Summary: Three couples work on making their relationships more serious while also finding themselves. Johnny/Alli, Peter/Mia, Danny/Leia


"Finding Harmony"

Chapter 1: The First Step

"Are you ever going to tell your parents that you're not really going to Clare's house on the weekends?" Johnny asked, stirring the large cup of pitch black coffee sitting on the table in front of him.

"Why should I? It'd be easier to let them figure it out on their own," Alli replied, sipping her peach flavored smoothie. "If Sav's not going to give up on Anya, then why should I throw in the towel with you?"

"You are determined, I'll give you that," Johnny admitted with a smirk. "But I don't want you getting into any trouble."

"Trust me, I won't," Alli reassured her boyfriend of nearly three months with a confident smile and a toss of her glossy black hair. "They'll never suspect me over Sav and if they do, I'll work things out from there."

"Whatever you say, Backwoods," Johnny gave in, kicking her softly under the table.

After a pause in the conversation, something struck Alli. Nothing was strange about Johnny not ever mentioning his parents, but she still had some questions. Maybe they didn't exactly get along, but was that a reason to keep things from his girlfriend? "So, when am I going to hear about your annoying mom and dad?"

With a sigh, Johnny fiddled with his dirty fingernails. "I wish I had annoying parents to tell you about," he said flatly, staring down into his cup absently.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Alli wondered, bracing herself for a load of bad news.

"Well," Johnny began, lifting his hat from his head and placing it back on again. "Let's just say my parents aren't very responsible people." Folding his hands on top of the table, he let out a long sigh once more. "I haven't seen them since I was four."

Alli sensed that this was difficult for him to discuss, but he was going to have to get used to her. More used to her than he already was, at least. "So they're still alive then," she concluded. "That's something." She was hoping to give him some reassurance, but he didn't look very convinced. Reaching across the table to squeeze his hand, Alli wasn't surprised when he retreated back into his shell.

"You know what?" He piped up suddenly. "It's not such a big deal. And plus, I don't want you feeling down today."

"Aw, that's sweet." With a smile, Alli squeezed his knee under the table. He did care about making their first official date ever special. She noticed him flinch, but he didn't say anything.

Every time she asked questions about his past, Johnny always seemed to find a quick and easy way to change the subject or skirt around the truth. It was beginning to become more and more difficult trying to connect to him. Perhaps he wasn't trying to be difficult and he just... was anyway?

"What time do you have to be home?" He asked, licking his lips as if he were hungry.

"I'm in no hurry. Not until five." Running two fingers through her newly trimmed ends, Alli paused. "Why?" Raising her eyebrows, she felt the corners of her mouth tighten. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just...." he trailed off, shaking his head. "I have some things to do later today."

"What kinds of things?" Putting on her serious face, Alli bored holes into Johnny with her dark brown eyes.

"Grown up stuff," Johnny replied, refusing to let her in on all the details.

"I suppose that's nothing I should know about, right? Since I'm just a little kid and all." Glancing down, Alli noticed that her aqua nail polish was chipping. Why did Johnny not understand that she wanted to make this work? She'd already put so much effort into this relationship even though they'd broken up twice. Were her endeavors still going unnoticed? Did he always have to chip away at her heart when he knew that she was getting more and more attached to him?

"Look, I didn't mean it that way. It's not anything you'd understand, though." They'd been in the dimly lit, musty coffee shop for twenty minutes and he'd still barely touched his coffee. Something was definitely up.

"First I'm not meeting the age requirements and now I'm not going to be able to understand what's going on with you? Johnny, who do you think I am? Why can't you just tell me what's the matter? Is this not working for you, or what?" She fired out the questions with force, not holding anything back. These questions really needed answers.

"I told you in the beginning Backwoods," Johnny began. "This isn't going to be easy. I have so much respect for you – you wouldn't believe it. But most of all, I care about you. I don't want to hurt you by being an asshole... but sometimes it's going to be inevitable." He raised his glittering green eyes to look at her, waiting for another sassy retort. But it wasn't going to come.

Pondering over his words, Alli gave him a small smile. "Thanks. I'm glad you could be so honest with me. Even if I have to pry it out of you sometimes."

"I don't mean to be a turtle about things, but there are times when I have to be. To protect you."

"Johnny, the truth hurts and I know that. But you really need to sort things out because you're starting to act more like my dad than my boyfriend."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. But it's my job to make sure I don't do anything to make you sad or upset." Stirring his now cold beverage, Johnny cleared his throat loudly. Then he looked up into his girlfriend's eyes, hoping to find a bit of encouragement. There was none.

"I'm not going to be able to move forward with you if you can't open up, Johnathan," she declared, smirking as she slurped up the last of her smoothie.

"Calling me by my real name doesn't make me feel threatened, Alliana," Johnny shot back, kicking her gently under the table again.

"If you wanted to play footsies all you had to do was say so," Alli teased, kicking back this time – and not so gently.

"Two can play that game," Johnny retorted, and pretty soon their table was shaking and the cup of cold coffee had overturned.

"Oops," the pair said at the same time and then burst into a fit of laughter.

"I'll get some napkins," Johnny said, rising to his feet. An employee had already looked up and spotted the mess, though.

