— i like u

friends with benefits seemed easy enough—until one of you started to catch feelings, and you knew it wasn’t him.

pairing: bakugou katsuki x reader

content: fluff, mild angst, some adult content but it doesn’t really go there. the characters are all grown up for this by the way!

warnings: none! just some mentions of smut like i said but its p fine

inspired by the niki song of the same title. i suggest u listen so u can ~feel~ it a bit better !!

YES I AM ALIVE casually disappeared for like a year to focus on academics and applications and stuff but it’s almost christmas break and hey i missed writing so why not ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) anyw i hope u guys r doing fine and to those who were waiting for me to post something… anything… i’m sorry it took a year here’s an honorary cookie for ur wait ily

HOPE U GUYS LIKE THIS ONE MWAH

This was where you found yourself every Friday night.

Him atop you as he stole kisses in between ragged breaths. Steady hands securing your hips in place, digging into white duvet, moaning each other’s name like a mantra that slipped out of your tongue with every thrust of pleasure you received. He was always so strong, so determined, that your highs were always quick to come once the two of you got onto it.

And you’d wake up, Tokyo morning sun radiating like rays dancing on the white cloth, waking you out of your dazed trance. Intertwined between sheets, his worn-out t-shirt on you as he laid there by your side shirtless, staring down at his best friend he brought to heaven the night before. Whenever he felt like everything was going to hell, he’d call you, the first number on his contact list—the only person who had seen him through his short-fused explosive phase to the number two hero he was now. His crimson red eyes were always the first thing to greet you on those fateful Saturday mornings, but they were no match with the content smile on his face that he showed no one else but, well, you.

Bakugou Katsuki was a gentleman. As hard as it was to believe, especially for those who were around during high school, it consistently rang true. Like in these mornings as he asked you to stay and made you breakfast in his exquisite high-ceilinged apartment. He always wanted to hear your thoughts about his cooking, on what he could improve, and if ever you were staying over again, what you’d want next (but you already knew the answer to that).

One thing about Katsuki was he never got tired of listening to your drabbling about work. Right now, it was about that stupid sidekick that has been hitting on you for weeks now, despite you blocking them with a clear dragged out no every time. He would chuckle at your little gestures, carefully observing every detail his best friend had, and thought about how he was the lucky man to run his hands through them every week.

He had told you before to move to his agency. Though these little rants of yours were nothing short of entertaining, Katsuki was well-aware that in between those tales lies a bitter truth that you were not well within his reach, and he couldn’t protect you if another pervert tried to touch you again. And you always told him you wanted to—needed to, even, but your boss kept shrugging off your now-piles of resignation papers down the shredder. You were a big asset, after all—a UA graduate, top of your class, a pretty strong quirk, and an excellent internship rating. But Bakugou knew they only saw you for your credentials, not at all as a human who was protecting other humans,and made a mental note to blast your boss’s face sometime he’s free within this week. He reasoned to himself: it was only make him aware of what he was going to be dealing with if he keeps on treating you any less of the hero you are.

It was those little things about your best friend that had you lying awake at night, legs still sore from the action just a few days prior. You had been trying to sleep for the last hour, staring up at the ceiling, basically memorizing its patterns. You wanted to be frustrated with yourself—angry that you thought he could even look at you in thatway.

You see, when two people have cramped-up schedules, half a decade of youth still left to live, and raging hormonal impulses—they resort to a little arrangement called friends with benefits. In short, they do stuff couples do: kiss, make out, stay over, call each other and ask them about their day, take care of the one who’s sick from overpatrolling, but most of all, meet each other at a certain time, a certain place to make love.There was no commitment, no red strings, no feelings involved, just two people trying to satisfy their needs through someone else’s. That’s what you told yourself every night.

Until that time he sent you a bouquet of tulips to your office and the blood on your cheeks told you otherwise.

“Katsuki,” you whispered through the phone, voice rough from the bloodrush. “What in the world is this?”

“A gift?” he replied, so casually that it was driving you insane. “I thought you’d like it.”

