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It was dramatic to say that spring never sprung until you met him but that’s the only way you could describe meeting Bakugou Katsuki that crisp April day, his voice far too loud for the early hours of the morning, demanding a job as a ranch hand.
Despite your protest at having such a rude young man work for your father, he hired him anyway. You thought it was suspicious that the son of Musutafu’s premier tailor and seamstress would want to spend his days doing hard labor and saw to it that you would observe him for any behavior or actions that would give weight to your beliefs.
Your observations only lasted for two months before he caught you. It didn’t matter how hurried your steps were, it only took him a few strides to reach you, cornering you behind towering stacks of hay, the only witness to your possible murder being Daisy, the dairy cow.
She gave a soft ‘moo’ in acknowledgement to you two before going back to her meal, staying in her spot in the pasture. Bakugou was smart. The only witness was disinterested.
You already deemed him a ruffian based off your first meeting, but you were still surprised with the harsh way he spoke to you.
“The fuck you want?”
You stared at him wide-eyed, still shocked that he dared to speak to his boss’s daughter that way. Kirishima who was the same age as both of you had enough courtesy to tip his hat towards you whenever you were in the room and calmed his rambunctious nature, minding his foul language. Even Mr. Aizawa, who worked for the ranch long before you were born, called you the ‘little miss.’
His eyes glared down at you, waiting for your response. It was the first time that you noticed their color, a striking red that reminded you of hot coals as you stoked a flame. You squirmed under their intensity, realizing as you looked down that his arms on either side of you meant it would be a difficult escape.
You looked back up and said the first thing that came to your mind. You wished that you spoke the truth instead of that.
“Your eyes are pretty.”
It was Bakugou’s turn to falter and you should have taken that chance to run. He blinked twice before going back to his usual self, cockiness dripping in his voice.
“Oh. You have a crush on me.”
You felt yourself heat up at his comment and you couldn’t find the strength to refute it. Bakugou took your silence as a confession, taking his leave first with an arrogant little ‘hmph’ and swagger.
Though you were finally free to leave, you couldn’t help but stay, your knees giving in, making you sink to the ground, not caring if your dress got dirty.
“A crush?” You asked out loud.
It was an outrageous claim and wasn’t part of your motivation at all. You just didn’t trust the man. He was suspicious!
It’s not like you were inexperienced in love either. You could be found with your nose buried in a book when you weren’t helping your mother tend to the house. Adventure novels were your favorite but that didn’t mean that romance wasn’t a subgenre.
And if your real life experience with love came into question, you’ve had your fair share of suitors that you’ve rejected to your mother’s dismay and father’s delight. You couldn’t quite understand their interest in you, the way they’d tell you that they saw you in town and took a fancy to you. Love at first sight didn’t make sense to you.
How could someone look at a stranger and suddenly take an interest in them? Out of suspicion, you told yourself. Out of curiosity, Bakugou’s voice said in your mind. Out of love -or was it lust?- the voice added, snickering.
You let out a groan, making Daisy moo curiously in your direction. You put your face in your hands, wishing that she witnessed your murder instead of your humiliation.
---
You avoided him for a week after the incident behind the hay, grateful that work as a ranch hand often kept him out of your house.
This time of the year, many of your father’s workers were spread across acres of land, mending fences off the perimeter of the ranch or tending to the livestock. You hoped that Bakugou stayed on repair duty. If he had to start any of the colts, it meant that there was a higher likelihood of running into him in your daily activities.
You couldn’t avoid him forever though. The last weekend of the month was dedicated to rest, something your father emphasized to keep his men happy. It was usually on Sundays when you, your mother and the kitchen help would cook a large spread for dinner.
Grateful that Mina and Uraraka sat on either side of you, there was no opportunity for Bakugou to confront you about what happened. He found a way to still have a presence though by taking the seat across from yours, a pile of sweets separating you two.
A light tap on your foot made you break away from your conversation with your friends and look under the table. Bakugou’s boot tapped you again and you looked up at him questioningly.
“Hey, puddin’.”
