I'm late, I know. But trust me, it was worth it!

Raven was relieved to see that there was no Johnny sleeping in a chair next to her bed, the next morning. She was unsure how she had even gotten there, but figured that he had carried her. For a moment she lay, looking at where Johnny had been the day before. Then her eyes found her alarm clock and she saw it was still quite early. She decided that sleeping in was a very appealing thing to do right now, so she turned around, buried herself deeper in her blankets and waited for sleep to take her once again. While trying to fall asleep again, she found herself thinking about the previous morning.

After she had woken and had that talk with Johnny, she kicked him out to change. As soon as she left her room, Johnny, Reed and Susan were waiting for her in the kitchen, all looking very serious.

"Where's Ben?" She'd asked, figuring that it was time for a 'talk' about the day before and of her abduction. She had expected all of them to be there.

"With Alicia. She's going traveling soon and he wants to spend a few days with her first." Reed replied, motioning for her to sit. "We need to talk."

"Yeah.." she seated herself by the table, not in the chair he motioned for, but the one next to Johnny. He pushed a bowl of cut apples towards her, his look clearly saying 'Eat willingly or I will force you'. She took one and chewed slowly on it. "I figured you'd want to know what happened."

Three nodding heads. Johnny was unusually serious and quiet. She finished one piece and pushed the bowl away, only for Johnny to push it back, very insistently. Sending him a little glare, he offered her a private smirk, unseen by the others. He mouthed 'eat' and she took another apple.

"So, ask away." She looked back at Reed.

"I'd prefer it if you just told us everything."

She grimaced slightly. Tell them everything? That sounded exhausting. "Well, I was kidnapped by Teresa after Johnny left." Johnny made a pained noise to which she told him "shut up, it wasn't your fault".

She went on to explain how she woke up, how she sang children's tunes for hours (Johnny laughed at that) and then how Teresa performed experiments on her.

Instead of exaggerating or playing tough, she told them exactly how it had felt. "Like I was on fire.. I was unable to move, limp, but every touch, every painful sting, every burning sensation.."

Her story put a damper on the already glum mood around the table. Of course they had guessed parts of what had happened, but she made it sound far worse than they had originally thought it was. The worst thing was they didn't even know what experiments and what they might do.

After a brief silence, in which they took in what she'd told them, Susan spoke up. "We've contacted the police. Teresa is a wanted woman now." She reached across the table and held Raven's hand. "Do you want any professional help? From a doctor?"

Raven considered the idea. But she realized that she was actually fine. She was scared yes, but overall, she didn't think she needed the help.

"No.. No, I'm fine. I just need time."

Reed and Susan wore identical looks of concern, before both pressed their lips together and nodded. They were like two parents.

"Susan and I are leaving soon." This made Raven look up at Reed. "There's a scientifical conference we have to go to. We'll be gone for four days."

"We're sorry to leave you so soon after what happened, but this is really important. Don't worry, Johnny is staying." Susan looked sympathetic.

Alone with Johnny for four days? Why did that scare her and excite her at the same time? For some reason, she didn't dare look at Johnny. She focused on that same spot on the table again instead.

"It's fine. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine." She smiled reassuringly at them.

When Reed had said that they'd leave soon, he really meant soon. They only asked once more if she was alright, before gathering their already packed luggage and leaving.

"Alone at last!" Johnny joked once they were out the door. He clapped his hands together as if scheming and then chortled evilly.

Raven was left wondering just how much sugar he'd had for breakfast.

That was before the whole 'massaging' incident, which she decidedly ignored had ever happened. Despite the fact that her back had never felt as nice and smooth as it was now. He'd probably turned it into butter. It was a secret superpower of his, she bet.

She fell back to sleep, but only for an hour and a half, before a very, very rude wakening.

"WAKE UP!" Johnny roared and slammed the door open loudly. She was positive he knocked the door off its hinges, that's what it sounded like.

"Certainly not." She mumbled and tugged herself deeper under the blankets. Waking up didn't sound very attractive right now.

