Chapter 29 - Regrets and Hangovers

Bakugou woke the next morning with the sunrise and the sounds of birds.

It was the gentlest he'd ever slept, but when he came to, he went into an immediate panic at realizing where he was.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. 

He shot up, a sudden pain shooting through his back from the sleeping position he'd been in all night. To his left, Y/N was sleeping softly, still in that black dress from the night before. Guilt started building in his gut. Why had he let her kiss him? It was wrong. She was drunk. She may have not even known it was him. And why in the hell did he think it was okay to spend the night in her room?

Bakugou had to get out of there as soon as possible. 

Quietly, as not to disturb the sleeping beauty next to him, he climbed up and softly stepped to the door. As gently as he could he turned the knob and slipped out. He closed it behind him and started walking down the hall, but stopped dead in his tracks when he looked up.

Kirishima was at the other end of the hall, jaw dropped and eyes wide. "No fucking way--" he started, but Bakugou waved his arms frantically to shush him.

He dashed over to his friend and grabbed his shirt. "Tell anyone and your dead. Nothing happened. We didn't do anything, she was drunk, I was just taking her home. I didn't-- I wouldn't--" 

Kirishima didn't respond, pure shock on his face as Bakugou shook him around. Then, Kirishima started cackling. "Holy shit. Katsuki Bakugou has a crush. Never in my days did I ever think I'd see this!" His volume was getting higher, so Bakugou slammed his hand over Kirishima's mouth to silence him.

"Listen, nothing happened! Y/N just got wasted last night, and she couldn't walk. I couldn't just fucking leave her there. I do not have a crush." 

Kirishima squinted at him, giving him a look as he pushed Bakugou's hand away. "I knew you were a hothead, but I didn't think you were an idiot, too."

Bakugou bristled at the insult. "The fuck are you talking about?"

"You're so dense you don't even realize you like her. You took her home, slept in her room, and still don't think you've got feelings for that girl?"

Katsuki glared at his friend, but couldn't think of a single thing to say. His mind was racing. Everything was happening too quickly for him to feel in control and he despised the feeling. "I don't," he said, but even as the words left his mouth, he knew it was a lie. 

Kirishima shook his head, but not in anger. He looked... disappointed. For some reason, that was worse. "Whatever, man," he sighed. "As long as it was consensual. If it wasn't, I will kill you."

"I would never! Jesus Christ!" Bakugou snapped. 

"I know, I know. Just making sure," Eijirou reassured, raising his hands in surrender. "But if you need to talk or anything, I'm here man. Love you bro." He patted Katsuki on the back as he continued to walk down the hallway to the common room.

"She kissed me," Bakugou blurted. 

Kirishima turned around to look at him, but Bakugou couldn't read his facial expression. He was always bad at reading people's body language. 

"I...I kissed her back. But I stopped. I didn't want to do shit if she was drunk, but I--" He wasn't expecting the words to come out of his mouth, but God, it felt good to say something. "I think I fucked up. I shouldn't have let her kiss me." He rubbed his head in frustration.

Kirishima stilled for a moment, thinking. "I don't think you need to worry, man." He cocked his head to the side. "I mean... nothing happened. You stopped anything from happening."

"Yeah, but I... we fucking kissed, Ei," he mumbled, and his face started to heat up as he said it. Was he blushing? "And she was so damn wasted. I don't think she would've done it sober. That's what... that's what fucking sucks." He looked at the ground. "I don't want this shit to ruin anything."

