Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Finishing up his wardrobe of choice, he secured his tie around his neck. He had to admit that it may be a bit narcissistic of him to dress up a little bit fancy each time he went out, but a part of Rhys felt like he had to in most aspects, given how he was raised. Dressing to impress was something he had been so used to doing in his every day work that it often blends in with his days off; and to be honest, had gotten him far with the ladies.

Although the lanky alpha couldn't deny the habit was a bad thing; if only for his self esteem. If he just so happened to find the right omega then he wouldn't complain because that would mean his job in cooperate actually amounted for something other than a hunched back and potential joint pain in the future. And lucky for him, the dress habit just so happened to land him a beautiful woman with a spicy temper, well, sort of.

Sasha wasn't exactly an omega. She was another alpha and had a temper to match it. And most days, managed to kick Rhys' butt when he went out of bounds- not that he minded. Turns out, His type was 'could kill him with a single look' and that's what he kept coming back for.

Three years, He had been in a relationship for three years with the woman of his dreams. Rhys could honestly say that he was the happiest man in the world, skipping with each step and his head constantly on cloud nine. Even though it was just a tad bit strange for two alphas to date, it did happen every so often, despite that alphas normally dated betas or omegas due to instincts and attraction.

They had met four years ago to be exact. She had been serving drinks to people in a diner when he had accidentally bumped into her, making her spill all the drinks on herself and the floor; That had not been the best impression he had wanted to make. The fact that she had figured out he worked for the Helios corporation by the suit and company logo "Hyperion" on his vest had made the whole situation worse for him.

Turns out she had hated the company with a passion and didn't hesitate to make her point clear, even when he had given her his number AND offered to pay for the cleaning of her clothes. He made it a point to bump into her every so often the days that followed JUST so he could talk to her. In the end, she reluctantly found it in her heart to accept his friendship. Not long after that, they ended up dating.

Inhaling deeply at the sight of his reflection as he smiled smugly, he could practically hear his roommate and his best friend, Vaughn, roll his eyes from the other side of the door as he knocked.

"Come on, Bro. You're going to be late if you don't hurry it up. Stop classing it up and get out there before she eats without you again." Rolled his eyes at Vaughn's comment, Rhys walked over to his closed bedroom door and opened it, seeing the amused yet annoyed look his buddy had on his face.

"Come on, bro, that was one time and she forgave me for it." Rhys argued, putting a hand to his chest with a face of mock hurt as if he had been shot. Although he had to admit that was a horrible day. He was only late by fifteen minutes but Sasha had gone and eaten before him and left. By the time he got there, he was greeted with a bill and a silent treatment by the other alpha for a week.

No amount of groveling could get her to talk to him until she had cooled down. And even then, he had to go through her sister to apologize. Only then, had she met back up with him and they had a talk- which she had admitted that she had gone overboard in how she treated him with how hard he works.

"Besides, it's not that far away this time. Just down the block AND I'm not working today." he chimed, passing Vaughn with a grin, grabbing his coat and keys from the table beside the door. Vaughn followed him to the door, crossing his arms and giving a weak nervous chuckle.

"If you say so, bro. Just make sure you don't lock yourself out. I have to work late again today." The smaller alpha stated, finishing his sentence while fixing his glasses midway. "I can't come back to let you in if you do."

"I know, I know." Rhys waved a nonchalant hand with a smile. "Your work is an hour drive away, I get it. Seriously-" Casually placing his hands on his friend's shoulder, he gives the most coy wink he could. "-You need to relax. Everything will be fine."

---

"What?" Staring wide-eyed at Sasha, Rhys couldn't help but drop his jaw in shock. Said woman, on the other hand, sat in the seat across from him, looking a little upset, however, not as much as Rhys obviously did at the moment.

"I'm breaking up with you Rhys. I can't do this anymore." She exclaims, looking away, her expression mixed between upset and sad. Honestly, Rhys wasn't expecting this when he had come to the restaurant for his and Sasha's date. But it looks like she did. How long she had been planning this, he hadn't a clue. There must have been signs, right? How could he miss them? Shaking his head to remove his stupor, his brows furrow as he leans on the table for support.

"W-what... Why?" Asking, his mouth fumbled for the words as his hands held tight to the table in an effort to figure out what he had done to make her upset. His eyes looked all over her face quickly, his echo being just a tad bit faster with it's movements than the other one. Sasha had shrugged, arms still crossed as she found the legs of a nearby table more interesting.

"It's not you Rhys. Not completely..." When she got no response from that, she glanced over at him and grunts. "Your scent Rhys. I can't take it anymore. For the past year it has done nothing but give me a headache and...."

Frowning, she stops there, looking at the floor as if full of guilt. "And I found someone else... A beta."

Still in shock, Rhys could only clench his jaw tightly and keep the tight leash on the primal growl he had in his throat. The longer this went on, the stronger his instincts got and the harder it was for him to keep them in check. It was bad enough that he had monstrous strength with his metal arm without keeping himself from harming someone with it during times like these.

"So you're leaving me because of something I can't control. And you cheated on top of that." He spits out, almost venomously. As he stared into her eyes when she rounded back to him with a heated gaze of her own. "And a beta at that. What's his name?"

Clutching the table cloth, he could almost hear the fabric tearing between his metal fingers. He wished they had ripped the cloth; At least then it would give him something to focus his aggression on. But these were built for when alphas got angry. Harder to tear.

Sasha only looked at his face, sighing in defeat as she held the most bland expression on her face. "August. And I didn't cheat on you, although I get how it seems given the circumstances. You're just finding out about this now- no, emotions are not involved. I just.... click better with him."

"August!?" Jumping to his feet, Rhys' eyes grew as he stared down at the woman in front of him with shock and horror.

"GANG August?! Drug lord August?! The guy who you said you would never date in a million years August?!" This time he couldn't hide his hurt from his face and voice. It only took a moment for her to nod.

"Why him?" Rhys hated how defeated he sounded at that moment, staring down at the other alpha from the opposite side of the table in distress. "Did I do something?"

Never had he seen her lips tighten like they had just then.

"Look Rhys. I'm not going to sugar coat it. You knew this wouldn't work between us. Alphas can't be a thing. It's like two Badass Skags. Our scent isn't compatible and neither are we. You're always late and always forget the dates we make; Half the time, you're lost in your own little world..... I can't do it with you any more." She sighs before rubbing her head and stands. "I love you Rhys. But I can't stay with you... You'll find someone better..."

As she steps up to him, Rhys slumps in his seat, looking forward with the most beaten expression. It was true that even to him their scents weren't mixing well but he figured they could deal with it. Apparently Sasha thought differently.

"And he's not in a gang or a drug lord." She sniffed irritably. "He's.......a biker." The short pause in the middle of the sentence told him that she wasn't being completely truthful; that she was hiding something,

"Anyway, I have to go. He's waiting for me....." Turning away from him, she left quietly, leaving the other alpha there to himself. Putting his head in his hands, Rhys was quick to order a drink from a nearby waitress, Not able to stop the buzzing thoughts in his head. He was still wrapping his head around what just happened when the alcohol came.

---

"She what? Rhys, are you sure?" Vaughn questioned, listening to his echo com he got from Rhys. "I-I mean, of course you're sure but...."

He sighs with a frown, looking at the ceiling from his cubical. "It doesn't sound like her... and are you drunk?" During his lunch, Vaughn had noticed he had gotten a call during his work and called his bro back when he got on his hour lunch.

"Yes...." Rhys exclaimed from the other end of the echo, scrambling through the cabinets after finishing his bottle of White Russian. The drink at the restaurant was weak and quick to finish, not even leaving him with a small buzz. After he had paid for it, Rhys had ran all the way home when it had started to rain halfway there. Sure he had thought about going to a bar but this felt to personal for a bar but with his goal in mind, it wouldn't have been an option that he was comfortable with. Plus, he hadn't wanted to taint the place with this memory.

He wanted to get drunk and he wanted to drink at home without anyone watching him, or trying to take him home with them. Now after three bottles of scotch, he had searched through the alcohol cabinet with determination, sniffing as he babbled what happened to Vaughn in his drunken state. And yet, once all was said and done on top of not finding anymore booze to drown his emotions, Rhys stood out from the lower shelving and rubbed his tears away with his real arm a he chokes out a sob, slurring.

"I-I don't know what to do bro. I mean-" He wobbles for a bit and uses the island counter to keep himself upright. "I-I-I was g-gonna propose to her today, man. And just.. Now I'm home and single."

Rhys waves his arm as he speaks, looking around the apartment as he wobbles. "Now I'm wet because I might have pissed myself and.. and... rain.. and.... Oh god, Bro" Then he breaks down crying, using his robotic hand to wipe his tears away this time. "I don't know what to do."

There was silence from Vaughn's ends, almost as if he was thinking before he exhaled softly. "Okay bro. I can tell you what to do. Are you standing?" Rhy's lets a soft "Mmm-hmm." With a soft noise in his upset state mixed in, wiping his face again.

"Alright bro. You have to walk in your room for me." Vaughn hears shuffling and a door opening.

"You there, bro?" There was another "Mmm-hmmm..." and the small alpha couldn't help but smile sadly.

"Alright. Now go to your bed and lay down." More shuffling from Rhys' side. "And cover yourself with the blankets. Try to sleep, bro. I will be home in a couple hours."

the third "Mmm-hmm." Was enough to convince Vaughn that Rhys had started falling asleep.

Chapter Text

The hangover Rhys had experienced was worse than anything he could have ever imagined possible. Waking up with a head that won't stop pounding was hardly his ideal way to wake up that morning after everything that had just happened. The alpha immediately regretting all that he drank the other day.

If it hadn't been for the glass of water and pain killers that sat on his night stand, an obvious sign that Vaughn was home, he would have probably spent the entire day in bed; something that he very much wanted to after the sudden break up with Sasha last night certainly made him want to curl up and die under the silk sheets on his twin bed.

He'd spent all his tears last night while he was drinking, having been sobbing and blubbering like a baby long before he called Vaughn. Pressing his head to the bed, he managed to sit up with a loud groan before placing his hand to his head as his back popped with the movement. Letting out a pained grunt at the sound his bones were making, Rhys threw his legs over the side of the bed, rubbing his shoulder where his metal arm was still attached. He must have forgotten to remove it in his drunken state and there was no way Vaughn knew how to do it.

Raising his hand, he squinted as the holo-projection appeared with a list of settings for his arm; making him squint at the brightness of it. He was quick to get into the battery level settings to check on how much power his arm had. Unfortunately, just as he saw the power meter, the holograph died and his arm fell to his side the side like a limp noodle; power completely gone.

Growling in irritation, Rhys quickly reaches over his shoulder where the arm connected and and removes the metal contraption by pushing the release button on his arm. Sighing at the sudden hiss of air and the loss of the heavy weight as his arm detaches from the nerves in his shoulder, He had wasted no time to grab it with his remaining arm; pluging in the charging cable and hearing the satisfied beep of it charging.

"There we go." Rhys quietly muses with a smile to himself; lightly rubbing the arm before setting it to the side of his bed and standing up. With a wobble to his movements and vertigo flooding his head and making the room spin- the alpha promptly flopped back down onto the bed and holding his face in his hands until the world stopped moving.

Of course, the nausea had hit him almost immediately afterwards and rushed over him like a wave, making him gag before promptly letting out a soft belch; relieving a slight amount of any feeling of sick in his belly. With that small crisis averted, Rhys began to soothingly run his fingers through his thick greasy hair and groans as he waits for the nausea to completely pass. It took a while but he was able to get back on his feet when it got to a bearable level.

"Time to get out of these clothes.... they reek..." He comments to himself, before shedding his clothes and dropping them to the floor. With memories of last night making him feeling heavy, Rhys steps to his clothes drawer to pull out a clean outfit. Grey sweat pants and a white top; he hadn't felt well enough, emotionally, to dress as he usually did.

--

The water was cold when Rhys stepped in the shower and he couldn't help but yelp the second the ice cold water touched his skin. He did the best he could to hurry and get out of the shower, dressing and sighing. Compared to the water, his clothes were warm. The smell of pancakes and bacon flooded his nose the second he stepped into the kitchen, making him lick his lips and a large smile plastered on his face.

He was so absorbed in the smell, that he almost didn't notice Vaughn sitting at the table, eating as well as working on some papers. Going straight for the food that was still hot and steaming from being cooked and well seasoned, his mouth drooled as he grabbed a plate of the food.

"You know, we should go about getting some groceries." Vaughn stated when Rhys sat at the table, the tall Alpha jumped when his smaller friend spoke. Without missing a beat, Vaughn looked up with a smile.

"Like a new alarm clock. You seemed to have trashed that along with half the apartment when you went and got yourself wasted last night."

Choking on some eggs he was halfway chewing, he clears his throat in an attempt to remove the egg from his lungs while his face goes pink. "W-wait.. what?" He asked, staring at his friend like he grew an extra head. "I did?"

Not noticing Rhy's expression, Vaughn laughed, nodding, pushing his glasses back up his face as he pushed some papers away to eat his own food. "Yeah, bro. You totally ruined the place. I had to throw out half our furniture and a couple plates." He shrugs.

