Cold as Ice

I didn't want to get out of bed on Monday morning. Friday night had both exhausted me and confused me; I'd spent all day Saturday with Johnny (which was a nightmare all in itself, as one could probably tell), and my dad finally came home Sunday night, which made me want to spend all the time with him that I could, before he had to leave on yet another business trip. He drove big rigs across the country, and rarely was home, except on his weeks off. He had flown down to the States for meetings; something to do with new safety regulations. That was pretty much all I knew about my dad's job - he and my mother had never been the type of parents to talk about work and money in front of Ash and I. But Ash, being the older child, was constantly eavesdropping on them - just so he knew whether they were in a good place or not. My brother always wanted to help people in any way he could. I wondered why he couldn't have rubbed off just a little onto Johnny.

But I had to get up to go to school. It was our last week before winter break, and I wanted to get as much studying as I possibly could before exams came along. I also wanted to hear what everyone had to say about the incident at formal. But then again, I didn't want to face Cayden. Something told me he'd pull some sort of crap and I'd have to deal with it. I knew that Johnny had told me to call him if anything happened, but I almost didn't want to get him involved. What I was confused about was whether I was worrying about Johnny getting hurt, or whether I just didn't want him to have anything to hold against me in the future.

I sighed, resting my head in my hand. There was an empty cereal bowl and a box of Lucky Charms in front of me, but I wasn't very hungry. But if I didn't eat, then I'd be tired and cranky, and if I was cranky and Cayden or Claire said something to me - I would have no control over my temper. So I poured some cereal into the bowl, and looked at it. It didn't look right. As I studied it for a second, I realized that instead of Lucky Charms, it was gross Raisin Bran.

"Looking for something?"

I snapped my head to the side. My eyes narrowed at big brute leaning against the kitchen counter. He had a lopsided smirk on his face and he was eating something out of a bowl. "Johnny, you switched my cereal."

Pretending to be hurt, he put a hand to his bare chest. "It hurts me that you would assume it was I who did it."

"I'm not assuming," I said, standing up. "It was you. Wasn't it?"

His smile widened. "Yeah, it was."

"Are you eating them right now?" I walked toward him.

With a chuckle, he held his bowl up high. "I might be."

"Give me the bowl. Give it to me right now." I swatted his stomach with the back of my hand. He shook his head and wrinkled his nose at me. "Johnny, I'm really not in the mood for this. Just give me the cereal, and walk away."

"What if I wanted to eat it? Huh?"

I swatted him again. "It's mine. I bought it. You can't have it."

He ate another spoonful and chewed it thoughtfully, swallowing. "I'm having déjà vu. Do you remember having this fight over cherry soda?"

"Yes, I do." I sighed. "And I really don't want to have to kick you like that again. Will you please give me the bowl?" I raised my hand. "Please, Johnny?"

He licked his lower lip. "What's in it for me?"

"Not getting racked. That's what."

"That sounds promising," He mused. "But it's not exactly good enough, sweetheart."

"You have three seconds before I do rack you. One. Two. Thr--"

"Here." He quickly handed me the bowl. "Take it."

I smiled. "Thanks."

"This isn't over." Johnny said as I turned away, and sat down at the table.

"Yes it is," I wrinkled my nose at him, "sweetheart."

All day, nobody had gotten anything accomplished in class. They were all too busy asking me about why I bashed and ditched Cayden, and why, if I hated him so much, I danced with Johnny. I told them what I knew for sure: Cayden was a total skeeze, and Johnny just so happened to be there to help me. All the girls were jealous of me, having been fought over by the two most wanted guys in school. I'd never understood why Johnny was so wanted, but as I learned from Friday night, maybe it was because he had an excessive amount of both audacity and allure.

Ash had taken Dad's car to school, and he was going to drive Jen home. I decided to let them be alone, and was then stuck with either walking home alone in the cold, or driving with Johnny. Since the idea of walking in the freezing cold didn't exactly appeal to me, I decided to go find Johnny.

I walked out of the school and didn't see him in the crowd. I walked into the lot, and saw his car, not running. Johnny wasn't inside it. I looked around, but didn't see him coming outside. Leaning against his car, I waited. A few buses came and went, and left the front yard of the school with only a handful of students, and me. Maybe Johnny was around back. God only knew what he would be doing back there, but I went back to check anyway.

I turned around the corner, and instantly wished I hadn't.

Looking down, I saw Johnny lying brokenly, blood running from his nose, mouth, and a cut on his forehead, painting the snow scarlet. I fell to my knees beside him and touched his cheek. It was cold as ice. "Johnny." I said. He didn't reply. His chest was weakly rising and falling, so I knew he was still alive. But he was hurt. I gripped his shoulder. "Johnny!"

His eyes fluttered open, snowflakes caught in his thick, dark eyelashes. The piercing blue of his irises stared weakly up at me. He smiled with an extreme effort. "Hey... Kiddo..."

