✸ WARNING ! : this chapter will make you cry and it is very long so grab some snacks and a drink

NINE.
( all that I did to try to undo it. )

For what felt like a first in a long time, Emmy was having real and genuine fun. 

Drinking with people she actually enjoyed being around, laughing with people she found actually funny, and talking with people she didn't mind having an hour long conversation with. 

Every now and then, she would glance towards Miguel, who was just standing around with a glum expression. No offense to him, but just looking at him brought her mood down. 

She excused herself from whoever she was talking with, and beer glass in her hand as she walked through the sand to get to him. 

"Hey!" Miguel turned at the sound of her voice, giving her a small smile. "Not having fun?"

"Not really," he quietly admitted, looking down at his phone. "Maybe this was a mistake."

Emmy looked at him confused. "What? The party?"

He nodded. "I should've just gone over to her house."

She looked at him in slight disbelief. "Okay, can I be brutally honest with you for a quick second?"

Miguel looked a bit confused. "Sure."

"Okay," she cleared her throat, placing her beer onto the ground and put her hands on his shoulders to make her face him. "You are reeking of desperation and it is killing my mood."

He groaned. "Emmy ⎯"

"I'm serious!" she exclaimed, giving him a shake. "She's not answering your texts or calls. Whether it's for a reason or not, you just standing here looking like that blue chick from Inside Out is not gonna make her reply or call back."

She picked up her beer, snatched his phone, and replaced it with the beer. "So, no more screens. Have a good time, have a few drinks, make a few friends, just have fun. Stop moping about my sister for a few hours."

Miguel let her words sink in, staring the bottle in his hand. 

Emmy was right. He couldn't just send a text every five minutes and hope for a text back. 

"Okay," he simply said. He watched as she bit her lip to try and contain her smile. 

"Okay," she said back, before pointing to a group of people behind him. "Legend has it, they've been wanting to be your friend since the fight with Kyler."

Miguel turned around, seeing a group of 5 people looking right at him. He flashed them a smile, to which they responded with an excited wave. 

"Well? What are you waiting for? Socialize, converse, have fun," Emmy shoved him forward, causing him to slightly stumble. But he laughed, his face regaining that happy expression. "And tell me all about it!"

"Okay!" he chuckled, waving goodbye to her before traveling up the hill to the group. 

Emmy watched him go with a smile and butterflies in her stomach. 

"You really like him, huh?"

She let out a small gasp, spinning around to see Hawk looking at her with a smirk. "What?"

"Oh, come on, Em," he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, making the two of them walk away. "Everyone can see that you have a thing for Miguel."

"Shut up," she grumbled, shoving him away from her. "He's dating my sister."

"Doesn't mean you can't have a crush on him."

Emmy glared at her best friend, snatching his red cup and proceeded to chug down whatever was leftover. 

Hawk just kept looking at her amused. "Want another?"

"I'm good," she declined, grabbing his hand and placed the cup in his palm. She then looked at him, and she could see Miguel laughing and smiling behind him. Her eyes squinted, and she tilted her head. 

He looked at her weirdly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Just...had a thought," she said. 

"What?"

She slid her hands into the back pocket of her jean shorts, the sleeves of her hoodie scrunching up at her wrist. "Wanna make out?"

His eyes almost bugged out of his head. "What?"

Emmy shrugged. "Wanna go make out? I'm bored."

"You wanna make out with me because you're bored?"

"Yeah," she spoke as if what she said was something she'd always say. "You've really never at least thought of making out with me?"

"Well, I never said that," he shifted around. "You really wanna?"

"'Course. You're hot," Emmy held out her hand, which Hawk just stared at for a moment. 

"You are actually insane," he lightly chuckled, throwing the empty cup behind him and took her hand. 

Emmy snorted, leading him to a log. "Tell me something I don't know."

As the party went on, the transition from day to night was almost unnoticeable. And Demetri wanted to wash his eyes out with bleach. 

