C H A P T E R T W E N T Y-S I X

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"Good, huh?" Johnny raised his eyebrows, taking a bit out of the burger

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"Good, huh?" Johnny raised his eyebrows, taking a bit out of the burger.

"Yeah." Miguel nodded.

"I'm wasting a perfectly good smoothie for this crap, so it better be good." Nicole said, squinted at Johnny.

When he had gotten to Courtney's house, he already had Miguel in the car and was ready to go.

Nicole had informed the girls and they promised they'd save the smoothie for her and then she went off with Johnny and Miguel.

"Don't worry, it will be. Anyway, the secret's chopped onions. Sal keeps it simple. None of that veggie crap. Just some hot grill and some quality chuck." Johnny informed the two, talking about the burger.

There was silence between the three, Johnny taking a sip of his drink and Miguel and Nicole staring at the blonde man.

"You see that building over there?" Johnny pointed.

"You mean the hospital?" Miguel clarified.

"That's where Robby was born. February 4th, 2002. It was a Monday. His mom was in labor for 17 hours." Johnny informed.

"It must've been crazy." Miguel replied.

"Yeah, I'm sure it was."

"What do you mean? Weren't you there to see his birth?" Nicole asked.

"No, I wasn't there. And...my Mom had just died. I was a real mess. I never knew my father, so she was all I had. Next thing I know, I'm gonna be a dad. Scared the shit out of me. So, instead of being up there, welcoming him into the world, I was down here, soaking up the booze from a three-day bender, trying to get the courage to walk across the street. And I never got there. I failed my kid in his very first day in this world and I've been failing him every day since." Johnny explained.

Nicole had felt the tears well up in her eyes, trying to blink them away.

"Sensei, this is personal stuff. You don't have to tell us." Miguel shook his head.

"No, I...I should've told you a long time ago. Both of you. She only found out because she just happened to be there. It...It's one of the most painful things in my life. But one of the best things had been teaching you. And I want you to know, no matter what happens, I promise I'll always be on your side and I'll always have your best interests at heart." Johnny continued.

"Thank you." Miguel slightly smiled.

"And as for you, Curly." Johnny turned towards her. "Training you has been great. You're like the daughter...well maybe niece I've never had. And the reason I'm saying niece is because your father, even though he's a jackass and plenty of other names that I could list off right now, he is a great father. He was there on the day you were born and he got to hold you in his arms. You came out first and he got to hold you and look down on your chubby little face and say to himself, 'I did this. I brought Nicole into this world.' I...I didn't do that with Robby because I was horrified, but your Dad chose to stick with it and do the hardest job in the world and be a father. A father to three, actually, and with your brother it's more like four. So, even though you're having this little thing going on with him, just remember that he wasn't a pussy about being a father like I was."

A few tears slipped out of Nicole's eyes and she quickly wiped them away. "Thank you, Sensei. I—I'm going to step outside for a second."

Nicole stood up and went out side, resting her head against the building, letting the tears fall out.

With shaky hands, she took out her phone and dialed her father's number, but unfortunately, there was no answer.

Hi! This is Daniel LaRusso! I'm probably busy and can't get to the phone right now, but please leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Bonsai!

Nicole let out a dry laugh and the voicemail and sniffled, them pressed the decline button and put her phone back in her pocket.

"Just like I thought. Too busy for me. Sensei may be right about my birth, but my dad's still responsible for raising me after." Nicole said to herself.

She sucked up her tears and trudged back inside of the place.

"Oh, they are, are they?" Johnny squinted.

Nicole took her seat and took another sip of her drink.

"You good, Curly?" He asked.

"I'm great. Now, who's doing what?"












🌻














When Nicole had gotten back to Hawk's house that night, he wasn't home, so Nicole took the opportunity to take a long, relaxing shower then get ready for bed.

She was brushing through her long, pink, damp hair when she felt someone come up behind her. She looked in the mirror and saw Hawk there.

"Hey." Nicole turned around.

"Hi. You alright?" Hawk asked.

She nodded, not fully telling him the truth.

"What's wrong, sunflower?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Nothing, I swear, it's just...you do understand why I was annoyed with you and Miguel earlier, right?" Nicole raised her eyebrows and stood up.

"Yeah. We got you involved even though you didn't want to be." Hawk replied.

Nicole nodded her head and folded her arms.

"Listen, babe, I'm sorry that you were upset by what we did. Miguel and I wanted closure and since you already knew we figured you could help us out. It was really nothing, so can we just move on?"

Nicole sighed and stepped forwards. "Fine, we can move on. Now, go get changed."

Nicole shooed him away and he laughed, going off to get ready for bed.

Nicole finished brushing through her hair and hopped in her side of the bed.

Hawk came back and got right in bed next to each other, striking up a random conversation from when they were kids.

"God, I can't believe they went from hating each other, to using their hatred to flirt, to Courtney dating Moon." Nicole said.

"Now the last part is what's really surprising, but hey, good for them." Hawk shrugged.

"Ugh, they're just so adorable together, though. I've always routed for her and Demetri, but I think this is much better." Nicole smiled.

There was a small silence between them.

"You know," Hawk spoke up. "When I was little I always thought we were gonna get married and spend the rest of our lives together with our kids in New York because that's your favorite place, then we'd grow old together."

Nicole smiled as she traced the lines on his hand.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Nicole bit her lip and could feel the red creeping onto her cheeks.

"I don't know, it's silly." Hawk muttered.

Her eyes flickered up toward his. "No. It's not silly. It's cute. I like this side of you. Your sweet side."

There was another silence and they shared a kiss.

"Goodnight, Hawk."

"Night, sunflower."

They then feel asleep with a smile on both of their faces.

I am so in love with their relationship it's not even funny.

𝓈𝓊𝓃𝒻𝓁ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓇 • eli moskowitzWhere stories live. Discover now