ENDING! :O OH EM GEE 49 chapters. Well the Epilogue will be out sometime soon ^^ I need to get around to typing it up. Please rate and comment :)
xx
SSC
Johnny stared down at the rippling waters within the sink. Each time his hands brushed a few tendrils of red branch off his skin and then dissolving into the water.
His gaze raised to his reflection, splotches of blood littered his suit, so much blood. A haunting reminder that Elise was in an operation room within the hospital he was in, fighting for her life.
His mind was still replaying the moment she was stabbed, the shock he felt at first—then the rage. He barreled towards Jeremy and tackled him to the ground before punching him mercilessly across his face.
He didn't make a move to revolt. He just lay there, taking all the hits with the same vacant expression on his bruising face. Johnny couldn't stop and he didn't want to, each time his hard knuckles made a painful impact against Jeremy's cheek bones, he felt infinitely better.
"Johnny stop!"
He continued to punch, left, right, left. He steadied one fierce grip on the man's throat with his left hand and brought his right arm up. A flame sparked and spread across his arm in a fierce, dangerous intent.
Johnny knew if Ben hadn't pulled him off, he would have burnt Jeremy to a crisp.
He still wanted to.
He knew everything was different now. His feelings for Elise were out in the open.
Johnny climbed out of his suit, picked it off the floor and dropped it into the sink, and then he began to rifle through the gym bag of clothes Susan had brought for him. He changed into a casual pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. He stuffed the suit into the bag and zipped it up. Normally he would have gone back to the Baxter building to change, but he didn't want to leave, not until he knew Elise was alright. Not until he got the word that she was going to recover.
So much blood.
Shaking away his forlorn feelings, he tried to fortify his mind before exiting the bathroom of the empty private room he had found. He knew the moment he stepped back out into the waiting room in the hospital, Ben was going clobber him.
Johnny was slammed back into the concrete wall behind him with Ben's rock like hand gripping tightly at his neck.
Alicia shrieked hearing the impact and tried to reason with Ben, but her words fell on deaf ears. Their actions had startled a few other waiting members within the hospital. The nurses and doctors were too terrified to intervene.
"It's not what you think." Johnny choked out while struggling against the Thing's deathly hold, his legs failing inches off the ground.
"Really? So you are not using my Eli for your perverted activities." Johnny flinched. He suddenly hated how crass it sounded coming from her uncle. Taking what little air he could he focused his gaze on Ben's disfigured face, trying not to falter under the hateful glower in his eyes.
"It's different with her."
"How the hell is it different with my little—"
"I love her." He stated firmly cutting in. Ben was taken back but Storm didn't look away, he wanted him to know how utterly serious he was "I'm in love with her."
Ben's frown returned in tenfold, but his grip around Johnny's neck had lessened considerably.
"I could beat you to a pulp, kid." He threatened, raising his boulder-like arm into the air. Johnny's eyes squinted shut on instinct, awaiting impact.
"But I won't."
Johnny was startled by this.
"Why not? I deserve it." The words had left his lips automatically, Ben was amused by this.
"Glad you can see that." He grunted, releasing his hold on the young man's neck. Johnny was back to standing on the tiled floors of the hospital waiting room.
"I always worried about Eli, she wasn't like most girls. Quick temper, always fighting in school, I think most of that she got from me." Ben began to say his voice gruff with sentiment "But the kid as a good heart, which is a miracle because I didn't think she would be same after the shit her parents put her through—my own sister put her through."
Ben sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat and misery. The fact that Elise was in an operation room in a critical state truly dawned on to him in that moment, he wanted a place to sit. Knowing there wasn't one that couldn't handle his weight, he groaned in frustration.
"The kid has good judgment, it took me a while to see it, but she does. She must see something in you to tell you about her irrational fear." He noted looking to Johnny who tensed up. Ben had heard when Johnny told the nurse that Elise didn't take pain relief in the form of tablets.
"No one else knows about that?" Johnny asked unsure, Ben nodded in response.
"Just us. I didn't want to see it, the idea of you and my little Eli. Scared the crap out of me." He suddenly grimaced and took a stomping step in his direction. Johnny immediately stepped back, startled by the abruptness in his domineering movements.
