Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/11688930.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Star_Wars_Episode_VII:_The_Force_Awakens_(2015)
  Relationship:
      Armitage_Hux/Ben_Solo
  Character:
      Armitage_Hux, Ben_Solo, Brendol_Hux, Dopheld_Mitaka, Phasma_(Star_Wars),
      Snoke_(Star_Wars)
  Additional Tags:
      Kylux_-_Freeform, Alpha/Beta/Omega_Dynamics, Alternate_Universe_-_High
      School, Mating_Cycles/In_Heat, Armitage_Hux_Needs_A_Hug, Virgin_Ben_Solo,
      Alpha_Ben_Solo, Omega_Armitage_Hux, Shyness, Alpha/Omega, Porn_with
      Feelings, Eventual_Smut, Mutual_Pining, Reluctant_Hux, Ukulele_Flirting,
      Ice_Skating, Underage_Drinking, Fluff_and_Smut, like_a_leash_around_their
      souls, probably_one_of_the_best_lines_I've_ever_come_up_with, Mating
      Rituals
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-08-02 Completed: 2017-08-09 Chapters: 8/8 Words: 15596
****** Creatures of Nature ******
by TheZ1337
Summary
     Omega Armitage Hux moves to a new high school his junior year.
     Although he doesn't know it yet, Ben Solo learns what it means to
     truly be soul bonded... after lots and lots of build up.
Notes
See the end of the work for notes
***** Chapter 1 *****
The house has a large, red 'SOLD' sign on top of the For Sale sign for nearly a
month before a moving van pulled up. An SUV pulled up to the curb behind it,
and a teenage boy stepped out of the drivers seat. An older man in his late
forties got out of the passenger seat, and the movers hopped out of their van
to start to unpack a houseful of furniture and boxes.
It was a farm style house with a white, painted porch on the front and back.
The backyard was fairly small, though attached to a side yard that was once a
vacant lot. The outside of it had a flat lawn that needed some attention, and
the walkway led directly from the front door to the sidewalk.
It was two stories with three bedrooms with an attached two-car garage. The
floors were recently replaced with wood laminate except for the bedrooms, which
were carpeted.
The movers brought in the furniture, while the boy and his father began to
bring in the boxes. Each box was strategically marked in black
sharpie, 'kitchen,' 'Armies room,' 'office,' etc. Armie walked down the walkway
to get another box, maroon colored jeans clean from using new boxes to pack up
their old house.
As he walked up to the back of the moving van, a familiar clacking sound drew
his attention. He pulled a box to the edge of the bed of it, and looked up. He
raised a hand over his eyes, shielding them from the late afternoon sun that
peeked over the very top of the roof. Three teenagers, about his age,
approached on skateboards, wheels skipping over lines in the sidewalk.
He stood and watched them approaching, an almost eager look on his face to make
his first friends. The first in line was a boy in pre-distressed jeans with
holes in them. Followed shortly was another boy with a full head of black hair,
and behind him with a girl whose skin was dark, but hair was bright blonde.
They passed without stopping, the boy in the middle glancing over. Armie set
his mouth, trying not to look disappointed. He told himself that they probably
had somewhere to be, so they couldn't stop to talk.
Down the driveway walked Brendol, his father, who looked after the teenagers as
they got to the end of the street and turned the corner. He turned to look back
at Armie, a slight smile on his face. "Looks like there's some kids- people,"
he corrected himself, "around here that are your age Armie."
"Yeah, it looks like it," Armie shrugged. He continued to unpack, the process
quiet as he made a dozen trips back and forth.
The movers left just before sunset, couches in place in the living room and
bedroom furniture where it out to be in each room. In each room, boxes were
stacked neatly against the walls, and Brendol was satisfied enough to call in
an order for pizza.
He went up to Armie's room, and knocked on the door frame twice with the backs
of his knuckles. Armie looked up, knelt in front of a box as he unloaded
miscellaneous items onto his desk.
"How's it going in here?"
"Pretty good, I might have a box or two of donations."
"Yeah? Well, if you want to get rid of more stuff," Brendol shrugged.
"Yeah, I mean I don't need a lot, you know that Dad."
Brendol smiled and nodded, "That's true." He lingered, soft eyes looking warmly
towards his son. "Are you hungry?"
"Yeah, I could eat."
"How's pizza sound?"
"Sounds good."
"Great, I'll call something in."
Brendol left his son to quietly unpack. Armie had chosen the corner bedroom
with a window on either side. One faced the east, the other facing North so he
would have a more natural cycle of light through his bedroom all year round.
His room had a twin bed in the corner, a box of clear Christmas lights, faerie
lights he said as he corrected his father, lay at the foot of the bed, yet to
be unpacked. Against the foot of the bed were also several portrait frames and
some posters. He had a large bookshelf, though it was half empty because he'd
left so many books behind. Other than that, his clothes fit in half the closet
and he had only two pairs of shoes, and some sandals. 
A half hour later, Armie was skipping down the stairs. He stopped in the
kitchen to get some money from Brendol, and snatched the car keys off the table
near the door. "Don't forget to get plates! I don't know if I'll be able to
unpack the dishes tonight."
"Got it!" He closed the door, hopped down the porch steps, and walked quickly
to the car. He was eager to drive to the Italian restaurant they'd passed on
their way in to town, since he wanted to get to know the area. It would most
likely be his last home before college, and he wanted to get to know it as best
he could before he went off to college. But he was also nervous, because he
didn't know anyone, and didn't know what kind of restaurant he was going in to
alone. As an omega, he was naturally insecure in new places, but he knew they
were in the suburbs, and nothing bad ever happened in the suburbs.
===============================================================================
Armie pulled up to the restaurant into the first spot available, which was a
few parking spots away from the door. He got out of the car, shoved his hands
in his pockets, and walked in.
The restaurant smelled like every other Italian restaurant, and he reveled in
it. He loved the smell of garlic and tomatoes, not to mention garlic bread. A
few families sat spread around at various tables, eating pasta and pizza and
drinking sugary soda. Nobody paid attention to the shy red head who walked in,
who hesitated at the door. Then he walked forward and stopped at the hostess
stand. "I'm picking up an order."
"What's the name on it?"
"Um, Brendol. Or Armie."
"Hmm," the cashier looked over to a list next to the register. Armie watched
her, and noticed she was about his age, probably a bit younger. When she looked
up, she looked startled, and Armie realized he'd been doing that thing again,
where he stared a bit too intently, a bit too curiously at people. And with his
icy blue eyes, he'd startled more than one beta in his life.
"Oh, um, it's right here. A-" she looked back over at the list to avoid his
eyes. "-cheese pizza and a Caesar salad?"
"Yep, sounds like it. And can we get some plates for that? We just moved in and
we haven't unpacked the kitchen yet."
"Oh cool, where to?"
"A few blocks away, off Cedar."
"Oh nice, I live over near the high school."
"Cool," he smiled, feeling like he'd just made a friend.
"Let me go get the order for you."
"Thanks."
He stepped back from the counter, a small smile tinging his lips. Just then the
bell above the door jingled and Armie glanced back at it.
The three teenagers from earlier walked in, skateboards in hand, laughing up a
storm. He kept the faint smile on his face and stepped to the side, to let them
step up to the hostess stand. The girl with the purple hair looked over,
checked Armie up and down before she pushed past the two boys to talk to him.
She stood tall, taller than him with a thin but muscular frame. Her skin
smelled warm like late summer, and coconut milk. "Hey, you just moved in to
that house on Cedar, right?"
Armie looked up and thought definitely an alpha, though she hadn't realized it
yet. The realization probably wouldn't come for many more years, he mused.
Armie nodded, "Yeah. I think I saw you guys earlier."
"Yeah, you enrolled at the Academy?"
Armie wasn't quite sure what she was asking. "Pardon?"
Phasma laughed, "Pardon," she mocked lightly. "Arkanis Academy, the big high
school, you can't have missed it on your way in to town?"
"Oh yeah, yeah I am."
"And you just moved in today?" She asked and Armie nodded. "Wow, well, good
luck."
"Thanks," then he muttered as Phasma turned away. "I guess."
The one with the long black hair was eyeing Armie, his eyelids fluttering as he
took in the new kid. Ben found him curious, shy and restrained but not quite
awkward like one would expect. It was like he was bursting to say something,
but knew enough to keep his mouth shut. Just then the hostess came out form the
back with a box of pizza in hand, and a bag on top with salad and plastic ware
contained within.
She handed the box to Armie, who took it with one arm and began to dig in his
pants pocket for the money Brendol had given him. The hostess rang him up,
typing in some numbers before totaling it.
"And the total is $32.95." Armie handed over the two twenties, and took back
the change. "Would you like a receipt?"
"No, thanks," he shoved the spare change in his back pocket. Then held the
pizza box with both hands as he turned.
"See you in school," Phasma chimed, and the sarcasm in her tone wasn't lost on
Armie. He simply nodded, eyes scanning across the three figures quickly. Only
Ben made contact, and as Armie passed, he shrugged his shoulder away from Ben,
as if he'd reached out to touch him. Armie pushed out the door backwards,
quickly sliding the pizza over the passenger seat before he got into the car.
***** Chapter 2 *****
The first day of school started, and Armie was up and out the door by quarter
to seven. Brendol drove, since they only had one car, and he wished his son
well as the pulled up to the school.
"Have a good first day?" It was a question.
"Sure, will do. See you at three," he got out and pulled the plain backpack
from the floor of the car. It had one zipper to the large pouch, and one zipper
to the smaller pouch. It was simple, and held everything he needed, so he
tossed it over his shoulder and then put his arm through the other strap.
