⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

AFTER a long morning of training, stevie arrived at the denny's where she was meeting her friends for breakfast. she grabbed a clip from the glove compartment and put her blonde hair in the clip, before entering the restaurant.

"there she is!" aiden said, as he saw stevie walk into the restaurant and walk towards their table. "a little late for breakfast, are we?"

"and a little sweaty too." daisy said, as stevie took a seat next to alex.

"shut up, training ran a little later that usual, sorry about that." stevie said, as she grabbed a menu. "and i can still get brunch."

"so how's training, miss co-sensei?" ash said, taking a sip from her orange juice as stevie ordered her drink.

"it's the most exhausting thing i've ever done." stevie said, scanning the menu. "but on the bright side, two training styles, they're getting double the training, it should be good for them."

"so, two training styles?" alex said. "how does that work and more importantly, how's that going?"

"well, so far, it's looking good." stevie said, as the waiter placed the glass of orange juice on the table for stevie. "hopefully it stays that way."

"okay, so changing the topic, a buddy of mine told me that the drive-in's playing classic movies again and tonight they're having a movie night." aiden said. "they're showing bloodsport tonight, you guys in?"

"bloodsport?" alex said. "badass, i'm down."

"yeah, i'm down too. i haven't seen that one in a while." mark said.

"so, you girls in or not?" aiden said, sipping on his soda. "i know ash's in, she's into van damme."

"shut the fuck up." ash said, as she threw a napkin at her brother. "i'll only go if someone buys me popcorn. i love the popcorn from the drive-in."

"i'll buy you your popcorn." daisy said, laughing. "i'm in too."

"so that means i'm in too." stevie said. "i guess i'll watch bloodsport for the millionth time."

"c'mon, it'll be fun." ash said. "besides it can be like your second first date."

"it's just like our first date, we went to the drive-in to watch the lost boys." alex said, wrapping an arm around stevie.

"yeah, and you dropped the popcorn everywhere, trying to be smooth." stevie said, laughing as the rest of the group laughed. "but i do agree that it could be fun."

"okay, then its settled." aiden said, taking a sip of his soda.

as ash and daisy began to gossip, stevie put her fork down, as she turned to alex. "hey, i totally forgot to ask you this morning before i left, but the car needs an oil change, where's the best place to get an oil change that isn't too far away?"

"i know a couple of guys who work around larusso north hollywood." alex said. "i could take it in, have them work on it."

"you think they'll accept it without like an appointment?" stevie said.

"yeah, i've gone in a couple of times and they've taken it in." alex said. "and if they don't, you can pull some strings, miss co-sensei."

"shut up." stevie said as she softly nudged the blonde. "but, thank you for helping me. you made this so much easier for me."

"i always do."

⸻

"maybe you're just tired." bella said, as she turned to the blonde and adjusted the bedsheets over her bare body. after training, johnny went over to burbank to spend the rest of the day with bella, but just as they found themselves in the heat of the moment, they ran into some trouble.

"i swear, this has never ever happened to me." johnny said, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"yeah, i know." bella said. "y'know, i know some doctors, i can probably pull some strings at the hospital to get you some medications."

"what? i don't need pills." johnny said. "i'm 100% all man."

"okay then, forget the pills." bella said, running a hand through her hair. "what is it?"

"i just can't get larusso and miguel out of my head." johnny said.

"well, whatever gets you going." bella said, turning to the side.

"no, they're spending all this time together, working out, fixing cars together." johnny said. "also stevie, she's been training with him too, actually spending a lot of time training with miyagi-do."

"you're just missing her, that's totally normal." bella said, softly chuckling. "we're technically empty-nesters. stevie's out, doing her thing, which gives us more time to spend together, alone."

"did you know that larusso showed miguel top gun?" johnny said.

"oh, i love top gun." bella said, smiling as she placed her head on her boyfriend's shoulder. "i remember when we went to watch it. tom cruise was so cute in that."

"cruise was the worst in that." johnny said, unimpressed. "here you got the real deal, iceman, best of the best, abs for days. in comes the new guy, total dweeb, calls himself a maverick. you can't call yourself a maverick. guy didn't even earn a spot at miramar, got his wingman killed too, not cool."

"i forgot how cute you were." bella said, laughing. "but, something tells me this isn't about tom cruise. it's about the kids and also about stevie not being your mini-me anymore. maybe its time to tell her about us."

"i don't know." johnny said.

"i feel guilty sneaking around." bella said, intertwining her hand with his. "she's not a little girl anymore, she's eventually gonna catch on when she goes over to mom's and doesn't find me there, that or chrissy might talk."

"of course it'd be chrissy." johnny said, with a sigh.

"point is, its not good to keep secrets like this. they weigh you down and the last thing you need right now is stress." bella said. "just like when we started dating back in high school, we can't hide forever."

"what if it makes things worse?" johnny said.

"c'mon, stevie loves you." bella said. "how could this make things worse?"

"kids can be weird about these things." johnny said. "she hasn't seen us together in years, i don't know how she'll react."

