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

"THIS TASTES AMAZING," Élodie hummed as she took a sip of the drink Moon had handed her.

"It's good, isn't it? It has fresh açai, organic kale, and free trade hemp oil," she explained as Sam's face twisted in confusion, "Hemp oil? I mean, this isn't gonna get me high, is it?"

"Of course not, Sammy," Élodie giggled, getting comfy on the end of Sam's bed again as Moon grinned, "No! It's supposed to balance your kinetic energy."

"I'm really glad you called. I missed hanging out with you," Sam smiled, and Moon nodded, her eyes lingering a little longer on Élodie, "Me too. And I'm glad we can be friends now, El. Sorry for the whole Hawk misunderstanding. You guys are cute together, he really loves you."

Élodie frowned, "We—We broke up."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Moon blushed, embarrassed, "I shouldn't have opened my mouth!"

Sam interrupted, trying to ease the tension? "So, which one do you like better? I've been wearing the white top a lot..." she pointed to the two shirts on the bed.

"Well, why does it matter? You're just gonna get all sweaty," Moon questioned, furrowing her brows, "Wait... Do you have a crush?"

"I don't have a crush."

"She so has a crush."

"Is it Robby? Oh, my God!" Moon gasped.

Élodie smiled over at an anxious looking Sam, "It's fine, seriously. He doesn't feel that way about me anymore. You guys would be cute."

"We haven't... We almost kissed. But that's it. He's definitely still got feelings for you though, El. It's so obvious."

"Does Miguel know?" Élodie asked, trying to deter the conversation from herself.

"There's nothing to know. It's crazy. After last year, I got back into karate to get away from all the drama," Sam shook her head as she spoke, and Élodie scoffed with a laugh, "Tell me about it!"

"Well, my mom's therapist always says, 'you can't hide from your heart.'," Moon told them, and both girls smiled sadly across at her, " I think you should wear
the blue one, Sam. It goes with your eyes."

"Can you be completely honest with me about something, Sam?" Élodie was scared to begin this conversation, but she felt like now was as good of a time as any.

"Always. What is it?"

"Is everything completely over with Miguel?" Élodie gulped, as Sam nodded, "It seems so, yeah. And I... I do like Robby. So yeah. Why?"

Élodie suddenly regretted saying anything. Would Moon think she could try things with Eli again if she heard Miguel kissed her? Would Sam be angry?

"Miguel... He kissed me tonight," she drew in a sharp breath, a tear slipping from her eye, "And told me to be honest with myself about how I feel. But now I'm-I'm so confused. I love Eli so much but... I'm all over the place."

"Do you have any feelings for Miguel?" Sam's voice was sharp, but Élodie knew she wasn't mad at her, just surprised, "Sometimes people do have feelings for more than one person at once." Okay, so she definitely wasn't over Miguel.

"Since the tournament, I've not really thought about it. I don't think I do... He's my best friend. I just don't know what to do."

Moon rested her hand on Élodie's shoulder, a reassuring smile on her face, "Like I said... You can't hide from your heart. Maybe you need to let yourself see how you truly feel. Pushing away your feelings won't help that."

Élodie's heart was racing. Was she implying that she should try things out with Miguel?

"I don't want to do anything like that right now. I think I need time where I'm just friends with everyone. I can't mess with people's feelings," she shrugged, sadly, "Besides, Miguel probably is just projecting onto me because of your breakup."

"What, like Robby is projecting onto me because he still likes you?" Sam replied.

"Sam—,"

"He told me that you said you loved Hawk, and that you'd never said that to him, Élodie," her voice was harsher now, and Élodie could tell she was less than impressed, "He loves you. I can see it. I've been trying to convince myself otherwise but... It's not just Miguel you have wrapped around your finger."

Élodie rose to her feet, overwhelmed. Tears erupted from her eyes, despite her fighting to keep them away.

"He doesn't— I don't—,"

"I'm having a hard time believing you're not falling for him again too, El. I see how you two are together..."

The tears didn't stop coming as Élodie's lip trembled, heart pounding and her hands shaking.

