"Wait," Don't leave me. "Momo," I'm sorry.
The door to her dorm room was left ajar as the dual-haired boy followed Momo down the darkened hallway. He knew in the back of his mind that he should be more careful about how loud he was being because of the hour. Most of the girl's were probably asleep by now and the ones who weren't were likely studying. His stomping was no doubt waking them up, but that wasn't his biggest priority at the moment.
He followed her through the darkness, his eyes still unable to adjust to the dim lighting, until he reached the glowing light of the refrigerator. As always the girl was gorgeous as she was being bathed in the cold blue light, reflecting off her midnight eyes. He could tell that she wasn't really even looking at what was in the fridge because he could see her eyes staring at something far away.
He swallowed roughly, his throat feeling like he had just eaten sandpaper as he looked at the dismayed expression on her face. He hated seeing her unhappy. And it was even worse knowing he was the cause of it. He was the reason she was staring blankly at the junk filled refrigerator and he was going to push her away just like he did his sister. It made him wonder what the hell was wrong with him. What wire was crossed in his brain that made him unable to fathom fro a second, having a normal relationship?
He wanted to reach out to her, he really did. But he couldn't bring himself to touch her despite the fact that she was less then a foot away from him. He was standing right behind her, his head bowed, trying to figure out a way to say he was sorry. He couldn't just say it, after all. It wasn't that he didn't want to and it wasn't that he didn't know how to. It was jus that every time he tried, the words got lost on his tongue or stuck in his throat and he couldn't dislodge them no matter how hard he tried.
"Momo, I-" He was cut off by her suddenly whipping around to face him, slamming the fridge door behind her and bathing the two in darkness. Darkness that swirled too silently around them as he waited for her to tear into him, to tell him that he didn't have any right to be upset because he didn't. He asked her for advice and it wasn't her fault that she asked what happened. It wasn't her fault that he snapped, his old habits before he met her tricking back in. It wasn't her fault.
But, as always, she defied his expectations.
"I'm sorry, Shouto," She mumbled as she latched onto him without warning, one hand on his muscular shoulder, another on his his neck as she buried her face in his chest. She was...hugging him. He didn't know what to do. Normally, he would never let this happen. He never let girls hug him because it was so easy to get attached with hugs. It was too easy.
With hugs you were quite literally embracing each other, wrapping yourselves in the other's arms, holding them. It was intimate on a level that Todoroki wasn't able to handle. He didn't give his siblings hugs and he certainly didn't give his father hugs. The only time he had embraced someone in fifteen years was when his mother was diagnosed with Leukemia. That was the last time.
But Momo was warm. She was soft. She felt good with her arms wrapped around him, her silky hair ticking his collarbone, like she was supposed to be there. Like she was his missing puzzle piece. If he had half a brain he would push her away, turn around and leave and carry on with his life. But he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to. It was easier, he found, to push someone away with words than it was to push them away once you had them. He had her. With him.
And so, he found himself, despite his better judgement, wrapping his arms around her tightly, holding her warmth against him like she was the only thug keeping him feathered to the ground. And it's quite possible that she was. It's quite the possible that she was the only one he had left. He had his dumbass friends, sure, but they weren't Momo. They wouldn't understand, they wouldn't listen to him no matter what he had to say. And he l-o-v-e loved her.
"Don't say that," He hoped he wasn't hurting her as he entangled his delicate fingers in her hair and wrapped his arm around her waist tighter. She didn't protest. He was sure she could hear his heart beating practically out of his chest at the moment, but he didn't care. It was the best feeling he'd ever experienced to be able to hold her and touch her. Her hair was like silk between his calloused and his heartbeat against his was soothing. Funny how you could fall in love with someone without even having kissed them before. "It- I..." What we're the words he wanted to say? I'm sorry, you fucking numbskull. Just say the fucking words! Why can't you just say the words?! His brain screamed at him.
"But I am sorry," Fuck, she was crying now. She was crying into his chest, her tears wetting his shirt, her chest moving unevenly with soft sobs. Why was she so upset about this? Yes, he had been terrible to her, but why did she feel so guilty? What was there to be guilty about? This was his fault. She should be mad but she was apologizing to him. "I shouldn't have pushed you. I-I didn't mean- to make you mad," She sobbed.
"Momo I'm...Not mad. I'm not mad. This is...I shouldn't have yelled at you. I'm-" He words stopped themselves in his throat. What was wrong with him? He should be able to apologize to the woman he loved. Not that she knew that. Not that she knew that he was falling like a shooting star for her. He should be able to say- "I'm sorry," The words left his mouth on a gasp, as if they physically hurt him to say. As if they were like a stab in the gut. Because they were.
Not in a lot of years had Todoroki ever apologized to someone. The Todoroki family in general made it a point not to apologize. The only person who ever did was his sister and that was only because she didn't spend enough time around his dad to become a stubborn brat. But Shouto Todoroki was the worst of all of them. He didn't apologize when girls thought he was cheating on them, he didn't apologize when he pissed people off, he didn't apologize at all.
But now...
"W-What?" Momo looked at him, midnight eyes watering with sparkling tears that made her look to innocent and sweet that it brought a bright red blush to his high cheekbones. Her eyebrows were turned upward, her pouty lips were glossy with tears. She was to beautiful, even when she was crying. How? How was she so beautiful?
He wanted to kiss her with every fiber of his being in that moment. Every part of him wanted to end this fucking charade with his lips pressed against hers. He would be soft, he would be sweet, not greedy like he was with other girls. With other girls was hungry, but not for them, for the pleasure they could bring him. But with her he would be tender. With her he would be sweet and slow. But he couldn't because everyone knows you don't just kiss girls who didn't want you back. That wasn't a thing that was okay. So, he silenced himself with his words.
"Please don't make me say it again," He whispered. He would just have to be satisfied with holding her. Whether it was platonic or something slightly more than friendship, it was enough for him for now. If it had to be enough for him forever, then he was okay with that.
"Okay, b-but you have to forgive m-me for being invasive because otherwise I won't be able to sleep at night," He didn't doubt that it was true. Momo was incredibly sensitive about this kind of stuff, and even though she had done nothing wrong, she felt like she needed forgiveness.
"But I was never mad at- Okay," He sighed, a genuine smile gracing his handsome features. "Okay, I forgive you." He didn't mind doing anything for her, even if it meant telling her he forgave her for something that had never been her fault in the first place. He would do it until such them that he was brave enough to tell her the truth. And he would do it forever after too. And maybe she would never love him back. But maybe she would. And he could wait.
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a/n ~ 2/2. thanks for reading! also sorry for any typos i might've made. i'm writing this on my phone and it's twenty till one lmao.
word count: 1522
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uno - todomomo
Hayran Kurgumomo wouldn't call herself a shut-in, but she certainly won't be accused of being the life of the party. in fact, she's more of a keep-to-herself kind of college student. but after engaging in a round of midnight uno with a beautiful stranger, she f...