"A glass here and there." Seeing Rhys frowns, Vaughn gives a laugh before continuing. "It's no big deal bro. Those are easy to replace." Vaughn tries to reassure but the frown on his best friends face troubled him. "Or.... is this about.... you know..."

Rhys stuffs some bacon in his mouth, making the greasy treat taste like ash in his mouth.

"I don't know..." Rhys replies with a small amount of hesitance. And honestly he didn't. If he was to be blunt about it, he had no idea what he felt about the ordeal. Right now he just felt..... numb. When it happened, he expected himself to be completely heartbroken but he didn't really feel anything. Sipping on his drink, he paused his thoughts. He really didn't want to be thinking of last night right now. Bitterly chewing his meal, he dropped the fork down on his napkin.

"Vaughn, I really don't want to talk about Sasha." He grumbled, standing with his plate before taking it to the sink to wash it. "I'd rather go to the store and pick up the things to replace what I broke." His comment made Vaughn's eyebrows raise, looking over at the taller alpha.

"Really? Bro you hate shopping." The smaller alpha exclaimed softly, fixing his glasses on his face. "I mean, I practically have to drag you to the store when we need anything."

"Yeah, well that's because everyone there are assholes." Rhys growled, turning to look at his roommate. Pacing around the kitchen, he rubs his fingers through his uncombed hair.

"They're... They're assholes to everyone. Especially to omegas, bro. How can I enjoy shopping at a place when there's an underpaid omega being mistreated?"

Vaughn hummed before nodding. "I know man. But that's everywhere, not just this particular store. The best we can do is be kind to the omegas there and not make their jobs harder." Placing the papers he was working on into a neat stack, the small alpha stood, stretching his back, hearing a pop. "Come on. I'll drive."

---

"Vaughn.. I really don't want to go in there." Rhys whined once Vaughn had parked his car. Looking at the old, tacky looking store, he winced at the sight. Chipped paint, aged windows.... Sign old as dirt. The people going in and out weren't exactly appealing either.

"Maybe I should stay in the car. You know, just in case." The store was small compared to most of the other buildings around and pretty much sold the cheapest things money could offer but it was just right for a couple of cheapskates with little spending cash after all their bills were paid.

Vaughn groaned as he climbed out of the car. "Come on bro. We've been here like, a million times. You know this place. So don't blame your "new place" anxiety."

The smaller alpha huffed when Rhys eventually and reluctantly climbed out of the car. Taking his keys out and pressing a button on its controller, Vaughn quickly locked it before Rhys could climb back in.

"Besides, you're the one who wanted to get this done and we'll only be in there for a moment. I made a list." Vaughn stated, waving the list in his hand of all the things that they had to get. “We stick to this and not get distracted by snacks, we'll be in and out faster than you can say “Bunkers and Badasses- which, we need to get back to playing every Saturday, might I add.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, bro.” Waving his hand in response, Rhys took a moment to look the list in Vaughns hand and the car. It was lucky the car was big enough to stuff the things that they needed to replace along with things they needed, aside from furniture that was.... it looked like a pretty long list.

Mentally whining and already feeling the weight of the world on his back, Rhys ended up following Vaughn through the parking lot; trying not to think of Sasha and all the things that he did wrong to make her break up with him the night before.

And, while the distance between them and the building was merely just a few steps away, it had felt like an eternity; especially under the heat of the sun above him. Already he could feel his skin crawling the closer he got and as he clenched his fingers in preparation of any potential omega abuse they may run into, both alphas pushed through the door; brushing past the people people going in and out of the building.

He should have been prepared. He should have known this would happen to him eventually. The second he stepped in the door, the smell hit him head on when he walked into the store with Vaughn. He wasn't expecting any scent this powerful to hit him head on like a train full of cinnamon and apple wood. What made it worse was that it was easy to spot the source of it. The smell came from the greeter of the small store. An omega who stood tall and proud in his uniform despite his lower class. He hadn't looked like any omega Rhys had seen before. He was tall, strong-

"Are you gonna keep staring at me all day princess? If so you can fuck off!"

-And incredibly pissed.

"Bro! Do you know who that is?!" Vaughn hissed from behind him, feebly trying to keep out of the view of the omega. "That's Jack! He's extremely violent, especially to Alphas."

"I-what?" His brain had practically fried the second the smell smacked him in the face. Barely hearing his best friend, Rhys couldn't stop staring, even though the glare from the omega made his knees weak. It was as if something in his brain clicked.

The omega releasing the sweet pheromones was snarling at him hard enough to make any other alpha squirm; but not Rhys. Never before had he felt his heart and blood pump so fast or the rushing of blood to his groin. It was as if there was a primal instinct screaming at him to claim this man. But doing so would be inappropriate and horrible for the omegas boundaries and he wasn't that kind of man.

Never had he smelled an omega as strong as this; nor had said smell effected him so much. Nose flaring he found himself inhaling that sweet scent over and over and he could only imagine how red his face must have gotten from it alone. Shaking himself out of his stupor, he looked over at his bro for a moment and saw the small alpha's alarmed expression.

Had Vaughn said something? Had Rhys? He hadn't been sure as he was only now returning to reality.

“Rhys!” Vaughn whispered with a hiss; making Rhys blink dumbly over at. “You were purring as you scented him from a distance!! Are you crazy?! Everyone here heard you!”

Taking a moment to take in the area, indeed, as they passed, people were watching and judging him. Some even giving Rhys hungry grins, egging him on, in their own way, to go after the omega. Hearing a gasp from a distant woman, Rhys turned back, only to let out a terrified squeak and bring his hands up to guard his face.

Oh god, the omega was getting closer. Blinking, he snapped out of it just in time to see the disgusted sneer on the omega's face. To see how the older man's fists were clenched and see his shoulder square up. The omega was ready for a fight. But Rhys was too shocked to care. Standing stiffly, he paled, fear outweighing his need to mate; Outweighing any and all existing instinctual urges need to breed the omega.

"Did I stutter, princess?! I said to beat it!" Rhys yelped at the omega's shout and backed up against Vaughn, seeing a flash of sick amusement in the omega's eyes, but for only a moment as his mismatched blue and green eyes take in Rhys' form, almost daring him to try something with a confidence that normally only showed in alphas.

"I-uh.. I..." Oh god, he really ought to learn how to speak while under stress, this stuttering HAD to stop. This response seemed to displease the older man, seeing as the omega sniffed in annoyance, or so Rhys assumed. It wasn't the reaction he had wanted from the lanky alpha, apparently, and it showed.

Was he expecting Rhys to get aggressive and attack him?

However, what probably saved him was the fact that, most likely, the omega worked at the store; if the uniform he wore was any indication of his position here. The man wouldn't outright attack him without risk of losing his job (which was one of the few that hired omegas.) But oh god, the smell was driving Rhys crazy. An unclaimed and unmated omega was rare and very, very valuable to many alphas.

"I-uh-I-I." The omega mimicked in a hateful mocking tone as he towered over Rhys the best he could, despite being a few inches shorter than Rhys. He didn't exactly have to try hard. While the omega lacked the height compared to Rhys, he sure had more than enough muscle and bulk to deal with him. "If you're not going to buy something then get out of here, kiddo. Go on, get!"

That prompted Rhys to bolt past the omega and into the store, practically dragging Vaughn as they ran to the center of the building before they finally paused long enough to catch their breaths from fleeing, ignoring his buddys protests of needing a cart, as they rushed past.

Rounding a corner, they finally stop and he was left kneeling over to rest his hands on his knees. Rhys let a loud gasp of air before looking at Vaughn.

"Who did you say that was?" He asked in between pants, his legs shaking as color came back to their faces.

The smaller alpha was leaning against a nearby column as he catches his own breath, staring at Rhys, horrified.

"That was Jack, the alpha killer. Do you not see how lucky we were to get away?!" Vaughn's hands go to his hair and grabbed his own brown locks as he paced.

"Oh man, oh man. Bro. He kills alphas for just LOOKING at him and here you were, ogling him like your next meal!" He paused in front of Rhys, looking over his tall friend's face in hopes of enlightenment. "What were you thinking?! We could have been killed."

Without answering, he had simply too his chance to glance back where they had just come from; Rhys allowed himself to smile dozily at the memory of the omega, despite the aggression the man showed. 'Jack is a nice name.' Had been the only words that popped in his head. Despite what Vaughn had just told him, he never had that happen to him; and he smelled omegas every day of his life.

"He smells nice...." He hummed. If he sounded like a drunkard, he had no idea. All he knew was that, any thoughts of Sasha were gone the moment he smelled Jack. Replaced with an image of the man and any potential family he might have if he managed to woo that man.

"Of course he does! He smells that way to everyone! Jack's one of the most fertile omegas in town!" Vaughn stomped up to Rhys and took his arms in his hands. "Look. Whatever you do, stay away from him. I know he smells wonderful and all but he's not worth losing your live for! Find another omega to settle with but keep away from him. He'd kill you! Not even joking, bro!"

---

Needless to say that Rhys was too distracted during the entire shopping experience. The omega's scent was practically all over his clothes and the store; so much so that Rhys couldn't help but to lift up his collar to sniff at the smell that clung to him, despite the looks he got from other shoppers of the store. He was too scent drunk to care. It was soothing, calming, heaven.

Oh god, if the new omega smelled this good every day, Rhys wondered what it would be like to smell him in heat. The thought was enough to shake him out of his thoughts just in time to hear Vaughn talking about a new lamp as they neared that department.

How long had his mind been clouded? Ugh, he didn't even want to think about it. Having just met the man and already he was thinking of him in heat. Rhys must have had issues. The only thought that seemed to reassure Rhys that he would never get the chance to see it happening was the fact that the omega would kill him and that there was a little thing in the world called "Heat leave." in which Omegas stayed home for a week while they went through their heat with their mate or alone.

As sad as it sounded for omegas to go through their heats without aid, it rarely happened with how quick Alphas were to claim them. It was amazing that there was one who wasn't bonded yet.

That knowledge excited Rhys to no end. The urges his instincts gave him, painted a pretty picture of him conquering the omega. However, Rhys wasn't like that. He didn't want to force any omega to be with him just as much as he didn't want to be forced with an omega. If he was going to get together with one, he was going to do it the right way. By being respectful and trying to get to know them.

Plucking a fresh cut flower from the box it sat with many others, he and Vaughn quickly got in line to pay for their purchases. The items in their cart was a lot more than he had thought they were going to get. Rhys added to it by throwing in Mini M&M's. He freaking loved mini M&M's.

Unlike the rest of the items, Rhys paid for the flower himself. He didn't know why he got it but it had caught his eye. It was a blooming flower found on Pandora which was actually harmless and pretty. One of the few pretty things on the planet that had everything in the world try to kill people. Rhys was just glad they were off that planet and on a nicer one.

Holding his breath as they got closer to the door to avoid smelling the omega's scent again, he was relieved to see the Omega busy with yelling at another costumer, a beta this time, over a return. Quickly placing the flower on the omega's table while his back was turn, he bolted out the door after Vaughn.

Chapter Text

To say that he couldn't will himself to stay away would be an understatement. Rhys had felt an enormous need to go back to the store multiple times over the past week; each time going for nothing and returning with nothing but a tent in his pants. Every so often, Vaughn would catch him when he would attempt to sneak out and would question Rhys on where he was going and if he could tag along; probably thinking there was a new game or gizmo on the market.

Much as he hated to admit it, the fact alone that Vaughn had wanted to come along had turned him off on the idea of going to the store all together along with the courage the lanky alpha had built up hours before his attempts. Not that he hated his bro; oh no. He loved Vaughn like any good best friend would. But with the thought of actually pulling off a chance to be with the omega, who had captured his attention, put some major strain on his alpha instincts. Instincts that became hostile at the thought of his bro even getting close to the omega; that Vaughn was a threat. Even though, rationally, he knew that wasn't true, his endotype begged to differ.

Needless to say that his instincts didn't entertain the thought of having another tag along. They did not recognize pack members the way his rational mind did, and all alphas felt like a threat; wanting to take his intended away and leaving him growling at even considering it.

Fortunately, Vaughn had been distracted lately and it gave Rhys a chance to finally go back to the store the next week; all the while feeling very uneasy while thinking about his last encounter with Jack- yet excited all in one go.

Shaking the memory away and forcing a smile on his face, Rhys stood tall and stepped back inside the building to see the omega that had caught his eye, being screamed at by another alpha who was, no doubt, his boss, judging by the way he was dressed. Fighting back a growing growl forming in his throat at the alpha, Rhys kept back and just waited for him to leave, least he not only embarrass himself and the omega, but putting said omega in trouble- even more so- in the process.

Taking in the omegas expression, it was easy to tell that Jack was absolutely pissed at that moment. Hands clenched to the side, shoulders squared and teeth bared; He appeared to be ready for a fight yet but had somehow remained silent through the entire lecture by his superior taking. Whatever was being said, couldn't have been pleasant if the shake of rage that had taken over Jacks clenched fists.

