Archive of Our Own

Miguel glanced at his bright phone screen with squinted eyes. He knew it was late. 2:43 am in fact. He was always restless when his mom wasn’t at home. She’d been moved to the night shift for this week, filling in for a coworker who was out with the flu. He hated thinking about the fact that she was there, pregnant, working hard when she should be sleeping.

He’d all but driven her out of the house earlier that night with his concerns. Make sure you have a place to sit and take a break if you need one. Don’t forget to drink plenty of fluids and don’t lift anything heavy. If you start feeling bad for any reason, tell someone, Mom. You don’t need to overextend yourself.

He knew her all smiling and jovial attitude was to reassure him, a hand on his shoulder while she repeated that she’d be fine, don’t worry so much. She was still fairly early into the pregnancy, and she was more than capable of handling a few night shifts.

He often thought that maybe he worried too much for someone his age, but he’d never been able to help it. It was just who he was.

He laid the phone back down on the small table to the right of his bed, turning over and folding his pillow in half underneath his head as he closed his eyes. His mom would be wondering why little things like this keep him up, or why he thought of things so much to keep him up. If she knew he was still awake right now, all because he was worried about her, she would try her best to help him fall asleep, tell him there’s no reason to be so anxious about things that hadn’t even happened yet.

His abuela was sleeping soundly in the room across the hall. It almost made him envious at how easily that woman could sleep. She went fast and hard. Someone could break in and she probably wouldn’t even wake up for it.

He willed his mind to keep quiet, to stop ruminating and circling, keeping his eyes closed as he shifted his head more snugly into his pillow and laid still.

Minutes passed, and everything in the apartment was quiet, dark, and motionless. He was almost lulled into a sleep before the screen of his phone lit up, buzzing for a brief second against the end table in a quick jolt that woke him up far more than he wanted it to.

His eyes opened immediately, hand grasping for the device. Concerned that it could potentially be his mom, and that something could be wrong, he sat up in his bed and focused his tired eyes long enough to punch in his passcode.

The message icon showed a new text was waiting for him. Opening it up, he was surprised at who it was.

Are you awake?

Miguel was hardly a stranger to late night conversations with Sam, but it was a rarity for her to suddenly message him this late. She typically was early to rise, so she also slept like a rock most nights. It was nearly 3 in the morning, what was she doing?

He scoffed as he made a couple of bleary-eyed typos, before sending a message away to her.

Yeah, is everything okay?

His fingers drummed against the back of the phone as he held it and waited for her to respond. He hoped she was okay. Maybe she just couldn’t sleep either?

Sort of. I’m outside.

He frowned. Wait, what?

Surely her parents hadn’t been fighting again, not at this time of night. She always told him how she would go outside for a walk when they were arguing. Hopefully she wasn’t doing that at this hour.

Are you just out by the pool, or?

At this point he decided he was thirsty enough to warrant a trip to the kitchen, so he swung his legs to the right off the side of the bed. Tucking his phone into his shorts pocket, he ran a hand through his hair and leaned over towards his table to flick on his bedside lamp. If he was going to be up for a while talking to Sam, he might as well do it in a lighted room rather than a pitch dark one. He then made his way to the kitchen, carefully treading down the dark quiet hall, although, as he thought already, playing the drums probably wouldn’t be enough to wake his yaya.

Still, he wanted to be considerate.

He retrieved a cold bottle of water from the refrigerator. He preferred it over tap. As he unscrewed the lid and lifted it to his lips, the phone vibrated in his pocket.

Pulling it out, he glanced at the next message and nearly choked on his mouthful of water..

No, I’m at your place.

Immediately, he walked to his front door, undid the latch of the lock and pulled it open. There she stood, outside his door just like she’d said.

“What the - “ he cut himself off as she turned to look over her shoulder at him. She didn’t even have a jacket on or anything in the chilly air. “How long have you been there?” Before he gave her a chance to answer he reached out and gently took hold of her arm, “Come in.”

He ushered her inside, not giving her any chance to explain herself just yet as he locked the door behind them and turned to her, reaching forward and grasping her hands in his. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”
She looked as if she might start to cry, as she averted her eyes away from him and towards some distant spot on the floor.

He reached a hand up, gently taking the side of her face and turning it towards him once more. His eyes rested on her softly, as his voice coaxed her, “What is it?”

“I just…” Sam trailed off, her tone emotional as her eyes glazed over with pools of tears, “I woke up and I couldn’t breathe,” she placed a hand over her own chest at the memory of how it felt as she had shaken awake in her bed a little while ago. It was as if something had been sitting on her chest and was choking her, “I needed to see you.”

“Okay,” Miguel responded, tone understanding but his head still trying to see the logic in it. He pulled her into a hug, resting his chin close to the top of her head, “That’s fine.” as he ran a hand through her hair, he felt sad all of a sudden. He wondered if the way she felt was anything like the nightmares he used to have when he’d try to run and couldn’t actually move. He’d wake up so frustrated and panicked it would take him nearly an hour to calm down.

