⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

AFTER a busy week in new york, bella was happy to be back in the valley. now that fashion week was over, she felt a big weight lifted off of her shoulders. once her show was over, instead of going to the after parties, she went back to her apartment and began to pack. new york city never felt like home to her anyway, it just reminded her of that dark moment in her life.

as she walked out of the terminal, she caught up with chrissy, who was loading her luggage into the car with lillian getting into jenna's car. bella handed chrissy her luggage and checked her phone for what seemed to be the thousandth time, hoping she got a text or call from johnny.

"chris, you almost done?" jenna shouted. "people are honking at me."

"we have a shit ton of luggage, give me a sec!" chrissy shouted.

"i got it." bella said, shoving her phone in her back pocket and walking over to help chrissy. "next time, we're packing light."

"look who's talking." chrissy laughed. "how're you feeling? any reviews?"

"i'm trying not to think about that." bella sighed. "i haven't read any reviews."

"you haven't heard from him?" chrissy said.

bella shook her head and scoffed. "i'm used to it by now." she said. "i don't wanna think about it too much."

"go home and take a breather." chrissy said, closing the trunk of the car. "you deserve it."

jenna started the car as bella and chrissy hopped into the backseat. "i'd never thought i'd say this, but i missed the california smog." jenna said. "i cannot wait to get home and take a 10 hour nap."

"yeah, that's if jimmy doesn't have other plans." chrissy said, as the ladies laughed.

"i could really use a drink. jen, you wanna reschedule your 10 hour nap until later and get some drinks?" lillian said.

"that sounds good." jenna said, as she got on the freeway. "chris, bella, you in?"

"i'll pass. i'm jet-lagged." bella said. "i was gonna head over to mom's."

"you were way too quiet on the taxi we took to the airport, as well as the flight. something's wrong with you." lillian said.

"was it that thing that you told me about?" jenna said.

"what thing? a good thing or bad thing?" lillian said.

"it was eric. he came to my apartment the night after the show." bella sighed as she looked out the window.

"what the fuck did he want now?" chrissy said.

"was it about the deal?" jenna said.

"how come jen knows everything but we don't?"
chrissy said.

"while we were engaged, we talked about being business partners once we married." bella said. "he thought that this would be a good investment and he also thought it'd be a good idea to have a husband who'd help with finances, marketing, all that shit."

"that's kinda dumb." lillian said. "imagine the deep shit you would be in right now if you accepted."

"i'm glad i didn't." bella said. "besides, i wasn't gonna just let this go. it kept me distracted from one man and i wasn't about to give it to another, so he can fuck things up."

"you're home now. it's all gonna be okay." jenna said. "what happens in new york, stays in new york."

⸻

as stevie got out of daniel's black audi, she looked at the two senseis, who were standing in the courtyard of the reseda apartment complex. she looked over to her father, beaten and bruised up from a fight a couple days ago.

"dad? what the hell happened to you?" stevie said.

"what's my daughter doin' with you?" johnny said, turning to daniel.

"i brought her along." daniel said.

"i'm joining the search party." stevie said. "i'm worried about robby just as much as you both are, so i wanna help."

"so what do you say?" daniel said.

stevie could sense her father's disapproval as he stayed quiet. "hey, mr. larusso, can i just get a moment with my dad? we'll be there in a sec." she said, as daniel went to start the car.

"there's no way in hell, stevie." johnny said. "this could be risky and i don't want your mom bitchin' at me if you get hurt."

"one, do not call my mother a bitch. two, i don't care what you say, i wanna help find robby too." stevie said. "besides this is your mess, this is the least you could do for your kid. i'm coming along, not for you, but for robby."

"alright, fine." johnny said. "if shit gets rough, just stay close."

stevie softly smiled as they walked to the parking lot. "i'm letting you know right now, i'm not playing peace negotiator." she said. "you two are grown ass men. act like it, please."

"why the hell are you tellin' me–"

"i mean it."

⸻

bella sat down with a cup of chamomile tea, looking through a photo album that her mother kept. she flipped through the pages of the album, feeling nostalgic as she looked at a picture of herself as a baby, her father holding her.

