Archive of Our Own

“Yes… yes, that’s accurate. No. No. There’s–”

Louis silently groans and leans back in his expensive leather chair, sympathizing with the obnoxious creak it lets out. Me too, he thinks, me too.

See, when he got promoted to Chief Acquisition Officer, he thought it would be light work most days, because really, how much purchasing does one company do?

As it turns out, a lot. He spends a lot of hours in the office stuck in meetings and plenty of time at home on calls. It honestly feels like he never stops working, his email going off at all hours of the day. The hefty amount of pay makes it worth it, though not for Louis’ own benefit, but for his family’s. He’s able to help pay for the girls’ things, take his family on trips, do all the things they never got to do. That’s not to say his penthouse apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room isn’t a nice bonus.

“...Yes. That’ll work for me. Thank you, Mr. Howard. Have a nice night.”

Louis drops his work phone down on his desk with a relieved sigh and stands up to stretch his muscles. An unnecessarily long two hour phone call really takes it out on his back, twinges of pain sparking up his spine. Making a mental note to book a massage appointment this weekend, Louis starts packing up his things. It’s almost midnight, and he’s dying to go home.

New York at night looks beautiful from his office windows, but he really wishes he’d get to experience it more. With his schedule, he’s pretty much always either at home or at the office. No matter how much Niall pesters him to go out drinking or just to hang out, Louis always feels too exhausted to even try.

It’s sad when he thinks about it, a 29 year old alpha at the height of his career who spends all of his hours either working, eating, or sleeping.

His personal phone buzzes with a text from Niall, letting Louis know that he had ordered food for him to his apartment already. Bless Niall. Louis certainly can’t cook worth shit, despite his rather large and fancy kitchen. He mostly relies on takeout, company sponsored dinners, or whatever Niall decides to give him.

Louis’ alpha coworkers like to joke that he’s a stereotypical alpha bachelor, looking for an omega to come and cook and clean for him. He’s laughed along to those jokes, but they mostly rub him the wrong way. With several of his sisters and his mum being omegas, Louis likes to think he’s more progressive than that.

Would he like to have a mate to fill the empty spaces in his heart and home? Of course, but he’s not going to chain an omega to his apartment so they can keep house. Regardless, before he even gets there, he has to actually talk to an omega.

By the time Louis gets home, it’s past midnight. He throws his leather bag onto his marble countertop and places the bag of takeout that had been waiting for him at the front desk beside it. Niall had ordered his favorite, chicken fajitas, which smell amazing as Louis pulls out the steaming hot container. Loosening his tie, he plops in front of his wide screen TV and puts on some trash reality TV show as he digs into his dinner.

The stress melts from his shoulders until Louis is fully reclining into his sofa, takeout resting carefully on his stomach. He doesn’t have to think about how tomorrow is going to be another long day or how alone he feels in his empty apartment. It’s just him, his fajitas, and the arguing couple on the screen.

Seriously, he’s no relationship expert, but they should probably just break up.

As soon as he’s finished eating, Louis cleans up the mess he’s made and starts the long process of getting ready for bed. Long showers is what he probably looks forward to the most, hot water scrubbing away the worries of the day and more importantly, making him smell like himself again. He wears neutralizers to work, which irritate his nose and leave him with a headache more often than not, but if it minimizes the stress levels of even one omega he works with, then it’s worth it.

Alpha scents can often be overpowering to omegas and even betas, with their less sensitive noses. Louis has seen far too many alphas in positions of power use their scents to coerce omegas into doing things for them. Whenever he does choose to not wear his suppressants though, he gets a heap of compliments from coworkers on his scent which feels… strange to him, but it’s a common thing to say.

The unfortunate side effect of not wearing his suppressants also extends to random omegas approaching him in his office, batting their eyelashes and asking if he’s free for dinner. It’s awkward to explain that no, he’s busy and no, he’s not looking to get his dick wet. Really, he’s got to start asking Chellie to stop them from ever entering (although he thinks she’s doing it on purpose.)

Wrapped in a towel, he applies moisturizer that Lottie had bought for him and brushes his teeth, humming some radio type beat to himself. By the time Louis can crawl into bed, it’s almost 2 in the morning and he’s incredibly exhausted. With regret, he sets his alarm for 9 in the morning as opposed to his usual 7 – he refuses to operate on 5 hours of sleep – and falls asleep immediately.

Louis walks into work the next morning, coffee in hand, and is immediately accosted by half a dozen assistants with forms for him to sign.

“I– ah, please, just leave them on my desk,” he says, waving tiredly at them.

Chellie, his omega secretary, gives him a commiserating look as she follows him into his office. After all of the requisite forms have been dropped off, the two of them let out matching sighs.

“Remind me why I work here again?” Louis asks.

Chellie shakes her head and hands him a sticky note. “Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer to that either. But you do have a call with Chase in thirty, something about another merger.”

Louis sticks the note to his own forehead and collapses into his chair, limbs sprawled everywhere. “Another? We’ve just finished with the Pearson acquisition.”

“Not a clue. That’s your job, not mine.”

He shoots her a withering look, but she’s already halfway out of the room with a good luck tossed over her shoulder. Chellie is amazing at her job, witty humor and metaphorical balls of steel allowing her to hold her own against all the alphas that come through Louis’ office. Unfortunately, she uses that wit against Louis more often than not.

Unsticking the note, he settles into his desk, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Louis dreads calls with Chase, his immediate boss, mostly because he’s an arrogant alpha who thinks that the world should bow down to him. He’s never treated Louis particularly poorly, but he’s rude to Chellie every time he stops by, which is reason enough to despise him. That, on top of the fact that Chase is always the one to hand him more work makes any interaction with him very unpleasant.

True to fashion, Louis despises every second of the meeting, least of all because they’re buying out a small local wedding cake shop for their land. It makes his gut turn, and he dreads having to meet with the company’s owner, even though they’ve already agreed to this. Big corporations like the one he works for taking over local companies bothers him, but there’s no time to dwell on it. The meeting with the company’s owner to discuss assets is later this week, and he’s got all of his normal work to do on top of it.

More long nights ahead, for sure.

Louis’ phone buzzes around 6 with a text from Niall. You’d better be on your way out of the office. Movie night!

Ah, shit. He’d completely forgotten about standing movie nights on Fridays, where Niall takes full advantage of the 80 inch, flat screen TV inside of Louis’ flat. It’s a night of pizza, beer, popcorn, and the two of them being couch potatoes for a few hours. Louis itches with the desire to stay late and finish up the report he’s working on, but he knows that Niall would be furious if he skipped out. Maybe he can work on it a little bit during the movie.

Of course, when he gets home, Niall immediately shoots that down.

“Absolutely not.”

Louis lets out a whine, freezing from where he’s pulling his laptop out of his bag.

Niall is glaring at him on the couch, chewing on a slice of pizza with more vigor than he usually does. “You are not working during movie night. No. You are going to chill, relax, and watch this damn movie.”

“But Ni–”

“No.”

They have a very intense staring match that Louis inevitably loses because he’s a sucker. “Fine,” he grumbles, plopping down onto the couch sans laptop. Out of spite, he yoinks Niall’s slice of pizza, shoving the rest of it into his mouth. “Fuck you.”

Niall rolls his eyes, but surprisingly, doesn’t throw much of a fit, leaning forward to grab his own slice instead. He starts up a Mission Impossible movie, and they settle in, pizza in hand and beers on the coffee table. Louis lets his brain turn off and fill with grease, slumping down more progressively until he’s nearly parallel with the couch.

As the ending credits roll, he lets out a satisfied sigh, pushing himself back upright. “I needed that,” Louis groans, stretching his arms out above his head. “Just means that I’ll have all of my work to do tomorrow, but at least this was relaxing.”

“Has the devil given you another job?” Niall affectionately calls Chase a devil because he despises how much work that he gives Louis (and probably because of how much Louis complains about it.)

With a heavy sigh, Louis nods, gathering up all the discarded napkins and tossing them into the empty pizza box. “Some local wedding cake shop that doubles as a planning service. As usual, Chase going after small businesses because he likes their location.” He wrinkles his nose to the sound of Niall fake vomiting next to him.

“That’s awful, but I’d expect no less from the devil himself.” Niall makes some sort of weird gesture at his chest, which elicits a raised eyebrow from Louis. “What?” he says, repeating the movement. “I’m warding off the devil!”

Snorting, Louis gets up – reluctantly, though, because the couch is very comfortable indeed – and discards their trash. “If only that worked. I have to meet with the poor sod who’s giving up his company on Monday.”

“Ooh, who is it?”

“His name is Harry Styles,” Louis says, thinking about the photo on the guy’s LinkedIn that he had searched up. For business purposes, of course. Objectively, it’s an attractive picture, all neat brown curls and vibrant green eyes, but he has to remind himself that this is a business transaction. “He’s an omega, born and raised in Holmes Chapel, moved to London when he was 18 to start up his company with a friend. They’ve been at it ever since.”

Niall is concerningly quiet, and he comes back to the living room to find his friend furiously Facebook stalking him.

“Oi!” squawks Louis, reaching out for the phone.

“He’s 27, so two years younger than you, no college degree obviously, but his business seems wildly successful. Apparently, he’s been nominated for several New York Business Journal Awards and is noted as one of the best up and coming wedding planners in the area. And,” Niall draws out, skittering away from Louis’ grasp. “He’s single!”

