It had been a week since Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do officially parted ways and Molly was grateful that Eagle Fang was not gonna be in the park again, but in a huge–most likely not safe–warehouse.

Neither teams had heard from Hawk and Demetri said he just needed space and to leave him be. Molly listened for the most part, giving Hawk the time he need until the third day of him missing karate.

Molly reached out and Hawk only gave her short responses, but Molly didn't judge. She just hoped he'd start to feel better soon.

Now, she stood in between Miguel and Mitch, looking around the room. "At least we're out of the park..." She muttered, hoping to lighten the mood after all of the boys groaned and complained about their new location.

The boys were also pissed when it was announced that the All Valley would be split into three categories: a boys division, a girls division, and a skills competition.

Molly was a little nervous about the news. She didn't want to have to face Tory and she had never fought Sam without Miyagi-Do, which Sam was always better at. But, Molly did think she had a chance considering she technically had now been in all three of the Reseda/Encino karate dojos.

"This is the worst thing that could've happened. Skills competition, bullshit. Kata isn't karate. It's dancing." Johnny cursed as he paced in front of his students. He scoffed, looking at Molly as if she made the rules. "What's this girls' division? Thought they were all about women's lib. They ought to man up and take a punch like the rest of us." Johnny spat.

Miguel cleared his throat and Johnny looked to him for a couple seconds before he turned back to Molly and raised a hand in surrender. "No offense, Preston." Johnny said and Molly shrugged, not offended by his words.

"I'm just as mad as you. I wanted to fight the boys." Molly said, thinking it would've been entertaining if she wound up having to fight Demetri or Chris.

"Sensei, it sounds like we could use some more female students. Create a bigger team." Miguel said. Johnny looked back down at the All Valley announcement before he groaned.

"Fine!" He complained, looking around the boys. "Do any of you know any girls?"

Johnny barely gave them time to think about it before he scoffed, shaking his head. "Of course you don't." He muttered.

"There's this girl from the debate team." Bert said and Johnny whipped his head around to look at the boy as if he were crazy. His face was scrunched in disgust and his eyebrows were furrowed. "Debate team? We need killers, not more nerds!"

Johnny turned to Molly and raised his eyebrows hopelessly. "Preston?" He asked, hoping Molly would know other girls that would want to join.

Molly sighed, shaking her head. "Not any that would want..." She stopped and looked around the room. She cringed at the leaky ceilings, the chipped paint, and the mold on the wall before she turned back to Johnny. "This."

Johnny sighed, his head dropping in defeat. "All right, go run some laps. Maybe it'll jog your memories." He muttered, gesturing for the kids to start running around the warehouse. As the students started to run, Johnny raised his head, his eyes following them. "Try not to breathe too much. There's black mold in the corner."

As Molly went to follow after the rest of her team and run laps, Johnny grabbed her elbow and stopped her. "Hey, hey, hey. Don't go. I've got a job for you." Johnny said and Molly's eyebrows creased.

She turned to face him completely, tightening the ponytail in her hair. "What's up?" Molly asked and Johnny leaned a little closer to Molly, as if what he wanted her to do was a secret.

"I want you to go see how Hawk's doing. I've been emailing him and his mom about him coming back to Eagle Fang and neither of them have answered me." Johnny said and Molly squinted up at him.

"You want me to do a wellness check on him?" Molly asked and Johny snapped his fingers before pointing at her, nodding his head proudly. "That's exactly what I want you to do."

Molly looked around the dojo as if anyone around her could hear the two of them but all of her teammates were doing laps. Molly crossed her arms over her chest and leaned a little closer to Johnny, raising an eyebrow. "You do know we're not dating anymore, right?" She asked slowly, confused on why she was put on this task.

Johnny rolled his eyes before turning back to Molly. "Yeah, I know. But if I was feeling like shit, I'd want to see the chick I'm in love with." He said as if it were obvious.

Molly did a double take; visibly taken aback and even stepping away from Johnny. It was almost defensive how fast she shook her head. "He's not in love with me." She said, not wanting to meet Johnny's eyes anymore.

Johnny looked Molly up and down before scoffing out a laugh. Maybe Hawk wasn't the only one still in love with his ex. "Yeah, right. Just go."

...

Molly bounced on her toes in nervousness as she stared at the door inches away from her. Carefully, Molly brought her hand up and knocked, the sound echoing throughout the house.

She felt her heart in her throat when the echo stopped, and silence fell over the house. After a couple seconds, she heard footsteps coming towards the door.

The warm smile of Eli's mother opening the door calmed Molly's nerves. The woman smiled at Molly, a smile so big, Molly had never seen before. "Molly! What a nice surprise." The woman almost whispered, shocked the girl was standing in front of her. Molly gave the woman a big smile back. "Hi, Mrs. Moskowitz."

"Are you here to see Eli?" She asked and Molly quickly nodded her head. The woman opened the door more to allow Molly to step inside the home. "He's in the basement. You remember where it is, right?" Eli's mom asked as Molly walked into the home.

Molly let out a small "yeah" as she started to head towards the basement.

