Denial

Nessa woke up from a deep sleep. She had been dreaming about her night with Johnny, but had woken up before the kiss. If she was honest with herself she hated the fact that that was the moment her brain had decided to wake her up, but seeing she still was in full denial, she smiled. It had been the perfect night with the perfect company. Johnny would be an amazing friend. She felt a little guilty on how she had send him away, but she also already thought of a way to make it up to him. She would bring him breakfast. That way she could show him she really wanted to be friends with him. Only one small problem. She didn’t have his address and that would make it hard to bring breakfast.

For a second she thought about calling Izzie, but discarded that idea immediately. She knew what that was going to cause. She would find a way.

After a shower and indeed finding a way, Nessa made her way over to Johnny’s house. She hesitated before ringing the doorbell, she didn’t know if he would like seeing her there, maybe there was a reason he didn’t give her his address. She shook the negative thoughts out of her mind and decided she would just make herself known. He told her they could be friends, friends visited each other right? She juggled the tray with the two cups of coffee in her one hand, while she held the bag with breakfast in her other, using the same hand to ring the bell. It took her a while, so she let out a sigh when she finally succeeded.

It took a few minutes before she heard someone inside and then the voice that she was longing to hear, making her smile.
“I’m coming! Hold up!”
The door flew open, revealing an image she wouldn’t soon forget. Johnny was just wearing shorts, his hair wet from a shower. His chest was bare and so were his feet.
“Nessa! What.. what are you doing here?” He stammered, a pink brush coming over his cheeks. He stepped in front of the door and closed it for the most part.
“Hi. I asked Matt where you lived, I hope that is okay?” she looked at him shyly, almost already regretting she was here. Johnny didn’t immediately reply, so Nessa held up the bag and the cups “I brought breakfast” She smiled, looking at the man that was still looking a little confused. Did she unnerve him by coming her spontaneously?

“No, sure… that’s okay… “ silence fell between them and it wasn’t comfortable this time. Now Nessa was confused. Why didn’t he ask her in if it was okay? He was acting weird and she was beating herself up over it. She let that one sentence go over and over in her head “I shouldn’t have come here, I shouldn’t have come here”. When she realized Johnny really wasn’t going to ask her in and the silence became painfully uncomfortable, that were the words that came out of her mouth
“I shouldn’t have come, I’m sorry” She tried to push the cups and the bag into Johnny’s hands and after some uncomfortable touches she managed. She quickly turned around and walked back to her car.

“No! Nessa, wait!” Johnny called after her, willing her to stop. He had been debating with himself. To say he was surprised to see her would be an understatement. After last night, he thought he would have to pursue her, he thought he would need to go all out to get her to even talk to him, but there she was, at his doorstep and he wasn’t at all ready.

Yesterday after their date not being a date he decided for him to win her over, he needed to get his own life in order first. Starting with buying new furniture. He had been wallowing too long in Kat’s legacy and he was done with it. He was ready to start a new life, a life in which he would finally be happy. He was sure of the person he would want to spend it with, but that was where there was a bit of a question mark. He wasn’t particularly attached to his house, but he wasn’t planning on buying something new just yet. He just needed something to sit on. That would be a start.

But now she was already here and he still had no furniture. Damn, what kind of impression would that give her? He didn’t want to show her, afraid of her reaction, but he also knew that if he let her go now, she would be gone to never return again.

“WAIT! Please” He had reached her just before she could get into the car and grabbed her hand. Happy he had the sense of mind to put the breakfast down at the door.
“Please don’t go” he almost begged her.
“Why? You don’t seem very keen on asking me in… If you don’t want me here that’s fine, I’ll just go”
“No, that’s not it… it’s just… Shit” he muttered, receiving odd looks from Nessa. When he finally looked up to her, she raised her brows “Fuck, this is going to ruin everything” he mumbled. Then he turned to Nessa again.
“I’ll show you why I acted this way. Come with me please” he grabbed her hand and dragged her to the house, opening the door for her.

