Work Crush (Johnathon Ohnn Fanfic)

-XV-

Though he was still a little distracted by the thoughts of Daria and her kiss, he slowly felt himself sink into the story of the book, losing all thoughts of the world around him, as he became completely absorbed into the imaginary world of the book, his eyes skimming across every page as his mind painted pictures of the words, slowly losing himself in his thoughts and letting himself get lost in the magic and adventures of the pages.

So lost, that he didn't notice her walking back in, having changed out of her sleepwear, now wearing some comfy clothes. She immediately noticed how invested John had gotten in the book, smiling fondly at the sight, she sat next to him, grabbing a newspaper from the coffee table.

The couch shifted slightly as she sat down, and though he barely registered her presence, he quickly gave a very quick nod to acknowledge it, his eyes glued to the words on the page, his brain too immersed in his reading to pay attention to anything other than the story.

He was so enraptured in the pages that he barely even noticed that his right knee had shifted closer to her almost instinctively, subconsciously, seeking out her presence and her warmth, without even realizing he was doing it.

The corner of his lips turned up in a tiny smile as he began to read the next page, quietly mumbling under his breath, as if trying to memorize the lines and the descriptions he was reading.

He felt warm and safe, with her presence there, sitting next to him. With her mere presence, she had a grounding effect on him, and his heart was beating calmly and steadily in his chest as he slowly, diligently read through the pages.

After a long, comfortable stretch of silence, he reached the end of one chapter, and stopped, his eyes lingering on the few final sentences, before closing the book with a quiet thump and exhaling a small, quiet sigh.

John slowly looked up, stretching out his legs and back a bit, before he looked to his side with a small, relaxed smile on his face. For some reason, just seeing her sitting there, doing something as mundane as scribbling down numbers on the sudoku page, made his stomach do a little flip at how domestic it all felt.

He gave another quiet, contented sigh as he sunk into the couch, feeling relaxed and warm, his mind blissfully empty aside from the afterimages of the book he had just read.

He sat there, quietly watching her from the side for a while, taking in every small movement she made, every little flick of her wrist, the way she held the pen between her fingers, every scribble and scratch, the way her eyebrows furrated in concentration, her lips pursed just slightly, the way the paper of the sudoku page rustled quietly, with every brush of the pen-

He suddenly cleared his throat slightly, quite loudly remembering that staring is creepy and also that he had spent the entire weekend with her. As a result she lifted her gaze from the page, turning to him.

“W-well, uhmm... I should probably get going. It's Monday tomorrow and I havent gotten anything done.. b-but I.. I really enjoyed spending time with you-”

“Yeah.. yeah alright,” Daria looked at him, leaving the newspaper aside, a dopey smile stretching on her face. “I had a lovely time too... Would you like me to drive you?”

A wave of guilt came over him all of a sudden. After spending the night at her place, and after she had helped him through not one, but two of his breakdowns, he now felt bad about having to make her drive him too. ”N-no, no, I’ll take a bus, don’t worry about it-”

Her smile faltered ever so slightly when he dismissed her offer, but then his appearance registered in her mind. “Well then, are you leaving with these clothes, or do you want yours?”