CinderEll

Chapter Nineteen ~ Storms

The next morning was a Saturday and Ell had the day off. She didn't know quite what to do with herself since she wasn't used to having time off from work so she decided to take a stroll in the castle grounds to see the flowers and think.

As she strolled along she got to thinking about the orphanage again, wondering how she could help. Rhonda, the woman who looked after the children there had told her when she'd volunteered there the other day that there where many problems with the building that kept the children unsafe. She'd said that the floors where so old the children where often tripping on them and the roof leaked every time it rained.

Ell wasn't exactly a handy woman herself but she was determined not to let that stop her. But she wouldn't be able to fix the floor and ceiling if she couldn't learn how to so she had to find some way to teach herself, but with no phone and no internet that was going to be quite hard.

As she was so lost in her thoughts, Ell hadn't realised until it was too late that a man was walking along the path in front of her. When she bumped into him she accidentally made him drop his mulch.

"Oh dear Im so sorry I wasn't looking where I was going!" She said as she quickly picked up the mulch and put it back into his wheel barrow.

"No harm done. Your the new nanny huh?" He asked and Ell gave a shy smile as she nodded.

"I'm Ell, it's nice to meet you. Are you a gardener?" She asked and the man nodded.

"That's me, I'm Bruce. Been tending to these ere grounds for almost ten years now." He replied with a kind smile.

"I fix up the paths n things too." He added.

"Well you've done a marvellous job they are lovely."

The man laughed at that and tipped his hat.

"Much obliged. And if I can ever help you with something just let me know."

Brea thought for a moment as she suddenly got an idea.

"Bruce, you wouldn't happen to know how to put in a new wooden floor to a house would you?" She suddenly asked, not quite believing she'd had the guts too since usually she was very shy.

"Yeah, not to much different from the paths ere in the gardens, why's that?"

He asked as Ell smiled and nodded. When she explained that she was planning to fix the floors in the orphanage, Bruce talked her through the process and the materials she would need and said that she could ask him questions about it any time as well.

With that Ell thanked him as he went along his way and she continued her walk.

Ell couldn't help but to grin in excitement as she thought about helping the orphanage, she had so many things she'd like to do for them, and she planned to get the floors done as soon as she got paid.

When it suddenly started to rain, Ell squeaked in freight as she began to run back towards the castle, but it was a bit to late since by the time she gotten there, she was already more than drenched.

She quietly made her up up the stairs, and when she got to her room and heard the first clang of thunder she jumped out of her skin as she spun around to face Alex's room instead...

She didn't want to go into her room and be alone during the storm because she absolutely hated storms... but she also didn't want to bother her friend who was probably enjoying some time alone.

But maybe she wouldn't mind if she just... asked?

Just as Ell was about to resign herself to heading back to her own room and hiding underneath her blankets, Alex's door opened up and when she saw Ell standing motionless at it looking like a cat that had just been forced into a bath, she looked surprised.

"Ell? Hi! Are... are you ok?"

Ell bit her lip shyly as she wrapped her arms around her freezing cold body and shivered as she nodded her response, but when another clang of thunder came, and she jumped and squeaked in fright, Alex seamed to realise what was going on.

"Please, why don't you come inside and we'll get you warmed up?"

She asked as she placed an arm around Ell and lead her inside of her room.

"Here, how about I find you some clothes while you have a nice warm shower hmm?" Alex suggested. Ell followed her instructions, having to admit that a warm shower sounded really good right than as she tore off her sopping wet clothes and allowed the steam to soothe her and the noise of the shower to take the storm away.

When she had finished and had dried off, she noticed the pile of clothes Alex had left her by the door and put them on.

It was a pair of Alex's trackies and a sweater that was far to long on Ell, but it was comforting all the same.

When she stepped out of the room and saw Alex sitting on her bed reading a book, she was about to walk over to her when another clap of thunder came and she ended up all but running over to the bed instead and diving under the blankets.

"Ell?" Alex asked as she looked at the pile of blankets that used to be the girl she liked in bemusement.

"Hmm... I wonder where Ell's gone. I can't seam to see her any more. Oh where could she be?" Alex said, feigning dramatics with a laugh, and When Ell popped her head out of the blankets and looked at her with wide eyes, Alex couldn't help but to think that she looked like a scared kitten caught in the rain.

When another clap of thunder came, this time louder than the last, Ell squeaked again as she put her hands to her ears and closed her eyes tightly, diving back under the blankets.

"Hmm." Alex pondered as she tried to think of how she could comfort her.

"Where you go, I shall follow." She finally said as she lifted the blankets up and slid under them herself, putting her phone torch on and looking for Ell. When she found her she turned to face her and opened up her arms.

Ell shyly slid into them and allowed Alex to comfort her. Eventually, when she'd seamed to calm down, Alex lifted the blankets off of them, and sat herself up on the bed, pulling Ell onto her lap again as she ran a soothing hand through her hair.

Eventually, Ell fell asleep and Alex felt a thousand things at once. Did she love her? Yes indeed. Did she need her? Absolutely! Was she just the cutest most adorable girl Alex had ever met? Sure was. No matter how much more she got to know her, she just got cuter and Alex knew that her cuteness would get the better of her one day and she'd no longer be able to hold herself back.

Slowly Alex, remember? She's fragile and she's been through a lot so you need to go slowly...

No matter how much Alex wanted to ravish her and kiss her till her pink lips turned rosy red, amount other things... she knew that the logical side of her brain was right. Ell was after all, very precious to her and she wanted to treat her as such.

But when the adorable sleeping beauty snuffeld in her sleep, sneezing like a cat again as she snuggled in closer towards her, Alex knew that holding herself back was going to be easier said than done.