After winning their competition on the high-rise platform against Dublin Thunder and getting Sam's trust back, Mackenzie and Sam went to dinner at the restaurant in the hotel lobby—Sam's treat as an apology for how she had been acting these past couple days.

When Mackenzie got back to her room, she showered, got into comfier clothes and sprawled out onto her bed, staring blankly at whatever movie the hotel television was playing.

Every few seconds though, Mackenzie heard her doorknob jiggle. At first, she thought it was just the door rattling from the rooms nearby opening and closing their doors, but when her hotel room door opened completely, Mackenzie realized someone got in.

Mackenzie yelped, shooting off her bed so fast, she was shocked she didn't get any whiplash or head rush. On instinct, she got into her fighting stance; her fist raised and her knees bent as the intruder came in.

Her fists dropped when she realized it was only Demetri.

Again.

Mackenzie rolled her eyes and walked toward the door, her eyebrows furrowed. "Did you just pick my lock?" She asked as Demetri strolled in like Mackenzie's hotel room was his own.

The door shut behind him and Mackenzie quickly reopened it to see how on Earth he got in. There's no lock on the outside, so there wasn't anything for him to pick. How the hell did he get in?

Demetri scoffed at the accusation, his eyebrows raising defensively as he turned around to face her. "What? No! You gave me the spare key." He said in an obvious tone, raising his hand to show off the keycard that opened Mackenzie's door. Mackenzie would've left the conversation at that, only she didn't Demetri a key card to her room.

Her eyes widened and when Demetri's face reddened, Mackenzie realized Demetri was caught. "I did not give you the spare!" She spat, snatching the card out of Demetri's hands.

Demetri rolled his eyes, his gaze following the card in Mackenzie's hands before he finally looked her in the eyes. "Okay, fine! I saw it lying on the desk and took it!" He groaned, throwing his hands out to point at the dresser the television was set on. Mackenzie opened her mouth to reprimand him, but before he could get a word out, Demetri beat her to it, shaking his head and stepping closer to her.

"You said I could come over any time when I was upset about Eli! I figured if I just had a key, I wouldn't have to bother waking you by knocking!" He tried to defend.

Mackenzie sighed, her shoulders slumping and the angry crease in her brow disappearing. Demetri relaxed at the sight, the smallest smile creeping onto his lips. With a defeated eye roll, Mackenzie handed Demetri back the card and crossed her arms over her chest.

"So... what are you upset about?" She asked, shrugging her shoulders tiredly.

Demetri fell back onto the spare bed beside Mackenzie's, a dramatic groan leaving his lips as he bounced slightly on the mattress.

"Miguel and Sensei Lawrence went back home." Demetri breathed out and Mackenzie's eyes could've popped out of her head. She moved to stand directly in front of Demetri, her arms still crossed and her eyes still as big as saucers.

"What?" Mackenzie yelled and frankly, Demetri was struggling to look her in the eyes. She was looked like a mom reprimanding him for something he shouldn't have done.

"Something happened to Miguel's mom." Demetri explained and he finally looked up at Mackenzie just as her face softened into worry. He immediately raised his hands in reassurance, shaking his head. "They don't have any definite answer right now, but since the two of them got on the plane, she's been stable." He quickly said before Mackenzie could worry for too long.

Mackenzie let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding in. Her arms dropped by her sides as she moved to sit beside Demetri, accidentally landing on part of him because she didn't realize how close he was.

"Oh my God..." She whispered under her breath as Demetri scooted a few inches away from her to give her more space and to get a better look at her. She stared off in front of the two of them, shaking her head. "What are we gonna do?" She asked, not really expecting an answer.

But Demetri had one.

He smiled, raising a hand to playfully point at Mackenzie. "That, my dear friend, is Sensei LaRusso and Sensei Toguchi's issue. What we are gonna do is go to the tapas bar." He hummed happily.

