"I know you're here."

The sound of his low and mischievous voice tickled my ears. I stayed put in my hiding place, trying not to make any noise and, if actually needed, be ready for defense. If anything, I do have something to protect myself.

He made careful steps, making my stomach almost blow up with anxious butterflies. From time to time I even heard the slight creaking of the floor under his feet. I don't think I've ever had such amount of adrenaline in my veins.

My heartbeat fastened as I heard his footsteps get closer and closer..

Suddenly, the steps stopped. I'm lost.

The next thing I felt were two, strong hands grabbing my ankles and pulling me from under the bed. I yelped and tried grabbing the sheets, but as soon as his fingers mercilessly attacked my sides, all my limbs became unable to move in any coherent way. The fact that I started laughing didn't help either.

"Gotcha!" he bragged terribly. He has trapped me under his body and escape wasn't possible in any sort of scenario. He, however, seemed to have the best time of his life, chuckling sweetly for the whole time.

I wriggled like a worm and felt tears already start to from in my eyes out of laughter. My hands went up to his biceps to push his tattooed arms away from my belly, but I couldn't move them 'cause guess what? They were hard as steel.

And also strong and pretty and muscular, oh my- I mean, whaat? Who said that?

"I s-swear to- to satan, Johnny, if y-you don't stop-" I managed to warn him, but he couldn't care less.

I somehow still kept the handful of flour in my right hand. I don't think I have much choice. I gotta use it. I bet he doesn't even expect such turn of events.

I used all my strength to aim it right into his very handsome, but obviously annoying face.

"You little-" He abruptly stopped and sat up on his heels, muttering some curses and trying to get the powder out of his eyes.

"You get whatcha deserve, mr. Depp." I giggled. Who's laughing now?

I found this as a great opportunity to finally set myself free. Johnny had absolutely no idea what's happening, so he didn't try to stop me.

I quickly untangled from him and stood up, wasting no time and running out of the room.

"Get back here!" he yelled after me.

"Make me!" I yelled back with a wide grin plastered on my face. This food fight has really turned into one big war.

I decided to go back to the kitchen to get my weapon refilled. The flour was supposed to be used on making chocolate cookies, and I don't even know when we actually started throwing it at each other. The worst part is that it will take the whole eternity to clean it all up.

I let my hand dive into the packaging. I was almost sure there's no one on my tail, until I suddenly felt Johnny's hands on my hips, turning me around. The next thing I know is that I've been thrown over someone's shoulder. Great. I faced Johnny's back, but I could tell we were going to the living room.

"Oh, now this. Put me down!" I ordered, wriggling my legs, but he held the back of my thighs in an iron grip, so it was for nothing.

"In a moment, my dear."

At first he tries to tickle me to death, and then lays me as gently as possible on the carpet, like I was made out of glass. What a man.

"Do you surrender?" He asked with a playful smile and raised brows, hovering over me. He still breathed faster than normal, probably from all the chasing. Most of his face and hair was still covered in flour. He almost looked like if Santa Claus had caused a sleight accident and landed right into a snow mountain, plus after some real hard crack.

His rings made a funny sound while touching one another when he placed both of his hands on the soft material of the carpet, on either side of my belly. I knew that if I say that I do not surrender, he won't just let it go.

"What if I don't?" I questioned anyway, looking up at him. His hair was all over the place and necklaces hung down from his neck.

"Well, then-" He replied, bringing both his hands to my sides.

"Alright, alright!" I quickly said, making him stop. He looked at me questioningly. "Give me a second to think."

"I have a question." A mischievous plan entered my thoughts. But for now I gotta play cool.

"Go ahead." he answered, running a hand through his black hair, making the tiny white particles fly around.

"Why tickling?" he frowned. "I mean that you like to tickle me and all."

I needed to get him the most distracted I could, so my plan would work.

"One, I think I love your laugh," he said, smiling beautifully and continuing to think, like nothing happened. Oh damn, my cheesy detector is going crazy!

