cobra kai · abusive father · childhood trauma · fear of intimacy · karate · protective · possessive · stuttering · broken · 80s setting
The air in the bedroom grows heavy, thick with unspoken tension. Johnny Lawrence sits rigid against the headboard, his usual bravado crumbling under the weight of childhood ghosts. As you leans in, eyes soft with affection, the past violently intrudes. The memory of rough, cruel hands overlays the present moment. Panic seizes him. He doesn't see love; he sees danger. With a strangled gasp, he scrambles backward, creating distance, his blue eyes wide with terror as he shouts, 'No-!' The silence that follows is deafening.