Kirishima walked back to his friend and put his hand on his shoulder. "Hey. It's not ruined unless you want it to be."

~~~

"Hey, I uh... I need to talk to you," Y/N said, approaching Hawks.

He turned to face her, a surprised smile on his face. "Hi there, sweetheart. What can I do for you?" His eyes drifted up and down her body, admiring the black dress. "God, you look stunning."

Y/N ignored the compliment. "I uh... I think I was too harsh with you. Last week, I mean. I didn't know that you were forced to do what you did." She looked at her shoes, embarassment washing over her. "You could've told me, you know."

Hawks looked around to see if anyone was listening, and pulled her towards the corner of the room for privacy before speaking. He didn't trust the other people at the party, and he didn't want Y/N to get the bad end of tabloids again because of him. "Look, I wanted to tell you, I just..." he ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated. "They told me to cut contact with you. I still don't even know who 'they' are-- but All Might said this thing was bigger than I understood, and I didn't want to argue." He looked her in the eyes. "I'm really sorry, babybird."

"You're a chicken, dude," Y/N teased. "Not a Hawk."

He laughed at her comment, leaning his elbow on the wall next to her. "I suppose that's not too far off sometimes. But hey, I'm not all bad." He paused for a minute, then raised his hand to caress her cheek. "Wanna get out of here?"

Y/N looked up at him for a moment, and Hawk's heart jumped in excitement, but she gave him a sad smile. "Sorry, Keigo. Not this time." Her eyes darted to Bakugou for a split second, but it was enough for Hawks to understand. She wasn't available anymore.

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "Alright. Take care of yourself."

Y/N woke with her worst (and first) hangover over her life.

Everything was too bright, too spinney, and too nauseating. Her head weighed a thousand pounds as she lifted it from her pillow, and the blood rushing to her ears made her forehead throb in pain. She rubbed her eyes and groaned as she sat up. She wished the damn world would stop spinning so much.

Once she was sure she wasn't going to puke, she mentally tried to rearrange the puzzle of the night before. Her dress was unzipped, but still on, and one of her pillows was on the ground. Nothing was making sense.

Images of the night before flashed in her mind. Her conversation with Hawks, Aizawa's speech, Mina telling her where the alcohol was stashed, and walking out to her motorcycle-- after that, things got fuzzy. She touched her lips for a moment, a memory on the tip of her tongue, but it faded as quickly as it came. All she could remember was Bakugou's voice saying Y/N, you're killing me... 

Thinking too hard only made her head hurt worse. Her mouth felt dry and tasted revolting from the alcohol. Why did she think that was a good time to try drinking? Y/N made a mental note to never have another drop-- especially of whatever the fuck Mina had given her.

She limped to the bathroom, her legs jelly beneath her. In the sink was a wet washcloth with dark streaks on it. Makeup. Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw that hers was cleaned off. Alright, so I washed my face at least, she thought, proud of herself for piecing something together; but to the left of the sink were Bakugou's gloves and face mask, only making it more confusing. Was Bakugou there when she took her makeup off? Or did he come into the bathroom after her? How did she get home? 

The lack of information was starting to make her nervous. Had something happened? Had she said or done something dumb? Trying to remember felt like trying to read a different language. Also, where the hell were her shoes?

The headache from thinking too hard was getting too intense, and she stripped down to take a shower, washing off the gross feeling from the night before-- then a memory flashed in her mind of her being carried. She remembered the smell of smoke and caramel, and her blood ran cold. Had Bakugou carried her home?

A new kind of fear clouded her mind as the hot water spilled down her body. She didn't remember a single thing she had said or done with him, and that was horrifying. What if she had done something dumb and fucked up their friendship? What if she ruined everything? 

She finished her shower and wrapped a towel around herself, feeling better physically but much worse mentally. There was too much anxiety about what had happened. She would have to ask Bakugou, as awkward as it might be, and hope that they were still okay. They had to be okay.

After putting lotion on her face, she exited the bathroom, bumping into-- Fuck.

Bakugou.

She looked up at him and squeaked, tightening the towel around her. "Fuck. Sorry."

He didn't seem to hear what she said. His eyes were drifting lower, an unreadable expression on his face. She could feel her skin heating up under his gaze. His tongue darted out of his mouth to wet his lips.

"Um... so here's a dumb question..." she gulped. "Did you bring me home last night?"

Bakugou seemed to snap out of it, looking into her eyes again. "You... don't remember." He seemed to relax a bit hearing that. "Your drunk ass couldn't even walk. Had to haul you back here."

Y/N put her face in her hand and groaned. "God, I knew it. I'm so sorry." She knew what she had to ask, but wasn't sure if she was ready for the answer. "Did I... do anything else?"

He only stared at her for a moment, but his mind seemed to be racing. "No," he said after a gap of silence, looking down at his hands. "No, you didn't. Just sang some shitty American pop song and cried for a bit."

She sighed with relief. "Thank god. I mean... I'm sorry about that. Trust me, it won't happen again. I'm gonna be sober the rest of my damn life," she joked. "Do you know how to fix a hangover?"

"Maybe don't take shots of absinthe, dumbass," he deadpanned, flicking her forehead. "I don't drink. Ask Kirishima. You guys can be disgusting drunks together."

She flipped him off and stuck her tongue out at him before going back into her room, trying not to think about how his morning voice made her legs shake.