atelophobia 🖤 lawrusso

- 05 -

Daniel was leaving. Johnny wasn't happy about it, to say the least. He was stuck in his house, and he knew that Daniel was supposed to be leaving in the morning, but there was no way Johnny was going to get to see them off. Miyagi didn't know Daniel was joining him yet, it was supposed to be a surprise. Johnny would have asked Daniel to stay at his place, but the teen had already insisted upon going and Johnny didn't want him around Sid anyways.

The blonde leaned back in his bed, staring dully at the ceiling. There were no telephones in Okinawa. He was really and truly going to be alone for an entire week. What's worse was that the next tournament was coming up in a few weeks, and if that didn't bring back memories that were unwanted then nothing did.

It was almost dinner time. Johnny's mother hadn't found out about his foot yet, but how he was going to keep it a secret was a mystery even to him. He had to get down the stairs, but he couldn't put weight on his foot. His mother would notice if he limped. He could just say he wasn't hungry, but she wouldn't take that as an answer forever, and she would notice he wasn't leaving his room.

There was a gentle knock on his door, and Johnny rolled over so he was facing the wall before quietly inviting the person inside. He didn't exactly want any company at the moment. Then someone yanked him around so he was facing the right way and he was staring into a pair of deep brown eyes. Daniel's eyes shone and he looked happy, which automatically lifted Johnny's spirits a little bit. He managed a small smile of his own, relaxing on his side.

"Hey, man. Didn't think I was gonna leave without sayin' goodbye, did you?" He ruffled Johnny's hair until the blonde smacked his hand away, smile growing a bit wider. Of all people, Daniel had come to say goodbye to him. It made his heartbeat quicken a little.

"I did, actually. Wasn't sure you'd know I wanted to see you, not after I've been sassing you for so long." Johnny grinned, and Daniel finally cracked a smile as well, leaning forward a little and returning his hand to Johnny's hair. This time the taller boy didn't push him away. He was gonna miss it, as much as it pained him to admit so. He would miss Daniel's bright smiles, the excitement that always dropped from his voice when Johnny did something right, and maybe he would miss the whining. But that was only because the whining was part of what made Daniel who he was.

"Hey.. I'm going to miss you, you little twit." Johnny lifted his hand and grasped Daniel's wrist gently, averting his eyes. He could feel the slight surprise radiating from his friend, but he didn't look up because he knew his cheeks were turning red and that could be interpreted differently than he wanted it to be interpreted.

"Johnny, look at me." Daniel tapped on the bottom of Johnny's chin, and the latter looked up, meeting his steady gaze. The warmth in Daniel's eyes was causing Johnny to melt and he felt like a puddle atop his mattress. It must have shown, because there was a twinkle of amusement in Daniel's expression and his smile was a tad smug.

"I'm gonna miss you, too," he admitted, before his sincerity was replaced with a sly grin. "Do I still scare you?" If Johnny's face had been on fire before, then it was lava now. He looked away again, only to have a warm hand forcing his face back in the other direction.

"More so now than you did a few months ago," Johnny admitted begrudgingly. "I care about you more now. Your friendship means more to me, in a way. When I was doing the kata in the dojo, all I could think about was the little corrections, because I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted to be able to think that if you were seeing it, you would have been proud." He shook his head, pushing Daniel's hand away so he could look down. So Daniel took the opportunity to push his face closer, leaning down so he was peering up at Johnny now.

"Johnny, you don't need to do a kata perfectly for me to be proud of you. Hell, I'm proud of you for doing a kata at all, let alone doing it right. I'm just proud of you for remembering it, and passing it on to other people." Daniel poked Johnny's cheek, smiling reassuringly. Johnny just huffed, turning away.