CHAPTER FIVE:
ALL NIGHT LONG..

▬▬ ☯︎︎ ▬▬

WHEN DANIEL WAS FINALLY SECURE AND OUT OF HARM'S WAY, BILLIE FINALLY FELT LIKE SHE COULD BREATH AGAIN. Standing next to the temporary bed Daniel's beat up body currently laid on, Billie looked on in worry at his labored breathing and bruising face.

  She and Mr. Miyagi had managed to get him back to the apartment and stable, but still she found herself worrying for him. How bad had Johnny hurt him? And what the hell did he do to make Johnny so angry?

Frowning, she stared at his limp body, eyes practically burning with anxiety. Damn you, Danny. She thought, eyes softening. Why do you have to be so stupid?

"Billie-san, stop worry. He'll be okay," Mr. Miyagi called out, grabbing her attention from Daniel. "Here, take this. Put on Daniel-san's head. It help with pain," he told as he handed her a wet cloth, motioning towards Daniel's forehead.

Nodding, she placed the cloth on his forehead carefully, noise scrunching up from the odor of the cloth. The cold from the cloth seemed to get to him, as Daniel began to squirm; finally waking up. Relief washed over Billie as she saw him stir, glad that he was not hurt enough to be knocked unconscious for too long.

"Daniel, stop squirming," Billie scolded softly, a grin resting on her face.

"It stinks. What is this?" he asked drowsily, seemingly not realizing Billie's presence in front of him yet.

"Smell bad. Heal good," Mr. Miyagi answered shortly.

"Yeah, Danny. You heard him. So stop moving, you idiot," Billie fondly scolded again, watching as his eyes widened.

"Billie?" he said in clear surprise. "Is that you?"

"The one and only," she remarked with a smile, pulling back her hand from his head as he seemed to be holding the cloth just fine.

He just stared at her for a second, a little smirk forming on his beat-up face. "You came after me, didn't you?" he then asked, looking up at her expectantly, although with a lingering drowsiness still in his big, brown eyes.

"Yeah, I did," Billie admitted, nearly rolling her eyes at the way his eyes lit up.

"So you were all worried 'bout me, weren't you?" he said, sitting up a bit.

"What? Hell no, I was just curious—that's all," Billie attempted to convince him, but his little smirk only grew bigger.

"Sure, Rodriguez, sure. I definitely believe you," Daniel said sarcastically, eyes glowing.

"Oh, shut up, LaRusso. You cocky dumbass," Billie shot back, rolling her eyes.

A chuckle erupted from Mr. Miyagi, causing the two of them to turn their heads towards the old man. He was muttering something to himself, a small, knowing smile painted on his face. Noticing their stares, he hummed in acknowledgment to the pair.

"So, where'd Spider-Man go?" Daniel asked, glancing around.

"Who?" Mr. Miyagi asked, looking confused.

"Like the guy who helped me out. Where'd he go?" Daniel questioned, looking to Billie this time.

Billie merely smiled, deciding to let Daniel connect the dots himself.

"Was it you?" Daniel asked Mr. Miyagi, eyes widening when the older man nodded. "No way," he said in awe, shaking his head.

"Why no way?" Mr. Miyagi quipped.

"Because—because—"

"Because old man," Mr. Miyagi finished for him, chuckling once again. "Have a tea. Feel better," he told, motioning towards the tea set placed on the table next to his makeshift bed. "And you too, Billie-san."

  "Uh—thanks, Mr. Miyagi, but I'm more of a—uh—soda girl. If you know what I mean," Billie explained in a ramble, noticing the snigger Daniel let out at her words.

  "Hai, okay, Billie-san," Mr. Miyagi replied fondly, shaking his head.

  Daniel sat up with a huff, turning around so he sat on the side of the bed, his legs dangling off. Mr. Miyagi carefully handed the injured boy his tea, and Daniel reluctantly took it in his right hand. Billie walked around and sat herself down next to him on the bed, watching as he and Mr. Miyagi drank their tea together.

  "How come you didn't tell me?" Daniel asked after his first sip, looking at Mr. Miyagi in a mix of admiration, confusion, and drowsiness.

  "Tell you what?"

  "That you knew karate."

  "You never ask," Mr. Miyagi answered, sipping his tea once again.

  "Where'd you learn it from?" Daniel continued to question the old man, curiosity dancing in his brown eyes. 

  "Father."

  "I thought he was a fisherman."

  "In Okinawa, all Miyagi know two thing: fish and karate," Mr. Miyagi informed, taking a quick glance at Billie. "Karate come from China. 16th century. Called te, hand. Much later, Miyagi ancestor call karate, empty hand."

  "I always thought it came from Buddhist temples and stuff like that," Daniel said, looking confused.

  "You have too much TV."

  Billie giggled at that, nudging Daniel softly. "Yeah, maybe cut down on the ABC, Daniel. You know, they say it's bad for the eyes."

  Daniel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah—whatever, Billie," he replied, nudging her back. "But that's what my mother tells me," he continued with the karate talk.

  Mr. Miyagi took the wet cloth from him and began to ring it out, bringing it up to the left side of Daniel's face after he was finished. Billie watched, and was slightly startled when Mr. Miyagi grabbed her hand and placed it on the cloth clinging to the side of his face, muttering a quick, "keep there," before going back to his tea.

  Daniel froze at her hand on his face, meeting her eyes quickly before looking down, licking his pink lips. "Hey, you ever taught anyone?" he asked Mr. Miyagi.

  "No."

  "Well, would you?" he pressed eagerly, eyes sparkling with hope. Billie turned her gaze from Daniel to Mr. Miyagi, looking hopefully at the old man. If Mr. Miyagi taught Daniel karate, then he'd actually be able to hold his own against Johnny. Then, Daniel wouldn't be getting beat up every day, and she could stop worrying about Johnny—well, at least somewhat.

