Author's Note: None of this was in my original plan, but that's how it goes sometimes!

The next morning, Nejire woke up to Keigo's warm voice. "Hey, gorgeous." Nejire smiled as she recalled the previous night.

"Morning," she murmured. When she opened her eyes, Nejire saw Keigo fully dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed. Confused, she started to sit up, but he put a hand on her arm.

"You don't have to get out of bed. I ordered some things for breakfast, so I need to go downstairs and meet the delivery driver. I didn't want to worry you, in case you woke up and I was gone." Keigo leaned forward to kiss her, but Nejire covered her mouth, blocking him from her morning breath. He chuckled, and kissed her on the nose instead. "I shouldn't be long. There's coffee if you want some."

"Thanks," Nejire said from behind her hand.

After he left, she stayed in bed, taking her time to savor the warm, peaceful feeling. The room was bathed in light from the big windows. Nejire stretched again, her body a little sore from the previous night's activities. Her hips ached a little, probably from overworking muscles she hadn't used in some time.

As she rolled to her side, Nejire noticed that her breasts were tender. That seemed odd, since Keigo had been so gentle; his touch was almost feather-light. Her lower abs hurt a little, too.

Wait. Oh, no. Nejire jumped up and ran for the bathroom, grabbing her things from the floor as she went.

Her fear was confirmed; she had started her period. Digging through her bag, Nejire found her emergency supplies. She sat on the toilet and hung her head. Of all the horrible timing, why did this have to happen now? She examined Keigo's shirt that she had slept in, and found some stains along the bottom hem. She groaned in frustration.

Then, an even worse thought occurred to her. What if…

Nejire rushed back out to the bed and pulled off the covers. "No," she moaned. Tears of embarrassment filled her eyes. "No, no, no!" Keigo would be back any minute. Nejire quickly pulled all the sheets off the bed, grabbed a clean t-shirt from the closet, and carried everything to the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

First she took off the shirt she was wearing and ran it under cold water in the sink, scrubbing furiously at the stains. Then she balled it up and dropped it on the shower floor. Next, she worked at the spots on the bedding. Keigo's sheets were made of a nice material, probably expensive, yet as hard as Nejire scrubbed, the spots weren't going away.

From outside, she heard Keigo come back. Nejire's breathing sped up as she worked frantically at the stains. Keigo knocked on the bathroom door. "Food's here."

"Okay," she called, then cringed at the obvious panic in her voice. Maybe he wouldn't notice.

"Is everything alright?"

Nejire grimaced. "Just a minute!" She turned off the water and sighed. There was no way to hide this from him. Her hands were shaking.

Keigo knocked again. "Nejire?" She opened the door a crack. Keigo's face was full of concern, which increased as he saw her. "Hey, what's wrong?" He pushed the door open and looked around. His worry turned to confusion.

Mortified, Nejire hid behind her hands. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't expecting it yet."

Realization dawned across his face. "Oh, sweetheart." He reached for her. "It's alright! Come here." Reluctantly, Nejire let Keigo take her in his arms. "Are you alright?"

"I ruined your nice sheets."

Keigo lifted Nejire's chin to look into her eyes. "I don't care. What do you need? I can place another delivery order."

"No, it's fine. I'm really sorry."

"Stop that. Let me take care of you, okay babe? Do you need some pain meds? Chocolate?"

Nejire couldn't help but smile a little at that. "Thanks, but I just want to go home."

"If you're sure." Keigo's brows were pinched in concern. "Would you at least have some breakfast first?" Nejire nodded. Keigo kissed her forehead, then took her hand. "Come on."

After they ate, Keigo arranged a ride to take Nejire home.

When she told Toga what had happened, the blond laughed hysterically until she was holding her stomach and wheezing for air between fits of giggles.

Nejire crossed my arms and pouted. "Thanks for your sympathy."

Toga wiped the tears from her eyes. "At least you know he's not scared of a little blood!" She set off giggling again.

"I guess."

A knock on the door surprised them both. The two frowned at each other, then Toga got up to see who it was.

There was a grocery delivery, but neither of them had ordered anything. Toga brought everything to the kitchen counter. "Nejire," she said reverently, "marry him."

"What?" Curious, Nejire got up to join her.