He walked up the sidewalk, the school quietly buzzing with early sounds of
students. He went straight to the Admin office, and glanced around. It was a
bland front office with a middle aged secretary at the desk, and several chairs
along the opposite wall. He walked up as he took in his new school.
"Can I help you?" the receptionist said, her voice a bit stern. It was the
voice every high school receptionist had.
"Um, yes, I'm a transfer student. I'm here to get my schedule."
"Excellent, do you have a confirmation number?"
"You know, I don't. We uh, we sent the paperwork in last week on the deadline,
and we just moved in. Um, but I have-"
"Do you have an ID?"
"-my ID. Oh yeah, here." He pulled his backpack around on one shoulder, and
rummaged through the large pocket. He looked through two notebooks and a
binder, finding his wallet of course at the bottom. He made a note to transfer
it to the smaller pocket where he kept his pen case, a baggy of mixed nuts and
his cell phone. He handed it over, and the woman typed it into the computer.
"Ah yes, here you are. How do you say your first name?"
"Armitage."
"Armitage, let me just go get your paperwork." She spun around on her swivel
chair and stood up to go into a back office. Armie stood quietly, his back pack
over one shoulder and he put his hands in his pockets. He glanced around,
watching some freshman filing through, ushered by one of their mothers. He
looked away sadly, and focused his energy on the pen cup on the receptionists
desk.
She came back in a half minute later with a freshly printed copy of his
records, and his class schedule. She tore the perforations off the top, and
stamped the schedule, then handed it to him over the desk. 
"This is your semester schedule, please review it to make sure all the classes
are in order."
He glanced over the paper, eyebrows raising. "Yeah, actually, they are. I'm
surprised all my credits transferred." He'd been afraid he'd be placed in
remedial classes, but he was in AP everything.
"Oh yes, well we use the same system as your last school so things tend to be
pretty seamless. I'll also give you a map of the school, and your locker
number. Oh, and here's a list of all the school clubs and organizations, if
you're interested."
"Yeah, thanks," he took all the papers, glad that it wasn't a hassle.
"Now you've been assigned a student adviser for your first day since we're such
a large campus. He's not here yet, but you're pretty early. So if you'll just
have a seat, he should be here by seven."
"Great, thanks," he repeated the gratuitous word, and steeped back from the
desk. He put his arm through the other strap of his bag and shrank back towards
the uncomfortable plastic chairs. He sat on the edge, and pressed a nervous
thumb into his palm as he waited.
At 7:05, Ben walked in, panting like he'd run to the office. The receptionist
looked up. "Mr. Solo, you're late."
"I know, I'm sorry-"
"If the senator hadn't given such a good recommendation, I wouldn't have
accepted you in to the program, you know?"
"I know, I know, I'm sorry. First day and all, yeah?" He glanced around with a
short attention span, and saw several students look up from their seats that
lined the walls. Armie was among them, Ben's eyes immediately drawn to him. But
he turned, and looked back at the receptionist.
"Well, your advisee seems to be more punctual than you. You're assigned to
Armitage Hux for the day. He's right over there, the boy with the red hair."
She said all this as she gave Ben a name badge with his name on it in big, bold
letters. He shoved it in his pocket, like hell I'm wearing a name badge.
"Great, thanks," he turned and walked to Armie, who'd heard all of that.
"Hey, Ben," Ben introduced himself as Armie stood up.
"Armie," they shook hands.
"Armie? That's nice, less syllables. Well, come on, let me give you a tour."
They walked out of the office and Armie started to talk.
"Hey, I think I saw you at D'Amico's last night."
"Oh yeah, I remember you. You picked up a pizza, right?"
"Yeah."
"How was it?"
"Pretty good, as far as cheese pizza goes."
"Oh man, you gotta try their calzones. They're huge," he made a wide gesture
with his hands. Armie found himself almost smiling as they walked down the
hall. "Hey, did she give you a map?"
"Yeah, here," Armie flipped over the papers, and showed the map to Ben. Ben
pulled them off to the side next to the main staircase and stopped as he
explained.
"Okay, so you've got buildings A, B, and C. There's also the gym over there,
and the library's in building C. So," he flipped through the pages, and Armie
was careful to keep his fingers from brushing Ben's. He didn't need that kind
of contact right now.
"So your schedule it looks like... alright you've got homeroom in this
building. The room numbers are pretty easy to figure out. You're in 214, which
basically means second floor, room 14.'
"Then you've got periods two and three in building C, that's good. Third period
Mr. Andor will probably take you to the library to pick up your books since
they do that in your English period. Wow, you're all AP?"
"Yeah."
"Cool, me too. And that's good because after third period is lunch so you can
put all your books in your locker. Hey, did you bring a lock?"
"Yeah, from my old school."
"Excellent." Ben paused for a rare moment. Armie noticed he was a bit A.D.D.,
mind slightly scattered but Armie followed along easily enough. "How'd you get
out of P.E.?" Ben looked up, and his smiling face changed slightly, like he was
startled. Armie looked away, realizing he'd been staring at Ben and watching
the contours of his jawline. Armie averted his gaze, choosing instead to look
down at the class schedule. Now it was Ben's turn to stare at his face, and he
watched those icy blue eyes scan for nothing in particular. Armie shrugged, a
calm air about him though Ben could tell something was amiss.
"I dunno, I guess I got enough credits in my last school."
"Hmm, yeah, I guess so. Well you're lucky."
They walked up the staircase, Armie following dutifully. "So I'm in room 211,
and I'll swing by after homeroom to walk you to your next class. I'll give you
some advice though since you've got Mr. Snoke, don't piss him off. He's kind of
an ass, so make sure to always raise your hand."
"Great, thanks," Armie was now permanently averting his gaze, like he'd known
he'd startled Ben. More than one person had commented on the heady gaze, eyes
almost able to penetrate the soul, or like he knew something they didn't.
Ben left Armie by the classroom, and Armie watched him go. He liked Ben, the
way he turned in to Armie when he spoke to him, like he was actually
talking to him, not at him. Armie walked into his homeroom early, and let his
eyes scan the class room.
It was like any other classroom, with windows along one wall and a whiteboard
along another. The desks were attached to blue plastic chairs all lined up in
neat little rows.
Mr. Snoke was an imposing figure, nearly 6'5" with a shaved bald head and a
scar across his right temple that stopped just below his ear. He didn't smile
when Armie walked in. "Welcome, have a seat. It's open seating."
"Thanks," he muttered and took a seat near the window, second row back.
"Are you new here?" Mr. Snoke asked, coming out from behind his desk.
"Um, yeah."
"Where you from?"
"The west coast."
"Ah, well you're in for a real winter here."
Armie nodded and fiddled his thumb. Then he reached down to pretend to pull
something out of his back. Mr. Snoke turned and began to write on the
whiteboard, and they sat in silence for several minutes. Finally more students
started to trickle in, and Armie sat quietly as he waited for the bell to ring.
===============================================================================
Home room and second period went by without much to report. Syllabi were handed
out and Armie looked at the list of supplies he'd need to get after school. Ben
walked him to second period, and on their way to third, he spoke up.
"So, I don't know what your lunch plan is. You're more than welcome to hang out
with me and my friends, but we usually go into the parking lot for a little
recreation," he put his thumb and forefinger together up to his lips. Armie
glanced to the side, recognizing the gesture.
"Um, no thanks. I was planning on going to the library anyways, kind of
organize my stuff, you know?"
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Well, I'll see you there for fourth."
"Sounds good, see ya," Armie turned left, into his next classroom. The day went
on like this, Ben finding him through the busy halls and walking him to his
classes. Study hall was to be conducted in complete silence, so they didn't
have time to chat. Ben walked him out to the parking lot at the end of the day,
and waved goodbye as he went off to meet his scrappy looking friends with their
faded jeans and dyed hair.
===============================================================================
That night at dinner, Armie poked at the remnants of his Chinese takeout.
Brendol had busily updated his son on the new command post and how his soldiers
were the finest shining example that the Military could offer. Then he asked
about Armie's day.
"And you, how was school? Did you get all your classes?"
"Yeah, it was good." He paused. "My teachers are all pretty nice."
"Well that's good," Brendol left the sentence open ended.
"I was assigned a student adviser, you know, someone to walk me around to all
my classes so I didn't get lost."
"Really? That's a nice service the school provides."
"Yeah," Armie trailed off. "Hey, remember those skateboards we saw when we were
moving in?"
"Yeah, the ones that were your age, right?"
"Well one of them was my adviser today."
"Really? Wow, it's great he lives in the area."
"Yeah..." Armie thought about it. A small twinkle appeared in his eye, "Yeah it
is."
***** Chapter 3 *****
Several weeks into the semester, Ben was running late to meet up with his
friends. He'd gotten a detention which kept him after school for an extra
period, and he ran down the hall to meet up with Mitaka and Phasma. Well, he
didn't quite run, because if he ran a teacher would probably hear him and peek
out of their classroom to see what the commotion was, and to give him another
detention. So he walked as quickly and quietly as he could.
Suddenly he paused as he heard a familiar sound. Someone down the next hall was
being shoved into the lockers. Then he heard two familiar voices, and rounded
the corner to join them. 
But he froze on the spot, and saw who Mitaka and Phasma's victim was. They had
Armie shoved up against the locker, Phasma hissing in his ear while Armie
grabbed Mitaka's wrist that held the front of his shirt in a balled fist.
"I know you've got money, and we need cigarettes."
"Yeah, pretty boy," Phasma joined in.
Ben tried to control his look of abject horror. "What are you doing?"
All three of them looked up, Armie's eyes watering red with tears from fear.
"Hey Ben, come to join the party?" Mitaka looked back at Armie who was
terrified for his life.
