Chapter 5 – Magic Moment

Lulu was shocked. For some reason she never expected Johnny to ask her about what happened. She knew if she said she didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't press, but she did want to talk about it. She felt like she could tell Johnny anything and he would understand. He would probably say everything she needed to hear and he wouldn't judge her for any of her feelings. Lulu took a deep breath before speaking.

"Are you sure you want the answer to that?" Lulu breathed.

"Not if you don't want to tell me," Johnny replied. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"I trust you...it's just...I don't know," Lulu said softly. "I haven't told anyone about it yet. I don't even know where to start."

"Start from the beginning," Johnny encouraged. "Say as much or as little as you want and I'll listen."

Lulu knew Johnny was telling the truth. The problem was she didn't know what exactly the beginning was. Did she tell him about her father's feud with Scott? Or did she just say she was dating Logan and explain the details of the bet? She decided the history of her parents' love was too much for now. She met Johnny's eyes and the look there amazed her. His gaze held so much patience and kindness and he had begun to soothingly caress her arm.

"I guess it started with this guy," Lulu said with a sarcastic laugh. "You probably think I'm ridiculous for being so upset about a guy."

"I think if you're this upset whatever he did was bad," Johnny commented.

"Well, at first he was great," Lulu began. "Maybe not great, but good. I liked spending time with him and I thought that maybe I had finally found someone, you know? I ended up sleeping with him, which is not something I take lightly. That's when things went bad. It turns out that Logan, that's his name, made a bet that he could get me into bed."

"What?" Johnny asked and his jaw tensed.

"There is this other girl that I know," Lulu continued. "She not only hates me, but she has made it her personal mission to ruin my life. So Maxie, the one who hates me, made this bet with Logan. She told him if he could worm his way into my life and get me in his bed, she would sleep with him."

"And he went through with it?" Johnny guessed.

"Right," Lulu nodded and her eyes filled with tears. "Then he tried to hide it from me and Maxie got to be the one to throw it in my face."

Lulu felt all the pain come rushing back and she let herself cry. She sunk into Johnny and he held her tightly until she got all of her pain out. She didn't know how it was possible but she felt better. Just being in Johnny's arms made her feel safe and cared for, a feeling she never really experienced with anyone else. A feeling that scared her and she pulled away a little.

"Are you okay?" Johnny asked with concern.

"I will be," Lulu answered. "I'm sorry I fell apart like that."

"You don't have to apologize to me," Johnny said sweetly. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"I'm kind of used to going through bad things," Lulu responded. "You just have to learn from it and try to make better choices in the future."

"You're amazing," Johnny observed.

"What?" Lulu questioned.

"You've been through something really hurtful," Johnny explained. "Some jerk hurts you more than anyone as beautiful as you should be hurt and you aren't looking for pity like most people. You're just trying to move on and you're not letting the pain get you down."

Lulu couldn't breathe. Johnny was too good to be true and she really had nothing to say to his praise of her attitude. How could he think so much of her? And calling her beautiful. She had been in the rain for at least an hour and her hair was a mess. His sweats didn't exactly show off her body and she had been crying. Beautiful was not the word she would use to describe herself in this moment. She stayed quiet and didn't realize she was crying again.

"I'm sorry, Lulu," Johnny said, when he saw the tears. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, it's not your fault," Lulu assured him. "Well it is, but I'm not sad or anything."

"I'm confused," Johnny admitted.

"Me too," Lulu said. "You called me beautiful and I know I can't be right now. You said all these wonderful things to me and I don't deserve them. You don't know everything about me. Trust me, I probably deserved what Logan did."

"Never," Johnny replied. "No one deserves something like that. I may not know you too well but I know that it takes a resilient spirit to go through what you went through and come out stronger. And yes, Lulu. I think you're beautiful. I could never think anything else because your beauty is not just skin deep."

"Are you trying to make me cry again?" Lulu wondered.

"I'm trying to be honest, but maybe I shouldn't," Johnny answered. "I really don't like seeing you cry."

"Well maybe we should switch to a lighter subject matter," Lulu suggested.

"Okay, but one more thing," Johnny responded.

"What?" Lulu asked.

