His eyes were closed tight, and alittle stubble was growing on his face. I was pulling his head up by his hair so his mouth hung open, his breathing was coming out harsh and hollow.
“Oh Johnny…” I whisper so only the two of us could hear. “What have I done to you?”
I could literally feel my heart break. His face was all smudged up with several types of liquid, and a mug spilt the remainder of its contents all over the table where Johnny laid his face. I groan out quietly in my throat.
“That the guy?” the bartenders grubby voice asked.
“Yeah,” I answer sadly without looking away at Johnny.
“He needs to go home and sleep….probably take a shower first” the bartender continued, but I had since ignored him.
“Uh huh” I agree absently.
“This is the first time I’ve seen him like this. Usually he comes in here glowing like the sun ranting about some girl he’s looney over”
That caught my attention.
“Say what?” I whipped my head around to look at him. “You know him?”
“Wait a minute…” the bartender gave me an accusatory look. “You’re her aren’t you?” he slapped his palm on the table, “What is wrong with you?” His eyes blare with anger.
“Everything okay here?” Logan walks over, making his huge presence known.
The bartender’s angry eyes look over to Logan, then he gulped.
“U-uh…y-yes sir” the bartender’s eyes dilated when it landed on Logan’s outdrawn claws.
Logan just grinned. He was scary…and he knew it. I’m scary and I know it…*singing*
I giggle internally at myself.
“Is that him?”Logan asked, pointing at Johnny’s body –which at that moment looked like a lifeless corpse.
I nod. I couldn’t muster the energy to reply.
“Let’s get him outta here” Logan said.
“Okay” I mutter compliantly.
“Hey! He hasn’t paid!” the bartender interjected.
Logan growled at him.
“It’s on the house!” the bartender squealed in fear.
“No, no” I say, I slip my hand into Johnny’s jacket pockets. On the third try I find a hundred dollar bill in his front pocket. I toss it on the table near the shivering bartender, “Will that cover it?”
The bartender reached out a severely shaking hand, still giving Logan a terrified look, and nodded his head. “L-l-lemme give you y-your change”
“Keep the change” I say with a sweet smile.
I turn back to Johnny and sip my shoulder underneath one of his arms and hoist him up with all of my strength. Unfortunately for me I lift with the wrong shoulder, my arm began to throb.
“Ouch!” Johnny almost fell from me onto the floor but Logan caught him and held him up with one arm.
“I’ll take it from here” Logan offered.
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks”
*******************************************************************
Once outside the chilly night air hit us and it hit us hard. I shivered violently.
“You alright?”
“Oh I’m perfectly fine” I say as sarcastically as possible.
“Oh okay then” Logan says dismissively.
“Seriously?” the guy was too much.
Logan laughs a hale throaty laugh. “Well…this is where I leave you”
“What!?” I give him an ‘are-you-crazy!’ look.
“What?” Logan raised a brow at me. “Did you think I’d piggyback this flamehead all the way across New York?”
“You gotta do something” I try to reason.
“I don’t owe you any favors kid”
I scoff at him and turn towards the raod.
“What am I going to do?” I moan and walk to the very edge of the street.
“I can see the kid’s bike” Logan point alittle down the street where, sure enough, Johnny’s bike was parked there, rather sloppily. “And here are his keys” he shoved his hand into Johnny’s pockets and brought out a set of keys. He threw them to me.
“Knock yourself out,” he grinned.
“You have got to be kidding me” I snatch the keys as they sailed through the air.
A car zooms right infront of me and parks 3 molecular size atoms near my toes. “He rarely does”
The car was being driven by an amazingly hot guy. I mean, amazing hot. The car he was driving was a blue family mini van. It was in direct contrast to his appearance. But damn! this guy was fine.
“And what the fuck are you doing here?” Logan asked the guy with alittle vehemence.
“Helping a damsel in distress” the guy answered cockily.
“She’s not in distress and trust me she’s no damsel” Logan replies instantly.
“Well my brother kept bugging me to help her so I’m here to offer my services”
“Excuse me?” I say.
“The name’s Wade” he pushed out his hand to shake mine.
“Vick” I reply suspiciously. I still refused to shake his hand.
He gave me a bad boy smirk. “I’m Kevin’s brother” he supplied.
