Before I Forget

Honor

Hawk turned the Medal of Honor in his fingers, the chain dangling down towards his chest as he lay down on the bed. The medal was impressive, beautiful, just holding it made him feel strong as if there was some secret power radiating from it to his bloodstream.

No, no secret power here. All the strength was his own, made of sweat and anger and tears that had molded him into the man he was now.

A crooked smile played on his lips as he clenched the medal in his fist. The sharp edges cut into the skin of his palm but he welcomed the pain. It was the first real thing he had felt in days, it didn't only cut through his skin but through the unbearable fog of nameless anger, loathing, and misery he'd been carrying in his heart ever since the Mall Fight.

Finally, he had gotten his revenge, and it had a sweet taste.

He still couldn't quite believe they hadn't been caught. That he had actually managed to pull that off.

It had been a sleepless night, the adrenaline was still pumping through his veins, making him high-headed. It was morning now and he knew that any minute now the Miyagi-Do's would walk into their trashed dojo, if they hadn't already - and fucking Hell - that made him ecstatic like nothing in a long time.

Those fucking pussies deserved all that was coming to them. Especially Demetri. That fucking asshole—

Hawk's phone rang, and he sat up to take it from the nightstand. He had been expecting this call but still, his heart thumped painfully against his ribcage as he picked it up.

"Was it you?" Sky asked, her voice tense and trembling.

Hawk swallowed hard. "What are you talking about?"

"Someone trashed Miyagi-Do last night. Was it you?"

"What? Trashed their dojo—?"

"You heard me. Everything is broken, destroyed." Sky's voice was thin and stretched like she was holding back tears. "They even stole Mr. Miyagi's Medal of Honor."

"Shit—!" Hawk let out. "How... Did Sam call you?"

"Yeah, and now I'm calling you. It was you, wasn't it? You went there to trash their dojo because they kicked your ass at the mall!"

"Is that... is that what you think?" Hawk managed. "Sky - fucking Hell - I had nothing to do with this!"

He had known all along that he would have to lie to Sky about what had happened. It was clear to him now that she wouldn't understand - she hadn't understood why it had been necessary to kick Demetri's ass, so she wouldn't understand this either. 

If he told the truth, she would dump him. He had miscalculated the last time, it had caused a shitload of trouble between them and he didn't want any more of that. Hell, he wanted her back, wanted that more than anything - and if he had to lie to her to accomplish that, he would.

It was a good thing he was a good liar. He had learned a trick or two during the years when he'd had to come up with explanations for his missing lunch money or torn clothes when he came home from school and mom started asking questions.

"Jesus, Sky - you really think I would do something like that?" He groaned.

"I don't know what to think anymore. You did try to beat up Demetri."

"Yeah, but that's different. It was a fair fight."

"I'm not even gonna explain to you how unfair that fight was," Sky said angrily.

"Fine, but come on, I didn't trash the dojo. Like, why would I even do that? If it was me I'd want them to know it was me."

Sky was silent for a moment, and Hawk heard only his own rapid heartbeat in his ears. She had to believe him, she fucking had to. If she didn't—