𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 — young hearts

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

December 18th, 1984

𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄 since the country club fiasco. bella arrived at school and parked her truck in her assigned parking spot next to ali's mercedes, while her boyfriend and his friends pulled up on their motorcycles.

after grabbing her backpack from the passenger seat, she locked her car, and walked to the cobra kais. "hey babe." bella smiled as she kissed her boyfriend's cheek.

"hey beautiful." dutch smiled as he wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her temple.

"bella, i'm sorry about the other night. it was only supposed to be a joke." johnny said

"johnny, i'm not mad at you, i'm upset with the situation. your little joke ended up hurting ali in the process. what you did was wrong. while you think you might be hurting daniel, the one who always ends up getting hurt is ali." bella said

"i know, i really am sorry, can you please just let her know that?" johnny asked. "she listens to you."

bella smiled softly and nodded, "yeah, i will. just try thinking first, before striking first." she said, then kissed dutch's lips and walked away

"why are ali and bella always defending that annoying little twerp?" johnny asked

"bella loves everyone and treats everyone the way they should be treated. we might not like it, but if you're her friends, and if you're my friends as well, you'll deal with it." dutch said

bella walked over to ali and embraced her best friend. "how's your hand?"

"it's sprained but it will heal." ali said

the girls saw daniel walking towards the entrance, ali was ready to greet him, but he walked right past them. the blonde brushed it off, and walked up to him.

"daniel. daniel." ali called from behind him, but he ignored it and kept walking. she ran up to him and bella followed suit. "daniel, you could at least listen to me..."

"what, and be lied to?" daniel asked

"you know, you're pretty rude." ali said as they continued to walk.

"how could you tell? you live in a world full of rude people. i just want you and your pals to leave me alone okay?" daniel said as he stalked off.

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

it was the night before the all valley karate tournament. bella and ali decided to go to golf n' stuff since dutch was still at karate practice and they wouldn't be getting out until later tonight.

bella and ali played shoot away, when daniel jumped in front of them. "don't shoot! no! no! no!" daniel said as he held his hands up in surrender. "ali shot him and he groaned pretending to be in pain. "hey don't leave me here, i'm wounded."

bella and ali walked over to the pac man machine, where the blonde began to play, as she stood close to bella. "hey, i just wanted to apologize." daniel said

ali kept her eyes on the screen, and continued playing the game. "fine, you apologized." the blonde curtly said

"you know i got my license." daniel said

"yeah? whoop-dee-do." ali sarcastically said

"hey, what's with you?" daniel asked rather annoyed.

ali tried not to scoff, but continued playing the game. "you expect me to do cartwheels or something?"

"no, i just expect a little courtesy maybe. but i
guess that's just for people with fancy cars and
things like that, right? right?" daniel asked and ali rolled her eyes and walked away, and bella followed her

"what's the matter, the truth hurt?" daniel asked as he stopped beside ali

"daniel, that's enough." bella warned

ali turned to her best friend and placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a soft smile, then turned to daniel before speaking. "you really think that's it, don't you?" the blonde asked, rather hurt

"yeah, i know that's it." daniel said

ali looked at daniel, a hurt expression on her face. "yeah, well you're wrong." she defended

"oh i bet i'm wrong." daniel said

"you know daniel, i didn't go out with you because of a car or-or where you lived." ali said

"okay, well while we're on the subject, why did you then? huh, why did you?" daniel asked.

ali didn't respond but broke eye contact from him, and looked down at the table beside them, but bella stood protectively beside her best friend.

"huh? why did you?" daniel asked

ali stumbled over her words. "because i thought that—"

"what?" daniel asked

"because i thought that maybe you and me where different." ali said

"yeah, we're different. i'm from reseda, you're from the hills. that's how we're different." daniel said

ali rolled her eyes and turned away from him. "that's not what i meant." she sighed

daniel moved to the other side of the table to face her again. "why don't you just admit that you can't handle the situation the way it is?" daniel asked

"you know, i can handle it just fine. you can't." ali said  as she walked away

"you really don't get it do you?" bella said as she leaned on an arcade game

"what?" a perplexed daniel questioned

"she's never been anything but nice to you." bella said

"oh yeah, she was so nice she used me to make what's his name jealous." daniel said

"she doesn't even like what's his name." bella said

"oh yeah, i'd never have guessed the way their faces were stuck together at that country club." daniel said

"daniel, you didn't stick around to see what happened next, did you?" bella asked

"oh, what was that? his hand on her ass?" daniel sarcastically asked, and bella rolled her eyes

"no, her right hook, you honestly think she sprained her wrist doing her nails?" bella asked.

"she hit him?" daniel questioned

"yes." bella said. "she punched him square in the jaw."

"why didn't she say something?" daniel asked

"she tried, yet you didn't want to hear it. but then again, she shouldn't have to should she?" bella asked. "just think about what i've said." she added as she turned to walk away, while daniel looked confused and shocked

outside, bella found ali who stood by the gate, and looked at the water slide. the brunette did her best to console her best friend, who was clearly hurt.

"hey, it's going to be okay." bella reassured

"how can you be sure?" ali asked sadly

"hey slugger." daniel said as he tapped ali on the shoulder

bella embraced her best friend, and gave daniel a friendly pat on the shoulder, before leaving the two of them alone and leaving the arcade.

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

bella pulled into the driveway of dutch's van nuys home. after getting out of the car, she locked it, and walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. after a few minutes, leann answered the door.

