Johnny jumped at the sound of someone else in the penthouse, the moonlight pouring in from the window illuminated her silhouette one that he had spent hours memorizing. The same ghost that had been haunting him for four years...could he be dreaming or was Lulu Spencer standing directly in his living room sheepishly smiling at him?
"Did I surprise you? I've never known you to be so quiet around me." Lulu started to get a sinking feeling that this was a mistake...had she jumped the gun?
"I...are you really here?" Johnny stutters, trying to force words out of his mouth in his shock.
"I know, it's been a long time but yeah. I'm really here." Lulu nods, trying to hide a smile.
"It's...really good to see you. When did you get back? Lovett didn't mention anything about you coming up for a visit." Johnny smiled at her, the two stood just at arms length of each other.
"It's not just a visit...I'm back for good. A lot of things happened to me in California, things that I should have been able to get myself out of but...I'm Lulu. I always do everything ass backwards." Lulu sort of glanced down at the carpet, afraid of what Johnny would say.
"Are you in some sort of trouble? Whatever it is, we can fix it. Come on, sit on the couch and we can talk. Do you want something to drink?" Johnny reached out to touch her arm, hoping to bring some sort of comfort.
"Okay, it's just I haven't told anyone any of this. I'm really nervous." Lulu sighed, going over to sit on the couch raking a hand through her blonde hair.
"It's okay, you know better than anyone that I'd be the last person to ever judge you. I'm gonna get you a beer, I'll be right back." Johnny switches on the lamp, before going to the kitchen to get them two beers.
"Thank you." Lulu offers a smile, taking the beer from Johnny as he sat beside her.
"No problem." Johnny shrugged.
"When I moved out to California, I met a guy...his name is Carter. I made the mistake of just jumping into the relationship instead of letting myself take time to heal after I broke up with you. A month in and we were living together, how stupid was that?" Lulu launched into the first part of her story, taking a swig of beer.
"Well, I imagine you were hurting so it's understandable. I went out with a woman after you left town but, I realized that I couldn't be who she wanted me to be. I don't blame you for moving on, you deserve to be happy." Johnny looked at her, he knew he had no right to judge her decisions.
"For the first couple of months things were okay, I might have even loved him I'm not sure...but the happy times didn't last. When I started working and going out, I started to get neglected by Carter. I found him bringing his ex-girlfriend home almost every other night, hooking up with her and promising me it was nothing. Like a stupid girl I believed him. Serena is more beautiful than I could ever hope to be, why wouldn't I be insecure? Then, when I wouldn't let things go that's when Carter started physically and mentally abusing me...I didn't know if he would let me leave if I talked to him, so I booked a flight and asked Ethan to pick me up. I don't know what he'll do when he figures out what I've done but, Johnny you're the person that I have always felt safest with and I just feel like I need protection. I trust you, despite everything. The scary thing is that I've started to get flashbacks of Logan, because of all the trauma I endured with both Logan and Carter." Lulu says slowly, trying to decide the right words to use.
"You shouldn't have had to go through that Lu, I'm so sorry. No woman could ever compare to what you have to offer to a man, it's more than just looks. You've got an amazing heart, you take care of the people you love. I can guarantee you that Serena doesn't have as much to offer as you do, you're one in a million. I'm not going to let you go through this alone, I'll keep you safe. Stay here, with me."