"The guy has a steam room and a fucking jacuzzi. How the fuck am I supposed to compete with that?" Hawk let out a frustrated sigh, as he sank to sit down on a bench on the beach, next to Demetri and Miguel.

"So, there is a competition going on then?" Demetri asked, arching a brow. "Is Sky aware of that too?"

Hawk looked down to his sneakers, and took a sip of his Coke, trying to come up with an answer that wouldn't make him look like a pathetic loser or a desperate creep.

"Nah. I mean, we're talking, which is great. She's not trying to punch me in the face every time she sees me, which is also great, but—" he shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we're just learning how to be friends again."

Friends. Right.

The look on Demetri's face told Hawk he wasn't buying his shit, and he wasn't going to bother trying to convince him. The truth was that he didn't even want to be friends with Sky. They had never really been friends, not even when he had still been the old Eli before flipping the script. The sexual tension, the yearning, had been there since day one, since the first moment he had laid his eyes on Sky in the cafeteria when she had walked across the room in her high heels and her short skirt, blowing Eli's mind. It had been like that ever since. Fuck— he still remembered how it had felt when he had been the nerd and she the beautiful, popular new girl. How much he had wanted her, how even being in the same room with her had been torture, how still and heavy the air had felt, his chest like it would collapse when she had sat down at their table in Chemistry that first time, how he had been so turned on by her mere presence that he'd had a huge boner under the table, even if he hadn't even known her name yet.

Considering all this, Hawk had his doubts about their possible friendship. You weren't supposed to be in love with your friends, or want to fuck them senseless, right?

He thought it best not to say that out loud, though. That would make him sound like a fucking pervert.

"Friends, huh?" Miguel asked with a knowing grin, clearly not fooled by Hawk either. "And how's that working out for you?"

Hawk rolled his eyes and took another sip of his coke which was barely more than water now, thanks to all the melted ice in it. "Well, it would go a lot better if I could throw Cody into the fucking Koi pond. I fucking hate that asshole."

"Still not a good idea," Miguel replied calmly, stirring his coke with the straw. The wind that blew from the ocean made a mess of his black hair.

Demetri sighed and leaned back on the bench, crossing his long legs at the ankles. "He's not that bad. Personally, I think it's nice there's someone who appreciates books and movies at the dojo. We had a wonderful conversation the other day, about—"

Hawk frowned and glared at Demetri. "What the fuck, man? Just whose side are you on?"

"Sorry, sorry—" Demetri made an apologetic gesture. "Yours, obviously. Just saying that attacking him might not be the best way to proceed with this matter. I have a feeling that Sky wouldn't appreciate that."

Hawk gave up on his coke and tossed the cup into a nearby trash can in one angry motion.

"You think? The last time I hit him, Sky punched me in the face."

"You deserved that and you know it," said Miggy matter of factly, and Hawk could only shrug in agreement.

Yeah, he had deserved that punch in the face. Hell, he would have deserved a lot more than just that, for all the shit he had done when he'd been in Cobra Kai. Beating Cody up wasn't even the biggest of his crimes - he had broken Demetri's arm, he had broken Sky's heart—

Maybe watching her dating someone else, is my punishment.

At least, that's how it felt like. Seeing her with Cody was the worst thing he could imagine. He wished he hadn't heard how Cody had suggested they went to his place "to use the steam room and the jacuzzi" because now that was the only thing he could think about. The jealousy was a snake eating at his heart, sinking its sharp, poison-filled fangs into his soul. Sky was with Cody at this very moment, in that fucking steam room. She would be naked, and fucking Hell, Hawk couldn't stop thinking about that, about the things that would no doubt follow, about Cody banging Sky's brains out in his bed, about Sky's breathless voice moaning Cody's name, and not his, never his, never again, because he had fucked everything up and this was his punishment.

"Do not despair, my brother. At least you're talking again. And she did say that she would forgive you for all— you know. The things you did." Demetri said, probably noticing Hawk's sinking mood.

Hawk looked up from his toes, leaning his elbows to his knees. "Yeah, well, easy for you to say. You're dating the girl of your dreams. How are things with Yas, by the way?"

"You know," Demetri sighed. "It's perfect. Half the time she's mad at me for something, half the time she complains I'm not giving her enough gifts, she takes all my time and my money— and I love it. I'll meet up with her later today, actually. Her parents are out of town."

That made both Miguel and Hawk let out a chuckle.

