Between the Walls

Sunlight poured into Louise's bedroom filling it with brightness, Louise groaned. Her head was killing her from the night before, 'too much champagne,' she thought.

Rolling over she pulled the covers above her head in an attempt to block out the sunlight. She didn't have to go into the shop since it was Sunday, so there really was no reason to get out of bed. Since she had no responsibilities Louise closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

She had just started to welcome the sensation of falling when a knock on her front door pulled her back, at first she tried to ignore the annoyance but it continued. Letting out a slew of curses Louise flung the comforter off and stormed down the hall, she just about took the door off its hinges when she ripped it open angrily, "What?!"

Johnny stood in front of her all smiles, "Hey babe." Pushing past her he walked into the kitchen.

"God damn It Johnny it's too early in the morning for me to have to put up with you," pinching the bridge of her nose Louise sighed frustrated.

"It's almost 10 o'clock Lou, and if I'm such a task to deal with then maybe I won't--," Johnny looked up to see Louise headed back down her hallway, "where are you going?"

"Me?" She turned to him briefly, "I'm going back to bed." And with that she trotted back to her bedroom; Johnny was right on her heels. Louise ignored him as she slipped back beneath her covers, she knew a storm was coming and she was hoping that her comforter would offer a bit of coverage.

"Don't walk away from me when I'm speaking to you," Louise kept her eyes shut trying to block him out. "Get up."

Louise knew that he was getting angry because she was ignoring him but at that point she did not care. Who did he think he was barging into her apartment like this. She'd given him a spare key to the downstairs door in case of emergencies and from that smile he was sporting at her door she gathered there was no eminent danger approaching.

"Louise," she could hear his footsteps coming towards her, "Louise I'll only ask once more; get up." She chose to keep ignoring him which also meant ignoring his temper. Suddenly the comforter was ripped off of her and Johnny was grabbing her ankles. He pulled her down the length of the bed, Louise flailed her legs erratically breaking his hold. She kicked at him before flipping onto her knees to crawl away but Johnny was fast to grab her ankles. Before she could start up again he had her flipped back over and pinned beneath him.

"Get off me asshole," Louise panted, trying to buck him off; he was larger and stronger and her efforts proved useless. A few moments later she stopped fighting and looked up into Johnny's face, though his hair was a slightly mussed he wore a smug expression.

"I'll get off once you agree to act like a reasonable adult," Louise gave him her best 'fuck you' face before trying to buck him off again, "Lou you need to stop moving like that or else you and I are going to be in a compromising situation."

"We already are in a compromising situation you prick, now get of me!"

Johnny rearranged his hands so that he could cover her mouth and still hold her wrists together, "Stop moving," he growled. Had Johnny not been covering her mouth she would have protested but instead she calmed down so he could speak.

"Good girl," he removed his hand from her mouth and replaced it on her wrists, "Now when I let you up you are going to take that cute little ass of yours and get dressed so we can go eat. I do not want to hear any objections or arguments little one." Louise sneered at his last comment but shook her head in agreement; she knew there was no way she was going to get out of it so she decided to cut her losses.

Johnny bent down slowly and placed a small kiss on her cheek before releasing her wrists. After letting go he attempted to duck his head because he knew what was coming. Just like clockwork Louise smacked him sound on the back of his head before punching him in the chest, he rolled over moaning in mock pain. Louise ignored him and walked into the bathroom to get ready.

Twenty minutes later she was dressed and walking into the living room, Johnny was lounging on her couch, "Up now!" she ordered. Johnny smiled as he got up lazily.

"You give me shit for wanting to sleep in and now you're taking your sweet fucking time," she was still annoyed.

"Get over it," was Johnny's simple answer as he headed towards the door.

"I cannot stand you sometimes," she hated when he acted like an autocratic asshole.

"I know," Johnny gave her another small peck on the cheek before opening the door for her, "Shall we?"

Louise tried to keep up her irritated façade but decided to let it go when he gave her his signature toothy grin. She could never stay angry with Johnny even if he was a brute, "ugh let's go."

Johnny laughed quietly behind her knowing he'd won the round.

||

J.D stood in his bedroom toweling himself off, he had just gotten out of the shower after a morning run. After slipping on a pair of jeans he walked out into his living room. Before having a chance to sit down he heard the quiet vibrations of his cell phone on the counter top, "what now?" he asked of no one in particular. Grabbing his iphone he saw that he had a received text from Lenard:

Meeting with Terry at 4 tomorrow, do not be late.

