Archive of Our Own ^beta

Things were never quiet in New York, and it was worse if you’re involved in the mess as Johnny learned from years of experience. Being a member of the Fantastic Four meant that whenever something went wrong, especially if it’s something big, it meant that it was their duty to deal with it.

At a certain point one just gets used to it, and Johnny doesn’t feel the same excitement or anxiety anymore, not when a threat actually proves itself to be a threat.

It honestly became annoying at a certain point.

To make matters worse, it made him a well-known figure. Pictures of them would often go viral whenever they save the earth from an incoming invasion, or even when Johnny is operating alone and saves someone’s cat. It didn’t help that he also did some acting and modeling on the side – the latter being more successful. Attention was always on them, so there was rarely a moment of peace.

“Are you that fire guy?”

Johnny let out a sigh, putting on a smile for the boy who was yelling that in the middle of the street where Johnny was hoping to meet someone without being recognized. Although he loved the attention, it can be draining sometimes, especially if it was unwanted. Johnny had people glancing his way now as he lowered his cap.

“I get that a lot,” he laughed it off with a shake of his head, “Not him, buddy. Sorry.”

Some lingered a bit as they studied him, but eventually they did walk away. The boy, however, kept squinting at him with a suspicious look on his face, holding his ice cream in his hand as it melted and dripped down from his knuckles. It was probably getting all sticky, but the boy did not seem to care about it at all.

“You look like him. I saw him on TV this morning.”

“Kid, if I was him, I’d be flying up there.”

Johnny pointed upwards, and the kid kept squinting his eyes but this time it was because of the sun’s glare as he looked at where Johnny was pointing. He still looked unconvinced, but before he opened his mouth to say something, his mother came out of the store to yank him away. She gave Johnny a quick apologetic look before she dragged her son away as she scolded him.

“Stop bothering people. What did I say about talking to strangers?”

“But mom,” the boy whined, tilting his ice cream at a dangerous angle, “He’s the guy on TV.”

Thankfully his mother didn’t believe him, and the pair disappeared into the crowded streets while Johnny walked in the opposite direction. It was risky for him to linger, not when that kid brought attention to him, and one of the curious onlookers might recognize him if he didn’t move. He really didn’t want to deal with that.

The whole goal of today was to spend time with Sue and his nephew. All he wanted was some family time with them, so he really didn’t want to drag any attention on his way there and ruin it for everyone. Franklin was dying to get out, little guy had been cooped up at home while they were in space having diplomatic discussions with aliens.

Johnny planned on giving Franklin the best day of his life as he made his way to the place Sue agreed to meet him at.

Without any pesky kids pointing out how familiar he looked, Johnny was able to make his way without anyone getting in his way for an autograph or picture — he gets that a lot — but he also got some spewing hateful words at him, which also happens a lot, but thankfully to a lesser degree. Those confuse him because why would anyone hate someone like him, the hottest member of the Fantastic Four, and why would anyone yell it to him when they knew he could literally light himself on fire.

Perhaps they had a death wish, but he wasn’t going to dwell on that when he could see the smiling face of his nephew as he waved from across the street.

The only thing he could do was run towards him, after the traffic light lit up to indicate that he could cross the road along with the other pedestrians, and scoop Franklin from where he stood to give him a hug.

“Uncle Johnny!”

“How’s my favorite nephew doing?” Johnny grinned, setting him down to give Sue a hug as if they hadn't seen each other this morning, “I missed you guys so much.”

Franklin giggled and Sue raised an eyebrow at him. “We live together.”

“Lemme rephrase – I missed you guys without mega-nerd and rock-for-brains around.”

“Uh-huh, as if you don’t spend most of your free time harassing Reed in his lab. He told me about the goo incident.”

Johnny gasped, looking betrayed. “He promised he’d keep that to himself! Unbelievable.”

“He did commend your ability to regulate your temperature so as to not ruin the mucs– goo. Goo sample.” Sue cleaned her throat, looking away innocently as he gaped at her.

“No!”

She looked at him warningly, shaking her head as she gestured to Franklin. “There’s nothing you can do about it now.”

Franklin watched in utter confusion as his most favourite and coolest uncle – Johnny loved to believe Franklin thought of him as that – freak out over Sue’s slip-up that revealed something absolutely and utterly horrible. That was the grossest thing he ever experienced, and if he had known, he would have incinerated everything covering him instead of letting Reed scoop up the gooey substance covering him.

“It was mucus! I was covered in mucus!? ” he hissed at her, feeling a little bit sick.

Franklin made a face. “Eww, gross!”

“If it makes you feel better, Reed feels bad about it. Now let’s not waste the day standing here. Franklin wants to go to the park.”

Johnny frowned at her, ruffling Franklin’s hair as he hopped in energetic glee while nodding his head at his mother. He thought they’d be going somewhere a bit more exciting than a park.

“That’s a bit boring.”

“There’s a playground there. He loves it.”

“He survived kidnapping attempts from Doom, Spidey’s alien symbiote, and went to space – space, Sue! – and he finds this exciting?”

Sue shrugged, smiling at Johnny in that infuriating fond way of hers. “Franklin is still a kid.”

Franklin was already running around with the other kids, laughing as he climbed up the to the slides with another girl. The scene was sweet, but a bit tame for what they usually had back at the Baxter Building, but Johnny admits that Franklin does look happier with kids his age around instead of other adults or nannies.

Maybe the playground wasn’t that bad, but he wasn’t going to admit it out loud.

“Look at this,” Sue smiled, watching as her son slid down the slide with another kid, only for the other kid to grab his hand and guide him back to the ladder so they could go again, “Doesn’t it remind you of back when I used to bring you here?”

Johnny was silent for a moment, his expression melting. “Yeah.”

“I remember that one time you fell and scraped your knee. I thought you’d cry, but instead you made me chase you around the park, refusing to let me clean it up.”

“Yeah, I hated how it burned,” he remembered it clearly, the feeling of the antiseptic she used on him whenever injuries happened was something he did not like, “Speaking of scraped knees, your son is about to experience something similar.”

Sue glanced at Franklin to see him hanging in a peculiar way from the monkey bars. Instead of stopping him the way Johnny expected her to, she merely tilted her head at that curiously.

“Huh. Wonder where he learned that from.”

“Mom, look!” Franklin called out to her, a wide grin on his face as he tried, but failed, to let go of the bars so that he’d be hanging from them with one leg, “I’m Spider-man!”

A frown of utter displeasure appeared on Johnny’s face. “Sis, I think the webhead’s a bad influence.”

“I don’t know about that. It’s better than him trying to set himself on fire because he wanted to be more like his favorite uncle.”

“Okay, you do have a point—”

“Besides,” Sue smiled, giving him one of her looks that told him he would not like what she was about to say because it was untrue and ridiculous, “Isn’t Spider-man your best friend? You were a fan of his, too. Didn’t you make that Spider-mobile—”

“Nope! That was a long time ago,” he cut her off quickly, not even wanting to think of that embarrassing time. There were so many hints he dropped, but they all went over the webslinger’s head like that time he told Johnny he’d rather check Reed’s lab than come look at his new convertible, “If I were to be a fan of someone, they’d appreciate me, be smart, smoking hot—”

The loud sound of an explosion rang in their ears as the earth shook beneath them, leading Johnny to wince and cover his ears as people around them screamed, running away from the source. Something flew past them, and Sue already had her forcefield up as she protected the playground from incoming attacks or debris, ensuring everyone’s safety.

Once the dust cleared, the two of them were finally able to see what — or more accurately who — hit the metal bars, bending them from the impact.

Spider-man groaned, his hand holding his forehead from the headache of being thrown head-first into a kids playground. His red and blue suit was smoking from whatever he was hit with, but he was quick to get on his feet to look around him. Once he spotted Johnny, he let out a loud obnoxious groan.

“This is a nightmare. First it’s your face on a billboard, then it’s an ad in a magazine, then the Shocker decides to rob a bank and blast me right here as if I needed to see it in person!” Spider-man complained, as if this was the worst thing to ever happen to him, and Johnny crossed his arms with a deepening frown on his face, “Your face. It’s all I see wherever I go.”

“And yours is the one I don’t want to see wherever I go.” Johnny grumbled.

“Whatever you say, matchstick,” Spider-man snorted, waving at Sue, who was now holding Franklin, his voice a lot more chipper, “Hey Sue, hey Franklin. Sorry to crash into your day like this, but I should go back to Herman before he hurts someone.”

Without waiting for a response Spider-man went back to fighting whoever this ‘Herman’ guy was — Shocker, if Johnny bothered to listen. He stood there before he slowly turned his head towards his sister, who was holding a starstruck Franklin as he told her all about how cool Spider-man was. Johnny was going to have a talk with his nephew about that, but he felt that he should address the diabolical smile on Sue’s face.

Their day was ruined because of the webhead, and she was smiling.

“That’s a little funny, isn’t it? He came here smoking—”

“Sue.”

“What? It is funny!”

“That was not what I meant when I said smoking.”

“He did fit all the criteria…”

Johnny didn’t give her the satisfaction of getting a response from him, opting to fly away and assist Spidey just to escape his sister. While he couldn’t deny that Spider-man is indeed smart — for a Spider, he supposes — he did not appreciate Johnny’s good-looks and charm, and it is unknown if Spider-man was actually ‘smoking hot’ since he hides behind a stupid-looking mask.

The fact that he was literally thrown towards them with his suit smoking was an unfortunate coincidence.

Sometimes Johnny hated the universe.

The day was sunny and warm, perfect for a tan even though Johnny doesn’t really tan, so he was lounging on his chair as if he was. It was just in front of the inside pool, but the large windows did let the sun in. He had a mask on his face, cucumbers covering his eyes because why not, and two giggling women who were doing his pedicure and manicure. He has known them for years, always the same two, and their gossip was always top-tier.

He was sipping on his fruity drink with his free hand while his other hand was getting the treatment it deserved, before one of them said something that made him gasp.

“Jen is what!?”

At this point he was lifting one of his cucumbers, sitting up to look at one of the women doing his nails, and they did not disappoint.

“She’s getting a divorce, I think,” the one doing his pedicure told him, “Told me something about her feeling like the relationship didn't feel real.”

A confused look appeared on the other’s face. “No, no. I am pretty sure she mentioned her husband turning into a wolf.”

“That sounds silly.”

“Fine, don’t believe me.”

Rolling her eyes, the pedicurist continued. “It’s a shame, though. They were such a cute couple.”

“They really were.” The other agreed, as if Jen and her husband did actually divorce.

