*Flashback*

My eyes flutter open and I look to see that I've once again fallen asleep at the library. I yawn, slowly stretching out my arms as I sit up. I glance around the area and see a few monsters sitting quietly amongst themselves, their eyes glued to the small print of their textbooks. My eyes draw down to the contents in front of me and I see that I drooled all over my Scare Theory textbook. "Nasty," I hiss to myself, using the sleeve of my blue sweater to try and wipe the pages dry.

After a few minutes I notice more monsters beginning to flood in as the day begins and I spot the RORs meandering about between the shelves, Johnny breaking off from the group to scan a nearby bookshelf. I can't help but watch him as he hovers his claws over the books, his violet eyes intense as he tries to find whatever it is he is looking for. My eyes begin to trail up his perfectly polished horns and back down to his white, sharpened canines, then to the letters of his sweater and I have to shake my head to keep myself from going further and I force myself to look away. "Ugh, Reed," I growl to myself as I frantically gather my things and throw them into my bag. "Stop it."

I push myself out of the chair, throwing my bag over my shoulder and making my way to the entrance of the library, hoping that Johnny doesn't see me. I look back and see that his back is to me as he leafs through a textbook he pulled from the shelf and I take the opportunity to dart to the door and out into the open air.

Three Years Later

I feel myself nodding off as I continue to mull over the same sentence of my Advanced Scaring Techniques textbook over and over, my jaw resting on my palm as I dig a claw into the pages, puncturing the book. "Jesus," I growl, slamming the book shut and glaring up at the green desk lamp as it glows softly in the dark library. I glance down at my watch. It's three in the morning. I sigh, dragging my claws down over my face. "Kill me," I hiss, slamming my face down onto the table.

"I don't like the sound of that." I can't help but smile at the sound of his voice and I glance up to see my relatively new husband smirking at me from across the table. "How is it that I can always find you here?" He says, giving me a tooth-filled grin as he walks towards my table.

I shrug. "I guess I'm a bookworm."

"Egghead," Johnny teases, his broad shoulders bouncing as he laughs. "You know, I would like to see you at home every now and again." I watch him take a seat beside me, I notice he is wearing his old ROR sweater and polo.

I feel the guilt begin to wash over me. "I know," I sigh. "I'm sorry… these finals are just eating away at my soul."

"I know," Johnny says, leaning forward to look me in the eye, his expression serious for once. "But you have a husband and a son who miss you."

"It's not like I enjoy being away from you," I say, refusing to look at him as I pick at my wedding ring around my finger. "I'm just trying to graduate on time."

I feel a large arm wrapping around my waist. "Reed, you're doing great. You won't graduate late. I mean, at this rate you will probably be graduating early." I feel a claw under my chin as he uses his hand to turn my head to look at him. "You're never home." I swallow hard when I see how genuinely sad Johnny looks. "You need to come home more than just a couple nights a week."

I sigh once more. "I know…" I look away from him. "I'm sorry." I glance to his sweater. "Why are you wearing that?"

His eyes dart down to his chest and he smirks. "I was hoping if you saw me wearing this it would make you miss me." He chuckles. "I know you secretly love me in this getup." He winks and I punch his shoulder.

"You don't look bad in it." I say, looking him up and down. I feel a wave of nostalgia wash over me. "It feels like freshman year all over again. I come to the library hoping to escape you and yet somehow, you still find me."

"You say you came here to escape me, but if you really wanted to hide from me you would've tried a lot harder." Johnny says, leaning closer to me, his eyes narrowed in mischief.

I shrug. "I'll admit, after a while I was hoping you would find me."

"Oh, I know." He says, giving me another wink before giving me a light kiss on the lips. "Especially after that one day."

Three Years Earlier

The shelves upon shelves of books seem even more endless now that I actually have to try and find something without Mike's assistance. I feel my eyes moving so quickly between all the various titles that I'm almost getting a slight headache from it, but I persist. I really need this book if I'm going to pass the final.

I scale a ladder and hover over the upper shelves where my stubby little legs just can't reach, but I don't see the book anywhere. "Dammit," I growl, sliding down the ladder in a huff. "Where is that stupid book?"

My ears suddenly catch onto the sound of heavy footsteps approaching me from behind and I snap my head around to see Johnny sauntering towards me with his usual swagger. "I really do not have time for you today." I growl.

"Well it's good to see you too, freshman." Johnny retorts, crossing his arms as he stops in front of me. "You look like you need some help." He says, giving me a wide smirk.

"How is it that you always manage to find me here?" I snap, completely ignoring what he just said.

"You don't make it very hard not to." He says, relaxing his arms. "So what are you looking for?"

