"I'm driving you home," Bakugo declared as he closed out his register.

Izuku flushed, frozen in place. "You sure?"

Bakugo gave a brief nod. He pulled out his car keys and held them out to Izuku. "Get the air going. I'll be done in ten minutes."

Izuku gently took the keys, brushing lightly against Bakugo's fingers. The contact made the blonde's heart jump. Their gazes locked again.

I know I waited too damn long, Bakugo thought. I'm sorry. But please...after three years...don't let someone steal you away from me.

"Kay," Izuku replied softly.

Bakugo watched him leave out the back room. His lithe form drift around the corner and slip out the door.

Yes, he thought. Yes, I want to date you. Very badly.

"Bakugo!" Kiri called from the hallway. "We're going out for drinks! You comin'?"

Bakugo shook his head. "No."

"Aaaw come on!" Sero complained as he walked arm-in-arm with Yumi. "It's been forever since you've gone out with us!"

"It's fine, Hanta," Yumi jeered. "I'm sure he doesn't want to associate with a mindless bimbo like me anyway."

Sero looked ready to lunge at Bakugo. "You called her a what?!"

Bakugo sighed. Right. I never apologized for that. "I didn't mean that. I'm sorry I said it."

Yumi held a hand in front of Sero to stop him from throwing himself at Bakugo. Then she strutted forward, slamming her hands down on the counter. "I don't want an apology, Katsuki. I want dirt."

Bakugo stared at her blankly, unamused. "You're almost outside, aren't you?"

She smirked. "I need to know the deal with you and Broccoli boy."

Keigo skipped into the store and Dabi followed closely behind, rolling his eyes. "Yes, I think we all do. Soooo how are things going?"

Bakugo flushed. "There's nothing - "

" - A few of my contacts witnessed him walking out of your car this morning. You've bought him breakfast two days in a row. And now you're driving him home. So spill."

Keigo raised an eyebrow. "Contacts? Who are your - "

" - Nothing," Bakugo answered honestly. At least...not yet.

She crossed her arms. "Ochako tried to make a play for him this afternoon and you were guarding him like a well-trained dog. So don't tell me nothing's going on."

Bakugo flushed. "If by making a play you mean throwing herself at him like the damn morning paper, then yeah, she was," he snapped.

Dabi leaned close to Keigo and spoke under his breath. "I sense resentment, do you sense resentment?"

"Absolutely there's definitely a lot to unpack right there. Did you hear his tone?"

"Oh yeah, definitely. I'm shocked by her gumption," Dabi pointed out. "After three years of mutual eye-fucking she's got a lot of nerve staking a claim - "

" - SHUT UP!" Bakugo exclaimed. "I have to go, Izuku's waiting in the car."

Yumi's eyes lit up. "You know what, guys? I don't feel like going out tonight."

Sero cocked his head to the side. "Huh? But - "

" - Don't worry, Hanta, I'll hitch a ride with someone. In fact...I want Bakugo to take me home."

"Snap," Keigo mumbled.

Dabi snickered.

"Go to hell," Bakugo growled.

"Is that any way for him to talk to your girlfriend, Hanta?" Yumi asked with crossed arms.

"It isn't. But...if I were you I'd stop poking the bear," he concurred, trying not to laugh at Bakugo's expression.

Kirishima smiled sadly. "You like him a lot, don't you?"

Bakugo opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again, clamming up.

I can't stop thinking about him. I haven't been able to sleep. Or work. At least not without wondering what he's doing or who he's with or -

" - I hope it works out," Kiri said, giving a soft punch to Bakugo's shoulder. "Tell him I said hi, okay?"

Dabi walked up to Yumi. "The thing is...if you impose yourself, Bakugo won't be able to make a move."

Yumi's face quickly became conflicted. "But - "

"Think about this logically," Dabi continued. "Uraraka purchased a pastel-pink outfit complete with garters."

Keigo let out a low whistle. "She broke out the big guns."

"She was flirting quite heavily," Tokoyami concurred from behind a section of dark clothing. "I'd wager most of it went over the boy's head, but still...she means business."

"Bakugo's on a time clock now. If he doesn't act fast, Uraraka could have him around her manicured finger by tomorrow afternoon. Is that what you want?" Dabi asked.

"Uraraka's my friend," Yumi replied. "If she likes a guy, then - "

" - There's plenty of fish in the sea for her to choose from," Dabi pointed out. "But not for Bakugo."

Keigo nodded. "He's volatile. Unapproachable. Badly mannered. Aggressive. Somewhat like those tiny dogs you get at - "

" - SHUT YOUR FACE AND DIIIE!" Bakugo exclaimed.

Keigo cleared his throat delicately. "Case in point."

"This could be his only chance at finding love," Dabi said. "Or at the very least, a damn good lay."

