══════ஓ๑❀*̥๑ஓ══════

"𝐀𝐑𝐄 you ready or what?" Johnny asked as he pulled the rope of some kind of contraption swing that Johnny had August strapped into.

"I hate this. This is ridiculous." August said as he looked down at the straps around his waist.

"What's ridiculous about it?" Johnny said

"I look like a giant baby!" August said

"The way you're whining and not walking, you might as well be a baby." Johnny said

"Isn't there a more badass way we can do this?" August asked

"Do you really think tapping your foot at a concert will make you ready for more badass training? Your legs are still pussies! Now, you ready to stand?"

"Yeah." August sighed

Johnny counted to three and let go of the rope, then August fell to the floor. The blonde unclipped him from the ropes, got him in his wheel chair and sat him up

"All right. Better fall that time. Let's take five." Johnny said as he walked over to the fridge

August looked at the coffee table to see Johnny's laptop sitting on top of it. The Facebook messenger page was pulled up and a long paragraph was written in all caps. Like 80 pages to be exact. "Are you writing a novel?" August asked

"Oh. No, it's a Facebook message." Johnny said as he handed a coke to August.

"That? To who?" August asked, opening his beer

"I, uh...babe from highschool...Ali." Johnny said

"Ali? Like, thee Ali?" August asked and Johnny nodded. "This is huge. But you're not gonna send that right?" he added as he pointed to the message Johnny had typed. "Sensei, you cannot, and I mean, cannot send Ali that message."

"What? Why not?" Johnny asked

"Because it's, like 80 pages. In all caps." August replied looking at the message.

"I have over 30 years' worth of stuff to say, all right?" Johnny said, turning his computer away from him

"Ok, yeah, but shorter messages are way cooler. Like this just looks desperate, and a little creepy." August said. "It could be worse, like if you liked all of her photos." he added and Johnny glanced at him with wide eyes

"Ah, what the hell? C'mon man." August said

"What's the problem and big deal? I enjoyed the photos! There's a button for exactly that, why would I not click on it?" Johnny asked

"The problem and big deal is she can see that." August said as he gestured toward the computer.

"All right, I got amped-up, OK? Look, she put a smiley face in the message. It's even got little red cheeks. Does that mean she's gettin' hot? Feelin' hot? What am I supposed to do with that?" Johnny asked

"I think it's just a smiley face." August stated, grabbing the laptop. "But let's see."

August read the message before looking at Johnny. "She says she wants to know what you've been up to. Good. This is good. We can salvage this. Let's just make you a kick-ass profile, and then you'll be sending your message from a position of strength," he said.

Looking up at his sensei, August said, "First we need pictures. Do you have any photos?"

"Yeah don't move. Ha, I said don't move." Johnny chuckled as he walked away

After a few minutes, Johnny came back into the room, carrying a small box. He opened the box and handed the pictures to the Walker teen and was shirtless in all of them.

"Those are the only photos I have. Don't have much after high school." Johnny said

"Do you any where you're wearing a shirt, maybe?" August asked, setting the pictures down.

"Yes." Johnny said as he picked up a picture and handed the picture to August. In the picture, Johnny was wearing a shirt, but it didn't cover much.

"You know, we're probably better off going with some new photos." August said

"Yeah, like present day?" Johnny asked. "Not sure I want you to grease me up right now. Baby oil gets over everything."

"I'm not gonna grease.. you know what why don't we go with some more contemporary." August said

"Yes! We'll look at all what Ali's into, take pictures of me doing the same stuff!" Johnny said, scrolling through Facebook.

"No, that's not what I meant—" August said

"I'm not doing yoga." Johnny said

"No." August said

"I will pet a dog." Johnny said

"Mm-hm." August said

"You think the aquarium will let me get in with the dolphins?" Johnny asked

"I don't know." August said. "Probably not."

"You know what? We could Fotomat it." Johnny said

August furrowed his brows and gave him a look of confusion and asked, "What?"

"All right, let's go Hot-Wheels. C'mon." Johnny said, as he got up from the couch and wheeled August out the door

──────

"Hey grandma." Stella said as she walked into the Reseda apartment, and set her purse on the couch. "I hope I'm not too late."

"You're just in time, the food is still hot, and it's your favorite. Fried chicken with gravy." Janette smiled as she embraced her granddaughter.

"Thanks grandma." Stella smiled as she grabbed a plate from the cabinet and fixed herself a plate of food, then joined her grandmother at the table. "So, how are things going? I noticed you planted some flowers. They look beautiful."

"Yeah, I'm not used to the 70 degree weather in December, where I can plant them." Janette smiled as she ate her food. "How's work going? You said something about a benefit dinner in a couple of weeks?"

"Yeah, it's at a big country club in Malibu, and all of us nurses are going. The girls and I even invited Amy." Stella said as she sipped her iced tea.

"Well, that was nice, I know she'll have a great time." Janette smiled. "What are you planning on wearing?"

"I don't know yet." Stella said. "I remember mom had this beautiful red velvet dress, almost like Lorrie Morgan's from her video Something in Red."

"She looked beautiful in that dress. You know, I think your father still has it. I can get it for you if you want. I know he won't mind." Janette smiled. "Besides, you look absolutely beautiful in your mother's dresses."

"I'd like that." Stella smiled.

After cleaning up the kitchen, Janette led Stella to the spare room, where Nathan kept some of Ava's dresses, and took out a red velvet dress. It was off the shoulder and came to just above the knee.

"Out of all the dresses your mama wore, this one was her favorite." Janette smiled

Carefully running her fingers over the velvet material, which was softer than she remembered, Stella said, "Yeah. She wore this one to every holiday party, and was the most beautiful woman in the room."

"She'd be proud of you, y'know?" Janette said as she sat down beside her granddaughter.

"Yeah." Stella said. "Anyway, I gotta get going, but thank you for the lunch, and thank you for the dress." she said as she embraced her grandmother

"You're welcome my darling." Janette smiled

──────

"Come on this is worse than yesterday! You aren't even trying. What's the problem? You saw your ex. Big deal." Johnny said. It was the next day, and Johnny once again had August back in the contraption

"Big deal? Dude, look at you. We spent all day doing bullshit for your ex, trying to make you look like someone your not. At least when I saw my ex, I told her how things really were." August spat

"Are you done with your little hissy fit or are you just giving up?" Johnny asked.

"No, you are." August mumbled

"What'd you say?" Johnny asked

"You're the one giving up!" August snapped, raising his voice

"I don't know—" Johnny started

"QUIET!" August snapped. "You let Kreese take your dojo. You let Hawk, Tory, and everyone else think you're weak."

"Because it was a mistake, to begin with. I shoulda never brought back Cobra Kai, look what happened." Johnny said

"No what happened was you helped a bunch of people and you walked away like a pussy." August said. "You're a sensei. It's who you are. If you can't see that you're blind."

"August." Johnny said in awe as he saw August stand, with no help.

"What?" August said

"Look." Johnny said as he let go of the rope

Looking down at his legs, August saw he was standing. "Am I doing it? Holy shit! I'm doing it!" the teen said tearfully

"You're doing it." Johnny said

"Holy shit! I'm doing it." August said again

"You're doing it!" Johnny shouted.

August pulled Johnny in for an embrace, then said, "Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for never giving up on me sensei. Thank you for always being on my side."

"I told you, I've always got your back kid."