Ezra was sitting across the table from his best friend Hiro Hamada, enjoying the fact that they both had a Saturday off for once. Even though they both only went to school during the week (Ezra in his last year at the local high school, and Hiro in his second at the city's local institute of technology, SFIT), Hiro usually had to help out at his aunt's cafe over the weekend, so it wasn't often that they a whole day off to themselves like this. It was nice just getting to relax and generally take a break from their busy schedules in order to spend time with each other. Hiro, especially, seemed to be in a good mood today, chattering on about a project he was working on for one of his robotics classes as he ate his soba noodles. Ezra was more than happy to let him talk about it for as long as he wanted, even if he didn't understand half of the things he was saying. He could listen to Hiro talk about anything for hours-although, if he was being perfectly honest with himself, he was doing less listening and more being, well… distracted. His eyes would settle on Hiro's fluffy, dark hair, and he'd start imagining how soft it would feel if he ran his fingers through it, and wondering what it would feel like to hold the other teen's hand under the table. If he let himself look for too long, he'd get lost in Hiro's deep, liquid brown eyes and start to feel like he was melting away into them…
But, as always, before he let his imagination drift too far, he has to pull himself back from his hormonal fantasies and into reality. As much as he wished he could finally voice the feelings that he'd been harboring inside for a very, very long time, he couldn't. Why? Simple. Because Ezra was an Alpha, and, from the time that Hiro had been born, almost everyone had been absolutely certain that he was going to be an Alpha too.
Hiro had always been extremely independent and strong-willed-definitely not typical submissive Omega material-and he was a bit too willing to get into fights in the order to protect his loved ones to be a lower-level Beta. So yes, it was almost a guarantee that Hiro was going to be an Alpha. And, as much as Ezra's wished it weren't the case, two Alphas never, ever became mates. An Alpha and a Beta? Yes. An Alpha and an Omega? Of course! But never two Alphas. Hiro hadn't presented yet-he was apparently a late bloomer like the rest of his family-but Ezra was still steeling himself to the day when it would happen. The day his best friend presented was the day he would permanently be forced to give up these delusions that somehow he and Hiro could work out despite the odds.
It wasn't like two Alphas hadn't tried to make it work before, despite societal pressures. Heaven knew Ezra had desperately searched the internet for any stories of Alphas who had successfully become mates. But of the very few stories that he did find, only maybe one or two had actually worked out. There was just something in their hormonal and biological nature that made it almost impossible for them to be mate compatible. From what Ezra had heard, sometimes it was even hard for two Alphas to be friends depending on how how their hormones reacted to each other. He could only hope that wouldn't be the case for him and Hiro. After all, one of his friends from school, Zare, had presented as an Alpha too and they got along fine! Still, it was a lingering fear in the back of his mind, no matter how much he tried to ignore it-would he have to risk losing his best friend completely because of some stupid biological thing neither of them could control? It didn't seem fair. But, then, who ever said that life was fair?
What was supposed to be a quiet sigh as he ponders his dismal situation came out a lot louder than he'd meant it to, and Hiro comes to a halt mid-sentence, frowning slightly. "Ez, if I was boring you, you could have said something," he notes, looking a bit hurt.
"What? Oh, no, Hiro you weren't boring me!" Ezra cries, snapping back to the present. "I'm sorry! I just-I had something else on my mind, and I'm really sorry for not paying more attention, but I swear you weren't boring me!"
"You sure?" Hiro didn't look fully convinced, but he seemed at least slightly appeased.
"Positive," Ezra answers firmly, daring to reach out and gently but firmly squeeze Hiro's hands in his own. "Trust me. You never bore me."
Hiro's lips twitch up slightly at that, and Ezra has to convince himself that he wasn't imagining the slightest tinge of pink in the other teen's cheeks as he says, "Good."
