Friends to enemies to lovers
chapter one - A Friendly Afternoon-
It was early afternoon on a Tuesday, and the sunshine was pouring through the curtains on to the bed where Johnny storm was still fast asleep after yet another night of going to clubs and flirting endlessly with pretty blonds. ("his favorite type")
"JOHNNY!!"
came the voice of my older and annoying sister sue from downstairs.
"IF YOU DONT GET YOUR BUT OUT OF BED YOUR GOING TO MISS HER...AGAIN!"
I slowly and reluctantly pulled myself up out of bed, got dressed and went downstairs to get some breakfast.
"what are you doing?" said sue looking about ready to ring her younger brothers neck
"whats it look like im doin?"
"don't you realize what the time is you cant have breakfast you've got to go NOW"
I looked at my watch through sleepy eyes
"oooh crap" i said while a yawning at the same time and grabbing my jacket off the back of the chair and heading for the elevator.
I walked over to my brand new hot red sports car smiling a lot more than i usually would on a Monday
Im going to see my best friend today, the one person in the whole world that knows everything about me.
I smiled at the thought and couldn't help but notice the feeling of excitement in the pit of my stomach.
I pulled out onto the street and speeded towards Mavery Labs.
Hayley winters was a talented scientist who had studied hard at the top universities and graduating with her PHD at the age of 23. She had moved recently from San Fransisco for her new job at Mavery labs were she was given her own lab funding for her project that she has been working on for over a year. Hayley has also been best best friends with Johnny storm since high school and was supposed to be meeting him for lunch. They hadn't seen each other since before the space incident, she was always so busy with her project and moving and he was always so busy with his own life.
It was 12:45pm and Johnny was supposed to meet me at noon just outside the entrance of Mavery labs for lunch.
"hes late ...as usual" I muttered to myself smiling lightly because I knew things would never change.
I was sitting an a wall just outside the entrance getting rarther bored and silently started to twist my long curly brown hair around my fingers ( a habit I always had since a child)
i wounder if he has changed... now that he has those super powers maybe he has . And what about sue maybe shes changed ...i cant believe its been so long since iv seen him .
Lost in her own thoughts she was completely oblivious to what was going on around her and to the fact that Johnny was walking up right behind her a huge smile on his face and a bunch of white roses in is left hand.
I stood there for about a minute staring at her back her long red hair that fell across her lower back in dainty curls, her finger twisting in them catching the sunlight. (a habit that she always had and meant that she was bored)
God ...i forgot how much i missed her
I thought to myself a sudden feeling of ache in my stomach. I pushed the uncomfortable feeling aside and continued creeping up behind her (the way I always had when they were at school)
"BOOO!!!" I shouted behind her making her jump right off the wall with a scream.
"God Johnny you're going to give me a heart attack on day " she said with a wide smile as she turned to give me a hug .
" oh come on hailo you? Never... you don't have one " I said while trying to control my laughter.
we broke apart each with a wide smile.
"Thats not funny " she said even though she was still smiling .She started rifling through her bag and pulled out a small medicine bottle and a bottle of Evian water. I watched her take two before I couldn't help but ask.
"what are those for "
"like i said you could of given me a heart attack...i have a heart murmur" she said casually while still smiling.
"oh... God... im sorry Hailo I didn't know... are ... are you all right?" Ii quickly leaned her back against the wall so she sat back down on the wall
God i am such an idiot...i could have killed my best friend...when did this happen?...Why didn't i know about it?.
"YES im fine don't start acting all weird ...are those for me?" she said looking at the white roses i had unforgotten i was holding .
"oh yeah ...here...are they still your favorites?"i managed to smile even though i was still recovering from the shock that my best friend...my Hailo has a heart condition that i didn't know about.
"yeah" she replied and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek
"so where are we going for lunch?"she asked me still smiling brightly.
We went to one of Johnny's favorite restaurants for lunch to have a catch up.
