“Did you find him?” Izzie didn’t even let Mia come in before she already started firing questions at her. The women had been calling non-stop ever since they received the message from Johnny. He had send it to all of them, including the men.
“No I didn’t. I have been searching all the known places he could be, but no luck.” Mia entered the house, nodding at Matt in acknowledgement, but not spending one word on him “This is bad, Izzie”.
“I know” Izzie let out silently, completely lost in her own thoughts. Maybe there was truth in what Matt had said that morning, but she couldn’t just let Johnny disappear now, could she?
“Have you called Tammy?”

“Yes, she has” Tammy answered for Izzie as her and Brian came into the house. Brian immediately joined Zack and Matt on the patio, as the girls occupied the kitchen. “He isn’t answering his phone or texts. Brian and I both tried dozens of times”.
“Us too” the other two replied.

Silence fell over them as they were all lost in their own thoughts and Izzie provided them all of coffee.
“What do you guys think happened? It was a solid plan. I can’t imagine how this could go wrong, I mean…” Tammy pondered. The other two shook their heads, they didn’t know either, but they couldn’t help but feel bad. They wanted Johnny to be happy so bad and now he only got hurt again. They silently drank their coffee as once in a while one of them put up half a reason of what they thought had gone wrong, while taking turns in trying to call Johnny again. But they were kept in the dark, because the two people that could provide answers weren’t here.

The thoughts were broken when the guys came in, Brian and Zack sitting opposite of their wives at the breakfast bar, while Matt poured them all drinks. It had to be 5 somewhere, they could all use some liquid strength.
“You girls need to stop, especially you, Iz” Brian let out calmly. The women didn’t reply, so Brian continued “I know you mean well, and I know you want everyone to be happy, and I love you for that, but you need to stop. Johnny was just getting himself again, he was finally ready to be out there, and then this happened. We all know this is going to break him badly, if it hasn’t already”
Matt stood behind Izzie, putting his hands on her shoulders. He would always chose her side, but he agreed with Brian this time, so he just decided to keep his mouth shut and support her the only way he could in this situation.

“I know, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have dragged you all in, and I shouldn’t even have started it.” Izzie let out, the shame full in her voice, she never wanted this to happen.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. I agree with Brian, but you were right, something did happen between them. I just think they both aren’t ready to start something new. Who knows what will happen in the future”
“Just leave him alone from now on. He has to figure this out himself”
“We know. I just wish we knew where he was, if he was alright” Mia muttered.

“I’m okay” Johnny’s soft voice startled them all. No one heard him come in, and there he was, standing there.
“Thank god!” Tammy walked over to him and pulled him in a hug, then she punched his shoulder “You had us worry sick, you asshole!”
“Sorry”

Johnny sat down and watched everyone look at him expectantly.
“You wanna talk about it, man, or should we just get you drunk?” Brian ask with a smile, trying to lighten the mood
“No no, I can’t get drunk, I’m having an appointment in an hour”
The others looked at him full question, but Johnny didn’t answer, and they didn’t ask any further.
They all were silent, not really comfortable asking Johnny to tell about his night and the reason for his text this morning, but all dying to know. So when Johnny did start to talk, they all could almost thank him for satisfying their curiousity, but all just able to keep it in.

He told them about their night, how it started with talking and movies, following by falling asleep together until waking up by the troll. When he got to that part Izzie cursed loudly, threatening to kill the bastard, but Johnny told her the police took care of it already. When Johnny continued he didn’t go into detail, but by the twinkle in his eyes, and the blush on his cheeks, they could all imagine the story that wasn’t told by so many words.

“This morning when I woke up I was so happy to be with her. I finally had the feeling I belonged again, she looked so beautiful, having her in my arms was just…. Like the greatest gift, you know?” The men nodded and the girls could barely contain the swoons over Johnny’s sweet words, but then he continued.

“Meeting her ex, and knowing how he hurt her by all the lies was making me feel terrible. How could I have made a scheme to be with her? How could I have started us off by a lie? It was not a good start and guilt was eating me alive. I decided to make her breakfast and come clean. I needed to”
“Oh no” Tammy let out softly
“So I sat her down, and we ate, and then I told her everything. I told her: The plan was that I would paint my house. That I would hang out with you and you feel pity at me and invite me to stay over and then you wouldn’t be able to deny us anymore”

“Ahhh Johnny you fool! That was the worst way to put it!” Mia almost screamed.
“I know that now. I just wished I had realized it before she kicked me out. She never wants to see me again. I completely blew it”

No one knew what to say, their friendship wasn’t based on feeding each other lies, and they all agreed on one thing. He definitely blew it.
“Maybe she will see it as a good thing after she cooled down… you making plans to win her over?” Brian carefully tried, knowing he was pulling on a thread.