J.D growled and tossed his phone on the couch, he was starting to get a little annoyed of this lap dog shit that Lenard was springing on him. Yes, Lenard and Terry were his meal ticket for the next year but that did not mean he would allow them to tug him around on a leash for that time period. As he stood contemplating his current employment Louise's face popped into his head. Seeing her last night was definitely a surprise, he was used to women hanging around the criminals he often dealt with but Lou seemed different. He had noticed the way she interacted with all of Terry's men; she seemed to be Wendy among the lost boys.

He turned around and headed to his bedroom to find a shirt, the digital clock on his bedside table read 10:26; still early enough for a cup of coffee in J.D's book.

When J.D arrived at Wellington's he noticed there seemed to be a slight difference in the store's atmosphere; it looked dead. No customers sat inside, and the faint music that usually crept out beneath the doors was absent. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door being opened; he looked over and recognized Louise's purple haired employee. He recalled that she had been the one dancing alongside Louise to prince's 'little red corvette.' She seemed to be grabbing a sign perched on the window; he continued watching as she started to head back to the store's entrance. J.D started towards her calling out as he drew nearer, "Excuse me Ma'am." The purple haired woman turned and instantly donned a wide and knowing smile.

"Hi there," she moved the sign so she could carry it beneath one arm, "can I help you with something?"

"Well Ma'am,"

"Rachel,"

"Well Rachel I was actually looking for Louise, any chance she's working today."

"Oh, nope sorry, she doesn't usually come in on Sundays, it's her 'day off' as she likes to put it. We actually open at 8 and close at 11am on Sundays; we only serve breakfast specials really," she looked up with canvasing eyes.

"Alright, well here," he pulled his wallet from his back pocket and plucked out his business card," this is my cell phone number. Will you give this to her and ask her to call me?" She extended her arm out slowly and grabbed the card smiling. She looked like a school girl asked to pass on a Valentine's Day note.

"Thanks," J.D gave her a sweet smile; he hoped maybe she would divulge a bit more information on Lou's whereabouts.

"Oh no problem," she smiled back briefly before squinting her eyes up at him. Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked to be having an internal conflict. She turned her gaze toward the street, shook her head and muttered 'she's going to kill me' before she addressed J.D again.

"Look, I know Lou's going to hack me into little bits 'cause I did this but—here do you have a pen? I'm going to give you cell number," J.D pulled out his phone and took down the number with a small feeling of triumph rising in his chest.

||

Johnny sat peering onto Louise plate trying to decide what he was going to snag next when Louise looked up and gave him dangerous, "Boy, if you reach your fork over onto my plate one more time I'm going to cut your fingers off." He chuckled at that.

A quiet buzz sounded from Louise's phone and small vibrations rattled her spoon slightly, Johnny watched as she looked at the screen. With her gaze lowered he took the opportunity to freely study her face; unimaginably gorgeous he thought.

He noticed how the wind gently fluttered her short hair, a style which he disliked on most women aside from her. As he watched a small smile spread on Louise's lips, "good news?" he asked innocently.

"Huh? Oh no just someone random texted me," she answered sounding slightly dazed; she shook her head and muttered, "It was just, I don't know weird." He could tell she was being vague purposely.

Johnny peered at her for a second too long trying to read her face, "Interesting."

"What," she snapped.

"Nothing," he answered quickly before extending his arm toward Louise's plate, she smacked his hand back. "OW!"

"Serves you right, you're such an animal."

Johnny growled in response and Louise raised an eyebrow, "not cute."

"You love it." He whispered.

She smiled and rolled her eyes, "So what's been going on with you, anything new?"

"Nothing much has changed in the last 14 hours since I saw you last, well actually," Johnny put his finger to his chin appearing to be deep in thought, "nope, pretty much the same."

"I'm so sure, I know you boys were up to some shenanigans last night, do tell." She countered before putting a strawberry to her lips.

"C'mon Lou you know I can't go into details about work," Johnny said seriously.

"Look Johnny I'm not an idiot okay, don't try and fool yourself into thinking I don't t know all about the naughty things you get into."

