The ABO Serum

Romance Isn't Everything

The third Saturday in June, Steve arranged for the whole wrestling team to visit Braedon together. It was Pride Month, which never meant much to Steve before as a married straight man, but he'd come to understand the pain of finding out you're something different from everyone else, or even from what you expected yourself to be.

As tough as that was for him, as a mature self-confident adult, it had to be hellish for this teenager. He talked with the team about it and asked them what they thought would comfort them if they were in Braedon's shoes. Once you guide kids with a little empathy exercise, they do beautiful things. They didn't tell him all their plans but asked him to arrange the meeting.

Trevor was the team captain, so he naturally took the lead. "We all chipped in for this," he said, handing Braedon the softest teddy bear he'd ever touched. "It's alpaca, 'cause Ronnie's mom has a connection." The bear had a wide rainbow ribbon tied around its neck in a bow.

Braedon smiled and teased, "what's this? You think I've turned into a girl?" The shocked faces of his male teammates were priceless. He laughed and continued. "Naw, I'm kidding. I know y'all still got teddy bears hidden in your bedrooms." He paused and turned to whisper theatrically to his female teammates standing beside the captain. "'Cept Trevor. He's got a stuffed dog named Barky."

That was just enough to incite a friendly attack, which broke through the awkward no touching atmosphere. He ended up hugging his teammates and thanking them tearfully for coming to visit and being supportive. They promised to visit again before they went off to whatever colleges they got into if they could even get out of town by fall. Though, maybe not all at once next time.

Trevor was the last to go. He waited until even the coach walked out to help someone with something. Braedon looked up at him questioning. Trevor grabbed his teammate for another tight hug, and shocked him when he whispered, "It'd be totally hypocritical to ask why you never told us. I've been hiding the same secret. But I'm glad to know because I really like you." He let go of the hug but held onto Braedon at arm's length. "I mean that. I've always thought you were a good guy, but since I heard, something inside me lit up and I can't stop thinking about you."

"Trevor? I'm..." Braedon started.

"I know. You've just been through a whole lot of crap, and this is out of the blue. So, you don't have to say anything now or do anything about it. Right now, I just want you to know you're not alone. As far as anything else goes...we've got loads of time to figure it out. I'm not an alpha. I'm just a guy who likes you. When you can get out of here, would you go on a date with me?" Trevor asked.

"Um, ah, uh...um, okay?" He answered, completely baffled by this turn of events. But it felt good to be liked, so he didn't resist when Trevor pulled him in for one more hug before heading out.

Trevor crossed paths with Steve who was coming back in and they smiled and high-fived in passing.

"Nice bear," he complimented.

"Yeah, kinda smells like him. I didn't think he wore cologne, but it's nice." Braedon sniffed the bear again, smiled, and buried his face in its silky softness.

Steve's eyebrows raised. He didn't recall smelling anything.

Two days later, Braedon's parents came by. They usually visited about three times a week. This time they brought him a smart phone. He'd been earning money doing yard work for neighbors trying to save up for one, but omega quarantine put the kibosh on that. The phone was a reconciliation gift. They wanted him to be able to feel connected with them no matter what happened.

The kidnapping demolished their wall of subconscious homophobia. They'd realized how much worse it would be to lose him altogether, and realized they'd been subtly punishing him by withholding their full acceptance. They embraced their son and apologized for making him feel rejected. After a whole lot of crying and hugging, he'd forgiven them.

Another omega, Gary, a gentleman in his late sixties who'd been there since his exposure in the original lab incident, saw this and told Braedon later how lucky he was. Gary hoped against hope for something like that to happen with his parents, but they'd both passed away without breaking their oath to never speak to him again.

Gary became Braedon's friend on the inside. The old man was full of stories. They got close enough Braedon felt safe asking him all his questions about gay relationships and sex. He'd been far too naive when he went after an alpha just to get the ABO disease. He'd had no idea what he was in for. On that score, he was able to tell Gary a few things. Gary's experience was only with other normal men.

Gary's husband died about ten years ago and he wasn't interested in a new relationship, but he wondered how things would play out with his newly fertile body. It was crazy, but they were finding even old omegas could conceive. Not only that, but they were subject to the same crazy hormonal shifts and pheromone shit as young omegas. It was the stuff of horror stories. An accident at a lab creates pubescent senior citizens.

"You should write a fanfiction about that!" Braedon told him. Then, he had to explain fan fiction, which led to a discussion of which popular celebrities or characters he should use. Which led to the writing of the most hysterical gay senior citizen puberty horror romance Braedon ever read. It was fantastic.

Over the following months, Braedon found himself spending hours Face Timing with his family and friends, especially Trevor. The big fat hole in his heart filled up with the love of his community, so by the time they let the omegas out and he got to go on his first real date, he wasn't a desperate lonely boy anymore. He was a happy young man who loved himself enough to be able to tell that the boy who picked him up in his used Miata, opened every door for him, and couldn't stop smiling all night, agreed.

And he, well, they'd spent so much time on the phone together over the past months they probably knew each other better than any other first daters ever, not just about who they were now, but who they wanted to become. Everything he knew about Trevor made him a fan. Plus, Trevor wasn't just a snack. He was a three-course meal. And he'd forgotten how good Trevor smelled. Yum. They were definitely developing a mutual admiration society.

The romance of having an alpha biologically tied to him had turned into a concern as he realized that could derail his burgeoning attachment to Trevor. Losing his choice wasn't something he felt ambivalent about anymore.

His coach, sporting a bite scar on his neck now and glowing with happiness since he'd finally accepted his fated mate, helped on that score. They met up for coffee in the GenLife lobby every now and then since their release. Gary often joined them, and sometimes others. Gary had returned to work at the lab and Steve liked to visit his mate who worked there, so it was only out of the way for Braedon. But he never thought of meeting with friends as inconvenient.

"He doesn't wear cologne you know," Steve told Braedon after listening to him gush effusively about his date. "Reciprocal pairs can probably smell their mate before they've transitioned. It happened with an alpha smelling his omega, so why not an omega with his alpha? No rush to find out for sure, but I think you're gonna be pleasantly surprised. Trevor's definitely an alpha type, already a charismatic leader."

"You think?" Braedon asked.

"Will it matter?" Gary asked. "Most of the omegas didn't get reciprocal pairs and quite a few have still got mates now. Some even with betas. As long as you can avoid your fated mate, you can be with whoever you want."

"There really needs to be a way to break that connection," Steve mused. "They're close on suppressants and we've already got passable birth control. That's got to be the next breakthrough they go after at the lab."

"Would you really want to break it?" Braedon asked. "You seem disgustingly happy."

Steve blushed. "Maybe that instinct helped me find the right mate, but it forced us to go about starting our relationship off the wrong way. And I think it means more for two people to choose to stay together. Breaking the biological bond won't necessarily break the relationship if it's healthy."

"I'll be surprised if that's something they can solve anytime soon," Gary said. He leaned back in his chair and let out a deep sigh. "You know, I think my husband was my fated mate. We didn't have the ABO disease to make it forcefully clear, but we spent every day happy to have each other. Even the bad days we were happy to have each other. And a piece of me died along with him. So, I don't think I've got another reciprocal pair out there. But I've still got a lot of love to give in a lot of different ways, so I'm good. Romance isn't everything. Whatever happens, and I think Steve's probably right about the smell thing, but whatever happens, you're gonna have love in your life, Braedon."