Molly messed with the strings of her hoodie as she and the rest of the team walked into the woods for the final round of choosing students for the Sekai Takai. She decided to ride with Johnny, Robby, and Miguel since she didn't feel like driving, but after listening to Johnny's music at full volume the entire ride over, Molly wished she drove herself.

"Good morning! At least for now." Sensei Barnes yelled from on top of a picnic table, making all of the students, plus Johnny and Daniel turn to him.

Molly looked over her shoulder to Eli, who was standing behind her. Her eyebrows furrowed and she squinted. "Was that a threat?" She whispered. Eli snickered at the question and when he looked back down at Molly, he noticed she was shivering. Without missing a beat, Eli grabbed her shoulders, starting to run his hands up and down her arms to warm her up.

"Is everybody here?" Sensei Barnes asked and Daniel looked over all the students before he turned back to Barnes, nodding his head as a confirmation. "Yeah. This is everyone."

"Good. Last night, I reviewed my notes. Made sure the remaining five got a fair shake." He said, looking at Johnny in his last sentence. He looked back to the students and clasped his hands together in front of him. "I've decided it's too close to call. So... you're all gonna get another opportunity to prove yourselves."

"You will follow this path." Barnes explained, pointing to the path behind him that went through the woods. As everyone looked passed him and to the path, Barnes continued. "It will split and it's up to you to decide which path to go down. Down each path, is one flag. The two who brings them back wins."

Eli's face scrunched. "Wait. That's it?" He asked and Demetri on the other side of him had the same confused look. "What if two of us find a flag at the same time?" He asked and Barnes slowly looked down to Demetri. "You fight for it."

"Are there refs out there?" Daniel asked from the end of the crowd.

"No, they're on their own." Barnes said and Daniel shook his head. "But how–" "It can't get any more objective. Even Barnes isn't judging this one." Johnny interrupted.

"Winning is everything, plain and simple. Take a couple minutes, stretch. Use the restroom. Call your mothers. When you get back, it's go time." Barnes said and the students slowly started to disperse.

Eli kissed Molly's temple and muttered a small, "be right back" before he turned and headed toward the porta-potty. As he got closer to the container, he noticed the red "OCCUPIED" above the door handle, someone already beating him to the bathroom. He took a seat st the tables beside it, making a line to go in after.

As he waited, Demetri took slow, stunned steps toward him, his eyes wide as he stared down at his phone. Once he was standing right in front of Eli, he looked up at him and turned his phone around so the boy could see what he was gawking at.

"Dude, are you seeing this? MIT is completely revamping the robotics program! I mean, this is monumental! This is..." Demetri's words slowly started to die out in his tongue as he stared at Eli, who look at him like he had three heads. "Wait. Are you not signed up for the RoboTeam email? The race for the RoboCup begins the moment we get on campus, Eli!"

"I didn't apply!" Eli muttered, not meeting Demetri's eyes and immediately, Demetri's mouth clamped shut.

He blinked, completely frozen for a second before he was able to move. "W-What?" Demetri stuttered out, stumbling over his words.

Eli sighed, hardly able to look at Demetri without feeling guilty. His eyes searched around the sit behind Demetri, trying to find Molly in the crowd so she could save him or at least be nearby incase this all went south. He turned back to Demetri, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to find his words.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I wanted to tell you soone–"

"Sooner?" Demetri scoffed out, interrupting Eli. His eyes doubled in size as he stared at him. "We've wanted MIT ever since we were kids, babies, practically." Demetri practically shrieked. Eli let out a small breath, shaking his head to defend himself. "The party just made me realize there's a whole wide world out there. And I still might apply to MIT. Later."

Demetri knew Eli. He was his best friend. He could read him like a book.

So Demetri noticed the way Eli's left eyebrow twitched as he spoke. The little tell to let him know he was lying.

Demetri also noticed that when Eli said, "whole world," his eyes moved just passed Demetri's head to look at something behind him. He followed Eli's eyes and for the first time, Demetri looked at Molly in anger.

He turned back to Eli, his lips pressed together tightly. Demetri scoffed, holding back every fiber in his body to not roll his eyes. "Yeah, sure... the party." He grumbled, sarcastically.

Eli's entire face twisted at that. He turned his attention back to Demetri, no longer scared to look away and no longer trying to meet Molly's eyes. He looked Demetri up and down, his lips curling in anger.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eli spat, starting to get angry at what Demetri was hinting at.

Demetri threw his head back and groaned. His hands flew out by his sides in aggravation and when he turned back to Eli, Demetri shook his head. "Come on, Eli! You know that I mean! You didn't think to change your mind about MIT until you and Molly got back together!" Demetri whisper yelled, pointing back and Molly over his shoulder, making sure the girl couldn't hear him.