Ezra was luxuriating in the quiet moment as the other teen starts talking again, trying to figure out how long he could get away with holding the other's hands without it being awkward, when suddenly, out of nowhere, an amazing smell hits his nose. For a minute he thinks that someone must have brought a fresh tray of brownies or some other baked good out of the kitchen of the little cafe they were sitting in. But that wasn't quite right-it wasn't exactly the smell of pastries. It was something even more amazing, and it was making his mouth water in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with food. It wasn't until he saw several others in the Cafe (which was supposed to be Alphas-only to prevent the trouble that sometimes occurred when they were forced to share a small space with Omegas or Betas) looking their way with distinctly hungry expressions on their faces that the shocking realization of what exactly was going on came to him.
Hiro seemed completely oblivious to what was happening, although he had scrunched up his nose and was covering it with his hand, looking as if he was about to gag. "What is that?" he asks, his eyes almost watering from what to him was probably an overpowering stench of the twenty, thirty Alphas in the place. As previously unpresented, he'd never had to encounter the smell of others who had already presented before. But if Ezra was right, and Hiro had just presented, it was now all hitting him full force.
If it had just been one Alpha nearby, Hiro's reaction might have been markedly different, but so many at once was probably overwhelming him, which was why he was finding the smell disgusting as opposed to as attractive as the other Alphas were clearly finding what Ezra could only assume was Hiro's smell. Ezra didn't have time to overanalyze his best friend's reaction, though. He had a pretty strong feeling that he was right about what was happening to Hiro and, if he was indeed right, he needed to get him out of here now.
"Hiro, can you come with me?" Ezra asks, trying to keep his tone level as he gently tugs on the other teen's hand-if he could keep keep himself and Hiro calm, maybe they could both make it out of here without any real trouble.
"What? Why, what's going on?" the other teen asks, still looking like he was trying not to gag but being his usual stubborn self and wanting an explanation. Ezra usually would have been more than willing to appease his naturally curious nature, but this was not the time for his arguing.
"Hiro, now." As much as Ezra was trying to stay level-headed, the combination of his fear for his friend and Hiro's scent (which was coming on extremely strong as he had just newly presented) was making it very hard for him to do so, and he found his tone and actions coming out a lot more aggressive than he'd meant them to.
"E-Ez?" Hiro shrank back slightly from him, and Ezra immediately regrets what he'd just done, even if it hadn't been voluntary. He wanted to apologize, to try to make things right, but there just wasn't time. While most of the Alphas in the room were trying to have self control and looking away from Hiro while discreetly covering their noses, there were one or two who obviously didn't care that Hiro had no clue what was going on and in an extremely vulnerable position-if anything, Ezra was pretty sure that they were probably trying to take advantage of that. They were making their way over to the table, and even though Ezra could see some of the cafe workers coming out from behind the counter, probably to try to restrain them, he knew that they wouldn't get there in time. Acting on pure instinct, he gets up out of his chair and moves so that he's crouching in front of Hiro, a warning growl emanating from his throat (wow, he'd never actually growled before), making it clear that he wasn't going to let anyone come near Hiro.
The other Alphas slow for a moment, but after quickly sizing him up they resume their steady gait-most of them were almost twice Ezra's size, and it was obvious to everyone involved that they could easily take him. Ezra knew that if he tried to fight them he was probably going to end up with a few broken bones, at the very least. But that wasn't going to stop him from trying to protect his best friend.
Even though he couldn't see Hiro because he was facing away from him, Ezra could feel the other teen stiffening behind him, seeming to have finally realized what was happening as well. As much as Ezra wanted to turn around and tell him that it was going to be okay, to comfort him, he couldn't turn his back on the other Alphas or else they'd take advantage of his momentary distraction to take him down-and, worse, to try to take Hiro.
Ezra was just bracing himself for the first wave of the attack when he notices that some of the other cafe patrons had apparently decided to take action, leaping up from their tables to try to restrain the other Alphas. Within moments it becomes a free-for-all, the Alphas who were trying to get to Hiro fighting with the ones trying to protect the teen. While part of Ezra's instincts were to join in the fight-to defend Hiro's honor-he knew that it was more important to get Hiro out of ther. So, without even thinking about what he was doing, he scoops Hiro up into his arms and makes a break for the door.
