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XLII .. the (unknown) sixth stage of grief : revenge
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FLASHBACK — ENCINO HILLS, 1982

it was now a quarter 'til 2am and the music was still blaring out of the speakers and bodies filled the dance floor. chrissy's parents were gone and well being that it was spring break, she decided to throw a party. now, bella was not present at this party because she was on vacation with her parents in the caribbean.

her boyfriend, at the time, matthew wanted her to stay behind so he could take her on dates and the spring break parties around encino, and although bella wanted to stay behind, she couldn't. that obviously wasn't gonna stop matt from having fun, being that bella was only a bet.

chrissy and ali remained on the dance floor as they danced to evelyn king's i'm in love. the cobras were at the bar, having a couple of drinks as matt and a few boys from the track team came up to the bar to get more drinks.

"it's a shame your girl isn't here, harris." marcus, one of matt's teammates, slurred as he poured some more jack into his cup. "you could've earned those extra $50 by taking her up to the bedroom."

"i'm gonna do it, just give it some time." matt drunkenly laughed. "besides, i've got her wrapped around my finger."

"oh yeah?" marcus laughed. "i bet you can't get just any girl wrapped around your finger."

"just name the girl." matt smirked.

"ali mills." marcus laughed. "you can't do it."

"fucking watch me do it." matt laughed as he grabbed his cup and went down into the dance floor as he bumped into ali, spilling her drink.

"watch it, harris!" ali said rolling her eyes.

"let me get you a drink." matt slurred. "what's your poison, princess?"

"fuck off, harris. she has a boyfriend and you have a girlfriend." chrissy stepped in. "get lost."

"i just wanna get her a drink to replace the one i spilled." matt drunkenly smiled as he wrapped an arm around ali, reaching down to grope her. "c'mon sweet thing, let me get you another drink."

ali, who felt his hand travel down to her breast, pushed him off, but matt still attempted to grab her. johnny, who was watching everything from the bar, walked up to matt. "what the fuck, harris?" johnny said, shoving matt off of ali. "don't be fucking touching my girl."

"what are you gonna do about it?" matt slurred as he stumbled. johnny got angrier and began to curl his hands into a fist, which matt noticed. "c'mon king cobra, throw a punch. i know how much you want to. c'mon, strike first."

johnny, who looked at ali, unclenched his fists and attempted to calm down. "i'm gonna tell you this once, don't fucking touch my girl." johnny said as he was face to face with matt. he backed away and intertwined his hand with ali's as matt laughed.

"pussy."

johnny stopped and let go of ali's hand, clenching his fists once again. he then turned and punched matt. the two boys broke out into a fight as a crowd surrounded them, cheering and placing bets. the two were pulled apart by marcus and bobby as the crowd dispersed, talking about the two boys fighting and debating on who won.

"don't fucking touch her." johnny said as he shoved matt. "you touch her and i'll kill you. i swear, i'll do it."

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

PRESENT DAY — VAN NUYS & MALIBU, CA; 1990

runway season was officially over, meaning bella can finally take a break to prepare for the baby, as well as spend time with her loved ones. after the show was over, she and johnny headed back to the apartment to freshen up before heading to malibu, where jenna and jimmy were hosting an after party.

bella looked at herself in the mirror as she straightened out her charcoal grey silky dress, running her hands through her small tummy, which seemed to be growing by the day. she let out a small sigh as johnny walked out of the bathroom, adjusting his white coat.

"you look so handsome tonight, my love." bella smiled as johnny softly wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

"you look pretty gorgeous yourself." johnny smiled as he placed a kiss on bella's shoulder, sending chills down her skin. as she stared at both of their reflections, she softly smiled, picturing them as a married couple, getting ready to go out on a date. bella softly placed a hand on his arm and softly stroking it as the small gold ring on bella's finger sparkled with the reflection of the light. "you nervous?"

"not at all. the hard part's over, now i get to relax.." bella softly chuckled as johnny softly kissed her shoulders, trailing his lips up to her neck. ".. and unwind."

"you deserve this break." johnny smiled. "you worked your ass off and although we've had our ups and downs; i know i haven't said it much, but i'm proud of you."

"it really means a lot." bella smiled as johnny pulled her into his embrace. "thank you, baby."

"so, you ready?" johnny smiled as bella fixed his suit, by unbuttoning the top button of his black dress shirt.

"ready if you are." bella smiled.

