Red venom, Cobra Kai.

39. Always welcome.

As Taylor came up to the front porch again with her arm around Harvey's shoulder this time, Laurie happily greeted the two in. She had already set up blankets and suitable pillows on the couch to make it 'homey and cozy.'

"So, I've tried to make it as homey and cozy as possible." Laurie said as Taylor helped Harvey on to the couch. "Oh, and if you get cold, don't hesitate to ask for another blanket."

"I'm not scared." Harvey said lightly, half asleep. He honestly had no idea what was going on, but he liked the idea that he got to sleep again.

After Taylor finished setting Harvey's bed up, she walked over to her mom, who was in the kitchen, making herself a coffee. Taylor sat on the stool at the counter.

"Thanks, by the way," Taylor said.

Laurie turned around and smiled, shrugging. "It's no problem. You're welcome here whenever you like. And him." Taylor looked back at Harvey, who was now fast asleep, lightly snoring away. "So, you guys are all dressed up. Is there a reason for that?"

Taylor turned back to Laurie. "Yeah... we just went to prom."

Laurie gasped, leaning against the counter with a grin. "Prom? Really? Alanna didn't mention it."

"Alanna's still here, is she? I haven't seen her in... a while."

Laurie nodded. "Yeah, she isn't doing so well. Neither is Kade. I think they just miss their mom."

"Have you been able to contact her?"

Laurie's eyes slightly widened. "Kimberly? No. I haven't been able to get ahold of her."

"Right..." Taylor gulped, letting out a small sigh. "I might go to sleep then. I need to get up early tomorrow for training. There's only a couple more days until the tournament."

"You're still doing that, are you?"

Taylor nodded. "Yeah. I don't care what anyone has to say about it, really."

"No, there's no problem. I just haven't seen you since the fight at the school. Is everything okay now?"

"Yeah, of course. I made a good friend, lost a few people, but oh well." Taylor tiredly shrugged. "Things happen."

After a few seconds of silence, Laurie decided to speak first. "So, earlier you mentioned something about a tournament?"

"Oh, yeah. Karate tournament. My first one, actually." Taylor told her. "Last time I just watched, but this time I'm actually going to fight."

"Really?" Laurie grinned. "Wow, that's awesome. Maybe we'll go.

Taylor furrowed her eyebrows. "Who?"

"Me, Alanna, Kade and Marley. If that's okay with you."

Taylor silently sighed in annoyance. She couldn't imagine Marley coming to her first tournament. She thought that she would ruin it for her. But maybe she's changed. Maybe Marley is actually accepting now. "Yeah, no, they can definitely come. I'll even shout you guys hotdogs."

Laurie jokingly scoffed. "Is that one of your jokes?"

"No, no. In all seriousness."

"Well, I'm sure we'd love a hotdog from you," Laurie said with a smile.

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊

The next morning, Taylor was shaken awake by Harvey, who had just woken up about a minute before. Taylor had to sleep on the second couch next to Harvey.

"Taylor, wake up, please." Harvey pleaded. Taylor groaned awake, rubbing her eyes as she slowly opened them. "Finally, thank you."

"What?" Taylor sat up. "What's the time?"

"I have no idea, but I need to pee," Harvey muttered.

Taylor stayed silent for a moment, looking at Harvey with no expression, but then she burst out into laughter. Harvey furrowed his eyebrows, but slowly laughed along with her. "You need to pee?"

"This is serious. I don't know where the bathroom is."

Taylor finally managed to control her laughter, looking at Harvey seriously now. "Okay, I'll show you."

She and Harvey got up from the couches, and Harvey followed her down the hall to where the bathroom was. Harvey said his quick thanks before going through the door. Taylor made her way back to the living room, taking her sweatshirt off as it was too warm. Laurie had borrowed some of Alanna's clothes for Taylor to wear to bed, and Harvey was still in his suit. At least he didn't get it dirty, but it was probably uncomfortable.

After a couple of minutes, Harvey came out of the bathroom and walked back to the living room, sitting back down on the couch. "I've never met your mom before."

"That's right."

"Honestly," Harvey looked over at Taylor. "She looks more like your sister than your mother."

Taylor scoffed, letting out a small laugh. "What?"

"I'm serious. When I saw her, I was like, 'Did I just meet Taylor's sister that I had no idea about?'" Harvey said. "How old is she?"

"I get it. She looks very young. She's in her late thirties, but looks like she's in her twenties, I know," Taylor said, shaking her head with a small smile.

"What?" Harvey spat out. "Johnny Lawrence, is your dad correct?"

Taylor's eyebrows furrowed. "Correct."

"He seems like he's in his fifties or at least late forties." Harvey stated, making Taylor think really hard. After a few moments, she gasped.

"That's crazy." She whispered, putting a hand up to her forehead. "I'm seventeen. My mom had me when she was like... twenty two. My dad had me when he was maybe - I don't even want to think about it."

Harvey gasped. "I know this is your family, but maybe that's why your aunt hates your dad so much. It's because he got her pregnant when he's like eleven years older than her at a party or something." Harvey thought for a moment. "Hey, I've seen your dad when he was younger, so maybe your mom thought he was younger than he actually was or something?"

Taylor frowned. "Are you calling the younger version of my dad attractive?"

"No!" Harvey instantly defended himself. "No! I'm just saying that it's just a possibility. Maybe when he was thirty-one, he actually looked twenty-three."

"Harvey, I actually don't wanna talk about my mom and dad's love relationship right now," Taylor affirmed with a sigh. "It kind of grosses me out, actually."

"That's understandable. In reality, we should be going to the dojo to train, right?"

"Exactly! Let's ditch before we see Marley. She usually gets up first." Taylor quickly got off the couch as she went to run to the door, but she sped over to the kitchen and grabbed a small piece of paper. She wrote a quick note, leaving it on the kitchen counter before leaving the house.

'We had to leave for training. Thanks for letting us stay the night and for letting us sleep on the couch. And thank you Alanna for letting me borrow your clothes even though you were asleep. I hope you guys can come to the tournament in two days. Thanks again, bye. - Taylor and Harvey.'

Just a quick filler in chapter. Also, thank you guys for 10k reads on this. I really do appreciate it!