Archive of Our Own ^beta

Charles had had a long day. It hadn’t necessarily been a bad day, just exhausting. The fact that the British weather was doing British weather things wasn’t helping either. All he wanted to do was collapse onto the couch and curl up in a nest with at least one of his flatmates, if not both.

When he pushed open the apartment door, he couldn’t stop his nose from wrinkling. The apartment stunk. He couldn’t completely figure out what he was smelling. It smelt vaguely like the weird pudding his hall had cooked his first Christmas here. It wasn’t a pleasant memory, it had been far too dry to be nice. Smelling that scent felt that same dry taste in his mouth.

Confused as to what was happening, Charles dumped his bag just inside the door and continued into the apartment. He’d been living with both Alex and George for long enough to recognise their usual scents and this wasn’t that. If it wasn’t a dynamic scent, Alex was the most likely source of the smell, the most frequent cook of the three of them. But he didn’t think the other man would be cooking pudding on a random Wednesday in early October.

He turned the corner to see George and Alex curled on the couch with a stranger settled in between them. The stranger’s eyes were closed but he didn’t look calm, chest still heaving slightly. He had Charles’ favourite nesting blanket, a thick and fuzzy grey one, wrapped around his legs. Seeing that raised his hackles and he desperately wanted to reach out and rip it out of his grasp.

“What is going on here?” he hissed, mostly directing the question at his two flatmates.

“This is Lando,” Alex introduced, innocent expression on his face as he stared up at Charles.

Charles didn’t care what his name was, “Why is he here?”

“He needed some comfort.”

He had many more questions that he wanted to ask but it was clear that Alex wasn’t going to willingly give them to him. He couldn’t understand why. He also didn’t know what to do with himself. If it was someone that he knew, he’d have no qualms climbing in beside the other Omega but he didn’t know Lando.

“Are you going to join us?” George asked when Charles didn’t move.

“I’m just going to grab something to eat first.”

His two friends nodded and it gave him a reason to escape the room. Despite now being a room away from Lando, he could still smell his weird pudding scent. Even when he standing in front of the three other men, he couldn’t smell either George or Alex, both of their natural scents being smothered by Lando’s. And he didn’t like it.

Pushing that out of his mind, he yanked the fridge open, debating his food options. He wasn’t actually that hungry but he hadn’t eaten in hours and it was an appropriate time for dinner. Unfortunately, none of the leftovers in the fridge looked appealing to him. Despite not wanting to cook, he found himself frying up chicken as pasta cooked. It was the easiest meal he could make with still little effort.

As he was stirring everything together, he heard voices next door. Stopping what he was doing, he found himself creeping towards the door in an attempt to eavesdrop. Unfortunately, anything spoken was too quiet for him to hear it. Not wanting to be left out, even if he didn’t want to be around Lando, he tipped everything into a bowl and returned to the lounge.

Stepping into the room, he immediately had Lando’s eyes on him. He hadn’t noticed before with them closed, but he could now see how bloodshot they were. He almost felt bad, Lando clearly wasn’t having a good day. But it still didn’t explain why he was here and not with his own friends.

“Charles, yes?” the other Omega asked, soft lisp on his letters.

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry for using your nesting blankets.”

“It’s fine,” Charles lied.

Lando stared at him before slowly nodding, “I should probably be getting home.” He then turned to Alex, “Thank you for this.”

“Of course,” the older man easily agreed, “And you have my number if you ever need support again.”

Charles just watched as Lando stood up and headed for the door. As soon as the front door shut again, Charles claimed the position that Lando had vacated, wrapping both men’s arms around him.

“Why was he here?” Charles asked, hoping Alex would tell him the truth with Lando now gone, “Who is he?”

“I ran into him in the library.”

Charles didn’t follow, “And?”

“He was very upset over an issue with his pack and needed support. I couldn’t just leave him there.”

He could see Alex doing exactly that, he was always a kind-hearted soul. It didn’t stop Charles from feeling a little territorial. It was crazy. He’d had other Omegas in his packs before and he’d never felt like this before. There was just something about Lando and his scent that drove Charles up a wall. Maybe it was just he was used to their little pack of three.

The three of them hadn’t immediately formed a pack but it hadn’t taken long after their first introduction. And that was years ago, back when Charles had first come to Britain. The three of them had been assigned the same university hall and despite studying very different things, they had quickly become friends. When it came to moving out of halls and into their own flats, it had quickly been decided that they should move in together.

From there, their almost pack had solidified into a pack, even if it was small. But it just worked. George claimed that it was because they still covered all three dynamics, one Alpha, one Beta and one Omega. It allowed them to perfectly balance each other out and kept the hormones from bubbling over and causing problems.

Charles hadn’t necessarily planned on staying in Britain this long, or even coming in the first place. But he needed to get out and experience the world after high school and Britain had seemed like a good option at the time. He’d figured he’d complete his Bachelors’ degree and then return to Monaco or travel somewhere else. But here he was, still in London, still studying, now on his Masters’. He was loving it here so much, even with the shitty weather, to not see himself leaving any time soon.

He hadn’t realised that he was doing it but he had begun gently rubbing his jaw over Alex’s scent gland in an attend to spread his scent over what remained of Lando’s.

“You alright there Charlie?” Alex asked, soft lilt in his voice.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” he replied, pulling back slightly.

“I would expect that more from an Alpha than you.”

It was true that such behaviour was more common in Alphas. They tended to be far more protective and territorial over their pack than other dynamics. But Charles still felt the urge to prove that George and Alex were his pack, not anyone else’s. “Sorry.”

“Did you want to build a nest or couldn’t be bothered?” George asked from Charles’ other side.

“Build a nest I think.”

Tossing his forgotten bowl of pasta aside, he focused on building the best nest that he possibly could. It was slightly ruined by Lando’s awful pudding scent lingering on the blanket but he shoved that thought aside. All of the rest of the materials smelt like that pack and that was the best that he could do at the moment.

“How was your day?” George asked once they were all settled again.

In the chaos of having a strange Omega in the flat, Charles had forgotten all about his bad day. Maybe he should thank Lando for the distraction. Now that George had reminded him, he couldn’t help the groan that he let out, “How did anyone let me start my Masters’? Such a bad idea.”

“You say that like we aren’t as well,” Alex chimed in.

“So, we all made terrible life decisions then.”

“Oh Charlie, what was so bad?”

Charles would always take any excuse to start ranting and today he had plenty to rant about. Between his idiotic classmates, the awful deadlines and the professor who couldn’t explain his way out of a paper bag, he had enough material to cover hours of ranting. He kept expecting one of the other two to jump in, and to shut him up but they never did. He got the impression that Alex was feeling a little guilty about earlier and George was just following his lead. Charles wasn’t going to call them out on it, not tonight at least.

It was only when Charles had to stop his thought to yawn one too many times that he realised just how late it had gotten. With everything that had happened since he’d gotten home, he hadn’t realised how many hours had gone by. With an early morning class the next morning, he should already be in bed asleep.

“I should go to bed,” he commented after pulling his latest story to its conclusion.

“Probably,” Alex agreed.

When George didn’t say anything, Charles turned to his left to see George’s eyes already closed. He was sleeping so peacefully that Charles hadn’t even realised that he wasn’t awake anymore. Deciding that Alex could deal with the wrath of waking him up, he attempted to clamber out of the nest without jostling him, a feat much easier said than done.

“What time will you be home tomorrow?” Alex asked as Charles turned back towards his two friends.

“After six I think, I have a couple of students to tutor.”

Alex nodded before his expression turned sombre, “I am sorry about today.”

“I’m sorry about being a dick.”

The other man shook his head, “I should have told you beforehand that I was bringing a new person back to our flat.”

Charles still would have hated having Lando in his space but at least he would have been prepared for it. Deciding not to respond, he instead ran his jaw along Alex’s one last time, ensuring all of the other Omega’s scent was gone before heading to his room, so ready for the day to be over.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only time that he saw Lando. He wasn’t frequently in the flat but Alex had somehow invited him into their friendship group. Charles still wasn’t sure how it had happened but Lando appeared one day and everyone else welcomed him with open arms. He just appeared to fit in perfectly in everyone else’s eyes. Charles couldn’t see what they all saw in Lando. He wasn’t that great.

The only relief was that he hadn’t been invited into their pack. That was still just for Charles, Alex and George. It wasn’t a huge surprise, they’d always had a larger group of friends but their pack was just them. He was hoping it would stay that way with Lando but Charles could see how much both George and Alex liked him. But, there were only three bedrooms in the apartment so it wasn’t like Lando could move in.

They were at Esteban, Lance and Mick’s for movie night. They were usually the type of evenings that Charles enjoyed but he couldn’t truly relax. He couldn’t think about anything other than Lando. The other Omega was comfortably squished in between George and Max. He was softly talking to the Dutchman but Charles was too far away to hear what was being said.

Needing to get away for a minute, Charles jumped at the opportunity when Mick suggested that they needed popcorn. It gave him a reason to escape to the kitchen for a couple of minutes.

He had just shoved the packet into the microwave when he heard the door open behind him. He looked up in time to see Pierre slipping into the room.

“How are you doing?” Pierre asked once the door was shut again, giving them a level of privacy.

“I’m alright.”

“And so, you are just glaring at Lando for fun then?”

Charles hadn’t realised that anyone else had noticed. It hoped that he was hiding it well enough. He might dislike Lando but he hadn’t wanted to colour anyone else’s opinion on the other man. He might not be able to understand why people like Lando but he also didn’t want to be the reason for everyone else to hate Lando. He didn’t want to become the bad guy in this situation.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he lied.

Pierre just laughed, “So it couldn’t possibly be because you are jealous.”

“I’m not jealous.”

He had no reason to be jealous. He might be the only Omega in the pack but he wasn’t the only Omega in their friend group, even excluding Lando. He hadn’t felt this same hatred when Lance or Mick had first joined the group. There was just something about Lando, not just his dynamic, that frustrated Charles. Despite having now spent more time with Lando, he still couldn’t put his finger on exactly what.

“What is making you glare then?” Piere asked.

“I don’t know,” Charles whined, “He just annoys me.”

“Have you spent any time with him?”

“You know that I have.”

“Then what do you know about him?”

He didn’t exactly have an answer to that question. He had spent time with Lando. The other man had been around for weeks at this point and Charles had completely avoided him every time, that would have been far too obvious. But he hadn’t gone out of his way to interact with Lando either. He hadn’t wanted to.

When Charles didn’t answer, Piere just raised an eyebrow. Charles felt a need to defend himself. Why would he want to spend time with someone that he didn’t like? Before he could say anything, the microwave sounded, interrupting his train of thought.

“I just think that you would actually like him if you got to know him,” Pierre told him before leaving the room.

Charles reflected on that as he tipped the packet into a bowl and started on the next packet. Despite Pierre’s words, Charles didn’t want to follow his advice. He saw no reason. He’d just have to deal with Lando being around. It didn’t mean that he had to be nice to him And chances are, sometime in the future, Lando would return to his own group of friends anyway.

People had moved around slightly by the time that he returned to the lounge. Still not wanting to sit next to Lando, Charles settled down between Alex and Pierre, only a couple of people away from Lando.

He mostly forgot about Lando over the next few hours. He focused instead of enjoying his time with his friends. It was a challenge when he occasionally caught a hint of Lando’s weird pudding scent. He still couldn’t place exactly what it was but he still didn’t enjoy it, still reminding him of the dry pudding from years early. Despite all of that, he did manage to have a pleasant evening and was in a good mood when he, George and Alex made the trip home.

“It’s good that Lando is fitting in so well,” George commented.

Charles stifled a groan. Of course, even when Lando was no longer physically there, he couldn’t escape Lando. Thankfully, neither of his friends noticed his reaction as Alex spoke, “Yeah, he really is.”

“For a random Omega that you brought home, it’s great,” Charles chimed in, trying to keep his tone light and teasing.