Since Johnny didn’t hear anything about it from Jen herself, putting the cucumber back and reclined into his chair. He made a mental note to himself to ask her about it later. He might forget about it, but it was fun gossip nonetheless. He hoped it wasn’t entirely true. Jen seemed happy with John.

The two women moved on about other drama involving celebrities dating each other before they grew quiet for a second. He swore he could feel their gaze on him, and they probably shared a look before one of them spoke.

“Mr. Storm, are you seeing anyone right now?”

“Ooh, is it that tennis player you were seen with?” the other hazarded, professionalism flying right out of the window, “She’s cute. You’d make a great couple.”

Letting out a heavy sigh, Johnny shook his head. “You know I’d tell you all about it if I were.”

That was kind of true. He did like to share things like that with them while fully being aware they’d be gossiping about it to someone else, but this time he really had nothing to share to fill their gossip-bank. He felt slightly lame, a tiny bit sad and lonely since he wasn’t in a relationship yet, though it wasn’t something he constantly thought about. If he were in a relationship, he’d probably be unable to shut up about it.

The whole world would know.

“Aww, I’m sure there’s someone. Who wouldn’t die for a date with the Human Torch?”

That one was getting a huge tip from him, but he still felt cynical as he snorted. “Whoever it is, they better hurry.”

“I was so sure you— um.”

For some reason his manicurist went quiet, and Johnny felt a shadow loom over him. That happened sometimes whenever Ben or Sue walked in, interrupting the pampering he booked these girls for. The silent looming told him it was likely Ben who was standing there, blocking the sun with his huge rocky body. Either that, or Sue was standing really close.

“Whatever it is, I’m not interested. Go away.”

“I can’t believe you’d do this to me, Torchy.”

The voice he heard was deeper than Sue’s, but not as gruff as Ben’s, definitely not Reed’s, but the tone alone made him instantly identify who it was. There was no way he’d mistake him for anyone else.

“No, I mean it now. Go away. ”

The cucumber on his right eye was rudely taken off his eye, and he used this as an opportunity to glare at Spider-man. He was perched on the window, staring at Johnny, whose pampering day was now ruined, with his big hollow white eyes. Despite the glare and upset pout Johnny was giving him as the other cucumber fell off his eye, Spidey remained where he was.

“This really hurts, Torch. I never thought you’d stand me up like this.”

For a moment Johnny thought he was being messed with as he crossed his arms, but then he let out a gasp and picked up his phone to check the date and time.

“I’m so sorry!” He got up so fast that the women doing his nails both recoiled in surprise, and he planned on giving them a big tip later as he rushed to the door, “Just give me a few seconds. I won’t be late.”

The two women exchanged puzzled looks between them before they awkwardly turned to Spider-man, who was still perched there motionlessly. One of them leaned towards the other to whisper in her ears as they continued their staring contest.

“Is he going to stay like this forever?”

“Think so.”

“He’s a bit creepy.”

Spider-man tilted his head at them the way a confused puppy would, but he was still silently staring as the two slowly packed up their things. Even though they’ve dealt with many celebrities and superpowered people, they still felt uncomfortable under Spider-man’s unnerving gaze, not realizing his eyes were rolled up in irritation as he was having this long inner monologue about how annoying Johnny Storm is.

Just as they were about to leave, Johnny came flying past them in his Fantastic Four uniform.

“I didn’t mean to miss our movie date. Reed took us to this new planet, and time there was all weird, so I thought today was two days ago and–”

“Yeah, yeah,” Spider-man cut him off, not sounding interested, “I don’t want to hear about your super awesome space adventure that I am absolutely not jealous of.”

“Even so, that was horrible of me. You know I feel bad whenever I look at your – probably hideous – masked face.”

“That’s my thing. You’re stealing my thing. I’m usually the flakey one because someone decides to rob a jewellery store, and it turns into this convoluted mind-control thing.”

Johnny laughed. “Aww, sorry about stealing your thing. I’m touched you came all the way here to get me.”

The two of them left the room when Spider-man jumped off, the last he said was something about Johnny being the one paying for the popcorn. Both women stood there stunned, watching the two disappear into the sky. There was a long moment of silence as the two of them processed what was going on before one, the pedicurist, turned to the other.

“Did he say movie date?”

Nodding her head vigorously, the manicurist answered. “He did! Do you think there’s something going on?”

“I’d be more surprised if there wasn’t.”

“Right!?”

This was like the tenth call he got about it, and Johnny was getting tired of hearing it. What made it especially worse was Ben laughing his ass off in the background.

“It’s okay if you are.”

Sue was not doing a great job at hiding her own giggles as she filled his plate with the salad he helped her make, and he glared at the table with his arms crossed. He wished he could melt everything off, but Sue would kill him.

“I’m not! I don’t know what started that– hold on, someone’s calling me.”

Ben stopped laughing to raise a rocky eyebrow. “Again?”

Everyone found this debacle to be so entertaining because not even Sue spoke about him using his phone, which fell under the ‘tech’ category, at the table. She had a strict no tech rule whenever they ate together, but she seemed content to watch him suffer as responded to whoever was calling him. At this point, he stopped reading the caller ID.

“This is Johnny who is very much single speaking.”

“Heh. Kinda cute, the way flamebrain is grindin’ his teeth, ain’t it?”

Johnny made sure to direct his glare at Ben instead of the innocent table this time, and he looked like he was about to implode as he listened to the person on the other line. Sue exchanged an amused look with Ben as the two watched him struggle to keep himself from burning anything near him.

Especially the phone he was holding. He really wanted to see it burn.

“No, Bobby, I am not dating Spider-man. He’s the last person I’d ever consider dating. Bye. ”

“C’mon matchstick, I’ve seen the way you look at ol’ web-head,” Ben had a very annoying grin on his face, “Admit it, you’re kinda sweet on him.”

The chair screeched when Johnny stood up and threw a fireball at Ben, who was hollering. “I am not, you jerk!”

Sue stood between them while she tried her best to put on her angry face, but her angry face was crumbling the louder Ben laughed. The whole thing was amusing to them and he hated it. Whoever started this rumor about him and Spider-man was going to be set on fire once Johnny catches them.

“It’s just a rumor, Johnny. It’ll go away on its own with time, so just eat your salad and ignore Ben.”

“Don’t know ’bout that, Susie. I think whoever started it was onto somethin’.”

Whatever retort Johnny had was never said because all Sue had to do was shake her head at him for him to sink back in his chair and angrily stab his salad with his fork. This all sucked. The universe sucked. If there was someone Johnny was going to end up with, it was not going to be stupid Spider-man and his stupid Spider-webs, and stupider Spider-mask.

He would never Spider-date that guy.

“Aw, kid. I’m just mess’ with ya,” he heard Ben say, walking over to the table before dropping something on it, “Here. Got a nice picture o’ yer boyfriend to make ya feel better.”

Johnny decided to be the bigger person and not kill him just this once. Instead he opted to chew angrily on his salad, but not before flicking a flame at Spider-man’s masked face, staring at him from the front page. The sight of its blackened edges folding and crumbling was cathartic, but it seems like the universe really did hate Johnny.

Because although Spider-man’s picture was gone, one thing survived. It was the name of that girlfriend-stealing jerk of a photographer he had.

Peter Parker.

With all of them standing idly in Reed’s lab, except for Sue who was helping him with something, Johnny found himself being reminded of being in class back in high school when the teacher went on and on about theories he never cared for. He was experiencing mind-numbing boredom as he looked over to Ben, who seemed distracted by his phone.

“Why are we here?”

Sue, his beautiful attentive sister, was the only one who bothered to answer him. “Reed wants to study our powers a bit more closely. He has a few tests he wants to run.”

“Ah, like the old days.” He grumbled, leaning back on the wall as he tried to pinpoint where Reed was exactly.

Reed was technically standing meters away, close to Sue, but his body was stretched all over the place. His head could be at the far end of the lab while his hands could be doing something on the computer behind them. One could never know, and Johnny learned a long time ago to stop looking for Reed and make Reed come to him.

To do that he learned the best way was to find a big shiny button to press, one that would make Reed panic and be at his side in mere seconds, but to his annoyance it seems like Reed had Johnny-proofed the lab.

The lab was filled with touch screens and no actual buttons to press, and Johnny wandered around the lab with nobody stopping him until he stopped in front of a table similar to the one he had whenever he built a car engine, but the thing on it was definitely not an engine of any kind.

It was some sort of strange device, almost alien-looking, but not quite. There were symbols there that didn’t look like they belonged on anything high-tech, but of a different nature, and the symbols seemed to be representing something numerical. To put it simply, this wasn’t something he’d find in Reed’s lab.

This thing looked out of place.

“What’s this?”

Merely asking the question out loud was enough to summon Reed’s head right above him. At first he looked horrified as if he expected Johnny’s finger to be hovering over something that might start the next apocalypse, but then he relaxed when his face lit up in recognition at the device Johnny had in his hand.

“Ah, that,” his neck stretched even more to take a closer look at the device, “This is something I am studying currently. I had to consult Dr. Strange – he helped with the translation of the marks you see here – about it because of its–” Reed’s face darkened in displeasure, saying the next word with some disdain, “ Magical properties, but I did find it interesting how it incorporated the arcane with technology. Even Dr. Strange found it to be fascinating, but I suspect it doesn’t work how its creator had intended even though they’re well-versed in science and magic.”

Johnny kept nodding his head, not really listening or caring about the details. “So what does it do?”

“That’s what I am trying to figure out,” Reed mumbled, and Johnny braced himself for another scientific ramble, “From what I know, this thing is a bit unstable because it tried to control magic using science, but the two – as you might know – do not mix well, not really. However, I suspect that is a device for displacement, but only partial displacement–”

“Uh-huh. Interesting.”

“Indeed! Now that I think about it, saying that it is temporal in nature might not be wholly accurate. Further inspection is still needed before I can confidently state what it does, but I am almost certain that saying it has continuum displacement mechanics would be the most accurate description for it currently.”

“Right,” Johnny slowly nodded, completely lost, “Can you translate this to English, please?”

Reed sagged, but he looked fond as he shook his head rephrased his words to simpler terms. “It might displace an object to an alternative reality, or a point in this current timeline – hence why I claimed it’s temporal. I tested it, but it never fully worked.”

“So you’re not sure yet what it does.”

“That would be correct.”

Johnny looked down at the device with no real interest, thoughtlessly rotating the symbols in a certain format without knowing what he was doing, and Reed wasn’t telling him to stop, so he assumed it was fine.