  "Depend," the elder Okinawain replied.

  "On what?"

  "Reason."

  "How's revenge?" Daniel questioned, making eye contact with Billie for a moment.

  Taking another sip of his tea, Mr. Miyagi swallowed. "Daniel-san, you look revenge that way, start by digging two grave."

  "Well, at least I have company, right?" Daniel said nonchalantly, clearly not fully understanding the meaning behind Miyagi's words.

  "Fighting always last answer to problem," Mr. Miyagi said firmly, with an odd sharpness in his voice Billie had never quite heard before.

  "Huh, well no offense, Mr. Miyaji, but I don't think you understand my problem—"

  "Miyagi understand problem perfect," Mr. Miyagi cut Daniel off, correcting him. "Your friend, all karate student, aye?"

  "Friend? Oh, yeah—those guys," Daniel said with contempt, scowling at their mention.

  "Those guys is a real nice way to put it," Billie interjected bitterly. Assholes is more on brand. Billie thought angrily, biting the inside of her lip.

  "Problem attitude," Mr. Miyagi continued.

  "No, problem is I'm getting my ass kicked every other day—that's the problem. And they won't leave Billie alone either," Daniel corrected tiredly, blinking hard.

  "Yeah, their ringleader, Johnny, harasses me anytime he gets. All 'cause I didn't go along with his bullshit," Billie backed Daniel up, meeting his eyes and sending him a small smile, taking the cloth off to check his face before dabbing it in more of the liquid.

  "Yeah, because boys have bad attitude," Mr. Miyagi said causing Billie to raise an eyebrow.

  A bad attitude? She thought, confused. She'd never thought of it that way. Really, it didn't make sense to her. Just because you have a bad attitude doesn't justify bullying some other kid just because.

  "Karate for defense only," Mr. Miyagi told.

  "That's not what these guys are taught," Daniel replied, shaking his head slightly.

  "I can see," Mr. Miyagi agreed. "No such thing as bad student. Only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do."

  Daniel looked unimpressed. "Oh, great. That solves everything for me. I'll just go down to the school and straighten it out with the teacher, no problem," he scoffed, annoyance clear in his voice. Billie couldn't blame him.

  "Now use head for something other than target," Mr. Miyagi chuckled, seemingly thinking Daniel was serious.

  "I was only kidding about that."

  "Why kidding?"

  "Because I get killed if I show up there."

  "Hm," Mr. Miyagi trailed, looking thoughtful, "get killed anyway."

  Billie frowned, beginning seeing a truth to his words. Daniel would get killed either way. Maybe it was better to take the less—violent approach—and coming from Billie-Jean Rodriguez, who almost always chooses violence over peace, that was definitely a statement.

  "You know, Danny. He's kinda got a point," she reasoned, watching as he made a face of confusion at her words. "They'll still go after you—no matter what you do. Maybe violence isn't always the answer."

  "Oh, yeah, says the girl who always resorts to violence. Yeah, makes a lot of sense," Daniel shot back, rolling his eyes.

  "Hai, Daniel-san. Be nice to Billie-san. She only trying to help," Mr. Miyagi defended her. Billie shot him a thankful smile. "She think right. Listen to her." 

  Daniel was quite for a moment, before he whispered a sorry to Billie and turned back to the man who had saved him that night. "Would you go with me?" he asked carefully.

  "No, can't."

  "Why? You said it was a good idea, right?" Daniel pressed on, confused.

  "For you, good idea. For me, good idea: no get involved," Mr. Miyagi said, shaking his head. "Take Billie-san," he suggested soon after.

  Daniel immediately turned that idea down. "Hell no, Mr. Miyaji. I'm not putting her in danger like that," he said harshly, earning a glare from Billie. She was perfectly capable of holding her own, as she'd proven multiple times. Daniel, however, didn't seem to believe that, even when she had been apart of the effort to save his ass merely an hour earlier. "Besides, you're already involved. I mean you're—"

  Daniel was interrupted by a chuckle from Mr. Miyagi, who still was on the fence about joining the bruised boy.

  "What?" Daniel asked again, getting no response in return.

  Anger clear in his eyes, Daniel removed Billie's hand from his face, taking the cloth and throwing it on the floor in anguish. "Oh, thanks for nothin' then, man!" he exploded, going to stand up. "Thanks for nothin'. Like I didn't have enough problems already," he ranted, limping off. "Now, I gotta carry your weight too. Thanks! Don't do me anymore favors, okay, pal?"

  Billie stood up immediately, followed after him. "Daniel, come on! You know damn well he didn't just do nothing for you! He saved your ass from the Cobras and—not to mention—so did I! It's stupid of you to go and say all that shit!" she called after him, reached out to grasp his arm as softly as possible, as to not hurt him. He stopped, turning to her with an annoyed expression. "Listen to me, Danny. Just hear him out, okay? Maybe if you're, you know, not an ass, then he'll agree to go with you," she reasoned, hazel irises meeting his brown.

  She watched as his gaze softened when it met hers.
Then, with a sigh, he gave in.

  "Fine, Billie," he said, eyes trailing down to her grip on his wrist. "Only 'cause you're so sure."

Billie grinned, clasping his hand in hers and beginning to lead him back. "Also, I want you to know that you don't have to protect me, okay? I can fend for myself."

Daniel stopped, blush creeping up his cheeks. Squeezing her hand, he looked down at her. "But what if I want to?" he queried, his usual, cocky smirk back.

Billie raised a brow at him, leaning in closer. "Then learn how to first, you idiot."

Daniel just shook his head, smirk morphing into a sunny grin. "Got it, Billie."

