CHAPTER 50

The rest of the week went by in a blur. It was their last week of Christmas holiday so Miguel immersed himself deeply into training to try and keep his mind off the fact that he had the biggest date of his life on Friday. On one hand, he couldn't wait for it. It had been something he had been hoping and praying to get for a while now. But the other side of him was absolutely terrified. He had only really had 2 serious girlfriends before, and with Tory they hadn't really had a first date before they dived into their relationship so he wasn't the most experienced at first dates, to say the least. But he couldn't worry too much about it, because he knew that if he let the nerves take over him, he would definitely mess up the date. So he tried best as he could to keep it out of his mind during the week, something a lot easier said than done. But eventually, Friday night rolled around, the day of the big date.

That afternoon, Miguel was a bundle of nerves. He was planning to pick Emily up at 7 pm but he started to get ready at about 4. He had gotten a haircut, shaved his stubble of a beard, and girly as it sounds, he had picked out the outfit he was going to wear. Normally he wouldn't have given his appearance a second thought, but tonight was important. If he wanted to be Emily's boyfriend, he needed to look the part. Miguel quickly threw on his jeans and just as he was buttoning up his flannel shirt, the door to the apartment swung open and Johnny walked inside.

"Hey." Miguel nodded at him as he entered the room.

"You look fancy. Hair cut. Proper outfit. Face shaved. Date tonight?" Johnny deduced. Miguel sighed in admittance and nodded.

"Yeah." Miguel grunted in reply.

"You seem nervous." Johnny remarked.

"Yeah, a little. Okay, a lot." Miguel admitted. Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? Thought you didn't have a problem with talking to girls now? I thought I slapped that nerd dork shit out of you last year." Johnny commented. Miguel couldn't help but chuckle as he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, this one's different though. It's actually a really important date. Not like all the ones these past 6 months when I've just been in it for really short term." Miguel stated.

"Oh yeah? This isn't just a hookup?" Johnny asked. Miguel shook his head.

"Nah, I'm done with that. Guess I've finally grown up." Miguel remarked. "Not that the hookups weren't fun."

"Oh yeah, one night stands are the best." Johnny said. Miguel chuckled and nodded. Strangely, it wasn't weird to be talking to Johnny like this. The personality and blunt openness of Johnny combined with how close him and Miguel had become made it not weird at all.

"Yeah, they're a lot of fun." Miguel sighed wistfully as he remembered the fun times he had had since the school fight, all the beautiful girls he had slept with without any emotional connection or burden behind it. A much freer experience than when he had dated Sam or Tory, he thought. "Why am I going on this date again?"

"Yeah, you're in high school! The chances of you finding your soulmate in high school is like a billion to one! You should just spend the time having fun while you're still young."

At the word soulmate, Miguel's mind was brought back to earth. He remembered who he was about to be going out with and, despite not knowing her for too long, how much he liked her. How head over heels he was for her. The nostalgic thoughts about his short player phase were quickly cast out of his head as his brain filled with pictures and memories of Emily from the past few weeks.

"Nah, nah, this is different. I actually really care about this girl. You say the chance of finding your soulmate in high school is a billion to one? Well, this girl could be that one."

Johnny's face temporarily took on a look of surprise as he heard his protege say this. He knew that Miguel had planned to stay well away from the dating scene until the All-Valley so the fact that he was agreeing to go on a date and was saying such glowing things about the girl… Miguel must really like this girl.

"So who's the girl? Is it Larusso?" Johnny asked. Miguel shook his head.

"No, some other girl." Miguel replied, seeing a confused expression flit across Johnny's face. "Why?"

"No, nothing. I just figured if you started dating again, she'd be your first call." Johnny stated. Miguel shook his head.

"Haha, definitely not. To be honest, I kind of want to be dating people outside this whole Karate war. It'll give me a breath of fresh air from whatever shit is happening between us and Cobra Kai, you know?"

"That's… actually a good idea. So you really like this girl, huh?"

"Yeah, a lot. So I'm praying things go well." Miguel replied. Johnny shrugged.

"Don't worry, you've got this. Just be yourself and I'm sure you'll be just fine." Johnny replied. "And who knows, maybe, just maybe, you'll find yourself your Alli."

