"Um, you didn't have to walk me back." I whispered, clutching my book bag to my chest and shyly looking down at the pavement.
Liam let out a chuckle, lifting the heavy book bag from my grasp and slinging one of the straps over his broad shoulder. I was about to protest and grab it back but he opened his mouth speak, "You really think we're going to let you out of our site again, my angel? That's cute."
I blushed a deep red, hugging my arms around my body as we continued walking in the direction of our dorm building. I couldn't tell if they realized yet that I was leading them to their dorm building as well. It's only a matter of minutes until they realize we live in the same building. Even the same floor.
"I won't run again, I promise." I muttered, thoroughly embarrassed about my past actions that have now come back to pester me. I don't think them or Professor Horan are going to let go of the fact that I tried hiding from them. Granted, it was pure stupidity because I knew that I couldn't play hide and seek with them forever. It was my own cowardliness that has returned to bite me in the bum.
"Hmm, we believe you pumpkin." Louis hummed with a smirk, prying one of my hands off my waist and capturing it in his own. My face heated up once again as I looked down at our swinging hands. My eyes trailed up to meet his and all I saw was a cocky smirk. "We're just making sure you're safe."
I nodded slightly even though I didn't really understand. They must've known that this wasn't my first time walking back to my dorm on my own. I didn't say anything, however, in fear of their reactions.
I don't think I have anything to be afraid of though because so far they've been nothing but gentlemen. Maybe a bit possessive but nothing too over the top yet. Key word is yet. They've done nothing so far that justifies all the stories people spew about them. The thought makes me frown. Now that I know positively that they're my mates, I don't appreciate all the rude comments I've heard. I know my change of view on them has been constantly conflicting, but my heart and my mind don't seem to agree. My heart is racing at the sight of my mates and my mind is yelling at me to runaway and never look back. It seems my mind doesn't really have a choice on the matter now.
"A penny for your thoughts, baby?" Niall chuckled huskily from beside Louis. I had to lean forward to see past Louis to Niall and when I did, I quickly looked away timidly, once again blushing.
I brought my unoccupied hand to my face, pressing my cold fingertips to the heated skin of my cheek. I don't know why I was doing it. I guess I wanted someway to cover the permanent blush that wouldn't remove itself from my face no matter how much I willed it. If I had to take a guess, I think the root of the redness is coming from all the nicknames they keep calling me. I noticed that they enjoy these terms of endearment instead of my actual name so I'm trying to get used to it. It's become clear that they aren't going to stop so my cheeks better get used to looking like a radish. And...maybe I find just a little enjoyment in being referred to by these various pet names. Just a little.
"You sure do blush a lot, my angel." Liam chuckled in amusement, grasping the hand on my face and enclosing one of his hands around it. "Like a little cherry." He added, swinging our hands a bit more carelessly.
"Mm, a delicious little cherry." Zany agreed from his position on the other side of Liam, a teasing grin spreading across his features as he licked his lips.
I didn't respond to his comment, forcing my eyes to stay rooted to the ground so they couldn't see the flush on my face. I listened to their chuckles fill the quiet courtyard, wondering why no one is ever around in the dorm areas. It's only 8pm. Classes go on till late for some students but I assume most must be out and about fetching dinner or something. But why can't I spot anyone? It's like whenever "The Tops" are around everyone else scatters, like they can sense their powerful presence.
"Harry, what number is your dorm building?" Niall asks in confusion, making me snap my head up to look at him and then glance around the area to see where we are.
I swallow, seeing my dorm building directly to our left. Stopping my steps, it forces the rest of them to halt in their movements as well. "Um this one." I motion with my head to the building, looking down at the pavement once again.
As soon as the words left my lips, the hands that were previously holding mine dropped. They all crowded around me, all of their eyes wide in shock and their teeth grinding in...anger?
"What!?" Niall snapped, the others growling along with him. "You're in our building?!" He raised his voice, his baby blue eyes flashing a scary red before returning to their regular blue like it never happened.
"I g-guess s-so..." I murmured, looking down at my feet and scuffing one of my converses against the pavement in nervousness.
"You better be looking at me when I'm talking to you. We went over this." He reminded sternly, walking right up to me until I could feel his rapid breathing fanning my face. I stiffened at his closeness, peeking up at him through my lashes.
"S-Sorry, I forgot." I hugged my arms around myself, looking at all of them before settling my eyes back on Niall. I opted for staring at the place in between his eyebrows because I knew I would buckle if I saw the true intensity in his eyes.
"Niall, let him breathe, yeah?" Louis took hold of Niall's shoulder, gently pulling him away from me before replacing his spot. I felt his cold hands on either side of my cheeks, turning my head towards him until he made sure my eyes were only focused on his. "Did you know we were in this building as well, Harry?"
I slightly flinched at the use of my name, not used to them using it since all they've been referring to me with is cute couple nicknames. I nodded timidly in response to his question, breathing out a trembling, "S-Sorry..."
