AT: Nellis

The aroma of scrambled eggs and freshly brewed coffee wafted throughout the small house, the young brunette Georgian humming old country tunes as he diligently stirred the fluffy yellow eggs. The youngster had awakened early in the morning for the sole purpose of waking up earlier than his older lover, wanting to surprise the Italian with breakfast in bed to begin their special day. Almost on cue the toaster popped up two perfectly toasted slices of bread, causing Ellis to break free from his thoughts as he startled. He then set the burner on low, walking over to the cupboards which held his dishes that were given to him by his mother years ago. He pulled out one of the white plates, bringing it over to set on the counter before he retrieved the tongs, lifting the bread out of the toaster before he set them on the plate. Using one of the butter knives on the counter he put a light spread of butter and Nutella onto the toast slices, setting the knife into the sink to wash later before he then plated the scrambled eggs he had prepared.

The date was February 14th, and Ellis had been painstakingly trying to plan for Valentine’s Day, wanting to do something special with his lover. Each time he had brought up the subject, however, Nick had brushed him off or just straight up ignored Ellis’s questioning. The hick had felt slightly hurt about behavior, but he was not all that surprised with Nick casually avoiding the subject. He knew deep down the ex-conman loved him, even if he was not the best at expressing affection the the younger.

Ellis had decided that he wanted to do something special for Nick, partially because he had the gut feeling that Valentine’s Day in the past never entailed anything for Nick besides perhaps one-night stands. The southerner wasn’t completely sure he was correct in his assumptions, but regardless, he figured he wasn’t too far off. Hence, why he had decided to start the day off with breakfast in bed for his northerner lover, followed by the two of them going out for the day to a gun expo he knew that was going on in town that day. After that Ellis had plans of bringing Nick to dinner, and then he would bring Nick home to seal the day with their ‘nightly activities’.

Ellis had been carrying the breakfast he slaved over along with a mug of black coffee down to their bedroom in the small house they owned, pushing open the door with a bright smile on his face. “Mornin’, Nick! I brought-“ He had started, afterwards pausing as he glanced around the empty room. “Nick?” He called out with his eyebrows furrowing in confusion, setting the plate of food down on the bed before the mug was placed on the bedside table. He wandered around the bedroom despite it being clear that the northerner was not there, him then checking the bathroom to see if perhaps Nick was taking a shower.

“Well, tha’s weird.. I didn’t even hear him get up..” He mumbled to himself, going out into the living room to look out the window. Upon seeing his and Nick’s shared silver 2009 Toyota Camry absent from the driveway a deeper frown etched its way onto his face, an irritated sigh leaving him.

Just the mere fact that Nick had managed to sneak out while he was caught up making breakfast, and had driven off with the loathed vehicle they were given by CEDA after the clear-up of the outbreak, was enough to cause a dreaded feeling to trickle down Ellis’s spine. Nick despised that car, since it was Japanese made and was nothing flashy. So the fact that Nick had gotten into it by himself and drove off.. That bothered Ellis, but not as much as the fact that his lover had secretly up and left hm on Valentine’s Day.

“Nick… What ‘re yew doing..?” He whispered, plopping down onto the couch with a hurt and lost expression. They had no other car, so he had no way of going out and trying to search for his lover. CEDA wouldn’t like that much, anyways, since even though a full year had passed since the group of survivors had been saved and most of the outbreak was contained, they still didn’t want people leaving freely and wandering. Why Nick would take their car and abandon him.. Ellis hadn’t a clue. He trusted Nick, however. He was sure that whatever reason Nick had left, it had to be important.

It was two hours and 45 minutes later that the sound of the running Toyota engine hit the Georgian’s ears, Ellis immediately perking up from his spot on the couch as he reached over and shut off the episode of Friends that was playing. During the time span he had eaten the breakfast he had made Nick, showered, and changed into a casual plaid deep blue and black button down shirt and light blue jeans. He got up from the black couch and stretched, brushing off the front of his shirt before he turned to look out the window. As expected, Nick was pulling into the driveway but what caught the southerner off guard was the large eighteen wheeler that parked on the road adjacent to their driveway. He watched as Nick got out of the Camry, his lover dressed in a sharp black suit and walking over to the driver that had just jumped down from the driver’s seat of the truck. The youngster couldn’t help himself as he briskly walked over to the front door and opened it, walking outside curiously as he then watched his sleek lover turn around with a sly grin.

“Hey, Overalls! Come over here, I got a little something for ya.” Nick called over to Ellis, instantly catching the Georgian’s attention as Ellis then jogged over to Nick.

“Whatchu mean, got somethin’ for me..?” Ellis asked cautiously, watching as the unfamiliar truck driver walked off to go open the back of the eighteen wheeler.

“Just stay right here, Fireball. You’ll see.” Nick said lowly with a cocky smirk, crossing his arms with an air of confidence. He listened as the door to the trailer part of the truck was opened, waiting for a few moments before a different, much sportier engine tore through the air.

Ellis’ eyes widened immediately, recognizing the engine sound instantly as he gasped. “N-No.. It can’t be..” He whispered, taking off into a run to see the back of the truck just as the infamous blue race car that had served as their savior from the mall was driven off of the ramp and onto the road. “Oh mah gawd, it is! Jimmy Gibbs Jr.!” Ellis hollered excitedly, beginning to quiver excitedly at seeing the now-pristine race car.

“She’s all yours now, kiddo.” Nick said fondly, smirking at Ellis as he had sauntered over.

“W-What? What do you mean, all mine, Nick..?” Ellis asked stunned, his baby blue eyes wider as he stared at Nick curiously.

“The emails and weird calls I’ve been getting.. The ones you asked about and I just said they were work calls? Well.. I’ve been tracking this car down. Some of my, er, ‘finances’ were still saved in banks, and I tapped into that money. I ‘donated’ it to CEDA, in exchange for them to retrieve and bring back this car unharmed during one of their clean-outs of that area. They actually managed to pull through, partially because it was such a hefty ‘donation’.” Nick explained, pausing for a moment before a rare, genuine smile appeared. “I wanted.. To surprise you, kiddo. For Valentine’s Day. I can’t.. Do all that sappy shit with hearts, chocolates.. All that womanly shit, though. So you’re stuck with that dumb racer’s car.”

Ey! Jimmy Gibbs ain’t dumb! Why, if the laws of nature allowed it, I would-“

“Bear that man’s child? Uh-huh. I’ve heard that one before.” Nick chuckled, rolling his eyes as he gently thwacked the back of Ellis’ head.

Ellis pouted heavily before he rolled his eyes as well, turning and grabbing hold of Nick’s suit jacket as he yanked the northerner closer. “Yew sly dog.” He murmured, grinning with ecstatic tears of joys pricking at his eyes. “I love yew.” He whispered to Nick, leaning in for a deep kiss as thanks as he moved to wrap his arms more around Nick.

Nick leaned in more to deepen the kiss, biting down gently on Ellis’ plump bottom lip while his hands moved to rest on the small of Ellis’ back. “I love you too, kiddo. Happy Valentine’s Day.” Nick whispered back, afterwards pulling away with a promising smirk as he caught the car keys that were tossed to him by the truck driver. “Besides. This is a gift to me, too. Since you confessed that one of your fantasies was to get laid in a race car. Let’s go check that one off the bucket list, shall we?” Nick asked coyly, jingling the car keys in front of Ellis’ face.

The proposition only earned him a playful giggle and blush from the Georgian hick, Ellis afterwards leaning in to peck Nick’s cheek before a soft, endearing smirk appeared on his face as well. “Let’s go make our own personal Tunnel of Love.”