Keigo had sent a care package. As Toga took each item out, one after another, Nejire's smile grew bigger and bigger. There were all sorts of chocolates and sweets, Midol, hot packs, spa masks and foot lotion. He even included a soft plush bird for Nejire to cuddle. There was no note, but they both knew it had been Keigo.

Nejire spent the entire week floating on clouds. She and Keigo talked on the phone every day, and when their schedules lined up, they met for lunch. Though Nejire hadn't known Keigo very long, she could see the possibility of their relationship going somewhere.

However, before she could move forward, Nejire had some baggage to sort through.

She was sitting on the curb near the back entrance to Stain when Dabi came out for a smoke break. He didn't see her at first, and when he did, he flinched. "Does Toga know you're here?"

"Why, are you scared of her?"

Dabi let out a huff. "I'm not an idiot."

"You looked up her record, didn't you?"

"Of course I did. Now I'm always looking over my damn shoulder."

"Good."

He took a drag off his cigarette. "I was glad to see you at the meeting. Don't let me stop you from going back. I can switch to another group if you want."

"It's fine," Nejire said, but she wasn't sure if she meant it. "I had no idea you were…"

"An addict?" Dabi turned to look at her. "I didn't know you were, either."

"Right." Nejire looked down at her shoes. "Have you been sober since… New York?"

"Not quite. Just got my eighteen month chip."

"That's pretty good," she admitted.

"I wasn't drunk," Dabi said. "When I…" he gestured at her.

"What do you mean?"

"It wasn't booze."

She stared. "What was it, then?"

"Heroin and cocaine."

"Oh!" Nejire felt her jaw drop. "Wow."

"Yeah." He shook his head. "I was out of my mind."

"I… I'm really glad you're off all that."

"So am I. Well, most days, at least. You know what I mean."

"Not exactly."

He glared down at her. "Don't do that."

"What?" Nejire glared back.

"Nevermind." Dabi took another slow drag, then closed his eyes as he blew out the smoke."You with that guy?"

"Who, Jin?" Nejire had to laugh. "No, he's my sponsor."

Dabi glanced sideways at her. "Good."

She almost left it at that, but she couldn't. "I am seeing someone."

"They better be treating you right." Nejire smiled faintly, but she felt a pang of sadness. Thankfully, Dabi changed the subject. "So, you getting more ink done?"

"Yeah, actually, I have an appointment in a couple weeks."

"Can I ask where?"

Nejire tried to remember the name. "Toga found the place, it's called, um… Wing Hero."

Dabi bristled. "You're joking."

"What? Is it bad?"

"That depends on who you get. You with Hawks?" He instantly read it on her face. "Shit."

"You know him…"

"Yeah, he's a douchebag."

"How do you mean?"

"I used to work for him." Dabi let out an angry huff. "I was making him good money, real good. Then one day out of the blue, he up and fired me. Cut me off entirely. Kept all the clients I brought in, too."

"Okay." This didn't sound like Keigo, but then again, Nejire hadn't known him very long.

Dabi scoffed. "Hell, you have no reason to believe me."

"Not particularly."

He studied her for a moment. "Tiny-"

"Don't call me that."

"Nejire, tell me you're not with him."

"That's none of your business."

"Fuck!" Dabi threw down his cigarette and snuffed it out with his boot. He was clearly agitated. "You cannot trust that guy. For all I know, he could be using you to get back at me."

"Excuse me?"

He crouched down to look into Nejire's eyes. "You don't trust me, that's fine; ask him yourself, see what he says about me. Would you do that? Please?"

Nejire scowled. No matter what she wanted to believe, the doubts were already creeping in, and now she wouldn't be able to ignore it.

On her walk home, she called Keigo. He answered on the first ring. "Hey, chickadee!"

"Hi," she said. "Are you busy?"

"Not at the moment. What's up?"

"Could I see you?"

"Of course, baby! Actually, I just ordered some dinner. Would you come to my place?"

"Sure. That sounds good."

"I'll see you in a bit, then."

Before long, her ride was pulling up to Keigo's apartment building. As Nejire stepped out of the backseat, she saw him, and smiled, despite herself.

Keigo hurried over and took Nejire in his arms. "This day just got so much better." He pulled her in for a quick kiss. "Dinner will be here soon, if you don't mind waiting out here with me."

