Slater | Nick Goode

1.4

When Estella reached the hospital, there was a pit in her stomach. Ambulances and fire trucks were spread around the parking lot, and Ellie desperately looked in the crowd for Nick.
     While walking into the double doors, she spotted the man. He was crouched over a body alongside a detective.
      "Sheriff Goode," she formally greeted, "what the fuck?"
   Nick knew the voice from anywhere's, he stood and inched towards her.
     "Ellie," he was now towering over her, whispering, "we have to talk. Not here, though. Follow me."
     He pulled her into a vacant patient room, shutting the door behind them.
     "Nick, what's wrong?"
     "The two teenagers, the ones from the crash. They came into the office only 20 minutes ago, looking for you," he began, starting to pace back and forth, "I told them I didn't know when you would be coming back, so they sat down with me. They began to talk about Ryan Torres."
      "The mall killer from a couple of nights ago? Why?"
      "He was here tonight. They swore on it," he confessed, still pacing, running his hands through his fluffy hair.
      "Ryan Torres is dead. You shot him." Ellie's heart began to race.
      "Yeah, I'm aware of that. But," he paused, wondering if he should even put the thought in the young woman's head. He decided to just be honest, "what if it's happening again?"
      "Killers coming back from the dead. Fucks sake," she laughed, her voice hollow and he could tell she knew what he was talking about.
      "What if?"
      "Okay, if it is happening again, what the fuck do we do?" She queried. The man had finally stopped pacing, he looked at her. She could see the stress in his eyes.
      "Should we... talk to Ziggy?"
      Ellie's mouth had now fallen open, she looked at him as if he was crazy.
      "Leave her out of this."
      "Ellie! If it's starting-"
      "Nick, don't. I'm serious. She hasn't gotten over that night. She lost a lot-"
       "So did you, so did everyone," he tried to convince her.
       "I won't tell you again, leave her out of this," she had a stern look on her face, her eyes trained on Nicks. He accepted defeat.
       "Alright. I won't. But if it comes down to it, I'm not going to ask you. You either come with me, or I'll go alone."

-

    Ellie and Nick walked side by side, making their way to their two cars.
     "Nick.." Ellie broke the comfortable silence, her eyes glued to the pavement, "if Ryan Torres was here tonight, and it is happening again, do you think.."
       She didn't need to finish, he knew what she meant, "I don't know, maybe. If you... see him... if you see any of them... you shouldn't deal with it alone. You can call me."
       He knew that his statement didn't exactly cover what he wanted it to cover. He wanted to tell her that she could always depend on him, that she was able to open up to him.
       She exhaled deeply, "yeah, I know."
      They both separated, finally reaching their vehicles. Ellie's was parked behind Nicks, both of them close to the sidewalk.
       As she opened her door to get in, he called her name, "Ellie.."
       She looked to him, noticing he was moving farther away from her, looking at something on the ground.
       As she walked up behind him, she saw what he had been observing, a gold necklace. It had been soaked in blood. She bent down to pick it up.
      "Gross, Estella. Don't touch it," Nick scolded, Ellie ignored him, her eyes going wide.
      "Nick. This is Ruby Lane's locket," she informed, he took the locket from her hands, inspecting it, "they're all fucking here."
      They both looked around, making sure they were alone.
      "Alright time to go," Nick pulled on the woman's sleeve, bringing her to his car, opening the passenger seat.  
      "What are you doing?"
      "I don't want you to be alone."
       Ellie's heart fluttered. She had loved this man, there was no doubt in her mind anymore. It had always been him. Ever since she met him, he was so different from anyone else.
      Not another second, she had sat down in the seat and Nick shut the door.
Fuck, she internally thought before he got into the car, Nick Goode, what are you doing to me?
"You can stay the night at my place," he offered once he had taken his seat at the wheel, "if you're comfortable with that, of course. You can take my bed and I'll sleep on the couch."
"No, Nick you should really get some rest. In your own bed. I don't want to bother you, I'll be okay."
"You're not bothering me," he chuckled, putting the car into drive, "I'd sleep better knowing you're okay."
Once again, her stomach did flips.
"I don't have any clothes," she argued.
"You can borrow some of mine. Come on, it's like a grown up sleepover," he smiled at her, making her heart melt and give in.
"If you insist. But I'm taking the couch," she yielded.
He laughed once again, "like hell you are."