"You are not good enough for her." He growled, in a frank tone that cut through the fire user "But you make her laugh more than I ever could, more than that Jason kid ever did."
It's actually Jeremy. Johnny wanted to clip out all knowingly, but being under Ben's glower, he didn't want to risk being pummeled.
"If you break her heart, if I catch you making her feel like she isn't worth all the love in the world. I am going to beat your face in so hard they'll refer to me as the pretty boy."
He could only nod mutely, satisfied by his lack of a response, Ben turned away. Alicia who had been the spectator of the entire conversation, sighed in relief knowing it was over. She had to admit, she expected it to be a lot worse.
Reed and Susan suddenly emerged from a bend in a far corridor, from the operation rooms. They rushed towards them, fretfully waiting for the verdict.
"Reed, tell me some good news." Ben pleaded.
The doctor smiled kindly and placed a comforting hand on Ben's wide shoulder "Elise is going to be just fine. She is resting for now."
"Oh thank goodness." Alicia breathed out as Johnny sighed in relief, his tense body relaxin instantly.
"The doctor's said we can see her once she wakes up, but I don't think it will be for a while." Susan informend softly "We need to go make a statement to the police and sort out all of this."
"Alright, who is going to stay here and-"
"I'll do it." Johnny cut in before anyone else offered and marched off in the direction of the patient rooms. They stared after him in mute wonder.
Elise lay propped against the bed she was assigned to, staring drolly at the TV screen. They wouldn't stop broadcasting images of her being rushed to the hospital, most of them were of Reed Richards refusing to answer questions. She even heard a few nurses whisper about the amount of reporters loitering around the hospital.
She didn't care about any of that in that moment. She just wanted to get out. She hated hospital, he diversion towards them were reasons regarding her mother. Even so, she didn't like being in an unfamiliar bed wearing just a paper dress.
Ben, Reed and Susan had visited her. Dropping off flowers and chocolates and checking her health. Elise would smile and thank them for stopping by, especially Alicia because she liked to bring her good luck beads. Elise supported one of Alicia's charm bracelets on her wrist that moment.
Then Johnny came in, their exchange was short because she claimed she was tired and wanted to go back to sleep. She knew he was disappointed by her frank dismissal but he left without a word.
It had been two days and during those two days Kevin had visited, he made it a point to let her know Johnny was waiting outside for her.
"Is he still there?" Elise asked as Kevin walked in, stopping to look back past the frame of the door and then back to her.
"Yup." He answered with a casual lift of her shoulders. She groaned and sunk further into the comfort of the pillow. The dull throbbing of her wound irritating her further.
"Why won't he leave?" She pondered out loud. Kevin stood at the foot of her bed and shot her a sardonic look that seemed to say 'you know why'.
"Elise you need to talk to him." He ordered firmly, she snorted and averted her gaze back to the television screen.
"I was stabbed, don't I get a day off when I am in pain."
Kevin smiled and heedlessly strolled over to her side. He peered at the morphine drip and then to the IV monitor, watching her heart rate being recorded in the form of a pulsing green light. She grimaced, she hated needles and she was glad that she wasn't awake to see a nurse admister the drug.
"There are options to relieve both pains, one is I up your morphine intake and two—just talk to him." Elise did not appreciate the witty nature of his words. She frowned up at the cheeky way he smiled down at her.
"Damn you Kevin." She grumbled, he was right. She had to talk to him.
Kevin grinned, pleased that she was willing to be rational. He gently helped her sit up on the bed before exiting, with the intention of informing Johnny.
Elise really wished her heart rate wasn't being monitored in that moment, because anticipating his arrival was causing the machine to beep rather frantically. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself.
The moment she opened her eyes, he was standing at the threshold of the room. Elise was startled by his appearance; he seemed to be in a worse shape than she was. Tired droopy eyes, his hair had lost its usual shine and neatness. Elise was pretty sure he was wearing the same band-tee from the day before.
"Hey." He said, his voice thick with exhaustion.
"Hey." She murmured in return. Johnny lingered awkwardly by the door and she rolled her eyes before gesturing at the chair to her left "You can sit down you know."
