Spinelli went to leave her stuff in her room and went to check on Arnold.

She noticed the bottle still in hand. "Maybe a sip won't hurt." Spinelli carefully removed the bottle from his hand, and into her grasp. She took a sip from the bottle. A weird taste came from it.

"The fuck?! What is this flavor? And why does it feel rather familiar?" Spinelli clicked her tongue several times.

"That's because it is a familiar flavor." Arnold soon turned to look at her. "Arnold?! I thought- what? Wait, so you weren't passed out?"

"Nope."

"And what is this flavor? Apple juice?"

"Yup."

"And were you waiting for me to take a sip out of it, and it back to you, so you could see how my lips taste like?"

"Uh…" Arnold didn't even know what to say. "You dirty son of a…" Spinelli rolled her eyes. She then yanked on Arnold's hoodie. "Listen to me, and listen carefully. You're gonna regret not having beer in that freakin' bottle, 'cause since I'm sober right now, I'm in full control of my actions. And I know exactly how to handle this."

"Spinelli, look, this was all just a practical joke!"

"Zip it! Don't move from here, or it's worse." Spinelli let go of his hoodie and went upstairs to her room. Arnold gulped.

Shortly after, Spinelli came back down the stairs and clenched Arnold's hoodie again.

"Uh, Spinelli? Is it just me, or do I notice something different about you now?" Arnold tried to change the subject. "You want to find out firsthand? Be my damn guest."

Arnold closed his eyes ready for a punch or smack, instead, he felt Spinelli's lips pressed onto his lips, and her tongue slipping into his mouth.

Not only did Arnold feel the softness of her lips, but something else.

After a minute or two of making out with each other, they separated as Spinelli smirked at him.

"What? You didn't really think I was gonna hit you?"

"Spinelli, are you wearing lipgloss?"

"Figured I minus well see whether you like it or not." She replied. "Like it? I think I love it." Arnold soon smirked as he yanked on her shirt. "I thought so." Spinelli slowly kissed Arnold.

Arnold only smirked as Spinelli took off her leather jacket. Arnold kissed her neck once before she lifted her shirt. She partially lifted her shirt, revealing her usual sports bra, when the two heard their doorbell ring.

The two facepalmed. "Who the hell is it now?!" Spinelli complained as she put her jacket back on.

Arnold opened the front door. "Yeah, what can I help you… with?"

A middle-aged man with a hat, and a young woman who looked to be approaching her forties were at the door. The woman had weird glasses on but had a beautiful hairdo.

"Uh, Spin? Could you come here for a second?" Arnold looked at Spinelli.

"Arnold, what is it? If it's some stupid-…" Spinelli approached him and paused when she saw who it was.

"Hey, Pookie!" The woman greeted. "Hey, sugarplum!"

"Mom?! Dad?! But- but how?!" Spinelli stuttered over her words as she was dumbfounded. "Mr. and Mrs. Spinelli?!" Arnold looked at her parents.

"Wha- how'd you guys find where I lived?!" Spinelli looked at her parents. "Oh, Pookie, don't worry about that! We're just so happy to see you again! We sincerely missed you!" Mrs. Spinelli started. "And we're deeply sorry to have never been there for you. We really are." Mr. Spinelli said.

Spinelli backed away as her parents came forward.

"Ashley…"

"DON'T call me that!"

"But honey, we're deeply sorry for ever ruining you! We never wanted you to separate yourself from us! We didn't come all the way here just for you to keep yourself separated from us… We deeply regret everything we've done. And we know you probably hate us for it… but, we can start over. Fix the past, and have a future together. Your father, me, you, and your charming boyfriend here." Mrs. Spinelli told her daughter. "Well uh, Mrs. Spinelli? I'm actually not her boyfriend, she's my closest friend, she lives here that's all. It's a long story." Arnold replied.

"The point is… Spinelli, we want to rebuild our connection with you. We seriously can't express how extremely sorry we are for all the troubles we caused you as a teenager heading into your adulthood!"

"No…! No…! No! You assholes are lying! I never had support back then. What the hell makes you think I'll be having support from you NOW?!" Spinelli growled as Arnold held her.

"But Spinelli, please listen to what we have to say!" Mrs. Spinelli kept going.