Tears burned in my eyes as I brushed the wet hair back from his forehead. It was beginning to freeze slightly due to the cold. "Johnny, what happened to you? Can you move?"

"I think so. Help me sit up," He whispered.

I wrapped my arms around him, and slowly, gently eased him into a sitting position, letting him lean heavily on me. "Oh, Johnny..." I murmured, as I saw his bloody, bruised knuckles. "What did you do?"

He coughed, and spat blood into the snow. "Cayden and his goons found me just as I was coming outside." He gritted his teeth as he tried to shift his position to put less of his weight on me, but I eased him back. "Thanks. I'm sorry if I'm heavy."

"Don't be sorry. How many of them were there?"

"Cayden and two others. They said they just wanted to talk to me, but then they all jumped at me at once. I'm lucky that I'm bigger than them, or else I wouldn't have stood a chance." He spat again. "Stupid fucks. Did anyone say anything to you today?" He looked at me, and I smiled at him.

Using my sleeve, I wiped the blood that was trickling down his cheek like it was a tear. "Nobody said anything bad. I'm sorry this happened to you. We have to get you to the hospital." I said, as I brushed my fingertips over his bottom lip.

"I suppose you won't let me drive." He said.

"Not a chance." I chuckled, and took out my cell phone. "I'm calling my brother."

Ash helped me help Johnny into Dad's car. As he got behind the wheel, he looked at me. "Would anyone care to explain what the hell happened to him?"

"He beat the shit out of Cayden and his toadies." I said from the back seat, leaning against Johnny's seat, with my head resting against his.

Johnny laughed and leaned his head against mine, whispering in my ear, "Atta girl."

The rest of the drive was silent, except from the CD playing. I recognized the song as the one that Johnny had been singing when he got out of the shower. Poison, by Alice Cooper.

Johnny refused to have us help him into the hospital, but I stuck close to his side just in case. We went into the out-patients door and thankfully it was empty. Hopefully we wouldn't have to wait long. Johnny sat down on the chair in front of the nurse, where a glass window separated them. The nurse was an older lady, with short grey hair and glasses. She looked up from the papers on her desk, and her pale blue eyes widened at the sight of him. "What happened to you, young man?"

"I got into a fight at school." He said.

"Say..." She said, leaning forward. "Aren't you Vic Frost's boy?"

Johnny's dad had been just as bad as Johnny when he was a teenager. He was in the hospital probably more than he was at home. The nurse had probably been around at that time, and caught the resemblance. Johnny smiled crookedly at her. "Yes, Ma'am. My name's Johnny."

She shook her head, clucking her tongue at him as she took his hand through a hole in the glass and put a bracelet on him. "You Frosts can never stay out of trouble, can you?"

Johnny laughed, and winked at me. "I guess not."

The nurse, whose name was Grace Paisley, or at least the nameplate on her desk said so, glanced at me, then gave Johnny a knowing look. "Is that your girlfriend?"

I felt my cheeks go hot. Johnny grinned, but shook his head. "Avery? Nah,"

"She's too good for him." Ash said with a laugh.

The nurse looked at us, and a look of comprehension dawned on her face. "Are you two the Dawson children?"

Ash and I nodded. He politely said, "Yes, Ma'am."

She gave us a sad look. "I'm so sorry about your mother."

I smiled slightly. "We're all right."

"That's good, dear. I could never imagine losing a parent at that age... my heart breaks for you and your father." She shook her head sadly, and patted Johnny's hand. "You go wait in there, Victor."

He grinned as he stood up. "Johnny,"

"Oh! I'm sorry. You two just look so alike. Both so handsome. It's a wonder that she isn't your girlfriend." She said, winking at me.

Johnny turned to me and wrinkled his nose. Looking back at the nurse, he lifted his hand in a wave. "Thank you,"

"Not a problem. Stay out of trouble, boy."

"I'll try." He said with a laugh, as we went into the waiting area. He sank into a chair and hissed inwardly. "Damn, this hurts."

"Maybe next time you should consider not fighting." said Ash.

Johnny gave him a look. His voice went up a few notches in pitch as he said, "What? I'm no pussy. You know that. I wasn't about to let them beat on me, not under these circumstances. Cayden deserved what he got. In fact, he didn't even get what he fully deserved."

"Johnny, leave it alone." I said, flicking the side of his head.

He pouted like a scolded child, and dipping his head, quietly said, "... you leave it alone."

Johnny left the hospital with a broken finger, a few stitches, and a swollen ego. The doctor told him that the fact that Johnny had kept fighting was impressive and reckless - and also that he should probably go home and sleep. As we were leaving, he asked Johnny if the fight was over a girl, and looked at me. I covered my face with my hands.

"You see what I went through for you?" Johnny asked me. "Don't you try to tell me that I'm a bully."

"Thank you." I said, leaning once again against his seat. "You really didn't have to play along with that whole scandal, you know. If you hadn't have done it, you wouldn't have had to fight Cayden."

