pretty please (with sugar on top) - larry stylinson

36

After sobbing in front of the bathroom mirror for ten minutes, Harry splashed water on his face and rejoined Louis downstairs in the living room. The windows were open to allow the sea breeze to blow through the house, washing away Harry's scent with each gust. Of course, Harry's body kept emitting pheromones without his consent, so the smell of his heat stubbornly clung to the air despite the breeze.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay." Louis had been saying these same words a lot lately, as if he needed to reassure himself as much as he reassured Harry. "You're safe here, and in a beautiful place to ride out your heat. It's like, star treatment. In paradise."

It didn't feel like paradise anymore, not with Louis leaving, but Harry kept those feelings to himself. He smiled halfheartedly at Louis' joke and shifted his weight from foot to foot, awkwardly standing in front of the alpha who was sitting tense on the couch.

"Come here. You look like you could use a hug."

"I could use a lot of things."

Louis patted his thigh. "Let's start with a hug for now."

"You want me to sit on your lap?"

"If you want to. I don't mind," and his face expressed the flash of a smirk, soon contained into a less intimidating smile.

Harry had a lot of experience sitting on alphas' laps, so he clambered onto Louis with more grace than he usually possessed, despite how shaky and off-kilter he felt. Louis immediately wrapped his arms around him and held him. He felt so safe and secure, comfort flooding through him in waves, that it was easier now to ignore how empty and desperate he felt.

"Little dove... You can relax now. You're safe here. I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you," Louis crooned into his ear, repeating the reassuring platitudes over and over in his soft, raspy voice, as if he knew how soothing it was to Harry to hear the alpha he adored so much saying these words to him.

He pressed his face into the crook of Louis' neck and inhaled his scent right from the source. Subconsciously or not, the alpha was releasing a lot of comforting pheromones which made Harry feel woozy, like he was on his way to getting high. The closer he pressed, the better he felt. Louis rubbed his hips like he somehow knew they always got sore on the verge of his heat.

"Why didn't you tell me you were nesting?"

"I wasn't. I'm not."

"I saw it with my own eyes."

"..."

"Obviously that's a sign that your heat was coming up. It would've been helpful to know."

"I've never done it before," he groaned. "It's embarrassing!" It was a good thing his face was buried in Louis' neck, because he was too mortified to look him in the eyes.

"It's not embarrassing," Louis argued, "It's natural. I told you I grew up with a family full of omegas. Our entire house was constantly one giant nest. I know all the ins and outs, baby. It's no big deal."

"I hate you."

"You don't. You like me." And Harry could feel Louis' smile pressed against his own neck.

"I'm so unprepared. I haven't had a heat in four years. None of my supplies are here, I-"

Louis pulled him back enough to press a finger against his lips, effectively shutting him up. It looked like he had something important to say, though, an idea. "You're really close friends with Niall, right? He seemed so protective of you. I'm sure he'd be willing to fly down here and take care of you while I'm gone."