CHAPTER 29:
Third Person POV
A red, spiked hairdo captures the brunette's attention nearly immediately upon the blonde driver parking her car beside his in the lot. "Ready, kid?" The teen nods at her sort of life teacher's inquiry, following suit by opening the door and getting out of the car the second the blonde turns his back to her. She gulps down a deep inhalation from the fresh air, shutting her car door shut behind her. Her body jerks back at the revelation of her best friend's body standing right there. His arms wrap tightly around her wordlessly, leaving her no opportunity to object to the motion.
She melts into his arms, allowing her head to lean against the spot where his neck meets his shoulder. Her nose gently brushes against his adam's apple as she nuzzles further into his warmth and the simple accidental touch secretly drives him nuts. He tightens his arms even more around her shoulders and her arms raise to wrap up, across his back from beneath his arms so her hands rest against his shoulders. Her nails press against the muscle there as she holds him tighter to remind herself how real this actually is. "I'm glad you're okay." Eli whispers from atop her head where his chin rests.
"Thank you for caring." She breathes out, fanning across a small portion of his neck and the top surface of his chest. He says nothing in response in fear he'll ruin this moment.
The pair can't see their friends and teacher behind them, exchanging words and five dollar bills. Miguel and Sensei Lawrence share a look as Demetri passes each of them a five dollar bill. In all fairness, the red-haired teen had called him last night with joyous news of how the pair had made up and she'd laid across him like they used to do. Demetri had naturally assumed that if she knew Eli had tried to be the hero for once, she would at least spare a kiss to his cheek in gratitude. Sensei Lawrence and Miguel knew how stubborn she could be and how she most definitely would not allow herself to revert to that so soon.
Miguel and Johnny Lawrence shove the bills into their pockets the second Zelena steps back from Eli's arm with warmed cheeks. None of the trio turn away, instead observing the duo approach them by ambling shoulder to shoulder, their hands absently brushing with each step. "So who met you there?"
"I kind of almost thought it would be George. He's been trying to talk to me alone about something at school lately. But Robby showed up. Then Tory, then Kreese and his newest lap dog- or oldest- Mike Barnes." She lists, tilting her head back with a dry laugh. "God, I was stupid to think there wouldn't be some hidden agenda whether it be George or Robby." She notes the way everyone draws their eyes down their face when gentle fingertips run beneath her chin, turning her head to face them. She raises her eyebrow at the mohawked boy, "Can I help you?"
He inches his face forward, lowering his head with squinting eyes to inspect the rising discoloration around her jaw. "Who put their hands on you, Angel? I swear to god if it was Keene-" Zelena feels her warm cheeks heat further the second the nickname he'd used for her two previous times, rolls off his tongue affectionately.
"It wasn't. He actually stepped up in my defense." She tilts her head to the left, dropping it from Eli's fingertips and turning toward Miguel and Demetri. "It wasn't Tory either. It was Barnes. Some- how old is he Sensei?"
Johnny Lawrence glances towards the group of teens and shrugs, not caring to admit his own age to the group. "I don't know. Point was, he shouldn't have placed his hands on you in the first place." Zelena is momentarily taken aback by the anger in Johnny's tone and the small glimmer of fear in his eyes. Had he been afraid of me getting seriously hurt? She shakes the thought and decides to change the course of the topic.
"So what plan did you settle for?" Her arms cross over her chest, awaiting Miguel's answer which was most likely still undecided. Initially, everyone was supposed to meet up at the Diaz's household for a small get together, but then Carmen insisted on doing something a little more grand for Yaya after all the support she'd offered everyone through the brawls and fall. For everything in general. Due to her busy schedule, she'd left the planning up to Miguel which Zelena took upon herself to secretly make plans, knowing he wouldn't have the slightest clue what to do. Miguel sheepishly glances to the side, rubbing the back of his neck in an awkwardness. "Good."
His eyebrows furrow as he meets the brunette's gaze. All four of the males look at her in bewilderment. This wasn't good. Not even a little bit. His mother expected him to have these great plans for Yaya and all he'd had were the balloons and papel picado Zelena had instructed him to purchase. Her hands clap together, her eyes drifitng off to the left side as a car pulls into the parking area.
Another brunette teen and her mother step out of the vehicle the second it parks and go around to the trunk. Miguel raises his eyebrow again, jaw dropping slightly as he eyes between the two new arrivals and Zelena standing there. "Did you get the papel picado?" She cooly inquires, grinning back at him. He nods wordlessly. "Then you did your job. Sam and I ran to the store the other day and got everything else. So, now boys, all hands on deck. Chop chop."