“I do, but,” you sucked in a breath, looking at the florist holding out a contract for you to sign. “Did you really have to do this at my office?”

“You overwork yourself hard enough,” he nagged, hearing him adjust something on the other end of the phone. Katsuki shouted something to the person calling out at him, then returned to you. “Listen, I’m on patrol right now, but take those. I already paid for them. And don’t feel obligated to come to my apartment later tonight because of that. I just don’t want to be a shitty best friend, that’s all.”

The flowers laid in a vase on your desk, causing your co-heroes to gawk at the stunning arrangement of black and orange tulips adorning your otherwise plain workspace. You weren’t big on decorations, after all, since you were a hero and didn’t stay there often. The flowers finally gave your desk some much needed color.

And it pissed you off. It pissed you off how he said it so casually, how he managed to make your heartbeat not too far from a hummingbird’s, and how he took time out of his day, his most beloved hero job, to get you a gift.

But what pissed you off the most was the fact that all of the grandeur was because he thought of you as his best friend who needed relief.

You mentally slapped yourself. You were being distracted. You were not falling for Katsuki, you just liked how he felt inside you, how perfect he fit into you, and the rest of those feelings for him were platonic.

But why did he have to rummage through your thoughts every single night?

“Do you ever get tired?” you blurted out.

He poured the freshly-brewed coffee into two mugs, adding milk on yours just the way you liked it. “Doing what?”

“Running through my mind every night.”

Your hands flew to your mouth as soon as the words came out, cheeks starting to redden from embarrassment. You were not supposed to say that. Right then and there, you wished for anything that could get you out of there—maybe even a dang UFO—so it could spare you from the shame about to come.

But Katsuki turned around, two mugs in hand, putting them on the counter behind you to look you straight in the eye. His calloused hands, shaped by years of explosions, made it to your heated face, not really helping with the fluster you were feeling at that moment. He carefully pulled your fingers away, setting them on your lap to hold your chin tenderly.

“Only if you tell me why you made me fall for my own best friend.”

And then you woke up.

Feeling slightly frustrated for whatever reason, you threw your pillow to the wall, running a hand through your hair and catching shaky breaths.

Great, he made it into to your dreams, too.

Your stare buried into the duvet covering your lower body. You ran a hand through your face, planning on getting up to get a cup of water and watch Netflix instead. Because dreaming of him again would not help with your current predicament.

This is all your fault, Bakugou Katsuki.

“Oi, what’s your problem?”

And you forgot that you were sleeping over at his place that night.

His voice was low and gravelly as he turned around to look at your side of the bed. You averted your gaze, wanting to shrug it off.

“Nothing.” You raised your chin up. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not,” he simply responded, getting up to his knees to sit next to you. “Bad dream?”

You tried not to look at his chiseled chest just there for your gazing glory, and the sweatpants that you swore were about to fall off with how loose they were around his waist. He was so oblivious to the thoughts running around your head it was insane. Why did he have to be shirtless at this time?

“No.” You wanted to be adamant. “I told you, I’m fine.”

“Waking up at 3AM practically having an asthma attack isn’t fine, (Y/N).” Katsuki crossed his arms, looking at the side of your face. “You’re choosing the wrong person to lie to.”

Your hands flew up in defeat. “Fine, then I’m not fine. How could I ever lie to you, huh?”

“Damn right you know. You’ve been my annoying best friend for two decades. I practically have you memorized, whether I like it or not.”

There it was again. That damned best friend title. The situation was starting to become tolerable, but that label just had to come up, right? You felt your chest tighten, knowing well what you were about to say next.

“I think we should stop this,” you said, finally meeting up to look at him.

The blonde let out a guttural chuckle until his eyes met yours, seeing no hint of mischief behind the irises he knew too well.

“But… why?” was all he managed to stutter.

Of course, a half-ass excuse would be better than to tell him hey, I’ve been constantly thinking of you quite unhealthily for the past two months now, and if I don’t pry myself away from you in the next three minutes I might just ruin our friendship.

To be continued…