The next day Johnny found himself reluctantly entering the backyard of his partner's home. It was the last place he wanted to be but knew that he had to make an appearance. Ellen was waiting in the Rover up the road, grateful that Johnny hadn't accepted the invite. She was not ready to meet his friends and Johnny had assured her that he didn't mind; her happiness was all that mattered to him. They both didn't know that they were falling in love.
The first person Johnny saw was Roy and he smiled at his partner who was wearing an apron and had tongs in one hand. "So you made it after all" Roy said to his partner. Johnny noticed the slight irritation in his statement.
"It's just a quick hello then goodbye...I'm on my way somewhere so I'll have to make it quick," he told Roy. Cap shook Johnny's hand and Johnny kissed his wife on the cheek to say hello. Roy's kids gave him a hug and returned to playing with Marco and one of his young cousins. Johnny just waved to Marco and then looked for Chet and Mike.
Mike was standing on the deck with his wife Barb. Johnny climbed up to the deck and said hello to the couple. "Ellen's outside waiting in the Rover if you want to say hello," he told them.
"Oh yes!" Barb exclaimed and quickly grabbed her husband's hand and made their way out to the front of the house. Johnny then turned around and looked for the reason why he was here. Standing in the corner of the yard watching the kids playing with Marco was Chet and, the only words to describe it was, his glamorous girlfriend. If anything Johnny thought she was overdressed for a barbeque but thought maybe she was trying to make a good impression for Chet's friends. He walked over to greet them.
"Johnny...you made it!" Chet cried out. His girlfriend looked in his direction and smiled but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Just a quick hello Chet and then goodbye I'm afraid," Johnny told him.
"Alana, this Johnny Gage...He's Roy's partner...a paramedic," Chet introduced them.
Johnny went to shake her hand but she held hers out to be kissed. Johnny wasn't into that kind of greeting so he just shook it to her dismay. Chet chuckled at his friend's lack of elegance.
"You have to excuse Johnny...he grew up on a reservation...sophistication is not in his vocabulary," Chet told his girlfriend smirking.
"Such a large word Chet...and more than one syllable" Johnny countered. "Anyway it was nice to meet you...Bye Alana...Chet," Johnny turned to leave but Joanne was standing behind him with her lips pursed and her hands on her hips. "Oh...um Hi Joanne...I was just going to look for you!" Johnny lied.
"Yeah sure you were Johnny Gage...Why aren't you staying?" she asked.
"I told Roy I have something else on so I can't stay. I just called in to say hello," he told her, wanting to desperately get away. He didn't like leaving Ellen in the Rover for too long.
"Do you have a date?" she asked.
"No just something I committed myself to before Roy asked me," he again lied. He knew she could see straight through him. "I really need to go Joanne so bye!" and he promptly kissed her on the cheek.
"Don't I get one of those?" Johnny and Joanne turned and looked at Alana. Johnny cleared his throat not sure what to say.
"Geeze Gage...you kiss every female here except my girlfriend. What's wrong with you?" Chet admonished his friend.
Johnny quickly lent forward and gave Alana a peck on the cheek but before he could straighten up she faked a stumble and fell into Johnny. He grabbed her by the arms to stop her from falling and before he could straighten her up she whispered in his ear "Call me."
Johnny blushed and stepped back wondering if he just heard what he thought he heard. When he looked at Alana she gave him a flirting smile. 'Yep she just made a pass at me' he thought. Chet quickly grabbed Johnny's hands "Get your hands off my girlfriend!" Chet told his friend angrily.
Johnny stepped away embarrassingly and walked quickly towards the gate to leave. He didn't need this aggravation and the last thing he wanted was to be the cause of upsetting Chet and his girlfriend. "Good riddance Gage!" Chet called out and Johnny frowned. 'Women' he thought.
When he reached the Rover, Mike and Barb were talking to Ellen who had got out and was standing with the couple. Johnny looked at Mike who instantly excused himself from the ladies.
