𐙚˙ ༘ ⋆｡ ˚( DECODE ! )
❛ ROAD TRIP ❜
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE !

CONSIDERING THE ALL VALLEY WASN'T THAT LONG AGO, a lot had changed. John Kreese was behind bars, Silver had taken control of Cobra Kai, yet Miguel was still missing.

Charlie felt overwhelmed by it all and being on a road trip with the person that shut her out wasn't how she envisioned moving forward. The decision to invite Robby along on their search for Miguel baffled her.

But Charlie didn't have the time or energy to confront Robby about it. The sting of losing the All Valley still lingered, especially knowing her team had relied on her. The memory of Silver's triumphant smirk when he realized he had gotten under her skin still haunted her.

Above all, she desperately wanted her best friend back. Just a simple message to confirm that he was okay would ease her anxiety, but instead, her phone remained silent, devoid of even a 'read message' notification. She was left with nothing but worry, her heart aching for Miguel.

Her gaze drifted to her phone, no new notifications, while Robby waited outside the car and Johnny rummaged through the store.

How do you even deal with the emotions you feel after your best friend takes off? It was like being stuck in the eye of the storm. First, a wave of sadness washed over her. Why didn't he say anything before? Why did he keep all his problems to himself, hiding behind fake smiles that felt so wrong now?

Then a flicker of annoyance. Why did he pick that moment, at the tournament, to bail on her? He had missed her match, the one she had worked so hard for, the one that mattered most. Anger bubbled up in her, but it twisted into something darker. She felt a deep hatred, not for him, but for herself. How could she have missed all the signs? They were right there, but she just didn't see them.

Of course now she was looking for him, but there was this bitter taste in her mouth. If only she hadn't been so focused on winning the tournament, maybe she would've noticed Miguel wasn't okay before it all blew up.

Guilt was eating her alive. Everything suddenly made sense — the awkwardness with their parents dating, the nights he stayed out late, the blank look in his eyes during the tournament. Why had she been so blind.

Charlie scrolled through her phone, a small smile breaking across her face at the 'miss you' text from Eli. She went to reply before a tap at her window interrupted her.

She turned to see Johnny's face, and rolled down the window, leaning her arms against the door.

"What?" The girl muttered looking up, her gaze landing squarely on Johnny, deliberately avoiding her brother.

"We've got some choice supplies for the next leg of our trip," Johnny replied as he held up a crumpled bag.

Charlie raised an eyebrow, skepticism dancing across her face. This wasn't a fun family road trip; they were on the drive to find Miguel.

"Mexican cokes!" he declared, ignoring the look he got off her. Robby smirked from beside him. "I think here they're just cokes."

Johnny waved him off before pulling out more items from the bag, "Mexican candy, Chicharrones! And check this out — a badass cell phone with 60 minutos! That's, like, 300 American minutes!"

He then pulled out a little puppet, its head bobbing comically. "And I got you both a little something to say welcome to Mexico," he said, before seeing the looks on their faces, "Don't tell me it's offensive — it's their idea!"

Robby chuckled as the puppet joined the growing collection of items in the backseat.

Johnny was still grinning, reaching for the last item in the bag. "And here's gift number two!" He handed Robby one and then threw one at Charlie.

She grimaced at the cheesy writing on the top. "Isn't that awesome?" Johnny laughed, showing off his own. "I got one for me too!"

Charlie leaned back into the car, shaking her head before mumbling, "I am not wearing that."

She then leaned her head out of the car window once more, seeing that the tops were the last thing he pulled out the bag, "Did you get the Dr. Pepper?"

"Ah, shit, hold on!" Johnny exclaimed. He let out a sigh, tossing his own top into the backseat and darting back into the shop.

With Johnny out of earshot, and Charlie's window finally down, Robby took it as an opportunity to speak to her, "So, you enjoying the trip?"

Charlie kept her gaze locked on her phone, refusing to even glance in his direction. It stayed silent between them, but Robby pressed on, seemingly oblivious to her disinterest. "I think there might be a reason for all this. I doubt Dad would take us all the way out here just for a bonding trip."

"What do you want?" Charlie mumbled, still focused on her screen. Robby had shut her out, and that feeling lingered like a bad taste. She wasn't letting him off that easy.

Robby hesitated, nervously fidgeting, "Can we talk?"

