All Too Well
Summary: Johnny Lawrence was a troubled guy, very few people could get him to let his guard down.
Series if one shots telling the story of the one girl who made him happy.
Part 1: Johnny takes Noelia home to meet his mom.
Late April/Early May 1983
Johnny would never admit it out loud, but he was nervous the first time he bought Noelia home to meet his mom. He had picked her up from home, since she still didn’t have a license and her parents needed the car to go to work anyways, and kept his eyes on the road for most of the trip.
He should've said something. Like how pretty she looked in her pale pink dress, or how nice her hair looked that day (not that it ever looked anything but). Instead, all he managed was a curt “Hey” and he pressed on the gas immediately, not even giving her time to put on her seatbelt.
She had an attractive lemon pie in her lap, zealously cradled in her hands. It looked good. It looked so damn good, but he couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth, afraid that his voice would shake.
“Do you mind if I switch stations?” she asked, to which he shrugged, and didn’t even complain when that pop shit began to stink his car. He made a face though, and she giggled. He cracked a small smile of his own, and the tension seemed to ease.
When they pulled up to his house, she paled, eyeing the place up and down.
“Uh,...wow.” she mumbled, so soft he almost didn’t catch it. She began to fidget in her seat. “Nice place.”
“Thanks.” he replied, lamely.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither really knowing how to proceed. He knew he should get out of the car, open the door for her and hold the pie so she could get out, but it was like his ass was glued to the leather seat, as if Duth had finally taken revenge from the time he and Jimmy made him get stuck to his bike seat.
“Johnny, are you sure this is a good idea?”
He turned. Noe was already looking at him, the green flecks in her eyes standing out in an almost unnatural way, as usual. It was hard to focus with eyes like those.
“What?”
“This.” her eyes deviated to the house for a fraction of a second before returning to him. “I don’t think your mom will like me. This is,...I don’t,...” she sighed and uttered something to herself he didn’t understand. “Look, I don’t belong in places like these, unless I’m the help, that is.” the last part came out low and sardonic, but he wasn’t that dumbstruck by her hotness to not catch it.
“Hey, no, c’mon, Noe, don’t say that.” he smiled in what he hoped was an encouraging manner, but her skeptical face told him of the results. “My mom’s been begging me to bring you home.” that wasn’t a lie. Laura had taken to ask every morning if that day was the day she’d meet the lucky girl who put a smile on her boy’s face. He wished she had relented a little, especially the particular day when Jimmy had stayed overnight. The guys still made fun of him. “Seriously, there’s nothing to worry about.” Except his asshole stepfather, but mom had promised he’d be nice. She always kept her promises, but Sid was known for not giving a shit about anything. He knew Laura would forgive him. “Especially with that pie you got.” he reached down to try and lift the lid in the hopes of snatching a few berries, but Noelia’s hand slapped his away. He chuckled and nodded towards the house. “C’mon, I promise it’ll go well. Besides, I already met your folks, so it’s only fair you meet mine.”
Her relenting smile was all the answer he needed, so he got out of his firebird and quickly made his way to the other side, opening the door and accepting the plate she handed him.
She got out a little awkwardly and ran her hands over the skirt of the dress and her fingers through her hair. That last part was to no avail; it was always tangled.
He handed back the plate and closed the door, turning back to the house. To hide his trembling hands, he put one in his pocket and the other on Noe’s back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a curtain moving and held in a snort.
He let her walk in first, and barely closed the door when his mom appeared in the foyer, her blond hair flowing in soft waves, her long, flowery dress making her look like she was gliding rather than walking. She was smiling from her to ear, her blue eyes shining as she looked from her son to Noelia and back, taking in the scene as if it were a miracle come true or something.
He felt Noe tense up, and he softly squeezed her waist.
“Hey mom,” he cleared his throat and quickly hid his other hand again. “This is Noelia. Noe, this is mom, Laura.”
Laura clapped her hands together and put them against her cheek, positively delighted.
“Oh, I’m so happy to finally meet you, dear.” she stepped in front of Noe, who looked like a terrified deer, and proceeded to hug her gently. “I’ve been dying to meet you, but I see why Johnny wanted to keep you for himself.”
