⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

EVERY sunday morning, bella and stevie went to sunday service, along with chrissy and the others, to hear bobby's sermons. bobby always had a way of speaking that just made bella feel at ease. after a rough week, she was happy to spend this time with her friends.

"what about forgiveness in other forms?" bobby said. "forgiveness of others? and then there's my personal favorite, forgiveness of thyself."

bella took a deep breath as she listened intently to the sermon. she looked over to her daughter and took her hand, the blonde giving her a soft smile.

"this is probably our toughest battle, but listen, if god can forgive, so can you." bobby said.

"bullshit!"

bella was snapped out of her thoughts as she turned to find johnny walking into the church, drunk. she turned to look at bobby as everybody else turned to see the blonde.

"what about that time in reno, with those soccer moms at the hyatt?" johnny slurred.

bella felt her heart drop and her heart race as she heard those words. she grew furious as she remembered that weekend; it was johnny's turn to have stevie that weekend, but after the guys scheduled a last minute trip to reno, he faked a flu. he might've also done it to piss bella off.

"did god forgive any of us for that?" he said.

"yes, even that." bobby said. "forgiveness is the core of christianity."

"i wouldn't know that, not much of a churchgoer." johnny said, slightly stumbling.

"i'm sorry. apologies everyone." bobby said. "my friend here is going through some tough times."

"nothing i can't handle." johnny said, as he leaned on a church pew for balance. he then turned to look at a blonde woman, giving her a flirtatious wink.

bella rolled her eyes as she attempted to hide her jealousy. she was now pissed, which chrissy and her daughter picked up. "ma, you okay?" stevie whispered.

"yeah, don't worry about it." bella said.

bella looked to bobby as he was getting upset as well. "johnny, i'm in the middle of a sermon–"

"y'know, this guy was a real badass back in the day." johnny slurred. "fighting, partying, drinking. sucks your not allowed to get laid anymore, man."

"how many times do i have to tell you? i'm not a priest." bobby said.

"so your wang can still get tang?" johnny slurred. "nice."

bella looked to bobby who had swept johnny's leg, smirking as he stood up, fixing his coat. as everyone around her looked around, chrissy helped him up as he sat down next to her. as the service continued, bella was visibly upset, which johnny noticed as he turned to look at her.

after the service, bella walked to her car, attempting to avoid bumping into johnny. as she searched for her keys in her purse, she saw the blonde walking towards her.

"go away." bella said. "i have nothing to say to you."

"it's nice to see you too." johnny said.

"reno? soccer moms?" bella said. "are you fucking kidding me?"

"i knew you'd start bitching about that again." johnny said.

"i had the flu, my ass." bella said, tossing her purse in the car. "you faked a fucking flu so you can go to some stupid guys trip."

"like you didn't do the same, princess." johnny scoffed.

"those trips were strictly business and you know fucking well they were." bella said.

"you really expect me to believe that you didn't mix business with pleasure?" johnny smirked. "i know you."

"you don't know shit." bella said.

"enough out of both of you!" stevie said, standing between her parents. "don't start this shit again because you both know you fucked up."

"besides, if it makes you feel any better, he didn't do anything, he just tagged along." bobby said, as he approached the couple.

"that doesn't make it any better, but thank you for trying." bella said.

"look, it's obvious you two have something going on and arguing isn't gonna fix it, i know you two know that." bobby said. "that's the problem. instead of arguing for hours, maybe you two should talk it out."

the pair looked at each other, looking into each other's eyes. they examined the dark circles and the sad look in their eyes.

"yeah, i guess you're right." bella sighed.

"i always am."

⸻

stevie heard jagger's bark as she knocked on the door of alex's apartment. while she was in new york, she promised him that she would visit him once she got back, but she got preoccupied with searching for robby.

alex opened the door with a smile as he saw the blonde girl standing outside in the hallway. "hey stranger." he smiled. "long time, no see."

"hey." stevie smiled as she walked into the apartment. "it's been crazy."

"so how'd new york go? how's your mom?" alex said as he took a seat next to stevie on the sofa. "ash told me that she wasn't doing so well, and that you kinda weren't doing so well either."

"i've been better." stevie sighed. "mom's doing better. the nostalgia hit her pretty hard while over there, but she's okay."

"how about you?" alex said.

stevie let out a frustrated sigh as tears formed in her eyes. alex picked up on that and wrapped an arm around her, as stevie placed her head on his shoulder.

