Author's Note: I lied. This will probably be four parts. There's just so much that needs to be said.

A little over a year after they met, the boys were told of their heat cycles together.

Annie was helping Alfred, Matthew, and Arthur with their math homework when Alfred's father came home. The four of them had walked home from school together while Alasdair and Scott stayed behind for soccer practice. Or so Alfred called it. Arthur and the rest of his family still insisted on calling it football.

Alfred listened to every footfall against the tile of the floor as his father approached the kitchen table, abandoning his doodle to focus on the problem Annie had assigned him almost ten minutes ago. "What are you kids up to?" He asked, and Alfred felt his father's presence looming over him.

Alfred remembers his father to be a kind, gentle man of faith, not so strict a parent compared to his mother. He'd worked as a lawyer back in Al's youth – Lord knows what the man does now – and Alfred had really loved his father, even if he wasn't home much. He and Matt looked just like him, with chestnut-colored hair and eyes as blue as the sky above the fields Alfred loved to run in on the weekends while Arthur looked on and shook his head.

"I'm tutoring the boys in math." Annie explained, leaning close to Matthew's shoulder as she peered at whatever Alfred's twin was writing. "They're all very bright, but their skills need a bit of work."

"Some more than others." Arthur commented, grinning wickedly when Matthew looked up from his paper to glare at the British boy while Alfred kicked his shin underneath the table.

The twins' father laughed boisterously for a few moments before it died away, and though Alfred hadn't been able to see his father's face from his seat at the table, Annie had glanced up through curly fringes of her hair to regard the head of the Jones household in concern. "Mr. Jones?"

"Annie, why don't you take Matt out into the sitting room? When your mother gets here with Peter, I'm gonna take the three of you out for ice cream."

"Truly?" Annie exclaimed, smiling brilliantly at Matthew while Alfred and Arthur exchanged confused glances. Why exactly weren't they getting any ice cream? "Thank you, Mr. Jones! Matthew, we'll come back to this one later."

The young Alpha nodded as he pushed away from the table, shooting Alfred and Arthur a smug look before following Annie out of the room. Alfred stuck out his tongue at his brother's retreating back, but quickly sucked it back in when his father's hands landed heavily on his shoulders. "Just sit tight, boys." Alfred noticed that his dad's voice sounded a bit odd. "Your mothers will be back in a jiffy."

The two Omegas nodded, Alfred continuing to pretend to do math as his father left the room, fiddling with the cuffs of his work suit. Arthur was tapping his pencil against the tabletop, using his other hand to prop up his head as he watched the Alpha leave. "Well, that was odd."

"I want ice cream."

"I know you do, Alfred."

"How come we can't have any?"

"I have no idea." Arthur sighed, dropping his pencil and choosing instead to watch Alfred doodle on his worksheet. "Is that Captain America?"

"Uh-huh!" Alfred said, though he knew his drawing didn't look even remotely like Captain America. Arthur just knew it was the only thing Alfred would take the time to attempt to draw. "Hey, did you get into trouble earlier?"

"What for?"

"For fighting with Gilbert again."

"That moron." Arthur hissed, pale hands clenching against the tabletop at the mere mention of his classmate. "One of these days, Al, I'm going to knock his teeth bloody."

Alfred giggled. "I bet everyone would like to see that."

Although their town was small, it seemed to attract many foreigners who had wanted a change of pace in their lives. In Alfred's grade alone there were kids that had been born in countries all across Europe. Gilbert Beilschmidt, the oldest child in a family from Germany, was one of those Alpha boys – like Alasdair and Scott – that believed Alfred and Arthur were abnormalities for being male Omegas; Arthur was the main target thanks to his large eyebrows and foreign accent. Alfred had been subjected to the boy's taunts long before Arthur had moved to town, so he'd grown passive towards the Alpha. But Arthur didn't have that kind of restraint.

Having been raised as an Omega in an Alpha-ruled household back in Nottingham, Arthur had learned pretty early on that if he wanted respect, he had to fight for it. Alasdair and Scott knew better than to mess with Arthur anymore, who at eleven years of age was pretty capable with his fists, but Gilbert had yet to receive the message.

Shouting matches were common between the two, though the only real fight they'd had took place nearly a year ago when Arthur first arrived. Alfred couldn't really remember what had been said, but the fight ended with the red-eyed Alpha running to their teacher with wet eyes and a broken nose. Arthur was told that if he was caught fighting in school again he would be kicked out, and Alfred had to practically beg the other Omega to not be so aggressive when things like that happened. If he got kicked out of school, what would Alfred do without him?

The rivalry had died down, but the two were far from friends.

"I'm sick of getting made fun of for being an Omega." Arthur said bitterly, and Alfred saw that look in his best friend's eyes again, the one even Alfred was afraid of. He couldn't describe it, but it made Arthur looked years older than he really was. "It's not fair."

