LXV.                                     Heartbreak Weather

Odessa and Eli walked hand and hand into her house, laughing. When she heard her dad's voice in the kitchen, her laughter died down. "Is your dad here?" Eli voiced.

Thalia and Christian walked out of the kitchen. "There you guys are. How was training?" She asked with a bright smile.

Odessa looked uneasy. "Eventful."

Her statement caused an awkward pause. "Yeah, my day was eventful, too." Christian spoke with a slight laugh. He noticed Eli and his eyebrows raised. "You must be Eli?"

"Yeah. Eli Moskowitz. . ." Eli responded. He looked at his girlfriend, seeing her still uneasy expression. ". . . Sir."

"Christian Beaumont. Nice to finally meet you." Christian introduced himself and stepped forward with his hand stretched out.

Eli understood how hard it was for Odessa with her hand being back. He knew her past and how much her father hurt her. In a way, he should have hated him. But Eli didn't want to be disrespectful, especially to her family. He shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you too. . . sir."

"Chris and I made dinner." Thalia announced.

"Eli and I aren't hungry." Odessa spoke for the both of them, not feeling the urge to sit down and have dinner like they were one big happy family.

The smile on her face faltered. "No?"

"We made pasta and salad." Christian brought up.

"Actually, I am a little hungry." Said Eli and he awkwardly looked at Odessa again. He quickly looked away when she gave him a wide eyed look.

"Oh, stop it, Dess. Don't deprive Eli of my good looking." Thalia dramatically said and took Eli's arm, dragging him into the kitchen.

She and her dad stood in front of each other. Christian put his hands into his pockets. "Actually, I made it. She burnt the first patch of meatballs." He laughed. Odessa just stood there staring at him, not impressed. He cleared his throat. "Right. . . I put extra cherry tomatoes and dressing into the salad just the way you like it."

Her chest felt hollow. Odessa moved past him without saying a word and Christian frowned deeply.

They sat at the kitchen table and piled their plates with food. "Tell us how today went." Thalia insisted to the teenagers.

"We did this egg training thing and Odessa was literally the only person to play it right," Eli explained with a wide smile. "It was so badass."

"That's great, Dess." Her mom smiled at her.

"That's my girl. She's always been the competitive one." Christian proudly said.

Odessa sat there awkwardly in her seat. She formed a smile but it was tight lipped. She didn't respond to their praise.

"So Eli, how long have you been doing karate?"

Eli sat his fork down. "Uh, since the beginning. When Sensei Lawrence reopened Cobra Kai, we all kinda joined together." He looked at Odessa. "Dess was the one to get me to stay."

Odessa smiled at that. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Yeah, well, someone needed to. Look how far you've come since then."

The way they smiled at each other, it reminded Christian of a young him and Thalia. He looked at his ex wife and saw her smiling. Their daughter was in love. The hatred he felt for himself grew because he wasn't there to witness it from the beginning. "So, does that mean we're past the father-boyfriend talk?" Christian joked.

There was another awkward pause. Odessa and Eli looked at each other. He sent her an apologetic smile. She ate the pasta on her fork in silence.

After dinner, Odessa led Eli to her room and she closed the door behind her. She released a heavy sigh. "That was torturous." She said and leaned her back against the door.

Eli sat on her bed. "Could've been worse. He could've been a raging asshole."

Odessa rolled her eyes. "He's not already?" She sarcastically asked.

"I mean. . ." He started to say. He was worried about saying the wrong thing. "I don't see it."

She titled her head at that. "What are you saying? You actually like him?"

"I don't know him well enough to know that!" Eli quickly responded. "But from what I see now, he's trying, Dess. That's a lot more to a most parents do."

"He should've tried three years ago." She snapped and walked to the other side of her room.

Sensing her anger, he sighed and moved on the bed to face her. "I know. You're right. But. . .Dess, he's here now. And he's helping us with the tournament. Maybe. . .Maybe you should try giving him a chance?"

Odessa knew he meant no harm by saying it. But her own pint up anger towards her father wouldn't allow her to see otherwise. She looked at him and glared. "I know you think you understand the situation but you don't. Only Oliver, Gray, and Hailey do, so I don't appreciate you telling me what I should do about the man who abandoned me."

Eli stood from the bed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He quickly apologized and went to hug her. He took her by the arms and wrapped his around her shoulders. "I didn't mean to push it."

Odessa inhaled a deep breath and pressed her forehead to his shoulder. She closed her eyes. "I know, I know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap." She said, frustrated with herself. They broke apart but his hands remained on her forearms. "I'm just not use to him being back and now he's apart of our training, and. . .I don't know how to handle it."

Eli nodded softly. "I get it. I really do. Go your own pace. I'll be by your side no matter what."

Her frustration lifted and Odessa smiled. She kissed his lips quickly. "Okay, come on." She said and led him to her bed. They sat down and she laid on her side. "Tell me what you were upset about earlier."

Eli was hoping she'd forgotten about it. He sighed and leaned his head back. "It's really nothing, babe." He excused.

She wasn't convinced. "Don't act like I don't know when something's bothering you." She slapped his arm. "Spill."

The boyfriend huffed and looked down at her, seeing her expecting expression. Eli leaned back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "Okay, okay. . .Robby said something during training and it kinda, just, set me off."

Odessa frowned slightly. "What did he say?"

Eli really didn't want to talk about it. "He started naming off all the shit I did before, and how I treated you. Then I got really angry and was going to punch him in the face, but Hailey stepped in and set us straight. I think I was more angry at myself than I was him. And, like, I know we're kind of cool now, but, it's still hard to hear." He paused and frowned. "But I did kind of start it, so, guess I deserved it."

