Emote: Bakugo x OC Reader

Chapter 81

Authors note: Ya'll are the best. Reading your comments on the last chapter made my day. I've been working up to that scene for a long time now and it felt so fucking good to write it. I'm feeling like a fucking boss so I just kept it rolling. Happy Monday, my beautiful readers! I appreciate each and every one of you.

Bakugo's POV

I rolled over onto my side and stared at my desk sitting across the room. My eyes had long since adjusted to the dark after lying down at my usual bedtime. I'd been having a hard time sleeping over the past week, ever since I'd gotten home after making my report to the police that day. Most nights I found myself lying in bed until I eventually became too restless, at which point I would get up to go for a walk, tiring myself until I was physically exhausted enough that sleep would actually come to me. It was during those long nights when the sleep deprivation started getting to me that I wanted to talk to her the most. I almost found myself breaking down and calling her several times but each time my hand hovered over the call button I couldn't bring myself to do it. She was better off without me and the events of the last week only solidified that fact. But I realized that it was foolish of me to think I could just brush her off when I saw her first thing in the morning. It had felt as though my heart stopped.

When she had pursued me later to apologize, I unleashed the most hurtful words that came to mind, desperately trying to push her away. And yet, she reached out for me, the look in her shining green eyes that of concern. I couldn't let her touch me and feel the shame that had been festering in me since I'd been taken, couldn't accept those eyes seeing right through my facade and into the deepest parts of me that I was trying to keep hidden.

I didn't know it was possible for my heart to ache seeing the way her face crumpled as I pulled away from her. I had spent my life building a concrete wall around myself, pushing people away that tried to get close for as long as I can remember as though it was an uncontrollable impulse that I was born with. If I'm being honest with myself, Kirishima had been the only one close to putting a dent in that wall, but this girl could damn near obliterate it with a simple look.

I grabbed my phone off my nightstand, the light blinding me momentarily as my eyes adjusted to looking at the screen. In an attempt to distract myself, I mindlessly began scrolling. After a few minutes a notification popped up reading: 4 new text messages: Emo Chick.

It's nearly 10:30, why the hell is she texting me this late? I thought, swiping it off of my screen without opening it. Wait, what the fuck? Did that say there are 4 new messages? 

The last time I had checked my phone was around 9 and I hadn't had any notifications at that time. Ignoring the anxious pit of curiosity growing in my stomach, I continued scrolling. After another few minutes it happened again: 5 new text messages: Emo Chick.

What is her deal?! I thought, turning the screen off and slamming it down on my nightstand face down. Why is she blowing up my phone all of a sudden? I told her to leave me the fuck alone, how can I make that message any clearer so she'll give up already?

I thought I heard a thud in the hallway but it was quickly followed by silence so I chalked it up to my imagination. Suddenly there was a loud pounding against my door and the sound of her voice made me shoot up, my covers flying as I stumbled through the dark to the door.

"Hellooooooooooooo?!" She called out, her voice sounding like a goddamn siren shattering the nighttime silence that I had been stewing in over the past few hours.

Swinging the door open, I immediately barked, "What the fuck -"

The sight of her caused my words to get stuck in my throat. She was wearing a dark blue sweatshirt with the text Plus Ultra scrolled across the front. The hood was pulled up over her head and dark curls of hair were spilling out. Her emerald eyes were foggy and red rimmed and her cheeks were stained a deep red. She wore short dark athletic shorts and her feet were bare.

"Why are you ignoring me?" She demanded but her voice sounded odd and as she began leaning to one side I thought she might topple over.

"Are you drunk?" I asked incredulously. 

She shook her head vigorously but nearly fell over in the process. Before she could fall, I reached out and grabbed her wrist, yanking her into my room.

"Jesus, you are!" I accused, as I flipped my light on.

She stumbled in and flopped down on my bed lifting her arms up over her head as she stretched. "Oooooooooo your bed is so comfy, Katsuki. Katsuki." She seemed to be hearing my name for the first time and was rolling it around on her tongue as though testing it out. "Katsuki. Like kitty Katsuki. I love that I'm the only one that gets to say your name, kitty Katsuki."

"Let's not make that a nickname," I said, as I tried to figure out what the fuck I was going to do with this girl. She clearly was obliterated.

Suddenly, she was lifting her sweatshirt over her head and tossing it to the ground. 

"It's too hot," She whined and I quickly turned around, mortified.

"Stop stripping, woman!" I hissed. "Why did you even come here?!"

"Because I need you," She slurred.

Damn it. I thought, staring hard at my door. That wall that I'd worked so hard to build up over the years was crumbling. I had to work harder to build it up again. I couldn't let her know, couldn't admit it to myself.

"You said that you wanted to be with him, so why don't you fucking be with him already?!" I yelled, spinning around, but when I saw it I froze. "What the hell happened to you?" I asked, closing the distance between us and reaching my hand out. When she flinched, I immediately pulled back.

Realizing that the yellowish purple bruises scattering her neck took the shape of two hands, my vision blurred with a red haze. Anger, hot and blazing, consumed me, making it difficult to breathe or speak. I felt my fists clenching and the heat radiating from my palms. 

"Who the fuck did this to you?" I asked, my voice shaking with anger.  

"Please don't yell at me anymore." She whispered and it was then that I noticed the tears streaming down her face.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to break something, to pound my fist into the person who did this until my knuckles were smeared with their blood. My hands felt numb from clenching them so hard. The sweat off of my palms was aching to be ignited. Even when she began openly sobbing, I stood there, struggling to stop myself from bolting out of the room and hunting him down, whoever the fuck he was.

After a few minutes, I slowly walked forward and sat next to her on the bed. She had curled up onto her side and was holding a hand over her face so I couldn't see her. Taking a deep breath in and letting it out slowly, I laid down beside her, pulling her up against me. I held her in my arms like that until her sobs subsided over time.

"You're safe," I kept whispering into her ear. "You're safe now."

Somehow, as I held that girl in my arms and I felt the comfort that I had so desperately been craving over the past week, I realized that I was speaking just as much to myself as I was to y/n.