It was becoming a daily routine with Johnny visiting his father in prison. If it weren't standard procedure, he was certain the guards would just let him in without question.

"All clear," said the Rhino after he finished scanning Johnny with the baton. "You know the way."

"Thanks, Bill," said Johnny as he put his jacket back on.

Once he arrived at the visitor's center, he sat down and tapped his fingers on the table. Ever since he started playing the piano regularly, his fingers would tap as if he were playing a piano. Ms. Crawley called this "ghost fingers" as it was common for musicians (especially pianists) to instinctively practice their fingerings, especially if they were listening to music or humming a song in their head.

He thought back to what happened less than an hour ago at Moon theater. How quickly Ash had shot down the idea of singing a duet with him. It was so blunt. He started to wonder if he should have waited around for her to calm down and talk to her in private. Or would texting be better? They had each other's numbers, but he wasn't sure when would be a good time to converse with her. He thought back to all the times they'd hung out or chatted, trying to pinpoint a moment when he may have offended her or made her uncomfortable. Normally, Ash was pretty vocal whenever something upset her, so it already would've been brought to his attention.

Then one thought popped up which seemed the most likely: she just flat didn't like him. She tolerated him at best, but thought he was intimidating or creepy. Or maybe she thought he was a rotten fruit that fell too close to the family tree…

"Well, well. If it ain't the great Maestro gracing me with his presence."

Johnny looked up to see his father, Marcus "Big Daddy" Greystone, coming his way. As usual, he had a big grin on his face as he sat down, took the phone of the hook, and awaited Johnny to do the same. Johnny immediately shook away that lingering thought. Yes, he was the son of a gangster. Yes, he was visiting his father in prison. That didn't define who he was. Don't think about Ash right now, he thought. You're here to see your dad. Nothing else.

"Hey Dad," said Johnny. "How're things?"

Marcus just shrugged. "Eh, same old same old. I'm telling ya, I'm giving this resort a 2-star review. The view is nice, but the room service could be better."

Johnny grinned uneasily. "You and your dad jokes…"

"Humor me, alright? Just trying to make light of the situation. So, how's things on your end?"

"Good, good. Mr. Moon is setting up another concert," said Johnny. "It's sort of a tribute to Nana Noodleman, this actress who used to work at the theater way back and he wants to commemorate her ninetieth birthday."

Marcus let out a low whistle. "Ninety? Blimey, is the old girl gonna make it till then?"

"Dad!"

"Wha? I'm just kidding with ya. So, I take it you're on the bill to play?"

"Yeah, except…uh…"

"Except…?" Marcus edged.

Johnny trailed off. He had shared stories of his new theater family, but he had yet to mention his feelings for Ash. He wasn't sure if this was going to be the right time or place to bring it up, especially since Ash was of a different species. Not that his father had any problem with other animals (though he did have a negative bias towards baboons).

"Well…Mr. Moon wanted me to sing a duet with my friend, Ash…"

"Ash?" Marcus said, musing over the name. "Ash…she's the elephant, right?"

Johnny shook his head. "No dad, that's Meena. Ash is the porcupine who plays guitar?"

Marcus nodded. "That's right. Well, is that gonna be a problem? You two get along ok?"

"Oh, yeah yeah. I think she's great. I think…she's wonderful, actually."

Marcus didn't reply and instead studied his son's expression closely. He remembered what it was like being Johnny's age and he could read his face like a book, chuckling to himself. "Heh heh…you burn your fingers yet?"

Johnny's eyebrows arched in confusion. "Wot?"

"From the torch you're carrying for this little girl…"

Johnny groaned. "Blimey, was it that obvious?"

Marcus said nothing but tilted his head back and laughed heartily. "Unbelievable. Un-bloody-believable. My boy chasing the skirt of a hedgepig."

"Porcupine, Dad!" Johnny snapped, feeling his face grow red. "There's a difference…"

"Right, sorry. So, what song are you two gonna do?"

Johnny fidgeted with his jacket collar, trying to think of how to tell his father the truth. "Well…I don't think there's gonna be a duet."

"Wot? Why not?"

"She…didn't seem too enthusiastic. When Moon paired us up, she kinda…said no."

"That's it?" asked Marcus. "No? Just like that?" Johnny nodded sadly, avoiding eye contact. "Did she at least say why?"

Johnny sighed. "No and I didn't push her on it."

"Good," said Marcus. "And best not to. Give her til tomorrow and hopefully, she'll come around. Who knows? Maybe she's got a thing for you too, aye? So, any idea if this show will be televised?"

"Too soon to say," answered Johnny. "I mean, Moon just made the announcement this afternoon."

