⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

STEVIE nervously fidgeted in her seat as she sat across from her father, who was seemed calmer about his plan. the plan was getting both miguel and robby to speak to each other over lunch at olive garden, which would give stevie the opportunity to break the baby news to the teens.

"you really think this is gonna work?" stevie said, as she and johnny sat a couple of tables away from where robby was sitting. "they're not gonna go for it."

"of course, it's gonna work." johnny said. "just trust me, i know what i'm doing."

"yeah, that's not making me feel any better about this." stevie said, running a hand through her hair.

miguel walked into the restaurant and towards the table where robby was sitting, rolling his eyes as soon as he saw robby. "let me guess, your dad invited you to lunch too?" he said.

"yup." robby said.

"he didn't tell you i was coming?" miguel said.

"nope." robby said, as he stood up and walked away from the table, as miguel walked away too. before the two boys could leave, johnny and stevie stood up from their table and walked over to where they boys were.

"hey, hey. where are you two going?" johnny said, sitting them down. "sit down, hear me out for a minute."

"before you two say anything, this was not my idea. i'm just here on my lunch break." stevie said, as she sat down as well.

"alright, yeah, i lied to get you here. after what i saw at the water park, i knew you wouldn't come willingly and i know you're both in bitchy moods because you broke up with your girlfriends. since the whole mexico thing felt like a small step in the right direction, i figured it might help if we went on another little trip." johnny said.

"a trip? to a mall in chatsworth?" robby said.

"your body might be at a mall, my friend, but your tastebuds are about to go on a tour of the old country." the waiter said as he approached the table. "this guy knows what i'm talking about."

"yes, i do." johnny said, smiling, causing stevie to laugh.

"it doesn't matter where we go, the birthplace of culinary delight awaits. you want an alfredo? boom, we're in rome. ravioli? tuscany it is, and we gotta come back here for the chocolate lasagna, 'cause like baseball and big gulps, that's only in america." the waiter said, as the two boys stayed quiet. "tell you what, i'm gonna get you guys a basket of breadsticks fresh out of the oven. i'll come right back, done and done."

"thank god. i'm starving." stevie said.

"c'mon guys, the guy gives that much effort and you just sit there looking pissed?" johnny said.

"it's not his effort i'm pissed at." miguel said.

"breadsticks aren't gonna fix this." robby said.

"spoken like a man who's never had the garden's breadsticks. one bite and you'll forget why you were ever mad at each other in the first place." johnny said. "stevie should know, right?"

"don't bring me into this, i'm just here to eat." stevie said.

"yeah, i'm never gonna forget that." miguel said, as he stood up from the table.

"neither am i." robby said, standing up as well.

the two boys walked away from the table, leaving johnny and stevie at the table. "sorry that didn't work out the way you'd hoped." stevie said as the waiter placed the basket of breadsticks on the table. "just give them time, they'll come around."

"yeah." johnny said.

"don't worry about lunch, i'll pay, my treat." stevie said, as she grabbed a breadstick.

"thanks, kiddo."

⸻

after spending the morning working on the final details of the show, bella and the ladies headed to diane's bar to relax and unwind for the rest of the afternoon. it was the middle of the day and the bar wasn't as crowded, the loud music on the jukebox was heard all through the bar as the ladies walked in.

"how'd you know i needed a drink?" bella said to jenna as she held the door for her.

"honey, i know you. you've been needing a drink since after the all-valley." jenna said, laughing.

"i haven't been to diane's in ages. i'm glad to see there's no rush." chrissy said, as she and the ladies approached the bar.

"chris and company! it's good to have you ladies here in my bar!" diane said, greeting chrissy and the ladies.

"it's nice to see you, di!" chrissy said.

"hey di, how are you?" bella said as she embraced diane. "long time, no see."

"we've missed you around here, monroe. where the hell have you been?" diane said.

"everywhere but here." bella said, as she took a seat at the bar.

"it's good to have you here again." diane said, as she looked at the diamond ring on the brunette's hand. "is that a rock i see on your hand, ms. monroe? who's the lucky guy?"

"guess." bella said, with a smirk.