He must have succeeded as Alex did laugh, “Maybe I should start a home for wayward Omegas.”

“Start advertisements, Alpha looking to support Omegas. I’m sure that that would end well.:

“Exactly,” Alex cheered, “I’ll have to get started on that.”

If any Alpha was actually going to be successful in that mission, it would be Alex. He was un-stereotypically kind and polite for an Alpha, with none of the possessiveness that traditionally came with that dynamic. He might not like Lando, but Alex was the type of person to open their arms for anyone having a bad day.

“Am I going to come home one day to many Omegas in the apartment?” Charles asked, still trying to tease but he felt like he missed the mark.

Alex noticed as well as he wrapped an arm across Charles’ shoulder, “Oh, Charlie, you are the only Omega for me.”

Charles screwed up his face at that, “I sure hope not.”

Since they had been living together, all three of them had mostly been single. There had been a couple of short-term relationships but nothing that lasted. No reason to ever broach the topic of inviting someone new into the pack. Charles knew, someday down the line, George and Alex would both have partners that they would want to include in their pack.

He’d just have to cope with it.

He thought that he would have been fine with it. And it was so stupid because Alex was clearly not inviting Lando into the pack. He was just a friend, Alex wasn’t romantically interested in Lando, Charles knew that without having to ask the older man. He didn’t know why he was feeling so protective over Alex, and by extension George.

In the years since the three of them had formed their pack, Charles had definitely been asked a few awkward questions by people who didn’t understand their decision. People believed that with a pack this small the three of them had to be in a relationship. Something that couldn’t be further from the truth. Charles loved George and Alex but he didn’t love them like that. Their pack was intended to grow bigger at some point, it just wasn’t until they all found the people they wanted to settle down with.

While Charles was prepared for that with George and Alex, he wasn’t looking for a partner himself. Being an Omega, things are always slightly more complicated than for Alphas or Betas. The world was generally more tolerant of Omegas having their own lives, even after mating. But Charles had been raised in a very traditional pack where Omegas quit their jobs to start a family. It had been part of the reason he had fled to the UK for university.

He wasn’t anywhere near prepared for a family. He hadn’t even had a chance to work yet, still studying. He wanted a chance to live his own life first. Even if his theoretical partner supported his decision, there was always the subconscious belief that he should be home raising the kids,

The other complicating thought was that the Omega traditionally joined the Alpha’s pack. Charles didn’t want to leave his pack. He loved George and Alex and their dynamic too much to want to leave.

All of that led to him not looking for someone at the moment. It helped that he was far too busy with his studies and tutoring to have time anyway. Some people would say that his life would be complete without an Alpha mate but right now, he didn’t care.

“You doing alright there?” George asked him, gently nudging Charles with his elbow, “You’ve gone quiet.”

Charles nodded, “Just feeling tired.”

George tilted his head slightly, studying Charles but he clearly chose to believe him, “Do you want to nest or just go to bed?”

His two friends were well aware of Charles’ habit at this point in time. Charles didn’t feel a need to nest that frequently. Usually, he would nest to provide comfort to George or Alex when they were having a bad day, rather than to provide support for himself. But at times, mostly when he was exhausted, he would like to nest.

“Just go to bed I think,” Charles decided.

When they did finally get home, Charles headed straight for bed. Despite feeling exhausted, sleep didn’t come easily. There wasn’t any particular reason for his struggle, just a lot of random thoughts running through his brain.

He didn’t feel lonely that often. He had a great pack and a wonderful large group of friends that provided him all of the companionship that he needed. But, very occasionally, on nights like this, he did wish that there was another person in the bed with him, providing just a casual level of physical touch.

He could have gone and bothered either Alex or George. They were all well used to climbing into each other’s bed on bad nights. Today, he didn’t want to bother them. There wasn’t any actual reason for it tonight. So, he just tossed and turned until sleep did eventually take him.

Charles came back to a very sad-looking George sitting on the couch. When the other man looked up at him with teary eyes, Charles’ heart broke. He hated seeing his friend upset, even if he didn’t know what had caused it. He softly cooed as he started to build a nest around the Beta.

“What’s the matter?” he softly asked once the nest was done and he cuddled up beside George.

George sighed, “Just a long day, and my advisor hates my proposal.”

Charles could relate to that. Thesis proposals sucked so much and there was nothing worse than spending hours and hours and hours on something for it to be hated.

“Anything that you want.”

“A liked proposal?”

“Something a little more achievable.”

“That ice cream that Alex keeps buried in the bottom drawer of the freezer.”

At least Charles could get that. When he returned to the nest, he handed one of the two spoons to the other man. They didn’t talk as they took turns eating straight out of the tub.

It was how Alex found them some time later, scraping the bottom of the tub. “What is that my ice cream?”

“I think you mean our ice cream.”

“Did you at least leave any for me?”

Charles glanced down, “Ah, sure.”

Alex pouted as he climbed into the nest beside them, “You both owe me ice cream.”

“Maybe.”

The Alpha grumbled some more but he didn’t complain further about it, “Is there any reason for the nest?”

“George has had a shit day,” Charles explained.

“Oh, Georgie, that sucks.”

As they discussed George’s terrible day, Charles started to feel the urge to purr. With his pack around him, he felt comfortable. Obviously, he’d rather that they weren’t all in his nest because George had had a terrible day but he didn’t care. They were still all in his nest.

It didn’t take long before they moved to talking about other things. With all of their schedules starting to get crazy busy they had less time to spend together. Despite all living together, there would be times when Charles wouldn’t see either of them for days. It made him treasure the moments they got to spend together even more, knowing that they would become more rare in the upcoming weeks with deadlines to meet and assignments to be completed.

“How are your students going?” George asked him.

Another thing that required Charles’ time was the high school students that he tutored for a little money. They always provided a source of amusement to Charles’ life and his flatmates loved to hear all of his stories as well. Despite still being at university, it felt like years ago that Charles was at high school. They always had such interesting things that they had gotten worked up about, things Charles couldn’t imagine having done in his own high school years.

Still being close to his student’s age, they all appeared to trust Charles and when taking a break between questions, they would spill all sorts of details about their lives. Things that Charles was sure that they wouldn’t tell their parents.

“You know, the usual,” Charles laughed, “Melissa’s boyfriend broke up with her again and now she’s convinced that she can’t learn math anymore.”

“I’m not seeing how those are related.”

“Neither am I,” Charles agreed, “But it makes teaching far more of a challenge.”

“Anything else interesting?”

“Not really. My newer students haven’t quite opened up with me yet.”

“Boring.”

“I know.”

By the time that they crawled out of the nest hours later, Charles was in a good mood. George was even smiling slightly so it was an all-around success. Dismantling a nest was always a slightly sombre affair. It had served its purpose but it was hard to take apart. He tried not to dwell on it as he tucked the materials back into the box that they belonged in.

His good mood continued the next morning as he headed onto campus. He didn’t have any classes today or any other firm commitments. But, he had a good deal of work that needed to be done and he always found that he worked better on campus rather than in the apartment. The desk in his room was only a productive space on very late nights right before deadlines.

After years at the same university, he had a favourite desk in the library. It was in the back corner on the top floor, part of a small group of desks in between stacks of books. Each desk had a privacy shield around it and enough space between them that it created the perfect little bubble for work. Because of the location, he’d never seen anyone else at his favourite desk.

Until today.

As he got closer, deciding which of the others he could be forced to sit at, he realised that he recognised the man sitting at his favourite desk.

And it was goddamn Lando.

He didn’t want to be upset, he didn’t have a right to the desk even if he’d never seen anyone else sitting there. But it was Lando, the anger started to bubble up without his permission.

“What are you doing there?” Charles asked, unable to stop himself from sounding upset.

Lando looked up and smiled at him, almost cheeky looking, “Trying to work.”

“That’s my desk.”

His smile got cheekier, “I think that it is mine today.”

Charles almost wanted to toss him off the chair, to physically claim the desk for himself. But that was just inviting trouble, potentially even getting himself kicked out of the library. And he couldn’t afford that today. He had too much work to get done.

He grumbled slightly but took the desk closest to his preferred one. Maybe he should have left, gone to another floor to find a desk to work. Lando might be too much of a distraction. He was just hoping that he would be too focused on his own work to worry about anyone around him.

Pulling his laptop out and spreading his papers out on the desk, he started to work. Once he had started thinking about what needed it, it was easy to fall right into the mindset. It wasn’t long before he had forgotten all about Lando and the fight over the desk. It was only when he would look up from his laptop, giving his eyes a break, that he would spot Lando.

The other man was always bent over his own device, never in a comfortable-looking position. Mostly he had one leg up, hugging the knee to his chest. Charles’ back flared up in sympathy, it could not be good for him. But, it was Lando’s grave so he didn’t say anything, always returning to his own work. He had enough of it to do.

He had no idea how long he’d been working for when the sound of metal hitting the desk yanked him out of his thoughts. His head jerked up to find Lando standing there, hand still resting on top of a can of Coke.

“Yes?” Charles asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You looked like you needed a break.”

He wasn’t going to turn down the free drink. Once Lando lifted his hand, he cracked it up and took a sip. He expected Lando to return to his desk and he did but only for long enough to sit down in the chair before wheeling it closer to Charles.

“So, what are you working on?” the other man asked, leaning back in his chair.

Usually, Charles would shrug him off to return to work but upon glancing at the time, he’d be consistently working for over three hours and could afford a break. “A research paper on Architecture styles in the 1800s.”

“Interesting.” Lando’s tone indicating he thought the opposite.

“What are you working on then?”

“I’m working on some character designs.”

Charles was reminded just how little he knew about Lando, “What are you studying?”

“Graphic design and photography.”

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting but he wasn’t sure it was that. Lando didn’t look like what he expected when he thought about an Arts student. He wasn’t going to say that though, “Do you usually work in the library? I haven’t seen you in this corner before.”

The other man shrugged, “I work wherever but I was just looking for somewhere quiet.”

“This is definitely the right place for that. I’m often the only one here.”

“Is that a sign that I should let you return to work?” Lando asked.

Charles surprised himself by shaking his head, “Nah, I need a break from reading about buildings.”

Lando took that as a sign to just start chattering about anything that crossed his mind. Charles expected to be annoyed, to want to shut Lando up, but he didn’t. He didn’t even care that Lando was barely pausing to give Charles space to speak. It was almost relaxing which was a strange thought given the amount of words spilling out of Lando’s mouth.

Randomly, Lando stopped speaking and declared he should return to work. Charles found himself wanting to protest but he did need to start working again. So, he let Lando wheel his chair back to his desk as they lapsed back into silence. It took a couple of minutes for Charles to get back into the right frame of mind to work. After staring at his document, his fingers started moving again and once they did, it was easy to keep going.

Quickly, he lost track of time again. He thought that Lando might have said goodbye to him at some point but he barely remembered, too focused on thoughts of columns and arches. The next time he remembered looking up, everything was much darker, no light coming in from outside. A glance at the time informed him it was well after eight and he’d been in the library for over ten hours. His favourite desk was now empty with Lando gone.

He could have kept working, he always had more to do but he hadn’t eaten in hours and he’d done plenty today already. As he began to pack up all of his belongings, he came face to face with the now-empty can of Coke. It could be nothing but it was beginning to make Charles doubt his assumptions towards Lando. Maybe he wasn’t as terrible as Charles had first assumed.

Equally, maybe this was a one-off thing. Next time Lando was there with his friends, Charles might find him as annoying as before. There was something at the back of his mind that made him doubt that.

He kept reflecting on it as he made the walk home. He didn’t like being wrong, no one did. He still had nothing concrete as to what had changed his mind. For most of the day, he and Lando had barely spoken, too focused on their own work for words. It was only that one break that they had really talked and that was for no more than ten minutes. It shouldn’t have been enough to get him to change his mind on someone he firmly disliked before this.

