─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"please play nice, tabitha." esther warned as she straightened up her dress. the family was standing at the front door of the larusso's house, waiting to be let in. esther was nervous, she had wrongfully cut these lovely people out of her life and they were kind enough to give her another chance.

theodore was also nervous, he hadn't seen these people for years, and he hadn't seen sam for years.

tabitha was excited. she even hoped that robby would be present just so she could cause more problems. but she knew she couldn't be explicit about it.

the door swung open and amanda was grinning ear to ear. she pulled the twins into her arms and went on about how wonderful they'd grown up. she then kindly greeted esther before letting them in.

from the dining table, anthony larusso surprisingly glanced up from his ipad. "tabby!" he stood up to his feet and made his way over to her.

she smiled. "my favorite little dude!" the two shared a fist pump before she ruffled his dark hair. "how are you?"

"i'm good." anthony nodded. "how have you been?"

"much better now that i've seen you." she smiled at him.

tabitha always wanted a younger sibling. but the odds were not in her favour as she was gifted with an older twin brother. so anthony was the closest she could get. she adored him ever since she walked into amanda larusso's hospital room the day he was born.

"hey teddy." anthony waved at him.

"good to see you, ant."

"mom, can i show tabby my new games?"

amanda glanced over to her husband, who was now embracing theo. she nodded. "yeah sure, we have some time before lunch so make it quick okay?"

"okay!" he beamed, leading the girl over to his room. as they exited the room, samantha and robby entered.

theo's gaze from daniel shifted to see the two. samantha gave the boy a reluctant smile. "hey."

theo excused himself from daniel and stepped over to them. "hi." he smiled. "nice to meet you man." the boy put his arm out for robby to take.

robby nodded as he shook the boys hand. he noticed how secure his handshake was. "you too. you play football?"

theodore grinned, feeling more comfortable in the not-so-new environment. "yeah i do."

"he was the captain of the junior varsity team back in silver lake." esther spoke up, placing a hand on his shoulder. "you play?"

"no." robby shook his head. "i just—a couple of my old friends did."

the woman nodded in acknowledgement. "i'm esther."

"i know." robby smiled. "robby. it's nice to finally meet you."

"you too." esther nodded. her eyes moved to the brunette girl. "hi sammy."

samantha smiled, pulling esther into an embrace. "it's so good to see you."

esther sighed, cupping her cheeks. "you look beautiful. doesn't she, theo?"

sam's cheeks pinkened as she glanced at the boy. "um... yeah, of course." he nodded, feeling extremely embarrassed.

"thank you." sam said as robby gave the boy a grateful smile. theo groaned, turning around and putting his head in his hands with embarrassment.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

tabby and anthony had been called back downstairs as lunch had been set on the table. there was an assortment of sandwiches, light snacks, fruit and juices. the two families had been engaging in conversation, just catching up with one another.

"i'm thinking of joining miyagi do." theo randomly spoke up. "i'm not usually a fan of martial arts since i'm in like a... zen mindset. but i really respect the self discipline and defense miyagi-do focuses on."

"see now that's great!" daniel grinned, clearly excited. he may not have been able to recruit tabitha in time but at least he'll have theo.

sam was surprised at theo's declaration. she glanced over at tabby to see her reaction but the girl was giggling away with anthony, clearly looking at the phone he was hiding under the table. either she was too distracted to hear or she heard and just didn't care.

"isn't that wonderful?" esther questioned. "he's training with you and tabitha is training with johnny." the girl looked up at the mention of her name and saw the tense look on the larussos' faces. esther immediately noticed the change in atmosphere. "am i missing something?"

"you didn't tell her?" daniel questioned.

tabitha shrugged. "i don't tell her a lot of things, you'll have to be more specific."

"she's right, she never tells me anything." esther sighed. "and she's gonna change that, aren't you?"

"yes, mom."

"one or some of johnny's students trashed my dojo and stole mr miyagi's medal of honour." daniel explained.

"what?!" esther looked surprised. "are you serious? daniel, i am so sorry."

"we ended up finding the medal of honour." robby spoke up.

"that's good." esther nodded as she looked at her daughter who was sitting on the other side of the table. "did you have anything to do with this?"

"no, mom." tabitha shook her head, taking a bite out of her sandwich. "i was at home, with you and miguel." the girl gave sam a taunting smile.

"oh yes, you're right." esther nodded. "that's a solid alibi."

