Walking Timebomb *for RiRiishtar*

Nick smiled as well and nodded. "I can tell" he said with a soft laugh. He smiled again when she kissed his cheek and his eyes roamed her body quickly, the happiness radiating off of her. He kept having to shake his head to dislodge the snow that gathered there while they made the snowmen and he found himself having more fun that he had. . . ever. He lay down in the snow spreading his arms and legs back and forth to make a snow angel, snow falling on his face steadily. Hearing Ella's words he glanced at her and then at the sky. He figured it was very very early morning like 2 or 3 o'clock, and that was normally the coldest part of the night. "I'll keep you warm" Nick said seriously. He was perfectly fine in the snow in a sweater in the middle of the night, but he knew that Ella wouldn't be warm enough in all her warm clothes.

Ella smiled happily as she could see that Nick was having a lot of fun. She says, “I told you playing in the snow was fun. It is really nice to be able to play with someone. It can get rather boring when you are out here alone.” She went over and kissed him softly. Ella looked at him a moment as he said he would keep her warm. She could tell he was serious as he said it though. She nods with a smile and then started to dance around in the snow. She seemed to be really happy to share this with him.

Nick smiled and nodded. "Everything's more fun with others" he said knowingly. He had never really had any 'fun' in his life, which made playing in the snow with Ella even better. He kissed her back quickly before she started to dance around in the snow and he smiled softly, seeing her happiness. He watched her for a few moments before looking at the sky, watching the snow fall on his face and his hot breath steaming the air. He looked back down to Ella and staring at her absent-mindedly with his red eyes, thinking of how beautiful she looked dancing around with the snow falling on her softly and the moonlight illuminating everything perfectly.

Ella smiled as she noticed that Nick was staring at her. She asks as she blushes deeply, “What are you starring at me Nick?” She stopped dancing as she waited for his answer calmly. She walked up to him and kissed him deeply, her body once again being completely covered in his warm unusual body heat. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she began to feel cold again. Ella was still waiting for his answer that she has not gotten yet. She stood close to him and let his heat warm her up.

Nick grinned and was about to answer when Ella kissed him and he returned the kiss just as deeply, wrapping his arms around her waist. He could feel that her body was cold, and he held her close to keep her warm. He broke the kiss for a moment to answer. "You're the most beautiful thing on the planet" he said simply and quietly before kissing her again, not able to help himself. He was glad that his demon was asleep. . . it wouldn't be too happy with his choices in the last few days.

Ella smiled and moaned softly as he kissed her back and kissed her again after telling her she was beautiful. She shivered and winced as her knee started to give out. She says to Nick as she started to head back to the house, “I think it’s time for me to go back inside. The cold is starting to make my body hurt.” She opened the door, went inside the door, and then waited for Nick to join her. She jumped when she heard her mother’s voice. She says, “I told you not to go outside in the cold. Your muscles are beginning to lose control.”

Nick smiled slightly at her moan but he pulled away when she shivered like that. He could tell something was wrong and he agreed that they should go inside. He followed her inside quickly and turned to her mom, feeling slightly guilty for letting her stay outside for so long, when it was clear that it wasn't really good for her. He hugged her tightly hoping to spread his heat but he knew what she really needed was something to heat her up from the inside. He let go and walked to the kitchen. "I'll make hot chocolate" he said slightly uncertainly. he was sure he could figure it out. . . after awhile. He spent ten minutes trying to make it, swearing as he messed it up about five times. When he finally got it he brought a mug out to Ella and handed it to her.

Ella smiled and drank the hot chocolate that he made for her. She then took his hand and guided him to her room. She says, “If you lay with me in my bed, my blankets might absorb your body heat and help me get warm. Plus my muscles should relax when I get comfortable again.” She went into her own bathroom and changed into her night gown again before getting in her bed. She moved the covers back so she could get in bed without trouble and then pulled them back around her after she got comfortable. She patted the spot next to her.

Nick followed to her room when she took his hand and pulled him there. He nodded and gave a small smile. "Alright" he said quietly. He quickly went to his room and got into dry pajamas before coming back into Ella's room just before she came out of the bathroom in her night gown. He crawled into the bed next to her and put his arns around her cold body, kissing the top of her head.

