─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

eventually, the group of women went downstairs, leaving tabby on her own. she spritzed the new bottle of perfume lucille had gifted her before stepping out of the room. coincidentally, she and sam had exited their rooms at the same time, almost bumping into one another.

sam looked at the girl in awe, she looked incredible. tabby wore a red, spaghetti-strapped dress that reached the floor. her hair was curled to perfection and her floral smell lingered in sam's nose. "you look beautiful." she spoke.

tabby half-smiled. "thank you. so do... uh, so do you." she said, making sam grin. without another word, sam placed her hand out for tabby to take. tabby hesitated, unsure of what to do.

she softly sighed before placing her hand in sam's. the two gracefully made their way down the stairs. their shoes hitting the staircase was what caught everyone's attention and they looked over to see the duo. everyone was taken aback. not just by how gorgeous they looked, but at the fact that they were walking in harmony.

once they reached the bottom, sam gently dropped tabby's hand and spun happily. theo stepped forward, the girl's pink corsage in his hands. he wore a dark grey suit with a matching coloured tie. resting in his pocket was a hot pink handkerchief, a discreet symbol that tied him to samantha. "you look... you look amazing." he chuckled.

"you do too." she grinned, pulling him into a hug. behind them, miguel was staring at tabby. he was yet to say anything, making johnny nudge him in the shoulder. miguel quickly snapped back into reality, shaking his head.

"i'm sorry. you're just so beautiful." he stated, making esther silently gush. tabby bit back her smile. "thanks, diaz. you don't look too bad yourself." she nodded, putting her arm out. "i didn't get you one." she explained, allowing him to slip it into her wrist.

"it's okay." he laughed. "i didn't really expect you to." miguel explained. tabby raised her eyebrow at him, "you think that low of me?" she challenged.

"always." he joked, making her smile widely. "i'm really glad we're doing this. a night of just us. no karate, no rivalries. just uh, you and me."

"just you and me." she nodded before slowly turning around to gesture to the packed room. "you and me... and the rest of our family."

miguel shook his head, smiling at her humour. "you know what i meant."

"alright, picture time! everybody, let's go." vanessa exclaimed, her camera in her grasp. "diazs get together." she ordered. miguel stepped away, moving over to his mother and grandmother.

while he walked away, tabby moved to rowan. he smiled seeing her approach, already having planned his words in his mind. "i see you showered for the first time today." he told her.

tabby scoffed. "and that's still one more than you ever have." she said. rowan grinned, not surprised that she had come up with a comeback so quick. "whatever. by the way, you and miguel look cute together."

"of course we do." tabby nodded with agreement, "look at us." she said, pointing to her and then back at the boy.

diego smiled from behind her. "hey. tabitha, you look wonderful." he complimented her. tabby turned around to face him, a genuine smile on her face. "thanks, diego." she nodded.

vanessa then insisted on snapping photos of the five: esther, diego, theo, tabby and rowan. they all posed for the pictures and couldn't help but feel like a blossoming little family. then, the two prom dates took a group photo and tabby posed for a picture with her best friend.

after taking a picture with her brother and then her prom date, the larusso, diaz and brooks family gathered around for a large photo. diego and rowan insisted they'd rather be behind the camera, diego offering to snap the photo.

miguel placed his arm around tabby's waist while everyone prepared for the picture. the girl was taken aback by his sudden display of affection, shifting to look up at his face just as the flash went off.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

when tabitha entered the hall, she was immediately pulled over by her teammates at cobra kai. piper gave her multiple compliments in under thirty seconds as kyler interrogated her for not taking the limo with them. she rolled her eyes at his words, looking back to where she had just left miguel, but the boy was nowhere to be found.

rowan watched as demetri and yasmin stepped away from eli and couldn't help but feel bad for him. he took a deep breath before stepping over to the podium he was standing at. "hey, eli." he greeted.

eli was surprised by his presence, but he didn't seem to mind. "hey, rowan. what's up?" he questioned. the two had known each other since the beginning of high school, they were friends back in freshman year until rowan began isolating himself and silently ended their friendship.

