✓ VIRTUAL AEROBICS; eli moskowitz

45. {purple hair, don't care}

hawk said nothing, so she continued.

"dr hanson recommended i visit him, back when he was in juvie, to help me move from the trauma. so i saw him and we talked and he apologised to me. he was even planning to a-apologise to miguel. so i forgave him. we would text and call from time to time and he came to my house once, chatted to my dad about staying out of trouble. but then i saw him yesterday afternoon, told me he had joined cobra kai and i said i didn't mind but then at the drive in, he just proved himself to be an asshole."

"right." hawk nodded. he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed the two of them being on good terms.

"but now i feel stupid." gioia sighed. "i mean i let him into my life, thinking he was different but turns out he's the same as the rest of the cobra kais. i'm sorry i didn't tell you, or anyone. i just didn't want people to be mad at me."

"i hear you... but gb, he's the one who hurt miguel." hawk reminded her, choosing his words carefully.

she sighed. "i know, i know. robby's had a hard life and you don't know his side of the story, there-there's always two."

"yeah, and in case you forgot his side consisted of him kicking miguel off the balcony." hawk rolled his eyes. he couldn't understand why the girl was defending this boy.

"you think i don't know that?!" gioia challenged, tears welling up in her eyes. "i would've never gone to see him if i wasn't advised to. you think i just randomly thought one day: oh, let me just go visit the guy who put my best friend in a wheelchair!"

hawk could see that the girl was getting stressed out, and that's exactly what he didn't want. gioia being stressed and overwhelmed was no good for anyone. he stood up from the floor, embracing her in a hug.

"hey, hey. i'm sorry." hawk whispered as she broke down into his shirt. "i didn't mean to upset you, alright? you've got a heart of gold and sometimes i struggle to see how you can be so good to others."

"i know i made a mistake." she cried. "i give people too many chances, even if they don't deserve it. and they end up walking over me."

hawk pulled out of the hug, placing his hands on her cheeks. he gently wiped away her tears. "look, robby is an idiot if he didn't appreciate your friendship. you're better off without him, yeah?"

"yeah." she nodded. "do you think miguel will be mad?"

"miguel could never be mad at you." hawk reassured her. and how wrong would he be?

"okay." gioia exhaled. she paused for a second before meekly whispering, "i got purple on your shirt."

hawk laughed, not bothering to wipe it. "it's okay."

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"vietnam vet turned businessman. had a few ups and downs, but still turned out pretty rich." demetri showed the two an article of terrance silver, daniel's old sensei. "not much dirt, other than some toxic waste scandal in borneo back in the 80s."

they were now at school. hawk had picked gioia up from her house and she had been running a little late so instead of picking up demetri after, he was stuck riding the bus, and he was not happy about that.

"jeez, sounds like a renaissance man. how'd you even find out his name?" hawk asked his best friend.

"i took a picture at the dojo, found an old facial recognition beta test and tweaked the code to make it compatible with heic." demetri told them.

"i love it when you talk nerdy." yasmin andrews, moon lewis and mickey omar had caught up with the three in the hallway. gioia still was unsure how but yasmin and demetri had become a couple but they weren't afraid to hide it.