Thoughts of Lando were still twisting through his mind when he returned home. Alex and George were together on the couch, random show sounding from the TV.

“Charles, you’re finally home,” George spoke looking away from the screen.

“Sorry, got distracted by work.”

“Do you want to come join us?”

Charles shook his head, “I think I’m just going to go to bed.”

That got twin nods of agreement from his friends as he continued through the apartment. Tossing his bag aside, he barely managed to undress before he crawled into bed. Normally, it would be too early for sleep but his eyes quickly started to close. But one thing stuck in his mind, the smell of Christmas pudding.

From then on, Lando made frequent appearances in the library. It didn’t matter what time Charles turned up to the library, Lando always appeared to be their first. And he would always be at Charles’ favourite desk, the one in the corner. Each time, Charles would barely manage to stifle a groan before settling in the next best one.

They still barely talked, too focused on their own work each time. No one else was ever at the desks around them. At a random interval each time, Lando would offer him a can of Coke, and they’d chat for a few minutes. Sometimes Lando would do most of the talking but other times he’d ask Charles 500 questions. Then, at a time Lando decided, apparently as random, he would stop talking and return to his desk.

Charles couldn’t figure it out, couldn’t figure out Lando’s motivations but he didn’t question it, always enjoying the couple of minutes talking to the other Omega. Any hatred he had for the other man now long gone. He wouldn’t call them friends yet, but he didn’t hate even the thought of Lando anymore.

He still found it a little awkward seeing Lando with his group of friends. Maybe Pierre was right. Maybe it was jealousy over another Omega being folded into the group. It was still as stupid as when his friend suggested it though. He and Lando weren’t the only Omegas in the group and he hadn’t felt this strange feeling when any of the others joined, regardless of dynamic. He hadn’t ever felt like this before.

Thinking about it always left him feeling weird so he tried not to, especially not when he was going to see Lando in a couple of hours and had to act normal. Tonight was Max’s birthday party, an event that always seemed to end with some level of chaos. Right now, Charles was blankly staring into his closet, debating his outfit choice for the evening.

“What has you groaning?” Alex asked, ducking his head into Charles' room.

“I have nothing to wear,” Charles groaned.

Alex was too used to him as he just laughed, “Somehow I think that isn’t true.”

“You are no help.”

His supposed friend just laughed more before disappearing, leaving Charles alone with his conundrum. In the end, he ended up just settling for his favourite skinny black jeans and a black shirt. By the time he made that decision, his two flatmates were already yelling at him that he was making them late.

“It’s Max’s party,” Charles grumbled as he stepped out of his room, tugging his jacket on, “He’ll already be too drunk to care what time we turn up.”

“Still, we don’t want to be late.”

George, in particular, was punctual to a fault and Charles was definitely a little less worried about such things. If there were ever fights in the apartment, their difference in opinion on the time to leave was the most likely cause. Sometimes, Charles would argue, just for the principle of it but not today, there was really no point. So, after tying his laces, he followed the other two out of the door.

As predicted, the party was already in full swing by the time that they turned up. Max’s apartment was packed with people with loud music thumping. As the first order of business, they searched out Max, wanting to wish the man of the hour a happy birthday. They found him quickly inside the kitchen, already a little stumbly.

“You made it,” the Dutchman cheered.

“We did. Happy Birthday.”

“Have a drink, celebrate with me.”

Charles was more than happy to do such. They’d all been too busy the last couple of weeks to have a full-on raging party and Charles was looking forward to letting loose and having a good night. The first step of that was starting to drink.

From there, things started to blur slightly. Not because of the alcohol, not only because of the alcohol at least. There was so much going on and so many people around him. With all of the people to talk to, it was enough to waste the hours away. Charles found himself letting loose and truly enjoying the evening. It had been too long since he’d let himself forget about his coursework and just enjoy the time without feeling like should be studying instead.

It was late by the time that he ran into Lando for the first time. The other man had already been there for hours but they’d been moving in different directions, getting swallowed up by different groups of people. It wasn’t intentional, at least not on Charles’ behalf. It did mean that Charles was pretty tipsy by the time that he was talking to Lando.

“You having a good time?” he asked the younger man, managing not to slur his words too much.

With Lando being a new addition to the group, it was the first party of theirs that Lando had been to. For some strange reason, Charles wanted to make sure that Lando was enjoying himself. It was a long way from wishing that he would leave the group.

“I am,” Lando replied, “This is fun.”

“Max sure knows how to throw them.”

“I’m surprised that the neighbours haven’t complained about the noise.” It was slightly clearer now how tipsy Lando was as his words had a slight slur to them as well.

Charles wanted to keep talking to Lando but he somehow got pulled away to become the fourth player in a game of beer pong and by the time they were done, Lando had disappeared again. Trying not to be disappointed, he let himself get involved in a conversation with Mick and Pierre instead.

Planning on heading off to the kitchen in search of another drink, Charles left the conversation to do just that. His plan was slightly ruined by him drunkenly stumbling straight into someone. Thankfully, the cup in his hand was already empty otherwise he would have split it all over the stranger.

“I’m so sorry,” Charles blabbered.

“It’s fine,” the other man replied, silky voice, “No harm no foul.”

Charles found himself having to look up slightly to face the other man. And when he got a better look at the other man’s face, he found himself stumbling over his words. He was hot, almost too hot and Charles found himself admitting it, too drunk for his brain-to-voice filter to kick in.

Thankfully, the other man just laughed, “You’re pretty attractive yourself.”

“How do you know Max?” he asked, not recognising him.

 “I don’t really,” he replied, “I’m a friend of a friend of a friend.”

“I’m Charles, nice to meet you.”

“Jasper.”

Charles’ drink was completely forgotten as he was now far more interested in the Alpha standing in front of him. Because not only did he look good, but he smelt good as well, like pine with a little bit of smoke. Unfortunately, the music volume had been increased and talking was not possible. Not wanting to shout, Charles rose up on his toes to whisper in his ear, “Do you want to go outside and keep talking?”

Jasper smiled, grabbed his hand and gently pulled Charles through the room and out onto Max’s balcony. Surprisingly, no one else was out there so Charles could shut the door behind them, giving them a hint of privacy, like it wasn’t a glass door.

“So, what do you study?” Charles asked as he turned back towards the Alpha.

“History, you?”

“Architecture.”

Charles’ next question was swallowed by Jasper stepping forward to kiss Charles. The height difference between the two of them forced him to lift his chin up towards him. Now being even closer to Jasper, he could really smell his scent and it did almost as much to Charles as Jasper’s lips did.

Suddenly he was aware of the door opening up behind him and someone else appearing. Not enjoying kissing with an audience, Charles pulled back from Jasper before glancing over his shoulder.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you,” Lando apologised, pink blush painted across his cheeks.

Charles didn’t know what to say but it didn’t matter anyway. Lando scampered back into the party, shutting the door behind him.

“Now, where were we?” Jasper asked once Charles turned back to face him.

“I don’t know,” Charles teased, “You might have to remind me.”

Jasper didn’t wait any longer to recapture Charles’ lips. Unfortunately, they were once again interrupted by the door opening.

“Charles, you have to see this, Max is about to try and sing karaoke,” Alex cheered.

As much as he wanted to keep kissing the Alpha, Charles very much wanted to see that. Kissing Jasper once more, he stepped back again, “Sorry, but I have to see this.”

Jasper just shook his head, laughing slightly, “Go in, I’ll try and find you later.”

Charles nodded before following Alex back inside. By the time they made it back to the lounge, the music had started and Max was just starting a terrible version of an ABBA song Charles couldn’t place. He couldn’t help himself from pulling his phone out to start filming, needing all of the blackmail material of the Dutchman that he could.

By the time that he remembered about Jasper, he couldn’t find the Alpha. He was disappointed for a second but then he got pulled into chaos by George and all thoughts of the very hot Alpha disappeared. It wasn’t well after two in the morning, that he also remembered about Lando and realised that he hadn’t seen him in a while either.

“Do you know what happened to Lando?” he asked Alex, deciding that if anyone knew it would be him.

“Oh, he left at some point, I don’t know when.”

“Oh.”

He found himself disappointed in that as well. It brought his cheery, drunk mood down and he found himself frowning. What was more disappointing was that Lando didn’t say goodbye to him. Not wanting to let thoughts of Lando ruin the rest of his evening, he tipped back the last of his drink and went off in search of finding something to distract him.

It was late at night, or probably early in the morning, when Charles found himself stumbling home with Alex. George had left at some point earlier so it was just the two of them. Both of them were fairly drunk, but just sober enough to be able to make the trip home, even if it took them five times longer than it normally would. Charles had an arm looped around Alex, to keep himself upright, and also maybe to keep Alex upright as well.

“I can’t believe that Lando left without saying goodbye,” Charles whined.

Alex just laughed at him, “I’m sure that he just couldn’t find you.”

“Still, he could have said goodbye.”

His friend didn’t stop him so he found himself drunkenly repeating his whine, not able to think about anything else. He didn’t even care about not getting to find Jasper again, he just wished that Lando could have said goodbye to him. It was all his drunk mind could think about.

Charles found himself missing Lando when he didn’t see him during the next few weeks. He was even disappointed when he got to return to his usual desk in the library. Each time he turned up, he would come around the corner, hoping Lando would be there and he never was. Even while he was working as soon as he heard anything, his head would jerk up, hoping it was Lando walking towards him but it never was.

He was even absent from any friend gathering they had, messages in their group chat going mostly unanswered. Only a couple of sorry I’m busy responses to questions. Charles was starting to worry that something had happened at that party, something he hadn’t been present for and that Lando had decided to ditch the group without saying anything. 

Finally, exactly a month after Charles had last seen him, Charles finally arrived to Lando at his desk. He couldn’t help the smile that bloomed across his face.

“Hey, it’s good to see you,” Charles cheerfully opened.

Lando barely even acknowledged him, not taking his headphones off at all. He looked at Charles for a split second before returning to starting at his laptop, fingers dancing across the keys. There was no point in pressing, Lando was clearly busy and it wasn’t like Charles didn’t have things to do either. After weeks of not even seeing Lando, seeing him again was better than nothing but Charles still wanted to talk to him.

Still, he didn’t press it. He settled back into his second favourite desk and started to work as well. However, today, he was struggling to focus. He caught himself glancing back towards Lando every couple of minutes, making it considerably harder to get anything done.

Each time that he looked, Lando’s face was still buried in his own work. His fingers barely stopped moving, something that Charles wished that he could replicate. Despite all of that, Lando looked almost worried. Charles didn’t feel like he knew Lando well enough to truly read his expressions but the slight crease of his brows gave it away. Charles wanted to ask but he couldn’t bring himself to disrupt Lando.

Forcing himself to focus on the reason he came to the library in the first place, Charles knuckled down and started working. Once he stopped worrying so much about Lando, it was easier to start to get his own words flowing onto the page. He would still look back towards Lando but it was now far more occasional.

He had hoped that they would settle back into their usual routine of Lando forcing Charles to take a break. Today more than ever, Charles wanted to stop and chat with Lando. But it never happened. Lando didn’t even say goodbye to Charles. He only noticed that the younger man was leaving because he happened to glance up just as Lando was disappearing through the shelves.

It left him feeling worse when he did finally leave the library himself. He’d been so excited when he’d seen Lando that morning but it had turned out to be a complete disappointment. If Lando didn’t want to talk to him, he didn’t know why Lando bothered to come up to Charles’ corner of the library. He could have just kept working wherever it was that he had been for the last few weeks.

A familiar antsy feeling overtook him as he made the trip home. He knew exactly what he needed but it just made the walk home take what felt like hours. He was so desperate to get home that he even caught himself jogging the last couple of blocks.

“George, Alex, anyone home?” he called out once he was inside.

Unfortunately, there was no response. He caught himself checking all the room on the off chance that they had headphones on and hadn’t heard him but the apartment was depressingly empty. It didn’t stop him from building his nest as that was what he desperately needed but it wasn’t the same when he crawled inside and was alone.

