Part Four

'Where would I be
If this were to go under
That's a risk I'd take
I'm froze by desire
As if a choice I'd make'
- Islands, The xx

Dating wasn't what he remembered it to be. Perhaps it was because of the constant turbulence inside his head recently or the wayward nature of his hormones or being rejected by the same Omega a hundred and one times.

It was most likely a combination of those things ruining his attempt at a love life.

It had been a few days since Alfred's first date with Toris and it had gone okay. They watched the new X-Men movie, not that Alfred had insisted of course, and went for a bite to eat afterwards, well, Toris had a bite; Alfred had two meals to himself. He was a growing Alpha after all!

Nothing had a gone wrong per say and they both appeared to have had an acceptable time but the whole ordeal had been a bit... platonic. There wasn't that fizz of attraction or that thrill of seeing each other that was supposed to make Alfred's stomach swirl and his smile beam. Worst still, Toris indisputably felt the same way, Alfred couldn't smell any sort of attraction on the Omega. Which begged the question, why bother in the first place? What was in it for Toris?

And why were they holding hands across the table, in the cafeteria, as if they inseparable paramours at the cusp of fruitful relationship?

There was something weird going on but Alfred couldn't figure out what or why.

Halfway through the inhalation of his second sandwich, there was a clamorous string of noise from the far end of the cafeteria where the tables were doused in streaky sunlight from the blinds. The noise, it turned out, had been the result of a food tray, with an assortment of glass and silverware, being flung to the ground. Amongst the disarray of glass shards and askew cutlery stood Arthur Kirkland and his features wore a fury that Alfred had never seen on Arthur before.

At the brunt of Arthur's yelling was Francis, who, oddly, was quite collected, raising his hands and speaking to Arthur slowly.

Most of the occupants in the cafeteria had become silent and all eyes were fastened to the exchange between Francis and Arthur. Alfred couldn't make out anything they were saying, although following Francis' lips, Alfred had only made out the words 'hormones' and 'calm down'.

White-yellow sunlight passed over Arthur's face and illuminated the tear-trails on Arthur's cheeks.

He's crying. That wasn't right. Arthur would never cry in public unless something was really, really wrong.

Arthur's eyes turned to Alfred, clearly he had already known where Alfred was sat, and his stare immobilised the Alpha. The skin on Arthur's cheeks was blotchy and his thick eyebrows were contorted. His eyes bore into Alfred's with such brutal, incandescent rage.

The gaze burrowed into the Alpha as if it were a loose segment of barbed wire under his skin. The Englishman's eyes flicked down to where Toris' and Alfred's fingers interlocked then back to Alfred. As if scalded, Alfred's hand jumped out of the Toris' hold.

Arthur's temper was then swept away like a feather at the mercy of a hurricane and a sob overflowed from his lips before he buckled into his chair. Francis was on his feet, almost imperceptibly quick, and hooking his arms underneath Arthur's, spurring him up from his seat. Arthur was resistant, his body unhelpfully limp.

"This isn't good," Toris said under his breath. Like Alfred, he was watching Arthur.

"Why? What just happened?"

There was a long pause. "I think you should go and see Francis."

Jumping to his feet, Alfred couldn't believe that he was approaching Arthur once again. He must have a death wish.

He didn't even question Toris' instruction; he only knew he felt compelled to reach Arthur. As if in a daydream, his limbs controlled by a foreign body, the closer he got to Arthur, the less clear-headed he became.

Arthur was being ushered away by a harried Gilbert before Alfred could reach him.

Francis was waiting for him.

"Is he okay?" Alfred asked pressingly.

"Let's talk outside, we have an audience." Francis nodded his head behind Alfred where the mass of university students were still riveted by the disturbance.

Alfred followed the Beta outside and they stopped beside the rows of students' bikes.

"I'm more of an idiot than both you and Arthur and that is deeply upsetting, you realise," Francis said dramatically.

"What...? Stop messing with me. What's wrong with him? Is he sick?"

"He's gone into heat." Francis let the words drop into the air between them, heavy as marble.

The Beta spoke up before Alfred could. "I know how much you care about him and I know how much he cares about you but the two of you are too stupid to figure it out. Admittedly, I can understand why you have found it more difficult to see Arthur's attraction to you – heaven knows why you are so infatuated by that man. Anyway,I had to take action myself, watching you two was too painful."

Alfred blinked, mystified. The onslaughtof information clattered inside his head and he had no idea how to process it. Which point did he tackle first? Arthur had gone into heat? Surly, strait-laced Arthur was now writhing in heat?

Arthur cared about him?

"That's why you set me up with Toris," Alfred murmured.

"Oui. And I convinced Antonio to ask Arthur out on a date to make you jealous."

Alfred almost growled at Francis' admission. He'd been completely played and made to look like an idiot.

"Wait, Arthur can't be in heat. He takes heat suppressants."

Pushing a curl of his hair behind his ear, Francis sighed. "The jealousy tactic worked a little too well, I'm afraid. When Arthur first found out that you and Toris were dating he went very silent and I thought for sure he would break and say something to you. After seeing you two together again today, however, he's actually become so upset that his hormones have overridden the effects of the medication."

The Beta allowed Alfred a moment. He must have been a picture of incredulity.

"There have been cases similar to this before. The trouble is, heats that have overwhelmed suppressants are very intense and can be distressing for unmated Omegas. They... well, you saw him just now, this heat will be unforgiving without an Alpha," Francis pointed out, his concern for Arthur evident.

Alfred was aware that Francis was fond of Arthur but this was the first time the man had revealed to what extent.

"We'll need to get the doctor then? To reverse the affects? Or will they put him on a higher dosage?"

Sweat slithered past Alfred's temple and he couldn't keep himself still, his unease vaulting around in circles inside his stomach.

Alfred had never had a mate before (he was a firm believer of having one mate, and only one mate, for life,he wanted his first mate to be his last) and because of that he couldn't understand the infallible bond between mates, nevertheless, Alfred felt as unstable and fearful as he imagined an Alpha with a wounded mate would be.

"You are joking, aren't you?" Francis regarded him the way a child would regard an exotic zoo animal. "Alfred, there is no reversal. He's in heat and you need to mate with him. Now is not the time for a lesson about the birds and the bees."

Funny how, despite how panicky Alfred was, there was still room in his mind for a thousand starkly erotic images of Arthur to ambush him.

Alfred's mouth worked uselessly.

A smattering of students passed them, their conversation draining away with the intensity of the conversation between Alfred and Francis.

Alfred waited until they'd disappeared inside a building before saying, "I can't sleep with him, he hates me! I don't want him to be in pain or anything like that but I know he'd never forgive me once the heat passed. If he does... care about me, it's against his will. He's an ERO Omega for god's sake!"

Francis drew himself in closer to Alfred and cupped his hands over Alfred's cheeks, tunnelling the Alpha's vision to Francis and Francis only. The fragrance of neutrality that Betas carried only served to frustrate Alfred.

"You remember when I told you Arthur is a talented actor?" Alfred nodded. "I meant it. Arthur's entire attitude is in effort to avoid getting hurt. Hurt by an Alpha, hurt by you. Arthur's intelligent but he's also misguided and ignorant sometimes. Prove him wrong; prove to him that you won't hurt him. Take this; Gilbert has taken him back to his room."

Before Alfred had agreed, Francis was offering him the key card to the Omega building. With the plastic in his hand, the weight of what was about to happen plummeted with nauseating speed. Alfred felt lucid with both nervousness and sparking excitement.

A hand squeezed his shoulder and Francis glided in front of where Alfred had unconsciously started walking towards Arthur. There was an impish half-grin across Francis' lips.

"I know this will be difficult but try to go easy on him. As you may have guessed, he's never been with an Alpha and I imagine you'll see to it his first time is... ardent." The grin sloped a little to the left with a certain sultriness. "Be gentle."

"I can't even think gentle at the moment."

Francis laughed.

-/-

Now that Alfred was here, knocking on Arthur's door, all he could think about was running to the opposite end of the country.

Arthur would be fine, right? He's a strong Omega; it's nothing he can't handle. And Alfred doesn't want to send the other man up in arms over 'having to depend on an Alpha' which will inevitably happen.

"Who is it?" Arthur's question was punctuated by laboured exhales.

"It's... Alfred." The Alpha's ears burned with the pregnant silence that followed. "Francis told me about everything that happened so; uh... you know how I feel about you now, right?"

Alfred swallowed, willing himself to keep his nerve. "Look, despite some of the weird things Francis has just said to me, I didn't come here expecting anything and if you want me to go, that's fine. I just need to know you're gonna be okay."

It was soundless between them for so long that Alfred thought that maybe Arthur hadn't heard him but then there was a scuffling sound inside.

"I didn't believe Francis, about you...," Arthur panted.

He was closer to Alfred now; he was probably up against the door. Alfred almost put his hand up against the surface. It was clear Arthur was hanging on to his sensibility by a thread; Alfred could almost feel his struggle for breath. He wondered if the Omega had stripped himself of his clothes. Alfred had never been with an Omega in heat but he was accustomed to his brother's habits.

"I still don't know if I believe the bloody frog, I haven't exactly been all sunshine and rainbows around you. It doesn't make any sense. You don't make any sense."

Alfred very nearly snorted with amusement. You can say that again.

"No, definitely not been any rainbows. More like one of those crazy-ass storms that tears off the roof of your house, spins it around then throws it back at your house again."

Arthur laughed, a reedy, exhausted laugh but he laughed all the same. He'd never heard Arthur laugh before. Alfred smiled, eclipsed with affection for the Englishman behind the door.

"I know I can't prove to you that I'm not just going to use you and that I have every intention of being your mate, if you'll have me, but it'll still stand that I am kinda crazy about you. A lot crazy about you, actually. What can I say, I like storms." Another laugh. "I'm trusting you to let me down gently if you don't want me but if you do want me you're gonna have to trust me to be there in the morning."

More silence.

"Alfred."

"Yeah?"

"There will be a lot of storms," Arthur said almost inaudibly.

"I'm from Florida."

The door swung open. "You'd better be here in the morning, Jones, or I swear to God –"

Alfred cut him off, sliding his hands underneath Arthur's chin, cradling the curvature of his jaw, and tilted his head back. Arthur's brows were furrowed, his cheeks were flushed like overripe cherries and his lips were parted with the words he hadn't finished. He was breath-taking and his eyes held far too much power over Alfred.

"I've wanted to do this for a really long time," Alfred admitted.

Alfred breathed in any reply Arthur could come up with, snatching away Arthur's air with his lips.

Arthur moaned, long and low, and Alfred drank it in, pulling on Arthur's plumper bottom lip.

Breathing in through his nose, Alfred captured his first sample of Arthur's scent and it crashed into him with annihilatingforce, disorientating him with the sheer deliciousness of it.

Holy shit. So this is what an Omega in heat smells like. This is what Arthur in heat smells like. There's no way this is going to last long.

The scent nestled itself inside his head, obscuring everything else, like tendrils of ink reaching out through water and Alfred felt utterly helpless to it, to Arthur. His skin tightened with urgency and he'd never got hard so quickly in his life before. Every particle of his body prickled with the need to claim the Omega.

He hooked one arm around Arthur's slim waist and moved his free hand down to Arthur's backside. Arthur keened and pulled away from the kiss, gulping down air as if surfacing from water.

Alfred flattened Arthur's body against his then burrowed his face into hollowed space between Arthur's collar bone and neck.

Accented under the heady, spicy scent of heat, Arthur smelt like a drizzle of honey in chamomile tea and lily pollen dusted over fingertips. It was sublime. Alfred almost completely lost control of himself, pushing Arthur up against the wall behind them and kissing him savagely.

Don't spook him, remember.

He tried to placate himself, his kisses becoming slower, milder, and Alfred just barely managed but with the Omega arching up against him, moaning into his mouth, his groin against Alfred's thigh, Alfred didn't know how long he could maintain the mood.

Judging by the wildness of Arthur's eyes, however, Alfred wasn't sure if Arthur would even appreciate gentle.

"You smell heavenly," Arthur breathed, nuzzling into Alfred's neck similarly to what Alfred had done moments ago. "Oh god, I can't wait. I can't. We have to... please..."

"Bedroom."

The two didn't exactly separate from each other as they bumped their way into Arthur's bedroom, Alfred fumbling to close and lock the door behind them before pushing Arthur down into his crumpled nest.

Arthur appeared to be burning up and was battling against his own breathing. Alfred knelt beside the Omega and Arthur instantaneously rose to meet him.

Shedding Arthur's clothing with no sense of grace, off with the cute, frumpy cardigan, and the heat scent became drug-like and more potent with each item that was removed. It was only until Arthur was gloriously bare, skin milky pale and long legs shuddering, that Alfred could tug away the fabric over his own skin, in that much of a hurry that he flicked his glasses of his face with his shirt and they rattled away to some distance place in Arthur's room. Alfred didn't give a damn if they were broken.

Even in his current state, Arthur's fingers clenched with self-consciousness and he barely glimpsed at Alfred's naked form. The Alpha wanted to announce Arthur's beauty to him, tell him just how devastating he truly was, but he was too far gone to salvage any words. Instead, he dotted kisses along Arthur's body, like following constellations of stars in tranquil, untouched galaxies, hoping Arthur would understand what Alfred was trying to convey through this language. A kiss for his lips, a kiss for his collarbone, a kiss near his nipple, a kiss on his stomach, a kiss on his hipbone, a kiss on his inner thigh…

It didn't take much before Arthur was squirming, his chest rapidly expanding and collapsing, and Alfred's willpower was about to burst apart. Alfred moved his head from between Arthur's legs, the scent was so intoxicating there, and Arthur's eyes blinked open at Alfred's withdrawal, whining like an injured animal.

"Are you ready?" Alfred breathed. "'Cos I'm pretty close to losing it."

"Yes, yes, I'm ready! Alfred, it hurts, it –"

"Shush, sweetheart, I'm here." Taking one of Arthur's hands, Alfred guided the hand between his legs and urged Arthur to hold him there. The small hand wrapped around him and Alfred's entire body seized. "I'll let you guide me, as slowly as you want Arthur, I don't want to hurt you."

The Omega's eyes were wide, trained on Alfred with a shimmery quality, and he tugged his hand experimentally on Alfred. The Alpha emitted a faint rumbling sound as pleasure quaked along his spine. "Seriously, Arthur, I'm barely hanging on here."

The smaller man actually chuckled delinquently before spreading his legs wider to accommodate his Alpha. Alfred lowered himself at Arthur's cue, he was directed further and further against Arthur's body until he felt that perfect, wet warmth.

And then he was there and Arthur mewled with such desperation that it very nearly was all over, just like that.

"Oh my god, oh my god," Alfred said through gritted teeth. He rested his forehead against Arthur's and took a few seconds to let them both gather themselves.

Arthur was impatient though, his eyes imploring Alfred to continue, and it wasn't long before they were rocking against each other frenziedly. Alfred grabbed Arthur's knees and pushed them apart. They met each other over and over with gorgeous, visceral ease, it was as if they had done this a thousand times before.

The Omega was overcome quickly, breaking apart with such a loud, resplendent cry that Alfred came undone so powerfully he tore the skin on Arthur's neck with his teeth.