"oh no shit! you and johnny?" diane said, earning a nod from bella. "oh, congratulations!"

"she's officially off the market again." lillian said, with a chuckle.

"i told you they had patched things up." chrissy said.

"this is more than patching things up!" diane said, embracing bella once more. "as an engagement gift from me to you, drinks are on the house. you want your usual, rum and cherry coke?"

"thank you so much, di." bella said. "actually, beers for all of us. we're takin' it easy today."

"also a large pizza!" chrissy said.

"coming right up!" diane said.

"this bar brings back so many memories. diane's mom owned it, we used to come here every friday night after working the country club." chrissy said.

"remember that one time tommy drank dishwater that one of the waitresses served him?" bella said, laughing. "he drank the whole thing not knowing what it was."

"he really did that?" jenna said. "i thought the guys were joking about that."

"nope, it really happened." chrissy said, grabbing her beer bottle. "those were the days, huh?"

"they really were something." bella said, smiling before taking a swig of her beer.

⸻

"relax, i told you robby's not home." johnny said, as miguel walked into the apartment behind him. "he's at stevie's."

"yeah, okay." miguel said, as he looked around to find a cactus made of beer cans and coors banquet boxes that adorned the walls. "what's all this?"

"don't worry about it." johnny said. as he walked into the hallway, stevie came out of the bathroom, which caught miguel's attention.

"stevie, what are you doing here?" miguel said.

"i wasn't feeling well so i just ran over here." stevie said, walking into the living room.

"i thought you were with robby–"

before he could say anything, he saw robby walk out and take off his headphones. both boys rolling their eyes once they saw each other.

"shit." stevie said.

"you literally said he wasn't here, you said he was with stevie." miguel said.

"yeah, i lied again. not my fault you fell for it twice." johnny said. "you guys are right. tricking you into lunch wasn't my best effort, so i did some interneting."

"not the right word, but okay." stevie said.

"found a bunch of strategies for building trust and teamwork through cooperative exercises." johnny said, grabbing his laptop. "the least lame one is called an escape room. how it works–"

"i know what an escape room is and i'm not doing it." robby said.

"yeah, that goes double for me." miguel said, as he walked away, but as he tried to open the door, it was locked.

"i reversed the doorknobs, so it's locked on the inside. and this is the only key." johnny said, as he tossed the spare key into the sink and turned on the garbage disposal. "i glued the windows shut too, so no one's getting out of here unless you work together. now, as i was saying, the way it works is, you start with a theme, our theme is the lincoln county war."

johnny pressed play on the small radio, as bon jovi's blaze of glory began to play. "new mexico territory, 1878; lincoln county regulations jose chavez y chavez and josiah "doc" scurlock have been arrested to be hanged. miguel, you're chavez, obviously–"

"this is literally the plot to young guns 2." miguel said, rolling his eyes.

"oh shit, you saw it?" johnny said.

"yeah, with you!" miguel said.

"who cares? dad, you're missing the point." robby spoke up. "you could lock us in forever and we're never gonna be friends."

"why are you suddenly pushing this so hard?" miguel said.

"it's actually me. dad's just trying to help out." stevie said. "i just – you two are so important to me and after mexico, i thought you two were past this. robby, you're my baby brother and miguel, you're like another baby brother. you two are family to me."

"family? me and him? are you joking?" miguel said.

"okay, maybe not the traditional kind–"

"no! not any kind." robby said. "i mean, you two have your thing, helping train him or whatever, but if you keep pushing this, all you'll do is get his ass kicked."

"i'm ready when you are runner up." miguel said.

"name the time and place." robby said, as the two boys approached each other.

"hey! quit your shit, both of you." stevie said, as she stood between them. "there's gotta be a way for you guys to get past this. you've gotta get past this. somehow, someway."

"yeah, that's never gonna happen." miguel said. there was a moment of silence and tension before sophie walked into the apartment.

"i came at a bad time, didn't i?" sophie said, breaking the silence.

without saying another word, miguel walked out of the apartment as robby put his headphones back on and walked back to the room. "yeah, i came at a very bad time." sophie said. "i take it the whole escape room thing bombed?"

