As much as Dylan's liked hanging out with her friends over the weekends, she also loved getting to just stay home and do nothing.

Like today, Dylan didn't wake up until noon, the smell of her dad's famous banana-chocolate chip pancakes wagting into her room.

Her and Devin walked out of their room at the same time and it was almost comical how the sister treaded down the stairs and toward the kitchen. It was almost like those cartoons where the character floats toward the smell, their eyes closed in bliss and the faintest smiled on their faces.

The three Lee's watched Avengers: Age of Ultron, that was playing on their cable tv and every now and then, Dylan's eyes would move from the tv and to her phone sitting by her lap.

She text Sam late the night before, well past when the LaRusso girl was asleep, but even now at noon, Sam hadn't responded yet.

Dylan tried not to let herself get too nervous. Maybe Sam was busy. Maybe Sam left her phone at home while she did errands. Maybe she thought she had already responded to Dylan's text.

Dylan just tried to not let it get to her head.

She would've been fine. Dylan would've brushed it off completely if six more hours hadn't gone by and she still never got a response.

It was six o'clock at night now and nothing. Dylan opened her Instagram as her stomach twisted in worry. She thought back to a couple months earlier, when Moon and Yasmine hadn't been responding to her only to find out the two girls were hanging out without.

With a nervous and heavy heart, Dylan found Sam's account and let out a breath of relief seeing that Sam hadn't posted on her story.

But Aisha did.

Aisha used to be friends with Sam. Dylan thought maybe Sam was hanging out with Aisha for the day.

She clicked on the Robinson girls story and although she didn't see Sam, Aisha's post still caught her eye.

Aisha was promoting a party that was happening tonight. A party that was in the exact same spot Yasmine had been planning her birthday at for the past ten months.

And it just started.

Dylan was uninvited from Yasmine's birthday after she stopped being friends with her and Moon, but seeing Aisha make her own party to ruin Yasmine's, Dylan thought it could be fun. Free alcohol and getting to watch Yasmine's birthday get ruined?

Dylan was all in.

A small, breathy chuckle left her lips and without a second thought, she pushed herself off her bed and started to put on her shoes. "Oh, there is no way I'm missing this." Dylan muttered under her breath. She grabbed her purse, ran out of her room and down the stairs of her home.

"Dad! I'm going out tonight!" Was all she screamed before she slammed the door shut behind her and practically sprinted to her car.

...

When Dylan got to the canyons, there was still a decent amount of parking. For a second, Dylan was nervous that the party was a bust and that was why there was a lack of cars, but hearing the people cheering and the music blaring, Dylan quickly realized a lot of people either carpooled or got dropped off.

She got out of her car, threw her purse over her shoulder and started to carefully walk down the dirt hill so she didn't slip.

Dylan heard whispers at her arrival and the fact that this was Yasmine's party she was now crashing.

Two people that immediately took notice of the girl was Aisha Robinson and Hawk.

Aisha turned to face the girl coming straight toward her with open arms and a big smile that Dylan couldn't tell was genuine or fake.

"Dylan Lee. Welcome." Aisha cheered and Dylan just hoped that the smile was genuine as she stopped in front of Aisha and Hawk. She looked between the two, pushing some hair out of her face from the wind and smiled.

"Thanks. Saw the post and figured I could get a few laughs out seeing Yasmine's face when she sees her party is ruined." Dylan giggled, pushing her hands into her leather jacket pockets and looking around the canyons with an anticipating look.

She turned back to Aisha and Hawk just as the their laughter started to die out. Dylan's eyes nervously bounced back and forth between the two before she blurted a handful of words she hardly thought about before they were out in the open.

"I'm sorry about what she's said and done to you." Her eyes were on Aisha before she turned to look at Hawk beside her. "You too." She added and Hawk nodded. Ever since Dylan drove him and Demetri home from the Halloween dance, Hawk's realized Dylan wasn't the mean kind of popular like Yasmine was. She was genuine.

Dylan smiled at the boys gesture before she shivered and curling into herself a little as cold gust of wind his the small canyon. "I've tried to stop her but her heads too far up her own ass to listen to anybody that's not herself." She scoffed out, her eyes on the ground instead of either of them.

Hawk snickered at Dylans words, dipping his head to try his hardest to hide it while Aisha just smiled beside him.

"It's alright." Aisha reassured with a softer smile than Hawks wide one. The boy turned around and grabbed a bottle from the cooler at his feet. Hawk turned back around and handed that bottle of beer to Dylan.