Mackenzie finally looked away from the blank wall in front of them to squint at Demetri. "Excuse me?" She asked, but Demetri only readjusted in his spot again, moving so he was facing her completely. "Hawk already talked to Sensei Toguchi. We've got the okay to go. All of us were gonna head down. You, Sam, and Devon were our last stops before we left. Hawk and Robby are talking to them right now." Demetri asked before he raised his eyebrows, rutting his elbow into Mackenzie's side playfully.

"So... You want to go?"

Mackenzie pursed her lips as she thought about it. Miguel was already on the plane so it wasn't like she'd be hearing an update from him anytime soon. Plus, Mackenzie needed to get her mind off the Tory of this whole competition.

She sighed, pushing herself off the bed and walking toward her luggage she didn't care to unpack. "Let me go change."

...

The Miyagi-Do's were at the bar for around thirty minutes. Robby wanted to sit at the bar and Mackenzie was tempted to join him—be by his side as they both suffer through Tory's betrayal, but the bar was too intimidating for Kenzie, even if she wanted to be there for Robby. So while Sam moved to be that shoulder of comfort for Robby, Mackenzie sat at a booth across the bar with Hawk, Demetri, and Devon.

Mackenzie sat on the edge of the booth, next to Hawk. Across from her was Devon with Demetri sitting on the inside. Mackenzie stared at her vodka-coke in front of her, spinning the straw in her drink until it made a little tidal-pool. She wanted to do something; drink more wildly, dance or something, but Eli only agreed to take one shot with her and no one wanted to dance.

"What are we gonna do now that Sensei Lawrence and Miguel are gone?" Devon asked nervously, sliding down into her seat.

Mackenzie looked between the three through her eyelashes and from her peripheral vision, she could see Hawk shrug. "I heard there gonna fly in Kenny." He said and Mackenzie squinted to herself. Slowly, she turned to face Eli, shaking her head.

"From who?" She asked and as Hawk just shrugged as a response, Demetri scoffed, bringing his drink up to his lips.

"Yeah, cause the kid that shit his pants is totally gonna save the day." He muttered sarcastically before drinking a swig of his drink.

Mackenzie was about to snap at the boy, to lean over Hawk and smack on the arm or upside the head, but just before she could, Mackenzie eyes caught the bar doors opening.

And her heart sank watching Tory walk in with the rest of Cobra Kai.

The bar suddenly felt hot, the air in the room getting denser and harder to breathe in. She looked down at her drink and suddenly felt nauseous just looked down at it. Mackenzie swallowed the lump forming in her throat and shot out of the booth so fast, it startled Hawk beside her.

"I'm gonna go get some air." Her words came out jumbled and she didn't even give time for any of them to respond before she practically sprinted to the door.

Hawk turned to Demetri and smacked his arm, making Demetri's eyes snap away from Mackenzie and the Cobra's she was heading straight for because they were in front of the door and turn to Eli.

"Nice going, man. You made her upset in..." Hawk paused to look down at his watch. A dry laugh left his mouth as he looked back up to Demetri. "30 minutes! That's a new record!"

Demetri's face twisted and he started to shake his head crazily. "Hey! It wasn't me! Look who just walked in!" He screeched, pointing to the door just as Mackenzie reached her sister.

"Mack-" Tory started, reaching out to grab Mackenzie's arm, but Mackenzie ripped her arm out of Tory's grasp and continued to walk out.

She covered her jacket around herself tighter the second she reached the outside and cursed to herself. "It's always so cold at the beach." Mackenzie grumbled to herself before hearing her own words and remembering the bar was practically right on the water.

Mackenzie took slow walks to the beach, smiling as soon as the salty breeze hit her nostrils and she could finally hear waves crashing.

She walked until she was just about ten feet away from where the tides ended.

As Mackenzie moved to start walking side by side with the water, she finally realized she wasn't alone on the beach. Her steps stopped completely and she smiled watching Axel work on his kata.

Axel hadn't noticed her yet, too focused on what he was working on, but Mackenzie couldn't pull her eyes away from him. He was a really good fighter. And it didn't help her case that the boy was shirtless.

