âËęŠď˝Ą sleep by my side
TEACHER!IZUKU X FEM!READER
synopsis: cuddling to sleep with your boyfriend is probably your favourite thing in the world; now, if only you could get him to come back to bedâŚ
⌠tags: established relationship, domestic fluff
Youâre awoken by the sound of rustling somewhere nearby. It only lasts a few seconds, before silence falls again. For a moment, you think you only imagined it.
You donât bother opening your eyes as sleep already threatens to claim you once more. Your mind is still clinging to whatever sweet dream you were having before stirring, your limbs slowly growing heavier. You feel your consciousness slipping away and instinctively shift towards your left, expecting to find the familiar silhouette of your boyfriend.
Your eyebrows furrow, confused, and a small frown adorns your lips. Izuku usually takes more than half of the bed on his own. Not to mention, heâs kind of a barnacle: he refuses to sleep without some kind of physical contact between you two, even settling for touching feet under the sheets when itâs too hot to cuddle properly.
You extend your hand, blindly searching for your boyfriendâs body. Instead of solid muscles, however, your palm ends up patting the mattress. Itâs cold, as if itâs been empty for a while.
Thatâs when you finally wake up fully, forcing your eyes open despite your bodyâs protests. You expect darkness and long shadows, but that's not what awaits you. There's a faint light casted across the bed, one that can't come from the outside, since you remember closing the blinds before tucking yourself in. You blink slowly, allowing your eyes to wander across the room to find the source of the light. It doesn't take long for them to find it on the far right corner of the room.
Izuku is hunched over the desk, a small lamp turned on right in front of him. His back is turned to you, but thatâs enough for you to notice the signs of tension in his body: the stiffness in his shoulders, how he runs his fingers through his hair, how his sighs are deeper than usual, albeit still soft. Despite it all, it's clear heâs trying his best to be as quiet as possible.
You glance at the alarm clock on his nightstand and exhale. Itâs far too late for him to be up and aboutâ especially on a Friday night, after an entire week of work. Izuku never complains about his studentsâ he loves them too much for thatâ but you can imagine how difficult it is to try to keep a bunch of overexcited teenagers in line.
You pull the sheets away from your body, silently climbing out of bed. The pavement creaks underneath your feet, but Izuku doesnât notice. He seems too focused on whatever it is that he is doing to be aware of his surroundingsâ and probably too tired to pay attention to more than one thing at once.
Once youâre standing right behind him, you're able to peek at the desk. You have to suppress an eye-roll. Of course heâs working, what else did you expect? There are two piles of papers, one on either side of him, and pens scattered all over the wooden surface. A history book is open on his leftâ probably the one he uses in classâ and there are multiple tabs open on the computer on his right, mostly articles and an online dictionary.
Izuku jumps when you wrap your arms around him, as if you snapped him out of some kind of trance. You feel him relax when you rest your chin on his shoulder, an exhale escaping him as he leans back into you, tension easing off his body. âYou startled me,â he says softly, without looking at you. The pen on his hand moves swiftly over the paper: it circles and underlines words, occasionally adding little comments to the sides of his studentsâs works. âWhy are you up, honey? Itâs late.â
You huff at the hypocrisy. âI should be the one asking you that.â
He laughs. âTouchĂŠ.â
Neither of you speak or a few seconds, the only sound coming from the drag of the pen on paper. He is still focused on his work, but something shifted in his behaviour: you can see that heâs also acknowledging your presence. His free hand comes up to your arms, fingers curling around your wrist as his thumb presses gently on your pulse point. He does that often, probably without even meaning to most of the time.
You hum softly. âYou should be asleep,â you murmur, rubbing your nose against his cheek, "you need to rest."
âI know, I know,â he sighs. He leans his head back against your shoulder, finally meeting your gaze. You can see the exhaustion in his eyes, the small crease in between his eyebrows. When he looks at you, however, his face seems to soften, if only a little. âIâm almost done. A few minutes and Iâll join you, âkay?â
âThatâs a few minutes too long,â you retort quietly. âCome to bed now.â
âThose papers wonât disappear overnight, you can keep grading them tomorrow,â you insist. You tilt your head and move forward, resting more of your weight on his back. Your lower lip juts out in a pout. âYouâre neglecting me.â
âHuh?! Iâm ne-â Izuku splutters, his eyes growing wide. Something akin to panic flashes across his face, before he clocks the faintest twitch of your lips. He snorts softly, shaking his head in amusement.