"okay, how about this, you can tell her whenever you feel ready." bella said, as she turned to face the blonde. "i know you'll feel much better once you do."

johnny sighed as bella softly placed a kiss on his shoulder and cuddled close to him. "don't stress about it and get some rest. we can try this again later." bella said, as she closed her eyes.

⸻

"so how is it you remember our first date?" stevie said, as she broke the silence between her and her boyfriend as they sat in a waiting area. "it was like ages ago."

"what? you think i'd forget?" alex said, laughing.

"well, no but i just didn't expect you to remember." stevie said.

"of course i remember." alex said. "it was kinda cloudy that night, kinda nice though. i picked you up at your mom's place and i remember you wearing a little jean jacket. we ended up watching the lost boys because ash told me you loved 80s movies and i wanted everything to be perfect."

"so you do remember." stevie said, with a smile. "i also remember that when you tried to lean in and put your arm around me, you dropped your popcorn all over the car."

"yeah, i also remember that." alex laughed. "our first date wasn't exactly perfect."

"our second date went better though. a lot better." stevie said. "we went to golf n' stuff, got on the ferris wheel and you kissed me once it reached the top. by the time we reached the bottom, you asked me to be your girlfriend."

"yeah." alex said, smiling. "that date went perfect."

"it really did." stevie said.

"and then there was our one year anniversary." alex said.

"oh shut up, of course you were gonna remember that." stevie said, playfully rolling her eyes.

"c'mon it was romantic." alex said.

"i wouldn't exactly call doing it in your room for the first time with cinderella blasting in the background romantic." stevie laughed. "but i did appreciate the effort to make it romantic."

"well since you enjoyed it, we can give that another try. we can go back to my place after this." alex said, with a smirk.

"yeah, nice try." stevie said, as she playfully nudged his arm away.

"it was worth a shot." alex said.

as the couple reminisced about high school, jacob, alex's friend who worked as a mechanic, walked into the waiting area. "it's ready to go." jacob said, handing the keys to stevie.

"thank you so much, jake." stevie said.

"thanks man." alex said. "how much do we owe you?"

"nah, for you, it's on the house." jacob said.

"no way, are you sure?" stevie said.

"yeah, besides i owed alex for a favor and mr. larusso insisted." jacob said.

"thank you again." stevie said. "let me go find daniel and thank him."

"i think i saw him back here, i can take you guys if you want." jacob said.

"that would be perfect." stevie said, smiling. "thank you so much."

"no problem." jacob said, as he led the couple to the back.

"thanks man, i'll see you around." alex said.

"of course, and stevie, nice to see you again." jacob said.

"you too, jake." stevie smiled.

⸻

after spending the morning in burbank, the couple headed back to reseda, to spend the afternoon together. the loud ringing of bella's phone woke the brunette up from her deep sleep, groaning as she reached over to the nightstand to grab her phone. she looked over to the side, where johnny was asleep and snoring softly.

"hello?" bella said, quietly as she rubbed her eyes.

"you're still asleep?" alice said. "it's mid-afternoon, what are you still doing in bed?"

"hey alice." bella said, softly laughing. "i was just napping."

"okay, well consider this your wake up call." alice said, laughing. "so, did you decide yet?"

"i actually have." bella said as she quietly got out of bed, careful not to wake her boyfriend. as she climbed out of bed, she grabbed one of johnny's band tees, slipping it on. "i thought about it a lot and i've decided to accept."

"i'm happy to hear that!" alice said. "look, i know it must've been tough for you, but i know everything's gonna be fine."

"it was, but i decided to give this another try, it took some convincing but, i'm actually looking forward to this." bella said, walking over to the kitchen and grabbing a water bottle from johnny's fridge.

"i knew it would take some convincing, but you'll be great." alice said.

while bella sat in the living room speaking to alice, johnny turned to find the bed empty. he ran a hand through his hair before sitting up and getting dressed. he walked out to find bella sitting on the sofa, talking on the phone.

"alright, i'll meet up with you later. thanks." bella said, ending the call before turning to the blonde with a smile. "hey baby. i didn't wake you, did i?"

"nah, just came out to check on you." johnny said, placing a small kiss on bella's temple. "you hungry? i'm making manwiches with steak fries."

"i'll pass on the manwiches. i will gladly have that side of steak fries though." bella said, with a small laugh.

"you got it, babe." johnny said. "so, work's calling again?"

"yeah, something like that." bella said, as she stood up from the sofa.

"what do you mean?" johnny said.

"i was offered a modeling job." bella said. "i wasn't sure if i should take it, but i ended up accepting it."

"i thought you were just designing, nowadays." johnny said. "y'know, from what stevie's told me."

"i mean, yeah that's what i'm focusing on right now, but i haven't done this in a while and i thought it might be a good opportunity, so i decided to take advantage." bella said, sipping on her water.

"that's great, babe." johnny said. "so what's it for or when are you doing it?"

