CHAPTER 34

However, despite how convincingly Miguel had turned down the offer, it remained deeply in his mind for the next 24 hours. He endlessly weighed the pros and cons of accepting it in his head, debating a simple question… was it really worth it? For him personally, the answer was obvious. Yes, it was. 5000 dollars a week was an astronomical amount of money, money that he could use to create himself a much brighter future. One where his kids wouldn't have to live in the same conditions he did. One where his kids wouldn't have to worry about where they're going to find the money for college as their daddy was a doctor. But at the same time… how much was he willing to sacrifice in the next year to have his own future sorted. Because he wasn't an idiot. He knew for as long as Cobra Kai was named Cobra Kai, they would be at bitter odds with Miyagi-Do. Those he used to call his closest friends - Hawk, Demetri, Johnny, even Sam - he would now be standing against. Even if he actively wasn't planning assaults against them and things were like they were in Johnny's Cobra Kai, he remembered that that didn't stop them from squaring up to Miyagi-Do several times. He had been able to do that when the only people he was facing was his ex-girlfriend and his mortal enemy, but he just didn't know if he'd be able to do that when the people on the other side were some of the people he cared most about in the world.

The decision Miguel had told Silver was the one he had decided to go with. He wouldn't be joining Cobra Kai, despite how much money they were offering to throw at him. But that didn't change the fact that a small part of him, for the whole of the next day, grumbled in his ear that he should've accepted it. It was exceptionally loud during his work shift, screaming at him as his muscles screamed as he helped transport today's supply of food from the loading bay into the kitchen. If he was going to his poor muscles through this, it might as well be doing karate and earning nearly 10 times the salary! In the evening though, when Miguel got home, he forced himself to put these thoughts completely out of his head as he knew that that night, he was about to have to endure something more painful than even the worst days of his back injury…

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"I really don't want to do this, Tory. I don't know how I'm going to survive this."

Robby was sitting in Johnny's apartment, on the phone with Tory. In less than 15 minutes, he was going to have to be across the compound, sitting in the lair of his mortal enemy, and he was dreading it greatly.

"It's just dinner! I'm sure you'll live." Tory laughed. Robby shook his head.

"You don't get it! I'd honestly rather be spending the night back in juvie than with Miguel and his family!" Robby spat.

"Come on! You know his family aren't even that bad. His mom's actually really nice." Tory remarked, thinking back to last summer when her and Miguel had dated and she had met Carmen a few times.

"Look, I don't care how nice or hot she is…"

"Actually, I don't recall saying hot." Tory commented, her eyes narrowing slightly at him on the FaceTime call.

"It doesn't change the fact that she's his mom! And his grandma's there too! No doubt they blame me for what happened to their boy at the school last year! Surely he's painted the picture of being the innocent victim and I know I've been made out to be the big bad bully of it all."

Tory's face darkened as those words resonated within her.

"Yeah, I know the feeling." She murmured lowly.

"Exactly! So if tomorrow, Sam Larusso and her family invited you to dinner, how would you react?" Robby pointed out, and Tory nodded. "See! But it's even worse, knowing that I'm going to have to go in there and have to take whatever abuse from him and his family, but am not able to do anything about it knowing that at the same time, the woman is giving birth to my sibling. It's going to be an absolute warzone in there. I guarantee it."

Tory laughed.

"Trust me, it won't be thaaaat bad! You'll have Johnny there to have your back if need be." She pointed out. Robby shook his head vehemently.

"Hell no, I won't have my dad on my side! You really think he's going to take my side over the mother of his child's side! No! If Miguel's mom has issues with me and I stand against it, my dad's going to turn on me before I can blink!"

Tory sighed and rolled her eyes at Robby's melodramatic tone.

"Okay, you need to relax, Robby. I'm sure it won't be that bad." She assured him. "It's a family dinner, not a free for all battle to the death. If words are said towards you, you've just got to suck it up and take it. And just get through the night without escalating things further. That seem like something you can do, or are you really so small that you can't take a couple of insults without trying to fight back?!"

Robby took a deep breath and nodded.

"You're right. I just need to get through tonight without starting a fight. What's a couple of hours?" He stated.

"There you go. Now… I'm going to keep my phone on in case I get a call from you from the county jail. And on the off-chance that you don't get yourself arrested before the end of the night, feel free to come over to my place later to let me know how it goes."

Robby nodded.