"i shouldn't have brought it up, i'm sorry–"

"no, it's fine." stevie said, cleaning her tears. "we went looking for him, but we found the van that he was driving instead. now he's in juvie."

"i'm sorry." alex said. "what about your dad? how's he taking everything?"

"he's got a lot of shit to deal with. between the dojo, the fight, and the whole situation with mom." stevie said.

"woah, what happened to the dojo?" alex said.

"kreese filled their heads with shit." stevie said. "it's a long story that i don't feel like telling."

"it's alright." alex said. "i know everything sucks right now."

stevie intertwined her hand with alex's as he placed a small kiss on her temple. "thank you for being there for me." stevie said. "i really needed this."

"you know i got you." alex smiled as he held stevie close to him. "there's also something i've been meaning to talk to you about."

"aiden told me." stevie said.

"oh." alex sighed.

"look, there's just so much going on right now." stevie sighed. "i feel like my head is spinning with all the shit that's happening and i just need some time to get back on track."

"it's okay. i know you're going through a lot and i don't wanna be a burden on you–"

"no, you're anything but a burden." stevie said. "you've made things easier for me, so thank you."

"that's what i'm here for." alex smiled. "i care about you a lot, evie."

"so do i." stevie smiled, placing a small peck on his cheek.

⸻

bella was woken up from a mid-afternoon nap by a loud knock on her door. she yawned and sat up, groaning as the loud knocking continued. she rubbed her eyes and walked towards the door, growing annoyed of the knocking. as she opened the door, she found johnny standing outside.

"yes, can i help you?" bella said

"i've been banging on your door for five minutes." johnny said. "where the hell were you?"

"i was taking a nap on the couch." bella said, letting the blonde in.

"oh, sorry i woke you up." johnny said. as he took a seat on the sofa, he looked at the brunette, who cleared the table, yawning and rubbing her eyes constantly. "you look exhausted."

"so you're saying i look bad?" bella said, teasing him.

"you're not sleeping well, are you?" johnny said.

"johnny, i'm fine." bella sighed as she pinned her hair up in a clip.

"that's bullshit." johnny said. "i know when you're not sleeping well. you're not one to take afternoon naps and the circles under your eyes say otherwise."

"i'm fine. thanks for your concern, but i'm okay." bella said.

"what's wrong with you?" johnny said, watching bella pace around.

"there's nothing wrong. i feel fine." bella said.

"stevie told me about new york. is that why you're not sleeping?"

"don't worry about it." bella said.

"bobby said we should talk about it, so let's talk about it." johnny said.

"well, i don't wanna talk about it." bella said.

"isabella, you're so fuckin' stubborn." johnny sighed.

"i'm not doing this with you." bella said. "new york went fine. thanks for your concern and thanks for coming."

"no, no, you agreed that we should talk it out so i'm not leaving until you tell me." johnny said, standing up.

bella let out a frustrated sigh as she held some tears back. "no, i haven't been sleeping well. i spent the entire week, stressing and reminiscing." she said.

"you're getting worked up over a fashion show?" johnny said.

"no, i'm getting worked up because the last time i did this, i lost a baby and my fiancé was cheating on me." bella sighed.

johnny remained silent as he looked at bella who cleaned tears from her eyes. she was hurting, just like he was. the pain in her eyes broke his heart even more as he hated to see her suffer.

"it just brought it all back." bella said. "and it was the first time, in a long time, that i felt afraid."

"that doesn't sound like the isabella that i know." johnny said.

"yeah well, the isabella you knew didn't have a life or a child to take care of." bella said. "she was naive."

"you remember when we were in new york?" johnny said, smiling.

"how could i forget?" bella said.

"yeah, i always think about those days." johnny smiled.

"they were pretty great." bella said, softly chuckling. "anyway, so what's new with you? stevie also told me about the dojo."

"yeah, that didn't go so well." johnny said. "i was responsible for those kids and i failed them."

"that sounds a lot like defeat, sensei." bella said.

"no, bella. i fucked up, big time." johnny said.

"yeah but you can always make things right." bella said. "because the johnny i knew wouldn't take defeat."

"yeah?" johnny smiled.

"yeah." bella said. "you did fuck up and it's your mess, but you can always do the right thing."

johnny smiled as bella returned the smile, gently intertwining her hand with his. "if you need anything, i got your back." bella said.

"yeah, me too." johnny said. "actually, i gotta go do this thing, but now that i'm here, you wanna join me?"

