Work Text:
Chanyeol knew he’d found his mate the moment he nosily tiptoed over the garden fence to investigate the sweetest smell of candy apples that floated along the breeze.
One minute he was lazily dribbling a basketball, the next he was breathless at the sight of a boy his own age sitting under a tree, reading a book. His soft brown hair was clipped away from his eyes and when he turned the page his tongue peeped out from his lips for a short moment and made butterflies fluster deep down in Chanyeol’s tummy. The alpha didn’t realise how long he watched the boy until he closed his book after the last page with a melancholy sigh.
The boy was wearing a soft, lemon coloured knit sweater and Chanyeol instantly wanted to nuzzle his face against it. He did, many a time, because once Baekhyun felt the alpha’s eyes on him he couldn’t help but look up and match the dazzling smile Chanyeol was sending his way. He had no idea there was a leaf caught in his hair and it held the alpha by the heart in an instant.
Falling in love was inevitable. Their scents bonded so easily into one and with the mates being new neighbours, and attending the same high school, there were endless opportunities to be together. When they were together the rest of the world seamlessly vanished, even the commotion of the school bus was lost to them as they crowded one of the back seats, gazing into each other’s eyes the whole journey. When Baekhyun’s parents sent their son to maths tutoring, Chanyeol followed him there too, because the omega had a perfect way of explaining advanced equations; whatever they were.
Baekhyun had closed his eyes and smiled blissfully when Chanyeol leaned close to kiss under his ear and whisper how glad he was to have found his mate while they were so young, sheltered under a bus stop as the spring rain poured down around them.
Their families didn’t approve.
It turned out Chanyeol’s mother was heartbroken at the news, having wanted her son to marry the alpha-daughter of a close friend. His father was yet to look him in the eyes. He and Baekhyun had finally been found out – not that they were particularly hiding their relationship – and it turned out there was consequences as they were made to sit in the Byun home. Chanyeol could deal with his mother screaming at him, but when Baekhyun’s small hand slipped in his in need of comfort, the omega’s father immediately stepped forward with a raised hand and Baekhyun rebutted from the impact.
The alpha saw red and didn’t know what had happened until Baekhyun had forced Chanyeol out the house after the sickening crack of Mr Byun’s nose. Wordlessly, the mates knew they needed to run away. Chanyeol used his life savings on an old truck for them both to fill with whatever they could manage and took off driving toward the sun. They never looked back as the omega held his alpha’s hand in the front seat of the truck, the sunshine blasting them with hope from above.
After three exciting weeks of sleeping under the stars in an old tent and eating in whichever diners they came across, the mates found a small fishing town, where in return for work they would be given simple accommodation. They soon found out the simple accommodation was in fact a small, tucked away cottage with a wild garden to tame and a couple of fixes to rectify and make their own. Most of all, their new lives came with no judgement, which was all the mates could wish for.
It was exciting to be so young and yet have a home all their own, and jobs too when a friendly face at the local mart let him know there was a job going should he want one. Chanyeol settled quickly, enjoying the routine of working on the fishing boats and gleaming at the compliments he’d receive for his strength and hard work. It took Baekhyun a little longer to settle, the omega often sitting on their garden wall all afternoon to wait for his mate to return home, but eventually found his way.
Two months had flown by, in which the mates had made a real home of their cottage, even if the omega was still feeling the effects of the settling-in period.
Baekhyun was happy though, waking up every morning with a smile on his face next to the alpha was a feeling nothing else quite compared to. He enjoyed looking at every inch of Chanyeol’s sleeping face, listening to his funny little breaths and kissing his dimple. Baekhyun couldn’t imagine living without the deep smell of his alpha’s bonfire scent, especially the way their scents mingled so perfectly into one. He didn’t know how he’d made it so far without it, Baekhyun pondered, delicately brushing Chanyeol’s hair from his eyes.
In fact, he risked waking his sleeping alpha and buried his face in Chanyeol’s neck, taking a long smell of his smoky scent and wriggling his short arms and legs until the other slowly woke up and came to life, wriggling his limbs around the omega like ivy. Baekhyun squeaked a giggle when Chanyeol’s strong arms wrapped fiercely around his waist and squeezed until it tickled the omega. It was sheer bliss to be engulfed in his mates smell like this, and when Chanyeol’s soft lips kissed his cheeks, the omega swooned.
“You’re my favourite alarm clock, sweetheart,” the alpha’s sleep-filled voice whispered softly.
His mate’s voice always sounded so good in the morning. The omega merely cuddled impossibly closer at the sound and closed his eyes contentedly when his alpha’s large, warm hand slipped under his hoodie to rest against Baekhyun’s warm skin. It made him miss those days when they’d sleep under the stars in the old tent with nothing to do but be utterly immersed in each other.
“I wish we could stay like this all day...I miss you,” Baekhyun whispered, knowing that in moments Chanyeol’s actual alarm would ring and ruin their sanctuary.
