Chapter Text
In hindsight, Jean is aware of the way of the world. He knows that there is a certain amount of the population that are alphas, a certain amount of the population that are omegas, and then the rest of them are betas. He knows that it is a lot more common to be a beta than to be an alpha or an omega. And he knows that he is a beta. He knows because he was told so by his mother and then he was told again by the Master. He knows because he was reminded ceaselessly by Riko that he was biologically useless because he couldn’t even smell alphas and omegas. Riko didn’t want an omega on his perfect court but even an omega would be better than a beta, he was sure to make sure that Jean knew that was how he felt. Kevin gave him sympathetic looks every time that Riko or another one of the Ravens made a biting comment about it. The majority of the Ravens were betas because it was more sustainable that way. First string were alphas, and the rest were betas, and there was a doctor who would come in once a week to administer patches to ensure that none of the Ravens were experiencing regularly scheduled ruts, because that would put training at risk. Not to mention that having so many alphas in one enclosed space all going into rut was one of the worst case scenarios. They would tear each other apart.
Sometimes Jean was happy for his nature in the way that you’re happy for sunshine. It can annoying at certain times, when the weather is too warm, or when the sun burns you. But you still hope the sun comes out everyday because if the sun comes out then the world keeps turning. It was inconvenient to be the only beta on the starting line, to be harassed at every turn for it, but it was a blessing in disguise. He never had to see the doctor to get blockers, he never had to deal with the scent of a bunch of alphas in one room posturing, he was immune from all of the ways that biology was putting others at a disadvantage. He didn’t feel the overly competitiveness that everyone else did and he could focus on his game with a clear mind. Something that not even Riko and Kevin got all of the time, because they were tied to their natures as well.
And Jean didn’t think that anything would change when he was out of the nest. Not on that front, at least. Everything in his life was in a tailspin, he had no control over almost any of it, and that was hard to choke down. The fact that his autonomy had been taken from him in several ways. He was not only incapacitated because of Riko, unable to move or get out of bed, but he had Kevin making decisions for him when it was not his place to. Kevin was sitting on the edge of his bed with a contract in his hand to USC and Jean was staring at him like he was crazy because he gets to make this choice for himself. If he is supposed to be as free as Kevin proclaims that he is, Jean should be allowed to make his own choices on where his life goes from here. But nothing in his life was stable. He should be allowed to quit exy, but Nathaniel had gone and cut a deal for his life that hinged on Jean being able to play in the pros. Neil, not Nathaniel, Jean had to remind himself of that. Calling him anything other than Nathaniel in the nest would get him smacked, so the name rolled off his tongue without thought because even when he was not there, Nathaniel was in every conversation.
Andrew Minyard stood in the corner, watching as Kevin waved this contract in Jean’s face and tried to tell him how this was the best place for him. He could have a fresh start at USC. He would be around people who would be able to support him through this difficult time, he would be able to go on all manners of self exploratory adventures, Kevin was making it sound like SoCal was heaven on earth for someone like Jean. And Andrew was standing in the corner with his arms crossed, saying nothing. Jean met his eyes, stared into them for a long moment, as if he could telepathically communicate to Andrew that he wanted Kevin to leave and he wanted Andrew to take him. In moments like this, where he had no control over his life, he was glad he had control over his mind and his biology. Andrew’s nostrils flared a little as he sniffed the air, eyes narrowing, and that was how Jean knew that Kevin was doing that thing where he released his scent while he was trying to make a point, trying to make Jean agree with him, and being unable to control himself and he grew frustrated with Jean’s lack of cooperation. Jean was glad that he could not smell it.
“Kevin,” Andrew said at long last, cutting through Kevin’s thoughts and making Kevin look at him. “Stop that,”
“Stop what?”
“Scenting the room,” Andrew answered, crossing the room in wide strides and then taking the contract from Kein’s hands. “Moreau, do you want to sign this? Do you want to go to California?”
“No,” Jean said. Relief was a sick thing in his gut as he felt like someone was finally listening to him. “I would rather hang myself than try to play nice with them,”
“That is a bit dramatic, don’t you think?” Kevin asked but then Andrew snapped his fingers and Kevin shut his mouth again.
