I did use a slash but it's a reach; this can be read as platonic or romantic, reader's choice

Warnings: anxiety attack, crying, talk of Silver's manipulation of Daniel, alcohol/drinking underage

hurt/comfort

(Note: I don't actually know where Johnny would be during the events of kk3? Does anyone? In the case that he is somewhere specific and I should know, this is an AU.)

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Daniel was surprised that Johnny was still in town.

He'd thought that with all of Johnny's family money, all his privilege, that he could simply ask to go to any school and buy his way in. Something about Johnny being gone had comforted Daniel, though it had also unsettled him. He knew that the Cobras wouldn't be bothering him anymore; it was these creeps that Kreese and Silver had hired that made his life miserable now.

Silver.

Just the thought of his name, the memory of his face, made Daniel's limbs weak. It was as if he could still feel the stabbing splinters of the wooden training dummy, still hear Silver's demands through his drills. "If he ran into your fist, it's not your fault, so the face contact rule means shit. That's not fighting dirty, it's just being in the right place at the right time."

Daniel couldn't believe he'd fallen so naively for Silver's words, just like that.

"Look, Miyagi's a great guy, but that kata's no good for anything other than a warm up. It's worth squat when you're up against this huge Barnes guy. Now, let's do some reverse punches, like a winner, not a wimp. Kyai!"

And now he was running, he had been since Mr. Miyagi had defended him, since Kreese--that sick, demented bastard--had revealed himself to be alive. It was insane. The mafia, or some government conspiracy about a fake death? Sure. But some perverted scheme in order to manipulate a teenager competing in a local karate tournament? It was unheard of.

Daniel couldn't see as he ran, but he couldn't care less. He tripped and stumbled, gasping and choking on his own sobs. He was panicking, having a panic attack while running, which was a new and particularly inconvenient form of torture. He wasn't sure where he was running, the path familiar, until he bumped into someone--

"Hey! What the hell?"

That voice was familiar, and as Daniel looked up, wiping away his tears, he realized two things:

1.) He was in the Reseda strip mall. The one with the little convenience store he'd buy ice cream from when he needed a comfort food, and the pawn shop he'd look through for hidden treasures.

2.) Johnny Lawrence was still in town. And he was here, in Reseda...and he was looking at him weirdly, no doubt, because Daniel had been crying.

"LaRusso," Johnny said, with the uncertainty of if he were seeing a ghost. Then, with more certainty: "You look like shit."

"Johnny," Daniel breathed, his voice coming out hoarse and almost hysterical. "Please, please don't beat me up, it's the last thing I need, and I--"

"I wasn't gonna beat you up--"

"--I was running from Silver, man, the guy's insane, he's gonna bring Cobra Kai back and a million times worse, with all these dojos and crazy sensei's--he's giving Kreese all this power, and they're gonna train a bunch of teenaged murderers, and I gotta fight but I can't, he lied to me, Silver--"

"Quiet, Daniel!" Johnny snaps, and Daniel stopped his rushed rambling at the feeling of something cold on his forehead. He looked up to see a can of beer Johnny was holding up like an ice pack. How Johnny got a convincing fake ID, Daniel would never know, but his weird ice-pack-idea actually did shock him out of panic for a moment.

"Jesus, you never did know how to shut up back in high school." Johnny sighs, pulling away, but he looks shaken at the mention of his old sensei. He cracks open the beer and takes a long swig, then gives Daniel a considering look-over. "How about I give you one of these," he holds up his can, "and we talk this out, alright?"

He must have been pretty shaken by seeing Daniel this way, the brunette figures. Daniel hadn't expected Johnny to laugh at him, he hadn't expected anything from his ex-rival other than for him to not be in Reseda. Daniel knew that the only thing Johnny wanted at this point was to get the hell away from Cobra Kai, to show cowardice and run. Honestly, that was what Daniel wanted to do as well, and the silent shared idea between them comforted Daniel in a strange sense.