"nothing much." he nodded. "how come you're here by yourself?" rowan questioned. eli sighed. "well uh, i haven't exactly got a date. and prom without a date is like—"

"halloween without candy?" rowan questioned, pulling on the sleeve of his tuxedo. eli nodded in agreement. "exactly." he said.

"well, i haven't exactly got a date either." rowan admitted. "i mean, i'm tabby's substitute date if kyler asks any questions... but she's really here with miguel." he explained.

"right, so you guys aren't dating?" eli questioned, still confused on what type of relationship the two had. rowan shook his head, "no. but our parents are." he said.

"oh shit. really?" eli questioned, straightening up with intrigue. rowan nodded, "yeah, they have been for months." he said.

"i had no idea." eli said. "that's really cool."

"it is. her family is great." rowan said. he paused for a second, just taking in the music playing at the event. "by the way, i really like the new look." he said, his hands hovering around his own head to refer to eli's new hairstyle.

eli glanced over to him with surprise. "you do?" he questioned, a flicker of vulnerability in his eyes. rowan nodded, "tabby did a great job." rowan said.

"yeah. she did." eli sighed. he thought of something and chuckled to himself. "it's kind of like when you buzzed your hair off in freshman year." he reminded the boy.

rowan laughed at the memory. "i read it would grow back thicker." he said, using his fingers to comb his dark hair. "and it kind of did?"

"it did." eli said, a soft sigh escaping from his lips. rowan's lips tugged into a frown. "yours will too, by the way."

the boy's hand grazed over his short hair. "i hope so. do you wanna get a snack or something?" he offered, wanting to move away from the topic. rowan hesitated, biting the inside of his cheek with anxiety. "uh, yeah. sure." he nodded.

the two moved away from the podium, making their way to the food table. they walked passed tabitha, who was standing by the drinks section, sipping on her punch. around her, everyone was dancing and having a great time. but the girl no longer felt the desire to want to participate.

miguel stepped over to join her. "everything okay? you seemed happy at the larussos, but now you're a little distant."

she shrugged. "i'm just not really in the mood." tabby explained. miguel nodded, understanding her feelings, but taking a mental note of her mood fluctuations. "would a dance help cheer you up?" he asked.

"the opposite." she told him with a scoff. miguel's eyebrows knitted with confusion, wondering where this hostility was coming from. "have i done something wrong?" the boy asked.

tabby took the final swig of her non-alcoholic drink and sighed. "nope." she shook her head. the girl slammed her plastic cup onto the table and walked away, leaving miguel baffled.

as she strolled off, theo and sam came to the table. the two were having a great time, dancing and laughing the whole time. "everything okay?" theo questioned, patting miguel on the shoulder.

"yeah." miguel nodded, watching as sam poured some of the punch into a cup. "you two having a good time?" he asked.

sam nodded, handing theo the drink. "you want one?" she offered. miguel sighed, "please." he nodded.

before she could pour him a drink, she began to readjust the straps of her shoes. miguel noticed her discomfort, "high heels?" he questioned.

sam shook her head, straightening her body. "no, no. it's the flying tornado kick johnny has us practicing. i just don't understand how i'm gonna use it in the tournament." she complained. she caught theo's eye and shook her head. "sorry, i know we said no karate talk."

"it's okay." theo shook his head. "who'd you reckon is going to master the kick first? i place my bets on sam." he joked.

miguel scoffed, "of course you do." he laughed. sam smiled at her date's words. "thanks, theo."

"of course. you've got my support." he said, gently nudging her on the shoulder. the two clinked their drinks together before turning around. they moved just in time to see tory and robby entering the building.

sam's smile instantly dropped into a look of revulsion. "oh my God." she said. the pair stared at the three momentarily before moving deeper into the ballroom.

"what the hell are they doing here?" miguel questioned, making theo sigh. so much for no karate drama.

