A/N: Okay, I lied. No Carly and Johnny together this chapter. More Carly and Lulu, and more Johnny by himself. Sorry if this is a little short, but there is a method to how I'm setting things up. Don't worry, there will be some JoLu scenes coming, never fear loyal viewers!! wink.gif

Major thanks to all who review!

Chapter 4: What Happens Then?

"Okay, you know what," Carly said, "I can't deal with this right now."

"But Carly – "

"No. I don't want to hear it. You know the repercussions about being with Johnny and yet you still want to be with him."

"Listen to me," Lulu pleaded. "I've tried to stay away from him, but I can't."

"Yes, I know all too well about the allure of the bad boy, remember?"

"Exactly! So you should understand my feelings!"

"Yes, I do, but I also know the consequences of having such a relationship." Carly put her hand over Lulu's. "Trust me; I know what I'm talking about."

"Right," she said with a hint of hurt in her voice. "Says the woman who's been married to not one, but two mobsters."

"Lulu – "

"No! You of all people should understand! You've been married to the mob twice – no, wait – 3 times! You married Sonny twice! My dad was in the mob for a bit, so that means my mom was married to the mob, too. And even Tracy admitted she was married to the mob for a short while. And look at you. You've all turned out fine!"

"Yes, but Lulu, the key word here is 'was'. As in no longer. Because it is dangerous! I've been kidnapped and shot!"

Lulu took a deep sigh. "Have you never taken a chance on anything?" Not waiting for a response, she continued. "Of course you have. That's why you tried so long to make it work with Sonny. And if you didn't you wouldn't have Morgan, now would you?"

Carly narrowed her eyes. "What are you getting at?"

"Could you imagine your life without Morgan in it? Because if you didn't take that chance on Sonny, he wouldn't be here."

"But our marriage didn't work out, Lulu!"

"And why did it ultimately fail in the end, huh? Not because of some mob thing, because you held the truth about Kristina from him."

"That's unfair."

"But true." She softened her voice. "I know Johnny won't hurt me, no matter what he says. He hasn't yet, despite his hurtful words because I know the truth! And I know he will keep me safe at all costs. Are you going to deny me my one chance?"

"Lulu…" Carly's voice trailed off. Lulu made some valid points, and to be honest, she truly liked Johnny. "I think you are doing the wrong thing and you are only going to get hurt or even killed in the end."

Lulu cracked a small smile, the first one all night. "Does that mean you're going to help me figure out how to get Johnny to stop pushing me away?"

"You're going to do it anyway whether or not I help, correct?"

"Damn right."

"Then what other choice do I have?"

Johnny woke up to banging on his hotel door and in his head. He glanced at his watch – 9:45am. Who the hell was bothering him this early? He slowly got out of bed and walked over to open the door.

"Good morning, sir," a waiter said as he entered with a cart. "Room service."

"I didn't order any room service."

"Mrs. Jax took care of it last night. She also wanted you to have this," he replied, handing him an envelope.

Slightly surprised at Carly's generosity, he gave the waiter a tip and let him out. He opened the envelope, curious to see what it said. He had a small grin on his face when he read its contents:

Johnny –

I figured you'd need this after your little binge last night. Thank you for looking out for Lulu.

– Carly

P.S. I never apologized for accusing you of killing Leticia and I never thanked you for saving mine and Lulu's lives.

Well, he thought, that's probably the closest thing I'm going to get to a real apology and thanks. But it was good enough for him.

He reached over to take the cover off the tray and laughed at what he saw there: Dry toast, a pot of coffee, 2 bottles of water, a bottle of aspirin and another shot of Jack. When all else fails – hair of the dog.

Right now, though, he had a splitting headache. He took the shot and one bottle of water to put in the fridge. Then he shook four aspirin out of the bottle and chased that down with the rest of the water. Not feeling human enough to face the world, Johnny decided that a few more hours of sleep wouldn't hurt him.

He was wrong.