Hey guys, I've been busy with college stuff so its taking me more and more time to update, but please bear with me I'm sorry :( To make up for the lost time heres a new chapter though :D Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Wait a minute...so, you mean to tell me THAT'S Linda?" I pointed to the woman as Johnny and I both got out of the car.

"Yup, that's her alright. I recognize her sense of style anywhere." He closed the door and took my hand. Maybe he wasn't upset anymore. We walked closer to Linda, who had her arms crossed and looked very annoyed. As if she were in the right position to feel that way! I mean come on, its four in the morning. If anything, I should be the one annoyed. And I was, but I was also curious. I wondered what this was about. This better be a good reason, or I'm cursing this bitch out. I don't even care HOW unlady-like I look in front of Johnny.

"Linda, what...what are you doing here?" Johnny glanced at his watch. "Do you know what time it is?!"

"Yes I know what time it is, I'm not that dumb."

"Well you must be because you're still standing here." I glared at her.

Linda scoffed. "John, who is this girl?"

"That's none of your business. You still haven't answered my question. Why are you here?"

The girl looked down and then walked up to Johnny, stroking his face. "I miss you darling. I want you back."

Oh hell no. This was SO not gonna happen right now. I let go of Johnny's hand and pushed her hand away from him, then I stood in front of her, face to face. "Listen, if you think you're gonna get John back, its not gonna happen. Okay? He doesn't love you anymore."

Linda cackled. "And who even are you? Johnny and I have history together."

Johnny sighed and looked away somewhere. I think he was smart enough to understand now that this was no longer a conversation he was involved in. This was solely between me and his ex. He was possibly about to witness a live catfight.

"My name is Angela, for your information. And you know what? You're just mad because I took your sorry ass place in Johnny's life. I'm now his lady, and you can't stand that fact. Well, I've got news for you. As long as I'm still here, no other woman can have him, or they can deal with this." I held up my fist. "That includes you, you desperate whore. Now go away or you'll be sorry!"

Linda looked shocked. "John, are you going to let her talk to me like this?!"

Johnny scratched his head. "Uh...okay, look. Linda, whatever you wanna talk about, cant it wait until later? Its so late its early, and I've had a long day. I just wanna go to sleep."

Linda rolled her eyes. "Fine. But I WILL be back." Before she walked off, she gave me a nice juicy glare, then went on her way. I made sure to keep my eyes on her as she walked off, just in case she decided her dispute with me wasn't over. Then when she was gone, I turned myself back to Johnny.

"Care to explain what that was all about?"

Johnny gave an exasperated sigh. "Baby, I don't know. Can we please just go to sleep? Look." He walked up to me and grabbed my hands. "We can talk when we both wake up again tomorrow. But sweetie, right now I just feel like dropping dead. I'm exhausted. Lets get some sleep." His eyes were pink and glossy with fatigue.

I sighed and nodded, giving him a half-smile. "Okay. Come on." I supported him all the way upstairs and set him down on the bed. I decided that to makeup for the argument we had at the party earlier, I'd help him get ready for bed. So I untied his shoes and took them off, took off his socks and gave him a foot massage, despite the fact that I was really tired, just like him. But I felt I owed it to him, since he kinda had a rough night with the party and everything.

"Oh..."he gave out a little moan of pleasure. "Thank you. That feels wonderful, thanks baby."

I stood up and got on the bed to get behind him to massage his shoulders. Johnny made cute little sounds when I pressed down. "Oh...wow, thank you."

"You're quite welcome." I chuckled and kissed his cheek. "I just didn't want you to stay mad at me for too long. I'm sorry the way I acted before John, its just...I wanted to have fun and I felt like you didn't want me to."

He sighed. "I'm sorry too, sweetie. I just get so protective sometimes. I cant help it, they're just my instincts. I'm just..." he moaned when I hit a knot on his back. The sounds he was making was honestly arousing me, but I didn't want any sex tonight. Neither did he. After this we would go to sleep. "I'm afraid sometimes that I'll lose you if I'm not careful."

"Baby, that wont happen. I'll never get lost. I always know where you are." I brushed his hair back with my hand. "Always." I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Oh I love you John. Please know that. I love you very much, but sometimes I just need space, you know?"

"Yeah, you're right."

We both got into our pajamas and hit the sack. Within five minutes, we were both out cold.

