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Harry is reminded of his upcoming heat on a gorgeous Friday evening.
He’s just gotten home from work after a busy week, the sun just starting to set and tinting the sky in gorgeous shades of pinks and oranges that would make Harry gasp in wonder on any other day.
But today, he opens the calendar app on his phone to add in a dentist appointment only to be greeted by a bright red warning, only a mere five days away.
He knew his heat was coming—the thought of it always at the back of his mind even when the actual date is still months away—but the visual reminder still somehow manages to take him by surprise.
He’d been having such a great day as well, the sun shining in the sky putting him in a great mood, as did the promise of a quiet weekend at home with his Alpha, Louis.
But now, his mood has effectively been soured by the thought they’ll have to sacrifice some of their precious downtime to prepare for the one thing Harry wishes he never had to prepare for.
Having heats is what Harry despises most about being an Omega. He hates that he has to spend multiple days in a row suffering, crying, and thrashing around while his biology demands the one thing he has never and will never want.
He uses strong, top-of-the-line suppressants so he has to deal with them as little as possible, but his doctor still advises he should have at least one every nine months, lest the repeated, uninterrupted use of the potent meds cause him undesirable side effects in the long term.
Harry still remembers his last cycle like it was yesterday, and he has a hard time believing the nine-month wait period has gone by already, but he feels this way pretty much every time.
He can feel anxiety and dread bubbling up his throat and tears pooling in his eyes from thinking about it alone. He knows plenty of Omegas that hate having heats too, but none that do for the same reasons as him.
Being in heat has always been a very confusing and painful experience for Harry.
At first, back when he was just a teen and trying to figure himself out, he thought that was just what heats were like for everyone.
But he soon realised the conflicting feelings he was experiencing in and out of heat weren’t common.
Coming to the realisation that he was asexual in his late teens felt both like a relief and also the scariest thing.
Because being ace went against every single one of his Omega instincts. His biology was screaming at him to let himself be taken, knotted and bred, yet just the thought of letting someone do that to him was enough to send him spiraling, even if that someone were Louis.
Louis, his incredible Alpha who’s stuck by his side for over a decade. Louis, who has gotten Harry through many, many heats without ever demanding anything but Harry’s love in return, and who Harry basically trusts with his whole life.
He still remembers the first time he asked Louis to help him through a heat back in college, and how sweet and accommodating Louis was right from the start.
Harry had made sure Louis knew about his asexuality from the very beginning of their relationship, wanting to make sure he knew what he was getting into from the get-go, yet Harry was still really nervous to ask him for help.
Spending a heat together for the first time was a big step for any new couple, but what that entailed was a lot different for Harry than what most Alphas were used to.
He didn’t want someone to fuck his brains out for a full week until he was satiated, no matter how much his inner Omega would be begging for it.
He wanted someone he could trust to take care of him in his most vulnerable state, to scent and hold him through the worst of it, and make sure his basic needs were accounted for when he couldn’t do that for himself.
Louis’ reaction when Harry finally gathered the courage to ask him had been more than perfect. He had asked all of the right questions and made sure he knew exactly what Harry wanted or didn’t want to happen during his heat. They had had countless talks about boundaries, and Harry had to pinch himself every so often to make sure this was real; to make sure Louis was real.
Harry was no stranger to relationships. He’d been with a few different Alphas and even a Beta or two throughout his time in university, some of which had left him with permanent emotional damage regarding his identity. He’d had a few boyfriends that were somewhat understanding about it, but none that were as amazing as Louis was.
He remembers at first thinking it wouldn’t last. That one day, Louis’ patience would run out and he would leave Harry for an Omega that could be with him in every way and satisfy all of his Alpha needs. After all, that is exactly what every single one of his other partners did in the end.
But here they are a decade later, still together, still going strong.
Harry’s pulled away from his thoughts by the sound of the front door opening and closing.
“Honey, I’m home,” Louis announces in a melodic tone. It started out as a bit of a joke when they first moved in together, but then Harry timidly admitted that he liked the domesticity of it, so the Alpha kept it up.
The sound of Louis’ voice is enough to calm him a little bit, but he still chooses to wait for his mate on the couch where he’s curled up, not yet thrusting his limbs to get him to the front hall in one piece.
