You shoved open the front door of your dorms building. Storming your way through the porch and to the stairs. You spotted Hoshi waiting for you at the bottom step looking surprised by your aggressive entrance. You didn't make it far before you heard someone behind you.

"Don't walk away from me," his harsh voice made your body tense, but you kept walking. Trying to ignore him and just leave. But he wouldn't let that happen, his hand wrapped around your wrist stopping you. He swung you around, forcing you to look at him. His eyes bore into you, demanding answers.

"You're just going to leave? Not even going to try and explain yourself?" You turned your head, deciding not to answer. The only sound between you was the slight breeze in the air, making your skin crawl with a chill.

"Are you not happy with me anymore?" The severity in his tone was gone, but you could hear him struggling to hold back how he truly felt. He spoke again when you still didn't respond, "Answer me."

You sighed, still not wanting to look at him, knowing you'd break if you did. "I don't know Katsuki. I just need time to think."

His grip on you loosened, making it easy for you to slip your arm away from him and walk away. You didn't look behind you as you moved slowly down the stairs.

"Let's go," your voice was soft, almost a whisper as you spoke to Hoshi. Afraid that if you said anymore your emotions would seep out.

He glanced at you and then Katsuki before he followed after you. Slowly walking behind you, not saying a word as you walked off campus. Once you reached the car you stopped, arms crossed, waiting for Hoshi.

"Is everything okay?" He asked lightly, not wanting to make you angry like he had the last time.

"Yes... No... I don't know." You were rigid, frozen in your spot by the car door.

Hoshi was silent a moment, trying to think through what was happening. He wasn't sure what he had witnessed and how much you'd be willing to divulge to him after the stunt he pulled the other day.

"Come with me, I get the feeling you don't want to be around anyone right now." He stepped away from the car, walking down the sidewalk towards a small park by the school.

You paid no attention to the people around you as you followed behind him. Staring at his shoes, careful not to fall behind. Orange leaves covered the grass and parts of the sidewalk, periodically you could hear the small crunch of a leaf breaking beneath your step.

Hoshi stopped suddenly, moving to sit on a bench beneath one of the large trees in the center of the park. He patted the free spot next to him and you looked at it momentarily before deciding to take it.

"You don't have to tell me what's going on. I know I haven't earned your trust, but I figured we can hangout here. You just don't seem like you really want to be out in public right now." He spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully so not to anger you once again.

"How could you tell?" Your voice sarcastic as you slouched into the bench.

He didn't say anything just let the silence fill the space between you both. You sat with your arms crossed, listening to the small screams of the children on the playground, mothers sitting talking, keeping an eye on their kids as they played. The two of you didn't really fit the atmosphere of the park.

Hoshi finally broke the silence, "If this has anything to do with what I did the other day, I want to apologize again for that."

"Well no offense but I don't forgive you." You stayed facing the playground, ignoring Hoshi as he all but stared at you.

"I get that. But I really didn't mean any ill will, so I'm sorry if I caused the fight you two are having."

"We're not fighting," you snapped, "we're just having a disagreement," you mumbled the last part.

"A disagreement on?" He questioned, hoping you'd continue.

You sighed, not wanting to go into it, "I don't really think it's any of your business."

He sat back, somehow looking casual about the whole thing, "I mean, if it has to do with me almost kissing you, then it's kind of my business."

You sent him a glare, solidifying that that's exactly what your disagreement was about. Uncrossing your arms, you sat up leaning forward, propping yourself up on your elbows.

"Katsuki wasn't happy about what you did, but I don't think anyone really thought he would be." Your voice was flat as you spoke, "he seems to think you're behind all of this."

"And you? You don't think so?" he set his elbow on the armrest next to him, holding his chin up, waiting for your answer.

"You already told me that you didn't know. Unless you were lying to me?" you looked at him, but he made no move that suggested he did.

He leaned towards you ever so slightly, before he spoke, "This all seems very surface level. I'm not trying to make you go into it, but your 'disagreement' seemed to be about a bit more than just him thinking I started this whole situation."

You took a deep breath, contemplating if you even wanted to open this can of worms. Katsuki had mentioned that Hoshi had feelings for you, but that couldn't be true, could it? Your agencies wanted publicity for the both of you, it wasn't anything more. Or at the very least it shouldn't have been.

"He doesn't want me to see you anymore, but we both know that our situation doesn't allow for that. And when you had mentioned that this could possibly be prolonged, I didn't want to put Katsuki through that."

"So, you wanted to end things?" he spoke slowly, trying to process what you were saying.

"Not end, but I guess you could say take a break until things cleared up. I just didn't want him to continue feeling the way he was. It made me feel terrible."

He looked back at you, taking a moment before he responded, "And he didn't take that well." He didn't make it a question, because your conversation earlier only proved that he didn't.

You chose to remain silent, only looking back at the people laughing and having fun on the playground. Hoshi reached out, pressing his hand to your shoulder.

"Don't dwell on it too much, things will turn out how they're supposed too." He left his hand there, in hopes that you'd feel comforted and when you didn't brush it off, he only assumed that it helped.