Releasing her from the hug, his hands remained on her shoulders as he leaned down a bit. She’d always been just short enough that he felt like he couldn’t quite meet her eyes when he was standing straight up. It never mattered much. It just meant she was a perfect fit for his arms. However, she seemed shaken up and distraught and he wanted her to know he was taking her seriously, “Do you want to go sit in your car and talk about it?”

She suddenly looked bashful and a little bit guilty as she averted her eyes away from him once more, “Actually, I…” she trailed off, biting her lower lip for a moment as if she really didn’t want to be up front about the next part, “I didn’t drive here.”

He blinked so many times towards her, she didn’t know what to expect to come out of his mouth, “You - “ he cut himself off. Had he heard her right? Walked here? In the middle of the night? Her house was nearly four miles away. “You walked?”

“I jogged for some of it.” she added, like that was any better for what thoughts were racing around in his head. A woman, alone at night, jogging through the street to see him. It felt a little ridiculous even if it was the tiniest bit flattering she would come all this way to see him in person this late at night. She continued on, casually; “I just felt scared and I had so much adrenaline that I…” she paused once more before shifting to a different line of thought, “I didn’t want my dad to hear me sneaking out.”

He kept his eyes pinned on her, a bit of a stern curve on his lips. He knew by now that Sam could hold her own, but that didn’t mean what she’d done wasn’t at least a bit reckless. It wasn’t really like her to take risks. Dumb risks, anyway. He tried not to let his irritation become too obvious as thoughts of potential dangers that he didn’t even want to entertain began to flood into his mind.

Sam must have recognized the distress on his face as she reached up and took hold of his hands in hers, giving them a squeeze. It was enough to ground him a little, “It’s alright, nothing happened..”

Miguel turned his head slightly, “But it could have.“ he let out a sigh, letting his fears subside for the sake of his own sanity and for her feelings. She came for comfort, not a lecture. It would definitely be a conversation for another time, however. Was Johnny having more influence on her than he realized?

Sam directed her gaze towards the darkened apartment hallway, and her tone lowered to a more quiet decibel, “I hope I haven’t woken anyone up.”

Miguel shook his head slightly, his voice remaining at a regular level. “Don’t worry, it’s just my yaya. She can sleep through anything.”

“Your mom isn’t home?”

“She’s working the night shift.” He bobbed his weight from one foot to the other, “That’s kind of why I’m awake too, I worry about her being up all night while she’s pregnant, and before I know it, the night’s half over.”

Her eyebrows scrunched as she subtly reached her hand towards his, grasping at the tips of his fingers as she held onto it, “That must be tough. I’m sorry.”

He shook his head a bit, “It’s ok.” he didn’t want to dwell on it too much. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, “You must not be feeling too great either, for you to come all the way over here this late.”

She pressed her lips together in a bit of a frown, “The nightmares come and go, ever since…” she trailed off, gazing at him thoughtfully because she knew where his head was going to go if she said the words, ‘since the fight at the school’. She hated that he still tried to take on all the guilt by himself. “Well, anyway,” she remarked, changing the subject now. Her eyes beamed towards him, “Would it be okay if I stayed with you tonight?”

He blinked back towards her. He had no qualms with it, but, “Uh yeah, of course I don’t mind,” he started, with some hesitance in his tone, “It’s just--what are you going to tell your dad if he asks you where you are?” Miguel definitely didn’t want there to be a misunderstanding, “Sensei LaRusso and I are getting along really well and I don’t want him to have a reason to hate me. I mean, what if he thinks - “

Sam smiled at him, stopping his spiraling thoughts before they went too much further as she put a hand on his arm, “Don’t worry. If he asks I’ll just tell him I went for a run and stopped by your place.”

He wanted to laugh, “He’ll buy that?”

She smiled. “He’s believed more outlandish things before.”

Miguel relaxed a little. It seemed as if she had already thought this out,and while he would probably feel guilty for lying to his mom about it, he knew that Sam occasionally would do things so that her dad wouldn’t overreact. Ironically, her dad could out-worry him any day. He wondered, if he became a dad, would he be doing those same things? Or maybe Sam would be a good influence--

“Okay?” She squeezed his hand, again reminding him to stay the present, not ponder the potential future.
He nodded towards her with a bit of a smile, “Okay.” he used his hands to motion towards the hallway. “Wanna go sit in my room?”

She’d been over to his place before for dinner, and he’d shown her his room, so she knew where it was. He felt a little bit of a fluttery butterfly zip around his stomach for a second as she smiled at him, and he watched her turn on her heel to breeze off into the hall. He wondered if she knew just how crazy he was about her, to the point it made him feel such things like butterflies, as if she were only his crush and not his girlfriend. He remembered those days, and sometimes still couldn’t believe the journey their relationship had been on.

She stumbled a little bit in the darkened hall, but his hand steadied her, and although he had told her that his yaya could sleep through anything, she still whispered out an “oops” as they arrived at his bedroom and filtered in through the door.

He shut the door behind them and instructed her to wait there while he went to switch on his nightstand lamp so that they could see each other, and she kicked off her shoes at the doorway.

