Sixteen years old Lois Cerullo lay across her bed on her stomach. Her
history textbook was propped on her pillow and a bowl of potato chips sat
within arm's reach. A notebook lay on the floor, long since discarded. Loud
rock music blared in the background. All the things needed for a long night
of last minute cramming. She had just reached into the bowl when she
thought she heard a soft tapping at her bedroom room. She glanced up but
the sound stopped just as she did.
Shrugging, she went back to her studying, nodding her head to the music and
occasionally mouthing the lyrics. Suddenly the tapping started up again,
this time louder and more incessant. Frowning, she sat up and turned down
the music. She listened carefully. There was definitely someone knocking on
her window.
She quickly glanced at her closed door and wondered briefly if she could
call for her father or one of her brothers. Nixing the idea she grabbed the
baseball bat from under the bed and inched towards the window. Holding the
bat high in one hand, she pushed back the curtains and pulled up the
blinds. She gasped and jumped back when she saw who it was. He just grinned
at her and motioned for her to open the window. She scowled back.
"I am going to kill you one of these days, Michael Corinthos!" She muttered
out as she dropped the bat and raised up the window and then the screen.
"What did I tell you?" He said as he climbed in. "It's Sonny now."
"I told you before that I don't like you working for Joe Scully. So I'm not
going to call you by any nickname he gives you." She folded her arms and
glared at him.
Sonny sauntered over to Lois's bed. He tossed her textbook over his
shoulder and grabbed the bowl of chips. He stretched out on her bed,
shrugged, and scooped up a handful of chips.
"Hey I'm a man now. A man has to do things to survive sometimes, dangerous
things."
Lois looked at Sonny's foot and raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? How's the foot
by the way?"
Sonny reddened and looked away. He mumbled, "It's better. And that was an
accident."
"Yeah and you did it to yourself." Lois pointed out. "Those guys out there
can and will do worst to you than that. Just watch."
"Look, Joe says accidents happen all of the time. It's no big deal, I just
gotta watch what I do with it next time."
"Joe says this, Joe says that. You act like whatever that man says is
gospel."
Sonny shrugged and continued eating her chips.
"I just hope you learned your lesson with that gun and you're not using it
anymore."
Sonny just looked at her.
Lois drew herself up and said loudly, "You better not have that thing with
you right now!"
Sonny jumped up. "Jeez! Lower your voice. Do you want your dad to catch me
in here?"
Lois winced. She'd forgotten about her parents. She said softly. "That gun
better not be in my room."
"Hold on." Sonny muttered. He reached into his jacket and pulled out the
gun that Joe Scully had recently given him. "Here, I'll put it over here on
the dresser. Okay?"
"Fine." Lois gritted out. She didn't relax until Sonny had placed the gun
on her dresser across the room. Then she sat cross-legged in the middle of
the bed. "So what are you doing here?"
Sonny shrugged and leaned against the dresser. "I don't know. Just wanted
to see you I guess."
Lois lifted and eyebrow and looked at him. Sonny shifted his weight from
one foot to the other and ran a hand through his dark curls. Lois rolled
her eyes. "You needed some place to be?"
He looked down at the floor. "Yeah."
"It's okay, I guess." Lois said. Then she frowned. "You're not, like,
hiding out from some one are you? Cause my parents will freak if you
bring—"
Sonny straightened up and waved his hands in the air. "No, no, it's not
like that. I had no place to go, you know?"
"Well, then okay." Lois pulled at one of her ponytails and suddenly
realized that she had her hair in two ponytails. In front of Michael
Corinthos. She groaned then started pulling her hair out of the elastic
holders. "Oh my God…"
Sonny laughed at her. "Hey, no, I think they're cute."
"Shut up." She muttered as she raked her fingers through her dark hair. She
started frantically explaining. "I only wear my hair like this when I'm
studying. It's not like I actually wear this out in public or anything."
He walked across the room and sat down on the bed next to her. "So what are
you studying?"
"American history." Lois answered. "There's a big test tomorrow. You'd have
it too if you were still in school."
"Don't start that again." Sonny groaned and lay back on the bed, his head
close to her thigh.
"But Michael—"
"Sonny." He corrected in a bored tone.
