He didn’t even push the button to ignore it, just put his phone in his pocket and let it ring until it stopped.

That hot mess could wait for tomorrow.

~*tbc*~

Posting one message at a time takes forever. 😖
Goal for the next part is up!

ko-fi.com/lexplay/goal...

He pulled his phone out to check his texts, and thankfully there was one from Kirishima.

<<Course dude, call when youre ready

He huffed out a frustrated breath when a photo of Denki replaced the messaging screen he’d been on as he tried to call Katsuki.

As he stepped inside, he heard someone call out.

“Kats!”

“Nope,” he muttered to himself, pretending he didn’t hear the person speaking to him.

He felt like a dick, but he closed the building door behind himself, locking Denki outside.

Katsuki felt a little bad for stretching the truth, but he needed to talk through his feelings, & he couldn’t talk to Izuku about this. He shot a text to Kirishima.

>>you gonna be up a while? Need to talk.

He felt his phone vibrate with a text as he unlocked the door to his apartment building.

“Ok Kacchan. Call me when you get home?”

“I’ll text you when I get home and I’ll call you tomorrow,” Katsuki said, turning to walk to his own apartment building. “I’m going to bed when I get home.”

“Ok! Night Kacchan!”

Izuku nodded and took a deep breath. “Should I give you space or-”

“Fuck no!” Katsuki pinched Izuku’s cheek and pulled. “Didn’t I just say I don’t like being out of sight out of mind you damn nerd?!”

Izuku giggled and batted lightly at Katsuki’s hand until he let go of his cheek.

“Course we will, idiot. I *know* out of sight, out of mind is literal for you, & I know it applies to people. I’ve just never been on the receiving end of it. I don’t fucking like it, so you’re not allowed to leave ever a-fucking-gain-” Izuku laughed, like Katsuki intended. “-but we’ll be fine.”

Katsuki didn’t expect Izuku to throw himself against his chest, but he probably should have. He held Izuku for a few minutes while he sniffled.

“We’ll be ok, right Kacchan?”

Katsuki wiped the tears from Izuku’s cheeks with a small smile.

If he buried it now, it would explode later, and he didn’t want to do that to either Deku or himself.

“I’m not mad,” Katsuki said, running a hand through his hair. “I’m glad I know the truth now, even if it took literal outside interference to get it.”

Izuku had tears streaming down his face by the time Katsuki was done, and a huge part of him wanted to fold like a lawn chair; say nevermind it’s fine, drop the dunce and ask Deku on a date. But it wasn’t that simple.

“I had to stop asking or I’d never have been able to fucking talk to you. So while I understand logically that your adhd fucks with remembering shit, I never expected to be one of the things you forgot about.”

“There was an article the day before you flew in speculating whether you were doing long distance or if she’d be coming here, and I *still* didn’t know if you were dating, because every time I’d asked, you either dodged the question, changed the subject entirely, or *hung up on me.*

“Izuku, I don’t know how you felt when you found out I was seeing Kami, but if it hurt to hear, imagine seeing pictures and think pieces every other day for months. Hearing damn near everyone, even my own goddamn *mother* talk about how fucking *cute* the new couple is and how *lucky* hero Deku is.