"It's not." Alfred agreed, shrugging his shoulders when Arthur glanced over at him. "But there's nothing we can do about it. Stupid people are everywhere, Arthur. We have each other now, though, so it's okay."

Arthur continued to stare, that acidic look still present in his eyes for a moment longer before it disappeared. "I guess you're right."

"I know I'm right."

"Oh, shut it."

"Arthur!" The front door slammed then, and both boys flinched when the sound of Arthur's mother's voice flooded the first floor, accompanied by the sound of Peter's garbled noises. "Are you being a gentleman in there?"

"Yes, Mum!" Arthur called back, returning the sentiment from earlier by kicking Alfred's knee when the American boy began to snicker underneath his hand.

Alfred's mom returned home from sewing circle soon after, leaving Alfred's dad to take Annie, Matthew, and Peter out of the house while the two women joined their Omega sons in the kitchen. "What is it, Mom?" Alfred inquired, wondering briefly if they were in trouble. Surely they couldn't know about how they'd broken into the neighbor's barn over the weekend. They'd only wanted to play around in the hayloft! "Did something happen? Are we in trouble?"

"No, not at all. Unless there's something I'm not aware of?"

Alfred's mother had always been anything but easy to fool. "No, ma'am."

"We wanted to discuss something with the two of you." Mrs. Kirkland interjected, glancing from Arthur, to Alfred, and then back again. "Arthur, you'll be twelve in a few months, and while you're only ten, Al, we figured we ought to tell you both at the same time."

"Alfred?" Alfred's mom began, folding her hands neatly over the table. "You know how Mommy and Daddy had you and Mattie stay with Arthur's family for a few days last year?"

Alfred nodded. Their stay with the Kirklands had been the same as their stay with the Vargas's every year before, around Thanksgiving and with little to no contact with their parents. Alfred's mom always smelled funny for a few days before they left and for a few days after, though Alfred had thought nothing of it before.

It was more fun to stay with Arthur than it was to be with Lovino and Feliciano's family. Granted, Alfred loved hanging out with Feliciano, though his twin brother Lovino was a bit prickly, even on his best days. Matthew was always vaguely uncomfortable, while Alfred felt right at home with the loud and boisterous energy the Vargas family exhibited.

Staying with Arthur, however, was what Alfred found he preferred. He'd always enjoyed sleepovers with his best friend, staying up late and talking and laughing until one or the other fell asleep first. Alfred wondered why his mother was bringing that up now. It was only August, after all.

"Well, we do that, because once a year, during that time, I go into something called heat." Arthur began to fidget in his chair while Alfred blinked in confusion, mouthing the word silently to himself. "While I'm in heat, I have to stay with your dad at all times, and he takes care of me while you boys are away."

"Why? Are you sick?"

"No, not sick, honey. This is just something Omegas have to live with. When you start having heats, it means you're getting ready to have children of your own."

Arthur looked vaguely ill when Alfred spared a glance over at him. "So," Alfred began, frowning over at his mother, "you and dad are trying to have another baby?"

"Well, I stopped having heats for five years after you and Matt were born. After that, my body decided it was time to have more kids and I started having them yearly again. But so far, nothing's happened. And that's okay. You and Matt are certainly a handful on your own."

"Do you have heats, Mrs. Kirkland?"

Mrs. Kirkland shook her head. "Not necessarily. Heats are something only Omega females experience. Being a Beta, I can still have children, but I don't have to wait for a certain time of year to do it. Most Omegas go into heat during the fall and winter months so their babies are born in the spring or summer of the following year. Matthew and Alfred were born in July, while you and your brothers and sister are scattered about over the months, Arthur."

"What about male Omegas?" Arthur asked, speaking for the first time.

"That's exactly what we wanted to discuss with you. When you get older, your bodies will start to go through changes. And with those changes, come your heats." Alfred's mom explained. "Your bodies will be preparing to have children. For a full week each year, you both will go into a state that is your body's way of saying you're ready to have kids. It's very important that you stay indoors, and keep hydrated and well fed during that week, because you'll be losing a lot of energy, even if you're not doing much."

"Do we have to get Alphas?" Alfred asked, nose wrinkling at the thought. This heat thing didn't sound very fun. He didn't want to have kids. He didn't want to get sick each year and have to stay indoors for a week. A whole week! "Like... husbands? Like you and dad?"

"No." Mrs. Kirkland said firmly, shaking her head. "Even if male Omegas are born with the parts necessary for breeding, you're not supposed to take advantage of that."

"We're not?"

"No, Freddie. The only one capable of giving you a child that you yourself would carry, would be a male Alpha. And two men being together in such a way is a sin, you two. If you ever want to get married someday, it will be to a female Alpha or Beta. They'll take care of you during your heats, but you won't have any children. When the time is right, however, you'll be able to get your wife pregnant, because Alpha and Beta females don't require a knot to do so like Omegas do."

