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You and Bakugou had been together for a few months now. The two of you had been friends for a long time and finally, after two long years, you decided to confess. It surprised you a lot when he admitted that he liked you back, and you were ecstatic.
Since you two were already in your early twenties, you decided to move in together after six months of dating. Initially, you thought that living together would bring the two of you closer together, but you were wrong, so wrong.
Over the three months you two spent living together, you’ve become more and more aware of his active participation in an underground quirk battle fight club. You weren’t happy about it, seeing the love of your life come home all battered and bruised every other night, it worried you to no end.
You tried talking to him about it several times, but he’d always shut you down. He refused to quit, even for the sake of your worried and anxious heart. It hurt you, thinking he’d continue doing this despite knowing how worried you were over him.
At first, you thought you could handle it, kept pushing yourself to hold out for a little longer with the hope that maybe, just maybe, he’d stop.
But he didn’t, and the strain it’s put over your relationship continues to grow as time passes, and you’ve had just about enough.
It was late in the evening when he’d finally come home, you were waiting on the couch, your arms crossed over your chest as you glared at him.
He looked like a mess, covered in bruises and burn marks, no doubt from his own quirk. The moment his eyes met yours he released an irritated sigh, watching as you stood up and walked over to where he stood in front of the door.
“I’m tired,” He huffed, pushing past you as you made your way to him. “I can’t deal with your bullshit today, we already talked about this.”
You whipped around, surprised by the attitude he’d just given you. “You’re acting like you’re the one who waited until two in the morning for your lover to come home.” Your brows furrowed in confusion and anger.
He looked over at you sharply, “Yeah? I just came home from an exhausting fight, do you really think I have time to deal with your constant nagging? God, you’re not my mother, I don’t need you up my ass!”
Your eyes widened when he raised his tone on you. “Don’t talk to me like that, Katsuki. You know I don’t like it.” You warned.
“And I don’t like your constant nagging, and yet I’m supposed to put up with it?” He turned to face you, his eyebrows raised.
“I’m worried about you! All you’re doing is making me worry! There’s a difference!”
“God,” He rubbed his face agitatedly, “You know what, ever since we moved in together, I’ve dreaded coming home!”
You were taken aback by the sudden confession, and your eyes widened in disbelief. “If that’s how you feel then I guess this just isn’t working out anymore.” You spat out venomously, purposely hitting his shoulder as you passed him, marching to your shared bedroom.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He growled.
“To the bedroom.” You halted your steps, fists clenched tightly at your sides. “You know, I can’t believe I was ever stupid enough to think I really knew you.”
You heard his thumping footsteps approach as he grabbed your shoulder, forcing you to turn around and face him. “The fuck is that supposed to mean?” He snarled.
You looked up at him with dead eyes. “You know Katsuki, you may sound just like the person I love, but you’re not him anymore, are you.”
His eyes widened as his grip on your shoulder faltered, his hand falling to his side as disbelief took over his features. “Well what the hell did you want in the beginning? What did you think would happen?” He asked, his eyes flashing in anger. “You knew the kind of person I was and you still chose to stick around.”
“That’s right.” You cut him off harshly. “I knew the kind of person you were and I stuck around because I love you, and I was willing to take the hits. I thought you were capable of change, capable of growth. But looking at the two of us now, I was dead wrong.”
“Nothing will change if you stay here with me! Nothing will ever change!” He yelled. “Did you really think you could fix me?”
“Yes! I thought I could, I thought there was something special between us!” Now you were screaming back at him, unable to hold yourself together any longer as tears streamed down your cheeks. “The worst part was that I saw it coming, I knew you’d hurt me, hurt us, but I still kept you around because I thought we could overcome it!”
“You never let me go, that’s why you’re miserable.” He spat, “I just put up with you because I felt bad for you.”
You looked at him in disbelief, tears blurring your vision. “So none of it was real? You didn’t mean any of it?”
That’s not it. He grit his teeth, frustrated. Bakugou was not someone who was in touch with his emotions, he always had difficulty expressing himself, even you knew that.
His silence was your confirmation.
Your shoulders loosened and you allowed your gaze to fall to the ground, blinded by the tears. What could you do? He’d basically just told you that everything, all those nine months you’ve spent together, all of it was a lie.
It was something you couldn’t comprehend, it was so sudden, so out of nowhere. He’d just blurted it out in the middle of a heated argument, and probably the last one the two of you would have.
But you didn’t wanna let him see you fall apart, didn’t wanna give him the satisfaction of seeing you break. So you sucked it up one last time and turned your back on him, heading straight into your shared bedroom and slamming the door shut.
With your back pressed against the door, you finally allowed yourself to break as you slid to the ground. Heart-wrenching sobs leaving your throat as you allowed yourself to finally absorb all the words he’d spoken during the argument.
You were only trying to take care of him, look out for him like lovers do. What was so wrong about that? Why did he despise it so much? You just couldn’t understand any of it.
All of a sudden you felt a knock on the door as Bakugou called out to you. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.” You heard his soft, aching voice from the other side of the door, like he'd just come to his senses. “Please, can we talk? Properly this time.”
His voice was so weak, so fragile. It’s the first time you heard him act this way. But despite your heart’s protests and demands to respond to your lover’s call, you remained silent.
How could you reply? He wasn’t the only one who was hurting, you were too.
Hearing no response, he continued. “I’m not good at this, I never have been.” His voice was shaking as he spoke, as if it hurt him to talk. “Please, let me fix this.” He begged.
Your heart ached at his desperate plea, you wanted so badly to open the door.
But what if he hurt you again? What if it just ended in another screaming match? You were afraid, afraid of letting him hurt you even more.
You heard a sniffle from the other side of the door and your eyes went wide. Was he… crying?
As much as you wanted to protect yourself and keep a distance, you couldn’t. The moment you heard that heartbreaking sound from the other side of the door, you had to open it. Because that’s just the way it is, no matter how painful your heart felt at the moment, protecting Bakugou’s would always be your top priority.
The moment you opened the door, Bakugou immediately crashed into your arms. His face buried in the crook of your neck as he cried. You felt his tears stain your neck as his body shook, and that only prompted your own to fall.
His arms were wrapped tightly around your waist, as if he was afraid to let you go, like you’d disappear if he did. “Katsuki…” Your voice wavered, pain flaring in your heart as quiet sobs left his throat.
“Please don’t leave.” He whimpered, “You’ll never forgive me, I know that… but please just pretend you love me.”
His arms tightened around you when you made a move to release yourself from his grip. He was afraid. “Katsuki… I’m not leaving.” You reassured him as you wrapped your arms around him again, you knew he thought you were trying to get away from him, but you weren’t, you were trying to lead him to the bed, afraid he might collapse from exhaustion.
So instead, you carefully guided the two of you to the bed, finally managing to release yourself from his grip as you had him sit at the edge of the bed. His head was cast downward, unable to look you in the eyes. He was ashamed of himself, of his behavior, and everything he’d said to you during your argument.
He wasn’t the type to show his vulnerability like this, he barely even showed it to you. This was the first time you’d seen him this way. His hands were gripping yours tightly, not wanting to let you go.
“Katsuki, look at me.” You ordered, but he refused, keeping his head cast down. “Katsuki.” You repeated, more sternly this time.
He finally looked up at you, his eyes were red and puffy, his cheeks stained with tears.
You released your hands from his grip, moving to cup his face gently. “I’m not going anywhere, okay?” You leaned forward, pressing your forehead against his as he closed his eyes.
You moved away from him, taking a seat next to him on the edge of the bed as you grabbed a pack of tissues, pulling a clean piece out and using it to gently wipe away the tears of his face. He remained still, sniffling every now and then as you cleaned his face, and despite the seriousness of the situation, you couldn’t help but find him adorable.
You wiped away your own tears, throwing the used tissues into the nearby trashcan at the side of your bed.
“I’m sorry.” You heard him whisper, looking down at the ground in shame. “For everything, coming home late and making you worry- I didn’t realize how much I was hurting you.”
You waited patiently for him to continue.
“I’ve just been so tired out from all these responsibilities- it was the only way I could cope.” He rambled on, “I never thought I’d be the one to hurt you.” He whispered quietly, his voice weak and frail.
He was surprised when he felt you grab onto his hand, the familiar warmth of them only caused tears to pool once more in his eyes as he looked up at you. He was met with your warm, honey-like gaze, the same one that always swept him off his feet.
“Katsuki, I’m not someone who breaks easily, but I must commend you on this.” You smiled jokingly despite the situation, watching as he took the statement seriously, nodding his head and allowing his gaze to fall.
“Why are you still with me?” He asked weakly, as if he was afraid of your answer.
Using your free hand, you gently placed it on his cheek, directing his gaze at you. “Because I love you.” You replied, an adoring smile on your face.
He frowned, “Why would you put so much hope in me? Things have clearly never worked out for me. I’m not good for you.”
“It’s never been as easy as you think.” You answered, gently stroking his cheek. “Things like this… they’ve never been easy.”
He remained silent, listening to your words carefully as he looked straight into your eyes. You had to admit, it was difficult to focus with the intensity of his gaze locked with yours.
“It’s been a long night,” You continued, letting your hand fall back down, grabbing onto his free one. “We can talk about this tomorrow, but for tonight, let’s finish here, okay?”
He simply nodded in agreement, his exhaustion finally hitting him as his back slouched, barely able to carry himself.
“You need to take a bath first, and we need to treat those cuts and bruises.” You nagged, grabbing onto his arm as he let out a tired half-groan half-whine. You smiled at his childish behavior as you helped him to the bathroom. “Come on, I’ll help you wash up.”
__________
After draining the dirty bathtub water, you made your way out of the bathroom to find Bakugou seated at the center of your bed, sitting with his arms crossed over his chest, almost like he was pouting.
A small smile made its way to your face as soon as you noticed his expression. “You wanna cuddle?” You asked, your smile stretching when you noticed his eyes widen the slightest bit, telling you that you were indeed correct. “Scoot over.” You smiled as you turned off the lights while he made room for you on the bed.
Upon reaching your bed, he immediately pulled you into his arms, burying his face in the crook of your neck, inhaling your scent as he laid on top of you.
You smiled at his childish behavior, reaching your arms up, one wrapping around him as the other snaked up to run through his hair. A satisfied sigh left his lips upon feeling your fingers run through his scalp, he loved the feeling.
You pressed your face against his hair, cradling his body in your arms as you whispered words of love and comfort in his ear. And to your surprise, you felt a few tears fall on your skin as you continued to hold him.
“I love you, Katsuki.” You whispered one last time, pressing a gentle kiss on his head.
Although you knew that your relationship was far from fixed, you were happy enough knowing that all those months you spent were worth the wait, because now… he was finally willing to work on being better.