Beautiful Disaster - Chapter 2
Rated: T
Encounter
Chapter Summary: Ash confronts Johnny about his injuries - and finds out about something much more horrific…
OMG y'all, I cannot the believe the support I already got for this story. It's astounding! Thank you all so much and I hope you continue to enjoy the angsty feels trip. ;-)
"What the hell happened to you?!"
"...A-Ash?" It took a few long drawn out moments for Johnny to mutter the word out and as suspected with a bloody, slightly swollen nose, it was fairly nasally spoken.
"W-What are you doing 'ere?" he ultimately decided to be coy, stepping back even if he knew there was no mistaking what was obvious in the dim light of the room.
"I could ask you the same question - but seriously, Johnny! What the hell happened to you?!" Ash whimpered, fiercely kept it on topic even if her throat felt tight and the image of him was blurry with cloying tears. None of this made a damn lick of sense! She desperately needed answers and she needed them now!
"N-Nothing." Johnny uttered abruptly, "Nothing happened! I jus' got a bit banged up when I fell off my skateboard." Johnny muttered the last part as an excuse but Ash was not buying it whatsoever.
Ash took a few seconds to try and absorb that outlandish lie; icy blue eyes flickering to said skateboard that was now propped up against the wall.
Johnny was masterful in the sport of skateboarding. Ash recalled him doing insanely difficult tricks that had her fur rise and prickle, spine tensing during the many times she watched him messing about with the skateboard in the parking lot at his place. He was absolutely incredible on it and by his explanation, had been riding since he was seven years old. There was no way in hell Johnny would have fallen from it and gotten as hurt as he did.
Perhaps a scraped palm or bloodied knee, but nothing like this…
Crossing her arms tightly over her chest which was still frantically throbbing upon the sight of him, Johnny suddenly began walking further into the better lighting as if trying to escape her harsh stare and words - he only looked worse. The sight of dark purple blotches of bruising on his cheek and knuckles had her swallowing back a lump. The crusted, dried blood obviously smeared across his face where the stains nearer his nostrils and leaking from his bottom lip was more fresh; a startling crimson that glistened on his gray skin.
Ash was having a hard time keeping herself from sobbing at the sight; the silent tears still drifting downward into the fur of her face but she ignored them. None of this made any sense and Johnny's excuses were forced and small - obvious lies. Johnny had never been a good liar, but the fact he was even attempting to do so worried her greatly.
"You're shitting me! You did not." It took a few seconds, but she finally spoke and Johnny flinched at the accusation.
Ash was sure to retain her feisty nature throughout these traumatic moments as if it was the only thing to hold onto. Desperately trying not to appear as shell-shocked as she really was. There was still a sensation of jittery electricity in the air - neither necessarily expecting each others presence tonight and if she was at all honest with herself, didn't appreciate these circumstances either.
Without uttering another excuse or flat-faced lie, Johnny decided to run.
Walking away from her, his back presented as he headed toward the dressing/bath rooms. It just dawned on her now that Johnny just walked away without answering her…
Johnny never did that!
…and Ash was not going to take it…
She quickly wiped her sodden face on her sleeve to help clear her vision before sprinting past him and standing with her arms stretched wide in front of him. Pathetic excuse for blocking since her arms were so short to do much in the way of impeding him but she had to try anyway.
"Where do you think you're going!? You haven't answered me, Johnny!" she said louder than intended but it didn't have it's normal effect for he decided to ignore her accusations and he slipped passed her short arm-barrier without a single word.
Once the shock wore off that it actually occurred, Ash belted out.
"Seriously!? You're really not going to answer me?!" Ash demanded, having to jog to keep up with his much longer strides (even if he, try as he might to hide it, was obviously walking with a worrisome limp).
Johnny still remained silent upon reaching the dressing rooms; refusing to look at her as he turned on the bright florescent lights of the bathrooms. Flinching a bit as he stole a glance of himself in the mirror; averting his eyes to the floor before he continued closer to the sinks that lined the one wall. Bathroom stalls and dressing rooms lining the wall just to their right.
In the bright lights of this new environment, Ash was bombarded with things she never imagined she'd witness. Aside from the obvious injuries, bruises and blood, Johnny's clothes were wrinkled, covered in dust and scratches scattered over the canvas of his signature leather jacket, green jumper, and the knees of his jeans. Even the front of his beloved Converse shoes were scuffed and tattered to all hell as if he'd just ran a marathon...and was that specks of dried blood?
Inwardly, Ash was praying this wasn't happening but the ache that twisted her stomach painfully in her abdomen told her it was horrible reality.
It was becoming far too much for her to take - like the whole world as she knew it was caving in.
"Johnny! Just tell me! How did you get hurt and don't you dare give me that bullshit of you falling off your skateboard!" Ash abruptly yelled in sheer frustration and barely concealed emotional agony; her tiny fists trembling by her sides as she stared up at him.
The gorilla didn't answer immediately as he approached a line of sinks and stopped in front of one near the middle. Ash's mouth was open and ready to spew out more fearful accusations and questions when Johnny suddenly spoke.
"...I already told you what happened…" he muttered under his breath; eyes refusing to even flicker in her direction.
"You mean you lied to me!" Ash shouted and she didn't miss how his shoulders flinched at her harsh words, "You're a lousy liar, Johnny, and you know it!"
"..."
"Johnny!"
