After the Saturday Night Live performance, there was an afterparty for the crew members and the band. Stella invited her parents along, hoping there wouldn't be any cocaine or drugs so they could officially meet the band.

"I can't believe you guys kept it a secret from me the whole time," Stella said to Eddie, Graham, and Warren as her parents mingled so they could meet some of the celebrities (after fully introducing themselves to the group, of course. Her mom really liked Karen and her dad really liked Warren).

"Well, it was kinda a last minute decision made by Billy," Warren told her with a shrug.

"Sorry about that, by the way," Eddie added with a lopsided grin.

"Sorry for what?" Stella asked, furrowing her brows a bit.

"You know, that Billy was the one who came up with the idea," Eddie clarified. "Which kinda surprised all of us, too."

"Oh, yeah, it surprised me but...I'm fine with it," Stella assured him with a smile, but Eddie just looked at her funny since that did not sound anything like her at all. However, Stella didn't seem to notice it since she was so high off of the excitement from before.

Graham glanced in between the two of them, sensing some tension coming from the Roundtree boy. Even though Karen didn't tell him that the two were together, he had an inkling that something was going on between them. The way that Eddie looked at Stella from the across the room was the same way that he looked at Karen; there was no denying the love.

So, to break the tension, Graham cleared his throat. "I think this deserves a toast," he voiced, raising his glass.

"I definitely agree with that," Warren agreed, completely oblivious to any tension since his focus had been on someone else: Lisa Crowne.

Eddie tore his befuddled face away from Stella and raised his can just as she did before the four of them clinked their drinks together. "To the band," Stella said and the boys nodded along before they all took a sip of their drinks.

"Um...listen, I'll be right back," Warren told them with his eyes directly on Lisa, causing Stella to grin.

"All right. You do you," Eddie muttered and Stella gave him a nudge. "What?"

"Be nice," she scolded. "I think he has a chance with her."

"Depends if he chokes or not," Eddie shrugged before taking another swig of his drink. Stella playfully rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh, this party is wonderful, Stella," her mom said as she came over to the three of them. "Everyone is so nice."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it, Mom. Where's Dad?" She asked.

"Busy trying to her backstage tickets for all of the shows from now on," her mom replied, shaking her head at her husband.

"Of course he is," Stella sighed with a joyful grin on her face.

"Oh, Karen, hey!" Graham called out before looking at the three. "I'm gonna talk to Karen. It was really nice meeting you, Mrs. Stone."

"Likewise." Once Graham had walked away, Stella's mom looked directly at Eddie. "Now, I don't want to scare you or anything, but if I find out that you broke my daughter's heart...I will not hesitate to come after you," she whispered threateningly.

"Mom!" Stella whisper-shouted with wide eyes since she hadn't told Eddie that she told her parents about them, nor did she condone that threat.

"I'm just teasing," her mother brushed it off before sending Eddie another look. "But seriously, if you hurt my daughter..." She trailed off, her lips pursing.

Eddie let out a low laugh, forgetting about what Stella had said about Billy before. "Trust me, Mrs. Stone. I would never dream of hurting your daughter in a million years," he assured her before looking at Stella, a loving grin forming on her face. "Although, I wasn't told that you knew of...us," he added quietly.

"Yeah...that's my bad," Stella breathed out sheepishly.

Her mom smiled. "Well, I'll leave you to two it then. Maybe once your touring is over, we could have a family dinner or something," she suggested.

Eddie nodded. "Yeah. I'd love that."

"Perfect." Her mom then walked away to go find her husband, leaving Eddie and Stella to stand there.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you I told them," Stella apologized, rubbing the back of her neck.

"It's okay, they're your parents," Eddie replied. "But, I mean, at some point we're gonna have to break the news to everyone. Graham and Karen did and everything's the exact same as it was before."

"I know, I know. It's just...I kinda like that this is our thing," Stella admitted with a shrug.

"I know. I do, too. But I just can't keep hiding my feelings anymore. It's actually killing me inside," he revealed with a soft laugh.

Stella blushed a bit. "Okay, how about this? We reveal it at the end of the tour. So, you know, we don't get bombarded by crazy fans as much."

Eddie nodded at that. "I like the sound of—"

"Someone help! We need a medic!" A woman yelled, interrupting Eddie, before people started running over to where they heard the shouting from.

✯✯✯

STELLA: (breathes out slowly) I remember thinking, "This can't be real." Teddy was like a second father to all of us at that point. Some even considered him a real father. It just felt so...surreal, but, uh, not in a good way.

✯✯✯

Teddy had been found unresponsive at the party, so someone decided to call an ambulance for him. The band and Rod all followed the ambulance to the hospital, waiting in the waiting room quietly.