"We need a custodian on the floor!" The pimply faced teenager shouted towards the back of the eatery. Johnny returned with the napkins and he and Alli began cleaning up anyway.

"That was funny." Alli giggled, sopping up some of the brown liquid with a wad of napkins.

"Yeah, but there's plenty more where that came from," Johnny informed her, wiping off the top of the table. After all the coffee had been cleaned up, he took the other napkins from her and threw them into the large trash bin at the front of the shop along with their cups. He came back licking his fingers and Alli scrunched up her nose.

"Gross."

"Not really," Johnny said, grabbing her coat off the back of her chair and helping her into it. "Let's get outta here."

As they exited, they heard the aggravated adolescent swearing under his breath about carelessness and shitty customers, which caused them to laugh more. Right after they hit the sidewalk, Johnny began digging deep into his pockets. Alli had the feeling he was going to pull out a pack of Malboro since he hadn't been able to drink his coffee for whatever reason.

"Johnny, you promised me," Alli whined, praying that she was gnawing at his conscience.

"I didn't promise you anything about the smokes, Bandhari." Retrieving his favorite red and black lighter from his back jeans pocket, he flicked the switch and the end of the cigarette that was wedged between his lips sparked. "Ahh." He exhaled, after taking a long drag. "That hit the spot."

"What spot? Do you mean the very source of your breathing, your lungs? Your teeth, the back of your throat? Smoking is extremely harmful to your health, Johnny. I'm not going to watch you destroy your body like this."

"Then don't look," he joked, blowing a ring of smoke into the air above her head.

"That's not funny," Alli spat, making sure to refrain from breathing through her nose. Turning away, Alli put a hand to her forehead as they stopped at a crosswalk to wait for passing traffic.

"What if I told you I chewed tobacco instead of gum?" Johnny asked with a laugh, pushing his cigarette back between his lips.

"Then I would crush your balls," Alli threatened, shoving him away from her, causing him to stagger backwards.

"That doesn't sound fun," he announced, as if it weren't already obvious.

"Seriously, though. I'm going to make sure you stop by the end of this school year."

"Wow, she's one confident lady." Johnny grabbed her hand as they crossed the street.

"It's going to happen. I'm going to make sure of that." Alli looked up at him expectantly, waiting for him to agree with her.

"Backwoods, it's not going to happen automatically. I mean, just because you got me to be nice to Connor once doesn't mean I'm all of a sudden the guy of your dreams."

"Johnny, I started making you use breath mints before we kissed. I'm not going to be kissing you at all if your breath smells like a fireplace," Alli said sternly. He dropped her hand immediately and stopped walking.

"Alli, I even started brushing my teeth more. What else do you want me to change about myself?" Johnny shouted, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation. Sucking the last puff out of his cigarette, Johnny's nostrils flared as he dropped the cigarette onto the concrete and ground it out with his shoe.

Stopping a few feet away from her newly reforming significant other, Alli waited patiently for him to keep walking. He didn't need to act this way about the situation. Things like this weren't a big deal unless they were viewed as obstacles. Approaching him with caution, Alli reached for his hand. He wasn't meeting her gaze. Maybe he was just frustrated. People passed them in clusters. A couple gave them a stare, and Alli tried to ignore it, but something wouldn't stop hammering away at the back of her head.

"We can work on our flaws at our own paces, okay? I don't want you to feel pressured." She wished she could snake her arms up and around his neck, but she wasn't wearing heels today.

"Alli, I'm sorry. That was terribly immature of me." He took a step towards her and they began walking again. "It's just... I don't want you to regret anything that's happened between us."

"You're the first boyfriend I've ever had. I don't really know that there are any problems in our relationship. It's perfect, Johnny. It really is." Grinning to solidify her bold statement, Alli squeezed his upper arm as he picked up his pace.

"Hopefully it stays that way," Johnny said doubtfully.

"It will." As they walked on, Alli's feet began to grow more and more tired. "We've been walking for an awfully long time. Why did you park so far away from the coffee shop again?"

"I told you, Alli. People in this neighborhood know me. If they saw us together, they'd have more reason to believe that I'm some sort of horny pervert. I don't want them to think that you're too young for me. If they got a closer look, there would definitely be questions."

"Johnny, we're going to have to face these kinds of things sooner or later. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I do." He fumbled around in his jacket pocket and came up with his car keys. His small jet black Honda was finally in sight. "Just remember you can walk away at any time, Backwoods. You don't have to put yourself through anything for me."

As they neared the car, Alli held on to his arm even tighter than before. "I'll walk away when I'm ready," she began, her heart pounding harder in her chest. "I hope that's never."

He leaned down right then and there, in the middle of the sidewalk, and kissed her - seemingly not caring who saw. She wanted to squeal like when she'd lost her kissing virginity to him. He was so exciting and interesting and he wasn't really a man whore and she seemed to be the first girl he'd committed himself to and he was everything she could ever want in a guy and....

"Alli?" Johnny waved his hand in front of her face. "You there?"

"Yeah, I'm here." He opened the passenger's side door for her and she climbed in. If only he knew.


Johnny/Alli is my new love. Please review and tell me your thoughts!