Are you really going to your recently "made single" friend house?
Yes, of course I am.
Johnny didn't even hesitate—he blazed through the sky in a streak of heat and orange flames, pushing himself as fast as he could without causing a sonic boom over the suburbs. He wasn't sure if this was a terrible idea or the best decision he'd ever made in his life. Maybe both. Probably both.
He landed a few blocks away so no one would see him drop out of the sky, then jogged the rest of the way, phone in hand, following the little blue Google Maps arrow. Eve had sent him her address right before the call cut out and inmediately excused himself out of Reed's building at New York and flew all the way from there to Chicago. Why so much emotion? He'd never been to her home before.
Well, actually, he had never went to a girl's house before.
The neighborhood was quiet, clean, and filled with trees and neatly spaced houses. It looked pretty normal. Almost painfully normal for someone like him.
Finally, he reached the right one—a single-story bungalow-style house surrounded by a neat green lawn.
Johnny swallowed, wiped his sweaty palms on his suit pants, took a breath he didn't realize he was holding, and stepped up to the door.
Okay… okay. You can do this. Just be there for her. She needs a friend. That's all. A friend.
He raised his hand and knocked.
He didn't even have time to lower his arm as he immediately heard footsteps.
They were fast and urgent, and were coming straight toward the door.
Then he the lock clicked and saw how the handle turned.
And the door swung open.
Eve stood there.
Her hair was tied in a loose ponytail. She wore an oversized hoodie—probably her dad's—with the sleeves pulled halfway over her hands. And her eyes…
Her eyes were red.
Red from crying.
"Johnny…" she breathed, almost like she didn't believe he was really standing there.
He felt something sharp twist in his chest.
She wiped at her cheek quickly, like trying to erase any evidence of it. But he'd already seen. And she knew he'd seen.
"Hey," he said softly, his voice suddenly gentler than he expected. "I came as fast as I could."
A tiny, shaky smile appeared on her lips—small, tired, fragile.
"Come in," she whispered. "Please."
She stepped aside, and Johnny walked into the house.
And the door closed behind them.
Johnny stepped inside as Eve quietly closed the door behind them. The house was warm, faintly smelling of vanilla and old wood—comforting, lived-in, nothing like the chaos and metal of the Guardians' HQ. She didn't turn on any lights, just the soft glow from a lamp in the living room spilling over the hallway.
"You, uh… want to sit?" Eve asked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Her eyes were red, not freshly crying but definitely recently enough. She was trying to hold herself together.
Johnny nodded and followed her into the living room, sitting on the edge of the couch while she folded herself into the armchair across from him. For a moment neither spoke.
Finally, Eve exhaled, a shaky breath that said more than words.
"Thanks for coming," she said quietly. "I know it's sudden."
Johnny shook his head. "Sudden is fine. I was worried. You've been… gone."
Eve looked down at her hands, nervously running a thumb over her palm. "Yeah. I needed space. Everything just…" She swallowed. "I thought I was fine after the funeral. I pretended to be fine. But then I wasn't."
Johnny leaned forward. "Hey. It's okay not to be okay. What Rex did—what you went through—no one just bounces back from that."
Eve let out a humorless little laugh. "I don't even care about Rex anymore. Not like that. It's just—" she gestured vaguely, helplessly "—everything hit all at once. The Guardians, the responsibilities, the pressure. And then being alone again felt… different."
Johnny hesitated. "Different how?"
Her eyes lifted, meeting his for the first time since he arrived. "Different like… it wasn't just losing a boyfriend. It was losing the version of myself that trusted people without thinking. You know?" She huffed softly. "I guess I thought I was stronger than that."
"You are strong," Johnny said, voice lower than he intended. "Stronger than me. Stronger than most of us."
Eve's lips tugged into a small, tired smile. "You say that like it is true."
"Because it's true."
Another silence followed—this one was softer and warmer. Eve shifted to the couch beside him, close enough that he could feel the heat radiating off her.
"I didn't know who else to call," she admitted. "I didn't want to be alone tonight. And you… you were there. That day. When I…" She paused, eyes dropping. "When I found them."
Johnny's chest tightened at the memory—the shock, the anger, the way Eve had nearly collapsed.
"Yeah," he breathed. "I remember."
Eve glanced up at him, her expression vulnerable in a way Johnny rarely saw.
"You're the only one who didn't treat me like I was supposed to be fine," she whispered. "You actually saw me."
Johnny didn't trust himself to speak, so he just nodded.
Eve inhaled slowly, then leaned back against the couch, head tipping toward him as if gravity pulled her in that direction.
"Johnny," she murmured, "can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"Why did you come so fast?" She blinked, realizing how it sounded. "I mean—why did you drop everything for me?"
Johnny felt heat creep up the back of his neck. "Because you asked," he said simply. "And because… I care."