He noted her jeans looked a little scuffed, small flecks of dirt adorning the front of them, acquired no doubt from the few miles trek over. Either way, it didn’t seem like it’d be that comfortable to sleep in. She must have changed into them before she’d headed this way. He didn’t know if the question was appropriate or not, but again, she was his girlfriend. He wanted to think it was ok enough, and that it might be the polite thing to do.

“Do you um,” he stuttered, thinking of better ways to rephrase the offer he was about to make to her, “I have some spare pajamas, if you wanted to change?”

Sam gazed downward, taking note of the state of her clothing. She hadn’t realized she was kind of a mess. “Actually yeah, that’d be great.”

Miguel instantly went to retrieve some things from one of his dresser drawers. He didn’t know exactly what to grab at first, but then he remembered Sam usually got cold when she slept.

Fortunately he had a pair of sleep pants, even though he didn’t wear them all that often. They were lightweight, so he hoped it’d be enough. After retrieving them, he snatched a random black t-shirt from the drawer as well, before turning and closing the gap between them to hand them to her.

“Bathroom’s just around the corner on the left.” he then felt silly for saying it, “You probably remember.”

“Got it. Thanks.” Sam responded gratefully anyhow, and she carefully and quietly stepped back out into the hallway.

Miguel waited patiently, aiming his gaze at random spots on the wall that suddenly seemed appealing to him in an effort to pass the time. He kind of bobbled on his feet a little bit, before his thoughts took him to a place where he wondered what his mom would think if she were here. Would she approve of this? Scold him? No - definitely not that. But he was unsure whether or not she would look for other solutions to the situation. Maybe it was luck that she just so happened to be at work, she would have one hundred percent made Sam call sensei LaRusso already.

Sam hadn’t been long, no time to really start ruminating yet, but seeing her as she walked through the door and slowly and quietly closed it behind her, his heart was flipping over how she looked in the clothes. She wore them well. She had tucked the t-shirt in at the front only, allowing it to hang loosely in the back, while the drawstring on the pants were pulled tightly, and tied in the front. She looked… adorable. He decided that he would be fine with this sight of her, everyday for the rest of his life.

Sam placed her discarded, folded up clothes on top of the shoes she had kicked off just inside the bedroom door, and when her eyes lifted to meet his again, he was just staring at her. She frowned, wondering if she’d gotten something on the clothes he’d given her already.

“What?” she glanced down at herself.

Miguel must have been smiling like an idiot without noticing. He shook himself out of the bumbling lulled state he’d fallen into, still smiling. He couldn't really help that. “Uh, nothing. Sorry.”

She gazed at him coyly, like she didn’t buy it, but left it at that anyway.

He pressed his lips together. “Well just uh, make yourself at home.”

She eyed him affectionately with a subtle giggle, “You’re cute when you’re nervous.”

“That obvious?”

There were more thoughts then. Present situation, but still irritatingly fast and slightly panicked for no reason still. Would his bed be comfortable enough for her? Would the morning sun bother her? Should he sleep on the floor? Did she need more than one pillow? Do girls always like those fuzzy blankets they throw on the end of their bed? He didn’t have one of those. It was making his palms feel a bit sweaty and there was a pressing need to move his feet in no particular direction. He was very comfortable with and around Sam, of course, but this was the first time they’d be spending a night together and he wasn’t sure of the protocol.

All he knew was that he needed to try and think of something to calm himself, “Well, can I get you anything? Water, or…?” he trailed off, and motioned towards his blue tooth speaker, “I can turn on some music if you want.”

“Actually I’m pretty tired after the walk over, so,” she took a step closer towards his bed before motioning towards it, “Do you mind if I just - ?”

He shook his head fervently, “No, no - I mean yeah you can - “ he reached forward to smooth out the undisturbed blanket a little and he snatched one of the pillows in an attempt to fluff it, “Sorry my pillows are kind of flat.” He let out an embarrassed chuckle. “I really need to buy new ones…” She was studying him with a bit of a cute smile so he then put it back in its place and pulled back the blanket. He didn’t use it most night’s as he found his bedroom to be stuffy, but it was cool enough outside to warrant its purpose. He stood back up a little straighter, “You can climb in wherever you want, I’ll just uh, ” he trailed off, his eyes now darting towards the floor. “ I can take the floor.”

He didn't want to assume it was just okay to crawl into the bed with her. Sure, she had come to him for comfort, and they were dating, but that still didn't equal an automatic pass. If she just needed to be left alone to sleep he wanted to be respectful.

But it was like she could read his thoughts, because he felt her hand grasp at his gently, “I was hoping we could, stay here,” -she motioned to the bed and the empty spot beside her on Miguel’s twin mattress- “together.”

He felt another surge of butterflies as her bright and tired eyes blinked towards him. He swallowed his nerves, and nodded. “Yeah, if that's what you want.”

“It is.” She moved forward, planting her knees on the end of the bed and coaxing him along with her by his hand which she still had hold of. She maneuvered herself towards the pillows, but finally had to let go of his hand for a moment when she turned to her side and laid down, facing towards him as he moved to make himself comfortable. Facing one another now, she waited for him to adjust his pillow before she reached out for his hand again, while she tucked her free hand under the side of her face.
A moment of silence passed with them just looking at one another. Miguel noted that her eyes hadn’t gone heavy yet, which meant she was still embracing think mode, so he figured he’d ask her what brought her all the way here.

