Heartbreak Weather, Eli Mosko...

LXII.                                            Heartbreak Weather

      The first thing Thalia didn't expect when she went to Johnny's apartment was to see him and Christian sitting in the living room together. She stood in the doorway with her hand still latched on the doorknob. "Chris?" She spoke in shock.

The men looked her way and Christian smiled. "Hey, Tal!" He greeted cheerfully.

"Hey, Thalia. You look nice today." Johnny greeted, referring to her light yellow pantsuit.

The blonde haired woman blinked and slowly shut the door behind her. "Thank you. Is this what you called me here for?" She questioned and sat on the recliner.

Johnny and Christian glanced at each other and the home owner shifted on the couch so that he was looking at her. "Okay, Tal, you know the situation going on with Daniel. I've been working with Amanda and Chozen to help him get out of his funk. . ."

Thalia nodded.

"And there's somebody who knows about Cobra Kai just as well as he and I do," he continued, easing into it.

It got quiet. Christian didn't speak but he was fiddling with his hands like he was trying not to say anything.  Thalia's narrow eyes looked between them as she tried to piece together what he was trying to say. Realization flashed on her face. "Oh, Johnny. . ."

"Okay, just hear me out!" Johnny quickly started again when she began to rise from the seat. "You know Chris was in Cobra Kai—"

"He hadn't been here, Johnny. He doesn't know the situation."

"I informed him on everything. Right, Christian?"

Christian quickly nodded. "Right. Right." He spoke for the first time. "He told me all about the dojo rivalries, the All Valley, Silver, Kreese. I know about it all."

"And you want to help?" The woman asked in disbelief, her eyebrow raising again.

"I know how much Daniel's struggling. I've been there. Kreese put me through hell. I just want to help."

Thalia looked between them suspiciously. "Does Odessa know about this?" She questioned, wiggling her finger between them.

The men looked at each other but didn't respond.

"I'll take that as a no. Look, Dess hasn't been doing okay since losing the All Valley. She been really hard on herself. I don't think Christian being apart of this is going to make her feel any better. No offense."

Before Christian could talk, Johnny spoke up. "This is bigger than how Odessa feels, Tal. Daniel needs help and I know Chris can do that. If she's angry then we can all just blame it on me."

She was still hesitant. But the longer she saw them sitting together like they were back in high school, the more she began to ease up. She smiled. "I'm guessing you both took my advice?"

They smiled at her.

Thalia's eyes cut to her ex husband who sat there quietly, waiting for her response. All she could think about was her daughter. Odessa was still hurting and after the blow up at their house, she didn't want to push her any further. But Daniel needed help. Johnny and Christian knew exactly what to do. "Okay." She spoke and clapped her hands. "What's the plan, big boys?"

The plan to get Daniel to come back to karate was working in that favor. Odessa and Sam had everyone communicate with one another and had them all come to the Larusso home. They stood around talking when Odessa saw her mom come into the backyard. "Mom? What are you doing here?" She said out loud, her eyebrows pinched together.

Grayson waved his hand. "Hey, mom!"

Thalia smiled at them. "Hey, kids." She stood by her daughter. "Dess, can we talk for just a second?"

Odessa glanced at all her friends for a second. "Uh, yeah." She replied. The pair walked away from everyone. "What's up?"

"So, I know you came up with a plan with your friends to get Daniel to change his mind," Thalia started. "And, well, Johnny also came up with a plan."

Odessa narrowed her eyes again. "That's scary."

She hummed. "Yeah, I thought the same at first."

"So what's his plan?"

Before Thalia could give an answer, Johnny entered the backyard and Odessa's dad followed behind him. The light smile that was always on her face disappeared. Oliver was the first to notice. "Oh, shit." He said out loud, causing their friends to shift their attention.

Eli looked between Odessa and her dad and began to feel worried. But Odessa was trying hard not to burst into tears. Johnny and Christian came and stood with them. "Hey, Tal. Dess."

Odessa crossed her arms and felt her nails dig into her skin. She glanced away, refusing to make eye contact with anyone even though they were currently watching.

The awkwardness made Thalia want to die. "Why don't we go talk inside?" She suggested.

Johnny nodded. "Good idea."

"Well, this is going to end badly." Eli slipped out when the group went inside the house.

"I can't believe they actually brought him here." Hailey scoffed and crossed her arms.

Miguel joined the conversation. "Maybe they're trying to work on their relationship?" He looked at the bright side.

"You don't know Christian like we do. He put Odessa and Thalia through hell. He doesn't deserve to try and work things out with them." Oliver spoke and his anger was visible.

