Sorry it's taken me to long to get this next chappie up. It's also really short, but I just haven't had much time to write lately, what with Thanksgiving and everything. Anyway, I'll try to get the next one up sooner - try being the key word. I've bene really busy lately. And yes, this is kinda a filler chappie, sorry, but don't worry, more action is heading your way, I promise. LOL. Just keep reading and reviewing! I love reviews!

Chapter 13

Becca was the giddiest girl on the face of the planet. Her smile penetrated the entire house, though she tried not to let it show too much, especially around Johnny. She didn't want his head to get any bigger and refused to show him how happy he made her until she knew the feeling was mutual. Right now it was no such thing. He was still Johnny Storm, the player of the year. Although he did touch her with a tenderness she wasn't sure he had ever expressed to any other woman, a tenderness she didn't feel was possible when she first met him, she still felt just like a face in the crowd, like one woman among a sea of others who swooned after The Human Torch. She hated it, this feeling of being just one of the many when she yearned to be the one and only. The rest of the girls in his life were content with one night with the muscular man, but she just couldn't be. She had to have him, and every time he kissed her it only intensified that desire.

"Becca?" Reed entered his younger sister's room timidly, knocking on the door and slowly pushing it open. Becca, seated at her desk, looked up immediately to see Mr. Fantastic making his way to her side cautiously and her face hardened. She crossed her arms across her chest firmly and frowned, waiting for the humble apology she knew was coming and was prepared to ignore. She nodded as if encouraging him to continue. "H-how's your writing?"

Silence.

"Would you please just talk to me? I don't see how you expect me to treat you like an adult when you resort to the silent treatment – one of the most childish things among the entire human species."

"Did you just come here to insult me?" she asked finally, her voice strained and filled with malice.

"No, I came here to apologize and talk things out," he said.

"Oh, so I'm just supposed to accept your apology and then you can resume your position as Mr. Protective, is that it?" she retorted, her pride still stinging from his last remark. "Besides, I don't see how we have anything to talk about."

"All right, Becca, if that's the way you're gonna be, then fine. Forget I ever came in here. And don't you worry about ever having to listen to any apologies from me; I won't waste my breath," Reed said, turning his back on her and walking out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"I suck," she sighed to herself, staring at the closed door. She couldn't understand why she had said those things to him and wanted to leap up from her chair and beg him for another chance, tell him how sorry she was for their stupid fight, but her foolish pride prevented it. All she could do was sit there, staring at her door, beating herself up inside.

The next morning Johnny waltzed into the kitchen to find Becca at the stove flipping pancakes. Reed, Susan, and Ben sat at the table awaiting their breakfast, Reed's face buried in the morning paper. Becca was completely oblivious to the fact that Johnny had just entered the room and continued with her cooking as he snuck up behind her and pressed his lips against her neck soothingly.

"Johnny," she breathed, smiling brightly as the sensation of his lips against her neck overcame her. She turned around to face him as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body into his. She pressed her lips against his and began to kiss him as he pulled the clip out of her hair, allowing it to fall to the floor just as it had against the deck of the boat. He ran his fingers through her hair as he had before but let out a groan of pleasure when she ran hers through his. Reed peeked over the top of his newspaper but quickly disappeared behind it again, Ben also seeking shelter underneath the flimsy piece of paper. The one good thing about being a rock he had found was that during moments like this blushing wasn't a possibility, but the horrible sense of embarrassment still remained. Susan, however, just gazed upon the scene sweetly. Reed, behind his paper, burned with an emotion he couldn't quite find a word for, it wasn't entirely anger or hurt, there was something else there too, something he didn't know how to describe.

"Johnny."

The blonde turned around to see Reed standing in the hallway, his face set with determination.

"What's up, egghead?" Johnny asked with his casual smirk.

"That was quite a display of affection back there," Reed said as Johnny shrugged.

"What can I say? Your sister's a great kisser," he replied.

"That's right, she is my sister – my younger sister, I might add," Reed said.

"What are you gettin' at, Reed?" Johnny crossed his arms over his chest and just looked at the man confusedly, not quite understanding his point.

"What are your intentions, Johnny?" he asked.

"Intentions? What do you mean?" the boy responded.

"Only this – that if I were you I'd be very careful with her. If I ever find out you've hurt her, you'll be answering not only to me but to Ben. I'm her older brother; it's my job to take care of her, and I don't take my job lightly. Just remember that." With that the man turned on his heel and walked back down the hall. Johnny, now standing alone in the middle of the hallway, began to chuckle to himself.

"Did I just get threatened by the nerd of the year?"