Forbidden Things || Cobra Kai

16 House

Penelope had begun to wonder if the new house would ever start to feel like home. When she thought of "home," she was taken back to the house she grew up in. She had lived in the same house for fifteen years; she had been born in that house. It wasn't anything spectacular on the outside, it was just a normal house and wasn't very big, but inside had always been magic to her.

She knew every nook and cranny of that house, from which floorboards creaked to the number of windows it had. There was a secret hideaway in her bedroom closet, which she had used to play pretend as a kid. She fondly remembered finding a mother squirrel in the attic and leaving her nuts until her parents found out about it; they had to relocate the squirrel and her babies, but luckily they weren't moved very far; the backyard was a better place for them anyway.

All the memories that came with thinking of "home" had nothing to do with the California house. She wasn't sure if she could even call it home, not really. She didn't know all the secrets of the house, she didn't have any animal friends to make, there wasn't much attachment to the place yet. She had Donnie and Frankie, whom she was thankful for and loved very much, but their presence wasn't enough. There was still something missing.

However, some familiarity had come into the house. It came in the unfortunate form of pleasured moans, thumps, and thuds.

She had only come to know those sounds in the last eight months or so, and Penelope felt like she just had to deal with it. So she set up shop downstairs in the living room and plugged in her headphones. As she typed away on her laptop, music blared in her ears. It was loud enough to drown out the sounds from upstairs, though occasionally she heard a loud thump or scream.

Blocking out the noise made it easy to forget about what was going on. It also made it far too easy to forget about the rest of the world.

She felt her phone buzz in her pocket and she stopped writing. If it was Uncle Donnie texting her, he might be on his way home, at which point she would have to run upstairs and knock on Frankie's door to warn her. Though she was upset with her cousin, she didn't want her to get into any trouble.

The text wasn't from her uncle, though. It was from Hawk. It read: R u home?

Penelope answered with a simple: Yeah y?

Hawk: Bc I'm outside

At this, Penelope set her laptop on the coffee table and pulled her headphones off. She sat there for a moment, too many thoughts running through her mind. She didn't even notice the noise from upstairs had quieted, her only thought was on the boy at her door. As she thought about him and the beach, she rose to her feet and walked to the door.

She checked through the peephole and there he was in all his mohawk glory, just as he'd said.

Unlocking the door, she pulled it open and waved shyly. Her cheeks were already beginning to burn, but she did her best to hide it. She didn't look at him, instead focusing her eyes on the ground between them with a little smile on her face.

"Hey," he said, a hint of laughter on his lips. "I've been ringing the doorbell for, like, three minutes."

Penelope blushed more, pulling her eyes up to look at him before she began to sign. I'm sorry. I was listening to music.

He nodded in understanding. "That's okay. I kind of assumed you weren't home. I didn't see your car but I saw your bike, so I thought I would try the door before I gave up."

She smiled at him before looking away again. It made her nervous that he was at her house again. The first time was pleasantry based, but this time it was on his own accord. She didn't know what to do, or what to say for that matter. Her mind was running blank as she tried to think of what came next.