"Okay, see you tonight." He murmured, before hanging up the phone and lying back slightly on the couch, his heart still racing. Not that he'd admit it, but a small part of him was scared about coming face to face with Miguel again. Since Miguel had been back in the Valley, he had heard rumours, whispers that Miguel had gotten a lot bigger and stronger. And Robby also knew that in the All-Valley, even before Miguel's trip to Mexico, had Miguel not left in the middle of the semi final, the final bout would have most likely been him and Miguel, and it was a fight that as much as he wanted to, Robby couldn't predict who would win. The two knew each other so well from all of their previous fights that now if they fought again, it would likely be a chess match, an epic battle of strategy before one of them slipped and the other pounced on it. But Robby knew that there probably wouldn't be that fight tonight. Not with Johnny and Miguel's family around. The fight was bound to happen at some point - it was inevitable between them - but it was unlikely to be tonight. Robby just had to get through the night as calmly as he could and not do anything he'd regret.

A few minutes later, the door to his dad's apartment opened and Johnny walked inside. Robby looked up at him and Johnny nodded.

"It's time." Johnny murmured. Robby sighed and slowly got to his feet, following his dad out the door and over to the other apartment.

"Remind me… why do I have to do this, dad? What did I do to deserve this?" Robby remarked.

"Robby, this is a chance for you and Miguel to finally put your rivalry to bed, and that's something you two NEED to do before this kid comes." Johnny snapped at him. Robby scoffed.

"Yeah, good luck with that happening anytime soon." Robby remarked as the pair walked up to the front door and Johnny rang the bell. Moments later, the door swung open…

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As Miguel opened the door and faced Johnny and Robby, it was clear to Robby that he didn't want to be there any more than they did. Immediately, as Robby stood face to face with him for the first time since that night at prom, the boy felt anger roar inside him. Every fiber of his being wanted him to lunge at Miguel right then and there, and he correctly assumed that Miguel was feeling the exact same way. There was definitely no love lost between the two of them as they stared daggers at one another, all four hands curling into tight fists, the only thing stopping them from strangling each other right there on the front porch.

"Hey, Miguel." Johnny smiled at him, but Miguel hardly even noticed Johnny there. He was like a lion in a savannah, his narrowed eyes locked on his prey to the point that a bomb could probably go off a block away and he wouldn't notice. Johnny could immediately sense the tension - pretty damn obviously too, as you could probably cut the tension with a knife it was so palpable - so he instinctively took a step forward so he was in between the two, cutting off Miguel's sight of his enemy and vice versa.

Suddenly, footsteps came from within the apartment as Carmen walked up beside Miguel and smiled at Johnny and Robby.

"Ah! You guys made it!" She exclaimed. "I'm so glad you guys decided to come!"

"You were given a choice? Lucky shits." Miguel grumbled under his breath, causing his mom to subtly elbow him in the ribs to shut him up.

"Miguel, don't be rude! Invite them inside! Take their jackets!" She said, as she turned around and walked back towards the kitchen.

Glaring Robby right in the eye, Miguel slowly opened the door wider to invite them in, and Johnny walked inside, leaving Miguel and Robby briefly on the front porch together.

"Aren't you going to take my jacket, Miguel? You heard mommy. Don't be ruuuude." Robby smirked at him as he shrugged his jacket off his shoulders.

Scowling deeply at him, Miguel made to grab the jacket from him but just before his fingers could touch it, Robby dropped it, and the jacket fell to the ground.

"Oops. My bad." Robby remarked in a tone that led Miguel to believe that it was definitely NOT an accident. That being said though, remembering what his mom had said about him remaining patient, he didn't escalate the situation further. Instead, he bent down to pick up the jacket and for a moment, he was off-balance. Big mistake. Because as soon as Robby saw this, he took the opportunity, "accidentally" bumping into Miguel on his way past him and causing the Ecuadorian to fall flat on his ass. It wasn't a hard hit by any means, but it was enough to get the rage flaring at full blast. Miguel shot to his feet in an instant, ready to kick the crap out of that arrogant piece of shit once and for all. But before he could reach Robby, whose back was now to him, Miguel felt himself caught mid-charge by Johnny, and dragged back a few steps.

"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down, kid. Calm down." Johnny murmured quietly, his hands grabbing the sides of Miguel's sweatshirt to keep him from lunging again. Miguel took a few deep breaths and eventually managed to calm down enough to slap away Johnny's hands from him and stare at his former sensei with a stormy look on his face.

"Hey, Johnny… Word of advice. Keep your son in line." Miguel growled in a quiet yet deadly tone. "Because if he touches me even just one more time, I swear to God this time it's gonna be him that you need to teach how to walk again…"