Eli looked back and forth between Demetri and Molly. His eyes softened when his eyes settled on his girlfriend. Demetri's eyebrows raised in annoyance at that. He stared at Eli, waiting for the boy to turn back to him and when Eli only continued to stare at Molly, Demetri side stepped, blocking her from Eli's vision.

He finally looked back at Demetri, blinking to get rid of the dazed look in his eyes. After a couple seconds, he nodded, focusing back on Demetri. "Okay, yeah, she's a factor, but this isn't completely about Molly and this isn't her fault!" Eli tried to defend and Demetri waved the boy off.

"Okay, well, I don't appreciate you turning into a moron over a girl!" Demetri spat, his voice louder than he meant.

Immediately, Eli looked to Molly, making sure she didn't hear him. When he saw that Molly was in the middle of a conversation with Sam, completely unaware of his and Demetri's argument, he turned back to the boy.

And the second Eli's eyes locked with Demetri's, all he could feel was anger. Angry that Demetri was being so rude toward Molly as if she wasn't there for him after everything Eli had done to ruin his life.

"That girl is one of your best friends!" Eli said, speaking low and slower than how he and Demetri were just arguing, hoping to really get through to the boy.

Without thinking, his hands came up and shoved Demetri back by both of his shoulders. "And don't talk about her like that! God! You're so annoying sometimes!" Eli complained as Demetri stumbled to catch his footing.

The second Eli's words settled, the two boys froze. Eli's jaw slacked, realizing what he just said to Demetri. He stared up at the taller boy with wide eyes and parted lips and Demetri stared back at him with his lips pushed together to hold back how much it affected him.

"Annoying." He muttered, his voice not so harsh now, but as if he was trying to hold himself together. Demetri nodded once, swallowing the lump forming in his throat. "All right. Well, I promise not to annoy you anymore. How about that?" Demetri asked dryly, patting Eli on the back and walking away.

Eli was about to follow after him, but just as he took a step forward, Nate came out of the porta-potty. Eli grabbed the door of the small bathroom before it shut. He looked back at Demetri one more time before heading inside the porta-potty, deciding to solve the issue later.

Meanwhile, Demetri stomped toward his bag for his water. He had tunnel vision as he moved, his eyes focusing on his backpack, he didn't even see Molly coming toward him.

"Demetri! Good luc..."

Once Demetri did notice Molly was coming toward him, he didn't stop. He just kept walking, not even looking at her as he passed her.

Molly's eyebrows furrowed. She stopped walking, her eyes following him. "Hey, what's up?" Molly called out and Demetri immediately stopped walking. He continued to stare in front of him, almost as if he was contemplating actually stopping to turn around and talk to her.

He looked up at the sky, shut his eyes and clenched his jaw before he finally turned around to Molly. Demetri stomped toward the girl and instantly, Molly felt her heart rate pick up seeing the look on his face.

"You!" Demetri yelled, not being able to hold it in anymore. He stopped about a foot away from Molly, his finger coming up to point right at the center of Molly's chest, not actually touching her, but Molly's eyes followed Demetri's finger. "You are what's up! You are my issue!"

Molly blinked. For a second, the corners of her lips twitched upward in shock before her face fell again and she squinted up at the boy. "What did I do?" Molly asked, shaking her head.

"I just talked to Eli." His voice trembled slightly in anger and his face was red. Molly's stomach twisted, already starting to catch on to why he was so mad, but she still didn't get how it involved her.

"Okay..." She whispered and Demetri just scoffed. When he looked back to Molly, he had to hold back rolling his eyes.

"You knew!" He spat, stepping closer to Molly and staring her down. "You knew he didn't apply to MIT."

Molly let out a shaky breath and hesitated, her eyes moving away from Demetri for a second as she gulped. When she turned back to him, she nodded her head, finally meeting his eyes. "Yeah... I did. But I didn't—"

"Didn't what?!" Demetri snapped, stepping closer to Molly and tilting his head. His eyebrows raised condescendingly as he squinted at her. "Didn't talk him out of it?" His voice rose, cracking near the end. "He's not going anymore because of you!"

Molly flinched at that. Immediately, her eyebrows furrowed and she stepped back, blinking up at Demetri in shock. "No... that's not—"

"Oh, please." Demetri cut Molly off. Molly continued to stare up at Demetri, eyes wide and lips parted. She didn't even know what he was talking about. She knew Eli didn't apply to MIT, but because of her? Eli would never.

"He's changing everything for you! And you're just what? Pretending you had no idea?" Demetri yelled and this time, Molly was quick to answer. She shook her head frantically, meeting Demetri in the middle and getting right in his space just like he had.

"I don't have any idea! I would never tell him to do that! You know that!" Molly tried to defend herself. She was a little louder than she realized. A few heads turned, but neither she or Demetri noticed.