As the two walked back into the room, hand in hand, Mr. Miyagi was stood up, looking somewhat remorseful. "Daniel-san," he said in slight relief. "Okay, I go."

Daniel lit up even more, letting go of Billie's hand and rushing over to him. "Excellent, Mr. Miyaji, this is great—"

"Miyagi."

"Miyagi. Miyagi," Daniel repeated, correcting himself. "Hey, what kind of belt do you have?"

"Canvas. You like?" Mr. Miyagi replied, tugging at his belt, cheekiness shining in his hardened eyes. "JC Penny, $3.98."

"Oh, no I didn't mean a belt like that. I meant—"

"Okinawa belt mean no need rope hold up pants," Mr. Miyagi told, bursting into laughter.

Daniel looked confused, glancing back at Billie, who mirrored his expression. "That's—that's funny..."

"Daniel-san," Mr. Miyagi called out, his tone shifting to serious. "Karate here," he said, pointing to his head. "Karate here," he continued, pointing to his heart. "Karate never here," he finished, referring to his belt. "You understand?"

Daniel halted his response for a moment. "I think so."

"Good night, Daniel-san," he told, bowing to Daniel in respect.

Daniel bowed back. "Good night, Mr. Miyaji—Miyagi! Miyagi," he replied as he walked away towards the door, where Billie was waiting for him. "Tomorrow morning?" he asked suddenly, turning around.

"10:00," Mr. Miyagi answered, nodding. "Also, Billie-san. Come here. Need to talk to you before you go."

"Okay. I'll just be a sec, Daniel," Billie called out, smiling at Daniel before walking over to Mr. Miyagi.

Mr. Miyagi smiled. "You take care of him. He need it," he told, eyes twinkling in knowing. "He seem only listen to you."

Billie grinned, shaking her head. "Yeah, he's a little bit of a hardhead, isn't he?" she said fondly. "I guess I'm just magical if I can get through his thick skull."

"Not magical," Miyagi said. "He like you."

Billie blushed at the old man's words, her grin growing. Shit, Billie. She thought. Stop getting all mushy.

"You think so?" she questioned, heart racing with hope. A hope that she hoped wasn't visible.

"Know so. He not good at hiding feelings."

Billie laughed at his words, grin not subsiding despite her best efforts. "I promise I'll look after him, Mr. Miyagi."

  He nodded. "Hai, and bring by empanadas sometime. Miyagi always love empanadas."

  Billie chuckled. "Okay, Mr. Miyagi. I got you."

"You better go. Daniel-san waiting for you," Mr. Miyagi said, nodding towards the aqua door where Daniel could be seen pacing back and forth. "Good night, Billie-san."

"Night, Mr. Miyagi," Billie said as she walked away, waving goodbye. She met Daniel at the door, whom immediately opened the door for her and followed her out.

They walked in silence for a bit, before Daniel stopped, just next to the pool that left much to be desired.

"Hey, all jokes aside, I really appreciate you going after me. You know, 'cause you didn't have to do that, and honestly, since I'd been avoiding you, I didn't really deserve it anyway, and—"

"Daniel, of course you deserved it. Listen, okay? Yeah, I was kinda pissed at you for a little while there, but that doesn't matter now. You had your reason, and I have nothin' against you, 'kay?" Billie cut him off, lacing her hand in his once again. "And trust me, you would for sure know if I did. Just ask Johnny, he could tell you all about it."

  Daniel chuckled at that, smiling down at their intertwined hands. "Yeah, you're right about that. You treat him like horse shit," he agreed, bright eyes shining. "He definitely deserves it, though."

  "For sure, Danny. For sure," Billie said, grinning. "Now, come on. I think we'll both be dead if we don't get our sorry asses home."

▬▬ ☯︎︎ ▬▬

  THE NEXT TWO DAYS FLEW BY. Billie had to go back to her dad's that Saturday, so she'd spent practically the whole weekend cooped up in her room, listening to New Edition's new album on repeat, since it was the only CD she'd brought with her.

  Johnny and his family had came by for dinner that night. Billie only came out of her room because her father had threatened her, and when she had finally stepped out, she was met with Johnny Lawrence and his bruised, black eye that Mr. Miyagi had, rightfully, given him.

  Yeah, that dinner was fun.

  Other than that, though, Billie was holding up fairly well. She wondered how Daniel and Mr. Miyagi's talk with Cobra Kai went, and even tried to call Daniel to ask him Sunday afternoon, but her dad caught her, so she had to give up her efforts. Luckily, however, today was Monday, which meant she was about to see him, but, of course, she had to wait for this damn bell.

Tapping her foot, Billie waited for the sweet—but also shit—sound of the bell; ringing her and everyone else to freedom. Eventually, she got her wish, and she rushed out of the classroom, heading to her next class. Walking through the hall, she caught a glimpse of Daniel, standing by his locker, shoving a few books into the tiny, cramped space. Cracking a small, tiny smile, she walked over, tapping him in the shoulder.

"Hey, Danny," she greeted, leaning up against the locker.

He turned to her, a grin immediately taking over his face. He placed a hand on the locker next to her, leaning forward slightly. "Hi, Billie," he said cheerfully.

Billie frowned at the bruises and the bandage on his face, eyes searching for any other new injuries—just in case.

"Billie, I'm good. I went untouched the whole weekend," Daniel assured. "And I'm not gonna be for a while, anyway."

"How so?"

"Me and Mr. Miyagi worked our magic and made a agreement with Cobra Kai."

"Really? What's the agreement?"

"Well, they agreed not to beat up on me, and I promised not to get my blood on their clothes. That was it," Daniel explained, sounding confident.

Billie raised a brow. "Really, huh? Well, good. Let's hope that lasts."

"Don't give me that look. It will, I promise. Besides, they'll get all their frustrations out on me during the tournament," Daniel told, eyes trailing on the floor.

