Sam & Ellie The Fall Before Spring

Part 1

Ellie sat, away from the world. Away from herself as Sam hurled the contents of his stomach into the toilet; most of which were mixed beverages, judging by the colour. She rubbed his back, trying to comfort him as best as she could, and waited for him to finish. The putrid smell clung to the air but Ellie was unfazed, her mind lost, drifting through nothingness. When he finished, finally resting his head on the cool toilet seat she stood and opened a drawer. Grabbing a cloth, she wet it with cold water and gently rested it on his clammy forehead before she turned and left him in the bathroom.

In the kitchen, the pot from dinner still sat on the dimmed burner, warm. The fragrance of basil, oregano and mixed broths swirled through the air, dancing around the kitchen and into Ellie's nose. She inhaled deeply. The scent was a welcomed change in contrast to the combination of vodka mixed bar nachos that was Sam's puke. Sighing, she turned the stove off and poured the chicken-noodle soup into a Rubbermaid container. She had lost her appetite, and Sam, well, he could eat it in the morning. In silence, she tidied the kitchen, her mind drifting to a different time, lost in memory.

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"Come live with me then," Ellie suggested, smiling as Sam abruptly stopped his pacing.

"What?"

"I know we haven't been dating long and all that but I can't just let you live in your car. I'm moving to my new studio in a couple of weeks anyway," she shrugged.

"But-"

"No buts," she cut him off, moving closer to him, "this, us, we're something, I know it. Let me help you. Besides, I can barely pay the rent anyway so you'd be helping me."

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Ellie drifted back to the present as she dried and put away the final pot. The kitchen was clean. The bathroom on the other hand was a different story, still a disaster from the chaos of Sam. His face was hanging dangerously close to the inner edge of the toilet seat as Ellie re-entered the bathroom. His long body was contracted and pulled into a ball making him look awfully like a sick child in his attempts to comfortably fit his large body in the small space. She didn't bother trying to wake him as she heaved his face off of the toilet seat and dragged him across the hall to their bedroom.

Their studio wasn't large, one-bedroom, one bathroom, a decent kitchen, and a living room. All decorated by large windows and the occasional wall of exposed brick. Along with a couple of pieces of Ellie's artwork; one a cyclone of autumn leaves surrounding a painted depiction of Sam and one an old wooden flower bed her mother used to spend hours fussing over both captured on a canvas. She had fallen in love with the place, and together they had made it their home.

After she shoved Sam under their white duvet, her frail body limp from the effort, she went and tidied the bathroom. Her breaths were still ragged as she restored order to the bathroom with quick clipped movements. She had work in the morning and it was already late enough to be early. Although, the deep bags beneath her eyes had long ago become part of her daily appearance, and had nothing to do with sleep. She would still attempt to allow give her body the basic necessities. She brushed her teeth, keeping her eyes averted from the mirror and soon was in bed, her butterscotch hair splayed out beneath her as she drifted off into dreams about Sam.

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"It's official," Ellie announced, placing the last spoon in the drawer. "We're moved in!"

"It only took a couple of weeks of living here," Sam chuckled.

Ellie smacked his shoulder playfully at his sarcasm. "Oh shut it," she smiled."Now we celebrate!"