Demetri rolled his eyes again as Molly looked up at him with wide, desperate eyes. For a second, she thought maybe this was so prank that was going horribly wrong, but Demetri wasn't backing down.

Plus, the look Demetri gave her when he finally looked into her eyes again told Molly that he wasn't joking around. Molly felt sick to her stomach at the look.

"Yeah, whatever." Demetri grumbled, walking away from Molly, leaving her standing alone at the center of the site.

From the porta-potty, Eli walked out and headed for Molly the second his eyes landed on her. As Eli got closer, his face twisted, noticing the sad look on her face.

"You okay?" He asked and Molly snapped her head to look at Eli. She quickly hid her sadness and nodded her head, forcing a smile onto her face. She wasn't gonna let what Demetri said to her affect Eli. Not right before this competition.

Molly smiled at Eli, nodding her head as she stepped closer to him. "I'm okay." She hummed. Her arms snaked around the boy's neck as she pulled him even closer.

"How are you doing?" Molly asked, noticing he was a little shaken up, and not just because he was worried about her. It took a few seconds, but after a moment, Eli sighed, looking down at the dirt by their feet.

"I told him." Eli muttered and Molly sighed. She pulled her lips into a line and forced a lopsided smile, her head tilting with it, trying her hardest not to show Eli any reaction to her last talk with Demetri. "He'll cool off. It'll be okay." She muttered, her hands coming up to cup Eli's face and move his head so he'd look down at her. "Right now, you show Barnes how badass you are."

Molly could practically see the thoughts running through Eli's head before he nodded. A small smile grew on Molly's face, as Eli took a deep breath. Once he calmed down a little, he gave Molly a small smile. "See you in a bit? With a flag." He asked, a small teasing in his tone.

It made Molly smile, a small snicker leaving her lips as she nodded her head. "You better." She shot back, going up on her toes and pressing her lips to his. When she started to pull away, she playfully pushed him away and back toward the other three lining up.

Molly moved to stand next to Miguel, the two of them and the rest of the team cheering for their four teammates about to run into the woods. She hardly listened to Sensei Barnes counting them down at she clapped and cheered for Eli stepping up.

She swallowed down her own sadness and anxiety, forcing a smile onto her face. This wasn't about her. Not right now. Molly made sure to look over all four of the kids, not wanting any of them to feel like she was picking favorites, even though she was hoping Eli would get one of the spots.

But when Molly's eyes locked on Demetri's, her smile she was forcing on fell at the glare staring back at her. Molly had never seen him so angry before. Not when the Cobra Kai's first joined Miyagi-Do the summer before junior year, not when he had to suffer through Johnny's lessons, and not even when Hawk was tormenting him.

It all happened so fast. Molly forgot how to breathe for a second. Her gaze stayed on Demetri until Barnes let them run off into the woods and even then, Molly's eyes followed the boy into the line of trees ahead of them.

Once the four were gone, disappeared in the line of trees, Robby looked at everyone around him. His eyes fell on Molly still in her spot, her hands crossed over her chest to keep them warm as she kicked at the dirt under her feet. Robby bit his lip nervously before whispered a small, "be right back" to Tory and slowly walked towards her.

"How you doing?" Robby asked, shaking Molly out of her thoughts. She turned to Robby with a nervous look and sighed.

"You heard that?" Molly asked quietly and Robby gave her a lopsided smile, shrugging his shoulders.

"I think the whole team did." He nervously chuckled out, scratching the back of his neck. Molly sighed at Robby's words, walking to the nearby park table and slumping down onto a seat. Robby frowned at the girl, taking slow steps towards her.

"What Demetri said wasn't cool." Robby said as he sat down beside Molly. He watched as she looked down at her hands with a frown, pulling on her fingers as she took a shaky breath.

"I didn't ask Eli to not apply. I didn't even know he hadn't applied until this week." Molly muttered. Her voice shook, worried that if she spoke any louder, it may break. Robby quickly shook his head and scooted a little closer to Molly so she'd have to look at him.

"No! No one thinks you did, Mo." Robby practically blurted out, wanting to reassure her as fast as possible. He hardly even thought about the old nickname slip until it was out there. Molly turned to Robby, her eyebrows raised as if to silently say, "really?"

Robby rolled his eyes and shook his head, waving the look off. "Well, besides Demetri. You know what I mean." He grumbled before focusing back on Molly. "But you didn't do anything wrong. Wherever Eli goes is up to him. Whether that's MIT, or somewhere closer to home, that's his decision that he made with his own reasoning."

Molly nodded, but Robby could tell she wasn't really taking in his words. Robby looked Molly up and down. He took a deep breath before raising his hand, bringing up to her back to rub it reassuringly. "And Demetri will come around soon. He loves you. He's probably just upset and stressed."

That took a weight off Molly's shoulders. She truly didn't know what she'd do without Demetri. He's her best friend. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself down and after a few seconds, Molly nodded genuinely.

