Tory sits on the couch next to her brother, picking at her chipped nail polish as she half watches the movie they've got on TV. It's some wannabe Godzilla thing, Tory already forgot the name of it. Brandon chose it, but he doesn't look all that interested either. Not that she can blame him. Ever since she got back home from Barcelona, she's been struggling to focus on anything.

It's not like this is new for them exactly. There's been a whole lot of times when it was just the two of them hanging out. But it's different now. They both know now that there's no chance that someday there might be three of them sitting on the couch watching some stupid movie, not just two. Whenever they look at each other, there'll always be someone missing.

At least he's back in school now, and she's trying harder to make it to her shifts. It's all they can do to keep going, even if neither of them really feel like doing anything.

There's a knock on the door. Tory's first thought is why would someone be here so late?

"Go to your room," she tells Brandon.

"But I wanna see the end of the movie," he complains.

"Yeah, we'll watch it later," she says, hitting pause on the remote. "Go."

Brandon gets up and heads to his room. Tory tenses up as she hears another knock.

She opens the door and sees an unfamiliar man standing there. This was a mistake. She squares her shoulders. "What do you want?"

"You're behind on rent."

"I mean, a little, yeah," she says. He might go away if she tells him about her mom, but she really can't talk about that, not to anyone else. She wants to slam the door on him, but that would mean shutting it on his fingers. Bastard.

"It's six months, missy."

Tory sighs. They've had medical bills, and the funeral costs, and she'd been paying off the other bills as best she could, but six months? How did that happen? She's barely even seen the landlord since, oh not since she'd mentioned to Sensei Kreese that she was having problems with him. Seems like that was a million years ago now. That was probably why she hadn't prioritised paying rent, but she truly hadn't meant to get that far behind. "Wait a minute, you're not the regular guy. How do I know you're not just some scammer?"

He leans in towards her. "Oh, you'll know, as soon as you get your eviction notice."

"You're not gonna scare me, you know. I just competed in an international karate tournament."

"Competed, huh? Did you win?"

Tory narrows her eyes, but otherwise doesn't acknowledge his question. "So I'd beat it if I were you."

"Is that a threat?" The guy is smirking at her in such a smug way. He knows he's won.

"Look, I'll pay what I owe in the regular way. I'm not giving you anything."

The guy spreads his arms. "Fine, fine. But the clock's ticking, Mrs Nichols."

It could've been a mistake, Tory told herself afterwards. But in the moment she sees red and surges towards him. "Get out of here!" she yells, swinging a right hook at him.

He laughs and stumbles backwards, narrowly avoiding her fist. "The landlord's gonna be real interested in what just happened here tonight."

Tory slams the door and locks it. "Shit," she says under her breath. She can hear the blood pumping in her ears. If she wasn't in trouble before, she is now.

Brandon peers out from around the door of his room. "Can we watch the end of the movie now?" he asks.

Tory looks up at him. It's a good job he doesn't ask her what's going on, because then she thinks she'd cry. She nods. "Yeah."

Brandon sits closer to her this time, and hides his face in her lap when fake Godzilla nearly gets taken out by whatever military unit is fighting him. Tory strokes his hair, and she's too caught up in her own thoughts to pay attention to what happens to the monster in the end. There's nothing else for it, she's going to have to look for another job, something with more hours, maybe something full time that pays more than her other three combined, if that's not a wildly unrealistic hope. She'd be leaving Brandon on his own more, but he'll manage. He won't if he doesn't have a roof over his head.

Working nights at the diner at the truck stop wasn't really what she was looking for. But it's close by, they were willing to pay a few cents above minimum and she's allowed to take home leftover food so long as she isn't working with that one supervisor who is a total bitch.

When Tory comes out of the back after her break, and Everly puts her arm out to stop her. "He's here again," she tells her. "You don't have to serve him. I usually take him some coffee and whatever we've got extra of."

Tory looks over at the man Everly is indicating. He's got his head down so she can only see his shoulders. She's worked in the service industry long enough to know there's always those weird regulars. It's no big deal to her.