When it looked like the talk was beginning to come to an end, Rhy slowly began to approach; eyes scanning the situation as he did so. By the time he had gotten even remotely close, Jack's boss had walked off, faced red and puffy but satisfied that his employee had been thoroughly reprimanded about.... whatever; leaving Jack to growl and lean against the wall with his arms crossed; body still shaking and him being unable to relieve his anger without risk of losing his job.

For a moment, the alpha second guessed his decision to return to the shop this day. Honestly, after seeing that, it seemed to be a bad time to want to visit and the omega didn't look to be in a good mood. Maybe Rhys should come back another day when the dangerous omega was in a better mood than he was currently.

Unfortunately, he didn't get the chance to even turn. Apparently, Jack had smelled Rhys nearby because he snapped his head over in Rhys' direction with the most pissed off sneer on his face that the lanky alpha had ever seen.

"The fuck you want, cupcake? I'm not in the mood for you, alpha." The comment caused Rhys to jerk in his startled and tense state; reaching behind his head to scratch an itch out of nervousness. Giving a weak and hesitant chuckle, Rhys found himself staring at anything but Jack in his attempt at avoiding eye contact. Maybe this had, truly, been a bad idea.

"I....Uh... What was that about?" He couldn't help but ask with an anxious shuffle in his posture; the omegas scent hitting him just as hard as it had been that one day. From where he stood, Rhys could barely make out a snarky snort from Jack as a response. At the sound and foolish hope his idiocy had alleviated any tension, Rhys had gained enough courage to look him in the eye once again, finally.

"Some asshole got mad because I yelled at him for trying to cop a feel, no big...." The grin on Jack's face was absolutely murderous, Glaring ahead of himself with dead and tired eyes that held a strange, yet, gleeful glimmer in them, as he spoke. "Maybe took a snap at his hand when it got too close. Maybe nearly ripped it off and sent him to the hospital too."

Mismatched eyes slid over to give the Alpha a sideway warning look, Jack licked his teeth mockingly with a cruel grin. "Should teach the man from getting handsy."

Giving a nervous gulp and a shaky laugh, Rhys brought up his robotic arm to rub at the back of his own head; suddenly feeling out of place and unsure what to do or say to that.

In the end, the alpha had settled on a quiet "O-oh..." before looking down at the floor. Maybe Vaughn had been right and finding another omega would have been a better and safer choice than this. in favor of gripping his arm instead of rubbing it.

"And don't think I didn't see your 'gift'. Had your stink all over it and wasn't very clever." Rhys' head shot up the moment he heard Jack speak again. Gazing to the Omega, he was frozen in place by the look sent his way.

"G-Gift?! I-I-er....How did you.....?" Stuttering like the baboon he felt like, the alpha hurried to clear his throat; offering a worried smile as he grabbed his other arm. "You like it?"

Looking back at the omega, the scowl he was forming had told Rhys that Jack, in fact, did not like it.

"I fucking hated it. And your smell was all over the damned thing. Don't leave me flowers."

Rhys blushed in shame; feeling a sting to his pride at having his gift rejected. Of course the man would hate it, Jack hadn't looked like the type who would like silly things like a flower- What was he thinking? Part of him had been mostly disappointed. Obviously he wasn't expecting an outright love confession but he didn't expect the omega to flat out yell at him for it. His gift hadn't been that bad, had it?

"I... I had hoped it would... be a good apology... for earlier." His face, still red from his shame, burned harder in that moment. Shoulders raised to hide his neck in the collar of his shirt, He heard another snort that was soon followed by the sound of the omegas strained and bitter laughter.

"An 'Apology'?" Jack grumbled noticeably; still giving off that bitter, hollow laugh that made chills go down Rhy's spine. "An 'apology'?!"

Pushing off the wall, Jack stormed up to Rhys faster than he had time to react and shoved him against the wall with his hand around the omega's neck so hard that the alpha was seeing stars from the back of his noggin hitting the hard wall; sounds of gasping customers behind the omega barely being heard over the ringing in his ears.

"You'd have to try a lot better than that to get my forgiveness you little shit!" Jack hissed in a low, dark tone. His eyes gleamed with a hidden fire as he held the terrified alpha against the wall, squeezing his neck hard enough to leave bruises and cut his air off to the point it was hard for him to be bordering on gasping. Jack hadn't even flinched when Rhys grabbed at his wrists in desperation.

Clawing at the Omega's hand, Rhys gasped and panted. He could easily break away from the grip. But he hadn't wanted the omega more pissed off and make a scene to get the older man fired. So instead, he asked with what little air he had in a gasp.

"I-I take it-" He took in a deep strangled breath of air. "That you don't get a lot of-" Another gasp. "Apologies?"

There was a flicker in Jack's eyes at that and shortly after that, he gave a spiteful chuckle. "Oh those I get plenty."

Letting go of the alpha, Jack stepped back a bit, watching Rhys fall to the floor with a deep gasp, breathing in as much air as he could. Peeking up from his hurtled form, Jack was practically hovering over him; expression neutral and dull as if he had been reliving past experiences- painful ones.

"I get plenty of 'apologies' from people like you.... alphas." The way Jack said 'alpha' sounded more like he was spitting acid.

Stepping away from the scrawny alpha, the omega began pacing, ignoring his job and the people he was supposed to be watching as he did so. Jack continued on despite no response from the alpha; as if Rhys wasn't worthy to utter a single word.

"Every day with you alphas. You see a little omega who you see is defenseless and fragile. You do something to piss him off, you try to make it up to him and when his back is turned, try to take advantage of him." Jack faced the gobsmacked alpha with a hateful scowl; jabbing a finger rudely down at Rhys.

"That's how it works. It's how it always is. But I won't fall for it, kiddo. So take your apology and shove it up your ass!"

"But I'm not like that!" Rhys exclaimed, surprising even himself with his sudden outburst. Blinking as he was sitting up from the floor, the alpha frowned, feeling offended at the accusation that was being thrown his way.

But deep down, he knew he shouldn't. Jack wasn't wrong. Most alphas did that to omegas in order to force a bond on them just so they could have a warm bed to come home to, despite the omega's wishes. It was sick and twisted and Rhys was one of few who hated that. But it was legal and those alphas get away with it all the time.

Jack on the other hand, hadn't looked phased at his outcry. Instead the omega just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night pumpkin. Be lucky I won't kill you.... yet." With that, he turned and went back to where he stood before Rhys had arrived. Watching the omega step away, Rhys stood on shakey legs; debating if he should leave.

But instead, ge, of course, couldn't just leave. The omega- the man, smelled intoxicating and he was beautiful. All he wanted was a chance, if not for a date then some kind of friendship. So, stupidly, once more walked over and stood front of Jack, making the omega blink with irritation.

“What the hell?” Snarled the omega; looking greatly displeased. “Wasn't that enough of a clue for you to beat it, princess? Or do I need to smack you around some more before my boss returns to screech at me again?!”

"Look," Rhys interrupted with a swallow, hands waving placatingly as he was nervously, doing his best to keep his composure and not run off with his proverbial tail between his legs. "I... I genuinely mean it. I am sorry about looking at you like that. You just took me by surprise."

Hearing Jack scoff in disbelief, the alpha nearly gave a defeated sigh. It wasn't much. But at least he had the man's attention. "I'm not trying to get in your pants or anything. I just want to talk. Honest. I really am sorry for acting like a knot head."

Jack raised a brow. That was the only thing that changed on his expression as he shifted to lean heavily against the wall.

"Oh really?" The older man growled. "You just wanted to talk. And just tell me what it is you wanted to 'talk' about?"

"Um, well..." Rhys stammered in surprise. Okay, Rhys hadn't expected the omega to hear him out. He had expected a growl, some yelling, even some more strangling. In his mind, he had thought that Jack would either try and kill him or force him away and out of the store while calling it harassment. But he wasn't complaining.

"Just.....Things?" He hated how the last bit came out as a question. “You know.... Life? How it's all going? Anything?”

"You don't sound all that confident, cupcake. Try again."

"I-Er..." Clearing his throat again, Rhys took a deep breath..... and almost regretted it as he was instantly bombed with Jack's scent. Letting a small cough in his fist, he barely managed to cover up his near choking on the smell.

"We could talk about.... anything really. The moon, our favorite movies...." Jack still hadn't changed his expression much. At least instead of "I'm going to kill all alphas" it changed to "Really?" with his bland look and raised brow.

Once more, his hand raised to scratch the back of his head. "M-maybe... ohhh..... Robotics....?"

Honestly, it was moments like this where Rhys wished he didn't suck at conversation. He really wished he didn't. The sudden silence that followed his comment. was so thick that he could hardly breath, shifting his weight from foot to foot as his hands played with some stray string on his shirt.

So far, he was being stared at like one would a dumb rock. The omega wasn't saying anything and for a moment, Rhys had been certain that he never would.

But then-

"Robotics? You know anything about building bots and shit?" Jack questioned, lowering his brow and pushing a little off the wall to the points he wasn't resting all his weight on it, lowering his arms as he stared at the alpha in front of him, slightly interested. "What's your name, kiddo?"

Rhys swore he could almost fall over at that point. Success!!

"I-M-My name is Rhys!" He stuttered, wincing at the lack of smoothness. Letting out a weak and nervous chuckle, he shifted his weight to stay on one of his feet. "And y-yeah. I'm a programmer for my company. I also help design and build things like bots and weapons...."

Jack's gaze hardened over him as his eyes flicked up and down Rhys' form as if either judging or assessing him. For a moment, Rhys thought he had made a mistake in confessing his job before a smirk appeared on Jack's face.

"Alright, reese's pieces. I have a day off tomorrow. Meet me here at three."

---

"OH MY GOD, BRO!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"Bro?! What is it?! What's going on?!" Vaughn screamed, hearing Rhy's yell. He had been on his workout bike in the other room when he heard Rhys scream as he slammed open the door and entering their shared apartment.

Thinking Rhys was in trouble, Vaughn's alpha's instincts had gone wild and without thinking someone he had rushed out of his room with a lamp and into the living area where Rhys was leaning against the, now shut, front door; only relaxing once he looked his best friend over for injuries and finding none other than the bruises on his neck.

"Bro what happened?! Where did you get those bruises?!"

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"Rhys! Are you listening to me?! Hey!"

"AHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Rhys!!"

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!"

SMACK

Vaughn had smacked Rhys, making the taller alpha snap out of it and rub his sore cheek, taking a deep breath as he held the door nob tightly in his hand.

"Thanks buddy...." He spoke to Vaughn, sliding down the door until he was sitting, placing his face in his hands.

"No problem, man." Vaughn slowly replied, looking down at Rhys before kneeling before him and putting a hand to Rhys' shoulder. "Dude, are you okay? What happened?"

Rhys let out a loud, strangled groan before mumbling something and glancing up to Vaughn. "I spoke to him. I spoke to Jack."

Vaughn, alarmed, backed away and sputtered, dropping the lamp with a clatter before crawling back to Rhys and shaking him by his shoulders.

"Are you crazy?! Do you want to die? How are you still alive after that?!" Vaughn's shakes were harder than he had meant them but they hadn't hurt. What did hurt was the back of Rhys' head hitting the door he was leaning on. Brushing Vaughn's hands away, he took a deep shuddering breath.

"So.... It turns out that... I might.. have gotten... a date with him....?" the taller alpha admitted, smiling nervously. "I-I think so. At least." He finished, playing with his fingers.

Vaughn just stared at him in horror before shaking his head. "Dude.... you are dead..."

Chapter Text

"So when you die, can I have your sock collection?" Vaughn asked casually, Grinning as he was leaning against Rhys' bedroom door frame with his arms crossed. Of course, Rhys knew that he had been joking but he knew that his bro couldn't help but be worried for Rhys' safety.

Internally, Vaughn had been shaking at the fact that Rhys was meeting the most dangerous omega in the world- or at the very least, their little town and the whole thing had the smaller alpha all the more agitated since Rhys told him about it. And while keeping that in mind, Rhys had done his best to reassure him that everything would be alright.

Vaughn had lost a lot of sleep just by thinking of all the ways that the upcoming day could go wrong; the smaller alpha had shared his worries to his bro. How, he worried that he would find Rhy's body in a river or a ditch somewhere. Even now as he stood in front of his best friend's room and watching him figure out what outfit to wear for his supposed date with the known alpha killer Handsome Jack.

While Rhys himself, hadn't known or looked into the rumors, they all seemed strongly misconstrued and spread out of fear. Unfair, Rhys had thought. Unfair to the omega in question but was it enough to really outright ignore? Jack seemed to be somewhat aware of them and apparently did nothing to stop them from growing or spreading but that just made Rhy believe the guy allowed them to protect himself.

Dropping his one and only tuxedo to the floor, Rhys gave Vaughn the most deadpanned expression that he had ever managed in his whole life while swallowing down the growing anxiety.

"Hardy har har." Rhys had managed to blandly grumble before turning away from his packmate and to his full body mirror attached to his wardrobe door. "Sure, make fun of my expense. You're still not getting my socks."