He just barely manages to get out of there without accidentally being taken down by the other brawling patrons and the employees who had joined in, but somehow he manages it, and as soon as he's out the door, he starts sprinting as fast as he can for Hiro's home, knowing that he needs to get him somewhere safe before they had even more Alphas after them. He doesn't slow down until, a few blocks down the road, he's finally forced to slacken his pace just so that he can actually breathe for a second. He refuses to completely come to a stop-he has to get Hiro home-but if he ran himself until he passed out then he'd be absolutely no help to the other teen, so he makes himself to go at a more reasonable pace.
It wasn't until his lungs stop burning that he finally realizes that Hiro, who currently had his face buried in his chest, is trembling in his arms.
"Hiro?" Ezra says softly, feeling something constricting inside of his chest. "Hiro, are you okay?"
Hiro shakes his head slightly, and as much as Ezra wishes he could just stop and hold him until he could find out what was going on, he knows that he can't and so he just keeps going, trying to sound comforting as he whispers, "It's okay, Hiro. You're going to be okay. I've got you. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."
Hiro just nods again before finally whispering, "...I-I'm scared, Ez…"
"Hiro, I... I know you're scared." Ezra wraps his arms tighter around the other teen as he walks. He'd never heard Hiro so much as sound frightened in the entire time that he'd known him, let alone admit to feeling that way, and somehow that just made this whole thing that much worse. He wished more than anything that he could wipe away all of the trauma from the cafe that the other teen was probably experiencing right now, but he has nothing but his words to comfort him.
"I'm so, so sorry about what happened. If I'd known that this was going to happen today, I never would have taken you there," Ezra whispers guiltily. "I should have never even taken the chance-"
"I-It wasn't supposed to be this way!" Hiro interrupts, his arms, already wrapped around Ezra's torso, tighten around him, his fists balling into the fabric of the other teens' shirt. "I-I wasn't supposed to be an…" He trails, unable to even finish the sentence.
"I know, Hiro." Ezra's heart aches for his friend, instinctively holding him closer. "I know you never wanted to be an Omega. We were all so sure you were going to be an Alpha… I swear, if I could, I would trade places with you in a heartbeat…"
"Y-You would?" Hiro asks in surprise.
"Of course I would! You're my best friend, I'd do anything for you! Don't you know that?" Ezra responds, the words coming out a bit more passionately than he'd intended.
"Y-Yeah…" Hiro answers after taking a moment to let his words sink in. "I do." He lets out a quiet laugh and Ezra felt relief trickling into his chest-if the other teen was laughing, that was a good sign.
"T-Thank you…" the Hiro says softly, nuzzling into the Alpha's shirt. "You're amazing, you know that, right?"
"Not half as amazing as you," Ezra answers, holding him closer.
Hiro finally lifts his head to smile up at him, and that's when it happens.
Ezra had always known that he'd felt attracted to Hiro-he'd know it from the moment he'd laid eyes on him-but until now he'd done a good job of suppressing those emotions and the urges that came with them. In that moment, though, when he looked down into Hiro's eyes, he suddenly felt every one of those feelings, wanted or not, bubbling up to the surface and spilling over so that there was no way he could ignore them. Everything around him felt so hot, and it was as if someone had just stabbed a hook into his chest, plunging it deep into his heart, and then attached the other end of the line to Hiro, leaving Ezra completely and irrevocably joined to him. Hiro, for his part, was looking up at Ezra with a slightly dazed expression, and while the other teen had no idea what was going on inside his head, he could see that his pupils had dilated until almost all of the brown in his eyes was swallowed by them.
"H-Hiro?" Ezra whispers uncertainly.
"E-Ez…" Hiro breathes, and suddenly Ezra was hit by an overwhelmingly powerful wave of his scent that sent his mind reeling. Oh gosh. Oh gosh.
As many times as Ezra heard about what imprinting felt like, as many times as he'd privately fantasized about what it might be like to experience it with Hiro, there was no way he could have been prepared for this. Desire pooled in his stomach, and his entire body was aching for the Omega he was holding in his arms. Everything in him wanted to just find somewhere safe and alone and show Hiro just how much he wanted him. He wanted to-
NO!