After a couple seconds of guilty staring, Mackenzie took a step toward him. "Hey there, stranger!" She called out, loud enough to get his attention, but not to startle him.

Axel froze, his arms dropping and his face flushing. Mackenzie couldn't tell if it was because of her or his workout in the cold weather, but she didn't mind it. He looked cute either way.

Watching and getting to talk with Axel these past couple of days, Mackenzie had finally come to the realize (or at least finally admitted to herself) that she definitely liked Axel. He was sweet, hard-working and extremely attractive. Sue her.

Seeing the way Axel's face fell into a dopey smile made Mackenzie's stomach flip. He straightened up, running a hand through his sweaty hair as he stared back at her. "Hello, Mackenzie." He breathed out through his smile.

Mackenzie would've smiled back. She wanted to, but she couldn't shake the thought that Axel was still training this late at night. Ever since she saw how his sensei treated him, Mackenzie would feel a twist in her stomach watching him fight or train.

"You're training again? It's late... again." Mackenzie asked gently, her head tilting as she took a few steps toward him.

Axel stared at Mackenzie as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn't have. He blinked, his mouth opening and closing in shock before he looked away from Mackenzie as if it would make her disappear. "My sensei says there's always time for training." Axel said and it took everything in Mackenzie not to scoff.

Her eyebrows raised, annoyed at just the mention of his sensei. She took an another step toward him, shaking her head. "Yeah, well, your sensei's kinda a huge asshole." She spat and Axel could tell the venom in her voice was toward the man, not him. He couldn't help but snicker at Mackenzie's words. She was right. Sensei Wolf was an asshole.

Hearing his laughter, Mackenzie's eyes widened and she fought hard to hide a smile. Axel just stared back at her and after unashamedly staring at her for a few seconds, he moved to pick his shirt up off the ground.

As he bent down, his back was on full display for Mackenzie and she gasped at the three big red bruises across his back.

She took a step toward him, reaching out, but not touching him as her heart sank. "Oh my God! Axel, your back..." Mackenzie whispered in worry and almost instantly, Axel shot back up, nervously muttering "uhs" and "ums" as he threw his shirt back on.

"It's just from uh... bo staff competition." He answered and Mackenzie only squinted at him. She remembered the bo staff competition very well and she specifically remembers Hawk going up against Axel and never even scoring a point on him.

"I watched your fight. No one landed a hit on you." Mackenzie said with a shake of her head. Whatever panic Axel was feeling in that moment completely disappeared hearing that and his eyes practically sparkled.

"You watched my fight?" He asked with a growing smile on his face.

Mackenzie couldn't help but smile. She rolled her eyes playfully as a small fit of giggles left her lips. "Of course I did. You're amazing out there!" She practically said in awe.

She felt butterflies swarm around in her stomach at the smile that took over Axel's face, but she had to get back on topic.

Mackenzie's smile slowly started to fizzle out as she shook her head and pointed at Axel with a knowing look. "And I know for a fact that's not from the fight."

Axel sighed at the fact that he was caught. He knew there was no way to get Mackenzie to believe whatever lie he comes up with. She saw everything.

"My sensei wants me to be the best. It's because of him that I never lose." He tried to defend, like he was trained to say it. Mackenzie just stared at the boy, shaking her head in shock. "There are others ways of teaching then..." Mackenzie paused, not wanting to say what she saw out loud. Axel gulped as Mackenzie shook her head and continued. "That. You're pretty great, but you don't need to be under those rules to be it."

Axel blushed at the compliment, dipping his head just a little. "Thank you. You're pretty... um..." Axel's words got caught in his throat and his face reddened. Mackenzie smiled watching the boy, feeling her own twist in her stomach.

After a couple seconds, Axel let out a breathy laugh and nodded his head. "You're pretty great too. I liked the sacrifice you made for your teammate on the platform today."

Mackenzie smiled wider at that, her shoulders getting taller and head getting higher at the compliment. She shrugged so it wouldn't seem like the compliment affected her too much and took a step closer to Axel. "Needed to be done. Had to regain my teams trust."