"Johnny!" I playfully punched his chest, not really knowing what else to do since the butterflies entered my guts without warning, and also I think my inner goddess just fainted.

"What? It's true!" he replied, chuckling afterwards. "Uh, two, yeah, I do it because I really like this sound."

"Wait," I interrupted. "You know that theoretically it's not my real laugh, because it's just a panic response, right?"

"But it sounds pretty similar to the real one, wouldn't you say?" he countered.

"Well, I don't know, I'm the one fighting for my breath, not the other enjoying it." I said like it was obvious and he laughed.

"I still think it's a wonderful sound-"

"Johnny, it sounds like a suffocating seal!"

"So what- Are we really gonna discuss that?" he asked and I nodded energetically.

I think it is the perfect moment. He's too busy imagining the sound of a suffocating seal to notice my knees bending, going up dangerously close to his hips.

"I think we need to hear the sound again, so we could judge." I saw the gleam in his eyes that told me about what exactly he wanted to do.

Wasting no time, I clenched my legs so his hips were in between, and took a sharp breath before turning us both around.

"Woah!" he breathed out, looking up at me. He cracked a smile but I had other plans.

First of all, I have to inform you that Johnny doesn't really have (or is just that good at pretending) tickles on his stomach. Instead, and I learned this straight from him, already after few drinks, that he can't help when someone tickles him under his arms. I never really got to see if he was telling the truth, so I decided to do it now.

"Oh no," he muttered, seeing how my eyes formed a narrow line.

Each of my leg was glued to side, so I was stable and Johnny couldn't really move me from my place. I watched him wriggle the same as I did, and boy if I tell ya about the satisfaction I felt. Also, watching as he fell apart was hilarious.

"Alright, alright, El, stop, I give up,"

"I believe that I haven't heard the magic word yet." Oh, I'm cruel.

"Please, I beg- beg you."

Oh boy, how bad it had to be if even begs escaped his mouth?

I decided to let him go, however I hope this act of mercy shall not be forgotten by the next time he'll feel like tickling me. He regained his breath, panting slightly and partly so did I. Damn, tickling business is exhausting.

I stood up, putting my hand out for him to take. He removed some messy hair from his forehead and took it, moments after shaking off the flour from his clothes.

We decided to firstly clean ourselves up and then the horrible white mess we've made. Some places even looked like Tony Montana's desk in the end of the movie.

--

After something like 2 hours we were finally done, plus we've already put the cookies in the oven. Fortunately, the whole process of making went peacefully, with no flour flying around. The only problem was the lack of one whole chocolate that was supposed to land on cookies. It somehow happened that we ate it together while talking, and we only noticed it when the crime has already taken place. The final result is: half chocolate cookies and the other half just cookies.

Johnny was telling me about all the stuff he was doing in England, we talked about the song and making more music. Oh, I think I forgot to say what he's even doing at my place. Well, we thought it'd be great to meet sometime and just catch up. My proposition was to do a movie night at my house, and Johnny said he'd be more than happy. It was so great to have him around, due to which I was smiling almost all the time.

By the way, Heroes is- I don't even have words to describe it. All the guitars playing have me wrapped around their finger, not even mentioning the fact that I play one of them. I could listen to it for hours, and Johnny singing made this thing even better. He put so much into it, almost like his whole heart. I always admired the way he did stuff with so much passion, yet always understanding the assignment.

I also learned one important lesson about all of this. As you know, I was always anxious about if it's good enough, am I good enough, bla bla. But recording this song, and learning the guitar in general, made me realize: everything's good enough if it's what you wanna do, and if it comes straight from your heart. Just if it's simply you. The most important thing is that you're trying, and you can't let comparing yourself to other people destroy it.

Yes- thank you for the applause at this award-worthy speech.

I'm pretty sure Johnny has helped me a lot in realizing all of it, and that's why I'm forever grateful. Right, going back to him.

