— You love calling Rin to randomly update him on your day, and he wishes he responded more.
wc: 1.4k || Oneshot || Angst || Hint of fluff? || No happy ending || Implied death/Grief || Swearing || Might be ooc... || Not proofread
"Good morning Rinnie! I hope you've eaten already!"
Rin blankly blinks up at the ceiling as he listens to the sound of scraping and shuffling. His phone laid flat on its screen near his ear, showing off the back of his clear phone case.
On display was a polaroid of you. A personal favorite of his, mainly because you looked so cheerful and wore his favorite smile.
He tries to imagine that you're there with him, using your digital face and voice as a substitute (even when it can never truly compare to the real deal). He lies there in his bedhair, his eyelashes littered with eye crust that he tries to rub away.
A mess was what he was—just like his room that had scattered clothes on the floor and dust cultivating in the corners.
But he smiles nonetheless.
Because he gets to talk to you.
"Morning. Just woke up. I'll eat later." He answers quietly with a slight rasp, already being lulled back to sleep from your comforting voice.
"I'm making myself some pasta right now. Saw a video online last night and started craving it," you chuckle, which is accompanied by sizzling in the background. "You better eat before heading to practice. You can't run on an empty stomach!"
He rolls his eyes, but your words do a better job at warming him than the sun that's peaking through his window's curtains.
"I know. I know. No need to remind me," is what Rin says, exasperation seeping into his tone.
But the way you laugh afterwards makes him think that he wouldn't mind hearing more of your nagging.
Just as long as he could keep listening to your laughter.
He hears your voice again a few hours later while he's at practice. Feets away from his teammates—who were chatting during their break—Rin immediately reaches for his phone.
Even before his towel or water bottle.
"Hey Rinnie! I saw a cat today and it really reminded me of you!" You chirp like it was the highlight of your day, experiencing something so small.
Rin doesn't blame you. He thinks he's the same in some regard when it comes to you.
He still scoffs through his heavy breathing as he remembers the picture of a pleased black cat resting in your lap, "I saw the photo you sent. Is it cause of my hair?"
"It was super cute. It kept looking at me funny at first, and I thought it hated me. But it eventually came up and cuddled on my lap!" You snicker as you recall your meeting with the little feline, "Just like you."
"Since when have I ever done something like that?" He tsks, his lips twitching upward while he finally chugs some water. He takes a moment to pause, contemplating his next words.
They come out soft. Reassuring. And so unlike Rin.
"And I don't hate you. Never have. Never will."
"Who are you talking to?" Isagi appears behind him, causing Rin to whip his head around with narrowed eyes.
His response was a curt—"None of your business"—which prompts Isagi to open his mouth to retort. But a thought seems to flash through his mind, and he quickly shuts it.
"My bad. You just looked happier than usual. Got curious." He shrugs, wearing an unreadable expression.
Rin clicks his tongue, "Curiosity isn't a good excuse to interrupt someone's call. So fuck off. I'm talking to my girlfriend."
He turns his back to Isagi and the rest of the group again, murmuring a small apology as your voice continues speaking from the other end of the line—just barely missing the downturn of Isagi's mouth, and the glimmer of sympathy in his eyes.
By the time he's home and preparing dinner, you have something new to talk about.
"Hi Rinnie! Remember that wedding I'm attending in a few months? Well I'm trying to figure out what outfit to get, but I'm not sure about the color."
Of course he remembers. He could never forget the excited look on your face when you spoke about it, all happy for the bride, who was your friend.
A bowl and spoon clank against one another as Rin plates his meal, intently listening to your struggles with the dress code and purchasing attire that would match it.
"I don't even know what shade of either color would suit me..." You mumble to yourself, loud enough for the mic to pick up and echo throughout Rin's kitchen from his phone speaker.
"I think you'll look pretty regardless of what you go for," he gives a rare compliment that always circled in his mind, but was never quite able to escape his throat. At least, until now, where it comes out quiet, but firm.
As if there was no denying it.
And in Rin's eyes, there truly was no way of doing so.
"Ugh...I can't even decide on a simple outfit for this wedding. Makes me respect my friends who got married. Can't imagine how much of a hassle wedding planning is."
A corner of Rin's mouth curls up, "I think you're just an overthinker. You'll probably grow grey hairs if you were left alone to host a wedding."
There's silence on your end, except for the faint clicks and swiping of a laptop touchpad.
"...Still, I'd love to try it one day. With you." You admit, barely above a whisper, like it was a sacred dream.
Rin's heart skips a beat, lips tightening to prevent them from wobbling.
"Mm...I think I'll decide on this later. I've got time anyways," the snap of your shutting laptop rings out after a few minutes, alongside a soft laughter, "I'll give you a runway show once it gets delivered too."
Rin's chest hurts, but he snorts with amusement as he sits down with his food, phone in his free hand, "Fine. I'll look forward to it."
"I hope you look forward to it. Because I do." You state at the same time before pausing, and it's dead silent. Not just on your end, but with Rin too.
His apartment feels bigger—emptier—than usual. It's dimly lit where he's seated at his small dining table. Across from him stood a single, empty chair.
"But maybe that's cause I miss you."
You chuckle as the sentence falls off your tongue, meant to be light-hearted.
It's quiet though—too quiet—with an underlying hesitance, like you saying that was the equivalent of confessing a sin.
Rin swallows hard, releasing the grip on his spoon to trace his thumb over his phone like it was your hand.
But it wasn't your hand. It could never be.
No matter how much he tried to delude himself into believing it.
"...Fuck—I miss you too. I swear I do." His chest squeezes even tighter as his voice cracks, the words flowing out in broken pieces like his heart.
His other hand covers his eyes—shielding his impending tears—as he continues, "I think about you so much. It's so difficult to do anything when—"
"I think I'll end it here for today." Your voice perks up again, like you couldn't hear how you had cracked a hole that opened Rin's reality once again.
"Call me back when you can. Good luck with your match! Love you. Take care."
Rin can practically hear—see—the sweet smile that's on your face. One that used to light up his world, but now haunts him with its absence.
"Wait—"
The voicemail ends with a beep before the apartment goes back to silence. Rin just stares at the list of voicemails from all the times that you've called.
All the times that he never answered.
His food is long forgotten—appetite disappearing.
Yet, he still craved something.
He craved you.
Any piece of you. Any trace of you.
Like a wild animal searching for scraps, Rin thinks he will always cling to the memory of you. Even if it's poison.
And so his finger quickly presses the message he just listened to, and allows your repeated voice to lead him to his destruction.
"Hi Rinnie! Remember that wedding I'm attending in a few months? Well I'm trying to figure out what dress to get but I'm not sure about the color. The only thing is—"
Author's Note:
First time posting angst and it's kinda mid 💔
It's fine though (probably)
Just wanted to post something to get rid at least one of the like, 50 drafts that I have...
summary: Hydra sends you — a broken empath — into the Winter Soldier’s cell to keep him calm. You’re supposed to soften him. Control him. But instead, something starts to unravel. In both of you.
