Part 32- Interlude

"Johnny!" Allie exclaimed with unrestrained delight. She bounced from the bed, where she had been lounging, and flung her arms around her twin brother.

In the background, she was vaguely aware of Sami demanding to know how Johnny had ended up in London when he was meant to be in Salem. But it was no mystery to Allie. After all, Johnny always turned up exactly when and where she needed him. She couldn't bring herself to be surprised, despite the nasty things Johnny had said over the past few weeks.

"How was your flight?" Allie asked.

"Good," Johnny told her. "But I didn't come here to talk about my flight."

Allie gave Johnny her best "politely curious" look. She knew he was going to apologize, but even though she had already forgiven him, she didn't feel the need to make things any easier for him.

Johnny glanced at Lucas, who grabbed Sami by the arm. "Let's let the twins catch up," he told her. "I need to talk to you, anyway."

Sami gestured vaguely at Allie, but Lucas shook his head. "Allie wants to talk to Johnny, don't you, Allie-baba?" Allie nodded. "You'll come get us if there's a problem. And you'll," he added to Johnny, "behave yourself. Come on, Sami, we'll just be next door."

"Yes, sir, General, sir," muttered Sami sarcastically, but she followed Lucas from the room. Johnny and Allie were alone.

Allie sat back down on the bed, idly tracing her finger over the word "Juicy," which was emblazoned on the collar of the silvery-gray tracksuit that she wore. "So what did you want to say to me?" she asked.

Apparently she didn't sound quite guileless enough, because a relieved grin broke out on Johnny's tired face. He knew that she knew what she was doing, and he knew that she wasn't really mad. She loved him so much that she'd forgiven him immediately.

But Johnny swallowed the grin and looked serious as he sat beside Allie on the bed.

"I'm sorry," he started simply. "I'm sorry for what I said about Fath- about EJ. I'm sorry I said you lied and that you were brainwashed because I know that you didn't and you weren't. I'm sorry I wasn't right with you ever since you told me what happened and especially since you came here to testify. I'm sorry I wasn't nicer to your friends. I'm sorry I wasn't nicer to Will and Luca- er, Dad. I know I kind of put you in the middle about all that when you were already dealing with everything else. And I'm sorry I didn't- I'm sorry I didn't stop it before it happened. I meant to do a lot of the rotten things I did, but I never meant to let him- I didn't know. I swear I didn't know. So I'm sorry I didn't try harder, pay more attention, protect you better. And I had to come here in person to tell you as soon as I could."

Allie sat digesting that for a moment. Then she pulled herself up onto her knees and kissed Johnny on the cheek. "Thank you. I forgive you for everything, except one thing."

Johnny looked at her warily, suddenly not so cocky under his contrition. "Oh?"

"I don't forgive you for not knowing what was happening with EJ because you didn't have any way to know. I didn't tell you. You weren't there for most of it. It didn't get really bad until you left. You didn't do anything wrong."

Johnny shook his head hard.

"You didn't," Allie repeated. "Not you, not Will, not Mom and Dad. Just EJ."

"I saw him," Johnny whispered.

Allie felt the blood drain from her face. "Where? When?"

"In prison. Just now. Somebody- a bunch of somebodys- beat him up."

"Good!" snapped Allie. "Then he can see what it's like to be completely out of control." She wanted to swallow the words as soon as she'd said them. She and Johnny were only just on speaking terms again; she didn't need to rub the pain of someone he loved in his face.

"I couldn't agree more," said Johnny, and he even seemed to mean it, but he looked uncommonly wan.

Allie decided to change the subject. "How did you get here, anyway?"

Johnny handed her a credit card and a passport. Both were in Tyler Kiriakis' name.

"You stole these?" Allie asked.

"Keep a secret?"

"Duh."

"He gave them to me, but don't tell anyone else. Part of the deal is that I say I did it by myself and he doesn't get grounded."

"What was the rest of the deal?" Allie wanted to know.

Johnny told her all about how he'd talked Tyler into going along with his plan. Then he told her how he'd managed to get into the prison to see EJ. The story was predictable to Allie; Johnny had always been able to talk people into things. When the tale was over, Allie sighed contentedly. "Do you really think you and Ty will be friends now?"

"I don't know him very well. But yeah. I think we can."

"That would be so perfect if you did. You and me and Tyler and Claire and Ciara. Can you imagine what it would be like?"

"I don't think Claire is as forgiving as her brother. And Ciara definitely isn't."