"Get off him," Ben shoved Mitaka away. Armie began to shake, the hand of his
tormentor finally releasing him.
"Dude what the fuck?" Mitaka asked.
"You need cigarette money? Fine, I've got some cash," Ben said.
"I don't want your money."
"Pretty boy here's loaded and you know it," Phasma said to Ben.
"Go shake down someone else, huh?"
"What's he, your boyfriend now?" Mitaka asked.
"Wow, you two must've gotten really close that first day." Phasma sneered.
"Fuck you."
"No, fuck you," Mitaka spat, squaring his shoulders. He and Ben had a standoff,
several feet separating them as they puffed up their chests, a veritable school
yard pissing contest. Armie sank to the ground, blinking furiously to bite away
the tears. His throat was hot and sticky from the need to cry, and from the
fear he felt. It rolled off him in a wave, rousing Ben's possessiveness.
Finally Phasma put a hand on Mitaka's shoulder. "Come on, leave it."
Mitaka shrugged her hand off and said, "Fine, asshole."
"Yeah you're reeeally intimidating Mitaka," Ben said sarcastically.
They walked away together, Phasma glaring at Ben over her shoulder. Then Ben
knelt down next to Armie who was still trembling. "Hey, are you alright?" He
put an arm around Armie's upper arm to help him get to his feet.
Armie wrenched his arm away as he stood without help, shifting his backpack
back onto his shoulder. "Don't touch me," he snapped with venom in his tone.
Ben's eyes grew wide, expression softening as Armie passed him.
Armie wiped a hand under his eye, wiping away a tear that had sprung free from
his lids. Ben listened to him sniffle once as he walked out of the quiet
corridor, and he remained dumbfounded for quite some time.
===============================================================================
The next week, they sat in Study Hall. Armie had been radio silence since the
incident in the hallway. Ben was almost surprised by his stoicism, even though
they still sat side by side at the same table. Ben glanced at him every so
often but he never caught Armie looking at him. Finally on Tuesday he glanced
up at Mrs. Erso, the librarian behind a desk who enforced complete silence
during fourth period.
Then Ben leaned towards Armie, eyes still on her and he whispered, "Hey, you
going to homecoming?"
Armie froze in the middle of the sentence he'd been writing, and glanced up at
the librarian. He didn't look at Ben as he shook his head silently.
"Well, my friends and I are going," he let out a quiet laugh, barely above the
level of the whisper he was speaking in. "It's sort of stupid but... if you
want to go, they could probably get to know you better."
Armie's normal straight lips turned down in a frown, and he looked back down at
his assignment. After a few seconds he whispered, "I'll think about it."
Ben smiled a bit, leaning away and put his eyes back down on his school
planner. He felt a slight sense of triumph at Armie's response, because it
wasn't exactly a no.
===============================================================================
A five bedroom, four bath house lay at the end of a caul-de-sac with a large
swimming pool in the backyard. It was a Greek revival style house painted white
to resemble marble, and fluted columns held up a balcony above the front door.
Armie walked up alone, polished shoes silent on the cement. All the lights on
the first floor of the house were on, and he heard people talking from inside
as he rang the doorbell. He was overwhelmingly nervous, since not only was he
about to go to a dance with people his age who he hardly knew, and who he
assumed didn't like him, but it was only his second ever school dance.
The door was opened by a kind looking woman with a round face and a long braid
down her back. She smiled at seeing him and he introduced himself.
"Hi, I'm Armie. Um, Ben invited me over."
"Yes, of course. Come on in Armie, I'm Leia, Ben's mom."
"Nice to meet you," he shook her hand. Her hand was warm and kind, reflecting
the nature of her smile. She shut the door behind him and he was instantly
drawn to the open archway that led into the living room. Eight or nine people
all in formal wear stood mingling, waiting for the limo. Ben's face seemed to
brighten up as he saw Armie walk in nervously. Armie was wearing a grey suit
with a white shirt, and a deep purple tie with a matching pocket square. Ben
went right up to him, slightly lopsided smile on his face.
"Hey, I almost thought you wouldn't make it."
"Oh yeah, sorry. I was uh, a bit slow tonight."
"It's all good, come on in, let me introduce you to people."
"I think the limo's here," Phasma chimed from her perch on the back of the
couch where she'd been peering out the window. She wore an obscenely short
dress, bright red that hugged her midsection but poofed out around her waist.
"Great, alright, well have fun," Leia chimed as she came out from the dining
room, where she'd only just sat down to type at her laptop.
"Thanks Mrs. Organa," chimed throughout the living room as people put down
their bottles of soda and the women picked up their purses.
"Thanks mom," Ben walked over to Leia and gave her a kiss on the cheek,
towering over her.
"Have fun, be safe. See you all later," she stood by the door as they filed
out.
Armie ended up in the middle of the group, Ben right behind him in his all
black suit. They filed in to the limo, scooting over black leather that lined
either side. Ben crouched and moved around Armie, making sure that he wasn't at
the end of the row of seats because that would isolate him from the group of
people he hardly knew. So Ben took that spot instead, knowing it would draw the
conversation over towards them.
"Hey Phasma, did you bring the stuff?" Mitaka shouted over all their heads.
"Oh yeah," she purred, and revealed the head of a vodka bottle in her purse.
"Well don't take it out now!" Ben shouted. Armie wasn't used to being around a
crowd of people chattering so loudly.
"Why not? Tell the driver to roll up the window. Hey driver!"
Armie remained silent, listening to conversations as the ride went on. Most the
people in the limo took a swig from the bottle, including Ben but Armie passed
on it. Phasma had a habit of hoarding the bottle, and after several large
gulps, she wiggled her way through the limo to sit across from Ben.
"So Armie, where'd you come from?" She asked. Armie was surprised by her
interest in her.
"The West coast."
"Why'd your parents move?"
"My dad's in the military, he got stationed at the base nearby."
"Oh cool, hey has anyone ever told you that you have amazing eyes?"
Armie laughed, a smile creeping up his face. "Yeah, actually."
"Are you wearing contacts, or were you born with them?"
"I uh," Armie paused, nervous at the question because of what it implied. "I
was born with them, yeah." It was a lie, and for a split second both Phasma and
Ben seemed to catch it. What a stupid thing to lie about, and Armie could see
on Phasma's face what she was thinking. Is he...? No, he can't be. He's too
young for that to happen. Armie was desperate to change the subject so he
motioned to Phasma.
"I like your dress, it's very puffy."
"Thanks, my mom made it."
"Really?"
"Hah, no!" Phasma giggled, having successfully baited Armie. Armie's smile
wavered, and Phasma went back to her original seat.
By the time they rolled up to the high school, the party in the limo was well
under way. They walked to the gymnasium in one large group, Ben always at
Armie's side. Ben didn't seem to notice it, how protective he was around Armie,
but Armie picked up on it immediately. He didn't know how he felt about it,
feeling a sense of comfort, but also the urge to recoil.
The dance was like any other homecoming dance. Punch was served, a live band
played, and alumni returned for their annual reunion. For the most part though,
teenagers mingled and danced, some pranksters claimed they spiked the punch
bowl.
Armie didn't have a lot in common with Ben's friends, but then again he didn't
have much in common with anyone. The conversation was light though, and by the
time they all filed out to go smoke a joint in the parking lot, Armie could
almost trick himself into feeling like one of the crew.
They lit it up, and passed the blunt around. When it got to Armie, he shook his
head and it was passed to Ben who eagerly inhaled.
"You don't drink AND you don't smoke?" Mitaka prodded. "What're you, a prude?"
"I dunno, its never been my thing." Armie responded as Ben passed off the joint
to Phasma.
"Well then what fun are you?"
The sentence stung, more than perhaps it should have. "Hey, don't be an asshole
man," Ben said as he exhaled. Armie stepped back though. Every time Phasma or
Mitaka spoke to him, they were always mean. He didn't like it, and he decided
it was time to leave.
"Excuse me," he said quietly and turned around. But when he didn't start
walking towards the gymnasium, Ben followed.
"Hey, where're you going?"
"I'm just gonna call my dad, he'll give me a ride home."
"What? No, but we still have the limo," Ben reached out to take Armie's arm.
Armie wrenched it away, like he had in the hallway and he spun on his heel. He
looked angry, an expression Ben had never seen before. In this moment, Ben
realized he'd been staring at Armie's face a lot, most of the time they were
together in fact. Armie blew up, as best he could anyways.
"It's obvious your friends don't like me! And that's just fine, because I don't
like them either."
"Armie-"
"They're mean, and they obviously don't let in outsiders to their "clique." So
I'm just going to go, and you enjoy your dance and your drugs."
"Amie, no-" Then Ben grumbled angrily as Armie started to walk away again. But
Ben didn't pursue. He turned around as his rage started to fester as he walked
back to his friends.
"Why do you have to be such a dick?!" He shouted at Mitaka. Armie walked up to
the street, and waited alone under one of the streetlamps for Brendol to pick
him up.
***** Chapter 4 *****
Chapter Notes
     Sorry for the Disney reference but I couldn't help it when Sven
     rhymes with Ben.
The next week, Armie wasn't in school. Although they'd been mean and Armie had
stormed off, they all knew that wasn't why he was absent. The rumors had
started.
The new kid with blue eyes that were able to bore into your soul like he was
searching if you were the one was sometimes too nice to be normal. Yet he was
somehow a recluse with few friends, and he got out of P.E. without having to
fill it with any other credits. The only way he could get out of it was
if there was a medical reason. All this combined meant there could only be one
explanation: he was an omega.