He knew that a lot of Omegas would nest alone, or only with their mate, but Charles was never that type of Omega. He loved having people in his nest, even if he was slightly picky as to who those people were. Obviously, George and Alex were his favourites but there were a bunch of other people he’d happily invite inside.

Curling up inside, buried under the blankets, some of the antsy feelings had dissipated but not all of them. Pulling his phone out, he snapped a photo of the nest and sent it to his flatmates. He didn’t even have to add any words to accompany the picture, they knew what he wanted.

Seconds later, his phone was vibrating with an incoming call from George, “Bad day?” the Beta asked when Charles answered.

“Just needed to nest,” Charles semi-lied, “But it is very empty.”

“I’m on my way home,” George promised. “Where’s Alex?”

“I don’t know but he isn’t home.”

The other man hummed before launching into a story about his day. Charles was content to just listen, story punctuated by George’s feet pounding on the footpath. The call only ended when the front door slammed open and George stepped inside, immediately crawling into the nest beside Charles.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” Charles confirmed, snuggling into George’s chest. The advantage of large packmates, plenty of body to cuddle.

George hummed before continuing his story. When Alex did finally join them, a lousy twenty minutes later, it was just another body to cuddle and another voice to speak about his day. The antsy feelings had finally left and Charles could enjoy the time with his pack in his nest. He didn’t even mind when Alex started to slightly possessively scent both of them

“Alright, enough pouting,” Alex eventually declared, “What’s got you upset?”

“I’m not pouting,” Charles tried to argue.

Unfortunately, both his packmates just laughed. Maybe they did have a very slight point. When they didn’t say anything more, Charles knew that he couldn’t, and shouldn’t, delay it anymore.

“Lando was back in the library today but he ignored me all day,” Charles whined.

The other two were already well aware of Lando’s disappearance. Charles might have complained about it a little bit, but they had also noticed his lack of appearance at their last two movie nights.

“Maybe he was just busy,” George argued, clearly playing devil’s advocate.

“He’d never been too busy before to not at least chat for a few minutes. He barely acknowledged that I was there all day.”

“I’m sure that everything will return to normal.”

“But what if it doesn’t?” Charles protested, “What if I did something to annoy him and he doesn’t want to be friends with me anymore.”

“Then he wouldn’t have come back to sit where he knows that you always are in the library.”

Maybe his friends were making a good point but it didn’t truly calm Charles. He was sure that something had changed, he just couldn’t figure out what exactly. It wasn’t like Lando was talking to him to tell him. And by now, it had been weeks since Charles had last seen him and he could no longer remember anything that he might have done that would have upset the other Omega.

“Do you think that I’m being dramatic?” Charles asked.

Alex just laughed, “Maybe a little.”

It didn’t stop Charles from sighing. He just wanted him and Lando to go back to normal, to being friends. He just didn’t know what to do about it.

Even after the three of them climbed back out of the nest later that evening, Charles’ mind was still fixated on Lando. He couldn’t think about anything else. Unfortunately, despite all of the thoughts, he still didn’t know what to do. Without confronting Lando and demanding to know what had happened, he wasn’t really going to get answers.

All he could do was turn up early at the library the next morning and hope that Lando was there again, and that was exactly what he did. Almost to his surprise, the Brit was there again, already settled in Charles’ favourite desk. Like the day before, his headphones were on and he didn’t remove them as Charles approached but he did nod in acknowledgement, something Charles was taking as a win.

Still, it appeared like Lando didn’t want to talk to him. Not wanting to push it, Charles settled at his own desk and started to work.

He had no idea how long he sat there, working away, when he heard the sound of metal scrapping along the table. He lifted his head to see Lando standing there, slightly sheepish expression, can of Coke sitting on the desk. Charles reached up and tugged his headphones off before speaking, “I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

“Sorry,” Lando apologised, sheepish expression remaining on his face, “I got really busy.”

“That’s a shame, the corner of the library isn’t the same without you.”

“I’ve missed being here as well.”

“How have you been since I last saw you?” Charles asked.

That got Lando to finally sit down in the chair next to Charles and relax slightly. He still wasn’t quite as chatty as he would usually be but after weeks of silence, Charles didn’t care. Just hearing Lando’s voice again relaxed something in Charles' chest.

“I should probably let you return to work,” Lando admitted after a bit.

“I don’t mind,” Charles quickly protested, “I like talking to you.”

Lando looked almost embarrassed, for a reason Charles couldn’t understand but he just shrugged, “I like it too but I should probably keep working, deadlines and all.”

He couldn’t help the disappointment that flooded through his body at that but he nodded, “Of course.”

It still took a second before Lando stood up and walked away from Charles. Even with Lando now gone, Charles didn’t immediately return to his own work. He caught himself blankly staring at where Lando had once been sitting. He wanted to ask Lando to come back, to keep talking to him, but he had no reason. After a few more minutes, Charles finally turned his focus back to his own work.

After weeks of not speaking to Lando, or seeing him, just having him back in Charles’ presence felt like such a relief. He had desperately missed Lando. Now, he just had to hope that whatever had caused Lando to disappear for weeks wouldn’t happen again. He wasn’t sure that he could take it if it did happen again.

“Hey, can I ask you a favour?” Lando asked, gently pushing a can of Coke across the desk towards Charles.

“What is it?”

“Alex said that you aren’t going home for Christmas, right?”

Charles was confused as to where this was he was going but he replied, letting Lando take this conversation where he wanted, “Right.”

“Can you come home with me and pretend to be my boyfriend?”

Whatever Charles was expecting Lando to ask, that was not it, “What?”

“Can you?” Lando asked, sounding even more nervous now.

“Why do you need a fake boyfriend?” Charles asked, asking the first of his many questions.

Lando heavily sighed, “Because Mom kept asking me if I was dating someone anytime that we spoke it and it was easier to lie and tell her that I have a boyfriend just to get her to shut up about it. But now she’s asking for him to come visit.”

“Can’t you just tell her that he’s going to visit his own family?”

“But then she’s going to ask next time I’m home and I won’t have an excuse anymore. So, can you please me by fake boyfriend?”

“Why me?” Charles asked, “And not someone more believably who’s an Alpha.”

He was a little surprised when Lando just laughed, “Because my whole family knows that I’m only interested in Omegas.”

Charles didn’t quite know what to do with that piece of information. He’d never met an Omega who wasn’t interested in Alphas. He wanted to ask Lando more, ask him how he knew that and how his family came to know but he wasn’t sure if that was too personal to ask. At this point in time, they were definitely friends but it felt like something you would talk about with your closest friends and they weren’t there yet.

Pushing that train of thought aside, it left him with Lando’s original question. He’d never been anyone’s fake boyfriend, he’d barely even been anyone’s real boyfriend before, never having found the time to date someone while balancing his studies and work. He should say no. Tell Lando that it was a stupid plan and that he should be honest with his Mum but he couldn’t.

Lando had come to Charles when he needed help getting himself out of a situation when Charles was sure that there were plenty of other options. He couldn’t turn Lando down, not with the pitiful look currently plastered on the other Omega’s face. And visiting Lando’s family sounded more interesting than spending Christmas on campus when it was deserted.

“How long for?”

Lando’s face brightened slightly, clearly realising that Charles was considering it, “Just a couple of days. I’m not staying long.”

“Fine,” Charles finally agreed, “But you owe me.”

“Thank you so much,” Lando cheered before pulling Charles into a tight hug.

He’d never been this close to Lando before and he didn’t quite know what to do with himself. Before he could figure it out, Lando stepped back and returned to his own chair. Even with the space between them recreated, Lando’s scent still lingered around him slightly. Despite all of the hours spent in the vicinity of each other, Charles had never quite figured out what Lando’s scent was. At least it no longer invoked the taste of terrible hall food.

“Do we need to figure out a lie to tell your family?” Charles asked, already feeling a need to plan out every lie that they were going to have to tell over those couple of days.

Lando just waved it away, “Eh, it’s fine, I’m sure that we can figure it out later.”

Charles was already starting to doubt this plan but he nodded. It wasn’t his family that they were lying to. If Lando wanted to present a fake boyfriend to them, then that was on him. Charles was just along for that ride.

Deciding that he was done with this conversation, Lando returned to his own desk and appeared to immediately refocus on his work. Charles attempted to do that same but he quickly found himself struggling. He just kept thinking about Lando and this plan to pretend to be in a relationship. The more he thought about it, the stupider that he sounded. And he kept planning on turning around and telling Lando that he had changed his mind. But each time that he did look back at Lando, any words died in his throat. The other man looked so content as he worked away and Charles couldn’t be the one to break it.

So, instead, he stayed quiet and tried to get any work done. By mid-afternoon, he had completely given up. Anything that he wrote was immediately deleted for being garbage and he couldn’t collect his thoughts in a coherent manner. Knowing that there was no point trying, he decided to just pack up and try again tomorrow.

Lando looked up from his laptop just as Charles had shoved the last of his belongings into his bag, “Leaving already?”

While Lando was usually there before Charles, it was rare for him to stay after Charles, “Yeah, just not feeling it today.”

“Oh, that sucks.”

Charles shrugged, “Just going to go home and take a nap, I think.”

“Hopefully that helps,” Lando cheerfully replied, “See you later.”

“See you.”

It was only when Charles reached the first bookshelf that Lando called his name. Immediately stopping, Charles turned back towards the other man, “I’ll text you the details about the trip.”

“Let me know how much money I owe you for everything.”

Lando just shrugged him off, “Call it the cost I’ll pay for dragging you along.”

Charles wasn’t sure he was willing to freeload but this wasn’t the time for the argument. He could slip Lando some money closer to the time when he knew how much it would be. When Lando didn’t say anything more, Charles waved a final goodbye and continued through the shelves and out of the library.

It was only due to autopilot that he managed to make it home safely. When he stumbled through the front door, he was immediately greeted by Alex. It was probably a good thing that someone else was home as Charles shouldn’t be alone in the state he was in. Alex didn’t say anything until Charles had settled onto the couch and tucked himself into Alex’s side.

“What’s the matter with you?” the Alpha asked.

“Did you tell Lando that I was going to stay here over Christmas?”

His friend looked puzzled for a second before responding, “I did. I figured that he was as well and wanted to know who else was around. Did he ask you about it?”

“He asked me to pretend to be his boyfriend to go home with him for Christmas.”

“Oh,” Alex gasped, “I wasn’t expecting that. What did you say to him?”

“I agreed to it like an idiot.”

“Do you actually want to pretend to be his boyfriend?”

Charles paused for a second, “I don’t know if I want to, but I don’t hate the idea. And it sounds more interesting than hanging around campus over Christmas.”

Alex nodded, “I’m sure that you’ll be a great fake boyfriend for him then.”

“What if I’m not?”

“Then Lando can deal with that.”

“But what if I fuck things up with his family for him?”

“Still Lando’s fault,” Alex countered, “Plus, people love you, I’m sure that it will be fine.”

Charles wanted to believe the Alpha’s words but he was having a hard time at it. All he could think about was all of the ways that this could possibly go wrong. He did know that any consequences were Lando’s problem to deal with but it still didn’t relax him. Even having his packmate’s arm wrapped across his shoulder couldn’t calm him down. Nothing truly relaxed him, no matter what he tried to focus on.

After a restless night of sleep. Charles knew that he couldn’t handle this. He should track Lando down and tell him that he couldn’t do this. That wasn’t what he actually said to the younger man when he found him in the library later that morning.

“Can we talk about this plan?” Charles asked, sliding into a chair in front of Lando.

The other man looked up from his laptop and nodded, not even bothering to ask a clarifying question as to what Charles was referring to, “What did you want to talk about?”

“I can’t handle this figure-it-out-as-we-go plan, what are we going to tell your family about our relationship?”

“What do you want to figure out?”

