Cherry Wine {l.s.}

21. honey

L

  Louis thumbed gently over the dark circles pressed beneath Harry's eyes and studied over his face as the younger lad stared back at him, offering a small smile and pressing their foreheads together.

  "You're so beautiful," He whispered. "My rose."

***

  Harry swung their laced hands between them as they walked towards the small shop Karen owned, green eyes light with contentment and long curls tied back in a loose braid Louis had managed for him that morning, smelling of warmth and happiness. The alpha couldn't help but smile, and he lifted their hands to press a gentle kiss to his knuckles, tugging him a little closer once more people started crowding on the sidewalks.

  Louis guided the omega in first once they got to the flower shop and called a greeting to Karen as he followed his boy to his usual workstation in the back. Harry was quick to shift onto his stool and the alpha stood behind him so he could press up against the curve of his spine, leaning down  to brush his nose over the side of his neck and touching his lips to the strong line of his jaw, hands splaying over Harry's warm chest.

  He leaned back against him and hummed happily as he tilted his head back on Louis' shoulder, only to shoot back up when someone cleared their throat in the doorway, the alpha's arms tightening around his omega.

 They both turned to look at the other lad, Harry's body tensing against Louis' chest for the briefest of seconds before he relaxed and turned his attention away, head bowing.

  "Can I help you?" Louis asked, voice gruff and eyes dark, pupils blown slightly from the intimacy he had just shared with Harry. Liam studied between the two of them before he was sighing and pushing further into the room careful to avoid the tense alpha and his nonchalant omega, flopping down on the loveseat.

 "I just wanted to catch you up to date on the Ben Winston problem." He said, studying carefully over Harry's shoulders and catching it when he flinched, glancing up at Louis' darkening face.

 "What about him?" The other alpha asked. "Has he still been snooping? Is he any close to us?" His grip on Harry tightened with every word he spoke until the omega was clutched to his chest and unable to properly reach his work station, hands flailing for a couple of seconds before he gave up and sat back.

  Liam shook his head, but the tightness around his eyes didn't fade. "No, he actually has seemed to have disappeared. I wasn't able to track his scent, even with Zayn's help and we were left clueless." He said, scrubbing a hand down his face.

  Louis' shoulders tensed and he looked down when Harry started to shudder, pressing a swift kiss to his temple before he was nodding briskly at Liam and clenching his jaw, anger pulsing in his veins. "Okay," He whispered. "Well, just keep looking yeah? Please." He turned pleading blue eyes to the other alpha and relaxed slightly when he nodded, leaning down to bury his face in Harry's shoulder.

*

  Once they got back to Louis' later that night, Harry practically rushed upstairs and disappeared from sight, leaving Louis both worried and confused at the bottom steps. He was laying face down on the bed by the time the alpha caught up with him and he whimpered softly when he touched his shoulder.

  Louis' heart broke at the noise and he laid down to pull Harry close to him, cupping the back of the omega's head as he pressed his face to his chest and touched his lips to the top of his head, stroking through his curls. "Alright, pup?" He whispered, tightening his hold at the soft sigh he gave and closing his eyes, simply waiting for him to feel comfortable enough to talk.

  When Harry eventually did pull away and sit up, Louis was quick to do the same, smiling reassuringly at the younger lad to hopefully ease some of his hesitation. 'I've got you,' he worked to convey, reaching to gently curl his fingers around his ankle.

  Harry's gaze flickered from his face to his hand a couple of times before he sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, seeming to think a few things over until he felt comfortable enough to look up to Louis, expression filled with trepidation.

  'When I had just presented as an omega, I didn't have anyone to tell me what to do or how to act," He started off. "My family was a bunch of alphas and betas. My mum didn't know how to deal with me, so she sent me off to live with an old friend of hers, who turned out to be Karen. Liam was a childhood friend, and he helped me settle into new routines and get the hang of my new lifestyle."

  Harry scratched idly at his wrists as his eyes took on a far away look, skin paling the slightest bit. 

  "It was there I ended up meeting Ben, in the old town we'd lived in. He was sweet and nice and caring, but he was so much older than me and that made Karen uneasy. Rightfully so as it turned out. After a few months of us courting he...changed. He started getting angrier, rougher with me, leaving bruises wherever he grabbed and never apologizing for it. And I recognized it, I knew what was happening after witnessing what had happened with a friend, but I was scared. Too scared to leave. Ben practically controlled my life.

  "After a while, he started to get even meaner somehow. Threw me into walls and hit me when I didn't answer fast enough, only feeding me certain times of the week so I maintained the weight he wanted me to have. I stopped going home to Karen because I was afraid of what he'd do to her if he found out. What he'd do to any of the people I cared about. So I stayed. For months."

   The omega blinked lethargically and let out a tiny wheeze, hunching in on himself and pulling his ankle out of Louis' grip, fear and self-hatred and anxiety rolling off of him in waves.

  "I-It was so bad, Louis. The physical pain I was able to get used to, but then he started with the emotional and mental abuse. Told me he was doing me a favor keeping me around, that nobody else would be willing to have me."

  Harry's voice started to shake and he hunched in on himself, tears leaking down his cheeks at a steady pace.

  "My heats were the worst. He used them to his advantage to get what he wanted out of me while I wasn't coherent enough to push him off, to tell him to s-stop. Whenever they would end I would scrub myself raw and cry myself to sleep feeling used. I hated him, but he claimed to love me. Got mad when I made my distaste for him known.

  "When I finally found an out, I took it and I never looked back. I wanted to start over new, I wanted to feel safe somewhere, like I wasn't always on edge. Then I met you and I was so...calm. Felt protected and needed and genuinely adored. It's intoxicating and it scares me to feel happy." 

  Harry finally managed to make eye contact with Louis and the alpha swallowed thickly around the angry lump in the back of his throat, practically vibrating with rage and the urge to protect, to coddle.

  "I-" The alpha started, furrowing his eyebrows. "Haz. I'm so sorry." He rasped, carefully scooting forward to take the younger lad's face into his hands, stroking the tears from his cheek. 
 
  "I'll protect you. I have you."