"Want a beer?" Hawk asked. Dylan's eyes moved down and behind Hawk. From the looks of it, all they brought were beers, vodka, and no mixers.

She turned back to Hawk, then the bottle in his hands, and then smiled. "Yes, please." She breathed out with a small chuckle, taking the cold bottle of beer out of Hawks hands once he opened it for her.

As Dylan brought the bottle to her lips and tried her hardest to take a sip of the alcohol without cringing—God, she hated beer—Hawks eyes moved to the top of the hill Dylan had just walked down and a smile spread across his entire face. He gently hit Dylan's arm with his own bottle of beer to her attention and once she was looking at him, Hawk pointed to the hill with the top of his beer.

"Hey, turn around! You're about to miss your wish."

Dylan's eyebrows creased before she turned around. As soon as her eyes landed on Yasmine pulling into a parking spot with Kyler, Moon, and Brucks, Dylan finally understood what Hawk was talking about.

She turned to face the scene completely, watching Yasmine climb out of the car and her face visibly pale at the crowd of kids she didn't invite.

Dylan giggled, bringing the beer to her lips to silence them as she stepped back. She accidentally bumped into Hawk, but the boy brought his hand up to the small of Dylan's back so she wouldn't fall over. His hand dropped once he's knew she was standing completely upright and he began to laugh with her as Yasmine started to scream and yell.

Yasmine's eyes looked over the entire canyon. When her eyes found Dylan with none other than the two kids she bullied the most, Yasmine froze.

But Dylan just smiled up at Yasmine. It was a petty smile, yes, but a smile nonetheless. With the beer still at her lips, Dylan twiddled her fingers up and off the bottle to send a taunting wave to the girl.

Yasmine's face reddened in a mix of anger and embarrassment. Before she could finally react to Dylan being at her stolen party, she noticed Moon walking down the hill and right into the party out of the corner of her eyes.

"Hey, Dylan!"

Dylan turned her head at the voice calling her name from her right and immediately smiled as Miguel walked right up to her.

"Oh, hey, Miguel!" Dylan cheered, but Miguel didn't mirror her smile, his eyes glued to his phone instead.

Since his eyes on his phone and not where he was walking, he accidentally crashed into Dylan. His head snapped up to look at Dylan, muttering a small apology before he looked back down at his phone again.

"Hey, sorry. It's just... have you heard from Sam?" Miguel asked, frowning down at his texts open to Sam.

Dylan unashamedly looked down at their messages and she pressed her lips together when she noticed that Miguel didn't double text her, didn't triple text her, and didn't even quadruple text her.

Miguel texted Sam enough times that Dylan would have to scroll up to find a time Sam responded to him.

Her mouth opened and closed in shock as she stared down at the phone before she looked up to Miguel's eyes. Dylan frowned, shaking her head and before she could even speak, Miguel was sighing, turning his phone off and angrily shoving it into his pocket.

"No, I haven't heard from her all day." Dylan muttered gently. She pulled her phone out of her purse to double check and make sure she didn't miss any text and she ignored the way Miguel practically hovered over her out of nervousness to double check with her.

When she opened her texts with Sam and saw still no responses from her three texts, Dylan flipped her phone around to show Miguel. Her lips were pressed together and she shook her head in defeat.

She put her phone back into her purse as Miguel sighed, his head dropping. After a couple seconds, he looked back up until his eyes locked with Dylan. "Okay, if she texts you, can you let me know?" He asked, his words a little slurred and shaky.

Dylan looked down at the boys hands a noticed a beer bottle in his hands. Her lips parted as she looked back to Miguel's face and finally noticed the out-of-it, drunk look on his face. Whatever anxiety he was feeling about Sam not answering probably only heightened with the alcohol he's been drinking.

Dylan smiled at the boy. A smile that was almost motherly and caring. Surprisingly, it eased Miguel a little bit.

"Yeah, of course." She said through her smile. Miguel nodded, going to walk away, but Dylan stopped him with an outstretched hand.

"And Miguel?" She called out. Miguel stopped walking and turned around to face her.

"I'm sure she's just busy or got her phone taken away or something." Dylan reassured with a simple shake of her head and a soft smile to try and calm the boys nerves. Dylan would be lying if she didn't say she wasn't also nervous about Sam's lack of replies. Normally, the girl answered at an eerily fast rate.

Miguel forced a smile onto his face and Dylan could tell by the way it didn't fully reach his eyes, that it wasn't real. She didn't question it or push it—she didn't really have time to before he nodded and walked away.

...

