flashback!
— march 1993; van nuys, ca

as he turned over to look at the clock, johnny groaned as he looked at the time: 1:28am. he rubbed his eyes as he heard the loud sobs of the little girl that was in the other room. johnny turned to wake bella, but she was fast asleep. bella had been feeling under the weather for the past few days and tonight, she was finally getting some sleep.

"hey baby, stevie's crying." johnny said, softly nudging bella's shoulder.

johnny sighed as he continued to softly shake bella awake. "bella, wake up. stevie's crying." johnny said. "you had to take that sleeping pill, huh?"

johnny got out of bed and ran a hand through his hair as he walked over to the small room, where the little blonde girl was crying. her sobs filled the room as johnny grew nervous. what if she didn't stop crying?

"hey bud." johnny said as stevie extended her small arms at him. "why're you crying? did you have a nightmare?"

as he held the little girl in his arms, he paced around the room, attempting to stop stevie from crying. "i tried to get mommy but she's knocked out, but i'm here now." johnny whispered to the little girl in his arms. "everything's gonna be okay. daddy's got you, don't cry anymore."

johnny continued to pace around the room as stevie stopped crying. her little tears began to dry as she looked up at her father. "daddy." stevie said as she held onto her father.

"yeah, it's daddy." johnny softly smiled as he placed a small kiss on her temple. "you're okay, i've got you."

stevie placed her small head on her father's shoulder as johnny softly rubbed her back. "you see? everything's okay." he smiled down at his daughter. as he went to place stevie back in her bed, the little girl held onto him.

"daddy no!" stevie exclaimed.

"look, i can't take you with me. your mom's sick." he said as stevie held onto him.

"no." stevie said.

"you're so stubborn, marianne." johnny sighed as he carried her out into the living room. he laid down on the sofa as he held stevie close to him. "i'll stay with you for a little bit, okay?"

"ok, daddy." stevie said, cuddling close to her father.

"go to sleep, kiddo. i've got you." johnny smiled as he held stevie close to him. "i love you."

⸻

BELLA'S phone began to ring loudly, snapping her and johnny out of their deep sleep. she groaned as she buried her face into the pillow.

"the fuck is that?" johnny groaned sleepily as he wrapped his arms around bella.

"it's my phone." bella muttered.

"turn it off." johnny said. "it's fuckin' early, bella."

bella groaned as she reached over to the nightstand as the phone stopped ringing. as she turned her phone, she saw that it was a missed call from jenna and it was 8:30am.

"it's jen." bella sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"you work today?" johnny said, placing kisses on her shoulder.

"i have some fittings today, but jen mentioned something about breakfast before heading over there." bella said.

"but it's early." johnny groaned as he pulled bella closer to him. "can't you just skip?"

"nope." bella smirked as she pecked his lips. "i have to go to work. i'll be back tonight."

"just skip the morning." johnny said. "you know you want to."

bella laughed as he placed his lips on hers. the phone began to ring again as bella sighed. johnny wrapped his arms around her as his hands roamed her waist. "c'mon isabella, be a bad girl." he said, trailing kisses down her neck.

bella pulled away from johnny's embrace and turned around to grab her cell phone. "morning jen." bella answered.

"hey, are we still on for breakfast?" jenna said, on the other line.

"about that, i've been dealing with a really bad migraine and i threw up last night." bella said, running her hands through her hair and looking over to johnny, who smiled at her.

"oh shit, not the migraines again." jenna sighed. "you need me to reschedule?"

"yeah, just push them back until later." bella said, laying back down on the bed. "hopefully i feel better by then. i'll let you know."

"alright, lay down and take something." jenna said. "i hope you feel better. keep me posted alright?"

"of course. thanks jen." bella said, hanging up and placing her phone on the nightstand. "you happy?"

"hell yeah." johnny smiled as he pulled bella close to him. "a headache, huh?"

"shut up, you are such a headache and you know it." bella laughed as she wrapped her arms around johnny's neck, placing her lips on his.

as the kisses got hotter, bella pulled away and reached for her phone once again. to avoid any interruptions, she put her cell phone on 'do not disturb'.

"now who's calling?" johnny said.

"i silenced my phone." bella smirked as she straddled herself onto the blonde. "the ringer's only gonna make my head hurt more."

"that's my girl." johnny smiled.

⸻

stevie went over to sebastian's apartment for breakfast before heading into work. she put on a pot of coffee as she heard sebastian talking to someone in the other room. she served some eggs on her plate as she placed the plate on the small dining table. seb walked back into the dining area as stevie handed him a plate.

"everything okay?" stevie said.

"yeah, it's just a friend from new york." seb said with a soft smile.

"you've been awfully quiet, what's wrong?" stevie said as she sat down.

"i'm still a little jet lagged." sebastian sighed. "i'm also tired from work. it was hectic, like you wouldn't believe."

"i can imagine." stevie laughed, grabbing a mug of coffee for her boyfriend. "here, caffeine kinda helps."

"thanks babe." seb said, placing a kiss on her cheek. "i really missed you, ya know?"

"you said 'i miss you' like a thousand times. you really missed me that much?" stevie chuckled as she caressed his cheek.

"yeah, i missed seeing you every day." sebastian smiled as he caressed her cheek. "i also missed those bright green eyes of yours and your voice. fuck, i just missed all of you."

stevie and sebastian pressed their lips together as stevie smiled into the kiss. "to tell you the truth, i missed you too." she smiled.