WARNINGS: 18+ explicit content, MDNI— disclaimer: contains dark themes. read at your own discretion! angst, slowburn, captivity, tortures, hydra, violence, sa (mentioned), brainwashing, non-consensual experimentation, hurt/comfort, trauma, possible smut in future chapters? we’ll see.
thinking about giving neighbor!peter the best head of his life all because he helped you lift a few heavy boxes. he thought he was just being a good, nice neighbor when he offered to help you. you were clearly struggling and he was spider-man, so obviously he was going to help, right?
he brushed off the persistant thoughts in my mind about how gorgeous you were because he wasn’t trying to be creepy, he was just being nice. and he was being neighborly when he accepted your invite to come inside for a little. and when you offered him a drink. and another... the conversation was just flowing so well, and he hadn’t had a normal, good conversation with someone in way too long.
and he wasn’t crazy, so when you started batting your eyelashes a little extra and closing the already pretty small gap between you, he wasn’t going to reject you. there was no surprise when your lips met his in a bruising kiss, and he knew he was gone when he felt your hand slowly go from brushing his upper thigh to full on palming his bulge.
and when you slid off the couch, on your knees in front of him while you forced his legs open? he knew he was going to be completely wrecked by the end of the night. he was already this heavily affected by your simple touches, what was going to happen when you actually wrapped your warm mouth around him? when you licked a stripe up the bulging vein on the bottom of his dripping cock?
it didn’t take long to find out because you were already there, teasing his overly sensitive tip, watching the precum drip down to his balls before licking it up. his arms flew behind his head, not wanting to overstep with a woman he just met but needing something to do with his hands. your mouth was taking him perfectly, warm and wet and with just enough pressure that he wasn’t sure how he’d even lasted these last few seconds.
he could already feel himself coming closer and closer to the edge, and somehow you knew too, because you reached up to grab his arms, guiding his hands to your head. hesitantly, he gripped your hair, getting a hum of approval that almost made him cum. “fuck, i’m—holy shit. i’m coming, i’m—” he moaned while giving a weak attempt at pulling your head away. you worked him through it, swallowing as much as you could while disregarding the extra cum dripping down your chin.
when you were finally done, you wiped it off with your thumb, subtly biting your bottom lip. peter was panting heavy breaths, feeling his already spent cock twitch with the need for more, the sight in front of him not helping. you sucked the cum-covered thumb in your mouth, not breaking eye contact with peter. “so, peter... are you free tonight?”
lunarrite is typing…: bestfriend!denki kaminari with a crush on you headcannons!
lunarrite is typing…: warnings!; 18+, mdni! weed smoking, unedited, kaminari is a bit of a pervert...
lunarrite is typing…: i’m on a denki kick right now… soz! next week i'll be back with some more katsuki i promise :3
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who you met through mina and became close with what felt like impossibly fast. your friendship sparked because you find all his silly little jokes so funny, and he loves making you laugh! a couple of impromptu smoke n snack sesh's later, and now people know that if they see one of you, they can expect the other to be trailing not too far along shortly after!
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who always has weed on him, and is always down to smoke you out. he believes the fastest way to someones heart, besides food, is a perfectly pearled joint! already has one rolled by the time you arrive at his dorm, passing it over to you to place between your lips the second you're settled, lighter in hand ready to spark it for you!
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who lovesss facetime, and will facetime you for every little thing! especially when its inconvenient, or when it probably would have been easier for him to just text you, lol!
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who called you once and caught you in the shower, and spent the first 30 seconds of the call with his mouth hanging agape
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who responded stupidly with "like. naked, in the shower?" to your "what do you want kaminari? i'm in the shower."
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who wasn't even phased when you hung up on him immediately after he said that, and has been chasing that high ever since :p
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who doesn't care when his other friends call him whipped for flaking on plans with them to see you instead, and will actually laugh and agree with them. has even gone as far to tug on his choker necklace and joke that you keep him "on a tight leash"
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who loves to share his things with you, and refers to all of ‘his’ things as ‘our’ things (ie; “can you pass me our vape?”)
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who will absolutely send you pictures of his empty bed on nights you aren't sleeping over, with a corny message like "so cold w/o u :("
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki whose place you're at almost every night anyway, which is why he's so spoiled and whiney on nights you don't sleep over. your continued presence over at his place is doing wonders for him keeping it clean(ish) tho!
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who has sacrificed much of his dresser/closet space to accommodate the clothes you've brought over and left at his place... at least now you don't ever have to go back home to change before you guys do something lol!
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who has definitely used the panties you left at his place to get off with before :p
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who lovesss to cuddle at night (or any time lol), and totally blames the boners he gets when you guys do on being a guy, and not his little crush on you :3
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who is no help when you send him selfies and ask him to help you pick which ones you post on your socials, just sends a bunch of heart eyes and tells you he's hard/ beating his shit crazy style :/
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who definitely does actually beat his shit crazy style to those selfies you send him ;(
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who has an unflattering picture of you as his lock screen lol smh
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who's customized his game character to resemble you! (and had way too much fun doing it lol)
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who insists you tag along with him whenever he gets a new piercing or tattoo done... truly just another sorry excuse to hold your hand heh
⭑.ᐟ bestfriend!denki who thinks about kissing you almost every single time the two of you are together... one day he'll work up the nerve to do it! <3
college au 𖤝 d. kaminari 𝔁 f!reader 𝔁 k. bakugou 𖤝 angst oneshot!
warnings. angst, mdni. hurt NO comfort. childhood bsfs w denki. we're kinda in his head. harmful fx of drinking. he's watching you fall in love with bakugou and doesn't understand why it's killing him. listen to the inspo
masterlist | wc: 9.6k (lord.)
his phone buzzes on the desk, but denki misses it as he's laying on your bed, flopped next to you as he has one of your airpods in with the other in your ear.
"this is so depressing, dude."
he turns his head to look at you scrolling through your indie pop playlist named 'wwmd', aptly standing for "what would mitski do?" quite on the nose, in his opinion.
"shut up. i love mazzy star," the blonde on your bed snorts. "all these are like post breakup songs when you've been crying for days and haven't seen the sun."
you roll your eyes, shoving him lightly. "i don't know why i still hang out with you when you berate me so much," you mutter with a groan. he rolls over to pick up your sloth jellycat he bought you your freshman year of college. "because who would check up on mr. dozy?" he says, making silly faces as he makes the small plushie dance in your face, sending you into a fit of giggles. you wrestle the poor thing out of his hands with little protest from him, the pair of you too tickled to care.
suddenly, "fade into you" is interrupted by a notification of your own and denki catches for a split second who it is in the top bar before you click on it and turn away from him, your back facing him while you text. "sorry denks, lemme just send this one message.." he feels a little twinge in his chest because you've never really hidden anything from him in the many years you've been best friends with him. he tries to not think much of it and is easily distracted when he hears his phone buzz back to back once more. reluctantly, he pulls himself off the bed to go look.
you immediately shoot up, frantically looking around your room for clean clothes. denki looks at you a little confused. "hey, it's just waffle house. why do you need to change?" you pause to look at him. "uhh, because half our campus loves to hang out there too? duh!" you resume your crazy search and he just moves back to his phone, scrolling on instagram.
in the corner of his eye, he can see you in your bathroom applying mascara and perfume, something you once told him you only do when you "want to feel ready-ready". he shakes it off, trying not to think too much of it. he may never really understand women, he assumed.
you had thrown on one of your favorite hoodies over your tank top and slipped into some clean sweats, muttering something about him always wearing the same five fits so he wouldn't know. denki just snorts at the sight, pushing off your bedframe to pull his vans back on.
