Chapter Text
It’s 7:23am. The light shines through the window adjacent from the bed. Johnny Storm groans in annoyance as the radiance from the sun reflects onto his face. He rolls over to face the opposite direction. Laying next to him is a dark haired woman. Her back is towards him as she sleeps silently. Johnny stares at the back of her head. Her name is Candice. I’ve been seeing her on and off for a couple of weeks now. His cellphone vibrates on the nightstand. Johnny lets out a sigh and turns around to get his phone. He lays on his back as he views the message: “We still on for breakfast?” Johnny stares at his phone for a brief moment before sending the response: ”You betcha.” Johnny finally decides to get out of the bed.Wearing nothing but boxers, he stands up looking around the room for his pants. He then walks to the edge of the bed where he ultimately finds his gray jeans. Picking them up, he proceeds to put them on.
Making his way to the bathroom, he thinks to himself. It’s been awhile since we last seen eachother. And a lot of things have changed since I was gone. But I like to think that time changes, people don’t. Upon entering the bathroom, Johnny approaches the sink. He looks up to see his own reflection. I look like shit. Oblivious to the handsome reflection before him, Johnny looks away with a sigh. He picks up one of the two toothbrushes that were beside the sink and grabs the toothpaste. He lets out another sigh of irritation as he struggles to get the last bit of toothpaste onto his toothbrush. After two attempts, he is finally victorious and begins to brush his teeth. After he has finished, and as he wipes his face with a towel hanging on the wall, a voice from behind says “Good morning, handsome.” Johnny turns around, unalarmed, to see a beautiful young woman by the name of Candice, standing near the doorway. He smiles at her warmly and says, “Good morning to you too, beautiful.” He walks up to her and gives her a deep passionate kiss. A kiss that would make a woman feel special. A kiss that Johnny Storm himself has given to one too many women. He tugs on the shirt that drapes over her body. He continues to kiss her as he tells her “I’m gonna need that shirt back”. She smiles as they continue their affection and playfully tells him to come and get it. “You would like that wouldn’t you?”, he jokingly retorts. The young woman gentley pulls away from their embrace and asks him where he’s going. “I’m meeting up with an old friend”, comes the reply. She lets out a sigh and says “Fine.” She takes off the shirt and hands it to him.Candice, now standing completely nude, asks Johnny when he plans on seeing her again. Johnny, while putting on his shirt, tells her, “I dunno, maybe tonight. How’s that sound?” As he begins to walk away, Candice looks at him in such adoration, as she calls out, “Sounds perfect.” Johnny stops, and without turning completely around, he turns his head towards her and smiles.
Johnny makes his way back to the bedroom and begins to search for his jacket. He spots it sprawled across the floor near a chair. He walks over, picks it up, and puts it on. He then begins the search for his socks and shoes. He finds both and puts them on accordingly. He then makes his way over to the nightstand to grab his phone, which he shoves into his back pocket. Standing before the window, Johnny looks outside where his motorcycle is parked. He smiles to himself as he proceeds to open the window. Without looking back, he jumps out. Man I could really use some fresh air. Before he hits the ground below, Johnny’s hands light on fire and he’s able to hold himself a few feet above the ground. He gentley lowers himself to reach a decent distance before dropping himself. Landing expertly on his feet, he makes his way to his motorcycle. As he sits on his motorcycle, his phone vibrates once more, indicating a received message. Johnny reaches into his back pocket and views the new message that states, “Meet you there in 20.” As Johnny now puts his phone into his jacket pocket, he overhears a little girl calling out to her mother. “Mommy, will I ever see the toothfairy?”, the young girl asks her mother. As they walk further into the distance, Johnny can faintly hear the woman tell her child that the toothfairy will only come when she is sleeping. “But maybe—just maybe if you sleep with one eye open, you will be able to see her”, the woman kindly says to her daughter.
Johnny starts up his motorcycle and takes off down the street. I never knew my mother. She died when I was just a kid. I don’t know what she was like. I can’t remember. And sometimes I think it’s better that way. The wind whips against Johnny’s face as he accelerates the speed. I don’t think of her often. But lately she’s been crossing my mind a lot. Sometimes I wanna ask Sue about her, since she probably remembers her a lot more than I do, but I don’t want her to get all emotional about it so I don’t bring it up. Johnny slows down as he reaches a stop light. When I think of my mother I don’t feel anything. Not sorrow. Not anger. I just don’t feel anything. The light turns green and Johnny takes off with full speed. I’ve only been to her gravesite once. And that was the day dad died. They’re buried next to eachother. Johnny makes a sharp turn and then slows down as the diner comes into sight. Why do people visit gravesites anyway? It’s not like anything’s there. There’s nothing but a gravestone. And a pile of dirt. I’d rather not waste my time going to see a rock with my parents’ names carved on it. Johnny parks his motorcycle and makes his way to the diner. I can think of a lot more funner ways to waste my time. Johnny enters the diner and takes a seat near the windows.