*I only put one star/asterisk because it isn't a SCENE from Season 3 but it alludes to a scene. But still MAY CONTAIN SEASON 3 SPOILER soooo read at your own risk!*
I also just did my first digital art and of course, it was of Hawk and I am proud of it! I'll probably add it as the Chapter icon for the upcoming ones.
CHAPTER 14:
Third Person POV
"So when did you and Yasmine become a thing?" Zelena's sly inquiry is well placed among the silence that had just entered between the pair as Miguel and Chris went to order the appetizers at the counter. Demetri clears his throat, redirecting his eyes to the menu in front of him to buy himself time. His hands grasp either side and lift the laminated sheet upward to barricade himself from the oncoming interrogation. "I'm not judging, Dem. I just can't help but wonder when it started." Her eyes drift down his fingertips to the white cast now adorned in rather big red letters inside the penis Kyler had drawn at lunch. Her tongue runs between her lips before rubbing them together to hide her amusement and oncoming laughter at the sentence in Yasmine's handwriting. "Especially since she loves your big dick so much."
Demetri chokes on the sip of water he has just intaken to use as an excuse of speech inability. Violent coughs erupt and water sprays across the laminated menu. Zelena grins, raising her hand and giggling into it at the expense of her friend's embarrassment. "What happened? We leave you two alone for how long and Demetri is choking on water?" Chris shakes his head with a smile on his lips while Miguel chides the pair.
The brunette girl gestures to the cast that both boys had been too enthralled by their conversation in the car to notice earlier. Their eyes read the red lettering and immediately sit down, silenced by their own shock. "He choked on his water when I mentioned Yasmine loving his," She leans forward, squinting to emphasize her point though everyone knows she can clearly read the writing. "Big dick."
Demetri's cheeks redden, his eyes averting from the mischievous grin on his best friend's lips. She clearly is enjoying this too much. He slides the slightest bit down against the back of his chair, grumbling "Knock it off. She did it out of pity." She shrugs, reaching forward and wrapping her hand around her milkshake glass to bring to her lips. Stealing a coy sipof cookies 'n cream tinged in pure enjoyment of this moment, knowing something Demetri didn't. She had seen the real pinkening of Yasmine's cheeks beneath the blush as she walked away though he hadn't. Zelena had stared even as Miguel raced past, ignoring the whiplash of the moment as she watched. "All I am saying is Yasmine's cheeks were turning pink when she walked away from you. It wasn't pity. So either you two made a connection or she really liked that big dick." Zelena's amusement gets the best of her at the end of her sentence that is broken up by titters.
Demetri's left hand balls up the napkin lain beside his glass of water and he haphazardly tosses it at Zelena's smug face. Instead of ducking out of the way, Zelena allows it to bounce off the bridge of her nose and unaffect her chuckles. She sips on her milkshake, allowing the other two members of their small party to take reign on the unhinged conversation. Miguel and Chris share a look, unsure of what to even add in on the topic Zelena had brought up. Neither of them wanted to talk about dicks at the moment- especially not the size comparison to their mutual friend.
Chris directs his attention to the girl staring knowingly at Demetri as she sipped on her shake. "So Zelena, when do you think you'll do karate ever again?"
Disappointed by the boys not joining in on the much more interesting topic of Yasmine and Demetri, Zelena releases a small huff of breath from her lips following the release they had on her straw. "By the end of this week."
Demetri, who had returned to looking away from his friend's direct eye contact, snaps his head to look at her increduously. "Are you nuts? You're in a wheelchair." He's well intentioned and deep down Zelena knows that, but the edge to his tone returns like a mother scolding her child. And Zelena was no child- not anymore.
"As a precaution. I can walk, Demetri." Her palms place themselves flat on the table in front of her and she pushes herself out of the wheelchair as her bent arms extend to be straight. Her left hand snatches the milkshake glass from the table, "In fact, it's time I walk over to the counter for a refill." Stiffened by her seated positions all day, her walk is more of a waddle the first few steps but as she builds momentum and rhythm, it's a smooth transition to a normal walk.
The boys take turns looking at one another, but Chris taps out of saying anything by lifting his Pepsi to his lips and taking multiple, consecutive swigs of it. "Look at that." He lifts his now empty glass, rising onto his own feet. "I need a refill too."
Miguel and Demetri watch the other Miyagi-Do student manuver the small crowd of high school students here until he disappears around the corner, blocked by a wall. The Ex-Cobra Kai runs his hands over his face and the Miaygi-Do student frustratedly steals his own sip of his water in an attempt to extinguish the rising temperature he could feel creeping upon him. "Demetri," He hums, raising his eyebrow at Miguel to continue his oncoming spiel. "You meant well and I am sure she knows that, but your tone- it's unintentional but slipped out. You sounded," Miguel pauses again, unsure of how to break this news to him kindly- to avoid hurting his feelings. His cheeks puff out as he takes a long exhalation of exasperation, taking defeat on his journey to find the 'polite' word. "Condescending. Like she was stupid and didn't know how to take care of herself."