"Wanda won't abide folk like that, bless her heart." Everly exchanges a mischievous look with Tory. Wanda's the one who will stand and watch Tory throw out all of the slightly expired food while her stomach's rumbling. "But he's no trouble. Stays here for hours. Don't think he's got nowhere else to go."

Tory's heart sinks as she thinks about how she and Brandon might soon be in the same position. "I'll go get him something," she says.

Everly rubs Tory's arm. "You're such a good girl," she says.

Tory tries to blink away the tears that are suddenly filling her eyes as she turns away. God, it's almost easier working with Wanda. Everly is lovely but she really doesn't understand how her being so nice sometimes pushes Tory so close to sobbing in her arms. "Might as well get to know the regulars, right?" she says, trying to sound normal.

She fills a cup with coffee and grabs a piece of that pie that she's been eyeing up for her and Brandon then heads towards Wanda's favourite customer. He looks up as he hears her approach, and she almost drops the plate.

It's John Kreese. He hasn't had a haircut or a shave in a while, but it's definitely him.

He looks just as surprised as she is. He drops the pen he was holding. They haven't spoken to each other since the tournament, and Tory wonders if she should feel bad for not keeping in touch.

"I guess I'm your waitress this evening," she says, putting the coffee and pie down on the table. She sees the napkin he's been writing on, there's a bunch of words but she only gets a glimpse of them and his drawing of a snake before he snatches it away and tucks it into his pocket.

He looks her up and down. "I thought you were going to make something of yourself, Nichols."

She folds her arms. "I never said that."

"No need to get so defensive. I only mean that I expected better from my best student."

"Yeah, well, you don't look like you're doing so good either."

John drops his gaze, picks up the pen and lines it up square with the condiment holder.

He looks so downtrodden she hasn't got the heart to say anything more to him. "Tell me if you're still hungry after that. We always have loads left over. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar."

John looks up at her, and there's no indication on his face whether he appreciates or resents what she just said. She walks away.

Everly is cleaning tables not far away. She meets Tory's eyes and silently questions if she's all right, and Tory gives her a nod.

More customers come in, and Tory busies herself with serving them. It's late, but it gets lively at times. A lot of the truckers seem to know each other, and then there's the stoners and the students and the general night owls.

She can't help but think of her old Sensei. She's passed his table a couple of times, filled up his coffee cup, but neither of them have said anything more to each other. It doesn't seem like he's here to bother her or anything. She guesses there's a first time for everything. Everly said he's been in before, and he looked surprised to see her. But with all that's been going on, Tory can't help but feel paranoid about everyone and everything.

If she's honest, she hasn't really thought about him. Any bad feelings she might have had towards him have just washed away in the torrents of all the other bad stuff. Not that she's particularly happy to see him either, but a lot of the other people who she used to see all the time before, when things were better, they've gone now, either moved away or they're living different, incompatible lives from her and it's not like she has the time or energy to arrange hanging out anyway.

Sensei Kreese is familiar at least. He understands her, at least to some degree. And that's why when things quieten down again in the diner, she asks Everly if she minds if she goes to sit with him for a bit. She wouldn't normally ask for permission, but Everly is good to her.

"Thought you were going back to South Korea," she says, in the absence of any better ideas of what to say to him.

"I did, for a while."

There's a finality about what he says, and she can tell that if she asks why, he's not going to tell her. Tory gets up. He doesn't seem surprised when she leaves the table, or when she returns with a coffee pot and a cup for her. "At least over here you get free refills, right?" she says, filling both of their cups.

"Here, I get free everything," John says, turning his head, indicating that he means this establishment. "On occasion, anyway. Not quite sure how that works, but I ain't complaining."

Tory wonders what would happen if she were to say we feel sorry for you. She decides not to take the risk. She hates it, when people make it clear that they feel sorry for her.

"They are paying you, right?"

Tory snorts. "Of course."

John looks around. "This is no life for a kid like you."

"Hey, I might like it here. What do you know?"

"The Tory Nichols I know wouldn't say that."