He was watching Emmy and Hawk with disgust, finding it gross that his two best friends, who were also best friends, were shoving their tongues down each other's throats. But, he couldn't say he was surprised. Ever since Eli became Hawk, he noticed a thick tension between the two. And he knew that they didn't have any romantic feelings for each and just wanted to get it out of their systems. 

And even though neither of them had noticed, another person had seen Hawk and Emmy, and was bursting with envy.

Moon, a girl from Yasmine's little group, had also joined the party, and apologized to those she had wronged.

Emmy never really had a problem with Moon, and was more than happy to accept her with open arms. 

"Mmm, I'm gonna go get another drink, wanna come?" Emmy pulled away from Hawk, her legs draped over his lap. 

"Sure," he shrugged, grabbing her hand to help her up. 

On their way over, Emmy spotted Moon and Aisha chatting, and smiled. 

"I'm happy Moon's changing her ways," she said. 

"Me too," Hawk said, staring at the girl from behind as Emmy refilled his cup. 

Her eyes flickered from her best friend to Moon, a knowing smile on her face. "You should go talk to her. She's been eye fucking you since she got here."

"You think so?"

Taking a giant gulp of her drink, Emmy nodded. "I know so. Come on, Lover Boy."

Hawk yelped when he was suddenly being dragged over to Aisha and Moon.

"Hey, girls!" Emmy greeted, wrapping an arm around Moon. 

"Hey, Emmy," they both greeted. Hawk and Moon then made eye contact, the girl shyly looking away while taking a sip of her drink. 

"Hey!"

They all turned, seeing Yasmine angrily stomping towards them. "You think it's funny crashing my party?"

Aisha shrugged. "It's not really your party 'cause we were here first."

"Yeah, well," Yasmine scoffed. "I know you and your little karate gang think you're cool, but we all remember who you really are. You're just a fugly bitch, and your friends are all freaks."

The blonde threw a dirty look at Emmy and Hawk, who both glared at her. Emmy had taken a step towards her, and would have fully tackled her to the ground, but Hawk had a tight grip on her arm to prevent her from causing a scene. "Come on, Moon. Let's go."

"No, I'm staying," Moon spoke up, standing up to her supposed best friend. "I apologized to Aisha for what we did, and you should too."

Yasmine was in disbelief. "Whatever. You deserve them, Moon." She then harshly bumped into Aisha's shoulder as she stormed off.

Emmy was burning with anger, and ripped away from Hawk who instantly went into a panic. "Emmy!"

She walked up behind Yasmine, grabbed her wrist, and spun her right back around. "What do you want ⎯ "

Yasmine was cut off by Emmy's hand coming down onto her cheek, and her head whipping off to the side. She let out a gasp, looking at the younger girl in front of her in shock. 

"You call my girl a fugly bitch again, and I won't hesitate to knock the botox out your cheeks," Emmy spat out, taking a few steps back. 

Yasmine just huffed, and went to walk away again. 

"Hey, Yasmine!" Aisha called after her. 

"What?" the blonde angrily responded, still holding on to her stinging cheek. "What are you gonna do?"

"Let me help you to your car."

Suddenly, Aisha dipped her hand into Yasmine's shorts, and pulled her panties up, giving her a front wedgie. 

Emmy had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing, but the smile on her face couldn't be hidden. 

"No mercy, bitch!"

✸

"Hey, do you guys know where Miguel is? I have his phone and his mom keeps calling him," Emmy was sad to cut her conversation with Hawk and Moon short. She held up Miguel's phone in her hand. 

"Um, I think he's over there," Moon pointed behind her.

Emmy turned around, seeing Miguel close to the bon fire. He looked like he was talking to someone. "Thanks. I'll catch you guys later. Don't have too much fun without me."

She subtly winked at Hawk before jogging over to Miguel.

"Mig! Your mom has been calling you all night and I feel bad for ignoring her calls so can you answer her?" she came to a steady stop as she chuckled out her question. 

"Emmy?"

The girl's head snapped up the familiar voice, and her face dropped. "Sam? I...I didn't think you were coming."