"Sonny, Michael, John, idiot, I don't care!" Lois said agitated. "Why does
Joe Scully need you? Can't he at least wait until you've graduated high
school? You're only 17 for goodness sake."
"Going to be eighteen soon." He pointed out.
"So what. Can't you go to school and still work for Scully?" Lois asked.
"I could but I don't want to. It's my decision, Lois."
"And what do you get out of this anyway?" Lois asked. "I know what Joe
gets. Another stupid foot soldier ready to get killed for a few dollars."
"That's not how it is at all. I see Joe and I see what I want to be. Rich
and respected and powerful. When people see Joe they know *that's* not a
man you mess with." Sonny said with a touch of awe in his voice.
"Yeah, he's rich and powerful." Lois said. "But he's not respected. He's
feared. People don't respect people like him, they're only scared of them."
"Same thing." Sonny shrugged.
"No it's not." Lois said.
"When I get to the same level Joe is on, people *will* respect me." Sonny
insisted.
"Ugh! You are so frustrating." Lois groaned.
"Yeah but you love me." He grinned up at her.
"No, I don't." Lois blushed.
"I don't know… I remember someone who looked a lot like you telling me that
she loved me two months ago." Sonny teased.
Lois covered her face with her hands. "Shut up! I didn't know what I was
saying. I was drunk okay?"
"I better not hear about you hanging out with those guys again either. If I
hadn't found you when I did there was no telling what would have happened."
He was serious.
"I was okay. Julie was with me. And you're not my father, you can't tell me
what to do." Lois snapped. Anger had replaced her embarrassment.
Sonny pushed himself up on his elbows. "It's my job to watch out for you,
to make sure you don't get hurt."
"No, your job is to do whatever Joe Scully says and possibly get yourself
killed." Lois muttered. "I don't need another brother, thank you very
much."
"I'm not trying to be your brother or your father." Sonny said softly.
At his soft tone, Lois glanced down at him curiously. The look in his eye
had her blushing and looking away. She cleared her throat and said, "What
have you been up to tonight?"
Realizing that the moment had past, Sonny shrugged and said. "Nothing you'd
want to know about. Have you uh, seen my mother?"
Lois nodded. "Yeah. A few days ago. I gave her the money like you wanted
and told her where to hide it. My mom asked her over for dinner but she
said no. Said that Deke didn't like eating at other people's houses or some
lame excuse like that. She didn't get that mom wasn't asking Deke over."
Sonny tensed up at the mention of his stepfather. "Deke." Sonny said
viciously.
Lois ran her fingers through his hair, hoping he would calm down. "She gave
me a message for you."
"What?"
"She told me to tell you she loved you and to come home when you can. And
she wanted me to give you a kiss."
"Oh?" Sonny lifted an eyebrow. "You're going to give me a kiss?"
"No!" Lois shook her head.
"Come on." He nudged her knee. "Just a little one. For my mother's sake."
"Sonny!" She squealed, embarrassed. Kiss Michael? Good lord, she'd probably
die.
"That's the first time you called me Sonny." He noted.
"Don't get used to it." She warned. "It just slipped out."
"I like the way you say it." He murmured. He reached up and touched her
cheek. "By the way, you're a little red here." He touched the other one.
"And here."
"I'm not kissing you." She mumbled. She felt like such an idiot around him
some times. Usually she could be cool and then he'd say something or do
something or just look at her and she'd turn into a bumbling fool.
"I'll get it next time." He assured her with a sly smile. "So is studying
all you got going tonight?"
"Yeah…" She said slowly.
"Then you wouldn't mind if I stayed the night on the floor?" He asked
hopefully. "I don't have any place to go tonight."
"Michael…"
He maneuvered around so that his head was now in her lap. "Please."
"I have to study." She said weakly.
He smiled broadly up at her. "Please."
"Put those damn dimples away. They don't work on me, I have some of my
own." Lois muttered. Sonny continued to look up at her. She closed her
eyes. Damn hormones. They turn against me every time. "Fine."
"You're the best, Lois." He said.
I'm not the best, she thought. I'm an idiot, a fool, a nitwit. I'm a sucker
for him and those stupid dimples no matter what I say to him.
