Three

Gay Panic

"Y'ain't never gonna find a mate lazin' around the couch all day, y'know."

Axel Flynn let out a heavy sigh and turned the TV off, tilting his head back until he could see his foster mom standing behind him with one hand on her hip and the other holding a cigarette. "I told you a thousand times Mrs. H, it's summer break and I have nothing to do."

"Coulda got yerself a damned job or somethin'. Made yerself useful. Never seen an alpha so got-dang lazy a'fore."

Cringing at her lack of grammar, Axel stood up and stretched. "I'm not lazy, Mrs. H. I tried to find a job, but nobody was hiring."

"Then why ain't ya out there trying to find a mate? I'm gonna want yer ass outta here when ya turn 18. Government stops handing out cash for ya."

"Yeah, I'm fully aware of that…" he grumbled, finding satisfaction in the fact that she had no idea what kind of inheritance he was going to get on his 18th birthday. His parents had been insanely wealthy. "And I'm not trying to find a mate right now. I'm still in high school, for fuck's sake. Who in their right mind thinks they're ready for a mate at this age?"

She scoffed, plumes of smoke pouring from her mouth and nose. "I found my idiot husband when I wasn't 16 years old. We was bonded a'fore we even graduated."

"You graduated?" he muttered under his breath, hoping that she didn't hear him. He'd get his ass beat for a comment like that. "Well, I'm not ready for a commitment like that yet."

"'Course ya ain't. Yer too lazy to take care of a 'mega."

Axel had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from saying something he'd regret. "Fine. I'll go out if I'm bothering you that much."

"Good. 'N take the beta with ya. I'm sick 'a lookin' at 'im."

He just rolled his eyes and walked up to the base of the stairs. "Saix!"

After a moment, his blue-haired foster brother appeared at the top step. "What's up?"

"Mrs. H is kicking us out for the day. Where do you wanna go?"

Saix huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't know what she expects us to do. She never gives us money and nothing is free anymore."

"We could go to the beach. I've got a couple bucks to get some sea salt ice cream, and swimming is free."

"I hate the beach," Saix sighed, but still turned around to get ready.

Axel jumped up the stairs and followed him to their room, which they'd been sharing since they were 13. Saix had been placed with the Hills first, but Axel joined him soon after.

"Is she in one of her moods again?" Saix wondered, pulling on his blue swim trunks.

"Yeah. Pretty sure she's been day drinking. Gave me the whole 'you're useless and lazy' spiel again."

"One I know well," Saix nodded, often on the receiving end of their foster mother's bullshit. She hated betas, and constantly reminded him of that fact. "Still bugging you to find a mate?"

Axel chuckled. "Yupp. Oh, but I'm also 'too lazy' to care for one. Like… which is it, woman?!"

Saix laughed along with him, especially because she was so incredibly wrong about Axel. He was going to be a perfect mate for someone someday. He was easily one of the most caring, protective, and competent alphas that Saix had ever met. "What do you expect? Her and Mr. H have like one brain cell between the two of them."

"Oh come on, now you're giving them too much credit," Axel joked, cracking himself up. He was an only child, but he'd always imagined that having a brother would be like this. Getting placed with Saix was honestly the best thing that had ever happened to him. Sure, he could be uptight and prudish at times, but he always knew when Axel needed a good laugh and never failed to oblige him.

After changing into his red swim trunks that had flames running up the legs, Axel glanced down at his stomach. His abs weren't as defined as they'd been over the school year, mostly because he didn't have a gym to use over the summer. Memberships cost way too much, and there was no way Mrs. H was going to spring for one. He tried to train as much as he could around the house, but it was hard to focus where he wanted to without any equipment.

"What're you looking at?" Saix asked him, looking confused.

"My abs. I'm getting out of shape. Maybe I am lazy…"

His foster brother let out a bark of laughter. "Ha! Very funny, Axel. You're 17 years old and you're ripped! I don't think I've ever seen a teenager with your kind of muscle tone before."

"Ugh, no I'm not. I can't figure out how to bulk up. I'm gonna be a tall, lanky beanpole forever." He was able to put on lean muscle, but no matter how much he worked out, he wouldn't get any bigger. What he didn't realize was that it was just his body type and height, and there was no way for him to control it. His metabolism burned through calories faster than he could eat them.

"You shut up. I'm the one that needs to work out," Saix grumbled, looking down at his small amount of baby fat. He was tall and thin as well, but far more interested in his studies than in training.

Axel just smirked. "Come on. It's not like you're looking for a mate anyways, right?"

"Fuck no!" he laughed, pulling on a grey t-shirt. "Even if I was, I wouldn't want one who only cared about muscles. I'd want a brainy girl who's got her shit figured out and will let me do my own thing too. I can't stand clingy omegas."

"Who says you're gonna mate with an omega?" Axel teased him, jabbing him in the side with his elbow. "Don't betas usually go for other betas?"

Saix rolled his eyes. "Maybe in the olden times. Our generation is breaking all the rules of this stupid hierarchy, and I'm glad. I'm not going to let my dynamic define who I am, and neither should you."

"We really were destined to be brothers, huh?" he commented, swinging an arm around Saix's shoulders and leading him downstairs.

"If you say so," he replied, shrugging Axel off of him. "If someone had told me 4 years ago that I'd have a big ape of an alpha as a brother, I'd have laughed in their face."