“You want to stay here?” Andrew asked, a simple question but a loaded one. Do you want to stay here, with Kevin and with Neil? Do you want to take on the reputation of a Fox? Do you want to deal with all of the bullshit that comes with being part of this team? Do you want to be in the same conference as the Ravens? Forced to play against them at least once on the court? But Jean had thought about this, about where he would go, about where he could make himself stay. If he wasn’t allowed to go back to the nest, and he was not because it was far too late for that, he never should have left, then he would rather stay where his partner is.
The answer was easy. Jean would go where Neil was rather than running to somewhere entirely new. “Yes,” Jean nodded. “I would like to stay and become a Fox,”
“Then it’s settled,” Andrew said before Kevin could even open his mouth to protest. “We’ll leave now and tell coach the great news. Say bye, Kevin,” Andrew said and Kevin had a look on his face that he was about to argue but whatever Andrew did made Kevin give up on his argument and if Jean had to guess, Andrew was releasing his own scent. That was how Riko subdued anyone who crossed him in the nest, especially Kevin. Drowning him out, making him feel less than, making him feel subservient. If Jean was a better person, he would be indignant on Kevin’s behalf that this same technique continued to be used on him. But Jean never said he was a good person and he would never pretend like he could be sorry for Kevin. Not when he was getting what he wanted for what could have been the first time in his life.
“Bye,” Kevin muttered, stomping his feet as he walked out the room. Andrew gave him one last look, searching, but then he was leaving the room as well and Jean didn’t know how he was supposed to feel about that look in Andrew’s eyes.
There was solace until that evening, when Abby was supposed to bring him dinner but instead it was Andrew walking through that door, tray in hand. He had the very same bored expression on his face as he did earlier before with a little glint of something in his eye that Jean didn’t understand. Andrew set the tray down on the little wooden table that propped over Jean’s legs and then pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down in it. Andrew stared at him, assessing and uncomfortable, but Jean let him do it. He knew better than to try and tell Andrew MInyard not to do something, especially when he was the one who was supporting Jean’s decision to stay. Finally, Andrew opened his mouth. “I have rules,” he said and Jean put a spoonful of soup into his mouth, moving slowly as not to aggravate his wounds. Andrew watched him, Jean kept eye contact the entire time.
“Rules?” Jean said more than asked, prompting Andrew to continue.
“Riko is going to come for you. That is a fact, you know it, I know it. He doesn’t care about the bullshit deal that Neil made for the lives of you three, he will be coming, and he will try to take anyway. Little shit might lose his life in the process too,”
“I know it will happen,” Jean said and took a breath, because this was not something that he wanted to talk about but he knew it was a subject that demanded to be discussed.
“And when it does,” Andrew continued. “I will stand between him and you. But if you want me to do it, then you have to follow my rules. I don’t do this for free, this is not pity, this is not charity,”
“Then what is it?” Jean asked. “Why are you doing this for me, if not because you pity what I have become?”
“Because Neil asked me to,” Andrew said, a truth that flowed from him easily and yes, Jean supposed that made sense. He never did quite understand why Neil had Andrew wrapped around his finger but the truth is that he did. “But, Neil only asked me to give you a chance because he knows that he can’t force anything more than that. I am giving you a chance, you will follow my rules and do what I say, and I will decide if I want to keep you or not.
“Tell me the rules,” Jean said, continuing to get soup in his mouth, a little bit too hot but the pain was nothing to him.
“You stick with me. I can’t watch over something I can’t see. You will tell me the truth, the whole truth, when I ask for it. I am not asking you invasive questions because I want to know all of your deepest and darkest secrets. I am asking because I need to know in order to best protect you,” Andrew said and then he paused. Jean watched as he worked through something in his mind. “I need to know if you’re going to run away,” Andrew said.
“What?”