“Everything, how did we get together? When? Why are you bringing me home for Christmas?”

“We tell the truth where we can,” Lando suggested, “We met through Alex at the start of the year, became friends through sitting next to each other in the library. And then at a party, we kissed while drunk and have been together ever since. And I’m bringing you home for Christmas because I didn’t want you to be sad and alone over the break.”

Charles almost hated how close to the truth that was. It made it easier, fewer outright lies to tell. Something twinged in his chest at the idea that with only a couple of changes, he and Lando could have actually been in a relationship. He didn’t fully know what to do with that thought and he definitely didn’t have the brain power to deal with it now.

“Are you alright with that?” Lando asked when Charles didn’t reply.

“I guess so.”

“Anything else that you want to sort out?” Lando asked, teasing smile on his face. Clearly, he was having more fun with this than Charles.

“Tell me about your family,” Charles said, “What have I gotten myself into?”

He settled into his chair as Lando talked. It didn’t take long for Charles to see how much Lando loved his family. It was evident from his tone and the easy smile on his face. Charles let himself absorb all of Lando’s words, trying to memorise all of the information. He might not be Lando’s real boyfriend but he still wanted to make a good impression on his family. And that started with knowing who he was going to be meeting.

He found himself unsurprised that Lando had siblings, he just came across as the type that did. He was a little more surprised to find out that he wasn’t the only Omega. A younger sister who was also an Omega as well as an Alpha older brother and Beta younger sister. With a range of dynamics in one family, Charles got the impression that he wasn’t raised in the formal pack that Charles was. It seemed looser than his own. He didn’t know if that was something that he wished he had or not. He guessed that he might have a better idea after seeing it first-hand in a couple of weeks.

“Are you feeling calmer now?” Lando asked once he had finished.

“I am,” Charles confirmed, “Are you sure that this is a good idea? To lie to your family?”

Lando just shrugged, “It’s for their own good. So that they will stop asking if I’ve met someone.”

Charles didn’t know if he totally believed that. He didn’t press further, letting it drop, at least for now. Having some semblance of a plan helped Charles settle. And when he returned to the desk he now used, his second favourite, he found himself actually able to focus on his work for the first time since Lando had asked him the favour.

Charles couldn’t stop his hands from shaking as he waited for Lando, bag hanging off his shoulder. Having been so scared of being late, he’d appeared outside Lando’s apartment twenty minutes before their meeting time. He could have gone up and knocked on Lando’s door but he didn’t want to impose. Instead, he stood around, outside in the cold, and waited for the other man, who naturally was late.

Just when Charles was about to give up waiting, Lando finally appeared, his own bag banging against his side. Unlike Charles, he looked at ease, genuine smile across his face.

“Morning,” Lando chirped, “How are you doing?”

“I’d be doing better if the person I was meeting wasn’t late.”

Lando just laughed, “We still have plenty of time before the train.”

Charles had been a little surprised when Lando had told them they were taking the train to his parents’. Charles hadn’t known what he was expecting but it wasn’t that. He wasn’t complaining about it, giving him a couple more hours with Lando before he had to meet his family. Usually, the other man would relax him but today he was too wound up to relax, even once they were settled in their seats on the train.

He hated how relaxed Lando looked, easily flipping through pages of his textbook. Charles couldn’t focus on anything and it didn’t help that the motion of the train was making him slightly motion-sick. The only thing that he could do was twist his fingers as he stared out at the scenery, occasionally glancing back towards Lando.

“Are you sure that you remember what we are going to tell your family?” Charles asked, breaking the silence an hour into the ride.

“Of course,” Lando replied, not looking up from his book, “They aren’t hard.”

“How can you do this?” Charles asked, “Lie to your family.”

That did get Lando to turn towards Charles, “It’s just so that they stop asking me if I’ve found someone. It’s not a big deal.”

No matter how many times Lando said that, Charles still didn’t believe him. It was still a lie. He couldn’t understand how Lando could just easily brush it off. But, he guessed that he shouldn’t complain. He was getting a free trip out of it, having been unsuccessful in his attempts to get Lando to let him pay for any of it. And despite his nerves, it would be infinitely better than spending Christmas on a deserted campus.

At long last, they were disembarking the train and making their way through the station. Charles hadn’t asked but he assumed by Lando’s determined pace that someone was meeting them. That was confirmed by a wide smile that broke out on his face as he broke out into a true jog.

“Oli,” Lando cheered, stepping into someone’s arms, “It’s so good to see you.”

Charles awkwardly hung back as the two brothers caught up. It was only when they broke apart that the Alpha’s eyes turned to Charles, “You must be Charles.”

He hadn’t realised that Lando had told his family Charles’ name. He probably should have assumed. Lando wasn’t going to tell his family, ‘hey, yeah, I’m bringing my boyfriend home, no I won’t tell you anything about him.’

“I am,” Charles confirmed, “You must be Oli.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

And then, to Charles’ shock, Oli pulled Charles into a tight hug as well. It took him a second to react, unsure what exactly to do but he wrapped his own arms around the Alpha in response.

“Now, we should go,” Oli declared once he let go of Charles, “Everyone else is dying to meet you.”

“Oh, I’m so glad that I’m not important then,” Lando whined.

“You’re boring,” Oli teased.

Charles followed the two bickering brothers as they made their way out of the train station. Charles might not know anything about Oli, but he could see that the two brothers got along well, despite their differing dynamics. Dynamics were different with siblings, different rules, but there was still an expectation that an Omega treats an Alpha with respect. He wasn’t saying that Lando was being disrespectful, but he didn’t care how he was speaking to the Alpha.

Once at the Norris family home, Charles quickly found himself getting pulled into hugs by all the family members. They were quick to open their home to Charles, not questioning his relationship with Lando. The two of them hadn’t given the family a reason to question it, not yet at least. He just had to hope that he could act well enough to continue to not give them a reason.

Even after only spending an hour with Lando’s family, Charles quickly figured out that the Norris family pack dynamic was completely different to Charles’ own family. There was no structure of power, no bowing to the Alpha’s whims. Out of habit, Charles found himself treading carefully but there was no need. Lando was still the slightly bratty Omega that he always was and no one cared, they appeared to almost celebrate it.

He hated how easily his nerves faded. He still wasn’t completely calm with an environment he wasn’t familiar with but they were now very much a background feeling as he got to know all of Lando’s family.

It also didn’t take long to also realise why Lando was the person that he was. He was clearly raised in a pack of love and support, who let their pack members be whoever they wanted to be. It also helped him understand why Omega had told his family that he liked other Omegas. Because he wasn’t worried about them hating him because of it, because he knew that they couldn’t. They all loved each other no matter what.

He hadn’t meant to but he found himself opening up, spilling details about his own life. They all earnestly wanted to get to know Lando’s new boyfriend.

It was only when he went to go to bed that night that he came face to face with the next problem. The bed. He and Lando were expected to share a bed. Not just a bed, Lando’s childhood bed. He couldn’t come up with an excuse to sleep in a guest room, there was no reason. He and Lando were supposedly in a happy relationship so why wouldn’t they want to share a bed.

“Are you alright?” Lando asked, clearly picking up on the changes to Charles’ scent.

“I just hadn’t thought about the bed.”

Lando’s cheeks flushed, “Are you alright with sharing a bed?”

He would have to be so he nodded. It was a large enough bed for two people anyway. Lando offered him a slight smile before turning to his bag, pulling items out of it. Charles stood there for a second before grabbing his own bag. At least, Lando slipped into the bathroom to change into his pyjamas. Charles might be prepared to share a bed with him but he wasn’t prepared to see his friend naked.

When he returned from his own trip to the bathroom, Lando was already under the covers. He had left a corner flipped over for Charles to climb under as well. Not letting himself overthink it, Charles clambered in beside him after turning the lights off.

He couldn’t find a comfortable position, not wanting to accidentally touch Lando, but he also didn’t want to toss and turn and keep Lando up. He forced himself to stay completely still as he stared up towards the ceiling. This felt far too intimate of a position for Charles to be in with someone he’d only hugged once. But Charles got gotten himself into his situation and now he had to deal with it.

As he turned his head slightly, his face pressed up against the sheets. With Lando having moved out a couple years earlier, his scent no longer lingered on them. Not that it mattered. Lando’s scent rolled off his body and Charles was quickly surrounded by it. The pudding scent that had once bothered Charles provided him with enough comfort to ease his nerves and eventually lull him off to sleep.

He woke the next morning to a weight resting across his chest. It took him a couple of seconds to remember exactly what had happened the night before and where he was. At some point during the night, the two of them had moved closer to each other. Lando’s face was almost pressed into the crook of Charles’ neck and it was his arm resting across him. Part of Charles wanted to escape, to slip away from Lando, but he couldn’t. Lando looked so peaceful lying there and Charles didn’t want to be the one to wake him.

He didn’t know exactly how long he was lying there, feeling Lando’s soft, even breaths against his skin before the pattern changed. After a couple of shorter breaths, Charles then felt Lando move.

“Morning,” he whispered, not wanting to scare the other Omega.

“Morning,” Lando mumbled in response.

“Are there any plans for the day?” Charles asked, “Any reason for us to get out of bed anytime soon?”

Lando paused for a second, “We usually bake on Christmas Eve as a family in preparation for tomorrow.”

“Does that involve getting up early?”

“Not if I have my way.”

Charles was more than happy to agree to that. He might have been a little, almost scared of Lando’s touch but he no longer was. He found himself relaxing into it, enjoying it. He didn’t want to move at all now. He wasn’t sure if Lando felt the same, or just was too lazy, but he didn’t move either. They barely even talked, the only noise their respective breaths.

Their bubble was burst by a loud knock at the door, “Lando, stop fucking your boyfriend and come down to eat.”

Even though the person on the other side couldn’t see them, Charles still blushed at the implication. He turned his head in time to see a similar colour on Lando’s cheeks even if he was rolling his eyes, “Stop being jealous Flo, we’ll be there in a bit.”

Charles hated that Lando did then finally climb out of bed, away from him. He watched the other man until he disappeared into the bathroom. Even with Lando now out of sight, Charles didn’t immediately move. Needing a shower himself, it wasn’t like he could do anything until Lando was finished. The extra couple of minutes of rest were appreciated as well after the chaos and deadlines of the last couple of weeks.

It took twenty minutes but once he and Lando were both showered and cleaned they made their way downstairs. The rest of Lando’s family were all waiting for them but in a way that made it appear like they weren’t actually waiting. As soon as they noticed the two Omegas, noise broke out as they were offered all sorts of foods. Charles quickly found himself seated at the table with a stacked plate in front of him.

As he ate, he listened to all the conversations going on around him, each family member catching up with all the others. More than anything else, he just watched Lando. The Omega was in his element, surrounded by people who loved him. The smile never left his face as ate, clearly enjoying being around his family again.

Once they had all eaten plenty of food, things started moving. When Lando had told him that they spent Christmas Eve baking, he had assumed that that meant just like Christmas cookies or something. That assumption was very wrong. He found exactly how wrong when Mrs Norris pulled out a literal whiteboard with foods written out across the board, each with specific times associated with them.

Charles quickly found himself getting his hands messy as he and Lando got handed the recipe for stained-glass biscuits. It had been a long time since Charles had baked, not having done it since he was a little kid. With so many people around, it was easy to just let himself enjoy it.

“What’s next?” Lando asked once the biscuits were in the oven.

His Mum consulted the whiteboard before answering, “Fruit cake.”

“Ooh, my favourite.”

Charles had never made fruit cake before but any apprehension was quickly swallowed by Lando’s excitement. He didn’t what fruit cake entailed but he quickly found that it involved chopping dried fruit into tiny pieces.

It was only when the cake started cooking, that Lando’s scent started to almost overwhelm the room. He glanced over at Lando but there was no indication as to what causing the change. No one else appeared to notice, still focused on their own tasks. Something that confused Charles as it was now all he could smell.

Not voicing his confusion, he continued on with the next thing they were to bake. But the scent just seemed to get stronger and stronger. To the point that Charles couldn’t think about anything but Lando. When the timer dinged for the cake, Charles couldn’t think about it, leaving it for Lando to deal with.

“Charles, come and smell this,” Lando smiled right at him, “It always smells so good out fresh out of the oven.”

He couldn’t resist Lando so he did as instructed, bending over to really get his nose into the cake. And then he realised that he’d made a mistake. He hadn’t been smelling Lando, he’d been smelling the cake. The cake that had the exact same smell as Lando.

He’d finally figured out exactly what Lando’s scent was.

And now he didn’t know what to do with that information.

He still couldn’t think of anything but Lando. He managed to at least complete everything else that was asked of him and didn’t accidentally chop his fingers off.

Once everything was finally, baked, cooled and decorated, Charles thought that things would calm down. But it was late enough in the day that it was apparently time to start cooking dinner. Charles figured that they didn’t need everyone for that and made his escape out of the kitchen, closely followed by Lando.

“I hope that wasn’t too much,” Lando spoke once they were far enough away from his family.

“It wasn’t,” Charles instantly assured him, “It was fun.”

“Did you ever do anything similar with your family?”

He shook his head, “Not really.”

Lando looked like he wanted to ask more questions but he didn’t, much to Charles’ relief. He wasn’t sure how he would explain his own family’s pack to Lando. It was such a contrast to what Charles was currently seeing. It was like they were raised in two different worlds.

And Charles couldn’t help but wish that maybe his childhood pack was a little more like the Norris one.

Charles woke early on Christmas Day to footsteps running down the hall. Lando had already warned him that festivities started early but he hadn’t quite prepared himself to be dragged out of bed just after seven in the morning for present opening. Thankfully, pyjamas were appropriate attire and he could stumble out of bed and downstairs where Lando’s family was waiting for them.

With this being his introduction to Lando’s family, he was expecting to step back as the presents were distributed and then opened. This was clearly a family moment and he wasn’t family. They might believe that he was dating Lando but even if that was the truth, he didn’t believe that that translated to being family, not with their supposed relationship being so new.

Much to his surprise, he found a small pile of presents being given to him with his name written on it.

“You didn’t have to get me anything,” Charles protested.

“Nonsense,” Mrs Norris responded, “We couldn’t leave you out.”

Charles appreciated it, even if felt a little bad for not getting anything for them. When he whispered this to Lando, the other Omega just shrugged, “They don’t need anything and it doesn’t mean anything.”

He didn’t quite believe that last part but he let it go. He wasn’t going to become a terrible guest by refusing their gifts. So, as everyone else tore into theirs, he slowly started to open his own ones. None of them were very large, with mostly chocolate and sweets inside but Charles didn’t care. Lando’s family still put in the effort to get him a gift before they even met him. And if he was actually Lando’s boyfriend, he would have appreciated the care.

There was one present he was saving for last. He’d seen enough papers spread out on Lando’s desk to recognise the other man’s handwriting on the label. He and Lando hadn’t talked about gifts beforehand and Charles was very much not expecting anything, he hadn’t gotten anything for Lando. He had no idea what could possibly be inside and that boxlike shape wasn’t giving anything away.

Finally, he couldn’t delay it anymore. It wasn’t until all of the wrapping paper was off that he got a good look at what was inside.

It was actually two things. For each 3D model that you had to assemble, pieces of cardboard, cut to fit perfectly together to assemble Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Charles couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face. They were really cool and he was already looking forward to putting them together.

“Do you like them?” Lando asked.

Charles looked up to see the other man staring at him, hopeful expression on his face, “I do. Thank you.”

“I’m glad,” Lando replied, expression turning into joy, “I saw them and thought of you.”

“Thank you.”

It was only then that Charles noticed most of Lando’s family was watching them. He didn’t believe that any of them doubted the relationship between them but he felt a need to prove that it was real. To sell Lando’s lie. Unfortunately, there was one thing that he could do to prove it.

Before he could overthink it, he leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to Lando’s lips. Nothing more than a peck but it wasn’t something they had ever done before. A shocked expression bloomed on Lando’s face. Thankfully, he was facing away from his family so only Charles could see it.

“I can’t wait to build them when we get back home,” Charles said, breaking the silence.

“Good.”

“Charles, what did you get Lando?” one of Lando’s sisters, Cisca, asked.

He was suddenly faced with the fact he hadn’t gotten anything for Lando, something that he definitely should have done if he and Lando were dating. Unfortunately, his mind went blank and he couldn’t think of a solid lie.

Before he got anything out, Lando jumped in, “It’s still on campus, I didn’t bring it with me.”

“Too big?” she asked, raising a shocked eyebrow.

“I couldn’t be bothered getting Charles to bring it all the way here just to take it back,” Lando continued to lie.

“But you brought Charles’ present with you?”

“I didn’t want him to feel left out if he had nothing to open.”

“Aww,” she cooed, “That’s cute.”

When no one else asked any other questions, Charles felt like they could relax. They had gotten away with it. Based on the relief on Lando’s face, he felt the same. He didn’t get to actually ask the other man about it until later, after they had managed to escape away from his family for a couple of minutes.

“I’m sorry for kissing you,” Charles immediately apologised once they were alone, “I didn’t mean to force myself on you.”

Lando just shrugged, unreadable expression on his face, “It’s fine. You were just trying to sell it to my family, right?”

“Right.”

“Then, I guess that I should be thanking you.”

“You don’t need to,” Charles replied, “Just like you didn’t need to get me a present.”

The other man shrugged for a second time, “Like I said, I saw them and thought of you.”

Charles was pretty sure that there was more to it than that but he didn’t get a chance to ask. Any further questions were interrupted by the doorbell. Lando’s extended family had started to arrive and that was when things really started to pick up. He and Lando got ushered back into the main family room as he was introduced to a number of Norris family members.

He found himself separated from Lando but he didn’t mind too much. All of Lando’s family was genuinely welcoming to him. It didn’t stop him from continually glancing around the room, just so he always knew where exactly Lando was.

It allowed him to not be surprised when Lando appeared behind him, older woman beside him.

“Is this your Omega?” she asked.

There was something about being referred to as someone’s Omega that sent his heart into overdrive. It wasn’t something that he thought he would like. He had always hated hearing Alphas refer to their Omega, it always sounded a little bit too much like they were being referred to as property. But this, this felt different.

“Yes, Grandma, this is my boyfriend Charles.”

“Nice to meet you,” Charles said, reaching his hand out.

His hand was ignored as she pulled him in into a hug. He managed to stifle the yelp he almost let out in shock.

“So, tell me about yourself?” she asked once she let go of him.

Charles was happy enough to tell her. As he spoke, Lando stepped closer to him, sides almost pressed up against each other. After another few sentences, he was even closer before wrapping an arm around him. Charles couldn’t help himself, he relaxed slightly into Lando’s side as they kept talking with his Grandma.

The two of them stuck closer throughout the rest of the morning, moving between conversations together. Even when the food was served, they stayed close taking two seats next to each other. If they were actually dating, Charles would reach under the table and grab Lando’s hand. Instead, he tucked both of them into his lap and twisted them together.

The food itself was excellent. He would pretend to be Lando’s boyfriend again just to get to eat his family's cooking again. Between that and all of the conversation flying across the table, Charles found himself enjoying the meal.

As the deserts were placed on the table, Charles found himself staring down the fruit cake. He’d never eaten one before and now he couldn’t think about anyone else. So, after Lando cut a slice for himself, Charles grabbed one as well.

He nervously split off a corner and held it on his fork for a second, staring at it. Beside him, Lando was already digging in. If he didn’t already know it, it was obvious that Lando loved the cake. Once Charles at eaten the small bite, he figured out why. It was so much better than the terrible pudding his hall had served, the thing he originally thought Lando’s scent smelt like.

“Did you enjoy it?” Lando asked gently elbowing him.

“It’s good,” Charles agreed, “You’ll have to bake it for me when we get back to campus.”

To his surprise, Lando just laughed, “Maybe.”

Charles tried to focus on other things but he could still smell Lando slightly with the small distance between them. Turning his head slightly, he started a conversation with one of Lando’s cousins in an attempt to think about things that weren’t Lando.

Long after the food was finished, they finally all left the table. Most of them moved to more comfortable seats in the lounge but Charles needed a couple of minutes to himself. He hadn’t been alone since he woke up that morning. When no one was looking at him, he slipped out the door and into the backyard.

Outside in the fresh air, he took a few deep breaths before sitting down on a bench. He wasn’t really dressed appropriately for the cold weather outside but he didn’t care. He wasn’t planning on sitting outside for long, just long enough to be prepared to spend a few more hours around people.

He didn’t know how long he was sitting there before he heard the door slide open. He was about to turn around and then he got the barest hint of Lando’s scent.

“I hope I’m not intruding,” Lando softly said as he settled down beside Charles.

“Of course not,” Charles assured him, “Just needed some fresh air.”

“I hope that my family hasn’t been too much for you. That you aren’t regretting coming with me.”

“They haven’t. But it is a lot of new people.”

“Fair enough,” Lando agreed, “But you haven’t regretted coming?”

Charles wasn’t lying when he shook his head, “No, I’m not.”

“You don’t have to answer but why didn’t you go home to your own family and pack over Christmas?”

He could have shrugged it off, ignored Lando’s question because it wasn’t something that they talked about. He could have also lied, told Lando that he just didn’t have the money to make it back to Monaco but he didn’t, “My pack isn’t like yours. I’m not complaining about having an excuse not to go home.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

It had been a long time since he talked about his family pack. He’d told George and Alex before they officially formed their pack, wanting to let them know what pack had meant to him before university. Just like the previous question, he could have ignored Lando but he wanted to tell the other man.

“I was raised in a very traditional pack where each dynamic has their place. Even though it was a pack, I didn’t feel the support that I feel here. It’s hard to place exactly but it taught me that as an Omega, I should find an Alpha, quit my job and have kids. That was all that was important as an Omega. That I couldn’t have my own life.”

“Oh, Charlie, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Charles replied, “It wasn’t all bad but I don’t feel a strong desire to go home more than I have to.”

“Well, at this rate, I’m pretty sure that my family will adopt you if you wanted another pack.”

Charles laughed, “I’ll consider that.”

Lando’s reply was cut off by his shivering. Charles was starting to feel the cold but it was clearly affecting Lando more, “I should probably head back inside. Are you coming in?”

“In a minute.”

He nodded and Charles watched as Lando stood up. Just before he walked away, Lando bent down and pressed a quick kiss to Charles' forehead. Before Charles could react, the other man darted back inside, leaving him alone.

With no one sitting beside him, the cold started to get to Charles but he still didn’t move, still feeling the touch of Lando’s lips on his skin.

Four days after Christmas, Charles and Lando made the return trip to university. This time, Charles could actually enjoy the train journey, not feeling the nerves he’d felt on the first trip. Lando still looked as relaxed as he had the first time.

“Thank you for coming with me,” Lando said, approximately halfway through their trip, “And for lying to my family.”

“I did actually enjoy myself,” Charles honestly replied, “It was better than being alone on campus over Christmas.”

“You made a good fake boyfriend, my family loved you.”

Lando definitely wasn’t lying. When they were saying their final goodbyes, all of Lando’s family whispered their approval of him. His Mum even went as far as telling him that he was welcome any time. It had made a little bit of the guilt for lying return but he had pushed that down. It wasn’t like he was going to see any of them again.

“Well, if you ever need a fake boyfriend again, you know who to call.”

The other man laughed, “I sure do.”

They didn’t talk much throughout the rest of the journey home, both of them fairly exhausted. Charles found himself looking forward to a couple of days of peace and quiet before he returned to his normal routine. They still didn’t talk once they were off the train and walking back towards the university.

“Thank you,” Lando repeated as they came to a stop outside of Charles’ apartment building.

