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After the situation with taking Robby to the hospital, and the conversation that followed, Johnny decided that it was important that Miguel and Robby learn to be around each other. Johnny loved both his genetically related son and the boy who was basically his step-son dearly and was desperate for the two of them to be able to at least tolerate each other, if not enjoy each other’s company.
That was why Johnny had, with Daniel’s help, set up the gathering that was happening tonight.
The kids from Miyagi-Fang, and Robby, considering that the boy hadn’t officially joined the dojo yet (another goal for the night), would be meeting at the LaRusso house for pizza and an outside movie. Each kid was told to bring a blanket, seeing as it gets cool at night, even in California. There would be mats for the kids to sit on, most likely pulled from the home dojo, so the blankets would be needed for warmth only.
Robby didn’t have a blanket to bring, aside from the one on his bed, which he refused to take with him. So, he decided that he would bring his coat instead. Robby hadn’t wanted to go to this party at all. He wasn’t even Miyagi-Fang for God’s sake. But his dad talked him into it. As little as Robby trusted Daniel LaRusso, the temptation of the LaRusso family pizza was too much for him. He couldn’t say no.
Miguel, on the other hand, was excited to go. He enjoyed hanging out with his friends and was willing to tolerate Robby’s presence there as long as his friends were there too. Miguel did have a blanket to bring with him for the movie night.
The boys each got a ride from their own individual parent, seeing as Miguel wanted to be there early to hang out with Sam before everyone else got there, and Robby wanted to be there as late as possible without actually being late.
Miguel had been at the LaRusso house for a couple of hours before the first guests started arriving.
By 5:30, most of the guests were already there, aside from Robby and his father.
As Robby began to get ready for the party that night, he began to have second thoughts. It was pretty clear that nobody really wanted him there, so why should he go?
It took a lot of convincing from his father to even get him into the car.
Daniel was getting ready to text Johnny, to check if something had gone wrong or if Johnny had just gotten drunk (just in case) when the “Eagle Fang” van pulled into the driveway. Johnny hopped out of the car and walked towards the house with no hesitation in his stride, but Robby hesitated a lot. His legs shook weakly and he was having trouble breathing easily. Robby knew that a panic attack was coming, but he knew that his father wanted him at this party for a reason. And all Robby wanted to do was make his father happy. If Robby kept making his dad happy, then Johnny would keep staying and he could keep being Robby’s protector. If Johnny stayed then he could keep fulfilling the role that Robby had subconsciously given to him.
Johnny was Robby’s protector from his negative thoughts.
Robby’s protector from anything and everything remotely dangerous.
All Robby needed to do was go to this party.
He could do that.
Robby sped up in order to stay by his father’s side. That’s what Robby would do. He would just stay beside Johnny, his emotional support human, all night.
Little did Robby know that Johnny was aware of Robby’s plan. Johnny hadn’t figured it out himself, but he had explained the nature of Robby’s clinginess to Daniel. Daniel was the one who had guessed that Robby would try to cling to Johnny all night, though it would have been a reasonable assumption, seeing as Robby had not left his father alone since that night at the dojo.
And the two men had come up with a successful, though not remotely kind, way of forcing Robby to hang out with the other kids.
When Robby and Johnny walked into the house, Johnny swaggering with a kind of confidence that only he could have and Robby walking with hesitation and fear in every step, the two of them went straight to the kitchen.
At Johnny’s insistence, Robby grabbed some pizza and sat at the table with the other kids. As Robby glanced around at the table, to see if anyone there intended him any harm or posed any immediate threat, Johnny snuck off to the living room, where the adults were all hanging out, putting distance between himself and his son while being in the same building for the first time since that night that Robby had found him in the dojo.
As much as Johnny loved his son, it was kind of a relief to have some space from him. He plopped down on the couch next to Carmen with a sigh. Carmen simply leaned against him affectionately.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, anyone could have sensed the change in Robby when he noticed that his father wasn’t next to him anymore. Of course the other kids didn’t know that Johnny’s disappearance was the reason behind the behavior, but all of them could see how much more anxious Robby became, even compared to the nerves that he had shown earlier.
Robby looked around the kitchen, trying to find his father, but Johnny was nowhere to be seen. Did his father really just leave him here with a bunch of kids who, undoubtedly, harbored some kind of hatred towards him? Robby hoped not. Maybe Johnny was just in the bathroom and would be back soon.
Robby tried to eat the pizza that he had picked up. It was, after all, the reason he had come, aside from pleasing his father. But his hands trembled too much for him to eat anything. Robby felt like he was going to explode, but he didn’t want to show that to anyone that was sitting around the table. The two kids next to him, he thought their names were Bert and Chris, didn’t seem to notice anything amiss.
Despite Robby’s assumptions that no one noticed what was going on, everyone knew that something was wrong. It was just that none of them felt like it was their place to do anything.
The longer Johnny was gone, the worse Robby’s shaking got. It got to the point where Robby was trembling so much that he shook the table. His eyes were unfocused and staring at nothing. After a while, Robby’s breathing started to become uneven. Not loud, just not even either.
Miguel knew then what was wrong with the other boy.
Robby was experiencing a panic attack.
Miguel knew the symptoms like the back of his hand because Miguel himself had experienced panic attacks after the school fight. Many of the visions and thoughts that brought on those panic attacks had starred the boy sitting right in front of him now. The boy who was cowering, lost in the throes of his own panic.