"Em, what are you doing here?" Sam asked. "Mom said that you were at Eli's house."

"Well, I'm not," Emmy sheepishly said, before she looked behind her sister. "Seriously? You brought Dora to our party? Do mom or dad know that you're taking him to a party?"

"I took her here," Robby corrected. 

Emmy deadpanned at him. "I wasn't talking to you."

"Whatever," Sam shook her head. "My dad was right about Cobra Kai. Good luck at the tournament. I won't be there. Emmy, let's go. We're leaving."

"What? No way. I'm having fun," the younger girl crossed her arms over her chest. 

"You want to stay here with them? You know what dad said about Cobra Kai," Sam reached to grab her sister's arm, but Emmy jerked it away. 

"Well, I am Cobra Kai! So you can leave cause you and Dora are killing the mood."

Sam took a step back, the hurt in her eyes increasing. "You're apart of Cobra Kai?"

Realizing she had exposed herself, Emmy didn't answer and Sam scoffed. "Wow, you two are made for each other. Don't bother coming home tonight."

Emmy's jaw dropped, watching as Sam and Robby stalked off from the party. "Even if I wanted to, it's not like you can decide that. And don't you dare tell dad about me being in Cobra Kai!"

When Sam and Robby drove off, Emmy's shoulders deflated, and she had a shocked look on her face. "Did I really accidentally expose myself to my sister?"

She heard Miguel sigh beside her, and he pat her on the back. "It's all right, Em. Come on. I'm not drunk enough for this."

Emmy walked away with him, but the worry was still lingering in her mind. Was Sam gonna tell?

✸

"What the hell's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with you?"

Johnny stood angrily in front of Daniel, just now finding out that his own son was learning karate from his rival. He inched closer to the man, but Robby quickly stepped in front of him, arms up. "Hey, Dad, back off."

"Dad?" Daniel repeated in disbelief. 

"If you wanna fight him, you're gonna have to fight me first."

Johnny had never felt so betrayed, eyes shining with hurt as he looked from Daniel to his son. "You gotta be kidding me."

He then looked right into Daniel's eyes. "It's no wonder Emmy chose me over you." 

It made Daniel stand up straighter, and push Robby off to the side. "The hell you say about my daughter?"

Johnny scoffed. "Oh, now she's your daughter? What about the past 14 years, man? You treat her like crap. So, like I said. It's no wonder she chose to learn karate from me instead of you."

"You don't get to come here and talk to me about my daughter," Daniel snapped. 

"Well, I just think it says a lot about you when she's telling me that she's too scared to tell her own dad that she's learning karate elsewhere."

Daniel didn't know what to say, and Johnny just stuck a glare on him before walking out of the dojo. He rubbed his forehead in stress, taking a few steps deeper into the dojo. 

"Mr. LaRusso, I was gonna tell you," Robby quietly said. 

"Was this all just a con? Some kind of sick mind game you're trying to pull off on me?"

"No, I wasn't like that."

"You lied to me."

"Please. Please ⎯ "

"Get out, now! And don't come back to this house, not to the dealership, not ever. You got that? Ever again!" Daniel slammed the door in Robby's face. 

It was like everything around him was starting to crumble down. And then the sound of his front door opening caught his attention, and he already knew who it was. 

Johnny's words ran through his mind, and his blood ran hot. He could hear Emmy laughing at something, and for some reason, it made him even more mad. 

"See you tomorrow! Love you!" Emmy shouted out the door, waving as Moon drove off with Hawk still in the car. She shut the door, before turning around. "Oh, hey, dad."

"Fun night?" he asked, trying to keep his cool. 

"Yeah," she briefly smiled. "Eli's was fun. I'm gonna go shower."

She went to walk to her bathroom, but Daniel stood in front of her, and she looked at him confused. "Do you need something?"

"Yes, actually. I need to talk to you about something," he stated firmly. 

She sheepishly smiled. "Well, can it wait until after I shower? I just feel gross from being in a boy's bedroom all day." 