"You have to be quiet so that I can get some studying though." Lois told
him. She mentally rolled her eyes. Not like I'm going to get any real
studying with him in the room.
"No problem." He promised her. "Could you do me another favor?"
She sighed. "What?"
"Got anything to eat? You know, other than some stale potato chips."
"They aren't stale." She protested.
"I'm a growing boy. I need some meat and potatoes." Sonny told her.
"Growing boy?" She muttered. "Just a few minutes ago you were a man."
"Is that a yes?" He asked sitting up.
Lois slid off the bed. "I'll be right back. Be quiet and don't answer the
door if anyone knocks."
"Aye, aye captain." Sonny smirked.
"I'm serious." Lois said. "My parents catch you here and they'll throw you
out, ground me, and put bars on my window. And if my brothers catch you,
they'll just kick your butt."
Sonny picked at his fingers. "Your family don't like me much, do they?"
Lois paused at the door and gave him a look. "They don't like who you're
hanging out with. And they don't want me hanging with you while you're
hooked up with those guys."
"Come on, don't you think you'd make a good mob moll?" Sonny grinned.
Lois rolled her eyes. "Please."
~*~*~
Downstairs Lois had just finished making Sonny a plate of leftovers. Some
of the roast her mother had made for dinner that night with a side of
vegetables and potatoes. She poured a glass of milk while she waited for
the food to heat up.
"Lois?"
Her hand jerked and milk spilled onto the counter. Lois glanced over her
shoulder. "Ma! Hey."
"Scared you?" Gloria Cerullo picked up a wet sponge and mopped up the milk.
"I thought every one was asleep." Lois said with a weak smile.
"I heard someone in the kitchen so I came down to investigate." Her mother
explained.
"Oh. Well, it was just me." Lois decided that the plate was hot enough and
grabbed it out of the oven. She added a few slices of bread to it.
"Making a little snack I see." Gloria raised her eyebrow. "Or a big one.
That's a lot of food."
"Got a big test to study for. You know how it is." Lois said. "I need lots
of brain food."
"What about the potato chips I saw you take up an hour ago?"
"Gone. I was so into my studying that I just…I just ate them right up."
Lois hoped her mother would believe her lie and let her go on back to her
room.
Gloria studied her for a moment before saying. "Michael can stay for
another hour and then he has to go, do you hear me?"
Lois stared at her mother astonished. How had she'd know? She managed to
nod and say, "Yeah, sure. He was just a little hungry that's all."
Gloria smiled kindly at her daughter. "I understand. Your father doesn't
know." She added before Lois could even ask. Lois smiled gratefully at her
mom.
Lois grabbed the plate and the milk and sprinted back to her room. She
barged into her room saying, "My mother knows you're here."
She stopped short. Sonny was sprawled out on her bed, sleeping and snoring
lightly with her pillow stuffed under his head. Lois shook her head. All
that trouble she went through and he was asleep. She kicked her door shut
with her foot and placed the food and drink on her dresser.
She grabbed her textbook off the floor on her way back to her bed. She slid
onto the bed, carefully so she wouldn't wake up Sonny. She opened the book
back up to the page she was at before Sonny popped in. After reading the
same paragraph three times and still having no idea what it said Lois
closed the book with a sigh. She couldn't study. Not with him next to her.
She studied him closely. He looked so peaceful, so at rest when he was
sleeping. He wasn't trying to prove himself to anyone. He was her Michael.
Her best friend for years. Her unattainable crush.
Lois groaned. Why, she thought, why do I have to have a crush on him of all
people? He's running with Joe Scully. He's only going to end up dead.
And if he dies, I'll die.
He doesn't get why I'm so against him doing this. He only sees me as a
friend, one of the gang.
Right?
Or maybe I haven't been imagining those looks he's been giving me.
Who am I kidding? Now that he's part of the Scully organization he's
probably around tons of women. Real women. Women who don't have to cram for
history tests or hide him in their rooms from their fathers.
God, I am such a kid. Michael wouldn't look twice at me. Thank God he
doesn't know about my crush.
Sonny sighed in his sleep and Lois glanced down at him. Giving into her
impulses she trailed a finger down his cheek and across his lips. His lips
parted slightly from her gentle caress and she sighed.
