Chapter Text
After the chaos of the infection had finally died down, people were allowed to go back to their normal lives. (Well, as normal as they could be with a quarter of the population dead and many major cities in shambles) Ellis went with Nick to New Jersey where the gambler had an apartment that was miraculously still in livable condition. Nick joked, saying that even after the apocalypse Jersey didn't seem all that different from how he had left it.
The mechanic settled in well enough, he found a repair shop to hire him and while it wasn't Savannah, he was happy. He had cars to work on and he had Nick and that was all he needed.
It wasn't long before the season grew cold. Ellis would come home from work shivering and laughing about how he needed to add more layers even though he was already wearing three. He'd make something hot to drink and snuggle with Nick on the couch until he could feel his fingers and toes again.
It went on like this for a while until one day Ellis woke up and happened to glance out the window as he was getting dressed. His eyes widened when he saw that the buildings and streets below were covered in thick sheets of white. He went closer to the glass and practically pressed his nose up against it to better take in the sight. Large fluffy snowflakes filled the air and fluttered down lazily to add to the growing piles.
Ellis heard soft shifting behind him and Nick's voice call out from the bed, still groggy with sleep. "El, what are you doing?"
He looked over his shoulder and flashed the man a bright joyful grin. "Nick, it snowed last night! The place is covered with the stuff, ain't it great?"
Nick snorted, "Damn, Overalls, you'd think you've never seen snow before."
Ellis' mouth turned down in a slight pout. "'Course I've seen it before, Nick, but never this much in person… I guess you're pretty used to it though, huh?"
"Yeah," Nick muttered as he got out of bed, "It sort of loses its magic once you've broken your back shoveling it for hours and it just turns into nasty slush on the sides of the road." Ellis' eyes went back to the window and didn't move even when Nick's arms wrapped around him and a stubbled chin grazed against his neck. The conman sighed, his breath ghosting warm over Ellis' throat and clouding on the glass. "You know, there is that park by the pharmacy. I bet you could talk some brats into having a snowball fight or something."
Ellis smiled and grabbed one of Nick's hands in his. "You gonna walk me there?"
Nick rolled his eyes, "You just want me there so you can lob a few my way. You realize you're going to freeze on the the walk home don't you?"
"Yeah, probably, but I can count on you to get me nice and warm once we get back." He gave his lover a wink and a quick peck on the cheek before pulling free to gather his coat and boots.