Ella smiled as she cuddled up to him happily. She looked at him calmly as sleep starts to take her over. The next morning she had a high fever as she laid in her bed. Her mother comes into the room and sighed. She says, “I told her she would get sick if she went out in the cold, but she won’t listen to me.” Her mother puts a cold cloth on Ella’s forehead as she stayed close to Nick. She then went to the kitchen to see if she could make some warm easy soup for Ella to eat.

Nick relaxed and looked down at Ella as she started to fall asleep and he kissed her on the forehead gently once she was asleep. He fell asleep soon after and when he woke up he could tell that she was sick. "Crap" he hissed quietly. He felt guilty about not making Ella come inside when she was out be he thought that she needed it, something she loved to do. He looked at the cold cloth and figured that her mom had seen her and he sat quietly holding her waiting for her to wake up.

Ella woke up slowly as she felt the sun’s heat on her eyes. She looks at Nick sadly. Her cheeks were blood red. She says softly, “Nick good morning…” Her mother came in and said, “You sneak outside again, I make you go live with your father.” Ella started shaking at the mention of her father. She says very softly under her breath low enough that her mother could not hear her, “I’ll just run away from there…” She closed her eyes as a hidden tear fell down her cheek. There was much her mother did not know about her father.

Nick brushed a hand over her red cheek lightly. "Good morning" he said just as softly. He looked up when her mom came in and he raised an eyebrow at her words, though it couldn't be seen because of his hair. That didn't seem very fair. He heard Ella say that she would just run away and he frowned. Running away wasn't a good idea, but from the tear that escaped Ella's eye he guess that she really disliked her father. He brushed the tear away with his thumb and kissed her forehead lightly, wondering why she hated her father like that.

Ella waited for her mom to leave. She says after her mom left for work, “My father is a drunk like my mom use to be. When he could get not get my mom’s attention he would beat me for the hell of it. That’s why I feared guy when I had not met Drake. He was the only one who did not treat me like trash. I will die before I go back to being his punching bag.” She sat up in the bed slowly and said, “I never told mom what he did to me. I did not want to make her feel guilty. She has already been feeling guilty about being a drunk.”

Nick listened to her mother leaveing before opening his mouth to ask why she didn't want to go to her father when she started to explain. His eyes widened slightly before she finished and he held her close. "I can see why you don't want to go there. . . and I won't let you go there if you mom tries to make you. . . I'm tempted to go there myself to teach him a lesson for treating you like that but I won't" he said with a sigh. More than anything at the moment he wanted to go either beat up or kill Ella's father, but he restrained. He kissed her for a moment before pulling away. "Are you hungry?" he asked.

Ella looked at him as he kissed her. She smiled and said, “I am a little hungry…” She slowly got up and made it to the kitchen. She began to make a warm breakfast. Although it was hard for her to move, Ella was still able to cook pretty well. She made a mix of what seem to be a breakfast salad. Warm potato tots diced up, sausage links chopped up a bit, scrambled eggs, and a bit of cheese on them. She thought it looked pretty neat and was a little different. She sat two plates on the table. She then groaned when she saw that they were out of juice and other drinks.

Nick got up and followed her to the kitchen, waiting while she made breakfast. He watched, slightly fascinated, as she cooked, wondering how she could cook like that. He had had trouble making hot chocolate, let alone any food. He sniffed the air as the scents of the food filled it, and he looked at the plates that were put on the table. Hearing her groan he looked to her before realizing that there were no drinks. "If you don't need anything to drink with breakfast I can go buy some after" he offered. He would need money to go to the store, but he didn't have any at the moment. He was fine with drinking nothing while he ate, but he wasn't sure if Ella was.

Ella saw him watching her as she cooked. She knew he did not know how to cook. She decided if he wanted her to, she would teach him how to cook. Ella says as she sits down and looks at him, “it’s no big deal right now. I will need things healthy to drink later though. It’s just out of habit of drinking juice or something with my breakfast.” She began to eat the food slowly. She says as she puts her fork down, “You know I can teach you how to cook if you want.” She was in a good mood as she looked him.

Nick nodded in understanding and began to eat. He would buy some drinks after he finished eating, even if he was weary of leaving Ella alone while she was sick. He looked up at her at her words and smiles slightly. "Um, sure" he said with a short laugh. He could see that she was in a good mood as he continued to eat, finishing quite quickly still. He was still too skinny, his ribs showing, despite the muscles that he had developed over the years of living like he did. He picked up his plate and put it in the sink, looking at Ella to see if she was finished or not, though he didn't really expect her to be, considering how quickly he ate.