“Mom!”
Noe chuckled ungainly.
“It’s very nice to finally meet you, Mrs Lawrence.” she offered her the pie. “I hope you like lemon pie.”
“Oh, dear, you shouldn’t have.” she accepted the dessert and motioned towards the dining room. “It looks so good; where did you buy it?”
“I-I made it, ma’am.”
Laura’s eyes widened slightly.
“Well, now I’m even more excited to try it. Rosa? Could you put this in the fridge, please?”
The table had already been set up for four people, and the first course was being laid out. He knew they were almost late, but that was because someone, ehem, decided to change outfits six times. He had a feeling Noe had just been stalling.
She was looking around the place, the further they advanced the more she pressed herself to his side. He had some idea as to what she was thinking. The place was bigger than her parent’s apartament in Reseda.
He pulled the chair back for her and gently back in before taking his seat to her right. Across from the table, he saw his mother hiding a grin behind a glass of wine.
The seat at the head of the table remained empty, and something told Johnny that Sid would be making an entrance, as usual.
Laura didn’t even look in that direction, placing her forearms on the edge of the table and looking at Noelia.
“So, tell me dear, you moved here about a year ago, right?”
How did she even knew that? Probably Ali or one of her friends.
“Yes, ma’am. My parents and I used to live in Wisconsin.”
“Oh please, call me Laura, dear.” she waved a hand to rest importance to the matter. “And how are you liking it so far?”
“It’s great not having winter anymore.”
His mom kept firing questions, but Johnny relaxed, and little by little, so did Noe. His mom didn’t have a mean bone to her, and her curiosity was starkly genuine. As the minutes passed between them, everyone seemed to forget about Sid’s tardiness. Johnny bent his leg, placing his foot on the seat and an arm around Noe’s chair, joining the conversation here and there. He kept playing with her locks, gently pulling at them here and there, waiting for her to turn with a fake annoyed expression only to play the fool.
Noe was just telling his mom about her singing lessons when they heard the front door slam shut. His girl was the only one to jump, startled, while everyone else remained impassive, having grown too used to Sid’s antics long ago.
He strode into the room, already complaining. Johnny was quick to sit properly, Noe turning to him when she felt the absence of his touch.
“I fired that jackass today. I had it with him!” he was saying, his obnoxiously loud voice not relenting even as he sat.
“Who, honey?” Laura was the only one whose mood didn’t seem too tainted by his presence.
“Barney!” he gave her a look Johnny didn’t appreciate, as if his mom were stupid for not guessing who he was talking about. Right, cause usually, Sid didn’t have anything bad to say about anyone, especially his employees.
“Oh, and what did he do?”
“The ungrateful bastard had the audacity to come ask me to reconsider his 'paternity leave'.”
Laura hesitated for a moment before forcing a smile onto her face.
“I’m sure you did the right thing.” Sid opened his mouth to keep going, but she cleared her throat and diverted her eyes towards him and Noe, who stared at his stepfather with her mouth slightly agape. “Honey, this is Noelia, Johnny’s girlfriend.”
“Uh. So she is real after all, eh?” he asked, looking her up and down. The cobra didn’t like that at all, so he leaned forward as casually as he could, hiding her at least partially. Sid’s eyes settled on him then. “Or did you have to pay her, boy?”
“Sid.” Laura sighed.
Johnny clenched his jaw.
“I didn’t.”
“Maybe not to come over tonight, but-”
“Oh, look! Dinner is ready.”
Rosa served them the first course as quietly and as quickly as she could, retreating back into the kitchen before Sid found a reason to yell at her as well.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, the teens keeping their eyes mostly on the plate in front of them.
As the main course was served, Laura spoke again.
“Honey, did I tell you that Noelia bought us dessert?” she smiled brightly at the girl, her approval too obvious. “She made it herself, and I’m sure it tastes as good as it looks.”
“Remember Bobby’s birthday, ma? Noe made his cake.”
Laura’s mouth hung open.
“Why, yes! It was simply divine. All those details! And so delicious!” she turned to Noe, beaming. “I didn’t know you made that as well.”