“This looks lame. It’s like one of those things you find whenever you use an oven. You know, those temperature things you rotate to adjust how hot it is. Yeah, those.”

Reed looked at the device for a moment. “I concur. Still, it is impressive how you correctly assumed these marks to be numerical.”

“I’m not that dumb. Besides, aren’t you afraid something would happen if I continue to mess with it?”

To his surprise, Reed shook his head. “Whatever the effect is will be temporary. Also, my tests yielded no results, so I doubt it’d cause anything dangerous to happen.”

Just as fast as it appeared next to him, Reed’s head was now gone. Retracted to his body, perhaps, or maybe to whatever he was busy with before he came to check on Johnny to make sure he wouldn’t cause a catastrophe.

That was a mistake on Reed’s part because Johnny cannot be trusted to be left alone with anything without causing anything catastrophic.

This time might be one of the tamer incidents, but instead of putting the device back where he found it, he instead pushed the one button that was there, activating it.

In his defence Reed said it wouldn’t do anything.

And nothing did.

“Wow, that’s really–”

“–lame.”

The first thing Johnny noticed when he completed his sentence was the warm lighting of the room he was standing in, and while it was slightly different, he instantly recognized it as his own living room that was on the floor he shared with Ben at the Baxter Building in his own private suite. He couldn’t help but blink in surprise, remembering what Reed had said about displacement.

It seemed like he teleported, but that wouldn’t make any sense because he could clearly see how dark it was outside.

When Johnny was at Reed’s lab tampering with the device that is no longer in his hand, he remembers it to be late in the afternoon, the day bright and the sun still up in the sky unlike now.

So he didn’t teleport, not unless it took him several hours to teleport, but that was still highly unlikely due to the fact that his living room was different.

The more he looked at it, the more he could see.

However, the one thing he failed to notice at first, but now that he did was incredibly hard to ignore, was the fact that his kitchen was gone. Johnny used to have an open kitchen plan, with a small dining area that was placed right next to his living room. It was where he sometimes sat to eat and watch TV, but it wasn’t there anymore.

Instead the living room seemed to have gotten bigger, and a small library and reading area had replaced his kitchen.

Upon further investigation, Johnny discovered that he now had the whole floor to himself. The kitchen is now more of a proper kitchen, with a dining room connected to it, and he had his own workshop in there, too. He also found a study and a science lab there, but it was smaller than Reed’s. All these rooms were in the space where Ben’s suite used to be, and it made him wonder where Ben had gone.

He took out his phone, not knowing why he even did – probably to call his sister for help – but when he had it right in front of his face, he noticed something horrifying.

Johnny stood there frozen in horror, staring at his hand as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He didn’t notice it at all.

“No way,” his hand trembled, and with it, so did his voice, “I’m– I’m married!?”

There was no doubt about it. This was a wedding band on his ring finger, and Johnny ran to his bedroom to make sure he wasn’t assuming things, but it was hard to assume wrong when it was so clearly a golden ring around his finger. There was no misunderstanding there, but he was in complete denial.

“Okay, Johnny, relax. You need to relax.”

If there’s one thing he knew about finding himself in these situations, it was the need for him to identify what situation he was in. Reed drilled into him this knowledge, but it was Sue who explained it better. They said if it was an alternate reality, then he should do his best to lay low and not mess up anything in his alternate-self’s life.

But if it was time travel, then things are a lot more complicated than that.

Many things can go wrong with time travel, especially if he went to the past, but with the technology he could see around him, and the fact that his phone was slightly thinner and more advanced, he doubted he was anywhere in the past. If anything, he was in the future, and now that he was looking at the date, he was five years into the future.

“That stupid big brained idiot said it wouldn’t work!”

Johnny tried not to let his frustration get in the way of his snooping. He wanted to know all he could about his future self, especially how he managed to get the whole floor to himself, but he suspected the marriage he was in played a huge part in it.

There was also the fact that his bedroom was, as he suspected, slightly bigger. The bed was still more or less the same, but its placement changed, and his wardrobe was now double the size, but he could tell that most of the things in it were his.

The rest were either basic things he’d never wear, baggy clothes, or nerdy shirts with scientific puns that made him want to groan.

He was holding up a shirt that said ‘ Don’t trust atoms, they make up everything ! ’ and stared at it in disgust as he felt the urge to burn it.

“I can’t believe I am married to a total nerd.”

“Hey! You love those shirts,” a voice said behind him, making Johnny jump in surprise since he didn’t hear anyone step inside, and the voice continued, sounding slightly less sure now, “Or maybe you don’t. They do go missing suspiciously a lot. Have you been burning them?”

“Maybe.” Johnny answered without thinking, because he might actually have and he would totally understand why his future self did it, but when he turned around, he was stunned into silence.

“I knew it.”

Johnny stared at the man in front of him, dressed in casual clothes, a bit older than the last time he had seen him. More mature and infuriatingly handsome as he remembers him to be, but he was smiling at Johnny. His manner was friendly, warm, and the rational part of Johnny knew it was because they were married, that they were close, but his brain was still trying to catch up with all this.

Because what!?

What in the hell was his future self thinking marrying that guy?

He was now completely sure that this was an alternative reality because there was absolutely no way Johnny would agree to this. Not unless he was blackmailed, threatened, or had Scarlet Witch alter reality and make this a thing.

“...Peter?”

The intelligent enough to impress Reed Peter. Number one Spider-man fan and photographer, the guy surrounded by gorgeous girls all the time, and the biggest arrogant jerk Johnny knew. Peter Parker was standing in front of him.

In his bedroom.

No, in their bedroom because apparently they’re married now.

“Uh, yes?”

“Why the hell am I married to you?”

Peter arched an amused eyebrow, not taking offense to this at all. “You dislike them that much?”

It took Johnny a moment to realize that Peter was referring to his punny shirts, and not the impossibility of their marriage, especially with their past history. Johnny had two choices now, either play along and pretend he wasn’t from the past with no knowledge of how this happened, or be honest and tell Peter outright.

Unfortunately, his mouth made that choice for him because it was faster than his thoughts and he couldn’t help but be sarcastic.

“Yes. It’s totally the shirts.”

“But you said they grew on you.”

“I was being sarcastic you idiot,” Johnny grumbled, super upset at his future self for this, “It’s you I have a problem with.”

Peter stood where he was, looking sideways as if he was recalling everything he ever did in his life.

“Uh.”

“Ugh,” Johnny threw the shirt at him, and he might have thrown the shirt a bit too hard, which wasn’t a very nice thing to do, but he was really not happy to find out that it’s Peter he’s married to, “You’re the worst husband anyone could ask for.”

“Okay,” Peter spoke slowly, his voice muffled by the shirt that was now covering his face. He took it off and gave Johnny a guilty look, “So you’re still mad about that.”

The truth is Johnny had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to be mad about, but he wasn’t surprised at all that Peter did something to make angry. From the very limited interactions he had with Peter Parker in the past, there was one thing that remained consistent about Peter – it was that he was an incredibly infuriating person to know.

When he didn’t say anything and simply kept glaring at Peter, mostly because he had no idea what to say, Peter groaned and filled in some of the gaps.

“Come on, Johnny, you know I didn’t mean to stand you up and Aunt May.” Peter walked closer to him, sounding as apologetic as he looked, and it was strange seeing him this way. This wasn’t what Johnny was used to, so he stood there at a loss on what to do.

However, he did know that name – Aunt May. That one was familiar, and he could vaguely recall a very sweet old lady. He spoke with her briefly and liked her immediately, and he remembers being so envious of Peter for having an aunt who adored him as much as she does. She thought so highly of her nephew as if there was something to like.

And Johnny still failed to see what.

“Aunt May deserves better.”

Peter looked down in shame. “I know.”

Okay, so perhaps he spat that just to be petty, but it’s because Peter gave him one more reason to dislike him. Apparently they had agreed to meet with her and he stood them up, so of course Johnny was going to be mad about that. No matter how he looked at it, there was nothing to excuse such behaviour, which made him wonder – what did he see in that man?

Just as he had that thought, he felt a hand grabbing his own, and he looked up to meet Peter’s eyes and was surprised to see sincerity there.

“You deserve better, too. I’m sorry.”

It was spoken so softly to him that he didn’t know how to react, and Peter didn’t even wait for him to respond, didn’t even hesitate when he framed Johnny’s face with his hands. The touch was so gentle and loving, and it kept Johnny standing there in stunned silence as he felt a kiss being placed on his forehead.

Johnny didn’t have the time to form another thought when he felt Peter go lower and kiss his cheek.

It snapped him.

“Peter–”

By the time he said that, it was too late. Johnny found himself cut off by a tender kiss, one that came so naturally to Peter as if he had done that a hundred times before. A sound akin to a whine came out of him before he could stop it, and it’s mostly because he felt like he was trapped, but was unable to push Peter away and tell him how weird it all felt. He couldn’t know that Johnny was from the past.

The easiest thing to do was pretend that this wasn’t real.

It’s temporary, he reminded himself.

Johnny was going to pretend nothing was wrong until he returned back home, and he vowed to make sure that this future never happens. Not Peter.

Anyone but Peter.

‘ You deserve better, too. ’ rang in Johnny’s treacherous mind.

“Listen, I’ll let you burn one of my shirts if you forgive me.”

“Two.”

“Deal,” Peter grinned while having his forehead rest against Johnny’s and that was so unfair, “Take your pick. I got to swing by a few places – and maybe beg May for forgiveness tomorrow. Do you have anything planned tomorrow?”

Johnny looked away, taking this as a chance to break away from Peter. “Um, I’m not sure. Maybe?”

Peter’s eyebrows knitted together in concern. “You’re not still mad at me, are you?”

“No, no! I really have no idea what I’ll be doing tomorrow and, I don’t know,” he shrugged his shoulders and avoided looking at Peter because he was trying to think of an excuse not to see him tomorrow, “I want to be with Sue.”

“Then just say so,” Peter chuckled, accepting that so easily, giving Johnny a kiss on the cheek before heading to the door, “I’ll see you later then, okay?”

“Okay.”

Johnny stood there for a while, staring at the door in a daze as he watched Peter disappear.

He thought about what he was going to do next, then he wondered how long he had to stay here in the future before he could return back. He hoped that Reed was right about it being temporary, and he was tempted to go see him, but he decided to wait a bit. Maybe a day or two.

He wanted to learn more about this because nothing made sense to him.

Not only was he married to someone he disliked, but his husband was apparently a bit flakey, which wasn’t that great, and a science nerd he had nothing in common with. Not only that, but he also left Johnny alone in their shared room while it’s late at night.

