pretty please (with sugar on top) - larry stylinson

60

"Thank god, you're up. Welcome to the land of the living, dear."

The old, thrifted teapot whistling on the burner filled the small, quiet space.

"What am I going to do with you? You come home for one night and then I lose you all over again. It's always because of some alpha, now isn't it."

Harry's eyes trailed his mother around the microscopic kitchen as she moved with purpose. Water was boiling on the stovetop, something else was spinning in the microwave, and Anne was rummaging through the sparse pill containers on the top shelf of the cupboard, looking for something.

"Ah, here it is." She bustled over to him, coxed his jaw open, and set a pill on his tongue before lifting a glass of lukewarm water to his lips. "Take a sip and swallow."

Harry did as he was told because he was helpless to it with the way she was standing over him, no other choice. He was swathed in blankets and it felt like he was burning, blood beginning to flow back into his fingers and toes. He wasn't even shivering anymore, which should've been a good sign, except he suspected it was because his body had given up on trying to keep warm. Had given up on him, in total, actually. Harry didn't blame it. He would do the same. He hadn't been very kind to his body lately, despite the self-love session last night, since it mostly ended in utter disaster.

"Now, can you use your words and tell me what happened?"

He opened his mouth but no sound came out. It was probably better that way, as there was really no decent way to explain what happened, to his mother of all people.

"Well, fine." She shoved something under his nose. "Here, take a deep breath."

He did, and a weak sense of comfort filtered through him, the dull effect of soothers, artificial alpha pheromones. He breathed in again and it was nothing like what he actually needed, but it would have to do. After a few deep breaths Anne removed the small vial, rubbing some of the liquid onto Harry's neck so he could keep smelling it even when she set it down.

"You know, I don't like to wake up to the neighbor banging on my door telling me my estranged son is unconscious in the parking lot."

"Not estranged," Harry croaked, the words coming out rough and gravelly.

"Maybe I'll kick you to the curb again, might do you some good. This has to do with that alpha of yours, or am I to assume there's someone in this county who would do this to you?"

Harry shook his head. To what, he didn't know, but it hurt, so he aborted the movement almost immediately after he began it.

Anne sighed. "You know, I'm not sure I like this alpha all that much. He doesn't take care of you very well."

Frowning, he managed to get out, "Not his fault. Was mine. My fault."

She surprised him by wrapping him in her arms, all warm and full of motherly protection. "Well, I don't care whose fault it was. Don't let it happen again, you hear me? You're lucky Mr. Warren was out there so early in the morning. Another hour out in the cold and who knows, you might've lost your toes."

Harry was so depressed. So low. It was weighing on him. The world felt dark and scary and not even the familiar scent of his mother could comfort him. He knew it was just from the crash of coming down after such a high of dopamine and serotonin, all the good feelings Louis made him feel over the phone, and not having a physical presence beside him offering care and affection. Omega biology was so finicky and Harry hated it. He loved being an omega but things like dropped made it awful sometimes, made him feel so weak and dependent.

He could only imagine what happened last night, literally, because the last thing he could remember was his vision going blurry as Louis crooned praise in his ear. It had been good at first, right, the lovely feeling of being told what to do, of taken care of. He wondered when the phone call had cut out, though. He also wondered if Louis had put the pieces together, yet, or if he just thought Harry was asleep, or maybe ignoring him?

There was no way Harry was going to call him, ever again, after this. He was so embarrassed and demoralized. Normal omegas didn't drop after getting off on the phone with an alpha. His relationship with Louis was unclear and touchy, already jeopardized by the weird miscommunication between them, and Harry simply could not give Louis yet another reason to turn him down.

So when he finally had the ability to fumble for his phone, he didn't call. Instead, he sent a very basic text that said I'm ok, sorry for worrying you! and then he shut it off without waiting for a response, and that was that.

He spent the day with Anne, hovering close to her side to mooch off of any soothing pheromones she could provide. She made a valiant attempt to keep his mind off of how low he felt, catching him up on everything he had missed since he left, and asking him questions about his own life. The amount of time they had to make up for seemed never-ending, but it was kind of perfect that way, like sitting down and telling a rambling story to the only person who had ever really cared. The tension between them dissipated as the hours rolled by, turned sweeter. Before Harry left for the airport, they hugged for a long, long time.

A/N: I know it might not seem like it, but we're nearing the end! also, thank you so much for all the lovely, supportive comments. hearing what you all think of this fic is so great, thanks for reading and commenting, ily <3