Chapter Text
Chapter One
The last time he’d been at Eli’s, shortly after the All Valley, Hawk had already begun scrubbing his room of the “nerd shit” that he’d deemed no longer part of his life. The Doctor Who posters they’d gotten signed by Matt Smith at Comic Con two summers ago were shoved into a desk drawer, the DND player manuals Lego models on his bookshelves replaced with photos of Moon, of Miguel and Hawk in their Cobra Kai gis. Even the glass case that held their certificate and medal for the coding competition had been removed from its hook on the wall next to Hawk’s bed, leaning out of view against the side of the dresser. He’d at least had the decency to look slightly guilty, about that one, when Demetri pointed it out.
Still, Hawk had scoffed at him. What was it to Demetri, what Hawk did with his room anyway? He could redecorate if he wanted.
Soon after that, Hawk had removed Demetri from his life, and he’d never had a chance to see how much redecorating Hawk had really done. So, Demetri had expected that some things about Hawk’s room would have changed over the near year they’d spent apart.
He was less prepared, this time, for the wave of nostalgia to hit him full in the face the minute he walked in the door. Instead of the sparse aesthetic he’d expected, it was like their childhood had thrown up all over Hawk’s room. The glass case with their coding awards was hanging in its rightful place, next to his bed. The Dr. Who posters were again tacked on the walls, this time joined by dozens photos of the two of them posing in front of various pop culture exhibits at the convention. Sketches of the first DND characters they’d created when they were twelve were pinned to the corkboard above his desk, their messy handwriting detailing each character’s skills and abilities. The photo of Miguel and Hawk in their gis was still on the bookshelf, but the one of Moon had been replaced with one of Eli and Demetri from their first sleepover: both boys holding PlayStation controllers tightly in their hands as they stared intensely at a TV out of frame.
He turned to take in the rest of the room: each wall covered with photos and posters from various science camps and Harry Potter releases, DND dice and character sheets piled on top of his dresser, a stack of Dungeon Lord comics on the bed side table. Everywhere he looked memorabilia from their years of friendship past was scattered across the room, almost as if Hawk had made a painstaking effort to create an environment that would most place them back at the height of their friendship.
His heart swelled, and a slow grin spread on Demetri’s face. He turned to Hawk, fidgeting nervously next to him.
“So,” Demetri drawled, “I see you’ve redecorated.”
Hawk’s cheeks tinged pink, and he rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”
Had he always been able to make him blush, so easily? This was going to be fun . “Don’t be embarrassed. Its adorable.” He poked at the t-shirt straining across Hawk’s chest. “You even went retro on the wardrobe. Nice.”
The grey t-shirt he wore under his half-zipped sweatshirt had a sketch of a triangle, the hypotenuse labeled with an x. “ Find x ” was written above it, like it was a problem on a math test, with the x circled in bright red and an arrow pointing to it that read “ Here it is! ” Demetri had a vague recollection of giving it to him for his 13 th birthday. It fit quite a bit tighter across his chest than it used to, and Demetri was sure he hadn’t seen Eli wearing it for years prior to Cobra Kai.
“It’s laundry day!” Hawk said defensively. He was blushing so hard now his face nearly matched his hair.
Demetri laughed. “Sure it is.” He took another look around the room, zeroing in on the sleepover photo.
“What were we playing? Super Mario?”
Hawk turned to look at the photo. “Smash Brothers.” He turned back to Demetri and smirked back at him. “Kicked your ass.”
Demetri spread his arms wide. “Hey, up for a rematch anytime,” he challenged. “Well. Not tonight though.” He held up one of the DVDs he’d brought over, the gold Fellowship of the Ring script glinting on the cover of the case. “You ready for the first 3 hours and 48 minutes of arguably the best film adaptation of a fantasy classic, ever?”
Hawk’s eyebrows raised. “Three hours?” he muttered. “Damn it’s been a while.”
“Hell yeah it has.” Demetri pulled out the first DVD. “Buckle up, Moskowitz. Your nerd re-education begins now.”
Demetri had hoped a movie night would allow them to ease more into this new relationship thing; start on familiar ground, and it’s all easier, right? Fellowship of the Ring seemed like the perfect place to start, and he was thrilled when Hawk suggested it. Stunningly bad takes on Boromir aside, they’d both seen these movies a dozen times, and that wasn’t even counting the releases and trilogy marathons in the theatre.
And, okay, not that he wanted to rush it, but he’d hoped another kiss would find its way in there, too. They both thought they were straight a month ago, and he definitely hadn’t had ‘reassess your sexuality ’ on his list of things to do before college, but the movie was almost 4 hours long. Surely there had to be time in there, somewhere .
But so far, it wasn’t working out that way.
The two of them were propped up on pillows against the headboard of Hawk’s bed, as they had been for movie marathons dozens of times before, but Hawk was holding himself more rigidly than Demetri had ever seen him, arms crossed tightly across his chest. At first, he assumed it was just nerves: after all, this was the first post-fight/love confession hangout/date they’d had. It really wouldn’t be too out of the realm of possibility for Hawk to be anxious about it. Eli surely would have been. (Demetri definitely was.)
