Ch. 53 To The Engagement Party

You didn't want an engagement party.

You didn't even want to be engaged, yet here you were, sort of, trying to pick between two dresses that Shoto had bought for you. A long, sparkling red dress and a shorter blue dress with long sleeves. Thankfully both had high enough necklines to cover Dabi's brand.

Shoto was letting you pick which one you wanted to wear tonight, he'd told you proudly, as if this small choice of dress was some big fucking favor he was doing for you.

You thought for a moment about not wearing either and just showing up in pajamas, or a swim suit, or a costume, as if you were somehow unaware of the whole thing. Oh an engagement party? I had no idea, Shoto! Especially since I'm never marrying you!

Both dresses felt like a costume anyway.

Once you chose the dress, you started looking for jewelry, anything to distract from the monster of a diamond on your left hand.

There was one piece of jewelry that was notably absent. Your bracelet, the one you'd given back to Keigo. The red bracelet would have gone well with the red dress. No time to be sad about that now, though.

Even thinking about the bracelet made you think about your life before. But that was then, and this was now, and if you could just get past this one part...

You were starting to look for a necklace from the dozen or so Shoto had bought, when he poked his head into your room, a drink in his hand.

"You chose the red dress, I see. It looks stunning on you."

You ignored him and held up a couple different necklaces to see how they looked.

With no response from you, Shoto tapped on the door, thinking maybe you hadn't heard him.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"I'm going to go ahead and go so I can take care of a few things first," he said. "I'll meet you there?"

More silence.

"Are you going to speak to me?" he tried again.

Your eyes flashed a quick glare at him in the mirror. "Do you deserve to be spoken to?"

"I brought you bubble tea. I heard... I heard that you liked it?"

With no response from you, Shoto came toward you and carefully placed the drink on the counter in front of you.

"It will get easier from here," he told you, his tone excessively gentle to compensate for your anger. "I know this is hard, but after tonight we'll leave on the trip and be far, far away from the press and fans. Are you packed?" he asked, looking back into your room and not seeing your suitcase anywhere.

"I'm working on it."

"Keep thinking about the beach. Stay focused on that. The sun. The sand. The two of us need a vacation."

You put the necklaces down on the counter and stared down at your bare wrist. "I've never been on vacation."

Shoto came up behind you, putting his hands on the bathroom counter, effectively blocking you in between in his arms. His left hand crept forward, moving on top of yours as his fingers touched the diamond on your hand. 

"It's not too late to change your mind," he said, his voice near your ear. "We'll plan the wedding together. I'll give you the biggest, most beautiful wedding you could imagine."

"Back the fuck up or this ring is going in your eye."

With a disappointed sigh, Shoto took his hands off the counter and headed out. "I'll see you there," he said.

A big wedding, huh? It sounded like pretty much the exact opposite of what you would have chosen for yourself, you thought as you sipped the tea. 

This party tonight was bad enough. It's not like you had family or friends to invite, which meant the room was going to be full of strangers gawking and gossiping and, honestly, could anything be worse?

Taking a moment to daydream, you imagined a wedding like the one in your book. Just two people alone, no decorations, no pomp and circumstance, just you standing there, holding hands, looking up into his red eyes...

Tea sprayed out of your mouth as you almost choked. Where had that come from?

All this talk of weddings must be messing with your mind. With Keigo, you'd known from the beginning that he was going to be transferred to start a new mission eventually, you'd know up front that you were a stopping point on his journey. It hadn't kept you from falling in love, but you had never thought about marriage with him. Your nights with Dabi had been mostly about sex, if you were honest with yourself, before that all turned into a disaster. 

But now... you hadn't even known Bakugo that long and you were imagining a wedding?

The thought was terrifying. Thrilling. Scary.

So why were you smiling?

Soon it was time. The car had already pulled around the back of the building so that you could leave quietly and avoid the press. You did one final check in the mirror, put thoughts of weddings aside, grabbed your backpack, and headed out.

Forcing yourself to not think about weddings was kind of tough when you were going to an engagement party. For yourself. Sort of.

You took a deep breath as you pushed the door open and left the building. Engagement party aside, tonight wasn't about weddings, it was about ending all of this drama so you could move on with your life and live happily ever after.

Which didn't necessarily mean a wedding.

But it could?

And there was Bakugo, waiting for you by the car, in a tux. Just like one he might wear in a...

Fuck.

Bakugo leaned against the limo, his tux perfectly fitted as if it were made for him. It probably was.

Maybe it was the nerves, the excitement, the way Bakugo's eyes were obviously looking you up and down, or maybe all of the above, but your breath caught in your throat as you walked toward him, and you had to force yourself to walk steadily and not run in your evening gown and jump on him right there on the sidewalk.

One small consolation was that he seemed equally speechless.

"You.... " he said, more a breath than a word, as he watched you approach. "You're gonna wear that?" he finally managed to ask.

"I look pretty good, huh?"

He hoped you wouldn't notice the tiny sparks in his hands from the sweat forming in his palms. You didn't look good. No, that wasn't what he was thinking at all. You looked fucking phenomenal. You weren't even showing a lot of skin; it was the way the dress hugged your curves and fit just right in all the right places.

Bakugo closed his eyes and shook his head as if to break the spell, laughing lightly. You handed off your backpack, and he swung it onto his shoulder as he opened the door to the limo, his eyes never leaving you.

This. This felt right. Ignoring the annoying formal wear you both had on, the two of you together, doing something together, felt exactly like how the world should be. You scooted over to make room for him, and his hand rested firmly on your thigh before you reached over and wove your fingers into his.

"I guess I should call him."

Bakugo held your hand a little tighter. "Fuck," he muttered. "I hate this."

