Chapter Text
Katsuki did an impressive job at avoiding Izuku for the rest of the weekend, always finding an excuse to leave the room any time Izuku entered and ignoring Izuku’s knocks on his door.
Izuku knew Katsuki’s routine, though, so Monday morning he woke up early to wait by the front door for Katsuki to come back from his 4am run.
Katsuki pushed open the door a little before 5am. He was breathing hard and his skin glistened with sweat, and even in Izuku’s state of anxiety, he couldn’t help but stare. Hot and sweaty was a good look on Kacchan.
Katsuki froze when he saw Izuku, and Izuku quickly pulled his focus back to the conversation they needed to have.
“Kacchan–” Izuku started, but Katsuki was already striding past him towards the stairs. Izuku grabbed his arm. “Kacchan, stop. We need to talk.”
“I don’t want to talk,” Katsuki said, pulling his arm out of Izuku’s grasp.
“But the other day–”
“I was just starting to be able to tolerate you, but then you went and fucked it up by asking that question. What’s wrong with you?”
“Just let me talk!” Izuku snapped. “Maybe if you’d let me talk in the first place, you wouldn’t have had to spend all weekend being so dramatic!”
Katsuki narrowed his eyes, but didn’t say anything.
“You opened up to me, and I didn’t do the same for you, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I made you feel like I was just trying to get something to hold over you.”
Katsuki was silent, his whole body tense but his face betraying no emotion.
“It doesn’t really matter if you like me or not, but you deserve to know, at least… I like you, Kacchan. I have for a long time. That’s why I asked how you felt. You’ve always been out of reach, but I thought, maybe…”
Katsuki frowned. “Why the hell would you like me like that?”
“Because you’re amazing! I keep telling you, why won’t you listen?”
“I treated you like shit.”
“You know it’s always been more complicated than that.”
“This is what I meant when I said you never take yourself into account. Just let it go, moron.”
Izuku’s eyes filled with frustrated tears. “I don’t understand. I tell you I like you and you respond by telling me I never think about myself? Can’t you just tell me how you feel?”
When he saw Izuku’s tears and heard his words, Katsuki’s guarded expression cracked, showing something more gentle underneath. He took a deep breath, and the tension seemed to melt from his body.
“From what you told me about last night… I already did. It’s not my fault you’re too fucking stupid to connect the dots.”
“I want to hear you say it.”
Katsuki let out a frustrated huff, but he took Izuku’s hand in his. He took a step closer, bringing his face within inches of Izuku’s.
“How many times do I have to tell you not to tell me what to do?” he said softly. He closed the last few inches and kissed Izuku.
Izuku had thought about this moment a lot. He’d spent a lot of time staring, as inconspicuously as he could, at Katsuki’s lips. He’d spent a lot of nights up late, wondering what it would be like. How it would feel.
It felt as good as he thought it would. Underneath the scent of sweat and smoke, there was something that was distinctly Kacchan, a familiar, comforting scent Izuku had known his whole life. All the thoughts disappeared from his brain as he savored the feeling of Katsuki’s lips against his and the heat of their bodies so close together.
But doubt started creeping in after just a moment. What was Katsuki thinking? Had he ever thought about kissing Izuku before? Was he disappointed? Did he wish he could take it back? Maybe he–
Izuku didn’t realize how tense he was until Katsuki pulled back and met his eyes, gentle concern in them. “You don’t want this?”
“Please,” Izuku said. His mouth was dry and the word barely came out, so he swallowed and tried again. “Please don’t stop.”
The corner of Katsuki’s mouth turned up in a smirk. “Thought so. Stop overthinking it, nerd.” Katsuki kissed him again, but it wasn’t long before Izuku’s mind started wandering again - should he be doing something with his hands? How long did kisses usually last? Should he—
Stop overthinking it, he reminded himself. He relaxed his body and melted into the kiss. It was messy but gentle, Katsuki leading and Izuku following, for now. Izuku absently noted the feeling of Katsuki’s hands coming up to cup his face, the movement of his own arms wrapping around Katsuki’s sweat-damp waist, pulling him closer because as close as they were, it didn’t feel close enough.
They finally broke apart, both of them breathing hard.
Izuku was so happy, down to the core, his whole body tingling with the delight of being so wrapped up in Katsuki.
But a cold sense of anxiety descended on him within a few moments. “This means something, doesn’t it?” He couldn’t bear the thought of experiencing this and then going back to how things were.
“You’re so stupid.”
Izuku’s lower lip trembled.
“Yes, okay? It means something.” Katsuki leaned his forehead against Izuku’s. “I like you, you like me. Let’s see where it goes.”
Tears spilled over, streaming down Izuku’s face.
“What the hell are you crying for?” Katsuki said, stepping back to take Izuku’s face in his hands and wiping away the tears with his thumbs.
“I’m so happy.”
“You’re so pathetic. Come here.” Katsuki pulled Izuku into a hug and rested his chin on top of Izuku’s head.
Izuku buried his head in Katsuki’s shoulder, holding onto Katsuki like he was the only thing keeping Izuku grounded.
“I’m so happy,” Izuku murmured again.
“I am too, nerd,” he heard Katsuki mutter back.