Miguel nodded, knowing that Johnny was still, 35 years later, not over that girl who got away.

"Yeah, maybe." He replied, his mind once again being filled with pictures of Emily. He was so preoccupied with that that it took him a while to notice something. "Wait, what are you doing here, Johnny?"

Johnny shook his head.

"Nothing important, man. Focus on your date." Johnny said.

"Come on, what is it? I could use taking my mind off the date for a bit." Miguel said. Johnny sighed in defeat and nodded.

"Okay, fine. So yesterday I finished my private training with Mouth and Larusso jr and tomorrow is going to be my first training session leading both dojos and I…"

"Was nervous?" Miguel asked, smirking cheekily. Johnny glared at him.

"No! Shut up!" Johnny snapped. "I… okay, fine. I might be kind of maybe feeling a bit…"

"Nervous?" Miguel playfully interjected.

"I will throw you out of this house…" Johnny threatened. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"You mean my house?" Miguel laughed.

"Look, all I wanted was some feedback on what drills we did back in Cobra Kai you liked the best so I can plan something good for Saturday, so if you could stop being a little shit for one second and answer…"

"Coyote Creek." Miguel interrupted.

"Huh?" Johnny grunted.

"You were asking which drill I liked the best when we were in Cobra Kai? Coyote Creek was 100% my favorite. That was just awesome. Remember when Stingray hid all day and then killed me at the last second?"

Johnny chuckled.

"Haha, yeah that was legendary." Johnny remarked. "But I mean jokes aside, is Coyote Creek really a good idea?"

"What do you mean?" Miguel asked, confused.

"Well I mean although I know things have gotten a lot better between Eagle-Fang and Miyagi-Do lately, but you can't pretend both sides are perfectly in harmony yet. If we do a Coyote Creek drill and tempers rise, we're putting people at high risk of getting hurt."

Miguel nodded.

"That's a fair point." He commented. "Yeah, I don't know then any more drills off the top of my head. It was quite a while ago. If you give me tonight to think about it, I'll probably remember and tell you some more."

Johnny nodded.

"Thanks, man. Well… good luck on your date then! Where are you taking her?" Johnny asked, curiously. Miguel smirked.

"Take a guess…"

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As Miguel picked up Emily that evening for their date, he was extremely nervous. He could feel his hands practically trembling as he rang the doorbell of her house and waited for her to come outside. However, when she opened the door and he saw her, all of those nerves disappeared. She looked absolutely, drop-dead gorgeous and that, if anything, made him even more nervous but one of her beautiful smiles put all of his nerves to rest. He got this.

"Wow. You look really beautiful." Miguel murmured to her as they walked down her driveway over to his car. Although Emily was dressed in just casual clothing, she still looked like the most beautiful girl in the world. She dressed extremely understated, with minimal makeup and hair done, but this only meant that her natural beauty shone through more. She beamed at him.

"Thanks. You look amazing too. New haircut?" She asked, immediately noticing the minor change in Miguel that others might not have.

"Yeah. Got it this morning." Miguel replied.

"It looks great." She commented. "Kinda miss the beard though."

"Oh yeah? I was told by multiple people that it made me look like a stray dog." Miguel remarked. Emily laughed.

"No! I disagree! I think it makes you look older! More mature." Emily remarked. Miguel smiled and nodded.

"Well I'll keep that in mind for next time." Miguel chuckled as he started his car and they drove away…

He took Emily to the place he had taken Sam over a year ago, the place that Johnny had introduced him to, the place Johnny himself had taken Alli all those years ago: Golf N Stuff. As soon as they stepped out of the car and gathered their clubs and balls, any lingering first-date awkwardness between them broke in an instant. Things ran smoother than Miguel could have imagined. They chatted and enjoyed each other's company for the whole evening, taking part in all of the activities Golf-n-Stuff had to offer. Not that they were paying much attention to what they were doing though. They were pretty preoccupied with their conversations, stealing glances at one another when the other was looking, and just all round having a great time. It was fun, easy, the perfect start to the date. Little did they know that it was all going to change so quickly…