─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"so you and robby are like a family now?" tabby questioned, strumming the steering wheel with her fingers. miguel nodded, making her smile. "can i just say, i'm super excited about this baby. could you give your mom some baby name suggestions from me?"

"if it's a girl, tabitha. if it's a boy, tabian?" miguel asked. "yeah, i've already let her know."

she grinned, peeking through her side mirrors as she parked the car. "i like the way you think, princess. i was gonna say tabitho." she said.

miguel glanced over at her with disbelief. "princess?" he challenged. tabby didn't respond momentarily, focusing on parallel parking her car. once she was successful, she turned to face her boyfriend. "yeah, like a passenger princess." she clarified.

he scoffed, pulling the handle of the car door to unlock it. tabby chuckled, mirroring his actions. "oh no... what's wrong?" she teased.

the boy stepped around the car until he stood in front of her. "you can be the man in our relationship, sure. but i draw the line at being called princess." he stated, putting his hands on his lips.

tabby loudly laughed at him. "do you hear yourself?" she questioned. he thought for a moment before sighing. "yeah... i hear it." he said.

she reached over, pinching his cheeks with her thumb and pointer finger. "you're a pretty, little princess." she taunted. miguel grabbed her hand off of his face and instead interlaced their fingers, sighing as he led her into the grocery store.

"so what are we here to buy?" miguel asked her. tabby shrugged, "well, i'm trying this new arts and crafts thing... so some stuff for that would be good." tabby explained.

"you're picking up a bunch of hobbies, aren't you?" miguel questioned.

she nodded, "the first one was baking. i thought that would've been the easiest since teddy bakes. but he said he's never seen someone so bad at making a box cake."

miguel laughed at her words, "i can totally see that happening." he teased. the girl rolled her eyes. "you guys don't see my potential and that's fine. so, i decided to move into a different hobby."

"tabitha. it's good to see you again." a voice spoke. her heart dropped to her feet, and her breath immediately hitched. tabby pivoted around to see a face she didn't want to see so soon.

miguel stepped forward, the instinct to protect her overtaking him. but she put her arm out to prevent him from moving in front of her. terry silver seemed more amused by his attempt, raising his eyebrow. "now, we don't want you starting fights that you can't finish."

"how did you know i was here?" she questioned, her voice soft with fear. her grandfather just shrugged. "it's a small town." he explained.

she shook her head. "no, that's not it." tabby said. she thought for a moment before gasping, turning back to look at miguel. "there's a tracking device on that car!" she exclaimed.

miguel didn't react for a moment, allowing her words to sink. his eyes widened, everyone had brushed off tabby's words, but she was right.

tabby began to laugh, a part of her glad that she was right. "i told you guys, and you all said i was paranoid."

miguel placed a hand on her shoulder, prepared to reassure her that it was okay. but she shrugged his hand off, turning to face her grandfather again.

"but how did you get here so quickly?" tabby questioned, trying to think of a reasonable explanation. "there's tracking on the gps... isn't there? everyone knows i suck with directions, so i have to use a gps. that means, there's not a tracker on the actual car, you just track where i'm going." she rambled.

the man shook his head. "now, sweetheart. we can't be throwing around these wild accusations." silver warned her. "i'm hurt. is that how you think of me? always scheming? sometimes a coincidence is just a coincidence."

tabby ignored his words, deciding to ask the question that had been plaguing her mind. "cut the crap. i know you're up to something... your new student, charlie. you brought her here because of me, didn't you?" she asked.

silver furrowed his eyebrows with feigned confusion. "charlie... charlie. it doesn't ring a bell, i'm afraid." he told her.

tabby gritted her teeth with frustration. "charlotte reyes, lottie." she clarified.

"ah, yes. the girl from silver lake. she's good, she's very good." silver nodded. "why, do you know her? she's never mentioned anything about you."

tabby scowled at him. "you're lying. i know you are." she seethed.

"believe what you want. but if you're so convinced of my involvement, maybe you should ask yourself why it matters so much." silver said to her.

she shook her head. "it doesn't matter to me at all. but if you're trying to replace me with her... i suggest you try harder."

silver chuckled in a sinister tone. "replace you? no one could. you're my blood, tabitha. that fire, that fight in you— it's what makes you a true cobra. but running away to mexico? that's not the granddaughter i know."

"she didn't run away. she had the right to choose and she chose me. that says a lot." miguel defended her. "and it's a choice that's better than than staying in your toxic dojo."