“I got you some flowers,” Louis says as Harry hears him slip out of his shoes before walking towards the living room. “I walked past this stand on my way home and just—baby, what’s wrong?”
Louis’ face morphs into a frown as he steps into the room and sees the state Harry’s in, curled up small on one side the sofa, eyes rimmed red from the crying he didn’t even realise he was doing, and bottom lip pink and raw from biting down onto it so much.
“My heat’s coming soon.” His voice is quiet and breathy, though the words feel heavy and thick on his tongue, but Louis hears him perfectly well nonetheless.
Understanding washes over Louis’ face at that moment, and he drops the flowers on the coffee table—a gorgeous and cheerful bunch of yellow daisies that pull a tiny smile out of Harry despite his panic—before joining his Omega on the couch.
It’s familiar, the way Harry lets himself be scooped up into Louis’ lap, and he snuggles into his Alpha immediately, seeking his warmth and comfort.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Louis asks softly, gently carding his fingers through Harry’s curls in that way he knows he loves.
Harry simply shrugs and burrows his face in the crook of Louis’ neck.
Louis lets out a quiet chuckle at his reaction. “I’ll take that as a no, then.”
They both stay silent for a while, Harry content in his Alpha’s lap for now, letting his strong pine and cedarwood scent fill his lungs and soothe his nerves.
He hates how much of a hold his heat cycle still has on his mood, but at least he knows he can always count on Louis to make it just a little better every time.
“We still have a few days before it starts, right?” Louis asks after a few minutes. “It’s only supposed to begin on Wednesday?”
Harry nods, and something in him settles at the fact that Louis just knows, that he is considerate enough to keep track of Harry’s heat too. It shouldn’t surprise him this much, because his Alpha has done so from the very start, but it never hurts to be reminded just how loved he truly is. How much Louis cares for him.
“Well then, no need to worry about that just yet.” Louis presses a kiss to Harry’s forehead. “We can make a trip out to the shops to get supplies sometime this weekend, and then we’ll take it one day at a time like we usually do, yeah baby?”
“But I really wanted this weekend to be just us.” Harry whines. “A lazy weekend at home.”
He knows he’s probably being a little childish right now, but sue him. Their last three weekends have been the opposite of relaxing, thanks to a wedding out of town, two separate baby showers, a birthday dinner, and a work event Louis couldn’t get out of, so Harry had really been looking forward to finally having his Alpha all to himself for the next two days and not having to leave the house at all.
Curse his damn heat for ruining yet another thing for him.
“Oh baby, we can still have our lazy weekend,” Louis coos, dropping another kiss to Harry’s forehead. “I’ll just go shopping after work on Monday, then. How does that sound?”
Harry can’t help but get a bit tearful again, because he just can’t believe how lucky he is to be able to call Louis his. “Yeah,” he says through a sniffle. “That sounds good.”
Because Louis is so good to him, and he never hesitates to do something if he knows it’ll make Harry happy, and Harry just feels like he won the lottery when it comes to his Alpha.
“Darling, don’t cry,” Louis says, frowning as he locks eyes with Harry. “It’ll be fine, yeah? We’ve done this before, together. I’ll take care of you, I promise.”
Harry laughs wetly. “No, I know that. It’s just,” he pauses. “I love you and—”
“I love you too,” Louis interrupts with a fond smile, pulling another giggle out of Harry.
“And I trust you,” Harry finishes. “I trust you so much.”
And he does. Because no matter how scared Harry would have been to say these words to anyone a decade ago, he’s never felt as safe and cared for as he does with Louis.
Louis smiles at him, hooking a finger under Harry’s chin and tilting Harry’s face towards him to peck him on the lips.
“Omega,” he whispers against Harry’s lips.
Harry melts like putty against his side. They don’t need to say anything else, both happy to just be in each other’s company.
And although Harry will probably never feel 100% cool, calm and collected about his heats, his Alpha already managed to reduce his anxiety to a mere fraction of what it was earlier.
No matter what happens over the course of the next week, Harry knows one thing for sure: he can count on Louis to take care of him in all of the ways he needs him to.
And that’s all that matters.