Robby's skateboard clattered against the pavement, riding by Cristina fast enough for her hair to sway in rhythm to the gust of wind he left in his trail. She tucked her feet in under her, sketchbook resting in her lap as she watched Robby perform trick after trick successfully. She almost laughed, comparing his undeniable skills to Declan, who couldn't seem to keep both feet on the board even if they were glued to it.

Coming to rest beside her, his hair stuck to his damp forehead, Robby quirked an eyebrow, wondering what she found so amusing. He watched the pen in her hand move swiftly across the paper, creating an image pulled from the depths of her mind. With furrowed brows and pursed lips, she drew the daffodils from her mother's backyard, the very same ones she'd been grounded for plucking once when she was little.

Recently, it seemed memories of her past haunted her mind, plaguing her as the very same pain she'd endured under her mother's roof surged through her heart at every little reminder. She kept her emotions concealed. Or so she thought. Robby could see it in her eyes. The way they would flicker with sadness or anger, even when she was laughing at the thought of Declan tumbling from his skateboard and hitting his ass against the hard ground.

"What's so funny?" Robby asked, starting off with the easy bit of the conversation he knew would turn emotional soon enough.

Cristina grinned, lips curving upward as she squinted at him, hand raised in front of her face to cover her eyes from the sun's blinding light. Her hand stilled, the tip of her pen resting lazily against the paper and moving ever so slightly as she talked. The soft, barely noticeable lines that she drew subconsciously would be erased the moment Robby set off on his skateboard again.

"Declan falling on his ass," she replied through a snort, tucking her hair behind her ears when stray strands stuck in her eyelashes.

Chuckling, Robby plopped down on the ground beside her, his legs dangling down the side of the ramp as he peered at her through the corner of his eye. Almost as though she could sense his obvious stare, she turned her head, dark eyes locking with his greenish ones. For the first time, she noticed flecks of yellow, or perhaps brown, lingering around his pupils.

"What?" Cristina asked humorously, the whites of her teeth poking out from between her lips.

Robby's expression was serious, and a pit of nervousness settled in her stomach.

"Are you okay?" he asked, being urged to explain further when she raised her eyebrows. "You seem... sad."

Cristina's lips parted just enough for a breath of air to pass them by, chest falling as she exhaled and leaned back against the palms of her hands. The sun-kissed her skin, goosebumps visible on her bare arms and legs. Robby stared, waiting for her to speak. He could see the eyes move hastily behind her eyelids.

"It's just... everything's been so awkward lately. Between me and Hawk, I mean." she began, hesitant to speak her mind.

Robby was the only one she could talk with about this. Everyone else was Hawk's friends too, and the last thing she wanted was to create unnecessary drama. She didn't want to accidentally force them to pick sides. Especially since she was perfectly fine with acting as though everything was okay.

She was totally fine. Definitely not sad or angry.

"I still haven't told him I'm in love with him," Cristina admitted, eyes flickering to watch how Robby would react. Was it horrible she'd kept it from him? Was she a horrible person for being mad when he didn't even know why?

Her words hit Robby. Hard. She was in love with Hawk. It wasn't that surprising really. The way she talked about him made it obvious. But still, Robby had hoped that, maybe, it was just a silly little crush.

His heart ached. But he was determined to give her advice. It didn't matter that it hurt him in the process.

"Why not?" Robby asked with eyebrows knitted together.

Cristina bit her lip and sighed softly. "I'm afraid I'll be mean to him. It's not his fault, you know?" she said, and returned her gaze to the sky, watching as the clouds moved with the winds. "But at the same time, it feels like he betrayed me. Like he played me and led me on for months, flirted just for the sake of it. I thought it was real. That maybe, he liked me back. But it was all just a big joke to him."

Robby thought for a moment, taking Hawk's actions as well as Cristina's feelings into consideration. Hawk didn't know she liked him. He was oblivious. To him, it had been inside jokes between two best friends. But to Cristina, it had meant something. She'd been under the impression that he liked her. And their friends had thought the same.

"I think you should tell him," Robby said honestly. "That you love him, I mean."

"Really?" Cristina asked, voice twinged with skepticism. "Wouldn't that just make things awkward?"