"ah, young mr diaz. always playing the knight in shining armor." silver smiled. "tell me, have you ever wondered if tabby will lose interest in you, the way she lost interest in cobra kai?"

tabby noticed how miguel's face dropped at silver's words and immediately grew defensive. she shook her head, her voice trembling with anger. "don't you dare bring miguel into this. this is between us."

"you're right. it is. because, no matter how far you run, you can't escape who you are, tabitha. you're a silver." he reminded her with a smirk. "and one day, you'll realize that turning your back on cobra kai was the biggest mistake of your life."

"i'm nothing like you." she said, softly. "and i never will be."

"we'll see about that." silver nodded. "the invitation to come back is always open, my dear. but don't make me regret giving you time to think it over."

miguel grabbed tabby's hands, gently pulling her away. "come on. he's not worth your time."

"stay away from me." tabby called out as she was dragged away. "and stay away from my friends."

silver watched them walk away, his smug smile returning as he pivoted on his feet. the girl sighed, "can we just go home? i'm not in the mood anymore." she said.

miguel nodded in agreement, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his chest. "yeah, let's go. you want me to drive?" he questioned.

"absolutely not." tabby said with a sigh. "hey... you know what he said isn't true, right? i-i won't get bored of you." she told him.

miguel nodded as they made their way to the exit of the store, "i know you won't, baby. he doesn't know what he's talking about." he reassured her.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"hey guys, sam and theo are in the dining room." esther said as she watched the couple step into the house.

after their unsuccessful trip to the store, the drive back to the brooks house was silent. tabby blasted 80s rock music at the highest volume, strumming the steering wheel to the beat. miguel sat in silence, allowing her to be alone with her thoughts.

"you know, i think rowan said he invited someone over, but i'm not too sure who it is." she continued.

"okay mom." tabby nodded, pulling her sneakers off. miguel stopped by the door to greet the woman, "thank you so much for the invite, esther." he said.

"no worries. if all of my children are dating someone, it just makes sense that we all have dinner together." she shrugged. tabby smiled at her mom, acknowledging how kind that idea was.

she stepped into the dining room to see theo and sam were sat opposite one another at the dining table. sam's face lit up when she saw the girl, waving at her. "hey, tabby." she greeted.

"oh, hi sam." tabby said, walking over and pulling out the chair beside her. miguel made his way around the table, perching beside theo. "how's the no-karate life treating you?" she questioned.

"it's been okay." sam admitted. "not as good as i thought it would be, but it's okay." she told her, earning a reassuring smile from theo across the table.

"yeah." tabby nodded, leaning over for the jug of water to fill her glass up. sam tilted her head to the side as she watched the girl. "yeah. what about you?" she asked.

"i think it's been going really well." tabby said. but if tabby hadn't been confronted by her grandfather, her words would've felt more honest than they were.

tabby wanted to go straight home after the talk with terry silver. she was completely rattled by his words and his presence, so she wasn't in the mood to shop.

"that's great. i'm happy for you." sam smiled at her. the girl nodded, her eyes growing wide, "that's what they said at group yesterday too. felt pretty weird." tabby confessed.

"that shows your improving." theo told her with a supportive smile. tabby hummed, realising the boy had a point. "yeah... yeah, you're right." she nodded.

"hey... sam." tabby spoke up. the brunette turned to look at her. "yeah?" she asked.

"do you think your dad can remove tracking devices from cars?" she inquired. sam seemed surprised by her request. "you mean... gps?" she questioned.

but tabby shook her head. "no, no. not the gps, the gps is great. i mean if someone had put something in the car so that they could track it." she informed her.

theo frowned. "is everything okay?" he asked. tabby nodded a little too quickly. "yeah, yeah. just my paranoia getting the best of me." she explained.

sam thought for a moment. "we could go down to the shop and see what he could do." she suggested.

tabby let out a sigh of relief, nodding with satisfaction. "yeah, that sounds good. thank you."

the doorbell rang and esther, who had been bursting with excitement to see who rowan was bringing as his date, immediately opened the front door. she was met with eli moskowitz stood, a nervous expression on his face.

esther's smile slightly faded at the sight of him. "oh, hi eli." she greeted the boy. "is everything okay? did tabby invite you here? because—" she started.

rowan rushed over to them, extremely nervous about what he was about to reveal. "no, uh... i did. esther... eli's my date." he confessed.

diego turned to see his girlfriend's reaction, this was probably the only secret he was hiding from her. she didn't do anything for a moment, before jumping up and down with enthusiasm and pulling the boys into her embrace. "oh, this is wonderful! i'm so happy for you guys." esther exclaimed.

