A/N: Another chapter here for you guys! There is the same trigger warnings for the first chapter, but this one is probably a lot more full on with them, but don't worry it gets better towards the end. Next chapter we will be moving past the abuse and things like that, but there will still be a lot of angst. Altogether the next chapter is a lot more subdued though. XD

*Timeskip 2 weeks ahead*

It is the week before school starts and things have been going on like normal. I have just gotten out of the shower after my morning training when I feel my phone buzzing. Katsuki is calling. We have been continuing to get closer and closer over the past week and we call each other more than once a day. I answer the call quickly.

"Hey Katsuki, whats up?"

"Not much. Hey, I was wondering if you would like to meet up today?" God damnit, the only free time I have is this afternoon when I'm supposed to be doing my run. But my dad wouldn't be able to find out, would he?

"Yeah, sure. What time were you thinking?"

"I don't know, is 1 ok?"

"Yeah that's fine with me."

"Ok, could you meet me at the Hero's café then? Just dress casually." He sounds so happy, I wonder why.

"Ok, should I bring any money or anything?"

"NO! Errr, sorry. I didn't mean to burst out then, I mean, no you don't have to bring any money. I have that covered." I lift my eyebrows at the outburst.

"Okay, I will see you then."

"Yeah, sure. Bye!" He hangs up before I can say goodbye back. That was really weird, he almost sounded flustered. Wait, why is my heart beating so fast?!

Shaking my head I go through the rest of the morning as usual and then have my lunch. I dress in a grey polo-neck sweater that will cover most of my bruises and a pair of black skinny jeans. I wear my usual trainers and try my best to cover up the bruises on my face with makeup. I tell Fuyumi as I am walking out that I'm meeting a friend and set off.

It takes approximately 30 minutes to get there and I know the area well as this is often the route that I take on my run. I walk up to the door of the café and step inside. My heart is beating fast and I hold my breath unintentionally. The smell inside the shop is amazing, ground coffee and sweet tea mixes with the smell of freshly made bread. The café makes and grows everything that they sell from scratch. The bread for the sandwiches, any kind of veg, they even have a chicken coop for the eggs used in the cakes. Looking around I spot Katsuki at the table by the window, he is wearing a loose burgundy sweater with a low neckline and a pair of slightly baggy dark grey jeans that would hang low on his hips if they weren't partially covered by the sweater. He is also wearing a pair of lightly coloured, framed glasses on his nose and he already has what looks like a coffee sat in front of him. He glances up and when he sees me he smiles and waves at me to come over. I walk up to the table and smile back at him before sitting down on the chair opposite him as it is the only other one at the table.

"Hi, long time no see." I say, almost like we have been friends for years, not just 2 weeks.

"Yeah, kinda. How are you doing?" This catches me off guard, Katsuki doesn't seem to be like the kind of person who would care about someone else, let alone someone he has known for only 2 weeks.

"I'm fine thanks." We are interrupted when a waitress walks over to us.

"Hi, may I get you anything sir?" I look back over at Katsuki who nods.

"Get whatever you want Icy-hot, it's on me."

"Ok then, can I get a black tea please?"

"Coming right up!" I watch as she walks away.

"Thank you."

"It's no problem."

"Katsuki?" He looks up.

"Hm? Whats up?"

"Do you always wear glasses? They look really good on you." Katsuki's cheeks go red and he laughs.

"Some of the time, but most of the time I wear contacts. Glasses are a bit of a pain, they always need cleaning and can steam up easily. Plus they are annoying."

"Well, you should wear them more often, they really do suit you." I smile when he looks away nervously, it's fun to make him squirm.

The rest of the afternoon goes by smoothly as we sit and chat whilst sipping our drinks. Before I know it, it's 3:30 already.

"Shit, I have to be heading back, my father is going to be home soon." I stand up and grab my things. "Thank you for the tea, I had a great time."

"No problem, text me when you get back ok?" Katsuki stands up with me and grabs his things as well.

"Will do."
"Icy-hot?"

"Yeah?"

"If you ever need me or want to talk then you can just call me, you know that?"

"Yeah, I do. Thanks again." I head out with a little wave and start walking back to the house.

Shit he definitely knows something, he wouldn't have said that if he didn't. At least I have someone to go to if my dad goes over the top one day I guess but that really isn't the point.