Robby raised his eyebrows. "More awkward than you and Declan giving him a hard time when he doesn't even know why?"

With a groan, she slung her head forward, covering her face with her hands. Cristina sighed. "Ugh, you're right." she looked at him, eyes serious. "But it can't just be in the heat of the moment. That'd be mean and unfair."

"I agree."

Cristina pursed her lips. "I'll just need to find the perfect moment to do so."

"Sounds good," Robby said, standing up and propping his foot on his skateboard. "I wanted to thank you, by the way."

Raising an eyebrow, Cristina looked up at him. "For what?"

Robby cracked a smile. "For telling Sam about my mom. Last week, I didn't have electricity or hot water, and now I have a jacuzzi in my backyard."

Cristina made a face. "Well, I wouldn't be too excited about that." she giggled while she spoke. "Sam did tell me they found a dead possum in there."

He laughed along with her, and then his expression turned genuine, eyes never leaving hers. Cristina felt her breath hitch in the back of her throat.

"Thank you," Robby said.

She smiled, nose scrunching upward. "Anytime."

ʚїɞ

The sand on the beach was warm under Cristina's bare feet, slipping in between her toes and scraping against her skin when she shifted her weight. Demetri rolled his neck, adjusting the volleyball in his hands. He waited a moment, seeming to know what he was doing. And then he flailed his arm, hitting the ball with his forearm and sending it straight into the net with a smack.

Cristina rolled her eyes, tightening her ponytail as she watched Demetri splutter for an excuse. He'd been oh so confident in his volleyball skills when they decided to hang out, promising Cristina that if she teamed up with him against Declan and Hawk, they'd definitely win. Cristina was naive enough to believe him, something she deeply regretted.

"Uh... Mulligan, send it back!" he yelled, hoping for them to just go along with it.

Opposite of him, Declan crossed his arms over his bare chest, a single eyebrow raised in amusement.

"There's no mulligans in volleyball," Hawk remarked, clearly annoyed by his friend's behavior.

Declan shrugged his shoulders. "Just give them the ball so we can play."

Hawk groaned, tossing the ball to Cristina this time. "Fine," he grumbled, getting into his position once more.

Taking a breath, Cristina rolled the ball around between her palms, regulating her breathing to calm her nerves. She cracked her neck, releasing some tension, and then took a small step backward, preparing to serve. Behind her, Moon cheered her on, clapping her hands excitedly as she bounced on her feet.

Cristina tossed the ball into the air, allowing it to spin just above her head before she smacked her hand against it with all the strength she could muster up. The ball soared over the net, and Hawk dove to catch it. His shoulder collided with the sand, and the ball hit the ground barely an inch beside him, scoring Cristina and Demetri a point.

Moon giggled excitedly and threw her arms around Cristina. Demetri awkwardly hugged them both before stepping to the side, announcing a much needed water break.

Just as he was unscrewing the lid to Cristina's Cobra Kai water bottle, prepared to gobble down her water before she could realize what he was doing, two girls stopped him. They noticed the snake logo, eyes widening as they smiled at him.

"Cobra Kai? You guys won the karate tournament, right?" a short girl with dark hair and tanned skin asked, her blonde friend giggling beside her.

Demetri stuttered back. "Uh, the All Valley? The Rumble in Reseda?" he asked rhetorically as he awkwardly leaned against the metal pole that kept their net up. "Yes, uh, we certainly did."

Cristina grinned from ear to ear, watching her friend try to awkwardly flirt. Hawk seemed anything but amused, annoyed Demetri was taking credit for something he'd had no part in. Chuckling, Declan smirked and watched the scene unfold.

The same girl spoke again, her grin broadening. "Cool. We're gonna go for a swim, but maybe play with you later?"

Making the most awkward face known to man, Demetri nodded. "Pfft... Most def!" he corrected himself instantly, not sure where the previous words had even come from. "That, uh, means most definitely."

Luckily for him, the girls were too smitten with the idea of dating karate champions to notice and giggled as they walked away, waving at him over their shoulders.

"Look at you, player!" Moon gushed, collapsing down onto the towel she'd laid out by her bag previously.

