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Many couples have a song that they call theirs. Sometimes it’s the song that was playing on the radio when one drove past the other and was just so star-struck by their beauty it was forever imprinted in the back of their eyelids. For some it’s the first song they danced to, or the song that played in the background of their first kiss—a first, whatever it may be. Others just have that one song that never fails to make them think of one another.
Well, for Izuku, there are too many good songs to pick just one.
His undying love for Shouto—dramatic, he knows, but really when isn’t he—can’t possibly be expressed to its fullest extent with one song alone. So, rather than having ‘their song’, Izuku has made it ‘their playlist’ instead. At first, he had kept it to himself, considering that playlist started before they were even together. Izuku had been fantasising about their relationship ever since he realised his feelings, and maybe whenever he was listening to music, his thoughts were always on Shouto, so of course he would find ways to associate the songs to him.
Then when they got together, that really didn’t change much. Izuku listens to music while he studies, while he exercises, while he’s just browsing the internet on his laptop after an excruciatingly exhausting training session. With a boyfriend as wonderful as Shouto it’s hard not to relate every tooth-rotting romantic song to him. Other songs dig a little deeper than just that though, lyrics that resonate with him on a more personal level that is unique to them.
Eventually he shared this playlist with Shouto, allowing him to even make additions of his own—some of which may have brought him to tears but that’s not really important. It kind of became their thing. One of many, anyway; if one were to ask their friends what their ‘thing’ is, each one would say something different than the last, some may even list more than one themselves. But Izuku takes pride in this little (enormous) playlist of theirs.
Izuku finds himself telling their story through music, the happy moments, the sad ones, and everything in between. Though, overall, the playlist really sings about how in love they are with each other. As the years go by, the playlist grows along with them, new and old songs alike making their home in this little corner of the cloud. Their songs.
***
Shouto loves to listen to the music Izuku keeps adding to that silly playlist of his from time to time. He doesn’t do it quite as often as his boyfriend, but there are times when he just needs some background noise for one reason or another. More often than not, it’s because his anxiety is acting up and he just needs to turn off his brain from everything that is overwhelming him. What better way to relax than to listen to what Izuku so lovingly adds when thinking of them? Their relationship is one of the few things that helps ground him when he is spiralling, and this is one of the ways he has of feeling close to Izuku whenever he is away on a mission or simply working late.
Though, that isn’t to say he won’t just listen to their playlist for no reason at all too. And it’s one of those times—suspiciously only a few days before their fifth anniversary—, that Shouto starts to notice a trend to the new songs Izuku added to their playlist. He raises an eyebrow as he scrolls through the latest additions, a corner of his mouth quirking upward.
Izuku added Marry You by Eric Clapton & B.B. King
Izuku added He’s Going to Marry Me by Dolly Parton
Izuku added I Wanna Marry You by Bruce Springsteen
Izuku added Marry Me by No Doubt
Izuku added My First, My Last, My Everything by Barry White
Izuku added Dear Future Husband by Meghan Trainor
Izuku added Marry Me by Jason Derulo
Izuku added Marry You by Bruno Mars
Izuku added Marry Me by Train
The trend he takes note of certainly isn’t the fact that these are all English songs.
***
When Izuku gets down on one knee in front of all their family and friends on the day their relationship turns five years old, a rose and white gold ring sitting on a navy-blue cushion inside a green velvet box, Shouto’s expression isn’t the one of elated joy he had been expecting. His boyfriend—hopefully soon-to-be fiancé—is smiling, yes, but it looks a lot more like a smirk than anything else, lopsided and with a hint of mirth shining in those striking ocean blue and cloudy grey eyes.
“Wow…” Shouto whispers, his voice so painfully monotone that Izuku isn’t sure how he should feel about it. “I’m so surprised, I never saw it coming.” He adds in that same flat tone.
Oh, I see how this is. “You can dial back the sarcasm, you know?” At that, Shouto lets out a small laugh that, no matter how short-lived, is one of the most wonderful melodies Izuku has ever heard, and his heart sings along with it. Still, their friends stare confused as Shouto says nothing else. “You still haven’t told me an answer.” Izuku nudges, a hint of despair seeping through his words.
“Yeah, I know.” Shouto says simply.
“It’s kind of important, Shouto…”
That corner of his lip lifts further. “I know that too.”
And with that, Shouto turns on his heels and starts walking away. Izuku sputters and the unintelligible whispers stir up behind him. “Todoroki Shouto, where the hell do you think you’re going?! Get back here this instant and give me an answer!”
Jumping to his feet, Izuku chases after Shouto as he walks back to the table where they had been seated before, their jackets still hanging on the back of their chairs. He pauses as Shouto reaches into Izuku’s pocket, pulling out his phone before turning to face him once again, that stupidly stunning smirk still plastered on his breathtakingly beautiful face. Izuku blinks, dumbstruck, then wordlessly takes his phone with a question in his gaze.
“Just a suggestion, you really don’t have to take it, but why don’t you go to our playlist?” Shouto tells him, nodding to the device in his hands.
Izuku does as he’s told, brows furrowed in mild confusion. It’s their playlist, it looks exactly the same as it had since he last checked it before he started getting everything ready for—oh. Shit. He hadn’t noticed that he added those songs to this particular playlist. And… just below the last additions… Shouto added Yes by Ben E. King
The words on the screen blur as the flood gates open and his face becomes awash in tears in a matter of seconds. And when Shouto pulls him into his arms and locks their lips in a searing kiss, the chorus of cheers finally sounds from the loved ones there to celebrate with them.