TWENTY FIVE
Happy fucking New Year
🍾
❪ tw: strong language, implied underage drinking, threats, and mentions of rape ❫

COBRA KAI
original chapter

         SCARLETT SAT IN FRONT OF her mirror swiping the mascara on her eyelashes as Sam fixed her hair next to her, Cleo did her own makeup in front of the full-length mirror and Mar sat on Scarlett's bed. They were getting ready for the New Years Eve party Moon invited them to. "So, how's everything going with Hawk?" Mar asked as she texted in the dojo's group chat (it was mostly the guys complaining about how long they were taking).

     "Pretty good, actually." Scarlett looked at her through the mirror.

     Cleo turned away from the mirror looking back at Scarlett with a smile. "I'm glad you guys are finally a couple you've been in love for how long?"

     Couple. That word made Scarlett's stomach turn since it wasn't technically true. "What, Scar?" Sam looked at her with concern now they all seemed to notice the expression on Scarlett's face.

     Scarlett blinked a few times before she let out a sigh. "I wouldn't say we're a couple."

     "What do you mean?" Mar looked at her with a puzzled look.

     Scarlett turned in her seat to look at her. "I mean, we haven't put a label on it." She explained.

     Cleo was now getting up and moving closer to the rest of the group. "I don't want to seem like I'm being like mean to you or anything but don't you think if you don't set some type of intention any relationship you have isn't gonna end well."

     "Who are you, Nova?" Scarlett huffed.

     "She has a point though," Sam spoke up making Scarlett look at her.

     Scarlett shrugged. "I just don't want anything bad to happen."

     "I understand, but it's like if there's no label you're just leaving the door open for him to do whatever he wants. I've been there and you don't want to be there." Sam explained.

     "If you're not ready for anything maybe you should take a break," Mar suggested.

     Scarlett looked back into the mirror and leaned back in her chair. "I don't if I'm ready or not."

🥋

                 THE PARTY HAD already started and the boys were sitting in the living room. "The girls are on their way." Miguel walked back in and took a seat next to Demetri.

     "Finally." Doni sighed.

     Mitch looked up at Eli who was just staring down at his phone. He was staring at the texts between him and Scarlett. At one in particular actually. "So, you and Scar are doing good?" Mitch spoke up.

     "Mhm," Eli mumbled, lifting his head up.

     "The hell's wrong with you?" Doni lightly elbowed him.

     Eli shook his head. "It just feels like all we're doing is fooling around."

     "You guys didn't . . . did you?" Demetri questioned giving him a look.

    Eli's face scrunched up. "No!" He exclaimed.

    "What? You said fooling around." Demetri shrugged.

     "Not like that, Demetri. I mean we aren't actually together we just make out all of the time and that's not fulfilling."

     "You still have to understand that Scarlett's traumatized." Miguel reminded him.

     Eli took a breath. "I do understand but I still deserve what I want. Don't I?"

     Doni placed his hand on Eli's shoulder. "Then I suggest you talk to her when she gets here." Eli looked back down at the text he sent her a few months ago when he told her he loved her. He wished he could say that more.

                  THE ENTIRE GROUP was finally at the party and Scarlett was talking to Miguel and Sam. Miguel sat across from them on a chair while Sam and Scarlett sat on the couch. She hadn't seen Eli yet and in all honesty, he was hiding from her. "Scar," Miguel spoke up. His eyes wandered over to the door seconds after it opened and he was staring at one person in particular.

     "Yeah?" Scarlett looked up at him. She noticed his expression and looked over seeing Rory and Kyler standing together. Scarlett stood up making Sam quickly grab her wrist.

     "No, you should stay here." Sam protested.

     Scarlett's head snapped over to her. "It's not like she's gonna try to kill me at a house party she's not that stupid." She pried her wrist away from her and walked over to them while Miguel and Sam gave each other a look. "Hey, guys. I just wanted to ask Kyler if his head's been feeling okay I heard a facial bone was fractured."