It might have been a silly statement considering he was literally wrapped around the alpha, his hand combing through the thick hair at the nape of Chanyeol’s neck, but Baekhyun still felt it. A longing pull to remain close to his alpha today that sadly couldn’t be fulfilled.
“In a few more days, we can spend our whole weekend in bed and you won’t have to miss me so much, I promise,” Chanyeol mumbled with another lingering kiss to Baekhyun’s hair, since the promise made the omega giddily nestle his face close once more, “Why don’t you come have a hot shower with me, hmm? We've got plenty of time.”
Typically, the alarm clock rang out then with a shrill ringing but in an instant, the alpha leaned across with urgency and slapped it tumbling off the bedside table and onto the floor in silence before grinning at his omega.
“As I was saying, we have plenty of time,” Chanyeol chuckled.
The omega couldn’t quite contain his laughter at his mate’s antics, and only stopped in surprise when in an instant, smooth movement, the alpha was on his feet with Baekhyun in his arms. Naturally he clung closer to Chanyeol, keeping his arms wrapped around his neck like a koala, as the alpha’s large, warm hands gave a long, supportive squeeze to Baekhyun’s soft thighs. He kitten-licked Chanyeol’s lips until the alpha’s tongue hungrily met his own, the latter stumbling his way to the bathroom.
The omega wasn’t so sure why he was suddenly so infatuated with being closer than close with his alpha, maybe it was the feeling that came with finally settling into a new home, but the thoughts were soon lost to him. The two shed what little sleep clothes they had and slipped behind the shower curtain and into the hot water together, Baekhyun delighting under the touch of his lover.
💌
When Chanyeol left for work a couple of hours later, he seemed to take all his strong scent with him and it made Baekhyun feel fussy, fidgety even. A voice deep in his mind started to whisper that without the smell of his alpha near, it was like Chanyeol was never here in their home and Baekhyun’s heart squeezed so sadly. He tried to ignore it to head toward the kitchen sink – and the awaiting dishes - but the slightest smell of his lover had him jogging up the stairs.
It was so strong so suddenly that Baekhyun’s mouth watered ever so, until he saw the large, damp towel that Chanyeol had used earlier hung on the edge of the bathroom door. The omega pulled it off in an instant and inhaled Chanyeol’s scent, wondering why his tummy felt so fluttery to have it close, his hands gripping the material.
He wasn’t quite sure what or why, but Baekhyun needed the towel close to him all day, without risk of the precious scent being erased. The thought of hanging it on the line outside in the sunshine made him frown and gather the damp towel closer to his chest.
It felt strangely logical to put it close to something else that contained so much of the alpha’s scent and didn’t think twice about arranging the damp towel into their bed, where Chanyeol had been all night. The omega couldn’t help but drop himself onto his lover’s side and push his face into the alpha’s pillow, it all smelt so heavenly to him as something twisted away inside of him, a biological urge to cover himself in everything that smelt like Chanyeol until the alpha came home.
So, that’s what Baekhyun did. Guided by a warmth in his tummy and neediness overflowing himself, he started to potter around their cottage barefoot against the soft rugs they’d collected, following his nose for any faint scent of his mate. It started with the clothes piled in their hamper, telling himself it wasn’t strange to pull Chanyeol’s worn clothes from it to pile them into his bed, and even tugged his alpha’s knit jumper over his own head to wear.
It was quite nice, cosy even, cuddled up in their bed with his face squished into Chanyeol’s pillow with his lover’s scent surrounding him. He didn’t want to open the bedroom window in case the breeze blew the scent of his alpha away, and then what would he do?
Baekhyun was driving himself crazy at the thought of not being able to smell the alpha’s deep bonfire scent deep in his lungs. It wasn’t a thought he’d had ever since they both bundled into the truck that fateful day, and yet here he was, worked up .
He felt like he was satiating himself like this, the wool soft around his bare arms and shoulders, and yet it didn’t compare to Chanyeol himself. What could?! The omega could still feel every warm spot in which his mate had touched him in the shower, his waist and thighs tingling especially as if he were bundling with energy. Baekhyun puffed out a pouty breath and wished his lover would come home already and touch him all over again.
Waiting for the alpha himself to return home though felt particularly tedious as he fussed around in bed, surrounded by most of Chanyeol’s clothes, tracing his fingertips along the checked pattern of the alpha’s - many – shirts. Even just feeling the soft clothing on his sensitive skin, or wriggling his bare legs over the rough towel eased a faint rumbling inside of his stomach, so much so that Baekhyun felt his eyes flutter closed when he practically spooned the alpha’s pillow.
“It’s almost like he’s here...” Baekhyun whispered to himself as he fell asleep with a long inhale of his lover once more.
