Thursday arrived like any other day but Meena couldn't ease the anxiety that she was feeling as the evening bore in. She set their noisy old vacuum back into the living room closet and made her way to the kitchen where her mother was hurrying about to get things ready for the Gates when they arrived. Meena stood in the doorway for a long while as she watched her mom, the smell of her mother's pot pie and peach cobbler permeating throughout the house. Her mother paused to wipe her hoofs on her apron and looked up to where Meena was standing quietly.

"What's wrong, Meena?" she asked.

Meena shifted her feet as she tried to think of what she wanted to say, feeling childish. She had a rather bad habit of just waiting for people to notice her before saying anything.

"I don't want Pastor Gate and his family to come over." She confessed in a sullen voice.

Meena's mother made her way across the kitchen so she could stand in front of her daughter, a concerned look on her face.

"Are you nervous because of the meeting you had with Pastor Gate a while ago?"

Meena nodded, looking down at her toes.

Meena's mother sighed and wrapped her arms around Meena's shoulders. The two of them barely fit in the doorway together but they didn't seem to mind as her mother's trunk smoothed soothingly over Meena's face.

"You should've told me sooner. I would've told the Pastor we were too busy this month for his usual visits."

A smile eased Meena's features as she pulled back to look up at her concerned mother.

"That'd be lying, mom."

Her mother huffed.

"I have no problem with lying if it means I'm protecting my family."

Her mother's trunk smoothed across Meena's face again, brushing aside her ears so her mother could get a good look at her face.

"You mean the world to me, peanut. If you feel uncomfortable at all we'll ask them to leave, okay?"

Meena nodded.

"Okay. Thanks mom."

Satisfied, her mother returned to her baking. Meena put on one of their extra aprons and helped her mother finish with the peach filling before going to the living room to set the table. She had to move aside a few pieces of furniture to have enough room to add a leaf to the table. In such a small house there was barely enough room for four elephants let alone three more guests.

As soon as Meena was done setting everything up she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Pulling it out, Meena saw a text message from Johnny. It read "FIGHT!" and had a line of angry emojis and then a "Good luck today" at the end. The silly message and the small encouragement eased some of the tension in Meena's shoulders. She already had two people on her side, what could go wrong?

After some final preparations the doorbell rang. Her mother wiped her hoofs off and hurried to let the Gate family in. Pastor Gate smiled warmly as he saw Meena's mom, his green and white Hawaiian shirt with his fisher's hat and shorts a compliment to his naturally green complexion. He gave Meena's mom a welcoming handshake and then turned to Meena's grandparents who were sitting on the couch leisurely, their conversation turning into white noise in the back of Meena's mind. The rest of Gate's family soon followed in. His wife, Priscilla Gate, adjusted her glasses when she entered and turned up her long nose slightly. She bowed her head respectfully to Meena's mother, her eyes scanning the room until they landed on Meena. Meena had never really took much notice of Priscilla and Priscilla, in turn, usually kept to herself but in that moment Meena suddenly had an uncomfortable feeling of inferiority. When Pastor Gate had entered the door he had filled the air with good-natured friendliness but when Priscilla entered she brought with her a refined, icy chill. Meena couldn't help from shivering as Priscilla's eyes settled on her, the woman's mouth taking a slight sour turn.

Their daughter, no older than thirteen, hid behind Priscilla's white silky skirt. The girl had sad, downcast eyes as if she didn't really want to be there. Her claws fidgeted nervously on her own dreary black pants and jacket and Meena, despite herself, couldn't help remembering her own years as a preteen and how hard it had been trying to get used to growing up. Meena smiled at the girl encouragingly and, seeing Meena smile at her, the girl attempted a shy wave.

Pastor Gate stood beside the young alligator and patted her head fondly.

"Lilah here is a real fan of your singing, Meena." He said affectionately, "A few Sundays ago she said how she really liked your voice which is what gave me the idea to ask you to join as a soloist."

"I see…" Meena replied in a non-committed fashion, suddenly feeling awkward.

"And what a waste of talent it is…" Priscilla muttered her voice a small whisper in the background.