Allie waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, you and Ciara are perfect together. You both find the craziest ways to do things you shouldn't be able to do. It's just that neither of you ever wants to lose a battle of wits." She cocked her head in mock contemplation. "Maybe Ty and Claire and I can buy earplugs. Can you imagine?" she repeated. "When we all come to watch you play tennis, or when we all go to help out with the sets for whatever play Ciara's in? Just going to the movies, or talking about school up in one of our bedrooms while we're waiting for a family dinner? Maybe a family vacation in the summer? Whenever there's a problem, there will always be someone there to help. Whenever we're happy, we'll have someone to share it with. It'll be like the two of us used to be, only bigger and better."

Allie could tell that Johnny didn't see things quite as clearly as she did, but that didn't matter. He'd already taken the biggest step toward coming around. Hearing that he had decided to make an effort to get along with their cousins almost made her happier than hearing that he wasn't going to side with EJ against her. EJ was in the past, after all; their new family was their future.

Her stomach growled and interrupted her thoughts.

Johnny laughed. "I'm starving, too."

Allie bounced from the bed to the floor to the couch and pulled the room service menu from the table. She hadn't planned on trying to assuage her own hunger- she hadn't been able to eat, anyway, and trying was getting old. But she didn't like the idea of Johnny going hungry at all.

They ordered fish and chips, deciding that the hotel's version would probably be better than anything they could get in Salem. They turned out to be right; the food was delicious, and Allie was sure that that wasn't just because neither she nor Johnny had eaten a proper meal in days.

She leaned back against the pillows, savoring the wonderful sensation of a full stomach and the even better sensation of having Johnny back with their family where he belonged. She tried to tell Johnny how perfect he had made her feel, but when she went to open her mouth, she fell asleep instead.

Will was surreptitiously checking his phone for the first time that day when Johnny arrived. His heart skipped a beat or two when he saw that there was more than one message from Joy.

So instead of staying around to hear about how Johnny had gotten to London- he'd be filled in sooner rather than later anyway- he wandered from his family's rooms in search of some peace and quiet.

Lucas had made it abundantly clear that day that it wasn't Will's place to make sure Johnny was properly punished or that Allie was comfortable in Johnny's presence or that Sami wasn't about to do something stupid to get back at whoever had let Johnny out of his or her sight. So Will would indulge himself.

He found a quiet corner in the restaurant downstairs and skimmed through two dozen messages, leaving Joy's for last. Half of the messages were words of encouragement; the other half were belated warnings that Johnny seemed to have slipped his minders and and was probably heading for London.

The first message from Joy was about Johnny. Will cringed. Joy didn't have much to do with any of Will's family; that meant that someone had sought her out specifically because they thought she might have a way of getting through to Will when all other messages to him and his parents went unanswered.

He couldn't stand the thought of having all eyes on him and Joy. His mother's overly gentle questions he could handle; ditto Allie's allegedly cute remarks. He could cope with his father's semi-crude backslapping. But the entire extended Brady-Horton family- a cast of thousands- could be more than a little overwhelming. He had ignored their pointed comments about his social life for years, and by now they had learned to keep gossip about why Will didn't have anyone special in his life to a dull roar.

But he'd seen the glances when Joy had shown up at the Horton Center on Christmas Eve. He heard the victorious whispers when his assortment of cousins, aunts, and uncles traipsed through the hospital. Will is finally dating someone! Maybe the way Sami and Lucas raised him hasn't scarred him for life after all! Let's start the wedding plans, quick, before he changes his mind!

The next message from Joy was better.

"Hi, Will. It's Joy. Please give me a call or text or email, or whatever, any time you want to. Even if it's the middle of the night- not like that matters on an intern's schedule, anyway. I hope you're doing okay. Can't wait to get a chance to see you again."

A slow smile spread over Will's face, and he played the message a second time, and then a third. There was no way around it. He liked that she wanted to see him. And he wanted to see her, too.

Then he tapped his phone and asked it to return Joy's call.

She answered on the first ring. "Will!" she exclaimed. "How are you?"

Lots of answers came to mind. He was nervous and frustrated and sad and angry and relieved and tired. He wanted to kill EJ DiMera. But he also wanted to see Joy. So he settled for telling Joy he missed her.

"I miss you, too," Joy said. "Where are you, right now?"

Will told her. Then he snapped a picture and sent it to her. The restaurant had obviously been decorated to appeal to tourists who wanted to relish the fact that they were away from home.

"It looks nice," she said.

"You like London," Will remembered.

"Yeah."

