Cody Bishop was kissing Sky.

That sight hit Hawk like a punch in the face, and he froze on his feet in the doorway.

Cody's hand was on the small of Sky's back, other on her nape, fingers buried in her hair and he kissed her like a man starved, and all Hawk could think about was—

—I'm going to kill him!

Of course, he knew he had no right. Hell, he had just fucked Maya, he had been balls deep in another girl's cunt not 5 minutes ago, and that act had destroyed every right he had ever had to be jealous of Sky, but—

But everything had changed after that.

That kiss— it had to be fake. It fucking had to be! The look on Sky's face when she had seen Hawk with Maya-- that had been the truth, not this!

Sky still loved him.

How could it be true, he didn't understand, but it was nevertheless. Had he only known that—

Fuck!

He never would have shouted those lies to her that night on the front steps of his house, he never would have slept with Maya, had he known that Sky still loved him.

They would have made up and gotten back together if he only had known—

But she hadn't told him. She had lied. And now, in this crowded kitchen in the middle of this fucking stupid party and the music that was too loud, too violent, Hawk's world was collapsing. It wasn't him who was kissing Sky. It was that fucking arrogant asshole Cody Bishop, and he couldn't take it.

His fist struck Cody on his cheekbone, hard and fast, shoving the boy off Sky and breaking their kiss. Cody's hat flew off his head and spiraled to the floor, he let out a pained groan as the impact threw him against the kitchen countertop.

People shouted and girls screamed, but Hawk had only eyes for Sky, as he turned to face her, his chest heaving with emotion.

"Sky, I—"

But he didn't get to finish that sentence.

Cody's hands slammed hard on Hawk's chest as he violently pushed him back stepping between him and Sky, as if he had any fucking right to do so.

"What the fuck is your problem—?" Cody spat out, his eyes narrowing.

"Step aside, asshole," Hawk replied, barely giving any attention to the other boy. "I want to talk to Sky."

Cody glanced at Sky over his shoulder. "You wanna talk to this guy?"

Sky stood behind Cody, her arms wrapped around her body, tears still running down her face as she shook her head. She wouldn't even look at Hawk, and that felt like a dagger through his breastbone.

"Sky, come on—" he started towards her, but Cody stopped him, grabbing his arm.

"Looks like she doesn't wanna talk to you."

Hawk glared at the shorter boy, anger making his voice crack. "Not your call to make."

"No, it's hers." Cody replied calmly. "Just take the hint and leave."

"Why don't you shut your mouth? This is none of your fucking business!" With that he pushed Cody again, shoving him hard so that he had to take a step back - and Sky too, so that she almost stumbled, her bad leg giving in so that she had to grab the counter to stay on her feet.

"Shit—" Hawk groaned and reached a hand to help her, but Sky kept backing away from him, tears and fear in her eyes, and it was Cody, who stood between them, Cody, who had turned Sky against him, who had waited for this moment when she was weak and upset to lure himself in Sky's heart, to steal her away from Hawk, Cody who had caused her to look at Hawk like this, like she didn't even know who he was anymore, and for that, Hawk would fucking kill that boy.

He threw a punch without even hesitating, and even if Cody bent back in time, his knuckles scraped his cheekbone.

"You're really starting to get on my nerves," Cody stated, glaring at Hawk, his chest heaving with fast breaths.

For the first time Hawk saw the cool, arrogant shell breaking, and what was under it wasn't fear as he had thought, it was pure anger, red and raging just like the one Hawk had in him, and Hell, that was great, because he had wanted to kick Cody's ass for a week now, ever since that day he had overheard that asshole talking with Sky in the library, and that fucking dick had been avoiding the fight ever since, but now, now it was finally happening, and Hawk would fucking kill that piece of shit for ever thinking he could have Sky.

He let out a dry, dark laugh, and attacked.

But that strike was blocked, and it was Cody's fist that crashed into his nose.

The taste of blood filled Hawk's mouth, as he stumbled back.

What the fuck—?!

He didn't have time to wrap his mind around the fact that that girly dude had just managed to hit him in the face. The fight was on. Suddenly Cody was all attack, his body was a swirl of constant movement, smooth fast kicks, striking fists and elbows. It took all Hawk had to block those attacks. It was him backing off now in the clear space that had appeared in the middle of the room that had been filled with people just moments ago, and distinctively, through the ringing of his ears, Hawk heard people shouting fight, fight, fight, he heard Sky crying and pleading the boys to stop, but there was no room for those thoughts now as the taste of blood fed the adrenaline in his system.

Growling, he attacked again, managed to get a couple of kicks through, his fist smashed against Cody's cheek, making the other boy groan and spit blood onto the floor, but it only seemed to make Cody angrier.

A knee to the gut pushed Hawk off balance, a fast kick swept him off his legs, and he fell to the floor, hard. There was no getting up as Cody was already on top of him, punching him in the face, the rings on his fingers cutting the skin of his cheek as his knee pushed into Hawk's breastbone with full force, taking his breath away.

He heard the sound of breaking glass, and then—

A sharp pain on his throat.

Through the thick, heavy stench of blood came the smell of beer, and only then did he realize what Cody was gripping in his trembling hand, against Hawk's neck.

"I told you not to start this with me—" the boy groaned, his voice breaking. "I fucking told you—!"

The sharp glass was scraping Hawk's skin right under his chin. His breathing came in fast, shallow gaps, as the truth of his situation sank in and forced him to freeze. The slightest movement he made could slit his throat.

He would die—

He would fucking die here—

That paralyzing moment lasted only for a heartbeat, maybe two, and then, suddenly Cody let out a shocked breath as if he realized what he was doing, his eyes widened and he threw away the broken bottle, it shattered against the floor tiles as he stumbled off Hawk, leaving him on the floor, still frozen, still trying to catch his breath.

Hawk gasped for air, groaned as he rolled onto his side, spitting blood onto the floor. His head was spinning, the sharp pain in the places where Cody's fists had struck him was breaking through the fog of adrenaline, alcohol, and shame.

The fight was over, he had lost. Cody could have killed him—

Cursing, Hawk forced himself to sit up, then to stand on his shaky legs. People were staring at him, wide-eyed, at the blood that was dripping down his face from his nose. He brought a trembling hand to wipe it, but it only made the mess worse, not that he cared. Around him, the music was still blaring, the fast, hard techno beat that hit his aching head like a hammer. People in the other rooms were laughing and shouting, but not in here, not in the kitchen, where there was a mess of his blood and beer and shattered glass on the floor.

Cody's black and silver stetson lay in the middle of it all - but the boy was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Sky.

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