MEET ME AT OUR SPOT

VII .. landslide!

flashback!
— september 1995; miami, fl

it was finally the end of a long shift for bella. she let out a frustrated sigh as she clocked out and tossed her apron aside. once she arrived in miami, the first thing bella did was find a job, in order to have enough money to support herself and her 4-year-old daughter. bella started working at a local denny's, where she met lillian who worked on the same shift as her.

bella walked behind the counter and to a table where lillian and the other workers were splitting their tips. "this shift felt eternal, i swear." bella said as she plopped down next to lillian while melissa, another waitress, did the math and separated the money.

"all that counts is that it's over now and we get to go home." lillian said. "and you can go home to your baby girl."

"alright, math's done." melissa sighed. "here's  everyone's money, go crazy and good night."

melissa passed out the tips to everyone as bella placed hers in her wallet. lillian drove bella to her apartment, as she didn't want bella taking the bus so late. upon arriving to her apartment, she was greeted by her daughter, who was sitting on the couch watching tv.

"hey stevie, what are you doing up?" bella said as she sat down next to her daughter on the sofa. "it's late, babe."

"i can't sleep." stevie sighed as she held her purple plush bunny. "i missed you mommy."

"i missed you too, sweetie." bella said as she embraced the little blonde girl. "i'm home now, it's okay. let's go tuck you in."

bella carried stevie in her arms as she walked over to the small bedroom. stevie hopped onto her bed as bella placed the covers over her daughter while stevie hugged her stuffed purple bunny. "you feel better, hon?" bella smiled at stevie.

stevie nodded her head as bella ran her fingers through her blonde hair. "can you sing to me, mommy?" the little girl whispered. "the song you always sing."

"stevie, it's late." bella sighed.

"please. i promise i'll go to sleep." stevie pleaded as she batted her small green eyes at her mother.

"alright." bella said as she placed a small kiss on her temple. bella took the small girl in her arms and began to run her fingers through her hair as she began to sing fleetwood mac's landslide.

since stevie was a baby, she grew up on classic rock music, considering both johnny and bella's music taste. she was practically raised listening to fleetwood mac because of both bella and her grandma laura. landslide had become a lullaby to her as bella would sing it to her as well her grandmother.

stevie softly yawned as she began to softly close her eyes. she cuddled into her mother's arms while bella placed a small kiss on her temple. the brunette sighed as she held her daughter close to her. "good night, sweetie." bella said. "i love you."

"i love you too, mommy." the little girl whispered as she shut her eyes.

⸻

"please tell me you've listened to this one. this one's easy." sebastian smiled as he tossed a def leppard cassette to stevie, who was looking at some vinyl records in a box. after having lunch together, the pair went into a record store and began to test each other's music taste. "hysteria, 1987."

"of course, this one's been engraved in my head since i was a baby." stevie chuckled as she held the cassette in her hands. "my dad's probably played this like a billion times."