Before I Forget

All Hope is Gone

Hawk knew he had gone too far.

Had Cody deserved a beating for selling drugs to Sky and using her? Absolutely. But had he deserved to be left unconscious under the toilet seat, bleeding all over the floor tiles?

Probably not.

Definitely not.

Hawk had beaten Cody up way worse than what he had done to Rickenberger or Brucks... partly because he had been so fucking mad about the things Cody was doing to Sky, but also—

Hawk glanced around the dojo as they were getting ready for today's class. His gut clenched on a tight knot of anxiety as he saw Kyler, Edvin, and the rest of them talking and laughing as if they hadn't almost killed someone the day before.

Was he the only one having regrets about what they had done?

When he had told them that they needed to beat up Cody, no one had even asked why. It had been enough that he had said that Cody was an asshole who needed to be taught a lesson. There had been something contagious about their excitement, the brutal joy of hurting someone who didn't have a chance to fight back. It had spread from them to Hawk and back, until they had all been like animals, tearing Cody apart like a pack of rabid dogs.

It was a wonder they hadn't killed him.

Hawk had gone back to the bathroom an hour later, after the burning, red rage had worn off and it had been replaced by a cold feeling of disgust, regret, and fear. But there had been no dead body on the floor, and no police had come to arrest him, so he assumed that Cody was still alive.

Hawk glanced at Kyler, who was laughing as he showed something on his phone to the others. probably the picture of Cody he had snapped before they had left him on the floor, lying in his blood and vomit. Hawk had seen that photo on Insta, where Kyler had posted it on one of the anonymous accounts that he used to bully people - that fucking asshole. Hawk rolled his eyes and looked away, the sight of Kyler in a Cobra Kai gi always made him annoyed, sick to his stomach.

How is what we did to Cody any different from what Kyler and Brucks used to do to me?

That thought was sudden and painful. Hawk didn't want to face it, he didn't want to think about it. He pushed it away, buried it somewhere deep, deep within, where all the embarrassing memories of the times he had been Eli, still dwelled.

Cody was selling drugs to Sky and it could kill her. He had been asking for a beating, and he had gotten one. End of story. There was no reason why he should feel like this, this hollow, like the floor was unsteady under his feet.

The door opened and the bell chimed, making Hawk turn around to see who was coming to class this late—

His heart fell through his ribcage to his feet at the sight of Sky.

She rushed in like a stormwind, her hair flying in the air behind her and her eyes were burning. She didn't stop to take off her shoes, she just walked in like she was on a mission, and—

Her fist hit him in the face so hard that he almost dropped. He saw stars, the pain was blinding, but even worse was the realization that she had really punched him.

"You asshole!" Sky cried, as Hawk straightened and brought a hand to his burning cheek. "You almost killed him!"

"Sky—"

"You leave other people out of this! If you wanna hit someone, hit me!" Her voice was raw, cracking with emotion.

"I would never—"

"So you just beat up everyone I care about? You think that hurts me any less?"

"I didn't do it to hurt you!"