"What about two Omegas?" Alfred asked.

It was those words that would later be thrown back at Alfred when everything came to an end, though Alfred hadn't known at the time that it probably wasn't the wisest thing to say. He'd been genuinely curious, because some of the girl Omegas in his class were cute and very nice, and he wouldn't mind marrying any of them when they were older.

"Especially not two Omegas, regardless of gender." Alfred's mother stressed. "God created Alphas, Betas, and Omegas to carry on the human race. Alpha, Beta, and Omega females can become pregnant by Alpha or Beta males. That was why we were created, to praise our Lord, carry on his works, and create more people to do so as well. Without a knot, Omega females cannot conceive, and since Omega males are physically unable to knot, a male and female Omega together cannot produce a child; it is blasphemous to try."

Alfred's head was spinning. Maybe Arthur understood what was being said, but none of this made a lick of sense to the azure-eyed boy. There were so many things to keep straight, so many things he and others shouldn't do, and it was hard to piece it all together. What the heck was a "knot" anyway? Like the kind on a rope swing? "Is it proven that male Omegas cannot make another Omega pregnant? Man or woman?" Arthur asked. "Or is this just speculation?"

"Like Mrs. Jones said, Alpha and Beta females don't require a knot to breed like Omegas do, Arthur." Mrs. Kirkland told her son. "Men like you can become pregnant, but that is against the ways of God, which is why you must be careful during your heats. If any male Alpha were to smell your heat scent and have direct access to you, he wouldn't be able to control his instincts, and you would wind up committing a mortal sin."

"How is it my fault if Alphas can't control themselves?"

"It's an Omega's duty to stay hidden within their homes throughout their heats. Since an Alpha can't control it, it's your duty to stop a bad situation before it happens. Does that make sense?"

Alfred nodded reluctantly, still confused, and while Arthur did the same, Alfred could just tell his best friend wasn't happy with what they'd been told, though the younger boy couldn't imagine why.

Arthur changed after that day. He began to question their faith and the society in which they lived at every turn, and it was often that Arthur climbed into Alfred and Matthew's bedroom in the middle of the night to snuggle up with Alfred after a bad fight in the Kirkland household.

Alfred on the other hand didn't think about being an Omega any more than he did before his talk with his mother and Arthur's. He continued to play rough with Matthew and the other Alphas at school, and encouraged Arthur to forget about what had happened and do the same.

In the months following, things started changing.

Girls in the grades above Alfred stopped showing up to school around Thanksgiving only to return a week later with the same look in their eyes that Arthur always had. They started noticing the Alpha and Beta boys and stopped talking about how they couldn't wait for their first heat. Arthur said they were finally getting a taste of how things were in the real world, unhindered by the fuzzy cloud put over them by their parents and the books they read, which glorified heats and child-bearing in general.

Scott and Alasdair got Omega girlfriends while Annie was developing and getting noticed by many boys around school. Alfred watched all of this through the eyes of a naïve, male Omega who had yet to hit puberty with his best friend at his side, who seemed to understand what was happening better than Alfred ever did but knew better than to discuss it with the other Omega.

Matthew and Alfred went to stay with the Kirklands again that year, though Alfred and Arthur stayed up in Arthur's room long after everyone else went to sleep and watched Alfred's house from down the street. Alfred had noticed how the light in his parents' bedroom was on, and he'd asked Arthur if maybe this time would be different, and he and Matt would have a new brother or sister come summer.

"Maybe." Arthur replied, forearms resting heavily on the windowsill as he stared out into the night, not as fascinated as Alfred but still willing to play along for the time being. "Though I don't think you want a younger sibling, Al. Peter's almost two years old and he's not even toilet-trained."

The year after that, more female Omegas from the neighboring high school disappeared, some coming back with a scent that Alfred later learned belonged to that of an expecting mother. But among the Omegas that didn't show up for school for a week and came back smelling like that, Arthur wasn't one of them.

When the British boy didn't show up for school one morning, Alfred thought nothing of it. Arthur was prone to getting sick in the fall, and while the American missed his friend's presence, he figured he would see him after school. But when he asked Annie on the walk home, she told him Arthur wouldn't be back in school for a few days, and that he'd gone into his first heat.

That week was the longest of Alfred's life, being denied contact with his best friend at every turn. It was so lonely without the other Omega around, especially when surrounded by others that talked about nothing but starting a family someday. Arthur was the only one that talked about normal things at that time of year, and while Matthew had provided sufficient company, he just wasn't the Omega companion Alfred had come to depend on.

After the week was over, Arthur was back to waiting for Alfred and Matthew with Alasdair, Scott, and Annie by the Jones' mailbox before school. Alfred tore out the door far earlier than usual, even forgetting to kiss his mother goodbye, and Alasdair and Scott snickered amongst themselves as Alfred skidded to a halt beside Arthur. "Are you okay?" He panted, giving his friend a quick once over.

