The longer they'd kept their emotions and true feelings locked up, the larger the problems grew.
Neither Shouto nor Y/N felt as though they could talk about what they thought needed to be changed. As a result, their relationship slowly broke apart. Piece by piece, they sat by and watched as their once strong, undying love for one another slowly eroded away.
Eventually, it wasn't just their affections that were shattered. It spread to their physical and mental health. Their grades dropped. They were hardly eating or sleeping. Nonetheless, they went on as if nothing was wrong.
The duo continued to see each other. They continued to go out and hug and kiss. But each thing they did was forced. There was no true emotion behind any of their actions, and both of them knew that. And yet, they kept their silence and pressed on.
Each waiting until the other snapped, they let it go on for too long. Other students began to notice. When Y/N came to school with bags under her eyes, and Shouto sat there durning lunch with his untouched food on the table in front of him, staring off into nothing.
"L/N, are you alright?" Izuku had asked one day, "You've been acting awfully strange lately."
The H/C-haired girl, as always, brushed off his question with a dismissive wave of her hand, "I'm just stressed is all. Nothing to worry about."
"Hey, Todoroki! What's up? You seem super off," said Kirishima another day.
The dual-haired male simply shook his head and closed his heterochromatic eyes. "I feel fine, but thank you for your concern."
Even Bakugou eventually grew sick of watching the couple fall apart and deny it.
He'd slammed Shouto against the wall after class one day. "You damn bastard!" The ash blonde roared in the aloof boy's face. "You and L/N are idiots! Complete idiots! Your relationship is toxic as hell! When are you going to accept it?!"
Todoroki remained emotionless throughout the explosive boy's speech, simply shrugging Bakugou's hands off his newly wrinkled collar when he was finished.
Without another word, Shouto walked away. Katsuki watched his classmate's retreating back while breathing heavily. "You'll regret being so damn stubborn, IcyHot, I promise you that!"
Weeks upon weeks passed. Until weeks became months.
And, finally, it snapped.
Y/N snapped.
The air in the room was undeniably heavy with tension. She and Shouto were sat in her bedroom, doing homework on the messy comforter of her bed. Well, "doing homework" is what they would say they were doing if anyone asked. Really, they were both lost in their own thoughts.
Not a single word passed through the room. They no longer had conversations like they used to. If they ever said anything to one another, it was a simple "yes", "no", or a shrug answering a question that absolutely had to be asked.
When Todoroki claimed he had to take his leave,
Y/N watched with a broken gaze as her boyfriend gathered up his belongings and stood to leave.
When Shouto was halfway out the door, Y/N called out to him. "I love you," she said in the most sincere voice she could manage.