“Do you wanna talk about your dream?”

She frowned a bit, because she didn’t know how to answer. Did she want to talk about it? Waking up feeling like she couldn’t breathe?

He could see she was conflicted. “It’d be easier if nightmare’s had asses, I guess. I could just kick them for you.”

That lame joke earned him a little laugh from her. She appeared to think about it for a minute before she fell quiet again, aiming her gaze towards their interlocked hands. Her face got more serious. “Just you being here is enough.”

The statement felt bittersweet. Miguel knew what she meant, but it really did bother him she’d had to deal with another nightmare alone. He knew that she’d get them sometimes, but she’d never really elaborated on anything further than that, and he didn’t know that she ever would. Tonight, he hoped, would be a night where he could see that final wall finally come down.

Sam being Sam, could read his face and thoughts like he said them all out loud. She could tell that it bothered him. She scooted closer into him until her face was resting against his chest. Their hand lock finally broke, and he wrapped his arms around her, one tucked under her head, the other draped over her midsection as he rested his chin against her.

They’d cuddled before, but really only mainly on couches, sitting up, with his arm wrapped around her shoulders, and her leaning into him. It felt so peaceful, here in the quiet of his own bedroom, the night washing his walls with the dim glow of the moon through his window blinds, holding her body against his. In fact, he already felt the lull of her quiet breaths and the slow heaving of her chest to be relaxing him to a point where his eyelids were fluttering just ever so slightly with the temptation of soon to be drowsiness.

Sam had her reservations about opening up to anyone about her nightmares. She always had, and especially to Miguel. She knew his tendency to try and take on guilt, and he definitely would do that if she told him why the nightmares came. She’d shared vaguely with her dad about her anxieties over specific things involving Tory, but never elaborated particularly about the fact that she showed up in her dreams sometimes to antagonize her. It just didn’t seem like something that could be talked out. It felt like it was a personal problem that would have to go away on its own. So she’d never really talked about it to anyone, and it’d made her feel isolated from time to time.

Maybe it was time to change that, but what if Miguel blamed himself? She wanted to confide in him, she just wasn’t sure it was worth the risk.

She hadn’t realized she was becoming a little fidgety. A deep sigh emitted from her, followed by some shallow breaths of anxiety.

Miguel craned his head back slightly, his grip on her midsection loosening as he moved away to look at her.

“Sam?” His voice was soft. “Are you okay?”

She knew it would do her good to talk about it. “I’d love to tell you, I mean, I do want to tell you-- but…” she paused for a second, a node of guilt swelling up in her stomach that presented a mental block. “You have to promise me you won’t feel bad about it.”

What? How could he promise that? She wanted to rescind that instantly. She watched the thoughts turn in his head, confusion lapping over into worry. Miguel blinked a couple of times.

It was a few more seconds before he spoke. “What is it?”

Sam mustered up every bit of willpower she had. It was almost like the nightmares had control over her waking life too. Not just at night was she subjected to it, it remained long after she’d woken up, the stranglehold that fear had on her was suffocating, like she couldn’t even speak freely anymore.

She felt her eyes begin to burn a little, the telltale sign that her anxiety was coming on, but she forced it out anyway through that pathetically watery voice she hated so much. “It’s just, ever since the fight at the school, I - “ The words got stuck along with the breath in her throat, and she choked, deeply unflattering, and sobbed-- even more unflattering.

Normally, she’d self-soothe out of these situations alone, but it could take twenty, thirty minutes of attempting meditation, breathing, anything her dad taught her about relaxation and inner peace, just anything she could think of to stop it. But she wasn’t alone this time.

She could feel Miguel’s touch deepen on her skin, not in a sensual way like she’d experienced before, but a protective, enveloping feeling that gave her comfort despite the subject. She’d never really opened up about all of it, not to this degree, far more afraid of letting go and being much too vulnerable in a way he couldn’t understand nor help. But this wasn’t the case, not at all she realized, and it felt good this time. It felt good to talk even if she was crying and breathing all jagged and weird because why would she have to worry about him rejecting her, or being weirded out?

“It’s just that moment, when she did what she did to my arm…the look on her face, I’ve never seen someone look at me the way she did. I’ve never been able to get it out of my head, it’s like she was going to do whatever she wanted in that moment and nothing could stop her. I couldn’t stop her.” She coughed in her watery spiel, practically into his shoulder and didn’t receive so much as a mild recoil. “I’ve always been able to handle myself, I thought I could, but that’s when I realized that people can be so dangerous, so unpredictable… that they could literally try to kill you without a second thought.”