Pastor Gate turned a sharp-eyed glare on his wife but neither Meena nor Lilah seemed to notice Priscilla's comment. Meena knelt down to talk to Lilah as the adults chatted.

"Do you like to sing?" Meena asked curiously.

Lilah smiled a small smile, hiding her face from her parents, and nodded gently.

"Then why don't you sing at church?" Meena asked.

The girl pursed her lips and looked down.

"I'm scared." She said back but by the way that her eyes glanced to her mother Meena had to wonder if there was more to the story then Lilah just being scared.

Still, Meena's heart ached in understanding. She remembered her first time going out and singing on stage in front of a live audience back at Moon's theatre. After her first performance, it became easier to deal with her stage fright. Fear was a real thing and there were some days when Meena found that her old fears still crept into her heart and took over. It was like a constant battle with herself.

"It's okay to be scared. I get scared, too," she said slowly, "but one way to get over the fear is just to go out and do it and then you won't be scared anymore because you'll be doing what you love."

Lilah's smile widened a little with hope as she considered Meena's words.

It wasn't long before everyone gathered to the table. They gave grace and started piling on spoonfuls of piping hot food. The Gates had brought a fruit salad to add to the dishes and Meena's mother thanked them graciously. Everyone talked with animated excitement and even gloomy Lilah seemed to enjoy some of the conversation as she listened to Pastor Gate and Meena's grandfather brag about some event or another. As for Meena, she was starting to think that her anxieties had been unwarranted and that the dinner really was a simple house visit. The only one who sat in disapproving silence was Priscilla.

Priscilla finally spoke up as Meena and Meena's mother stood up to put away everyone's plates at the conclusion of the meal.

"So, Meena, have you finally decided to join the church choir as our soloist?" she asked icily.

Meena froze, her hoof pausing as she grabbed a hold of Priscilla's plate. She took a deep, steadying breath to settle the adrenaline that pulsed in her chest. Meena tried to choose her words carefully.

"I'm sorry, Miss Priscilla, but I decided I'm not going to become the choir's soloist. There are more important things that I want to focus my time on at the moment, although I truly appreciate the offer."

Meena turned her eyes to look at Pastor Gate to gauge his disapproval. He simply smiled back and nodded, seemingly unconcerned with her statement. His ease lifted the burden from Meena's shoulders and left her feeling light and accepted.

"Well, thank you, Meena," Pastor Gate began to say, "for your honestly. I guess we'll just have to-"

Priscilla's sharp laugh cut through the room like a shattering of ice. She stood up haughtily, staring down her nose at Meena despite the fact that Meena stood at least a head or so taller than the alligator. It was a little disorienting. Lilah flinched away from her mother while all of the adults at the table, excluding Meena's grandmother who was distracted by some of the food in front of her, stared at Priscilla as if she was mad.

"You must really think you're something." She hissed, pausing a moment for effect.

"All I ever hear is people singing your praises yet an opportunity comes at you and this is how you react? Your ungrateful attitude disgusts me. Why did that two bit koala choose someone like you, a girl that can't even get over her stage fright, over a trained opera singer like me?! He was a fool!"

Priscilla glared with hot, teary eyes as Meena stared and realization flashed in her mind. Priscilla had gone to the tryouts at Moon Theater and hadn't been placed. Now, even her husband unknowingly insults her by asking Meena to be the choir soloist instead of his own wife.

Everything about the dramatic situation seemed a little silly to Meena. If Priscilla had wanted the position, why didn't she say anything instead of acting out in a way that was embarrassing for both families? No doubt Meena and Pastor Gate would've gladly allowed her to take the position of the choir soloist. Meena opened her mouth to reply but was stopped by Priscilla's next outburst.

"You have so much talent and opportunity and it's as if you're rubbing it in the face of those who never got such a lucky break! And worse, still, you have the gall to parade around town with a convicted man's son, further ruining the reputation of the community that you live in!"

Meena's heart nearly stopped.

Pastor Gate put a firm hand on his wife's shoulder, standing up beside her.

"Priscilla, I think that's quite enough."

The woman turned to her husband with a prideful air, yanking her arm away from his grip.

