Jake was in the process of littering Dirk's room with an entire bag of cotton balls. The blonde was always so meticulously tidy, he needed some loosening up. Well, that and a little revenge for tossing out Jake's favorite old hiking boots, so what if they were falling apart, smelled awful, and were permanently covered in mud? They were his and Dirk had no right to toss them.

Standing back and looking at his handy work he was highly dissatisfied, still too clean. Maybe some toilet paper decorations. He went into the bathroom connected to Dirk's room, the guy always had so much extra stuff, and everything was painstakingly cataloged so he would always know exactly how much he had of everything. So, taking his stuff was an added bonus to messing up his room. Cotton balls, toilet paper, hmmm. Jake was looking around for anything else that would serve to create a disaster without actually ruining anything (he didn't want to lose their deposit). As he moved the fourth bottle of mouth wash, he spied a single container among the sea of multiples, broken seal. Jake grinned to himself, another added bonus, SECRET TIME! He pulled out the container, studying the label. Diet pills. Why did Dirk have diet pills. He wasn't fat, actually pretty skinny. The horrors of self-image represented by day time talk shows flashed through Jake's mind. Body dysmorphic disorder, anorexia, bulimia, things that destroy the body and mind. Granted, he hadn't actually seen any of the signs, but diet pills were a sign, and the blonde was rather secretive during his study time. Concern washed away the early mischievous mood, he was going to help Dirk, they were going to have a talk when he got home. The brunette uncapped the bottle, flushing its contents down the toilet.

Unfortunately, Jake's plan was unraveled by his short attention span. Less than five minutes after sitting determinedly on the couch, he found himself flipping through channels and skimming through the required reading for class tomorrow. He barely noticed Dirk come in, or walk past him, or enter his room. He remained oblivious to his previous intentions as Dirk yelled at him for making a mess. His memory loss continued up until around ten o' clock, when Dirk confronted him again with the empty bottle, his voice low and livid, eyes that could melt steel fixed on his form. "What did you do with my pills?"

Jake fidgeted under the fiery gaze, his voice quiet, but unwavering. "You're not fat Dirk, you don't need those blasted things."

"That's not for you to decide!" Anger was still evident in Dirk's gaze, now mixing with horror, panic, and a little fear. "What did you do with them Jake! Please, please tell me you just hid them somewhere!" His voice shaking, a note of hysteria entering his tone.

"I flushed them, their gone Dirk."

Outright panic seemed to ripple through the blonde's form. "YOU IDIOT!" Throwing the bottle across the room before collapsing in on himself, fingers frantically running through his hair as he sank to the ground, not saying a word.

Jake cautiously approached his side. "Now, now, you don't need those things. You are very skinny Dirk, you need to be healthy, pills aren't the answer."

Dirk could barely whisper. "Those weren't diet pills."

"Dirk, the bottle-"

A violent shaking of the head as a trembling voice asked him, "Jake, do I smell like an omega to you?"

"What?"

"Do I smell like an Omega?"

"You said you were beta."

"That's not my fucking question."

"No, you don't."

"I am."

"…"

"Those pills weren't diet pills you idiot. They were suppressants. Do you have ANY idea what it's like being an omega? Having a bunch of sleazy fucking alphas constantly harassing you, and then your judgement goes out the fucking window when you're in heat. Have you ever experienced that?"

"Can't say I have. I mean, there's the rut thing, but that's a little different."

"Right, well, heats are hell. It's degrading being that desperate, letting guys I don't even like touch me because I'm that desperate for physical contact. And you flushed the one thing that made that all go away."

The true gravity of the situation settled on Jake's shoulders. "Dear god, Dirk, I'm sorry, I'll replace them."

"It's not that easy, you can't get them in the US, the FDA hasn't cleared them. You can't just run to the store and buy a pack of 'em. I had to buy mine from Germany, alright?"

"I'll do whatever I have to, to get those pills back."

"…Okay."

"I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted, it's going to cost you about $100."

Jake froze, he wasn't going to get that new backpack he wanted for a while. "Okay."

Dirk seemed to relax a little, "Fuck, my natural scent is going to come back."

"The quarter's almost over, you won't have to be around people for long."

"Just you."

"What's that mean."

"You're alpha."

"I promise I'm not sleazy."

Dirk sighed, "I know, I just, not having that…. I'm scared, okay?"

Jake brought him into a hug. "I can walk you home from work, would that help? I promise to keep out of your personal space, but at least you wouldn't have to deal with other alphas." The brunette felt Dirk relax in his arms.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

"Okay."

