Rock My World - DabiHawks

Last Caress

A/N: short chapter because I'm tired but I want to produce content lol.

POV HAWKS

According to Dabi, the last time all six members of the Todoroki family were together in a room, two of them left in handcuffs. To no one's surprise, it was Dabi and his older younger brother, Natsuo, who were beating the living shit out of their father and had to be pried off by six police officers. Once freed, their dad, Enji, dragged his wife into the car and drove her to a mental hospital across the country while Fuyumi, Dabi's only sister, had to make a homemade splint out of cardboard and tape for the youngest's, Shouto's, freshly-broken arm.

The point is: the Todoroki's shouldn't be allowed in the same building at the same time. And yet here I am, beyond excited to meet them all.

"This is a bad idea," Dabi says for the sixth time, now resting his head on the cold window. I adjust my hands on the steering wheel, glancing over at him quickly so I don't spin us off the side of the road. "My old man is a fucking prick. And the rest of those brats aren't much better. We should just go home."

"Nuh-uh," I say, determined. "You specifically told me to go with you to this dinner party and ignore all of your complaints. Your exact words were, 'No matter what I say, you have to make me go.' I'm a man of my word, Dabi."

"Jesus fucking Christ," Dabi groans under his breath. He rubs his eyes with the heel of his hand and sits up a little straighter, turning to look at his boyfriend in hopes of getting pity points. "C'mon, sweetheart," he says. "Don't you wanna go home and cuddle with me? We can watch a movie and eat your favorite snacks–"

"Flattery doesn't work on me," I blurt out, which is most definitely not true, but whatever. "Your mom needs you right now. So do your siblings. If it gets too much, I promise I'll take you home, but we should at least try, alright?"

"If we got pulled over and a cop had me blow into a breathalyzer," Dabi grumbles, "I wouldn't pass it."

"What do you mean? What does that have to do with anything?" I say, feeling more anxious than I should.

"I mean I already have a problem with alcohol," Dabi continues, "and this goddamn family reunion isn't going to make it any better. I'm gonna flip out, and it's gonna be a whole thing, and by the end of the night you're gonna be pissed off and probably make me sleep on the couch. Hell, you might even kick me out of the apartment and make me go back to living in the slums with the rest of the band."

I don't look at him. For the first time in nearly seven months, I don't want to. He sounds like the asshole guitarist that cursed at Rumi the first time we met– he sounds like the violent, agitated guy everyone warned me about. The threatening look in his eyes from earlier is so familiar to me, but I can't place it. It isn't a look that I've seen from him before, not even backstage all those months ago. But I recognize it. The anger that isn't for me but given to me anyway. The fire that'll burn me if I get too close.

It makes me sick to my stomach. It makes me afraid.

But... Dabi is a good guy. He's sweet and patient and he respects me as an individual. So why does he sound so mad at me?

Why does he sound like he's going to hurt me?

We're in the middle of nowhere, driving on backroads between cities, fields of lofty trees on either side of us. If he attacked me, I could scream until my lungs ruptured and no one would hear me. He could do whatever he wanted to me and no one would come to save me. I'd be alone, at his mercy, ripped to shreds, screaming and crying and–

"Hey, hey, calm down," Dabi blurts, jumping up and resting gentle hands on my shoulders. "Take a deep breath, alright? You're safe. You're okay, it's okay, everything is okay. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Here, pull over, alright?"