Johnny quirked one eyebrow and pulled his lips into an amused smirk, leaning back he crossed his arms, " Oh you don't say? Please enlighten me."

"Don't antagonize me Jonathan. And I'm serious, I mean I may not know all of the intimate details—but I do know you don't always play by the rules," Louise stated confidently.

"Louise you know the things I allow you to know, look, just drop it, I'm serious. This detective act is getting really old, and I don't need you bothering pink like before." Louise looked up quickly in surprise; Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Of course he told me, Jesus Lou," he leaned forward and lowered his voice slightly, "Stop messing around in things that you don't have any business being in. Some of the things I deal with are complicated." He paused looking her straight in the eye, "These are my affairs, not yours. These men are dangerous, and the people they associate with are too. They would not hesitate to hurt you if they thought you were meddling in things that you shouldn't. Unless you're with me, Pink, or Frank, pretend you are ignorant of my business undertakings, alright?"

Louise shifted uncomfortably, trying to distance herself from Johnny's scolding. She remained silent as she fingered her fork slightly. .

"I am serious Louise, do you understand me?"

Louise looked up, acknowledging the urgency in his tone, "Yes," her voice was small.

"You know this is for your own good, you mean everything to me. You're my best friend."

She had to smile at that, reaching across the table she grabbed his hand, "and you're mine too," she paused," Johnny, I didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry."

"I'm not upset, I just worry. I don't know what I would do if something ever happened to you; how could I live with myself knowing it was because of me Lou? Just please, for both our sakes, try and take care of yourself."

"I will."

Johnny relaxed, feeling grateful, "Thank you sweetheart."

||

J.D sat mindlessly staring at his television screen which was currently displaying reruns of a recent football game. He was trying to keep his mind off the text message he had sent to Louise about an hour prior. He was starting to get nervous; what if she thought it was creepy that he had acquired her number without her permission, let alone knowledge.

"Fuck," he muttered beneath his breath before walking into the decent sized kitchen. Grabbing a beer he downed have the bottle in a few gulps, this girl was fucking with his nerves—before the novel feeling was welcoming and warm but now it was becoming a nuisance, what was this hold. He barely knew Louise and yet after only a few encounters she was successfully transforming him into an unsure teenage boy.

Standing in the middle of the kitchen with a half empty bottle and perplexing though, J.D heard his phone ringing. His hopes fell just as quickly as they had sprung up when he seeing Lenard's name on the caller id. He wasn't in the mood, so he let it ring to voicemail. It starting ringing again and again he ignored it. He knew he was going to catch shit for it but did not really care at the moment, the phone vibrated until it haphazardly was situated at the edge of the counter. He just continued to stare at it lost in an annoyed stupor.

He tilted the bottle back, bringing its contents down to the dregs when the phone started vibrating again. He caught it before it could fall to the floor, he didn't think to look at who the caller was when he answered harshly, "What!?"

The voice on the other end was not the sniveling voice of Lenard as he expected, instead it was a female's voice laced with confusion. "Oh I'm sorry I must have the wrong number, I was calling for J.D-uh Jason doyle?"

"Louise?" J.D asked, a pang of guilt hit him for yelling.

"Yeah, Hi, I got your text earlier and I figured I'd give you a call."

"Ha, that was probably a little forward huh? I'm really sorry, I hope you're not angry I—"

"Oh no of course not," she laughed, "actually it just the opposite, it was nice surprise."

"I was a little worried you might think I was crazy or something," J.D mentally kicked himself, where had all of his game gone, "your friend, the one with the purple hair, was nice enough to give me your number."

"Rachel? Yeah she loves to meddle around in my personal life, you'd swear she was the town match maker or something" her voice trails off in what J.D can only assume is embarrassment.

There is a momentary pause, short enough not to be considered awkward. Suddenly J.D is tripping over his words while trying to seem suave, "Well the reason I wanted to talk to you was to see if maybe you'd like to grab dinner tonight?" He knows he sounds a bit nervous, but he can't really help it.

There's another pause and J.D grows more nervous and tries to back pedal, "I'm sorry, I know it's really short notice; I'm sure you're busy. I didn't mean to bother you," he stops when hears her soft laughter.

"We haven't even gone out yet, and you are already regretting asking me out," she teases through her laughter.