"What's wrong?" he asked noticing Johnny's distress.
"Chet's girlfriend just made a pass at me and Chet got mad cause he thought I was doing ...I don't know what he thought...cause all I did was stop her from falling," Johnny wasn't making a lot of sense but Mike could see he was really upset.
"Tell me slowly what happened?" Mike asked his friend.
Johnny swallowed and took a deep breath. "I said hello to everyone and when I said goodbye to Joanne I kissed her on the cheek. Alana said don't I get one of those and Chet more or less told me that I was being rude for not doing the same with Alana...so...I went to just peck her on the cheek and she started to fall. I grabbed her arms to stop her progress and that's when she whispered in my ear, call me. Before I could let go Chet pulled my hands away and yelled at me to let go of his girlfriend and just before I left he yelled good riddance," Johnny said, disturbed about the whole affair.
Mike sighed not sure what to say. "Hopefully he'll cool off and just forget about it," Mike told his friend.
"Are you kidding...this is Chet we're talking about...I won't hear the end of it next shift!" Johnny said and looked up into the sun for answers. "I wish I never came!" he said despondently. "We better go, otherwise we'll be late," Johnny told Mike and said his goodbyes to his friends and drove off.
"Will Johnny be ok?" Barb asked her husband.
"Chet can be a real pain in the arse sometimes and he loves aggravating Johnny for some twisted reason," Mike told her.
"Here are you guys!" Roy called to his friends. "I thought you guys had left without saying goodbye for some reason," Roy told them.
"No we were just saying goodbye to Johnny and E..." Mike stopped himself and coughed. "Um, Johnny and his friend he was aarh, dropping off somewhere," Mike said trying to cover his mistake.
Roy looked at him suspiciously but Mike and his wife were already heading back to the house and Roy knew Mike had said all that he was going to say. It seemed to Roy that Mike knew more that was going on with his partner than he did and somehow didn't like that; after all he was Johnny's best friend not Mike.
When they all returned to the backyard Chet was scowling and telling whoever would listen how John Gage had groped his girlfriend. In the end Mike spoke up, he had heard enough "Give it a rest Kelly and Johnny didn't grope your girlfriend, he stopped her from falling, that's all".
"How would you know, you weren't even there?" Chet gave his engineer an indignant look.
"Well I was and I agree with Mike," Joanne injected. She had heard enough and the whole thing was making the barbeque uncomfortable.
"Trust Gage to not even be here and cause trouble," Chet mumbled.
Everyone sighed and started conversations ignoring Chet and his girlfriend to give them the hint to forget it and start enjoying the barbeque. It wasn't long before everyone was laughing and talking again.
Johnny tried to explain to Ellen the complicated relationship he had with Chet. She was more than a little horrified when Johnny told her about the teasing and pranks that went on at the station.
"How can you stand it?" she asked him.
"I guess I don't take it personally and when he's not taunting me he can be a really good friend," Johnny told her.
"Friends like that you don't need," she told him. "Well if he is such a good friend he won't let this come between you," she said and kissed him lightly. Johnny returned the kiss and held it, needing to feel her, taste her, to make the afternoon's upset go away. She let him kiss her longer than usual knowing he needed her.
Johnny broke the kiss and looked into her eyes and said for the first time "I love you!" He pulled back and was shocked at what he had just said. "I'm sorry it just came out," he told her not wanting to come on too strong because he really did love her.
"Don't be sorry...because Johnny Gage I think I'm falling in love with you," she told him. Tears pooled in her eyes and she looked into his eyes and saw the love in them. She smiled and kissed him again, this time with more passion. Chet and his girlfriend were forgotten and Johnny found himself lost in Ellen's arms, their love for each other healing.
Johnny knew he would be taunted unmercifully next shift but somehow it didn't matter. He would just visualise Ellen in his mind and remember their first real passionate kiss and that would help him get through the shift. Knowing he had real love made up for everything and for the first time in his life he felt happy and at peace with himself. Chet and his girlfriend could never take that away from him.