In all honesty, it was great for Johnny since he didn’t have to share a bed with Peter, but seeing how they’re married, was Peter in the habit of letting Johnny sleep alone?

And was Johnny okay with it?

What the hell was going on?

With him standing in the middle of his – no, their – room, Johnny looked back to glare at the bed. There was one thing he needed to know, but when he noticed that there was a science book on the right bedside table, the side which wasn’t by the window, he relaxed a bit.

At least he still kept the left side of the bed.

It was one less thing to be upset about, but it was nothing but a small comfort to the fact that he’s married to someone who annoyed the hell out of him. Perhaps, he thought, Peter changed and actually became a person that could be tolerated. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as Johnny initially thought, because yeah, he could understand what made Peter appealing – Johnny had eyes, but he also had ears, and the moment Peter opens his mouth, he becomes a lot less attractive.

“There has to be something redeeming about him for me to marry him.” He sighed, plopping on his side of the bed as he took out his phone from his pocket.

Fortunately not much changed about him, and he was able to unlock his phone with no issue as he wondered where to go from there. The first thing he thought about was taking a peek at his texts, but they were just mundane stuff he’d text his family five years ago. There was nothing exciting going on, but he couldn’t help but notice his most recent texts.

His last text was, oddly enough, to Reed. Nothing interesting, just an attempt at blackmail that would probably fail miserably. The usual.

Seems like Johnny hadn’t texted Sue for a whole day, but he did text Franklin, who’s now five years older and has a phone, and Spider-man.

That, in itself, wasn’t entirely strange other than the fact that his name wasn’t just ‘ Spidey ’, it was Spider with a heart next to it the same way the other name, his husband's name, was saved as ‘ Pete ’ with a heart also. There was only one conclusion that Johnny could arrive at, and he honestly wasn’t that surprised.

“I’m having an affair.”

He scrolled through his texts with Spider-man, and while they were mostly texting each other for aid, updates on what was happening, banter, and meet up locations, Johnny couldn’t help but notice the shameless flirting the two of them were engaging in.

“What the hell…”

It was unbelievable to him, the fact that he was very obviously cheating on his husband so brazenly like that. A part of him was disappointed at himself, at how he’d do this to someone he supposedly loved, but then he remembered that it’s Peter Parker and he was a bit less conflicted.

But it’s Spidey!

And yes, Johnny adored Spider-man, and he could see something happening between them if Spidey wasn’t so stubborn and obtuse, but there’s the issue of his secret identity.

Maybe that’s why Spidey is just an affair. He has a secret identity to protect, so he couldn’t be in an actual relationship with Johnny.

It’s not like Johnny was hopelessly in love with Spider-man anyway. Attracted, sure, maybe, but actually in love?

They’re just close friends. 

Spider-man was someone Johnny got along with and could easily talk to. He was smart enough to help him with problems he wanted to keep a secret from Reed, around his age, reckless enough to go along with Johnny’s antics, and he never really judged Johnny. Much.

Which meant that Johnny knew Spidey well, and he was certain Spidey would be against this whole thing.

“There’s no way he doesn’t know I am married,” he muttered as he scrolled past some very filthy texts, things that made him blush, “Do people change that much in five years?”

Johnny didn’t like this.

Even if it was Peter that he’a married to, he didn’t like it one bit. If there’s one thing that people got wrong about him, it’s that he’s a notorious flirt, a playboy. Hell, even if he was and it wasn’t for show, he’d never cheat on his partner if he’s in a committed relationship.

Did he fall out of love with Peter?

That’s still no excuse for him to cheat. Future Johnny was making a huge mistake, and he couldn’t see himself doing something so horrible like that. He knew he was basically messing up his own future life, but he didn’t care. Current Johnny did not approve of this.

The last text Spidey has sent was a bit flirtatious, which was perfect because Johnny was putting a stop to this.

Johnny: how dare you

Johnny : i’m married !!

He didn’t know why his heart was beating fast or why he got so nervous. It was hard to wrap his head around this whole mess since it felt like he was butting into something that wasn’t his business. It concerned his future self, which was still him, but people do change throughout the years, but it is still him.

It is still Johnny.

And Johnny was not going to allow himself to sink so low.

He didn’t expect Spider-man to reply to his texts right away, and he flinched in surprise before he read his response.

Spidey ♥️: i’d say scandalous, but you never shied away from a scandal, torchy

Spidey ♥️: won’t tell your husband about this if you don’t

Johnny stared at the messages in disgusted disbelief. That was not the Spidey Johnny knew.

Johnny: i can’t believe you

Johnny: since when did you condone cheating?

Spidey ♥️: guess you’re the exception, hot stuff

Staring at the phone screen in horror, Johnny realized something terrible. He wasn’t being taken seriously.

“Why the hell is he still flirting with me? Unbelievable.”

Johnny left the chat and his thumb hovered over his texts with Peter. He wanted to know what their relationship was like, if it’s loveless or actually loving, but he couldn’t do it when he was scared of what he might find. What if he was stuck in the marriage?

It didn’t seem like it when Peter came here, not with the way he acted. In fact, he seemed to find it strange how Johnny behaved, which was slightly hostile and reluctant, so maybe this marriage was actually working but future Johnny didn’t think it was good enough and somehow started an affair with Spider-man.

He still couldn’t bring himself to check the conversations he had with Peter, so instead he opened the gallery.

What he saw there was not something he was ready for.

Val and Franklin were both older, and it seems like Franklin decided to dye his hair black, a choice Johnny approved of. It seems like they went to the aquarium the day before, and he smiled seeing an older Val giving the camera a blank look as he kissed her cheek.

He couldn’t believe how much she resembled Sue now, a far cry from the toddler he knew her as. It was adorable to see that her personality didn’t change much. She was the same serious little girl he knew her as.

“Aww,” he cooed, tracing their faces as if he was caressing them when he came across a group photo of all three, with him in the middle and his niece and nephew by his side, “Still as cute as ever.”

The bright smile that snuck itself into his face gradually grew smaller when he saw the picture that appeared next, and instead, it turned into a frown filled with many conflicting emotions.

There was confusion and uncertainty, a feeling one gets whenever they come across something weird, something that isn’t expected.

Something that wasn’t supposed to happen.

Johnny’s throat bobbed as he stared at a candid picture of Peter, sitting in Johnny’s living room, and he was wearing a baggy shirt and red shorts as he read a book. He looked so comfy, so at home, so…

His throat bobbed again as he stared.

Somehow, he managed to swipe to the other pictures he had in his gallery, and they were filled with his husband. It’s just Peter doing things. Peter under a certain light, his brown hair appearing more golden. It was Peter smiling at him, Peter being a mess with sauce smudged on his face and clothes as he tried to cook, and Peter looking at the camera – at him – in a way that made everything in his life tilt.

There were so many pictures of him, more than selfies of Johnny, which is saying something since Johnny loved to take pictures of himself.

And in between all the pictures that basically were like a story being told, and among all the pictures of his family, there were also pictures of him and Peter together.

“Oh.”

The last picture he came across was not taken by him, though the identity of the person behind the camera did not matter. All that mattered was how he had his hands on Peter’s face and the smile he had on his face as they kissed. It wasn’t important what the occasion was, or why they had this picture taken. Johnny couldn’t focus on anything other than how genuine that moment seemed.

Whatever happened in the next five years of his life, Johnny was certain of one thing – he was undeniably in love with Peter Parker.

“Oh.”

Somewhere among the confusion that he felt along with the guilt that followed, Johnny fell asleep.

He woke up the next morning feeling drained emotionally, expecting fully to be back home, back in the past where he belonged instead of the mess he found himself in. Sadly for him, that wasn’t the case since he found himself staring back at the new layout of his room, and the stack of nerdy books sat there in the corner, clearly not his.

The room was brightly lit but no light was on, so even without looking at the time he could easily tell that hours passed with him still stuck where he was, wondering if the device was actually temporary.

Was he going to need to speak to Reed?

He did not want to do that.

“Fuck.”

He kicked the covers off of him, not even needing them for warmth he just found the weight of them to be relaxing, and he couldn’t help but look to his left to see nobody there, the bed still made.

Johnny felt like crying.

Only he managed to make a mess of something so good.

It’s not like he magically fell in love with Peter, but he knew what he saw in the last picture and it made him feel sick. There was something there that felt too good to be true, and Johnny had a husband who loved him and it looked like Johnny truly did love him back. There were so many pictures of him, of his husband, that told Johnny just of how much he adored him.

And then there was Spider-man, poisoning everything Johnny had seen there.

Johnny just had to ruin it somehow.

Typical of him.

Johnny got up from the bed, washed his face, and brushed his teeth by guessing that the blue toothbrush was his, and if not, he didn’t really care. It’s not like it made much of a difference anyway, and he got dressed and picked up his phone again, noticing how his wallpaper was a picture of a spider symbol – Spider-man’s. He was so brazen about it.

God, it made him feel nauseous.

He quickly texted Sue instead of calling her even though he was dying to, however he feared waking her up in case she was asleep. Sue was still the same, even the texts he skimmed felt like their usual conversations even though these were in the future. It made him feel safe, Sue was always his safe place, and knowing that made him feel less panicked about things.

Johnny wasn’t so lucky, though, because she texted him that she had important plans today. It disappointed him, but he couldn’t really complain with the many responsibilities she juggled.

He didn’t want to be a bother to her, even if he kinda got himself transported five years into the future.

Still, he couldn’t keep it in anymore.

Johnny: wanted to discuss something serious with you

Sis: what is it?

Johnny: i’m having an affair with spidey

Sis: ha ha, very funny Johnny.

Sis: got to go, love ya

Johnny stood there staring at her response for a few minutes before he let out a scream of frustration. For some reason Sue didn’t take him seriously, too, and she didn’t even give him the opportunity to prove to her that yes, he was indeed having a very real affair with his crime fighting best friend.

Without knowing what else to do while desperately in need to clear his mind, Johnny decided to go do the one thing that never failed to make him relax.

He’s going to assemble an engine.

The moment Johnny walked into the workshop, he let out a whistle.

Every single car he had lined up was more beautiful than the other. He could see some that were familiar to him, models that were dear to his heart, and felt relieved that they were still there. The newer ones – the ones that definitely weren’t there from when he left – were also beauties as well.

He took a few moments appreciating them, feeling up the hood with his hand before he peered at the interior. He had no idea where he kept the keys for those, and he looked at his usual drawer, but not all of them were there. Future Johnny probably kept them somewhere else and since he had no knowledge of where those keys might be, he was forced to be content with looking at them from the outside.

