pretty please (with sugar on top) - larry stylinson

61

Leaving Oklahoma was much different than last time. A piece of him ached now, like a phantom limb, and he knew Pushmataha County would always be a part of him no matter what. He would be back soon to visit his mother, now that they had agreed to be a part of each other's lives again, no more hard feelings. Their relationship wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but they would have time to mend the necessary wounds.

He was exhausted, and sort of melancholic, but mostly relieved to head over to Niall's place and cuddle with him on the couch for a few hours, hopefully falling asleep with his head on his lap and a hand petting his hair. Niall was the best at listening to Harry's whining complaints about the woes of his life, and also his alpha pheromones were a decent replacement for exactly what Harry lacked. After dropping, he was desperate for any sort of alpha comfort, and Niall was always there for him.

He bought a bottle of pheromone soothers at the airport gift shop to use during the flight back to New York. Despite the sensory aid and the fact that his limbs were bone-tired, eyelids heavy and threatening to close at any moment, he was too keyed up to fall asleep, his inner omega restless and constantly scanning the surrounding area for a threat. There was an alpha sitting two rows behind him on the plane, his aromatic signal sending out the sour fragrance of frustration and annoyance. Realistically, Harry knew the feelings were not directed at him, of course not, but his inner omega was convinced otherwise. He spent the whole flight resting his head on the window, fighting the urge to turn around and apologize to the alpha stranger.

He was being ridiculous. He had nothing to apologize for. But his inner omega was convinced he had done something wrong.

The airport wasn't as hectic as usual when he landed, due to the late hour and the bad weather. A blizzard was coming down the coast and a lot of flights had already been delayed due to freezing rain and low visibility. The landing had been bumpy, and Harry was glad to be on the ground. He wrapped the blanket he always traveled with around his shoulders, clutching it with one hand and using the other for his luggage. He only used a carry-on, so he skipped the luggage carousel and headed straight for the doors where Niall would be waiting for him, hopefully with a thermos of hot chocolate and arms that were ready for a nice, long hug.

Except, it wasn't Niall who was waiting for him, and Harry rubbed his eyes, too tired to outwardly display his surprise. Yet again, Louis was standing there, this time wearing real clothes instead of pajamas, holding a bouquet of flowers in every color of the rainbow. He smiled when he saw Harry and held the flowers out like an offering.

"Is this becoming a habit?" Harry asked as he approached, swaying sleepily. He accepted the bouquet and stared down at it, vision blurry. The colorful flowers were staring right back at him, bright and hopeful.

"Hopefully not. I came here to make a real apology this time, one that doesn't involve attacking you and sucking your face off."

The omega pursed his lips in a pout, thumbing over the crinkly cellophane, "But I quite liked that part."

Louis laughed, a joyous little laugh that eased the tension in Harry's shoulders, and then he fiddled with his fringe, brushing it to the side once and then twice. His expression turned serious, smile fading from his face. "Look, Harry, I'm really sorry. I've been an absolute dick and you don't deserve that. No one deserves that. I'm so sorry for assuming you were only tolerating me for my money. You have to understand it wasn't because I thought you were manipulative or a bad person or something. All of it, everything that happened, was due to my own insecurity, and I'm sorry I let that mess things up between us." He paused to take a deep breath. It sounded like he had spent a lot of time thinking of what he wanted to say while he was waiting for the flight to land. "But most of all I'm sorry I hurt you. Niall told me how hard these past few weeks have been on you and I am so, so deeply sorry I caused you pain. I'm not expecting you to forgive me and I would understand it if you don't want to ever see my face again, but I guess, just, please know that I am so sorry."

Harry held the flowers a little closer to his chest. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

Louis stared at him, eyes scanning back and forth over the omega's face as if he was searching for an indication that he was upset or going to reject him. "Okay," he said finally. "Cool. So how was your trip?"

They made small talk all the way outside, where Louis pulled Harry into him after some deliberation, linking their arms together. It was awkward, with the tension of their last talk hanging heavy between them, and they both fumbled around it, pointedly ignoring what happened the last time they talked... Though Harry's cheeks were burning with thought, because he had slipped into omega space and had no memory of what happened, but he knew it wasn't good. He must have sounded so needy and clingy and vulnerable he couldn't even remember it, and Louis was right there, obviously remembering it.

He wanted to bury his face in his hands. Instead, he slid into the cab after Louis and turned his gaze out the window after offering his address to the driver, looking out at the snowy city and the dark sky.

"You seem tired."

Harry nodded, playing with a stray thread on his sleeve. His vision kept swimming in and out of focus. "I feel kind of weird."

"Weird?"

He sucked in a deep breath. "Dizzy." Maybe now would be a good time to tell Louis what happened. But he was just so tired, and the world was dipping into darkness like swirling a strawberry through melted chocolate, and he was tipping over to the side, falling Louis' shoulder, which was warm even through his coat and smelled nice-

"Jesus, Harry," followed by a string of mostly incoherent cursing. "Are you..?"

His eyes must have closed without his consent, because he couldn't see anything, but he could feel that he was slumped against the alpha now, sinking into his lap as Louis attempted to prop him up, holding him with his hands wrapped around his biceps in a strained position, muscles tense.

Yeah, now would be a good time to tell him. The words were slow and warbled but he got them out: "I... dropped. After our call."

Louis said something like why didn't you tell me?! but Harry was already halfway to unconscious so it didn't matter. He had Louis with him now and that was what mattered. Unlike during the past twenty-four hours, he felt safe. There was no doubt Louis would take care of him. He was the one who caused this, after all.

So Harry sort of fainted, sort of took a nap, and despite the circumstances, it was nice.

A/N: hey so the thing is, I'm writing the ending right now and I could use all the motivation and inspiration I can get. your comments mean so much to me, seriously, I wouldn't write fic if I couldn't share it with people, so thank you so much!