Here I Go Again - HeckinaHandbasket (2024)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

So maybe this wasn’t exactly where Steve had seen himself at 20.

Driving a mini van full of kids around all day, wrangling snacks and sunscreen and dispensing flintstones vitamins.

Hauling a cooler and diaper bag everywhere he went, like a pack mule.

Steve Harrington’s nanny service was supposed to have been a temporary gig. Something quick and easy to do for cash while he figured out what to do after high school.

He hadn’t expected it to have taken off like this. To turn into a career.

It had started as a favor to Mrs. Henderson, sweet, overwhelmed single mom of precocious Dustin.

It had snowballed from there, and one kid became two kids became three kids, became four, became five, became six when Mrs. Wheeler had decided that baby Holly was old enough for her to take that interior design job she desperately wanted.

At least Mrs. Sinclair could stay home with Erica because the little girl had threatened Steve’s life when he offered to take her on. Lucas joined the group mostly to stay with his friends, his family could afford the luxury of optional care.

Now Steve spent sunup to sundown with five eight year olds and a toddler.

And he kind of, low key, loved it.

“What is that? Get that out of your mouth!”

He alternated between looking in the rear view mirror and back at the road as they pulled up to the pool, wincing with disgust when Dustin reluctantly took a dirty rubber band out of his mouth.

Steve held his hand back over the seat as he pulled haphazardly into a parking space.

“Give it to me,” he winced even harder as the soaking wet rubber hit his palm, “now, what did we agree goes in your mouth?”

Dustin had barely fitted his lips around the exaggerated ffffff sound before Steve interrupted, shoving the rubber band in his pocket along with his keys.

“Food, that’s right. Not trash. Jesus. Alright, we’re here. Everyone out of the car and—Hey! Mike! No shoving!—for god’s sake, look out for cars, you guys.”

He didn’t bother to get out, instead clambering into the backseat to release Holly from her car seat, cursing as he pinched his thumb, sucking on it to her hysterical laughter.

“Oh? Is it funny when Steve hurts himself?”

“Yes!” At least three tiny voices chorused from the parking lot.

Steve popped her onto his hip as he climbed out of the van, yanking Lucas out of the range of a speeding truck by the collar while he popped the trunk to get their bags.

“Load up, brats!”

They each grabbed their backpack, leaving Steve with the diaper bag and cooler as they set off for the pool gate in a cloud of excited chatter.

Steve struggled to close the trunk without dropping the baby before following after.

Only Jane waited for him, skinny fist clutched around the tail of his shirt. It pulled the fabric to the side in an unflattering bunch, exposing a pale sliver of belly, but Steve didn’t care.

It was worth it. Jane had been a hard nut to crack. Her trust was a precious gift and Steve knew it.

He gave her a small smile as they hurried to catch up with the other kids, receiving only a solemn nod in return.

The usual girl checked them in, a Beta named Heather, popping her gum disdainfully while Steve floundered with the pen, dropping the cooler and shifting Holly further to the side to sign them all in.

He paid for their pool membership out of his nannying fees, but it was worth it, because...

The gate opened with a fierce cry of triumph from Dustin, Heather’s bored finger on the buzzer when Steve finally finished, kids pouring out onto the pool deck.

Now, they had something to do that wasn’t yelling at Steve, and they were guaranteed to be tired, afterward.

It was worth the money.

So, so worth it.

He set up their pile of belongings on an out of the way deck chair, unwilling to fight for a prime spot.

A sharp whistle brought his head up, surprised that Rick had actually used the whistle. The Beta lifeguard usually let things slide, slouching in his chair with the barest effort expended on watching the pool.

But, it wasn’t Rick up in that chair.

It was a new lifeguard.

And he wasn’t a Beta, either.

No, he was.

All. Alpha.

Now that Steve looked around, he noticed that the prime deck chairs all held posing, preening, perfectly coiffed Omegas, mostly mated but still blatantly ogling the new lifeguard.

There was a lot of him to ogle.

He wasn’t big, especially for an Alpha, but he had. What was it called? Presence.

He took up a lot of, like, metaphysical space.

Plus, he was practically naked, so.

There was a lot. To ogle.

Dustin tugged insistently on his hand and he rolled his tongue back into his mouth to look down at him, hoping the dazed expression on his face would be attributed to exhaustion.

Dustin did not care about Steve’s face. He cared about his juice box, still locked away in the cooler.

Steve called the brats to line up for sunscreen, slapping it thickly on every one of them, even as Lucas squirmed and whined about never getting burned.

“No excuses. You dorks are my responsibility, so, you get sunscreen.”

Finally slathered in sunscreen and juice boxes in hand, they took off for the pool.

Steve heaved a sigh of relief, tying Holly’s sunhat securely under her chin before rubbing sunblock onto her chubby arms and legs.

She immediately began chewing it off her fist as he flopped down beside her, reclining the seat back and putting on his shades.

The kids shrieked and splashed, all happy smiles every time he checked on them, so he could finally relax.

Stripping off his shirt, he started applying sunscreen to himself, making a mental note to pick up more as the bottle was almost empty.

He twisted and struggled to reach his back, Holly laughing at his antics.

A warm, familiar voice brought his head up, sunglasses sliding down his nose.

“Holy crap, look who it is! Need a little help with that?”

And, usually, Steve would roll his eyes and turn down any Alpha making such a blatant excuse to touch him but, this wasn’t just any Alpha.

It was Tommy.

He and Steve had been best friends, inseparable up until Steve had presented. And then they had just drifted apart, like people do.

Steve’s face broke out in a wide grin, leaping from the chair to wrap Tommy in a tight hug, slapping him on the back as they both laughed.

“Hey, man! Long time, no see. When did you get back in town?”

Tommy shifted away, a light blush across his freckled face.

“It’s just for the summer, then I head back to school.”

That threw a cold bucket of water over Steve’s joy. Because, of course, everyone he knew had gone to college except for him.

Tommy cleared his throat, leaning past Steve to reach for the bottle, Holly watched them with wide eyes as she chewed on a towel.

“Yeah, I’m, uh. I’m actually here to talk to Carol’s dad. Gonna ask for his permission to mate her.”

Steve screwed up his nose a little at the old-fashioned formality of it but turned with a warm smile.

“That’s great! I’m surprised you guys waited this long. I’m so happy for you!”

That was genuine, at least. Tommy and Carol were made for each other.

Tommy nodded, smoothing cream lower on Steve’s back.

“Yeah, it wasn’t easy, man. Almost lost it a few times, you know?”

And, like, Steve probably shouldn’t know. A proper Omega wouldn’t know, but.

When he was with Nancy, when he had thought that she loved him, he had asked for it. Begged, really.

Stretched his neck taut to expose his mating patch, looked deep into her eyes as she rode him and just said “please, Alpha?” and she had gently turned his head the other way, and then avoided his eyes every time they made love after that.

So, he could imagine, that it must have been difficult when both parties wanted it.

When the Alpha actually wanted the Omega they were with. Steve had never experienced that first hand, but, he could imagine.

Shrill, ceaseless whistling drew his head around to find the new lifeguard climbing down from his seat, stalking over to—sh*t—Steve’s kids.

Steve snatched Holly up from the seat, offering Tommy an apologetic smile.

“It was great seeing you, Tommy, but I’ve gotta go get my kids. Don’t be a stranger, okay? Come find me while you’re in town!”

And, maybe he shouldn’t have said that last bit so loudly, because now he was the recipient of several disgusted, judgmental glances from all around the deck.

sh*t.

Now people were going to talk, about the unmated Omega shouting after the practically mated Alpha, after letting him rub cream all over them.

Steve could just hear the gossip now.

He held his head high as he hurried over to his kids, frowning with concern at the way Lucas was hunched over and gasping.

“What’s going on? You guys okay?”

The lifeguard turned to him with a sneer, whistle still clamped between his teeth while he talked around it.

“Are you the idiot responsible for these kids?”

Steve flushed, immediately, all over.

A lot of words had been thrown at him since he presented, but idiot was the one that really stung. Especially when he had failed to get into college.

He set Holly down at his feet, positioning himself between the seething Alpha and his now subdued kids, hands on his hips.

“Well, yeah. I mean, yes to the responsible part, no to the idiot part. Obviously.”

Wow, Steve was a regular wordsmith.

f*ck.

The way the Alpha’s eyes dragged down Steve’s body was entirely familiar and made him feel about five inches tall, even though he was actually taller than the Alpha.

Eyes a brighter blue than the pool water snapped to his, pinning him with a hard, authoritative glare as he stepped closer.

Steve’s shorts may have gotten just the tiniest bit wet, at that.

It was awful.

“Are you sure about that? Because it seems to me, pretty boy, that only an idiot would let his kids drown each other while he was too busy making doe eyes at some prick to even notice!”

And, okay. Rude.

Except for the part where he called Steve pretty. Steve could use more of that and less of literally everything else that came out of his unfairly gorgeous mouth.

Who even kept a whistle in their mouth like that? An asshole, that’s who.

He gave the Alpha an unimpressed look, gesturing at the puddle of wet kids huddled around his feet like scolded puppies.

“Woah. Hey, man, you wanna cool it on the language in front of my kids?”

The Alpha pushed his index finger into Steve’s chest, warmth radiating from that single point like Steve had never been touched by an Alpha before.

He barely resisted gasping at the sensation.

“I’ve got my eye on you now, princess. One wrong move from these kids and you’re all banned from the pool. It would make my job a hell of a lot easier with your dumb ass and your dozen demon kids out of here.”

The Alpha pulled his hand away, giving it a brief, puzzled look before curling it into a fist at his side.

Steve latched onto the insult to his kids, baring his teeth in a textbook Omega protective stance.

“They’re good kids!”

The Alpha did not look impressed by Steve’s posturing, jutting out his own chin in response as he pointed down at the kids.

“Yeah? Prove it. Don’t make me come over here again.”

And, maybe Steve would have had a good comeback, something witty, a real zinger, if the Alpha hadn’t immediately turned and walked away, because.

Hot. Damn.

Just. What the f*ck with that ass?

Ridiculous.

A small noise at his feet had him dropping to his knees to gather Lucas into his arms, scolding a contrite Mike.

Taking care of his kids took all of his concentration, until he had entirely forgotten about the angry new lifeguard and his ridiculous ass.

Mostly.

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

Billy.

His name was Billy.

It said so, right there beneath his picture, cheerily posted on the bulletin board beside all the others.

Not just a new lifeguard, either. No, Billy was the lifeguard supervisor.

Because of course he was, the prick.

It was bullying, is what it was.

Singling Steve out, picking on his kids. Blowing that goddamned whistle every time one of them walked faster than a snail’s pace around the pool.

Steve had watched someone else’s kid flagrantly run and jump into a cannonball while Billy had blown his whistle and pointed at Dustin for some invisible offense, all while never looking away from Steve.

It was infuriating.

Steve had bought the pool membership so that he could relax while the kids had fun.

But, Billy.

Billy murdered fun.

In cold blood.

With a whistle.

It took over a week for Steve to even be able to lay out in the sun again, having convinced the kids to play quietly and safely in the shallow end away from Billy’s chair.

He peeled off his sweaty shirt, rolling up the short legs of his brightly patterned trunks all the way to his ass to prevent tanlines, and lay on his stomach next to a sleeping Holly.

His eyes had just barely begun to close when.

Skreeeeeeeeeet

That. f*cking. Whistle.

Maybe if Steve didn’t lift his head to look, it wouldn’t be his kid.

“Harrington!”

And, f*ck. Of course Billy knew his name, now.

He had even signed him in one early morning, smirking at Steve’s uncoordinated kid juggling over his sunglasses, already shirtless.

Steve hadn’t done his hair that morning because of course he hadn’t, and it had flopped in his face and stood up in every direction and that just had to be the day he stood right in front of Billy for several agonizing minutes.

Not that Billy noticed Steve, like that.

No, Billy saved all of his flirting and charm for the bored mated Omegas who flocked to the pool in lipstick and heels just to gawk at him.

Steve, with his juice stained polo shirt and flip flops couldn’t compete.

Not that he wanted to, or anything.

It was just that, sometimes, he thought about it, a little.

Not Billy, specifically, but an Alpha.

With muscles and blue eyes and long curly blond hair and all of that was very coincidental, really. Because the Alpha Steve liked to daydream about wasn’t a complete dick.

So, not Billy. At all.

“Get your ass over here, princess!”

And, like. Steve had never heard Billy call any of his fan club names like that, so he could only assume that it was intended as an insult.

A jab at Steve’s Omega traits.

Well, joke’s on Billy, because Steve was a terrible Omega.

He didn’t dress up or wear makeup, he only did his hair because it was best feature and Steve knew when to make the most of what he had.

Most importantly, Steve didn’t fawn over Alphas or stumble over himself to submit to them at every turn.

And if that seemed to put Billy’s teeth on edge, then, all the better.

He asked Mrs. Reynolds to watch Holly for a moment while he strolled over to Billy at a leisurely pace, being sure to emphasize how little urgency he felt at answering his summons.

If he could have gotten away with flipping him off while doing so, it would have been perfect.

But, kids.

He ran his hands through his hair to get it out of his face, grateful that they weren’t sticky with sunscreen. He was a little pink from the sun and shining with sweat, so it was probably time to apply when he got back.

He had almost reached Billy when his flip flop caught on a crack in the concrete and fell off.

Steve hopped around on one foot until he could bend over to pick it up and Billy’s whistle made an odd, small sound before Billy started coughing up a lung.

He had the whistle in his fist when Steve turned to look at him, red in the face as he coughed into his elbow.

Steve moved closer, concerned despite himself.

“Are you okay, man?”

Billy nodded, coughing once more and looking furious about it, gesturing vaguely with the whistle in his fist.

“No, yeah, I. Inhaled my—”

He glanced at the whistle and then dropped it to fall between his perfect, rounded pecs. He also wore a necklace with a small medallion on a shorter chain, nestled between his collarbones.

Steve did not spend any time thinking about measuring the distance between the two with his tongue.

Billy straightened his shoulders and angled his hips into his usual swaggering Alpha stance, but his face still resembled a very sexy tomato.

Steve looked at the whistle, and then Billy’s red face, and then back at the whistle as a gleeful laugh bubbled up from his core.

“Oh, my god. Did you f*cking choke on your whistle?”

Billy’s expression turned murderous and Steve crowed with laughter.

He had genuinely fantasized about Billy choking on that whistle.

And, other things, too, to be honest.

But that was irrelevant.

Besides, Alphas didn’t do that for Omegas, so it was a stupid fantasy for Steve to have, anyway.

Billy jerked his head to the side toward the crowded pool.

“Kids.”

Steve checked, but his kids weren’t doing anything wrong, not that such a thing had ever stopped Billy before.

He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“Yeah, I know, it’s always my kids. Which one are you mad about, now?”

Billy shook his head, his tongue coming out to wet his lips and play at the corner of his mouth as he let his gaze wander over every inch of Steve.

“No, I mean, there’s kids here. You can’t just get f*cking naked.”

Steve looked down at himself, blushing as he realized that his shorts were still rolled up, exposing the top few inches of lily white thigh, not his most attractive look.

He unrolled them hastily even as he scanned the deck, finding at least three people wearing less than him.

He pointed off to the side.

“Mrs. O’neil has her bikini top undone, and her bottoms are smaller than my shorts!”

Billy didn’t even look, raising one eyebrow at Steve’s brief, bright trunks.

“Sweetheart, nothing on Earth is smaller than those shorts.”

His voice was still breathy, a little raspy from inhaling his whistle.

Steve tapped his foot, supremely irritated to have been called away for such a ridiculous reason.

“What about a Speedo? That’s smaller. Maybe I’ll just wear one of those next time. I can get a tan, and you can keep your mouth shut. Then we both win.”

Billy’s eyes widened, tongue peeking back out as he stared into Steve’s irritated face. He was still glowing red from all the coughing.

“You, uh, got one of those lying around?”

Steve shrugged, because, no. He didn’t, but. He would damned well buy one just to prove a point.

“Did you really call me over here just to harass me about my swimsuit?”

Billy narrowed his eyes at Steve, moving closer as he lowered his voice to a hiss.

“You can’t strip at my pool. You’re too—Are you even taking suppressants?”

So, Steve knew that Billy was an asshole. That was irrefutable. But, he hadn’t gotten the full picture until just now. Of what a giant, huge, unbelievable asshole Billy was.

Because, who the f*ck just asked somebody something like that?

It was beyond rude, it was downright offensive.

The kind of thing sh*tty, traditionalist Alphas said to police people with Omega bodies.

f*ck that.

He scoffed, shoving Billy away with a hard push on his chest. He barely moved.

“Wow. Are you going to ask about my birth control, next? f*ck you.”

Billy’s nostrils flared, gaze zeroed in on Steve’s exposed mating patch.

It f*cking throbbed when he noticed the attention. Because glands are stupid.

It was perfectly acceptable for Omegas to leave their patch exposed, it wasn’t the dark ages. It was the eighties, for god’s sake.

But the way Billy looked at it, just now, it felt. Naked.

Indecent.

Steve covered it with his hand on instinct and Billy growled.

Just a little, under his breath, but that was enough for Steve to go slick and there was that nostril flare again and this was mortifying and—

Billy pivoted at a large splash in the deep end, striding over with his whistle to yell at, thank god, someone else’s kid.

Steve took the opportunity to beat a hasty retreat, gathering up his kids and loading the van.

It just suddenly felt like the right time to go to the park, instead.

That was all.

Chapter 3

Chapter Text

Steve wasn’t avoiding Billy. He wasn’t.

There wasn’t an Alpha around who could intimidate Steve into changing his routine.

Certainly not one who was Such. An. Asshole.

Steve was just making strategic decisions to reduce friction in his daily life. Smart decisions.

So he had kind-of sort-of memorized Billy’s shift schedule.

So what?

It just meant that the kids got to enjoy the pool under the far friendlier lifeguardianship of Heather or Rick.

Steve didn’t have Billy breathing down his neck, eyes burning his skin before the sun even got to him.

Judging him like everyone else in this town.

The kids got to splash and play without hearing that f*cking whistle every ten seconds.

Billy probably heaved a sigh of relief that he could go back to flirting with the moms gathered around the base of his chair without Steve stinking up the place with his ineffective suppressants.

A win for all involved.

It worked so well that when he forgot Billy had an afternoon shift and the Alpha suddenly appeared, glare spearing Steve immediately with that f*cking whistle already in his mouth, Steve might have scrambled a little to leave quickly.

Which meant that he had grabbed everything the kids needed, but left his own sh*t behind.

Which meant that Steve had to spend, so far, ten goddamned minutes of his one morning off a week arguing with Heather.

He was exhausted.

The Wheelers had run late last night and Holly had been fussy. Steve hadn’t gotten home until well after midnight.

And Heather was giving him sh*t for no discernible reason.

“The pool is closed. Come back in an hour.”

Steve slumped against the counter, pushing his unruly hair out of his face before digging the heels of his hands into his aching eyes.

“Yeah, no, I’m not here about the pool. Can I just take a look at the lost and found box? I think I left my shirt here.”

Heather hummed noncommittally, slouching lower in her metal folding chair behind the counter.

“I can’t just let you rifle through and pick out what you want, how do I know it’s yours?”

Steve gave her an incredulous look, because, really?

“What? No, I don’t want. I don’t want other people’s random lost sh*t. I just want my shirt back.”

Heather popped her gum, swirling it around one neon fingernail in a disgusting stringy pink blob.

“Well, can you describe it?”

Steve flopped his hand palm up on the counter, accidentally knocking a battered clipboard onto the floor. Heather didn’t even glance at it.

“Really? It’s a shirt. Polo shirt, with pastel stripes.”

There was a muffled crash somewhere behind the closed office door she sat in front of, but Heather didn’t seem to notice.

She was too busy lifting perfectly groomed eyebrows to give Steve a long, thorough once over as she leaned back to shout over her shoulder.

“Hey, Billy! Didn’t you say that was your—”

Billy slammed through the office door, all sunglasses and teeth and, as usual, no shirt of his own.

“Yeah, you know what, Heather? I got this.”

Heather just smiled up at Billy, but not in the typical way that girls smiled at Billy. Heather smiled like a cat dangling a mouse by the tail, slow and savoring and entirely evil in intent.

Billy sighed and nodded stiffly, reluctantly, frowning as Heather shot out of her chair with a delighted laugh, grabbing her jacket and purse and vaulting over the counter.

She blew Steve a kiss with a wink as she left.

He had never been more confused.

And, for Steve, that was really saying something.

Billy cleared his throat obnoxiously, sprawling out in the chair Heather had just vacated.

“Can I help you, Harrington? I hope you’re here to cancel your membership so I never have to see you and your demon squad ever again.”

Steve shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose with the other hand planted on his hip. He really was just. The worst.

“No. I just want my shirt. Can you check the lost and found? Please?”

God, it burned to beg the Alpha. He could see how much he liked it, too, smile widening at the word.

Billy pushed back to balance his chair on two legs, hands behind his head in a pose that really emphasized the size and shape of his arms.

Like Steve needed anything to point those out. He already saw them in his dreams, thanks.

Billy rocked back and forth in the chair, knees spread as he hooked his toes under the counter to keep his balance. His thigh muscles bunched and stretched with the motion.

It was...distracting.

“Can you describe it?”

Steve entertained a brief and vivid fantasy of knocking the chair out from under him.

“It’s the same shirt I just described to Heather. I’m pretty sure you heard me.”

Billy just stared at him, face infuriatingly blank behind his sunglasses as he shrugged.

Steve bent over with a groan, squeezing the edge of the counter until his knuckles whitened.

“Oh, my god. You’re such an asshole.”

Billy’s chair legs clicked back down onto the floor, his bare feet propping up on the counter inches from Steve’s fingers.

Steve considered stabbing one with the pen taped to a string lying beside them.

“Now, now, princess. Is that the way you ask for a favor?”

Billy was all Alpha condescension, from his smarmy tone to his sh*t-eating grin.

And, you know what?

Two could play at that game.

If Billy was going to pull his Alpha bullsh*t, Steve was going full Omega.

He slowly altered his stance into a sleek, sinuous line, glancing down before peeking up through his lashes at Billy, f*cking batting them a little just to really rub it in. He pitched his voice soft and sweet as he tilted his head to display his patch, just a little. Nothing obscene.

“Please, Billy?”

Billy fell out of his chair.

Or, rather, Billy tried to stand up but seemed to forget that he had his feet propped up on the counter and fell sideways with a thud.

It was immensely satisfying.

One of the top ten moments of Steve’s life, so far.

He cackled as Billy pushed to his feet, a disgruntled flush rising up his chest all the way to his disheveled hairline.

His sunglasses and whistle lay scattered across the floor at his feet.

Top five moments, maybe.

Billy’s eyes caught Steve’s and for just a second there, he could have sworn that they were black. Just, nothing but pupil.

His scent had spiked, the deep woodsy smoke of unmated Alpha practically slapping Steve from across the counter.

He smelled...

f*cking amazing, actually.

sh*t.

Steve’s dick was very interested in that scent and sent a message to Steve’s brain that he should shove his nose in the hollow of Billy’s throat.

Steve marked that particular message return to sender.

His dick didn’t make the decisions around here.

Billy bent down to retrieve his sunglasses, mashing them onto his face in a move that was more anger than finesse.

He then reached under the counter and pulled out a blue plastic milk crate stuffed with forgotten towels and lunchboxes, dropping it down on the counter before stomping back into the office without another word.

The door slammed so hard behind him that one of the pictures fell off of the bulletin board, fluttering serenely to the floor.

Steve sifted through the crate, wrinkling his nose at all of the mixed scents from strangers of every designation.

His shirt was nowhere to be found, but he did unearth Dustin’s lunchbox from the previous summer so it wasn’t a total loss.

But, damn. He had really liked that shirt. Wore it all the time.

It would have been nice to have found it.

He hoped that whatever asshole had taken it appreciated what a nice shirt it was.

Chapter 4

Chapter Text

He wasn’t supposed to be here.

Steve double checked his planner, flipping through the pages to find the date. It was a little damp at the corners from Mike dropping his wet towel on top of it on his way to the bathroom.

It was Tuesday afternoon. Billy was off today.

Which didn’t explain why he was walking across the pool deck out of uniform, scowl on his face like he had his own personal thundercloud overhead, a round-faced little girl with bright red hair trailing after him beneath that same cloud.

She was wearing a too-big tee shirt that looked like it might have been Billy’s, emblazoned with a Scorpions album cover that was definitely not meant for children. Her little fists clutched a battered backpack like somebody might try to take it from her.

Steve looked up at Rick, slouched so low in his lifeguard seat that he seemed moments away from a nap and showing no signs of changing.

Billy spotted Steve immediately, jerking his head to indicate that he wanted Steve to walk around the pool and come to him.

“Harrington!”

Steve put Will in charge, to Dustin and Lucas’ loud protest, scooping up Holly and making his way over to Billy, who was practically tapping his foot with impatience.

Mike wandered out of the bathroom, eyes lighting up when he saw Steve and trotting over to the group gathered just inside the gate.

Steve bit his tongue against reminding him not to run, reluctant to call Billy’s attention to it.

Luckily, Billy seemed distracted, most of his attention on the little girl who couldn’t seem to decide if she wanted to cling to his shirttails or kick him in the shins.

Steve knew what his vote would be.

Billy out of uniform was just as bad for Steve’s neglected libido as Billy in uniform, despite the significantly better skin coverage.

His shirt was rolled up over his biceps and unbuttoned to the waist, framing his medallion. And his jeans were so tight that Steve could have guessed his designation just from his bulge.

Christ.

Steve dragged his eyes away from Billy’s jeans, raising his eyebrows in question.

“What’s the problem, Hargrove? My kids aren’t even in the water.”

Billy didn’t look so good up close, face lined with exhaustion and hair limp. The little girl’s eyes were red and puffy like she had been crying all night.

Something in Steve’s chest squeezed in sympathy despite himself.

Billy pinned Steve with a measuring look, glancing at Holly as she squealed and pulled Steve’s hair. Steve responded by reaching up to untangle her pudgy fist, pressing a kiss to her knuckles and letting her tug at his shirt collar instead.

“Well?”

Billy seemed uncomfortable, arms crossed and feet shifting. He indicated the little girl with his chin, never looking away from Steve’s face.

“This is my step-sister Max. Something came up and her Mom’s gonna be out of town for a while.”

Steve smiled warmly down at Max, who practically snarled in response. The resemblance to Billy was uncanny.

“Hi, Max! I’m Steve.”

She looked to be about the same age as his kids, and Steve wondered if Billy wanted to ask if she could play with them or something.

It was more than he expected, though, when Billy spoke up, jaw jutting like a challenge.

“What’s your rate? For taking care of brats?”

Mike piped up helpfully at Steve’s elbow.

“My mom pays him ten bucks an hour!”

Billy’s face fell, something in Steve’s belly twisting at the sight of his tired eyes clouding with disappointment.

Steve turned to Mike, shifting Holly further up on his hip.

“Hey Mike, why don’t you take Max over and introduce her to everybody? You can get my wallet from my bag and go get otter pops for everyone from the concession stand.”

Mike whooped and told Max to hurry up, power walking over to Steve’s bag, a mighty cry of joy going up when he told the others.

Steve winced at the happy screams, waiting for Billy to whip out a hidden whistle.

He didn’t, just ran his fingers through his hair like it was the hundredth time he’d done it in the last twelve hours, looking defeated.

“Listen Harrington, I cant swing ten-”

Steve cut him off, jumping in before the thought had fully formed in his head.

“It’s five. Five an hour, or forty for a full day. I charge Mike’s mom ten because there’s two of them, and Holly’s still in diapers.”

It was a lie, and it wasn’t.

Steve charged on a sliding scale, according to what each family could afford. It didn’t make sense to him to charge Mrs. Byers the same as Mrs. Wheeler when it was so obvious that she needed the money more than Steve.

Bad business practice, maybe, but it kept his soul intact.

Something told him that Billy was in a tight spot and Steve wasn’t about to take advantage, past differences between them aside.

Billy squinted suspiciously, tonguing thoughtfully at the corner of his mouth, and Steve would really appreciate it if he could rein in that f*cking tongue sometimes.

It was like he just couldn’t keep it in his mouth. Drove Steve crazy.

Made him squirm around under the covers at night just thinking about the places it could go, if Billy had the inclination.

Obviously he didn’t, his only interest in Steve so far had been in keeping him away from his pool or, just now, in engaging his childcare services.

So it was completely unfair that Steve had to watch him tap the wet pink tip of it thoughtfully against his teeth.

“Forty for the day? How much for a full week?”

And, like, there was a reason that Steve was running this nanny gig besides the fact that he was good with kids and didn’t exactly need the income.

He had barely passed high school, failed to get into college, and was not so great at on the spot math.

He blinked dazedly at Billy, trying to multiply forty by seven in his head.

He had never quite grasped the seven times table, okay? It was the worst one!

Billy’s tired face cracked into a smile, softer at the edges than his usual shark grin.

“Alright, sweetheart, don’t strain yourself. You look like you’re gonna bust a gasket. Forty a day for the week would be two eighty. That about what you’d charge?”

That sounded right, but Steve got the impression that every dollar counted in this situation.

He just hoped Max got along well enough with the others that this wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass.

Billy’s teeth flashed in that smile and Steve banished all thoughts of ass-biting into the depths of his subconscious.

“Yeah, but, uh. If you’re paying for the whole week I’d give you a discount. Make it an even hundred. Does that work for you?”

Billy’s chest lifted with a quick, stifled sigh of relief, some of that dark cloud over his head clearing away.

“Yeah. Yeah, I can do that. Okay if I pay you at the end of the week though? I don’t get my paycheck until Friday.”

Steve nodded, sputtering as Holly jammed mysteriously sticky fingers in his mouth, coughing while Billy laughed at him, blue eyes sparkling like the glittering surface of the pool.

“Yeah, that works. Let me give you my number. I keep the kids at my house for half the day and then we’re out running around the rest of the time, either at the pool or the arcade or the park. I keep a car phone too, so you’ll need both numbers.”

Billy’s eyebrows dove up into his hairline at that, whistling low with an insolent glance up and down Steve’s disheveled, kid-stained body.

“A car phone? Pretty fancy for a babysitter.”

Steve frowned, irritated at the mocking tone. He wouldn’t be looked down upon for providing an excellent and necessary service to the community.

“Nanny, actually.”

The surprised smile at his correction melted into something darker, dirtier, that tongue making another appearance as Billy looked him over again, much more slowly this time.

“Is that right? sh*t, I always wanted a nanny.”

Steve’s heart beat faster in his chest, taking a step back as Billy’s scent curled around him like a caress.

“Do you want me to go write my numbers down in the office?”

Billy shook his head, pulling a pen out of his pocket and clicking it before handing it to Steve.

Steve held it aloft as Billy scrunched up his eyebrows, first holding out his palm and then taking it away with a shake of his head, muttering under his breath.

“Nah, the guys would give me sh*t for it. Here.”

He deftly flicked open one more button on his shirt before holding it open and off to the side, going so far as to lean his head back a bit to give Steve more room.

Steve almost dropped the pen, luckily able to keep a tight grip on the wriggling baby.

“Are you serious? You want me to sign your chest?”

Billy rolled his eyes like Steve was the one being weird about this.

“Relax, pretty boy. It’s the best place to put your digits so I won’t lose them, and also keeps them away from prying eyes. Perfect solution.”

Steve didn’t think that was really the case, but he didn’t see Billy backing down from this, either.

He set Holly down with care, keeping one ear on her happy sounds as she slapped the concrete by his feet. Billy gave him laser focus when he stepped closer, clicking and unclicking the pen nervously.

At this range, he could feel Billy’s body heat and his scent was.

Intense.

Steve kept up an internal diatribe at his wayward libido as he stepped even closer, already blushing as he felt that telltale ache between his legs.

He wasn’t easier than other Omegas, despite what people said. Really, he wasn’t.

But, for some reason, his stupid body seemed to make an exception for Billy.

Up close like this, he could pick out individual notes of Billy’s scent, pine and leather and ozone buzzing through Steve like a drug.

He touched the tip of the pen to Billy’s skin, almost all the way over to his deltoid, and his wrist brushed against him and.

He was searing. Steve wanted to jerk away but also definitely press much, much closer.

Billy swallowed audibly, Adam’s apple bobbing right in Steve’s face and he had missed a spot shaving and f*ck, Steve was wet.

He just prayed that Billy couldn’t smell it on him.

Billy’s scent spiked just as Steve finished writing the second number, accidentally grazing the flat disc of Billy’s nipple with the palm of his hand.

He glanced down as he stepped hastily away and, holy sh*t.

Those jeans did nothing to conceal Billy’s reaction.

He was definitely an Alpha.

Billy buttoned his shirt up higher than it had been before and Steve held out his pen, carefully keeping his eyes above the waist.

When Billy reached for the pen his fingers went right past it, curling around Steve’s wrist to pull his arm close, plucking the pen from his shocked fingers with the other hand.

Before Steve could get more than a humiliating squeak out of his mouth, Billy had started scrawling on his forearm, in neat, blocky handwriting. His number and address and, for some reason, his name.

Like he thought Steve might forget it.

Like he didn’t know that Steve thought about Billy Hargrove at least twenty times a day.

God, Steve hoped he didn’t know that.

Billy finished writing, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he watched Steve’s face as he let his thumb rub a tiny circle over the gland in his wrist, setting all of his glands throbbing with a humiliating burst of Omega scent.

His mating patch ached, prickling as it flushed dark and insistent.

The blue receded in Billy’s eyes as his pupils spread, that tongue poking out to wet his lips.

Someone cleared their throat imperiously behind Steve and he whipped his head around to find three of Billy’s fan club watching him with narrowed eyes.

Great.

He tugged his arm free of Billy’s grip before stooping down to pick up the baby, who took that as her cue to start crying.

“Okay, cool. I’ll just take Max home with me after this and you can pick her up there this evening.”

Steve checked back over his shoulder again to find those women sneering with their heads together, one of them going so far as to mouth the word ’slu*t’ at him.

Awesome.

When he turned back to Billy, he was adjusting himself in his jeans with a wince, still pouring out waves of Alpha scent that did nothing to diminish Steve’s persistent blush and. Other problems.

Billy reached in his back pocket and brought out his sunglasses, flipping them open and sliding them on his face in a cool, practiced move. His fan club seemed impressed, practically sighing as a group.

All Steve could think about was the way they had clattered to the floor when he had fallen out of his chair.

He bit back a giggle at the thought and Billy’s smirk froze on his face.

His broad shoulders gave a stiff, angry shrug as he started walking backwards.

People just got out of his way without him ever looking behind himself. It was infuriating.

When he was almost at the gate he tilted his sunglasses down with one finger, flashing his teeth at Steve.

“Catch you later, princess.”

Steve made some kind of weird, strangled sound of agreement, rushing back to the kids to find a rainbow colored disaster of melted popsicles all over his lounge chair and towel.

It was a relief to have the distraction.

Chapter 5

Chapter Text

Max wasn’t an easy kid.

She didn’t smile and giggle at Steve’s stupid jokes, she didn’t join in Dustin’s endless car games, she didn’t snuggle up on the couch with the others in their habitual puppy pile.

She rolled her eyes and sneered and elbowed the other kids out of her way and was generally an unpleasant addition to the group.

Steve still had a soft spot for her.

So did Lucas, from the looks of things, following her around with big smitten eyes, taking every insult and glare like a compliment.

Oof. Steve was not prepared to deal with puppy love.

He needed to make sure that Billy never caught wind of it.

Odds were high that the Alpha would not react well.

The thing Max did, though, that really won her a place in Steve’s ever-expanding heart, was bring Jane out of her shell.

Jane had been adopted from bad circ*mstances that were none of Steve’s business but which had left a clear impression on the little girl.

She was quiet and reserved, with an intensity about her that could be off-putting.

Max adored her.

Steve had nearly burst into tears when he had walked into the living room to find Max carefully braiding Jane’s hair, chatting away about some band Steve had never heard of. Jane’s mouth had quirked to the side in a tiny smile and Steve was a puddle.

Max could punch him in the face and he’d thank her for it at that point.

And the little sh*t knew it.

“Come on, Steve. Billy would let me.”

Steve eyed the rickety skate ramp dubiously. It appeared to be held together by duct tape and blind optimism.

Max clutched an equally bedraggled skateboard to her chest, bright, hopeful eyes aimed ruthlessly up at Steve.

Steve chewed on his lip, hands on his hips as he kept one eye on Mike pushing Holly in her baby swing across the park.

“I don’t know, Max. It doesn’t look safe. Where’s your helmet?”

Max rolled her eyes so hard they tried to fall out.

“Oh my god, Steve. Nobody wears a helmet! Helmets are for dorks.”

Steve shook his head, decision made.

“No, helmets are for concussions. Preventing brain damage is not for dorks, Max. You can use the ramp when you bring your helmet.”

Max’s chin trembled before hardening into an angry jut that carved a faithful portrait of her Alpha brother.

She threw her skateboard down, narrowly missing Steve’s ankles.

“I don’t have a helmet. Everybody’s right, you’re nothing but a stupid bitch!”

She skated off in a blur of red hair and palpable rage, ignoring Steve’s shout of “Language, Max!”.

He was working on that, but it looked like he was going to have to talk to Billy about it.

Which would probably go, just, really smoothly.

Billy definitely seemed like he was open to constructive criticism of his guardianship style.

But Steve couldn’t let it go on and just wait for one of the other parents to give him a call asking why their little angel had started cursing like a sailor.

It had only been a week and a half but he had already heard Dustin yell out “son of a bitch!” when he stubbed his toe, and he definitely had not learned that from his mom.

5:00 rolled around and Steve let the kids take turns on his Nintendo while they waited to be picked up, first Mike and Holly and then the others, one after another until it was just him and Max.

For three more hours.

He called Billy at work and the phone just rang. He called him at home and got the answering machine.

Every attempt he made.

For three hours.

Steve was steaming.

Max shrugged sullenly when he asked where Billy was.

“He’s probably at home and playing his horrible music too loud or something. Just take me home in your big dumb van.”

He called one more time, leaving a message in the machine that he was bringing Max home soon.

Steve let her finish the level in her game before loading her in the van and white-knuckle driving to Billy’s house.

He had never been there before, but he had copied the address into his planner.

It wasn’t too far from the Byers’ house.

It was not in a good part of town.

There was trash piled in the front yard two houses over from the neatly manicured lawn of the small ranch house Billy shared with Max and her mom.

Max slid the door open on the van before he could put it into park, hopping out with her backpack and stalking toward the house with her head down.

Steve jumped out to walk her to the door, noticing for the first time that all of the windows were dark. No signs of life.

He reached out and snagged the loop at the top of Max’s backpack as she pulled a set of keys out of her pocket, not even bothering to try the door.

“Hey, wait a minute. Where’s the Camaro?”

Max made a noncommittal hum that did nothing but raise his suspicions, fumbling her keys as she kept her face turned determinedly away. He tugged on the loop a little to pull her away from the door.

“Max, where’s Billy?”

She spun abruptly, yanking the loop out of Steve’s hand as she glared up at him.

“He’s at work, like always. It’s fine, Steve. He taught me how to lock the door when he has a late night. Just go home. I can take care of myself.”

She went right back to fitting her keys to the lock like Steve was going to leave an eight year old alone in the dark.

He snatched her keys out of her hand, dropping them in his pocket as he stepped off of the front stoop.

“Come on, we’re getting back in the car.”

Max stomped her foot, baring her little teeth as her hands fisted at her sides.

“No. You can’t make me!”

Steve considered and rejected the notion of just hauling her up under his arm and carrying her like a kicking, screaming football.

“Max. If you get in the van, we can go back to my house and I’ll make whatever you want for dinner. You can pick a movie and we’ll just wait for Billy to get home and give me a call.”

Max narrowed her eyes, hands unclenching just a tiny bit.

“A scary movie?”

Steve sighed internally. He hated scary movies. Luckily, he only had a few on VHS and none of them gave him nightmares.

He nodded, risking a hand on the top of her backpack as he led her back to the car.

“Yeah, Max. You can have a scary movie.”

Work. She said Billy was at work.

Why would she say that?

