Ellis x GN reader angst & fluff
tw: Mentions character death, blood and gore, violence
Ellis’s bright personality begins to falter for once. And he needs someone to lean on. He misses his close ones.
Request sent in by my close friend @waterlemelonz! 🫶 thank you for the request. This was much fun to write.
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It was another week of endless fighting, looting, and scavenging for whatever may be left while trying to get to New Orleans. Every day the end just seemed nearer and nearer. The smell of death and smoke that wafted throughout the cities was not exactly comforting for your current situation either. The military and CEDA practically vanished from the planet. The dead walking, mutating into something beyond human, beyond just dead men walking. Tanks.. smokers.. hunters.. witches.. and many, many more you’d wish you’d never had to see in your lifetime.
You’d met a team of four during your fight for survival through the city. Sticking out for each other, probably till the end. Whenever that will be.
But there was one that stood out, Ellis. The boy was always talking in some way shape or form. About his buddies, his life back at home, his auto repair shop he ran with his closest friends, including their band together. Kept things light, lowering tensions and easing the group… alteast whenever he could finish a story. Which was, close to never. The others found it exceptionally annoying, or reckless in the craze of things. Especially Nick, the asshole.
But you found them comforting, like a beacon of hope in the darkness. His stories often made your mind ponder something else, something that wasn’t apocalypse related atleast.
Distract you from the blood splattered on your clothes, the way it stuck to your fingers and stained everything it touched with a rancid smell. Helped ease the angry grumbling of your empty stomach as it had been weeks since a proper meal. It kept you grounded at times after the adrenaline wore off, in a saferoom that you’d just barely made it into. It stopped the nervous fiddling with your gun as it gave you something else to contemplate, something besides how you would meet your unenviable end. His stories.. actually helped.
Even the soft humming he did every now and then seemed to lull you to sleep. It sounded like a song maybe his friends made, or The Midnight Riders? You couldn’t tell, but it was a pleasing sound to hear while stuffed in an uncomfortable sleeping bag located in some dingy safe room.
And so you tried to match the energy. Not as crazy or reckless as him. But just stay optimistic, be happy about the little things, remember the good times and value those moments you’ve had in your life.
Though.. maybe running around with him a bit in kiddie land for awhile. As much as you tried to hold back your desire to do so, you gave in.
The two of you were like peas in a pod, just two balls of sunshine in the depressing atmosphere.
Some days you would stay up together, sipping what beer he’d found laying around, and passing the bottle. Talking about old times, before the hell of the Green Flu. Hushed voices in the saferoom, trying not to bother or wake the others.
But recently, the man had quieted down more than usual. Less jokes and more awkward silence nearly the entire day. His hat tipped down more than usual. So you took the opportunity to ask him, now that it was just him and you.
“Ellis, are you alright? You’ve been quieter than usual.” You focused on his expression. Lower than usual, admiring the soft look of his cheeks, his light stubble, his eyes soft yet attempting to stay unyielding admist the situation. The light bruises and scratches that littered his face were more apparent now as you focused on them.
His gaze was on the floor as he placed the bottle of beer down with a light clink.
“Just been.. I dunno'. Thinkin’ more recently.“
He paused for a moment, thinking about how to word his next sentences.
“..About?” You placed a soft hand on his shoulder. Feeling the grime on the fabric of his shirt against the palm of your hand. A mixture of sweat, blood, whatever other bodily fluid the infected had to spew at him.
“S’ just, how much longer can we keep on goin’ like this?” He mumbled quieter.
“I miss my ma’ my pa’ I dunno' if they’re even alive anymore. My family.. my buddies.”
He chuckled to himself lightly. “Damn it, looka’ me gettin’ all mushy n’ shit. But man..”
“.. am I tired a’ this.” He mumbled out that last part. Everyone was feeling it, almost always running on an empty stomach, the fatigue. Always running, swinging, reloading, scavenging.. the list went on and on. The risk that every time they exited a safe room, it might just be the choice that would lead to their fate.
