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Stella woke up feeling parched. She looked at the time and saw it was 3:05 AM. Sitting up in her bed, she looked around and realized one, very important detail: she was no longer in her apartment in California, but rather in her childhood bedroom back in Austin. Getting out of bed, she wrapped a silk robe around her body, and down the stairs.

Reaching the living room, she turned the corner and entered the dining room, where Nathan, Janette, and August were seated eating Cornish hens. But what Stella saw, wanted to make her fall apart. Almost, miraculously, her beloved mother, Ava, was seated and wearing a baby blue baby doll dress, her blonde hair swept away from her kind face.

"Mama?" Stella choked out, almost a whisper

Ava smiled with pride at her daughter, then said, "Hey sweetheart. Why don't you come sit by me? Your food is getting cold. I even poured you a cherry water."

Stella stood there staring; she was nonplussed. Walking closer, she questioned, "Hey what are y'all doing?"

"I'm so sorry about the Cornish hens, Ava. I didn't have the right size pan, so now they're burnt and raw on the bottom." Nathan said as he beamed at his beloved wife

"Oh my sweet Nathan, you worry too much. This is great. We're all together. Just eating it this one time won't hurt." Ava reassured

"Yeah, even if it does send us to the hospital." August teased

"Augie." Janette said as she cut into her Cornish hens 

Stella was still standing, going frantic. How did Ava get here? She's dead. She has to be. She just has to be. "Uh, how did she get here?" the brunette said

No one responded. Instead they kept eating their food and making idle chitchat, completely ignoring the brunette. Turning to her son, Ava said, "So your grandmother tells me you are taking karate. How is it going?"

"It's going well. My sensei says I'm the best in class." August said

After talking about August's karate lessons, the family began to share old stories, making Ava  and Nathan laugh. Stella however, began to frantically sob.

"What the hell is going on? Hello? She's dead! She shouldn't be here! Why are you guys talking about August's karate practice and sharing old stories?!" Stella asked, crying frantically

Nobody was paying attention to her. She felt completely and utterly lost and alone, the one who never made her feel lost and alone besides Janette and her brother, was Johnny and he was nowhere in sight. She needed him. She needed Johnny. Where was he?

"Damn it, she's dead! She's dead! She's dead! Will somebody please listen to me?!" Stella sobbed

Then, Ava turned to her daughter, with a radiant and nurturing smile on her face. With tears of grief and anger streaming from her beautiful blue eyes, Stella cried, "You're dead, goddamn it! You said you'd never leave me! I need you, and now you're dead! You're de—"

Stella's voice no longer worked. Her jaw locked shut. She panicked at what she saw. Darkness consumed the room, then Ava dissolved away as Nathan, Janette, and August continued eating their food

"I love you, Stella Blue. You've made me proud. It's time to let go. Forgive your friend, Johnny." Ava's voice echoed liked a crystal bell, and the faint smell of Penhaligon's Bluebell lingered behind

Stella fell to her knees and wept and she wept hard. She knew Johnny would never hurt her, and she knew he wouldn't make the same mistake he made as a teenager. She was just so conflicted on what to do. All she knew, she needed him back in her life.

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Stella woke up and looked at the photo of Ava on her beside table. Getting out of the comfort of her bed, she wrapped her bathrobe around her body, and walked into the livingroom, to fix herself a cup of iced tea.

Sitting down on the couch, she turned it on TCM and King Creole, which was her favorite Elvis movie was on. Feeling herself get sleepy, she grabbed a blanket, laid down, and covered herself up, and dozed back off.

Johnny parked the challenger in the parking lot of Stella's apartment complex. He couldn't stop thinking about the beautiful brunette, and how he made her cry, and after he made a promise to himself he would never do that. He also knows he went to far at Valley Fest, and she was just trying to make him see the light, and that was one of the many reasons why he was so in love with her, and it killed him to make her flinch.

After getting out of the challenger, he walked into the complex, and up to Stella's floor, then knocked on her door and waited for her to answer. After a few minutes, she sleepily answered the door. "Johnny, what are you doing out this late?" she said as she rubbed her beautiful blue eyes

"Can we talk? It's important." Johnny said

Stella nodded and opened the door further for him. He walked into the apartment and she led him inside. "What's going on? Is everything ok? Is August?—"

"Your brother's fine princess. I wanted to talk about what happened." Johnny said as the two sat down on the couch

Stella nodded then turned to face him. "Johnny, I—"

"No, princess. Don't apologize." Johnny said. "I'm sorry I raised my voice to you, and I'm so sorry I—"

"Hey, I also raised my voice as well. I should be apologizing too. I just wanted you to think first, before you struck first, because one day, you'll end up striking first with the wrong person and it will get you hurt bad, and I don't want to think about that." Stella said as she was close to tears.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere princess." Johnny reassured. "I'm so sorry I made you flinch. You know I would never hurt you. Please don't be afraid of me."

"Johnny, I know you would never hurt me. You've made that perfectly clear on several occasions. I'm not afraid of you." Stella smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm so sorry Stella." Johnny said. "Please forgive me."

"I forgive you Johnny." Stella smiled as she maneuvered herself into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, then rested her forehead against his. "I forgive you."