He wasn’t sure what woke him first, the cool hand pressed to his forehead or the sudden influx of that unmistakable bonfire scent, but it made his eyes open instantly. Even with his vision blurred from sleep, Baekhyun focused eagerly onto the alpha beside him like a hunter to prey. Chanyeol was sat on the edge of the bed, worry furrowed in his brow as he combed Baekhyun’s hair from his face.
“Sweetheart, you’re running hot, are you sick? What hurts-”
“Finally!” Baekhyun gasped, instantly consoled.
The alpha was cut off by the fire lit inside of Baekhyun’s stomach. The omega all but lunged like a cobra for his alpha’s large hand, pulling it closer with haste until the tip of his nose brushed against the scent glands of Chanyeol’s wrist. The smoky scent intoxicated and soothed him all at once. The omega couldn’t help the low, needy breath of sheer relief he felt when Baekhyun realised his alpha was home and kissed at his lover’s wrist.
“Closer, please, closer,” Baekhyun urged and desperately pulled Chanyeol onto the bed and on top of him, “I need you to scent this, and scent me, scent me everywhere...”
The relief was like nothing he’d felt before when the confused alpha all but flopped on top of Baekhyun, accidentally half-crushing him and the few things the omega found around the cottage into the mattress. One sighed in bliss while the other contorted in pain.
“Oh, babe, careful, ow-” Chanyeol muttered as he tried to carefully roll onto his side, wary of hurting the small omega, to prop himself up with an elbow to glance across at the collection across their bed.
Baekhyun whined and reached for the alpha, feeling a little warm and a lot needy, but could only watch as his alpha pulled back the covers and blinked in confusion. The omega felt he hadn’t collected much, just a few of his lover's shirts but blinked curiously when Chanyeol carefully pulled out one of the covers from the downstairs couch cushions, and the alpha’s left slipper.
His stomach felt a terrible unease at the sight of his hard work being poked around at and reached for the alpha’s wrists with wet eyes. He didn’t realise he’d started to breathe rapidly until the alpha blinked at him in concern.
“I needed your scent close, don’t, don’t move things!” Baekhyun squeaked needingly, pouting sadly as he quickly tucked everything back into their place, the sight of the alpha undoing everything he’d done sending him scattered.
“Oh sweetheart, I didn’t realise...” Chanyeol sighed with an apologetic smile, and upon watching the omega tuck the things back carefully, reached across to stroke Baekhyun’s soft cheek, “Have you been nesting today, I think you’re coming into your heat...you should have told me, I would have stayed here with you so you didn’t have to struggle without me...”
Half the words were lost to the omega as his eyes bore into Chanyeol’s collarbone the alpha’s shirt now revealed.
“What’s that?” Baekhyun mumbled, the omega’s hands scrambling to unbutton his alpha’s thick jacket so that he could push himself into his alpha’s warm chest.
The alpha understood what he wanted, wordlessly, and Baekhyun was so glad of it as he watched Chanyeol shed the layers of clothing one by one, bringing the omega flush against the warm skin of his bare chest. The omega moaned softly from the feeling and couldn’t stop nuzzling his cheeks against Chanyeol’s skin, as the alpha covered his omega with his thick jacket. Baekhyun felt like he’d fallen straight into heaven, the twisting in his stomach long gone now alpha was here.
Just lying quietly with Chanyeol to let his body relish in the alpha’s presence was the perfect kind of medicine.
“Did your parents ever tell you about an omega’s heats? Haven’t you had one before?” Chanyeol asked softly, combing through Baekhyun’s hair.
“They pulled me out of sex ed for extra tutoring,” Baekhyun mumbled against Chanyeol’s chest, “Only female omegas get heats so I didn’t need to know.”
“No, sweetheart, almost every omega goes through heats, especially after finding their mate...you’ve been nesting all day because you needed my scent...nesting always leads to your heat,” Chanyeol paused and bit his lip in thought, “It might bring on my rut but I can stay on my blockers to see you through...I’ll look after you, Baekhyun, don’t worry.”
“By staying close, that’s all I want, nothing else...” Baekhyun wished as his eyes fluttered closed in delight when his alpha’s large hand brushed through his hair with care.
The alpha couldn’t help but smile and press a soft kiss to Baekhyun’s warm temple.
“I won’t be going anywhere far from you for the next few days, baby, trust me...even if I am surrounded by my own dirty laundry...is that my wet towel from this morning?” Chanyeol recognised as he pulled back the covers with a small smile, “Maybe we take this out, hmm?”
“No,” Baekhyun huffed and forced Chanyeol’s arms around him once more and away from his nest, even if the alpha was only gently teasing, “ Stay .”
“Yes, sir.” Chanyeol whispered with a whipped smile and did exactly as he was told after placing a long, soft kiss on Baekhyun’s forehead, making sure their bodies were entangled together quite happily, “I’m staying here next to you all weekend, little omega.”
💌