FORTY NINE.
( I've got you, brother. )

"Told you I should've come with."

Robby huffed as she parked in front of his and Miguel's apartment building. "I know. But, I don't know if he would've talked to me if you were there."

"Hey, you wanted me to go. Don't say I didn't warn you," she gave him a pointed look before turning to the backseat. "Mig, say hi to your mom for me."

"I do every time," the boy rolled his eyes in amusement. "Also, she wanted me to ask if you were free to go shopping with her this weekend. I guess I'm not cutting it for her anymore."

Emmy giggled. "I am always free for a shopping trip with Mama Diaz. Do you guys need a ride to school tomorrow?"

"Uh, no. My dad said that he could take us," Robby smiled at her. "But, I'll call you later."

"Okay," she quickly leaned in for a kiss. "Love you."

"Love you too," he said back before climbing out of the car, Miguel quickly following after him. 

Emmy looked through her rearview mirror to make sure that the two stepped into the apartment before driving off.

✸

As Emmy rang the doorbell to the all too familiar house, she felt a little anxious about what their response to her would be. While they preferred her to her friends, things might be a little bit bitter after what happened today. 

She held her breath as the door swung open, coming face to face with Shawn. "Hey."

"Hey," he responded, a little bit surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, Robby told me what happened and I thought I'd swing by. Plus, sorry for leaving you guys without a ride," she sheepishly said. 

"Don't sweat it," he waved her off. "Our mom got off of work early so she picked us up."

"That's good. Is he still here?"

"He's out back," Shawn eyed her curiously. "Is it your turn to give it a shot?"

"The others don't know that I'm here. But, he might listen to us better than them," she gave him a hopeful look. 

There was a moment of silence, Emmy letting Shawn think for a bit. "Come in."

Emmy gave a breath of relief, stepping into the house. "Thank you."

As the two reached the backyard of the house, Emmy's eyes softened at the sight of Kenny furiously throwing fists into a punching bag. 

"Surprised you got any gas left in the tank after that," Shawn jokingly said, Emmy just slightly behind him. "I'm tired as shit."

Kenny paused and turned to him, opening his mouth to say something before he stopped. His eyes went to the girl behind him. "You too?"

Emmy pursed her lips, giving a hesitant nod. "You seem angry."

He let out a scoff. "Plenty more where that came from."

"Yeah, I bet," Shawn said as Kenny went back to punching the punching bag. "Didn't realize you had that kind of scrap in you though. You got good. But you still couldn't get past those girls."

"Like he could," Emmy muttered a bit too loudly. She glanced over at Shawn. "Sorry."

"Those guys are all assholes," Kenny stated. 

"Didn't seem like it," Shawn mused. "They had open shots but wouldn't take 'em. Same with Robby and his boy. What's that tell you?"

"That they're pussies too?"

Shawn couldn't help but scoff out a laugh in slight disbelief. "Okay. We both know that's not true. And since when do you talk like that?"

"Since I learned what the world was really like."

"Oh yeah? And who taught you that? The ponytail dude they arrested?"

Shawn took a step towards his younger brother. "He teach you all that aggro bullshit I saw back there too? Because according to Emmy over here, who was there longer than you were, the dude's full of shit."

"It's the way of the fist," Kenny cut him off. "Strike first, strike hard, no mercy."

"That has got to be the dumbest shit I've ever heard," Shawn said in disbelief. He then turned to Emmy. "You were taught that?"

"Eh," she shrugged. "It was badass in the beginning. Look, Kenny. Maybe Miyagi-Do would be good for you. Or even Eagle Fang."

"No," he shook his head. "I don't need them. Gotta listen to my own instincts."

"And where's that gotten you lately?" Shawn got into his brother's face. I saw that look in your eyes, K. I know that look. It's the same one that landed me in juvie. You keep going down this road, that's where you'll end up too. Or you can learn from my mistakes. And maybe give Keene another shot too."

This time, Kenny was more hesitant, not sure what to say. Emmy let out a sigh, took a step towards him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kenny, no matter what you think, Cobra Kai isn't coming back. Silver, Kreese, all gone. It's time for you to decide who you want to be after all this."

"The kind of man you want Dad to come home after his tour," Shawn solemnly added. 

And Emmy watched as something in Kenny's eyes broke. "I don't know who I wanna be, man. I don't know even who... I don't even know who I am anymore."

"Hey..." Shawn wrapped his arms strongly around his little brother, holding him close. "I got you. We'll figure it out together."

The older boy glanced towards Emmy, who nodded in agreement. "We're here for you, Kenny. We're not going anywhere."

Kenny pulled away from his brother and turned to her. "Do you promise?"

She smiled at him, wrapping her arms around him, and felt as he immediately clung onto her. "When have I ever broken a promise to you?"