“When your leg heals, when you are able to get away from here, are you going to try and run? Are you going to try and go back to Evermore? Are you going to run somewhere else? I need to know if you’re going to try and run the second that you can,”
“No,” Jean said and clenched his fists in the sheet. “There is nowhere for me anymore. I can no longer return to Evermore,”
“Good,” Andrew said and stood. “I normally take the people I’m testing out but given that Abby would never let me smuggle you out, thats not a possibility. Not to mention that Neil looks like he went seven rounds with King Kong and King Kong won. So, I’m going to bring the party here,”
“Is it mandatory? The party?” Jean asked.
“Yeah,” Andrew nodded. To others, maybe his expression had no changed, but the eyes were the truth. There was something amused in his eyes and Jean rolled his own before bringing the straw in his juice to his lips and sipping. “Just one more question, though. Kevin tells me you’re a beta,”
“Kevin tells correct,” Jean said.
“Never had a rut?”
“No, I am a beta,”
“Right. That’s all, then. Just had to see how you would fit in,” Andrew said, moving to the door. “Aaron is the only alpha, but he won’t bother you,”
“Kevin is an alpha,” Jean mentioned. Andrew barked a dry laugh.
“Kevin is an omega,” Andrew answered, looking over his shoulder. “Quite an interesting thing for him to find out a few months after he got here. Blockers, shots to mask his scent, an experimental drug to induce faux ruts. I was in awe of how far that bastard Tetsuji would go to hide Kevin’s true nature, didn’t even tell him the truth or Riko for that matter. The only people who know are on this team. He claims that he will need to win championships before he can tell the world because he has to prove himself before telling everyone that he’s an omega,”
Jean did not want to believe that it was something that the master would do, that somehow Riko did not know, but Jean knew he would only be deluding himself if he tried to say that it was not true. Andrew had no reason to lie. “Riko was convinced that Neil was an alpha as well,” Jean commented. “It is another reason why he was so intent on getting Neil on his court,”
“Neil presented as an omega,” Andrew said and then turned fully so he was looking at Jean with intention. “Now that was interesting presentation. Spent his entire life thinking he was a beta. No blockers, no shots, his mother never did anything to him to hide his nature. He just didn’t present until he was nineteen,” Andrew hummed. “They say trauma can do that. Rare, but it happens. Your body knows you’re not in a safe environment, some people go decades thinking they’re betas and then one day, they present. Fascinating thing, really. Anyway, I have to go now. Kevin is throwing a tantrum about keeping you, still, because he thinks that you need a completely fresh start,”
“I do not care what that petulant child believes,” Jean huffed, rolling his eyes. He thought there was something akin to amusement on Andrew’s face and then he was out the door, leaving Jean with his thoughts. Those comments felt pointed, about how a persons body might hide their nature of it’s own accord if they are not in a safe place, as if he was attempting to tell Jean that it was possible that happened to him. But Jean had only been in the nest since he was fourteen, he had been in France beforehand, under no great amount of stress. At least, he would not define it as stress. His life, he supposed, could have been considered stressful but only because he lived by a lot of rules. He still would have presented when he was a child, regardless, and he had not, which meant that he was not one of those people who went decades believing that they were a beta without having presented.
“Andrew has a lot of conspiracy theories,” Neil said once he had come to visit Jean. He was sitting on the bed, his back against the footbard and his feet up at Jean’s side. Jean was properly annoyed by how casual he was, about how he heard that Jean was staying and decided not to beat around the bush. He came after his classes ended and he had just decided to stay. Jean couldn’t get Andrew’s words out of his head. Neil did in fact look like he had gone several rounds with a monster, perhaps that was precisely what happened. “He thought I was a mole when I first got here, he was convinced of it,”
“I am more than sure he had reason to believe so. You are a shifty creature,” Jean responded, staring at where his number had been burned off of his face. It sent a sick feeling to Jean’s stomach, it made him want to puke, because of how horrible it was that their bond could be severed in such a way.
“Probably,” Neil nodded. “So, don’t worry so much about it. You told him what you know and if you find out something different, everyone will be finding out at the same time. I assure you, you cannot fake the kind of sickness that comes with experiencing years worth of pent up heats in a matter of weeks,”
Jean grimaced as he imagined it. “Was it very painful for you?”
