Denial

“Just do it, she said, don’t be a baby, she said.” Johhny was muttering, while spinning his phone in his hands. He was so lost in thought that he was startled when a text came in.

J-man! How is the plan coming?! Xox M

He sighed, he loved the wives, but really didn’t need to have more pressure on his shoulders. Another text made him drop his phone “Fuck!”

Little man, I know you are over thinking all of it… Don’t. It will work, and you will soon have what you want. Love you! X Izzie

“Damn, why am I such an open book to those women? Seriously, so inconvenient” he groaned. He took a long look around his house. All the furniture that was still in his house was covered in sheets, the fumes of the paint were giving him a headache. The painter had just left and Johnny knew he had to call Nessa, at least, if he was keeping to the plan. He only needed to ask her to hang out with him, the women had ensured him that would be everything he needed to do. But why the fuck was it that hard to finally do it?! He quickly pushed “call” before he could change his mind.

Nessa answered at the second ring “Hey, you know, I don’t really like calling” she said quietly.
Johnny smiled hearing her voice “I’m glad you made an exception for me”. He heard her let out a breath and silence fell upon them. Johnny was pushing himself to say something or she would be ending the call “What are you doing tonight? I was wondering if you might want to hang out or something?”
“Yeah sure, you coming over?” He could hear her smile in her voice. That must mean something, right?
“Will be there in 15”

Johnny made his way over to Nessa’s house. The women had said he only need to hang out with her that night, the rest would just happen. At first he hadn’t asked what they had meant with “the rest” and why the hell he needed a painter, but fair is fair, he wasn’t a stupid man, just a little slow sometimes.... He had figured it out in the end. Still not sure if this would be the best way to go, he stopped in front of her house. He had agreed with himself that he wouldn’t ask for a place to stay. He would just have a nice night and he would see what happened. In the worst case he would sleep on his own patio.

He didn’t even have time to ring the bell when Nessa already opened the door with a smile
“I saw you coming from the kitchen, I was making snacks. You want a beer?” she babbled while he made his way over to the living room and sat down on the couch.
“Yes, please! I can use one!” he yelled to the kitchen.

Nessa came back in, a tray full of snacks and a couple of beers to go with them. She put down the tray and seemed to hesitate for a minute on which seat to take, choosing the recliner in the end. A ping of disappointment shot through Johnny, he would have liked for her to join him, but now there was this big distance between them.
“So, when are you going to paint your house?”
Johnny looked at his hands, feeling a little guilty. He didn’t know why, he did nothing wrong really, but it felt like he was betraying her anyways.
“Uhm, well.... Like right now” Nessa looked at him confused “I have a painter friend and one of his jobs got cancelled, so I decided to do the paint job yesterday and he has already covered all my furniture and did most of the painting on the ceilings”
“Wow! That’s not playing around” she laughed “Are you already liking it?”
“Yeah, I think I am, it’s all nice and fresh again, I like that, I needed that”
Nessa gave him an encouraging smile while taking a sip out of her bottle again. Then she got a frown on her face and Johnny had this nagging feeling in his stomach that she would already come to the point right away.
“Where are you sleeping? It’s not safe to sleep in those fumes” And well, there it was. She looked genuinely concerned for him, making him feel even more guilty then he already was. Guilt consuming him he let out “Ah well, I’ll see, plenty of rooms at my friends houses and I can always sleep on my patio, the weather is nice and I sleep almost everywhere” he tried to look carefree, but didn’t know if he was succeeding. He wasn’t concerned for the sleeping arrangements at all, he was only worried on how Nessa would take it if she ever found out what the real idea behind the painter had been. He looked at her, she was lost in thoughts and when she turned to him again she got a blush on her face.
“You know... The couch is pretty comfortable, you are more than welcome to sleep there tonight, we could watch some movies and see how far the night will take us”

She didn’t meant any of the things that were going through his mind at that moment, but this was what the plan had been, right?! So he probably had to say yes. Like now. Before she will take her offer back.
“Okay... Thanks for the offer, I will gladly take it... I will make... well, buy you breakfast in the morning” he smiled, receiving a face wide smile back, making everything so worth it.
“Good, now we got that out of the way.... Shall I get some more drinks and put on Harry Potter?” Nessa made her way to the kitchen again and Johnny looked after her. He couldn’t believe he would spend all night with her. Not in the way he would really like, but it was a start.

