⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

FIFTEEN minutes had passed after johnny and stevie presented their appeal to the all-valley committee about reinstating cobra kai back into the tournament. the only thing now standing in the way was daniel larusso, who was also on the committee board. johnny and stevie were dismissed from the room as the board took a vote and they waited anxiously in the hall.

"you think they accepted?" stevie said, turning over to her father, who was anxious.

"not with larusso on the committee." johnny sighed. "we don't have a chance."

as if on cue, daniel walked out of the meeting room, upset. "congratulations, johnny." daniel said to the blonde as he stormed out of the building. stevie smiled as she turned to look at her father, before embracing him.

"we did it, bud." johnny smiled as he held his daughter in his arms.

"you see? i told you we had this!" stevie smiled as she hugged her father once more. "we have to celebrate. this calls for a celebration!"

the two headed over to the dojo and upon arrival to the reseda strip mall, stevie walked over to the convenience store next to the dojo to buy a 6-pack of banquets and a cherry coke for her. as she walked out of the store, she saw miguel arrive on his bike to the dojo, with a smile on his face.

"hey hon, you look very happy. i take it the "non-date" was a success?" stevie smiled as she walked back to the dojo.

"it went great!" miguel smiled. "how'd the meeting go? is cobra kai back in?"

"i think you might wanna hear it from my dad." stevie smiled as she opened the door to the dojo. while stevie and miguel walked into the dojo, johnny was putting up an all-valley poster next to the office while drinking a banquet.

"ooh! who's the man?" miguel exclaimed as he threw his bag and bike helmet down.

"i'm the man. oh shit, are you the man too?" johnny said. "tell me you're the man."

"i'm the man!" miguel smiled while stevie placed the beers in the office. "i crushed the date!"

"i crushed the committee meeting, with a little help from stevie." johnny said.

"so cobra kai's in?" miguel smiled.

"hell yeah, we're in." johnny smiled. "cobra kai's back, baby!"

"since this is a special occasion, i bought drinks!" stevie smiled as she walked out of the office. "miguel and i are gonna grab a soda. dad, you want a banquet?"

"no, this calls for a real toast." johnny said as he walked into the office to grab a liquor bottle and cups.

"oh, fancy." stevie said, while her father handed her a red solo cup.

"the good stuff for real men." johnny said as stevie shot him a glare. "and women."

as johnny handed miguel a cup, the teen took a whiff of the strong liquor and cringed at its strong smell. "drink it, it'll put hair on your balls." johnny said, placing the bottle aside.

"is that a good thing?" miguel said.

"yeah it's a good thing." johnny replied.

"a toast to cobra kai." stevie smiled, raising her cup.

"never accept defeat." johnny smiled, raising his cup as well.

⸻

after receiving a phone call from stevie, saying that the meeting had gone well and cobra kai was to compete in this year's tournament, bella drove over to reseda for some celebratory drinks with johnny and stevie. the brunette hopped out of her car and walked over to the small apartment, softly knocking on the door.

"hey ma, come in!" stevie smiled as bella walked into the small reseda apartment. as bella closed the door behind her, she caught johnny's gaze as he smiled back at her.

"hey, i didn't think you would come down here." johnny softly smiled.

"its a special occasion, i had to come celebrate with you two." bella smiled as she placed her purse aside. "i hope you don't mind."

"no, of course not." johnny smiled as bella returned the smile. "make yourself at home, come have a drink."

bella smiled as she grabbed a beer and opened it up. "so, cobra kai's back in the tournament. congratulations, sensei." she smiled. "how'd you get the dojo reinstated?"

"turns out the dojo's been banned since 1985." stevie said as she took a swig of her beer. "dad's old sensei and some other guy hired this other guy to beat the crap out of daniel larusso, who also happens to be on the board, and after that, cobra kai was banned for 'unsportsmanlike behavior'."

"wow." bella said, taking a swig of her beer. "and you had no idea about this?"

"of course not, we were already in new york by then and besides, i didn't care." johnny said, opening up another beer.

