Fleur stared, stood between the best friend she'd ever had, and the guy that she was suppose to be getting pizza with after this. Let's begin. It was announced, let's begin. Begin what? Begin to get over your adoration for your best friend because he chose the mean girl over you? Begin with the asshole that might not be a total asshole? Demetri cut her short with a raise of his hand. "Begin what, exactly?"
He looked at Fleur.
"Begin a new era." Daniel inhaled, finding the right words. "Many of us used to be enemies. But rivalries don't need to last forever. The All Valley Tournament is just a few months away, but this year, the stakes are higher then they've ever been. We know that Cobra Kai is gonna use every dirty trick in the book. There's only one way we're gonna be able to beat-"
"By kicking their asses so hard they shit themselves." Johnny cut him off with a proud look. Fleur wanted to laugh, but for Daniels sake, she didn't. "We gotta take things to the next level. Gonna teach you an aggression stronger than anything Cobra Kai can throw at us. They strike first? We'll pre-strike!"
"Okay, we're getting ahead of ourselves." Daniel looked alarmed. "We are going to-"
"What is pre-strike?" Fleur spoke up in Johnny's direction. All eyes turned to her and she flushed a little. "Oh, sorry. Hi, everyone. I'm Fleur."
"Fleur, they know who you are." Demetri looked down at her with a crazy look.
"Woah, woah. Don't worry about what it means." Daniel shook his head at Fleur. "We respond to what they do."
"Eagles do not respond." the blonde cut him off, nodded at Fleur. "They swoop down and take whatever they want. That's what we're gonna do. Take back the Valley."
"Take it back in a measured and organized approach." Daniel looked at Fleur now. Fleur was on Miyagi Do, but then she quiet, and then she stood with Hawk, it was completely up to her at this point if she was Miyagi Do or Eagle Fang.
"We bite first!" Johnny threw his first forward.
Daniel look lost as to what to do next. "Okay, let's just warm up with some simple exercises."
"All right, line up!" the blonde man encouraged. Fleur jumped off the small paltform, Demetri easily stepping down. Fleur held a hand up to help Eli down, he took it with a smile as a thank you. Demetri rolled his eyes.
"Just breathe and follow me." Daniel gave a nod of his head, inhaling and exhaling, encouraging the rest to do the same. Fleur did so, holding her hands out as she accidentally smacked Demetri.
"Oh god, Demetri." she grabbed his arm in a panic. "Jesus, are you okay? Was it the nose again? You know I always hit noses."
"Mouth, actually." he pulled his hand back as he licked his lips. "Ow."
"That's what i'm talking about, Fleur! Fighting positions!" Johnny called out with a point her way, grinning as he clearly through she did it on purpose. "Front kick ready. Hi-yah!"
"Hi-yah!" they yelled on sync, Mitch kicking Nathan down to the ground as they all stoped what they were doing to look at him.
"Shit, dude. I'm sorry." the boy apologized, Nate frozen on the ground with a minor groan.
"Ready. Fight!" Johnny yelled after he encouraged Mitch and Bert to fight. Fleur picked two small flowers from the ground beneath her, she nudged Demetri, handing him them. He gave her a gushing look, placing it on his head, despite it falling soon after.
"Hey, hey! You're just swinging at each other!" Daniel got between the two with a minor shove. Sam and Fleur shared a look. He looked back at Johnny. "Don't you teach any defense?"
"Best defense is more offense." Mitch dusted his shirt off as he nodded.
Bert kicked him harshly in the side, one to the chest as the boy fell into the rock. Fleurs eyes widened, looking at Eli, who was leaned against the rock that nearly killed Mitch. Demetri watched their interaction, despite it being so small.
"Why do you have a rock in your dojo?" Johnny looked at Daniel in disbelief as Mitch got to his feet.
"Fleur likes to do the Lion King on that rock." Demetri answered.
Fleur went red, knocking him in the arm. "Oh my god, you said you wouldn't tell anyone that."
"Fight!" Daniel announced when it was his turn to have Fleur and Demetri demonstrate the Miyagi Do training.
Fleur cracked a minor grin in his direction as they continued to circle each other, keeping their eyes on each other as Daniel urged them to continue.
