TWENTY FOUR.
( that's the way things go. )

"El Serpiente!"

Hawk and Emmy had big smiles on their faces as they shoved themselves into the doorframe of Miguel's hospital room, but the smiles dropped at the sight of Sam by his bed. 

Emmy felt that sinking feeling in her stomach again, and she thickly swallowed. 

"I'm gonna go," Sam quietly told Miguel. 

She exited the room, but Hawk stopped her. "You got some nerve coming here after what your boyfriend did to him."

"I don't care what you think," she replied. "I just wanna help."

"Pretty sure you've done enough, princess," Hawk muttered, before entering the room, leaving the two sisters by themselves. 

Sam sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I still can't believe you associate yourself with someone like him."

Emmy raised her eyebrows in surprise at the sudden comment. "Is that supposed to be an insult? Because in case your forgot, he's been my best friend for years. If you think I'm just gonna drop him, then you're more stupid than I thought."

Sam glared up at her. "You dropped Demetri."

"Is that what he said?" Emmy tilted her head at her. "Because from how I remember it, he dropped me first. He didn't answer and single text or call, and only texted first to accuse me of orchestrating whatever the hell happened at the mall."

Sam's eyes only narrowed more. 

Emmy cooed at her, tapping under her chin. "Don't get upset because you can't make up shit anymore."

And then she spun on her heel, walking into Miguel's room. She ignored that gnawing feeling in her heart, and grinned at him. "Looking alive, Mig."

He laughed, opening his arms for her. "Glad to be alive, Em."

She laughed back, leaning down and gently engulfed him in a hug. "I'm so happy you're okay."

Hawk smiled to himself at the sight of them, and pat Miguel on the foot. "I'll let you two catch up. I'll swing by tomorrow."

Miguel nodded, and Hawk walked out of the room. 

Emmy sighed, grabbing a chair in the corner and dragged it over before taking a seat. "How's hospital life? I passed by a nurse holding a tray of food and almost gagged. Please tell me you're eating better than that."

Miguel smiled at her and breathed out a laugh. "Sadly, I'm not. But, my mom is gonna bring over some of my yaya's cooking later. I've been looking forward to it all day."

"Good. Because I refuse to let them pump whatever green goo that was into your body. You only need the best to fully recover," she firmly said, and stood up. She began to slowly walk around the room, looking around. "I've never actually been in, like, a true hospital room."

"Really?" he leaned up. "You weren't admitted after the fight?"

Emmy froze for a split second at the mention, but quickly regained her senses and grabbed a random magazine on a table. "No. Just had to get some stitches and got my jaw checked out. Your little girlfriend got me pretty good."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Tory."

"No, you're other one."

Miguel deflated with a sigh. "Are you still mad about that?"

She looked up from the magazine. "Are you being serious? Of course I'm still mad about it. You kissed Sam. You hurt a lot of people, Mig."

"Who?" Miguel said with genuine concern. 

"Tory, Sam..." she sighed, placing the magazine down and folded her arms over her chest. "Me."

"You?"

"Yeah, me."

"How did I hurt you?" Miguel didn't mean it to come out aggressive, he just didn't know how him kissing Sam affected Emmy.

"You know," she began. "I spent a lot of nights wondering how I was gonna say this, but as of lately, I realized that I just don't care anymore. So, I'm just gonna tell you. I liked you. A lot. Since that fucking Halloween dance. And watching you be with my sister was like torture."

Miguel's eyes were wide, not expecting that extremely nonchalant confession coming from the girl in front of him. "You liked me?"

"Yeah," she quietly responded, looking down at the ground. "You can ask Hawk. Or maybe call up Aisha. They can tell you how devastated I was."

He gulped. "I ⎯ I don't know what to say. I had no idea."

"Don't worry, Mig," Emmy chuckled, walking up to his side again and pat his shoulder. "I wasn't expecting you to. I hid it better than I thought I would."

Miguel felt conflicted, not sure if he should speak up. 

"Well, I'll let you rest or whatever you need to do," she softly told him and turned around to walk out. 

"Wait, Emmy!" Miguel winced as he made a sudden movement to get up. 

She hummed, feeling her heart start to beat out of her chest. Her face looked calm, but on the inside, she felt like she was on the verge of a breakdown. 

"Would you..." he hesitated. "Would you ever like me again?"

Her lips parted for a second, before she gave a tight lipped smile. "I never stopped."

His eyes widened again, rendering himself speechless. 

"I hope you get better," and then she quickly left the room, feeling tears prick her eyes. The amount of guilt that was consuming her while even looking at Miguel's state was enough to send her mind into a frenzy. If she stayed even longer, she would have gotten on her knees and begged for his forgiveness. 

"Jesus, Emmy," she muttered to herself, trying to hurry out of the hospital. 

✸

"Again? Seriously? What the hell is wrong with you guys?"

Emmy stomped over to Hawk and a couple other Cobra Kais, seeing Nate trapped in her best friends arms. He had called her after her visit with Miguel, vaguely telling her to meet them at this specific location. Nate's glasses were broken, he had blood coming out of his forehead, and bruises littered his body. 

