⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

"CAN you just sit still, johnny?" bella sighed as she tried to patch up johnny. "for, like, five fucking seconds, please."

"i told you already that i'm fine." johnny protested as the brunette rubbed some ointment on his injured back.

"you're such a big baby." bella giggled as she finally got him to quit fidgeting.

"that's not true." johnny scoffed as he rolled his eyes. after his encounter with kreese, he went back to his apartment and called bella. after bella and stevie left the dojo, the two ladies went home with a strong feeling of concern as they both knew that kreese walking into the dojo wasn't gonna end good.

"i thought he was dead." bella softly whispered as she continued to rub his back. "i never thought i'd see him again."

"yeah, you and me both." johnny said as he opened up his beer can. there was that silence again; johnny listened to bella take deep breaths as he knew that she still had those memories of that night, just like he did.

"so he's back. now what?" bella said, finishing up with his back and now grabbing some ice for his hands.

"now what? i got rid of him." johnny said as ge took a swig of his beer. "he's not coming back into my dojo."

"watch out because he might just use that against you." bella said as she handed him a bowl of ice.

"its mine now." johnny said. "my name's on the lease, so it's my dojo."

bella sighed as she walked back to the fridge to grab a water bottle. "you have good intentions, i know that." she said as she sat on the edge of the coffee table, facing him. "you just gotta be careful, even more, now that he's back. you have good kids, john. don't let them repeat the past. and stevie, just make sure she's okay."

"stevie's a smart kid–"

"i just don't want her repeating our mistakes." bella sighed as she ran her hands through her hair.

"and she won't, trust me." johnny said as bella gave him a soft smile. as he shifted in his seat, he softly groaned in pain.

"take it easy." bella said.

"thanks for patchin' me up." johnny said as bella sipped on her water bottle. "you didn't have to–"

"it's okay, don't worry about it." bella chuckled. "you've been there for me, now it's my turn."

there was a brief moment of silence as bella checked on the ice, which was slowly melting. "let me get you more ice." she said as she grabbed the bowl of ice and walked to the fridge. while johnny changed the channels, he finally settled on some football game. he looked over to bella, who was in the kitchen grabbing more ice.

johnny slowly walked up from the sofa and walked over to the kitchen, where bella was. "i refilled your ice tray." bella smiled as she placed the bowl of ice to the side of the counter.

"i could've done that." johnny chuckled as he and bella maintained eye contact.

"yeah, well. i beat you to it." bella smirked as she softly bit her lip. they stood in the kitchen as johnny then leaned in to kiss bella. bella, taken aback by the kiss, leaned back on the counter for balance. as they pulled away, bella looked into johnny's blue eyes and softly smiled.

"i-i'm sorry." johnny sighed as he looked at bella, who smiled.

"don't sweat it." bella softly whispered. as they gazed into each other's eyes again, they pressed their lips together once more.

bella wrapped his arms around his neck as johnny wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body closer to his. he softly brushed his tongue on her bottom lip as bella let out a soft groan. as they pulled away, bella took a deep breath and bit her lip.

"i have to get going, before it gets late." bella softly whispered as she slowly trailed her hands from his neck and softly placed him on his chest. "call me?"

"yeah, i'll see you later." johnny said as bella broke away from his embrace and grabbed her purse. "night, bella."

"good night, johnny." bella smiled as she walked out of the apartment. "take it easy and sweet dreams."

⸻

before going to work, stevie woke up early and would take lola on her daily walk around a nearby park. while stevie took lola on her daily walk, she felt her phone vibrate with a call from sebastian. now, after their date and that kiss, seb and stevie became a couple a few days later. due to both their work schedules, they decided to go on dates every once a week.

"good morning, hon." stevie smiled as she answered the phone. "what's up?"

"i have some good news and some bad news. what do you wanna hear first?" sebastian said.

"it's 7:30 am so i'll take the good news." stevie chuckled.

"alright so good news, i'm now booked all summer with photo shoots, but the bad news is they're all back home in new york." sebastian sighed.

"wow – i mean, i'm happy for you." stevie said as she sat down so she and lola can take a break. "when are you leaving?"

"in about three weeks, but don't worry because i'm taking you out to dinner tonight." sebastian said. "it's kinda like a friend dinner, i hope you don't mind."

