╔.𖥸. .════════════════╗

𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬

chapter twenty-eight
but you were everything
to me, I was begging you,
please don't go

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ALYSSA WOULD BE lying if she said she was shocked to see Eli sitting on the steps of her front porch.

She doesn't want to sound conceited, she really doesn't, but she knew that he would come to her. Growing up, they were each other's safe spaces. They would always go to each other when something was wrong. When Cobra Kai came around, those safe spaces gradually faded away, but it came right back the second after Eli left.

Opening her car door, Alyssa got out with a frown. Eli had his hood up still, his jacket wrapped around him like a shield. Underneath her porch light, she could still see the tear tracks illuminated on his face. Some were brighter, obviously more fresh, while others were dull. She locked her car behind her and walked up her driveway, her heart breaking more with each step she took towards him.

Alyssa slowed to a stop, standing above him. Eli didn't look up, but she knew that he acknowledged her presence. Without saying anything, she held her hands out to him as an invitation. He reached forwards and took them, standing up as well. She held onto his hands tightly as she stared up at his face that was now covered by shadows from the movement. Her frown deepened. Eli wasn't even looking at her. His gaze was focused on the ground.

There was a reason why he wasn't looking at her. It would cause him to break down completely again and remind him exactly what he had to lose. Cobra Kai had stripped away his identity, and losing Alyssa again was the worst possible thing. But as her hands squeezed his, not daring to let go, he knew he wasn't deserving of her kindness and warmth. He just didn't know where to go. Like always, every road led to her.

He had stopped home first, though. The thought of what he was about to do killed him inside, and he didn't want to be alone. So a pair of clippers sat in his pocket, weighing him down.

"Can you help me?" Eli asked her quietly. "I need . . . I need to fix this."

"Of course," Alyssa agreed instantly, already knowing what he meant.

Eli let go of her hands, as much as neither of them wanted to. Alyssa stared at him for a moment longer before walking up her porch. She unlocked her door and opened it. Eli came in after her, and as she shut and locked her door again, he took off his shoes and left them by the front. Alyssa did so as well and flicked on lights as she went further into the house, dropping her car keys on the counter.

The house was quiet. Her mom was at work, and evidently, Jackson was somewhere else. Maybe it was better that way. Alyssa had an inkling that Eli probably didn't want to be around a lot of people right now.

She led him up the stairs and into the hall bathroom that her and Jackson shared. Eli brushed past her and reached into his pocket, pulling out the clippers. Alyssa took them from him, and Eli pulled off his jacket fully, still not looking at her once. She clenched onto the clippers a little tighter at the sight of the remnants of his purple hair.

"Here," Alyssa instructed softly. "Sit on the tub."

Eli did. He sat on the very edge of the tub, pulling the sleeves of the long-sleeve under his short-sleeve over his hands and starting to bounce his knee up and down anxiously. Alyssa hadn't seen him like this in a long time, and it kind of shook her down to her core. She plugged in the clippers to the outlet on the wall and looked over at him.

"Can you tell me who actually cut it off?" she questioned — she had to know which member of Cobra Kai did this.

Eli paused for a moment, looking down at his lap. "Keene."

Alyssa felt herself freeze for a moment. Robby. The same boy she used to call her friend, the one who had taken the picture of her and Sam that was still her lock screen on her phone . . . all because of a stupid prank they pulled that caused them to get drenched, he went ahead and did this? This was way out of line.

She stepped closer to him, holding the clippers in her hand. The front of her legs hit his own, and Eli reached up, placing his hands on the back of her knees. Alyssa reached up her free hand and placed it on his shoulder, rubbing her thumb back and forth against the fabric of his purple shirt.

"Are you sure you want me to do this?" Alyssa inquired.

Eli nodded. "I'm sure."

She let out a deep breath. Alyssa turned on the clippers and lifted them up to his head. She ran them across his hair, and at once, the tufts of hair came off of his head and fell into the tub behind him. Alyssa's eyebrows knit in concentration as she continued to cut of all of his hair, and as she did so, Eli's grip on her tightened just slightly.

Finally, after a couple minutes, all of it was gone. Purple and black locks scattered across her tub, and all Eli had left was a buzzcut. She turned off the clippers and brushed some hair that fell on his shoulders away.

"There," Alyssa said. "You're done."

