The next day Hawk arrived at the hospital with a wide, confident grin on his face. His bright red mohawk stood sharp and tall on his head, giving him that extra boost of confidence that made all the difference. He had put careful thought into his outfit too, choosing a red long-sleeved T-shirt that matched his hair, and a pair of dark jeans. He wanted to look good for Sky because fucking Hell - this was the first day of the new world, this was their new beginning.

He could still hardly believe it, but true it was, nevertheless. And this time he was not going to fuck up. This time he would do everything right.

Starting today. As proof of that, he was carrying a cute, pink unicorn plushie under his arm, and a heart-shaped box of chocolates in his hands. He hadn't been able to decide which one Sky would like more, so what the heck, he had bought both. Maybe it was too much, maybe it made him look desperate, but he didn't really give a shit. Sky deserved the best, she deserved everything, she deserved the whole fucking world.

The taste of her kisses was still on his lips as he walked in through the front doors of the hospital. The memory of those kisses had kept him awake most of the night, making him turn and toss restlessly in his bed, even if his muscles had been aching after karate. For the first time since their break up, he had let his mind wander into all of the wonderful things Sky could do with those beautiful lips of hers. In a state of half-sleep, half-awake, he had imagined her in the bed with him - her soft hands on his skin, her lips so fucking hot on the sensitive skin of his neck. And it hadn't ended there - in his imagination he had laid her down on the bed, and made love to her, so fucking sweet and slow, feeling every inch of her velvety heat wrapped around his dick as he pushed inside of her, and her arms wreathed around his neck.

That heated trail of thoughts had led Hawk into pushing down his pajama bottoms, jerking off to Sky's image and coming so fiercely that he had moaned out loud in spite of biting his lip so hard it almost bled. And - because he was a fucking idiot - he had done it in his bed and then the sheets had been sticky with his cum and sweat. Somehow he had managed to change them in the middle of the night without waking Mom or Dad up, which was a fucking miracle, but Napoleon had been giving him judging glances all morning, and Hawk suspected it would take time before the cat forgave him for banishing him from his bed in the middle of the night.

Still, no regrets. He didn't even care that he was sleep-deprived as fuck. It was beautiful to be able to think about Sky like that again. During their break up... it had been too painful. Thinking about Sky had been like pouring salt into an open wound, but now that they were getting back together - or starting over, or whatever she wanted to call it - it was different.

And soon - as soon as Sky's injuries had healed - they'd be having sex for real and not just in his heated dreams. He was going to make her feel so good that she would never want to break up with him again.

Thinking about Sky and all the sex they were going to have, made him half-hard again. With a silent curse, Hawk tried to push the images of Sky's lips, of her naked body, off his mind. Walking into her room with a raging boner would probably not be the right move - especially if Nicholas was there–

Breathing in and out and thinking calming thoughts, Hawk took the lift to the upper floors - and by the time the doors opened with a silent 'pling', he had managed to get his urges at least somewhat under control. Gripping the unicorn plushie in one hand, the chocolate box in the other, he stepped out of the lift and started walking towards Sky's room–

–just to run into her in the hallway.

"Look! I'm doing it!" Sky laughed, and the delighted tone of her voice was the sweetest sound Hawk had ever heard. A wide grin spread on his lips, as he saw her.

"They let you out of bed, huh?"

She was leaning heavily on her Dad, her walking still slow and very clumsy. Her grip on Nicholas' arm was tight, and even if she was smiling, Hawk could tell that just walking down the hall took a huge effort. There was also a nurse walking on Sky's other side, ready to help if she tripped.

"Yeah, and look! I'm walking!" she beamed.

"That's great, I'm so proud of you."

With her broken arm, her head still heavily bandaged, Sky would have been a sorry sight had it not been for the bright smile on her face. But Hawk couldn't help noticing how difficult her walking was, how strained it looked, and how her right leg was dragging behind. He had no idea why - she hadn't injured her leg in the fight, had she?

"What happened to your leg?" he asked, walking closer to her. "Does it hurt?"

"My leg is fine," Sky replied. "It's my brain that's the problem, as usual. Hit my head, remember?"

