────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──────
──EPISODE FOUR

           ELI HAD BEEN TRYING to contact Élodie every single moment since he'd left Valley Fest, regret weighing heavy on his chest like a boulder.

Élodie hadn't replied to a single text, nor answered a single call, and much like when he'd given her the ultimatum about Miguel, she'd found herself curled up in her bedroom wishing the ache in her chest would dissipate.

He may not have directly done something to hurt her, but what he'd done displayed blatant disrespect for her when it came to the one thing they clashed on.

Cobra Kai had changed him, and she was sure it was time to remove her rose-tinted glasses and come to terms with the fact that the Eli she'd fallen for seemed to exist only in traces now, Hawk now entirely the puppet master of his actions.

She knew it was only a matter of time before he turned up at her door grovelling for her forgiveness, but she was struggling to process her own emotions and couldn't cope with the notion of dealing with his pathetic apologies.

How could he tell her he loved her and then swipe the elation of his confession away so swiftly with a betrayal?

Taylor Swift had blared from her speakers until the early hours of the morning, the cliched heartbreak remedy enveloping her in security that her feelings were valid and she could wallow in her upset.

But at 8:30AM, just as her stepmother left for work and she was cocooned in her blanket bleary-eyed and sleep-deprived, she heard a voice from behind her bedroom door that she didn't want to hear so soon.

Her stepmom had obviously let him in, oblivious and uncaring about why he was here, and Élodie cursed her for that. Why couldn't he have come at a time less ridiculous? Or, she proposed, not at all.

"Élodie, please let me in," his voice broke mid-sentence, raspy and coarse, "I know you hate me right now but I need you to let me in, princess. Please?"

"What do you want, Hawk?" the venom on her tongue as she spoke startled him, but the click of the lock startled him only more. By the time he'd gotten the courage to open it though, she was curled up in her bed again.

"I'm so sorry," he frowned, and she couldn't help but notice what a mess he looked, "I know I shouldn't have done what I did... I promised I wouldn't let you down and I did it anyway."

Élodie shrugged, as if his apology meant absolutely nothing to her, "Okay, and? I'm supposed to just say alrighty then and we kiss and make up so you can prioritise them over and over again?"

"I've learnt from this, Élodie, I can't lose you, not you, not after everything. I meant it when I said I love you," he stepped closer, revealing Anakin from behind his back held by his ear between the fingers of a clenched fist, "I let the competition thing get the better of me, and that's not fair on you."

Élodie shook her head, "Don't you see that you're talking shit, even if you don't mean to be? You're not my Eli anymore, not outwardly at least. This persona you have going on might work wonders elsewhere but I know you, Eli. The real you. And this isn't him."

"So what, you're saying you don't want to be with me anymore?" his voice broke as he spoke, and for a moment Élodie could see Eli beneath the hawked hair, "Because if you are—,"

"I really don't want this, but I can't be with you," tears spilled from Élodie's glassy eyes as she looked deeply at the heartbroken boy before her, "I'm sorry, but I can't keep doing this."

"I promise you I'll change, Élodie, I promise," Hawk begged, pacing to Élodie's side and taking both of her hands in his, "I love you, Ellie, I can't lose you--"

"I love you too, of course I do, and I never wanted to lose you either... But I already did."

———

"You can't stay holed up in your room forever, Élodie, I'm glad you're at least going to the shop," Miguel's voice hummed through the phone, and the young girl sighed as she knew he was right, "I'm still upset about Sam, and well everything, but you can't cheer up if you don't let yourself try."

Élodie bit her lip, "I know, Miggy," she could practically hear him smile at the sound of the nickname again, "But I'm really really fucking mad at you too. All of you. It's not just Eli to blame for this... I can't believe you all. I thought I meant more than this pathetic karate rivalry."

"You do, okay?" Miguel huffed, feeling guilty, "And as much as it's weird for me to be begging you to forgive Hawk, he really misses you. We did what we thought was a good idea for the dojo, and I know it was wrong but... It's Cobra Kai vs. Miyagi-Do, El... Even if you don't want it to be."

"Look, I don't want any of this," Élodie snapped, before sighing as she didn't want an argument, her tone softening, "I just wanted my boyfriend, my best friends and the ability to do a sport I love. But apparently I can't have all of that because of petty rivalry bullshit. I'm sorry that that doesn't sit well with me, Miggy."

There was a moment's silence before Miguel replied, "I'm sorry, Élodie."

"I know," she mumbled, "Look I just got to the store... I'll speak to you soon. Look after Eli for me, please? I haven't forgiven him but... I care. More than I should, probably."