"Tournament, huh? So that's what this whole thing is about," Billie said, beginning to start walking, to which Daniel followed after her, speeding up to walk in step with her.

"Yup," he said, popping the p. "Basically, I've got two months for Mr. Miyagi to teach me before I go get my ass kicked in front of the whole town. Sounds great, right?" Daniel said sarcastically, shaking his head. "I am excited, though. Mr. Miyagi is the real deal. He ain't like the teachers at the Y."

"I hope so, for your sake," Billie said, frowning. "I'm tired of them beating up on you. You don't deserve it."

  "So you do worry about me."

  "Yeah, believe it or not, maybe I do," Billie countered, trying to hide a smile.

  Daniel grinned, stopped in his tracks. "Hey, say you meet me at that arcade place—what's it called—uh—Golf N' Stuff Saturday night?"

  Billie stopped, eyes widening. "Are you asking me on a date?"

  "Are you saying yes?"

  Billie paused for a moment. "Hm, I don't know. Should I?"

  Daniel just gawked at her, awaiting her answer restlessly.

  "I'm just kidding, Daniel. Of course I'm saying yes, you idiot," Billie said, breaking into a full grin. This time, she didn't try to hold herself back. Well, it wasn't like she could, anyways. "What time?"

  "I'll be there to pick you up at seven on the dot," Daniel responded, excitement radiating off of him.

  "Pick me up? Alright, LaRusso. I'll see you there."

  "As will I you, Rodriguez."

Grinning brighter than Billie would have liked, something within told her to take a glance to her left, and when she did, she was met with the sight of Johnny and his gang; glaring at the two of them in disgust. Johnny was in front, sporting an abnormally set jawline and clenched fists. When she met his eyes, betrayal, anger, and pain could be seen blazing in them; creating something like that of a storm. Daniel seemed to notice this, as he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her back to him.

"Don't worry. They can't do jackshit now. Watch this," Daniel assured, smirking wildly. Winking at her, he turned around and stalked right up to Johnny, getting all up in his face. "Hey, guys. How you doing? It's good to see ya."

  Johnny's ice cold stare glared back at Daniel, unflinching hatred clear in his eyes. However, he made no aggressive move.

  "Hey, sorry 'bout the eye there, Johnny. Shoulder okay, Tommy?" Daniel taunted, dancing around them. "You guys be careful not to go stepping in front of anymore buses, now, alright?"

  Daniel turned around, walking away with a kick in his step. Billie went to follow after him, but before she could, Johnny stopped her; placing a hand on her shoulder.

  "Billie, just wait," he pleaded, and forced her to turn around.

  Pushing him away, she glared up angrily at him. "The hell? Don't ever touch me again, Lawrence."

  "Billie-Jean, just listen to me. That guy, Daniel, is an asshole. I mean, you just saw that, didn't you? Getting all up in our faces and taunting us, even when we made an agreement yesterday to leave each other alone in till the tournament. You're really going out with that?" Johnny said, looking down at her with a clouded expression.

  "Hell yeah, I am. He's miles above your pathetic ass," Billie retorted, smirking. "Besides, I'm not into blonds."

  Johnny was fuming. "Yeah, real funny, Billie. You know what? Go run along with his broke ass. See where that gets you."

  "Hopefully, somewhere far away from you," Billie shot back, giving him the finger before walking away.

▬▬ ☯︎︎ ▬▬

  IN ALL OF HER LIFE, BILLIE-JEAN RODRIGUEZ HAD NEVER TRULY BEEN ON A REAL DATE. Yeah, that sounds bad, but Billie hasn't ever really minded it. She just never truly cared to have a boyfriend, or to go out on dates. Of course, she'd technically gone out on dates, but she doesn't really count them. They mostly ended in a lackluster kiss and never really speaking to each other again, so she figured it didn't count. But this one—this one was going to count. And that fact was, rightfully, scaring the shit out of her.

  Why do these things have to be so nerve racking? Honestly, that was a question Billie didn't think anyone could answer. Currently, she was throwing all her clothes around, trying to find something cute to wear. What do you wear to these things? She thought, pulling out a pair of blue jeans and a cropped-ish red sweater. Well, this'll have to do. She decided, beginning to pull the clothes on.

  After the clothing catastrophe, Billie did her hair and makeup, opting for throwing her brown curls half up and leaving little pieces of hair down to frame her face. Happy as she was gonna get with the finished product, Billie threw on her white nikes, and headed out of her room, accidentally slamming the door behind her.

  "Billie! What did I tell you about slamming the door?" Maria scolded from the kitchen, crossing her arms against her chest.

  "Uh, you know, not to do it," Billie replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I swear that time was an accident."

  Maria rolled her eyes. "God, do I love you."

  Billie's face scrunched up in disgust. "Ew, Mom. Don't get all mushy on me."

  Maria simply just smiled at her, shaking her head. "You look cute. Lucille just called. She said Daniel should be here any minute."

  "Thanks," Billie said awkwardly, leaning against the counter. "Hey, you got any, uh, advice on how to go about these things?"

  Her mother chuckled. "You're nervous, aren't you?"

  "What? Me, nervous? Never! I don't get nervous, Mom. What are you talking about?"

  "Everyone gets nervous, Billie. It's natural," Maria assured, walking towards her. "Just be yourself, have fun, and loosen up. If it's meant to be, it'll come naturally—I promise you."

  "You 100% sure on that?" Billie questioned, raising a brow.

  "100%, my dear, dear daughter. Now, breath a little and look on the bright side. You get to spend the whole evening with the guy you like, alone, might I add—and you don't even have to pay for gas," Maria said, grinning. "A win, if I've ever seen one."

  "Yeah, I guess you're right," Billie agreed.

