2am Knows All Secrets [Kiribaku]

sleeping at last

The morning sunlight flitted through the window, awakening Eijirou with its soft glow. He stretched on his side, basking in its warmth and taking stock of every sensation. There was an arm draped over him, knees bumping against his, a weight under his chin. Eijirou creaked his eyes open and peered down. A familiar head of blond hair rested there, forehead burrowed into the dip between Eijirou's collarbone and his shoulder, hiding a sleeping face from the light.

Eijirou let out a shaky breath. There was no need to panic this time. Bakugou trusted him, had let go of his pride long enough to accept Eijirou's help. So, this was okay.

Wow.

Eijirou's heart stumbled.

Wow, wow, wow.

With a sigh, he tightened his hug, nuzzling gently into blond hair, letting the faint smell of minty shampoo fill his lungs. Warm, rhythmic puffs of breath tickled his skin and he could feel his own heart beating, almost racing. A sudden yawn swelled inside of him, so he let it out, big and hefty, bringing a hand to his mouth to stifle it. But as soon as he pulled his hand away, the body in his arms stirred. Then, it tensed.

And just like that, the moment was shattered, and Eijirou's stomach was twisting into knots and his mind was flooding with doubt all over again. Bakugou was awake. God, Bakugou was awake. For the first time, they'd have to face this head-on, let the reality of what they were doing crash down on them, and surely that wouldn't go over well. Would Bakugou push him away? Explode his face? Never let Eijirou see him like this again?

Bakugou shifted some, then looked up, catching Eijirou at the tail-end of his yawn. When their eyes met, the butterflies in Eijirou's stomach fluttered even more, but his doubts disappeared. Bakugou's eyes were tired, unguarded, maybe even a little embarrassed. But they were not angry. Pretty soon, Bakugou's eyes scrunched up and he gave in to a yawn of his own.

"Ha," Eijirou smiled. "Guess those really are contagious. Sorry for waking you."

Bakugou took a second to finish his yawn. "Whatever," he said, voice gravelly. "Time?"

Eijirou twisted around, looking for his phone. Down by his futon. Bakugou's arm loosened its hold on him, letting him reach for it, and that was such a shame. Eijirou hid his disappointment as best he could as he rolled further out of Bakugou's arms to better his reach. He lifted his phone to his face.

"7:45-ish." He plopped back down and let out a content sigh. "A full ten hours."

"Fan-fucking-tastic."

Eijirou canceled his eight o'clock alarm and tossed his phone back on the nightstand. Then Bakugou started sitting up, so Eijirou did, too. The two shifted until they were side by side at the edge of the bed, feet on the floor, grounding them.

Eijirou could only guess what Bakugou was thinking, and none of the guesses were particularly good. All the empty air between them and the silence dragging on and on just made it worse, and the longer it dragged, with neither of them talking or moving or looking, the stronger the urge to say something to break the tension.

"You slept really well last night," Eijirou tried, his voice barely above a whisper. "You started having a nightmare, but when I, uh..." he gulped. He couldn't say it, he couldn't say it! "Well. The nightmare stopped."

Bakugou responded with only a grunt, and man, that sure wasn't very helpful in gauging his reaction, so Eijirou risked a glance in his direction. Bakugou had pulled a pillow into his lap and was squeezing it, his chin squished on top of it, staring at nothing as if deep in thought. Over the plush and fabric, Eijirou could see the furrow of his brow, the endearing pout of his lips. Wait, what?