. . .

After a while of me sleeping, I began to go into dream sequence. The setting was nice. It was sunny and I was walking down a road, when someone apeared in front of me. Joey. "Hey Joey, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was...lookin' for you, actually."

Suddenly my heart started pumping and I walked closer to him. He grabbed my hands.

"Angela, you should be with me, not Johnny."

Why did I know he was going to say that..."But Joey I cant do that, I love him!"

"But you love me too."

"No." I shook my head. "Not in the same way. We're just friends, Joey. It cant be more than that, and you know it."

"Angela." His voice got lower, his mouth closer to mine now. He was so close that the ends of his black hair were now tickling my face. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't have feelings for me. If you can do that, then I'll believe you."

I stuttered, tried my best to make some kind of words come out but...I just couldn't.

"Exactly. Thats what I thought."

I looked away from him, tears in my eyes. "Joey, I mean...I don't love you, but...I don't not have feelings for you. God, I don't know, I'm so confused!"

"Kiss me." Joey took off his sunglasses and threw them off to the side. It was rare that anyone saw Joey's eyes because he always shielded them. But this time, his dark brown eyes were digging into my soul, and I couldn't look away...I couldn't do anything. "Just kiss me."

It was as if Joey had me under some kind of spell. So without even thinking, I leaned forward and placed my lips on his. His mouth was soft and he kissed me sweetly.

When our lips parted, he said, "You know you should be with me."

"Joey, you fucking traitor!"

I turned around to see a furious Johnny walking our way. He walked up to Joey. "What the fuck do you think you're doing with my woman?"

"John, she doesn't love you, man."

"No! Thats not true, I do love you John." Things were getting crazy. How was I supposed to figure this out...oh god, I never should have kissed Joey. That was a stupid idea.

. . .

I woke up with a jolt. My breathing was uneven and Johnny was stirring next to me.

"Angie...honey, whats the matter?" He rubbed his eyes and sat up, a long line on his cheek from sleep.

I couldn't look at him, and when he put his hands on me I flinched.

"Did you have a bad dream or somethin'?" He looked genuinely concerned.

"I...yeah. Its alright John, just go back to sleep, don't worry about it."

"Are you sure? It sounds bad."

"Nah, its..." I looked out the window, the sun beginning to rise. I peered over at the clock, which said 6:23. "Its nothing I cant handle, you know? Its alright, I'll be fine."

Johnny sighed. "Alright. Come on, lets go back to sleep." He gently pulled me down next to him. He must've sensed that I was still awake, so he kissed my shoulder and put his arms around my torso. Johnny's warmth made me feel a bit more easy, but...that dream was going to be hard to shake off. Thankfully, he fell back asleep within a couple of minutes as I heard soft snoring behind me.

I think I understood why I had that dream. Its because even though Joey and I were really close, on a subconscious level I always kind of liked him, even when I didn't know the Ramones personally. I never liked him more than Johnny, but it was always just a small crush on him that I had. It wasn't strong enough to lead to anything though, and certainly not for me to cheat on my soon-to-be fiancee.

But still...I couldn't help but wonder why my mind would bring all of that up in a dream...in the dream Joey and Johnny ended up fighting. I didn't want that to happen again in the real life. They were finally getting along with one another and starting to be sort of friends. The last thing I wanted was to mess that up with all of my selfish needs. But it didn't matter, because I didn't like Joey all that much. He was always more of a brotherly figure to me than a romantic partner...but then, I remembered! Last night at Kat's party...the way he looked at me. We had a moment there that never happened between us before. I think there was something Joey wasn't telling me. or maybe last night he was just a little tipsy. I watched him part of the night, and he'd had quite a few cocktails before he asked me to dance. I didn't drink as much as he did, but I had my fair share as well. So what was really going on here? Well, maybe it was something I shouldn't worry about. I mean, it was just a dream after all...

. . .

Later on...

Johnny and I didn't end up waking up until about noon. But it didn't matter, because we were finally well rested and there were no plans for the day, so we were free to do what we wanted today. I was at the stove cooking some eggs and sausage while Johnny sipped on a cup of coffee and waited. He reached into his back pocket and took out a cigarette. That was just something I was going to have to get used to from now on. Smoking was Johnny's new way of coping with things it seemed. He had his lighter out and flicked it on when I said, "John, don't you dare light up that cig. You can do that after breakfast."

