Chapter 10

Johnny and Jessica sat side by side in the waiting area of the airport. Neither of them could think of anything to say, so they sat in silence. Jessica fiddled with her ring nervously and Johnny traced circles on the knee of his jeans with his finger. Jessica just couldn't stop thinking about what Reed had said that night.

"Johnny, do you think we're going too fast?" Jessica suddenly asked.

"What?" Johnny was confused. He hadn't been expecting her to say anything like that.

"Johnny, we've only known each other for, like, four days. We haven't even gone on an official date yet. Are we ready for this?" Jessica asked hurriedly.

"I am," he said. "Jessica, I love you. And I want to be with you."

"I… I know you do, Johnny. And I love you too. But I think we should take this a little slower."

"Are you saying that you don't want to marry me?" He asked with an upset look in his eyes.

"Well, I guess I am. I… I mean not yet," Jessica said.

Johnny nodded, "I guess your right."

"Um… okay. Well-" Jessica was cut off by the announcement that her flight was boarding.

"You had better get going," He said.

"Yeah," Jessica agreed.

He pulled her into a hug. He wanted to kiss her, but decided against it. He wanted to go with her, but he kind of wanted to be alone to think. He was confused.

They announced a last warning for the boarding of Jessica's flight. Johnny let go of her and gave her the bag she had packed.

She began to walk away, and when Johnny didn't follow, she asked, "Aren't you coming?"

Johnny shook his head.

"Oh… Well, then…" she began to look sad, but quickly stopped and stage whispered, "Bye." She smiled.

Johnny didn't answer; he only gave her a fake-looking, forced smile. As she walked away, he stared after her, mentally kicking himself for not going with her. Then, something strange happened. She had just disappeared around a bend in the hall, when he got a sudden feeling that Jessica shouldn't go on the plane.

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As Jessica walked away from Johnny, she instinctively began twisting the ring around her finger again and realized that she had kept the ring, though she had told him that she wouldn't marry him. So, she slipped it off her finger and placed it loosely in her jacket pocket. As she boarded the plane, she superstitiously stopped to place her right foot on the ramp before her left.

Jessica scanned the seats for an open one. She chose one next to a man who looked close to her age. He already had his laptop out, and he was typing away. She placed her small carry-on bag in the overhead compartment, but not before pulling out her book and her iPod.

He let her have the window seat and once she had sat down, she opened her book but didn't read it. She turned to look out the window, and all she could do was think about Johnny. She almost wished that he would come after her. He hadn't gotten angry, and he hadn't even asked her for an explanation. It didn't seem right to her. The stewardess came on the intercom and gave her normal speech about safety and emergency procedures.

The plane took off and Jessica looked out the window towards the airport and was almost positive she saw Johnny's figure watching her plane depart from a window.

Once the plane was in the air, Jessica fell asleep, the only way she could think of to escape from her confused emotions. It didn't work. He even invaded her dreams. They had only been apart for a few minutes, but she already desperately missed him.

She wanted to tell him she had changed her mind. However, when she was woken up, she realized that she might never get to tell him the truth.

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Johnny stood by the window and watched Jessica's flight fade into the horizon. Once it was out of sight, he picked up his bag which he had packed planning on going with Jessica, and walked back out to her car which they had driven here.

I should have gone after her. He thought. Oh well, it's too late now. He told himself.

He drove back to the Baxter Building, constantly torturing himself, wondering what he did wrong to lose Jessica like that.

Once he reached the Baxter Building, he went to Reed's apartment and slumped into the couch. He was so busy moping that he didn't notice when Ben Grimm walked in through the doorway.

"Whoa," Ben said, obviously surprised by Johnny's depressed state. "What happened to you, Hot Head?" He asked.

Sue followed Ben into the room and asked, "Weren't you supposed to leave with Jessica?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to be alone," he answered.

She started to continue walking to the lab, but then stopped. "Wait. You want to be alone?" Sue said. "What happened?"

Johnny sighed, "Jessica doesn't want to marry me anymore."

It was at this point in the conversation that Reed entered the room.

"Wait. You and Jessica were engaged?" Ben asked in a confused voice.

"You can't really call it an engagement," Johnny said. "It didn't even last for twenty-four hours."

"Well, what can you expect?" Reed began. "You haven't even known each other for one week. You should probably wait a while-"

Johnny cut him off, "You told her that?" Johnny asked angrily. His hand burst into flame. "I finally found one girl that I love, and you're the one that screws it up?" He was preparing to send a ball of flame in Reed's direction, when Sue created a force field around Johnny, preventing him from doing anything drastic.

"Okay, Johnny. Cut it out," Sue said with just the right tone of authority. "Do you really care about her that much?" She asked.

The flame on his hand turned out. "Yes," Johnny said, as if that was a stupid question.

She dropped her force field and added tenderly, "Then go after her."

"Go after her?" Johnny asked.

"Go find her. Meet her at he airport," Reed said.

"Or in the air," Ben added.

"In the air," Johnny whispered to himself. "Can I take the Fantasticar?" Johnny asked.

"The keys are in the ignition," Reed said.

Johnny smiled widely as he grabbed his bag he had packed before and ran to the roof, where the Fantasticar was parked. He started it up and grinned at the sound of the roaring engine. However, it was quickly wiped off his face when he got the sudden feeling that something just wasn't right.