"I just want to make sure she is being careful!" Demetri argues, irritated that their mutual friend couldn't see his deep care for Zelena.
Miguel nods, placing his hands gently atop the table. "And she is. She's been taking care of herself since she's woken up. She's accepting precautions and my mom said she listened to and followed all limitations they gave her initially. That's why she's using the wheelchair. If she didn't care, she would have been walking around without her boot on all day like a normal teenager. Like she didn't just survive a two story fall that nearly killed her."
Demetri's lips part to further the discussion. To speak his mind.
Chris approaches the table, two drinks in hand, one that is a dark, bubbly substance and the other that is milk-based with chunks of oreos blended into it. "She said she needs a moment. She's watching a couple of little kids play-" The girl of the hour places her hand on the center of Chris' back, reaching her right arm around his body to grab the milkshake refill from his hand.
"They said the appetizers will be out soon." She sits herself back into the wheelchair, making the announcement and then going quiet.
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'Don't kill him' Miguel's whisper he'd leaned back into the car via the window to remind her, pops back into her head among the tense silence between Demetri and her. They hadn't spoken a direct word to one another following the small outburst at the diner, but overall enjoyed one another's presence via their mutual friends keeping the discussion going. Only two streets until you're home. She notes to herself to calm the racing of her heart and the irritation she's let simmer over the years about his necessity to have authority and say over everything.
His fingers tap nervously against the steering wheel as he pulls into her driveway, indecisive on how to approach having this conversation with her. Miguel's critique of his tone had echoed in head the entire time at the diner and on the drive home. She hadn't spoken a word to him since her commentary about Yasmine's well-intentioned message on his cast. "I'll walk you to the door." He quietly offers, half expecting her to protest and insist she didn't need his pity.
And a piece of her wanted to. But she can hear the desperation in his voice so she nods firmly in acceptance of his offer. Neither says anything more as he puts the car in park, turns the key to shut off the ignition, and opens his door. She swings hers open before he can even suggest opening it for her, though he had never done so before. She moves herself around the edge of the seat, carefully lifting her booted leg to avoid damaging the glove box or anything else the heavy thing may destory if smacked by it. Demetri arrives beside her with his hands around the handles of the wheelchair he'd pulled from his trunk. She shakes her head side to side, declining the 'ride' to which he folds it back up into its storage form.
She stands herself up, inching around the car door carefully to give herself enough space to swing it shut. Wordlessly the pair walk to the front porch, each step seeming like it takes a lifetime to complete. Where did he begin? Just start talking you idiot. Demetri's sunconscious eggs him on, encouraging him to just jump in instead of trying to determine where to start at or waiting for a 'right' moment. "I'm sorry." It bursts out of him and Zelena jumps a little at the sudden words. "I-" She turns away from the door to fully face him with her eyebrow raised since her interest had been piqued at his words.
He leans the wheelchair on the wall beside her front door, seating himself on the comfy front porch swing they had spent good moments on with Eli once upon a time. She follows his lead, seating herself beside him preparing for whatever conversation will follow whether it be hefty or light. She watches in confusion as he stands back up onto his feet and stuffing his hand into his right side pocket. He tugs out his Dr. Who wallet, opens it and sifts through the bill holding side. Two double-sided lined sheets folded up with orange lettering all over it are held between his fingetips as he carefully pulls it out. He pockets the wallet and returns to his seat beside Zelena.
"I've been an asshole even more lately. And when I read this letter the other day- I couldn't bring myself to read it following your accident- it made me realize how much of an asshole I was then." Demetri bitterly laughs, gnawing momentarily on the corner of his lower right lip. "I-I told all those people that you hurt yourself. And I felt no remorse that night. I set that ablaze and you apologized to me first. You apologized to me. The fact you did that at all is proof of your brilliant character. You didn't need to apologize for being open and honest with everything that was happening, for feeling the way you did when I am the one who created that feeling within you."
His hand hovers over Zelena's as he speaks, hesitating due to his position. She decides for him, reaching up and grasping it tightly in hers, their now joined hands down to the space between them. "Nothing you did, ever, made me feel like lesser than Eli. I made myself feel lesser than because I knew- I know that someone loves him more than just platonically. And because I let myself get out of control, stoop down to a level I despised." His fingers wrap tighter around her palm and he ducks his head to capture her eyes. "You and everything you did was perfect. It was everything I could have asked for- supportive but realistic when it came to consequences of my actions. Just like with Eli. You didn't give up on either of us. I'm sorry I made you feel like a shitty friend when I have been the shitty friend all along."
Zelena allows the tears to rise to the surface in pride for Demetri deciding to have this conversation, for him to bare his emotions out into the open. Her lips part to say more, but Demetri continues. "I, I'm sorry for interrupting you and invading your discussions- being pessimistic. I am sorry I say things without thinking first. I am sorry about my condescending tones. And I - my outburst today about the wheelchair. It wasn't even about you taking care of yourself or the damn thing. Chris' question terrified me- your response terrified me." She sniffles, watching his own tears begin to roll down his cheeks. "Karate was what got us into this mess. It keeps taking things from all of us. From me." His voice breaks and Zelena reaches out for him, but he pulls the hand she reaches for back.
