Johnny shifted uncomfortably in his metal chair, pointedly avoiding his father's disapproving gaze. He fingered the edge of the fresh bandage on his left hand and wished he could be anywhere else. After the day Johnny had collapsed, Rosita had visited him frequently. He briefly remembered her saying that she had called his father about the situation but Johnny didn't realize that his father would be so upset by it. His father's expression was the same expression he had worn the day Johnny had told him that he wanted to be a singer instead of a gang member.

"Whut were ya thinking?" his dad demanded. "I knew you were workin' the two jobs but you nevah told me you were workin' so many hours. Are you tryin' t' get yourself killed?"

Johnny looked at his father and then back at his tennis shoes.

"Sorry, Dad." He mumbled.

Johnny's father sighed, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. They sat quietly across from one another for a long while as they both tried to understand their emotions. Eventually, Johnny looked up. His father watched him with a strange sort of determination. Johnny knew that look. His father had made a decision.

"Sell the garage, Johnny."

Johnny's mouth flapped like a fish. He struggled to overcome his surprise as his father continued.

"It ain't worth it anymo'. I know you've been tryin' to keep it for me n' the boys but you were goin' to run out sometime. You can't keep that place goin' by yourself. 'N I'm worried about ya, Johnny. Don't you get that?"

Johnny's lips tightened as he tried to think of a way to combat his father's words. He understood that his father was worried about him but sell the garage? That was the last thing Johnny wanted to do! He lowered his eyes and shook his head, unsure of what to say.

"Why are ya even holdin' onto the place, Johnny? There's nothin' there for ya." His father asked with some frustration in his voice.

Johnny fiddled with his bandage some more as he tried to find his words.

"'M scared of lettin' it go." He mumbled into the receiver, irritated with how pathetic his voice sounded. "I know that there's nothin' there 'n I know that not all the memories we had there were good but I grew up in that garage. It's my home."

There was silence on the other line. Johnny's father let out a long sigh.

"A'right. So what do you plan on doin' about it?"

Johnny looked up in surprise. His father stared back with an open expression. It was a sign that his father was willing to listen.

"Honestly, Dad, I don' know whut to do." Johnny confessed.

His father nodded and leaned back in his chair, scratching at the top of his scraggly head. His father's hair had grown some since he'd been put into prison and it left him looking a little on the messy side. Johnny wasn't used to seeing his dad so relaxed and untrimmed.

"Well, this is a first for ya, living out on your own. Obviously, you need a job but things aren't always that easy. 'Ave you thought 'bout playin' on the street some? Could earn you a bit of cash for a while. If you're so determined to keep the garage you should probably look into gettin' a roommate, too."

"Whut? A roommate? But Dad, they'd have to sleep in your room."

His dad shrugged.

"Well, yeah, they might as well. I ain't usin' it right now anyway."

Johnny was still a little uncomfortable with the idea of someone else using his father's bedroom but he admitted that getting a roommate was a good idea. They discussed a few more options before it was time for Johnny to leave. At the loss of his job Johnny decided it would be best to take the bus, to save on gas, which meant he needed to leave early. He and his dad said their goodbyes and Johnny hurried to get to the bus station on time. He walked a couple of blocks until he spotted the familiar clear bus pavilion. His eyes looked up at the sky briefly as he quickly hid under the bus stop's cover. The sky was dark, threatening rain.

Johnny sat on the graffitied bench and flipped on his phone, plugging in his earphones as he waited. His thoughts traced back to his dad and how unexpected his father's words had been as his music distanced him from the other waiting passengers. The garage meant a lot to both of them. He was surprised his father would tell him to sell it. He was also surprised by his father's advice. They'd never talked like that before. After their conversation, Johnny's situation started to seem a little less hopeless.

The bus came to a screeching halt in front of him. He waited in line as people milled in, trying to find seats between all of the other passengers. Johnny squished towards the back of the bus so he could have more breathing room, shadows of buildings hovering passed as the noise of the bus's wheels squeaked forward. Johnny made a face at a couple of teenage llamas making out two rows in front of him, turning up his music so he couldn't hear the sounds of their smacking lips. "Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble blasted his ears as he mouthed the words, trying really hard to ignore the two teenagers.

Instead, strangely, they got his mind thinking about Meena. She seemed to be around their age. His imagination wandered and he wondered what it would like to kiss Meena. He couldn't imagine it would be easy with her trunk in the way but he didn't dislike the idea. Johnny shooed away the thoughts as he watched a familiar gray head pop up below the bus's steps at the next station. Meena's clothes looked a little different compared to usual, a dark blue unzipped jacket with dark jeans and a black t-shirt, but she was still easy to recognize. It didn't take her long to spot him, a smile lighting up her eyes. Johnny was grateful that he had chosen to sit in the back. It gave both of them plenty of room as Meena came up and sat next to him.