âYouâre messing with me.â
âFor now,â you point out, voice playful. You nuzzle into his cheek, unable to help yourself. âBut it is true that youâre picking boring papers over cuddling with your girlfriend, soâŚâ
This time he knows youâre not serious, so he just laughs. He smiles up at you, soft and tired, but still as warm as always. His eyes almost seem to be shining from how glossed over they lookâ if thatâs from sleepiness or affection, however, youâre not sure.
Izuku lowers his hand from your wrist, lightly patting his thigh instead. âCome here,â he says, a soft plea in his tone. He always gets clingy when heâs tiredâ more than he already is on the regular. When you donât immediately move, he gently tugs at your hand, guiding you to straddle his lap.
He lets out a low groan when your weight presses down on him, as if the simple motion brought him immeasurable relief. His arms waste no time winding around your waist like vines, strong and tender at the same time: he holds you like youâre something sacred, something he never wants to let go of.
You raise a hand to run your fingers through his hair, unsuccessfully trying to tame the mess of curls sitting atop of his head, and thatâs when he melts. His head falls forward, his nose nuzzling the spot that connects your neck and your shoulder. âSee? Now weâre both happy,â he murmurs, dropping a brief kiss to your skin. âYou're not being neglected and I'm still grading papers. Itâs the perfect solution.â
Youâre tempted to call him out on how heâs avoiding the main problemâ namely the lack of rest that will inevitably catch up to himâ but you donât. After years of dating Izuku, you learned to pick your battles. When he peers up at you, his eyes soft and expression unguarded, you know youâre letting him have this one.
You sigh softly, glancing at the desk from over your shoulder. He wasnât entirely lying before: the pile of still untouched papers is significantly smaller than the ones he has already looked over, which means he probably wonât take long to finish. You smile slightly as you catch sight of the encouragement he wrote on the last essay, paired with a small smiley face at the corner of the page.
âI suppose thatâs fine,â you relent, returning your attention to him. âBut I still donât understand the rush. You have the whole weekend ahead of you.â
âThatâs true,â Izuku muses softly, fingers absentmindedly playing with the hem of your shirt. His lips brush your neck in another sweet kiss, before he pulls back to look at your face. âBut I have better plans."
You hum softly, resting your head on his shoulder. âLike what?â
Izukuâs lips curl as you lean against him. One of his arms tightens its hold around your waist, while he brings his other hand up to brush his knuckles over your cheek. âLike spending time with my girlfriend,â he responds, keeping his voice down.
When you look up at him, he offers you a sheepish smile. âI know you don't like me overworking myself, but I thought... if I manage to deal with all those papers tonight, it means I can dedicate myself to you during the weekend,â he explains, and the hope in his voice makes your heart melt. âItâs been a while since we spent time together like that. With no work or other distractions coming between us. I missed that.â
His words hang in the air, charged with something raw and open. You had noticed, of course, that your time together had been cut short lately. It wasnât anyoneâs fault, but duty often got in the way of your daily life.
What you hadnât realised, however, was how affected Izuku was by this. Heâs still smiling, but you can see it in his eyes: a deep sense of longing heâs trying so hard to satisfy, at the cost of his own wellbeing. Heâd rather lose sleep than spend another day away from you.
Because as long as he has youâ happy and safe, and with himâ then Izuku has everything he needs and more.
You bury your face in his shoulder, hiding the dumb, lovesick smile playing on your lips. âBetter get to work fast then,â you murmur. âWe got big plans tomorrow.â
You feel his body shaking with laughter and his arm tightening around your waist. His lips brush against the top of your head in a sweet kiss, a caress that disappear into your hair, before he picks up the pen again.
And this time, heâs more motivated than ever to grade those papers as fast as he can.