Tory takes a sip of her coffee. John sips his own, and watches her.

"You know my situation. We're in a lot of debt now, and the bills still aren't getting paid."

John is still and quiet for a long time, his eyes distant. "I wish there was some way I could help you," he murmurs.

"Thanks," she says, feeling her lips start to shake, and picks up her cup to hide that.

"Thankfully the house was all paid for when my mother passed. It was different back then. But I still struggled financially until I joined the army."

"I hadn't thought of the army," Tory says, briefly imagining herself in combat gear. She could do it. She shakes her head. "No. I can't leave Brandon."

"I wasn't making a suggestion. I meant that I understand your predicament."

She nods, feeling numb. So what now? Cry on his shoulder?

"I am working on reopening Cobra Kai in Reseda. It's time it came back home again, where it belongs. You could help me, if you like."

Tory raises her eyebrows. So that was what he was writing on the napkin, she should have guessed. "Okay maybe, if you'll let me and Brandon come sleep in the back room if we need to," she says, only half joking.

"I don't have a location yet. I am still in the planning phase."

The little bit of hope Tory started to feel is snuffed out. Her Sensei might have brought Cobra Kai back from the dead a couple of times before, but right now, with him looking like this, she can't believe in him. "I'll think about it," she says.

Tory works as many shifts as she can over the next few weeks. She's exhausted but at least she's making a dent in the rent payments. She sees Sensei Kreese at the diner often, and notices his condition declining. He's coughing and shivering but won't listen to her when she suggests he go see a doctor. He's too focused on saving enough money to rent a place to make into the new dojo.

She has just enough time between her daytime shift at the supermarket and her night shift at the diner to shower or eat. She decides on a shower, as she can't do that at the diner but she might be able to grab some food on her break. Before she sets out again, she picks up the mail and opens it. But she wishes she hadn't when one of the letters turns out to be an eviction notice.

She feels tears of frustration sting at her eyes. It's not fair! She made so much effort to pay off the rent, and she's now only two months behind. But they're giving them a month to get out and she knows from experience that she has no grounds for appeal. Good thing Brandon is at his friend's house, she's so grateful for the Cardozos for letting him stay so much while she's been working. She can't break it to him, not yet.

She bangs her fist on the wall of the stupid, overpriced apartment. There's so many other cracks in the walls, what's one more?

How the hell is she going to find somewhere else? This place is overpriced, but so is everywhere around here. Even if she gives up on the idea of trying to keep Brandon in the same school, she's not convinced they'd find another place. She's never applied for apartments by herself. Her age and collection of minimum wage part time jobs will count against her. And if they ask for a background check, well she may as well give up before she even starts.

Her alarm goes off. She needs to grab her uniform and get to the diner.

Wanda taps on her watch when Tory gets there. Part of her wants to scream piss off Wanda I'm only one fucking minute late but she really really can't afford to lose this job now. Of course. Of course it would be a shift with Wanda tonight. Her awful luck never changes. If Everly or one of the other nice supervisors was there, she could have told them, and maybe not have to keep this awful thing to herself for six hours.

She takes out her phone when she finishes putting her uniform on. Who can she tell? Who would be able to help? Or even listen? Her relatives are out for a start. Mrs LaRusso comes to mind. She was kind to her before. It's a long shot, but maybe. She scrolls through her messages to find her name, but then her eyes fall on Samantha LaRusso and the message Tory had sent her which Sam never replied to. Now she's thinking about that, and it distracts her for so long that she's out of time. Wanda will kill her if she's any longer. She'll text Mrs LaRusso later.

Part way through her shift Sensei Kreese comes in and she has to hold herself back from running over to him. He's probably the closest thing to a friendly face she will see tonight. But Wanda's here and if she sees him, she'll throw him out. Tory can't let that happen. Not now that she's considering he might be her last hope.

Then a miracle happens, Wanda tells her to cover for her, she's going on her break early. As soon as Wanda is gone, Tory races into the kitchen and goes up to Leo, the chef tonight. She grabs the wire of his earphones and pulls one out of his ear. "Hey make something nice for my friend quick before Wanda gets back!" she says without taking a breath.

