𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 — laurel canyon

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀 was seated in fourth period history next to ali as she and the blonde took notes, while mr. harris gave an — in her humble opinion — boring lecture on the plains indians. once the bell rang, the two girls gathered their things, and walked out of class together.

"have you seen daniel?" ali asked as she and bella walked down the hall

"not since this morning." bella said as she hugged her books to her chest. looking up, she spotted him at his locker. "there he is. go on."

ali smiled brightly as she walked up to him, and tapped his shoulder. bella stayed behind him and he turned around and saw ali, and he smiled brightly.

"hey, there you are, i've been looking all over for you today, where you been?" daniel asked

ali had a look of disgust on her face and she shook her head. "i don't believe it." she said, then scoffed. the blonde walked away, then daniel and bella followed her.

"what? hey, where are you going?" daniel asked ali, who was beyond pissed after seeing his face.

"i'm gonna go find that idiot daniel, and it's gonna stop." ali said as bella walked beside her.

"hi ali. hi bella." susan greeted. "hi." barbara smiled

bella smiled and waved. "hi."

daniel stopped in front of ali, stopping her and Bella in their tracks. "no, relax, everything's been taken care of."

ali hugged her books closer to her chest. "oh yeah, until next time around? there they are."

bella turned her head and saw the cobra kais walking towards them, watching as the three of them stood together. bella gave dutch a reassuring smile and that's the only thing that kept him calm.

"watch this." daniel said, as he gestured for ali and bella to follow him. "hey guys, how you doing? good to see ya. hey sorry about the eye there johnny, your shoulder okay tommy? you guys better be careful not to go steppin' in front of any more buses now alright?" he laughed as he walked away

bella shook her head and chuckled while ali laughed, then heard Johnny throw his books down in pure anger and bobby held him back. "hold it, remember what sensei said? We gotta wait for the tournament." bobby said

"must be 'take a worm for a walk' week!" tommy sarcastically yelled

bella was walking beside ali, and daniel was on the other side of the blonde, when ali asked, "you did all that damage?"

"what? don't you know when you make a wish in the shower it always comes true?" daniel asked

"i should have kept my mouth shut." ali said

"no, no, no, we have an agreement." daniel said

"oh yeah, what's that?" ali asked

"well, they promised not to beat up on me and i promised not to get my blood on their clothes that was it." daniel said

ali chuckled then replied. "i don't believe you."

"what am i gonna do? Moan and groan?" daniel asked

"i don't know, anybody else would." ali said

"yeah, well, who'd listen anyway?" daniel asked

ali smiled sweetly. "me." she stopped in her tracks as she turned to face him

"oh really? you, uh, feel like listening on Saturday night then?" daniel asked

"sure." ali smiled brightly, then took a piece of paper from her notebook and wrote down her address.

"all right, great, great, so saturday night, we'll go out, we'll have a good time, we'll do whatever and, uh...what is that, your address?" daniel asked

"you got it." ali smiled, then gave him the paper as the bell rang. "oh, we gotta go."

"bye." daniel smiled

"bye." ali and bella smiled

"well, look at you go, ali." bella smiled, then turned her head to see johnny and the boys walking up to daniel. "they better not pull any shit."

ali rolled her eyes. "this is johnny we're talking about." she said. "but look, daniel's got mr. harris boring them."

"pro giving them the lecture about the plains indians." bella laughed

"that was the most boring lecture." ali said. i almost fell asleep."

"you almost fell asleep in class?" bella asked as she and ali walked to their lockers

"believe it or not yes." ali said

before bella could say anything else, she heard dutch call her name. "bella!"

"i'll catch you later." ali smiled as she embraced her best friend

"okay, see you." bella smiled as ali walked to her next class. "hey you." the brunette smiled as she greeted her boyfriend

"are you going to math?" dutch asked

"i was planning on it, yes." bella smiled.

"why don't we just ditch for the rest of the day?" dutch asked. "I do it all the time."

"you never get caught?" bella asked as she placed her books in her locker

"no. they don't give a shit half the time." dutch said

bella sighed then glanced up at her boyfriend, and replied. "alright, you've talked me into it. if i get caught, i'm telling them it was all your idea. besides, math is my least favorite subject anyway." she said as she closed her locker, then walked with him to the parking lot. "so, where are we going?"

"i picked the place last time." dutch said as he got on his motorcycle, and gave her the spare helmet as he had picked her up for school. "you pick the place."

bella smiled fondly, then replied, "laurel canyon."

"all right, let's go to laurel canyon."

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

bella and dutch walked through the streets of laurel canyon hand in-hand, as the brunette had his jacket draped over her shoulders. "thanks for letting me borrow your jacket."

"no problem." dutch smiled, as he glanced down at the beautiful brunette walking next to him. "so how did you find this place?"

"well, i've always been a fan of joni mitchell. she's high on a pedestal for me. when wyatt and deacon were teaching me how to drive, i would come down and try to find joni's old house. of course we never found it, but just to say i had been to laurel canyon was something pretty special. it's become my place of serenity. if i didn't live in virgin river, i would choose to live here." bella said

"because of joni?" dutch asked

"yeah, because of joni." bella smiled. there was a moment of comfortable silence, and bella could see something on dutch's face, something that bothered him. "hey, are you alright?"

"yeah, it's just—there's something i still haven't told you. about my home life. not even the guys know." dutch said as the two sat down on a bench, and bella held his hand. "growing up, my dad was a worthless drunk, and when he wasn't passed out drunk, he was yelling at my mother, or at me. we eventually got away from him, but we don't live in encino like everyone else, van nuys is all we can afford."

bella nodded as she gave him a look to go on. "the thing is, i always told myself, if i had kids of my own, i was going to be a better father than he ever was, and a better husband, and an even better man. when i met you, everything fell into place for me. you're my person bella." dutch said

"dutch, i'm so sorry you had to go through the things you had to go through. i certainly had no idea, it certainly explains why you put up a tough guy persona to the world." bella said

"admit it, you like my tough guy persona." dutch said

bella chuckled then gently smacked his arm. "quit it." she laughed, then continued. "dutch, i love you for the man you are, the good, the bad, the tough, the weak, because even the strong can be weak. i promise you, you are a much better man than your father ever was."

"thank you bella." dutch smiled, then brought her in for a kiss. "i love you."

"not as much as i love you."