A/N: This chapter is a lot shorter then the first one, but I'll be posting chapter 3 on Monday because of that! Enjoy!

Warning: Unbeta - all mistakes are my own!

Chapter Two

Stepping back from Johnny, she kept her arms on his forearms and smiled at her old friend. Shocked he was in front of her, last they had talked he had been on his way to jail. Taking the fall for her for her plan with Valerie. She owed him so much.

"Are you free?" Lulu asked after a moment. Dropping her hands from around him. Not sure if she should push him out of the house, where her kids were sleeping or offer him a place to hide.

He just smirked at her, "Why, you gonna hide me?" he asked.

One thing Johnny had always known was LuLu, knew her better than she knew herself at times. "I'll do anything for you Johnny." She told him which was true; he kept her out of jail and protected her. He had always protected her.

His smirk softened into a smile and grabbed her around the waist. "Is the donut muncher around?"

The giggled that escaped her was wrong, Dante may be her ex but she still cared about him. Still, she did not correct him. "No, we uh spilt about two months ago." she admitted and decided standing out in the cold where the neighbors could see them might be an issue if he was on the lamb. "Come in," pulling him, she let the door slam behind him. Glad her kids slept like the dead.

"Hell Lulu, I'm sorry. Had no idea." his tone apologetic, acting as if he was afraid she would break down from it. Of course, he would assume it was Dante who ruined their marriage. LuLu could rarely do wrong in Johnny's eyes, something that was flattering and she could shook her head.

"My idea Johnny, Dante wanted to work on our marriage but a lot has changed since last winter." The day she said goodbye to him, her and Dante had their issues but they had worked through them.

"Did he cheat, again?"

Lulu could not help but laugh at the anger in his tone. "Gonna kidnap him and torture him if he did?"

"For hurting you? Hell yeah." His tone left little room for doubt; he would do it in a heartbeat.

"No, he didn't cheat. It's a lot more complicated than that." Her divorce had been for her children, in its simplest form, but saying that wouldn't make much sense to Johnny.

"Well I'm on the lamb so I don't have a lot of time for long stories." Tilting her head to the side, she raised an eyebrow at his joke. He laughed and shook his own head. "I'm not on the lamb Lulu, I'm free. This is next time."

Referencing his goodbye to her, 'til next time,' she could not help but launch herself into his arms. He would never say it was her fault he was in jail, but when you boiled it down, she was. Knowing he was free felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and buried his face into her hair. "I work on what you asked Lulu, I was a model prisoner. I worked on myself. No gangs." he whispered through the strands of her hair.

Her eyes felt wet and she pulled back just enough to look at him. "I'm so proud of you Johnny." And she was, Johnny had been dealt a tough hand. She had seen it up close, how hard he worked to be a better person than Anthony but always wound up getting sucked back in.

His own eyes were wet and he kissed her forehead. "It was you Lulu, all you." She did not feel like she could take credit, she had tried their entire relationship to get him to be the good guy he could be.

"It was all you Johnny, don't give me credit."

"That kiss on New Year's kept me going, kept being a good guy in the forefront of my mind." Feeling her cheeks flames as he brought up the kiss they had shared over a year ago, which she had thought about more than a few times. Johnny and she had chemistry; they had since they had met all those years.

"I'm glad you got your head on straight Johnny." she said simply and pulled away. "Want a drink?"

Wanting to change the subject and put some space between them, the feelings he had brought up into her to heavy and she needed space.

"Uh, actually I gotta head out. Made arrangements for an apartment, need to go look at it." He sensed her being a bit uncomfortable and was willing to give her space. She was torn as if she wanted the space but knew it would probably be a good idea. Pausing halfway to the kitchen, she turned to face him.

"Oh, okay." Walking back towards him.

"How about we meet for coffee tomorrow?" In public being seen with Johnny could lead to questions but she doubted Valentin would be at Kelly's and she did want to catch up with him. He was still one of her closest friends.

"I'd like that; I can meet you before I head over to work." She could pick up Maxie and Nina a cup as well. Butter up while getting to spend some time with Johnny.

He moved towards her and hugged her. "Want to hear about all the changes in your life."

She returned the hug easily and graced his jaw with a peck. "Fair. Wanna hear about your future plans as well." Obviously, he was going to stay in Port Charles, which suited her just fine. She could always use more friends. Especially ones like Johnny.

"Night Lulu," pulling back, he gave her a wink and headed to her front door. "Til next time," with a wave, he slipped through the door.

Once it was closed, Lulu sank down to the couch and tried to process everything Johnny made her think by showing up on the other side of her door. She almost reached for her cell phone to dial Maxie but held back. Unsure if Johnny wanted the news he was back in town to spread. Instead, she leaned against the couch and tried to push all thoughts of the enigmatic man from her mind.