You stared at him, unsure if you misheard him. Laughter and conversation filled your great dining hall, making it difficult to hear at times. You thought it would sound unnatural to hear something like that come from him, but somehow the roughness of his voice sounded a bit softer when he said it.
There was no way the young wrangler could have developed feelings for you after teasing you, could he? Or maybe he knew about your unrealized feelings because he was watching you too. You shook your head, knowing that you’ve been reading far too many romances.
He repeated himself, this time pointing to a spot just in front of you. “Hey. Pass the pudding.”
Mouthing an embarrassed ‘oh,’ you were unsure if you felt pleased or disappointed over your mistake.
Grabbing the dish, you reached across the table to hand it to him and nearly dropped it as your fingers brushed his. The graze didn’t seem to bother him as he set it down after, grabbing a heaping spoonful to place on top of his cake, drizzling caramel after to make his own personal trifle.
The exchange didn’t go unnoticed by your friends, both grinning ear-to-ear.
“Footsies,” Mina pointed out first.
“Practically hand holding,” Uraraka added.
Ever since you told them about your encounter, they were waiting for a moment like this to occur. They were lucky that they didn’t have to wait long.
But you weren’t the only one embarrassed by their teasing. Bakugou looked away from you as Kirishima nudged him, asking him why his ears were so red. They spent the entire day inside so there was no reason for them to be sunburnt. You missed Bakugou’s aggressive response and the light tone in Kirishima’s teasing.
---
Bakugou tried to avoid going to the ranch’s small infirmary for as long as he could, knowing that the doctor was attending to his own sick family member in the next town over for an unforeseeable amount of time. You and your mother took turns in his place but even she would be gone for the next few days, having gone to town with your father to make a few large purchases. He hoped that when he reached the small room, practically a shed added on to the side of the barn, that it would be closed.
To his disappointment though, you laid nestled in a cot, reading a book. The sounds of pages turning, his footsteps and the slight metallic clank of his spurs were the only noises in the room.
You didn’t look up until he was in front of you.
“Must be nice to be able to slack off and read for leisure,” the blond commented.
Closing your book with a sigh, you looked him up and down. His hair was tousled and clothes covered in dirt. His flannel had a tear near the armhole. You knew that working on the ranch was strenuous but there was only one activity that would leave him looking more unkempt than usual. Bakugou was bronco busting.
“With the state you’re in, it seems like you must be an awful teacher,” you sassed, no longer caring for pleasantries with the abrasive way he’s spoken to you each time you’ve met.
He scowled. “Where’s your bedside manner? I didn’t come here to be insulted. I came here to be cared for.”
You scoffed in return. “If you have enough energy to give me an attitude, I think you’re not that hurt.”
“How do you know that it wasn’t your words that wounded me?”
“So are you saying that you came here just to visit me, only to get hurt by a little joke?”
He said nothing, a silent way of showing defeat, and instead tossed your legs and skirts aside to make room for himself on the cot. You scrambled to stand, hoping that in your hurry your skirts didn’t rise up.
Bakugou kicked off his left boot before rolling down his sock. His ankle was swollen. It was more than likely that he fell on it wrong. If he was able to walk from the pens to the infirmary, his injury couldn’t have been that bad.
“I’m no doctor, but-” You ignored Bakugou’s sarcastic ‘well no shit.’ “What do you want me to do?”
“It’s not broken,” he told you. You wouldn’t know how to set a cast anyway. “This shit just hurts.”
The best you could do was wrap it, ice it and then elevate it. There might be a salve for pain left over in one of the cabinets if you looked hard enough.
You didn’t want him to be there with you but you recommended that he rest for a few hours to prevent further inflammation. At least you’d be able to read at the desk in front of the infirmary, several feet away and diagonal from the man.
But it was stupid of you to think that Bakugou would sleep for the remainder of his time with you. He was used to constantly moving. Laying still didn’t sit well with him and ten minutes later, he claimed he was bored and demanded that you entertain him.
“Tell me a story,” he commanded.
