Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He didn’t exactly remember the first time he saw her. Maybe it was in high school, or maybe at some party. But if there was certainty about something, it was that he could never forget the first time she ever stepped into the dojo.

It was the hottest day of summer.

The warm breeze combined with all the hard work the guys had to get done in Cobra Kai was not making it easier.

Sensei Lawrence, and Kreese were making sure everyone was in good shape, and it was damn painful.

Hawk was counting the minutes for the class to be over, but something about that day in specific was different.

It was her.

He remembers that his friends seemed more fixated on her physical appearance and didn't take into account the fire that lay in her. Miguel was one of them, he was the first to burn. Though looking back, Hawk thinks that he could have started to burn the second he saw her, only on a slow burn.

She took her time with him.

“Tory with a y,” she said was her name.

And he never forgot it again.

…

"Hey, I've seen you in high school." The boy with the Mohawk said to the blonde, who was hydrating herself after her first class.

“Yeah, I’ve seen you too. Eli, right?"

"It's actually Hawk now." He responded defensively. "Something funny?" He then questioned when she smirked at him. Hawk would find out later that this was something she always used to do.

“No, I actually like it. It goes with your outrageous personality.” Tory didn't lose her smile, she had been in the previous tournament just out of curiosity, and she got to see the hawk in action. It was quite the show in her opinion.

"Oh, and your entrance wasn't scandalous at all, was it?" The boy added again, this time smiling too.

"I never denied it, it's part of my charm." The blonde-haired continued, passing by him to leave.

Hawk shook his head in amusement as he watched her leave the room.

Not even a few weeks later, the guys had begun to include Tory in their "Friday movie nights," which were held at Hawk's home because he had a better TV.

There, the blonde-haired girl met the boy's mother, both seemed to have a lonely life. One of those nights, Moon also joined the group. The girl seemed friendly, so they soon became friends, and together with Aisha, they formed a small group of girls.

Around this time, Tory began to get close to Miguel. Their relationship was almost instantaneous, Hawk didn't understand how it had happened so fast, and although he knew about his friend's past with Sam, he preferred not to mention anything.

Hawk and Miguel were practically brothers, leaving out the fact that Dimitri wasn't on board with Cobra Kai. And Tory being Miguel’s girlfriend, spent a lot of time with Hawk too. These two began to strike up a little friendship.

…

"What are you doing here?" The boy asked the blonde-haired girl, at the entrance of his house.

"It's Friday." She answered, pushing Hawk aside and walking into the room.

“Everybody cancelled. Didn't Miguel tell you?" The boy added as he closed his door.

"No, we haven't talked today."

"Well, apparently everyone is busy this weekend." Hawk continued.

"Great, so I walked twelve blocks for nothing."

"You don't need to go!" The boy exclaimed once he saw Tory walking towards the door, she looked at him surprised. "We can watch a movie anyway; I still have what I bought at the grocery store for today."

The blonde's eyes seemed to light up at the mention of food, Hawk chuckled noticing. "I guess that’s fine." She said trying to play it cool.

Minutes later, they were both in the boy's room watching “The Ring.”

"So... you haven't seen Miguel today?" He tried to make conversation.

"Not really. He was supposed to call me to come here together, but something else must’ve come up."

She went quiet for a while.

“I’m sorry,” Hawk said out of the blue.

“Why?” Tory asked with confusion. “You haven’t done anything.”

“Still.”

Truth was, Hawk knew Miguel still had a thing for Sam. And Tory did not deserve someone who wasn’t willing to give her his all.

That night he gave her a ride home, and he was able to learn just a little more about her.

She was a great sister, and as it turns out, a great daughter.

Her mom did not deserve what happened to her either, but life was rarely fair.

Especially with Tory.

Because Miguel kept on forgetting about his own girlfriend, and many times it was just Hawk and Tory watching movies in his room.

One particular night she told him that Miguel was supposed to pick her up from work, but he completely forgot about it too.