Ella stopped eating because she was sick to her stomach now. She put her plate of food in the trash and put the plate itself in the sick. She then put the left overs in a container for later. She saw the look in his eyes and said, "I will be fine on my own while you go to the store for me." Ella went to her purse and grabbed a twenty dallor bill. She goes back over to him and says, "They are have a sale on the Simply Orange juice. Can you grab me two jugs of it? You can use the rest to get something you like to drink." She kissed his cheek softly.

Nick knew his concern showed in his eyes as he watched Ella throw out her food. He took the money and nodded. He didn't really think that she would be ok, but he would be as fast as possible. He kissed her quickly and walked to the door. "Bye. . . I'll be back soon" he said before walking outside. He barely felt the cold as he walked to the store quickly, going as fast as he could without running. He got to the store and bought the orange juice before he realized that something was wrong with him. He fell to his knees and put the bag of orange juice down- he hadn't gotten anything for himself- clutching his stomach. He spat blood onto the sidewalk and his breathing picked up considerably. He coughed and more blood splattered in the snow beside the sidewalk. Nobody stopped to help him, nobody caring enough. The pain twisting his stomach was nothing he had felt before. It felt like something was trying to rip it's way out. He noticed that his demon was awake and his eyes oepned wide in understanding. It was doing something, and he didn't know what. He got up, grabbed the juice, and ran as fast as he could back to Ella's house hunched over, pausing to vomit blood a few times as he went. He got back to the house and ran inside, dropping the juice again and running right to the bathroom, collapsing beside the toilet as he vomited blood into it again.

Ella watched as he ran to the bathroom to vomit. She went to his side, focused her energy and made the collar turn all red. Even if his demon got out it would have to do as she said. She got dizzy as her body ached some. Her cheeks flared with fever as she looked at him. The spell was complete and she says right before she passes out, “I command every time this demon comes out to sit on the floor until I give another command.” She passed out and hit the floor hard. Some blood dripped out of her nose from her concentrating so hard. It fell from her nose down till it got to the floor.

Nick barely noticed Ella at his side. All he could concentrate on was the pain twisting his insides. He heard her drop to the floor and he turned his eyes on her. He crawled to Ella's side and hugged her, brushing some hair out of her face. He didn't really think he had the energy at the moment, but he used all he had to pick her up and carry her to her room, setting Ella on her bed. He stumbled back to the bathroom and collapsed on the floor, trembling violently. He felt worse pain than he'd ever experianced. His stomach ripped open from the inside and he screamed. His demon had found out how to hurt him without taking control of his at all, so the collar wouldn't affect the demon. He clutched his stomach and screamed in agony before he passed out completely.

Ella did not wake up as the day passed. Her body ached as her energy tried to stop the assault on Nick’s body. A blue light surrounded Nick’s body as Ella’s body took on the wounds itself. Blood trickled from her body as his wounds became her own. Her mother came home to see her daughter almost dead on her bed. Blood drenched the floor as more and more came out of her. Her mother went to the bathroom as she saw Nick perfectly healed. She yells, “What the hell have done to my daughter?” She put a blade to his throat. Her eyes were filled with anger, sadness, and hate.

Nick was out cold for a long time, not aware of the fact that his body was completely healed. He woke with a start when Ella's mom screamed at him. His eyes snapped open and he answered in confusion. "What do you mean? I didn't do anything. . . what's wrong with her!?" his voice rose at the end as he panicked. He realized then that he wasn't in pain at all and he looked down at his stomach, completely ignoring the blade at his throat. His pupils dialated when he figured out what Ella must have done and his pale face went white as the snow outside. "Fuck no. . ." he whispered. He pushed Ella's mom out of the way and ran into the bedroom to see her lying on the bed with the blood everywhere. "FUCK NO!" he screamed, pulling her limp form to him. He didn't notice the tears falling from his eyes but he was aware of his demon mocking him in his head and he growled slightly. It was all the demon's fault. . . the demon was part of him. . . so it was all his fault. . . He sobbed harder as he clung to her, not knowing what to do.