"Hey, Johnny."

"Hey."

"Where are you headed?"

He shrugged. "Just back to th' garage."

"I see. How're you doing?"

"Good. Real good. No more fever. 'M hand's gettin' better." He waved his bandaged hand to prove his statement.

"That's good." Meena flashed him a relieved smile.

Johnny nodded, twirling his headphones up into a wrapped circle around his fingers as he tried to think of what to talk about. Only a few days ago he'd been dying from sickness, leaning against Meena's shoulder in Rosita's back seat like it was nothing. He couldn't understand why he suddenly felt so uncomfortable. His eyes moved down to Meena's hooves as they fidgeted against the side of a giant square cake tin.

"Who's the cake for?"

Meena looked down, her eyes blinking quickly like she had forgotten she was holding anything. Which she had. They were both feeling a little awkward.

"It's cupcakes."

Johnny raised one fuzzy eyebrow in question.

"One time in high school I sold cupcakes at a church charity auction." Meena explaind, "Some of the church folks really liked them so l get orders every now and again."

"Do ya get paid fo' it?"

"Oh, yeah. It's a nice little side job. I've been using it to save up for college."

Johnny nodded slowly again as another awkward pause filled the space between them. Inside, he was screaming at himself, trying to think of something, anything, to talk about. Meanwhile, Meena looked back and forth between Johnny and the cupcakes, trying to get up the courage to say something daring- or at least daring for someone with social anxiety. They both ranted at themselves internally until Meena, very suddenly, turned to look at Johnny.

"I'm dropping them off four stops from here. Would you like to come with me? It's not too far from your place."

Johnny blinked a few times as his brain processed her question. He reached his right hand up to rub the back of his neck, forcing himself to look away from Meena's big blue eyes. Her eyes were the same color as the jacket that still sat on the edge of his couch.

"Um… yeah. Sure. I don' got anythin' better to do."

Johnny ignored the part of his brain that was telling him that he still had two cars in the garage that he needed to work on. He justified it by telling himself that this was an opportunity to look at other money earning options. Maybe he could learn a thing or two from Meena's little side business.

They smiled at each other as the awkwardness slowly started to dissolve the more they talked. They chatted about nonsense things for a while until it turned into an actual conversation. The two of them got into a heated debate comparing Elton John and Freddie Mercury and their influence in the music industry.

"You must really like Elton John." Meena mused, "Wasn't the song you chose for the contest one of his songs?"

"Yeah n' I was worried I wouldn' get it right but it turned out pretty good. He's up there in m' favorites along with Bowie 'n Billy Joel."

Meena hummed in agreement. They bounced their conversation between old and modern artists until the bus got to their stop. The bus driver, a white sheep with dramatically sheared wool, nodded slightly to both of them as they got off. A cool, humid breeze blew through them as they walked side by side down the cracked cement sidewalk.

"So who are we goin' to see?" Johnny asked curiously.

"The Johnsons. They're an older couple from my church. Their grandson moved back a few months ago, around the time of the singing competition, and they want to have a welcome home party tomorrow."

"Wow. It's a bit late for 'em to be havin' a welcome home party." Johnny laughed.

Meena shrugged and explained simply, "They're kind of old fashioned."

"Whut do ya mean?"

"You'll see when we get there."

The two of them stopped in front of a giant yellow house with fancy white trim. Delicate lawn ornaments scattered on the edge of the garden that surrounded the porch. The garden was full with springing flowers and bushes trimmed to perfection. Even the grass looked perfect. Johnny turned about in a slow circle, nodding in appreciation as Meena ringed the doorbell. A pair of feet pounded down the stairs on the other side of the door. The door slowly pushed open, revealing a familiar silver-furred gorilla.

"Lewis?" Johnny asked, looking the gorilla up and down in shock. "What are you doin' here?"

Lewis had a similar expression of surprise as he stared from Johnny to Meena and back to Johnny again.

"What am I doing here? Dude, what are you doing here? I live here."

Lewis turned his head around the corner to yell to his grandparents down the hallway.

"Gran, your cupcakes are here!"

"No need to yell, I can hear you just fine!" his grandmother yelled back.

Lewis ushered them both in, closing the door and clapping Johnny on the back as they headed towards a living room furnished with lavish, vintage designed couches and delicately painted knick knacks.

"Good to see ya, Johnny."

"Yeah, you too."

Meena tried to suppress a smile as she watched Johnny look about the house, his eyes wide and his mouth slack. The place was huge.

Meena handed her cupcakes over to a tall, graying gorilla that was covered head to toe in cleaning gear. The gorilla thanked Meena and then hurried off, busy getting ready for the big party. Meena could see why she was busy. Meena liked large spaces but she couldn't imagine what it was like cleaning a house that was so big. She turned to look at Johnny and Lewis as Johnny made himself comfortable on one of the vintage chairs. He looked so peculiar with his leather jacket and green shirt sitting back in the fancy cream colored cushions.

