Chapter Text
Johnny was just a baby, only five years old.
On one of those nights when he couldn't sleep, the wind howled outside, and the branches from the trees pounded against his window, making Johnny flinch each time. With hesitation, he got out of bed and quietly walked outside his room, peeking around the door to see if anyone was there. It was only 8:30 PM, so his father, Nick, and everyone else were still awake.
Johnny didn’t know if he had a high regard for his father or if he was just extremely scared of him. He wished his father would favor him as he did with Nick. He felt like the black sheep of the family; George wouldn’t even care if he was gone.
Slowly, Johnny made his way down the stairs and saw his father sitting in their big living room, watching TV with Nick, who was engrossed in his Nintendo DS.
Johnny spoke up as his father left the room, presumably to go to the kitchen or the bathroom. “Nick?” His voice trembled from the stairs where he stood in his pajamas, his fingers nervously fiddling with the edges of his shirt. He took a few more steps down when Nicholas turned around, smiling at his little brother. Nicholas was five years older than Johnny, but already much more mature, which their father praised often.
“Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?” Nicholas asked, sitting up and patting the space next to him.
“I-I can’t sleep,” Johnny replied, stepping closer to the couch and climbing onto it beside Nick. He was smaller than most boys his age, which made him appear even cuter.
Nicholas patted Johnny’s back and wrapped his arm around him. “Do you want me to read you a bedtime story?” Johnny nodded eagerly in response.
“Alright, but then you have to sleep, okay? Or you know, Father will be mad,” Nicholas teased as he took Johnny’s hand and led him into his own bedroom, knowing that Johnny liked it more.
Johnny climbed into bed, beaming, as Nicholas tucked him in. He then reached beneath his bed to grab one of the books he kept for Johnny.
“What are you doing?” Johnny leaned over the edge to watch as Nick pulled out a horse plushy.
Johnny's eyes widened in excitement. “You kept it!” He was overjoyed. It was his plushy that their father had taken away, claiming that having plushies was for girls.
“Of course! I saw how much you liked it,” Nicholas said with a smile as he lay down next to Johnny, who snuggled with the plushy—a brown horse with a white spot between its eyes.
“Ahem,” Nicholas cleared his throat and began to read the story.
“Once upon a time, there was a little boy who lived on a farm with lots of animals. He had horses, chickens, geese, pigs, and sheep. The boy was very happy; his animals loved him, and he loved his animals.
One day, he got a new horse—a beautiful black horse. It was small and shy. It didn’t get along with the others at first. The boy talked to the horse every day, telling it that the other animals were nice and would love to play with it. The horse didn’t believe him and stayed alone for the following days.
After a few days, the horse finally came out and tried to be around the other animals, who greeted it very nicely. The horse realized it was wrong to be afraid at first.
Eventually, it found new friends and loved living on that farm.”
By this time, Johnny had fallen asleep. Listening to Nicholas’s soothing voice had relaxed him completely, and he was soon sleeping like a rock. Nicholas smiled and quietly stood up to leave the room, returning to his father.
---
It was another sunny day, and Johnny was at the stables. He had stopped going to kindergarten since it was almost time for school.
Feeling bored, he leaned against a tree and watched his father work with the horses alongside Nicholas and another blonde boy he recognized. He’d seen the boy a few times but had never spoken to him; he only knew that he was an orphan. Even George was nicer to that boy than to him. How unfair!
Johnny brought his knees up to his face and let out a big sigh when two large shadows appeared in front of him. He looked up to see his big brother and the boy standing closer than ever. The boy had long, golden, slightly curled hair, blue eyes, and a figure as thin as a piece of paper.
Johnny couldn’t read the boy’s expression—was he neutral, nice, or mean? He couldn’t tell and remained quiet until Nicholas spoke up.
“Johnny, this is Diego. You’ve heard about him for sure,” he said with a smile. Johnny didn’t seem amused; he didn’t like seeing someone else close to Nicholas more than him. He felt jealous. After all, Nicholas was his brother.
“And he’s only one year older than you, so why don’t you hang out more?” Nicholas suggested. “He wants to ride horses like you; you already have something in common!”
“Hmph, I guess,” Johnny replied, standing up and noticing that Diego was about the same height as him. He reached out his hand, remembering that good manners count. Diego mirrored the gesture and shook his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Johnny,” Diego said warmly.