"If you need help with Logan you can call me," Johnny said with a smile. "I have a feeling I could keep him from hurting you again."

"It would be hard for me to call you without your number," Lulu observed.

"I'll have to make sure you get that then," Johnny said, smirking.

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"Mr. Lansing," the guard said into the phone. "We've got his car. It's abandoned and the rain has washed away any chance of us finding what direction he went."

"Well what are you calling me for?" Trevor boomed. "I want you to find him, whatever it takes and bring him back by morning."

"Yes, sir," the guard said before hanging up.

He looked at the car in front of him, having no idea which direction to go and wanting nothing more than to get out of the rain. He started his car and picked a direction, wondering how far away from the car Johnny had gone.

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Johnny couldn't stop laughing. After Lulu had told him about Logan, who Johnny planned on tracking down and teaching a lesson, they had started telling funnier stories. Johnny had shared the story of his first arrest and Lulu had shared a story about stealing from her step mother. He had never felt so relaxed in his life and he was terrified of the time when the feeling would go away. He loved the feeling of Lulu's skin under his fingertips as he subconsciously ran his hand up and down her arm. The way it felt to have her laugh into his chest. He finally contained his laughter and looked at Lulu who was resting in his arms like the space was made for her.

"Alright, it's your turn," Lulu said, stifling her laughter. "Another story."

"What kind?" Johnny wondered. "Another being arrested story or one of just me on my own?"

"Hmm," Lulu thought. "Maybe one about your mom."

"I don't have a lot of memories about my mom," Johnny admitted. "None of the stories are entertaining."

"Not one of them?" Lulu questioned.

"Well, there was the first time I went camping," Johnny said with a smile. "My mom told me that she wanted to do something different. Get out of the house on a special getaway to a top secret place. She packed me up in the car and we drove to this clearing. I was little and I couldn't really do much but watch as she pitched the tent and made a fire."

"You're right that's not entertaining," Lulu mocked and Johnny rolled his eyes.

"What did I tell you about patience?" he asked, laughing. "Anyway, I was bored and she couldn't entertain me with nature walks or fishing-"

"Fishing?" Lulu questioned. "You've been fishing before?"

"Yes," Johnny answered warily and Lulu began laughing again. "What is so funny about that?"

"You just don't strike me as a fisherman," Lulu said between giggles.

"I'm not," Johnny admitted. "I never caught anything so I quit, but that's not the point."

"I'm sorry, continue," Lulu replied.

"So my mom cooked and then we watched the sun go behind the trees and the stars come out," Johnny continued. "I was young enough then that my bedtime was when it got dark in the summer time. So she tucked me in and I asked her to tell me a scary story before I went to sleep."

Johnny started to tell Lulu the scary story that his mom had told him as a child. She was engrossed in the story just as he had been when his mom first told it to him. He got to the climax of the story and looked to Lulu who was propped up on her elbow and leaning close to him.

"And the girl walked around the tree and the monster grabbed her," Johnny exclaimed.

As he finished, Johnny squeezed Lulu and made her scream. He then began tickling her mercilessly inside the sleeping bag. She squirmed and squealed and Johnny smiled and continued to tickle her until they were both out of breath from laughing so hard. As they settled their laughter Johnny took notice of their new position. Lulu had rolled on top of him and his hands had settled at her waist.

"Is that how your mom told you the story?" Lulu asked softly.

"She didn't want me to have bad dreams," Johnny answered in a whisper.

"What about you?" Lulu wondered. "How are you going to keep me from having bad dreams?"

Lulu's hands were resting on Johnny's shoulders and she stared into his eyes. He shifted his glance between her eyes and her lips, silently wondering if she wanted him to kiss her. She smiled softly and leaned down a little. He met her lips slowly and savored the way it felt to kiss the beautiful woman in his arms. He tightened his grip on her waist with one hand and the other worked its way into her hair. Her hands came to his face and she deepened the kiss. When he had to breathe, Johnny reluctantly pulled away and looked at Lulu whose eyes were still closed in what looked to him like pleasure. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled shyly at him.

"I don't think I'll have bad dreams now," Lulu breathed.

"Good," Johnny whispered before catching her lips again.