Emmy walked around him, a ghost of a smile on her face as she remembered the laughs she had that night. 

"So you think Johnny Lawrence telling me that you're apart of Cobra Kai is something that can just wait?"

And just like that, Emmy's whole world shattered around her. She froze in her steps, and slowly turned around. "What?"

"Yeah," Daniel scoffed, throwing his arms up. "Imagine how I felt 2 minutes ago when he dropped that on me. Have anything to say for yourself?"

"I ⎯ " Emmy felt like her voice was gone. Her eyes were starting to burn, and she knew that tears were going to form soon. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and chills were going up her spine. 

"What? Nothing to say? Because you seem to be telling him a lot of things about me," Daniel put his hand on his hips. 

"Dad, I swear, I was gonna tell you eventually."

"Eventually? The All Valley is tomorrow. I mean, Emmy, what the hell are you thinking? Cobra Kai? Are you trying to disappoint me?"

"Well, I've already been doing a good job at that, haven't I?" Emmy couldn't control her mouth, finally regaining her voice. 

Daniel was a bit taken aback. "What?"

"You say that me being in Cobra Kai is the thing that disappoints you, but I think we both know that your disappointment in me started way before that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Emmy took a step towards him. "You have always been disappointed in me, but now, you just have an excuse to say it out loud. So, great, great, Dad. I love that it takes me joining Cobra Kai for you to finally admit that I am a disappointment to you."

"You know what?" Daniel poked his tongue into his cheek and nodded. "I am disappointed in you. Because you ran your mouth to Johnny Lawrence of all people, and I lost my only student."

"How is you losing Robby my fault?" she looked up at him in disbelief. "Well, boohoo, Dad, you can't win 'em all! Maybe you would have had another student to teach if you would've just asked me."

"Well, if you wanted to learn karate so badly, why didn't you just ask me?" he shouted back. 

"Because every time I did, you said no!" Emmy shouted back louder, the tears starting to come back. "And the way I find out that you're even teaching karate again, is through some random dude that's in our backyard! And to make things worst, I find out that you asked Anthony to join your dojo, but you never asked me."

"Maybe I didn't, but you were in Cobra Kai. Would you have even said yes?"

"In a heartbeat," Emmy spoke through clenched teeth, her voice breaking as her eyes turned glossy. 

Daniel softened a bit at the sight of his daughter. He let out a huff, his own eyes burning as he looked off to the side. 

"Why did you always say no?" Emmy quietly asked. 

He turned back to her. "What?"

"When I asked you to teach me karate, you would always say no. Why?"

"I ⎯ " he sighed, bringing his fingers up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. Even he knew he couldn't defend that. 

Emmy scoffed and shook her head, using the sleeve of her hoodie to wipe her nose. "Just admit it, Dad. You don't care about what I do, or what even Anthony does. If it doesn't involve Sam, then you don't give a shit."

Daniel held up a finger. "That's not true. I love all you guys just the same."

"Bullshit!" Emmy shouted, no doubt waking up the other's in the house. "You've always cared more about Sam than you did us. And deep down, you know it."

"No!" he yelled. "I am not gonna allow you to make accusations like that. I have never favored Sam over you and Anthony."

She raised both of her eyebrows. "Oh, really? How about that daddy-daughter dance in middle school where you only danced with her, and left me to dance with my teacher? What about when you and mom would shover her test answers in my face and ask why couldn't I be like her? Oh! And we can't forget about when Luis made a sexist comment about how I always hang out with boys and you just laughed along. But when he asked Sam about dating, you just jumped to her rescue."

Daniel was speechless, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. 

"And let's also not forget about all the times Grandma Lucille asked if I was even your daughter. You never asked why she asked that, or why she would even think that. You never said anything. Not once have you defended me from anyone!" a choked up sob left her lips, tears slowly rolling down her face. 

"Well, if you were so sick of my crap, why did you keep up with it? Why didn't you say anything? Why did you sit there, and let me be a bad father?"

