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Summer was drawing to a close. August had ended, school had started, and despite the high temperature there was a certain chill in the air. Twitchcon was around the corner, and Chilled couldn't wait.
This year was finally the year, all of his friends would be there. Larry, Platy, Jeremy, Ze and Speedy in particular he found himself especially excited to see again, though he couldn't quite pin down why.
It's not like he hadn't seen them before. It was just the first time they would all be in the same place, and that thought made his heart race with excitement.
Junkyard had set up a group Air BnB, so Chilled was expecting at least some shenanigans to go on. Not to mention some in-person games. This was going to be the best Twitchcon ever!
-
This was going to be the worst Twitchcon ever.
Chilled had barely taken one step into the house before an all too familiar blush settled on his cheeks, and a strange heat started to fill his body.
In a panick, he bolted to his room and locked the door behind him. If he was lucky, no one noticed him come in and he could wait out the day in his room. Then as soon as everyone turned in for the night he would book it to the nearest pharmacy. He had been an idiot not to bring heat suppressants along, but this hadn't happened any other time he had met his friends in person. Why the hell did it happen now!?
Chilled grumbled to himself, curling up on the bed. How embarrasing. He would never live this down. It was hard enough being the ONLY Omega in his friend group. Everyone else was an Alpha or a Beta.
A whimper escaped from his throat at the thought, and Chilled slapped a hand over his mouth. This was bad. This was really bad. What if they could smell it? Smell him. The idea only managed to rile him up more, and Chilled was mentally kicking himself. He needed to think about something else, anything else. Anything other than the fact he was trapped in a house with his friends, and the fact that their scent alone sent him into heat.
He smacked the side of his head, this wasn't helping. What was he gonna do? Waiting out his friends seemed less and less possible, they were probably going to stay up late into the night. Even if they all turned in early, there was no way they wouldn't notice him holed up in his room. He'd be lucky to go one hour without one of them knocking on his door with concern.
For the first time in his life, Chilled hated how caring his friends were.
-
"Hey, you okay in there?" There was a knock on his door, and Ze's voice came from the other side. Not even half an hour had passed, and now his life was over. He'd never manage to show his face in public again. He'd have to quit streaming. Get a real job-
There was some kind of shuffling on the other side of the door, and then to Chilled's horror the door knob started to turn and the door started to happen.
"Wait!" Chilled bolted up-right, tumbling out of the bed and onto his floor as he tried to make it to the door before Ze could come in. But it was too late. The worst part of it all, was his body wouldn't even let him be mortified at the sight of Ze staring down at him with realization dawning on his face. His life was over, and here he was face beet-red and heating up scarily quickly. Maybe all the blood would rush to his head and he'd faint. Of course, God could never be that kind to him.
Chilled watched as Ze quickly closed the door behind him. At least he seemed to be taking pity on him. Crossing the room in only a few strides, Chilled couldn't help but flinch when Ze knelt in front of him.
"Whoa, it's okay. You did't bring suppressants?" Ze asked gently. Chilled could only shake his head in response, not trusting his voice to maintain his dignity. Even though Ze was a Beta, his scent was still doing something to Chilled's head.
"I could go out and get you some?" Ze offered, and Chilled thought God had finally answered his prayers. Then to his horror, he felt a word forming in his throat. Leaving his mouth against his will.
"No." Stupid Omega body, stupid Omega heat, stupid-
"Uhm, okay. Uh. Well, everyone was looking forward to seeing you. I can see why you bolted to your room so quick." Chilled winced at Ze's words.
"You guys saw that?" Chilled hated how pathetic his voice sounded as it left his mouth, The only thing that could save him now was death.
"Yeah... if it's any consolation, I don't think any of them know what's going on. Sorry, I-I shouldn't have come in. But we were all really worried." Chilled felt his heart skip a beat, and he wanted to destroy his traitorous body. He hated how little control he had. Hated it.
"You were?" God, why couldn't he shut up? Well, he knew why. He could never shut up. But he would sell his soul for the ability to just stop talking!
"Of course, man. Why wouldn't we be worried? You're our friend," Chilled whimpered again, slapping his hand over his mouth again as he watched Ze's face turn several shades redder, "a-are you sure you don't want me to go get you heat suppressants?" Ze asked again, clearing his throat with a cough. But he didn't move away, somehow he still managed to look Chilled in the eyes. Despite everything,
These were his friends. Sure it was embarrassing, but they wouldn't hold it against him. They were worried about him. He didn't want them to worry. He wanted to see them, to talk to them. As stupid as it was, he didn't want to go through this alone.
"Can-" Chilled's voice squeaked, and he took a moment to clear his throat before continuing, "can you tell them?"
"About... your heat?" Ze asked, confusion plain on his face as he tilted his head to the side. Chilled nodded, breaking eye contact and looking at the ground. After falling out of the bed, he still hadn't moved to stand. Knowing his luck, his knees would probably give out again.
"I... don't think I could tell them myself. It's too embarrassing. I-I just want to wait this out." Explained Chilled, unable to bring himself to meet Ze's gaze again.
"Wait it out... alone?" Before he even processed the words, Chilled was shaking his head. He was finding it harder and harder to care. "Okay, I'll tell them and we'll try to figure something out okay? Don't stress yourself out okay?"
"Okay. Thank you, Ze." Chilled said, locking their eyes again. He was surprised to see Ze's blush deepen, before he looked away and left the room.
