Chapter Text
“Kacchan, we can’t keep doing this!” Izuku huffed but the smile his lips were curling into gave him away.
“Oh please, what else would you rather be doing now? Huh?” Bakugou held his gaze a second longer than what was perhaps appropriate for them, but Izuku would never feel guilty for the chills that ran down his back when he fixed his eyes on him in that way.
“I’m so serious right now, Bakugou! No more eating stuff like this in my mom’s car!” He yelped as his hand lunged to catch a glob of spicy mayo in mid-air between Katsuki’s burger and the sliver of fabric seat exposed between his legs.
“Whatever. I’ll return the favour; we can eat messy stuff in my mom’s car.”
“Yeah right when you get a license.” Izuku giggled between fries, eyes challenging his friend playfully.
“First of all, I’m gonna kill you. And second, asshole, I’m gonna pass next time!” His sentence was practically cut off by the gargantuan bite he took out of his burger, practically eating a quarter of it in one shot.
“You eat like a starved orphan, Kacchan.” There was never any heat behind Izuku’s quips.
They fell silent, and now only the radio on low volume filled the car, but that was what Izuku loved most about their relationship now. Their friendship, he should say. There were no more awkward moments of apprehensiveness or dancing around one another. Neither of the boys was walking on eggshells anymore. After Izuku’s, admittedly very embarrassing, breakdown where he had run away from the dorm for a whole night, Kacchan had wiped the slate clean, he had apologized. Really, Izuku had been ready to go on without that, but fuck if it didn’t feel good to know they were back to being best friends like they had been as kids.
The years at UA had passed fast. Like, insanely fast. Like, blink and you like, miss it kinda fast.
Izuku felt he’d gone to bed fifteen, scared and unsure about himself, lost, and woke up a man. He felt tears begin to prick his eyes, overwhelmed by the sunset, the possibilities, the immensity of the life ahead of him and, excuse him for saying but being a man hadn’t completely robbed him of his gushiness, he looked forward to his life with Kacchan, with the rest of the amazing friends he’d made.
His family.
“Look, nerd,” Bakugou cleared his throat, and both men tore their eyes from the scenic view to face one another. Izuku’s heart raced. Fuck, this could be it. It was no secret that they’d gotten closer than ever over high school; being best friends as guys had totally changed the game. When Bakugou had come out, all of Izuku’s friends had started saying it. He’d waited for this moment for… forever!
“I have a boyfriend.” Bakugou couldn’t maintain eye contact. The guy was smiling! Like, actually smiling with teeth and looking down and — was that a hint of a blush on his face?
Izuku could suddenly hear everything, smell everything, and see nothing. The pain was crushing; it made his senses go haywire one by one, and he could feel his body shutting down by the second.
Fuck, was he stupid.
“That’s, wow!” He struggled to honestly find anything else to say before he decided to lie. Lying came easy, lying felt better than slamming the door and walking home or kicking Bakugou out and seeing him next week at graduation. “I’m so happy for you, Kacchan.” It wasn’t a squealing or rowdy congratulations, but accompanied by a sincere smile and the warm look Izuku always flashed Bakugou’s way, it was believable enough.
Izuku just hoped it would be enough to fool himself.