I roll my eyes before turning my back to him. "I'm looking for a Scare Reference book."

"Those are checked out almost constantly." Johnny says, walking up to the shelf. "But I'm sure someone might've looked over one somewhere." He pauses then without speaking rounds the corner and I quickly follow him. I look and see he has climbed the ladder and is reading the spines of each of the books, his gaze very scrutinizing.

I walk over to the base of the ladder and watch him as he pulls out a book, holding it out for me to see. "Bingo, baby." He says, his smirk full force.

I roll my eyes but I can't help but smile at him. I step back as he comes down the ladder and I step forward not anticipating him to turn so quickly and I find my lips against his and I jump back, slapping my hands over my mouth. I watch Johnny as he stares at me, his expression blank as he blinks a couple times. "Uhh," He says, holding the book out to me. "Here you go."

I hesitate before stepping towards him, taking the book from his claws. "Thanks," I say, glancing him over. I can't help but notice that it looks like he is blushing. "Sorry about that."

"No, no," He says, rubbing the back of his neck, his gaze drifting to the ground, his voice almost nervous. "It's alright. D- don't worry about it." He twists his jaw as he glances back to the bookshelf he just climbed down from. "Let's just not- let's just pretend that didn't-" He pauses, glancing over to me before looking away again. "That didn't happen."

I nod. "Nope."

"Good," He says quickly. He forces his smirk back on his face. "See ya later, freshman." I watch as he walks away and just as he rounds the corner I see him slap his hands to his face in clear frustration before he disappears from view.

*End of Flashback*

"So you're telling me your first kiss was actually an accident?" Lily's amused voice fills my head and I glance over to Johnny and he looks embarrassed.

I turn to look at her in the backseat. "That's what he says. Part of me thinks he did it on purpose." I glance at Johnny and he gives me a quiet growl. I laugh, "He's stubborn."

"I can see that," Lily's tails sway behind her as she watches Johnny drive. "I'm surprised you can handle it. But you've always been hard-headed yourself, so maybe you guys like," She holds her hands out to make a balancing gesture. "Even things out."

I smile, looking out the window as the traffic of the freeway flies by. "I would say so." I glance back to Johnny and as he continues to drive, his eyes focused on the road, one hand on the wheel, elbow of his free arm against the door as he rests his head on his fist. I occasionally notice him glance over to me as he drives. It's been ten years and I still feel the same way I felt the day I actually admitted I had feelings for him to myself. I think he knows it too because whenever he glances at me and sees me looking at him and gives me a small smirk.

"Wow," I glance back and see that Lily was watching me, her eyes wide. "I've never seen you look at someone like that before."

I feel my face get hot as Johnny chuckles to himself. "Yeah," I say. "Love does that."

"I'm jealous, Reed," She says, leaning back in the leather seat, crossing her arms. "I hope to find someone I can look at like that." She glances down then smiles. "Though I do have my baby, Ryan."

"You'll find someone, Lil." I say, glancing out the window and seeing the familiar form of the factory growing in the distance. "And based on my experience it will be someone you never even expected."

I look back at Lily and she is looking between me and Johnny. "Like you two?"

I look up at my husband and he gives me a soft smile and I nod. "Yeah, like us."

I hear the soft clicking of the blinker as Johnny turns the car onto the next road. We are nearing the factory. Hopefully things are better because I really don't know if I can handle any more stress. But they are our friends and they need our help. So hopefully we can actually do something to help better the situation. I sigh, looking out the window as we drive between the various apartment complexes that line the streets. I notice some kids playing jump rope with a little green monster's tongue. I laugh, I can honestly say I've never seen that before. Whatever works I guess.

I glance back over to Johnny who is rubbing the base of his horns in clear frustration as we draw closer to the factory. I reach over and grab his hand from his head. "It'll be okay," I say quietly. "They need us."

He glances to me and nods. "I know." He takes a deep breath, breathing out slowly as we pull into the factory parking lot.

We come to a stop and I see the militia of CDA agent vehicles and notice one speeding towards us. "Oh God," I watch in horror as it draws closer to us and Johnny and Lily have barely enough time to look over and see the armored vehicle as it collides right into the driver's side.

Wheeew, that is some intense ending, huh? I'm really sorry for the horrible update time. It's nearing that time of the year where I go back up to school and I've been really really busy so I apologize. I will go ahead and tell you guys that no one dies, I would not do that to you. Also, the flashbacks are because I want to kind of delve deeper not only into Reed's past but her and Johnny's relationship, so I hope you guys don't mind those! They will go with the story, I promise! So anyway, thank you guys for your continued support and amazing patience! I have not abandoned you and I will not, I will see this fic to the very end. I promise! So until the next chapter, bye-bye!