Which wasn’t too bad. He wasn’t there for the cars anyway.

Nothing changed with the layout of the place, except for additional storage and parts here and there, and whatever it was that didn’t exist five years ago. Johnny wasn’t planning on doing anything too complex or touching anything that was a work in progress, fearing that he might actually mess up something for his future self, and he soon started to work.

It was thankfully easy to find everything he needed since it was kept nearly identical to how he remembered it.

And he soon found himself talking to an inanimate object as he worked on it.

“So I’m not supposed to be here and nobody knows about it,” he spoke quietly as he unscrewed something, reaching for his toolbox for what he needed, “and guess what, I find out I am married – married ! Me! – so of course I am shocked about it. I thought it’d be someone I didn’t know, someone new, or from space or whatever, but nope. It’s– it’s Peter Parker.”

The room remained quiet when he stopped speaking, but his hands kept on moving as if they were possessed.

“At first I hated it, still kinda do to be honest, but I guess he is a great guy. If this is the future then there had to be something that made me agree to marry him, right?”

There was no response.

Not that he expected one to begin with.

“Right,” he snorted, fully aware of the absurdity of what he was doing, yet he continued to talk to himself, “Things seem to be going well for me here, and I thought I was happy – even if it was Parker – but nope. I had to go and cheat on him with Spider-man. I’m probably hiding it so well because Sue didn’t believe me when I told her. Maybe it’s because she thinks I’m better than that. Maybe I am not.”

Silence.

He didn’t know why he expected someone to have heard all of this, and he half-expected to turn around to see someone listening to him rambling. A part of him hoped it’d be Peter, who would probably stand there looking horrified as Johnny confessed to all of this. Would he leave him?

Johnny wouldn’t have blamed him if he did.

“But I’m really not like that,” his face twisted into a pained expression, his hands not moving anymore as he stared down at the engine, but he wasn’t even looking, “It’s disrespectful. Why did I do that to him? ”

The question floated in the air for nobody but Johnny to mull, and his hands retracted from what he was working on to sit uselessly by his side, limp and motionless. Without thinking, he placed the wrench in his hand on the table before leaning on it, looking like he was in a trance.

But it was anything but.

Johnny was on the edge of a panic attack, one that he never felt while battling the scariest creatures space could offer, or while facing powerful opponents that looked like they could crush him. This wasn’t that, this wasn’t even like the many times he thought he lost someone close.

This was a beautifully tragic concoction of his worst fears and insecurities, the culmination of them all.

It was being alone.

Peter wasn’t there this morning.

He didn’t sleep next to Johnny at all.

Wasn’t there at all.

This was supposed to be different. If Peter moved in, and the fact that his suite was modified and expanded to accommodate two people, meant that this was serious. That it had been going on for a long enough duration that his family was convinced that this was a relationship that would endure. One that wouldn’t fall apart like all the others only for him to move on to the next, and then the next, and the next…

Peter was supposed to be his person.

Maybe Johnny didn’t have that at all, or maybe what he saw in that picture was nothing but him deluding himself into thinking that somehow he did manage to find love that it didn’t matter who it was. Who cares if he got the grumpy, arrogant jerk of a nerd?

He could see it working somehow.

But Peter wasn’t just handsome or – as much as he loathed to say it – charming in a way only Peter could be. Johnny envied him, envied how smart he was and how even Reed was impressed with him. Envied how he had a loving aunt and a group of friends that always supported him. Not to mention how he always had a gorgeous woman in his orbit, sometimes even fighting over him, but he couldn’t really blame them for it if he married the guy.

That might be it, though.

Women.

It could be that Peter was sick of him, too. Maybe he was spending the night with one of those women, or maybe he realized what a wreck of a person Johnny was underneath it all. Surely as his husband he had seen it all.

Even so, would Johnny have stayed if Peter was doing that?

Is he so afraid of being alone that he held on to Peter and decided to start something with Spider-man?

Whatever it is, it was wrong, and Johnny hated it. At least he was certain of one thing that never changed about him even five years later.

“I’m still a mess.”

Half of the day was over, and unbeknownst to Johnny, someone crawled inside the bedroom while he was putting everything away in his toolbox.

He didn’t manage to do much, but he did manage to kill half of the day.

Now that he did, he was certain that he hated the future and wanted nothing to do with it as he headed back to the elevator, deciding to watch a movie that didn’t exist five years ago. Meanwhile, Spider-man takes off his suit in the bathroom, dropping everything in the laundry basket along with his mask.

When Johnny walks in and plops on the couch, ready to browse through his options, water mixed with blood went down the drain not too far from him.

By the time Johnny had picked a movie, Peter walked out of the bedroom while drying his hair with a towel, and Johnny was already a few minutes in before he glanced at Peter.

The moment he caught sight of him, Johnny shot up in his seat, leading Peter to turn to him in surprise only to find Johnny already approaching him with eyes wide in concern.

“Peter, what the hell!?”

Peter held up both of his hands. “I did not smear blood anywhere, I swear.”

“That’s not–” Johnny looked him over, taken aback at the sight of bare arms and legs that were too defined and muscular, but there were more pressing matters, “You look like you were hit by a bus before falling into a meat grinder!”

There were cuts and bruises all over Peter’s body.

A nasty gash was on his forearm, there was a bleeding cut on his cheek and jaw, his upper lip was cut, and his legs seemed to be mostly fine other than a few small bruises and bleeding ankles.

“That’s not too far from what happened,” Peter gave him a sheepish smile, shrugging his shoulders as if this was nothing, “It’ll heal, so–”

“Are you crazy? You’re not leaving it like this.”

“I was about to get the–” Johnny was already on his way to get the first aid kit, and Peter sighed with a smile appearing on his face, “Well you beat me to it.”

Irritated at the nonchalance he was met with while literally looking like he was done being a large cat’s scratching post, Johnny gestured at the couch.

“Sit.”

“Wish you’d use that firm tone more in bed.”

Johnny inhaled, biting his bottom lip as his face reddened. “Just sit. ”

“Sitting,” thankfully, Peter did sit down, and Johnny shuffled next to him as he assessed the damage, deciding to treat his forearm first. Peter was miraculously silent for two seconds before he spoke, “Getting a hot nurse will only encourage me to get injured more often. This is like what Pavlov did with the dogs. This is conditioning.”

“I’m this close to showing you how hot I can be if you purposefully injure yourself.”

“This sounds like a threat–”

“It is.”

“–but consider me encouraged.”

It didn’t help that Johnny was too close, he had to be in order to clean up the wound and dress it, and it really didn’t help that Peter was flirting with him like that. Johnny struggled to concentrate, he also struggled with the fact that it was working on him, but more importantly, he struggled with the knowledge that this was happening while Peter was completely unaware that Johnny was cheating on him with Spider-man.

He knew the current him was faultless, but that still didn’t stop him from feeling guilty about it.

That’s probably why he didn’t say anything back, and it’s most certainly why he had his eyes glued to the cuts on Peter’s arm as he dabbed the cuts with antiseptic. Peter didn’t even flinch from the burn of it, he just used his other arm to pull Johnny by the back of his neck until their foreheads bumped lightly with each other.

Johnny gulped and his eyes went up to meet Peter’s in a moment that felt too intimate.

“Hey,” Peter said to him, and Johnny felt knuckles under his chin followed by the light touch of two lips, “You’re too quiet. You okay?”

“Uh-huh.” Johnny sounded so dumb.

“Then what’s got you so worked up over a few cuts?”

If Peter wasn’t so close, and if their foreheads weren’t touching, then maybe Johnny wouldn’t have a very confused and muddled mind. There was no way for him to have the clarity of mind to say that these injuries weren't something to be easily dismissed like that, that getting worked up was a totally reasonable reaction. He might have also notice some of the smaller wounds already closing up while the bruises faded away faster than what would be considered normal.

Instead, he hoped Peter would kiss him again.

“I don’t know, you’re hurt,” Johnny told him, the hand he held Peter’s wrist with now squeezing it as his brain went blank, “I, uh, I don’t like that.”

Peter let out a breath that sounded like a chuckle before he kissed him, and this kiss wasn’t as chaste as the ones before, but Johnny didn’t mind it so much. There were no thoughts in his brain as he kissed Peter back, his hands dropping the cotton and bandages so that they could be tangled in Peter’s shirt.

Not a single thought was present in his brain.

Johnny could taste copper with that kiss.

“No, you can’t do that. This might make me purposefully hurt myself.” Peter groaned because he could never shut up, breaking away from Johnny as he stared down at him.

All Johnny could do was blink, not knowing when exactly he was pushed on his back as he lay there against the soft surface of the couch. Moments ago he was sitting up, treating a wound, and the next he found himself panting for breaths with his hair tousled behind him. He didn’t know how he looked to Peter, or how red his cheeks were.

He didn’t know what expression he was making that made Peter dive right back in before Johnny could regain a semblance of clarity.

A thing he learned was that Peter was so handsy.

It was as if he couldn’t help but trail his thumb along Johnny’s jaw before he slid his hands down to Johnny’s chest, down to his abdomen. That might seem like it was all where they would go, but then these very hands snuck their way under Johnny’s shirt, and Johnny let out a gasp that appeared to provoke Peter even more.

Problem is it made Johnny want more, too, as he clung to Peter, wrapping his arms around his neck while locking his legs behind Peter’s back, trapping him there purely on instinct.

Hands feeling him moved to his back, one under his shoulder blades, and the other tucked right into the arch of his back before the cushiony surface Johnny was on had disappeared from under him. It made Johnny panic a bit, tightening his hold as he gripped onto Peter to not fall, but his back soon met the cold hard surface of a wall as he gasped at the sudden contact.

The ease in which Peter did that startled him, but he didn’t dwell on that because getting pinned to a wall like that did things to him. Especially with Peter’s hands under his thighs, holding him up there against the wall.

It was impossible to think when Johnny was getting drunk on all of this, and Peter made sure that he didn’t sober up because he sent tingles all over Johnny’s body when he started biting and kissing Johnny’s neck.

“ Fuck, Peter–”

Peter let out a satisfied hum, finally taking mercy on Johnny as he leaned away. “Yes, fuck Peter.”

“No,” Johnny managed to say breathlessly, still in a daze from it all. He wanted to say yes so badly, unfortunately, it was much easier to think when Peter wasn’t kissing him and the guilt had its chance to resurface, “You should be mad at me. I’m sleeping with Spider-man.”