She felt him sigh and he pulled away from her too. "Thanks, you guys. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Well, you'll never have to," Emmy stated. 

"Go inside, K. I need to talk to Em real quick," Shawn patted his brother on the back and lightly pushed him towards the backyard door. The younger boy listened without another word, and the older two were left. 

"What's up?" Emmy curiously asked him, stepping in front of him. 

"Look," he huffed. "I don't know much about this karate you guys were a part of. But I just need to ask. How bad was it?"

Emmy stood there for a moment, thinking back to her time in Cobra Kai. 

Spying on Miyagi-Do.

Trashing Miyagi-Do. 

The school fight.

The ambush at her family's house. 

Cutting off Eli's mohawk. 

Silver paying for Cobra Kai's win at the All Valley.

Kreese going to prison. 

Her going back to Cobra Kai. 

Sensei Kim coming in. 

The punishments. 

Those damn punishments. 

She quickly cleared her throat as she realized she was getting into her head too much. "I can't say I know what Kenny's mindset was during it, but, it was bad. Really bad." 

Shawn clenched his jaw. "Is he ever gonna be okay?"

Emmy thickly swallowed. "I don't know." Because I'm not. 

He nodded in understanding. "Thanks for stopping by. I know it means a lot for him but it means a lot to me too."

She gave him a small smile. "Anytime."

✸

 "Hey."

Emmy's head snapped to her left, seeing her boyfriend sit down next to her. "Hi."

"Still waiting?" he asked, but he already knew the answer. 

She let out a deep sigh, shoulders visibly deflating. "Yeah. I think that Shawn and I got through to him, but, Kenny's unpredictable at this point."

"Hey," his voice was soft and gentle as he spoke to her, and he placed a hand on her shoulder. "If anyone was gonna convince him, it was gonna be you guys."

"Right," she muttered to herself, hand reaching up and clutching onto his. "I just... When Shawn went to juvie, I made a promise to him that I would take care of Kenny and that I would keep him out of trouble. But I did the exact opposite of that by bringing him into Cobra Kai."

"Don't do that," Robby immediately shook his head. "Don't blame yourself. None of it was your fault. It was Kreese and Silver. But, they're gone now. We can go back to being regular teenagers again."

Emmy bit down on her tongue to stop herself from making a rather concerning argument. "You're right."

Robby could tell that there was something else she wanted to say but didn't want to push it. He knew that the last thing she needed was someone trying to pry her past experiences out of her. He only held her hand tighter, trying to remind her that he was there whenever she needed him to be. 

The two sat there in comfortable silence for the next few minutes, watching as the various teenagers around them trained with each other. Emmy found it strange that everyone was so friendly with each other so quickly. Everyone had done something to someone else. But, they chose to look past it. Maybe that was the difference with Cobra Kai. No one was there to make friends. 

"Hey," she broke out of her thoughts as she felt Robby nudge her. She turned to him expectantly, and he nodded his chin over to her right. 

Emmy looked over her shoulder, and her lips parted in shock. Kenny stared back at her with a face that she felt resembled a scared child, and she stood up. She slowly made her way over to him, feeling the stares from everyone else. 

"I'm ready," Kenny muttered, holding onto his bag tighter. "To be the man I wanna be."

Emmy couldn't help the smile that formed on her face, and she pulled him into a tight hug. 

✸

College was something that Emmy had forgotten to even think about the past couple of years. As she stared at the multiple college and university stands, she couldn't help but feel a bubble of anxiety form in the pit of her stomach. 

"...ght, Emmy?"

"Huh?" she looked away from the UCLA stand, turning to Demetri.

He looked at her oddly. "Did you hear anything that I said?"

"Sorry," she quickly apologized, feeling her face start to heat up. "I was just thinking about something. What did you say?"

Demetri gave a light scoff and tapped Eli with the back of his hand. "Can you believe this? I gave my all in that MIT speech and she didn't pay attention to a single word."

"You've been zoning out a lot lately," Eli commented, eyebrows furrowing in concern. "You doing okay?"

"Uh, yeah," she answered. "I just haven't slept much this week."

He pressed his lips together tightly, nodding in understanding. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Oh," she waved him off. "You don't wanna hear about it. Trust me."

He opened his mouth to say something, she spotted Miguel and Sam ahead of them. "Hey, guys!"

"What's up?" Miguel greeted her back. 

"All of our trials and tribulations of nerdom have finally come to this," Demetri went on. "We're the belles of the ball."

"Is that what we are?" Miguel asked, glancing at Sam with a look on his face. 

"Oh, yes, my friend," Demetri nodded. "They are fumbling around our dresses trying to cop a feel of our tantalizing brains."

Emmy rolled her eyes. "God, I hate when you talk nerdy."