My eyes light up. “You’re the one in town!” I say.
“Yes, that I am” he replies confidently.
“Okay, enough” Logan cut in. “She needs to get going”
“That’s cool,” Kevin said. “Just drop him in the back and I’ll take him home”
Logan frowned but remained quiet and tosses Johnny in the back seats of the mini van.
“Careful!” I unknowingly say out loud.
Logan and Wade give me a knowing look then glance at each other with a slight nod. I blush.
“So, uh, how do you know Logan, Kev-I mean, Wade?” I ask as a distraction.
“We have history” Wade’s voice suddenly changed and became darker and more mysterious.
My eyes pop open. “Oh…kay…” I look up at Logan for help.
“He’s a weirdo” Logan says simply.
“I’m unique” Wade says.
“And I’m sleepy” I interject in a nonchalant voice. I walk pass Logan and try to go around the blue mini van.
Logan grabbed hold of my arm.
“You’re not going anywhere with him” Logan said bossily.
“Oh really?” I say defiantly, folding my arms. I raised an eyebrow at him.
“Oh this looks good” Wade says.
*******************************************************************
I can’t believe Logan is riding with Wade. He refused to let me sit with Wade alone in the car…for, some, reason.
And you’re probably wondering where I am.
Oh, I have the delightful pleasure of riding Johnny’s bike back to the Baxter Builder, note the sarcasm. But that’s not important, what’s important is that I’m an 18 year old girl who’s driven a car so many times you can count it on one hand and all of a sudden have been given the ‘opportunity’ to ride a two ton power bike.
Normally I’d be thrilled to have a chance like this but right now I’m too cold and worried over Johnny to fully enjoy the moment.
“This is so not gonna end well” I mumble.
“Anything I can do?” Herbie asked through my earpiece, I turned it on afew seconds ago.
I was barely keeping pace with the blue mini van infront of me. My arms were stretched out wide to be able to hold onto both handle bars and my body vibrated against the powerful engine. To be honest, I was doing great for someone who had had a 5 second crash course on how to ride a bike 10 seconds ago from Logan.
“Teach me what to do and how not to die” I say instantly to Herbie’s question.
“Pull the brake above the throttle to stop, twist the handle to go. That’s the simplest thing I can teach you”
“Got it”
I swerve away from a car that stopped abruptly. And Wade made a right turn after a junction stop light, so I momentarily loss them. I pull on the brakes and stopped for the red light.
“That’s so cool”
“Rad!”
“She’s so awesome”
I turn to find a group of people (five people to be exact) gawking at me. I must’ve looked ridiculous, not ‘cool’! But the amount of people around pulling out their phones to take pictures was just as ridiculous. I looked back at the still red light. C’mon change…change!
It still had thirty seconds left.
“Hey! Over here”
“Look here!”
“Victoria Howard! Freeze! Smile for the camera!”
Oh, great. The paparazzi are here.
They just appeared out of thin air, and began snapping pics with a vengeance. The bright lights were actually making me feel epileptic. I lift my hand to block out the snapping lights, most of the paparazzi were standing on the right side of the pavement.
“Front page news!” someone yelled.
Oh no.
Front page means Susan and Reed will for sure see it, seeing as Reed practically lives in news and is so up to date will current affairs you’d think he was there when it happened. And I just would love to see Susan’s reaction to seeing me on Johnny’s bike at 1 in the morning shivering my ass off and probably looking like a deranged psycho. Again, note the sarcasm.
The light blinked green. Thank God!
I twisted the handle hard, in a desperate attempt to flee but miss anticipated the sheer horse power of the power bike (which was stupid on my part) and the front side of the bike pitched high up into the air. Ah oh….
A really loud machine gun sound exploded from the bike, making everyone gasp in fear. The drivers that were behind me were honking in anger at my lack of moving but stopped and glazed in amazement.
“Everybody stand back!” I called. Then the bike bucked as if trying to get rid of me. Instead of the spectators running away like normal sensible human beings they just switch their various devices into camcorder mode. I barely have time to think, all I know is I could get someone really injured. And I couldn’t allow that to happen.
The bike finally decided to stop putting a show for the crowd -and making a fool of me- and lunched forward. At that moment an old lady decided to cross the street, she was coming from the left and looks to her right, spots me, and screams like a banshee.