She breathed deeply, into his shirt which was collecting the wetness of her tears. She breathed as much air as she could get into her chest, and Miguel’s hands didn’t leave her. A snug, compressing warmth that staved off that overwhelming anxiety. It was manageable this time. She didn’t bother to count the minutes. She didn’t bother to count her breaths or her blinks or how many times 5 could go into 72. She felt him breathe in and out, deeper than before, probably thinking. Definitely thinking. She still hoped she hadn't overwhelmed him, but this feels too good to recant it and just place it back with all those other things they've never spoken about.

Miguel placed his other hand against the back of her head. “Sam, I’m - “ he stopped for a second, shaking his head slightly. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what Tory did-- I didn’t know it was like this for you.”

She thought about that word her therapist used, the one she saw only a few times, post traumatic stress disorder -PTSD- she thought it didn't seem right at first, Like it wasn’t severe enough. She wasn’t ready to put a gun to her head or jump into traffic, something she’d seen in health class videos of war veterans who were given interviews after the war, she wasn’t like that. But now, she thought that maybe this part of her that seemed so blase about it, casual enough to be non-confronting over it, maybe she’d been wrong. Miguel didn’t seem to feel this way about Robby-- and he had nearly died.

Miguel spoke up again. “Have you ever thought about, maybe finding someone to talk to about this? Like--” He paused again, probably doing the same thing her dad does when he’s trying to convince her of something.

She nodded against him, cutting off any potential ramblings. “I have. It just-- I dunno. It didn’t really feel like it was helping me.” She remembered the one at the hospital being worse than the one at the clinic, but she still thought they all kind of sounded the same. They gave no solutions she hadn't heard before.

Count to ten. Take deep breaths. Think about what colors make magenta. Another thought came to her again, the same one that she was trying to prove again and again. “I can handle it myself. It’ll just take some time to forget it I guess.”

“Sam, what happened that day was really serious,” Miguel’s voice was rigidly sympathetic, almost to the point of severeness. “It’s not… it’s not going to just go away.” He must've felt her shift, maybe ready for the incoming snark she was trying to not get at with so much cynicism. “I mean, I don’t think you should give up on finding help just because you think it shouldn’t be a problem for you.” His gentle words made her feel thoughtful, because she knew he was always looking out for her.

She thought about making a promise to him - that she wouldn’t give up on this - wouldn’t give up on herself, whether she decided to seek further help or not. At the very least for now, she wanted to assure him that it’d meant so much for him to just simply hear her out.

“Thank you for listening.” Sam murmured it into his shoulder, trying to assure him that she was still feeling alright. “I didn’t want dump all of that on you, I just, knew you were worried and I didn’t want to make you feel bad - “

“I’m glad you did.” Miguel stopped that thought in its tracks, like he was genuinely trying to emulate what he maybe thought made her presence as comforting as he did. If they could stop each other from spiraling, then maybe they’d both be alright. “I’m here for you, whenever you need me.

Maybe she’d go back to therapy, and maybe she wouldn’t, but it gave her some semblance of hope for herself. Miguel could listen, in times like these where she couldn’t justify her decisions, or just felt wound up and anxious, she’d be better off than trying to fight these things alone.

Both of them, laying together in the room together, sharing breathing and nothing else, made her sleepy again. She almost wanted to keep talking so that she wouldn’t have to leave. She wanted to stay like this, just for tonight, in this little corner of space and trust that they’d made for themselves. Sam couldn’t bring herself to interrupt though, with Miguel’s hand up and down her spine, other hand in her hair, with her arms tucked to his chest, feeling the fabric of his shirt and the little skin that was exposed underneath the folded neckline.

Minutes passed. Sam guessed maybe ten, fifteen maybe, She lost count after Miguel’s hand stilled a little more and his breathing got heavier.

She swallowed. It felt right to say it. “I love you.”

“Mm…” He hummed. When she looked up, she could see his smile. “I love you too.”

They fell asleep at nearly the exact same moment, the quiet sound of one another’s breathing filtering through the air like a lullaby. Miguel’s pillows, his clothes, being so close to him with her head against him - it felt all too cozy and comforting to Sam for her to be too worried another one of her nightmare’s would haunt her tonight; while Miguel never knew how peaceful and perfect it could feel to be holding someone while you fell asleep. It was just what he needed to quell the earlier worries of his mother being on the night shift.

They’d shifted in the night. When Miguel’s noisy jingle of an alarm sounded off at the horrid hour of 6:30, he found Sam with her back turned, but her head still resting atop his arm, splayed across the top of the pillows as if he had been doing stretches in his sleep. She stirred a little at the sound of the incessant chiming coming from his cell phone that rested on his bedside table. Groggily, he slapped his free hand against it, snatching it into his grasp and blinking his tired eyes open just enough to snooze the annoying thing.

Miguel plopped it back down on the table, just as he felt Sam grasp his arm in her grip, and the two of them fell still once more.

Another hour must have passed.

Carmen had arrived home by now, and knew it was strange he hadn’t come out to greet her yet. He was usually pretty obedient to his alarm, as he was always in a hurry to get to either school, or karate training. Yet she hadn’t heard a single peep come from the direction of his room. She had expressed her concern about it to Johnny, who’d dropped in like usual for his morning greeting to the family.