"no, not at all. i can take ash and aiden right?" stevie said as she watched lola lie down.

"of course, it's a friends dinner after all and they are our friends, so yeah, bring them along." sebastian smiled as he locked his door. "i'll pick you up later alright?"

"sure! just let me know." stevie smiled. "i'll call you during lunch. i love you."

"love you too, babe."

stevie sighed as she shut off her phone and got up from the bench as she quickly sent a text to the twins.

three musketeers 🤺💘
•

so seb's leaving in three weeks and
he invited me to dinner with his friends.
you two in?

ash 🤍
sure, beats sitting home
and doing nothing

aiden 🙆🏻‍♂️
i thought we were watching all the
kickboxer movies ☹️

ash 🤍
aiden, stfu 🥸

omg not a kickboxer marathon 😎

ash 🤍
anything but a kickboxer marathon 🥲

aiden 🙆🏻‍♂️
i thought you liked van damme 😏

ash 🤍
🖕🏼🖕🏼

you two crack me up 🥰

ash 🤍
ANYWAY, we're in 😌

aiden 🙆🏻‍♂️
you owe me a kickboxer marathon 😤

ash 🤍
yeah, whatever 🥸

⸻

"good morning ma! how are you?" bella smiled as she greeted her mom and walked into the north hollywood residence.

"wow, you seem happy and well-rested." lisa smiled as she embraced her daughter. "i take it you're all caught up and free?"

"nope, i'm actually taking a two month break." bella smiled as she sat on the sofa, with lisa sitting in front of her. "i'll get back to work after this small break, but let me tell you, mom, it's the best decision i made."

"that's good to hear." lisa smiled. "so how's johnny?"

"well, he's doing good." bella smiled.

"and?" lisa smiled. "anything interesting?"

"i went over to his place." bella said, messing with her bracelets. "and we might've kissed."

"oh, that is interesting." lisa said. "so, what now?"

"i don't know, we haven't spoken since the kiss. it sort of just happened, ma. i don't even know how to explain it." bella said. "it was just a small moment, that's it."

"does stevie know?" lisa said as she walked over to the kitchen, followed by bella.

"no, because nothing happened, we just kissed." bella said. "it was an impulse, y'know how impulsive johnny can be–"

"and i also know how impulsive you can be." lisa chuckled. "honey, you two are the most impulsive people i have ever met. so, how do you feel?"

"i don't know." bella sighed.

"let me ask you something; did you feel it in your knees?" lisa smirked as she grabbed a plate.

"ma!" bella said as lisa shot her a glare. "i felt it everywhere."

"you still have a thing for him, don't you?" lisa said as bella grabbed a plate and served herself breakfast, before sitting next to her mother.

"i don't know what to call it." bella said as she served herself some juice. "i mean, i spent 10 years with him, 5 dating and 5 married. we did everything together. i guess i never really got over him. i really tried while i was engaged to eric, but nothing compares to 10 years with your first love."

"i know." lisa smiled. "in my opinion, you looked much better with johnny than with eric."

"he definitely treated me better than eric." bella softly chuckled.

"you know you two are gonna have to talk about this, right?" lisa said.

"i know, i just don't wanna make things awkward." bella sighed. "we're in good terms now and i don't wanna ruin it all because of a kiss."

"just talk it out." lisa said. "you never know."

"i just don't know how to talk about these things with him anymore." bella sighed. "besides we haven't done this in more than 20 years."

"hey mom, hey grandma!" stevie said as she walked into the dining room.

"hey sweetie!" lisa smiled as she embraced her granddaughter. "i thought you were working."

"i just came to get a bite to eat before going into work. is that okay or?" stevie chuckled.

"honey, of course. you know you're always welcome here for breakfast, lunch, or dinner." lisa smiled.

"so how's dad doing?" stevie said as she sat in front of bella. "is he okay?"

lisa turned to look at bella as bella took a sip of her orange juice. "he's doing fine." bella smiled as stevie looked to lisa and her mother.

"did i miss something?" stevie said.

"no, i just missed seeing you two girls together." lisa said as bella smiled. "that's all."