Brushing the fallen tuxedo to the side with a floor, he reached back in; pulling out a blue dress shirt from the closet and held it against himself in the mirror. Better, but still looked too fancy for what potential places that Jack may drag him to. For a second opinion, he glanced at Vaughn; getting a 'meh' hand gesture in return, causing Rhys to sigh and let the shirt dangle to his side, reaching back into the wardrobe.

"And no you won't get any of my trust funds. We talked about this." Rhys continued as he pulled out a yellow top with black stripes diagonally crossing the front. Eyeing his bro, he gave him a knowing look, before his friend could even get another word; a smirk plastered loosely on his face to show he was joking.

Huffing and rolling his eyes, Vaughn pushed off the door frame to scratch the back of his neck as Rhys resumed his position in front of the mirror, holding the newest shirt to his chin. Spying his bro taking in the sight with a judging rub of his chin, Rhys froze to let his packmate access his picked attire.

"Oh no, how could I possibly afford that limo now." He could hear Vaughn joke from behind him. Snorting back a chuckle, the lanky alpha caught Vaughns sight in the mirror; watching his bro raising a brow at the other alpha's fashion choice.

"Are you going to meet up with him for a hookup or take him to prom, bro?" at his friend's question, Rhys groaned and let the yellow shirt drop to the floor to meet with the tuxedo and dress shirt.

"I don't know what to wear Vaughn. I'm not exactly the brightest when it comes to what counts as a date." Sour look on his face and arms crossing, Rhys brought a hand to his face; huffing at how ridiculous he must look right now. Sasha had been easy when it came to dressing for their dates. She had always made it known before hand of all the places they were to go and got mad if Rhys planned any of them.

With Jack, there was NO way of knowing and that was scary. Rhys could dress for a fancy dinner date and end up at a monster truck rally, for all he knew.

By some miracle, Vaughn seemed to sense Rhy's distress and came up to him with a pat on his shoulder; adjusting his glasses as he peered both in the closet and the several discarded garments around their feet.

"Well, I'm not an expert, bro. But if I had to guess-" Bending down, Vaughn picked up one of the previously dropped yellow shirt and a pair of black dress pants before handing them back to Rhys, who took it instantly out of instinct.

"-I'd say you would want to wear something like this to an unknown date. You want to look nice but not overdressed. Dress to impress that doesn't make it look like you're total knothead, right?" The small alpha asked, giving Rhys a small thumbs up. Seeing Rhys slowly nod as if he was waiting for some sort of punchline; the lanky alpha brought the clothes up to himself to compare and it did look nice. Half casual, half dressy.

Rolling his eyes again, Vaughn shoved away from the wardrobe and hurried to collect the scattered clothes; promptly dropping them into Rhys' hamper, hangers and all, before chiming out a quick: "So what are you waiting for? Get dressed. He's not going to wait on you forever. I know I wouldn't."

Then, with a small flourish, Vaughn turned and left the room; closing the door on his way out to allow Rhys his privacy.

And dress Rhys did. When he was fully in front of his mirror again; hair brushed and teeth cleaned, he had to admit that his bro was right. It did look nice. Moments like that, made Rhys glad Vaughn was his best friend and packmate. Vaughn had always been the one between the two that kept a somewhat level head and was more than happy to help him and keep him steady despite Rhys' and Yvette's stubborn natures.

There was just one thing that was missing. Opening the wardrobe, he pulled out old reliable.

--

Once dressed, he stepped out of his bedroom and made his way into the living room to gather his keys, when Vaughn stopped him, instantly frowning.

"Lose the tie, bro." Vaughn demanded, crossing his arms in disapproval and shaking his head. "That's too dressy. And untuck your shirt. If this is a date, you can always tuck it back in but we have no idea if it is."

Acting as he was speaking, Vaughn was quick to pull Rhys' shirt from his pants and snatched off the tie despite Rhys' attempts at stopping him. The light swatting was met with slightly harsher swats in return as his packmate stepped away with his trophy in hand.

"I like my ties." Rhys grumbled, reaching forward with a flash and snatching the tie back quickly, but didn't bother to put it back on. Instead he tossed it on the back of the couch.

Vaughn, giving a long sigh, let his empty hand flop back to his side. “I know you do, bro. But that's the thing. Only you do. What would look really good on you would be a less restrictive top. Leave a button or two open. Maybe a t-shirt, ya know. Show off those tattoos.”

Well.... Rhys had no retort and ended up resting his hands on his hips. "Anything about me? What about my hair, Mr. Fashion? Think I need to change that too?"

The question was more or less sarcastic and his bro knew that too. And for a moment, he thought that said bro, might have taken his verbal jabbing the wrong way, up until he heard Vaughn give a soft chuckle; making the taller alpha smile in relief.

"No bro. Your traditional hair style is enough. Just do it like you do every day. Maybe a little less gel though?" The smaller alpha suggested with a pinch of his fingers to emphasize his meaning; only to earn an eye roll from Rhys. Turning to the coffee table where he had left his keys in a panic over the events, he had barely caught Vaughn sneaking off to grab a package that Yvette had left them a while ago.

Their other friend was always busy and rarely had time to spend with them unless it was her lunch or days off. Sometimes if they were lucky, they'd catch her just as she was leaving for work or heading there. The sounds of ripping in the other room, Rhys stood and watched as Vaughn pulled out two small nose spray bottles and set one on the table before him; watching the other alpha with an adjustment of his glasses.

"What's this?" Rhys asked in his confusion; bending over and picking it up to examine the bottle brought to him. It was small and just fit in the palm of his hand At first, he had thought it was eye drops but the top looked more like a nasal covering. Looking on the back, he could barely ready the label and the usage. Peering back at his packmate, The money man fixed his glasses with a grin.

"Nasal blockers, Bro. For alphas." Informed Vaughn, giving a small casual shrug. "Yvette gave them to us both as a gag gift a while back, not thinking we'd actually need it. Jokes on her, huh?”

Fixing his glasses, Vaughn continued. “But I figured that it'll make Jack's scent bearable to you since you seem to basically get scent drunk on him. Might also make him less angry with you until you get used to his scent."

Brows shooting up, Rhys beamed; stuffing the bottle in his pocket and pulling his bro into a tight embrace. "Oh. Thanks bro. I could use this."

Vaughn, who looked pretty proud of himself returned the hug, only breaking it after a few minutes to frown; going completely serious. "But use that wisely. Those things are hard to get a hold of and are surprisingly expensive. Only use it if absolutely necessary. We can't afford a constant flow of those things."

And secretly both of them had hoped they wouldn't need a constant flow of the spray. If Rhys did somehow manage to end up with Jack, even Vaughn wasn't sure he could handle the way the omega smelled. Rhys wasn't the only one affected by Handsome Jack's scent but unlike his friend, Vaughn knew better than to get close to the omega after hearing the story of an alpha named Namayaka floating down a stream with his neck being broken in half and covered in blood and bruises.

Not seeing his friend's discomfort, Rhys gave Vaughn a weak grin, feeling just how much depended on this night. "Thanks Vaughn. You and Yvette are the best."

"No problem bro. Just make sure you come back in one piece, okay?" Turning his wrist, Vaughn couldn't help but laugh quietly. "And bro. You're five minutes late."

"Shit!!"

---

Rhys hadn't meant to speed all the way to the store but he did. Having also sped through three red lights and several missed lanes; he was lucky that he hadn't crashed or gotten chased by the cops from doing all of that. So focused on being there on time, the alpha chided himself on being careful. He couldn't afford anyone getting hurt or ending up behind bars. Not when he was so close to this.

It could have been a real date or not. There was too much up in the air. But even if Jack had just been messing with him and wasn't even there, Rhys at least wanted to show that he was committed and willing to take the whole thing seriously.

Quickly turning into the stores parking lot, he turned into the closest space he could find and shut off the car; all but bolting inside once the car was locked.

At first he didn't see the omega in the crowed of people, but he smelt him clear as day. Obviously, how could he not when the man worked there; but this scent was fresh, strong and easy to follow. Quickly taking the spray out and using it, the scent dampened to a manageable level as he repocketed it.

Whys had to really thank his friends for that. The gift was a life saver and thanks to it, he didn't feel the uncontrollable lust that normally came with Jacks intoxicating scent and made following it bearable as he soon found the man in question, sitting in a restaurant that was partnered with the store.

When Rhys found him, he caught sight of the omega from behind; getting a good view from the angle. Jack was sitting on one of the tall chairs; one leg bouncing almost bored as he leaned on the table he was at; drinking a chocolate milkshake and watching something on his phone, earbuds in to ignore any annoyances that might want to come near him. And as Rhys drew closer, he could see the outfit the omega wore; hoping to gauge what kind of day this would be, based on it.

To the alphas relief, Jack hadn't appeared to be ready for any kind of monster truck rally or the like. He looked rather nice. Only a little dressed up; the omega wore a nice yellow button up with a pair of faded jeans and black converse shoes. And based off his body language, Jack hadn't even noticed Rhys approaching just yet; too focused on what he had been watching and leaching off the restaurant's wifi.

It was the most beautiful thing the scrawny alpha had ever seen. Unable to keep his eyes from straying over Jack's toned form; from his squared, muscled shoulders to his slightly rounded hips. It almost made him purr out loud had Rhys not caught himself and cleared his throat with embarrassment over his own actions.

Male omegas, unlike alpha or betas, often had a more... bowl like shape to their hips, rather than the traditional square shape like most non omega males have. Unlike males, the females lacked any difference in their physicality and blood samples of all newborns were to be made as to not make any mistakes on naming. It was also, a way to discover, early, if a baby was an omega male or a female.

But, the slightly rounded hips were all that gave Jack endotype away; being the only thing that didn't scream masculinity on the man. Not that it made any difference. Had the man been a beta or an alpha, Rhys probably would still be chasing him. Something about the guy seemed to pull him in like a magnet.

Shaking his head and clearing the fog from his head, Rhys straightened up and fully into the restaurant; having not realized that he had stopped in place to admire the omega. Reaching the table where Jack lounged at; Rhys plopped in the seat across from the omega and causing Jack looked up from his phone to gaze at Rhys almost in annoyance.

"About time you got here, cupcake." Jack had gripped with a bit of humor in his tone as he plucked the earbuds from his ears. "Finished picturing me naked yet or do you need more time to get it out of your system?"

Shit, caught. Of course Jack would be able to feel eyes on him even thought he was watching something on his phone! Rhys could only blush and squirm down into his seat at the accusation; only jumping when Jack shot up out of his own seat with the phone and earbuds vanishing into his pocket.

"Alright, pumpkin. Come on. Got a busy day today- chop chop." Snapping his fingers, Jack brushed past the seated Rhys as he made his way out of the restaurant, not even looking back to see if the alpha was following him.

Rhys, at first, sat there dumbly before shaking his head clear and got up, chasing after the omega until he was right at his heels. "I-uh... We do?"

His question got Jack to pause at the entrance; nearly making the alpha run into him, before turning and looking back at Rhys with a raised brow in exasperation.

"Yes we do, dum dum. Have the whole day planned out. You wanted to go on this thing and I'm bored. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.” And without waiting for another response, Jack continued onward; shoving a shopper out of his way and making her fall over with a cry. “Now come on. You're driving."

Rhys, quickly giving the fallen beta an apology before rushing to catch back up with Jack; he was quick to meet up and matching the older man's speed once more with some difficulty. Looking around as they headed for the store's exit, he cleared his throat. "So, uh... the day is planned... Um... Where are we going?"

Jack, with a chuckle, glanced back at Rhys in smug amusement; pushing over another person in his way.

"YOU are taking me out to dinner then WE will go see a movie." The omega declared, throwing a toothy smirk the alphas way. "Sound good, dum dum?"

Turning back to stare forward after Rhys' muted nod, the omega hadn't spotted the awestruck gaze in the alphas doe wide eyes. But unlike Jack, Rhys hadn't missed the slightly off look Jack gave him before the expression vanished quicker than it had appeared. Out into the parking lot, omega was busying himself with examining at all the cars and making a game at trying to figure out which one was the alphas.

To say that Jack was surprised at how easily the alpha gave into his demands right then and there was a new and refreshing thing to him. Normally when omegas made any decisions, statements, or demands like he did, the alphas would waste no time in beating the omega or pulling them away for "punishment". The practice was very common and legal. Omega misbehaves, they must be dealt with like spoiled children. Seen and not heard. But this.... This was the most enjoyable thing he had ever experienced and he had to say, he hoped it would last. Stopping for a moment, Jack turned back to the mismatched hazel and blue wide eyes watching him, not with fear, but admiration. As uncomfortably new this was, the omega found he rather liked to be in control, especially over an alpha. This alpha.

This was interesting.

"Hey, kiddo. Where's your car?" Jacks question seemed to snap Rhys from his thoughts and the alpha shook his head.

"Oh-uh. This way." Rhys, without thinking, went to grab at Jack's arm as if to lead him like he normally did with Vaughn or Sasha, but stopped when Jack gave his disapproval glare and backed a little out of reach. Noticing this, Rhys blushed in shame and scratched the back of his neck; dropping the offending arm. "Sorry. This way."

