Cold Hearted ⭒ Cobra Kai

5.0.0^

Chapter Eighty-Five: Loyal

"I tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn't even matter. I had to fall to lose it all, but in the end it doesn't even matter."

~In the End by Linkin Park~

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Warnings: abuse, addiction, anxiety, biphobia/homophobia, depression, domestic violence, slight eating disorder, language, panic attacks, sexual harassment/assault/abuse, violence, and other mature themes

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Robby's POV

The door rings as I enter the abandoned dojo. I know he's here somewhere. I really, really need to talk to him. After today, I feel like we both have a lot to say; I know I do.

I turn and see my dad. "Robby? What's going on? What happened here?"

The nerves kick in as I remember what happened the last time we were both here. I remember fighting him and being pushed into the lockers and passing out. It wasn't even all his fault. I insisted that Kreese was a good guy and that Cobra Kai was the right path.

It took Zion - one of the most loyal people I know - to defect for me to see the truth. Turns out that being a mentor, like how Mr. LaRusso or my dad wanted to be for me, is hard.

I take in the empty space, "They're moving to a new location. Multiple locations, I think." The thought makes me sick.

"You kicked ass today," my dad tells me.

I look over at him in surprise. He never says anything positive about what I do.

"Could've gone either way," he adds.

"Yeah. Thanks," I nod slightly. I can already feel myself getting emotional. He's trying now and I fucked it up.

"Hey," he walks closer, "it's just a match. Don't let it eat you up. Trust me."

He thinks this is about the fight with Eli, of course. I've tried not to make the same mistakes as him. Instead, I make my own mistakes and somehow they feel even worse.

"It's not that, um... It's this kid, Kenny." I try to find the right words to explain it to him. I'm a failure. "I thought I could take him under my wing, be the mentor I wish I had when I was younger."

My dad looks down uneasily, "That isn't a role you should have to take on. You're still a kid, Robby."

"I haven't felt like a kid in a... in a long time." I feel my face heat up. "But, I saw Kenny today and it, uh, it's like looking in a mirror."

I know my dad pieces together that Kenny is the kid whose ass I kicked, which isn't what I wanted to do at all. I took Cobra Kai too far, just like I'd sworn to myself I wouldn't.

"I realized I screwed everything up. I had all this hate inside of me... for you and for Miguel. And, I thought I could use Cobra Kai to control that. But, it just made things worse and now it's never gonna get better."

"That's not true," he steps in. "Kreese is good at making you something you're not. Trust me, I know. I left you... I left you because I was scared. Over and over, it wasn't right, but I did. I thought maybe you'd be better off without me." He looks ready to cry, too. "You had a good thing going with LaRusso. I got in the way of that. Don't blame yourself. Blame me."

Tears fall and I can't even see clearly anymore, "I'm sick of blaming you, Dad."

I wipe my nose and within another second, he's pulled me in for a hug.