“Ah so what the kid’s sleeping in a little.” Johnny remarked passively, assisting Carmen by removing the carton of eggs from the fridge. “It’s normal for his age. When I was 16 I used to sleep ‘til noon-- if it was a good night.”

“It’s not normal for Miguel though, he’s never late for breakfast.” Carmen replied, taking the eggs from him and placing them on the counter, next to a skillet she’d taken from one of the lower cabinets. She waved a hand playfully. “Miguel’s not having any good nights as far as I know.”

“Well,” Johnny shrugged assuredly, “You’re just getting started so he still has a few minutes. If he’s not out here by then, I’ll go see what the hold up is.”

Carmen smiled towards him, busying herself by heating up the skillet with some butter. She was rather fond of Johnny’s morning visits. Even though she’d been up all night, it felt comforting to come home to him, and he always brought a happy amount of energy to the small apartment.

“Trabajé toda la noche y ahora trabajo más. ¿Por qué no dejar que Johnny se encargue de esto?”

Carmen picked her head up to see her mother now approaching the kitchen bar, heading towards the table, scuffling along in her slippers. She smiled warmly. “Good morning mama. I’m okay really. I want Miguel to actually eat a breakfast other than fried spam.”

Johnny shifted his eyes between the two of them, mildly feigning offense, “Hey I grew up on that and turned out fine.”

“Do I really need to elaborate on that statement?” Carmen eyed him with mildly playful hesitance. Yes, Johnny had turned out fine, but she didn’t want her son to start his day off with junk food. She was certain that the slim jim Johnny had walked in with had been his breakfast.

“Alright, fine. Give him real food.” Johnny conceded, and Carmen once again gave him a smile.

Carmen continued cooking, frying several eggs, then browning tortillas, all the while the three of them chatted amongst themselves. Carmen had once again brought up her concerns of her son not being out of bed yet, only for her mother to take Johnny’s approach to the situation, of course.

As Carmen sat the plates out at the table, Johnny held to his word on his end and began making his way down the hall. “Alright Diaz, rise and shine!” he called out loudly, his hand gripping the teenager’s door knob. He twisted it open without so much as a single care, “You’re mom is about to put out a missing person’s - “ he cut himself off instantly at the sight before him.

Groaning at the sheer decibel of his voice as they stirred from their sleep, both Miguel and Sam turned in the bed.

“Oh shit - sorry.” Johnny immediately clarified, his voice holding a startle while also maintaining a casual chime. He held up a hand apologetically before instantly pulling the door shut again, then, wordlessly headed back towards the kitchen. Carmen gazed at him expectantly, but he just offered a simple, “He’s awake.”

Carmen was displeased with this, “Well what is he doing?”

“I meant to say he just woke up.” Johnny rephrased as he took a seat at the table. He wasn’t going to be the one to tell Carmen what he’d walked in on, certain that they’d be explaining it themselves once they’d gathered themselves enough to come out.

“Johnny,” Carmen tilted her head slightly. “What are you not telling me?”

Meanwhile, Miguel had finally moved himself into a sitting position in the bed as he rubbed his eyes and grabbed for his phone. Sam was shifting in the bed beside him, coming to for herself as his eyes bugged out when he realized what time it was. “Oh man.” he swung his legs off the bed.

“What–” came Sam’s drowsy voice as she stretched her arms outright, “What time is it?”

“Almost 8.” Miguel responded, sitting his phone back down as he gripped the edges of the bed, but peered over his shoulder toward her, “I thought I hit snooze on my alarm earlier but I must have dismissed it instead.”

The realization suddenly hit Sam, “Wait… was that Johnny that came to your door?” her tone held more alertness than it had previously. She now scooted to the edge of the bed.

“That’s my best guess.” Miguel answered, reaching into his drawer for a pair of socks. Great. There was no telling what kind of misconstrued information sensei was already relaying to his mom, who was no doubt home from her shift by now. Sam was still in the midst of stretching and running her hands through her hair as he gazed towards the back side of her, “How was the rest of your night? Did you sleep any better?”

She couldn’t help but feel she had so much to thank him for. It had been the best sleep she’d had in a while, even if it was too short for her liking. “It felt great actually. How about you?”

“No complaints here.” He smiled towards her for a brief moment, but that’s when the bedroom door opened up again. “Maybe we can do it again--”

“Miggy?”

Oh shit. Sam looked startled towards Carmen as she stood up from the bed, while Miguel immediately held his hands up in defense, “I know what it looks like but don’t - “

“¿Qué está pasando aquí? ¿Solo estuve fuera por la noche y vuelvo a casa y me encuentro con esto?
¡Llegas tarde al desayuno!” Carmen spat.

“...panic.” Miguel finished with a deadpan tone.

“De todos modos, ¿cuál es el problema? Ellas estan progresando naturalmente.” Rosa appeared from behind Carmen now, looking between the two of them, an amused, casual mediator as always.

Miguel’s eyes widened, “Yaya, no - that’s not - “

“Does LaRusso know you’re shacked up with his daughter?”

