I Got Issues

Chapter 3 - Shopping

As agreed upon, the next morning everyone had begun to get ready at their own pace. Kevin was up first, wanting to check on the pack, as that was his job as protector. Then Mitch arose to make his bed and straighten up his room. 

Scott was soon after, and had to do the honors of waking his fellow beta up. "Avi, come on, man." He spoke his shoulder, but it didn't work. He shook harder, still nothing. Sighing, he placed a hand over his nose and mouth, so when the man tried to breath in, he couldn't, and shot up. 

Avi groaned, pushing Scott's arm down. "Don't do that." He spoke in a low, angry tone, about to explode as his first instinct, and then took a moment to remember who he was talking to, taking deep breaths. "Sorry, man. I shouldn't have snapped." He sighed. Why couldn't he just keep himself in check? Betas should be logical and flexible, not emotional and easily agitated like he was. 

"Don't worry about it, man. I know it's not the most fun way to be woken up." He chuckled. "You're just such a heavy sleeper, it's the only way I found that works." 

"Yeah, I've always been like that. My sister would basically sit on me to get me up." He chuckled, suddenly calm at the thought of his sister. He should call her soon, let her know he'd settled in well. Esther was too good for the council to have to place her, a top tier beta and a busy council representative, but maybe she could find time in her schedule to at least take a phone call. 

"Yeah, don't think that would work for me." Scott joked. "Get dressed, then meet us for breakfast?" He asked him, earning a nod, and soon four of the five members were gathered downstairs. 

"Where's Kirst?" Mitch asked, noticing the Omega was the only one not yet there. "Is she still asleep?" 

"Maybe. I'll go wake her." Kevin nodded, making Scott stop him for a moment. 

"You sure, Kev?" He asked, a bit nervous. Kevin had never really been around Omega's that much, as both of his sisters were betas, his brother an Alpha. Scott at least had experience with one of his older sisters being an Omega. Kevin just quickly shrugged him off, going up to get that girl. He needed to get used to her if she was going to be staying here, and that wouldn't happen if he kept letting Scott insist on doing things for him. 

After knocking carefully on the door, he entered the room to kneel at her side. "Kirstin, c'mon." He spoke to her, his voice a bit louder than usual to wake her. Her eyes opened, the sudden noise startling, and shot up, taking in a deep breath as she glanced around.

"Hey, it's alright." Kevin spoke, softening his voice to a gentler tone, gently rubbing her arm. He was a bit akaward, hsving never been the one to offer comfort. That was usually a Scott quality. "Bad dream?" He guessed, and she shrugged. "I guess."

Now that she was up, Kevin left to let her get dressed. Soon enough, they were finally on their way out the door. They'd already gotten most of their groceries for the next week or so. It was mostly the standard things that he and Scott would usually get, but in much higher amounts, and they ditched a bit of the easy, microwavable meals they'd eat when both busy with work. Luckily, they worked at the same video production company, and were able to take some vacation time for their new arrivals. 

They'd decided to look at what they'd need for the others there as well. On top of general hygiene products, Avi would need to do some studying, so he could hopefully improve his score. If he was lucky enough to somehow get above a seven out of ten, he wouldn't be forced to stay with these people anymore. Mitch was supposed to work on his physical scores, so they also got some lighter weights for him to start with. 

Kirstin would be much easier, as the council only mandated they keep her healthy. If she wanted to, she could work for a high enough ranking to work at a nursery or library, but until then she only really needed to help with basic house chores. 

"Hey, Kirstin. I didn't see your final scoring from school, do you remember what it was?" Scott asked, turning to her. That was a good thing to have in their records. He didn't get a response, though. The shortest of the group wasn't doing well, having fallen back to trailing behind Scott. "Kirstin?" He tried again with a hand on her shoulder,  and it snapped her attention to the beta. "W-what?" She frowned. 

"What year did you graduate Omega school?" Scott asked, changing his question. He'd look the scores up himself. 

"I didn't." She stated, blandly, and before he could question further, Kevin was calling out and motioning for them both to hurry up and catch up to the group. That was a conversation to have in private, though, the blonde beta knew better than to embarrass her in front of both the pack and the strangers around in the mall. He knew Kevin wouldn't like that, though.

After a while, Kevin had reluctantly agreed that they could seperate to get their shopping done a bit faster. Scott and Avi went to pick out some more chairs for their dining room as well as an extra bed frame, since Avi had been using a mattress on the floor. Kevin took Mitch, as he was the one the Alpha could tolerate more in that moment, to get things for his room, as it used to be the office.  Kirstin had taken a guest bedroom and Avi moved in with Scott. 

Of course, Kevin insisted the little Omega come with him, as he needed her to be near an Alpha that could scare off others. Omega's were very sought after, being a bit less common than Alphas and betas. That's why he tried to take her hand, but the Omega recoiled it. 

"Kirstin, take my hand." Kevin warned her, his voice low, but she wouldn't, and he reluctantly decided to give her a break for now. If she did something else like this, he may need to repremand her, but for now he'd just let her walk in front of him.

At the next store, Mitch had really taken interest, as he knew what type of things he'd want in his room. Kevin didn't mind this as much, knowing he probably knew more than the Alpha ever would about design, and just gave him permission to roam as he lagged behind slightly. It had to have been almost fourty-five minutes before he was ready to pay, and they were finally on their way back to meet the others near the car. Neither of them noticed when the smallest of the group stopped dead in her tracks, frozen, and they continued on without her.

Quick PSA- I do support social distancing and the use of masks, but this is a perfect world where Covid never hit. Comments give me so much motivation! Which one of the five is the most interesting so far?