Olivia woke up with a terrible headache.
'What happened to not needing alcohol to have fun?' the brunette grumbled in her head. Twisting her palms over her eyes, she groaned loudly, trying to let out all the pain with the vibration. Sitting up, she looked over with one eye squinted open and saw the painkillers and water on her bed. Wondering how that got here - how she got here - she carefully opened the container and drank the entire glass.
Deciding to do something with herself, Olivia forced herself up as she thought about last night...and the night before. Stopping in the middle of her room, hazel eyes squinted over at the bathroom in confusion.
The bathroom had been cleaned up, glass and all. Scratching her tangled hair, Olivia tried to remember when she would have cleaned all of that up.
'I really need a shower...and a toothbrush...'
...
Demitri and Hawk sat at the kitchen island together, nursing some glasses of apple juice.
"Sounds like sleeping beauty is awake," commented Hawk before taking a sip of his juice. Glancing over at the clock, he noticed the shorthand getting closer to the ten and sighed roughly. "I gotta go soon, man. Got practice at noon. Tournament coming up, and all. Gotta be at my best." Flexing his fingers around the cool glass, he eyed Demitri. "Think she'll be good to take us home?"
Demitri rolled his eyes, "God, I hope so. I told my mom I was staying over at your house." Hawk nodded, "same, man." The boys had a change of clothes in the guest room from previous sleepovers and movie marathons. Sadly, this meant Hawk was in mustard sweater and khakis, a relic of the days when he was Eli.
The expensive house was not unfamiliar, but they never spent the night when Mr. Reynolds was out of town. This meant more often than not, they were at Demitri's house, whose mom loved cooking a big meal for the three of them. Not having the dad home meant the area was uncharted territory, especially without the mustached man's dad jokes and cinnamon rolls.
"What are you two losers doing here?"
The two looked over at the stairs as a wet-haired Olivia descended.
"Finally, sleeping beauty awakes," commented Demitri as he finished his apple juice. Walking towards the sink to wash his cup out, he cracked his neck. Hawk took another sip as he eyed the girl's open arm with the scar on view for them to see.
When the cast came off over a year ago, Olivia wore regular clothes until the bullies caught wind of it. The relentless bullying caused the young girl to take on sleeves and jackets as part of her everyday wardrobe, even with her closest friends.
Hawk had envied his friend's ability to hide the scar. That was a privilege given to him only on Halloween when masks were every day. He was privy to all sorts of harassment without the mask, so he was angry whenever she told him to ignore the names and pointing. She didn't ignore them.
The mohawk-kid nodded in greeting as she took a seat across from him. Olivia never spoke about why her arm was in a cast. After her mom's death, she became even less inclined to talk about her life in South Carolina.
Deciding he was tired of beating around the bush, Hawk struck first. Setting his glass down carefully, Hawk made eye contact.
"You never did mention where that scar came from."
Blinking in surprise at the sudden question, the brunette shifted from side to side on the stool, "I-it's not really all that interesting. I fell, and that's it. It's a surgical scar from having to fix the bone." Olivia shrugged as if she was trying to rid herself of the conversation.
Hawk snorted. "That's bullshit." His eyes narrowed accusingly. "You don't just have a full arm cast for the better part of a year from 'falling.'" He brought up his hands and made quotes around her words. Olivia also narrowed her eyes, done with the shit the boy in front of her had been giving her.
Demitri looked between the two and huffed a sigh. Grabbing the extending hose on the sink, he sprayed his friends with the water.
"What the fuck, man?"
"Holy shit, Demitri!"
"You both need to calm down," Looking at Olivia as he put the hose back, he continued, "Eli and I need a ride home. Our parents think we're at the other's house since, y'know, your dad's not here," Demetri said in an obvious tone. When Olivia started to roll her eyes again, he cut her off, "You're the one who decided to get drunk last night, not me. We made sure you got home safe and cleaned up the mess you made." Suitably chastised, the brunette sat back on the stool, looking ashamed.
"T-thanks, guys, I really appreciate your help," Olivia took a glance at the clock, "We can go now if you want." Looking at Eli, she hesitated before offering him a ride to the dojo to avoid being late. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be there, but the teen did help her out last night when he didn't have to.
The artificial redhead was about to deny the ride, not wanting to be alone in the car with her. He was afraid of the conversations and the words that may become weapons. He didn't want to hurt her, but with the new persona came a unique voice, and he refused to be silenced. But after looking at the time, he thought that maybe it was best to not be late to Sensei Lawrence's class. Hawk nodded, "sure, that would be great."