Ezra shakes his head to clear away the dangerous thoughts. He couldn't do that to Hiro! Not here, not now, not with everything the other teen had just been through! Even though it was fighting every instinct in his body, Ezra continues soldiering on down the road, forcing himself to concentrate on the goal of getting his best friend safely home, refusing to look down at the other teen for fear of what he'd do if he did.
By the time they had reached the Cafe Hiro's aunt owned, Ezra's limbs were shaking, both from the exertion of carrying Hiro for as long as he had and from trying to suppress the hormones that were wreaking havoc with his mind and body. He barely manages to stumble in through the door of the restaurant, too exhausted to even try to climb the stairs leading up to the main house that was above the Cafe, and hoarsely calls out for Hiro's aunt before collapsing into a nearby booth.
Only a few moments later, Aunt Cass came hurrying over, looking first shocked by the condition that the two teens are in and then even more so as her nose detects the smell that was clearly coming off of her nephew.
"Oh my goodness!" she gasps. "W-What happened?"
"Hiro presented while we were out," Ezra answers, exhausted but knowing that Hiro wasn't in any condition to speak. "I'm sorry, I got him home as fast as I could…"
Aunt Cass seemed to still be overcoming her own surprise from this unexpected turn of events, but she quickly manages to contain it, at least long enough to say in a still worried but firm voice, "Let's get you both upstairs." She looks towards the kitchen and calls out, "Tadashi? Tadashi! Come over here, please!"
A man with dark hair and brown eyes identical to Hiro's comes out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on his apron, and walks over, looking mildly concerned by his aunt's tone. When his eyes land on the two teens, though, he audibly gasps, something akin to panic showing on his face.
"W-What-? Oh my gosh, Hiro!" He instantly reaches out for the younger teen, and Ezra had to be grateful that Tadashi was an Omega or else in his current state his instinct probably would have been to fight him, even if Tadashi was Hiro's brother and thus not a threat.
Still, even though Ezra was begrudgingly willing to let the other teen go so that his family could take care of him, Hiro was obviously not of the same sentiment.
"No!" He squirms away from Tadashi's grasp, moving closer to the teen whose arms he was currently in.
"Hiro, what's gotten into you?" Tadashi asks, looking shocked and trying to reach for him again. "I just want to get you upstairs-"
"No!" Hiro whines, latching onto Ezra and refusing to be moved. "I want Ez!"
"It's okay," Ezra sighs, realizing what he had to do and managing to stumble to his feet in spite of how exhausted he was. "I'll carry him up."
It was almost worth the effort to see Hiro smiling so adoringly up at him as he carries him, and it almost sent Ezra's heart racing right out of his chest. He knew that this was just the hormones making Hiro act like this-that once the initial rush of imprinting had died down some he'd be back to normal, or at least mostly normal. All the same, as Ezra makes his way up the stairs to the main house, Aunt Cass and Tadashi watching the pair in stunned silence, he couldn't resist leaning down to gently kiss Hiro's forehead, and he was rewarded with a soft mew that sent tiny thrills of happiness running through him.
Once they were upstairs, Ezra starts to gently lay Hiro down on the couch, but the other teen was stubbornly holding onto him and so he finally decides to stop trying to fight it and just sits down with Hiro still in his arms, feeling relieved that they were finally somewhere relatively safe. His eyes want to slide shut, but he couldn't fall asleep yet-not until he knew for sure that Hiro was okay. Hiro, for his part, was contentedly curled up against him and nuzzling into his chest. It wasn't until the other teen murmurs, "You smell so good…" that Ezra realized that he was apparently trying to get as much of his scent as possible.
"You do too," Ezra answers, unable to keep from smiling slightly as he dares to try stroking Hiro's hair-and oh, it was as heavenly as he'd always imagined it would be. He's rewarded with another happy sound that encourages him to keep going, and he feels a soft vibration running through Hiro's body as if he was-wait, was he actually purring? Frankly Ezra was too tired to try to figure it out, and, in spite of himself, he finds his eyelids sliding shut. He was battling to try to force them back open when Hiro whispers softly in his ear, "It's okay. You can sleep. You've done so much for me already..."