My thoughts are disrupted when I realize something extremely important. If I keep walking then I will arrive home at exactly the same time as my father, which isn't good. I speed up to a jog to try and get back faster, being caught coming back from something that most definitely wasn't my run by my dad might just tip him over the edge. I arrive home in decent time. Once I have texted Katsuki to tell him I got back ok I quickly change my clothes and remove the makeup. As expected my dad returns only minutes after me, but something seems off. All through dinner he keeps on giving me angry glares, but if it wasn't something serious he would confront me straight away so my nerves are on edge.

As soon as dinner is finished my father comes up to me and tells me to go get my training clothes on and come to the training room. His tone of voice is seething anger. I do as he says and meet him in our gym. The training part is the same as normal apart from the fact that my father isn't throwing insults at me. He tells me what to do and that is it, his silence is terrifying. He is never this quite, never.

I stand up after finishing my final set of push-up jacks and find my father with his phone in his hand. He scowls up at me and says nothing, continuing to scroll down whatever page he is on. When he finds what he wants he turns the phone around aggressively to show me the screen.

My stomach drops.

No…

No, it can't be true…

It's a photo.

A photo that was taken this afternoon.

A photo of Katsuki and I sat together in the café, the caption reads 'Number 2 Hero Endeavour's Son, Shouto Todoroki, spotted on what appears to be a coffee date with a boy his age' and another caption says 'Scandal! The number 2 Hero's Son is gay!'.

No, this can't be right. I never saw anyone with a camera there, they couldn't have taken that photo! Or maybe they could…

My father is staring at me so hard that I feel like I might collapse underneath his glare.

"What is this?!" My eyes widen as fear strangles my gut and I start shaking. When I don't answer him he grabs me by my hair and shoves my face closer to the screen.

"I SAID, WHAT IS THIS!"

"I-It's just a friend a-and I, we went out to g-grab a hot drink and t-to catch up. T-that's all it w-was I swear!"

"Really?! To catch up?! And since when did you have any friends?! I can hardly see why anyone would want to be friends with a useless piece of shit like you that no one wants, the only thing that you're good for is your quirk you hear me?! You even look happy in this picture! Why would you even attempt to go out when you know that your not allowed to leave the house unless it is for shopping or for your run, and like hell is any son of mine going to be gay! You're - a - fucking - piece - of - shit - that - no - one - wants!" He emphasises his last sentence by kicking me in the ribs over and over again. "You're so ugly and annoying when you smile, if I ever see you smile again you will get the shit beaten out if you twice as hard as I will tonight you understand me? Did you even go for your run today? I bet you didn't, you lazy ass excuse of a son."

The insults and beatings go on for hours on end, ranging from kicking to punching to even being burnt. I ended up losing my stomach contents twice this time around and it is 12:34 by the time he is finished with me. I watch as he leaves the room from my spot on the floor with my head going round in circles. I just lie there on the ground, curled up in a ball with the pain numbing my muscles for I don't know how long. Once I feel as if I can move again I get up and scramble to get the cleaning supplies, because if I don't clean up the puke now j will get even more severe consequences. Unexpectedly, there is nothing going through my thoughts. I feel numb, someone could insult me with the harshest words or even kidnap me and I wouldn't even care. I feel emotionless, and the only emotion that I can feel is frustration. Frustration that I can't do anything to stop my father from doing this. When I finish cleaning the floor, I frantically fumble out of the training room and up the stairs to my room, holding one of my arms to my chest. The wrist on that arm had twisted to a dangerous angle at one point and is at least sprained, but that isn't the worst of my injuries. I didn't realise before, but tears are running down my cheeks at an alarming rate. I need to get out of here, I don't care where to or if my father catches me, I just can't stay here.

I grab a hoodie, my phone and my wallet and scramble back downstairs and out of the front door, not caring if someone notices me.

I run.

Running is all that I can do.

I throw my hoodie on, and run, well if that is what you can call it. It is more of a limping jog/scramble. After about half an hour I find an alleyway and sink down onto the floor to catch my breath, not caring about the dirt. I didn't notice earlier or even when I first stepped outside but it is pouring it down with rain and I am already soaked to the skin. I can't even feel the cold, I can't feel anything except pain and numbness. I need to call someone, I need help. But the thing is, who? Who would even want to help a useless person like me? Then it strikes me, 'If you ever need me or want to talk then you can just call me, you know that?'. Katsuki's words echo through my head and bring me back to my senses partially. I hastily unlock my phone and bring up his contact. I hit dial and with shaking fingers and hands I bring the phone to my ear. It is a miracle that it still works and didn't get water damaged. It takes a few rings but I feel relief wash over me when he picks up. I have to warn myself that I am not safe yet though.