"And Molly?" The mother called out, stopping Molly just before she reached the staircase to the basement. Molly turned around to face the woman and her eyebrows raised when she saw the small smile on the woman's face.

"It's really good to see you. Eli's been having Demetri come over a lot more and he's been telling me how he is really happy he's been getting close with you again. I'm glad you both are giving him a second chance." His mother said.

Molly smiled bashfully at the comment, her shoulders dropping a little as she smiled. "It's good to have him back." She admitted, making the woman's smile brighten.

As Molly walked down the stairs, it seemed like her heart sank further. When she reached the end of the stairs, she saw Hawk with his hood up sitting on the couch, watching something on his laptop.

Thinking it was only his mom coming down the stairs to check on him, Hawk didn't look up from his laptop.

"Hey." Molly said and Hawk whipped his head towards the stairs, his eyes wide at Molly standing there. His back straightened and he blinked for a couple seconds before he spoke.

"Hey. How'd you get in here?" Hawk asked nervously. Molly turned around, pointing up the stairs with her thumb before turning back to Hawk. "Uh, your mom let me in." She said before she started to walk into the basement further. "I wanted to come check on you."

Hawk looked back to his laptop with a frown. "If you came to see if I'm coming back to Eagle Fang, I'm done with karate. I quit." He muttered.

Molly was visibly stunned by the boys words. She blinked in shock. How could he quit karate?

After a couple seconds, Molly shook her head. That wasn't her main concern of coming to his house even if it was Johnny that pushed her to go.

She walked further into the basement until she was standing in front of Hawk. Shaking her head, Molly frowned down at Hawk. "I'm here to check on you." Molly said, standing over the boy.

But Hawk wouldn't look at her. He shook his head as he took off his hood, his eyes glued to his laptop. "Everyone at school knows what happened. It's embarrassing." He muttered.

Molly frowned, her eyebrows creasing together and she crouched to the floor to get closer to Hawk's height. "Who cares what they think? Besides, it'll grow back." She said, pointing to his buzzed hair—which she thought looked very nice.

Hawk shook his head and looked down, disappointed and embarrassed in himself. "It doesn't matter. I ruined my reputation, talked a big game, and just proved I was an asshole. To Miguel, to Demetri." He rambled before he sighed, shaking his head and closing his eyes as if it would take away what he had down. "God, especially you and Demetri."

Hawk looked back to Molly, struggling to keep his eyes open from how much they were starting to water. "I got what I deserved." He said and almost immediately, Molly moved to sit beside him. "Hey..." She muttered, shaking her head reassuringly.

"Demetri forgave you, remember?" She asked, and Hawk looked away from her, feeling a nervous now that she's sitting right beside him. Molly's smile twisted when Hawk turned away from her. She shook his shoulder and gave him a small smile. "And I forgave you." She said, her voice soft which made Hawk smile just a little, but Molly couldn't see it from his head turned away.

Looking at the boy with his mohawk gone and his hair back to it's original brown, Molly didn't really see Hawk. She smiled at how much he looked like Eli in that moment. It reminded her of the quiet boy she first met at computer camp.

Thinking about computer camp made an idea pop into her head. Molly straightened up, her smile slowly turned into a smirk. "Okay, you know what?" She said, making Hawk turn to look at her.

Molly moved to grab her phone out of her back pocket, her elbow knocking into Hawk's forearm accidentally. "Excuse me..." She muttered, and after successfully grabbing her phone, Molly quickly pulled up a video from her camera roll.

Molly moved to sit a little closer to Hawk, turning her phone so they could watch the video. Hawk immediately rolled his eyes at the thumbnail, looking at Molly with a tired expression. "You said you deleted these." He muttered, semi-shocked that Molly still even had the videos after they broke up.

She turned to Hawk, raising a finger. "Ah... Demetri said he deleted these." She clarified before turning back to the phone. "I had these in my hidden photo album."

Hawk blushed a little, fighting the smile on his face as he turned back to Molly's phone. The two watched his and Demetri "Binary Bros" video they made during computer camp. Molly was actually the director of the video. It was before they started dating and Eli claimed she was perfect for the job but in reality, he just wanted an excuse to hang out with her more.

Hawk smiled at the memory, but when the video ended, it was like the memory died. He wasn't with Molly anymore. He broke up with her. He lost her.

He turned to Molly with a small frown, shrugging his shoulders. "Why did you show me this?" He asked as Molly turned off her phone and pushed it back into her pocket, her elbow accidentally hitting Hawk's arm again, but he didn't mind.

"Because this is who you are." Molly said and Hawk raised his eyebrows, an unamused look on his face. "A loser?" He asked and Molly pursed her lips a squinted, a fake thoughtful look on her face before she smiled at Hawk.

"I would say a dork."

Hawk laughed, looking back down at his lap and Molly smiled, glad she got him to smile let alone laugh. "But you're Eli." She said, bumping his arm with hers lightly. Hawk's lips pressed into a thin line but he still didn't look at her. Molly gently placed her hand on his arm.

"Hey." She said softly, her voice dropping to a whisper as she waited for him to turn and look at her.

