Love Like You

Does Right By You

Katsuki's eyes flutter open at the shifting of arms around his waist, body heavy with sleep as he feels Shouto's breath ghosting across the back of his neck. He hums, ducking deeper within the pile of soft blankets on their bed as Shouto presses his lips against the back of his shoulder.

"Good morning, baby."

Katsuki's lips curl into a smile as Shouto continues to kiss at his skin. He feels so incredibly weak and soft, unable to find it in himself to shrug him off like he usually would in the mornings.

"Hey, daddy."

"Did you sleep okay, princess?"

"Mhm. Miss you."

Shouto's breath hitches and his arms tighten around Katsuki's middle.

"Look 't me, baby." He says and Katsuki turns to face him, noses touching as they look into each other's eyes. Shouto seems to be searching for something, though Katsuki is unsure of what it is. "I haven't gone anywhere, kitten. You don't have to miss me."

"I-I know. I've just been feeling really lonely, is all..." He regrets saying so the moment that he does it, eyes and throat stinging as he swallows down the lump in his throat. Shouto's brows furrow, visibly upset not with Katsuki but with himself.

"I'm so sorry, Katsuki. I didn't realize that I'd been so neglectful towards you. I imagine it must feel like I haven't been treating you very well but please believe me when I say that it's not intentional."

"I-I know." Katsuki points, because he does. Things have been strained and it isn't necessarily either of their faults but it doesn't stop the disgusting feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I know that you're not doing it on purpose. And I know that trying balance everything like work, training and our classes hasn't been easy. I guess that I'm just having a hard time adjusting to this. To...missing you."

Shouto lifts his larger hand to caress Katsuki's jaw.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were feeling this way, baby? Nothing is more important to me than you are---no matter what it is. I'd have dropped any and everything to be with you. To let you know that I'm still here with you."

"Because I don't want to ruin your life by taking you away from things and people that you love. I wanna be understanding cause I know that it's not just hard on me but things have been hard on you too. B-But I---"

Shouto presses his lips against Katsuki's in a gentle kiss and the blonde sniffles against him. He wishes that Katsuki wouldn't force himself to get through things on his own.

"You are so perfect. I don't ever get how I once ever thought you were a bad person---you're such an angel." Shouto says, genuinely perplexed with how he managed to snag what has to be the most amazing person on the planet.

Well, in his world at least.

Katsuki allows him to kiss his face and whisper sweet nothings in his ear, to hold him and comfort him. It felt so nice to just be in the moment with Shouto. He misses this. He misses them.

"Katsuki...there's been so much going on right now that we haven't been able to focus on each other. School. Hero work. Family. All this shit with..."

With her.

"I just want to get back to basics, you know? So can we...can we just get rid of our burdens? Can we leave them and our worry for another time? Can we just get back to loving each other and chasing our dreams together? Because that's what I live for. And I'd do anything to have that back."

Katsuki doesn't respond, just seems more distraught than he did before. Shouto huffs through his nose. He remembers what Mirio said to him the night before and he feels that maybe there's something a lot heavier weighing on Katsuki. Guilt for something he's done...