My Impractical Hurricane – 11

Yeah, so…yet another crappy chapter. I would've updated sooner but…what can I say—I didn't. Thanks for reading, you guys are great. I partially thought people would hate this sort of thing.

"Johnny!" Reed cried out, fighting quickly through a flock of human bodies towards the retreating figure ahead of him. "Johnny, wait! Please! Would you wait? Stop!"

Reed's shouting was to no avail. People were giving them dirty looks all over the place, and the last thing they needed right now was for this incident to become a public scene. He had to catch Johnny, and quick.

"Hold up, come on!" Reed yelled as he dodged around a person carrying quite a few boxes, and very nearly causing them to drop them, which in turn brought out a chain of cursing and threats. After a desperately rushed apology, Reed stretched an arm easily ten feet ahead of him and snatched Johnny around the upper arm before he could get any further. "Johnny, hold it."

Johnny finally stopped, but he didn't turn around. Once again, Johnny Storm was in a bad mood, and that did not bode well for those on the receiving end. When he spoke, his voice had a dangerous edge. "Reed, don't make me heat up."

Reed steeled his nerves and drew in a breath. "So do it." He said daringly. "I'm not letting go."

Johnny turned to look at him furiously, flexing the arm hard and noting to himself that the grip was indeed unrelenting. Reed felt the heat rise slowly under his hand to the point of discomfort, but he could see uncertainty in Johnny's face. Johnny was known for acting rashly, but Reed didn't know if he would resort to hurting someone intentionally. He fixed the younger with a firm look that said he wasn't going anywhere. He'd come this far, after all. Johnny sneered resentfully, turning up his temperature a little more and watching as Reed's eyes widened. It was a simple but impossible equation. All Reed had to do was let go. All Johnny had to do was not walk away.

Reed grit his teeth. He didn't want to give Johnny the satisfaction of knowing that he was hurting him, but smoke was already trailing up Johnny's shirt. He could suffer serious burns if he didn't stop. Without warning, the heat let up, and Reed gasped slightly in relief. "Damnit, just come over here, you're causing a God damn scene!" Johnny hollered.

Reed quickly let go and drew his arm back, resisting the urge to clutch it in pain. Where it was now at his side it was just shaking, but then so was the rest of his body when he'd rushed out into the dead of Winter in just a T-shirt. Johnny wasn't dressed any heavier, but that obviously wasn't a problem for him. "Johnny, I know things are a mess right now, but running off isn't going to make them any better." Reed said in a hushed tone as he came closer to Johnny in a few quick strides.

"Are you kidding me?" Johnny bit his lip, eyes continuously flickering to Reed's hand. "Th-this is bigger than a mess! This is one of those 'oh my God can't find the remote Tuesday morning talk show' things!"

"…Okay, so it's bad, don't make it worse." Reed reasoned.

"It can't get any worse." Johnny again eyed Reed's hand.

"It can always get worse."

Johnny gave him a look.

"…Alright, so it probably couldn't get much worse, but—" Reed followed Johnny's eyes down to his hand and he sighed. "…Relax, Johnny, it's fine."

Johnny met his eyes again and chewed his tongue pensively. "I'm not going back."

"You have to. It's your home." Reed protested.

"It's a place I crashed at while I discovered my super human powers, okay? I'd hardly call it a home!" Johnny tossed a hand skyward up towards the Baxter Building. "Let's face it, science boy, you were all fine without me and I was fine without—"

"Don't you dare say what I think you're about to say." Reed cut him off roughly. "You're not leaving this team over this. You're not leaving Sue, who's the only family you have left, and you're not losing your friends just because of me. We're a team. We need you."

"Don't talk to me about my life." Johnny thumped a hand over his chest. "I do just fine flying solo."

"Well you can forget about it." Reed decided.

"Yeah? Why should I?" Johnny made a move to turn away.

"Because every time you walk out, Johnny, every time you do something impulsive and stupid—" Reed answered, holding up his burnt hand and frowning, "…you hurt someone."

Johnny grimaced and stopped, eyes finding the sidewalk. Reed didn't know if Johnny would actually leave for good, but even leaving for an extended period of time would cause Sue far more stress than him being there in an awkward situation. Reed didn't like having to admit it, but it would cause a lot more stress for him as well. Truth be told, they all wouldn't be as much without him. Johnny slowly looked up. "…Are you okay?" he muttered unhappily.

Reed glanced at his hand and nodded. "Yeah."

"…It's too much, Reed…" Johnny rubbed the back of his neck.

"I feel the same way…" Reed shook his head.

"This is all your fault, you know." Johnny added dejectedly, clutching his arms to his sides.

Reed was a little offended by that. "…You're probably right…" he shrugged.

Johnny glared at him intently and muttered some random curse. "There you go again. Yes, Johnny, you're right, Johnny, whatever, Johnny."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to say you didn't mean it." Johnny explained simply.

"Didn't mean what?" Reed was tired of being confused.

"What you said up there. About h-having feelings for me and all that crap." He waved a hand.

"Fine. I didn't mean it." Reed crossed his arms.

"Do you mean that?"

"No."

Johnny groaned, slapping his forehead. "Great. That's peachy."

"First you're mad at me because you had these apparent…feelings for me, and then you're mad at me because I return them? And now you just want me to lie? …Johnny…you suck." Reed stated, clenching a fist.

Johnny blinked, brow creasing in anger. "I suck? Did you just say I sucked?"

"Yes. You make everything so damn hard. You suck."

"I don't suck! And I'm not the reason everything's so screwed up. It's the whole you being engaged to my sister and me not being gay and the eye of the public focused on our front door thing that's the problem!"

"Well what do you want, Johnny?"

Johnny growled and flippantly gestured his hands to the area around him. "I want everything to be normal again, is that so much to ask? You know, before you messed up my head and before I told you I liked you because I wish that you hadn't and I wished I didn't and I just want it all back!"

"We can both agree that isn't going to happen." Reed reminded.

"You invented a machine that mimics a radioactive superpower-giving space cloud in like a week, you're telling me you can't come out with one simple time machine?"

Reed glared.

Johnny groaned. "…Sue's…never gonna forgive me…"

"She will." Reed lowered his head. "Me on the other hand…"

"Yeah, she'll probably kill you." Johnny agreed.

"Thanks." Reed returned sarcastically.

"…You know I'd punch you in the face for what you did you her…but I guess I'd have to punch me too."

"I'll give you a free shot." Reed said, only really half joking.

"…" Johnny studied him for a moment, and Reed was sure that he was actually contemplating taking him up on that offer. "So then…you…still…you know, feel that way about me."

Reed looked away. "…Do you? About me, I mean…"

"I…" Johnny struggled, opening and closing his mouth indecisively. "…That doesn't mean I like it, okay? Because I don't like it."

"…Can we go home now please?" Reed begged, rubbing an arm. "I'm freezing."

Johnny looked back over his shoulder once more and murmured. "Fine…"

Reed shivered rigidly. "Great." He replied through his teeth. But that was really the antithesis of all this.