Midnight Creeper: An Elton John Fanfiction

Part Two: Jeannie's Rescue

The rest of the night ran as smoothly as ever, with Elton and asking Jeannie various questions to get to know her.
"So wot kinda music do you like, Jeannie?" Elton said with a little smile.
"Rock, of course. But lots of early rock like Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis n' stuff." She scratched her head and looked at the table. Her shyness was being to peep out again. "I also really love country/rock artists, and a lot of Motown because it reminds me of home."
"Oh you're not from here?" Elton raised an eyebrow.
"Nope, I'm from Wisconsin, but moved to Michigan at an early age. I grew up there most my life!" Jeannie smiled at the the thought of her home. She loved it there so much and hoped to go back.
"What brought you to Atlanta?" Bernie asked.
"Ohhh well... jobs and stuff..." She sighed, "My dad got a well-paying job here two years ago, but last year my parents got in a big fight and all and divorced, and we haven't been able to move back to Michigan yet."
"Oh dear I'm so sorry," Elton sounded disgusted with bringing up the topic once he learned that it didn't always have a good story.
"Oh but it's fine, I'm kinda happy that's he's gone now anyways; he never liked me or supported anything I did anyways."
"I know darling, I know the pain." Elton sighed and stared motionlessly at his empty cup. "My father... well... I don't talk about him much."
A moment of silence spread quickly throughout the room, except for the gentle breeze blowing through the windows and moving the curtains. It was such a touching moment. Jeannie didn't know that Elton had those sort of pains growing up. But she understood completely.  And neither of them wanted to think about who they had lost along the way.
Jeannie moved the conversation on: "I didn't make much friends here in Atlanta either, that's why I want to move back to Michigan so badly. I want to see my old friends again. I miss them."
"Homesick. I know that pain too." Elton looked at Bernie, who nodded in agreement. "We've both lived many different places. It's just a feeling you gotta adapt to."
He swallowed, and then looked back at Jeannie again. "So is that why nobody was really able to pick you up tonight? I still find it odd that nobody came to pick you up. No friends at all? No siblings? No boyfriend?"
"Nope, I made no friends here. Not even at school. A lot of acquaintances, but I guess I'm just not "popular" enough for friends. I'm also an only child, and I've never had a boyfriend before."
"Wot!?" Elton looked at Bernie, then back at Jeannie, and his eyes grew very large as if he could not believe what he just heard.
"A sweet, funny girl like you and you've never had a boyfriend before? Why, I'd think all the guys would be chasing after you!"
"No..." Jeannie smiled, but it sort of formed into a frown. "No, I'm not normal, I'm just, I'm just too different for them. I don't like them."
"Who?" Bernie asked, looking over at Elton who was leaning into the table so far to make sure he was hearing things right. It was sort of funny. So Bernie scooted in a little, too.
"The boys at school." She sighed. "And really, anybody my age." She kept her eyes on the table, and didn't move them an inch. "I don't like anybody my age."
Elton's eyes managed to get even bigger somehow; "Well wot do you mean, Jeannie? Are they mean to you? Oh if they're mean to you I'll put them in their place, I promise. I'll go right to your school and start an anti-bully speech and-"
Bernie put his hand on Elton's and told him to shut up. She was about to cry. Elton stopped his sentence immediately and stared at the distressed Jeannie who hung her head down low. She was silent.
"W-w-wot's wrong?" Elton said in a hush, low voice. He might as well have whispered.
Jeannie didn't speak for a minute. She just hung her head down. 
"It's... it's not really a big deal to some but it really affects me. I'm lonely. I'm so... fucking... lonely... and I know exactly why."
The silence between the three heightened, the draft through the window stopped suddenly, and the curtains froze. It even seemed like the ticking of the clock on the wall had nearly stopped. Stunned by the word choice she used, Elton and Bernie soon came to realize that this was a tough subject for her to talk about and she wasn't really the little girl they had portrayed her to be. She was seventeen, she was almost a woman. And she meant what she said.
"But never mind. It wouldn't be right for me to lay my burdens on you guys anyways." She sighed, and slowly lifted her head back up again.
"You can tell us, Jeannie. We're here to listen." Elton looked down at her with attentive eyes and a weak smile. He would do anything to see the girl's vibrant, jubilant energy again.
"I hope it doesn't weird you out, but-" she stretched her arms out and took a very unusual look at Elton, "-but I'm attracted to older men."
Elton looked at the table for a very, very long time.
"And I mean men in their 40s or 50s."
He looked back up from the table and glanced at Bernie for his reaction. He was, as expected, staring right back at Elton. He let out a small laugh.
"Well wot's wrong with that?"