But, the intense way Hawk was staring at the TV screen pointed to something else. He never moved his eyes from it; in fact, he was glaring so intensely Demetri half expected him to melt it, Cyclops style. Demetri nudged him warily with his foot.
“You okay?” he whispered. Hawk startled, almost as if he had forgotten Demetri was there (which, okay, it was a great movie, but ouch ).
“Yeah,” he said, and gave him a wan smile. “Yeah. Sorry.” He readjusted against the pillow he was leaning against so that his shoulder brushed Demetri’s. Emboldened, Demetri slouched down against the headboard to let his head rest lightly on Hawk’s shoulder. The other boy stiffened, but Demetri felt the tense muscles in his shoulder relax an infinitesimal amount as he leaned his head against Demetri’s in return.
Progress.
But Hawk tensed again when Boromir found Frodo in the woods, carefully stealing away from the rest of the Fellowship to go it alone. The scene played out just as Demetri remembered, Boromir attempting to talk to Frodo before the power of the Ring overcame him, and then trying to take it from him. Slipping the Ring on to his finger the hobbit turned invisible, kicked Boromir in the chest, and fled.
Boromir frantically thrashed on the forest floor, angrily screaming for the hobbit to return. And then, anguish and sorrow overtook his face as he came to his senses.
“Frodo,” Boromir whimpered, eyes wild. “What have I done? I’m sorry. FRODO, I’M SORRY.”
“What a fucking idiot,” Hawk said under his breath, glaring at the screen.
It took Demetri a moment to register what he meant, and he elbowed him playfully in the side. “Hey. What did we say about respecting Boromir.”
“He doesn’t deserve it,” Hawk scowled at the screen with far more venom than Demetri expected, arms crossed tightly over his chest.
“Okaaaaaay,” Demetri said carefully. “He got tempted . It happens.”
“What if he did something worse.”
“Worse?”
“Yes, worse .”
“Something worse than trying to take the Ring of power?”
“I don’t know!” Hawk snapped, throwing his hands in the air. “Do you need a fucking example?”
Demetri flinched at the movement, Hawk’s arm flailing dangerously close to his face. Guiltily, Hawk jumped back, pressing himself against the wall on the far side of the bed.
“Sorry---I didn’t mean----” He clenched his hands, pulling them close to his chest. “Sorry.”
Demetri took a breath. “It’s okay.” He grabbed the remote from the bedside table and paused the movie, and the screen froze on Sean Bean’s anguished face.
Hawk hunched over and pressed his hands to his eyes, grinding his palms forcefully into them.
“What if he just tried to take the Ring and then died and no one knew he regretted it?” he muttered. “Or what if he lived and they didn’t believe him, that he figured all of his shit out? They would have never trusted him again.”
“We’re not talking about Boromir anymore, are we?” Demetri asked carefully. Hawk shook his head.
“They’re never going to trust me. At the dojo,” he said softly. “Not after everything I’ve done.”
Demetri pulled himself back up against the headboard. “You can’t possibly know that.”
Hawk scoffed. “What is there to know? They don’t want me there. I can see it. I’m not stupid, Demetri. I see how they look at me.” The corner of his lip curled. “It’s the same way they used to look at me in school. Like I’m a freak .”
“ Hey ,” Demetri said sharply. Hawk’s head snapped up, surprised by his tone. “I know what you’re thinking, and I can swear to you, none of them have ever said shit about your lip. Even at the worst of it. They’re not that kind of people. And I think you know that.”
Hawk clenched his jaw. “Yeah. I guess.” He dropped his eyes again.
“Can…can you come back over here, please?” Demetri said, patting the spot next to him against the headboard and lifting an arm. Hawk hesitated, and then slowly scooted back over to where he had been sitting. Demetri dropped his arm across the other boy’s shoulders, hand squeezing his shoulder gently.
“And, look,” Demetri sighed. “I’m not going to lie. They’re mad. They have a right to be right? But they know I forgave you for the arm. And it was my fucking arm. And if we can get past that, then…” he shrugged. “They can deal with it.”
“But that isn’t everything,” Hawk whispered. “I never told you…but…” he took a shaky breath and turned his face into Demetri’s shoulder, the spikes of his mohawk scratching at Demetri’s neck.
“Told me what?”
“I’m the one that trashed the Miyagi-Do last summer. And stole the Medal of Honor.” Hawk’s shoulders hunched. “Kreese, he said it was war and that we needed to strike first. There were a few of us, but it was me. I did it. And there’s no way Sensei LaRusso is going to forgive me for that.”
Demetri tightened his arm around Hawk, pulling him closer. The other boy shuddered, and he buried his face further into Demetri’s shoulder.
“Well…” Demetri started carefully. “Would it help you to know that I already know about that?”
Hawk lifted his head. “W---what?”
“Miguel told me. I don’t think he told anyone else, not even Sam or Sensei Lawrence. But he told me.”