He did seem like a nice boy. Just then, Nicholas disappeared, having been called by their father. They had to brush off the horses, and Johnny realized their father never called him.
So now he was standing alone with that stranger under the tree.
“Do you want to eat something?” Johnny asked.
“Mhm!” Diego answered with a slight smile. “I’m really hungry. My mama and I haven’t eaten today.”
“Okay, follow me.” The other small blonde walked back to their huge mansion, hopeful that they could be friends — Johnny's first friend. He felt a little happy.
Both boys arrived at the entrance, and Diego took off his shoes while Johnny didn't. He never really did. Diego always removed his hat out of respect. Johnny shrugged and went to the kitchen, where their house chef was already preparing lunch for the Joestar family. They surely had a lot of money to afford such a luxury.
“Wow,” Diego was amazed by how big the house was; even the kitchen was enormous.
“Ah, Monsieur Joestar!” the chef smiled at the small boy. “Lunch is almost finished. Do you mind tasting it?” Johnny nodded and tasted the sauce from the little spoon. It was a little hot, but he nodded and smiled. “Very yummy. Can you put a plate for my friend? Papa is fine with it, really!” He lied; to be honest, he didn’t know since it seemed like George liked Diego.
Diego didn’t say a word and just stood a little behind Johnny, looking at the chef.
“Oui, oui, Monsieur. That wouldn’t be a problem at all!” the chef smiled and continued to prepare lunch for the Joestar family, including Brando.
“Thank you,” Diego said after leaving the kitchen with Johnny. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad kid.
“No problem,” Johnny replied with a slight smile. “Papa seems to like you anyway,” he added, a touch of pain in his voice. “We can go play in my room if you want. I have horse figures and a stable and other stuff!” he said excitedly, which Diego answered with a nod.
So they did, playing together for a while and even eating lunch, where George didn’t say a word. Johnny really felt happy today; he felt like an actual child. Maybe Diego could be his best friend!
---
Several years later, everything changed.
The accident.
Johnny lost his ability to walk, his brother, his best friend, and his will to live.
He shut himself away from reality. He didn’t even speak to his father for weeks or maybe months. Each day, he cried. He felt like a whiny baby — for a reason, though.
After several depressing teenage years, he was unsure how to continue like this. Therapy didn’t help at all in his opinion, until he met the European again: the Italian, Gyro Zeppeli.
He hadn’t seen him in years. That man was now 24. Johnny counted the years he hadn’t seen him. Johnny was already 18. They randomly met in the city. On his way home from therapy, he saw him: the tall, gorgeous Italian man with long blond curly hair standing in front of a car.
He couldn’t believe his eyes. After all these years, he was seeing him again — the guy who had brought him back to life, who gave him a reason to smile again, who appreciated him for who he was.
Johnny couldn’t just stand there and rushed, well, as best he could with his legs, over to him.
“Gyro—!” he yelled, his eyes wide open.
The taller man turned around and looked down. It was really him. It was really Gyro Zeppeli.
The moment he got closer, Johnny couldn’t help but cry tears of joy. Sounding like a baby, he threw his arms forward for a hug. His crutches fell, and his only support was Gyro.
“J-Johnny!” Gyro was shocked. He never expected to see him here at all. So many emotions rushed through his body. He slung his arms around the smaller boy and hugged him tightly. “How I missed you, amico! We haven’t seen each other in... how many years?” he asked, looking down at Johnny, who was desperately wiping away his tears.
“E-eight... eight years,” Johnny choked, unable to stop crying.
Gyro held Johnny, grabbed his crutches from the floor, and placed them back into Johnny’s arms.
“Here you go,” he grinned, revealing his ‘Decent’ gold grills.
“Goddamn—” he sniffed. “What are those?” he asked with a little laugh.
“Come on, don’t tell me you don’t like 'em!” Gyro pouted sarcastically. “I got these babies a few years ago.” He grinned once more. “You have to tell me everything that happened!”
They both went to a small café in a quiet corner to talk. Johnny still stuttered sometimes because he was super nervous seeing his friend again after so many years.
He found out that Gyro was now studying at a university for his medical degree, while Johnny dropped out of college — what a loser. Johnny still lived with his father, while Gyro had a small apartment somewhere in the city.
They talked for hours — legitimate hours; it was already dark outside.
How they missed each other.