JOHNNY AND HARRY WERE TEXTING CONSTANTLY. Wherever Johnny went, he always seemed to have his phone out, fingers flying over the keys, lips pulled into a constant smile as he read over whatever Harry had sent, whether it be his own words or something he saw on Instagram. Either way, he was much happier than before, and that delighted Sue to no end.

But, being the older sister, she did have to make sure that Johnny wasn't doing anything too risque, which was why Johnny was being called over to the dining table and forced to put down his phone for more than five minutes so they could actually have a proper conversation.

"Why does Ben have to be here," he whined, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat, trying not to make a face at the man sitting on his left.

"Because they couldn't wait until I was finished eating to do this," the man said, raising the spoon he was using to eat his cereal, motioning towards Sue and Reed with it before adding, "I don't care about what new alien you're dating, as long as they don't try to use you to get to the government, I couldn't care less."

Johnny huffed. "He's not an alien, he's Norman Osborn's son."

Ben choked, coughing up bits of his cereal, casting an accusatory glare at Reed and Sue. "And just stopping him now?"

"We're not trying to stop you, Johnny," Reed said, raising a placating hand towards the boy who was trying to get Ben on fire with only his eyes.

"Why not?" Ben demanded, and Johnny was just about ready to launch himself at him and hope that Reed's alterations to the building would be enough to keep it intact once he was finished.

"Johnny," Sue snapped, because she knew him too well and honestly needed to just cover her eyes and ears sometimes, "Ben. Look, we just need to talk to you about safety, Johnny, that's all, we have no issue with Harry, not inherently, but we just want to make sure you're making the right choices."

Johnny blinked at her, glancing towards Ben who seemed equally unimpressed, then towards Reed whose expression nearly mirrored that of the younger woman, and Johnny wondered if he should blame Reed for the entire situation or the parenting blogs that Sue most likely looked up before dragging Johnny out to have this conversation.

It didn't take long for Sue's carefully crafted mask to break, a heavy sigh coursing through her whole body, shoulders slumping as one arm came up onto the table, the other resting under her chin. "Johnny, I just don't want you sexting or doing anything that can be considered a crime or can be used to exploit or manipulate you, and if anything does happen, you need to just let us know so that we can make sure you're okay, I don't care if you have sex, I just want to make sure you know what you're doing before you do."

"God, Sue, I'm just talking to him!" Johnny cried, feeling his entire body start to heat up, and he knew that, if they weren't already, the ends of his hair would soon be lit up if he didn't get out of this conversation immediately.

"Hey," Ben said, catching his attention, his tone sharp, "Your sister's looking out for you, and she just said that she didn't care if you have sex, just as long as you're safe, why're you complaining about that, any kid your age would kill for their mom to say that."

"She's not my mom," Johnny countered, not even thinking, and he ran a hand over his face, sighing, not catching the hurt that flashed over Sue's face for a moment before continuing, "And, Sue, I appreciate it, I do, it's just weird to talk about, you're making this thing with Harry weird, and there's nothing weird going on."

He huffed, crossing his arms and looking towards the wall, and all he wanted to do was grab his phone and go back to his room because he and Harry were in the middle of an argument of whether or not it was worth it to go see the reboot of a reboot that was coming out that weekend, and Johnny not only wanted to win, but he also wanted to strategically force Harry to go with him to see to settle the argument.

"We just wanted to let you know that you can talk to us, Johnny," Reed said, and Johnny felt his skin crawl, because they weren't his parents and there was no need to tell him, if he wanted to talk to them, he would, because they weren't his parents, they were barely even his friends.

Sue was his sister, and sometimes he wondered if she forgot that. Just because she wanted to marry Reed didn't mean she had to start acting like his mom, Reed didn't need that from her, and neither did Johnny.

"Well, I already knew that and you guys just made it weird," he huffed, standing up and making his way back to his room, ignoring the sounds of Ben calling after him, only for the other two to stop him, telling him that it was okay, to just let him go.

