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𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 Johnny got off the phone with Stella, he found himself smiling for the first time in a long time. Genuinely smiling. She brought out the best in him, and he was able to let his guard down around her. He hadn't been able to do that in over 30 years. She made him feel like he was home. But he didn't know how to tell her that with out scaring her away.

Just as he began to write a letter to Robby, he heard a loud bang coming from outside in the parking lot, and Janette screaming. Outside, he saw Louie and his biker gang smash his Firebird and the windows, and Janette stood on her front porch with her hand over her mouth.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" Johnny yelled

"Consider this a message from Daniel LaRusso." Louie said as he smashed the car bumper

"Go inside Janette!" Johnny said as he looked at the older woman looking at the bikers in fear. As she walked back into her apartment, the blonde turned back to the bikers.

"What are you gonna do, Nancy?" one of the other bikers spoke up

Johnny kicked one of the bikers, as another one tried to pull him off. The blonde punched the biker who held him back. As Johnny fought the two bikers, Louie backed away, and Johnny walked up to him.

"Back up, I got a bat!" Louie said, holding the bat

Louie took a swing at the blonde with the bat, but missed, which made Johnny take the bat from him and angrily shoved him back.

"Alright, look. Things got away from me. Just calm down." Louie pleaded

Johnny grabbed Louie by the shirt, and angrily said, "Where does Daniel LaRusso live?"

"Look, this has nothing to do with him! I made all that shit up." Louie said. "I'll take my licks like a man!"

"Hey asshole, burn in hell." one of the bikers said as they tossed a lighter to the car setting it on fire

Johnny watched as his red car burned. He had planned to take Stella on their first date in that car, he wanted to take her up to the hills, play his mixtapes for her, and even share their first kiss in that car, but not anymore.

"Where does Daniel LaRusso live?!" Johnny screamed at Louie

"Encino Hills, Escalon Drive!" Louie said

Letting Louie go, Johnny hopped on one of their  motorcycles, and sped away. He knew where he had to go. To Stella's.

──────

Stella woke up to the loud ringing of her doorbell. Getting up from the comfort of her bed, she walked down the hall and to the living room and to the door and looked out the peephole, where she saw Johnny standing out the door.

"Johnny? What's wrong? Are you alright?" Stella asked as she rubbed her eyes, standing aside and letting the blonde inside

"Far from it." Johnny said as he walked into the apartment. "You'll never believe this."

Stella softly yawned as she rubbed her eyes and sat down on the couch. "What happened?"

"After we got off the phone, I go outside and I see some assholes trashing and wrecking my Firebird, one of them said it was a message from Daniel LaRusso." Johnny said as he sat down on the couch beside the brunette

"So how did you get here?" Stella asked

"After I kicked the shit out of them, I stole one of their bikes and came over here." Johnny said.

"Oh my God, Johnny, your knuckles." Stella said as she noticed his knuckles.

"Oh, that's from where I kicked their asses." Johnny said, as Stella got up, and walked to the kitchen to grab the first aid kit, then sat back down.

"This might sting a little." Stella said as she began to clean his knuckles.

"Those assholes set it on fire. That's the first thing I ever bought without my rich stepdad's money." Johnny said

"I know that car must have been good to you, and I'm sure it held a lot of great memories. I can't even imagine what you're feeling." Stella said as she closed the lid to the first aid kit

"Yeah, it really was. I wanted to take you on our first date in that car, but that was shot to shit." Johnny said.

"Johnny, if we have to plan the date for another time, we can. It's okay. I understand." Stella smiled. She really is the best.

Reaching over, Stella wrapped her arms around his shoulder and Johnny wrapped his arms around her tiny waist. As he held her in his arms, he could smell her hair, which was sweetly scented, just like her. He didn't want to leave, all he wanted was to stay in the comfort of her arms forever.

"Johnny, I'm sorry about what happened." Stella said as she held him close to her. "You want to stay? Are you okay to drive back to Reseda?"

"I need to go and figure out what I'm going to do." Johnny said, as the two pulled away from their embrace, and she nodded as she ran her hands down his arms.

Resting her forehead against his, Stella gently spoke. "Please don't do anything reckless." she said as the two interlaced their hands. "Call me if you need anything. Promise me."

"I promise." Johnny said as he kissed her forehead

After walking Johnny out of the apartment, Stella climbed back in bed. She tossed and turned and couldn't shake a sinking feeling that she had in her stomach. Turning over on her side, she smiled softly at the photo of Ava on her nightstand. "If only you were still here." Stella said

──────

The next morning, Johnny drove up to Daniel's Encino residence. As Daniel was making his coffee, he was surprised to see Johnny on his back patio.

"What the hell are you doing? You come to my house? Are you insane?" Daniel yelled

"I was trying to make things right, let the past be the past." Johnny yelled. "You still can't leave well enough alone, man."

"What are you even talking about? You got Cobra Kai reinstated." Daniel said

"I'm talking about my car." Johnny said angrily

"What about your car?" Daniel asked rather confused

"Nice try, those goons could have burned down my whole neighborhood." Johnny said

"Goons? What goons?" Daniel asked

"Don't try to play dumb, son of a bitch gave you up right away." Johnny said. "Don't worry, I took care of him and his little biker posse.

"Louie. All right, listen. I don't know what the hell happened, but I had nothing to do with it. That was my cousin." Daniel said quickly.

"Big surprise. All you LaRussos are the same. Your whole family, man, is rotten to the core." Johnny said as he stepped closer to Daniel.

"All right, watch it Johnny." Daniel warned.