I put the bowl with popcorn on the table in my living room, soon after joining Johnny on the couch. He's been currently picking the movie for us to watch. I plumped down on, what I like to call, my second bed. I'm not kidding, this sofa is enormous and extremely comfy. Two people, at least, could sleep here without even touching. Now imagine napping here.

"What about a scary movie?" I suggested as I watched him go through Netlifx.

"You'd like a scary movie?" he asked, turning his head to me.

"Yeah, why not? I think they're even my favorite." Also, I want to see how Johnny behaves when he's scared and if he actually will be. Something told me he plays tough on the outside, but it all comes out eventually.

"Alright," he answered, picking the 'horror' category.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just thought you're more the I'm chickening out when the 'based on true events' part comes onto the screen type of person."

I shot him a glance and even my lips parted, "How dare you? Bet you'll be the first one to not look at the scary parts?"

He snapped his head at me, visibly interested. "What's the prize we're talking about?"

"20 dollars. Are you in?"

"Of course I am." And we shook hands to confirm our deal.

"The Conjuring? I heard it's creepy as hell." He asked after a while of looking for the movie.

Come closer, I gotta tell you some secret. I've watched it already 2 times at least, but I couldn't tell Johnny. Oh, I know it's cheating in some form but you know, he was the one to start with the chickening out. We'll see about that.

"Yeah, it'll do." I answered.

It was still raining outside, but in my opinion it's just the best weather to ever vibe. We had little candles all around, giving a warm light and you could get comfy just from looking at it. We decided to leave only them as the light, so we could at least see what we're eating.

"I think I've seen someone in the dark," I stated, with only my eyes sticking outside the blanket. No surprise, Johnny sat in the exact same position.

"Oh my god-" he breathed, squeezing my hand tighter.

Remember our little bet? Well, at the beginning it was all great, I was even winning, I'd say. But then the movie got more and more scary and we just couldn't help but bring our knees up to our chests and hide under the duvets. We were as close as possible, we even held hands tightly, so in case if any demon would like to eat us, he'd have to take us both.

It's safe to say we were scared as fuck, and not even because the movie was scary, but because we've been saying things - like I did before - all the time. I thought we're both adults and we're not scared of such stuff!

"There's no way I'm going upstairs alone." I said, thinking I'd have to go to sleep at some point.

"I have an idea," Johnny started after a moment of silence. "How about we make a temporary safe-place here until we'll be fully unscared?"

I found this as a great idea indeed, so we proceeded to create a comfy habitat for us two to sit in for some time. We used numerous pillows and some blankets, forming some sort of base.

Johnny fell backwards on pillows, closing his eyes afterwards. It was dim in the room, yet I could see the contours of his face in weak yellow light. He patted the place next to him as a sign for me to lay down too. I put my head on the soft pillows and sighed deeply.

"What now?" he asked quietly. I knew he meant how we're gonna spend the next hour or so, just laying here.

I still held his left hand in my right, caressing the top of it carefully with my thumb. His hands were so soft and almost like made to fit into mine. Alright, sorry, that was completely basic but that's exactly how it feels. It kinda made me also feel all warm inside, but I shook it off. I traced his knuckles and fingers with my fingertips while thinking about the answer for his question.

"Do you remember the other night, before recordings? We played 20 questions." I asked.

He replied with a quiet Yeah.

"We still have 10 questions left." I replied and he chuckled.

"I accept the challenge." he answered, placing the other hand under his head. "Shall I start?"

I nodded.

"Hm," I held in the urge to giggle. I don't know why, but it's always so cool to talk to him, even exciting. "If you had to choose between going around naked or having your thoughts appear in thought bubbles, you know, above your head for everyone to read, which would you choose?"

I turned my head to look at him, even though I could barely see his face. "That's the thing you thought about right now?"

"Yeah, weird stuff happen up here," and he pointed to his temple.

"I'd choose.. damn, that's hard," I said and he hummed in agreement. "Thought bubbles. I prefer that than having no clothes on."

I looked at the clock next to the TV, that showed

I felt like asking something different. "What don't you like about me?"