"bella, get in here." leann smiled as she opened the door further.

bella smiled as she walked into the house, and after leann closed the door, she pulled the brunette in for an embrace. dutch walked down the hall in his jeans and a white tee shirt, and smiled brightly when he saw his beautiful bella. "hey beautiful." dutch smiled

bella smiled as she gently pulled away from Sheila's embrace. "hi honey." she smiled as she embraced her boyfriend. "i know it's late, but you wanna go for a drive? only if it's alright with your mom?"

dutch turned to leann, who gave him the look of approval, then he looked back down at his girlfriend. "of course i do." he smiled. "we'll be back later mom."

"i know." leann smiled. "i'm not worried."

dutch and bella kissed the older brunette's cheek, then he led bella out the door, and closed it behind them. dutch opened the passenger door to the impala, and once bella got in, he walked around to the driver's side.

the couple drove around the back roads of the san fernando valley, while the brunette kicked off her shoes, laid her head in his lap, let her bare feet hang out the window, and his free hand intertwined with her's.

the couple arrived at the serene encino hills look out, and sat in the truck. bella sat up, and dutch wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned into him, gently caressing his face.

"i'm so glad you'll be there tomorrow." dutch said as he kissed her temple

bella smiled at her boyfriend, then laced her fingers with his. "honey, i wouldn't miss it for the world. how are you feeling?"

dutch sighed as he ran his free hand though his hair. "to be perfectly honest, i'm a little nervous. i can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen. i haven't been sleeping well at night."

bella gave him the look of concern, then gently spoke. "sweetheart, why didn't you tell me?"

"i just didn't want to worry you." dutch said

bella turned in the seat to face him. "you listen to me. i'm always here. you need to tell me when things are wrong and when they're not, when you are sleeping well, and when you are not."

dutch placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "i love you, bella, more than i have ever loved anyone. you've made me a better person, and changed me for the better."

"i love you more, dutch." bella smiled. "you want to stay the night with me?"

dutch placed a kiss to her lips, then softly replied, "of course i do." he smiled

dutch turned on the ignition, and bella sat in the passenger seat with his hand laced with her's. as they drove through the city towards virgin river, bella couldn't help but admire all the neon lights and the couples who were walking hand in hand.

after making a stop at dutch's van nuys home for his overnight bag, the couple drove towards virgin river. the couple arrived at her virgin river ranch, then got out of the car, and walked up to the door

upon walking in the front door, they were greeted by janet, who was on her way to bed. "hi darlings." the older brunette smiled as she embraced the couple

"hi mom." bella smiled as she returned her mother's embrace.

"hi janet." dutch smiled as he returned janet's embrace

"how was the drive?" janet asked

"it was great." bella smiled as she wrapped her arm around dutch's waist, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "i told him he could spend the night, it's alright, isn't it?"

"of course it is, sweetheart." janet smiled. "well, i'm headed to bed. don't stay up to late. dutch you have to be at the arena early in the morning. i love you both." she added as she kissed their foreheads and walked upstairs

after turning off all the lights, and making sure the front door was locked, the couple walked up the stairs to bella's bedroom, and after dutch closed the door behind them, bella embraced him while his lips roamed her neck, while his hands moved to her lower back

"dutch, as much as i would love to do this tonight, i don't think our first time shouldn't be in my house with my parents down the hall." bella smiled as she rested her forehead against his.

dutch nodded and smiled. "yeah."

"i'm going to call ali and see how things went with her. you go ahead and get ready for bed okay?" bella said

dutch kissed her lips in reply. he never imagined a girl would love him the way she does, but she wholeheartedly loves him, and that's something he's always wanted, but he would never admit to it.

bella smiled at him as she walked to the bed and picked up the phone and dialed ali's number, while he walked to the bathroom to take a shower.

"mills residence, ali speaking." ali said on the other line

"so, how did the date go? did you and lover boy make up?" bella asked as she laid back on the bed

"hey bella. yes we made up and we even had our first kiss." ali smiled. "what about you and dutch? how did your date go?"

"it went great." bella smiled. "we drove around for a while, went up to the look out, and he's spending the night with me. i like you and daniel together. he's good for you."

"thanks bella. anyway, i won't keep you. i'll see you in the morning." ali asked. "you said you're meeting us at the arena?"

"yes. i'll meet you guys there." bella smiled.

"okay, sounds good." ali said. "good night. love you."

"love you too." bella smiled, then hung up the phone

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

later, bella and dutch laid in the bed, listening to the soft sound of the radio, which was playing on a low volume. "i have something for you." dutch said as he sat up.

dutch reached down to grab something out of his jean pocket. bella sat up and he carefully placed a black velvet box in her dainty hand. she carefully opened the box, to reveal a beautiful crescent moon necklace. "oh, dutch." she gave him a watery smile

"you like it? i know most couples get promise rings, but i thought you would like this one better." dutch said

bella smiled as she carefully took the necklace out of the box, and placed it around her neck. "i love it. i'll never take it off. it's beautiful."

dutch kissed her lips in reply before speaking. "not as beautiful as you. i promise you bella, i will never, ever, ever leave your side." he said as he rested his palm against her cheek.

"i love you too, honey." bella smiled

the couple laid down, side by side, wrapped in each other's arms, in a moment of pure love and intimacy. after sighing deeply, bella spoke as she traced the muscles on his chest. "promise me something."

"anything." dutch said

"i want you to be careful out there tomorrow. promise me you'll be careful out there." bella said

"i promise." dutch said 

"just remember, no matter what you place, first, or second, third, or fourth, you're always number one to me." bella smiled as she placed a delicate kiss on his lips

"i love you, bella." dutch smiled

"i love you, too, honey." bella smiled. "more than you'll ever know."