Chapter Thirty-One: Burnin' For You

Heather's POV

The movie had led to dinner, dinner led to ice cream on the boardwalk. The more we talked, the longer I wanted the night to last. That wasn't surprising, it was always this way with Buster. He did propose to win me over in one date and he was doing a good job of it. As we reached my apartment, I couldn't help but ask, "Do you want to come up?"

His jaw dropped in surprise for a moment at the invitation, but it was replaced with a small smile as he responded, "Okay."

I took his paw and led him up the stairs to my apartment. Once we went inside, I asked him if he wanted anything to drink. I had tea, wine, and water. He replied that he was fine and we both sat down on the couch, continuing our conversation. We had spent most of the night talking about life, our pasts, childhoods, and previous relationships. Mostly sharing our stories. I loved the way he could tell a story. He could make the most mundane thing sound like an adventure. After a while a silence came over us, we had talked so much we started getting into stories that we had forgotten that we had already told each other.

"Buster, where do you see this going?"

"I want a relationship with you." He answered, "I know we've had our disagreements…" He trailed off.

"I'd like that too." I kissed him softly.

Johnny's POV

"What time do you have to leave?" Layla asked me, sitting up a little.

I smiled teasingly, "I was supposed to leave twenty minutes ago, but I got a little distracted." I kissed her lightly

Pulling away, she replied, "We keep doing that, you'll be even later."

"I probably shouldn't do that." I responded reluctantly, not wanting to move, "Ash is waiting on me to help with setting up for the scavenger hunt. Will you still be up when I come back?"

"I should be." She answered, "Maybe we can continue this when you come back."

Kissing her again, I told her, "I'd like that." Slowly, I got out of bed. I knew if I stayed any longer, we'd be immersed in each other once again. "I should be back in a few hours." I added as I started to change into a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. "If you want anything, just text me. I can pick it up on my way back."

"Okay."

"I'll see you in a few hours." I told her before heading out the door.

With some speeding, gunning several yellow lights, and a lot of running once I got to Disneyland, I was able to barely make it on time to meet Ash and Miles for the meeting we had with the Disney representative. Luckily for me, the representative was running a little late too.

"Where have you been?" Ash questioned as we waited in the office for the representative to retrieve us.

"With Layla, we lost track of time." I answered, "I made it on time though."

As Ash was about to say something else, the representative we were supposed to have our meeting with greeted us. She led us into her office to go over the last details of the scavenger hunt and proposal.

Sasha's POV

"Mike, will you stay still?" I chuckled lightly as I tried to tailor his suit for his concert at the end of the week. "This is going to take longer if you continue to move."

"Maybe I want it to take longer."

I smiled, shaking my head, "I don't want to prick you, I'll get blood on your suit."

"Good thing it's red."

"This one may be, but not all of your suits are." I responded, "Were you and Buster able to find enough public domain songs for the concert?"

"I think so." He answered, "There were a lot that I hadn't heard of, but I was able to find some that I knew and was surprised they were in the public domain."

"So what are you going to be singing?"

"It Had to Be You, Play a Simple Melody, Pretty Girl is Like a Melody, Say It With Music..." He listed off, "So it'll be a lot of Irving Berlin and some other artists like him. I'll also do songs like Shenandoah and The Entertainer."

"Those are all beautiful songs." I told him, putting my sewing kit in my bag and standing to meet his gaze. "I can't wait to hear you sing them."

"I can't wait to sing them to you." He stepped down from the platform he was on.

"I'm not going to be the only one in the audience." I reminded. Technically, I would be backstage to help him with his quick changes for the few suits he had and to help if there was a last minute emergency with one of his suits.

"You're right, I'll be singing for a crowd," He placed his paws in mine, "but you're the only one I'll be singing to."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"I just hope you continue to feel that way after you meet my family this weekend." I replied nervously. The whole visit made me nervous. I hadn't really spoken much with my family since I had left Nebraska and I hadn't been with Mike the last time we spoke. Their visit was rather out of the blue.

"Nothing is going to change my mind about how I feel about you." Mike kissed me softly, "It doesn't matter how the visit goes, I'll be with you the entire time. As long as you'll have me, I want to marry you."

"I can't wait to marry you."

"Technically, we don't have to."

Tilting my head in confusion, I asked him, "What do you mean?"

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

Layla's POV

Feeling a pang in my stomach, I decided to go down to concessions to see if we had any food. Opening the refrigerator door only caused me to groan, it was empty. I texted Johnny as I closed the refrigerator to see if he wanted to pick up something to eat on the way back or if he wanted me to pick up something for us while I was waiting for him.

"You know if you're looking for something to eat, I could take you out to dinner." I heard Alex say from the doorway.

Turning to face him, I replied as I pocketed my phone, "I'm dating Johnny, I'm not gonna go out to dinner with you."

He smirked, "That doesn't mean we can't go out as friends."

"It does when that's not how you mean it." I told him pointedly, "You and I have never been friends, even before we dated. I have no interest in having anything to do with you and I'd really like it if you left me alone."

"You're overreacting." Alex retorted slightly, put off that his advances were refused. It's not like I hadn't noticed his flirting and negging, I had been ignoring them.

"No, I'm not." I told him plainly, "You're just an asshole who doesn't know how to respect boundaries." I made my way past him only to have him catch my wrist. I tried to pull my wrist from his grasp, only to have him tighten his hand around my arm, digging in his nails. Roughly, he pulled me back into the concessions room.

"You are not going anywhere." He asserted, pushing me against the wall. He pressed up against me, trapping me between him, the wall, and the counter. "You're going to stop telling me no."