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

it was midnight, but the ambiance inside the malibu beach house did not show signs of slowing down, the bar was full and so was the dancefloor. it had been a while since bella and johnny had gone to a party and now that bella had more time to spare, they decided to celebrate.

now, amongst the guests, was matt; he and vincent, who's was matt's lifelong friend and whose girlfriend was a model, were at the runway show and decided to come down to malibu and have a drink. as he handed him one more drink, he looked to the side to find bella, giggling as she looked up at her boyfriend, who wrapped an arm around her shoulder, jealousy filling his body.

as matt watched them dance from the bar, bella smiled as she intertwined his hand with johnny's as she led him to the dancefloor. the soft tune of madonna's crazy for you played as the blonde wrapped his arms around her waist, bella wrapping her arms around his neck and placing her head on his shoulder.

"you're so close but still a world away. what i'm dying to say is that i'm crazy for you." bella softly sang as the couple swayed to the music. "touch me once and you'll know it's true."

"have i ever tell you how much i love to hear you sing?" johnny whispered as he tightly held on to bella.

"hmm, you've mentioned it." bella smiled she pecked his lips. as the couple continued to dance, matt let out a frustrated sigh as he pressed the shot glass against his lips, feeling the strong liquor burn through his throat. he felt a bit of jealousy when he saw them dancing. there was no doubt that he carried a torch for an old flame, but he just didn't expect bella, a down-to-earth girl, to end up with john lawrence, west valley's resident heartbreaker.

"you still thinking about the brunette?" vincent, matt's friend, said as he served himself more liquor, while matt sighed. "i heard lawrence knocked her up. they're expecting a kid."

matt furrowed his brows as the thought of bella sleeping with johnny made him cringe. "are they married?" matt said as there was a slight slur in his voice.

"matt, c'mon. johnny lawrence? getting married?" vincent laughed.

matt poured more liquor into his cup as he saw the couple leave the dance floor and come up to the bar where chrissy was. chrissy poured bella a glass of cherry coke and johnny grabbed another beer as matt built up the courage to go up to her and congratulate her, it was the least he could do.

"bella?" matt smiled as the brunette turned around to face him, giving him a soft smile. johnny tensed up and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"matt! i-i didn't expect to see you here." bella smiled as she placed a hand on her bump. "how are you?"

"i'm doing well." matt smiled as he looked down to her baby bump. "you-you're pregnant?"

bella took a deep breath as she softly smiled. "um, yeah." she smiled. there was a brief moment of silence as matt sighed as he took a drink from hills glass. "why didn't you tell me?" he slurred.

"because she's not with you anymore." johnny spoke up. "and it's not your kid."

"oh, fuck off, lawrence." matt slurred.

"what's you say, harris?" johnny said as removed his arm from bella's waist and clenched his fists.

"john–"

"i said fuck off, lawrence. she was mine before she was yours." matt slurred as he was now face to face with johnny.

"until you put a fucking price tag on her–"

"oh, so you're gonna act like you didn't just fuck bella in order to forget about ali." matt slurred. "how you two have lasted is a fucking miracle."

bella's heart dropped as she heard those words. "johnny, let's just go home." she said, taking a deep breath, trying to calm her heart rate.

"fuck off harris." johnny said, rolling his eyes and leaving along with bella.

"c'mon baby, you left me for this pussy?" matt scoffed as johnny clenched his fists again as he wrapped an arm around bella. "get a real man, sweetheart. not this jerk-off."

johnny took a swing at matt as the two boys began to fight. bella sighed as tommy and bobby separated the two, who were throwing punches at each other, each with a furious look in their eyes. once the two were pulled apart, matt wiped some blood out his nose as johnny was held back by tommy.

"don't you ever fucking talk to her like that." johnny said, as he stood face to face with matt. "you lay a hand on her again, i'll fuck you up. i did it twice already and i can do it again."

the whole ride back to van nuys was silent as bella reflected on what matt said: you fucked her to get over ali. she knew it wasn't true because it was matt drunkenly speaking trying to get a kick out of johnny, but her insecurities came in and questioned whether it was true or not.

as the couple laid in bed, bella softly traced her fingers through her boyfriend's chest and torso as questions ran through her mind. "john?" she whispered as she looked up at johnny who was fas asleep.

"mmh?" johnny groaned sleepily.

"is all that true?" bella sighed. "you sleeping with me to get over ali? is that why you dated me?"

"isabella, of course not." johnny said as he wrapped his arms around her. "you're the love of my life. i would never use you or hurt you. i promise you that did not happen."

"please just never let me go." bella said as a few tears escaped her eyes. "please."

"i won't, princess." johnny sighed as he tightened his grip around bella's bare body. "i'm not going anywhere."