"i'd love to." bella smiled.

⸻

"stevie, tell your dog to shut up!" mark called out from the living room, where aiden, mark, and daisy were sitting, watching a the first rocky. "i can't hear what's going on."

"you've seen this movie a thousand times!" stevie said from the kitchen. "rocky loses, dumbass."

the two boys groaned as daisy laughed. "stephanie marianne, you ruined the movie!" aiden said, putting down his carton of chinese food down.

"everyone knows that, genius." daisy laughed, running her fingers through lola's fur. "your middle name is marianne?"

"yeah, it was my dad's pick." stevie said, grabbing a soda from her fridge.

"i've always thought of your folks as creative." mark said, as he continued eating.

"mom's creative, i'll give you that." stevie said. "dad, not so much. he's only creative whenever mom's around."

"speaking of creative, your mom's new collection? i literally love it." daisy smiled, flipping through a magazine. "and apparently, so does everyone else."

"she hasn't read any reviews." stevie said, opening up her carton of sesame chicken. "she's been avoiding the tabloids ever since we left new york."

"everyone loves her and the collection." daisy said, passing a magazine to stevie.

stevie flipped through the pages, looking through an article on fashion week. when she came across one writer's review of her mother's show, she smiled while looking at the photos. words like "brilliant" and "chic" were used to describe her mother's fashion pieces, which made stevie beam with pride.

"this is so badass." stevie smiled. "she's gonna love this when i show this to her."

"she killed it!" ashley said. "you must be so proud."

"just wait until aunt chris finds out." aiden said, passing the magazine around. "she's gonna tell half the valley."

"i think the entire valley knows." ashley laughed.

"i've gotta send this to mom." stevie said, pulling her phone out and taking a picture of the article, sending it to her mom. "she's gonna be so happy."

⸻

"i hadn't been here in ages." bella said as johnny helped her out of the dodge caravan. "never thought i'd be back."

"yeah, you and me both." johnny sighed before ringing the doorbell of the encino mansion. as the pair stood at the door, bella intertwined her hand with his, trying to calm him down.

walking through the mansion gave bella a sense of nostalgia as she remembered the first day johnny brought her home and introduced her to laura. the pair was led to sid's office, where he sat reading a magazine article.

"well, well, well." sid said. "lookie who's back, you even brought your bitch with you."

"yeah, nice to see you again." bella said.

"i won't be here longer than i have to." johnny said.

"how's the karate thing going?" sid said, then mockingly gasping and placing his hands on his chest. "it didn't go under, did it?"

bella rolled her eyes as johnny grew furious and frustrated as his stepfather mocked him. "i'm shocked." sid said.

"this isn't about me." johnny said. "there's this kid, miguel–"

"yeah, i heard something about that." sid said. "your son and your student, talk about a role model."

as johnny clenched his fists, bella noticed and intertwined her hand with his, calming him down. "don't even try it." she whispered.

"easy there, rocko." sid said. "it sounds like you were warming up to ask for a handout and i'd hate for anything to jeopardize another payday."

"alright, so you'll help me?" johnny said.

"i didn't say that either." sid said.

"look, you can kick me around all you want, i'll take it." johnny sighed. "miguel doesn't deserve what happened, i need to make it right."

"yeah, with my money." sid said.

"if i had anything to give, i would–"

"but you don't because you're a loser, like your father." sid said, as he turned to bella. "you had a good thing goin' with foster, but i guess you monroe girls go for the losers."

"oh, fuck off sid." bella said, as johnny held her back.

"you can say whatever you want about me, but at least i stuck around." sid said.

"being a bully isn't much better than leaving." johnny said. "i'm trying to do better. i'm gonna see robby, i'm scrapping together what i can to help miguel's family."

"pope john lawrence the first, healer of children!" sid said, mocking the blonde. "bravo, bravo."

"so are you helping me out or not?" johnny said.

"y'know, a little bird told me about that little incident." bella said. "i'd really hate it if that got out."

"i didn't get to where i am because i cared about my reputation." sid said. "now, get the hell out of here."

"you're a cold old man." johnny said as he and bella walked out of the office.

"and don't you forget it, buster." sid said.

the pair walked out to the foyer as johnny opened the front door. before stepping out of the house, bella found an vase at the entrance. she pulled johnny back into the house and looked around the room once more as she grabbed the vase, handing it to him.

"it's gotta be worth something." bella smirked. "i'd say: pawn it."

"that's my girl."