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ALEXIS James was proud of herself for attending her widow/widower meetings. It had been a long road and with some help from Daniel and Amanda, she found a great group. She even met people she knew she could spill things to, things her other friends wouldn't understand. One guy in particular she had grown closer to.

But she kept that to herself. Especially now that her nephew was halfway through his road trip and her daughter was out with friends.

Cameron didn't realise when she agreed to meet Lily and Anala she thought it would be just them when she arrived at Denny's. No, Sam, Moon and Yasmine were there. Another ambush she felt was on the rise. Lily and Moon believed it was the time to build bridges. Anala didn't care she just wanted to gawk at Sam.

The 6 girls sat in a booth at the back, Lily and Anala were on either side of Cameron. Yasmine and Moon were with same as Sam.

It was awkward, to say the least.

"Okay, confession time," Lily decided, clasping her hands on the empty wooden table.

"What?" Sam asked, confused.

Her friends and Anala shared the sentiment. Cameron sat back, eyes darting around the whole group whilst she adjusted her glasses.

"It's what, me CJ," Lily started to explain,  "Aisha... and Tory used to do." A range of emotions was drawn from each girl when the last two names were mentioned. "We would blurt out what was on our minds and then eat."

Yasmine interrupted, "I'm on a liquid diet."

"We're aware."

Cameron retorted, "You've said it like 10 times since we sat down."

Yasmine raised her hands in defence, "Okay, touchy."

"Whatever, instead of eating, we could go to a rage room," Lily suggested.

Cameron smirked, "I'd like the sound of that."

Anala and surprisingly Yasmine had no objections, the former continued to leer at Sam.

Sam was more hesitant, "What's a rage room?"

"A room where you rage and crash stuff," Cameron answered. "I'm not trying to be facetious, that's it."

"...Okay."

Moon winced, "Do we have to break things?"

"It's good for negative energy," Lily added.

"If you say so."

"Like confession time. So... Cameron and Sam you start."

The two girls snapped their heads toward her.

Sam asked, "So it's not gonna be all of us?"

"No."

Cameron huffed, "What?"

"You two start," Lily insisted, receiving no arguments from the others.

Cameron groaned, "Fine."

"If you insist," Sam murmured.

"Can you two just shut up," Yasmine rolled her eyes.

"She told us to start," Cameron exclaimed, pointing at Lily.

"I think she meant, confessing not mumbling," Anala stated.

"Murmering actually," Sam defended.

Moon sighed, "Guys."

"Come on, this is making me hungry," Yasmine whined, leaning on her elbows.

Cameron's eyes widened briefly, "A sentence I never thought you'd say."

A smirk tugged at Yasmine's lips, "Mean, I like it."

Cameron's deep inhale caught Sam's attention. The two stared at each other. No malice was detected, shockingly there hadn't been any glares, or scowls exchanged since All-Valley.

"Fine, I've never hated you," Cameron started her confession. "I Just found you deeply annoying. Like deeply. Deep."

Sam turned out her hands, "Okay, I get it."

"But I always thought you were pretty. A girl next door vibe," Cameron quickly added,

"Thanks." Sam paused, feeling her cheeks heat up from the eyes on her. "I never hated you. Not properly I guess. I understood why you disliked me. But Cobra Kai made you an ass."

Cameron nodded, "Agreed."

They all seemed to.

"But you keyed my car." Cameron couldn't help but add. Sam averted her gaze in shame,  "and I... taunted you. A lot. I'm sorry."

There was a brief moment of silence, the two opened and shut their mouths, trying to figure out what to say. Sam looked up once again as the others anxiously exchanged glances.

"I'm sorry about your car. I know it meant a lot to you." Sam confessed. "I should never have done that. It was wrong and messed up. I messed up." she wanted to say more, but karate was already a tough subject for the pair. So she opted for a compliment, "and...I always thought you gave an office siren vibe with those glasses."

"Oh god," Cameron cringed, pushing up her frames.

"Same." Moon happily agreed.

Sam added, "It's a look."

Cameron turned her head, trying to stop the smile creeping on her face.

"A lot of the boys had that image in their wank banks" Yasmine commented, making a few of them laugh.

"Eww, guys." Anala cringed, looking between them in disgust.

"Oh please there isn't one guy that you didn't think was attractive when you joined this school?" Lily inquired, peering across the booth.

"Nope."

"Not one? Not even Drew," Moon pressed, drawing varied reactions from Sam and Cameron.

After pondering, Anala conceded, "Okay, he's an exception. As was maybe... Miguel."

"Understandable he's hot," Cameron begrudgingly stated.

"And in Mexico," Lily argued, making her roll her eyes.

"He left you with just a text and you're not mad?" Yasmine asked.

The question and the guilty looks of Lily and Moon informed Cameron all she needed to know.

Cameron turned to her best friend, "I'm glad to know you can keep your mouth shut Lil."

"Dammit, Moon." Lily cursed.

"Sorry," the girl in question reeled back.

