Walking Timebomb *for RiRiishtar*

Nick continued to wipe her tears away as she explained. He could see how much pain she was in, and his eyes were clouded with concern. "It wasn't your fault. . . It was the fault of the demon who did it. . . they can't be controlled" he said quietly. He knew this was true, and he hoped that it would console Ella a little. He didn't want her to hurt like that. When she curled up on her bed he pulled her shking form into his arms. He had never had to comfort someone before, but he held her tightly and continued to wipe her tears. "It's not your fault" he repeated softly. "Shhh. . . it's not your fault. . . stop crying" he wasn't sure when hsi own heart cracked, but he felt pain seeing her crying like that, He just wanted her to stop, and be happy.

Ella laid her head and cried softly. She says, “It was my fault. I was not strong enough to make the seal permanent. So the demon broke the seal and came after me and Chris. The demon killed him right in front of me.” She was still shaking badly as he held her. Ella says calmly, “I was too weak to keep the seal intact.” She kept crying and tears soaked her face. Her heart still held a lot of blame in it for his death. She just could not get passed it. After a while she fell asleep in his arms. She looked so calm in her sleep.

Nick shook his head when she insisted that it was her fault. He frowned at her story and shook his head again. "It wasn't your fault" he repeated, holding her tighter. He gave up trying to wipe her tears away as they just kept coming. "It's never your fault" he murmured as she fell asleep. He wiped all of the tears off of her face as she slept, no more pouring out of her eyes. She looked so calm in her sleep, and he continued to hold her. He wondered why she was being so kind to him, when she knew he had a demon in him and what had happened in her past. He would have thought that she would stay away from anyone who has a demon just becuase of that, but she had helped him, and fed him, and let him stay in her home. He stroked Ella's hair absently as he thought, his eyes troubled.

Ella woke up in the middle of the night and looked around. Then she remembered she was in Nick’s arms. She could not move very well. Her mother appears in the door way and says, “I am guessing you had another episode about Chris. Nick has not left your side. And I thought you were the motherly type. Don’t let a good chance get away.” Ella nodded and stayed in Nick’s arms feeling safe with him a bit. She decided to go back to sleep. She woke up again when the sunlight hit her eyes. Ella looked up at Nick calmly without saying a word. She did not want to wake him.

Nick stayed up for a long time, not noticing as it got dark. He fell asleep after awhile, Ella still in his arms. Nick woke up awhile after her, opening his eyes drowsily and blinking a few times. He looked down at Ella and smiled slightly. "Good morning" he said quietly, stiffling a yawn. He let go of her and stretched, stiff from sleeping like that all night.

Ella smiled at him and got out of his arms so he could stretch. She says, “I’m sorry for dropping my past on you last night. I really did not mean to do that. I really did not mean to do that to you. You probably thought I was going crazy.” She wrapped a blanket around herself because it was very cold this morning. She wrapped a blanket around him too. She looked outside the window and saw a good amount of snow on the ground. Ella says, “Looks like I don’t have school today. My mom won’t be able to go to work either.”

Nick smiled slightly when she appologized and he shook his head. "It's fine. You weren't nearly as crazy as I am" he laughed slightly, and the sound surprised him. he hadn't laughed in a long time. He was just looking out the window at the snow when Ella wrapped a blanket around him. He glanced at her before back out the window. "Thank you" he said as he looked at the snow and Ella told him that she wouldn't have to go to school. He figured that the snow had started to fall when he was still awake, but he hadn't noticed. He nodded and looked back to her, a small smile on his face. So he wouldn't have to be all alone today.

Ella looks at him with a smile. She says as she hears her mother yelling at the TV for not working, “Well at least we know my mom’s up. She acts like a drunken sailor in the morning.” Ella was still having trouble controlling her claws. She says thinking aloud, “What the heck has this bite down to me?” She gets lost in her thoughts for a few minutes before looking back at Nick. She says, “Come on let’s get some breakfast.” She gets up slowly with the blanket still around her and starts to head towards the kitchen. Her mother gets in her way and says, “You and the boy got sit down. I will make breakfast today.” Ella says before going in the living room, “The boy’s name is Nick mom.”