“you're so sassy tonight.”
“hush,” you shoot back, grabbing your keys and phone. he throws his hands up, following you out the door of your apartment anyway, the two of you falling into your usual rhythm of shoulder-checking each other in the hallway and racing to the elevators.
the parking lot is mildly noise filled, a usual occurrence for a friday night in a college town. streetlights buzz and the air feels cooler against your skin as you hear other people get into cars to supposedly hit the bars or some dingy frat party. you both see bakugou’s car idling near the entrance to your particular building, low rap music thumping faintly from inside. the bright red of his taillights glows from the rear as his front leds cut sharply into the darkness.
you reach the car first. without thinking, you pull open the passenger door and slide into the shotgun seat, the familiar scent of bakugou’s cologne and faint car freshener hitting you immediately. denki pauses for half a second outside before climbing into the back. he shuts the door a little harder than necessary. "thanks for the bitch seat." you give him an apologetic smile.
“took you fuckers long enough,” bakugou grunts, already shifting into drive before denki even could get his seatbelt on. his voice is rough, in his natural talking fashion.
“sorry kacchan,” you say in a over-the-top sickly sweet tone, buckling up and shooting him a grin. he side-eyes you, lips twitching like he’s fighting a grimace.
“don't start with that shit.”
bakugou pulls away from the curb without another word, one hand spinning loose on the wheel. the rap playlist he's put on is still on low, to which you turn the knob on the volume to fill the car with a$ap rocky. your fingers tap along the door handle like you’re in your own little world. denki slouches in the back, trying to focus on his tiktok for you page instead of the sight before him. specifically to the way you’re half-turned toward bakugou, laughing at the blonde who had just grunted in response to something you said. it’s stupid. you’ve always been like this, comfortable with everyone. that’s what he likes about you. right?
he shakes the thought off, forcing a grin when you turn back to see him. “you good back there, denks?”
“peachy,” he says, shooting you a thumbs-up. “he's probably dming some chick," bakugou mutters. you snort and reach over to nudge bakugou’s arm, and denki watches the way the man doesn’t pull away. doesn’t even glare. okay, that’s new.
bakugou finally pulls into the waffle house parking lot, tires biting the curb a little too sharply. the glowing blue and red sign buzzes overhead like it's about to go out from being on all the time. mina’s already waving wildly from the window booth inside, her tightly coiled pink curls bouncing as she spots the three of you climbing out.
inside the joint it smells like syrup, burnt coffee, and grease. mina squeals and pulls sero closer towards her to make room, but you don’t slide in next to him. instead, you follow suit with bakugou for the other side of the big corner booth table. you slip in right beside him, your shoulder brushing his as you settle.
kirishima grins wide, mouth stuffed with pancakes. “finally! we kinda ordered already, we were starving."
“can you not talk with your mouth full?” sero adds, patting the spot next to him in a gesture towards denki. “sit down, dude.”
denki forces a laugh and drops down next to sero, the plastic faux leather squeaking under him. from this angle, he has a perfect view of you and bakugou. you’re leaning slightly into the blonde's space, pointing at something on the menu bakugou’s holding even though he’s pretending not to care. bakugou whispers something low in your ear that makes you laugh softly towards him, the kind of pretty laugh he's never seen you do with him.
mina kicks him under the table. “earth to denki. you goooood? you look like you’re buffering,”
“huh? yeah! yeah. just… tired,” he lies, flashing another forced smile. “long week, y'know? midterms are kicking my ass.” she wails at the mention. "eeeek, don't talk about exams near me right now!"
the waitress comes around to drop off more coffee and take all of your orders. denki barely registers what he says, something about the double chocolate chip pancakes and extra bacon. his eyes keep drifting back to the other side of the booth where you’re still leaned in toward bakugou, your knee occasionally bumping his under the table. he doesn’t move away. if anything, his arm has stretched along the back of the booth now with his fingers loosely dangling near your shoulder. playing with a strand of your hair. you get your usual, strawberry crepes with extra whipped cream, and denki notices you don’t even have to tell bakugou what you want when he adds “and a side of hashbrowns, crispy” without looking up.
your voice is too quiet for denki to catch but he sees the way bakugou actually listens to whatever you're yapping away about. he doesn’t have denki's nature to tease you and crack jokes. he just nods solemnly, like he’s committing it to deep memory.
the food arrives, and for a few minutes everyone’s too busy stuffing their faces to talk much. denki watches you steal a fry off bakugou’s plate, him pushing the whole dish closer to you instead of bitching about it to which you smile and stick out your tongue at him. anyone else would miss it, but denki swore he saw a flicker of a smile on bakugou's lips as he looked at you.
denki nearly drops his fork. he let her have his food. bakugou! the same guy who once threatened to fight him for looking at his chick-fil-a too long. “you want some of mine?” denki blurts, pushing his plate out toward you a little too quickly. the ceramic plate makes a loud clatter that startles everyone at the booth.
you blink a couple times, then smile at him warm and familiar. "i’m good, denks. thank you though,” your eyes linger on him for a second, mildly concerned at his behavior until kirishima says something loudly that pulls your attention right back to the group.
denki retracts his plate slowly, shoving a huge bite of pancake into his mouth so he doesn’t have to speak further to bury him in the hole he created. sero leans over, voice quiet enough that only he can hear. “you sure you’re good, man? you’re acting mad weird.”
denki swallows hard. “yeah, i promise. i need to lay off the energy drinks.”
sero doesn’t look convinced one bit, but he lets it drop.
kirishima wipes syrup off his chin and speaks up between bites, pointing his fork at you. “yo, aren't you gonna do something for your birthday? it’s literally in like two weeks. twenty-one, baby!”
mina lights up instantly, slamming her hands on the table. “oh my god, yes! we should go OUT, girl! pre-game at my place, then downtown bar hop for shots and dancing!”
you swallow a bite of crepe and shake your head, smiling but firm. “guys, no! i don’t really want any big plans. i was just thinking we could all hang out and maybe order pizza, watch a movie, y'know! that sounds perfect to me.”
denki watches the exchange closely without interjecting. part of him feels happy hearing your words. but another part twists when he sees bakugou glance down at you, something unreadable in his expression before he pipes up too.
“tch. if she says she doesn’t want a stupid club birthday, then don’t force it.”
you shoot bakugou a grateful look, your shoulder bumping lightly into his. “see? bakugou gets it."
denki’s grip tightens on his fork. sure, of course he gets it. he always seems to know exactly what you want these days.
mina pouts but eventually sighs, waving her hands in a big show. “fiiiine. but we’re at least doing something fun, okay? karaoke! or ooooh, a bonfire? something! i refuse to let your twenty-first be basic.”
sero chuckles. “we could do a group sleepover at someone’s place. i wanna make those jell-o shots that fuck you up."
the conversation drift along for a while, denki staying mostly quiet. he just nods, throwing in half-hearted comments whenever someone looks at him.
eventually, the bill comes. everyone throws some cash to pitch in, but bakugou as usual covered more than his share without saying a word. you thank him silently and denki looks away, unable to deal with this much longer. when they all file out, they split up by location. since kirishima and bakugou were roommates and lived near you, the three of you were going by his car. denki was rooming with sero, and mina's apartment was two buildings away from theirs so they three were off in sero's van.
bakugou mumbles in confirmation to your loud quip as you fall into step beside him naturally, saying something that makes kirishima burst into cackles too. denki watches the small group go off with the tightening in his chest getting worse. what the fuck is wrong with him?
sero's voice pulls him back. "c'mon man, you're with me and mina." great, back to being the cuck.
he slides into the backseat once more as mina sits in the passenger seat that she's bedazzled the dash with rhinstones, spelling out "sero's girl". she's still buzzing about your birthday.
"oh my god," mina leans back to include denki in her yap. "i know it. we have to do a surprise party!" sero looks over at his girlfriend with a brow raised. "babe, i don't think she's the type to like those." mina groans. "can you please try and keep up with my vision roro? denki, listen. you have to plan it! you know her the longest out of all of us, right?" a flash from his memories comes back, an image of you with your front teeth missing. you loved being pushed on the swings and begged him all the time to get you higher. he misses the way your hair smelled like strawberries and vanilla.
denki stares for a minute, trying to process her words. "uh… yeah, we've known each since we were like in diapers. surprise party sounds good, i guess." he doesn't know quite yet how to feel about it, but.. it's you. he'll do it if it means letting you know just how special you are.
mina squeals happily and gives him a quick side hug from front before sero pulls into the loop of her building. "you're the best! i'll text you all my ideas and the pinterest boards, kaykay?" she rounds the car to sero's window. he leans out with one arm slung on the door to give her a chaste kiss bye.
"love you baby!" mina waves as she disappears around the stairs. "love you too, mariposa."
when sero pulls back onto the main road, he flicks a glance to denki. "alright. for real this time," sero says, voice serious. "what the fuck's up with you? you've been off since i've seen you. maybe since before that, from the looks of it. cough it out."
denki gives a short, fake laugh. "lay off, man, i already told you, i'm just tired. everyone's got exams, and so do i—"
"bullshit! you don't give a fuck if you fail those classes or not. you're like the last person i know who cares about grades. you've been staring at her and bakugou like someone kicked your puppy the whole night. if you have something on your chest, you better speak up now or forever hold your peace. i'm telling you right now, before that ship sails."
denki's head snaps towards him, the word vomit coming out immediately. "can you fuck off? i don't like her, okay! we're best friends and that's it! you're prying way too fucking hard at this, dude!" sero is silent for a long while, unable to find the words after that outburst.
"…ooookay then. my bad for misreading it then."
the rest of the drive is painfully silent towards their shared apartment. when he parks, denki is already slamming the door and making a beeline for his room, no goodnight to sero or anything more.
sero simply sighs. "mina was right, we really are in a sassy man apocalypse…" he mutters to himself, locking his car with a click of his keys.
the next week doesn't help the weight that's growing on denki's chest. he had asked you to come to sit on the rear campus lawn no one frequents and smoke a blunt with him, something you guys would do every so often together. you had shot him a quick "sorry, busy studying!" to which he didn't buy for a second. he opened the friend life360, and there you were. hovering right next to bakugou, at his place. kirishima was at his wrestling team practice so the two of you were alone at the apartment.
no, he needs to stop. this is getting weird and possessive. you could genuinely be studying together! he was aware you and bakugou were in the same business 320 class so it wasn't far-fetched at all. so why wasn't this easing the anxiety that bubbled in his guts?
before he could continue on, his phone rings, the caller id pink and glittery, courtesy of herself. denki picks up. "helloooooo, party co-captain! mina-wina reporting for duuuuty!" she sings loudly, the blonde having to keep the speakerphone away from his ear as to not burst his eardrum. "i appreciate the enthusiasm, mina," he says monotonously. he can hear her make a noise of protest. "listen up, idiot! we have literally eight days until her birthday and we only have the invites sent out! i know you're no fashion mogul, so i'll take care of the decorations but i need you to step it up and help me through the process! i need deets, man, deets!"
mina barges into the apartment ten minutes later with two giant duffel bags, glitter glue on her cheek, and her laptop, which had a tab open to a secret pinterest board titled “bestie’s 21 banger!!!”
“okay so i was thinking about fairy lights, a balloon arch in her favorite color, and we make a photo backdrop with all our pictures from like, the last three years,”
sero, who had been lounging on the couch with a bag of chips, gives her a look. “damn, you really just invite yourself in now? not even a ‘hey baby’?”
mina waved him off with a dramatic flourish. “hi roro, love you, move your long ass legs — i need space.” she says, taking real estate over the floor of their living room. “you’re on cake duty, denk. i totally don't know what flavor she would want," denki immediately answers. "red velvet. i'm sure of it." mina lays on a 100-watt smile. "see, this is the kind of involvement i was looking for! let's keep this energy, m'kaaay?"
denki sat cross-legged on the couch next to sero, nodding along even though his brain felt like static.
mina simply beams and scribbles away at her pink notepad. they spend the next thirty minutes arguing over miscellaneous but important details, like how early they needed to get everyone to the apartment for the “surprise sleepover.” even though he was still feeling off about you, he was happy that he was able to do something like this that you might appreciate.
that was, until mina’s phone buzzed.
her eyes widened. “shit. shitshitshit! they’re coming here! i see her and bakugou just come into the apartment bubble on life360, they're like two minutes from knocking on the door!”
“fuck—” sero jumped up immediately, his poor hot chips abandoned. “hide everything!”
denki’s stomach dropped while mina moved first, her movements like a volatile tornado. she slammed her laptop shut, shoved all the sample glittery decorations back into the totes and practically threw them into sero’s closet down the hall. denki helped barely, heart hammering as he stuffed the streamers and a half-printed “happy 21st” banner under the couch.
they barely had time to throw themselves back into somewhat normal positions, with denki on the armchair with a random textbook cracked open, while mina laid on the floor pretending to scroll on her phone and sero sprawled on the couch again like nothing happened before the front door clicked open.
you and bakugou stepped in together, and you both looked wrecked. your hair was messy and slightly damp at the scalp, hoodie half-zipped like it had been thrown on in a hurry. bakugou’s black tank clung to his chest with sweat, blond hair tousled and sticking up in places it definitely shouldn’t. his face was flushed, and so was yours. there was a faint redness on your neck that made denki’s stomach churn.
mina's head snapped up fast. “oh em gee, hi guys! …wow, you two look… sweaty. did you just come from the gym or something?”
you squeak out a laugh a little too quickly. “yeah! totally, just worked out. lots of gains.” you flex your bicep in a show, making a serious face at the same bakugou grunts out a “no.”
instantly, both of you froze and switched answers at the same time.
“—i mean no.”