∙ ~εïз~ ∙

they had moved into the main section of the room, sam had her arms wrapped around theo's shoulder as the boy positioned his hands on her waist. the two were gently swaying to the music, engaging in light conversation. as they slow danced, robby barged right into theo's shoulder, tory trailing behind him.

theo glanced up to see the two walking away before looking back at sam, who was growing frustrated. "hey, don't let them ruin our night, okay?" he reassured her.

sam sighed, wondering how the boy managed to remain calm all of the time. what she didn't know was that he had trained himself to stay tranquil when he was younger.

as children, esther unintentionally focused most of her attention on tabby. she was the troubled girl who acted out on impulse. and for most of his childhood, theo was just kind of... there. he was in the background, watching all of tabby's temper tantrums and her violent outbursts.

so theo decided he didn't want to let himself get as angry as tabby would, he wanted to be the contrary. the boy knew that his mother wouldn't be able to handle two troublemakers and he knew that one day tabby would need someone to calm her storm, so he decided that would be him.

"okay." sam said. "i won't." she reassured him. but as they gradually pivoted around, sam couldn't help herself from staring at robby and tory's dancing. eventually, theo noticed sam's attention had diverted.

he glanced over his shoulder to see what she was focusing on before sighing. "sam." he spoke, gently shaking her. sam ripped her gaze from the unexpected pair and looked back up at theo. "what? um, sorry." she shook her head.

theo sighed. "if they're bothering you, then i understand. but, i don't think it's fair that you let this thing ruin my time too." he said, pulling away from her hold.

"theo. i'm so sorry." she shook her head, not wanting him to leave. but the boy was already taking a few steps back. "i'm gonna get a drink, do you want one?" he asked. sam shook his head and so he turned around, manoeuvring through the crowd of people.

∙ ~εïз~ ∙

after dancing with robby, tory excused herself to use the bathroom. she entered to see tabitha perching on the edge of the sink, her vape pen in her hand. tory snickered at the sight, not even the slightest surprised. "this is where you've been hiding?" she questioned.

tabby glanced up at her, blowing the smoke over in her direction. "hiding or resting?" she questioned.

"seems like hiding to me." tory said, moving closer to her. "what's up?" she asked.

tabby sighed, placing the vape back into her strapless bra. "the music, all the lights, the flashes from the camera and everyone talking— it's just a lot." she explained. "my head is pounding."

"we can just chill here for a while, if you want." tory suggested. tabby furrowed her eyebrows with confusion, "you don't have to, you know?"

she shrugged. "i want to. annoying sam and miguel is surprisingly taking up a lot of my energy." tory joked. tabby chuckled at her words, completely forgetting that was her plan.

"how's your date with robby going?" tabby questioned. tory shrugged, "it's been fine. i wouldn't call it a date, though. more of a revenge tactic." she explained.

"revenge." tabby repeated, softly. "revenge on sam and miguel?" she asked.

"yeah." she nodded. "what better way to get back at them than ruining their prom? you know, i think your brother and sam are here together."

tabby thought back to earlier in the day. sam complimenting her. sam offering her hand. tabby taking her hand. the two walking down the stairs together. the two posing for pictures together. now that she thought back to it, it didn't feel like she was actually present in the moment. it felt like an out-of-body experience.

"anyways, you excited for the tournament?" tory asked, pulling her mind back to reality. tabby nodded. "ah, yes. which one of us will be female champion?" she questioned dramatically.

"female champion or not, all i need right now is to beat sam larusso." tory told her.

"cool. hey, i'm gonna go and find a real drink. kyler might have something stashed away." the girl said, pushing her body off of the counter. before she turned to the door, she turned back to tory. "you look super hot, by the way."

tory's jaw slightly slacked at tabby's words. and as if her heart wasn't pounding hard enough, tabby leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on the girl's cheek. she then pivoted on her heel and pushed the bathroom door open.

the blonde's face was frozen as tabby exited the room, the softness of her lips still lingering on her cheek moments later. her lips eventually tugged into a smile, shaking her head as she chuckled to herself.

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
BOOM REVEALED! theo was/is a glass child, is anyone even surprised? he's actually the sweetest person ever and i love him a lot??

he's the second MAIN malexoc i've ever written (baby slater wilkinson in pleaser being the first) and i feel like i've done it quite well

also tabby and tory closure :) i love this chapter sm