"I—, I need to go."

———

"I saw you kiss Élodie last night," Tory tutted as she crossed her arms over her chest, a glare set on her face, "I was coming to your place to see if you wanted to hang out. But of course you were busy with her."

Miguel felt his stomach lurch, "You... You saw that?"

"Don't worry, I like Élodie. And I know Hawk loves her. I saw her reject you. But I think he needs to know she's not got her heart fully set on him so he gets back on track with training. We can't afford him moping about thinking of her all day."

Miguel shook his head, heart palpitations thrumming in his chest.

He took a step closer to her, "Please don't tell him... It was a mistake. Whether she likes me back or not she doesn't want me. I just needed to know. It'll ruin Hawk if you tell him. Please."

"This dojo is falling apart with you two pining over girls. Well, girl. It's time you realised there's more to life. You know, I thought you might like me." Tory shrugged sadly, "But of course not. Besides, I think she's been getting close to Robby Keene again anyway. If we're going to get better, we need to get angrier. This is the ticket."

Miguel's heart leapt, "Tory... I do like you, I just—,"

"Just not as much as her. Or even Sam. God."

And then Sensei Lawrence and Sensei Kreese appeared, splitting the teams into two sides and stopping their conversation right at its peak.

"Gentlemen, ladies. Welcome to Coyote Creek," Kreese smirked as the Cobra Kai members stood in two rows, facing eachother, "You've been split into two teams. Red... And black."

Miguel's eyes were fixed on Eli, and Tory's eyes flickered between the two of them.

Would she really tell him?

Eli was Miguel's best friend — and he'd not done what he did to hurt him. He was just hurt and confused and overwhelmed by being treated like family by Élodie's grandma.

Above that, Tory was friends with Élodie too. Granted, they were hardly close, especially since the Miyagi-do dojo was destroyed and he assumed Élodie knew Tory was involved, but surely she wouldn't want to fuck everything up for her.

"The goal is to capture as many headbands as possible from the other side. Today, the people across from you are not your friends," Miguel caught eye contact with Tory for a moment, frowning, "They're not your brothers. They are the enemy," he felt Eli's eyes on him, his heart rate increasing impossibly as he flashed him a smile.

"The last team standing wins."

Tory placed her hand on Miguel's shoulder, and he shrugged it off. Did she really believe this was for the better?

"How do we get the headbands?" Miguel asked, his voice wavering.

"By any means possible. No rules."

Miguel twiddled with his fingers anxiously, suddenly feeling claustrophobic even in the wide-open expanse of the forest.

"This is just a training exercise," Johnny reasoned, his expression stoic as Kreese continued to eye the group with a smirk on his face.

"Correct, but remember, this is your life," he gestured to the headband between his hands, "You lose it, you die."

———

"Hey, Élodie. It's Robby... Sensei kicked our asses in training today, but I wanted to check in because you weren't there and you never miss training. Sam's not talking to me again and I'm worried she's said something to you but... I just want to know you're okay. Call me back when you get this. Please." Beep.

Élodie returned her phone to her pocket, her heart racing.

"Grams, I don't know what to do."

Marjorie Marshall shot her a sad smile, pulling her granddaughter into a hug and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Oh darling, I knew you'd be caught up in all this boy nonsense but I didn't expect three boys in love with you at once, eh," she teased, "You get your charm from me, sweetie."

"Grams!"

Marjorie laughed lightly, "Sorry, Élodie. You really do just need to follow your heart. You're waiting for some kind of sign for what you should do, but only you can make that decision. You love this Eli boy, I can see it. And you care about Miguel. In fact, I'd go as far as to say you have feelings for all three of them. That Robby boy cares about you so very much. And that's okay. Just be considerate of their feelings alright?"

Élodie pondered her words, nodding, "I just don't know how to figure it out without hurting them. Eli promised he'd change for me... Do I have to wait that out to see if he means it? If he's the one for me?"

"Well you're close friends with Robby, right? So I'd imagine things are okay on that front — that'll figure itself out as you spend time together. Same goes for Eli, if you're giving him a chance to change. Just don't get his hopes up too quickly," her grandmother reassured her.