Nodding mutely, he walked over and sat down. She watched him struggle to get comfortable for a moment, awkwardly shifting about on the seat. Until he found an ideal position, leaned over his legs with his arms posed on his muscular thighs. He was staring down at his hands, rubbing them nervously.
Despite everything, she still wanted to assure him, knowing the guilt was eating him alive. But she had trouble finding the words. She knew what she wanted to say, she had to swallow down her pride and just say it.
"I am sorry, I've been such a complete idiot. I didn't—"
"My feelings for Jeremy ended the day I realized that I liked you." Elise suddenly announced, before she lost all her nerve and forgot what she wanted to utter. Johnny blinked, startled by her outburst. Holding her vulnerable gaze, the meaning in her statement slowly sank in.
"You and Jeremy had been together for a year and you started liking me months ago." He stated in an all knowing tone that frustrated her.
"No, Johnny I liked you since the night on the cruise ship."
He reeled back , shocked by her words "What?"
Elise bit her lip, uncomfortable under his wide-eyed gaping expression. She averted her gaze to her lap, wringing the bed sheet in her hands.
"I didn't really want to believe at first, I just figured I hadn't had sex in so long my body just saw you as a worthy... outlet. My feelings just made sense after the whole bachelorette night, fiasco."
He was silent for a moment, and then she heard the scrapping sound of wood rubbing against tile. He had pulled the chair closer and was sitting alert and practically at the edge of his seat.
"Why didn't you say anything?" He questioned softly, his deep voice sent a wave of longing through her that made her eyes water. She blinked back her tears and looked him firmly in the eye.
"Are you kidding me?" She snapped, a breathless laugh full of disdain left her lips "With all the supermodels I didn't really think I had a chance."
Johnny frowned, he never knew Elise had such a low opinion of herself when it came to the women he used to date. At the same time it made sense, he wasn't exactly private with his life. He frolicked and flirted with every woman that caught his eye. It wasn't surprising that Elise didn't want to be with him. He just couldn't believe how blind he was.
"It's scary how well you can hide your feelings" He said with a low sigh "I had no idea. I mean you were so passive about it—"He paused glancing up at her, he didn't need to tell her something she already knew. That wasn't the point. She told him how she felt. Now it was his turn.
He reached out and gently placed his hand over hers. She stiffened under his touch but he didn't make a move to take his warmth away.
"I was only with them because you were so insistent on being friends, you always said no to me so I figured you weren't interested in that way."
"I was... I just wanted more." She admitted, gulping down the heavy lump in her throat.
Their gazes met, she was dazzled by the gleaming, determined blue of his eyes.
"I can give you more." Even know she could not detect a lie in his tone, she still shot him a look of uncertainty. Seeing this, he sighed and lowered his gaze to their hands.
"I've always been able to keep certain things in my life separate, like the girls I sleep with, do not get involved with my daily routine, there were no strings attached and I was fine with that but you…Even though we swore it was just sex I…I don't know just, it became more" He said hesitantly, like dreading murky waters.
"More?" She echoed, still reeling from his confession. He nodded the bravery in his shining gaze bewitched her.
"You are my only friend Elise." He admitted, slowly and somberly "I mean I didn't know what a friend was till I met you, you just understood me you called me on my bullshit and everything felt…real" Elise felt her heart race against the dazed far off look in his eye. A deep breath of air left his full lips as he bashfully after his gaze to their hands again, for a moment. He began to subconsciously stroke her skin, gently brushing the padded base of his thumb over her prominent knuckles.
"And when Jeremy came that night." She didn't miss the spark of vengeance in his eyes "I could see it all falling apart right before my eyes and I never felt so powerless before, I know the way I acted and treated you after wasn't right but I didn't know what else to do, what else to say because I knew you couldn't love me the way you loved Jeremy."
She could bear the defeated tone of his voice, having never heard it before. The tight hold she had on her bed sheet had softened and she moved her hands so she was the one touching him. His head shot up, alert under the warm grip of her fingers.
"Johnny..." She began to say, her voice hoarse in pained sympathy "Jeremy and I didn't have the perfect relationship. Even though I cared for him I always felt like I am the girl that he stays with because his parents didn't approve. It made me feel inferior and insecure to think that I will never be the type of girl any guy would want to bring home to his parents."