“Oh, it was miserable,” Neil nodded. “It was right after Andrew got back from Easthaven too, because I was finally home and he was home and everyone was safe. I was relieved for all of one day and then I collapsed on the court, and no one could really do anything because it’s not like I was mated,”
“Andrew,” Jean pointed out.
“Sure, I would have told him it was fine beforehand if I knew what was going to happen but I wasn’t in my right mind when I was going through heat so even if I told him then, he wouldn’t have done anything. It wouldn’t have been right. Besides the fact that all Andrew would have been able to give me was comfort,” Neil said and Jean furrowed his brows.
“Is Andrew not an alpha?”
“No,” Neil said and then pursed his lips. “Enough about that though. The point is that Andrew will know for a fact that you are not lying, if you do present. If you don’t, then you aren’t lying, you are a beta,”
“I don’t understand why Riko was convinced you were an alpha if you had never presented and even when you did, you presented as an omega. You presented less than a week after you left us, it seems,”
“Andrew’s got his theories,” Neil nodded. “The leading one is that Riko didn’t actually know the difference visually between alpha scent glands and omega scent glands because Kevin is his only reference and Kevin is an omega. But Riko doesn’t know that yet, Kevin has kept up that secret,”
Jean supposed that made sense. They devolved into conversation about the upcoming games, because this was one area of topic that Neil could talk and talk and Jean could listen and understand. Partly, because when Neil spoke too fast, he had a hard time following. Which Neil noticed and switched to French, a kindness that admittedly warmed Jean’s heart.
It took a little bit of time but when Jean was able to move around with some relative ease, Abby allowed for Andrew and Neil to come and take him. They only drove the stadium, where Wymack was waiting for him. There was the sound of balls hitting walls and Jean could guess that either practice was happening or at least Kevin was practicing. Neil led Jean to Wymack’s office, where there was a contract sitting on the desk, and Wymack pushed it towards him. “Coach Tetsuji?” Jean asked, voice small as he stared down at the contract, this one he had asked for.
“Don’t worry about him, he’s agreed that releasing you from your contract is much better than having to deal with backlash of us releasing a list of injuries sustained by you, by Neil during his time at Evermore, and by Kevin retroactively,”
“Kevin would never,” Jean muttered.
“No, but all Tetsuji needs to think is that he might,” Neil commented and then picked up the contract, looking over it.
“Right,” Wymack nodded. “We’ve agreed to put out a joint statement. All you have to do is sign on the dotted lines,” Wymack said and handed over a pen. Jean picked it up and stared down at the contract. Neil tapped his fingers over where Jean needed to sign and Jean took a breath, signing his name as best as he could when his grip was not entirely there. Besides the fact that he had not mastered his signature. Wymack then took the contract away, once Jean had finished signing and initialing, and set it on top of some files for him to scan and then submit. “Now then, this contract will begin in the summer, so you will have to finish your finals with Edgar Allen and then your transcript will be transferred over here. The only thing we have left to discuss is what we’re going to do with you for the finals game,” Wymack said and clasped his hand together.
“What do you mean?” Jean asked.
“Are you coming to come with us?” Neil asked. “Or are you going to stay here?” Jean had not thought about it. The thought of finals had not even crossed his mind with everything else that had been on it. He was not sure that he could be back in that place so soon, to be so close to all of those people, but then he thought on it more. He did not know if he could be away either, if he could stay in Palmetto while everyone else faced the Ravens. “I think he needs to come,” Neil said, to Wymack not Jean but Jean was listening. “I think the Ravens need to see what their King did to him, why he had to leave,”
That was something Jean couldn’t even imagine, and he opened his mouth to say that he would stay in Palmetto. “I agree,” Wymack said. “The announcement will be made before the end of the week, people might be expecting to see him on our benches,”
“Plus, Riko can’t do anything in a crowded stadium, especially if he isn’t even on the court. I say we put him in a Palmetto hoodie, put him on the bench as a cheerleader, and let the story tell itself,”
And like that, the decision was made, and Jean was on the bus to West Virginia, staring at Kevin with a tattoo coverup. Kevin who was having a hard time looking at him and Jean wasn’t too sure why. Neil said it was guilt, Jean wished that Kevin would just look at him, but there was nothing he could do about that. They would have time to work out their issues, Jean wasn’t going to try to do it now, especially when he didn’t want to. Jean was worried about being back in Evermore, he was shaking in fear, but Neil was holding his hand tightly while he spoke with Andrew about all manner of things. Andrew, in particular, was keen on discussing all of the different types of crimes there were and what kind of factors people looked into when trying to pinpoint why crime was happening.
