Snippet #2644918

He'd expected a number of different reactions from Ellie- but being nice wasn't one of them. He just grinned at the new girl, Sky, as Ellie introduced him. "Ma grandmère est francaise," he said to her by way of explanation. Despite the fact that she'd had perfect English, she'd always only spoken French to Jamie as a kid. Which, really, was a good thing, because it meant that he didn't have to put nowhere near as much effort into it in school. He could do reasonably well without any effort at all.

He laughed at Bella's response to Ellie before turning to Nate to start to put up the tents. "Yeah, that's me. It's nice to meet you, Sky. I hope you're not afraid of trouble, because you've certainly found it with us," he remarked. He grinned as Sky swore at the tent. "It's not as bad as it looks, really," he said, glancing over at Nate. "Don't suppose you have the instructions, for a start?" He asked. He could feel the tension as well as any of the rest of them, and he knew that it was only going to worsen as time went on and Ellie's date showed up. He also knew that ignoring it was probably only going to make things worse- but what else could they do? Mention it now and start an argument before the night had even began? Perhaps the alcohol would relax everyone.

Ellie raised an eyebrow as Sky said that she'd only heard good things. Well, that was interesting. Nate hadn't been bitching about her, then. "Trust me- stick around for long enough and you'll hear plenty of shit about me," she remarked. She didn't move from the back of the truck as she waited for a reply from Alex. She glanced up as Sky asked her about the gig, and smiled. "Oh, I've forgotten the name of the band! I was actually only really there for the support," she admitted, grinning. Her phone buzzed with a text, and she opened it up, grinning at

"Sure thing. What should I bring? Besides alcohol, obviously. xx"

She grinned and typed out a reply. "Food would probably be appreciated. And the usual camping stuff I suppose. Come ASAP, they can't seem to put up a tent. xx"

The reply came quicker this time. "Dear god, my manliness skills are needed. I shall be there post-haste, my dear."

She really did like Alex. Not only was he hot and talented, but there was something about his personality that Ellie loved. When she was with him, she forgot that she'd spoken to him with the intention of getting back at Nate. She forgot about the whole Nate thing altogether. This wasn't just about getting back at Nate any more. She found herself genuinely wanting to hang out with Alex, even when nobody would see them together. And she knew that letting him get closer was a bad idea. Letting him in was a bad idea. But while this whole mess was still a problem, she needed somebody like him. After all, he knew the boundaries.

She finally hopped down off of the truck and went over to where they were examining the pile of cloth and poles, just as Jamie asked about the instructions. She bit her tongue, refraining from making a comment about Nate.