Elise breathed out a shaky puff of air. It was a lot easier to say that she thought. It felt like a house was lifted off her shoulders.
Johnny's heart clenched at her words. The guilt he felt for beating up Jeremy had left, his resentment was stronger. It made no sense to how the comatose man treated her, he was still trying to accept the fact that Jeremy had cheated on Elise with Valerie.
The idea only made him hate the red-head even more. He searched her face with astonished concern.
"But when I am with you I feel accepted, like I have a place in the world." She whispered. Her cheeks had taken on a charming shade of pink, embarrassed by the open, honest words that had left her lips. She looked at him, he was watching her intensely, and she suddenly felt trapped.
"At least I did until you went Johnny-douche bag on me."
Her touch left him instinctively and he felt his heart sink into his stomach. He reacted quickly, grasping her hand again, in a physical act to show he wouldn't give up.
"I didn't mean it, any of it. I am so sorry Smiles." He murmured in wounded sincerty. He gently brought up her hand to his mouth and tenderly brushed his lips against the length of her fingers. She felt her stomach flip from the intimate gesture.
"Please don't tell me you are done with me." The pleading tone of his voice immediately crumbled her strain defenses.
"Are you sick of me?" She asked meekly.
"Never." He retorted with a confidence she wasn't expecting, but it didn't mean she believed him.
"Yeah right, so you are telling me you didn't revert back to your ways that night." She demanded brutally.
"Because what you did, what you said—made me feel about this big." She brought her free hand up and pinched at the air to indicate how small and insignificant she had felt. His gaze lowered regretfully "I've been through this before; I don't need to go through it again."
"I didn't I—" He swallowed hard, a trifle pale "I am not going to say I didn't try because I did but I couldn't do it, even when they touched me it wasn't like before. I felt sick in my stomach but I didn't discourage them because I wanted to forget you, I wanted to feel something other than the emptiness you left in me. After you left it was like a wakeup call, I felt like such an idiot—I still do."
Elise was astounded, it was the most self-deprecation she had ever heard in him—she didn't even think it was possible, but she believed him. She could see and hear his struggle in every word, in every action. His grip on her hand tightened a little, as if taking power from her hold.
"I've never felt this way before in my life, I didn't know how to deal with everything and I did what I knew best. I thought I was going to lose you and the thought of not being around you, made me die inside."
Despite herself she smiled, startling him "Aren't you being a little overly dramatic?"
"I am serious." He said sternly. She sighed and felt her body relax slightly.
"It's not going to be like before." She reminded him.
"I know."
"Ben is going to be seriously hard on you." She warned.
He leaned in, his dazed gaze fell to her mouth "I don't care."
"I am not going to be able to trust you."
He stilled. She watched him carefully. A sudden dazzling, loving smile took over his handsome face. He moved closer to the point where she could feel his warm breath blow against the apples of her cheeks. He stared deep into her eyes and she couldn't look away.
"I'll keep trying to prove myself to you, for as long as you'll have me." He uttered "There is no one else, Smiles."
That was good line. She sniffled A really good line.
She knew she had fallen too deep and hard to doubt him. She wondered if she even wanted to. She couldn't deny herself what she wanted anymore just because she was always worried wanting things would end up hurting her. She needed him, all of him.
Seeing the conflict in her eyes he got off the seat and took tentative movements to sit beside her on the bed. Elise shuffled lightly to the side, allowing him room. Johnny sat down and carefully gathered her into his strong arms.
She leaned back into his chest but the moment she felt truly safe was when he kissed the crown of her head. Her will power, holding in her despair and frustration, broke down like a wrecking ball to a wall. Tears turned to sobbing and pretty soon she was a weeping mess that Johnny tried desperately to comfort.
"I am such a freaking sob story, stabbed in the back by my best friend, stabbed literally but my ex-boyfriend." She grumbled while trying to twist her body around without opening her stitches. Johnny laughed at her words and hugged her closer. She buried her face into the crook of his neck, soothed by the linger scent of aftershave on his skin.
"I love that you can make light out of the situation." He murmured affectionately while combing his fingers through the tangles in her hair.
"I meant it as dark humor."
His chest rumbled as more laughs followed, Elise smiled and cuddled up into his chest, giving into the exhaustion.