The pool closed at 4:00. Even if he stayed late he would have been home by now.

What was Billy really doing?

Did he actually leave Max alone at home while he was out trying to get into someone’s pants?

Did he tell her lies about working late?

Billy was an asshole, but. That didn’t seem like him. He clearly cared for Max’s welfare, asking questions when he picked her up and providing everything Steve asked for, in his clumsy way.

Max might not have a lunchbox, but Billy sent a plastic grocery bag with a mangled peanut butter sandwich and an apple everyday.

Her clothes were wrinkled but washed, shoes in good condition.

She was clean and somewhat groomed, healthy and strong.

All signs of a child who was loved.

So why would he leave her all alone at night?

If the answer was to get his dick wet, Steve might be going to jail for homicide.

Max chose spaghetti and Steve whipped up his Nonna’s bolognese, making enough to freeze for the rest of the brats.

It took less than half of the movie for her to fall asleep, slumped over on the arm of the couch and drooling.

Steve let the movie finish before carefully lifting her from the couch and carrying her to the downstairs guest room, removing her shoes before covering her with a quilt and dimming the lights.

It was past midnight when the phone rang, Billy’s voice clipped with what Steve could read between the lines as blind panic as he asked if Max was with him.

Steve answered in clipped tones himself, less panic on his part and more growing, seething irritation.

It ground on him when people assumed his time was less valuable just because he provided childcare.

He wasn’t going to let Billy get away with that.

Especially if he showed up dressed for a date. Smelling like sex.

f*ck, Steve was going to deck him if he showed up reeking of some Beta he’d talked into the back of his car.

Billy pulled into the driveway on two wheels, practically leaving skid marks on the pavement as he leapt out of the car and jogged up to the door.

Steve was waiting in the doorway, arms crossed.

“This better be good, Hargrove.”

Billy opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was a wheezing cough. He tried again after holding a finger up and coughing once more.

“Sorry, sh*t. Hold on.”

He put his hands on his knees, bent at the waist as he breathed deeply like someone who had just run a marathon.

His hands were...dirty? Streaked with black and brown all the way to his elbows. His hair clung to his face at the edges with sweat.

He didn’t smell like sex.

He smelled like metal. Machinery, maybe.

Probably not a date, then.

Something along Steve’s spine relaxed at the realization.

He chose not to examine that too thoroughly.

When Billy finally lifted his head his face was contrite, almost pleading.

“f*ck, I’m sorry, Steve. Max was supposed to tell you to drop her off at home today. Did she forget?”

Steve stared hard at him, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Billy’s gaze never wavered, returning his stare with wide blue eyes.

Steve finally gave up with a tired sigh, ruffling his hand through his messy hair.

“Where the f*ck were you, Billy? What if I had plans for the evening?”

Billy crossed his arms as he leaned one shoulder against the door jamb, making Steve back up a step further into the house as he loomed into his space, contrition melting from his face as it morphed into a sneer.

“What, you got a hot date, Harrington? Got some poor Alpha waiting on the rocks?”

Steve was offended by his disbelieving tone, matching it with a challenging tilt to his jaw.

“I might.”

Billy’s face darkened, scent intensifying, going hot and smoky with something that was not quite anger. His voice dropped and dragged across the concrete beneath his feet.

“Yeah? What’s the f*cker’s name?”

Refusing to be sidetracked, Steve went in for the kill, teeth snapping around his words.

“None of your business. Is this a regular thing, you leaving Max alone at night?”

All shades of Billy’s anger faded in the flood of his guilt, twisting his face into stark lines as he gripped and pulled at the shorter hair on top of his head.

“No. sh*t, I hope not. It’s not on purpose, alright? I’ve just got kind of a lot going on right now, and. f*ck, you don’t want to hear about my bullsh*t. I’ll make sure to pick up Max on time tomorrow, okay?”

And Steve definitely wanted to hear about his bullsh*t, actually, but it wasn’t his place to pry.

He gave another sigh, stifling a yawn behind his hand.

“Listen, whatever happened, I’m not going to charge you for the extra time tonight. Max and I just ate dinner and she passed out on the couch. I carried her to the guest room and she’s snuggled up in bed. You might as well just leave her here instead of bringing her back in the morning.”

Billy nodded, watching the toe of his boot kick at the steps with a muttered curse.

Exhaustion rode his shoulders in harsh, tense lines, mouth bracketed with unhappy parentheses.

Steve’s heart thumped hard, shoving words out of his mouth without giving him time to think them through.

“We can make arrangements for extended care, if you want.”

Billy’s head came up at that, cautious interest lifting the arch of his brow.

“Yeah? How much do you charge for that? Same rate?”

Steve shrugged, unwilling to go through another math conversation even for the sake of maintaining the pretense that he wanted or needed Billy’s money.

“No. Nothing extra. I just need to know beforehand if she’s going to be staying late. You can’t just not show up.”

Billy barked out an unamused laugh, looking down and then back up into Steve’s eyes, his own eyes fierce and biting.

“I don’t want your f*cking charity, princess. Don’t need you looking down on us from your big, fancy house while you play at a job it sounds like you don’t even need!”

The urge to slam the door in his face was so strong that Steve shoved his hands in his pockets to prevent it. Instead, he gave Billy a hard, serious glare.

“f*ck you, Billy. I’m a damn good babysitter and a f*cking stellar nanny. You don’t know my circ*mstances any more than I know yours. And it’s not charity, I just don’t want Max to be left alone at night. Do you?”

The animosity faded from Billy’s face as quickly as it had appeared, lips pressing into a thin line as he kicked harder at the step.

“f*ck. No. No, I don’t. Goddamnit.”

For some reason, Steve wanted to wrap his arms around Billy, rub his back a little while he brought his head into the crook of Steve’s neck to scent him. Wanted to feel him relax into his embrace and let Steve just hold him for a while.

It was completely inappropriate and stupid and Steve mentally tossed that urge in the same box as most of his Billy-related urges, labeled ’Holy sh*t, Steve, you can’t f*cking do that’.

He backed up another step, just in case.

“Okay. So. Does she need to stay late again tomorrow?”

Billy rubbed a hand over his mouth, like he was trying to wipe away his frown, a little line of distress appearing between his eyebrows as he nodded.

“Yeah. Probably for the next three days, at least. I’ll pick her up whenever I can stay home with her, definitely earlier than this but probably after dinner.”

It was a good thing Steve had frozen that sauce. The way Max had decimated her plate, he’d be surprised if she didn’t ask for it every night.

He let his voice go soft, let it reach out for Billy in the way he couldn’t allow his arms to do.

“Alright, Billy. I can do that. We’ll make it work.”

For just a second, Billy’s eyes shone and Steve was suddenly terrified that he was about to cry, his own breath hitching in his chest at the thought, hands aching with the effort it took to keep from reaching out.

But Billy just looked off to the side for a second and cleared his throat before turning back to Steve, the line disappearing between his eyebrows, some of the tension finally dropping from his shoulders.

“Thanks, Harrington. You’re so good. Max is real f*cking lucky to have you.”

And, just like that, Steve’s inner Omega was purring, drunk on Billy’s praise. Flashes of Billy pressing sweet, appreciative words into his skin with searing lips filled up his head too quickly to be contained in the ’but for real, Steve, don’t f*cking do that!’ box.

His scent bloomed, just a little, but it was enough to make Billy jerk his head up, tongue running across his bottom lip like he was trying to taste the air.

Steve rushed to end the conversation, the back of his neck hot with embarrassment.

“I’ll take care of Max, you don’t have to worry. You should go home and get some rest before your shift in the morning.”

It was dark, but Billy’s eyes were darker, gaze sharp on Steve’s face. The spot on Steve’s arm where he had written his name burned, even though the ink had long since been washed away.

“You know my shift schedule, pretty boy?”

sh*t.

That was not something that Steve had meant to reveal.

It implied things that were not strictly true. Well, they were kind of true, but Steve didn’t want them to be.

Things like, he thought about Billy a lot. Things like, it mattered to him where Billy was and what he was doing. Things like, Steve oriented his life around Billy’s location sometimes.

True, really dumb, embarrassing things.

The longer Steve stayed guiltily silent, the wider Billy’s smile stretched, until it was a full blown grin.

Steve gave his head an unaffected toss, fooling precisely no one.

“Just trying to save my kids from the tyranny of your whistle, Hargrove.”

Billy didn’t take the bait, just stood there considering Steve thoughtfully. He seemed to come to a conclusion as he stepped forward, edging one boot over the threshold and into the house, spearing Steve with his eyes.

“Invite me in, princess.”

He shouldn’t.

There were lots of reasons why he shouldn’t.

Steve was an Omega, which meant a lot of things in this world, in this town. It meant he shouldn’t be alone at night, certainly not with an Alpha. It meant he definitely shouldn’t invite that Alpha into his home in the middle of the night.

It wasn’t considered proper, or smart.

Unfortunately, Steve wasn’t very good at being a proper Omega, and he definitely wasn’t smart.

Ask anyone.

He stepped back to make room for Billy to come in even as he kept his tone sharp and unwelcoming.

“Why?”

Billy advanced, sliding his boot all the way inside the open door, shoulders breaching the interior.

“I want to see Max before I go. I won’t stay long, just stick my head in for a second. I won’t try anything. You don’t need to worry, okay?”

From the moment Steve presented, he had been bombarded by cautionary tales of Omegas dumb enough to fall for a line like that.

The implication being, Steve was that kind of dumb.

He guessed it was true because he opened the door further, gesturing Billy in with an open hand.

“Okay. She’s right through here.”

Billy closed the door behind himself, reaching out and grabbing Steve’s wrist when he made to walk down the hallway, grip gentle but strong.

“Hey. Look at me.”

The edge of command in his voice skated down Steve’s spine in just the right way, made him want to tip his head back, mating patch tingling.

It was terrifying, how much he liked that.

He stopped, waiting silently, obediently for Billy to continue.

Billy glanced at his patch, like he could sense the way it ached for him.

His other hand came up, Steve making a tiny, humiliating sound as he felt the heat of it hover over his patch before cupping his chin to bring his gaze to meet Billy’s.

Billy leaned in close. So close that Steve could see the tiny freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose.

Oh, god. He wanted to lick them. Another thought for the box.

“You don’t do that. Never again, understand?”

Steve wrinkled up his nose, trying to shake his jaw from Billy’s hand but stilling completely as thick fingers tightened around his wrist, pressing against the gland there.

“Do what?”

Billy’s gaze was so heavy it might as well have been a touch, tracing over Steve’s lips before falling to his patch again, leaving Steve burning in the wake.

“Don’t let an Alpha in at night. You can’t trust them, not when you’re so—”

His hand shifted on Steve’s jaw, just enough that the edge of his little finger grazed his patch and Steve let out a whimper at the resulting jolt of electric pleasure low in his belly.

No Alpha had ever touched him there. Nancy had always scrupulously avoided the area like she hadn’t wanted to give him ideas. Her version of kindness, he supposed.

He wondered if this was Billy’s version of kindness.

It echoed the warnings his dad had given when Steve first presented, before Nancy. Back when he had seemed to care. Before everything turned into ’why would anyone buy the cow when you gave the milk for free’, and ’no point closing the barn door when the horse has already bolted’ and Steve was left wondering at exactly what point he had turned into livestock.

The thought brought bitterness up his throat, shoving Billy away with hard hands.

“Don’t worry about me, Hargrove, I can take care of myself. Try anything and I’ll chop your f*cking nuts off.”

Rather than getting angry at Steve’s harsh rebuff, Billy gave a tight, sharp smile, all teeth and no humor.

“Good. That’s perfect, sweetheart. You keep that sh*t up with every filthy, stinking Alpha that looks at you twice, alright?”

His approval ran through Steve like some lethal, addictive drug he didn’t even have a name for.

He really resented the way he was already hungry for another hit.

Steve spun on his heel without another word, leading the way to the guest room and trying to ignore the way his heart throbbed when Billy’s face softened at the sight of Max sleeping peacefully.

Something in Steve rushed to reassure him of the quality of his care.

“My bedroom is upstairs, but I’ll just sleep down here on the couch tonight in case she needs me or gets scared in the middle of the night.”

Billy squinted at him thoughtfully.

“You got an extra bedroom upstairs or is this the only one?”

Steve shrugged, confused by the question, face a little flushed at the mere mention of his bedroom.

“No, yeah, there’s three more upstairs, but I didn’t trust myself to carry her up the stairs without dropping her. She’s solid as a little brick.”

Billy nodded with a small, understanding smile that Steve, for whatever stupid reason, desperately wanted to kiss off his lips.

“I could do it, if you wanted to sleep in your bed. I carry her to bed all the time because she has a bad habit of falling asleep in front of the tv.”

When I’m not there.

He didn’t say the words, but Steve heard them. He could just picture Billy coming home in the dark to Max sprawled out on the couch with the tv on.

It made his heart ache, for both of them.

He was agreeing before he knew what he was doing.

“Okay, Yeah, if you want. I’ll lead the way.”

Billy reached for her, grimacing as he caught sight of his dirty forearms. Untucking his shirt, he wiped his hands and arms off haphazardly before scooping her up, quilt and all.

Steve very deliberately did not notice the way Billy’s muscles flexed with the seemingly effortless lift.

He didn’t notice it all the way to the first upstairs bedroom, standing back as Billy carefully lowered her to the bed.

The gentle curve of Billy’s hand smoothing over Max’s hair as he tucked her in hit Steve like a blow to the chest.

Oh.

Oh, no.

He shouldn’t be seeing this.

This was Billy without his hard shell. Billy cracked open.

And now Steve was never going to be able to forget how soft he could be when he thought no one was looking. When it really mattered.

Oh, f*ck.

That had been the real danger, in letting Billy in tonight.

Steve was so screwed.

Chapter 6

Chapter Text

Sometimes, rarely, Steve managed to get all of his grubby little ducks in a row and they made it to the pool early, before the crowds.

It had just opened when he bellied up to the counter, baby and cooler carefully balanced while he signed them in.

Heather seemed unusually alert for so early in the morning, perking up and dropping her magazine when Steve walked in.

Now she leaned on the counter right in front of him, chin propped on her hand, lowering her sunglasses to look him up and down.

Steve froze with the pen mid-air, thrown off by the attention. Heather usually made it a point to ignore him when he signed in. They had a good thing going, of pretending the other didn’t exist. It was nice. He liked it.

This was unprecedented and unnerving.

He shifted his grip on the cooler, giving her a cautious glance.

“Um.”

She took his vocalized confusion as her cue to jump into conversation like it was something they did everyday, like Steve didn’t suddenly feel like he was in the twilight zone.

She pulled her sunglasses off entirely to twirl them in the air with a thoughtful look, still examining Steve in a way that made him feel like a bug under glass.

“I mean, I get it. With the kids and the baby and all the, you know,” she gestured at Steve’s entire person dismissively, “pastels. You’re cute. Sweet, in that very Omega way. Tooth-rotting, really. It’s not my thing, but I can see why some Alphas might go gaga over it.”

Steve glanced down at his baby pink polo shirt. He thought it coordinated nicely with his pastel colorblock trunks.

Was Heather trying to criticize his fashion choices? Out loud, for once, since he got the impression that she was always kind of criticizing his and everyone else’s fashion choices?

He looked back up at her, eyebrows lifted in question, voice flat.

“What.”

It was like he wasn’t there, almost, the way she just kept on talking. He would have assumed she was talking to herself if she hadn’t been studying him like a particularly fascinating slide under a microscope.

“But, I mean. Just the level of obsession is baffling. I’ve never seen anyone get so gone so quickly. It’s like you cast a freaking spell or something. What did you do? Is it just, like, Omega magic or is there a trick to it? Because, let me tell you, if you could bottle that, you’d be rich as hell.”

Steve shook his head, bouncing his knees as Holly started to fuss. Heather seemed to finally notice that they were signed in and buzzed his grumbling kids through the gate, keeping Steve speared with her direct gaze so that he couldn’t follow.

He tried edging backwards toward the gate.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Heather slid her sunglasses halfway up her nose, slanting a significant look at Steve.

“Oh, don’t you, though?”

If his confusion could have taken physical form, he could have filled the entire pool with it at the moment.

He kept edging back and shaking his head.

“No? I don’t?”

Heather gasped, hand to her chest like she was clutching invisible pearls even as a delighted, slightly worrying smile crept across her lips.

“Oh. Oh, my god. Oh, that’s hysterical. Oh my god, thank you! You just made my day. My whole week. That’s amazing. And sad. But mostly funny.”

Steve co*cked his head at her, brow furrowed.

“Are you okay?”

She rounded the counter to push past him, entering her employee code to open the gate and holding it open for him to pass, following him through.

“I’m great. Listen, Steve, right?”

He tried walking more quickly toward the kids, but the baby and cooler slowed him down.

“Yeah...”

Heather was practically bouncing along beside him, effervescent with delight.

“Well, Steve, I’m thinking of leading a calisthenics class here at the pool, just two mornings a week. I really think you should join.”

Oh. Well, that explained it.

It was a sales pitch.

Steve heaved a sigh of relief that his life wasn’t really as bizarre as it seemed, giving a gentle refusal with a shrug.

“Oh, I can’t, my kids.”

Heather flapped her hand in front of his face like Steve having to do his job was a minor problem.

“That’s okay. Here, come with me.”

Taking the cooler from him and setting it just randomly on the ground, she took his hand like they were best friends and practically skipped to the concession stand.

No one was working it, there were hardly any people at the pool, just Steve’s kids and one small family.

She hopped up onto the counter to reach the freezer and produced a handful of popsicles, leading Steve back to his group with a rousing cheer from the kids.

She held them aloft like she was trying to keep a litter of puppies from jumping for a treat, which was...not inaccurate.

“Alright, listen up, twerps. You gotta sit here and behave for like ten minutes and I’ll get you another round of popsicles after, okay? I need to borrow your nanny for something. Very important.”

They all sat as a group, wide eyes fixed on the popsicles under a chorus of agreement.

It was eerie, actually.

Heather distributed the popsicles before turning to Steve and gesturing at Holly with a nose wrinkle of disgust.

“Oh yeah, do something with that, put it down or whatever.”

Steve looked between Holly and Heather, all understanding gone as he fell back to confusion and concern.

“She’s a baby?”

More hand flapping.

“Yeah, okay. Give her to the big one, this won’t take long.”

He supposed by ’the big one’ she meant Mike, who Steve did allow to hold his sister as long as he was seated.

Steve debated telling her no again, but it seemed more expedient to just get it over with, she had said ten minutes, after all.

He placed Holly down between Mike and Jane, instructing Mike to watch over her until he got back, only receiving sticky mumbling in return.

Heather was already tugging on his hand, but he dug in his heels barely ten feet away from his kids.

“I really don’t want to go too far from them, can’t you just show me here?”

She frowned at Steve and then squinted across the deck at Billy’s chair. They were directly across the pool from it.

She gave a pleased smile that glinted ominously in the sun.

“Yeah, here is perfect.”

She grabbed Steve unceremoniously by the hips, putting his back to the pool.

“Okay, so you stand here.”

Steve pried her hands off his hips, already regretting going along with whatever this was.

“Heather, I don’t think—”

Her hands only moved far enough to snag in the hem of his shirt, yanking it up.

“Yeah, we need to lose the shirt for sure.”

Steve sputtered as it tangled around his head and shoulders, popping off at one more insistent yank from Heather.

“What? I—”

She grinned at him, but only indirectly at him, like she was grinning at someone right behind his shoulder.

He looked but no one was there.

She tossed his shirt to the side like an old banana peel, assessing Steve’s awkward stance.

“Perfect. Now, we need to see how flexible you are.”

Steve shrugged, he’d never tried calisthenics, but he used to do yoga with his mom.

“I’m pretty flexible, I guess. I like to do yoga, sometimes.”

Heather clapped excitedly, pointing at Steve like he had come up with a great idea.

“That’s fantastic. We can use that.”

He was wrong. The pool could not have contained his confusion.

“What?”

With a snap of her fingers, Heather pointed imperiously to the ground.

“Okay, now touch your toes.”

Steve bent over halfway before straightening back up, getting annoyed with the way she was just watching him amusedly.

“Aren’t you supposed to like, do it too? As the instructor?”

She rolled her eyes like that was a massive inconvenience.

“Ugh, fine. Hurry up, buttercup, before those popsicles melt and your angry mob takes over the pool.”

She folded in half with an effortless grace that denoted ballet training, eyes widening as Steve followed suit.

“Oh, cool, you actually are flexible. That’s great! Also kind of gross, because. Yeah. Okay, so, now spread your legs apart and grab your ankles. Really push into the stretch.”

Billy started blowing his whistle as loudly and continuously as only Billy could and Steve glanced over to see that it wasn’t his kid for once.

The only other kid at the pool was running.

He followed Heather’s instructions to the letter, actually enjoying the stretch a little. He didn’t get a lot of time for yoga anymore, these days. Maybe he should go back to it.

The shrill, extended whistling died a sudden and complete death as Steve pushed into the stretch. Just, cut off completely the second his fingers wrapped around his ankles.

He peered out between his legs to find Billy half-standing from his seat, whistle falling slowly from his parted lips, looking across the pool at them rather than at the running kid.

He looked like someone had hit him on the head.

Bizarre.

With an amused snort, Heather led Steve through three more stretches, giggling uncontrollably and going into a full cackle at random times that seemed to coincide with her glancing over Steve’s shoulder.

They barely finished in time for the popsicles to run out, the kids letting up a great wail of complaint like a single hive mind.

Steve hurried over to shush them and also, hopefully, get away from Heather.

She followed him like an ill wind, holding out his shirt as he picked up Holly.

“So, what do you think? Ready to join the class?”

Was there a refusal more solid than hell no?

Because, that.

He shook his head, trying to arrange his features into regret rather than the near uncontrollable urge to escape.

“No, thank you. I don’t think it’s really my thing.”

The frown on her face seemed to arise from genuine disappointment.

“That’s too bad. I could have used the entertainment twice a week.”

This entire time, Steve still wasn’t sure if she was making fun of him or not. He didn’t like the sensation of being laughed at without knowing why.

He offered a cautious half-shrug.

“I’m sorry?”

Finger guns.

She pointed finger guns at him.

Paired with a smirk.

Had he really ever thought she was cool? Because, wow.

“Don’t be. That was amazing. Good luck with all of that. You’re gonna need it.”

And then she just. Walked away.

Steve turned a full circle in place out of sheer, bone-deep confusion.

What the actual f*ck had that been about?

When he settled into a chair with Holly to face the pool, he noticed that Billy, for once, wasn’t glaring at him.

He was glaring at literally everything BUT Steve, actually.

Which he was frankly grateful for, because Billy looked absolutely furious.

And, wow, he needed to apply some sunscreen before that burn got any worse. Because it was early in the morning but he was already as red as his shorts, from his entire face down to his chest.

That reminded Steve.

It was time to apply his own sunscreen.

For whatever reason, he heard Heather cackling again when he started to spread it on.

Chapter 7

Chapter Text

There were only two ways to be an Omega, according to society, and Steve didn’t fit either one, really.

The first, and only respectable way, was to get mated early and remain dutifully devoted to your mate and children forever and ever, amen. A one-Alpha Omega, as was good and proper.

The other way, according to some, was to let Alphas take you whenever the mood struck, roll over and present for any knot that came your way.

A lot of people thought that was Steve, but.

It wasn’t like that.

He had fallen in love, once, not long after he had presented.

Nancy was an Alpha, and beautiful, and smart and fierce and yes, Steve had slept with her.

It had felt right, at the time.

They couldn’t have hidden it, and they didn’t even try. It didn’t occur to Steve to try, not when their mating was sure to follow.

But suddenly the whole town knew and looked down on him for it when, not three weeks later, she had mated Jonathan Byers instead.

It was all anyone could talk about, for a while.

Nancy and Jonathan were a good couple, complimented each other.

Jonathan was a proper, respectable Omega, never looked at another Alpha before Nancy.

Everyone knew that Steve had done much more than look. Everyone thought that meant certain terms applied to him that could not be spoken in polite company.

Polite company seemed to have no issue making sure that Steve heard them, anyway.

His parents hadn’t been able to bear the shame for even a year before they left for good. Leaving Steve alone with his trust fund and bad reputation in a big, empty house.

So, now, even four years later, Steve had to prove, over and over again, that he wasn’t rolling over for just anybody.

It sucked.

The Alpha that had him by the arm was letting his slimy gaze ooze all over him and Steve wanted a shower to scrub it off.

“Need some help with those packages, sweet cheeks?”

Steve yanked his arm out of the too-hard grip, taking a step back with his armload of groceries.

“No thanks, I’ve got it.”

The scent of Alpha arousal rose sharp like a threat, like the weapon that it was as the stranger advanced on Steve.

“Feisty. They said you might be, but I like a little fight. At least let me walk you home.”

Steve bared his teeth with a wicked snap, every inch of him projecting rage in an attempt to overshadow the scent of his fear.

“No. f*ck off.”

And, two or three years ago he would have followed that up with another thank you instead, but now. Now he knew better. Now he just wanted to punch that greasy smile off of his face.

He was so sick of this sh*t.

They would say that he should have known better, walking home from the store after dark, all alone.

They could go f*ck themselves.

Steve turned on his heel and walked quickly in the other direction, heart pounding as he gave the Alpha his back, thinking longingly of the heavy wooden baseball bat he kept in his van for just such an occasion.

Alphas usually backed off when the bat came out swinging.

Footsteps continued behind him and Steve increased his pace, taking a quick left to head back toward the grocery store and, more specifically, the glaring lights of the parking lot.

The Alpha caught up just as he was rounding a chain-link fence, shoving Steve against it with a metallic rattle as one of his bags split open.

Apples rolled around their feet, and Steve mourned that he wouldn’t be able to cut them up for his kids’ snack bags. They would be too bruised and dirty, now.

Ruined.

The Alpha’s breath stank of onions, eyes flashing as he leaned in to take a long, obnoxious sniff of Steve’s patch.

Steve’s mouth went dry with fear even as he tensed in preparation of tossing his groceries in the guys face, debating between bringing his knee up into his balls or scraping his nails down his cheek. Trying to calculate which would buy him enough time to run.

“Who do you think you’re fooling with these stupid games, Omega? Everyone knows you spread like butter. Now, just play nice, and I’ll give you what you want, yeah?”

The apple that bounced off of the back of the Alpha’s head made a wet, crunching sound that lent a darker edge of violence to the otherwise harmless act.

He reared back to face his attacker, who was casually bouncing another apple in his hand, tossing it up and catching it without ever looking away from the Alpha.

“Pretty sure what he wants is for you to knot a blender. That sound about right, Harrington?”

Steve used the Alpha’s distraction to duck away, clutching his last bag of groceries to his chest as he put some distance between them, still edging toward the parking lot.

He glared at the offending Alpha, who had all but forgotten Steve in favor of posturing and growling at Billy.

Steve was proud that his voice only wavered a tiny bit at the very beginning.

“Yeah, if I thought he could find a blender shallow enough for his tiny dick.”

Billy grinned approvingly, but now that growl was turned on Steve, raising the hair on the back of his neck and weakening his knees. God, being an Omega sucked sometimes.

Most of the time.

The second apple caught the Alpha square in the face, grazing his cheekbone to smack into his nose with a crack and a thick spurt of blood.

It splattered on the sidewalk as he turned to roar at Billy, who was busy lighting a cigarette, barely acknowledging the posturing Alpha as he took a long, slow drag. He looked casual, but Steve could see that his shoulders were squared, feet planted even as he gave the illusion of nonchalance.

Smoke curled out of his mouth, as dark and low as his growling voice.

“Pathetic.”

He flicked the lighter closed, holding it in his fist as he waited, eyes burning brighter than the lit end until the other Alpha looked away first.

He spat blood at Steve’s feet, called him a whor*, and walked away.

All in all, not the worst that could have gone.

Steve’s heart was beating so fast he was surprised it didn’t rustle the brown paper of his grocery bag.

Billy held his stance until the Alpha was out of sight before tossing his cigarette and stepping over the blood spatter to gather the salvageable produce off of the ground, making a pouch with the hem of his tight tee shirt. He had changed out of his lifeguard uniform since Steve had last seen him, just over two hours ago when he had picked up Max, on time for once after nearly a week of her staying late.

Billy didn’t touch him, but he did something strange with his fingers, an aborted gesture toward Steve’s face that he cut off as Steve realized that there were tears pouring down his cheeks and hastily wiped them away on his shoulder.

The Alpha scent of Billy was heightened and strong from the confrontation, but somehow the opposite of the stranger’s. Billy smelled like a warm hearth, like somewhere Steve wanted to curl up in comfort.

God, he would be horrified if he knew Steve thought about him like that.

It made Steve feel like a stupid, clingy Omega.

Steve worked hard not to let it show, barely inhaling more than normal when he came close.

Close up, Billy’s eyes were all pupil like a wild cat on the hunt, breath rumbling in his chest with the remnants of his growl.

Steve should have found that intimidating, after what had just happened, but.

Yeah. Quite the opposite.

He wanted Billy to scoop him up like the fruit in his shirt.

Billy’s knuckles were white around the gathered fabric, speaking through his teeth like he just couldn’t unclench them, yet.

“You alright, sweetheart?”

Steve nodded, opening his mouth to speak and then closing it quickly as his lower lip trembled, humiliated tears hammering at the back of his eyes.

The corners of Billy’s mouth tightened, scent spiking with rage once again when it had just started to fade. It ought to have made Steve cower away, but all it did was make him want to press closer, make a space for himself in Billy’s arms.

Steve cleared his throat, crushing his bag of groceries tightly.

“It’s fine. I’m fine. I ought to be used to it, by now.”

Billy scowled at that, eyes searching Steve’s face before turning to walk to his car, slanting his head to indicate that Steve should follow.

“Come on, pretty boy.”

Steve’s feet were moving before he gave it conscious thought.

The Camaro was parked sideways across the street opposite, one wheel popped up over the curb all the way to the sidewalk, like Billy had simply jerked it off the road and hopped out.

Why would he do that?

Billy loved that car too much to treat it like that. Kept it pristine, clearly his pride and joy.

Steve hadn’t even noticed him pulling over, he had been so focused on the offending Alpha.

Billy opened the trunk, gently placing Steve’s groceries inside. He reached out slowly to take the bag from Steve, avoiding his hands.

They were shaking. f*ck.

Steve shoved them in his pockets as Billy hopped in the car, leaning across the seat to pop open the passenger door.

“Max is f*cking starving by now. You can come eat the slop I make for her.”

It was perhaps not the most gracious dinner invitation Steve had ever received from an Alpha, but it rang clear and solid with sincerity. No ulterior motives.

That was a first.

He got in the car, fumbling the seatbelt until Billy reached over and took it from him, his curls grazing Steve’s chin as he leaned down to click it in.

Steve wanted to clutch those curls and bring them to his face and inhale and never stop and.

f*ck.

Billy was watching him with sharp eyes, still leaned over the center console, one hand on the buckle of Steve’s seatbelt, arms caging him in.

It should have been too much, too close, too Alpha after everything, but it just made Steve feel.

Safe.

He opened his mouth to reassure Billy once again that he was fine but all that came out was a hiccoughing sob.

And then another.

And then another.

And then Billy was unclicking his seatbelt and Steve was being tugged half into his lap and just.

Held.

Firm muscle beneath his cheek, firm hand behind his head, firm, soothing rumble in Billy’s chest as he petted Steve’s hair like he was something precious until he could breath again without gulping for air.

It had been a long time since anyone had held him. Years, now. It was dangerous, how good it felt. Steve had to cut himself off before he did something stupid.

He sat up, both palms pressed to Billy’s chest for balance. Billy swiftly and awkwardly held out his wrist in front of Steve’s face, a respectful six inches away.

Steve stared at it, sure that he had misunderstood.

Billy couldn’t mean.

It wasn’t.

That was something reserved for mates. For courting pairs. For family.

Not for Steve.

Billy shrugged woodenly, chest moving beneath Steve’s hands as he glanced away before meeting Steve’s eye.

“Only if you want it, princess.”

If he...wanted it?

Like there was a chance that Steve didn’t want it, that he wasn’t already aching for it deep down in the very core of himself.

It had been so long, since anyone...

Not since he was a child. Nancy had never let him, never wanted to.

Billy nodded stiffly and started to lower his wrist, turning his eyes away.

Steve reached out and grabbed it, bringing it up to his face to nose at the gland before tilting his head and rubbing it firmly against the side of his throat.

Letting Billy scent him.

Letting that warm hearth spice absorb into his skin sweet and slow and deep until he felt the glow from within, like a fire banked in his chest.

Billy took a harsh breath, rumble deepening until it filled the car like the roar of the engine.

It ceased all at once with an audible hitch when Steve held his own wrist out in turn, face burning at his own audacity.

“Only if you want it. Like you said. I mean, it’s okay if you don’t.”

Oh god, make him stop talking.

Billy’s eyes fell half closed, all long dark lashes and flashes of blue as he took Steve’s wrist in hand, rubbing the pad of his finger over the gland before bringing it to his nose with a deep inhale.

They fluttered shut when he dragged it down the stubble of his jaw to his throat, pressing it in just a little too rough.

Like he didn’t know quite how to do it.

Like maybe this was new to him, too. Which would be, absurd, really. Looking the way he does.

Steve knew for a fact that he could have his pick of Omegas.

Good ones.

Not like Steve.

He must have properly courted a few, by now, wherever he had lived before coming to Hawkins.

It would be foolish to think otherwise.

Billy didn’t stop, dragging Steve’s wrist back up to his nose for a long extended breath, mouth open, and, oh.

Oh, god.

He pressed his mouth over Steve’s gland, just breathing at first, then licking.

A burst of Alpha arousal filled the car and Steve shrunk back against the seat, taking his wrist with him to Billy’s whining protest.

He blinked dazedly at Steve for a long moment before his eyes shot open, hand flailing out to crank down his window as a blush stole across his cheeks.

He waited silently for Steve to buckle up with now steady hands before putting the car into drive and rolling away, window bringing in fresh air to dissipate the scent of his arousal.

“f*ck. Sorry about that. Not what I was going for.”

His voice was hushed and sheepish, a tone Steve would never have expected to hear from Billy Hargrove.

Steve’s body was confused, adrenaline and dopamine and other idiotic chemicals crowding on top of each other until he just felt jittery and tired.

“It’s alright. I—I liked it. But, just. I’ve had kind of a long day.”

He had liked it a lot, actually. So much so that he was almost glad that he was too worked up from that random jerk to respond properly.

Because, otherwise, it would not have been just the scent of Billy’s desire filling the car.

Billy nodded, cheeks still pink, voice strained.

“Yeah. You get that a lot?”

It felt like Steve was trying to think through a fog, having difficulty following the thread of the conversation.

“What?”

The spice of Billy’s arousal was subsumed by the embers of his rage, scent going smoky once again as his hand tightened so hard around the steering wheel that it creaked.

“That, creepy Alpha sh*t that guy was pulling on you.”

Steve shrugged, picking at a smudge on his shirt from the fence. His arm hurt where the Alpha had gripped it.

“Oh, yeah. I mean, I’m an Omega. And, people tend to talk about me, gives Alphas the wrong idea sometimes. Maybe you don’t know, because you’re kind of new to town, but I had an Alpha once and. I was—I let her, but. She didn’t, um. She didn’t mate me, in the end, so. I guess they think I’m fair game, now.”

And even if Steve’s face burned as he said it, he refused to look away. He wasn’t ashamed of loving Nancy, even though she hadn’t loved him back.

Even so, something fragile and terrified fluttered in his stomach as he waited for Billy’s reaction, for disgust or leering interest.

He got neither.

Instead, Billy’s mouth dipped in a frown, hand rotating on the wheel with tight knuckles.

“Really? That’s some bullsh*t, Steve.”

Was that relief? That intense swooping sensation in his belly? It felt like relief, and something else he couldn’t quite pin down.

“Yeah, well. Most people don’t seem to think so.”

They came to a stoplight, the glow glinting off Billy’s eyes as he turned his face to Steve, all severe Alpha seriousness and hard jaw.

“Most people are assholes.”

That surprised a laugh out of Steve, because, holy sh*t.

Was there ever a truer statement?

Chapter 8

Chapter Text

They weren’t going to Billy’s house.

Steve didn’t know where they were going, but he knew their neighborhood now and this wasn’t it. They were headed further into town.

With any other Alpha, that would have put Steve on edge, not knowing where they were taking him.

But, with Billy, he felt safe.

Maybe it was the lifeguard thing. It was literally Billy’s job to keep people safe, after all.

Yeah, that was probably it.

That, and the lingering caress of his scent on Steve’s neck like a soothing balm on his rioting emotions.

But, probably, the lifeguard thing. Yeah. Definitely not the other thing.

Billy had rolled up his window and the car was now filled with the lingering, interwoven scent of them both. Melded together in a way Steve’s scent had not done since he had been part of a family.

It was...heady.

Almost overwhelming.

Billy seemed to be having difficulty taking small breaths, nostrils flared as he took long, heavy inhalations while Steve pretended not to be doing the same.

He jumped a little when Billy spoke.

“Where’s the nannymobile?”

Was that a word? That wasn’t a word. He turned to face Billy, who kept his eyes on the road, steering with one strong hand.

“What?”

Billy’s eyes flicked over to him, knuckles tightening on the wheel.

“Your van, princess. Why were you out walking at night?”

That was one of those things that people said, that just made Steve burn from the inside out. Like his designation was supposed to be a cage. Like he was responsible for the aggression of others.

It made his blood boil, words clipped.

“Just because I’m an Omega doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be able to walk home at night.”

Billy nodded, not appeasingly, not in that way that Alphas and Betas sometimes did just to get an Omega to stop talking. He nodded with a furrowed brow like he was actually considering Steve’s words.

“You’re right, that’s the way it should be,” he frowned, voice darkening, “But that’s not the way it is, is it?”

No. That’s not the way it was.

Unfortunately.

Steve could argue until he was blue in the face, but it didn’t alleviate the danger of occupying an Omega body in an Alpha’s world.

He sighed, slumping back in his seat.

“The van’s in the shop. It started making a funny noise and I got worried that it wasn’t safe for the kids so I took it in. I’m going to pick it back up in the morning. They said I could walk over first thing so I should have it in time for the kids to start their day.”

There was a muscle in Billy’s jaw that ticked when he tensed it just so. Steve couldn’t take his eyes off of it.

“I’ll give you a ride.”

A kind offer, but the Alpha tone in which it was given rankled Steve. Made it more of a command than an offer, like Steve didn’t have the option of refusal.

He crossed his arms, glaring at the side of Billy’s head.

“What, now I’m not supposed to walk alone in the morning either?”

Billy slammed his palm down on the top of the steering wheel, exasperation creeping into his voice.

“No. Jesus, just. Let me take you to pick it up. Where did you drop it?”

When he had decided to take it in, Steve had simply opened the yellow pages and called the first number listed. He figured that one auto shop was as good as another.

“Allen’s Car Repair.”

Billy grimaced, like Steve had made a terrible mistake.

“Well, then you definitely want me to go with you. Those assholes will take one sniff at you and try to charge extra for sh*t like headlight fluid.”

Steve widened his eyes innocently, putting on his best ’dumb Omega’ voice, high and breathy.

“Oh my god, do you think that was the problem?”

Billy squinted at him for a moment before bursting into laughter.

“Yeah. Probably that and your turbo thrusters were out of alignment.”

Steve nodded sagely, dropping back down to his natural tenor.

“I hate when that happens.”

Billy gave a deep sigh, thumb drumming against the steering wheel as he seemed to measure his words.

“Listen, Harrington. Auto shops are a real Alpha’s club, you know? Next time there’s a problem, just let me know and I’ll take a look at it for you.”

Alphas, as a general rule, tended to assume they knew more than Omegas, about any given topic. But, especially, about things like car repair, regardless of whether they had any kind of training whatsoever.

It was infuriating.

“Oh, right. Just because you’re a big dumb Alpha with a big dumb car, you know everything about auto repair.”

The look Billy turned on him made him freeze in place, with the oddest combination of fear and arousal that shot straight down his spine until he had to shift in his seat.

Steve could see the sharp edge of his teeth when he spoke. His patch throbbed, just a little.