She traced her finger along his cheek. "Stop thinking that you deserve to be treated that way. You've changed. You've overcome so much. Robby knows what it's like to be in Cobra Kai, I think the both of you can learn from each other." Eli turned his head and looked at her, his eyes somber. She grinned gently. "And me, I've moved on from everything that happened. You should to. I love you. That's all that matters, right?"

Eli looked into her soft blue eyes and demanded to leave everything behind him. He nodded his eyes. "Yeah, of course." He almost whispered.

She smiled big and leaned down to kiss him again. She forgot about her father in the other room with her mom. About how much she was hurting inside with him around, and all she knew was that she was never in pain with Eli. She was never angry or regretful. She was just happy.

Odessa took Eli's words from last night to heart, but she was still nervous about her dad now being apart of their training. She didn't have her mom to run to, and her dad and Johnny were friends again. She also didn't want anyone in the dojo who didn't know the situation to know anything. She could only focus at the task at hand, which was training for the Sekai Taikai.

"Dude, did you catch that video I sent you of last year's Sekai Taikai?" Eli said to Miguel when they walked into the Larruso's backyard.

"Man, who knew people could kick that high?"

"Or that high." Robby added with a smile, hitting Eli on the arm.

Eli took Odessa's words to heart, too. The feud between him and Robby had gone on for too long. They both understood what it was like to become someone they didn't want to be. Eli got out of it. He changed. He needed to understand that Robby wanted to change as well.

"Uh, hello? Does no one remember my awesome spin kick?" Grayson chimed in and reenacted the spin kick he was taught. "God didn't bless me with these long legs for nothing."

Hailey, who was standing with Sam, rolled her eyes. "Oh, brother."

Robby hummed. "You do have good legs, dude."

Grayson smiled brightly. "Thanks, bro."

"I guess that's why it's the biggest competition in the world." Sam said about the tournament.

"I heard last year's winners did a big car commercial in Taiwan." Eli brought up.

"Dude, imagine being a commercial. What would you do with all that money?" Mitch questioned.

"Get my hair done in Mexico." Hailey stated and brushed her fingers through her hair.

"Buy a lifetime supply of pizza." Said Grayson and he rubbed his stomach.

"I'd buy a yacht with a hot tub. Fill it up with Smarties and hotties." Chris answered and did a dance, making them all laugh.

"I'd become a billionaire who runs his own company and rule over all you mother fuckers." Oliver announced his presence, Odessa walking by his side.

"And I'd be his assistant with my own billions in the bank." She said with a half smile.

He threw his arm around her and smiled. "Hell yeah."

"Odessa, I could definitely see become president." Sam said with her usual smile.

Miguel made a noise of disbelief. "Please, she can barely decide what she wants for dinner, let alone how to run a whole country."

Everyone bursted into laughter again and Odessa flipped him off, laughing sarcastically.

"Alright, alright, let's not get ahead of ourselves." Daniel interrupted when he joined them outside. Johnny, Christian, and Chozen accompanied him.

Her smile fell and she wrapped her arms around herself. Her friends tried not to pay attention to her discomfort.

"Alright, remember, Cobra Mai is gonna do everything they can to get a spot. And if they win this time, kids all over the world are gonna have to deal with the same crap you guys have gone through," Daniel continued.

"But if we win, we can show the world how to stop them." Sam declared.

"First you must prove you can compete with best." Chozen stepped in.

"But in order to do that, you have to be better than the best." Stated Johnny. "Which is why we're gonna kick your asses into high gear!"

"And with help to do that is a good old friend of ours, Christian Beaumont." Daniel introduced and turned everyone's attention to Odessa's dad, who was standing there in silence.

Christian waved at the kids and awkwardly smiled. "Hi, everyone."

Johnny slapped him on the back. "Christian was in Cobra Kai like me and a lot of you. He knows how much it can affected a person, and he's here to help."

"You know karate Mr. Odessa's Dad?" Chris asked the man.

"Well, uh. . ." Christian began to say. "Yeah, I do. I was pretty good."

Johnny scoffed. "Don't let him fool ya. Christian was one of the best. He knows his shit."

The father caught his daughter's eye and she quickly looked away, rubbing the back of her neck that started to feel hot.

"Sensei Laurence, Sensei Tguchi, Sensei Beaumont, and I are gonna get you ready for the presentation tomorrow. Okay, so come on. Let's get warmed up."

"Go! Move those asses!"

Odessa went to put her stuff down. Johnny walked over and stood by her side. "Hey, you doing alright?"

She shrugged off her light blue jacket. "Why wouldn't I be?" She asked without looking him in the eye.

He sighed. "Look, I know the situations weird for you, but your dad knows what he's doing. If you don't trust him, then trust me."

Odessa looked his way. He raised his eyebrows. She gave him a hard stare before sighing. Johnny was a father figure to her when her dad was gone. They were really close, and she loved him just like a daughter should love her father. But she really hated the situation she was in. "Yeah, okay." She nodded.

He half smiled and patted her back. "Atta girl."

She watched as he walked away and went to talk to her dad. As they talked, Christian glanced at her and that time, Odessa didn't look away immediately. She inhaled a deep breath through her nose. From across the yard, she spotted Eli and he raised his eyebrows, asking if she was okay. She faked a smile and nodded, but it fell when he went back to talking to Miguel. "Let's get this over with."

I know I haven't updated in like a year, but Odessa and Eli are my first Cobra Kai couple and they deserve my attention <333