She hung up as the door to the mini-mart swung open.

Collecting the items she'd gone in for, and an extra few snacks for her wallowing-in-sadness plans for the evening, she stumbled into a girl who looked around her age, items clattering to the floor.

"I'm so sorry," she gasped, clambering to retrieve them, and saw the girl's jaw clench before it relaxed again, "It's alright, I wasn't looking where I was going either."

Élodie blushed red as she rose to her feet again, the girl's eyes scanning the various snacks she was holding, "Let me guess, break up?"

The brunette bit her lip with a laugh, "How could you tell?"

The blonde shook her head, laughing, "Lucky guess," she teased, "I'm Tory, by the way."

"Élodie," she smiled shyly in response as Aisha walked in now too, greeting the girl who looked sadly over at her, still upset by her actions.

"I'm sorry about last night..." she frowned, "Oh hey, Tory, right? It's nice to have you as part of Cobra Kai... Uh, sorry, Elodie."

"Look I'm still upset but I can't afford to just mope," Élodie shrugged, suddenly deciding to put back of some of the things she'd accumulated, "Besides, you may be one of my best friends and have upset me, but my breakup with Eli wasn't all because of that night. I just need to get my mind off him."

Aisha pulled her into a hug as Tory watched silently for a moment, before breaking into a smile, "I know we've just met, but we should all go somewhere. Nothing helps post breakup like a girls day, I'd guess."

Élodie grinned, heart swelling at the proposal as it was nice she'd not only made a new friend, but she might actually get out of the pit she'd created in her room properly now.

"We could go to the country club?" Aisha suggested, nervously, "I wasn't going to because Sam's gonna be there but... Well... I guess she's still your good friend, El."

"Sounds like a plan!"

———

"So you got pushed around, so what?" Hawk snapped down the phone to Demetri, whose face was adorned with stitches after a run in with Kreese at the dojo, "Get over it. You were in a karate dojo, that's the whole point."

He was still upset about what had happened between himself and Élodie, and even though it wasn't fair to take this out on Demetri he couldn't help it. He was heartbroken.

"It was aggravated assault, Eli," Demetri scoffed, "I looked it up. That's a year in prison and a $10,000 fine."

"Stop being such a bitch, Demetri. You know what happens to snitches," Eli growled, face twisted in a nasty expression.

"They get immunity," Demetri deadpanned.

"Snitches get stitches."

"I have stitches. I've got several stitches," Demetri scowled, "You've lost the girl you love and haven't learnt anything... All you care about is Cobra Kai. She was right to break up with you."

"Don't do anything stupid, you'll regret it," Hawk seethed.

"I would say the same to you, but I think it's too late," Demetri replied, to which Eli promptly ended the call, furious.

He knew he was right, but he was fuming all the same.

"What happened?" Miguel asked, leaving the dojo and sauntering to his best friend's side, "That pussy Demetri couldn't handle training with Mr. Kreese. He's not Cobra Kai material."

The smirk on his face didn't sit well with Miguel, who scoffed, "Jesus Christ, Hawk. You really are blinded by him aren't you? Even after everything with El?"

"You don't know anything about me and El, Miguel," Eli snapped, but the pain in his voice was more than clear, "I love her. I'm going to get her back... but Cobra Kai is still important to me. You said you'd stay out of our relationship."

Miguel shook his head, "This is exactly why she broke up with you, man. I don't know how you haven't learned anything still. I know I messed up too, but she was my best friend before anything else... You have to see how much this is hurting her."

Hawk swallowed thickly, his expression displaying his conflicted emotions. He knew that Miguel was right, but he was dedicated to Cobra Kai as much as he was dedicated to Élodie, and he was determined to find a way to balance his two loves.

"Dude, leave it. Seriously."

And with that he left, leaving Miguel to confront Johnny about just how much of an impact Kreese was having on the Cobra Kai students.

———

"Hey." Sam's voice was shy, and Élodie shot her a sympathetic smile as she shuffled slightly closer to her, "Hey Sam."

"So, how's it going?"

"You realize we're not okay," Aisha deadpanned, and Élodie frowned, taken aback by her hostility, "Hold up, what are you mad about?"

"Yeah, you guys are the ones who stomped all over our Valley Fest demo." Sam argued, scoffing.

"Only after your father attacked our dojo," Aisha huffed, "What were we supposed to do? At least Élodie wasn't in your stupid ad."

"Aisha..." Élodie warned.

"He didn't attack you guys," Sam pouted, and Élodie nodded in agreement, "He's just trying to do the right thing, Aish."

