It started with just a gentle brushing against his hand, so slight he might have thought it was unintentional. But when Eijirou glanced up at Bakugou, whose eyes were set determinedly ahead, he knew it hadn't been a mistake.

There was no table to hide under this time. No place to go for cover. They were out in the open.

It wasn't that he was nervous. They had talked about this. Tonight, they were going to sit in the common space, and as everyone else talked about the day, they were going to hold hands. That way, they wouldn't have to make a big announcement of it. They just had to awkwardly wait around until someone noticed. That's all. No big deal.

Okay, maybe he was a little nervous. That's because his brain wouldn't shut up. Eijirou took a few deeper breaths, hoping to slow his brain down a bit. Take it easy, focus on one thing at a time. First of all, no one was going to think twice about their hands barely touching. For this to work, they had to actually hold hands, and make it obvious.

Bakugou seemed to be on the same page, for just then, his hand slid over Eijirou's. It was sudden, and blunt, and it really should have made Eijirou's nerves feel even more on fire. But, really, it felt more like a dream than anything. A part of his brain felt almost tranquil. He was ready for this. If Bakugou's bravery was anything to go by, he was ready, too.

Eijirou scanned the room. Most of their classmates were either unwinding a few couches over, or studying at the work tables at the other end of the hall. However, Ashido was lying on a couch directly to their left, playing on her phone, occasionally offering a snarky reply to Hagakure and Kaminari, who were chatting across the coffee table. Eijirou would have joined in their casual discussion, except that his breath was caught in his throat, his heartbeat pounding too loudly, for him to contribute anything meaningful. So instead, he nodded a few times, hummed in agreement every once in a while.

The way they were just passively sitting around, waiting for something to happen outside of their control… it made him feel a bit jumpy. It wasn't predictable. It could happen at literally any time. Or, it could just not at all. Maybe, he was just getting himself all worked up for nothing to happen. What would they do then?

… Maybe they hadn't thought this through enough.

In a moment of bravery, Eijirou overturned his hand. Bakugou's palm slid on top of his so effortlessly, fingers interlacing, like a jigsaw puzzle effortlessly falling into place. Almost immediately, his fingers clamped down onto Bakugou's in a death grip, and he was sure his knuckles were turning a little white, but Bakugou's probably were, too, so it was okay. He rubbed his thumb gently across Bakugou's, in a comforting gesture. He wasn't sure which of them he was comforting more.

The warmth, the pressure, in such a public space, was a bit startling, and Eijirou found himself peering around again, just to see if any wandering eyes had noticed this time. If anyone had given a second glance at how closely they were sitting, how their hands were overlapped.

No one had, not yet. But, someone could. And that thought made Eijirou's head spin a bit, and brought a sheepish smile to his lips. Now, they just had to wait.

There they sat, hand in hand, for what was probably no more than a few minutes. But it felt like hours, decades, eons. And once he overcame the initial anxiety, Eijirou kinda wanted to laugh. Because he and Bakugou had been sitting in the middle of the common room holding hands for at least five minutes and no one had noticed. On one hand, for how smart his classmates were, they sure were oblivious. But, on the other hand, Eijirou couldn't really blame them for not noticing something that they weren't looking for in the first place.

But then, Kaminari just had to ask a question about their English project.

Without looking up from her phone, Ashido shrugged. "I dunno, ask Kirishima".

And at that, Kaminari turned his attention to Eijirou. "Right, so, for the story part, do you know if we're supposed to use past tense, or—"

And, Kaminari noticed. Kaminari noticed immediately, his question trailing off, mouth forming an 'o' as his eyes locked on their joined hands.

And then, Hagakure let out a piercing squeal.

"What? No way. No way, are you two serious?"

Bakugou turned away, his eyebrows drawn in a scowl, his cheeks and the tips of his ears becoming flushed with bright red. "Course we're serious," he mumbled. He sounded a bit like he wanted to die.

But his hand stayed put, holding Eijirou's, for all to see.

"Oh my god," Ashido stared, her jaw dropped. She scrambled to a sitting position, practically bouncing up and down in excitement, finger pointing at them frantically. "Oh my god, I knew it! I knew it, I called it! I did, didn't I? Ages ago." She pointed her thumb over towards Kaminari. "He said I was crazy and that nothing had changed between you two but I was like 'nooo, there's definitely something happening there' and yes there was and I was right and now you two are a thing and see? I'm not crazy!"