Axel's eyebrows raised at that, his smile relaxing a bit and his head tilting. "Issues with your team is better?" He asked, recalling their conversation in the elevator a few days before. The conversation she had with Axel just after Mackenzie got in a fight with the entire team.

Mackenzie nodded, running a hand through her hair to relieve some of the tangles, but it hardly worked since the wind from the water just kept coming. "Yeah, now it's just sister issues." She breathed out, turning to face the water.

It was quick for Axel to put two and two together about Mackenzie and Tory being sisters. They both had the same last name and looked eerily similar. He would've asked Mackenzie about it, let her talk about it if she wanted to, but looking at her—the way her nose scrunched, her lips pressed together, and her arms were crossed over herself as if to build some barrier, Axel knew right now wasn't that moment.

But he also didn't want to stop talking to her.

His eyebrows raised and he smiled at Mackenzie, taking a step the the right so he was further in her line of eyesight. "I was about to head back to the hotel. Do you want to walk with me?" Axel asked, finally getting Mackenzie to face him all the way.

He watched the way she relaxed at his words. Her arms dropped from over her chest, her nose unwrinkled and her lips twisted into a soft smile that made Axel's heart practically leap out of his chest.

"I'd love to." Mackenzie practically hummed, her whole body feeling lighter now as she walked toward Axel. Once she was side by side with him, the two started to walked together, their shoulders knocking into each other every now and then, but neither of them cared to step away from the other.

"So what do you think of Barcelona?" Mackenzie asked, looking up to face Axel as they entered the alley short-cut to the hotel.

She watched the way Axel smiled down at his shoes at the question. He turned his head so he was looking down at her instead and he sighed. "Reminds me of Koh Samui." He hummed and Mackenzie's eyes widened. She turned to face Axel completely as they walked, a big smile growing on her face.

"No way! You've been to Thailand?" Mackenzie gawked and Axel blushed at her excitement. He didn't really want to brag, but seeing how excited Mackenzie was hearing where he has traveled, he only wanted to continue on. Maybe make himself seem cooler in her eyes.

"And Japan, China, Malaysia, India, every country in Europe, the states." He listed, sending her a small smirk and a look when he brought up the United States.

He felt a warmth spread across his chest watching Mackenzie just stare up at him in awe. After a couple seconds, his eyebrows raised and he purposely moved to nudge her arm with his elbow. "What about you?" He asked.

Mackenzie sighed at the question, looking away from Axel and down the alley. "I've been to every city in California. That's about it." She giggled out and Axels eyebrows raised when that was all she listed. She's never been anywhere else?

"Do you want to travel?" He asked, his voice sweet and filled with something Mackenzie couldn't quite put her finger on, but it made her feel nice.

Actually, it made her feel so nice, she had to look down at the concrete behind her feet to hide her bashful smile. "I don't know." She said slowly, her voice sounding a little higher as she shrugged. Mackenzie tilted her head and looked back down the alley. "I mean... I've moved around so much, I just want to stand still for a bit. And I love Los Angeles. And so does my little brother."

At the mention of Mackenzie's little brother, Axle perked up. He remembered Mackenzie talking about him the first time they met back at the field trip to the aquarium.

"The one you bought the sweater for?" He asked, wanting to make sure Mackenzie didn't have another brother he maybe didn't know about.

Mackenzie's smile doubled in size at the question and she nodded her head, moving to look up at Axel. "Yeah, Brandon. Thanks for the help on picking out the sweater by the way." She chuckled out and when Axel just shrugged, his one lips fighting a smile, Mackenzie continued.

"I love that kid more than anything. Maybe that's why I like Los Angeles so much. I don't see myself leaving him. I applied to USC and LMU so we can stay. I should be hearing from them any day now." Mackenzie rambled on. Axels eyebrows furrowed a little at her words, not really understanding why Brandon would have to move if Mackenzie decided to leave Los Angeles for school.

Just before he could ask her anything, Mackenzie's eyes softened and just like that, Axel's heart skipped a beat.