“Of course.”

Lando offered him one last smile before walking away towards his own home. Charles lingered outside, just long enough to watch Lando disappear out of sight, before heading inside. It was late enough that he dumped his bag and crawled straight into bed, not bothering to stop anywhere. Neither of his packmates were back until tomorrow so there was nothing more exciting in the apartment than his own bed.

Despite the exhaustion he felt, sleep didn’t come easily. After almost a week of sharing a bed with someone, feeling the weight and body heat beside him, his bed felt emptier and colder than normal. He never thought that he would be the type of person who would need someone beside him to sleep. Especially after only a few days. The worst part of it was that with neither of his packmates at home, he couldn’t even crawl into one of their beds to cuddle.

Sleep did eventually come but it didn’t feel restful. He also woke with all of his blankets tangled around his legs. Once he managed to escape the blankets, he clambered out of bed. Usually, he would linger around in bed for longer, especially given he had no plans for the day. But, he felt a need to get up and start doing something, wanting to escape the empty feeling he was still feeling.

Once he was up and moving, he started to feel slightly better. That was until he had run through all of his morning routines and was faced with his lack of plans for the day. None of his friends, except Lando, were still out of town. He could have arranged to do something with Lando but after spending a week together he didn’t want to impose further on the younger man.

Not wanting to start back on any of his coursework, he looked for something else to do. The adult decision was to unpack, to not leave his suitcase in the corner for weeks. With nothing better to do, he started to pull everything out. That was until he came to the two boxes gifted from Lando safely tucked in the bottom. Pulling them out, he decided to abandon his unpacking and started building them instead. It was far more exciting than unpacking. Not wanting to make a complete mess, he picked one of the boxes and started to spread the pieces out on the table.

Once he started on one, Westminster Abbey, he got completely absorbed in it. He hadn’t expected it to be easy, a 3D puzzle didn’t sound simple, but it quickly became far more difficult than he was expecting. He became so focused on it that he didn’t even hear the front door open or footsteps padding through the hall. When a hand came down on his shoulder, he almost jumped out of his skin.

“Fuck, George, you scared the shit out of me,” Charles gasped once he managed to regain some level of composure.

“What are you working on?” the other man said, not even bothering to apologise.

“It’s a 3D puzzle.”

“Christmas present?”

He nodded, “Yeah, from Lando.”

George smiled slightly, “You had a good Christmas then?”

The two of them caught up as George sat down at the table with Charles. Charles kept slowly working on the puzzle. George also assumed a couple of pieces but he mostly left it to Charles. The puzzle was just about finished by the time the front door opened again and Alex strode in.

“Public transport sucks,” Alex declared dumping his bag onto the floor.

“My train trip wasn’t too bad,” Charles helpfully chimed in, to nods from George.

The Alpha just rolled his eyes at them, “Well, that’s good for you because mine sucked ass.”

“Do you want to talk about it, darling?” Charles teased sarcastically.

“I very much do.”

Alex sat down with them as they continued to catch up. Charles and George both had to repeat their holiday break stories so that Alex heard them as well. Charles didn’t even mind that much, happy to just get to spend time with his pack again. He had loved his time with Lando’s pack but they weren’t his. The scents weren’t the scents of his pack. And having Alex and George’s scents around him again settled something in his chest. They’d all be so busy before the Christmas break that they hadn’t managed to spend as much time together as a pack as they would have liked to. Before things got busy again, they wanted to spend time together again.

“How was Lando as a fake boyfriend?” George asked.

Charles shrugged, unsure exactly how to answer that question, “It was fun I guess.”

Both of his friends raised an eyebrow, “Fun?”

“I mean, it was a very different experience. I’m not sure I would do it again, though.”

The conversation moved on from Lando, even if thoughts of the other man still lingered in the back of Charles' mind, vaguely there as he assembled the last few pieces. Once it all was finished he leant back, admiring the work that had taken him hours to complete. He couldn’t help himself, he snapped a photo before sending it to Lando.

The three members of the pack were eating dinner when Charles got a response. It wasn’t much, a simple, ‘glad you liked it’ but it made Charles feel proud that he had persevered and finished it. As he ate, he barely listened to George or Alex, too transfixed on staring at the model of the Westminster Abbey still sitting on the table.

There was something about how perfect of a gift it was for Charles. He still didn’t believe that Lando had just stumbled into it but he didn’t know how Lando would have gotten something so perfect for him. It made him feel bad for not getting something for Lando in return. He just didn’t know what that would be.

He and Lando had spent many hours talking, between their time spent together in the library and social gatherings with friends. None of that conversation gave him a good idea as to what to get Lando. And now that it was days after Christmas, would it be awkward if he randomly gave Lando a gift?

He was still idly debating it when he went to bed that night. Wanting to treasure the gift, he carefully moved it into his bedroom and onto a shelf. There was a big enough gap beside it for the Big Ben when he finished it. From his bed, he could see the puzzle still. With the lights off, he couldn’t actually see it but he could see it in his mind, see exactly where it still was.

Three days later, he returned to his usual spot in the library, or at least his new normal spot in the library since Lando had stolen his old one. Like normal, Lando was already there, already working. He looked up and smiled when he noticed Charles.

“Back at it already?” Lando asked.

“I could say the same thing to you.”

The other man laughed, “The grind never stops, right?”

“Agreed.”

They didn’t talk anymore. Christmas break might have just ended but there was already plenty of work that both of them had to do. Charles was already counting down the days until the end of the year, until after all of the work was completed. He may enjoy his degree but that didn’t mean he loved all of the work that it entailed. There weren’t many days but there was the odd day that he wished that he hadn’t come back for his Masters’.

Especially on days like this when nothing was coming easily.

He wasn’t sure if it was the break or something else but he just couldn’t focus. His fingers moved across the keys of his laptop but any words that he wrote got deleted, none of them sounded right. He couldn’t help the repeated sighs that he let out. He needed to be productive but he just couldn’t.

“You sound like you need a break,” Lando said, breaking the silence and offering him a can of Coke.

Charles gratefully accepted it, “Thank you.”

“Not going well?”

“Not at all,” Charles admitted.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He very much did not. What he wanted was to go home and complete another 3D puzzle. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible. And not just because he had already finished both of the ones that Lando had gifted him. After completing two, he was feeling slightly addicted to them. He knew that he could go out and buy more, even asking Lando where he got them, but that felt different and wrong.

“Thank you for the puzzles,” Charles replied instead, “They were fun.”

Lando’s face broke into a smile at that, “I’m glad that you liked them.”

“I really do. They’re sitting on my shelf at home.”

That made the other man’s smile even more, “I’m glad.”

They moved on to other things and the longer they talked, the more that Charles could actually relax. For a few minutes, his brain finally shut up and moved on from thinking about work. He stopped stressing and worrying and just let himself joke with Lando.

When he did finally return to his work, things still weren’t easy but they were easier. He was only deleting half of the words instead of all of them. It was slow moving but at least there was finally progress.

Charles made the familiar trip up the stairs to Estaban, Lance and Mick’s. With the days away from the campus over the holiday break, it had been a couple of weeks since all of them had gathered together for a movie night. Charles was looking forward to an evening away from his laptop and work.

By the time he stepped inside, most of his friends were already there. He still managed to find a comfortable position on one of the couches, sandwiched in between Pierre and George. A couple of minutes after he had settled, the door opened and an unfamiliar scent entered the room. Charles frowned, not expecting a stranger to make an appearance tonight. No one mentioned bringing anyone new tonight. Based on the frowns mirrored on other faces around the rooms, he wasn’t the only one confused.

His confusion only deepened when Mick came around the corner. Now that he was closer, he could slightly smell Mick’s usual orange-y scent but there was a layer of honey drizzled on top. Charles' confusion was slightly lifted when he saw a new bond mark high up on his neck.

“You must have had a fun break then?” Charles teased.

Mick’s face turned bright red, “I did.”

“I didn’t know that you were seeing someone,” Pierre added.

“It had only been a couple of months but when you know you know, right?”

“How did you know?”

A dopey smile crossed Mick’s face, “He just smelt so good, like honey on toast. His scent was all that I could think about, all that I could focus on when we were in a room together.”

There was something about Mick’s words that sent a jolt through Charles. Connected two dots that he had never brought together. It reminded Charles of Christmas Eve in Lando’s family home. When all he could think about was the smell of Lando’s scent.

He’d ignored it for this long, still stuck on the hatred the first time he smelt Lando, but he hadn’t felt that way in months. Now, he would always smile when he smelt Lando, a feeling that no other person had brought to him, ever.

Now that he was thinking about it, he couldn’t think about anything else. He thought about pulling Lando into his nest, holding him tight and gently rubbing his scent all over Lando. He wanted that. He desperately wanted that. He wanted more times like Christmas at Lando’s, spending time with both Lando and his family.

Something about it turned his stomach. He wanted to think that it wasn’t just because Lando was also an Omega. He hadn’t had an issue with Lando when he had told him that he was only interested in Omegas. This was something different. He’d never felt like this about someone else. Growing up, he never had time for Alphas, too busy with his own life and school work. And when he came here, to university, he’d still never had the time to try and find someone to date. Any Alphas that he incidentally met were never the right person for him. Maybe it was because he was looking at the wrong dynamic.

Suddenly he couldn’t sit there anymore. Without saying anything, Charles scrambled up off the couch and out of the apartment. He heard people calling his name but he didn’t stop.  He needed fresh air, he needed space.

He only came to a stop once he was out of the building and onto the street. His legs collapsed out from under him and he slammed down onto the ground, basically sitting in the gutter. It was late enough that no one was milling around, no one noticed him sitting there, alone. He tried to calm himself, taking a few deep breaths but it didn’t help, he still felt nauseous and like he was going to be sick.

He was only alone for a few seconds, before someone sat down beside him, more gently than Charles had. Charles didn’t have to turn his head to know that it was Alex. He couldn’t focus on his friend, focused on taking heaving deep breaths.

“Are you alright?” Alex asked, gently rubbing a hand down Charles’ back, “You aren’t sick or anything?”

It took a few seconds for Charles to respond, “I’m in love with Lando.”

Alex hummed, “Is this meant to be news?”

Charles gasped, almost choking on his own spit, “What?”

“You’ve done nothing but talk about Lando since the moment you met him,” Alex responded, “I almost thought that you were already dating.”

“What?”

“Come on, Charles, you spend more time with him than anyone else.”

“But we’re both Omegas.”

“So?” Alex shrugged, “Is that a problem for you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Good.”

“What do I do now?” Charles asked, “How do you court an Omega?”

“If that’s what you want, I can teach you,” Alex offered.

Charles very much wanted that. He’d never been taught how to court an Omega, only what to do when an Alpha started courting you. And he very much wanted to get this right. Lando was too important to get it wrong.

“What do I do?”

“How about we talk about this tomorrow?” Alex suggested, “We should go back inside and enjoy a night with our friends.”

Charles couldn’t hide his disappointment. Now that he was aware of his feelings for Lando he didn’t want to wait anymore. Even if he was to attempt to court Lando properly, a process that would take time, he wanted to start planning. Even if he wasn’t usually a good planner or organiser. But, despite all of that, Alex did have a point. Before Mick’s announcement, Charles had been looking forward to the night.

And as much as he didn’t want to admit it, his feelings for Lando could wait. He’d been oblivious of them for a while, a couple of hours of focusing on other things wouldn’t hurt anything.

“I guess so,” Charles grumbled.

His friend just laughed at his reluctance. Alex at least offered him a hand once the Alpha was starting. Charles let himself get pulled to his feet and then led back into the building.

When the two of them returned to the apartment Charles had fled earlier, all eyes turned on him. Charles couldn’t help but shrink on himself slightly as he crossed the room to return to his seat.

“Are you alright?” Pierre asked, pressing a hand on his thigh.

“Just needed some fresh air,” Charles replied, only half lying as he had needed a breather.