Johnny shook his head as he pushed his chair back and got up. “I appreciate the effort, but we promised not to lie to each other. I have to go. I just wanted to let you guys know I’m alright, but please just let me be, okay? I will be fine, I just need to be alone for a while.”

All six of them nodded at his request and watched him leave with weary eyes.

“FUCK!” Izzie yelled out in frustration as the door fell close behind her friend. This was one fucked up situation

---

“Come on Abuela, smile for the camera”
“Will it do the thing with the tongue if I smile?” Nessa’s grandma replied at her granddaughter’s request, while trying out some weird faces to get the camera to do what she was asking. Nessa laughed silently as she saw her grandma working hard to get the snapchat filter to do as she wanted.

She knew it had been a great choice to visit her grandma. She had been crying for hours after Johnny left. How could he have lied to her? She really didn’t get it. She thought he would understand she needed time, she thought he would have the patience to wait, but apparently he was just like all the other guys, only wanting one thing. What she couldn’t wrap her head around though, was why he had looked so sad when she told him to leave. He got what he wanted, why wasn’t he happy he didn’t have to do some weird maneuvers to get rid of her?

It was a mistake to sleep with him, why had she let her feelings take over. No thinking, just feeling, it was such a mistake. The sex had changed everything. No… she had to be honest. It wasn’t the sex that changed everything, it was the fact that it wasn’t just sex, it was making love. They both knew it. It had felt so good being with Johnny. Even though the sex had been mind-blowing, it had been even better to sleep in his arms the rest of the night.

When she had gotten up that morning, to find him missing in the bed, her heart had sunk to her toes. The fear that he had left without even saying goodbye, cracked her heart, ready to break. But then she smelled the coffee and almost jumped out of bed to find him. She could have better stayed in bed, then maybe… maybe things would have gone differently. Nessa let out a small sigh.

“Vanessita, what is on your mind? You seem distracted” Nessa’s abuela broke her train of thoughts. Nessa looked at the old woman, who was studying her granddaughter curiously.
“Has that boy come back? Did he hurt you?” Nessa usually told her grandma everything, she was her best friend. And truth be said, her abuela had been right every single time she gave her advice, because she had told Nessa from the start that the troll was bad news, that she should be careful with him. The old woman had laid awake for nights, scared that her little girl would get hurt in her unhealthy relationship. When Nessa came over to her in tears, telling her the troll had left, she had been happy. Not because of the tears, but because he was finally gone. Her granddaughter was strong and resilient. That was why fear caught her heart, now that her favorite grandchild seemed hurt again.

“Niña, please talk to me” the wrinkled hand got a hold of the younger smooth one. Eyes with wrinkles all around, full of life experience found the hesitant, scared ones.
“Oh, abuela, I don’t know” Nessa’s eyes filled with tears and she knew she wouldn’t been able to hold them in, even if she didn’t want her grandma to worry too much.
“Come on, tell me everything”

Nessa started telling her grandma about this man she met. How they talked, how they had dinner, how they shopped for furniture. Nessa told her grandma the complete story of Johnny and his ex, the hurt she felt for the man clear in her story. Then she told her about last night, how they watched movies and how Johnny slept on her couch. Her grandma maybe her best friend, it went a little far to go into details. But her grandma knew.

The old woman was full of love experiences, life had thrown her, good and bad ones, and even though Nessa had tried to stick to the facts and not let her feelings come through in the story she told, her grandma knew better. She knew her granddaughter like the back of her hand, and she knew a great love story when she heard one. She decided to make Nessa laugh before she would give her the tough love.
“How does he kiss?”
Nessa looked at her shocked “What.. I… I don’t..”
“Don’t play dumb, I know you are not a child anymore, Vanessita” A deep blush came over Nessa’s face, telling her grandma everything she needed to know.

“So, you like the boy, why are you crying?”
Silence fell upon them. Nessa was trying to gather up the courage to get to the hard part and when she finally found it, the words came out with a sob.
“He lied to me. He made up this whole plan, just to have an excuse to stay over. He lied”

Nessa found her grandma’s shoulder and cried onto it, letting out all the hurt she felt, mourning the loss of a love so great she already felt it in every fiber of her body, but a love that also ended before it well begun. When she seemed to have no more tears, Nessa sat up again and looked at her hands, scared of the pity that would be in her grandma’s eyes. But when her grandma spoke she had everything in her voice, but pity.