Two hours into the party, the sky started to darken and the cold spring air started to hit. Dylan shivered and tightened her jacket around herself as she walked around the canyon. Yasmine and Moon ended up staying while Kyler and Brucks left. Dylan didn't want to talk to either girls–she tried to stick with just Aisha, but then Hawk waltzed over with Moon under his arms. Dylan moved to leave before Moon reached an arm out and grabbed Dylan's, stopping her from walking.

Moon apologized to Dylan right then and there. Yes, Dylan was extremely uncomfortable considering Hawk and Aisha just stood there right beside the two girls to watch, but Dylan had to admit, hearing Moon apologize, hearing the sincerity in her voice... Dylan couldn't decline the girls apology.

She stayed with three of them for another thirty minutes before she left to get another drink. Dylan wasn't drunk, but her body was starting to warm up from all the alcohol in her body and she wasn't complaining.

As Dylan crouched down at the cooler filled with alcohol, she noticed–and ignored–the fact that Yasmine was just seven feet away from her, her arms crossed angrily and her face twisted into an annoyed glare.

What Dylan didn't ignore was the fact that Demetri stood right beside her, completely oblivious to the girls anger.

"I don't normally converse with the opposite sex. Well, except for my mom. Even then it's a bit intimidating. My move is usually to just watch from a distance, you know?" Demetri rambled and Dylan blinked in shock at Demetri horrible attempt to talk to her.

Yasmine scoffed, her arms crossing over her chest tighter as she stepped away from Demetri as if he had the plague. Demetri noticed and shook his head.

"Not in a creepy stalker way. Consider me more of an admirer from afa..."

Demetri's words trailed off as Yasmine practically sprinted away from him.

Dylan watched the way Demetri just watched the blonde go. He looked completely unfazed by that reaction. Either he didn't realize Yasmine was absolutely disgusted by him or he was just used to it.

Either way, Dylan frowned at the sight.

Without looking, Dylan grabbed the first can she could feel and stood up. She took small steps toward Demetri and chuckled at him, finally bringing him out of his thoughts and forcing him to look to her.

"You know, that could've gone worse." Dylan hummed, bringing can up to her lips. She cringed at the bitter taste that hit her tongue, knowing Demetri wouldn't judge her for cringing like Hawk would've earlier in the night.

Meanwhile, the boys eyes sparkled at Dylan's words. "Really?" He asked, a hoping tone in his voice.

Dylan scoffed out a laugh as she looked around the canyon, her eyes finding Yasmine on the opposite end of it. "For Yasmine? Yeah." She chuckled out, turning back to Demetri. Dylan found him already smiling at her. He nodded his head as a silent thank you before he actually spoke.

"Oh... Well, thank you, Dylan Lee." He hummed, dipping the top of his can of Mr. Pibb toward Dylan as a small form of gratitude.

Dylan laughed again, her eyes shutting and her head dipping at him using her full name. She figured after the Halloween dance, sitting with him a handful of times during lunch, and the fact that they worked together in group projects for History, Demetri would started to just call her "Dylan."

She shook her head, giggling as she looked back up to Demetri. "Just Dylan is fine." She reassured, her words coming out with her giggles.

Demetri felt his own head dip as his neck, ears, and face started to burn, a pink-ish red color taking over and a small, giddy smile playing on the edges of his lips.

Dylan didn't notice the boys demeanor shift and she tilted her head, taking a step closer to him. "What are you doing alone over here?" She asked in a softer voice, looking around the are the two of them were standing. There was no one else around–they were on the edge of the party.

Demetri shrugged, the redness in his face only staying because of the cold night air now. He scoffed, looking off into the crowd in front of him and Dylan. "I've never been to a party before and my friend that I leech to is currently glued to the hip of your ex friend." Demetri huffed, using his free hand to point off into the swarm of people.

Dylan's eyes followed where Demetri pointed until her eyes landed on Hawk, his arm wrapped around Moon's shoulders, keeping her close to his chest. She looked back to Demetri and sighed through her nose, making his gaze rip away from Hawk and Moon and move back to Dylan.

"Yeah, I'm not a big fan of parties either." Dylan admitted and Demetri's eyebrows raised, but he kept quiet. How on Earth was Dylan popular, but she didn't like parties.

She looked up into Demetri's eyes and shook her head. "If it gets too much, there's nothing wrong with sitting a bit further away and just letting yourself be alone. I do it." Dylan suggested, pointing off even further away from the crowd of students, more toward the water.

