Chapter Text
The bus’s engine started up. Miguel felt the pit of his stomach drop. He was actually doing this. Going to Mexico to look for a father he knew next to nothing about. And all by himself. It was daunting and it was scary yet with his current state of mind, it felt like this was something he needed to do. After all, what did he have to lose?
Miguel leaned back into the seat and stuck his earbuds in, ready to start up a playlist. He almost got whiplash as the bus lurched and the doors opened again, picking up some late straggler. Miguel looked back at his phone screen. He didn’t have enough time to curate a playlist of his own but he could probably find a decent one for the road. He scrolled through various playlists on Spotify, searching for one that caught his eye. In his peripheral vision, he noticed the straggler standing in the aisle right near him. Miguel didn't look up from his phone. There were plenty of free seats around so he didn’t see why he should give up the seat next to him. When Miguel could no longer ignore him, he glanced up and—
No fucking way.
“Hawk?” Miguel exclaimed in disbelief.
“Hey,” Hawk said, nodding to him in greeting like they were on their way to school or something. Miguel removed his bag from the seat next to him to make room, still utterly confused as to why he was actually here. Hawk was still in his gi and had his backpack over his shoulder. Most crazy of all, he was holding the giant men’s championship trophy. He stretched his arms to the overhead compartment, shuffling a few items before placing his trophy there. Hawk was about to sit down next to Miguel when the bus made a sharp turn and he fell against him. He muttered an apology and both were slightly red-faced as they looked away from each other. Hawk sat down with his backpack on his lap. Miguel was still semi-frozen, stuttering as he tried to think of what his first question should be.
“What are you—”
“Shut up. I’m coming with you,” Hawk interrupted.
Miguel, for whatever reason, took that as a valid answer. The driver probably wouldn't have stopped for him anyway if he asked to pull over. Though it did unnerve him that Hawk came over directly from the AVT. Had he told his parents, or anyone else what he was doing?
“Congrats,” Miguel said, glancing up at the part of the trophy that was sticking out of the overhead bin.
“Yeah, thanks.”
“How’d you win?”
“Beat Robby in sudden death overtime.”
“Nice.” Miguel waited for Hawk to expand further but he remained silent. It was probably best not to press the matter any further. He couldn’t tell if Hawk was happy about the win. Or maybe Miguel had inadvertently stolen some of that happiness away when he decided to take off. Hawk remained staring straight ahead at the back of the seat in front of him.
“Think I might try a nap,” he finally said. “I got like no sleep last night.”
“Yeah, I hear you man. Same here,” Miguel replied. He did feel extremely tired now that Hawk mentioned it. Miguel sighed and closed his eyes. Miraculously, the nerves from before had dissipated a bit. He felt some relief now that he wasn’t traveling alone anymore. He wondered how much Hawk knew about where he was going and why. Well, there were many hours ahead on the bus trip to talk it over. He only hoped that when he woke up Hawk’s presence wasn’t just a dream.
Hawk closed his eyes and waited a few minutes before glancing over at Miguel next to him. He was out like a light. The old Hawk maybe would have snuck a photo with something ridiculous next to Miguel’s sleeping face. But right now Hawk mostly felt apprehension.
Was he being completely fucking obvious right now? Following him to Mexico?
After winning at the AVT, he looked around for Miguel before being told that he left early because of his bad back. But he knew something wasn’t right when Miguel wasn’t answering his phone. He got the news from Sam of all people. She was clearly upset. Hawk, not wanting to waste any time, rushed away. He grabbed his bag from his locker, managed to secure his trophy on the back of his motorcycle and raced to the bus station, bypassing almost every red light. He worried that Miguel had already left. Just as he arrived, there seemed to be a bus that was boarding its last passengers. He texted his dad quickly that his motorcycle was parked at the station. He bought a ticket at the counter and ran over to stop the moving bus.
His heart didn’t stop pounding in his chest since he got the news. How could Miguel want to leave everyone like this? And not even tell Hawk, his best friend? He knew Miguel had been out of sorts at the tournament but he didn’t know it was this bad.
Anyway, Hawk couldn’t think of a good reason not to follow him. For now he turned his own phone off because he knew his mom, dad and Demetri would be blowing up his phone nonstop.
Miguel’s sleeping head rolled a bit in Hawk’s direction. It looked like he hadn’t brought a pillow or anything for the long ride. Miguel kept leaning over as he slept, getting nearer and nearer to him. Hawk remained stock-still. When Miguel finally rested his head on Hawk’s shoulder, Hawk held his breath. Should he wake him or move him? Would he be embarrassed?
As the seconds turned to minutes, Hawk calmed down a little. This felt good. Miguel smelled nice. His heart finally stopped racing and he closed his eyes. He rested his cheek gently into Miguel’s soft hair and soon drifted off to sleep also.