anyone else, pulling his pants back up along with Nick.
"Fuck, do you knock, shit-for-brains?" Nick complained.
Ellis' anxiety already peaked. He was pacing about the kitchen, hands aggressively combing at his hair, holding his head, gripping his arms.
"I'm sorry!" Keith called over the din of Ellis panicking.
Nick stepped into Ellis' path, taking him by the shoulders and stilling him.
"It's okay." He started.
"No, I just lost my best friend-"
"Ellis, I forgot my keys!" Keith explained loudly.
"You didn't lose shit. It's okay. You're okay-" Nick continued to keep his voice as calm as could be.
"He just saw-"
"Ellis, it's okay. I'm here, I'm gonna work this out." Nick coaxed.
"Nick, can we go outside a minute?" Keith asked, back still turned.
"Ellis. Look at me." He waited for a response. "I'm gonna go outside. We're just going to talk. I need you to calm down, goddamn it. Stay here. Calm down." Nick instructed, waiting for a nod from his distraught partner before stalking out the front door behind Keith.
He stood there just outside, leaning on the wall and lighting up a cigarette from his pants pocket.
"First, I'm sorry for just walkin in. Back in the day, I used to just walk into Ellis' house all the time. I didn't realize he was...or that you were... We have been best buds since we were kids, and he didn't tell me about this." Keith started to explain, still wild eyed.
"Kid was worried that you'd lose your shit like a dumb hick." Nick answered.
"Well, I kinda did. I mean, seein' my best friend getting back-doored by another man, especially a man like you, it was a bit of a shock."
"A man like me?" Nick's facial expression remained flat, but his voice held a condescending tone.
"Yeah. I have always been a great judge of character and I could see from a mile away that you were full of flaws: selfish, manipulative, downright evil at times. Tell me I'm wrong."
Nick stood in silence.
"I'm not wrong. Ellis has always had a piss-poor way of letting people in that were not gonna treat him right. No offense. It was always girls in the past, and he always failed to see what everyone else could. His ex-girlfriends would tell him everything was fine and he'd just go along with it. It's no wonder though, him being so damn trusting, makes me just want to crack him one upside the head, but it wouldn't do nothin but make him pout." Keith was starting to calm down as he spoke.
"Is there a point in all of this? Jesus Christ, you babble just like he does."
"My point is, Nick, I wanted like hell to not have walked in on that. The part where Ellis told you that he loves you. That makes this real serious."
"Yeah?"
"He doesn't use that word lightly. He loves you. I know him, and he wouldn't let you do what you were doin to him if he didn't think you love him too. I'm sure that to you love is just a means to justify your ends, but I'm partly warning and partly asking you not to let that be the case with Ellis. Don't break his heart, man. He's been through that enough."
Nick was not about to open up, not about to show any kind of sensitivity in front of this man. Hell, he barely showed his softer side to Ellis, and his feelings were nobody's business.
"Yeah, we talked about this...between the copious pitches of sex."
Keith cringed.
"Listen, he's like a brother to me. A defenseless little shit of a brother and I swear to God man, if you hurt him... I don't look like much, but I guarantee you'll wear yourself out on me before you ever do any damage and when you're good and tired, I'll make you wish your momma never shacked up with your daddy in whatever dirty public bathroom you crawled out of in 1956."
"Why does everyone think I'm old?" Nick wondered aloud.
"I don't mean to sound like a dick, really I don't. I have nothing against you as a guy. You seem like you have some decent qualities, but I don't understand what the hell you want with Ellis. Or what he wants with you for that matter. I mean, last time I checked he wasn't lookin to be treated like a girl." Keith was barely filtering as he spoke, becoming elevated again.
"Yeah, because getting fucked in the ass automatically makes him a girl." Nick was playing this as cool as he could. He wasn't angry. This wasn't the worst thing someone has said to him, not even close.
"I don't-"
"What is this? Are we gonna sit here and have a goddamn heart to heart? You sure this little speech comes from concern?" Nick was getting the upperhand back.
"Shit yeah I'm concerned-"
"Concerned that no amount of times you put your fucking hands all over him will make him ever want you?" Nick's eyebrow raised, gauging the other man's response. Shock. Disgust. Fear.
"It aint like that. He's my best friend."
"Ellis said you kissed him." Nick responded slyly.
The other southerner flushed as red as his hair.
"Not recently. We were kids. I was drunk. It was just a one time thing. We didn't even talk about it."
"Yeah, well... he and I, we do talk about the things we do. So how about you go home and think about what you're going to say to keep your best friend tomorrow, because he's the only one that gives a shit about this conversation. I'm tired and I got a panicked redneck to go home to. Thanks." Nick turned and went back inside, returning a moment later.
"And take your fucking keys." Nick tossed the offending pieces of metal to the man that suddenly broke his mood, not caring if he caught them or not. It would have been an amazing catch with his hand deformed like it was.