"How many times have I told you guys to have some fucking self control?" she yanked Nate away from Hawk, but kept the boy in her grip so that he didn't run. 

"They used Miguel as their poster child," Hawk shrugged. "We couldn't let that happen."

"Poster child for what?"

"Why are you never caught up on anything?" Mitch asked. 

Emmy glared at him. "I was busy visiting Miguel. Now tell me what happened."

"They had some car wash to raise money. Used Miguel."

"We just wanted to raise money ⎯ " Emmy slapped a hand over Nate's mouth, telling him to shush. 

"That idea no doubt coming from my dear sister. But that doesn't mean you guys can go and jump the weakest kid in Miyagi-Do. Makes you look bad. You should've gone for, like, Chris or something if you wanna make a statement."

Emmy then spun Nate around to face her, and she frowned at his injured face. "Poor thing. Dragged into a fight you can't compete in. Next time, don't stick around. 'kay?"

He instantly nodded, and she smiled. "Good. Go."

Nate didn't hesitate to hop onto his bike and speed off, and Emmy sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "Since this was obviously your idea, the two of you can go. I need to have a talk with him."

The two other boys nodded, getting on their motorbikes and ride away from the scene. 

Emmy sighed again, turning to Hawk. "With the amount of trouble I'm getting you out of, I'm starting to feel like your fucking mom. What were you thinking?"

Hawk scoffed. "I couldn't just let them use Miguel for their own gain."

"Look, I'm the biggest hater of Miyagi-Do, and you know it, but even I can tell you that they were just trying to raise money for his surgery. Which is something extremely important right now," she scolded him. "There's no way that his mom can afford that by herself. And I don't see her and yaya protesting the help."

He stayed silent, and she lightly slapped his shoulder. "Stop using your anger against people who haven't done anything yet. What we need to do is focus on supporting Miguel and helping Cobra Kai get stronger. Alright?"

"Alright," he grumbled in agreement. "How'd your talk with Miguel go?"

Emmy winced as she remembered. Hawk grimaced. "That bad?"

"Wasn't bad, but... I might've told him I liked him."

His eyes widened. "You what? What did he say?"

"Nothing that said he liked me back," she folded her arms over her chest. "I didn't show it, but I felt really stupid. Because Sam was just there and I probably just confused him more."

Hawk patted her back in comfort. "Trust me. Things will work out between you guys. I've been telling you. He's crazy about you. Come on. My mom rented out "Me Before You.""

She followed him to his motorbike with raised eyebrows. "Are you saying you're gonna willingly gonna watch that with me to make me feel better?"

He rolled his eyes, patting the seat behind him. "Just get on."

"You are so obsessed with me," she teasingly said, grabbing the helmet in his hands and climbed onto the back. 

✸

Emmy stood outside of Miguel's hospital room, foot tapping anxiously against the floor as she contemplated her decision. When she came by the other day, she wasn't really expecting to tell Miguel about her feelings, but she did. And she was gonna have to face him one day. 

No, you got this. You're badass, she thought.

And without a second though, her hand grabbed the door handle and twisted it, pushing the door in. Miguel snapped his head at the noise, eyes widening at the sight of the LaRusso girl standing in the door way.

"Hi," she softly said, gently shutting the door behind her. 

"Hi," he greeted back just as softly. 

Emmy didn't come any closer to him, back flat against the door as she looked down at her feet. "So, about yesterday..."

"I've been wanting to talk about that," Miguel confessed, causing her to lift her head. "You never stopped liking me?"

She pressed her lips tightly together and shook her head. 

He let out a breath. "Not even when you saw me with Sam? Or Tory?"

"How could I?" she asked. "Miguel, you are probably one of the greatest guys I have ever met. Even if I wanted to get over you, I couldn't. And to be honest, I didn't want to."

"You'd really fight for a guy like me?"

"Are you serious?" she looked at him like he was crazy. "Miguel, I have never felt anything like this with anyone else. You are the first guy to ever shake me up like this. And you were the first guy to ever choose me over Sam."

A small smile sprouted on Miguel's face. "You know, when I first met you, I thought you were just joking about being my friend. Until we had our first sleepover, and things with you were just so easy. I mean, you somehow knew how to keep up a conversation or turn it into another. You're the reason I found out what true fun was."

Emmy gave a small laugh. "Remember when we all had a sleepover at Hawk's and we ended up sneaking out at 2 in the morning?"

"How could I?" Miguel's smile grew bigger. "It was my first time ever sneaking out. You pushed me out the window."

"Only because you were holding us up," she gave a bigger laugh, leaving the door and sat down next to his bed. "If I hadn't then Hawk's mom would have caught us."

He then held up his hand. "I still have the scar from that stupid branch."

"Hey!" she grabbed his hand, examining the scar. "At least now you have a memory of the best night ever."

"I guess I do," he chuckled, pulling his hand away. 

Emmy then felt her phone buzz, but she ignored it. Miguel, however, couldn't. "You're not gonna answer that?"

