ANTI-KARATE 《cobra kai 》

-3.3 thank goodness

chapter thirty-three!

"NOPE. ABSOLUTELY NOT," states Alex, firmly. Miguel gave her a deadpanned look, making the noirette shake her head again. She'd rushed to the hospital immediately after Carmen had called, then proceeded to stay up the entire night by his side. At this point, hospital rules about visiting hours didn't really apply to Alex, seeing as how they had all grown to know and love the teen. It was now early in the morning and Alex's shift at the diner was to start in a few hours. Miguel wanted her to go home and get some rest and food, but Alex insisted on staying by his side until it was time to leave. "I'm staying right here, Miguel. I almost lost you, dumbass. You just got out of a coma. A coma! I'm not going anywhere."

"You need rest," he managed to say, the gear over his head making it harder to speak. He was supposed to get it off later that day, but until then he was stuck with short, scratchy sentences. His mother had filled him in about Xolani before Alex had gotten there, even though he'd heard her say it while he was in the coma. He hated that Alex had to suffer through that, and he can only imagine how him being in the hospital didn't help. He could see the dark circles under her eyes and she was clearly in some kind of pain, but she wouldn't budge and remained in the seat by his bed the entire time. Of course he appreciated that he had such a wonderful girlfriend that would want to stay by his side after everything that has happened, but her health— both physically and mentally— didn't seem to be in too good of shape and that needed to be addressed.

"Yeah? I also need to spend as much time with my boyfriend as possible before I have work," she shot back. This felt surreal to her. After two weeks of talking to an unconscious Miguel, here she was bickering with him like she used to. "So you might as well just accept that and let me tell you about Mya."

"Mya?" mouthed the boy, angered by the simple mention of the girl. He'd noticed from the moment that she walked in that she was still being affected by the injuries she received during the fight. He'd hate Mya forever for that.

Alex grinned to herself, knowing the change of subject interested Miguel to the point that he'd drop the idea of her going home. She pulled her feet up into the chair, making herself comfortable as she prepared herself for the scolding that was about to receive. She couldn't imagine how Miguel would react to the fact that she'd forgiven Mya so easily. "Yeah, uh, funny enough, she approached me yesterday and apologized for everything. Real sincere, too. And she even told the entire school that the rumors were a lie that she made up."

Miguel stayed quiet for a moment. He wasn't sure of how to explain this to Alex. He still hated Mya, —with a burning passion— and despised the idea of her being anywhere near Alex, but still couldn't figure out Mya's endgame. To Miguel, it was too obvious that Mya was bullshitting this apology and was trying to gain Alex's trust for some stupid reason. Why? To get Alex attached to a fake friendship just to betray her again? Mya was a bitch, for sure, but would she really go that far out of her way just to create more pain for Alex? Was she that cruel? Miguel gave Alex a saddened look, realizing by the look on her face that she was already hopeful in the idea of Mya being sincere. He loved Alex, really, but she was way too trusting and way too forgiving. "No."

"No?"

"No."

"Why no? She did a nice thing and apologized, I don't see the problem," shrugged Alex, her eyes flickering up to the TV that was in the room. It was on MeTV, the show Gilligan's Island playing on the classic tv channel. She hasn't been watching the show, but from what she'd pieced together the episode was about the characters somehow switching bodies? Or voices? Either way, it seemed like a funny show. Her eyes then trailed back down to Miguel, shooting the boy an adorable smile as he gave her an unimpressed look.

"She hurt you," he croaked out, making Alex's smile falter. Alex shook her head, deciding to drop the subject. She reached over, giving him a sweet kiss on the cheek before leaning back in her chair. She wasn't going to argue with him, not after everything he's been through.

"Have you talked to Hawk?" she asked, switching the topic of the conversation. She knew that Mya was being honest and she'd prove it to him— when he gets better. For now, his health needed to be the priority; not a possible blooming friendship with a girl who put her in the hospital.

"Not yet," he tells her, making her nod. She figured that since he was his best friend, that Hawk would be called almost immediately after she was. They'd all been hoping for this moment for two weeks; for Miguel to wake up and for things to go back to the way they were. Hawk had not just been waiting for his best friend to wake up, he'd also been waiting so Miguel could help Alex— she wouldn't accept his or literally anyone's, but maybe Miguel could talk her into taking care of herself for a change.

"He's going to be really happy when he hears you're awake; he's been really on edge since that day at the school," she tells Miguel, successfully steering the conversation away from Mya. "Him and Casey have been like bodyguards towards me."

"Good," he replied, sending her a weak smile. Alex sighed. Miguel knew that when he was better he'd add his own name to the list of people watching over Alex. Clearly nobody's been doing that good of a job, seeing the state she was currently in. He just wished he'd awoken sooner so he could've been there for her; helped her through everything she's going through.

"They hardly let me hang out with Demetri, Sam and the other Miyagi-Do's," she told him, frowning. She missed them all: Sam, Demetri, Chris, even Noah. They were her friends too, so the Cobra Kai's have no right to try and keep her away from them, even if they do think its helping her. She would be seeing them anyway, whenever she returned to school, so she'd given up complaining about it. "I get that they're trying to protect me, but they're my friends too. They would never hurt me."

Miguel gave an unimpressed look. Most of the Miyagi-Do's have already hurt Alex, in some way or another. Noah broke up with her for no reason, Sam (even though he knew there were no hard feelings about it) left Alex to hang out with the people who bullied her, Robby put Miguel in a coma- causing Alex more indescribable pain, not to mention that Mya was trained by Miyagi-Do. Demetri and maybe Chris were the only good ones he could think of. But he also knew there was no point in trying to convince Alex this, as she still believed all of her friends to be good people.

"Don't give me that look, Miguel," she said, frowning. "They are my friends. Don't tell me you're going to keep me away from them too."

Miguel shook his head, knowing better than to argue with the poor girl. Her friends were all she had anymore; her family was gone. Instead, he held out his hand for her to take and gave it a reassuring squeeze. That was enough for Alex; her problems disappearing from her mind momentarily as her hand rested in his. It was all she needed and more to feel okay again. Miguel is okay, he's alive. Even with her body sleep deprived, dehydrated, malnourished, and in pain, she felt okay just because she is able to hold Miguel's hand and because he's able to hold hers. Miguel smiled at the relaxation that showed in her beautiful eyes, "I love you."

"I love you," she responds, smiling brighter. The two sat there, just enjoying each other's company until it was time for Alex to leave for work.

a/n: ayo! happy 2022! sorry for the super duper short chapter. and for disappearing for like five months. ive been having some serious mental health issues (thx school) and im still dealing with that, but s4 gave me some motivation to work on this. <3 u all!

~chloe:)