“—yeah, workout.”
you cleared your throat, obviously trying to change the subject as mina looked two seconds away from addressing the elephant in the room. “so what are you guys doing! saw all you guys were gathered here.”
“studying.” denki, mina, and sero all blurted at once.
sero even added a weak “group project,” while mina nodded aggressively.
you looked heavily confused. “since when do you guys study? and why is there glitter on the floor?” denki looks to where you pointed and sure enough, it's the glittery remains of one of the posters leading a trail out from under the couch.
before anyone could dig the hole deeper, the front door opened again and kirishima walks in, still in his wrestling uniform. he stops dead, looking around slowly as the awkward tension thick enough to choke on fills the room.
he scratches the back of his neck. "uh… why is everyone so silent right now? did i walk in on something?”
with scary unison, all five of you respond with a "no!"
kirishima looks properly terrified. "i'm… gonna go take a shower."
it was two days before your surprise birthday rager-slash-sleepover that now had way too many people invited to be considered lowkey, and denki was feeling much more worse than he was that day.
he hadn’t hung out with you properly in days, ever since the incident at his apartment. he definitely hadn’t opened bakugou’s instagram page at two in the morning just to stare at his following list before realizing he was behaving like a psycho and throwing his phone across his bed.
nevermind that, tonight was supposed to be good.
denki drummed his fingers against the elevator walls, humming along distractedly to the song faintly playing through the ceiling while it went up to your dorm floor. on his wrist hung a plastic bag from the gas station filled with the exact same collection of garbage you’d been getting since you were thirteen. sour gummy worms, hot cheetos, and the hostess cupcakes you insisted tasted better with a good swig of blue raspberry slushie, which he had in a drink holder in his other hand.
birthday eve-eve.
it was a really stupid name, but you guys loved the tradition and its name was just a placeholder that stuck. "i'll think of something cooler, i swear!" you'd tell him with a braces-filled grin, the rubber bands stained blue from the cold beverage. you never did, and he never minded.
you’d invented it in middle school after deciding that celebrating your birthday for only twenty four hours was, in your words, “soul-sucking and whimsy-less.” every year since, two nights before your actual birthday, denki picked you up and drove around with you until midnight. sometimes you went to a restaurant. one year, you chose the run-down arcade. on your sixteenth, you spent two hours parked behind a closed target arguing over whether hermione should've ended up with draco instead of ron.
when he knocks on your door, he watches a familiar face pass by. rosy cheeks, short brown hair. "oh, you just missed her denki! looked like she was going somewhere fancy," ochako hums, moving to sit the box in her arms on her hip. the smile already pulling at his face falters. you didn't forget, did you?
“huh?”
ochako looked mildly confused at his expression.
“yeah, like five minutes ago?"
“did she say where she was going?”
ochako opens her mouth and then her face brightens with a soft gasp, like she’s just remembered something.
“oh! bakugou was downstairs. i'm sure you could catch them if you take the stairs down,”
of course he was. denki’s gaze drops to the drink carrier in his hand. condensation has already started collecting on both cups, little beads of water slipping and wetting the cardboard holder.
“nah, it’s good.”
the girl frowns. “are you sure?” ochako had always been sweet to him in high school, so he knew she wasn't purposefully trying to make him feel bad. this was dredging from the depths of his own confusing emotions regarding you.
“yeah.” denki lifts the bag hanging from his wrist. “more snacks for me.”
that earns him another giggle. “okay, well, don’t get a tummy ache!”
“no promises, big dawg.”
ochako waves goodbye in another fit of giggles before continuing down the hall. denki waits until she disappears around the corner to let out the deep sigh in his lungs. he looks at your door and there’s the little dry-erase board hanging from it that mina bought you at the beginning of the semester. you had drawn a crooked birthday cake in one corner with "legal soon!" written underneath in pink marker. denki stares at it for a moment, when suddenly his phone buzzes. his heart jumps seeing your name at the top of the notification. he digs it out of his pocket so quickly he nearly drops one of the slushies.
denki’s brows furrow. something in his chest loosens a little. maybe you hadn’t forgotten! this was all in his head, of course. he was jsut being dramatic again. his thumbs move.
the typing bubble appears immediately, and then disappear. then pops up again.
denki stares at the message. there it was, a perfectly reasonable explanation. denki had spent days acting weird whenever you texted him because self-sabotaging his friendship with you was his latest fad, apparently. this wasn’t really your fault. still, something unpleasant churns his stomach, that icky feeling. instead of asking him about it, you made other plans. his phone buzzes again.
denki reads that one twice. for half a second, something embarrassingly hopeful sparks in him. he wanted you to tell him to turn around. he could send you a picture of the two slushies and complain they're all melted waiting for you. you’d come bounding back upstairs apologizing, and the two of you could spend the night doing exactly what you’d done every year before.
his thumb hovers over the keyboard. then another message appears. he could tell you were overthinking the ordeal at this point.
the rooftop restaurant. he'd forgotten you had sent a post about that place to the group chat almost two months ago. some video of their dessert platter with sparklers sticking out of it, followed by a string of texts about how badly you wanted to go because the patio overlooked the entire city. bakugou remembered, and denki didn't. suddenly, it all felt painfully juvenile.
he realizes he’s left you hanging.
no.
he can picture your face perfectly while you type it. that little crease between your brows whenever you think you’ve upset somebody. your bottom lip pulled between your teeth, biting inside of your cheeks. he can’t stand when you feel guilty, especially when the person making you feel guilty is him. his throat feels strange.
he lets out a short sigh.
denki stops breathing for half a second. there it was, the same shit you’d been telling him since middle school without thinking twice. love you. love ya. luv u loser. it had never meant anything beyond. so why did it make his chest hurt now?
“we need to talk.”
denki looked up from the bowl of jungle juice he’d been pretending to help kirishima mix, and there sero stood across the kitchen island with his arms crossed, staring at him. denki snorts.
“hello to you too, sunshine.”
“dude.”
around them, the apartment had been transformed so completely that denki almost didn’t recognize it. fairy lights hung across the ceiling. the red velvet cake was sitting in the fridge. mina’s balloon arch occupied an entire corner of the living room. pictures of you had been clipped along strings throughout the hallway; college photos, ugly candids, group selfies, and several childhood pictures denki had supplied himself. tons of people had piled in and were chit-chatting among themselves. the playlist he made was filled with songs denki knew you’d love was playing through the stereo speakers. it was perfect, and he’d been fucking miserable for most of the day.
sero exhaled through his nose and stepped closer. “look, i’m not gonna ask you what your deal is again because apparently that makes you start foaming at the mouth.”
“preesh.”
“but tonight is her birthday.” he gives him a pointed stare. denki’s jaw tightens.
“i know.”
“then act like it.” sero gestured around them. “you put half this shit together. you spent like thirty minutes arguing with mina over beer kegs. i'm cutting you slack because i know you're tilted, but that's still my girl. i need you to chill out.”
sero’s voice lowered. “whatever is going on in your head about her and bakugou, put it somewhere else for now.”
that familiar defensive anger sparked instantly in denki.
“nothing is going on in my head, bro.”
“sure, sure…”
“sero.”
