"WHAT THE hell happened?!"

Carmen arrived home to the twins cleaning up the empty bottles and trash left on the ground; Isabella had two tampons stuck up her nostrils, absorbing the blood that kept oozing. Carmen said good night to Johnny and Robby as they walked across the path to their apartment, before sitting the twins down on the couch.

"You got into a fight?" Carmen stressed, sitting opposite then, "I go out for one evening and this is what you two get up to. I trusted you in this house alone and let you throw a party."

"We're sorry, Ma." Miguel reasoned, "But, it wasn't Belle's fault."

"See! I told you." Isabella exclaimed, "I didn't have anything to do with it... well I did, but not like that."

Carmen took a breath, "What happened?"

"Tory told me that Cobra Kai cheated in the All Valley. Like, she heard Silver talking to the Ref and felt bad. But, she didn't want to tell anyone because she felt bad. But that made her feel even more bad. Like, a fraud, or something." Isabella explained quickly, "Then, Sam overheard and got involved. She went to punch Tory but accidentally hit me."

Carmen looked at Miguel, and the boy was nodding to approve of the truth. Carmen sighed, "Okay. But, couldn't you just have a conversation? Did it have to escalate?"

"I don't know, ask Sam." Isabella shrugged, "She started it."

Carmen nodded, before examining her daughter: her bleeding nose, bruised knuckles from the tournament, her legs bouncing frantically, her eyes darting around. Carmen asked curiously, "Belle, have you taken your pill today?"

Isabella huffed, "Yeah."

"Are you sure?" Carmen questioned.

"Yeah. 100%." The girl shot back, "Can't I have a bad day without being some psych case?"

Carmen took a breath, standing up, "Okay. Both of you go to bed, okay? It's late and... Belle, please take those tampons out of your nose."

Belle pulled them by the string, waving them around, before throwing them at her brother's face; Miguel grimaced and yelped, standing up quickly before chucking it back at her.

***

The Eagle Fangs met in the dojo, gathering around to discuss the incident that happened last night; Isabella and Sam still hadn't talked, or even apologised to each other. But, Isabella didn't have to apologise, she didn't punch anyone. Sam should be the one who should apologise, but the girl couldn't even look at her.

Demetri exclaimed, "Wait, so Sensei Silver paid off the Ref at the All Valley and framed Kreese for a crime that he didn't commit? Never let me miss a house party again."

"We need to tell the Senseis." Miguel said.

"What are they gonna do?" Sam asked, not making eye contact with Isabella, "I saw what happened to my dad when he confronted Silver. I don't want him to get hurt again."

Demetri added, "Besides, if this ref and Stingray are on Silver's payroll, they'll never admit to anything.

"I know he's in Cobra Kai, but Stingray's still my friend," Bert explained, "He wouldn't lie to me."

"Do you think you can get him to talk?" Hawk asked curiously; Bert nodded, and the group followed him to Stingray's house to try and get the truth out of him.

Miguel looked back, when he realised his sister wasn't following the group. He frowned, "What's wrong?"

"I think I'm gonna sit this one out," Isabella replied, "Sam can't even look at me. I don't want to start another argument with her."

Miguel nodded in understanding, "Okay. I'll see you at home later?"

Isabella nodded, as she began the long walk home.

Accompanying her walk, Isabella listened to music from her black chunky headphones, which she designed with a few stickers. She walked into her block of flats, luckily her home was on the bottom floor; Isabella grabbed the keys from her pocket and attempted to open the door, though she was interrupted by stifled breathing behind her.

Isabella turned around; a distance away from her was Tory, as she struggled to get into her apartment because she was clutching onto one of her hands in pain. Isabella hesitated, looking between her front door and Tory; she placed the keys back in her pocket, before walking towards the girl.

Isabella asked curiously, "Do you need some help?"

Tory turned around to face her, quickly wiping away the tears that stained her cheeks. Isabella's expression softened, as she picked up the multiple grocery bags at Tory's feet, while the girl opened her front door with one hand.

Tory muttered, trying to hide the fact that she'd been crying, "Thanks."

Her other hand was at her side, red and bruised; it was swollen and cut. Isabella watched as Tory entered her house, letting the girl follow behind her with her grocery bags. Isabella placed the bags on the floor, as the table was already filled up with plates and empty pizza boxes.

