little bird // r.keene

xvii. bloody palms.

All three immediately began to ask questions but Wren just smiled like an idiot. It was all she could do and it told her friends all they needed to know. Without a word, Wren threw a glance over her shoulder to Hawk, he was now standing by Chris and Mitch's table but he had already been looking at her. He smirked because every time Wren looked at him with those eyes, he just... He had caught her looking but he had already been staring.

Wren turned back to her friends and Hawk's train of thought was interrupted when Mitch frowned at his phone.
"What's the matter with you?" Hawk asked, towering over the table as he finished the mozzarella stick he stole from Chris's plate.

"There's something you should see." Mitch held out his phone and Hawk looked from him to the screen. On it, he began to read a review of Cobra Kai:

"'Very unprofessional Sensei'. 'Does no take int o account safety or personal boundaries.' 'Facility in need of a major face-lift.' Who the hell does this guy think he is?" He asked in disbelief before checking the account, only to see it was Demitri...

A little while later, Wren turned to look back over to see Hawk, Chris, Mitch and a few others were gone from their seats and she turned to Aisha, who had just finished laughing at something Tory had said.

"Hey, when did they leave?" She asked, nodding her head over to the boy's empty tables.
"I'm not actually sure. Couldn't have been that long ago, they were there a few minutes ago." Aisha told Wren and she stood from her seat.

"They probably haven't gone far, I'm gonna go find them. I'll be back soon." Wren told them and the girls said goodbye before Wren left the diner. She scanned the long stretches of hallways, lined with shops, keeping her eye out for Hawk but Wren had no luck. She began to head towards the food court when someone ran into her from behind.

Turning her head over her shoulder, she saw that Demitri had collided with her back and wrapped his arms around her shoulder to stop Wren from falling over but he let go as soon as he had clung on.

"Demitri!" Wren called out to him when he ran off in the other direction. "Demitri!" She called again but he kept running, Wren had a terrible feeling about this and ran after him. When he eventually stopped in the food court, she jogged after him. "Demitri, what's wrong?" She asked, only an arms length away and he looked over at her, his eyes wide.

"Have you seen Sam and Robby?" He asked in a hurry, his vision scanning behind her.
"No, I haven't. Why? What's going on?" Wren asked again, the twisting feeling in her stomach, which she was experiencing regularly now, resurfaced.

Wren looked behind her to see Hawk walking around the corner, his eyes fixed on Demitri.
"It didn't have to be this way." He said as he got closer, "You could have joined Cobra Kai if you weren't such a pussy." Wren spun on him, also noticing Chris, Mitch and the others circling Demitri like sharks.

"Demitri, what did you do?" Wren uttered over her shoulder to him but he didn't reply.
"At lease I'm not an asshole!" He retorted to Hawk instead and just like that, Mitch grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Stop it." Wren ordered but none of them listened, she took another step closer to Hawk, trying to get between him and Demitri but Hawk wasn't listening.
"You're dead meat." He told Demitri, over Wren.

"Hawk!" Wren barked but before she could get another word out. Sam grabbed Chris's back and side kicked Mitch, he swung round and instinctually let go of Demitri. Sam lunged forward, grabbing Demitri's shirt and pulled him back behind her, her firsts raised. Immediately, everyone, Wren included, assumed a fighting position.

"Get back." She ordered, "You guys need to back off." She told them and Wren lowered her fists slightly.

"See you got that chocolate moose out of your hair, how long did that take, Sam?" Wren felt a sour feeling in her chest at seeing Sam standing in front of her. She licked her lips before shaking her head. "Look, a fight doesn't have to happen today, no matter how much I would like to beat you..." Wren told her.

"You're crazy if you think you can win this. I just can't wait for everyone to figure out how much of a psycho you really are, Evans." Sam spat, which Wren felt was a bit harsh but shrugged it off. In order for Sam to hurt her, Wren had to care what she thought.

"Ouch, psycho is a bit much. I just prefer 'creative'." Wren thought out loud and Hawk glanced at her over his shoulder. He could tell, they all could, there was tension between Sam and Wren, and it would be a lie if Hawk said he didn't find her mocking, teasing attitude attractive. After all, they had never really fought together and he smirked and the dangerous smile he saw on her face. Any trace of trying to make peace in her was gone.

"I don't want to have to hit a girl." Hawk sneered at Sam.
"You wouldn't stand a chance. The last girl you fought, it seems to me you lost pretty badly." Robby said suddenly, walking with his hands by his sides towards the group. Wren felt her throat go dry as her eyes flickered to Hawk eye, which still housed a healing bruise from their fight after Valley Fest. Hawk clenched his fists, Wren wasn't even sure if he knew Robby had been there and that he had been the one to pull Wren off of him.

"Six and against three?" Hawk asked, "More like 2 and a half." Hawk sneered and nodded his head and with this que, Chris grabbed Robby's shoulders and just like that... The fight began.

Hawk kicked for Robby's middle, which he deflected but that was the last Wren saw of their fight as Sam charged at her. Wren sidestepped as Sam kicked out, missing her entirely. Wren spun and thrusted her fist forward, colliding with Sam's back, she groaned and turned to face her. Another Cobra Kai, turned towards Sam but Sam kicked his shin and he fell like a log.

Wren's eyes darted to Demitri, who had Chris on his tail. Wren darted forward and pretended to accidentally get between them so Chris left him alone. Wren had eye contact with Demitri, "Stay close." She uttered and with his arms tucked into his middle, he nodded vigorously.

Robby had two guys on him, Mitch was fighting him head on, whilst the other was running up on him from behind. He was so focused on Robby, he didn't notice Wren stuck out her leg so he went crashing into Mitch instead of Robby.

Robby was in shock for a moment, Wren had helped him with what seemed like a mistake but he knew. He knew Wren well enough to know nothing she did wasn't thought through. He watched as she kept her feet planted, fists raised like she was ready to fight at any moment but she didn't leave Demitri's side. Not once.

Sam ran towards her but instead of flinching, Wren spun and kicked her shoulder, sending her off to the left instead of making a direct impact. Robby's eyes were ripped away from the girls when Hawk charged at him, jumping with his first raised when Robby had an idea. Using the table he was pressed against, he spun with so much momentum that when he raised his leg on the rotation, he kicked Hawk with such might that he was knocked to the floor.

Just like the rest. All apart from Wren.

Sam had grabbed Demitri by that point and pulled him behind her. Robby walked over to them both and turned to see Wren, standing alone, her team mates sprawled on the floor around her.

Miyagi-Do had won.

But Robby couldn't help but think they could never truly win if Wren didn't stand with them.

"This isn't over, Evans." Sam spat at her but Wren didn't say anything. Her eyes were blank and her fists weren't clenched anymore but Robby could see a small trickle of something red down her finger and it clicked in his head.

Her nails had dug in her palms while she was fighting to protect Demitri. She was getting hurt by trying to protect everyone, whilst no one was protecting her. Even if it was from herself.