( SEASON 3
EPISODE 8: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND
THE BADASS )

WHAT Thomas was doing now we're apparently methods that Samantha and Daniel used when they learned karate then. Now, the teen was off the crutches. Of course he still had his brace on but, he could only limp which so far he knew he was getting closer to walking again. Miguel was off the wheelchair as well.

He also never expected to join a dojo, specifically his fathers. Olivia even joined as well as Gray, so the teen was happy that he could have his best friends with him. Thomas and Miguel were currently walking together in the halls, "isn't that like...bad for your health?" Ask Miguel.

"Honestly, I don't know but me and Olivia are doing it one day." Thomas smiles to himself which Miguel instantly declined. "No, no, no. You and Oli are not staying up for three days." He nods which made his boyfriend sigh dramatically, "but why?" He complained, leaning on his shoulder and pouting, causing Miguel to blush. As he was about to speak, Sam showed up.

"Hey."

The two look at the girl, "what's up?" Asked Tom. Sam trailed her eyes on them, "you okay?" He asked again which Samantha took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "I'm really sorry." She looks at Miguel. "No, I am. I should've listened to you and not Tory.."

Tom furrowed his eyebrows, "what did Tory do?" They both look at him, "Tory was the one who told everyone." He replies, "about us?" They both nod a yes, making Tom sigh. "So, does this mean we're all good now?" He asked. They all smile, "yes."

They turn their gaze at Oli and Demetri making out in a corner, "olivia?" Tom asked. They pull away, looking at them. Thomas could easily know that they were taking their relationship more further since they never done couple shit like this in public, especially at school.

"Can I help you?" Oli eyes them, "thomas!" A familiar voice exclaims. He turns around, seeing Counselor Maxwell. Sam and Miguel look at her, "may I have a word, please?" She asks which made him dread it now.

"Who is that?" Miguel questions. "Some...lady who helped my dad, I'll be right back...bye guys." "Wait." He says, making Tom stop. Miguel kisses his cheek, making Tom smile. He limps towards her, walking into the office.

They head into her own office, Tom taking a seat. "What is it?" He asks her. "Someone came in today. Told me, there's a boy in my grade who I think might be self harming." She starts, which easily made his anxiety come back. "He said, it's a LaRusso."

"Let me guess, you knew it wasn't Sam because she's such a goody two shoes." That wasn't even true, Sam was literally filled with anxiety and has been since the fight at school. "Is that what you think?" She questioned, making Tom nod. She sighed, leaning on the desk with her hands folded.

"You remind me of your dad, he never wanted to talk to me about anything, he was always sarcastic too." She tells him. Tom stayed silent, wondering why the hell he was still here. "Can you do me a favor, Thomas?" "Sure, what is it?" He asks annoyed, not wanting to be here.

"I want you to close your eyes." He did as told, not questioning any of it. "I want you to imagine, what you think you'll be at in five years." With that, he imagined that. Thomas imagined two things, living with Miguel, married or just dead. "You have it?" Thomas nods, still not opening his eyes.

"How would you want your family and friends to remember you?"

That question hit him like a truck.

He never thought of that, whenever he thought of not wanting to be alive, the teenager never really thought what his family would react. Sure, they cared but Thomas never saw that because they always put their attention on Samantha. On their twelfth birthday, it was all just Sam's friend, Thomas and Oli hung out in their room while Samantha blew out the candles on THEIR cake.

He figured it was because of Samantha doing karate, she found a hobby while Tom stayed after school because he didn't do any homework. That's why he always felt like they didn't give a shit about them, was it true? Maybe, maybe not.

"As someone...who tried so hard to be someone a happy and good person, but wasn't..." He answers, his voice breaking as he felt tears fill up. "How hard did you try?" She questioned again. Tom opens his eyes, that's when tears began to fill up. "I tried...everything and it won't work.."

"You know why it won't work? Because you don't believe it." She replied, causing him to look at her. "You're a good person Thomas, you have good grades now, you try everything to help others around you. Don't you see, that's a good person?" Maxwell explains.

"You have a boyfriend who loves you, friends who care about you. Family.." The last part she said slowly, good enough for him to actually hear the whole thing. The lady grabs his hands, "don't give up, sweetie."

"I don't know how much longer I can do this for." With that, the man just sobbed, burying his head into her shirt. Maxwell knew how hard this was, trying to calm him wasn't easy. Hell, Tom didn't even know how much pain he had till he had this conversation.