Nick laughed again when Ella said that her mom acted like a drunken sailor in the mornings. The sound was very unfamiliar to him, and it sounded strange. He tilted his head to the side a bit as Ella thought out loud and he wondered what she was talking about, though he figured it had something to do with her turning into a wolf. He took the blanket with his as well as he followed her into the kitchen. He wasn't phased at all from being called 'the boy' as he was used to it. He followed Ella to the living room silently and looked at Ella with his red eyes. "How long will I be allowed to stay here?" he asked, eyes troubled. His question was more 'how long do you want me in your house' but he decided not to ask that.

Ella was surprised when Nick asked her, "How long will I be allowed to stay here?" She says, “As long as you like…” Her voice was distant as she looked at him. She turns on the TV and looks back at Nick and asks, “Do you want to leave here?” Her voice became sad as she did not want him to go back on the streets. Ella shivered as she got cold again. She tightened the blanket around as she shook a bit. She waited for an answer from him. Her mother looked in on them as she cook their breakfast.

Nick was glad to hear the answer, and he shook his head at her question, noticing that her voice had gotten a bit sad. "No" he answered with a small smile. He noticed that she was shaking, so he took his blanket off and wrapped it around Ella. He was used to the cold, so it didn't bug him. He sat down on the couch and watched Ella steadily with his red eyes partially covered by his hair, his face expressionless as he thought of what she had told him last night.

Ella smiled as he said that he did not want to leave. That made her eyes light up. She looks at Nick as he wrapped his blanket around her. She says, “Thank you…My body is easy to cool down.” She could see he was thinking about something. She asks him, “What are you thinking about Nick?” A few minutes later, her mother came in and gave him a plate of waffles, sausage links, scrambled eggs, and hash browns. Ella got scrambled eggs with cheese, mini pancakes, chopped up sausage links, and hash browns. Her mother says calmly, “You’re going to end up getting sick Ella.”

Nick nodded in aknowledgement to Ella's thanks but he frowned slightly at the question. "Uh, nothing" he lied easliy, shaking his head. He looked at the plate of food he was given and looked up to Ella's mom with a small smile. "Thank you" he said quietly before starting to eat. It was good and filling, and he was soon done eating. Most people would think that he ate too quickly and that he would probably get sick, but his demon strengthened things like that. He could eat as much as he wanted and as quickly and he wouldn't fell sick, and his immune system was better than a normal person's as well.

Ella says softly after her mother leaves the room, “You don’t have to lie to me you know…” Her mind was on her past. She looks back at him and says softly, “You’re lucky…you don’t get as sick as much as I do.” She curled into a ball as she starts watching the TV. She looked like a cat that was about to go to sleep. She was still shaking from the cold. Ella’s mom looked in on them and sighed as she looked at Ella. She thinks, “Because she was born prematurely she is so drawn to getting cold and sick.” Ella looked back and forth between the TV and Nick waiting for him to say something.

Nick glanced at the ground when Ella told him that he didn't have to lie to her but he remained silent. He glanced at her when she spoke about getting sick and he nodded. "It would be even worse if I got sick alot since I live on the street" he said with a small sigh. he had gotten sick a few times and it was torture. He looked at her shaking form and moved closer to her and pulled Ella to him, hugging her gently, hoping that his body heat would keep her warm.

Ella looks at him and blushes a deep red as he brought her close to him. His body heat was a rush on her cold skin. It overwhelmed her a bit, but she acted on her natural instincts. She whispers, “You’re so warm.” She cuddled right up to him like a cat showing love to its mistress or master. Her head gently lay on his chest. Her arms lay in her lap. She did not want to make him feel too uncomfortable. She says, “I hope this does not bother you. If it does, I will get away from you.” She then went back to watching the TV. Her mother says before putting her coat on and stepping outside. “I am going to walk to the store. I don’t want either of you going out of the cold.”