"next time, you're coming to new york with me." seb smiled as he kissed her.

"okay." stevie chuckled. "before we go on any trips, let's just eat breakfast first."

⸻

"so how're you feeling?" jenna said as she placed a straw in her lemonade. "it had been a while since you had gotten a migraine."

"oh, i'm feeling much better." bella said, twirling her fork in her plate of pasta. "thanks for moving the fittings around."

"no problem, i know how rough it is to work while dealing with a migraine. i got plenty of migraines while i was pregnant." jenna said.

"oh, i remember." bella laughed. "you would just lay in bed for hours, with the blinds shut."

"so how's johnny doing?" jenna said. "stevie tells me you two are on good terms again. i'm happy for you guys."

bella took a bite from her pasta and then sipped on her cherry coke, trying to find an answer to the question.

well, we slept together.

"he's doing good." bella softly smiled. "he's doing something he enjoys so, i'm happy for him."

"he seems different now that you're around." jenna smiled. "he seems happier."

bella smiled as she twirled her fork in the pasta. he definitely seemed different around her and she even felt different while she was around him. "it's been a while since we've been around each other." she said.

"you both look happier together." jenna said.

"jen, we're just friends–"

"i'm not saying any different." jenna said, taking a sip from her lemonade. "i've always liked seeing you two together. there's just this spark between you two, i can't explain it."

"i remember that feeling." bella smiled.

"of course you do." jenna laughed. "as for you, you seem happier. you have that 'glow'."

"what 'glow'?" bella laughed.

"you just seem to have the glow." jenna smiled as bella tensed up a little bit. "it must be that you're well-rested. you really deserved that break."

"i should take 2 month breaks more often." bella smiled.

⸻

stevie dried her tears as she scrolled through her phone. she took deep breaths as she sat on the concrete floor, next to her father's door, waiting for him to come home. as she tossed her phone in her purse, she found her mom's mercedes pulling into the complex parking lot.

"ma?" stevie said.

"hey honey, what's wrong?" bella said as she pulled stevie up from the floor. "why are you crying? what happened?"

"oh, it's nothing." stevie said, cleaning her tears. "i just need to talk to dad."

"stevie, please tell me what's wrong." bella said, as stevie grabbed her spare key from her purse. the two ladies sat down on the sofa as stevie held her tears in. "breathe and tell me."

stevie took a deep breath as bella took her hands in hers. "he cheated, ma." she said as tears streamed from her eyes. "he hooked up with his ex-girlfriend while he was in new york."

bella felt her heart shatter into pieces as she saw her daughter cry. "oh, honey." she said as she pulled stevie into her arms. "i'm so sorry to hear that."

"all this time i thought he was working." stevie cried as she held onto her mother. "but turns out he was just rolling around with her."

stevie sobbed into her mother's shoulder as bella ran her fingers through her blonde hair. as she continued to hold her daughter close to her, johnny walked into the apartment.

"what's going on?" johnny said, tossing his gym bag aside and walking over to where bella and stevie were sitting.

stevie pulled away from her mother's embrace and turned to hug her father, as she sobbed into his shoulder. "just hold her." bella said. "she needs her father."

"stevie, what's wrong?" johnny said.

"the guy i was dating cheated on me." stevie said, as she cleaned her tears. "while he was 'working' in new york."

"he fuckin' did what?" johnny said.

"it's not the time, john." bella said.

johnny wrapped his arms around stevie, as she continued to sob. he held his daughter close to her, his heart aching as he heard her sobs. "i'm sorry, kiddo." he said. "it's gonna be okay. you'll be okay."

"yeah, but it hurts." stevie said.

"i know, kid." johnny said. "if it makes you feel any better, this guy's a dumbass–"

"john!"

⸻

"she's knocked out." bella said, looking into the bedroom where stevie lay asleep. "she's heartbroken, practically cried herself to sleep."

"seeing her cry just reminds me of when she was little." johnny said, taking a swig of his beer. "when she was just a little thing and she used to wake up in the middle of the night, crying."

"you were always there to cheer her up." bella smiled. "as soon as she was in daddy's arms, she was at peace."

"if only she could've stayed that little." johnny sighed. "at least when she was little, you could keep her from harm's way."

"yeah." bella sighed as she took a sip from her water bottle as johnny sipped on his beer. "you got to be there for her for all her heartbreaks."

"seeing her cry is different. it's kinda like seeing you cry." johnny sighed. "to tell you the truth, i didn't know what do to when she'd broken up with that other kid. i figured that i'd never have to deal with a heartbreak because that was your job. when that whole thing happened and you weren't around, i did my best."

"i still have that guilt." bella said. "she needed me. she was going through a heartbreak and i was in milan. i'm never gonna forgive myself for that."

johnny reached over and intertwined his hand with bella's as she softly smiled with a few tears leaving her eyes. he pulled her close to her as he placed a kiss atop of her head.

"so what now?" johnny said. "this whole thing with us."

"we can talk about it later." bella said, wrapping her arms around him. "right now, it's about stevie. she's hurting and could use a shoulder to cry on."

"alright." johnny said, holding bella close to him. "we'll figure it out."

"like we always have." bella smiled as she pecked his lips. "it's you and me."