It was with embarrassment that you mumbled that you didn’t have any. You only knew the ranch and the town. Whatever stories you had were in your head, all elaborate daydreams and wishes about running away from your life of comfort and feeling that thrilling nausea of uncertainty and adventure like the heroines of your books.
“What about the one in your hand?”
Looking at him in surprise, you didn’t expect him to take an interest in what you were reading. The book in your hand was an anthology and the story you were on was about two lovers running away from their small town and starting a new life in the city. So far their new life was full of hardship but what should have pushed them apart only brought them closer together.
“It’s boring,” you said, trying to make it sound unappealing but he was insistent on hearing about it. In fact, the brat even wanted you to read it to him.
Knowing he wouldn’t let up, you finally gave in after a few more minutes of back-and-forth. You flipped to its first page. It’d take about an hour to get through it but you were hoping that he would get bored again after a few pages.
Bakugou didn’t. He hung on to your every word until you reached the last sentence, that loud mouth of his finally silent except for the occasional gasp or hum.
He looked at you with narrowed eyes when you closed the book, offended that you had stopped there.
“What? It’s tiring speaking for so long,” you told him.
“Fine,” he relented, as if you were being the difficult one. “Tell me about your other favorite stories then.”
You felt something that wasn’t embarrassment rise up in your chest. It was a feeling that made you feel jittery. You told yourself it was anxiety.
Yes, it was definitely anxiety, you thought, as Bakugou looked at you intensely, a small smile on his lips as you told him about your favorites. It was stressful trying to keep this explosive young man entertained, so stressful that you didn’t even have time to ponder why he needed to know who your favorite author was.
---
“You kept this secret from us for months?” Uraraka screeched, your two friends finally having a break from their duties in the kitchen.
Mina feigned a look of pain. “I’m hurt.” She gestured towards the brunette and the two of them pouted. “We’re hurt.”
Their dramatics were the reason why you didn’t tell them about the infirmary incident sooner. They saw meaning in every little interaction, even if it was just as straight-forward as a ‘hello’ or ‘excuse me.’
“You should have told him that you were a fan of romance, that money is the best aphrodisiac.” You ignored her as she got lost in her own fantasy of the perfect man.
Mina laughed at her friend’s imagination. “Yeah, you can say that you like romance novels, especially the one with the cowboy with the really big horse c-”
“Can we stop here today, ladies?” You asked, already knowing where this would go. “I think we should give the men a treat and make some pies for dessert instead.”
---
Trudging through the tall grass, you wiped the sweat off your brow, knowing that you were about fifteen paces away from your spot.
Today was a particularly suffocating day where your daydreams were on the verge of becoming actions, the wooden boards of your home making you feel claustrophobic.
Even the open air or the view from your balcony couldn’t please you as your eyes wandered towards the unknown land beyond the forest, a few thin lines of trails visible that would lead you to the rest of the world. In your mind, you already had the details of your father’s ranch and the little town you grew up in memorized. You wanted the unknown.
You smiled as you found your tree, special because it was the only tree you climbed as a child, your one moment of freedom and adventure before your father scrambled up after you to prevent you from seeing new heights.
“It’s not safe for you up there or outside. Stick to what you know,” he told you gently, guiding you back to the playroom on the ranch. You knew it wasn’t intentional but his words weighed heavily upon you and your feet dragged back home as if trapped in shackles.
Fingers tracing the rough bark fondly, you fancied for a moment about climbing up it, wondering if you would have the same thrill you did as a child. The thought was so wild, you couldn’t help but laugh at your foolishness. It would be difficult to climb with how heavy your dress was. You didn’t have the luxury of having no responsibilities as a child.
Instead you chose to settle into its base, branches waving, leaves fluttering as a voiceless hello. You didn’t have the courage to do something to change your fate but for now getting lost in the worlds of authors would be enough. The warm sun on your skin and smell of fresh, sweet grass and flowers would be enough to make you forget about this life for a while.
You woke up to a boot poking your side, the toe point not particularly sharp. Rubbing the sleep from your eyes, you blinked, realizing that the sun had almost fallen. The meadow was cast in golden hues, making you wish you wouldn’t have to leave this place.