Louis sucked in a large breath, closing his eyes briefly before he looked at me with a disappointed gaze. I flushed under it, feeling myself break a little at his stare. I didn't want to disappoint them this early. I'm a terrible Omega, that's for sure. I couldn't even keep my Alpha's happy for less than twenty-four hours.
"A-Are you mad at me?" I couldn't help but ask, biting my lip to stop it from wobbling.
"No." He finally stated, causing my breath to hitch in relief. "We're more disappointed in ourselves for not realizing it. The signs were all there. I mean, we even saw you on that elevator with...him." He hissed through clenched teeth, his hands unintentionally squeezing my cheeks harder making me whimper. He immediately released me, kissing both my cheeks where he had griped. And yes, I blushed.
"His name is Greyson." I murmured softly, picking at the material of Zayn's sweater because he insisted that I wear something of his to get rid of Grey's smell.
"The guy who kept you from us?" Liam piped in with a clipped tone, one eyebrow raised at the mention of the man-sounding name.
Damn it, Harry. Never know when to keep your mouth shut do you?
"U-Um yeah, the guy I was in the elevator with. His name is Greyson." I explained briefly, wanting so desperately to look down at the ground but knowing how persistent they were about that, I looked them in the eye.
"Greyson, huh?" Zayn scratched under his chin, seeming to think about the situation. Even though he was doing a good job of concealing it, I could see the jealousy and rage pooling in his hazel eyes.
"Yeah, he's a friend...with a mate!" I blurted out, wanting to assure them that he and I don't have a deep relationship history. "A very loving mate, one I've met before. He's really nice, and funny, and smart, and -" I didn't even realize I was rambling until Louis placed a hand over my mouth to silence me.
"Alright, we believe you. We're not too keen on knowing about someone else's Omega. We care about ours and no one else's." He clarified, looking at me expectantly for a motion of my understanding. I nodded rapidly, shying away from his hand until he dropped it.
"Okay, let's go into our building." Niall reached for my hand, making me flinch a little as I remembered his outburst. A look of pain flashed across his eyes before he turned to my other Alphas. "Head inside and give us a minute, yeah?" The other boys gave him a pointed look that made him huff and roll his eyes, "Please?" He tried instead.
Liam's eyes flickered towards mine before he nodded along with the rest of them, "Fine, but we're waiting in the lobby. Harry's got class tomorrow. He needs to get in bed." He instructed sternly.
I frowned, "I don't have a bedtime."
"Yeah? Well now you do. 11 o'clock on a school night. Sleep is the most important thing a beautifully intelligent Omega like yourself, needs." He explained, but it was clear there was no room to protest against his ruling.
"But it's only like 8." I informed, jutting out my bottom lip as I looked at him.
"Yes, but we want you to come to our room so we can talk out a few more rules and get to know each other a bit more. Also, we'll be ordering dinner because we know you didn't have any."
I nodded, my heart rate picking up as he said I would be coming to their dorm room. I couldn't deny that because I wanted to be able to get to know them more too. However, the bedtime rule? That I want to push on more. "Can't we boost it up to 12 at least? I'm not even tired by 11." I tried, pouting slightly because I wasn't too happy about the concept of a bedtime.
"11." He stated with finality. "Maybe 11:30 if you've been a good boy." He smirked, turning around and walking into the building with the other boys behind him.
I gaped slightly, not really knowing how to react to what he said. I still think I'm gonna try and push them on the bedtime, but hearing the second part of his sentence got me too flustered to try and fight at the moment.
"Darling," Niall's voice broke me from my gaze at the glass dorm-building door where I could see Zayn, Liam and Louis waiting. I turned my head towards him when I felt the gentle touch of the back of his knuckles grazing my cheekbone. "I never meant to scare you, baby. I would never ever hurt you. Like Louis said, I was angrier at the fact that I hadn't noticed you in our building sooner. You're our Omega after all. I should know where you are so I always can find you if you're in danger or just need someone to cuddle with. It's our duty as your Alphas to make sure you're always happy and safe. I'm deeply sorry for bursting out at you like that. But know now and know forever that none of us will ever cause you any harm. Do you understand, Harry?" His voice turned serious near the end, his eyes focused solely on me, like I was the only thing that mattered. I've never felt like that before.
"Y-Yes." I whispered, mesmerized by his previous words. "You want to keep me safe and happy." I recited, blushing when I saw the satisfying smile creep up onto his face.
"That's right, baby." A much calmer and smug look settled on his face, notifying me that we were okay now. "It won't happen again anyways."
"Why?" I asked in confusion. It wasn't that I was planning on running away again but I was curious as to why he thinks he can smell me so easily now.
"Because before, we didn't know you were our Omega so your scent wasn't as strong because we weren't specially searching for it. Now that we know your scent, we'll have it memorized. It will be your scent and your scent only that will cloud our wolf smell at all times." He grinned evilly when he noticed my wide-eyed expression. "That's right, there's no escaping now, baby."
