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In hindsight, she shouldn’t have given him a spare key.
“Tory?” Eli called, poking his head through the apartment door.
It had been about a week since the house fight.
A week since Eli defected from Cobra Kai.
A week since he saw the look of horror and betrayal on Tory’s face.
He didn’t mean to hurt her.
Tory was the only person he had called a friend for awhile. He had pushed everyone else away and all that was left was Tory and him.
They were a funny pair, but they worked well together.
And while he’d never love anyone like he loved his Demetri, Tory was without a doubt his very best friend.
And they promised to always have each other’s back.
But he fucked up, as he usually did.
He just wanted to save Demetri.
He wanted to tell him he loved him and missed him.
That he missed all his friends.
So he did.
He didn’t know it would hurt Tory so much. But Eli was never great at thinking ahead ever. That was Demetri’s and Tory’s job to do. He was just the follower most of the time.
But he finally wanted to take control and make things right with all his friends.
Including Tory.
So he decided to pay her a visit. If she wasn’t going to call him back, he was going to her.
The apartment was the same as it always was.
Nothing about the space had changed an inch. The Nichols’ household rarely did. Tory was always too busy to clean, which was fine. She had more important things to take care of anyway and he didn’t mind picking the place up himself when he had time to. He just hadn’t gotten the chance too for a while.
He’d have to clean later.
Eli stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
“Tory?” He called again, “You home?”
No answer came.
Eli silently sighed, looking around.
Their nest of blankets was still on the floor in front of the small TV, his boxset of Teen Titans sat open on the floor next to them. They were in the middle of season three. Around the makeshift nest were empty cans; half of them Vanilla Coke, the other half Rolling Rocks beer.
Eli smiled fondly at the sight; the beer Tory liked was fucking awful.
Not far from it was their abandoned game of chess they had started about two weeks ago. It was still Tory’s turn.
She had insisted two days before the house fight that she was still thinking about her next move.
“When I figure out how to get out of your check, it’s going to be OVER for you, Moskowitz.”
He had her in a scholar’s check.
She was fucked but he let her take as long as she wanted on her turn.
The memory made his smile broaden. He walked deeper into the room, memories sticking out everywhere.
Darts were still stuck in her wall from when they had gotten drunk and threw them at a bullseye they had drawn on the wall.
A bucket full of old soapy water still stood from when they tried to desperately wash the bullseye off the wall.
Science books were neatly stacked next to notebooks on the small coffee table from their after school tutoring sessions.
Bits of colored paper were still on the floor from when they helped Brandon make a Mother’s Day card for Grace.
Eli looked over at her bedroom. The faint sound of a TV still played from within. Eli’s breath hitched.
He couldn’t help himself.
He quickly paced over and pushed the door open, peaking inside.
He saw both Grace and Brandon asleep on the hospital-like bed inside. Thankfully, Grace looked okay today; no wheezing in her sleep or any disruptions of the sort.
Eli let out a sigh of relief.
He closed the door with a click.
At least he didn’t have to worry about that.
He hoped Tory wasn't worrying over her either. At least not too much that is.
Suddenly from the kitchen, the faucet was turned on.
“Tory?” Eli called quietly again.
Eli turned and made his way to the dim kitchen.
“Tee?” He called again, entering.
And there she was, right in front of him.
Tory’s back was to him, washing dishes next to their little kitchen lamp.
“We really have to fix that ceiling light,” Eli noted with a sad smile, “You’re gonna electrocute yourself with that thing one day.”
She really was.
The damn thing’s cord was basically exposed wire and didn’t even have a lampshade. She always insisted that it was fine despite it being an obvious fire hazard.
She was always so stubborn.
“I bet I can get Sensei Lawrence to help us. He used to be a handyman before he opened the dojo. Maybe you two can talk things out while he fixes it.”
Tory said nothing.
She went on with her task as if Eli wasn’t even there at all.
It made him nervous.
He cleared his throat, feeling a little awkward.
“So, um,” Eli started, “You haven’t returned my texts.”
“Why would I?” Her voice was void of any warmth or emotion.
Eli felt his insides jump.
Tory had never, ever spoken to him like that before. Yeah, she could be a little ill tempered sometimes and always had something snarky to say, but she never sounded like that.
Her quips towards him always had the air of casualness. A certain kind of dismissiveness that always implied that she was only ever teasing him when she called him names.
This was not like that.
She spoke to him like he was the enemy.
In a way, he was.
Eli shook the thought, not giving in to any negative emotions. He had a friendship to save and self doubt had no place in his plan.