"Blimey, I hope so. I didn't get a chance to catch your whole number on account of, uh…"

Johnny grinned. "Busting out of prison and having the whole police squad after you?"

"…yeah, that."

The two apes laughed. Despite the circumstances, Johnny did enjoy these moments with his father. He had been visiting him every other day to catch up on things and keeping his father in the loop. He never knew how much he would enjoy talking to his father about his up-and-coming singing career.

Marcus's laughter quietly ceased as he looked up at his son, his face marked with such bittersweet content. After a moment's silence, Marcus pressed his hand against the glass. "Gimme your hand, Johnny," he said softly.

Johnny's face dropped. He knew what this meant: his dad wanted to say something and it never ended on a happy tone. "No, dad, c'mon. Don't…"

"Just….just gimme your hand." Johnny sighed, then complied, pressing his palm against the glass over top his father's. Johnny silently compared the sizes; it was astounding how much smaller his hand was. Then again, he was called "Big Daddy" for a reason.

"I'm proud of you, Johnny," said Marcus. "I know I put you off to a rough start, but you got what it takes to make it, you hear me? So if opportunity knocks, don't you dare look the other way. You chase after it and don't wait up for your old man."

Johnny closed his eyes tightly, trying to fight back the tears. "You're gonna get out soon, dad. Just six more months…"

"Considering I even get the parole! Let's be realistic, Johnny. I got quite a history. I made me bed; now I'm gonna sleep in it…no matter how long it takes."

"But you will get out!" said Johnny, opening his eyes and meeting Marcus's gaze directly. "And when you do, I'm gonna make sure you come to one of my shows with the best seat in the house. You're gonna love it, I promise. Just…just don't give up, ok?"

The announcement for visiting hours coming to an end activated on the loudspeaker and visitors had thirty seconds to wrap things up before the prisoners were sent back to their cells. Despite that, Marcus didn't break Johnny's gaze. They sat there, father and son, each wanting nothing more than to be on the other side of the glass. Marcus closed his hand into a fist and lowered it down.

"Alright, son," he said. "I won't give up. See ya tomorrow…"

"See ya tomorrow, dad," said Johnny. The horn blared and prisoners were lined up single file to head back to the cells. Johnny watched as his father took one last look over his shoulder, giving him a small wave before disappearing through the doors.

"Love ya, dad," Johnny whispered, then hung up the phone.

"How could you say no?!" cried Brandy, pacing the floor while twirling her drumstick. After rehearsal, Ash and her band decided to head back to her place to have dinner. Unfortunately, Brandy had refused to drop the subject of the duet. "I mean, seriously?! What other 'golden opportunities' have you turned your nose up at? A million dollars? A new sports car? A night on the town with Taron Eagleton?"

"Oh my gosh, Brandy. Let it go!" snapped Ash as Brandy joined her on the couch. "I don't get why this is such a big deal."

"Because you hurt Johnny's feelings!" said Brandy. "I mean, look how sad he was when you did that!" Brandy then pulled open her phone to show video footage of Johnny when Ash had shot down the duet offer. She had taken the liberty of editing it into a looping GIF. Ash felt her heart twist as she saw Johnny's sagging shoulders and look of chagrin.

"You didn't have to record that…" said Ash, averting her gaze from the image.

"Ease up, Brandy," said Olive who had been fiddling with her bass in the corner. "I'm sure Ash had a perfectly good reason for breaking Johnny's heart into a million pieces."

Ash shot the raccoon a look. "Et tu, Olive?"

Olive smirked. "Es-yay. Seriously, though, Brandy has a point. I mean, you could've at least thought it over."

"There's nothing to think about! It's a bad idea."

Olive cocked an eyebrow. "Because…?"

Ash huffed and hopped off the couch, walking over to the window, studying her faint reflection in the glass. She knew exactly why she didn't want to sing with Johnny. It had nothing to do with their styles, their history, or even Johnny himself. The answer could be summed up into one name.

"Lance…" she said softly.

Brandy and Olive exchanged a look. "Lance?" asked Olive.

"You're ex-boyfriend?" added Brandy.

"Yes, Brandy…" said Ash.

"The guy who was a total jerkwad to you?" Brandy added.

"Yes, Brandy."

"The one who dumped you for that groupie, 'Becky-with-good-quills?'"

"Take five, Brandy!" snapped Olive, lightly shoving Brandy's phone back into her paws before joining Ash at the window. "But seriously, Cap. What does Lance have to do with singing with Johnny?"

"Because…I haven't sung with a guy since Lance. I know it's stupid, but it'd be so awkward."