"And Miguel?"

"He's the tough cookie, darling. You've hurt him, you've really hurt him," Marjorie didn't want to upset her granddaughter further, but it was the truth, "He adores you, and you've given him such mixed signals. You need to patch things up with him, however you can."

Élodie nodded. Perhaps she was right — at the root of it all was the confusion in her friendships with the boys. She needed to apologise to Miguel for everything — and be honest with him about just how confused she felt.

Maybe that's what she needed to do with all of them.

———

"Hawk," Tory licked her lips with a small smile, taking the boy aside as they wandered aside to get started, "I have something to tell you."

Eli scoffed, "What, right now?"

"Well I thought I should tell you, and now seemed like my best chance," she shrugged, feigning a frown. Her stomach turned — she did feel guilty, she knew she shouldn't really do this — but part of her did believe it was the right thing, "I saw Miguel and Élodie kiss last night."

"You—You what?"

His head had snapped up to meet her gaze, and her throat almost closed up at the sight of his distraught expression.

Shit, maybe this wasn't a good idea.

"I went over to see if he wanted to hang out, and I watched him kiss her," Tory gulped, watching Hawk's eyes well up with tears, before he sniffled them away, "I'm sorry, dude."

Eli gritted his teeth, swallowing hard as he took in the news — was the real reason Élodie broke up with him Miguel? He'd spent his time worrying about her and Robby, but Miguel still harboured feelings for her all this time too. Maybe he'd won her over.

"Did she—did she kiss back?"

This made Tory pause for a moment.

Should she tell him the truth, or spin the lie that Élodie was more than happy to kiss him? One could tear apart his friendship, but one would only tear apart his relationship with Élodie further.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure she did. Seems she's keeping all three of you on your toes."

———

Élodie had been sat in Marjorie's spare bedroom for over an hour now, headphones in and the rest of the world shut out.

She genuinely didn't know what to do — she thought the whole karate nonsense was bad enough, but how had she managed to get herself into this love... square?

She knew it was all very cliché and that she couldn't keep hurting the three boys, not when she cared about all of them so much. But she was so fucking confused.

A knock suddenly sounded at the door, and Grams' voice sounded softly from the other side as she paused Mitski for a moment, "Élodie, my darling, there's someone here to see you."

"I don't want to see anyone right now, Grams."

"It's okay, I can go." Robby.

Élodie sighed, "No, it's okay. Come in."

Robby wandered in, concern etched on his features as he entered the room and Marjorie Marshall sent her granddaughter a knowing look, shutting the door behind him and staying on the other side of it.

"Look I'm not going to beat around the bush... After I sent that voicemail I realised Sam had probably told you that I told her how I was feeling. About you," Robby's hands were stuffed in his pockets, his cheeks a deep crimson, "And I'm sorry for that, because above all else I'm just enjoying being your friend again. Because we never... we never did the whole friends thing before we got together."

Élodie gestured for him to sit beside her on the bed, pulling her headphones out properly and tossing her phone aside.

"She really likes you, Robby," she frowned, looking down at her lap, "And I feel like an asshole because I can't help how you feel or... or... how I feel. I'm hurting everyone I care about and I feel like I can't even control it."

Robby reached out, about to rest his palm on her knee reassuringly, but he retracted his hand, fearing making her uncomfortable.

"I know you still love Hawk. I don't need to be more than friends, Élodie," he sent her a shy smile, "I just like being around you. Talking to Sam about us made me realise that I do love you and I was upset because you love him and you never loved me. But I love you enough that I'm happy to just be your friend if that's all you want. I've made a lot of mistakes, but you're the one person whose presence in my life has never felt like a mistake. You've always been this—this one positive thing. And I'm lucky to have you even as a friend."

"Robby..."

"You don't need to say anything, El. I promise, it's okay," he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, broadening his smile as if to ease her worries, "I'm here. As a friend. And yeah, I still think Hawk is a douche, but if you're not ready to give up on him yet... That's okay."

