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𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀 paced around her living room in her apartment, anxiously waiting for Johnny's call. Her first thought: What if Kreese tried to kill him and succeeded? No. Not her Johnny. Her Johnny was a survivor. Pushing those negative thoughts aside, she walked to the fridge to grab herself a cherry water, then walked to the living room and turned on her music. As Joni Mitchell's Carey began to play, she grabbed the latest issue of Pioneer Woman's magazine. As she flipped through the pages, there was a loud knock at the door.

"Coming!" Stella said as she stood up from the couch, placed her magazine on the coffee table and walked to the door.

As she opened the door, she found Johnny outside, slightly injured, but he was alright nonetheless, and she couldn't help but feel relief. "Johnny. Thank God." Stella said as she gently grabbed his hand and he walked inside. "I was worried about you."

"I told you, I'm a survivor." Johnny said

Stella shook her head. "No, I had this horrible feeling, that something was going to happen to you, especially after—"

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere, princess." Johnny said as he caressed her cheek.

Gently grabbing his hand, Stella noticed they were bruised. Wiping her tears, she spoke gently. "You're hurt. Come with me."

In the bedroom, Johnny sat on Stella's vanity chair, while she patched him up. As he held an ice pack on his hand, Stella rubbed ointment on his neck.

"What's on your mind?" Stella said as she applied ointment to neck

"I thought he was dead. I honestly thought I would never see him again, and I never wanted to see him again."  Johnny said

"I know, I'm so sorry, I wish I knew what to say, but I just don't know what to say." Stella said as she closed the ointment and put it back in the first aid kit. "But I do have to ask, do you have any idea what you're going to do since he's back?"

"Well, I'm not letting him in the dojo if that's what you mean. He brainwashed my friends and I. My buddy Dutch is in prison because of it, my buddy Bobby became a priest because of it." Johnny said

"All I ask is this, don't let the whole no mercy thing get to my brother. I saw something at the tournament that I didn't like." Stella said as she and Johnny walked back into the living room

"What?" Johnny said

"August's face." Stella said. "He's never been that aggressive. He's always had our mother's kindness. Please, Johnny. I don't want him to lose his way, or even go down the wrong path. I promised my mom I would always protect him if something happened to her. I want to honor her."

"Your brother is a good kid. Don't worry, I won't let him go astray." Johnny said as he wrapped his arms around her

"Thank you. For everything." Stella smiled. "Be careful driving home, okay?"

"I always am." Johnny said as he placed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "I'll call you later."

Stella nodded as she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a gentle kiss on his cheek. Johnny wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for an embrace. "Thank you, for everything, Stella Blue. I truly mean that."

"Hey, it's no problem." Stella smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You were there for me, now I want to be there for you. Anytime you need me, you give me a call, okay? Just remember, my door is always open to you. Day or night."

"Same goes for me princess. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Johnny said as he held her close to him and kissed her forehead one last time

"Goodnight Johnny." Stella smiled as she walked Johnny out.

──────

"So how is August enjoying being the reigning all valley champ?" Kara asked as she poured ketchup on her hash browns. The next morning, Stella met the girls, as well as Carter for breakfast and even the sweet barista Amy who had been hanging with them and had become apart of their friend group.

"I mean, he worked hard for it, but I told him not to let it go to his head." Stella said as she put salt and pepper on her omelette

"So what exactly happened last night?" Amy asked as she stirred creamer into her coffee

"Oh, so Johnny's old sensei, sensei Kreese showed up." Stella said as she bit into her omelette

"Wait, I thought the dude was dead?" Carter said as he sipped his coffee.

"That's what Johnny thought too, but, I guess not. I did hear Kreese say he had been away for a long time, what ever that means." Stella said. "After the confrontation, Johnny came over to my place, I patched him up, and we kind of kissed."

"You kissed him?!" Lori said, a little to loud and Kara slapped the back of her head, making the blonde rub the back of her head. "Ow." Lori said

"Lori, shut up." Stella said.

"Please tell me you two are going to get together soon. I'm so tired of seeing this whole back and forth thing." Lori said

"For real Stell." Kara said

"For fuck's sake. He's—" Stella started, but was cut off by Amy

"You know, they may have a point. This happens quite a bit. A beautiful younger girls falls for a handsome older man." Amy said

"In what reality?" Carter asked as he ate his food

"Don't be a buzzkill." Kara said as she rolled her eyes, then turned to her best friend. "Anyway, you need to find out where you stand with Johnny. Make sure he's not playing you, which I'm sure he's not, because given the way he was looking at you, he looked to be absolutely crazy about you."

"Kara's right." Lori said. "It might not be the answer you want, but at least you'll know."

──────

Later that night, Stella sat in her apartment getting some last minute studying in as George Jones' A Picture of Me Without You played. As she continued writing notes in her notebook, a knock was heard at the door, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Coming." Stella said as she got off the couch. Opening the door, she saw Johnny standing outside, and greeted him with a beautiful, radiant smile. "Hey you. Come on in."

Johnny walked into her apartment, and she closed the door. Leading him over to the sofa, Stella said, "Can I get you anything?"

"No thank you princess. I'm fine." Johnny smiled as the two sat down

"So how are you feeling?" Stella asked. "You're knuckles and neck feel better?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better, thanks to you." Johnny smiled, then nodded at her notes on the coffee table. "What about you? How's the studying, and working up at the hospice center?"

"Oh, it's going good. I have this one patient, who plays with the call light all the time, just to see how long it will take the nurses to get down there." Stella said, and Johnny chuckled

"That is the kind of patient I aspire to be." Johnny laughed

"Don't you dare." Stella laughed.

"Look, I'm here to talk about us." Johnny said

"What about us?" Stella questioned

"I want you to tell me how you feel before I say something by being a total dumbass." Johnny said

Stella chuckled, shook her head, and took his hand in her's. "No, you're not a dumbass. Complicated? Yes. But, I really like you. I think about you all the time."

"So do we want to go with that? You like me, and I really like you, and we can see where this goes?" Johnny asked. "Besides, I don't want to lose you."

"Yeah, I'd love that." Stella smiled. "And don't worry, Johnny. I'm not going anywhere, and tonight, neither are you. It's late, and I don't want you driving back to Reseda this late."

   ──────

Stella and Johnny laid down in her bed as the brunette turned off the vintage lamp, then she laid her head on the blonde's chest, and he ran his fingers through her beautiful brunette hair.

"Goodnight, princess." Johnny smiled

"Goodnight, Johnny." Stella smiled as she slowly drifted off, while tracing his abdominal muscles through his teeshirt