Chapter Text
"It's just lunch, and they're both really nice people. And me and Zayn will be there the entire time, it's gonna be fine, Haz. Please come?"
Harry sighs, wiping his hands on his trousers. "Ni, I won't be able to talk to them. There's no point in me being there."
"It doesn't matter, they won't mind. It's good to expand your friendship group, too," Niall persuades, looking at Harry with annoyingly cute blue eyes, "you don't have to say anything, okay? You can just come, eat some food and then go. And if at any point you wanna just go, we can. No-ones going to judge you."
Harry sighs again. He really really didn't want to go, but Zayn and Niall had done a lot for him and this was something he could do for them.
"Okay, fine. But you need to tell me where and when and I'm not turning up by myself," Harry says quietly.
"Yeah, so, about that. Zayn's actually in class with Liam now, and we're meeting him and Louis today for lunch-"
"Niall!"
"Here me out! We're meeting in an hour, we'll have to leave in 20 minutes, so you don't have to worry yourself sick over it or talk yourself out of it," Niall rushes.
Harry lets out a shaky breath, sitting down on the bed with Niall. "Okay, fine, I guess. I just feel like you'd all have a better time if I wasn't there ruining it for everyone.
"Hey. You're not ruining anything," Niall says seriously, resting a hand on Harry's back. "I promise you, Louis talks so much that even if you wanted to get a word in you wouldn't be able to. And Zayn's not a big talker either, you know that. It will be fine, I promise."
Harry nods, pinging his hairband back and forth over his wrist. "Do they, um, know? A-About, um, me?" he asks in a small voice.
Harry hates it being a problem when people don't know. When people just stare at him like he's an idiot when he doesn't introduce himself back to people or when he doesn't shake someone's hand.
"They know you don't talk to people, and Zayn told them both to back off and leave you alone. But obviously we didn't tell them why or anything, we wouldn't do that to you."
Harry nods again, feeling eternally grateful for his friends. "Thanks, Ni. I really appreciate it, and everything else you guys do. I'm sorry, I swear I'll repay you some day."
Niall smiles sadly. "Babe, you know you don't need to ever 'repay' us. And you don't need to apologise. We both love you. Now c'mon, you can't go to lunch wearing that."
Harry frowns down at his clothes. "Why not?"
"Because," Niall laughs, "you've been wearing the same joggers all week, and your t-shirt is plain. We should wear something nice."
Harry pouts a little. "Well, I don't own anything 'nice'. And all my stuff is at my flat."
"Well that's why your friends with a vogue model look-a-like. We can steal something from his wardrobe," Niall encourages, dragging Harry by the arm and walking them both over to the wardrobe.
30 minutes later, three wardrobe changes and a few too many breakdowns, and Harry and Niall are just pulling up to the diner.
"All good?"
Harry nods, wiping his sweaty palms against Zayns skinny jeans. "I guess. Let's just get it over and done with."
Just as Harry is opening the door he feels a hand on his shoulder.
"Haz, I'm really proud of you for doing this."
Harry smiles and nods, jumping out of the car before he changes his mind.
The two walk into the diner, Zayn noticing them and waving them over, jumping out of the booth when they approach.
Harry decidedly doesn't look up to see who else is sitting at the table.
"Hey babes, you two okay?" Zayn asks, placing his hands on Harry's shoulder and looking down in concern before looking up to Niall.
The Beta nods his head, silently telling Zayn that everythings okay.
"Brilliant. You wanna sit by the wall and at the end?" Zayn asks quietly.
Harry's eyes flick up quickly, shooting straight back down as be pulls the sleeve of his shirt down a little.
He lifts his hands up to sign wall.
"Okay, I'll sit next to you, yeah? And Niall will be across from you, and we can leave whenever you want, just let us know," Zayn says, concerned when Harry still won't look up at him.
The Omega merely nods, feeling slightly overwhelmed already from the new scents entering his nose.
Zayn smiles and walks them all over to the table, guiding Harry in first and sliding in after, Niall jumping in the other side.
"Liam, Louis, this is Harry. Haz, this is Liam and that's Louis," Zayn introduces, Louis sitting across the table and Liam down the line next to Zayn.
"Hey."
"Nice to meet you."
Harry panics and grips Zayn's arm, eyes still trained on his lap.
He hates this so much.
Why can't you just talk like a normal person?
Zayn pulls his out of his train of thought by sliding his hand into Harry's in a comforting manner, giving a small squeeze.
"Great, so everyone knows everyone. Does- are those my clothes?" Zayn interrupts himself, looking down at Harry.
Harry shoots a small glare at Niall as his face flushes red.