"But are you not pissed?" Sam asked, genuinely. She wondered where Miguel vanished during All-Valley. It was disappointing that he wasn't there to show his support.

Cameron glanced at her, slightly deliberating her answer, or even if she should answer.

But it was a new era where anything could happen.

Cameron grumbled out, "He had been talking about wanting to know his dad or find him when we were getting close again so I can't be mad... not really plus we weren't together then and we aren't now."

"But are you mad? It's okay if you are," Moon said, rather encouragingly.

"Just shocked," Cameron quietly answered.

Anala spoke up, "He crossed borderlines."

"Alright, I'm pissed," Cameron confessed.

Lily grinned, scanning the table, glad they all had the same idea.

"Rage room?" she suggested.

They agreed, "Rage room."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"AH!" Cameron screamed, smashing an old television with a hammer.

They all wore overalls and protective goggles. Hoods covered their hair, preventing glass, or plastic from harming them. Everyone had their own weapon. And it felt amazing to smash shit, even if they had to pay 20 dollars each for an hour slot.

Lily cheered, "That's the spirit."

"This shit feels so good," Sam added, laughing when Moon finally tried out her axe and smashed a few glasses.

Yasmine and Anala were off, wrecking a few wooden frames.

Cameron looked at Lily, "Why haven't we come here before?"

"Actually, Moon and I came here a lot last year," she answered.

"Oh."

"When we weren't talking," Lily further explained, but was waved off.

"Yeah, and if I came here last year, it would've made me so much worse," Cameron realised as Sam came over. "I might have to take my mom here."

"How is your mom? If you don't mind me asking," Sam suddenly questioned.

Lily smiled to herself and went back to smashing a few things.

Cameron responded although it was weird opening up to her old nemesis, "Not too bad. She's been going to this widow/widower group. I guess they'll understand her more than anything."

They heard Yasmine yell, "Anala!"

They turned and chuckled when a glass plate shattered over her head.

"Sorry." Anala quickly apologised.

Sam turned back to Cameron, holding a baseball bat, "Well we might not be widows, but we know rage."

Cameron grinned, "Yeah, I guess we do."

"Ah!" they screamed and continued breaking things.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"HEY Mom," Cameron called out, from the living room when she heard the front door open.

"Hey baby, how was the crash room?" Alexis asked, shutting the door behind her.

Cameron got up from the couch, "Fun. Like really fun. I wasn't expecting it."

Alexis settled her keys down on the table, smiling at the sight of her daughter. Cameron looked healthier and calmer, even though she had reasons not to be.

"Because you were with Sam?" Alexis teased, drawing a pointed look.

"Damn, does Lily report back everything I do?"

"No, Amanda told me," Alexis informed.

Cameron leaned against one of the kitchen chairs, "Oh."

"And Drew is only 8 hours away from arriving," Alexis added. She received an alert from her sister-in-law about their whereabouts. 

Cameron smiled, "Good."

"We're gonna be okay, just us two," Alexis assured her daughter before washing her hands.

"I know, it's weird. The spare room is empty now."

"But just because the spare room is empty, doesn't mean we can't feel his presence," Alexis's words carried weight. "That boy never used to put the toilet seat down."

Cameron groaned, "Oh don't remind me."

"Remember when he used to leave the fridge open as well," Alexis laughed, drying her hands and turning around.

"And the lights were always left on," Cameron added.

Alexis' smile didn't fade as she leaned against the counter, "That boy knew how to test my patience."

Cameron sheepishly argued, "Yeah, well me and him shared that burden."

"Yeah, you did." Alexis nodded in agreement, then questioned, "Have you taken your meds today?"

Alexis slowly started not to check as much. However, with the recent competition loss and Miguel up and leaving, she was still very worried.

"Yeah, Mom. I've taken them," Cameron responded.

"Good because with your birthday coming up, I do not want you to be drinking... much."

"Trust me, neither do I," Cameron stifled a laugh.

She didn't even know how she wanted to celebrate her 17th but she knew somehow alcohol would be involved, there always was with her friends.

"Good, now I have some tagliatelli in the fridge, heat it up so we can dish it out," Alexis instructed.

"Yes ma'am." Cameron paused, "and mom?"

"Yes, baby?"

"You're right, we're gonna be okay."

Cameron missed the proud twinkle in her mom's eyes when she retrieved the large dish from the fridge. Alexis's feet took her toward her room, wanting to freshen up.

Meanwhile, whilst Cameron was waiting by the microwave, retrieving cutlery from the drawers below, her phone went off.

Her breath hitched at the text she received.

miguel :)

i'm coming home.
seen

"Oh shit."

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a/n:

there haven't been any scenes of the rage twins yet but i promise they'll appear soon. as for now, cameron and sam will slowly build a bond. it's about time don't you think?

this felt like another filler chapter, but honestly, there wasn't much more to add. there hasn't been much of cameron practising or training either but maybe it's because she feels like she doesn't deserve to.

and is alexis moving on?....