Hawk had missed Miguel almost as much as he missed Sky.

He had missed everything about Miguel. His laughter, his loyalty, the way they could just sit and watch a movie without talking about anything. But most of all, Hawk had missed doing Karate with Miguel. Cobra Kai without El Serpiente—

Well, it wasn't the same anymore. What had once felt like home, now felt like an obligation. After Aisha had moved away, Miguel had gotten injured and Sky had quitted - Cobra Kai wasn't what it had been before, and Hawk missed it with painful longing. Not that he could admit it to anyone, but he missed the carefree, fun days, he missed the friendship, the feeling of brotherhood, of family, of being a part of something bigger than yourself.

But now that Miguel was back on his feet and going to school again, he would want to start doing Karate again too, right?

At least Hawk hoped he would.

He had met Miguel briefly in the morning, but they'd barely had time to exchange a couple of words before the bell rang and forced them to their classes. They had agreed to meet at lunch to talk more, and now Hawk was waiting for him at his table with the rest of the Cobras, a mix of nervousness and excitement making him restless. Miguel had said he wanted to talk about Cobra Kai, and that could mean one thing only - that he was considering coming back.

Hawk was ready to help Miguel in any way. That's what brothers did. Just like Miguel had been there for Hawk when he had flipped the script - now was the time for him to be there for Miguel, because this wasn't going to be easy for him. The beginning would no doubt be hard - Miguel was still out of shape, and Kreese was a tough Sensei - but Hawk had no doubts that Miguel would soon catch up. And he was going to be there for his friend every step of the way.

The Cobras at the table were laughing at something, but Hawk was barely listening. He had already finished his lunch, and his thoughts were still in Miguel when he suddenly saw something that knitted his stomach in a tight knot.

Sky and Cody.

It felt like a punch in the gut. Hawk's jaw clenched as he watched how Cody caught up with Sky who was walking out of the cafeteria. He laughed and said something, she turned to look, a radiant smile on her face, and as she touched Cody's arm, her fingers slid down his sleeve and brushed his hand.

Jealousy was a dagger through Hawk's heart. It brought a taste of venom onto his lips, and he could barely draw in a breath. He didn't want to see this, any of this, but was unable to look away.

Sky's eyes were wide and soft when she looked at Cody, her smile was the sweetest and the most painful thing Hawk had ever seen. He was choking, his chest was collapsing. He was dying here, watching Sky fall in love with someone else, and there was nothing he could do about it.

His fists had hammered Cody's face, he had kicked him in the gut, in the back, had kicked him in the head so that he had lost consciousness. He had grabbed Cody's hair and dragged him through the bloody floor of the bathroom and stuffed his bleeding face into the toilet. He had left that boy unconscious on the floor, so beaten up and battered that he had missed a whole week of school - and even that had not been enough to keep him away from Sky. If something, the beating had probably pushed them even closer together. There was something affectionate in Sky's eyes when she looked at him, something intimate in the way she leaned closer, as if she had already grown used to touching him.

Hawk knew he was staring, but he couldn't help it. The pain of losing her was sharp, it took his breath away.

As if feeling Hawk's eyes on her, Sky turned to look over her shoulder. Her eyes turned hard, cold, and she flashed him a defiant glance, jutting out her jaw, as if to say I do what I want. You can't stop me.

Hawk turned his eyes away.

Sky was free to be with anyone she wanted to be. Everything she had shouted at his face at the dojo, had been true. He had crossed a line beating Cody up, and he wasn't going to do it again.

He tried to fake a laugh as some of the Cobras made some stupid remarks and jokes. It wasn't like he was really listening, their constant commentary was annoying, like the buzzing of the bees in his ears.

When he looked at the doorway again, Sky was gone. Instead, there was Miguel walking towards him and warmth filled Hawk's chest. Pushing away the lingering sadness that seeing Sky with someone else had left behind, he stood up and laughed.

"Hey man–" he greeted Miguel with a wide smile, but Miguel didn't reply to it. His face was hard, his eyes cold.

"I heard about what happened to Demetri. How could you do that?"

His words killed Hawk's joy. He felt like Miguel had poured a bucket of ice over his head as the coldness spread into his heart.

"You should be thanking me for getting revenge on the Miyagi-Do's," he groaned. "Besides the other ones started the fight - we finished it."

Miguel looked shocked, hurt even. "That's not what our sensei taught us."

"He's not my sensei anymore."

"After everything Sensei Lawrence did for you, you betray him," Miguel was shaking his head and every word that left his lips was an arrow through Hawk's heart. This was not going at all like he had thought it would, and the disappointment was bitter, it was threatening to turn into anger.

"He betrayed us." He spat the words out, tension making his voice crack.

How could Miguel be defending Sensei Lawrence like this? After everything that had happened? Didn't he see that it was too late to go back to the way things had been before? Hawk's longing for those days was nothing but an emotion, it was irrational and he knew it. There was no time machine that could carry them back into the days when they had all been happy, innocent, the days when Sky had still loved him—

He shoved away that thought. There was no going back, but if Miguel just joined Cobra Kai, it would change everything. It would make Cobra Kai better, it would feel like home again.

"Look, this isn't you talking. It's Kreese, he's got in your head. You can change that if you leave Cobra Kai and join Sensei Lawrence's new dojo. If you come, others will follow. Okay? We can show everyone we're not a bunch of bullies. It could be like before."

A bunch of bullies?

That's what Sky had called them too, when she had shown up at the dojo defending Cody. Bullies and cowards. And it was true, he knew it was true, he had become the thing he had never wanted to become. He had become worse than Kyler, and Miguel saw it, as he always saw everything, saw right through all Hawk's defenses and lies.

"He has a new dojo?" Hawk asked, with a frown.

A fragile hope flickered in his chest. A new dojo? He wouldn't have to quit karate, he wouldn't end up losing everything - and Miguel would be there. They could train with Sensei Lawrence again, and then Sky—

That thought almost took Hawk's breath away. Would Sky want to join that dojo too? She had always had a special bond with Sensei Lawrence. If she joined, and Hawk was there—

Maybe there was a time machine after all. Maybe this new dojo was that, it would make everything as it had been before.

No, no, he didn't even dare to hope that. The memory of Sky standing in front of him with flaming eyes after she had punched him in the face, was suddenly back, squeezing the air out of his lungs. She wanted nothing to do with karate, she wanted nothing to do with him. No new dojo was going to bring Sky back, there was no hope, he was an idiot to even consider this.

At that moment Kyler's voice cut through the cafeteria, making both Hawk and Miguel turn to look. "Hey, guys! Check this guy out. He's standing around with a dick in his hand."

He stood next to Demetri, holding his arm and there was a huge dick drawn on the cast with a black marker. Everyone in the cafeteria burst out in laughter, and Hawk could see how Demetri's posture turned tense, how something in him shattered. For the briefest moment their eyes met, and Hawk felt the guilt like a punch in the face, but the moment was gone in a heartbeat, Demetri turned around and rushed away from the cafeteria - followed by Yasmine who had witnessed the scene.

"So, these are your friends now?" asked Miguel, and the tone of his voice told Hawk exactly what he thought about this.

He had no words to answer, the moment grew too long, and then Miguel was walking away from him, leaving him standing alone in the middle of the cafeteria, in the middle of the crowd that was still laughing at what had happened.

None of them knew, none of them saw how this moment killed him.