"totally." stevie said, as she ran a hand through her hair. "those two are never gonna let this go."

"this is gonna be harder than i thought." johnny said, as he embraced his daughter. "i'm sorry, kid."

"it's cool. thanks for helping anyway." stevie said, as she remained in her father's embrace.

⸻

"so, how's stevie doing?" jules said. "how's she feeling with the baby?"

"she's doing better that i thought she would." bella said. "shit, she's handling it better than i ever did when i was pregnant with her."

"i remember how nervous you got." chrissy said. "but she handled it like a champ, especially the morning sickness."

"oh, that was hell." bella said, taking a swig of her beer. "i remember i couldn't keep anything down, it was like a really bad hangover that you couldn't shake off."

"well, you did get drunk off your ass before you got pregnant with her." jenna said, laughing. "you came back so hungover from malibu."

"malibu? what happened in malibu?" lillian said, as she placed her beer bottle down.

"stevie happened in malibu." chrissy said, with a chuckle.

"shut up, christina!" bella said as she playfully nudged her best friend. "a lot of things happened that weekend though, some that i can't even remember."

"so what do you remember?" jules said, taking a swig of her beer.

before bella could answer, the ladies heard a voice call out to where they were sitting. "chrissy thompson? i see you girl!"

chrissy and bella turned around to find stephanie carson, an old classmate of theirs, walking towards the groups of ladies. "ah, fuck." chrissy muttered to herself before the woman approached her. "hey stephanie, long time no see."

"oh shit, if it isn't isabella monroe." stephanie said.

"hey stephanie." bella said.

"we haven't seen you around here in a while." stephanie said. "i thought you'd be in new york or paris, modeling or something."

"just happy to be home." bella said, taking a swig of her beer.

"yeah, so we're gonna hang out here, if you don't mind." chrissy said.

"well, nice seeing you." stephanie said, as she and her group of friends walked away.

"okay, who was that?" lillian said.

"stephanie carson, she went to school with us." chrissy said as bella continued drinking. "she also had a thing for johnny, after he and bella broke up the first time."

"oh, fuck." jules said.

"it was a long time though and nothing ever happened between them." bella said with a sigh.

"hey, just remember that you've got the ring, honey." jenna said. "besides, you're prettier than she is."

"yeah, yeah." bella said, as she finished her beer bottle. "i'm gonna go get another beer."

"you sure you don't need backup?" chrissy said.

"i'll be fine." bella said, as she left the table and walked to the bar and ordered another drink. as she waited for her drink, she saw stephanie approach the bar as well.

"it's funny running into you in here." stephanie said. "i haven't seen you since high school."

"yeah, it's been a long time." bella said.

"how do you two know each other?" diane said as she handed bella her drink.

"we went to west valley together and bella and i dated the same guy." stephanie said. "by the way, how is johnny?"

"i'm not doing this with you." bella said. "i know exactly what you're trying to do."

"i'm just asking about an old friend." stephanie said. "besides, you're the one that broke up with him, remember?"

"but then we got back together, remember?" bella said, grabbing her drink. "i'm not doing this with you anymore."

"what's the matter? can't little miss north hollywood handle a simple conversation?" stephanie said, as bella turned away from her. "hey! i'm talking to you, monroe."

stephanie shoved bella, making the brunette angry. bella placed her drink down and turned around, coming face to face with the other woman. "don't fucking touch me." she said, as she pushed stephanie back.

"oh shit." chrissy said, as she and the other ladies watched from the table.

"come at me, bitch!" stephanie said, placing her drink down.

"you first, whore!" bella said, as she and stephanie began to fight.

chrissy and the other ladies ran to the bar and attempted to separate the two women. as chrissy attempted to break the fight up, another woman from stephanie's friend group, grabbed chrissy by the hair. the other ladies were now involved in the fight after attempting to separate both bella and chrissy from the two women.

bella was finally able to break out of stephanie's grip, but as she broke away, the blonde woman grabbed her once more, tightening her grip.

"you asked for it, monroe!" stephanie said.

"fuck off!" bella said, struggling to release herself from the blonde's grip, until she finally threw her to the bar.