'Good,' Johnny thought to himself, 'They're not my parents, they don't need to act like they are.'

Locking his door, he took a few steps forward then vaulted onto his bed, fishing his phone out of his pocket despite having just placed it back in after standing up, looking at the screen to find the messages Harry had sent before patiently waiting for Johnny to get back, having told him of the interruption and wanting to make sure that Harry knew he wasn't just not responding because he realized he was wrong.

He was Johnny Storm, he wasn't wrong often, and if he was he tried not to show it much.

to: Harry (5:40 pm)
God I swear my sister
forgets she's not my

mom sometimes it'sso dumb

Harry's response came through instantly, and Johnny felt his heart jump at the thought of Harry just staring at his phone for Johnny to get back, not even bothering to wait a minute so he didn't seem desperate.

from: Harry (5:40 pm)
What happened?

Johnny wasn't sure if he wanted to let Harry know, unsure of how he would react, especially considering that Harry didn't have a mom anymore, and Johnny didn't want to seem ungrateful.

Though, Johnny didn't have a mom either, or a dad, but the point still stood, so he found himself just staring down at his screen, trying to come up with a way to brush off  topic he started and bring it back to the conversation they had started.

to: Harry (5:43 pm)
Something weird and
not important it doesn't
really matter

to: Harry (5:43 pm)
What're you up to?

It was a poor excuse of a transition and Johnny knew that it would be one of the things keeping him up in the middle of night wanting to bash his head in while repeating demanding to know why his mind decided that this was the best course of action, but if Harry found issue, he made no indication towards it.

from: Harry (5:44 pm)
Nothing much, dad's got work
and I could go visit my friend
at his work, but dad's got
investors coming which means
I need to stay away

Johnny frowned at the words, hearing the bitter tone through the phone, and he refrained from asking Harry more about his relationship with his dad, because even he wasn't that dense, and instead just figured to do what he did best: smooth talking.

to: Harry (5:44 pm)
He should bring you in
though, you could totally
just win over all those
investors if you smile or
convince them that it'll pay
to invest in something that
teens find interesting or
something like that

He could hear Harry laughing through the phone as he typed, because Johnny was good at playing that kind of a role, and the laugh wasn't a true humorous laugh, more of a patronizing laugh, the kind that made adults think he was utterly precious and charming, but only for a teenager, and it was both a blessing and a curse, and he wasn't sure which one it was, but if it made Harry laugh and got Johnny what he wanted, it couldn't be all that bad.

from: Harry (5:45 pm)
Don't think they'd wanna hear
what some fifteen year old has
to say about investing in biochem
research but you never know

to: Harry (5:45 pm)
Watch one day he'll let you and
your company will be the best ever
and everyone's gonna regret not
bringing you on sooner

from: Harry (5:46 pm)
You could be right, we'll just
have to see but for now I'm
just gonna sit here and watch
some movies that are worth
my time

Just like that, they were back into it, and Johnny couldn't be happier, grinning as his fingers flew over the keys,  shouting at Harry who pushed back as hard as Johnny was, but there was nothing between them but the cheek they were known for, and Johnny couldn't remember the last time he just had fun texting someone, especially someone his own age, and especially someone that wasn't an alien, but he wasn't going to dwell too much on that.

to: Harry (5:49 pm)
Just watch it with me
and we'll see whether or
not it's worth it

The response wasn't immediate, and, after two minutes, Johnny was starting to contemplate either throwing his phone or himself out his window, because that was a risky text, but he was sure it would have been received better than being left on read.

Johnny didn't know how many friends Harry had, but considering his personality, he was sure he had a few, and the idea of Harry sending screenshots of their chat to not only ask for help on how to let him down gently, but also to make fun of him had him ready to drop dead right then and there.