“fine!” sero lifted both hands. “nothing. absolutely nothing. you’re the picture of zen.”
“fuck you, man.”
sero gives him a cheeky wink. “after the party.”
denki cracked a smile despite himself, shoving sero’s shoulder. sero grinned, but his expression softened quickly.
“seriously, man. she’s gonna walk in here and see something all of us did because we love her. especially you.” he paused. “don’t ruin that for yourself.”
denki breathed out slowly. “yeah.”
sero raised a brow. “yeah?”
“yeah.” denki grabbed the ladle again, pointing it threateningly toward him. “i’m locking the fuck in.”
“there he is, woo woo woo!”
five minutes later, mina comes flying into the kitchen, nearly slipping on one of the loose streamers scattered across the hardwood. "everybody shut the fuck up! katsuki said they're pulling into the complex!" she yells, wildly waving her phone over her head.
immediately, the entire apartment falls into chaos. the handful of people already pregaming are being ushered away from windows, kirishima rushes to cut the music, and sero moves to cut the lights off. despite how much she'd complained about keeping a small group, mina had somehow managed to invite nearly forty people to an apartment that comfortably housed maybe fifteen. half of them denki recognized from your classes and various clubs, with the other half being mutual friends who'd apparently caught wind of the party somewhere along the way. there was barely any room to hide everyone without someone's ass or elbow poking out from behind furniture.
"if anybody ruins this, i swear to god…" mina whispers threateningly while crouching behind the couch with sero holding her close. kirishima had squeezed himself behind one of the curtains, his massive muscled shoulder very obviously sticking out from the side. oh well. denki shakes his head at the sight and moves further toward the kitchen doorway, pressing himself against the wall where he'd still have a good view of you coming in.
the lock clicks a few moments later and the apartment becomes so quiet denki could probably hear someone drop a pin from across the room. the front door swings open, your voice immediately carrying inside. "why is it so fucking dark in here?" you complain, followed by bakugou's unimpressed grunt as the two of you step further into the apartment.
"how the hell should i know?"
"you literally live here."
"no shit."
"so turn the lights on, genius."
"they're right fucking next to you."
there's the sound of your hand patting along the wall before your fingers find the switch, and the second the room lights up everyone jumps from their hiding places with one collective, ear-splitting, "SURPRISE!" with multiple people pulling confetti poppers in your direction.
you shriek, hand flying to your chest in complete bewilderment. "what the fuck!"
mina is already halfway across the room before anyone can answer. "happy birthday, bitch!" she squeals, throwing herself around you while you barely catch her in time. laughter fills the apartment again, everyone shouting some variation of happy birthday while you cling onto mina and continue staring over her shoulder.
"you knew about this?" you accuse as soon as mina releases you, whipping around toward bakugou. he stands there with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket, looking irritatingly pleased with himself.
"duh."
"you liar! you told me kirishima fucked up the dishwasher!"
from behind the crowd, kirishima raises a hand. "to be fair, i've done that before."
you stare at him in disbelief before turning back around, and it's only then that your attention properly lands on everything around you. denki watches your expression slowly shift as your eyes pass over all of the bells and whistles of the party.
your mouth opens slightly. "you guys did all this... for me?"
the question is so sincere that something immediately warms inside denki's chest. mina makes a dramatic noise of offense. "who else do we know with a birthday today?"
"i don't know!" you laugh, but your eyes have already started to look suspiciously glossy. "i just didn't think you guys were actually gonna do anything this big."
"that would be true if we were boring friends," sero jokes.
"you guys are so fucking sweet," you mumble, covering your mouth for a second before mina starts whining about you making her cry too. everyone begins crowding around you again and for a few moments denki is content standing where he is, watching you get passed between hugs while you laugh and complain about everyone crushing you. you finally spot him and your face brightens. "denks!"
he doesn't even get the chance to say anything smart before you're pushing your way through the people surrounding you and wrapping both arms around his neck. the force sends him stumbling back half a step, a genuine laugh bursting out of him as his arms naturally settle around you. "good god, lady. you're gonna take me out before you even get your cake."
"you knew too?!" you demand against his shoulder.
"nah, i just so happened to show up at bakugou's apartment with forty people."
your eyes flick back toward the pictures on the wall, specifically the childhood ones. "you brought those, didn't you!"
denki shrugs. "mina said she needed throwbacks."
your smile softens. "thank you."
suddenly, world order feels like it's been restored. denki looks at you, taking in how genuinely happy you look, and the ugly weight that's been sitting inside him for weeks finally ceases.
maybe sero was right.
he had been making everything so much bigger in his head than it needed to be. whatever was going on couldn't suddenly erase the time denki had known you or the fact that you still came running toward him the second you saw him. nobody else here could top that.
"okay!" mina claps loudly before the room can get overly emotional. "enough of all this sentimental bullshit. she's twenty-one and therefore legally obligated to get fucked uuuup!" everyone erupts into a wave of hoots and hollers, someone starting the music back up again loud enough denki can feel the bass through the floor.
within the first hour the living room is so packed that getting from one side to the other requires physically squeezing between bodies, and you seem determined to talk to everyone.
denki catches you in intervals throughout the night. you drag him into a group photo with mina and sero, and then a while later you steal the solo cup straight out of his hand and make a disgusted face at whatever he'd mixed for himself. "why does this taste like straight radiation?"
he's buzzed and surrounded by his friends, and you're laughing so hard you nearly spill your drink onto yourself every few minutes. he could enjoy this, no sweat. by the time mina starts screaming that it's cake time, everyone is properly drunk.
"everybodyyyyyyy!" mina shrieks from beside the dining table, standing on the tips of her toes so she can be seen over everyone. "cake time cake time!" the crowd migrates toward her immediately.
denki follows with his cup in hand, slipping between two people until he gets a clear view of the table. the red velvet cake sits in the center with twenty-one candles sticking out of the top, the little strawberries lining the edges exactly how he'd requested when he picked it up that morning.
you appear from somewhere near the hallway with bakugou close behind you. your cheeks are flushed from the alcohol and you have one hand wrapped loosely around his forearm to steady yourself as you weave through everyone. bakugou looks down at your hand but doesn't say anything, only shifting slightly so you have an easier path toward the table.
"oh my god!" you gasp when you see the cake. "there's strawberries!"
mina points dramatically across the table. "thank sparky over there. he was annoyingly specific about it." the warm fuzzy feeling washes over him when you give a lopsided smile.
someone turns off the overhead lights and mina starts lighting the candles while everyone crowds closer. the birthday song begins horribly off-key, sero deliberately singing louder than everyone else while kirishima somehow manages to come in a full beat late. you spend most of it laughing with one hand covering your face, complaining loudly that everyone sounds terrible. when they finally reach the end, the room erupts into claps.
"c'mon hon, make a wish!" mina gushes. you look at all of them for a moment before shutting your eyes, the candlelight flickering against your face while everyone waits. denki finds himself wondering what you're wishing for. after a beat, you inhale deeply and blow all twenty-one candles out at once. a roar of cheers ensue. sero immediately reaches toward the cake with a plastic fork until you smack his hand away.