"Hello?" I forgot that I was still sobbing as well, so the task of actually telling him what happened is 10x harder, never mind coming up with a believable story as to why I look like this and am calling him at 1:43 at night. It takes me a seconds to be able to even mutter a word so he was just listening to me sobbing for a while, but when I do speak my voice is all raspy and I sound like I have been smoking all day every day for years.

"K-kat, I-I need h-help."

"Shouto?! Where are you?! What happened?"

"N-no, c-can I s-stay at y-yours for the n-night?"

"Yes of course! Do you want me to come get you? You don't sound too good."

"N-no, it's f-fine. W-what's your a-address?"

"It's number 52 Cockrham road."

"O-ok." I hang up before he can say anything else and head off in the direction of his address. I was lucky to meet him at that supermarket, I don't know where I would be without him. No one has ever been as nice to me as he has.

*Katsuki*

It's been 15 goddamned minutes since he called! Where is he? Is he ok? He sounded really beat up over the phone and he was crying really hard too. I should have gone to pick him up, at least then I would know where he is right now.

I start pacing around my room, trying to calm my nerves. My head snaps up when the censored porch light goes off and I rush to look outside just in time to see Shouto collapse on the driveway.

"Shit!" I run out of the front door and up to Shouto as fast as I can, my heart beating at 50mph. He is only just still conscious thank god, but it looks like he collapsed out of exhaustion. He is also still crying, the sobs are wracking through his body forcefully.

"Shit Shouto, let's get you inside. You're frozen!" I quickly pick him up bridal style and hold him in my arms as I usher him into the house. I can feel him nuzzling into my chest for comfort as I kick the front door shut with my foot. He jumps at the sound and shrivels up even further.

"I'm sorry."

I head straight upstairs and into the bathroom. The best plan of action is most likely going to be to get him out of those cold, wet clothes and get him in the warm water of the shower after he calms down a little and assess the situation from there. Now that we are in the light I can see that he has lots of wounds, wounds that vary from cuts to bruises to burns, and that is only on his skin. It makes my blood boil, how could someone do something like this to him?

I set him down on the floor for now and lean his back against the side of the bathtub so that he has some support, but, when I try to move away to get some things he grabs my arm.

"P-please don't go, at l-least not y-yet."

"Shhh, ok I won't go. It's all right now, you're safe." I decide to stay with him and instead move him around so that he is basically sitting on my lap sideways and just hold him tightly, offering soft words and sweet nothings to him. After a while his sobbing reduces and we sit there in something close to silence. My head is resting on top of Shouto's and I am stroking his hair soothingly whilst slightly rocking him. I decide to speak up after a couple more minutes.

"Hey, is it alright if we can get you in the shower? You could get pneumonia wearing those cold and wet clothes." He just nods so I take the initiative to stand up and place Shouto in the bath carefully and slowly. Once he is in there I look at his clothes.

"Is it ok if I take off your clothes? I will leave your underwear on so that you don't feel uncomfortable or anything." God, I never thought that I would be saying that to him, especially not when he is in the state that he is in right now. He just nods again. I slowly lean forward and unzip his hoodie before peeling it off him. His shirt and pants are another situation altogether. They are both full of scorched holes and in some areas it even looks like the material is stuck to his skin… How could anyone do something like this?

Since the clothes are already ruined I decide to take a pair of scissors and cut them off instead, carefully peeling the fabric away where needed.

Jesus Christ, the amount of burns on his skin is agonizing. How could anyone even think of doing this? He's a goddamned 15 year old for fucks sake!

They look like they are only 1st degree burns so they should heal quickly and not leave any scars but that's really not the point. I find his phone, what I can assume is his wallet in the back pocket of his pants and put them to one side. Once everything has been pulled away from his body apart from his boxers I decide to give him a quick rinse off with cool water to sooth the burns before switching it to warm water to prevent him from getting too cold. After he has been rinsed down with relatively warm water I try to help him out of the bath.