Hawk stayed frozen, his eyes fixed on his lap, refusing to meet hers. "Eli..." Molly muttered as she reached out, her fingers gently grabbing his chin and then, she turned his head so he would look at her.

Their faces were inches apart, so close she could feel the warmth of his breath. Eli's eyes finally locked with hers, and in that moment, he felt like the world stopped.

His expression softened as he stared into her eyes, his shoulders relaxed and he let out a small breath when he felt Molly's thumb gently brush his cheek. He could've sworn it did.

"Even when you had the mohawk, you were Eli sometimes. I saw it." Molly said and Hawk blinked, but she kept going.

"And without the mohawk, you can still be Hawk... or you could be Eli. The mohawk doesn't define you. People won't stop liking you because you don't have it anymore."

He swallowed, looking away from Molly. "You don't know that." He muttered and Molly's face fell. She tilted her head to try and get the boy to look at her again as she spoke. "Yeah, I do."

Molly moved closer, her thigh now pressed against his. "Mohawk or buzz or fluffy 'Eli' hair. I like you for you. And so does everyone else. If there's someone out there that doesn't..." Molly looked away from Hawk for a moment, her lips pursed before she turned back to him, shrugging her shoulder. "Well, then they shouldn't be in your life anyway."

Hawk finally looked up at her, his eyes filled with tears he refused to let fall. "Really?" He asked quietly and Molly smiled, shrugging her shoulders sheepishly. "I dated you before all of that, didn't I?"

Hawk looked away from Molly, quickly wiping his eyes. "But you didn't love me when I was Eli. You said 'I love you' to Hawk." He said, his voice wavering a little.

It was like Molly's entire body slumped; her shoulders dropped, her face fell and her eyebrows furrowed together. She moved around to so her body was facing Hawk and shook her head. "That doesn't mean I didn't love Eli." Molly said. When Hawk turned to look back at Molly, his eyes were a little wider.

Molly smiled at Hawk, leaning her head closer to his. "I loved you way before we said it." She said, her head falling onto the back of the couch but because of how she was sitting, she was still facing Hawk. "Trust me."

Hawk just stared at Molly for a moment, taking in her words. He knew all of her tells when she was lying—every eye twitch, the way she'd bite her lip and look away when she wasn't being honest. But now, as her gaze stayed on his, he couldn't find a single lie.

His chest fluttered as he realized she meant every word. He tried to swallow the feeling, but his face grew hot and Hawk gave her a small smile and a nod, telling her silently that he believed her. Then without a word, he glanced down at the laptop, pretending to focus on it in an attempt to hide his face.

Molly watched him for a little longer, smiling softly at how much he was resembling Eli again. The same awkward, sweet boy.

She sighed as she shifted her position, laying down properly on the couch. Her gaze drifted up to the ceiling. "I still can't believe you're quitting karate." She murmured. "You're the one who got me into it. It's going to feel so weird without you there."

Molly turned her head to him, raising a brow. "Did you hear the All Valley has separate gender divisions this year?" She asked and Hawk groaned, sinking further into the couch until he was at the same level as her. "Yeah, Demetri won't shut up about it." He grumbled.

Molly snorted, staring back up at the ceiling. It was quiet for a couple seconds before Molly turned back to Hawk, or his lap. A smile took over her face and her eyes almost popped out of her head as she stared at the movie on the screen.

"Oh my God. I love this movie." She whispered, staring at Hawk's laptop that was playing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Hawk scoffed a little, rolling his eyes playfully as he looked to Molly. "Yeah, I know. I can't watch it around you." He muttered, fighting the smirk trying to make its way onto his face as he moved the laptop to she couldn't see it.

Molly's jaw dropped, holding back her own laugh at Hawk's words. "I always knew you were jealous of Remus." She accused, moving even closer to Hawk to see the movie he was trying to block her from.

Hawk's jaw dropped, looking at Molly in absolute shock. "Sorry, I was not a fan of my girlfriend giggling about another dude." He scoffed out jokingly, making Molly huff.

She smiled as the character in question came on screen. "Oh, hush. What can I say? I've got a thing for men with scars." Molly admitted, not really thinking before she spoke.

Hawk's last bit of attention that was on the movie, completely moved to Molly after he heard what she said. His eyes were wide and he swallowed nervously. He felt his cheeks pink up as he watched Molly, but the girl was too engaged with the movie to notice.

He continued to stare at her, blinking as if it would clarify everything she had just said. She said "I've got a thing." Present tense. And when Demetri talked about Molly's feelings, he spoke in present tense.

Hawk's heart started to pick up in pace at the thought of Molly liking him still or at least again. He stared at her a few more seconds, wanting to soak up as much of the moment he could before he turned back to the movie.

He looked back and forth between his laptop and the girl beside him nervously, licking his lips. He scooted a little closer to Molly, draping the blanket that was over him onto her too and moving the laptop to sit on both of them.

emily speaks...
moli will be the death of me.
THEYRE TOO CUTE I CANT EVEN

VERY HAPPY TO SAY THAT NEXT CHAPTER IS FINALLY THE PROM CHAPTER😋😋😋😋(im so excited ive been waiting for this)