  Soon after, the door bell rang, and Maria answered it; opening the door to reveal Daniel, standing with his hands tucked in his back pockets. Maria greeted him, introducing herself as Billie's mother, and telling him about the fact that she and Daniel's mother had hit it off and were practically best friends now. Billie just stood awkwardly behind her mother, fixing her hair a bit.

  "Oh, I suppose you do wanna see your date at some point tonight, right, Daniel?" Maria eventually quipped, stepping aside.

  "I'd love to see her anytime, but yeah, tonight would be nice," Daniel replied smoothly, looking over at Billie, who was rolling her eyes at his comment.

  "Always flattering, aren't you?"

  "It's my brand."

  Smiling, Billie shook her head, turning to her mother. "See you later, Mom. We'll probably be home around like 11 or so."

  "I hope so! The latest is 12, Billie. You miss that and I'm getting a search party after your butt, got it?" Maria told, looking down sternly at her daughter.

  "Got it," Billie said, nodding.

  "Alright. Try not to get into too much trouble, okay? Oh, and Daniel, tell your mom I said hey," Maria said fondly, waving the two goodbye as they walked out the door.

Once the door shut, Billie turned to Daniel. "So what sweet ride are you taking us in?"

Daniel chuckled, looking downwards. "How about my mom's old ass car that we have to manually start ourselves?"

"Sounds fine by me. As long as we get there, I don't really give a shit," Billie said with a hint of reassurance, noting the shame in his face.

He began walking. "You mean that?"

She followed, walking beside him. "Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"I dunno. Just that girls always like guys who have nice cars and stuff, and I've got—well—uh—none of that," Daniel explained, kicking a rock at the top of the stairs.

"Well, like I said, I don't really give a shit. I'm not here for what you have, Daniel. I'm here for you," Billie assured, looking into his gleaming, brown eyes. "Damn, that was so cringy."

"Yeah, but it was sweet. Didn't know you had that in ya," Daniel said, nudging her softly as their feet met the ground floor of the complex.

Billie nearly gaged, rolling her eyes. "Well, don't expect to see that again. I'm not one for all that mushy crap."

"Really? Huh, could've fooled me," Daniel teased, smirking at the glare Billie threw his way.

Daniel opened the front gate for Billie once they crossed it, holding it open just long enough for Billie to walk through before letting it go behind them. Lucille was waiting for the two in the very front of the parking lot, her old, green, half-working car parked conveniently where the sidewalk ended. When she saw them, she lit up, sticking her head out the window and excitedly greeting them. Daniel looked as though he was about to bury himself underground.

"Hi! I'm Lucille, Daniel's mother! It's nice to finally meet you, Billie! My Danny talks about you all the time!" Lucille exclaimed warmly, smiling wide.

"Ah, yeah. Thanks, Ma. Really had to say that, didn't you?" Daniel said in embarrassment, blush coating his cheeks.

"Awe, come on, Daniel. I'm just being honest. You really do talk 'bout her all the time—"

"Ma!"

"Alright, alright! I'll give up. Come on, lovebirds. Get in so we can get this thing on the road," Lucille told, a cheeky smile still resting on her face. Clearly, Lucille loved Daniel very much, and was just excited that her son was going out on a date with a nice girl he liked. However, maybe she was a little too excited. Billie, though, didn't really care. She could already tell Lucille was a wonderful woman, and honestly, found her loud spirit endearing.

Daniel rolled his eyes as he popped open the car door, motioning for Billie to climb in first. Climbing in the green car, Billie shuffled in next to Lucille, with Daniel sliding in last and shutting the door. Daniel's mother then began to attempt to start the car, to which was to no avail. Sighing, Lucille turned to Billie.

"Uh, can you drive a stick?" she asked hesitantly, eyes darting back at Daniel, who was biting his lip in anger.

"Yeah, of course," Billie answered confidently, as she was definitely no newbie to cheap vehicles and their love for not working properly. Glancing her over shoulder, she noticed Daniel's annoyed expression. Placing her hand over his, she forced him to look at her, telling him with her hazel eyes that it was okay, and that he didn't need to be embarrassed. He seemingly got the memo, however, he still sulked.

"Good. Put it to second. Let it roll. When I say pop it, pop it," Lucille instructed calmly.

"Pop it, alright," Billie replied, nodding.

The LaRusso's slipped out of the car, with Daniel slamming the door behind him. They went to the back of the car, and Billie knew exactly what they were doing. Pushing it so it had enough momentum to start. Classic trick.

Billie leaned over and readied herself, listening for Lucille's yell. A few seconds went by before she heard it, and when she did, she popped it immediately, scooting over as Daniel and his mother jumped back into the car.

The car ride to Gulf 'N Stuff was interesting, to say the least. Lucille, bless her, talked Billie's ear off about Daniel the whole time, telling her just about everything little thing she could possibly think of about her son. Some, of which, were kinda embarrassing for Daniel—if Billie was being honest.

Daniel spent the whole time trying to regulate his mother's ramblings, but he failed miserably. Eventually, he just shut his mouth, opting for cringing in silence as Lucille went on about how cute he looked in his baby pictures. Especially the one where he was naked in the bathtub. Yeah, Billie had to reframe herself from dying laughing at that one—just to try and salvage any semblance of confidence Daniel had left.

Lucille parked and then they were off, with Daniel hurrying to get away as fast as possible. Looking down at Billie, he huffed, shaking his head.

"Sorry 'bout her. I love her, but damn, can she talk a lot," Daniel said in apology, blush still resting on his cheeks. Billie noticed it, grinning to herself.

"It's fine, Danny. Honestly, I liked listening to her ramble on and on about your baby pictures. Especially the one—"

"Oh god, don't bring that up again. I nearly ended it all right then and there when she brought that up," Daniel interjected, looking uncomfortable.

