A couple more rounds of tequila shots and they had to take a taxicab back to the hostel that night. By the time they stumbled into their room, neither Miguel nor Hawk had the motor skills necessary to change into their pajamas, so they simply kicked off their shoes and climbed into their combined beds together.

"God, that was such a stupid idea," declared Miguel with what he was sure was an equally stupid grin plastered on his face, his cheeks still on fire from the alcohol. While Hawk lied down, getting under his blanket, Miguel followed suit, turning to his side to face Eli. He poked Hawk on his chest, telling him, "Y'know, you're a terrible influence."

"Nah, I'm totally reha-rehabili, shit!" It took them a moment to stop laughing at how Hawk couldn't manage to get the word out before he continued. "I've totally turned over a new leaf, you can't blame me. You're the one who asked for more tequila."

Miguel poked him again. "And you're the one who kept buying the shots."

"Ha! Got me there," Hawk chuckled, grabbing Miguel's hand playfully. "But I couldn't let you end the night on such a downer. No more letting Robby drag either of us down, deal?"

The corner of Miguel's mouth twitched at the mention of Robby's name, and his inebriated mind conjured up the conversation that had led to them getting shitfaced that night. Then he thought even further back still to something Eli had mentioned to him in Mexico City. "Hey, do you remember when you told me Robby showed you respect during your match in the finals?"

Hawk whined. "Dude, I just said not to let Robby drag us down. And I'm so wasted right now, I can't even remember what we had for breakfast."

Miguel supposed he had a point. Straining his brain, he couldn't remember what they'd had for breakfast that morning, either. Chilaquiles? Maybe? And chances were, neither of them was going to remember this night the next morning, anyway, so there really was no point in letting the subject of Robby drag them back down again; at least for now.

He was pulled back to the present when Hawk entwined his fingers between his own, pressing their palms together. "Besides, it should've been you and me in the finals," said Eli, giving him a fond smile. "My worthy opponent."

"It would've been nice to at least get through our match," Miguel pointed out, dipping back into his well of thoughts, recalling his match with Hawk in the semifinals. It should have been much more fun than it turned out to be. They should have been able to fight each other at their best, in much better circumstances. "I wish things had been different."

Hawk's fond smile fell as he now looked at him with concern. "Did it hurt a lot? Throwing your back out like that? It looked like it hurt."

Through the fuzziness of the alcohol, Miguel could recall the visceral pain that had sent him crumbling to the mats when he'd tried the flying tornado kick. It would be a long time before he forgot what that felt like. A sharp sting to the nerves running up and down his spine that had him crying out for his Sensei in the hopes that he could make the pain stop.

"It hurt for a while," mumbled Miguel, shivering at the cold chill crawling up his spine as he thought about it. "It was…It was pretty scary, man. I just dropped. I didn't even know if I could stand up, I thought I might've broken my spine again except I could feel it this time. The medic told me it was a pulled muscle but…I really didn't know until then that things would never go back to the way they were."

Hawk's eyes flitted down, and Miguel felt a thumb running over his own. "I've been thinking a lot about what you told me earlier about how what happened at the Tournament made you feel helpless again, and how you said you figured out you weren't all that invincible in the first place, and I was…never mind."

Seeing the embarrassment coming over Hawk's face now, Miguel gripped his hand tighter for encouragement. "No, go on."

A sardonic smile masked Hawk's self-consciousness, and he snorted. "I dunno, dude, if we keep up with all this emotional talk, aren't you worried we might end up, like, making out or something?" he asked audaciously, the alcoholic flush on his face spreading all the way to the tips of his ears. "I mean, I've heard the phrase 'what happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico,' but I've been trying to get on your girlfriend's good side."

That brought a grin to Miguel's face. Hawk could be pretty funny whenever he was drunk or trying to avoid an issue; or both. But the mention of Sam was like having a glass of ice water tipped over his head. He shivered again under his comforter as he imagined how upset she must've been with him for ghosting her as he did. Would she understand? Would they still be together after all this was over?

Pushing those worries aside, Miguel raised an eyebrow and observed, "Sounds like you're trying to dodge. Besides, what about Moon?"

"Moon said she's down to share," said Hawk without missing a beat.

Both of Miguel's eyebrows shot up his forehead and he let out a surprised laugh. "Oh really?"