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The teen's eyes run over her reflection in the mirror her uncle had bought her for her birthday and her hands drift to the waistband of the skirt, tugging to even it out around her waist. A goofy grin places itself over her lips as she catches a drift of her uncle's voice from the other side of the wall, most likely warning Eli about his behavior and how to proceed from here on out. Zelena twirls, focusing her eyes on the flow of the skirt she had managed to convince herself to buy the last time she'd gone to Target. And then her mind returns to her best friend who had taken her home.
Zelena's hand wraps around the bend of Eli's elbow, so gently that he nearly misses the brush of her fingers against his skin. His eyebrows furrow in concern, immediately turning to steal a glance at his best friend to ensure her safety. "What's wrong? You feel okay?"
She nods her head with a growing smile playing on her lips as she steps to the side, into the hallway and away from prying eyes. "Did you drive here today?" Her words are whispered and he slowly nods, trying to foresee where this conversation is leading. "Can you drive me home really quick so I can change? Yaya should be here in an hour."
His lips part, nearly questioning why she chose to ask him instead of the LaRusso women, but he reconsiders. Her trust in him to take her somewhere warms his heart and he grins at her, "Yea, of course. Let me just go tell Miguel that we'll be back."
The ride was quiet, but he allowed her to choose the songs and he smiled at her whenever she'd sung along quietly. It was almost like old Eli. But he didn't glance away when she caught his eye and he even playfully poked her when she stuck her tongue out at him.
Her cheeks warm once more, even burning when his voice flows from the other side of the door following a light rap against the wood, "You okay in there, Angel? I mean, Zelena." He clears his throat and Zelena crosses the small space to her door. Her hand turns the knob, pulling back the door to reveal Eli whose skin is tinged a light pink. His eyes draw up her body, drinking in every little detail of her navy blue skirt decorated with flowers and accompanying burnt orange blouse tucked into the waistband. "Converse?" It's a rhetorical question pushed through his lips by a laugh the second his eyes retrace to the matching shade of orange tennis shoe.
"Converse. I won't trip- well, I won't stumble." She corrects herself, already knowing she could be quite clumsy at times. And there was a strong possibility he would playfully hold her own words against her should he catch her tripping over thin air anytime in the evening.
"Skirt?"
"Skirt." She immediately affirms, raising her right eyebrow impishly at his rather inquistive behavior. "Are we going to stand here so you can list all the items of my outfit? Because I could do it very quickly for you. You know, button up shirt, wrist watch-" He shushes the teen, swatting the air in front of him in an attempt to get her to quiet down.
"I don't think I've seen you all dressed up without the necessity since," Uncle Rob begins with amazement written across his worry-lined face.
Zelena clears her throat, redirecting the attention from her voice broken guardian back onto her. "Yea." There's an awkward silence surrounding the three who have no idea how to continue the conversation. The brunette teen slaps her thighs with a soft smile on her lips as she draws her eyes back to her uncle who's still staring at her. "Well, we need to head back. I'll text you when I'm on my way home!"
Eli starts to walk back toward the main entrance way, leaving the two to say their goodbyes. Zelena grins at the gray haired man, gently touching the side of his face in hopes it'd ease the tears rising in his pride-ridden eyes. "I love you." She presses a kiss to his right cheek before tilting back onto the soles of her feet and tucking her hands into the pockets of her skirt.
"I love you too. And don't be too hard on that kid." His lips gently press to the teen's forehead before he steps back and out of her way.
She can feel Eli's curious eyes watching her as they slip into his mother's car that she let him borrow for the evening. But he says nothing about whatever is on his mind, following behind her and even saying goodbye to her uncle as they walk through the front door. As he had earlier, his hands make quick work of the front passenger door, opening it for her. She slips into the seat, tucking her legs into the space in front of her and smiles up at her friend. He closes the door and her eyes happen to end up across her uncle who is leaned up the threshold.
His eyebrow raises, having caught the small little thing the teen boy had done. Eli's back faces the man Zelena bats her hand in the air with burning cheeks. Apparently the crush (or quite possibly more than that) she'd harbored on her best friend wasn't a secret to anyone, especially not her uncle by the looks of his wiggling eyebrows. She laughs, not seeing the red Mohawked teen slide into the driver seat or even hear him until he inquires about the source of her laughter. "Just my uncle goofing off."
Eli waves to their elder only to return his right hand to the shift, putting the car into reverse while his left hand remains on the steering wheel. "So you went to the beach thinking there was a possibility it'd be George standing there, waiting for you?" He begins, keeping his eyes locked on the road though this twinge of pain beats in his heart. He can't decide the emotion sourcing it, but know for certain he doesn't enjoy the feeling particularly.
She notes the tightening of his fingers around the grey leather steering wheel that contradicts the softness of his tone. Still she answers honestly. "Yes." The ex-Cobra raises his eyebrow at her, ensuring she catches a glimpse of the darkened questioning expression across his face when he turns his head to her briefly for a momentary stare down. "What?" There's a familiar exasperation tinging her rhetorical asking that she'd used when Miguel continued to press on about dating Peter. "He's a good guy and-"
"And still a Cobra. Still learning from Kreese."