"...you're in the men's room…" Johnny grumbled whilst turning on the tap; actually believing changing the subject would work this time.
He was sadly mistaken.
"Oh puh-lease. We're the only ones here and I highly doubt your gonna be whipping your junk out in front of me so I really don't care about that. Now, are you going to fucking tell me why it looks like your face got well-acquainted with a brick wall about, I dunno, a dozen times! …Or am I gonna have to start guessing?"
Johnny didn't respond to her goading; running his hands underneath the tap to wash his hands and the blood off his knuckles as Ash remained staring slack-jawed at his profile. His darkened brown eyes steadfast on his task; she hated the pain she saw in the normally bright chestnut gaze…The spell of anger she'd been under abruptly fell away and her fists unclenched and remained loose at her sides.
"...Johnny," her voice was much less forceful this time around.
Ash finally accepted that approaching this in anger was going absolutely nowhere. It was instead just turning into a one-sided screaming match so Ash decided to take a few deep breaths to keep her calm for perhaps he would better respond to it.
She was wrong.
"It's none of your business." he whispered and she barely heard him over the rushing water and pounding of her rapid pulse in her ears.
"E-Excuse me?"
"I said, it's none of your business." he said more forcefully this time around but it was still half the volume of a normal speaking voice. It was obvious Johnny wasn't prone to raising his voice other than during a belting chorus of a song.
Silence reigned for a moment before she inwardly composed herself and spoke gentle words she hoped he would respond better to.
"You're my best friend so you kind of are my business…"
"..." Johnny refused to reply.
"Johnny…" Ash sighed, arms tightening around herself as if to semi-control her absurd panic; quell her frantic needs to scream, to cry, demand to know what happened. Another deep breath exiting her trembling mouth before she trusted herself to continue speaking.
"Johnny - it's Ash. You know, if you've forgotten. You can talk to me - you've always been able to talk to me before." Her words were calm, gentle as she stared at him hoping against hope that he'd at least look at her.
Silently recalling all the times he was such an open book to her regarding his life outside of the sweet soulful singer he showcased to the world. He told her all about imprisoned father and the gang activity leading up to the arrest (even Johnny's own involvement), tragically deceased mother, and even most of his life back in London. Ash had grown to know him so well throughout the course of this crazy rollercoaster ride of the competition, rebuilding, and where they were now. At this moment, she was frankly terrified as to why he was hiding such pertinent information from her now of all times…a time when he seemingly needed it most.
"Johnny, please." the words felt quite foreign on her tongue as she choked them out, "I-I'm just…" she sighed, "I want to know what happened to you - that's all. Just tell me what happened…I want to help."
"..."
"Did you get in a fight or something? I mean, hell, I know your always having to fight of the hoards of crazed fangirls but this is ridiculous." Ash chuckled out; trying a different tactic to break something out of him; anything! She was slowly going out of her mind with desperation for some kind of explanation.
"..." He didn't budge.
"C'mon. You can tell me anything. I'm sure we can work it ou -"
"Nothing's going on!" Johnny suddenly yelled and Ask stepped back in pure shock. She had never once heard Johnny raise his voice outside of singing and hearing him address her in such a way scared the hell out of her.
"Johnny." she whispered out his name; chest heaving with frantic breaths.
Johnny was finally looking at her; the shock in his eyes giving her the indication he didn't intend to do that whatsoever. They left her almost immediately when he turned back toward the sink; slumped forward on the porcelain and for a long time, she just listened to him breathing. Hands obviously shaking as he shut off the tap.
"...Ash, 'm sorry. B-But I'm okay. It's okay! Nothing happened that you need to worry about… I-It turned out just fine! Alright!? Now please just drop it!" he said much quieter this time but she still heard the uncommon fire lacing his voice and if anything, it made her more determined to get some answers.
"No!" she shouted and Johnny flinched at the reverberating demand, "I-I'm not going to drop it! Look at yourself! What happened?" Ash met his voice with her own forceful tone.
"..."
"Johnny?!" she growled.
"..."
"JOHNNY!" she shouted and tried approaching him but he moved; stepping outside of her grasp as she tried getting closer to him.
Ignoring how he was dodging her small paw from clasping onto his arm, he suddenly twisted his torso and like something out of a horrific horror movie; Johnny let out a blood-curdling scream and collapsed to the ground in an unceremonious heap.
Ash froze; eyes wider than should have been possible as he suddenly fell to the floor, clutching his side.
"Oi, fu-" Johnny muttered; pain lacing every iota of that broken curse.
"Johnny!" Ash screamed out in terror; running to him without caring how much he just tried to avoid her touch. The sheer shock of seeing him doubled over on the floor where he was just standing tall in front of her.
It tore her heart to pieces…
Johnny didn't move other than a few tremors that ran through his body as he pushed himself to sit up against a nearby wall. Hand shaking as he clutched at his side; a good half a foot below his right armpit.
Ash was able to approach him; ignoring his wide, terror filled eyes when she pulled at his hand that clutched his side. A look flashed across his face but she didn't have time to read it. Gently, she pulled at his hand and as if accepting of whatever fate awaited him; Johnny's face fell as he allowed her to pull his hand away and open his jacket.
What greeted her had whole world screeching to a terrifying halt.
Tiny hand stilled as she stared at the red stain that had been hidden so well by the leather barrier; blood-soaked green shirt and a slit in the fabric was all too obvious…
This was no accident or random fist fight -
Johnny had been stabbed…
