A/N – Short, completely random one shot. But it's something, right? Have a happy Johnny and Lulu day! Watch some clips or something. Make the magic live on. Oh, and comment because I sort of live for them like a crazy person.
The Subject of Small Town Gossip
She heard the shot. Then the unmistakable sound of a dead body falling to the ground.
She rounded the corner as fast as she could, rational thought abandoning her. Before her, she saw a young man, aged by life and the pain it had inflicted on him. He looked weary, out of breath. And he had a gun in his hand.
A gasp escaped her mouth as she realized the identity of his victim. The noise that escaped her made his eyes snap to hers.
"Lulu," he muttered instantly.
"You actually did it this time," Lulu said softly, unable to break their eye contact. "You killed Sonny."
"No," Johnny replied, shaking his head.
"He's been shot, the bullet killed him, and you're holding a gun," Lulu noted.
"Yes, I shot him," Johnny admitted. "And it looks like it killed him. But it was self defense."
"What?" Lulu questioned.
"He came at me, ranting," Johnny explained. "I didn't know what he was talking about, per usual, but the next thing I know, he has his gun in my face. I didn't know what else to do."
Lulu studied him, trying to decide if he was telling the truth. A siren broke the silence between them.
"You never saw me, okay?" Johnny requested, turning to leave.
"Wait," Lulu called out. "If it was self defense, you don't have to run."
"Lulu, no one is going to believe me," Johnny reasoned. "Not with my history with Sonny."
"I believe you," Lulu replied.
"Enough to say you saw the whole thing?" Johnny challenged.
"That would be lying," Lulu muttered.
"Right, which is why I'm giving you the better option of just forgetting you saw me," Johnny shrugged.
"That's still lying," Lulu maintained. "Johnny, this is my husband's father. Are you honestly going to ask me not to tell Dante who killed his dad?"
"I didn't think of it that way," Johnny sighed, thankful he avoided a visible cringe when the word husband escaped her lips. "Do whatever you have to do."
Johnny sprinted away and what felt like seconds later, Dante arrived.
"Sonny," he whispered, tears springing to his eyes.
The devastation was written all over his face and it seemed to take him a few minutes to register Lulu's presence.
"Who did this?" Dante demanded. "Lulu, did you see who killed my father?"
Johnny stared at the metal handcuffs that were on his wrists and chained to the metal table in the interrogation room. The entire town was talking about his arrest. And Sonny's murder. It was funny how Port Charles seemed like a highly sophisticated city until a piece of gossip made its way around and the reality of it being a small town became evident.
Johnny shook his head. Ronnie had said they had an eye witness when they arrested him. Johnny's mind couldn't process much of what came next. He had always trusted Lulu with his life. Now, when he needed her most, she had betrayed him.
"Johnny," she whispered, making his eyes meet hers.
"Why bother to come?" Johnny asked. "I don't require any apologies."
"Johnny, I didn't-" Lulu tried.
"Save it," Johnny groaned. "And like I said, don't bother with saying you're sorry. I'm the one who's sorry."
"For what?" Lulu wondered.
"For trusting you," Johnny answered. "For thinking for even one second you would choose me."
"I wasn't the eye witness," Lulu maintained.
"You expect me to believe you protected me by lying to your husband?" Johnny wondered. "You're the one who told me that wasn't going to happen."
"I believed you when you told me it was self defense," Lulu countered.
"I'm sure that's why I'm sitting here," Johnny said sarcastically. "You know, what really kills me is that I actually believed that you would help me. After everything we've been through, I thought I could count on you. I thought maybe the fact that we loved each other still carried weight for you like it does for me. But maybe you never really loved me at all."
"Are you really that stupid?" Lulu questioned. "Or maybe you've suffered brain damage?"
"All I know is, I've always laid it all on the line for you," Johnny replied. "I loved... I love you that much. What have you ever done for me?"
Lulu's eyes filled with rage, followed by determination. Johnny was actually scared as she marched closer to the table and leaned closer to him. Funny how guns and heights were no big deal to him, but a 120 pound blonde could make him tremble.
"You know what?" Lulu challenged. "I am sorry. I'm sorry that I saved your life and took care of you all those times you needed me to. I'm sorry that I ever bothered loving you because it clearly didn't effect you at all. But most of all, I'm sorry that you still love me because I hate you for this."
She left the room quickly, the door slamming noisily behind her. About twenty minutes went by and then Delores entered the room, holding handcuff keys.
"For your own protection, you'll have a police escort on your way home and as you leave the building," she informed him.
"Excuse me?" Johnny asked.
"Lulu came clean about the affair," Delores explained. "She gave you the alibi that you refused to give us for the night of Sonny's shooting. She says she knows you didn't kill him because she had just left you and if you had been the one to kill him, you would have been walking with her."
