friends to lovers; use of princess as a pet name and as a joke.
johnny storm masterlist
johnny loves space. johnny loves women.
it was a phrase that the media-- and truth be told, johnny-- loved to use when talking about johnny storm. many people believed that the phrase came to be when the fantastic 4 rose to fame, post-cosmic radiation. but contrary to popular belief, the first utterance of the phrase was in johnny's childhood bedroom when he was fourteen.
he just turned fourteen three days before and he invited you over, his best friend, to hang out and celebrate. the celebration consisted of pounds of candy bars, scary movies that sue let him watch twice a year (once on his birthday and once on halloween), and culminated in reading sci-fi comic books in his bedroom.
he was going on and on about missy anderson, the popular girl in your shared biology class. it seemed like in the 72 hours since turning 14, johnny's perception of women did a complete 180. he'd grown out of his "girls have cooties" phase and ran full-steam ahead to fantasizing a life with a white picket fence with missy.
you flipped the pages of the comic book and rolled your eyes, "johnny loves space, johnny loves women."
johnny paused his enthusiastic rant and gave you a toothy smile, bits of crushed, rainbow jelly beans stuck to his teeth, "exactly."
safe to say that in your nearly decade-long friendship with johnny storm, you'd been on the receiving end of his long-winded, declarations of love for women. you couldn't pin-point exactly when the annoyance for his blabbering turned into something more personal. somewhere along the way, johnny talking about other women made your chest hurt.
which brings you to today.
"i'm just saying, it's like everyone else in the world can have fun but johnny?" he groaned, exasperated. "johnny can't even think about having fun."
you looked up from the book you held up for show. you couldn't concentrate on the novel in front of you, not when johnny was talking about his sex life-- or according to him, lack thereof. jury's still out on if that's the truth. "you know it annoys the living hell out of me when you talk about yourself in the third person."
"i know," he beamed, "that's why i do it."
"johnny, you have a long line of women at your doorstep," you sighed, shutting the book before placing it on his bedside table. "choose one. take them out on a date and fall in love. it's simple."
johnny plopped down on his bed beside you, sock clad feet bumping against yours as he made himself comfortable, "weren't you listening to me, princess? reed thinks that the minute i get in a relationship, i lose all focus."
the silly childhood nickname made a shiver run down your spine. the nickname began as a joke that you stopped finding funny about the fifth time he used it.
it was junior year of high school. you made the terrible mistake of stopping by the storm residence to pick up your calculus notebook that you forgot the day before during one of yours and johnny's study sessions. this wasn't a rare occurrence. you were at his house so much that sue had designated their spare bedroom as yours.
typically, you'd just wait until the next school day to get your things. johnny would bring it to school or you'd stop by after classes and end up staying over to watch a movie or play a video game. but you had a math final first thing monday and you needed the weekend to study.
the problem was, you were on your way to your cousin's fifth birthday party. her princess-themed birthday party. you showed up on johnny's doorstep in a pink, frilly dress that took up the entirety of his porch steps. he opened the door and his eyes instantly widened.
with a cheeky smirk on his face he said, "here you go, princess."
and the nickname stuck.
he cleared his throat and attempted a reed impression, "johnny, we can't have you distracted. the world is counting on you."
you shrugged, "he's got a point."
"whose side are you on?" he questioned, poking your side with his finger. his smile returned to his face as he heard your giggle echo throughout his room, "he acts like it was a million years ago when i nearly sacrified myself to save the world, but sure, i get too distracted."
you frowned, the dread you felt the first time ben told you about johnny's heroics came back ten-fold. it never gets easier, not really. you couldn't imagine a life without johnny. he was your best friend. you'd grown up together. he's been a part of your life longer than he hasn't.
but above all, you loved johnny. more than a friend should. the thought of almost losing him without telling him how you felt nearly had you confessing your love for him when he returned to the baxter building battered and bruised. nearly.
