Lost in Hollywood

Absolutely Fabulous

When Hawk parked his car in front of the tattoo parlor, Sky was already there.

She was leaning on the wall next to the entrance, wearing a black denim skirt that reached her mid-thigh, her signature knee-high socks, sneakers, and a black, long-sleeved T-shirt that was way too big for her. Her clothing was all black, except for the rainbow-colored print on the front of her shirt, that said Absolutely Fabulous, which really didn't fit the miserable look on Sky's face.

She looked tired, like all the time lately, and it hurt his heart to see her like that. Even under the golden light of the afternoon sun, the bruises under her eyes were dark, and clearly visible now as she hadn't bothered with make-up. Her hair was a wind-ruffled mess around her face and every inch of her tense body spoke of nervousness, anxiety, and grief.

Driving here Hawk had been filled with anticipation, even joy, thinking about the time they'd be spending together, but now—

He felt her nervousness slipping into his own body as he stepped out of the car and walked to her, pushing his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans to hide their slight tremble.

"Hi," Sky said, and it was only then that Hawk noticed the cigarette hanging from her fingers. She brought it to her lips to take a deep inhale, and he couldn't help the way that gesture made his brows shoot up on his forehead.

"Since when do you smoke?"

"I don't. Not really," Sky muttered and exhaled a slow, grey cloud that surrounded her like a ghost. The tendrils of the smoke played in her hair before vanishing into the wind.

"Okay," Hawk replied, unsure if he should say anything about it. The way she held the cigarette, the ease with which she inhaled the smoke made him realize this was far from the first time she had done this, even if he had never seen her smoke. He didn't like it. He had never liked smoking, the smell alone was repulsive - but he didn't want to be an asshole and make Sky upset by telling her that.

She made a face and ashed her cigarette with a tap of her finger.

"Don't look at me like that," she said as if reading his thoughts by taking one look at his face. "It's not like I'm a chimney. I was just... nervous. And I needed something."

"It's fine. I get it."

She looked uncertain. "You do?"

"Yeah. I'm sure Rico won't mind if you cancel."

"It's not the tattoo I'm nervous about," Sky sighed, and brought the cigarette back to her lips, took another slow, deep inhale.

"Oh." Hawk felt his cheeks heating. She wasn't nervous about spending time alone with him, was she? That thought brought butterflies to his stomach and made him slightly out of breath. God, she was so pretty, even without makeup, even when smoking— her eyes were deep and dark when she glanced at him, and the way her lips closed around the cigarette was actually kinda mesmerizing, it made him think about all the other things she could do with those lips, like kissing and—

— and things he sure as Hell couldn't start thinking about now.

He cleared his throat and dragged his eyes away from Sky's lips, desperately trying to find something else to think about.

"Absolutely Fabulous?" he inquired, glancing at the text on the front of her shirt. "Is that a new one?"

"It's Luke's shirt," Sky shrugged, turning her eyes to the burning cole of her cigarette.

Oh. Crap. That sure wasn't the light-hearted small-talk topic he had hoped for.

"His sister told me that I could take something of his. On the day of his funeral," Sky went on, speaking silently, her eyes still fixed on the cigarette that was hanging from her slightly trembling fingers. "I took this shirt and some manga books. Luke loved manga. I've been thinking about taking a tattoo for Luke too... maybe some manga figure, but I don't know." Another strengthless shrug. "I just... I miss Luke. He was amazing. And it sucks that all I've got of him is this shirt and some random books."