"There's dirt to be had regardless," Keigo said. "Just sit back and watch. Get some popcorn. Crack open a beer. Take a load off. I'm sure Bakugo will take care of the rest."

Yumi shot Bakugo a conflicted expression. Then her gaze darted between Dabi and Keigo. Finally, she resigned with an exasperated sigh. "Fine. I'll make myself scarce. But when you two do finally hook up, you're giving me every. Damn. Detail."

"I don't know what will happen!" Bakugo admitted, frustrated. "But when that girl wouldn't stop touching him and...kept...freakin'...UGH! I wanted to kill her!"

Yumi clapped excitedly. "Apology accepted," she squealed, frolicking back to her boyfriend.

~.~

"Why did you let that girl touch you today?" Bakugo asked as he drove.

Izuku squinted before he remembered. "Uraraka?"

"Whatever her name is," Bakugo snapped.

Izuku shrugged. "It didn't hurt or anything. I didn't mind."

"Did you like it?" Bakugo asked quietly, nervous of the answer.

"I mean...I...I didn't think about it," Izuku answered. "Why do you ask?"

"She was hitting on you," Bakugo said as if it were obvious. "You couldn't tell?"

Izuku crossed his legs and sat back against his chair. "It doesn't matter if she was."

Bakugo clenched the steering wheel. "Why the hell wouldn't it matter?"

Izuku looked out his window and covered his face with his hair. "Because I like someone else."

Suddenly all Bakugo could hear was his heartbeat in his ears. "Do I know them?" he asked quieter.

Izuku sunk deeper into his seat. "Yeah…" he mumbled.

Bakugo swallowed nervously. "What...do they look like?"

Izuku crossed his arms, completely facing away from Bakugo now. "Well, I...I don't want to say because I don't know if they like me back."

I want to hold you so badly. His voice was so small. So shy. So cute. That's not something you have to worry about, Bunny. "I like someone too," he said in a low voice.

Even through the music that softly played on the stereo and the whooshing of the AC, he heard Izuku's surprised gasp.

"Really?"

Bakugo glanced briefly away from the road to look at Izuku's curled up form. "Yeah."

Izuku fell silent.

Bakugo smiled. "You're not gonna ask me what they look like?"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Izuku whispered.

His smile disappeared. He thinks it's not him. "Izuku - " the beeping of his gas tank cut him off, obnoxious and loud. "Dammit."

"It's on empty?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah. I gotta stop for gas."

"Okay."

Bakugo parked in front of a gas pump and started to fiddle with the card machine, which he was slowly beginning to realize was broken. He gawked in surprise when Izuku stepped out of the car and leaned his back against the other side. Seconds later, he heard the clicking of a lighter.

"You smoke?"

Izuku let out a cloud in a shaky exhale. "Sometimes."

Bakugo's heart pounded harder, concerned. "What are you trying to do, blow us up? We're at a gas station."

"I'll make it quick."

"We're gonna get yelled at."

"I'm almost done."

"You seriously don't care how dangerous - "

" - We're not clocked in so you can't tell me what to do," Izuku finally snapped. "I smoke when I'm stressed and I'm trying to calm down, okay?! So lay off!"

Bakugo's heart lurched when he heard the pain in Izuku's voice. "Fine. I have to pay inside. The machine' broken."

"Fine."

"I'll be back."

"Fine."

Bakugo walked in and paid with cash. He couldn't have been in there for longer than three minutes as he waited in line.

When he walked back out to the car, Izuku was gone.

~.~

Izuku clawed and kicked at the three men who jumped him and pulled him to the back of the gas station, where it was pitch black. He didn't recognize any of them. Then again, it was too dark to see their faces. They held him up against the brick wall, pressing into his ribs.

"You're the twink that lives in my building," one of them said.

"The one who got himself a sugar daddy."

Izuku struggled against them. Fuck. Are they talking about Bakugo? "He's not my - "

" - Don't try to deny it. We see him picking you up all the time in his fancy Mercedez. Dropping you off. We've even caught him grabbing food for you. How'd you do it?"

"Probably by blowing him whenever he wants."

Izuku flushed. I wish, he thought. I've wanted to for years. "Jealous?" he snarled.

One of them slapped his face. "Shut the fuck up, little turd!"

Izuku winced, seething from the pain. It could've been worse, he thought. It wasn't a punch, at least. "You hit like a bitch."

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST - "

" - You've really got a mouth on you, huh? He probably face-fucks you just to get you to shut up."

Izuku laughed. If only, if only. "For the record, that wouldn't work."

"Why the hell are you laughing?! Are you proud to be his whore?!"

"You're disgusting."

"Letting him use you like his own personal sex doll."