-
It was a few hours later, Chilled had crawled back into the bed and managed to fall asleep. When he woke up the light coming in through the windows was dimmer, probably right around sunset. Still a little groggy from his nap, Chilled failed to notice the thing that had woken him up.
Then he looked away fom the window and saw Platy kneeling by his bedside, a gentle smile on his face and a hand outstretched. Chilled jumped, barely holding back a yelp. Platy's smile only softened.
"Hey, buddy. How are you holding up?" Platy's voice was soft, with a level of concern he rarely showed. It made Chilled'salready flushed face heat up a little bit more.
"F-fine. Uhm. What are you doing here?" Chilled's voice came out high pitchd and whiny, and he felt himself wince at the sound. Platy's smile grew wider.
"It took a little research, but we figured out a way to help you out without suppressants." Chilled's face burned with how hard he was blushing.
"Please tell me you aren't talking about-" Platy seemed to realize the 'implication' he had given, and was quick to backpedal.
"No no no, ha, no nothing like that. Although, it did take awhile to convince Larry he did not need to 'take one for the team' if you know what I mean." Platy smiled and shook his head a little.
"I can only imagine. So, what did you discover?" Chilled said, taking the bait. A small bubble of regret rising in his throat at the way Platy's smile widened, Almost manic. It was unnerving to say the least.
"You gotta come and see that for yourself, big guy. You think you can make it out to the living room, or do you need one of us to carry you?" Platy was obviously joking, but Chilled felt his face heat up. His legs still felt like jello, even without putting any weight on them.
"I think I need help." He confessed, refusing to meet Platy's eyes. Instead focusing in on a small piece of lint on the blanket near the wall. This wwhole thing was still mortifying, even if he knew his friends wouldn't judge him for it. Even though it was out of his control. It still felt so... shameful.
"No worries, I'll go get help. You want Speedy, Larry, or Jeremy?" The question was genuine, but there was still a bit of humour in Platy's voice as he asked.
"Jeremy. Please." Of all of them, Jeremy was probably the one he trusted the most. Not just to carry him, but to not make Chilled's embarrassment worse. He didn't think he could handle any of Larry's flirting, or Speedy's... everything.
Without another word, Platy left the room, and Chilled had to wonder what exactly he had gotten himself into. As far as he was aware, the only way to snap out of heat was suppressants. And getting some 'special attention' from an Alpha. His hormone addled brain briefly imagined what that would look like with his friends, and he was quick to push it away. He couldn't be thinking like that. He didn't want to think like that.
He was pulled from his thoughts by a knock at the door, Jeremy standing at the doorway and waiting for him to look over. When their eyes met, Jeremy smiled.
"Platy told me you needed some help getting to the living room, can I come in?" Jeremy was probably the only person Chilled would ever let do this for him. He didn't know why, but Jeremy was one of the more comforting presences Chilled had known in his life.
"Yeah," given permission, Jeremy stepped into the room and sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Chilled to continue, "my, uh, legs are kind of... wobbily. Can you, uh, carry me?" Maybe he would wake up tomorrow and this would all be a nightmare. Until then, all he could do was try to keep going.
"Oh! Yeah, I think I can do that. You ready to make an appearance?" That managed to get a weak chuckle from Chilled.
"Yeah. Time to face the music."
-
It was somehow less embarrassing than he had been expecting, as Jeremy carried him bridal style into the living room. What he saw there left him stunned.
The couch had been rearranged into a sort of pillow fort, covered in what looked like every blanket in the house. On the coffee table was a few pizza boxes, and a vegetable snack tray with an overwhelming amount of broccoli. The lights were dimmed, and Pirates of The Caribbean was queued up on the TV. All his friends were sat around the room, engaged in light conversation, but they all looked up at him as Jeremy carried him into the room. There was an overwhelmingly affectionate look on all of their faces.
He sat in stunned silence as Jeremy carefully set him down in the pile of blankets. On closer inspection, they had been arranged into a haphazard nest. It was the shittiest one he ahd ever seen, but the fact that his friends had put so much effort into making him comfortable brought tears to his eyes. Oh God.
"Make yourself comfortable," Ze told him, unfazed by the tears welling in Chilleds eyes. Ze had seen him more hormonal than this, but this wasprobably the first time any of the others had seen him cry. But to his surprise, they remained silent as Ze continued, "according to the article we found, if you do the stuff you usually do after sex in heat then you can convince your brain that you fucked an Alpha and your heat will pass on it's own. Apparently a lot of asexual people use this technique, since suppressants aren't safe long term." As Ze spoke, Chilled busied himself with rearranging the blankets into a better nest. If he didn't already know they weren't Omega's, he'd know now. they were shit at nesting.
As he worked, tears still welled in his eyes and occassionally spilled down his cheeks.
"And, uh, if you're okay with it, it's also recommended to... cuddle." Chilled felt his cheeks flush again, giving a small nod as he settled into the blankets. Predictably, Larry was the first one to make a move, settling in close beside Chilled in the blankets.
"Is this okay?" He murmured quietly, and Chilled nodded again. Ze settled on his other side, sitting uprigth and putting a hand on Chilled's back. Usually, any kind of touch would have sent his brain spinning but whatever this was must be working because it just felt comforting. Tears kept falling down his face as the rest of his friends settled in around him, he knew it was futile to try and wipe them away so he didn't. He didn't deserve friends like this.
Someone pressed play on the movie, and Chilled felt himself melt into the dogpile around him. Chest welling up with affection, the rest of his body fading into background noise as he looked up at the screen.