In My Blood (Eli Moskowitz/Hawk FF) (Cobra Kai)

*Chapter 21: Roller Rink Woes (Part 2)

My left hand replaces the spot at the top of the steering wheel where my right hand had been as my right hand reaches for the top of her knee. "T, if I thought you were a monster of any sort, I would avoid you at any costs." She rolls her eyes and a few tears begin to roll down her cheeks. She lifts her hand and quickly wipes them away with the side of her index finger. "I absolutely do not think you are a monster. I know you are not a monster, Tory."

Her eyes finally meet mine, "Then why won't haven't you shown at the dojo?"

The light turns green and gives me both an excuse to look away, but more reason to steal a few seconds to think of a better answer. How do I explain that I think their Sensei is a monster without getting into an argument? Or without them asking for proof and me having to avoid telling them about the hospital? Tory hums from beside me, awaiting my answer. I heavily sigh, deciding to be honest, but limit the extent of details and how I know what I know. "Because I think Kreese is a monster."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Hawk leans forward in his seat, wrapping his arms around Tory's headrest from the back to keep from sliding back.

I very briefly rest the top of my head against my headrest in aggravation with a groan. I wanted to avoid this. But of course, in his new nature, Hawk is at best verbally confrontational and at worst, physically confrontational. I flicker my eyes to the rearview mirror, finding it easier to speak with him through a "third party" than to actually meet his gaze. "I know you don't have a sense of logic in you anymore, but," My eyes drift back over to Tory for a moment. "I know you do." My eyes go back to the road, "He's preying on you at your weakest. He says all these things that make sense because you're clouded by your dark emotions. But what kind of man, let alone any half-decent person, makes a snide comment about a teen who was in a coma and says it was their fault?"

Silence fills my car for a moment and I steal a peek at both of them. Guilt is placed across Tory's features and as my perception changes to Hawk, his eyes are staring back at me. They still have some humanity left in them, but he's fighting himself. There's a snarl curling his lips. "What kind of a man abandons his students when they're at their lowest?"

"Hawk," Tory murmurs softly. My hand still resting on her knee, squeezes lightly to let her know it was okay. He needed to get this out in the air or he was going to bottle it all up until he can physically release it upon someone.

"Your Sensei did that. And guess what, you did that. You two are incredibly alike."

My left hand flicks the bar to the side of my steering wheel, the car clicking as it signals my right side merge to a curb. I press on my brake pedal, turn the signal off, and release Tory's knee to put my car in park. My right hand turns the key to the left, completely turning my car off and I coolly unbuckle my seatbelt. My legs swing to the right so my body faces his direction, using my door to prop my body up. He doesn't moved from his pulled up position via his grasp on the headrest. Against my better judgement, my eyes meet his face to face without the mirror as a barrier. "What the hell are you talking about, Hawk?"

"According to Robby, Lawrence abandoned him at his lowest. Lawrence abandoned us and the dojo when things got hard. And you abandoned me. Like teacher like student." Tears begin to prick at the corners of my eyes.

For a moment, we all sit in the stiff, tension filled silence hovering above our heads. I'm suffocated by his twisted truth, by his perception of our argument that completely tore apart our already tattered friendship. "I tried to reason, offered to come back and talk it out because we were both filled to the brim with emotions. Your exact response to me was, 'Don't bother. If you're going to keep being friends with Demetri then it's evident whose side you really are on. If you walk out that door, I don't want you to come back. And I'm not crawling back to you.' I wasn't going to argue with you- I didn't leave a single thought unspoken and bared my heart. It still wasn't good enough. You circled back to Demetri. So I walked out that door." I swallow hard. My throat feels like it's closing and I really can't breathe right. His red hair, skin tone, and facial features blur into a mixture of colors thanks to my tears. "Y-you abandoned me because you were angry with Demetri. Because you care more about looking cool and having people fear you than having people look up to you for the right reasons." I sniffle, dully noting the blank expression across his features.