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Izuku’s stomach growled, sort of surprising him as he stared out the window and watched the desert scenery go by, rock music blasting from the stereo as his boyfriend drove down the empty highway, window open to let the wind whip through his blonde hair.
“Oh, geez. I guess I should have lunch, huh?” he said, after seeing it was well past noon.
Katsuki rolled his eyes, but a small smile gave him away.
“Pass me my sandwich too, okay?” he said.
“Mm-hm,” Izuku hummed, reaching into the back seat for the little travel cooler, which he popped open and then stared down into disconcertedly. “Um… I think we forgot the sandwiches. I mean, we have soda… and grapes… and I think there’s granola bars in the other bag with the chips, but… no sandwiches.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Katsuki barked.
“Sorry! That was my job, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, no shit. I made the sandwiches, you packed ‘em. Except you didn’t! ”
“Sorry Kacchan!” Izuku pouted, trying to dampen his boyfriend's foul mood. It seemed to work, as he sighed looked away a minute, calming himself down, then looked back to the road.
“It’s fine. We’ll stop at the next exit and get something. No fast food though! I’m not eating that junk,” he eventually said.
“Aw, man,” Izuku sighed. Katsuki gave him a little glare then, communicating his suspicion without words, and Izuku shook his head. “Kacchan, I promise I didn’t do it on purpose! I like your cooking, you know that,” he said, putting his hand on Katsuki’s arm for a moment.
“Damn right you do,” Katsuki said, cocking a smile.
They passed a road sign then, their spirits slightly dampened by the words “Next Exit 50 Miles.”
“Oops,” was all Izuku could say.
---
About twenty minutes later, the entire car jostled and Izuku cringed at the sound of the car rolling over something.
“Oh, fuck, what did I hit?” Katsuki asked. Izuku turned around, trying to look, but he couldn’t see much.
“I – I don’t know. Some rocks, maybe?” he said.
Katsuki sighed, sort of relieved, but over the course of the next few minutes, both of them grew increasingly worried. Something didn’t feel right.
“You don’t think…?” Izuku started. Katsuki grit his teeth and nodded.
“Yeah. Flat tire.”
Izuku groaned as Katsuki slowed to a stop and pulled over, sinking down in his seat and covering his face with his hands. The music cut abruptly to a stop as Katsuki pulled the keys out of the ignition, everything suddenly sounding so dead.
“Oi. Get out and help me,” Katsuki said, and Izuku nodded from under his hands, but still took his time getting out of the car and meeting Katsuki around back. Katsuki was kneeling down, looking at the back right tire, which even from where he stood, Izuku could tell was completely flat.
“Goddamnit. I think I have a spare in here somewhere,” Katsuki grumbled, getting back up and popping the trunk. Izuku sighed, clinging to his arms as he shifted awkwardly on the dry dirt of the roadside. Katsuki eventually retrieved his spare tire, wrench, and jack, and slammed the trunk shut before turning to Izuku with a frustrated glare in his eyes.
“Well, are gonna fucking help or what?” he said.
“S-sure! Just tell me what to do, okay? I’ve never–” he started, but Katsuki rolled his eyes and cut him off.
“Never changed a tire before. God, you’re so fucking useless.”
“Kacchan!” Izuku yelled, cheeks turning an indignant red. “Well, of course I haven’t, I’ve never popped one before,” he mumbled out, trying to look intimidating, but just ended up looking more like he wanted to cry. “Why do you have to be so mean?” he added in a whisper.
“Well, we wouldn’t exactly be in this situation if it wasn’t for your dumb ass,” Katsuki retorted, making like he was going to start getting to work, but instantly distracted by Izuku’s reply.
“What are you talking about? You were driving!” Izuku yelled.
“Yeah, and maybe I would have been paying more attention if I wasn’t so fucking hungry!” Katsuki shouted back, getting right up in Izuku’s face.
“Why is everything always my fault, huh?” Izuku screamed, pushing Katsuki away as he really started to cry. “Sometimes I forget why I even like you,” he hissed, then stomped away, only to realize he didn’t really have anywhere to go, so he just got back into the passenger’s seat to curl up and cry. He didn’t know what Katsuki was doing, but he didn’t really care. What was it about just a few bad things happening to them that got Katsuki so pissed off? And why, of all things, did he always have to direct his anger at Izuku? His boyfriend. The person he’s supposed to care about the most. When they were planning this trip, Izuku was so excited to finally spend an entire week alone with Katsuki, but now he wasn’t so sure how great that was going to be. Were they just going to get mad at each other every day? And if they did, would Izuku have to face the fact that maybe… this wasn’t going to work?
That thought made him cry even harder, his heart squeezing painfully at the idea of ever having to let Katsuki go; he loved him too much. He just wished he would be less of an asshole sometimes.
A timid knock came from his right, and Izuku looked over to see Katsuki rapping his knuckle on the window, face pulled into an embarrassed flush. Katsuki opened the door a bit then, and cleared his voice.
“I’m sorry I said that. I was just mad… It’s – It’s not your fault I popped a tire, and you’re not useless, okay? I just, um… you need to get out of the car so I can change the tire.”
Izuku blinked up at him a moment, then wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands and nodded.
“Kay,” he said, getting out again. “Can I help?” he asked quietly.
“No, I got it,” Katsuki said, shutting the door and walking back over to the flat. Izuku still felt guilty, like he really should be helping, but Katsuki seemed to be doing just fine by himself, so instead he decided to watch what he was doing so that, maybe next time, if there was a next time, he’d know what to do.
Eventually, Katsuki got the spare on and put everything else in the trunk. He looked a little red and his shirt was pretty sweaty as he started to pull at the front to cool himself off.
“Alright. All done,” he said.
“Thanks, Kacchan.” Izuku smiled, putting a hand on Katsuki’s sweaty cheek, and gave him a peck on the lips. “I’ll drive now, okay? You look pretty tired.” he said, giving Katsuki a wink as he walked around him to the other side of the car.
“You little shit,” Katsuki said, rolling his eyes, but smiling openly.
So there were a few hiccups in the beginning. That didn’t mean they couldn’t still enjoy their time together.
And by now, Izuku knew that lesson pretty well.