"that's true. we were in new york." bella said trailing her fingers through the sides of the beer bottle. "so what's next?"

"now, the real training starts." johnny said, taking a swig of his beer. "these kids are good, but if we want a shot at this, they have to get better."

"and they will, just give them a chance." bella sighed. "they've got you teaching them, so they'll be fine."

"thanks." johnny smiled. "so, the designing thing, how's it going?"

"i'm on a break." bella smiled, placing her beer bottle down on the table. "no work for 2 months."

"everything alright?" stevie said.

"yeah, i just needed to take a break from work, since that's all i ever do." bella said. "whatever happens happens."

"it's good that you're taking a break, i know how hard you work and you deserve it." johnny said.

"thank you." bella softly smiled as the pair took a swig from their beers.

a couple hours had passed as stevie, bella, and johnny continued to drink while reminiscing. it was past 1am when stevie decided to head home. after stevie left, bella stayed for another hour until she began to yawn and checked her watch for the time.

"i better get going." bella said, standing up from the table. "thanks for the drinks and congratulations, once again."

"thanks. it was good to see you again." johnny smiled as he looked at bella while she grabbed her purse. "look, it's late and you shouldn't be driving out this late, so you can crash here, if you want."

bella was taken aback by the suggestion and nervously giggled. "how kind of you, but i'll be fine." she smiled.

"you're gonna drive from reseda to burbank at 3am?" johnny said as he undid his tie. "it's a 30 minute drive, besides i don't want anything bad to happen to you."

bella remained quiet for a moment as she softly bit her lip. "i do hate driving around late and i do feel kinda buzzed." she sighed as she played with the bracelets on her wrist. "well, if it's not too much trouble, i'll crash."

the brunette had surprised johnny as he didn't think she would accept, but she looked tired with slight bags under her eyes. after bidding good night to each other, johnny went into his room as bella settled into the spare room in the reseda apartment and climbed into bed after a long day. once her head hit the pillow, she fell into a deep sleep.

meanwhile in the next room, johnny laid wide awake in bed, thinking about the brunette in the next room. the last time he and bella were in the same apartment together was more than 20 years ago, when they were married. he remembers those moments as if they were yesterday; waking up together, sitting around the tv together, and spending time with baby stevie, together.

⸻

flashback!
— june 1993; van nuys, ca

johnny slowly opened his eyes as he heard the soft sound of the radio playing. he groaned as he reached over to the side of the bed and found it empty, which meant that bella was already awake. he ran his hands through his hair as he laid on his back, sprawled out on the bed. johnny smiled as he saw bella stand in the doorway of their bedroom, wearing his metallica t-shirt as a nightgown while carrying stevie on her waist.

"good morning, hon." bella smiled as she walked back into the bedroom.

"morning babe." johnny smiled as he yawned before he and bella shared a morning kiss. "how are my girls this morning?"

the small 2 year old girl hopped onto the bed and went to hug her father. "daddy!" stevie exclaimed as she plopped down next to her father.

"she wanted to come say good morning to her daddy." bella smiled at the sight of her husband and daughter.

"hey princess." johnny smiled as he sat up and embraced his daughter as the small blonde girl placed a small kiss on his cheek.

"hi daddy." stevie smiled as she placed her small arms around her father. bella felt her heart melt as she saw johnny take the small girl in his arms.

"well i was gonna start making breakfast, you two wanna come help me?" bella smiled as she ran her fingers through her daughter's blonde hair.

"already? it's saturday, baby." johnny said as stevie sat down next to him. "we've both had a long week, so let's sleep in a little longer."

bella gave in and laid back down, pulling the covers over her body. the couple laid in bed with their daughter in the middle of them. johnny smiled as he placed a kiss on bella's temple and held his two favorite girls in his arms.

although bella was an early riser, she loved these days where she could just stay in bed with her husband until noon with no one phone calls interrupting her; just her and her family. she smiled as she looked down at the small little girl who closed her eyes and cuddled close to her father.