It wasn’t a big deal, but she finished her shift at the cafeteria at midnight, and that was not a safe schedule for a girl to walk home alone. Not even fierce Tory Nichols. And so, Hawk talked to Miguel about it; but nothing changed.

It was because of that that he took matters into his own hands, and every night he would be in the parking lot waiting for her shift to be over.

She fought against it at first, but she quickly gave up.

And every night he would drive her home, and her mom would invite him to have dinner with them.

And every night the spark in Tory’s eyes became a little bit brighter.

That’s how it started.

…

Chapter Text

As time passed by, Tory and Hawk became practically best friends. Their families knew each other and they were together almost all the time, even more than the time they spend with their dates.

As it was well known, Hawk was very protective of Cobra Kai, it was one of the qualities he and Tory shared. But it also became his downfall, or that was what he thought at the time.

It happened in a series of unfortunate events.

First, Dimitri wrote that stupid Yelp review. Hawk had to do something about it.

Yes, Dimitri was his first friend, but Cobra Kai had made him who he was now. He owed it to sensei Lawrence to defend the honor of the dojo.

And he did.

But things never happen the way you expect.

Because in one single move, he lost his first friend.

And he also lost his first girlfriend.

It was four in the morning when he knocked at Tory’s bedroom window, with the autumn breeze slowly dancing around him.

When she saw him, she could immediately tell he had been crying.

Tory remembered Eli crying once.

She could see him coming to the surface again, he had always been there after all. She moved aside so he could enter the room, and he did so quietly.

“What happened?” Tory asked once he sat in her bed, just close enough to her.

“She broke up with me.” He simply said. It came out cold, colder than he intended.

But the blonde girl could understand. “Are you… are you okay?” She struggled to say.

He had been so angry.

Hawk thought he would never stop being angry.

At her.

At Dimitri.

At the world.

But right now he felt nothing.

That must be wrong, he thought.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Tory’s hands, as she undid his fists.

He thought she would say something, but she didn’t. Instead, she hugged him.

And something inside him broke.

He cried as she held him, both of them falling asleep in her bed, still hugging.

And when he woke up it was like he was watching her in a different light.

Holding onto him, so vulnerable.

Was that what Miguel felt around her?

And if he did, how could he ever be capable of forgetting her, forgetting this?

He caressed her cheeks with a new feeling inside of him, and when her eyes opened and she smiled; it was like nothing else in the world mattered anymore.

She brought their foreheads together, passing one of her hands onto his neck.

“She doesn’t deserve you.” That was all she said, but that didn’t matter to him anymore.

After all, they are called ‘firsts’ for a reason, right?

There would be more.

The problem was, this girl inches apart from him was his best friend’s girlfriend.

They were doomed from the start.

…

Hawk trod lightly around Miguel now, and also around Tory.

He knew what he felt wasn’t right. But it was there and there was nothing he could do to make it go away.

She was his friend, and so he wasn’t just going to stay away from her.

Not like Miguel was doing lately.

Honestly, he was very nervous.

It was Moon’s party, and he didn’t know if it was going to go well.

Well, it definitely wasn’t.

Dimitri was going to pay for his treason.

Oh, right! And Tory and Miguel were going to be there too.

So…yeah.

Maybe, in a desperate attempt, he tried to win Moon back.

Just to end way worse than before (because of course she had a girlfriend now!).

A fight was almost on the horizon, that if the cops hadn’t shown up when they did. Hawk almost had his revenge.

And after Dimitri’s stupid speech, he was out for blood.

For real this time.

Little did he know he had another opportunity just around the corner.

He lost Tory to the stupid party, so he was desperately calling her now.

She didn’t answer and he was starting to worry.

That was when he heard a knock on his window, and there she was.

“You’ve been crying.” He pointed out when she sat next to him in his bed.

“No shit, Sherlock.”

“What happened?” Hawk asked while ignoring her attitude.

“Miguel.” She struggled to say.

“What did he do to you?” He stood up angrily.

“He kissed her.” She spat out with hate.

Hawk’s face went red with anger. “That fucking asshole! I swear to God I’m going to…!” He stopped speaking when he heard her cry.

In complete silence, he went to hug her, and she clung to him as if her life depended on it.

After a while, he took some hairs out of her face and dried her tears. “He doesn’t deserve you.” He echoed the words she had said to him that one time.

And something came over her.

Because he didn’t.

Hawk was the one who was always by her side.

He was the one who would pick her up from work.

He would teach maths to her brother.

He would always hang out with her when they had free time.

Him.

And so she placed her hands on his neck, testing the waters.

Hawk didn’t pull away, he smiled at her.

She slowly leaned in, and Hawk’s brain went off.

He leaned in too, and their lips found each other in the middle.

It was like nothing they’d experienced before.

Everything else just disappeared.

Heaven.

Although, as they deepened the kisses it was feeling more like hell.

They couldn’t get enough of each other.

But Hawk pulled apart when he felt Tory moving her hand towards his pants. “Are you sure you wanna do this?” He asked while panting.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” She sat on his lap, and that was all he needed to continue.

It was probably a bad idea.

But they didn’t care anymore.

There were no limits anymore.

That’s why the next morning he followed Tory into battle.

And when it seemed that they were winning, Miguel fell.

How could that be a win?

He was his best friend.

Her boyfriend.

They looked at each other with regret.

They had fucked up badly.

...

Chapter Text

They had had one night together.

One night and they pulled the plug.

They couldn’t do that to Miguel, not while he was in a coma.

They talked often, but it wasn’t the same.

After what they had done, how could it be?

Friends don’t do the things they did.

Tory was struggling with her home life, having to stop going to the dojo. Hawk wanted to help, but she wouldn’t allow it.

He, on the other hand, was doing his best to become the new champion. He needed to do it for Miguel, like sensei Kreese had said.

When the news of Miguel waking up arrived, he and Tory couldn’t be happier. Relieved even.

She came back to the dojo but still refused to visit the Diaz kid.

And while Miguel tried to improve gradually, Tory and Hawk were getting closer again.

Hawk had a hard time though, breaking Dimitri’s arm was a point of no return. And when he broke that asshole’s face defending his position in the dojo, he knew that he had gone too far.

He could even see it in Tory’s horrified face.

But it was what needed to be done.

And when Miguel made clear that he would not stand up for this new Cobra Kai, Hawk and Tory decided to make it official. Of course, it was their little secret because they wouldn’t expose themselves to public opinion but for them, it was enough.

Then, when Robby Keene decided to join Cobra Kai, Hawk started to doubt if he would ever have a real place there. After everything he did, he was still second.

Or well, third actually.

And Tory being all buddy-buddy with Keene didn’t help the situation either.

They had had multiple fights involving the new recruit, who was moving into his territory and his girl. And Hawk did not appreciate it very much, but Sensei seemed to be more than okay with it.

“Could you stop with the fucking jealousy act?”

“I just don’t understand what you see in him!” Answered Hawk angrily.

“He needed a place to stay so I suggested that he come here, I happen to know what that’s like.”

“Oh, so you fucking relate to him now! How beautiful!” He said full of sarcasm.

She knew he could never understand; their lives were very different. But this was something else entirely. “It’s like you’re looking for excuses to fight me.”

“Don’t you ever feel like you would be better off without Cobra Kai?” He asked then, ignoring what she had just said.

She looked at him with pure disbelief on her face. “Cobra Kai is all I have.”

“You have me.”

“Do I?” She looked him up and down. “Because you don’t sound like you’re with me for the long run. Is Cobra Kai for life, Hawk.” She said while walking away.

Most of their fights ended like that.

They would make up in a few hours, not being able to stay mad at each other for too long. But they both knew something wasn’t right.

Maybe it was the pressure to keep the secret.

Maybe it was Keene.

Maybe it was Hawk wanting to leave.

They didn’t know anymore.

…

Training was over.

Everyone had gone home.

Tory was in the back of the dojo when Hawk suddenly pulled her by the waist and kissed her passionately.

“What was that for?” She said with a smirk on her face.

“Can’t a guy just kiss his girlfriend goodbye?” He answered back, mirroring her smirk. “Need a ride?”

“No, I think I’ll stay to practice the new moves a little longer.”

When he left, Tory realized why he had acted that way.

Robby was just a few steps back, looking for something in his backpack.

That jealous idiot!

“I can explain.” She started when he looked at her.

“Not my business, and I don’t judge, so…”

“You don’t judge?” She asked with disbelief. “My ex-boyfriend almost became a paraplegic because of a stupid fight I started, I’m secretly dating his best friend and too embarrassed to visit him in the hospital, and you don’t judge?”

“I’m sure is not as simple as that.”

Robby wasn’t stupid. He had seen them together, training or hanging around.

He knew those looks and those touches weren’t just friendly, but he had nothing to do there.

“Look, Diaz cheated on you. You deserve to be with someone who actually cares about you.” He said with honesty.

Because he had also been cheated on, Tory forgot he knew how it felt.

“Can you not tell?” She asked him then. “We don’t want people to…”

“I told you, not my business.” He simply answered. “But please tell lover boy to keep the PDA at a minimum, I don’t need more of that.”

“Right.” They both laughed at that.

…

The fight at the LaRusso house started.

Tory wanted to make Sam pay for everything she had taken from her.

It was time for revenge.

Everything was going great.

Cobra Kai was winning.

And so she made sure to get Sam all for herself to break.

She fought like her life depended on it, and in a way, it did.

She gave all of herself to win and used every trick at her disposal.

And when she was about to land the final blow, Hawk’s voice made itself known. “Tory, stop!”

She looked back where he stood, next to Miguel and Dimitri.

He wouldn’t look her in the eyes.

Tory knew exactly what was going on.

“You fucking traitor!” She pushed him towards the wall with a kick.

Miguel and Dimitri were going to interfere, but Hawk stopped them. He had it coming.

“Why?” She managed to let out.

“Kreese is brain-washing us, Tory. You have to get out of there before it’s too late.” He held her by her shoulders.

“Oh, yeah?” She let out a sour chuckle. “And who put those ideas in your head? Your little buddy?” Tory looked at Dimitri with anger, he swallowed hard.

“I’ve known for a while, you know that.”

Tory pushed him away from her with anger in her heart and storms in her eyes. “You better watch your back.” She said while leaving.

All Hawk could do was watch her leave, as Miguel and Dimitri helped Sam to get up.

He had promised himself that he would never hurt her like Miguel had, and that’s exactly what he had done.

Doing the right thing didn’t feel right at all.

…

Chapter Text

Things had changed a lot over the past few months.

Hawk was back with Sensei Lawrence and his friends, he had also learned a lot from Sensei LaRusso.

If it wasn’t for her, he would be more than okay. But he missed her like crazy.

Hawk called and called, and she never answered.

He still went to pick her up from work, but she told him that if he kept coming back, she would say he was stalking her.

She was so mad.

It was driving him insane.

Miguel and Dimitri noticed that he wasn’t himself, but they thought that it was because of Moon. How mistaken they were.

Tory wasn’t much better.

But after losing one of her jobs, she had bigger fish to fry.

As time when on, she and Robby were actually getting along great. Well, besides a little competitiveness here and there.

They had a lot in common. The fight that she started and he ended was just the tip of the iceberg. They both had shitty lives as Tory would put it.

Robby had tried to ask about Hawk, but Tory was blind with hate. “I’m gonna make him pay.” She told him, and he just went along with the ride. He was a Cobra now, after all, he needed to look the part.

Not like he didn’t have any motivation on his own though, Hawk and the others had made a number on them in the Drive-in.

The look in Tory’s eyes that night could’ve killed anyone.

Hawk looked at her with regret, but she couldn’t look beyond the betrayal.

He knew she had a fire in her. He learned that the second he saw her for the first time.

But now he also knew that even though she burned like the sun, she could also be as cold as the winter’s breeze.

And it was slowly killing him.

And it was the end of Hawk.

Cobra Kai made sure of it.

She made sure of it.

Tory knew how much Hawk meant to him. And so she didn’t leave any other option for him than to accept Eli again.

And it broke his spirit.

He had not only lost Hawk, but he was also convincing himself that she didn’t love him anymore.

And it broke his heart.

But that was fair, he thought. He had broken hers too.

…

When Eli saw Tory arriving with Robby to prom, he almost lost it.

The worst part was, he knew she was doing it on purpose, and he had no say in the matter anymore.

She looked so fucking beautiful it was unreal.

They were dancing close to each other, and smiling, and he couldn’t take it anymore.

Eli managed to find alcohol, and for every smile Tory gave to Robby, he would drink a little more.

For every touch.

For every glance.

Those were supposed to be his.

She was supposed to be his.

Miguel and Sam were too concerned with Robby and Tory to realise something was wrong with Eli.

But Dimitri knew.

Dimitri always knew.

He approached him cautiously, saying nothing at first.

He could sense his hatred when he looked at Tory and Robby, but he had no clue as to why he felt like that.

What was obvious though, was that it was hurting him.

And so he had to step in. “Take it easy, Eli. The night’s not over yet.”

“I am taking it easier.” He said almost slurring his words. “I can ho…hold a lot more than that.”

“Clearly.” Deadpanned Dimitri. “What has gotten into you? You’ve been acting weird even before the whole thing with the Mohawk.”

“She hates me.” He said with sadness.

“Moon? No, she could never hate anyone.” Started Dimitri. “In fact, if you talk to her I’m sure…”

“No, not Moon.” Said Eli angrily. “Tory.”

“TORY!” Exclaimed Dimitri with disbelief. “You mean Tory Nichols? The one who is with Robby right now?”

Well, shit.

Everything made sense now.

It was right in front of him.

“You have a thing for the Queen Cobra?” He could still not believe it.

“She wa…was my girlfriend.” Eli didn’t know how to keep quiet anymore, his brain was off.

“WHAT?!” Dimitri felt really stupid now. “But Miguel…” He whispered then.

“Miguel was an asshole to her, Dimitri! You know it!”

“Holy shit, man!” Was all he could utter.

Dimitri stayed next to Eli, checking that he didn’t drink anymore. And still processing all the information.

So, Tory had a thing for him too then?

Well, they used to be together so…

When Dimitri looked at Eli again, he was nowhere to be seen. “SHIT!”

…

Tory was dancing with Robby while they talked about anything and everything all at once.

They had agreed to go together to prom to piss some people off, and so far it was working. With the passing of the hours though, they had to admit that they were actually having fun.

Suddenly, a hand reached out for Tory and she was left face to face with the only person she did not want to see.

“What are you doing?” She asked angrily.

“I… I need to talk to you.”

“Are you drunk?” She could not believe this boy.

“Dude, leave her alone.” Interrupted Robby.

“Eli! There you are!” Dimitri appeared out of nowhere. “Come on, the food is getting cold on the table!” He tried to take Eli away, but the four of them were already starting to make a scene.

“Stay out of it.” Said Eli to the other two. “Tory, I’m so sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” She asked again annoyed. “Sorry doesn’t cut it anymore, Hawk.” Tory put emphasis on the last word while she started to walk away.

“Party’s over.” She said to Robby, who followed her to the closest exit.

“I couldn’t be in Cobra Kai anymore!” Eli continued. He had had a lot of time to think about what to say to her, but now his brain was completely blank. “It just wasn’t right!”

“You could’ve said something!” She turned around violently.

“I tried!” He continued. “You just…”

“So this is my fault?” She asked in disbelief again.

By now many people in the crowd were paying attention to their fight, Moon included.

“I didn’t want to leave you alone there.”

“But you did.” She turned around again.

“Tory, please!” Eli followed close behind her. “I love you!”

“What did you just say?”

Tory froze. She didn’t need to see him to know it was him.

Miguel was in front of Eli demanding an explanation, surrounded by a numerous crowd now.

“What?” Started Eli, he looked pissed now. “Are you surprised?” He laughed bitterly.

“Hawk shut up!” Tory said while pushing him.

“No, no, no. Let him speak.” It was Miguel again.

“You were an asshole to her. How dare you be surprised that someone could actually truly love her?”

Miguel was the one who pushed him now. “Did you cheat on me?” He then asked Tory.

Sam didn’t dare to get involved this time.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Tory simply answered.

“You cheated on her first, idiot!” Eli started again. “We even dated for a while.” He laughed bitterly again.

Miguel threw himself at Eli, ready to fight. He managed to punch him a few times before Tory got in between and Miguel almost hit her by accident.

Seeing that, Robby quickly got himself in front of Tory. “You get away from her, asshole!”

Shocked by what he almost did, Miguel gave a last look at Tory and Eli and stormed out of the room, Sam following close behind.

“Are you okay?” Asked Robby to the blonde girl.

“Fine.” She said, looking at Eli who was on the floor.

Dimitri helped him get up slowly, still with a lot of eyes on them.

“Tory, I…” Started Eli again.

She put a hand in the air. “You’ve done enough.” She said tiredly.

…

When Miguel and Eli were to face each other at the tournament, everyone held their breath. Tory and Miguel had successfully avoided Eli after prom, and both of them were mad.

Miguel came to the tournament with all the intention to win, but he was not going to push it if his body was telling him not to.

Also, there was the fact that he felt like that wasn’t his fight anymore, no matter how badly he wanted to stick it to Eli.

And so, Eli managed to channel his inner Hawk and won for the guys. And even though that victory managed to make him happy, things were not as easy to fix.

Tory also won for the girls, making Cobra Kai champion.

And because life loves to screw her over, that whole situation with Hawk and Miguel wasn’t enough.

Silver had bought the ref.

She was a fraud.

…

Chapter Text

Cobra Kai was at the top again.

Silver made sure of it.

Tory had faced him, but he knew she needed him.

Cobra Kai was all she had.

Because, well, it turns out, Robby also left. But he had a father, that’s not something she could say.

Tory was struggling to accept this win.

Being called ‘Champion’ didn’t mean anything to her anymore.

It was all so surreal.

She mostly remembers his face. His bruised face, even weeks after prom, he still had bruises.

She missed him.

…

Weeks passed, and a lot had happened.

Tory had to go through a lot of pain inside Cobra Kai. The new sensei, Sensei Kim had made it her personal mission to get into Tory’s skin.

And she had to protect Devon now.

So she decided she had enough, she wasn’t going to let Devon become her.

And so, when Sam LaRusso came to her to hear her side of the story, she decided to work to put Silver away.

And there he was.

She had seen him again before, but now it felt different.

The whole situation was different.

He was the first to notice what had happened to her hand, and she almost let the truth slip. But when she realised the others, and Miguel especially was looking at them she immediately moved towards Robby.

Sam just gave Miguel a knowing look.

When he advised her to think about what Tory had done by telling the truth, she also had much to say.

“You should also think about what Hawk said to you that night.” She started.

They still didn’t talk to each other.

“What do you mean?”

“They didn’t cheat on you, Miguel.” Sam really wanted to be done with the whole thing. “We did it first. Don’t you think Tory deserves someone who actually loves her?”

“You sound just like him,” Miguel complained.

