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──EPISODE SIX

"SO YOU'RE FORGIVING HIM?" Sam's face was twisted in confusion. Élodie blushed. She knew she sounded stupid, but it was all getting confusing for her too.

She shook her head, "Not fully. I just miss him, and he's promised he's going to try so he's... well, think of it like he's on probation."

"I think you're being crazy, El," Robby scoffed, and Élodie fought back her desire to roll her eyes, "He's an asshole now, you know that. What do you even see in him anymore? I bet it was him that destroyed Miyagi-do."

Élodie shook her head with a scowl, "I understand you don't like him but you don't know him like I do, guys. Besides, I was with him yesterday evening so it wasn't him. And stop projecting whatever weirdness is going on between you two onto me, and just fucking help me lift this please."

"What do you—,", Sam looked flustered.

"Nothing happened!" Robby's reply interrupted her swiftly.

"You guys are crazy," Élodie tutted, "I don't care what's going on so if you are worried about what I'll think about you having a thing," she wriggled her eyebrows, "It's cool with me. You deserve it." she looked at Robby with sincerity, ignoring the flutter in her chest at how he had been watching her intensely, looking back away.

Élodie didn't notice Robby's face drop. But Sam did.

"It's nothing, El," Sam half-smiled, "Anyway, we've got training to do."

"Yeah, yeah, training," Robby huffed as Demetri wandered over, slinging his bag down.

"Oh, uh... I sense I've chosen a bad moment to turn up?" he asked, more than aware of the awkwardness in the air, "Ah, Sensei. Thank god."

Daniel sidled up to them, a determined smile on his face as he clearly didn't sense the tension.

Before they could begin, though, familiar faces appeared at the entrance to the dojo.

"Uh... Excuse me. Is this Miyagi-Do?"

"Yeah."

"Come back for another beating?" Robby snapped, and Élodie rolled her eyes, "Calm down, Robby."

"This is one of the guys who was beating on Demetri," Robby justified his outburst, "Probably helped trash the dojo."

"We didn't have anything to do with that. But I am sorry about what happened at the mall. We just wanna learn Miyagi-Do karate."

Demetri looked doubtful, and Élodie couldn't be surprised even though she was a little more trusting, "I'd be careful about this, Mr. L," he eyed the boys with a scowl, "Letting the Cobra Kais into Miyagi-Do... It's like letting the wildlings behind the Wall."

Daniel smiled a knowing little smile, "Didn't the wildlings help Jon Snow win the Battle of the Bastards?"

Élodie laughed a little as she recalled watching Game of Thrones religiously with the LaRussos.

"Should've picked a different analogy, dude. Sensei fuckin' loves Game of Thrones," she teased, tongue in cheek as she nudged Demetri's side.

"We're happy to have you."

———

Élodie stood thumbing at the hem of her dress as she waited outside her grandmother's house, and just as she lifted her hand to open the door, she felt a presence behind her.

"Oh hey, Élodie," Miguel looked shy as she turned to face him, "I just— noticed you and wanted to come say hi."

Élodie smiled warmly at him, "Hey Miggy. I haven't seen Grams in the past week so I'm here for dinner. You okay?"

He nodded, but Élodie could tell something was on his mind. She raised an eyebrow at him as if to encourage him to genuinely be truthful.

"I want you to know I had nothing to do with what happened to Miyagi-do, El," he gulped, shifting on the balls of his feet, "But I found this in our dojo this morning and I wanted you to have it. To-to take it back."

He pulled Mr Miyagi's medal of honour from his jacket pocket, gesturing for Élodie to take it as she opened her palm.

"Oh my god, thank you Miggy," she place it in her own pocket, pulling him into a hug, "I didn't believe for a second it would've been you anyway, but thank you for bringing this back. Sensei will be so happy."

Miguel grinned as she pulled away from him, the beaming smile on her face infecting his face with one too, "It's okay, El. I couldn't have let us just... Keep it. I know it's important."

Élodie felt her heart warm, and when she briefly glanced to her grandma's window, she saw Grams just inside gesturing for her to invite Miguel in. So she did.

"You wanna join us for food?" she asked, a small grin on her face which was soon matched by one on her best friend's, "Yeah, I'd, uh, I'd like that actually. If that's okay?"

"Of course. Grams keeps asking when you'll come over, she said she always sees you," Élodie giggled, pushing open the front door to her grandmother's apartment, "Don't be shy around her, dude. She likes you. A lot."

Miguel followed her inside, to where Grams was plating up a pasta dish. She'd already laid out an additional placemat at the table, which made Élodie chuckle, "Hey Grams, you alright?"

"Ah, sweetheart," she sauntered over to her grand-daughter to pull her into a hug, before releasing her and bringing Miguel in for one too, "Miguel, darling boy. Finally."

Élodie laughed, "Grams, stop it. Food smells amazing though!"

The three settled at the dinner table, and Élodie eyed her best friend closely as he anxiously sat at her side.

"So, how have you been spending your week avoiding you since I saw you and your old friend?" Grams teased, earning a glare from her granddaughter as she felt Miguel's eyes widen in her direction, curiosity enveloping him, "I've not been avoiding you, I've just had a lot on my plate! I've been busy."

"And that other boy?"