Élodie reached up and took Robby's hand from where it lingered in front of her face, clasping both of her hands around it and bringing it to her rib cage.

He could feel the fast pitter-patter of her heartbeat, but he knew she was just holding his hand close to show her appreciation of all he'd just said.

"I really don't deserve you being this understanding," she spoke softly, crying gently now as opposed to the wracking sobs of the previous hour, "So thank you. I'm sorry I've been awful and confused, because none of you deserve it... But just... Thank you."

Robby just nodded, pressing a kiss to her forehead. They sat in silence for a moment, before it seemed he had a lightbulb moment.

"Hey, there's an 80s costume night at the roller rink tomorrow night," he told Élodie, watching her eyes light up at the sound of it, "We could go... To take your mind off things? As friends. Just as friends."

"I'd like that. As friends. I think I need the distraction. But only if we keep our costumes a surprise!"

Robby laughed, nodding, "I'm cool with that." He stood up, heading to the doorway of the room and glancing back at her.

He leaned in the doorway for just a moment, sending her a warm smile again, "I'll leave you to it but... I'm a call away if you need me. Even if it is about Hawk."

Élodie giggled softly, wiping away a tear and nodding, "I'll see you soon, Robby. Tell Sensei I'll be back in training soon."

He nodded, almost out of the door when Élodie's shy voice croaked again, "And by the way... I did love you. I know I shouldn't tell you that now, not when I'm scared of hurting you, but you deserve to know that I did. I was just afraid. I'm sorry for never telling you."

———

Miguel stood vigilant, glancing around him to see who was left to steal headbands from.

It was only seconds before Eli appeared in front of him, a dark scowl on his face and fury behind his eyes.

"You kissed Élodie. You fucking kissed Élodie."

Miguel's breath practically stopped, and he was suddenly acutely aware of each breath he took as Hawk approached him, an immediate swing being thrown to push him to the floor.

"I'm sorry Hawk. Please believe that. I never meant to confuse things more and I meant it when I said I'd back off," he choked out, praying that Hawk would snatch his headband and leave, "I just needed a bit of clarity and I got mixed up in my feelings in the moment."

But Hawk wasn't going to back off, not this swiftly. Not after that.

His knee pressed to his best friend's chest, not so hard that he couldn't breathe but firm enough that he was at his will entirely.

"You know that I love her, that I've been trying to be better for her. You know that. But still you let me worry about Robby while you were creeping in instead?"

Miguel shook his head, the headband falling from it as he panted out ragged breaths, "It's not like that, I swear. Her Grams invited me for dinner and it just... It brought things back too m-much for me. But she rejected me. She doesn't want me, Hawk. She wants you."

The rage on Hawk's face softened for just a moment, before he bore a steely grin that scared even Miguel now as he leaned in closer.

"That's not the problem, Diaz. You're not backing off. You're making this whole thing harder. I'm trying, man," Hawk looked away for a moment, before snapping his gaze back, "And because Sam didn't want you anymore either you're trying to ruin me and Élodie. She's all I've got, man. She's everything to me. You're not ruining that."

He snatched the headband from beside Miguel's head, releasing his knee and standing up with a sour expression on his face.

"You ruined things yourself, Hawk," Miguel huffed out as he rose to his feet, "I've just made the mistake of not being a good friend," he broke eye contact for a moment, his voice quieter, "To either of you. And I know that now. And I mean it when I say I'll back off."

"You're my best friend, Miguel. My best friend. So please. Or I really will have to show no mercy like Sensei Kreese says."

Hawk's voice broke as he turned on his heel, heading back to the group with the headband in his palm and his heart in his throat.

"I'm sorry."

───── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─────
AUTHOR'S NOTE !
oh god that was so long and so chaotic and i feel rlly anxious posting it in case u
all hate it???? but i hope it's okay and you enjoy the drama — especially u robby stans !!!!

sorry for like no elidie lately, but as the chaos of all this ensues and we approach the party school fight... we'll see! also to note: tory and miguel have been getting closer behind the scenes until this chapter so she is also mad and jealous

thanks for reading, please leave comments/votes and let me know what you thought! <3