⸻

the tournament was now less than a month away and in order for cobra kai to stand a chance at winning, the training had now intensified. this morning, johnny had the kids meet up at a junkyard for today's training. earlier, stevie had asked johnny to dogsit lola while she accompanied chrissy to a magazine shoot and although johnny protested, he gave in knowing that lola could be useful for today's training.

"you wanna win? you gotta be hungry." johnny said as he handed the kids a piece of beef jerky. "you guys hungry?"

"yes sensei." the kids replied in unison as some took a bite of the jerky stick.

"good. so are they." johnny smirked as he blew a dog whistle, which released a group of german shepherds, followed by lola.

"oh shit!" aisha exclaimed as she and the other cobra kais began to run from the dogs.

the kids climbed up on cars as they tried to escape the dogs. as the other dogs jumped onto the cars, lola stayed on the ground, barking up at hawk.

"don't be afraid, they can smell fear!" johnny smirked as he looked to the small yorkipoo dog who was barking and growling. "especially that little one, she's a killer."

lola continued to bark up at hawk until she finally managed to hop onto the car and bite hawk. johnny cringed as the boy groaned in pain while the small little dog ran off, chasing her next victim.

⸻

bella's phone vibrated as she softly groaned and yawned. as she turned to the side, she found a single rose bouquet on the pillow, along with a note that read :
morning valley girl, hope you slept well. thanks again for the suit, i really appreciate it.
– J.L.

the brunette smiled as she inhaled the sweet aroma of the rose and sat up in bed. bella got out of bed and walked over to the kitchen to make some breakfast. she let out a frustrated sigh as she looked at johnny's fridge that had a couple of beers along with some packages of bologna.

"why am i not surprised?" bella muttered to herself as she ran a hand through her hair. while she searched the fridge for more food, she found some eggs. she pinned her hair up and began to make breakfast as she heard the door open. she turned around to find johnny entering the apartment and smiled.

"hey, good morning." johnny smiled as he tossed his black gym bag aside. "how'd you sleep?"

"good morning to you too." bella smiled. "i slept like a baby."

"that's good. i'm glad you got some sleep, you looked exhausted." johnny said.

"thanks for letting me crash, i appreciate it." bella smiled as she turned the stove off, grabbing a plate to serve herself breakfast. "i went ahead and made breakfast, you must be hungry after training."

"you actually beat me to it, i was about to take you out for breakfast, but thanks. i'm starving." johnny softly chuckled as he walked past bella to grab a plate. the two had breakfast as there was an awkward silence between them. bella continued eating as she placed her fork down and broke the silence.

"thank you for the rose." bella smiled. "it's beautiful and it was such a kind gesture."

"oh, that? i'm glad you liked it." johnny smiled as he opened up a beer bottle. "i owed you for the suit."

"you didn't owe me anything, but thank you." bella chuckled. "i'm really happy for you. you definitely look happy doing this."

"thanks, it really means a lot coming from you." johnny smiled. "and i'm really proud of you, y'know, for the designing thing, i always knew you'd get there."

"you've always had faith in me, so thank you." bella smiled shyly. "also, valley girl?"

"i saw it on a magazine." johnny chuckled as he continued to eat. "i thought it was clever, y'know? since you're from the valley."

bella giggled as she softly bit her lip. "it was cute though, it definitely made me laugh." she said.

"sorry about the mess, but you can crash here anytime." johnny said.

"i appreciate it. if you ever need anything, you know where to find me and you can crash at my place anytime." bella smiled. she stood up from her seat and grabbing a pen from her purse, she wrote down her phone number on a napkin.

"y'know i could've asked chrissy for your number right?" johnny smirked as he teased bella.

"nope, not this time." bella laughed as she handed the blonde a napkin. "i have to go because i promised my mom lunch, but call me sometime."

"i will." johnny smiled as he walked bella out. "i'll see you around."

"i'll see ya, johnny." bella said as she got in her car. "call me."