  Billie chuckled, her gaze leaving his blushing face and finding the large, bright arcade in front of them. Smiling, she looked back at Daniel.

  "Come on, LaRusso. I wanna beat your ass in air hockey," Billie urged, grabbed his hand as she took off, pulling the brown eyed boy along with her.

  "Who says I won't beat you?" Daniel questioned from behind her, grinning wildly as he watched her run in front of him, narrowly missing people.

  "My air hockey skills, that's what!" Billie claimed loudly, look backwards with a large grin resting on her flushed face.

  "I'll hold you to that," Daniel said as they rounded inside, where they joined the short line to get coins for the arcade.

  "Sure you will, Danny," Billie shot back, stepping forward to shove a twenty into the machine, before Daniel reached, looking confused, and blocked her from the machine.

  "What are you doing?" he asked, raising a brow at Billie.

  "Getting us coins, idiot. We can't play without them," Billie explained dryly, looking up at him with challenge sparkling in her eyes. She knew he was going to try to pay, but she wouldn't let that happen. He'd given them a ride here, so it was only fair she payed. Besides, she also just kinda wanted to.

"Who said I wasn't paying?"

"I did. You got us here, so I'm paying. Take it or take it, Daniel. You can't stop me," Billie said sternly, staring him down with a growing smirk on her face.

"God, are you stubborn," Daniel marveled, shaking his head fondly with a grin on his face.

"Yeah? Don't act like you don't love it," Billie countered, pushing him lightly out of the way.

After paying for their coins and grabbing them from the dispensary, they were off. Billie immediately took hold of Daniel's arm and lead him towards air hockey, which was conveniently open. The two then engaged in a heated series of games, with Billie winning almost every single one expect the last one, but only because she let up a little bit on purpose to let him win.

"Ha! Finally, I won! See, I'm not all that bad," Daniel exclaimed, beaming widely. Billie couldn't help but beam back.

"Yeah, I guess so, Danny," Billie agreed, happy to see him proud of himself. An odd feeling for her to experience. Normally, she would have taken any chance to destroy someone in a competition. That was just how she rolled—always just a little too over-competitive. But now, she was purposefully letting some boy from New Jersey beat her in air hockey. What the hell was wrong with her? Honestly, she had no idea. All she knew, is that she was finding that she didn't completely hate it. No, she was liking it.

  Shit. She thought. I'm going insane.

  "Hey, how about we check out the go-carts?" Daniel suggested, nodding towards the area where a crowd of teens stood, waiting. The line seemed to be moving pretty fast, though.

  "Hell yeah! I'm good at go-carts too, by the way," Billie said, smirking. She was indeed very good at go-carts. They were what sparked her interest in a motorcycle, after all. She remembered, suddenly, being eleven and racing Johnny on the go-carts nearly every day after school. It was practically their favorite thing to do together—other than swim. Billie shook the thought from her head. She hoped and prayed Daniel didn't notice the blink and you'll miss it glint of sadness in her eyes.

"Are you sayin' you're gonna kick my ass again?"

"Oh, definitely."

Yeah, Daniel didn't stand a chance.

Billie won each race by a landslide, to the point where Daniel just stopped and ended up watching her last few rounds. Seeing that she was the only one still racing, Billie finally stopped, walking up to Daniel whilst fixing her hair.

"I kinda got carried away—sorry," Billie apologized, slightly embarrassed.

"No problem, Billie. You know, you're really good at that. Maybe you should become a race car driver," Daniel said, a hint of a tease in his voice.

"Nah, I'm more of a motorcycle kinda gal," Billie countered playfully, stepping close to him. "But I am in for some bumper boats, if you are?"

  Daniel smiled. "Single, or double?"

  "Double."

Teaming up for bumper boats was probably the best idea they'd had all night, since they ended up destroying all the other boats. Of course, that meant they were kinda banned from it because they kept winning and people were starting to complain, but it was whatever. After bumper boats, they hit up the bouncy houses, where Daniel had, accidentally, ended up on top of Billie after some random little kid tripped him. Daniel must of apologized at least a trillion times for that, but Billie eventually convinced him that she was okay, and honestly had no problem with it. At the end of it, though, they were both flustered messes.

Settling for just cooling off for a bit, the two just walked around, talking about random crap and occasionally making fun of some... interesting couples. Eventually, they stumbled across the photo booth, where Daniel insisted they take some pictures, and Billie only gave in became he wanted to so badly.

"Really? Pictures? I'm sure there is something more interesting we can do—"

"Ah, Billie, come on. Can't a guy just get some pictures with his date?" Daniel practically pleaded, using his large, puppy-like eyes to his advantage.

"Ugh, fine," Billie gave in. "Only 'cause you're so annoying."

Grinning, Daniel grabbed her hand, pulling her into the booth with him. They sat down next to each other, thighs touching as there was little to no space inside the booth. Daniel boldly wrapped an arm around her, bringing Billie closer. As butterflies swarmed her stomach against her own will, she laid her head on his shoulder, suddenly feeling his hand lace with hers. Trying to keep her composure, Billie gulped, eyes darting down to their laced hands before she found herself grinning for the picture with Daniel.

  They tried a few different faces, some of which where the camera had completely caught them off guard; others where they made goofy faces at it—and one which was totally not Billie's idea—where they gave the camera the middle finger while beaming at each other. That last one was definitely Billie's favorite.

  Following the photo booth, it seemed they had done almost everything; but upon circling around the whole place, they'd found they had missed the actual mini golf portion of the place, not so coincidentally, called Golf 'N Styff. Although Billie was absolutely terrible at mini golf, she agreed to do it—even when she kinda detested it in every way. And no—that wasn't because she sucked at it—she just thought mini golf was stupid in general.