Then he stepped away, allowing Jack to follow without escort to the car he shared with Vaughn. Reaching the drivers side of the car, Rhys had debated if he should open the other door to be polite but one sneer being sent his way had him doubting the omega would appreciate it.

Remote in hand, he had only just gotten the doors unlocked when he heard a low whistle. Looking up once more, he found Jack suddenly at the passenger, staring at the car, looking a little impressed; one hand reached out as if he wanted to touch it, only to retract the limb as if burned.

"A Buick? Damn kiddo. I love Buicks. Especially the old models. All round compared to the pointy shapes." The praise to his car nearly had the alpha purring, but it was a small distraction of the reaction Jack had only a second ago.

But Rhys did keep that little tidbit of information in the back of his head with a small smile on his face. So Jack liked Cars that had rounded edges. Good to know.

"Thank you. I saved up for this a while ago." Rhys puffed a little with pride; tilting his head and bit his lip as he watched Jack reach out again with both hands this time; hovering them over the car and twitching that familiar way Rhys got when he wanted to tinker with a machine. "You can touch it, you know."

The alpha watched as Jacks head shot up to send him a glare.

"I don't need your permission!" Huffing like a spoiled child, Jacks expression seemed to soften as he finally got to place his palms on the hood of the car; His eyes trailing over the vehicle with a slow and fascinated gaze, like he wanted to take it apart and put it back together again. But that look of wonder faded into a guarded bravado and he yanked his hands away; watching Rhys with a cleared throat, much to the alphas mild disappointment.

“Well, cupcake, at least you weren't hired for your looks, I'm betting.” The smirk looked fake as the omega climb in the car' passenger seat, soon joined by Rhys in the drivers. Looking around the car, Jack seemed to be taking everything in; humming in approval as he caught sight of the wood design on the inside interior and uttering a small "Nice." as he buckled his seat belt.

Clicking his own belt in place, Rhys backed out of the parking space, keeping a good eye so he didn't hit anyone, unlike the recklessness that happened earlier. "So where's this place you had picked out?"

Giving a smirk, Jack relaxed in his seat; both hands behind his head as he lounged. "I'll point you the way, Rhysie. Just drive."

---

The restaurant Jack had picked to eat at was far from fancy but at least it wasn't a fast food place like he had thought when they got to the territory that Rhys was far from familiar with. It was the first time being over there and wasn't exactly the safest but was decent, at least.

Getting out of the car, both of them were bombarded with the heat. Summer and the hottest of the season thus far, the alpha felt like he was melting, unlike Jack, who appeared unbothered as they made their way to the building.

Once inside, Rhys soundly gave a sigh of relief when he felt the A/C smack them in the face. Even Jack seemed to visibly show that the cool air was a relief, just from the sag of his shoulders.

Finding a table was quick and was done so without a word as they both silently sat there, looking at their menus while Jack played with a small creamer cup in one hand. From the looks of it, the place mostly had pasta or chicken dishes with a few vegan options. He would have to bring Vaughn here. His bro would love it.

Looking up every once in a while at the omega from his menu, Rhys couldn't help but smile to himself, growing more and more nervous. The silence was getting to him and Jack didn't seem to want to start off any sort of conversation; just sat there, playing with the creamer and closing the menu after pretending to browse it.

It wasn't until he watched the omega boldly open a creamer and drink the liquid in it- gross. That was probably there for a while; did Rhys quickly figure out his order and closed the menu, setting it on the table.

So, this was going nowhere fast and it was clear that the alpha would have to be the one to start it. Taking a breather, Rhys took a quick look at the other patrons and a passing waitress, absentmindedly. A few people were looking their way, although it could just be because they had caught Jacks natural scent. It wasn't that uncommon to see an alpha and omega out together, but usually, it was a bonded pair.

Rhys, finding his courage, cleared his throat and glanced around casually once more before turning back to the other man.

"So.... Uh..." He cleared his throat again, making Jack look back up at him; lapping the cream from his mouth and momentarily flustering the alpha, unintentionally. "Did-Ah.... You want to talk?... Or something?"

Brow raised, Jack gave a shrug, smirking coyly before responding to him. "I don't know. You tell me. You're the one who wanted to talk in the first place, remember?"

"B-but you're the one-" Rhys stopped his sentence with a sigh, not willing to argue with the omega and instead, chose to take a deep calming breath. "Alright. Fair enough...."

He opened his eyes, not realizing he had closed them.

"You...." He paused, thinking. What could they talk about? To be blunt about it, Rhys was never good with conversation. The sudden date in itself was a surprise and he hadn't prepared anything at all to talk about in the slightest. This had all just kind of fallen onto his lap.

But, if he was going over his past interactions with the older man, it gave Rhys and idea on what he could start with and he smiled weakly.

"Do you want to hear about my arm?" He asked while raising his robotic arm and instantly noticing the way Jack's eyes seemed to light up and follow its movements with his heterochromia eyes in interest. Gotcha. Jack stopped tapping the now empty liquid creamer cup; knocking it onto the floor before resting his head in his folded hands, crossing his fingers to entwine with each other in his fascination.

"I do love a good story, Rhysie." Jack answered with a purr, eyes going up to lock with Rhys' and watching the way the alpha shuddered gleefully at it.

Giving a soft laugh, Rhys lowered his arm onto the table, careful not to damage the wood.

“Uh... Do you remember when I told you that I worked at Hyperion in the robotics and weapons division?” At Jacks silent gaze and slow now, the alpha resumed, nervously. “Ah... Er... Well I was working on this prototype gun that was supposed to be well off into production by now, when it exploded in my face.”

Jack, giving a snort, was grinning now; shoulders shaking from an unheard laugh.

“Geeze, kitten, of all the things, you were stupid enough to get blown up by a gun that wasn't even supposed to have the capability to do that.” Wiping an unshed tear from his eye, the omega gave a strangled cackle. “Why didn't you work on it through the protective glove and casings that's provided for shit like that. They have it for elementals. You're lucky it wasn't corrosive.”

Face heating, the alpha gave a shaky laugh; scratching his cheek with one finger, nervously. “Ah-ha... Yeah, I got an earful from my boss because of that, when I returned.... But I survived and the company even paid for my prosthetics so I can't really-....”

Something clicked in his head and he blinked stupidly at Jack, who seemed to be lost in his own amusement.

“How.... could you even know about all of that?? That stuff isn't common knowledge.”

That sobered Jack instantly and Rhys got to watch the amused expression on the omegas face, vanish in a matter of seconds.

Jack, glancing away with a sour look, tapped his fingers onto the table in anger. “I have some experience in robotics and shit like that. Don't look into it too hard, cupcake.”

“Enough to make improvement if you got the chance?”

Rhys, watching Jacks eyes slide over to the alphas robotics arm for a minute before tearing them away, the omega's mouth quirked ever so slightly.

“Your arm can support a larger battery core than what they told you it could. Just need to take out the inward casings. I'm thinking maybe a five-eighty would fit. And you need to be cleaning the joints every few weeks, otherwise that twitching in your fingers will get worse. It's wires and dust getting pinched and jammed. Might have a broken casing keeping it all together.”

Looking to his arm, Rhys was astounded that the omega could tell that just by looking. That was stuff that he hadn't even told Vaughn about nor did his bro even know that Rhys needed to do repairs.

“That's amazing...You can tell all that just by looking at it? You sounded like you were the one who designed it or something.” the alpha finally uttered, catching the omega off guard. Jack, actually giving a smile, if a bitter, one, twitched slightly at the final statement of that sentence. “Why didn't you apply to Hyperion or some other company? You seem to really know what you're doing, think of all the things you can do there!”

Throughout speaking, Rhys could only watch as the omega stared at him as if the alpha was playing some kind of trick. But somewhere halfway through his statement, Jack's expression morphed into that as bewilderment; staring at the alpha as if seeing him for the first time, only to quickly shake it off with a shrug.

"I'm an omega, Rhysie.” Jack uttered, coldly with another shrug; moving to toy with the sugar packets. “In case it escaped your notice, Omega's aren't super really allowed to work. We're allowed grunt possessions if we're lucky. Heck, I was lucky to even land that shitty job. If it wasn't for my brother then I would have landed on my ass out somewhere, stealing just to get a meal or spreading my legs just for money."

Ah... right... Rhys had forgotten that for a minute. Wincing at his own stupidity, he scrambled for any way to change the mood and topic, latching onto the first thing that came to his mind. "You have a brother?"

Jack nodded in boredom as he placed his chin in one hand. From the body language, he had got asked that a lot.

"Yeah. Timothy. Or Tim-Tams as I called him. He's my twin. Only difference is, he was lucky to be born a beta." The words were sour to Jack and his face showed Rhys that much. The omega was glaring at Rhys now, or rather, through him. The alpha suppose it had to do with his brother that was making him upset.

“Hello! Can I take your orders?”

Before Rhys could get another word out, their waitress had finally come over perky and sounding sweet, she kept her eyes on Rhys and Rhys only. Even when Jack bitterly flicked the sugar packet at her hip, she had spared the omega only a glance before looking to Rhys once more, waiting. The exchange was.... awkward to say the least.

He should have known this would happened, but it never occurred to him that Jack would be outright ignored. Omegas tended to be considered an alphas property. This bothered Rhys and it had upset him more to know that she wouldn't even look at Jack in the least.

“Ugh....” sliding the menu at her with his robotic hand, his apatite had gone out the window. But he wasn't about to make it Jack problem. “Number seven, please....”

Matching Jack with his own head in his hand, Rhys watched her write the order down, look to Jack for a second and turn back to Rhys with that annoying grin of hers.

“And what will your omega be eating today?”

Okay, what the hell! Taking second hand satisfaction as Jack sneered hatefully at her and growled threateningly under his breath, causing her to flinch away; the alpha also, smirked angrily her way.

"He's not 'My omega'. Why don't you ask him instead of me? It's not like I can read his mind." Rhys liked to say Jack was impressed but he couldn't see past the blank, hardened stare that the omega was giving the table. It at least was worth it to see the female alpha before them gaping at him as if he had smacked her or called her mother was a llama.

“I-I.. Uh-uhmm.... S-sure....” It looked like it pained her to give Jack the time of day and Jack, taking great satisfaction at that, smirked as he flipped his menu open ever so slightly and tap on one of the pictures.

“Number nine. Better not be tainted with, sweetheart. Unless you want my alpha to come for you. Eating for two you know. Got that, babydoll?” quick as a flash, Jack slammed the menu closed and jammed it at her, making the waitress squeak and taking it.

“Yes, It'll be on its way!!” Then rushing off, accidently leaving Rhys' menu in her efforts to escape.

It was a heartbeat.... maybe two, when both of them looked to each other then broke down into strangled snickers from where they sat.

“Oh god, Jack.” Rhys spoke through wheezes. “I am never going to be able to come here ever again. She was mortified....!!”

Jack, with a genuine grin on his face and howling despite the nasty looks he was getting, rubbed at his face again to remove any shed tears from how loud he was laughing.

“Bitch deserved it!” The omega exclaimed after a few more belts of laughter. “Just my every day. Stupid of her to think I would actually be pregnant right now, hmm? Especially after you told her that I wasn't yours.”

The wink the omega sent him had Rhys practically floundering; face heating.

“I-uh-”

“Of course, I'm no ones! If anything, it would be the other way around.” Scoffing, Jack ripped open a sugar packet and sprinkled it through the crack between the table and the wall. “No one owns me.”

Rhys, for his part, Wiseley had nothing to say to that. Instead, he could only watch the omega with a new fondness forming in his chest.

The food, when it eventually got there, was good and untainted, luckily. Rhys had gotten a chicken meal while Jack ended up with a salad in which he didn't actually finish, claiming that the bitch had ruined his appetite. But when Rhys offered to swap, the omega hadn't hesitated, leaving Rhys to finish the small salad.

Looking at the left menu, the number nine was actually a pasta dish. They had given Jack the wrong meal on purpose and the omega clearly didn't want to deal with it, so Rhys said nothing.

When Jack wasn't looking, Rhys gave a bad rating and poor review. It was small revenge for the omegas sake but it was something.

Finishing his drink, the alpha looked over to see the omega pull out his wallet; only to set his drink out and hurried to voice his concern. "No, no. Let me get the bill. Like you said. I was taking you out."

Raising from his seat, Rhys went to grab his own wallet when Jack hissed and smacked him with a folded napkin; stopping him. Snarling, Jack glared at him, pulling money out.

"And I changed my mind, I'm the one paying. You sit your tiny alpha ass down and wait for me to get back." Leaving no room to argue, Jack got up and stormed off to pay for the meal, leaving the alpha to his own decives. Sighing, Rhys sat back down in his seat, swirling his Dr. Pepper with his straw while keeping an eye on Jack the second he both saw and heard the omega arguing with one of the workers.

Occasionally he would see them point at Rhys, barely able to make out the high pitch mocking tone as they spoke to Jack, who looked barely able to contain himself as he slammed the money on the counter and grab the receipt and storm back to the table.

