"Seriously - how do you get all the girls?"

"I don't get all the girls. That's ridiculous."

Cody drew his eyes off Sky who was sitting a couple of tables away and turned to look at Tom. They were at the school cafeteria, having lunch - though in fact it was only Tom who was having lunch as Cody just absentmindedly pushed his food around his plate. It was very hard to find an appetite these days.

"Right. Because from where I'm sitting, it sure looks like you do. I mean - you can be lying on your deathbed, looking like you got run over by a truck - and the next thing you know, there's a hot girl stuffing a hand down your pants."

Cody rolled his eyes and stuck his fork into his food.

"You sure you want to talk about that? Cause you kinda ruined that moment for me."

"Sorry," Tom muttered, looking embarrassed enough. "My bad."

"And I do not get all the girls. Not the ones that matter, anyways."

Tom took a bite of his sandwich, looking anything but convinced. He took his time eating that mouthful before he spoke again.

"Why did you break up with Jodie?"

Cody let out a sigh. "She got clingy."

"And Anya?"

"She was boring."

"Melanie?"

"Talked too much."

"You are horrible," Tom stated as a fact.

He was right of course. Cody knew perfectly well he wasn't a good person, and that he had treated all those nice girls like crap. There had been absolutely nothing wrong with Jodie, or Anya, or Melanie - the latest one, the one he had only dumped the same day he had taken Sky to get the milkshakes. They had all been pretty, they had adored him, and he had gotten to sleep with them, but… the truth was he hadn't given a crap about any of them. They had been a pastime, nothing more, and he had never even wanted anything more, because he had been so sure that there was something wrong with him, that the things that had happened to him as a child had somehow broken his soul, turned him into something nasty, made him not only undeserving of love but incapable of feeling it too.

Well, that at least, had been proven wrong.

He had fallen in love with Sky fast and hard, and in these past two weeks, he had loved more than most people in a lifetime.

"Melanie was nice. I liked her." Said Tom wistfully, making Cody roll his eyes and let out an annoyed huff.

"Well, good for you. Why don't you date her then?"

"It's not me she wants to date," Tom noted and took another bite of his sandwich. "Nobody does. Because you date everyone, so there is nothing left for the rest of us. It's like you are collecting a harem. No, seriously - those three I mentioned are all in the past two months! Who knows how many girls you've dated in total? Do you even know yourself?"

"No. What's your point?"

"I don't know. Maybe I don't have a point. Maybe I'm just complaining."

Cody was barely listening. It was really hard to concentrate on anything that Tom was saying, as Sky was sitting at a table not too far from them, and he had a straight view of her. She was talking with her friends, Moon and Yasmine, and the LaRusso girl whose name Cody couldn't remember. They were giggling and glancing at Cody, which made him feel rather uneasy.

"Cody?"

They were all decent-looking girls, but Sky stood out amongst them as if a heavenly light glowed over her head. Every detail about her was perfect, her mere presence was enough to take his breath away. He had never wanted a girl like this - like she was the air he breathed, like he would die if he didn't get her. The things they had done in his room last Friday had left him all hot and restless, hungry for more. He had jerked off to her image after she had left - the first time he had ever done that, and he still felt kinda dirty for doing it - but it had done nothing to put off the fire in his veins. He could still feel the touch of her hand, her slender fingers curling around his dick—

"Cody?"

Maybe she didn't love him, but she clearly liked him. In Cody's experience, girls didn't do those kinds of things to boys they didn't like. She had been about to give him a fucking hand job—

And then there was the way she had looked at him when he had read Othello, her eyes wide and soft and like she was watching the moon. She must have some feelings towards him - at least she liked him, and wanted him, and that could grow into love, right?

"Are you listening to me at all?"

The sounds of the cafeteria, Tom's voice trying to catch his attention, came back to him, shattering his daydreaming.

"What? Sure. Of course, I am." He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Right. What's the last thing I said to you?"

"Besides going through the names of my exes? Sorry, you lost me during that boring list."

"Yeah, I noticed. Because you keep staring at Sky." Tom said with a hint of annoyance. "What is the deal between the two of you anyways?"

"I like her, man. I like her so much." The words just fell off his lips before he could stop them. "I've never felt anything like this before."

Tom's jaw dropped, but Cody barely noticed. He was looking at Sky again, and their eyes met. There was a smile playing on her beautiful lips and that one glance was enough to make Cody's heart thump painfully against his ribs.

"What did you say—?" Tom leaned closer over the table.