Nothing seemed off about Arthur; he'd had that odd look the female Omegas had in their eyes after their first heat long before that day, though Alfred had noticed that Arthur seemed a little thinner, a little paler, much more tired than usual. Arthur smiled, tightening his grip on the straps of his backpack and bumping into Alfred's shoulder. Being almost a year and a half older, Arthur had always had a height advantage over Alfred, though the younger Omega was starting to catch up. "I'm fine, Al. Don't worry about me."

But that certainly didn't stop Alfred from fretting over Arthur's well being. His best friend wasn't the same after that. He wasn't as talkative as he'd been before, though he was more irate when it came to Gilbert or anyone else who dared mention the fact that he was an Omega.

Having been close since they arrived in the States, the Kirkland and Jones families were now notorious for sharing the same pew every Sunday during mass, with Alfred's parents and Arthur's mom on the ends while the kids stood in-between them with Alfred and Arthur in the middle. Arthur had always been more awake during mass than Alfred, though after his first heat, he paid attention with such ferocity that even Alfred couldn't get him to stray from the prayers or songs no matter what he tried. Arthur began to take their religion more seriously than any of the other kids, and while Alfred still didn't feel at peace in front of a crucifix, he couldn't find fault with Arthur for it.

If anything, he was happy that Arthur had finally accepted what their parents had been teaching them since they were small. And Mrs. Kirkland seemed pretty relieved, though Alfred found that he missed the nights when Arthur would crawl in bed with him unannounced, curling around the younger boy and shushing him whenever Alfred woke up at his arrival, whispering, "It's just me, Al. Go back to sleep."

Arthur had come to terms with it all, though Alfred's struggles were only beginning.

Alfred was babysitting Peter on his own toward the end of September in 1983, making faces for the toddler's enjoyment when the front door of the Kirkland house burst open. "I'm home!"

"Awthur!" Peter giggled, clapping his hands at the sound of his older brother's voice.

"That's right, that's Artie!" Alfred encouraged, clapping his hands along with Peter, somewhat excited himself that the fifteen-year-old was back. He could only talk to a toddler for so long before the conversations grew stale. "He's back from soccer practice, yay!"

"Please refrain from calling me 'Artie' in front of him." Arthur sighed as he walked into the living room, throwing himself down face-first on the couch without even bothering to kick off his soccer shoes. "He repeats everything."

"'Peats everything!"

"He talks kinda funny." Alfred muttered, leaning back against the couch and turning his head slightly to meet Arthur's exhausted emerald gaze. "Is that normal? For a four-year-old, I mean?"

"Mum says he's just developing at a slower pace than other kids. He's a bright child, though he did start talking late. Give it a few years time."

"How was practice?" Alfred asked. He'd always somewhat envied Arthur that the other boy was allowed to play sports. Omegas weren't normally permitted to do so unless given permission by the parents. While Arthur's mom had said okay to soccer, Alfred's said no. It annoyed the Omega to no end that while the rest of the kids in the Jones-Kirkland family – they'd become known around town as such since their two families were just that close – were allowed to play sports, he wasn't. He had to stay home and watch Peter until Lucie – Arthur's mom – came home from work around four-thirty.

"Horrible." Arthur muttered into the obnoxious-looking, mustard-colored fabric of his mother's couch. Alfred loved Lucie like a second mother, but her sense in home decor was downright awful. "Everyone's out of shape and Bielschmidt kept kicking the ball between my shoulder blades. I'll probably have a lovely bruise come tomorrow."

"I'm sure you left a few bruises on him, too."

"Perhaps I did tread on his toes a few times. Nothing too serious."

"Knew it." Alfred chuckled, pushing away from the couch and crawling over to Peter, who was waving around Alfred's old Captain America action figure. "Peter, Captain America doesn't fly."

Alfred continued to direct Peter in the proper way to play with the toy, forgetting Arthur for a moment to focus on his younger brother instead. When Alfred glanced back up, Arthur was watching him through half-lidded eyes, one arm draped over the edge of the couch so his fingertips were brushing lazily against the carpet.

"What?" Alfred asked. "Is there something on my face?"

"You're good with Peter."

Alfred blinked, handing the toddler another toy he'd been reaching for. "Umm, okay? Kinda random, Art."

"Have you ever thought about having kids, Al?"

Okay, something was definitely up. Arthur never talked about the future, especially not one that involved either of them having kids. Alfred wasn't sure what to say, understanding that his friend was a person of faith and that his response could be received badly if he didn't word it the right way. "You mean... having them myself? Carrying them, like our moms carried us?" Arthur said nothing, though his gaze wasn't as tired anymore. "Well... it's a sin, so I can't do that anyway. Maybe someday... if I meet the right girl, I'll want to have a family. But not now. Peter's like a brother to me. I'm sure it won't be as easy with my own kid, you know?"