Niall said my joggers weren't formal enough he signs.
Someone who isn't Zayn laughs, and it might just be the best thing Harry's heard in a while.
Involuntarily his eyes shoot up, head tilting to the side a little in confusion. The Alpha across the table is laughing. Is that Liam or Louis?
Harry looks up to Zayn instead, eyes a little lost.
"Louis knows sign language, babe. His little sister is deaf," Zayn says fondly.
"It's okay, Liam said the same thing to me today. I wanted to come in my pyjamas but apparently we needed to not look like a mess in public, so," Louis shrugs, "now I'm rearranging my guts in these jeans."
The table laughs, any awkwardness pretty much gone as Harry gives a small smile, staring back to his lap.
After that he pretty much just tunes in and out of the conversation, not offering any more contributions.
The only thing he can focus on is the smell of vanilla and tobacco coming from the other side of the table.
Harry could die happily if he could smell that for the rest of his life.
-
Louis can barely keep his eyes from constantly drifting over to the Omega in the corner.
He understands now, what all the books talk about and the talk his mother had with him. Finding the one.
God, Tommo, get a grip.
The waiter comes over to take their orders, and Zayn turns to Harry, shaking him out from the daydream he was in.
Louis watches as the Omegas wide green eyes look up to Zayn, frowning a little in confusion as the older lad says something, before leaving forward and whispering something into his ear.
Zayn nods turns to the waiter, ordering for the two of them, thanking him as the man leaves.
"Li, jump out for a minute would you?" Zayn asks, nudging the alpha a little.
Liam does, and Zayn quickly slides out, followed by Harry.
As Zayn is pointing in the direction of the bathrooms, Louis can smell the Omega even more potently than before, and his eyes widen in slight horror.
The Omega is going into depri. He can smell it, clear as night and day.
He waits until Zayn and Liam have sat down again before he leans over urgently, lowering his voice.
"He's not well," Louis says lowly.
Zayn's eyes harden a little. "What the fuck is that meant to mean?"
"Tell me you can't smell it too?" Louis says back.
"Why are you smelling him, first of all?" Zayn shoots back, leaning forward in his seat like he's ready to pounce.
"It's not like I can help it, dude. And he's going into deprivation," Louis says quietly, leaning back and putting his hands up in surrender.
Zayn's eyes flick over to Niall's, a look of panic shared between them.
"We couldn't smell anything, and not to be rude, Lou, but we've known Haz for forever and he, okay I can't really tell you Harry's business, but he's at a higher risk of going into depri," Zayn explains.
"No, I mean he's going into depri right now," Louis panics.
He can't explain it, but he can tell that somewhere in the building, the cute Omega with green eyes is going into depri.
Zayn frowns. "Dude, you-"
"Sound crazy, I know. Please just trust me," Louis rambles, sounding a little frantic.
Zayn looks back to his mate, eyes a little panicked.
"Babe, maybe just check on him? I'm sure it's nothing?" Niall says quietly.
Zayn nods and quickly leaves the table, grabbing his phone and heading straight to the toilets.
He sees an Omega standing outside them, looking around worriedly.
"Hey, are you alright?" Zayn says, trying to sound calm and friendly.
The Omega looks at him apprehensively. "Who are you?"
"No-one, you just look a bit worried. Anything I can help with?"
The Omega holds the Alpha's stare, sighing. "Um, I think someone in there's in trouble. But I don't really know how to help?"
Zayn's looks into the toilets in a panic. "Shit, okay, um, do you know what the person looks like?"
"I just saw curly hair, and then he locked himself in the toilet," the omega explains, "but he won't talk to me."
Zayn rubs a hand over his face and nods. "It's my friend, he's mute, so that's why he wasn't talking to you. Look, if I go in there can you just wait out here and make sure noone else comes in? I don't want to scare an omega if they come in here."
The Omega nods, looking noticeably more relieved.
"Thanks, I wont be long," Zayn says, smiling before heading into the toilets. "Haz?"
Nothing.
Zayn can't even smell Harry, which, what?
"Harry?" Zayn says a little more urgently, walking over to the stall and knocking on the door. "Harry you need to open up."
A clicking sound is heard but nothing more. Zayn opens the door slowly, heart breaking seeing Harry shaking on the floor, tears streaming down his face.
"Oh Harry," Zayn says, kneeling down to the floor and placing a hand on Harry's bicep, "sweetheart can you look up for me?"
Harry just lurches forward and grips onto Zayn's shirt, burying his face into the Alpha's chest. "Im so scared."
"Shh, it's okay, I'm here," Zayn says, holding the boy tightly to him, subtly dropping his head down to Harry's neck to try and smell, swearing a little again.
