pretty please (with sugar on top) - larry stylinson

51

Louis was losing his mind.

He could not think straight. He could not focus on anything. Not work, not travel, not everyday tasks, nothing. He could barely see straight, his mind was a storm of memories, of images and feelings. It was panic he felt. The kind of panic at losing someone he needed more than anyone.

It had been weeks. Too long. Louis was on his last miniscule of self-restraint. It would run out soon. There was only so much he could do to keep himself from chasing after the omega who didn't even want him. He was losing his mind. Maybe he was being dramatic. He couldn't stop thinking about him. He missed him, so much. So much.

He was sitting in a meeting, at the head of the table because he was the second most important person here, damn it, this meeting was for him. And he just could not focus.

Los Angeles was so far away from New York City.

2,451 miles. He had looked it up days ago.

The number made his inner alpha prowl restlessly in his chest, howling with each turn. 2,451 miles. So far away.

Louis was losing his mind.

He could not sit here any longer. Excusing himself hastily, the world was too off-kilter for him to create a decent explanation, not to mention an apology. The alphas and betas around the desk were shocked. He staggered out of the room, the door losing hard behind him with a slam that made him flinch. The next time he opened his eyes he was in the bathroom, staring at his reflection in the mirror. A ghost stared back. An exhausted, demoralized ghost with dark circles under his eyes like purple crescent moons. His skin was sickly pale. He was tired. So tired.

It had been weeks since Florida. Weeks since he fucked up and did something he shouldn't have. Weeks since he ran away without an explanation.

After fucking Harry and leaving him, Louis found himself on a flight back to his hollow LA house for another week of business meetings and work and stress.

He barely made it off the plane before his rut hit.

It had been unexpected, out of the blue and sneaking up on him, no warning signs at all. Or maybe the warning signs were there, but he had not noticed them because he'd been too busy focusing on the omega in heat. He thought that was a valid reason to not notice his own warning signs. Maybe. But also inconvenient becauseinconvenient, because he barely had time to grab a box of protein bars and a pack of bottled water before locking himself in the bedroom and tearing his clothes off like he couldn't get them off fast enough.

After sleeping off the end of his rut, he woke up groggy and vaguely horny to the pileup of messages on both his work phone and his personal phone. He ignored work, not even caring enough to worry about missing at least three meetings without even shooting a text to say he wasn't going to show, and instead focused on his personal phone, and specifically the message from one person in particular.

thanks for the gifts, alpha :) 💓🌸

It was clearly just a flirty text to keep Louis in the loop, probably hoping the use of 'alpha' would coax Louis into buying him more things. Not that Louis minded buying things for the omega, but he figured this was the generic text Harry sent to every alpha who spoiled him.

Louis stared at it for a long, long time before deciding Harry didn't expect a response. Not only did he not expect a response, but he probably didn't even want one, unless it was to offer him money or more gifts. Louis knew what Harry was like with the other alphas he interacted with, and he had no intention of becoming one of them. He wasn't strong enough to handle knowing he was just one of many. It hurt too much to even think about it.

He'd tossed his phone to the side and face planted into bed, frustrated with himself for getting so attached to an omega who had more than a dozen suitors at any given moment, an omega who wasn't looking for a relationship and even if he was, he would never choose Louis.

And now here he was. Staring at his reflection in the mirror, desperately clinging to some semblance of sanity before his inner wolf completely took over. If his wolf had its way, he would be in New York right now, tracking Harry down by scent alone. Which was creepy. Terribly creepy. Add Louis to the list of creeps who became obsessed with Harry after being shown only a little bit of affection by the omega. The thought of Harry regarding him as an inconvenience and an annoyance made him feel sick to his stomach.

Things were not going well.

Just last night, he'd called Niall to check up on Harry. To see how he was doing, if things were okay. If he was sleeping with other alphas.

He already knew the answer to the last one, an obvious yes. But Louis still had to ask, just for the slight hope that Niall would assure him that no, Harry hadn't slept with anyone since Louis. He knew it wasn't true, knew it was too much to ask for Harry to not move on just yet, knew it wasn't even his business at all anymore, but he still couldn't shake the question from his mind. He thought about it constantly, in the worst of ways: Harry with other alphas, going on dates, receiving gifts, letting them touch him...

Louis stared at his reflection in the mirror to ground himself in the moment. There was nothing he could do about Harry's decisions. The omega was probably getting pounded in a luxurious hotel bed right now and it was none of Louis' business. He gripped the edges of the sink so hard, his knuckles turned white.

Niall had said something last night, though.

If you want to know so bad, book a flight over here and see for yourself.

It wasn't an invitation by any stretch of the imagination, but it was enough of a nudge in the right direction to crack Louis' resolve until it shattered.

His excuse to fly across the country came in the form of a rescheduled meeting later that day. The representative claimed a Skype interview would do just fine, not wanting to inconvenience Louis.

"Where will you be on Friday?" Friday was the day they were supposed to have the meeting.

"New York."

Louis' jaw clenched, his entire body wrought with tension. Newfound energy was thrumming within his veins.

He tried on a cordial smile to let the amiability it seep into his tone. "I would prefer to meet in person, Mr. Harding. I'll come to you."