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When Johnny told Robby he wanted them to go for a road trip together, saving Miguel from the hands of his allegedly evil father wasn’t exactly something the boy had been expecting, least of all counting on.
He’d thought they would play old songs in the car and go down to the beach once the sun didn’t feel like it would burn them until their skins melted off, or at least check something off the list Robby had written and rewritten so many times before, when wishing he didn’t have to lie to his principal about his dad taking him on a trip. Yet there they were, searching all around through Mexico for the Diaz dumbass who thought it would be a good idea to disappear in the middle of the night so he could look for his own father.
And he meant it when he thought it was a dumb idea. Oddly enough though, he understood Miguel’s wish to know his progenitor, as Robby himself had that same wish regarding Johnny.
But it still didn’t mean he wanted to be on the guy's search party.
Robby got why Johnny wanted him there. He wanted some father-son bonding time with him, and like the older man had said, it could be the key for Robby to start healing his own relationship with Miguel which he wanted more than anything, as he just needed to let it end. Then again, it could also make things much worse between the boys since no one could never guess with the two of them.
So yeah, he was beginning to feel like the idea of him coming to Mexico, much like the idea of his rival doing so, was just plain stupid.
And aaother thing that made him feel like that was that Robby had left Tory home to do this.
When he’d explained the situation to her, she’d understood. And it wasn’t a surprise for him, because she always understood him and it took the boy only a few days into knowing her to realize that. It felt good to know someone who could get you so well like how he and Tory did with each other.
She’d told him he needed to go and assured him she wasn’t mad at him for that, just like she had when he’d told her he would be leaving Cobra Kai. However, he had been able to tell there was something bothering her and now he couldn’t shake the feeling he should’ve been in Cali with her instead of where he was right now.
Which was why he was so grateful that his phone miraculously started ringing on his pocket as Tory’s name appeared on the screen only a minute after his dad received a call from Carmen. That and he missed his girlfriend so much, holy shit.
A wide grin crept onto his face as he accepted the call.
“Hey you.” Her voice rang in his ears and suddenly, all his troubles and issues were gone.
“Tor.” He breathed out, happily. “Hey, babe. How are you?” Robby pretended he didn’t see his dad not-so-subtly turn his head at that, probably having heard him calling someone ‘babe’, and turned away from the older man.
“Uh, not great. Wishing you were here, to be honest.” Though it wasn’t a lie, she chose to leave out that most of why she was feeling terrible was because she’d found out about Silver’s bribery of the All-Valley referee, and she wasn’t prepared to tell him about that yet. She didn’t know If she would ever be. Telling him would be admitting out loud that she was a fraud, and even though she knew he would never think of her as such, a small part of her didn’t want to even give him any ideas in fear he might.
“Yeah?” She hummed in response. “That makes two of us, then.” He sighed against his cellphone.
“Why? Not enjoying the father-son trip?” She asked, something akin to sadness lacing her tone of voice. If she wasn’t able to feel happy right now, she’d been hoping at least he would.
Apparently though, the universe was really against them both.
“Not much. Things are just rough because, you know, it’s me and my dad. But don’t worry, it should get better soon.” Robby didn’t know If he was trying to convince her or himself as he said that. “And If it doesn’t, I’ll just go back home earlier.”
“Well, either way, I’ll be here for you when you come back.”
He’d already known that, because they were like that with each other. They had each other’s backs, in training and outside of it, no matter what. Whether they were feeling happy and wanted to celebrate, or were down and needed the other to get them back on their feet, they could only trust each other to be vulnerable like that.
It was one of the many reasons why Robby had even started to fall for Tory. Even back when they met at probation and still hated each other, she never failed to tell him what he needed to hear and have his back.
“And you’ll be the first person I’ll go to. I promise.” It was difficult to be apart, especially when they’d just gotten together a little more than a month ago. Robby yearned for her mere presence, longed for the next time he’d see her beautiful face and hold her in his arms. “You don’t know how much I miss you right now.” His girlfriend chuckled, making him do so, too.
“Well, you should tell me then, because you certainly know how much I miss you.” There was a shuffling sound on her end of the line. “I mean, I’m calling you in the middle of my expedient just because I couldn’t bear not hearing your voice at least once before I got home.”
“Tor, you’re at work?! Are you not worried you’re gonna get fired for calling me?” He asked, genuinely concerned for that. She’d had a hard time finding new jobs ever since the school riot, and she’d already lost two of the few ones she’d been able to get. The blonde had told him the new Italian restaurant that had hired her was a better and more flexible place to work at, but he still didn’t want to be the reason her new boss fired her.
She actually laughed this time. It eased his worries, though not by much.
“Relax, you doofus. I’m on my break right now, and I’m allowed to call my boyfriend If I want to.” Somehow, even though he couldn’t see her, he just knew she was visibly waving him off right now. “Now, aren’t you gonna tell me how much you miss me?” She teased him in an innocently cute voice. He chortled.
“Your break only lasts fifteen minutes, I have a list worth hours-long.” The small smile on her face turned a little wider and a lot softer as she heard the sincerity in his voice and hell, she wanted him back so badly. He was the only person who could make her feel better right now. “So unfortunately, you’re gonna have to wait until you’re off the clock.”
“I’m gonna call you then and you’ll regret ever saying that. We’ll be talking all night long.” They wouldn’t. Not because they couldn’t, as they’d done that multiple times before, but because she didn’t want him to be tired when trying to enjoy the rest of his much-deserved trip with his dad.
“Oh no, spending the whole night talking to my girlfriend through the phone about the things I adore the most about her? How dare you!” The sarcasm was dripping from his tone of voice. “Really wicked of you.”
“Thank you.” She laughed once again. He sighed.
“I, at least, wanted to be there to celebrate your win, y’know? You really deserved it, my love, and I’m so proud of you.”
You shouldn’t be, because I didn’t deserve it, she thought, all the way back in California. I’m a fraud. A loser. I’m nothing.
“And you deserved the chance to patch things up with your dad.” Was what she went with instead. Tory would tell him when he got back from the trip, or at least she hoped she would. He shouldn’t have to worry about this kind of thing when he already had so much in his plate. “And I’m proud of you for that, Robby.”
“Thanks, babe.”
The boy heard someone talking to Tory on the other end of the line, far away from her phone.
“Yeah, sure, okay. I’m going.” She told whoever it was that had called her. “Sorry Robs, I gotta go back to work. But I’ll hold you to that list thing and call you as soon as I get home, okay?”
“Alright, have a good day at work!”
“I will try, for sure.” She laughed. “Bye, Robs.”
“Bye, Tor.”
As the call ended, the problems she’d helped soothe came back with full force (especially as Johnny looked in his direction, waiting patiently for him so they could continue fixing the car).
Miguel was still missing; Robby still didn’t have that good of a relationship with his dad and wasn’t sure he could ever heal the one he supposedly had with Diaz; his mom would freak out If she ever found out about this (which was why she never would).
But If going through this trip didn’t get him any sort of good results on those fronts, he found comfort in knowing he still had one great thing going for him: the girl who was waiting for him to go back home.
That was enough to make him get up and back to work. After all, he couldn’t leave his girl waiting for too long.