Dig Your Fingernails Into My Chest and Pull Out My Heart

Can You Feel My Heartbeat?

Johnny is lucky his mother didn't kill him when he got home, nor over the next couple of days. Hell, the shit he got from his dad was enough to make him want to die, so he was just so grateful that his mum only gave him disapproving looks from across the dinner table. Or when he came out of his room. Or when he walked past her in the hallways of their house. Or anywhere she saw him, really.

She was upset that he had gotten in a fight. Apparently, a threat that wasn't even provable wasn't good enough reason to clart someone. Johnny tried to explain to her multiple times that the creep down the street (oh, that has a nice ring to it) had it coming, but she didn't want to hear it. So, instead, his mum unlocked the power to ground him. "Ground" him, in huge quotes. As if that's something she could still do. He's almost nineteen, not twelve.

Anyway, as a "deserving" punishment, Johnny was stuck in the home. No going out, no trips with friends. Angie got back to Manchester a couple days after the fight, too. He asked his mum to cut him some slack; let him go see his girlfriend, welcome her back. A quick and dismissive 'no' was thrown his way.

So, you can imagine his surprise when his mother waltzed into his room and offered to make a deal. She said that she'd been invited to a neighborhood party, a sort of delayed welcome he supposed, and that he was encouraged to come as well. If he went and behaved nicely, his prison sentence would be over and he'd be able to catch up with Mike, Andy, and Angie. And, of course, he agreed. It couldn't be that hard, now could it? He just had to sit there, look pretty, answer politely to people, and dismiss them nicely if they asked about anything related to that hovering cloud above his head, like, "Hey, weren't you that kid who threw down with Steven outside of a bar, like, a week ago?"

He was just hoping that he had injured that fucking freak enough that he wouldn't show his face. And if he did, Johnny would just have to pray that they ignore one another, though he's not afraid of hitting him again.

The only issue comes with the fact that he knows that's what Steven wants. He wants to be hurt, as weird as that is. Johnny doesn't know if it's a sort of kink thing or if he just generally enjoys pain, but he doesn't want to give him that satisfaction. So if it comes down to a fight, he might just have to back away, which sucks. It takes away his fun and the own satisfaction he gets from seeing that creep beat to a bloody pulp.

He's startled out of his thoughts by the halting of their car. His mum pulls Johnny closer to her, brushing the stray, wild strands of hair back down onto his head, before twisting his earring straight. She sighs, holding his face in her hands, and they look at each other, brown eyes meeting almost golden ones, inherited from both a mother and a father. Another sigh, though he can't decipher whether or not it's good.

"You look so handsome," She says quietly, petting Johnny's hair once more, "Where did the time go?"

"Somewhere," He responds quickly, politely moving his mother's hands from his head back to her lap, before messing his hair up once more, the single ring on his pointer finger, that he had received as a gift from Angie, scratching at his scalp.

There's a moment of silence before she speaks again.

"Remember what we talked about?"

"Of course," Johnny scoffs, looking at her like she just insulted him, "I'm not senile. I have a goal to reach and, personally, I dunno if you know," He smiles, "I never lack when it comes to getting what I want."

His mum rolls her eyes, one of her hands covering his.

"I'm trusting you to do this, Johnny. I know you're better than what you pretended to be at that bar. I know you can do this for me."

Those words irk something in his stomach; what does she mean 'I know better than what you pretended to be'? Does she not think that he's fit to defend himself or his friends? Clearly, she didn't see what damage he did because, if she had, than she wouldn't be doubting his fighting abilities.