"Shouto? Do you think that you can towel yourself down? I might accidentally hurt you if I do it. I will go and grab some dry and clean boxers for you to put on when you finish ok?" He nods again and shakily stands up, taking the towel from me. I walk out of the room and shut the door quietly behind me. I gather up the boxers, a baggy t-shirt and the first aid kit and make my way back across the landing. I knock on the door before I walk in and see Shouto stood there with the towel wrapped low on his waist and his boxers have been discarded to the side of the room. Trying not to blush I hand him the clean boxers and turn away as he changes.

"Do you have a t-shirt or something that I could wear as well?" God damn, he looked hot just then.

"I do, but I need to look at your wounds first. Those burns need tending to and the cuts are still bleeding so I need to disinfect them before they get infected." He makes a little 'mhm' sound, so I start to unpack the first aid kit. It has been years since this has been opened, we never need it anymore unless someone cuts their finger or something but you only need a plaster for that.

"Can you lift your arms up for me?" He complies, and I go up to him slowly and begin to prod at and feel his ribs. I noticed earlier that he was wincing every time he moved and the only thing I could think of that would make him wince like that is a possible broken rib. He winces every now and then but when I step back I know what the problem is.

" You have 3 broken ribs, but none of them have fallen too far out of place so there is nothing that you can do for them apart from make sure that you don't move around too much and that you get enough rest. I'm going to treat you and dress your burns now, is that ok?" I ask again, to make sure that I am not pushing any boundaries. He nods again. I grab the antiseptic wipes and burn ointment and get started. He winces every time I touch him with the wipes, and even grabs on to my shoulder at one point but once I finish I bandage everything that needs to be bandaged after applying the ointment . I also take a look at his wrist which is visibly sprained but doesn't have an obvious break in it so I just strap him into a wrist support. He visibly relaxes once everything is taken care of. Running down to the kitchen quickly I grab a bag of frozen peas and 2 ibuprofen along with a glass of water. When I get back to the bathroom he has proceeded to put on the T-shirt I left him and is currently sitting on the floor by the tub again with his knees drawn to his chest. It breaks my heart to see him so down like this, he shouldn't have to go through this. Only when I have made sure that he takes the ibuprofen and he is holding the bag of peas to several parts of his face does he talk, his eyes looking sorrowfully at me.

"Thank you so much Katsuki. I… I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't picked up the phone." He chuckles humourlessly. " Seriously though, thank you."

I smile at him and we just stand in silence for a few moments. "Where are your parents then?" His question makes me smile.

"They are on holiday for a week, they get back the day before we go to school. You would think that they would trust me, but I guess not because they still have someone come over and 'check' on me everyday to check the house is still in order and that I haven't thrown a party or something." He laughs slightly at that.

"Ok"

I take the risk and decide to ask him.

"Who did this to you Shouto? You don't have to go through this abuse, all you have to do is report them!"

"I-It doesn't matter. There isn't anything that neither you nor I can do about it."

"But it does matter! That asshole could have killed you!"

"KATSUKI!" I jump at his sudden outburst, yet, when I look at him I can only see fear in his eyes. "Can we just drop the subject? Please?" I decide to let it go for now, and yet again we fall into silence. Whoever that bastard is must have scared him to the point that he won't tell me anything about it. That means that this person must have some kind of authority over him, but who? His father is the No.2 Hero and would never do something like that to him, and his mother is in a mental hospital. I don't think any of his siblings could do that to him so then who could it be? I can feel my protectiveness tingling through my veins.

"Hey Shouto, you know you can always just come here if you need help. Even if my parents were home they would be fine with it, in fact they would encourage it. You're always welcome here." I look over to him to see him in tears again. My protective instincts spark right back up. "Shouto, what's wrong?!" When he doesn't answer I move to hug him again and he collapses into my arms yet again, the sobs aren't as strong as last time, but are still powerful enough to shake his body slightly. I can feel him snuggle into my shoulder, his tears soaking my shirt. He grips me like he never wants to let me go, and to be honest, I would be fine with that. I sit holding him like before, my hand stroking his head soothingly. "Shhhhh, let it all out. I'm here for you now so you don't have to worry. You're safe."

"...Why?..."

"Huh?"

"Why are you so nice to me?" My eyes widen as I take in his words, I can't tell him the real reason or else I might just scare him away again.

"Because, you're my friend and I care about you." He can't find out about my crush on him, I'm not even sure what his sexuality is and it might make him feel uncomfortable or threatened at this moment in time. He doesn't need a love confession right now, it would just make things worse.

We should probably try to get some sleep now though, Shouto definitely looks tired and is probably exhausted.

