Lolita let out a long, somewhat sad-sounding sigh and got up to head back into her bedroom, coming out a couple minutes later in another form-fitting dress. She sat down on the couch, not saying much of anything and instead stared out the window, biting her nails.
“Everything okay, Lolita?” Carrie asked. The mood of the room had changed, and she was confused. Even John had seemingly gone from happy to subdued in the span of a couple of minutes. She could feel it in his body language, which had tensed somewhat, and the fact that he was staring at Lolita in concern.
Lolita flashed a quick but reluctant smile and shook her head. “Just..being a stupid toon, sweetie. Don't mind me,” she said, but her eyes were glistening with barely held back tears.
“Hey, woah..” Carrie said, hopping off of John and joining Lolita on the couch. “What's going on?” she suddenly remembered her nudity. “Oops..” She grabbed her clothes from the floor, quickly redressing, then rejoining her. “So come on..what's the matter?”
Lolita glanced over to John, who'd pulled his pants back up and gave another sad smile, this time to him. She looked back to Carrie and smiled, this time a bit more genuinely. “Nothin' sweetie. Like I said..just being a stupid toon. I'm..happy I could do this for you.” She leaned forward and gave Carrie a soft peck on the lips. “I know that..” her eyes were filling with tears again. “I..know that you and..and Johnny boy are..” she sniffled and a tear rolled down her cheek. “That you two are gonna be great and..you'll..make him..make him happy...” Lolita wiped the tear and several more away. “Don't mind me,” she said with a forced giggle. “Just a stupid toon. I'm happy for you, really.”
“Lolita..” John said, not crying but clearly upset and hurting, both out of sympathy and probably a bit more, Carrie realized. “I don't know what to say.”
“How about one of you starts by telling me what's going on?” Carrie said. “I mean..I'm not stupid. I have some ideas about what this is all about, but I want to hear it.”
“The last issue,” John said quietly.
“The last issue,” Lolita said with a nod. “So you didn't forget.” There was a genuine half-smile.
“Lolita..I could NEVER forget,” John said, and Carrie felt a mild pang of jealousy in the way he said it.
“But for those of us who DON'T know, how about you clue me in?” Carrie said.
John sighed. “I decided to wrap up the series, even though I was only drawing it for my own amusement. I..honestly don't know why. I mean, it sounds silly, in the grand scheme of things. Comic creators abandon their series all the time. But..I wanted to give Wolf Whistle a happy ending, probably to avoid confronting how much of it was just pure fetish work on my end of things. A true ending would make it justifiable if anyone ever found it, because I could go 'hey, look here..see, I wasn't just writing and drawing tf sex, there WAS a plot!' …. But more than that, it's because at some point, Lolita became something more than just a character and a fantasy for me. I owed it to her.”
“By this point, Johnny had been drawing himself into the comics for awhile. He and I were dating,” Lolita added.
“Originally, I'd just intended to add myself in as a one-shot character who'd gone on a blind date with her, which had gone predictably wrong. But I started making myself a more recurring character.”
“Ohhh..yeah, I suspect I know where this is going,” Carrie said, almost feeling like she was part of a strange Supernatural meets Jerry Springer sort of episode.
“The second to last issue,” Lolita said, “I'd proposed to him. I wanted to bite him and make him my mate.”
“And the last issue..I said yes. The final panel was the two of us, cuddled up under a full moon,” John finished.
“I was actually born here about halfway through the series,” Lolita said. “I knew when you were writing about me, and drawing me. And when you started making us more serious, Johnny..oh man,” Lolita said, “It put me right on cloud nine.” She looked almost blissful as she remembered how she'd felt. “And then you stopped. It was heartbreak city. I knew you still thought about me..toons can feel it when their creator does..but you weren't drawing me. But I was fine..some other toons had warned me about when that happens. It hurt..and it hurt BAD..” Lolita said, “But..it wasn't the end for me. I had a home here.”
“Lolita..I just...life got in the way,” John apologized. “If I'd known..like REALLY known..”
Lolita shook her head, “Don't sweat it, Johnny. You couldn't have known. And you've got a real peach here.” She smiled at Carrie, and it was genuine, despite being clearly tinged with sadness.
“Then when you guys started being able to come here, things got a little dicey for me, not gonna lie. I always hoped you'd show. But of course, you didn't. Until today. And..as over you as I thought I was, Johnny..I'm not. I know I should be. It's not fair for me to want what I want...so yeah, just being a stupid toon.” Her voice warbled slightly, and she wiped a tear from her cheek. “Just a stupid toon.”
“Lolita..” Carrie said, reaching out and pulling her in for a long hug. Her heart broke for her, despite knowing that Lolita's affections were for her husband. She stroked Lolita's hair as the gorgeous toon began to break down now.
“Just a stupid toon,” Lolita said over and over. “St-stupid toon. Such a stupid toon.”
“Shh..that's enough of that,” Carrie said, trying to soothe her. She looked at John, motioning him over with her eyes, feeling bad at how miserable he looked as well. She knew how good a man John was, and that this had to be incredibly difficult.
John hesitantly joined them. For a moment he started to sit beside Carrie, until with a mild incline of her head and darting glance with her eyes indicated he should get on the other side of Lolita. Carrie gently pushed her toward John, and Lolita wrapped her arms immediately around him.
“I'm sorry, Johnny..” Lolita said, breaking down completely at this point. “I'm s-sorry..I..I sh-shouldn't..d-do this..I'm so st-stupid..” Lolita was hyperventilating, bordering on hysterics.
Carrie felt herself starting to cry as well as she witnessed the toon's heart breaking. “Shh..Lolita, it's fine..”
“I know I..I..have to let you go..” Lolita sobbed. “But..but..but..I don't want to, Johnny..I LOVE you..you're my MATE..you're the only man I'll ever love..”
“I love you too, Lolita..” John said, then suddenly froze. It had slipped out. It wasn't said out of reflex, or at least not purely. His eyes darted to Carrie, and he prepared to apologize. He'd just told another woman that he loved her...in front of his new wife. But it was true.
Lolita's sobbing stopped immediately. There was only silence. She looked up at John, her eyes as wide as his. “Johnny..you shouldn't have said that..you have a real peach of a girl an-”
“Shh..” Carrie said again, “I told you, Lolita..it's fine...”
“Carrie..I..uhh..” John said, unsure of how to read the situation.
Carrie once again wrapped her hand around the back of John's neck and guided his head down toward the waiting Lolita's surprised and tearstained face. “We can make this work, love..” Carrie whispered. “Go ahead..it's fine. Both of you..”
Lolita kissed him deeply, and again tears rolled down her face, but they were happy tears this time. She kissed John hungrily, with the passion of an unrequited love finally being fulfilled. When she finally stopped kissing him, Carrie turned her head back to her and kissed her deeply as well, getting it returned by Lolita with an equal enthusiasm, and then Carrie and John leaned over Lolita, keeping her sandwiched in between them, sharing yet another passionate and loving kiss session.
“Johnny,” Lolita said with a genuine and beaming smile, “You really know how to pick 'em.”
“He does,” Carrie said with a laugh. “I hope though..and I know it's sudden...but I hope you pick me too..”
“In a heartbeat, doll,” Lolita said, nuzzling her hard. “In a heartbeat.”