The Things I Can Do Without [Karate Kid Fanfic]

A Heartbreak Situation

The rest of the week had been...strange. Danielle wasn't going to say it was great, but it wasn't bad. It was even better than her earlier time with them in the mansion, given how (though their existence together had been almost peaceful before anyhow) they were now spending more time in each other's presence, rather than trying to avoid running into each other. She was making an effort. She wasn't...she wasn't trying to hide from the world, from them.

If anything, she refused to wilt away from life after what happened, no matter what. That would just mean that Mike Barnes had won over her, and she wouldn't let that happen.

She just needed to stop flinching around John and Terry (she still wasn't sure about using their first names, but they had insisted and she was making an effort. Right. An effort). Or having nightmares.

At least her door muffled her screams at night.

"Mm, are you making omelets?" she heard Terry ask eagerly.

She felt herself begin to smile, and she let herself a little bit.

"Do you want one?" she raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly.

"Only if we get to eat with you," John entered the kitchen too, taking a seat at the island counter.

Danielle's smirk faltered and she looked hesitant. The two men looked at her expectantly, but they didn't push her.

'Compromise, Danielle. You need to move on with your life.'

"Sure," she agreed. "Two more omelets coming up, huh? Everything on the counter?"

"No mushrooms for me," Terry rocked on his feet, humming slightly. "My Ma used to tell me they were rat's umbrellas when I was a kid. Never got over that."

John rolled his eyes, while Danielle giggled.

"No tomatoes please," John requested, and Danielle nodded and got to work, chewing on her lower lip in concentration.

Still, she could feel their stares at her back, making her uncomfortable. She was hyperaware of them. Always had been, really. Their combined attention was a lot to take sometimes, but they were always careful to keep a distance until she relaxed or allowed them in closer.

Sometimes though, her hyperawareness and being uncomfortable was for other reasons that made her unwilling to look into and examine within herself. It brought up thoughts of her idiotic infatuation with Terry back in those days where she wanted to be a willing student for him, and the strange fascination she had with even John back when he was just the sensei of a bunch of stupid boys she was fighting with.

A thump near her and feeling a warm body coming slightly close shocked her out of her thoughts and made her yelp, defensively lashing out with a fist. She blinked as she turned and saw Terry leaning away, his arm still up to block her. They exchanged shocked looks, before they both slowly relaxed.

"I-I'm sorry," Danielle started feeling shame and frustration with herself, also aware of John's gaze on her, even if she wasn't looking his way. "I didn't mean to do that."

"No, I'm sorry," Terry held up his hands. "I shouldn't have startled you. You alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she muttered, trying to go back to focusing on cooking. "I'm...working on that."

"We understand," she heard John say from behind her. "Don't worry about it."

Angrily, she turned off the stove and tossed the spatula on the counter before going to face them.

"I can't stop worrying about it!" she shouted. "I'm tired of being like this! I'm tired of being skittish and flinching all the time! I'm tired of being like some kind of...some kind of scared deer, always ready to run off! Why the hell did I learn karate for, if it wasn't to do something against jerks like Barnes and stop something like that?! What's wrong with me that I couldn't even fight back properly to stop him?"