She caught a glimpse of a room along the hallway; the door was a jar, which meant she could only see the end of a hospital bed, two feet, and the distant sound of supported breathing through a machine. Isabella looked away, her eyes fixed on Tory as she realised why the girl acted the way she did.

"What happened to your hand?" Isabella asked curiously, as she watched Tory grabbed a bag of ice from the empty freezer.

Tory replied, "Training accident."

Isabella nodded, before attempting to take the bag of ice from Tory, "Here. Let me help yo—"

"Don't," Tory interrupted quickly. She sat down on the couch, exhaling a breath, before softening her voice, "Sorry, I, uh..." She trailed off, before handing the bag of ice to Isabella.

Isabella shut the front door behind her, before walking over to Tory and sitting next to her on the couch. Isabella took the bag of ice, before gently holding it against Tory's hand as she winced slightly. They sat in silence for a while, but it wasn't the awkward kind— they were both getting used to each other's company without beating each other up— it was a safe silence.

Isabella blurted out, "Who did you hit?"

Tory paused, biting her cheek to stop the tears from swelling in her eyes, "Solid stone."

Isabella finally looked up from Tory's hand to meet her eyes. She spluttered, "Wait, what?"

"My Senseis wouldn't let me leave until I did," Tory explained, rolling her eyes like it was nothing. She added slowly, "Can you, maybe, not tell anyone?"

Isabella nodded, "Sure, yeah."

Tory paused again, "I wanted to win the All Valley more than anything." Isabella looked at her as she spoke; the girl added, "When they handed me that trophy... that was the best moment of my life. I was on my way back to the changing rooms... and I heard you crying to your mom. It killed me to hear you so defeated."

Isabella sighed, "Tory, it's—"

"I felt like a fraud. I wanted to get back at Silver so bad. That's why I listened to Kreese, but then I got caught up in more lies." Tory continued, "And, I noticed something was different about you that day, but I didn't do anything about it. I probably made things worse for you."

"It's wasn't your fault." Isabella replied; that statement wasn't entirely true, but when Isabella was around Tory, she forgot what was true and what wasn't. She began to wrap Tory's hand in a wrist supporter, tightening it against her skin, "Is that okay?"

Tory looked down at her hand, then back up at Isabella, her eyes dilated from the darkness of the room. Tory spluttered, "Yeah, uh, great— good... thank you."

"You're welcome." Isabella smiled slightly, looking at her; her eyes travelled down to Tory's lips, realising that she'd never been so close to her face before. She noticed things like her soft freckles, her green eyes, and the shape of her lips. Tory stared back at her too; Isabella wondered what was going through her head, as the two girls leaned towards each other.

A pattern of knocks that came from the front door made the two girls to flinch away from each other.

The familiar voice of Sam LaRusso called from outside, "Tory? It's Sam. I just wanna talk."

"Shit," Isabella breathed; for some reason she felt like she had to hide, almost like the two girls had planned to meet in secret. Tory held Isabella's wrist, guiding her to the right side of the door— so when it opened, Isabella couldn't be seen.

Tory placed a finger to her lips. Why did they both feel like they had to hide? Nothing had happened. Had it?

Tory opened the door slightly, trying not to squish Isabella who was hiding behind it, "What are you doing here?"

Sam replied, "I— Oh my God, what happened to your hand?"

"Don't pretend like you care." Tory's voice was harsher now.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened last night." Sam sighed, "I didn't know what you were going through at Cobra Kai. I tried to talk to Stingray and he basically admitted it was Silver who assaulted him in the old dojo. But, he's too afraid to go to the police. Maybe we can work together."

Tory hesitated, "I knew Silver was involved, but... I had no idea he did it with his own hands."

"We just need to prove it." Sam replied. The girl paused, glancing behind the door at Isabella who was holding her breath; she didn't know why the girls felt so secretive about spending time together. Friends spent time together all the time... but, Isabella wouldn't call Tory a friend, would she? She didn't know anything anymore.

"I'll call my friends," Sam nodded, "Together, we have a chance of proving that Silver is guilty."

Tory spluttered, "Okay. I, uh, I'll see you then." Tory began to shut her front door quickly, causing Isabella to let out a breath.