The Reluctant Omega

College AU Part 2

**Fun little AU where Grey transfers to Jaxon's high school when they're both thirteen and they become best friends. Then, five years later, they head off to college together and Jaxon realizes he's in love with Grey**

The first month of school went by in a blur. Jaxon and Grey were both busy adjusting to life in college. Grey decided to major in Computer Science and Jaxon in Business. He imagined them running their own tech startup developing apps or something. They didn't have any classes together, but sometimes they had lunch at the campus cafeteria or the café and they always had dinner together at the apartment, both taking turns trying out cooking. Jaxon couldn't be happier, but he was still struggling with his feelings. And Grey definitely wasn't helping when he started wandering around the apartment half naked sometimes either after his shower or when he first woke up in the morning or when he was getting ready for bed. Jaxon was glad Grey felt so comfortable around him, but it was steadily driving him crazy.

His Alpha was growing more possessive as well, especially when Grey would come back home smelling of other Alpha's pheromones. It wasn't his fault. Since he was Recessive, he didn't emit pheromones himself or detect them either, which meant he was usually mistaken for a Beta. Jaxon was grateful for that, in a way, at least it meant Alphas weren't trying to constantly influence Grey with their pheromones. And until Grey started having regular heat cycles, Jaxon still had time to figure out his feelings. But he would come to realize that everything was about to quickly change and there would be no turning back.

It was just a regular morning, Jaxon was up and getting ready for the day. He was starting to get worried since Grey was usually up by now as well. He walked towards Grey's closed bedroom door and knocked softly.

"Grey?" He called out and when there was no answer, he tentatively opened the door enough to poke his head through. Grey had blackout curtains hung on his window, so his bedroom was plunged in semi-darkness. He could just make out Grey's form bundled up under the covers. Was he sick? Jaxon carefully made his way over to Grey's bed before leaning down to gently shake his shoulder.

"Grey," he murmured, "you feeling ok?" It took a second for Grey to start stirring. He sat up slowly, pushing the blankets aside. Jaxon reached over and turned on the small lamp sitting on the nightstand. Grey blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness. Jaxon noticed his eyes looked unfocused and his cheeks were flushed.

"I don't feel good." Grey whispered hoarsely. He definitely didn't look good.

"Are you sick?" Jaxon asked softly before pressing the back of his hand against Grey's forehead. It didn't feel like he had a fever. Grey took his hand and tugged it until Jaxon sat down on the edge of the bed. He wrapped his arms around Jaxon's waist and buried his face into the crook of his neck. Jaxon froze, his arms hovering awkwardly above Grey's back. He wasn't wearing a shirt and Jaxon was pretty sure he didn't have any pants either, wearing only his boxer briefs. Finally, he relaxed a little when Grey squirmed uncomfortably against him and gently stroked his back. He wanted nothing more than to climb into bed with him and cuddle all day, but he had an important lecture in one of his classes that he couldn't miss.

"I have to go soon," he murmured, "why don't you text your professors and let them know you're sick...if you have any work, text me and I'll pick it up for you and bring by some soup for lunch, ok?" Grey nodded, reluctantly pulling away and grabbing his phone from the nightstand.

"Oh, I borrowed some notes from Gabriel...he's in my programming class," Grey said softly, "could you drop them off to him today...we were supposed to meet up before class?" Gabriel? This was the first time Jaxon heard that name.

"Sure," Jaxon replied, trying to sound casual, "I can swing by the Tech Center on the way to the cafeteria." Grey nodded, giving him a slight smile.

"Thanks," he murmured, "I'll text him and let him know I'm sick." Jaxon felt his Alpha stir restlessly. They had each other's numbers? How often were they texting each other? Was Gabriel an Alpha? Jaxon tried calming his racing thoughts. It wasn't like Grey didn't have other friends aside from Jaxon. He was actually pretty popular in school...they both were. Grey was very attractive and naturally drew a lot of attention without even trying. But Jaxon always knew his friends and who he hung out with. Gabriel was someone he didn't know. Jaxon leaned forward and brushed a quick kiss across Grey's forehead before he even realized what he was doing. His face instantly heated up and he jumped to his feet. Grey just looked up at him like nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Umm...uhh...j-just try getting some more rest," Jaxon stammered awkwardly, "if you s-start feeling worse before I get back...uhh...just text me or whatever." Grey nodded as Jaxon hurried out of his bedroom.

Grey tried going back to sleep after Jaxon left, but he was just too uncomfortable. He realized his Omega was suddenly very active. That had been happening more often lately. He hadn't mentioned it to Jaxon because he was worried he would want to get Grey's parents involved or something. It was around the time Grey felt his body temperature start to rise more when he realized he was having a heat cycle. But why now? Since he was Recessive, it wasn't unusual that he hadn't started having regular cycles. When he was fourteen, Grey had a basic general/sex education course about Alphas and Omegas that all the students were required to attend. But the video they watched was a joke. It looked like it was filmed back in the seventies. Then, the teacher passed out a pamphlet explaining all the changes they were going to experience and asked if they had any questions. Everybody was way too embarrassed to even say anything. Grey tried remembering what he had learned, but his thoughts kept getting muddled. He thought about asking someone, but who? If he called his parents, they would probably try making the two hour trip down to come get him. He wasn't really all that close with any of his brothers' partners yet. Grey finally realized he could just look it up on the internet. But before he did that, he needed more blankets and pillows. His bed just didn't feel right.

After raiding the small hallway closet of every last blanket and sheet he could find, Grey hauled them all back to his bedroom. He arranged them into a kind of makeshift blanket fort on top of his bed. Something was still missing, though. His skin felt like it was crawling and every little thing was irritating. Then he noticed a wonderful scent coming from Jaxon's room that instantly calmed the constant buzzing in his brain. It was subtle and warm, definitely very masculine and a little musky. Grey made his way over to Jaxon's room and slowly pushed the door open. The smell washed over him and he sighed softly as he made his way inside.