Fourth was feeling restless. He felt too hot, and nothing was right. Everything was wrong. His nest wasn't right. It didn't matter how many soft pillows and blankets he added to the nest it still wasn't right. He tried using the pillows his brother and sister scented didn't bring him comfort, something was missing. A woodsy scent was missing.
Fourth was clinging on to the cardigan a certain Alpha gave him, and that at least brought him some mild comfort, but it wasn't enough. He felt like crying. This was his first heat away from home, away from the comfort of his mother's hugs and his father's ginger root and pork rib soup.
He can't even go home because home is like a 2 hour flight away and he can't travel in this condition. Fourth feels miserable, so he curls up into a ball on his nest and starts crying. He is not used to this, the discomfort, the feeling of uncertainty, of feeling unsafe. He has never felt like this before.
Somehow, Fourth fell asleep despite the discomfort he was feeling. When he wakes up, he is burning up, sweating profusely, and his vision blurring a bit.
"Nong'fotfot." Fourth hears his brother's voice call out to him. Usually, it would bring him some sort of comfort, but this just feels wrong. He feels weary and unsafe. He had never felt unsafe before, not with his brother before, never with his brother, but right now, this feels wrong.
"Hia!!" Fourth whispers in response.
"What's wrong?" Mark asks gently, entering his room. He was entering his nest, and suddenly, it felt wrong. It has never been a problem before. His family was always allowed in his nest, but suddenly, it felt wrong for his brother to enter.
Fourth growls, albeit be it smalls, he still growls in warning making Mark pause midstep.
"Nong'fotfot. What's wrong, baby boy?" Mark asks carefully. Like any good Alpha, he knows that entering an omega's nest without explicit permission is a no-go.
"Go! Please leave." Fourth says whimpering. He really doesn't want to chase his brother away, but him being here feels wrong.
"Okay. I am going to call Fonfon, okay?" Mark says, backing away slowly. Fourth can see the look of concern in his brother's eyes, and he hates it. He knows his brother will never hurt him, but not even the calming pheromones his brother releases to soothe him.
Everything is wrong, and his body hurts.
Fourth isn't sure how much time has passed since his brother left his room, but what he is sure of is his heat has started, and it's going to be a painful one. Nothing is soothing him, and his nest is not right, so he whimpers softly, feeling his body go weak.
"Fotfot." Fourth hears the comforting voice of his twin sister.
"Fonfon." Fourth's voice comes out hoarse and broken.
"I brought you some ginger root and pork rib soup like Papa used to make for you." His twin sister says, taking slow, calculated steps as if seeking permission to enter his nest.
"Fonfon." Fourth's voice comes out again broken. "Help." He wants to say, but no words come out.
"I am going to enter your nest now, na." Front says, and Fourth nods when his sister releases calming pheromones, the sweet scent of roses and ocean breeze filling the room and enveloping him into a hug, but it feels wrong. Fourth needs the woodsy scent of sandalwood and lavender.
Fourth couldn't eat, he didn't want to eat. The first taste of the soup didn't taste right. It didn't taste like his father's, although Fourth could tell that his sister tried really hard to recreate it to a fault.
"Fotfot... you need to eat something please." Front says, but Fourth stubbornly shakes his head.
"Okay, how about tea? I brought you some soothing jasmine tea." Front tries again, but still Fourth stubbornly refuses.
"Okay, but you need to eat something so you can drink your medication. You have a fever. Please eat something." Front pleads with him again.
"No! I don't want to." Fourth's voice is barely above a whisper. His head aches, and he feels like he is free falling, making his stomach turn.
"Okay, tell me what you want, and I will get it for you." Front says, and Fourth doesn't doubt her. His siblings would do anything for him. He could ask for the moon, and it would be delivered to him on a silver platter.
"Gem..." Fourth says before slowly fading out of consciousness.
___________________________________________
"Did he eat?" Mark asks anxiously.
"He refuses to eat or drink anything." Front replies, feeling defeated.
They are both feeling defeated. They have never dealt with this before. Not without their parents and usually Fourth's heats never got this bad ever since he presented.
"Hia, I am worried. He is burning up, and I can't even get him to eat anything. I read about this before. I think he is dropping. I really hope I am wrong, though." Front says softly, fear and uncertainty evident in her voice.
"I hope so too, Fonfon. Did he say something? Anything at all that can help us." Mark asks desperately. He feels useless, helpless at not being able to help his baby brother. How can he even help him when Fourth didn't want to be in the same space as him?
"He said "Gem" and I don't even know what does that means." Front said, her brows pinched into a frown.
"Gem? It could be one of his friends. I don't recall meeting a Gem, but I can always call Ford to find out." Mark says.
"If this doesn't work, we will have to call Mama and knowing her she will probably pull Fourth out of Chula so he can be close to home." Front says thoughtfully.
They both wouldn't want for Fourth to leave Chula, this is the happiest that they've seen their brother. Back home, he didn't have any friends and truly speaking any sense of freedom thanks to them and their parents being overprotective. So they wouldn't want to take that away from him.
So Mark calls Ford, him and the young omega kind of got close during the past few months since he is one of Fourth's closest friends.
"P'Mark." Ford answered his phone almost immediately.
"Hi Nong," Ford. I need your help it's about my little brother." Mark says desperately.
"Of course, phi, what's wrong with Fotfot?" Ford's voice comes out heavy with worry.
"He is in heat, and we are afraid, and it's bad. He is not eating. He doesn't want to drink anything, and he doesn't even want to take his medication. He is burning up, and at this rate, we are afraid he is going to drop." Mark says, and he can hear how his voice cracks. It feels like he is about to cry, and Mark isn't the type to cry. He hasn't cried in years, but at this point, he feels like it. He has never felt this helpless before.