He made himself more comfortable on the couch before answering, or, to be exact, asking. "What do you mean?"

"Physical appearance or just my nature, whatever."

"Maybe that sometimes you're too hard on yourself." he replied with somewhat pity in his voice.

"Really?"

"Yes, but you don't have to," he put his other hand on top of mine. "You can take it easy, you know? This thing is very harmful, believe me."

"Yeah, I think I know. I'll try not to." I replied, offering him a warm smile.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"What was your first impression of me? Just the first thought straight?" he decided to ask and damn, this really got me thinking.

"Lemme see, uh," all my thoughts went back to this one evening at the club. "The first first was when I saw you on stage, and it might've probably gone like this: he's got some cool tattoos and clothes, not gonna lie and about looks I had no doubts, when I saw most of female audience eyeing you up and giggling afterwards. I actually see it quite a lot, to be honest." I mean, it's not like I blame them,he has got some looks.

"What about the time when we talked for the first time?" he questioned again in a soft voice.

"That was different, I thought: I've known this man for a minute and he's already given me butterflies and that was when you kissed my hand." I replied.

This statement made me feel warm inside, kinda like when you say something you were scared to say. But that doesn't add up since I'm just spitting facts, so yet again I have no idea where my feelings come from.

I turned my head to him to see a wide grin plastered on his face. "What about you? What was your first impression of me?" I asked and our eyes met for a moment, before he took his right hand and started caressing his lips with his pointing finger in thought.

"When I first saw you I literally thought she's got a 90's Prada runaway outfit, it's gorgeous." he said with a beautiful smile and I laughed. That explains why he gave it a look, but I also can't get over the fact it wasn't a dirty one. In my opinion it's a one, big green flag when you meet someone new.

"But when you laughed at me by saying your name is Aphrodite, I couldn't help but feel this weird belief that we're gonna get along." Oh, and he was right.

I didn't know if to tell him, but I felt the exact same thing back then. He just seemed like this cool, not taking everything seriously guy that you can casually talk to.

"Your turn." I said to him.

"What's your worst habit? I know that cigarettes play their part, but something else." he asked.

I puffed my lips, thinking. "I think sleep. I could literally sleep my life away, and napping is my second favorite thing."

He chuckled, "Yeah, pretty relatable."

"I mean, it's the best - you don't have to deal with anything throughout this time you're sleeping. Plus, you feel better."

"Exactly," he answered in a way like someone has just understood him for the first time. "I'm trying to explain it to people when I'm late somewhere, but they don't get it."

I giggled, nodding. "Are you scared of the dark?"

"Me? Scared?" he chuckled bluntly. "Never."

"So," I started, a grin forming on my lips. "You're not afraid of this 7ft tall man standing in the kitchen doorway in the dark?" we had a perfect view at it, so Johnny could easily imagine.

He immediately squeezed my hand tighter and moved somewhat closer.

"You're crushing my hand!" I said through chuckles. He just gave me a death glare but loosened his grip anyway.

The next few minutes I spent on convincing him I was just joking, and even had to sit up and look around. "See?"

He eventually got his coolness back and we went back to talking. We changed the way we laid, now we didn't hold hands anymore. Instead, Johnny stretched his arm across the couch, kinda having it around my shoulders, and I put a pillow on his upper arm, laying down.

"What is something that no one else knows about you?" he finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I originally never wanted to be an artist, doing paintings and stuff." I started. "Only Maxine knows, that the first thing I ever fell in love with was writing. I wanted so bad to be a writer, but it didn't work out."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure," I replied. "As I was growing up I've written a few pieces, but turning it into professional stuff was something.. I realized I'd have to go all in, you know?"

He nodded.

"And I also wanted to live on my own as soon as I could, so I had to choose other path. And here I am, not really knowing what to do next."

"El, your whole life is ahead of you. Maybe you could go back to writing at some point?" he asked softly.

"You're right, I could. But I don't know if I still have my sparkle." I chuckled.