chapter eight !
❪ weakness, tension in between us ❫

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THE GIRL panted, slowing down after running for awhile on the track field. She had a pair of shorts and a tank top on that allowed the breeze to cool her off.

"Gwen!" A voice called from a few feet away. She turned around and saw Moon with a huge smile.

The brunette walked up to the Payne girl, "Hey, you wanna join us inside and practice?"

"Why are you guys going inside?" Gwen questioned.

Moon shrugged, "Some perv is trying to talk to girls on the track so we're moving practice."

Gwen let out a chuckle. "I'm fine, I'll just keep running for a bit here. I have to get into good shape for the tournament."

"Oh yeah," Moon realized. "You're in Cobra Kai now right?"

Gwen nodded in response. "Just be careful," Moon warned. "My ex boyfriend basically had a bad mindset when he joined that dojo."

"Don't worry." Gwen gave her a small smile, "I'll be okay."

"Okay well text me if you change your mind." Moon told her before waving her goodbye.

Gwen scrapped her sneakers against the ground, preparing herself to start running again but as soon as she was about to sprint, she felt a presence walking up behind her.

She whipped around and saw a familiar dirty blonde. "John Lawrence, Eagle Fang Karate."

"I know who you are," Gwen admitted.

"You do?" He raised a brow.

She raised her eyebrows. "You gave me a ride home when Miguel asked you too." Gwen reminded.

"Oh yeah," Johnny remembered. "New girl."

She nodded. "So what do you want?"

"Listen," He began. "How about you join my karate dojo? We're looking for a future female champion in Eagle Fang Karate. You'll get to learn badass moves and get more guys like my man Miguel over there." Johnny pointed to a direction.

Gwen turned her head and her eyes landed on Miguel, whose arms were oiled up while showing off his muscles. "You like what you see?"

Gwen tried to stop herself from bursting out laughing. "Um, I'm actually already dating someone."

"Oh 'cmon, is that wimp better than my champ?"

Gwen cocked her head and crossed her arms. "That wimp is Robby Keene." She slightly grinned.

Johnny stood there, surprised at what she just confessed. "Robby? Like my son?"

"No, Blobby," She answered sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Johnny gave her a deadpan look and Gwen sighed. "Look... i'm in Cobra Kai with your son and I like it there. So does he."

"Did he tell you that?"

"No," She shifted between her feet. "But we're doing just fine."

"You're not Cobra Kai material." The blonde stated. "You're a total eagle."

"Yeah sure." She scoffed and excused herself from the conversation by beginning to run back on the track.

ˑ༄'

ROBBY SIGHED, holding the punching blocks that the girl was punching repeatedly. Robby was training Gwen in the back room after dojo hours.

"Can't believe my dad was trying to recruit you."

"I mean, can you blame them?" Gwen gave him a nonchalant shrug with a grin.

Robby lightly smirked. "Don't get your hopes up." He reminded her.

"You're acting like I haven't been getting better at this whole karate thing."

"You are, I'll give you that," He said. "But you're gonna be competing against people who've been doing this longer."

"Okay... is that supposed to scare me?" Gwen asked unfazed, continuing to send kicks and jabs to the punchable blocks.

"What, it doesn't?" He gave her a determined look. Gwen raised her eyebrows in response and Robby took off the gloves.

He stood there, staring at her with a firm face until he quickly bent down, trying to sweep her off her feet but Gwen was fast enough to step back.

Robby noticed. "Not bad." He complimented.

"Thanks," Gwen went to strike first with a kick but Robby blocked it with ease and used her leg to pull her to the ground.

She huffed when her back met the floor. "But not fast enough," Robby taunted.

Gwen's face hardened and she placed her hands above her head, pushing her forward before landing back on her two feet.

The girl sent a jab to Robby but he moved her arm away, Gwen taking the opportunity to raise her leg and kick him in the chest.

He stumbled back, surprised. "You were saying?" She grinned.

Robby hid his smirk that was forming and the both of them went into their fighting stance. He decided to lunge forward first, sending a punch that Gwen blocked.

He lifted up his leg to hit her gut but she shoved it away until Robby trapped her legs with his own, sending them both to the ground.

Gwen groaned and fluttered her eyes open, meeting his green ones. "You okay?" He stood up and offered a hand. Gwen propped herself up with her elbows and glanced at the hand.

She grinned and took his hand but Robby frowned when she placed her foot on his stomach and before he realized what she was about to do, Gwen flipped him over and he landed on his back with a thud.

Gwen quickly moved to a straddling position to keep him on the ground, moving his hands above his head so he wouldn't escape.

"I'm fine," She breathed out. "Not sure about you though."

Robby looked surprised. "Nice trick." He raised his knee so that he can kick her open side, earning a grunt from her.

She released her grip on him and Robby moved them so that he was the one who was on top. Gwen tilted her head. "Stealing my moves now?"

"You can say that," He smirked. They both didn't move from the position as Gwen continued to gaze at him before not realizing she glanced down to his lips. She looked back up at Robby, only to see his eyes shifting to her lips as well.

Gwen wanted to snap out of the moment but she couldn't.

She had moved closer to him, both about to lean in, "Woah guys, get a room maybe?" but the familiar voice of Tory interrupted, snapping them both back into reality.

Gwen looked up and saw Tory and Delilah near the door. She quickly sat up, pushing herself back to keep distance between herself and Robby. "That-that was nothing," She stuttered.

"Sure, lovebirds." Delilah smirked.

Gwen furrowed her eyebrows. "Delilah, what are you even doing here?" She questioned.

"I asked her if she can help me train." Tory answered. "The All Valley is just a few months away."

Gwen hummed in response and stood up. She offered Robby a hand, in which he took. "So you two, huh?" Gwen glanced back at her two friends.

Tory grinned. "We're just hanging out."

Robby stood beside his fake girlfriend. "Sure." He said sarcastically.

The Nichols girl glared at him and Gwen chuckled. "The training room is all yours now," She told them.

"Catch y'all later." Gwen heard from Delilah before her and Robby walked out of the dojo.

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mars speaks!

authors note: tory deserves a love interest in this book so why not make it delilah 😋 so excited for them!!

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