"Sure. Is there somewhere we can sit and talk?"

He showed her to a stone patio set surrounded by mulch and landscaping. It was hidden from the road by a row of shrubs, but they would still be able to see when the food delivery arrived. Nejire took a seat, and Keigo sat facing her, straddling the bench. He propped his chin on his hand. "What's on your mind?"

There was no point skirting around the issue. Nejire took a deep breath, and looked him in the eyes so she wouldn't miss his reaction. "So… it seems we have somebody in common." For a second he looked puzzled, but then Nejire saw it; recognition; guilt. She raised her eyebrows. "You knew."

Keigo sighed deeply. "Are we talking about Dabi? He did your back piece, right? I thought I recognized his style."

Nejire stared hard at him, waiting for more.

"I'm sure he doesn't have much good to say about me."

"No, he doesn't."

Keigo looked a little sad. "What would you like to know?"

"Is he why you asked me out?"

Keigo seemed confused, then his face fell like he had been punched in the gut. "God, no! Nejire, I swear." He took her hands, and she didn't pull away. "This has nothing to do with him."

Looking into his eyes, she believed him.

He squeezed her hands gently. "How can I prove it to you?"

"Tell me everything."

"Of course." Keigo let go of Nejire's hands to rub his face. "Let's see… I met Dabi a couple years back; he was new to the area, looking for work. When I saw his portfolio I hired him on the spot. He's talented; you know that. But a few months in, I found out he was… let's say… involved in illegal activities. So I had to let him go. He took it hard; I don't blame him for that."

"He said you kept his customers."

Keigo shook his head. "That's not up to me. People go where they want. I never badmouthed him to anyone. The opposite, in fact. I've always wished him the best. I still look him up online every so often, to see how he's doing."

Nejire didn't feel any better. "Is that all?"

Keigo looked deep into her eyes. "If I'm being completely honest; no." He sighed. "Things between Dabi and I were… complicated. He probably thinks I led him on. Maybe I did."

Nejire's eyes grew wide. "You two were-"

"It was never serious; we mostly just flirted. But sometimes we'd all go out for drinks after work, and the next day… things were hazy. As his boss, I should never have let it go that far; that was wrong of me. Maybe that's why I reacted so harshly when I found out what he was into."

"Was it drugs?"

Keigo looked surprised, then he nodded sadly. "Yeah. I can't be mixed up in that crap. I have a business, a reputation to protect."

Nejire felt oddly defensive. His words stung, though he couldn't possibly know why. She wanted to get away. "You know, I'm not really hungry; I should go."

"What's wrong?" Keigo gently touched her arm. "Nejire?"

Tears filled her eyes. "I don't think this is gonna work."

Keigo visibly flinched as the words landed. "Is this because… I was with a guy?"

"No!" Nejire almost wanted to laugh, but it hurt too much. "Keigo… I'm an addict."

He frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"I was taking prescription pills and I couldn't stop."

His eyes searched her face. "But you're not on anything now?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Sweetheart, listen… I only meant that I can't have my employees using drugs at work. I never meant… God, I really stuck my foot in my mouth, didn't I?"

"What about your reputation? Do you really want to date someone that goes to NA meetings?"

Keigo reached up to stroke her cheek. "I would be proud to."

Nejire brushed his hand away. "You can't act like this is no big deal."

"No, of course not. I can only imagine what you've been through, but it's in the past."

"Barely! I've only been clean for a month. And what if I slip?"

Keigo put his hand on Nejire's shoulder. "Then we'll deal with it. Together."

"Also… with me and Dabi, it's complicated, too."

Nejire watched Keigo's face as her words sank in. "Oh."

"Really complicated," she added. "I can't even get into it all right now, but it's a lot."

"Are you still with him?"

"No," Nejire assured him.

"Good." Keigo looked relieved. "Sorry, I know we never talked about being exclusive…"

"It's okay," she said, wiping her eyes. "He's clean now," she added.

"Really?" Keigo smiled. "That's great; I'm glad to hear it."

"Yeah." Nejire still felt awful.

Keigo took her hands in his. "Okay, so we both have a past. That's normal, right?." HIs expression was serious. "Nejire, I want to be with you. I don't have everything figured out, and sometimes I might screw up or say the wrong thing. But I want to give this, give us, a chance. Is that what you want, too?"