The manner in which Peter’s lip twitched up confused him. “ Really? ”

“Really, really. I’m cheating on you.”

Peter kissed him again. “I’m so heartbroken.”

Whatever attempt he made to end this horrid affair with Spider-man, or at least tell someone about it, was never taken seriously. Not by Spider-man, not by Sue, not even by his own husband, who should be the most concerned about this. Was Johnny that convincingly good at hiding it that nobody suspected a thing?

If he wasn’t so appalled, he’d be impressed.

“Peter,” Johnny felt at loss on what to do, and Peter went back to abusing his neck again, “Peter stop. You’re going to leave a mark.”

He did stop, placing a kiss on that sore spot Johnny felt on his neck. “Sorry. Bad news, it's already there.”

“Great.”

“Good news, I like turtlenecks on you.”

Johnny would be lying if he claimed that didn’t affect him, butterflies were swirling in his stomach for some reason, but he pushed the feelings down. “Good news is I don’t care. Bad news is, you’re still bleeding and I’m still sleeping with Spider-man.”

“Won’t lie, you’re making me want to beat Spider-man up.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” he said sarcastically, recalling how Spider-man literally caught a truck thrown at him, and he could easily drop it on Peter’s head if he wanted, “Maybe you should try that.”

“Maybe I should,” Peter grinned at him, still not letting him down, “What does he have that I don’t? Is it the webs? Didn’t know you’re into that.”

Johnny gave him a flat look. “I’m not.”

He totally was.

“You totally are.”

“That’s why I am sleeping with him and not you,” he fired back, sick of nobody believing him as he shoved Peter to be let go, “Now let me bandage you up.”

It was strange how shoving Peter felt like shoving a brick wall, but he stepped away to let Johnny get back on his feet before they returned back to where they were on the couch. The fact that Peter looked better did surprise him, but didn’t think much of it. Johnny just thought it looked worse initially because it shocked him, but now after a closer look it was not as bad as he thought.

He did not even realize Peter had little to no bruises now.

Speaking of Peter, he was now the quiet one as Johnny placed a bandaid on his cheek. The silence was nice and all, but Johnny knew it wouldn’t last.

“You know,” Peter spoke, looking at Johnny with a frown etched on his face, “As weird as it may sound, I do want to beat up Spider-man now.”

Johnny smiled. That was progress. “Jealous?”

“A little bit.”

Being married was nothing like how Johnny imagined.

In fact, he didn’t know what to imagine.

He couldn’t remember his own parents, so he didn’t know what their married life was like other than how Sue described it, but it didn’t sound like something he should aspire to have. What Sue and Reed had on the other hand was almost perfect, other than a few rough patches here and there, but the two of them felt like an ideal match.

Even Ben, as rocky as he was, found love with Alicia. Their relationship was so wholesome it made Johnny feel a bit sick – and he says that affectionately – whenever they were around. He’s happy for the big guy.

Yet he never wanted to be one of them, never found himself wishing he was in Sue or Ben’s place even though he envied them a lot. His past relationships were never perfect, always messy in some way, and even at the time Johnny knew why they never worked. Knew that the issue was on his side, not on his past partners.

And knew exactly where his attraction lied, but he wasn’t brave enough to admit it even to himself.

Now after he finished treating Peter’s injuries, he found himself holding a popcorn bowl in his lap because Peter refused to watch a movie without popcorn. Thing is, Johnny doesn’t remember inviting him to come join him, he just wanted to kill time until the effect of this ‘displacement device’ wears off so he’d return back to his time.

However, Peter just casually slid next to him as if it was the most normal thing ever, and he slotted himself in between the back cushion and Johnny’s back so that Johnny was resting on him.

It’s funny how in that moment, with some random action movie playing in front of them and Peter occasionally shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth, Johnny understood that this is why he envied Sue and Ben, but never wanted to be in their place.

It’s because he found his person, and it wasn’t Reed or Alicia.

“This is so unrealistic,” Peter complained, and Johnny leaned back even more to look at him, hyperaware of the warmth of Peter’s body behind him, “Magnetic fields would not affect the direction of rays, but it could have been used to disrupt the functionality of the guns. Rays operate the way light does. Who researched this movie?”

“I don’t think movies are supposed to be realistic, Pete.”

“Maybe not, but it makes no sense! Imagine a scene with them dousing fire with gasoline to put it out.”

Johnny didn’t know he was smiling so fondly when he spoke. “Stop pointing out the scientific mistakes in the movie, you big nerd. Just enjoy the movie.”

“How can I when they showed the chemical formula of the deadly bioweapon and it’s the formula for vanilla ice cream ?”

Johnny couldn’t help but snort. “Wait, it is?”

“ Yes! ”

“Normal people wouldn’t know,” he laughed, loving how worked up Peter was getting over the inaccurate science in the movie, “It’s not the main focus. Just stop pointing out the mistakes and pretend it all makes sense.”

Peter relented. “Fine.”

The two of them sat there in comfortable silence as the movie played, and it was a good movie if the faulty science was ignored, but even Johnny had to admit that the way people fell when they got shot wasn’t entirely accurate to reality. Johnny would know, he saw people get shot and was shot himself, but that wasn’t really important.

The movie was passable, and he found that he liked it even more because Peter was there watching it with him.

It’s strange because he should be annoyed since Peter couldn’t keep his mouth shut, but Peter was funny without even trying whenever he spoke. He just blurted out the most ridiculous things that made Johnny raise an eyebrow and guffaw before he switched to giving a mini-lecture about how physics worked, and how it made no sense for the main actress to swing with enough velocity to break the glass.

Johnny would say he enjoyed the movie more because of Peter’s comments and complaints.

When the credits rolled signalling the end of the movie, Johnny found that his face was a bit sore from smiling too much, and he only discovered that because his smile had faltered with the disappointment he felt. He didn’t want it to end just yet.

The warmth behind him went away.

“I’m gonna go sleep.” Peter told him as he yawned, stretching while Johnny stared at him incredulously.

“But it’s seven.”

“I know, but I had a long day.”

Peter ran his hand through his hair, looking more mentally tired than physically, and Johnny was reminded of the fact that he came all bloody and bruised when he caught sight of the bandage wrapped around his forearm.

“Right,” Johnny frowned in confusion, remembering that there was a nasty purple bruise on Peter’s biceps that wasn’t there anymore, “What happened to you?”

“Eh, the usual.”

There was no way for him to know what Peter meant by ‘the usual’, so he simply nodded his head and went with it, deciding not to say anything about that. It made him wonder how often this happens to Peter, and what he did whenever he wasn’t home. Johnny had thought of the worst, especially when his future self was doing the worst by cheating on his husband, but there were still a few things that weren’t adding up.

It’s clear that Peter led a busy life, and Johnny gathered that he was away most of the day doing whatever he was doing, so it made him wonder if it came with his job or if it was something else.

But him being gone might’ve made Johnny feel lonely – that was still not an excuse enough for Johnny to cheat!

Was Peter in law enforcement? Did he work in a dangerous lab? Was he a zookeeper? Did he pick up fights in the streets for fun?

Johnny had no idea.

“Hey,” he felt a thumb rubbing the crease that formed between his eyebrows, and he looked up to see Peter smiling down at him, “I know I’ve been away a lot lately, but things are just hectic right now. This whole week sucked – except for when I’m with you – and I’ve had enough of Tony. I’ll be all yours once this is all over, okay?”

Even though he had no idea what Peter was on about or who Tony was, Johnny could tell that Peter was being sincere.

“Okay.”

“So how was your day with Sue?”

“Didn’t see her today. She said she was busy.”

Peter looked upset at that. “You were alone the whole day?”

“It really wasn’t that bad,” he shrugged, not wanting Peter to feel guilty or anything, besides he did offer to spend time with Johnny today, but it was Johnny who told him he’d want to spend time with his sister, “I was at the workshop, and by the time I was done, I found you bleeding all over the place.”

“I did not– alright. That’s good.” Peter sighed, seemingly relieved to hear that before he tilted his head at Johnny, “Want me to go out for dinner? Spend time at the usual place? Terrorize New York?”

The mention of The Usual Place made Johnny freeze and he felt a painful stab to his heart because this might be something they actually had, a usual place they went to, just like Johnny and Spider-man. It made him wonder if Peter was aware of it, but then again, everyone in New York knew about it. Johnny wasn’t exactly subtle whenever he called Spidey to hang out, opting to write his message in the sky for everyone to see.

Of course Peter knew.

But did he know about what was happening between them?

“Weren’t you going to sleep?” he asked, looking away.

Peter stood there without saying anything, studying Johnny and his manner. This Peter knew him, was married to him, and he definitely sensed that there was something wrong. Johnny expected him to ask what was wrong, and he was already thinking of an answer to give, guilt eating away at him because he was being horrible to this man.

How could he possibly do that to Peter?

It’s disgusting.

And it hurt even more when he felt a kiss being placed on the top of his head when all he did was betray Peter’s trust. He didn’t deserve comforting. He vowed to fix this when he gets back. He’ll never allow this to happen.

“Sleep can wait. I’ve been awake for three days straight before, so this is nothing. Tell me what you want.”

Johnny shook his head. “I want you in bed right now, sleeping. ”

“The addition of that last word was unnecessary.”

“ Oh my god, just go to sleep. I– I have something I want to talk to Reed about.”

Understandably, Peter raised an eyebrow at him looking slightly suspicious. “O-kay.”

Johnny stood up from where he was sitting, then he considered something before leaning to give Peter one last kiss filled with apology even though Peter had no idea what was behind that kiss. Johnny knew that he wasn’t going to see Peter again, not as this Johnny.

He planned on going back.

“Goodnight, Peter.”

Reed’s lab was everchanging, so when he walked in and found some tall strange contraptions, he did not pay any mind to them because this could be Reed’s lab at any point in time. This was one of the things that were never going to change about it, and another thing was that Reed was almost always there doing another experiment or saving the world from blowing up or something.

The fact that there was a long blue torso greeting him was a comfort.

Now to find that head of his.

“Reed!” he called out, his voice echoing in the vast space, “Reed, where are you? This is important.”

A head popped up behind one of the machines, and Johnny was surprised to see that Reed had a beard now. It suited him, but other than that not much had changed about him. Especially not the mildly dismayed look he was giving Johnny at interrupting his work.

“Johnny, I am studying an interesting specimen. Now if that thing could wait–”

“It can’t. That’s why I am here.”

