Chapter Text
Louis has always wanted to get out of the town they were living in, but it had never been just a town that they’ve moved in. He felt like he never really knew who his mother was or what was she trying to do while dragging both of them to different cities, towns and even villages around United Kingdom. He used to think it was all because of her job, that she had to change places as if she was getting called by different areas to work. But no, she was simply a nurse who should’ve been a local one and stay in a place to never leave again. He tried to question her about this but all she ever did was to simply ignore or change the subject, just like she used to with the topic about his father.
But then his dreams and ambitions of being accepted in university have started, after turning eighteen and being allowed to be on his own legally, he would start wherever he wanted to study and live there more than two years (because the course he’s been dreaming of has complete 3 years). He loved everything about art and its different areas such singing, drawing and dancing. Since he was a little baby, he was always singing and dancing around the house as Jay used to tell him. Moving in and out of multiple houses was also hard for his mother, she clearly didn’t want it as well. She used to tell him that his singing and dancing have always made it feel like home, wherever they would have to stay, it would warm her heart and make her forget about everything stressful.
Because moving in and out was an issue quite a lot, he’s never got the chance to sing in a show or being involved to any kind of musical that took place in a local theatre. The rehearsals of the shows would take about a year and the staging would happen at least for 5 months, which meant that he wasn’t able to sign up or get involved in these type of things. Jay truly wanted his son to shine on his own, to show his talent to others but she had no choice other than running away for his safety.
He wished he was able to sing or dance now, in order to cheer himself up and not only that but to collect himself out of the million pieces which he was broken into. He didn’t just lose his mother, because her mother was everything to him. His best and closest friend that he could and would only ask for. He had never felt shy around her, told her any kind of crushes he used to get while he was in high school.
Then Louis met him. His first love, an alpha named Andrew. He first got Louis by his bright green eyes that Louis used to look at deeply into. Also his sweet smile, he was generally sweet: He used to make Louis smile huge and make him laugh with his humor. Everything didn’t go that sweet after all. He started to get aggressive, never physically abused or laid a finger on Louis but the thing was, he didn’t have to. His jealousy towards anyone around Louis and to Louis himself made him feel even more insecure. At one point, Louis didn’t have any friend other than him because he was tired of being accused from his boyfriend to any type of friend he’s got.
Louis got all of the damage he could, he was only sixteen after all and was still feeling drained and emotionally unstable. One of the most important and best things that his mother has done for him was to make him realize all kinds of crap Andrew was making him do, how much he was hurting him and manipulating him. She had always wished for him to leave his boyfriend. After getting a call from the policeman, getting informed about the accidental fire that took his whole house caught in as well as his mother, he called Andrew telling him that he wanted to break up and he wouldn’t consider getting back together because he was done with the shit he was putting Louis through, almost killing him.
The letters from the universities he had applied to before came back a month later after his loss. Out of five of them, he got accepted into three. While deciding on which one he should go, he got a call from his unknown aunt. At first, he thought it was a real bad prank on him, possibly made by his ex or his ex’s friends. So he hung up on the woman and never accepted the call even though he got at least eleven calls after. It wasn’t her last try, two days later Louis found her right in front of him, at the door. He had no choice other than accepting her inside, he smelled her as an alpha, unlikely to her mother who was an omega. Losing his mother affected Louis to be more insecure than he already was, especially about being an omega, so that he thought he wouldn’t be able to fight an alpha and he let his “aunt” to come inside.
Her face seemed pretty similar to his own mother, but he still couldn’t be sure because he thought he was over emotional to find similarities on everything possible to Jay. His aunt, Rach, had told him everything that she knew about his mother leaving where her and Jay grew up and used to live in. She told him that she didn’t know the whole story detailed as well, and to prove that she was actually Jay’s sister, she brought multiple photos with her. One of them included both Rach and Jay at a very young age, possibly going to high school. Seeing his mother’s face left an ache on his heart, he smiled through the pain and thinking how much he actually missed her.
The other photo was the real evidence in Louis’ opinion. Louis was a baby in the photo, in the arms of Rach right next to Jay, two of them smiling and Louis looking up at his mother. He has always been his mom’s son, very spoiled and loved because Jay could be the best mother in the whole universe. She offered him to stay at her house, she was living at Yorkshire where Jay used to live and had given birth to Louis, and had left pretty short after. He said he would consider it after thanking her, also having his university acceptances on his mind.
He gave himself full three months, after signing up to be a student in the University of Leeds, taking the Art and Design course. He was getting financial support by the government because he didn’t have a mother or a father and the school helped him with giving him a scholarship as well. When he realized he still needed a place to stay, he started to actually consider staying at his aunt’s. He didn’t even need to mention it for Rach to offer again, so he gladly took the offer and packed up his things to move into his aunt’s house. She insisted to pick him up from the house he was leaving, but he felt like he needed to be alone while doing this. So he drove his car from Brighton, to Yorkshire by himself. Did everything he could to stay focused on the road and not to cry his heart out, because he was leaving as he was wishing for years to stay at somewhere for at least 3 years. He was feeling regretful but not at its most because he was feeling the actual regret for leaving the house that day, and her mother being the only one who died from the fire.
*
Rach was so glad to see him. Hugged him tightly right after he arrived at the door and didn’t even give him a chance to put down his suitcase. He didn’t have many things with him to bring here, most of his clothes were burnt into ashes when the fire had happened. He tried to be wise and bought enough clothes with the support money he got from the government, and was able to cook anything with any amount so food wasn’t really a problem while he was living on his own for three months. After pulling himself out of his aunt’s tight hold, he realized the woman had tears on her eyes, he didn’t want to question if they were because of pity or pain just like Louis was feeling about his loss.
“Let me show you your room,” she said softly, while trying to wipe her tears quickly. “This house is actually where your mother and I had grew up in.” Louis got his suitcase on his hand again, walking on the way she was leading him to, upstairs. “After your grandmother died, I was the only one who was living in here,” she slowly turned around to look at him, smiled but mostly in pain. “But now that you’re here, I’m very glad.”
The woman was actually pretty sweet to him, and he was sure it wasn’t just for him but in general. She was very caring and loving, tried her best to help Louis as if she wasn’t upset or sad about losing his sister who she couldn’t see for eighteen years. Louis felt selfish for not trusting her at first and still, time to time questioning her intentions.
Rach stopped right in front of a room, slowly opened its door to show inside. “This was your mother’s room,” she said in a low voice. “Neither I or your grandmother had touched any of her stuff, left it like it was there before by your mother.” Louis stepped inside the room, feeling unsure, slowly looking around and observing. “Your mother’s choice of style was very unisex, so I didn’t feel the need to change the color or anything.”
Louis was more than okay with that. “I wouldn’t have mind if the room was full of pink,” he said with a shaking voice. “Because it would be still hers and she didn’t teach me to love all of the colors no matter what for nothing and that a gender wouldn’t change anything.”
She smiled at him, understanding what he meant. “Do you need any help with unpacking?”
“No, thank you,” he said while trying to smile politely. “I will do the rest by myself.”
She nodded, heading towards to the door right after, wanting leaving him alone and give time. “Whenever you need me, just call my name or come down stairs.”
“Thanks again,” he said, looking at her figure at the door thoughtfully. He realized she was as nervous as him, and it somehow made him feel more comfortable. “For everything.”
She shook her head, not accepting the grace of all the help she has done and was ready to do for Louis. “Of course, Louis, anytime for anything.”
He felt the warm drops of tears streaming down on his face right after the door was closed. He wanted to sob and cry, curl up in a ball on the floor to cry his heart out. But he wiped the tears on his cheeks, put his suitcase on the bed and opened it afterwards. Going to the closet without a single thought wasn’t the smartest idea of his, seeing all of the clothes which once belonged to his mother made his heart ache even more as if it was possible. Before coming up with an idea, he asked his aunt’s opinion. They decided to get all of the clothes out to be put in his grandmother’s closet which had all of the clothes of her being as well. He didn’t question or pity on Rach, because he would’ve done the same thing about keeping them.
*
“Are you nervous about starting into university?”
Louis actually smiled without a hint of sarcasm or any type of humiliation, he was feeling pretty closer to his aunt even from the very first day now. “How could I not be?” He sighed, but calmly. “It was my biggest dream, with this course and living stable in somewhere but now, I feel like I could throw up in any minute.”
His aunt softly giggled, joining his laugh. “Of course, I remember my first day at university.”
It was the usual type of tryout on icebreaking and bonding, Louis didn’t complain and actually felt much better seeing her trying and actually caring about him. “How was it like?”
“Well, how I was feeling was just the same as you,” she smiled at him. “Ready to puke anytime, nervous and shy… But your mother encouraged me into talking people who were taking the same course as me, and the classes.”
“Really?” Louis said curiously, straightened his position up on the couch, right next to her. “What did she do?”
“Well, she told me there was no reason to be shy because people around the campus probably weren’t even aware of my existence –or anyone’s actually. So why would I bother to always think about what would someone think of me rather than actually living on it by the way I wanted?”
Louis couldn’t help to smile, his mother was always loving and intelligent. He quickly remembered the time when he was starting to high school, and she told her how sure she was that Louis would get so many friends for his own. And he actually did, until they had to move somewhere else again. But Louis never stopped making friends, even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to see them for less than a year. The thought of his mother being sure of his friendliness gave him all of the courage he needed, and he was ready to do it for tomorrow at the campus as well.
Rach looked at the clock and put her hand over his shoulder softly and carefully, “It might be better for you to go upstairs and get ready for bed,” she said, trying not to sound annoying. “Tomorrow is the big day.”
Louis nodded his head while standing up from the couch, they smiled at each other and wished goodnight. The room was leaving a strange feeling on Louis but the slight reeked smell of his mother somehow gave him comfort. He was about to pull his shirt up to change into his pajamas but the open curtains of his window stopped him. He slowly walked over the window to realize the girl standing right in front of the house, his new neighbor. She had dark skin and darker hair which was long. Louis hoped that she was politely smiling, so he tried to smile back before closing the curtains to cover the window. He quickly turned his back to the window and pulled of his shirt, putting the shirt back in closet and now wearing the top of his pajama.
He felt how tired he was after getting into the bed, under the heavy but soft sheets. He closed his eyes and imagined his mother smiling right next to him, wishing him all the good things for tomorrow, on his first day of starting university. She would be proud, he wished her to be proud of him and what he was going to do in these three years.
*
He wasn’t sure if it would be better to mention the girl he saw last night, across their house. She seemed to have no harm but it was still creepy for Louis to see her in the middle of the night, standing in front of the window and staring at him. He couldn’t remember if she was smiling or not.
“Who is the girl who lives across the house?” He asked without thinking, he didn’t want to sound as rude as it has turned out, he was simply curious about the way she stared at him.
“That would be our neighbor, Waliyha,” she said while shrugging her shoulder. “She’s a beta and I think she goes to Leeds as well.”
He nodded at her then went to the door, taking his backpack with him. He was going to drive himself to the campus, he was glad that Rach didn’t even bother to ask if he wanted to have a ride to school. He would appreciate but it would be weird for him considering the whole different type of life in the university. They said goodbye’s to each other, Louis letting her know that he would text or call her if something happens. He still was feeling nervous but excited as well, thinking about all of the classes he was going to take in this year simply left a joyful feeling on his stomach. He smiled through the whole ride to his campus without even realizing. His aunt’s house was even closer than he thought it was, so he wouldn’t have any issues in the future.
He got into the parking area where it was only open for students, he showed his student ID to the security guard and then looked for a place to park his car. Just as the thought he saw an empty place to park, a car drove fast enough to stop him from going and taking the empty space he once claimed to park. He felt like he was going to throw up, not only he thought he was going to crash his car but also seeing the rude attitude from that person for a simple empty car space… Louis wasn’t sure if he was feeling as excited as he was before while driving here. It wasn’t so hard to find another empty space after because it was pretty early, most of the people probably haven’t left their houses yet. He got his keys and then himself out of the car with his legs shaking and feeling wobbly. He tried to think if the person didn’t mean to or showed attitude intentionally, however she was right in front of her.
“You’re new here,” she said, as if she was offended by Louis being there.
He tried to smile, mostly not to cry. “Isn’t everybody?” It was his first year of university and he was pretty sure that he wasn’t the only one who was a freshman. Besides, she looked as young as Louis did, maybe a year older but Louis didn’t think so.
“No,” she said in a firm voice. “You’re new in Yorkshire.”
Louis gulped hard, he didn’t even know why he was nervous around an omega with the same age, “Oh,” he said. “Yes, I just moved here to study in Leeds.”
“Okay,” she simply said, as if she wasn’t just trying to create a scene in the middle of parking earlier. “The name is Perrie,” she didn’t offer her hand in order to shake hers with Louis. And the way she introduced herself to him was a bit strange, he didn’t mean to be sure so he tried not to question her.
He tried to smile politely instead. “My name is Louis, glad to meet you.”
She didn’t say anything back or smiled like Louis did to her. Just took one more glance at Louis and his whole posture, left him there without saying anything. Louis felt confused and creeped out, the same as he felt last night with Waliyha. People around here were a bit different than he was used to and this was more confusing to him: He wanted to believe it was because he just moved to here but no, he had been to many places and always had the weird adapting phase –never in this way.
After being sure of not seeing Perrie anywhere around, he started walking to leave parking area as well. He had so many things to do and that’s why he came here so early. He needed to find the chancellor as his aunt suggested, he was a friend of his mother’s back then and he’s told Rach that he would be glad to help Louis out on his experience during university. After meeting him, he needed to find where were all of the classes he was taking took place in. The main building of the campus had so many stairs and Louis wasn’t sure which floor he should be going for, luckily, there was a help desk right at the entrance of the building.
“Excuse me,” he said in a gentle voice, catching the attention of the woman who was sitting behind the desk. “I’m looking for Desmond Styles, I believe he is the Chancellor of this university.”
The woman politely smiled at Louis while nodding her head slowly, “Yes,” she said, while standing up from her chair to lead Louis. “I believe you are Louis as he mentioned. Please follow me, dear.”
They went to the second floor by the stairs and stopped in front of the door, as Louis took a glance at it, his eye caught the written name right next to door as “Styles”. He bit his lip and then looked at the woman who was helping him. She smiled before knocking on the door, after her second try the door was opened but by a person who looked way younger than Louis had imagined.
“Oh, Mister Styles,” the woman said, kind of surprised. “I didn’t expect you to be here, I’m sorry. Excuse us, this is Louis Tomlinson. He has come here to meet with your father.”
Then Louis understood why the man in front of him looked younger, and actually could be at the same age with him. The boy nearly flinched at the name but Louis tried to ignore it, find an excuse that he didn’t flinch and Louis just saw it differently as wrong. Then he looked at Louis, his warm green eyes meeting with Louis’ and Louis really didn’t like the way his eyes shined. It reminded him someone that he wouldn’t want to remember or mention again. “He can come in, my father is going to be a little late.”
She bowed her head after nodding at him, smiled at Louis and left both of them alone. Louis didn’t know what to do, he looked at the floor he was in and eyes searched if there were any seat or chair to sit and wait. It would be okay even if there weren’t. He just wanted to see his schedule and meet with the man as he wished for.
“Hi,” Harry said, he was trying to get the attention of Louis and he looked pretty desperate actually. Smiled when Louis finally could take off his eyes from the ground to his face. “My name is Harry Styles, I’m Desmond’s son.”
Louis reached out for the hand which was standing up for him, held his hand and tried not to do it tightly. “Louis,” he could say simply, in a low and very shy voice.
He tried to ignore the feeling of electricity when their hands touched with each other’s. He tried to control his nostrils, they were glaring at the Alpha’s smell to get more of it, thought he could get high on the way he smelled for a second. They were both still holding hand through the silence. The weird thing wasn’t the silence between them, it was that neither of them feeling awkward about the silence. It was actually peaceful, both of them staring and smelling each other while holding warm hands together. Louis did everything he could to escape from his eyes, everything was already intense enough and he somehow knew it wouldn’t make a difference if they weren’t holding hands as well. It was like they didn’t have to be connected physically to feel the energy between them because they were already connected emotionally. And all Harry wanted was to see his blue eyes and look into them, Louis however didn’t give in.
He pulled his hand out of Harry’s slowly, was nearly asking his permission but without speaking. Harry felt like he came back into the reality, losing his touch made him feel like he woke up from a beautiful, peaceful dream but feeling the worst way because it was all over. Louis almost felt selfish at the thought of never letting go of Harry’s touch.
Everything was so confusing, he just met Harry and didn’t even know who really was other than being the son of chancellor. But his smell gave him all of the comfort and trust he could ask for, was questioning if he would ever feel like this again in his lifetime. But then he realized how wrong the situation was, Louis must’ve been pretty emotional about his mother to feel like falling for someone he just met seconds ago. Harry didn’t deserve this, or nobody would deserve this.
A little cough interrupted both of them, probably drowning in million thoughts and gazing at each other. “Hello, son,” a firm voice said, also made Louis look towards the man as well. He was smiling, looked very joyful as if he just won the lottery. Louis observed the way Harry’s soft look turn into frown, he wasn’t mad but became very serious with the presence of his father. Then Louis started to question himself and how he couldn’t smell the difference with another Alpha being in the room with them. He should be even more confused than he already thought he was.
“You must be Louis,” he said while slowly walking over to them. He nodded his head while observing Louis’ face and smiling. “You really do look like her.”
Harry must’ve felt the way Louis tensed up, so he interrupted with a warning voice, “Dad.”
Desmond smiled at his son, almost looking innocent. “Yes, son?” asked with a hint of playfulness in his voice. “You didn’t tell him, I guess.”
“Tell me what?” Louis shut his mouth with his hand quickly, eyes grew big as he felt so embarrassed with himself and rudely he just spoke. “Excuse me, I’m really sorry. I just would like to know what you were talking about, sir.”
Desmond didn’t seem offended as Louis thought he would get, he smiled even bigger actually which was strange. “Your mother and I were meant to be,” he said simply, like it wasn’t a big deal or he was just proposing something very crazy. “Our family stars are lined with the destiny of being together, and your mother and I were meant to be.”
“Dad,” Harry said, without growling in order to keep himself from being disrespectful. But Louis agreed as well, the man in front of him was crossing the line. “Please, don’t.”
“But my father is Mark, as my mom told me before,” he said curiously, looking straight at the man while slowly frowning.
He smiled but his eyes looked broken inside, he bit his lip while slowly nodding, “You are right,” he said. “And that’s what hurts me the most. We were meant to be but couldn’t be together, because of your father and I-”
“That’s enough,” Harry said in a hurry which actually helped Desmond to realize what he was doing, making Louis more than uncomfortable. The thing was, Louis was more uncomfortable about the fact that he really didn’t know anything about his mother’s past and this man could say anything and he would either believe it without questioning or he wouldn’t believe it without even considering it. Because he only knew the mother he saw as he grew up, she had so many secrets and going through a lot which she never informed Louis about. Maybe it was his chance to learn about Jay now.
He seemed like he was thinking something, couldn’t say anything towards his son. Just looked at the ground with the silence. Harry was still furious with him, his behavior on Louis made him mad and he didn’t even know why. It was disrespectful but not that Louis was his omega or anything.
“I will show you around,” Harry said in a low voice, trying to remain calm to relax Louis as well. He went to the printer in the office, took out the freshly printed course schedule and gave it to Louis. Louis dropped his eyes low to the paper, it was also an advantage to escape from Harry’s deeply concerned stare.
He shook his head, “You don’t have to…”
“I will,” Harry said, then realized how mad he sounded like. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath, “Please let me.”
Louis had no other choice so he nodded his head while taking Harry’s lead after him. He knew his acceptance was different, he felt like he had no other choice when he let his aunt Rach come inside because she was an Alpha; but this time, he knew he had no other choice than to follow Harry and let him show around the campus, he felt like there was a rope between them and he wouldn’t be able to separate from him anymore.
*
The silence during the ride was even deeper than the one they had in Desmond’s office and Louis realized that they didn’t have to stare at each other to feel this electricity type of attraction between them. He was uncomfortable on his seat, right next to Alpha’s side. His smell was distracting, he was holding back his whines that got stuck in his throat. As if Harry was listening to his mind, he opened one of the windows in the car a bit. But then Louis realized his smell might be distracting Harry as well. He felt his cheeks heating up, because it was impossible that Harry felt this attraction or the only thing he could think was the way Louis smelled. No.
“What are you studying?” The silence was too much and Louis really wanted to know him more.
Harry smiled politely, “I’m going to study Law,” he said, with a calmer voice than he had in Desmond’s office. “This is my first year as well.”
“Oh,” Louis said, then suddenly feel worried about him being late to his classes. “If my building is far away from yours, you can drop me off, I can walk as well. I’m pretty sure this campus has a map or something and-”
“No need,” Harry said softly, interrupting him. “It’s actually pretty close and even if it wasn’t, that wouldn’t be a problem, I promise.”
Louis silently nodded while blushing, he was gentle and kind but Louis still felt like he was making things harder for Harry. Thinking about Harry studying Law made him more curious. Since the Great War between the wolves and humans, it was a bit sensitive topic for everyone. So he felt secure enough to ask about it to Harry. “Why did you prefer Law?”
Alpha thought for a moment before answering Louis which made him feel nervous as if he offended him in any kind of way. Then he started to think about what he’d answer if Harry was asking him why he preferred Art. He wouldn’t feel offended but wouldn’t know how to answer as well and if he would answer without thinking enough about it, his answer would sound aggressive and hurtful.
“I believe in equality,” Harry said, which made Louis feel relieved that he finally started to answer. “And I believe it should be considered in any type of area. Being fair and being equal are two different things and people seem to confuse both of them a lot. Equality itself is harder to take than being fair to everybody, because you have to think of everyone included while being fair. Everyone has different needs and difficulties on their own but there should be simple rules to consider everyone in.” He looked at Louis for a second before going on and looking at the road again. “Kindness is important, being thoughtful –thinking before taking any kind of action and respecting everyone. I don’t know if you are one of those people who are rebellious and against to any type of ruling –because I used to be and I wouldn’t judge you if you are. But people do have something called ego, and even if you feel insecure and deal with issues such as self-hate, you still have an ego. From basic instincts of protecting yourself to showing yourself in a group of people.”
Louis understood, he wasn’t trying to be flirty and look inside Harry’s mouth, believe the every word coming out of it. No, he really understood what Harry meant and thought he was amazing for having so many thoughts on this subject to choose Laws for studying.
When the car started to slow down, Louis looked outside of the window after Harry pulled the car on side of the road. “Here,” Harry said softly. “If you want, I can go in the building with you and help you to find your classes as well…”
“No,” Louis said quickly. Then blushed again, being furious at himself. “I mean, thank you, but bringing me here was more than enough so thank you. But I can do the rest by myself.”
He nodded while smiling a bit. “Anytime,” he said genuinely. So Louis opened the car door to let himself out, he looked at Harry and smiled before closing the door behind him. While he was walking to the building, he felt eyes gazing behind him so he took a glance at his back quickly, seeing Harry still staring at him. Once he was at the entrance, about to go inside, he heard the motor of the car running. Second time he took a glance, the car was gone.
*
After his last lecture that day, Louis was ready go back to his aunt’s house. He was pretty happy about his schedule, knowing he didn’t have any early lectures tomorrow made him smile tiredly. He was feeling good, he only had three of his classes today and as cliché as it would sound, studying what the person truly wants was something else –well, maybe until the final week. He couldn’t talk to anybody other than Harry and he wasn’t sure if he was able to speak again, a day without speaking was surely strange. Now he was hoping to see Harry again as he mentioned their buildings were close. Maybe his lectures were done for today as well and they could walk to the parking lot together. He didn’t think so, even if his classes were done.
He took a deep breath, could be sigh as well, before starting to walk to the parking lot where he left his car to meet with Desmond Styles. It was a big campus, had many buildings and courses to study and he felt more pessimistic about having friends especially from his building. At the moment, he could sense he wasn’t very alone.
“Hi there,” the voice wasn’t deep, but didn’t sound joyful as well. The Alpha who was standing right next to him, walking as well had a smell Louis couldn’t define but it definitely didn’t give him a secure feeling.
He tried to smile and be polite but he was feeling afraid. “Hi.”
“What took you here?” he said while smirking, as if he was going to come up with the best pick-up line ever. “There must be a good reason to make an angel come here without his wings.”
“To study,” Louis simply said, feeling more than uncomfortable. “Like you, I assume.”
His smirk grew bigger if Louis said something nice to him. “How was your first day then?”
Louis shrugged, wanting this conversation to be over. “It’s not over yet.”
He laughed, so full of himself. “My name is Aiden,” He looked at him like he was waiting for Louis to say his own, but Louis wouldn’t do that especially when he wasn’t asked by this type of alpha. “Do angels have their own names?”
“Not to be referred as angel by you, they would surely want their own names I assume,” He really did try not to be mean or aggressive towards the boy, but he was just getting on his nerves. “My name is Louis, please do call me Louis.”
Aiden didn’t even flinch, continued to smile. “A lovely name for a lovely Omega.”
Louis didn’t remember a time that he was more relieved than he was in this moment, but he finally saw his car in the parking lot and he surely didn’t want this Alpha Aiden to come near his car to know which one is his. He stopped walking and looked at Aiden, “I’ve got to go now.”
“Are you going to pull your wings out to fly now?” He was laughing, unlike Louis.
Louis tried to smile, “I think that’s enough with angels, I’m pretty sure you’re offending some of them now.”
Louis wasn’t even kidding or trying to make a joke to make him fucking laugh, but the insisted on laughing. But Louis really had to go now and he didn’t know how would pull himself out of his aura. Then he heard his voice, his warm, calming voice that he could only listen on repeat to fall asleep in the night.
“Louis!”
Aiden flinched at Harry who was coming over to them, then Louis thought angels would be actually offended by his presence because he might be an actual angel that Aiden couldn’t shut up about. “Hi, Harry,” Louis said, without even realizing he was smiling. Aiden wasn’t sure which one was more surprising, seeing Louis smile for the first time or Harry Styles walking over to them, indeed knowing who Louis was.
“Is everything alright here, Aiden?” His voice was challenging, Louis would’ve thought he was threatening Aiden on something, but what for? Louis wasn’t even his omega or boyfriend, and they just met today.
Aiden’s smile faded away. “More than alright actually, now that I’ve met Louis.”
“I can see,” said while looking at a very uncomfortable Louis. “Do you need a ride home?”
He already had a car which he drove here, but he really didn’t feel safe about showing both of the Alpha’s which car his was in the parking lot. So he played through it, as if he actually needed a ride home. He nodded his head while smiling at Harry. Then looked at Aiden who was still looking like he’s surprised. Then both of them went to get in Harry’s car. He had a truck type of car, its color was Louis’ favorite, red. But not a simple red, darker than blood red and it was looking like it just got a wash.
“Was he bothering you?” he asked as soon as they were in the car, while putting his seat belt on. Harry’s eyes were full of concern and he couldn’t help but to frown at the thought of Aiden hurting Louis.
Louis tried to smile, but failed. “A bit, but I don’t mean any harm or I’m not trying to be mean,” he took a deep breath before going on. “He was trying to talk to me, have a chat but I didn’t feel comfortable by his attitude. Kept calling me angel…”
“That’s not alright,” Harry interrupted him, he was nearly growling and that made Louis hide in his seat. He realized the behavior of his, the voice he was using to be exact, “I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to. I just… Please know that you can tell someone if they’re making you uncomfortable. And Aiden… It’s best to stay away from him actually.”
“It’s okay,” Louis said quickly, not even knowing which one he said it for. “I mean he really was trying to be nice and have a chat with me.”
Harry didn’t say anything, he clearly felt mad but Louis didn’t know at what. Then he thought they might’ve had something from the past, maybe they’ve fought or cut off their friendship. But none of them made sense for him to be this mad. The car ride was even more quiet now, but Louis didn’t complain because somehow Harry calmed himself and now the way he smelled was relaxing Louis. As soon as they were getting closer to the house, Louis felt more upset about not seeing Harry until tomorrow. He wasn’t even sure if he would be able to chat with Harry again, or even talk.
“Would you like to go somewhere?” Harry said, then corrected himself quickly to not sound rude or eager as Aiden did. “I mean it’s after a long day but… I have a friend whose father has this tea house and we usually hang out there with others and, yeah, would you?”
Louis didn’t want to go to his house and watch Harry leaving to go, so he nodded while smiling. “I would love to.”
Suddenly, Harry started to smile as well. Then he started telling about the place more, “I hope you like tea because they have the most amazing tea there, I’m more of a black coffee guy, but I’d love to have some there.”
Louis frowned at the thought of black coffee, or coffee in general. Because he was all about tea and the thought just made him excited. The tea house looked very cozy outside, he read the name “T 4 2” written at the top before entering the place and thought it was very lovely and unique. Harry leaded him the way, touching his back unsure. Louis didn’t tense up which was weird, because he wasn’t very good with being physical, not matter what kind of relationship it was.
“I will go in the back, to the kitchen, to see if he is there,” he informed Louis with concerned eyes. “Can you find a table for us to sit, please?”
“Yes, of course,” Louis said quickly, nodding his head when he realized Harry waiting for the answer. Then watched Harry going to back. He felt lost and unsure about everything when Harry wasn’t near and it could be the most stupid thing he has ever thought of. Didn’t even reach 12th hour with him and he was attached. Then he stared inside of the tea house, multiple tables and some of them were already seated by people. He seated in the closest one, as soon as he sat down, quickly took out his phone out his pocket to text his aunt and letting her know that he’s coming later.
“Hi, dear,” an Omega said to him, smiling very big with bright blue eyes. His brown hair was a bit messy but he still looked good and charming, friendlier than the Alpha he met earlier this day.
He didn’t know what to say, “Hi,” he simply said back.
“I’m Niall, this is my dad’s place. Welcome here.” He handed Louis a menu politely, while smiling huge.
He took the menu from him, “My name is Louis,” he said before taking a glance at the menu he was given to.
“Tomlinson?” he questioned as his eyes grew bigger. “I’m sorry, everybody just knows each other here… And I know your aunt, we were told you were going to move in.”
“Oh,” Louis felt relieved for a second. Him knowing his surname made him flinch and wanted to back away in a reflexive way. “I just couldn’t understand for a moment.”
He politely smiled, feeling a bit of ashamed. “My apologies… You’re going to Leeds, as I’ve heard from your aunt.”
Louis nodded. “Yes, and you?”
“No, I’m going to York,” he said while shaking his head. “But my boyfriend goes to Leeds actually.”
Louis was about to say he has met someone in Leeds and maybe he would know who he is as well, but then he remembered how Harry told him that his friend’s dad owned this place and he was going to look for him here. The pieces and questions in his mind were slowly moving, to place next to each other and to fit into a final piece. The final piece could be that Niall is the friend who Harry has mentioned before and the boyfriend Niall was referring to was Harry himself. Seeing Harry’s nervous face, looking at both of them was the actual answer.
“Yeah, he brought me here,” he said without thinking. Realizing how wrong it sounded like, he quickly added. “To meet you, actually.”
“Oh, you’ve already met him,” Niall said, smiling at Harry. It took more than it should’ve taken but Louis finally understood what Niall meant. Harry was dating with Niall. But how? I mean he wasn’t going to get mad at Harry about his crazy secret crush on him who he had knew for a day. He felt all of the sparkles around and he almost could say it was mutual, their attraction and the feelings, just everything. But then Niall was here, to be his omega or he already was, Louis didn’t know. He didn’t realize if Harry had a bonding mark or not, he was too busy staring at his eyes.
Harry saw Niall smiling at him, took a quick glance at Louis just to check how his reaction was and tried to smile back at Niall which didn’t seem genuine at all. “You’re talking about me?”
Niall seemed offended, the way Harry asked the question to Louis, but not to him. Louis was now questioning if they were actually together or it was a big fantasy of Niall that Harry felt like he had to play along with. That sounded cruel, even if it was on Louis’ mind, it was cruel and rude, and most likely unfair. Just because he was jealous and disappointed, he shouldn’t be thinking mean things about someone or their relationship.
“Yes,” answered Niall, while trying to keep on smiling as if he could. “But you already have met each other, I assume.”
Harry simply nodded, feeling nervous. “I was showing him around, since he just moved in here.” He held Niall’s hand, because Niall was waiting for him to hold. The hold between them didn’t seem tight, both emotionally and physically. “Should we have some tea?”
“Yes, of course,” Louis said quickly, he felt like just found his voice to speak up because he still was shocked that Harry had a boyfriend. While he was checking out the menu, Louis realized the exchange between Niall and Harry while staring at each other. It was intense, not in a chemical way to tease each other or anything, they both glanced at each other knowingly as if they were actually talking. He tried to ignore it and then decided that he wanted a simple black tea, steeped.
“So,” Niall said, smiling warm with a friendly voice. “Any reason why you chose Leeds and to move Yorkshire?”
Louis put his hand over his neck nervously. “I lost my mother three months ago –moved to my aunt’s house,” said while looking up Niall whose smile was faded away. “And I’ve already applied to Leeds before that, so now I’m living with her and studying in Leeds.”
“I’m sorry,” he said in a lower voice, feeling guilty he brought up the topic like that. The way Harry looked at Louis with full of concern made him feel even worse.
Louis shook his head, and even put his hand over Niall’s to comfort him. “It’s alright, believe me,” he said while trying to smile. “I’m glad I’m here and met with both of you.”
*
“I have to drop Louis off to his house,” Harry said while they were leaving the tea house.
“Oh,” Niall said, gulping hard to not sound even more disappointed. “That’s alright, I just have to help my dad to clean out, but yes, please drove him to his house safely.”
Harry nodded while leaning down to his face, kissing him on the cheek shortly, “I will.”
“Goodnight,” Niall said to both of them, cracked a small smile. “And I’ll see both of you tomorrow.”
Louis said it back while smiling at him, then followed Harry to his car. He frowned at the feeling, the way and how he still had them. After learning that Harry had a boyfriend, he thought he would lose all of the feelings but no, they were even stronger. But the feeling wasn’t just like another crush , it was the strongest feeling he had ever felt and he’s been in love before, deeply.
“Do you feel it?” Harry asked in a hurry, right after he pulled car on the side of the road, right in front of the house they just have arrived. “I know it sounds crazy and confusing, you might not know what I’m talking about but…”
“Yes,” Louis said in a quiet voice, as if Niall could hear them from far away, in the tea house.
Harry took a shaking breath, his eyes were big and Louis could hear his heart pounding, well maybe both of theirs. “I don’t understand,” Harry said. “I… I love Niall.”
Louis nodded firmly, “And I don’t want a mate.”
“You don’t want a mate,” Harry repeated after him, nodding.
Louis gulped at the way attraction was pulling both of them closer to each other. “And you love Niall.”
They continued to stare at each other with their pounding hearts, Louis felt like he was dying because his breath wasn’t controllable, not breathing properly and he thought kissing would solve everything. But then seeing Harry leaning his face, right onto his: It wasn’t like the way he did with Niall, kissing him on the cheek. He looked like if he was blind, couldn’t see and he leaned like he was really looking for something, to reach and hold. He felt the hot breath which was coming closer to his lips, he needed to stop it and not only need but he must stop it. He put his back on the window of the car, Harry couldn’t catch his lips and with almost falling over and on Louis, came back to reality again.
It wasn’t because Louis didn’t want Harry or wasn’t about to die with the thought of kissing him, he wouldn’t. His heart still wasn’t ready for love or to take love from someone, especially someone who already had a boyfriend for their own. But the invisible string between them took both of them closer every time, they were reaching out to each other both physically and emotionally. The silence in the car didn’t seem to take that long, as soon as Louis reached his hand out to hold Harry’s face, the streetlight which was closest to the car nearly exploded. The loud noise came with the blinding flashlight. They both looked outside the window, seeing both the streetlight and his aunt Rach who went straight outside to see what was going on.
He looked at Harry in a hurry, “I’ve got to go,” he said while unbuckling the seatbelt from himself. “Thank you for the ride and everything actually.”
He was about to exit the car but Harry stopped him, being unsure of touching him after the accident they just had. “I know you’ve left your car at the campus,” he said calmly. “I can drop you off to school tomorrow morning as well.”
“No, you shouldn’t,” Louis said while shaking his head, he was going crazy.
“Please let me,” he said, he looked like he was about to cry begging to Louis. “I will pick you up at eight.”
Louis couldn’t say anything more and left Harry in the car, going forward to his aunt who was worriedly looking at him. She wasn’t wearing a coat, trying to protect herself from the cold with her arms around her body, tightly holding. “Let’s go inside,” Louis said simply, leading her to the house without allowing her to question anything. He took a glance before he closed the door behind his back, Harry was still there looking at him with a sad gaze.
Seeing those green eyes as sad made Louis’ heart ache, he wanted to run back and kiss him as they’ve intent to do earlier. Louis took a deep breath before turning his back to him and closing the door. He wasn’t sure if Harry coming over tomorrow to pick him up was a good idea at all.