"It's probably just Hawk trying to get out of trouble again. I'll let him deal with that on his own," she waved him off, resting her elbow on his bed and leaned her cheek against her palm. "I kinda just wanna hang out with you right now."

He shyly smiled. "Thanks. It's been getting lonely in here."

"Well then, I'll be in here everyday. As long as you want me."

"Can I tell you something?"

"Go ahead."

"I've always liked you too."

Emmy shrugged. "I know."

"What do you mean you know?" he asked. 

"Well, I haven't always known, but when you talked about our sleepover, I got a good feeling."

Miguel chuckled. "You and your feelings."

"Hey," she lightly slapped his arm. "My feelings have always been right."

"And what does your feeling tell you now?"

She hummed, tilting her head as she pondered. "It's telling me that...you wanna kiss me. Is it right?"

Miguel leaned in closer to her. "It indeed is."

Emmy giggled, surging forward and gently grabbed his face. Their lips connected softly, and fireworks ignited in Emmy's stomach. It was light, and she suddenly get giddy. 

She pulled away first, a giddy smile on her face. 

"I wanna make it work with you," Miguel whispered. 

Emmy leaned in closer, their faces mere inches apart. "Me too."

Miguel grinned, snatching a quick peck before pulling back. "Good."

And then Emmy's phone buzzed, making her sigh. She was prepared to yell at Hawk through text, only to see that her phone said that her alarm was going off. She furrowed her eyebrows, before her face dropped in realization. 

"Um, I know we're having a cute moment, but I have to go," she winced, standing up. 

"It's okay," Miguel reassured her. "Where you going?"

She just shrugged. "Just to go see a friend I haven't seen in a while."

"Okay. See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow."

✸

Emmy's leg bounced up and down as her fingers played with each other on top of the table. She could feel the guard's eyes scorching themselves into the back of her head, no doubt wondering why she would want to visit that new kid of all people since she normally saw someone else. 

The door opened, and Emmy's leg stopped moving, her head lifting up in expectance. 

Robby immediately froze at the sight of her, hearing the door close behind him. "You have 30 minutes."

He absentmindedly nodded, legs moving by themselves and sat in the seat across from her. "Emmy."

"Hey," she softly said. 

"What are you doing here?" Robby was happy to see her, but he was also confused. 

"I found out that you're here. And I couldn't not come see you," she explained. 

"How did you find out I was here? I wanted to write more to you, I swear. But, I just couldn't find the time," he glanced down at his clenched fist. 

"You don't have to explain that to me," she chuckled. "You were running, I get it. And believe it or not, I have a friend here who I come to see often. He told me about some new guy and I just put the pieces together."

His lips quirked up. "I figured you didn't want anything to do with me anymore."

Emmy scoffed. "As if. I actually missed you, you know? You're easy to talk to."

Robby chuckled. "Glad to hear that." And then his face dropped. "Is Miguel..."

"He's awake," Emmy said, and his face immediately flooded with relief. "And he's recovering. I went to see him today."

"Does he know that you..."

She shook her head and sighed. "No, he doesn't. And I have no idea how I'm going to."

Robby caught a look on her face and furrowed his eyebrows. "There's something else. It's all over your face. What is it?"

Emmy bit her lip. "I may have told him that I liked him... And right before I came here he told me he liked me back and we may or may not be trying a relationship out."

"Emmy!" Robby's eyes widened.

"I know!" she groaned. "I know I have to tell him before someone else does but I just can't do it. What if he hates me and this thing that has barely even begun fizzles out? I already have too much going on."

"Does anyone else know?"

"Kreese knows now. But still just you and Tory."

Robby rubbed his fingers over his eyes, not even trying to mask his disappointment. "You can't just act like it didn't happen. He might be angry but it would be so much better if you were the one who told him."

"I know," she repeated. "And we're not official or anything, so maybe that's better but I don't know."

He huffed, wanting nothing more than to grab her hand. "Look, just tell him. Everything is gonna blow up in your face if someone finds out and tells him instead."

Emmy bit the inside of her cheek. "What if everything blows up in my face even then?"

"Well, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," Robby shrugged. "You can always come talk to me."

She couldn't contain her smile, and felt a continuous buzz from her phone in her pocket. She quickly took it out, seeing Hawk and Mitch spamming her phone, asking where she was. Her eyes looked up at the time on her phone. "Shit. I'm late for training."

She turned back to Robby, he looked at her in understanding. She stood up, awkwardly standing there. "I would hug you but..."

"No, yeah. I would too," he stood up as well. "I'm really happy you came to see me."

"Well, get used to it cause you'll see me more often," she cheekily said. 

He smiled widely, and she turned to leave. "Who was your friend here again? I don't know if you said their name or not."

"Oh, yeah! Shawn? Shawn Payne?" Robby's face dropped. "He helped me when I first left my house and since he's been in here, I've been checking up on his brother. I come here to tell him how he's doing and to just hangout with him. He's cool. I think you two would get along."

Robby stood still on his spot, watching her walk away. 

Oh shit.

AUTHOR'S NOTE !

my babies are back