He's going to be trouble.
history textbook was propped on her pillow and a bowl of potato chips sat
within arm's reach. A notebook lay on the floor, long since discarded. Loud
rock music blared in the background. All the things needed for a long night
of last minute cramming. She had just reached into the bowl when she
thought she heard a soft tapping at her bedroom room. She glanced up but
the sound stopped just as she did.
Shrugging, she went back to her studying, nodding her head to the music and
occasionally mouthing the lyrics. Suddenly the tapping started up again,
this time louder and more incessant. Frowning, she sat up and turned down
the music. She listened carefully. There was definitely someone knocking on
her window.
She quickly glanced at her closed door and wondered briefly if she could
call for her father or one of her brothers. Nixing the idea she grabbed the
baseball bat from under the bed and inched towards the window. Holding the
bat high in one hand, she pushed back the curtains and pulled up the
blinds. She gasped and jumped back when she saw who it was. He just grinned
at her and motioned for her to open the window. She scowled back.
"I am going to kill you one of these days, Michael Corinthos!" She muttered
out as she dropped the bat and raised up the window and then the screen.
"What did I tell you?" He said as he climbed in. "It's Sonny now."
"I told you before that I don't like you working for Joe Scully. So I'm not
going to call you by any nickname he gives you." She folded her arms and
glared at him.
Sonny sauntered over to Lois's bed. He tossed her textbook over his
shoulder and grabbed the bowl of chips. He stretched out on her bed,
shrugged, and scooped up a handful of chips.
"Hey I'm a man now. A man has to do things to survive sometimes, dangerous
things."
Lois looked at Sonny's foot and raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? How's the foot
by the way?"
Sonny reddened and looked away. He mumbled, "It's better. And that was an
accident."
"Yeah and you did it to yourself." Lois pointed out. "Those guys out there
can and will do worst to you than that. Just watch."
"Look, Joe says accidents happen all of the time. It's no big deal, I just
gotta watch what I do with it next time."
"Joe says this, Joe says that. You act like whatever that man says is
gospel."
Sonny shrugged and continued eating her chips.
"I just hope you learned your lesson with that gun and you're not using it
anymore."
Sonny just looked at her.
Lois drew herself up and said loudly, "You better not have that thing with
you right now!"
Sonny jumped up. "Jeez! Lower your voice. Do you want your dad to catch me
in here?"
Lois winced. She'd forgotten about her parents. She said softly. "That gun
better not be in my room."
"Hold on." Sonny muttered. He reached into his jacket and pulled out the
gun that Joe Scully had recently given him. "Here, I'll put it over here on
the dresser. Okay?"
"Fine." Lois gritted out. She didn't relax until Sonny had placed the gun
on her dresser across the room. Then she sat cross-legged in the middle of
the bed. "So what are you doing here?"
Sonny shrugged and leaned against the dresser. "I don't know. Just wanted
to see you I guess."
Lois lifted and eyebrow and looked at him. Sonny shifted his weight from
one foot to the other and ran a hand through his dark curls. Lois rolled
her eyes. "You needed some place to be?"
He looked down at the floor. "Yeah."
"It's okay, I guess." Lois said. Then she frowned. "You're not, like,
hiding out from some one are you? Cause my parents will freak if you
bring—"
Sonny straightened up and waved his hands in the air. "No, no, it's not
like that. I had no place to go, you know?"
"Well, then okay." Lois pulled at one of her ponytails and suddenly
realized that she had her hair in two ponytails. In front of Michael
Corinthos. She groaned then started pulling her hair out of the elastic
holders. "Oh my God…"
Sonny laughed at her. "Hey, no, I think they're cute."
"Shut up." She muttered as she raked her fingers through her dark hair. She
started frantically explaining. "I only wear my hair like this when I'm
studying. It's not like I actually wear this out in public or anything."
He walked across the room and sat down on the bed next to her. "So what are
you studying?"
"American history." Lois answered. "There's a big test tomorrow. You'd have
it too if you were still in school."
"Don't start that again." Sonny groaned and lay back on the bed, his head
close to her thigh.
"But Michael—"
"Sonny." He corrected in a bored tone.
