Outside, Yumi managed to find a patch of grass under a tree to sit in. Leaning up against the tree, she noted how quiet the area was. No one had followed after her, at least not that she noticed. She needed some space to clear her head.

It had been a few weeks since Sero had asked her to move in. At the time, Yumi thought it was a good idea. After today, she wasn't so sure. It didn't seem like their apartment. Especially now, it felt like his apartment, and she was the fuckbuddy that was forever staying over.

Hot tears threatened her eyes as she used the sleeve of Sero's hoodie to wipe them away. She loved Sero, and to a degree, she was sure he loved her.

"Hey. You okay?" a voice asked, startling her.

Looking up, Yumi saw that Keigo was leaning against the tree.

"What do you want?" she asked, laying her head against her knees. She honestly wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.

There was silence for a moment. Yumi didn't say or move, but she listened as Keigo took a seat beside her. "Trust me, I get it. I'm sure he cares about you. He just has a shitty way of showing it."

Yumi looked at him then back down at the ground. "I'm not too sure about that."

"What makes you say that? Has he ever treated you badly? Has he gotten physical with you? If he has, you better tell me, because we'll-"

" - No. No, none of that. He doesn't hit me or abuse me if that's what you're thinking," she muttered to herself.

Keigo looked her over, unsure. "Really? I don't know many people who'd willingly wear a hoodie in this heat."

Yumi pulled the material up so that he could see the distressed Hooters uniform underneath. Keigo made a silent "Oh" and looked away. He seemed to understand now. Yumi dropped the sweatshirt material, letting the uniform get covered again.

The two were silent. Both could understand what it was like loving a man and being unsure if they loved them back.

"Sometimes I have to ask myself if I'm actually his girlfriend."

Keigo looked at her. He noticed the tears pooling in her eyes.

"These days, I feel more like I'm here to live out some sexual fantasy of his. At the end of the day, I don't matter." Her voice cracked as she tried to stop the tears. "Maybe it's my fault. I give in to him so easily."

Keigo looked at her, eyebrow raised. "Did he tell you that?" While he didn't think Sero would say that to her, he wanted to be sure.

She shook her head. "No," she said weakly, wiping the tears from her face.

"Has he ever said that you don't matter?"

"No. He hasn't."

Knowing that this had nothing to do with anything Sero had said to her, Keigo laid his head back. " Then this isn't about Sero. I'm not a therapist but I'm an expert at feeling insecure."

Yumi scoffed a little. "I'm not insecure," she said, brushing some hair out of her face.

Keigo looked at her and booped her nose. "Your figure is hardbody karate but that's not what I'm talking about. You didn't say at the end of the day, I feel like I don't matter to Hanta. You said I feel like I don't matter."

She realized now what he was talking about. "Well, I meant -"

"- I don't think you did. Alcohol has a funny way of pulling the truth outta you. I think it's possible you're conflating two different things. You're combining your own insecurity with Sero's inability to budget his time and as a result, you've convinced yourself you don't matter," he said, looking at him from the corner of his eye.

Yumi stared at him with a raised brow. Where the heck had that come from?

Noticing the weird look, he rubbed the back of his neck. "I took like...one semester of Psych. Okay? Not an expert." He wrapped his arms around himself. "But…I know what it feels like to think you don't mean anything to the person you love. But I'm sure if you talked to him...really talked to him, you'd realize that's not true."

Yumi looked down at the grass again. "What makes you so sure?" she mumbled.

Keigo sat there, thinking about it for a moment. "As absent-minded as he is, Sero's a good guy. If he had the choice between making you happy or miserable, I'm sure he'd want you happy. But humans aren't mind-readers. If something's bothering you, you have to tell him. Trust me on this one. All the hints in the world won't amount to anything."

Yumi thought about it and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I probably should talk to him."

Keigo smirked. "Hanta isn't stupid. He knows he'll never land a girl like you again. He can't afford to fuck this up."

This caused Yumi to laugh a little. "Thanks, Keigo."

"No problem," he said as he stood up.

Looking up at him she smiled. "So….you know this from...experience?"

Damn brat, he thought as he felt his cheeks flare-up. He looked away. "We're not talking about me."

Seeing the red on his face caused the smile on her face to get bigger. "So Dabikami isn't perfect."

This caused Keigo to turn to her. "Dabi….what?"

Smirking a bit, Yumi brought a hand to her face. "Have anything you wanna talk about, Keigo? Grievances to get off your chest? Trouble in paradise?"

Keigo felt his face get redder. He huffed a little as he turned away. "I'm so done with helping you. Excuse me while I raid your liquor cabinet." He stormed up, upset that he allowed himself to get worked up.