"Kick his ass dad." Anthony encouraged

"Anthony, just go inside." Daniel said

"Listen to your dad kid. You're not gonna wanna see this." Johnny threatened.

"Hey! Hey, I'm gonna ask you nicely, you get the hell off my property or I'm calling the police." Daniel said

"Oh yeah, you afraid?" Johnny asked

"You know, this is ridiculous." Daniel said as he pulled his phone out of his back pocket. "Listen—"

Johnny grabbed Daniel's arm, then the two of them got into fighting stance. "You wanna go now?! Come on Johnny! You wanna do this? Let's go. Come on." Daniel yelled

"What is going on?" Amanda asked

"Dad's about to fight this guy." Anthony said excitedly

"Amanda, just, take Anthony and go inside okay?" Daniel asked. "This is between me and Sensei Lawrence."

"Yeah, you two seem to have this in hand. Just a normal Saturday morning, a couple of grown men about to kick each other into a pool? You know, as much as I would love to watch you and your childhood karate rival duke it out, I kinda don't want to get any blood on the patio. So what do you say we resolve this over some breakfast instead?" Amanda suggested

"You wanna go inside?" Daniel asked

"I could eat." Johnny said

──────

Stella picked at her food, as she, Kara, Lori, and Carter sat at the dining room table, eating breakfast, listening to the story Carter was telling as Joni Mitchell's Help Me played on the turn table

Noticing her best friend's quiet demeanor, Lori waved her hand in front of Stella's face. "Hello? Anyone home?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did y'all say something?" Stella said as she sipped her orange juice

"Yeah, we said thanks for the breakfast." Carter said as he sipped his coffee, then got up to pour himself another cup

"Hey, you seem quiet. Is something bothering you?" Kara asked as she wiped her hands on her napkin

"No." Stella said as she bit into her scrambled eggs.

"Bullshit. What's going on?" Lori asked

"Last night, Johnny came by." Stella said

"Did you two finally do the deed?" Kara asked as she put salt and pepper on her eggs

"Excuse me, save that for when I'm not around." Carter said as he sat back down

Rolling her eyes and chuckling, Stella replied, "No Kara. We didn't do the deed. Yet. We've come close. But the reason he came by last night, was because someone trashed his car. He said it was a message from Mr. LaRusso."

"The guy who owns LaRusso auto?" Carter asked as he stirred sugar into his coffee

"Yeah." Stella said.

"You know, I had my oil changed at LaRusso auto, and that doesn't sound like Mr. LaRusso at all." Kara said

"All I know is, there's a lot of history between those two, a complicated past." Stella said. "They're old karate rivals."

"Speaking of karate rivals, tournament's tomorrow." Lori said. "How's August feeling about it?"

"He's pretty nervous about it, but I think he's going to do just fine." Stella said

──────

After test driving a 2009 Dodge Charger, and making a stop by Daniel's old apartment complex in Reseda, he and Johnny sat at a bar drinking.

"Bartender. Coors banquet for me and a Shirley temple for the lady." Johnny said

"Club soda will be fine. Thank you." Daniel said. "Okay, one drink then we get the hell out of here."

There was an awkward moment of silence, then Daniel broke it. "So...your stepdad was an asshole, huh? Back in the day I figured you were living the life. Fancy cars, motorbikes." he said

"It had its moments. Then I'd come home and pretty much get bullied every day." Johnny said as the bartender gave them their drinks. "That's why I joined Cobra Kai. Kreese gave me more attention than I ever got at home. The guy was more than a sensei to me. He was basically... a father. Anyway you wouldn't understand."

"My dad died when I was 8. Mr. Miyagi was like a father to me. It's crazy man, both finding karate role models." Daniel said

"Yeah, except your's didn't break your trophy and try to kill you." Johnny said

"That is true." Daniel agreed, then turned to the bartender. "You know what, get me a ketel martini straight up, couple of olives, ice, ice cold."

"And two more of these." Johnny said as he held up his beer

──────

That night, Stella walked into her bedroom and did her nightly routine, put on her nightgown, sat against the headboard of her bed, turned on Ava's old radio, and opened her book. As Seals and Crofts Summer Breeze began to play, she couldn't help the smile that formed on her face, as this is one of the songs that reminds her of her mother.

A little while into her reading, her phone vibrated. She looked at the caller id, which read, Johnny ❤️. Turning down the radio, she answered the call.

"Hello?" Stella said as she answered his call

"Hey." Johnny said. "I was able to get another car from LaRusso's dealership."

"That's great, but there's something else bothering you. I can tell." Stella said as she set her book on the nightstand

"What makes you think that?" Johnny said as he opened his third coors banquet

"A woman's intuition is a very good one. Tell me what's going on." Stella said

"After LaRusso and I got back to his place after looking for another car, Robby was there. Turns out, LaRusso's been training him." Johnny said

"Johnny, I'm so sorry." Stella said. "Is there anything I can do?"

"No, I don't want to put you in the middle." Johnny said. "But are you still coming tomorrow?"

"Hey, I got involved the minute I punched Kyler at the minimart." Stella laughed, making Johnny laugh as well. "Yes, I'll be there."

"Good, I'll see you in the morning." Johnny said

"See you in the morning." Stella smiled. "Don't do anything stupid or reckless."

"Me? I would never." Johnny teased, and Stella softly laughed

"Goodnight, Johnny." Stella smiled

"Goodnight, princess." Johnny said

After the pair said their goodbyes, Stella placed her phone on the nightstand, and pulled the warm covers over her body, ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach