"What do you mean you haven't talked to her?" Demetri gasped, truly shocked, making Eli feel even worse than he already did. "You haven't told her you joined Miyagi Do?"

"I mean I haven't talked to her," Eli muttered, regretting ever starting this conversation. "Like, at all. About the dojos. Or anything."

Demetri shook his head slowly. "Oh, man. That's bad."

"Yeah, well thanks for the obvious."

It wasn't like Eli needed Demetri to tell him this was bad. He knew it well enough. Hell, "bad" was an understatement of the year. From kissing and declarations of love at the doors of the tattoo parlor, he and Sky had gone into not talking to each other in less than a week. This wasn't just bad. This was a fucking disaster.

And it was all his fault. He knew that. But still, he couldn't make himself call her.

It was five days since the attack. Three days since Demetri had found him hiding in the basement playing Dungeon Lord. Two days since he'd joined Miyagi Do. And the first day he was back in school since having his hair shaved.

Being back in school without his mohawk was awful, but still, not quite as bad as he had imagined. Sure, some people were pointing fingers at him, snickering as he walked past them, but he kept the hood over his head, and thus he was simply back to being invisible, just like he had been before he'd ever flipped the script.

He truly was just Eli now. Hawk was dead and gone, and with him, all the dreams he'd had. Like being with Sky.

Which was the reason he hadn't picked up his phone.

"And why haven't you talked to her?" Demetri continued, forcing Eli to continue this dreadful conversation as they walked down the packed hallway. "Is there a specific reason for you to push her away when she needs you to most, or do you just enjoy self-sabotaging so much you can't help it?"

"She doesn't need me," Eli huffed angrily, his grip on the straps of his backpack growing tighter. "I'm a fucking loser. I'm the opposite of what she needs."

"She said that?"

Eli shrugged but didn't reply. No, Sky hadn't said that, not in so many words, but she didn't really need to say it for him to know it was true. Talking went both ways. It wasn't like she had contacted him either, except to ask him to talk to the police. Which he had done, despite it being fucking humiliating. He could tell that the detective had also thought he was a pathetic loser, for letting some asshole grope his girl. For letting them cut her hair, choke her and punch her in the face while he did absofuckinglutely nothing to stop it.

No wonder Sky wasn't calling him. No girl in their right mind would, not anymore, now that he was just Eli again.

"So what's the plan now?" Demetri enquired, as they turned around the corner to the crowded hallway where Eli's next class was going to be. "Never talk to her again? Just go back to pretending that you are not desperately in love with her, or—?"

"It's none of your business," Eli snapped, interrupting Demetri mid-sentence. "Just leave it."

"Fine, whatever," Demetri sighed and rolled his eyes. "Just saying that she's standing over there. Don't you have English with her? Shoot, that reminds me, I need to go, Spanish is on the second floor—"

"Dude, wait—!"

Eli threw Demetri a desperate glance but managed to stop himself before he could actually beg for him to not go. Fucking pathetic— He let out a tense breath as Demetri disappeared into the direction of the stairs, but it didn't help. He still felt like his stomach was trying to climb up through his mouth.

He was pretty sure this had been Demetri's plan all along. To lead him straight to Sky, and then just leave him alone with her. As if forcing them to talk would magically fix everything between them.

"Hi," Sky said sharply, forcing him to turn to look at her. "So, you're back."

She was leaning on the wall, her arms crossed over her chest, her backpack on the floor next to her feet. She was wearing a pair of black jeans and a T-shirt that looked like it was one of Kat's old ones because it was too big and baggy on her. So, no more skirts. An awful feeling twisted Eli's gut at that thought. If Sky never wanted to wear a short skirt again, he couldn't blame her. After what Kyler had done—

He swallowed hard, stopping that thought before it could go further. He didn't want to think about that, about how he had failed to protect Sky, how much she must despise him for it. How cold everything felt between them now, cold and awkward and alien.

"Yeah, well, I had to come back to school sometime," he muttered, absentmindedly kicking the floor with his sneakers.

"Right," Sky replied, sounding annoyed, which made Eli look up from his feet. That's when he noticed her hair. His mouth fell open, and he couldn't stop the gasp that left his lips.

It looked fucking amazing.

He hadn't thought it would, but it did. The short bob cut was strikingly different from the previous long, luscious waterfall of curls, but no less pretty. The tips of the curls now barely kissed Sky's jawline, and somehow it made everything about her face more striking. Her eyes looked bigger, her jaw sharper, her neck was impossibly long and slender. She looked delicate, fragile, beautiful.

Eli opened his mouth to say something, but then swallowed his words. He was a fucking idiot— It wasn't like he could compliment that haircut. She probably hated it. Having Kyler cut it while she writhed and cried and tried to fight back in vain, was probably one of the most traumatic experiences of her life. The last thing she needed was some idiot telling her it made her look hot as fuck.

"So, umm— how have you been?" He asked, to say something, anything, to kill this awful, tense silence between them, but his voice came out raspy, hesitant.

"Seriously?" She gave him a glance he couldn't interpret at all. "It's been five days, and now you ask me how I've been? Five days? Where have you even been whole this time?"

Okay. Maybe he could interpret that glance after all. She was pissed, at him, apparently.

"Home," he shrugged and turned his eyes back to his feet, hoping the floor would open up and swallow him whole. A moment of silence stretched between them. "And at Miyagi Do."