Molly turned back to Robby and smiled. Robby smiled back, his hand on her back slowing down to just rest there instead. Their eyes never left each others until a voice broke it.

"Holy shit. Kenny won!"

Molly and Robby shot up at the sound of Tory's yells. Completely dropping their conversation, the two watched Kenny run down the path, his hand gripping his stomach. Molly's eyebrows furrowed as he ignored everyone cheering for him and made a beeline to the porta potty.

He started to bang on the door, screaming for whoever was inside to let him in. Kenny tried to open the door, but it was locked. Molly was panicking just watching the boy frantically try to open the porta-potty door.

"I don't think he's gonna make it..." Molly muttered to Robby as Kenny continued to bang on the door.

"Open up! Please! I gotta go, please!" Kenny yelled before he couldn't hold it in anymore.

Molly looked away as everyone else around her gasped and groaned. A small yelp slipped past her lips that she didn't mean to let out while Robby's fist came up to his mouth as he cringed.

Molly shut her eyes tight, her gaze now on Johnny standing behind her and Robby. The man snickered, raising a hand to point at Kenny. "Somebody just got their brown belt." Johnny chuckled out.

Robby snapped his head around to look at his dad in shock while Molly stuck her hand out, whacking him on the arm.

"Johnny!" Daniel scolded from next to him.

Molly rolled her eyes at his comment, her gaze ultimately looking just behind Johnny and when her eyes landed on Devon running out of the woods, a flag in her hand, Molly's eyes widened and she shot out of her seat.

"Devon won!" Molly yelled and everyone turned away from Kenny, focusing on the younger girl running toward them. Molly immediately ran toward the girl and she was the second one to give her a hug after Tory. Devon's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at everyone around her from over Molly's shoulder, not seeing someone.

"Where's Kenny?"

Molly opened and closed her mouth, pulling away from the hug. She looked to the porta potty before turning back to Devon. She gave the younger girl a small smile and shook her head. "Let's just... focus on you right now." Molly whispered and Devon nodded, finally smiling and accepting Molly's hug.

While Molly and Devon hugged, Sam bounced on her toes excitedly, waiting for them to pull away so she could hug Devon.

As she waited, Sam saw Demetri walk down the path, his head down and his hands shoved into his pockets. Her excitement slowly washed away as she watched the boy get closer and closer.

Molly and Devon pulled away from their hug at Sam's words and everyone turned to watch the boy sluggishly walk towards them. Based on his demeanor, Molly could've guessed he didn't get the flag, but if that was the case, where was Eli?

"Demetri..." Molly whispered.

Demetri didn't say a single word until he was standing in front of his team. He raised his head, finally looking at the group in front of him before pulling his hand out of his pocket and lifting the flag in the air.

As everyone cheered for the boy, Molly let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding in. Everyone ran up to congratulate Demetri, and Molly felt something tug in her stomach. She wanted to run up to Demetri so badly. She wanted to pull him into a hug and tell him how proud she was of him.

But then the boy's words from earlier came back into her head, echoing over and over again, forcing her to stay in her place. Molly's jaw clenched watching everyone else get the chance to congratulate Demetri while she stayed back.

Barnes walked up to the students, doing a slow clap to get everyone's attention. "I give you Miyagi-Do's Team Sekai Takai. Miguel, Sam, Robby, Tory, Molly, and now, Devon, and Demetri." Barnes announced, the students walking one by one up to the front when their names were called.

But Molly didn't feel too happy standing up there in front of everyone. She couldn't bring herself to smile, dreading the moment Eli would come back.

Luckily, the applause didn't go on for long. Soon, the group started to disperse and the seven going to Barcelona started to walk toward others or their bags. As Molly stepped down, she finally saw Eli covered in dirt, walking out of the woods with his head down.

Eli looked up, almost like he knew Molly was watching him. And the second his eyes landed on Molly standing just a few feet away, his steps quickened.

Molly's eyes softened when she saw the look on his face. She didn't wait for him to speak or explain anything, the moment he was close enough, Molly pulled him into a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

Eli buried his face in the crook of her neck and his fingers clinging onto the back of her shirt, not wanting her to let go. He squeezed his eyes shut, and Molly held him tighter, one hand rubbing his back, the other resting gently on the back of his neck. The two of them stayed like that for a while, both of them needing that hug.

emily speaks...
molly and demetri angst i hate you (i decided on this plot)

im gonna be completely honest with you guys... i have been like semi-out of it writing this chapter because i was sick all week and have had day/nyquil coursing through me while i work on this and now reviewing it... i may or may not be hungover from a halloween party (i am no longer sick YAYYYYY)  but yeah i apologize if its a wee bit off😔😔😔

trying my hardest to give mobby their moments, you're welcome mobby stans