"No, it won't," said Olive. "It'll be like singing with us."

Ash rolled her eyes. "That's different. We're a band! Plus, we're friends and when we sing, we're addressing the audience. In a duet, we're singing to the audience plus each other."

"So?"

"So what are we gonna sing about?" Ash exclaimed. "I mean, between a guy and a girl, there aren't too many songs that don't involve…" Ash trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

"…love?" asked Brandy, peeking around behind Olive.

"Exactly! And you know Moon is gonna give us this huge playlist of nothing but love songs!"

Olive was silent for a moment, scratching the back of her neck in thought. "Yeah, well…would that be such a bad thing? I mean, what if you like singing those kind of songs with him?"

Ash shot Olive a sideways glance. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Olive and Brandy, once again, exchanged a look. "Should we clue her in?" asked Olive.

"Oh yeah," said Brandy.

"Clue me in on what?" asked Ash suspiciously.

"Weeell….we have come to believe that Johnny…" Olive started.

"…Truly and madly…" Brandy interjected.

"…Enjoys your company and…"

"…Desperately wants you!"

"…TO acknowledge the fact that he may…"

"Passionately…"

"BRANDY!"

"What? I'm filling in the blanks!"

"Girls!" Ash snapped, silencing them both. From the look on Ash's face, they could tell she was getting tired of the verbal tennis match they were having. "Just…spit it out. What is it about Johnny I should know?"

"Ash," said Olive. "I think Johnny has a bit of a crush on you."

Ash's jaw dropped and blinked a few times, trying to process the information. "What?!"

"Well, haven't you noticed how flustered he gets when he talks to you?"

"So? He's shy…"

"And how he's always offering to carry our cases?"

"He's helpful."

"He sometimes likes watch us practice…"

"He's supportive!"

"…AND you're the one he gives his full attention to?"

"He's…focused?"

"Oh for crying out loud, Ashy!" screamed Brandy, gripping her by the shoulders and enunciating her words. "Johnny. Wants you. To be. His boo! And before you say anything, consider this: after Lance, this would be a total upgrade! It's like trading in an old jalopy for a sleek top-of-the-line sports car. He's sweet, funny, has a gorgeous singing voice which matches his even more gorgeous physique. I mean, if he looks that good with his shirt on…"

"What Brandy and I are trying to say," Olive interrupted. "Is we think the duet would be a good change of pace for you."

Ash groaned and ran her fingers through her quills. "Guys, come on! This is weirding me out enough as it is! I already have Moon breathing down my neck. I don't need you two - is something burning?"

"Don't change the subject," said Olive, but Ash shook her head.

"No, seriously," she said. "I smell smoke."

The three friends took a moment to sniff the air and, sure enough, something did smell like burning. "My lasagna!" cried Olive and quickly ran to the kitchen.

As they followed her, Ash turned to Brandy. "You, uh…knew she was cooking dinner before coming over, right?"

"Which is why I ordered the pizza a half-hour ago," replied Brandy.

"Good girl."

In the kitchen, Olive was frantically trying to remove the scalding-hot lasagna pan from the oven. It was a well-known fact that Olive (despite her ironic name) was not very skilled at cooking, even though she desperately wanted to be. Her mother was already a popular sous chef and assumed she would just naturally inherit cooking skills. Unfortunately, very few dishes have survived Olive's tampering and would be so inedible, they needed a label for proper waste disposal.

Olive groaned as she put out the last bit of flame protruding from the top of the former lasagna pan. "Not again…"

"It was a frozen lasasgna," said Ash as she surveyed the scene. "Why didn't you follow the directions on the box?"

"I did!" Olive cried. "I just doubled the temperature and cut the cooking time in half. That way it'd balance out. Brandy! Stop taking pictures!"

Brandy giggled as she kept snapping pics on her phone. "Aw, come on Olive. Don't you want to commemorate cooking fail number twenty-seven?"

"It's not a fail!" said Olive as she began to scrape away the black layer off the former lasagna before cutting into it. "This is still edible. We just have to remove the top layer and the rest will be - it's still frozen?! It was on fire! How is that possible?"

"Oh, I have GOT to tell my followers about this," said Brandy and fervently started typing on one of her many social media accounts.

Ash just sighed. Her friends had already messed with her head and she couldn't deal with anymore drama. She needed some air. "Call me when the pizza gets here," she said to neither one in particular and went to get her guitar, leaving the two playing tug-of-war with Brandy's phone.

Ash took a deep breath of fresh air as she walked out onto the quiet rooftop, the perfect spot for a little night music. Leaning against one of the air vents, her mind began to recollect the day as she tuned her guitar.