I wish it was true, he thought. But he likes someone else. I'll never what it's like to be kissed by him. Touched. Held. Made love to. He belongs to someone else. Someone fucking else. He bit his lip which began to bleed. It doesn't matter if they beat the crap out of me. I'll never be his anyway. I'll say whatever the fuck I want. "You'd be surprised what I'm willing to do for a McGriddle," he growled.

This earned him another slap across his face in the same spot. A new explosion of pain erupted on his skin.

"After we're done breaking his favorite toy, he won't be coming around in his shiny car anymore."

"Get ready to die," a dark voice snapped.

The men's grips let go of him and he fell with a thud to the concrete, scraping up his palms.

From ground-level, he saw a pair of legs clad in black jeans, slipping off black boots.

"Stay out of this, fucko."

"The hell?"

"Why'd you take off your - "

" - So I don't break your face when I kick it."

If Izuku blinked, he would've missed it. Within seconds, Bakugo landed a kick to one of the men's faces. He collapsed like a log, unmoving. Another one tried to run but he tripped him with a leg swipe and landed a quick, hard punch to his face. The last tried to fight back, but in one move he knocked his teeth in, spraying blood as his opponent fell.

The second man weakly turned on his back to get a better look. "You're...you're Dyna - "

" - Crap. That took longer than I thought it would. I must be rusty." His tone was a low growl. A feral sound. A noise an animal would make.

Izuku gaped at him from the ground. But...it was all over...in seconds - "

"You should go to a hospital for those injuries. They look pretty bad," he said mockingly.

Izuku flinched when Bakugo grabbed his shoes in one hand and scooped him up in the other, holding him close. He couldn't control his racing heart. He rested his chin on his savior's shoulder, curling up against his chest. He felt the vibrations on his skin as Bakugo spoke.

"I wouldn't try touching him again," he warned. "Morgues are pretty busy this time of year."

~.~

Izuku stood in his bathroom while Bakugo sat on a stool. He remained still as Izuku gingerly wiped blood off of his knuckles with a warm washcloth. "You didn't have to do that," he said softly.

Bakugo glared at him, but his voice was soft. "They were shredding you up like a blender."

"I'm fine," Izuku assured. And he was. A bruise began to bloom on his left cheekbone. His palms needed to be cleaned and bandaged. But other than that, he got out of it unscathed.

"What did you expect me to do? Stand there and let them keep hurting you?"

Izuku rinsed out the washcloth, maintaining a blank expression. "I don't get why that matters. It's not your problem."

"The hell it's not," Bakugo snapped, his jaw clenched. "They could've killed you."

"Why do you care?"

"I just do!"

Izuku recalled how fluid Bakugo's movements had been. How fast. Explosive. "How did you even do that?"

To his complete and utter shock, Bakugo's eyes misted. "I don't...I don't know. I didn't really think about it, I just...did it." His voice shook. "My body moved on its own. And then I was fighting them."

Izuku gasped, looking at him with wide eyes. "You've never fought before?"

"I used to all the time," he admitted. "But that was years ago. And...I never fought like that."

"You were like...lightning or something. You were so fast and then you just...destroyed them. In seconds. Like a bomb or - "

" - Dynamite," he finished, hanging his head. "That's what they used to call me."

I've heard about him, Izuku realized. He was one of the most notorious streetfighters. There wasn't one person in Portland who didn't know who Dynamite was. But he wore a mask when he fought, so no one knew what he looked like. But what people could see was…

Izuku hesitantly brushed over Bakugo's neck in the place where his skin had been inked with an explosion tattoo.

Bakugo closed his eyes, leaning into Izuku's touch. "I shouldn't've left you on your own."

I've never heard him sound so tender before. "I'm okay. Seriously. Barely a scratch on me."

Bakugo's lips parted slightly as a hungry look formed in his eyes. Gently he grabbed his palm and kissed it.

Izuku shivered as heat rose to his face.

"Then what do you call this?" he asked, nuzzling his nose into Izuku's hand. Then he grabbed the other hand and did the same thing, sending shivers all the way down to Izuku's toes. "And this?"

His gaze moved up and locked eyes with him.

Izuku bit his lip, trying to remember how to breathe.

Bakugo gently pulled Izuku's face down to his and kissed his bruise. "And this?" he whispered.

Izuku could barely stay on his feet. Is this happening? Is this really happening?

His gaze moved up and locked eyes with him.

Izuku bit his lip, trying to remember how to breathe.

Bakugo gently pulled Izuku's face down to his and kissed his bruise. "And this?" he whispered.

Izuku could barely stay on his feet. Is this happening? Is this really happening?

Bakugo's thumbs brushed over Izuku's cheeks, where his freckles were. Then gently over his mouth as he leaned forward. He spoke barely above a whisper. "The one I want looks like you, Izuku."

With a shudder, he pressed his forehead against Bakugo's, blushing as his breathing warmed his face. "Bakugo - "

They both gasped and pulled away when they heard a sharp knock from the other side of the bathroom door.