Usually people came into their natural state after puberty, mostly in their
early twenties. But to have someone so young already there, he was instantly
labeled an outcast. The rumors were further fueled by the kids of the Brendol's
soldiers, who had overheard their parents discussing the General's son and his
curious nature.
The week passed and when the weekend came, Ben decided to go for a walk. Han
lived a few blocks away, divorced from Leia but they lived close enough that
Ben could visit whenever he liked.
Ben walked down the alleyway behind a row of houses, but stopped when his
attention was drawn by the distant sound of live music. He couldn't place the
instrument, so he went to investigate.
He wound up behind Armie's house, the fence only six feet high so he had a
clear view of the yard. Armie sat on a lone rope swing that looked worn, like
it had been there for years. The first chill of winter had set in so he wore a
knit beanie on his head, red hair peeking out from the front. The tips of is
toes pressed into the dirt, barely bothering to push himself on the old swing.
He was hunched over, strumming a very small, very vibrantly painted yellow
ukulele.
Ben paused, a smile creeping up his face. "Hey, Armie."
Armie looked up, his concentration broken by a familiar voice. His face
hardened with betrayal, and he sat up a bit straighter. "Hey," he said.
"I didn't know you played guitar."
Armie looked down at the instrument, then stood up. "Yeah, it's something I've
picked up."
"That's so cool," Armie walked over to the back fence, and opened it without
being prompted.
"Oh, I didn't mean to bother you, I was just passing."
"No it's fine, I was bored anyways, come on in."
The yard was fairly standard, laid with grass and a few bushes along the fence.
A stone path led off to the right through some bushes to what was previously an
separate lot, but which was now attached, though it had remained an empty
field. Armie walked them past the shaded tree where he'd been swinging,
and went to the porch. He sat down on the top step, and Ben joined him.
"Dad hasn't gotten around to buying patio furniture yet," he shrugged. "And he
doesn't really like people inside when he's not home."
"That's fine, I don't mind." Ben intentionally sat as far from Armie as he
could, because he knew he liked the space, and it made sense now. Every time
Armie had flinched away from him, Ben felt a small pang of guilt. His scent had
changed, and Ben hadn't realized how familiar he'd become with it until now.
Armie smelled dull, tired... almost sad. It was a breathless sad that nearly
knocked the wind out of him as he sat down next to Armie. Armie was tinged
with an ache, an embarrassment that dug a small hole in Ben's heart.
Ben looked over at Armie and saw his face remained hard and eyes staring out
across the backyard, like he was putting up a wall to keep from being hurt. Ben
had a thousand questions for him, now that they were alone. He decided to start
with a simple one, "What were you playing?"
"Fireflies, by Owl City."
"Really? Wow, you must be pretty good."
Armie shrugged, the ukulele in place against him, fingers hovering over the
strings. "I guess. I have lots of time to practice."
"What else can you play?"
"I dunno, lots. I memorized most the songs in the songbook it came with."
"That's awesome."
A heavy silence sunk in. Ben could tell Armie he didn't want him there, could
feel it rolling off of him like a thick fog, it was almost visible. But Ben
stayed where he was, waiting for Armie to warm up to him.
"I can play you something, if you want," Armie offered. A smile grew on Ben's
face and he nodded.
"Yeah, I'd like that."
Armie looked down at the instrument as he put his fingers in place. He paused,
then started to strum. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star-"
"Oh come on," Ben laughed, deep and calm, much quieter than his laughter in the
limo. Ben watched a small, reserved smile curl up on Armie's lips. "Play
an actual song."
"An actual song? Hmm," Armie thought about it. Finally he turned his head to
looked at Ben, piercing eyes soft and inviting. "Do you like Disney?"
"Sure, I guess, yeah." He hadn't watched a Disney movie for a long time, unless
his little sister Rey dragged him to the theatre. But he didn't want to ruin
whatever was happening in the moment, so he went along with it. Armie began to
strum.
"People are better than reindeer-" At that Ben began to laugh, immediately
recognizing the song.
"-Ben, don't you think that's true?"
"Unbelievable, you're unbelievable you know that?" He continued to laugh. Armie
paused, and Ben spoke up, "Um... Because people will..." he couldn't quite
remember the words. So Armie spoke up, his voice a few octaves lower.
"People will beat you and stab you and cheat you," he looked away from Ben, the
words echoing in his head before he said them. And on the porch step, alone
with Ben, they sounded a bit too intimate. "Every one of 'em's bad except you."
Armie finished the short second verse while Ben watched him. Ben could feel it,
the attraction. He told himself it was in a normal way, in the way normal
people are attracted to each other. He was a beta, he knew it in his gut, and
he knew that whoever ended up with Armie would be a very lucky alpha.
Armie finished the song and Ben clapped quietly, "Bravo, very nice."
"Thanks," Armie almost laughed, still looking down at his guitar. They fell
into a silence again and Ben was just itching to ask Armie everything all at
once.
"Hey, can I ask you a question?"
Armie sighed, like he knew what was going to come next. So Ben changed his
strategy. "Are you okay? You were out of school a whole week."
"Yeah, I'm okay."
"What happened? Did you get sick? You don't seem sick."
"You know what happened." A pang struck Ben, making him shiver which he could
only control because he clenched his jaw tight. "They're probably all talking
about it, aren't they?"
Ben nodded, his voice quieter now. "There's rumors, yeah."
"It always gets out eventually. I'm one of the youngest reported cases in the
country."
"Do you mind if I ask what happened, or when?"
Armie shivered, mirroring the feeling Ben had been holding back. He looked at
Ben, sad and questioning, asking silently if Ben could keep a secret.
===============================================================================
He'd been fourteen, barely old enough to grow a peach fuzz mustache when it
happened to him. He was a freshman in high school, he was a short and scrawny
kid waiting for Brendol to pick him up. He stood by the parking lot, squinting
in the early afternoon sun. Brendol was late, again, so all Armie could do was
wait.
All day he'd felt bad, like he had a cold but without the sniffles. His body
would go in to a cold sweat at times, boiling at others. He'd almost passed out
in P.E. and was told to sit on the bench most of the time. Now that he stood
alone on a regular autumn day in front of the school, something suddenly came
over him.
Nauseau tinged his tongue, feeling suddenly like he wanted to puke and he got
dizzy with the spins. He'd stumbled as he turned towards the school, and
something drew him to the boys locker room. He'd tripped on his way, even
though his shoes weren't untied, and had barely managed to scramble into the
building. The tile floor was cool under his finger tips when he fell to his
knees, and then he felt it. That tight, demanding itch to be filled.
He'd whimpered, instinctively crawling into the nearest corner. He'd let out a
cry, a balled fist pushing hard into his groin to stop his erection. It only
made everything worse and that was when the tears started, the first time he'd
cried since he was a child. Unwillingly he pulled his length out and had gasped
at how thick and red it was.
The coach had found him. He'd been in his office, going over some stats for the
junior varsity football team. He'd heard the moaning and crying, and gone to
investigate.
When Brendol arrived, after going to the admissions office and receiving a note
from the receptionist who'd taken a call from the coach, he'd found Armie
sobbing and sweating, gripping himself tightly as he sat curled up under a
blanket that the coach had graciously covered him with. After that, Brendol had
cradled and carried Armie to the car since he could barely even walk. That was
when the beatings stopped, when Brendol put down the bottle and treated his son
not as a child, but as an equal. The widower beta, whose wife died too soon,
had his heart melt and soften by the sobbing bundle that was his son.
===============================================================================
Ben listened on in horror, though he kept a straight face. When Armie finished
his story, Ben looked at him. Armie's eyes were free of tears, like he'd come
to terms with his early entrance into adulthood.
"I'm sorry about your mom," was the first thing Ben said. Armi looked up, eyes
trailing to Ben. He fixed Ben with a heavy gaze, judging him, and if he was
truly genuine. When he spoke, he didn't look away, a thread of trust now
between them.
"Thanks, me too. She passed when I was five, got hit by a drunk driver."
"That's awful."
"Yeah," Armie shrugged. "Most of my memories are just from photographs, so it
doesn't hurt too much. I guess I was just too young to really get it."
"And you move around a lot?"
"Mmhmm, every year or two."
"That sucks."
"I guess." Suddenly Armie opened up, as if revealing his deepest secret to
someone was a weight off his shoulders. "I mean I don't mind it anymore, now
that I've matured. I keep pretty much to myself because no one my age has gone
through it yet. They say it gets better, like in college, so I'm just kind of
waiting until then, you know?"
"Yeah, I get that."
"And there's, I mean I could get out there, there's groups that would help me
find an alpha but... I don't want someone older than me. I want someone my age,
whose gone through the same things, you know?"
"Totally."
Armie sighed, and strummed a finger over one of the strings quietly. "Thanks
for listening," he muttered.
"Of course, yeah. It seems like you've got a lot on your shoulders."
It was almost like in his own territory, where he was comfortable, he was more
open. Ben felt the want, to settle in, to feel the comfort. He ignored it.
***** Chapter 5 *****
Chapter Notes
     Oh geez this chapters gonna be super duper mushy, I hope you're ready
     for some serious fluff.
     Also a big thank you to Sheep_and_Pencils for some inspiration from
     this_lovely_piece.
Winter break was upon the school, and the students got three entire weeks off.
Armie and Brendol went out of town to a ski lodge, and Ben spent the holiday
wrapping presents and begrudgingly helping Leia bake cookies. When Armie got
back from the vacation, there were still a few days left until school started,
so he took his ice skates and went down to the nearby lake.
Meanwhile, Ben was suffering from cabin fever. He was going crazy, holed up
with his family that was in town. He just had to get out of the house because
he was crawling up the walls. So he took his ice skates and went down to the
nearby lake.