"What about you? Are you about to graduate?" Mackenzie asked. She didn't really realize until that moment that she truly didn't know much about Axel—his grade, birthday, family—she wanted to know it. All of it.

Axel gave her a sheepish smile in return, nodding his head. "Yeah, I am. I actually did a competition in Los Angeles when I was 16. I loved it so I applied to USC as well as international student." Axel said, looking to Mackenzie and gesturing to her with a big smile.

When Mackenzie eyes brightened hearing that, he tried to not let it affect him and scratched the back of his neck, forcing his eyes away from her. "And other schools around the world. I don't really want to stay home like you." He added all in one breath.

Mackenzie pushed her lips together to try and calm down her smile, but she could stop the way the corner of her lips twisted upward. She playfully nudged Axels arm with her own hard enough to make him stumble just a bit. When he looked back at her with a breathy laugh, Mackenzie just smiled back at him.

"Well, maybe we could go to USC together. You can stick with me so I can show you around LA." Mackenzie offered and Axel was sure his heart stopped beating all together right then and there.

Mackenzie wanted to hang out with him more.

Mackenzie wanted him to come to Los Angeles.

"Yeah." He breathed out, blinking in an awe-shock as he stared down at the blonde beside him. "You and me at USC."

Mackenzie blushed at his words, her mind reeling of scenarios and ideas for if/when Axel comes to the states. A happy—practically giddy—laugh passed through her lips and she dropped her head to hide the heat growing in her cheeks.

"How cute!" A voice called out.

Mackenzie's head snapped away from ground and to whoever was speaking. Her eyes landed on Kwon and Yoon, big smirks on their faces as stood right in the way of where Mackenzie and Axel wanted to walk.

"Little rival team play time, huh?" He chuckled out, looking back and forth between Axel and Mackenzie before finally settling his eyes on the Nichols girl.

He blinked in shock. Standing this close to her, Kwon realized how much she actually looked like Tory.

Kwon quickly pushed away that thought and took a step toward her, his smirk only getting bigger—more teasing.

"You just love making connections with the other teams, Nichols..." He breathed out and once he was just about a foot away from her, he tried to take a couple more steps toward her to be more intimidated, but out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Axel tense, forcing himself not to jump in.

Kwon looked up at Axel for a split second, a scoffed laugh passing through his lips before he turned back to Mackenzie, whose jaw was clenched and her arms were crossed tightly over her chest. "Your sisters with us, you're out with Iron Dragons..." Kwon listed in taunting voice before his eyebrows furrowed in a faux-confusion. "Don't you like your own team? Or do they not like you?"

Axel was quick to step in, squeezing himself into the small space between Kwon and Mackenzie to glare down at the boy. "Hey, leave her alone." He warned as one of his hands gently went behind him to push Mackenzie further away from the boys.

Mackenzie let him, looking back the way they came from in the process and gulping when she saw three more Cobra Kai's walk over, cornering them. Mackenzie quickly turned back to Axel and grabbed his hand. She tried to pull him back and away from Kwon, but Axel was bigger and stronger than her.

"Let's just go." She whispered and after about five seconds, she felt Axel's hand relax in hers and he finally stepped back.

Mackenzie grip on Axel's hand tightened and she tried to tug him past Kwon and Yoon so they could finally leave the alley, but the two boys stepped closed together, their shoulders bashing together to block Mackenzie's way.

Kwon smirked down at Mackenzie, bending down to get to her height and pressing his hands onto his knees to get right in her face.

"Say the magic words."

Mackenzie's jaw clenched and Kwon's smirk grew more seeing the way her face reddened in anger.

"Get the fuck out of my way." Mackenzie spat.

Kwon's eyebrows shot up at her words. He looked back at Yoon beside him and laughed. As he turned back to Mackenzie, his laughter slowly started to die down and his smile was wiped clean from his face. "Wrong."

