Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

'Huh?'

Beep.

Beep.

'Aw, Hell. I'm back here again. Great.'

"Hi, honey. It's your dad."

Beep.

Beep.

'Dad?'

"I know you probably can't hear me, but I still wanna talk to you."

'Dad, I can hear you. I wish you could hear me. I wish I could see you.'

"Work has been tough lately, but we're managing fine despite everything that's going on with the world."

Beep.

Beep.

"Your mom is...well, still your mom. She hasn't talked to me much since the accident, but ya know. She copes how she copes."

'I wish she was here.'

Beep.

Beep.

"She still feels guilty about how you two were in a fight the last time you guys talked. Can't say I blame her. Her stubbornness always got the best of her. But thankfully, this was a wake up call for her, because now she's talking more with your grandma and aunt. So that's good."

'Heh, I give it two months.'

"We'll see how long that lasts, hehe. You know how she is..."

'Yeah...'

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

"I miss ya, hon."

'Dad...I miss you, too. More than you know. Please don't cry...'

"Hopefully you'll wake up soon. We can't wait to see you again."

'...Dad...'

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

"...Come back to me..."

'Dad? That's not you, is it?'

"...Please come back to me..."

Beep.

Beep.

'Aizawa?'

I let out a soft gasp and started to sit up from where I was on the couch.

"Hey, hey," reassured Aizawa, who sat up with me and gently rubbed my back, "It's alright. You're here with me in the apartment. You're safe."

I let out an exhale of relief and went to rub my tired eyes, only to feel my cheeks drenched with tears.

"...Was I crying?" I asked, my voice shaking and feeling swollen.

"Yes." he answered, "You were also mumbling a few things while you were...sleeping." His tone shifted in an odd way when he used that last word. Probably because "dreaming" was technically the wrong word to use in this case.

"I'm sorry. I must've woke you up." I said, drying my eyes and cheeks.

He shook his head.

"I was already awake by the time it happened." he answered, his voice filled with softness and reassurance.

Speaking of time, I then looked around for the clock and noticed it was 11pm.

"Jesus! I was out for that long?!" I asked, jumping up from the couch, shocked by how late it was, "Shit, I'm so sorry. You'll be late for patrol."

"Don't worry about it. I took the night off." he said, standing with me and putting a hand on my shoulder.

I turned to face him.

"What? You didn't need to do that. I'm fine." I said, trying to sound as reassuring as he did, but failing miserably. I knew I wasn't exactly fine, but he needed to work.

"Clearly, you're not." he said, "And it's too late to change it now. I called in this afternoon while I was at the school. My job was to see to it that you slept consistently."

"But I have slept. Now you can stop worrying about me and go back to work." I argued.

He smirked.

"In all my years, I've never known a woman who argued about putting work over her." he said, folding his arms.

"I'm not like most women." I bolded stated, mimicking him and folding my arms.

"Well, given that you're quirkless, you're not like 80% of most women." he mused.

I went to scoff until he interrupted me, by raising his hand in front of me to stop me from arguing further.

"But, as you are the only woman who's randomly appeared into a different world, I could give you that you are, in fact, not like most women." he said.

I smiled and giggled softly, while looking down at the floor, blushing slightly.

"Are you sure you want to stay?" I asked, trying to hide my flushed cheeks in an effort to not look like such a weak mess.

He walked closer to me and lifted my chin back up to meet his gaze.

"If it means I get to see that reaction on your face, then absolutely." he said, a soft smile appearing on his face as his fingers softly traced against my chin.

'I know a few ways you could get that reaction more.' I thought.

Which got me thinking...

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

He lowered his hand from my chin and put it in his pocket.

"Sure." he answered.

"How long have I been here, exactly?" I asked, "Here in your world?"

He looked up and thought for a moment.

"Let's see...You were in the hospital for a week. And you've been here for about as long. So you've been here for about two weeks." he said, finishing his thoughts and looking back at me with a raised eyebrow, "Why do you ask?"

I smirked and turned away to walk down the hallway.

"Two weeks and you haven't made a move? Such restraint." I teased as I continued to saunter down the hallway.

I heard him let out an amused huff before I felt his capture weapon wrap around me, quickly dragging me back to him, and running into his chest with a huff.

"You were saying about restraints, Miss Doe?" he asked, his gruff voice lower than before. It was enough to make me completely weak at the knees.

I looked down at first trying to regain my confidence, but Aizawa's hand cupped my chin and forced my face back up to look at his.

"What did I say about not looking at me when I'm talking to you?" he asked, his voice filled with dangerous intent. "You have a bad habit of disobeying me."

My face flushed with color as I felt my heart fluttering, filling with excitement.

"What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment." I replied, my voice matching with his intent as our faces got closer.

I could feel his breath ghosting my lips, sending shivers down my spine. I wanted nothing more than to grab ahold of him and kiss him, but the restraints kept me from doing so. The anticipation was killing me.

Aizawa's hand gently brushed some loose hair away from my face before gracefully tracing across my cheek down to my lower lip, his thumb just barely touching it.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" he whispered to me.

---------

Author's note:

Things are gonna get a little saucy.