“Are you getting sick?”

“I hope not.”

No one else asked him anything further and once the general attention of the room was moved onto other things he felt like he could finally slightly relax. He still didn’t feel totally calm though.

Despite all of the scents from everyone else in the room, Charles could only smell Lando and his fruit cake scent. If he focused hard, he could smell other people but he didn’t bother, Lando’s was the only scent that he cared about anyway. He found himself frequently subtly glancing towards the other man, not wanting to get caught staring. Lando was never looking at him but he felt like he could feel someone else’s eyes on him at times. If it was Lando, he wasn’t sure exactly what to do with that information.

He didn’t want to worry, especially not in a room surrounded by other people, but he hadn’t even considered if his feelings were requited. In theory, he could put forward all of this effort into courting Lando and the other man wasn’t even interested in him. He tried not to think about it, certain that Alex would have said something when they were talking if he thought Lando wouldn’t share Charles’ feelings.

He hated how hard it was to focus on his other friends and having a good time. Normally, he didn’t want the night to end, even if they weren’t doing anything crazy. But tonight was the opposite. He wanted to drag Alex, and probably George, out the door so that they could go home and talk about courting rituals. Instead, he had to wait and wait and wait for what felt like an eternity until Alex suggested they should leave.

Charles made a show of glancing at his watch, “Oh, yeah, it is getting late.”

Based on the look from Alex, the Alpha didn’t believe his act but everyone else did. After a quick round of goodbyes, finally, the three of them were leaving. Once they finally made it home, Charles assembled a quick nest before pulling both of his packmates inside.

“What’s gotten into you?” George asked as Charles pulled them even closer.

“How do I court an Omega?” Charles asked, completely ignoring George’s question.

“I’m lost,” George blurted before Alex could answer, “What’s going on?”

“Charles has finally realised that he’s in love with Lando.”

“Oh, thank God, I wasn’t sure that I could handle any more obliviousness.”

“What?” Charles asked, slightly sidetracked, “You knew too?”

George just laughed, “I did.”

Deciding not to ask any more questions, not wanting to know the answers, Charles turned towards Alex, “So, how do I court an Omega?”

“Obviously you don’t have to do any of this, Omega-Omega relationships are different to Alpha-Omega ones. But, I’ll tell you what I would do as an Alpha to court an Omega,” Alex started.

“Ok.”

“To open, I would get the Omega a gift. Just something small but meaningful to the Omega, something that they would really want. I would gift it to them while asking them to begin courting.”

“What about after that?” Charles asked, mentally taking notes.

“Again, likely a little different for you, but then it’s about showing the depth of your feelings for them. Even different Alphas go about it differently. It can just be as simple as doing small favours or small gifts or words of affection, whatever feels natural for you.”

Charles wasn’t sure how he would know what feels natural but maybe he would know at the time. He kept listening as Alex further explained courting. It was almost overwhelming, a lot to do to prove to Lando how he felt but he was willing to do all of it.

Once Alex did conclude, Charles stayed quiet, thinking about what he needed. The first step was figuring out what his opening gift was. Especially after the incredibly thoughtful Christmas present from Lando, Charles felt a certain amount of pressure to get something purposeful. He just didn’t know what it was. He and Lando might have spent a lot of time talking between hours of work but there were still large parts of Lando that Charles didn’t know, at least not yet. It made figuring out a gift more challenging.

The one benefit was that beginning the courting ritual had no timeframe. Lando wasn’t aware of his feelings yet. He could take the time to decide before confessing to the other man. Charles could already tell, he was going to need all of the time that he could get.

Charles was getting antsy. Every minute he spent with Lando reminded him just how much he wanted to kiss the other man, to get to be surrounded by his scent at all times but he couldn’t. Not yet at least. Not until he had figured out what gift to give.

He’d tried asking Alex but the Alpha had been no help. All he did was repeat the same lines he’d already told Charles, that it should be personal and meaningful. Unfortunately, they were no more helpful than the first time the other man had told him that. George had surprisingly been slightly more helpful, suggesting that it didn’t have to be something that Charles bought, it could be handmade. Charles had considered it. It definitely would have made it more personal. But he had very few creative or artistic skills and anything he would consider making, he didn’t have the talent for.

So, he was back to the same conundrum. What to get Lando?

Today he was determined to figure it out. He had no lectures and had completed enough work over the last few days to be able to take a day off. Not having any solid ideas, he just started wandering around shops, inspecting everything, trying to find inspiration.

When he caught sight of the art supplies shop, he crossed the street and headed inside. He knew that Lando was a design major and while most of his work was digital, he had seen Lando sketching a couple of times. The problem, he realised as he walked the aisles, was that he knew little about art supplies.

“Do you need any help?” the little Beta shop staff asked.

“I’m looking for a gift for a friend, and I’m a little lost,” Charles admitted.

She nodded, “What sort of art does he do?”

“He sketches mostly.”

He followed her when she walked away, stopping when she did. “In my experience, you can never go wrong with a quality sketchbook, any of these would be good.”

He contemplated the options in front of him. He might know anything about the quality of them but his eyes were drawn to one in particular. The highlighter yellow colour matched the drink bottle Lando was always carrying around. The colour Charles now associated with the other Omega.

“I might just get that one,” he decided, grabbing it off the shelf.

“That’s a good choice.”

Feeling proud of his decision, Charles quickly paid before heading home. Now that he had finally purchased a gift, he felt lighter. The next hard part was waiting until he would see Lando again, even if it was less than a day away. He wanted to tell Lando now, to confess all, but he could wait. Another few hours wouldn’t kill him.

As he made his way to the library the next morning, he found his hands shaking slightly. He was pretty sure that Lando felt the same way about Charles but there were still nerves associated with baring your soul. His heart was racing as he struggled to maintain even breaths.

Something must have leaked through into his scent as Lando looked up as soon as Charles reached their usual corner in the library, a slight look of concern on his face, “Hey, Charles, are you alright?”

Charles couldn’t wait anymore. Instead of sitting at his usual desk, he wheeled a chair closer to Lando before pulling the sketchbook out of his bag, now wrapped in navy blue wrapping paper. “I got this for you.”

Lando’s face softened, “You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to,” Charles replied, handing the present over.

The other man very carefully sliced the paper open and once he realised what was inside, a smile bloomed across his face, “Charles, this is perfect.”

Some of the nerves in Charles’ stomach settled, “I’m glad.”

“But, why did you get this for me?”

Charles took a steadying breath before answering, “Because I really like you and I want to start courting you.”

For a scary second, Lando didn’t respond. “You don’t have to do that.”

He didn’t think that this was Lando turning him down but he couldn’t figure out what he was saying, “Why?”

“Because I don’t need to be courted, I just want you.”

While Charles was stunned into silence, Lando stood up from his own chair. Charles just watched as he closed the distance between them and much to his shock, he sat down in Charles’ lap. Not knowing what else to do, Charles’ hands came up to Lando’s hips as he stared up at the other man, overwhelmed with having him so close.

“Can I kiss you?” Lando whispered.

“You can.”

Charles didn’t have to move. Lando leant forward and gently pressed his lips to Charles. In his life, Charles had only kissed a few people but none of them compared to Lando. He couldn’t think about anything, too overwhelmed by the feeling of Lando.

“Lando,” Charles almost moaned when they broke apart.

That brought a smirk to the other man’s face, “Did you like it?”

“I love it,” he admitted before lifting his chin to kiss Lando again.

He didn’t even care that they were technically in public. No one else ever frequented this corner of the library but even if they did, Charles didn’t care. He wasn’t going to say anything that would stop Lando from kissing him, or even worse, make him get out of Charles' lap.

“Do you actually need to do any work today?” Lando asked Charles between kisses.

“I don’t have to,” Charles replied, deciding that kissing Lando was far more important than anything else.

“Then how about we go and build a nest together?”

Charles’ brain fell out of his head at that. He just gaped at Lando for a few seconds as he tried to collect some semblance of a coherent thought, “Yes.”

The only disappointing part was that it made Lando climb out of his lap. But after he had shoved his belongings back into his bag, Lando reached out for Charles’ hand and led him back out of the building. Getting to have Lando so close was exactly what Charles wanted. And now that he had it, he never wanted to give it up.

They ended up back at Charles’ place. With George and Alex out, they had the space to do what they wanted. Charles had built nests with other Omegas before but this was different. He and Lando didn’t even have to talk, both of them knowing exactly what was wanted. It was the easiest nest-building experience that Charles had ever had.

Being Charles’ nesting materials, the nest smelt more like Charles than Lando but that wasn’t true for long. Once Lando was settled inside, beside Charles, his scent began to soak into the nest, tangling with Charles’ own scent.

Charles wanted to start kissing Lando again but he didn’t immediately, there was something he wanted more. He tucked his face into the crook of Lando’s neck and gently inhaled. Being this close to Lando, allowed Charles to smell the depth of Lando’s scents in a way that he never had before. It confirmed Mick’s words from earlier, there was just something different about Lando’s scent that drew him in more than anyone else’ scent ever had.

“Are you sure that you don’t want to be courted?” Charles asked once he stopped smelling Lando, knowing that they probably should make sure that they were on the same page.

“I don’t,” Lando confirmed, “It’s not something that I want. I just want you.”

“And I just want you too.”

“Do you want to be courted?”

Charles paused. He’d been so focused on courting Lando, he hadn’t stopped to think about the reverse. If he could court Lando, then Lando could court him. “I don’t think I care.”

Lando smiled, “That makes things easy then.”

He agreed with that, “Are we going to tell your family the truth about our relationship?”

The other man shrugged, “Who cares about them?”

Any further questions from Charles were interrupted by Lando kissing him again. Suddenly Lando’s family felt less important.

They didn’t spend the rest of the day kissing but they did spend the rest of the day in the nest. They talked about their relationship a little bit more but there wasn’t much that they needed to discuss. Maybe Lando was right that it would be easy.

Charles hadn’t meant to but he had fallen asleep at some point. Lando’s scent was so soothing to him that it was easy to relax. And that led to a nap that made him feel well-rested for the first time in a while. Possibly since he and Lando had shared a bed over Christmas.

He woke to voices. It took a moment for his brain to fully wake up and realise both who was talking and where he was. When he opened his eyes, he found Lando still pressed up beside him but his two packmates standing over them.

“Cute,” Alex teased when he realised Charles was awake.

“So, the two of you figured it out then?” George asked, already knowing the answer.

Lando pressed a kiss to Charles’ cheek, “We did.”

The older two men cooed down at them, to Charles’ slight embarrassment. “Are we welcome in this nest?” Alex asked, “Or is it in Omegas only?”

Charles glanced over at Lando before answering, not wanting to force his pack on the other Omega. But Lando just smiled and offered a slight nod. “You can join us if you want.”

George and Alex very much did want that and as soon as the invitation was extended, Alex and George climbed in beside them. With two new people inside, the scents changed slightly but Charles still smelt Lando’s scent more than anything else. Obviously, he appreciated having Lando so close but having him in his arms and his pack around him made him want to purr.

Feeling more awake now, Charles glanced around the spotted the bright yellow book in Lando’s lap. Gesturing down at it, he turned to Lando, “Have you started using it yet?”

“I have.”

“Can I see it?” Charles asked.

A slight blush flooded Lando’s cheeks but he did nod before he picked it up and opened it to the first page. Charles wasn’t sure what he was expecting inside but he let out a gasp when he came face-to-face with his own face. He looked peaceful on the page, eyes closed, curled in on himself.

“Lando, it’s beautiful,” Charles mumbled, running his fingers over the sketch.

“Thank you.”

Not caring that his pack was around, Charles quickly kissed the other Omega. For the first time in a long time, he was content. He had everything that he thought he would never get, especially in Lando. He might not have ever seen himself with another Omega but now he didn’t care. He loved Lando because of who he is, not because of his dynamic. And he was just happy.