Hallelujah

It was a normal day for the cast at the Moon Theater. They were practicing their new routines for the next show. Johnny was running a bit late. He was just getting there when he was pulled into a tight embrace. He was worried until he saw it was his father. He grinned then ran to his father, and hugged him tightly, "Dad! I can't believe it. How did you..."

"Got out early for good behavior. Wanted to surprise ya," his father said, smiling widely.

"This is definitely a surprise," Johnny said, grinning.

"Wanted to meed all of the crew that stuck by ya while I was gone. Especially your girlfriend," he said, walking inside.

Johnny followed behind his father, trying to keep up, "My girlfriend?"

"Yeah...the girl you always talked about when you visited me."

"Ash?"

"Yeah her...I wanna meet the girl that stole my son's heart."

"Wait...Dad! It's not-"

"You're singing a duet with her, yeah?"

"Well yeah but-" Johnny tried.

"Is that her?" his father asked, pointing toward Ash, who was tuning her acoustic guitar before she put her headphones on. Johnny and his father walked in just as she started playing, the door wide open. She then started singing.

Well I heard there was a secret chord,
That David played and it pleased the Lord.
But you don't really care for music,
Do ya?

Well it goes like this: the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing,
Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Johnny stared at her in awe as she reeled her powerful voice in for the soft and soulful melody. His heard raced as he listened to her beautiful voice.

Well your faith was strong but you needed proof,
You saw her bathing on the roof,
Her beauty in the moonlight
Overthrew ya

And she tied you to her kitchen chair,
She broke your throne and she cut your hair,
And from your lips she drew the
Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well, baby, I've been here before,
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor,
You know, I used to live alone before
I knew ya

And I've seen your flag on the marble arch,
And love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken
Hallelujah!

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

She strummed the strings, drawing out the instrumental with the slow melody, reeling her growing audience in.

Well there was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show that to me
Do ya

And remember when I moved in you,
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was
Hallelujah!

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Johnny's dad held his son by the shoulders, seeing the look he was giving the girl. He was so proud that his son found someone that he could love. He knew it was love because he used to look at Johnny's mother the very same way. He watched as a few of the others gathered around to listen.

Well maybe there is a God above
But all I've ever learned from love,
Was how to shoot somebody
Who outdrew ya.

And it's not a cry that you hear at night,
And it's not somebody who's seen the light.
It's a cold and it's a broken
Hallelujah!

Hallelujah, oh Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah!

Ash sang, drawing out the note as long as she could while strummiing the final chords of the song. She finished and took off her headphones, only to jump in shock hearing a lot of applause. She put a hand on her chest, over her heart and calmed down, "Geez guys...don't scare me like that."

"Ash...sorry I'm late...my dad surprised me outside," Johnny said.

"It's okay Johnny," she said then turned to his father, holding out a hand and smiling, "it's nice to finally meet you."

Johnny's father pulled her by the hand into a bear hug, "And it's good to finally meet Johnny's girlfriend. He talks about you all the time."

Everyone's eyes went wide at the word girlfriend and they all turned to Johnny, question in their eyes. The young gorilla looked at Ash pleadingly. As soon as his father let go, she pulled away and smiled, "Excuse me...Johnny and I need to talk for a second." She pulled Johnny to the other side of the rehearsal room and whispered, "You told him we were dating?"

"No. He assumed that on his own. He wouldn't listen to me when I tried to tell him the truth," he whispered back.

Ash sighed, "Well...what are we gonna do?"

"I hate to ask this of you...but do you care to play along until I can get the chance to tell him?"

She looked into his big brown eyes and sighed before smiling reassuredly, "Alright...but you owe me big time."

Johnny smiled widely and nodded, "Thank you so much Ash."

Ash turned back around to look at his father, "Sorry about that, Johnny and I talked it over ad we want you to join us for dinner tonight."

"Ya sure? I don't want to intrude if you two have plans."

"It's no problem at all. Johnny and I have been living together for a while...I hope that's alright with you?"

"Johnny's old enough to make those decisions. Besides, I don't want to get in the way of anything between you two," he said, winking at them, causing them to blush.

Ash coughed then looked at him, "I can assure you there won't be any of that going on."

"I better let ou two get to practicing. I'll call Johnny later about what time I need to come over and what the address is," he said. He hugged them then left.

The other cast members looked at the two and practically yelled, shocked, "You two are dating?!"

"No," the two answered at the same time.

"But you just told his father-" Rosita started before Ash interrupted.

"I know...but it's because he wouldn't listen when Johnny tried to explain. We will tell him once we know he will listen to us," Ash explained.

"That means you two will have to act like a couple all the time," Meena said.

"Why?" Johnny asked.

"Because you never know when or where he will show up," she said.

The two groaned and the others left to get back to rehearsing, leaving Ash and Johnny alone. Johnny looked at Ash, "How are we going to do this?"

"Well...technically the only truth to all of that was that you live with me at the moment, even if it is in another room. I don't want to know what could happen if he spent the night with us," she said.

"Okay...then as far as the couple things...what would you be okay with doing?"

Ash thought about it, "I guess holding hands in public would be okay. If he's at the apartment, I guess we would sit in close proximity."

"What if he asks us to...you know...kiss?" he asked nervously.

A blush tinted her cheeks, "Um...w-well...I um...I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Okay...then hopefully we can fake this long enough to tell him the truth."

Ash grinned at him and raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms teasingly, "So you talk about me all the time huh?"

Johnny blushed and stuttered, "W-well I suppose I t-talk about you m-more that I th-thought."

