To Pretend

Thirteen

They wake up in a pool of sweat from someone banging on their door.
"Breakfast!"

Louis gets up to get the painkillers again. He feels Harry's forehead and it's still hot. He hands him some pills and Harry accepts them.
"You should stay in bed." He says softly.

Harry yawns and stretches his arms over his head.
"But we're flying home today. I'm fine. Let's just eat."

They take a quick detour to the bathroom to freshen up before they get dressed. Louis feels restless. If he wasn't on suppressants he would think that he's going into rut but that's impossible. He's probably just really hungover and catching a cold. Not a good combination.

Niall comes out of his room as well as they step out into the hallway. He walks up to Harry and puts his hand on his arm.
"How are you feeling Harry?"

Louis sees red. Someone is touching his Omega. How dare he? He pushes Niall away with a growl.
"Don't fucking touch him!"

Niall hits the wall and stares and Louis in surprise.
"What the hell Louis! What did you do that for?"

Louis shakes his head to clear his mind.
"Sorry."

Harry whimpers. He's shaking. Liam and Zayn come running out into the hallway and Louis give them an angry glare. Does everyone want his Omega today? He'll fight them all. He gets in front of Harry to shield him and growls at the new intruders.
"What the hell is going on?" Liam asks and furrows his eyebrow.

He takes one look at Louis and his eyes grow wide.
"You're going into rut Louis!"

"I'm on suppressants." Louis snorts. All the signs are there but he refuses to believe it.

Harry whimpers again and Louis immediately takes him in his arms.
"What's wrong with Harry? Is he also going into rut?" Niall questions.

Liam sniffs the air and he takes a step back in surprise. He stares at Harry with his mouth open.
"You're an Omega?"

Harry just whimpers in response.
"What? How is that possible?" Zayn questions, equally shocked.

"Ooh, that explains everything!" Niall grins excitedly.

"Okay, we'll discuss this later. Get back in your room. We'll get you some food. Hurry!" Liam says.

Louis turns around and drags Harry with him without saying another word. Liam is right. They need to lock themselves inside a room before their rut and heat kick in for real. Harry's getting distressed.
"They know. They can't know! I'm in so much trouble."

Louis pulls him in for a hug and makes sure Harry can breathe in his scent.
"It's okay baby. It's going to be okay."

Louis's intentions are pure but smelling an Alpha going into rut doesn't exactly calm Harry down. He's getting aroused instead and pushes himself closer with a whimper. Louis lifts him up and walks to the bathroom.
"We should shower while we still can think clearly. Oh, and Harry? I'm really looking forward to spending our heat and rut together."

"Me too." Harry giggles.

It kicks in right after they have washed their hair and Louis throws himself at Harry and fucks him relentlessly. Harry comes twice and Louis carries them to the bed while they're locked together by his knot. He registers a basket with food by the door and brings it with him and that's his last clear thought before his Inner Alpha takes over completely.

Louis takes care of his Omega and knots him over and over again. Harry cries out every time and they're absolutely consumed with each other. They sleep and they have sex for five days and neither of them has ever experienced anything like it before.

When Harry comes to his senses his hand flies up to his neck to see if they got mated. He lets out a breath of relief when he realizes that they didn't. He wants to mate Louis but he wants to wait. They haven't been together that long and they're still young. He also wants to be fully present when it happens so he can remember it for the rest of his life.

He looks down on his body with a grimace. There's dried cum everywhere. They really went for it. He remembers most of it he thinks but it's a blurry memory. He turns to look at his Alpha who is still sound asleep. Louis is beautiful. Harry traces his fingers along his cheekbones and touches his lips briefly which makes Louis twitch. He manages to wake up the Alpha and blue eyes meet his.
"Did I bite you?" Louis immediately asks.

"No." Harry answers.

"Thank God!" Louis says with a relieved breath.

Harry pouts. He feels offended. Louis presses a kiss against his lips.
"Don't give me that look. I want to mate you but not like that. We both need to be ready and I would like to actually remember it. Okay?"

"I feel the same way. I actually checked if you had bitten me first thing when I woke up." Harry grins.

"You little shit. Come here. Are you good? I didn't hurt you did I?" Louis asks in concern and opens his arms.

Harry looks confused for a second until he understands that Louis is referring to their rut and heat.
"No. It was amazing Boobear. I'm fine. I love you." He says and lays his head on Louis's chest.

"It truly was. I love you too." Louis smiles.

They cuddle for a while before they get up to take a shower. Harry notices that he has lovebites all over his body and bursts out laughing. Louis looks amused as well. They shower together and make out under the hot water. They're in a really good place right now and tell each other how happy they are.

After they put some clothes on Louis calls Liam. They walk over to his room hand in hand and all three boys are there. It's time to face them. They all sit down and Louis puts his arm around Harry protectively.
"Are you guys okay?" Zayn asks.

"Yeah, we're fine." Louis answers.

"So you're an Omega! It makes sense now. I'm so happy for both of you." Niall grins.

"Thanks!" Harry beams.

"Don't worry. I called our management and explained everything. They rebooked our rooms and changed our tickets home." Liam tries to reassure them.

Harry and Louis both stare at him in horror.
"You did what? No!" Harry whimpers.

Liam looks confused.
"You really fucked things up. They're gonna tell Simon." Louis growls angrily.

"Okay, explain yourself." Liam demands.

Harry and Louis exchange a look before Louis starts to talk.
"Simon made Harry sign a contract where he has to pretend to be an Alpha and no one can know that he isn't. Simon would kick him out of the band otherwise. I signed a contract as well. I have to conceal the fact that I'm gay otherwise I'm out as well. I know you meant well Li but I don't even think our management knew and I'm sure they called Simon first thing after you contacted them. We're in deep shit."

Three pair of eyes stares at them in shock.
"That's outrageous! They can't do that!" Zayn shouts upset.

"What's wrong with Simon? I can't believe it. Awful." Niall says.

"I'm so sorry guys. I didn't know. Now we at least got the answer to our next question, why Harry hasn't told us he's an Omega. They can't kick you out of the band. We won't let them!" Liam says and Zayn and Niall agree.

"I don't think they will kick us out at this point. The question is what They're gonna do instead." Louis sighs and Harry pulls him closer. He's scared.