Demetri's eyes widened, watching her as she crossed her arms over her chest. For a second, he saw her expression shift–the smile on her face disappeared as her lips pressed together and her eyebrows furrowed in an anxious manner. It happened for just a second. So fast, it can barely be noticed.

But Demetri noticed.

He took a step toward Dylan as her happy act came right back. Demetri never really noticed how alike him and Dylan were. Beneath all that money and popularity, Dylan was just like him. She read sci-fi books, watched Harry Potter and Star Wars—yes, Demetri saw her hufflepuff pin on her backpack—and couldn't really hand parties or crowds.

He felt a warmth bloom in his chest as his head tilted bashfully. "Really?" Demetri asked, his voice quieter and softer than normal and Dylan just smiled back at him, nodding her head along.

"Yeah, and I thi-" Dylan's words caught in her throat as a familiar car pulled into the parking lot. 

"Oh..." She whispered as Sam and Robby climbed out of Sam's car together, big smiles on their faces as they only looked at each other, hardly paying attention to the party they were heading straight for.

As they started to walk down the hill, Robby grabbed Sam's hand and the two of them giggled as they tried to balance their footing.

Dylan's stomach twisted as she looked around the party. When her eyes landed on Miguel, jaw clenched and knuckles white around his bottle of beer, Dylan's stomach churned to the point where she felt nervousness bubble up in her throat.

"Oh no." Dylan whispered again. Barely turning to him, Dylan gave Demetri a panicked, but genuine smile and shook her head. "I've got to go. I'll be right back." She said all in one breath and her words jumbled together.

She didn't even give Demetri a chance to respond before she ran toward Sam and Robby, wanting to get to the two of them before Miguel did.

She skidded to a stop when she reached Robby and Sam. The two of them smiled at Dylan and Sam even let go of Robby's hands to grab Dylan's.

"Hey, where have you been? I've been texting you all day, and Miguel's been texting you all day, and–" Dylan rambled. She wasn't mad at Sam for not answering like Miguel looked like he was. Dylan was worried. Worried Sam was purposely not answering her and worried something happened to Sam.

Sam squeezed Dylan's hands immediately, shaking her head reassuringly to calm Dylan down. "My mom found out about the hit and run. She took away my phone and grounded me. Robby got me out." Sam explained, her thumb running gentle strokes up and down the side of Dylan's hand.

Dylan nodded, letting out a breath she didn't even know she was holding in. Her shoulders relaxed and her hands squeezed Sam's back. Just as she was about to warn Sam about Miguel's anger and drunkness, the boy himself cut her off.

"Hey!"

Dylan jumped at the yell, she, Sam, and Robby all falling out of their conversation to watch as Miguel angrily stepped toward them, his jaw clenched and nostrils flared. He had his eyes on Robby and once he was about a foot away from Sam, he nodded his head to the boy. "Who's this guy?"

Before Sam could respond, Robby squinted back at Miguel, turning to Sam and pointing at Miguel as if he wasn't even there.

"Wait. This is your boyfriend?" Robby asked and Miguel turned to Robby, his face reddening in anger. While his gaze was off of her, Sam stepped in between Miguel and Robby. She pressed her hand onto Robby's chest to push him back, but that only angered Miguel more.

"Yeah. Miguel, relax. This is Robby. He works for my dad." Sam tried to reason, but Miguel only scoffed at her words. His eyebrows shot up sarcastically and Dylan felt her heart start to thump louder at how angry and drunk Miguel was. 
"Oh, with your dad! Okay, that makes a lot of sense!" Miguel yelled, moving to step closer to Sam. Too close to Sam for Dylan's liking.

Dylan was quick to step in between the two of them, physically forcing Miguel to step back from how she shoved her way in front of Sam. Dylan glared up at the boy, her lips curling into themselves in anger.

"Back away from Sam..." Dylan warned, her voice low. Lower than Miguel, Robby, and even Sam had ever heard it before. For a second, Miguel actually felt himself start to sober up from the glare Dylan was giving him and the venom in her voice, but all that alcohol came flooding back into his system when Sam sidestepped to stand beside Dylan, squinting up at him almost judgmentally.

"Wait, have you been drinking?" Sam asked, and Miguel rolled his eyes, a dry laugh leaving his lips before he pointed to himself and took another step closer to Sam, causing Dylan to take another step in front of Sam.

"No, no, no. You don't get to turn this on me. I texted and called you all day and you couldn't answer me back once?" Miguel spat, glaring down at the girl.

Dylan watched the way Sam's eyes and expression softened. Her shoulders caved in as she took a desperate step toward Miguel, shaking her head. "No, I literally couldn't. My mom took my phone an–" Sam sounded like she was on the brink of tears, but Miguel ignored her, throwing his head back and scoffing.

