Kayla slowly stirred, letting out a soft groan as she forced her eyes open. The harsh, bright light immediately forced her to shut her eyes again and she took a moment before she willed them open once more.
Her vision was blurry as her eyes darted around as it slowly began to adjust to the lighting.
She seemed to be in what appeared as a hospital room.
A frown settled over her features and that was when she felt something holding her hand. The hold seemed to have tightened gently which gave Kayla the feeling that someone was holding it and realised that she had waken up.
"Kayla?" The voice called softly. The voice belonged to a male and the tone was gentle.
The brunette slowly turned her head to the side with another soft groan, to find a figure sitting at her bedside. Initially, she thought it was her brother but once her vision had cleared, she was shocked to find the figure to be none other than Johnny Storm.
"Johnny?" She asked breathlessly before she slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, the blonde male springing in to help her. "Where am I?"
With her cleared vision, she looked around the room and took in everything around her. She was lying in a double bed with monitors which were monitoring her heart and her vitals.
She then looked down at herself to find that she as no longer in the silver space jumpsuit and blue skin tight suit, but in a pair of light grey sweat pants and a white tank top.
Johnny kept his blue gaze on her. "We're back on Earth. We're all in quarantine at one of Victor's medical facilities." He replied. "I guess they're testing to make sure that we didn't get hit by any radiation from the cloud."
Kayla glanced at him and let out a soft sigh as she slowly nodded. "It's understandable." She said but that was when her eyes caught onto something on her bedside table.
White roses.
"Is Reed awake? Has he been here?" She asked, tearing her eyes away from the vase of roses to look at the blonde.
"Yeah, yeah, he's awake. Constantly checking up on you as well." Johnny replied but he appeared to be slightly flustered. "But.. The roses are from me."
The brunette stared at him with wonder. "From you?" She repeated softly.
"Yeah." He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just.. I remembered that they're your favourite and I thought.." He trailed of and shook his head slightly.
"Thank you, Johnny." Kayla said sincerely.
Johnny looked at her with surprise as a teasing smirk formed across his lips. "You called me Johnny."
"Don't make me regret it, Storm." Kayla replied, rolling her hazel eyes. "Now, where's Reed?"
As if on cue, Reed walked into the room, his eyes falling onto his little sister who was awake and sitting up in bed.
"That's my cue." Johnny said and stood up while Reed rushed over.
"Kayla." The scientist breathed in relief as he pulled her in for a hug. "I'm so glad you're alright."
Kayla let out a soft laugh as she returned her brother's hug. "Of course, I am. You can't get rid of me that easily." She responded with a teasing tone.
The siblings pulled apart and noticed that the younger Storm sibling had silently left the room.
Kayla frowned to herself as she gazed at the doorway.
"He was here every day." Reed spoke up.
The brunette turned to her brother with a look of surprise. "Really?" She questioned.
"Mmhmm." The older sibling hummed with a nod.
Wow, Kayla was not expecting that from the playboy but one thing was for certain, she wouldn't let her walls down that easily with two simple yet sweet gestures like that.
She couldn't afford to go through another heartbreak again.
Later that day, Kayla had pulled her dark brown hair into a messy bun and slipped into a pair of black uggs. She reached for her light grey waterfall cardigan and slipped into it before going on a much needed walk.
After spending some time outside in the sun and getting some fresh air, the brunette made her way back inside.
On her way back, her mind wandered back to what Reed had told her earlier.
"He was here everyday."
It was horrible of her to think this but what exactly was Johnny working at? Why was he suddenly so conveniently concerned?
Well, whatever he was working at, she had to protect her heart. She refused to become his play date again.
She passed by Johnny's room and paused, walking back to find him slipping into a pair of snow pants. Okay, so she didn't just see things as she passed by.
Arching a brow in question, she entered his room and folded her arms across her chest. "Where do we think we're going?" She asked.
"I don't know if we've noticed but the sickest runs this side of the Alps are right outside that window." Johnny replied as he pulled up the zipper to his snow pants and fastened the button.
"Yeah, I've noticed but we're supposed to be in quarantine." The brunette said. "There are rules here, you know? You can't leave without us being--"
"Being cleared. I know." The blonde finished her sentence as he threw on a red jumper. "You know I've never been good with rules."
Her hazel eyes narrowed at him as he stared at her.
"Wanna help me with the zipper?" He asked with a smirk.
Her gaze fell towards his jumper briefly before she looked back up at him. "You know that this isn't exactly a ski resort." She said, ignoring his flirtatious gesture and glanced towards his snowboard while he sat on the bed and put on his boots.
"So.." He began and walked up to her, placing his hands on her hips as he stared down at her. "Come with me." He said with a grin.
Kayla stared up at him silently, refusing to show him how much his touch affected her.
How it still affected her after their breakup.
"You know you want to." He persuaded with a smirk. "And lucky for you, I happen to have some extra skis."
Oh, did Johnny know her weakness.
Apart from the usual things girls like, Kayla also enjoyed things like sport and guns, and skiing happened to be what the brunette wanted to do since her hazel eyes hit that snowy mountain.
'Damn you, Storm.' She thought as she let out a heavy sigh.
"You're trouble, you know that?" She pointed out.
Johnny's smirk widened as his hands slid up to cup her face. "Hmm, well trouble is my middle name." He replied with a wink.
Kayla was about to respond until she felt heat emitting from Johnny's hands.
"Johnny, you're hot." She said.
The blonde smirked. "Why, thank you." He replied. "So are you."
"No, you idiot." The brunette rolled her eyes and pushed him to sit down on the bed. "I meant you feel feverish." She said and began pressing her hand against his cheek and forehead to feel for a fever.
"Well, I have never felt better in my life." He replied and took hold of her hand, kissing the inside of her wrist. "My God, you smell good." He mumbled before looking up at her.
"Tell you what, meet me at the top of the mountain at 4. That should give you enough time to freshen up." He said, grabbing hold of his ski jacket and snowboard. As he turned back around, he quickly dipped his head and kissed Kayla's cheek. "I'll see you up there, gorgeous." He winked.
Kayla stood in place, processing what had just happened as she looked towards the door where Johnny had left.
Guess she was skiing.