Without looking at him your eyes staying focused ahead of you, you had to know the truth, "Hoshi, you consider us friends, don't you?"

He was hesitant with his answer, not sure where you were headed with this. "Uh, yeah, I do. Why do you ask?"

You still had yet to look in his direction, "As my friend you wouldn't lie to me, right?"

He shifted then, pulling away from you, he interlocked his hands, twiddling his thumbs, "No. I would not."

Turning to look at him then, you continued your line of questioning, "What do you think about me?" He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out, this was not what he was expecting. "How do you really feel about me? Because Katsuki had made it seem as though you had feelings that were more than just friends. I didn't believe him, but honestly after he had mentioned it, I couldn't get the thought out of my head. So, I was just wondering if it was true."

You blinked up at him, trying your best to use your eyes to coerce the answer out of him. He turned from you then, the blue of his eyes turning to the scene before you both. Looking at the groups of people you had been looking at mere moments ago.

"And what if I say it's true?"

"Hoshi," he turned to look at you slowly, his eyes completely betraying him, "I'm only asking for the truth."

He took a deep breath, exhaling loudly to prolong his response. "It's true."

You stayed quiet, only looking at him, trying to read his expression. Moving closer to him, searching his face, the setting around you became more intimate as you closed in. As if you were the only two people at the park.

"I have another question," you almost whispered.

"Yeah?" His tone quiet, almost breathless. He had not expected this kind of reaction.

Your eyes locked with his blue ones, he looked almost mesmerized, "Why did you do it?"

His head turned to the side slightly, unsure of what you meant, "Do what?"

"Why did you ask for the contract?"

He froze, closing his eyes, trying to hide the truth, but it was too late, you already knew he had lied. He sat there a moment trying to form a response.

"I didn't know you were seeing anyone at the time. I knew you weren't too interested in something like this, but you caught my eye and when you agreed to the second date, I wanted to have a real chance with you. I didn't mean for it to go this far."

"You're lying."

He looked at you, jaw dropping in surprise. "I- what do you think I'm lying about?"

"You could have put a stop to this from day one. But you didn't. I can't believe you."

He tried to reach for you, but you pulled away. "I told you, I couldn't have ended this if I wanted to."

"Stop lying. Kyoko called me yesterday. She finally got her hands on a full copy of the contract. You could have had this called off at any moment. Just like you could have this prolonged past the 3 months."

He stared at you, slack jawed. He hadn't expected you to figure it out.

"This ends now, goodbye Hoshi." You turned without another word, slowly making your way back to campus. The walk didn't take long, but it gave you time to think about everything that had just happened. You couldn't comprehend why someone would do anything like that. That was definitely the last time you'd ever let Kyoko match you up with anyone.

You took the stairs at a snail's pace, taking a deep breath as you stood at your door, reaching for the handle you opened it slowly. You were met with Katsuki sitting at your desk, scrolling on his phone. He looked over at you, any sign of the artificial abrasive expression from before was now gone.

"You were right," you spoke as you let the door behind you close.

"When am I not?"

You couldn't stop the small smile and a shake of your head, "I can name a few times."

He only rolled his eyes before he glanced back at you, "So, it's done? It's over?"

Nodding in response, he had you in his arms in an instant. Twirling you around once, his grip on you tightening as your feet dangled slightly above the floor. Your arms wrapping around his neck, leaning into his embrace. He faltered a moment before he set you down. Looking up, you noticed his face didn't convey even the slightest bit of happiness.

"What's wrong?" your voice was timid; you didn't understand why he looked so stressed.

He didn't say anything for a long time, the silence only making you uneasy. You were moments away from asking again but he finally looked at you.

"You are happy with me, right?"

Pulling back slightly to get a better look at him, your face scrunched in confusion, "Where is this coming from?"

He remained silent again, his face changing as if he was mentally arguing with himself. His arms pulling you back, pressing his forehead to yours.

"If you haven't noticed, I have a certain amount of self-doubt." His words measured, deliberate, as he struggled to find them. "This only makes me fe- wonder if maybe you're not as happy with me as you make it seem."

"Katsuki, you don't have to question that. Of course, I'm happy with you. I'd never lie about that." You reached up, pressing your hand to his cheek, trying to get him to realize he had nothing to worry about.

"You promise?" His words abnormally soft.

You reached for his hand wrapped around you, bringing it between you both. Holding out your pinky, "I pinky promise," you said with a grin as you wrapped your finger around his.

"You're such a dork," he breathed, pressing his lips to yours cutting off any response. Swiftly he picked you up, wanting you in his arms where you belonged. His lips never leaving yours as he brought you with him to your bed. Holding you close, never having to let you go. Never having to watch you walk away with someone that wasn't him. "You're mine, and I'm never letting you go. I'd never give you up to someone who doesn't deserve you."

You smiled against him, your arms wrapping around his neck, pulling him towards you, hoping he knew that he was the only one that truly deserved you.

😊