"What, so, Cobra Kai is wrong?"

"It's not wrong. It's just..." Sam began, fumbling over her words for a moment, "You know how torn apart El has been because of Hawk. And you can't say Cobra Kai isn't even slightly to blame for that."

Aisha looked down at her feet, knowing that Sam was at least partly right. Élodie on the other hand just felt incredibly awkward now that Eli had been mentioned, "Anyway, guys, what are we all doing? It's our summer vacation, we're at the beach, and we're fighting about fuckin' karate?"

"You're right," Sam giggled, "we should be fighting about boys. Or who's gonna get the last piece of pretzel bread," she paused, but Élodie swiped it from the table before the others could get to it.

All of a sudden Tory reappeared, a vodka bottle clutched between her fingers and a mischievious smirk on her face, "Look what I got!"

Sam furrowed her brows, "Where did you get that?"

"I swiped it from the bar," she shrugged, noticing Sam's panicked expression, "Oh, relax. All the adults are getting wasted, no one's gonna notice if we have a little fun."

Élodie gulped, "Oh. Sam, this is Tory, Tory, Sam."

"Oh. The Sam."

"Yes, the Sam... My best friend. So can we all just get on, please? One drink... That's it."

"That's my girl."

———

"God I hate girl drama," Élodie rolled her eyes as she slumped down next to Robby. She was acutely aware of how his eyes raked her bikini-clad body, but she shrugged it off, "My life is dramatic enough as it is."

Robby smiled sadly, "How're you holding up?"

Élodie shrugged, "Not good. Imagine exchanging 'I love you's  and then doing that. God, I still can't believe it. Sorry I'm dumping this on you I—,"

Robby suddenly looked startled, shifting in his seat a little. He sat up, his eyes serious, "You love him?"

"Yep." Élodie's voice was quiet as she popped the p, her eyes falling to her lap as she played with her fingers, "It sucks."

Robby tried to internally quell the searing disappointment. She had never told him she loved him when they dated. He'd never gotten to hear those words, but Hawk had and he'd thrown it all down the drain.

"Listen, he doesn't deserve you," he took her hands in his, keeping them in her lap, "I mean... I know we broke up but I'd have done anything for you, I'd never have done anything to hurt you. Never. If he loved you, he'd feel the same."

Élodie drew in a sharp breath, meeting his intense stare for a moment as she tried to smile, "Maybe you're right. I'm sorry about us, by the way. I know it's all in the past but... I hope you know I mean it. Circumstances just weren't right for us."

Robby nodded, but Élodie could clearly sense him holding something back. Whatever that something was.

"Anyway, why did you look so sad before I came over?"

"I was, uh, about to leave. Amanda's wallet was stolen and I think I know who it was, and where it'll be," he blushed, embarrassed because he knew Élodie understood that it was the assholes he used to spend his time with to blame.

"I'll come with you, yeah?" she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before releasing it and standing up, gesturing for him to follow her as she threw her beach cover up over her bikini.

She followed him out of the country club and down towards the beach, heading straight for the exact spot under the boardwalk where he knew the missing items would be. Sure enough, with a wriggle of his hands, out fell a number of various stolen wallets.

"I knew it."

Suddenly the culprits swung round the corner, rolling their eyes when they spotted Robby stood stern, "Ugh. This guy here, man. He brought his girl again, huh."

"Same shit, different summer. I found your stash. You're gonna give it all back."

"The hell we are."

"You didn't learn your lesson last time? That's cool," Trey smirked, "We can give you a refresher course."

Robby squared up, raising his fists, "Bring it."

But in the blink of an eye, Robby was in a headlock courtesy of a new third guy Élodie didn't recognise, and her eyes fell upon a knife.  She panicked, about to step in until Mr. LaRusso appeared, "Leave him alone."

Whilst the assholes laughed, uttering bullshit about him being a grandpa, Élodie swung her fists up too, helping Daniel and Robby to fight them off. When they were all wrestled to the ground, Élodie beamed at her team, licking her lips as she regained her breath and caught sight of someone filming them.

"You two make one hell of a team, huh," Daniel smiled.

Élodie and Robby eyed each other for a moment, and Élodie nodded, but Robby's smile widened.

"We do, yeah."

────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──────
AUTHOR'S NOTE !
somewhat regretting the fact i do whole
episodes in each chapter now as they
have been getting longer & longer in s2!

sorry for my 8272626 month absence,
but i've been prewriting more of s2 so
i can actually get back to updating.

sorry for all the chaos and possibly
robby drama impending👁👄👁
i've been rewatching the show n
am whipped for eli again though lol