"you were his pride and joy, y'know?" lisa said as she sat down next to bella. "he was so excited when we found out you were a girl."

"i missed him more than usual this past week." bella sighed. "although he wanted me to become a lawyer, he was the only other man to take me serious when i said i wanted to be a designer, aside from the guys."

"he always supported you, no matter what." lisa sighed. "as long as you were happy."

"i always thought about how dad would've reacted if he would've met eric." bella said, wiping a tear from her eye. "eric fit the 'ideal guy' description according to dad; educated, good family, stability."

"he would've liked that in him, but he also would've hated to see you suffer." lisa said. "seeing you lose the baby would've made him feel miserable."

"i always remember the smile on his face when he walked into the hospital room." bella said, tears streaming down her eyes. "stevie started crying and johnny kinda freaked out, but then dad helped him out. i remember he said 'don't worry, i freaked out when bella cried too, which was often'. he loved holding stevie."

bella placed her head on her mother's shoulder as she cried. lisa ran her hand through her daughter's hair, hoping to calm her down. "he had so much faith in me and i feel like i let him down." she cried.

"isabella, look at me." lisa said. "your dad would've been so proud of you. he wouldn't have cared what any review had to say about you, he would've been so happy because you're doing something that you loved. you didn't let him down, you didn't let anybody down. you're doing great."

"thanks ma." bella smiled, wiping a tear from her eye. "i really needed to hear that."

⸻

after visiting shannon in rehab, daniel drove to a juvenile detention center to find trey and cruz, the two guys that robby used to hang around with, after shannon had mentioned them. despite her father's disapproval, stevie joined the two men inside, hoping the two boys had some information on robby's whereabouts.

"worse than rehab, nicer than jail." johnny said.

"just let me do all the talking." daniel said.

"we're not selling bimmers to soccer moms, this is my world. follow my lead." johnny said.

"yeah, that's not gonna work." stevie sighed. "i know these guys, so let me handle this."

the guard brought trey and cruz out, roughly sitting them down on the table. "bitch-ass kevin james punk." cruz muttered.

"hey, morons!" johnny said, snapping his fingers at the two boys, attempting to get their attention.

"what–"

"chill out, we're looking for robby." stevie said.

"if y'all three are the search party, i'd say he's pretty screwed." trey laughed.

"quit the shit and just tell us where robby is." stevie said, rolling her eyes.

"y'know if y'all hadn't mentioned that you were looking for robby, i would've thought something else was goin' on." cruz said.

"leave my daughter out of this." johnny said. "start talking or you'll be drinking your toilet wine through a straw."

"oooh, robby and blondie's daddy talking a big game." trey said. "does it look like we're scared of you?"

"you should be." johnny said.

"i don't think so, man." cruz said. "look at your face, looks like you already got your ass beat."

"enough!" daniel said, slamming his hands on the table, startling stevie and the two boys who were making jokes. "cut the crap and tell us everything you know about robby."

"okay, alright." trey said. "damn, man, relax. we didn't mean to disrespect."

"sorry, mr. larusso." cruz said, quietly.

"what the hell?" johnny said, taking offense. "you listen to him and not to me?"

"he know how to kick ass." trey said, as daniel chuckled.

"and he ain't no punk ass bitch." cruz added, looking to both johnny and stevie. johnny, who was fed up with them, reached across the table and slapped cruz.

"johnny, what the hell?" daniel said.

"he just hit me!" cruz said, to the guard, who then just shrugged his shoulders. "you didn't see that?"

stevie, who was also fed up with the two boys, slapped cruz as well.

"nice one, kiddo." johnny said, turning to stevie.

"okay, enough! both of you!" daniel said.

"keep going, we can do this all day." stevie said.

"hey, hey, that's not necessary." trey said, putting his hands up in surrender. "we all used to scam people at tech town in panorama city. he knows how to get by around there. alright?"

"you better be telling the truth." daniel said. "or else, i'm sending these two back alone next time."