"Shit!" Alfred rasped. "I'm sorry, I – "

"It's fine." It sounded like Arthur was scraping his words from the very last remnants of his consciousness. "Just don't do it again, you stupid sod."

Their stomachs touched where they simultaneously exhaled, trying to catch up with their hammering hearts.

"I can't promise that." Alfred smirked into Arthur's angular collar bone. He was pretty sure there were fingertips playing with his hair but he couldn't be positive and he didn't want to open his eyes to check yet. Not when he had the image of Arthur's orgasm imprinted on his mind's eye. The way his fingers had grasped at Alfred's back, the tremble of his thighs and the shape of his mouth as he came.

An intrinsic calm submerged Alfred as his knot swelled inside Arthur; he was in the world that was tucked away between sleep and awareness.

"That was so awesome. I wanna do it again." Arthur chuckled and Alfred joined him even as he yawned. "Might have to wait until my knot's gone down though."

The two of them were still for a short time, entwined around each other like honeysuckle vines, until Arthur began to stiffen underneath Alfred. The Alpha picked up on it instantly, alarm bells ringing.

"What's up?"

"Stop, please." Arthur was trying to shuffle away from him.

"Woah! Don't move, I'll hurt you!"

"You're hurting me now, stop it!"

Alfred pinned Arthur down with his weight and snatched up his hands. "Arthur, hey, relax. Knots always hurt a little the first time, you need to relax. If you move around and… well, you could cause a lot of damage. Didn't you learn this in class?"

Arthur couldn't meet Alfred's eyes after that last question. "Didn't you?" Alfred probed.

"I may have skipped those classes," the Englishman confessed. "This," he gestured at Alfred's and his current situation. "Wasn't something I ever wanted to happen. The classes didn't seem relevant at the time." He shifted in another attempt to get away from Alfred. "You have to stop, it's too painful!"

"You skipped the classes? Seriously? Does that mean you were planning to be on those suppressants for the rest of your life?"

The scent of an Omega, his Omega, in distress had a brusque, citric sort of taste that was all wrong and it halted Alfred in his tracks. Now, of all times, wasn't when Arthur needed to be lectured though this wasn't something Alfred would forget easily.

"Sorry. That doesn't matter right now. Just trust me. I promise it won't hurt in a minute, okay?" Tentatively, Alfred released Arthur's wrists and kissed him tenderly, rubbing his hands down the smaller man's sides keep him distracted and feeling safe. "Try and get as comfortable as you can."

After being troublingly still for a few beats, Arthur shakily wrapped his legs around Alfred's hips, sinking further into the chaos of blankets and pillows. Alfred found himself unable to cease kissing Arthur once he had started and they continued like that until Arthur sighed into his mouth and his head dropped back.

"How'd ya feel now?" Alfred didn't need to ask, Arthur's scent divulged his contentment, spoke of how secure he felt in Alfred's arms and the Alpha smiled, wondering if he smelt the same to Arthur.

"I feel… good."

"Me too." Arthur was twining his fingers through Alfred's hair again and Alfred was almost purring with bliss.

This day could not get better.

"Artie?"

"Yes?"

"Do you regret this?"

"Not even a little bit," Arthur responded without a hint of indecision.

Well, what do you know, the day could get better.

I realise I previously said the dorm rooms were soundproofed then proceeded to describe Alfred and Arthur speaking through Arthur's door... I'm really sorry, Arthur would hunt me down for that inconsistency.

It's 2:20 in the morning where I am and my eyes will burn away if I proofread this again and I'm aware it's been over a month since my last update so I'm winging it here!

In regards to Alfred's comment 'I'm from Florida', I did research into this and found that Florida is supposedly the stormiest state in the US, having recently lost the title of 'Lightning Capital of the World' to a city in Africa. Florida has more recorded storm-related deaths than all other states combined! As lovely as Florida looks, I'm glad I'm not living there :3

One chapter left!