Ezra manages to stay awake just long enough to feel Hiro's lips softly pressing against his before he finally loses the battle and drifts off into peaceful oblivion.
When Ezra wakes up later that afternoon, it takes him a minute to remember where he is and what he's doing there. He shivers slightly at the feeling of the cold air conditioning blowing down on him-what had happened to his sweatshirt?-and he slowly sits up, trying to make sense of his surroundings as he dazedly stares around at what looked like a living room but definitely wasn't the one in his own home.
What finally brings everything rushing back is spotting Aunt Cass in the kitchen, and suddenly he's very much aware of where he is and what had happened that afternoon. He feels warmth rushing to his cheeks as he sits up rigidly on the couch-how much did Aunt Cass and Tadashi know of what had happened, and what were they going to think of him if they knew that he'd imprinted on their sweet little Hiro? Even if he was an Alpha while they were a Beta and Omega respectively, he still had no doubt that they could easily take him if they wanted to. Still, the fact that they hadn't tried to do anything to him in his sleep was something-or maybe they just had too much honor to try to fight him while he was down.
He was just debating trying to make a break for the door when suddenly Aunt Cass turns around and spots him, a small smile flitting across her face as she says, "Oh, good, you're finally awake!"
Well, that didn't sound like she was planning to try to kill him. Still, Ezra couldn't help but feel a bit worried as he answers awkwardly, "H-Hey... " Then, realizing that he has more than just himself to be concerned about right now, he asks tentatively, "I-Is Hiro okay?"
"He's fine," Aunt Cass gently reassures him, coming over and, to Ezra's great surprise, pressing a mug of tea into his hands before asking, "How are you feeling?"
"I-I'm all right," Ezra answers, looking down at the mug and trying to decide if this was all an act and maybe she was trying to poison him.
"I'm glad you're awake so I can finally thank you," Aunt Cass says softly as he finally decides to dare to take a sip.
"W-What?" Ezra almost spits out his tea but manages to swallow it down before looking over at her in surprise. "Thank me?"
"Hiro told us about how you got him home safely after what happened," Aunt Cass answers with a warm smile. "I know it couldn't have been easy for you, but the fact that you kept him safe and you treated him like a gentleman in spite of what your hormones were probably telling you-well, Tadashi and I are both grateful to you for protecting him."
"Y-You're welcome," Ezra answers, flushing slightly, before daring to ask, "Where is Hiro now?"
"He's up in his room," Aunt Cass replies, oddly enough looking mildly amused by his question. "Tadashi managed to get him into the bath so you don't have to worry-his smell shouldn't be as overpowering for you. As surprised as we are about him being an Omega, it does help that Tadashi's one too so we already know what to expect."
"That's good," Ezra agrees, part of him sad to hear that Hiro's scent was reduced, but his more logical side telling him that it would make it easier for him to think clearly around him.
"Go on and head up there," Aunt Cass says with a smile, taking his now empty mug from him. "I know Hiro's probably dying to see you-it's not every day that you find your mate, after all!"
"You know about that?" Ezra finds himself blushing again.
"It was pretty hard to miss, sweetie." Aunt Cass pats him sympathetically on the shoulder. "But don't worry. I'm not upset-if anything, I'm glad that Hiro has someone who cares about him as much as you do."
"And Tadashi...?" Ezra asks, wincing as he anticipates her response.
"He's… Understandably feeling a bit protective of Hiro at the moment," Aunt Cass answers carefully. "But I think he'll warm up to the idea soon enough. He feels he has a debt of gratitude to you for protecting Hiro, so that will hopefully work in your favor."
"Good to know…" Ezra flashes her a small smile before getting up from the couch and heading towards the stairs. He takes a deep breath at the bottom, preparing himself for whatever he'd encounter at the top, before starting the climb.
As he'd half expected, Tadashi was waiting for him as soon as he comes in the door. The older man's arms were crossed over his chest, and he didn't look entirely happy to see Ezra, but he nods begrudgingly to him before gesturing in the direction of the open closet and saying, "He's in there."
