Over the course of the next week and a half, I was stoned pretty much every night. It was quite literally the only way I could fall asleep. Sero was over at my house at least every other night, smoking with me or just dropping things off. We were weirdly close now.

Shigaraki had continued to bother me, but hadn't made good on his promise to make me his errand boy once again. At least until lunch on a random wednesday.

I was in a much better mood than the previous week and the bags under my eyes were almost entirely gone. I was engaging in conversations, making jokes, trying in school, all the good things that come with relaxation and sleep. It all came to a halt when my phone buzzed.

Unknown-

Once a druggie always a druggie I guess

Remember how you afforded your habit last time?

You still have some debts to repay

I tried to hide the terror on my face from everyone at the table, but when you have two overprotective boyfriends who know exactly who's texting you, it's a little hard.

There was a light touch on my shoulder that snapped me back to reality. "Darlin?"

I clicked my phone off and shoved it into my pocket before anyone could read the texts. I forced a smile onto my face as I looked over at Eijirou. "Yeah?"

Another hand snaked around my waist from the other side. Katsuki's gruff voice spoke up, "Don't try to bullshit us, what was it?"

I leaned back into the blond's side, letting out a sigh and racked my brain for a believable lie. "My mom, she wants to do dinner tonight, so I can't hang out at practice," I explained with a slight frown. 

Eijirou's crimson eyes stared right into my soul, looking for any sign of a lie. I would have been offended with his lack of trust if he wasn't completely right. "That was your mom?" he asked for clarification.

I nodded with a small hum of confirmation, trying my damn hardest to be believable. "Yeah, she's trying really hard to make up for last year, but it always ends up being really awkward." It wasn't a total lie, it used to be almost too awkward to handle, but my mom and I had made a lot of progress. I was actually starting to enjoy spending time with her again.

Katsuki's thumb was absently tracing circles on my hip while he continued to eat his lunch with the other hand. "Want us to come with for moral support or some shit?" he asked nonchalantly, even if I couldn't hear the hint of anxiety in the question. The boys hadn't interacted with my mom since the police station, so I didn't blame him for being nervous at the thought of spending a whole evening with her. It was incredibly sweet of him to offer though, and it just made my guilt worse.

"No, no, that might be too much," I said with a nervous laugh, hoping that they'd assume I was nervous about them spending time with my mom and not because they're close to catching me in a lie.

Eijirou was looking at me like I was a puzzle with a few pieces missing and he couldn't quite figure out what he was looking at. "Iz, you're being kind of weird lately," he said in a soft voice, quiet enough to not draw our friends' attention away from their own conversation.

I let out a sigh, sinking further into Katsuki's grasp. "Yeah, I know. I've just been a little stressed lately, sorry." I didn't mean for it to come out so passive aggressive, but Eijirou's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the jab.

"I know that, but it doesn't seem like just the stress anymore," he amended, running a hand through his red spikes. "You know you can talk to us, right? About anything, and we'll be there to listen, even if you think it's small or stupid or whatever."

I took a deep breath, finding it hard to look away from him. Between his eyes pinning me down and Katsuki's arm around my waist, I was feeling incredibly trapped. "I'll be fine, Ei. I promise, okay? I'm just not big on the talking thing, you guys know that," I pointed out.

Katsuki gave a short laugh at that. "The last time you had a problem with the whole talking thing, you snorted cocaine. Can you blame us for being worried when you're suddenly all dodgy?"

I had three options at that point. Option one, I could admit to everything, come clean, and deal with the fall out. Option two, I could try to diffuse the situation and stick to my lies about everything being fine. Option three, I could gas light the fuck out of them and turn it on themselves, ask them how they could possibly think I'd be doing drugs again. As fun as option three would be, I felt like it was coming straight out of an addicts play book, so definitely not that.

I sat up in my own seat once again, poking at my food absently. "As much as I enjoyed having that thrown in my face again, I'm fine. No coke, so calm down. I physically am incapable of getting any, so it doesn't matter anyway," I grumbled. Ah shit, I'm kind of gas lighting them anyway.

"See, but when you say shit like that, it makes us think you've been trying to get more," Katsuki pointed out, folding his arms on the table and leaning on them.

I blinked in surprise, not expecting that response. "I haven't," I said as I turned towards him, a little hurt that he suggested it. I didn't even know what else to say, so I just continued staring at him in bafflement.

"Katsuki, shut the fuck up," Eijirou hissed at him. "Iz, we don't think you're doing coke again, not at all. Katsuki's feelings were hurt, so he's being a dick. Ignore him," the redhead was trying to do damage control, and if I didn't know Katsuki better, it wouldn't have worked. Unfortunately, I knew that's exactly what he does when he's hurt and I knew I was hurting both of them. I had been distant for nearly a month, which was a little impressive seeing as we live five feet apart.

I brushed it off, turning back to my lunch. "It's fine, don't worry about it."

Eijirou grabbed my wrist, not hard just enough for me to know he was still there and the conversation wasn't over. "I'm gonna worry about it, Izuku. All I do is worry, and you constantly brushing us off isn't helping. Just talk to us, please."

I couldn't look at him, because I knew I'd crack. Keeping them at an arm's length was the only way I could ensure that nothing happened to them. Even if I only told them about the weed, it'd make them paranoid and even more worried and they'd never let me out of their sight, which wouldn't bode well for the errands I knew Shigaraki would be sending me on soon.

Instead, I kept my head down and sent Sero an S.O.S look from across the table. Everyone gives him shit for being an unobservant stoner, but my god did that boy have my back whenever I needed it.

"Hey Kiri, we gotta figure out that new song tonight, right?" Sero cut right into the conversation, drawing the heat off my back. "Well, I was thinking we could-"

"Yeah, we'll figure it out tonight," Eijirou said, cutting him off.

Sero wasn't phased in the slightest and just kept going. "Okay, but what if-"

"Sero," Eijirou snapped, making everyone at the table go quiet. Eijirou very rarely snapped at anyone other than Katsuki. He was always calm and level headed.

I was afraid my plan backfired and now the whole group would get involved in our drama, but like a saving grace sent straight from heaven, the bell rang and bolted to my next class before anyone could even say my name.

By the time I made it to the classroom and took a seat, my phone buzzed. Despite all the people I was avoiding, I checked it. I let out a deep breath when I saw it was just Sero.

Sero-

I'll be at ur place at 8

sorry not sorry, i adore sero.