HER EYES peeled open, still aching and heavy, as she slowly looked around at her surroundings— her bedroom. She uncovered her aching body from her bed sheet; Isabella had been changed into her pyjamas, her bloody clothes in the washing basket in the corner of her room. She let out a sigh, knowing that her mom possibly found her in the beaten state she was in... and she'd have to endure in the lecture that always followed.

The door slowly opened, causing Isabella to sit up quickly, despite the aching pain in her body. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror on her desk: a purple bruise around her eye, a cut on her lower lip, yet her hair was freshly plated and her bloody nose had been cleaned. Isabella guessed her mom cleaned her and changed her clothes before putting her into bed.

"Hey. You're awake," the soft voice of her brother spoke, as the boy walked into their shared room. He sat down on his bed, which was on the other side to hers, his eyes fixed to the floor in shame. He took a breath, "I'm sorry, Belle. It's all my fault—"

Isabella muttered, her voice hoarse and dry, "Miggy, don't—"

The boy continued, "I shouldn't of forced you to come to the LaRussos' meal. I shouldn't of expected you to lie about your life to make our family look better. I just wanted to be liked by Sam's parents. I'm so sorry, Belle. I just wanted to be enough for Sam's family... I shouldn't of made you be someone you're not. I'm sorry."

Isabella nodded, her eyes watering, "I'm sorry, too."

Miguel asked curiously, "For what?"

"I don't know, everything." Isabella explained, "When I got out of juvie, I expected everything to be better. But, everything still stayed the same. I just feel angry all the time. I'm sorry if I took that anger out on you. I'm trying."

Miguel smiled through the tears in his eyes, as he walked over to Isabella's bed and perched beside her. He hugged the girl gently, aware of the bruises, before pulling away and examining his sister's face. Miguel hesitated, "Do you remember who did this to you?"

Tory fucking Nichols.

"No," Isabella lied, "It was dark. I couldn't see much. Maybe it was someone from juvie, or Cobra Kai."

Miguel nodded, "Ma tried to see if there was any security cameras, but there was no footage from where you were."

"Who found me?" Isabella asked curiously.

"I came back from a date with Sam. I heard Ma and Sensei in the kitchen, and it sounded like they were arguing. I asked what had happened, and they said you hadn't come home from your probation meeting." Miguel explained, "You left your phone here, so we couldn't track you or call you. Ma thought you'd... she thought you did something bad. She was crying for hours with Grandma, so me and Sensei took his car and searched the streets for you."

Isabella blinked a tear from her bruised eye, the salt water stinging the cuts on her face.

"You were unconscious when we found you. I was holding you in the backseats... I didn't—" Miguel paused or else he'd cry, "I didn't know what to do. Sensei drove us back home. Ma didn't take you to the hospital because she had some medication here. She said you were gonna be okay, so her and Grandma cleaned you up and put you into bed. Ma thought if she took you to the hospital, they would ask what had happened... she didn't want there to be a chance that you got sent back to juvie. I told our friends you got sick."

Isabella frowned, "How long was I out?"

"A couple of days. Ma said you woke up a few times. She slept in my bed most nights, so I took the couch." Miguel explained, "She said that you just needed sleep, so gave you some sleeping pills." He paused, "Had you been sleeping much when you got back from juvie?"

Isabella hesitated, before shaking her head slowly, "Not much. A few hours every night." She added quickly to change the subject, "How's Karate?"

"Not good." Miguel sighed, "Cobra Kai jumped Hawk, shaved off his Mohawk. Mr LaRusso and Sensei aren't working together anymore. But, we have a new girl student, Devon Lee. Sensei didn't know if you'd be okay to fight in the All Valley, so he recruited a back up—"

Isabella shot back, "I can fight in the All Valley—"

"Belle, mi amor." Her mom interrupted, as she walked into the room to gently hug her daughter. She cupped her bruised face, "How are you feeling? Do you remember who did this to you, baby?"

"No, Ma." Isabella replied weakly, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Carmen hugged her again, kissing her forehead, "I'm just grateful that you're okay."

Johnny leant against the door frame, winking at her in reassurance, "I knew you'd be okay, kid. A natural fighter. I'm counting on you to win the girls champion in the All Valley—"

"Let's not talk about karate right now," Carmen interrupted softly, "Johnny, we have something to tell them, remember?"

"Oh, right, yeah." The man nodded nervously, before walking into the hallway and towards the couch in the living room.

"Tell us, what?" Miguel asked curiously, as he helped Isabella stand to her feet; the world spun around her, as Miguel caught her balance. 

Miguel and Isabella sat opposite the two adults, who were nervously glancing at each other.

"You go." Carmen nodded.

Johnny shot back, "No, you go."

"Someone should go." Miguel deadpanned.

Isabella stood up, "I need to pee—"

"Wait, just sit down." Johnny interrupted.

"And hold it?" Isabella scoffed, "I've been asleep for days—"

"You're mom and I are hooking up." The man blurted out, causing Isabella to slowly sit back down. He added, "Well, not just hooking up. Uh, you see, when two people... are attracted to each other—"

Miguel, thankfully, interrupted, "We get it, you're dating."

"Yes," Carmen nodded, "We didn't mean for you two to find out like this."

"We wanted to do it at the right time and place." Johnny added, "We wanted to take you both to a nice restaurant, break the news to you somewhere nice. But then... shit happened and..."

Carmen asked, "Are you both okay?"

"Yeah, uh, I'm fine. I think." Miguel shrugged, "Surprised. But, also not surprised. I would've chosen someone with, uh, better food in their refrigerator, but Sensei's a good guy. As long as you're happy, I'm happy."

"Yeah." Isabella added, because she couldn't think of anything else to say. She asked slowly, "Can I... go to the toilet now?"

Carmen smiled, "Yeah, of course."

a/n:
thank you sm for reading!
i hope you're all enjoying this so far, it's so fun to write!!