"You're right. It is quite enough. Quite enough that Meena is so talented that she didn't need to do any schooling for her voice- that she didn't need to do any work to get her spot as a singer in a theater. Even worse is the secret that she's keeping from her mother and her grandparents. I have certainly had enough of it."

Priscilla turned to Meena's mother.

"A few weeks ago I saw Meena being embraced by a young gorilla on the street. He looked familiar so, out of concern, I looked him up."

"Out of nosiness is what it sounds like…" Meena's grandfather huffed, already seeing where this was going and not liking one bit of it.

"His name is Johnny, one of the other singers within her little theater group! At first I thought nothing of it until Mrs. Pierson discussed some old news with me about a man who had been caught and convicted of multiple robberies. I was surprised to learn, from Mrs. Pierson, that this convict was the father of one of the singers that had performed at Moon Theater. I looked up the convict and the convict's son and discovered the truth for myself!"

By now Priscilla seemed quite haughty and full of herself, unaware of the looks she was receiving from the people in the room.

"The news article I read talked about the trial after the Moon Theater performance and how the son, Johnny, had been accused as well but was quickly released after a brief trial declaring that there was no evidence to prove that he had done anything to be convicted."

A hush fell on the room. It was obvious what she was suggesting. Priscilla's sharp eyes focused in on Meena's mother.

"I can't believe that your family would allow Meena to be in a relationship with a gang member!" then, to conclude her statement, she added under her breath, "Like mother like daughter, I suppose."

Meena slammed her hooves on the table, a few of the plates crashing to the ground in shattered pieces. Her trunk had scrunched up close to her face and her freckled cheeks were red with anger. She had never felt so angry in her life.

"How dare you." She said, her voice low and barely controlled, "Johnny is one of the greatest people I have ever met! I don't care what you say about me but you have no right to insult him and you have no right to insult my mother." She pointed at the doorway, her eyes dark and her voice strained, "Get out."

Priscilla didn't need to be told twice. She only paused at the door to slip on her white heels before slamming the door behind her. Pastor Gate and Lilah both stared at the door in shock, unsure of what to say or do in the situation. They decided to stay for a few moments so they could help clean up the mess of the shattered plates and to help Meena's mother put away the food before leaving. Once the Gate's car engine turned and could be heard disappearing down the road Meena ran into her room and slammed the door shut. Her hoofs shook as she tried to open up her phone's contact screen, looking up Johnny's name. The phone rang only twice before Johnny answered, grunting as he huddled the cell phone between his ear and shoulder.

"Yea'?"

Upon hearing Johnny's voice, Meena burst into tears, falling to the floor as she leaned against the back of her bedroom door. Johnny was so surprised that he dropped whatever it was he had been holding and a familiar voice shouted in alarm in the background. It took Johnny nearly a half an hour to calm her down enough so that she could explain what had happened. The two of them talked on the phone for a long while and they continued to talk a few hours after she had finished crying and even after Meena's family had long since gone to bed.

"Are you feeling better?" Johnny eventually asked when there was a break in their conversation.

Meena thought about it for a moment.

"Yeah, I am. Thanks, Johnny." Meena sighed in content, glad that she had a friend like Johnny who would drop anything (literally) to help her out.

She turned her blue eyes up to look at her clock and stared at the numbers that read eleven forty five pm.

"Sorry. It's late. I should let you go." She fiddled with her jacket sleeves nervously, wishing that she could talk to him for forever. "Do you think we could hang out sometime tomorrow?" she added finally, "I want to see you."

There was silence on the other end of the phone and for a brief moment Meena wondered if Johnny had accidentally hung up on her.

"Why don' we hang out right now?"

Meena's blue eyes went wide.

"Right now? Johnny, it's almost twelve o'clock!"

He laughed on the other end of the receiver.

"Oh, come on, Meena, where's yo' sense of adventure?"

"Um…" was all she could think to say.

"It's decided. I've already got m' keys. I'll be over in a minute!"