She nodded, returning her smile.
“Yeah; I like making birthday cakes, and Bobby’s mom couldn’t find someone on such short notice, so I offered.”
“Well, it was the talk of the party. It absolutely outshined the birthday boy.”
Noe chuckled as she reached for the glass. His mom wasn’t lying: that cake was the most delicious crap Johnny ever had. It had been a pity that she hadn’t made it to the party, but his boys made sure to let her know how well liked it had been, in great detail.
“So, I take it you like cooking as well as singing?”
Noe nodded more enthusiastically, and the blond teen smiled at her infectious mood.
“Yes! I love it! I was thinking of going to culinary school after I graduate. I thought about being a baker, but I think I’d prefer to be a chef.”
“Or you could be both?” Laura suggested. “Why limit yourself, dear?”
Sid snorted, and Johnny’s mood was ruined again.
“You want your son to marry a cook?” he asked his wife, pointing at him with his knife. He snorted again. “Like it’s not bad enough she’s a-”
“Watch it.” he warned, tense.
“-a gold digging, illegal mexican-”
“Sid!”
“I’m from Winsconsin.”
“Watch it, man!”
"Mom's Italian though…"
“-She also wants to 'work' in a kitchen.” he said it while doing air quotes. “As if serving someone else wasn’t denigrating enough.”
“C’mon, Sid.” Laura threw her napkin on the table, seeming tired of his crap. “Just stop it, please?”
“Why?! You know it’s the truth! Just look at your son?”
“Hey! Enough!”
“He’s a pathetic little loser. You think a hot piece of ass like that would go out with him for his personality?” he said the last word in a flamboyant way as he leaned over to her.
“Of course I do! Johnny’s a lovely boy.”
“He’s a loser! A good for nothing,...”
Sid and his mom kept on going back and forth, but Johnny didn’t listen anymore. Out of instinct, he reached to his left for his walkman and found Noe’s leg instead. Before he could retreat his hand, she had grabbed it with both of hers, holding his in a tight but comforting grip.
They kept staring at the windows in front of them. This was why he was so nervous. It wasn’t about his mom; he knew she’d love Noe, it was because of that asshole she married.
He just wanted a quiet night with his two favourite girls, as stupid as that sounded. He should’ve known it wouldn’t be a regular night in the Weinberg house if Sid didn’t throw himself into a monologue about how great it was that Johnny wasn’t his kid.
Rosa picked up the plates silently and quickly, but gave the young couple a sympathetic glance.
“Johnny, sweetie, why don’t you give Noelia a tour of the house?”
“Oh, great! Show her where the safe box is while you’re at it! Hell, I’ll just give her the code!”
“Un-belivable.”
The blond stood, not wasting time and pulling Noe up with him rather harshly. She kept her mouth shut as he led her out of the dining room and of the house all together.
He hurried to his car and opened the door for her, closing it with much more strength than he meant. He got into the driver's seat as well, Sid’s screaming muffled now, and turned on the engine.
He carelessly pulled out of the driveway and into the street, driving off with no real destination in mind.
Noe said nothing for several minutes, and neither did he.
Suddenly he jumped, almost losing control of the wheel, but didn’t react further as she ran her fingers through his hair.
“I’m sorry.”
He scoffed.
“Why’re you apologizing? He’s the one being a dickhead.”
“I know.” she pressed her lips into a thin line. “None of what he said it’s true, Johnny.”
He stopped at a red light and looked at her worried face, relaxing just a tiny bit.
“I know that, babe. Don’t worry. Sid hates everyone, and everyone hates him back, so he hates them even more and wants to make them as miserable as he is.”
“No, shit.” she chuckled. “I really liked your mom though.”
That lifted his spirits.
“She liked you too.”
“You think?” she sounded so hopeful.
“I know.”
He grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers.
“Where are we going?”
“The guys said they’d be at the arcade. We could join them if you want?”
“So long as you buy me dinner, I’m sold.”
He was getting quite hungry as well.
“The usual?”
She smiled and nodded, leaning over to kiss his cheek.
He would never hear the end of it if his friends saw him at the moment.