Having gotten warm during their extremely short game of volleyball, Cristina pulled her shirt over her head, revealing the purple bikini she'd worn underneath. Moon grabbed the discarded shirt from Cristina and put it in her bag in the meantime so it wouldn't get filled with sand.

"It'd be nice if you earned the Cobra Kai cred you're so happy to take," Hawk remarked, approaching his friends while keeping his eyes trained on Demetri. "When are you ever gonna sign up?"

Declan patted Hawk's shoulder as he passed him, snatching the bottle from Demetri before he could take a drink from it. "Oh, leave him alone, Hawk. Karate's not for everyone - he doesn't have to sign up if he doesn't want to."

Cristina sunbathed next to Moon, the two girls excitedly posing while they took pictures for their Instagram stories. Declan photobombed most of their pictures, throwing small sea shells he'd found buried in the sand at them - mostly Cristina - and laughed when they threw sand at him as revenge.

It wasn't until Miguel stood over them, casting his shadow and covering the sun, that they noticed he was even there at all. Hawk had his arms crossed over his chest behind him, staring at Cristina almost accusingly.

"Did you know Robby Keene is Sensei's son?" Miguel asked her, his eyebrows furrowed.

Cristina blinked once, and then twice, wrapping her head around it. "I'm sorry, what?" she asked, sharing a confused look with Declan. "Why would I know that?"

"You're his friend." Hawk deadpanned, shuffling uncomfortably when Cristina glared at him in return.

"So? Just because we're friends doesn't mean I know everything about him." she looked away from them, reclining her head to stare at the sky instead. "Besides, it's none of our business. Sensei probably has a good reason as to why he hid it from us, and I'm not gonna prod for answers. I do not feel like doing knuckle push-ups for being nosy."

Declan nodded in agreement. "Just drop it. We do not want to deal with an angry Johnny Lawrence." he then squinted at them. "Didn't you two learn your lesson when he forced us into that cement truck?"

From the looks of their expression, Cristina guessed not.

ʚїɞ

"Looking snazzy, Teddy!" Cristina remarked as she leaned against the doorframe of his room, watching as he struggled to loop his tie into a knot.

Theodore grinned at her through the mirror he stood in front of, his eyes shining with a rare kind of happiness. "Why, thank you," he said poshly, eyebrows knitting together as he once again failed and let go of the uneven lengthed tie. "Stupid thing," he muttered, sighing in defeat.

Taking a step into his room, Cristina raised an eyebrow. "Meeting someone special tonight?" she queried teasingly, knowing fully well where he was going and why as it was all he'd been talking about for the past few days.

Yet, she would never deny Theodore the chance to gush about his not-boyfriend. Especially when his cheeks flushed red and his gaze shied away from the mirror at the mere mention of him.

"I am, actually," Theodore said, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. "Reggie made reservations at this fancy ass restaurant a bit out of town and I think he might finally make things official between us."

Anyone could see how much Theodore adored the boy he'd been going out with for the past month, and it made Cristina elated to hear that they might finally put labels on things. She knew how uncertain Theodore had been, always wondering if Reggie might think they were nothing but a casual fling.

She hoped for Theodore's sake - and her own, as she wished to meet Reggie more than anything, and Theodore had made it clear that wouldn't happen before he knew it was serious - that things might finally head in the right direction.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you, Teddy!" she exclaimed, not caring that she was wrinkling his shirt as she threw her arms around him and hugged him as tightly as she could manage.

Theodore laughed, smile widening - if that was even possible - and returned the embrace with just as much enthusiasm.

Walking past the room at just the right moment, Declan cringed. "You look like a lawyer," he said, referring to the tie and shirt, as well as the blazer Theodore had yet to put on.

Cristina had to agree with Declan, for once in her life, eyebrows knitting together skeptically. "He's right." she sighed, and Theodore's expression turned panicked.

"Reggie will be here in fifteen, I don't have time to change!" he stressed, already struggling to unbutton his shirt to switch it out.

Cristina jumped into action immediately. "Take a breath," she instructed the man, who instantly complied, working to calm himself before he began to sweat like a pig. "Declan, could you find his black dress shirt instead? It should be in the closet."

Nodding, Declan joined them in the room, rummaging through the excessive amount of drawers inside Theodore's closet.