The boot coughed, making your eyes trail up its length to meet its owner. For a brief moment Bakugou almost looked concerned but as quickly as it came, it left. It must have been a trick of the lighting.
“I’m only worried about you because you’re the boss’s daughter,” he said, answering your confusion. “He’s got the boys looking all over the property for you. Quit causing the good man trouble.”
Getting up and dusting yourself off, you had one more question before following him to his horse. “How did you find me?”
Bakugou let you get on first before hopping on behind you with a slight grunt. Reaching around you to grab the reins, his arms settled at your waist to handle the beast, giving the commands for it to move. He let it trot for a few moments before he answered.
“When you’re on your balcony, sometimes you stare off in this direction. The few times we’ve come back from town too, you’ve slowed down where the trail splits to this place.”
You felt yourself grow shy and hot from his observations, your feelings only growing worse as you became more aware of how his hands rested on your thighs. Thankful that he still had his gloves on, you were glad that you didn’t know how his rough hands would feel against your skin.
The two of you traveled in silence and it was only when you reached the stable that Bakugou spoke again.
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to leave, with wanting to know what lies beyond this place.”
You didn’t know what to say. He didn’t elaborate further.
You found yourself reaching the front of the house with regret. There was something about his companionship that put you in the same type of ease that reading did. Being with Bakugou was like reading one of your novels. When he wasn’t grating, his presence was a brief escape from the ranch.
Mumbling some words of appreciation that you could hardly sputter out let alone tell him while making eye contact, you walked into the house. You threw a glance over your shoulder before the door shut and smiled, wishing him a good night and sweet dreams for all of his effort.
Bakugou said nothing, only tilted the tip of his hat. As it settled into place, you saw the redness in his face before he quickly turned heel and left for the wranglers’ quarters. You knew that he wasn’t burned by the sun when he met you. This wasn’t a trick of the light either, the porch was well-lit.
There was a dance in your step as you headed towards the parlour room where your parents awaited, a smile on your lips as you thought that whatever scolding you received would be worth it.
---
“Oh, he likes you! No, he loves you!”
“Stop it,” you said, dismissing your friends’ wild theories about Bakugou’s actions.
“I can ask Kirishima if you’re curious,” Mina offered. “You know they’re close.”
You paused for a moment but even that was an action that needed to be dissected.
“Did you see that? She’s considering it.”
---
“Unbelievable,” you scolded the blond, giving him a once over before demanding that he remove his shirt.
Even in his current state, he smirked at you, as if he was giving you your heart’s desire. He removed the shirt slowly, though there were only a few buttons left, the rest gone from constant falls and being dragged across the dirt.
Bakugou only winced once as he twisted his body to remove the piece of clothing completely, the fabric falling to the ground in a soft pile at his feet. It was then that you examined him, the rest of his torso surprisingly tan but littered in bruising in various states of healing. There was a scar on his side from a bronco that didn’t take too kindly to branding.
From the equal rise and fall of his chest, it looked like nothing important was broken. You scanned quickly up his chest to meet his lips, already twisted in an arrogant smile. You didn’t give him the satisfaction of making a comment, now ordering him to sit on the cot.
The only thing that needed work was his face. His personality too, but there wasn’t much that you could fix about that.
“It wasn’t the horses this time, was it?” You asked, trying to make small talk as you gathered the items necessary to cleanse the cut on his cheek.
You looked at him once more as you let the alcohol soak into the rag. Those scarlet eyes were downcast and looking at his hands instead.
“Would it be too much of a stretch to say that it involved one bull and an ass?” You asked, moving beside him once more and tapping his chin so that Bakugou would look up at you.
Anyone could have guessed that the young man wanted to be a bull rider. On his days off, he was always in their pens, giving each animal a turn so he wouldn’t get used to one temperament. Somehow you found him more interesting than your books on these days, watching how he’d get up after every buck, more determined than ever to stay on even a millisecond longer.