"Right, shit I'm sorry," he replies embarrassed.

"Stop apologizing so much," she responds sweetly.

"oh sorry, I mean shit sorry," he realizes he sounds like an idiot.

Louise is laughing harder now, "it's ok really, and I'm not busy tonight, you know—if that offer still stands."

"Of course it does."

The rest of the conversation is used to plan going over details for the night, when J.D hangs up he feels like he could conquer anything. However, his elation is quickly deflated as Lenard calls his phone once again. "Back to work," J.D mutters

||

Johnny stands looking over the pool table trying to decide what his next move is going to be. Pink stands behind him amused, "c'mon man, while we're still young."

"Look perfection is not something you just rush into," Johnny says while realigning his cue stick for what has to be the umpteenth time, "just relax Pink and watch the master work."

"Listen cracka' you ain't no Master," pink retorts jokingly. Johnny laughs before sinking two stripes in the corner pocket, "yeah if you say so."

"You listenin' to this fool Stryker? He thinks he's hot shit," Stryker grunts a response of amusement, "See Johnny-boy even the German thinks you're full of shit."

"Ah I'm hurt Stryke, I thought we had something special," Stryker sips his beer and shrugs nonchalantly, "Sorry John-John."

Johnny looks between both of them before lining up his stick for another shot, as he's pulling back Frank comes up with a second round of beer, "Alright Boys!"

Johnny misses the shot and turns glaring at Frank, "God Dammit Frank!"

"What the fuck did I do?" He asks before Pink and Stryker burst out laughing.

"Nice shot 'Masta'," Pink laughs out carrying on the joke as he lines up for his shot, sinking it easily.

"Fuck you," Johnny quips.

"Frank you're a fucking jinx."

Frank grins in response," happy to be of service 'Masta'." All the boys laugh at that.

Stryker and Pink pick up the next game, "So what'd you think of that cat, uh J.D was it?" Frank chimes in.

"Yeah. He seems cool, it's weird how Terry just pulled him out of his ass. aye, didn't Lenard say Terry knew the kid's family," Pink offers without looking up from the table.

"yeah I think that's what he said, he's alright. I was talking to him a bit before," adds Stryker.

"Oh yeah? Have a nice little chat did ya, sounds like you've got a little boy crush there Stryke, anything I should be worried about?" Johnny jokes.

"Don't need to be worried about me, but wasn't he chatting up your little Lou after the meeting," Stryker responds good naturedly not noticing Johnny's grip tightening around his beer glass.

Stryker continued, "I mean it seemed like they knew each other you know? You think they know each other from some place?" He asked looking toward Johnny.

"I don't fucking know, it's not like I keep tabs on every person that Louise comes in contact with man." Johnny retorted harshly.

"Fuck man, I was just asking a God damn question, no need to get all bitchy. Seems like someone is a little territorial," Stryker laughed taking a long gulp of his beer, "I mean you can't blame the dude for trying Lou is a fucking babe. Seriously that ass, if I could get my hand on her."

"What the fuck did you just say?" Johnny snapped his head toward his arrogant German friend. Even though he and Stryker had been through a lot, he wouldn't hesitate to kick his teeth in. "Seriously Stryke, you might want to be careful fucking around with that shit."

"Johnny, cool it. You know he's just trying to get a rise out of you," Frank offered, always playing the part as the peace keeper.

"Whatever, fuck the both of you," Johnny stated coolly before heading toward the bar.

Pink spoke next as Johnny disappeared around the corner, "why do you always have to do that shit man? You never open your fucking mouth, but when you do you are always pulling some shit."

"That boy is just sensitive, he knows he crazy about that fucking broad. It's time he faced the facts and stop acting like a fuckin'

Mieze

."

Pink stepped forward," albeit that may be true, it's still not you're fucking place to push his buttons like that man, let him work his own shit out—

Frank laughed and steppd between the brawny black man and the lean German, "that's enough of this Dr. Phil shit. We're here to play pool. Pink go get John-john and Stryke shut the fuck up cause it's your shot."

Stryker shrugged, "Whatever," before turning toward the table.

Pink took that opportunity to go find Johnny. Sure enough he was sitting at the bar, two doubles in and calling the bartender over for a third. He slid in next to his Italian friend and ordered a shot of what he was having.