"We need to talk."
I looked over to Miguel and Sensei, who were watching from outside of Sensei's apartment. Miguel sent me a small nod, almost encouraging me. I took a breath and looked back at Henry.
"Of course." I told Henry, walking over to my apartment. He followed me over to my door. I unlocked the door and opened it. "We'll talk in here." I said.
Henry walked past me and into my apartment quickly. I watched him as he walked.
I was starting to get nervous about what he had to talk about...
I shut the door and looked over to him again. I thought about how to start the conversation.
"Uhm, how was your day?" I asked.
"Fine." He replied, saying nothing more. He leaned against the back of the couch; his hands on either sides of him while he tapped his fingers quickly.
It was silent between us. I wasn't sure what to say. He's the one who said we needed to talk, but he doesn't have anything to say?
"So... uh, is everything alri-"
"What did you do today?" He interrupted.
I was a bit taken back by his question. "Uhm, I just had practice today. That's all, really." I replied.
His face changed, and I knew something was definitely up.
He looked towards the ground, as I gently laid my hands on his arms and tried to look into his eyes.
"Henry, are you ok-"
"Were you with him?" He asked quickly, still not meeting my eyes. I furrowed my eyebrows and straightened my posture. "With who?" I asked.
He shook his head, before finally looking at me. "You know who." He whispered. I shook my head slightly and adjusted my stance. "Henry, I don't understand what you're saying..." I said.
He dug his hand into his pocket, not breaking our gaze. He pulled something out, and looked down at it for a moment. "Here, I found this," he said, throwing the small object and pushing past me.
I caught it carefully in my hands. I looked down to see a small printed picture.
The small piece of paper showed a picture of me, standing very close to someone else. My hand rested on the side of their face as our lips met. The person with me had a red Mohawk...
Guilt spread through me as quick as a forest fire. How did he find this? I don't even remember where I left this last...
I turned around quickly and tried to grab Henry's arm. He twisted out of my grip and stormed out of my apartment. "Henry, wait!" I yelled, running after him.
He continued to walk quickly through the courtyard. "Henry, please, let me explain!" I pleaded. He stopped walking and turned to me. He stared into my eyes, waiting for me to continue.
"Henry, he means nothing to me anymore. Nothing. I don't even know why I still have this..." I said, tossing the small photo aside.
"Henry, I'm with you. Not him."
"He's that guy from the hospital, isn't he?" He asked. I searched through my memories at the hospital, and remembered the time when Hawk saw Henry and I talking in the hallway. I silently looked down to the ground in shame.
Henry took one step back, as he ran his hand through his hair with a sigh. "You lied to me! You said you didn't know him!" He exclaimed.
"Henry, I-"
"Who is that guy?" He asked, pointing to the photo on the ground.
"He's just somebody that I used to know, I-"
"Have you seen him since then?" He asked. I gulped and took a deep breath. "Yes, Henry, I've seen him, but-" I started.
"Did you two ever do anything? Anything during our relationship?" He asked quietly, almost afraid to hear my answer. My heart was beating rapidly in the chest. My mouth laid open, as I tried to find the right words. I thought about what happened after the fight at the LaRusso house...
Henry took my silence as my answer, and started to chuckle sadly, trying to hold back the tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
"Please, just hear me out-"
"What was I to you? Was I..." His voice broke.
"Was I just a game for you? A rebound? Something to fuck to get your mind off of him?" He asked, tears falling from his eyes now.
"No! It was never like that!" I yelled, hurt that he would ever think that. "Henry, I like you." I said, walking closer to him. He chuckled again.
"See, that's the problem... You just liked me while I loved you."
Henry started walking backwards away from me. I stared at him in silence. I was speechless. "We're done." He announced quietly, before turning around fully and walking away completely.
I watched Henry walk away, but I didn't chase after him. I wondered why my body didn't immediately start running forward to stop him from leaving.
Maybe it was because I was tired. Maybe it was because I didn't want to make things worse... Maybe it was because he was right.
I didn't love him as I should. Perhaps letting him walk away was the best things for both of us. Henry is one of the sweetest people I've ever encountered.
He deserves better. He deserves love. He deserves the unconditional love. The kind that never falters. The kind that stays forever.
Henry is the perfect guy.
Just, maybe not the perfect one for me...
✯¸.•'*¨'*•♡︎ ♡︎•*'¨*'•.¸✯
I decided to go to the dojo early today.
No one else was there when I arrived. I grabbed my bag and walked to the back of the dojo. I set my bag down and grabbed my earbuds. I played my favorite playlist on my phone and stuck the earbuds in my ears.
First, I did some stretches to warm up a bit. We always start with stretches. But, since no Sensei was here telling me what to do, I practiced what I wanted to after that.
I decided to practice my combos. I walked up to the punching bag, quietly singing along to the song playing in my earbuds. I threw two punches to the bag, then a spinning back kick, followed by a roundhouse. I switched it up every now and then.
I continued practicing by myself while I listened to my music.
☞︎ HAWK'S POV ☜︎
Will no one trust me again?
I know I've done something bad to everyone in the dojo. If I could take it all back, I would in a heartbeat. These are good people. They didn't deserve any of it.
But why won't they believe me when I tell them that? I'm trying my best to apologize and make everything normal again, but not everyone is accepting it. Simply apologizing is not going to do anything, though.
Y/n's words from a while back played in my head:
Just a simple sorry isn't gonna cut it. I need to see some real change.
She's right.
Mr. LaRusso told me I've burned budges with everyone at the dojo. So I thought, there's no better way than to build a new one.