As it would turn out though, Neil was wrong. Riko didn’t care about the crowd when the game ended and Kevin had scored the final point on the Ravens. Riko only cared about the fact that he had lost, he only cared about taking it out on the one person who had taken everything from him. Jean felt the hairs on the back of his neck spike as Riko approached Neil, who was so exhausted that he had fallen to the ground. Jean stood, taking a step to the walls without even noticing that he had done it. “Run!” he shouted, though he knew that his voice would not carry over the sounds of the crowd, it would not reach the inner court.
And then Andrew was there, bringing his racquet up as Riko was bringing him down. It all unfolded so fast, Jean was pressing his hands against the plexiglass like he would be able to break through it. Riko was on the ground, screaming, the stadium went quiet. The doors opened, people ran onto the court to take Riko off of it. Andrew was hauling Neil to his feet, all players were being escorted off the court, even as they shouted profanities at each other. Jean stood, dumbstruck, he didn’t even notice the way that the press scrambled out of their seats to get a better shot at the court until someone was pressing a camera in his face. “Jean Moreau, do you have a comment on what just happened between your old team and your new team?”
Jean did not talk to the press, that was a rule that was set for him, but he parted his lips mindlessly. “He tried to kill him,” he said in soft French, disbelieving, as if he was working through it in his mind in real time.
“Come,” Andrew appeared next to Jean, grabbing the back of his hoodie and pulling him through the crowd. Jean found himself in the locker room and his feet took him to Neil. Jean pressed his hands to Neil’s face, turning it to look at him, he didn’t even think about doing it. Neil reached up and placed a hand on Jean’s hand, comforting.
“I’m fine,” Neil said and there was a chorus of sounds that told Jean he used that excuse as often as he could.
“He tried to kill you,” Jean said, this time in english.
“That’s not what the reporters are trying to say,” Matt said and pointed at the television where some lady was talking about Riko’s meltdown on the court and how in a moment of weakness and frustration, the Foxes goalkeeper once again ruined someones life. Andrew didn’t seem to mind so much as he sat in his corner and trained his eyes on Neil and Jean, watching them closely. Jean reminded himself that Neil was not his any longer, he could not impose himself. Jean sat back, away from Neil.
“These are the same people who have dragged the backliner Minyard through the mud for his murder case,” Jean said and Aaron blinked.
“I have a name,” he said, annoyed, Jean waved him off.
“Same weapon of choice, same outcome would have come to fruition. Yet it is not murder when Riko attempts it,”
“They’ll never see him in the way that he is,” Neil said and looked at Kevin. “The only person who could convince them of his evil will not come forward and talk about it,”
“Neil,” Kevin said softly, tried to move closer, but Andrew stopped him. Jean did not know what had happened there, why there was a disconnect between all of them. Jean had seen the bruises on Kevin’s neck before they healed, he knew within some capacity, Kevin had crossed some line and had been punished for it. But Jean did not know that the issues lingered, they were cohesive on the court, they went to night practice together. It was simply like there was an invisible door that sometimes opened and sometimes closed and Kevin was not allowed through when it was closed but did not know when it was. Consistently testing the waters, seeing if he was welcome.
And Jean had walked through that door easy.
After some time with an investigation happening, Neil was told by one of the guards that he needed to answer a few more questions. Jean watched as he left, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck standing once more, and Andrew slid into the space next to him. Andrew raised a hand, but he didn’t press it down to Jean’s neck, just let his fingers linger as he looked over Jean. “Calm down,” Andrew said at long last. “He’s going to come back,”
“I am calm,” Jean lied.