Hawk's chest tightened. "Is it... Is it gonna be okay?"

"Nobody knows," Sky shrugged. "But I am walking. And that's something."

"That's more than something. That's amazing," he said softly. "Can I help?"

"Your hands are full, it seems," Noted Nicholas, taking a look at the plushie and the chocolates, making a blush creep on Hawk's cheeks.

"These are for Sky–" he stopped talking because stating the obvious sounded plain stupid. But Sky didn't seem to think it was stupid - she grinned at him, and her eyes twinkled like stars, making Hawk weak in the knees.

"Thank you," she said, blushing. "I love the unicorn."

He wanted to kiss her, so very badly that his mouth went dry - but she was still gripping Nicholas' arm with a white knuckle grip, and Hawk was pretty sure Nicholas wouldn't appreciate it if they started making out here.

"Is this a bad time?" He asked, glancing from Sky to her Dad and back. "Cause I can come back later, if—"

After all, he was still suspended from school. It wasn't like he had anywhere to be, except for the dojo and the hospital.

"No, it's okay," Sky replied. "We should be ready soon. If you're not in a hurry, you can wait for me to crawl my way into the cafeteria and buy me a coffee."

He smirked. "A romantic first date, huh?"

"What, you don't think I look hot enough for a date?" Sky laughed.

Hawk took a look at her - in her pink hospital gown and slippers, with the cast in her arm and her nose and head heavily bandaged, she looked nothing like in his heated dreams last night - but he noticed he didn't give a shit about it. She was alive, and she was out of bed and she was smiling, and that was all that mattered.

He loved her so it took his breath away.

"You always look hot in pink," he noted with a wink.

"Alright, that's enough," said Nicholas. "Sky, you need to concentrate."

"But Dad–"

"No buts. Eli, you can go and leave those gifts in Sky's room while we finish this exercise." Nicholas noted rather dryly. "Sky, let's go. One foot in front of the other. Now, if you want to make it to your coffee date."

"Fine," Sky said with a roll of her eyes. "Hawk, meet me in the cafeteria later, okay?"

"Okay," he breathed, even if he really just wanted to stay and help Sky. He leaned closer, and placed a soft kiss on her cheek - not daring to do more in front of Nicholas - but even that slight contact left him breathless. Last night's heated images flashed through his mind in a heartbeat, when he inhaled Sky's familiar scent of vanilla, and his pulse quickened.

His cheeks heating, Hawk stepped back, and gripping the unicorn plushie under his arm, started making his way toward Sky's room.

It wasn't that far, and the door was open. As he stepped in, he saw that the room was empty, Sky's bed neatly made. The roses Hawk had brought her the day before were in a vase on her nightstand, their scent lingered in the air covering the horrid smell of hospitals.

He kept thinking about the smile on Sky's lips - the happiness in her eyes. That smile, he knew now, would replace the memory of the last smile she had given him before all had gone to Hell - the sassy smirk she had flashed him in his bathroom. She had stood in the doorway, wearing nothing but her tiny panties, and she had just smiled at him over her shoulder as she walked out, smiled at him through the steam that filled the room. The water that had rained down on Hawk's naked skin had been hot, it had burnt in the scrapes her nails had left on his back, and she had looked at him with that naughty smirk playing on her perfect lips–

And then she had closed the door and walked away from him, she had opened the drawer to borrow a T-shirt, and–

Taking a sharp, pained inhale, Hawk stopped his mind before it could go further. No, he wasn't going to think about that today. It was in the past. Sky was alive, she was smiling at him again. And every smile she gave him from now on, would help to bury that haunting memory of the last one until it would be no more.

He was gripping the plushie too hard, his fingers digging into its softness. That painful memory kept choking him, no matter how hard he was pushing it away. The taste it brought to his lips was bitter.

He placed the plushie on Sky's bed, smoothing off the signs of his too-tight grip. For a moment he weighed the box of chocolates in his hands, pondering on where to put it, on her bed or on the nightstand next to the roses, when he heard someone walking into the room.

He turned to look - and froze on his feet, the heart-shaped box of chocolates still in his hands.

It was Demetri.

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