  "For warning you, Danny, I'm ass at mini golf," Billie warned as they walked to the first hole, orange gulf club in hand.

  "Hey, that's cool. I'm ass at mini gulf too. Maybe we can like... be ass together?" Daniel suggested, causing Billie to look over at him in interest.

  "Are you saying we like, team up or something?"

  "Why not? You suck, I suck—maybe if we work together we won't suck as much."

  "I guess that makes sense? Sure, okay," Billie agreed hesitantly, curious to see how bad this ends up going.

  It seemed Billie was right. They definitely weren't nearly as much as of a dream team as they were for bumper boats with mini gulf. At first, they started out by just going easy on each other (Or just sucking so bad they just couldn't get the ball in the hole.), but as the game went on they truly honored their words and decided to just merge points, since together, the points weren't as devastatingly low. They were so bad Billie even caught a few people behind them laughing at their pure lack of skill, which, somehow, didn't bother her as much as it should have.

She guessed she was just having too much fun to care.

As they made it to the end of the course, they got even more sloppy, with Daniel hitting his ball so badly that it few into the air and over the fence, leaving him without a ball. After dying of laughter for nearly a minute straight, the two looked at each other, amusement still dancing in their eyes.

"Well, I guess you have to use mine now," Billie said, breaking the small silence. "You can get rid of your club, too. We can just use mine—together—I guess."

Daniel raised an eyebrow at the suggestion, smirking. "Together, huh?"

Billie glared at him. "Get your ass out of the gutter."

"What? I didn't even say anything—"

"Really? You didn't?"

"No—okay—maybe. But I was just making a joke. No innuendos here," Daniel claimed, raising his arms in surrender.

"Mhmhm, sure," Billie replied, shaking her head fondly. "Alright, how about we try this together—don't give me that look again—and maybe we won't suck as much."

"As you wish, Rodriguez."

Billie lined the golf club up, standing, sloppily, in the position the guy at the counter had told them to. Daniel moved closer to her, reaching over from behind to grab onto the club and attempt to steady Billie's unsteady grip—which really did nothing but make it worse.

  Together, wobbling slightly, the two attempted to hit the ball placed in front of them, but ended up failing miserably. Instead of hitting the ball, Daniel loss control and balance and forced them both to topple over, leaving Billie on the grass and Daniel hovering over her—for the second time that night.

  Billie stared up at him, cheeks burning. The first time, they hadn't ended up this close. He'd just gotten tripped by that kid and accidentally fell over her, though, he was able to catch himself before he got too close. This time, however, Daniel hadn't had the time, and now, he was hovering right above her face, breaths heavy and cheeks also flushed. His arms resided next to either side of her neck, holding him up without flinching. Billie didn't meet his eyes for a moment, as she was too caught up in her nerves, but she could see through her peripheral vision that he was staring dead at her. Gulping, she forced herself to met his daring eyes.

Something foreign was stirring in his brown irises—something Billie couldn't quite grasp. Shock? Maybe. But honestly, she had no clue.

As she stared into his eyes and watched as his flickered down at her lips, Billie suddenly felt warmer than she already was, and found her own eyes trailing on his lips. Shit. Billie thought, biting the inside of her lip. Part of her was scared. Of course, it wasn't like she'd never been in a situation like this—no, that wasn't it—it was just that she didn't know if she was quite ready for this. This wasn't just some random guy, or a random date—this was real. Or, she hoped it was. Her feelings were... real, at least.

Well, as real as she'd let them be.

The longer she looked the more her hesitance edged away. Just be yourself, have fun, and loosen up. Maria's words echoed in her mind, and Billie decided to finally listen to her mother—for once.
Letting go of her fears, Billie reached up and threaded her hands into Daniel's fluffy, brown hair, pulling him down, and kissing him.

Butterflies ran marathons in her stomach as Daniel recovered from the momentary shock, pulling away for just a second with a smile on his face before he connected their lips again. Billie smiled into the kiss as Daniel's hands landed on her hips, grip on his hair tightening just a bit.

  The kiss continued for a few moments longer, before Billie heard yells and turned her head away, eyes wide and confused. Daniel was still gazing at her, brows tilted, before he turned and saw what she had saw.

  An older Gulf 'N Stuff employee was racing towards them, yelling at them to stop and leave. Billie guessed they were kinda overstepping it, since this was a public place, and there were tons of children there—but still. All they did was kiss—not commit a crime or something.

  Billie glanced up at Daniel, who glanced down at her, seemingly both thinking the same thing: run!

  Daniel peeled himself off of her as quickly as possible, sticking out a hand to help her up. Taking the hand, she allowed him to help her, before she grabbed his hand and dashed away.

  Booking it hand in hand, the two rushed down a hill and stopped at the fence that separates the parking lot from the mini gulf course. Billie immediately sprang into action, grabbing onto a nick at the top before she climbed over. Daniel followed quickly afterwards, and when they were both on the ground, they burst into hysterical laughter.

  "There's no way that just happened," Daniel breathed out, panting slightly. Though, there was a spark in his eyes that Billie hadn't ever seen before.

  "Hell yeah there is," Billie said, a wild grin resting on her face. This was her thing. High adrenaline situations where she could just let loose and have fun. No pressure, no stress, no nothing—just plain old trouble. All she was missing right now was her bike and her leather jacket; other than that, she was set.

  Daniel seemed to notice her expression, as he straightened up, looking at her with a funny smile on his face. "You happy over there?"

"Do I look it?"

"Yeah."

"Shit," Billie simply responded, earning a chuckle from Daniel.

"Well, it's fine with me if you are. I'm pretty happy too," Daniel said, walking closer to her.

"Why?" Billie baited him, turning to him and meeting his big brown stare.

