To Pretend

Four

The days go by fast. The tour bus takes them to a new location during the night and they perform in a new city every other day.

Harry wakes up a half-hour earlier than everyone else so he can take his suppressants and mask his scent with Alpha booster before anyone notices.

He tries his best to act like an Alpha, copying Louis and Liam. It's a bit confusing. They're really different people but he tries his best to act like them even if he sometimes forgets. He loves being on stage. Then he's just himself and dances around, enjoying every second of it. Being put in the band is the best thing that ever happened to him.

His crush on Louis has only grown bigger and he can't really call it a crush anymore. He's head over heels for the Alpha and from the way Louis is looking at him all the time he's pretty sure his feelings are replicated. That makes him so happy and sad at the same time. He hates lying to Louis. If he could tell him the truth they might take things further and Harry wishes with all his heart that they could. He wants to be able to call Louis his boyfriend, his spouse, his mate for life. He daydreams about kissing him all the time.

They're even closer now even if he tries to keep his distance but it's hard to stay away. Louis seeks his company all the time.

On the 23rd, the day before Louis's birthday they play one last show in Manchester before a well-deserved Christmas break. They head back to London and their apartment in Princess Park. Harry loves the fact that he and Louis live together.

They arrive late at night and head straight to bed. Harry wakes up early the next morning and hurries out of bed. He takes his suppressants and sprays himself with the Alpha Booster before he collects Louis's birthday presents and softly knocks on his bedroom door.

He doesn't get an answer so he pokes his head inside just to find Louis still sleeping. He walks up to the bed and puts the presents on the bed before he lays down next to Louis. He starts to sing happy birthday softly and Louis smiles before he opens his eyes to look at him.
"Happy birthday dear Boobear, happy birthday to you." Harry ends and smiles too.

Louis puts his arm around him and pulls him down so Harry is resting his head on Louis' chest.
"Thanks love."

They just lay like that for a moment, cuddling each other in silence until Louis speaks.
"Are you going into a rut soon? Your Alpha scent is really strong today."

Ooops! He must have gone a bit overboard with the booster this morning.
"No, I'm on suppressants like the rest of you. You don't like my smell?" Harry teases.

When Louis doesn't answer at first he lifts his head to look at him.
"You think I smell bad? Seriously?"

"No! Of course not Haz. You smell okay." Louis hurries to say.

"Just okay?" Harry questions with a raised eyebrow.

Louis laughs softly.
"You smell like an Alpha Hazza. As an Alpha myself I only find Omegas scent attractive, but I'm attracted to you as a person."

Harry just beams and Louis gives him a kiss on the forehead. Harry sits up and gets the presents and hands them to Louis.
"I wrapped them myself."

Louis smiles fondly and starts to rip off the paper. Harry has bought him a new pair of toms and a teddy bear.
"I love it! Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. When do you have to go back home? Can I treat you to a birthday breakfast at our favorite café?"

"Absolutely! Let me just get dressed." Louis grins.

"Yeah, I should put some clothes on as well. Meet me in the hallway in ten minutes." Harry says as he gets up from the bed to walk over to his own room.

Ten minutes later they meet up and heads outside. They decide to take a walk. They have just stepped out of their gated apartment complex when a bunch of fans spots them and comes running towards them screaming. Before they can as much as blink they're being surrounded and the girls almost rip their clothes off, trying to get close. Harrys stress levels are sky rocking. He's actually scared.
"Take it easy girls." Louis tries to say but the girls are screaming too loud to hear him.

Harrys inner Omega is in distress and he's getting dizzy. Louis grabs his arm and janks him away and they run towards the gate. The girls run after them but Louis manages to open it and close it behind them before the girls are close enough to get inside.

Harry's head is spinning and he can feel his legs give in and he falls to the ground as the darkness surrounds him. This is good. No one can harm him here.

"Harry!" Louis shouts and gets down on his knees and shakes him. He doesn't get a reaction. He puts his ear against his chest. His heart is beating slowly. He checks his breathing and it's there but barely. He's panicking and fumbles for his phone to call an ambulance.

Then it hits him. He's seen this before once with his mum. When he was ten years old he had hidden some firecrackers in a drawer in the kitchen and they went off when she opened it. She got so scared that she dropped. His dad came running and took care of her. He got grounded for a month and they had a long talk about why he couldn't scare his mother like that, why he couldn't scare an Omega. Louis stares at Harry in shock.
"No fucking way!"

He picks him up carefully and carries him inside bridal style. He knows what he has to do now. He can smell it now, Harrys Omega scent. His state must make it stronger. Louis looks down at Harry while he carries him to his own bedroom so Harry will be surrounded by his Alpha scent. He lays him down on the bed and lays beside him. He takes him in his arms and makes sure that Harry's nose is tucked in his neck so he can smell him. He caresses his hair and whispers soothing words to him while he lets out calming pheromones.
"You're safe Harry. No one can harm you. Please come back to me, baby."

Why on Earth would Harry pretend to be an Alpha?