“Argh!” I pull on the brakes but the bike still kept going.
I had no time to think, just action. I push my hand out before me and shot out my –I guess now- signature ice slide. It went straight up, and with the power and speed the bike was going at I shot up into the air too.
“WOAH!” I scream.
I made the ice kept going up, I don’t really know why. But when my teeth started chattered I decided I was high enough. I tip the ice and the bike stops at the top.
I let out an overzealous sigh of relief.
I put my elbow on the handle trying to rest and catch my breath. But I accidentally slip and my arm rolls over the handle, the machine roars to life. Ah oh…
I clap my palms together and continue the slide down and over to a building on my right. The bike goes down and I tilt it to the nearest building, once I reached the roof I try to stop but the damn bike kept going. I kept shooting ice, tilting to this building, jumping to, and, over that. Honestly of all the crazy shit I’ve done…this is the most crazy and reckless and I am surprised beyond understanding at how I survived.
Like seriously, how am I not dead yet?
And through some crazy miracle I spot the Baxter Building a little distance away.
“Now all you have to do is get down in one piece” Herbie says through my earpiece. I forgot it was still on.
“Easier said than done” I reply through grit teeth.
I make one last ice slide and tip down, the bike dies halfway down and the brakes still refused to work.
“THIS IS GONNA HURT!” I cry out.
*******************************************************************
Imagine this…a nice Saturday night, New York aglow -everywhere with light and energy- and two guys standing outside an outrageously tall building searching the street for a golden-brown haired girl on a bike twice her size.
“Where is she?” Logan wondered out loud.
“I think she took a wrong turn” Wade supplies. “Or got sucked into a vortex. Happened to me once”
And then here I come, zooming by, screaming like a cartoon elephant that spotted a mouse. I veer away from the front door and slope into the underground parking garage. The bike keeps sliding and I see the end of the garage coming up fast, a great big wall that would be very painful upon collision.
I spray the whole area with snow, coating the whole wall, the floor, the surrounding vehicles, anything that could be hurt or hurt me in return. The bike continues forward, and I ram head first into the snow. The bike threw me off and I hit the top of the snow slope and slid down by my head.
“Bravo! Beautiful! Ten over ten” Wade claps, walking into the garage. Logan follows behind him carrying a still unconscious Johnny.
I roll over onto the snow with my legs, them touching the ground first then I push the rest of my body up. Once I was right side up everything in sight kind of dances before my vision.
“I think I hit my head harder than I thought” I say wobbly holding onto my head.
“Nah, it’s nothing” Wade waved off. “I hit my head all the time…and look at me! I’m fine!” he emphasizes his point my knocking himself on the head afew times.
I give him a meek smile. The guy maybe super hot but he was also psychotically weird with a dash of crazy.
“I’ll take it from here” I say, I walk over to Logan and pull Johnny from him.
And it was at that moment my stupid arm decided to be a bitch and start hurting like hell, plus the burns didn’t help much. I let out a strained, pained sound. Both Logan and Wade looked at me with concern, reaching forward to help, to take Johnny away.
“No, no” I stood up straight and adjust Johnny onto my wayward arm. “I got it”
“But you’re in pain” Wade pointed out.
“Let us help” Logan added.
“No” I say again forcefully. “I got this. This is my mess, the least I can do is take him upstairs, pain or no I’m doing at least that”
Logan and Wade looked at each other and smirk.
“Girl’s got guts” Wade says in that his scary dark voice that makes me thinks he might rip out my heart at any moment.
“We have all had our share of pain” Logan said with admiration in his voice.
“That we have” Wade answers brightly now.
The two of them seem to be sharing a private moment….or sharing an inside joke.
“Good bye, kid” Logan winked at me on the word ‘kid’. I smile and let it go.
“Later Vick” Wade salutes me off.
The two men turn and make to walk out of the garage, completely ignoring me.
“Hey!” Wade says to Logan enthusiastically, “Let’s go do something-” then his voices changes again, “-for old times sake?” it was so dark and foreboding I got chills.
Logan grinned evilly as well, he lifted his fists up and shot out his claws. “Wanna go stir up trouble at Avengers Tower?”