Nick tilted his head to the side at her blush. He smiled a bit when she said that he was warm. He was glad that she was getting warmer. He held her close as she cuddled into him and he smiled and shook his head at her words. It was far from bothering him. "It doesn't bother me" he said quietly. He looked up and nodded to her mother's words before looking back down to Ella. He put his head down on top of hers gently as he turned his attention to the TV, but he wasn't really watching.

Ella smiled as Nick said that her closeness did not bother him. She liked a guy who did not mind her cuddling up to him. His body heat kept her body nice and warm. Which to meant no muscle spasms later. Ella looks at Nick after a while and says, “I wish I could go outside and play in the snow. I loved the snow when I was little.” She looked at the window as more and more snow fell. She groaned as she felt like Mother Nature was teasing about not being able to play in the snow. She snuggled up to Nick as she felt a cold chill go down her spine.

Nick sat silently holding Ella. When she spoke about playing in the snow he smiled slightly. "I've never played in the snow" he said with a slight laugh. He had never had someone to play in the snow with, and he had never had the mood to with his demon inside of him, not to mention the lack of warm clothes which would have made him cold no matter what. He watched the snow fall outside the window and couldn't help but have his views change. It was pretty if you weren't outside in thin clothes that were too small dreading snowfall. He ran a hand up and down Ella's back lightly as he looked out the window at the snow.

Ella smiled and said, "It is a lot of fun when you have thick clothes on and warm gloves on your hands. I was born in December so I naturally love snow." She looked out the window at the snow too. His warm touch made her relax even more. She made it where her head on his shoulder. Ella saddened as she thought about her old lover again. Why couldn't she get him out of her head lately. She thinks, "He has never come into my thoughts this much in a long time. Why is he in my thoughts now? Is it bacause I am around Nick and I fear that I will make the same mistake?" She looked up at Nick. His red eyes were still on the window looking at the snow.

Nick smiled slightly at Ella's words. "It sounds like fun" he said, still staring out the window. He was pretty caught up in his thoughts. He wondered when his demon would wake up, about what she told him the previous night, and what the feeling was that he got every time he looked at Ella. He felt her looking at him and he looked down at her silently. After while he asked, "What are you thinking?" using the question she had asked him before.

Ella was knocked out of her thoughts when Nick asked her, "What are you thinking?" She says, “I am thinking how weak I am and how weak I must seem to you. I blurt out what happened to my lover to you. And now I am just cuddling up to you like a kitten. I sit here with you pondering over the past that I can’t seem to get over. I must seem like a pretty strange girl to you.” Ella made it where she was facing him now. Her hand slowly goes up to his face and moves his bangs slowly away from his eyes. His red eyes seemed to glow as they looked at her. She says, “You should not hide your eyes.”

Nick listened to what she was thinking and he didn't really find it strange, but he hadn't been around enough people long enough to know what 'strange' was for most people. "I don't really find it strange. . . everyone needs to get their fears and the horrors of their past off of their chests. It's perfectly normal" he said quietly. He blinked as Ella moved his bangs out of his face. "I've always hidden them the best I can. . . they're just another stupid excuse for people to stare or tease" he said with a flick of his head, expertly sending his hair back into his face.

Ella looks at him and says, “Well I still think you should not hide your beautiful eyes from the world. There is nothing wrong with them.” She stayed close to him. Her light blue eyes looked at him with kind eyes. She loved his eyes she did not know why. No matter how angry he could be at the world, she could see the good in him. After a few more minutes Ella got up and went to get a drink for herself. She asks Nick before going into the kitchen, “Do you want something to drink? I am going to make some hot chocolate. It should warm me up some. Then I might make a fire.” She could see that the snow was coming down hard. Not unusual for the middle of November.

Every person Nick had ever met had automatically hated him and judged him by his eyes. But Ella seemed to have a different opinion than everybody he had met before. It was odd to have someone looking at him kindly like that but he didn't protest. It was nice. When Ella got up to get herself a drink he shook his head at the question. "No thank you" he replied quietly. He thought hot chocolate would be a good idea for her, as well as a fire, since she was so cold, but he was fine. He looked out th e window again absently.