"Okay, that's where I leave you," Sam looked a Demetri weirdly before turning to Miguel and giving him a quick kiss. "Em, are you still coming over for dinner today?"

"Uh, I can't," Emmy winced. "I'm going out with these three for dinner later."

"Oh, okay," Sam nodded, flashing her a quick smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."

Emmy nodded awkwardly, watching her older sister walk away before releasing a large breath. 

"You guys still haven't really talked, have you?" Miguel questioned, but he already knew the answer. 

"No," Emmy sighed. "I don't know how to bring it up without making either of us sound like bitches. She stole the guy I liked so I broke into the house to jump her. Not exactly casual conversation."

"You'll get there," Eli patted her shoulder in comfort. 

"Well, these vultures are wasting their time," Demetri brought them back to the topic of college. "Eli, Emmy, and I have had our sights set on MIT for years."

Eli and Emmy glanced at each other before nodding along. "Are you applying early decision to Stanford?"

"Yeah, definitely," Miguel looked down at the Stanford brochure in his hands. "But I should look into some safety schools too. Stanford's pretty expensive."

He showed them the numbers inside and Emmy's eyebrows shot up. "Yikes."

"Hey, fam."

They all turned to the table next to them. 

"You bros looking to post up at college a little closer to home, or what's the word?"

"Well, Gary, the word is we'll be taking our brodeo on the roadeo," Demetri talked back. "But, um, thank you for all of your bro-vertures."

"All right, bet," the man nodded. "But safety schools get a bad rep. They keep you closer to home, set you up for a big school later, and they take that weight off Mom and Pop's wallet."

Miguel then grabbed a brochure for himself. "Thanks."

"I'll take one too," Emmy spoke up, grabbing one for herself. 

✸

As Emmy slowly trudged through a tour of the local college, that anxiety bubble in the pit of her stomach came back. She looked around, seeing the large-scale buildings with exhausted and happy-looking students walking around. 

"Over here, you'll see our multi-level library, the fourth largest in the San Fernando Valley..."

"What are we doing here?" Demetri whined. "If the University of Phoenix wasn't online, it'd be this."

"Shut up," Emmy snapped, eyes glaring at him from the side of her head. 

"Chillax, okay?" Miguel told him, casting a worried glance at his female friend. "I still need to keep my options open."

"Me too," Emmy said. "I know MIT's the dream, but, it doesn't hurt to have something else. And getting accepted into any college is huge and something worth being proud of. So, let's stop judging all these freaking colleges because you are so high and mighty on your MIT train ─ "

She cut herself off with a gasp as their tour guide was suddenly shoved into the ground. 

"Oh, sick grab, boy!"

Her head then snapped up at the familiar tone in this person's voice, and her eyes widened. "Is that who I think it is?"

The three boys at her side couldn't even answer as they were too shocked themselves. 

"You just got Brucksed!" Kyler shouted down at the tour guide. "You're welcome, homey."

The group continued on their tour, but the four in the back stayed. 

"Oh. What's up, guys?" Kyler also looked shocked to see them. 

"Kyler, you go to school here?" Miguel asked. 

"Better question, you got accepted somewhere?" Emmy interjected. 

"Nah, it's more like this school goes to me. You know what I mean?" he laughed. 

"What's up, Brucks?" Eli spoke up. "You... you look good, man."

"Thanks, man," Brucks sounded as bubbly as ever. "All new teeth. Swallowed the old ones when you ─ "

Eli and Emmy both gave a simultaneous sharp inhale, remembering when the former practically broke Bruck's entire face. 

"Yeah," Eli sounded regretful. "I'm really sorry about that, dude. I... I was in a bad place then, and ─ "

"It's all good, buddy. Play karate games, win karate prizes, you know?" he and Kyler chuckled along. 

"How you doing, Em?" Kyler nodded at the girl. 

Her eyebrows shot up at his question, not expecting him to even acknowledge her. "Uh, adjusting. You?"

"I'm doing alright," he nodded, becoming a bit more awkward. 

"See you at the house, Ky?" Brucks nudged his friend's shoulder. 

"Bet," Kyler laughed. 

"Yes, sir. Let's go!"

"Wait, so you and Brucks both go here," Demetri stated as Brucks ran away. "That makes sense."

"No, he's just visiting. He goes to MIT."

Four heads simultaneously snapped at him. 

"I'm sorry. Did you say MIT?" Demetri asked. 

"Yeah," Kyler answered, sounding surprised himself. "And he's killing it too."

They all stared at him. 

"So, what's up guys?" Kyler wrapped an arm around Demetri's shoulder and pulled him into his side. "We hanging out or what?"

"Holy shit," Emmy muttered under her breath. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE ! 

sorry for the wait!!!! I'm on winter break now so hopefully I can update a bit more for the next couple weeks!!!