Knowing he wouldn’t indulge you in conversation, you set to working on the cut, thumb and index fingers holding onto his chin so he couldn’t squirm as the alcohol stung him. It was a small cut but a cut nonetheless. You didn’t want it to get infected.
But there were worse things than infection, you realized. Things that the good doctor didn’t tell you about. Things that made you and Bakugou feel feverish to the touch, his cheeks a glowing pink in the candlelight. You wondered if his heart felt like it was racing too or maybe it was dislodged in his throat, suddenly making it hard to say anything to get out of your current position.
Those scarlet eyes were downcast no more instead staring into your soul as if to gauge your reaction. You wanted to back down from his challenge and to look away but even if you ran, the arm around your waist would have kept you there.
The very scratched up and naked arm around your waist that had no garment to keep it warm. The arm that was attached to a very large and well-built chest that was chiseled from long hours on the ranch.
No, you couldn’t run away. Instead you found yourself caught up in whatever mysterious disease this was, your knees feeling weak and mind hazy as you lowered your head to meet his, your lips nearly a breath away from Bakugou’s.
Apparently a loud and sudden ‘Hey!’ was the cure to whatever ailed you as Mr. Aizawa strolled into the clinic lazily, hand in the air to show you that he needed a bandage. He said nothing as you and Bakugou separated quickly.
Gathering a handful of supplies, tossing his forgotten shirt at him and providing the blond with a jumbled mess of instructions, you told him to hurry up so you could treat the next patient. But the glance he threw over his shoulder as he left told you that you weren’t done with him just yet.
---
You met him a few nights later after supper by the back porch that no one went to. You sat next to him on the stairs.
“Is your face fine?” You asked. It’s been a few nights since you’ve been able to be alone with him and you were finally able to sneak off after supper.
The back porch was quiet aside from the slight creak in the stairs that you two sat on as he leaned back and cast a side glance at you.
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
He laughed slightly at the way you scrunched your nose in annoyance.
“At least we know that your ego wasn’t damaged with all of those falls.”
The two of you fell into silence again as you watched the horizon darken and the moon rise.
He broke the silence in a way that was similar to how the stars broke up the night sky with their light. His words were sudden.
“A lot of people think I’m stupid for leaving home.”
You’ve heard the way that people talked about him in town, even the way some of the other ranch hands spoke of him. He came from a well-off family and wouldn’t have to dirty his hands to make a living. It didn’t make sense for him to leave it all behind to pursue a career of hard labor.
“They think of me even more poorly when they find out that I want to live my life riding bulls.”
After the first time he caught you, you learned that was his main motivation for working here. He wanted to build up the strength necessary to ride. He wanted to gain experience with the animals. He needed money to travel. Your father’s ranch was the only one that wouldn’t turn away anyone that wanted to work. You knew this wasn’t a permanent place for him.
“They can’t fathom why I’d want to leave such a comfortable life for something that might kill me. They don’t understand why I’d trade security for the unknown. But you… I think you understand, don’t you?”
You threw his words from months ago back at him. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to leave, with wanting to know what lies beyond this place.”
“Sometimes home isn’t where you’re born but rather the places that tame your wild heart.”
He hummed, satisfied with your answer. But you weren’t sure if he understood that you weren’t like him. You couldn’t just leave like you wanted, like how he planned to. You had a role to play as the rancher’s daughter. It was difficult to leave with your willpower alone.
As the night grew longer, you shivered, rubbing your arms to push the goosebumps down. Seeing you try to warm yourself up, Bakugou shrugged off his heavy denim jacket, placing it around your shoulders.
You flipped the collar up to keep your neck warm, the sherpa soft against your skin. Glancing at Bakugou and the flannel he had on, you moved in a daring way that you only read about in books. Wordlessly, you leaned against his shoulder. Your act of bravery rewarded you with his arm snaked around you.
The two of you sat in silence as you looked up at the stars. You wondered if they looked the same under city lights or in different lands. As you pressed yourself closer to Bakugou, you knew that wherever you went wouldn’t have the same fragrance, wouldn’t conjure up the same intense emotions or memories.
He smelled sweet.
---
There weren’t any romantic offers of letters or words of consolation that could soothe you as Bakugou leaned back against the tree’s trunk, his decision made. The meadow with all its beauty couldn’t calm you.
His horse stirred at the sound of your sobs, letting out a few concerned neighs, pawing at the ground.
You envied him. You wished you could leave too. The only thing that was here for you was marriage and a few more decades of monotony, childrearing and reading.
He sat with you for another hour and listened to all the names you called him other than his own, moving only when the sun started to set as he urged you to go back to the ranch before it got dark.
The only thing he left you with was a kiss and a promise that next time he would leave with you.
Bakugou was gone after two winters.
---
You didn’t have the patience to wait on a promise whose delivery you weren’t certain of.
Life went on after Bakugou left the ranch. You continued to read and write. You sewed. You tended to the wounds of the ranch hands and even received praise once the doctor returned.
Before you knew it, over a year and a half had gone by.
Mina and Uraraka tried to help you move on as best as they could, offering their companionship whenever they were available. However they soon realized that this was something that you would have to go through alone and with time.
Your mother encouraged you to find a suitor soon before you became a spinster. There were only so many years left that you had. But the way you rejected her advice and any potential husbands was as routine as your life on the ranch.
Though you knew you had your obligations, you couldn’t bring yourself to fulfill them. As months passed, your willingness was waning.
You found yourself staring out at the untamed lands and going to the edge of the meadow often, stopping just a step away from territory you weren’t familiar with.
---
You watched the rider clad in black as he strutted out into the pen. Of all who were competing today, he was the favored rider. It was only eight seconds of danger but your heart was racing with anticipation.
He seemed tall from your seat in the rodeo but the bull he was supposed to ride was still massive in comparison.
You watched as the rodeo clown enticed the bull before the round started, the goofy faces seemed more than enough to get it riled up.
With the sound of a horn, his ride started.
His free arm was stiff yet the rest of the rider’s body seemed fluid as he flowed with the bucks of the beast. You knew that by now, you’d be thrown off but his grip on the flat braid remained the same. The fringe on his pants swung wildly.
You weren’t surprised by the score he received, lasting an impressive six seconds before he was tossed off harshly, the padded vest he was wearing serving to provide some cushion from the ground. He had two more rounds of this.
After his final ride, he got up slowly from the ground, taking the hand that was offered to him before dusting himself off. It was hard to tell if he was satisfied with his performance.
The young man didn’t seem too confident in securing the win though as he bumped shoulders with a slightly shorter rider, nearly knocking down the young man dressed in dark green.
A few riders later and it was finally Kirishima’s turn, the wrangler joining the competition at the last minute for fun. He probably wouldn’t last the full eight seconds but you thought he deserved a full score in showmanship at least, dazzling all of the women in the crowd and giving them a polite tip of his hat before mounting.
With their scores tallied up, you weren’t surprised by the first rider winning tonight. You were surprised by the name they called out instead.
Bakugou Katsuki.
---
Bakugou didn’t expect to see you there. Though he exchanged the occasional letter with Kirishima, he didn’t dare to ask about you. He knew it was cruel to ask you to wait for him and he doubted that you would but not knowing with certainty that you were taken, that you weren’t his, made him unsettled.
So it was with great surprise that he took in your appearance, more beautiful than the day he left you. He doubted you would be able to recognize him from so far away but there was no way he could mistake you for anyone else.
Seeing you in the crowd made him more determined to win. Though he was doing this for himself, he hoped that you would be impressed. That you would be proud. That the wait would be worth it.
---
Bakugou broke away from the small crowd that gathered around him after he changed and freshened up. His eyes scanned the arena for you. He couldn’t find you.
But he did find someone that could lead him to you.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Bakugou said dismissively, waving off Mina with his hand. “You can compliment me all you want later.”
Mina pretended to pout before breaking into a grin. “After all these years, I thought you might be happy to see the girl who gave you the best cuts of meat but I guess your heart is set on someone else.”