"I don't know." Arthur said eventually, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "You seem like the fatherly type. I'm going to clean myself off."

Alfred nodded mutely, watching as Arthur disappeared down the hall and trudged up the stairs towards his bedroom without another word, leaving Alfred and Peter alone in the sitting room. It was becoming more and more obvious as time went on that Arthur was getting older. Alfred feared they were growing apart now that Arthur was in high school while he and Matthew were still eighth graders. Was Arthur getting too old for him now since he'd started his heat cycles and Alfred hadn't? It was all so confusing.

He didn't want to lose his best friend.

Alfred was pulled from his musings when Peter tugged on his sleeve, baby-blue eyes wide as he stared imploringly at Alfred. "Alfred sad?"

The Omega jolted, forcing a smile. "No, Peter, I'm not sad. I think I just need a nap."

"No nap!"

"No. No naps for Peter until Mummy gets home."

As it turned out, Alfred hadn't needed to worry much. When he entered high school the following year, things were almost back to how they'd been before Arthur's heat. Alfred had finally joined his twin brother and many others in looking at girls in a slightly different manner, though it wasn't proper to have such thoughts about a girl you weren't married to, and while Alfred wasn't overly religious, he still feared the wrath of God.

Many of Alfred's friends began to get girlfriends – the Vargas twins were especially notorious with the ladies – though Alfred himself wasn't really interested. When Matt got a girlfriend, an Omega from their grade named Lilli, Alfred couldn't have been happier, and he never once envied his brother. For sports, yeah, but never the girls. Alfred had plenty of girls that fancied him – or so Annie said – though he never noticed any. He did notice that Arthur didn't seem interested either, which made Alfred feel a million times better about his own disinterest in finding a mate.

That year was also when Alfred's parents said it was time for him and Matt to have separate bedrooms. They both had protested, though neither their mom nor their dad would budge on the matter, and Alfred found himself living alone in the room he'd shared with his twin for many years while Matt took the guest bedroom next door. Over time, they both came to appreciate the privacy, though it had been a hard adjustment.

The boys were especially relieved about the separation when on one October morning in 1984, Alfred woke up feeling strange. He was hot. Almost too hot, far too hot for any normal sickness. No matter how much he squirmed, he couldn't get comfortable, and his stomach wouldn't stop churning. The Omega made a move to sit up, and that was when he felt it.

"Mom!"

The Omega's mother came running at the sound of her son's panicked voice so early in the morning, barreling through the door with his dad and Matthew hot on her heels. "Alfred! What's the matter?"

"Umm... Caroline?" Alfred's dad muttered, placing a hand on Matt's shoulder, who was making a weird face, just as Alfred shrieked, "Something's leaking out of me!"

Alfred had always tuned out in school when his physical education teacher started to explain puberty to them all. Alfred had figured his mother told him everything he needed to know and left it at that, though she certainly hadn't mentioned that... stuff would be dripping out of his ass for a week!

His parents sent Matthew off to meet Arthur and his siblings for the walk to school while Alfred stayed up in his room, panting through the many waves of nausea and constant arousal that refused to leave him to his peace. The days following were a haze of urges left unfulfilled and strange noises that Alfred couldn't believe were coming from him. While his mom had always said to stay hydrated and fed, Alfred couldn't bring himself to eat, and he threw up whenever he tried.

It was obvious his mom didn't know how to deal with him, being a female Omega with a bonded mate to help her through her heats. She said she'd never gotten sick during her heats before she'd met his dad, and she wasn't certain what was causing Alfred to do so. All Alfred could remember from that time was his mom telling him that his body was screaming for a male Alpha, and he couldn't give in to it no matter how much he wanted to.

And God, how Alfred wanted.

Alone in his suffering with nothing but a pillow between his legs to help alleviate some of the pressure, Alfred found himself whining for a companion. For an Alpha, just as his mother had warned. But more than that, when Alfred managed to dig past all his primal instincts, he realized that some part of him didn't want an Alpha, male or female.

No, what he had wanted was an Omega.

He'd wanted Arthur.

His best friend used to sit with him all the other times he was sick during the winter, help him with homework he'd missed, and Alfred would have liked to say that that time was no different. But to an Omega in heat, with a mind completely wiped clean of any and all reason, that wasn't the case. Alfred wanted Arthur in bed with him, not beside it. Hell, Alfred wanted Arthur actually in him. The desire was so strong Alfred actually managed to release just from imagining it, though he felt disgusting for it afterward, sobbing loudly into his bed sheets and praying with everything he had that his family didn't come in to check on him.

The days began to blur together to the point where Alfred didn't even know how long it had been since he'd gone into heat, though it felt like years. Sometimes his mother's face swam before his eyes, though perhaps it was only a dream he'd had in the rare moments when he managed to fall asleep. But most of the time, he dreamed of Arthur.