"Because I wanted you to be my dad!"

Daniel stared at her with wide eyes. 

"Everyday, I had hope that you wouldn't just be Sam and Anthony's dad, but my dad too."

She didn't let him say another word. "I waited everyday, hoping that you would all of a sudden apologize for being such a shitty dad, and then we would hug, make up, and you would finally pay attention to me. You know, treat me like your daughter and not some stranger who lives in this house."

She spun around, and stormed to her room. At first, she just wanted to take a shower a sleep, but now, she just wanted to get out of there. It felt suffocating to just be in that house. 

Daniel was right on her tail, walking into her room to see her stuffing her closet into a giant duffle bag. "What are you doing?"

"Since I'm clearly not wanted here, I'll just go where I am," she grumbled, walking over to her vanity to pack all of her beauty products. 

"Emmy ⎯ stop. You are wanted here. We all want you here," Daniel tried, but she was not having it. 

"Great. Nice to know it takes me telling you how shitty of a father you've been for you to notice me. Real nice, Dad," she zipped up the bag, and walked past him, making her way to the front door. 

By this point, Amanda, Sam, and Anthony had come out of their rooms, watching Emmy storm pass them with a large bag on her shoulder.

"Wh ⎯ what is she doing? Dad, what is Emmy doing?" Anthony was clinging onto his mother, looking teary eyed. 

"Emmy isn't doing anything. Nor, is she going anywhere," Daniel said loudly, making Emmy pause at the end of the hallway. She turned to look at them. 

"Oh. So now you want me around?"

"We always want you around, Em," her mom said in a soft voice, rubbing her other two kids' shoulders. They looked fearful at what the middle child was about to do. 

"Sure doesn't seem like it. I'm going. And you can't stop me," she turned back around, and head for the door. 

Anthony pulled away from Amanda, and ran after his sister. "Emmy! Please don't go! Please don't leave!"

Emmy cried even more at the sound of her brother's voice, and she sniffled before turning around to face him. She mustered up a smile. "You know I can't be happy here, Ant. I've never been happy here."

"But I'm happy when you're here," he tried again, a tear rolling down his face. 

"I know. But, I need to think about me this time," she sadly smiled at him. She then looked up, and saw the other three looking at them, 

Her eyes then landed on Sam, and she stood up straighter. "I hope you never have to feel the way that I've felt."

And then, for a final time that night, she looked at her parents. "He would have been so disappointed in you for how you've treated me. No mother or father would do what you've done."

And without another word, she opened the front door, walked out of the house, closed it shut. 

Emmy didn't have a car, or a bike, so to get to her destination, she would have to walk. But Emmy didn't really care in that moment. She just needed to get out of that house before she was going to completely lose her mind. 

But, she never predicted that she would be crying her eyes out while walking, and after an unknown amount of time had passed by, but long enough for the sky to turn completely dark, she could barely see from how her tears, and the ruined mascara that was running down her face. 

Stopping in front of a random house, she placed her bag onto sidewalk, and took a seat on the curb. She brought her knees up to her chest, and placed her chin on top of her knees. Slow, nonstop tears ran down her face, and she didn't know if they would ever stop.

Emmy and Daniel have had plenty of fights in the past, and most of them ended with her storming out of the house and going to Eli or Demetri's house. But this one, it was different. 

Really different. 

There was no way they could ever come back from that. Emotions were too high, and too many things were said. The father and daughter would never recover from this. Even years from now, the two would never forget about this. 

"Uh, excuse me?"

Emmy let out a light gasp, the street light illuminating her face at the person's face. She sniffled, rubbing her nose with her sleeve, and she just now realized how cold her legs were since she was wearing shorts. 

It was a male with dark skin, maybe a bit older than her, but not by much. 

"Are you okay?" he hesitantly asked, stopping right next to the mail box, which was a few feet away from her. He wanted to keep a bit of distance so he didn't scare her. 