"really?" rowan asked, his words muffled as his face was pressed into esther's arms. see, if it had been his mother who was receiving this news, she would've had a completely different reaction.

eli relaxed beside him, feeling a little less nervous under esther's warm gaze. theo and tabby exchanged knowing smiles from their seats in the dining room.

"come on," esther said, ushering them inside. "dinner's ready, and i think everyone's going to love this. see, tonight's rowan's night, so we made his favourite— lasagne."

"how come tonight's your night?" eli questioned, allowing the boy to lead him to the dining table.

rowan smiled, pointing to the seat beside tabby, where he would have to sit. "well, it's wednesday." he explained.

"yeah, because that clears it all up, doesn't it." tabby teased, watching rowan perch in the chair beside her boyfriend. her quick-witted response earned a boot to her shin, making her yelp out.

"rowan." esther said in a warning tone, her hands on her hips. rowan glanced over at her and frowned, "sorry, tabby. next time i'll use my words to hurt you, not my shoes." he apologised.

esther nodded with acceptance, "that's more like it." she said, turning around to pull the oven door open. tabby snickered, sticking her tongue out at the boy. "anyways, we have a dinner system." she explained.

"diego chooses on mondays, i'm on tuesdays, rowan is wednesdays, tabby is thursday and mom's fridays." theo chimed in. "then saturday is a takeaway and sunday is a roast."

"that's very... structured." miguel said before taking a sip of his water. theo nodded with agreement. "tabby came up with it. she's been very bored." he stated.

"people who are bored come up with the best things. you think thomas edison was entertained when he invented gravity?" tabby questioned.

diego stepped over, placing the salad bowl in the middle of the table. "that was isaac newton, sweetheart." he corrected her.

tabby's eyebrows furrowed with confusion as she leaned back in her chair. "really? then, what did edison do?" she inquired.

instead of giving her a straight answer, diego glanced up and pointed at the ceiling. tabby's eyes followed his finger, only to be nearly blinded by the lightbulb. "oh, right." she said, squinting as she looked away.

"moving on from that... i thought sunday roasts were... a british thing." eli informed them. theo nodded, "they are. but tabby's been obsessing over their culture, so it's best we don't ask any questions."

"you know i can hear you, right?" she challenged. theo nodded, reaching over to grab a bread roll. "yeah, i know." he smiled.

tabby leaned forward, smacking the bread from his hand and taking it instead. sam watched as her boyfriend's jaw slacked at the gesture, making her snicker.

"everything smells amazing, esther." sam spoke out as the woman placed a basket of breadsticks on the table.

esther smiled at her words, "thank you, sammy. but you should really thank your boyfriend, he did most of the cooking." she admitted.

sam shook her head with a wide smile, "of course he did." she joked. theo placed his hand over his heart with shock, "what's that supposed to mean?" he questioned.

"nothing! nothing. it smells very lovely, teddy." sam complimented as diego set the large, glass dish of lasagne on the table.

"dinner is served!" he announced. the man quickly placed his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "but first... can i get a picture of you all?" he requested.

esther nodded with a large smile, moving over so that she was standing behind him. she wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder. "that's a wonderful idea, diego." she said.

"everyone say... cheese!" he instructed. tabby raised her eyebrow, "are we really doing that?" she questioned.

"yes, tabs. you guys are really going to do it." diego confirmed. she sighed, "fine." the girl accepted.

"three... two... one... cheese!"

"cheese!" tabby exclaimed, a large smile on her face as the phone camera captured their smiles. once diego had taken a photo, the girl frowned, realising she was the only one to say cheese. "oh, you guys are really horrible." she said.

they all laughed, eli turning over and ruffling her hair. "no idea how you fell for that one." he snickered.

she smacked his arms away. "i was feeling nice. but never again." the girl mumbled. the smell of the food travelled up her nose, making her stomach lightly rumble. "diego, do you have enough pictures?" she asked.

"yes, i do." diego nodded, pulling out the chair at one head of the table. "we can eat." he announced.

"let's go around the table and say how we met our significant others." esther suggested. "i'll start—"

"that's not happening, mom."

despite the earlier tension, the warmth of the dinner table, filled with laughter, teasing, and love, helped tabby push the fear and anxiety aside, even if only for a little while.

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
such a cute little chapter (if we exclude silver's interaction)
today is the last day of 2024 arghhh it's gone so quickly!! and if anyone's seen my tiktok then you should know i have exciting new things planned for the new year😊😊😊