Out of Place [Cobra Kai OC x Robby Keene]

56- Caught

I hum gently as I work on the final malfunctioning kitchen light, occasionally muttering a word or two as I do so. Luckily, it's been relatively easy to fix the lights. I think a minor earthquake might've shaken the wiring loose. It's just a matter of having a set of hands that know their way around this sort of thing to put everything back in place. I've also taken the liberty of setting in them in such a way that renders them less likely to become undone again in the future.

Abuela Diaz has been entertaining me with stories about Miguel and casual conversation about cuisine. She's amazing. It's been funny to hear all about the stupid shit Miguel has done over the years, and even the things he's done in the last year or so. It brought me some much needed joy. Consider my serotonin levels raised.

I hardly pay any attention to the door opening. I'm almost done, and I've got a sort of momentum going. It's probably just Ms Diaz coming home anyway.

"Parker?" a confused voice asks, causing me to almost fall off of my ladder. Miguel?! Right, he was supposed to come home today... he told me about that, I can't believe I forgot... I look down, shocked and a little embarrassed.

"Uhh.. hi," I respond, making awkward eye contact for a moment. I look away quickly, face going hot.

"What- what are you doing here?" he asks, seeming just as flustered as I feel.

"I was just uh- I was fixing the lights. I'm almost done though so- I uh- I'll be out of here soon," I stammer. I have somewhere to be somewhere soon. I'm so close to being done. Sam planned another karate session at Miyagi-Do this afternoon and I said that I would definitely be there. As the one with the most experience, I feel as if everyone expects me to always be there, and always be at my best. I completely understand, as I expect the same from myself at all times, and if I don't live up to those expectations, then I'm automatically a disappointment, but the pressure from other people is really daunting.

"The lights have been acting up for days. Parker was nice enough to come and fix them," Ms Diaz says, "has it been going okay?"

"Oh yeah, it's a relatively easy fix. I think some wiring just came loose," I say back. I carefully secure the wires in the last light, put the fixture back in place, then climb back down the ladder.

"There. It should hold for a long time, but if it ever starts being weird again, just let me know."

"Thank you so much, you're too kind," she says upon testing the lights and finding that they work. Thank goodness. I was afraid that they wouldn't.

"Yeah, it was no problem," I say, "I should uh- I should get going now though. I promised a friend I would be somewhere and uhm- yeah. I'm glad you're back at home, Miguel. Nice to- nice to see you."

I'm not entirely sure why I'm getting so worked up, but I guess maybe I just wasn't expecting him to be here and things have been a little weird since when he called me at school earlier this week. Maybe I'm just making a normal situation weird again, I don't know. I don't know.

"You're not staying?" Miguel asks. ¿Perdón?

"I wish I could, but I really do have somewhere to be," I say, "it completely slipped my mind that you were coming home today. If I had remembered then I would've planned around it, but I'm an idiot, so I apologize."

If I had known then I would've came here earlier to avoid an encounter like this. What I really need to do is shut the hell up because I'm really just making a fool out of myself at this point. When talking becomes one of my strong suits, it's over for everybody.

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Ms Diaz says, "you're a lifesaver."

"It was nothing, really," I say, "I'll see you guys around."