He nodded, and Johnny lead him to his car. Daniel hesitated at the passenger side, not wanting to get in Johnny's car, not wanting to be in a cramped space. Johnny saw this and rolled his eyes, opening the trunk to his Firebird. He sat in the trunk, lanky legs dangling out off the end of the car. Daniel joined him, and Johnny passed him a beer. Daniel took a sip, vaguely wondering who would be driving if they were both drinking. He then cringed at the taste, trying to swallow without looking too pained, though he could already see Johnny looking at him funny again.

"This tastes like piss," Daniel supplied helpfully, with a charming half-smile being all he could manage.

"Funny that you know what piss tastes like, LaRusso." Johnny shrugs, taking Daniel's can as well as the one he'd already started. "I would've gotten you something fruity, but I didn't know I'd be blessed with your presence."

Daniel chuckles weakly, unable to bring himself to talk about why he'd been freaking out for just a little while longer. If he could think back to high school, to the months in between the karate tournament and graduation...life would've been easier if he and Johnny had just talked, if they hadn't run away when things became verbal over physical. Why were words harder to take than a punch to the face?

Talking with Johnny Lawrence about alcohol (the last thing Daniel has a clue about, while Johnny could win a game show about it) seemed a lot easier than Cobra Kai, or Silver and the wooden dummy, or the bloodstained sweatshirt, or anything.

"Why are you here, anyway?" Daniel asked instead. "In Reseda, of all places."

"Worn out my copy of the Bible, dipshit. What do you think?" Johnny held up his shopping bag, which contained a six pack of beer, some Slim Jims, a bag of chips, and--to Daniel's surprise--a pack of gummy worms. Daniel honestly thought a box of condoms would be more in character for the guy Daniel didn't think had a sweet tooth, but here they were. He carefully picked out the gummy worms, looking up at Johnny to make sure he wouldn't flip and do him in like everyone else in the world seemed to want to.

Johnny simply sighed. "Gummy worms are cheaper than beer." He settles, and Daniel digs in.

They're silent for a long time, before Daniel pitches: "There are convenience stores in Encino, too, I'm sure. Their beer cans are probably made of gold and whatnot, but it's probably better than this lot."

"Well, aren't you a little detective?" Johnny rolls his eyes, ever the stereotypical teenager. "Everyone in Encino knows about me, the second place karate champ that got a kick to the face last year. Encino people are exactly what you think they are, LaRusso: self absorbed assholes whose kindness is always fake. What I like about Reseda is that at least everyone knows that they're self absorbed. They're so caught up in how their lives suck that they don't notice an 18 year old is trying to buy beer. Despite how cool I was in high school, I actually like it when people leave me the hell alone sometimes."

Daniel isn't sure what to say. Johnny's outlook on life, on people is...depressing to say the least. Daniel always tended to see the best in people, which wasn't ideal, but he had people he knew that he could trust. His mom was good, and Mr. Miyagi, absolutely. Jessica, as long as she'd be here...people came and went, but he knew there were good people out there. Johnny didn't seem to think the same.

"Sorry," Daniel puts down the bag of gummy worms as if ready to get up. "I'll leave you alone if you want--"

"No, that's not it." Johnny stops him with a quick hand to Daniel's knee before he takes out one of the gummy worms and bites its head off. "I just...didn't want those Encino people seeing their star boy getting shitfaced. My family...we still got a reputation, I guess. I just wanted to get away from my piece of shit stepdad." Johnny isn't looking at him, and Daniel never knew he had a stepdad until now, never knew he came from a broken home. "I don't care about you, though." he shakes his head. "Well, I care about you in the way a person vaguely respects a person who can kick them in the face...but I don't mind you watching me fall apart, LaRusso. Because you're just someone from my past...it's like you're not even real, almost..."

Johnny must be drunk. Can you get drunk from two cans of beer? Taking a sip of the god-awful stuff hasn't made Daniel more knowledgeable on the subject.

"I wish telling you about...about Silver would make him unreal, too..." Daniel begins, and Johnny is silent, too silent, probably not wanting to spook him. "But I'm actually kind of glad that I found you. You've been through Cobra Kai for a long time, you know more than I do how awful they are..."