Johnny sucked his teeth. "Come on, just one baby."

I pointed the spatula in his direction. "No." I smiled. "Later."

He gave me a half smile and sighed. "Fine, okay." He gulped down the last of his coffee, then licked his lips afterward. "Angie, can I get a refill?"

"John cant you see I'm cooking? Look theres some more over here. Get your lazy butt up and get it."

He laughed. "Jesus, you're a fierce one, aren't ya?" He got up and on his way to pour himself some more coffee he spanked me lightly.

I squeaked and he found that super hilarious. "Hm...I wonder if I should put some poison in these eggs here..." I said playfully.

"Aw now come on, I didn't mean to scare you, but I have to admit..." He put his hands in my back pockets and kissed my neck, giving me goosebumps. "That little sound you made was kinda cute."

My cheeks started blushing and I laughed. "John, sit down."

"Nope. Not until..." He leaned his mouth closer to my ear, his hot breath making my bumps worse. "...you really feed me."

"John William Cummings, get your ass back to the table now!" I said in between fits of hysterical laughter.

Then suddenly we heard the phone ring. Johnny became a little more serious and walked over to pick it up. "Hello? Oh hey Joey, is there something wrong?"

When I heard Joey's name I shivered, my thoughts going back to that dream I had. Stop it, Angela. Stop worrying about that, its nothing.

I turned back to look at Johnny, and he put his hand on his forehead. "Joey, please tell me you're jokin'...shit."

I walked up to him. "What happened?"

He shushed me so he could listen to Joey on the other line. "Alright. Fuck, alright. Yeah, where is he? Kings County Hospital?"

Oh no. Someone was hurt. When Johnny hung up the phone, his face was pale.

"Baby, who's in the hospital?"

He sighed. "Uh...last night Dee Dee was shot by some drug dealer. Apparently he didn't pay the guy enough for his crack so he shot him."

I put my hand over my mouth, my eyes filling with tears. "Oh my god. Oh no no no. John, we have to go and see him!"

"Its alright Angie, calm down. I know where the hospital is. Let's just pack up our breakfast and eat it in the car or something."

I knew that Johnny never really liked being around his bandmates all of the time, but I knew he cared for them, even if he didn't admit it. I always knew that he was good on the inside. That's why I loved him.

The entire time we were driving in the car I cried. I just hoped that Dee Dee was going to be okay. Johnny grabbed my hand and held it.

"Don't worry, he's gonna be alright," he said. But even he wasn't completely sure of what he was saying. We didn't speak again until we got to the hospital. When we got there, Joey was there. And when I saw him, I didn't flinch, I didn't have any second thoughts, I just rushed over to him and hugged him, crying in his chest.

"Its okay, its alright." He rubbed my back.

"How is he?" I heard Johnny ask.

"They keep sayin' he's like in critical condition or somethin', ya know? So...I don't know. As of now he's still alive but..."

I looked up at Joey, my vision blurry. "Joey, w-wheres Marky?"

"Hes upstairs with Rosy. Come on, lets go meet them up there. We have to take the elevator."

Rosy. I forgot all about her. I didn't even want to begin to imagine what she was going through. Rosy loved that man than I'm sure his wife, Vera, did. It kinda felt odd that Vera wasn't there with Dee Dee because she was out of state, but it occurred to me that trying to deal with Rosy when we got upstairs was going to be more than enough work.

When we got upstairs, Marky and Rosy were sure enough sitting there drinking hospital coffee. Yuck. Rosy had tears streaming down her eyes and she was shaking. Kat was surprisingly there too sitting next to Marky and just looking up at the ceiling. She looked like she was thinking of something. Then they saw us and got up. Rosy walked up to me.

"Angela...I'm so scared. Everything just happened so fast I-"

I hushed her gently. "I know. All we can do is wait and see what'll happen. Lets just hope everything's gonna be okay."

"We've been here since like five in the morning. And Dee Dee still looks so bad." She began to sob. "Angela, I don't know what I'll do if I lose him."

I knew that telling her at this time that she wasn't even Dee Dee's wife would come off as bitchy on my part, but it was the truth. But whatever, it was fine. To each their own.

So we sat together with Kat and Marky and everyone else and just waited. That was all we could do at this point.