Leaving his phone in his room, Johnny practically ran out of his room, as if leaving the room would get him out of the situation he had put himself in, his socks sliding along the hardwood floor as he made his way towards the fridge, opening it immediately and shoving his head inside, and he wasn't sure whether or not it helped, but searching for something to eat helped him get his mind off things.

Ever since they were hit, Johnny had always felt warm. Not an overbearing heat, because his body had adjusted to his warm temperatures, so his internal regulation was thrown off kilter, which meant seeing if he had a fever was much different than seeing if Sue had a fever, but the first few weeks were a hard adjustment as he always felt much warmer than everyone else, and now he was used to it, but he did need his room colder if he wanted to feel cold; he had a higher tolerance for heat, but sometimes he needed it cold, and that meant he had a harder time feeling cold.

Whenever he got embarrassed or frazzled or anything that made him slightly uncomfortable, it was as if he was going to melt away, and while he could adjust the temperature in his room, that was where his phone was, so he had to stick to hiding in the fridge so that no one could get to him.

Maybe he needed to change his phone number. Maybe Reed had something that could erase memories, he could just fly over to Harry's and catch him right before he slept. Maybe Harry was making fun of him and the way he was talking all throughout Bojack Horseman the night they met. Maybe he already had and just kept talking to him so he and his friends would have more to laugh about. Maybe Harry pitied him. Maybe this was why no one actually wanted to spend time with Johnny.

"What's going on, kid, you look like you're gonna pass out."

Johnny's head snapped up to find Ben standing there, his arms crossed over his exposed chest because clothes weren't the most comfortable for him in that form, and he felt a surge of emotions begin to form with the panic rising in his chest, and the otherwise apathetic expression Ben typically wore melted into one of thinly veiled concern.

"What's happening?" he asked, taking a step forward, and Johnny shook his head, just taking deep breaths as he re-opened the fridge, sticking his head inside on the pretense of looking for a soda so Ben wouldn't know just how panicked he felt.

"I'm gonna go call Sue," Ben said, starting towards the hallway, but Johnny slammed the fridge door, stopping him in his tracks.

"She's not my mom, she doesn't need to know everything about me!" he screamed, and that shocked both of them.

Johnny didn't scream. He would whine, he would beg, he would even shout and complain, but Johnny didn't scream. The last time he'd had an experience where all the energy resonated from just beneath his throat, from deep in his chest, was when the men in suits tried to forcibly remove him from the interrogation room they were in and place him in a quarantined room until they could all reach an agreement, and that resulted in hospital visits and being tranquilized.

He'd felt the panic before, felt it many times, felt it in very different ways, but no one had ever bothered him enough to get him to scream, but now there they were, and there was no way to ignore what just happened.

"What's going on?" Sue demanded, storming into the room, and Johnny would have laughed at the pun in his mind, but he was overheating and everything was too loud and he just wanted to be alone and cry, and this didn't make any sense.

He was getting all worked up about a boy, but part of him had a feeling it wasn't just about Harry, and another part of him knew that it was about Harry, but he was being utterly irrational about all of it, and the loudest part of him just wanted it all to stop, but he couldn't think and he couldn't breathe, and it was just so hot.

Then he was being picked up and the skin to skin contact—or whatever Ben wanted to call the layer of rock that surrounded his once already calloused skin—shocked him out of his slight daze, but he was still so warm and the world was spinning, and he didn't know when he ended up in the lab, but then everything was nice and cold and he could breathe again, but the breathing he had to do on his own, and he couldn't remember where he learned to do the deep breathing, but he had heard it on TV somewhere and it seemed like a really good thing to follow right at that moment.

"Johnny," Sue said, and it was the first thing he heard once he fully calmed down, and right now he just wanted to take a nap, "Johnny, what happened?"

"I don't know, it just got really hot all of a sudden," he said, because that was really all he could say, because there was no way to explain that he got too panicked over what a boy was possibly doing without everyone making fun of him and thinking he was just some dumb teenager.