"You can confide in me!" Yumi's giggles could be heard from the tree. "IF SOMETHING'S BOTHERING YOU, JUST TELL HIM, KEIGO! TELL YOUR LOVERBOY YOU NEED SOME LOVIN'!" she shouted after him, mockingly.

Keigo did his best to ignore her. He promised to drink anything expensive looking in the liquor cabinet. "Never again. I'm done getting involved," he mumbled.

~.~

Dabi looked around the party. Keigo had gone after Yumi, but it seemed no one, especially the birthday boy, noticed she left. He was too busy getting drunk with his boys.

What is it they always say, he thought to himself. Bros before hoes?

Shaking his head, Dabi waltzed over to the group forming by the dinner table. He placed a hand on Sero's shoulder and pulled him back a bit. "Excuse me, guys. I wanna borrow the birthday boy for a moment." He gave Sero's shoulder a squeeze.

No one objected. Dabi had that look on his face.

With a firm grip on Sero's shoulder, he led them to the bedroom. Once they were inside, he let go of Sero's shoulder and locked the door.

For his part, Sero tensed up a bit. Despite all the alcohol he'd had, he didn't have enough courage to take on Dabi. Not even in his own home.

"How are you enjoying your birthday?" he asked, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall.

Sero shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Can't complain. Everyone seems to be having a good time."

Dabi raised an eyebrow. Either he was too drunk or too stupid to notice or he just fucking didn't care. "Really? Where's Yumi at?"

Sero thought about it. The last time he could really remember seeing Yumi was just before all the guests arrived. She'd been on the couch drinking a beer in one of his hoodies. "I'm pretty sure she's on the couch."

Rolling his eyes, Dabi looked around the room. He noticed the bed covered with rose petals. Some candles for ambiance. A pink bunny plushie on one of the pillows. That girl definitely had plans for this idiot. It was a shame.

Dabi continued to look over the room. The decor of the bedroom fit the rest of the apartment. There were a few boxes in the closet. "Remind me again, how long have you two been dating?"

Sero was puzzled. What did that have to do with anything? "Almost two years," he said, giving it some thought.

"And how long have you two been living together?"

"A few weeks. She's still getting settled in," Sero said, wondering where this line of questioning was going.

"And if I had to guess...that's all her stuff I've seen in the boxes around the apartment."

Sero rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, we're still trying to figure this all out."

"Figure out what?" Dabi was curious now.

"How to make all this work. Living together. Hell, you and Keigo make it look easy."

Dabi rolled his eyes. "I doubt that," he muttered.

He could tell Sero was serious. "We do?" Dabi never thought that they portrayed that kind of relationship out for everyone. Sure, they showed good faces for the public, but he didn't think they were the model for what couples should be. Hell, he knew he caused issues for Keigo all the time.

Wait, he thought, back to the more important issue. Just make up some bullshit

"After six years of fucking up, you start to figure it out. We made it look easy because we didn't rush through shit. We respect each other's boundaries and understand that things take time. I know what Keigo wants, and he knows what I want, but we didn't at the start. And I sure as hell didn't bring him into space I clearly wasn't ready to bring him into."

Sero looked at Dabi and sat on the bed. Taking a handful of rose petals he let them fall out of his hands. In a way, he understood what Dabi was saying. He had been the one to insist on Yumi moving in with him. The thought of them getting an apartment together hadn't crossed his mind.

"I fucked up badly, haven't I?"

"Don't ask dumb questions with obvious answers." Dabi had to give it to the kid, he understood where he'd fucked up.

"I really didn't mean to. It's just that….Yumi does something to me. I can't explain it, but I just need her around all the time. To remind myself that it's not all a dream. Let's face it, girls like her don't go for guys like me so I just needed that reminder that it was real. I wanted to wake up with her in my arms so I knew this blessing was real. The last thing I want to ever hear is that something bad happens to her. This world sucks, but every day it feels like she's the one good thing in it. She makes every day that much better. I don't know how to tell her that. Hell, I don't think I'm doing a good job at showing her that. I really love this girl." Sero put his head in his hands. He had never told anyone just how much cared about Yumi.

Dabi looked at him. That answer surprised him. "Emotions are a bitch. Sometimes you don't want to feel them, and conveying them can be hard. But it's gotta be done. If you don't actively show your partner that you care, you'll start to drift apart. Worst case scenario, they leave you." Dabi laid his head against the wall, staring up at the roof. "You might think that being alone isn't so bad. After all, if you're alone, then you can't screw up or get hurt. But it also means you lost what made you the happiest person in the world. I'd let myself get hurt a thousand times over before I gave up the person I love." An image of Keigo flashed in his mind, and he thought of all the trouble they'd faced recently.

Sero sighed. "What do I do?"

"First of all, you gotta cool it with the sex."

"Hypocrite."