"I wish I could like it. But all I think about when I think of it is Mom leaving Dad and me for EJ, and Allie being attacked, and long-term care facilities and courtrooms and prisons."

"If there was one thing you could see while you were there, what would it be?"

"EJ DiMera in a coffin."

"Anything else?"

"Well, you. That would be an improvement."

"That can be arranged," said Joy, and Will blinked confusedly. He could hear her voice on the phone, but he could also hear her with his other ear.

He looked up and saw Joy standing in front of him with a smile on her face. Instinctively, he grabbed her and kissed her hard.

Joy was flushed with delight and even more beautiful than usual when she and Will pulled apart. "So you're happy to see me?"

"I wasn't clear?" Will asked. "I could try again." And he did, because kissing Joy was the only enjoyable thing he'd done since what seemed like forever.

"I wasn't sure if I'd be interrupting, or if you'd think I was stalking you. Sometimes I can be a little too confident."

"You're only interrupting me like I like to be interrupted." He pushed his chair back and pulled Joy down onto his lap. He would never have done that in Salem; he would have been too worried about coming face to face with a friend or family member wanting to coo about how cute they were (or, worse, Craig wanting to fire him).

"Did your brother get here all right?" Joy asked as she settled into Will's arms like she belonged there.

"A few minutes ago. Were you on the same plane?"

"I think I left after he did. Half of Salem was sending me texts asking me to look around for him."

"Where are you staying?"

"Here. Third floor."

"How did you get time off?"

Joy made a face. "I did something I'm not proud of."

"You asked Dr. Wesley?" Will could sympathize. He didn't like to ask Philip and his other family members with seats on the hospital's board to intercede for him, but sometimes he did.

"Worse. I asked Mom, and let her force Dad to fix my schedule." Joy grimaced and shoved the image of Nancy's face from her mind. Really, Joy? That's just perfect. I was hoping you would. Usually it's best to let a man chase you, but someone as sensitive and laid back as Will... well, you'll have to take the bull by the horns. Make sure you bring that black negligee I bought you two Christmases ago.

(The worst of it was that Nancy was right about the negligee, and Joy had brought it along. It was well-known within the Wesley family that neither Chloe nor Joy dressed themselves as well as Nancy dressed them.)

"Got it," said Will. At least Joy would be able to be patient with his overbearing family. Nancy was as bad as Will's five nosiest relatives combined. "So is there anything you'd like to see while you're in London?"

Joy looked him straight in the eyes. She radiated concentration and determination the way she did when she was about to start a complicated operation. "I'd like to see my bed with you in it, naked."

Every thought of anything that wasn't Joy flew out of Will's head. He had been too distracted to realize how desperately he wanted this, but now that Joy had raised the possibility he was counting the seconds he could hold out before he spread her out on the table in the middle of the restaurant. "I think that can be arranged," he told her. "Soon. Soon would be really good."

Joy jumped off of his lap and led him toward her room. "Soon works for me."

He started kissing her neck before she unlocked the door, and when they staggered inside he picked her up, intending to toss her on the bed.

"No," said Joy firmly. "Sit there. I'll be out in a minute." Then she shut herself in the bathroom, leaving Will unable to protest.

When she emerged, Joy was wearing a black, lacy he-didn't-know-what. But he appreciated that Joy had put it on for him. He made an attempt to remove it, but she swatted his hand and began removing his clothes instead.

"You've had a hard few days," said Joy. "You don't have to do any work. This is all about you. Oh, and I'm on the pill and no STDs. So, nothing to worry about. Right?"

"Right," Will confirmed. He was a doctor, and he had completely forgotten about safety and protection until Joy had brought it up. He didn't like to be this out of his mind, but he liked every conceivable alternative less.

"Beautiful," he whispered to Joy as he slipped his hand over her breast and down her side. "Beautiful."

"You are, too," she said.

Later, Will stretched out blissfully on the bed as Joy, stark naked, poured water into two goblets. He was pretty sure that he should be the one foraging for refreshments, but the view was too good to give up. He told Joy so, and she grinned at him.

He couldn't believe that earlier that day he had seriously contemplated poisoning EJ DiMera. There was too much good in the world for him to risk losing it. Joy deserved to have a boyfriend who didn't think that murder was an acceptable solution to his problems. And Will deserved a life without that kind of shadow on it.

"I think you just saved my life," he told Joy as she handed him his glass of water.

"You can thank me later," said Joy. She kissed the inside of his thigh.

"I will," he promised.

TBC