-----
The first thing that happened when we got into the elevator was me hesitantly pressing the 8th floor button and them all tensing. I could tell they were holding in their enraged words about the fact that I'm on the same floor as them. I tried not to notice it though and just bit my lip instead.
As we stood in silence, I realized something that I noticed awhile ago but couldn't find the right time to ask.
I remembered when they called me Harry instead of a cute nickname. It occurred to me that I never actually told them my name. How in the world did they know it?
"Um," I cleared my throat, the sound bouncing off the walls of the elevator because of the silence. "H-How did you guys know my name?"
They all chuckled slightly, but Zayn was the first respond, "Niall's father is the director of the school, precious. All we had to do was look through the freshmen's profiles until we spotted your beautiful face among the others. The one thing, however, that we failed to notice on your profile was you dorm building number."
My face heated at that. I can't believe they went through every single freshmen profile just to find mine. It brought me back to when Rhys had said that I was lucky to be their Omega because of how dedicated they were. I'm starting to realize how true his words were.
Once the elevator dinged signaling our stop and the doors slip open, Liam - who was closest to the door - held his hand against the frame where the panels come out to make sure they don't close on us. He smiled and waved a hand, silently telling me to get out first.
"Thank you." I whispered shyly, walking out with the other boys soon following behind me. I stopped when I realized I didn't even know where we were going. I turned around to face them, "Um, are we going to my room or yours?"
"Let's go to yours first so you can change into something more comfortable then jeans. Keep my sweater on though." Zayn took it upon himself to instruct.
I nodded, blushing at his last sentence. I spun around once again and took the necessary twists and turns to get to my dorm room. Taking my backpack that still rested on one of Liam's shoulders, I unzipped the smallest packet to find my dorm key. Finding it easily since it was the only thing in that pocket, I slid it into the lock and twisted it until I heard the click.
Before I could even push it open, it was yanked open by a wide-eyed looking Rhys, "Oh my god, Harry! Grey and me were so worried! You left class and never came back! What happ -" He stopped when he finally registered the four man's of muscles behind me. His eyes widened impossibly larger as he gaped like a fish, "Oh."
"Rhys, babe, what's going on?" Greyson stepped behind Rhys with a concerned look until his eyes fell on my Alphas. I felt them all stiffen at the sight of Greyson.
"You." Niall hissed. "The little bitch that wouldn't tell us where our Omega was." I nudged Niall, frowning at him as a sign that I didn't like the tone he was using with my friend.
"I was protecting your Omega." Greyson growled back but I could tell in his eyes that he was a little intimidated by the Tops. Who wasn't honestly?
"We are more than capable of taking care of our Omega. In fact, I'm not even sure if being around the two of you is in his best interests." Zayn grunted make me turn to him with wide eyes. Even Greyson and Rhys were standing dumbfounded at his words.
"No! You can't do that!" I shrieked, grabbing the collar of his shirt desperately. "Please they're my only friends here."
"I'll have you know precious I can do what I want." He gritted narrowing his eyes on me making me shrink slightly. "Now if you let me finish you would have understood that I wasn't telling you you couldn't see them anymore, I was just advising they might not be best for you."
"But they are." I insisted, staring at him pleadingly. "And you can't keep me away from them. Greyson is my room mate." I knew my mistake as soon as I said the words. Why, Harry? Why? Why can't you stop when you should?
All of sudden, it felt like all I could see was red. They're eyes flashed dangerously as they crowded me. "Your room mate?!" They shouted in unison. I jumped so high off the floor at their tone and I swear the building shook. I even had to cover my hyper Omega sensitive ears. If I could look at Rhys, I'm sure he'd be doing the same. A few Alphas even walked out of their rooms.
"No! No I refuse this. You are absolutely not staying in a dorm room with another Alpha!" Liam boomed, grabbing one of my arms and pulling me to him in a swift movement. "You will be staying with us from now on."
"You can't just - " Greyson started but got cut off by four menacing growls.
"I-It is t-too soon..." I piped in, whimpering at the fierce grip on my arm. "I'm not ready y-yet."
It looked they were internally debating it over, looking back and forth between each other. I held my breath as I watched them think. "Fine, " Liam sighed with reluctance, "But you will be staying with us until we can get you into an Omega only building." Liam stated, moving his hand from my arm to my hand and intertwining our fingers.
I breathed a sigh of relief of their understanding and let him escort me to their dorm room. I turned my head to see Rhys and Greyson still standing at the door with concerned faces.
I sent them a small smile and a thumbs up with my free hand to assure them I'll be fine.
I hope.
Well, I guess I'm keeping my jeans on.
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A/N:
HOLA AMIGOSSSS! An update is finally here after the NUMEROUS comments demanding an update. I hope it was worth the wait...let me know what you think?
The boys are starting to show their possessive side...yummmm
Well VOTE AND COMMENT PLEASSEEE!! Let's try to reach 360 votes? We almost reached 400 last chapter OMG
Anyways,
Love you lots!
-Avery :)