“Are you done crying?” the tone of her grandma’s voice made Nessa look up, finding her grandma’s eyes full of twinkle. Nessa nodded.
“Good, people get distracted when they are crying and I want you to listen to me carefully.” Nessa’s eyes grew bigger with every word her grandma spoke. She didn’t know what she was going to tell her, but the tone of her voice told her she’d better listen.

“I know you’ve been hurt, that troll has done a number on you” Nessa looked at her grandma in shock, surprised by the harsh words she used.
“Don’t look at me like that, Vanessita, you know I am right.” A small smile broke through on Nessa’s face. Her grandma proved again why Nessa loved her so much.
“But you need to listen to me carefully, now. Not every man is like the troll. There plenty of boys who can appreciate a kind soul like yourself, packed in this beautiful package. You are amazing, niña, and I’m not only saying that because you are my granddaughter. You have the best heart and that is hard to find nowadays.” Nessa blushed at her grandma’s kind words, but the old woman wasn’t ready yet. “This boy, Johnny, seems like one of the good guys. He tried to give you time, but he couldn’t stay away anymore. So he made a plan. I agree, he better should have been upfront with you, but be honest… would you have listened?”

Nessa knew the answer to that question immediately, and once again her grandma was right. “No, you wouldn’t have. Can you blame him for going to extreme measures? He told you quickly, he didn’t drag it on, apparently his heart was too heart to carry with the lie. That is a good thing, a really good thing.”
“But…”
“No!” her grandma sounded firm now “No more excuses. You are scared. Scared of getting hurt again, so you use every excuse you can find. But you are crazy about the boy and apparently he is crazy enough about you to ask his friends for help to win you over. Haven’t you told me that he didn’t even ask them for help with his furniture? That is how important you are to him. Now stop finding a way out and go apologize to him. You need something good again, niña, I really want that for you”

For a second Nessa didn’t know what to say, but then she flew into her grandma’s arms, hugging her tightly. Tears filled her eyes again, but this time they were tears in love and appreciation for the wise woman that was still there to give her advice.

“I…I…”
“You have to go, yes. Promise me you will bring him back soon, so I can meet him”

Nessa grabbed her stuff and threw it in her bag, her car keys already in hand, when she turned back to hug and kiss her grandma one last time “I love you, abuelita”. With that she left the house, leaving her grandma full of hope for her little girl.

The drive over to Johnny’s took too long. She had way too much time to think of what to say, without really coming to a conclusion. Her anxiety was rising and she knew she had to get a hold of herself is she didn’t want to go into full panic attack. She turned up her music a little and started to sing to Charlotte, desperately seeking for something that would calm her nerves. The closer she got, the more she thought about Johnny’s kind eyes, the feeling she got when he held her, the way her whole body tingled as he kissed her. So when she reached his house, a certain calm had come over her and she was totally ready to face the man she so quickly had lost her heart to.

“Here it goes, Charlotte” She grabbed her bag from the chair next to her, and wanted to take her keys out of the contact when she looked up, seeing the front door opening up. Johnny came out, and Nessa smiled widely, just by looking at him. The smile faltered quickly though when she saw the woman following him. He smiled at that woman the same as she smiled at her, then he moved forward to hug the woman and kiss her cheek.

Nessa’s heart froze and then broke into a thousand pieces. It was like watching an accident, she just couldn’t look away. When the woman finally broke the hug and turned towards the driveway where Nessa was parked too, Johnny looked Nessa’s way and saw her. They just stared at each other for a minute and then realization hit Johnny’s face. By the look on Nessa’s face he could guess what she saw and how she interpreted it. He took a step towards Nessa’s car, but that was the moment Nessa got her brain back. She turned the keys, starting the car. She could hear Johnny call her name when she let her foot come down on the gas, but she chose not to look at him. Not when he begged her to wait, not when he told her it wasn’t what she thought, not even when she looked in the rearview mirror and saw him standing in the middle of the streets, his face sad.

For once her grandma was wrong, and Nessa couldn’t help but wonder if she couldn’t have chosen a different time for that premiere.

Notes

Thank you all for still being here, this story is slowly coming to an end. I'm still planning on doing the spin off's, if I just got my writing mojo back. But who knows. This has been the most I wrote in a long time....

Comments are highly appreciated! <3


ps. My dearest Nessa, this chapter is especially for you, maybe not so fun to read for everyone else. I hope it's okay I dragged you Abuelita in here and that I used the Spanish nicknames correctly.... If not... Please don't be mad at the dutch girl.