"Hey Shouto, are you alright sleeping in my bed tonight? I will sleep on the floor so you don't have to worry about anything."

" Yeah, I would love to sleep in your bed if that is ok, but please, can you sleep there with me? I really don't want to be alone at the minute and it would make me more comfortable if you were closer by." I nod, understanding his situation. I decided not to mention the scars that I saw criss crossing up and down his arms, along with the new ones, because I didn't want to trigger him, but I definitely know what they are. He self harms, so I can guess why he doesn't want to be alone right now. He doesn't want to do something that he might regret.

I swear, as soon as I find out who put him in this state in the first place I will kill them.

I help Shotuo get to his feet and we make our way slowly to my room. Once there I help him shift onto my bed and I go and turn the lights before climbing under the sheets. As soon as I do that I feel Shouto's arms wrap tightly around my waist, pulling me close. I turn over and do the same to him, his breath tickling my neck.

I wake up to find him thrashing around in the bed, his face is pale and there is sweat dripping down his forehead. It looks like he is having some kind of nightmare.

"D-dad! No, stop it!" Did he just say Dad?

"Shouto! Shouto wake up!" I grab his shoulders and try to shake him awake. Once he opens his eyes and becomes conscious again he looks up with fearful eyes and smacks me across the face blindly before scrambling as far as he can to the corner of the bed.

"Shouto it's me, Katsuki! You had a night terror so I woke you up!" This time he lets me move towards him once he recognizes me and I take him into my arms once again. Tears are slowly running down his cheek again, soaking my T-shirt once again whilst I rub his back comfortingly.

His dad… His dad is the No.2 Hero, there is no way he could be the one that did this to Shouto, could he?...It goes against the whole reason for being a Hero, and if it really is him that's doing this, that means that Endeavor isn't the person he makes out to be.

I look down to see Shouto staring at me with damp eyes.

"Im sorry, I didn't mean to slap you." What makes this worse is the mental effect that all of this has obviously had on Shouto, his own son!

"Hey, you don't need to be sorry. I know you didn't mean it, I'm just glad you didn't accidentally hurt yourself." He looks downcast at my words. We sit in silence for a while once again, and I let my mind wander. I wonder how I managed to catch feelings for someone so quickly. I guess Shouto senses my change in mood so he decides to speak up.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I-... I don't know. I guess I'm just confused."

"Me too."

"Really? What about?"

"About what I'm going to do over these next couple of days." He is trying to hide what he is thinking about, I can see it. I can see the longing in his eyes. I guess this must have been the only time that he has woken up from something like that and not turned to the blade, huh?

"Yeah… Well we can think about that in the morning I guess. We should probably try to get some more rest." My clock reads 4:00 Am.

"Yeah, I guess. I would usually be up in an hour and a half."

"What? Why?"

"Training" That's the only answer I get, and I just let it go for now. I lie back down on the bed, pulling Shouto with me as I pull the sheets back over us; I end up spooning him this time with him being the little spoon because I feel like he needs to be the one who is held now. We both drift into sleep again, and were not interrupted this time.

9:30 Am:

I wake up to light shining into my room from the cracks behind the curtains. Shouto is still asleep, his red and white bangs slightly covering his bruised and battered face. God, he looks so cute when he is asleep.

Wait a goddamn minute! Cute?! What the hell has gotten in to me!

I shake my head and crawl out of bed to head to go to the bathroom, and once I get back, that beautiful excuse for a human is sat up rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Good morning sleepy head." He first looks at me, and then the clock, and his eyes stretch when he reads the time.

"I don't think I've ever slept that much in my life." The words sink into my head as the deeper meaning behind them shows itself, he has never had 5 hours of sleep in a row. He has never had a full night's rest. Just what kind of things has he been through?! I swear, Endeavour is going to pay for this if he is actually the one that did this.

I realize that we are only wearing sleepwear, but I guess that doesn't really matter since there is no-one else in the house except for us.

"Well you know where the bathroom is if you happen to need it. Would you like anything to eat for breakfast?" I swear this guy is making me go soft in the head, and the worst thing is, I don't even mind it. Yet, he shakes his head at my offer.

"No, I don't want to be any more of a burden to you. You have been kind enough to me already, and plus, I'm not really that hungry." His stomach decides to betray him at that very moment when it makes itself known by grumbling loudly. His cheeks go red in embarrassment.