Eijirou let out a nervous chuckle. He tried to smile widely, to hide his nerves, but his grin probably came across as more sheepish than anything. "Well…" he brought his free hand to scratch the back of his neck a little awkwardly, "It's all a recent development, it's not like we've been trying to hide things. Only since yesterday—"

"Actually," Kaminari interrupted, crossing his arms with a smirk. "These two have been dancing around each other for ages, of course I noticed. You have absolutely no idea how insufferable these past few weeks have been because of it. It was agony."

"You mean, you knew? You lied to me?" Ashido nearly shrieked, leaning over to swat at his shoulder lightheartedly. "You knew this whole time, and you didn't tell me?"

"Well… yeah?" Kaminari laughed, bringing his hands up in defense against her.

"I can't believe you! Meanie!"

"It wasn't exactly my business to tell, though? What did you want me to do, expose them in the group chat before they even had a chance to work out their feelings for themselves? I couldn't do that to my bros!"

"I… I mean I guess, but still!" Ashido pouted, but she couldn't seem to hold such a sour expression for long, because then she let out a giggle, turning back to Bakugou and Eijirou with the widest grin on her face. "So what started it all?"

Eijirou's eyes widened. He hadn't thought this far ahead yet. He glanced over at Bakugou – whose equally startled expression offered no help whatsoever. "Uhhhhh, well…"

"Hey, Sero! Perfect timing!" Ashido shouted across the room, waving to their classmate as he stepped off of the elevator. But before Eijirou had a chance to sigh in relief at the change in subject, Ashido continued, "Kirishima and Bakugou are dating!"

And the rest of the room fell totally silent, all eyes on them.

"Ashido!" Eijirou squeaked, ducking his head to avoid all the scrutinizing gazes. Beside him, Bakugou groaned.

"What? You're the ones holding hands!"

"They're what?" Sero yelled back, even though Eijirou suspected that he heard exactly what Ashido had said.

"Come see!"

At that, Sero nearly sprinted over, a few other curious students trailing behind him – Jirou, Uraraka, Asui, and Ojirou to name a few, and the increasing number of eyes on them sure did make Eijirou's hands sweaty.

Sero's eyes landed immediately on their hands. He glanced, dumbfounded, from Eijirou, to Bakugou, then back, like he couldn't quite wrap his head around it. "So you're…" He cleared his throat, trying his best at words, "You two really are…?"

"Dating?" Eijirou offered, trying his best to seem nonchalant even as his heartbeat was wildly out of control.

At his words, the room itself seemed to wait with baited breath.

All eyes were on him, and on Bakugou, and on them, being together, and the pressure was nearly too much. But when, he peered over at Bakugou, sheepishly, as if to ask for help – and as their gazes met, all he saw in Bakugou's eyes was a fiery, steadfast resolve. It was mesmerizing. Calming. Comforting. Certain.

He could feel his own smile reaching from ear to ear, the butterflies fluttering madly in his chest. "Yeah. Yeah, we are."

Eijirou was pretty sure that his heart would never again feel as full as it did in that moment. Being able to say it, out loud, for the world to hear, was more than he could have ever imagined. The happiness that coursed through him, the pride that he felt for Bakugou, was so overwhelming. And as their eyes met, everyone surrounding them melted into the background. Despite being the center of attention, surrounded by surprised gasps and bewildered confusion, Eijirou could not take his eyes away.

Sero was the first to speak up again. "I… honestly I did not see this coming, but, in hindsight…" He cleared his throat.

"I know, right?" Ashido groaned, exasperated. "Just look at them! Lost in each other's eyes or whatever. This was bound to happen eventually. But seriously," she turned back to them, demanding Eijirou's line of sight, "we need details. You have to tell us everything."

Eijirou could feel Bakugou shift uncomfortably beside him.

"Well..."

"Like, when did this start?" Ashido suggested. "Who confessed first? Was there like, a singular moment where you gazed longingly into each other's eyes and just knew? Or was it more gradual?"

Eijirou blinked. "Uh… could you repeat all of that, maybe like, one at a time or—?"

"Ashido," Kaminari laughed, "you don't have to interrogate them!"

But despite Kaminari's attempts to deter the questions, other voices began piping in, all overlapping each other, it was difficult to tell who was talking and when.