She giggled at Johnny's shyness and smiled at him. "I'll take that as a compliment if I'm the one you always talk about to your dad," she said, winking at him.

Johnny's blush deepened, "C-can we j-just start rehearsing already?"

Ash laughed and eventually agreed, starting playing her electric guitar. They rehearsed for about two hours, mostly because they kept talking about things they could do to make the song their own like drawing out notes and adding instrumental solos. They eventually changed songs altogether. "So...what song would you want to do?" she asked.

"I was thinking...Just Give Me A Reason. Think about it...not only would it show the softer tones of your voice and mine, it would give us both the chance to show how well our voices sound together," he said.

The more she thought about it, the more she liked it, "You've got a point. You'd be playing the piano too wouldn't you?"

"Yeah...if you want, we could add an instrumental solo for you."

"Actually...I think it would work better if you were the only one playing an instrument. It adds more of a sense of intimacy with a piano than it does with a guitar," she said.

"So...you like the idea?" he asked.

"I do. What do you say we get back to my place and start practicing on that tomorrow morning?" she ashed, packing up her guitar.

"Okay. Let's go. Let me carry that for you," Johnny offered.

"You sure? It's not that heavy."

"Yeah. Really, I insist," he said, smiling.

"O-okay Johnny," she stuttered, blushing slightly, and handed the guitar case to him. She couldn't help it, she had it bad for her friend. Everytime he smiled at her, her heart raced and made it hard for her to breathe. He was so charming and was just so perfect. She couldn't help but wish the relationship wasn't fake.

The two said their farewell to everyone and walked outside, heading to Johnny's truck. After a few steps, they stopped seeing Lance standing close to the truck, looking around for Ash. "Ash...he's back," Johnny said.

"I warned him to leave me alone and got a restraining order against him. He's violating the terms I set. I'm calling the police," she said, taking her phone out and dialling the number. "Hello...my ex is violating his restraining order that I have against him. My name is Ashlynn Quill. Yes sir...thank you sir. My boyfriend and I are by the Moon Theater...he is standing by my boyfriend's truck. Thank you. Bye," she said, hung up, then turned to Johnny, seeing the curious look on his face, "what?"

"Your name's Ashlynn?"

Ash blushed then stuttered, "S-shut up."

"No no...I like it," he said, smiling.

Ash looked at him, "Y-you do?"

"Yeah. I think it suits you. Why do you go by Ash if you have such a beautiful name?" he asked.

Ash sighed and looked down, "Because Lance had told me that with a name like Ashlynn, no one would take me serious as a rock singer...so I changed it to Ash...for him. I was a fool for thinking he cared.

"He's the fool," Johnny said. When she looked up at him, he smiled, "For one, your talent is in your singing, not your name. Two, anyone would want to hear your voice over his horrible one. And three, well, he let go of you just to get with someone that doesn't even possess the talent or beauty that you do. You have more talent in your pinky than she does in her whole body. You're just...amazing."

Ash blushed during his rant and smiled shyly, "T-thank you Johnny. That was very sweet for you to say."

"It's the truth."

They walked to his truck and did their best to ignore Lance. Ash finally got tired of it and turned to him, "Lance, get away from me and leave me alone. You're not only violating the terms of the restraining order, but also cutting into the time I'm trying to spend with Johnny."

"You really expect me to still believe the restraining order story? You need to get a different defense. And why does spending time with him matter, just ditch him and come with me already," he said, reaching for her arm.

"No, I won't come with you. I want to be with Johnny because he's my boyfriend," she said, staying out of his reach.

As he tried reaching once more, a police officer cuffed him and lead him towards the police car, "What are you doing? Let go of me!"

"You're in violation of the restraining order against you. You were not to be anywhere near Ms. Quills. You will be coming downtown with us," the cop said, getting him in the back of the car and driving off.

Ash and Johnny got in the truck a little bit later and drove off toward the apartment. "Okay...what should we eat tonight?" she asked.

"We could get take out," he offered.

"That's a good idea. We'll get it delivered to us, that way you can spend more time with your dad," Ash said.

"Ash...thank you again. You have no idea how much this means to me. I swear I'll pay you back."

Ash shook her head and smiled, "That's not necessary Johnny. We're friends...you don't owe me anything."

He put the truck in park in front of the apartment and turned to her, "Yeah but..."

"But nothing...besides it's really no problem," she said.

Just as Ash unbuckled her seatbelt, Johnny leaned over and kissed her left cheek, surprising her. He pulled back and smiled sweetly, seeing the shocked look on her face and the blush that tinted her cheeks, "Still, thank you Ash." He got out of the truck and made his way to get her guitar case.

Ash sat there for a bit, thinking of what just happened. She touched her fingers to her cheek and couldn't stop the smil that crossed her features. She bit her lip slightly before she also got out of the truck. She unlocked the door and they walked in. They spent the next hour or two cleaning up before Johnny called his dad, giving him the information and asking what he wanted to eat.

Johnny finished talking to his dad then got off the phone just as Ash finished ordering the food. He sat down beside her on the couch, "My dad's on his way."

"And the food's ordered. We have a little bit until they both get here," she said. Ash looked at Johnny before thinking of something, opening her eyes wide, "Johnny...we forgot one detail."

"What's that?"

"With how late it is, it will be really late by the time we get done eating...and your father will have to stay the night..."

"Meaning we'll have to move my things to...ad I'll have to sleep..." he trailed off.

"With me," she said, finishing his statement.

-TBC-