Eli removed a hand from the back of her knee. He reached up, hesitating for a moment, before he ran it over his freshly shaved head. Instantly, when he felt it, he bowed his head even further, his shaky hands falling down to his sides. Alyssa frowned, her heart only breaking further when she heard him sniffle. She set down the clippers on the counter and unplugged them.

"Hey," Alyssa began. She crouched down to the ground in front of him while placing her hands on his knees to stabilize herself, tilting her head up to look at him. He didn't meet her eyes at all and kept staring at the ground. "Can you look at me?"

Eli didn't move.

"You don't have to," Alyssa reassured him quietly. "But I'm not going to judge you, baby."

Maybe it was the way she called him baby. Or maybe it was the way her presence was so comforting. Whatever it was, it made Eli pick up his head enough to look at her.

Alyssa felt her breath leave her for a moment. His eyes were glassy with tears and they had started to fall down his blotchy cheeks. It was a jarring sight — only because she hadn't seen Eli cry in quite some time. She also just hated how much this was destroying him.

She reached up and placed both of her hands on the sides of his face. Eli let out a deep, shuddering breath at her touch, because it was so familiar, and it was the one thing that he needed the most right now. Alyssa wiped away a couple of stray tears with her thumbs.

"You're still the same beautiful boy I've always known," Alyssa told him, her gaze serious. "This won't last forever, E."

"I feel so humiliated," Eli admitted, his voice a whisper.

"I know. But things are going to get better. It might not seem like it right now, but they will." Alyssa stood back up before leaning down, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead for a moment. "Do you want a hoodie? I have one of yours in my room."

Eli nodded. Alyssa dropped her hands from his face and extended one out to him. Eli took her hand, and she led them out of the bathroom and down the hall to her bedroom. Alyssa flicked on the light and wandered in, heading straight to her closet. She instantly found Eli's hoodie resting on one of the hangers — the very same one she had discarded in the back of her closet the night of Moon's party, but since had hung it back up — and she let go of his hand to take it off of the hanger.

Alyssa gave him the hoodie. She stood there momentarily, but Eli didn't do anything. He just stayed in his spot, glancing from the hoodie to her. Alyssa started to get confused until she noticed his eyes flicker to the door.

"Oh," Alyssa said. "I can go."

He nodded again. Alyssa gave him a small, sad smile before leaving her room, shutting the door behind her so Eli could get changed. She leaned against the wall, crossing her arms across her chest. Alyssa had gotten so used to Eli changing shirts in front of her, because knowing him, he just loved to show off. But not now. It was clear that having his hair cut off meant he lost his confidence.

Her door opened again. Alyssa looked over to see Eli step out of her room, now in his black hoodie. His hands were shoved into the front pockets and the hood was up. If Alyssa was being honest, he looked like he wanted to curl up into a ball under a blanket and never come out again. She was more than willing to be by his side if he wanted to.

"Come on," Alyssa encouraged softly. "Let's go down to the kitchen. I'll make you something."

She led him back down the stairs to the first level of the house. Alyssa wandered into the kitchen, turning on the light as she did so.

"Would you like tea, hot chocolate, or ice cream?" Alyssa asked, turning to face him. "Ice cream is usually reserved for cheering up Sam, but I can make an exception for you."

"Hot chocolate, if you don't mind," Eli responded, leaning against one of the countertops.

She gave him a small smile. "Not at all."

Alyssa grabbed two mugs from the cabinet and put hot chocolate and milk in both. She put both of them in the microwave, and as it turned on and started to warm them up, she turned back to Eli. He was watching her closely, finally looking at her now, like he was trying to reassure himself that she was real.

Her eyebrows then knit in thought. It could've just been the lighting and the shadows, but his neck looked red. She cautiously approached him, and Eli stared at her, wondering what she was doing. Alyssa placed her hands on his shoulders, looking up at him, asking with her eyes if it was okay. He seemed to understand her and slightly nodded.

She gently moved away the hoodie, still keeping the hood up, and put her hands on either side of his neck. Wrapped around his neck was a large red mark, one that was rectangular shaped. It looked sort of angry now, probably because it just happened, but it would go away in a couple days. But that wasn't the point. Somebody had restrained Eli. They had held him down so he couldn't go anywhere. Alyssa gently ran her thumb against the mark, but Eli winced.

"Sorry, I'm sorry," she told him quickly, moving her hands away from his bruise. "E, what is this?"

"Kyler held me down," Eli revealed quietly.