One of the times when Alfred opened his eyes to find Arthur standing over him, something was different. The Arthur in his dreams would mount Alfred before the teen even realized the other Omega was there, though as Alfred peered up at this Arthur, the other boy didn't move. "Artie?" Alfred mumbled, fingers tearing viciously at one of the pillows that wasn't tucked between his bare legs. "What – "

"Shh." Arthur hushed quietly, kneeling down beside Alfred's bed and running a hand through the Omega's sweaty hair, smiling softly. "Matthew's first basketball game was tonight, and I told your parents I would stay behind and keep an eye on you for a few hours. I hope you don't mind."

Alfred groaned, moving one hand from the pillow and choosing to grip at Arthur's arm instead. He wasn't sure if this was a dream or not, but at this point, he didn't care. Alfred could smell Arthur, and while it wasn't as appealing as an Alpha's might have been, it didn't matter, because it was Arthur. "Don't care. Just don't leave."

"I won't, love. I promise I won't."

When Alfred woke the next morning, Arthur was gone and the Omega was feeling normal – more or less. He managed to stumble downstairs for breakfast after cleaning away any traces of sweat, ejaculate, and heat slick from his body, though from the looks he was given by both his dad and Matthew, Alfred might as well have been completely covered in his own come.

His mom fretted over him all morning, making sure he had plenty to eat during breakfast and had nice, clean clothes to wear on his first day back to school, even though it was only a Friday and the students were being let out early for a pep-rally in honor of homecoming week. Matthew was waiting by the stairs when Alfred was finally ready to go, and the look his twin brother was giving him set Alfred off.

"What?" He snapped, startling the Alpha.

"How was it?" Matt asked, and while Alfred was annoyed, at least his brother wasn't beating around the bush.

"What do you think, Mattie? It was fucking horrible!"

Even Scott and Alasdair were subdued when Alfred and Matthew walked to the end of their driveway, and Annie pushed back a stray lock of Alfred's hair before they all started off. Alfred refused to look at Arthur, certain that he'd dreamed all encounters with the other Omega during his heat. Now that his mind was clear, Alfred was realizing how wrong that heat had been. He'd lusted over his guy best friend, and that was a sin in the eyes of the Church. But, Alfred reasoned, he'd been under the influence of his hormones at the time, and he was determined not to let it happen again so long as he was able-minded.

All Alfred was truly certain of was that he now understood why the female Omegas always came back to school with a dark, hooded look in their eyes.

In the days following Alfred's first heat, the Omega began to wonder if... maybe... the things he'd experienced during the week had actually been a long time coming. Alfred found himself looking at boys in the way he looked at girls. It wasn't in an overtly sexual manner, just Alfred examining the lines of their jaws, the way the arm muscles flexed when they moved, deciding that he very much enjoyed what he was seeing.

And that terrified him, especially when it was Arthur that Alfred found himself staring at.

After having more or less lived together for over six years, Alfred knew Arthur's body almost as well as he did his own or Matthew's. They'd had plenty of sleepovers, had changed in the same room, and Alfred didn't have to imagine what was underneath the other Omega's clothing.

Alfred took an interest in Arthur's sports in a way he hadn't before, accompanying his best friend to practices and games without having to be asked. Sometimes he was forced to bring Peter along, which made it a bit awkward when Alfred began to enjoy watching Arthur run around in the school issued soccer shorts. Arthur was practically fluid on the field, expression utterly concentrated as he weaved in and out amongst the other players. Arthur was always breathless and tired once it was over, though the smile he would shoot over at Alfred, sitting alone with little Peter on the sidelines, was so full of life and energy that Alfred felt horrible for refusing to come to his friend's sporting events in the years past.

He made a promise to fix that, soccer shorts be damned.

When his parents and Arthur's mom finally decided they were all too old to continue having sleepovers, Alfred had been terrified, worried that they'd picked up on his impure thoughts, though they were all really too old to be having sleepovers anyway, at least ones where they slept in close quarters together. But it also made him realize that his thoughts were just that – impure.

During mass that Sunday, when the priest gave all those gathered the opportunity to pray for the intentions held close in their hearts, Alfred actually found himself doing just that. He closed his eyes, folded his hands, and prayed; prayed to God to help him in any way he could, to not make him different, to not have sexual thoughts about boys in the ways he did with girls, Arthur especially. Alfred knew even then nothing good would come of it, and he'd desperately prayed for a solution.

But, the universe worked in strange ways.

Instead of the enlightening touch of the Lord, Alfred received a very warm and very real sensation against the side of his knee. Upon opening his eyes, Alfred noticed that there was a leg pressing insistently against his own, and when he dared to glance over a bit, Arthur was watching him with concern. Alfred could've laughed in the middle of the priest's homily. Arthur was actually concerned that Alfred was praying during mass for a change. The Omega managed to keep quiet, offering his friend a half-hearted smile that resulted in Arthur pulling his leg away.

The praying didn't work. The thoughts didn't go away. And as days wore on, Alfred became increasingly depressed and withdrawn, even feigning sickness so he didn't have to go to school in the morning, didn't have to see Arthur.

Two weeks after that day in church, Alfred was sitting in his bedroom with Arthur, silently doing homework and recuperating from a long day of spending time with both of their families. Arthur was staring out the window, cheek pressed tightly against the glass and creating fog with his breath. Alfred watched while continuing to pretend to do homework, mesmerized by the rise and fall of Arthur's chest, and while the younger Omega was completely focused on his friend, he didn't notice when the sixteen-year-old pulled away from the window. "Alfred?"

The younger boy jumped, scowling when he accidentally dragged his pencil across his homework page. "Dammit. Yeah, Artie?"

Arthur watched silently as Alfred erased the mark he'd made for a few moments. "Are you all right? You've been acting strange lately, and honestly, I'm becoming worried. Everyone is."

Alfred bit his lip, feeling conflicted. His secret was starting to weigh heavily on his mind, and he wanted to tell someone, though he'd never imagined that someone would be Arthur. "Artie, I – I need to go to confession."

Arthur frowned. "Since when have you ever willingly gone to confession?" When Alfred only sulked sullenly, Arthur straightened. "Do you need me to drive you?"

"No. It's something I think I have to do alone."

"What do you need to confess?" Dead silence. "Alfred? Did you do something?"

"No."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I've been – " Alfred blurted out before cutting himself off, gently closing his textbook with a giant sigh. His hands were shaking. "I've been having... thoughts."

"Thoughts?" Arthur repeated, pushing away from the wall Alfred's bed was pressed against and beginning to move closer. Alfred was acutely aware of every move the other Omega made. "What kind of thoughts?"

"Bad ones." Alfred muttered, glaring at the cover of his textbook even as Arthur grabbed it out of his hands and gently lowered it to the floor. "About... other boys."

"Really now?" Arthur murmured, grabbing Alfred's legs and pulling them out from under him, helping the younger Omega to swing them around. Alfred moved without complaint, scooting forward to sit on the edge of the bed and throwing his pencil off to the side, not caring where it landed. Arthur sat beside him, though Alfred could tell he was trying too hard to make sure they weren't touching unnecessarily, which he had been grateful for at the time.

It was one of the things he'd loved about Arthur, how the older Omega had never forced him into anything, let Alfred figure things out at his own pace. Without that patience, Alfred doubts he would've ever come to the conclusion that maybe the world they lived in wasn't so black and white after all.

"What boys?" Arthur continued, and while Alfred could tell his friend was looking at him, he refused to meet his gaze, afraid of what he might find there.

"Alfred." Alfred felt a touch on his chin and then his head was being unceremoniously whipped to the side, and Arthur was looking at him through green eyes narrowed with urgency. While Arthur had been patient, there were also times when that quality of his wore thin, especially where Alfred was involved. "What. Boys."

Alfred grit his teeth, yanking his head away from Arthur's grasp and refusing to look at him once again. "Gilbert's younger brother. Antonio from shop class. But... it's usually just you."

"Only usually? Nevertheless, I don't blame you. Ludwig and Antonio are rather dashing."

"Arthur!"

Arthur laughed, and Alfred gaped over at him. This was not at all the response he'd been expecting, least of all from Arthur, who was almost as religiously inclined as their parents. "What?" Arthur chuckled, noticing Alfred's stare. "Did you want me to douse you with holy water and try to drive a stake through your heart?"

"Anything other than this!" Alfred exclaimed. "I mean... aren't you mad?"

"Why should I be?"

"Well, homosexuality is against the Bible."

Arthur stopped laughing, though Alfred couldn't help but think that his friend looked relieved, despite the frown on his face. "Al, you know how I fell away from the faith when we were kids?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's because I thought most of what was taught was a bunch of rubbish. I was angry with God that apparently love was defined by your nature and what sex you were born as, though I eventually realized that it wasn't God saying those things. It was humanity, our neighbors, our parents. They were the ones that told us that day that it wasn't okay to love someone of the same gender, and, for us at least, of the same nature. God is benevolent, Alfred. He's not going to damn you to Hell for liking a man, or another Omega. He created us out of love, and it's our duty to spread that love. It doesn't matter to whom."

"But the Bible – "

"Enough with the Bible! It also states that one shouldn't touch the skin of a pig, yet you Americans are all too fond of your own version of football."

Alfred didn't think footballs were made out of pigskins anymore, though he stayed quiet. They had been at one point, so Arthur was sort of right.

