Top pic credit: unknown

~A FEW HOURS LATER~

Ari POV:

I continued laying curled up on Keigo's couch, wondering when the hell he'd get back from this stupid business trip.

He told me, a little over a day ago, that he'd be back tonight, around six.

But, it was already nine, and he was still nowhere to be found. He wasn't answering my calls, either.

After Diane tore me to absolute shreds, earlier this morning, I still forced myself to go to school, afterwards.

However, after the day ended....I went straight to Keigo's apartment, grabbed the key that he normally leaves under the mat to let myself in, ordered some takeout, and watched a movie...just waiting for him to come back.

He doesn't know I met with Diane today....and after being absolutely humiliated by her, I didn't want to tell him anything about the meeting. I was embarrassed.

I just wanted him to hold me. I'm pathetic. I'm sad.

But, most of all, I miss him.

As if on cue, the sound of the front door unlocking quickly gained my attention.

Not even having the time to sit up on the couch, the door flew open in a panic, as heavy footsteps barreled into the apartment.

"Ari, it's me again. Fuck, I never leave voicemails, but I don't know where the hell you are, and you're not answering my texts. You're starting to worry me. Call me back. Please. Just so I know you're okay. Alright, bye." Keigo mumbled, carelessly slamming the door shut.

I quickly sat up on his couch, seeing he had his back turned to me, rapidly texting on his phone.

"Keigo-" I said, as my phone quickly dinged on the counter. Probably due to another text from him.

Keigo immediately directed his gaze to my phone on the counter, before turning around to face me at lightning speed.

His golden orbs widened in shock, before he immediately came over to me.

"Ari!!? Oh my god, I've been looking everywhere for you! I went to UA, and you weren't at your dorm. I asked Nejire where you were, but she said she hadn't seen you, since class ended. I went to the coffee shop you like, that bookstore on ninth avenue, and your favorite takeout place-which I now see you delivered to my apartment. I guess I never thought to check here, though." He laughed, babbling a mile a minute, as he plopped down next to me on the couch.

Before I could even respond, he pulled me into his arms, hugging me tightly.

Not having the energy to try and speak anymore, I quickly melted into his embrace...burying my face in the crook of his neck.

"I missed you." I whispered quietly, feeling all of the emotions from today starting to build up in my throat again.

Keigo hummed softly in content at my words, pulling me flush against his body.

"I missed you too, baby. So, so much." He whispered back, wrapping his wings around me now, as if trying to shield me from the rest of the world.

Yes. This is what I've been longing for all day...just to be in Keigo's arms-is that cheesy? Yes. Do I care? Not at all.

I inhaled deeply, expecting to smell that familiar scent of peppermint that always seemed to follow him everywhere he went.

What I was not expecting was to smell an unfamiliar, strong, perfumey scent that wasn't mine.

I furrowed my brows in confusion, taking another big whiff to make sure I smelled him correctly.

He laughed softly at my big, awkward sniffs, running his fingers through my hair.

"What are you doing?" He chuckled in amusement, placing a chaste kiss on my head.

"You smell weird." I mumbled, scrunching up my nose in distaste.

He quickly cleared his throat, releasing me from his embrace for a moment.

"H-Hah. It's probably just my jacket. Endeavor's secretary wanted like five pictures with me, today. She was pretty close. She was also wearing some pretty heavy perfume." He laughed, about to shrug his jacket off, before I noticed something else.

"Oh....um, your jacket is inside out." I pointed out, watching him look down at his appearance quickly.

He cringed softly, realizing I was right, before he quickly discarded his bomber jacket to the floor, kicking it across the room out of sight.

He was left in his muscle tee now, which thankfully, was on the right way.

"Yeah....I left Endeavor's office in a hurry, because I wanted to get to you. I must have put it on the wrong way. Anyways, how are you feeling after today?" He explained, a tone of pity present in his voice towards the end.

I furrowed my brows in confusion at his words, not knowing what he was talking about. I didn't tell him about Diane, so I wasn't quite sure what he was referring to.

I simply rested my head back on his chest, lazily wrapping my arm around his torso.

"What do you mean?" I uttered quietly, trying to hide the sadness in my voice.

Keigo was quiet for a moment, clearly thinking about something.