Stella and Eddie had been sitting next to one another and the former's leg had been bouncing uncontrollably. She was usually never nervous and Eddie had sensed that, placing his hand on her knee to stop the tremor.

Normally, Stella would have told him to stop because they were with their friends but she kinda needed to feel his touch at that moment. But once the doctor came out, they all stood up, causing his hand to fall from her knee. "There was a blockage in the blood flow to his heart," the doctor shared.

"What does that mean?" Billy asked.

"It means we might not know the extent of the damage for a while, but he's stable," the doctor explained.

"Okay. Thank you," Daisy breathed out.

"Thank God," Stella muttered, nodding to herself slowly. "I should, uh, I should go call my parents," she said to no one in particular before going over to the phone, which was down the hallway and around the corner.

She had told them to go home and she would call from the hospital to tell them any news so that's what she was doing now. She dialed the number and held the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?" Her mother picked up right after the first ring, apparently waiting for the phone call.

"Mom, it's me. He's-he's alive," Stella told her, trying to not cry since that was good news. She just couldn't believe she was saying those words.

"Oh, that's great news. Your father and I have been worrying all night," her mom replied. "Are you okay, though, honey? You don't need us to pick you up?"

Stella looked over to see Eddie rounding the corner slowly, his hands shoved in his pockets as he seemed to be waiting for her. "No. I'm fine. I'd rather wait here for when he wakes up."

"All right, honey. Make sure to drink water and get some food in you. Your father and I love you, and we're so proud of you. I'm sorry the night had to end like this."

Stella felt tears start to well up in eyes, realizing that something this like could happen to her parents since they were older. "I-I love you," her voice cracked. "Tell Dad I love him, too."

She then hung up the phone, sucking in a breath to try to stop herself from fully crying. "You okay, Stell?" Eddie questioned quietly as he neared her, looking down at her with a sad look in his yeah. She nodded, not sure she would be able to open her mouth without crying. "You sure?"

She couldn't stop herself from breaking out in tears, shaking her head. This caused Eddie to immediately pull her towards him, wrapping his arms around her. She cried into his chest and he placed his hand on her hair, trying to soothe her even though he was close to crying as well from seeing the state that she was in.

✯✯✯

EDDIE: I remember staying like that for a few minutes, just the two of us. No one bothered us. I just let her cry so she could let all of her emotions out since, well, I knew she was not very good at expressing them.

✯✯✯

After Teddy had awoken, they each visited him one by one until it was Stella's turn. She walked into his hospital room to see him lying in the hospital bad, IV's in him.

He smiled when he saw her. "Have you been crying, Stella?" He queried, noticing her reddish eyes as she sat down next to his bed.

"Maybe," she laughed softly. "You scared me, Teddy."

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"No, no, it's not your fault," she shook her head. "It's just...I realized that without you, I wouldn't be where I'm at today. Without you, I wouldn't have had my single, I wouldn't have been in The Six, and I wouldn't have the friends that I have now. So, I just want to say, thank you, Teddy. I feel like I haven't expressed that enough and I feel like you deserve it after you had to put up with me, and with me and Billy fighting."

Teddy laughed, causing him to cough a bit. Stella reached out but he quickly shook his head at her, signaling that he was okay. "You know, Stella, I really wished you could have gotten the solo career that you wanted. No one else saw what I saw," he responded.

"It's okay. It made me be The Six and for that, I'm forever grateful," she assured him.

"And it also made you get together with Mr. Eddie Roundtree, right?" He added, raising his brows at her.

Her eyes widened. "I — How do you know that?" She asked in shock.

Teddy shrugged. "I always sensed that something was there and after watching perform today, that only confirmed it."

She sighed, "I looked at Eddie when I said the 'my boyfriend's in a band' part, didn't I?"

"Yep," he laughed.

"Ah, shit. Now everyone's gonna be saying how we're saying," she groaned, shaking her head in annoyance.

"That's all right. You'll get more publicity from it and sell even more copies," Teddy tried to make her feel better, but she just laughed since she really didn't want people to speculate on her relationship. "Look, don't worry, Stella. Everything's gonna be okay. I'm gonna be okay, and you're gonna be okay. Got that?"

"Yeah. I got it," she nodded, standing up from her seat. "It was nice seeing you, Teddy. Just please don't overwork yourself, okay?"

"I promise. Now, go out there and shine like the star you are."

She smiled and nodded. "I will, Teddy. Thank you again." She then walked out of the hospital room, feeling ten times better.

✯✯✯

GRAHAM: I remember after that, a sense of calm.

KAREN: The usual band stuff. Nothing really out of the ordinary.

EDDIE: Other than Warren dating a movie star.

WARREN: I was dating a movie star.

STELLA: I knew he had a shot with her.

DAISY: And Billy and I were — Well, we were never just one thing. But for the first time, I think I could imagine a version of us that might last.