He rolled his eyes. Bakugou headed towards the exit impatiently, wondering if you were outside.
“She’s at the wine room at UA’s Saloon with Uraraka,” he heard Mina call out to him. “Kiri and I will meet you there soon!”
---
You paid no mind to the hushed whispers as you and Uraraka drank your glasses of wine, having beat the post-rodeo rush by taking the back door instead of going through the main entrance of the saloon.
Thinking it was Kirishima or Mina who tapped your shoulder, Uraraka’s wide eyes told you that it was someone else. You turned to find Bakugou before you, his skin still sun-kissed, his hair just as blond but his frame a little larger. He was dressed in all black and…
“It was you,” you blurted out. “You won!”
Bakugou smirked. “Best rider in the regional circuit. Even got a medal to prove it.”
You smiled at him, pride evident. “So that means…?”
Your question hung in the air, waiting for acknowledgement. He gave a nod to the girls and Kirishima who approached your seats with two pints of ale.
“I’m taking you home.”
“Already?” The redhead whined. “When will we-”
“We’ll have to catch up another time,” Bakugou said curtly,ushering you towards the exit with his hand on the small of your back.
You looked back at Mina and Uraraka. There was a look in their eyes as they bid you goodbye and good night. You smiled, knowing this wouldn’t be the last time you’d see them.
---
You and Bakugou rode in silence on the familiar road that led to your father’s ranch, disappointment brewing at each fork in the road that you passed. Each missed turn was another missed opportunity to leave, another reminder that maybe you really would be stuck in this town forever.
Feeling your heart drop at the final fork, you looked down, not daring to see which path he would take. Like all the other times you’ve dreamt of leaving, this time too, you’d only get so far before you were reminded that it was a silly fantasy. You could never be as brave as Bakugou.
The dimming sun made it difficult to discern your surroundings without squinting as Bakugou leaned slightly backwards, pulling twice on the reins slowly. As your eyes adjusted, you realized that it wasn’t a detour that you and Bakugou took. It was the meadow.
He tied the horse to a tree, grabbed the lantern at the side of his pack and lit it, waiting for you to follow him to the tree. Your tree.
“I thought you were taking me home,” you said, despite settling against the tree’s large trunk to stretch your legs, hip sore from the saddle, the skirts of your dress spilling around you.
“Oh, you still got a curfew?” He teased. “Sorry to break it to you, sweetheart, but I don’t work for your father anymore. I don’t have to abide by his rules. I can make you spend the night with me if I damn well please.”
The danger and authority in his voice sent a thrilling shock down your spine, only to be softened by his next words.
“That is, of course, if you’ll have me.”
You didn’t give him a reply in words but in actions as you leaned over to finally kiss him, the world turning from sunset golden hues to something dark as your eyes closed, getting lost in his taste. Bakugou tasted the same way he smelled -sweet, like cinnamon and toffee, an ironic scent for someone so masculine.
He pulled you into his lap, breaking the kiss briefly only to return even more fervently, his mouth hurried as if he only had until the stars set to have you.
An excited whimper escaped your mouth and into his as his riding gloves were cast aside and you could finally feel his large, rugged hands all over your body, roughly tugging on buttons to loosen your clothing and pushing aside the fabric that kept you from him.
Once everything was adequately loose, he flipped you onto your back and hastily undressed himself, stopping just short of undoing his pants to ask if you liked what you saw.
Your hand covered half your face, unable to put up a front with him anymore, as you confessed that you did.
Bakugou smirked before getting on his knees before you, pushing your legs open and moving your skirts up so that you could only see a bobbing blond head that was slowly disappearing.
“Good,” he told you. “Since I’m giving you a feast for your eyes, I think it’s only fair that you give me something to eat in return.”
“Eat?” You echoed, squirming and too embarrassed to see what exactly he was doing down there. None of the books you read ever described something like this. You could feel the heat of his breath against your thighs, his fingers brushing against your panties only to disappear as quickly as they came.
His head popped up from between your legs, a wolfish grin on his face, the light making his eyes gleam like rubies.
