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

*Chapter 21: Roller Rink Woes (Part 2)

I use my palms to erase my fallen tears and Tory whispers my name. I ignore it, turning straight in my seat and pulling my seatbelt back over me. I click it into the buckle, turn the keys to the left, and put the car in drive.

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Hawk glances down at his phone, muttering something inaudible to himself with a roll of his eyes. He turns his screen over to rest against his thigh while his head leans against his closed fist propped against the front, passenger window. When I got to Tory's place, he silently got out and moved to the front seat. A habit he'd acquired when him and Demetri fought over who would sit shotgun after I got my license. Demetri would complain about no leg space in the back and Eli- Hawk- would argue he was my least annoying friend so it helped me concentrate if he was in the front.

The laughter escaping my lips disrupts the tension still lingering between us in the still silence of the car. His head slowly moves away from the window and he eyes me up and down. My left hand immediately clasps over my mouth to seal away any further sound from this environment. The tension morphs into an unspoken awkwardness and my body slightly sinks lower in my driver's seat. If I weren't driving, I would sink to the floor while wishing to just disappear. "Sorry." I apologize, though I'm not entirely sure what for.

He stiffly nods his head in acceptance of my apology. His eyes still linger on my side profile, watching me in a way that bubbles oddly in the pit of my stomach. I shift beneath his gaze and at the next red light, I turn my head to meet his gaze. "Is there something you want to say? Because your staring is making me uncomfortable." He scoffs and looks away, but he peeks at me from the corner of his eye. "We still have 15 minutes until we're at your house. If you have something on your mind, just say it."

"You chose Demetri over me. And you think I abandoned you."

The light turns green and I watch the street ahead, but respond to him. "I didn't choose anyone over anyone." God, my two best guy friends have the thickest fucking skulls. From my peripherals, I see his lips parting to argue with me. "Demetri and I literally have this same argument, especially often lately." I inhale deeply, moving my left hand on top of my right one to comfort myself. To center my thoughts and return to a conversation that didn't bring outside problems in. Especially not when outside problems include Demetri. "Look, I never intended to make you feel like I was abandoning you. And I do not regret walking out that door, but it does weigh on me daily. I think about it more often than I'll care to admit. But being completely transparent," My eyes meet his briefly. "I still stand by every single thing I said."

I technically hadn't been wrong. I called him a less worse version of Kyler at the time, but now? Now he had almost become his own isotope of Kyler. He had been wrong. He said he wouldn't be violent, but topping his incident a couple weeks after our argument where he hunted down Demetri, he broke Dem's arm. Not accidentally. Not unknowingly. Completely on purpose. And the pain reflects in his eyes. "You have no intention to return to Cobra Kai?" I shake my head at his quiet question. "Have you done any karate since," His voice trails off and when I steal a peek, his eyes are focused on my legs.

"After Sam and I talked. She showed me a few moves her dad just taught her. Pretty much just stretches because my legs are still regaining their muscle. But I've been practicing the moves I can remember at home. I haven't stepped foot in a dojo." I feel the need to be transparent with him, but it ebbs away as the fear grows and grows in my chest. He remains silent and unmoving in his seat.

His arms finally untuck from across his chest and I hold my breath. "My mom said she visited you at the hospital. Snuck past the nurses." I nod slowly, trying to absorb the direction this conversation is going. He chuckles softly, "That was badass of her." I nod again, confused now more than I ever have been in my life. "I think you misunderstand Sensei Kreese." He blurts.