Ezra was a bit surprised by this-what on Earth was Hiro doing in the closet?-but he couldn't bring himself to ask any questions with the way that Tadashi was half-glaring at him and so he just mumbles out a quiet, "Thanks" before heading over to investigate.
Inside the closet, he finds Hiro, surrounded by what at first looked almost like a pillow fort but after a moment Ezra realizes was probably what he'd heard called a "den". Hiro was curled up in middle of it, holding what the other teen recognizes as his missing sweatshirt, and for a moment he appeared to be completely dead to the world. But almost as soon as Ezra reaches the doorframe, he blinks his eyes open and sits up, smiling sleepily up at him as softly murmuring, "Hey…"
"Hey yourself," Ezra answers with a slight smile, unable to resist smiling at how adorable the Omega looked.
Hiro yawns widely, almost reminding the other teen of a tired kitten, before patting the empty space next to him. Taking that as his invitation to join him, Ezra carefully climbs in, settling himself onto the floor next to the other teen but leaving a bit of space between them in case Hiro didn't want him too close. Within moments, though, Hiro was crawling up into his lap and nuzzling up against him, and Ezra instinctively wraps his arms around him. When the Alpha glances up, he notices that Tadashi was sitting on the edge of Hiro's bed, looking very much like a protective mama bear, and Ezra could understand why he would feel that he couldn't leave the him alone with Hiro. Still, for the most part the Alpha's hormones were back under control, and he had absolutely no intention of doing anything that Tadashi would need to be worried about.
"How are you feeling?" he asks, turning his attention back to the teen in his arms.
"Okay…" Hiro answers, drowsily smiling up at him. "Tired."
"It's been a big day for you," Ezra answers sympathetically.
"Mm…" Hiro agrees, his eyes sliding shut, and for a moment Ezra assumes he's going back to sleep. But then they flutter back open and he says softly, "Hey, Ez?"
"Yeah?" Ezra answers, unable to resist gently playing with the other teen's hair.
Hiro didn't seem to mind but appears to be struggling with finding the right words to say until finally he manages to get out, "Thank you… For everything…"
"Hey, you're my best friend," Ezra tells him firmly. "There was no way I was going to let anyone hurt you!"
"Y-Yeah…" Hiro seems to be having a hard time meeting his eyes before finally saying softly, "I guess we're not just friends anymore, are we?"
"No, I guess not," Ezra agrees, feeling a bit concerned by how the other teen was acting and quickly adding, "But, Hiro, I don't want you to feel pressured to do anything you don't want to do, okay? Just because this… happened, it doesn't mean anything has to change if you don't want it to. We might have imprinted on each other, but you'll always be my best friend first, and I never want to hurt you by doing something that you're not okay with."
"Yeah?" Hiro smiles tentatively up at him.
"Definitely," Ezra reassures him, wanting to kiss his forehead but resisting the impulse-he didn't want to do anything like that until he knew what Hiro was and wasn't comfortable with. "You're my Hiro, and you mean more than anything in the world to me."
"Thank you…" Hiro nuzzles gratefully up against him before saying softly, "I-I think I might want to try… Some of the stuff that comes with being mates? But I need to take it really slow while I'm trying to figure this out… Is that okay with you?"
"That is more than okay!" Ezra reassures him, thrilled that he was willing to consider any of this at all.
Hiro beams at him before shyly reaching up and stroking his cheek with his hand. "If I have to be an Omega," he whispers, "I'm really glad that it means I get to be with you."
"Yeah?" Ezra grins down at him, feeling his heart fluttering in his chest.
"Yeah." Hiro nuzzles against him again. "I was honestly always scared of having to find a mate if I was an Alpha, but now I just get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend."
"That's exactly how I feel," Ezra answers.
"Really?" Hiro asks.
"Really," Ezra reassures him.
Hiro smiles drowsily up at him in response before yawning again and settling more comfortably in his arms.
"You just get some sleep now, okay love?" Ezra says gently, starting to stroke his hair.
"'Kay," Hiro agrees, looking completely contented as his eyelids drift closed. And as Ezra gently rocks him in his arms, he realizes that he can't wait to see what the future held for them.