Reed’s head disappeared from view, and the torso stretched across the lab began to shrink. Johnny waited a few seconds before Reed appeared from the left side of the lab, walking towards him with a skeptical look on his face, almost as if he doubted that this was going to be that important.

He still regarded Johnny seriously when he stood in front of him.

“What’s the matter?”

“Remember that displacement device we talked about five years ago?”

It was funny how his eyes widened the moment Johnny said that, already guessing correctly what had happened before he let out a heavy sigh as he covered his face with the palm of his hand.

“The partial continuum displacement device.” He supplied with a groan, shaking his head.

“That’s the one! It, uh, it sent me here. Five years into the future, so…”

Reed nodded his head in understanding. “When did that happen?”

“When I was with you at the lab while you were telling me about it. You said it was temporary, so I waited for it to send me back again, but I’m still here.”

“For how long have you been here?”

“Uh, around a day and a half?”

When Reed didn’t make a big deal out of it, Johnny relaxed, and he was asked for the exact time he found himself here. He was able to answer that since one of the first things he did when he found himself in the future was check the time, and Reed began doing some complex calculations while Johnny watched him with a lost look on his face. He had no idea what Reed was doing.

Seems like Reed got the answer he was looking for, but Johnny couldn’t tell if it was good or bad.

“So,” he said an imaginary stone with his feet, feeling a bit awkward while standing there, “am I going back?”

To his relief, Reed nodded his head. “Yes, there are no issues. It’s as I said, temporary.”

“Okay, cool. That’s great!” His nervous tone made Reed glance at him curiously, “Can I talk to you about Peter?”

“Ah, Peter. Yes, you two weren’t married back then. What about him?”

Johnny bit the bottom of his lip, feeling a mixture of shame and sadness. He took out his phone from his pocket and gripped it. “I’m cheating on Peter with Spider-man. I’ve got proof and it’s here,” he held up the phone, his hand trembling along with his voice, “When I told Sue and Peter about it, they thought I was joking, and when I tried to end things with Spider-man he thought I was– he didn’t take me seriously.”

Reed’s eyebrows rose. “Oh.”

“It doesn’t make sense, Reed! I never thought that I would do something like that. I didn’t think Spidey was the type to be okay with this, too. Peter doesn’t deserve this.”

“No he doesn’t.” Reed agreed with warmth in his eyes as he smiled at Johnny.

“You know, I’ve always wanted this – being with someone – and I thought things would go differently for me. Am I hopeless, Reed? Do I always make a mess out of everything?”

Am I that broken, he wondered.

But Reed was still smiling for some reason, but he had a rare soft look on his face as he placed a hand on Johnny’s shoulder. He didn’t look mad or appalled, he just looked pleased even though Johnny just confessed the horrible things his future self was doing.

He didn’t understand. Not yet.

“I do agree that infidelity is horrendous, but you haven’t done anything yet. This is the Johnny who is currently married to Peter, and he made his choices. You’re not that Johnny yet, you haven’t betrayed Peter’s trust, and you will get the chance to rectify what you didn’t like seeing here.”

“I mean, yeah, but Peter is my person . What if– what if I do it again?”

“You’re not hopeless, Johnny, and I fully believe that you will make all the right choices when it matters.”

Johnny sat there in silence as he thought about what Reed said before he nodded his head. He was determined to not repeat any mistakes his future self made. And, funnily enough, he was eager to go back so that he could ensure that he’d end up with Peter.

After this whole time displacement thing, Johnny wanted to experience falling in love with Peter Parker.

“Thanks, Reed.” Johnny smiled up at him, feeling a little bit lighter, “So when are you sending me back?”

Reed continued smiling before he checked the time. “Oh, I will not. You should be back in…a minute or two, give or take.”

“ What? ”

“As I said, it’s temporary, and based on your time of arrival and my calculations I can safely say that the device would return you back soon.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me!?”

Reed grinned at him. “No. Good luck, Johnny.”

“Reed, you suc–” Johnny’s insult was cut off as he blinked at Reed, who still had a hand placed on his shoulder.

Johnny was taut as he stood there, then he looked around his surroundings before his eyes landed on Reed. A second ago he was in his living room, the next he was in Reed’s lab with a hand on his shoulder, grounding him.

“Why am I here?”

There was a beat of silence before Reed answered.

“Because you thought you were having an affair with Spider-man a few moments ago.”

Although he didn’t elaborate more, the reaction he got confirmed what he had already suspected. Johnny looked mortified.

“I forgot about that! Oh my god, ” he quickly opened his phone to check his text messages, and the embarrassment he felt was immeasurable, and he gave Reed a pleading look, “Please don’t tell anyone about this. Nobody can know.”

Reed fought off a smile. “You didn’t tell me about the device working when you returned back, which makes me feel less inclined to keep this between us.”

“I’m begging you here, Reed. Sue will be insufferable about it, and Ben will not let me live this down and— oh, no, no, no. Peter cannot know about this.”

“Alright, I’ll keep it a secret,” Reed agreed, leading Johnny to sag in relief before adding, “For a while at least.”

Johnny let out a pained sound. “My life is over.”

“It does make for an entertaining story. Now excuse me, I have to go adjust the rate in whic—”

“Before you go,” Johnny stopped him, sounding a bit more solemn now. It made Reed stop in his tracks and return his stretching limbs back where they were, giving Johnny his full attention, “I don’t think I ever said this, but thank you. If you hadn’t said what you said back then — which was probably a few minutes ago for you — I don’t think I would have ended up here.”

“You genuinely thought you were cheating on your husband.” Reed concluded correctly, leading Johnny to nod.

“I did, and if you hadn’t told me that I could change, that I had a choice I—”

He didn’t continue, interrupting himself because the thought of what could have happened was painful. The only reason he had the bravery to seek Peter out was because of  what Reed had said, that he could make different choices.

That the future he saw wasn’t written in stone.

Funny how things worked.

Nothing else was said between them, but a long stretchy arm wrapped around his shoulders, and he looked up to see Reed giving him a warm smile. He acknowledged what Johnny was trying to say and required no further clarification, and Johnny tapped the arm with a smile filled with gratitude before it unwrapped itself to let him go.

This meant the world to him.

When Johnny returned back to his suite, he found an empty popcorn bowl and smiled at the memory.

It was strange to think of it as that, a memory, when in reality it occurred less than an hour ago. He remembers it all so vividly, the movie, the way he was surprised at how easy it was to kiss Peter, the guilt he felt after. All of it. To Johnny, however, it happened five years ago when he found himself accidentally displaced into the future with no idea that his idiot of a husband was the same idiot in the Spider-man suit.

Time stuff were so confusing.

The complexities of time travel were at the back of his mind when he entered their bedroom, and he couldn’t help the excitement he felt knowing that Peter was there. He hadn’t seen him for a while, not with Peter helping the Avengers the past week, and the Fantastic Four were also busy exploring space lately.

To see Peter sprawled on the bed, limbs everywhere while snoring as he selfishly took up space on Johnny’s side of the bed like the asshole he is made Johnny smile endearingly.

Fortunately for Peter, Johnny was in a forgiving mood as he joined his side, trying to shove Peter to the side a bit more, but failing miserably.

“Stupid proportional strength of an insect.”

Peter wrapped himself around him like a damn octopus, nuzzling into the nook of Johnny’s neck.

“Spider.” He corrected with a sleep-laced voice.

“If you don’t want me to spray the bed with pesticide then move over,” Johnny said, pushing him with more strength than he’d like to admit, but Peter wasn’t budging, “I’m about to fall off!”

Instead of scooting over like a normal person would do, Peter merely rolled over, taking Johnny with him. That made them switch sides, and now Peter was spooning him while his own back was dangerously close to the edge, but Peter never minded being dangerously close to edges.

“I missed you, you’re so warm.”

“So tempted to burn you right now.”

“You won’t.”

“I will.”

“Won’t.”

“Is that a challenge, Webs?”

He felt Peter smile against his neck, giving him a quick affectionate kiss that made Johnny shiver.

Johnny loved this man.

“I have spidey-sense so you won’t.”

“I hate you so, so much.” 

4 Years Ago.

There was something surreal about that night they both spent laughing as they bumped into each other as they tried to keep their voices down. They weren’t drunk, but they might as well be because they just missed the door to Peter’s apartment, but it’s only because they were two idiots who couldn’t help but lock their lips together every chance they got. Then they’d giggle about it and forget that the world existed.

“Pete, you’re so dumb. Your apartment’s right here.”

He was tugging Peter by the back of his shirt, trying to keep himself from giggling so much, and Peter struggled with his keys as he seemed to be about to drop them but never did. It was as if they stuck to him like magnets, and it was so funny to see him clumsily try to fit his key in the hole as if the act was strange to him.

“Sorry, sorry,” Johnny’s giggles subsided when Peter leaned on him as if he was hiding himself in Johnny out of embarrassment, but his smile showed his canines, and that particular smile caused something in Johnny’s heart to lurch, “I rarely use the door.”

The door was still locked when Johnny found himself snorting, shoving Peter away from him so he could rest his chin on Peter’s shoulder while he fumbled with the lock.

“What do you mean you rarely use the door? You’re such a dork, Pete.”

Peter laughed, but there was a slight nervous quality to it. “Can’t think clearly with you around. Your stupid rubs off on me.”

“Peter,” Johnny gasped delightfully, wrapping his arms around Peter’s torso, “Are you saying I am distracting you?”

“No, I’m saying you make me stupid. ”

The sound of the door unlocking was ignored when Johnny turned Peter around and pushed him against the door. If anyone decided to appear in the hallway, they’d see two idiots with their noses bumping and breaths mingling. A breath away from another kiss.

“I make you stupid?”

Peter swallowed at the smile Johnny was giving him, his throat bobbing as he looked down at Johnny’s lips. He was so sure that Johnny kept his lips parted just the right amount to tantalize him. “Very, very stupid.”

That was all it took for Johnny to kiss him, standing on the tip of his toes because he couldn’t get enough of Peter, and to push him further against the door. Meanwhile Peter’s arm was grasping the air before it found the door knob, turning it, which resulted in them tumbling in and dropping unceremoniously on the floor. Their kiss broke and they bumped their heads.

Somehow Peter closed the door by kicking it with his foot, and Johnny was laughing again at how ridiculous they were.

He found himself gazing down at Peter, the dim light coming through the window washing over the whole apartment, highlighting their frames as they sat there in a seemingly motionless passage of time. The whole world moved around them, the sounds of the city seeping in through the thin walls, but time for them had stopped in that precious second.

And Peter found himself looking up at Johnny in a way he wanted to remember forever.

