The Fighters Girl

14.

"Does it bother you that people are scared of you?" Hazel asked, tracing a pattern on Hawk's abs. He was silent for a second then he put his thumb under her chin, bringing her head up to look at him. He had a soft expression on his face and his bright green eyes were warm in a way that she had never seen them before.

"No," he answered, "I'm okay with it. There are only two people who I really care about not being scared of me, and that's you and Drew."

Hazel smiled and leaned up to give him a small kiss. He grinned and his dimples popped out.

"Speaking of, when will you see him?" she asked.

Hawk sighed and his smile went away, bringing the dimples with it.

"I don't know. I was supposed to go see him this weekend, because I don't have a fight, but I'm not leaving you here by yourself."

Hazel frowned and sat up.

"That's stupid," she declared. Hawk raised an eyebrow.

"Hawk, I'm eighteen, I can stay here by myself."

"I know you can, I just don't want to be too far from you right now, with all the shit with Clark so fresh," Hawk said.

Hazel stared at him for a second, chewing on her lip.

"Then have him come here," she said, shrugging.

Hawk hung up the phone, his eyes a bright, excited green and turned to scoop Hazel up into a bear hug. She giggled and wrapped her arms loosely around his shoulders.

"So, I'm guessing they said yes?" she said. He set her down right in front of him, but kept her tightly pressed against his body, one arm around her lower back, the other tangled in her hair.

"They said yes," Hawk said, leaning down to give her a kiss. She smiled into it and kissed him back, moving one hand up to play with the silky strands at the base of his neck.

"That's awesome, babe," she said, pulling back and giving him a warm look.

"I'm so psyched to see him," Hawk grinned, biting his lip.

"Should we plan something?" Hazel asked. Hawk tilted his head in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, should we make dinner reservations somewhere or something?" Hazel asked.

Hawk chuckled.

"Baby, Drew is a simple kid. He's like me, he inhales everything."

Hazel tilted her head, conceding that.

"Oh, that reminds me, I have to pick up Cece from a friend's house and I was going to leave early and get some groceries. Anything you want?"

Hawk blinked at her and his face got all warm and soft in a way that she was familiar with.

"Why are you giving me the face?" she asked in a soft voice.

"What face?" Hawk asked, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Your gooey face. It's the face you make whenever you really like something I said."

Hawk smiled and skimmed his nose down the length of hers, pausing to give her a soft kiss on the lips.

"You're going grocery shopping for us," he whispered, "I like that."

Hazel grinned.

"And in response to your question, no. Just get whatever you would normally get just...in larger quantities."