When Ben got there, he was glad to see they'd cleared a fairly large section of
the ice after the last snow storm. The local boy scout troops usually came out
to clear the snow when school got out, and he himself could remember doing just
that. On one side of the rink was a small gaggle of kids, skating around and
pushing each other. On the other side was a small figure, twirling around on
the ice all alone.
Immediately Ben recognized the figure even though he was still several hundred
feet away and even though he hadn't seen Armie in weeks. Ben trudged down the
path to the lake, and sat on a nearby bench to put on the skates.
Armie didn't even notice the dark clad figure who sat down near his small
section of ice. It wasn't until he skated backwards, body dipped with one foot
up off the ice, that he realized he wasn't alone. He slid slowly by Ben, the
figure drawing his attention. Armie rose up, startled, and both blades were
back on the ice by the time he realized who was joining him and gliding onto
the ice.
Armie spun in a circle to slow himself, then sprayed shavings across the ice as
he stopped. He stared at Ben, his eyes almost the same color as the rink they
skated on. He exhaled, breath raising in the air at the sight of Ben skating
towards him. He'd almost forgotten about Ben, about the real world outside of
his quiet life that consisted of just him and his father.
"Hey," Ben said as he approached slowly, and he watched as Armie's facial
expression dropped, giving Ben the impression Armie wasn't excited to see him.
But he'd come to be familiar with that look, and knew it meant he'd pulled
Armie from his own private thoughts, perhaps an unwelcome visitor but only
until he could bring Armie out of his shell.
Ben skated past Armie, and Armie flinched away from him, despite the fact that
there were several feet between them. Armie turned his head to watch Ben, then
slowly skated forward. With hesitation, he took a step, and swept off
cautiously after Ben.
"How'd you learn to skate? I thought you grew up on the west coast," Ben
teased.
"Every city on the west coast has an ice rink." Armie sped up, adding to his
retort with a quick single axle spin. Ben's eyes lit up, watching his graceful
landing and the way the cold tinged his cheeks and nose pink.
"Wow, you're really good!" Now Armie was ahead of him, and Ben chased after.
Armie spun around the outside edge of their side of the ice rink to let Ben
catch up.
"And you, how'd you learn to skate?" Armie asked.
"Well I grew up skating on this lake every winter."
"Oh right, I forgot you grew up here."
"Mmhmm." The cold air whistled past them, and Armie pulled his dark green
knitted cap further over his ears. They paced each other slowly, side by side.
"So how was skiing?"
"Great!" Armie's expression lifted, a twinkle coloring his eyes. "It was great.
I mean, we went out on the slopes every single day, like all day."
"Wow."
"Yeah, and my dad got me a new pair of goggles. They reduced the glare off the
snow, and they've got like UV protection and stuff, so that was really nice."
"Sounds really fun, I haven't been skiing in forever."
"You would've enjoyed it," the way Armie said it, Ben couldn't help himself.
"Well you didn't invite me."
Armie thought about it for a second, giving into the flirtation. "True," he
said definitively. They skated around the next curve, their circle more of an
oval and Armie switched around. He turned to skate backwards, and Ben slowed to
give him room. Then Armie skated right in front of Ben, face to face and Ben
was immediately flustered, Armie's scent washing over him from the air blowing
it in his face.
He didn't smell like Ben would have thought an omega would smell. Ben assumed
he would smell like bubble gum and sunshine or something ridiculous. But
instead, he smelled more still, which was becoming of his natural air. He
smelled quiet, and calm like the inside of an antique store, or a sturdy
rocking chair that refused to make a sound. Yet though there was a cold to his
scent, refreshing in the way mint was. It was like the cold of the first day of
autumn before the icy wind bit through clothes and houses. It was like
everything before a storm, but without the fear of looming clouds. It was
awakening, opening his senses to a new possessive feeling, as if the
wakefulness he smelled on Armie might be taken away. And he couldn't let that
happen.
"Want to do something fun?" Armie coaxed, and Ben's eyes cleared as he stared
at Armie.
"What?" It took him a second to register the sentence.
"Here," Armie reached over and put a hand on either one of Ben's shoulders. He
was smiling, white teeth showing behind pale lips.
"Oh- oh, okay," Ben reached out, aching to put his hands on Armie's hips but he
knew Armie didn't like to be touched. So he let his hands hover near Armie's
waist, as if bracing to catch him should he fall.
"Okay, after this next turn, you're going to lift me up."
"What?" Ben gulped.
"Come on, it's easy."
"No, I really dont-"
"Ready? We're coming in to the turn."
Ben finally put his hands on Armie's waist, and he realized just how thin Armie
really was. He was so thin Ben could have wrapped his arms around Armie's waist
twice. "I don't really know what to do."
"When I say, just pick me up."
Ben nodded, worry knitting his brow. They slid around the last turn, and Armie
gave more instructions. "Okay, now speed up."
They matched steps, Armie gliding back with his left leg while Ben glided
forward with his right. Halfway down the straight side of their oval, Armie's
grip tightened on Ben's shoulders."Okay, now!"
"What?" Ben gasped, and lifted. Armie was extremely light, his weight
surprising Ben more than anything, and he felt amazing in Ben's grip. They
glided fast, Armie smiling wider than Ben had ever seen. Ben looked up, gazing
admiringly at the ginger in his arms, watching Armie's face.
Armie looked back behind them, then let his eyes scan the landscape. Being so
much taller than normal was refreshing, and he felt surprisingly secure in
Ben's hands. He reflected that it was a nice feeling... really nice.
He looked down at Ben, who looked like he was concentrating very hard. Armie
laughed then, light and soft and genuine, the pressure of his hands light on
Ben's shoulders as they soared across the ice. Ben tried to ignore the
laughter, ignore how it touched his soul like a light in a dark room. He
inhaled deep, then tried to come to his senses.
"So how do I put you down?"
"After this next turn, just put me down."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that," Armie lifted up his hand from one of Ben's shoulders, the
urge to brush Ben on the nose incredibly strong. His smile wavered and he
thought better of it as he put his hand back on Ben's shoulder without touching
his face.
"Okay..." Ben wasn't sold on the idea. He hadn't been sold on any of this. His
hands were shaking, he just wanted to kiss Armie, like two normal people but
he'd never felt this way about anybody, ever.
They went around the next turn, their speed slowing. Ben slowly lowered Armie.
Armie braced himself, until he was just about at the same height he always was
when he looked up into Ben's eyes, and his skates found the ice. Ben held on,
and Armie began to skate backwards. When he had enough speed, he let go of
Ben's arms and spun out of their embrace and off to the side. He slowed as he
made a wide arch, still smiling.
Ben let him go, eyes following Armie as he glided away. Ben couldn't take it.
He collapsed, whether because his knees were weak or whether he'd lost his
footing was up for debate. Armie gasped, spraying more shavings over the ice as
he stopped. But he saw Ben's face as his jeans slid over the ice, a mixture of
a smile and confusion.
Armie laughed quietly, barely a chuckle as he skated over slowly. "Are you
okay?"
"Yeah, I just... lost my footing."
"You shouldn't do that."
"Do you want to go get a coffee?"
Armie tilted his head to the side, coming to a stop next to Ben. He thought
about it for a second, "Sure."
===============================================================================
Ben ordered a regular coffee with cream, while Armie got a hot cocoa with
marshmallows. They sat at a table near the window, gloves stuffed into the
pockets of the coats that were draped on the backs of their chairs.
Armie was giggling, truly laughing with Ben who giggled too as they sat across
from each other. It was one of the more pure moments they'd had, just them two
with no pressure of their peers or prying eyes. Though there were others in the
cafe, nobody seemed to take notice of them more than anyone else.
"So I read an article, um-" Ben said nervously. The coffee was good, vanilla
nut with full bodied cream.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Like a science article?"
Ben shook his head, "No, well, sort of. A medical article. Um, but, I- can I
ask you a question?"
By Ben's hesitance, Armie knew what subject this would be about. He let his
eyes fall, and nodded as he stirred his hot cocoa slowly. Armie nodded his
head, and muttered a, "sure."
"Well, this article it said... it said you, well, not you, but people like you,
have always known. Like its a feeling, you know?"
Armie nodded in response, so Ben continued.
"So, did you know?"
"Yeah," Armie looked up. It wasn't quite the question he'd been expecting, so
he was willing to indulge Ben's curiosity. He'd gotten used to prodding
questions, mostly from adults, and he was slowly becoming an expert at
defending himself and avoiding having to explain his nature. 
"What was that like? I mean I'm curious."
Armie shrugged, and sat back. "I dunno, it just- like everything made sense.
Like- I mean I always thought that I was kind of a loner because I moved around
a lot. But- then its like, it made sense.'
"You know, lots of the people I know who've had to move around a lot are angry
with their parents. But- my dad and I, well, we've always been pretty close.
Especially after I matured. So I've always kind of preferred my own company.
I've always been pretty- button up, I guess. You know, I've always been-" Armie
sighed, he wasn't sure what to say.
"Soft," Ben interjected. His eyes opened wider, realizing he'd said the word
out loud. But Armie just nodded, not seeming to notice how surprised Ben was at
his outburst.
"It just made sense. Like everything I was, everything I'd been teased for or
made fun of suddenly didn't seem so out of the ordinary."
Ben nodded, and took a sip of his coffee. "I'm a beta."
Armie looked up, eyes wide in surprise. Ben continued. "I just wanted to ask
how you knew because after I read that article, everything made sense. I mean,
I've never had a girlfriend... or boyfriend," he said quieter. Armie stared at
Ben, watching as Ben was the one who avoided looking at Armie. "I've never
really been attracted to anybody... and I feel kinda lost, you know. Like
there's these two parts of the spectrum, and I don't belong to either."