"Sonny, Michael, John, idiot, I don't care!" Lois said agitated. "Why does
Joe Scully need you? Can't he at least wait until you've graduated high
school? You're only 17 for goodness sake."
"Going to be eighteen soon." He pointed out.
"So what. Can't you go to school and still work for Scully?" Lois asked.
"I could but I don't want to. It's my decision, Lois."
"And what do you get out of this anyway?" Lois asked. "I know what Joe
gets. Another stupid foot soldier ready to get killed for a few dollars."
"That's not how it is at all. I see Joe and I see what I want to be. Rich
and respected and powerful. When people see Joe they know *that's* not a
man you mess with." Sonny said with a touch of awe in his voice.
"Yeah, he's rich and powerful." Lois said. "But he's not respected. He's
feared. People don't respect people like him, they're only scared of them."
"Same thing." Sonny shrugged.
"No it's not." Lois said.
"When I get to the same level Joe is on, people *will* respect me." Sonny
insisted.
"Ugh! You are so frustrating." Lois groaned.
"Yeah but you love me." He grinned up at her.
"No, I don't." Lois blushed.
"I don't know… I remember someone who looked a lot like you telling me that
she loved me two months ago." Sonny teased.
Lois covered her face with her hands. "Shut up! I didn't know what I was
saying. I was drunk okay?"
"I better not hear about you hanging out with those guys again either. If I
hadn't found you when I did there was no telling what would have happened."
He was serious.
"I was okay. Julie was with me. And you're not my father, you can't tell me
what to do." Lois snapped. Anger had replaced her embarrassment.
Sonny pushed himself up on his elbows. "It's my job to watch out for you,
to make sure you don't get hurt."
"No, your job is to do whatever Joe Scully says and possibly get yourself
killed." Lois muttered. "I don't need another brother, thank you very
much."
"I'm not trying to be your brother or your father." Sonny said softly.
At his soft tone, Lois glanced down at him curiously. The look in his eye
had her blushing and looking away. She cleared her throat and said, "What
have you been up to tonight?"
Realizing that the moment had past, Sonny shrugged and said. "Nothing you'd
want to know about. Have you uh, seen my mother?"
Lois nodded. "Yeah. A few days ago. I gave her the money like you wanted
and told her where to hide it. My mom asked her over for dinner but she
said no. Said that Deke didn't like eating at other people's houses or some
lame excuse like that. She didn't get that mom wasn't asking Deke over."
Sonny tensed up at the mention of his stepfather. "Deke." Sonny said
viciously.
Lois ran her fingers through his hair, hoping he would calm down. "She gave
me a message for you."
"What?"
"She told me to tell you she loved you and to come home when you can. And
she wanted me to give you a kiss."
"Oh?" Sonny lifted an eyebrow. "You're going to give me a kiss?"
"No!" Lois shook her head.
"Come on." He nudged her knee. "Just a little one. For my mother's sake."
"Sonny!" She squealed, embarrassed. Kiss Michael? Good lord, she'd probably
die.
"That's the first time you called me Sonny." He noted.
"Don't get used to it." She warned. "It just slipped out."
"I like the way you say it." He murmured. He reached up and touched her
cheek. "By the way, you're a little red here." He touched the other one.
"And here."
"I'm not kissing you." She mumbled. She felt like such an idiot around him
some times. Usually she could be cool and then he'd say something or do
something or just look at her and she'd turn into a bumbling fool.
"I'll get it next time." He assured her with a sly smile. "So is studying
all you got going tonight?"
"Yeah…" She said slowly.
"Then you wouldn't mind if I stayed the night on the floor?" He asked
hopefully. "I don't have any place to go tonight."
"Michael…"
He maneuvered around so that his head was now in her lap. "Please."
"I have to study." She said weakly.
He smiled broadly up at her. "Please."
"Put those damn dimples away. They don't work on me, I have some of my
own." Lois muttered. Sonny continued to look up at her. She closed her
eyes. Damn hormones. They turn against me every time. "Fine."
"You're the best, Lois." He said.
I'm not the best, she thought. I'm an idiot, a fool, a nitwit. I'm a sucker
for him and those stupid dimples no matter what I say to him.
