Through the Years

Papa Tomura

It wasn't until Dabi tried to move you out of his way in the kitchen with an arm around your waist and you immediately flinching away from him that he finally does something more than just look hurt or give you a pouty expression.

"Jesus, Star, what's the matter with you?" He asks, a little snappily.

You'd been avoiding being touched for at least a week now. Long enough for Tomura to have seemingly gone back to normal, going to work without Dabi joining him again, and long enough for Dabi to finally address it.

"Leave it alone, Touya." Tomura tells him, kissing the corner staple of his mouth quickly as he passes.

"Nah, you've been bein' weird with me. If somethin's the matter, jus' say, doll." Dabi says in an accusatory way, but still with a hint of hurt and worry in there. "C'mon, you not feel like you can or something?"

"I'm okay, dad." You reply, trying to make it sound convincing.

"Alright then, let me give you a hug." Dabi deadpans.

"Touya." Tomura warns.

But Dabi's stubborn, and continues to stare at you, waiting for you to move or say something.
You kind of just stand there awkwardly for a painful moment, and then move out of his way like he wanted, going to your room and closing the door all the way.

*•*

Dabi respects it though, because he doesn't make an effort to touch you at all again after that. In fact, it feels actively like he's doing everything to not even brush past you.
He's still himself, making dumb jokes and winding you up, and using all his usual nicknames for you, but he's just respecting your space.

The thing is, you don't want to be touched at the minute. Every time he'd laid a hand on you since your talk with Himiko, it made your stomach turn in a way you hadn't experienced since Daiki. He hadn't even crossed a boundary like Daiki had, which made you feel a bit guilty, but when you'd tried to ignore it it just made you feel worse and worse until your body decided to move away for you.

But... You weren't used to not being hugged, having your hair touched, having an arm thrown around your shoulders, warm fingers brushing over your cheek and quick kisses pressed to your head.

It was something you'd taken for granted. Going from touch-repulsed, to super cuddly with your newfound family, and then straight back to touch-repulsed again.
And it was getting you down.

You could sense the concern in both of your dads when you started to stay in your room, but you were so in your own head, frustrated about not being able to be hugged and receive the reassurance that you needed, that you found it hard to pull yourself out of the hole you were in.

At least you had Cloud.
He was always curled up next to you or on you, and whenever you started to space out for too long, remembering things you didn't really want to remember, he would bat you gently until you played with him.

Tonight you needed more than Cloud though. Even though he was curled up against your front, purring, you couldn't shake the fear of Daiki coming into your room.

You knew it couldn't happen.
It wouldn't happen.
But it terrified you anyway.

And so you leave your room, Cloud stretching out before joining you in the hallway, and you can't help but feel a little relieved when you hear the TV softly in the living room.
You walk in, seeing the long waves of Tomura's hair hanging over the arm of the couch, his face lit up from the light on his phone as he lazes across the couch.
Red eyes land on you and then look at the clock, but you're already approaching him before he can make a comment about it being past your bedtime.