"I'm really really sorry," Harry whispers through his tears.
"It's okay, don't apologize, none of this is your fault," Zayn says, pressing a kiss to Harry's head. "Did you know this was going to happen?"
Harry shook his head. "Just felt tired. Didn't even realise I was going into depri until I got here, and then I didn't have it in me to walk back. I don't know what's wrong."
Zayn sits on the floor, resting his back against the wall and pulling Harry into his lap properly. He tries not to think about how gross the floor probably is. "Don't panic, but I can't smell you right now."
Harry whimpers a little into Zayn's neck. "I can't smell you either."
"Shit," Zayn swears.
"I'm not coming out of it," Harry mumbles, feeling sleepier and sleepier by the second.
"Shit, no, Harry stay awake babes," Zayn panics, pulling Harry back a little bit, ignoring his whine.
Normally they just needed a few minutes of touch and Harry would get out of the 'danger zone' as the doctors called it.
Apparently today that wasn't working.
"Tired," he mutters, rubbing his eye with his fist.
"Nonono, eyes open, sweetie," Zayn says, pulling his phone out with one hand and holding Harry up with the other.
He speed dials Niall, pulling the phone up to his ear.
"Hi, is-"
"He's going into depri right now. He's dropping, Niall, I don't know what to do. He - I can't smell him, something's wrong, I don't know-"
"Zayn, baby take a deep breath," Niall says through the phone, interrupting his panicked rambling.
Zayn does, looking up to the ceiling to will his tears away. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I don't know why he's going into depri, and I don't know how to stop it. I don't know why Louis could tell and I couldn't."
"Yeah, um, about that. We kind of had to hold Louis down," Niall explains.
"What?!"
"He's started, like, growling and saying how he should be the one to see if Harry's okay and, I don't know babe, it's so weird," Niall says.
Zayn frowns, looking over to Harry to see his eyes slipping shut again. "Hey, I thought we said eyes open. Please, Haz."
Harry whines, prying his eyes open again. "Can't."
"Just a little bit longer. Keep looking at me, yeah?"
Harry nods slightly, eyes glazed but still looking into Zayn's brown eyes.
"Sorry," Zayn says to Niall, "what the fuck are we meant to do?"
"Maybe let Louis come over? He could try and, I don't know, do whatever it is you do to get an Omega out of depri? If he's the only one who can smell Harry than he'll be the only one who can get him out of it, surely."
Zayn rubs a thumb over Harry's scent gland. "Okay, fine, but this could end badly."
Niall sighs. "It's already ending badly, babe, this is our only hope. We're on our way."
Zayn nods to himself and hangs the phone up, taking in a deep breath to try and rid the tears again.
Harry tries to nuzzle his way under Zayn's chest but the alpha pulls him back before he can, eliciting a whine from the younger boy.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but you need to stay up. You're going to drop if you do that, yeah?" Zayn says shakily, trying to hold Harry back with the weak fight the Omega puts up.
Just as Zayn has gotten Harry to calm down a little the door slams open with a loud bang.
Harry is out of Zayn's grip before he realises what's happening, backing away from the intruders as he starts hyperventilating.
Zayn sends the boys a glare, not completely understanding why they couldn't have made a more peaceful entrance, before turning round to face Harry who's cowering at the back of the stall.
"Hey, Hazza, it's okay, c'mere," Zayn says, holding his arms out for Harry to crawl into.
The Omega does no such thing, to Zayn's dismay, but rather just flinches back further.
"You're scaring him!"
Zayn turns round slowly, standing up to give Louis the death stare of his life. "You're a fucking asshole. You scared him by slamming the door, you dick. Don't you dare tell me this is my fault."
Louis glares back with as much fire in his eyes. "Let me talk to him."
Zayn's hands are in tight fists, as though they single handedly are holding all the anger he is feeling. "I was going to, until you barged in here. You don't understand Harry's situation, you don't understand Harry at all. You don't know him. If you go over there now he'll drop. Let me deal with this, if I need you I'll call you."
Louis may be a shorter than average Alpha, but he sure as hell holds a lot of power and dominance. If Zayn wasn't this angry himself he wouldn't even be trying to argue with him.
"Clearly you do need my help because you can't fucking pull him out of deprivation. You couldn't even smell it on him. He reeks of it, and you still needed me to tell you what was wrong. Does your fucking nose not work or something?"
Zayn growled loudly at that. "You fucking-"
"Zayn!" Niall yells. "Are you two fucking thick? This isn't about either of you, this is about Harry. And Harry is dropping, and you two being angry and yelling and growling isn't helping. If neither of you are going to pull your heads out of your asses I'm taking him to the hospital. Now will you fucking do something!"