"Karate stole Eli, my binary brother. It took Miguel for a little bit there. It stole my better judgement. It stole my sense of self. It-It almost permanently took you- the only person in my life, in our little world here, that could change the universe. The only person willing to get involved when no one else will simply because it's the right thing to do." He wipes his own tears away, wiping his face against the fabric covering his right shoulder. "What if you do Karate again and this time it takes away everything permanently?"
Zelena ignores all sense and tosses herself forward, wrapping her arms around Demetri's neck. She buries her face into his chest, sobbing in joy at the conclusion of their heart to heart. They hold each other closely for what seems like hours, in peaceful silence. Zelena lifts her head after the sobs quit racking her body, but remaining tears still stream over her cheeks. She repositions it to rest atop her arm, but still laying across his shoulder to be close to him. "It won't Dem. And it is scary." She pauses, considering her own emotions. "But it is going to work out. No one else is going to be stolen. You know yourself. I am back. Miguel has been back. And Hawk will be back at your side in time. This conversation you've had with me, you will need to have with him too."
His arm readjusts to rest loosely around her waist while his right arm falls as limply as it can, against his side. She too moves so her body rests beside his instead of nearly on top of him as it had before. Her head readjusts, laying on his shoulder just for close comfort. "Zel," She hums among the quiet at the continuation of conversation. "He is battling himself. One second he's out for blood, the next he has to be egged on by his Cobra buddies to actually take action." From the way his head tilts, he can see her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "He had me pinned under him for a while. He pulled on my arm a little but not much after, like he knew that was all that needed to be done- like he knew I learned my lesson. But then the others started cheering him on. And he hesitated."
"And the longer it went on, the harder he yanked?" Zelena completes the unspoken words her best friend had hesitated on. The movement of Demetri's head rocks Zelena a little, but she remains in her same position. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Dem."
"Do you really think he'll come back to us?" It is quieter than a whisper and Zelena processes it so slowly, surprised she had even been able to hear it.
How do I tell him that I don't know anymore? She ponders to herself. Hawk had broken Demetri's arm for heaven's sakes! But he still teetered on the edge as she had seen earlier in the cafeteria- the guilt, and then again in the hallway when Johnny approached him- the little smirk. "Not as Eli." A sob she hadn't even felt begin to form in her, passes through her lips. It was a realization she had made subconsciously a long time ago, but it was her first time admitting it aloud. Demetri tightens his arm around his friend's waist, prepared to pull her back into his chest if need be. "We won't ever get Eli back. He is gone now."
As he pulls her even closer to his side, Demetri very carefully considers her words. Somewhere along this downhill journey that very rarely had a small incline, he too had recognized the unrepairable changes in who they knew as "Eli". They were no longer binary brothers- at least not in the same way as before. Fairly, he had changed a lot inwardly too. Sure, he knew which side was right and which was wrong, but he also lost himself trying to maneuver the world of karate. The world of being cool in high school. The only difference between him and Hawk was he had found the light at the end of the tunnel that had brought him full circle. He had found a group of people that kept him grounded to his foundation instead of unhinged and dangling above it.
"If he came back and apologized, even as Hawk- as he was the night he broke my arm- I would welcome him home." There's a tenderness lingering in his voice that Zelena had never heard fall from Demetri's mouth before. A fondness he had left untouched for the boy that broke both their hearts and left so much destruction in his path surfaces. "Does that sound crazy?" His shoulders rise in sync with his chest as a laugh of disbelief ripples through him. "Of course it does."
The doubt she'd seen weighing her friend down most of his life hangs onto the cusp of his mind. "It doesn't." Zelena blurts out, sitting up to face him as he slowly moves his body to face her too. His left eyebrow raises and a snort sounds.
"It doesn't?" She simply nods, knowing he can probably read into her right now. "Really?"
Her head leans back, touching the top of the swing's cushion. Her lungs release hold of the breath she'd clung onto to avoid giving her away. "It's complicated. Sure. But I don't think it's crazy." Her eyes steal a look at her friend though her head remains in resting position. "He was your friend- your brother for a lot longer than he's been your enemy. All thoughts that matter when deciding to let him back into your life, is you, Dem. At the end of the day, only you know how you feel and what you think is best for you."
Demetri bobs his head up and down thoughtfully. The bitter tinge on his tongue nearly identical to that which lingered in his mouth on stage at Moon's party, spreads. Don't ask her. Not right now. That should kill the little voice in his head encouraging him to ask a question he knows she doesn't have a response for. But still it continues on. She's already hurting. You know she is! It slips out in a groan of knowing this won't end well. That he just put her in more pain. "Would you let him back in your life?"