"That sounds tough to deal with."
Ben shrugged, "Maybe I'm just trying to get used to it, you know? Before you, I
didn't think about it but now I think coming to that realization is only now
just setting in, so I'm having to come to terms."
"I get that, totally."
Ben smiled slightly, looking up at Armie. He could swim in that gaze, but knew
it wasn't a gaze that belonged to him. "Thanks. I thought you would."
***** Chapter 6 *****
A fight broke out on the quad in the middle of lunch. Armie was in the library,
so he didn't hear about it until fourth period. Ben and Mitaka had been in a
full on, closed-fist's brawl. Rumors circulated that they both got expelled,
and Armie feared for his one and only friend.
In the new semester, Armie had been staying late for an eighth period so that
Brendol would be able to work later without leaving his son to wait for him all
alone outside after school. So it wasn't surprising when Armie walked out of
the school's double doors from eighth period after the bell rang. It also
happened to be the period when most sports activities took place, as well as
detention.
Armie paused on the top steps of the school, and saw Ben loitering at the
bottom of them, looking around. Armie approached slowly. He hadn't spoken to
Ben in a few weeks since their schedule changed with the new semester, so they
didn't share any classes together.
Armie walked up silently, his air naturally quiet, and he tried not to sneak up
on Ben. "Hey, Ben," he said quietly, stepping up next to him.
Ben glanced over, hands shoved in his pockets and shoulders hunched. He looked
angry, tight lipped and he glanced back away. One of his eyes was bruised.
"Hey."
"Are you- Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he muttered. He looked angry, edges of his stance frayed with something
raw. Internal turmoil was boiling over.
"Is that from the fight?" Armie motioned towards his own eye and Ben nodded.
"Yeah."
Armie pursed his lips, sucking them in a bit. "Are you waiting for someone?"
"Yeah."
Armie frowned. If Ben wasn't going to talk, Armie wasn't going to hold the
conversation. Brendol's car turned into the parking lot, and Armie took a step
forward. Ben reached out, hand grabbing Armie's upper arm for only a moment to
pull him back vaguely.
Ben shifted from foot to foot, face still the same angry expression. "Are you-
" he clenched his jaw hard. "Do you want to go to a movie this weekend? I could
use some company."
Armie's eyes saddened. "I can't, I'm sorry. My dad and I, we're going up to the
orchard up north this weekend."
Ben shrugged one shoulder. "It's fine," Ben shifted forward, as if to walk
away, but he didn't. He just remained there, Armie's aura a welcome respite.
"But maybe, um, I know its not really your thing... maybe we could... go to the
football game? Weekend after next?"
Ben raised his gaze, glancing at Armie, still looking like he was about to blow
up in a rage. But Ben nodded, "That'd be good. Yeah."
"Yeah?"
Ben nodded, his anger breaking as the corner of his lip turned up just in the
slightest. "I'd like that."
"Me too." Armie was the one lingering now. Brendol had pulled up, waiting for
his son to finish the conversation. "Well, see you."
"See ya. Oh, and have a good weekend."
Armie appreciated the gesture, and managed a weak smile. "Thanks, you too."
===============================================================================
The turnout to the game was good despite the cold temperature. It had rained
all day, but as night set in the clouds dissipated. Without the clouds to keep
in the warmth, a chill set in. People arrived at the game bundled up in coats
and scarves, including Armie and Ben.
Ben had picked Armie up, the heater on in his car. When they got to the game,
Armie let Ben lead him up the bleachers. He followed as Ben picked them a spot,
and Armie was smiling by the time the game started.
The cheerleaders shouted and went through their routines, while the football
team tried their best to win against one of their rivals. Despite the
temperature, the stands were fairly packed with dedicated parents and family
members.
Neither Armie nor Ben really liked sports, but it was obvious they were both
eager to spend time together. But before they knew it, Ben was stomping his
feet when everyone else was, and Armie was clapping.
Armie glanced at Ben, a smile on his face and Ben glanced back. He touched his
shoulder to Armie's in a faint shove, and Armie laughed. He cheered with the
crowd, the throng of people around him warm with the scent of humans.
The team went back and forth, gaining ground, then losing. A whistle was blown,
they reset at the 40 yard line, and sprinted forward again. The night wore on
and grew colder. Sometime after halftime, after being around so many bodies for
so long and so excited, something washed over Armie.
It was familiar, like a fog at first. Things slowed down, his gaze rose to look
not at the game but across the stands. His eyes glazed over, cold lips pressed
together tightening. The comfort he'd felt all night was replaced with a small
pang. Just one deep pang of pain, like a hot needle in one particular spot of
his lower abdomen.
His vision cleared and he looked at Ben, trying not to let his face look
worried. Ben was busily watching the game, watching their team slowly take the
lead so he didn't notice the change in Armie's behavior. Armie glanced down at
his watch, they still had atleast a half hour to go. He looked up nervously,
weighing his options.
He should leave, right now, that's what his instincts were telling him. But he
was with Ben for the first time in weeks, and it was a really nice feeling. He
didn't want to ruin it. So he tried to push the feeling aside. His body grew
warm, but he told himself that it was all because of the bodies around him.
But a few minutes later he got another pang, this one more pronounced than the
last. It felt like it was the size of a kiwi, circular and painful. He winced,
and balled up a fist to press against his abdomen. Then it came all at once,
another pang of pain, then one even deeper. He shuddered forward slightly, back
rigid and he put a hand on Ben's thigh, and squeezed tight.
Ben looked over, surprised by the gesture. But then he saw the pain on Armie's
face and he was immediately worried.
"Ben, I need to go."
"Are you okay?"
"I need to go, now."
"Okay, uh-" Ben didn't have time to say anything as Armie stood up. He took
Ben's hand, squeezing it tighter than he needed to. He shuffled along the
bleachers, people shifting their knees to the side to make way for them.
Armie let Ben's hand go only when they got to the stairs. Then he pressed his
hand into his abdomen harder, his other hand landing on the railing to steady
himself. He took each step one at a time, slowly, as he was unsteady and stared
down at each one. His heat had started.
He knew any alpha in the crowd would smell him. Most would be bonded, sure, but
the scent wouldn't go unnoticed. He had to flee, but there were thousands of
stairs ahead of him and the wet pitch of grass at the bottom couldn't come soon
enough.
Finally they turned around the last three steps of the stairs, Ben protectively
behind Armie. Armie got to the bottom, boots squishing on the grass and he
fell. He fell facing the bleachers, back to the stairs and hand still pressed
into his abdomen. Ben followed, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Armie what's happening? Should I call 9-1-1?"
Armie's hand was trembling as he reached into his pocket. "My dad... call my
dad."
"You should really get to a hospital."
"Please," Armie begged, holding out the phone to Ben with a shaky hand. Ben
took it, his hands shaking too. He'd never seen anyone in as much pain as
Armie, he'd never heard anyones voice crack quite like that. He was terrified
as he unlocked the phone. "Brendol," Armie whispered. "Tell him I need him to-
" Armie hissed hard, leaning forward as his eyes closed tight. "-pick me up,
please." The plead was aimed at Ben.
"Okay, okay I'm- okay here, I found his number." Ben put the phone up to his
ear as it rang.
"Hi, Mr.- uh, Brendol? This is Ben, I'm a friend of Armie's. He's um, he's
hurt, he said to call you."
Ben focused on what he was saying, trying to remain calm as he watched a
shudder wrack Armie's body in a tremor.
"The parking lot-" Armie said, his voice winded. "Tell him-"
"In the parking lot, sir. I'll- yes I'll make sure to get him there. Yeah,
okay, bye." Ben hung up and handed the phone back to Armie.
Armie's outstretched hand was weak, his fingers curved delicately in a half
closed fist. When Ben handed him back the phone, his hand sank under the weight
until his fingers closed around it. Then he gripped the phone tight and let out
a quiet moan.
"Come on, let me-"
"Help me," he whispered.
Ben was shaking with fear, but he knelt next to Armie, pulled his arm over his
shoulders while he put his other arm around Armie's waist. He couldn't smell
him this close, all senses focused on saving the poor omega who was so visibly
distressed.
They limped across the grass, feet squishing over it. The knees of Armie's
pants were wet and stained, and Armie limped with one hand curled up tight
against his stomach. He was warm against Ben, head tilted down and eyes
squeezed shut. He walked with one foot on tip toes, gait uneven as Ben
struggled to match him in step.
When they got to the cement walkway that lined the parking lot, Armie reached
out to one of the cement benches. He fell, a quiet grunt of pain as his knees
again hit the ground. He used the seat of the bench to steady himself, his hand
on it as he sat knelt on the ground.
Armie hissed an inhale, teeth clenched tight and his body curled forward. Ben
knelt next to him, and put a hand on his shoulder but Armie leaned away from
him.
"What-what can I do?"
"Protect me," Armie whispered.
Ben shuddered, something awakening in him. He nodded, hands steadying as he
stood up. He turned slightly so he could keep Armie in his gaze, but also keep
watch. And there, Armie waited, whimpering quietly every now and then, breaths
quick and shallow, while Ben stood behind him, a watchful guard.
When Brendol pulled up, he was speeding. The car slowed, and stopped with a
definitive jerk. Ben leaned down to help Armie up, sliding Armie's arm over his
shoulder. Armie whimpered, barely able to get to his feet.
Brendol ran around the car, opening the passenger side door and Ben helped him
inside. He sat Armie down, whose full erection was visible bulging from his
pants, and he was doing nothing to hide it. Ben sat Armie down, and Armie
groaned as Ben made sure to get his feet in too. Then Brendol put a hand on
Ben's shoulder, and looked him squarely in the eyes.