     Kyler tried to charge at her but Rory held him back as Scarlett chuckled, holding her hands up in surrender and backing away. "Not worth it." Rory pushed on his chest, forcing him to step back. "Can we help you?" She stepped in front of Scarlett.

     Scarlett shrugged. "I just wanted to wish you a good night."

     Rory took a deep breath, trying to keep calm. "You have a good night too."

     Scarlett stepped in front of her leaning close to her face. "And if you ever lay a single finger on my friends or my family, I will do way worse to you than what you did to me. You started this for god knows what and now you've crossed a line." She spoke through gritted teeth and Rory just turned her head away, her body tensing up. "This." Scarlett gestured between the both of them. "Is war." She finally stepped away from her. "Happy New Year. With the tournament coming up I just know it'll be great." Scarlett gave her a condescending smile and all Rory could do was stand there.

               MIDNIGHT WAS APPROACHING and Scarlett and Eli still haven't caught up to each other. It was always just glances across the room. Their eyes told each other the same thing. "I'll see you guys later, I should really get to Hawk," Scarlett spoke loudly so Cleo and Moon could hear her over the loud music.

     "Okay," Moon responded with a smile and Cleo waved at her.

     Scarlett saw Eli standing in the kitchen with a cup in his hand. His back was leaned up against the island and he was talking to Doni for a while who soon left to go find the bathroom. Scarlett's body froze when she saw a girl approaching him. She was everything Scarlett was insecure about. Skinny, blonde, completely flawless skin. "Hey." The girl stood in front of Eli with a smile on her face.

     "Uh, hi." Eli gave her a small smile back after he lowered the cup from his lips.

     "Your hair's really cool." She pointed out.

     Eli nodded. "Thank you."

     Watching the entire thing was making Scarlett's blood boil. So much that she had to keep in every bit of self-control she had to not run over there and give that girl a black eye. "How do you get it to stand still like that?" She asked.

     "Oh, it's just gel and hairspray," Eli explained.

     She took a step closer to him and slightly leaned in so he could hear her better and that's when Scarlett was done looking. She placed the cup she was holding on the coffee table and pushed through the crowd. "I was looking at you all night, I don't know if you noticed. I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to go out sometime."

     Before Eli could answer her, he heard Scarlett's voice. "Hey." Scarlett came up next to him before grabbing the side of his face and placing her lips on his. The girl started to feel a little uneasy and took a step back.

     After Scarlett pulled away, Eli kept his eyes closed for a couple of seconds before looking at her. "Hey." He breathed out.

     Scarlett stood closer to him as she looked over at the girl. "Who's this?" She asked not taking her eyes off her. Scarlett didn't mean to make her feel uncomfortable in any way, this was barely even about her.

     "We don't know each other." Eli looked down at her.

     "I was just gonna ask him if he wanted to hang out sometime. I didn't know he had a girlfriend, I should've asked." The girl spoke up and Scarlett just stared at her.

     "Have a good night." Scarlett gave her a fake smile.

     "You too." She replied in a low tone before turning away from them.

     Eli was starting to get fed up. The pain of not getting what he wanted was killing him. "Scar, you can't just do that." He took a step away from her.

     Scarlett scoffed as she looked up at him. "Why? Because you were gonna say yes?"

     "No, I wasn't gonna say yes. The problem is you can't try to claim me if you're not gonna commit anyway it makes no sense!" Eli yelled. Scarlett's face dropped and she just stood there, staring at him. After a few seconds, he realized what he did. "I didn't mean to come off so harsh..."

     Scarlett shook her head. "No, you're right." She looked around for the nearest door because being in there felt like she was suffocating. "I'm sorry." She spoke quickly before walking away.