"i hate it when you talk about that," you mumbled. it was silly in the grand scheme of things for you to be upset over it. after all, it's not like it was you who was risking your life for the greater good.
johnny grabbed your hand and placed your palm on top of his beating heart. the warmth from his body blanketed you in a sense of comfort. his voice softened, "hey, i'm right here. see?"
ben narrowly avoided a lecture from him when he found out that ben told you what he almost did. johnny tried not to talk to you directly about his actions out there because he knew it made you upset. sometimes you still found out through the grapevine-- newspaper stands, tv reports, people chatting on the streets-- but johnny rarely told you about what he was up to out there. he never said anything unless you asked.
so when he found out that ben told you what johnny almost did to save franklin and the rest of the world, johnny marched to ben's room, fuming like never before. he was ready to scream at ben until he burst into flames. that was until he saw you come out of the elevator, tears in your eyes and a sigh of relief that he was okay, leaving your lips.
johnny placed your hand on his heart and whispered in your ear that he's alive and he's okay and that you can't get rid of him that easily. with you in his arms like that, he forgot about everything else in the world.
johnny felt himself shiver as your thumb rubbed against the area where his heart lays. the pressure of your touch made johnny's knees buckle, and he thanked his lucky stars that he was lying in bed with you or else his legs would've given out from under him.
you glanced at the clock and cursed, "i gotta go, j,"
johnny sat up, eyebrows furrowed as he watched you scramble to put your shoes back on, "wait, you're not staying for dinner? ben is making bolognese."
"i can't tonight," you said, apologetically, "maybe next week? i have to finish this report for work before 9am tomorrow and between you and me, i haven't started."
"c'mon princess, stay for dinner," he pleaded, getting up to block you from leaving his room, "it'll be two hours tops."
"i really can't," you sighed, giving him a sad smile, "but i hope reed eases up on you and you get to have your fun, or whatever."
he snorted, giving you a hug before you made your way out of his room, "ha."
"i'll see you soon, okay?"
"call me if you need the company."
"you'd be a distraction."
johnny smiled, his heart thumping in his chest, "you know me so well."
too well, you wanted to say.
you knew everything about johnny. you knew when he was upset, when a joke someone makes at his expense strikes a nerve. there's a slight crease that appears between his brows and he sucks in a breath before letting out a forced laugh. you knew that putting a hand on his upper arm or touching his elbow, a reminder i'm here, helps him breathe normally again.
you knew when he was happy, so over-the-moon joyous that he lets out a full belly laugh. his smile is all teeth and he somehow always finds you from wherever he is in the room. his eyes lock with yours and he looks at you with a wondrous glint in his irises.
you knew when he was scared. his voice shakes, the tiniest bit, so slight that people who didn't know him well enough wouldn't catch it. but he would stutter once, twice if it really got to him, and you would know then. johnny storm was always sure of himself, he never stuttered. he would touch you, a hand on top of yours, knee brushing against your own, something, anything, just to ground himself.
when you opened the door, you found sue outside in the hallway. she was fumbling with the door of the bathroom, all while holding a basket of laundry by her waist.
"hey sue," you greeted, walking over to give her a hand.
"hey," she smiled, uttering a quick thank you as you bid your goodbye. "you're not staying for dinner?"
"nah, i can't," you grimaced, "work stuff, but next week, though!"
"i'm holding you to that!" she called out as she watched you retreat to the elevator to leave the baxter building.
sue extended her body to watch you go down the elevator. once she was certain you were no longer on the floor, she dropped the basket on the bathroom counter and marched into johnny's room.
"oh hey," johnny greeted, placing the book you left on his bedside table down on the empty space on the bed where you laid. "is dinner finished already?"
sue leaned over and flicked johnny's ear, "you" - flick- "stupid" -flick- "fucking" -flick- "boy!"
"ow!" johnny, shot up from bed, holding his now red ear, "what the hell sue?!"
"why would you tell her that you're looking for someone to date?!"
johnny's eyes widened, "why are you listening in on my conversations?!"
"i'm your older sister," she dismissed, "it's my job to be nosy."
"jesus," he shook his head, leaning against the cabinet across the room. he wanted to create some distance in case sue decided to attack again. "what's it to you anyway, sue?"
