flashback!
— june 1995; van nuys, ca

the soft sound of the radio was the only thing heard around the van nuys apartment. there was a silence that lingered around the apartment after that night. a week ago, the couple finally reached the breaking point in their marriage, to which the word 'divorce' was brought up. although they gave each other the silent treatment, they still had hopes that the other would snap out of it and try to save their marriage.

bella laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and listening to the radio. as she sat up to dry her tears, she noticed her husband standing at the doorway, looking at her wipe her tears.

"don't look at me like that." bella said.

"i missed hearing your voice." johnny softly whispered. "i love you."

"i know you do." bella said.

"then can we please work this out?" johnny said, sitting on the edge of the bed and interlacing his hands with hers. "it's worth a shot."

bella remained silent as she took a deep breath. "we've worked it out so many times, but we still manage to end up back to square one." she said. "it's the same routine, john : we work it out, we kiss, make up, you tell me how much you love me and i'll believe you. then we get into another fight, you go out and get drunk, while i stay here and cry myself to sleep, then the cycle begins again."

"it'll be different this time, babe." johnny said. "i promise."

"john, what's happening to us?" bella said, tears streaming down her face.

"i don't know." johnny said, his eyes clouded with tears. "i really don't know, babe."

"we've tried, but we still somehow end up in the same place." bella said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"so what now?" johnny said, as he tried to hold back the tears in his eyes.

bella laid back down as she stayed silent. she cleaned her tears as johnny sat down next to her and intertwined his hand with hers. he took a deep breath as he played with the gold chain bracelet, reminding him of their time in new york together.

"do you love me?" johnny softly whispered.

"john–"

"just tell me." johnny said.

"do you love me?" bella said as she sat up.

"isabella, you know i do." johnny said. "i've been in love with you since i was 18 years old. you and stevie are the best things that have ever happened to me. never forget that."

bella took a deep breath as she placed her head on her husband's shoulder. "to answer your question; yes, i love you. so much." bella said. "you mean the world to me, which is why this is so hard for me."

"yeah?" johnny sighed.

"john, i love you, that's why i have to let you go."

⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

isabella had a long and busy day ahead of her, but she found herself sitting at a booth at the diner where she once worked as a 20 year old. she sipped on her coffee as she looked around the small restaurant, reminiscing about the late shifts where she spent the night, waiting tables.

she tried to get some sleep, like chrissy and lillian had instructed her to do so, but the nerves got the best of her. there was a lot of things keeping bella awake; the show, the clothing line, the school fight, cobra kai, johnny. instead of taking a sleeping pill or drinking half a bottle of wine, she decided to take a drive around the city that never slept.

while bella looked out the window, the waitress placed a plate of scrambled eggs with bacon and hash browns in front of her. she began to eat as she then spotted her daughter walk into the restaurant.

"i knew i'd find you here." stevie softly chuckled. "i thought you'd be asleep by now, y'know, with the show being in a couple of hours."

"i couldn't sleep." bella said, taking a bite of her eggs.

"what's going on?" stevie said as a waiter poured her a cup of coffee. "i thought you had taken a sleeping pill, like you always do–"

"i didn't want a sleeping pill." bella sighed.

"it's about the fight, isn't it?" stevie said, sipping on her coffee.

"trust me, your father is the last thing i'm thinking of." bella scoffed, taking a drink from her coffee. "that's something that he needs to figure out on his own."

"okay, if it's not about the fight, then it's probably about the show." stevie said. "what's on your mind, ma?"

"this is my first show in 16 years." bella said, fighting back tears. "i started this collection a long time ago, but after the baby and the whole thing with eric, i put it aside along with modeling."

"ma, i had no idea." stevie said.

"its something that's very personal to me." bella said. "in the beginning, i didn't care about what anyone had to say about me, because i was doing something that i loved, but when you lose something and everyone ridicules you about it, it's hard not to care."

"i never liked eric." stevie said. "i was so used to seeing the way dad cared about you and respected you. as a little girl, it was really hard for me to see you fall for a guy that treated you like shit."

"it's true what they say; 'kids know better'." bella
said as a small tear streamed down her eye. "i know how to pick 'em, huh?"

"mom, don't stop doing your thing, especially because of that piece of shit." stevie said. "if it's what you love, keep doing it. it's who you are. i know i might not say it often but i've always thought of you as a badass and it hurt to see this guy, who only wanted you for his benefit, tear you apart."

"you don't know how proud i am of you." bella said, taking her daughter's hand. "and i hope you can forgive me for all those times i put you aside because of eric."

"ma, i know you're gonna kill it." stevie said. "i'm proud of you too, for picking yourself back up after all the shit you've dealt with."

"i love you, honey." bella smiled. "thanks for coming over here with me."

"i couldn't miss isabella monroe's comeback to new york fashion week." stevie chuckled. "but seriously, you should get some sleep."

⸻

after feeding lola and jagger, alex grabbed a beer from his fridge as he listened to the news on the television. the school fight was everywhere and although it's been a month, it remains a hot topic around the valley.

alex sat on the couch and changed the channel, finding it hard to keep listening to the same report over and over. as he looked for something to watch, he heard a knock on the door.

