Chapter 3

                                    

                                          
Izuku felt himself being placed down but wouldn't let go of Eijiro. He was still crying softly and barely able to process anything. His head was throbbing, his ears were ringing, and he couldn't breathe. God, why was it so hard to breathe?
"Izuku," he heard vaguely. "You're ok."
He didn't feel ok. He couldn't think, and his chest tightened, making breathing harder and harder.
A hand was at the back of his head, holding him close while the other held him up. Izuku clung onto the alpha, his head going a mile a minute and only able to see that Eijiro was making him feel safe right now. "You're ok, Izuku," Eijiro whispered in his heir. "You're ok. Just breathe."
He tried to breathe, a part of him not wanting Eijiro to be mad at him if he didn't. So he tried really hard, but he couldn't. He couldn't focus enough to breathe the way Eijiro was trying to show him.
Eijiro tried soothing him with his scent, running his hand through his hair and holding him close so he wouldn't fall if suddenly Izuku let go. "You're doing so well," Eijiro tried to encourage, hoping it would help. "You're ok," he repeated.
It took another 15 minutes for Izuku to calm down enough to form a proper thought and speak, still shaky but better than sobbing into the alpha's chest. "I-I-I'm s-sorry-" he choked out. "I'm-I'm sorry."
"It's ok," Eijiro reassured, trying to think of something else he could do to help. "You're ok."
"D-don't- please- don't hurt m-me-" he continued, his mind still in the corner of his brain and not processing as much as it should be.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Eijiro whispered. "I promise I won't hurt you." Then, when Izuku stayed quiet, or as quiet as he could, while still having difficulty breathing and trying not to cry, Eijiro continued, "can I ask you a question?"
Izuku hesitated but nodded, keeping his face buried.
"Can I ask why you panicked?" If he knew, then they'd be able to avoid the trigger in the future.
That was a long list of building factors, and Izuku didn't want to repeat anything, so he shook his head.
"Ok, I'm going to get you some water. I don't want you to get dehydrated. Do you want to come with me? Or will you stay here?" Eijiro asked softly, still running his hand through Izuku's hair. Eijiro's answer was Izuku tightening his grip around him. "Ok."
The alpha carried Izuku downstairs, waving off the weird look Katsuki had given him and heading to the kitchen. Izuku was holding on tight enough that Eijiro could use his hands to get the water and heat the food Izuku hadn't eaten from the mall.
"Izuku?" Eijiro asked softly, gaining a slight hum from the omega. "Some friends will be here in a few minutes. Do you want to go back to your room? Or are you ok out here with us? Or, we can tell them to leave."
Izuku didn't know what he thought when he muttered that he would be ok with them. His instincts were telling him to cling to Eijiro. He didn't want to be alone right now, even if that meant having to be around a few other people.
"Ok," Eijiro whispered.
Eijiro sat down on the couch in the living room with Izuku in his lap, maybe Izuku felt a little weird sitting the way he was, but he couldn't care right now. He felt weirdly safe and didn't want the feeling to end.
"Here, can you drink some water?" Eijiro asked softly, holding the cup at Izuku's shoulder since he was still hiding his face and his hands were around the alpha's back.
Izuku didn't want to move, but he was also very thirsty, so he lent back an inch, becoming more aware of their position, and took the cup. Eijiro smiled softly at him and offered him food, apparently not phased by having the omega in his lap.