"I told her I was coming down here to find you. She said she understood, but I'm not exactly expecting her to wait forever for me to get my own shit together, either." Hawk got quiet for a second as his grin dulled back to embarrassment with a sigh. "Y'know, when I came down here, I wanted to run away from everything."

His own smile softening, Miguel said, "Yeah, I kinda picked up on those vibes."

"Bro, I was totally serious about starting a wrestling career with you," Hawk stressed, grasping Miguel's hand firmly again to prove his point. "Hell, the offer might still be on the table if you want, just give me the word, I'll figure things out. If our girlfriends don't wanna follow us down here, we'll settle down ourselves, get gay married and everything."

Miguel could only laugh again. How else could he respond to an outlandish offer like that? "You're so wasted right now, man."

Hawk grinned back, although it didn't look like a particularly confident one; more like one of somebody who didn't know whether or not they'd said something funny after they'd been laughed at. "Heh, told you I was," he said, untangling his fingers from Miguel's and finally pulling his hand back.

When Hawk tugged his blanket up higher, Miguel furrowed his brows and shifted a little closer. "Were things that bad that you'd really want to leave everyone behind?" he asked, more serious now. "What about your parents? And Demetri and all our other friends in Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do?"

He watched Eli's embarrassment morph into guilt as all the previous fun melted from his face. "I was just joking," he said, his eyes dropping from Miguel's searching stare. "Of course I wouldn't ditch them."

Miguel had a suspicion Hawk was telling him the truth the first time. "Does this have to do with what you were trying to tell me earlier? About feeling helpless?"

Hawk seemed to sink more into his pillow, still avoiding his stare. Miguel took his hand once more and clasped it warmly, which finally got Eli to glance at him again. This time, he looked almost shy.

"I thought things would change after the Tournament, even though we lost," explained Hawk. "I guess I didn't realize how I'd been focusing on the Tournament to avoid having to think about everything else. But after it was over, it was like winning the boys' championship hadn't changed anything, y'know?"

"Yeah," Miguel agreed, knowing he would have felt much the same had he made it to the finals and beat Robby there, too.

"Then I thought I could help you," continued Hawk. "I mean, part of me really was hoping you decided to fuck off from the Valley and was setting up some new karate dojo or something down here, away from all that shit back home, because I would've been like, y'know, same. And when you said you wanted to find yourself, I wanted to help you do that. I couldn't stop Robby from shaving my head, I couldn't save the dojos, and I just wanted to do something to prove to myself I wasn't helpless anymore."

"Hey, you did do something," said Miguel, a small smile reforming on his lips. "You tracked me down all the way to Mexico. For all I know, you showing up and throwing off my plans like that probably saved me from making a huge mistake with finding my dad. You've stuck with me through all my stupid, impulsive choices. Heh, I guess I'm the bad influence when you think about it."

Hawk shook his head. "No way, you can't take my title from me. Besides, I'd follow you anywhere." He paused, slipping his hand from Miguel's grip to run up his arm and clasp his shoulder. "You're…You're such a good person, do you know that? And I wish I could help you with your bio-dad or Sensei or whoever you want to be your dad. I'd tell them you're fucking incredible and none of them deserve someone as awesome as El Serpiente for a son."

A soft gasp broke from Miguel when Hawk's hand slid from his shoulder to cradle the crook of his neck. He stared at Eli for a long moment, not moving, letting the disquieting silence hover between them until it thickened the air so restlessly that Hawk pulled his hand back.

"Guess we should finally pass out," announced Hawk with an exaggerated yawn, pulling his comforter up over his shoulder as he turned over on the bed to face the opposite side. "Sooner we sleep, the sooner we'll cure our hangovers tomorrow."

His breath still quickening from the slight racing of his heartbeat, Miguel mumbled back, "I guess." He stayed put where he was lying down, now staring at the back of Eli's head. And he wondered if what had happened there was something he needed to worry about or if it was just the tequila messing with things. Perhaps they shouldn't have kept up with the emotional talk after all.

But he also didn't want things to end on an awkward note between them.

"Hey, Hawk?"

Hawk stirred, chancing a peek over his shoulder at Miguel. "Yeah?"

Miguel smiled at him. "What would we have called our own karate dojo?"