Late bloomer

Forty five

"What happened?" I ask, watching as Louis scrubbed his hands, ignoring the red tinge to the water running down the drain.

The party rages on down stairs, despite the closed door and whole floor between us and them, it's loud in the background.

Louis turns off the tap, looking back at me through the bathroom mirror. He smiles sadly at me, and I've never seen this look on him. He's calm, even though I can sense his wolf though the mate bond. It's slightly concerning, and if not for the fact that I know today went our way and he's stands in front of me uninjured, I would be worried.

"Don't worry-"

"No. Nope. Tell me." I interrupt, snapping at him and lifting myself up from leaning against the doorway. I walk forward, reaching for him as he turns around to face me.

He furrows his brows, holding my hips as I grip his forearms. "Do you really wanna know?"

"Yes. I hate him. I want to know what happened."

He looks me in the eyes, and nods. "I killed him."

It's silent for a moment, even the loudness from downstairs not even breaking this. I swallow, nod my head once and bite my lip.

"Say something." Louis interjects the silence. "Please. How do you feel? I can't tell, you're confusing me."

"I feel a range of things..." I pause, trying to filter though what I'm feeling. "I'm... relieved." I nod, confirming to myself. "Yeah, relieved. I know it isn't exactly right... but I'm glad it's ok. Call it revenge or whatever, but he deserved what he got."

"What I did wasn't ok, but I did it for you. For us, because it was all him. Nobody agreed with his actions, they were just too scared to go against him. I ended it." He pulls me to him, studying my face. "It was revenge, but he had it coming."

I nod, smiling at him. "Despite the moral fight over this, I'm just glad it's over. It's done now, and we can move on."

"I love you. A lot. Like a crazy lot. I would do anything for you."

"You just proved that, but I love you too. A lot."

He kisses me gently, hands cupping my cheeks. I lean into him further, feeling him against me and knowing he's ok and he did this all for me. Because he is possibly the best mate anyone could ask for, a sweet, caring, strong, protective alpha who take care of me while also letting me be exactly who I am. In my books, he almost perfect.

Labelled almost because he suddenly pulls away from the kiss.

"Lou." I murmur, running my nose across his cheek to reach his neck.

"Haz. There is a party downstairs right now that we're kinda, definitely supposed to be at." He replies, not pushing away despite his words.

"And? That's never stopped us before." I leave a kiss under his ear before pulling away.

"We have all night, my sweet omega. But I need to tell you something else." He smirks, hearing my breath hitch slightly at the name.

"What is it, alpha?" I run my hands down his chest, landing on his hips.

"Zayn-"

"What? What about him?" I immediately tighten my grip and Louis frowns.

"He was there, obviously. I know you knew him before it all happened, you recognised him at the river. He wanted to talk to you. I wanted to know if you did too. I met his mate, he's a witch." Louis' frown grows further as I pull away from him, leaning against the sink next to him instead.

"I need to tell you something. Something I should've told you before."

***

My hand is linked with Louis' as we walk around the room, people greeting us left and right. I smile, trying to hold on to Louis' hand as he loosely has his finger linked with mine.

He's mad. Very very mad.

I told him what I had told Lottie just this morning. He had taken it ok, not saying much, but anger was bubbling inside, I could tell, and it was almost frightening at how well he was hiding it in front of all these people. But his scent was off and I could feel his emotions from the mate bond. His alpha is clearly in distress.

"Harry."

I snap my eyes up as he calls my name, and I notice we now stand alone as people start to dwindle out of the house, leaving only a few  behind. It's getting late, the sun already having set hours ago. I shiver slightly, wishing I'd wore a jumper instead of just my tshirt.

"Yeah?"

"Let's go upstairs."

"Ok, I should just say-"

"Now."

I just nod, and I almost wanna cry as we start up the stairs. We pass Lottie, who winks as she sees us, until she notices my expression. She goes to ask something, but I just shake my head at her. Louis ignores her as we continue up.

When we reach our room, Louis drops my hand and begins pacing. I slip off my boots, leaving them on the floor for now, and climbing onto the bed, grabbing my favourite blanket and arranging it around myself.

"He didn't have you did he?" Louis' question makes me look at him. He stands at the end of the bed, eyes watching me. He looks scared.

"No. No, you know you were my first. Not that you-"

"I know, Harry. I was with other people, I don't have much to stand on here, but can you just get what I'm feeling? That while you knew I was with other people, it was not like it was with you. I never had girlfriends or boyfriends, there was no real connections there. But you almost mating, when you were supposed to be with me. That if it hadn't gone all wrong and your father hadn't have found you guys out, you wouldn't be here right now. That we were promised to each other, but you wanted someone else."

"I know the details, Louis. But that's not fair! I didn't even know you, I hadn't seen you in years. I barely remembered what you looked like. I was fourteen. I was a kid, not as... mature as I am right now." I fight back, feeling defensive.

"But, if you had left with him, gone to where ever you were going, you would have loved him and you would have mated him without a second thought!"

"I didn't know you, Lou! I thought Zayn was perfect and I was in love and I thought he was my mate. Key word being 'thought'. You proved me wrong. You showed me something that was more than whatever I had with him. I've never loved someone as much as I love you, never been so connected to another person before, not even my own mother. So that's not fair, Louis." I sniffle, releasing my blanket when I feel my claws extend.

Louis sighs, sitting down on the end of the bed with his back to me. "I don't know what to think Harry, what if-"

"Don't think about the what ifs. They didn't happen. Zayn's the past, you are my present and future. Don't think about where I would be then, when I'm right here. I'm your omega, Lou, and you're my alpha. Not him. This is what the goddess intended, and I'm so so glad that she set me on a path where we found each other, even if there were mistakes made on the trip." I crawl forward, sitting behind him and wrapping my arms around his shoulders tightly. He relaxes under me, leaving a soft kiss to my forearm.

"Stupid omega." I laugh, nodding as I press my nose into his hair.
"Sorry. I just... I just don't wanna think about a life where I don't have you."

"Then don't.