The biggest difference was that when Miguel had needed help calming himself down during a panic attack, he had had plenty of friends and family who had been willing to help him. Robby didn’t have that.
Sure, Robby had Johnny, which made Miguel jealous as fuck, but he didn’t really have a lot of other friends. Robby used to be close to Sam and used to be friends with Demetri and a couple of the other Miyagi-Fangs, but it was clear that no one really understood where they stood in relation to Robby anymore. Sam and Demetri were outside helping Eli to set up the projector for the movie and Miguel had no idea where Johnny was, and it was clear that no one else knew how to deal with panic attacks.
Miguel realized that it would have to be him that talked Robby through his panic attack.
Miguel had tried to give the other boy time to calm himself down, to self-soothe, seeing as that probably would have been preferable for both boys, but it quickly became clear that Robby would be unable to calm himself.
What Miguel didn’t know, and honestly, Robby didn’t realize, was that this lack of ability to self-soothe was a result of Robby’s clinginess when it came to Johnny. Robby had come to rely on Johnny to keep him calm throughout the couple of weeks when he had been living with him, so the teen didn’t really know how to calm himself anymore.
But Miguel decided that someone needed to help Robby through this and calm him down.
Even if Robby used to be the star of his worst nightmares.
Even if Robby hated him and Miguel had no idea why.
Someone needed to help Robby and it seemed like Miguel was the only one with any idea how.
Miguel walked around the table to where Bert was sitting between Nathaniel and Robby. “Can you move, Bert?” he asked, keeping his voice steady.
“Um sure. I guess,” Bert said as he stood up. Nathaniel followed Bert as the other boy went outside. Miguel didn’t try to stop them, so the rest of the dojo took this as permission to leave, which they did relatively quickly.
When everyone had left the room, Miguel gently put a hand on Robby’s shoulder, trying to get the other boy’s attention on something other than the anxious thoughts running through his head. Robby jumped a little at the contact, but turned his gaze towards the touch. He had been expecting it to be his father, so he was surprised, and frightened, to see Miguel sitting there with his hand on Robby’s shoulder.
At the sight of Miguel, Robby’s heart raced even faster, if that was possible. Miguel could feel the racing of the other boys pulse through the hand that was still on his shoulder. When Miguel realized that he was triggering Robby even more, he removed his hand from Robby’s shoulder and said in a calm voice, “I’m not going to hurt you, Robby. I want to help you calm down. If you’ll let me.”
At this point, Robby would have taken help from the fucking abominable snowman. He just wanted to stop feeling so scared. He wanted to feel right again.
Robby nodded at the other boy.
Miguel smiled at him. He didn’t know why this felt so natural to him, helping Robby of all people through a panic attack, but it did. “Okay. I don’t have to touch you if you don’t want me too. I can just talk to you, and you can listen to my voice.”
Robby nodded.
Miguel began speaking quietly and calmly about how Hawk and Demetri had been debating about which Spiderman was the best, Toby McGuire or Andrew Garfield. Robby listened as Miguel listed the reasons that both boys had held their perspectives. He even laughed at a few of the comments that Miguel had put in.
But what really got Robby out of his shell was when Miguel had stated, “I think that Tom Holland is the best Spiderman lowkey. I couldn’t tell you why though.”
At this moment, Robby broke down laughing. Because he agreed. Tom Holland was the best, but there was not really a reason for him to be so.
“It’s really not that funny,” Miguel said, on the edge of a laugh.
“It’s funny because I agree,” Robby said with a laugh.
It was then that Robby realized that he wasn’t trembling anymore. He could feel his hands and feet again. Miguel had helped him calm down, even though he hadn’t needed to do so.
“Thanks,” Robby said, blushing in embarrassment.
“Of course,” Miguel replied.
It was then that the adults walked into the room ready to head outside to watch the movie with the kids. When Johnny and Carmen saw that only Robby and Miguel were still inside, both felt an odd mixture of hope and fear. Hope that maybe their kids would be able to get along and fear that they were alone to pick a fight with each other.
It became clear quickly that neither boy had any intention of attacking the other.
Robby turned his attention to the adults. He smiled a little when he saw his dad, but then the joy that his father was there now was overwhelmed by the anger that the man had left him alone in the first place, especially without telling Robby first.
“Where were you, Dad? Why did you leave me here alone?”
Johnny knew that this was going to need to be a whole discussion, so he looked at Daniel, Amanda, and Carmen and told them that they could go outside and start the movie.
Johnny had expected Miguel to follow after them, but the boy stayed by Robby’s side, a calm presence in the room.
“You can go too, Miguel,” Johnny said, a hint of impatience in his voice. After this statement was made, Robby looked to Miguel, anxious and pleading. This surprised and confused both of the other people in the room.
But Miguel quickly gave in to the other boy’s unspoken plea. He felt that, if this went the wrong way, it could end with Robby having another panic attack. And Johnny certainly wouldn’t be in the right state of mind to calm him down if that happened.
“I think I’ll stay here,” he said, scooching just a little closer to Robby. In an attempt to share his calm energy with the other boy, perhaps?
Johnny, who had seen his son’s response to the words that he had spoken, agreed.
“Okay, Robby. What’s gotten into you?”