“He’s not wrong though, is he?” Sam was not leaving that damn place without having Miguel understand the situation. “You really hurt her, and you told me many times, Hawk was always there when you didn’t. It was natural for her to fall for him.”

Yeah, okay.

He could see the logic in that.

“And he is one of your best friends, don’t you want him to be happy?” He was lost in his thoughts. “Besides, this whole thing is breaking Dimitri’s spirit as much as yours. You need to put an end to it.”

“But how?”

“Help them to get back to what they were before.”

So, when the whole dojo battle was over, Miguel knew he had to make things right.

Not just Sam had talked to him.

Robby did too.

“Tory doesn’t deserve all the hate she’s getting at school. You hurt her and Hawk put her back together again, they deserve each other.” He had told him.

And Dimitri was mortified as well. “We are the three musketeers; you need to forgive Eli. So he fell in love with your ex-girlfriend. So they kept their relationship in secret. So what? You can’t blame them for falling in love. Just put an end to this already, man. It feels like we’re in a soap opera or something.” He had said.

And they were all right.

Miguel went first to Eli, who was talking to Dimitri while giving Tory not-so-subtle looks.

“I guess I owe you an apology.” Started Miguel when Dimitri left them alone.

Eli was too shocked to say anything.

“I know I wasn’t fair to you. To any of you. I just didn’t want to believe that I had hurt Tory that bad, that you were there cleaning up my messes.”

“I wanted to.”

“I know. I guess my point is that we are friends, and I want you to be happy. No matter who you are with. Even though Tory is still important to me, I know you will be good to her. You have been. I just hope we can go back to being friends.”

Eli immediately hugged Miguel.

Tory watched from afar with a sad smile on her face. She looked away quickly when Miguel’s eyes found hers.

He approached her cautiously like he always did. “Is your hand okay?”

“I’ll survive.” She simply said.

“Look I know it doesn’t change anything but I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

She looked at him. “Is that what you were doing over there?” She pointed at Eli.

“Yes, we’re good.”

“Good.” She said.

“I wasn’t fair to you and I’m really, really sorry about it. I made a big deal of something that was as simple as admitting that I pulled apart and he was there. That I hurt you, and that you deserve the longing looks he gives you and so much more.” Tory looked down with sadness.

“I’m sorry I pulled you guys apart.” She said then.

“I’m sorry I pulled you guys apart.” They both laughed. “Are we okay?”

“Yeah, we’re fine.”

He even dared to hug her, and she let him. Just this once.

…

It was no surprise to her that after Miguel’s apology, Eli would come looking for her too.

She had been waiting actually.

He sat next to her in the ambulance in silence, both of them looking at the sunrise on the horizon.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about what to say, but now that we’re here my brain is blank.” She laughed at that, it was a good start.

“How about you just say what you want?” She suggested, still looking at the landscape.

“Tory Nichols.” Tory looked at him surprised, he had a little smirk on his face.

“So, you’re still Hawk.” She said then, amused.

“I’m Eli and I’m Hawk, nothing’s gonna change that.” He simply replied. “I’m…”

“Don’t.” She interrupted him. “You’ve apologised enough already.”

They both went silent again.

“We’ve fucked up a lot, haven’t we?” Asked Tory next.

“Yeah, but nothing we can’t come back from.” He assured her.

“But how can you know we won’t do it again?”

“We survived this, we can survive again.”

“I don’t know if I can go through that again.” She confessed to him in almost a whisper.

“We’ll do it together this time.”

She looked at him and smiled. He mirrored her smile when she took his hand.

“Eli ‘Hawk’ Moskowitz.” She simply said, and he looked at her puzzled.

“That’s what I want.”

Tory could swear she had never seen him smile like that before.

It was blinding.

The sunrise was nothing in comparison.

She put her head on his shoulder while they both watched the sun coming up. “We’ll do it together.” She heard him say again.

She didn’t know what was to come.

She didn’t know if it would work out this time.

But spring was just starting, after all, there was no better time to start fresh.

…