"Lucky you," Hawk noted. "Just you and Yasmine in that huge, empty house."

"Don't forget the flowers, like the last time." Miguel grinned.

"Believe me, I won't," Demetri assured, dead serious. "I'll buy flowers and chocolate, and maybe a gift— Oh, that reminds me, Eli, I'm spending the night at your place. Or at least that's what I told my Mom."

"That's cool," Hawk said, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I'm happy for you, man. You and Yasmine— that's awesome."

"I know," Demetri replied. "I can't believe it's real. I remember the time she used to hate me, you know. I never, ever thought things could be the way they are now. So— maybe not give up hope about Sky either? Just give it some time and who knows what'll happen."

"He's right," said Miguel, turning his eyes to Hawk. "After Sam and I broke up, I never imagined we would get back together, and yet— here we are."

Hawk knew they meant well, but instead of cheering him up, their words only brought him down. He leaned his elbows heavily on his knees and kept his eyes on the sand. The weight on his chest was crushing, it brought a bitter taste to his lips.

"It's different. Neither one of you guys did the kind of crap I did. Besides— Sam never stopped loving you, Miguel. But with Sky— I don't know. She can barely look at me."

"Come on," Miguel sighed. "It's obvious that Sky still likes you too. She keeps checking you out all the time at the dojo."

Hawk frowned, suddenly annoyed. Miguel had said that before, but he still had a hard time believing it. He had never caught her looking at him. Not once.

"No, she doesn't."

"She totally does," Demetri rolled his eyes. "We've all noticed that. Especially when you take off your shirt - which, in my opinion, you do way too often. It's not even summer yet, and you never miss an opportunity to strip. I have to say, man, that's not healthy."

Hawk ignored the latter part of Demetri's comment. His throat suddenly felt dry, his voice came out a bit hoarse. "She— she looks at me?"

"Oh, she looks at you like a kid in a candy shop," Demetri assured, and Miguel nodded in agreement, letting out a chuckle.

Hawk couldn't hide the sudden grin that touched his lips. His chest flooded with warmth, with hope. Was Sky really checking him out? God, he hoped that was true. The time in Cobra Kai had done wonders to his physique - his chest and abdomen were even leaner, the muscles on his arms and shoulders bigger and harder than before, and he wanted Sky to notice that. But not once had she seemed interested, on the contrary - whenever he had been shirtless at the dojo, she had glued herself to Cody's side, suddenly super interested in everything he was saying, instead of Hawk's naked upper body.

But now Demetri was saying she checked him out when he didn't notice—

That gave him a new spurt of hope. Oh God, if she still wanted him too— if there was even the slightest hope that she would one day take him back—

The thought made his chest ache. He might not have a jacuzzi or a steam room, he might not be as rich as Cody or as sophisticated, but fucking Hell, no one could claim to want Sky more than he did, no one could claim to love her more. And he would do any fucking thing to make her see that they belonged together, that she was his endgame, that they were two halves of a sphere, without each other forever incomplete.

"Yeah well, she might still like what she sees," he said, his voice a bit raspy and broken as the reality hit him again. "Doesn't mean she'll ever give me another chance. I was an asshole, I treated her like crap."

"Well, maybe it just takes some time." Demetri sighed. "You can't expect things to be back the way they were overnight."

"I know. It's just— fucking frustrating. If it wasn't for that asshole Cody—"

But he didn't get to finish that sentence as Demetri interrupted him by grabbing his arm, a confused frown falling on his face.

"Eli, isn't that— isn't that your Dad?"

Hawk turned to look.

On the beach, near the shoreline, walked a couple. A man with a thinning hairline, a woman maybe half his age. A pregnant woman. And Dad— because yeah, it was Dad, even if Hawk didn't want to believe it, didn't want to see what he saw—

Dad had an arm around that woman Hawk had never seen before in his life, and he was smiling, laughing as the blond woman leaned her head against his shoulder. Hawk felt like he would throw up, like someone was punching him in the face, like the beach crumbled to sand under his feet and he was falling, falling, falling into a black, bottomless hole.

He couldn't even remember when was the last time he had heard Dad laugh. Certainly, he had never seen Dad that happy, that carefree.

In a heartbeat, Hawk was on his feet and running towards Dad. He barely heard how Demetri and Miguel called after him, didn't give a shit about it. The anger inside of him was bursting through his chest, it was burning down his cheeks as tears that felt like acid.

The laugh on Dad's lips died the moment Hawk's fist connected with his face.