Standing, Rhys worriedly bit his lip.

"What happened?" He questioned as Jack grabbed his sweater that he had taken off earlier and, to Rhys' horror, a couple liquid creamers, slurping them down before slamming the plastic cups on the table.

However, this anger he was seeing wasn't rational. Glancing back to the counter where the cashier finally took the money Jack left, to count; Rhys turned back to the omega.

"What did they say, Jack?" the alpha's own eyes hardened frowning deeply as his eyes quickly glanced to the counter again; watching ad the betas and alphas caught his eye as they who they pissed a protective alpha off.

"Forget those assholes. Let's go." The omega all but growled out as he pushed over Rhys' drink, making it spill onto the floor.

Anger fading as he mourned his poor drink that didn't hurt anyone, Rhys bit his lip again; reaching into his pocket as he went to pull his wallet out. "At least let me tip."

"Don't bother. Bad service gets no tip."

Rhys proudly stuffed his wallet back in his pocket without complaint.

---

"Does that happen often?" They hadn't stepped out of the restaurant for more than five minutes when Rhys dared to ask; leaning on his car with the omega right beside him. Jack hadn't said anything once they got out into the hot world.

With a jerky nod and a murderous look on his face, the omega growled with a slight redness on his cheek. Frowning again, Rhys, placed his hand to his face, he bit at his thumb. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Jack snapped, looking over at Rhys while crossing his arms. "You didn't do anything wrong. It was them. And guess what. It will happen everywhere I go. So expect it to happen all day today."

The omega had stepped away to start pacing, not glancing to the alpha once as he did so.

Looking down, the alpha continued to bite his own thumb until it was nearly bleeding, mumbling. "It's not fair. You're human too. Why do they do that to omegas?"

Obviously hearing that, Jack snorted, going back to Rhys' side to lean on the car as well. "Why do they still treat women like shit? Omegas and woman. Many would rather have them barefoot and pregnant at home than working. Even in this day and age."

"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard." Rhys stated, giving the omega a deadpanned expression, making the omega laugh when he saw it.

"I know, Kiddo. But that's how it is." Turning his head away, Jack starts laughing uncontrollably before glancing back at Rhys. "But can you imagine it? ME? Pregnant and barefoot?"

"Yes." Rhys wanted to say. But then again, he could also see Jack running a company as a CEO. But maybe that was just his brain thinking. Either way, what little he knew about the omega always resulted in him and Rhys together; which in a way could also be the alpha part of his brain on his potential mate.

"Because I sure as hell can't." Jack continued, not realizing Rhys' dreamy expression at imagining what Jack would look like, round with child and still giving people hell. "I mean, don't get me wrong, cupcake. I want kids but at MY time with who I chose."

Smiling encouragingly, the alpha couldn't help but give a soft nod. "That I believe. You're no pushover."

Jack only hummed in agreement before they both went silent again. Looking over the omega's features, he sighed, still smiling.

"So......." catching the omega's attention with one word, he continued. "About the movie....."

"Forget it." Jack sighed, using his thumb to pick dirt from under his nails. "I don't feel like dealing with people after that. They day was already ruined now that I made a fool of myself."

"It wasn't your fault." Rhys mused gently; turning his head to stare at the ground and kicking a small rock, earning a raised brow from the older man. Blushing when he glanced back up and noticed, Rhys cleared his throat.

"I-I mean... You didn't make a fool out of yourself. They insulted you and.... d-degraded you... It wasn't right...." Looking down, he scratched the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact with the intimidating omega. Another silence fell between them and Rhys continued.

"Want to watch a movie at my place then?" Seeing Jack's eyes start to narrow, he quickly waved his hands in front of his face, fearfully. "No funny business. I can sit on the floor and you take the couch. It's just that..."

Glancing away once more, Rhys blushes again. "A movie does sound nice and.... Maybe it'll.... cheer you up? You know- after this disaster."

He winces and clenches his eyes, waiting for Jack to start yelling when instead he felt a hand rub his head and heard a chuckle.

"Alright kiddo. I can try that." Opening his eyes, Rhys smiled at the response. Maybe the omega was starting to trust him after all?

"But if you try anything, I will kill you." Maybe not. How Jack managed to keep a smile on his face and tone so light like a butterfly, he'd never know. At least it was an improvement.

Giving a nervous smile, the alpha nodded quickly and replied with a simple breathy: "No problem."

"That'a boy!" Then Jack patted his head before pulling his hand away and climbed into the passenger seat.

Rhys quickly ran to the drivers seat before pausing to eye Jack. "What did they say anyway?" He frowned curiously. Seeing Jacks confused expression, he cleared his throat in his hand. "The waitresses?"

He could see the recognition on Jack's face as he smirked. "They asked when the baby was due."

Rhys hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.

Chapter Text

“Holy shit, are you serious? THIS is what I have to pick from?” Tone mocking yet full of amusement at the same time, Jack was currently in Rhys and Vaughns living room, crouched down in front of their dvd shelves and going through their selections whiles Rhys got the player ready. The alpha had, at first, suggested streaming a movie, in which the omega scoffed and waved him off; heading straight for the movies onto the side. And, being the cinema geeks that he and Vaughn were, had a lot of movies.

And after how dinner earlier turned out, Rhys couldn't have been more grateful that his bro wasn't here and instead, was at work when they arrived. Jack, of course, upon smelling his bros scent when they had entered and had noticeable tensed, not relaxing once, even now, though he seemed to be playing it off.

“I mean, I could get better shit when I'm asleep, kitten.”

Listening to the omega rag on his choice of movies, Rhys simply kept silent and let the man tear him down as the alpha took a seat on the couch and waited for the man to make a decision. Mindlessly, his eyes fell upon the kitchen island behind the couch and the alpha debated whether or not to make some popcorn. One glance to the omega and Rhys was up, making his way to the kitchen once he was sure that Jack would be there a while.

Difficult decisions took time, you know.

Shoes at the door and socks slipping him along the linoleum flooring, the kitchen and living room were both smelling of popcorn and quickly overwhelming the scent of alpha completely. If anything, even if Jack didn't eat any, this might have been a way to calm his nerves, even if was for a little while.

“Hey, where's that weirdly buff guy that apparently stinks up the place with you? Sort of figured he'd be here with us.”

Bowl in hand and ready to pour the snack, Rhys snapped his head to the island counter where Jack was leaning against it with a dvd under one hand. Cocky smirk on his face, the omega rested his head in a hand; awaiting a response.

“Uh... Well, Vaughn works a lot.” Rhys replied, popping the bag open and filling the bowl, he slides the now filled glass onto the counter and over to Jack. “So chances are, he's in the office doing boring paperwork.”

Sniffing through his nose, the omega wasn't impressed and grabbed a piece of popcorn, popping it into his mouth.

“Yeah, boring nerd stuff.” Although Rhys didn't agree with the 'nerd' part, at least Jack had agreed with him on the boring bit. “Anyway, your selection is garbage but I do sort of want to see this one. Never had a chance to before.”

Waiting until Jack took his hand off the cover and taking a bite of his own piece of popcorn, Rhys picked up the movie of choice and nearly choked on his buttery piece.

Out of all the movies Jack had to pick, he never suspected that it would be the final Trolls movie. The alpha had taken the omega to be more of a horror or suspense kind of guy, not this. Rhys hadn't fully remembered buying it but he knew that he and Sasha got high one time and saw it in the store. Obviously, the colors and state of mind ended up with them bringing it back to the apartment where it sat unopened and abandoned for a year or two.

Honestly, looking at it made him think of his Ex and he really hadn't wanted her taking up his mind. Sasha was still a sore subject and the dvd being one of the things linking to her made his stomach twist into knots. But.... Looking back up at Jack, who simply raised an impatient brow his way.

Rhys would make an exception. He really wanted this to work between them and any chance of them getting together, he would take. Plus, the omega had a really bad day so if this cheered him up then fine. He can handle a ridiculous movie like this.

“Alright, sounds good.” The alpha agreed; feeling his stomach knot begin to flutter at the pleased smirk on the omegas face.

“That's what I like to hear, Rhysie.” Grabbing the bowl, the other man made his way to the couch; flopping on it like he owned it. “Pop it in and lets get this day started.”

And with that, the Trolls movie became his favorite movie when he actually got to hear a genuine laugh from the omega for the first time.

--

They never went out, anywhere, after that, but that didn't mean that Jack had outright bailed on Rhys. After forcing his number in the alphas phone, he practically threatened him to keep in contact. And lounging on Rhys' couch with Jack had become their thing for the past three weeks- something the alpha hadn't been expecting in the slightest. He supposed that he had done something on that first date that kept the omegas interest; although what, he didn't know.

The 'lounge dates', as Vaughn jokingly called them when Rhys told him about them, was always when Vaughn, himself, was out of the apartment and easier for Jack to slowly get used to Rhys' packmates smell; and visa versa. Even Vaughn, when he returned home hours after the omega left, seemed to be slightly on edge; Jacks own scent fogging his mind with how thick and recent it was.

Turns out that nasal spray will be a constant use, much to their despair.

But, in a way, having the omega spend his time there was better for everyone. It got Jack familiar with Rhys' packmate and it got Vaugn adjusted to Jacks scent. It couldn't have turned out better for all involved and soon enough, the scent problem had nearly stopped being an issue.

And, while they hadn't spoken much about their pasts, or at least, Jack hadn't, there was a sort of bonding going on. For one thing, the omega, while still tense at times, was more at ease with Rhys these days and, after the fifth day of them doing this, had flat out told the alpha that: “If you don't get up here with me and off the floor then I'm going to literally kick your ass every five seconds.”

So that's how they ended up watching football and drinking bottled beer on the couch. Jack being the big spoon as he wanted to be despite his insistence that it wasn't cuddling at the alpha in front of him was just a noodle. At first the omega had declined the drink; claiming he hadn't wanted his mind to be tampered with, but reluctantly ended up getting up from his seat to go grab one before returning to the couch to curl next to Rhys.

“If you tell anyone about this,” Jack started, motioning to the small amount of space between them. “I'll rip out your fuckin throat.”

The threat only prompted a laugh from the alpha who was starting to get used to the threats the omega made. Deep down, Rhys had hoped that this was a sign that the omega was actually starting to get used to him. But that would be wishful thinking. For all he knew, Jack might just be tipsy from the amount of beers they both had been going through that night.

Looking at the other man from the corner of his eye; Rhys, in all his time knowing Jack, had never seen the omega look so relaxed and happy than when he was, watching football. This hadn't been the first time watching the game over the past few weeks of knowing him and each time, the older man would often laugh at the violence or make wisecracks when one of the players had to be taken off the field in a stretcher (and in all honestly, Rhys should have probably been a bit worried about that).

Giving a tender smile at Jack as the said man wiped a tear from his face after howling for about five minutes straight; the alpha took a drink from his bottle and turned back to the screen, silently watching despite having no idea what was happening. The game was boring, but he was enjoying just watching the omega have a good time.

Call him a sap, but that made sitting down and watching sports worth it, to him.

It wasn't until the game had finally ended did Rhys lower the volume and turn to face Jack as the other laid down on the sofa, lazily drinking and humming; seemingly getting lost in thought.

"I never knew you enjoyed football so much." Rhys found himself commenting as he lowered his own bottle from his lips.

Cracking an eye open for only a moment to peer at Rhys dully, Jack shrugged and raised the bottle into the air, sitting up with a wobble before resigning to lean against the arm of the couch.

"Ah, I played it back in high school. No big." Jack, giving another shrug, took a big swig of his beer before belching; ignoring the way the alphas brow rose surprise.

"I never knew you played. Did you ever try to go pro?" At the question, Jack's mood went sour and his gaze hardened as he sneered to the television; making Rhys wince. 'Oh no. Bad question...'

"I.... did-" Jack admitted, kicking up one of his shoe free feet to rest them on Rhys' lap, wiggling his toes lazily in his sock. "And I was rejected. Sad thing is that omegas are also not allowed to play sports. Some kind of-"

The omega waved his hand with the beer bottle around casually; trying to think of the words he wanted to use. "'Too weak to play' bullshit and we need to be protected."

Snorting, the older man brought the bottle to his lips as he glared into his own lap; free arm flung over the back of the sofa. "Yeah right. As if that was true."

Biting his lip, Rhys used his free hand to rub Jack's foot lightly. Not getting any negative reaction- instead, the omega seemed to wiggle the foot as if demanding the rub, Rhys continued, saying:

"I'm sorry... It must have been tough. You seemed to like it so much."

Jack was silent for a while; expression softening as he lowered his beer. "Yeah I did, kiddo. But nothing lasts forever. Not in this world we live in."

"Can I know what happened?"

The older man fell silent again for a minute. His face seemed to shift through varying emotions before he settled on neutral and sighed. Beer and hand resting in his lap, seeming to lack the energy to raise it anymore in that time.

"Alright, kid. Let me tell you a story. One about a kid named John." Sitting all the way back until his entire weight was fully on the back and arm of the couch before he continued.

