I Loved You First

Chapter 6-Fever

He has managed to finally calm down just in time for dinner. He dresses nicely and makes sure to cover himself with Beta booster, spraying himself a little extra just to make sure no one can smell his natural scent. Well, except Louis. He seems to be able to smell him anyway which is just weird.

Liam knocks on his door and they walk down to the dining room together. There are a little over sixty people in there, mostly men, mostly Alphas but Harry can sense a few Betas as well. He's not surprised that he doesn't see any Omegas. He notices Louis as soon as he enters the room tho. Even if he's short his scent stands out from everyone else's so he didn't actually have to see him to know where he is.

Louis immediately looks up as he enters the room and their eyes meet. Harry blushes and looks away. He's feeling warm and his skin is crawling. He doesn't need a reminder of the sauna incident earlier. He needs a drink.

There are name tags on each plate and Harry walks up to the board placed at the entrance to find his table. He and Liam are seated at table G and while he skims through the rest of the names by his table his eyes get stuck on one particular name, Louis Tomlinson. Great. They're seated next to each other.

Liam sits on his other side and Louis comes over to take his seat as well. Harry tries to ignore him but Liam doesn't.
"Hi, Louis!"

"Liam, nice to meet you again. Zayn can't stop talking about you." Louis grins.

Liam lights up from the mentioning of Zayn and Harry can't help but smile. He's happy for them, he truly is. Finally, his glass of wine arrives and he takes a big sip. His throat is dry and it's really warm in the room, due to all the people.

A female Beta sits opposite them and she's trying to get Louis' attention. Harry gives her an irritated glare. She's so obvious with her bad flirting but Louis just answers her questions politely. Could he give it a rest? He follows their interaction without looking at them and almost chokes on his food when the girl in question asks if Louis wants to accompany her to her bedroom after dinner.
"Sorry darling, I don't swing that way." Louis answers and that makes Harry choke for real. He starts to cough.

Louis turns his attention to him instead and rubs his back.
"Are you okay there?"

"Yeah." Harry croaks.

Louis smirks at him and continues to eat his dinner. Harry feels a flash of heat flush through his body. Can they turn the fucking heaters down in the room?

After dinner, there's a meet and greet and Harry works the room and introduces himself to everyone, except that girl by their table and Louis of course. He heads for his room early, not feeling well. He decides that a good night's sleep will fix that.

Except he wakes up with a fever the next morning. This is so typical! Why does he have to catch a cold right now? He rubs his eyes and sighs before he gets up and searches his bag for pain meditation. He finds some pills and takes two out and gets his bottle of suppressants as well. He shakes a pill in his hand and walks over to the bathroom to swallow them down with tap water.

He gets in the shower after that. He's all sweaty and sticky. He takes a long one and washes his hair as well before he gets out and dries himself on a fluffy towel. He sprays himself with his Beta-blocker before he gets dressed and gives his clothes an extra spray. You can never be careful enough in a place like this, surrounded by Alphas.

He's already feeling sticky. Great. He's having his presentation after breakfast. He just has to get through that and then he can rest for a while. He makes sure to bring his papers before he knocks on Liam's door. He opens it with his phone glued to his ear. From the look on his face, Zayn is on the other line.
"Just come to my presentation. 09.45." Harry says with a smile and Liam mouths "thank you" before he closes the door again.

He heads downstairs feeling less confident. Bringing Liam with him wasn't just for protection. He's actually quite shy and Alphas can be intimidating. When he spots Louis in the dining room he feels relieved. Even if they're not on the best of terms he's someone familiar. Louis looks surprised when he walks over to his table after he has helped himself to the breakfast buffet. He's not really hungry so his plate just contains some watermelon and he got himself a cup of coffee as well.
"Can I sit here?"

"Of course." Louis immediately answers and offers him a smile.

He sits down and starts to munch on a slice of watermelon. Louis is watching him with furrowed eyebrows.
"Are you okay?"

Harry meets his eyes and nods his head.
"I have a fever, that's all."

They small talk politely through breakfast. Louis can't shake the feeling that something isn't right but he can't pinpoint it.

They have their first assembly after breakfast. Harry told him during breakfast that he is the first to speak and that he's nervous about it. Maybe that's why his scent is stronger this morning? He takes a seat next to Liam and watches Harry get up on the podium on shaky legs. He's sweaty and pale. Then it hits him! He lets out a gasp and grabs Liam's arm. He leans into whispers in his ear.
"Harry is going into heat. We have to get him down from there, now!"

Liam stares at him with his mouth hung open and it takes a second for him to react. They both rush towards the podium. Harry looks confused. Liam leans into whispers something in his ear and Harry's eyes grow wide. Liam puts an arm around him and leads him down the podium. Louis grabs the microphone.
"I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen, Harry has caught a nasty stomach flu and can't speak today. Please continue with the lecture."

He hurries down the podium to help Liam put Harry in safety.