“No. Because I’m a big dumb Alpha who’s been apprenticing with a mechanic for three f*cking years, asswipe.”

Oh, sh*t, that was hot. Why was that hot?

Steve blinked away images of Billy bent over the engine of his Camaro in an oil-smudged tank top.

“Oh. Sorry, I—really?”

Half a shrug, thigh muscles bunching and releasing as he worked the clutch and shifted gears.

“Yeah. Pretty much any time I’m not at the pool I’m at the shop. The pool gig is just temporary until Denny retires and a permanent spot opens up at the shop.”

There was a thread of pride running through his words that sparked a smile on Steve’s face.

“Oh, wow. That’s great, Billy!”

He didn’t smile back, face grim as he spun the wheel with an open palm.

“Yeah, I gotta get that full time position locked down so I can get insurance for Max in time for her school shots.”

Which, What?

That didn’t make sense.

Billy was just Max’s brother, right? Why was he the one arranging her healthcare?

He had every ounce of Steve’s attention now that the welfare of one of his kids was under discussion.

“What? Why? Isn’t she on her mom’s insurance?”

The pause that followed was as long as it was heavy. Clumsy and lumbering between them as Steve waited and wondered, mind racing.

Billy gusted out another sigh, voice low and serious, eyes on the road.

His hand gripped the knob of the gearshift so tightly that it groaned in protest.

“Steve. Max’s mom is. She’s not coming back, okay? She basically said as much, in her note. I haven’t heard from her since she left. We’re just lucky that she registered me as Max’s Alpha before she took off for f*ck knows where. At least I can be sure she won’t go into the system.”

Christ.

That was awful.

Poor Max. God, poor Billy.

Steve had no idea. How could he not have realized something was going on at home? Max acted out all the time. Suddenly her difficult behaviors took on a different light.

His heart aching for them, he reached out without thought to loosely grasp Billy’s wrist on the hand holding the gearshift.

“sh*t. Does Max know?”

It was like holding a steel pipe, he was so tense under Steve’s grip.

“No, and you’re not gonna tell her.”

Steve allowed his fingers to stroke softly, lightly over the gland in Billy’s wrist that still smelled like him, and he could feel the tension bleeding out like he had split Billy open with the touch.

“Of course not. Listen, Billy. Any help you need with Max, I’m here, okay? I mean that. Day or night.”

Billy swallowed hard, Adam’s apple bobbing and bringing Steve’s attention to his throat. He had to pull his hands into his lap to avoid the temptation to touch.

Billy didn’t notice Steve’s distraction, thankfully.

“Thanks. I’m, uh. Kind of sh*t with kids.”

It was kind of a strange thing to think about himself, when Billy took care of kids all day. Up in his lifeguard chair rather than down in the trenches with Steve, but. Still in the realm of childcare.

As much as his hardass ways irritated Steve and his kids at the pool, he always knew they were safe when Billy was watching.

“That’s not true. You’re great with Max.”

Another sigh, curls bouncing as he shook his head, exhaustion bleeding into his voice.

“Steve. She literally called me the devil and threw a hairbrush at my head this morning.”

Steve wanted to make Billy a nice cup of tea and curl up with him on the couch and rub his temples until those lines disappeared between his eyebrows.

“And what did you do?”

One corner of Billy’s lips lifted in a tiny, self deprecating smile.

“I picked up the damn hairbrush and made her a bowl of lucky charms.”

That shouldn’t have sent warmth spreading through Steve’s veins like a drug, but. It definitely did.

His own smile stretched so wide his cheeks hurt.

“Ten out of ten, perfect score. I couldn’t have done better. Sure you don’t want to get into the nanny business?”

Billy’s laughter rang out loud and clear, filling all available space around them and chasing away the last lingering shadows of Steve’s unfortunate encounter.

He turned his head as they pulled up behind a stocky concrete building, parking the Camaro precisely between the lines.

“Nah, I think you wouldn’t want the competition. Kids might hate my guts, but Moms love me.”

Steve mock-gagged at his smarmy tone and waggling eyebrows but Billy just snickered and hopped out of the car, walking quickly around to open Steve’s door.

The old-fashioned courting gesture made his heart beat just a little too fast.

Which was, well.

Stupid.

Billy hadn’t meant it like that, obviously. He was just being kind after Steve’s bad evening.

Still, when he offered a hand for Steve to steady himself when stepping out of the low-slung seat, his calloused fingers grazed over the glands of Steve’s wrist and Alpha scent spiked, prompting a small vocalization from Steve that was nothing short of humiliating.

It was probably an accident. Steve shouldn’t read too much into that.

Billy had just accidentally reactivated his scenting, that was all.

Steve needed to get a grip on himself.

Face the facts.

There was no way Billy would intentionally court someone like Steve when he could choose any reputable Omega in town.

Steve stomped down ruthlessly on the flutter in his stomach.

Billy, thankfully unaware of Steve’s small, private crisis, released his wrist to go open the trunk and Steve turned to peer up at the building.

The sign said Buckley Auto. This must be where Billy worked, when he wasn’t at the pool.

Billy guided him inside with one hand at the small of his back, Steve’s groceries piled into the single paper bag held securely in his other arm.

Max’s voice rang out from the clanging, buzzing depths of the garage as they approached.

“That better be dinner, asshole! I’m f*cking starving!”

Steve turned disapproving eyes on Billy, who just shrugged sheepishly.

“I told you I was sh*t with kids.”

Chapter 9

Chapter Text

Max was seated at a steel topped table, sneakers kicked up on the dented surface as she read a comic book.

The person connected to the coveralled legs sticking out from under the car next to her shouted as they approached.

“You get the part, dipsh*t?”

Billy grimaced, clutching the groceries as he very specifically didn’t look at Steve.

“Nah. Something came up.”

The person shot out from under the car on the wheeled plank under their back, something like a big skateboard. She was another Alpha, surprisingly small for her designation, with messy hair and purposefully smudged eyeliner.

“What the f*ck could have come up between here and the—oh.”

Her eyes caught on Steve and stayed there, irritated scowl morphing into a smirk as she looked back at Billy.

“This him?”

Max chirped up from behind her comic book.

“Oh yeah. It’s gross.”

Which, first of all, rude. Secondly, what?

Billy pitched his voice loud like he needed to be heard across a stadium instead of twenty feet across a garage.

“Yeah, this is Steve, Max’s nanny I was telling you about.”

His eyebrows seemed to be attempting something complicated that just made the smirk on his co-worker’s face grow into a grin.

She strode over to hold out a visibly filthy hand to Steve, who took it in stride. Nothing could gross him out after taking care of seven kids.

“Hey Steve, I’m Robin, Billy’s superior here at the garage and also, just, in life. So, you’re the nanny. I gotta say, that explains a lot.”

Billy shot her a mean look as he shouldered past to drop the groceries onto a small steel counter off to the side, equipped with a sink and cooking element, like Steve might have expected to find in a tiny apartment.

“Shut it, Buckley.”

Robin didn’t even acknowledge him, examining Steve with narrowed eyes before very unsubtly scenting the air. Steve started inching away from her shark-toothed grin.

“Um.”

She pulled a shop rag from her pocket, wiping off her hands without looking away from Steve.

“Max says you’re a pain in the ass. Billy says you’re —”

Billy piped up quick and loud from the counter, where he was pouring something from a can into a battered pot.

“I’ll get you the part tomorrow, Buckley. And coffee, if you shut up right f*cking now.”

Eyes still on Steve, she answered just as loudly.

“And a doughnut. With sprinkles, asshole!”

Billy muttered something that didn’t sound very agreeable to Steve, but she seemed to take it that way, finally turning back to her tools and starting to gather them up from the floor.

Steve had only been in the shop for a few minutes, but it already explained Max’s vocabulary.

He was still not looking forward to that conversation with Billy.

Steve edged over to the counter as Billy took Steve’s bag of groceries and stuffed them in an ancient refrigerator off to the side that had “beer only” written across it in permanent marker.

Steve peered into the pot, trying not to let his eyes widen in horror at the unidentifiable pile of meat.

“What are you making?”

Billy held up two empty cans before tossing them overhand into the garbage, each one landing perfectly. It was so typically Alpha that Steve struggled not to show that he was impressed even as he wanted to roll his eyes.

“Sloppy joes. I didn’t really cook a lot, before—” he glanced at Max and gave Steve a significant look, “—and, uh. I don’t have a lot of time to learn, so.”

He shrugged like he didn’t care, but his scent said otherwise, going a tiny bit sour at the edges with embarrassment.

Steve offered a bright smile, walking to the refrigerator to grab a few handfuls of produce.

“That sounds great, Billy. Do you have a bowl? I’ll make a salad to go with it.”

So he and Max didn’t die of vitamin deficiency, he didn’t say.

Steve was going to have to double up on her vegetable intake during snack. And her vitamins, too, just in case.

He started plotting ways to give Billy healthy dinners when he picked up Max in the evenings, maybe by pretending Steve had made too much. Of everything. Everyday.

Billy provided a scuffed plastic bowl, washing it himself in the sink before handing it to Steve.

There was a comfort in the easy domesticity that made Steve ache deep in his hidden, wounded places.

He couldn’t remember the last time someone had cooked with him that hadn’t been the kids getting in the way while he made cookies.

It made him long for things he couldn’t have. Things he didn’t deserve, anymore.

According to most people. Like his parents.

Something must have tinged his scent because Billy turned a look on him that was so soft and full of concern as he stirred the horrible lump of meat that suddenly Steve was fighting tears.

f*ck.

It sucked to be an Omega, with hormones that made him more prone to crying than other designations. He hated that.

He allowed himself one small, longing glance at Billy’s comforting wrist before lifting the salad bowl and bringing it to the table Max still occupied.

He set it down before flicking the top of her sneaker.

“No feet on the table, Max.”

She dropped her comic into her lap with an irritated expression.

“Billy lets me.”

And, oh, wasn’t Steve tired of hearing that phrase every time Max did something dangerous or rude. So, every thirty seconds, approximately.

“I don’t care. Do I look like Billy to you?”

She rolled her eyes, dropping her feet with a groan.

“No, but—” she took a deep, long inhale, eyes narrowing at Steve, “—you do smell like him.”

Robin chortled off to the side, pointing at Billy with a grease-stained finger.

“Ohhhhhhh. Oh hohohoho.”

Billy’s face could have lit a cigarette, he went red so fast.

“Shut it, Buckley, before I stuff that dirty rag in your ugly trap.”

Robin wrinkled up her nose, jerking her chin in Steve’s direction.

“Gross. Don’t you think you should save the kinky stuff for your—”

She ducked the wrench that Billy threw, laughing as it clanked against the wall behind her and clattered to the floor.

Max ignored the bickering adults, face trained squarely on Steve.

“Why do you guys smell like each other?”

Steve got down on Max’s level, keeping his face open and serious despite his own blush.

“Max. It’s impolite to ask people about their scent.”

She didn’t try to disguise the way she was sniffing him, her little face screwed up like Steve was day-old fish.

“Why?”

Steve loved kids, for lots of reasons. One of the reasons was their unflinching and constant curiosity. He tried to remind himself of that as he took a steadying breath.

“Because the answer is usually very personal. Do you understand?”

Max nodded slowly, more like she knew it was the expected response than to show actual understanding.

“Okay. But why do you guys smell like each other?”

Steve closed his eyes for a second, trying to filter through a child friendly explanation. When he opened them again, he kept his face carefully neutral.

“Something happened, and I got upset. Billy scented me to help me calm down. He was being helpful as an Alpha, kind of like the way he helps you sometimes.”

That made Max chew on her lip thoughtfully, eyes roaming over Steve with a tiny spark of fear in her scent.

“What happened?”

Billy came up behind her and rubbed a hand over the top of her head, letting it fall to the back of her neck with a soft, reassuring squeeze while he dropped a plate with an off-center sloppy joe in front of her.

“None of your beeswax, punk. Shut up and eat your slop.”

His eyes found Steve, searching and hesitant and oh, so blue.

Steve worked very, very hard not to project just how badly he wanted Billy’s hand on the back of his neck, too.

He must have succeeded because Billy stepped away again before returning with a sloppy joe for Steve, centered on the plate and only half as mashed as Max’s has been.

Steve used his fork to push it to the side to make room for a pile of salad, adding a large scoop to Max’s plate over loud protests.

She was still sniffing him, making Steve smile a little at the way her nostrils flared just like her brother. Neither one had any gift of subtlety.

He leaned over slightly, pitching his voice low as Robin and Billy argued loudly over the specifics of some engine across the table.

“Does it bother you? Make you uncomfortable or anything?”

Because, if it did, if Billy scenting Steve made Max’s life harder than it already was, then that was that. Steve would never touch Billy again if he had to.

She was already dealing with so much insecurity at home, Steve wasn’t going to do anything to add to it. No matter how much the thought of staying away from Billy made his stomach clench in knots.

Max shrugged, poking at the congealed meat on her bun with her fork. Steve gave her another scoop of salad with a suppressed shudder as she met his eyes.

“No. It’s kinda nice, I guess. Smells, like, safe? Or whatever. Just weird.”

The warmth that sent flooding through Steve was immediate and unparalleled. Max wouldn’t know it, but what she was trying to say was that Steve smelled like family to her, now. Which usually happened with mated pairs who were highly compatible, but.

Maybe she was sensitive to it because of the turmoil at home? Or, maybe, and this was a possibility Steve couldn’t examine too closely before shying away again, but, maybe, he and Billy were just that compatible.

Chemically speaking, of course.

That had no bearing on them as people. Right?

He turned his head to Billy, catching him mid-bite, chopped meat and sauce dripping out over his fingers onto the plate with a wet plop. He wiped the mess onto the back of his hand before continuing to argue with Robin with his mouth full.

Yeah, no. Strictly chemical.

Steve nudged the salad bowl toward Billy, but he ignored it, polishing off his sandwich and sucking on his fingers in a way that Steve was absolutely furious with himself for finding hot.

Whatever happened to standards, brain?

He sighed and scooped out some salad onto Billy’s plate, freezing in place when both Robin and Max turned dumbfounded expressions on him.

“What?”

Max wrinkled her nose at her own plate, stabbing some lettuce viciously.

“Billy doesn’t eat rabbit food.”

Robin nodded in agreement, bite of sandwich tucked in her cheek.

“Oh, sorry.”

Steve started to reach to scoop the salad back off of his plate but Billy quickly shoveled a huge forkful into his mouth, chewing with visible effort before offering a tiny, strained smile.

He tilted his head toward Steve’s plate, brow furrowed.

“Aren’t you going to eat your sandwich?”

And, oh, Steve was really hoping that no one would notice if he just, like, didn’t, but.

Billy waited expectantly as Steve cut off a bite with his fork, refusing to lift the mess with his hands, closing his eyes to take a bite.

Billy was still watching intently when he opened them again, eyes tracing the line of Steve’s working throat as he swallowed after barely chewing.

Some of the tension relaxed from his broad shoulders when Steve offered a smile of his own, a hint of Alpha satisfaction wafting his way.

Robin made a gagging sound and Billy glared at her as he shoved away from the table to wash his plate.

Steve joined him, surreptitiously dumping the rest of his sandwich in the trash.

“You know, Billy, I could drop Max off here instead of at home sometimes, if that works better for you.”

Robin chimed in as she dropped her empty plate with a splash into Billy’s soapy water, ignoring his displeased grunt.

“Oh yeah, definitely do that. I’ll start a betting pool.”

Steve turned around to watch her get back onto her rolling board, gathering some tools.

“Betting on what?”

Robin blinked innocently at him, in such a way that it was more suspicious than if she had pulled a gun.

“What?”

And then she just slid beneath the car, leaving Steve with her cheerfully tapping feet.

“Hey, Steve? Come look at this! It’s like, majorly awesome. Dustin’s gonna sh*t.”

Steve sat back at the table with Max with an admonishing look.

“Language, Max. We’ve talked about this.”

She rolled her eyes in that distinctly Max way that meant she wasn’t really upset.

You knew when Max was really upset.

Now, she just shoved her comic book under Steve’s nose, pointing to a particularly violent panel and launching into bloodthirsty raptures over it.

She was overjoyed to have gotten the newest issue before Dustin and regaled Steve with her plans to lord it over him until he caught up.

Steve feigned interest in the comic, smiling as he caught the genuine excitement in her voice.

It had been good for her to join the group. He was glad they had managed to push through their more difficult moments to bond as friends.

Max needed friends, right now.

He checked over his shoulder once he realized that he couldn’t hear water any longer, discovering that Billy was gone.

He told Max to stay put and looked around the garage, finding no sign of him until he came across a cracked open door that led to a set of stairs, muffled curses and grunting drifting through the crack.

Steve pulled it open, starting down the stairs but halting halfway as he peered over the open rails to find Billy.

It was an arresting sight.

He was absolutely wailing on a punching bag, knuckles wrapped and tee shirt clinging with sweat as his body strained with tension, teeth clenched against a low growl punctuated by heavy grunts on each impact.

Steve could have slid down the rest of the stairs with no problem.

He almost turned around to go back up but Billy saw him, catching the bag with both arms as he panted up at him, and, okay so, like, Steve’s brain only came back online after he had reached the bottom of the stairs.

The basem*nt room was obviously used for storage, filled to the ceiling with random tools and car parts and the intense scent of Alpha aggression.

It should have made Steve’s stomach turn in fear, knees weak, but he only got a solid sensation of safety from it. Which was categorically bizarre.

Billy stepped back from the punching bag with another curse, lifting the hem of his shirt to wipe his face and basically committing a crime against Steve with his sweat-slick abs.

“f*ck. Didn’t want you to see that. Thought I could get it out quick before I took you home.”

Steve was super proud of himself for even formulating any response at all under such a direct attack on his composure.

“Get what out?”

Billy threw back his head to drink a tall glass of water, throat bobbing hypnotically. He set it down before facing Steve, eyes on fire.

“That piece of sh*t Alpha. I wanted to tear him to shreds. Pull his spleen out his goddamn ears for the way he put his filthy f*cking hands on you.”

Such a horrible, violent description. There was no reason for Steve’s heart to skip a beat. At least it seemed to be picking up speed now to make up for it.

“Okay. Um. I’m glad you didn’t? Do that?”

Billy looked away, hauling back and hitting the bag hard enough that Steve winced at the thought of his poor knuckles. He wondered what Billy would do if he got him some ice for them, his feet bringing him closer without conscious thought.

Billy hit the bag again, talking through his teeth.

“I’m not. He deserved to have his face permanently rearranged. I’m f*cking livid that I’m not the one to do it.”

Steve couldn’t disagree with that. He had been contemplating methods of rearrangement when Billy had shown up.

“I’m sorry?”

Billy shook his head, pushing back from the bag to walk a tight circle, wrapped hand rubbing over his mouth.

“No, just. I don’t want you to think that I was okay with letting him get away with that sh*t. But. I’ve gotta like, be careful, now. About getting too rough and sh*t. I had trouble with that as a kid, when I first presented. Couldn’t get a grip when my rut hit and just got in fights all the time. But, now. I gotta think about Max, first. And it’s hard and I f*cking suck at it and I just want to punch something all the time, so Robin had this bag installed for me.”

What was that saying about Alphas? If they can’t fight it out, they needed to f*ck it out?

People said it all the time, with a kind of smirking satisfaction that put Steve’s teeth on edge, but.

But, was he...?

Was Billy asking Steve, in his oblique way, to roll over for him, in exchange for his intervention with the other Alpha?

To let him work out his aggression in Steve’s body?

That was.

Steve had a lot of feelings, suddenly, about that.

Very intense, mixed feelings.

First, disappointment. That Billy thought the same thing of Steve that everyone else did. That Steve was something to be easily traded and used and not a living, breathing person with thoughts and feelings.

Then, gratitude. That Billy had put Max first, when it counted.

And, finally, lust. Raging, unbridled lust burning through Steve like a flash fire over dry ground.

It had never been like that, before. What Steve had felt with Nancy had been gentle, and sweet, and yes, his body had wanted her, responding to her touch, but.

Not like this.

Not like this ache from his belly all the way between his legs, where he could feel himself softening, growing slick and ready.

Mortifyingly, Billy caught the scent, eyes going wide as his pupils blew open, jaw dropping for his tongue to slide out and taste the air.

With a low growl, he snapped his teeth viciously around the edge of his knuckle wrap, ripping it open with a sharp yank of his head.

Which was, just.

Steve was going to have to change his underwear very soon.

Billy’s voice was full of gravel when he turned away to put up his wraps. Steve absolutely did not fixate on the flex of his firm ass in those jeans while he did so.

“I should take you home, now. Tell Max I’ll come get her after.”

Steve shook his head, pinching himself while Billy wasn’t watching to try to bring himself out of the fog.

“Why don’t you tell Max, yourself?”

Billy turned back to him, glancing down at the obvious, hard, insistent line of his co*ck in his tight jeans before looking back at Steve, eyebrows raised.

Steve’s throat made a mortifying wheezing sound when he tried to speak, stumbling over his own feet back to the stairs.

“Oh. Yeah, I’ll. Do that.”

Billy called up to him as Steve rounded the doorway and pressed himself against the wall there, eyes squeezed shut while he gasped for breath like he had just run up twenty more flights of stairs.

“Thanks. I’ll meet you at the car.”

They didn’t speak, the whole drive. Billy’s reddened knuckles remained tight on the wheel, eyes flicking between Steve and the road at every stoplight.

Steve fidgeted in his seat, making himself sick with nerves as they pulled into his driveway and Billy cut the engine.

Because, this.

This was the part where Billy made his move. Where he turned to Steve with a leering smirk and asked to come inside on some flimsy excuse.

Where he pressed Steve against the nearest flat surface as soon as the door was shut behind them and ripped his clothes off and rutted in him until he filled Steve’s empty, aching places. Until Steve felt whole again.

Where he rolled off Steve and left immediately after, maybe with a kiss on the cheek and a word of thanks, if Steve was lucky.

The thought made him nauseous, of Billy leaving him in a puddle of regret after taking him apart like that.

His body, though. His body couldn’t f*cking wait.

He was going to have to get out of the car soon before he soaked all the way to the seat.

Billy cleared his throat, Alpha lust thick and heavy in the air. Steve was shaking in dread and anticipation, taking great greedy gulps of Billy’s scent like the slu*t everyone said he was.

Without looking away from the windshield, Billy held out his wrist, steady and strong, and Steve dove nose first into it with a groan, lips parting to catch a taste, which was.

A mistake.

And also, definitely, the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Billy’s desire tasted so good that Steve’s dick pulsed hard, close to coming just from the overwhelming pleasure of his scent. He made a high, bitten-off sound at the sensation.

Billy wrenched his wrist away with a harsh grunt when Steve darted his tongue out to taste, not waiting for Steve to offer his own wrist before taking it in both hands and mouthing hungrily, filthily at his gland, tongue working in little circles that made Steve’s hole throb with envy.

Then, all at once, without warning, he dropped it, leaning away until his shoulder pressed tight against the driver’s side door, chest heaving as he took Steve in with wild eyes.

His voice was so rough and low Steve almost felt it more than he heard it.

“Time for you to go inside, pretty boy.”

The words were so unexpected that Steve felt like he was hearing them from underwater. His glands ached, mating patch flushed and throbbing, begging for a claim. He could hardly think.

“Oh. Okay. Um, you don’t want—?”

But he couldn’t ask. Omegas didn’t ask Alphas. It wasn’t done. It would mark Steve as all of those awful names that people whispered whenever he walked by.

Billy shook his head, once, sharply, eyes front as he gripped the steering wheel with both hands, bruised knuckles white from the force of it.

“I need you to get out of the car, sweetheart. I’ll bring your groceries in the morning when I pick you up. I can’t—Just. We gotta say goodnight, now. Before I, f*cking—Before I forget to treat you right.”

Treat him right? What did that mean, exactly? Steve couldn’t wrap his head around it. It wasn’t the way he had expected this to go, at all.

“Well. Goodnight, then. Thanks for the ride.”

Billy glanced at him and then immediately away, scrunching his eyes shut with a tortured sound clenched in his teeth.

“I’ll pick you up first thing tomorrow to take you to the shop. Open your door, now, princess. Please. Christ.”

He shifted his hips with a whine as his sentence trailed off into a muttered curse, steering wheel creaking in his grip. Steve could see his co*ck straining at his zipper, trapped in his jeans.

His scent hadn’t weakened at all, still slamming into Steve with brutal force, leaving him reeling and ready. Punch-drunk on Billy.

Another bitten-off sound escaped Billy’s throat and Steve fumbled at the door, face burning.

“Oh, sorry. Bye, Billy.”

He scrambled out and went to shut the door, but Billy was there with a firm hand, leaning across the seat to hold it open, eyes serious.

“You have my number.”

Steve blinked, trying to find meaning behind the obvious statement.

“Yeah. Why, did it change or something?”

Billy’s hand was a tight, hard fist around the door handle, the look in his eyes freezing Steve in place.

“No, just. If this kind of sh*t ever happens again. You have my number. I’ll give you a ride or bust some kneecaps or just, whatever you need. You have both of my work numbers now, too, so. Use them, goddamnit.”

Steve mentally slapped himself for listening to all of that and still only hearing the words ’call me’, like a high school Omega with a crush.

Oh, god. Did he have a crush?

sh*t.

Oh, sh*t. He definitely did.

This was a disaster.

Billy was still looking at him expectantly so he squeaked out a response around the lump of panic in his chest.

“Thank you. That’s really nice of you.”

Billy’s face twisted half into a scowl as he shook his head.

“Don’t. Don’t do that.”

Steve felt wrong footed, fingers clutching the hem of his polo shirt. His arm still hurt where the other Alpha had grabbed him, aching like a quiet reminder of his place.

“I’m sorry.”

Billy let go of the door to pinch the bridge of his nose before slamming his hand down on Steve’s empty seat, command edging into his voice.

“Christ. Don’t f*cking apologize. And don’t thank me for not being a total piece of sh*t. No Alpha should treat you that way, alright? Alright? Answer me, Harrington.”

When Alphas used that firm, commanding tone it usually made Steve cringe, but with Billy it felt like something solid to hold onto, propping him up against the battering forces of the world.

He let himself smile softly down at him with a tiny nod, a lock of hair falling in his face.

“Alright, Billy.”

Billy stared at him for a long, silent moment before jerking his chin toward Steve’s house.

“Go inside, and lock the damn door behind you.”

Steve complied without argument, hot across the back of his neck as he felt Billy watching him unlock the door. He slipped inside and peeked through his kitchen curtains, but the Camaro was still waiting outside. It wasn’t until he went upstairs and turned on the light to his bedroom that he heard the engine roar away.

Chapter 10

Chapter Text

Steve wasn’t doing his hair.

Not really. Not the whole routine, or anything.

Because that would be silly and futile when he was just going to spend the day at the pool with the kids.

And, like.

So, what if he had changed his outfit a couple of times? The first three just weren’t comfortable, that was all.

He opened his medicine cabinet to stare at his sad, solitary, rarely used stick of eyeliner before slamming it shut again.

Too much, definitely.

Maybe another spritz of hairspray, though.

For the humidity.

And just a quick glide of sheer cherry lipgloss.

For moisture, in the heat.

And maybe he should tuck in his shirt, just, to set a good example.

Nothing wrong with a tidy appearance, after all.

Actually, on second thought, about that eyeliner...

It was a good thing that he had gotten up an hour early since he had wasted all that time on fussing with his appearance like some kind of stereotype. Even worse, like he thought the way he looked made any difference at all.

Billy wasn’t interested in Steve like that.

It had nothing to do with his appearance so much as his availability. Steve was basically as easy and convenient as the can of meat Billy seemed to find acceptable for dinner.

He was under no illusions about that.

Despite the assertions of his father, Steve wasn’t actually an idiot.

He said as much to his rampant imagination, which insisted on bombarding him with impossible scenarios of courtship and mating and, painfully, family.

He tried his best to rein it in, focusing instead on the much more likely outcomes of scenting, and rutting, and, if he was lucky, a kiss.

Steve missed kissing. It had been his favorite thing he and Nancy had tried in the bedroom, furtive and fumbling and burning with shameful desire.

He hadn’t been kissed in four years.

Maybe, if he put out all the right signals and didn’t look too awful, he might get to try it again with Billy.

The thought made his stomach flip over pleasantly like the crest of a rollercoaster.

Mrs. Wheeler met him at the door, Holly on her hip and diaper bag in hand.

Steve started to step inside with a cheerful greeting, but she crowded him out onto the front step, eyes tight around the corners.

“Listen, Steve. I just thought I should let you know, before—”

“Steve!”

Steve flinched back at the familiar voice, feet growing roots when he saw her beaming up at him from over her mother’s shoulder.

“Hey, Nancy,” he lifted his eyes to the awkward grimace on her mate’s face, “Jonathan. Uh. How have you been?”

Mrs. Wheeler shut her eyes, face going pinched when Nancy shoved past her to gather Steve into a long, tight hug that made his belly ache and his throat thick. She smelled almost the same, now pleasantly intertwined with Jonathan’s scent, like a mild citrus. Steve was surprised to discover that it didn’t appeal to him, anymore.

“Oh, we’re just wonderful! You should really come out to the city sometime and visit, we’ll show you around.”

Jonathan tugged her gently away with a hand on her shoulder, offering Steve his other hand and an apologetic smile.

“Hi, Steve. Sorry for the ambush, we just got in town last night.”

Nancy reached out and put her hands on Steve’s sides, mussing his carefully tucked shirt, easy, like she had always been with putting her hands on Steve. He couldn’t breathe, lungs frozen.

“It’s been so long. Here, let me look at you,” she took his chin in her soft hand, angling his face to the light, “Wow. You look great! But, you didn’t used to wear makeup. What are you all tarted up for? I thought you were just babysitting.”

Jonathan hissed her name, his scent going sharp with embarrassment. Mrs. Wheeler pushed forward to pass Holly and the diaper bag into Steve’s numb hands.

His feet finally unstuck from the ground, sending him unsteadily backward as he clutched the baby.

“Yeah. No. Good to see you, but I—I’ve gotta go put Holly in her car seat, now. So.”

Mrs. Wheeler nodded a little desperately, calling after him that Mike would be right out.

Steve was pathetically grateful for her tact, and for the fact that Holly took no notice of the way he sat on the van floor beside her car seat and blinked furiously at the ceiling against the looming threat of tears.

Billy was there at the sign in, slumped over the counter. He jerked upright when Steve walked in, sliding over the counter to take his cooler while Steve signed in, which was. New.

And weirdly nice.

No one had ever done something like that for Steve, before. Not with any level of sincerity. He tried not to let it go to his head.

Billy had foregone the sunglasses for once so Steve could watch his eyes widen and lips part as he took in Steve’s new look, scent spiking. It was immensely gratifying, after the awkwardness of his morning.

Billy held the gate open for the kids, inhaling audibly as Steve brushed past. His face transformed instantly into a rough frown.

He called after the kids to go bother Heather and grabbed Steve by the back of his shirt, tugging him and his armload of toddler all the way into the office.

He nodded at the single chair in the tiny space as he shut the door behind them.

“Put her down.”

Steve did exactly that, pulling a toy out of her diaper bag for her to bang against the desk.

Billy set down the cooler, crowding Steve back against the door, making no effort to hide the way he scented the air around him.

“Where are they?”

Steve was glad he had put in that extra hour of grooming because, from this distance, Billy was flawless. He struggled not to fixate on the tiny freckles over his cheeks and mostly failed.

His brain stalled, flooded with Billy’s face and Billy’s scent and, just. Billy.

“I’m sorry, who?”

Billy put one hand on Steve’s chin, leaving him reeling over the way the same move could feel so different from two different Alphas.

Billy angled Steve’s head to the side as he sniffed at his neck, zeroing in on the spot that Nancy’s head had rubbed against during her poorly thought-out hug.

Billy’s voice went low and dangerous, hand almost too tight on Steve’s chin before he abruptly let go and took a step back. His chest was puffed and heaving, hands fisted. Posturing.

“You smell like distress and Alpha. Where. The f*ck. Are they?”

Humiliation ran down Steve’s spine like ice, settling in as an ache all over.

“Oh, that. It’s nothing.”

Billy bared his teeth, which ought to have made Steve flinch, but just made his patch wake up and throb insistently.

“It’s not nothing, princess. They touched you. Upset you. I thought I told you to f*cking call me if that ever happened again.”

Steve couldn’t meet his eyes, shame a railroad spike through his chest.

“Yeah. I know, but. You remember how I told you that I used to have an Alpha for a little while, kinda, before she got tired of me and chose another Omega instead?”

A better Omega.

Billy didn’t answer so much as growl menacingly, which Steve took as encouragement to continue, quickly.

“Well, she’s back in town and she saw me and got a little too close with her greeting. It was an accident. I don’t think she even noticed.”

The thing about Nancy wasn’t that she was malicious, or hurtful in her intentions. She just didn’t seem to understand the ramifications for Steve when she did things like that. Probably didn’t think about him enough to consider it, to be honest.

He couldn’t blame her. Nobody thought about Steve all that much, except to gossip.

So, once or twice a year, Nancy would blow through town and do something like hug Steve in public and then breeze right back out again and he would be left with the consequences.

It wasn’t intentional, but it was, at best, careless.

Because she didn’t care. Why would she, when he had acted the way he did? Begging for it. Crying after her, completely blindsided by her choice to mate their childhood friend the morning after kissing Steve goodnight in his car like any other night.

Steve had acted like every overblown, emotional, hysterical Omega in every cheap soap opera. It made him cringe to think about.

Billy’s voice cut through his thoughts like a knife.

“No.”

Steve pulled his head out of the clouds, eyes snapping to Billy, who was still boiling, scent strong and smoky in the enclosed space.

“No, pretty boy. This wasn’t an accident. She ever do this to you before?”

Steve nodded, burning with mortification. This wasn’t how he had wanted his morning to go. Billy was supposed to notice him, but, not like this.

This was awful.

Billy’s muscles twitched in his shoulders and chest, the line of his jaw a topographical map of restraint.

“That sh*t stops now. She can’t treat you like that. I won’t allow it.”

He said it so confidently, as if it were fact just from his willing it to be so. Like Billy could be the wall between Steve and the harsh winds of the world, simply by declaring it.

It made Steve’s knees go just a little, tiny bit weak.

Barely noticeable.

Good thing the door behind him gave Steve something to lean against, letting his head tip back without conscious thought. Letting Billy sway closer with a muted groan.

Billy straightened back up with a small shake of his head like he was trying to gather himself.

He lifted his hand, fanning his fingers out across his own face before letting them collapse into a fist, hovering in the air between them as he stared at Steve.

“Your face.”

f*ck. Could this morning get any more humiliating?

Don’t answer that, but. God.

Steve had regretted applying makeup from the moment he left the house, hyperaware of appearing desperate and fast.

The small boost of confidence he had gotten when checking the mirror before he left the house wasn’t worth it.

“Oh. sh*t, let me just—” Steve scrubbed furiously at his eyes to try to remove the subtle trace of eyeliner. But that sh*t was waterproof and it wasn’t going anywhere.

Thanks, maybelline.

Billy’s hand shot out to circle Steve’s wrist, thumb finding his gland automatically, a soft soothing pressure that made the tension in the back of Steve’s skull just drain away.

“Stop. Jesus, just, hold on, you didn’t let me finish.”

Steve gave a quiet, inquiring noise, lips parting around the sound. Billy’s eyes fell to them, heavily, like he couldn’t look away.

“Your face is ruining my goddamned life right now, Harrington. Just. Beautiful.”

He hadn’t expected that. Or anything like it. He had expected Billy to notice the makeup, and the implication of availability, and that was it.

He hadn’t known that Billy could say such sweet things so softly, like they were the only people in the world.

Steve’s head tipped further, blatant now. He couldn’t help it, his voice going breathy and thin.

“Really?”

Billy didn’t answer, but the look on his face was enough. The increasing, possessive pressure of his thumb was enough.

He brought Steve’s wrist to his mouth, brushing his lips lightly across before rubbing it against his strong neck. He wasn’t as rough as he had been before, not quite as green.

He dragged his nose in a deep inhale up Steve’s wrist before letting it go, his own wrist held out expectantly.

Steve fell on it like a starving man, kissing and lapping at his gland, eyes rolling back at the warm, solid comfort of him.

Billy’s breath hitched at the sticky wet drag of Steve’s lipgloss over his skin, eyes riveted to the way Steve took his thick wrist and pressed it over all the places Nancy had touched.

His jaw, his neck, his patch. Just briefly there, lightly, barely grazing. But Billy’s scent flared hot and Steve was melting and when he brought Billy’s wrist down to his waist where she had mussed his shirt Billy crowded in, hands clutching at his sides.

Billy lifted his chin with a low sound, chest rumbling where it was pressed tight to Steve’s.

Steve dipped his own chin, heart pounding, lips parted, scent bright and eager because, finally.

Finally.

Holly’s toy fell to the floor with a great, building wail, Billy jerking away at the sound.

Steve scrambled to get the toy, wiping it off on his shirt before handing it back to her.

His patch was aching, heart still thundering in his chest, liquid heat still low in his belly, throbbing between his legs.

He chanced a look at Billy, who was adjusting his shorts with a frown.

It didn’t help.

Those shorts were not exactly designed to conceal. Anything.

Billy caught him staring and offered a tight, embarrassed shrug. He avoided Steve’s eyes as he went to his desk to retrieve a small glass vial that Steve recognized from the Alpha section of the pharmacy.

Different brands had different names for it. Rut-stop 5000, Scent Blaster Xtreme. All high-octane names for what amounted to strong, astringent smelling salts. Highly unpleasant and guaranteed to overwhelm the scent of Omega.

Alphas only used it when they were desperate.

Billy opened the lid and took a direct inhale, head wrenching back with a cough.

Steve covered his nose as the diluted scent wafted his way, even as Billy capped it quickly.

He wondered if it was something Billy kept with him everywhere or just at work, when he had to be even and neutral around the kids.

Oh, god.

The kids.

“My kids!” Steve gathered Holly up, ducking the gleeful swing of her toy as he tried to grab the cooler.

Billy was there already, shorts fitting considerably better and scent subdued.

He led Steve through the gate but only stayed long enough to drop off the cooler, disappearing with hunched shoulders as Heather blew her whistle at him.

She had Steve’s kids lined up and doing calisthenics beside the pool, every one of them following directions like they didn’t give Steve the runaround all day everyday.

Waving Steve over with a grin, she talked him through doing the moves with Holly on his hip.

Steve was amazed to discover that he appeared to have made a friend.

Chapter 11

Chapter Text

Max was waiting on her front stoop when Steve pulled up, backpack in hand.

The Camaro was already gone.

Steve was so distracted by the absence, that he almost didn’t notice her hair.

Despite it being very...noticeable.

Max’s hair had been styled into two long French braids, one at either side of her head. Or, at least, it was clear that such had been the intention, if not the result.

She gave him a forbidding scowl as she hopped in the van, which looked especially hilarious beneath her wonky braids.

“Don’t say anything. He tried really hard and I don’t want to hurt his stupid feelings or whatever.”

Steve shook his head, chest suddenly so warm that it was spilling over into a smile. Billy had done his little sister’s hair. It made Steve feel like rainbows were caught in his eyelashes.

“I won’t. You look really nice, Max.”

She scoffed, kicking her backpack to the floorboard as she buckled up.

“I look like an idiot.”

Steve pulled out into the street, adjusting the rear view mirror to meet her eyes.

“You look like a fantastic little sister.”

She turned away from him, but the pleased flush and suppressed smile told him everything he needed to know.

He headed toward Hopper’s cabin, making a mental note to stop for snacks on the way home.

“It’s gonna be just you and Jane today, the Wheelers have a family function and the boys are going to spend the night over there.”

Max’s face lit up, joy erasing the signature peevishness from her features as she grabbed onto the seat in front of her excitedly.

“Just you and me and Jane? Steve, that’s gonna be bitchin’!”

Steve sighed, making a halfhearted noise of protest.

“Language, Max.”

She flapped a hand in his direction, settling back in her seat to dig through her backpack.

“Yeah, whatever. We can do hair, and nails, and whatever we want without all of those stupid boys around. I’m going to teach Jane how to kick ass on the Nintendo.“

Steve turned in his seat to give Max a look over his sunglasses at the next stoplight.