"There was a little boy named John. He had a brother named Tim and they lived in a big house with their parents. John had joined the football team the second he could walk. And he was good at it. His team loved him and would invite him to every party available. This went on for years and John loved every second of his perfect life. Then one day in high school, the team start getting aggressive and outright mauling each other when John was seventeen. They fought each other to the point where a guy was sent to the hospital and another lost an eye.”

Jacks head lulled back. “Why did that happen? Well, they had smelled an omega in the men's locker room; going through preheat, and it was driving them crazy. Fearing the worst, John's parents took him to the doctors to have him evaluated, having wished they just had a sexless son. Nope."

Jack took another chug of his beer before continuing.

"Obviously, finding out he was an omega, John didn't think anything of it. All he knew was that his parents were upset and he was sent to school with a note for the principle." Jack's teeth bared and his eyes clinched.

"Imagine his surprise the next day when he went to get ready for practice when he finds out he's no longer allowed to play football, His team eyed him like a piece of meat and treated him like a vagina on leg. AND, to top it all off, John got bullied and sexually harassed the rest of the year with only his beta brother to back him up."

Jack's voice had gotten rougher and angrier the longer he spoke; his tone bordering on strained and wavering. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, The omega refused to look Rhys in the eye as he continued on with his story.

"John spent the entire year, hiding from people trying to touch him. Constantly eyeing him, catcalling and mocking him for something he couldn't help..... The year after that, he got expelled for almost sending one of his harassers in the hospital; a teacher who went for him the moment he turned eighteen."

Rhys' grip had tightened on Jack's foot, looking horrified by what he had heard. Scooting closer, the alpha pulled the omega into his arms; shocking them both and feeling the man stiffen before Jack hesitantly began relax in his arms; weary but too tired to push the alpha away.

Or maybe, he was just craving some comfort.

"I'm sorry Jack... You didn't deserve that." Rhys' voice was soft. But underneath it all, his inner alpha was enraged and frothing at the mouth. At people that did all this years ago. People he didn't know but swore he'd strangle with his robotic arm if he ever got near them.

"Damn right, I didn't." The omega growled strongly but his voice still shook and his eyes pricked with wet unshed tears that the older man was clearly, too stubborn to let fall. "No omega does but that's life, right? All for the alpha and none for the omega...."

"I....Things will be different....I promise.... One day...." Rhys muttered, holding the omega tighter, feeling Jack wrap his arms around the alpha in a tight vice-like grip, feeling the omega's tears leak into his shirt as the man struggled not to cry. How bad was it for omegas that resulted in the strongest man Rhys ever knew to break into tears? Did he even want to know?

Or was it because Jack was drunk? They had gone through a lot of alcohol.

Instead of asking, Rhys was content to hold the sobbing omega who began to tire from their earlier alcohol consumption. Listening to only the man's quiet sniffles and the low volume on the television, the alpha buried his face in Jack's hair, happy that he remembered to take his nasal spray. After a couple minutes of simply holding the man, Rhys lifted his head to ask sloppily.

"You're name is John?"

Jack just gave a weak chuckle.

Neither of them remembered falling asleep, but Rhys found himself alone on the couch when he woke up; face drawn on with marker.

---

"So what's your story, Rhysie." Jack asked, standing in the kitchen the next morning, taking bits and peices of the bacon that Rhys was cooking, tearing pieces off and eating them. Both sore from sleeping on the couch and pounding headaches from the amount of alcohol.

Neither of them mentioning Jacks drunken breakdown and Rhys figured that was for the best. While Rhys was an alpha, Jack was physically stronger and could easily snap his neck if he wanted to.

"My story?" Quirking an eyebrow, the alpha pouted and pushed Jack's hand from the bacon only to have his own hands play slapped as Jack took the whole plate as he continued to eat. In mid bite, Jack waved his hand with a half eaten bacon in it.

"Ya know. Your story. How you found out you were an alpha." Jack stated, as if the topic was the most obvious thing in the world, bringing the bacon back to his mouth to munch on. Rhys blinked, looking at the frying bacon he was cooking, getting ready to fry some eggs in another pan. Using a fork, he turned the bacon over.

"Well.... let me think... It's been years. My parents had me by accident but they loved me. But they worried for me because I was so small and frail when I was born. I hadn't gotten much different as I grew up. My parents were protective of me because they thought I was omega. At the time, I never even gave it a thought on why my parents were so clingy and protective of me until I got to high school. Everyone in school had also thought I was omega but they could never prove it since I hadn't gone through puberty yet."

Setting his fork down after playing with the bacon through his story; giving up with trying to save his portion of meat as Jack swiped it with no remorse the second he got a chance to; leaving Rhys to resume his story.

"Not much to tell. All I can say that my parents fell off the couch when they found out I was an alpha." He chuckled again. "My dad was so proud and ran out in the street, screaming how his son was an alpha. A beta threw a shoe at him because it was in the middle of the night."

Looking over, he saw Jack smirk and shake his head at Rhys. Rolling his eyes, Rhys smiled. "So. How did your parents take it?"

Jack shrugged, leaning against the counter before putting the nearly empty plate on the counter.

"Mom committed suicide and I was left in dad's care for a while before shipping me off. He wasn't exactly happy about it. Always commented on how I don't look like a proper omega and did what he could to make me look-" The omega raised his hands to do air quotes. "Softer."

Lowering his hands to take his silverwhere and picking at his plate, Jack rolled his eyes.

"Then he ended up dying from a heart attack. Timmy got the company and I was left in my grandmother's care." Jack's lips thinned.

"I don't want to talk about her."

Rhys bit his tongue to keep from asking and made up the two plates of eggs and what little bacon they had after the Jackasourous-rex had gotten to it again.

Chapter Text

"Hey bro. I thought you'd be hanging out with Jack today." Vaughn commented while aggressively pounding the buttons on his controller. Fighting a boss on his game with his packmate, Vaughn beams when he sees Rhys' character zip past his own, only to get swatted by the boss; earning a grumble from the other alpha.

Despite the virtual loss, Rhys shrugged, pushing the buttons on his own controller. Adjusting where he was sitting beside Vaughn on the couch, he responds.

"He had a doctors appointment. He said he'd see me later."

Cheering as they beat the boss before looting all the dropped items as Rhys spoke up again. "So I thought I'd spend my time with you. I know we haven't hung out much since I got with Jack. And you're always working."

"Hey, I'm not mad, bro. You're happy." Vaughn stole some of the Rhys' loot which made the taller alpha pout. "You guys-you know.... Kiss yet?"

Rhys, choking on his spit in surprise, he began coughing loudly; bending over to hack into his fist and gasping for air. Once able to breathe again, he sneers at the other alpha, watching as his bro struggled not to laugh as he used Rhys' hacking to his advantage to loot the rest of the gear.

“That was low, bro. All that for my gear/" Rhys muttered with the shake of his head; eyes glancing back to the screen and feeling his cheeks heat up with a blush. Vaughn was just laughing again; this time, holding his his hands up to block the couch pillow Rhys had started smacking him with.

With each playful 'bap!', sent the faded smell of Jack's pheromones' flying around the room. Stale and old, the omegas scent was fading since that night Rhys and him spoke on how they found out about their endotypes.

“Besides,” Rhys mused, lowering the pillow to his lap; no longer caring that his character in game was being robbed by his best friend. “When are you going to be off work? I really want you to meet him. Like for realsies. If he and I really are going to be a thing, I want you both to get along.”

“Bro, you've been 'dating' him for a month now- and I use that term loosely, air-quotes included.” Snorts Vaughn, eyes not even leaving the screen. “I don't mind meeting him in a few days when I'm off, but you both seriously need to do more than spend time on the couch, watching tv. Dating is a lot more complex than that, bro.”

“I know.” Somberly, Rhys bends over to run his fingers, tensely, through his own locks. “But it's hard to get him to agree to go out anywhere. He's.... a proud man and people out there expect him to.... You know... Conform.. Getting Jack out in public after the first date is really hard.”

“I know, bro.” Patting Rhys on the back, Vaughn abandoned his controller with a saddened expression on his face- brightening suddenly. “Hey, why not go to Tree top Hill? I hear it's a full moon in a couple days and It'll be perfect for you both to have a real, public free outing- and give me more time to prepare to meet him- and to write my will.”

“He's not going to kill you Vaughn.” But that was an idea. Head up, Rhys beamed. “Right, I forgot about that!! When is it? Three- four days? I'll look into it and surprise him with it.”

With the intent to look into it that night, he and Vaughn ended up going out to the local cyber café to enjoy some time out of the house but not away from their beloved tech; they ended up sharing a computer and watching dumb videos and browsing the web as they sipped their coffee. Of course, this was something they could do when at home but the cyber café was a special place for them growing up and both Rhys and Vaughn, had made it a tradition which had stuck for years.

It had been like old time. When they were kids, they used to come in to play the video games that Vaughn wasn't allowed to because his mom didn't approve. Now that they were grown and on their own, they were still doing the same thing and fully immersed in a boss battle when a shadow from behind them distracting them with a firm tap to the shoulder.

At first, Rhys had thought that Jack had somehow found him, but the finger had been smaller and sharper, something that didn't match the omegas hand. Turning to look behind him, Rhys gulped and pulled his earbud out of his ear. Vaughn, upon noticing Rhys' shifting, also turned, looking nervous when he saw who it was; boss forgotten.

"Fiona..." Rhys cleared his throat as he looked her over, then behind her. Dressed as she always had before marrying her alpha, Fiona was alone and hadn't looked angry despite her stance with arms crossed and arched brow. Looking them over in return, she gave a humored laugh.

“Ooooh.... H-hey, Fiona....” Voice cracking, Rhys was quick to clear it in his fist, peering behind her once more; an action that didn't go unnoticed if the eyeroll she gave was any indication. Sharing a look with Vaughn, who was no help as his bro seemed to be forcing his attention to the nearby coffee attendant, Rhys bit his lip, returning his gaze to the beta before him.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked, only mildly relieved that her sister and his ex wasn't with her. “Look, if this is about the break up with Sasha, she dumped me, not-”

“Woah, easy, tiger.” Waving Rhys down as if soothing a startled bull, Fiona shook her head. "I know what happened and I'm not mad- well, not with you, at least..”

Coming closer, Fiona leaned against the desk of the computer that Rhys and Vaughn were using, gaining Vaughns full attention again. “While I figured it wouldn't work out between you two anyway, I can't really say I'm proud or happy with how she handled it. Emotionally, it was an affair but I'm just glad that you both broke it off before it went physical."

"That's good." Rhys commented dryly but smiled. "And here I was, worried you were going to beat me up for hurting your sister." He chuckled, followed by Vaughn.

"Ha!! We all know that she could easily do that." Vaughn butted in, laughing harder when Rhys gave him a weak glare. Patting the taller alpha's shoulder, he stiffed his laugh but unable to hide the grin on his face. "Sorry bro."

"Hey, the nerd's not wrong, you know. You are as frail as a limp noodle." Fiona joked, pulling a chair up to them to sit, making both alphas relax with a sigh as the beta got comfortable. “In all seriousness, she's in trouble and she knows it. She's been on her best behavior since that day.”

Once she settled, Rhys was able to catch her scent and a little bit of something else. Fiona normally smelled like a mixture between honey and tea while also drowned in her husband, Scooter's, greasy and oil scent from his job on cars.

Yet today, there was something off about her smell Something sweet and new.

"Anyway I have news for you. And you guys are my best friends. Sasha already knows but...." She was grinning widely like a Cheshire cat at this point, playing with her fingers before reaching into her satchel. “Well, this is the best way I could thing to surprise you both on such short notice.”

Confused, Rhys and Vaughn shared a look; suddenly finding presents in their laps. White boxes with pink and blue ribbons. It should have given them a clue on what to expect. But as they took the gifts, Rhys started with examining his curiously. Unlike Vaughn, whom had wasted no time to rip into his gift, Rhys turned his over in his hands, squishing it and feeling nothing much outside a little give.

Was it socks? It felt like socks.

Hearing Vaughn gasp on his side, Rhys glanced over to try and see what had his packmate all flustered and teary-eyed but unable to since Vaughn had squished the item back in the wrapper it had come in.

"Are you serious?!" Vaughn questioned, leaning forward in his seat, making Fiona bite her finger to keep from laughing at the smaller alphas reaction. With a small snicker escaping her, Fiona nodding. For his part, Vaughn sputtered and threw his hands in the air before sinking into the chair he sat in like a sack of potatoes. The box in his lap had clattered to the floor, still closed.

Alright. With his curiosity at an all time high, Rhys tore into his present, finally, and lifted up a folded white fabric inside. Lifting it up, he was met with a gentle pastel pink shirt. Blank and soft; but the sun behind Fiona shone an outline of wording on the other side. It wasn't until he turned it around did his eyes grow upon seeing, in big bold letters that said "Uncle Rhys" On the front.

"Oh my GOD!!!" he exclaimed. Dropping the shirt, he stood up to pick Fiona in his arms barely able to raise her off her tiptoes despite his height. She began patting his back roughly as she laughed as Rhys held her close.