"Your stomach begs to differ. Don't worry, I like to be kind to you as well and you are not a burden." I wink at him. "Why don't you go use the bathroom and then come downstairs when you're ready, I'll make us something to eat."

"No! You really don't have to!"

"No, I don't have to, but I want to. That's the difference hun. And anyway, your injuries won't heal if you don't eat." I walk out of the room before he can protest any further, and it's then when I realize what I just did. Did I really just wink at him?! What the hell was I thinking? Somehow this guy has turned me into a nervous, flirty wreck and I don't know how. I have never felt this way for anyone, and it just makes it that bit weird because of the fact that he is a guy. I never really considered that I might be gay, yet you never really do you until you catch feelings for the same gender.

I let my thoughts run through my head whilst I busy myself making fried eggs on toast, the fat from the pan that is cooking the eggs spitting at me every now and then. Just as I start to plate up I see Shouto making his way down the stairs out of the corner of my eye, the bruises on his face are blossoming in an array of different colours and appear to be healing although they look worse than before.

I nod at him to sit down at the breakfast bar, which he does, and I place his plate in front of him along with a knife and fork. He looks at it with wide eyes, and then looks back up at me.

"It smells delicious, but you didn't have to do this for me!"

"It's no problem at all, eggs on toast isn't that hard to make. You can argue with me all you want about everything I've done for you and how I don't have to do it, but I've known you for long enough that you aren't the type of person that deserves all of the beatings you obviously get. Now, eat before it gets cold." He's looking at me like I just gave him a million pound house, when all I did was give him some kind words. It's painfully obvious how he isn't used to kindness and it kills me. He didn't deserve what he got, and never will, that's the sad thing about it.

"T-thank you, but I do deserve all of the hits."

"If you truly believe that then that just proves my point, you have been brainwashed to think like that, but if you deserve all of that, then surely you deserve a bit of love and kindness on top of that. Now eat, I won't tell you again." I can see that he has given up the argument for now when he starts to eat, so I clean everything up before grabbing my own plate and moving to sit next to him on the stools. He glances up when he notices me and looks back down at his food quickly.

"This is really good."

"Thank you, but it is only toast and eggs."

"But you make it taste so nice!" I smile at the compliment and continue making my way through my own egg on toast. I wait until he has finished before even thinking about trying to mention his dad.

"So, did you know that you talk in your sleep?" He looks instantly wary at my choice of words.

"No… What did I say?"

"You… You said some things about your dad during your nightmare. Is he the one that did this to you?" I can see the instant fear flash through his eyes as he scrambles to his feet and further away from me.

"NO! No! You can't tell anyone about this! ANYONE! There is nothing that anyone can do because you will just make it worse! My father is such a huge figure in the hero society that if any of this got out it would just be covered over to protect his reputation and then he will just hurt me even more! The reason the beating was so bad today was because he found out about me meeting up with you! The paparazzi had caught wind of it and called it a date, which made it 10x worse because now my dad just assumed that I'm gay before I myself have even worked out if I am or not! If he is to find out that I spent the night out with you he will beat me so hard that I might have to be hospitalized! It has happened before and it can happen again!"

"SHOUTO! Shouto, calm down! I won't tell anyone just please, please calm down!"

He quietens down slowly, sounding defeated, and just looks at me. There is a mix of emotions swirling through his expression like a hurricane. "I won't tell anyone, you have my word on that, but I want to know everything that happens." He looks uncertain, but sits down again anyway and aimlessly stares at the granite worktop.

"Allright, I will tell you. You already know part of it so you might as well know the rest."

He sat there and told me about how he has been beaten since he was 5 years old because he wouldn't use his left side , how his mother hated his left side so much to the point she poured boiling water on him because it reminded her of his father, how his father beat his mother, how his father wants him to become better than All might because he couldn't be, and how horribly he is treated every day without fail. Once he finishes speaking, he looks at me, waiting for my reaction and hoping that I won't reject him now that I know about his past.

"Shit, you don't deserve that, you really don't. But one thing... You still havent told me about the part when you started self harming." He looks away shamefully, not wanting to even look me in the eyes.