Alyssa looked back up at him, her gaze darkening. "Kyler?"

"There was more of them." Eli swallowed nervously. "Tory was there, too."

Her eyes narrowed in anger, and more rage started to fill her inside. Of course Kyler had done some shit like this. He had relentlessly tortured Eli and Demetri their entire lives. And Tory . . . after causing so much trauma with Sam, now she was causing trauma for Eli. Sure, her life was hard, but it did not give her any excuse to do everything she had.

"So it was multiple of them against one of you?" Alyssa questioned, and Eli nodded. She scoffed. "Fuck that. Ridiculous." Alyssa placed a hand on his arm and rubbed it comfortingly. "Is that why you weren't texting back?"

"They broke my phone," Eli replied.

She knew that something had been wrong. Before Alyssa could say anything else, the microwave beeped from behind her. She walked away from Eli and took the mugs out before grabbing a spoon from the drawer.

Alyssa looked at the boy across from her. "Hey, why don't you go sit on the couch while I mix these? I'll be there in a minute."

Eli hesitated for a moment. It was almost like the thought of leaving her, even to go to the room just across from her, pained him. Alyssa's heart sunk. He had been by himself when they cut off his mohawk, and he had come to her. Eli just didn't want to be alone.

She put down the spoon and walked up to him. Alyssa gently fisted the bottom of the hoodie he was wearing in her hands, tugging gently so he got just a little bit closer to her. Eli looked back down at her, his cheeks flushing a light shade of red, like he was embarrassed to be acting this way. Alyssa pressed up onto her toes and placed a soft kiss over the top of his lip, right where his scar was.

"I'm not going anywhere," Alyssa stated, returning back to her flat feet. "I promise."

It seemed like that was enough. Eli nodded once before pushing himself off the counter and going into the living room. Alyssa sighed sadly and went back over to the mugs. She mixed them as quickly as possible before discarding the spoon in the sink. Alyssa would wash them later . . . if she remembered. (She probably wouldn't.)

Alyssa walked into the living room. Eli was sitting on the edge of the couch, his elbows resting on his knees. She placed the two mugs of hot chocolate on the table before standing up straight again. Eli looked up at her, and Alyssa let out a deep breath, taking a step towards him. He said nothing and just leaned his head against her stomach, reaching up and resting his hands on her hips.

"You're going to be okay," Alyssa promised. "And you're not alone." She set herself down next to him on the couch and put a hand on his knee. "You've got Demetri, you've got Miguel . . . you've got me."

Eli shook his head. "After all I did . . . you shouldn't have forgiven me. I don't deserve it."

"So you think you deserve this? Eli, who you are is not what you did. I told you that you had the power to rebuild bridges, and you have." She tapped his knee, making him look up into her eyes. "That night outside Cobra Kai, I told you that you made your choice and I made mine. It might've been in a different context then, but it still holds up now. We always have choices, Eli. You made your choice to change. I made my choice of forgiveness, because I chose you. And I'll choose you every single time."

Eli stared at her, his blue eyes dark, covered by the shadow of the hood over his head. Alyssa stared back at him intently, her gaze gentle. Some of her pink hair was falling in her face, and against his own will, Eli reached up and tucked some behind her hair. Her cheeks tinted a light shade of red.

Alyssa squeezed his knee. "What can I do to help you right now?"

"Just . . . don't go," Eli voiced. "Please."

She wasn't planning on it. Alyssa then held her arms out as an invitation. Apparently, Eli no longer had the strength to keep up is tough boy façade. He sunk into her side, resting his head on her chest and nuzzling his face into her neck. Alyssa put her arms around him and held him tightly, running a hand comfortingly up and down his back.

"You just wanna sit?" Alyssa inquired.

"Please," Eli mumbled.

"Our hot chocolate might get cold."

"I don't care." He clutched onto her a little tighter. "Don't let go."

And so she didn't. There they sat on Alyssa's couch, her holding him close to her. After a while, clearly too exhausted after what he had just gone through, Eli managed to fall asleep. Alyssa glanced down at him — even though his face was still blotchy and stained with where the tears had been shed, he looked peaceful.

Alyssa leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. She wished that she could just stay here and protect him from the horrors of the world, but she knew that wasn't possible. Cobra Kai was going to continue climbing the ranks while Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang split apart, and Alyssa wasn't so sure how to stop them anymore — especially after this.

•─•°•❀•°•─•

my boy :(