Dabi smirked. "I don't have to worry about getting Keigo knocked up. That's the last thing you two need. We could go at it like rabbits and be fine. You two could have a kid in 9 months without even trying. You're not at that stage in the relationship yet. A kid is just a wrench that doesn't need to be thrown in."

Sero rolled his eyes. "Noted. Anything else?"

"Stop putting your friends first. You didn't even notice she left. Figure out how to balance the two. Show her some love. Actual love, not sex you horn dog. Every day, not just once in a while, either." Maybe he needed to take his own advice. "And for god's sake put some of her things up in the apartment. Either get a bigger apartment or make it a space you two can share. There's no reason she should be living out of boxes." As he said this, Dabi made a mental note to do the same to Keigo. He needed to remind the guy that he mattered as well.

~.~

The party went on for another two hours. When Yumi came back to the apartment, Dabi and Keigo noticed that Sero was more attentive to her. Overall everyone enjoyed ate, drank and had a good time. When it came time to cut the cake Yumi smashed a small piece in Sero's face for a few laughs. By the end of the party, a few of their friends were drunk. Thankfully residential designated driver Shinso promised to take the drunken fools home. Once the apartment cleared out, Yumi surveyed the damage. Paper plates, cups and beer bottles were everywhere.

"How is it Kaminari and Kirishima are the ones that throw you a party, but yet I'm going to be the one stuck cleaning it all up?" she asked as she went to the kitchen and retrieved a trash bag from under the sink.

"No worries, I'll help," Sero told her, as he grabbed several of the plates left on the table.

30 minutes and 2 trash bags later, the apartment was clean. The decorations were still up, but all the leftovers had been put away and the trash was picked up.

Yumi was in the kitchen, cleaning some of the real dishes left in the sink when Sero walked up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back.

"Why don't you leave that alone? You've earned a break for the night," he said, kissing her cheek.

Turning her head to look at him Yumi gave him a small smile. "Does that mean you'll do them later?"

"Maybe not tonight." Pulling her away from the sink he led her back to the living room and forced her to sit down.

Yumi rolled her eyes, but smiled as they settled down on the couch. She snuggled up in his arms "Okay I got the message. Birthday boy wants attention."

Sero ran his fingers through her hair, looking at her. He thought back to what Dabi had told him. "I need to ask you something."

Looking up at him, she could tell his attitude had changed. Yumi sat up, now concerned. "What's up?"

How was he supposed to do this? Staring at her for a bit he brought a hand up to his face, covering his eyes. He laid his head back. "Fuck," he muttered under his breath. He knew he should ask her, but he was dreading the answer she would probably give him.

"Hanta? What's wrong?"

Moving his hand Sero took a deep breath. "Yumi, are you happy?"

Yumi tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"I mean...are you happy here? In this relationship."

Taken back a bit, Yumi laid back against the couch. Her thoughts went to the talk she'd had with Keigo earlier.

If something's bothering you, you have to tell him.

She looked down at her lap. Planning what she would tell him. "Overall, I want to say yes, but there are times...where it just seems like you pick the guys over me. Like I become a thought when you want sex or something. It makes me think that I don't matter so much."

He stared at her for a moment. He was afraid she would have said something like that. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close. "I hate that you feel that way. I never wanted you to feel like you don't matter." He ran his hand through her hair before cupping her cheek. "You are the most important person in my life. No one will ever come before you, and I am so sorry that I ever made you feel like that. Of course, I don't like you just for the sex. I love everything about you, from that spunky, happy-go-lucky attitude of yours, to your big heart. Even your pocky obsession is adorable" he said, chuckling a bit. "I am sorry that I haven't treated you the way I should have and I promise that I will do better, because I don't want to lose you."

Hearing everything he had to say, Yumi smiled. Sure, words were just words. Actions meant something, but she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt and believe he would do better.

"I'll hold you to it," she said, moving her body so she straddled his lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned in and kissed him. It was hot and passionate.

Sero's arms dropped from around her waist down to her ass. "So earlier….when I got home...and you were on the bed...was that supposed to be-"

"-a little birthday celebration just for you. Too bad Kirishima and Kaminari decided to throw you a party instead."

He laughed. So they had been telling the truth. "Those fucking idiots." He tugged on the sweater she still wore. "The night is still young…"

Yumi tilted her head, pretending to play dumb. "Yeah, I suppose it is."

He smirked, knowing her game too well. Holding onto her, he stood up, tossing her over his shoulder. "No point in letting a good time go to waste."

Yumi was taken aback. "What?"

"I hope you don't have to work tomorrow, because you looked really sexy earlier. I don't know if I'll be able to control myself that well, so you might have to call off."

Her cheeks turned a deep crimson. "H-Hanta!" she cried out, surprised to hear him say that.

"Keep up that energy babe!" Sero said, walking into the bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

He would talk to her about moving into a bigger apartment in the morning...