"Thank you for calling me, and protecting him."
Ben nodded, eyes wide. "Sure, no problem."
As Brendol let him go and walked around the car, Ben spoke up. "Is he going to
be alright?"
"Oh yes, he'll be fine."
Brendol got in the car, slammed the door shut, and reached over to buckle
Armie's seatbelt for him. Armie put the chair back all the way so he could lay
down, and then Brendol pulled away from the curb. Ben was left standing
slightly shocked, and all alone as he watched the headlights disappear. He
glanced back at the game, no longer interested. So he shoved his hands in his
pockets, and walked into the parking lot back to his car.
***** Chapter 7 *****
Ben sent a Facebook message the next morning since he didn't have Armie's cell
number. He'd stayed up late, doing research and worrying. Now he sat in front
of his computer, freshly showered and shaved.
"Hey. You ok?"
A half hour later, he got a response.
"Yeah. Thanks again for last night."
"No prob, really. Is there anything else I can do?"
"No, I'm ok."
"Can I come over, just to check on you?"
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"I can bring soup."
Ben watched those little ellipses pop up and disappear several times, and he
wondered what Armie kept deleting. Finally he got a response.
"Ok, but I'm not allowed to have people over at this time. You'll have to sneak
in through the window."
"Ok, great! What kind of soup should I bring?"
"Chicken noodle?"
"Good choice."
===============================================================================
That night, Ben parked his car in front of Armie's house. It was well after
11pm and Brendol would most likely be asleep by now. Ben carried a plastic bag
with him, stocked with six cans of chicken noddle soup, all from different
brands since he didn't know Armie's preference. He used the trashcan to hop up
onto the fence, easily reaching the roof of the garage. He walked around it to
the corner where he saw one of the windows open ajar.
He could see a dull light coming from the lamp on the desk, and could barely
make out a figure on the bed. He put his fingers between the window and the
sill and lifted. He was almost blown back by a wall of scent, but his nature
made him tumble forward, and he lost all prior grasp of who and what he was.
It was suffocating, choking him and washing over his skin, his hair, every damn
follicle. He landed on all fours, bag landing with a thud away from him. It was
like the air had been knocked out of him, entirely forgetting the purpose he'd
come here.
He inhaled deep through flared nostrils, the scent filling him with an
unfathomable need to breed. When he exhaled, it was a low growl, Hux's
fragrance growing the monster in Ben as he became a sea of lust and need.
On the bed, Armie shifted. He lay naked on his stomach, a thin bed sheet barely
covering his legs and lower abdomen. Armie rolled over, hands still under the
pillow as he propped himself up. Eyes squinted in the dull room, blinking
everything into focus.
"Ben?" he asked weakly. Then it hit him, as Ben rose up from the ground,
Armie's eyes following him. He gasped quietly, and went to sit up, to scramble
away. This was wrong, this wasn't how it was supposed to be. He began to panic,
too young to be claimed, to unskilled to be bred.
Ben crossed the room in two long strides, and ripped the sheet off the bed. It
landed on the bag of canned soup, now all but forgotten. Ben's eyes were blown
wide, pupils almost completely gone. He grabbed Armie by each ankle, and yanked
him down the bed. Armie let out a quiet squeak of protest, hands up to protect
himself.
Ben easily swatted the hands away, easily settled himself over Armie with one
knee shoved into his groin, the other on the mattress, just on the edge to keep
Armie on the bed if he tried to get away. Armie whimpered again until Ben was
sniffing him, soft, breathy noises on his neck.
Ben's breath was warm, nose barely touching Armie's skin as he went. When Ben
got close, Armie could smell him too. It was like he'd added the comforting
sunlight to his antique store, and was the dust that settled in the corners.
Like an old house, sturdy and sure.
Armie raised up his hips, letting his length drag down Ben's thigh as he
whispered, "Mark me." He could feel the draw, the sparse seconds of fear he'd
felt washed away easily.
Ben's chest grumbled in response, and he latched on to a spot he'd keep marked
forever, bruised and sore until it became a piece of Armie. Ben gnawed on it,
though he was gentle, and Armie continued to rub himself up against Ben's
thigh. He reached up a hand and brushed it through his hair, they hadn't even
kissed yet and he was swimming in devotion.
When Ben was satisfied he'd made enough of a mark to leave it and come back to
it later, he finally lifted his head. His lips were shut tight as he finally
looked down at Armie, a hard gaze, as if judging him. Finally he spoke, "I
never knew... it could be like this."
Armie whined, melting under the weight of his long, fixed stare. When Ben
kissed him, it was like two world collided. Everything fell away around them,
soft plump lips pressing open a warm mouth, tongues searching, pressing into
each other in the first kiss that was like a leash around their souls.
Finally Ben sat up. He was sticky in his shirt as he pulled it off and tossed
it across the room. Then he spread Armie's legs around him and rolled his hips.
Armie reached down to help get the button off his pants, and Ben struggled,
trying to pull them down but also trying to fuck Armie at the same time. He was
too excited, couldn't help himself so he pressed a finger up in between Armie's
legs, pushing it into his heat as if to test and see if Armie was the one he
wanted to mate with. As if he had a choice.
Armie granted him a stuttering moan, back arching off the bed. Ben had never
seen such a sight, pale skin pulled taut, length at full attention (that wasn't
his), a pale swath on white sheets just waiting for him. Like a treasure chest
of gold.
Ben pulled his finger out quickly and Armie whimpered, lowering to the bed. Ben
struggled out of his pants, finally wiggling them off. He ripped them off from
his ankles angrily, and immediately fell into Armie.
His kisses were frantic, Armie wiggling underneath Ben as he spread his legs.
Armie was all set to go, a toy hidden in the corner of his bed from playing
with himself before he'd passed out for a few hours. But now Ben was here, and
he didn't need the toy to get some semblance of comfort.
Ben positioned himself, one of Armie's legs around his waist. Armie was
whimpering quietly, egging him on with the way he rolled his hips down, trying
to meet Ben. Finally Ben pushed in, warmth greeting him with a slickness he'd
never known.
A rumble welled up from deep in his chest, and his head dipped to the faint
mark he'd worked on. Armie instantly gripped Ben tight, nails digging into his
back. When he raked them down, Ben growled louder.
"Fill me, please. Make me yours," Armie whispered. Ben exhaled, hot breath
scorching Armie's skin. When Ben latched on again, they didn't have even a
minute until Ben was digging his toes into the mattress, tearing the fitted
sheet from one corner. He pressed in as deep as he could, a feral rumbling
filling the room.
Ben fell, toppling over Armie as he kept him pinned underneath. Ben swelled up,
pumping out into Armie as his balls tightened. Something grew deep within him,
both his soul and within Armie as Ben came. He came into Armie who was so
pleasure sick he could die happy in that moment. Ben inflated, keeping Armie
perforated and stuck on to him.
For the first time in Armie's life, as he lay choking on how good it felt - the
taste, the scent, the feel of Ben all around him - he finally felt full. He was
completely satisfied as Ben marked him, physically and mentally, bonding them
in a lifelong commitment. Armie couldn't speak, couldn't get out a damn word
despite how fast Ben seemed to recover.
Even though Ben remained in Armie, his knot swollen and causing a small pang of
pain to Armie as they both waited, Ben's mind was completely sharp. He was
solely focused, lips soft against the mark on Armie's neck, not snapping and
gnawing now. Armie didn't say a word, neither did until finally Ben was able to
pull out, and they were both able to take a breath.
***** Chapter 8 *****
The world was soft in the early morning, the sun not risen yet lighting the sky
in a dull grey. Ben was softly playing with Armie's fingers, squeezing the tip
of each between his own. His sleepy omega had just woken up, slept damn near
all night but he didn't mind. He'd watched Armie sleep almost the whole time,
watched his chest rise and fall, breathed in his breath on his face. Ben smiled
when Armie awoke, but it was a sad smile, because he had to leave.
They whispered quietly as Ben got dressed. He had to go to school, make it seem
like everything was normal. He promised to come back that evening and they
shared a deep kiss before Ben left. It awoke Armie's heat again, another wave
coming. Leaving his omega who was in heat, for a whole day was one of, if
not the, hardest things he'd ever had to do in his life.
In class he couldn't focus. He played with his pencil, flicking it back and
forth between his fingers, barely taking notes. His knee twitched incessantly
up and down. He kept looking out the window, then up at the clock. Anywhere but
at his school work. It was only made worse by the fact that when school was
out, he ran to his car with excitement. But as he arrived home, he realized he
still had hours until he could slip back into Armie's room.
By the time he climbed up the fence and onto the roof, he was nearly drooling.
He had to have Armie, right now. The need was too strong, even for him. As he
got to the window, he could hear Armie quietly moaning just beyond.
Ben opened the window, and stumbled in. But this time he didn't fall. He looked
over at Armie, and paused, almost... confused.
Armie was on his knees on the bed, head on the pillow with one arm outstretched
under it. He was stroking himself desperately, and there was the end of a small
string coming out from his hole. Ben was both perplexed and mesmerized. He'd
never known how gorgeous one man's ass could be, but suddenly all he wanted to
do was slip between those perky cheeks and make pups.
Armie looked over, eyes half lidded and desperate. His mouth was open and as he
bucked forward into his hand, he moaned with sick desperation. "Ben," he
whispered. "Help me."
Ben got his shoes off immediately, stumbling around a bit as he did. "Yes,
anything." He got up onto the bed on his knees behind Armie, hands hovering,
not sure what to do.
"Pull it out, ah- slow!"
A large, metallic bead popped out, but the string still remained. Ben was
perplexed, and fascinated. He'd never actually seen anal beads in real life.