Carmen eyed Johnny sternly, while Miguel let out a defeated sigh. The chaos this was forming into made him long for the serenity of just a few minutes ago. Maybe he should have slipped her out the window. Said he was going to take a walk while he accompanied her home. A smart man he was not.

“Ms. Diaz please, we were just sleeping, I - “ Sam tried this time, but was cut off swiftly by a chuckle from Johnny.

Johnny audibly laughed. “Nice try LaRusso. I used to use that one too. Never worked.”

“Johnny, now is not the time.” Carmen snapped her head in his direction, and Miguel recognized that look on her face; that shut-up-and-let-me-handle-it look. He saw his sensei look sheepish for the first time in his life as his hands went up in defeat.

Carmen was typically more understanding than this, and she was already feeling regretful for her outburst. She trusted that her son made smart decisions. It’s just that she remembered what it was like being a teenager. She knew the kinds of things they could get up to without supervision. She’d had the talk with her son many times at this point and she expected him to be responsible.

“Man,” Miguel was stressing, as he rubbed the back of his neck as he looked towards Sam, “Your dad is actually going to kill me.” He hoped at some point he could convince his mom of the truth of the situation. Right now it didn’t seem like any of the adults wanted to buy it though.

“Miguel, it’s ok. We didn’t do anything wrong.” she assured him, now turning back to Carmen once more. “All we did was sleep.”

Seeing Sam standing there in her son’s clothes, Carmen wanted to believe her. She really did. But her tired brain was a jumbled mess right now - she just needed a minute to think. She eyed Miguel, “Your breakfast is getting cold.”

With that, she turned on her heel to leave, helping to disperse both Rosa and Johnny from the doorway as well. It didn’t stop Johnny however from peeking back into the doorway, “Hey Diaz - “

Miguel lifted his eyes to him. Johnny pumped his fist before disappearing into the hall. Miguel rolled his eyes, shutting them as he tilted his head towards the ceiling. Sam could see he was having a moment, even though she’d tried to reassure him. She knelt down and picked up her folded clothes from the floor, pulling her cell phone from the pocket. “I should probably go change…” she trailed off, clicking a few of the buttons on her mobile, “...and call my dad.”

“Okay.” Miguel offered, but he sounded discouraged. She gave him a smile before disappearing out the doorway, and Miguel knew he had to go and set the record straight somehow. He quickly changed his clothes and walked out into the living room area, where Carmen, Rosa, and Johnny were all waiting and staring at him.

This time, he was agitated as he approached the table. “I don’t get why you all don’t believe us.”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you Miggy, it’s just that it’s hard to find you in such a situation and not believe something else.” Carmen responded, her tone gentle now after having had a moment to separate herself from it.

Miguel motioned towards himself, “Don’t you think I’m more responsible than that mom?” he argued, feeling guilty already for talking to her in such a way, but he needed to plead his case, “I mean even if we had done something why would I lie to you or hide it from you? I’ve never given you a reason to mistrust me have I?”

“Se aman Carmen. Cuando uno se enamora, ellos…” Rosa started, motioning her hands through the air gently like waves.

Miguel fixed her a look that pleaded with her to stop any further elaboration. “Yaya…” He blinked his eyes back open and focused them on his mother again, “Like I said, I know what it looked like. But even she told you - “ he then paused and shook his head a little bit, “If you don’t trust me, you can trust her.”

“I do trust you Miggy.” Carmen tried her best not to let her tone betray her words. She was never going to be able to convince him that parents just got concerned sometimes, but it didn’t mean they didn’t trust their kids. “I believe that you were just sleeping,” She put a hand on top of his head, “You just caught me off guard is all. You can understand that right? Why I'd be a little surprised to find her here?”

Miguel gave her a little nod. “Yeah, I understand.”

He could understand being extra about things after you’d been up all night working, not to mention, pregnant. “Just uh, please don’t tell Mr. LaRusso.” She eyed him cautiously but he elaborated, “He takes overreacting to a different level, and I’ve really worked hard to make him like me.”

Carmen pressed her lips into an understanding frown, but before she could say anything, Johnny piped up once more, “Ah, LaRusso is a twinkie. He - “

“My dad is a Twinkie??” Sam walked into the fray, freshened up from her visit in the bathroom as she tucked her phone back into her pocket.

“I said he likes twinkies.” Johnny passed off with a shrug. He knew better than to ruffle the LaRusso daughter’s feathers.

Sam didn’t buy it, but she’d leave it at that. No doubt her two sensei’s had lots of names for one another, and she didn’t really want to have that conversation right now. Right now, she was still trying to hold onto the feelings last night brought her, the same ones she'd try so desperately to recreate when she was alone.

Carmen smiled warmly at her. “Sam, would you like some breakfast with us?”

Sam glanced at Miguel for a second, like a confirmation that she knew she didn't need, before turning back to Carmen. “Are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude.”

“Of course. There’s plenty of food I wouldn't feel right sending you home without at least some breakfast. You can take the seat next to Miguel at the table.” Carmen told, before walking into the kitchen to fix her plate.