“You know I’m one of those stupid boys, too, right?”

Max shrugged, nail polish bottles clinking together as she sorted them by color.

“Yeah, but you don’t count, because you’re not as stupid.”

And that, coming from Max, was a ringing endorsem*nt. Practically gushing. Steve struggled to contain how pleased he was, biting back a smile as they pulled into Hopper’s driveway.

Hopper winced when Steve told Jane the news and Max started squealing, Jane watching in bemusem*nt as she took her hands and jumped up and down.

He gave Steve a pitying look.

“Good luck, kid. You’re gonna need it. I’ll come pick her up after my shift.”

Steve herded the girls into the car, passing his cassettes back to Jane so she could pick the music.

Max started chattering a mile a minute as they started toward his house, Jane nodding along while Max told her how bitchin’ the day was going to be.

“Bitchin’.” Jane whispered when Max paused for breath.

Steve groaned, but couldn’t hold back his smile. He could put up with a lot if it meant that Jane got to experience friendship.

It was going to be a great day.

Max laughed uproariously when Steve fumbled his hairbrush with a curse at the series of loud, hard knocks on the front door.

Jane giggled a little, too, so it was worth it.

He told them to wait upstairs while he went to get the pizza. It was early, he hadn’t expected the delivery for another ten minutes, at least. They must have been speeding.

Steve opened the door, flushed and sweating from the impromptu karaoke and dance contest that he and Max had started just to make Jane smile.

But it wasn’t the pizza delivery.

It was Hopper and—

Oh, Christ.

Billy.

Steve flushed even harder, self conscious of his ratty too-small cropped sweatshirt and old gym shorts. He really wasn’t dressed for company. Or like, just, human eyes. These were his slumber party pizza eating clothes, complete with holes and stains and shrunken hemlines.

Hopper had a scowl on his face, and one large hand on the back of Billy’s collar, holding him up so that his shoulders hunched angrily like a cat being carried by the scruff of their neck.

Hopper shook Billy slightly, ignoring his furious cursing and twists to get away. There were leaves and twigs stuck in Billy’s curls, a smudge of dirt on his cheek. Hopper gave him a severe look, eyes narrowing when Billy snarled.

“Found this pervert hiding in your bushes, Steve. Care to press charges? I’d be,” he leaned in close to Billy’s face with a shark-toothed smile, “more than happy to take him in.”

Billy wouldn’t look at Steve, face creased with fury even as a strong mix of anger and humiliation swept through his scent.

Steve offered a tiny, awkward wave, tossing his head to get the sweaty hair out of his face.

“Hi, Billy. Hop. Um, I’m sure this is all some kind of misunderstanding? Billy is Max’s Alpha.”

Hopper twisted his fist in Billy’s collar, which, if he had ever worn a buttoned up shirt in his life, might have choked him a little.

All it did in this case was untuck his shirt from his pants, revealing a sliver of chiseled belly that did nothing to help Steve’s flush dissipate.

Hopper gave Steve his best patient, condescending dad face, voice gentle.

“Steve, you may know this Alpha, but I found him hiding in the tree outside your bedroom, watching you through the window.”

He turned back to Billy, who was now as red as Steve, avoiding his eyes. Hopper’s face twisted with fury, scent going absolutely murderous.

“Watching you, and my little girl!”

Billy looked up at that, eyes wide and palms lifted, his scent spiking with shock.

“What? No. f*ck, no. I wasn’t. I wouldn’t. That’s my sister in there, okay? I was just, um. f*ck. Did you hear me ring the doorbell, Harrington?”

Steve shook his head, Hopper watching the exchange like a hawk.

“No, sorry. We probably had the music too loud.”

Billy nodded, apparently choosing to ignore the hand on his collar as he offered Steve his signature smirk.

“Yeah, I could hear that bubblegum sh*t all the way down here. I rang the doorbell like fifty times, but you never answered, so I walked around the house. Your window was open, I could hear the music blasting out of it. So I climbed the tree. I was gonna try to get your attention but this cop came along and knocked me out of the tree before I could.”

Well, that explained the twigs.

Steve flushed even harder at the realization that Billy must have seen him flail-dancing with the girls as they sang along with WHAM into a hairbrush.

That was.

Absolutely mortifying.

And Steve had been pulling his best/worst moves, too. Flipping his hair, bumping his hips. He might have done a bend and snap.

Oh god.

There was no telling how much Billy might have seen.

Too much, for sure.

Steve offered a sheepish smile, pushing a sweaty lock of hair out of his eyes.

“Oh, geez. I’m sorry, Billy. We didn’t hear you. Did you decide to pick up Max early?”

Billy nodded absently, zeroed in on the way Steve’s sweatshirt rode up to his ribs with the movement. Steve tugged on the hem, biting his lip, and then Billy couldn’t look away from that, either, causing Steve’s scent to flare just a little.

Hopper took a short, sharp breath as he looked at Steve, brow furrowing before releasing Billy with a growling shove.

He pointed his finger in Billy’s face, not posturing so much as using his natural authority, voice booming.

“You treat Mr. Harrington with the respect he deserves. None of this Peeping Tom bullsh*t, understand, kid?”

Billy nodded, angrily tucking his shirt back in, scent still sour with embarrassment.

“Yeah, I hear you. Won’t happen again, officer.”

Steve held out placating hands, thinking very hard about trust and companionship to calm his scent.

“See? All a big misunderstanding. Why don’t I just go get the girls? Come on in.”

Hopper and Billy stared at each other, Hopper’s eyebrows crashing down when Billy eased past him into the foyer, propping a hip on the console table with his arms crossed when Hop followed right on his heels.

Hopper didn’t look away even as he was clearly addressing Steve.

“You let him in your house before? Seems to know his way around.”

Nerves sloshed in Steve’s stomach, because that was a loaded question. Hopper had trusted Steve to watch Jane despite his reputation. There was a chance that if he thought Steve was back to making his old mistakes, that if Steve was as bad as people said, he might change his mind about letting him keep Jane.

Both Alpha’s heads snapped in Steve’s direction as anxiety and fear flooded his scent.

He pulled the sleeves of his sweatshirt down over his knuckles, meeting Hopper’s eyes and firming his chin when it tried to tremble.

“Yes. But we didn’t, um. Nothing happened. He came to see Max.”

Hopper sighed, rubbing his thumb and forefinger into his eyes.

“sh*t. I’m sorry, Steve. It’s really none of my business. I just know you’re out here on your own and I can’t help feeling a little responsible. I’m not judging, alright? Didn’t mean to upset you.”

Steve nodded before glancing at Billy, who had been surreptitiously pulling twigs from his hair. When he noticed Steve’s attention, his hands shot down, body relaxing into a cool, suave pose. The remaining leaves and twigs made it a little difficult to buy the act entirely.

Steve smiled at the sight, reveling in the return of Billy’s blush.

“I’m digging the natural look, Hargrove. Really suits you.”

Steve turned on his heel before Billy could reply and darted up the stairs.

Hopper was hissing in Billy’s face when he brought the girls back down, their braids neatly done and nail polish dried, if a little smudged.

There was a muscle ticking in Billy’s jaw as he stood tall even as Hopper towered over him.

“Now I don’t give a sh*t what you may have heard, Hargrove, Steve is a good guy. A good Omega. Deserves a proper courting, do you hear me?”

Billy nodded once, tersely, offering his hand out to shake.

“Yes, sir.”

Hopper squinted at him before shaking his hand, both of them baring teeth in a way that couldn’t even slightly be mistaken for a smile.

“Alright. Glad we understand each other.”

Steve zipped up Jane’s backpack, helping her slide her arms in, face burning with what he had heard. He hurried to correct Hopper before Billy got the wrong idea, thinking that Steve expected to be courted.

That Steve was delusional enough to think he deserved that.

“Oh, no, Hop. That’s, um. Another misunderstanding. Billy really isn’t interested in me like that, he’s just here for his sister.”

Hopper snorted, tugging on one of Jane’s braids with a soft smile before leading her to the door.

“Yeah okay, and I’m a prima ballerina. You just let me know if he gives you any trouble, alright, kid? See you in the morning.”

Jane gave Max a slow, tentative high five before following after her dad.

Billy waited a total of ten long seconds before kicking the door shut behind them, eyes sweeping over Steve before going to the wall, red creeping up his neck until his entire face was the color of his lifeguard shorts. He had managed to get almost all of the tree bits out of his hair while Steve had been upstairs.

Max walked over and kicked Billy in the shins without warning, frowning up at him while he hopped and cursed up a storm.

“We heard everything. A tree, Billy? Why do you have to be so freaking embarrassing all the time?”

Billy scowled down at her, taking a very wise step backward.

“I already explained what happened. Back off, Maxine.”

Max rolled her eyes so hard Steve half expected to have to fetch them off the floor.

“Whatever, Billy. You’re not fooling anybody.”

Billy gave Steve a panicked glance that made Steve’s arms ache to wrap around him and tell him that whatever it was, it was going to be alright.

He crossed his arms tightly against the urge while Billy hissed at Max to shut up and she hissed it right back at him.

The knock on the door was a welcome interruption, the scent of pizza sufficiently distracting Max from any and all arguments.

Steve held up the box, looking up at Billy through his lashes, hoping he wasn’t being too forward. It wasn’t the done thing, unmated Omegas inviting Alphas to dine in their home, practically alone.

“Would you guys want to join me for dinner? I ordered all this pizza and now there’s no one here to eat it with me.”

Billy opened his mouth to answer, face conflicted, but Max muscled the box open and grabbed a slice, shoving it in her mouth with a happy sound.

Steve looked at Billy with an amused grin and Billy shrugged, taking the box from Steve to carry into the kitchen.

“Yeah, sure. Why not. Hey, sh*tbird, pour us some drinks when you’re done stuffing your face.”

Steve considered going upstairs to change, but then decided that it would just bring more attention to how bad he had looked before.

Billy and Max didn’t seem to have ever heard of the concept of table manners, throwing elbows and talking with their mouths full, shouting over each other as they tried to tell Steve a story about Max learning to skate.

Steve loved it.

The house felt lived in. Warm and full and, just, like a home.

He wanted this.

Wanted Billy’s dirty boots in the hallway, Max’s backpack spilled across the table. Rough manners and foul language and unmistakable affection.

He just, wanted it.

Max begged for one more round on the Nintendo and Billy relented with the caveat that she only had as long as he took to finish his cigarette.

Steve followed him out into the backyard by unspoken agreement, tugging self-consciously at his shorts where they had ridden up from sitting.

Billy watched the motion of Steve’s fingers against his thighs, tongue wetting his lips while he pulled out a cigarette.

Steve caught a wave of his scent and blushed, hands fiddling with the loose, short hem of his sweatshirt before falling to his sides while Billy lit up.

He looked out at the pool and Billy followed his gaze, eyebrows jumping up to his hairline.

He took out the cigarette, using it to point at the pool.

“What the f*ck, Harrington? You have a pool right here! f*cking, fancy sh*t, too.”

Steve shrugged, kicking a bare foot at the deck and trying not to watch the way Billy’s full lips wrapped around the filter.

“Yeah, but. Look around, no lifeguards. I’m not gonna let my kids swim where they’re not safe.”

Billy clamped the cigarette in his teeth, talking around it as he gestured back at the water.

“Just, f*cking, get in the pool with them, then!”

Steve didn’t really want to talk about this. He crossed his arms, Billy’s lashes dropping as blue eyes fell to the exposed stretch of Steve’s stomach.

“Are you really that desperate to get me to stop coming to the pool?”

Billy’s eyes shot back up to Steve’s face, something like panic running across his expression.

“No! No, I just don’t understand why you’d bother. This pool is nicer, anyway. No asshole lifeguards.”

The smile he threw Steve at that was self deprecating and almost...sweet? It made butterflies dance in Steve’s belly.

He gave a sigh, looking out at the water wistfully.

“Well, it doesn’t matter, because I can’t swim.”

The weight of Billy’s stare burned like the end of his cigarette, drawing Steve’s eyes until they locked with his.

“The f*ck do you mean, you can’t swim?”

This. This was the thing Steve didn’t want to talk about.

This thing they were talking about.

He firmed his jaw and ploughed through a quickly as possible, ready to get it over with.

“I mean, I never learned. My parents didn’t have the pool put in until I was a teenager, and then I presented right after. And then my dad didn’t think it was something I should be doing. Flaunting myself in front of Alphas in a swimsuit, or whatever. Which is total bullsh*t, but basically means I still can’t swim.”

Billy blinked at him with eyes so soft they were almost sad, lips parting loose around his cigarette. His voice was just as soft, sweet and low.

“Okay, so, learn.”

Steve gave an incredulous laugh, planting his hands on his hips.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll just tell my kids to wait quietly at the side of the pool while I take beginner swim lessons with the f*cking kindergarteners. No thanks.”

Billy took one last drag before tossing his cigarette to the ground, smashing it with his boot.

“First of all, those brats wouldnt know quiet if it smacked them in the face. Secondly, I’ll teach you.”

He said it like it was that simple.

Like Steve could just show up at the pool for private swim lessons and tongues wouldn’t start wagging.

Steve shook his head, Billy narrowing his eyes in displeasure at the response, scent sharp with disapproval. Steve sternly informed his knees to take no notice of that when they wanted to buckle beneath the weight.

“It’s fine. You don’t need to do that. It’s not like you have time, anyway, Billy. You barely sleep.”

Billy took a step closer, chin out and voice firm.

“I’ll find the time. It’s not safe. You can’t live with a pool and not know how to swim.”

That rankled. Steve was not an Omega who just let any Alpha tell him what to do. He offered a tight, unconvincing smile.

“It’s been fine so far.”

Billy frowned, stepping even closer, voice dropping into a growl that Steve could feel in his spine.

“It’s not safe for the kids. What if one of them fell in? What if Holly toddled out here while you were making lunch or something?”

And it was like the air had turned to ashes, sticking to his throat as he tried to suck in a breath, the blood rushing from his face at the horror of it.

Billy was right, Steve had read the statistics, home pools were dangerous. His kids were in danger.

Strong arms shored him up, cradling him against Billy’s solid chest, pressing his face to the gland in Billy’s neck.

“sh*t. I’m sorry, princess. I’m really bad at this. Nothing’s gonna happen to your kids, okay?”

Steve nodded, rubbing his face into Billy’s neck as he inhaled his clean, comforting scent, fingers curled into his shirt.

A wide, warm hand stroked circles over his back.

“Will you let me help you keep them safe?”

Another nod, slower this time, with a soft, relieved sound in his throat that made Billy’s scent bloom with satisfaction, rumbling low in his chest.

Steve’s panic was starting to recede, finally. Embarrassment welled up in the pit left behind.

He pulled away, straightening his sweatshirt so that it hovered evenly above his navel, eyes on the deck beneath their feet.

Billy reached out, slowly taking Steve’s hand from where it clutched the fabric. He moved closer, bringing it up to his face until Steve cupped his jaw, stubble rubbing rough against his palm.

He caught and held Steve’s gaze as he turned his head, pressing his lips to Steve’s gland, chaste and sweet and utterly devastating.

He brushed Steve’s wrist across his neck, leaving his hand looped around Billy’s shoulder as he held out his own wrist, eyes reflecting moonlight.

Steve nuzzled into it, keening just a little as he rubbed it into his neck.

Billy’s other hand fell to his waist, making a choked-off noise as his hand met bare skin. His fingers skated across Steve’s pale skin, skimming over his ribs beneath the loose drape of his sweatshirt.

Steve pressed close, mouth dropped open and ready to beg when the neighbor’s porch light switched on, bringing a burst of unwelcome light and clarity.

Billy’s hand slid away as he took a step back, watching Steve like it hurt to look away.

“It’s getting late. I should probably head home, put Max to bed.”

Steve breathed out a whisper of agreement, the heat of Billy’s hand still seared into his skin.

He watched them drive away through his front window before deciding to sleep on the couch, grasping for that sensation of a warm, full home that seemed to have left when they did.

Chapter 12

Chapter Text

Billy was waiting for him at the gate even though Heather had signed him in, taking his cooler and escorting Steve to a lounge chair right beside his lifeguard seat.

Steve thought it was exceedingly odd that it was still available. He hadn’t managed to get to the pool before the crowds that morning.

He set Holly down on the lounge, freezing in place as Billy leaned in to drop the cooler at his feet, chin grazing his neck gland as his lips brushed his ear.

“Tonight, Harrington. After we put Max to bed. Get ready for your first lesson.”

Steve took a shaky breath as Billy backed away, eyes scanning over Steve’s rumpled polo shirt and pastel trunks, tonguing at his whistle in a way that was, objectively, obscene, voice dropped low in the space between them.

“It’ll be the workout. Of. Your. Life.”

And, just like that, he turned to climb up to his chair, blowing his whistle moments later to shout at some teenagers for rough-housing.

Steve had to take a seat for a moment, globbing sunscreen onto his face to try and counteract the force of his blush.

“We know what you’re doing.”

Steve turned to find a cluster of three older Omegas standing behind him, two women and a man, all wearing identical scowls on their faces, all bearing mating marks on their patches.

He gestured weakly at the concession stand, silently willing the lady in front of him to hurry up and make her choice.

“Getting...popsicles?”

The woman with the biggest hair and heaviest makeup sneered, poking Steve in the shoulder with a bright pink acrylic nail.

“You think no one sees your devious little games, but we’re onto you.”

Steve pressed a hand to the spot on his shoulder, taking half a step back. The other two Omegas continued watching him like hawks in frosted lipstick.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?”

Big hair tossed her head, every curl snapping right back into place after barely moving with the motion.

“I called Karen Wheeler to let her know what kind of Omega she had watching her children. She assured me that she would address the situation. She’s just glad that her sweet Nancy escaped your clutches. Told me that she was here visiting with her lovely Omega.”

And, well, that hurt.

Steve and Mrs. Wheeler never talked about Nancy, ever. Not even when she was visiting. But they had developed a relationship of their own that was solid and professional and, Steve would have said, friendly.

He could only hope that this lady was full of sh*t.

Because, if he was going to lose his kids—

His throat closed up at just the thought of it, lump rising like a boulder as his eyes burned.

He blinked against it, flushing as the woman smiled with righteous satisfaction.

“You’ll get what’s coming to you. Loose Omegas always do.”

She looked like she had another cliched, oblique threat on the tip of her tongue when her male companion elbowed her sharply, jerking his chin toward the lifeguard’s chair where Billy was stretching and flexing obnoxiously. His reflective sunglasses obscured his eyes, but Steve could feel his gaze like a wave of heat.

The male Omega hissed under his breath, leaning in to his friend.

“Oh, my god, Vicky. Look!”

They forgot all about Steve when Billy broke out the tanning oil, rubbing it slowly and sensuously into his skin, starting with his abs and trailing up his chest and down his arms, casting every muscle in stark, shining relief in the sun.

The group of snarling Omegas forgot that Steve existed.

Steve was willing to bet that the pool was the driest thing on deck after that display.

Including him.

Holy sh*t.

Grateful for the diversion, he grabbed his popsicles and left, resolving never to let himself be caught off guard at the pool again.

Those mated Omegas were vicious.

Billy was late.

Not by a lot, but. He had said he was coming. To teach Steve a lesson.

A swimming lesson, obviously.

All other potential ideas of what Billy might have to teach him could just take a hike, thanks.

Max was fading fast, head drooping onto Steve’s shoulder as their movie wound down.

He nudged her into the bathroom to brush her teeth and put her to bed in the guest room that was rapidly becoming her own, with an accumulation of Max-centered objects such as comic books and skateboard wheels and extra clothing just in case she needed to stay.

Steve didn’t mind.

He kinda loved it, having a kid in the house. Like he was part of a family.

Steve shut down that very dangerous train of thought as it swerved through the notion that such a family probably included an Alpha, and Max’s Alpha was Billy.

And that maybe he could be Steve’s Alpha, one day.

Which was stupid of Steve to think about.

Might as well wish to fly to the moon.

Steve jumped a little at the knock on the door, hands flying to check his hair like that made any difference.

Especially if Billy was planning on getting him wet.

In the pool, obviously.

Shut up, brain.

Billy was waiting on the other side of the door with a battered duffel bag and an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, princess. Got held up at the shop. Finally had to dump it on Buckley so I could get away. You still up for that lesson?”

Steve was having difficulty focusing because Billy was already wet.

Hair dripping down his neck, curls tightly defined. White tee shirt damp and clinging to his torso.

“Uh-huh. Um. Max is down for the night, up in her room. So. Whenever you’re ready, I guess.”

Billy’s face relaxed a little bit, something like relief flitting across his eyes.

“Good. That’s good. We could get started now?”

Steve backed up to let him in the house, heart thumping as Billy hesitated at the threshold, both of them aware that they were entering into something that wouldn’t look good to an outside observer.

An unmated Omega inviting an Alpha in at night, with a bag over his shoulder. Might as well put up a sign in the yard with one of those words people liked to call Steve behind his back.

Billy stepped into the foyer and closed the door behind him with a muted click, holding the strap of his bag tightly with one hand as he jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

“I parked down the block. Didn’t want your neighbors to get concerned. Not sure how long this’ll take.”

The breath of relief that gave Steve was bittersweet. He was as grateful to Billy for caring enough to take precautions as he was resentful that it was necessary.

“Thank you. My neighbors can be real gossip-mongers sometimes. You know what they’d say, if they knew I was alone with you.”

Billy nodded, adjusting his grip on his bag as he scanned Steve up and down, making him want to fidget over his popcorn-stained shirt and plain pastel shorts.

“You wearing that in the pool, Harrington?”

Steve stuttered out something about going to change and booked it up the stairs, taking a full nonsensical minute to pick out his most flattering swimsuit when Billy had already seen him in all of them, including his oldest and ugliest pair with the holes in the seams.

He went with his shortest pair, remembering something Billy had said about them being distracting.

There was no point to a coverup, so he just draped a towel around his neck to pad back down the stairs.

Billy was waiting in his lifeguard trunks and nothing else, eyes widening a little when he caught sight of Steve.

“Wow, you look—Um. Ready to go.”

Steve glanced down at himself with a puzzled frown.

“Yeah, I guess.”

Billy led the way to the pool, watching Steve work the controls for the heater from the panel inside the house while Billy leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and one leg kicked up.

“So, I was just wondering. Not for any reason, but—hypothetically, if an Alpha wanted to ask permission to court you properly, to mate you, they would have to approach your Dad, right? He’s your Alpha?”

Steve laughed, a little bitterly, in surprise, accidentally turning the dial too far and having to correct it back.

“Like that would ever happen! There isn’t an Alpha in the next three counties who would take me seriously, for a mate. It’s not something I need to worry about, because it’s not even a possibility.”

Billy made an odd huffing sound of irritation, shifting against the wall.

“Okay, But. Say it did. Happen.”

There was a whole list of things that Steve didn’t want to talk about, and this was near the top of it.

He shut the panel with a click, barely able to look at Billy as he answered.

“My Dad hasn’t been around for a while, and he’s not really, um. Listen, it doesn’t matter anyway, it’s a pretty far-fetched hypothetical. Let’s talk about something else.”

Before Steve started crying or something equally stereotypical Omega.

Billy couldn’t know about the wound he was pressing on with these questions. He was just curious.

Just making conversation.

He didn’t seem to pick up the hints Steve was giving, barreling through in true Alpha fashion as Steve walked toward the pool.

“When do you think your parents will be back in town?”

He didn’t look back over his shoulder as he answered, affecting a light, casual tone. Like it didn’t matter.

“Oh. Well, as far as I know, never.”

Billy stopped in his tracks, forcing Steve to turn around to face him which he really didn’t appreciate, not when he felt this close to breaking apart at the seams.

Billy’s face was incredulous, one hand clutching his towel in a white-knuckled grip.

“What the hell?”

Steve pulled his own towel around his shoulders like a blanket, chill in the night air. Cold to the bone over the reality of his situation.

“They left for good, after I—After what I did, with Nancy. My Dad thought it was best if I learned my lesson on my own. Solitude is a very effective punishment for Omegas.”

Torture, actually. According to multiple governments.

But, like his dad had said, effective.

Steve had learned to cope on his own. Taking care of the kids went a long way to filling that aching void in his chest that had broken open when he had been left behind.

Billy’s brows lowered dangerously, a hint of growl in his voice.

“So, you haven’t seen your Alpha in, what, months?”

Steve stepped up to the edge of the pool, looking down into the water before turning back to Billy with as much of a smile as he could manage.

“Three years, now. Almost four. But, he’s not my Alpha, anymore. He had it dissolved, before he left. Both legally and chemically. I don’t have an Alpha. I’m—I’m unmoored. You’d know all this, if you bothered to listen to the gossiping harpies that gather around your chair at the pool.”

The way Billy looked at him, then.

It was terrifying.

There was violence, there. In the back of his eyes, searching Steve’s face. In the curl of his fists at his side. In the hard, deep rumble in his chest. In the sharp spike of anger in his scent.

“So he just abandoned you?”

Steve would rather Billy had hit him.

“Not really. He left my inheritance, put the house in my name. Left my car with the deed signed, so I was able to sell it and get the van without an Alpha’s signature. He didn’t want me to starve or anything, he just. Didn’t want me. Anymore.”

A fact that he had been sure to make abundantly clear, in word and deed, before leaving.

Some of the violence bled away from Billy’s expression as softness crept in, scent warming. The scent of an Alpha comforting an Omega in distress. It made Steve want to swoon, which was. Not helpful.

“Steve, that’s. f*cking appalling. Alphas can’t just leave their Omegas. It’s just—it’s wrong.”

Steve slapped his towel down on a lounge chair, wrapping his arms over his chest as he stepped into the pool up to his ankles, looking away from Billy.

“Well, Omegas shouldn’t just sleep around without a mating, so. I guess I earned it.”

Billy caught up to him, standing right behind Steve so close that he could feel his warmth. Steve’s body begged him to lean back just a little, to borrow some of Billy’s strength. He told his body to shut up.

Billy’s voice was quiet but strained. Shocked.

“Steve, you’re worth so much more than that. I can’t believe your Alpha could, just. f*ck!”

Steve took another step down into the pool, needing some distance between them before he did something unforgivably stupid, like turn and fling himself into Billy’s arms.

“I told you, when you started asking about stupid hypotheticals, that it didn’t matter. Sure, I’m unmoored, but what Alpha would even be interested in courting, let alone claiming me? None. So, it doesn’t make any difference whether they could register a formal courting, anyway.”

Billy stepped down after him, sliding his arm around without touching, a subtle offer of his wrist.

“Steve, I think I need to make something clear. I—”

His scent was strong and reassuring and Steve wanted nothing more than to bury his face in it, so he stepped away again, submerged up to his knees.

“No, you know what? I’m done talking about this. Time to do what you came here for, Hargrove.”

Billy growled as Steve took a deep, sharp breath, muscles tensing.

“Steve, wait, don’t just—”

Whatever he was going to say was muffled but the rush of water in Steve’s ears as he flung himself into the pool.

Chapter 13

Chapter Text

“What the f*ck did you think you were doing?”

Steve coughed up a mouthful of chlorine water, sagging against Billy as he hauled him up onto the side of the pool.

Billy stood in the shallow end and sat Steve up on the side, crowding between his legs to hold his face with both hands, scent sour with fear and sharp with anger.

“Promise me you’ll never do that again. That was some dumb, reckless sh*t, sweetheart.”

Steve was glad his face was so wet, hoping that it would disguise the tears spilling over at Billy’s reproach. He knew it was only what he deserved, he would have said the same to any of his kids, but.

Steve just felt a little bit breakable, right now.

Billy shook his head with a sigh, pulling Steve’s face down into his neck, strong arms wrapped around his back.

“Okay. Alright. I’m sorry I yelled. You scared me. This was my fault, I knew you were upset and I shouldn’t have pushed.”

Steve shook his head, taking deep, greedy lungfuls of Billy’s scent, even muted as it was by pool chemicals, murmuring directly into Billy’s smooth skin.

“No. I’m an adult, and responsible for my actions. It was stupid and reckless and I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I promise.”

Billy lifted Steve’s wrist to his face, nuzzling sweetly at his gland., mustache tickling as he spoke right against his damp skin.

“Think we both need a minute to calm down before we start. Here, just. Please take it, Steve.”

He held his wrist up in front of Steve’s face, too close to be polite, but Steve didn’t care, he just dove in nose first.

It was bliss.

All of the pain and anger and fear from dredging up Steve’s problems just. Melted away.

It seemed so much less to deal with when Billy’s scent filled his head with warmth and strength and reassurance.

Steve would do anything, to have this.

He couldn’t deny it anymore.

Billy kissed Steve’s wrist, tongue scrubbing the chlorine away until he reached clean skin with a quiet hum.

It was a good thing Steve’s trunks were already soaking wet.

Billy caught the cloying scent of his slick, anyway, moaning into Steve’s wrist with a long, open-mouthed kiss over his gland as his eyes fluttered shut, his own scent going deep and smoky with desire.

Steve bit back a tiny whimper and Billy jerked his head away with a little shake like he was trying to get himself together.

Billy lowered his own wrist slowly, reluctantly, before doing the same with Steve’s. He sought out Steve’s gaze, his own eyes soft.

“Listen. Steve. I think we got some wires crossed somewhere, because I—”

Alarm bells rang in Steve’s head, shoving words out of his mouth before he had formed more than half a thought, just desperate to keep Billy close for a little while longer.

“Nobody has to know.”

Billy wrinkled his forehead up at Steve, dark gold curls dripping water in tantalizing rivulets down his face.

“What?”

Steve wanted to lick them away, to follow the trail all the way down his throat and over the muscles of his chest.

He wanted to keep going and never stop.

Steve made a painfully vague gesture at himself, sopping wet with his legs open around Billy’s bulk. Looking like every rumor ever spread about him.

Might as well make it true.

“About this. If this is what you came here for, I—I would. With you. I’m older now, not quite as stupid,” which, debatable, but, “I can hide it, if you want me, that way.”

Billy’s eyebrows shot up, lips parted as his hands gripped the cement to either side of Steve, voice dropping low even as his scent climbed.

“And what way is that, exactly?”

It was a little surprising that Steve wasn’t steaming from the force of his blush, forcing himself to meet Billy’s eyes as he stammered out his indecent proposal.

“On my—on my back. Or my front, if you don’t want to deal with,” he gestured at his flaming red face, “all of this. I know I talk too much,” he blushed even harder at the memory of Nancy shushing him in bed, annoyed with his incessant noise, “I would do that, for you, Billy. Nobody has to know. If that’s what you want.”

God, his voice was shaking.

Billy reached up and snagged Steve’s hand in midair, catching and holding it while Billy’s other hand lifted to cup Steve’s cheek.

His thumb rubbed across Steve’s wrist in tiny, electric sparks as he spoke firmly, face serious.

“What I want, is to keep you safe. And right now, that means teaching you to swim. When we’re in the water or on the deck, you listen to me, alright? You do exactly as I say when I say it, do I make myself clear?”

Steve’s patch was tingling, just from the authority in Billy’s voice, the strong grasp of his hands. The laser focus of his hard gaze.

“Answer me.”

And Steve couldn’t help it. It just slipped out.

“Yes, Alpha.”

Billy’s scent spiked, hitting Steve like a slap in the face, making his head tilt to the side with a soft moan, exposing his patch.

Billy’s pupils bled out like an oil spill in the ocean of his eyes, grip tightening around Steve’s wrist before he abruptly let go and stepped away with a short, sharp nod.

“Good. That’s—that’s good. Just. Stay there.”

And then he dove backward into the pool and started doing laps, first backstroke before flipping over to go hard and fast, his body cutting through the water like a hot knife through butter.

He emerged wet and panting, right in front of Steve, with his scent slightly subdued. Not quite as aggressive and urgent.

Steve hated himself for missing it so much.

Billy held out his hands with an expectant look on his face.

“Alright, pretty boy. Your turn.”

Steve glanced around the pool with wide eyes, mouth falling open.

“Oh, I couldn’t do that, what you just did, I—”

Billy shook his head, the dim lights of the deck catching on the tiny spray of water droplets like flecks of stardust falling from his hair.

“No, of course not, baby. That was just me, um. Getting a grip,” a pretty pink flush dusted his cheeks at the words, embarrassment coloring his scent, “Come on, time to get in the pool.”

He reached up like he was going to lift Steve bodily from the side of the pool and Steve only hesitated for half a second before leaning into those arms, clutching Billy’s shoulders as he lowered him into the water, close enough to the shallow end that Steve could stand up.

Billy smiled like that was some kind of impressive feat, squeezing Steve’s sides just a little before letting go.

“First thing I’m gonna teach you is how to float. Come closer to me and turn around.”

Closer was.

Very close.

Steve turned around to face away from Billy before taking a tiny step back, and then another, and then he froze as Billy stepped up to him and pressed in, chest-to-back.

He was warm, and wet, and Steve was hard as a rock.

And plenty wet as well.

Billy wrapped one arm gently across Steve’s chest before bringing the other up to roll Steve’s head back onto his shoulder.

“Lift your legs.”

Steve gave a small noise of protest, reaching up to grab onto the arm Billy held over his chest. Billy nuzzled into the side of Steve’s head, voice low and steady

“It’s okay. I won’t let go. You gotta trust me, baby. Now, drop your arms out to the side.”

Billy bent his knees as Steve lifted his legs until they were submerged up to their necks. Steve gave a little squeak of panic and Billy shushed him, holding his head securely cradled on his shoulder.

“Let your feet come up into the float. I’ve got you.”

And the amazing thing was.

He did.

It had been a very long time since Steve had been able to lean on an Alpha like this. To trust in their strength to hold him up instead of push him down.

Steve let his body go limp, breathing a little fast as his head rested back on Billy’s shoulder.

Billy slid one hand around to support Steve’s lower back, not really holding him up, just reminding him of his presence. Steve felt safe, and secure, and like he might just burst into tears.

“There you go. Just like that. Okay, I’m gonna back off, but I’ll be right here the whole time. Take slow, deep breaths for me.”

Steve stiffened as Billy melted away, removing himself until only his fingertips touched the base of Steve’s skull.

“Perfect. That’s just what I want to see. Hold it for me just a little longer.”

Billy’s praise was running like wildfire through Steve’s veins, burning away any vestiges of hesitation that may have remained.

They practiced Steve’s float a dozen more times before Billy proclaimed him proficient, helping him stand with a pleased laugh.

He stopped laughing when Steve slipped and caught himself with both hands on Billy’s chest, mouth grazing his chin.

Billy’s hands came up around his waist, holding him in place as Steve reared back to search his face. Steve gathered his courage from somewhere deep inside himself, somewhere that had been exposed by the wildfire, still smoking in the open air.

“Billy, I—What I said, earlier. I meant it. I want—I want it. I want you.”

It wasn’t something that was done, an Omega propositioning an Alpha, and now Steve had done it twice. Exactly like the desperate slu*t he was rumored to be.

His heart was pounding against his ribs like it wanted to escape.

Billy’s tongue swept out over his lower lip in a smooth, slow arc even as his fingers tightened around Steve’s waist.

“Yeah? You want me, baby?”

Steve didn’t even finish nodding before Billy’s lips descended on his and it was—

There had been nothing like this, before.

Steve had always loved kissing, for the brief time he had gotten to explore it, but.

It wasn’t like this.

This was like being boiled alive from the inside and loving every second of it.

This was Billy’s lips, plush and gentle and brooking no argument as he used them to coax Steve’s mouth open, to let his clever tongue press inside.

This was his tongue caressing the contours of Steve’s lips before Billy traced the edge of his teeth with a rumble in his chest that made Steve’s dick pulse within the clinging confines of his swim trunks.

Steve made a small sound, a pleading sound that he couldn’t quite choke back and something shifted in the air.

Billy scooped him up, their wet skin sliding together from neck to knee, holding Steve upright as his legs went as weak as a newborn deer.

Open mouth smearing across Steve’s jaw, Billy walked them back to the edge of the pool until Steve was pinned between his hard body and the cool tile.

Steve breathed Billy’s name, letting his hands explore the hills and valleys of his torso, digging desperate fingers into his triceps as Billy surged up to suck on his tongue.

Which was.

Completely new to Steve.

And, apparently, got him extremely close to the edge in a mortifying amount of time.

He returned the favor, mimicking Billy’s movements.

Billy’s hands were suddenly everywhere. Skimming up his stomach to massage his chest, plucking at his nipples until Steve cried out into his mouth. Shoving them down low to cup his ass possessively.

The long, hard line of his co*ck pressed into Steve’s thigh as he opened his legs for Billy to insinuate a knee between them.

Steve shuddered and whined as his own aching co*ck rubbed against Billy’s thigh and Billy broke the kiss with a gasp, wrenching his mouth away to stare into Steve’s eyes from beneath spiky dark lashes clumped with water.

Firm, strong hands squeezed Steve’s ass rhythmically, hips rocking into his so subtly Steve doubted he was aware he was doing it as his voice rasped low.

“Let me. Sweetheart, please. God, you’re killing me.”

Okay. Wow.

This was it.

What Steve had asked for.

It would be worth it, if he got to have a few more kisses.

He tried to control his shaking, stomping down on the voice in his head screaming about consequences.

“Oh, do you—do you have a condom? I don’t, I’m not taking anything, and—”

Billy let go of his ass to frame his face with his hands, blue eyes earnest even as they burned with desire, Alpha scent dark and insistent.

“No. I wouldn’t knot you without a mating, Steve. Not like this, on the side of a pool. Wouldn’t treat you like some kinda good-time guy. I’m gonna keep my goddamned knot in my pants, I swear. I just want to kiss you, baby. All over. Everywhere. Will you let me do that, princess? I’ve been f*cking dying to get my mouth on you.”

Steve flushed hard at the very idea, skin burning beneath Billy’s palms.

He let his eyes drift shut, turning his head just enough to brush his trembling lips against the rough skin of Billy’s palm.

“Please, Alpha.”

Chapter 14

Chapter Text

Billy grabbed Steve’s jaw as he growled directly into his mouth and Steve tried to catch it on his tongue, hands scrabbling at Billy’s slick shoulders.

Billy didn’t walk over to the stairs to get out of the pool.

He climbed up the wall between Steve’s legs like a puma scaling a cliff-face, water sheeting off his back in a cascade, sending Steve scrambling awkwardly backwards in a stilted crabwalk, trying to maintain their kiss.

It was hopeless, and they broke apart to pant hot breath into the air between them until something crashed in a neighbor’s yard behind the fence, sending Billy’s head whipping around with a snarl.

Fear shot through Steve at the notion of being caught, out in the open like this.

It was such a stupid thing to be doing.

He was such a fool.

Billy looked back down on him, the bridge of his nose wrinkling with a heavy sniff before he got his legs under him in a deep squat, scooped Steve into his arms and stood like he weighed nothing.

Which wasn’t even remotely true, since Steve was large for an Omega.

But it felt.

Amazing.

Abandoning their towels on the deck, Billy walked them back to the house, chest rumbling impatiently while he let Steve fumble with the door to let them in. Billy kicked it shut behind them, the sound of it so loud Steve tensed up at the possibility of waking Max.

Billy didn’t seem to share his concerns, walking with heavy purpose down the hall and into the first guest bedroom, finally allowing Steve’s feet to touch the floor so Billy could close and lock the door behind them.

Nerves clawed their way up from Steve’s belly, settling in a lump in his throat that he struggled to speak around, only managing a squeak.

It was different, in a bedroom.

Purposeful.

Premeditated.

Steve couldn’t deny what was happening.

What he was allowing to happen.

What he desperately wanted to happen.

Billy didn’t move. He stood with his back flat against the door, chest heaving and swim trunks impressively tented as he watched Steve with eyes that glittered in the low light.

His voice cracked when he tried to speak, rough and low, as dark and smoky as his scent.

“Tell me to go.”

Steve had to shake his head like there was water in his ears, damp hair sticking to his cheeks in his confusion.

“What?”

Billy tilted his face up to the ceiling, hands spread flat against the door behind him, pressing so hard into it that the veins in his forearms stood out in sharp relief. His scent was starting to fill the room, starting to fill Steve’s senses, his body warming and softening in response.

Billy addressed his words to the ceiling, each one short and clipped, bursting staccato from his chest.