Axel gasped loudly, throwing his head back and clutching his heart. "Your words! They sting!"

The two continued to banter back and forth as they walked to the beach, until Axel suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed Saix by the waist to halt him as well.

"What the hell?!" Saix squawked, trying to pry his foster brother off of him.

"Look over there!" Axel exclaimed in a hushed whisper, pointing at a group of teenagers in a pretty obvious way.

Saix raised an eyebrow and glanced at the group in question, quickly realizing who it was. "It's just Xion and Namine, you dumbass. What's so special about them?"

"I'm not talking about them! I'm talking about the guy with them!" Axel told him, looking like he was about to stroke out.

That was when Saix noticed the shock of neon pink hair attached to a small boy standing with the girls. "What about him?"

"He's so cute!" Axel whimpered, going into full-on-gay-panic mode.

"If you say so," Saix muttered, laying his towel out in a shaded area and pulling out the book he'd brought with him. "Go talk to him."

Axel's eyes went wide and he shook his head, trying to stay hidden behind a tree. "No! What if I say something stupid?"

"I suppose that is pretty likely."

"Oh shut up," Axel snapped at him, laying his towel down next to his brother's and pulling out his phone. He opened up his group chat with the Gainsborough sisters and sent them a message.

Axel: Who's that guy with you?!

Xion: Uh… creepy? Where are you?

Axel: …At the beach. Saix and I just got here.

Xion: Are you hiding or something?

Axel: WHO IS HE?

Xion: Are you, like… having a moment or something?

Namine: He's having a gay panic! Aww, he likes Roxas.

Xion: HA!

Axel: Shut up, both of you!

Axel: Now who is Roxas and why have I never seen him around here before?

Namine: He's new to the city. Just moved here from Twilight Town. Xion saw his hair and HAD to be his friend, naturally.

Xion: Hey, any guy who has the guts to dye his hair bright-ass pink is awesome in my book.

Axel: FOCUS LADIES.

Axel: …What's he like?

Xion: Just come over and say hi!

Axel: Noooo. I'll make a fool out of myself!

Namine: I think I see youuuu.

Namine: Well, I see Saix. But I assume you're hiding behind him.

Axel: Don't you dare bring him over here!

Xion: TOO LATE!

Axel inhaled sharply and tossed his phone aside, standing up as his eyes darted around to try and find an escape route. He could already see the girls heading over, but maybe he could still-

"Saix! Axel! I thought I spotted you two walking by," Xion called out, effectively trapping him in his spot.

Saix threw them a wave, but continued reading his book. He wasn't as close with them as Axel was, and he wasn't interested in whatever drama was about to go down.

"Uh… yeah, hey! How's it going?" Axel asked in a stilted and awkward voice, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, you know. Just enjoying summer break while it lasts," Xion told him, a cheeky grin on her face. "By the way, this is our friend Roxas. We just met him on our walk here."

The pink-haired boy glanced up from his phone, hardly even looking Axel's direction. "Hey."

"Hi. I'm Axel," he offered, blushing hard. He was about to introduce his foster brother when the breeze picked up, and Axel was hit right in the face with the intoxicating scent of an omega. He knew it wasn't the girls; he'd gotten used to their scents long ago. No, this scent was so strong and sweet that it was making him dizzy. It had to be Roxas.

"Roxas, don't be rude!" he heard Xion whisper, pushing the boy closer to Axel.

He shoved his phone in his pocket and finally looked up, nearly stopping Axel's heart with his crystal blue eyes. "Sorry. My girlfriend gets pissy if I don't text her back right away."

And all at once, Axel's heart shattered into pieces inside his chest. Of course the cutest omega he'd ever seen would be taken. And even worse, straight. "Oh, uh… no problem. Totally get it."

Roxas didn't seem to know what to say to that, so he just stood there awkwardly. Axel took the opportunity to look him over, trying not to be creepy about it as he did. He was adorably small, probably standing a good foot and a half shorter than Axel did, and he was hilariously wearing a full black outfit including wonderfully tight skinny jeans, a zippered hoodie and combat boots, even though it had to have been at least 90 degrees that day. He also wore a slim black choker around his neck, which the alpha found particularly enticing, because it drew attention directly to his scent glands. Axel could also see the hints of a tattoo near his shoulder and collarbone, which confused and intrigued him because the kid couldn't have been any older than he was. He also had snakebite piercings on his lower lip, and a ring through one of his eyebrows.

Realizing that the two of them were just gonna stand there and stare at each other, Xion piped up. "So… we were gonna play volleyball, but we need one more. Wanna join?"

"I told you, I don't wanna-" Roxas began to object, but she cut him off.

"Hush. You and Axel against me and Nami. And be lucky I'm giving you the hot muscular guy. I could've kept him for myself."

Roxas gave her the side eye. "Uh… are you two…?"

"No!" Axel exclaimed, knowing exactly where he was going with that question. "No. I'm gay. 100%, dick-loving gay."

Saix snorted beside them. "And you were worried you'd say something stupid."

He kicked sand at his foster brother, his cheeks heating up again. "Sure, I'll play with you guys. Let's go."

Knowing that Roxas was not only taken, but straight as well was making Axel's gay panic slowly ease up on him, but the wind kept blowing that sweet omega scent right into his face, and it was making his heart race every time. Hanging around this kid was going to be trouble.