To Stand by Your Side (DekuBaku)

Chapter 26: Maybe we Arent Such Useless Gays After All

"You got your clothes?"

"Check."

"Food?"

"Check."

"Sleeping bag?"

"Check."

"And please, tell me you have the tent."

Izuku nodded, phone propped up between his shoulder and ear. "Check, check, check. Just cause I haven't done this much before doesn't mean I can't read a list!"

"Yeah, well... I'm gonna be the one to make sure you're not making any stupid beginner mistakes." Katsuki mumbled from the other end of the phone. "I've got all my stuff together, so you better not screw this up before we start, Deku."

Not gonna screw up the short time we have together. Not gonna screw up the camping trip we've had planned for weeks now.

"Give me a break, Kacchan. I read over the list you sent like, ten times!" Izuku protested, but cursed when he realized that he'd forgotten to throw in his water bottle even after looking through his new, basic camping gear more than he'd have liked to admit.

"...someone's a little quiet, huh?"

"Shove it."

"Forgot something?"

"I said shove it."

There was a small, short chuckle from the other end, and for as much of a little shit his boyfriend was being, it was still kinda cute.

And it's... it's nice to hear his voice again. This week has been so long, too many patrols and incidents, and god. It's been like, a month since we've gotten to spend any extended amount of time together. I'm ready to see him again.

"You... you are just about done packing though, right?" Katsuki asked, more hesitant this time. "I'm not too far from your place right now, and I was just gonna go wait for you once I got off of the stop, and—"

"I'll be down there in a few minutes, don't worry." He assured him, looking over his stuff once more before zipping up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder, and grabbing his keys. "Is the weather still alright? I haven't gone outside this morning, but the forecast said it would be sunny and relatively warm for February, so I just grabbed a coat and—"

"It's good. Shouldn't be any issues. Just get down here, 'kay? I don't wanna be standing around waiting for you for too long." Katsuki huffed, and somewhere in the background, Izuku could hear the familiar sound of the train coming to a halt. "I miss you. S'been too long. Don't wanna waste this time while we've got it."

"Ah, me neither. And I'm—" He stepped out the door, pulled it closed, and locked it behind him. "I'm leaving now! Be right over."

"Alright, alright. See you in a minute."

His boyfriend hung up as Izuku raced down the stairs of his apartment building, camping gear strapped to his backpack and anticipation quickening his every move. There wouldn't be much skin-to-skin contact like the onsen had allowed them, but even through the barrier of thick jackets and warm hats, he was excited. It'd been too long, too long since they'd been able to see each other again for real, and until they met up and got to the hiking trails, Izuku wasn't sure the feeling of being away from work for a whole two days would sink in. They'd been trying to text regularly, yeah, but most every conversation had ended with a bitter aftertaste. Izuku couldn't put words to just why it felt so off, so strange, but in more than one way, this small trip felt like it could be their make-or-break for good.

Something... something has to give. I don't know what's going on, not really, but I just...

Izuku's breath hitched when he saw Katsuki standing at the end of the street, his own backpack secure on his shoulders over a dark, warm-looking coat. It really wasn't bad outside– while January had been ripe with scathing winter chills, February had graced them with pockets of relief, days where the cold would lighten up enough to let them consider doing something like this. It'd taken too much deliberation between them to even figure out when, where, and what to do for the weekend, but finally, finally—