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Before presenting, Kou had expected the worst part of being an omega to be the heats. The suffering of feeling empty, trying to fuck himself on his fingers only to burst into tears when it just leaves him craving more, was second only to his fear of being bred by an alpha he wouldn’t normally want, forcing him into an early pregnancy. His worries hadn’t come to pass; he’d spent only one or two heats alone before Teru’s teeth pierced his neck. Even though the bite had been too shallow to truly bind them, the significance was unmistakable, and he's never been without a partner since. The feeling of safety and care that Teru provides while Kou feels most vulnerable make heats something Kou actively anticipates instead of dreads.
With only a week left until the next, excitement builds in Kou’s chest every time he wakes up, the emotion overwhelming until he can’t focus on anything past it. The high of being with Teru, purring against him, and feeling Teru’s chest rumble with satisfaction after he knots him is one of the few things Kou looks forward to these days.
His alarm blares throughout the room and he blindly fumbles for his phone, accidentally knocking it onto the ground. With arms too short to reach the ground, he’s forced to wriggle out from underneath the warm covers, trading being surrounded by Teru’s fading scent for silence in the room.
The minute his feet touch the floor, before he can even try to stand, nausea swirls through his stomach as his vision goes white. It’s all he can do to make it to the bathroom, blindly fumbling at the switches and collapsing down onto the cool tile floor as he tries to ground himself. The fan clicks on just a few seconds after the lights, and the sound of it whirring is louder than even the alarm’s continual ringing, eventually shutting off from lack of interaction. Caught up in his excitement, he’d forgotten what else having an approaching heat signified.
No one had ever mentioned to him how the days leading up to heat were almost always worse than experiencing it, especially once you find an alpha to ease the ache of loneliness. He paces his breathing, trying to ease the knots twisting inside him. Of all the things he hates about being in preheat, the nausea and how easy it is to grow dizzy and dehydrated are among the worst.
As always, it only takes a few minutes for his stomach to calm enough that he feels confident struggling to his feet, taking it as slowly as he can just to be safe. The alarm starts ringing again, perfectly timed for Kou to rush to shut it off despite his certainty it’ll make him sick, in hopes he can prevent it from waking Tiara. As expected, moving so quickly has him doubled over in another wave of nausea, trying to catch his breath and stop whimpering instinctively for help before Teru senses something’s wrong and starts to worry.
He’s not quite fast enough; by the time he’s able to straighten up, the door’s creaking open and he can hear soft footsteps padding towards him. Teru’s arms wrap around his waist as he settles his chin on his head.
“Everything okay?” His voice rumbles against Kou’s back, low and still carrying a sleepy edge, satisfying something deep inside Kou. One of the other things he despises about preheat is the way everything his alpha does has a tendency to either turn him on or trigger a deep sense of jealousy and possession. It’s only Sunday; he still has to make it through three days of school before his heat truly starts, three days of watching all the girls in school paw at Teru while he can’t do a thing to scare them off. Teru’s gracious in the way he lets Kou scrub him free of all the competing scents the minute he comes home, but he’d still prefer if they’d never been there.
“Yeah, I just don’t feel well. Typical preheat stuff.” Teru’s arms tighten around him instantly. He always fusses over him when he worries for his health; Kou had been hoping to avoid this, always feeling guilty at how his concern for Kou leaves him visibly stressed. His arms loosen as he steps away, and Kou misses his weight against his back almost immediately, turning to try to regain contact. He's already halfway across the room; all he can do is watch as he heads towards the tub. Teru typically likes to start his care routine off with drawing Kou a bath and it seems this time is no exception. The sound of water crashing against the porcelain resonates through the room, and he begins to stumble towards the bathroom. The motion draws Teru's eye; before he can make it very far, he's returned to his side, hand pressing against his back to lead him. His arms carefully wrap around him, lifting Kou to sit on the edge of the tub before guiding his hand underneath the faucet.
“Warm enough?” Teru asks, like he does every time, as if he hasn’t long since memorized Kou’s preferred temperatures for every mood and season. He barely waits for Kou to nod before he’s closing the drain, letting the tub fill.
Teru’s legs barely fit within the cramped bathtub, knees bending slightly to make it work, and the reminder of how much larger he is than Kou makes him feel protected, an instinct he can’t shake even if he wanted to. It’s nice to be forced against Teru’s chest by the lack of space, and to feel almost caged by his body; he can’t help the way he takes comfort in being surrounded by his alpha and having all his needs attended to.
As Teru massages shampoo into his hair, his hands are gentle and warm against Kou’s scalp, causing him to hum in happiness with each movement of Teru’s fingers. The longer Teru’s hands linger on his skin, the more Kou’s stomach starts to flutter, until he’s rubbing his thighs together a little for relief and hoping Teru doesn’t comment.
The worst part of any bath is when it comes time to rinse his hair; Teru shields his eyes and presses light kisses over his neck and scent gland, wherever he can reach, in an effort to calm him. The flow of time always feels unsteady when it’s just them, difficult to track when the only thing he’s paying attention to is how kind his alpha is and the way his hands wander over his body. Eventually, he’s helped to stand up and led out of the tub, shivering within the cold air. After throwing on an old shirt and boxers, Teru even goes as far to dress Kou in a clean set of pajamas, holding him tightly and mouthing at the gland once more. As he raises his head from Kou's neck, Teru makes a point of forcing eye contact with him in the mirror. Sensitive from the upcoming heat, the small amount of stimulation coupled with the reminder of who he belongs to has him shuddering and flopping back into Teru.
His reaction has Teru huffing with happiness against his skin, sending shivers down Kou's spine, before Teru’s grip loosens once more. As his hand slides to the small of his back, Teru guides him towards the bed; he even goes as far as to pull the sheets back before Kou climbs back into bed, arranging the blankets and his clothes that Kou had smuggled into his nest around him once Kou is settled.
It’s still slightly warm within the cocoon Kou forms as he tries to get comfortable. He doesn’t feel truly safe without Teru beside him, but he struggles to keep his eyes open anyway; being surrounded by Teru’s scent never fails to make Kou drowsy.
Contrary to his expectations, he’s left alone within the nest as Teru opts to pad out of the room instead, and his absence has the need to call him back twinging within Kou’s chest, the sense of loss growing more acute with every step Teru takes away from him. He fumbles for a shirt, pressing it to his nose in an effort to soothe himself; the residual scent clinging to it is comforting, but it’s not quite enough to truly let him relax.
Even as he tries to calm down, his mind is still searching for Teru, unable to properly shut down for lack of his pheromones. It makes sense to be so dependent on his presence, even if it’s undesirable in the way it strips away his independence. Heat is a vulnerable time, especially since he’s technically still unmated; not being able to control who has sex with them while they’re most fertile is something the majority of omegas are hyperconscious of, so the need to be protected is an instinct he can’t shake even if he wanted to.
Irrational anxiety builds inside Kou’s stomach with each passing minute he’s alone in his nest. It’s hard to track how long Teru is taking to return when every minute feels like an eternity. What if he’s dead? What if he’s not coming back? What if he doesn’t like him anymore? His thought process jumps so wildly between ideas that he doesn’t even have time to move past one before the next hits and overwhelms him. He knows his feelings are illogical, based on nothing more than fantasy, but even so they control him so fully that tears begin to stream down his face and stain the mattress, despite his best efforts to pace his breathing and convince himself Teru won’t really leave him.
He’s more or less a wreck by the time Teru finally returns, chest heaving and desperately wiping at his face to try to hide the evidence of his tears. Teru doesn’t even react; used to the mood swings by now, he opts to pull Kou against his side and stroke at his hair instead. He’d known somewhere deep inside himself that Teru hadn’t really left, but the confirmation he's still wanted has him melting into Teru’s side as his tears finally begin to slow.
Teru’s hand is warm in his hair, movements careful and measured. Kou’s been volatile in preheat before, so afraid of Teru leaving him that he starts trying to push him away instead so the break is easier. The possessiveness Teru usually shows is the side of him Kou prefers while in heat, but wrapped in the covers and his alpha’s arms like this, the space he grants for Kou to explore the relationship at his own pace is far more attractive than a desire to own him could ever be.
When the tears finally cease, Kou’s able to process what’s happening around him a little more clearly. The first thing that catches his eye is that Teru’s brought him new articles of his clothing, piling them on top of the bed so Kou can arrange them to his pleasure when he feels up to it. As his attention returns to Teru, he notices the plushie settled in his lap. When Kou reaches for it, the fabric is soft against his skin, and snuggly just like Kou favors so it can blend into his nest–Teru always likes to buy him a new one before each heat, a way of spoiling him and showing him how well he can provide for him.
He brings it to his nose, and even with his heightened sensitivity to scents the only thing he can pick up is the smell of his mate, making his chest warm with happiness. The small ways Teru cares for him are often more satisfying than the over-the-top gestures he tends to favor, and he snuggles a little closer into Teru’s side, overcome with a sudden need to be near him.
Flipping the blanket back in invitation so Teru can actually join him, Kou’s pleased to realize the plushie isn’t the only thing he’s brought with him; despite his normal insistence the family laptop should be left out of the bedroom, Teru's decided to sneak it in today. He pulls Kou into his lap, peppering little kisses over his hair as he settles the laptop on top of the blankets. It’s so relaxing, Kou can’t help but purr softly as he flops back against his chest.
When he glances back down at the screen, his favorite movie is already cued up, and the way Teru so easily anticipates his needs has the rumbling of his chest growing even louder, until he’s certain Teru can hear it. As soon as he clicks play, the familiar sound of the studio opening sequence echoes throughout the room, a sound that never fails to make Kou happy. Kou’s always liked action movies ever since he was young, and the nostalgia of the ones he’s grown up with can’t be beaten.
His alpha’s hands slip under the blankets to hold him more securely just as Kou’s stomach knots with the first cramp of the day; he doesn’t even have to say anything before Teru picks up on his discomfort from his scent, gently massaging him until the pain vanishes. For the majority of omegas, the cramps are the worst part, but with Teru here, the pain hardly seems present at all, suppressed by his feelings of contentment as he’s taken care of.
Teru’s hand climbs higher, carefully rubbing at his stomach. The repetitive motion, combined with his satisfaction at Teru’s presence and the warmth of the blankets around him, has Kou dozing against his chest, trying to force himself to stay awake through the movie marathon. Eyes half closed, he’s not really able to process the scenes playing out on the screen until another cramp hits, forcing him back to full awareness as he whimpers and whines for his alpha to help him. Teru’s quick to react as always, kneading at his belly until the ache vanishes once more.
Instead of maintaining the skin contact, Teru carefully slides one of his hands out from under the blanket; the loss feels devastating, even if Kou doesn’t want to complain and potentially force him away. The fingers of his remaining hand press against his stomach, not tightly enough to hold him in place, but firmly enough that he can feel Teru’s strength and the command not to move. Something clatters on the bedside table, and then Teru’s pushing him away a little, creating just enough distance that he’s able to gently brush his hair, one slow stroke at a time. It’s relaxing in its repetitiveness, even if it does remind him they’ll have to leave his nest eventually.
If Kou weren’t already on the verge of nodding off, he would be now. Maybe it’s Teru’s goal to try to calm him enough to sleep in a little longer; he probably seems like he needs it. Satisfaction warms his chest once more at the confirmation his alpha is capable of understanding and providing for his needs before Kou himself even realizes or acknowledges them; it serves as another reminder that he’d made the right choice in a mate.
They’re not very far into the movie, but as Kou’s breathing slows and his eyes start to slip shut, he can feel Teru move away the laptop, the uncomfortable heat of it over the blanket gone. Carefully, he shifts Kou onto his side, and despite how heavy his limbs feel Kou does his best to move with Teru. Before Kou even has time to process it, he’s being pulled against Teru's chest; he shifts down Kou's body until he’s able to brush feather light kisses against his stomach, making him squirm as little sparks of electricity race through him.
“Stop that,” Kou mumbles, voice clouded with drowsiness, clinging to the fabric of Teru’s shirt and trying to drag him out to properly hold him. Puffs of laughter breeze across his skin but he obliges anyway, sliding out from under the covers and tucking Kou against his chest as he gently rubs his back.
“Teru-nii, d’you love me?” The sleepy words escape his mouth before he can think better of it. He’s not sure where the insecurity came from, and regret at being so needy races through him almost immediately. Now that the question hangs between them, he can’t take it back.
He can hear the smile in Teru’s voice when he answers, gently pressing a kiss against Kou’s nose. “I’ll never stop loving you.” His words practically have Kou melting into his chest, a gentle warmth gradually spreading through him.
Wrapped in his alpha’s arms, it feels like he’s safe from anything that could potentially cause harm. There’s no danger or threat, just security and an overwhelming feeling of care and love. It's a little disappointing to know he’ll be forced to leave eventually; if only he could stay here forever, preserving this sense of peace. Despite his best efforts to force his eyes open a little longer and burn the sensation of love and unfamiliar emotions swirling inside him into his mind, his body betrays him. His eyes slip shut and the world disappears.