The hall seemed fine, Nessa thought, she was confused on what the man wanted to show her, but then he opened the door to his livingroom. It was almost empty and not in the “I’m rocking the minimalist” kinda way.
“What happened here? Did you have a break in?” Nessa turned to Johnny with a concerned look in her eyes. He should be lucky they only took his furniture and didn’t hurt him. But Johnny averted his eyes and seemed to choose his next words carefully.
“My ex happened” Johnny’s neck turned a little pink.
“She took everything from you?!” Nessa let out offended. Johnny’s blush got even higher.
“No… she cheated on me… on my couch, so I threw it out. Couldn’t stand to have that in my house” he looked at her and noticed her holding her breath, her hand on her chest.
“Oh Johnny, that’s terrible! I’m so sorry!” Without thinking she put her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Johnny snaked his arms around her waist and just enjoyed having her this close again. He moved away a little and stared into her eyes.

They both felt the atmosphere change and while Johnny felt comfortable there, already moving forward to capture the woman’s lips. Nessa felt anxiety coming over her and moved away, embarrassed. Johnny smiled at her and took her into the kitchen, pulling out some plates to put their breakfast on.
“Yeah, so that is why I didn’t really want to invite you in. I’m sorry”
“Don’t be, I understand” she took a sip of her coffee and the donut that Johnny handed her “But you do need new furniture, how long has it been like this”
Now it was Johnny’s turn to be embarrassed “A few months”
Nessa chew her food away and looked amazed “Hasn’t one of your friends offered to go shopping with you? I mean, it sucks to have to do it alone, I understand that, but your friends could have helped you, right? Why didn’t they? They are your best friends, they should have!” she got more and more agitated, assuming his friends didn’t want to help him. She got a little angry over it. She realized it wasn’t really a guy thing, but Mia was there and Tammy and especially Izzie. She needed to butt in everyone’s lives, but she couldn’t help a friend?!

Johnny chuckled lightly at the woman’s reaction. She didn’t even know how cute she was.
“Don’t blame the friends. I kept it from them”
Nessa’s mouth was agape now “Why?!”
“I don’t know. I think I was just…” he shrugged, he couldn’t really find the words why he didn’t tell his friends. Maybe he was feeling to good in the bad thing for that period of time. But it was done now.
“Do you want to come shopping for furniture with me? I have nothing to do today, because I was planning on going anyway and I would love for you to come with me”
“Really?”
“Yes! I like what you did with your house, you can advise me” he leaned over the counter, closing in on her, trying to catch her gaze. He wanted to get lost in those brown eyes forever, they were amazing.
“Okay” Nessa smiled “We can take Charlotte?”
Johnny shot her a confused look and she giggled “My car, her name is Charlotte”
“Oh! Yes! Of course we can! Let me get dressed and we can go” He took the stairs two at a time and stopped half way “Thank you for breakfast by the way, it was just what I needed”

As Johnny was getting dressed he smiled on how easy they have been around each other, how easy it had been after he had invited her in. He was looking forward to spend time with her, buying things for his house. And he was pretty sure she would be the one decorating his house. He knew he wouldn’t be able to resist any of the suggestions she would be making.
Downstairs Nessa caught herself smiling like an idiot. She was thinking on how nice it was to have a friend like Johnny. He was so easy to talk to and he made her feel happier than she had been in a long time. She had this amazing feeling in her stomach and those eyes, they were so kind when they locked with hers. So… friendly…. Yes, that’s what it was, friendship…

Before Nessa could think even more of it, Johnny came down the stairs, all dressed this time. He grabbed his wallet, phone and keys, putting them into his jacket pockets.
“I’m ready to go, shall we?”

They headed over to a gathering of different stores that supplied in furniture and other house decoration and just started upfront with the first store. After trying at least a dozen couches and looking at different styles to further decorate the house, Johnny admitted this wasn’t really his style. It was too modern, he was looking for more manly furniture. A dinner table that could seat all of his friends, a recliner you never wanted to leave, a couch you could use to cuddle on with the woman you had over, a big couch he could lay on with Nessa in his arms. He shared all the information with the woman that was accompanying him, but left out the last bit. He didn’t need to scare her away again.
“I get it now, let’s go to the next store! I won’t rest until we have everything you dreamed off!” Nessa’s enthusiastic attitude was contagious and Johnny could only smile. He was wondering if he could take her home too at the end of the day. If he could have her, he wouldn’t care what kind of furniture ended up in his house. Everything would do.

