Ellie & Quinn ❄️ || WLW (Eng)

CHAPTER 5

I wanted us to end up as friends
But you fucked it all up
You're a douchebag
You'll never change, yeah
And I still don't know what's going on in your head
- Douchebag, UPSAHL

During the next week or two, the situation got both better and worse.

Worse, because Quinn still would not talk to Ellie. The blonde girl had settled on ignoring her guest, turning her head away when Ellie walked past her, not speaking to her unless she had to, leaving the room when Ellie entered, disregarding her entire existence. It was a very uncomfortable feeling for Ellie to constantly be ignored and overlooked but at the same time, Quinn managed to conceal her behavior so well that neither of the adults noticed the weird atmosphere between the two girls. The only time of the day when Quinn spared Ellie more than a bitter look was during dinner where she actually interacted with her. Ellie would not go so far as to call Quinn's behavior at the table 'polite' but at least she handed her bowls or bottles when Ellie asked.

Not that Quinn ate dinner with them often, anyway (and that was the good part). Apparently, she had just taken a week or two off of work after Christmas because after the first weekend Ellie had spent in Frostfields, Quinn started working at the restaurant almost every night. She ate together with Fiona and her parents and often did not come home until midnight — which, for Ellie, was a blessing.

Since she had to be at work at five pm to help set up everything, Quinn also adapted her daily schedule: instead of going out early, eating lunch at home and then skiing again until five, she now stayed outside the whole day before coming back around four; showering, eating a quick snack and then going over to Fiona's.

Ellie also took more time to get to know the village and explore the countryside. She bought some more books from Mister Bishop and even visited Mister Saunders in his antique shop once or twice. That Quinn did not come home during the day anymore was an advantage because this way, she was a little more relaxed about going out. She did not want to risk getting caught not taking Pasta with her a second time but also did not want to take the dog with her every time she went out. She also had the feeling that Quinn would not be too happy either if she found out that Ellie was taking Pasta with her. Quinn's problem was not that Ellie was mistreating her dog, it was Ellie herself.

Still, Pasta was an old dog who took his small walks but did not appreciate being outside, especially not in weather this cold. Ellie did not want him to catch a cold so when she was just buying some books or going for a quick walk, she left him at home. Of course she made sure he would not be able to fall down the stairs and she always filled his water bowl before leaving.

Janet and Philip also offered Ellie and her parents to teach them how to ski on the weekends but all of them declined that offer. Dan was not too keen on sports in general, especially not if they were dangerous — and he considered skiing to fall into that category, along with boxing, American football, Surfing... the list went on. Helen had some problems with her knee ever since she had injured it as a teenager and while she enjoyed yoga and fitness, skiing was not for her.

Ellie had been happy about the offer at first. She did not know how to ski and was sure she would make a fool of herself but she still wanted to try it. That was, until Philip said that 'Quinn should be the one to teach her' since 'they were the same age' and 'it would be boring if Ellie had teachers as old as Janet and Philip'. After this statement, Ellie decided to side with her father, disregarding skiing as too dangerous to pursue.

Janet and Philip did not even seem disappointed, they just smiled and told their guests that should they change their mind, the offer was still standing but that it was okay if they did not want to.
Ellie began envying Quinn a little at that moment. Her own parents had almost never accepted a 'no' from her when she did not want to do something. When she did not want to play the piano as a kid, her parents said that 'learning how to play an instrument was beneficial for her mental development' and when she wanted to stop taking ballet lessons, her parents told her that 'it was important to pursue at least one sport other than general fitness workouts'.