⸻

it was past 9pm as stevie sat in a booth with sebastian, the twins and more of sebastian's friends. before leaving, seb wanted to have dinner with his friends from la as well as his new girlfriend. as stevie sipped on her cherry coke, sebastian reached out and intertwined his hand with hers as he listened to one of his friends tell a story.

"so stevie, seb tells us that you have a pretty good taste in music and that you can kick some ass." julian, one of seb's friends, said causing stevie to chuckle.

"well, i get my music taste from both my folks. as for the karate, my dad taught me when i was little." stevie smiled. "you might wanna watch out for those two as well, they can kick ass too. double trouble, y'know?"

"oh, really?" julian said.

"our dads used to practice karate back in their teens, so they taught us." ashley said. "they're also like brothers so stevie's like our big sister."

"but if we're talking about who's better at karate, it has to be stevie. her dad was the champ back in the day so, seb watch out." aiden said as he took a swig of his beer.

"maybe you can teach me sometime." sebastian smiled as he played with stevie's hand.

"sounds like a plan." stevie chuckled.

"i've literally never met a more badass girl and you're so pretty too." grace, julian's girlfriend spoke up. "you're my hero."

"thank you. nobody has ever told me that before so you don't know how much you made my night." stevie laughed as she took a sip from her soda.

⸻

johnny found himself standing outside of bella's door, contemplating on whether he should knock or just call her. ever since they kissed back at his apartment, he hasn't been able to stop thinking about it. the sweet cherry taste of bella's lips had lingered on his and it drove him insane, which is why they had to talk about this.

he finally decided to knock on her door and slowly paced as he waited for her to open the door. as the brunette opened the door, she greeted him with that radiant smile and those bright green eyes.

"hey." bella smiled as she stood at the door. "you read my mind, i was just about to call you. come in."

"i guess we think alike." johnny chuckled as he walked into the burbank apartment. as bella closed the door, they awkwardly walked to the sofa and sat down.

"so, how's your bod?" bella said, realizing how that sounded and chuckled at the realization. "i mean, like your back. how're you feeling?"

"i'm doing good, a lot better in comparison to that night." johnny smiled at bella's awkwardness. "how's it going with you?"

"i mean, i'm still on break, but the anxiety of getting back to work is kinda getting to me." bella said. "can i get you something? water? coffee? i would offer you a beer but i know you have to drive back–"

"i'll take a water." johnny said as he watched bella get up and walk to the fridge. bella feared a moment of silence because that silence could trigger the question of the kiss.

"so how's the dojo going?" bella said. "y'know after the win?"

"so we're not gonna talk about the kiss?" johnny said as bella grabbed the water bottle from the fridge.

there it is.

"alright, since it's killing you and it's kinda killing me as well." bella sighed as she handed the blonde his water bottle. "look, i know it was an impulse and it's okay, it happens–"

"how are you feeling? be honest, isabella." johnny said as he looked at bella. "before i ruin it by being a dumbass–"

"i enjoyed it." bella sighed. "you said to be honest, so here it goes. i haven't been able to stop thinking about it. i missed this, i missed you and that kiss reminded me of all the good times, it especially reminded me of why i fell in love with you."

johnny stayed silent as bella ran a hand through her hair and bit her lip. "now i wanna hear your side." she said. "before i feel like a dumbass."

"i still think about you, all the time." johnny sighed. "and now that you're back in my life, i think about you even more and how i don't wanna lose you again. i missed you and that sweet cherry taste."

bella chuckled as she softly bit her lip. "so where do we go from here?" she softly whispered.

"nothing has to change, we're agreed to be friends and we can still stick to that." johnny said as he took a sip of his water bottle.

bella nodded her head as she messed with her bracelets. "besides, i saw you checking me out at the all-valley." johnny smirked.

"i was not." bella laughed as johnny looked at her. "don't flatter yourself, lawrence."

"you were, stop denying it sweetheart." johnny said as he stood up from the sofa and walked to the door.

"alright, that's enough. get out of here because i'm sleepy." bella said. "i'm glad we talked it out and now we know where we stand."

"yeah." johnny smiled as he walked out. before leaving, he placed a soft kiss on bella's temple, then softly pecked her lips, earning a smile from bella. "i'll see you later. good night."

"good night." bella smiled as the blonde walked out. "sleep with the angels, lawrence."

"you know i will."