You Can Lean On Me

Tooru has decided to confess to Iwaizumi Hajime and convinces Hikaru to say they're busy and can't join the boys for a sleepover this week. Hajime tries to back out but Hikaru pipes in saying they'd feel bad if the trio's tradition of weekly sleepovers was broken because they can't join and Hajime relents. And now Tooru is standing outside Hajime's house. When did he get so anxious about seeing his Iwa-chan? He takes a deep breath and knocks on the door.

"About time, Shittykawa. My dad just left to work an extra shift so what do you wanna eat?" Hajime asks, grabbing Tooru's bag and inviting him in.

"Anything is fine, Iwa-chan~" Tooru winks, "Anything you make is always delicious."

Hajime scoffs and jokingly swings Tooru's bag at his head which Tooru dodges while looking mildly offended.

"Go set up a movie in my room or something. I'll be in in a minute," Hajime sighs

Tooru lightly smacks his forehead into Hajime's bed and groans in exasperation once he's sure Hajime is out of earshot. He panicked earlier and slipped into casual flirting, this isn't how he wants the night to go. Tooru mopes for a moment before grabbing a random movie- he hasn't seen it before but it looks interesting and space-themed so he grabs it and puts it in the DVD player without another thought. Now... how to go about confessing.

"Oi, hope you like frozen pizza because I just put it in the oven and I don't feel like making something from scratch," Hajime announces, plopping down next to Tooru

"Ah, sure. Oh, we should play a game while we're waiting for the pizza, Iwa-chan! Otherwise, we'll have to pause the movie to take it out of the oven and dish it up," Tooru suggests

Hajime hums in agreement

"Iwa-chan, truth or dare~"

"Truth. I don't trust you and your dares, Trashykawa."

"Fineeee. So mean, Iwa-chan! I thought you trusted your best friend more than that! I'll be nice, so... What do you love most, Iwa-chan?"

Hajime thinks for a moment and Tooru's heart feels like it's beating out of his chest.

"I think it'd have to be agedashi tofu, the differing texture in the crispy outside and the silky smooth inside- what's not to love about it? Although, I suppose volleyball and my dad would be tied for a close second."

Tooru pauses, his plan to make Hajime confess first didn't work so he'll figure out something else. Wait, did he just choose food over his dad?

"Bahahahahah, what the hell, Iwa-chan! You love tofu more than your dad?" Tooru falls over dramatically and rolls on the floor while still laughing.

Hajime turns red and tells him to shut up but Tooru doesn't drop it until Hajime yells at him to pick truth or dare.

"Well since you say you don't trust my dares, you're obviously plotting some horrid dare for ME, Iwa. So I pick truth!" Tooru announces

"Lame, what a loser move. Loserkawa," Hajime snorts

"Then I'll pick dare next time, you're so rude Iwa~"

Tooru relaxes, no longer feeling as tense or anxious as he was when he first arrived.

"What do YOU love most?" Hajime asks

Tooru freezes, is this Hajime's way of saying he might like Tooru back? Or is he messing with Tooru?

"I'm stealing your question because I couldn't think of anything, dumbass. Just answer so I can hold you to your promise of choosing a dare next round."

"I just love a lot of things. I gotta thinkkkk~" Tooru drags out his sentence, debating on whether he should use this to say he loves his childhood friend.

"I can't pick one so... space, aliens, you, volleyball-" Tooru starts speedily listing things

"What was that?" Hajime questions

"What was what," Tooru sweats, panicking

"Repeat what you said. You talked too fast."

"Oh. Space, aliens, volleyball-"

"Fucking nerd," Hajime pauses, thinking, "I think you missed something"

Hajime's brows furrow as he tries to think. Tooru's heart feels like it's going to beat out of his chest.

"You, Iwa-chan. I love you. I've... always loved you, you know," Tooru mumbles, glancing at Hajime to gauge his reaction.

His brows furrow more and Tooru can tell Hajime is considering his words. He doesn't feel the same way. Tooru messed up. He shouldn't have let himself get his hopes up, it's obvious that Hajime doesn't see Tooru that way. 

"W-what? Tooru..." Hajime is using his real name and Tooru feels his heart drop even further- he doesn't want to hear Hajime's rejection, "I'm-"

"Please don't say anything, Hajime. I know..." Tooru trails off, hugging his knees to his chest as his back presses uncomfortably against Hajime's bed frame.

Tooru becomes uncomfortably aware of how close they're sitting next to each other on the floor and he hides his face so Hajime can't see his facial expressions.

"Just... please don't hate me," he whispers

Silence. Uncomfortable silence. And then the timer for the pizza beeps and he hears Hajime get up.

"I'm not gonna hate you, Tooru. You'll always be my friend, I just... I'm not... I don't like you like that."

And then Hajime is headed for the kitchen.

Tooru takes the time to compose himself as best as he can and he texts his sister asking her to call him and make up some emergency so he can get out of something. When Hajime returns with food, Tooru smiles and jokes as if nothing happened and Hajime looks at him with a concerned look. Tooru presses play on the movie before Hajime can say anything.

About halfway through the movie, Tooru gets a call from his sister.

"Oneesan?" he tries to hide how uncomfortable he is because he had to pretend nothing happened for half a movie

"Tooru, it's the weekend for you, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"The hubby and I haven't had a date night in forever. Come babysit your favorite nephew, Takeru for us. Okay?"

And then she hangs up. Tooru smiles mentally at his sister not giving a chance for him to pretend to argue with her. He explains the situation and quickly excuses himself from Hajime's house. His legs move on autopilot and he calls Hikaru on the way to their house.

"Tooru? I thought you were with Hajime-san." a soft voice answers

"I got rejected, Hikaru-kun. Can I come over?" Tooru sniffles

"Of course. My mom accidentally woke me up leaving for some on-call work so it'll take a bit for me to go back to sleep anyway. Milk bread or hot cocoa?"

"Both, please. I'll go with you to the convenience store since I'm almost there."

"Okay, I'm here for you Tooru."