“Tell me to go, now, and I will. I’ll go. Won’t lay a f*cking finger on you.”

Steve shuddered at how awful that sounded, everything in him tightening in protest.

No.

Steve had made his decision, and wouldn’t turn back now.

His voice was soft, tremulous, but carried the distance between them on the strength of his determination.

“What if I tell you to stay?”

Billy’s chin dropped, eyes dark with pupil as he stared Steve down for a heart-stopping second before his scent spiked so sharply that Steve gasped at the potent hit of Alpha.

Billy took one step forward and a drop of slick started to trail down Steve’s leg, shorts saturated with the undeniable proof his desire. Billy licked his lips, Alpha-sharp eyes finding the drop as it cut a path down Steve’s knee.

His voice rumbled through Steve like a seismic shift.

“Get on the bed, Omega.”

Steve was flat on his back with a deep whine before he knew what he was doing. Billy had never called him that before, and it flipped a switch deep inside Steve that lit up his nerves until they sparkled.

The moonlight peeking through the window cast Billy’s hair in shades of platinum and gold, skin gleaming as he took slow, measured steps toward the bed.

Steve reached up for him before yanking his hands back, mortified by his own eagerness.

Billy made a soft, soothing sound, taking one of Steve’s hands and laying it against the solid plane of his chest while he got on the bed with one knee between Steve’s legs, hovering over him on his hands and knees.

Steve squeezed his thighs tight around Billy’s leg, barely suppressing the urge to rub against him.

Taking Steve’s other hand in his, Billy brought it up to his mouth, kissing Steve’s knuckles lightly before turning it to expose his wrist.

He caught Steve’s eye as he extended his tongue to trace a tiny, maddening circle around his pulsing gland.

He did it again, and then again until Steve whimpered out a quiet “please.”

And then Billy’s mouth was hot and open over his wrist, licking and sucking at his gland with grunting abandon until Steve’s patch throbbed in envy.

Steve surged up to bury his face in Billy’s neck, tongue seeking his gland there, moaning at the overwhelming flood of undiluted Alpha that hit his system.

Billy went stiff above him before collapsing half his weight on top of Steve, his own mouth seeking the safe side of Steve’s neck where he had only a gland and not a patch.

Licking and sucking and—

Oh!

Biting.

Just a little. Just enough to make Steve’s patch ache, swollen and insistent until he wanted to lift a hand to rub at it.

But that would be far too forward. Billy might misinterpret that as Steve asking for something completely different from some casual affair.

Something he didn’t deserve.

So Steve just ached, arching and crying out below Billy when he ran sharp teeth over his gland while pressing the long, hard line of his co*ck to Steve’s trembling thigh.

Steve was so wet that his thighs slipped and slid around Billy’s knee when he clamped them together around it.

Billy’s hips jerked with a grunt, rutting into Steve’s leg while the thick muscle of his own thigh rubbed maddeningly against Steve’s co*ck.

Billy shook his head, groaning and nuzzling under Steve’s chin before kissing his way down his throat to nip at his collarbones, hands petting and kneading at Steve’s chest, rolling his stiff nipples between thumb and forefinger until Steve muffled a cry against Billy’s curls.

“Okay, baby. I know. I’ve got you. Gonna kiss you all over. Every f*cking inch, pretty boy.”

He punctuated each word with a kiss, making a trail down Steve’s chest to his nipples, tongue flicking over each sensitive nub in turn.

Steve nearly came off the mattress, jolting with the shock of it. No one had ever kissed him there before and it felt—

“Good. Billy, that’s so good. Oh, my god.”

Billy pressed a smile to his sternum before turning to suck one into his mouth, worrying it gently with his teeth while Steve clapped a hand over his mouth against the helpless noises bubbling up his throat.

Billy didn’t seem to be in any hurry, leisurely kissing his way across Steve’s chest and back up his throat, pausing when Steve’s breath hitched around a whimper.

Despite his best efforts, Steve’s head kept tilting to the side, patch on display.

Nancy had hated when he did that, always careful to guide his head the other direction, to hide his patch from view. To pretend it was invisible as well as untouchable.

Steve burned with shame and desperate desire as he helplessly tilted his head again, asking a nonverbal question he couldn’t expect Billy to answer.

A question he already knew the answer to, after all.

And Billy definitely noticed, nostrils flaring as he stared at the thin patch of skin, flushed dark and giving off the heady scent of needy Omega.

But Billy didn’t turn Steve away or ignore the request.

Billy nudged Steve’s head further to the side with his nose, hot breath gusting over his throbbing patch and making him whine low in his throat. Billy’s voice trembled, barely a whisper as he hovered over the center of Steve’s longing.

“Wanna kiss you, right here. Wanna lick it, baby. Get it in my mouth. Would you—? Will you let me, sweetheart?”

Oh, god. That was—

It wasn’t done.

It was obscene.

Beyond the pale.

Something that only mated pairs did, ever.

For Billy to suggest it now, when he was merely fooling around with Steve, was absolutely filthy.

A rush of slick ran down Steve’s thigh, hole pulsing at just the thought of it.

His treacherous mouth opened around a breathy, pleading sound.

“Billy. Oh, please.”

Steve was on fire, burning with shame and mortification and filthy, irresistible longing.

Billy growled, lips vibrating against Steve’s patch and, just like that, Steve was coming, dick twitching in his trunks and hole clenching desperately around nothing as he stifled his cries in the meat of Billy’s shoulder.

Billy went completely, utterly still for a heart-stopping moment, before hauling Steve closer, hands just a little too rough on his hips.

“Holy—holy f*ck, princess. You just—just from that. Get these off, I gotta see.”

Calloused thumbs hooked in the waistband of Steve’s shorts, tugging them down an inch before Steve’s hand shot down to circle Billy’s wrist.

He whispered even though they were wonderfully alone, barely brave enough to get the words out.

“You won’t tell anyone?”

It would have been nice if his voice didn’t shake like a leaf in the wind, but.

Billy released his waistband with one hand to gently cup his cheek, the tip of his little finger grazing Steve’s patch in a way that had to be deliberate, sending sparks down Steve’s spine.

“This is just for you and me, baby. You set the pace. I’ll let you decide if you want to make an announcement.”

Steve’s head was floating in the clouds, but he wrinkled his brow as he tried to figure out why Billy thought he would ever want to announce his final fall from grace.

Maybe Steve should just spray paint ’Steve Harrington is a slu*t’ on the theater marquee downtown. Save everyone some time.

Billy smiled sweetly and Steve realized that it must have been a joke, so he smiled back, a little wobbly at the corners but not a bad attempt.

Billy kissed the smile from his lips with a soft little hum before tugging at his waistband again, inching it down his hips as he kissed his way across his jaw to his patch. He took a deep, shuddering inhale before he spoke low into Steve’s ear.

“This okay? Don’t wanna move too fast for you, sweetheart. You gotta tell me.”

It had never occurred to Steve that he might have any kind of power in the bedroom. That an Alpha might ask him what he wanted. As if that was Steve’s decision. Generally, it was thought that Alphas pursued until Omegas submitted, and then the Alpha could take what they wanted.

That was Steve’s understanding, anyway. Backed up by his experience as an Omega who had submitted too easily too soon and gotten burned for it.

This, what Billy was doing, was something different.

It wasn’t something that was happening to Steve so much as something they were exploring together and it made his insides burn like they were melting.

He nodded his head, chin brushing Billy’s curls as he dropped kisses down Steve’s chest all the way to his belly, thumbs rubbing circles in the hollows of Steve’s hipbones.

Face burning, Steve lifted his hips a little at an encouraging noise from Billy when the waistband caught on the swell of his ass. His heart was going to beat out of his chest.

Billy’s breath hitched audibly when Steve’s slick hit the cool air of the bedroom, instantly filling the room with the full intensity of his scent.

It wasn’t quite the brutal force of his heat, but it wasn’t far off.

Billy’s hands shook as he slid Steve’s trunks down his legs, tossing them away to splat on the floor with a thick, wet sound that made Steve cringe in mortification.

Steve fought the urge to close his legs beneath Billy’s intense focus on everything between them, blue eyes lasered in on Steve’s red, weeping co*ck, and slick crease.

Billy’s hand slid up his leg, fingers swirling in the drops of slick as his voice dropped into an urgent growl.

“Can I touch you? Get my mouth on you, everywhere? Say yes, sweetheart, please. I’m dying.”

And, for the last four years, Steve had been saying no.

No to Alphas, no to himself.

It was an intense, instant, guilty relief to finally say yes.

The answer was hardly out of his mouth before Billy was on him, hot tongue tracing the bent crease of his knee. Steve could tell the moment he finally licked up a drop of slick because Billy’s whole body tensed, scent sharpening enough to cut through the last of Steve’s reservations.

He buried his hands in Billy’s hair to tug him higher, a deep whine caught in Steve’s throat.

Billy was huffing deep, greedy breaths in between licking and kissing and sucking at his thighs, mustache tickling the sensitive skin. Steve squirmed as he held on, biting his lip against small, animal noises that wanted to climb out his throat and spill over into the bedroom.

A stifled yelp jumped out when Billy pressed Steve’s thighs farther apart before ducking down to dip his tongue down Steve’s crease.

Steve tried to sit up, staring down at Billy’s beautiful, blissed-out face as he stammered, blushing all the way down his chest.

“Oh, Billy, um. You don’t need to—I haven’t—I’ve never, not like—”

Billy rubbed warm palms up and down Steve’s thighs in a soothing motion even as he inched them further apart.

“It’s okay. I want to. I’ll take such good care of you, honey. You don’t gotta worry. Just gotta open up for me and let me in. I just wanna get you in my mouth, make you feel good, pretty boy. Do you want that, baby?”

Steve’s dick was as hard as ever, throbbing as if he hadn’t just come in his shorts.

One of the great things about being an Omega, one of the only great things, was that Steve could achieve multiple org*sms with the right stimulation.

So far, he had only tried that once with himself, feeling guilty and pathetic in his bed as he let his hands wander and thought of long blond curls and golden skin until he worked himself up into a sweaty, panting mess.

Nancy had always been satisfied with stopping at one, and Steve had never had the courage to ask her to try for more. It felt selfish. Greedy, maybe.

But, with Billy looking at him the way he was, eyes dilated under heavy lashes, tongue swiping at the slick shining down his chin...

Steve felt brave.

He lifted his hand to Billy’s face, brushing the hair out of his eyes.

“I want you.”

It took effort to get three little words out, fear stiffening his vocal chords.

Billy turned to nip at his wrist with a growl and Steve gasped as a rush of slick spilled over his skin when he felt the sharp edge of Billy’s teeth on his gland.

Steve’s patch was on fire, aching for those teeth to sink in deep enough to claim. Aching deep down inside himself for all the things that would mean.

He ignored that as best he could, carding his fingers through damp curls.

“Billy, please.”

Billy groaned Steve’s name just before lapping hungrily at his balls, sucking them into his warm, wet mouth and sending Steve’s stomach flipping even as his co*ck ached for attention.

Shouldering Steve’s legs, Billy leaned down to lick a fat, hot stripe from his tailbone to testicl*s, skating over his hole and making Steve’s legs kick out with a muffled shout.

Billy smiled into the crease of his thigh, darting his tongue out between words for little kitten licks.

“Hush, baby, we don’t wanna wake the neighbors. All those sweet sounds are just for me, alright?”

Steve clapped a hand over his mouth, muttering an apology into his palm, face burning. He never could keep his mouth shut in bed, and he knew it was annoying. Steve would do anything to keep Billy’s face from getting that sour look Nancy had when Steve couldn’t keep quiet.

Strong hands cupped his ass, spreading him open as Billy dove back in, licking and sucking at Steve’s swollen, aching entrance. Steve bit his fist against a sharp cry when the long, slick length of Billy’s tongue worked itself inside and started thrusting.

Billy slid one hand around Steve’s hip to rub his fingers over Steve’s co*ck and Steve was coming hard, hole clenching around Billy’s tongue as Billy moaned, Alpha scent going so dark that Steve grew lightheaded.

Billy pressed a soft, lingering kiss to Steve’s hole before lifting his head with a pleased smirk, wiping his mouth on Steve’s thigh.

“That’s two. God, you needed that, huh, baby?”

Steve nodded, both hands still held tight over his mouth as he kept whimpering helplessly into his palm.

Billy climbed up the bed to settle on his knees between Steve’s spread thighs, coaxing Steve’s hands away from his mouth with careful fingers. Steve bit his lip hard against a soft, pleading sound that welled up from his belly when Billy stroked his cheek, eyes dark and ocean deep.

“I gotta do better next time, get you someplace more private. Somewhere I can hear every tiny noise you make. Somewhere I can spread you out properly and lick you until you scream, no holding back.”

There was no hiding the sound Steve made at that, lower lip popping out from where he had caught it in his teeth around the shapeless vowels spilling from his throat.

Billys scent flared, eyes hungry on Steve’s f*cked-out body as he trailed his fingers through Steve’s slick before sucking them into his mouth, eyes rolling back in his head with a low moan that made Steve’s hole twitch.

Steve pressed his ankles around Billy’s hips to get his attention, trying to keep his voice steady, to minimize the thin trickle of fear in his scent.

“How do you want me?”

Billy’s brow furrowed, hands petting over the soft expanse of Steve’s belly like he was something precious.

“What do you mean? Just like this, pretty boy. Don’t need any more than this, tonight. Told you I was gonna keep it in my pants, and I meant it.”

Steve squirmed in discomfort, hyper aware of the way his legs spread open around Billy’s bulk, everything on wanton display like a four dollar whor*.

“Well, yeah, but that was before I let you— Billy. I’m not a tease. You can, if you want. I’ll try really hard to be quiet, I promise.”

After the racket Steve had just made, Billy was probably worried about him caterwauling when he got inside. Humiliation scraped rusty nails down his spine at the thought, Billy’s mouth turning down with concern when it entered Steve’s scent.

He leaned forward over Steve on his hands and knees, caging him in with his arms in a way that felt more protective than threatening and made Steve’s inner Omega purr.

“No, see, it’s not gonna be like this. No having to keep quiet and sneak around. Not when I take you. When I make you mine.”

It was an old-fashioned way of phrasing it. Most Alphas just said knotting or f*cking, nowadays, when they referred to casual sex. The way Billy phrased it was usually reserved for a formal claiming.

Steve was unreasonably charmed by Billy’s delicate phrasing when Steve’s slick still shone on his lips.

It made him want to cuddle close and pretend that this was all just part of some particularly ardent courting between promised mates. Something that would have been risqué but forgivable. Something that this definitely wasn’t. Dangerous thoughts to let himself fall into.

Billy’s shorts had dried from the pool but there was a dark, persistent wet spot spreading over the head of his hard co*ck, where it pressed against the fabric over his hip, so big that it was forced to the side at an angle by his waistband.

It made Steve’s mouth water. Made him bold, lifting one hand to curl his fingers just slightly beneath the elastic, peeking up at Billy through his lashes.

“You said no knotting, but. Could I—? Can I touch you, Billy?”

It wasn’t something he was supposed to ask for, but Steve had burned down any remaining pretense that he was a good, chaste Omega around the first time he had spread his legs to let Billy inside. Bared his patch like a desperate slu*t.

There was no point in pretending, now.

Billy dropped his face to Steve’s neck with a full-body shudder, hips twitching forward into Steve’s hands.

“f*ck, pretty boy. I’m trying, here. But I’m not a saint, alright? You get those sweet little hands on me and I’m gonna pop my knot quick, gonna come all over you in a minute flat. So if that’s not what you want, we better stop here.”

Steve’s scent spiked at the mere thought of it, of Billy’s scent spread over him like that, seeping into his skin.

It was a bad idea. A stupid idea.

Steve would have to shower with scent blockers for a week, douse himself with cologne to try to disguise it.

It was an invitation to ruin and Steve would be best served to put a stop to it now.

That would be the smart thing to do.

Never, not once in his life, had anyone ever accused Steve of being smart.

Billy groaned like he was dying when Steve peeled back his shorts, big Alpha co*ck springing free, hot and hard against Steve’s belly.

He thrust against Steve’s skin with a growl, the slick, sticky tip of his co*ck skating over Steve’s navel as Steve wrapped a tentative hand around him, trying to subdue the trembling in his fingers.

Billy buried his face in Steve’s patch, stifling his moans there with a hot, open mouth that had Steve whining and arching beneath him, barely holding back the urge to beg for his teeth.

To beg for his claim.

He didn’t quite succeed, little bursts of “Alpha. Billy. Please.” spilling over his lips on every breath as he gathered some slick in his palm and worked Billy’s shaft with both hands, fist bumping up against the burgeoning swell of his knot.

Billy’s muscles locked, mouth suddenly ravenous on Steve’s patch, licking and sucking and pressing just the barest edge of his teeth into the thin skin over his gland just as Billy’s knot popped in Steve’s hands. Steve tightened one fist around it while he worked the other over his shaft in a slick, filthy rhythm for the three extra seconds it took before Billy was shooting hot all the way up his stomach to his chest, Steve crying out in shock when a splash hit the head of his co*ck and he was coming again.

Billy wrenched his mouth away from Steve’s patch with a fervent curse, voice cracking around Steve’s name as he sank his teeth into Steve’s shoulder, thrusting helplessly into his hands.

Steve stroked him through it, releasing his shaft but keeping a hand around his knot when Billy whined between his teeth, still clamped in Steve’s flesh.

It hurt in the best way possible, in a way that had his patch aching with longing, a way that made his blood sing. A way that made other things hurt, deep in his chest, in his most secret places. Hurt with the impossibility of it ever being any more than this.

It took a few minutes for Billy to come back to himself, knot softening enough for Steve to let go without causing him discomfort as he slumped his full, heavy weight down on Steve, smearing their scents together in a heady mix.

He kissed the sore spot on Steve’s shoulder with a low, disgruntled sound.

“sh*t, baby. I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to take a chunk out of you like that. I just had to get myself away from your beautiful throat before I did something stupid.”

Something stupid like tie himself to Steve.

It was honest, and true, and it felt like a punch in the gut.

Steve pressed his own kisses to the curve of Billy’s ear, allowing his arms to curl around Billy’s broad, sweaty back. To hold him close, for just a moment longer.

“It’s alright. You didn’t hurt me. I, um. I liked it.”

He whispered the last bit into Billy’s ear, hot with shame and still burning with a longing that didn’t seem like it could be quenched. Not by clandestine trysts like this, not by anything Steve would be realistically able to get.

Billy kissed the mark again, tongue laving over it softly, soothingly.

“I’m glad you liked it, sweetheart, but I shouldn’t be marking you up like that, where anyone could see. Oughta do better by you, gonna have to try harder next time.”

Next time.

So, it wasn’t a one night stand, then.

Steve’s scent soared with relief. With the sure, shameful knowledge that he wanted more, as much as he could get, as much as Billy was willing to give him.

No matter what the consequences.

Steve pushed up to sit as Billy pulled back and started tugging his shorts back up with a wince, half-hard co*ck still straining the fabric.

Steve threw a corner of the blankets over his lap as he watched Billy prepare to leave, ruthlessly suppressing the sinking sensation in his stomach, barely putting enough volume in his voice to reach Billy’s ears.

“So we—we’re really doing this, now?”

Billy was glowing. He looked so happy to be entering into a torrid, secret affair with Steve that he almost felt insulted.

Like it was all Billy had been waiting for, this entire time.

Maybe he had, and Steve was a fool.

It was okay, Steve had been worse things.

Billy kissed the palm of his hand with a soft little laugh, joy sparkling in his eyes like sun on the water, and.

Christ.

Steve could deal with being his dirty little secret if it meant Billy continued looking at him just like that.

Billy kept hold of Steve’s hand while he smiled down into his face, looking like the Greek god of the sun. Looking like something too beautiful and dangerous for mere mortals to touch.

“Yes, baby. We’re really doing this. God, finally. You’ve got no idea how much I— Been driving me out of my mind, baby. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah? When you drop off Max?”

The chill of the air conditioner hit Steve’s skin all at once, sending a shiver down his back as he struggled to meet Billy’s eyes, to match his smile.

Casual. Mature. Trying not to seem like a clingy, desperate Omega as he nodded and kept his hands to himself, gripping the sheets rather than reaching for Billy.

“Oh. Yes, of course. Tomorrow.”

Billy paused, searching Steve’s face before he slowly leaned in and sweetly, gently kissed Steve’s patch.

Tears sprung to his eyes at the nearly reverent feeling of Billy’s lips on him, eyes dropping to conceal them from sight while Billy whispered into his ear.

“Have a good night, princess. Dream of me.”

As if Steve was going to dream of anything else but Billy’s tongue ever again.

Chapter 15

Chapter Text

In some towns, an Omega couldn’t obtain birth control without their Alpha’s signature.

Hawkins was such a town.

An unmoored Omega with no Alpha registered to their name had very few options in a town like that.

Steve had to drive several counties away to find a free clinic for an invasive, humiliating pelvic exam before the doctor would write a prescription, mouth pinched with a disapproving glance at Steve’s unmarked patch.

The pharmacy wasn’t any easier.

The first claimed to be unable to stock Steve’s medication, but only after they noticed his patch.

Steve wore a scarf to the next pharmacist, standing far enough back that they didn’t catch his unmated scent until he had to step up to pay, the cashier’s face going sour with the realization.

Thank f*ck he had gotten a six month’s supply. It was going to be an ordeal to get a refill.

Billy had promised to keep his knot in his pants, but.

Steve wasn’t an idiot.

At least, not as much of an idiot as everyone thought he was.

It was a dangerous game they were playing, and Steve was always going to be the one to lose. The only question was when.

It was both freeing and terrifying to admit to himself that he was really doing this, entering an affair with both eyes and legs open wide. If he was going down the road of destruction, he might as well take every precaution along the way to make the trip last as long as possible.

He had stocked up on scent blockers and neutralizers, special soaps and lotions and potions guaranteed to keep his secrets. Discretely packaged and splashed with warnings against use by unmated Omegas, that they could ’diminish’ his ‘natural appeal’. Steve considered that a small price to pay to avoid the judgement of the entire town.

He used all of it, reading and re-reading the labels carefully, layering products for the best effect, but he was still a bundle of nerves when he rolled into the pool, kids in tow. It was the first time he had been amongst the general public since the night Billy taught him to swim.

The night Billy had taught him a lot of things.

The kids hadn’t said anything about his scent changing, beyond Max wrinkling her nose and going petulantly silent when Steve tried to talk to her. He wasn’t sure if that was scent-related or just Max.

Billy wasn’t at the front desk, and Steve didn’t know how he felt about that.

Disappointed, for sure, but.

Relieved, as well.

He ached for Billy like the Alpha had scooped out something vital from inside of Steve and was carrying it around with him.

Steve had never felt that way before, not even with Nancy. It was overwhelming.

He was terrified of interacting with Billy in public, sure that he would slip up and make it obvious what they were doing.

Having an affair.

An illicit tryst.

A summer fling.

Something Betas did, and sometimes Alphas, but never Omegas.

Omegas were to keep their mouths shut and their legs crossed until the right Alpha came along.

Steve tried very hard not to think of just how perfectly Billy would fit into the ideal of that elusive ’right Alpha’.

How natural it would feel to come home to him at night, to wake up on his arms every morning.

The few private moments he had gotten with Billy over the past few days had been as thrilling as they were terrifying.

Small, secret smiles and Billy’s fingers grazing his wrist, blue eyes wandering to his patch, to the hidden sore spot on Steve’s shoulder that still bore the fading mark of his teeth.

Billy had almost kissed him yesterday. Before they were interrupted by Max careening out of the house.

It was an almost that Steve played over and over in his head.

The heat of Billy’s lips, hovering just barely out of reach. The blooming scent of him, rich with desire and dark with promise. The way his voice curled softly around the words ’pretty boy’ like a gentle hand curving over Steve’s throat.

And here Steve was the next day, staring up at Billy in his lifeguard chair just like every other hopeless, smitten Omega on the pool deck.

Acting as pathetic as he felt.

Billy hadn’t noticed Steve, yet. Which was unusual. Steve was used to catching his eye the moment he stepped past the gates. His gaze usually snapped to Steve like a magnet.

It made something unpleasant roll in his belly when Billy’s face didn’t turn to his the way he was accustomed to.

Maybe Billy was trying to distance himself in public, not give them away. That would be the smart thing to do, and Steve should feel grateful for his discretion.

But he didn’t feel grateful.

All he felt was—

Awful.

At least the Wheelers had gone to visit Nancy so he was short two kids today. It was exponentially easier to do his job without the baby, as much as he missed holding her.

Missed nuzzling into her milk-rich scent and pretending, for just a moment, that he might get to have a baby of his own one day. Like a happily mated, proper Omega would. The kind of Omega that got to have a family.

He tried not to dwell on the life he once thought he would lead too much. The family he thought he would have. There was simply no point in spending his time mourning things now lost to him.

Steve sat alone in his lounge chair, painfully self-conscious about leaving his shirt on, sure that any moment someone would sense the fading mark of Billy’s bite through the fabric.

The mark he still stared at in the mirror, imagining the curved line of Billy’s teeth embedded somewhere higher, and infinitely more sensitive. Somewhere much more permanent. The mark he pressed his fingers into while he bit his pillow and writhed in his bed, guilty hands busy between his legs and Billy’s name on his tongue.

Steve didn’t know what he was going to do with himself once it finally faded away.

He stiffened every time someone walked past until he realized that nobody noticed him. No one took so much as a discrete sniff.

The blockers were working.

Something base and mindless inside of him was upset by that. By the notion that Billy had been erased from his flesh. When all Steve wanted was to keep him there forever.

To wrap himself in Billy, curl up in his arms at night and carry his scent throughout the day.

Steve knew he was building a castle of impossible things inside his mind, and those thoughts made up the foundation. They were strong and constant and just as impossible as all the rest.

He watched Billy idly scan the pool and do a double take when he caught sight of Steve’s kids before his head spun around so quickly that his curls bounced, sunglasses sliding down his nose while he searched the deck.

Steve could feel it the moment Billy found him, as if someone was tugging on a string tied to his ribs.

He offered Billy a small, discrete wave, wincing as Billy screwed up his face and scented the air without a hint of discretion in return.

Steve flushed beneath the scowl then directed his way.

He dropped his gaze, stomach plummeting beneath the disapproval of his—

Of an Alpha he was involved with.

When he looked back up, Billy had turned away to yell at a kid across the pool. Steve tried not to think too deeply about the itch beneath his skin that insisted Billy should be looking at him, instead.

He lay down and closed his eyes, regretting the fact that his shirt was necessary and he wouldn’t get to work on his tan.

“Harrington! Get over here!”

Steve’s head whipped around at the sound of the whistle, scanning the pool for his kids first. They were all playing nicely in the shallow end, nothing seemed wrong there.

The whistle sounded again, short and sharp and Steve looked up to find Billy climbing down from his chair as Rick took over his post. He strode right to Steve, peering at him with narrowed eyes before indicating the office with a jerk of his head. “Follow me.”

Steve didn’t even have to think about it, because the truth was, he would have followed Billy anywhere he wanted to go.

In this case, it was his office. Billy clicked the door shut behind Steve and then he was on him, nose buried in his neck and snuffling.

A deep, distressed sound rumbled from his chest and Steve wanted to cry. Billy smelled like anxiety and disapproval and Steve couldn’t even offer his neutralized glands for comfort.

“It’s gone. Your scent, why is it—? Baby, your beautiful scent. What’s wrong? Why would you—?”

Billy’s hands rubbed down his arms to circle his wrists, massaging his glands with the pads of his fingers. Steve’s scent barely grew any stronger even with the focused attention. He wanted to melt into Billy, to fall to his knees and apologize for displeasing him. He tried to steady his voice, to meet Billy’s wide, water-blue eyes. “I’m sorry, Alpha. I had to. There was no other way to keep this a secret. To keep us a secret. Otherwise, everyone would have taken one whiff of me and known right away, that we were—”

Billy dropped his wrists as he took a step back, acrid hurt spiking his scent with acidity and firming the lines of his mouth. “Oh. You don’t want—,” he looked down at his feet and shook his head with a harsh little laugh, “No. Of course you don’t want people to know. I get it. You’re ashamed. Makes sense, I know I’m not exactly Tommy Hagan. Not your first choice.”

And, what?

Of course Steve was ashamed. He was living a cautionary tale of Omegas gone wrong. For the second time in his life. He had every reason to be ashamed of himself.

But—

“What does Tommy have to do with anything?”

Billy’s distress scent wasn’t going away. It was deepening into something darker, something like jealousy, even as he watched Steve with gentle eyes. “He’s rich. Got a great family, comes from manners and pearls and silver place settings just like you. He’s the kind of Alpha you’d let put his hands on you in front of everyone. The kind where you’d shout your courting from the rooftops and everyone would shake his hand for it,” he swallowed hard and Steve inhaled sharply at the misty scent of tears swiftly blinked away, “I know I’m not that kind of Alpha, Steve. I get it.”

It didn’t make sense, what he was saying. There was some kind of fundamental misunderstanding. Steve had to fix it, he couldn’t stand for Billy to be so distraught. He reached out, blinking back tears of his own when Billy shifted further away. “Billy, What on earth are you talking about? Tommy isn’t courting me.”

The idea was so absurd that Steve tried to laugh, choking on it at the pinched look on Billy’s face, the hurt still clouding his scent. Choking on the way Billy lifted his hand to hover over the mark on Steve’s shoulder before letting it fall back to his side. “I don’t mind, Steve. I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me. We’re doing this on your terms, since there’s no one around to set them for us.”

It was an odd thing for him to say.

Terms.

As if he was negotiating a mating contract with Steve’s Alpha. Which was impossible, because Steve didn’t have one.

Just another of Billy’s oddly charming old-fashioned turns of phrase.

Steve wished they didn’t make his stupid heart leap with unfounded hope every time. Then again, he had pretty much given up control of his heart when it came to Billy, at this point.

Billy’s gaze fell to his patch, where his scent couldn’t quite be erased, tongue peeking out to wet his lips hungrily. “Steve, can I just—?”

Steve nodded so hard his hair fell out of the carefully coiffed pile on top of his head to flop across his face. “Yes, anything.”

Billy’s face was nestled in against his patch before his next breath, huffing deep with a soft, relieved moan.

Steve shivered at the warm, wet drag of his lips when he spoke, dark and low with just the barest hint of command that made Steve feel weak in the knees.

“Tonight. We’ll continue your lessons. Wait up for me.”

He sagged back against the door when Billy released him, distress no longer clinging to his rich Alpha scent. Steve clutched the hem of his shirt and looked up at Billy with every ounce of longing that he had kept hidden all the days and nights before this. It was such a rush of release to let it show, if only for a moment, that he felt light-headed, voice thin and raspy with relief.

“Yes, Alpha.”

Chapter 16

Chapter Text

Max had forgotten her dry clothes at home.

It occurred to Steve, as he drove to her house to pick some up after dropping off the rest of the kids, that she should start keeping some of her things at his place.

He squashed down the thrill of domesticity at the notion of no longer living alone, of having a child in the house on a semi-permanent basis.

It hurt, to push that feeling deep down inside where it couldn’t break free as he pulled into their empty driveway.

“Hey, Max? Why don’t you grab a couple things to leave at my place? Pajamas and some extra clothes.”

Steve had already gotten her a toothbrush and hairbrush and a couple of silly little things like a stuffed bear for her bed and a blanket in her favorite color.

He couldn’t help himself, couldn’t resist the deep satisfaction of providing for a child he cared for. Misguided nesting instinct, on top of everything else.

Steve sighed to himself as he opened his door. He was such a disaster.

Max tugged on his elbow to pull him back inside, shaking her head at his questioning look. “You can’t come with me, Billy doesn’t want you inside our house.”

Okay.

Ouch.

That was surprisingly painful, as if she had wedged each word beneath one of his fingernails.

The thing about little kids, is that they were often unfailingly honest, uncaring if the truth might hurt. Steve braced himself, unable to suppress the question, steadying his voice. “Oh? Why is that?”

Max shrugged, rifling through her backpack for the bag of cubed cheese Steve had packed in there for her afternoon snack. “He doesn’t want you to know how poor we are. He’s afraid you won’t think he’s a good Alpha and then you won’t want to have his babies.”

Steve choked on thin air like it was a chicken bone.

“What!? He said that to you?”

Max gave him a look like he was an idiot, which was kind of just Max’s default expression turned up a notch. “No. But I’m not stupid. He’s like, really obvious about it. Talks about you a lot. Stares at you when he thinks you’re not looking, glares at people when they do the same thing, dumb Alpha stuff like that. He, like, sniffs the stuff you send home in my backpack sometimes, the notes and stuff. It’s totally gross.”

Oh.

Well.

Steve’s face burned as Max munched on her cheese, completely unconcerned about the bomb she had just dropped on him.

The worst part was, she believed it. It made sense for a child’s understanding of mating to be reduced to the adult’s inexplicable desire to become parents.

She wouldn’t know that it was both more and less complicated than that.

Billy wanted him. Steve knew that already.

He had confirmed it in the most concrete way possible.

But, he didn’t want him the way Max assumed. Not forever, not as his mate.

Like every other Alpha that wanted Steve, Billy wanted him for a good time, an easy f*ck, secure in the knowledge that he could let him go at the end of the night with no regrets. It’s not as though Steve was some pure, perfect, virginal Omega waiting patiently for his mate.

That ship had long since sailed.

Alphas pursued him because they knew they would have nothing to feel guilty about, afterwards. He could hardly blame Billy for wanting that, especially when Steve wanted so badly, himself.

When Steve had spread his legs, exposed his patch, and begged for it.

Even if the things Steve truly wanted went far beyond a summer fling.

He had decided to take what he could get, and be grateful for the opportunity. Savor the moments when Billy held him and kissed him and whispered sweet things against his skin.

It was more than he deserved, and so much less than he desired.

Max blithely continued, lump of cheese stuffed in her cheek. “He says nobody can come over until he gets our furniture back from the repo men. But, especially you. He was real worried about it. Made me promise not to bring you here.”

She didn’t sound especially concerned over having broken her promise, sipping loudly from her juice box as she looked up at Steve.

Steve blinked back at her, trying to process her words. “I’m sorry. Did you just say repo men?”

She threw her empty juice box on the floor, and Steve didn’t even consider fussing at her for it as he heard the pain and anger in her faux-bored voice. “Yeah, they suck. Took our tv and furniture and stuff. Billy wouldn’t let them take my bed, though. Snarled in the guy’s face. It was kinda badass. So, they took everything else, instead. Those guys are assholes.”

It was a lot to take in.

He had known that Billy was struggling, working two jobs with sudden, unexpected custody of a child. But this was more than Steve could have imagined. He was careful to keep his tone gentle and inquisitive, not allowing any of his borderline panic to seep through. “Max. Why were they repossessing your stuff? Is Billy in some kind of trouble?”

Max shrugged, crumpling up her snack bag in tense fingers, shredding the plastic with sharp, angry movements. “Yeah, but, it’s not his fault. Neil left us with a bunch of debt and stuff when he took off. Guess that’s why my mom split, too. She cried a lot over the bills before she left. But, it’s okay. Billy says, don’t worry, he’ll handle it.”

She said the last with a child’s assurance in a trusted adult. In her mind, Billy said he would take care of it, so the problem was solved.

Steve couldn’t stop thinking about the way Billy carefully peeled twenties away from a thin roll of cash every week to pay him for watching Max.

And the way that money just sat in a box in his kitchen cabinet, untouched. Because Steve, with his trust fund, didn’t need it.

It felt like Steve had kicked Billy when he was down. Just casually tossed another brick onto the heavy load on his shoulders.

He was sick with guilt.

Max sniffed quietly and he reached out with his wrist without thinking to offer comfort. She swayed toward it and then shoved it away. “No! You got rid of your scent. I don’t want to smell your stupid soap. You don’t even smell good anymore, don’t smell like ho—I hate it.”

She glared up at him with red-rimmed eyes and Steve would have rather carved his own heart out than hurt one of his kids with his own selfishness.

He had taken away one of her only sources of comfort just to cover his own, exceptionally easy ass. And he hadn’t even considered it, until now.

Scents were important for children.

Even more important, he hadn’t realized that she knew about her mother. He was too absorbed in his affair with her brother. Selfish, again.

Steve started gently, using his softest Omega voice, knowing better than to try to reach out again. “Max. About your mom—”

Max shoved her door open, voice cracking as she turned away. “She’s not coming back. Stay here, and don’t follow me this time. I’ll bring my stupid things out to your stupid car.”

The slamming van door echoed in Steve’s chest like a judge’s gavel, declaring him the worst Omega in existence.

Billy looked tired when Steve opened the front door, freshly showered even though his shirt was streaked with grease.

Guilt pounded at Steve from the inside out as he took in the subtle lines around Billy’s eyes, the slight drop in his broad shoulders. All signs of stress that Steve had ignored because he wanted to get in Billy’s pants.

Steve was really no better than those Alphas that approached him on the street.

Billy stepped inside and dropped his duffle bag before he leaned down to deposit a swift peck on top of Steve’s head. “Hey, pretty boy. Is Max asleep? I’m gonna go check on her real quick, okay?”

Steve waited in the living room for Billy to get back, pacing and twisting the sleeves of his cropped sweatshirt down over his knuckles.

Billy sauntered back in with a tired smile, eyes lighting up when he got within a couple feet of Steve. “Your scent is coming back, a little bit. Thank god, baby, I was gonna lose my mind over that, barely held it together today.”

He nearly fell onto Steve, burying his face in his neck and snuffling at his gland, sending a guilty zing of pleasure through Steve’s core. Steve had washed away the sprays and lotions, used his regular soap. Some of the blockers would take time to fade, but he had removed the most superficial before he put Max to bed. It had been worth it, just for her careful sniff and tiny smile as she let Steve tuck her in. Who cared about damaging his already tarnished reputation, when he could provide her with comfort when she needed it most?

Billy pulled back with a concerned twist to his brow, hands squeezing lightly around Steve’s hips. “What’s wrong, sweetheart? Why do you smell so upset?”

Steve removed Billy’s hands from his hips and took a step back, firming his chin against the urge to drop his gaze. “Billy, we need to talk.”

Billy smoothed Steve’s hair off his forehead, searching his face with sharp blue eyes as his own scent spiked. “What’s up, buttercup? Wait. You haven’t had another Alpha bothering you again, have you?”

Steve took another step back, trying to remind himself to keep his distance for this conversation, not to fall all over Billy in tears like some pathetic cliche. “No, nothing like that, I just—I want to stop charging you for watching Max.”

Billy’s hands flew to his hair, pulling it in opposite directions as his eyes went wide, anxiety flashing through his scent like burning plastic. “No. No no no no no. You can’t back out now, Steve. The little terror actually likes you!”

Less than a minute and Steve had already broken his resolution to maintain his distance, reaching out to gently untangle Billy’s fingers from his hair, rubbing his scalp soothingly as he offered his wrist.

Billy nuzzled into his muted scent with palpable relief as Steve continued softly. “I don’t mean ’I quit’, I mean that I’m not taking your money anymore. I’ll keep Max just as much as you need, that’s not a problem, but I’m not going to charge you for it. And I want to refund everything you’ve paid so far.”

Now Billy was the one to take a step back, and then another, dropping Steve’s wrist like it was on fire, eyes narrowed suspiciously on his face. The air between them swelled with the promise of an upcoming storm. “What did she tell you?”

Steve wrung his hands, pulling on the sleeves of his sweatshirt, heart racing at the pain and rage in Billy’s scent. “Billy—”

Billy shook his head with a harsh, ugly laugh, waving his hand dismissively. “No. I don’t want your charity. I don’t know what Max told you, but I’m working my ass off so I can provide for her. She’s safe, and warm, and fed. I’m her Alpha, and I’m doing my f*cking best. I don’t need some little Omega nanny who’s never been off daddy’s payroll to waltz in and tell me what to do.”

Oh, that—

That was a stiletto blade slipped right between the ribs.

Steve was left gasping from the ugly, painful truth of it, threads popping as he twisted the fabric in his hands too far. He lost his battle with himself, dropping his gaze to Billy’s clenched fists as he spoke quietly, voice trembling. “You’re right, about me. I’m just your nanny. A disgraced Omega living off the money my dad left when he disowned me. I know I’m not anything more than that. But, I’m not telling you what to do, Alph—Billy. I’m telling you what I’m doing. And I’m not charging you, anymore.”