"Eli? We're just friends right now, Grams," Élodie blushed crimson, feeling Miguel's eyes still burning into her side, "It's complicated. But I've been spending time with the girls and... And Robby too, yes."

She heard Miguel's inhale at her other ex-boyfriend's name again, but tried to ignore the connotations of this reaction. Her grandmother on the other hand tutted, "Oh, sweetheart. You do have a lot on your plate, huh. What about you two?"

Élodie knew she was teasing her for the jumbled up mess she was in, but she couldn't help the slight frustration at just how much she seemed to like Miguel. Of course, Grams saw him more around the complex, but she'd seemed a massive fan of Eli before and Élodie couldn't tell why she favoured Miguel so much.

Besides, they were friends.

She wondered sometimes if her grandmother knew something she didn't, because she always seemed to be obsessed with Élodie spending time with Miguel despite her also liking both Robby and Eli. Maybe it was her fault for being in this confusing mess, though.

"Leave it out, Grams!"

The rest of dinner went relatively smoothly, much to Élodie's relief, and by the end of it even Miguel seemed to have settled into a more relaxed state.

"Thanks for dinner, Ms Marshall," he nodded with a smile across at the elderly lady as he helped finish clearing up, "I've had a lovely evening."

"Call me Grams, my boy," she grinned across at him, "It's been lovely having you. You must come for dinner more, bring your family too. Your mother is a darling... I see your grandmother all the time anyway though."

"Oh, uh, sure!"

"C'mon Grams, let the poor boy live," Élodie shook her head with a laugh, "I'm heading to see Sam for a bit anyway, so I'll leave with you. Thanks for dinner Grams! I love you," she pulled her grandmother into a hug, kissing her cheek as she did so, "I'll pop in tomorrow."

"Of course you will. See you tomorrow, sweetheart. See you very soon I hope Miguel, dear."

The two teenagers left, and an awkward silence hung over them for just a moment as they approached Miguel's front door.

"Sorry if it was weird me being over. I know you and Hawk are like... Starting afresh. But... Robby?" Miguel looked scared to ask the question on his tongue, but Élodie sighed.

"Me and Eli are just friends right now, Miggy. And Robby and I are at the dojo together constantly that's all. He's having a tough time so he came over last week... I think her and Robby might have something going on... Thank you again for the medal of honour, by the way. Sensei will be so happy," she bit her lip, watching the confusion in Miguel's expression and returning to her original point, "I don't know what's going on anymore. I don't know how I feel."

"What about 'us two' then?" he quoted her grandmother shyly.

"What?"

"Do you know how you feel about me? Have you ever known how you feel about me?"

"Miguel..." her voice was laced with warning, her eyes following the boy as he stepped ever so slightly closer to her.

Miguel frowned, "Hawk is my best friend but... It's so hard pretending I don't still have feelings for you, El. I barely see you anymore but... It's shitty. Because when I do it's like none of the Cobra Kai stuff matters and... and I need to focus. I want to be friends but— I just needed to have this conversation now. I need to know."

Élodie looked down at her feet for a moment, too scared to meet his gaze.

"Things are so complicated at the moment, Miggy," she pouted, swallowing thickly before she continued, "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say."

"You've never actually told me you didn't have any feelings for me, Élodie. That's the shittiest part," Miguel sighed sadly, "I backed off for you and Eli's sake, but I—God, what am I doing?"

Élodie was silent for a moment. He was right — even when she'd picked Eli she'd never actively clarified to either herself or
the boys how she felt about Miguel. Or even Robby. Now she just felt even more confused.

She loved Eli, she still really did.

But she just felt all over the place again. It was like that week before the tournament all over again.

"I'm sorry Miguel, I know it hasn't been fair on you. I know I love Eli, but you're right... I've never been honest about things with you."

Miguel smiled softly, his head dipping almost instinctively to kiss her. For a moment she kissed back, but seconds later she pushed him away.

"Miguel I-I,"

He looked devastated as he stepped away, "You did kiss back. Both times. If you're not going to be honest with me, at least be honest with yourself."

And with that he was gone.

———

"Sensei Kreese?" Miguel's voice was quiet at first as Kreese turned to look at him, "What can I do for you, Mr. Diaz?"

"I wanted to apologise for yesterday," he huffed out, earning a smile from Kreese, "It was disrespectful of me to challenge your lesson. I've had a lot on my mind."

Kreese shook his head, pleased Miguel was on board, with an inkling of why he had changed his mind after hearing all about the famous Élodie Marshall, "You honour Sensei Lawrence with your allegiance. An allegiance is nothing to apologise for."

Miguel's chest stung still, the lingering pain of Élodie's rejection acidic in his throat.

"Sensei Lawrence's heart's in the right place, but I'm afraid he's a little mixed up," Kreese's smirk turned Miguel's stomach a little, but he nodded as Kreese went on, "I hope you can stay focused now. Together, we'll make sure he gets back on track. Won't we?"

Miguel gulped, "...Yeah."

"Okay."

───── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─────
AUTHOR'S NOTE !
oh i hate hurting my babies so much but
more chaos is to come! i know it's a lil ooc of miguel & probably annoying that she's confused again but ... i love drama

i watched all of s4 already and oh my god
screaming crying throwing up i loved it!!
no spoilers, don't worry x

thanks as ever for your patience with me & my sporadic updates <3 i appreciate the support always !