pretend it only happened in a dream | bakuiida

part ten | please dont make a joke about tenya and sonic going fast

~*~

I have been allowed through the gates of heaven for a second chance; his clean, white BMW with a 'good vibes' sticker on the roof. His eyes haven't met mine, which makes me nervous. "I want to be slow," he finally says.

I nod. "You can be the boss, you know?" I say.

His eyebrows furrow, and he look towards me. "I don't wanna be the boss of you."

"Not the boss but, you can set the pace for all this," I try to reassure him.

He nods, and lets a small smile grow on his face. "Can we be slow?"

I chuckle. "Of course we can be slow. You can make all the first moves, too." Tenya smiles, as he always does. I wonder how he can always keep it up. It must be one of the perks of being a naturally happy person. I meet his eyes and roll my shoulders back. "So what do you wanna do?" I ask.

He leans over and kisses me. His hand barley grazes my cheek, hovering over the skin. He's nervous and inexperienced. It finally settles, landing so gentle it might as well have never been there. I settle my hand at the back of his head, pulling at the short hair in need. We stay intertwined for a few seconds more before he pulls off and stares into my eyes.

"Do you think- do you think one day people like us will be able to get married?" He asks.

I shrug. "They are fighting very hard for us. I don't know though."

He lets out a sigh. "There's so much oppression in this world. Can you believe that? We've been fighting this fight since the 1960's. I wish it ended."

"I don't like to think about it," I say.

I hear him hum a response and start the car. "Let's. I don't know. Go on a date, maybe?"

"Are we going on a date or not Tenya?"

He coughs. "Yes. We are going on a date, Katsuki."

My throat goes dry. Katsuki. No one calls me that, besides my sister and my friends every once in a great while to make fun of me. It sounds nice coming from his tongue.

His hand falls to the radio- snapping me from my thoughts. "Can it play dear god," he mumbles.

And then, Fall Out Boy is blaring. Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes, I remember listening to this song when it first came out. God, I must have been 12 when it did. I glance over to Tenya, who's singing along and tapping on the steering wheel. "Detox, just to retox," he mumbles along.

I turn the knob up and look to him. "And I'd promise you anything for another shot at life!" I sing back. When his eyes meet mine, he smiles so wide.

This is a memory I would like to play, over and over. The kind of memory you think about as your life ends- the kind that you dream about years later. The kind that will be so dear and fond for so long before they eventually melt into melancholy fragments of your mind.

It is the first time I see Tenya be himself. Truly, to be who he is.

He takes his glasses off and sings the lyrics loud and proud, he gives me a real smile, he even runs his hands through his hair and allows it become a mess. He drives faster, like a real person. I watch his back muscles relax and his knuckles fade from white to his light pink skin color.

But when the song cuts, he returns to Tenya Iida. He is no longer himself. "God I love that song," he tells me as he fixes his hair and puts his glasses back on.

I nod and laugh. "It is." Another song soon plays. Half way through, I turn to Tenya. "We've been driving a while. Where are we going?"

"Sonic."