"wait, wait!" you laugh. "can i say something before you animals demolish it?"
sero reluctantly retracts the fork. "make it quick."
"you're so greedy!" you put the cake knife down and look around the room, suddenly seeming a little more shy with everyone's attention focused on you. "okay, um... this is probably the alcohol talking, so nobody is allowed to make fun of me tomorrow."
"no promises," denki calls out.
you point at him. "especially you!" he grins.
you shake your head before continuing. "i know i said i didn't want some huge party, and clearly nobody here listens to me whatsoever, but... seriously, thank you. i don't think anybody's ever done something this nice for me before." your voice starts to wobble a little.
mina immediately makes a loud crying noise.
"mina!" you look at her with a worried frown.
"keep going, i'll make it!"
you laugh, but your own eyes are getting watery again. "i'm just really grateful. for all of you. even though half of you are annoying as fuck," several people boo.
"i love you guys too!" you defend through laughter. "that's why i can say it!"
you wipe at the corner of your eye before your attention shifts towards the blonde standing next to you. bakugou had been more quiet than usual throughout your little speech, nursing the same cup and surveilling the room. still, he stayed glued next to you almost the entire night. every time you disappeared into the crowd, you somehow ended up circling back to him within the hour.
"and you," you say, turning your body towards him.
bakugou raises a brow. "what about me?"
"thank you for lying to me all day." your smile was soft and genuine.
bakugou's expression changes ever so slightly. "you're welcome."
"asshole," you mutter through a giggle. you don't really think about what you do next.
you lean over and kiss him.
it's short and sweet, hardly more than a quick peck of your lips against his before you pull away again. your hand curls lightly around his forearm while you do it, and when you straighten back up you couldn't have been smiling harder. he, however, looks like someone just rearranged all of his brain cells in one shot. for once in his life, katsuki bakugou has absolutely nothing to say.
someone whistles from behind them and another person starts chanting bakugou's name until he snaps out of whatever brief stupor he'd been in. there's a faint flush creeping higher over his cheeks that has nothing to do with the alcohol, and before he can recover, mina's scream nearly blows out everybody's eardrums.
"OH MY GOD!"
"shut the fuck up!" he barks at her, ears burning bright crimson now. you bury your face in your hands. "you guys are so embarrassing."
mina latches onto your shoulders. "how long has this been happening?"
your head whips toward him. "excuse me?" he gives you the smallest smug grin. you smack his arm, which makes kirishima start hollering he knew it all along.
denki feels lightyears away watching the entire thing unravel. the euphoria he'd been clinging onto all night evaporated so fast it made him nauseous. he finally understood the part he had been refusing to acknowledge. he didn't want to compete with bakugou for the position of being your best friend. he wanted something more, something bakugou was apparently already getting.
denki turns away before anybody has the chance to notice his face. he notices that the bottle of tequila for shots is sitting abandoned beside the jungle juice. without giving it a second thought, he grabs it. unscrewing the cap and takes a long swig straight from the bottle. it burns violently going down, enough to make him squeeze his eyes shut and cough into his fist afterward. he pours some into the solo cup he was carrying, topping off whatever mystery combination of vodka and fruit punch was already sitting inside. the mixture tastes fucking disgusting when he takes another drink, but after that first swallow he doesn't seem to really care. all denki needs right now is for his brain to quiet down. enough so that he could stop replaying the kiss in perfect clarity, seeing that stupid fucking smile on your face afterward.
"yo."
sero's voice cuts through his thoughts. denki glances sideways and finds his roommate standing at the edge of the kitchen, watching him with that irritatingly perceptive look from earlier return.
"yo," denki answers back, lifting the cup to his mouth for a long sip.
sero's eyes move from the cup to the tequila bottle still sitting suspiciously close to denki's hand. "how much have you had?"
his speech is already slurring. "mm, dunno."
a scoff. "that's reassuring."
denki chuckles bitterly, taking another drink. "it's a party, dude."
"yeah, and you've been drinking since before she even got here." sero steps closer and reaches for the tequila. "maybe pump the brakes a little."
denki gets there first, fingers wrapping around the neck of the bottle and pulling it closer to himself. "i'm good."
sero starts to look really concerned. "i didn't say you weren't."
"then why the fuck are you counting my drinks like i'm some addict?" denki snarks out.
sero opens his mouth, but another voice comes in from behind him before he can answer.
"because you're acting sketchy as hell, sparks,"
mina squeezes into the kitchen beside her boyfriend, one hand holding a partially eaten piece of cake on a napkin. there had been a permanent smile plastered on her face since the cake cutting, but it was currently nowhere to be seen while she assesses denki. "you're totally piss drunk off your ass right now. you look like a jersey shore girl." mina reaches for the bottle too. "give me that, you're cut off."
denki yanks it away from her, irritation flaring. "can you guys seriously fuck off?"
sero's face hardens. "bro."
"what?" denki mutters, looking at both of them. "i'm twenty-one. i'm allowed to drink."
"nobody said you weren't allowed to drink," mina says, irritated, brows knitting together. we're trying to make sure you don't make yourself sick. sorry for caring."
he laughs humorlessly. "well, good thing nobody fucking asked you to."
mina blinks. sero's eyes narrow, immediately stepping between them and pulling her close. "alright, watch the dick tone. that's my girlfriend you're speaking to."
denki knows he's being an asshole. he can see it, somewhere beneath the alcohol he's had and the jealousy, there's still enough of the real him left to feel guilty about it. the feeling lasts about three seconds before another burst of laughter comes from the living room and his eyes betray him, flicking past both of them.
denki abandons his cup on the counter and pushes his way through the crowd, ignoring someone calling his name behind him. the sliding glass door near the back of the apartment takes two tries to unlock because his fingers aren't cooperating, but eventually he gets it open and stumbles onto the balcony. the cold air smacks him straight in the face. he sucks in a deep breath and grips both hands against the railing.
the door slides open behind him. denki doesn't need to look to know who it was.
"denks?"
he closes his eyes. "hey."
you slide the door shut behind you, footsteps approaching him across the concrete. "what are you doing out here? it's fucking freezing."
"i just needed some air."
"i figured as much." you stop beside him, leaning forward enough to try and decipher his face. denki turns slightly away. "you okay?"
"s'nothing." your face moves into a frown. "okay, that's bullshit."
"why'd you ask if you knew i wasn't gonna tell you the truth?"
your brows furrow, frustrated. "because i'm trying to have a conversation with you?"
"you really, really don't need to." he finally opens his eyes to look at you. they're insanely tired.
you cross your arms over your chest. "clearly, i do!"
you gesture toward the door behind you. "mina said you basically told her and sero to fuck off, and you've been drinking like crazy all night. now you're hiding outside by yourself. this isn't you, denks."
"and what the fuck would you know about how i am?" the second the words leave him, your face crumples a little.
your voice got a quieter this time. "what's that supposed to mean?"
there's a dull buzzing somewhere behind his ears from the music inside, and he can still see the reflection of the party lights flashing faintly against the glass door behind you. your birthday sash had slipped crooked across your chest at some point. the alcohol's making it take much longer than usual for him to process his own thoughts. he ignores rationale and speaks without a filter.
