you rustled awake when you heard the key turn the lock; the room promptly flooded with warm light from the apartment hallway and in response, your cold form braced itself deeper into the pale throw blanket covering your torso on the sofa.
it was always like this. late nights waiting for him to come home often turned into early mornings but you wouldn’t have it any other way. whatever you made for dinner would be long forgotten in the refrigerator. and more or less, you’d find a way to stop racking your brain and calm yourself to sleep. you tried your best not to panic when the stroke of midnight brought you into the morning without hearing from him for hours. the mafia was dangerous work, but each time your high-strung heart would loosen when he silently walked through the front door. each early morning he would silently approach your sleeping form on the sofa and softly rock you awake. his return always prompted a sleepy smile and lazy kiss from you as he would take your hand and lead you to the bedroom to sleep- you clutching your blanket in haste. and that was how it always happened. and how you thought it should always happen.
but atlas you laid on the sofa blankly staring at the fabric waiting for him to take your hand once again and embrace as you float back to sleep. the room went cold as the door shut and the locked itself again. unconsciously, your body anticipated his warmth, building up your blood pressure and nerves each second… building and building.
but the nerves never settled. moments seemed like eternities, passing centuries, as you waited his touch, but it never came.
you went stiff, your mind a million miles an hour. was that not him? who else would have a key? did something happen? was it someone else from the ADA? did someone discover that you and him lived here? were they hear to take you somewhere? your heart strings were beginning to fray.
“(y/n)…”
and in an instant your shattered heart mended itself together and sliced itself to pieces. relief flushed over your body at the mid-tone voice you loved so much, but your skin felt like pins and needles hearing the pain in his voice.
“atsushi?”
finally, you gathered the strength to roll over to your other side just to be met with the worst feeling in your life.
he was cowering along the side of the sofa on his knees with fingers gripping the cushion, the golden glow of his eyes distraughtly looking down. his ash hair was tiredly stuck to the side of his head. a deep purple bruise covered the right side of his cheek and neck, partially covered by a large brown shawl lain over his hunched shoulders. underneath, you could see his usually crisp white dress shirt torn at the sleeves and collar. large burgundy stains precariously placed on it too. your pained eyes trailed themselves down to his arms, scratched and torn, to his knuckles, bandaged.
your body was numb as you sat yourself up, the discarded blanket falling onto your lap. automatically, your hand reached under his eye and wiped away the tears beginning to form. you didn’t know what to do; you didn’t know what to say.
suddenly, his head fell into your knees and his injured hands gripping either side of the blanket. he didn’t restrain himself anymore, the tears and sobs unleashing themselves on your lap. your shaking hands brought themselves to the back of his head, slightly messaging his head in hopes of calming him, and more so, calming yourself too.
for a moment the tears stopped. he gently lifted and turned his head to side, your hands returning back to his eyelids and cheeks, wiping away the teary stains.
“i’m sorry.”
you weren’t really sure why he was apologizing but it was painfully obvious that his whisper was filled with ache.
you pulled your hands back onto your lap and stared at his wilting form. you weren’t sure if your brain had actually processed any of the scene in front of you. all of your senses shut off, you couldn’t describe the tension and emotion overflowing out of your body.
eventually atsushi grabbed your hand and turned to face you- his gold and fuchsia eyes meeting yours for the first time that night.
“i’m so sorry.”
you choked a little at his words.
and suddenly the dam holding the floodwaters in your eyes broke. all the suppressed pain finally surfacing in your brain. the temperature of your skin tripled, you thought you were beginning to shrivel and burn.
you softly wrapped your arms around his pained shoulders and wrapped yourself into his neck, atsushi taking a deep breath and leaning into your touch. tears began to collect on the collar of the shawl as you tried to steady your breathing, his hand absently rubbing itself over your hand and arm. you found your voice somewhere in your stomach and choked out a response to his apologies.
This is Atsushi Nakajima. As you have heard my fiancé, Christina and I are getting married soon on our big day tomorrow! I still can’t believe it to be honest, but I’m so grateful to be married to her. She’s everything I ever wanted in a lifetime partner: she’s sweet, kind, patient, loyal, intelligent, strong-willed, courageous, and always doing the right thing no matter what. I don’t know how I managed to meet an angel like her, but I’ll keep on loving her always. I love Christina, and I plan on caring, loving, and cherishing her for the rest of my life. I hope you all can come to our wedding tomorrow and attend too! *bows deeply*
[Atsushi carried Akutagawa home and tucked him into bed, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead]
[He then ventured over to the bookshelf and carefully removed a book before crawling onto the bed and curling up next to Ryuu to read while the other rested]
