Chapter 4

I dropped the stone abruptly and jogged over, embracing him tightly in my arms. I closed my stinging eyes and held him close to me. It felt so good to be near him again. I could feel the smile tug at the corner of his lips as he wrapped his muscular arms around my waist. He lifted me and kissed my lips softly. The smell of his cologne and the scent of his skin soothed me, and the tears stopped falling.

"Baby…" Was all that came out of his mouth after our lips hesitantly parted.

I looked up at him with red, puffy eyes. His brows lowered; a bit confused. Those dark pools of blue started to question me. I glanced downward for a moment. A large finger slipped gently under my chin, tilting it upwards. Our gazes met one another's. He slowly withdrew his finger and pulled a light brunette strand that was veiling my eye.

"What's wrong? Why're you cryin'?" He asked as his thumb wiped away the wetness on my cheeks.

"I didn't think you were here… someone said you weren't. And I..." My eyes wandered down to the ground, just quick enough to catch Johnny's.

"Who?" Johnny asked abruptly, a taste of anger in his voice. I could tell he had an idea of who it was.

"… Some guy at the studio…." I replied.

"Carlos.." He said, his voice trailing off as he started grinding his jaw slowly. "Selfish son-of-a…" He glanced into my eyes and shook his head slightly. "Ah, sorry. I'll take care of his ass later... Right now I want to be with you…" A slow smile crept back on his lips.

My eyes started to water as I saw that same smirk. The smirk I loved so much, and dreamt about every waking minute. My eyes started to cloud up.

"You don't gotta cry anymore, Baby.. I'm here.." He replied softly, tightening his embrace around me.

"I know.." I choked out slowly as I rested my chin on his shoulder. I tried hard not to spill my tears onto the fabric of his black T-shirt. I blinked quickly and kissed his cheek briefly, stroking my fingers through his soft wavy hair.

He rocked me gently and we continued to hold each other for what seemed like forever. He loosened his grip around me and looked down into my eyes.

We both looked into each other's eyes as silence crept back into the forested area. There were only sounds of gentle falling water. I stared deeply into those grayish blue eyes. They reminded me of the lake here at Kellerman's. Steel blue with gray flecks. They always had a little glow about them, and I loved the way they sparkled when he laughed. They were gorgeous.

He slowly leaned in and kissed my lips again, his soft flesh caressing against my own. They tasted so sweet against mine. His tongue gently urged my lips open. As I let his tongue in, the tip of his tongue started to stroke at mine. I tilted my head slowly and kissed back deeply.

He broke the kiss slowly and looked into my eyes.

"I missed you, Baby." He said, his voice as soft as a whisper. His eyes searched mine.

"I missed you too, Johnny." I replied softly, my hands still stroking softly as his hair.

Silence was among us once again. We both held each other still. We both hadn't seen each other in almost a year. It was apparent we both didn't mind being close. At least I certainly didn't. After a few minutes, Johnny broke the silence.

"Wanna sit down?" He asked, his head motioning towards the rock I was sitting on only moments before.

"Sure.." I said, unwrapping my arms from around him.

We both went to the large flat rock and sat down slowly. Johnny wrapped an arm around me and looked at me once again.

"So, what's Miss College girl doin' here?" He asked with a playful smirk.

"What, you thought I would come back to see you?" I said, returning a smirk that was just as playful.

"Well, I figured you might have more to do then waste your time around here.." He replied, looking out into the shallow creek.

"Oh c'mon, Johnny…" I said, nudging him slightly.

He chuckled and kissed my cheek, still looking out at the creek.

"Is Penny and Billy here too?"

"Yep."

I nodded slightly, looking out to the creek as well.

"Uh-huh… Everyone's here. I guess the bossman decided to keep us all this summer. Which is good. 'cept for the fact that he should have fired this jerk that's been here for awhile."

"Who's that?"

"That guy you met at the studio. Carlos."

Even the mention of his name brought slight anger into Johnny's voice.

"Why is he so bad?" I asked curiously.

"He's just a slimebag. He don't care 'bout anyone but himself. He's got a girlfriend n' he doesn't treat her that well either. He's just an all around punk."

"Oh…" I said, my voice trailing off.

"Yeah… But everyone has been anxious to see if you'd come back."

"Really?"

" 'course. They all think you're great." He looked surprised that I asked.

"Oh, wow…" I blinked some.

"What.. You thought they didn't like you or somethin'?"

"No, no…"

"Well don't start thinkin' that either…" He said, squeezing my shoulder reassuringly.

I nodded slightly.

"Do you wanna go up and say hi to everyone?" He asked.

"Sure." I said with a smile.

He returned the smile and we both got up off the large rock. He still had his arm wrapped around me. I could tell he didn't want to let go if he didn't have to. We both started walking the rocky trail uphill. We continued to talk.

"How long were you standing there behind me?"

"Long enough to see your skippin' skills." He said jokingly.

"I try, I try…"

"Yeah, maybe I'll teach ya sometime."

"I'd like that." I said smiling.

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A/N: [I'm thinking about changing from Baby's to Johnny's point of view every once and awhile. I mean, I won't switch it so much that you all get confused. Just at the important parts and what not. Please tell me what you all think in your reviews. I'm open for criticism so don't be afraid to say what you think about this. I also want to say that I'm really thankful for the few readers that I do have. You all are really awesome and I hope you continue to read. J ]