⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

THE soft sound of the radio played in the background as bella sat in her living room, looking and clearing her emails, as she slowly prepared to go back to work. as she read her emails, she heard her cell phone ring. placing her laptop aside, she walked over to her bedroom, where she had left her cellphone and smiled as she looked at the caller id, which read Johnny

"hey stranger." bella smiled, answering the phone. "to what do i owe the pleasure?"

"hey." johnny said, with a smile as he heard bella's smooth voice. "you doin' anything later?"

"nope. wow, it actually felt weird to say that." bella chuckled. "anyway, i'm free all day."

"alright, since you're not doing anything, you wanna go get lunch?" johnny said.

"i could eat." bella smiled. "sure, i'd love to."

"pick you up at 1:00?" johnny said. "you better be ready, i know how you take forever."

"yes, sensei." bella teased. "i'll see you then."

as bella hung up, she turned her laptop off and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. before showering, she went over to her closet and looked through her clothing. it had been a while since anyone had invited her out to lunch, especially johnny. grabbing one outfit after the other, she felt like an indecisive teenager, tearing her closet apart as she looked for the perfect outfit.

the brunette stared at four potential outfits that were spread on her bed. while she decided on what to wear, she ran a hand through her hair as she realized what she was doing. why do you care so much? it's just a lunch date. to be fair, bella hadn't been out on any kind of date since eric, which was ages ago. it was her first date in a long time, so she wanted to dress nicely, but then again, she was going to lunch with johnny, she didn't need to 'dress to impress'. it's not like they're together, who does she need to impress?

after staring at the clothing spread out on her bed, she finally settled on wearing a simple denim dress with some sandals. bella grabbed her clothing and headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. once she finished, she grabbed her makeup bag and curling iron as she began to get herself ready.

⸻

"wait – so you're actually letting him stay and watch?" stevie protested as she stood inside the office. "what the hell are you thinking?"

"he's not gonna do anything. he's just observing." johnny said. "just pretend he's not here."

"yeah, it's kinda hard to do that." stevie said. "i mean, this guy almost choked you to death and i'm just supposed to act like it's no big deal?"

"he's not gonna hurt you, stevie. not on my watch." johnny said. "look, all he wants is a second chance–"

"since when do you throw second chances around?" stevie said. "you can stand here and give me a million different arguments on how he deserves a second chance, but i'm still not gonna agree with this."

as she discussed the issue with her father, she saw the former sensei peek into the office and felt fear pit up in her stomach.

"we'll talk about this later." johnny said. "i have a class to teach."

stevie nervously ran a hand through her hair as she sat down at the desk and began to organize paperwork. she had a bad feeling about all this and in a way, she had a right to feel this way. she looked through the office window and examined the man; he had an intimidating presence, just by the way he stood with his arms crossed.

stevie snapped out of her thoughts as she received a text message from sebastian. she smiled as she looked at the message. seb and stevie hadn't spoken in a week or so, as she didn't want to distract him from his work.

seb 🖤

i finally get some time
to myself after a hectic week.
i miss u. 🥺

well, hey there. i miss u tons. ❤️
so much shit going on. 🙂

everything ok baby? 🙁

mehhhh 🥸
can i call you?
i have to rant with someone

i'm on break, i'm due back in
a few mins.
i'll call you when i get home?

ok.
i love u. 😘

love u too. 😍

stevie placed her phone down as she was snapped out of her thoughts by her father yelling at the kids. she looked through the dojo window as she overheard her father dismiss the class early, due to a joke they pulled. she sat back down as she watched her father walk back into the office, followed by kreese.

"i take it they pissed you off?" stevie joked as she tried to hide the fear.

"and who might this young lady be?" kreese said as stevie felt the fear travel from her stomach all through her body. "is she yours?"

"she's my daughter." johnny said. stevie felt like a little girl, who hid behind her daddy anytime she felt shy or afraid. as she looked to her father, he gave her a reassuring look as she stood up from the desk. "stevie, john kreese."

the blonde girl extended her hand and greeted the former sensei as she attempted to hide the fear she felt by disguising it with a strong handshake.

"strong grip, just like your ol' man." kreese chuckled.

after greeting the man, he walked out of the office and out of the dojo. stevie sat back down on the desk as she looked to her father. "mom's gonna kill you." stevie said.