With tears rolling down her cheeks, Nejire nodded.

Keigo wrapped his arms around her, holding on for dear life, and Nejire squeezed him tight. Closing her eyes, Nejire let herself relax in his embrace. It felt safe, and right. When he started to loosen his grip, she pulled him in for a kiss. He cupped her face in his hands, kissing her tenderly, and she curled her fingers into his hair.

They were interrupted by a car horn. Keigo rubbed his sleeve across his face, sniffling. "That would be the food," he chuckled. "I hope you like fried chicken." He took Nejire's hand.

In that moment, Nejire allowed herself to feel hopeful for where things might lead.

The dream came again. Nejire was in the wrecked car again, the smell of leaking oil, the wail of approaching sirens. As the shock wore off, the pain crept in, overwhelming all her senses.

"Nejire? Sweetheart? Wake up!"

She was in Keigo's bed, and he was looking down at her with concern. She grabbed onto him, trying to wrench herself from the vivid dream.

"Did you have a nightmare?" She nodded, and he pulled her to his chest, running his fingers soothingly through her hair. "Hey, you're alright. It was just a dream."

"No," she murmured, pushing away. "It's not." She sat up cross-legged on the bed, and Keigo propped himself up on his elbow, watching her. She met his eyes. "It's not just a dream, it really happened."

"Okay," he said, his face full of worry. "Can you tell me about it?"

Besides doctors and therapists, the only person she'd told was Toga. "It's a lot."

Keigo put a hand on her knee. "Nejire, if you want to talk, I'm here."

"I was in a car accident. That's how I…" she gestured to herself. Keigo nodded for her to continue. She took a second, trying to slow her breathing. She fiddled with the hem of the shirt she was wearing, which was Keigo's. "My life was perfect, before. I got my dream job. We were out celebrating after opening weekend. I don't actually remember the crash, just the parts after. That's what I dream about. They told me later that the other driver was under the influence and ran a red light."

Nejire stopped to catch her breath. Keigo sat up to face her. He didn't speak, just waited for her to continue.

"Because of my injuries, I couldn't dance anymore. I lost my job, my friends, everything. I came here to try and get away from all of it, but…"

Keigo offered his hands, and Nejire took them. He ran his thumbs across her knuckles, waiting patiently for her to continue.

"I didn't know who the other driver was, or anything about them, and they didn't know about me. But… it was Dabi." She watched the confusion on Keigo's face. "I moved all the way out here, and then I met him. Neither of us knew. He figured it out first, and eventually he told me. But we'd already…" she trailed off, not sure how to finish the thought.

Keigo was shaking his head. "My god." Nejire hung her head. She braced herself for him to pull back, overwhelmed by her trauma dump. He put his hand under her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. "You are so incredibly strong."

Nejire blinked in surprise. "What?"

"You're right, it's a lot. But you made it. You survived all of that, and you're still here."

She shook her head. "It's not like I had a choice."

Keigo ran his fingers over the treble clef on her wrist. "We always have a choice."

Nejire started to cry. Keigo reached for her, and she dove into his arms, clinging to him.

When she settled down, Keigo kissed the side of her forehead. "Do you want to try and go back to sleep, or stay up?"

"I'm gonna stay up, you can sleep."

"Not a chance." He smiled. "Want to watch some TV?"

They moved to the couch, and Keigo made popcorn while Nejire picked out a cheesy old movie. She was curled against his chest when a thought occurred to her, and it was out of her mouth before she thought it through. "You should talk to him."

"Hmm?" Keigo responded sleepily. "Who?"

"Dabi," she prompted.

"Would he even want to talk to me?"

"It's worth a shot." She leaned back to look at him. "Don't you owe that to him?"

Keigo frowned for a moment. "Ugh. You're right." Nejire smiled, as Keigo pouted. "Fine. But only because I can't say no to you."

"Thank you."

Before the movie was over, Nejire fell asleep against Keigo's chest on the couch, and the nightmare didn't bother her again.

Author Note: That's all, folks! Unless anybody wants a Dabi/Hawks/Nejire followup? Anyone?

I have a few more fics in the works, next will probably be Aizawa going to therapy!