After 3 shops of nothing, they finally found a store that had more of Johnny’s liking. He found a huge dinnertable with 12 chairs. Enough to seat every single one of his friends, their wives and even some extra. It was large, but he knew just where to put it. He had the perfect space for it.

Nessa and Johnny tested all the recliners in the store on how you can sit and lie in them. Johnny even tried his luck shortly and joined Nessa in one of them. Squeezed together they came to the conclusion that one was the best fit, because it was even large enough to fit two people. Johnny lingered a little while longer, putting his nose to her hair, intoxicated by her amazing smell, but quickly moved away before Nessa could get uncomfortable. He had to be patient. He needed to be patient. He had gotten to know her in that short amount of time and he knew that patience was key.

After almost a whole day of shopping they had everything to make Johnny’s house a home again, except for the couch. It was down to two models, but Johnny was indecisive. Both Johnny and Nessa had been sitting on it, lying on it, but still no verdict. A salesman came towards them, trying to convince them to chose.
“This is the perfect couch to relax on, on a drowsy Sunday afternoon, when you and your wife watch movies all day and order take out” he addressed Johnny, his fake smile to annoying to look at. Johnny and Nessa exchanged looks as Johnny was about to open his mouth and correct the salesman about Nessa and him. But he got surprised by Nessa’s next action. She pressed herself to his side and forced Johnny to put his arm around her.
“Well, sir, that might be as well, but my husband here has decided on all the furniture today and he went way over budget. This couch, though lovely, is too expensive for us. We will need to find a cheaper alternative.” The salesman looked at the both of them, feeling his sale slip through his fingers.
“Of course miss, us men are terrible at budgets, that’s why we surround us with you lovely creatures and make them our wives. Let me see what I can do for you” He walked away from them, rushing to his computer to look at the options.

Johnny held on to Nessa tightly and turned her back to the salesman.
“Wow, you are amazing! You look so innocent” he spoke in an admiring tone as he stared at her.
“He was trying to rip you off, I couldn’t let him, you bought so much today, you need a good deal on this” she smiled back. She felt on fire when she was this close to him, as if she would be able to take on the world. And that was not the only way she felt on fire. Being this close to him sure got her temperature rising. Just friends, she was still repeating in her head, just…

She got pulled out of her mind when she suddenly felt her body pulled and Johnny’s lips crashed on hers. She was too amazed by what was happening that for a second she couldn’t think, just feel. She let Johnny pull her closer and she put her arms around his waist. She couldn’t help a moan escaping her. They were just friends…. She needed to keep that in mind… But why did kissing him feel so damn good?

“Hmmm hmmm” the return of the salesman made them break up their kiss. Nessa blushed, but Johnny chuckled.
“Had to make her forget she is mad at me for going over budget, but you better have a good offer my friend, I don’t think I have enough energy to also make up for this couch”
The sales man shared a look with Johnny as if he wanted to say “I know what you are talking about, man” and then smiled at the both of them.
“I think I have a very good offer for the both of you, because I like you. Your future kids will have fun on this couch too, but in the meantime, this couch is perfect for a lot of practice” he laughed again, while Johnny tried to hide his dismay with the man, what an asshole!

The trick worked though and he took a lot off the price, really giving them a great deal. While the salesman got off to arrange the paperwork, Nessa turned to Johnny.
“I know you only did it to play the part, but we are just friends, Johnny. Friends don’t kiss each other like that”

She turned away to pretend to look at some other stuff, while Johnny signed for the couch, arranging it would be delivered as soon as possible. He shook the salesman’s hand and walked to the exit of the shop where Nessa was waiting for him. Why did she fight something that was this good?!

He needed help, he needed help from the man that could get every woman to do as he wanted, he needed Brian.

Notes

I needed to do a chapter today, because the real Nessa got the keys to her new house today!
Congratulations Nessa, may your life there be as wonderful as it will be in this story <3