Olivia felt her insides wither at the idea of being alone with the new Eli. The last two conversations with the guy ended up crying, and she wasn't sure if she could handle a third emotional breakdown. Thinking harder about the proposal, Olivia realized she'd have to face the walking 80's time capsule that gave her a panic attack two nights ago.
Groaning out loud, the two boys gave her a confused look. Olivia shook her head before either of them could ask about it.
"J-just the headache, I'm cool, though." Demitri was unconvinced but rushed to get home and finish his homework. The black-haired boy grabbed the keys from the key rack next to the door and threw them at his friend. Catching them in her left hand, she looked at Hawk, "hey, hand me the jacket on the chair?"
Hawks' expression turned sour. Grabbing the jacket, he marched over to the young girl and thrust the article of clothing into her abdomen. The girl let out a short hiss at the momentum, but otherwise, no words were said as she watched the faster of the two males jump into the backseat of the car.
Putting her jacket on, she looked at Demitri in confusion. He only shook his head with his hands up.
"I have no clue. I blame puberty."
With that, the two joined the karate kid in the car, and Olivia drove her best friends home.
...
"See ya later, Ms. Moskowitz!" called out Olivia with a smile as she followed her spiky-haired friend out to the car.
"Drive safe, honey! And don't be a stranger, okay? Eli is going through some...weird times right now. It's great to have a little...normal in the house," smiled the older woman as she brought Olivia in for a hug. "Keep an eye out on him for me, ok?"
"I'll do my best."
Hawk was already in the car's passenger seat when the vehicle owner left the porch. She took a deep breath before entering the vehicle, preparing for the awkward silence that flooded the car. The air was definitely thick, too thick.
Every breath Olivia took was like swimming in molasses, and the dojo couldn't have been any farther from the teen's house. Hawk was on his phone, scrolling through his social media and answering texts in his Cobra Kai group chat. Occasionally he'd see a funny picture and snort out loud. Still, other than that, there was no intent on a conversation.
The air was excruciating and the silence was giving Olivia more anxiety than necessary. She tried so hard to keep her mouth shut, but to be in the car with her friend without conversation was difficult.
"...so. Your mom got a haircut," Olivia mentioned casually while turning on her blinker, "it, uh, looks nice." Hawk paused for a moment on his text, a little surprised she said anything to him.
"Yeah..." He resumed texting the group chat.
'Is this one my dad feels like on my angsty days?' Olive thought to herself as she scrunched up her nose. 'Now I think I understand adults a little more.'
The ride stayed awkward until they reached the mall strip. Hawk wasted little time getting out of the car, muttering a quick "thanks for the ride" and shut the car door. The car turned off, and the brunette realized two things.
First, she didn't have anything to keep herself occupied.
Second, Eli left his water bottle.
'How mom friend am I?' thought Olivia. 'I know for a fact Mr. Lawrence has no other hydration source in there...' The brunette grabbed the bottle and made her decision to run in, drop it off, and stay back in the car. As she attempted her silent entry, the hazel-eyed teen forgot one detail.
The bells.
As soon as the door opened, the bells alerted the group to her arrival. Cringing majorly, inside and out, Olivia put one foot forward and made her way into the building.
The dojo was silent. When Hawk realized who it was, he quickly rolled his eyes and made eye contact. Then he noticed the red water bottle and mentally slapped his head.
"I, uh, I'm just here to give this to-" before Olivia could mention Hawk's weaker identity, Hawk had run over to her and grabbed the bottle. Blocking everyone's view from her, he whispered a soft thank you and ran back. Nodding her head jerkily, the brunette escaped the building with another chime of bells.
Everyone turned upfront with small glances at the spikey boy at her departure. Johnny decided that it wasn't worth addressing. He was still a little fed up about last night with the LaRussos.
"Eyes front. Today we will be addressing guards and how dropping it when you kick makes you a pussy. So..."
...
The brunette let out a couple of deep breaths to calm her racing heart back in the car. A loud noise pierced the vehicle's air, causing Olivia to jump in shock. Looking towards the offender Seeing the caller ID, she smiled and quickly pressed the green button.
"Hi, dad," chirped Olivia as she brought her legs up on the seat with her.
"Hey, Olivia," chuckled Edward Reynolds. "How's it goin', sugar?"
Ed's daughter gave a small sigh as she thought hard about how it was going. She settled on saying, "It could be better, that's for sure." Even though he couldn't see her, she let out a small smile that wasn't overly sad or overly happy.
"I understand that," chuckled Ed. "I just wanted to call and check in on ya. I'll be leaving Washington tomorrow morning, and I figured we could go get dinner at that place you like."