Johnny caught onto her unwillingness rather quickly. Biting his lip to keep his smile from penetrating, he leapt and jumped onto the bed. He landed with a muffled 'buff' in the soft blankets.

"Uuf!" Raven lost all air in her lungs when one of Johnny's arms connected with her stomach. She gasped for breath for a bit. Johnny laughed loudly and she slapped him on the arm, to distract herself from the fact that his laugh was extremely nice. Such a satisfied and contend, deep belly laugh that shook his whole body.

"Come one, getupgetup!" He started bouncing on the bed, which was very distractive, because it led her thoughts towards other bed activities, which often resulted in the bed bouncing..

Stop it!

"Oh, for the love of.. WHY DO I NEED TO GET UP?" She sat up, mostly to stop his bouncing, ignoring her bed head.

"I'm hungry." He dead-panned. She gave him a vicious glare, which he returned with an innocent smile, worthy of a small child.

"I don't see what that's got to do with me." She slid under the covers again and closed her eyes. Three seconds later, she could feel the cold air reach her body and the weight of another person beside her. She opened one eye. Her head skipped a beat pleasantly when Johnny was right next to her. Under her blanket. A few inches too close for comfort. She could feel his unnaturally high body heat so close to her own cold body.

"You have to make it." He informed her. His breath smelled of fire. He sent her his best puppy-eyes.

Damn him and his blue eyes!

"Fiiine." She groaned. He jumped up again, practically beaming.

She stared at him for a moment, wonder on her face. "How is it that you can be so hyper, without having eaten breakfast yet?"

He just smiled wider. "Scratch that.. How can you be so hyper at all?"

"Oh, I'm just happy I get to hang out for three whole days, all alone, with my best friend!"

Great, best friend zoned..

"Best friend or personal cook?"

"Both." He ducked to avoid the pillow she threw at him.

Raven was pretty sure she was a bit drunk. After preparing, and eating, breakfast, Johnny and she had spent the whole day in the city, walking around aimlessly, having a good time. They ate dinner at a bar, where Johnny often went. It was a cozy little place, if a little shabby.

He explained that he had been at this bar with Ben when they both thought earth was going to get eaten by a giant space cloud.

"We talked.. And I realized some stuff."

He was very vague, avoiding any straight answers, only saying that it made him re-think his life a bit. "This place holds sentimental value to me." He'd said.

Now, they were back in the apartment, propped, once again, in front of the television. Johnny had looked through Susan and Reed's stash and found an expensive wine, which they were now taking care of.

They were playing some form of home-invented poker game, which Raven wasn't sure her alcohol induced mind properly understood, but was a lot of fun anyway.

Judging by his behavior, Johnny wasn't entirely there either. The bottle of wine was almost empty. She giggled a bit at the thought of them drinking a whole bottle, just by themselves.

"I swear that was a legitimate move!" Johnny was clearly cheating and she'd caught him in the act. He'd spent the last five minutes trying to convince her that he wasn't.

"Johnny, we're supposed to be playing by the proper rules, not the ones you invented! That's not fair."

He poured them both another glass, the bottle now empty. "Cheers!"They clinked their glasses together merrily.

"Johnny, are you trying to get me drunk? Trying to take advantage of a poor defenseless girl?" She laughed again, finding everything funny at that moment. The alcohol had loosened her up and moved her boundaries and she found herself saying things she normally wouldn't.

"You're already pretty out there, sweetheart. I won't have to get you drunk!"

"So you admit it then?"

He joined her laughter.

"Raven sweetheart, I don't want to take advantage of you! That'd totally ruin our friendship."

But I'd totally want you to take advantage of me, she thought. Her smile fell slightly. Always friends, never more than that.

She was suddenly not in such a good mood anymore. The alcohol hadn't only made her giggling and happy, it had also made her hyper-aware of Johnny. Every move, every facial expression.. It was ruining her already frail nerves, gnawing away at her control. More than once, she'd caught herself almost kissing him.

She put down the cards, not in the mood to play anymore.