“Well…” Eli went on bravely, “I’ve been worried about you.”
“Don’t be,” Tory bit out, voice more icy than it was a moment ago.
“Tory, come on,” Eli reasoned with her, “We made a promise, remember? Teammates for life. We need each other.”
“I’m fine without you.”
Eli’s eyes widened.
It was so…assertive.
The clear cut answer that was so dismissive of him that it hurt. Hurt worse than any of the insults thrown at him over the years.
And while his fight with Demetri would never be matched in emotional turmoil, this was different.
Demetri had fought to keep him.
Tory wasn’t even looking at him.
Like he didn’t mean enough to her to catch her attention.
It made Eli feel sick.
“Without me?” Eli swallowed, “What are you—Tee, I know what happened at LaRusso’s house but…” Eli tried desperately to think of something profound to say to convince his friend that he didn’t betray her.
His friend who never listened to anyone except herself and Kreese.
He had to try.
“I just—you know how I feel about Demetri. I couldn’t help it anymore! I just, I just love him and I couldn’t hurt him anymore. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you! Of course I do! I would never leave you, Tory. I promised I wouldn’t. You're my partner. You’re my best friend.”
He waited.
Waited for Tory to say anything at all. That she forgave him, that she hated him, that she knew he’d leave for Demetri, that she was hurt so badly by what he did.
But Tory didn’t say anything of the sort.
“Friend?”
Eli blinked, “I—well of course I’m your—”
“We’re not friends.”
Pain stabbed in Eli’s chest, “Don’t say that. Just because I wanted to be with Demetri again doesn’t mean—”
“You were never my friend, Moskowitz.”
Eli stopped, his world cracking and shattering before him.
Like someone taking a baseball bat to glass, brutally smashing everything Eli had known to be true up until then.
“W-what?” Eli said, cringing at how small he sounded, “Tee, that isn’t—we are—”
“I never said you were my friend,” Tory said coolly, almost as if it was the most obvious thing on the planet, “That’s just something you assumed.”
Eli felt his hands start to shake, “Stop saying that! You can’t just say—”
“You’re really pathetic, you know?” She said with the same level of devoid calmness, “Just because we trained together doesn’t mean we were friends. You were just the least annoying option.”
The world around Eli was ringing.
His heart felt like it was going to explode.
It couldn’t be true.
It couldn’t be true.
He replayed everything he could remember about the two of them. Every sentence, every interaction possible. Desperate to find something to prove that Troy was lying to him.
That the cruelty of her words weren’t true.
And no, she never said she was his friend.
She had said so much more.
“Fuck off, Kyler. The only person here tough enough to be my partner is Hawk. He’s got more spirit and grit than all of you pussies combined.”
“Don’t push yourself, Hawk. If you get hurt then who will have my back? I have to look out for you too, you know.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever let anyone look after my mom before. I normally don’t trust people too. So…thanks.”
“You’re the only other person who knows what it feels like to have your whole life come crashing down around you.”
“I don’t care if you’re a loser, Hawk. I don’t care if you like nerd shit or if you’re a crybaby or anything. I’m going to hang out with you no matter what.”
“T-that’s not true!” Eli exclaimed, trying desperately to stop the pain in his chest.
He couldn’t lose her.
He couldn’t lose someone else he loved.
Not again.
“You do like me!”
Tory stopped washing dishes finally, letting them fall into the sink and turning off the water.
“I don’t.”
She didn’t even look at him.
Eli’s jaw hung slightly as tears started to fall out of his eyes. Seeding hot pain crackled and bled though his chest as if lightning had struck him.
Adrenaline was building up in his blood but he was frozen in his spot.
He didn’t know what to do.
“You liked me yesterday…” he whimpered.
“It’s gonna be the coolest shit ever!” Tory beamed at him, “LaRusso and the rest of those pussies won’t know what even hit them!”
Tory let out one curt laugh.
“Oh did I, yeah?” She turned ever so slightly to look at him, her eye barely visible through her dark hair.
It was cold and held no sympathy or love for him.
Eli broke, tears running down his face freely.
“I thought you did…”
And Eli ran away.
—
As the door to her apartment slammed shut, Tory stood motionless in the kitchen. She stared down at the dirty dishes and listened to the ear piercing ticking of the clock on the wall.
She waited.
Waited to make sure he didn’t come back, counting the seconds as she did.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Three minutes.
He didn’t come back.
And once she was sure of it, she slowly sank down to the floor and cried.