healing takes time (none of it is linear)

Chapter 7

Izuku was having a rough day. It was one of those days when his brain decided to scream at him and contradict everything he was thinking. All Izuku wanted was for it to shut up. But no matter what he tried, it wouldn't work.

So instead, he was bombarded by a constant flow of self-deprecating thoughts, pulling him deeper and deeper into the dark side of his brain that he had been slowly working to illuminate.

He wasn't good enough.

He didn't deserve the way he was being treated.

He didn't deserve to be with these alphas who only ever treated him kindly.

He didn't deserve it.

He would never deserve it.

Izuku was currently sitting on the couch with his knees pulled into his chest and staring blankly at the coffee table. He worried his lip between his teeth, and his brows pinched together.

Eijiro had noticed this quickly; they had all gotten pretty good at figuring out when Izuku was about to have a panic attack or just needed comfort. So, the alpha did what he could to help. He carefully sat beside the omega, noticing that Izuku didn't register his presence. "Izuku, are you okay? You look a little worse for wear."

Izuku looked up at him with teary eyes, the words not completely processing in his head as he nodded.

"Are you sure?" Eijiro asked softly, brows knitting together.

Izuku blinked a few times before shaking his head.

"Do you want to tell me what's bothering you?" Eijiro tried.

Izuku shook his head again and buried his face in his knees. Sometimes when Izuku's head was swarmed with too many thoughts, or he was just overwhelmed, Izuku would shut down and be unable to speak. It had been happening more and more recently, and Eijiro could only guess it was some form of coping mechanism or something. Either way, he found it best to ask a few short yes or no questions and work quickly to make Izuku comfortable.

"Would a hug help?" He asked. "We can cuddle?"

Izuku didn't do anything for a long moment before he nodded his head. All he knew was that Eijiro was good at calming him down, and he needed to be calmed down.

Eijiro scooped Izuku into his arms and laid them both on the couch. He manoeuvred them so Eijiro was lying on his back and Izuku would be on top of him. Eijiro's hand ran soothing circles around Izuku's back, bringing the omega closer to comfort and into a more relaxed state.

Eijiro's phone buzzed, and the alpha tried to move to grab it without disturbing Izuku. As soon as he started to move, Izuku stiffened, "S-sorry, I'll get off-" He must have thought Eijiro didn't want him to cuddle with him.

"Hey, wait, it's okay." He kept his arm around Izuku to try to get his point across faster. "I was just getting my phone. If you want to keep cuddling with me, I'm okay with that," Eijiro reassured, brushing Izuku's hair out of his face. "But if you don't want to, we can stop, okay?"

Izuku's face reddened before he looked away, lay back down on Eijiro's chest, and gave a slight nod. He heard Eijiro laugh softly above him, making his stomach twist in weird ways he wasn't used to.

Eijiro checked his phone, seeing why it was buzzing and saw a text from Shoto. He scanned over it before looking back at Izuku. "Sho wants to know what you want for supper," he asked softly.

There was a beat of silence. "Oh- he wants me to pick?" Izuku asked, confused. At least he was getting out of that headspace from earlier.

The alpha nodded and smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, anything you want."