After 1 Harry Potter movie, they started talking. He loved hearing her talk about the fictional world of wizards and witches, she was so damn passionate about. She sat in her recliner, her legs pulled up beneath her and he listened to her do a whole monologue on her favorite series
“A true fan will always say books over movies” Johnny blushed when he heard her say that so decided. He had never been much of a reader and even though he had wanted to read the books, he never really got to it. Nessa saw his blush and quickly corrected herself “The movies are good too! Really! They are put to picture very well. If it is the only series I’m allowed to watch for the rest of my life, I’d die a happy women”

Johnny smiled, it meant a lot to him that she could read his expressions and that she felt the need to make his worries better. He would never want her to change, but it was nice that she made the effort for him. Nessa already continued
“ I'll usually go into how devastated I was every time a good character died. I have read the whole series about 10 times. The story stays the same but to me it becomes more excited each time I read it. It's like you get so attached and involved in the story and attached to characters that you become so emotionally attached that when it all ends you're left sitting there with the feeling of what now? Life for me has never been the same since I picked up that first book. It was the much needed escape from my fucked up reality. It was my friend when I was lonely. It was a warm comforting hug when I was sad. It was and will always and forever be a part of me. Just knowing that Hogwarts will Always be my home reminds me of how, all was well.”

In those words she showed his soul to him and he would cherish that for all his life, it was a great honor to him that she would talk so openly to him, trusting her with her deepest feelings. Because telling him about how fucked up her life had been and how lonely she was…. I was nothing to think lightly off. Johnny looked at the woman he had grown so fond off in such a small amount of time and saw her fidgeting with the label of the bottle. He decided to lighten the mood.
“So favorite pet?”
“HEDWIG!” they both yelled out at the same time, causing a laugh attack. Just when they decided to look at the movie again, they saw Draco forcing Ron to eat slugs and Johnny felt a shiver in disgust going over him, making Nessa giggle.
“You know… I love the guy”
“Who? Draco?! Seriously?”
“Yeah, of all the bad guys he is my absolute favorite”
Johnny shook his head in disbelieve “He is such a douche!”
“I know” she smiled back at him. For a few minutes they just sat in silence. Johnny decided to ask her one more Harry Potter question, really curious for her answer.
“Which one of the three deathly hallows would you choose?” He looked at her face, it looked a little hurt.
“ That one is easy, the cloak of invisibility....”
“You would never be invisible to me, Nessa” Johnny replied to her quietly, his face reddening with the second, Nessa’s face snapped at him and she opened her mouth to reply, but then she closed it again and shook her head. He just wished she would believe him. He wished she would let him compliment her, the way she deserved.

They finished movie number two and Nessa put in number three “You up for another one?”
“Why not?” Johnny replied with a content smile, trying his luck again “But only if you sit next to me, the couch is big enough and I see you stretching your neck every time, you can’t even see the tv properly.” He saw her hesitate “There are hippogriffs in this one, you would want to see them the best way possible” he teased, remembering they are her favorite creatures.
“Okay!” Nessa made her way over to the couch and sat next to him, enough space between them.

The third movie had been a bit much, after an hour Nessa had made herself comfortable and fortunately for Johnny, that comfortable had included his body. She was all snuggled up to him, a blanket covering her, her face on his shoulder. He had carefully put his arm around her and enjoyed her closeness. Why couldn’t it be like this always? She fit him so well, if she would just see. Johnny had been wide awake, he couldn’t waste a minute sleeping when he could watch her sweet face, touch it lightly, removing her hair out of her face. He wanted it all with this girl, that much was clear. If only she would let him.
The warmth of her body and her even breathing made his eyes droopy and it wasn’t long before he let sleep take over for him too.