"not sure, alice's gonna fill me in on everything. i'm just kinda nervous about it." bella said, as she began to help johnny in the kitchen. "it's been a long time since i've done this, since, well, y'know, but i'm gonna give this a shot."

"that's my girl." johnny smiled as he wrapped his arms around bella's waist and pulled her in for a kiss. "you're gonna be great, i know it."

"thank you, honey." bella said. "you're already making this a whole lot easier for me."

"i've always told you that i'd support you." johnny said, smiling. "y'know i got you."

⸻

while at the drive-in, stevie sat in alex's car, sipping on her cherry coke as she watched the movie on the big screen. she slightly cringed while alex watched intently and yelled out in excitement during a fight scene. stevie was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard aiden and mark yell out as well in the car next to her.

"i swear, this is giving me flashbacks of when i was a kid." stevie laughed, as she grabbed the popcorn.

"this is the best scene of the entire movie." alex said, wrapping an arm around stevie.

"hey lovebirds!" daisy said, as she approached the window of the black charger. "i'm going to the concession stand to get some candy, you guys want anything?"

"i'm actually craving some sour gummy worms, so i'll go with you." stevie said as she took off her seatbelt. "hon, you want anything?"

"nah, i'm good babe." alex said, watching the movie intently.

the blonde girl got out of the car and walked over to the concession stand with daisy. "so how's the second first date going?" daisy said.

"it's going great." stevie laughed. "he hasn't knocked the popcorn bag down so that's a good sign already."

"that is a good sign." daisy said as she paid the cashier. "i'm happy you guys are giving this another shot. you both look very happy together."

"what do you mean by happy?" stevie laughed as she opened up her bag of sour gummy worms.

"there's just this glow that you two have when you're together. it's a good happy glow." daisy said.

"well, thank you." stevie said, as the two girls walked back to the car. before stevie could get back into alex's car, she saw daisy turn around.

"hey, isn't that your little brother?" daisy said, causing stevie to turn around, where she spotted her brother along with the other cobra kais.

"yeah, it's robby." stevie said. "they better not get into any shit tonight."

the group of friends watched from the windows and attempted to overhear the conversation between the cobra kais and the miyagi-do kids. "what happened now?" daisy said.

"i think this all went down after hawk and some kid were over by the concession stand." ashley said.

after the crowd cleared, stevie walked away from her group of friends and walked over to where her brother was. "robby!" she called out, as robby turned around.

"what do you want?" robby said.

"what the hell was that over there?" stevie said.

"hawk was picking on some kid who was just buying snacks." robby said. "why don't you tell the miyagi-dos to quit their pulling their shit?"

"and i will." stevie said. "but this goes both ways. you and i both know that one wrong move and you go back to juvie. you and tory."

"don't act like you care." robby said, as he walked away from the blonde.

"damnit, robby!" stevie said as she watched her younger brother walk away. stevie took a deep breath and walked back to alex's car.

"i take it didn't go well." alex said.

"so are they gonna go fight?" ash said, from the car.

"probably." stevie said, running a hand through her hair. "look, not a word of this to my dad. you guys didn't see anything."

"our lips are sealed." daisy said.

⸻

"henceforth, miguel diaz shall be known as the rainmaker!" demetri said, as the miyagi-dos stood in two rows, stretching.

"el diablo de la lluvia!" hawk exclaimed, causing the group to laugh.

"if they hadn't fallen for it, we would've beaten them." sam said.

"maybe but it could've gone bad." miguel said.

"what could've gone bad?" johnny said, as he walked into the backyard along with stevie.

"and who fell for what?" stevie said.

"we were about to get in a gnarly fight at the drive-in, but miguel saved the day." hawk said, causing stevie to fall quiet.

"oh yeah? howd you do that?" johnny said.

"told the cobra kais to come to the baseball diamond, just in time for the grass to get watered." miguel said, smiling proudly.

"oh, shit." stevie muttered to herself.

"so you picked a fight, you didn't show up, and you doused them with the hose?" johnny said.

"oh, it was sprinklers." demetri said, as johnny shot him a glare. "i'll go back to saying nothing."

"you just poked the bear. what do you think's gonna happen?" johnny said. "they're gonna leave well enough alone?"

"from everything i heard, it sounds to me like miguel practiced restraint." daniel said. "found a way to get out of a situation without anyone getting hurt. what'd you want him to do, get in a drive-in switchblade fight? i'm proud of you, you've taken miyagi-do teachings to heart."

"besides, nobody got hurt and nobody noticed, everyone was busy watching the movie– ah shit." stevie said, stopping as she realized she had given herself away.

"you were there? and you didn't say shit to stop it?" johnny said.

"i wasn't about to step in and make it worse. they didn't do anything, dad." stevie said. "me getting involved would've made it worse because they would've snitched back to kreese that i got involved and he would've come after me."

"fine." johnny said. "look, after class i've gotta talk to you about something."

"alright, sounds good." stevie said as she then turned to find kreese walk in, along with another tall man. she saw the fear in daniel's eyes as the two men walked into the dojo.

"gentlemen, it seems we have a few things to discuss."