Cochlear | A Cobra Kai Fanfiction

16

"Demetri!"

"Jess? I -oof!"

The nerd had barely turned around in time to catch a near flying Jesse to the chest. Her arms wrapped around his middle and his arms jumped forward wrap around her shoulders to keep them both from falling over.

"O-oh jeez, Jesse! I'm not made of muscle! You can't just jump at me like that, what if I had fallen and then took you with me? We could have bumped our heads on the disgusting tile of the mall and I'll let you know I do not want to go out that way."

Jesse only ginned up at her friend. She had missed his rants, normalcy, and general nerdiness while in Korea. It had been so stuffy. She squeezed Demetri tightly, enjoying the breathe of air he released from being smushed.

"You have no idea how much I messed you, Demetri." She sighed happily before stepping back, already missing the hug. Jesse grinned widely to her mildly blushing friend who returned it awkwardly. "So, how was life while I was gone?"

"We literally talked every single day you were gone." Demetri replied matter of faculty, rolling his eyes. Jesse rolled her own at the sass. "It's not like we didn't talk."

"Yeah, but you haven't said anything about Karate since I've left!" She exclaimed dramatically. Jesse motioned the comic shop in front of them and put her hand on her hip in equal sass. "We literally almost died here and we haven't really talked about it."

Demetri physically cringed at the reminder and Jesse immediately felt bad for bringing it up. The nerd rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, the memories coming back in full force. "I know, I know... it's been weird."

"Like how?"

Demetri bit down on his tounged, the fleshing muscle sending tingles of warning to stop the pressure for a few moments before he stopped and looked over at his friend. "Could we act like things are normal first and then go into depression conversation mode? I-I just need..." he trailed off, not sure of the word that best fit what he needed right then.

Jesse opened her mouth to complain, but the words died in her throat at the pleading look on Demetri's face. There was so much stress and pain on his face just from thinking about what had happened and it made Jesse feel worried, but she closed her mouth and nodded.

"Sure. But that just means you have to listen to all the K-Drama's I watched on the trip!" Jesse said ecstatically, grabbing Demetri by the hand and pulling him into the store. She grasped the hand firmly yet held a gentleness that screamed I'm here for you. Even though Demetri had let out a playful groan of discontent, she knew it was fake and she played along to his fantasy. "Oh, shut up. You might like this one!"

"Doubt it." Demetri grumbled, hoping that his rapidly beating heart and sweaty palms were unnoticeable. There was a level of fear that came with being at the comic store that he tried to hide, a fear that kept him with his body towards the exit, and unconsciously looking at every person that entered the store.

But her hand was the safest Demetri had felt in a while.

"It's called Cute Programmer and to be fair it's actually a Chinese drama, but anyways..." Demetri listened intently to every word even though he displayed annoyance on his face. Listening to Jesse talk about something she like so passionately felt very... intimate. "But anyways there's some nerdy dialogue that I don't understand to be honest, but you probably would!"

"I don't know." Demetri let himself get dragged over to the manga section so Jesse could grab the next book of her favorite series. "It's just, I'm not super... into..."

Chick flicks. Dramas. Romance.

All of the above.

"Come on watch one episode with me please?" Jesse let go of Demetri's hand and clasped her own together, staring up at the boy with wide eyes and trying to manifest a puppy dog look. Demetri shifted awkwardly and discreetly wiped his sweat palm on his jeans. "Please? Please? Please? Please? Pl-"