And before Meena could protest any more Johnny hung up on her. Meena stared at the blank, cracked screen of the phone in her hands, her heart thumping in her chest. Johnny was driving over to see her. That minute. In the middle of the night. Her head had a familiar fuzz of pleasure and joy. It was the same feeling she'd had when they had held hands in his garage only a few days ago but Meena tried her best to push that thought aside as she stood up and slowly opened her door. The hinges creaked slightly, much to her dismay, but her mother and grandparents down the hall made no sign of stirring. She snatched up her keys and made her way to the front door as quietly as her big clumsy feet could allow. Once Meena was outside she looked up into the sky. Clouds brushed across the stars and she felt the cool chill of the wind against her leathery skin. She hurried to the end of her lawn and waited, unsure of what else she could do.

Some of Priscilla's words intruded into her thoughts. "Still, you have the gall to parade around town with a convicted man's son." Meena lifted her head defiantly. She very much had the gall to parade around town with a convicted man's son, thank you very much. The more she thought about Johnny the more Meena saw his goodness and virtue as a man and, someday, she really hoped she'd get to meet the father that had raised him.

Johnny's truck suddenly pulled up alongside her, startling her out of her thoughts. Johnny leaned over to the passenger side and opened the door without turning the engine off. He smiled sheepishly.

"T' be honest, I didn' think you'd be waitin' for me." He admitted as Meena got nearer to the car.

Meena was starting to have second thoughts.

"M-maybe this isn't a good idea, Johnny…" she said slowly, one hoof playing with the car door and the other fidgeting with her jacket zipper. "W-what if my mom finds out that I-I… that I snuck out in the middle of the night?"

Meena had never snuck out in her life. Maybe that was why she was having such a hard time imagining her mother's face if her mother learned about it. Johnny put the car in park and climbed out, coming around to talk to her. He smiled at her encouragingly.

"It's jus' a drive t' the park, Meena. I doubt your mum would have much of a fit over that."

Meena stared into Johnny's expressive brown eyes for a long moment before she decided to concede. She slid into Johnny's truck as he closed the door behind her and ran around the front of the car to jump into the driver's seat. Looking at it, Meena was quite surprised that Johnny's truck didn't have more room. It was still roomier then Rosita's car but not by much as the two of them sat, their shoulders brushing against each other. Maybe it was because they were shoulder to shoulder that made Meena think that the car felt unusually warm.

True to his word, Johnny drove them to the nearby park, turning off his engine and running out of the truck like a child. He turned to look at Meena who still sat in the passenger seat, wondering how Johnny could seem like such a gentleman one moment and then just like a kid the next. She slowly made her way out of the car to follow him, watching him with interest as he climbed up onto the monkey bars.

"Come on, Meena! I thought you wanted t' "hang out!""

Johnny smiled stupidly at his own joke as Meena snorted and shook her head. Eventually, she joined him on the playground, being as tentative as possible so she wouldn't break anything. They laughed on the monkey bars as Meena tried her best to stay on ("I hate the monkey bars!" she had complained to a humored Johnny who maneuvered on the bars with ease), pushed each other down the zip line, and very slowly slid down the slides that had become much too small for them. At one point, Meena got stuck in the tubed slide and Johnny had to slide down behind her to push her out. They both landed in a giggling heap at the bottom as Meena was finally released from the confines of her tube slide prison.

They calmed down from their fits of giggles and laughter as they sat on the swing set, both of them sitting in quiet contemplation as the cool night wind chilled their skin. Meena was really glad that Johnny had brought her out to the park. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so much and after the drama she'd had at the house Meena was definitely in need of a respite. Johnny, on the other hand, was fighting with his inner turmoil. When he had heard Meena's voice break on the phone earlier that night his heart had felt like it had stopped. When he had heard of how she had defended him his throat had constricted. Most of all, when she had said the words "I want to see you." It was as if she had read his mind because she was all he could think about.

"Oi, Meena?"

Meena blinked away her thoughts and turned to look at Johnny. His eyes were wide and searching and the atmosphere around them suddenly became tense with electricity. Johnny stood up from the swing, which wiggled quietly in irritation with his leaving, as he moved to hover over Meena. Like this, he was finally taller than her. His fingers deftly clenched around the swing's chains above Meena's head and Meena was suddenly aware of the intensity of his eyes, of how wide his shoulders were, and how warm he was when he was close by her.

"I like you."