"You have to be quiet so that I can get some studying though." Lois told
him. She mentally rolled her eyes. Not like I'm going to get any real
studying with him in the room.
"No problem." He promised her. "Could you do me another favor?"
She sighed. "What?"
"Got anything to eat? You know, other than some stale potato chips."
"They aren't stale." She protested.
"I'm a growing boy. I need some meat and potatoes." Sonny told her.
"Growing boy?" She muttered. "Just a few minutes ago you were a man."
"Is that a yes?" He asked sitting up.
Lois slid off the bed. "I'll be right back. Be quiet and don't answer the
door if anyone knocks."
"Aye, aye captain." Sonny smirked.
"I'm serious." Lois said. "My parents catch you here and they'll throw you
out, ground me, and put bars on my window. And if my brothers catch you,
they'll just kick your butt."
Sonny picked at his fingers. "Your family don't like me much, do they?"
Lois paused at the door and gave him a look. "They don't like who you're
hanging out with. And they don't want me hanging with you while you're
hooked up with those guys."
"Come on, don't you think you'd make a good mob moll?" Sonny grinned.
Lois rolled her eyes. "Please."
~*~*~
Downstairs Lois had just finished making Sonny a plate of leftovers. Some
of the roast her mother had made for dinner that night with a side of
vegetables and potatoes. She poured a glass of milk while she waited for
the food to heat up.
"Lois?"
Her hand jerked and milk spilled onto the counter. Lois glanced over her
shoulder. "Ma! Hey."
"Scared you?" Gloria Cerullo picked up a wet sponge and mopped up the milk.
"I thought every one was asleep." Lois said with a weak smile.
"I heard someone in the kitchen so I came down to investigate." Her mother
explained.
"Oh. Well, it was just me." Lois decided that the plate was hot enough and
grabbed it out of the oven. She added a few slices of bread to it.
"Making a little snack I see." Gloria raised her eyebrow. "Or a big one.
That's a lot of food."
"Got a big test to study for. You know how it is." Lois said. "I need lots
of brain food."
"What about the potato chips I saw you take up an hour ago?"
"Gone. I was so into my studying that I just…I just ate them right up."
Lois hoped her mother would believe her lie and let her go on back to her
room.
Gloria studied her for a moment before saying. "Michael can stay for
another hour and then he has to go, do you hear me?"
Lois stared at her mother astonished. How had she'd know? She managed to
nod and say, "Yeah, sure. He was just a little hungry that's all."
Gloria smiled kindly at her daughter. "I understand. Your father doesn't
know." She added before Lois could even ask. Lois smiled gratefully at her
mom.
Lois grabbed the plate and the milk and sprinted back to her room. She
barged into her room saying, "My mother knows you're here."
She stopped short. Sonny was sprawled out on her bed, sleeping and snoring
lightly with her pillow stuffed under his head. Lois shook her head. All
that trouble she went through and he was asleep. She kicked her door shut
with her foot and placed the food and drink on her dresser.
She grabbed her textbook off the floor on her way back to her bed. She slid
onto the bed, carefully so she wouldn't wake up Sonny. She opened the book
back up to the page she was at before Sonny popped in. After reading the
same paragraph three times and still having no idea what it said Lois
closed the book with a sigh. She couldn't study. Not with him next to her.
She studied him closely. He looked so peaceful, so at rest when he was
sleeping. He wasn't trying to prove himself to anyone. He was her Michael.
Her best friend for years. Her unattainable crush.
Lois groaned. Why, she thought, why do I have to have a crush on him of all
people? He's running with Joe Scully. He's only going to end up dead.
And if he dies, I'll die.
He doesn't get why I'm so against him doing this. He only sees me as a
friend, one of the gang.
Right?
Or maybe I haven't been imagining those looks he's been giving me.
Who am I kidding? Now that he's part of the Scully organization he's
probably around tons of women. Real women. Women who don't have to cram for
history tests or hide him in their rooms from their fathers.
God, I am such a kid. Michael wouldn't look twice at me. Thank God he
doesn't know about my crush.
Sonny sighed in his sleep and Lois glanced down at him. Giving into her
impulses she trailed a finger down his cheek and across his lips. His lips
parted slightly from her gentle caress and she sighed.
He's going to be trouble.