"Yeah, I heard about that," she replied a bit sharply. "Sam told me you decided to join them."

Great. This was going fucking brilliantly. So she was mad about that too.

Disheartened, Eli leaned his back against the wall next to Sky, keeping a respectful distance. The urge to reach out, to pull her close, to wrap an arm around her, was almost impossible to resist, but he shoved that need away, buried it under a mountain of rock and dirt, never to be found again. It wasn't like she was his to touch anymore. He had fucked that up, like he had fucked up the majority of things in his life.

"Demetri asked me," he said, a bit defensive, pushing his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. His hood was up, hiding his hair. At least there was that. He couldn't have taken the pity or the disgust in Sky's eyes, had she seen his stupid buzz cut. "He said they needed a boy, now that the rules changed and there are separate divisions for girls and boys. And Miguel is in Eagle Fang, so they needed my help."

"Right. How noble of you," Sky muttered, and her venomous tone cut Eli's heart like a knife - but that hurt had barely found its mark when she let out a tense breath and continued: "Sorry. That was a shitty comment. I mean— Of course, you chose Miyagi Do. I knew you would, as soon as I heard about the dojo split. It just makes sense that you would do that."

Hawk swallowed, an unnamed emotion squeezing his chest as he turned his eyes up, but she wouldn't meet his gaze. She kept staring at the opposite wall, her arms still crossed tight across her chest, hiding most of the healing tattoo from his view. A faint blush, the color of freshly bloomed roses, painted her cheeks.

"Maybe—" he cleared his throat that suddenly felt a bit thick. "Maybe you should come too? Training might be good for you, you know, after— after what happened."

"Oh, I am already training," Sky said matter-of-factly, still not looking at him. "I'm in Eagle Fang. Didn't Miggy tell you?"

Eli's mouth fell open, but nothing came out. No, Miguel had not told him. Not that he had asked. Not that he had stopped for a moment to think what Sky would do after the dojo split, because he was too wrapped up in his own stupid problems like having his mohawk shaved, to spare one thought to what she might want to do.

If he hadn't felt like a selfish idiot before, he surely did now.

"Oh, okay," he managed, forcing the words out. "Cool."

And just like that, the only place where Eli could have imagined talking to Sky besides school, was taken away from him. No more training together. No more easy chatting or snack breaks sitting on the grass next to the koi pond. No more chances to be close to her, to hear her voice, her laughter, to maybe accidentally touch her while they were training—

An awful, sharp emotion pierced Eli's chest. Maybe that was the exact reason Sky had chosen Eagle Fang instead of Miyagi Do. To get as far away as possible from him.

"I wasn't gonna leave Johnny," Sky said, unaware of Eli's self-loathing circle of thoughts, or the difficulties he had in breathing. "Not that I have anything against Mr. LaRusso, but he's just not my Sensei. I want to train with Johnny. I need him."

"I know," Eli swallowed, then cleared his throat. "Makes sense. He made you the champion, of course, you're gonna stay with him. Eagle Fang is gonna win the All Valley, with both you and Miggy in the same team."

Sky glanced at him like he had said something incredibly hurtful. Her eyes turned a shade darker and her voice was tight like a string: "I can't compete, you fucking know that. And now even less than before, after this fucking concussion—"

Eli's cheeks turned hot. Fuck. Always putting his foot in his mouth.

"Sorry, I didn't mean—"

"You think I wouldn't want to compete if I could?" She was angry now, and he couldn't blame her. He deserved her anger, her hate, her despise, all of it. "You think I wouldn't want to rip Tory to pieces on the mat for what she's done to me? But hey, I have a brain injury that could fucking kill me, so sorry to disappoint you all."

Eli swallowed, swallowed, swallowed until the feeling of choking on his own words finally subsided enough for him to speak.

"You could do the skills competition, though," he suggested silently.

Sky let out a snort. "Right. With my balance? It's better for the team if I don't."

"Come on, we still have like, what - six or seven weeks before the All Valley? You could do some kick-ass routine with the bo, or the sai—"

"Seriously? I'd probably decapitate myself," Sky huffed bitterly, and ran a hand through her hair, brushing the short curls behind her ear. "Though, maybe that wouldn't be so bad. Half the time I wish I were dead anyway."

Her words felt like a punch in the gut.

"Sky—"

"Sorry, forget I said that. It was stupid. I just—" She blinked furiously, as if trying to fight back the tears. Her cheeks were burning, her lips trembling slightly, and Eli felt awful, fucking awful, for not being able to help her.

"No, I get it, I—" he started, but she interrupted him mid-sentence, clearly determined to change the subject.

"Did you talk to the police?" She asked, getting the tremor of her voice under control. "Did you tell them what happened?"

"Yeah, of course I did." He said, unable to look away from her. "I told them everything."

A short silence. Sky's eyes were wide and full of unshed tears, and Eli had never wanted anything more than he wanted to pull her into his arms, to kiss away the hurt that lived in her gaze, but he didn't. He held back, even if it felt like carving out his beating heart and throwing it onto the floor.

She wouldn't want his hands on her. She wouldn't want anyone's hands on her, not after what Kyler had done.

"For what it's worth," he rasped. "I hope Kyler burns in Hell for what he did to you."

Sky's eyes turned dark. Her fingers gripped her arms tighter as she hugged herself, like she was thus trying to keep herself from falling apart.

"So do I," she said. "And I'm going to make sure he does, one way or the other."