pretty please (with sugar on top) - larry stylinson

24

The white jeans were a mistake, Harry knew as soon as they entered the bar. Because, yeah, they were having a business meeting at a bar. It was posher than the average one, but still pretty casual, and Harry immediately sensed he was one of the only omegas inside. He could easily pinpoint the other two, one curled under the arm of a burly alpha near the bathrooms and the other flirting bravely with someone while perched on a stool.

Harry was used to being surrounded by alphas. It was practically in his job description, and he had learned to be comfortable with it. However, being outnumbered at such a high ratio still made him uneasy. Obviously. He had to fight himself to keep his posture straight, to stop from curling in on himself submissively.

The white jeans were a mistake because they really did call attention to him, and he had the feeling of eyes on him all night. He was used to that feeling, but usually it was different because he was with a date who would act possessively and glare at them for looking a little too closely at Harry. Tonight he felt alone and unclaimed, which was a recipe for disaster when surrounded by alphas.

The fact that he was wearing Louis' shirt was a great relief. While it wasn't the most obvious sign that he was uninterested in alpha attention, if anyone got close enough to smell Louis' faint scent clinging to him they would assume he was off-limits. It sucked that alphas needed the proved presence of another alpha to discourage them from bugging single omegas, but it was what it was.

Louis rubbed his shoulder comfortingly as they approached the table where their acquaintances were waiting for them. It was a large booth in a dark corner with three people on one side and two on the other. Two of them were alphas and the rest were betas. No omega mates like Nick had promised.

They were clearly surprised by Harry's presence, but Louis introduced him as a friend of a friend staying over for the week, and Harry smiled charmingly, immediately forgetting everyone's names. He could practically see the questions running through their heads, wondering what kind of 'friend' Harry was to Louis, and if so, why did he smell like him but not completely, and why was he unclaimed?

Apparently neither of the omega mates could make it, which was fine. One of the betas gave Harry an apologetic smile as he explained that. Harry smiled back and then focused on enjoying his meal. He was sitting at the end of the booth, which was good because he wasn't in the way of their business conversation. They talked about a lot of things he didn't understand, which made it easy to zone out and daydream about what it would be like to be Louis' mate.

He liked how confident Louis was and how he knew exactly what he was looking for during this business meeting. The others clearly took him seriously and there was a lot of respect shared between them, even if the conversation occasionally turned tense when someone felt like they were being cheated out of a decent deal.

The big, looming alpha across from Harry kept staring at him but he ignored it, politely listening to the discussion around him as he ate his salad. There were slices of apples and strawberries among the hearty romaine, and the dressing was some sort of raspberry vinaigrette. He focused his attention on spearing a grape with his fork rather than acknowledging the alpha staring at him from across the table.

The looks became more intense and seductive as the night went on. They had no effect on Harry except making his inner omega vaguely nervous. He could tell Louis noticed too, by the way his fist clenched on the table and he seemed distracted from the conversation. Harry was only a few minutes from sinking into his side and burying his face in his neck to appease them both and get the alpha stranger off his back.

"So Harry, where are you from?"

They had finished up discussing everything for work, the paper contracts and fancy tablets put away now that everything was sorted out while the night was still young.

"New York City," he answered smoothly.

"Lived there your whole life?"

"I moved a few years ago." He smiled shakily, knowing they were wondering where he was from before the city, but not even Louis knew that yet. "I'm from the south, so the cold was a bit of a shock."

He hoped that was enough detail for them to not ask anymore. Usually talking about the weather was a good idea because it was something everyone could relate to, and it could morph into them discussing how hot it was today, or how nice it was to be near the ocean.

"I'm sure," the alpha laughed. "Florida must be nice, in February no less. What do you do for a living?"

Harry didn't even flinch; he was used to this question. Louis, on the other hand, tensed up in a way that only someone looking very closely would notice. He set his hand on Harry's thigh and squeezed reassuringly, as if to say, tell them whatever you want.

"I'm an actor," he said with a sugary sweet smile, propping his chin on his palm in a way he knew was endearing. It technically wasn't a lie, either.

From beside him, Louis snorted, clearly trying to suppress his surprised laughter. Harry bit back a smirk.

"Are you in anything we would know?"

Well fuck. "You might recognize me from Fight Club, Finding Nemo, French Kiss, and Fargo..." He trailed off as if there were more, but really he couldn't think of any other movies that started with 'F.' The table was nodding along like they might've recognized him from any of the movies. It was a pleasant surprise that they were either polite enough or clueless enough to not call him out on his shit.

"Also Friday the Thirteenth," Louis added.

"All ten of them."

"Harry's a very good actor. World class. He was trained by Meryl Streep and Morgan Freeman."

The omega nodded in agreement, smiling.

He felt warm inside from Louis playing along with him, and even warmer when he grabbed Harry's hand and interlaced their fingers under the table. It was a show of solidarity, of comfort, a gesture that said I've got you. We're in this together.

"I have lunch with Tom Hanks in Tribeca every month," he added, just to be a shit. Louis choked on a laugh and quickly pressed his face in Harry's shoulder to cover it up. The action succeeded in hiding their humor, but made it look like Louis was scenting Harry. Which was... interesting.

When they pulled away from each other, the looming alpha across the table was staring at them but the rest had already moved on with the conversation. Louis put his arm around the back of the booth, fingers twitching by Harry's shoulder. Harry sipped his water and pretended he didn't notice how possessive it was.