"I was going to say good looking but yes." It's meant to be a joke, but no smile adorns his lips in the passing moments she gives him to process her taunting words. "Eli-"
He abruptly interrupts her. Not with intent to, but because he'd finally mustered up the courage to say what's pulsating in his mind. "Robby is a Cobra too now. Why would you even meet up with him?"
She's bewildered for a moment at his brashness, the rough edge to his words. She reminds herself that she doesn't owe him any explanation. She doesn't owe anyone an explanation. Yet her gaze that drifted astray to her thumbs absently wrestling one another in her lap, lifts up to view his fairly emotional expression. His eyes meet hers briefly and the glimpse of his blue green eyes leaves her lips parted in surprise. She gawks for a moment at the conclusion of deep rooted fear pushing further the harshness of his suddenly stoic expression.
The way his name rolls off her tongue alleviates some of the overwhelming negativity powering his sudden unavailability. He shudders the second her fingers knowingly feather across the back of his right hand. They then proceed to interlace between his own, pulling his hand away from full functionality of the steering wheel. "If I saw Robby or Tory as genuine threats to my being, I wouldn't interact with them. They would never knowingly bring me harm."
"Except they did today, Zelena." He has a fair point. She thinks to herself, also recognizing the similarities between what he has once done to what Tory and Robby had done. They weren't that far apart. Robby had even intervened today like Hawk had at the LaRusso household. While she hadn't been lured to the LaRusso's on a false pretense, she had been cornered there by Cobras just as she had been today. She didn't know how to bring it to light that perhaps Hawk hated Robby so much because he saw himself in Sensei Lawrence's charming son. Because he was uncomfortable with seeing his actions in someone else's shoes. "He kicked you over the railing and you're still batting for him."
Lucky for the teen, the light had turned red and unlucky for her driver this evening, she had every intent to him to look at her. Not just glance. Her right hand waves, getting him to look at her incredulously. "Robby intended to kick Miguel over the railing- not that that's okay or makes it better but he didn't mean me harm. Secondly, as much as you hate it, I think you need to admit that the reason you despise him so much is because you're seeing him make mistakes similar to your own. And it hurts."
His eyes roll, but he doesn't say or do anything else to decline the gently spoken conclusion. His fingers clench around hers in an empathetic reaction and they remain securely grasping her hand like that. "It's been hurting for a while." Zelena nearly misses the admission from the driver who nonchalantly turns back to look at the road the moment he speaks, having caught right off the signal changing. "But you being gone- like actually gone and not present in anyone's life- was like someone drained the world of everything that is good, that is even just bearable. I was miserable. And everything ached everywhere. Every single piece of me just hurt all the time. Especially when I recalled the last time we'd actually spoken, I told you to leave and not come back. And then you were literally in a position of being gone and not coming back." He guiltily flutters his eyes to her and she runs her thumb across the back of his hand.
The car stops moving and even with their hands attached, Eli grabs the shift and puts the car in park. He then uses his left hand to turn the car off and pull the keys out. "I called you Angel the first time because that was what I'd always thought of you and Demetri used to jokingly or slightly bitterly mumble it when you're back was to us. It felt natural to say it but I was so angry at the fact you were trying to save me when I thought I couldn't be saved-didn't deserve to be." Zelena tugs her arm back slightly and he tilts his head in curiosity.
"E, no one saved you. I didn't save you. You saved yourself. YOU walked away. YOU helped us fight the Cobras. YOU told Tory to leave Sam's house. YOU showed up for practice and admitted to your mistakes. YOU'VE been taking the steps to be better. I was simply cheering you on. Maybe trying to guide you at times, but I didn't pull you out of there. You did." She leans across the center console quickly, sensing the surge of confidence built during her speech dwindling equally as fast. Her lips press against his right cheek in all the affection she doesn't know how to articulate. She pauses halfway through pulling away, captivated by the absolute awe painted in his features including the way his skin tinges pink, beginning from the base of his neck. It was spreading down and across his body, but luckily for him, she couldn't see. Especially not that well in the clash of night's dim lighting.
The pair continue their locked gaze, even inching closer as they do until a blinding light snaps them back into reality. A curse from outside the vehicle intrigues the pair who both look through the front windshield to find Miguel's hand awkwardly waving while Demetri rolls his eyes in annoyance. Eli and Zelena turn their heads back to one another, "He flashed us." Zelena sputters without actually hearing or considering her choice of words.
The red mohawked teen bursts into a fit of laughter, tilting his head back and laughing harder when his eyes glimpse the confusion across his best friend's features. Zelena pouts impishly, but tilts her body back into the seat and silently observes him further in awe. This is Eli. The hidden one all along. And man was she smitten with him.