Meena's heart jumped into her throat as she quickly looked down in surprise at his words. Johnny continued, brushing one hand along her cheek and pushing one of her ears from off of her face as her ears moved to try and hide her.

"I really like you 'n… 'n I want to date you."

Meena looked back up, realizing that Johnny's hands were shaking anxiously and that he was waiting for her to reply. The more she tried to think, the closer he seemed to get.

"I… um…" Meena's head felt fuzzy as she tried to gain some control on the situation.

Just then a light flashed on the two of them, causing Johnny to jump away, startled, as Meena flung herself off of the swing. To complete the effect, she even squeaked a little. The light flashed towards the ground while Johnny and Meena's eyes refocused, finally seeing the bunny cop behind the intrusion.

"We got a call saying that there was some disturbance going on in the area…" the rabbit commented dryly, "but it looks like it's just a couple of kids playing hooky in the middle of the night."

Meena and Johnny both looked down guiltily. The rabbit turned her light onto Johnny who squinted in discomfort.

"Listen, kid, it's all good and fun to flirt with your girlfriend in the romantic moonlight but this is a residential area and it's well passed curfew. You could get into a lot of trouble being out at this time of night."

Meena's overactive brain (still fried from all of the excitement) quickly jumped to conclusions and imagined the bunny cop dragging Johnny away in the back of her cop car.

"W-we weren't doing anything!" Meena blurted, "W-we're friends and- and I had a bad day so Johnny took me here to cheer me up, that's all! I-I'm sorry that we were so loud. I promise we won't be so loud, I promise we won't do it again!" Meena stuttered, unable to really process any of the words that she was saying.

"Woah, woah, woah, calm down." The bunny interjected finally, a guilty look on her face.

The cop sighed, turning her flashlight off so she looked less like she was interrogating them. The window to the cop car behind her rolled down as the cop's partner, a red fox who was wearing sunglasses despite the dim lighting, stuck his head and called out.

"Leave them be, Carrots. It's not like they're doing anything wrong."

The bunny turned to give the fox an icy glare before turning back to Meena and Johnny.

"Sorry that I scared you, that wasn't my intention. You two look like a pair of smart kids so I suggest you take my advice and head home soon, okay?"

Meena and Johnny both nodded with the looks of scolded children as the cop stalked back to her car and drove off, leaving the two of them behind in the dim moonlight. Obediently, they climbed into Johnny's truck so Johnny could drive Meena home. Neither of them said anything during the drive and as Johnny parked in front of Meena's house and turned off his engine the two of them sat in silence, unsure of how to break the awkwardness that had come between them. Several times Meena opened her mouth to say something but she always stopped herself, realizing that what she was going to say wasn't really that important. Finally, Johnny reached his hand over and took her hoof, his fingers rubbing softly against her palm.

With new awareness, Meena wondered if she should pull her hand away or not.

"Sorry if I sprang m' feelings on ya so suddenly. Ya' don' need to reply right away… jus' think 'bout it, alrigh'?"

Meena nodded mechanically in response and Johnny pulled his hand away, leaving her own palm feeling cold and empty. She climbed out of the truck, stalling by the open car door. She slowly looked up at Johnny who was staring down at his fidgeting fingers. She felt like she had to say something.

"Th-thank you for taking me out tonight, Johnny…" she said, realizing in the back of her mind that it sounded like he was dropping her off after a date, "I really appreciate you and…" she hesitated only a moment, "And I'll think about it."

Meena shut the car door and hurried up her walkway into her house as Johnny stared after her. Neither of them slept very well that night.

AN: Wow… okay! Well, here it is, the much awaited chapter! I really have to apologize for taking so long (so many months… I'm so sorry…) but around the time of the last chapter I was very busy getting ready for my first semester at school so writing fanfiction was at the back of my mind. I still don't know if I'll be very steady in updating or not but I can guarantee that I'll see this fanfic through to the end.

Thank you to everyone who decided to watch this fanfic while I've been away. I kept getting notes of encouragements and notices of new followers throughout the last few months and I'm so glad that there are people that enjoy my Meena x Johnny interactions.

Also, there are a few characters from another movie that made a cameo appearance in this chapter. Did you notice them?

Thank you everyone for your continued love and support! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter!