Hawk couldn't draw his eyes off Sky's lips.

She was sitting at a table in the school library, leaning over her math textbook, her hair falling around her face, the copper strands and curls pooling to her slender shoulders. A frown had fallen on her brow, as she stared down at the book, and the pencil she was holding in her fingers was stuck between those lips that Hawk couldn't stop looking at.

The rubber end of the pencil had disappeared into her mouth, and the rest of it pressed a soft dent on her full and glossy lower lip. The perfectly bow-shaped upper lip had closed around the pencil, and as she looked at the math book which was opened on the table in front of her, she kept absentmindedly sucking and biting that pencil, making it impossible for Hawk to concentrate on anything except her lips.

Hawk was fully aware of the fact that he was staring. And that he needed to stop doing that, preferably now, before she noticed and things got awkward— but how the fuck was he supposed to be thinking about math, when she was right there, sucking that pencil with her lips that smelled like strawberry chapstick and looked so fucking soft and hot and—

Stop staring—

Jesus Christ—

I need to think about something else—

He swallowed hard and forced his eyes back to the math book. He was here to help Sky with her homework, not to fantasize about her lips and the things she could do with them. If she knew what he was thinking, she'd get upset, she would think he was a perv. She had told him explicitly that she wanted to take things slow this time, and yeah, he understood that and yeah he respected her wishes - but the way his heartbeat reacted to the sight of her lips, made it clear his body didn't want to wait another minute.

It was practically impossible to be sitting this close to her, breathing in her scent of vanilla and strawberries, and not get all kinds of thoughts. All too well he remembered how those lips felt on his when they kissed, and God - even if it had been ages, he remembered how those lips felt on other parts of his body too, sucking the tender skin under his ear or traveling down his belly, or—

"I don't understand," Sky sighed, and abruptly Hawk dropped back into the moment. "I still don't get it."

He cleared his throat and glanced from Sky to the book and back. To his relief, the pencil was now in her fingers instead of her mouth, making it a little bit easier to concentrate on what she was saying.

"What do you mean?"

"I have no idea how to solve this problem," she replied with a tremor in her voice, looking absolutely miserable. "I know, you explained it to me and all, but— I just— I just don't get it. I don't even know where to begin."

Something painful twisted in Hawk's chest, scattering the last remnants of his heated fantasies. The real reason for their being here - in the school library - returned to him like a punch in the gut. Sky had asked his help with math and science, because - in her words - she was fucking failing them. School had always been easy for Hawk, he knew his math back and forth, had gotten straight A's on it since forever, so it was no trouble at all to help her, besides—

Tutoring her was the perfect way to spend time together, to make things not awkward between them. Or at least, that's what he had thought.

He hadn't quite realized how bad things were. But now, after a couple of tutoring sessions, Hawk was beginning to see that this wasn't going to be a fun time together like he had thought. The truth was that no matter how much Sky worked, how hard she tried, their progress was slow. He didn't want to say it out loud, but he had begun to fear she would indeed fail both math and science. The sadness and the confusion in her eyes, when she stared down at the math book, blinking away tears of frustration was breaking his heart.

"Hey, it's okay," he said softly, keeping his voice low. Even if the library was half-empty, he didn't want to draw any attention to them. "I'll just explain it again. I know you can do this, you're good at math."

"I was good at math," Sky corrected, sudden bitterness in her voice. "I was good at a lot of things, like science and running and karate too."

Her words twisted his chest. He knew what she meant, of course - that what had happened to her during this past year, had taken away all the things she loved. He knew she still struggled with the aftermath of the school fight, that her leg was stiff, that her reflexes were slow, that she couldn't sleep well or concentrate, that she felt like a shadow of the girl she had once been.

It broke him to see her this disheartened. He couldn't help but feel it was his fault - he had left her alone that day, the day of the school fight. He had fucking left her and she had gotten hurt - and everything bad that had happened to her after that, the drugs, Kyler and Tory attacking her at Sam's home, that was on him too, and still he hadn't found a way to fix that.

"You're still good at all those things," he assured her, hoping that she didn't hear the uncertainty, the fear, the guilt in his voice. "You just missed a lot of school this year. You'll catch up, I promise."

She looked down and her shoulders sagged. Her hair partly covered her face from him, but he didn't need to see it to know how she felt.

"Don't lie to me. You know it's more than that— it's not just that I was absent so much. The doctors— they said there could be long-term effects from the brain damage. I thought— I thought they meant my leg, but— but looks like I've turned stupid too."

"Hey, you're not stupid. And I'm not just saying it. It's true. You're so fucking smart, and yeah— I know things are still hard, but it's gonna get better. I promise. Let me explain it to you again, okay? And we'll go through it together. You just need to concentrate—"

But she had already slammed the textbook, and tossed away the pencil, making it evident that she was done with this tutoring session.

"It's really hard to concentrate when you're right there," she said, pushing the math book further from her on the table, as if it was something dirty she didn't want to touch. "Maybe you're distracting me instead of helping."

Something thumped loudly in Hawk's chest, his heart, skipping beats. Was she— was she flirting? And was she only doing it so that she wouldn't have to continue studying math?

Either way, he hardly cared. The small smile playing on her lips was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, it bewitched him, it made his heart swell so that it filled his ribcage.

"What, you're blaming this on me?" he replied a bit breathlessly, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "You'd prefer a tutor who isn't this hot?"

"Right, and who would that be? Demetri?"

Hawk answered to her quick smile with a laugh. "I bet he's busy tutoring Yasmine. They're at it most nights, you know."

"Oh, I know what goes down during those tutoring sessions. And it's not just math."

Hawk felt his cheeks heating, but he tried to hide his sudden embarrassment behind a laugh. He had a pretty good idea of what was happening in those tutoring sessions too, because Demetri had told him. You won't believe it, Eli— he had said, his eyes wide with wonder. Yas gets insatiable when I talk nerdy. It's like my brain turns her on. Who would have thought?

So when Hawk had mentioned to Demetri that he was going to tutor Sky in math and science, he had given him a knowing smirk. Right. Whatever Demetri had thought that would happen between Sky and Hawk in these tutoring sessions, couldn't have been further from the truth. So far nothing had happened between them, not even one kiss. And even if they weren't making out, they still weren't getting anywhere with actual learning. Which brought a new idea into Hawk's mind.

"No, but seriously—" he spoke before he had a chance to rethink his idea. "Demetri is really good. Better than me, actually, at least in physics. Maybe we should ask him to help. I'm sure he'd be glad to do it—"

"Seriously?" The smile that had briefly lightened up Sky's face was gone as fast as it had appeared. Suddenly she was dead serious again. The hand she brought up to brush her hair behind her ear had a slight tremor in it. "So— you'd actually be okay with me and Demetri studying together? Without you punching him in the face or something like that? Cause I remember you starting a fight in the hospital and breaking the science project just because you were so jealous of me and him."

Hawk looked down, his cheeks heating. Everything she had said was true, but still—

"So we're talking about that now."

Sky shrugged. Her voice was silent when she replied. "I don't know. I guess we should talk about that sometime."

"You're just trying to avoid studying math," Hawk noted, glancing at the closed book and the pen that lay on the table.

"Possibly," Sky shrugged. "Doesn't mean we should skip this conversation."

"Yeah, well— what do you want me to say? I was jealous. And I'm sorry about it, all of it. Obviously, now I know that Demetri wasn't after you—"

"Like I told you a thousand times."

"Right. And now I know he's in love with Yasmine—"

"Which was pretty obvious, you know, had you paid any attention."

"-but Sky, I was in love with you. And— and I could just feel you getting distant, and there were like so many things I did that you didn't approve of, and I guess– I guess it was just easier to blame someone else than me, you know? To think that the reason why I was losing you was Demetri, or some other guy, instead of looking in the mirror." He stopped to draw in a shaky breath, to wet his lips. The words he had forced out had left his mouth dry. "I just— I couldn't think about anything worse than you being with someone else. But then— you dumped me and it was all my fault, no one else's, and— you ended up in love with someone else anyways."

A short, tense silence followed his words and Hawk looked down, to his hands that were in front of him, sweaty palms against the table. No lies, that's what they had agreed on, no lies, no secrets, and this was what that meant. Saying even the things that still twisted his gut and made him feel ugly and awful inside out. Like admitting that he'd been a jealous asshole over nothing.

"I wasn't— I don't think I was ever in love with Cody," Sky breathed, making Hawk's glance snap up. His heart skipped a dozen beats, leaving behind a weird, hollow ache.

"You— you weren't?" He almost choked on those words. "Then why— why did you start dating him?"

"Because he was kind. And he loved me." Her voice was so soft and silent it was barely more than a whisper. "And— I just kinda drifted into it. After what happened at the Halloween party—"

"About that—" Hawk swallowed hard. More truths. More things he desperately didn't want to talk about, but that needed to be said, just because they were so fucking difficult. "I'm really sorry about everything that happened at that party. About sleeping with Maya— and making a scene, starting the fight with Cody—"

"It's okay," she breathed, even if Hawk knew it wasn't, that it never would be okay, that he would regret the drunken decisions of that night for the rest of his life.

"Why did you—" his voice came out hesitant, with a tremor. "Why did you sleep with Cody that night? Was it— because you saw me with Maya? Was it— was it my fault that it happened?"

Sky's eyes filled with tears, she turned her glance down. Her lips were trembling. "It was a stupid thing to do. I shouldn't have done that. I— I just wanted to get back at you, after seeing you with Maya– and Cody was there— I asked him to do it. To kiss me, and more. That started this whole thing, and now— now he's heartbroken and it's my fault."

Hawk struggled to find the right words. His mouth opened and then closed again without anything coming out. The weird, heavy weight squeezed his chest, just like every time someone as much as mentioned Cody's name. There was so much guilt there, and shame, but also— he still disliked the guy, hated him even. All the months of jealousy, anger, and rivalry weren't going away just because Cody wasn't dating Sky anymore.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to start talking about him again," Sky sighed, reading his silence perfectly. She wiped away the couple of tears that had fallen to her cheeks, using the sleeve of her black hoodie.

"It's fine," Hawk replied, that lie slipping between his lips too easily. He was always fine these days, everything was fine. Fine and okay and good and great, whenever anyone asked how he was doing. "It's okay, I understand. You guys just broke up… I get that you're still… thinking about him."

An awkward silence followed his words and Hawk shifted on his seat, tense and uncomfortable. Sky had said she had never been in love with Cody— but it didn't change the fact they had been dating for months. It was clear she still cared about the guy, and it made something twist and turn painfully in Hawk's chest, like a beast with sharp claws that wouldn't be tamed just because he told it everything was fine, fine, fine. He was still jealous of Cody. He was jealous of all the time Sky had spent with him - time that should have been theirs. He was jealous knowing that all the while he had been alone and desperately in love with her, she had been having sex with Cody fucking Bishop.

He looked away and took a deep breath, to gain control of the sudden emotion. He couldn't go down that road again, he couldn't— Unlike Kreese had made him believe, anger wasn't strength, it wouldn't make him tougher. Anger and jealousy had made him lose Sky once, and he wasn't going to let that happen again. Never again.

"Can I ask you a question too?" Sky asked, drawing his attention back to the moment.

"Sure, what is it?"

She hesitated, her nervous glance flickered to Hawk's eyes, then to the wall behind his back, the floor. She twisted her hands in her lap. "Did you— like, how many girls did you sleep with? During our break?"

Her question caught him off guard, his jaw dropped.

"Sky, I— It was just Maya— That was the only time. I— I never slept with anyone else."

Her eyes widened, she blinked in confusion a couple of times. "What? But— but— I thought that—"

"It was just her, just— that one time."

"But— what about that girl in your biology class? I thought you dated her, or—"

Suddenly Hawk's heartbeat was too loud in his ears, so loud he was sure Sky must hear it in this quiet room. It was a bass drum budum, budum, budum, beating through his chest, resonating all the way to his fingertips that were still pressed against the table. Nervously he pulled his hands into his lap, then gripped the sides of the chair he was sitting on, to hide the fact they were trembling.

"I didn't." He swallowed, his throat feeling a bit tight as he remembered the day in his room when he had kissed Cassie on his bed, when his hand had moved under her shirt, cupping her soft, heavenly boobs— "I mean— she wanted us to date, and there was— we like, kissed, a couple of times, but— but I was still in love with you, and then the fight happened at LaRusso's house and I left Cobra Kai, and I thought that maybe— that maybe there was a chance of us getting back together, so I just— I told Cassie it wasn't gonna happen and that was that. I swear. I never slept with her."

The confusion in Sky's eyes disappeared, it melted into something soft and dark, and a small smile appeared on her lips. That smile was enough to make Hawk's heartbeat skyrocket in his chest.

"I swear," Hawk repeated, his voice coming out hoarse and dry. "I couldn't— I didn't want anyone else. I just wanted you."

"Okay. If you say so." That smile grew a bit wider, it played in the corners of her perfect lips, and it captivated Hawk's attention 100%. He couldn't draw his eyes off her lips. To see her smile— Jesus, it took his breath away every time.

After everything that had happened lately, her smiles had been rare and scarce, she walked the school hallways like a ghost wearing her skin, dressed in black, her face pale, the shadows under her eyes as black as her clothes, and it fucking killed him. He missed her pink and her glitter, her Hello Kitty T-shirts and her short skirts, he missed her smiles and her laughter, the sparkling energy she'd had that now seemed to be lost and gone and buried.

Time. I just need to give her some time, that's what she asked for. Time.

Easier said than done, though. She had said she wanted to take it slow, but what did that even mean? Hawk had tried to ask her out, just for some milkshakes, nothing too big, but she had said no, no, not yet, I'm not ready— And of course, he respected that, was grateful for every moment they spent together were it at the dojo or the English classroom or here, in the library, but still—

He wanted more.