Johnny's mouth hung open in shock and he struggled to speak.
"I can see why you didn't want to tell us," Delores shrugged. "Especially after I saw Dante react. He would probably try to kill you right now if he saw you."
"She shouldn't have done that," Johnny said softly.
"She just saved you life in prison," Delores noted.
"She blew her life apart," Johnny sighed.
"Don't you think you should just be thankful someone loves you that much?" Delores wondered.
The divorce had been the hottest gossip for the last six months in Port Charles. Lulu had taken to grocery shopping in neighboring towns so she could avoid some of the withering stares.
Not that she didn't deserve them.
She had broken up her marriage by fabricating an affair with a mob kingpin who hadn't even bothered to write a thank-you note before skipping town. And while no one knew the whole truth and simply thought she was a cheating slut, she felt like she had no right to defend herself.
All it took was him saying he loved her and she was tripping over herself to help him like always. While that didn't make her a slut, it did make her stupid which was worse in her mind.
It didn't look like he thought it would. The drive to Canada, all of the islands, they just weren't right somehow.
Like he didn't know why.
He had gotten out of town quickly, giving everything over to anyone who would take it. He assumed Lulu's lie wouldn't last long. He didn't want it to. He never wanted to cause her pain, yet he always did. This time was the worst of them all.
When news reached him of her divorce, he thought of going home. Canada, at least the way he was experiencing it, wasn't what he was looking for. But he knew Lulu hated him, and the last thing he wanted to do was be around to constantly remind her of the mistake she had made.
Over five years had gone by, but not much had changed. Lulu was still alone, and rightfully so. Dante was long gone with Delores by his side, so some things were a little different. And Elizabeth getting pregnant three years ago with her fourth child from a fourth different father had finally gotten the heat off of her in the gossip department.
But for some reason, Lulu still felt like she was walking around with a scarlet A around her neck. Maybe it was because lately she had been wearing the lightning bolt necklace that Johnny had given her exactly nine years ago.
A knock on her door made her jump and Lulu realized she'd been staring at herself in the mirror for over an hour. And not seeing anything, but the girl she used to love to be. The girl with Johnny.
She hurried to answer the door when the knocking became more insistent. She opened the door to find Johnny standing on her front porch, surrounded by roses for as far as she could see.
"Lulu," Johnny muttered, taking a deep breath.
Before he could say anything else, she stepped forward and struck him hard across the cheek. She took a step in retreat and their eyes met as he winced at the stinging in his cheek.
"Johnny," Lulu greeted, as if she hadn't just slapped him.
"It's been a long time," Johnny whispered, going along with her sudden change in attitude.
"I have a feeling you didn't come here with all of those roses to make small talk," Lulu quipped.
"No, I didn't," Johnny admitted.
"How many roses are there, anyway?" Lulu questioned.
"One thousand, nine hundred and seventy-nine," Johnny replied. "One for every day since the last time I saw you."
Lulu's eyes filled with tears at the sentiment and Johnny slowly took her hands in his.
"I didn't know how to begin to make it all up to you," Johnny admitted. "The last things I said to you, the way I left after what you did for me. But every day, I wanted to. I wanted to tell you that I was a moron for ever questioning your love for me. And that I was a jerk for acting like I loved you more than you deserved. You deserve the world, which I can't give to you. But who can? And I realize that, now, Lulu. I realize that all of the things I thought of as being my shortcomings are everyone's shortcomings. No one in this world is good enough for you."
"Johnny, you're rambling," Lulu giggled.
"Yeah, and you're letting me," Johnny smiled. "I don't know how we did it, Lulu. I don't know we managed to fall in love against all odds back then, but we did. And we're still in love, ten years after the day we met. Against even bigger odds than before."
"What makes you think I love you?" Lulu wondered.
"Because you slapped me," Johnny replied. "You didn't slap me because you hate me. You slapped me because you loved me and I hurt you by not valuing that as much as I should have."
"You hurt me by telling me you loved me and then leaving me," Lulu whispered. "Again."
"I'm not going anywhere this time," Johnny promised. "Not unless you're with me."
Lulu leaned in to kiss him. It was passionate, yet gentle. Sweet, yet sensual. It was everything they were to each other.
"What the hell am I going to do with all those roses?" Lulu asked, pulling away.
"Plant a garden?" Johnny suggested.
"Ha!" Lulu muttered sarcastically. "They'd all be dead within a week."
"Can you try to at least make them last for a month?" Johnny requested. "They were expensive."
"Can you try to make us last that long?" Lulu quipped, pulling him inside.
"Ouch," Johnny replied, laughing at her joke.
The door slammed shut and Lulu's neighbors instantly started making calls again.
But this time, she didn't so much mind being the subject of small town gossip.