"sooooo" Johnny said "whats new? ...apart from the heart murmur...how did that happen?
"well i was born with it..it just never really affected me until i caught pneumonia and thats when the doctors found out...uh..about a year ago now. I have tablets that i take for it "
"is it life threatening?" he said cautiously
"not so long as i take my pills"
"Hayley why didn't you tell me about it"
There was a sudden feeling or regret in me... one that I hated. I had noticed that Johnny had used my full name instead of calling me by my usual nickname like he always did. That meant that he was really worried and I hated to be the cause of attention even if was from my favorite person. The truth was that I never really thought about her heart condition much and never saw any reason to alarm anyone. I hadn't told my family about it yet, why cause concern about something that wasn't a big deal so long as I took my pills everyday.
"its not really a big deal...im not dying or anything and im still the same person. I didn't want to worry you... anyway i want to know more about you and these powers of yours...whats is like?"
i said trying to change the subject into something less boring.
" umm well the name "human torch" pretty much says it all...i can control fire and fly which by the way is awesome and well i pretty much use my powers to help others, along with Sue, Reed and Ben of course"
"sounds great... but you must get tired of all the publicity and attention you get all. The. Time."
"no uh not really" he said with a wide grin on his face
"oh yeah how could i forget ...this is Johnny storm im talking to and you're not happy unless you're in the lime light"
Johnny pretended to be hurt by that remark and we both started laughing like old times.
Listen to that...thats the best sound in the world.
They both thought at the same time.
"so come on, stop dodging and spill, whats up in your life?"
"well as you know i have started my new job at Mavery, im finally getting the funding i need for my project, iv moved in to this really old huge house thats falling apart but i love it anyway "
i silently looked at her. watching her smile and her blue eyes light up. i hadn't realized how much i missed just hanging out with her.
"well what are you doin tonight... wanna go dancin? Theres this great club called "Vixen" you'll love it there can we go?".
"yeah we can go... see you tonight about 8 then" she started to get up to leave
"hay where are you goin? we just got here"
"some of us actually work and some of us only get an hour for lunch and someone was late so i gotta get back" she said giving him a friendly glare before giggling.
"see ya tonight then hailo" he shouted at her as she went out the door.
Well i got nothin better to do today so its home i guess...she looked really really good
Back at the Baxter building -
Reed was still working in his lab trying to solve some impossible equation, while i was on the sofa reading the three little pigs to our beautiful little girl Amy she was now three months old. and Reed and i had been married for almost a whole year now and we were both blissfully happy. Ben and Alica who have been married for three months now had stayed for lunch and were in the kitchen discussing Johnny and Hayley's relationship.
"so hold on... Johnny's known this girl for years and he's never felt anything more that just friendship?"Alica asked .
"why you asking me i don't know all i do know is that they have been friends since high school"
i went through with Amy in her arms looking for her bottle.
"hay sue whats the deal between Johnny and Hayley?" Ben asked
" well their best friends. They have always been."
"what Ben means... is is there anything stronger than friendship between the two?" she said with a smile
"no never has been. Although Johnny did have a thing for her a while back but nothing ever happened. Hayley knows johnny to well and is too smart to start anything with Johnny anyway, they are too alike she's just basically the same as he is. They've always been similar."
At the moment Johnny came through the kitchen and playfully chucked his car keys in to the fruit bowl (where he always kept them) he had the widest grin on his face like it was Christmas or something.
"hey whats goin on" he said still with a wide shining smile on his face
everyone just stared at him in disbelief. Although Johnny has always been the happy go lucky kind of guy and always ready with his sarcasm they all noticed that right now he was way over being just happy he was being "jolly".
Johnny looked at the faces staring at him, shrugged and then swept his little niece away from my arms and started to trot into the living room humming to himself.
"well thats...new "i said still shocked at what my younger brother had just done.
Alica just smiled to herself knowingly.