"you might wanna get your friend here a tampon." johnny said, as he and daniel stood up.

before leaving, stevie opened her purse and pulled out a tampon, handing it to cruz. "you need this more than i do." she smirked as she stood up. "nice seeing you boys!"

⸻

after walking out of the bathroom, stevie walked over to the coolers and grabbed a bottle of cherry coke as well as a bottle of water for her dad. as she walked through the snack aisle, she received an incoming call from bella.

she placed her items on the checkout counter as she searched her purse for her wallet and phone.

"hey ma, whats up?" stevie said answering the phone.

"how's it going? any news?" bella said, on the other line.

"well, yes and no." stevie said. "we found some guys that robby used to hang with and they kinda told us some information, but we haven't gotten that far yet."

"how's your dad doing?" bella said.

"he's .. okay, i guess?" stevie said as the cashier handed her the bag. "he and daniel haven't beat each other up yet, so i'm taking that as a good thing."

"wow, that would be a first." bella laughed.

"so how're you feeling?" stevie said, walking back to the car. "i hope you're getting some rest."

"i'm doing okay, i'm here with your grandmother, i'm spending the day with her." bella said. "just wanted to check in and see how it was going."

"thanks, mom." stevie said. "i'll call you if anything. love you."

stevie hung up and placed her phone in her back pocket. "what'd i miss?" she said. "any sign of robby?"

"don't think so." johnny said. "how's your mom?"

"she's okay." stevie said, handing her father a water bottle. "last week was pretty hard on her. she's just happy to be home."

"that bad, huh?" johnny sighed.

"she cried, a lot." stevie said. "it just all came back to her."

johnny stayed quiet and and continued to pump gas, as daniel walked out. "cashier hasn't seen him." he said, handing johnny some food. "tech town's just around the block, we should ask around there."

"yeah, maybe we can get them to give us the security cam footage." johnny said.

"ugh dad, how can you eat that stuff?" stevie said, taking a sip of her cherry coke.

"just like your mom. you too good for gas station food?" johnny chuckled.

"yeah, i am." stevie said, softly giggling.

"yeah, of course you are." johnny said.

before stevie could get back into the car, daniel received a message from amanda, saying that miguel had woken up. the trio smiled and took a sigh of relief before getting ready to leave.

as she was opening the car door, stevie dropped her bag of chips, she cursed and picked it up, when she looked up, she saw a 1993 dodge caravan.

"hey, isn't that–"

"it's a dodge caravan." johnny said, throwing his food away and running to the drivers seat.

"what do you think you're doing?" daniel said.

"i'm driving." johnny said.

"like hell you are." daniel said.

"fine, i'll go without you." johnny said. "stevie, get in."

"where's he heading?" stevie said, fastening her seatbelt.

"don't know, but he knows about robby." johnny said. "if your mom asks, don't tell her about this."

⸻

after finishing up lunch, bella stood in front of the sink, washing her mother's plates. as lisa finished storing leftovers in the fridge, she watched her daughter frown as she placed the plates aside.

"so new york wasn't as great as you thought it'd be, huh?" lisa said.

"not really." bella said. "it just brought back so many memories."

"oh, come on. i'm sure it wasn't all so bad." lisa said, storing the plates that were already dry.

"i mean, it was nice, seeing my designs on the runway. it felt good to kinda model again, even if it was one of my pieces." bella smiled.

lisa sat on a stool as bella finished washing dishes, shutting the water off. "chrissy took some pretty good pictures." she said. "you look stunning, as always."

"i felt beautiful, which is something i hadn't felt in a long time." bella said.

"i know you're afraid. i've seen this before." lisa said. "the girl i knew was fearless, she knew she could take on the world."

"yeah, well that girl changed." bella said. "she was naive and kinda screwed up her life."

"you're doing just fine." lisa smiled. "it was just a rough patch. i've seen you fall and get back up since you were little. you're resilient, isabella."

"yeah?" bella said.

"yeah. if you fall again, just brush it off and keep going." lisa smiled. "pick up the pieces and keep going."