"Well, this is probably the best time I've had since I've been here," Daniel explained, grinning. He reached down and laced his hand with hers. "Really, anytime I've spent with you has been. You're really like the only thing keeping my ass sane here—other than Mr. Miyagi, of course—but yeah. Thank you for, well, uh, just being there, Billie. Means a lot, you know?"

Billie froze, not expecting something that heartfelt at the current moment. Hazel eyes wide and unstable, they darted away from his brown, unable to deal with the pure emotion in his gaze. Gulping, she forced herself to respond, trying to sound like it hadn't caught her off guard.

"Yeah, yeah—I get it. It's, uh, meant a lot to me, too," she stumbled over her words slightly, but mostly managed to keep it together. "We'll totally have to do it again."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Daniel's grin grew brighter, and it looked like he was about to say something, but he was profusely cut off by the loud roaring of an engine. Billie's head jerked to the side, spotting the incoming red of Johnny's car.

"You've gotta be shitting me," she cursed under her breath, jaw clenching. Biting her lip, she glanced over at Daniel, who shared a similar expression. When the car stopped, he squeezed her hand, seemingly trying to calm her nerves, and probably his, too.

"Hey, Billie!" A few of the guys in the car yelled, and she then heard the voice of none other than Cassidy yell at her: "Hey, we're going to the hill. You wanna come?"

Shock was written all over Billie's features. Of all people, she did not expect her own friends to be in the back of Johnny's car, hanging with him and his Cobra Kai buddies. All three of them were there: Cassidy, Ali, and Susan—along with another girl she couldn't name—but still. What the hell? Was the only thought that ran through her head. How could they?

Daniel probably saw it in her face, as he squeezed her hand once again. It helped some, but her anger was like a volcano: once it started bubbling, it wouldn't stop in till it erupted.

"No, Cass. I think I'm good," Billie replied, stone cold. Cassidy was taken aback by Billie's tone, as she froze and sat back down in her seat.

"Ah, come on. We'll make room," Tommy, one of Johnny's good friends, tried to convince. Billie merely scowled; she'd never liked Tommy—or any of them—for that matter. They'd been one of the driving factors as to why Johnny turned into the monster he was, and she'd never forgive anyone who played a part in that.

"Nah, I said I'm good," Billie restated harshly. The harshness of her voice almost surprised herself; she'd never spoken to her friends like that.

"You're little friend can come too, if it's okay with his mommy," Johnny taunted, smirking as Tommy and the other guy, Dutch, cracked up at this mediocre joke. Billie watched her so-called friends' reactions, and saw that they weren't laughing or even looking slightly amused. Really, they just looked uncomfortable. Serves them right. Billie thought. They deserve it for hanging out with Johnny Lawrence of all people.

"Hey, Mommy, can Daniel come for a ride?" Dutch called out, and Billie turned to her left to see that Lucille had pulled up just behind them. She looked back at Daniel, seeing the embarrassment and anger painted on his face. Great timing, Lucille. Billie found herself thinking sarcastically, before she scolded herself. Lucille hasn't done anything wrong. Billie reminded herself. Don't take out your anger on people who don't deserve it.

They taunted them in till they drove away, with Billie almost giving them the finger, but ultimately reframing because Mrs. LaRusso was, well, right there. Still scowling, Billie began to walk around the car, letting go of Daniel's hand. He seemed to notice, as he swiftly followed her, stepping in front of her.

"You could have gone with them, you know?" he said, causing Billie to stop right in her tracks and give him a confusion-filled look.

"And why in the hell would I do that?" Billie questioned, feeling her anger rise.

"Well, I thought 'cause of your friends—"

"Well, you thought wrong!" Billie cut him off, louder than she had expected. "And I don't think those girls are gonna be my friends much longer after that, so it doesn't make any sense why I would leave you and go off with them, Daniel. Does it?"

Daniel hesitated a moment. "Uh, yeah. I guess it doesn't."

Billie looked at him—really looked at him—and saw the mix of emotions dancing in his eyes. Suddenly, she felt bad. She shouldn't have snapped at him.

She took a deep breath. "Listen, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you, but I meant what I said. I would never give up time with you to spend with Johnny of all people," she assured, softening her tone. "Even if the traitors that are my friends now—I guess—are there."

Daniel gazed at her. "Okay," he simply said, sending her a small smile. He then opened the car door for her, nodding at her to get in.

Getting in, Billie smiled at Lucille; who immediately started asking all kinds of questions about how their date went. Billie, who was on the edge of falling asleep, just laid her head on Daniel's shoulder and let him answer all of them. Closing her eyes, the only thing that kept her awake was her thoughts, which were oddly louder than usual.

Man. She thought, yawning. Why do things just keep getting even more complicated? She obviously didn't have an answer. And why does my heart beat so damn fast around him? And why do I feel like it's only getting faster? Yeah, you guessed it. Billie couldn't answer that one, either.

▬▬ ☯︎︎ ▬▬

Guess who's back... back again... Anna's back... tell a friend... alright, alright—I'll stop lmaoo

  Anyways, hello!! It's been a good few months since I've updated this book, but I'm happy to announce that I'm currently back in my Karate Kid/Cobra Kai phase, so hopefully that helps me pump out some more chapters of Hungry Eyes!! But onto what actually happened this chapter—lmao.

  This chapter ended up being a little more... meaty than I expected. But hey, I'm not complaining—since, you know—DILLIE KISSED??!! Yeah, I know, I'm still reeling too, I'm ngl. Like—THEY WENT ON A DATE, AND KISSED??!! Sorry, I'll calm down—but I'm so in love with them it's not even funny. But anywho—next chapter is gonna be interesting. We'll get some Billie and Johnny content, Dillie, of course, and some Billie and her father—which will be interesting, to say the least—but yeah!!

  I hope you guys enjoyed, and I'll see you next chapter!! Bye 👋!!