“Then why does it look like your body is trying oh so very hard to release your scent,” Andrew said and sniffed the air. “It’s smelling a little bit like you’re anxious,”
“Don’t tease,” Jean huffed. “I do not have a scent because I do not have scent glands,”
Andrew took Jean’s hand then and pressed fingers to the side of his neck. Jean flinched slightly as he felt his pulse, which was racing, but there was something else there too. A flowing sensation that he had never noticed before. The skin his fingers were pressed to felt rougher than normal. Then Andrew dropped his hand. “Keep telling yourself that,” Andrew said. Neil came back, he had a small smile on his face, but then he was gesturing for Andrew to come with him. They disappeared for a moment and when they came back, both of them looked fine, but Jean could tell that something was off.
Andrew and Neil told him privately that Riko had died. Jean felt entirely choked up by it, emotions coursing through him, but there was also this sense of peace that was washing over him with ease. Neil took Jean’s hand in his own, promised that Riko was truly gone, and Jean believed him. Jean did not believe that he was free, not by any means, but he believed that Neil was in front of him, Neil was safe, and Riko got what he deserved. Wymack asked if he wanted to stay for the funeral, Jean said no, so he boarded the bus with Andrew and Neil to go back to South Carolina. Before he went, Jean grabbed Kevin and pulled him into a tight hug. Fight or no fight, mad at him or not, Kevin feeling guilty or not, this was a loss that only they could understand. Kevin gripped him like his life depended on it, calming down incrementally the longer they hugged, but then he pulled away and thanked Jean quietly. It was exactly what he needed, a hug from Jean, someone who understood.
The next few weeks were hard, admittedly. School ended for the Foxes, so then they started to move their things into Abby’s house because once again, Kevin refused to be away from the court. Especially with this internal wound so fresh in his heart. Exy was what he needed, it was his therapy, and Andrew was going to indulge him and continue to stay with Abby for the summer so that Kevin could go to the court as often as he could. Jean wasn’t seeing the same disconnect as he had before, but it was there in small moments where Kevin wouldn’t get too close to Neil. It was a proximity issue that Neil did not have with Jean, often sitting thigh to thigh with him on the couch or pressing close to him in the kitchen.
What was most odd was the feeling that Jean felt simmering in his gut. At first, he believed that it was grief. As awful as he was, Riko had his moments. But then it continued. Jean would wake up in the middle of the night, overcome with heat in his abdomen, a pressure he couldn’t seem to relieve. Not to mention that he was having aches and pains in places that he had not been injured. He had a headache more days than not, the skin of his neck felt tender for some reason, and he sometimes felt like he had done an intense core workout with the way that his abdomen seemed to protest when he wanted to move too fast. All places that Jean had not been injured, or at the very least, they had healed. A month after the Ravens game and he was able to walk on his own with little pain and all of his bruises had gone, as well as all of his wounds having scabbed over or completely healed. Right now, he wasn’t clear for practice, because Abby still wanted him to keep from exerting too much on his knee. But he was feeling a lot better.
But he wasn’t, because he was dealing with what felt like an exotic virus. Aaron excused himself from the house within the first few days of being there, claiming that he was spending his summer month off with his girlfriend. Nicky looked on with sympathy, but he didn’t say much. Everyone else tended to tiptoe around him and for the life of him, he could not understand why. It wasn’t like he was some sort of contagion and if he was, then everyone would be sick already. He was hesitant to ask for a hospital visit, not when Abby was a medical professional and had not said he needed one, but he did not think that he should be feeling so ill still after so long. Normally, a virus only lasted a week, maybe a week and a half. This was something else entirely.
Then, one day, Andrew came out with three packed bags and started to put them into the trunk of his car. “We’re taking Jean to Columbia, don’t know how long we’ll be gone,” Andrew announced to everyone in the house.
“What about the court?” Kevin asked and Andrew shrugged.