Demetri put a hand on his back, telling him to chill out.

From inside the dojo, Odessa finally spoke. "This is your big plan?" She said to Johnny.

"Look, Dess, I know you're mad—"

"I'm not mad. I just feel stupid." She interrupted. She turned to her dad. "Why are you even here? You don't know anything that's happening."

"Johnny told me everything. About Daniel and Cobra Kai." Christian replied. "I know a lot more than you think, Odessa."

"You know your dad was in Cobra Kai." Thalia reminded her.

"Yeah, but—"

"So he's one of the greatest assets we can have. He was one of the best fighters." Johnny stepped in while Christian stayed quiet. "I get that you're upset about this and I'm sorry I didn't include you in on it, but this is about Daniel and how we can take down Silver. Whether you like it or not, you're apart of this. So is your dad."

Christian sent his friend a thankful smile. It went quiet after that. "I'm not here to hurt you, Odessa. Believe me, I would never try to do that,"

She scoffed.

"I'm just here to help an old friend. Help take down Cobra Kai once and for all."

She wanted to believe him. But the years and years of lying and his absence led Odessa to believe almost nothing her father said to her. But she had to remember that this wasn't about her. It was about Mr. Larusso. "This is really important. Not just to be but to all of us out there, especially Sam. So please. . . just don't mess it up."

The frown that appeared on Christian's face made both Johnny and Thalia feel bad. But who could blame the teenager for being so cautious? Odessa left the dojo and they remained where they were standing. "Just stick around, okay? I promise that she'll come around." Said Thalia.

Christian only responded with a sad smile.

Eli stood in front of Odessa and grabbed her hand. "Hey. Is everything okay?" He asked, quiet enough so only she could hear him.

She shook her head slightly. "He's apart of this now, apparently." She said with a slight laugh.

He raised his brows. "Apart of it? Like, the dojo, apart of it?"

"Like I said, apparently. Johnny thinks my dad'll be a good asset to taking down Cobra Kai."

"Oh. . . how do you feel about it?"

"Honestly? It makes me feel awful because now it's all I can focus on when I should be thinking about Mr. Larusso."

Eli pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry, babe. But don't feel bad. They shouldn't have just sprung him out on you like that. It's not fair."

Odessa wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head into his shoulder. She saw everyone still looking at her, whispering about what was going on. Hailey, who stood by Grayson, noticed how uncomfortable she was. "Hey, mind your business!" She snapped at all of them.

They instantly looked away. Odessa raised her head slightly and smiled at her. Hailey sent her a wink.

After a while longer of waiting, the dojo doors opened and Sam and Robby stepped out. When Daniel saw all of his students, his face softened. Oliver felt himself smirking. Seeing Amanda and Thalia as well as Johnny and Chozen made Daniel smile in the slightest. And then he saw Christian. Then, he was shocked.

The combined dojo students bowed to him. Daniel walked down the stairs and stood between the other Senseis. Smiling again, they bowed to the students. Their plan had worked. "All right, let's get to work." Johnny announced.

Daniel turned to Christian and held his arms out. "Christian Beaumont. You haven't changed at all."

"Me? You don't look a day over 30, Dan." Christian said back with a wide smile.

The two of them hugged one another. "Wha-What are you doing here?" Asked Daniel, completely shocked by his appearance.

He motioned to Johnny. "Johnny told me everything. I went through hell because of Kreese. I can't imagine what you've been going through with Silver. But I'll do anything I can to help you get rid of him."

Odessa watched her father laugh with Daniel and she watched the way they hugged one another. She watched him huddle in with Johnny and Chozen. She saw how comfortable he was, like he was back in high school. She found herself frowning. Because she was still so angry with him and yet she saw how easy it was for her mom and all of them to her along with him. She wished she could shout to them how it made her feel. All the pain he put her through. But what kind of person would that make her? What kind of friend would she be to Sam? It wasn't about her.

She leaned into Eli's side again and wrapped her arms around his neck. He smiled and kissed the side of her head, his arm wrapping around her waist with ease.

It's been so long since I've come back to this fic. I've rewritten this chapter so many times and have been so scared to update because it's so close to coming to an end and I'm not ready to let go of my girl Odessa just yet 🥺🥺🥺

While making changes to this book, I ultimately decided to take out the relationship plot between Johnny and Thalia for the reason being I have bigger plans for the Beaumont-Reid family that doesn't involve Thalia and Johnny being together. I also have another Cobra Kai fic in my drafts and I want to save the Thalia and Johnny plot for another time!!

Now that Primadonna is coming to an end my full focus will be on ending season 5 of Heartbreak Weather