XXXIII.                                          Heartbreak Weather

      Odessa felt like she couldn't breath, like her lungs were on fire or her heart was going to stop. She sat in the hospital waiting room, the place she was just in a few days ago, practically dying in a hospital bed; now Demetri was here. It felt like they were all cursed. Demetri's painful and heartbroken cries made her heart split into two. Sure, he could get on everybody's nerves and he was dorky, but he was sweet. He was funny. He made everyone smile. He didn't deserve this. Neither did Grayson, who's ribs were most likely broken. The teenagers were falling apart and it was all because of that damn karate. 

Odessa held Oliver in her arms. His head rested on her shoulder. He had stopped crying but his eyes were still glossed over and his face was red. An ambulance carried Demetri to the hospital. Oliver wanted to go with him but he knew he shouldn't. He felt like a coward. He just sat there and watched everything happen. He should've stopped Hawk. He should've stopped him. The look in Demetri's eyes, the hurt in them, the fear. . . He would never forgive or forget.

Thalia came marching into the waiting room guns a blazing. Her black heels tapped loudly against the tiled floor. "Does anyone want to tell me what the hell happened?" She voiced loudly to the four teenagers.

"They broke Demetri's arm, mom. And they beat up Grayson really bad." Odessa whimpered while holding Oliver close to her.

When she saw a bloody and bruised Grayson and Hailey holding his hand, her mood changed. "Oh, Gray, honey. What's broken?" She asked and quickly went to sit beside him.

"My ribs. I think my nose. Maybe my jaw — My
ego. . ."

Hailey swatted his arm. "Stop joking. This isn't funny."  Hurt ran through her voice.

"I'm sorry, baby. Sarcasm keeps the pain away." Grayson groaned again.

"I'll go get a doctor." Thalia patted his knee. She stood from the chair. "Is there anybody working here? My son has a broken rib!" She shouted and went around looking around for a nurse.

Oliver's arms were crossed and he stared at the carpeted floor. "I feel like a fucking coward." He whimpered.

Odessa rubbed his shaved his. "You're not, bub. You're not."

Thalia finally got a nurse to check on Grayson. Hailey went with them to a room. Odessa and Oliver went to find Demetri (It was more of Odessa dragging him through the hospital). "Why do you look so nervous?" She questioned with her hand wrapped tightly around his wrist.

"What if he doesn't want to see me? What if he's mad at me for not stopping Hawk?" He rambled. He was completely nervous which was something Oliver never was. Oliver was confident. He was the cool guy. The comedic relief. Nobody ever saw him so scared.

"Don't think like that. This is Demetri we're talking about. He can never stay mad at anyone. Especially not you." Odessa told him. They found his room at the end of the hall. Demetri was sitting on his bed with his head down and his arm wrapped in a white cast. "Hey, sweet boy."

Demetri looked up. "Hey. . ."

Oliver appeared from behind her and he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Demetri's eyes trailed to him with a small tug on his heart. Odessa stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the boy's neck. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, yeah. It doesn't hurt as bad as it did." He motioned to his broken arm. He was still frowning.

Oliver didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. He stared sadly at the cast on his arm and rocked back and forth on his heels. "I'm going to go check on Grayson." Odessa announced. She kissed Demetri on the side of his head and gave Oliver a stern look while leaving the room.

Oliver didn't look at the boy sitting on the hospital bed. His eyes darted to everywhere but him. His anxiety increased as he dug his nails into the palm of his hands.

"So I get a broken arm and ignored? Today's my lucky day." Demetri said sarcastically.

"I'm not ignoring you." He mumbled.

"Why are you lying?"

"Depends on how you define lying?"

"What do you define it as?" Demetri asked, raising eyebrows.

"Reclining your body in a horizontal position." Oliver trailed while moving his hands side to side. The look he gave him made him drop them immediately. "Sorry."

Demetri shook his head and looked down at his casted arm. Oliver shuffled his feet and sat with him on the bed. His eyes trailed to the cast as well. He felt his lip start to quiver uncontrollably. "I'm sorry."

Demetri looked over at him immediately. "Oliver—"

He shook his head. "No. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I didn't do anything. I watched him break your arm and I just sat there—"

"It's not your fault, Oliver."