"Oh, phi! Do you want me to come over? I can be there in 10 minutes, 15 minutes max." Ford's voice is filled with worry and somewhat sympathetic.
"It's okay, nong. I just need to find Gem. Can you help me with that?" Mark sounds desperate. He hates this. His Alpha hates this. He is meant to keep his pack safe, but now his pack member is suffering, and there's nothing he can do.
"Gem? Wait, why?" Ford sounds confused, although he still sounds worried.
"Please, Ford. I can't really explain now. Can you bring him here?" Mark pleads.
"Okay, Phi will be there in 15 minutes." Ford says before he hangs up.
___________________________________________
Gemini is feeling agitated. His Alpha tells him that something is wrong, but he can't figure out what exactly. He has gone through everyone of his assignments, double-checked his emails, and cleaned his apartment twice now. Still, something is off, and he is agitated.
He figures that maybe he should go to the gym to work out some pent-up frustration. He usually gets like this when he is in pre-rut, but his rut is only a few weeks away, and it can't be it. He hates feeling like this. His Alpha keeps growling at him, and he doesn't know what to do or what is causing all of this.
Just as he was about to leave to head to the gym, his best friend bumped into him.
"Thank goodness you are still here! You need to come with me." Ford says to him, voice coming out anxious, and he is panting as if he is running. Ford never runs, so this must be serious.
"Wait! Why? Is something wrong?" Gemini asks, holding his friend by his shoulders to steady him.
"Yes! Fourth needs you. So can you please hurry up and come with me?" Ford says, still panting. It seems he really did run.
Fourth! My omega! His Alpha growls.
"What? What's wrong with Fourth?" Gemini asks. He is agitated, and his Alpha tells him he needs to get to Fourth ASAP. He is practically vibrating, his Alpha demanding to be freed so it can attend its omega.
"I don't have enough time to explain. Just come with me." Ford says, practically dragging him out of his apartment.
They get to the apartment that Fourth shares with his siblings rather quickly. Gemini is really worried now because Ford not only ran from his place to Fourth's place but he did so without complaing. This means that something is really wrong.
After just a few knocks, the door is opened by a young Alpha girl who looks very similar to Fourth but yet different. She doesn't have Fourth's mischievous eyes or rosy pink cheeks like he has been kissed by snow.
"Ford! And I assume you must be Gem. Thank you for coming. Please come in." The young Alpha girl says politely, and Gemini is taken aback by the use of his nickname, especially to someone he is not familiar with, but he doesn't want to voice it out.
As they make their way further in Gemini is met with a scowling older Alpha boy. He assumes that it's Fourth's older brother that Ford keeps talking about.
"What did you do to my brother?" The older Alpha boy accuses, and Gemini is taken aback by the sharp contrast of difference in the siblings behaviour.
"Hia!"
"Phi Mark!"
Gemini studies his face, not willing to show that he is intimidated by this Alpha boy-Mark.
"I don't know what you are talking about." Gemini says, glaring at Mark.
"I am so sorry about my older brother -"
"Don't apologize on my behalf, Front. I need to know what this Gem person did to my brother. Your name was the last name he called before he became unconscious. So tell me what the fuck did you do to my brother." Mark says furiously cutting off Front. Eyes glowing a Ruby red color as he stares intensely at him.
"And as I have already told you. I don't know what you are talking about." Gemini replies looking back at Mark with equal amount if intensity.
They glare at each other, each releasing pheromones to subdue the other. Both are pure blood Alphas, they are both dominant and neither is willing to submit to the other.
Their stalemate is disrupted by a whimpering sound coming from a direction Gemini can assume is Fourth's room and a Ford who nearly passed out from the intensity of pheromones that filled the room. He quickly reels in his pheromones and catches his friend.
"Ford! Shit! I am sorry." Gemini says sincerely, he sometimes forgets that his best friend is an omega by how mentally strong and outspoken he is.
The siblings run to the direction of Fourth's room only to be stopped in their tracks by a loud growl. Gemini hurriedly leaves Ford after ensuring his friend is fine and walks towards Fourth's room direction.
"What are you doing?" Mark eyes him suspiciously. Gemini chooses to ignore him.
When he sees Fourth his heart breaks, Fourth is flushed and all sweety with his eyes puffy and all red-rimmed from crying. He looks weak and tired. Gemini's Alpha growls at him, displeased at ignoring his omega. Gemini wants to envelope him in a hug and pepper his beautiful face with kisses.
"Gem..." Fourth says, his voice coming out soft and weak.
Just as Gemini tried to enter the room, a hand stopped him in his tracks.
"P'Mark please." Front pleads with his older brother but the older seems determined.
"Alpha..." Fourth's voice comes out soft but commanding and suddenly Gemini feels inclined to obey even if it means to fight off Fourth's older brother.
"Hurt him and I swear to heavens almighty I will kill you with my bare hands." Mark warns.
"I wouldn't dare." Gemini replies.
"Alpha..." Fourth whispers, still there is an underlying command that makes Gemini want to abide by.
"My Omega." Gemini says softly as he enters Fourth's room, the calming scent of Sandalwood and lavender fills the room as he enters Fourth's nest.
Gemini wraps his arms around Fourth's frame and pulls him to rest on his chest. Fourth's body is burning, too hot to touch, but Gemini only holds on to him tighter. Fourth relaxes under the touch.
After a while, Fourth fever subsides, but the young omega was clinging on to him tightly sleeping peacefully, and Gemini couldn't dare really let go besides his Alpha wouldn't let him.
"Gem..." Fourth mumbles in his sleep.
"I am here, sweetheart." Gemini says softly, gently carding Fourth's hair.
................