AN:Thanks to xavl-chan for the only review . please don't boycott people T_T
Left 4 Dead is property of Valve.
Happiness Is Not a Smoking Gun -9- Tough Love
Sophie straightened out the boat after a bit of struggle. She had never really driven a sail boat before—but no one else needed to know that. The entire time Ellis trailed after Cas, asking her, pleading her to tell him what was wrong.
"Com'on, Cas! Ah can't make it better if yew don't tell me wuts wrong!"
She whipped around in mid-step, her nerves finally catching up to her. "You want to know what's wrong?" a fire flashed behind her eyes, making the hick take a step back. "I'm fat, and it's all your fault!"
To pronounce the last word she shoved him back another step—off the side of the boat. The other three had shock plastered all over their faces. Coach was the first to run and throw Ellis a life line. Nick followed after him.
"What the hell, Cas? You don't just go and throw people overboard!" Sophie scolded.
"Shut up or you're next," she growled back.
Shutting up and taking a few steps back, the shorter girl retreated. Any normal day she could probably take the girl on without effort, but as of now, she was pregnant and dangerous. Besides, it had long passed since the full effects of the adrenaline aided her. She would probably crash sometime soon—Ellis too.
She went over to check on the sputtering man, coughing out anything that got into his lungs. Nick passed him a towel and he gratefully accepted it. Sophie noticed his eyes followed Cas who was disappearing below deck.
"Uh, it's nothing personal, I'm sure. She's just cranky because she's bloated and pregnant and—" she cut herself short, trying her hardest not to smile at the last bit. "She is getting a little round."
Nick laughed in disbelief and Ellis frowned.
"It is my fault," he said.
His comment cut the laughter short. Sophie looked over to the other boys and with a tilt of her head, silently dismissed them. They occupied themselves with other tasks. She sat down beside him and sighed.
"Please, boy; it's not like you could have known it would happen."
"Yeah but, I shudn've—we shudn'…"
"Why not?"
Her comment shocked him so much he had to look over with his mouth agape.
"What?" he choked out.
She looked him dead in the eye. "That's right. Actually—I kinda' thank you for getting my friend knocked up. It takes the responsibility off me and I'm sure you two had fun—don't deny it. And…it brought you two fully together." Her gaze dropped. "You didn't have to even ask her to marry you. She would have been with you from that point on no matter what. And you know what? It makes her happy."
He scrunched his face up, "She don't seem too happy now."
"Hormones," she waved off. "Now go on, tell her you love her or some sappy shit and I'm sure she'll be as right as rain."
She stood and walked away. Ellis watched her walk back to the wheel, taking over for Coach. With a minute of contemplation he eventually stood and made his way over to the stairs. Pausing briefly before he ventured inside, he decided that it couldn't get any worse.
He could hear Cas' muffled sobs from the bottom bunk of the bed. She was under a pile of blankets so high he could hardly recognize her. He sat down beside her and rubbed small circles onto her back.
"Shhhhh, it's alright, Cas. I'm sorry fer wut I've done; I know it's prob'ly hard fer yew. I just—I just wan'ed to tell yew that ah love yew and yer pretty no matter how big yew get."
Sophie face-palmed from her eves-dropping location.
Her sniffles quieted down and she peered out from beneath the blankets. Her blood shot eyes gazed up at him. "You mean it?"
Ellis beamed at her immediate response. "Yeah, darlin', I mean ev'ry word of it."
She wiped her nose and sat up to hug him. "I'm sorry I pushed you overboard."
Shaking her head from top deck, Sophie abandoned her eves-dropping location to charter a rout. She didn't know very much about the sea or sailing—she had only driven motor-run boats before—still, she knew that if you head in a straight line, you'd get to your destination eventually.
Taking a look at the compass on the boat and determining where they were, she guestimated the general direction they were supposed to head to. Drawing their path out on the map, making sure they would avoid all the other small islands in the way, she lay a set of instructions.
Nick wandered into the deck cabin where Sophie was setting out the plans. He had heard every word of the advice she gave to Ellis. He sauntered up behind her and slinked his arms around her waist, propping his chin on top of her head. She rolled her eyes, but leaned back into his chest.
"So," he said conversationally, "you really believe everything you told him."
"Yep."
"That's awfully romantic of you."
She blew a raspberry. "Please. I was just making an observation. I may be unconventional, but I'm not blind. I used to be a poet, you know; the breed of the poet knows everything."
He moved his head from her head to her shoulder. "Really? Why 'used to be'?"
She pulled out of his arms and turned to face him, leaning back against the desk. "Zombies. That's why."
"That's no excuse."
"That's all I've got."
He let out a throaty chuckle, placing himself in-front of her so they were touching. "Come on," he prompted, "make something up for me. Right now."
She could practically feel what he wanted from her, and while she wasn't usually one to argue, she had a good argument this time. Grinning at the forming limerick in her mind, she stood up to full height and gave him a saucy look.
"There once was a man named Nick," she said, grinning, "His best friend Ellis, was a hick." Nick grinned back. "And the love of his life—Sophie, his wife…" she pressed herself against him, throwing her arms around his neck. "Thinks he should put away his dick."
She let go and practically floated out of the room, disappearing to the living quarters in the boat. Nicks shoulders sagged, punching the table quickly.
Coach appeared behind him, "Ha, ha! She got'chew good, Nick!"
"Whatever," he mumbled.
When Sophie got to the bunkers, Ellis and Cas were already sound asleep, and no wonder. Ellis probably crashed a while ago (as she was doing now) and Cas must have been wiped from the emotional strain.
She climbed onto the top bunk, which was small, cramped, and more like a soft shelving unit than a bed. Still, she couldn't argue. It was soft, dark, and warm. The water cooled off the temperature in the night significantly.
She crawled under the covers, shutting her eyes and allowing sleep to take her.
She would probably have to make it up to Nick…later.
Up top, at some time around 6 in the morning, Coach and Nick took notice of something in the midst of their conversation.
The wind had stopped.
Both quickly realized they were not moving; only gently rocking with the waves. Automatically Nick ran to get the anchor down—there was no way he was going to let some current get them hopelessly lost.
They waited a few more hours, just to be sure before they could raise any sort of alarm. They passed the last cluster of islands some time during the night and were now running on whatever provisions they had. It was enough for a few days, but assuming that the wind didn't start again for a few days…
At around 9, Nick went down below, planning on waking up Sophie. She would probably know if the boat had back-up motors. He snuck in silently and peered into the top bunk (which was more like a shelf, now that he was looking at it). Only her head peered out from the blankets. Her face was half buried in her pillow and she looked completely at peace. It distressed him to wake her up—especially when he knew she didn't normally sleep like this.
Moving a strand of hair from her face, she stirred. She opened her bleary eyes and focused her sleepy gaze on him.
"Nick?" she whispered.
"Hey. You can go back to bed after you tell me something."
She nodded, yawning quietly. "What is it?"
"The wind's stopped. How do we turn on the back-up motors?"
She bolted up, smacking her head into the ceiling and tumbling out of the bed, falling to the floor in a heap.
"What?"
FN: Oh no's, the boats not moving :O What ever shall they do?