Disclaimer: I don't own or pretend to own anything relating to Fantastic Four, the characters, or the actors. But I do own my plot and my own characters . . . so please respect my territory.


Chapter Twenty-Eight

Strawberry Roses

Memories: Part V

Chapter Quote: "You're serious?"


My last days tutoring Johnny were rather uneventful in nature. We didn't go anywhere afterwards really, though he still insisted on driving me home. I dropped in on Port occasionally, but he was still too engrossed in his novel to pay me much heed. He looked like he was improving, but his almost blatant avoidance of conversations made visiting him not quite as enjoyable as it might have otherwise been. I mean, I knew what Port was like in a writing mood, but this was the first time that he hadn't let me in on his project at all.

In a way, I felt I deserved it. It was me, after all, who had started up with the keeping of secrets. Though, if I could have gone back, I would have done anything possible to mend that first crack in our friendship. One that would hurt us so badly later.

Life went on. I rode my horses, helped my Dad on the weekends around the farm, did my homework; soon enough, it was Monday again. I was free of my obligation to Johnny and, as far I as knew, nothing had really changed between us. Classes continued as usual to the point of boredom and, on that particular afternoon, Susan was too engrossed with her new crowd to go riding with me. I honestly didn't mind the fact that she was meeting new people, but between that and Port's silence I was beginning to feel more and more isolated.

At least when I had been with Johnny, I had someone to talk to. But now... well, right now I was kind of drifting on my own. I don't think I minded terribly, but it also meant that I had no one to talk to about Johnny. And like it or not, I couldn't manage to stop thinking about him. I tried breaking it down, analyzing it. 'It' being the strange way he was behaving now.

As I said before, nothing had changed. Not really. I hadn't seen nor spoken to him all day and, as the week wore on, I didn't catch so much as a glimpse of him. I guess he knew now that I wasn't someone to torment, but I kind of missed his teasing from our tutoring sessions. Besides, what I found the most difficult to understand was that I knew he had soul now. And, for however briefly, I had caught a glimpse into it.


When a bouquet of wildflowers arrived at my door early on Friday morning, I knew that Port had come close to completing his novel. He'd given me flowers daily since we'd met in kindergarten, and I hadn't realized how much I had missed those little gifts since he had started his literary endeavor. It wasn't anything big, but it meant that he was thinking of me. Port had never been so distant about any of his works with me before, and I was more than just a little curious about the cause of his secrecy. I planned to stop right in after school.

So as I went about the business of shoving things into my locker, and removing a few, choice texts for homework at the end of school that same day, I was slightly startled to see a pale, pink rose hovering before me like a ghostly vision out of a dream.

"Surprise?" Hesitantly commented its keeper, and I found myself gaping as I looked up at Johnny. He held the rose out to me, urging me to take it. "I...uh... I wanted to talk to you."

I gently took the flower from his hand and held it delicately in my own. "Whatever about?" I asked, gazing momentarily at the flower and then into his face.

He rubbed the back of his neck and then gestured down the hall. "Can we talk outside?"

I frowned, the clock above the doorway told me that Port would be awaiting my arrival in just a few minutes. But when I opened my mouth to offer this explanation, Johnny raised his hands, palms out,

"Just for a minute? It won't take long."

And, once again, I was intrigued. Unfortunately (or fortunately, I could never tell afterwards), I wouldn't learn to curb my imaginative curiosity until I was much older. (And I was still never very good at it then.) But at that moment, of course, I agreed and followed him as he hastily retreated out the doors of the building.

Most of the other kids had gone home already and the campus grounds were pretty deserted now. "Shouldn't you be at football practice?" I asked, following him along until he stopped underneath a large, Maple tree and he turned to me.

"I don't really know how to say this..." He began, taking a deep breath and avoiding my prying eyes.

"If this is another 'I'm sorry', Johnny-" I began in exasperation, gesturing with the flower in my hand.

"It's not." He interrupted hastily. He sighed. "It's a gift."

"A gift?"

"Yeah, a strawberry rose. I thought you might like it. Girls always do."

I smiled ruefully. "They do?"

"Yeah- except you're different from most girls, so I got you a strawberry rose."

I traced the delicate petals with my fingers, following the pale, pink veins. "It's lovely Johnny. But why?"

He shrugged. "I uh-" My brows raised, awaiting his answer. He sighed again, was he actually nervous? He avoided my gaze, looked up at the sky. "Do you want to go out with me sometime?"

I almost laughed until I realized that he wasn't joking. "You're serious?"

He nodded.

"You want to go out... with me?"

"Don't say it like that Jo, you make it sound so-"

"Wrong?" I offered, his face blanched and, very slowly, he nodded.

"So why isn't it wrong?"

Blowing hard through his lips, he snorted, and chuckled. "You couldn't have just made this easy for me and said yes... huh?"

"Since we've already established that I'm not like 'most other girls', then you can hardly be surprised. Besides, it's much more fun this way."

He looked so bashful and shy, with his cheeks and the tips of his ears reddening. His shoulders were hunched, and he ran his fingers through his short, cropped hair. It was hard to even imagine this Johnny, this person that I hardly knew. And, again, I was presented with something that I didn't really know about him and didn't really know how to deal with. It was intriguing.

"I like you." He said at length. "You're not like anyone I've ever met, and I wouldn't mind getting to know more about you."

"So you're not doing this out of guilt?"

He smiled. "Not this time."

"You're not off the hook for that you know."