Leo gives her a look like he's about to say no, but Tory knows he hates Wanda just as much as she does. He never says much but she's seen him putting his middle fingers up at her behind her back. He smiles and swings the loose earphone around his hand. "Okay, what are we having?"

"Anything. Make it quick!"

Leo gives her a salute and hums to his music as he puts something together.

Tory considers running to get her phone to text Mrs LaRusso, so she's not putting all her eggs in one basket. But before she can, Leo is smirking while handing her a plate with a weird looking burger on it that is definitely not on the menu.

"I owe you," she says, hurrying back out to the restaurant.

"What, no coffee?" John says when she puts the plate down in front of him.

"One minute." She rushes off again.

The coffee slops over the side of the cup onto the table when she puts it down. "You got a location yet?" she asks breathlessly, leaning on the table.

"I'm working on it."

"Well, be quick. Guess I wasn't joking about me and Brandon needing that back room. We've got a month."

"What do you-"

He's speaking too slow and she doesn't have time. "We're being evicted!"

"I see."

Tory sinks down into the other side of the booth. Her stomach rumbles and regrets not eating between shifts. She reaches out without thinking. "Can I?"

John nods and she grabs a handful of fries and shoves them in her mouth. He picks up a fry himself, and points it at her. "The back room of a dojo is no place for a teenage girl and her kid brother."

"So you're saying no?"

"What I'm saying is, you must have better options."

"Well what if we don't?"

John eats the fry he is holding, then picks up the burger. "Let me think about this," he says, and notices Tory eyeing his fries. "Help yourself."

Tory eats most of the fries as John eats his burger. Leo might not be very talkative, but he sure makes good food.

"There is a temporary solution I can think of. I'm not sure any of us would like it, but sacrifices are necessary when options are few."

"Go on."

"You and your brother are in need of a place to live. I find myself currently between residences. Perhaps you would consider having me as a lodger as a temporary measure."

Tory's mouth falls open. She's outraged at the idea of him moving into her mom's room. The idea of anyone moving in there. Tory's barely been in there herself. "It's too late for that. We're already being thrown out!" she says.

"Then the three of us find somewhere new. Temporarily, of course."

Tory notices he's still shaking. Maybe he has been the whole time they've been talking, and she's been too distracted to notice. This is a better solution than the one she'd thought of. She needs to find a real place to live, for Brandon's sake even more than hers. And god knows where Sensei Kreese has been living, but she thinks he needs this a whole lot more than he's letting on. But oh my god if this all goes wrong, and it probably will, she's gonna be in a mess. But more of a mess than she's currently in? That's debatable.

She thinks of Mrs LaRusso. Maybe she should talk to her first? But she wasn't going to ask Mrs LaRusso to do anything more than listen to her anyway. There's no way she and Brandon are begging her for a place to stay, any more than she'd consider begging their relatives.

Tory nods slowly. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Wanda walking back into the restaurant. Is her break over already? She swallows. "Okay. Temporarily," she says. "I gotta go. My boss is back."

She quickly goes to clear some tables so Wanda won't suspect anything. So, that was a rash decision. She feels sick. Why did she not just say she'd think about it? Wanda's fault for coming back so soon and rushing her. Bitch. She could go back to him now and quickly say she wants to think about it actually. But part of her is afraid he'll change his mind and then she and her brother will end up at the mercy of their aunt or whichever other relative will have them.

If a better option arises in the next month, she could back out of the deal. John Kreese has little faith in other people, so it's not like he won't be expecting it. But that seems cruel. He's an old man and he's sick. And despite all the bad things he's done to her, he's also done a lot for her. She knows what it's like to be repeatedly screwed over by people, and she wants to give him the opportunity to not screw her over before she screws him over pre-emptively.

What did he mean, temporarily? A few months? Six at the outside? Maybe it'll be okay. In some messed up way it might all work out. She can just about believe it if she doesn't think about it too hard.