Disclaimer : Suppose I should mention that the characters in the story below are not mine ... I'm only playing with them as I see fit ... Like little puppets that dance whenever I pull their strings ... muhahahaha! ;) Enjoy!

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His hand betrayed him. All his talk about how leaving is her choice, giving the impression that he doesn't care one way or the other … That carefully constructed stone face he wears as armor ... All betrayed by his hand as it reached out – on its own accord – connecting with her arm and gently stopping Lulu as she went to turn away.

They both looked at one another, the unmistakable look of hope that shone in Lulu's eyes weakening Johnny's resolve further - the betrayal spreading to the rest his body as he instinctively moved closer, closing the space between them.

He knew that he should just let her go, let her walk out of this crypt of a house and the disaster that is his life ... but he just couldn't. How could he stand there and let the only thing that ever made him care about … well ... about anything just walk out the door?

"Johnny?" she whispered uncertainly.

He rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. "It's like I'm split in half living two lives, Lulu. One full of death and violence - The other with hope and lo…" Johnny trailed off staring at Lulu meaningfully, "... I don't know how to make the two fit together and I don't want to give either up."

"What good is the life full of death and violence?" Lulu questioned running her hands up his arms to rest on his broad shoulders.

"There's no good there ... but I don't have a choice ... you don't understand my family ..." Johnny went to pull away from Lulu, but she held tight to him.

"STOP SAYING THAT!" Lulu barked out, then softer, "Just because I am not in the mob doesn't mean I don't understand family and the obligations that come along with it! One of my brothers is an honest to goodness Prince! He has no choice, he never did. You ..." Lulu held Johnny's face in her hands, determined to get him to listen to her. "You have a choice Johnny. If you don't want to run the family business - you don't have to. You could have handed it all over to Trevor or taken Sonny's offer to get you out ... Even now that your sister is back ... She looks more than capable of taking the reins."

"Lulu ..." Johnny started, but was quickly cut off.

"If you say one thing to me about family honor I will scream!" she threatened throwing her hands up in frustration. They immediately found their way back to Johnny's shoulders, as if to keep him from suddenly disappearing.

"What honor did your father ever have? Trapping you here in this dark prison, trying to kill you when you were only a little boy, taking your mother away from you ... What do you owe that man? Why do you think you owe him anything?" Lulu's eyes were wild with anger at having to point out all these facts to Johnny. No matter which way she looked at it, she would just never understand why Johnny wanted anything to do with the world his father and Sonny lived in.

Johnny couldn't answer. He wasn't sure if it was because Lulu had a valid point or if it was because he couldn't think straight when she was looking at him like that – stubborn and righteous and breathtakingly beautiful. The way this girl fought with him … fought for him … It was as if he actually mattered to her ... like she loved him.

His body betrayed him further as he pulled Lulu closer and kissed her, almost urgently. Lulu responded eagerly wrapping her arms around his neck, her lips parting and allowing him access to deepen their kiss.

A soft moan escaped Lulu and somewhere in the back of Johnny's mind, an alarm sounded and the word DANGER flashed in red.

If he wasn't so under the spell of the feisty blonde currently nibbling his bottom lip, he would have laughed at the situation. After all, he grew up with a psychopath for a father, he loved the thrill of standing right on the ledge of the tallest building – looking down below and daring the universe to push him off, he drove at break neck speeds down dark strange roads … No Fear was like an unspoken motto. All this and it was kissing Lulu Spencer that sounded the warning bells?

It made sense, if he thought about it. You always fear the unknown. Johnny knew all there was to know about hate and death … he knew nothing about love and actually living. The idea of being with Lulu, having a real life that had nothing to do with family obligations and brewing mob wars, was definitely the unknown for Johnny Zacchara.

Johnny couldn't bring himself to care about the danger, all he cared about right now was the feeling of Lulu's hands as they pushed the dark sweater he wore up his torso. Lips parted long enough to pull the sweater over his head and then met again franticly. Lulu's finger lightly trailed down his bare arms and he felt the goose bumps rise.

God the things this girl made him feel ... from creeping terror to unquenchable lust. Lulu herself was a non stop roller coaster of excitement ... the highs and lows ... well, there was never really any lows. Even when she was spitting mad at him he had to work to keep the smile off his face. He loved 'Mad Lulu' ... not as much as he loved 'Sexy Lulu', 'Cute Lulu' or 'SmartAss Lulu"... But in a way, 'Mad Lulu' had the same effect as all the others; No matter what this girl did, it only made him want her more.

a/n : It's short and I'm not sure where I'm going with it ... maybe the next one will be Lulu's POV ... this is a work in progress and my first GH fic ... your patience is appreciated ... as is your feedback ... ;) ;) Thanks!!

TBC