"why would you tell her you're looking for someone to have fun with when she's in love with you?!"
his eyes widened. his heart stopped. a million thoughts rushed through his mind all at once. he had to grip the corner of the wooden cabinet to steady himself. then he laughed, "no sue, you got it all wrong. it's the other way around, remember? i'm the one in love with her."
it was his worst kept secret. he officially told his family post-galactus. they looked at him blankly, not saying a word. it made johnny nervous for a second, until reed spoke, "johnny, we knew this."
"clueless, the lot of you," she groaned, "she's in love with you, too!"
against his better judgement, johnny laughed again. it was no laughing matter, per se, but he couldn't believe it. he waited for sue to continue speaking, as if her last words were the punchline to a sick, twisted joke. but sue looked at him genuinely, like this was something she was certain about.
"what?" johnny pushed himself off the cabinet and walked over to sue, arms crossed against his chest, "w-what? did she tell you that?"
"i promised her i wouldn't say anything," sue replied, "but i also promised you i wouldn't say anything and it's just too many secrets for me to keep. especially since it doesn't even need to be a secret because you're both in love with each other."
johnny was running out to his balcony to fly to your apartment in a heartbeat. he'd never flown through the city so fast, not even when the world was ending and everything was falling apart from under him. he was positive he'd make it to yours before you even step off the subway platform.
when he arrived at your fire escape, the lack of lights and noise from inside confirmed his assumptions. he opened your living room window and stepped inside, like he'd done hundreds of times before. johnny wiped his sweaty palms against his pants, cursing silently when he realized that in his rush, he forgot to put some shoes on.
he didn't have time to dwell on that, however, because he heard your keys jingling. then the door opened and he saw you. you jumped at the image of someone in your home, but smiled brightly when you realized it was johnny.
you chucked your keys on the counter, eyeing him up and down, "the world better not be ending again, j, because that's the only reason i could think of as to why you're in my apartment with no shoes on, by the way, after you saw me less than 20 minutes ago."
he walked closer to you, "how long?"
you tilted your head, questioningly, "how long what?"
"how long have you been in love with me?"
you gulped, face draining of all color. you took a slight step back, but it didn't matter, because johnny closed the space once again. your eyes flickered to the open window, to the ticking clock, to the half-full mug of coffee you forgot on your kitchen table. you were looking at everything but him.
"i don't know what you're talking about."
"princess," he reached his hand out tentatively, holding your jaw to make you look at him, "please answer the question."
"i don't know."
"you don't know what i'm talking about or you don't know how long?" he asked, stepping closer. "which is it?"
"the latter."
"hmm," johnny hummed, "d-do you think you've been in love with me as long as i've been in love with you?"
you blinked, staring up at him with wide eyes, "you're what?"
"i'm in love with you," he said, definitively. "thought that was obvious."
"given that our conversation before this was you talking about wanting to have sex with someone, i would argue that it wasn't that obvious."
"so i'm an idiot," he chuckled, bumping his nose against yours, "you knew that though."
you leaned in closer, "i did."
johnny licked his lips, hands traveling lower until they settled on your waist, "you weren't supposed to agree that i'm an idiot."
"when have i ever lied to you, j?"
"seems like you lied about being in love with me, for one."
"are you gonna kiss me or what?"
johnny bit back the smile threatening to appear on his face. and then finally, finally, he placed his lips against yours. you let out a whimper at the feeling that made johnny's head spin. he pulled you with him until you both fell on your couch.
the kiss lasted longer than either of you intended for your first kiss, but neither of you wanted to pull away. when you eventually did, you were perched on his lap, arms around his neck.
in the bliss of it all, johnny peppered kisses across your face, making you giggle.
"by the way, reed did say he didn't want me to date anyone because he thinks i'll get distracted," he began. he looked up at you and rubbed his thumb against your cheekbone as he saw your worried expression. "but he said the only exception is if i get my shit together and finally ask you out. he says you're the only one he trusts to keep me in line."
you laughed, throwing your head back as johnny watched with fondess in his eyes. his palms were sprawled against your lower back, keeping you from falling off the couch. "well, i'll tell him that i'll try my best."
"princess, please," he scoffed, nuzzling his head in the crook of your neck, "you've been keeping me in line since the day we met."
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