Bruised-

A/n: in this universe Logan's death never happened, so Maxie and Lulu are still at odds.

It had been one week to the date since the couple had been married, Lulu had moved into Johnny's Penthouse and was still working at Crimson despite her temper getting the best of her nearly every single day, Kate Howard was getting on her ever last nerve. Lulu stood at the printer stapling some freshly printed paper, muttering under her breath as she heard Kate and Maxie's voices approaching.

"Look what the cat dragged in." Kate's voice dripped with disdain.

"Shouldn't you be saying that to yourself? From what I gather, my sister in law holds this place down when you two are out doing…whatever the hell it is you do. There's plenty of opportunity for Maxie to grow but, what about Lulu? I'm sure it's boring her to tears just sitting here." Claudia Zacchara strolled into the main room, catching wind of the conversation brewing as she walked off of the elevator. Lulu was shell shocked, had hell officially frozen over? Was Claudia actually defending her?

"Don't you have someone's life to ruin?" Kate didn't bother to hide her distaste for Claudia.

"Yeah, yours." Claudia smirked, taking a seat in Maxie's office chair.

"You know Kate, if Lulu is causing you this much trouble you should just cut your losses." Maxie smirked, earning a scoff from Lulu.

"I just got married last week and I've barely seen my husband. Yet, Maxie can get a day off whenever she wants. At the drop of a hat." Lulu rolled her eyes, grabbing her purse.

"You don't even like Lulu." Maxie pointed out.

"Be that as it may, she's my brother's wife. That changes things. Lulu can't be available at your beck and call every single time, her life is not this job." Claudia crossed her arms, not making one move to get up.

"If that's how you feel, maybe you could get Lulu a job because she's not welcome here anymore." Kate snipped, crossing her arms.

"Fine, I hated this job anyway. I'm out of here." Lulu scoffed, grabbing her things and making a beeline for the door.

"Lulu…wait." She heard a familiar voice call out as she exited the Metro court hotel, Claudia was standing behind her.

"Yeah?" Lulu sighed, wondering what exactly it was that she wanted.

"I really wasn't trying to make you…lose your job. I came here to try and help but I made things worse." Claudia sighed, it was clear that she was being sincere.

"It's okay. I was…completely out of my element. Don't worry about it." Lulu waved her hand, not worried about it.

"Now that you are part of the family…maybe it's time you joined in on the family business." Claudia decided she was just going to be out with it.

"Do you really think your brother would be okay with that?" Lulu arched one blonde brow.

"Only one way to find out." Claudia smirked, walking to her car. Lulu walked the rest of the way back to the penthouse, a bundle of nerves. Was she actually entertaining this? All she knew was that she had to talk to Johnny. Lulu walked into the apartment, seeing Johnny talking on the phone with someone. Not wanting to disturb him, she headed into the bathroom to take a shower.

"Claudia called me." Johnny stood in the doorway of the bathroom, she couldn't see his face because her eyes were closed but…she knew he'd be pissed.

" I didn't say yes, Johnny. It was just a thought your sister came up with. I won't do it if you don't want me to." Lulu sighed, though secretly she did want to do it.

"I'm … not mad. It would certainly allow us to be closer, I've barely seen you. My wife and sister will finally be getting along." Johnny shrugged, it certainly did appeal to him.

"So, we're doing this?" Lulu looked at him through the glass in the shower.

"It's up to you, baby." Johnny slowly smirked as Lulu wrapped a towel around her petite body as she exited the shower.

"All I know is that nothing else that I've done has felt right. I know the risks and I know I have to be careful but, I don't know. I'm kind of…excited?" Lulu presses a kiss to his lips, leaning her body into his, Johnny wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her closer as their lips met.

"Where did you get this?" Johnny wonders, finding a gray bruise on her hip.

"Oh, that's just an old scar from Logan." Lulu shrugged, barely glancing at it.

"There's still a lot that I don't know about what went on between you two." Johnny grimaced, the thought was always in the back of his mind. Logan still resided in Port Charles but he enlisted back in the army and was stationed in Japan.

"Yeah, there's a reason for that. It's…not really something to talk about over dinner." Lulu chuckled, anxiously.

"We don't have to talk about it, alright? Just if you're ever ready, just know you've got a husband who loves you. I'm taking you out to dinner." Johnny smirked, kissing her lips once more.

"Oh, really?" Lulu smiled, padding into their bedroom.

"Of course, you deserve it. Where do you wanna go? I think you've earned a night out." Johnny watched the towel fall from her body as she got dressed in front of him.

"Here, let me." Johnny easily smiled, pulling her down to sit on the bed, taking the hairbrush from her hand and gently brushing her hair.

"I love you." Lulu smiled, cuddling into his side before he got ready for their night out.