Ari stared down at the sink gripping it to gather himself.
This wasn't an unfamiliar feeling for him, he was used to how it felt whenever his heat was coming. He gulped down the discomfort feeling like the whiteness of the sink was blinding him, and an already used needle was lying beside the soap. It wasn't working.
"Please go away." He begged barley able to stand anymore and almost slipped when he lifted a hand to reach for another needle.
He was so glad it was winter as it made the inside of the bathroom feel ice cold, and the moment he felt the needle in his hand was the moment he let himself take a few steps back until his back met with a cold tiled wall. It soothed the painful hot feeling that was coursing through him, and he let himself slide down the floor grateful for how thin of a layer his shirt provided against it.
Despite trying to keep himself in control, he still took his shirt off just to feel the cold wall against his bare skin, but there was no real relief as it felt like he was making it melt from how hot he was instead.
He blinked a few times in a dizzy bafflement as he punctured his skin with the needle and waited for it to take effect. Gradually, it did, but it wasn't like before.
Two doses he never needed before, and yet it barely helped.
His head rested lazily on his knees as he counted down numbers to distract himself from all the agony. It wasn't anything he wasn't used to before, so he just tolerated it until his pain was alleviated by the meds he injected himself with.
Ari was finally able to take a much-needed shower to scrub off all the invitingly sweet scents on his body before he went out with Rowan.
Wasting no time, he immediately hopped into the shower and carefully cleaned himself making sure to be extra thorough around his nape, lower back, and an area that was much too embarrassing for him to touch without turning red. It used to always be awkward whenever he cleaned it, but now it just brought back intimate memories he needed to distract himself from.
A whole week of them.
It's the last thing he should think of.
Shaking off any unneeded thoughts away, Ari quickly finished up and put on clothes with as many layers covering his skin as possible, thankful he could get away with it since it is winter.
He rushed down the stairs to the empty floor guessing that his mother had already left like she always does around this time, but he stopped once he caught sight of his reflection in a nearby mirror. While his heat might have gone away, his skin was still flushed from head to toe. It was noticeable on his face with his cheeks and nose being red, and he couldn't help but be thankful once more for winter.
The redness could totally be blamed on the cold.
Grabbing a scarf hanging by the door, he wrapped it around his face not having to think of an excuse as to why he was hiding it. Rowan already knew he got cold easily.
"We are not staying outside." She told him the moment she saw him approach before she giggled at him amusedly, peeking under his scarf. "Looks like I am not the only one who is cold."
"It makes me wish we also got a layer of fur." He told her wistfully as he sniffed, and this time it really was from the cold. "Instead, I got to smell all the teenage boys around me during high school."
Rowan choked back a laugh. "Oh god."
"At that time I really wished I couldn't smell anything."
"Yeah, I don't doubt it. Must have sucked." She agreed walking on the sidewalk as he followed her shivering slightly. "But I still think hearing things we're not supposed to is just as bad." Rowan shuddered at a certain memory and that made Ari look at her curiously.
"What have you heard?"
"People you wouldn't expect to be sleeping together, sleeping together." She told him as he shook his head already knowing all about it. This was a little bit common to hear, and they've all learned the art of pretending they weren't hearing anything and just walk away to give the couple their privacy. Affairs were a bit hard to maintain because of this, not that they should happen to begin with.
That was still an uninteresting answer.
"There's something else I heard when I was checking up on Eli." Rowan continued not really aware of how let-down Ari was feeling towards her previous answer. "I heard Alec with some guy who said some- uh, very disturbing things. I don't know what's going on, but he admitted to killing the five men along with Heather's father."
Hearing that didn't faze him as he continued to listen while she spoke to him in a hushed tone. Ari belatedly realized that he should at least seem shocked, so he masked his indifference with disbelief.
"Are you sure about what you heard? Five men? Really?" His tone was convincing, and it helped that he had half of his face hidden under his scarf. "Where is that guy now?"
Ari asked as if he already didn't know, but Rowan nodded her head in insistence knowing what she heard no matter how unbelievable it may sound.
"I know what I heard." Rowan stomped her foot in clear frustration before she hesitated to answer his question knowing how it sounds. "Alec just... Let the guy go."
"That's strange, don't you think?" Already giving up on making him believe her, Rowan nodded her head not really caring anymore. Ari teasingly elbowed her. "Guess my serial killer mate finally showed up."
Rowan let out a groan remembering her past words. "Ari, don't joke about this. I am serious."
"Sorry."
He didn't sound sorry at all as he looked away with a laugh in his voice. Unbeknownst to her, they were both being serious, not that she needed to know. It was better that she didn't, so he just let her drag him inside of one of the local coffee shops for something hot to drink without saying anything more.
The moment they stepped inside was the moment all the mirth and ease they felt earlier disappeared, and doom loomed over as Ari's vision swayed.
"Let's get out." He gulped tugging her, but she only titled her head in confusion at him not knowing why he was suddenly glued to the entrance. Unluckily for him, they were already seen.
"Hey!" A voice called from the distance, and Ari could hear it getting closer. "Didn't think we'd see you two here." Alec said smiling at them with Eli hanging on his arm, looking mostly at Ari with a shy smile that slowly turned into worry.
In his pitiful agitated stated, Ari didn't say anything as he fell back on the door and let out an irritated sound. "Rowan." He urged pulling her towards him, pointlessly pushing the door that had to be pulled before adding with more urgency. "Rowan."
She was clueless to why he was acting this way, why he seemed like he was trying to escape as if he was slowly burning from just being there. All she knew was that he needed to leave, and so she proceeded to pull open the door and try to figure out what was going on later.
But Alec had other ideas as he grabbed Ari by his wrist preventing him from leaving.
"Listen, I know I wasn't the best-" He started sounding apologetical and remorseful, but Ari wasn't listening as he flinched away with a sound that almost sounded hostile. In his shock, Alec let go knowing that his touch was not at all welcome, almost revolting. An alpha is the last thing Ari needed in his already dangerous state, he thought he would have been fine with just Rowan. He should have cancelled.
But it was too late.
"Fuck." Ari said sinking to the floor grabbing onto Rowan like his life depended on it. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
Everyone was stunned at hearing him swear, it wasn't his habit to swear, especially not this much, and Rowan knew that there's something terribly wrong happening as she held him upright. While they bemoaned having sensitive hearing and smell earlier, she was glad they got their strength as she easily kept him standing while he leaned on her trying his best to breathe as little air as possible.
Eli, who watched the whole thing, finally had it click in his mind.
"Stay away from him." The words would have stung Alec if he didn't notice how frantic Eli looked. He was trying his best to keep calm as he let go of Alec and held on to Ari's other side, his touch didn't irritate him the same way Alec's did. "We need to get him to the healer."
"W-why? What's wrong with him?" Alec asked sounding just as lost and anxious as Rowan who kicked the door open to drag Ari with her. All she could think about was getting him to the healer so he could be looked at, the delay was frustrating her.
But Eli's words surprised them all.
"I think he's going through heat."
Alec couldn't smell it because of Ari's mark, but it was still new and taking effect. That's why he was still affected by another alpha. If he let Rowan just take him home, then nobody would have known it. They'd think he was just sick. There were a million excuses Ari could have come up with.
And if he could stand, he would have punched Eli in the face.