     "Shit, Scarlett!" Eli called out but she couldn't hear him anymore. Scarlett rushed through the open slide-in door that led to the backyard and sat on one of the poolside chairs. She'd been sitting with this feeling for a while. This feeling of denial. After everything she went through Scarlett barely knew what love felt like anymore and she definitely didn't think she deserved it. Then, she remembered a conversation she recently had with Nova.

     "Do you think he'll try to hurt you physically?" Nova asked.

     Scarlett sat cross-legged across from her on the couch. "Of course not. I know him he wouldn't do that. But you can never say never."

     Nova knew exactly what was going on. It was so obvious by the way Scarlett spoke about him. "You love him, Scarlett. And you know you love him."

     "I don't know what that type of love feels like." She always said that. That was always the excuse.

     "Well, how do you feel about him?"

     "I feel like...like he's the first person that ever truly saw who I was. And it was so easy to open up to him. And for him to open up to me and even after showing each other our insecurities nothing changed. And even though we grew apart for a little it was so easy to forgive him because I knew who he truly was. And he wasn't that angry kid. He was sweet, sensitive, and caring. And even when I tried to move on I couldn't because no matter how many times I tried to focus on anything else my mind went back to him and I missed him like crazy. He was always by my side and always protecting me and I cared about him a lot and it felt like I would do anything just to see him happy. But that's what normal love feels like. Not like love, love." Scarlett explained.

     Nova smiled at her. "That sounds like love to me. You're not realizing it because the only love you've ever experienced was with your family. But I think you love him."

     "Scar . . ." Eli had been standing there looking at her for a while.

     She didn't make eye contact with him. She couldn't make eye contact with him. "I don't know what's wrong with me." Her voice was low and sad.

     "It just feels like you're playing me sometimes." Eli folded his arms over his chest.

     Eli's words quickly made Scarlett stand up. "I-I'm not. And you know I'm not that type of person." Her voice was shaky from the tears forming in her eyes.

     He could hear the hurt in her voice and Eli felt bad for making her cry but after everything he just went through he was mostly focused on himself and becoming better for the team. When Scarlett forgave him he felt like he was finally getting something he wanted but then he quickly realized that their relationship isn't what he thought it was at all. He stepped in front of her placing his hands on either side of her face. "I want you, okay?" He spoke lowly, wiping the tear that fell down her cheek with his thumb. "But this . . . isn't me having you."

     Scarlett shook her head. "I don't want this either."

     "Then what do you want?"

     She didn't move. She couldn't move. Scarlett wanted to speak it just felt like the words got stuck in her throat. Eli took it as something else though. "Okay." He nodded, biting down on his lip. "Let me know when you make up your mind." He had his back turned on her now, walking away. It made her heart sink.

     Scarlett watched him for a second, not knowing what to do before it all came to her. "Eli!" Scarlett yelled. Eli stopped walking and stood there for a few moments before he turned around. "I love you."Scarlett blurted out. She meant it.

     Eli stopped dead in his tracks, taking a second to process what she just said. He turned around not saying a single word and began walking back over to her, faintly hearing everyone inside who began the countdown. She felt like her fear just came true, she screwed up and now everything was ruined. Horrible thoughts swarmed her brain no matter how hard she tried not to overthink. "Does he not love me?" "I fucked everything up." "This is a disaster." And more. He stopped in front of her and grabbed her by her hips so she was closer to him and now his lips were on hers. She placed her hands on the sides of his face as he caressed her waist. "I love you too." He smiled, after pulling away. "So, this means . . ." He trailed off.

     "Yeah." Scarlett nodded.

     Everyone inside yelled Happy New Year and Eli looked at them through the window before turning back to her. "Happy New Year," Eli whispered before kissing her again.

a/n: hi guys!! i'm so sorry for the lack of updates school has been a lot and i've recently been doing extracurriculars so that also took up a lot of my time after school. but i'm taking advantage of this break to mostly write this story bc i've seen a lot of new readers recently and the books views are going up everyday. i will try to upload multiple chapters weekly i have a lot planned