Wade’s eyes darken ominously, “Thought you’d never ask…”
Wade wraps his hands around Logan’s shoulder and they continue walking.
“Hey!” I yell at them, I’d dragged Johnny to the elevator and was currently waiting for the lift.
The two men turn around and I blast their joint shoulders with ice, sticking them together.
“That’s for making me drive a bike at one in the morning and letting me make a fool of myself!” I call out sweetly, and press the button to our floor.
*******************************************************************
Johnny’s weight was unbearable.
I was beginning to sweat when the doors slid open to our floor.
“Welcome home!” Herbie said cheerfully.
I only grunt out my reply. I sloppily drag my feet down the corridor leading to my and Johnny’s room, desperately clinging onto Johnny so he doesn’t slip from my grasp. I reach his door and I fumble with the handle but I finally manage to open the door.
His room was dark and cozy, he had a couple posters on the wall that I couldn’t make out, and his was lodged up against the wall on the far side of the room. Funny, this was the first time I’ve ever stepped into Johnny’s room, seeing as I’ve been with these guys for almost over a year.
Carrying Johnny from the door to his bed was harder than my fight/training with Steve 10 to 16 chapters ago. This was brutal, my arm screamed for relief but I grit my teeth and trudged the rest of the way.
We reach his bed and I turn and tumble onto it Johnny-first. I fall with him onto his bed, landing on his chest and breathe heavily, I was so tired. I reach for the earpiece still in my ear and I toss it somewhere onto the floor.
This has been the craziest…longest, day of my life. How could one Saturday pack so much punch? My mind tries to play through all that had happened today…but who am I kidding? I’m too dang tired. I relax my head back onto Johnny’s chest.
Then something strange happened…Johnny wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to his chest.
I look up and see that he’s still sleeping. But his arms were wrapped around me so possessively you’d think he was wide wake, he turns and pushes himself deeper into his bed to get a better position. His back against the wall he tucks me in himself, cuddling me in close.
His warmth was amazing, like the glow of a family fire during winter…or Christmas. He pushes his other arm under my head to act as a pillow and he mechanically draws up his duvet to cover us. He runs his hand up to face and smoothes back my hair and then rest his hand around my waist, hugging me tight.
I let out a deep breath and relax in his hold, this was too nice to mess up. I feel Johnny’s hair tickle the back of my neck and slightly fall onto my forehead, the smell of him everywhere. I feel his head close to mine, his chin just slightly resting on my shoulder. And his breath fanning down onto my collarbone, chasing down whatever remainder of cold there was.
This was sweet beyond belief…and he wasn’t even conscious. What have I ever done for him that was this lovable, cute and charming even when I was awake?
Starting tomorrow I’m going to be more nice. I resolve.
Actually the correct way to say that would be ‘I’m going to be nicer to him’. My brain corrected.
I growl but decided not to do anything to wake Johnny. He needed his rest. I snuggle in closer to him, close my eyes and let myself go to the exhaustion and sleep that inevitable. I kiss his arm before I drift off.
And just as sleep had sunk in its claws begun dragging me away…I feel a kiss on my ear.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Author’s Note
My back hurts like a-beaver!
I have no idea how you guys will react to this chapter…but I hope it’s good. I wanted to make Vick go to her room in the end, change, and then come back so she’d be cleaner or whatever, but I figure this works better. They’re both dirty, tired and together, kinda symbolic don’t ya think? :D
It’s Harmattan (as we call it) over here where I’m from. We don’t get winter but it’s so cold I think my fingers might fall off!
Seriously…it is dope cold…I might start coughing blood.
Again.
Nah, I’m just joking about the again thing XD I’ve never coughed blood……yet.
Anyway,
Thank you for your support, (I sound like a popstar)
I am ever grateful to you, (now I sound like a movie star)
I would never be where I am without you, my fans. (now I sound like anyone who’s ever gotten an award)
But I mean every word I said (that is from my heart)
P.S DO NOT use anything I said in this chapter on how to drive a bike, I maybe right…maybe. But I would never forgive myself if anyone tried this and they got hurt on my account due to false information. I mostly wing what I write.
So….
CoMmENt, VotE, sHaRE
And keep an eye out for the next chapter! It’ll be….different…. ;D
Stay frosty
~Ya Gal Vicky~