"you've had plenty of other shit keeping you busy lately."
you try to understand what exactly he's alluding to. then your eyes narrow slightly, head tilting. "is this about bakugou?"
the way you say the name makes his stomach lurch. denki shakes his head immediately and looks back toward the parking lot. "don't."
"oh my god, it is. this is about bakugou." you look properly bewildered now.
denki presses his tongue against the inside of his cheek. "you do whaaatever you want, and everybody else is supposed to roll with it." your entire body stills. "excuse me?"
"you want me to spell it out?"
you scoff indignantly, looking around. you can't believe what you're hearing right now. "go ahead then, enlighten me!"
he knows you well enough to know where every soft spot is. every insecurity you've ever cried about to him, every ugly thought you've confessed because you trusted him not to judge you.
"you crave attention. you make people feel special enough so they stick around. you're obsessed with having this whole fucking circle jerk of people who would drop everything for you because it makes you feel good about yourself."
"stop."
"and then somebody new comes along, and suddenly they're hot shit until you get bored again. the cycle continues. you just love to use people, huh?"
"denki, stop."
the second the words left him, denki understood just how badly he's fucking up. there's still one more horrible lie behind his teeth; and because he's angry, drunk and miserable, he says that one too. crash and burn, baby.
"you don't actually care about others as much as you think you do. you care about being cared about. because you know if they knew the real parts of you that i do, you know they'd leave you in an instant."
the first tear slips down your cheek, and you wipe it away absently. another follows before you can stop it. he takes a step toward you on instinct, but you move backward.
"don't."
"i didn't mean—"
"don't touch me."
your voice cracks badly. you turn and yank open the balcony door, the glass rattling in its frame when you shove it closed behind you. denki is left standing alone in the cold with nothing but the consequences of his badly conveyed jealousy. he deliberately picked the most painful things he could think of. the realization makes him feel deathly sick, but it could just be the alcohol catching up on him too. he drags the door open again and steps back into the apartment with all intents of leaving.
denki weaves the people as best he can, body heat making his head spin further. he bumps into a taller guy clad in black. he moves to pass a mumbled "sorry" until he looks up and recognizes the blonde.
bakugou doesn't move out of the way. he's standing there with one hand still wrapped around a half-empty bottle of water, expression unreadable. denki tries to step around him and bakugou shifts with him. the universe must've been having a great time watching him implode tonight.
"move man, i'm just gonna leave."
"nah, we're past that."
denki lets out a slow, tired breath. "i'm not doing this with you right now."
"good," bakugou says flatly. "… 'cus i'm not asking."
the crowd around them hasn't fully noticed the tense interaction yet. people are still talking over the music, wandering between the kitchen and living room with solo cups in hand. somewhere behind bakugou, kirishima is laughing with a girl until his eyes catch the two blondes standing directly in the walkway and the sound slowly dies in his throat.
"bakugou," kirishima calls out carefully. neither of them looks at him. bakugou keeps his eyes locked on denki. "you say some shit to her?"
denki swallows. he could lie and say you misunderstood him. maybe even blame the alcohol and save himself even a little bit. instead, denki looks him straight in the face. fuck it.
"yeah."
bakugou's nostrils flare.
kirishima makes his way over to the two. "bro, let's chill."
denki hears sero somewhere behind him now too, his voice cutting through the music when he notices what's happening. "oh, shit."
it happens so fast denki barely registers the movement before his head jerks sideways from the force of bakugou's knuckles, stumbling into the wall with a loud thud and slump down. he tastes a mix of copper, something burning bad inside his mouth. the room gets tundra cold, and you scream at the sight you've returned to. kirishima lunges between them immediately while sero grabs bakugou from behind, hooking both arms around his shoulders before he can move forward again.
"what the fuck, bakugou!" sero's shout finally breaks whatever stunned silence had fallen over the room.
"get the fuck off me," bakugou snarls, trying to shove past kirishima. his face is twisted with rage now, all of the eerie calm from thirty seconds ago completely gone. "i'm not fuckin' done."
"yeah, you are!" kirishima snaps, something unusually serious cutting through his voice. he shoves bakugou back another step. "you're done, bro."
a soft wail is heard from behind them and denki's head turns sluggishly towards it. you were completely speechless at the scene. your eyes are still red from crying, mascara faintly smudged underneath them that you tried wiping off in the bathroom. a few people have already started whispering amongst themselves, the nosier ones blatantly staring like this is some kind of campus drama unfolding for their entertainment instead of your birthday completely falling apart in front of everyone.
"what the fuck…" your voice comes out thin. bakugou's attention snaps toward you, the anger visibly leaving his face the second he actually sees you.
"hey, wait—"
"… no."
you lift one hand weakly.
bakugou shuts up.
mina steps away from you and moves toward the center of the room, clapping her hands loudly enough that nearly everybody looks at her. "alright, party's over. if you don't live here, pack your shit and file out." there's an awkward pause before people start moving.
they begin scooping up purses, jackets and abandoned phones while avoiding eye contact with the group of guys. a few of your closer friends try to approach you before leaving, but mina intercepts them with polite little smiles and assures that you'll be okay. she continues, voice firm as she points toward the door. "i love y'all, thanks for coming, whatever, but we're done for the night."
denki watches all of it from where he's managed to push himself upright against the wall. his head feels like shit, but his stomach definitely feels worse. none of that matters compared to the sight of you standing there looking completely detached from your own birthday party. he feels sero's hand grab his upper arm.
"up."
denki looks toward him, but sero isn't even looking at his face.
"i can stand."
"cool." his voice is flat and fully uninterested.
denki tries to straighten on his own anyway, and immediately has to catch himself against the wall when his balance shifts. sero's grip tightens to help but he doesn't say anything else.
kirishima finally releases bakugou once it's obvious he isn't going to swing again. bakugou jerks his shirt straight and steps away, jaw still tense while his eyes stay glued toward you. you're not looking at him, nor denki. once the last person had left, mina crouches beside you near the couch.
"you're staying with me tonight."
you blink at her, nodding. "okay."
denki doesn't try to say goodbye. there isn't anything he could say that wouldn't make the room feel worse, so when sero starts guiding him toward the door, he lets himself be moved without protest. he catches one last glimpse of you as mina pulls you into her side, your head dropping against her shoulder while she rubs slowly over your back.
the door shuts behind him and sero immediately drops his arm from around him, walking several steps ahead toward the elevator without saying a word. denki follows quietly.
"sero," he tries once when the elevator doors close, but sero's jaw only tightens as he stares at the numbers above them. denki waits another few seconds before murmuring, "i know i fucked up." sero finally glances toward him, and there's none of the usual annoyance or sarcasm in his expression. "i really don't wanna fucking talk to you right now, man." that shuts denki up for the rest of the ride home.
when they finally reach their apartment, sero disappears straight into his bedroom and shuts the door. denki stands alone for a long time before pulling out his phone.
your conversation is still pinned at the top, the last message from earlier that night asking where he was because you wanted him in another picture.
denki was sure he lost more than just you that night.
i think i blacked out at one point but 😃 yay...!
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