✓THE SPACE BETWEEN THE STARS|| BakuDeku Au

Chapter Fifteen: Pt. 2 Three Days

Photograph↲
Ed Sheeran

"And when it gets hard, you know it can get hard sometimes. It is the only thing that makes us feel alive . . ."

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[ Three Years and Six Months Ago ]

A yearning gasp fanned over the blond's bottom lip and into the air, his body quickly snapping up into a sitting position on his bed. Sweat coated his forehead as fear and confusion laved its way through his tongue and senses. The feeling more potent than ever while he aided in the calming of his erratic heartbeat. He had not known what he did; what he thought of; nor what he had said in a past life to deserve such a horrific nightmare . . . Yet here he was allowing his mind to conjure up such a ridiculous notion.

Ridiculous but explainable on his end.

Perhaps it was his underlining fear of losing the love of his young teenage life. Or perhaps, it was only a silly dream, nothing to be thought into too much. Either way, Katsuki could not help but feel the jittery gust of trepidation churn the insides of his stomach—twist the very essence of his soul and perception.

Katsuki had never felt such fear in his life. Nowhere near as close.

The type of sinking fear that plunges you into the depths of the unknown, letting those little worries and anxieties fester and grow. His pygmy worries had blossomed to life in the form of a cloudy haze known as a simple dream; a nightmare; a normal part of the REM cycle. He was trapped beneath the weight of such a thing with no escape plane.

That is until he felt the familiar touch of his love beside him, sleepily coaxing him back to bed with incoherent slurs.

"Kacchan," a fifteen-year-old Izuku groaned, "you're pulling up the covers. Lay down,"

The blond slipped him a wavering smile. "Sorry, nerd. C'mere,"

Izuku nestled happily in the crook of Katsuki's side, ignoring how the elder's shirt slid off his own shoulders—exposing the patch of dark freckles contrasting against the pale of his skin. He was too tired to care . . . but not too tired to notice the way Katsuki's breathing fluttered and shifted.

"What's wrong?" he drawled, eyes staying closed.

With a sigh and a sweep of his fingers through a head of curls, Katsuki replies. ". . . Nothing,"

"Ya' damn liar—" Izuku grinned, his voice groggy and sleep-filled. "—something's wrong. What is it?"

The red-eyed male hesitated, internally wincing when he thought back to the sea of hurt, confusion, and terror from his nightmare. He would not wish such a thing on his worst enemy. And that was saying a lot.

"I . . . had a dream . . ." he began slowly, slowly rubbing up and down the younger's back.

Izuku hummed, his arms locking tightly around his waist. "Was it about me naked? Cause if it was . . . I'll hit you," he jested, trying to lift the boy's spirits.

"Oh, I'm so scared," Katsuki scoffed, tapping Izuku on the nose.

The two chuckled softly, lying there in the implicit weight of their early-morning silence. Watching as one last gentle stroke of the moonlight flickered and faded into inexorable nothingness. Being replaced with the tell-tale promise of the sun's latest arrival. Said arrival prompting Katsuki to finally continue speaking—secretly hoping Izuku had fallen back asleep.

"It wasn't a good dream," he distinctly recalled the sharp blade of tears rolling down his cheeks in said dream. "I wasn't in a good place. You were . . . you were dead—but then you weren't! And I . . . fuck I don't know anymore. It was all over the place, but I do remember feeling so . . . empty,"