Crimson Eyes

Chapter 39

I spent most of the following morning with my mom. I didn't tell her anything about Eijirou, but I don't think I even needed to. When I stumbled down the stairs with puffy eyes from crying myself to sleep, she took one look at me and started making pancakes. She put an episode of Friends on the tv and we ate breakfast on the couch. She tried her hardest to cheer me up, but I didn't even have the energy to fake it.

It didn't take long for her to get called into work. It was a regular occurrence on her days off, the place practically fell apart when she was away longer than twelve hours.

After she left, I stayed downstairs for a little while longer, cleaning up from breakfast, but eventually I ran out of tasks. I hung my head with a sigh and headed back to my room, where I'd spend the whole day waiting on any news about Eijirou.

I made it to my door, my palm resting on the handle when my breath hitched. The weight of every mistake I'd ever made finally settled in and crushed me beneath it. I hit my head harder than necessary against the piece of wood and screamed.

"Fuck," I smacked my head again. "Fuck," again, "fuck." I didn't have the energy to hold back the tears, not in my own empty hallway. They didn't start as a slow trickle, just hit full force and I was suddenly sobbing as I weakly repeated the word fuck over and over.

The handle in my grasp turned and the door suddenly gave way, causing me to stumble forward. I gasped as two strong arms wrapped around me. "Darlin'? Why're you crying?"

I just cried harder as I realized that Eijirou was here, in my room, holding onto me. I was quick to grab onto him and hold as tight as possible, afraid he'd disappear again. "You're back," I said in between shuddering breaths, my tears still freely falling. It was so embarrassing, but the dam had already broken and there was no stopping it.

"Of course I am, Iz," he shushed, brushing a hand through my hair. "Like I could stay away from you two," he joked.

I blinked away some of my tears, now letting go of the redhead for a second. I looked up at him with his beaming smile and a part of me calmed at the sight. I registered his words and looked over towards my window, where I found Katsuki leaning back against my wall with his hands in his pockets. I shot him a watery smile in greeting before turning back to Eijirou. "What happened?" I asked in earnest, needing to be able to understand how he was here.

He awkwardly shrugged in my hold. "Just had to spend the night at the station. Mitsuki picked up at like eight," he explained.

"But," I took a breath, and used my shoulder to try and dry my face a little more. "But what happens now?"

Eijirou shook his head and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. "Nothing, they let me off with a warning after Mitsuki spent the whole night in lawyer mode. Don't worry your pretty little head about it, okay?" His smile was honest and he was a terrible liar, so I had no doubt in my mind that it was true.

I let out a full breath and nearly melted into him from relief. I hadn't destroyed his life, it was just one shitty night and now everyone can move on from it. "That's amazing," I said as I let my  head rest on his chest.

"What's amazing is that some idiot really thought it'd be a good idea to try and snitch on Dabi," Katsuki said with a scoff.

I picked my head up in, what I hoped wasn't too obviously, fear. "Huh? What'd you mean?"

Katsuki sent me a look that seemed to ask if I was okay. "Because underage drinking is one of the least illegal activities that happen there. Dabi's got a few cops in his pocket already, so whoever it was just pissed him off, the club only got shut down for the night." He stated all of that as if it was common knowledge.