"I don't know, can we?" Charlie shot back, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she finally looked at him, "Figured you'd just ignore me again, not want to talk. Or maybe even pull another stunt like shaving off my boyfriend's hair with a blade."

"I said I was sorry," Robby replied, looking down at her, but it sounded empty, like it didn't really mean anything.

Charlie scoffed. Apologies were like band-aids on shattered glass; they couldn't fix what was broken. "Yeah, well, sorry doesn't cut it anymore,"

"Come on, guys." Johnny mumbled, as he joined them again, handing Charlie her drink, "This is a family trip; we're supposed to get along now."

Robby tilted his head, "What are we actually doing here? And don't say it's a father-daughter-son bonding thing. We could've done that 500 miles ago."

Johnny hesitated, clearly struggling with his words. Robby wouldn't want to hear the truth, and Johnny didn't want to spill it, especially since things were finally getting better between them. "Okay, this is a bonding thing. But there's something we need to deal with first."

Robby's brow furrowed further, glancing at Charlie, as if he was searching for answers in her expression. Though, she only met his gaze with a smirk.

【☆】★【☆】

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME." Robby groaned, his eyes widening as he stared out the window.

Johnny let out a grunt, trying to ease the anger coming from the boy, "You have every right to be upset,"

"How could you take me down to Mexico and not mention once we were coming to find Miguel?" Robby's frustration boiled over, locking eyes with Johnny. "Come on, let's go to Mexico together and come back with some crazy stories."

In the back seat, Charlie stifled a laugh, the sound barely escaping her lips. The satisfaction, however, soon disappeared when she pulled out her phone to see no reply from Miguel, as usual. She typed out the same message she had sent before, before shutting the thing off.

She didn't blame Miguel. The note he'd left behind made his reasons crystal clear. Still, a part of her longed for some sign that he was okay. For now, she'd have to settle for the few messages that managed to deliver.

Shutting her phone with a sigh, she turned her attention back to the two in the front, listening in, "And when we get there, what do you plan on doing?"

"I'll ask around if anyone saw Miguel," Johnny replied, waving a dismissive hand.

Robby raised an eyebrow, not in disbelief but in pure exasperation, "That's the big plan?"

"Of course not," Johnny retorted, rolling his eyes, sarcasm dripping from his words. "If we come up dry, I'll just check the Mexican phone book."

"Are you serious?" Charlie leaned forward in her seat, her head now propped right next to Johnny's face. The blonde had explained some things about their search, but this felt way too flimsy. Surely he could think of something better.

Robby mirrored her disbelief, tilting his head back like he was annoyed. "You drove us over a thousand miles to check a phone book? Might as well put Miguel's face on a milk carton."

Johnny blinked innocently, glancing between them. "They still do that?"

Charlie slapped her palm against her forehead and sank back into her seat. She stared out the window, hoping the view would give her some insight into their mess.

"I could be at home right now with Tory. Coming with you two was a mistake," Robby muttered. Charlie could have been with Eli, too. But did she wallow in self-pity? No. Miguel mattered; he had run away and was clearly in trouble, while Robby seemed more worried about his girlfriend.

For crying out loud, the kid had pushed Miguel off a railing, leaving him in a coma for two weeks. The least he could do was help find him.

"All right. I'm sorry, okay?" Johnny's tone softened, still looking at Robby, not paying attention to the road. "I thought this trip would help you and Miguel get over your shit. Look, when we get to the bus station, if you want to buy a ticket home, you can go home. I don't want you to go home, but if you—"

"Dad, watch out!" Robby yelled, panic hitting him as he reached for the steering wheel, cutting Johnny off.

Charlie's heart raced as she grabbed the back of Johnny's seat to steady herself, her pulse racing.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," she whispered, just loud enough for herself, hoping it wouldn't add to the tension in the car.

With a jolt, Johnny swerved left, the tires crunching against the floor before he slammed on the brakes. They all exchanged wide-eyed looks, and let out a small breath of relief.

✧  •   •  𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚  •  •  ✧ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

HATE this chapter but it's been far too long without updates and I apologise so much for that. school has really been my main priority recently and I haven't had much time for anything else, but on the weekends and any free time, i'll try to be more active and write.

BUT IVE CAME BACK TO 100K READS ?? TYSMM !! <33

idk how long I'm gonna make Charlie mad at Robby for but I really wanna show how her characters changed almost, like from season one where she would be okay with everyone to actually holding grudges if that makes sense.

please comment and vote !