Chapter Text
After Robby had walked in on him and Sam, Miguel had decided it was time to go home for the night. He really didn’t need to be sucked in to any more drama, or any fights, for that matter. Just sparring with Sam had exhausted him. And that’s all it was— sparring.
God, he hated this. He was grateful to be back on his feet, so grateful, but he wasn’t anywhere near where he once had been. Not to mention that Cobra Kai had been completely taken over…
Positive thinking, Miguel reminded himself. Johnny complained about the bullshit his physical therapist spouted, but the man had helped Miguel quite a lot, mentally. He was lucky his mom had a friend who was working her way through college to become a therapist. Perhaps it wasn’t the most professional, considering Ms. Echevarria wasn’t licensed yet, but their sessions gave her hands-on practice, and Miguel some peace of mind, so it worked out.
Still, it hurt. His mom was always worried, his physical shortcomings were frustrating, and Tory and Hawk had not only abandoned him, but become grade-a assholes. At least he had Sam and Demetri. And it was so good to be friends with Sam again, so good. He loved the mutual teasing, and laughter. The romantic spark had died out, but he was content with a friendship. It’d be less dramatic by far.
Miguel couldn’t wait to have Tory and Hawk back. He figured it was a matter of time before Sensei Lawrence took down the Kreese Kai— they weren’t Cobra Kai, in his mind. And he wasn’t Eagle Fang, no matter what Sensei and the stupid shirts said. He was Cobra Kai.
His hands on the wheel, and feet on the pedals, had been keeping up with his thoughts, because he found his car idling on the same street as the Cobra Kai dojo. Its lights were on, but he couldn’t see anyone training inside. Somebody stood in the parking lot, facing the dojo, as if deciding whether to go inside or not.
Don’t do it, Miguel thought. They won’t help you.
A streetlight flickered on, illuminating the figure of Robby Keene.
“Shit,” Miguel muttered. He could see it all unfolding— Robby becoming Kreese’s new star, further severing the dysfunctional relationship with his father. That doing to Hawk… whatever it would do. It certainly wouldn’t be doing Robby any favors. And as for Tory…
Miguel felt himself pulling over, unbuckling his seat belt, and stepping out of the car before he had fully processed his decision. He carefully ambled toward Robby, trying to be loud enough so that he wouldn’t feel snuck up on.
Robby’s body suddenly went rigid, and Miguel slowed down, trying to maintain some distance. He felt pretty sure he could outrun the guy, at least to the car.
“Uh, Keene?”
Robby spun around, fists raised defensively. Wild eyes searched Miguel’s face, like he was already in the middle of a battle, and ready to take down an unexpected opponent. His bruised face added to the intensity. The backpack that shifted awkwardly on his shoulders didn’t.
Miguel held up his hands. “Dude, calm down. I’m not gonna fight you.”
Robby eyed him warily.
“It’s not like it ended well for me last time.”
“It was an accident,” Robby said, his shoulders stiffening, “but that doesn’t mean you won’t try and take revenge.”
“I can’t kick hard enough to knock over a beer can, and yes, I’ve tried.” Miguel sighed, and sat on the curb. “Look, you can totally beat me up right now, but that’s not gonna end well for either of us. Can’t we just, y’know, talk?”
“I don’t think…”
“What, you’ve got something better to do?”
Robby hesitated, before slowly lowering himself beside Miguel. “Fine.”
“Cool…”
They sat in awkward silence.
“So, about Sam—”
“You kissed her,” Robby spat, “and then got with her while I was in juvie. I thought we already covered that.”
“No, ugh, you’ve got it wrong. I mean, we did kiss—”
“I didn’t think Sam would cheat on me,” Robby muttered. “I thought you took advantage of her—”
“I wouldn’t!”
“Really? Because you seem plenty violent to me.”
Miguel stared at him, spluttering. “I— yes, karate— excuse me?!”
Robby threw up his hands. “The first time we meet, you hit her, then you target my injury in the tournament—“
“That was before Sensei taught me to show mercy! Which I showed during the school fight—”
“Right, after you kicked the crap out of me, pinned me to the floor, tried to break my arm—”
“You’re the one who kicked me over the railing—”
“It was an accident!” Robby hunched over, tugging at his hair. “I fucked everything up for you and everyone else because I can’t fucking do anything right! And Mr. LaRusso turned me over to the cops and my dad never came to visit and those assholes kept beating the shit out of me and— fuck!”
Robby pitched a stray rock into the street, glaring, but Miguel could see the hopelessness in his expression.
“Sam was drunk when she kissed me,” Miguel began. “Really drunk, you saw, and after it happened, we decided it was a mistake. Nothing was gonna come from it, except…”
“Your psycho girlfriend tried to kill Sam?”
“Tory’s not psycho,” Miguel frowned. “She’s just… had a rough life.”
Robby huffed. “Me too. So what?”
Pointing out that Robby had nearly killed Miguel was tempting. But unwise.
“Let’s just drop it,” Miguel said. “Anyways, she’s not my girlfriend anymore.”
“Right. So, did you wait a week before you got with Sam, or—”
“How many times do I have to say it? I’m not with Sam!”
“Sure. I know what I saw.”
Miguel shook his head. “We were just sparring! For fun. We are friends again.”
“Right.” Robby’s voiced was tinged with disbelief.
“I’m serious, I swear.” Miguel angled his head toward Robby. Their eyes met. “I’m not dating Sam, I promise.”
Robby gazed back at him, his lip quirking up, before shrugging off his backpack. Sighing, he laid back on the concrete. “That’s a surprise. Not that it matters. She probably hates me now.”