But his words only seemed to cause more trouble, Reed perking up from where he was looking at some monitors. "What do you mean it got hot all of a sudden, Johnny, you turn into a flame. Should we run some tests, see if there's a problem with—"

"No, it's not like that," he interrupted, because the last thing he wanted was Reed poking and prodding him when that wasn't the issue, "It's not like that, this was just weird, but it's fine, it won't happen again, I would've been fine, but then I got too upset."

He didn't want to call out Ben since it wasn't his fault, but Johnny would've been able to calm down if he hadn't been interrupted. He felt this way right after he heard the Avengers broke up, a feeling of panic and dread at who would have to protect the world now that they were broken up, if they would be allowed to fight or if they would have to just stand and watch the world burn, if Johnny himself was even able to fight, if everyone would die.

The panic was normal, but if he was left alone he could handle it. He didn't need anyone butting in and making it worse, and he definitely didn't need anyone to worry about him. He would be fine.

Clearly, no one believed him, and that only made him more irritated, but as he started to scratch at his body they all backed off, forcing themselves to relax, because they knew the signs that Johnny was getting upset, and they figured it best not to upset him more, especially not when he just calm down.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sue asked, and she sounded so scared and so helpless that Johnny couldn't get mad at her, he couldn't get annoyed, because she might not be his mom, but she was his sister and his mom was dead, so she was all he had.

"I just got worked up over nothing, I'm fine," he said, and he let her hug him because she needed that, and it did feel nice to be hugged every once in a while—or always, really—so he just let it happen.

"Sorry, Sue," he mumbled, and he wasn't talking about what happened, though he wasn't sure if he should apologize for it, what with upsetting her, but he knew she knew what he was talking about.

"It's okay," she said, and she was shorter than him now, but with her heels and his being slumped over, she was able to kiss the top of his head, because she was Sue, and she knew what he was talking about, and she still saw him as a baby, because he still was, and he just let her, because he knew she needed it and, if he was honest, he did too.

"Can I go to my room?" he asked, because, after everything, he didn't feel right enough to just leave on his own, and he leaned into the hug more because he didn't want it to stop, but he did want to leave.

"Yeah, you can go," Sue said, and Johnny knew she had looked over at Reed because Reed was by the screens, and also because it was Sue and Reed and Johnny was fine with that; for the most part, anyways.

So he left the lab without another look back at the others, because he didn't want to see how they were looking at him, because it was bad enough he was a teenager and they treated him like one, but if they started thinking there was something wrong with him he might not be allowed to be apart of them.

They might send him away.

Johnny tamped down the thought before it could fully appear, and he tried not to run into his room, not wanting to cause himself more problems, reaching over towards his personal thermostat and setting it to sixty-nine degrees because he needed it cold, but he also needed to make a joke about it.

Flopping onto his bed, he shucked off his shirt and sweatpants, figuring he'd cool down the most with them off, but he did get under his covers to make sure his stomach wouldn't hurt because of the cold air.

Catching sight of his forgotten phone, he winced slightly, afraid of what he would find. Taking a deep breath he picked it up, far too tired to get too worked up no matter what Harry replied with, if he even replied at all.

His eyes screwed shut, Johnny took a few calming breaths, bracing himself for whatever his phone screen had to offer him, trying to calm his nerves as he opened his eyes, keeping them partly closed, terrified, only for them to open completely, staring at the text, utterly numb.

from: Harry (5:52 pm)
If you think our first date is
gonna be at some pathetic
half-assed excuse of what
you think is a movie, then you
better remember who it is
you're talking to, Storm.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 06.04.19 )

I didn't think a scene like this would be shown so early on, but I'm not complaining about it, because I think I did a pretty good job, so I hope you guys liked it, I really liked it. I missed writing Johnny, but we are gonna see something from Harry's perspective next chapter, so be excited for that, ya'll, I'm hyped.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!