little bird // r.keene

xxxvii. fighters.

Wren sat quietly in Tory's kitchen, her little brother had let her in. A small boy, Ryan had a wide smile and bright eyes. With shaggy brown hair that almost fell into his eyes, he smiled up at her and told her to wait whilst he darted off, up the stairs to find his sister.

She perched on one of the three kitchen chairs around a small round table, which, by the look of it, was collecting dust. Wren ran her hand over the surface and realised it had been a long time since a meal was shared around it.

She had been in Tory's house once before, before Rue died and she moved away. For a school project, a few months before Tory's mom got sick. It had been warm and cosy, with lamps on and Ryan was sat infront of the cold glow of the television in the sitting room.
Wren realised now that the home she was in now, was a shell of what it once was.

She was snapped out of her train of thought by the sound of footsteps echoing down the stairs, Ryan ran through into the kitchen at such a pace he almost collided with the counter top. "Here she is!" He beamed, with such a child hood innocence, Wren felt the urge to hug him, but she remained still.

Tory followed him in, a cloth in her hands that she was drying her fingers on, she threw it on the counter. "Hey." She greeted casually, though she hadn't known of Wren's visit.

"Sorry for dropping in on you." Wren told her, honestly feeling rather guilty, "I wanted to talk to you."
Tory gave her a short nod and turned her attention to her brother, "Why don't you go and check on mom, see if she wants to play cards with you. I'll be a minute."

"Okay." He smiled, it was a contagious expression that almost made Wren smile too, "Bye Wren." He threw her a wave before running off again into another room on the ground floor of the house.

"He's sweet." Wren offered once Ryan was gone, Tory sat in a chair opposite her.

"He's doing well." Tory replied, flattening her palms on the surface before them. "What's going on Wren?" She asked, "You don't normally drop by."

Wren licked her lips and gathered her thoughts. She thought that if she explained what happened at school that morning, she might get choked up.

Miguel. Hawk. Kyler. Demitri. Johnny.

It was all still fresh in her mind and still felt raw and real so Wren blurted out the first thing that was eating her alive.

"Did you help Hawk to break Demitri's arm?"

Tory paused, looking her friend in the eye, "Wren, they attacked us..."

"Oh my god Tory." Wren leaned back in her chair, running a hand through her hair and breaking Tory's gaze.

"No, listen to me. We weren't bothering anyone but Sam orchestrated the whole thing. We were just defending ourselves. I thought you might get that." She said, the final sentence feeling colder than Tory meant it to be and yet Wren leaned forward once more.

"But breaking Demitri's arm, Tory? What the actual fuck?" She snapped, firmly but keeping her voice low so as to not disturb Tory's family.  "Hawk is-" Wren broke herself off, "Hawk and Demitri used to be best friends, they were inseparable."

"Hawk's changed Wren, we all have. It wouldn't have happened at all if Sam hadn't gotten too big for her boots." Tory sighed, but her voice was lined with something Wren recognised- anger and hatred and all directed towards Sam. Wren could relate to that, "But the moment she saw me, she hid. She wouldn't face me, she fucking hid. She started this whole thing and now she doesn't even have the balls to finish it..."

Wren paused, "Yeah, that-" She swallowed, "That sounds like Sam."

"They think that just because they're defence karate they have the moral high ground. But they attacked us Wren, us. They started the fight, we just finished it. I'm sorry that Demitri got hurt, I really am. I know he's your friend but we needed to send them a message." Tory was almost breathless by the time she finished, leaning forward on the table as if it might emphasise her point.

"It's okay. I get it. I'm not mad at you Tory..." Wren offered after a brief moment of silence between the pair, "Fuck, I just- I don't know what to do."

"Wren, you're still at Cobra Kai for a reason... If you didn't like it, you would have left when Johnny did. I get you want to protect people, but we have to stick together..." Tory offered, "I'm not saying you have to get along with Hawk, I know your history... But just stay, we need you?"

Wren leaned forward in her chair once more, "Why? Because I'm the champion?" It was a dry question and she said it in a mocking tone she wouldn't use with Tory but Wren needed an honest answer.

"No, you're more than that. You and I both know that, I'm sticking with you, you know I always will. But right now, I need you to stick with me at Cobra Kai." Tory said, her voice carrying a solemn tone which made Wren want to reach out and grab her hand and hold it, so she did.
Their fingers gripped each other in the middle of the table, closing the gap between them. Both of their fingers were cold, which only made them hold on tighter.

"Look at this place," Tory gestured to her desolate kitchen, mugs scattered, a fridge that was only a quarter full, dirty dishes in the sink, "You and I have others to look after, not a lot of people get that- we need to stick together." Tory told her and Wren knew exactly what she meant, people like Sam will never know what a friendship like theirs means...

They cherish what they had because they had so little.

"I know, I'm sticking with you..." Wren squeezed her hand, "I'm sticking with you Tory." Wren told her and she meant it. She was sticking with Tory and with Cobra Kai.

If she was going to protect what she had left, Wren was going to go all in. And like Will once said...

Fuck the consequences.