"It was fun." He said, with a chuckle. "Besides, pain and broken bones hurt, but they go away. Bragging rights last forever."

"Right." I said.

Ash was going to turn to go to Johnny's house, but Johnny stopped him. "Man, don't take me home."

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because, Dad's not home. It's just my mom. And if she sees me like this, she'll flip her shit at me."

"Big Bad Johnny's scared of his mommy?" I asked.

"You know what my mother is like, Kid." He said. "You know how scary she is."

"True enough." Ash said. "I guess you can come home with us."

"Thanks, bro." Johnny said.

"Great." I muttered.

It was nearly midnight, and Johnny lay on our ouch with a cold compress on his forehead. I came downstairs from my bedroom, where I had been finishing some homework, and looked at him. "Look who's the pitiful one now."

"Check it out, my finger's broken," He said, and flipped me his middle finger, which was covered in tape and gauze.

"I thought you were supposed to go to sleep." I said. "It's almost midnight."

"I know, but I can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm not tired." He looked at me. "Come sit with me?" I sighed, and sat at the end of the couch. He sat up slightly and peeked at me from under the cold compress. "I'm not contagious, you know."

"Oh my god." I scooted closer to him, and he put his feet on my lap. "Don't put your feet on me," I told him. He chuckled, and didn't move them. "Fine, put your stupid feet on me. See if I care."

A satellite music channel was on, the volume low, and Scar Tissue by the Red Hot Chili Peppers came on. At the same time, Johnny and I both looked at the TV and said, "I love this song."

He laughed. "Look at us, having stuff in common."

"Would you believe that?" I asked, smiling.

"I think I know what would help me fall asleep." He said suddenly.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Come here."

I got up, and knelt on the floor at his side. "Yes?"

"Play with my hair."

"What?" I asked.

"Friday night, you kept playing with my hair. When we were dancing, and... when we kissed." He said quietly. "Nobody's ever played with my hair before. I liked it."

I rolled my eyes, smiling at him. "All right then."

He turned, laying on his side with his back pressed against the back of the couch. "You don't have to sit on the floor, you know."

I looked at the spot he'd created for me, and then at the floor. "You want me to lay down... next to you?"

"What's wrong with that?" He asked.

"Nothing... it's just... well, it's weird."

With a shrug, he raised his eyebrows. "If you make it weird, it's weird. But it's not weird if you don't really think about it."

It kind of made sense, but not exactly. Still, I lay down beside him and buried my hands in his thick hair. He sighed as I twirled it around my fingers, made little braids and undid them, and ran my fingers through it. "You have incredibly soft hair." I whispered.

"You have incredibly soft hands." He murmured sleepily.

I smiled at his closed eyes. "Tired?"

One eye opened slightly. "Not quite, don't stop yet." He shut it again, and yawned while saying, "That's what she said."

I snorted. Running my fingers over his forehead, and lightly over the spot where the stitches were, I sighed. "Oh, Johnny. What am I going to do with you?"

He grinned. "I d'know. Whatever you want to, I guess."

"Go to sleep, Johnathan." I told him.

"Make me."

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" I asked. "You're the one who told me to play with your hair until you fell asleep, remember?"

"Shush," He said.

"What are you shushing me for?" I asked.

He grinned again. "I'm trying to sleep."

I grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled. "Ow!" He whined, his eyes flashing open. He pouted slightly and looked at me. "What was that for?"

"Sorry." I bit my lip. "I didn't mean to actually hurt you."

He turned his head to the side. "Kiss it better, then."

I rose up onto my elbow, placing a hand on his shoulder. As I leaned forward to kiss the spot where I pulled his hair, he turned his head and quickly kissed my lips. "What was that?" I asked.

Tucking my hair behind my ear, he smiled at me. "You have incredibly soft lips, too." He said quietly.

"Thanks." I blushed wildly.

"You're welcome." He said.

"Johnny, why did you kiss me again?"

He shrugged. "I felt like it."

"So, you can do anything you want to, just because you feel like doing it?"

"Pretty much."

"What if you felt like punching me in the face? Would you still do it?"

He laughed. "I might. It depends on how annoying you're being."

"I'm annoying?" I pouted.

"Not really... more like aggravating."

I gave him a look. "Because there's so big of a difference between the two."

"There is." He said seriously. "There really is."

"I don't understand what you mean."

Johnny sighed and rolled onto his back, taking up more room. "No, you don't."

"Explain to me." I said, sitting on his legs.

"Figure it out by yourself. You're a big girl."

"Just tell me why I aggravate you, and I'll leave it alone. Okay?"

"Oh, shut up." He waved his hand at me. "Let me go to sleep."

"Fine." I stood up, and walked toward the stairs.

"And, Kid?"

I turned around with my hand on the banister. "What is it, Johnny?"

"Good night." He said.

I smiled, shaking my head. "Good night, Johnny."