I stayed up late last night creating a model. A model of a sparring deck, just like the one in Mr. LaRusso's painting. I solved math equations, I tested the physics...
Wow, I'm a nerd.
I laughed to myself, thinking about how I used to think being a nerd was a bad thing. But, here I am.
I sent the model blueprint to Demitri this morning. Once he double checked it, I told him to tell everyone else to meet at the dojo a bit earlier than usual.
I doubt they would listen to me if I told them to come. They'd probably think id be luring them to the dojo to beat them up or something.
I got to the dojo a little early today. I saw another car there as well, and I knew who's car it was right away.
Y/n.
Why would she be here early? Would she think I'm stalking her if I go in the dojo? I don't want her to think I'm weird...
No. She would never think that.
She liked me when I was a no one. She helped make me the person I am today. The better version of myself.
But, just for safe measure, I'll wait in my car for a few more minutes...
After about 10 minutes, I gained the courage to get out of my car and walk to the back of the dojo. So, that's exactly what I did.
I walked to the back of the dojo and turned the corner. I saw y/n punching and kicking the punching bag that hung on a wooden stand.
Her back was towards me, so she didn't see my yet. As she was hitting the bag, I heard her singing. Her voice sounded more aggressive as she sang when she hit the bag, but still sounded beautiful, nevertheless.
I stood quietly, smiling as I watched her practice. She looked beautiful as ever. She always does. I can't recall a time where she didn't look beautiful, actually.
She threw a couple more kicks, before standing normally and pulling the earbuds out from her ears.
I looked around quickly for somewhere to go. If she turned around right now, she would definitely think I'm a creep...
I turned around and started to quietly walk away, but stopped in my tracks when I heard my name.
"Eli?"
I turned around. "Oh, hey, y/n! I, uh, wasn't expecting to see you here." I said.
"I came early to try to clear my head a bit." She told me. "What about you?" She asked, nodding her head towards me. "What're you doing here this early?"
"Oh, I just have this idea. I'm hoping it'll show people that I'm not a total douchebag anymore." I chuckled. She laughed lightly too. "What's your idea?" She asked.
I explained to her my idea for the sparring deck.
"Wow, Eli, that's super cool! How'd you even figure that out?" She asked. "Tons of research and math." I replied. "Wow, you're such a nerd." She teased. I laughed as I rubbed the back of my neck. I felt my face heat up.
I looked to the ground so she wouldn't see the bright new color forming on my cheeks.
"The rest of the students will be here soon to help build it." I spoke. "Well, count me in!" She exclaimed, walking past me and towards her bag. My eyes followed her as she walked.
She put her phone and earbuds in her backpack and took a sip of her water, before turning to face me again. She smiled at me, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She spoke, before walking off,
"I'm really proud of you, Eli."
✯¸.•'*¨'*•♡︎ ♡︎•*'¨*'•.¸✯
☞︎ Y/N'S POV ☜︎
This is one of the best ideas Eli has ever had.
When everyone else got it the dojo to help, we started knocking down a fence and clearing out the space behind it. This is wear the sparring deck is going to be.
When Mr. LaRusso got here, he caught Eli hitting down a fence with a sledgehammer. He came running over, yelling at Eli. But once he understood what was going on, he accepted it.
Now, the appropriate fences are knocked down and everyone is working to clear all the branches and bushes from the space behind them.
I picked up an armful of branches and started walking them to the trash pile. Once I got there, I dumped the branches from out of my arms. But one of the branches was quite sharp and cut my arm on the way down.
"Ah, shit!" I exclaimed quietly to myself as I inspected the cut. Small amounts of dark red blood started to surface the injury.
"You ok?" Eli asked from beside me, as he dumped a bunch of branches in the garbage pile. I looked over to him. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just a little cut." I said.
He walked closer to me and looked at the cut, which now had blood dripping down. "Shit. Do you need me to get anything for you?" He asked, looking up from the cut and into my eyes.
His sparkling grey eyes pierced through mine, and I temporarily forgot my words. He raised his eyebrows slightly, awaiting my answer. I snapped out of the trance and spoke, "No, it's ok. I'm sure Mr. LaRusso has a First Aid kit somewhere."
He smiled and nodded lightly, before turning around and getting back to work. I watched him as he left, before I remembered I had a bloody cut on my arm.
I walked over to Mr. LaRusso. "Excuse me, Mr. LaRusso?" I spoke, getting his attention. He turned to face me. "I accidentally cut myself on a branch..." I told him, holding up my arm slightly.
"Wow! Looks like you got yourself good!" He exclaimed, examining it. "Follow me to the dojo. I'll help you clean it up." He smiled kindly, before walking to the dojo and waving for me to follow him.
He helped clean it up and put a bandage over it.
"There! Good as new!" He said. "Thank you Mr. LaRusso." I thanked him with a smile. "No problem. Just, come back out when you're ready." He smiled, before walking towards the door of the dojo.
Before he was about to go outside, he stopped. He stood quietly in the doorway for a moment, before turning to face me again.
"I just wanted to say... you're doing great out there. I know we're all training together... well, kind of together..." he added. "But it would be an honor to have you in Miyagi-Do."
I furrowed my eyebrows slightly and thought about his words. "Thank you Mr. LaRusso, but I don't think I can just abandon Sensei..." I said.
"It's your choice." He stated. "That being said, I think you'd do great with us." He said once more, before turning and leaving the dojo.
Leave Sensei, and join Miyagi-Do?
What?
There's no way I can do that...
Can I?
✯¸.•'*¨'*•♡︎ ♡︎•*'¨*'•.¸✯
A/N: 🙈