Zayn's eyes widen a little at Niall's outburst. He never, ever shouts at people like that.
He turns around to see Harry still cowering, eyes wide and focused fearfully on Zayn's. The only reason he hadn't dropped was because he was following the orders to stay looking at him.
Shit.
"Stay here," Zayn growls quietly, walking over to Harry and kneeling back down on the floor in front of him. "Hey, sweetheart, I'm sorry for shouting, yeah? Can you come here for me?"
Harry looks at him apprehensively, before shaking his head. "stranger."
"Louis' not a stranger, darling, and he won't come over here if you don't want him to," Zayn says quietly.
Harry just shakes his head again, pointing at Zayn. "Stranger."
"He can't smell you, that's why he's saying that," Louis says, "now can I please try?"
Zayn sighs, moving to the side to let Louis through.
Louis walks over slowly, squatting down a foot away from the Omega, hands resting on his thighs. "Omega, come here, please."
Harry's eyes flit away from Zayn and towards Louis, blue meeting green.
Harry sniffs loudly, edging forward a little and doing the same again.
Louis smiles and offers his wrist out to him, the younger boy frowning at it before tentatively leaning his head down to sniff at the rest.
Fondness fills Louis' heart as he watches Harry's little nose twitch at his wrists before hesitantly crawling closer and closer to the Alpha.
Harry then slots his head onto Louis shoulder, curling up to him and nosing at his sent gland as Louis cuddles him to his chest.
Harry smells so good it's almost overwhelming, layers of fruit balanced out with warming spices.
It's so good Louis almost forgets where he is for a second until he hears Zayn clearing his voice.
Harry flinches at the noise, tightening his grip on Louis as the Alpha sends Zayn a glare.
"Shh, it's okay, it was just Zayn. You can go down for me now, lovely, we'll be here when you wake up," Louis says gently, stroking Harry's curls as the Omega falls asleep on his chest.
"Holy shit," Niall exasperates, "I'm so confused."
"You can say that again," Zayn sighs, leaning back against the wall tiredly.
"We should probably go some place else, this isn't the most hygienic place to be," Louis says quietly.
"Yeah. I need to ring his doctor as well," Zayn mutters, standing up and wiping his hands on his trousers.
"Why?" Louis asks, standing up with Harry in his arms.
Zayn glares back at him. "it's none of your fucking business. Just because this happened doesn't mean you get to know all about Harry's life, okay? When he wakes up there's a high chance he'll freak out and never want to see you again. This doesn't make him yours."
Louis subconsciously holds Harry tighter, protectively or possessively he doesn't know. "Yeah I know, Jesus, sorry for asking."
Zayn rolls his eyes. "Whatever, let's just go."
Louis goes to leave first, and just as Zayn is about to follow he feels a hand on his shoulder.
"Zayn-"
"Yes?"
Niall swallows but holds his end. "Zaynie, c'mere."
Zayn feels the tension running through him snap as he says his weight into Niall's open arms, sobs starting to wrack through him. "I'm so sorry-"
"Shh, you don't need to apologize," Niall comforts, running a hand up and down Zayn's back.
"I wasn't good enough-" Zayn cries.
"Yes you were, Zaynie. You're always enough. You did everything right. This isn't your fault," Niall says sternly.
"I couldn't smell him, Niall, I'm not a good Alpha."
Nialls heart breaks a little. "No, you're not a good Alpha, you're the best Alpha. You're my Alpha, and I love you so much. You always look out for Haz and make sure he's okay. Something's not right and we can figure out what it is, but this doesn't make you a bad person, baby. We can't be perfect all the time."
Zayn nods shakily, holding Niall tightly. "I love you so much, Ni. I need you."
Niall holds back just as tightly. "I need you too. I love you so much. Now c'mon, lets get Harry sorted out, yeah?"
Zayn nods again, taking a deep breath to stop the tears flowing. "Okay."
"And no more shouting at Louis?" Niall jokes, wiping Zayn's tears from him.
Zayn laughs wetly. "He's an arse when he wants to be."
Niall laughs. "Yeah, only cause you don't like him getting close to Harry. Give him a break, babe."
Zayn's chest hurts with how much he loves Niall. "I really love you."
Niall blushes, smiling shyly. He knows Zayn loves him but he still gets a bit shy with it sometimes. "I really love you."
Zayn presses a firm kiss to Niall's lips, seperating and resting their foreheads together as they breath together for a moment.
"Right, let's go," Zayn says finally, gripping Niall's hand in his as they leave.