"You're a right imbecile." Arthur said, though his voice was kind. "I was so worried something awful had happened to you since your heat. But really, there's nothing wrong with you."

"I was afraid of what you'd say." Alfred said honestly. "That you wouldn't – That you don't – "

"Hey," Arthur said, quieting Alfred's rambling, "remember what I said? I won't leave you. I promise."

Alfred averted his gaze, cheeks burning. So, that last vision of Arthur during his heat hadn't been a dream after all. "It took a lot of convincing to get your parents out of the house." Arthur said. "It's only because I'm an Omega as well that they allowed me to stay with you. I'm not driven into a lust-crazed stupor at your heat scent, though it did take a lot of will power on my part not to have my way with you."

"Oh, God." Alfred groaned. "Wait, does that mean you're... "

Alfred trailed off, waiting with bated breath for Arthur to deny what he was implying. But thinking back to how Arthur had been acting all these years, the younger Omega doubted the response would be a negative one.

"I think I always have been." Arthur said. "I became so angry when Mum told me two men couldn't be together, though I didn't know why. I had to think about it a lot."

"What made you decide?"

"Thinking about you. About how I wouldn't mind being publicly mated to you, if circumstances were different."

Now this was just plain ridiculous. Alfred shouldn't have felt as elated as he did, though he didn't attempt to hide it. "What made you figure it out?" Arthur countered, expression curious as he continued to observe Alfred.

"During my heat, I wanted you there with me." Alfred replied, and it was just that easy. No stuttering, no feelings of shame. Perhaps this was God finally answering his prayers, giving Alfred the strength and courage to talk about this with the one that mattered most. "I mean, I wanted a knot. Like, seriously, I've never wanted anything more in my life. But... the Alfred part of me, the part not controlled by heat instincts, just wanted you. That scared me, but that's when I knew."

"It's okay to be afraid."

"Two Omegas together like that... it's not natural, Arthur. And we're not supposed to carry children either. Our moms said it was a mortal sin."

"Why would God give us the necessary tools to conceive if it wasn't all right?" Arthur demanded, and his eyes lit up with a green fire that Alfred had come to love over the years. "Why put us through the torture of going through our heats alone and in pain? Maybe it's a test of faith, though I doubt it. We're no lesser than Alphas or Betas, even if everyone else says we are. God just wants us to be happy. Don't you want to be happy, Alfred?"

"I want to not be so confused." Alfred admitted quietly, eyes growing wet as Arthur reached out and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, finally breaking the barrier he'd set between them. "I want to be able to figure out what the hell is wrong with me without feeling like a freak for it. If that means being happy then, yeah, I want that."

"You're not a freak, Al." Arthur insisted, though they both knew that wasn't true; in the eyes of the society they lived in, that is. There was something unexplored between Arthur and Alfred, and if they were to experiment, see where this would lead, they'd be condemned if anyone found out. They would be freaks then, set apart from everyone else in ways being male Omegas hadn't already.

Alfred didn't know if he wanted to risk it. Alone in his room with Arthur, it felt as if nothing could touch them. But out there, in the real world, there were judgmental eyes and cruel words. Even now, Alfred's parents were downstairs, his dad probably reading the paper while his mom began preparations for the massive lunch they would all share after mass in the morning. Matthew was in the room next door, sleeping or doing homework just as Alfred had been trying to do previously.

They had no idea what was happening behind the closed door of Alfred's bedroom, had no reason to worry that sinful things might occur. Arthur was a person Mr. and Mrs. Jones both wanted Alfred and Matthew to look up to, a leader in both school life and in one of faith. Alfred didn't want anyone thinking ill will of Arthur if something was discovered. Arthur was too good of a person for that.

"This isn't something you can change about yourself." Arthur was saying. "Believe me, I've spent many years praying about it. Whether or not you want to act on your desires is another story entirely, and it's a decision no one can make for you, not even me. So, just think about it. You're my best friend, Al. I just want you to be happy."

"You're my best friend, too." Alfred said, though it went without saying. "And you're like my brother. Which makes this pretty weird for me, just so you know."

Arthur smirked, squeezing Alfred's shoulders once before releasing him. Alfred frowned at the loss of heat and contact. "It's all the more taboo then. Imagine the fun we can have."

"I don't think I want any part in any fun you'll be having." It was a bit off-putting to go back to teasing each other as they normally would. Alfred couldn't imagine that Arthur – if he'd harbored feelings for Alfred as long as he'd said he had – was okay with waiting for Alfred to figure out what he wanted. Arthur was a pretty affectionate person if the mood suited him, though he was also a master at hiding his emotions. He could be falling apart on the inside and nobody would ever know, aside from maybe Alfred, who was practiced in the art of reading even the tiniest hint of emotion in Arthur's eyes. "You do know there's a good possibility that you're wrong and we'll be going to Hell for this, right?"

"Maybe so. But at least we'll have each other on the ride down."