"This is so exciting isn't it?"

"You owe me 500 yen."

"Wait, since when are Kirishima and Bakugou—?"

"Since yesterday!" Eijirou tried answering, but it was no use – his voice was easily lost in the other murmurs that surrounded them.

"Who'd have thought the first couple of Class 1-A would involve Bakugou?"

"Yeah but also, with Kirishima, it kinda makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Well, maybe, but how did Bakugou manage to score a date before the rest of us?"

Bakugou growled a little at that.

"Don't be rude! I think it's sweet."

"Congratulations, you two!"

"You think they're still virgins, or…?"

"Mineta I swear to god, you can't just say shit like that."

"That is highly inappropriate."

Bakugou looked over to Eijirou, his wide, panic-stricken eyes twitching, and Eijirou immediately understood. If they didn't leave soon, someone was gonna die.

"For someone who wants to be cool, you sure do nothing to help your cause, grape boy."

"I vote we boot Mineta off the island."

"I second that."

"Me three."

And just like that, the focus of the entire room shifted.

Which, larger groups did lend themselves to conversation derailment, so it wasn't entirely surprising. But what was jarring, was that Bakugou and Kirishima were somehow left largely forgotten about. Going from being the center of attention to no eyes being on them at all was certainly a drastic change – one that Bakugou seemed determined to use to his advantage, if his standing and tugging on Kirishima's hand was anything to go by.

"Come on," he muttered.

"What? Are we seriously just, ditching?"

"Mmhm."

Eijirou rose to his feet quickly and quietly, so as to not draw attention to himself. "There's no way this is gonna work," he muttered as they crept their way toward the elevator.

Bakugou pressed the elevator button, the doors opened, they shuffled inside. Eijirou quickly stole a peek across the room, where Ashido had stood to her feet and was addressing the room, "All in favor of booting Mineta off the island, say 'Aye'," followed by a chorus of 'Aye's. And then the doors slid shut.

Eijirou blinked in surprise. "It worked."

"They're too busy being fucking idiots, of course it worked." Bakugou selected their floor. "Felt like an animal in a goddamn zoo back there."

"Ahh yeah, sorry about that." He squeezed Bakugou's hand. "They're just happy for us, I guess!"

Bakugou nodded, swallowing a lump in his throat.

"You okay?" Eijirou leaned to nudge his shoulder against Bakugou's. "Something on your mind?"

At first, Bakugou just kept staring ahead. But Eijirou waited patiently. Eventually, Bakugou lowered his eyes.

"They really were happy for us, weren't they?"

"Well, yeah!" The redhead smiled, "Of course they were!"

Bakugou huffed.

Eijirou tilted his head to the side. "Bakugou…?"

Bakugou didn't respond. Just kept his gaze lowered.

And that's when it hit Eijirou – the conversation they had the day before, about Bakugou's insecurities involving their relationship. Something Bakugou had said played itself on repeat in his mind.

"…the first thing that people will wonder is if I treat you like shit."

Eijirou couldn't stop the feeling in his heart, like it was sinking just a bit.

"Hey…" he breathed out, encouragingly, his grip tightening even more on Bakugou's hand.

The doors slid open, cutting off anything he could have said in the privacy of the elevator. So instead, Eijirou pulled Bakugou out after him until they were standing in front of his door. He rummaged for his key and unlocked the door, swinging it open and stepping inside, closing the door firmly behind them.

And he took a step towards Bakugou, bringing his arms loosely around his waist and resting his chin on his shoulder.

"This ok?"

Bakugou's hum in response was all he needed.

"Good," he muttered.

There they stood in the middle of the room, embracing each other. The silence around them was soft, not oppressive, like a weighted blanket. It was comfortable. Just the two of them again.

"Of course they're happy for us," Eijirou whispered, his arms around Bakugou's torso squeezing just a little more. "And I've told you this before, but I'll keep tellin' ya for however long you need to hear it – you are not a bad person, Bakugou. No one in this class thinks that about you. So, they're happy for us. They aren't gonna worry about me or anything."

Bakugou hummed again, leaning his head against Eijirou's shoulder, bringing his hands to rest on Eijirou's hips.

"It's just… really fucking weird. I'm not used to that sort of thing."

"That's okay. There's gonna be a lot of stuff to get used to, for both of us."

"Yeah."

There they stayed, hugging, taking in every sensation around them. It was a beautiful moment, serene, their soft breaths the only sound. Until a bzz filled the air. Then, another. And another. And another.

"Your fucking phone is blowing up again."

"Gahh, I know, I know, I've been trying to ignore it." Eijirou pulled away and grabbed his phone out of his back pocket. He paused to read the notifications. "It's Kaminari. He's asking us where we went."

Bakugou snorted, taking a seat on the bed. Eijirou followed suit. His phone vibrated again.

"Oh jeez. Apparently, when they realized we'd left, everyone started asking him questions about us instead. Some of which are not appropriate."

"Jesus Christ," Bakugou plopped his back on the bed, his legs still hanging over the side.

"Some of them just really need a hobby," Eijirou muttered, shaking his head in amused disbelief. "And gossiping about classmates does not count as a hobby."

"No fucking kidding."

"I'll just tell him we'll deal with it later. Put all the rumors to rest or whatever."

"Hm."

As Eijirou sat criss-crossed on the side of the bed, typing up the reply, that familiar silence surrounded them once more. Then he flung his phone onto the night stand and sighed. He didn't know how they were going to appease their classmates while also keeping private things private, but they would just have to cross that bridge when they got to it, right?

"Let them wonder."

Eijirou looked over his shoulder to where Bakugou lay. "Hm?"

"It's not our fucking responsibility to worry about what they think of us, right?" Bakugou shrugged. "It's not their business, but if they want to waste all their goddamn time being nosey and gross teenagers, then let them, I don't care."

Eijirou blinked. "That, um…" he trailed off, reclining back so he and Bakugou were laying side-by-side. "That doesn't really sound like you, Mr. I-Have-A-Reputation-To-Uphold."

Bakugou huffed again, exasperated.

Eijirou let out a little laugh. Though, he knew Bakugou was right. It was their relationship, after all. It wasn't like they owed anyone an explanation. He smiled, to himself more than anything. The thought was really freeing. Turning to his side, he reached out his hand to grab Bakugou's. The blond mirrored his movements until they were facing each other. Eijirou watched carefully as their fingers unfurled, palms pressing together, captivated.

Looking at how their fingers fitted together so perfectly, Eijirou couldn't help but be reminded of the night that Bakugou had taken his hand. It had only been a few weeks, but it felt like an entire lifetime ago. He wondered if Bakugou was being reminded of the same thing.

It seemed as though, every step along the way, their relationship had been birthed from necessity – to escape the bad guys, to keep the nightmares at bay. No one else had any idea just how much that night had affected Bakugou, how much it had shaken him, changed him. How terrified he had been, how he was still suffering from the repercussions even weeks later. No one else needed to know that, either. That was their secret.

In a way, secrets were what had started this all, weren't they? Vulnerability, troubled memories, past regrets. Secrets, shared just between the two of them. With these secrets, came trust. And somewhere along the way, they lead to something more. A deeper connection between them. Something that was unshakable.

Their friends didn't need to know about the nightmares. Their friends didn't need to know about the vulnerabilities, or the insecurities, or the regrets. Their friends didn't need to know about the affectionate moments they shared, the intimacy. They didn't need to know about the soft kisses, the gentle whisperings, the 'I love you's meant for each other's ears.

Their friends didn't need to know any of it.

Those sorts of things were only meant to be shared between the two of them and the night.

And the night was really good at keeping secrets.

A/N: Well, guys. Exactly one year later, and this is it. The end of 2am Knows All Secrets.

This fic has been such a big part of my life, for an entire year, and honestly, having to end it was an emotional roller coaster. But I am proud of what I have created, proud of all of the people it has inspired. But knowing that it will continue to do so into the future is what motivated me to stick with it until the very end.

I just want to thank you guys so, so much for all of the comments, and fanart, and messages. Seeing fanart inspired by my fic, and reading the lovely words of encouragement that you left me, really gave me the confidence and inspiration to see this fic through to the end!

If you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it, if this story has left you with something, if it has inspired you in some way, please let me know by leaving a comment, or reaching out to me on my Tumblr, Unbreakable-Red-Riot! Especially if you draw fanart, please let me know so I can add a link in the fic!

Once again, I just wanna thank you all. This has been such an amazing journey, and I absolutely could not have done it without your support!

Until next fic!