"That I can't help. I get nightmares every night, as you already know. They often include flashbacks of my father beating me, my mother not loving me to the point where she left me, my mother pouring the boiling water on me and rejecting me, and my father hurting my siblings instead of me. They have been happening every night since the day my mother hurt me, and I used to just get through them silently, but when I was 8 years old I found one of my fathers old razor blades and wondered what it would be like to be in control of the pain, instead of having it inflicted on me uncontrollably. My father was beating me from before I can remember. Most nights my emotions overpower my logical thinking and almost every night I run to the bathroom in hysterics as if I am possessed and reach for my only comfort which happened to be the blade. Once I cut for the first time, I get momentary relief, but it disappears after a few minutes so I do it again. I usually end up doing it 3-4 times before I can persuade myself to stop, and after that is when I start to feel ashamed. Every night I do it and then regret it. Every night I vow to never do it again, but the nightmares keep coming and the temptation is too large." He is in tears now, shame and regret written all over his face like one of Shakespeare's plays. "But I didn't do it last night, and that's because you were there. You woke me up and held me, even after I hit you. I haven't been held like that since my mum left 10 years ago, it felt so nice. I felt safe for once."

"Well I don't mind holding you, especially if it helps you feel safe. Come here." I say, opening my arms towards him and he falls into them once more, his head on my chest and his tears soaking through my shirt once again, but it's not like I mind. "You can always come here if you need somewhere to go, you're always welcome and you should never feel as if you are in danger here. If I happen to not be in the house one day but my parents are then just tell them that you are my friend and they will instantly let you in. You can then wait for me to get back, but I must warn you, be prepared to be bombarded with sweet things and food to try from my father, unexpected hugs from my mother, and embarrassing photo album sessions with the both of them." He laughs at that. "I'm glad you told me all of this, it means a lot to me that you can trust me and you have to know that I will never tell anyone about this that you don't want to know." I can almost feel my heart break as I feel his sobs, almost as if I'm the one that is crying, he stays in my arms muttering intelligible things for a long time. I hear him say things like 'thank you' at one point and 'I don't deserve you' at another. I press a soft kiss to his forehead as he calms down and moves backwards, wiping his face clear of any evidence that he was crying in the first place.

"God, you must think of me as a weak blubbering mess."

"No, not at all. In fact it's quite the opposite, I think only of you as someone who has been strong for too long. As I said earlier, I'm always here for you to talk to or cry into my arms if that is what you need, ok?"

"T-thank you, you don't know how much that means to me."

"You don't need to thank me, and also I don't need to know how much it means to you because you're my friend and I would never give it a second thought if you came to me looking for comfort. When do you need to be back at your place for because you can stay here until school starts in a week if you want." He shakes his head.

"No, I need to be back by 4, that's when he gets off work and if I get back any later than that and he notices that I haven't done my training then the beatings will be worse."

"Ok, god I wish you didn't have to go back there, but would you like to stay until then? I can get my xbox out or we can watch some movies or something?"

"Yeah, sure. Watching a movie sounds great."

"Ok, great, but first I need to get your clothes washed and dried. Make yourself comfortable where you want." I leave him looking through different genres of movies with a blanket wrapped around him on the sofa whilst I go and see to his clothes. I realize that there is really only his hoodie and underwear that can be washed because the rest of his clothes were ruined so I put the things that he has left in the washing machine and press 'start' before going and joining him.

Over the rest of the week it was pretty much the same routine. Shouto would arrive at my place all beaten up and bruised, I would clean him up and comfort him, we would fall asleep in each others arms, Shouto would be woken up by his nightmares, we would go back to sleep, and we would then spend the rest of the next day doing whatever we feel like until he had to leave at 3:30. It was a terrible cycle because it always involved Shouto getting hurt by his father and me having to patch him up. It always involved Shouto breaking down and crying, and it's breaking my heart even more each time that I have to see him like that. After school started he would always come over at about 10:00 Pm and stay until 5:00 Am when he had to head back to his place before his father went in his room to wake him for school.

We never did anything more than cuddle as we slept or watch movies or play on my xbox but I loved every moment of it to be honest. I have definitely realized my feelings for him now, but I still haven't told him because I don't want him to lose trust in me and think that everything I have done was only to get in his pants which it wasn't. I am the only person he can look towards when he needs help at this moment in time and I don't want him to end up not even being able to trust me.

It was a huge relief for the both of us when the new dorm arrangement was announced, for me because it meant that I won't have to see Shouto hurt anymore, and for Shouto because he managed to stay away from his father. His quirk is a lot stronger than I thought it was, and he would easily beat me in a one on one fight, but I guess that just shows that I need to improve.

The day of the dorm move in has arrived, and I couldn't be more happy.