Axel's fists clenched at his sides and Yoon was able to notice him readying up to fight and immediately jumped into action. Yoon threw a punch at Axel and Kwon stepped closer to Mackenzie, a taunting smile on his face.

"Come on! Hit me!"

Mackenzie looked back to the boys behind her and when she saw them running up on her, she kicked the boy coming at her straight in his chest, sending him to the floor. To make sure he stayed down, Mackenzie spun, sending a round kick to the boys head so he wouldn't get back up again to keep fighting her.

Kwon reached out and grabbed Mackenzie's shoulder. Without even thinking and completely moving on instinct, Mackenzie swung her elbow back, hitting Kwon right in the jaw.

She could hear police sirens as Kwon instantly let go of her to rub his jaw in pain. Mackenzie watched as the boy started to get angrier by the second and he let out a battle cry before he threw a punch at Mackenzie.

Mackenzie raised her arms, blocking Kwon's punches aimed at her face with her forearms. While her arms were up, Mackenzie wrapped her hands around the boys head and brought it down just as she raised her knee, slamming Kwon's head into it.

Yoon grabbed Kwon's arm once Mackenzie let go of him and started to pull him away from her and Axel. "Shit! That's the cops. We can't get caught!" Yoon yelled as he started to drag Kwon away.

Mackenzie looked to Axel, who looked unscathed and started to grab his elbow. "Axel, we should go." Mackenzie breathed out. Axel jumped at her touch, not knowing if it was another Cobra Kai or not, but once he realized it was only Mackenzie, Axel nodded and they ran out of the alley the way they came and back toward the beach.

Mackenzie looked back once they reached the sand, checking to make sure none of the Cobra Kai's followed after them. When she saw no one around, Mackenzie's running slowed, her hands moving to her knees to catch her breath.

"Those douchebags." Mackenzie breathed out, running a hand through her hair. She pushed herself off of her knees and stood up straight, her head falling back to let the cool beach breeze hit her burning up face.

She could see Axel watching her out of the corner of her eye and she craned her head enough to look at him and he smiled. "Nice roundkick." He said and Mackenzie laughed, turning to face him.

"Nice..." Mackenzie paused to think about it before she realized Axel didn't get hit at all in the fight. She blinked and let out a little giggle as she shook her head. "Everything, really. They didn't seem to get a hand on you." Mackenzie hummed, gesturing up and down to Axel.

The boys face flushed and he let a smile nervously grow on his face as his head dipped. He peaked at Mackenzie through his eyelashes, his entire face heating up as she took a couple steps closer to him.

She looked past Axel, over his shoulder since he was bent down still from trying to catch his before she turned back to him.

Axel started to stand back up straight when Mackenzie smiled, her head craning up to follow Axel's eyes as he got taller and taller. "We should probably head back. It's getting late." She started and Axel frowned. He didn't want this night to end. Before Kwon and the other Cobra Kai's showed up, he was really enjoying getting to know Mackenzie more.

Luckily, he didn't have to feel upset for too long because now, Mackenzie's face was the one that started to redden and Axel noticed the way she suddenly struggled to look him in the eyes. "If you want... we could hang out at my room for a bit? Watch a movie or something?" Mackenzie suggested softly, her voice the quietest Axel had ever heard her speak in the few days he's known her.

He thought it was cute how nervous she was. How she twiddled with her hands in front of her and her voice came out sing-songy to relieve the tension she was feeling.

But even though Mackenzie was very nervous asking Axel to come over, Axel felt a wave of butterflies hit him like a ton of bricks receiving the question.

He blinked and felt his stomach twist—or maybe to do a flip, he wasn't too sure—before he finally composed himself enough to let out a "casual" breath of air and nod.

"Yeah... Yeah, that sounds nice."

emily speaks...
disappeared for a bit there😓my bad
BUT IM BACK AND MAXEL IS THRIVING LIKE CRAZYYYYY

next chapter is soo🤭🤭i'm so excited to work on it more and even more excited for you guys to read it!! i'll see you guys soon and thank you for all of your patience<3 ik i do slow updates🫤🫤MWAH