"she won't." johnny said as he grabbed his gym bag and headed to the bathroom to change for his lunch date with bella.

⸻

bella stood in front of the mirror, taking one last look at her outfit and fixed her hair. she straightened out the skirt of her dress as she also fixed the collar, unbuttoning one button. "what the hell am i doing?" bella muttered to herself as she ran a hand through her hair. as she contemplated changing her shoes, she heard a loud knock on her door.

"coming!" bella called out as she fixed her hair and her denim dress for what seemed like the thousandth time. she sprayed a bit of her perfume and grabbed her purse as she walked to the door.

she took a deep breath before she slowly opened the door, revealing johnny, who was dressed just as casual as she was. "hey." bella smiled.

"hey." johnny smiled. "wow - you look amazing."

"thanks. you don't look too bad yourself." bella chuckled.

"thanks." johnny said as he held the car keys in his hands. "you ready for go?"

"yeah. let's go." bella said as she walked out of her apartment. as they walked downstairs, she could tell that he was nervous, just like when they were together. he would sometimes get nervous as he wanted this to be perfect.

as the pair exited the building, bella turned to find the dodge challenger that had now gotten a cobra kai makeover. "wow, nice ride." bella giggled. "you just had to brand it, didn't you?"

"c'mon, it's badass." johnny smiled as he opened up the passenger door for bella. "hop in, sweetheart."

"thank you." bella smiled as she softly bit her lip. as she placed her seatbelt on, she looked around the interior of the dodge challenger, softly chuckling as she saw the newly installed tape deck.

johnny hopped into the drivers seat and turned up the volume on the radio, while bella smiled as she listened to the foreigner song that was playing. while the two drove around the streets of los angeles, there's was silence as bella was reminded of the good old days, where she and johnny would drive around town, with the radio blasting classic rock.

as johnny pulled up to the parking lot of sal's, bella felt nostalgic. she loved this place and she's missed it. the pair walked into the restaurant and sat at their usual booth.

"i've missed this place." bella smiled, placing her purse aside. "it's definitely been a while, huh?"

"you sure this is fine?" johnny said. "we can still go eat someplace else if you want–"

"this is fine." bella chuckled. "don't worry."

a waiter, who was in his late 20s, approached the booth and took their order. as he looked up from writing their orders down, he turned to bella. "you look familiar." the young waiter said. "you're that model, right?"

"yeah." bella softly smiled. "i modeled, i still do but not as much as i used to."

"yeah, i've seen you before." the waiter smiled. "you're prettier in person."

bella softly chuckled as she shyly messed with her bracelets. while the waiter continued to flirt with bella, johnny slowly interlaced his hand with hers as he could tell that she was getting uncomfortable.

"oh, i'm sorry. i-i didn't realize you two were together." the waiter said.

"look, i get it. she's pretty." johnny said as bella turned to him. "i was your age once, i liked looking at pretty girls. i just didn't steal my mom's fashion magazines."

bella took a sip of her cherry coke, as she attempted to hold her laughter in. after swallowing the soda, she laughed as johnny smiled.

"look, i'm flattered, but i'm also old enough to be your mom." bella smiled. "thank you though."

the waiter shyly smiled as walked back into the kitchen as the pair sat in the booth, laughing. "you're unbelievable." bella said as she ran a hand through her hair. "don't tell me you were jealous?"

"who said i was jealous?" johnny said as he sipped on his soda. "i wasn't jealous."

"yeah, whatever." bella smirked.

⸻

"you love valley fest, quit moping around about your boyfriend." aiden said as stevie got out of her car, attaching a leash to lola. "besides, lola could use some time outside."

stevie and the twins walked around the fairgrounds as they walked over to the food stand and bought a funnel cake. as the day progressed, the friends walked around the different games and rides while stevie walked lola.

while stevie walked her little dog, she stopped to greet one of her friends and stood there talking to her. after a while, lola began to bark in a certain direction. as stevie picked lola up, the small yorkipoo continued to bark in the same direction.

"lola, what the hell is wrong with you?" stevie sighed as she walked over to the twins.

