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I was always the black sheep in the Larusso family. My brother, Danny, was a good kid. He had good grades, good friends, was an amazing athlete, and minded his own business. He was quiet and always tried his best to do the right thing. If our mom asked Danny to do something, he would do it and do it well. It was frustrating. I, on the other hand, was the loud mouth wild child. My grades were decent, I was never really into sports, and the circles I ran with got me in just enough trouble to count. In mom's mind, I was a satan spawn. I was stubborn and prideful, so when mom asked me to do anything it was like pulling teeth if I didn't want to do it. It was that way for a long time.
When we packed up and moved in high school, Danny had a really hard time. He started to be disrespectful to our mom and started getting in fights with the kids at school. He was acting like me. I tried to be patient with him and offer him a shoulder to lean on, but Danny was pushing me away, too. The only things I knew about his experience for the first month were that he hated California and he hated Johnny Lawrence. I was worried for Danny, but I was unsure of who Johnny Lawrence really was. Until Halloween, he was a myth to me.
Danny was trying to figure out a costume idea with the apartment janitor, Mr. Miyagi, while I was drinking and getting ready with some friends. Danny met me at the dance and disappeared to find his girlfriend. I was hanging out with my friends and dancing to the beat of the song when I noticed someone staring at me. He was tall and blonde and built. I liked it. He was talking to his friends and gesturing to me with a lovely smirk on his face, so I kept dancing and putting on a show for him. After several minutes, he went off towards the bathrooms and so did my brother. My friends and I gossiped about him until I heard a crash and a shout followed by my brother running out and away from the blonde boy. I chased after the group, calling out to Danny to get him to slow down, but once I got caught up, my heart dropped. The boy who was just making eyes at me was beating the shit out of my brother. I was sick knowing I had fallen in love with Johnny Lawrence.
I tried my best to resist it for the sake of my brother, but something about Johnny on Halloween piqued my interest. Before I knew it, we were sharing stolen moments in the hallways at school and he was sneaking me out nearly every night. It was heaven. I was skeptical at first since I didn't know if he was using me to get at Danny, but when he told me he loved me on the roof of the school, I knew that he was serious. After that I dropped off the face of the earth with Johnny for a while. We got an apartment (it wasn't much but it was ours), I helped him clean up after fights and failures, and then we got married and had a couple of kids. I was so happy, but then I got an invitation from Danny to come and visit for an evening.
When I arrived at the Larusso house, I was blown away. Danny had done so well. I knew he owned a dealership and had bought cars from my brother before, but I had no idea the extent of his hard work. The house was huge and well kept. I was proud. My husband, however, was bouncing his knee so much I thought it would fall off.
"Johnny, will you stop that?"
"I can't, Y/N. I'm so nervous. Your brother hates me." I sighed and put a hand on his thigh.
"It's okay, he'll be so happy to see me and the kids it won't even matter about your past."
"That's easy for you to say, you don't know him like I do." I sighed and turned around to the backseat.
"Are you kids excited to meet your Uncle Danny?" A group shout of yeah rang out from the backseat. I turned to Johnny one last time.
"Hey, it's going to be fine. Are you ready?"
"I guess so." He wiped a sweaty palm against his pants and stepped out of the car.
I squeezed his hands three times and walked my family up to the front door. I knocked and waited and my husband exhaled nervously as footsteps approached on the other side of the door. Our kids were bouncing around behind us and when the door finally opened, I was met with Danny.
"Oh my god, Y/N! How are you my lovely sister?" He pulled me in for a big squeeze and laughed.
"I'm good! Thanks again for having us! I-" I stopped in my tracks as Danny's face fell. He and Johnny were staring at each other.
"Y/N is this a joke?"
"Danny, come on-"
"Why?" The silence was so heavy as the two men exchanged looks.
"Boys come on. Not with the kids here." Danny's face softened and Johnny breathed in relief as soon as the attention was removed from him. Danny blabbed to the kids as I wiped one tears from my eyes silently. This was a bad idea.
"Well, why don't you guys come on in! The food is getting cold." My kids cheered excitedly and ran into the house.
"Sorry, they get really excited." Johnny commented as he followed them in. I put a hand on my brother's shoulder and he turned to me.
"Y/N, it's going to take some getting used to, but I love you and my adorable nieces and nephews, so I will make an effort. It won't be easy and I hope you can respect why, but if he's your husband, we have to come to an understanding." I sighed again and put my free hand on my chest.