"What're you doing? Not done!" He sounded a bit whiny that she'd suddenly stopped their game.

"I don't wanna play anymore." She pouted.

"Whyyyy?" This time it was a full-blown whine. She shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno. Not in the mood."

A mischievous look crossed his face. "I'll just have to force you then." He wriggled his eyebrows at her.

"Not if you can't catch me first!" She jumped up, splashing a distracting gush of water at his face, to give her a few more seconds to run.

"I'll get you for that!" He jumped up too, both laughing loudly. She could barely run, she was laughing so hard.

They were behaving like children. And she loved every second of it.

They chased around for a long time, Raven squealing, Johnny roaring with laughter.

The apartment was kind of trashed. They upturned chairs, pushed around with the sofa pillows, Raven succeeded in getting water all over the place, Johnny scorched a wall so badly it turned black in one spot.. They were behaving like children.

In the end, after they were both panting with the effort, Johnny managed to corner her. He got hold of both her arms and held them above her head, effectively keeping her in place. Her back was against a wall and she was completely trapped between it and Johnny. He was incredibly close and once again, she was very aware of everything him.

His body wasn't touching hers, but she could feel his body heat. Her wrists burned from his touch. Suddenly, she did not feel so drunk anymore. Suddenly, she was very serious.

Something had changed in him too, because the smile had faded from his face, replaced by an intense look she couldn't place. She knew that she mirrored his appearance. Her lips were slightly parted from her panting, as was his. Such beautiful, full lips. She really wanted to kiss him. She could feel his labored breath on her face and it sent shivers up and down her spine.

One of his hands let go of her wrists, his other still holding onto them, keeping her arms away. His hand traveled down until it came to rest on her cheek. It stroked her cheekbone slightly and she wanted to close her eyes form the sensation. But she was scared to look away from his eyes, scared to break the spell.

His other hand let go and it was placed on the wall next to her head. Her heart was pumping so loudly in her ears, she couldn't hear anything else. Her arms came down too, to rest on his chest. She shivered at the feel of muscle under her hands.

Johnny let out a shuddering breath, and then leaned closer.

He broke eye-contact with her, for a short second, to look at her lips. Then they met hers again and she was struck with how deep they were. He looked pleadingly at her, as if asking for permission. She poured as much encouragement as she could into her look, leaning just a fraction more into his body.

He moved closer still and then their lips connected.

White hot passion licked at her very core. The kiss wasn't sweet or hesitant or polite. As soon as they connected, both became like wild animals. His body collided with hers roughly, pushing her against the wall. She held onto his shirt and pulled him even closer to her, wanting him in her personal space as much as possible. Every single one of her senses was taking him in, breathing him in, as he greedily claimed her mouth over and over.

It was even better than the massage, it was better than anything she had ever dreamed of.

His hands were everywhere and she wasn't ashamed to admit that so were hers. Vapor erupted everywhere, the steaming of their skin mirroring the steaming of their passion.

She felt her dams break, allowing all her pent up sexual frustration, all her passion, all her buried feelings to go lose.

He picked her up, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as his held onto her thighs and waist. Never taking his mouth from hers, he stumbled out of the living room. He accidentally slammed her into the door which led to his room, where they had another heated make out session, before he opened the door and led them into his room.

Soon, the room was filled with steam, to the point where one could see anything and they were both drenched.

Maybe it was the alcohol talking, perhaps just plain lust, but maybe, maybe, it was something more. But it didn't matter. Because that night, that night, fire and water found each other.

Dadaaa!

I finally did it! I hope it was to your satisfaction.

Anyway, sorry this was so late. I've had a busy week and I've been focusing all my writing time on a new story I'm working in.

It's a Superman/OC story and I'm really proud of it, so far. It's basically just a story of what would happen if some girl found out about his secret and they became friends, then something more. It's very different from anything I've ever written before. In my own opinion, it's better than this story, so far.

If you'd be interested in checking it out, tell me in a review and I'll send you the prologue. I'd really like some feedback on it.

Anyway, thank you for reading and leave a REVIEW to tell me what you think!