"Oh! Oh, that's so convenient!"

Dylan shook her head, her hands instinctively raising to try and calm Miguel down. "No, Miguel, she's telling the truth." Dylan tried to reason, her voice much calmer than it was just moments ago.

Her fingertips grazed MIguel's shoulder and suddenly, all of the anger he had pointed toward Sam immediately moved to Dylan.

Miguel was hardly thinking. Actually, the alcohol was thinking for him. He didn't have time to think about what his body was already moving to do before his hands found Dylan's shoulders and he shoved her back.

"This doesn't really involve you, Dylan!" Miguel screamed as he pushed her.

Dylan stumbled, her foot tripping over a rock that was behind her ankle. She tumbled to the floor, landing on her butt, then her hands, and then her elbows. Dylan groaned at the shock that coursed through her body in a wave, her eyes shutting in pain.

"Miguel!" Sam yelled as Robby's face reddened in anger. As much as he wanted to check on Dylan, he also wanted to go after Miguel for being the one to lay hands on her.

"What the hell, man!" Robby yelled, shoving Miguel back as Sam crouched down to help Dylan up. Once the two girls were standing, Dylan trying her hardest to ignore the pain still buzzing across her body, the two girls watched as Miguel tried to throw a punch at Robby, but Robby leaned back, just barely dodging it.

"Miguel, stop it!" Sam screamed as Robby went to throw a punch at Miguel, but Miguel blocked it. Miguel's lip curled in anger as he threw his own punch and completely missed Robby, hitting Sam instead.

In seconds, Robby and Miguel broke away from each other and Dylan was cradling Sam in her arms.

Miguel's eyes softened as he gently reached out to touch Sam. "Sam, I'm sorr–"

"Get the hell away from her!"

Miguel was cut off not only by Dylan's scream, but a fist landing itself right on the edge of his jaw. His head snapped to the side and his hand flew to his mouth. With wide eyes, Miguel slowly turned back to face the three and staring back at him was a very angry Dylan. Her fists shook by her sides, her eyes were filled with fiery, and Miguel could actually see the muscles in her jaw clench.

Sam scoffed, her eyes filled with tears, but she quickly wiped them away before anything could fall. "God, you asshole! My dad was right about Cobra Kai. Good luck at the tournament. I won't be there." She cried before turning and running up the hill.

Dylan and Robby were immediately turning after her. "Sam, wait!" Dylan yelled after the girl, ignoring the way her joints ached from her own fall.

Sam didn't stop running until they got to the top of the hill. Her nose and eyes were red as she sniffled. As she wiped away her face, Dylan took a careful step toward her.  "Hey, it's okay." Dylan whispered, going to wrap her arm around the girl's shoulders, but Sam stepped back.

Immediately, Dylan dropped her hand and stepped back, her shoulder bumping into Robby's. Sam looked between the two of them, shaking her head. "I just want to be alone." Was all she managed to get out, her voice wavering and shaky.

"Okay..." Dylan breathed out before she nodded. She didn't want to push the girl to talk with her if she didn't want to. "Okay, you text me if you need anything. Alright?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at Sam.

Sam forced a smile onto her face and nodded. "I will." She whispered, her voice sounding a little more relieved and relaxed. Dylan let out a small breath, some condensation blowing apst her lips from the cold night air.
"Be careful, please." She said as Sam started to walk away.
Sam didn't respond, but Dylan figured she probably wasn't able to. She did look back at Dylan and nod before climbing into her car though.

Dylan and Robby watched as Sam drove out of the canyons and once her car was out of sight, Dylan sighed, turning Robby's attention back to her. Dylan turned to face Robby, smiling at the boy and their close proximity.

"Do you need to go straight home?" Dylan asked, a playful glint in her eyes that Robby immediately picked up on. He also noticed the way the corner of her lips twitched upward and Robby was sure his heart did a backflip in his chest.
Trying his hardest to play it cool, Robby shrugged, but his face and neck started to turn pink and he couldn't stop the calm smile on his face turning giddy. "No, why? You've got something in mind."

emily speaks...
miguel actually breaks my heart in this episode like... this is not my man

NEXT CHAPTER IS CUTESY KEENLEE BECAUSE THEY ARE MY CUTEST CUTIES THAT I HAVE EVER WRITTEN (until we get to angst of course😏😏)

dylan protecting her wife and making demetri more comfortable all in the span of five minutes... my girl needs a raise