The awkward outcome |A Paradise City Fanfic|

S1 E1.5

Johnny stood outside Nala's apartment door with a bottle of whiskey and he checked his watch every five minutes. He was a little nervous but couldn't figure out why or what made him scared. He's usually a brave guy with little fears but that night was different. Nala normally didn't make him nervous but that night he was nervous and wondered if it was worth that day's drive for the short visit.

He shook his head as he got into character and finally knocked on her door before someone thought he was a weirdo. Johnny was many things but weirdo and stalker weren't any of those things.

"Maybe I shouldn't be here?" he whispered to himself as he stood there but within seconds, she opened her door with her usual smile. The smile that would get him every time and later become to be his weakness.

She invited him in after they hugged and she told him that he could sit anywhere as she cooked some dinner. He removed his jacket while admiring her decorative apartment and placed his jacket on a corner of the couch. He'd visit her many times in the past but every visit felt like the first time.

"Were you expecting someone else? You seemed to be in a good mood to be cooking dinner," he joked as he walked around her living room and she lightly confessed that she was indeed expecting someone.

She told him that she would make him an exception. That was the only truth she told.

She placed a plate out for him since she knew that he didn't eat before leaving, and asked him if he liked Italian food. He responded with, "Italian sounds nice, actually,".

He showed her a smile before sitting down and while he faced her back, he noticed something unusual about her place.

An unfamiliar jacket.

He saw the jacket folded on the chair when he walked in and he knew it wasn't hers. He knew it belonged to someone else because most of her jackets are either hammy downs or from second-hand stores. Plus, a letter S was printed on the back of the jacket and he didn't know anyone with that initial.

All her clothes were stored in her room and leaving them out didn't sound like her. She was a very neat and organized person who took cleaning her apartment important, and spotting the smallest detail would get her attention easily. Bringing it up would make him sound like a noisy person, so he kept it to himself and looked at something else before she noticed.

"So, is there something important that you wanted to tell me?" Nala asked him as she placed some spaghetti onto his plate and he began to tell her about the upcoming photo shoot they were having in a few weeks. He hated lying to his friends, especially her, but he had to in this case and he didn't want to make her even more nervous.

When she asked him if Elias knew about the photoshoot, he explained to her how he already knew and that he wouldn't be at the shoot due to work. However, he would look at the final results so they could pick the ones they liked and post them on their website. Luckily for them, Johnny spoke to Elias about having a promoted photo shoot before their new album came out, and Elias enjoyed that idea a lot.

Her phone buzzed throughout dinner and she would check it before answering, or placing her phone in her pocket. "Um, it's just work-related," she nervously told him before sitting down and she only ate a little bit of dinner because her food was now cold.

They continued to talk in the living room while drinking their whiskey and when 9 PM came around, Johnny picked up his jacket and they walked towards her door. Reminding himself to act natural and to avoid making anything weird that night because confrontation gave him headaches.

He thanked her for the dinner and they parted ways as the night went on. Johnny took a photo of the mystery jacket when she wasn't looking and he sent it to Vic as he asked him if he knew who it belonged to. He sighed when Vic told him that he didn't but said that he should show it to a few stores in case they had the jacket in stock. There were a few stores in the city that sell punk rock clothing and he called them when he wrote down the jacket brand.

"We only have ten in stock right now and the recent buyer was a young man, maybe an older teenager. He and his friends said that they needed the jackets for their band," the store owner explained as they confirmed that they indeed had the same jacket in their stock.

When they asked him why he needed so much information about the clothing, he told them that their manager wanted them to wear vegan leather and be more organic. He thanked them before hanging up and he drove back home since the store was about to close. That jacket would later come back to haunt him down the road and finding its owner would cause him some trouble.

When Johnny closed her front door, she sighed softly after knowing he was gone and Simon exited the bathroom. She hid him in her bathroom when she heard someone knocking because she feared that the band would find them, or feared that they would think that she was working with the enemy.

"Thanks for washing my clothes, our washing machine broke and it feels great to be in clean clothes again," he thanked her as she handed him his leather jacket and she told him that he and the band were welcomed at her place.

They hugged when she opened her door and they promised to meet up at his place again, so they could work on another project that Simon and his band have been thinking about.

She slid down onto the floor with her back against the door and had her head on her knees. She wondered what was going to happen next.

Was the band going to tour again anytime soon? If so, for how long and with whom? How could she handle the heat if the Relentless and Simon's band toured together? Backstabbing her friends caused her to cry harder but she wasn't betraying them, was she?

She shook her head when she poured some of the whiskey into a cup and sipped at it while sitting in her grandmother's wooden rocking chair.

Her heart told her to tell someone about it but her brain forced her to stay silent. Just thinking about it was starting to tear her apart and she didn't know what else to do. Nala wished her parents were still in her life so she at least had someone to turn to but alas she was alone.

"I guess I'll just suck it up and put on my poker face," she told herself and soon she would be wearing her poker face when life hit her like a speeding truck.