His jaw quivered as he cut himself off from calling Billy his Alpha, every atom in his body screaming that it was the truth, even as he knew, logically, that it wasn’t. That it never would be, when Billy’s low opinion of him was nothing but the honest facts.

Alpha displeasure filled the room like smoke, choking Steve’s lungs and urging him to fold at the knees. He held onto a nearby chair to remain upright as Billy rubbed his face with rough hands before sighing and staring back at Steve, frown lines bracketing his mouth.

He didn’t yell, like Steve expected. His voice was quiet, gravel-rough, and defeated. “I didn’t want you to know. I’ve been taking on extra jobs at the garage, side projects to try to bring in enough to get the collectors off our backs. You weren’t supposed to know. I was gonna get a handle on it, before I—” he put one hand on his hip and pressed the other to his chest as his eyes glittered wet in the lamplight, jaw tight, “You were right about me, too. When you said you didn’t want anyone to know I was courting you.”

Steve felt like he’d been dropped in ice water, his mind struggling to the surface, trying to make sense of things. “What? Billy, I—”

Billy cut him off with half a step forward, dark lashes clumping together even as his tears never fell. He smelled so despondent that Steve’s glands ached, throbbing as his body pumped out soothing chemicals.

He couldn’t speak, mouth hanging open as Billy continued quietly. “It makes sense that you wanted to keep quiet about it. I know you’ve had plenty of assholes look down on you without adding me into the mix. The scandal of the princess and the trailer trash. The no-good Alpha who can’t even provide the basic f*cking necessities,” he paused to take a deep, shuddering breath before continuing in a rush, “I understand if you want to break it off. I swear I won’t tell a soul, sweetheart. Just like you said, nobody has to know. It’ll be like it never happened.”

His eyes slid to the hidden mark on Steve’s shoulder and then back to his face, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he waited for Steve’s response. Despair drifted through his scent and Steve—

Steve still couldn’t speak.

It had just hit him like a baseball bat to the head.

Billy was—

He was courting Steve.

Like, actually courting him. For mating.

As if Steve was just a regular Omega who deserved such a wonderful thing.

Thinking back on it, Steve didn’t know how he had missed the signs.

Billy scenting him, rescuing him from an aggressive Alpha, holding open his door, carrying his groceries, providing an (abysmal) meal.

Those questions, about his parents.

The odd, formal way he phrased things.

The sweet, careful way that he had touched Steve. Made love to him.

As if Steve mattered.

Then, this. It took Billy saying it outright for Steve to fit the puzzle together.

Oh, god. Everyone was right.

Steve was an idiot.

Billy was watching him with guarded eyes, shoulders dropping a little as Steve did nothing but blink in response while everything clicked together inside his head.

Gasping like he had just broken the surface of the water, Steve dove for Billy’s wrist.

He grabbed it with both hands, squeezing a bit too hard, and brought it up to mouth at the gland hungrily.

Billy made a noise like he had been punched in the stomach, scent bursting into flames. “Baby. Jesus Christ, don’t do that to me. I was shaking in my boots.”

Steve frantically rubbed Billy’s wrist against his neck, against his patch, words spilling over along with his tears. “I didn’t know. I thought—I never thought that you were—that you wanted me, for anything but sex.”

Billy took back control of his wrist, rocking it gently against Steve’s patch in a constant, soothing motion as he combed the fingers of his free hand through Steve’s hair. “What? Slow down, sweetheart, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

It should have been humiliating, the way Steve hiccoughed out his words as he tried not to sob, but all he could feel was crushing relief. “I didn’t know you were courting me. You never said—I thought you just wanted a casual affair, thought I was your dirty little secret.”

Billy used his thumbs to wipe away Steve’s tears, scent as confused as his expression. “What are you talking about, I asked you—didn’t I?”

Confusion morphed to horror on his face as Steve shook his head, sniffling back his tears. “No, Billy. You didn’t. Never said a word. I just assumed you wanted the same thing every Alpha wants from me.”

The thing between his legs.

The thing Steve was giving him, with barely an internal struggle.

The town was right, he flipped on his back or belly as easy as a pancake.

Billy’s scent was dense with swirling, conflicted emotions, some so muddled that Steve couldn’t even place them.

He stared at Steve with a determined expression before smacking a kiss on his forehead and retreating from the room at a jog, calling over his shoulder.

“f*ck. Okay, hold on. Wait here, don’t move. I’ll be, sh*t! Okay, I’ll be right back.”

Steve collapsed into the nearest chair like his strings had been cut, heart still racing. He pressed a hand to it, barely listening to the sound of Billy cursing off in the distance as something crashed in the kitchen right before the back door slammed shut.

Chapter 17

Chapter Text

Steve’s heart had barely stopped racing when Billy careened back into the room, twigs in his hair and dirt on his face, chest heaving.

He looked remarkably like he had once again fallen out of Steve’s tree.

Steve blinked at the handful of flowers Billy shoved under his nose. They had been torn up by their roots, dirt scattering as he shook them insistently. They were Mrs. Ragsdale’s begonias from next door.

Steve felt like he had swallowed the sun.

Billy looked like he had run a marathon, eyes wide and gasping for air.

“Baby, please. Let me start over. I know I f*cked up, but, let me try again.”

Flowers cradled in his arms, Steve shook his head, mouth open to tell Billy it was fine, he didn’t need to do anything at all, but Billy held a surprisingly clean finger in his face. “Wait. Hold on a minute, just—”

His tongue peeked out as he dug in his pockets and Steve wanted to kiss him. He wanted to never stop kissing him.

Billy pulled out his lighter and an emergency pillar candle from Steve’s pantry. He set it bare on the table beside Steve and flicked his lighter. He cursed as his shaking hands struggled to hold the flame to the wick until it caught.

“There. Now,” he muttered under his breath before he pocketed the lighter and dropped down on one knee. The flowers in Steve’s hands released a burst of scent as he crushed them with nervous fingers. Billy untangled one of his hands from the bouquet to hold it between both of his, searching Steve’s face. “Would you do me the honor of accepting my courtship, Steve?”

It was unnecessary, old-fashioned and over the top, and Steve gasped as tears began to run down his face. He watched with bated breath while Billy slowly turned their hands and brought Steve’s wrist up to his mouth for a soft, lingering kiss.

A traditional courtship kiss. It was the stuff silly Omega dreams were made of, in a world where most courtships were organized by contract.

Billy’s hands were still shaking ever so slightly where he held onto Steve’s, prompting him to respond, just as formally. Steve could barely choke out his words around the tight swell of joy in his throat.

“I accept. Billy. Of course I do.”

Billy let out a harsh breath and nuzzled into Steve’s wrist, lips trembling against his gland. “Perfect. You’re so perfect. How’d I get so f*cking lucky, huh? I’m gonna do right by you, baby. Swear to god I’m gonna take care of you, just the way you deserve.”

Something in Billy’s voice rang sweet and true in Steve’s bones, earnest and honest and leaving him reeling with stubborn, impossible hope.

Despite everything he had ever known of Alphas, he believed him.

He dropped the flowers to card his fingers through Billy’s curls, bringing his gaze up to Steve’s face. It took all of Steve’s courage to get out the words, knowing they condemned him for what he was. Desperate, for his Alpha. “Stay here, tonight.”

Billy nodded hard, still clutching Steve’s wrist to his mouth. “Sure, I’ll take the room right by Max. Make you both breakfast in the morning, to celebrate.”

God, he was such a good Alpha. It had been years since Steve dared to dream of deserving somebody half as good.

He cupped Billy’s cheek, desire sparking at the scratch of stubble against his skin, scent going warm with it until it had to be unmistakable, breaking through his blockers like they weren’t even there. “No, Billy, I mean. Come to bed with me. Please.”

The smoky scent of answering desire wafted off Billy’s skin and Steve wanted to lick it up. He was starving for it. For Billy.

Billy looked away, staring into the candle’s flame for a moment before he stole the heat from it to sear Steve with his gaze. “Sweetheart, I’m no angel. If I get in bed with you there’s only one way that’s gonna go, despite my best intentions.”

The only word that came to Steve’s mind for several seconds was ’please.’

Steve trailed his hand down to Billy’s neck to press against the glands just beneath the skin. “I know. It’s okay, Billy, I—I want that, too. I know I’m not supposed to, but, I do. I’m sorry if that makes me a bad Omega, but, I just. I want you.”

Billy blew out the candle before answering. They didn’t need it anyway, the spark in his eyes was enough to light up the room. “Didn’t I just tell you that you’re perfect? Guess I’m gonna have to show you, too.”

Steve squeaked as Billy hooked one arm behind his knees and the other around his shoulders before standing, carrying Steve like it was nothing.

He walked directly to the guest bedroom they had been in before, grip so tight around Steve it was as if he was afraid Steve was going to vanish any second if he didn’t hold on.

The mattress might as well have been a cloud when Billy set him down upon it, because Steve felt like he was going to float away.

Billy kissed him once, hard, and then rushed away to lock the door, stripping off his shirt as he returned. The fabric shook the last twigs free from his hair, curls gone wild in every direction.

Steve yanked his own shirt off over his head while he had the nerve, still flying high on the confirmation of Billy’s intentions.

Billy caught it as it flew by his head and brought the thick fabric to his face for a heavy sniff. “Mmm. I’m keeping this. Gonna add it to my collection.”

He spoke so softly it was as if he was talking to himself. Steve paused with his hands on his waistband, ready to shove his shorts off and away. “What collection?”

Billy’s eyes went wide as a deep red flush spread from the roots of his hair down to his chest. He shoved Steve’s shirt behind his back before dropping it to the floor. “Don’t worry about it, beautiful. Christ, look at you. Am I dreaming, or are you for real?”

It made Steve want to stretch and preen, made him want to flip over and present, made him want to offer his patch and beg to be mated now, tonight.

Before Billy changed his mind about him.

Steve didn’t do any of those things. It would have to be Billy’s choice when they mated. Steve wouldn’t try to force anything he didn’t truly want.

What he did, instead, was open his arms and whisper Billy’s name.

It was enough.

Enough to get Billy on the bed with him, hovering over him on hands and knees while he snuffled at his throat. “Smell so good. I’m so f*cking glad you went off those blockers, baby. It’s a crime to cover this up. Nothing like it in all the world.”

Steve wanted to snuffle right back, wanted to lick and kiss and, oh, god, bite, and—

And there was nothing stopping him, really, beyond his own cowardice.

Billy shouted at the first tentative press of Steve’s teeth over his glands, clapping a hand over his mouth almost immediately. He reared back to stare down at Steve as though he had done something miraculous. “Holy sh*t.” His voice cracked right down the middle like a newly presented Alpha and this time Steve didn’t stop himself from preening, stretching out beneath him with a grin, patch on display.

“Holy sh*t.” Billy was quieter, this time. Reverent. “Can I—just a little?”

Steve nodded, unsure what he was asking until the heat of Billy’s breath hit his patch. He gasped right before Billy’s tongue made contact, swiping from bottom to top. Steve clutched at the back of his head to hold him in place, whimpering through his teeth, clenched against the urge to beg.

“Taste amazing. I wanna—god, the things I wanna do to you,” Billy moaned against his patch, sucking on the sensitive skin and Steve gushed, pants soaked through. He was going to ruin these sheets but he couldn’t care.

Billy pulled off with a sharp inhale, gaze dropping to Steve’s crotch. “Tell me, what’s allowed. What kinda things you want with me.”

Steve slowly and consciously spread his legs, watching Billy’s face while black pupil subsumed the blue of his eyes. “Anything, Alpha.”

Billy grabbed his own dick through his pants and squeezed with a growl. “f*ck, don’t say that. I’m gonna knot you if you say sh*t like that.”

Steve tilted his head to show his patch while he peeled off his wet pants, shucking his underwear as well. Shucking his insecurities and hesitation along with them. “Yes, please, Billy.”

Billy bit his fist, still squeezing himself as he took in Steve’s wet, wide open pose. It looked like it hurt him to speak, teeth bared like an animal. “Hnnng. We gotta—holy f*ck you look amazing—gotta wait, baby. Wait until I can claim you, give you the mating you deserve.”

Steve felt wild, writhing on the bed with a plaintive whine, hips circling. “I just need you, Billy, please.”

The silky heat of Billy’s skin against his when Billy dropped on top of him sent Steve keening with relief.

Billy shushed him gently between soft, leading kisses. “Hush, sweetheart. You sound so good, but we gotta be quiet. I’m gonna—gonna buy one of those white noise machines and we’ll put it in Max’s room, okay? And then you can really let me hear you. Every night, baby. Just you and me.”

That sounded like heaven, like something Steve could never have hoped for in his wildest dreams. He whispered Billy’s name as he wrapped his legs around his hips to rub against the front of his pants, the denim soaking through immediately and rasping rough on Steve’s sensitive skin.

Billy thrust back against him, moaning into his patch before pulling back with a pained hiss. “I’m gonna—gonna f*ck this up if I don’t—here, just, let me take care of you, alright? Can I touch you?”

“Yes. Please. Anywhere.”

Billy smiled at Steve’s emphatic nod, and the sweetness shining through beneath the lust sent Steve’s heart thumping in his chest like the happy tail of a Saint Bernard.

Billy shuffled over onto his side and hooked one leg over Steve’s thigh, holding him open to his gaze as he rested on his elbow to look down at him. He followed the trail of his free hand across Steve’s lips, and down his patch, both of them gasping at the electric spark of contact. Then down Steve’s throat to circle over the mark on his shoulder in the shape of Billy’s teeth. Once Billy reached his chest, he took a detour to tease and pluck at his nipples until Steve whined and dropped his own hand to wrap around his aching co*ck.

Billy’s breath shuddered hot and hard against his cheek as Billy watched him stroke himself. Steve couldn’t even feel shame beneath the overwhelming wave of desire he was drowning in. The approval and longing that ran through Billy’s scent like white water rapids. “God, I just wanna watch you all night.”

Steve grunted out an unhappy sound and grabbed for Billy’s wrist with both hands, dragging it down his stomach while Billy let out a delighted, quiet chuckle. “Alright, I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to neglect you, beautiful. I promise I’m gonna do a lot more than just watch.”

He petted low on Steve’s stomach, Alpha scent going deep and dark when Steve twisted his hips toward Billy’s fingers. “So good, so ready for me—” he drifted down to stroke Steve’s co*ck with two fingers before he dropped them down to press against his entrance, “—my Omega.”

Steve’s org*sm hit him like a freight train, almost without warning, and he turned his head into Billy’s shoulder to muffle his cries while his dick jerked and his hole clenched down around the tips of Billy’s fingers.

Billy rutted against his thigh with a quiet curse, nosing through Steve’s hair while his voice turned to gravel. “Yeah, just like that, pretty boy. f*ck, you’re so good. I wanna—just wanna feel you a little, inside, okay?”

Steve nodded, still trembling with the aftershocks when Billy took one finger away and pressed the other forward with the barest pressure. It didn’t take much, Steve was so wet and open that he slid in to the last knuckle almost instantly. Billy’s voice cracked around Steve’s name and Steve couldn’t stop moving, digging his heels into the mattress to lift his hips and drop down on Billy’s finger, over and over again. “More. Please, Alpha!”

Billy scooted down to catch Steve’s panting mouth in a searing kiss as he added another finger. Steve stiffened at the unfamiliar stretch, but then Billy adjusted his wrist and brushed against something inside of Steve that made him arch off the bed, mouth snapping closed against a shout.

“f*ck yeah, there it is. That what you needed, baby?”

Steve didn’t know, he couldn’t answer, thrashing his head on the pillow with one hand pulling at his hair while the other dug into Billy’s shoulder.

Billy twisted and curled his fingers until he was pressing right against that spot and then he started pumping them in and out of Steve and Steve lost all ability to keep quiet.

He moaned and whined and begged for more, shoving his patch under Billy’s nose. It wasn’t until Billy started to rut hard against his thigh with a sharp whine that Steve finally registered what he was saying.

“—lease, Billy! Alpha, knot me. Fill me up, please, I need it. Need you, Billy.”

He cut himself off abruptly, scent souring with mortification and Billy slowed his hand but he didn’t stop, the slick sound of his fingers loud in the sudden quiet of the bedroom.

He nuzzled Steve’s patch, licking softly between his words. “Promise. I promise you, sweetheart. Gonna give you everything you need. Just gotta wait a little bit longer. Let me get my sh*t together, and then I—” his breath hitched as Steve squeezed around his fingers with a whine, his own voice dropping to a growl, “—then I’ll take you as my own. Forever and always, Steve.”

Steve came with a sharp cry as Billy grazed his teeth against his patch, thrusting his fingers so fast that his knuckles slapped against Steve’s body with a harsh, wet sound.

He groaned as Steve clamped down around his fingers, rubbing himself so hard against Steve that Steve wondered if he’d have friction burns from the wet denim.

The sensation of emptiness was so unwelcome when Billy pulled his fingers away that Steve made a noise of protest and shoved Billy over onto his back to climb on top.

He straddled his hips, rocking his ass against the rigid bulge of Billy’s co*ck and it was Billy’s turn to cover his mouth against a shout. His eyes rolled back in his head with a long, drawn-out moan as he tasted Steve’s slick on his fingers, sucking them hungrily.

His dick twitched against Steve’s ass and Steve knew exactly what he wanted.

He considered asking permission. Begging his Alpha for it, but, in a burst of confidence borne on the glow of his second org*sm, he just decided to take it.

The sound Billy made when Steve dropped down and sucked on his co*ck through his wet jeans was going to fuel Steve’s dreams for years to come.

“Baby! Ho—holy f*ck. You don’t—don’t have to, but. Please?”

Steve felt like purring, rubbing his neck against Billy crotch, scenting him in the most direct, aggressive way possible.

Staking a claim.

Billy helped him with the zipper, releasing his co*ck with a pained sigh as it sprung from its prison and nearly slapped Steve in the face.

He didn’t think he would have minded.

Billy was just as beautiful here as he was everywhere else, and he smelled absolutely divine. Steve held his co*ck at the base, knot already swelling slightly, and rubbed the wet, sticky tip across his throat, from his glands all the way over to his patch.

They both moaned as Billy blurted a few fat drops of precum onto Steve’s patch and Steve rubbed them in with the tip of his co*ck. It was the most indecent thing that Steve had ever done. And it felt delicious.

It made their scents merge in a way that was unmistakably like that of a mated pair. It hit Steve’s bloodstream like a drug, pleasure and satisfaction coursing through his veins as Billy buried his fingers in his hair and growled his name.

Billy held him in place to rub the head of his co*ck over his patch again and again, taking him higher and higher until Steve came untouched, moaning helplessly against Billy’s stomach while Billy gasped in surprise. “Oh, f*ck, did you? f*ck, that’s so hot. I’m gonna pop a knot, sh*t.”

Steve lifted his head to fit the tip of Billy’s co*ck against his lips, glancing up before he sucked him down as far as he could go.

He wrapped both hands around the growing swell of Billy’s knot and bobbed his head. Billy’s knot popped beneath his fingers as he started coming down Steve’s throat with a bitten-back moan. His hands trembled in Steve’s hair while Steve faithfully squeezed his knot and swallowed him down until Billy gently lifted him away.

He brought him up to settle on Billy’s chest while they caught their breath. “Come up here with me. Oh my god, that was—you’re amazing, do you know that? Perfect, baby.”

Steve had to clear his throat to answer, and possessive satisfaction soared through Billy’s scent at the sound of his rough voice. “You’re the amazing one, Billy.”

Billy groaned as he lapped at Steve’s sticky patch, his co*ck spurting one last time between them. “No, I’m not. But I swear I’m gonna be better.”

Steve traced the sharp line of Billy’s teeth, giggling when he nipped at his fingertips. “I want your claim, Billy. More than anything.”

Billy nodded, surprisingly solemn against their sex-soaked sheets. “Soon. I’ll make you mine, and you won’t ever have to be alone again, Steve. My sweet Omega.”

When Steve had been in love before, it had lifted him away on a cloud, gentle and soft and indistinct.

This time, it felt more like a hook behind his sternum, yanking him into the air to fling him into space, breathless and reeling.

He nuzzled into Billy’s chest while Billy pulled the blankets up over them. Steve didn’t say the words that were running circles in his mind, because he knew well how little an Alpha appreciated an Omega ruining the afterglow with declarations of love. Instead, he simply said the only other thought in his mind, whispering it on a contented sigh.

“My Alpha.”

Chapter 18

Chapter Text

“I’m not changing any diapers.”

Steve looked up in surprise at Max’s announcement, slightly burnt pancake stuffed in his cheek. “What?”

Max pointed her fork at him, syrup dripping from her saturated bite of pancake onto the table. “Your scent came back, except now you stink like Billy,” she wrinkled up her nose with disgust, “that means you’re having a baby. I know stuff. I’m not a little kid. I’ve seen Cinemax.”

“Max!” Billy hissed and threw a pancake at her, nervous eyes darting to Steve while she peeled it off her face with a curse Steve fervently hoped she didn’t bring out again in front of the others.

“What? I’m not wrong. That’s what you wanted, anyway, right? That’s why you stole his—” she cut off abruptly as Billy lunged across the table to shove a huge bite of pancake in her mouth.

Steve pulled him back down to his seat with a gentle hand on the back of his shirt. “Billy. Don’t you think we should tell Max, first?”

The glow on Billy’s face when he turned a thousand watt smile on Steve was blinding in the best way. “Yeah? You’re ready to make an announcement?”

Slotting his hand into Billy’s where it rested on the tabletop, Steve nodded with a smile of his own. It grew wider as Billy lifted his knuckles for a sticky kiss, ignoring Max’s gagging noises.

When they turned to look at her, she was fighting a grin, eyes bright with happiness bursting through her scent.

“Max. Billy and I. We, um—” he gave Billy an imploring look and Billy squeezed his hand encouragingly before taking over.

“Steve’s agreed to let me court him. We’re going to be mated.” Joy sparked in Billy’s scent at Max’s excited whoop, her small fist pumping in the air like a little victory dance. “Yes! I knew it! See? Babies.”

“Oh, no. Not—” Billy glanced at Steve with his lip caught in his teeth, “—not yet, Max.”

Her forehead creased with confusion as she pointed at them accusingly. “But you slept together! I heard you—” she ignored Steve choking on his orange juice and glared at Billy, —”I heard you coming out of his room this morning. Babies happen when Alphas and Omegas sleep together. I told you. I know stuff!”

Steve looked at Billy. Billy shook his head with a dark mutter. “Nope. Absolutely not.”

Steve sighed and gave Max his full attention, with open, honest eye contact. “It’s a little more complicated than that, Max.”

She grimaced around a fresh bite of pancake, flashing chewed dough with every word. “Oh, like, kissing stuff?”

Billy grunted as he chewed just as loudly beside Steve and Steve was already planning lessons on table manners. He couldn’t wait to fuss at them both during family dinners. “Yes. Like kissing stuff.”

She slumped back in her seat, disappointment flashing through her scent. “Oh, yuck. But, that means you’ll never have a baby! Because then you’d have to kiss Billy, and that’ll never happen. Just look at him. He’s so gross.”

Flecks of pancake flew out of Billy’s mouth with his indignant shout of protest. “Hey! Shut up, Max!”

Steve caressed his knuckles with the pad of his thumb while he tossed a wink at Max. “Yeah, but I’m pretty sure I can handle it.”

She shrugged, already losing interest in the conversation. “Whatever. Just remember. No diapers.”

Max stayed in the car on their first stop at the Wheeler’s, the closest to Steve’s house. She settled into her seat, content with the new magazine Steve had gotten her to read while he picked everyone else up.

He steeled himself to ring the doorbell, knowing that his and Billy’s involvement would be obvious from the first whiff of him. But, this time, Steve didn’t have anything to be ashamed of. It might raise an eyebrow or two, but they were going to be mated. Courting couples mingled scents all the time. It was considered fast, but acceptable.

He was sure Karen would understand. But, Karen didn’t come to the door.

Nancy did.

Her welcoming smile dropped the second she inhaled the air around Steve, bitter disapproval deepening her scent. “What have you done? Oh, Steve,” she opened the door wider and stepped back to make room. “Come in. We shouldn’t talk about this in front of the neighbors.”

Steve took a small step back of his own, fighting the urge to run away as a humiliated flush burned across his skin. “No thanks, I’m good out here. Listen, I just came by to pick up the kids, so—”

Nancy sighed and shook her head with a disappointed gesture down Steve’s entire body. “This is exactly what I was worried about, the last time I saw you, wearing makeup and strutting around. Asking for trouble.”

Steve raised his voice in the desperate hope that Karen or Mike might hear him and come to the door. “So if you could ask Karen to get them ready for me, I—”

Nancy talked right over him as if he hadn’t spoken at all, planting a hand on her hip with a tsk. “And now you show up here, reeking of Alpha. Steve, you can’t keep making the same mistakes.”

Oh, that stung.

Because, it had been Steve’s mistake, always. And never Nancy’s. No one had blamed her for going after an easy Omega slu*t like Steve. Plenty of people had blamed Steve, though. It made his blood boil, to hear it reinforced in Nancy’s voice.

He drew himself up to his full height to glare down at her, doing his best to keep his voice firm. “He’s courting me, officially. We’re going to be mated.”

He winced as Nancy laughed, eyes wide with surprise and a hand pressed to her belly as if Steve had told a side-splitting joke. “Oh Steve, how could he? You don’t even have an Alpha to apply to, anymore. I assume there’s been no contracts drawn up? No papers signed?”

Actually, no. There hadn’t. Billy hadn’t even mentioned them. Steve had not thought about it, because that was usually something that would be worked out with his Alpha. If he had one. “Well, no, but...”

She and Jonathan hadn’t had a contract, or any kind of courting. They had just disappeared for a few days and shown up mated and happy.

Nancy pinched the bridge of her nose as if she had to gather herself to deal with Steve’s idiocy. It was a pose he was familiar with, from their brief and disastrous relationship. “Some Alpha tells you he loves you and of course he’ll mate you, so you just fall in bed with him. You’ve always been so needy, your good sense just flitters away.”

Steve’s heart dropped into his shoes, and he spoke before he could think better of it, staring into the middle distance as he went back over the night before. “He didn’t. Tell me he loved me.”

The disappointed sound she made in response might as well have been nails on a chalkboard, scraping down Steve’s spine. “Sure doesn’t take much, does it? You haven’t changed a bit. Come inside, we need to talk about how to get you out of this latest mess.”

It didn’t matter, that Billy had never said the words. He’d already treated Steve better than any Alpha ever had. And Steve couldn’t exactly set high expectations. It was more than enough, what they had together.

He fisted his hands at his side to grit out a response, debating the idea of just turning to walk away, but he didn’t want to leave the kids. “It’s not a mess, and it really isn’t your business, anyway, so if you could just—”

Nancy jutted her chin, authority snapping in her voice in a way that used to send Steve to his knees. Now it just made him want to get away. “It’s that new Alpha in town, isn’t it? Hargrove? I’ve heard things about him, Steve. Heard he needs money pretty bad. He’d get control of your inheritance if he mated you, wouldn’t he?”

Steve shook his head, brow furrowed as he thought about it. All of that was true, but, it wasn’t the reason Billy wanted him. Right?

But, then again, why else would he be willing to settle for Steve when he could have any Omega he wanted?

Nancy gentled her voice in her condescending way that used to make Steve crumple with self-doubt. “Did you even consider that when you rolled over for him? I bet he heard about you when he came to town and decided you were an easy mark. It’s alright, Steve, we’ll help you break it off before you can do any more damage to yourself.”

No. Billy wouldn’t—

That’s not what he was doing, with Steve. Sure, he was in a tight spot, but that didn’t have anything to do with their courtship. He shook his head, some of the steel melting from his voice at the tiny seed of doubt. “No, it’s not—It’s not like that.”

The sardonic look Nancy gave him made Steve want to jump in a lake. She had always possessed the unsurpassed ability to make him feel like an idiot. “Isn’t it, though? Think about it, Steve. He’s a penniless Alpha with a kid he doesn’t want, and here you are, a nanny with a trust fund. He’s got to know your reputation, too. Know that you’ve damaged your prospects. That you’re desperate. It’s just too convenient. If you took a second to think through your decisions, you would see that.”

She grabbed Steve’s arm to lead him into the house and he jerked back, heels digging into the front stoop. “No, don’t—”

Nancy rolled her eyes with a sigh as she reached for him again and he took a step back. His face was wet, and he lifted a shaking hand to find it soaked with tears. Nancy’s scent took on that sour, sharp annoyance that had always made him want to curl into a ball. “Steve. You’re being unreasonable.”

This time, when she reached out, he batted her hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

Bafflement entered her scent as well as her expression, blinking big eyes up at him in utter confusion at his refusal. “What?”

The slight tremble in his voice only underscored how much he meant every word. “I don’t want you to touch me, Nancy. Ever again.”

The hurt that wove through her scent at that made Steve want to scream with rage, her soft voice turning his stomach. “Steve, What are you talking about?”

He dashed his sleeve across his face with a deep, shuddering breath, and put steel into his wobbling voice. “Tell Karen to give me a call about the kids, I have to go.”

Nancy slammed the door behind him as he turned away, cutting off the swell of Alpha rage and giving Steve a moment to breathe.

To get a handle on himself.

She was wrong. She was.

She had to be.

Maybe it was pretty convenient that Steve had everything Billy needed at a time when Billy was struggling. So, what? Billy had things Steve needed, too.

Like love.

Billy wanted Steve because he loved him, the same way Steve was hopelessly in love with Billy.

Right?

But. Billy had never said—

“Steve, wait.”

Steve took off at a brisk walk when the door creaked open for Jonathan to quietly slip out behind him. It had been stupid of him to stand there on the Wheeler’s stoop for so long.

Asking for trouble, just like Nancy had said.

He wiped his face off on his shoulder with a discreet sniff, knowing there was nothing he could do about the doubt and pain in his scent. “No, I’ve really gotta go pick up Lucas, and—”

Jonathan jogged to keep up with him, the shame and sympathy in his scent choking Steve like the cloying perfume of funeral flowers. “Nancy shouldn’t have said that. Any of that stuff, to you. She’s way off base.”

That gave Steve pause. He had never heard Jonathan disagree with Nancy so vehemently. There was anger in his voice, in his scent. Anger, apparently, on Steve’s behalf.

Steve didn’t know what to do with that.

Jonathan barreled ahead, ducking his face to talk fast and low, earnestly seeking Steve’s eyes. “She just—she means well, but she has this blind spot when it comes to you. She feels guilty and doesn’t handle it very well. Makes her act like a jerk.”

Steve responded on autopilot, voice hollow, just ready to get this over with so he could get in his car and pull himself together. “It’s okay.”

Jonathan shoved his hands in his pockets as he shook his head and kept pace with Steve. “It’s not. I’ll talk to her about it. She doesn’t understand, what it’s like for us, you know?”

That stopped Steve in his tracks, a wave of old hurt and anger crashing down on him as he stared into Jonathan’s contrite face. “I don’t think you understand, what it’s like for me, actually.”

Jonathan looked away first, rubbing the back of his neck as he cleared his throat before daring a glance back at Steve. He squared his shoulders and straightened his posture, his scent fresh with earnestness. “No, you’re right. I just. I want to say that I’m sorry, for how things happened. I’ve always been sorry. We didn’t plan it, she just showed up and I had my heat and there was this connection and—”

To Steve’s surprise, the hurt from that was so dull it was barely a twinge. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair to keep it from sticking to his damp cheeks. “Yeah, I really don’t want to hear this, Jonathan.”

Jonathan nodded, hands shooting back down to his pockets as embarrassment flooded his scent. “No, yeah, of course. Sorry. I was just, trying to say, that I’m glad you’ve found that with someone. He sounds great.”

Of all the things Steve could have predicted happening today, Jonathan Wheeler attempting to bond with him through Omega talk was on the absolute bottom of the list.

But. It had been so long, since a decent Omega was willing to talk to him. It felt good. He puffed up a little with pride in his Alpha. “He is. He treats me so well. Treats me like—like a person, you know?”

The long, tired look Jonathan gave him was enough to see that he really did know. The Byers family had not led a charmed life.

Jonathan nodded once, emphatically, sincerity strong in his voice. “Good. You deserve it.”

For some reason, that struck more tears into Steve’s eyes and he turned away to head back to his van, but Jonathan kept up, ducking again to look into his face as Steve wiped it on his sleeve. “I admire you.”

For the second time, Jonathan stopped him in his tracks. Everything in Steve came to a halt as if he had crashed into a wall, unable to fully process the statement. “What? Why on earth would you do that? I’m basically a pariah.”

Jonathan had this quiet, fervent way of speaking that held attention as firmly as an Alpha’s roar. Steve was riveted as Jonathan gazed into his eyes. “It’s taken bravery, and strength, doing this on your own. I know it’s hard. You just—it reminds me of my mom. You should be proud of yourself. I feel like, maybe, you don’t hear that a lot, but. You should.”

He was right. Steve didn’t hear that a lot. He had never heard that, in fact. From anyone. He didn’t know how to react, frozen in place. “Oh. Thanks.”

Jonathan didn’t seem to know how to react, either, doing an awkward shuffle and wave before he backed down the walkway. “Okay, I’ll, uh—see you around, Steve.”

Steve walked to the van in a daze, reeling from the back-and-forth emotions that had blindsided him.

Max ignored him as he put it into drive and took off, mind racing.

The thing was. Even if it was true. If everything Nancy said was true, Steve would still take him. He would still accept Billy as his Alpha. Everything Steve had told Jonathan was true, as well. He was a good Alpha.

He didn’t have to love Steve. Steve would love him enough for the both of them. Besides, it was unreasonable to ask Billy to do something no one had ever done before.

There was a reason Steve was all alone. He just wasn’t the type of Omega that people loved. He never had been.

But, he didn’t have to be alone anymore. If nothing else, even if it was all for show, if Billy ignored him after the mating, he would still have Max to raise as his own. And, if they went ahead with the mating, then Billy wouldn’t have to worry anymore.

Steve could take that burden from his shoulders.

Billy already hovered right on the edge of making his claim, barely clinging to the ledge whenever Steve exposed his patch and opened his legs.

It wouldn’t take much, to send him over.

All Steve had to do, was push.

Chapter 19

Chapter Text

Steve didn’t get the opportunity to push for over a week. It was a good week, would have been perfect if he hadn’t had worry gnawing at the back of his mind over mating Billy.

If he didn’t analyze every interaction for signs that Nancy might be right.

Every frown Billy made over stacks of papers in the garage when he thought Steve wasn’t looking. The empty wallet Steve got a glimpse of after Billy insisted on paying for dinner. The tight wince on his face when Heather sniffed out their courtship and demanded that he pay up with a cackle.

Billy was open about their courtship, now, smiling and proud whenever Steve came to the pool. He would gesture Steve over and hop down from his chair to scent him publicly. Nothing too risqué, just touching wrists or a soft squeeze around the back of Steve’s neck.

Just enough to stake a claim for all to see.

It made Steve weak at the knees, stomach full of butterflies and head full of champagne bubbles.

That is, until he turned around and faced the scorn of the townspeople gathered around the pool. The scathing looks and hissed accusations.

They always waited until Billy wasn’t looking, when his attention was averted by something in the pool.

By the end of the week, Steve felt raw with it. Raked over the coals.

He needed it to end, needed to speed up Billy’s slow, careful courting in the only way he knew how.

So he was ready, when Billy came by for dinner and stuck around while they put Max to bed.

Well, he tried to get ready.

Despite his best efforts, picturing Billy naked, the look on his face when Steve pressed up against him, the rough slide of his fingertips on Steve’s skin, the bloom of his scent under Steve’s attention, Steve’s body just wasn’t cooperating. But that was a secondary concern, he was sure he could warm up to the idea once he got Billy’s hands on him.

Billy probably wouldn’t even notice. Most Alphas didn’t care too much what an Omega might be feeling as long as they were willing. Steve had long passed willing and careened into desperate. Nevermind the fact that Billy continued to be frustratingly respectful and had once stopped kissing Steve when he noticed Steve was distracted and had instead prodded him into talking about his long day with energy draining kids.

Billy wasn’t going to notice this time because Steve was determined that he wouldn’t. Steve was going to focus on the end result and forget all the rest. It would be worth it, he was sure.

He pounced when Billy came downstairs from tucking Max in, plastered himself all over Billy with desperate kisses across his neck, working his glands with his tongue to get him going.

Billy laughed at first with surprise, before groaning low as his arms tightened around Steve. It was going to work. Steve just knew they would be mated by morning. He could finally give Billy everything he needed.

Even if he couldn’t return Steve’s love.

It was still worth it.

Billy nuzzled Steve’s patch just as Steve tried to bury that thought and his entire body stiffened before he pulled away, brows drawn. “Woah, slow down, baby. What’s gotten into you, huh?”

Steve tried to kiss him again, resorting to cupping his hard length through his jeans when Billy held him back. “I want you Alpha, please. Knot me. Mate me. I’m ready for you.”

Billy searched his face, rubbing gently at Steve’s arms as he took a deep inhale. “But, you don’t—sweetheart, you don’t smell ready. You smell upset. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I’m fine, I just need your big Alpha co*ck.” Steve winced internally as he stumbled over the words, his dirty talk stilted and awkward.

Billy gathered him close and scented his neck with a soft, inquiring sound. “Something’s wrong, what is it? You can tell me, Steve.”

Panic began to beat razor sharp wings against the interior of Steve’s rib cage. It wasn’t working. He was f*cking it up, the way he always f*cked things up.

Steve scented Billy’s neck, swallowing back tears. It was time to come clean. “It’s not—nothing is wrong. I just. I realized that there’s no need to wait any longer. I want to be mated now. Tonight.”

Billy’s muscles relaxed in Steve’s grip as he gave a sympathetic hum and gently kissed Steve’s patch, sending the first jolt of warmth through Steve’s belly. “Oh, honey. I want that too. Christ, I want that so bad with you, but....I told you, I just need to get my financial sh*t sorted out, get in a good position to take care of you and Max, and then there’s nothing that could stop me from making you mine.”

There it was. Just like Nancy had said, it all came down to money in the end, to what Steve had to offer. It was time to lay it all out on the table. No more sweet lies. Even if he had to trample his own heart to do it.

Steve cupped Billy’s face, tenderly stroking his glands with gentle fingertips as he met his eyes. “Billy, you don’t have to pretend like you—you know I have money. I think we both know why you’re really here, and that’s okay. It’s okay, Billy. I’m fine with it.”

A series of expressions chased each other across Billy’s face before he settled on confusion, his adorable nose scrunched beneath his freckles. “What?”

It was a bit like driving off a cliff. As if Steve had built up so much momentum that he couldn’t stop himself from falling over the edge, even as alarm bells sounded in his head. “You need money, to pay off your debts. I have money, from my parents. If you mate me, it’s yours. There’s no need to pretend like we have any reason to wait. I don’t want you to feel like you have to pretend anything with me. I want you just as you are.”

Billy didn’t hurt him when he knocked his hands away from his face and took a step back. But something still cracked inside of Steve at the impact. At the burgeoning explosion of anger and humiliation and pain in Billy’s scent. “I don’t want your money Steve.”

The ground was approaching faster than Steve could talk his way out of the fall, cliff-face nothing but a jagged blur behind him. “No, don’t—of course you do. Why else would you want to court me? It’s okay, Billy, I don’t mind. I know my own worth. If anything, I admire your determination to provide for Max, in any way possible. And it doesn’t matter, that you don’t love me. I’ll be so good for you, the perfect Omega. And—and maybe you might learn to love me a little, one day.”

Acid curdled his stomach as he couldn’t swallow back that last pathetic, hopeful sentence. Billy’s face twisted with baffled rage and disbelief and Steve might actually vomit. “I—you think I don’t. Steve—”

Steve could barely draw breath, he was talking so fast as he lurched forward on unsteady legs, reaching out for his Alpha who only retreated with a hard shake of his head. “I’ll take care of Max and I’ll cook and clean and roll over for you every night. I’ll be so good, I promise, Billy. And I won’t ask for more than you can give. You don’t have to worry about me clinging to your ankles and getting my feelings all over you everyday. I can keep quiet about it, I swear. You won’t ever have to—”

Billy held him off with one hand palm out between them as he rubbed the other down his face and took a shuddering breath. His scent was overwhelming, slapping Steve in the face with disappointment and despair. “You actually think that I’m courting you for your money. Do I have that right?”