With a grunt, Louis launches himself forwards and knocks the phone out of Niall’s hand. “I’m not dating the owner of the company that I’m orchestrating a purchase with. And quit stalking him!”

“I’m just trying to help!”

“I don’t need your help,” he says in response, crossing his arms like a little kid. “I’m a grown man, and I can date without anyone helping me.”

Niall’s raised eyebrows and expression of disbelief break him down faster than he’d like. “Yeah, because all the successful dates you’ve been on lately can speak for that.”

“It’s because I don’t want to date, not because I can’t,” Louis mumbles, scratching at his arm. “I’m a little too busy for that.” As a beta, Niall floats around and dates and fucks whoever he likes, without any regard for secondary gender. It’s an incredibly envious lifestyle – the dating part, not so much the fucking part. Louis can live without getting his dick wet.

Niall sighs, squeezing Louis’ shoulder. “You can make yourself less busy if you’d just delegate some of your work. But if this is what you want, then I’ll be here for you. You know that.”

“Thank you.” He’s so grateful for Niall’s constant presence in his life, wouldn’t know what to do without it. Even as he’s driving himself into the ground – and yes, he knows it – Niall is there to keep him afloat. “But seriously, I’m not looking for anyone right now.”

Louis really isn’t sure who he’s trying to convince, himself or Niall, but he’s not sure he succeeds either way.

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

The morning of the big meeting arrives, and Louis wants to vomit.

He’s up before his alarm for once, with a ball of nerves settling heavily in his gut. No matter how many times he’s done this, the leadup to the first meeting never fails to set him on edge. There’s something else about this one, though, that unnerves his inner alpha too.

Louis often feels out of touch with his inner alpha, the random burst of instincts he gets sometimes confusing the shit out of him. It feels archaic to follow those desires, the urge to wipe away his sister’s tears or to posture in front of another alpha. He stuffs them down as much as possible, suppressing his scent, determined not to be one of those alphas that thinks knot first.

As a result, he’s got no idea what any of the courting business is that every other alpha seems to partake in. Louis wrinkles his nose every time he sees alphas presenting omegas scarves to cover their necks or omegas shyly greeting alphas with home cooked meals. There’s just so much more to a person than their instincts.

All Louis wants to do is date someone without any regard for their gender, is that too much to ask?

It seems like society disagrees with him on that front, so he’s set it on the back burner for now, not that Niall agrees either. He’s not lying either, when he says he’s too busy, tied up with meetings like the one he’s not thirty minutes early to because of his nerves.

Louis tugs at the collar of his dress shirt uncomfortably as he waits in the line of this random coffee shop he stopped at. He doesn’t need the coffee, but he’s got time to burn, so he might as well.

The smell of coffee grounds and buzz of the shop fills his senses and distracts him to the point where when the bored looking teen managing the till asks for his order, he splutters out the first thing that he sees on the menu. Honestly, Louis hasn’t the faintest idea what he’s just ordered, some pumpkin spice related item because it’s that time of year. He scoots over to the pickup area and glances around absentmindedly.

There’s something quaint about a coffee shop that tugs at his heartstrings, seeing people go about their day. Louis spots a few college age students huddled in a back corner over laptops, some older people dressed in full businesswear hurrying out the door. It’s been so long since he’s had enough time to stop and just watch the little things in life go by. Not for the first time, he thinks about how difficult it might be to hire a few extra people.

“Pumpkin spice chai latte and a cold brew, double espresso!”

Louis checks his receipt to see that yes, he did order a chai latte (whatever that is), and moves forward to pick up his drink. It’s decorated cutely with fall leaves, because of course it is, snug in a cardboard sleeve. Just as he’s bringing it closer to examine the design on the cup, his arm knocks into the other fellow that had come up to grab the other drink.

Because Louis’ life is just a comedy of errors, the loose lid on his cup comes off and the jolt from the impact is just enough to tip the hot contents right onto the shirt of the other man. Wonderful.

“Ah, fuck, dammit. I’m so sorry mate.” He immediately twists his head to look for the nearest napkin dispenser, nodding gratefully when an employee passes him a big wad. Pressing some to the big that had splashed on the sleeve of his shirt, Louis hands the rest to the other guy, another apology on the tip of his tongue as he looks up and–

Curly brown hair half obscures the twisted frown that adorns his face, eyebrows furrowed as the man looks down at his ruined button down. There’s a noticeable coffee stain all down the front, residual liquid still dripping down onto the floor. Louis thinks oh, he looks familiar and then he finally looks up, eyes connecting with Louis’.

And Louis just about melts in embarrassment.

Because standing in front of him, half-heartedly wiping coffee off of his shirt is Harry Fucking Styles, aka the person he’s supposed to have a meeting with in – he checks his watch – 15 minutes now. Clearly, Harry doesn’t recognize him though, because he just glares at Louis.

“Thanks,” Harry says, no lack of sarcasm laced in his tone.

“I can buy you another drink or help you find a shirt or–”

“I don’t need an alpha’s help,” snaps Harry, rolling his eyes. “I have to go anyways, so I’ll take care of it myself. Have a nice day.”

Louis’ jaw hangs open for a second before he snaps it shut, surprised by the amount of vitriol coming from his mouth. He stares at Harry as the omega stalks away, eyes lingering on the way his shirt hugs his body just so, matching dress pants perfectly tailored, swishing around his legs. It’s not until someone bumps into him reaching for their drink that he steps out of the way.

He’s never had an interaction with someone else like that, let alone an omega. Louis is also unsure of where the rambling had come from, words spilling out of his mouth, unbidden. It’s those dumb alpha instincts again, seeking to make things right with an omega.

Fucking hell, he really needs this meeting to go well, but as Louis exits the cafe (latte thrown in the trash), he’s pretty sure it won’t. And he’s going to be a few minutes late now because he spent way too long gawking. He hurries to his office building where their meeting is taking place and enters through the side door, in the hopes that he, at least, won’t run into Harry in the lobby.

Skidding past Chellie into his office, Louis scrambles for a spare shirt, hurriedly yanking the one he has off and buttoning up the new one. “I know,” he says when his door creaks open. “I’ve got the merger meeting waiting downstairs for me, and I’m late.”

Chellie looks bemused when he spins around, shoving his shirt into his pants. “Something’s got your panties in a twist today, but yes. Mr. Styles is waiting for you in the conference room just down the hall. I got an assistant to make him some coffee while he waits.”

“Hopefully, I won’t spill this cup too,” mutters Louis, sparing one glance in the mirror before he steps out. “Do you have–”

A folder is shoved into his hands, along with a fresh notepad and pen, just the way he prefers to set up for meetings. He flips through the sheets in the folder, finding it full of the information he needs to have on hand for this discussion, and, not for the first time, thanks whoever told Chellie to apply for this position. “Thanks, love.”

Louis presses a hasty kiss to her cheek and speedwalks down the hallway to the conference room at the end. He pauses for a second outside the door to regain his composure before stepping in, a polite smile pasted onto his face.

“Good morning,” he says, as Harry gets up and turns around. Just like that, Louis can see the flicker of recognition on his face, right before it turns into a scowl.

“You’re Louis Tomlinson?” Harry asks, voice very carefully neutral.

“That’s me.” Louis sticks his arm out for a handshake, which Harry takes hesitantly, but with a firm grip. Clearly this is not his first time meeting with an alpha. Despite the surprise Harry must have felt, he makes direct eye contact and stands his ground. A spark shoots up Louis’ spine at the skin-on-skin contact, almost jolting from the sensation.

He takes a step back to put more space between them, shaking his hand discreetly to get rid of the tingly feeling that’s lingering. Carefully, Louis sets down his papers and gestures for Harry to take a seat, which he does with an unhappy grumble. He can sense that the omega is more than a little distressed, in turn setting off his inner alpha. A small part of him wants to bundle Harry up and scent him until the sour note in his scent is gone, but the larger, more rational part of him knows that’s ridiculous.

“While I am here to offer an apology, which,” he emphasizes, cutting off whatever Harry was about to say. “I know you don’t want one, but I’m giving it anyways. Regardless, I’m Louis Tomlinson, Chief Acquisitions Officer. Nice to meet you.”

Scrubbing at his face, Harry mutters something under his breath and then looks him in the eye, much more placid now. “Well, it seems like I have to offer you an apology. I had no idea that you were, well, you. I hope that we can put this behind us.”

“Of course. Shall we start with your assets?”

And thus begins their lengthy discussions of how exactly the purchase is going to happen. Louis is increasingly impressed with Harry’s wealth of business knowledge, the omega eloquently stating each and every one of his demands. He can already tell that this isn’t going to be easy, not with Chase’s desire to completely dissolve Harry’s business and sell it off piecemeal. But for now, he just nods and writes down everything Harry says, only interjecting when there’s something he knows is an impossibility. Everything else can be on the table.

Even with his experience, Louis feels horribly out of depth somehow, discussing terms with Harry. Maybe it’s because Harry is the first omega CEO he’s ever had to talk to, one of the few who’s fought the system to make it this far. Or maybe it’s the tingling in his senses that won’t go away.

But by the end of their meeting, he’s much more comfortable talking with Harry, although it doesn’t seem to go both ways. Harry is professionally polite and nothing more, making no more eye contact than strictly necessary and ignoring all of Louis’ small quips that he’s thrown in to lighten the mood. It frustrates him because he wants to put whatever happened between them this morning behind them, but it seems that Harry is still holding a grudge.

“It was a pleasure meeting with you,” Louis says, packing up his papers and standing up. “I’ll get details of the acquisition sorted out and then we can start on the contracts and paperwork, yes?”

Harry nods, pushing back his chair as well and making for the door. “Of course. Just let me know when it is convenient for you.” It almost feels like he’s trying to escape with how quickly he’s leaving, but Louis wants to talk to him for a second.

“Yes, I will, but,” Louis huffs in exasperation, “Harry, wait.”

He reaches out just as the omega has his hand on the door handle, grasping at his shoulder. Louis knows he’s fucked up the second Harry tenses under his grasp, taking a few quick, angry steps away.

“Who the fuck do you think you are, using your alpha voice on me?” There’s a fury in his eyes masking the mild fear Louis can smell in his scent and see in the way he’s clutching his bag to his body. But he’s got absolutely no idea what Harry’s talking about.

Gently, he says, “I didn’t mean to–” and really, he didn’t, considering he wasn’t even aware of it “–but please. I wanted to talk to you for a second about this morning.”

If anything, the angry line between Harry’s eyebrows grows deeper. “You’ve already apologized and tried to help when I told you that you didn’t need to. What else is there to talk about?”

Well, when he puts it like that…

“I just– I don’t want it to come between our business… work thing.” Very eloquent. “You seem put off by it, and I want this to go as smoothly as possible.”

With a dramatic eye roll, Harry says, “It won’t come between our business together. Now can you let me go?” He sounds so eager to leave that Louis just steps aside, despite his desire to sort it out more. There’s just one last thing he has to know though, as the omega is shoving the door open and walking out–

“Is there anything I can do to make it better?” Louis asks.

Harry groans and spins around on his heel. Despite the irritation written all over his face, some part of Louis can’t help but think that he’s quite pretty. “Yes,” he snaps, one hopeful moment rising in Louis’ chest before it comes abruptly crashing down. “Leave me the fuck alone. I don’t need an alpha telling me what to do.”

The way Harry snarls out “alpha” has Louis taken aback, too stunned to do anything but stare after his retreating figure. Right. As much as Harry says he won’t let his grudge get between them, almost all of his actions have said otherwise. They’re going to have to work together as they prepare this merge and it’s going to be difficult to do that if the two of them can’t get along.

Unfortunately, Louis is sure that most of Harry’s dislike of him stems from the one thing he can’t control.

He’s an alpha.

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

“I don’t know what to do!”

Louis flops backwards onto his couch, arms splayed out uselessly as he complains to the ceiling. He’s so tired, back aching and what feels like a permanent crick in his neck shooting pain straight down his spine.

“He doesn’t want anything to do with me because I’m an alpha, but I can’t help that! I can literally feel the anger through the curt emails he sends me. We’re getting business done, but this is definitely the most uncomfortable acquisition I’ve ever had to go through.”

The ceiling snorts at him. “Sounds like you’re having fun.”

“Niall.”

“What?” The man in question pokes his head into Louis’ view, grinning widely. “You’re working with an omega who doesn’t act like it. Seems to me like he’s everything you’ve ever wanted.”

Clapping his hands over his face, Louis lets out a strangled groan. “I don’t want him, Niall, I just want to work with him in a way that doesn’t make me feel like I’m being despised at every corner. Can’t he just ignore the fact that I’m an alpha and get over it?”

Niall gives him a disbelieving look and disappears from view, right before a pillow is being slapped onto his face.

“Ow, stop that!” Louis curls away from the attack and bats his hands weakly in defense. “The fuck did I say?”

With one last slap, Niall vaults over the back of the couch and plops down at the other end. “I know you’re not that much of a knothead alpha to think that Harry, an omega, can just ignore your secondary gender. He has to be constantly aware of the people he’s working with because no doubt people have tried to take advantage of him before. You can’t blame him for that.”

Louis lets out a long sigh and peeks out at Niall from between his fingers. “I know… I just– don’t know how to handle it. I’m bad around omegas, you know that.”

“Your assistant is literally an omega,” Niall says dryly, prodding him in the leg. “And I know you two get along very well. There’s something else about Harry that sets you off, isn’t there?”

And the way he phrases it like a statement, not a question really digs in at him. “Chellie is different?” he offers weakly, much to Niall’s unimpressed expression. Louis groans and hides his face in his couch instead.

Harry is… feisty and independent and yeah, everything he could want in a potential mate. He’s more than just his secondary gender, something deeper shining through in the few moments where he let his guard down during their meeting. Louis’ inner alpha is practically salivating at the chance to tuck him into his arms, find out what his scent is really like.

Helpfully, Niall pats him on the back and says, “You’ll figure it out eventually. It’ll give me some entertainment at least.”

Without looking, Louis flips him off.

He needs a game plan of some sort. Regardless of what his dumb inner alpha might think, he really does want a better working relationship than whatever hot mess they have going on right now. They’ve got another meeting tomorrow at 8 am set up to discuss the requirements that Chase has set down, so Louis has… roughly 12 hours to figure something out.

Wonderful.

Between eating dinner and attempting to fall asleep, he figures he should buy Harry breakfast, to make up for last time. The egregiously early meeting time means Louis will have to be awake before 7 if he doesn’t want to be late. When his alarm goes off at 6:45, he immediately regrets it.

As he stumbles out the door, hair pulled into some sort of messy fringe, he messages Niall his plan, yawning the whole way. His friend responds with several enthusiastic thumbs ups and a good luck. Louis will probably need it.

To avoid any repeat of their last disaster, Louis stops by a different cafe across the street. Of course, he’s got no idea what Harry would like in terms of food, so he just orders whatever fall themed item they have along with the espresso he remembers from last time. He gets a tea for himself so it doesn’t seem like he made the trip just for Harry (even though he did) and steps out of the cafe with a drink carton in one hand and a paper bag in the other.

Chellie raises an eyebrow as Louis walks past her desk at 7:45, early for the meeting just as he had planned. “Is that extra drink for me?” she wheedles.

“Only if you don’t have any extra paperwork to give me,” Louis says back, carefully balancing everything as he unlocks his office. Her silence speaks volumes, even though he’d already known the answer.

“Well, that’s not fair. I pretty much always have paperwork to give you.”

“There you have it.” He sets down the cafe items to shuffle through the paperwork that Chellie gives him. It’s all forms and contracts that he’s going to need for the meeting, so he thanks her with a smile. “While I did need these, unfortunately, none of the food is for you anyways. I mainly got it for Harry.”

Louis steadily ignores Chellie’s oooooh and ensuing questions, continuing to prepare his file. He wants nothing to be out of place when he walks into that room, so everything can go as smoothly as possible. When he checks his watch, it’s 7:53.

“Ah, Chellie, you’re not going to get anything out of me,” he says, scooting past her with everything in hand. There’s just enough time to get things set up in the conference room before Harry arrives.

The omega huffs in annoyance, but leaves him alone, returning to her desk. Louis feels nervous almost. He sets out the drinks and food in a way that seems nonchalant, but also planned. He’s staring at the setup, hands on his hips when someone raps at the door.

It startles him enough that he trips over a chair as he steps backwards, arms windmilling to keep himself upright. He grabs onto the back of another chair and stabilizes himself, looking over to the glass door sheepishly.

Of course, it’s Harry on the other side, eyebrows raised. At least he looks amused, which is a welcome alternative to the scowl that’s usually present.

Louis waves awkwardly, the two of them staring at each other until Harry gestures at the door. Oh.

“Sorry about that,” he says, pulling it open and welcoming him in. “I forgot that the door was locked.”

Harry hums noncommittally, pausing before he takes a seat and staring at the coffee and bag on the table. He blinks, looks at Louis, then looks back at the food. Doesn’t say anything.

“That’s um… for you.” Louis leans forward on his toes and points at the coffee. “Cold brew uh– whatever you ordered last time.”

“Cold brew, double espresso,” the omega murmurs, reaching out to take a sip.

Louis nods so quickly, his neck smarts. Christ, he’s making a fool out of himself. “Please, sit.” He gestures towards the chair as he takes his own seat, jiggling the laptop mouse to turn it on. It feels like there’s ants crawling all over his stomach, tossing and turning with how badly he wants this to go well. Harry doesn’t seem to be taking it poorly, just shooting him looks even as he takes his own seat.

He still hasn’t said anything else.

Pulling up the checklist he’d made, Louis logs a few things on the laptop, one eye on Harry the entire time. The omega peeks into the bag and makes an excited noise, gently tearing it open and taking the pastry out.

“I hope you’re not allergic,” says Louis, pretending to only be half paying attention.

Harry shakes his head through his first bite, swallowing before responding. “No, I’m not. Almond croissants are one of my favorites.”

“That’s great! I mean–” he coughs in an effort to tamp down his enthusiasm. His inner alpha is preening, because an omega is enjoying food that he brought them. Cut it out, he thinks in irritation. “I’m glad you like it. I wasn’t sure what you preferred, so I just got whatever the barista recommended.”

With a shrug, Harry sets down the half-eaten pastry, wiping at his mouth with the napkin provided in the bag. “I’m not too picky.” He shoots Louis a mildly suspicious look. “Did you go out just to get this stuff for me?”

“Um, yeah, but I got myself something too.” He gestures towards his own tea perhaps a little too enthusiastically, almost tipping it over. “I thought I’d get you something for the early morning too.”

Harry stares at him.

Boy, Louis hopes he hasn’t made a giant mistake.

“Do you… like it?”

“I– yes, I do. Thank you, Louis.” Harry smiles tentatively, but genuinely. There’s a dimple showing in the corner of his cheek, and Louis has the desperate urge to lean over and poke it. He shoves his hands under his legs just in case.

“I’m glad,” he says, smiling back like a doofus, probably for far too long before he realizes that they should probably get started. “Right! Shall we?”

This time, the meeting flows with the same professional ease as last time, but it’s so much more comfortable because Louis doesn’t feel like he’s constantly being hated. Their conversation is slightly more laid-back, Harry actually snickering at some of his side comments and relaxing into his chair. Even when they discuss the more nitty gritty details, which he’d been worried about, it’s calm between them.

As they’re drawing to a close, Louis stares down at the list of things Harry wants for his company after the purchase, comparing it with the list of demands Chase had made. He knows that there’s going to be a lot that he won’t be able to compromise on, which steels his resolve to break the truth to Harry.

“I probably shouldn’t be telling you this,” Louis says, mentally grimacing at the verbal lashing he’d receive if Chase ever found out, “But I want you to know that once the purchase goes through, we’re planning on dissolving your company.”

It’s dangerously quiet for a few seconds while Harry stares at him and then–

“What?

“I know that’s not what we had discussed, but that’s what my superiors have been planning on the entire time.” He offers Harry a commiserating frown. “They like your spot and want to take it over to develop more residential areas. That’s their plan for the whole block, but your spot is the only one that’s run by a small business owner. Everything else is more commercial.”

With a huff of anger, Harry buries his face in his hands, scent taking on an almost burnt note, flaming wildflowers and smoky air. Subconsciously, Louis lets a little bit of his own scent leak out, easing the fiery tones until it’s something more palatable. “I’m really sorry,” he says, spreading his hands in an apology.

“It’s fine,” Harry sighs, taking a deep breath. “Well, really, it’s not fine, but I know that it’s sort of out of your control.”

“I’ve been doing my best to try and get them to simply relocate or do anything to preserve your company, but they’ve been refusing. They simply don’t see it as a wise investment of money.”

“With a big company like yours, I’m not surprised,” says Harry, rolling his eyes dramatically.

Louis furrows his brows and leans onto the table a little more. “Then why did you agree to do business with us?”

Harry shrugs, starting to pack up his stuff. “Seemed convenient. I’ve got a consultation to run to, so I’m afraid I have to go. Email me whenever you want to schedule the next meeting so I can sign all the stuff.”

His brusqueness startles Louis, considering they had been getting along, but he nods and stands up, getting the door for the omega. Clearly something about his question had rubbed Harry the wrong way.

“I’ll talk to Chase and see what I can convince him to do about the purchase,” Louis says, walking Harry to the elevator. “I really am sorry about that.”

After he’s pressed the call button, Harry turns to look him in the eye, tipping his head to the side. “You do apologize a lot for an alpha.”

“I just feel bad because there are bad things happening to you. And really, it has nothing to do with me compensating for the fact that I’m an alpha and more that I'm just trying to do the right thing.” The fact that Harry keeps mentioning that he’s an alpha rankles him a bit, but it’s understandable. He just hopes that the omega can look past that fact.

The elevator dings and the doors slide open, Louis’ heart dropping slightly at the noise. He’d really like to have more time with Harry, who’s stepping inside. Just before the doors close, Harry says, “I appreciate it, you know. More than I say, which I apologize for. You’re a good guy, Louis, alpha and otherwise.” With a peace sign, he disappears from view.

Louis’ inner alpha twists and he heaves a deep breath in, wisps of Harry’s leftover scent lingering in the air. Chellie comes up behind him and taps his shoulder, startling out of his reverie. There’s a sympathetic look on her face that tells him exactly how pathetic he must seem.

Fuck. He’s in way too deep.

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

Over the next few days, Louis finds himself bumping into Harry almost every day. If they don’t have a meeting set up, he sees him out on the street or at the corner store. Honestly, he wonders how he’s never ran into the omega before. Maybe he just hasn’t noticed, but he figures that Harry would have caught his eye somehow.

Louis finds himself becoming increasingly attracted to Harry, staring a beat too long at the emerald green of his eyes, the gentle curve of his body. His inner alpha craves to dip his head in, lick from his neck up to his ear, pull apart every . And while the rational part of his brain stops him from doing that, he is still mildly interested to know what Harry’s scent is like. He wonders if his own, woodsy, campfire-esque scent would blend well with Harry’s.

Since his first food offering had gone so well, Louis continues to bring food to all of their meetings, as they grow increasingly in length. He will often buy one coffee at the beginning and have to ask Chellie to run out and grab another, hours later to keep them going. The tensions between them have all but disappeared, Harry kicking his feet up or even laying on the ground as they hash out details.

(“The ground is dirty, Harold!”

“Harold?? That’s not my name, Lou. I mean–”

“I don’t mind, some of my friends call me that.”

“Then you can call me Harold.”)

What really scares Louis is that Harry’s personality is shining through now, and it’s beautiful. Now that Harry isn’t trying to verbally assault him, he’s genuine yet cheeky, dry sense of humor popping up every once in a while. There’s an amused twinkle in his eyes every time he contradicts Louis, dimple popping out.

It’s derailed several of Louis’ sentences and at this point, he’s sure that Harry knows. He has no idea why he’s reacting so strongly to this omega in particular, not does he know what on Earth he should do about it. All of his texts to Niall have resulted in the other sending a multitude of laughing emojis back and absolutely no advice. He’s not desperate enough to ask anyone else for advice yet, although Chellie has not-so-subtly been pushing hints his way.

One of these not so subtle hints comes at the tail end of one particularly long and tiring day, just as they’re starting to pack up.

Chellie pokes her head in, tapping at her watch. “It’s pretty late,” she says, looking first at Harry then, to Louis meaningfully. “I’m gonna go grab food from Joe’s Pizza around the corner, do you guys want to come?”

Louis shrugs, stacking his papers and laptop together, and tips his head towards Harry. “I’m down if Harold wants to come along.”

“My name is Harry, Lou,” the omega says with a roll of his eyes. There’s no actual malice behind it, now that they’ve properly exchanged nicknames. It makes them feel more like friends. “And sure, I’ll go. Been starving for ages.”

With a hum of agreement, he heads back to his office to drop his things off, shoving his laptop into his satchel and yanking on his jacket. A glance out the window reveals dark, angry looking clouds, so he grabs his umbrella too. Harry groans when he walks out with it, leaning to the side to peer outside.

“Is it really going to rain?” he asks.

“Looks like it,” Louis says, gesturing for him to lead the way to the elevator. “Grabbed the umbrella as a precaution anyways.”

As they wait for the elevator to arrive, Harry looks down at his white blouse with a sigh. “And I had such a good outfit on today too.” Privately, Louis agrees. His outfits are always impeccable and exude a level of elegance that would look silly on anyone else.

Just as the elevator dings, Chellie groans from behind them, both of them spinning around to see her frowning down at her phone.

“What is it?” Louis asks.

“I’ve just got a message from Chase. He wants me to send him a report right now.” She wrinkles her nose, but strangely enough, shoots him a wink. “I’ve got to go take care of this, but you guys can go ahead. I’ll catch up later.”

Oh, Louis knows exactly what she’s doing. He’s very aware that Chase is always off during these hours, spending time with his wife, and that there’s no reports to be sending anyways. Chellie is definitely setting him and Harry up. He’s torn between thanking her and dragging her along.

Narrowing his eyes, Louis feigns a disappointed sigh. He might as well play along. “I’m sorry to hear that. Feel free to join us whenever you’re done.”

Harry echoes the sentiment, sounding genuine as ever.

Chellie waves them off into the elevator, throwing one last wink to Louis as the doors close (he flips her off discreetly), and then, it’s just the two of them together.

Harry doesn’t seem bothered at all, leaning casually against the wall and scrolling through his phone. Louis wishes he could harness that energy for himself. It feels so strange to be hanging out with an omega, for things that aren’t related to work. He’d been more familiar with such things during his college years, but he’s terribly out of practice now.

Does he make small talk or wait for Harry to initiate the conversation? Should he let Harry walk ahead or behind or–

“Are you gonna get out of the elevator?”

Harry is standing in the doorway, stopping it from closing with an amused expression on his face. Hastily, Louis stumbles out. “Yeah, sorry. Just lost in thought.”

“I can tell,” the omega says, walking beside him, long stride taking him somewhat by surprise. He’s got to hurry just a little to keep up. “What’s going on?”

Instinctively, Louis opens his mouth to answer, but he realizes that he can’t exactly say oh, I was thinking about how I don’t know how to act around you because you make me very nervous and I’d kind of like to date you. Shit. “Nothing much,” he says instead, hastily making something up. “Stressed about the merger stuff.”

“Ah, well, we can work on that together.” Harry grins and bumps him gently. “Your stress is my stress, after all. And really, it’s my company that’s getting dissolved into yours, so shouldn’t I be the one that’s worried?”

Louis jogs forward to get the door for him with a quick dip of his head. “Are you not?” he asks, letting the door slip shut behind them as they step outside into the chilly fall air. Harry, he notes, rubs at his arms when a gust of wind blows down the street.

With a shrug, Harry says, “Not particularly. I mean, I’m stressed about being more or less unemployed after this, but I’ve kind of accepted that my business is out of my hands now. Nothing more I can do about it.”

Something about that pings Louis’ gut, but they’re already at Nando’s, so he pushes it to the back of his mind and instead mulls over what he wants for dinner.

“I haven’t been to an actual pizza place in ages,” Louis says.

Harry shoots him a look of disbelief and gasps. “You haven’t been to a pizza place recently? But Joe’s so close to where you work!”

“Well, for one, by the time I get out of work, Joe’s is usually closed, and two, my friend Niall has gotten me pizza a few times, so I have eaten it. Just haven’t set foot in a physical location in a while.” Shrugging, Louis turns his attention to the menu, mulling over his choices. He normally gets a meat lovers slice, but perhaps he’ll switch it up today.

Clearly, though, Harry isn’t letting this slide, not moving up to take a spot in line. “What time do you get off of work?!”

“Uh…” he tries to average together all of the late nights he’s pulled, and comes up with, “Maybe 10:30?”

He’s really never considered how bad it sounds until he says it out loud, winces, and then, sees Harry’s befuddled expression, half a second before the omega says, much too loudly, “Ten fucking thirty?!”

“Shh, shh, just– go order,” Louis says, pushing him towards the register with the eyes of everyone else in Joe’s on them. “We can talk about this when we’ve sat down.”

Grumbling, Harry trudges up to the register and gives his order while Louis casts one last look at the menu, settling on a slice of Hawaiian. Might as well switch it up. He steps forward to interject his order before Harry can pay and hands over his own credit card.

The omega opens his mouth to argue, fire in his eyes, but Louis places a hand over his gently. “I’ve got this.”

Harry stares him down a little longer, the cashier looking on awkwardly, but breaks away with a huff to find a table. Louis gives the cashier an apologetic smile and takes their plastic order number. With a quick look around, he finds Harry tucked away in a back corner, staring out the window to the stormy night.

“Right, so we’re talking about this,” Harry says as soon as he’s slipped into the stool across the table. “Why the hell are you staying at work until ungodly hours?”

“Give a guy time to breathe, will you?” Louis teases, folding his receipt into several smaller squares as a procrastination technique. This is entirely a conversation meant for good friends, which Harry is… not there yet, but he could be. Regardless, the deeper reasons dig into some of his personal insecurities that he’s not quite ready to talk about with him yet.

Somehow, Harry seems to sense that he needs a second to formulate an answer, probably through the uncertainty that’s lingering in his scent. Or maybe the omega is really good at reading facial expressions.

“Part of it is that I don’t like bringing work home – although it usually ends up bleeding over anyways – and the other part of it is… I dunno. I just don’t feel a massive urge to go home.” He fidgets with a napkin now, staring down at the table to avoid whatever might be in the other’s gaze. “Obviously, I live alone and it’s quite empty at times, unless I have family over.”

Harry interrupts with an interested hum, Louis looking up for the first time. His eyes are bright and there’s a shadow of a dimple in his cheek. “You’ve got a big family?”

“I do. Six siblings, all younger than me. It gets chaotic when they all visit, but I have the room to host them all, so I don’t mind.”

“Oh, wow,” murmurs Harry, sounding almost reverent. “I only have one older sister, so I can’t even imagine what that’s like. Do you, uh–” he ducks his head “–do you want your own family like that one day?”

Now that’s a question that Louis definitely hadn’t expected to hear. They hadn’t set up an expectation of a date coming into this, but this is increasingly feeling more and more like a date. “I– uh… I think so, yeah. Just a matter of finding the right person, which is proving rather difficult.” He winces. Probably shouldn’t have said that.

Thankfully, Harry doesn’t seem to be bothered by it, only tipping his head to the side curiously. Louis really wishes he wouldn’t do that; it draws far too much of his attention to the smooth line of his neck.

“Why is that?”

He’d been so distracted that he has to ask for Harry to repeat himself, embarrassingly so.

“Why is finding a girlfriend – or partner, sorry – so difficult for you? I mean, clearly, it must not be because of your looks,” Harry says, gesturing towards Louis’ body.

He flushes deeply, his inner alpha preening at the praise. “I mean, obviously, my work schedule makes it hard to see anyone besides Niall on a regular basis. Not exactly conducive to finding a boyfriend.” After a second’s hesitation, Louis adds on, “And it’s just boyfriends. Gay as a maypole, me.”

Harry lets out a bark of laughter just as the waiter comes by with both of their orders, clapping his hand over his mouth. Louis has to shove down his giggles and tell the waiter whose plate is whose, because Harry is clearly incapacitated. As soon as they walk away, both of them burst into peals of laughter, Louis putting one hand on his stomach, leaning back in his chair.

With a groan, the omega scrubs at his face and shoves a fry into his mouth. “Let’s pretend that never happened, okay?”

Louis nods in agreement, taking a bite of his pizza. For a few minutes, it’s quiet between them save for the sounds of delight that they make every so often. His phone pings with a text from Chellie that simply reads ‘hope you’re having fun!’

Bastard.

He is having fun, though, grinning every time their feet bump together or when they make eye contact. Harry looks so relaxed here, tearing pieces of chicken to eat and even offering one to him. As much as he hates it, he might have to send a thank you bouquet to Chellie’s desk.

Half of his pizza put away, he asks Harry a casual question of his own (“What’s your favorite movie?” “Really Louis?”) and from there, conversation just flows. They trade favorites, names of friends, childhood memories, everything that feels like first date material. Louis learns that Harry’s favorite movie is regrettably Love, Actually, he’s got one best mate named Liam, and that he used to work in a bakery as a teenager.

“That’s where my love of small businesses came from,” Harry says, dipping a fry into ketchup. The way he eats is positively obscene, and Louis has to actively focus on the conversation at hand. “I saw how happy Barbara was running her bakery, even though it was long hours, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do. And now, here I am.”

“That’s very admirable.” Louis rests his head on one hand, prodding at the leftover crust of his pizza. “So, then… why are you selling? If you love it so much, why don’t you just keep at it?”

For some reason, Harry flushes, smiling somewhat bashfully. “I, uh… I don’t have very many employees, so I’m doing a lot of the work myself. And while I could expand, it’s just a lot of time that I don’t have right now because I have so few employees and–” he breaks off into a sigh, forcefully shoving a fry into his mouth and shrugging with his hands. “Cycle of hate.”

Louis can see how that could be problematic, drawing lines of similarity between their situations, but before he can respond with something to commiserate with Harry, he keeps going.

“I also… want to start a family,” he blurts out, swallowing nervously as Louis stares at him. “Obviously, spending really long hours trying to manage my business isn’t really conducive to finding someone, as you know.”

Yeah, he does know, but he’s still stuck on the part where Harry wants a family. Harry, the lovely, attractive omega, wants to start a family. His alpha is screeching at him. Louis shoves that instinct deep down and instead, nods sympathetically. “We’re in quite similar situations, aren’t we?”

Harry chuckles. “We are. Giving up something we want for the sake of our careers. Maybe this is a sign that you should back off, like me.”

“Maybe.” Privately, there’s a hint of an idea forming, but that’s something to worry about later. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees an employee loitering around with a broom. “We should probably go, seems like they’re about to close.”

Louis slides out of his seat, tucking his umbrella under his arm, and takes his tray to the trash can. Harry comes up on his other side and after they’ve cleared their trays, they step out under the awning. Rain is pelting down, already dampening the bottom of Louis’ pants.

“This is gross,” Harry groans, tucking both hands into his armpits and shivering slightly. “I’m gonna catch a cold walking to the subway stop.”

Without a second’s hesitation, Louis shoves his umbrella between his legs, swings his bag off, passes it to Harry who takes it with slight befuddlement, and slips off his jacket. “Here–” he swaps items “–take my jacket. I’ll walk with you to the stop so you don’t get wet.”

Harry stares down at the jacket and in the dim lighting, Louis can see the omega inhale sharply. Far too late, he realizes that it’s probably covered in his own scent, but he can’t take it back now – nor does he really want to.

“Hurry up, I don’t feel like catching a cold either,” he says, curling one arm around his sweater as he unbuckles the umbrella. Harry finally yanks on the jacket, discreetly breathing in when he thinks Louis isn’t looking – he definitely is. Seeing the omega in his clothing is doing something

“Okay, I’m ready.”

“Right.” Slightly awkwardly, Louis links his right arm around Harry’s, tucking the omega into his side. It’s everything he’s ever wanted, but in a situation that’s less than ideal. When he breathes in, he can just barely get a hint of Harry’s scent, muddled by the rain, but saturated with something deeper. “Let’s go.”