He acknowledged that comment with a nod and I continued. "So, theoretically speaking, if I was to give this a shot, you would have something better in mind then just going to see a movie... right?"

He laughed, looking slightly more at ease with himself as his body relaxed. "I'll discredit that possibility for now."

"If I say yes, you mean." I replied, grinning mischievously at him and enjoying every minute of it.

"Tomorrow at seven?" He asked hopefully, giving me that puppy-face I had started to grow accustomed to.

"If you pick me up."

His face melted into a bright smile and we stood there awkwardly for a moment in silence, not really saying anything.

"Won't you be late for practice?" I prodded gently.

"Oh... right." He turned and set off at a jog for the football field. He stopped midway and turned back to me, and then hesitantly waved. Shaking my head, I waved back.

It never occurred to m to question why I had said yes, or even to analyze any of my thoughts on the whole situation. I gazed fondly at the pink rose in my hand. A strawberry rose. I shook my head and began my walk over to Portman's house.


It didn't really occur to me until I was at the door that I didn't have the faintest idea as to what I was going to tell Portman. Johnny asked me out... I said yes? That would blow over really well. I mean, wasn't it just a few weeks ago that I had thought Johnny to be nothing more then a pompous, athletic airhead? What had prompted me to accept his outrageous proposa. What had changed?

I supposed that the biggest change came in the form of acknowledging my formal nemesis as an intelligent human being. Learning that Johnny was not only smart, but also more then just a big, dumb jock was astonishing to me. So that had changed... what else?

The door before me opened suddenly. I blinked once or twice before I recognized the slightly disheveled form of Portman before me. One arm in a cast, his good one held open the door as he lazily leaned against it. He smiled. "You stood in front of the door for about five minutes before I decided that you needed some prodding."

"You knew I was coming?" I asked, masking my absentmindedness with surprise.

"I hoped that you would. I've been waiting for you all day." I smiled, he pushed open the screen door wider. "You going to come in?" Gesturing inside with a nod of his head.

"It feels good to be back." I replied, stepping in, listening for the familiar click of the door shutting behind me.

"I missed you." He said, leading me into the kitchen where Mrs. Yates had prepared our customary snack- a platter of Oreo's. There was an island counter in the middle of the kitchen, with stools pulled up to it like a bar.

"Is that one from me?" He asked, I blinked and looked down in surprise at the rose still clutched in my hand.

"Um... yeah." I brought it up to my nose and sniffed it, it smelled wonderful. I smiled, subconsciously enjoying the thought behind the gift once more.

"Where have you been?" He pulled two glassed out of the cabinet and poured me some milk.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" Port asked incredulously as he slid a glass of milk over te island counter-top towards me. "You've hardly been around at all these past few weeks. What happened?"

I gazed, wide-eyed, at him. Astonished. "What happened? Port, you hardly said two words to me when I did came. You were always too busy writing your book."

"I still enjoyed your company." He said defensively, slightly taken aback at the sudden sharpness in my tone. "Just because I was writing doesn't mean that I didn't value your presence."

I munched on an Oreo, feeling peevish. Partly because, for almost a month now, Port had hardly spoken to me at all and apparently, that silence was my fault. And then, partly, because I still hadn't told him about Johnny. I stared sourly into my milk and he sighed in exasperation.

"Look Jo, I don't want this to erupt into something that it shouldn't be." He slid an Oreo across the counter to me. I glanced up at him. Smiling sheepishly, he gestured to it with his free hand. "Truce?"

I thought of how Johnny had asked me that same question, of the date he had just asked me out on. Port was my friend, he didn't deserve to be treated like this. "Fine... truce." I replied, taking the Oreo and practically inhaling it, if not slightly guiltily. "Don't blame me for stupid stuff like this again though." I added before sipping from my milk.

He chuckled, "Very well." Taking a seat beside me, we munched on the chocolatey delights for a few moments in silence.

I loved Port, really I did. He was my dearest friend and I hated the fact that

I had been ignoring him lately. I turned to him again and pointed to the worn manuscript laying before us on the counter. "Are you going to show it to me?"

Port glanced up at his book, and then turned back to me. "Maybe later." He said. "I feel like I haven't seen you in a while, I'd like to do some catching up." He nodded toward an open window where a cool, autumn breeze blew lazily into the kitchen. "What to go for a walk?"

I finished my last cookie and I nodded.


I told Port how lonely I had been without him. How the horses had noticed my depression and had tried to give me kisses. I told him ho I hadn't written anything in weeks because I had missed him so. He laughed, and when we were done, his mother gave me a ride how. It was good to see him again.

I told him lots of things. But I didn't realize until later that I had never worked up the courage to tell him about me and Johnny.


A/N: School's out. Summer's here. You can blame writer's block, laziness, Netflix, school, and work for me having not updated in months. It amazed me that I still manage to can these chapters out, but I'm absolutely determined to finish this story... even if it takes me another two years! FYI, Fire May Burn's 2 year anniversary was on May 16th. - Maybe I'll make a wallpaper or something to commemorate it. Wouldn't that be lovely?

Anyway, believe it or not, I actually have several more chapters written out. I just have to get my tush in action and start typing. I'm trying to get myself on some sort of schedule, especially since this is the only fanfiction I'm working on right now. We'll see. I'll let all you all know.

Thanks to whoever is still reading this... your comments are appreciated and dually noted. Love ya!

TO BE CONTINUED...

(hopefully soon)