"Get off me!" Spinelli was too frustrated to notice Arnold was holding her. She ripped herself free from his grasp and immediately headed upstairs.

"I'm guessing something must've happened for your daughter to act like this towards you guys?" Arnold looked at her parents.

"It's just a long story. By the way, I'm Flo. Flo Spinelli." She shook Arnold's hand. "I'm Bob Spinelli." Bob then shook Arnold's hand.

"So what happened?" Arnold asked as he closed the front door. "Well, how can I start?" Flo started.

Many Years Ago

"But Spinelli, we already told you! You're not going to the Fire Academy! Let alone be a Firefighter! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is?!" Bob exclaimed.

"I DON'T CARE! It's been a dream of mine for a while now! And I'm doing so with or without your support!" A teenage Spinelli yelled back.

"I thought your dream was to be a wrestler or something."

"I gave up on that. Prefer watching it over having to do it. But my point stands! I'm becoming a female firefighter whether you two like it or not!"

A Week and A Half Later

"This young girl just doesn't learn to clean her room…" Flo rolled her eyes as she entered Spinelli's messy room. "What's this?" Flo then found a random crumpled-up sheet of paper. It was partially erased so she could barely see what it read. "The Fire Academy…?! BOB."

"What's wrong, honey?"

"Look at this!" Flo then pointed at the words 'Fire Academy'. "Dear God! She went to the Fire Academy?!"

"We better get her out of it before she makes a grave mistake!"

"Mom! Dad! I'm back from hangin' with my friends!" Spinelli came home.

Her parents stormed downstairs.

"Young lady, what is this?!" Flo showed the paper. "I…"

"You still signed up for the Academy?! But sweetheart, we already told you it's a dangerous job! And we already told you what's best for you!"

"WHAT?! A DAMN DOCTOR, LAWYER, OR DESK JOB?! I'M NOT HAVING NONE OF IT! I'M OLD ENOUGH TO MAKE MY OWN DECISIONS, AND I DECIDED TO BE A FIREFIGHTER. IT'S MY DREAM…!" Spinelli had tears building up in her eyes.

"But sweetie…"

"BUT NOTHING! You know what? I think it's time I get the hell out of this city and move somewhere else! I've had enough of you two always doing this crap to me!"

"You're barely eighteen… Honey, please…!"

"No! I'm done with this! I've put up with enough hell with you two!" Spinelli barged her way through them and stormed up to her room.

Present Day

"Eventually, she really moved out and we haven't heard anything from her since."

"And that's when she joined the Hillwood Fire Academy and I met her there as well. We were both around twenty years old." Arnold then added.

"I feel terrible we even talked down to her about her decision… We should've thought about what's best for our daughter…" Flo said.

"She seemed really hurt by you guys."

"We understand. Is it possible if we could maybe come back soon? We can tell she needs some space." Bob asked.

"Maybe tomorrow morning. We're gonna be busy later at night." Arnold replied. "Alright. Tomorrow it is."

"it was nice meeting you, Arnold." He only nodded. Bob and Flo soon left through the front door. Arnold looked upstairs as he knew Spinelli needed someone to help her.

Arnold was soon upstairs and knocked on her door. "Spinelli? You doin' ok?"

"No!"

Arnold soon entered her room slowly as she was crying into her pillow. Arnold sat beside her as he rubbed her back, comforting her. "They're gone now. You can talk to me." Arnold gave a comforting smile. Spinelli looked at him. She finally sat up and held his hand.

"Well… I'm pretty sure they told you what happened, right?"

"Yeah. Is there something more to it?"

"No. Except for the fact they didn't care about what my dreams were or what I wanted to be. And I feel like we just drifted apart." She sniffled. "I'm so sorry to hear about that, Spinelli… I- I seriously had no idea that was what you went through to be a part of the Firefighting family…"

She snickered. "It's funny. I felt like Captain McShay was more of a Dad role model than my actual Dad. But yeah, apart from that, it's what I went through."

"Oh my…" Arnold noticed the sad look on her face. "Bring it in. I'm here for you." Arnold pulled Spinelli into a hug. Spinelli embraced Arnold as he rubbed her back in a comforting way.