"shit!" lillian said, as she looked at the woman and then at bella, who looked back at her.

"what are you waiting for?" chrissy said. "let's get out of here!"

as the ladies ran to the car, bella pulled out a $20 from her purse and placed it on the bar. "thanks diane, sorry about the mess." she said.

"after that fight, drinks are on the house." diane said, laughing. "see you later, badass."

⸻

the loud sound of an air horn was heard through the apartment complex. stevie rolled her eyes as she and sophie covered their ears. this had become the last resort for stevie and johnny, in hopes to get the boys to make amends. the two boys walked out of the apartments, alarmed and confused, as well as a neighbor.

"what the hell is going on out here?" the man said.

"mind your business, dirtbag. beat it." johnny said to the man, who closed his door, while the two boys met in the middle of the courtyard. "you two, stay put."

"are you kidding me, dad?" robby said.

"i don't know how many times–"

"quiet!" johnny said, as they both stayed silent. "you wanna hang on to your grudge? fine. but at least be men about it and put your fist where your mouths are."

"you want us to do what?" robby said.

"fight it out." stevie said. "there's no points, no mats. i didn't agree with it at first but if that's what it's gonna take for you two to settle this, then just keep fighting until you get it out of your systems. it's also what you two do best."

"what, here? now?" miguel said.

"it's a time, this is a place." johnny said. "unless that was all just talk."

"not for me." miguel said, turning to robby.

"or me." robby said.

"alright, let's do this then." stevie said. "sophie's gonna start you guys off."

the two boys took their fighting stances as sophie stood between them. "okay, like stevie said. no points, no mats. just leave it all here." sophie said. "ready? fight!"

the two boys began to fight, as they began to throw punches at each other. "that all you got?" johnny said. "i thought you guys were sworn enemies."

the boys grew angrier and began to fight with more intensity. robby attempted to kick miguel, but he ended up blocking the kick. as they continued to throw punches at one another, miguel landed a kick on robby. robby wiped his nose as he grew angrier.

"i'm regretting this even more than i already was." stevie said.

the boys took their fighting stances once more as robby fought back, in hopes to get miguel for that kick. robby finally got miguel by kicking him down to the concrete floor. miguel got back up and continued fighting, as he kicked robby in the knee, robby flinching as they continued fighting. miguel kicked robby into the wall as the fight grew more intense. stevie's heard drop as she saw them approach the staircase.

"oh, shit. they're getting close to the staircase." stevie said to her father. "get them away from there."

"hey! stairwell's out of bounds." johnny said.

the boys refused to listen and climbed up the stairs, continuing their fight on the second floor. "that's it! fight's over!" johnny yelled out.

miguel continued throwing punches at robby as they got closer and closer to the edge of the balcony. "they're gonna kill each other." sophie said.

"that's enough!" stevie yelled out. "robby! miguel! cut the shit!"

miguel grabbed robby and threw him towards the balcony. stevie watched in horror as miguel continued to punch robby, as he got closer to the balcony. "shit!" johnny muttered to himself.

"dad, get them off of there. he's gonna kill him." stevie said, as she and sophie ran behind johnny towards the staircase.

suddenly, miguel stops fighting and holds back, as robby stood up and looked at the other teen. "why'd you hold back?" he said, quietly.

"i didn't get into karate to hurt people." miguel said. "i did it to be badass and find balance."

"yeah, i understand that." robby said.

"last time we fought like this, how come you didn't hold back?" miguel said.

"i just wanted to finish the fight, i mean, not like that, i just – i had tunnel vision and i got so angry that i just, i mean i barely knew where we were." robby said. "i'd take it back in a second if i could. i was the cause of the worst moment in your life and if it's any consolation, it was the worst moment of my life too."

"yeah, i'll take it." miguel said, with a smile.

"so?" johnny spoke up. "is it over? are you good?"

"yeah." miguel said.

"oh thank god." stevie said. "because if you guys still hated each other when the baby gets here–"

sophie and the boys turned to look at stevie in confusion, as she realized that she had let the news slip. "fuck, pregnancy brain." she said.