"Yeah, I just..." she tucked her hair behind her ears, her face heating up knowing that it was stained with her black mascara. "Kicked myself out of my house."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Kicked yourself out?"

She tearily chuckled. "Yeah. My parents suck and I just couldn't take it anymore so I left. But, it's not like you care, we just met."

"Well, do you have somewhere to stay?" he leaned against the mailbox, hands tucked into his sweatpants pockets. 

"Yeah," she nodded. "But, he lives a bit far and it would take a while for me to walk so I should probably start walking now."

She abruptly stood up from the curb, grabbing her bag and hoisted it up onto her shoulder. Emmy harshly sniffled, wiping off the small rocks that had stuck to her shorts. "Thanks for checking up on me."

"Woah, woah, wait," he stopped her from leaving. "Are you sure you want to walk to wherever you're going like this? I can drive you there if you want."

Emmy became a bit defensive, and took a step back from him. "What makes you think I'm gonna get into a car with someone I just met? Why would I trust you?"

He held his hand up. "Okay, okay. I understand. But, my dad, he's an army guy. And he raised me to help those who are in need. And that includes people who have shitty parents and need to get somewhere safe."

She pursed her lips, feet put together as she stood on the edge of the curb. "Okay. You tell me your name and I'll consider letting you drive me to my friend's."

"All right, fair," he nodded. "My name's Shawn, I have a little brother named Kenny, my dad's name is James, he's in the army, and my mom's name is Lori. She takes care of me and my brother when dad is away. If you want, I'll gladly call them out here so you can see for yourself."

"Okay, that's...actually a lot and I do feel a lot better. Fine. I'll let you drive me. But just know, if you try to kill me and fail, I have all this shit on you," Emmy pointed a finger at him. 

"Noted," he chuckled, before pulling out a pair of car keys from his pocket. "I was planning on going to the store real quick, so, I'll just drop you off."

Emmy followed him to one of the two cars in the driveway, cautiously getting into the passenger seat with her bag on her lap. 

"You pack your whole bedroom in there?" Shawn teased, putting on his seatbelt and started the car. 

"Basically," Emmy sighed. "Who knows if I'm ever gonna be back."

"Well, if you need any help, you know where I live," Shawn kindly smiled at her before beginning to drive. 

"I do," Emmy realized. "So that's even more reason to not pull any funny business on me Mister." 

✸

Emmy climbed out of the passenger, looping her duffle bag onto her shoulder. She shut the door, before making her way to the driver side window, and looked at Shawn gratefully. "Thank you for the drive."

"It's really no big deal. Just doing what my dad would have done."

"No, seriously. I owe you a massive favor. So, whenever you need something, I am there in a heartbeat."

He nodded at her. "I'll hold you up to it. Hope you don't babysitting sometime."

"I'll adopt your brother if you want me to," Emmy said, making the both of them laugh. 

"Have a good night, Emmy. I hope things work out for you," he sincerely said. 

She warmly smiled at him. "Good night, Shawn."

Emmy stepped away from the car, and watched as he drove away. On the car ride over, he had given her a few tissues and bottle of water to help remove the makeup from her face, and surprisingly, the two bonded over a few things. Mostly over their fondness for their younger brothers. 

She lightly smiled at the nice teen, knowing she'd be thanking him for the rest of her life. She then turned around, and walked up to the front door of the apartment. 

With a reluctant hand, she knocked on the door, hearing someone scrambling inside. Someone opened the door just a little, but she could see their eyes widening at the sight of her. The door opened wider, and Miguel looked at her confused. 

"Emmy? What are you doing here?" he then noticed how puffy her eyes were. "Have you been crying?"

She pressed her lips into a tight line. "I got into a big fight with my dad, I packed my things, and I left the house. So, I am now here because I don't wanna go back."

Miguel opened the door wider. "Come in. Stay as long as you'd like."

Emmy smiled, stepped into the apartment before Miguel shut the door behind her.

What a night. 

✸ AUTHOR'S NOTE ! i cried while writing this chapter i love emmy sm she deserves the world