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Ocean was still getting used to the changes that came with presenting as an Omega. It had done a number on her if she was being honest. She could lie and say it was fine, but everyone could see she was suppressing her instincts.
The first heat, at her age, was much more difficult. Ocean didn't have the grace period heats that happened when first presenting. Her body was mature enough to go through a regular heat, puberty hormones already in full effect within her system.
She couldn't think, constantly sweaty and shaky. Despite this, Ocean continued to go to school. She had a perfect attendance and she refused to let her biology ruin that.
The cramps that came with the heat were far worse than any period Ocean had ever had. It was only day two and she had lasted the whole day without needing to excuse herself. Everyone was giving her a lot of space, even the teachers kept their distance and didn't bother to tell her she needed to go home.
Ocean sniffles in the stall she had locked herself in after class. On any other day, Ocean wouldn't be caught dead in the girls room like she was now. Sat on the toilet, leaning over to press her forehead into her knees.
She shook, taking in gasps of air as she tried–and failed–to regulate herself.
Someone comes into the bathroom, the door closing quickly behind them as they walk inside. It takes a lot of strength for Ocean to stop whimpering. With a shaky hand she covers her mouth to mute her pained sounds.
"Ocean?"
oh, it's…Constance.
Constance knocks on the stall door. She sounds worried, hesitant to bother Ocean. Ocean doesn't reply, she's still struggling to stop shaking, it takes seconds to get her bearing.
"Y-yeah?" Ocean gets out through a particularly painful cramp.
"Oh, honey… Let me in, okay?" Constance jingles the door, Ocean stares at her best friend's shoes.
"I can't." Ocean would rather suffer alone right now. Her chest heaved, face flushed red as she shakes. Everything was so hot, she couldn't get away from the constant fire that radiated from her core. It was embarrassing to her. No one can see her like this.
"It's okay, Ocean… Penny told me what happened, she's worried about you. I'm worried about you."
Ocean groans, not from the pain this time. She had avoided thinking about Penny as best she could. She couldn't think about what happened in the storage closet. That had been a pathetic display, a very mortifying way to find out she is an omega.
All day yesterday and today, she has avoided being around Penny. Ocean wouldn't admit that she craved the feeling of Penny's arms around her again. Being an omega was humiliating for Ocean, her dreams, and work towards them, were jeopardized by this new development.
She couldn't–Can't allow herself to be seen as anything other than a perfectly normal beta.
"Fine, if you won't open the door, I'll just come in." Constance says after waiting for Ocean to reply.
"What? You can't unlock the door from out there."
"I don't need to." Constance takes a deep breath, her feet disappear from the door. Ocean's confusion clears as she hears Constance begin to run.
"Wait! no! don't break the door!" Ocean for a moment is able to ignore the pain and jumps to unlock the door and let Constance in.
As the door opens Constance halts her approach. Ocean was well aware of how strong Constance is. She has watched the other girl lift multiple stacks of flour at the cafe.
"oh! good, that would have been bad." Constance sighs, taking a moment to get a good look at Ocean.
"You could have left me alone…I'm fine, see?" Ocean gestures vaguely at herself. She does not look fine. Hair sticking to her face, frizzy and in their natural Irish curls. Her uniform, untucked, wrinkled, she was in a rush to get to school.
"Ocean, you look like someone put you through a wash cycle." Constance steps into the space. Her voice is low, soft, comforting.
Ocean takes a breath, her nose immediately picks up Constance's scent. It's rich, clean, and complimented by Constance's coconut hair products. Constance had one of the most calming scents, Ocean had never felt overwhelmed by it.
"Connie…This is bad. Really, really, bad." She begins to cry, unable to hide how she is feeling. Her heat was going to be in full swing soon, she could feel the ache in her core grow the longer she went without an alpha to aid in soothing the pain.
"Oh, Oce. Come on, let's get you out of here." Constance moves closer, her arms wrapping around Ocean, holding her close.
Ocean sighs into the embrace, letting Constance's scent envelope her. She is grateful for the soothing circles Constance rubs into her back.
"I- I don't want to go home." She already had to deal with this, add her parents to the growing piles of inconveniences? no way, they would make things so much worse.
Constance gently squeezes her close, hushing Ocean before she releases her from the hug, "We can go to my house, the den is all comfy and perfect for hiding away during heats."
Ocean mumbles something under her breath, then with a pathetic sigh she looks into Constance's eyes.
"Okay, we can go to your house… Thank you." The promise of a comfortable place to lie down was far too tempting to pass up. Going home would have been torture, Ocean’s parent’s smelled like pot and mildew to her overly sensitive nose. She did not feel comforted by their scents anymore, a fact that saddens her further.
She used to love curling up next to her father, his beechwood scent calming the budding anxiety she was beginning to experience. He was once such a caring and attentive dad, until they moved to Uranium and her parents began changing for the worse.
Constance guides Ocean out of the school bathroom, they take a stop at their lockers to grab their things. Ocean gets just the slightest glimpse of Penny Lamb, the other girl hurries behind a corner.
Constance must have seen too. She sighs and tells Ocean to head outside while she gets one more thing. Ocean knows they have everything, Constance is scheming and Ocean isn’t too far gone to notice.
But, Ocean doesn’t argue. She steps outside and takes a long deep breath of fresh air.
She does feel bad about ignoring Penny, but talking to her wouldn’t be a bright idea while she was in such an altered state of mind. Ocean doesn’t trust her body, she actively had to fight herself just to not melt into Constance when she had hugged her.
She chalks it up to omega’s scents being a comfort. It was just facts that other omegas could aid in calming some of the discomfort during heats. Typically, omegas would get other omegas to nest with them so they had a calming presence when an alpha wasn’t available.
“Okay, we can go.” Constance startles Ocean as she comes out of the school. Ocean whips around, eyes frantic before settling on her best friend…and then the hoodie she holds.
“Constance…” Ocean steps back, stumbling and nearly falling into the parking lot, “Why do you have that?”
Ocean doesn’t need to guess who the hoodie belongs to. The scent along is enough for her to know it’s Penny’s, the strong petrichor and woodsy smell immediately fills Ocean’s senses. She tries to keep stepping away, but her mind and body fight against her will.
“Penny cares, and out of every alpha in Uranium she is the only one that has an effect on you.” Constance steps closer, outstretched hoodie tempting Ocean like a meal she has been craving. Constance would not stop until Ocean took the hoodie, no matter how far she tried to step away, she would just end up giving into Constance’s insistence.
“W- no, Penny does not have an effect on me…” Liar. Ocean stops in the middle of the parking lot, backed against someones car. Constance shakes her head and pushes the hoodie into Ocean’s arms.
Immediately Penny’s scent puts her body in a state of ease. Pathetically, Ocean grips the article towards herself and takes a deep inhale, feeling herself melt into the smell. Ocean lets out a purr, the most embarrassing thing she has done since getting locked in a closet with Penny.
“See? You’re already calming down.” Constance gives her a knowing look, like she has never been wrong about a thing in her life.
“Shut up. This is pathetic…I don’t even like Penny, it- it’s just my heat latching onto any alpha scent.”
Constance hums, not believing the words coming from Ocean’s lips.
“Come on, mom let me take the van since it was raining.”
Ocean lies in the Blackwood’s den, surrounded by blankets and pillows positioned into a comfortable nest on the floor. Constance has disappeared into the kitchen, the promise of hot chocolate on the way.
She still has the hoodie clutched against her chest, nose buried in the fabric. She craves the closeness of that storage closet, the way Penny held her close and made her feel protected from all the anxieties of their lives.
“Okay, I made sure no whipped cream, with a dash of cinnamon,” Constance carries in two steaming mugs, a smile on her face as she sets them down and gets on her knees. “Do you want anything else? I have plenty of heat aids, they can help a lot.”
Ocean shakes her head, she doesn’t want to riddle her body with chemicals. What she wants is Penny’s arms wrapped around her, holding her close and covering her in that intoxicating…Ocean sits up, mortified by her own thoughts.
“I can’t let this be all I am now!” She’s panicked, the realization that she is melting and fawning over an alpha makes her stomach twist. “I had a whole plan, I was supposed to be a beta! How can I become a political powerhouse…as an omega?”
Constance sits down, her shoulders sagging, a pained look flashing over her features. Ocean knows better than to think being an omega is a death sentence, she is aware of how harmful it is to think Omegas can’t be strong and independent.
“Being an omega isn’t who you are, Ocean… You’re extremely capable, there’s nothing you can’t put your mind to and achieve.” Constance softens, reaching out to move the hair sticking to Ocean’s forehead. Her eyes are so soft, the initial hurt of Ocean’s earlier comments being brushed off.
Ocean flinches. Her eyes frantic, pained, looking around the room for an escape.
“I don’t want this, I was a beta…” a broken shake in her voice makes her sound so pathetic, she can only imagine how embarrassing she looks at that moment.
Constance sighs. Talking wouldn’t help, an idea flickers in her mind and she gets up with a determination to help her friend. “I’ll be right back.”
Ocean only groans and turns away, hoodie still clutched in her grip.
She doesn’t know how long Constance was gone for, all she knows is that her best friend comes back with something small in her hands. When she slides in behind Ocean, pulling her into her arms and not letting go, even as Ocean tries to shimmy away.
“What are you doing?” Ocean sounds so done, her eyes finding purchase on the little bottle in Constance’s hand.
“I know it isn’t the same… But, you need someone right now, and these,” She holds up the bottle, “are heat aids, they don’t stop the heat, but they make it bearable. Either take one, or let me hold you so you aren’t alone.”
She weighs the options: Accept the help of a pill, or allow Constance to hold her and take care of her.
Ocean doesn’t trust any of the synthetic aids, they are full of chemicals she wouldn’t trust in her body. It was a known fact that over long-term use the products weakened the user, caused withdrawals and other nasty side-effects.
“I don’t want the pills…I don’t want any of this, Connie.”
“I know, Oce. I know.” Constance tosses the bottle behind her, wrapping Ocean up into her arms and letting her scent bloom around them. It’s a miracle what a little comfort can do for an omega riddled with anxiety and self-loathing.
Ocean twists around, her body relaxing into the embrace. It was nice to have strong arms wrapped around her, it may have been different than the comfort and safety that she felt with Penny…But, it was nice.
Constance hums a comforting tune Ocean can’t figure out the origin of, it sounds familiar, unfortunately the name evades her heat-addled mind. She sinks into the comfort, pressing her face into Constance’s neck. She tries not to inhale too deeply, the mixture of Constance’s rich vanilla scent, and Penny’s deep forest fragrance mingle in her senses.
“Thank you.” Ocean whispers, dipping her face deeper into Constance’s neck to get closer. Her eyes shut tight, her heat feeling so much more subdued now that she had someone to hold her.
The feeling of slick on her thighs becomes a reminder of just what she is. She sobs into Constance’s neck, the flood gates opening up as her body relaxes and she is allowed to feel everything without judgment.
“You’re okay, shh, it’s all going to be okay.” Constance soothes, rubbing Ocean’s back as she sobs and soaks the collar of her shirt.
At least Ocean had someone to be there for her. She couldn’t imagine what she would be going through right now if Constance wasn’t always such a light in others lives.