"It has to be done."

"Does it? It's your fake fiance's job to make sure he shows up, not yours."

"Yeah, but I'm not taking any chances. He'll come if I ask him."

You reached over Bakugo to get your purse, your body moving across and against his in the car. As you leaned over, he inhaled your scent and shifted his gaze down your back, mesmerized by the curve and shape of you.

Phone in hand, you smiled as you leaned back into your seat, letting your other hand brush across his lap as you moved, and from what you felt, you were fully aware of the growing need between his legs

"Do that again," he said lowly, "and you won't get out of this car with that dress intact."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," you smirked. "Now hush."

You dialed, putting it on speaker.

No answer.

"Come on," you muttered, hanging up and trying again. Again the phone rang,

Dabi answered, somewhat out of breath, and you could hear at least one voice in the background. Female, because of course it was. He wasn't alone.

"Dabi," you spoke into the phone, trying to keep your voice sweet and small as Bakugo tensed at the sound of that bastard's from your lips. "I...I need you."

The line was silent other than his heavy breathing.

"You what?"

"I... need you." You hated every second of this, but it had to be done.

"You need me, huh? For what? And why now?" he asked, obviously suspicious. "Why the sudden change of attitude here?"

This time you could be honest.

"Desperation?" Damn, if that wasn't true. "Dabi, I don't know what else to do. I can't believe I'm even saying this," you said. "I need your help."

"I knew you'd finally come around," he said, and you could only imagine the smug grin that was surely forming on his face. "What do you need?"

"It's Shoto." You sighed dramatically. "I hate him. I'm sitting outside my own engagement party and I'm dreading even getting out of the car." That part was true. "He's forcing me to marry him or else he says he'll tell the police that I work for the League. I don't want to hurt him, exactly, but I want to scare him enough to end the engagement."

"That stupid little hero is going to tell the police that you're working with the League?"

"That's what he said."

Dabi barked out a laugh. "Amazing. What did you have in mind?"

"You know how sometimes we'd play it where I would get our target alone and then you'd come in, acting like the jealous boyfriend?"

"Don't I ever."

"What if we did that again? I just got to our engagement party. I could get Shoto alone and then you barge in and threaten to hurt us if he doesn't call off the engagement."

"Only threaten?"

"Yes."

"So you want to do a bait and switch. Just like the old days."

"Just like the old days," you agreed. "We both know your word is shit, so there's no point in making you promise not to hurt him, but pretty much every hero in town is here at this party, so if you try something, it won't end well for you. All I want you to do is threaten, not hurt."

"What's in it for me? I was just getting used to the idea of having my little mind-reader shacked up with a hero. The access, the information... why would I want to go and mess up a good thing?"

"He's messing up my whole life. I can't do this anymore. He's already told me that he wants me to quit my job and stay home pregnant and barefoot."

"You don't have to worry about that. I'll make sure you're only having my kids, not his."

"I don't want to have anyone's kids right now! All I'm saying is that you might think you'll still have access to me, but he'll keep me locked up, I know he will. Please? I have to get out of this."

"I do like the pretty way you say 'please.'"

Wheels were turning in Dabi's mind. He was already planning on crashing the party, but now he got to pretend to save you from the evil engagement? The villain becoming, dare he think it, the hero? The idea was almost disgusting enough for him to say no.

But the possessive side of Dabi was powerful, and he found himself agreeing to the plan.

"Okay. The engagement ends and then you live with me. Those are my terms."

Bakugo looked ready to explode.

"What? No. Then I'm just trading one jail cell for another."

"My handcuffs and chains will be more fun."

You watched as Bakugo gripped the fabric of the car seats, surprised that actual steam wasn't seeping out of his head. Since you had no intention of ever living with either Shoto or Dabi, you agreed.

"I keep my job, I go where I want when I want, and I have my own room. With a lock."

"Fine, but no lock."

It was never going to happen. You just needed to keep telling yourself that no matter what you agreed to, if the plan went as you wanted, it was never going to happen. So there was no harm in agreeing. You hoped.

"Deal."

You gave Dabi the address and ended the call. You knew he wouldn't be able to resist coming to the party, and he certainly wouldn't be able to resist you when you asked for something like this.

Bakugo must have noticed that you had zoned out. "He's never going to hurt you again."

"Bakugo. That's not it. It's.... I... helped him. I have been part of this."

Bakugo stared down at you, his face tense. "We're working on that. You did what you had to do to survive. Hawks is coordinating with the police, since they apparently hate my guts. It's my job to keep you from doing something stupid."

"Stupid? I prefer the word 'brave' or 'courageous' or even 'heroic.'"

"Heroic?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Or whatever. This is going to work, right?" you asked, giving his hand a squeeze. "I need you to tell me that it's going to work."

"It's going to work."

"Because if it doesn't..."

"It's going to work."

"Okay."

When your limo pulled up at the ballroom, there were more cars out front than you'd expected. Shoto really had invited everyone he knew, which meant a ballroom full of heroes, when the only hero you really trusted was in the car next to you.

"I really have to go in by myself?" you asked. You didn't get out yet, lingering for another minute in the car, Bakugo's hand still locked with yours. It seemed like he might not let go at all, which wouldn't have been terrible. Maybe Shoto could just call you when it was go-time.

"I didn't say that I liked it," he huffed.

"But you don't want us seen together."

"When this is over. End this engagement and then you're never getting rid of me."

"Is that a promise?"

You'd meant that question lightheartedly, just another part of the conversation, but once it was said, it seemed to have more weight than you'd intended, for both of you.

"Damn right," he said, his thumb rubbing your hand. "It's a promise."