Steve nodded, flinching back as Billy barked out a command.

“Say it, Steve!”

His throat was filled with rocks, grinding against each other to wear him down from the inside out as he choked out the words. “Yes. I—I know you are. That, and you need someone to take care of Max. There’s nothing wrong with mating for convenience, Billy, people do it all the time.”

Billy paced in a tight circle and briefly contemplated a decorative vase as though he might throw it against the wall before he paused to take a deep breath. He turned back to Steve, eyes blue chips of ice. “What do you get out of it?”

It was Steve’s turn to stumble into confusion. He rolled the question over in his head until he just blurted out another question instead of any kind of an answer. “What?”

Billy advanced on him the same way he had in the first days they met each other, staring him down with fire in his eyes and a sneer on his beautiful face. It was so familiar that the phantom heat of the pool deck burned beneath their feet. “This transactional f*cking business agreement. What do you get out of it, Steve? Why would you mate a broke Alpha who doesn’t love you?”

It was like a knife through the chest just to hear it confirmed in Billy’s own words. Despite everything Nancy had said, Steve hadn’t fully believed it. There had been a stubborn, resilient flame of hope inside of Steve, that maybe he was wrong, that maybe he had gotten it right when he thought that Billy loved him. The pain of having that hope extinguished left him cold, nausea rolling in his belly.

“Answer me, Omega.” Billy’s voice was a whipcrack in the air between them, sending shocks of shame throughout Steve’s body.

“I—I wouldn’t have to be alone, anymore.” It was quiet and pathetic and true. Steve’s heart laid bare and battered on the floor.

Billy laughed at his answer, not a hint of joy in the dry, rasping sound.

“I see. And that’s worth it, to you? To give up your freedom, every dollar in your fat bank account? To spread your legs every night and take an Alpha who doesn’t give a sh*t about you?” he ended with a snarl that made Steve want to curl up and disappear.

The knife twisted and slid a little deeper. Shoved further inside him than Billy had ever reached with nimble fingers and gentle words. Piercing something precious and vital at the very core of him.

Steve was barely breathing, unable to meet Billy’s eye, gaze pinned to the muscle ticking in his jaw instead. Was he shaking? He was. sh*t. “Yes.”

How strange, that Steve was the one with a proverbial knife in his chest and Billy was the one who deflated, shoulders slumping as he sighed. “Well, it’s not worth it to me. It’s a good thing we never made an official announcement.”

When he looked back up at Steve, his eyes were damp, red creeping in around them and nose ruddy pink. His scent was despondent, sending Steve’s glands prickling in response. The urge to provide comfort was so strong that he ached down in his bones to resist it.

The thing about driving off a cliff, is that the fall isn’t so bad. Terrifying, yes, but survivable. It’s the crash at the end that stills the heart and steals the last gasping breath.

Steve had finally hit the ground. He was in pieces. There was no coming back from this. “What?”

Billy wasn’t running his hands through his hair so much as pulling it in harsh handfuls away from his scraped-raw face.

“It’s off. The whole f*cking thing’s off, Steve. I’m not gonna mate an Omega who thinks I’m some low-down piece of sh*t trying to take advantage of him.” His voice was quiet, now. Fire turned to ashes. Hurt and resigned and steely with resolve.

Steve had done that. He had hurt his Alpha.

Billy had done nothing to deserve any of this. It was Steve’s own f*cked-up history with Nancy and his stupidity and gullibility once again biting him in the ass and tearing his world apart.

He reached out for Billy, taking his wrists in hand as he searched his face, trying to shovel every ounce of regret and contrition into his voice. “No, Billy, I don’t—I never said—”

Billy’s grip was firm and impersonal as he broke Steve’s hold on his wrists and set him arm’s length away. “I want love in my mating bed. In my—my home, Steve. I won’t settle for anything less. f*ck convenience.” His voice grew clogged with tears and Steve was the worst Omega in existence.

Hope was an intoxicating drug when mixed with despair, and Steve lost his reason under the influence. He could fix this, he could. It wasn’t really over, not yet. They had something solid and good and real, before he opened his big mouth, and they could still get it back, he just had to—

“Wait. Billy, wait—there’s been a misunderstanding.”

There was no warmth behind Billy’s sneer, no hint of affection in his scent. Only anger and pain. “I didn’t misunderstand sh*t. You made yourself pretty clear.”

Steve tripped over nothing, over his own feet, over the rubble of his self-destruction, as he followed Billy into the foyer. “No, but, I don’t—”

Billy smacked the bannister after he snatched up his bag from the floor, his entire body a rigid line of fury. “Go get Max. I’ll take her home with me, figure out what to do with her in the morning.”

Just like that, there was a square of solid ground beneath Steve’s feet. A tiny patch he knew he could stand upon while all the world crumbled around him. “I’ll keep Max.”

Billy was going to go bald if he kept pulling at his hair that way, curls going in every direction as he bit his tongue before shaking his head. “No, we’re not—I was never trying to use you for that. I was never trying to use you for anything, Steve. I can handle her on my own.” The anger, overwhelmed by the sincerity of his words, bled from Billy’s voice.

He was a good Alpha. A good man. And Steve had reduced him to tears.

Reduced the both of them into a flaming disaster at the base of the cliff.

“I know, Billy. And—and even if you don’t,” his voice broke and he had to cut himself off on a sob, muffled into his forearm, before he could continue, “even if you don’t want me, anymore. I’ll still keep Max, free of charge. She’s a good kid and I take good care of her. I may be a sh*tty Omega, but I’m a damn good babysitter.”

Silent tears flowed down Billy’s face as he watched Steve cry messy and loud. He lifted a hand toward Steve, only to tighten it into a fist around the strap of his bag when Steve swayed his way. “It was never a question of wanting you, Steve. I wanted you from the first moment I saw you. Mating is supposed to be about something more, and I thought you knew that. I thought you knew me. I was wrong, about you. About us.”

There weren’t words for the way Steve felt about that. Only emotion bubbling magma-hot inside of him. “I’m sorry.”

Billy made a sound at that, a soft, hurt sound that made Steve ache to hold him. He set his hand on the doorknob and looked away. “I have to go, I can’t—can’t be here, right now. Drop Max off with me tomorrow. Don’t—Just, let me tell her, okay?”

Oh, god. Max. They had to tell Max. To explain that Steve wasn’t what Billy had thought him to be, that he wasn’t good enough, after all. That he had hurt Billy and didn’t deserve to be a part of their family.

This was going to hurt Max, too. He had nearly forgotten that she was strapped in for the ride with them. That Steve had taken her over the edge of the cliff as well.

“Of course. Goodbye, Billy.”

Billy didn’t answer. He probably couldn’t hear Steve through the thick wood of the front door he had carefully closed behind him.

The first two weeks after their breakup went by in a haze, the third dragged on for an eternity, but the fourth—

In the middle of the fourth week, Steve woke up with a fever, fire and dread in his cramping belly, and Billy’s name on his lips.

Chapter 20

Chapter Text

“Yeah?” Billy grunted over the line before Steve heard the muffled sound of him shouting away from the receiver at Max to get dressed.

Steve tried to catch his breath, biting his lip around a mortifying whine at the mere sound of Billy’s voice. God. It had been difficult enough to get through the past month without Billy.

How was he going to get through this?

He took a deep breath and put on his most professional voice, unable to prevent a thin, breathy quality from coming through. “Hi, Billy, it’s—it’s Steve. I’m calling to let you know that I can’t take Max today. I’m gonna need like, three days off, sorry. I’m really sorry.”

Billy’s response was so loud that Steve winced and held the receiver away from his ear. “What the hell? Why? You can’t just drop this sh*t on me, Steve! What the f*ck am I supposed to do with her now that you—”

He cut himself off as a humiliating whine slipped out between Steve’s clenched teeth, warbling with distress at the anger in the Alpha’s voice.

“Oh, sh*t. sh*t, bab—Steve. You’re in heat.” The anger was gone in a flash, replaced by something else. Something that slipped honey-sweet into every quiet word.

Steve whispered an affirmation, pressing his thighs together against the persistent ache as Billy’s voice dropped an octave, rumbling across the phone lines like thunder. “f*ck. Goddamnit. You got, uh. You got anybody to help you out? Someone to take care of you? A—you got a—a new Alpha?”

It sounded as if someone was pulling the words out of Billy with a pair of pliers, like it hurt.

Steve could relate to that, the question felt as though Billy had taken a melon baller and scooped out Steve’s heart.

Steve shook his head, even though no one was there to see him. “No. I—Billy, it’s only been a month. I haven’t—I’m alone.”

He had been alone for a long time, and he didn’t want to be, anymore.

His brain, swimming in a sea of chemicals that dissolved his pride, shot off what might have been the stupidest question of Steve’s life. “You—Billy. Alpha. Could you help me? Just—just for a few days. Please?”

Billy must have moved the receiver away from his mouth, but his heartfelt groan still carried and dragged down Steve’s spine to settle like a caress over his pulsing, wet hole. “sh*t, princess. God, I—f*ck. That’s probably not a good idea.”

Of course it wasn’t a good idea. It was a Steve idea. He cringed at himself and answered softly. “No, I know. I’m sorry. Of course you wouldn’t, with me. I know I’m not—”

He cut off with a low moan as the pain intensified in his abdomen, shooting down his legs.

He dropped the phone, and the deep murmur of Billy’s voice went harsh before it cut off with the dial tone.

Steve listened to it for a while, as long as he lay on the floor and waited for the cramps to pass. He knew it was pathetic, but he had left Billy’s phonecall for last. Wanted his voice to be the last he heard before he went under.

For just a few minutes, the dull, repetitive dial tone made Steve feel less alone until he could muster up the energy to hang up the phone and drag himself to his bedroom.

He shed his pajamas and wrapped himself up in his softest robe, curled tight around his heating pad as he waited for the cramping to end and the really humiliating portion to begin.

He knew he should eat something while he was still coherent, but he couldn’t make himself get up and cook anything. He didn’t move at all until the unexpected sound of the doorbell startled him upright.

The journey downstairs took longer than usual, as he had to pause every few steps to hold onto the railing and breath through the pain, or, increasingly, through the burning, uncomfortable waves of arousal.

Being an Omega was terrible; he didn’t recommend it. Especially for someone entirely on their own.

He had to catch his breath at the door, peering through the peephole with trepidation.

It was Billy, standing on the front stoop with plastic bags dangling from his arms and a—was that a bandana?—across his face. Christ, Steve could smell the astringent sting of rut-stop through the door.

Steve opened the door, stumbling backward as Billy thrust the bags out at him and dumped them in the foyer, scrupulously avoiding eye contact. “What is all this? Billy?”

Billy took a step back from the door, one hand coming up to hold the bandana more tightly to his face. “Heat supplies. You said you were alone.” He squinted around Steve into the room behind him as if he didn’t quite believe it.

Steve let the door swing open to show his empty, echoing house even as he clutched his robe tighter around himself. “I am. I’m alone, Billy. Just like always.”

Billy’s gaze kept straying to his patch, the skin swollen and sensitive and barely exposed over the collar of his robe. “Alright, well. I brought you the supplies that your Alpha should have done.” He kicked the concrete of the front step before exploding in a burst of rage, hissing through clenched teeth, “Where the f*ck is your new Alpha? Who do I need to drag here by the scruff of their damn neck? You shouldn’t—shouldn’t be here all by yourself like this. They’re leaving it too damn close. You tell me where they are and I’ll bring them here right f*cking now.”

It wasn’t fair that Billy’s furious growl had slick running down the back of Steve’s thighs. That it was taking all of Steve’s energy to keep from falling to his knees. “I told you, I don’t have one.”

His knees actually buckled a little when Billy reached up to yank the bandanna from his face, crumpling it in his fist while his eyes spat fire.

“Bullsh*t, everyone in town says you’ve had some high class Alpha taking you out every night. Giving you expensive gifts. Fancy dinners and jewelry and sh*t. There’s no way that rich asshole wouldn’t show up for this. Not when they got you primed and ready for them. Looking the way you do.” Billy licked his lips as he scanned over Steve’s ratty cotton robe as if it were fancy lingerie.

Steve wanted to cry.

Scratch that.

Steve was crying. Fat, ugly tears rolling down his cheeks and roughing up his voice like a group of thugs. “Did you come here just to call me a slu*t?”

Billy finally met his eyes, startled by the question. Something softened in his face and Steve swayed just a little towards him until Billy stumbled back. “sh*t. No, I—I’m not good at this stuff, f*ck. I gotta go. You smell incredible. Smell like—I should leave.”

Even as he said it, he regained the ground he had lost, boots scraping the cement as he drew closer, gaze eating up every inch of Steve as if he were starving.

Without the heavy tang of rut-stop, Billy smelled amazing. Strong and dark and safe, and Steve had to release his grip on his robe to sag against the door, overwhelmed by the weight of his longing. “Do you want to leave?”

His robe gaped open another inch and Billy couldn’t keep his tongue in his mouth anymore. It played at the corner of his lips as he furrowed his brow. “Of course I don’t want to leave. You look like a dream. And you smell like a walking org*sm, f*ck!”

Simple. Things were so simple. Why had they felt so complicated, before? Steve hummed and stretched as the cramps faded more and more the longer he stood enveloped in Billy’s comforting scent. “Okay. Then don’t.”

The robe was soft but Steve wanted it off. He squirmed and sighed inside it and Billy made a sound like he had been pinched, gaze dropping to the obvious tent of Steve’s hard co*ck beneath the thin fabric. “Steve—”

When had his hand wound into the fabric of Billy’s shirt? God, it was warm. He was so warm. “Don’t leave, Billy. Stay with me.” Some of his heat haze cleared away at Billy’s tortured look and Steve remembered himself, hastening to add, “Just for a little while. I won’t ask for more.”

His robe began to slip off one shoulder and Billy followed the slow slide of cloth with single minded devotion, voice husky. “But, you’re in heat.”

Head too heavy to nod, Steve leaned back against the door, tugging Billy after him until he hovered just inside the doorway. “Uh-huh.”

His fingers were too clumsy on the buttons so Steve just slipped one through the gap to reach his skin, sighing with relief at the contact. Why wasn’t Billy always touching him? Things were so much better this way.

Billy guided Steve’s gaze up to meet his with a gentle knuckle under Steve’s jaw, face flushed but serious. Alpha scent bursting into flames. “Do you know what you’re asking me?”

Oh, look at that. Steve managed to get the top button undone. He moaned at the silky slide of Billy’s skin beneath his fingertips. “Uh-huh.”

Billy caught Steve’s hand before it could undo another button, clutching it tight to his chest. Billy’s hand was steady but his voice was shaking. “I want to be very clear, Steve. There won’t be any holding back this time. If I stay, I am going to f*ck you through-” he looked around and pointed to their right, “-that wall. And then into your mattress. For days.”

Steve was dripping. Fat drops of slick running down his thighs. He was going to leave a puddle and he didn’t care. Another few minutes and he would happily fall to the floor to display the mess for his Alpha. Pride was something for people who weren’t burning up from the inside out. “Uh-huh.”

Billy squeezed his hand and Steve could swear he felt it in his dick. “Look at me.”

Steve’s spine melted with relief at the command, complying with a beatific smile.

Billy blinked dazedly at him for several long seconds before he could gasp out his words. “Christ, you’re gorgeous. Dreams don’t do you justice, baby. Never can get you exactly right in my head. And god knows I can’t get you out of it.” He shut his eyes and shook his head with a wince as though he hadn’t meant to let that slip before continuing on, “Now, think about it. You really want this? With me? Not just some Alpha, but me, specifically?”

How could he even ask that, when Steve couldn’t imagine wanting anyone but Billy right now? The thought of any other Alpha touching him turned his stomach. “Uh-huh.”

Billy frowned and shook his head and Steve wanted to whine and beg and clutch at his shoulders, but all he did was slump back against the door, holding tight to Billy’s hand. Billy wouldn’t let him look away, catching and holding his gaze as tightly as he held his hand. “No. Use your words.”

Steve’s co*ck jerked at the barked command, a hint of Alpha growl coming through. “Yes, Billy. I want you. Just you.” He was soaking through his robe, knees trembling with the effort to hold himself up. “Please, Alpha.”

Billy searched his face for a long, tense moment before nodding sharply. “Alright. Okay, baby. You got me.”

He kissed Steve once on the lips, hard and quick, before setting him further inside the foyer with firm hands. “Wait here. I’ve gotta—f*ck. Gotta make some arrangements.”

And then he just. Shut the door and walked away.

Steve slid down the wall with a defeated whine, struggling out of his robe and fighting with the sash until he was free.

He didn’t start to cry until he heard the roar of the Camaro pulling away and tearing down the street.

Chapter 21

Chapter Text

Time had no meaning once he fully slipped into heat. Steve could have been on the floor for ten hours or ten minutes, he couldn’t be sure. He rolled onto his back, the floor cool against his overheated skin.

He didn’t move until the door opened again, whimpering and curling up as it bumped into his leg.

“sh*t! Oh, sweetheart, come here, let me get you up off the floor. God, I’m such a piece of sh*t. No wonder you—f*ck. f*ck, you’re burning up. I oughta be taken out back and...let’s get you upstairs.”

Strong hands lifted him up against a solid chest. Steve couldn’t help nuzzling against it, breathing in the safe, familiar Alpha scent. He couldn’t believe he had come back. “Billy?”

Plastic bags rustled as Billy stooped down to pick some of them up before he swept Steve into his arms and started up the stairs with a brief, glorious nuzzle in Steve’s hair. “Yeah, baby. It’s me. I’m sorry I left, I had to make sure somebody could take Max for a couple days. I couldn’t just—woah!”

He stumbled against the bannister as Steve twisted to wrap his legs around his hips, face buried in his neck. Billy’s duffel bag swung out to hit the wall as Steve shoved it aside with his knee.

Steve licked at his glands while Billy slowly traveled the last few stairs to the hallway outside Steve’s bedroom. “Wait, woah. Okay. We need to talk before, yeah, hooboy,” he laughed breathlessly, scent flaring as Steve ineffectually scrabbled at the button of his jeans. “Definitely before my pants come off. You gotta tell me what you want out of this. I don’t wanna make any assumptions. Can I—can I knot you?”

Billy dropped his bags beside the bed before dropping Steve on top of it.

Steve bounced on the mattress in a flurry of uncoordinated limbs as he scrambled to his knees to watch Billy with wild eyes. “Can you knot me? God, yes. Please.”

Billy took a deep, steadying breath as Steve pleaded with him, but he couldn’t disguise the dark, covetous edge his scent had taken on.

Steve sucked down greedy lungfuls of it, the shooting pains in his body easing with the mere scent of hi—of an Alpha. Heat loosened his tongue, let the truth spill out of him like water through a broken vase. “But, Billy. I should probably tell you, I’ve never done that before. You know, knotting.”

Nerves sent his stomach tumbling as he fretted that Billy might not believe him. That he might have been listening to so many poison tongues around town that the truth wouldn’t matter anymore.

Billy looked up from the familiar battered duffel bag he was rummaging through and shone a smile Steve’s way that nearly knocked him on his back. “Yeah? Can I tell you a secret, pretty boy?”

At this point, Billy could tell him that he was using Steve’s backyard to hide a dozen bodies and Steve wouldn’t turn him away. “Yes.”

Leaning in so close that his breath ruffled Steve’s hair, Billy whispered, his smile softening along with his voice. “Neither have I.”

Oh.

Oh, that sent off a chain of detonations through Steve’s entire core, crumbling the foundation of distance he had tried to cultivate over the past few weeks and leaving him in the dust.

He swayed toward Billy, keeping his hands to himself as his mind sharpened just from having Billy in the room. “What, never? Really?”

Billy tugged some cloth out of his bag and twisted it in his hands, eyes shy on Steve’s face. “Yes, really. I’ve never shared a heat with anyone before.”

It was universally acknowledged that, while an Omega’s value was lessened by knotting without a mate, it wasn’t the same for Alphas. If anything, it was expected of them. Billy was so handsome that Steve had just assumed he must have knotted a handful of Omegas by now. It was inconceivable that Steve could be his first.

Disbelief colored his voice and scent as he tilted his head to peer at Billy, who had gathered even more cloth in his hands. “And you want to do that with me?”

The cloth in his hands didn’t rip, but Steve could hear it straining, a few threads popping as Billy twisted too hard. His tongue flashed as he swiped it across his bottom lip, eyes traveling over Steve as if they were on a sightseeing tour. “Holy f*ck, yeah. But only if that’s what you want. You call the shots, here, okay?”

No one had ever given Steve this sensation of being in control of his body and what happened to it the way Billy did. The way Billy always had, waiting for permission and respecting boundaries. Touching Steve as though he were something worth treating carefully. Like he didn’t want to break him. Like it mattered.

Most Alphas would use heat as an excuse to do whatever they wanted, to press their advantage while the Omega was desperate and weak. Most Alphas would have skipped the chit-chat and taken Steve right there on the foyer floor.

Billy was not most Alphas.

He was special, and Steve had let him slip from his fingers, like an idiot. But Billy was here now, treating Steve with respect, as if Steve still deserved it after the way he had behaved. The way he had broken both of their hearts.

Steve wasn’t enough of an idiot to lose this chance. It was only for a few days, but Billy was his, and Steve—

Steve was Billy’s.

He had plenty of time to cry his eyes out after Billy left for good. Right now, he was going to live in the moment.

“Here. These are—they should help with your nest. I’ve already, um, scented them. Pretty thoroughly.” Billy held out his bundles of cloth, pink climbing up his neck while embarrassment with a sharp hint of shame colored his scent.

Steve took them from him, brow furrowing as he saw what they were. Shirts. Two of his polos and a towel that had gone missing at the pool, and one of Billy’s shirts, soft and worn thin. They all carried the wonderfully thick scent of Alpha, of Billy. Steve peered at the first shirt he had lost, something sharp prickling at his receptors. He lifted it to his face for a deep inhale, gasping as the pieces slotted together in his mind. It was saturated in heavy, dark rut scent. Domineering, masculine desperation. Alpha musk, sweat, and, oh god, sem*n.

Billy made a small, anguished sound, shame flaring so hot it filled the room. “Listen, I’m sorry. I had no right to take your stuff, and no right to keep it. I just couldn’t make myself let it go, after everything.”

Steve was barely listening, gathering the fabric tight against his face for great, gasping inhales. The mingled scents of both of their bodies ramped his heat back into full speed. He knew he was soaking the sheets beneath him but no longer cared. He moaned, holding the shirt to his face as he spread his knees apart and rocked back against his heels.

The shame winked out of Billy’s scent, obliterated by a wave of lust carried on the leading edge of Alpha rut.

Billy was going into rut. Steve had done that.

It was pathetic, but, he was glad for it, glad that Billy would soon be on his level. Animalistic and writhing with need. Pinning Steve down to give him everything he wanted.

Well, nearly everything.

Billy gently tugged the shirt away from Steve’s face, cupping his jaw in his hand as he examined Steve’s heavy-lidded eyes. “Alright, baby. No more talking for now. Let’s get you through this first wave, okay? I know it hurts. I’m gonna make it better, I swear.”

He had already made it a thousand times better, just by showing up. Steve tried to tell him that, but all he managed was a breathy, garbled fragment of Billy’s name as he sucked hungrily at the gland in Billy’s wrist.

“f*ck. Oh sh*t, we gotta—gotta go slow, this first time. Make sure I don’t hurt you, okay?”

Steve responded by scraping his teeth over the gland while he dropped the hand still clinging to his shirt down between his legs so he could rut against it, his soaking wet co*ck dragging rough through the scented cotton. It hurt, but he couldn’t stop, whining with distress as he rolled desperate eyes up at Billy.

“Christ. Okay, princess. I know you need it bad. Here.” He knelt in front of Steve and took him into his arms, gently guiding him to lay flat on his back while Billy stretched out alongside him.

Steve squirmed and writhed, suspended above the coals of his own desire as Billy shushed him and rubbed a soothing hand over his knotted belly. He nuzzled in close, kissing softly over the swollen glands in Steve’s neck. “Gonna make it so good, I promise. Can I touch you?”

Steve dug his heels into the mattress, leveraging his hips up into the air with a plaintive cry. “Please!”

Billy’s hand swept down to brush careful fingers across Steve’s hole, gathering slick with a pleased hum. His wrist pressed against the base of Steve’s co*ck, effortlessly scenting him as he slid a single, thick finger inside. Steve sobbed as he came without warning, shooting up to his own chest, clenching rhythmically around Billy’s finger.

Billy’s low groan turned into a shocked, gentle laugh. “That’s it. That’s what you needed, baby.”

The relief was both instant and incomplete. The ache had abated but the burn persisted, sending Steve’s hips working frantically to take Billy in to the last knuckle. He tried to clamp his legs shut around Billy’s wrist to hold it in place, but Billy hooked a strong thigh over Steve’s closest leg and dragged them open again, pinning it against the mattress. The rough denim of his jeans scraped Steve’s thighs even as the rough stubble on his chin scraped across his gland and Steve pulsed slick right into his hand.

A thick, rigid line of heat pressed into his flank as Billy’s hips jerked helplessly, growl caught in his throat. “Perfect. God, you’re so wet for me already.”

Steve had moved past shame and humiliation, neck deep in raw need. The worst of the fog had lifted from his mind, tongue unspooling from the tangled knot it had worked itself into. “Billy. More, please, Alpha. You feel so good. Please? I’ll do anything.”

Billy rolled half on top of Steve, kissing his way across his collarbone and up under his jaw as he slowly worked a second finger inside. “You don’t need to do a thing, I’ve got you, Steve.”

The tip of Billy’s nose grazed the edge of Steve’s patch and his back bowed off the bed in response, arching with a cry at the electric shock of contact. He turned his head as far as he could and shoved his patch in Billy’s face, and Billy went suddenly, entirely still. His scent blossomed into full rut, adding deeper notes to the scent of Steve’s heat. Steve’s panting echoed loudly through the silent room as Billy slowly leaned in to brush trembling lips over the throbbing ache of Steve’s patch. His lips parted just enough to drag warm and wet on Steve’s skin and the very last shred of Steve’s dignity went up in smoke.

“Would you? Oh, Billy, would you? Please, I’ll be so good. I’m so sorry. Alpha, please!”

The tight squeeze of his chest when Billy took a shuddering breath and then carefully turned Steve’s head the other way to kiss at the safe side of his neck hurt worse than his heat. It was the same thing Nancy had done, albeit without her noticeable disdain. Billy didn’t want him. Not for any longer than it took to get his knot wet.

Steve couldn’t blame him, really. But, oh, it hurt.

He squeezed his eyes shut, thankful to be turned away once tears overflowed to run down his cheeks. He brought the shirt he still clung to up to cover his face, speaking muffled into the ruined cloth. “Can you hurry up? It hurts.”

The steady rhythm of Billy’s hand stuttered before speeding up, corkscrewing his fingers to stretch Steve open for a third. “Yeah, I can do that. Let me make it better.”

Three fingers was a stretch. Steve hadn’t had anything but his own fingers for a long time, and he hadn’t felt much like touching that part of himself lately. It just made him miss Billy even more.

Billy swiveled his wrist to thrust in at a new angle and sparks shot down Steve’s spine, mouth dropping open around a long, helpless moan. Billy smiled against his throat and Steve’s entire body trembled at the slightest press of his teeth. “Right there, huh? Alright. Hold on, gorgeous.”

Steve took him at his word, grabbing onto Billy’s flexing arm with both hands as Billy thrust his fingers faster. Wet, obscene noises underscored Steve’s whimpers as Billy rubbed relentlessly over his spot.

His eyes fluttered open as Billy dragged the shirt off his face. Billy watched him with pupil-dark eyes for a few moments before he spoke. “Come for me, Omega.”

His voice was rut-gravel-rough, rumbling through Steve’s bones as he spread his legs and followed his Alpha’s command between one breath and the next, untouched co*ck pulsing against his sweat-slick stomach. Billy cursed and grunted praise into Steve’s shoulder as he ducked his head to watch, fingers never slowing. He worked his trapped co*ck against Steve’s thigh in tiny, unconscious movements, his body in the throes of rut even as he kept himself under careful control.

Steve hadn’t known it could be like that. He’d always been told that an Alpha in rut lost their sensibilities, their capacity for gentleness. But here was Billy, rut-drunk and touching Steve with gentle hands. He was everything Steve had barely dared to dream about. And he was Steve’s.

Only for the next few days, though. And then, he wouldn’t be Steve’s any longer.

Billy misinterpreted the sudden sharp stab of pain in his scent and slowly slipped his fingers free. “You sore, baby? Maybe we should take a break, let you catch your breath for a minute.”

The notion of stopping sent panic jittering through Steve, and he curled around Billy with uncoordinated limbs. “No. Please don’t stop. I need you, Alpha. Billy. Could you, please, in-inside me, now?”

Billy nodded a little too fast, circling Steve’s entrance with exquisite care. “Want my fingers back?”

Steve flailed onto his side to face Billy and claw at the button of his jeans. “No. Not fingers.”

Billy’s denim-encased co*ck bumped against Steve’s wrist as he thrust up into his fumbling hands. “f*ck. Okay. Okay, yeah, we can do that. You sure?”

Steve paused to look at him, taking in Billy’s soft, sincere expression, the lines of strain around his mouth and eyes from his rut. Billy had to be in pain, so hard that it hurt, body thrumming with the urge to mate Steve through the mattress. But here he was, checking in with Steve and treating him with care.

As if Steve were his to cherish.

“Yes, Billy. I’m sure.”

A soft, muffled sound of surprise escaped Billy’s throat as Steve surged up to kiss him. He had no finesse, no elegance or technique. He mashed their lips together so hard his teeth probably left impressions in the soft flesh.

Billy’s arms came up around him with full strength, hips undulating in a firm, dirty grind. His restraint fell away as he grunted and growled into Steve’s mouth, coaxing his lips apart to thrust his tongue deep inside. Steve let his legs splay apart as Billy rolled on top of him, whining at the harsh scrape of his jeans.

Cursing, hands shaking, Billy ripped them open and shoved them down his legs, kicking them off with barely a pause in kissing Steve. Buttons popped off and flew in all directions, pinging against the wall and rolling to the floor as he tore his shirt from his shoulders.

Steve had a fleeting thought about those buttons, how one day after this is over, he’ll find one hiding between the floorboards or under the bed, and he’ll be able to hold it, and remember this.

Remember that, once, Billy had wanted him.

“You gotta be sure, baby. I can’t—f*ck. Yes, I can. I can stop anytime you want, okay?” He cried out as his co*ck dragged through Steve’s slick for the first time, goosebumps erupting all over his skin beneath Steve’s grasp across the broad planes of his back.

Steve peppered kisses up Billy’s shoulder to his throat, scrubbing his tongue over the swollen gland there, Billy’s rut-scent flooding his senses. “So sure. f*ck me, Alpha.”

Billy let out a harsh groan as he hitched Steve’s legs up around his hips, the head of his co*ck slotting effortlessly into place. Steve’s hole ached, clenching around nothing in anticipation. Billy watched his face as he pressed inside, pausing every few inches to kiss Steve soft and sweet.

When he finally bottomed out, Steve arched beneath him, taking him a last tiny fraction deeper and, for the first time since his heat had started, he finally felt complete.

Sweat beaded on Billy’s forehead, curls sticking to his skin as he ground his hips in little circles, lips parted around panting breaths. “You’re incredible. Never—never felt anything like you. Tell me when I can move. God, please tell me, Steve.”

The warm glide of their skin together from head to toe sent Steve’s eyes rolling back in his head. It was overwhelming in the best way, feeling Billy inside and out. He was so full, felt stretched to capacity even though he knew it wasn’t true, knew he would be taking Billy’s knot before long. Just the thought of it made his muscles squeeze around Billy’s co*ck.

Billy grunted with surprise, choking around Steve’s name as he gave a tiny, aborted thrust. He buried his face in Steve’s neck with a sharp whine. “Please.”

The last thing Steve had expected to feel with his heat was empowered. Usually he felt weak and pathetic but, now, with this beautiful, strong Alpha trembling in his arms, he felt powerful. Billy gave him that. It was a gift with weight. Enough weight that Steve could feel his own self-perception shifting to accommodate it.

He wanted to give Billy something in return, something just as substantial, but all he had was himself, and his unrequited love. He would give it, anyway, and hope that Billy felt as loved and appreciated as he truly was.

He brushed the hair back from Billy’s temple to press a lingering kiss just there. “You feel so good already, sweetheart. Make me yours, please, Alpha.”

Steve didn’t even finish speaking before Billy was in motion, muscles bunching beneath Steve’s hands as his perfect body tensed and released in swiftly building rhythm. The smooth, slick glide of his co*ck was completely different from the careful explorations of his fingers. Blunter, and thicker, more powerful. Steve hooked his ankles together to hang on as Billy pounded into him, panting out little “ah-ah-ahs” on every thrust.

Billy grunted every time he bottomed out, hips slapping against Steve’s ass. He fisted one hand in Steve’s hair to turn his head and Steve’s heart leaped as he realized the direction he was facing. His patch was exposed, right in Billy’s face, throbbing in time with his heartbeat, swollen and red.

Billy gasped Steve’s name as he nosed around it, inhaling so deeply his ribs expanded beneath Steve’s arms. “Holy f*ck. I just need—just a little.”

The first tentative touch of his tongue sent electric sparks dancing across Steve’s skin to settle in his co*ck where it was trapped between their bellies. His scent swelled with pleasure and Billy started licking with abandon, sucking the patch of sensitive flesh between his teeth in sharp, teasing bursts until Steve hovered perpetually on the edge of org*sm.

He whined and shifted, biting back the urge to beg, keening as Billy pinned him in place by the fistful of hair with a growl.

“Mine.”

f*ck. Oh, f*ck. That was it. Steve was going to melt into a puddle on his sheets. His treacherous heart leapt with hope as his entire body burned with longing. He dug desperate nails into Billy’s back, shoving his patch against his ravenous mouth. “Yes. Please claim me, Alpha. Please.”

Billy growled from deep on his chest as his teeth pressed sharp and wet against the thin skin of Steve’s patch and elation flooded his bloodstream, propelling him into coming so hard that colors burst behind his tightly closed eyes.

He moaned in protest as Billy wrenched his head away without leaving a mating bite. Billy dotted desperate, apologetic kisses all over his face as he took Steve’s hand in his, holding it down by his head. Billy’s palm was sweaty, nerves coloring his rut-scent, making Steve kiss him soft and slow, pushing comfort through his pores. Billy lifted his head to look at him, lips pink and swollen and eyes damp. “I’m sorry, Steve. I know I shouldn’t—”

“Shh, it’s okay. You’re perfect. So good to me, Billy.” Steve didn’t want to hear all the reasons Billy didn’t want him. He didn’t want to spoil the sweet, syrupy glow of their bodies pressed together. Billy nodded as he reached down to gently stroke Steve’s neglected co*ck, the added stimulation flinging him into another org*sm so close on the heels of his last that it nearly hurt.

Billy released him at the first spark of discomfort, bracing himself on his elbows to f*ck into Steve so hard the bedframe creaked. “Baby. So perfect for me. I lo—Steve, I—I, you’re so good. f*ck, I’m gonna knot.”

Steve could feel Billy’s co*ck thickening at the base, stretching him more with every thrust, almost to the point of pain. He squeezed Billy’s hand and kissed his cheek, heels bouncing on the muscular curve of his ass. “Yes, please. Please knot me, Billy.”

Steve had always heard that it hurt, when an Omega was knotted for the first time. That it was the natural way of things, couldn’t be avoided. No less than they deserved, really, for being the heat-mad, mindless creatures that they are.

It hurt, and it didn’t.

There was a slight burning stretch and sting as Billy popped inside him, but that was completely offset by the warmth of Billy’s hand in his, fingers locked together in a gentle echo of their bodies. Tender and sweet and almost paradoxically chaste considering what they were doing.

Billy held completely still below the waist, or, as still as he could be while he trembled and shook, pulsing inside of Steve in long, hot jets.

He could barely choke out his words, huffing them against Steve’s throat between bitten-off moans. “You okay, pretty boy? Tell me you’re okay, Steve. Oh, Christ, you feel amazing. Did I hurt you? Tell me I didn’t hurt you, sweetheart, please.”

Steve petted his hair with a contented sigh. “You’re perfect, Billy. Love yo—your knot. I’d keep you here forever, if I could.”

Billy arched and thrust hard inside him, co*ck jerking with another splash of cum. “f*ck. f*ck, yeah. Forever. Wanna keep you all soft and f*cked out for me, baby. Wanna keep you, Steve, god.”

He didn’t know what he was saying, rut-drunk and coming hard. But Steve selfishly held his words tightly to his chest, wrapping them around his battered heart like bandages.

This was only the first time. He would have days of this, of Billy locked inside him. Days of memories to cherish and put carefully away for the long, cold nights ahead. Steve could stock up on them, live in the present as much as he could until it was over.

Billy sighed and sagged against him before rolling to his back, taking Steve along with him so smoothly he barely tugged where they were locked together.

He kissed Steve’s forehead, groaning contentedly as Steve licked soothingly across the glands on his neck. Savoring little bursts of satisfied Alpha.

Steve’s breathing had started to even out when it hitched at his sudden realization that Billy was still holding his hand.

Chapter 22

Chapter Text

Pre-sliced fruit and bottled water spilled everywhere from the first bag Billy reached for after his knot went down enough for him to pull out.

Steve cooed mindlessly when Billy held the first tart apple slice to his lips, dark eyes watching raptly while Steve ate whatever he gave him. “Is that good, Omega?”

Steve swallowed his third apple slice and nodded, shy now that his heat was a dull thrum instead of a riot inside of him. “Yes, Billy. Thank you, for taking care of me. I’ve never—no one has ever done anything like this, before.”

A shot of anger clouded Billy’s scent, but he just took a deep breath and fed Steve until he was full, pressing his thumb between his lips to let him lick it free of juice. He held Steve against his chest while Billy ate a protein bar, checking to be sure Steve was sipping his water and running his free hand through his tangled hair.

It took Billy three tries to speak, clearing his throat and abandoning openers one by one, until— “So, you really don’t have an Alpha? Haven’t been courted by some rich asshole for the past few weeks? All that talk I had to hear was bullsh*t? I’ve been losing my mind over it, Steve. Couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep. I’m a goddamn mess.”

Steve pushed up on his chest to meet Billy’s eye. He offered his wrist to soothe the anxiety in Billy’s scent before answering. “I don’t. There’s been no one since you left. You know the town likes to talk about me. Of course I don’t have an Alpha, Billy. How could I want anyone but you?”

Billy’s elation and fierce possessiveness surged through Steve’s receptors before a wash of sadness covered them up and Billy’s lips twisted in a brittle smile. “That’s just the heat talking.”

If anything, Steve felt more clarity then he had in weeks, just from having Billy close to him. He set a gentle hand on Billy’s jaw. “No, it’s not. Billy, look at me. You knotted me so well, so thoroughly and sweetly, that I’m clear headed for now. And, I think we both know that sometimes heat burns away everything but the truth, doesn’t it?”

Billy guided Steve’s wrist to scent his neck, dark lashes fluttering as he mumbled quietly. “Did you feel me, while we were apart? Ever get the urge to look out your window some nights and not sure why?”

Yes, actually.

Steve had rushed to his window more times than he could count, heart pounding with the sudden surety that Billy was near. Hoping perhaps to find him climbing that tree again or driving up in his car, but, he was never there, and Steve always ended up curled in a blanket, all alone. He sat up and slid off Billy’s chest as Billy pushed up to lean against the headboard. “I did, sometimes. Why?”

Billy paused to help Steve sip some water and then put the bottle on the nightstand. He rubbed both hands over his face with a heartfelt groan. “Couldn’t help it. I knew it was a dick move, but I—I drove by your house, some nights. Just sat in my car, down the street, and waited for you to turn off the lights. It took everything I had not to climb that f*cking tree outside your window and crash into your room like a lunatic. I never saw your new Alpha everyone was talking about, but it ate at me anyway.”