"Oh-well....you just...you seem like you're upset. About something. Yeah. Are you?" He asked choppily, pretty certain that something was bothering me.

I sighed in defeat, realizing I must still suck at putting on a poker face.

"Ugh. Is it that obvious?" I laughed, already hearing my voice cracking with my statement.

Damn it. There's no way I'd be able to hide this from Keigo. I wouldn't be able to, even if I tried.

I felt his hands come around my thighs before he lifted me into his lap, wrapping his arms around my body.

"Mhmm. Remember when I told you that I know you better than you think? I wasn't lying." He uttered softly, gently rubbing my sides as he patiently waited for me to tell him why I was sad.

I snaked my arms around his neck, curling up comfortably into his lap. The longer I sat in Keigo's embrace, the more I felt okay telling him what happened today. That's just the effect he had on me.

A weak sigh escaped my lips, before I decided to just start with the bare minimum. Hopefully, that's all he'd wanna know, so I didn't have to relive what happened today.

"Ah....well, I...I had a meeting with Diane today." I uttered out, my voice coming out shaky.

Keigo's fingertips soothingly trailed up and down my arms, and my back, as he remained quiet for a moment. Clearly, he wanted me to continue.

But I couldn't.

"Did you now? How did it go?" He asked gently, his voice the softest I've heard it so far. There was no "Hawks" in his tone at all. No jokes. No lazy, carefree demeanor. No. He was soft...sincere...concerned, yet supportive.

And me, being an emotional mess right now...it only tugged at my heartstrings in a way that made me want to cry.

My lip quivered, causing me to hide my face in Keigo's chest.

He felt me trying to get closer to him, rubbing more coaxing circles on my back, wordlessly.

"I-It.....went fine." I whispered brokenly, watching as my vision went blurry with tears.

Involuntarily, I let out a sniffle, basically announcing to Keigo that I was officially crying. Obviously, he knew I wasn't fine.

"Oh, Ari. I'm so sorry. About.....everything. I-I'm so.....so sorry. You don't deserve this." He whispered, the pity present in his voice as I felt myself starting to full on sob now.

He shouldn't apologize when he didn't do anything wrong.

Ugh, I hate crying in front of people. I never do it, because Diane conditioned into me that crying is a sign of weakness.

But, I can't stop it. So, I guess I won't.

I let out sharp, shallow breaths between my tears, gripping Keigo's shirt tightly, as my tears began dampening his clothes.

He began running his fingers through my hair, placing his cheek against my wet, tear stained cheek.

"Shh, it's okay now, little dove. Let it out. It's okay. I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you." He whispered soothingly, holding my racking body tighter against his to stop my sobbing shakes.

"I-just w-why can't I-I do anything right?!" I cried, feeling Keigo cringe painfully against my cheek as he heard my broken tone of voice.

Come to think of it, Keigo's never seen me like this before. He's never seen me cry-let alone, have a full on emotional break down.

"You do everything right." He countered lightly, trying to lift my head up so I could look at him.

My eyes widened as I felt him trying to do so, as I immediately buried my face back into his chest.

"N-No. D-Don't....d-don't look at me like this." I stuttered shamefully, not wanting him to see my tear stained face.

Keigo didn't fight me, giving up on his attempt to bring my face up to his eye level.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I guess, I just wanted to see your beautiful face. That's all." He stated quietly, placing a reassuring hand on my head.

I let out a sad chuckle, still not having the strength to lift my face.

"Sorry to say, but you'll be very d-disappointed if you look at my face right now. T-There's nothing beautiful about me c-crying." I stuttered out, squeezing my eyes shut in embarrassment.

"That's where you're wrong, Ari. You're beautiful all the time. I think you're the most beautiful girl in the whole world." Keigo laughed softly, giving me a light squeeze.

While his words melted my heart, I couldn't help but doubt them.

"That's sweet, Keigs. But, you don't have to lie to make me feel better. It's okay." I muttered, feeling my soft tears flowing just a tad less now.

I felt Keigo shrug from under me, as he continued his caresses on my body.

"I'm not lying. In fact, I've never said anything more honest, than that. I'll even say it again. I'll say it as many times as I need to, so you'll believe it. Ari Parker, you are the most beautiful girl in the world. And that is a fact. I don't make the rules, chicky. You can't argue with logic." He replied, gently tracing his fingertips across my wet, tear stained cheeks.