"Now th-the next one. Please hurry, but-"
"Slow," Ben cut him off. "Got it."
Slowly he pulled the next bead out, Armie moaning a bit louder. His muscle
puckered open, the silver slowly revealing itself. Ben stared, transfixed as he
watched Armie's body respond, spreading over an object the circumference of a
quarter.
With each ball, Armie pulled away, then pushed back in response. Ben was
sweating, back of his neck moist and it made his hair stringy. He stared, the
beads revealing themselves one after the other. He counted them, and when five
were out, he stopped.
He pulled off his shirt, using it to wipe the sweat from his neck. Then he took
his pants off too, and Armie swayed back towards him.
Ben got back in position, eyes finally landing on the small cache of toys
tucked away between the bed and the wall. He grabbed the lube, and gave himself
a few quick swipes though he was already hard. Then he pulled the last ball out
and caught it gently in his hand.
Armie exhaled, and his hole opened, gaping for Ben. He slipped in before it
closed and they moaned in unison. It was just as good as Ben remembered, Armie
nearly pulling him in. Ben fell forward, one hand on the bed, the other on
Armie's hip.
Armie buried his face into the pillow like he was embarrassed, Ben's breath
warm on his back even though he was a few inches away. After nearly a minute of
Armie not looking at him, Ben spoke up.
"Are you okay?" he whispered.
Armie turned his face to the side, barely enough to speak. "It feels so good,"
he was on the verge of tears. "I'd forgotten, its-" He shuddered as Ben pressed
a kiss to the back of Armie's shoulder blade. He kept his lips there, stomach
against Armie's back.
They fell into a slow, deep rut, barely any space between them as they moved.
Armie started to sigh with every thrust, Ben growling quietly when he shifted
more of his weight to one of his knees. Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Armie?" Brendol's muffled voice came through. Both men froze, eyes darting to
the door. Ben went to sit up but Armie reached back, a hand on his hips.
"Stay," he whispered. "Yeah, dad?" he said louder. Ben settled back down over
him, his instincts telling him to keep going. Armie clamped a hand over his
mouth as Ben began to move again, but he didn't stop him.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, dad- 'm fine."
"I'd like to check on you, I haven't seen you all day."
"No, dad-"
"It's just for a minute, I-" he turned the handle only to freeze with the door
halfway open.
Ben nuzzled his head into the crook of Armie's neck, hiding his face behind
Armie. He froze too, all the way in, almost teasingly and it made Armie's eyes
roll back.
Armie tried to blink his eyelids open, only managing one of them. His other
hand pressed his cock up against his stomach, hand flat over it to hide it.
Armie's face saddened, seeing the shock on Brendol's face. 
"Oh," Brendol muttered before he quickly closed the door, paused for a second,
then closed it all the way.
Armie groaned as Ben slowly resumed their pace, hand twisting around himself.
He'd deal with that later, and think about it when Ben wasn't completely
consuming him with a heady mixture of need and lust. Armie turned his head to
the side, to allow Ben access to the dark mark on his neck but it was too
awkward of an angle. After struggling for a bit, Ben growled in frustration and
gave up. So he bit a new spot instead, just because he could, sucking hard as
they mated.
Armie let out a quiet whine that grew louder, brows furrowing as he lifted his
head off the pillow. He tensed and Ben growled, "Mine," as he buried himself
deep. He came in an explosion of red and white, lips pulling back and teeth
barred, hand instinctively pressing hard on Armie's lower back, allowing him in
marginally deeper than he otherwise would have.
This time when he inflated, the knot didn't hurt Armie as much. Now he knew
what to expect, body accommodating the stretch. It took him a few seconds
longer than Ben to come, but when he did Ben was the one to cry out. He pushed
Armie forward, laying him flat on the bed, Ben gasping and sputtering. He was
blinded by a nearly simultaneous second orgasm, everything feeling painfully
tight, like a thousand pins poking him all over.
He couldn't help the cry as Armie tensed around him, nature driving him towards
his best chances of reproducing. When he was done he fell, gasping and
sputtering to his elbow, toes curled tight. Ben wanted to break away, to pull
himself out and be able to take full breaths but he stayed firmly knotted,
Armie whimpering beneath him.
Finally Ben leaned down, kissing Armie on the back of the head. He could feel
the fear, the uncertainty Armie had at the noises Ben had been making. He tried
to sooth the omega, to let him know he felt 50 shades of amazing.
Armie lifted his head to the kiss, his whines quieting down. Then Ben pressed
his sweaty forehead to the pillow, hair frizzy in parts and wet in others as he
waited. Finally he felt a shift, and let out a low growl. He put his weight on
one knee, and very slowly pulled himself out before he rolled over with an
exhausted groan, panting on his back.
After several minutes of recover, Armie finally sat up, dissheveled and
exhausted. He only wanted to crawl up into Ben's arm and nuzzle his nose up
into his scent, to feel protected and soft and dream about the nest they were
going to make.
But he had to go talk to Brendol, who he knew was waiting for him downstairs.
He sighed as Ben reached over, brushing the backs of his fingers against
Armie's back. Armie turned his head slightly to the side, "I have to go talk to
dad."
"Right now?" It was a nice question, his tone indicating that he already knew
the answer.
"Yeah."
"What are you going to say?"
Armie shrugged one bony shoulder. Ben admired the freckles on it as he did so.
"I don't know."
Everything about Armie was enticing. The way he sat, the way his lips turned
down, even the bridge of his nose and his soft finger tips. Ben never wanted to
be anywhere without him. "Do you think he'll understand?"
Armie nodded, then got up and rifled around for a pair of boxers. "I think so,
I mean... as much as he can."
Ben watched silently as Armie took his robe from behind the door and tied it
around himself. He went to Ben to give him a quick kiss, holding it for a
fraction of a second too long and it made Ben's cock give a dull twitch. Then
Armie left the warmth, and the scent of their copulation behind as he went out
into the hallway. The light was on downstairs in the dining room, and he made a
quick stop in the bathroom to fix his hair. He didn't bother with a comb, there
was no use hiding what had just happened.
Quietly he descended the stairs, and saw Brendol seated at the dining room
table. Armie was almost relieved he didn't have a glass of scotch infront of
him, because this seemed like the kind of time he'd start drinking again. Armie
took a seat, on the very edge, nervous as he looked towards Brendol for any
sign of what was on his mind.
But Brendol was silent, one hand on the table, eyes fixed on the ground. The
seconds ticked by quietly, then stretched into nearly a minute. Finally, Armie
who wasn't usually one to break the silence, spoke up.
"Dad I-" Brendol put his hand up to silence his son. Armie's mouth closed, a
deep frown on his face as Brendol looked up.
"Son," he started slow, thoughtful. "I support you, in whatever you choose to
do. If he's the one you choose, or don't, I will always be here for you. Never
forget that." It sounded stiff though, rehearsed and disingenuous. Brendol
heard the way his tone sounded because he softened his next words.
"It's late, so I don't have much to say. Maybe after this week, we can have his
parents over for dinner, if you want."
Armie smiled slowly, and nodded his head once. "Yeah, I'd like that."
It was all Brendol needed to hear to know that his son had bonded, and truly
found a mate. So he got up, kissed Armie on the head gently, then went up to
bed. Armie sat at the table until he heard his fathers door close. Then he got
up, and as quickly and quietly as he could, he ran up the stairs back to Ben's
arms.
===============================================================================
When Armie got back to school, everybody knew. They knew Ben had scented Armie,
the taste of it was almost palpable on the tongues of students as they passed.
Ben picked Armie up for school, and they walked in hand in hand. Mitaka and
Phasma didn't even turn to look at Ben as he passed, Armie shyly turning
slightly towards Ben for protection.
"They're all staring," Armie had whispered.
"So what?"
"So I'm still the new kid and they're all staring."
"Well I grew up here, so they're just going to have to deal."
At lunch they sat alone in the grass, Armie's legs folded as he picked at some
of the grass. They sat in the shade, Ben stretched out near him. Ben was
propped up with his hands behind him, legs out straight and crossed at the
ankles. Ben looked around the bright quad, watching his peers who seemed so
insignificant now.
Ben's eyes had changed slightly. They were darker now, reflecting the color of
the midnight sky. Armie's were the opposite, the exact color of daytime sky and
he turned his gaze to Ben. Ben could sense it, when Armie looked at him. He'd
never felt so relaxed, so comfortable in all his life. It's like all the small
problems he had were gone because the most important thing in his life sat
right in front of him, and Armie was perfect.
"What're you thinking?" Ben asked.
Armie shrugged and looked away. He tossed down the blades of grass. His lips
formed a shape, trying to say something, then he frowned. "What um- do you
prefer sand or egg shell?"
"What?" Ben sat up, confused. He brushed his hands together, getting some grass
and dirt off of them.
"It's... my dad, he's-" Armie paused. Then all at once he was talking fast,
nervous energy exploding in a quiet stream of words. "He's building us a house,
an apartment really, on that lot next to the house. And he wants to know what
color we want the paint but I'm not really sure so I wanted to ask you for your
opinion because I want it to be our house and- well, and if you don't want to
move in that's fine too I guess but-"
"Armie-" Armie stopped, looking up. He looked sad, and afraid. Armie searched
Ben's gaze which was warm and comforting. "Is he really building us an
apartment?"
Armie nodded stiffly. "Of course I'll move in. There's no where I'd rather be
than with you." He scooted forward and took Armie's hand. "I don't like sand,
so let's go with eggshell."
Armie smiled, and let out a small, pouting laugh. He squeezed Ben's hand tight,
heart swelling with love.
End Notes
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