Cody turned to look at Tom, who was probably the closest thing he had to a best friend. They'd gone to school together since middle school, where Tom had been bullied for being fat, and Cody for looking like he was still 5. But it wasn't just the bullying that had brought them together - it was their joint love for books and theater. So when things had taken a turn for the better for Cody during high school, he had pulled Tom up from the filth with him. Tom was the only one of Cody's friends who knew some things about his past, about him being a foster kid. Not everything, but little bits and pieces, and of all the people in the world, Cody trusted him the most.

He had never betrayed the secrets Cody had told him.

"I'm in love with her," he said, and couldn't help a laugh. God, it felt so good to say it out loud. Even if he could never say that to Sky, those words were begging to be shouted out to the world, they needed to be said, to be told, they were the most beautiful words in the world.

"You— you are kidding, right?" Tom asked, his eyes widening. The sandwich in his hands was frozen in mid-air as if he had suddenly forgotten he was supposed to be eating it.

"I wish," Cody said and ran a hand through his hair, still grinning like an idiot. "But no, it's true. Can you keep it a secret?"

"Sure. But—"

Cody glanced at his phone, suddenly realizing what time it was - he had completely lost track of it while watching Sky, and now he was running late. He stood up in one, swift motion, throwing his backpack over his shoulder and picking up his tray with the unfinished meal. "Shoot, I gotta go. I have a meeting with Counselor Blatt. Apparently, she wants to talk about my - and I quote - "unrealistic college plans", can you imagine?"

"Cody—!"

"Unrealistic my ass," Cody laughed. "I'll show her."

He flashed Sky a smile as he passed her table, and the way her cheeks blushed made something flutter in his chest. The piercing sadness he had felt when she had turned him down, was barely a memory.

It was impossible to stay sad in a world where she existed, in a world where he got to breathe the same air as her, in a world where she smiled back at him like this, in this beautiful world where they were having a movie night in a couple of days.

His feet were barely touching the floor when he walked out of the cafeteria.

Sky's eyes followed Cody all the way. She couldn't help it. He was so beautiful to look at when he smiled at her. That last, radiant smile he flashed at her when walking by their table, turned Sky's cheeks hot, her breathing a bit shallow.

"The way he was staring at you all this time—" giggled Moon, bringing Sky back into the moment. She was still in the cafeteria, having lunch - or rather, just pushing her food around the plate as the opiates had taken away her appetite.

She glanced at her friend, her cheeks heating. "Come on. He wasn't staring."

"He was," said Sam. "But so were you."

"That boy has a crush on you," Moon smiled. "And he can't even hide it."

"It's not like that."

"Then what is it like?" Moon asked, leaning closer. Her smile was bright and kind and sweet, like everything about her, and Sky wanted to be honest - but how could she? She had no idea how to put all this in words, there were so many lies she had told the girls that it was hard to keep up. Moon was looking at her like she waited for her to count her a tale about a beautiful, budding romance - when in fact, even if Sky cared about him, Cody was barely more than her drug dealer and her fuck buddy. Which didn't sound pretty at all.

"It's… complicated," she muttered, taking a sip of her soda and turning her eyes away. "Like, super complicated."

"What's so complicated about it?" Asked Moon softly. "He clearly likes you—"

"Hey - it was you who warned me about him, remember? I thought you said he left a trail of broken hearts behind him, or something like that. Have you changed your mind?"

"I don't know—" Moon hesitated. "Maybe I was wrong about him. I mean, he took that horrible beating from Hawk… and it hasn't discouraged him a bit. He keeps looking at you like he really likes you."

Sky glanced at the table where the Cobras usually sat, but now it was empty. Good. She wanted nothing to do with them after the confrontation at the dojo last week, she never wanted to see Hawk again after what he had done to Cody.

"You think Cody really likes me?" she asked, turning her eyes back to Moon.

This was making her a bit uneasy. Did Cody have feelings for her? Was there more on his side than just the friendship and the sexual tension? Sky took a sip of her drink as she thought about it, but found it extremely hard to believe. She had heard enough about the army of ex-girlfriends he had left behind. The boy was clearly just addicted to female company, like she was addicted to pills. To each their own.

Maybe he was a sex addict?

That didn't bother Sky, but it was yet another thing she thought best to leave unsaid in this conversation.

"Even I think that he likes you," noted Sam, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's written all over his face when he looks at you."

"So, the question is, do you like him?" Asked Moon with a soft smile.