They let go slowly, Maxwell hands him a tissue. "I know people who were at way worse, they didn't give up..none of them did." She nods. He wipes his tears, sniffling. "I wanna try my best..."

"And you can do that, I promise you that you can." She reassures. "I need to go." Thomas immediately stood up, limping out of the office as he ignored Maxwell calling after him. He let the tears fall, everyone was in class now anyways.

He started thinking about what she said, all of it. He kept wondering and questioning if he could keep it all together, if he could wear the mask for just a little longer but he didn't know. All he knew was he really wanted to help himself and that was learning karate.

The way he did wax on wax off was calming to him, the way he balanced on a certain item made him happy. Thomas felt like all of his own troubles were away, like he was at school, just better.

....

Thomas heard about the tournament being cancelled. Sam was there at the city council meeting, Tom on the other hand was deciding if he should go and help.

He wanted to explain, explain about how depressed he got because of bullying but obviously he was gonna leave out the family parts but, Tom was gonna try his best. But he was having trouble walking through the door.

He could see Miguel there too, standing next to Sam, it looked like they did the talking already so maybe he can just sit and watch? "When I moved here, I was bullied. I realized there's no escaping it." Miguel says.

Thomas walked in, deciding quickly if he should just say it. "And bullying causes your mental health to go down." Tom spoke, making everyone shoot their head at him. He hated the stares, he hated it. "That's the boy who was in the hit and run." He could hear some people whisper.

He walks down, looking at the people in front. "My name is Thomas LaRusso." He started looking at them. "I remember how it felt. The pain. One day, your all happy but once your alone you feel like not being alive." Miguel looked down, knowing this is exactly what Tom felt like.

"But you wanna know what's saving me from that feeling? Karate." He simply tells them, earning Sam and Daniel to glance at each other. "Trust me, after the hit and run, I didn't wanna feel anything. I was empty, I didn't get out of bed some days, I didn't eat..." Tom explained.

"I felt all of this...because of bullying." God, how bad he wanted to say 'family issues.' "The point is, we don't do karate to show everyone we're scary or badasses." Johnny chuckles from under his breath. "We use it for defending our selves, and when we do it, they won't make fun of us anymore."

"It's called the 'All Valley' because it's for everyone, to give everyone the chance to show what they can do. To fight, to become a champion. And we deserve that chance." Miguel spoke again, eyeing them. The lady looks at them, then back at her workers who were all nodding their head.

"To be honest, I don't get the Valley's fascination with karate. But...if it means that much to all of you, and you're willing to sign waivers stating that the city is not liable, then...the All Valley Under eighteen Tournament is officially back on." She bangs her gavel.

Everyone clapped and cheered, Sam
and Tom hugged, then Miguel and Sam did as well. Tom hugs Miguel next, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You aren't limping anymore." He smiles. "No, I'm
not."

Daniel smiled at the two as he hugged his daughter. Samantha pulls away as she sees Tom, leaving them both to talk. "Nice speech." Thomas smiles at him, "i love you, dad." Daniel pulled him into a hug, his smile turning bigger. "I love you too, son."

"To the All Valley tournament." Tom raises up a can, smiling at his boyfriend. "Right, yeah." Miguel smiles, opening up the can of soda. They both were hanging out at Miyagi-Do at night, it was super peaceful to them both. "This place is crazy. What's the rock say?"

"I don't know...I barley even know what that rock is for." Tom rolls his eyes, making Miguel laugh.

"You know I'm kinda glad your doing karate." He smiles. "And why is that?" Thomas chuckles, sipping the drink. "Because then I get to kick your ass." Tom scoffs, "oh really? You think you can beat me at this stuff?"

A smirk plastered onto Miguel's face, "oh yeah, I can."

He stands up, bringing Tom with him. "Show me your moves, pretty boy." He teases with a smile. "Right now?" "Yes, right now."

They get their positions, Miguel softly throwing punches while Tom was dodging them. Of course they were play fighting, Miguel never wanted to hurt him wether it was for karate or not. Tom wraps his arm around Miguel, "got you." He smiles.

They both look at each other, Miguel slowly leans in and kisses him. "So, who won?" "You didn't do...bad." He pushes Miguel. "Alright, champ."

They both laugh, staring at each-other in awe. "You know, I have a crush on this guy. I think you might know him." Thomas rolls his eyes, blushing. "He's cute, smart, has the softest hair. He's also like...such a big dork."

"He's the hot one isnt he?"

"Wh-"

-LIV!
bye this book ends
soon brb gonna cry