There was something about Johnny in this deeply intimate moment that was different. Johnny had always been beautiful, his blue eyes were so vivaciously bright, always picture-perfect. However, the Johnny on top of him now was quieter, less picture-perfect and more soft blond strands falling on his face, messy from how many times Peter had run his hands through them. The smile he had was small, wistful.

But it was the way he looked at him that made it suddenly hard to breathe, and Peter was afraid that if he spoke, he’d ruin the fragility of this moment.

It was Johnny who moved first, getting off of him before he offered warm hands to his cold ones. Peter didn’t know if the flood of warmth he felt was because of The Human Torch, or because of Johnny.

“Hey, Pete,”

It was inevitable for the moment to shatter.

“Yeah?”

“I–” looking at him now with their hands linked together still, both of them refusing to let go, Johnny finally understood what it was like to fall in love with Peter Parker, “I want to, um, I want to say that I really enjoyed our date today.”

This was nothing like the excitement he got from flying, or floating, or even falling. This was frightening, the scariest thing Johnny had ever experienced, but that’s what made it so special.

Peter smiled, grabbing his face to kiss him again. “Did you?”

“I always do.”

“Me too.”

“You’re it for me,” he blurted out, his face still being held, and his hand going up to hold Peter’s wrist, mostly to steady himself, “Getting you to agree to go on a date with me almost seemed impossible, but you’re still here a year later, and I don’t think– I don’t think I’ll ever feel this way towards anyone else. If you leave me–”

Johnny wasn’t making sense anymore, he should be the last one to be so fearful of the possibility of Peter leaving him. He saw the future, he knew that Peter was not going anywhere, but he knew himself, too. Knew all the insecurities under the facade he put, and was aware of the various ways he could mess things up between them.

Now that one year had passed, Johnny felt like he had four more years left with Peter before he starts messing up again and ends up cheating on him with Spider-man.

He vowed he’d never let it happen, but he was still scared it would.

“Johnny, hey,” Peter’s voice was quiet, soothing, and Johnny didn’t realize he was trembling, “It’s okay. I think you’re it for me, too.”

Usually it was hard for people to take him seriously, not with his reputation and the way he painted himself as an incorrigible playboy. A guy who loved cars, women, and attention. Many would think of him as whimsical, someone too immature and flighty to commit. Johnny didn’t blame them because he knew exactly what they saw, what he let them see, not what’s underneath it all.

It was the tremor in his voice that gave him away.

The way he stuttered whenever he was being honest.

And somehow, Peter saw through him and recognized it all. It’s no wonder they ended up married, but it is a wonder how Johnny ended up being unfaithful.

“Then, do you want to start dating?”

A laugh bubbled in Peter’s chest at the absurdity of his question, and it made Johnny smile and relax a bit. “Aren’t we already?”

“Yes, but I want us to be serious-serious. As in, I want to partially move in here with you.”

An amused hum left Peter, who raised an eyebrow. “Why partially move in?”

“Becasue you’ve been so weird about it,” Johnny huffed, pulling Peter’s hands off his face, “I was trying to go at your pace. You never let me spend the night here, or sleep, and you keep kicking me out with your see-through fake excuses–”

“Some of them are actually true, believe it or not.”

“You told me there was a fire in your kitchen and that I couldn’t come in because it was dangerous .” Johnny told him flatly.

“There actually was a fire!”

Johnny believed that because he did actually smell it. “Gee, Peter. Thank you for protecting me from that awful fire. I, The Human Torch, am so grateful for your concern.”

Sheepishly nodding his head, Peter had the decency to look ashamed. “When you put it like that…”

“You’re not very convincing.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

It was hard to be mad at his boyfriend when he hugs him in apology, and Johnny’s cheek becomes warm when Peter pecks it. He wraps his arms around Peter and holds him tightly, not wanting to let go. It was getting late, and that’s usually when they either end the night, or have sex before ending the night.

And ending the night meant Johnny leaving.

“I just want to be with you, Pete. Is that too much to ask?”

“Uh,” it came out shakily, and Peter’s hand started to move the way he did whenever he got nervous, rubbing at Johnny’s sides, “It’s not. What you’re asking for is reasonable. Very. I want that, too…”

“I don’t want to hear a but.”

He felt Peter gulp. “Okay.”

Johnny frowned, letting go of Peter to break away from the embrace. He leaned back to look at him, to understand what the issue was. From the very beginning Peter had been a bit odd. When Johnny started chasing after him, Peter did everything he could to avoid him, refusing to go on a single date until Johnny managed to wear him out. Once he did, Peter seemed more willing to date him, but with some reluctance that was honestly disheartening.

But once they got over that, well, things had been perfect – except for the many excuses, the tardiness, and the fact that he was so hard to get a hold of and took forever to respond to Johnny’s texts.

One would think Peter was not so into him, but he was always so enthusiastic whenever they were together. It was confusing.

So Peter was already like that even before Johnny married him, huh.

“Peter, are you going to let me spend the night or not?”

There was a long moment of silence before he responded. “That would depend on you.”

“What does that mean?” Johnny frowned, and he would have stepped away if Peter wasn’t still holding him.

“It means I’ve been keeping a secret from you. I didn’t know how to tell you, and you made it hard for me to stay away, so I just didn’t say anything and let things get this far because you make me stupid. ”

“Okay,” Johnny’s heart was beating fast, he didn’t know what to feel, he just wanted to be with Peter, “You have a secret. You’re keeping secrets. All I wanted was to wake up in the morning next to you and your stupid secret is in the way. That’s cool.”

A smile flickered on Peter’s face, and he hesitated before he took Johnny’s hand in his. He led Johnny to his room as if it was Johnny’s first time there, but this time the door was closed. Peter hesitated before looking back at Johnny.

“If you leave after this, I won’t say anything. I’ll just– I’ll leave you alone.”

Johnny wanted to laugh because Peter leaving was his biggest fear. He couldn’t think of anything that would make him want to leave, not unless it’s something really heinous. Johnny braced himself for what he’d see behind the door, squeezing Peter’s hand in reassurance but he didn’t know if he was reassuring Peter or himself.

And at first, he didn’t know what he was looking at.

He had been to Peter’s room plenty of times before, but this time everything was in disarray as if a tornado just came through. He couldn’t help but be perplexed when he stepped in, kicking away a pair of pants that were on the floor. Things were strewn around, opened books, clothes, tools and empty canisters.

It was a room one would expect a nerdy disaster would have, and he was yet to see what was right under his nose.

“Your secret is that you’re messy?”

Johnny couldn’t help but laugh at that, but his laughter died down when Peter didn’t laugh with him. Instead he was still standing at the door looking anxious. That’s when Johnny realized that he was so nervous he refused to step inside his own room.

“Messiness is a product of it.”

Looking around some more, Johnny’s eyes fell on a heap of towels that were stained with something suspiciously resembling blood.

He remembered when he accidentally found himself in the future, how Peter walked in with cuts and bruises. He didn’t know what to think when he lifted the towel up with a horrified intake of breath. The amount of blood was concerning.

It wasn’t normal.

Suddenly Johnny couldn’t hear anything, the sound of his heartbeat thudding in his ears. It wasn’t the bloody towels, it was what he found beneath them.

That’s when it all made sense.

He lifted the torn shirt in his hand, the fabric genuine and exactly how he remembers it to be whenever he touched it. The familiar spider symbol stared back at him, and Johnny finally understood everything as he sat down on the bed. His legs couldn’t carry him anymore.

“Spidey?”

Peter still didn’t walk in. “Hey, Torchy.”

“ This whole time? ”

All Peter could do was nod his head, not bothering to dodge the pillow Johnny threw at him. He felt like he deserved it, and he did, but Johnny didn’t care. His mind was aware that this was Spider-man in front of him, a guy he knew since he was a teen, his best friend. However, he couldn’t help but feel one thing as he tackled Peter, not knowing if he wanted to attack him or kiss his stupid face.

“You have no idea how much I want to kill you right now!”

Those words might have been a bit more convincing if he didn’t pull Peter in for another kiss. He felt Peter relax and start kissing him back, and Johnny aggressively pulled him inside, not stopping until the two of them fell on the bed causing it to creak.

“I’m sorry,” Peter panted above him, pressing his nose into Johnny’s hair as he held him close, “You can kill me if you want. I don’t care.”

Johnny thought he was cheating on Peter with Spider-man.

“You’re an asshole, Pete.”

He thought he was going to mess it all up.

“I know.”

Peter Parker and Spider-man were the same person.

That was never something he considered, and it all made sense now. The future was undeniable, and he thought he was really throwing a relationship like the one he had with Peter away. It was always at the back of his mind whenever he was with Peter or Spider-man, and he was always left wondering how he’d risk someone he loved for someone he cherished but didn’t truly know.

Both of them were dear to Johnny, but Peter was different.

And Johnny wasn’t horrible after all. He didn’t betray him.

This relief he felt was the one thing he needed, and as the tension left his body, he found himself to be so tired. So very tired. The only thing he wanted to do was lie there next to Peter and take comfort in the fact that he wasn’t going anywhere.

“So,” Johnny rolled over to snuggle into Peter’s chest, a content smile on his face, “About me spending the night–”

“ Hell yes. ”

“What about me moving in?”

“Hell no. I’m moving in. Ask Reed if I can have a bedroom next to his lab.”

“Absloutely not. I will not share you with a lab.”

Peter let out a sound akin to a whine, but he was idly drawing circles on Johnny’s back, and it made Johnny’s eyes flutter shut as he basked in the moment. He would have fallen asleep if this was anybody else other than Peter, because if there’s one thing confirming that Peter was actually Spider-man, it was the fact that the two of them never shut up.

“I’ll get you an extra brush after I get back from patrolling. I’m going to get you a Spider-man themed one.”

“Mm, okay.”

“Also, you might wake up to me sleeping on the ceiling. I do that sometimes.”

“Mm.”

“The stove is broken, so is the heater. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I had a warm shower. If I get some eggs with the toothbrush, will I have a hope of having an actual breakfast this morning?”

Johnny groaned, getting up to give Peter a sleepy glare.

“Sometimes I really, really hate you.”

Peter smiled at him, getting out of bed only to lift Johnny up with the ease of a man able to lift a bus, and gingerly placed Johnny under the covers, successfully tucking him into bed. Johnny would not tell him it’s hot, but it’s very hot.

“What about the other times?” he asked, his breath hot against Johnny’s reddening ear.

He didn’t respond, causing Peter to chuckle while ruffling his hair.

Johnny’s red face was enough.