"What the hell is this?" Johnny yelled out, look at the pair in disappointment. "Do something! You just knocked him in the mouth."
"Accidentally." Fleur pointed out.
"Yeah, that's not how this works." Demetri looked over with an eye roll, motioning between himself and Fleur. "One of us has to be provoked."
Johnny nodded, walking to stand behind Fleur. He grabbed her wrist, holding it to the water bottle, throwing it at Demetri. Fleur gapped in disbelief. "Provoked yet?"
"That was not me, all him." Fleur pointed out, motioning toward the blonde.
"There, now fight!" Johnny encouraged them. Fleur looked at Daniel. "Don't look at him. You aren't Miyagi Do."
"I'm not?" she blinked.
"Yes, she is." Daniel waved him off.
"She left your asses." Johnny pointed out. "That final fight? Yeah, she wasn't on anyones team then. She can make her own decisions now."
Fleur blinked, looking at Demetri as he gave a odd look. She looked at Johnny and Daniel, them both giving her a knowing look. "Can I be both?"
"No!" they yelled on sync.
"Wax on, Wax off." Daniel encouraged as his students. Fleur did join Miyagi Do for this one, knowing this perfectly. "It doesn't matter how many times you've done it. You always need to practice your fundamentals."
"That's right, clean it good." Johnny yelled at his students. "Want it to look brand-spanking-new.Get all the cans out of there. You find any loose change, it belongs to me."
Demetri look past his car to see Fleur, raising an eyebrow as she waved Eli over. He approached her with a shy look, watching as she began to show him Wax on, letting him try it out as they smiled. Demetri sighed, hitting his head on the side of the car.
"Come on, you maggots! Faster!" Johnny yelled as the students went through DIY, and very dangerous, obstacle courses.
"Okay, work with me." Fleur and Demetri both gave a panicked look at the way they were needed to walk across a thin balance beam, bare foot, with shards of glass beneath them.
"This is not safe. This is not legal." Demetri spoke in disbelief, the two loosing their shoes as they crawled up on the beam. "We're gonna cut ourselves and get diseases, probably need a new liver."
"Probably." Fleur agreed, reaching out. He latched onto her hand, crawling up with her. "Okay, we're just gonna move together, okay? You balance me, i'll balance you."
"Right, okay." Demetri nodded, gripping her hand tightly as she took a step. "If you fall, let me go."
"Oh, thank you." Fleur looked his way in disbelief. "You know, I was gonna bring you pizza home, but I change my mind since you'll let me suffer in glass, having to get a new liver, alone."
"You have pizza?" Demetri asked as they wobbled across the beam together, taking baby steps and latched on to the other.
"Eli and I are getting some after practice." Fleur nodded.
Demetris head snapped up. "You're what?"
He stumbled, about to fall.
"Demetri!" Daniel yelled in a panic. Fleur grasped his waist tightly, her feet being forced to balance and stay still. She tightened her core, stiffening her body as she held onto him tightly, not letting either of them fell into the glass that would definitely not only hurt, but infect them.
Johnny nodded. "I like that one."
Demetri looked down to Fleur as he felt her heart beating against him. "Fleur, you just saved my liver."
"Yeah." she said, her voice high in a panic as she didn't move, didn't let go. "Let's never do this again."
"Batman is no longer my favorite." Demteri breathed out in disbelief, still in shock by the way she managed to hold herself still and catch him before he fell. "You're my favorite superhero."
"Tell me again when we're not balancing over broken glass." she said back to him, slowly letting his waist go as they latched at the hand again. "Let's get off this thing before I loose my absolute shit."
"Oh god. I think i'm about to barf." Chris gave a panicked look, causing everyone to take their eyes off of the pair that everyone realized were, easily, the best team here.
"No, no, not the boat!" Daniel yelled as the boy ran toward the row boat, leaning over the side to puke in it.
The were pulled into the dojo not long after the horrible idea out side. Miguel examined the twos feet to make sure they hadn't accidentally gotten any glass lodged in their feet. Hawk and Mitch were to fight, standing in the middle. Fleur gave a small cheer, flashing a thumbs up. Demetri huffed, throwing his body her way, not entirely sure what his plan was when he did it, as his head hit her shoulder hard.
"Ow." they said on sync. "Rude."