“Really?” Miguel leaned back and looked at Robby. “I don’t think she would.”
“I wouldn’t blame her, at this point.” Robby’s shirt rode up his midriff, and Miguel was met with the sight of some spectacular abs— spectacularly bruised abs.
“Jesus, what happened to you?”
“I told you,” Robby said bitterly, “a bunch of other guys decided to make my life hell. I’m surprised they didn’t break any ribs.”
Miguel stared at him. Robby tugged his shirt down and shifted back into a seated position.
“Whatever. It’s nothing compared to what I’m guessing you…?”
“Yeah,” Miguel answered the unspoken question. “I mean, I was in a coma for a couple weeks— not like I remember that— and then there were some surgeries. It took a while for my legs to start working again, and I can walk now, but I’m not exactly tournament ready. At least, that’s what Sensei says.”
“I…” Robby squeezed his eyes shut. “I am sorry. We were fighting, but I didn’t think… I never wanted… This shouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry.”
“I was angry, a lot,” Miguel admitted, “especially at the beginning. I was furious with you, your dad, even myself, a bit… I just started thinking in circles. You kicked me off, sure, but Sensei was the one who taught me to show mercy, and we wouldn’t have been fighting if Tory hadn’t attacked Sam, and she wouldn’t have done that if Sam and I never kissed, so, I mean, who do I even blame?”
Robby gave him a strange look. “Me. Obviously.”
“But I don’t.”
Robby furrowed his brow.
“I don’t blame you— not anymore, after I’ve recovered, and had the time to think. I don’t think I blame anyone, anymore. It was an accident, like you said. And I just want to move on. ’S probably best for both of us. So I think… I forgive you.”
“I don’t understand how.” Robby said.
“To be honest? I don’t really either. But I do.”
Robby let out a shaky breath. “Thank you.”
“…Can I ask you a question?”
“You just did.”
“Smartass.”
Robby’s lips twitched. “Go ahead.”
“…Were you planning on joining?” Miguel pointed at the Cobra Kai sign. “I saw you standing there…”
“I thought about it,” Robby admitted. “That Kreese guy—“
“He’s bad,” Miguel interrupted. “There’s something off about him— and he took over the dojo—“
“He visited me in juvie.”
Miguel froze. “He what?”
“Yeah. He tried to recruit me.”
“What’d you say?”
“Pretty much told him to fuck off.”
Miguel laughed. “Really?”
“Yeah, he kept going on about striking first, but…” Robby shifted, “…that’s not what Miyagi Do is about.”
“…So why did you…?”
Robby sighed. “I was angry. And… I don’t have anyone.”
“What do you mean?”
“What does it sound like?” Robby snapped. “My mom’s in rehab, my dad doesn’t give a shit about me, and Mr. LaRusso turned me over. I was at Miyagi Do because I thought I could maybe spend the night there, but then you and Sam…”
“Right.” Miguel turned toward Robby, whose face was hidden in the shadows. “What about the other kids at your dojo? Could you stay with one of them?”
Robby scoffed. “You think they’d let me? I made every Miyagi Do look bad after the fight. We’re not really close, anyway, I haven’t seen anyone since I got out…”
“Stay at my place,” Miguel blurted out.
“…What?”
“It’s kinda small, and right next to your dad, but you could sleep on the couch. It’s pretty comfortable. And we have a first aid kit.”
Robby leaned forward slightly, streetlight illuminating the bruises along his jaw. “Are you crazy?”
“Probably a little,” Miguel said, “but Yaya would beat you to death with a frying pan if you tried to attack me. And considering you’re sorry and also look like shit, I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”
“I— thank you? But I’m not sure I should—“
Behind them, keys jangled. The boys turned around to see the silhouette of a man in the dojo’s door.
Robby stood up, grabbing his backpack. “Fuck, I don’t want to deal with him.”
“Me neither. C’mon!”
“Where—?” Robby began, but Miguel grabbed his wrist and tugged him toward his car. Robby was too surprised to protest. “Are you sure—“
“Just get in.”
A minute later, and they were speeding away from the strip mall.
Miguel drove through a green light, and made a face. “Kreese freaks me out. I don’t know why Sensei thought it was a good idea to have him teach.”
“Mr. LaRusso mentioned him once,” Robby recalled, “he said that my dad is a wreck because his teacher was evil, or something.”
“I mean, I guess that’s something we have in common.”
“Shitty dads? What’s yours like?”
“I never really knew him, my mom got me and Yaya out of Ecuador when I was pretty young. I’m not sure if he was a crime lord, in the Mafia, or something else.”
“The Mafia?!”
“Yeah, the Ecuadorian Mafia, maybe? I don’t really know. He doesn’t sound like the kind of guy you want to go searching for.”
“I’ll say.”
Several minutes passed in silence, as Miguel focused on driving. Robby stared out the window, lost in thought. Until he had a troubling one.
“Won’t your mom try and call the cops on me, or something?”
“I’ll talk to her when we get there. She’s usually pretty chill, unless I’ve been beat up.” Miguel grimaced. “Then she gets really protective. Not that I can blame her.”
“I wish—” Robby stopped himself.
Miguel couldn’t help but try to fill in the rest.
You wish what? That your mom or dad cared about you when you got hurt? That you’d never attacked me during the school fight? That you’d gone and joined Kreese instead? That we’d never dated Sam, because of the utter mess that followed?
Do you wish it had all gone differently? Peacefully?
Because I do.
The rest of the drive was in silence.