Her lips were so fucking pretty when she smiled. The bow-shape of her upper lip was captivating, the soft plumpness of the lower lip made Hawk's mouth water. He wondered how her kisses would taste, if that was strawberry chapstick, or the peach one— it smelled like strawberry, and God, just the scent was enough to make him light-headed.

He wondered if now was a good moment to kiss her. Would she freak out? Would she push him away? This wasn't the best place for this, surely, but then again - the library was almost empty, there was just a group of kids at a nearby table, doing a project. Other than that, it was just them, just him and Sky, who was now looking at him expectantly, her eyes dark, her lips a bit parted, her cheeks colored with that beautiful shade of pink that suited her so well, and—

Oh God, Oh God, he couldn't mess this up now. What if he was reading the signs all wrong? What if she would turn him down again? She had said they needed to take things slow, but— but her eyes were wide and the breaths that left her lips were shallow, short, fast, echoing the heaving of his chest. He couldn't be this wrong, he couldn't be misreading everything, could he?

He leaned a bit closer, hesitant, nervous, his hands brushed her fingers and she didn't pull them away. Yes, yes, that was a good sign, wasn't it? She was leaning closer too, her fingers were playing with his, entwining, their touch still soft and light, but he could feel her heartbeat through it, just as fast as his own, just as eager.

They were two halves of a whole, and he was sick and tired of resisting it. A soft breath left his lips, the scent of her strawberry chapstick - strawberry, it was definitely strawberry - filled his nostrils, made his mouth water, and God, her fingers gripped his a bit tighter, their lips were almost touching—

"There you are! I have been calling you at least ten times, if not more— why aren't you picking up your phone?" Demetri's voice cut through Hawk's foggy thoughts like an ax, shattering the moment. He pulled back so fast the chair screeched, Sky's fingers snapped away from his hands.

Demetri appeared from between the shelves, and dramatically dropped his backpack onto the table, oblivious to the murderous glance Hawk flashed at him.

"What?" he groaned through his thick throat. "What do you want?"

"I— wasn't interrupting anything, was I?" Demetri's tone turned hesitant, his dark eyes widened and he glanced from Hawk to Sky, then back, a realization slowly settling on him. "Because if you were doing something important, like— umm— tutoring— this can definitely wait. In fact, I can come back later. Or we can talk after school, or—"

"It's okay, we were just studying," Sky replied, and when Hawk turned to look, she was smiling again. Amusement sparkled in her eyes and there was a giggle in her voice, which almost made up for the kiss that had been robbed from him. Almost. Hawk would still murder Demetri as soon as Sky wasn't looking.

"So, what is it?" Sky asked, leaning her elbows on the table, and looking up at Demetri, the smile still playing on her lips.

"Valentine's Day!" Demetri sank down on a chair across the table and ran a hand through the mess of his dark hair, looking absolutely defeated. "It's next week! I usually don't pay much attention to that specific holiday, after all the humiliation it had caused me in recent years, but it suddenly occurred to me that this time things are different— This is the first Valentine's Day ever that I actually have a girlfriend, and not just any girlfriend, it's Yasmine—"

"So what? Why the fuck are you freaking out about that?" Hawk groaned, leaning back on his chair, the annoyance still gathering in his chest like a pot of hot coles, making his voice dry.

"Because she's perfect. And I love her! I don't want to mess this up. I want to make it a perfect day for Yasmine because she deserves it, but I— I have no idea what I'm doing." Demetri's nervous glance flickered from Hawk to Sky. "Help? Can you please help me to plan the best Valentine's Day surprise for Yas? I can't afford to mess this up. She'll dump me if I do that. Math tutoring will only get me so far."

Valentine's Day—

Hawk's chest clenched tight, and he glanced at Sky from the corner of his eye. Sky had already reached over the table to take Demetri's hands in hers in a reassuring way and was telling him it would all work out, giving him some ideas, assuring him that Yas was just as much in love with him as he was with her, but Hawk was barely listening.

It was going to be Valentine's Day next week.

Valentine's Day— and Sky wasn't with Cody anymore. Was she— was she expecting Hawk to plan something? She had turned him down when he had asked her out a couple of days ago, saying she needed time, but now— maybe she had just meant they needed to wait for the right time? And what time could be more right than Valentine's Day?

A sudden flash of heat rushed through his system, turning his palms hot and sweaty.

He had no money and absolutely no idea what to do, but he knew it had to be fucking amazing. It couldn't be something lame and boring like milkshakes on the beach or going to the movies. Shit— It had to be something big, something fucking epic. It had to be something that would make Sky realize how much he loved her, that would show her he was serious about her.

But what?

He was even more clueless than Demetri, and if that wasn't depressing, he didn't know what was.