"Let her go, boy, before I make you." I heard a low menacing growl. I let a sigh of relief to see Mr. Maddox and Sean.

"This isn't over." Alex whispered into my ear, seething, before backing away. Mr. Maddox immediately took him by the shoulder and escorted him out, telling him that he wasn't going to be coming back.

"Are you okay?" Sean asked gently.

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm alright."

"He won't be coming back." He reassured, "Joey, Pete, and I will make sure of that."

"Thank you."

"If you want, I can stay with you until Johnny gets back." He offered, "We can put on a movie in the auditorium. I'm more than happy to set up the projector and put on something. We could watch The Birdcage, The Princess Bride, Sister Act, Bridesmaids. Whatever you want."

"You'll watch The Birdcage?"

"Watch it?" He smiled, "I'll probably quote along and sing 'We Are Family' at the end of it."

I laughed lightly at his response.

"You wanna watch it with me?" He asked, "I can never find anyone to sit and watch a movie with me, I can be a little obnoxious."

"Okay." I agreed.

"Let's go see if we can get Pete to join us." Sean said as we walked out of the concessions room.

Heather's POV

"Alex just got thrown out of the theatre." I informed Buster, as I checked my messages after hearing my phone go off one too many times. The first several were updates on the scavenger hunt that I could go over with him tomorrow, but this one seemed more immediate.

Propping himself up, he asked, "What happened?"

"I'm texting Peter back now to see what happened." I responded, "He didn't give a lot of detail."

"What did he say?"

"He said he threw him out of the theatre for harassment."

"Did he say who?" Buster asked concerned.

I shook my head, "No, but I'll let you know when I get more detail."

"Okay." He flopped back onto the bed.

"I'm sure everything is okay." I tried to reassure him, "Peter and Sean are both at the theatre and they're both great at their jobs."

"I know, I just worry about Layla." He responded, "Her and Johnny are living there right now…"

"Johnny and Peter aren't going to let anything happen to her, neither would Sean. Do you want us to go to the theatre to make sure everything's okay? We can."

He sighed, "No, if Peter and Sean have taken care of Alex then it's fine." After a couple of moments, he asked, "Have you heard anything back?"

I looked down at my phone, seeing that there was a message from Peter, I answered affirmatively and opened the text, "Alex wasn't leaving Layla alone after she told him to, so Peter stepped in and made sure he did. Sean is with her now watching a movie in the auditorium. Peter's making his rounds, he and Sean'll make sure everything is locked up after Johnny gets back. Johnny just finished with his meeting with the representative we've been conversing with at Disneyland and is on his way home now. Miles texted me a little while ago with an update." I looked over at Buster, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just glad they were able to help her and that he's gone."

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the theatre?" I asked him.

"I'm sure." He replied, "Sean's with her now, Johnny's on his way, and Peter would have told you if something had happened to her. I'll check on her in the morning to make sure she's okay."

"Okay." I set my phone down and laid back next to him.

Johnny's POV

"Hey Dad, what are you still doing up?" I asked, greeting him in surprise as I walked into the theatre. Usually he was in bed by this time and Sean is usually starting the night guard shift.

"Something happened while you were gone-" Dad started. My eyes widened, the only people here when I left were my dad, Sean, and Layla. Alex was heading out the door when I was.

"Layla…" I breathed out as my heart began to race. "I have to go find her, I'll talk to you later."

"She should be up in your guys' apartment, her and Sean just finished a movie." Dad advised. I thanked him before heading upstairs.

When I walked into our apartment, I found Layla on her phone with her headphones in. She sighed, "C'mon Johnny, where are you…"

"Hey." I greeted her.

Pulling out her headphones, she sat up a little, "Hey."

"Sorry my phone died." I told her, sitting down on the bed next to her, "Dad said something happened, are you okay?"

"Yeah." She confirmed, "Alex is just a dick."

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked her. She nodded, saying that I should know. As she told me what happened, I seethed. What kind of person forces their advances once someone says no? Male or female, that wasn't okay. After she finished explaining what happened, I asked her again, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I might end up with a couple of bruises on my arm, but I'm alright." She confirmed, "I'm just glad nothing else happened."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Do you think there's any place open that delivers?" She asked, "There wasn't anything here."

"Uh, yeah, there's the pizza down the street and the Vietnamese place two blocks from here. They both close around midnight." I answered, "What do you feel like?"

"I don't know." She answered, "What sounds good to you?"

"I could go for some pizza." I replied, "Can I see your phone so I can pull up the menu?"

She handed me her phone so we could pull up the menu and order online. After the pizza came, we took it back up to our room and so that we'd have a little more privacy than we would in the concessions room. As we ate, we talked about the scavenger hunt - or at least what I could tell her about it - and what we wanted to do after all of this dies down a bit.

"Do you like it here?" I asked her, "Do you want to stay here?"

"Here as in the theatre? In the city?" She asked, "What do you mean by here?"

"The theatre, but I do want to know your opinion in general."

"I don't care where I'm staying as long as I'm near everyone." She answered, "The theatre was my home for a long time. I like Ash and my apartment. I've never lived anywhere else. Although if something came up for you and you asked me to come with you, I wouldn't say no. Has anything come up?"

"No." I answered quickly, "I just thought I would bring us living together back up. I was thinking maybe when things get less busy, we could look at getting a place together."

"What changed your mind?" She asked, "Last we talked about it, I think you suggested we look at it eventually."

"The more I've thought about it, the less I think I could go back to hanging out in each other's apartments. It'd be doable, but I wouldn't want to."

"I wouldn't want to either."