"You mean the one with the eight-cheese macaroni and cheese?" whispered Olivia in awe. "Please don't tell me you're joking." After eating a cup of it, the stomachache she got was worth the glorious dish. Her dad nodded before remembering where he was.
"Of course, pumpkin. Oh, and before I forget. I, uh, saw on the cameras that Eli and Demitri came over last night," mentioned the mustache casually. The security cameras outside were never a secret to his daughter. Due to his security clearance, Ed was a relatively high target, and he wanted to keep his daughter safe. Seeing the video of the two helping his daughter in the house, the man was already concerned. After watching them leave the following day, he debated how to approach the situation with his daughter.
Sure, he had encouraged a little partying to his daughter. After the incident two years ago, Olivia was hard to understand. Now that she was a growing teenage girl, she was even harder to understand. Without his wife to help translate, Edward Reynolds was lost more often than not. He was gone too much, and he could see his daughter suffering.
Cringing on the other side of the phone, Olivia had forgotten about the security camera.
Knowing what it looked like, the teen assured her father, "n-nothing happened. Like you said I should, I went to a party and drank. Demi and Eli helped me home and made sure I didn't die in my sleep or something."
"Oh, I'm not worried about them, sweetheart," responded her dad kindly. "I know you will be safe. You know how to protect yourself, right?"
Rolling her eyes, "yes, dad, I know how to throw a punch."
Grimacing, the older man hesitated, "I, uh, meant... y'know." When did it get so warm in his hotel room?
After a few moments of silence, it hit Olivia. "O-oh, oh my god." She had no idea how to continue this conversation at a loss for words. Her dad also didn't know what to do.
"...so I'll see you tomorrow...?"
"Y-yeah..."
"Love you, pumpkin."
"Love you too, dad."
Hanging up the phone, she threw it into the passenger and covered her face. She released the embarrassment and cringed through a loud scream. Hawk had started to open the passenger side door at that time, causing her to jump and scream again. That caused Hawk to jump, drop his water bottle, "oh shit!"
Quickly opening up the door, he looked at the girl with haste and concern, "What's wrong?!" He looked around slightly in a panic to see if there was immediate danger. Calming down, the spiky-haired teen looked at the girl, "Olive?"
Breathing heavily, with a hand over her marching heart, "i-it's nothing. Ju-just on the phone with my dad and.." Olivia gave a shudder, "he wanted to make sure I knew how to protect myself."
Hawk slid in, still looking at her in confusion. "What do you mean, does he want you to join Karate or something?" Looking at him out of the corner of her eyes, Olivia decided whether or not to tell him.
"O-or something..."
As the brunette started the car, it came to Hawk, who started snickering. Before long, both teens were laughing at the awkwardness that was Mr. Reynolds. Hawk knew from experience that the dad tried really hard to be open and relatable to his young teen, but sometimes it came across as...cringe.
It felt good to laugh with her friend. Before 'Hawk,' Eli's loudest would be when he was laughing. It was a noise that Olivia loved hearing and would fake trips whenever she could to hear it. Now, the laugh was still Eli but deeper. Huskier. She could hear the old Eli, but it was clear he had changed. She kind of liked it.
The car filled with positive energy, Hawk, took a deep breath. He had missed this, his friend. Maybe addressing the past was too much, but he could handle the future.
"Could...could we be friends again?" asked Hawk hesitantly. "I know I haven't been the greatest friend, but I really do miss you." Olivia was surprised but didn't hesitate in her answer.
"I'd love that. I want to hang out with you, with spiky hair or no spiky hair, Eli." She smiled into her answer, turning to him after stopping at a stoplight. Hawk twitched a little at the name. The light turned green after a few moments of comfortable silence.
They turned onto his street a little harshly, and the teen boy had to grab onto the handle of the car. Scoffing at him, the brunette responded, "pussy."
Turning at her quickly with narrow eyes, he bit out, "what does that mean?" Rolling her eyes as she entered his driveway, she said, "you grabbed the Jesus handle, Eli. That's an actual pussy move."
Letting out a sarcastic laugh, Hawk unbuckled himself. Once he got out, he put one arm over the car and leaned in at her. "Would you mind calling me Hawk?"
Olivia looked confused but decided to do what made her friend comfortable. She got out of the car with a light smile towards her friend and held out a hand. Hawk looked at it in confusion.
Thrusting it out further, the brunette teased, "Y'know, we never got to have a proper handshake."
Grinning, the blue-headed boy took her hand firmly.
"Olivia Reynolds."
"Hawk. Just, Hawk.".
...
A/N: NOT ME REALIZING THE PAST 20,000 WORDS ELUDED TO HAWK HAVING RED HAIR FIRST AH-F-forgive me -