Together, they step out from the awning, huddled under the umbrella that Louis raises above their heads. It’s a little awkward because they definitely don’t both fit underneath, and Louis is just a tad shorter than Harry, who has to duck slightly. He can hear Harry snort and mumble something about their heights, for which he pulls away the umbrella, just so the other lad gets a spray of rain.

“I resent that,” says Louis, repositioning the umbrella over Harry’s now damp curls. “I’m almost as tall as you are.”

“Sure. Emphasis on the almost.”

“Oi!”

With a minimal amount of splashing and poking fun, they maneuver their way to the subway entrance, only one almost disastrous moment where Harry trips over his own legs and nearly takes the both of them down. Really, Louis isn’t certain they’re any drier standing under the subway entrance than they would have been if they had just ran without the umbrella.

“You’re a massive klutz,” he grumbles, shaking off his umbrella. “Remind me to never walk near you again.”

Harry sighs down at his boots forlornly, wincing when they make squishing noises as he shifts from side to side. “I would love to say that my clumsiness is singularly due to the fact that it’s pouring rain outside, but it’s definitely not. Sometimes, I just forget how long my legs are.”

Since he’s drawn attention to them, Louis lets his gaze linger on the strong muscles that he can see through the damp dress pants that cling to Harry’s legs. He doesn’t often feel much strong physical attraction to anyone, but Harry continues to make him feel things that he’s never really felt before. A soft cough brings Louis’ focus right back up, to see that the omega is shivering ever so slightly still.

“Let’s get you home before you freeze to death,” he says, offering out his arm again.

“Thank you.” Harry moves to take his arm, but Louis swiftly moves to wrap it around his waist instead, so that their bodies are pressed up against each other. While not the most comfortable position, it has the double benefit of giving more heat to Harry and bringing them closer together.

A little too late, after Harry has stiffened underneath his touch, Louis asks, “Uh, is this alright? You just seemed really cold and I wanted to help, but if it makes you uncomfortable–”

“Louis. This is fine.” The adorable dimples are making a reappearance and Louis loves it. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

Carefully, they walk down the stairs to the subway and wait for the next southbound train, as Harry lives closer to West Village. Louis fibs and says he lives that way too, even though he lives in the Upper West Side, just a little north. There’s no way he’s letting Harry go home alone.

Thankfully, they’re only standing there for a minute in trembling cold before the rumble of an approaching train can be heard down the tunnel. As it pulls up, Louis notes that it’s fairly empty for 10 pm at night, just a few people in each car. The doors slide open and they enter a car that’s got just one other alpha huddled in a corner. Harry leads the way and picks a seat on the opposite corner, throwing a cautious glance at the other occupant.

Louis sits next to Harry and uses his body to partially shield him from view of the other alpha, who’s definitely peering over in interest. Protectively, he slings an arm across Harry’s shoulders, tipping his head in closer. He’s acting on pure instinct, the desire to make his omega feel safe.

Wait. His omega?

“Thank you,” Harry whispers, interrupting Louis’ internal meltdown before it can even start. “I only live a few stops down, so hopefully, we can get out of here as soon as possible.” He keeps glancing over at the alpha with increasingly worried looks, scent rapidly changing to the deep heaviness right before a rainstorm.

Inner alpha scrambling to make it right, Louis lets his own scent leak out just a bit, as calm as can be.

Harry inhales deeply and relaxes, leaning into Louis’ shoulder and tucking his head into Louis’ neck. His heart rate settles a bit more and both of them lean back into the chair.

Louis can hardly breathe for the chance of ruining the moment, having his omega (and yeah, he’s pretty much accepted it now) close like this. He barely notices the train stopping and taking on someone else, which thankfully stops the creepy alpha’s advances. Harry gives no sign of moving though, remaining quite still where he’s tucked into Louis’ side. It would be lovely to let him stay like this forever, but Louis has no idea what stop they’re supposed to be getting off of.

“Harry. Harold.” He gently shakes the omega, who’s gone worryingly still and limp. “Harry. Can you hear me?” Still nothing.

Off of some impulse, Louis leans in and scents a line right up his neck, nose pressed gently to soft skin. It’s all wildflowers on a bright spring day, sunny and calm in a way that he can’t describe in words. He nips gently right at the junction of Harry’s neck to soothe the desire he has to mark skin, and the omega jolts. Carefully, Louis pulse back, aware that he’s pushed the boundaries of their friendship a lot but cautious of Harry’s previous unresponsive state.

Eyes still a little foggy, Harry shakes his head, pulling back so he has room to breathe. “Sorry about that. Not really sure what happened there.”

Louis can see how unsteady Harry still is, hands trembling slightly, and he’s filled with the urge to tuck him back in, scent him until everything is alright again. But this is not the place nor the time, and right now, he just needs to get Harry home safe.

“Harry, what stop do we need to get off at?”

“Um…” He looks up at the signs just as the train is starting to slow. “This one, actually. Perfect timing.”

“Right.” Louis gathers his bag which had slipped down to his feet and Harry’s bag, slinging them both onto his shoulder before Harry can even protest. The omega doesn’t even seem like he notices, just holding onto the pole as the train comes to a complete stop. “C’mon, Harold, let’s get you home.”

He waits until Harry has stepped out of the car before flipping a middle finger to the creepy alpha on his own way out. Good riddance.

It doesn’t feel right to leave Harry without physical contact, so Louis settles for lacing their hands together. Harry looks at their joined hands curiously, but doesn’t say anything, just gently squeezing in response. He guides them out of the subway and down the streets in silence, just the sounds of New York nightlife filling the gaps between them.

Louis has never felt so desperately protective over anyone in his life, even his family. He keeps his awareness on high for anyone suspicious around them, regardless of how nice of an area he knows they’re in. Clearly, Harry’s got plenty of money if he can afford to live here. It just affirms the fact that he’s worked very hard to get to the position he’s in now, something that Louis continues to admire.

Finally, Harry stops right outside a neat brick building, a little door tucked to one side with a row of buttons next to it. “This is me,” he says, pointing to one of the buttons labeled ‘HARRY STYLES - UNIT 4C’.

“Nice place.” Louis scans the well-lit street, surprised by the lack of overall griminess that he’s used to with New York living. “I’ve never really been to West Village before, but it’s quite lovely.”

“Better be, with how much I pay for this place. It should be highway robbery, how much they charge, especially the premium for this being an omega-only building.” Harry rolls his eyes. “Where do you live? I’m assuming somewhere infinitely nicer with your paycheck.” He rubs his fingers together in mockery, which Louis slaps away.

“Hush, you.” Scratching at the back of his neck sheepishly, Louis jerks a thumb over his shoulder. “I uh… live in the Upper West Side.”

Harry blinks. “I’m sorry. You live in the Upper West Side?!” Louis nods. “You said you lived in my direction!”

“I might have lied a little bit, but I wanted to see you home safely.”

Harry opens his mouth to retaliate, but snaps it shut with a look of contemplation. It’s a little awkward because Louis doesn’t know if he’s happy or upset or if he should leave. “Is it… alright that I did that?”

“Yes. I think. Sorry, my thoughts are a little foggy right now.” Shaking his head, he leans up against the brick wall. “Your scent is… it was a lot. Did you know you smell like vanilla? It’s really nice.”

Nobody has ever complimented his scent, because it’s plain and boring vanilla, the smell of a thousand other alphas out there. The fact that Harry’s called it nice is startling to say the least, not to mention that people usually don’t just randomly mention someone’s scent. “I do know that I smell like vanilla, thanks for the compliment.” He hesitates for a second before deciding fuck it. “You smell like wildflowers and springtime. It’s not too strong, but I really like that.” I really like you goes unsaid.

“Thank you,” Harry says quietly, looking at him with wide eyes. “A lot of alphas say my scent isn’t sweet enough, but–”

“No,” Louis interrupts, a bit too loud for the late hour as it echoes across the street. “I like it just the way it is.”

They stare at each other in the street light for a minute or two or maybe more, because Louis has lost pretty much all track of time. Being around Harry turns his whole world upside down, slows down the clock until every second feels like forever. A car honking in the distance jolts them both out of the weird reverie that they had been in.

“Sorry, sorry.” Louis scrubs at his forehead, blinking furiously to refocus his thoughts. Somehow, he’s much closer to the omega now, the two of them standing almost toe to toe. “I’ll let you go up now.”

Harry stares at him for a beat longer, then steps away from the wall so that they’re chest to chest, breathing in each other’s air. God, he’s so intoxicating, and Louis could just lean in and kiss him right now. It would take just a tiny lean forwards, heart racing as his eyes flicker down to Harry’s lips and then back to his eyes. The air is all heavy wildflowers around them. How could anyone think that this omega’s scent is anything other than perfect?

Suddenly, Harry breaks the trance by tearing himself away, backing towards the apartment entrance. “I uh– I have to go.” He looks down and starts taking off Louis’ jacket with haste. “You can have this back now.”

“Harry.” Louis’ voice stops the omega in his tracks, freezing with the jacket halfway off one arm. He’s now more sure than ever that Harry feels something for him, but he can’t approach the topic now. “You can keep the jacket. It looks good on you.”

“Okay. I’ll um. See you soon?” Harry shrugs the jacket back on fully and takes one more step back. His flowery scent is strangely still as potent as ever even though Harry looks incredibly nervous.

“Yeah. Have a good night.”

Louis watches him go with no lack of longing, standing there far after Harry disappears behind the door. New York nightlife is noisy in the distance, sounding alongside the thudding of his heart as he makes his way home.

And by the time he’s taking off his shoes in the doorway of his apartment, he’s made a game plan.

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

“Glad to see you’re finally growing the balls to do something about your massive crush,” Niall snickers, snacking on some chips at Louis’ kitchen island.

With a sigh, Louis smacks him with a towel before going back to staring at the cookies currently baking inside of the oven. “If I wanted you to bully me, I would have just texted you my plan instead of calling you over. Besides, don’t you want one of these cookies? They’re not free, you know. They come at the cost of advice.”

Grumbling through a mouthful of food, Niall takes a swig of water, and then, places both hands on the island. “Right. So, what I’m hearing is that you’ve been courting young Harold for a while now–”

“I’ve not been courting him!”

Niall shoots him a disbelieving look. “You’ve brought him breakfast, paid for his dinner–” he’s ticking the items off on his fingers “– commented on his scent, gave him your jacket, protected him from another alpha. Need I go on?”

Well, when he puts it like that. “Um. In my defense, the other alpha was incredibly creepy and strange?” Louis says sheepishly, shoulders dropping. “Okay, so maybe I’ve been courting him. Does he know that I’ve been doing that?”

“If he’s got half the brains you’ve said he has, then probably. You’re just a little dense,” Niall teases, earning him a fierce glare.

“Do you want cookies or not?”

As Niall rolls his eyes to the high heavens, the oven timer beeps coincidentally. Louis yanks on oven mitts and pulls out the chocolate chip cookies, browned to perfection. “Oh, yes, they look great,” he says to himself, setting the tray down on a trivet.

“Smells great too.” Niall leans over to get a better look, humming happily. “Quite a stark difference from the normal burnt aroma that happens when you try to cook anything.”

For that, Louis has no response because it’s entirely true. “Anyways! Back to my plan. Once these cool, I’ll head over to his apartment and ask him on a formal date. Hopefully, he says yes, and if he doesn’t, I’ll go and drown my sorrows at a bar. It’s Saturday anyways, I don’t have anywhere to be tomorrow.”

“It’s not gonna go poorly,” Niall reassures, trying to sneak a hand out to grab a cookie. Louis slaps it away. “Rude. Anyways, you’re a catch of an alpha. If he turns you down, that’s on him and not you. From what you’ve described to me anyways, he seems just as smitten with you as you are with him.”

Louis huffs in a mix of frustration and nerves, anxiety sparking inside his gut. “I would be inclined to agree, but the way things ended last night… he seemed eager to get away from me.”

Niall half-yells and runs to throw himself at the living room couch, flopping down on it face first. He screams some more into the cushions while Louis watches in mild confusion from the kitchen, fanning the cookies with another tray. Clearly he must be missing something obvious from Niall’s reaction.

Rolling over, the beta says to the ceiling, “Just talk to the man, Jesus Christ. There’s all these what-ifs rolling around in your head, and it could all be solved if you just talked to him.”

“I–” Louis sighs and stops cooling the cookies. “You’re right. I’m just very nervous. You know how much experience I have with these things. I’m worried that I’ll fuck it all up. Nobody has ever made me feel the way Harry does and it scares me.” He chews his lip, hands trembling slightly. Hands on his shoulders startle him slightly right before Niall’s gentle scent floats through his senses.

As a beta, his scent is hardly anything more than something cool and relaxing, but it does wonders for settling the shake in his hands. Louis breathes in and out deeply, eyes closed, until he feels okay again.

“Thanks, Ni,” he says, reaching up with one hand to squeeze his friend’s arm.

“You’re welcome.” And of course, Niall reaches around to snag a cookie and dance out of arm’s reach before Louis can retaliate. Not that he would anyways, Niall deserves it for being such a reliable friend. “Lemme ask you something. You’ve done all of these courting things with Harry already. How did you know to do them?”

“How did I… what?”

“Just think about it. What drove you to do those things?”

Louis sighs and mulls it over as Niall chows down. That very first time he brought Harry breakfast, he’d felt compelled to do so because he had wanted to make up for the coffee incident. But after that, it was just pure instinct that drove him to care so deeply for Harry, and he tells Niall as much.

Niall snaps his fingers, pointing at him. “Exactly. Your instincts will guide you in the right direction, you just have to trust them. And what do they say now?”

“That I should go see him.” It’s the undeniable truth, there’s been a constant pull in the base of his gut to go back. “I just, I dunno, I feel like something is wrong.”

“You can sense his emotions?” Niall sounds shocked, eyes wide as he leans forward in interest.

Shaking his head, Louis prods one of the cookies. They’re just warm enough to take off the tray and into a container for transport. “No, not really.” That’s a thing for mates and they both know it. “More like my alpha thinks something is wrong with the way I left things yesterday and wants me to go back to fix it.”

“Well, there’s your answer to pretty much all your questions. Regardless of how things go – and I maintain that they won’t end poorly – you have to see him.”

That’s pretty much the crux of it, yeah. Louis nods and grabs a disposable container to load the cookies in, leaving a few for himself and Niall later. He’s already dressed to impress, having spent an embarrassing amount of time earlier standing in the mirror as he went through his whole closet trying to find something suitable. Niall had helped him settle on a casual combo of a sports polo and black skinnies, ever present casual vans on his feet.

Right before he leaves, cookies in hand, he stops in the doorway and turns to Niall. “Do I look okay?”

The beta gives him a double thumbs up, mouth full of more chocolate chip cookie which he hastily swallows. “Fantastic,” he says, albeit a bit muffled. “I do have one thing, though.”

Louis panics for a moment, looking down at himself to see if there’s anything out of place. He could have sworn that everything was okay last he checked. “What is it? Is my hair okay?” He leans over to check his hair in his reflection in the refrigerator just to double check. His fringe looks alright.

“No, no, your hair is fine,” Niall says casually. “I’m more wondering if you’re going to tell Harry that those actually aren’t homemade and that you bought the dough from the grocery store.”

“You– Fuck off.” Louis flips him off as he steps out of the apartment. He had totally been prepared to lie to Harry and say they were completely homemade, but maybe he should just be honest.

He mulls this over on the subway ride to Harry’s apartment, drumming his fingers across the container lid. A million ways this conversation could turn out spin through his head, even as he takes deep, calming breaths. Regardless of how it goes, Louis reminds himself that he’ll be alright, that being rejected is simply a part of life. Something tells him that he won’t have to worry about that though.

His nerves only increase as he gets off the subway and during the short walk to Harry’s apartment. The area is even nicer during the daytime, people bustling up and down the street on the sunny day. Too soon, Louis finds himself in front of a familiar brick building, hesitating by the panel of buttons. It takes an immense amount of strength just to raise his arm and hover his finger by Harry’s button.

Ring it, his alpha says, go on, ring it now.

He’s filled with enough indecision that he ends up standing by the button for at least a minute, until a car passing by on the street honks and startles him enough that he accidentally jams his finger into the button. “Oh shit,” he says, as the speaker next to him buzzes loudly. “Shit.” Well, Louis is committed now.

A few nerve wracking seconds pass until Harry’s voice comes crackling through. “Hello?”

“Um. Hi, Harry. It’s Louis.” He subtly coughs into his hand to clear the hoarseness from his throat. “Can I come up?”

“Louis?” Harry sounds confused, which only serves to spike his own nerves. “Yeah, come on up. I’m the third door on the left on my floor.”

The door audibly unlocks as the speaker disconnects, leaving Louis stunned before he realizes he should probably open the door before he’s stuck outside. He takes the stairs two at a time, pausing to catch his breath outside of Harry’s apartment. Right as he raises his hand to knock, the door swings open.

“Did you run all the way up here? That excited to see me?” Harry jokes.

Louis opens his mouth to answer, still panting slightly, but the words get stuck, somewhere around the point where his brain realizes that Harry is wearing joggers. Casual t-shirt and joggers. God, he looks so cuddly.

“Louis?”

He snaps his attention back up from Harry’s dick and smiles sheepishly. “Sorry. I did kinda rush up here,” Louis says, stumbling over his words slightly. Something about seeing Harry like this, combined with the omega’s unusually potent scent is completely wrecking his brain.

“Uh huh. I can tell.” Harry coughs slightly to hide his smile and gestures him inside. “Come in.”

Louis steps inside with a dip of his head, toeing his shoes off in the neat pile by the door before taking a look around. It's a one bedroom apartment, small kitchen right off to the side of the entryway that opens right into the living room. He can see the bathroom door ajar to his left and another closed door next to the TV that must lead to Harry’s bedroom. Everything is decorated in warm tones and cozy accessories, a plush blanket draped across the couch, random gadgets strewn across the kitchen countertop. He can see Harry’s influence in every single corner, along with his wildflower scent spread across every nook and cranny.

It’s such a stark contrast to his own apartment that he can’t help but just stare and take it in. Louis hadn’t known that he had wanted something like this until he stepped foot into Harry’s apartment. But now, he never wants to leave.

“I love your place,” he says, turning to look at Harry behind him. The omega seems concerned, lines creasing his forehead, until he hears Louis’ compliment.

Then, Harry visibly lights up. “Thank you! I worked really hard to make it as homely as possible.” Harry moves into the kitchen and opens a cabinet, pulling out two mugs. “Coffee? Tea?”

Louis sets his container down on the island and moves closer to peer at his options. “I’m more of a tea drinker, me. Whatever you have will suffice.”

Harry hums and reaches up to pull out a green tea bag and an instant coffee packet, dropping both into their own mugs before flicking the hot water kettle on. “You drink tea?” he asks, leaning against the counter. “You’ve always brought coffee to our meetings.”

“I uh… accidentally got coffee the first time, and then, I guess I just kept ordering it out of some weird habit.” Louis shrugs. “But yeah, I’m more of a tea drinker, me.”

Huffing in amusement, Harry shakes his head, tracing one finger around the rim of his mug. “You’re a very interesting man, Louis Tomlinson.”

Not sure if that’s an insult or a compliment, Louis doesn’t say anything, hovering in awkward silence. He’s not sure if he wants to broach the topic of why he came yet, but Harry is watching him carefully. His gaze seems to pierce straight through, like he knows exactly why Louis is here. The air is so, so heavy between them, and Louis finds himself edging closer and closer.

“So, um–”

Louis is interrupted by the kettle beeping, swallowing the rest of his words hastily. Harry looks like he wants him to continue, but turns away to pour the hot water into their mugs. “Do you want milk or sugar? Milk is in the fridge, sugar is in the cabinet next to it.” He waves his hand in the general direction as he stirs his coffee.

“I like a bit of both,” Louis says, pulling open both doors to search for the milk. “Do you want creamer for your coffee? I see both hazelnut and french vanilla.”

“French vanilla, please. Hazelnut is for my best mate when he comes over to talk business.”

Grabbing both, he bumps the doors closed with his hips and sets the bottles on the counter before searching for the sugar. Clearly, Louis must be blind, though, because he stands in front of an open cabinet for a minute, completely lost. “Uh, Harold, where is–”

The omega comes up right behind him and reaches over his shoulder to pull a small ceramic container out. “Sorry, should have told you that I put it in this thing,” Harry says, pulling away to grab a spoon. Louis swallows heavily to control the visceral reaction he had to his omega pressed up against him, potent scent filling his senses.

He stuffs down his inner alpha and cracks open the milk, pouring a little bit in and stirring with the spoon that Harry places in his mug. Dash of sugar, and then his tea is complete, steaming hot and perfect. “Ahhhh,” he says, taking a small sip. “That’s perfect, thank you.”

“No problem,” Harry answers, smiling into his own cup of coffee. “Couch?”

Louis nods, but before either of them leave the kitchen, he points out his container. “I brought chocolate chip cookies, by the way. Made them myself just before I came over, so they should still be warm.”

“Oooh!” Harry sets down his mug and reaches for the cookie container, popping off the lid eagerly. “They are warm!” He takes one bite and almost moans in delight, the noise sounding partially pornographic. “These are fantastic, Lou, thank you.”

His words are muffled by the cookie, and it makes Louis so happy to see that Harry is enjoying something that he made himself – even if it was store bought. “I’m glad you like them,” says Louis, taking a cookie for himself. Ooh, they are delightfully warm.

After Harry grabs another cookie, they make their way to the living room couch, which is surprisingly comfy for its old, lived in state. “I thrifted it a while ago,” Harry explains, patting the cushion. “One of the best purchases I’ve ever made when I first came to New York. I’ve spent many a night on this couch.”

“It’s very cozy; in fact, your whole apartment is cozy. I’m almost envious.” Louis sighs and looks around, tipping his head at the painting on the wall that looks like an elephant but drawn out of dicks. Somehow, it fits right in.

Harry chuckles and then falls silent, the two of them sipping at their drinks and finishing off their cookies. Louis knows that he really should be the one to approach the topic, considering he had invited himself over, but he absolutely does not have the guts to do so. With Harry’s blunt disposition, he’s not surprised when the omega sets his mug down and shifts so he’s facing Louis.

“Right,” Harry says, clasping his hands together. “Why did you come here, Lou?”

“Can a friend not simply pay a visit to another friend?” Louis jokes, putting down his own tea. “Sorry. You’re right, I’m here for a reason.”

He hesitates again, ducking his gaze so that he’s staring at the worn patches of the couch. Harry scoots closer and pokes him gently in the leg. “Lou?”

“Yeah, sorry, just… quite nervous.” Louis can practically hear his own heartbeat, thudding rapidly in his own ears. His hands are trembling, and he digs his fingers into his legs to stop the shake.

Soft hands pry his own from his legs and cover them gently, stopping the unsteadiness that plagues his hands. “Take a deep breath, Lou,” Harry says, squeezing gently. “You’re okay.”

Louis hadn’t even realized that he had been holding his breath until he lets it out in one long huff. “Sorry, sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Harry is so gentle, scooching even closer and coaxing Louis’ head up. “I think I know why you’re here. You just need to say the words.” His face holds no ounce of malice or lies, scent gentle and calming as he lightly scents the alpha.

Harry knows why he’s here, and he’s just waiting for Louis to ask. So ask he does.

“I’m in love with you.” Louis winces, the words not coming out as he had hoped. “I mean– I think I’m falling in love with you. And, ah fuck, this really isn’t coming out the way I wanted it to.”

He can see Harry stifling a giggle from the dimple that’s carving a hole into his cheek. “Oh come on,” he groans, pouting ever so slightly. “It’s not that funny.”

Furiously, the omega shakes his head, rearranging his expression until it’s carefully neutral. “No, it’s not funny at all. Nope.”

Louis narrows his eyes and stares Harry down until he cracks, dipping his head as laughter wracks his whole body. It takes a few seconds for Louis to join in, sighing lightly at his own incompetence.

“Sorry,” Harry says, taking a few deep breaths to recompose himself. “I didn’t mean to be so rude.”

“It’s alright. I’m awful at this sort of thing, in case you couldn’t tell.”

“Don’t have much experience?”

Deciding to be honest, Louis shakes his head ruefully. “No. Never had much luck when I was younger and don’t have the time now. I’ve also not really felt strongly for anyone in a long time… until you came along.”

Harry blushes, smiling despite the somewhat serious conversation. “I’m the same way. Horribly out of dating practice with no desire to really work on it, but you’ve changed all that.”

It’s the first time that Harry has explicitly said that he feels any sort of way for Louis, and it’s a massive relief, like a huge weight off his shoulders. “Oh, thank god,” he says in a rush, squeezing Harry’s hands. “I was worried that you’d reject me.”

“Why would I?” Harry edges even closer, so that they’re practically in each other’s lap. “You’ve been nothing but kind and respectful towards me, not to mention you’re quite handsome. I also practically slobbered over you all last night.”

“I didn’t mind,” Louis interjects, keen to make sure that Harry knows that he wasn’t bothered by anything that happened last night. “You were in distress and I wanted to help. Simple as that.”

With a groan, Harry leans his head back, unconsciously exposing the soft skin of his neck. Louis twitches with the urge to touch. “God, this is what I mean,” Harry says, fond exasperation coloring his words. “You’re just too good to be true.”

Overcome with love and care for this omega with pretty words and an even prettier face, Louis places one gentle hand on Harry’s cheek and then leans in to kiss him. It’s his first real kiss in ages, soft and plush and everything that he’s ever dreamed of. Harry’s scent is twisting into something more potent and exhilarating, drawing Louis in even more. They break for air, foreheads resting together as they take deep breaths.

“You’re amazing,” Louis murmurs, twisting his head to press a soft peck against Harry’s cheek. Slowly, he noses down until he’s breathing in right at the junction of Harry’s neck and shoulder, kissing the skin there and then coming back up. The omega’s eyes are so, so wide, so Louis pulls back to give him some space.

They’re moving a tad fast for his taste, but it’s his instincts driving it all, the desire to mark his omega strong in his veins.

Harry inhales, exhales, then blinks and his eyes are more focused and clear. “Your scent is really intoxicating, sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing for a compliment?” Louis kisses Harry’s palm and smiles. “Yours is just as heady and I love it.”

The two of them laugh a little bit, settling into the couch and each other. They bask in each other’s scent for a few quiet minutes, trading gentle kisses whenever they feel like it. Louis has never felt so at ease before, falling more in love with Harry with every passing second.

“I’d like to take you out for real,” he says, petting at Harry’s soft curls. “Niall told me I’d been unconsciously courting you for a while.”

Harry lets out a bark of a laugh, clapping his hand across his mouth afterwards with wide eyes. It’s so endearing that Louis can’t help but snort gently.

“Anyways!” Harry covers with a cough. “You had been courting me, but I figured you just hadn’t been aware because you were just so innocent about it all. It wasn’t until last night that I had even considered the thought that you actually liked me.”

“I do like you, I like you a lot,” Louis admits, grinning widely. God, he’s so happy. There’s things they have to figure out, like what the fuck they’re going to do about the merger, but he’s got his omega with him now.

Everything else is secondary.

(He ends up talking to Harry about breaking the purchase and continuing to run his business, this time, with Louis at his side. Harry happily agrees. And the look on Chase’s face when Louis tells him he’s quitting is absolutely worth it.)