He couldn't see me, so instead, he slowly felt his fingers around on my face...trailing them towards my eyes to wipe my tears away.

"Man, I really don't deserve you." I sighed, feeling Keigo tense slightly at my words.

"Oh, little dove. It's me who doesn't deserve you. Trust me when I say that. I.....really mean it..." He started off, his voice almost coming off guilty.

Before I had time to think about it, I felt Keigo's gentle hands trace my jaw, resting under my chin.

"Now then....are you ready to look at me? Are you ready to show me that beautiful face, I've been dying to see all day?" He asked softly, not moving my face up to his level just yet.

I hesitated for a moment, feeling insecure about everything. Diane really ripped into me today. My ego was shot down in the gutter right now.

I was pulled from my depressing thoughts as I felt Keigo's hands start to move my head up ever so softly.

Fighting back my instinct to immediately hide my face again, I simply let him do it....squeezing my eyes shut, so I didn't have to look at him.

I bit my lip in shame, as I finally felt my head lift all the way up a few moments later.

While I kept my eyes closed, I knew I was face to face with Keigo by the way his soft breaths fanned my face.

Silently, he pushed the messy, tear stained hair strands out of my face, before resting his hands on my cheeks.

He brought my face just a little closer to his own, patiently waiting for me to look at him.

Realizing I wouldn't, after a few moments, Keigo gently spoke.

"Alright...now, Ari. I'm gonna need you to open your eyes, kay? Can you do that for me? Just-fwoop. Flutter 'em open. Go on. Anytime." Keigo whispered, making my brows furrow in deja vu.

Those same words.

Keigo said those same words to me, after our fight with the high end Nomu.

But even so, they feel more familiar than that. Where have I heard them before?-

"Open your eyes, Ari. Open them big and wide for me." Keigo stated carefully, causing me to become entranced with a sense of memory.

Open your eyes, Ari.

Open your eyes, because...he told you to.

These words. This situation. Why does this all feel so familiar? What is it my mind wants me to remember?

While I wanted to continue mulling over these thoughts, I didn't even realize I had involuntarily opened my eyes, until Keigo's face came into my line of vision.

Even though I immediately became insecure, upon seeing him....I couldn't bring myself to look away. His beautiful, golden eyes captivated mine so intensely, that I lost the ability to move my own.

My lips parted softly at this strong silence between Keigo and I, as I felt his thumbs wipe the tears away from under my eyes.

He furrowed his brows in concentration, focusing on me, and me alone. I couldn't help but do the same to him.

In this moment, nothing else mattered.

"There she is. There's the most beautiful girl in the world." Keigo barely uttered, before slowly leaning forward to kiss me.

I reciprocated immediately, feeling electricity when our lips touched.

He gently caressed the back of my neck, pulling me closer so our kiss could deepen.

I leaned forward so we were chest to chest, feeling that our impossible closeness wasn't close enough.

Keigo clearly felt the same, as he pressed me harder against him, letting out a small, blissful sigh into my mouth.

My breath hitched slightly, as I was suddenly overcome with an overwhelming sense of emotion. For this moment. For Keigo. It was right now, that I realized...

I never, ever want to let him go.

My brows knit together as Keigo and I reveled in this passionate, intimate moment, not having the strength to break away from our kiss for air.

"Keigo..." I sighed shakily, as he quickly consumed my lips with his own once more.

"Hm?" He uttered, his sound coming out muffled as he tangled his fingers through my hair.

"I don't want to go back to my dorm." I muttered, feeling him bite my lower lip ever so softly.

"And I don't want you to, either. I want you to stay with me." He stated purely, lightly touching his bare hands on my shoulders.

"I'm tired." I whispered weakly, lazily placing my lips back on his.

"So, let's go to sleep."

.......

Next Chapter: The reveal of Keigo's decision.

Did he cheat on Ari? Agree to Nomu-fy her? Did he do something else entirely? How far did our bird boy go? The answer could surprise you 😏 What do you think? 👀

Next Chap will probs be out Tuesday as I'm not sure I can get it out by tomorrow. We will see <3