Johnny crushes the can of beer he finished, and the sound makes Daniel jump slightly; Johnny looks at him like he's some strange little injured puppy.

"Who is this Silver asshole, anyway? He's working with Kreese?" Johnny asks. Daniel isn't surprised Johnny called someone he doesn't know an asshole, though he is surprised Johnny said that about someone antagonizing Daniel. If Silver was torturing Daniel last year, Johnny might have sent him a fruit basket.

Daniel shrugged and sighed, his feelings mixing up in his stomach. And then he's telling Johnny everything, from the bonsai shop to the hired bullies that threatened his life, to the torturous training and manipulation and bloodied knuckles. The bit about Kreese's fake death actually made Johnny scoff, then open up a third beer.

When Daniel's done, he leans back against the open trunk door, nimble fingers stretching out a gummy worm before popping it in his mouth. "I would leave...if it was a couple guys bothering me, I'd get over it and take Miyagi up with me to stay with my mom...and part of me wants to run away from this whole mess, but I know..."

"You gotta defend your title," Johnny finishes for him.

Daniel nods.

"Look," Johnny rubs his eyes, exasperated. "You're a little underdog asshole, alright? You got a billionaire kid torturer, a violent psychopath, and Karate's Badboy up against you, but...you're gonna win. I know you...just use that Miyagi stuff that you learned." He raises a leg, arms like awkward chicken wings on his sides in a mock of the crane kick. "I know you said your sensei wasn't gonna train you, but I'm sure he will now, he was there and he saw how crazy those guys were. And then afterwards..." Johnny gestured vaguely out towards the expanse of sky and stars above them. "There's gotta be something out there better than this shit."

Daniel thinks on this notion for a moment, the better part of after this karate war. Then, the words come out of him before he can think twice: "Come to Miyagi-do with me."

Johnny scoffs at that, looking over at Daniel as if constantly surprised by him. "What?"

"You still like karate, don't you? Even if it's not Cobra Kai?" Daniel asks.

"I like anything that's not Cobra Kai, at this point. But I also like kicking ass, and Miyagi-do is all defending ass." Johnny counters.

"I still kicked your ass in the tournament," Daniel says, rapid-fire, as everything he says never goes through a background check.

Johnny looks set off for a second, and if he had any moment to let his buzzed state overcome him and prompt him for a fight, it'd be now. But he doesn't. He actually smiles a little. "That's fair. After the tournament, if you win...I'll join. But only if you win, you gotta prove you're better than Karate's Badboy."

Daniel feels a buzz of excitement at that, and he nods. "You're about to eat your words...I think. Mr. Miyagi's gonna be real surprised if you come to the dojo...you can even invite your friends, if they promise to leave me alone..."

"You're getting carried away," Johnny stands unsteadily, crushing his third beer can and putting it in his shopping bag. "I just want it to be us, for a little while. I mean..." he looks uncertain at that. "I wanna test it out, and I'll let my Cobras know if it's worth it."

"Whatever you say," Daniel beams, and Johnny's giving him that look again, like he can't believe Daniel's a real functioning person. "Let me drive you home."

"What?" Johnny asks incredulously. "No way, I've only had three beers, I'm good."

"And I've only had one sip and a pack of gummy worms." Daniel counters. "You care about your car at least, don't you? Just let me use your phone at your house so I can get a ride, and I'll drive you home."

Johnny sighs, but eventually nods, getting in shotgun while Daniel gets in the driver's seat. And it's a weird, foreign moment; the driver's seat of Johnny's Firebird feels like a different country from what Daniel is used to. But he gets a feel for the gears and starts it up, unable to help but smile to himself as he pulls out of the Reseda mall lot, heading towards the ornate horror that is Encino.

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Is it obvious that I don't know how alcohol works? Lol

Hope you all enjoyed this, I'm looking forward to writing more with these characters. And girls! With the sanders sides fandom it's all boys, but I wanna write some girl...stuff in general. I wanna expand on Johnny and Ali's platonic relationship, bc I don't ship them but I feel like they should have a good post-relationship friendship

Have a good one!

~mw