Miguel looked in fear at their in sync words. Hawk and Mitch began to fight, Hawk definitely having an advantage as he got good kicks in. Mitch moved out of the way, the red haired boys foot passing right through the door. Fleur winced slightly, looking at Daniel as he walked over.
"You see, this is why we don't spar in here." Daniel announced as Hawk backed off, an apologetic look on his face from the ground.
It was awkward. It shouldn't have been, but it was. The two walked into the pizza shop together, they sat down together, and now they couldn't find anything to talk about. He eyed her hair, half of it up, showing off the red underside, and the two pieces hanging in the front being red too. He cleared his throat. "So, do you know if you want to be with Miyagi Do or Eagle Fang?"
Fleur finally took her eyes off the menu, despite knowing exactly what she wanted. "I don't want to choose since we're all working together, anyways. It feels wrong."
"Yeah, I bet." he agreed, looking down at the menu, even though he knew what he wanted. It was silent again, Fleur realized it was her turn to talk.
"Ugh, so, how's it feel being the good guy again?" it was a stupid question and she wished she didn't ask. He looked at her, Fleur laughed as she shook her head. "I'm sorry, i'm loosing my thoughts on what to say."
"Me too. Why is it so weird?" Hawk finally put the menu down, glad they were on the same page. "We've talked before."
"I know." Fleur gave a crazy look, leaning on her elbow. "And I like talking to you too."
"Yeah, me too." he agreed quickly. "I mean, I've been trying to pull you since the snow cone stand."
"Yeah, i'm well aware. And when you became the good guy, I was like, totally into you." Fleur nodded as they shared a look. "So, what's the issue?"
"I don't know, I was hoping you knew." he gave a pleading look with a nod. "Like, this doesn't feel right."
"It feels weird." Fleur nodded. "Not us talking, that's not weird. But the whole...date thing."
"Exactly, that's what it is." he agreed with a nod, exhaling. "But why?"
Fleur gave a knowing look. "I think we both know why."
Hawk sighed as he nodded. "I only went on a date with one person before."
"And it doesn't feel right with me because you wish it was her here." Fleur pointed out as he gave her a look. "I learned a lot about the human brain when I lived with my dad."
When I was locked in the basement and had to know what was going on with his head, she wanted to say.
"If we didn't say it was a date, it would feel fine." Hawk pointed out as Fleur nodded her head. "I love being your friend, and I though we could do the whole dating thing, but it doesn't seem like it's working for either of us."
"No, it's not." she agreed, shaking her head. "You still have to pay for the pizza though."
"I will." Eli laughed at her, waiting a second as he nodded at her. "You know he likes you just as much as you do him, right?"
Fleur felt like she was gonna throw up, staring at him.
He gave a knowing look. "You're in love with him."
Neither of them even had to say a name, because they both knew. Fleur looked down with a shake of her head. "I'm not, but what does it matter if I was? He's got her."
"You are." he corrected Fleur. "And you and I know better then anyone what's it's like to be with someone when we really want someone else."
It was ironic, that what they were doing was exactly what he was hinting at.
"No, he really likes her." Fleur shook her head with a knowing look. "He likes her, like, a lot. I know it."
"Only because he thinks you don't like him as much as he does you." Hawk pointed out, both their red hair looking brighter under the light. "Think about it, Fleur. He would have chosen you if he had a clue that you liked him."
Fleur thought, but she sighed. "Even if he did, I'd never let us work out. There's a lot of stuff you don't know about, stuff that I could never involve him in because he doesn't deserve that. He deserves better then me."
"You're in love with him." he repeated, staring at her as Fleur shook her head. "Yes you are, you care about protecting him more then being with him. You love him. You're in love with Demetri."
The name, the strangers name they'd been talking about this entire time. Fleur squeezed the bridge of her nose, looking at Hawk. "Yeah, I am. Like, a lot, and I have been longer then i've even known. But he's with her, he's with Yasmine and i'm not gonna get in the middle of that. Not when, at the end of the day, she's probably a healthier option anyways."
•
kylie speaks
fav besties that are
playing match maker
together. fleur admitting
to being in love with demetri>
so in love, this book brings me
so much comfort for some
reason and i'm so excited for
you guys to see what all i've
got planned!! i missed yall.