Sky was going through the piles of DVDs trying to find the right one. In her opinion, they had way too many of them, like they had way too many books too - but Dad just was one of those people who wouldn't give up ink on paper, or having your favorite movie on a plastic disc instead of just Netflix.

She had just localized the right pile (dad owned every Star Trek movie that was ever made) and started checking the titles, as she heard dad calling for her from the kitchen.

"Yeah?" she replied, her mind still on the DVDs. "What is it?"

"There's someone at the door." Dad said. "Would you get it?"

"Fine. But if it's that old creep who lives next door, you handle him!"

Sky, now showered and changed into a comfy outfit - an oversized pink hoodie with a huge picture of a unicorn lama, and a pair of leggings - gave up her quest for Shinzon and got on her feet.

On her way to the front door, she glanced towards the kitchen. Dad was there, standing by the counter, chopping tomatoes for a salad, and warmth flushed through Sky's heart as she looked at him, cooking dinner for her as if she indeed was a daughter who deserved to be taken care of like that. He was wearing the silly apron they had bought on vacation in Rome a couple of years ago. It said 'Don't be upsetti, eat some spaghetti' and Dad still thought it was hilarious.

It brought a small smile to her lips. The apron might not be hilarious, but Dad was. And she was one lucky girl to have a father like him.

She opened the front door, prepared to face the said old creep who lived next door, and who always had something he wanted to nag about, but instead—

Sky's heart took a swan dive and hit the floor at her feet.

Hawk–!

He was standing on the front steps, his blue mohawk sharp and edgy as usual, but otherwise he didn't look confident at all. He was pale, his whole being was thin and stretched and miserable and he looked like he was about to throw up.

Sky's heart climbed back up to her throat, knitting her guts to knots as it did so.

Without saying a word, she grabbed the door and prepared to slam it on his face.

"No, no, no, Sky, please—" Hawk held up a trembling hand. "Please, I just wanna talk—"

"Who is it? The old creep?" asked dad's voice and the next thing Sky knew was that he was standing there right next to her, wiping his hands in a kitchen towel, and Sky had never been more grateful for his presence than at that moment.

"No," she said, finding her voice. "It's the young creep."

"Oh," dad replied with surprising calm, arching his brows. He stuffed the kitchen towel into the pocket of the apron and turned his glance from Sky to Hawk and back. "Do you feel like talking to him?"

Sky shrugged, mixed feelings tearing her apart.

She felt Hawk's presence in her veins, his familiar scent of steel and cotton that made her heart flutter, but still Sky felt like the wind was blowing right through her as if she was nothing but a shadow, a flickering will-o'-the wisp in the air.

"Please, Sky," Hawk said, his voice silent and raspy. "I just wanna apologize."

"Okay," she breathed. "Then apologize."

Hawk's uncertain glance moved to Dad and then back to Sky. "Maybe... just the two of us?"

"No," Sky said. "You wanna apologize, you can do it in front of my dad."

She didn't trust herself, she was weak, she was hollow. She was barely a human at all. And she knew that one wrong word would send her spinning back into darkness, would blow out her light completely. Dad, once again understanding her meaning without her needing to spell it out, took a comfortable position next to Sky, leaning on the doorway and crossing his arms over the silly apron.

"You heard her, kid." he said. "I'm not going anywhere."

Hawk swallowed, the movement of his throat clearly visible under the skin of his neck. The muscles on his jawline tightened, and he shifted weight on his feet.

"Okay," he said, turning his eyes down. "I'm really sorry Sky."

"That's it?" Sky asked, anger suddenly stirring in her gut. "That's all you've got to say?"

"No. Listen, I know I acted like a jerk," Hawk continued. "And I'm so sorry. I... I didn't wanna lose you, and seeing you with Demetri... I guess I just freaked out. So yeah, I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry. I know that it was all my fault. And since you said you weren't gonna have tacos with me, I brought you some."

He held out the brown paper bag Sky only now noticed he'd been holding in his hand, and his nervous glance flickered, meeting her eyes and then fleeing again, as if searching for safety in the stairs, in the trees, in the wall behind her back.

"You brought me tacos?" Sky asked silently.

Hawk gave a sharp nod and swallowed as if to clear his throat. "You said you liked them, so..."

Sky was still staring at the brown paper bag in Hawk's outstretched hand, the ticking of her heart fast and uneven in her ears, as Dad placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you eating his tacos?" He asked with an almost conspiratory tone. "Cause if you are, I'm gonna put the chicken back in the fridge."

Sky couldn't help a small smile that was tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Yeah, I'm eating his tacos," she replied and took the brown paper bag from Hawk's hands. He broke into a smile, so wide and genuine that it lit up his blue eyes and Sky couldn't help falling into them, into the blue that was like the sky in the early days of summer.

She passed the paper bag to Dad without breaking her eye contact with Hawk, and said: "Maybe you take these—?"

"Fine," Dad said and took the tacos. "Are you staying for dinner, Eli? Though I should probably warn you that we'll be watching Star Trek."

"Star Trek?" Eli's brows knotted. "Okay... I guess? I mean I'd love to stay, if—"

"He's staying, Dad," Sky said. "Now, will you give us a moment—?"

Dad raised a brow but didn't protest. He walked back in taking the tacos with him, and soon Sky heard him clattering plates in the kitchen. But Hawk was still standing on the front steps, and his eyes met hers and Sky felt the pull between them, like they were two halves of a magnet, like an invisible force was pushing her towards him.

He must've felt it too because he was walking up the stairs now, and she met him in the middle, standing one step higher than him, so that their faces were at the same level, and—

I love him, I love him, I love him–

And then his lips were on hers and she couldn't think anymore. She forgot everything, their fight, her sorrow, the tears, everything - because he was kissing her, pressing these small, soft kisses on her lips, and she knew this was home, this was hope, this was the place she belonged to, the place where her heart would finally know peace.

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He pulled her into his arms, his heart filling his fucking ribcage so that he could barely breathe. And he kissed her, he showered her face with these small, gentle kisses–

He tasted salt on his lips and he pulled back to take a better look at Sky's face, only now noticing her puffy eyelids, her red-rimmed eyes.

"Have you been crying?"

"Yeah," She admitted and it felt like a punch to his sternum.

It's my fault. I caused this.

Slowly he brought a hand up to her hair and slid his fingers into her red curls, which he now realized were wet as if she'd just showered. She was so small in his arms, so fragile and things she had told her the day before were flashing through his mind. The last thing he ever wanted to do, was to cause her pain, and now—

The guilt felt like a knife in his gut.

"I'm sorry," he breathed, his lips almost touching hers. "What can I do to make it better?"

She didn't answer but just wrapped her arms around his waist, laid her head on his shoulder as if she was tired, as if she needed to rest against him. Gently he pulled her close, his own arms around her small frame, and breathed in the scent of her moist hair - strawberry and vanilla, such a girly scent.

As always when touching her, he felt the wanting, the primitive urge stirring in his veins, but he forced it back down, pushed it away, because this was not the time, and just kept his hands steady where they were on her back, his touch on her light and soft.

She let out a trembling sigh, pressing her body closer to his. Her breath tickled the skin of his neck right above the collar of his T-shirt.

"Sky, how can I make things right?" he asked again, his voice now a bit thick in his throat even against his will.

"I don't know," she whispered.

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know," she said and unwrapped her arms, breaking the contact between their bodies. The night air felt so cold on Hawk's heated cheeks, on his chest. "Hawk, listen, I've been thinking—"

The way she said it made something tighten in Hawk's chest, in his throat and suddenly he worried again.

He had thought she'd accepted the apology as she had accepted the tacos, but now–

He raised a hand to cup her cheek, his thumb gently caressing the soft curve of her lower lip.

"What is it?"

"Do you want us to be... together?" she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Like together—"

"Are you asking if I wanna be your boyfriend?" Hawk couldn't help a sudden grin that spread on his lips.

"No," she replied and that grin died as suddenly as it had been born. "I'm asking if you want me to be your girlfriend."

Hawk was seriously confused now. He wasn't sure there was a difference, and if there was he couldn't understand it.

"Of course I want you to be my girlfriend," he said - the only answer that made any sense to him. "That's literally all I've wanted ever since I first saw you."

That moment flashed through his mind - he, still as Eli, sitting at the table in the school cafeteria, and Sky standing at the door, holding her tray and looking fierce and beautiful and everything Hawk had ever dreamed about. Never in a million years would he have believed he'd actually have a shot with her. That they'd stand here, talking about dating–

Or at least he thought they were talking about dating.

But Sky's eyes were dark and serious, and she took his hand that was still on her cheek, and let their fingers entwine.

"Even now? Even now that you know everything?"

"Hey," he breathed. "What happened to you wasn't your fault. It doesn't change how I feel about you."

She let out a trembling sigh, and he wanted nothing more than to pull her back into his arms, but something in her deep, dark eyes kept him back. Her hand was trembling slightly in his.

"And what if I said that... that after what happened today..." she paused to take a breath, her eyes were avoiding him. "I mean, I know I've led you on, and I'm sorry—" another pause, another shaky inhale. "— but I really think we should wait a bit. You know, before we—"

And he finally understood her meaning. His brows arched high on his forehead.

"Ah," he managed. "You mean—?"

"I totally get it if you don't wanna be with me anymore... I mean, I kinda promised you things, and..." her voice drifted away, and her cheeks flushed and suddenly Hawk felt like his chest would collapse on itself.

"Hey," he said and gripped her hands in his. "I want to be with you. I want you to be my girlfriend. And not just because I want to... to do that. I mean, of course, I want that too, but—" he felt his cheeks heating. "But that's not important. It really isn't. And I'll fucking wait as long as you wanna wait, Sky. I just want us to be together."

She let out a long, long breath, and suddenly her eyes were bright and full of tears.

"You mean that?"

"Of course, I mean that," he breathed, and his hands were cupping her small face, and he wanted to kiss her so that his mouth watered, but he didn't.

"But I'm not okay," she said in a voice so silent he barely heard her.

"You're not okay with what?"

"No, I meant, I'm not okay." She was crying now, again, big tears falling to her cheeks, and again it was somehow his fault and it was fucking killing him. "Like I'm sick, in the head. And I don't know if I'm ever gonna be okay—-"

"Hey, it's alright—" he pulled her into his arms where she belonged, pulled her against his chest, and held her close, pressing her face gently against his shoulder with a hand that was cupping the back of her head. "I'm here. I'm not gonna let you fall."

Her sobs were the sobs of someone who's already cried all the tears, just silent noises almost like a hiccup, her head rested on his shoulder, and he cradled her in his arms for a long time.

Hawk didn't know how much time passed, but at some point, he heard footsteps approaching and when he looked up, he saw Sky's dad on top of the stairs again, looking down at them, his large, green eyes sad and tired and full of emotion Hawk couldn't even name.

Sky must've heard him approaching too, for she released herself from Hawk's arms and turned to look - and in that split second Hawk witnessed how Sky's dad painted a smile on his face, hiding the depths of darkness he'd seen there only a heartbeat ago.

"The tacos are on the plates and the movie is ready." Mr. O'Brian said with a wide, welcoming smile. "Come in, kids. Let's eat."

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