Heat [Omegaverse, Brolby, SamandColbyFic]

Chapter 11

Colby, as always, was a master of timing.

After the awkward and borderline confrontational encounter in the kitchen, Colby chose to not bring up the Brennen conversation until later in the day, when Brennen had gone home and they were practicing with the triggers. And that would have been fine, except for the timing thing. Because unfortunately, he also chose to bring it up just as Sam was reaching for his throat.

"So about Brennen..."

And it was so sudden that Sam didn't even fully register the sentence for a few moments, long enough that he didn't stop his hand before it closed around his friend's neck.

"Shit..." He muttered as all the tension went out of Colby's body, and Sam had to brace a hand on Colby's shoulder to steady his friend as the omega compulsion made him sag where he sat. Sam had learned to tighten his fingers more around Colby's jaw so that he didn't accidentally choke him when Colby unintentionally put his body weight into the grip.

And then he just stared at his hand, and by extension, at Colby, as he held the grip. "Fuck..." And he was supposed to let go fairly quickly, but he really needed a moment to regroup before they had this conversation.

"God dammit, Colby," He muttered, eyes on the -his- omega, held obedient in his grasp. "Fuckin' warn a guy..."

But he needed to let go, because this was still Colby, and holding the grip right now was definitely taking advantage of it, which Sam had promised he'd never do. So he took a deep breath, releasing it between his lips, and steeled himself.

He could have a conversation with his best friend about his best friend's boyfriend...

And then he let go.

For a moment, Colby didn't react, just breathing shallow and even. And then his breath caught a little bit, and his eyes, which had fallen closed after the grip, squeezed tighter. A noise somewhere between annoyance and distress came out of him, and Sam felt him shiver in his grip.

And then Colby opened his eyes to look up at Sam.

"You could have just told me you didn't wanna talk about it..." His voice was rough, as it always was after having one of his triggers pulled on him.

"You could have warned a guy before he was gonna grab your throat," Sam commented, running a hand through his hair. Then he sighed, releasing his grip on Colby's shoulder and saying quietly, "Sorry."

"S'fine..." Colby shook his head, pressing his face into his hands. "I uh... fuck... hold on..."

Sam watched as Colby rubbed his face, gripping into his hair for a few moments, clearly regrouping. His chest still hurt, knowing that he was doing this to Colby, making him feel this out of control.

No matter what Colby was doing with Brennen.

"Sorry," Sam said again, and Colby waved him off, still not looking at him.

"'S good, 's good..." He groaned, "Not uh, great timing for me either, I guess but..." He shrugged, "I probably should have warned you." He shook his head again. "Fuck, why is this not getting easier..."

"It's only been two weeks," Sam reminded him, pulling a leg to his chest. "You'll get better."

"I just feel like I'm getting nowhere..." Colby gestured in irritation with his hands. "I can't... like you fucking... and I can't do anything..."

"It'll get better," Sam promised again, knocking shoulders with Colby affectionately. "Until then... you just tell me what you need."

"Yeah..." Colby said faintly. He pressed his lips together, taking a deep breath through his nose, releasing it through his mouth. "So... Brennen?"