He hummed. “Maybe kiss would be a better word,” he mused.
You had more questions. “A kiss where…?”
His head dipped down again as he left open mouthed kisses down one thigh before reaching your center. You felt yourself squirm under his touch as he kissed your pussy through your panties, giving them a slight suck to taste your desire.
His voice was low and your skirts did little to muffle it.
“A kiss down here,” he said, sliding the fabric off.
“A kiss that turns to kisses…”
You felt his tongue swirl against your clit before his mouth set to work on your hole, lewd, wet noises echoing in the darkness.
“...that turns to touches…”
His mouth went back to kissing that sensitive little bud as a thick finger slid itself inside of you, your hips shifting at its thickness.
“So you’ll experience that-”
“Oh.”
Bakugou couldn’t finish whatever it was that he was going to say as one ‘oh’ turned into a choir of them, your fingers getting tangled in his hair as he added another finger.
The pads of his fingers pressed upwards against something soft and spongy, his nose buried in your cunt as he inhaled your sweetness and tasted it on his tongue, making a mess of your juices.
Your hands pressed him closer to your core, thighs shaking around his head as you came. Whatever commands you gave were lost in your whimpers and moans, only three syllables stuck on your tongue. Ba-ku-gou.
It was with meekness that you met with Bakugou face-to-face once more, a slight sheen of sweat on your body. The sky was pitch black now aside from the stars. The only light came from the small lantern and it put you in the spotlight as Bakugou looked at every inch of skin, committing each curve to memory.
You watched as he sucked one finger dry before finally pulling out his cock, his member bouncing from its constraints. The lantern light only made your surprised expression more dramatic.
Licking your lips, you wanted to kiss it, to make him feel just as good as he did right now, but Bakugou clicked his tongue. “There’s no time,” he said as he spat on his cock, rubbing it across his length.
“You know how long I've been waiting to give this to you?” He asked as he positioned himself between your legs. You felt the head of his cock push its way between your folds, the sensation thicker and fuller than his fingers.
There were years of built-up tension where you touched, years of aching from his time on the ranch as your fingers would trace your body and go over what-ifs, years of yearning in the time after as your cries turned to moans and mouthed words you couldn’t say about what could have been.
There were years of waiting in each kiss, years of wanting with each sigh as hand found hand and foreheads pressed against each other.
Bakugou’s length moved in inches into your depth as your nails sunk into his back as your body adjusted to his size. Once he was completely inside, his eyes closed for a moment, savoring the way your walls squeezed against him, the way your hips bucked weakly beneath his and the way you whispered broken little ‘please’s into his ear.
“Say it,” he commanded, his voice closer to a growl than its usual rasp. “Tell me that you’re mine, just like I’m yours.”
“I’m yours,” you whispered, your sentence broken between moans as Bakugou’s thrusts became more forceful and quick.
“Katsuki,” he managed to grunt out. “Say it. Say it like you need me. Like I’m the only one that can make you cum. Like I’m the only one that will make you cum.”
You split his name in two as your voice faltered and you saw stars, that tension finally releasing once more as his mouth met yours.
“That’s it, pretty girl,” he cooed. “Cum for me.”
His release came soon after yours, his breathing heavy and ragged as he fought against your tight walls to press into you as deeply as possible, to make sure that every inch of your pussy felt him, to make sure that he marked you as his with his cum.
Coming off his high, he pulled you into his arms, the sweat making your skin stick together.
“As long as you’ll have me, I’ll give you what you want, what you need.”
The way he looked into your eyes and the gentle way he said your name told you that he was earnest.
“I’m here to make good on my promise. I’ll take you away from here. You can see it all. The open sky. The city. I’ll take you home to wherever your heart takes you.”
“Wherever you are is where my heart wants to be,” you told him, your fingers entwined in his.
Under the stars, the grass smelled sweet, its fragrance imprinted on Katsuki’s skin and yours. You could smell the wildflowers too as you closed your eyes, feeling safe in his embrace. With his fingers in your hair, he told you to rest. The two of you would leave before sunrise.