The next morning Azalea awoke to a loud clatter. She thought it was her alarm but knew her alarm didn't sound anything like the noise she just heard. Azalea still had her eyes closed but something was off. She wasn't in her bed and the sheets on her felt plush, more luxurious. Azalea opened her eyes and was horrified when she realized that she was in Johnny's apartment. How did she get there? Her head was pounding and she felt nauseous. Then she remembered. She got completely smashed and showed up at his place.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Johnny knew Azalea would have a pretty bad hangover. He spent the rest of the night watching over Azalea as she vomited and sobered up.

"Ugh, not so loud..."

"What? You wake me up in the middle of the night, and now you want your beauty sleep?!"

"You're being loud on purpose. Ow!"

"Here." Johnny gave her two aspirins and a glass of water to which Azalea immediately gulped them down. Azalea noticed that she slept on the sectional and the cushion on the far end was missing. Also, Azalea could smell some sort of floral carpet cleaner in the spot under the missing cushion.

"One of the cushions on your sectional is missing."

"You puked all over it."

"Sorry. I guess I got a little carried away."

"I'll say. I hope this is the last time I have to do this."

"I don't even remember having that much to drink." all Azalea heard from Johnny was a grunt.

"What do you remember?"

"I was...coming to your apartment. After we got back from the warehouse and after the fight, I went to a bar. I had...maybe...well, I lost count after the fifth shot. I remember wanting to tell you off. My head feels like a soccer match going on inside..."

"Having that much to drink will do that to you." Azalea just glared at him after his smart remark.

"I don't even remember what I was doing here."

"Well, to refresh your memory, you came at my door at two in the morning drunk off your ass, by the way. You damn-near depleted my good, and very expensive, bottle of scotch, then you started yelling at me. After that, you puked." Johnny didn't want to tell her the whole of what she said and did. It was best for her to not know.

"I really did all of that?"

"Who's Oil-Slick, anyway?"

"Huh?"

"Last night, you mentioned me and some person named Oil-Slick." Azalea face scrunched up as she tried to remember. Finally, it came to her.

"Oh, that's the name I've given to Sonny. After he...had me kidnapped, I kept looking at his head and noticed he had a lot of gel in it...hence the name Oil-Slick." even Johnny found that amusing.

"Good to know."

"I'm really sorry."

"You didn't hurt my feelings if that's what you're worried about. I've been called worse things before." he didn't add that it was Anthony who had said them."

"No...I mean I'm sorry for pretty much blowing your cover. For now on, I won't say anything about...you know..."

"Azalea..." Johnny wanted to tell her that he should be the one to apologize. He did ruin her life after all with his mob business. However, he had a business to keep and to appear soft was an automatic sign of weakness. "why don't you go get cleaned up. I'll give you some spare pajamas." Johnny could see the frustration in her eyes as she was expecting and apology or, at least, some veiled attempt at one.

Azalea just let out a defeated sigh and walked up the stairs. Johnny didn't want to seem callous, but he had to appear to not care about her. What Azalea said last night really shook him. He had put her in danger. His lifestyle was not fit for anyone to live. One thing that keeps nagging at him was why he didn't kill Azalea. By now, she would've been dead the many times she's messed up, questioned him, blown his cover. He could never have to heart to kill her. It frustrated him that whenever he looked at Azalea, he would feel the need to protect instead of harm her. Johnny was too into his thoughts to not notice the door being opened. He jerked his head around and saw it was his Anthony.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"I was away."

"For almost two days?!"

"You missed me?"

"You wish. I figured you croaked in some alley, but that was wishful thinking."

"Glad to see you too, Johnny. Anyway, you look like shit."

"Azalea was here last night and..."

"Azalea? You're sleeping with her?"

"Not like that, old man. Last night, she came here drunk and she got sick...she was sleeping it off." Johnny didn't think Anthony deserved to hear why Azalea was drunk, but decided to at least inform the bastard. "While you were...I don't even care what you were doing...Azalea didn't know Sonny's idiot goons were tailing me and she sort of blurted that I killed Eddie Sanchez. They kidnapped her in the process."

"You didn't let Corinthos bump her off?! He could've been brought down by her murder and Sanchez's. You didn't see the big picture here. Quit being so damn soft and use this to your advantage!"

"Wait one damn minute, pops!" he used 'pops' in the most ironic way possible. "You can't just disappear for two days and, suddenly, come waltzing in here demanding what I should and should not be doing! It's not like Dante wouldn't figure it out that it was me. He already thinks I'm the number one suspect in Sanchez's murder. Having Sonny kill Azalea wouldn't make a damn bit of difference. Besides, if Sonny killed Azalea, don't you think the police would wonder why a young girl had ties to the two most dangerous men in Port Charles? They would want to know why she was even at Sonny's warehouse to begin with."

"Okay, so I didn't think of that. Just don't let her make that mistake again. By the looks of you, I say it must have been one close call."

"I would say you don't know what it's like, but you obviously know the feeling of staring down the barrel of Sonny's gun."

"That son of a bitch tried to kill you?!"

"Relax, he obviously didn't. I had to distract him from pointing the gun at Azalea. I know what you're thinking, it was a stupid move. Azalea's very resourceful and she can get things that I normally wouldn't even think of obtaining. Don't forget you had me hire her for that reason. Plus, the kid...Azalea shouldn't be punished for my mistake."

Azalea was in the bathroom still feeling slightly hungover. She didn't know what possessed her to get sloppy drunk and show up at Johnny's place. Being blackmailed into hacking for a mobster took its toll on her. She couldn't figure out how someone so tough could be so fragile. She scoffed and thought of the answer: Anthony. Speaking of, as Azalea was drying off, she heard that chilling voice of Anthony. The man had the sweetest voice yet had the sickest mind full of malice. As she was putting on her clothes, she rolled her eyes at hearing Anthony scolding Johnny for preventing Sonny from killing her. She finished dressing and waited for the right moment to walk downstairs.

"Good morning, Azalea. Sorry I've been a little absent lately. So, Johnny was just telling me you got a little bit hammered last night."

"I'm fine." Azalea couldn't help the clipped tone of her voice, but the man wanted her dead and now was feigning his concern. Well, two could play that game. "Yeah, Johnny was here to make sure I was okay. I'm sorry you had to lose your sleep, Johnny. And, thank you for being concerned, Mr. Zacchara." Azalea knew she had to control the bile that rose in her throat after calling that monster by his name.

"No problem. Just make sure you don't slip up next time." she knew he wast talking about her outing Johnny as Sanchez's killer and not her drinking.

"Johnny, thank you...for last night. I know it wasn't easy baby-sitting the drunk girl throughout the night...thanks. And sorry about your couch...and your floor."

"Don't be sorry. Hey, I was young once. And to think all you did was pound nothing but sugary sodas."

"Ha-ha. Laugh it up. I'm gonna go and check on a few things if you want."

"No, go back to your apartment and rest. Better yet, take the day off."

"Really? Even after I puked all over your sectional and floor and..."

"Yes."

"Are you gonna make me work overtime if I do?"

"Just get outta here before I change my mind."

"Okay, boss. You really do love giving out orders." Johnny glared at her. "Okay, leaving..."

"Bye." once Azalea left, Johnny turned to his father. He rolled his eyes knowing Anthony had a smug look on his face. He knew Johnny had a soft spot for the little hacker.