“…and you didn’t tell anyone?” Hawk’s voice was small. Demetri shook his head. “Oh.” He laid his head back on Demetri’s shoulder. “Why not.”
“Dunno,” Demetri admitted. “It was after Golf N Stuff”-he felt Hawk stiffen—“and it just didn’t seem worth mentioning, after…that.” He flexed the arm around Hawk’s shoulders, remembering. Very little had seemed to matter, after that.
“You know I’ll never stop saying sorry for that.”
Demetri squeezed his shoulder, his thumb rubbing absently over Hawk’s collarbone. “I know. But you really don’t have to.”
Hawk huffed a laugh, the sound muffled by his face pressed into the fabric of Demetri’s shirt. “I really don’t get you, man. It's insane that you’re not still angry about that.”
“I was never angry with you. Well. That’s not true. I was. But…I was more….sad. I was sad you’d lost your way. And I didn’t know what else to do to help you find it, again.”
Hawk lifted his head, wrinkling his nose at him. “…are you seriously quoting Avatar right now.”
“Pop culture is my love language, Zuko.” Demetri winked at him, and held up his left hand in a finger gun. “Get used to it.”
Hawk laughed lightly, and leaned forward to press his forehead against Demetri’s temple. “I hope I never do,” he said softly. Demetri didn’t think he’d ever heard his voice so tender, even when he’d just been Eli, and he suddenly couldn’t speak past the lump in his throat. He squeezed Hawk tighter instead.
After a minute, Hawk leaned back. “I think…I think I have to tell Sensei LaRusso,” he sighed finally. “About the dojo. I can’t…I can’t train there every day and just pretend it never happened. I can’t even look him in the eye .” He dropped his gaze, clenching his hands on his lap. “I…I don’t think he’ll let me stay, after.”
Demetri bit his lip, thinking. “What if I do it?”
“What?”
“Well. Not do it. But I’ll help you. Let me talk to him first.” He nudged Hawk in the ribs. “We’ll tag team it. I come in with some chill Miyagi-Do defense, and then you come in and get’em with the Eagle Fang…apology…offense.”
Hawk turned to face him, pulling up his legs to sit cross legged across from him. “Really?”
Demetri nodded. “Of course. I know how the guy works.”
Hawk gave him a doubtful look. “…what if it doesn’t work.”
Demetri poked Hawk in the shoulder. “Hey. I’m supposed to be the pessimistic one in this relationship. Not you.” Hawk gave him a wan smile, but his eyes weren’t behind it.
“And hey, if that happens…we’ll deal. I’ll leave with you.”
“No,” Hawk said sharply. “You can’t do that. You need to stay there. Where you’ll be---” he clenched his jaw. “Where you’ll be safe,” he ground out. “From Cobra Kai.”
Demetri scoffed, offended. “Hey. I’m not Princess Peach here. I can handle myself.”
Hawk shook his head. “No. No matter what happens, you need to stay there. With the others.”
“That’s not—”
“Promise me.” Hawk begged, voice suddenly fragile. “Please. I know you can fight, I’ve seen it, but there are too many of them. You don’t know them like I do.” His hands were shaking on his lap. Carefully, Demetri reached out and took one of them. Hawk grasped it back fiercely.
“Hey. Really appreciate the sentiment. I do ,” Demetri said softly. “But will all due respect to this “lone-wolf, gotta go-it-alone” complex you’ve developed, fuck that. I’ve got your back, you’ve got mine.” He squeezed Hawk’s hand for emphasis. “That’s all we need.”
Hawk clenched his jaw again, and looked away. “Fine,” he muttered. But he squeezed Demetri’s hand back in response. “But we’re going to have to work on you telegraphing your hits.”
Demetri scoffed. “Oh, yeah?”
Hawk raised an eyebrow at him. “Uh, yeah. You got power but I can totally tell when you--”
Demetri leaned forward, pulling Hawk sharply towards him by their joined hands and cutting him off with a quick kiss. When he pulled away, Hawk was blinking at him, stammering.
“What---”
Demetri smirked at him. “Didn’t see that coming, did you?”
Hawk gaped at him, and then shoved him lightly in the shoulder. “Yeah, whatever,” he mumbled. He rubbed at his eye, trying in vain to hide the blush creeping up his cheek. “Let’s finish the movie.”
Demetri laughed, and scooted back towards the headboard. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Hawk moved next to him, but instead of sitting up against the headboard flopped down onto the bed and propped his head up with one of the pillows. Demetri raised an eyebrow, but carefully laid down next to him and hit PLAY on the remote.
Boromir swam to life on screen again. Demetri tuned the movie out, though, and instead stole a glance at Hawk. The other boy’s eyes were still trained on the movie, but there was a relaxed slump to his body that hadn’t been there before. Demetri smiled and curled on to his side, pillowing his head on to Hawk’s shoulder. Without speaking, Hawk tightly grasped the hand closest to his and squeezed it.
His eyes fell closed sometime before the end of the movie. He supposed it ended the same way it always had; though, all he could remember this time around was the light brush of Hawk’s lips on his forehead before he drifted off.