Miguel pulled her chair out for her and she smiled at him sweetly before sitting down. Rosa was on the other side of her and as soon as she managed to full sit, the woman had extended her hands to her cheeks, cradling them gently. “Bendita seas, dulce niña, mi nieto está muy feliz estos días, sin duda en parte gracias a ti.”

Sam smiled towards her, but as soon as her cheeks were released she looked to Miguel with a bit of confusion. She hadn’t taken Spanish in school, so she hadn’t the slightest clue as to what the woman had said.

Miguel simply smiled at her, feeling a little blush on his cheeks, fork in hand, “She likes you.”

“Oh,” Sam responded with a bit of affection in her voice, “I like her too. She’s really sweet. Kind of different from my grandma.”

Miguel tilted his head to the side slightly, as he debated whether or not to eat eggs or tortilla first. Sam had told him plenty of stories about her grandmother. It seemed there was a lot of stress surrounding that subject, and he didn’t want to bring it up, so he shifted the conversation, “Did you talk to your dad?”

“Yeah.” she replied, her voice holding confidence, “I told him I jogged over here, and that I’d hitch a ride to practice with you guys.”

“Nice, convincing.” Johnny remarked, watching Carmen set a plate down in front of her.

Sam made a face. “You still don’t believe us?”

“I believe that you believe it, kid.” he stated, gazing up towards Carmen who was giving him that stern look again.

“Johnny.”

Sam’s jaw dropped open slightly, but it was irrelevant now. Carmen continued with a question of her own, “Did you want anything Johnny? There’s still plenty left.”

“Nah I'm good.” Johnny said as he watched Miguel and Sam busy themselves with the food on their plates, “Had an entire energy drink beforehand so I’m just ready to go kick some ass on the mat.”

“Oh, great.” Miguel remarked unenthusiastically.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Johnny questioned, almost offended by this, “Today’s gonna be a good day Diaz. Better get that enthusiasm up.”

“Yes sensei.” he murmured, with the same tone. Sam smiled, her head down towards her plate.

They finished up eating breakfast, and Johnny was waiting by the car. Sam insisted on helping Carmen clean up the table, but she hurried them out of the apartment before she could even make it past the table. “That won’t be necessary.” When she saw the hesitance on Sam’s face, she insisted. “Go on,you’ll be late and your father will worry.”

“Thank you Ms. Diaz.” Sam waved as they departed, and Miguel adjusted his backpack over his shoulder, looking back at his mother.

“You can call me Carmen. She reached forward to Miguel’s extended arms and hugged her son, “Love you Miggy. Work hard.”

“Always mama.” Miguel replied, and he opened up the front door for Sam as she walked out, him in tow behind her. “I'll be home by five.”

As they headed down the pathway, they could see towards the parking lot that Robby was climbing into his dad’s van, while Johnny revved the engine, waiting.

“Miguel…” Sam called towards him, as he had walked a couple steps ahead of her. She reached for his hand to stop him, and he turned, question on his face. “Thank you again, for everything.”

He smiled at her, giving her hand a squeeze, “Of course.”

“I’ll think about what you said, you know,” she paused briefly, a serious air about her, “About talking to someone again. You’re probably right.”

“I’m always in your corner, no matter what, remember that ok?.”

She smiled, partially to him and then partially to herself, remembering what he’d said before his mother came to investigate. “We should do this again sometime.”

His tanned face turned redder around the cheeks, glancing down briefly at his shoes just like he always did when she caught him off guard. “Ready when you are.”

She giggled. “Worth the interrogation?”

He beamed at her. “You’re always worth it Sam.”

An empty can rattled off somewhere to the left, no doubt caught against one of the outer apartment walls or curbs. It only distracted Sam for a second as she beamed her eyes back towards him, desire brimming along their edges as she briefly looked from his lips, then back to his eyes once more. Miguel noted this and followed her lead, as she eased up onto the tips of her toes. They met in the middle with their lips, insides igniting as they came together, their eyes gently closed as they sank into one another equally. Miguel felt a familiar warmth enter into his body. He never wanted moments like this to end, but just a second later they were startled apart by the sound of a loud car horn blaring.

They fumbled for a second, like deer caught in headlights would. Miguel cleared his throat while Sam held a hand to her chest, and both their gazes aimed towards Johnny’s van.

“Diaz! LaRusso! Knock it off! We’re running late!” Johnny bellowed, all but hanging halfway out of the driver side window as he flung a hand in the air like a declaration.

Sam smiled toward him, a playful look on her features, “Maybe we should take our time.”

“Fine by me.” Miguel stated, before leaning in and capturing her lips once more, one hand on the side of her face, the other gripping her around the waist gently.

“What the hell is taking so long?” Johnny scowled from inside the van, the sheer defiance of his favorite student earning him a huff and then some. He leaned out the window again, doubling his effort to be intimidating. “Diaz! You're going to be the new training dummy if you don't get out here in the next five seconds!”

Miguel broke away once more, to roll his eyes a bit as he murmured out a sarcastic, “Yes, sensei…”
In all honesty, he didn’t care if it cost him 50 - no, even 500 pushups on his knuckles. All he wanted right now was her.

Sam giggled a bit, and Miguel closed the gap again.