He looked as devastated as he smelled, and Steve cooed and rubbed up against him in response, trying to reassure him. It was a difficult balance, to reassure Billy of his devotion without asking for anything in return, despite his inner Omega clawing and begging him to do so. Billy deserved better than that. Better than Steve.

“I don’t know what people said, but, there hasn’t been anyone else, since you, Billy. I understand if you don’t believe me, I know I have a reputation. And the-the way I’ve acted with you, letting you touch me and begging you to get me through my heat like this, I know it seems like I’m some-some kind of slu*t. But, I’m not. Or, I try not to be. There really isn’t anyone but you.”

It was Billy’s turn to offer his wrist, wrapping a strong arm around Steve’s shoulders as Steve nuzzled into it gratefully. “I couldn’t stand it, Steve. People at work, clients at the garage and those f*cking evil biddies at the pool, they all talked about the new Alpha you were seeing. How he flashed his wealth around and how happy you looked. How nice it was that he gave you everything you wanted. And I just thought…I can’t give you that. I could work myself to the bone and I couldn’t give you that, Steve. And I hated this guy I’d never met. Busted a punching bag wide open just imagining it was his smug, invisible face.”

Oh.

Oh, god. Billy had been suffering, all this time. Because of Steve.

Shame and sadness fell on Steve like a suffocating blanket and he pulled away to curl up into himself, drawing his knees to his chest to wrap both arms around them as he hid his face against his legs. “This is all my fault. I hurt us both. I’m sorry, Billy. I should never have listened to Nancy, and—”

Billy’s empty water bottle crumpled loudly in his fist before he tossed it to the ground with more force than necessary. “Nancy Wheeler? Your ex? The piece of sh*t Alpha who wouldn’t leave you the f*ck alone?”

The sharp scent of Alpha rage burned through the room as his voice dropped into an ominous growl. Steve couldn’t help baring his throat, pulse pounding as he watched Billy with wide eyes. “It’s my fault, I—”

Billy cupped a strong, gentle hand over the front of Steve’s throat, thumb sweeping soothingly over his patch, sending a flood of sweet, calming chemicals through his bloodstream instantly. He lowered his volume and gentled his voice as much as he could with his Alpha growl still dragging it through gravel in his throat. “No, it isn’t. Tell me, Steve. What did she do? Did she touch you, again?”

It wasn’t until he shook his head, that Steve realized he had tears on his cheeks. Billy wiped them away with a careful hand and Steve slumped into his touch, eyes fluttering shut. “She didn’t do anything, really. She just pointed out some things I had been trying to ignore. Reminded me of the mistakes I’ve made, the way I don’t think things through, the way I always mess everything up for myself and everyone around me. She knows as well as anyone, what an idiot I can be.”

Billy’s hand moved away as his voice cracked like a whip in the space between them. “So, that bitch of an Alpha, who treated you like sh*t, who threw you away like she didn’t even know what kind of rare treasure she had in her hands, she spouted off some half-baked nonsense about us and you just, believed her?”

It was cold in the room, goosebumps rising on Steve’s arms as he curled tighter into himself, even as his blood burned. His heat was a low thrumming pulse in his belly, gaining steady speed as the next wave approached like a threat. He had to get it all out now, while he was still thinking clearly. “I’m sorry. I’m so stupid, Billy. I should never have said anything about it. I’m sorry.”

He didn’t say how much he’d missed Billy, how he had ached for him even before his heat. Didn’t want to hang that weight around Billy’s neck when he’d already made it so clear he didn’t want Steve to weigh him down.

His being here at all was a gift, and Steve wasn’t going to take advantage of his kindness.

As if to demonstrate, Billy pulled Steve close with gentle hands and tucked his face up against the swollen glands of his throat. The scent of him was rich and thick and so soothing that Steve’s entire body relaxed into his arms. Billy stroked his hair and whispered in his ear as he rocked him lightly side to side. “No, hush, none of that. You’re perfect. I’m mad at her, not you. Okay?”

Steve nodded and kissed his throat, exactly where he might place a claiming bite if they were going to be mated, and if Billy were the kind of Alpha to allow an Omega to mark him. Most wouldn’t, it was considered a little too progressive by many Alphas. Before Steve had ruined everything, he had begun to hope that, maybe…but, not now.

It would be foolish to hope, now.

Billy’s breath hitched, scent spiking as Steve licked and kissed that smooth, empty claiming spot on his throat. Steve squirmed in his lap as his loins turned to liquid in response, heat rolling faster in his belly.

To his surprise and dismay, Billy carefully pulled Steve’s face away from his throat and set Steve aside on the bed. Everywhere their skin was no longer touching ached like a bruise as Billy scrubbed a hand over his eyes before he left it drift, slow and trembling, to the spot Steve had kissed. His eyes, when he sought Steve’s gaze, were a deep, troubled blue. An ocean in a storm. “This whole thing is really my fault, anyway.”

Steve swallowed hard and shook his head to clear it of his rapidly rising heat. He was running out of time, and this was important. He had to hold on just a little while longer, hear Billy out. “What? No, Billy—”

He jumped as Billy slapped an angry, open palm down on the mattress away from Steve. His scent was rising, too. Smoky Alpha pheromones pulling Steve under with every breath. “It is. If I’d had the balls to tell you how I felt, instead of just, I dunno. Hoping it was obvious. You might not have been so insecure. You might have been sure of me, of your Alpha. Wouldn’t have had to seek out anything from Nancy f*cking Wheeler.”

Steve didn’t miss the use of past tense, something shriveling up like a winter leaf in his chest at the sound of it. The one last little shot of green that had survived the long hard weeks of frozen ground in his chest, withering away. “How you—how you felt?”

Billy balled up the sheets over his lap and flung them aside, already half-hard and thick against his thigh. He ignore that as he went to his knees to take Steve’s hands in his. “Yeah, I—Steve. f*ck, I’m so bad at this. Never really had to talk about my feelings before, you know? I don’t know how to do it, so I’m just gonna…okay. f*ck it. I’m in love with you, Steve. Stupidly, painfully, deeply in love with you. I always have been. I was just too chicken sh*t to tell you. And it might be too late, now, but. That’s how it f*cking is.”

There was a stained glass window in the closet of his mother’s bedroom, set high in the wall where the sun could catch it in the early morning. Steve used to wait with bated breath for the brightly colored light to wash over his skin with the sunrise. It always felt somehow warmer than regular sunshine, as if it penetrated down to his marrow with pure magic.

Now, sitting in heat-drenched sheets with Billy holding his hands and frantically searching his face, Steve felt that light shine through him, just the same. His breath came in a gasp, heart pounding from more than just his heat. “You’re in love with me? Still, after everything I’ve said and done?”

Billy shook his head ruefully and shuffled closer on the bed until his knees bracketed Steve’s folded legs. “Steve, I fell for you the moment I saw you, and I’ve been falling ever since. Haven’t hit the ground yet. You’re amazing, and I f*cking love you. That’s why I left, I couldn’t live with myself if I trapped you in a one-sided mating.”

One-sided?

A burst of brilliant, painful clarity shoved the fog of Steve’s heat back for another moment as he scrambled onto his knees, squeezing Billy’s hands so tightly the bones ground together. “Billy, it was never one-sided. I’ve loved you from the moment you brought me Max. And every moment since, more and more until I’m bursting with it. I love you so much I don’t know what to do with myself. I just never thought that you could ever love me back because I’m, you know, damaged goods.”

A moment of fear and shame as Billy dropped his hands, and then it was washed away in a flood of relief as he cupped Steve’s face in his warm palms. “You’re not. You’re perfect, and f*ck anyone who’s ever told you otherwise. I’m glad Nancy lives out of town or else I’d end up in f*cking jail. Listen to me, Steve. You are kind and generous and strong and beautiful. You deserve good things, like love and-and family. You deserve whatever you want, Steve. Even if it’s not me.”

He didn’t know that it could feel like this. Life.

He knew it could be painful, and sometimes quite nice, but-but never like this. This was such a sweet, beautiful feeling that it was nearly painful in its own right. Swelling beneath his skin like the pressure of his heat, but centered in his chest.

Steve lifted heat-clumsy hands to Billy’s curls, petting him as gently as he could with trembling fingers as he drank in his beautiful face. “Billy. I do want you. I always did, I never stopped. Of course I want you. Just you. Always you. No one else.”

Billy gripped his wrists, thumbs pressed tightly to his glands to release a burst of Steve’s scent. “Say it again.”

His voice dipped an octave as his scent grew thicker and Steve was going under, melting into him, his tongue loosened to release nothing but the truth. “No one but you.”

Billy growled and heaved Steve up against his chest with a strong arm behind his back and Steve was hard and leaking, moaning as Billy tugged his head back by his hair and scented his throat. “Again.”

Steve clawed at his shoulders and struggled to open his legs, to wrap them around Billy’s hips, to press himself where he was wet and wanting up against Billy’s thick co*ck. “No one else, Billy.”

All at once, Billy’s control snapped, and gone was the mild, gentle Alpha that had fed Steve apple slices and calmly petted his hair. He rolled Steve onto his back, pinning him down to the mattress with his full weight. His co*ck slid hot and heavy against the slick hollow of Steve’s hip as he let out a groan and buried his face in Steve’s neck, mumbling against the gland on the opposite side of Steve’s patch. “Oh, f*ck. Oh, god, pretty boy. I’m not gonna survive this. You can’t just give me everything I ever wanted and expect me to walk away at the end of a couple days.”

He was right. Steve couldn’t do that.

Billy lifted his head with a sharp, indrawn breath when Steve nipped the tip of his ear insistently. He waited until Billy met his eyes, pupils already blown, before speaking. “Okay. Then, don’t.”

Hips working in frantic little thrusts against Steve’s skin, Billy furrowed his brow, shaking off his rut long enough to speak. “Don’t, what?”

Steve held onto Billy’s shoulders and brought his legs up around his waist, holding him tight. Keeping him. “Don’t walk away, Billy. Never again.”

Billy nuzzled into Steve’s patch with a tormented moan, his hands tight in Steve’s hair. He pulled Steve’s head to the side, patch exposed in a familiar, beautiful, terrifying position that had everything in Steve screaming for more. His heart pounded so hard he was sure Billy could feel it, trying to leap from Steve’s chest to get to him.

Billy licked his patch and then pressed his mouth hard against it, the sharp, wet line of his teeth bringing Steve close to the edge as he spoke, muffled by Steve’s sensitive, throbbing flesh. “I can’t be trusted, with this. You gotta—gotta watch yourself around me. I’m a wild f*cking animal, I swear. If you knew the things I was thinking right now—”

Steve arched into Billy’s tongue as he scrubbed it hard and frantic into his patch, his nails digging into Billy’s back. His balls drew up tight as his hole clenched around nothing, spilling slick down his spread-open thighs. “Tell me. Billy, tell me. No more lies, or silence, or getting our wires crossed. Tell me everything.”

Billy rutted against him without moving his face away from his patch, his co*ck slipping down to press against where Steve was aching for him the most. It seemed like he would always be aching for him, after this. “Wanna bite you. Sink my teeth into this perfect little patch and make you mine forever. Wanna carry you off to a warm, safe place and mate you, claim you for my own. Wanna f*ck you stupid, wrap those long legs around me and pound you into submission. Wanna knot you for f*cking days, baby. Never gonna let you go. Keep you stuffed full and begging for me.” His voice was still hoarse from moaning Steve’s name, from sucking him down and kissing him senseless and taking care of him at every turn.

Billy grew still when Steve didn’t respond, the words that were clamoring to get out of his mouth stuck at the gate. It was almost too much, getting everything he ever wanted, all at once. Billy drew back and Steve whined, his patch throbbing and burning at his absence.

To his despair, Billy sat up on his heels and ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. “See? f*cking unhinged sh*t. I shouldn’t have told you—”

The air left his chest in a whoosh as Steve tackled him to the bed and scented him so frantically he gave himself beard burn. He bared his throat as he spread his legs to straddle Billy, nothing concealed, nothing held back. “Yes, please. All of it, Billy. Alpha. Yes. Please.”

Billy sat up with a single impressive flex of his abdominal muscles, hands gripping onto Steve just a hair short of too hard. “Your heat—“

There was a place, inside of Steve, that had been empty and aching for weeks before this heat ever started. Wanting and desolate, mired in despair. It had nothing to do with his heat and everything to do with Billy. With the way they fit together, in every aspect of their lives. The way Steve wasn’t complete without him.

Now, they had a chance to make it right. To heal the rift between them. Steve was grabbing onto that chance with both hands. Just as he grabbed onto Billy with both hands, pulling him back down against him. “No. It’s not just my heat, I swear, Billy. I want you, I’ve always wanted you. You have to know I love you, that I’ve loved you all along. Claim me, Billy. Make me yours.” He could sense Billy fighting his rut, in the way his scent crested even as he clenched his teeth against a low growl.

Billy brushed his nose over Steve’s patch with a deep, shuddering breath before wrenching his head to the other side of Steve’s neck. “Mine. God, you would be—you won’t regret it, pretty boy? Tying yourself to a broke Alpha who came from nothing, like me?”

Steve framed Billy’s face with him hands and kissed him gently on the lips, whispering softly against his flushed skin. “A strong Alpha, and a kind Alpha. A good man. I could never regret being yours, Billy.”

Billy’s scent peaked and stabilized, surrounding Steve in the warm, heady scent of his Alpha. “I’ll be yours, as well. You know that, don’t you, princess? It goes both ways, for us.”

It generally wasn’t done, allowing an Omega to claim their Alpha in return. Most Alphas considered it too progressive, not an Omega’s place. It was a privilege Steve had never even entertained the possibility of having. He had to blink away tears at the gift Billy offered him, barely able to speak around the lump in his throat. “You’d let me claim you?”

Billy smoothed one hand down Steve’s throat to his chest, where he pressed insistently over his heart while he watched him with fierce blue eyes dark with pupil. “God, yes. If I’m being honest, Steve, you already have.”

The pain of Steve’s heat had ebbed away under Billy’s touch, just as the loneliness and pain in his life had ebbed away at his presence, pushed out by the width of Billy’s shoulders and the angle of his smile. The glint in his eye and the sincerity in his words.

Here, in Billy’s hands, Steve felt nothing but absolutely wonderful. He couldn’t stop the words before they were pouring from his mouth like a cup overflowing. “Billy. Will you claim me now, please? I’ll be so good for you, I swear.”

Billy rolled them so that Steve lay on his back and stroked over his patch with a firm thumb, eyes following the movement. “Perfect. You’re already perfect, baby. My pretty boy. My Omega. My love. Mine.”

Steve tilted his head so far to the side his neck cracked, shoving his patch under Billy’s nose with an elated whine. “Yours. All yours, Billy.”

Billy ignored the patch in favor of kissing Steve soft and slow as he got into position, nudging his legs open gently. He pressed inside with a single roll of his hips, all the way in until the burgeoning swell of his knot bumped against Steve’s body.

The last tenuous hold of Steve’s calm burned away at the contact and he arched his hips to try to take Billy’s knot, desperate for it already. His co*ck and patch both ached with need as he writhed beneath the canopy of Billy’s strong, solid body. “Please, please knot me. Claim me. Please, I need it!”

He was still so slick that there was no resistance when Billy thrust his hips, only all-consuming pleasure and the steadily building need for his knot.

Billy kissed his way down Steve’s jaw to his patch, where he drew in a sharp breath as he pinned Steve’s wrists down on the bed. “Let me make it good for you, baby. We’ve got time. I’ve got you, I promise. Give yourself to me, Steve. I’ve got you.”

Steve cried out as Billy braced his knees against the mattress and began to deepen his thrusts, hitting at just the right angle to make Steve lose his mind. Billy released his wrists with a squeeze of his swollen glands to boost his scent before he cupped Steve’s head, elbows digging into the bed beneath Steve’s shoulders. “Perfect. You feel amazing. Hold onto me, sweetheart, we’re almost there.”

Steve wrapped eager limbs around Billy, clinging like a vine, like they were two things that would grow together, intertwined, for years to come. He stroked the short curls at the base of Billy’s neck and rubbed his thumb over the swollen gland at the side of his throat. “Here. Right here, Billy. That’s where I’ll make you mine, if you want me to.”

God, please. Steve had never wanted something so badly as he wanted to be Billy’s mate, and for Billy to be his in return. He felt raw with the wanting of it, scraped down to his core.

Billy nipped at Steve’s chin with a growl, his scent blossoming under Steve’s massaging thumb, beautiful and bold. “Yes. Steve, baby. Soon. So soon, okay? Ready for my knot, sweetheart? You take it so beautifully.”

Instead of answering, Steve lifted his hips, heels braced against the firm curve of Billy’s ass. He hissed a breath through his teeth as Billy’s knot popped inside, filling in all his empty spaces.

Billy roared as his knot throbbed and he pulsed the first hot jet inside Steve. Everything went still and quiet in Steve’s head when Billy grazed his teeth over his patch. The rush of pleasure was distant beneath the pounding of his heart as Billy laced their fingers together on the bed.

“Say yes.” His voice was barely more than a growl, rumbling across the sensitive skin if Steve’s patch and sending slick leaking down his legs.

He held scrupulously still, squeezing Billy’s hand as he tried to breathe. “Yes. I love you, Billy. I’m yours. Now, and forever.”

The last word was lost in a shout as Billy clamped down on his patch, teeth sinking in with a sharp burst of pleasure-pain that sent Steve over the edge. He cried and whimpered and clung to Billy as he shot between them, his org*sm so intense his vision whited out. It was as if his entire body was filled with starlight, as if Billy had been the one to put it there.

He’d often wondered if he would feel it, the mating connection. If it was more myth than reality. But, here, in Billy’s arms, he knew it was real. There was a sense that, even when Billy withdrew from his body, he would still be there, in a way. A part of Steve.

He didn’t feel alone anymore.

His eyes fluttered open as Billy kissed and licked over his fresh claim, already healing over as his body adjusted to the mark. Sweet, pleasant tingles emanated from every one of his scent glands, hormones and chemicals in his bloodstream giving him a sense of floating above the mattress.

It was beautiful.

“Steve? Sweetheart, tell me you’re okay. Did I hurt you?” Billy’s voice trembled against his patch, soft and gentle even as his hips jerked with a fresh spurt of come, filling Steve to the brim.

Steve turned his head, smiling at the soreness of his throat, and kissed Billy’s cheek. “I’ve never been better in my entire life, Billy. Alpha. Mate.”

When Billy lifted his head, the light caught a sheen of tears in his eyes and Steve kissed them away with a soothing coo. Billy petted Steve’s hair out of his eyes, his expression serious. “My mate. My Omega. Now and forever, baby. I swear it. I’ll love and protect you always.”

“Always.” Steve muttered as he turned Billy’s head enough to lick over the hard bump of his gland. “Billy, can I?”

Billy cradled his skull as he helped Steve get into position, his pulse beating rapidly against Steve’s lips. “Yes, do it. Claim me, Steve. I’m yours. I always have been. Always will be.”

Steve took a deep, steadying breath before he sunk his teeth into Billy’s gland, his mouth instantly filled with the full intensity of his mate. Billy didn’t shout this time, but ground his hips into Steve as he whined, knot pulsing with the last of his release. To his shock, Steve followed him over the edge, shaking and whimpering around his mouthful as they soaked the sheets beneath them.

He pulled away with a careful lick over the wound, hissing in sympathy at the red, swollen mark. “Are you alright, Billy?”

The squeak he let out as Billy rolled them over, still connected, was best left between Steve and his mate. Billy laughed, joy sparkling in his eyes as he settled Steve against his chest. “Better than that, baby. I’m f*cking incandescent. We did it. You’re mine, and I’m yours. We really did it, Steve.”

Steve laughed as he kissed every inch of Billy he could reach without tugging too hard on his knot. “I love you, Billy. Thank you for coming back to me.”

Billy hugged him tightly, brushing his lips over Steve’s forehead. “Sweetheart. Don’t you know that I never really left?”

Chapter 23

Chapter Text

It took three days for Steve’s heat to fade.

Three days of learning each other’s bodies, of coming together until Steve didn’t feel complete without Billy inside him. Until they’d fit their teeth against their claiming bites so many times they settled perfectly in the grooves without even trying. Until Steve could roll over and nudge Billy’s hip without a sound and suddenly find himself stuffed full and pinned to the mattress exactly the way he needed.

Three days of bliss.

It was over now, and Steve tried to keep his anxiety at bay by running his fingers over the fresh claim mark at the side of his neck. He was wanted, he was claimed. Billy was his Alpha. There was no going back.

Billy wouldn’t go away for one night and come back the next morning having changed his mind, with a new mate on his arm. He was already mated, to Steve.

“Sweetheart, I can smell you worrying from over here. What’s wrong?” Billy peered around the doorway, toweling his hair after he’d finally washed the days of slick and cum and sweat from his body.

Steve was relieved beyond measure to find that he still smelled like Steve, that he still smelled like the pair of them together. Mated.

He sat up in the rumpled, ruined sheets of their mating nest, his mark throbbing at the sight of water droplets tracing the curves of Billy’s torso. “I just can’t believe it’s real. That I’m really yours. Can’t believe you want to keep me.”

Billy tossed his towel to the floor and climbed on the bed, naked and glorious, his skin a canvas painted with countless marks from Steve’s nails and teeth and love. “Keep you? Baby, I’d follow you to the ends of the earth. But, hey,” he chucked Steve gently under the chin, lazily grazing his claim mark and sending warmth coursing through his bloodstream, “You know I’m yours too, right? I don’t hold with that nonsense about omegas belonging to their alphas. We belong to each other, alright?”

He tilted his head to bare his throat and expose the deep teeth marks Steve had left in his own mating gland. It was an act of breathtaking trust and humility and it made Steve feel like he was floating on air as he laid his fingers against his mark, Billy’s pleased hum vibrating through his bones. “Alright Billy. Alpha.”

Tugging Steve’s hand away from his mark, Billy pressed a smacking kiss to his palm. “Good. Come here, I’ve drawn you a bath. We need to get you cleaned up and I don’t want you falling down in the shower. You’ve had a rough couple days, and I didn’t take it easy on you the way I should’ve. Lost my damn head.”

As if to demonstrate, Billy took a deep sniff of Steve’s patch, his voice going raspy and low as he carried him like a bride over to the bathroom, unselfconscious of their nudity.

Steve nuzzled his mark in turn as Billy slowly lowered him into a fragrant bubble bath. “No, Billy. You were perfect. I didn’t know anything could be so good. Thank you.”

Billy sat on the edge of the tub and poured a generous dollop of faberge organics into his palm. When he slid his fingers into Steve’s hair and massaged his scalp with it, Steve couldn’t stop the deep, contented purr in his chest. Every inch the stereotypical, satisfied omega. It made Billy pause and whisper his name with all the wonder of a man faced with a miracle before he took a pitcher of warm water from the floor at his feet and rinsed the suds away.

Steve floated in the water as Billy carefully and thoroughly washed him, his fingers familiar and gentle as they dipped between his legs. “Are you sore, baby? Wish I could’ve held back a little more. Treated you the way you deserve.”

Heat flared, nearly painful in its intensity at Billy’s touch. Steve gasped and urged his hand higher to his rapidly filling co*ck, where he was much less sore. “It was worth it. And you treated me better than I deserve, Billy. You always do. Oh, right there!”

He arched into Billy’s touch as he curled careful fingers around him, water sloshing over the edge of the tub onto the floor.

Billy’s scent blossomed, alpha arousal and possession burning fresh after the remnants of their heat had been washed away. “Yeah? You want another one, sweetheart? Alright, hold onto me, and show me that pretty throat.”

“Please, Alpha!” Steve obediently tipped his head back against the curve of the tub, exposing his mark. Billy fell on it immediately, licking and sucking the sensitive skin as he stroked Steve at an unrelenting pace calculated to push him over the edge sooner rather than later.

“Perfect. You’re so beautiful, Steve. So f*cking sweet. Come for me, baby. Show me how good you can be.” Billy growled into his patch as he worked his co*ck, water splashing around the rapid motion of his arm. Steve clung onto him and whined, pushing up into his grip on every stroke. Billy fit his teeth against his claim, biting down with exquisite care, and Steve came so hard he kicked one of his legs over the side of the tub, flinging bubbles across the room, his sore hole aching as he clenched down around nothing.

“That’s it. That’s what you needed. Always gonna give you what you need, I f*cking promise. God, you’re delicious.” Billy kissed and nibbled his patch as he wrung that last shivers of pleasure from Steve’s body and then he helped him out of the tub. Steve sat in his lap, wrapped in one warm fluffy towel as Billy patted him dry with another and muttered sweet, silly nonsense in his ear.

Ridiculous things, like:

“I have the best, most gorgeous mate in the world. Look at you.”

And:

“Gonna let you heal up and then I’ll show you what I can do when I’m not outta my mind. Gonna leave you reeling, baby.”

And:

“f*ck, you’re so sweet. Sweeter than cotton candy, sweeter than cherry wine, sweeter than sugar, I swear. Wanna eat you up.”

Until Steve was a contented, purring puddle in his lap, warm and snuggly and whining in protest when Billy deposited him in the overstuffed armchair in his bedroom.

Their bedroom, maybe. If Steve could convince Billy to move in.

He didn’t know what he was going to do if Billy didn’t want to move in.

Beg, probably. He wasn’t above getting on his knees.

Billy wandered off to strip the bed and put on fresh sheets, but as he did, he offered Steve a pillowcase soaked in their mating scents, face red and eyes averted until Steve took it with a grateful whimper. Then it was Steve’s turn to blush, rubbing his cheek against the pillowcase as Billy’s eyes burned into him with a heat that brought back flashes of the past three days, buzzing through Steve’s tired body.

When he could finally rip himself away, Billy went out into the hallway where Steve could hear the murmur of his voice on the phone. God, Steve had disrupted his life entirely with this heat. He’d had to take off work at the last minute and, wait. What had he done with Max?

He dropped the pillowcase and sat up, ignoring the twinge of discomfort between his legs at the sudden rush of concern. “Where’s Max, Billy?”

Billy rushed back, projecting a wave of soothing Alpha comfort that dropped Steve’s spike of anxiety as if it had never been. “Hop’s bringing her back soon, don’t worry. She had an extended sleepover with Jane. I took care of it.”

Because that’s what Billy did. He took care of the people he loved.

How silly Steve had been to even worry about it. He stretched up and wrapped his arms around Billy’s neck to plant a smacking kiss on his cheek. “I love you, Billy. Not because you’re my Alpha, but because you’re a good man. You’re loyal and sweet and reliable and we’re lucky to have you, Max and I.”

It hit him, then, that Max would be part of his family now, too.

Steve had a family.

A wave of joy struck him so violently he went weak at the knees and Billy had to help him walk to the bed. Neither of them could stop smiling or gazing at each other like absolute fools. It was wonderful.

Billy got dressed first, sucking in a sharp breath as he tucked himself into his jeans, and Steve realized he must be nearly as sore as he was.

He couldn’t help the primal surge of possessive satisfaction at the realization, even if it made Billy jerk up his head with a soft, warning growl. “No time for that, pretty boy. We gotta get you decent before they get here.”

Billy helped Steve dress in loose, soft clothing, extra careful to choose a neckline that wouldn’t irritate the fresh wound of his claim. He couldn’t stop touching it, scenting and kissing it as he smoothed down Steve’s shirt. “Mmm. How are you feeling? Do you think you could keep Max today? I gotta head in to the garage, pick up a few extra shifts to make up for my time off. Rent’s not gonna pay itself.”

Oh.

Perhaps Steve hadn’t been clear enough, about a few things. Nerves clawed at his throat as he spoke softly, gripping Billy’s shirt in his fist as he forced himself to meet his eyes. “Well, actually, Billy. It kinda…will?”

Billy’s scent went soft and amused, with just a tinge of frustration as he helped Steve down the stairs. “What? Sweetheart, I know you don’t care much about money, but that’s not how it works, I have to—“

Steve stopped him in the entryway with a hand on his wrist, thumb pressed to his gland. His heart pounded as he laid it all out on the table, unwilling to go another moment with any misunderstandings between them. “No, I just mean, um. This is your house now? Legally, everything I own is yours, as soon as we register the claim. The house is paid off, so you won’t need to pay rent anymore. Not once you move out of your old place,” he blanched at the thunderous expression on Billy’s face, releasing his wrist and shrinking in on himself, “That is, if you want to live here, with me. You might not want that. I’m sorry, we didn’t have much time to discuss it, I shouldn’t have just assumed.”

Billy followed when Steve pulled away and cupped his face, his eyes intent on Steve’s, his Alpha scent fierce and strong. “f*ck the law, Steve, I’m not taking everything you have from you. This is your house, and you get to decide who lives in it.”

Steve covered Billy’s hands with his own, swaying into him as he answered quietly. “You do.”

Shaking his head, Billy stepped away to start putting the entryway to rights from his frantic entrance at the beginning of Steve’s heat. They’d knocked over a potted plant and left some bags of supplies right by the door. Tidiness hadn’t exactly been among their priorities. “Steve, I’m serious. It’s your house, regardless of what some piece of paper says. You get to make the decisions, here.”

Steve followed him into the living room, gathering bravery along the way like he was picking wildflowers. Billy was his mate, and Steve had every right to ask for what he wanted, instead of taking what he could get. Billy had shown him that. “I’ve decided. I want you to live here. And Max, of course. All of us together. You know, like a family? If that’s okay?”

Shocked, elated joy suffused Billy’s scent as he dropped his armful of supplies on the couch and took Steve into his arms instead. “Oh, Steve. That’s more than I could have ever asked for.”

If Steve had learned nothing else this year, it was that sometimes, against all odds, dreams really did come true. He had a family, and he’d never have to be all alone ever again.

Wiggling out of Billy’s arms, he rushed to grab his checkbook and opened it to show the balance, shoving it into Billy’s hands, eager to display the things he could offer their family. “And, here, this is yours, too.”

Billy took one look at the amount and dropped it like a dead rat, staggering backwards. He stared at the crumpled stack of paper as if it might get up and bite him. “What the f*ck? Why the hell are you a nanny if you’ve just been sitting on that kind of money?”

It had been intended to be a sufficient amount to provide for Steve to live alone the rest of his life. Purely to alleviate his parents’ guilt. He’d never wanted it, and he would have gladly traded every penny just to stay part of a family.

Now, he didn’t have to. He could take the price his parents had placed on his shame, and use it to free Billy of his burdens. Steve could help his new family in immediate, tangible ways, and it filled him with pride. He scooped up the checkbook and dropped it on the table with a shrug. “I don’t like to be alone. Nannying was perfect for that. And I like kids. I never thought I’d get to have any of my own.”

Something shifted in Billy’s scent, something primal and raw, deeply Alpha as he came up behind Steve to wrap his arms around his waist and scent his neck. “Is that something you want, kids?”

God, yes. Steve tried to curb the burst of yearning in his scent, but it was impossible, right under Billy’s nose like this. He tentatively laid his hand over Billy’s arm, swallowing back a pleading whine. “Only if it’s what you want.”

Because he’d give up that dream, if he got to keep Billy. They already had Max, it was selfish of Steve to long for more. To dream of holding a tiny miracle in his arms made purely of their love. It was almost too lovely to even contemplate.

That deep, dark scent spiked as Billy’s voice dropped into a rumble and he flattened one strong, warm hand over Steve’s belly. “You’re asking me if I want to see you through another heat, stuff you with my knot and fill you up until you’re dripping with me, until I’ve put a baby in you? You’re seriously asking if I want that?”

It was confusing, because Steve had never come across this particular note in Billy’s scent, before. It was almost like he was going into rut, but softer. It made Steve’s head spin. He gripped Billy’s wrists and tried not to tremble, his heart racing as he did his best to avoid jumping to conclusions. “I’m sorry, Billy, it was presumptuous of me. We’ll do whatever you want, okay?”

Billy laughed breathlessly as he let his forehead thunk against Steve’s shoulder, a thin thread of self-deprecation cutting through the new scent. “Baby, I want it so bad my poor dick is trying to get hard again, and my knot’s so sore right now that it’s actually painful,” he squeezed Steve tight and nuzzled his patch, love and devotion overwhelming everything else in his scent, “Yeah, I want that with you. How many kids do you want? Four, five, a dozen? We’ll go until you say stop, how about that?”

Once, Steve would have thought there was a cap on joy, a finite amount of happiness that a person could experience at one time. If that was true, he hadn’t found it, yet, because Billy kept taking him higher and higher.

He spun in Billy’s arms to kiss him fiercely, barely restraining the urge to climb him then and there, mutual soreness be damned. “They’re going to have your smile, every one of them.”

Billy kissed him back just as eagerly, hands running up and down Steve’s back as if he couldn’t decide where to leave them. “And your eyes. And, if we’re very, very lucky, your temper and none of mine.”

Steve let his mouth wander to Billy’s claim, tongue tracing the impression of his teeth. “Oh, I don’t know. They’ll have to be fiery to keep up with you and Max.”

Billy looked like he wanted to argue further, lips lifting in a teasing smile, but they were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.

“You’d better be decent in there, I’ve got two sets of young eyes with me and I’m not explaining any of this shi—nonsense to them, you hear me, Hargrove?” Hopper’s voice boomed through the closed door.

Billy groaned and gently bumped their foreheads together, his own voice low and private as he rubbed a soothing hand between Steve’s shoulder blades. “You ready for your debut as a mated Omega, princess?”

Steve gave him a swift peck on the cheek and hurried to the door, effervescent with excitement. For some reason, this felt like a confirmation, the start of his new life as Billy’s mate.

Billy came up behind him and slung a possessive arm around Steve’s waist as Steve flung open the door with a grin. “Hello! Please, come on in. We really can’t thank you enough.”

Max and Jane crowded Hopper into the entryway, who looked pained and as if he were trying to breath through his mouth.

Heat rushed to Steve’s face as he realized they hadn’t aired out the house and poor Hopper was being subjected to an olfactory record of everything they’d been doing. Thank god the kids were too young to be affected.

Hopper took one look at the sore, throbbing claim mark on Steve’s neck and then directed his eyes to the ceiling. “I see you’ve been busy. I want absolutely no details, but I’m happy for you. Congratulations, Steve.”

He finally dropped his gaze to Billy and then held out his hand to shake. “Both of you. You’re a very lucky Alpha, Hargrove.”

He nudged Max forward from where she hovered behind him, staring blatantly at Steve’s mating mark. “The girls behaved themselves, if you can believe it. But, if you’ve got any advice for getting nail polish out of carpet, Steve, I’d sure appreciate it.”

There was something, a trick he’d learned but couldn’t access right now with panic flooding his brain over Max’s potential reaction. He nodded distractedly with a fleeting smile Hop’s way. “Yes, of course. I’ll have to look through my cleaning notes for you.”

“What did you do, Billy? Why is everyone being so weird?” Max squinted up at them suspiciously, with a trickle of fear in her scent that made Steve want to scoop her up into his arms.

He glanced at Billy and then got down on his knees to meet her eyes. “Max. We have news. Me and Billy, you see…we—“

“You’re having a baby?” Max snapped accusingly, splitting her glare between them.

Steve flinched in surprise but kept his face open and honest, ignoring the tendrils of amusem*nt already wafting over from Hopper’s direction. Billy was conspicuously silent behind him. “Oh, no. Not, um. Not yet, Max.”

She planted her hands on her hips and gave him a long, slow examination as if she’d be able to detect a lie just from looking at him, her little face severe. “But you smell like Billy, now. And he smells like you. And he bit you, right there where anyone can see it. I told you, I’m not a stupid little kid. I know what that means.”

“Maxine!” Mortification soured Billy’s scent as he hissed her name, but Steve held up a hand to hold him off. They owed it to Max to explain this to her, without overreacting to her childish theories. It was sweet, in a way, really.

Max’s gaze flicked between Billy and Steve until her shoulders dropped with a sigh of comprehension. “Oh. Did Billy do it wrong? Is that why?”

Hopper coughed loudly into his fist, shoulders shaking as he turned to face the wall, suspiciously mirthful noises climbing from his tightly closed lips.

“Yeah, thanks, Hop, we really appreciate the help. Let us know when we can keep Jane and return the favor, alright?” Billy held the door open pointedly until Hopper gathered Jane with a closed mouth and crinkled eyes and left with a jaunty wave.

When the door shut behind them, Steve held out his hands to Max, just in case she wanted him to hold her.

She held back, insecurity aching in her sweet little girl scent. “I told you Billy wasn’t gonna be any good at this alpha stuff, Steve. But I promise, he’s trying his best. I’m sure if you give him another chance, he’ll do better! Please give him another chance.”

Steve’s heart melted at her earnest, pleading face, her tiny fingers twisting in the fabric of her shirt as she chewed her lip and waited for his answer. He took a deep breath and offered a gentle, genuine smile. This was it, the moment Max found out that they were a family. He shoved back his own nerves to try to be careful with her. “Actually, Max, we were trying to tell you that Billy and I—“

“We’re mated! Steve’s my mate. He’s mine, now. I, uh. Bit him, and everything. It’s official. No take-backs.” Billy rushed ahead, his own nerves apparent in both his scent and voice as they awaited Max’s answer.

She wrinkled her nose up at Billy, but the fear left her scent as a telltale burst of happiness washed it away. “Oh. Gross.”

Steve remained on his knees, but Billy gripped his shoulders, his support bolstering him as nothing else could. “You’ll have some say, of course, but we’d really like it if both of you came here to live with me, permanently. As a family. This is your house now, too. If you want it.”

Max’s eyes went wide before she leapt on them, accidentally kicking Steve in the stomach as she scrambled into Billy’s arms. “This is my house? Are you serious? Billy, we have a pool! And a Nintendo!”

Billy hitched her onto his hip with a wry grin and helped Steve back to his feet, tugging him tight against them. “And, most importantly, a Steve.”

Her joy overflowed onto Billy and Steve until they were all encircled together in a warm embrace as Max smacked Billy’s shoulder and babbled happily. “Yeah, he can make us marinara sauce! Oh, my god. Steve can cook! I’m never eating sloppy joes again, Billy.”

Steve petted a careful hand over her back, checking in with her to be sure she understood what was happening. “So, you’re okay with it? With having me as your Omega?”

Max gave him her classic eye roll as she wiggled out of Billy’s arms down to the floor. “What? Yeah, of course. You’re the best Omega. And I knew it was gonna happen. Besides, if you didn’t mate him, Billy was gonna keep crying all the time. I don’t like it when he does that. Smells awful. Hey, I’m gonna go jump on my bed. Because it’s MINE!”

She skidded down the hallway and up to her room without another word. They could hear her muffled whooping as she thumped onto her bed.

Steve turned to Billy, who was beet red, wonder and affection clogging his throat. “You cried over me?”

Rubbing a sheepish hand over the back of his neck, Billy edged away until he bumped into the wall, a tint of humiliation and panic in his scent. “We don’t have to go over all that, now. It’s in the past. I—alright, yeah,” he met Steve’s eyes as if daring him to laugh, his mouth set in unhappy lines Steve longed to ease away with his kisses, “I cried, when I thought I’d lost you forever. When I thought you didn’t care for me. Cried like a f*cking baby. I know that’s not very Alpha for me to admit, but it’s true.”

It turned out to be just as satisfying as Steve had thought it would be, to kiss away his frown. “I think it’s very Alpha to admit to your emotions. I’m so lucky and proud to have a strong Alpha who can do that. I love you, Billy.”

Billy let himself sink into their kiss, relief and joy winning out over the last vestiges of embarrassment. He cut it off when Max thumped something overhead and he pressed their foreheads together as he held Steve close. “And I love you, Steve. I’m the luckiest Alpha in the goddamned world. Mind if I order a pizza? You’re still in no shape to stand over a hot stove and I have a pretty strong urge to feed you. Wanna take care of you, now and always. My perfect mate.”

Steve kissed his claim mark and led Billy to the kitchen by their joined hands, so happy he felt as radiant as the sun. “Extra cheese?”

Billy followed after, glowing with happiness of his own, as bright as Steve’s. “For you, baby? The cheesiest.”

And they lived happily ever after.

THE END