"I'm going to be an uncle!!!"

"I know bro!! Me too!!" Vaughn held up a shirt of his own with the words "Uncle Vaughn" on it.

---

"S-so does... I mean. Scooter knows right?" Rhys asked. The excitement from the news was still running through him even after they had left the cyber café to walk down the sidewalk of the city. Passing buildings as they walked aimlessly. He was had the shirt he was given in his backpack while Vaughn still held his own in his hands, staring at it like he was given the lost treasure of Atlantis.

Rolling her eyes, Fiona gave Rhys a playful punch in the arm; both of them chuckling even though Rhy's was soon rubbing his punched arm in a slight twitch of pain.

"No. I decided to just say 'Fuck it. let me tell my friends before the father'-” She mused with mock affection before chuckling. “Of course he does. He wouldn't shut up about it for weeks. I'm surprised he didn't run to you, screaming that he was going to be a dad, at the top of his lungs like he did with everyone else. Did you not check the group chat?"

Riiiight, Rhys had forgotten about that. Bashfully, he let a nervous laugh; robotic hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. "W-well I have been- Uh-um....busy..."

Fiona raised a brow at the alpha, bemused as she eyed him over. "You have? You mean you haven't been just sitting around and playing games or working? Amazing."

Rhys, with his cheeks puffing up, gives her a pout; crossing his arms with a mock glare. "I do other things besides work and video games, you know."

Fiona, returning the gesture with a tilt of her head and smirked. "Oh really? Then what is it that has kept you so busy if not those two?"

The alpha went to open his mouth to answer but Vaughn beat him to it with the shake of his head and a sigh.

"Rhys has been going on 'dates' with an omega from town." The small alpha eyed Rhys with squinted eyes. "A dangerous omega..." Nudging the taller alpha, Vaughn gave an exasperated sigh.

“Again, I wouldn't call it that. All they do is drink beer on the couch and watch TV. I came home when they were both passed out on the couch several times, already.”

He had? Rhys hadn't known that but now that he did, he was frowning; turning his glare to his packmate.

“Yeah, okay, I get it. I'm going to bring the idea up with them later tonight. There's like, four days- more than enough to get ready.” Rhys would have said more but Fionas snort caught his attention as she came over, throwing her arm over his shoulders.

"Well..... I was not expecting that. Who is the lucky girl.... or man?" Her expression, while still amused and surprised, was mixed with worry. “Hey, do I need to get Scooter to check them out? If they're dangerous like Vaughn says, maybe we should look into them?”

“Wow, thanks.” The tall alpha dryly muttered, slipping out from under her arm to give a dramatic sigh, looking between the two of them. "Him. First off, his name is Jack. He's hot and I really like him. Second, I can handle myself- it's not that big of a deal."

He sees their arched brows as if to say 'Really?'. Both looking somewhat doubtful as they stared at him.

"It's not!" Rhys had exclaimed, desperately; his nervous laugh dying down to a groan when the two still didn't look convinced. "Come on guys! You know it's not!! Come on!"

"Uh yeah, it is actually." Fiona stated flatly. “We had to come save you at a comic con when you got swarmed by a bunch of geeks who wanted the comic you were holding. VAUGHN had to pull you out.” Pointing at the smaller alpha behind her.

“And he's smaller than you! We still have that recording, you know.” Obviously agreeing with the beta, Vaughn was nodding his head in; his own arms crossing.

Ignorate to the damage to the scrawny alphas pride and the pouts he was making, Fiona resumed; any and all annoyance fading as she seemed more astonished.

"Still though.... It is a surprise. Rhys, the thirty year old bachelor that is more obsessed with work than anything, has actually found himself a man. Who would have thought it?"

"Shut up." Rhys muttered dryly. His voice lacked any heat to his words and there was no bite to them. He knew they were only trying to rile him up now and he, unfortunately, bit the bait. "Can we just change the subject please? I'm humiliated enough as it is."

"Sure." Fiona chirped, pleased at the response she got as they continued their walk. After a few steps in silence, the beta smiled. "So when do we get to meet him?"

"When he agrees to meeting you. I want him comfortable when I introduce you all, his life has been pretty bad, from what he told me, at least."

"Fair enough." She smiled sadly. "That's good. Omegas have it rough. You be good to him. And he better be good to you, or else."

"I will Fiona. Only the best for him." Rhys grinned at her protectiveness over the omega she never met. "I'm pretty sure he'd kick my ass if I wasn't, anyway."

---

After seeing that Fiona got back to Scooter's garage safely, the alpha couldn't avoid the excited alpha as he held them both tightly and lifting them in the air, clearly still excited over the news of Fiona's pregnancy.

"God dang, ah can't wait!! I'm gonna name them Scrapper if it's a boy! Maybe Scooter Jr. And maybe a girl would be Little Fi after Fiona!!" Rhys stood there awkwardly as Scooter rambled to him while looking over at Fiona desperately. Vaughn had managed to wiggle away from Scooter the second he and Rhys were set back to the ground and scurried over to the safety of Fiona.

Said person only laughed, ignoring Rhys' pleading gaze as he was left to her husband's excited rambling. He could barely contain his relieved sigh when his phone rang and he managed to break away to answer it while Scooter's attention then turned to Vaughn who looked like he was going to wet himself.

Stepping out of the garage, Rhys brought the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" He answered, soon frowning when he heard pained groaning on the other end. "Hello?"

"Rhys?"

"Jack?" Brows shooting up in alarm, Rhys looked back at his friends in the garage to make sure they weren't listening in before turning his attention back to the call. "Is something wrong? You sound upset."

"I am..." Rhys could hear Jack hiss out a curse before the omega spoke again. "C-I want to come over, pumpkin. You home?"

"Not really." Scratching at an itch on his neck, Rhys was fidgeting in place, fighting the urge to go looking for his anxious omega. "I'm at a friend's right now but I can come over to you. Where are you? I'll come over."

"No...!! No... I-shit... Rhys call me when you get home."

"Jack just tell me. Please. They can't hear you. I promise." He pleaded to the phone, leaning against a nearby street light to keep from pacing. "Or let me come get you. Please? You're worrying me."

The line was silent for a long while. If it hadn't been for the omega's slightly labored breathing, Rhys would have thought the man had hung up. He waited anxiously, growing more, and more nervous as time went by.

Finally Jack spoke. "Okay. Pick me up."

"Alright. Tell me where you're at and I will be right over."

---

Rhys ended up having to leave Vaughn with Fiona and Scooter; the smaller alpha wasn't exactly happy about that and looked desperate to escape but with Rhys' rushed explanation that something was going on with Jack, Vaughn waved the man away hurriedly, stating that he'd better go see what was going on with the omega.

Rhys trekked all the way back to his parked car at the cyber café and used the last bit of the nasal spray as soon as he was in and buckled before turning on the gas.

The directions Jack had given him led him to a broken part of town where the buildings were falling apart and one couldn't go five steps without seeing garbage or a homeless person everywhere. The streets were cracked and the sidewalk was falling apart with weeds growing in the cracks.

Unnerved, he locked the car as he drove through; worrying about why Jack was in such a neighborhood like this.

Eventually Rhys had gotten to a beat up house where Jack sat on it's steps in an oversized gray hoodie and sweat pants, curled up and shivering as if he was cold in the ninety degree weather.

Fearing the worst, Rhys parked his car and climbed out; worriedly clambering to the omega and taking him in his arms and feeling Jack shivering like crazy. A strange scent hit his nose that made him pause, staring at the omega in wonder, secretly glad he had taken his spray as the oncoming scent of Jack's preheat smacking him head on.

"Jack.... Is... is it time?" He struggled with his words. Feeling Jack leaning against him with a shudder. With his arms holding onto the omega tighter, Rhys could feel the man shake his head; could hear the omega give out a strangled whine.

"Not yet, kiddo... but close..." Jack groaned, pushing his face in Rhys' shirt, taking a deep breath and grabbed the cloth. "Take me to your car... I... I c-can't be seen like this...please.... don't let people see me like this.... I can't...."

Rhys complied, refusing to ask anything until the omega was safely in the car. Jack was hard to move despite his obvious desire to squirrel himself away from prying eyes of the other people around. They appeared not to care for the most part other than giving casual glances of pity as Rhys got him to the car. Finally when they were both seated in the vehicle, Jack was able to let out a shudder and another small whine escaped him, making Rhys flush brightly.

"Do you... ah... Need me to get you omega suppressors?" He questioned, nervously biting his lip as he reached up to rub the omega's shoulder comfortingly. The omegas shivers lessoned at the contact and Jack shook his head, reaching up and grabbing the alpha's hand desperately.

"N-no.. No.. They don't do shit... I...." Hissing as he sucked in a deep breath, Jack let out the air he held in, shakily as he looked over at Rhys. "I wanted.. I wanted to tell you before it hit. Didn't trust you... Or maybe I was scared. I don't fucking know..."

Jack; his own face flushed from the oncoming heat, let out a pained groan; pulling his legs onto the seat to curl around himself before looking Rhys dead in the eye. "Share my heat with me?"

Eyes growing in surprised, not able to stop himself from looking the omega over; licking his lips unconsciously as he stammered dumbly. "I-what?"

His only hint at the other mans annoyance was one of Jack's eyes twitching before the omega flinched sharply.

"Y-You heard me... Share my heat-with me." Jack had growled out, trying to hold back the reactions his body was fighting him with. "I d-don't want to be a-alone dur-ring this. Hurts too friggin much and this one is bad...!"

Rhys' lips thinned as he pondered. "I.... yes I would love to but...." he eyes the omega cautiously as he raised his flesh hand to Jack's cheek. Rubbing his thumb along the omegas cheek, he blushed as the older man pressed his face in his hand.

"Are you sure... I-I mean, you must know what you're asking."

"I'm aware." The omega snapped, leaning on the dash, running his fingers through his hair. "And I'm sure."

He let out a hiss of air as a shudder rocked his body. "Just make sure you have condoms or some sort of birth control at your place. I don't trust anyone not breaking in my house while we're there. I want it to be with you...."

Without another word, Rhys started the car, keeping his eyes on the road, glancing over at Jack every once in a while.

---

The ride was silent.

Neither one had uttered a single word as he drove and other than the faint whimpers and groans that Jack hadn't realized he was making, then it would have been unbearably quiet. And from the looks of it, the omega was slowly and surely, losing himself in his heat. Already, even from the corner of his eye, Rhys can see the glaze in the older mans eyes and the slight panic taking over Jack that came with it.

And with being in close quarters with an alpha, it might be setting him off. So Rhys did what he thought would help, and that was to purr comfortingly. While it wasn't much, an alphas purr had the potential to calm a panicked omega, and fortunately, it seemed to work for now as Jack reached out to him, unconsciously; grasping at Rhys' shirt.

It felt like hours had passed before they had reached the apartment and seemed even longer to get Jack inside without the omega being seen thanks to his anxious heat addled mind. He knew Jack wanted to avoid running into anyone as much as he could and the heat was coming alarmingly fast- faster than what it probably should have, but who knows how long he had been like this.

Barely having time to call Vaughn and warning him not to come over and why, Rhys had made sure to spray the hallway that lead to his room with some anti-oder air freshener before he closed and locked the door. Frightened heated omegas tended to run in fear when they felt unsafe and it was taking all Rhys could do to make this as comfortable for the other male as he could.

And his efforts weren't in vain as by now, Jack was stumbling around the apartment, looking for Rhys' room; sniffing the air and sneezing at the odd lack of scent from the spray Rhys did as soon as they came in.

While Jack had been to the place multiple times, he avoided the bedrooms the best he could up until now, for paranoid and obvious. And eventually the omega had figured out which room was Rhys' (aka, the alpha ended up leading the omega to it) and promptly flopped on the bed, groaning as he held one of Rhys' plush dragon close; his body shaking as he let go of the plush and clawed at the sheets with his other hand.

After quickly grabbing as many bottled waters and bagged snacks as he could, rhys dragged himself to his room with his haul, where Jack rested on his bed; hoodie having been peeled off and now the omega was only in his pants and socks, sweating as he curled around the plush.

It was a sight that pulled all the air out of the alphas lungs and it took all he had to set the supplies to the side and climb in the bed with the omega. Spooning Jack from behind and wrapping his arm around his waist, the omega shuddered when he felt Rhys press his nose to the back of the older mans neck and lick the bonding gland that sat there. With a quick nuzzle to the older man's shoulder, Rhys propped his head on Jack's shoulder and listened to the omega's ragged breathing; bringing a hand up to rub his hair.

"It'll be okay." Rhys hummed soothingly in Jack's ear and rocking their hips. Dazed and slowly settling in the alphas arms, Jack whined before nodding.

"I know, kiddo.... I trust ya." Then the omega turned, pecking Rhys on the lips, making the alpha freeze for a second in surprise by the action. Grunting to himself as he snapped out of his daze, Rhys gave a soft smile against the omegas lips and kissed back, pulling his head away to give Jack a butterfly kiss on his shoulder.

Thank god he still had those condoms Sasha gave him as a joke a day before she broke up with him.