It wasn't that Ash didn't like Johnny. Quite the contrary; she was quite fond of him. She was impressed at how quickly he picked up the piano and could play by ear (just like herself). He was polite, sweet, charming. So much better than Lance ever…

Ash shook away the thought. Stop thinking about him, she scolded to herself. She hated it when Lance popped in her head. What were once memories of happiness and love were now tainted with regret and frustration. Why couldn't she have broken up with him? Why did he have to dump her for some Valley Girl named Becky? And when people would refer to her "being dumped," it just made it more hurtful. As if she were garbage that was thrown in a dumpster. And now her friends start filling her head with Johnny crushing on her? Was she even ready to get back into dating? Would she ever be ready?

She began to strum her guitar. While she preferred to sing original songs of her creation, she still found her old favorites by Greenback would help express herself:

I walk a lonely road

The only one that I have ever known

Don't know where it goes

But it's only me and I walk alone.

I walk this empty street

On the boulevard of broken dreams

Where there city sleeps

And I'm the only one and I walk alone

I walk alone, I walk alone

I walk alone, I walk a

My shadow's only one that walks beside me.

My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me

Till then I walk alone…

Johnny sighed heavily as he scrolled through the videos on MeTube. Brandy had kept her promise and had posted the video of Gunter dancing in the theater earlier that day. Already it had gotten over 5,000 views and was growing. He took another bite of his microwave dinner, but in truth he really wasn't that hungry. He wasn't sure what bothered him more: His father losing hope on ever making parole or Ash shooting down the duet. Johnny poked moodily at his pasta alfredo, turned off by the sauce starting to congeal. Not that he was used to many home cooked meals before his dad got arrested. It was always takeout or Barry would be nice enough to scrounge something in the breakroom-turned-kitchen. He had been over to Meena's house multiple times for dinner with her family, but he declined her offer tonight on account of his emotional state.

Knowing he wouldn't be eating any more, he cleared away the table and tidied up before grabbing his headphones and going outside for a quick walk. The area where Johnny's garage was didn't have much foot traffic and there were hardly any stores, making it the perfect hideout for his father's gang. Most nights, when they were going over the latest heist, Johnny would sneak out undetected and look for a place of solitude well out of earshot. Tonight, he chose a small area near the overpass, which had surprisingly good acoustics. Johnny opened his music library and found the perfect song to help him meditate over both problems:

Today is gonna be the day

That they're gonna throw it back to you

By now you should've somehow

Realized what you gotta do

I don't believe that anybody

Feels the way I do, about you now

And all the roads that lead you there are winding

And all the lights that light the way are blinding

There are many things that I

Would like to say to you but I don't know how

If it were possible for someone to have been in two places at once - one with Johnny and one with Ash - they would've have heard something beautiful. They were both singing their songs at the exact same moment as the other…and they were in perfect harmony. Every note they sang was in sync and together they created an entirely new melody that united their songs:

Because maybe

(My shadow's only the one that walks besides me)

You're gonna be the one that saves me

(My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating)

And after all

(Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me)

You're my wonderwall…

(Till then, I walk alone….)

Ash finished strumming the last chords and plopped down on the edge of the roof. The song helped a little, but it still didn't give her much of a solution to the duet dilemma.

When she thought about it, she really didn't have a reason to turn it down. At least, not a good reason. It was only one performance and Johnny was a sweet enough guy to put up with for a few weeks. Now that Lance was no longer pushing her in the background, she could make any choice she wanted. She'd have to talk to Moon about what songs she and Johnny would be allowed to sing, but that shouldn't be too difficult as long as nothing mushy was suggested. This was strictly a collaboration between two artists, nothing more. This new frame of mind immediately began to ease Ash's anxiety.

The only problem left was how to ask Johnny to give her a second chance. She pulled out her phone and scrolled to where Johnny's number was. She barely texted him, despite giving him her number months ago. This was due to her busy schedule with the Rejects, so her social life had to take a backseat. She didn't know what Johnny did after his lessons at the theater; only that he spent most of his time at some abandoned garage his father had worked at while leading a double life. Her thumb hovered over the CALL button. One song, she mused to herself. It's just one song. That's all it is… Just as her thumb was about to press CALL, a text alert popped up from Brandy:

Pizza's here. You eating with us? (question emoji + pizza emoji)

At the mention of pizza, Ash's stomach began to growl. A full stomach would definitely help her think of a way to tell Johnny she changed her mind.

(DISCLAIMER: "Wonderwall" trademarked to Oasis and their constituents. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" trademarked to Greenday and their constituents. I do not claim any ownership of them.)