Possession 2
Apparently post was too large, continued here. Part one: http://herewithstupid.livejournal.com/1619.html
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When Nick found them, the two men were standing out on the porch outside the shack, Keith leaning on the railing and sulkily looking over. Ellis stood next to him, hands shoved in his pockets awkwardly, but a look of concern on his face.
He leaned against the wall next to the slightly open window, able to listen in on the two without them realizing.
“Keith, come on man, yew’ve been actin’ weird all night. What’s going on?”
There was a frustrated snort. “There ain’t nuthin’ wrong, Ellis. Why don’t yew jus’ get back ta Nick,” The comment was bitter, the man purposely drawling the name in an accent.
“Bullshit, and will yew put out that cigarette? Yer’ mouth tastes like a fuckin’ ash tray,” Sure hadn’t seemed to bother the kid when he was making out with him before, Nick thought to himself sourly. “An’ ah’m not leavin’ till yew tell me what tha hell’s been botherin’ ya! Yew’ve been try’in ta piss off Nick all night, an’ trust me, it doesn’ take much.”
“Well golly, yew two so close now yew can read his mind ‘er something? But we’ve been frien’s since fuckin’ grade school and yew have to ask me what’s wrong. Nice ta see where ah stand in yer eyes.”
“Nick’s a possessive asshole, course ah knew what was buggin him,” Nick had to fight the urge to protest and give away his position. There was a brief pause, before something seemed to finally click for the hick. “Wait, Yer jealous cause ya think ah’m replacing yew?” The lack of response seemed to be all the confirmation Ellis needed. “Come on, Keith, tha’s what’s been buggin yew?”
“I ain’t jealous,” Nick scoffed quietly under his breath at the heated denial. “Dave did tha same thing, Ellis, remember? We were tha three best friends in Savannah, an’ then she came along and stole his heart. All’a sudden we’re the ones put on tha backburner, fourteen years of friendship man, thrown right out tha window. All for some broad he didn’ know more than a year. We were left in the dust,” The voice lowered from where it had risen to an almost-yell, now dejected muttering that Nick had to strain to hear. “An’ now tha same thing’s gunna happen with yew, cause now yew got someone, and ah ain’t got anybody.”
There was a brief pause before Keith started up again, a pleading tone in his voice. “Yer mah best frien’, Ellis, ah dun’ want yew abandonin’ me too. Shit, ah got that enough from Dave, from my teachers, hell, from my own ma an’ pa. Ah don’ want some city scum weasiln’ his way ta stealin tha only person ah care bout’ still. An, an if ah have ta be a homo ta make sure ah’m always the one closest ta ya, than fine.”
There was silence, Nick suddenly feeling like this wasn’t a conversation he should have listened in on. All sense of victory from earlier was completely gone, now replaced with sick butterflies in his stomach.
“Keith, Keith ah wouldn’ do that to ya, yew know that,” Ellis sighed, voice softer. “Ah love yew both, jus, differen’ ways, ya know? Jus’ cause ah got Nick don’t mean that he’s tha center of mah life. Yew’ll still always be mah bes’ friend, no matter what. Nick’s special ta me in his own way, but tha’ doesn’ mean that he can replace ya. He’s a lot less likely ta light himself on fire,” The joke managed ta get a weak chuckle out of the man, and Ellis’s tone lightened. “Earlier was fun, but ah think ah’d prefer if we jus’ stay friend’s, if ya don’ mind.”
“Naw, naw, ah understan’. Ah enjoyed mahself, but ah don’ think the guy thing quite does it for me.”
“Ha, understandable. Let’s get inside, ah’m getting bitten ta death by all the goddamn skeeter’s.”
Nick took that as his cue to move away from the window, disappearing back inside the bedroom so that he could sit on the edge of the bed, as if he hadn’t moved from the spot. He felt a lot less justified right then for his attitude to the redneck earlier that night, no matter how much he had deserved it.
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It ended up that Keith gave up the bed to them, taking the couch for the night so that Nick and Ellis could sleep together peacefully. And when Ellis finally shook him awake, breakfast was already half-made.
Despite the fact that he was still hungry from the night before, he passed on the pancakes lathered with syrup. There was something about home-cooked southern food that caused an early death, he was sure of it. So instead he settled for a cup of black coffee. Keith had been the one cooking, which was good, cause Ellis couldn’t cook for shit.
Nick noticed a definite difference in the mans attitude. There weren’t as many lingering touches, Nick didn’t receive half the nasty looks he had before, and he even attempted to be a bit friendly with Nick a few times. It was almost too much for the conmans still half-asleep mind to process. Sure, talking between them was still tense and uneasy, and Nick could still see just how wary and guarded the man was of him. But it was far better than it had been the night before.
They were left alone when Ellis went outside to make sure everything was loaded and ready in the car, the two men sitting awkwardly at the table. Nick had an empty cup that he didn’t want to get up to fill, and Keith poked at the half-eaten pancakes and fiddled with the fork in his hand before finally being the first to speak. “So… where yew two off to after ya leave here?”
Nick’s eyes flickered up to look at him, then he looked away at the stained shutter blinds on the window. “We’re going to go visit Coach, then Rochelle, they’re the two that travelled with us during the infection. After that probably return to Vegas for a while, maybe New York, some bigger cities like that.”
“… Oh.”
They returned into a silence, and Nick looked back to see Keith staring at the breakfast, not even attempting to eat it. After a moment’s hesitation he sighed. “But… I wouldn’t mind coming down here for the winter, or something. Maybe buying a house we can live in half-time here. If you think you’re still up to dealing with Ellis for prolonged periods of time.”
That immediately got a reaction, the redneck looking up in surprise before actually grinning at him. That was… odd. Nick hadn’t gotten anything but leers and sneers since he had gotten there, at the best an expression of disinterest. “Sure, ah know a few houses round here tha’s open to yew guys if ya want ta buy one. An’ ah wouldn’ mind the extra help in the garage, what with all the snowbirds comin’ down for vacation. Cars break down all the time.”
“I’m sure Ellis would love the chance to work in the garage with you again,” Nick dismissed, going to take a sip of the coffee before remembering halfway that it was empty and putting it back down again.
Ellis chose that time to burst into the room. “Alright Nick, cars all ready!” The kid practically yanked the mug out of his hand to throw into the sink. “Can’t wait ta see Coach man, heard he found his wife so we’ll get ta see her too!”
Nick nodded, pushing the seat out and standing up. Keith did the same and after giving a big goodbye to Ellis, looked over to Nick and simply held out a hand. “Well, s’been interestin’, Nick.”
“Likewise,” Nick drawled, taking the hand and giving a brief, firm shake before letting go again.
“Don’t ya’ll wait too long before comin’ down ta visit me, alright? And Nick, try ta keep Ellis from hurting himself somehow,” Like he was one to really be talking. “See ya in the winter?”
“We’ll make plans.”