I Pine Like Trees

5

He didn't really hesitate to go answer the door. The faster he could get it over with, the faster he could go back to sulking. His hopes to climb back into bed were ultimately destroyed by who was at the door. He froze completely at the sight of Izuku. 

"Hey, can we talk?" He wanted desperately to answer but the lump in his throat prevented him. He blinked dumbly instead. "I just..." Izuku continued, noticing the nerves in Shouto. "Can I come in?" Shouto used all his strength to swallow the lump. 

"Alright." He sounded way more strained than he wanted to. He moved to let the other in. 

~

"And so, you use this little pin to move the icing into place, like this." Uraraka held the cookie up to Bakugou. Said pin in here other hand. "I'm surprised you didn't know how to do that given that you're great at baking." 

"Shut up, it's not like I bake everyday." Bakugou rolled his eyes and grabbed the cookie from her hand.

"Liar." 

"Shut up!" 

"Now, now, I though you wanted me to help you, I won't help if you're going to be yelling at me." She smirked at his defeated look. Well, defeated by his standards so a simple glare. 

"You're actually the worst." 

"Am I, really?" 

"No, actually, there's much worse." Bakugou set down the cookie. "You're the most tolerable of all these assholes." 

"I'm touched." 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, we should get back to work, I want to finish these." 

"Of course!"

~

The click of the door shutting sounded and Izuku started. 

"I'm sorry I ran away."

"Why?"

"I just..." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I didn't actually want to run."

"You were shocked, right?" 

He froze, "Yeah..." His hand dropped to his side. "I really didn't expect it." 

"Neither did I." Shouto shrugged and sat back on his bed. 

"I feel like you hate me for it." Izuku followed his movements and sat at the edge of the bed. 

"What?" Shouto blurted. "That's insane." 

"What do you mean?"

"I don't hate you for it, if anything, I thought you hated me."

"Oh." 

~

"Hey, Uraraka, I have a question." The two stood side by side, Uraraka decorating and Bakugou stirring more batter. 

"Yeah?" 

"Do you know what's going on between half-and-half and Deku?"

"Not really, why?" 

"Deku's been ignoring me and it's unlike him to."

"I'm sure he has his reasons." 

"What do you think it might be?"

"They probably had a fight or something, I'm sure it'll all work out." 

"You're so stupidly optimistic." 

"It's fun to be, I recommend you try it."

"...I might." 

~

After a long silence, Izuku turned around to look at Shouto. He looked stressed and worn out and it tore at Shouto. He wanted to reach out and do anything in his power to make the guy smile but he stopped himself. It wasn't a good idea. He swallowed hard, trying to swallow the urge. 

"You want to know a secret?" The other whispered. Shouto didn't answer but he looked curiously and it got the message across anyway. "I really wanted it to happen."

"Oh."

"I feel like that makes me crazy."

"Not really, I mean, I wanted it too."

"Really?" He nodded. "I..." Izuku trailed off into thought. The silence killed Shouto, itching at him. He hated it.

"What now?" He asked trying to get rid of it. Izuku snapped up too look at him, eyes scanning over him with intensity.

"I'm not sure." His expression softened. "We have a few choices here. We could act like nothing happened or not really care that it happened. I don't know if you want to keep it a secret or not. It's not like it's a big secret, just a small one that maybe we're blowing out of proportion. I'm really confused, honestly."

"These things are hard..." Shouto didn't really have an answer to this either. It was hard given everything else about the situation. Then he remembered the conversation with Bakugou earlier.

"What is it?" His expression must have changed.

"I just don't get it."

"Don't get what?"

"I-" Another knock interrupted him. It was a much faster and enthusiastic knock. He quickly got up and went answer. It was Uraraka who was knocking.

"Todoroki, I have something really important to tell you!" She was bouncing with excitement.

"Can you tell me later? I'm busy at the moment."

"Oh c'mon, you barely do anything what could possibly have you busy?" Uraraka pushed past him. He cursed himself for letting her. She was stronger than she looked through. She stopped in her path when she saw Izuku who had stood up. "Oh, did I interrupt-"

"It's fine." Izuku interrupted her and began on his way out of the room. "I was just about to get going anyway." He was out the door, shutting it too.

"I'm so sorry." Shouto whipped his head over to Uraraka.

"What could have been so important that it couldn't wait?"