"I— I don't know." Sky replied, desperately trying to think what to answer. She couldn't tell them she mainly just liked Cody's lips on hers, his hips between her thighs, his dick inside of her. "I mean— he is nice. He is smart, he makes me laugh, and we have a lot in common. And he is gorgeous—"

At that Moon giggled but Yas rolled her eyes and stated: "Still not seeing that."

"Come on," Sky sighed. "He has the face of an angel."

"Short." Yasmine yawned. "That's all I see when I look at him."

Sky already had a sharp reply already on the tip of her tongue, but she never got to say it as Sam interrupted her.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to start something with Cody this soon after your break-up?" She asked with a frown. "Maybe it would be better just to give yourself some time to get over Eli? You could come with me to the dojo, start doing some kata or meditation. It could help."

Sky turned to look at Sam, a mixture of love and guilt washing over her. Sam didn't deserve to be lied to, none of these girls did. But there was no way Sky could tell them about the drugs, and there was no way she could do karate when she was high.

"Thanks—" she said, searching for words. "But I don't think I'm ready to start karate again. And what I have with Cody - well, It's nothing serious. We're just having some fun."

"Oh," Yasmine gave a sly grin. "And is he any good at fun?"

"Yasmine!" Sam glared at her, but Moon just giggled.

"What, it's a valid question," Yas shrugged.

"Oh, and is Demetri any good at fun?" Sky asked, making Yas blush all the way to her ears. "Because the nerdy kids often are—"

"Please," Yas rolled her eyes and flipped her golden locks behind her shoulder, regaining her cool. "We've only been to a couple of dates. I'm going to make him wait until he is desperate."

"I think he is already desperate," Sky noted. "If you'll tease him much longer, he'll burst."

Yasmine flashed her a confident grin, and was just about to say something, when they noticed Demetri walking closer, awkwardly balancing his tray on his broken arm. He stopped next to Yas and flashed her an adoring smile.

"Hello, Ladies" he greeted them. "What's the topic of discussion today?"

"I don't think you want to know," replied Sky, trying to keep a poker face while Moon failed miserably in doing so.

"Talking about me, then, I assume?" said Demetri as he laid his tray on the table and took a seat next to Yasmine. "About my unmatched intelligence, I hope."

"About your unmatched something, sure," grinned Sky, earning another giggle from Moon, and then, to change the subject: "So, how is that arm doing? Any pain?"

"It's okay, another 7 weeks to go, but the doctors think It'll be as good as new."

"It smells," noted Yasmine, making a face. "I can't wait to get that cast off you."

"As much as it entices me to hear that, I come bringing some actual news," said Demetri, leaning back in his chair. "Does anyone want to hear them, or are we going to talk more about the things you want to get off me, Yas? Because I could make a list."

"Eww," sighed Yasmine and moved a bit further from Demetri.

"Don't be disgusting," Sky said. "None of us wants to hear that. So, what's the news?"

Demetri glanced at Yasmine with a worried frown, which made Sky feel a bit bad for him, but only a bit. It would be interesting to see which one came off first, though, Demetri's cast or his virginity. Sky was betting on the cast.

"Right, the news," Demetri turned to look at the rest of them. "I just heard from Miguel. It seems that he's finally coming back to school."

"Oh!" Sky broke into a wide, genuine smile and clapped her hands together in excitement. "Oh, that's great! I'm so glad!"

She had missed Miggy, a lot. And she felt awful for not visiting him in ages - but she had feared that Miguel, who was always so observant, would take one look at her and know she was using, and so… she hadn't seen him once during these past two weeks. That guilt was a knife in her heart.

I'll make it up to him. I'll be there for him, I'll be a better friend.

"Did you know already?" Asked Moon of Sam, who was also smiling but didn't seem that surprised.

"I knew he had a doctor's appointment today, but I didn't know how it went."

"Apparently they told him he's all good to make his big comeback tomorrow," announced Demetri with a grin - but then something took that smile away and it was replaced by a worried frown. "Which brings a new question—"

"What?" asked Sky.

"Has anyone…. told Miguel what's been going on? About Cobra Kai? And how… Eli broke my arm and almost killed Cody?"

Silence fell on the table as they all exchanged glances. Their former joy over Miguel's recovery was suddenly shadowed by worry.

"I haven't," said Sky. "I have barely seen him lately—"

"I didn't want to burden him with that stuff," spoke Sam. "I figured he would need to concentrate on his recovery."

"Which was probably a wise decision." Demetri replied. "But he is coming back tomorrow. And we have to tell him."

Sky let out a long sigh and slumped down in her chair. "It's going to be horrible. But yeah, you are right. Let's do it together."

That was a conversation she wasn't looking forward to.