Like A Phoenix ➳ Cobra Kai

In Malibu, Next To You (18)

It's been a few weeks since Kat and Hawk shared their first 'night,' and with spring break approaching, they were excited to hit the beautiful, sandy beaches of Los Angeles. Since Kat's grandma, Malibu owns a spacious Spanish-Mediterranean mansion on the hills with a gorgeous ocean view. Before spending a few nights at the Mills family vacationing home, Kat invited her friends to have an early celebration of her favorite season, summertime.

Among the list of invitees is Eli, Demetri, Miguel, Aisha, Sam, Robby, Moon, and Yasmine, as Moon insisted she was "nicer" than the last beach party. While she prepared the house for guests, Kat began to worry about conflicts between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do students. She made floor plans; Miguel, Demetri, Eli, and Robby share a master suite, except that Eli can mingle with her in a separate room. In addition, Sam, Yasmine, Moon, and Aisha share another master suite. To herself, she reserved a master suite, decked out with marble-engraved walls and a balcony coaxed in eggshell white paint, looking towards the most beautiful view on the property.

This gorgeous mansion did not come without a catch. Kat's mother, Ali, insisted on the boys sharing separate rooms from the girls. Worst of all, Ali hired a trusted bodyguard who has been in the family for ages to keep an eye on Kat and her friends. She knew the man to be Enzo, had a thick English accent, and flaunted a scruffy black beard and thick, furrowed eyebrows. He looked to be in his late 40's.

Kat analyzed the man assigned to protect her and her friends. Besides being built like Dwayne Johnson, he was tall, dark, and handsome with a stern neutral expression. While Kat moved furniture around the top floor, Enzo stared in boredom, checking his watch every five minutes.

"For fuck's sake, Enzo. Will you help me push this damn bed? You're a big dude. I'm sure you're more qualified at this than I am!" Kat whined, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

Enzo sighed. "What's the magic word?" He remarked, his arms still folded over his tight-fit suit.

"Penis Toot." Kat grinned with her eyebrows raised. "I'll take 200 for cock-sucking bitch, Alex!" She yelled, flipping the man off, who stood feet taller than her with a blank stare. Kat was convinced the man was void of any emotion. He never laughed, smiled, cried, nothing.

"The magic word is, please. I thought it was fairly easy to guess." Enzo replied with a blank stare.

"Enzo..." Kat challenged, narrowing her eyes at the older man.

He sighed but helped Kat move around furniture in preparation for the beach gathering.

After an hour, the place was ready for the guests to arrive. Yet, Kat was not prepared in the slightest. "Oh my god! I don't know what to wear...." She muttered while burying her head in her hands.

Enzo blankly stared in her direction. "It's a beach. I assume you need sunblock and maybe a beach towel?" He questioned.

"Duh. I need something protective, comfortable, hot, and I can't have any nip-slips." Kat said, exasperated.

The man raised his arms in defeat. "My job is to protect you. I am not your stylist, darling." Enzo stated firmly with a scowl.

"Are you mad at me? Or is that just your resting bitch face?" Kat asked while fetching a beach towel from the hallway closet.

A flicker of humor flashed in the man's eyes, but his face never changed. "When you have seen as much death and destruction as I have, you begin to subdue your emotions into mere inconveniences."

"You and I both, Enzo..." Kat winced, folding the beach towel into her tote bag.

The doorbell rang before the man could respond, followed by high-pitched giggles. "That must be them!" Kat exclaimed, gripping her tote bag.

Enzo shook his head, "I'll get the door." He insisted, hesitantly peaking through the peephole. "It's safe," he sighed while opening the door for the teenage girls.

"Oh! Um, hi. I'm Moon, and this is Yasmine," the bubbly girl said, gesturing to the moody-looking blonde next to her, "She is Samantha," Moon added, motioning to Sam.

"Okay," Enzo replied with a blank stare. "Come in."

Moon smiled awkwardly at the man's tepid response. "Thank you..."

"Oh my fucking god, you guys!" Yasmine exclaimed, looking around the mansion. "I thought we were rich, but this is bank."

Robby followed closely behind the girls, who carried their bags with a huff. His loose whips of hair flew against his face as the gust of wind blew from outside. "You know, Sam. You could help me," he scoffed with a playful smirk.

"You're right," she smiled in return. Sam grabbed the most oversized bag strapped around Robby's shoulders and swung it over her neck. "This should be fun."

With the door still wide-open, Demetri's pale yellow car screeched in the driveway, making a loud crunch sound as it tumbled over the driveway's rocks. Kat walked outside to greet who she recognized to be her friends, Miguel and Demetri, and Eli.

"Holy mother of George Lucas!" Demetri exclaimed with a look of astonishment. "Are you guys seeing this? Jesus..."

Kat beamed at the sight of her friend's arrival. "I'm so excited you came!"

"You invited us to a mega-mansion in Malibu. I think we'd be idiots to not come." Demetri chuckled.

Aisha and Miguel were in the back of the car, gazing up at the modern mansion with amazement. "This is so fucking cool!" Aisha squealed, running to the truck to get her baggage, which was smaller than Yasmine's.

Hawk squeezed in the passenger seat with his sizable luggage smushed between his legs. As he swung the door of the low-rising car open, he breathed a sigh of relief at being able to stretch his legs. "Demetri, man. You suck ass at driving," he admitted as he cracked his neck.

"Alright. Let's go inside the chocolate factory, my children," Kat winked at her friends. Walking into the mansion, Moon, Yasmine, and Sam made themselves comfortable on the sectionals while Robby gazed at the view from the glass windows.

"Enzo, will you show my guests to their rooms?" Kat asked as she chewed on the inside of her cheek.

"Of course, ma'am," he asserted. He took a few of the girl's bags and addressed the friend groups. "Follow me," his voice echoed throughout the mansion while guiding the teens to their respective rooms.

While the teens followed the man upstairs, Robby remained planted by the glass windows and drank in the gorgeous view. Upon seeing him admire the portrait-like appearance of the beach, Kat walked next to Robby. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" She asked Robby as her eyes drifted from the rising sun to the waves crashing along the shore.

Robby sighed, his eyes still fixated on the ornamental palm trees, watching them sway back and forth. "Sensei told me to find my peaceful place, and I think I finally found it here," he hinted with a ghostly smile.

Kat smiled sadly but continued to watch the fading orange sky rise from the waves. "On these sunny days," she began, never breaking focus from the mesmerizing view, "I think about the sunset as a fading memory. If you look too closely, you'll forget to live, but if you're not looking at all, you won't understand the value of that moment until it's gone."

The two broke away from looking towards the view and directed their attention towards each other for a moment. "What a beautiful way to describe it...." Robby breathed, his eyes drifting between Kat's fluttering eyes and lips. He quickly broke the connection off and cleared his throat. "Uh, should I sleep on the couch or..."

"No, actually—"Kat gazed up towards the spiraled staircase. "You can stay in an entirely separate room from the others. It has the best ocean view by far. Besides, I'm sure you'll appreciate the space more than I would," Kat explained, her eyes looking anywhere except at him.

"Really? That would be great! Thanks, Kat." Robby grinned.

She wasn't sure why she did that, but the girls wouldn't be comfortable with a boy in their room, and the guys, as far as she knew, didn't like Robby. It felt wrong to put him in such an awkward situation. The best thing to do is to be an excellent host to her friends.