I Loved You First (Dabi X OC X Hawks)

Chapter 20 - Books from a Birdbrain

"Oh my God! Baby why didn't you tell me?" He asked, his voice growing louder with worry. Hearing him call me baby made me feel giddy, which probably wasn't appropriate given our current conversation but none the less I couldn't help but smile.

"I dunno I just didn't want to make a big deal out of it" I mutter my heart beating faster by how much he cared.

"Well, are you free after work? We can get dinner and you can tell me all about it?" He asked sounding hopeful.

"Yeah, I'd love that! Meet me outside UA at 4pm?"

"Sounds perfect, I'll see you then Babybird!" He calls through the phone.

"See you then Keigo" I smile hanging up and skipping into the hallway to meet Shoto and start our journey to UA.

*** Time Skip ***

The day passed by quickly. Once again I spent my lunch break with Shoto as he told me about the upcoming sports festival.
I told him what happened last night, purposefully leaving out my suspicions that the stranger may have been Touya. Shoto was always so close with Touya, I didn't want to get his hopes up or ruin his memories of his big brother.

Eventually 4PM came and a wave of nerves washed over me. Would he be annoyed that I forgot to tell him until this morning or that I didn't tell him about the break-in? Is now the right time to start asking him about his past? These thoughts paraded across my mind before being broken by a hand waving in front of my face.

"You in there Babybird? I've been calling you for about a minute now," Hawks said with a small smile, concern clearly evident upon his face.

"Hey, yeah sorry I'm just a bit distracted but I'm fine" I smile taking his hand in mine and walking slowly towards the coffee shop we went to before. The walk there was filled with calming conversations of 'how was your day?' but the questions of what happened last night hung in the air around us.

We made it to the cafe and got our drinks quickly before an awkward silence overcame us, our fingers still interlocked as Keigo rubbed calming circles on the back of my palm with his thumb.

"So, what happened last night Babybird? Whatever it is you can tell me." He said with a determined nod. His voice was hushed but strong making me feel both calm and nervous. I took a deep breath and began to re-tell the events of the previous night. I told him about the break in and the unease that I had felt over everything and when I was finished he remained silent, avoiding my eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" He asked giving my hand a tight squeeze from across the small circular table.

"I don't know ... I just didn't want to be a bother I suppose" I say awkwardly, gazing around the warmly lit cafe.

"You could never be a bother Babybird. Are you staying with your friend again?" He asked finally meeting my eyes whilst continuing to stroke my hand. For a moment I got lost in the liquid gold of his eyes, my mouth going dry.

"No, she left my things back at my place. The police are keeping an eye on my apartment so it'll be fine." I awkwardly rub the back of my head feeling somewhat vulnerable under his intense gaze.

"You can stay with me if you want?" He asks hopefully with a small smile. I suck in a small breath of air. Stay with Keigo? The thoughts of him with messy bed hair and a husky morning voice fill my mind and I can feel myself blush.

"N-no don't worry about it really! I'll be fine." I stutter out.

"I promise I won't try anything Babybird, I'm a gentleman afterall!" He smiles with a small chuckle.