"wait, you were with miguel?" amanda questioned with interest before taking a sip of her wine.

esther smiled. "he's tabby's boyfriend." she explained. "he's such a sweet kid. why, do you guys know him?"

"you could say that." amanda nodded, "he and sam actually previously dated."

"oh really, such a small world." esther hummed.

"did they?" tabitha questioned with feigned curiosity. "i had no idea, he never mentioned it." the second the words left her mouth, theo gave his sister a weird look. he could tell that she was now playing a game, but he didn't know what it was or why she was doing it.

samantha bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from displaying annoyance. this girl was truly the devil in disguise. sam cleared her throat. "are you guys going to attend west valley?"

"yeah, we are." theo nodded.

"you guys going to the same school— it'll be just like old times." esther looked visibly elated at the idea.

"just like old times." tabitha nodded in agreement. "i am so excited."

theo pushed his chair back. "sorry, can we be excused?"

"yes, of course." amanda gave him a smile.

he pulled his sister up by the arm. "come on." tabitha smiled as theo dragged her away from everyone else. "what are you doing?"

"what do you mean?" tabby pouted. "i'm just reacquainting myself with everyone."

"you're tormenting sam."

"don't tell me you're crushing on her again." tabitha chuckled. "we haven't even been here for an hour yet the sight of her has got you head over heels?"

"she has a boyfriend." theo reminded her.

"see i never said she didn't." tabby shrugged.

"tabitha, please. remember what mom said? play nice." theo sighed with exhaustion at her behaviour.

tabby groaned. "you two are so boring." she walked back into the dining room and over to the table.

"everything okay?" daniel asked.

"yeah." theo nodded as he sat back down
beside her.

"i think you'll really enjoy it at miyagi-do." amanda spoke up, her eyes on theo. "daniel is an amazing teacher."

"he really is." robby nodded in agreement.

sam's eyes immediately went over to tabby. there was no way the girl didn't hear that. tabby looked surprised at her brother. "you never told me you were joining miyagi-do."

theo shifted in his seat, biting his lip with nervousness. "uh yeah, i forgot." everyone else seemed to be quite tense as they waited for tabitha's reaction. her mother even feared that she would have an outburst right there and then.

but unlike the rest of the members of her team, tabitha did not care for the karate rivalry. she simply wanted to focus on improving her skills and being the victor in the next championship.

"that's cool." tabitha hummed. "isn't demetri in miyagi-do now? i like demetri. i think you two would get along pretty well."

"yes. demetri is in miyagi-do." daniel nodded. every part of him wanted to tell tabitha to reconsider being in cobra kai, but he knew it wasn't his job to parent her. and she had already previously declined his offer.

"how do you feel about this, baby?" esther asks.

"oh i don't care." tabitha said, truthfully. "i think it's exciting actually."

"how so?" amanda questioned.

"because now i can beat teddy up without getting in trouble." tabitha grinned, placing a sliced melon into her mouth.

theo laughed, glad she was taking this lightly. "now that's not fair, you have years of experience."

daniel looked surprised, as long as everyone else. "years of experience?"

"yeah i've been doing karate since i was seven." tabitha explained. sam sat up straighter in her seat, visibly more intrigued. "i took a bit of a break though. but now i'm back and better."

"that's adorable." amanda smiled. "sam and daniel used to practice karate when she was about eight too. seems like you two are still so similar despite years being apart."

sam and tabitha held eye contact and the latter simply smirked at her. her gaze shifted to the bit beside her. "so, robby. how have you been enjoying your stay here?"

robby gave her a bored look, he saw right through her. "it's been good thanks."

theo glanced at tabby and then robby. and then back and tabby and back to robby. his jaw slightly slacked as he realised this was the boy tabitha had bought drugs from and hooked up with. they had only been back in town for a month and she was already making a mess of things.

"the larussos are so kind for welcoming you into their home through your hard times." tabitha said.

the parents didn't think anything of her words, they actually thought she was being sweet. but sam was once again shocked. she looked at her boyfriend, wondering how tabitha seemed to know about his situation. but robby kept his cold expression on tabitha.

"they really are."

"and i wanted to thank them for being so welcoming to my family, despite our many years of absence." tabby pouted. esther now had a proud smile on her face, grateful that her daughter was being mature.

amanda looked touched. "awh, thank you tabby. we're just glad to have you home." she reached over and placed her hand on tabitha's as a sign of affection.

"i'm glad to be home."

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
tabitha silver as messy as you are, they could never make me hate you 🫶