"So how do you two know each other?" she asked.

"We used t' be coworkers." Johnny replied.

Lewis turned to look at Johnny as he munched on some crackers that Gran had set out on the coffee table in front of them. "Speaking of work, what happened to you Johnny? You were super late and then the boss came in saying you were fired."

Johnny explained in length everything that had happened the last few weeks including his visit with his dad and how his dad had suggested playing on the street and getting a roommate.

"So that's kinda where 'm at righ' now." He finished with a sigh. "I can hold up with m' savin's for a while but I don' know how long it'll last."

Meena was grateful she had asked Johnny to come with her. There was so much she didn't know and now she was a little more aware of some of Johnny's struggles. The three of them talked for a while until it started getting late. Lewis forced Johnny to give him his contact information before they left.

"I might call you about the whole roommate thing." Lewis decided, "I moved here wanting to start my own business and I don't plan on staying with my grandparents the whole time. I might be interested in moving in with you."

Johnny looked surprised, "Your own business?"

Lewis smiled wistfully. "I want to open up my own restaurant. I went off to France a while back for culinary school. When we met at the singing tryouts I was hoping to enter the competition so I could save up some money to open my business." He shrugged. "Obviously, that didn't work out so I started saving up the old fashioned way. Carl may be the worst boss ever but at least the pay is good."

Meena and Johnny waved goodbye, watching Lewis in his grandparent's lighted house as he went back inside.

"So how long have you known the Johnsons?" Johnny asked, turning to Meena as they walked down the street, away from the ritzy neighborhood.

Meena shrugged. "We've been in the same church since I was little. Lewis and I used to go to the same Sunday School but he's a few years older than me so we were never really close. He moved to France when I started high school."

Meena paused and blinked as a drop of rain plopped onto her nose, spraying into her face. She and Johnny looked up at the dark, looming clouds hesitantly as more water started to pour down. Johnny frowned.

"I don' like the look of those clouds…" he mumbled.

Meena nodded in agreement. The clouds hovered in dense, swirling waves. They had a tinge of green that could only mean one thing. A tornado was on its way. Johnny grabbed Meena's hand just as the rainstorm started to pour down on them with heavy, golf-ball sized rain drops. Meena could barely see anything as Johnny dragged her through the streets and through alley ways, the walls of buildings blurred by the heavy rain shower.

Johnny slammed the garage doors shut behind them as they both dripped, soaking wet, onto the cement floor. The familiar smell of Johnny's home warmed and comforted Meena despite the chill she felt from her wet clothes. Johnny didn't miss a beat as he hurried off to grab some flood guards. Meena helped him set them up, one for each garage door and one for the front door. When they were done the two of them slid to the floor, side by side, puddles of water dripping off of them as they breathed, exhausted.

Meena was the first to start laughing. It didn't take long for Johnny to join her. They leaned against each other, laughing until they cried. Johnny subconsciously slipped his hand around Meena's as their laughter slowly died into soft, tired giggles. Meena leaned against Johnny's shoulder as he rubbed his thumb against the back of her palm, the heavy rain beating like drums against the garage roof, numbing their thoughts into quiet exhaustion.

"That was fun." She sighed, closing her eyes.

Johnny nodded, pausing to take in the scene before them as they sat together in the dark garage, the rain drowning out the sound of their breathing. His heart pounded against his chest as he suddenly became very aware of Meena sitting next to him, her warm breath smoothing out the wet fur on his neck.

He could kiss her.

The thought was sharp and demanding. He could lean over and just kiss her.

Johnny shot up, pulling his hand out of Meena's with a start. Meena nearly toppled to the ground as Johnny moved away from her, her eyes looking up and watching him walk away curiously.

"The rain's pretty heavy…" he said slowly, "You, um, migh' have to stay for a while. I'll try to find some clothes for us to change into."

Meena watched Johnny as he climbed the ladder to the loft with ease, her brain processing what had just happened. Why had he moved away so quickly? With warmth to her cheeks, Meena realized that they'd been practically sitting on top of one another while holding hands. At the time, she hadn't thought too deeply about their close proximity. Johnny had always been comfortable with hugging her and leaning on her. Meena was starting to get used to it. She didn't realize that they'd been so close until Johnny moved away. Maybe he had more of a bubble then she realized.

Meena's cheeks burned in embarrassment and her mind screamed as she leaned her head against her knees. It was just the two of them, a girl and a guy, roughly the same age, alone in a dark garage. No wonder Johnny had acted so weird.

AN:

My chapters seem to be getting longer and longer.

I hope y'all are happy to finally read some romance brewing between these two idiots. Honestly, I'm glad I finally got to write a little romance.

Thank you everyone for all the support and love I've been getting for this fanfiction both on and on tumblr! Y'all are awesome!