"the baby?" miguel said.

"wait – baby?" sophie said. "like you and my brother?"

"yeah, alex and i are having a baby." stevie said, placing a hand on her stomach. "that's why i really wanted you guys to get over this. you two are family to me and i wanted the baby to have their uncles and aunt. alex and i were supposed to tell you together, but if you could just act surprised–"

"oh, shit!" miguel said, with a smile.

"yeah, exactly like that." stevie said.

"i'm gonna be an auntie!" sophie said, smiling.

"stevie, that's awesome. i'm so happy for you." robby said as he, miguel, and sophie went up to hug stevie. a few tears streamed down from stevie's green eyes as she turned to look at her father.

"thank you, daddy." stevie said, as she pulled away from the teens and embraced her father.

"no problem, kiddo." johnny said, holding his daughter and placing a kiss on her temple.

⸻

after an eventful afternoon, johnny bought takeout from olive garden for stevie, sophie, and the boys. he opened up the bag of breadsticks and placed them in the middle of the table. "alright. dig in." he said, as stevie, sophie and the boys grabbed some breadsticks.

"wow. you weren't kidding about these breadsticks, dad." robby said.

"i wouldn't lie to you, three times in the same day." johnny said, causing stevie to laugh.

"of course not. just twice." stevie said, with a chuckle.

as they began to eat dinner, bella walked into the apartment, to which she was surprised to see robby and miguel. she smiled as she saw the boys eating dinner with stevie.

"hey ma." stevie said.

"hey." bella said, smiling.

"hey bella, i hope it's cool that i'm having dinner with you guys." robby said.

"yeah, we were just waiting for you." miguel said. "i hope it's cool that i'm here too."

"of course, it's cool." bella said. "you two are literally welcome to have dinner with us anytime."

bella walked to the kitchen and greeted the blonde with a kiss. "they're actually getting along. how'd you pull that off, lawrence?" bella said. "and please tell me that the bruises on their faces don't mean that you beat them into submission."

"of course not." johnny said. "they beat each other into submission. don't worry, it was supervised."

"i'm not gonna ask. i'm just starving." bella said. "i'll take any leftover pasta."

"i got you." johnny said as he handed bella a bowl of chicken carbonara.

"thank you." bella said, as she placed the bowl in the microwave. "so did she tell them?"

"yeah, they took it better than i thought they would." johnny said.

"you haven't told them about us?" bella said.

"are we missing something?" stevie said, as she turned to look at her parents.

"yeah, we kinda have some news." johnny said. "we were supposed to tell you guys earlier but–"

"we're engaged." bella said.

"you're engaged?" stevie said, as a smile formed on her face. "like, you two are getting married again?"

"yeah." johnny said as he held bella close to him.

"no way!" stevie said as she stood up and embraced her parents. "i'm so happy for you guys!"

"i'm happy for you guys too!" robby said as he stood up to embrace the couple as well.

"wow, that's a lot of good news today." miguel said, congratulating the couple. "congratulations guys!"

as bella went to grab her bowl of chicken carbonara from the microwave, johnny noticed a scratch on his fiancé's arm. "what happened to you?" he said. "who did this to you?"

"it's a long story." bella said, sighing.

"mom, that scratch is huge, who did that to you?" stevie said, examining her mother's arm.

"i'm okay, but since you guys saw it, i can't hide it anymore." bella said. "i went to the bar with the girls, but i may or may not have gotten into a fight with an old classmate–"

"you did what?" the kids said, unison.

"you got into a bar fight?" johnny said.

"yeah." bella said, as she took a bite from her pasta. "but only because she came at me first. i was simply defending myself."

"must've been a gnarly fight if you got that scratch." robby said, with a chuckle. "if it's any consolation, it makes you look badass though. i would've never thought you'd get into a fight."

"she's a badass." johnny said, holding bella close to him, beaming with pride.

"so, who won?" stevie said.

"who do you think?" bella said. "i might've ended up with a scratch, but at least i didn't end up with my back to the bar and my ass on the floor."

"ah shit!" miguel said, laughing. "badass!"

"that's my girl." johnny said, as he kissed his fiancé.