With steady and swift motions, Cristina unbuttoned Theodore's shirt, pulling the tie from around his neck and discarding it onto his bed. She turned, giving him some privacy as he easily caught the shirt his brother threw him and exchanged it for his other one. When he was finished, she straightened his collar, brushed a few of his messy strands of hair into place, and sent him on the way right as the doorbell rang.

Standing on the porch with flowers in his hand, Reggie smiled a charming smile as he greeted his date. Cristina and Declan did their best to catch sight of him through the gap in the door, but Theodore wrestled them away, laughing apologetically at Reggie who only smiled in amusement.

With strict instructions to put the flowers into a vase with water, the teens finally gave up and left the men to share a moment before they headed to Reggie's car. Cristina and Declan caught sight of a tall man with blondish hair when they peeked out the window, but he slipped into the driver's seat of his black Camaro before they could get a good look at him.

Theodore sent them one last look before they drove off.

ʚїɞ

When Daniel LaRusso posted his commercial that dissed Cobra Kai, he failed to realize just how far Johnny would go to get back at him. Within minutes of their lesson, Johnny had already filed his own ad where he smashed a Bonsai tree - one identical to the ones Daniel handed out at his auto shop - and tempted kids to join his own dojo with the promise of actually fighting instead to the so-called "meditation bullshit" Daniel taught.

Cristina knew the feud between them would spiral sooner or later. It was only a matter of time. And as she stood on the scene at the Valley Fest, meeting the disappointed eyes of Robby after Cobra Kai had crashed their performance and stolen the show, she felt her confidence falter.

The cheers of the crowd tuned out and her smile fell, eyebrows slowly but surely knitting together. Around her, her teammates celebrated, shaking each other excitedly as they chanted their dojo's name. Cristina couldn't help but wonder how far Cobra Kai would end up taking things. Would it get out of hand? Would she be forced to choose between her friends in the end?

As soon as she could, she rushed off the scene, struggling to catch up with Robby in the crowd. She didn't know why, but the urge to apologize was overwhelming. It didn't matter that she slammed into strangers in her way, or that she nearly fell face-first to the ground. She needed to talk to Robby and explain herself.

She caught up with him, finally. He was alone, Sam and Daniel nowhere in sight. For that, she was thankful. Cristina wasn't sure how things would've gone down with an audience.

"Robby!" she called out, knowing that he purposefully ignored her. "Robby, please wait!"

He stopped, sighing loud enough for her to hear, and then reluctantly turned to face her. Crossing his arm across his chest, he looked at her, the kindness from the skatepark gone.

"What?" he asked her, his voice a lot harsher than she'd expected.

It wasn't her fault. She didn't know why he was treating it as though it were. Johnny had told them what to do, it was his and Miguel's idea. She couldn't just go against her Sensei. Not without consequences she wasn't really keen on facing.

"I'm sorry," she said earnestly, desperate for him to understand that she really did mean it.

Robby raised an eyebrow. "For what?" he asked. "The commercial your dojo made? Or crashing our performance?"

Cristina raised her eyebrows, taken aback. "You can't seriously be mad about the commercial we made when Mr. LaRusso started it." she sighed, fed up with the rivalry between her friends. "Look, the fight isn't between us. It's between our Senseis."

Reluctantly, Robby nodded. "Agreed." he shifted on his feet. "But that doesn't change the fact that Cobra Kai is nothing but a bunch of bullies herding together to pick on people."

"That's not true," Cristina argued, though she wasn't sure she really believed it. She gnawed at her bottom lip, hearing how her friends called for her. "I really am sorry," Cristina said, grabbing his hand in his for just a short moment.

Robby nodded. "I know, Tina," he said, squeezing her hand once before letting go and disappearing into the folk mass.

Cristina was left staring after him, wondering if maybe he was right about Cobra Kai after all.

»»-———𝓑𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓽———-««

A/N

Giving Theodore a boyfriend was a spur of the moment decision, but I am absolutely in love with him and Reggie already. I've got so much planned around them and Cristina and Declan. Their family dynamic will be everything to me.

Also, Cristina and Robby are cutie patooties and I'm so excited to write more of them! AND TORY, THE LOVE OF MY LIFE, IS IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!