He didn’t know how long they slept, but he woke up because of Nessa jumping of the couch and the almost scared look in her eyes. It scared him. He jumped up too and grabbed her shoulders
“Nessa, what is wrong?”
Then he heard it too, a loud banging on the door, followed by screams.
“VANESSA! OPEN UP! YOU BELONG WITH ME! I WILL BREAK ALL THE WINDOWS OF THAT FANCY CAR ON YOUR DRIVEWAY!”
“You have to go Johnny, he will destroy your car” she looked so scared, hurt and embarrassed at the same time “Just go out the back, I will let him in at the front and everything will be okay” she practically pushed him to the back door. But Johnny didn’t want to be pushed, certainly not away from her while there was a lunatic at her door.
“Who is that?” he asked, looking into her eyes, trying to calm her down with his gaze and a brush of his hand on her arm
“The troll” she replied, barely audible.
“I will take care of him” Johnny started to make his way to the front door, where the banging continued, but he was stopped when a hand grabbed his and pulled him back.

Nessa was filled with fear the Troll would hurt Johnny, or break his car, she would get back to him in a heartbeat if he would just leave Johnny alone. Because even though she really wasn’t ready to admit she did have feelings for the man, she sure as hell went crazy with the thought of him getting hurt because of her.
“Nessa, really, I will handle him, you should never be scared or embarrassed in your own home. You call the police and I will go talk to him, okay?” Johnny looked her deeply in her eyes, wanting for her to understand what he was saying. He gently put his hand on her cheek, his thumb stroking softly, trying to calm her down “Okay?” he asked her again, receiving a small nod.
He let go of her and walked to the door, opening it mid knock.

“What do you want?” Johnny asked, while still holding the door in his hand.
“Who the fuck are you!? Why are you at my girlfriend’s house? Get the hell out and let me see her!” the Troll threatened.
“The woman doesn’t want you anymore, you should take a hint” Johnny replied calmly.
“AND WHO ARE YOU TO DECIDE?!” the guy started yelling again, but Johnny wasn’t at all impressed. The guy was all word no action.
“I’m nothing but a doorman. Now. The police is called and I suggest you leave before they find you here”
Johnny watched the end of the street, seeing the lights of the cop car approaching. Nessa got lucky she lived just around the corner of the police station. He looked at the guy with a smirk on his face “Whoops, I guess you are too late to take the high road” and with that remark he closed the door, leaving the stunned man at the doorstep, ready to be taken by the police.

Johnny returned to the woman inside that was now shivering like a straw. He couldn’t help but wrap his arms around her to comfort her. He held her close until there was a knock on the door and their embrace was cut way too short to his liking.
Nessa needed to answer some police questions, appeared she already had a restraining order against the guy and he was breaking it on at least 5 points.

When she came back into the room she look embarrassed and Johnny didn’t know what to say or do. She seemed so closed off again. In his head he wanted to beat the Troll to pulp, not only because of him ruining their night, but mostly because he ruined this beautiful, smart and sweet woman. He betrayed her trust beyond repair and she didn’t deserve that.

After she gave him a pillow and a blanket, she quickly made her way to her room, before he even got the chance to talk to her again. While he looked after her, he decided for himself. He would never hurt her, he would make her trust him, even if it would take years. She deserved someone nice, someone trustworthy, someone who would worship the ground she walked upon, someone who would cherish her, someone who would love her forever. She deserved it.

She deserved him.

Notes

UHHHH!! Johnny is staying over! :D
And guess what... surprise, surprise... next chapter is almost done too... So be good my dear readers and the next chapter will soon follow!! :P

<3