Ellis missed the smell of oil and metallic machinery of his auto shop. He never enjoyed it very much then, but now having the foul stench of blood and death clinging to your skin? he couldn't help but yearn for it now.
Or the smell of his mothers sweet baking. He swore that apple pie was sent straight down from heaven itself. Even the ribs his father made flickered through his mind, it was smoked with a combination of apple and hickory wood and left at 180 degrees for about 6 hours. Then glazed and seasoned in copious amounts, his stomach rumbled at the distant memory, he craved for some decent food that wasn't rations of whatever they found out in the cities.
His fingers itched for the satisfying strum of his bass guitar's strings. To be with his pal's without a care in the world again, to have their obnoxious music echoing off the walls of their little studio. For his best friend Keith to materialize next to him and remind him things would be all right, just like he used to.
You watched his expression carefully, as if you could read his brain and see the nostalgia rush through his mind. But those memories only seemed to add to his dejection.
“Hell, you remind me so much of Keith.” He admitted, his head low, his hat shadowing his face in the dim light. He leaned his body into your touch, bathing in the warmth of another, his side on yours now.
"Always cheerin' me on, no matter what, doin' stupid shite together." He chuckled that last part.
You inched yourself impossibly closer to him, pulling his head to your chest as your arms wrapped around him lightly. His own arms slowly wrapped around your body.
The hug was warm.. comforting. Despite the fact you both smelled like rotting corpses.
“It’s gonna be alright Ellis, we’ll find CEDA. They have to be around somewhere, right?”
“Man, I hope yer’ right.” He clenched just a bit tighter. His eyes closing as you both held eachother close in that embrace, his eyebrows furrowed. His body leaning into your own as his breathing quickened slightly.
His soft cries were not unheard by you. Softly rubbing his back as you stayed by his side.
“It’s gonna be alright Ellis.” You comforted him, never seeing Ellis, ever the optimistic one breaking down. His facade cracked, and now had shattered in your arms as he tried not to drench your clothes with his pitiful tears.
“Aw shit.. M’ sorry. S’ just been so hard.” He sniffled softly, wiping his tears with one hand. His voice cracked and broke, his Southern drawl deeper and more prominent, more pronounced with his breaking voice.
“I know Ellis, we’re all feeling it. We gotta stay strong, we’ll find CEDA, or.. atleast more people.” You said, filled with determination. Despite knowing that it may never happen down the line. But you had to have some sort of hope. You kept him close, his head raised now. Eyes connected, his face unusually red and wet with tears.
With a hesitant hand you wiped them away. And he leaned into the touch, his head practically in your palm. Your nervousness slowly fading.
“I’m happy yer’ here. Always cheerin’ me up, just as Keith always did.” He practically gushed with a sniffle, he slid off his hat with his free hand in the intimate moment, short hair and soft curls revealed underneath it.
“It’s funny, cause it was always you cheering me up.” You replied tenderly, your hand on his chin reaching up and tangling in his soft curls. His locks stuck together in some places due to dried blood. In any other situation you’d be utterly disgusted, but now? It seemed almost normal as you probably had some in your own.
Light fingers massaged and kneaded at his scalp. Trying to help ease any discomfort, he leaned into the touch further.
His half lidded eyes glanced down at your lips, he leaned forward warily, testing your reaction before chapped lips met your own in a tender kiss. His eyes fluttered shut, as did yours. Your hand in his hair tightened slightly, brown locks intertwined between your fingers.
And maybe, just for a moment you weren’t in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Just here, with him. All other sounds and sensations forgotten, you only focused on him.
When you pulled back a moment later, you gazed at him once more. Dried tears stained his cheeks, his eyelids fluttered open from their once closed state. The realization dawned on him that he’d just kissed you.
“Holy shit..” he paused for a moment.
“I love you..” He suddenly spoke, his breath ghosting your lips from how close he remained.
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We need more Ellis love people!
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