Save Me from the Dark (A John Gage 'Emergency!' love story Fanfiction)

Chapter 16

After finishing breakfast and saying goodbye to Dixie, Scarlett found herself with Johnny in his white Land Rover. At least, that's what he called it, to her it was just some almost embarrassingly antique looking jeep type thing. In any case, she noted he seemed proud of it and that was more than enough reason for her to keep her opinion on it to herself.

Scarlett also noted for someone who had said he didn't have a plan, he sure acted like he had one. Clearly he'd figured something out during the brief time it took her to finish breakfast and she wondered what he had in mind. It almost scared her to think about. What did people even do for fun in the 1970's?

"So," Johnny finally broke the silence. "Have you ever been rollerskating before?"

Scarlett thought about it. She didn't think she had, honestly. Oh, this was going to be horrible.

Sometime later they emerged, Johnny looking satisfied and her looking horrifed. Yeah, Scarlett definitely couldn't skate, much to his amusement. He'd probably never let her live down the fact she had to practically hold onto him for dear life the entire time. At least it had given her the perfect excuse to hold onto her crush for awhile, so she supposed it evened out somewhat.

Scarlett did wonder if Johnny had anything else planned, however. Surely this wasn't all he had in mind, was it? She wasn't sure and he was being awfully quiet but her question was answered as they loaded into his car.

"So how are you doin'?" Johnny finally broke the silence that had seemed to last forever, but in actuality had only been a few minutes. Any silence with Johnny seemed to last forever, especially since he proved to be a talkative guy.

"Weird, but I suddenly got deja vu. Like you've asked me that once already." Scarlett threw out a friendly tease at him. She knew from his conversation with Roy that he could take them, albeit not all that well depending on the subject.

She watched, with some disappointment, as the corner of his mouth curled up in a tiny small before he replied. She'd admittedly expected more of a reaction.

"I mean, how are you really doin'?" He said as he briefly turned to look at her before putting his car into drive and pulling out of the parking place. "When we talked in the courtyard that day you said some stuff I can't get out of my head."

Scarlett felt a blush slowly creeping up her face as she recalled that day well and she hated that he'd bring it up again. She'd hoped he would forget.

"Like I said before, I'm fine. I mean, I'm fine as I can be, given things, but still fine enough. I just got overly emotional and said some things I shouldn't have. It's okay though, I'm fine." Scarlett realized her explanation was pretty flimsy but damn, she really didn't wanna revisit this conversation.

"I know what it's like to say things you shouldn't, but...you said you don't feel like you belong here and you wished you'd died that day. That didn't seem like spur of the moment, overly emotional talk. It felt like something you'd considered before." He said in a tone that she noticed didn't carry the same cheerful quality she was used to hearing from him. Even that day in the courtyard he hadn't sounded this serious. This wasn't just bad, this was very bad.

Scarlett let a sigh escape, she really didn't wanna do this. Especially not with him.

"Like I keep saying, I'm fine. Life is just shitty sometimes, you know? I was just stressed out with everything and I said that stuff." Scarlett couldn't even hide the annoyance in her voice and she immediately regretted it. Snapping at the only real person who seemed to care about her, who also happened to be her crush, wasn't the greatest idea. "Sorry. I just get annoyed when people do that. I said I was okay, I shouldn't have to keep repeating it."

There was a slight pause before Johnny answered and Scarlett figured he was searching for the right words. It was clear he didn't want to irritate her more, and it made her feel bad. As usual she'd screwed up.