"it's open." he called out as he turned to find mark. "what are you doin' here so late?"

"i got bored." mark said. "what's up with you? anything good?"

"nah." alex said as he set the remote aside. "got sick of watching the news and hearing the same thing over and over."

"yeah, it's everywhere." mark said. "i'm just glad stevie's not around for any of this."

"you haven't heard from ash?" alex said, taking a swig of his beer.

"i face-timed her earlier." mark said, walking over to the fridge and grabbed a beer. "stevie was hanging out with her."

"she called me earlier." alex said. "she was venting, saying how the fight kinda fucked things up. she's worried about her brother and her folks fought again, then she's helping her mom out with that thing for fashion week."

"how's that going?" mark chuckled.

"she tried to explain, but i'm an idiot when it comes to fashion–"

"not about that, dumbass." mark laughed. "i'm talking about you and stevie."

"i don't know." alex said. "i kinda don't wanna do anything because i know she's got a million other things to worry about, especially not right now with the whole fight thing."

"this fight thing isn't gonna be around forever." mark said. "besides she knows."

"i figured she'd find out eventually." alex sighed. "i just don't wanna jump into anything so soon. we just started talking and hanging out again, i don't wanna ruin that, like i ruined it the first time."

"that's ancient history, man." mark said. "you've both grown and gotten better."

"i just don't wanna lose her again because of something stupid." alex sighed, staring at the bottle in his hands.

"i don't think you will." mark said. "i think she needs to hear all this from you, if she's gonna make a decision."

"right now, i just wanna focus on what we have now and try not to fuck that up." alex said.

"something tells me that you won't this time." mark smiled.

⸻

johnny was back at rock bottom. he had lost it all again; his dojo, his students, but nothing hurt him more than the fact that he had lost bella again. after staying with him for a while after the fight, they had gotten into an argument, causing her to walk out the door, again.

he found himself sitting at a bar for a couple of hours, thinking about everything that had gone wrong. as he drank his glass of beer, johnny looked around the bar and out of all the people at the bar, a couple stood out to him. as the couple stood at the bar, laughing and holding hands, he couldn't help but to think of bella.

the past few months had been great for johnny, especially with bella being around. he tried everything to make things better this time, but the fight made it difficult. by blaming himself for the fight, he began to distance himself from bella, causing her to leave, once again.

that was johnny's biggest fear; losing bella just as he had lost everybody else. before separating, he tried everything to avoid losing her, but just like he tried to make her stay, he pushed her away when things got rough.

being that he was already wasted, he ordered another round. the couple's laughter reminded him of the nights he and bella spent together. he missed having her by his side along with her warm smile and bright eyes. she was the one that got away, and no matter how hard he tried, he could never stop her.

as he finished his glass of beer, johnny turned to watch the news on the school fight. he looked down at the counter as he listened to the news reporter talk about miguel's condition and about robby. the blonde was then caught off guard when a man in a dodgers jersey grabbed the remote and changed the channel.

"hey!" he slurred. "i was watchin' that."

⸻

"ashley, hold still. i'm almost done." jenna said as she finished fixing some last minute details on a dress.

"mom, you've poked me with a pin, like twice." ashley said. "so does this mean i get to model?"

"i'm only using you as a size reference." jenna said. "now, hold still."

"now, be a good little pin cushion and sit still." aiden said as ashley smacked his shoulder.

"hey, quit it! both of you." jenna said, taking the pin cushion away from aiden before he could throw it at ashley, while bella laughed.

" things never change." bella said, taking a sip of cherry coke. she placed one more pin on the dress as she then took a step back to double check her work. "i think it's ready."

"ahh, finally." ashley sighed as she carefully took off the dress, avoiding sticking herself with the pins.

"how're you feeling?" jenna said. "feeling better? todays the day."

"i've been better." bella sighed as she sipped on her cherry coke. "i'm kinda nervous. it's definitely been a while."

"you'll be fine." jenna said. "i take it from your frown that you haven't heard from johnny since you left."

"jen, he's the last thing i wanna think about." bella sighed, leaning back on the sofa. "i have better things to do."

"then what are you so upset about?" jenna said. "if you didn't care, you wouldn't be all spaced out."

"it's just memories." bella said. "memories of our little apartment that we could barely afford. we were so young and so in love with each other."

"i would sometimes get jealous just looking at you two." jenna laughed. "you two always did everything together and the way you two would look at each other, it was just so perfect."

"yeah well, now i'm jealous of you." bella chuckled, wiping a tear from her eye. "you and jim; you guys make it work. you two got the house together, you got to see your kids grow up together, you guys didn't have to fight over the kids."

"it's all gonna be okay. you both are gonna be okay." jenna said, embracing bella.

"i better get myself together before heading over there." bella laughed as she cleaned her tears.

"you'll be fine and as for the whole thing with johnny, give it some time." jenna said. "i know you two'll work it out."

"i'm not even sure about that." bella chuckled as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"i am." jenna smiled. "you guys are bella and johnny; you two always work it out, somehow."