"But I could have stopped him. I should have curved stomp the little bastard." Oliver said through his teeth, his face turning red from anger.

Demetri reached for his hand and grabbed it. Oliver looked his way. "It's not your fault. I don't blame you, or Odessa, or anyone other than the person who did it. After everything you've done for me, I think i'd be crazy to mad at you over something like this." He dumped his feelings out.

They went quiet. Oliver stared at him with his lips parted. Light eyes becoming lighter and lighter. He felt a flame light in his stomach. It was the same flame that he always felt when he was with Demetri but it was growing stronger and stronger every day they spent together. He didn't realize he was staring to lean in closer. Demetri didn't stop him. When their lips touched the slightest bit, they both jumped.

Demetri was freaking out internally. His breath quickened. He thought about pulling away for a second, and then he said no, and he went back and forth with himself. He was scared. But he considered everything that was happening. Things were changing, the people around them were changing, and things were become different. Demetri wanted them to remain the same.

So he kissed him first. Demetri Alexopolous kissed Oliver Benson first.

Oliver was completely shocked. Once he realized he wasn't doing anything with his hands, he lifted one of them and placed it on the back of Demetri's neck, pulling him closer. 

After a while, they pulled away slowly and their eyes fluttered open. Demetri's hand that wasn't in the cast reached up and he put it over Oliver's hand that was on the back of his neck. His eyebrow quirked up.  "Who's the nervous one now?"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Oh, now you get cocky?"

Demetri laughed.

Hawk stood in his white gi at the Cobra Kai dojo listening to Mitch brag about what happened at Golf-N-Stuff. He stood there in silence, feeling more miserable than ever. "Man, it was so sick! Tory was just kickin' ass." Mitch boasted. "I took care of Chris and Grayson. And Hawk got that beta Demetri in an arm bar like Chris Jericho and just. . ." He made a breaking noise with his mouth, using his arms as an example of snapping something.

Hawk tried putting on a victory face but he couldn't. He was swimming in guilt. He spent the whole night trying to call Odessa and apologize but she was ignoring all of them. Not that he could blame her.

"Way to go, Hawk!" One of the boys congratulated him.

Tory walked up behind him. "You know, I didn't think you were actually going to do it. Especially knowing you'd lose Odessa."

He faltered. "Yeah, well, they got what they deserved for what they did to Miguel. . . and don't worry about me and Dess. She'll come back." He said with a smirk. "She always does."

Tory looked down at the mat at the mention of Miguel. 

"You still haven't seen him yet, have you?"

"I don't want to talk about it." She dismissed.

From behind him, he could hear one of the guys talking about Odessa. "Man,  I kicked that bitch right in the face—"

Hawk turned around and got in his face. "Hey. What's done is done. Don't talk about her like that, ever." He blazed.

The boy cowered under his glare.

"I don't know why you try. She's not going to get back with you,"  Mitch said with a shrug.

He rolled his eyes. "You don't know that."

"Dude, I saw the way she reacted when you broke his arm. Believe me,  she's done."

Hawk stood in his place with his hands behind his back, glaring at the wall in front of him. She hadn't been returning his calls or texts. He said he was sorry,  multiple times but he knew it wasn't enough. He was stuck in two different places. One place he was trying to prove that he could better than what he was once before. That he wasn't the shy kid with the freaky lip that everyone could push around. But the other place, he wanted nothing but Odessa. Eli would do anything for her but he ruined it, again. And this time he knew his chances of getting her back were slim to nothing.

The fight at Golf-N-Stuff opened Odessa's eyes. She needed to stop worrying about Eli. Stop worrying about Cobra Kai. She needed to focus on other things like getting better and making sure her friends were okay. Her entire life was centered around Hawk and karate. She couldn't do it anymore. She was better than that.

Odessa and Hailey laid in her bed with their heads leaning together. A huge bowl of popcorn sat between them. Their eyes were glued to the TV screen as they another re run of Gilmore Girl's. "Ugh, Dean is so hot." Hailey emphasized.

"No,  Jared Padalecki is hot. Dean can go choke,"  Odessa corrected and shoved a handful of popcorn in her mouth.