For the next few days Jake made a point of keeping distance from Dirk when they sat on the couch or walked together. Always making sure he was a little more than arms-length away. He also made a point of walking the blonde home. After two days without the suppressants, Dirk reeked of omega pheromones. Nothing Jake couldn't handle, but walking with Dirk certainly opened his eyes. He noticed the creeps eyeing Dirk as they walked by, catcalling him, one asshole even had the nerve to grab ass while he walked by. Jake nearly decked him, Dirk was too on edge though, stopped him and insisted they go straight home. Jake had never seen him this way, Dirk wasn't the submissive of cowering type, he'd kick your ass just for looking at him sideways.

The nervousness continued when they arrived home, an incessant pacing filled the blonde's activity for the night.

"What's with you tonight?"

"Can't you smell it?"

Jake inhaled deeply, the blonde smelled pretty good, but not that different from normal. "No, what?"

"I'm about to go into heat, I can feel it. What am I going to do?"

This, Jake had covered, he sat at their table, beckoning the pale man to sit across from him. In a calm tone he said, "If this is really happening, then here's what we'll do. You'll email your professors, tell them you're sick. Same with work, do you have people that can cover your shift?"

"Yeah, they're a couple omegas that I covered for before, they said they'd return the favor if I ever needed it."

"Good, I'll take care of grocery shopping and errands for the next week."

"What about…?"

"What?"

"C'mon Jake, don't make me say it."

"I'm honestly at a loss of what you are alluding to Dirk."

"You're Alpha, I'm omega…" Dirk began to roll his hands in a sort of "piece it together" motion.

"Oh! I wouldn't worry about that, we've lived together for many months now, and it hasn't been an issue."

"I was on the suppressants the entire time."

"Stop your worrying. I'll take care of you and I have great self-control, I can handle this."

Oh, how wrong he was. Ten hours into Dirk's heat and Jake wanted nothing more than to push Dirk into the nearest bed and fuck him senseless. It's just urges, he can overcome urges. His body doesn't boss him around, he bosses his body around. Yes siree bob, he can handle this. Just a little sexual tension, it happens, he doesn't have to act on it, in fact, there have been many times when he chose not to act on it. This is one of those times. A long groan penetrated their shared wall, sending a jolt of arousal through him, his hand finds the tent in his pants before shame can kick in. Fuck, he has no right to do this. Masturbating to Dirk makes the whole thing feel intentional. Like he knew those weren't really diet pills and that Dirk was omega, and he did all of this to get Dirk into this state. All of those stolen looks at Dirk's body came to the front of his mind. The lithe form with the barest hint of muscles, and beautiful, soft looking, skin. Nope, not allowed to think about that, he fucked up, he does not get to enjoy his horny roommate's body or current state, nope. Thank god he's confined himself to his room.

Jake made a point of cooking Dirk's favorite food as a point of comfort for him. When the blonde sauntered out his room and Jake got a whiff of his heightened scent permeating every square inch of the apartment, it was like he was suffocating on lust. Determined to grin and bear it, he served their dinner, barely able to hide his hard-on. "How you feeling?"

A pointed glare which melted into an amorous gaze as a blush rose to the omega's cheeks. "I'm fine." The death grip on fork begged to differ. He shoveled the macaroni and cheese into his mouth, clearly trying to keep himself from speaking, a delighted muffled moan escaped before he swallowed. "This is great!"

The adventurer gave him a sympathetic smile. "I figured you could use some comfort." Dirk smiled, ate happily, but shook and shifted in his seat the entire time. A long silence passed before Jake felt a foot rubbing against his leg.

"There are other ways you can comfort me."

The too locked into a trance of uninterrupted eye contact, tension pulled taut. The foot continued to rub his leg until the threshold for sexy passed and awkwardness set in. Dirk jolts in his chair, ripping his foot away from Jake, completely red face in a way that forces the brunette to think of horrible things, all to avoid the reaction he desperately wanted to enact. Dirk's head dropped to the table as he pulled at his hair, and guilt chased all thoughts of carnality away. "It's okay."

"No it isn't, it's humiliating."

"Really, Dirk, I understand and it's my fault you're in this predicament."

"Why do you have to smell so fucking good." A whine and needy expression threatening to crumble Jake's determination.

"Why don't you go to bed. Think you can sleep?"

"I bought some sleep medication the other day."

"Take a bath, take those, and get some rest." Dirk nodded, shuffling to his room. Jake made a point not to stare at the prominent erection as he left. Not that he was one to talk. The tent in pants nearly threatened to break through the fabric of his sweats. He sighed, forced himself to ignore his aching need and washed the dishes; wondering idly, how long heats last.