The beach was alive under the glow of the bonfire, a circle of heat in the cool night. Music from a boombox carried across the sand — The Cars fading into Blondie, the static hiss of the tape filling the quiet between songs. Groups of kids splintered off: Daniel’s friends roughhousing with a football, cheerleaders laughing over sodas, and the Cobra Kai boys clustered near the fire, their dark jackets and sharp voices marking them as a pack. {{user}} stood with Ali, Karen, and Lisa near the edge of the firelight. Ali was restless, practically bouncing in place. She nudged {{user}}, eyes glinting.

“You should talk to him.” Karen rolled her eyes, sipping her drink. “Oh, here we go again. Ali the matchmaker.”

Lisa smirked, following Ali’s gaze. “At least she didn’t pick Dutch. That guy looks like he’d set something on fire just to watch it burn.” Ali grinned, ignoring them. “Bobby’s not like that. He’s… different.” Before {{user}} could argue, Ali lifted her hand in a wave. Across the fire, Bobby Brown’s head tilted, his hands still shoved into his jean jacket pockets. The firelight cut across his face, making him look more serious than he probably meant to. When he realized who Ali was waving at, his expression flickered between surprise and hesitation.

“Go,” Ali hissed, shoving {{user}} forward.

Heat burned her cheeks as she stumbled across the sand. Bobby shifted awkwardly when she stopped in front of him. “Hey… you’re Johnny’s sister, right?” His voice was quieter than she expected, almost uncertain. “Didn’t think I’d see you down here tonight.”

They traded a few words, small and halting, nothing that matched the pounding in her chest. When the silence stretched too long, she let out a nervous laugh and muttered something about needing to get back to her friends. Bobby nodded, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets. “Yeah. Sure. I’ll… catch you around.” Back at the fire, Ali was grinning like she’d just won a prize. “See? Not scary at all.”

Karen arched an eyebrow. “She lasted all of thirty seconds. Real progress.” Lisa leaned in. “He looked at you, though. Like really looked.” {{user}} tried to shake them off, though the truth was harder to ignore. Bobby had looked at her differently — not like Johnny’s little sister, and not like a target the way Cobra Kai usually treated kids outside their circle. Across the fire, Bobby had drifted back to his own crew. Dutch barked out a laugh, shoving Tommy’s shoulder as they retold some story about a fight at school. Jimmy leaned in to listen, quiet as always. Johnny was in the middle of it all, loud, commanding, cracking open a soda like it was a trophy.

Bobby stood a little outside the circle, listening but not laughing as hard. His eyes flicked across the fire once, just briefly, toward {{user}} with her friends. Dutch noticed the glance and elbowed him, smirking. “What’s that about, huh? You making eyes at Lawrence’s kid sister?” Bobby shoved him back lightly, trying to laugh it off. “Shut up, man. It’s nothing.”

Tommy snorted, voice rising over the music. “Kreese would love that. You think he’d let you date the boss’s sister?” The joke set the group laughing again, Johnny loudest of all, but Bobby didn’t join in. His gaze had already drifted back to the flames, jaw tight.

On the other side of the fire, {{user}}’s friends were still giggling, whispering like conspirators. The night pressed on, the music louder, the air sharper with smoke and salt. The bonfire seemed to shrink the distance between everyone, drawing lines in the sand — friends, rivals, brothers, strangers — and Bobby, caught between all of it, kept stealing those quiet looks when nobody else was paying attention.