"You don't like the tall, brooding type?"

"No, that's you. I like the nerdy guys."

That made Hailey laugh. "How is that we ended up with guys that for those descriptions?"

"Correction, you ended up with him.  I'm single."

"You still haven't talked to him?"

"How can I?" Odessa questioned. "He broke my best friend's arm and his dojo almost killed your boyfriend. I've given him way too many chances."

"Yeah, he's a dickwad." Hailey agreed.

She looked her way slightly. "How's Gray doing since the fight?"

"He's just been resting. His rib is broken so his mom won't let him out of the house." Hailey grumbled. "His face is healing up through. Wonder how that kid's doing that I kicked with my heel."

"Probably has a scar."

She smirked. "I'm counting on it."

Odessa sighed. "Life feels so weird not being in karate."

"I know right? I went to put my gi on this morning and then I realized I quit. It's for the best though. This isn't what we signed up for."

"I missed us having girl moments."

"Me too, Dess. Me too."

Thalia knocked on her daughter's door and peaked her head inside. "Hey, girls."

"Hi, Tal." Hailey smiled back.

"So, I know things have been really rough for you girls lately," the woman started and sat on the bed with them. "I thought we could have a girls day? Go shopping, get something to eat. . . How does that sound?"

She was directing it more toward Odessa, especially at the eating part. She was getting better at eating small things. Gummy snacks, a piece of fruit, just going slow, but she hadn't had a full meal still.  Hailey looked down at her and Odessa nodded with a smile. "Sure, mom."

Thalia squealed. "Yay! Okay, y'all get ready. What do y'all wanna eat? I'm thinking sushi."

Odessa stared at the sushi menu with a shaky stomach. Hailey and her mom watched her expressions change. But she loved sushi. She always had. It was just hard for her right now. But she was trying. "How about we just share?" Thalia offered.

Her daughter smiled.

Johnny and Miguel came around the corner and spotted the table of girls. "Hey, guys." Said Miguel with a happy smile.

Odessa looked over her shoulder and gasped. "Miguel!" She shrieked and got up from her seat.

She and Hailey wrapped their arms around him. "I'm so happy to see you!" Hailey beamed and hugged him tightly.

"Hey, Tal." Johnny said and hugged the woman.

"How're things going, Johnny?" She asked and patted his back. "How's he doing?"

"I took your advice," he told her. They pulled out of the hug and smiled at her. "He walked today."

Thalia gasped and covered her mouth. Apparently, Miguel told his friend the same thing, because both of the girls gasped as well. "Miguel, that's amazing!" Said Hailey and she bent down to hug him again.

"I'd say that's worth a celebration." Said Thalia and they all sat at the table together.

Miguel grabbed Odessa's hand. "Hey, Dess, can I talk to you for a second?" He said to her.

She looked down at him and nodded. "Of course."

He motioned his head to an empty table and Odessa followed him. She sat down and raised her brows. "Dess, Johnny told you're still been struggling. That you're not eating," he started gently.

The smile on her face slowly fell. "I'm trying, Mig. I promise—"

"I know! I know." He quickly said and grabbed her hand again. "Look, Dessi, when Johnny first tried helping me walk, I gave up. I thought it was pointless and that it would never work. But after I tried, I realized that the only one doubting me was myself," he explained. "I know you're struggling and that you feel like you have no motivation because you're doubting yourself. But I promise, if you let me, if you let us," Miguel motioned to the everyone at the table behind them. "We can help you. We'll be your motivation. You were there for me and now i'm going to be there for you."

Odessa laughed as tears grew in her eyes and she took deep but slow breaths. She looked behind him to see her mother teaching Johnny how to hold chopsticks and Hailey laughing as he kept dropping the sushi. She smiled.

"So, what do you say?"

She questioned if she was ready or not. Had it been enough time? Was she getting over the events that took place? No, it would take time for her to recover from what happened. But seeing Miguel fight so hard for something he thought was impossible was enough for her to gain a sense of self confidence. But still, there was an ounce of guilt in her heart that she couldn't seem to shake away. Nonetheless, Odessa smiled at Miguel and gave him a nod, making him smile back.