"what's up with lola?" aiden said as he grabbed some cotton candy from a bag he and ashley were sharing. "you think she saw a squirrel?"

lola continued to bark as stevie figured out what could've gotten lola excited. the blonde looked to the direction that lola was barking towards and saw alex. stevie hadn't seen alex in a while and although she didn't notice him walking around, lola noticed him.

"unless the squirrel's name is alex." ashley said as she began to pet lola in hopes to calm her down. "you wanna go?"

"she'll be fine, she'll get over it." stevie sighed as she placed lola down and walked over to another food stand. while the blonde passed by a ring tossing game, lola began to bark once more

"stevie?"

the blonde girl turned to find alex. "oh hey, long time huh?" stevie smiled as she held lola in her arms. "you remember lola right?"

"yeah." alex said. "it's so weird to bump into you here. how've you been? you look great by the way."

"thanks. i've been good, you know me, working." stevie said. "how are you? what've you been up to?"

"y'know, the same old routine." alex said. "i saw aiden and ashley around here so i kinda figured you tagged along."

"y'know how i love being dragged out here." stevie laughed.

"yeah, i do know." alex softly smiled. "it was great seeing you. i'll see you around."

"take care, i'll see you around." stevie smiled as she then turned back to find aiden and ashley who were standing in the crowd, watching the different performances.

"you found alex, didn't you?" ashley laughed. "so how'd it go?"

"it was alright." stevie smiled, holding lola in her arms. "it wasn't the worst thing in the world."

as the two girls spoke, a spotlight shined on the larusso auto display. as part of an advertising presentation, daniel, along with his daughter and robby. stevie smiled as she looked to the platform where her little brother stood. she proudly smiled as she saw the two teens sparring. for the grand finale, daniel brought out some ice blocks and prepared to finish off the presentation until the lights went dark. suddenly, there was a voice that shouted, "cobra kai!"

"no fucking way." stevie sighed as she turned to see the cobra kai students jogging up to the stage. "you've gotta be fucking joking."

the crowd went wild as they saw all their cool kicks and tricks, including breaking boards while blindfolded. now if miyagi-do's grand finale was having their sensei smashing some ice blocks, cobra kai's was showcasing their sensei smashing some cement blocks, while on fire. stevie grabbed her small dog and walked back to her car, feeling disappointed.

⸻

"what the hell were you thinking?" stevie said, pacing around the living room of her father's apartment.

"it's called advertising." johnny said as he grabbed a beer from his fridge.

"is this about the whole ad thing?" stevie said. "is this about daniel larusso calling out the dojo? an ad wasn't enough, so you decide to go crash their little demo."

"what's going on?" bella said as she slowly walked into the reseda apartment. "is this a bad time?"

"bella–"

"what's this about?" bella said, placing her purse down. "somebody explain to me what's happening."

stevie crossed her arms and turned to johnny as bella stood in the middle, confused. "it's the 34 year karate war again." stevie said as bella sighed. "so daniel larusso decides to make an ad promoting his dojo, he called cobra kai out, so dad decided to fight fire with fire and crash their valley fest demo."

"not this again, john." bella said as she ran a hand through her hair.

"he's offering free karate, how the hell am i supposed to compete with that?" johnny said. "besides, 'a snake in the grass'?

"tell that to robby." stevie said as she walked out of the apartment, slamming the door.

"look bella–"

"what the hell is the matter with you?" bella said. "just let it fucking go, johnny–"

"free fucking karate, bella." johnny said, taking a swig of his beer. "what the hell was i supposed to do? i wasn't gonna stay quiet while he attacked the dojo."

"that's the problem with you!" bella snapped. "you've always gotta be the one to strike first. you got what you've been fucking wishing for, now what the hell do you want? you're so fucking selfish, john."

"i'm selfish for promoting my business?" johnny said, raising his voice.

"you never stop to think about your fucking actions and how much they might hurt the people around you." bella said as her voice slightly cracked.

"oh, please, save me the fucking guilt trip, isabella." johnny snapped. "what is it with you and making me feel like the fucking dumbass, huh?"

"because sometimes you behave like a fucking dumbass." bella said, with tears welling up in her eyes. "just for once, before you strike first, you should think first. i don't know what new shit kreese is preaching to you, but just think."

"isabella–"

before he could say another word, bella has walked out the door, slamming the door once more.