Eve's eyes softened. For a second she looked like she might break again, but instead she leaned her head lightly against his shoulder on a tentative, but uncertain way.
Johnny froze, then carefully relaxed, letting her rest.
"…It feels safe here," she whispered. "With you."
His heart hammered, and he cursed it silently. This wasn't about him. This was about her.
Still… he didn't move away.
Before he could think of what to say next, Eve spoke again, her voice was barely audible.
"Can you stay for a bit?"
Johnny swallowed.
"Yeah," he said. "I can stay."
Eve didn't move from his shoulder—not even a twitch. She just breathed, slowly, as if trying to match her rhythm to his. The room felt unreal, suspended between the heaviness of everything she'd been through and the quiet warmth of her leaning into him.
They stayed like that for a while.
Johnny wasn't sure how long they stayed like that.
A minute? Two?
Long enough that the words he had kept buried for weeks finally burned their way to the surface.
He swallowed hard.
"Eve… can I tell you something? Something I probably should've said a long time ago."
She lifted her head slightly, but stayed close. "Yeah. Go ahead."
Johnny stared at his hands for a moment—bigger, stronger now, steady in a way the old him never was. Funny how memories could still make them feel small.
"When I met you," he began softly, "I wasn't this guy if you remember. Not even close."
Eve blinked, confused for just a second—then understanding flashed. "You mean… back at school? Before "that" happened to you?"
Johnny let out a breathy laugh. "Yeah. Way before everything. Back when I was just a… fat loser with a nervous tic and asthma."
Eve frowned gently. "Johnny—"
"No, it's fine. I'm not beating myself up. It's just the truth." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I used to sit alone at the front of the bus because I thought the less space I took up, the less people would… pick on me and I would be left alone enough to read my comics."
Eve's expression softened in that way she rarely let anyone see.
"And then that day happened," he continued. "Todd and his little entourage thought it'd be funny to pick on me again. Like always. And I was ready to just—just take it." He swallowed. "But you didn't let them."
Eve's eyes widened a little, as if remembering more clearly. "I only stepped in because it was wrong."
Johnny smiled, small and fragile. "Maybe. But no one else did. Not once. You were the first person who looked at me like I was an actual human being. Not a joke. Not a problem. Just… someone worth helping."
She breathed in, at a slow and shaky way.
"That day changed everything for me," Johnny said, voice barely above a whisper. "Not all at once. But enough that I never forgot it. I never forgot you."
Eve's lips parted, her breath catching faintly.
"I didn't have the words back then," Johnny murmured, "but I think I had feelings for you basically from the moment you stood up for me." He paused, heart pounding. "Even if I thought someone like you would never—ever—look twice at someone like me."
Eve moved closer, her knee brushing his.
"Johnny…" she whispered, but she didn't pull away.
He met her eyes—blue to soft pink shimmer, tired but warm.
"And tonight," he added, voice cracking just a little, "when you called me… I didn't even think. I just ran and flied. Because you've been important to me for way longer than you know."
Silence fell between them—deep, heavy, charged. The kind that meant something had shifted.
Eve's fingers brushed his on a tentative way, like searching his answer.
"Johnny," she said again, softer this time. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
He breathed out. "Because I didn't think I deserved to."
The way Eve's face fell—it hit harder than he expected. Her eyes glimmered with something deep, as if she were grieving all the time he spent believing that about himself.
"Johnny," she whispered, and this time she reached out. Her hands slid gently to his cheeks, guiding his face up so he had no choice but to meet her gaze. Johnny felt it, her palms were warm. "Listen to me. You deserve to be happy too. More than you think. And… if I hadn't been dating Rex, I would have given it a shot with you."
Johnny froze as his mind blanked completely.
"You sure about that?" he managed to ask. "I… I think you're just saying that to make me feel better."
Eve shook her head almost immediately. "No. It's true."
Her voice didn't waver. Her eyes didn't either.
"What's more…" she continued, her thumbs brushing his cheekbones with a slow, tender motion that sent electricity straight through him, "I want to show you."
Johnny barely had time to react.
Eve leaned in—closer, closer still—until he could feel her breath against his lips. Her hands held him in place with a certainty that made his heart pound like it was about to burst out of his chest.
"Eve—?" he whispered, stunned.
But she didn't answer.
Instead, she closed the last inch between them, pressing her lips to his in a soft, deliberate kiss—gentle at first, almost testing, like she wanted to know if this was real, if he was real.
Johnny's eyes widened. His whole world went silent.
Then he melted into it—into her—into the warmth and the softness and the unbelievable fact that Eve Wilkins was kissing him. Him.
Eve deepened the kiss just slightly, her hands still cradling his face as if afraid he might disappear.
And for a moment—just a moment—the world outside her parents' quiet house didn't exist. Only the two of them did.
Everything else could wait.
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