"Cry as much as you need or for however long you need to. I'm always here, Spinelli." Spinelli had her face buried into Arnold's shoulder. She couldn't contain her pent-up emotions and just started crying into Arnold's shoulder.

After around five to ten minutes, she finally stopped crying and was just hugging Arnold.

"You alright now?" She only nodded. "They're coming back, aren't they…?" Spinelli soon asked. "I really hate to say it but… yeah. And look, I'm sorry if I didn't stand up for you, the way you stood up for me against my in-laws… It's just- I didn't have a clue about what went on between you guys! You never mentioned your parents so I thought they were dead- I honestly had no idea! And if I did know, I would've stood up for you…!"

"It's alright, Arnold. It's not your fault. You didn't have any clue 'cause I never said anything mainly 'cause I avoid speaking about them. And now you see why."

Arnold soon saw what time it was. "Hey, wanna go out to get somethin' to eat? Or prefer I bring back something?"

"Eh. Maybe just pizza with sodas. I don't feel that hungry anyhow…"

"Aw, Spinelli… I hate seeing you this hurt, especially knowing you're such a tough girl." Arnold rubbed her back. "I think I'll go be with Andy in the meanwhile."

"Alright. See you in a little bit." Arnold kissed her cheek, soon got up, and left.

Later

"Boy, traffic at night stinks…" Arnold complained as he entered his place.

"Everything's alright, Momma Spinelli is here… Nobody will hurt you, I'm always here to protect you." Spinelli was rocking Andy to sleep after playing with her. Arnold heard her once he stepped into the living room, and also heard her soothing and comforting voice which was mesmerizing.

Arnold left the pizza and sodas in the kitchen and soon approached Spinelli from behind.

Arnold snaked his arms around Spinelli.

"Shhhh. Don't wake our little girl." Arnold removed his arms around her and she soon left to leave Andrea in her room.

Spinelli came back after laying Andy in her crib.

"Spinelli, I never knew your voice could be so… soothing." Arnold had his hands at her waist. Spinelli smiled. "Maybe just a little skill I picked up." She shrugged.

Arnold only smiled as he slowly kissed her. "Come on. Let's get a bite of pizza before it goes cold."

"I'd eat it before you know it." Spinelli smirked. "Oh shut up…" Arnold chuckled.

Later, the two were on the couch eating as Spinelli kept switching the channels fast.

"You're just like Rhonda. So impatient to find something to watch." Arnold chuckled. "I miss being at the firehouse. Even though these days off can be fun, I miss doing our job."

"I feel the same about that, but at least I'm with my daughter."

"You ever think of having a second child?" Spinelli asked as she grabbed the second to last slice. "I really don't know… I probably would, but who the hell would I have kids with… Without Rhonda, I feel like I can't have kids."

"I know you miss her but…" Spinelli sighed. "You do know you'll have to move on, for her, for yourself. She'd want you to be happy."

"I know that. It's just… If I were to have a second child… I don't know how to put it… Who would I have my second child with…?"

Spinelli blushed furiously. "Well… I- I don't know?" Arnold saw her blushing. "Spinelli, I can tell you're blushing. Just because we're having sex together, it barely means we should have a kid together. Besides, I know you probably don't want to get married to me or any of that… And since we're both firefighters, I don't want you to take nearly the year off 'cause you're having to carry our child. And-"

"OK! I get it!" Spinelli gave a frustrated look. "I never said I don't want to carry your child, if we both agreed to it, then it's OUR responsibility! But you know what, let's just drop that topic and think of something else, it's not like we're in love with each other." Spinelli scoffed.

She then looked at Arnold, who was giving her a blank stare.

"What? Did I say something?"

Arnold grabbed her head and pulled Spinelli into a kiss.

Spinelli gasped for air after they separated. "You dick! I still had pizza in my mouth!" Arnold smirked at her. "Don't tell me you snatched a little bit of it…"

Arnold then swallowed the bit of pizza he took from her mouth. Spinelli blinked twice. She then tugged on his collar and pulled him into a kiss, slipping her tongue into his mouth.

After a minute of intensely kissing, Spinelli took off her shirt, revealing her bra. The two then intensely kissed after.