"I can't date men that old. I can't! And now I feel so lonely..." She buried her head in her hands and silently sobbed. "And I'm so sorry for laying this out on you two. I feel horrible." She couldn't believe she was telling the Elton and Bernie her own life and personal problems. It was almost rude and unprofessional, she knew they had concerns of their own and she was only some regular teenage girl as far as she thought. But Elton and Bernie, on the other hand, were so much more absorbed in her thoughts and feelings than she imagined.
"You are a really charming, sensible young lady." Bernie said, leaning into the table. Elton stepped in as well.
"Jeannie," His voice was very deep, very assured, "Don't ever stop loving who you love. My advice to you is to never chase love; it will find you when you least expect it." He cleared his throat and then pushed back his chair. Getting up from his seat, he walked over to Jeannie and knelt down. Jeannie's muscles twitched. Startled, she did not expect his face to be so close.
"You're not alone," he spoke delicately, softly into her ear. It wasn't long before Elton had his arms around the girl in a warm, deep embrace that seemed to have lasted for several minutes. Jeannie did not expect the hug, nor his kind words, but she took them deeply as the came.
Immersed in his pleasant, warm hug, Jeannie closed her eyes and imagined something the never thought she'd imagine in her life. But she pictured herself with Elton. It was no surprise, this was just about the only physical contact she had with a man ever; of course a teenage girl was bound to have these thoughts. But she didn't expect to have these feelings nor thoughts about Elton until today. It confused her, bewildered her, and sort of made her excited. When he released the hug, Jeannie smiled a bright smile that could be seen even at the farthest points in the room.
Immediately Elton smiled back, relieved that he had cheered her up. A part of him had seemed to find enjoyment in satisfying this girl, although he was very much so gay, he didn't really think that bringing this girl happiness and reassurance was going to cause any harm, or change his sexuality.
"Feel better?" His wise, hazel eyes were glowing in the light.
"It's gonna be hard not asking for another hug from you again." Jeannie admitted with a innocent, but sly grin. She was definitely back to her normal self again.
"Ooohh Jeannie," Elton sighed, "And it's gonna be hard for me to resist you once I go."
Bernie looked at Elton with a concerned look, and walked up to him as though it was an urgent emergency. It was like a code, and signaled Elton that maybe it was time to go.
"Well Jeannie..." Elton began, but she interrupted him unintentionally.
"Oh my goodness are you leaving!? Well I guess it would make sense. It's pretty late." She got up from her seat quickly and rushed to the kitchen. Fiddling about, what sounded like her rummaging through drawers, Jeannie came back with with a marker.
"Please wait one second!" She yelled, running down the hallway. She came back with the new Elton John record, "Sleeping With The Past", and handed it to Bernie and Elton.
"Please, please sign this. My mom will never believe me that you two came over!" She squealed in delight as she watched them sign it. She was shaking from all the excitement and realization that once again, there were famous people in her dining room.
After they signed it, Jeannie opened up the front door (reluctantly) and turned around to give her final goodbyes.
"Bernie, Elton-" She looked at them with a sad look, but of course she was trying to fight back her happiness from meeting them as well, "I am beyond thankful and grateful for the fun, love, and happiness you brought me tonight!" She giggled, now completely forgetting all about how sad she was earlier. "Oh, and of course the ride. I think you saved my life." She smiled, although it was probably the truth, too. They all knew it.
"It was my pleasure helping you, Jeannie. You are such a wonderful... woman." He brought himself to say it. Jeannie leaped in to give them both a hug, one last time, before the long night had ended. In the blink of an eye, they were out the door and the clock struck 1:30am. If this was surely a dream, Jeannie wouldn't have known. It sure felt realer than even her own waking life, then.
Looking back down at the record, Jeannie read what Elton and Bernie wrote.

That tea was great, but get over that Elton guy!
Much love, Bernie Taupin 

"Now that was cute." Jeannie thought. Bernie always had something "smart-alecky" to say back to Elton. It was like they were brothers.

You make me all a man can be, little Jeannie. 
I love you.
Elton John, XOXO

She nearly dropped the record when she read that. Just when she thought her day could not get any better, and here Elton John just told her he loved her?
"This has to be a dream. I'm dreaming!" She told herself, in denial that Elton would ever tell her such a thing. That's when the tears began to break her down. Falling down, hitting her head on the door knob, she leaned her frail body against the front door and cried her heart out into a million pieces. But they were all from joy. Holding the record in her arms, squeezing it, and remembering Elton's gentle embrace- it was as plain as daylight and as clear as can be that she had fallen in love with a man named Elton John.