Potholes (Just Let Me)

Saturday

Todoroki woke up at 5 am the next morning, and not on purpose. The combination of aching and sharp stabbing pains in his ankle was an unwelcome wake-up call, although a familiar one. He popped the extra painkiller the paramedic had given him and fell back into bed.

He already knew he wouldn't be getting back to sleep. He's always been the 'once I'm up, I'm up' type. He wishes he wasn't though, because once the drugs cut through the haze of pain, he remembers Midoriya's fingers on his scalp and his chin tucked into his neck. He remembers falling asleep, drawn into unconsciousness by the strong rhythm of Midoriya's heart.

That familiar guilt rears its ugly head, but Midoriya's voice comes to mind as well.

"You're not an inconvenience."

"You're not wasting my time."

He figures he can spend time overanalyzing it all later and just gets himself up to brush his teeth and shower. He kept his ankle from spending too much time in the warm water, reminding himself sternly, "cold for the first 24 hours, heat afterward." He knew that tomorrow's warm shower would feel heavenly on his ankle.

He debates starting his chemistry homework, but he knows any school work he does this early in the morning will be practically incomprehensible later. Instead, he grabs the book he's been reading, limps to the elevator, and makes his way downstairs. He brews some tea in the common room and moves out to the front steps. The sun was already up, beams of light shining out, refracted by the misty, dewy air. He sat enjoying his warm tea, the beautiful eloquence of the story, and the peace of the morning for a while. Around 6 am, he's disturbed by Bakugou, dressed in joggers and a light windbreaker, heading out for an early morning run.

"The fuck are you doing out here, Icy Hot?"

"Reading."

"Thanks for that. I have fucking EYES, you know? I meant why are you out here reading at this fucking hour of the morning?"

"Ah yeah, sorry I should've assumed, the painkillers wore off during the night and my ankle woke me up. I couldn't get back to sleep."

"You've been icing it, right dumbass?"

"Yeah, I've had a bunch of these before, I know what I'm doing."

Todoroki appreciated it though. In his own way, Bakugou was showing he cared. It seemed like the conversation was over as Bakugou started down the steps. He paused on the last one, turned back, and said, "Kirishima told me what you said to him last night."

"Yeah. I meant it."

Bakugou snorted, "Didn't know a dumbass like you could piece it all together."

With that, he jogged off. Again, Todoroki appreciated it. It was Bakugou's bizarre way of saying thank you.

After another 15 minutes, Todoroki pulled himself up and went inside for breakfast. And because the universe just fucking hated him, Midoriya was already there, hair a bit wet from a shower, and fucking shirtless.

"Good morning."

"Oh! Good morning Todoroki-kun! Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No, just tea."

"Alright, well I was going to cook, let me make you some too!"

"It's alright, I can cook for myself."

"We both know you can't cook for shit." Midoriya said fondly while cracking some eggs into a bowl, "Just let me."

So just like last night, when Midoriya tucked him into the car or when he rewrapped his ankle, Todoroki just lets him.