Free Web NovelChapter 104: Chapter 104
*A/N: single Chapter because i had a road trip today, i’ll try to put out bonus Chapters in a couple hours. thanks for reading.*
Louis blinked like he was just realizing Henri’s words. "I’m not much of a social butterfly." He shrugged.
Henri knew that well because although Louis was respected by most students, he preferred to hang out with Dio, him, and the others. But he hoped that perhaps doing a bit of socializing with people outside of his circle of friends would stop him from needing to babysit all his friends all the time.
They were all the same age, Louis shouldn’t have to be the responsible one all the time. He wasn’t required to play caretaker without thinking about his own needs.
"But it couldn’t hurt to give it a try." Louis tagged on, seeming to consider the suggestion.
Henri was pleased by this, "You can tell me all about it when you’re done." He said vaguely, inadvertently giving Louis a pass to hang off his arm for the rest of the ball.
Louis would do it because he needed some sort of distraction, he supposed it wasn’t fair of him to take out his issues on Henri. He knew that the Omega would rather be left alone but he had come to him anyway.
What could he do if he wasn’t being useful to the people he cared about? Dio was... His thoughts trailed off as he tried not to look at his friend who had a quickly growing crowd of Omegas surrounding him.
He was so used to looking after Dio and having the tall Alpha flank him all the time that he didn’t know what to do with himself now that he was all alone.
It was why he had considered Henri’s suggestion. It was a little humorous but Louis had never seen himself as the popular type, he just wanted to help out, he wanted to be of use. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
Henri watched Louis think deeply for a few moments, the tawny-haired Alpha’s brows furrowed as he stood in place, looking deep in thought.
Maybe he should have just given in from the start and let Louis stay with him. His company wasn’t so bad---
"Fine, we have a deal." Louis said animatedly, giving Henri a too-bright smile before turning around to walk off.
Henri sipped his drink and watched Louis leave, getting more of that odd feeling. He glanced at Dio and found that dark-haired Alpha doing the same. He almost threw his hands up in the air in frustration, they were both hopeless.
-*-
Surprisingly, Errol left the group with Nael after Louis and Dio went after Henri, leaving Audie and Valentin behind with the girls.
"I’m going to pick up girls," Audie announced shamelessly, turning around to leave.
The girls and Valentin watched him blankly, not at all surprised by the crude contents of his announcement.
After walking away a few steps, Audie stopped in his tracks and spun around, looking like he had just remembered something. "Fuck, forgot that Dodie asked me to look after you." He muttered under his breath, heading for Valentin.
He stopped in front of his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder, an intent look in his dark eyes. "Let’s go pick up girls." He rephrased his sentence, pulling Valentin behind him before the Alpha could protest.
Fleur looked questioningly from the retreating Alphas to Dodie wondering what that was all about. Valentin looked just as lost but he didn’t struggle, going with Audie although he had no interest in picking up girls.
Dodie just slapped a hand over her forehead, ’her fucking stupid brother.’ Maybe she should just chase him down and tackle him to spare poor Valentin whatever trauma Audie was about to put him through.
"What’s wrong?" Fleur voiced her concerns. Her flaxen hair was bound up in an exquisite style and held up by dainty silver pins, light brown eyes wide.
Dodie found a smile for her, "Nothing you need to worry about, want a drink?"
-*-
Errol felt awfully self-conscious about Nael holding his hand which was odd considering that they did it all the time. They had even held hands during the Inter-school sports competition and he had thought nothing about it.
But something about them being at a ball where Alphas and Omegas should be intermingling made him hyper-aware that he was going against the norm and mingling with another Alpha instead.
Nael instantly picked up on his mood. "Are you alright? Want to sit down?" He asked with worry, they had been walking around the ballroom, just taking the sights in.
Errol stared at his feet to avoid Nael’s gaze, a red flush dousing the column of his neck. Ever so often, he remembered that he was now in a relationship with Nael, an Alpha who didn’t make him feel horrible for what he was and it felt like a spark had been lit in his middle.
"I’m fine, but sitting would be welcome." He said softly, still looking down.
Nael quickly changed their trajectory to the nearest sitting area, it was made up of alternating pairs of reclining sofas with a long table separating it. There were already a couple of students utilizing the space but there were a few empty couches still, it was one of these that Nael chose.
"Are you uncomfortable? Do you not want me holding your hand?" Nael asked without judgment.
Errol looked up now, pale blue eyes round. That was along the lines of what he was thinking but it wasn’t that he was uncomfortable, he was worried that Nael was the uncomfortable one.
"I’m not..." He trailed off, unsure of how to phrase his words without annoying Nael. It wasn’t fair for him to assume how his boyfriend felt after all.
Nael patiently waited for him to arrange his thoughts, gently guiding him to sit first on the sofa before following suit.
"I was worried that you were uncomfortable with holding my hand." Errol forced out in a rush, his voice soft.
Nael pulled him closer by his hand and held his face with his other hand. "Do I look uncomfortable?" He drawled, mischief dancing in his golden eyes.
Errol’s breath hitched, a scandalized expression on his face. "Nael! What if someone sees us?" He whispered furiously, looking around at the milling crowd with genuine fear.
Nael dropped his hand from his face but still held him close. "Sounds like a them problem, I don’t care about other people."
Errol clenched his free hand into a small fist, after being hidden by Seton throughout their relationship, it was taking some time to adjust to the fact that that wasn’t the norm.
He inched forward and gingerly placed his head on Nael’s shoulders and took in deep calming breaths. "I want to say I don’t too but I do and I fear it’ll take a while for me to get over it." He found himself saying with complete honesty.
It was easy to say how he felt around Nael because the Alpha never judged him. Errol couldn’t believe how someone could be endlessly patient. They hadn’t even kissed ever since the night they got into a relationship and Nael hadn’t brought it up even once.
Errol kept waiting for him to take a kiss but his boyfriend kept his hands to himself. He was well aware that Nael was waiting for his to ask and it wasn’t that Errol didn’t want to but that he didn’t know how to.
He hated comparing what he had now to the trauma he lived through with Seton but it was the only experience he had, The night Seton had asked him to be his boyfriend was... he choked on memories, feeling like he was drowning.
"Take all the time you need." Nael’s warm voice pulled him out of the murky depths of his memories. "So just holding hands then?" He asked with a lilting smile, putting some distance between them.
Errol forced himself to live in the present. "Yeah." He muttered absently.
"Do you want something to drink? I’ll get it for you." Nael offered. He would have preferred to take Errol with him but he could tell that his boyfriend was tense, another trip through the ballroom could worsen that.
"Thank you." Errol smiled, reluctantly letting go of Nael’s hand as the Alpha stood up to leave.
"I’ll be right back," Nael said and quickly strode off, keeping true to his words.
Errol leaned back against the backrest of the sofa with a big sigh, closing his eyes. He kept panicking that he would ruin his new relationship or that Nael wouldn’t want him anymore.
His relationship was just a week old but he was so worried that it would all fall apart. The worry was consuming him slowly, so much so that it bordered on paranoia.
He feared that his concerns were visible and that would make Nael get sick of him and just leave, it worsened his paranoia but he couldn’t stop. It was an awful, awful cycle.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" A sickeningly familiar voice intruded on his thoughts, making his eyes flick open.
Errol instinctively inched backward but there was little space to escape to, he was already beside the wall. The newcomer was seated where Nael was supposed to be, a way too happy grin on his face.
