friends?

3

"Hi love, how was your first day?" Louis asked and hugged him.

"Great! This is Niall." Harry smiled and gestured at the blonde Omega behind him.

Louis reached out a hand for Niall to shake.
"Hi, I'm Louis."

"I've smelled you all day, buddy." Niall chuckled.

Louis furrowed his eyebrows.
"What?"

"Harry here reaks of you." Niall grinned and took a step closer and sniffed the air. "And you smell of Harry." He said and raised an eyebrow.

"We've been best friends for years." Louis explained.

"Right, friends." Niall smirked.

Louis looked offended. Harry put his hand on his shoulder and he immediately relaxed.
"I've invited Niall over. I hope that's okay?"

"Of course." Louis smiled. He was glad that Harry had found a friend. He didn't feel threatened by that. They had friends in Doncaster. That didn't change their close friendship.

Niall was a chatty Omega. On the way to their apartment he told them everything about his family in Ireland.

They arrived back home and Niall looked around.
"Nice place but let me see if I have understood this correctly. You two live together but you're just friends?" He asked making quotation marks in the air as he said just friends.

"Yes." Harry replied.

"A-ha." Niall hummed and peaked inside their separate bedrooms.
"So what do you do when you have your rut and heat? Help each other out?" He grinned.

"No." Harry gasped and blushed. He hurried over to his bedroom door and showed Niall the locks.

"Okay, so you're just listening to each other masturbate for five days, or do you have others that help you out?" Niall asked and looked between them.

"Don't you have any boundaries? That's none of your fucking business." Louis growled.

Niall held up his hands.
"Sorry. I'm just trying to understand this."

"It's not that difficult. We're best friends who live together. We have been best friends since forever, since before we were presented. The fact that I'm an Alpha and Harry is an Omega doesn't change that. Why would it?" Louis said, sounding pissed.

Niall just smiled at him but he dropped the subject. Harry made dinner and they ate together before Niall headed home, calling a taxi to be safe, declining Louis offer to walk him home. They sat down in the living room. Louis put his arm around Harry and pulled him closer.
"That Niall is really something." He chuckled.

"I like him. He has no filters. It's refreshing." Harry giggled.

"That's for sure." Louis smirked.

Harry hesitated but decided that they needed to have this conversation.
"He brought up something I haven't really thought about."

"Okay?" Louis asked.

"Ehm, us spending or rut or heat with someone else here." Harry mumbled.

"Fuck no! I don't wanna listen to you having sex with someone. That's weird." Louis immediately answered.

"Me neither. Like, you and someone. That would make me really uncomfortable." Harry admitted.

"Let's just promise each other that we won't bring someone here during our heat and rut." Louis suggested.

"Deal!" Harry smiled relieved.

Louis kissed his forehead before he reached for the remote control and turned on the tv.
"How was your first day?" Harry asked softly.

"It was okay. I missed you." Louis smiled giving Harry stupid butterflies.

"I missed you too." He replied.

Louis didn't suggest that they would sleep in different rooms this time. He just headed to Harry's bedroom and laid down, cuddling him to sleep as he always did.

A couple of weeks passed. They settled in at school. Louis had found some Alpha friends that he hung out with. He always invited Harry but they usually played football and Harry had no interest in that so he spent time with Niall instead who had become a good friend. Niall always asked him about him and Louis though and that made him uncomfortable. It was like Niall could see right through him.
"We should double date." Niall suggested one day.

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you this. Louis and I are just friends." Harry sighed.

"Funny thing that you immediately thought of Louis." Niall smirked before he added "I'm going out with a guy named Fredric this weekend. He has a cute friend, Liam."

"Oh. I don't know." Harry hesitated.

"I'm not saying that you have to mate the guy. One date, Harry!" Niall said.

Harry bit his lower lip.
"Well, one date won't harm. Alright, I'm in."

Niall immediately texted Fredric who talked to Liam who agreed. Harry gulped. He was nervous all of a sudden. He had never been on a date before.

When he got home Louis was waiting for him.
"There you are! Did you have a nice time with Niall?"

"Yeah." Harry smiled and took a seat next to Louis on the couch.

Louis immediately put his arm around him and hugged him against his chest.
"So what do you wanna do this weekend? I was thinking that we could go see a movie on Saturday or something."

"Oh. I can't. I have a ehm, date on Saturday." Harry told him.

"A date? With whom?" Louis asked.

Harry looked at him. Louis seemed surprised. Harry took a deep breath.
"His name is Liam. Blind date."

He waited for Louis' reaction. This was the first time he had addressed his sexuality, indirectly. Louis must have sensed how nervous he was because he smiled and hugged him closer.
"Alright. But a blind date? That doesn't sound safe Harry."

"It's a double date. Niall will be there too. He has a date with Liam's friend Fredric." Harry replied.

"Okay, that makes me a little less worried." Louis said.

They went to bed and headed to school the next day. Harry was happy that it was Friday. He ate lunch with Niall who couldn't stop talking about their date the next day.
"I've never been on a date before." Harry admitted.

"Really? You're eighteen. About time, I'll say." Niall smiled.

Niall received a text and checked his phone. He furrowed his eyebrows.
"Ehm, did you tell Louis about your date?"

"Of course. Why?" Harry asked.

"Because he approached Liam telling him to treat you right or he would hurt him." Niall said.

"What? Oh, ehm. I'll talk to him." Harry said.

"You do that." Niall chuckled.

Harry brought up the conversation when they were walking home from school.
"Why are you threatening my date?"

Louis looked caught.
"I just had to make sure he's nice to you."

"Well stop that. No one wants to date me if you keep threatening them. Let me be the judge of their character." Harry replied firmly.

"Sorry. I'm just looking after you." Louis mumbled.

"I can take care of myself, Lou." Harry replied, trying to keep the fondness out of his voice.

"Fine." Louis chuckled.