The Alpha's Secret {bxb}

f i v e

Side by side, the two alphas returned to the crowded halls, letting the tide of students carry them into the cafeteria. No longer alone, Marilyn's previously loose jaw clamped down tight once again. It wasn't that he disliked talking to his classmates, not really. Just that besides Angel and Zeke, and now apparently Dante, there wasn't very much to talk to them about. They all felt so....boring.

If Dante noticed the shift in Marilyn's demeanor, the subtle shift of his scent from something lighthearted and airy like it was in the shed to a bit more stale and stiff the closer they got the other students, well, he didn't say anything about it.

Speaking of Zeke, there he was once again waiting by the Cafeteria doors for them. He immediately wiggled between them, shoving Marilyn ever so gently to the side so he could talk to Dante. Since, obviously, Marilyn wasn't gonna do it himself.

"Hello again, you delinquents. I hope you're happy. Jordan told me the teacher was very unhappy that you two didn't return when he knew you were supposed to"

"Oh? Jordan told you?" Marilyn asked, the smallest of smirks forming on his face as Zeke huffed. "Wouldn't you have seen it yourself? Or did you skip too?"

"Not important!" Zeke decreed. "I've never skipped so I deserved it. What, was I supposed to tell Felix I didn't want to-"

"Aaaaaaand, that's where I leave you," Marilyn interrupted before speeding up his steps, leaving Dante and Zeke's loud laughter behind. Going through the lunch line was a quick affair, and it wasn't long before he was seated at his usual table with his 'posse'. He and Felix exchanged cordial nods; the boy was nice enough. He treated Zeke well, and that was enough for Marilyn to like him. Angel, the bastard, was still absent, so rather than him it was one of the girls that annoyed Marilyn the least sitting on his right. (Marry? Carry? Barry? Something like that.)

When Zeke turned, it was without Dante at his side. He sat down between Felix and Marilyn, leaning into his boyfriend's side and immediately began picking at his food. By now, Felix knew better than to swat at his hands even halfheartedly. It was a lost cause.

"Dante said he saw one of his old pals at a different table, so he's with her now," Zeke said aloud, knowing even without a glance in his direction that Marilyn was giving him a questioning look. It's not like Zeke to loose a man, no pun intended.

That settled, Marilyn turned his attention back to the greyish lump of mystery material the school liked to pass off as meatloaf. It wasn't as bad as it look, he knew, but he still wouldn't eat it. He scowled at it. He refused to even taste test that mush. Instead, he pulled out his phone, engaging in the age old ritual of scrolling mindlessly through twitter until it was off to class once more.

###

The last bout of classes passed without further incident, and before he realized it, Marilyn was back outside, leaning against the drivers side of his car, surrounded by his companions, waiting for Zeke to show up so they could finally go home. Sundays and Mondays were always coined as family days since the boys were never home on the weekends, so he couldn't just go fuck knows where with Felix like usual.

The omega in question comes skipping through the small cluster of teens, pulling not only Felix along behind him but Dante as well.

"Lenny~!"

"No." Marilyn knew that tone all too well. It meant Zeke was going to ask for something, something that if Marilyn agreed to, he'd surely regret. Zeke pouted.

"I haven't even asked yet!"

"I know," Marilyn replied, pushing himself off the driver's side door so he could instead open it. "Let's go kid. I know whatever you're going to ask of me is gonna be cruel and unusual punishment for skipping early and I'd rather eat drywall than deal with it."

"So you don't wanna go to Uncle Kevin's?"

The blonde sighed heavily. Zeke had him there. Their Uncle Kevin's restaurant near downtown was his favorite place to go to, whether it was to eat, study or just hang out. He wasn't really their uncle, just a very close friend of their dad from when he was incarcerated.

"Fucking fine, whatever. We can go."

"Great! We'll ride with you and Felix will follow behind on his bike."

"We?"

But Zeke was already pushing Dante towards the car, urging him into the backseat. Marilyn cocked his head, confused at why Dante of all people was being invited, but shrugged when Zeke just shook his head. Alrighty then. Off they go, he supposed.

###

Uncle Kevin's Diner was, in a word, quaint. It was a tiny little building nestled right smack in the middle of downtown, between a flower shop and a tattoo parlour. It was a ways away from the school but fortunately (or unfortunately, if you ask Marilyn), the ride wasn't awkward with Zeke singing along to Marilyn's playlist of showtunes. Honestly, if not for Dante sitting silently in the back, Marilyn definitely would have joined him. But, he had a reputation to uphold.

The inside of the diner was like something out of a movie. Checkered floors, red booths, jukebox in the corner playing oldies just loud enough to fill any lull in conversation. Waitresses chatting idly with regulars at the bar as they wiped down the counters. All in all, incredibly homely. That's why Marilyn loved it so.

Felix was waiting for them in their regular corner booth. The trio made their way over and sat down, Zeke with his boyfriend, leaving Marilyn and Dante to squeeze in together. Before Zeke could sink his talons into poor Dante like the vulture he was, Kevin, the man himself, came to their table, having been notified of their arrival.

"Monster and Munchkin!" He shouted in greeting, grinning loudly at the groans that answered him. "As I live and breathe! It's been far too long my boys!"

"That it has," Zeke agreed, leaning into brief pat on his head like an attention starved cat. The sight made Marilyn smile. It was too easy to forget how touch starved Zeke was. How starved they both were. Marilyn only just refrained from doing the same when Kevin repeated the action on him.

"We'll chat after you eat. The usual?"

Zeke nodded, and only then seemed to remember Dante. The boy he invited. "Oh! Dante this is our uncle, Kevin. He owns this place. Kevin, this is Dante, he's new at our school and I thought I'd adopt him."

"I told you I didn't want to be your friend," Dante responded, staring at Zeke with his usual deadpan. It made Marilyn wonder if he had any expressions.

"Yeah and I told you that you didn't have a choice! Is a bacon cheeseburger alright with you?"

Marilyn shook his head when Dante began to respond, offering a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "It's no use bud. No one escapes Zeke when he decides you'll be friends. Look at Felix. He hated Zeke at one point, and now they're literally in love. You're stuck with us all now."

Dante looked horrified. It made Marilyn outright laugh. Kevin chuckled as well and walked off, apparently taking that as a yes.

"It's not so bad," Felix reassured him, wrapping one arm around Zeke to pull the omega into his side. "He's good company, at least."

"That's all you have to say! Good company? I can't believe this! After everything I've done for this relationship-" Zeke began his long dramatic tangent, struggling to hold back his smile as he did so. This sent both Marilyn and Felix into a fit of laughter, while Dante just stared at this in confused horror.

"This is a madhouse," he mumbled to himself. Well, Marilyn thought, He's speaking. I'll count it as a win.

+++

A/N: hey. It's been a while. *Sips iced coffee*

Omg guys. Your comments. 8.9k reads!!!!!! That's insane!!!!!! I wrote this whole chapter in a day bc of how overjoyed I was with how the story was received. I took a really long break but I'm gonna try to update more now. No promises though. You should probably comment more to compell me. Until next time lovelies! Mwah <3