“You know the way, run if you need to,” Andrew said and grabbed his keys. “Going now. Jean, get in the car,” he said. Jean stood, giving Neil a searching look and he nodded, so Jean stood from his place on the couch and started to the car. He slid into the back and watched as Andrew and Neil got in. Andrew started the car, Neil picked the music, then they were on their way. Once they were on the highway, Neil turned and looked into the backseat.
“What kinds of snacks do you like? Andrew and I are gonna make a grocery run while you get comfortable,”
“I do not understand what is happening,” Jean said and frowned. “Why are we going to Columbia?”
“I do not doubt that you haven’t the faintest clue,” Andrew stated and then looked into his rearview mirror to get a better look at Jean. “Remember when I told you that trauma can lead to a person not presenting for years? Your body isn’t in a safe place, so it’s not going to betray you. Happens all the time, the body is a mysterious thing, Aaron would know all about it,”
Jean stayed quiet in the back and Neil gave a sheepish smile. “You’re having your first rut, congrats!” he said and waved his hands in the air, as if he was celebrating. “We’re not sure if you’re having every other rut you’ve never had before as well, that’s what happened for me, but who knows how it works for alphas?”
“What?”
“Try not to look so surprised,” Andrew said, his tone almost amused. “This has been building since the Ravens game. You saw Neil about to be murdered and it unlocked your primal instincts and you’ve been progressing since then. Slowly, you really do take your time to get to the big idea, don’t you?”
“I do not know if I should be apologizing or not,”
“Not,” Neil said. “This isn’t your fault. This is still a new place for you, new people, your body wasn’t sure if it was safe or not. But you know, presenting is like a rock going down a hill. Once the process starts, it doesn’t stop, so you were always going to get to this moment. And now you have, we can smell it on you. Andrew is better at this still, picking out scents, and he says that you’re right on the precipice of your rut,”
“This is not possible, I am not an alpha,” Jean protested.
“I am amazed that he can’t smell himself,” Andrew commented. “Why do you think Aaron cleared out so fast? He caught a whiff of your scent and he got the hell out of there because if you went into your first rut around another alpha, you’d probably try to rip his face off. You’ve been more irritable for two weeks now, you’re having a hard time staying asleep, I know you’re in pain,”
“And you concluded that I am now presenting late?”
“I have a knack for it. Kevin presented late, Neil presented late, everyone around me just presents late. I have a gift for finding late presenters,”
Neil smacked his arm, like his joke was not funny. “So, snacks. What do you like to eat or should we just figure it out on our own?”
“Um,” Jean considered, his mind swimming with all of the information now given to him. He did not believe that this was happening to him but he did not know why either of them would lie to him. “I like fruit,” he said.
“Fruit, we can work with fruit. You’ll need a lot of things with proteins and carbs, we’re going to get you lots of drinks with electrolytes and a lot of water,” Neil said and then turned back in his seat. “Protein bars, probably, and we could give him some soup for him to just drink down instead of trying to eat,” Neil said, talking to Andrew now instead of Jean. Jena remained silent for the rest of the trip to the Columbia house. Once he was let in, Neil pushed him down a hallway and into a bedroom that had been more or less stripped of all things that could be broken. “Andrew came down here last weekend while we were all at the court for like five hours and he cleaned out our room for you,”
“Your room? Where will you sleep?”
“Aaron’s room,” Neil answered. Andrew then came in with all three bags and dropped them on the bed. He opened the bags and poured out a small mountain of clothes. Andrew stared at him for a long moment.
“When this all finally breaks to the surface and he can smell things for the very first time, this is going to be very overwhelming for him,” Andrew said and turned on his heel. He then returned with a treasure chest box and set it at the foot of the bed. “This contains everything you could possibly need to get through this rut and you can thank me later for the very awkward conversation with my brother about what he would recommend. I wish I could scrub it all from my mind but I will remember every word for the rest of my life,” Andrew said and then moved to the door. “I have a padlock. I am going to padlock this door. I also replaced this door last weekend, it has been reinforced, you cannot break down this door. Do not break my windows, I will murder you upon the resurgence of your sanity. Neil is going to be the one who checks on you during this, I will not, because I do not trust you. Neil will be wearing a collar, you cannot bite through the collar, that is what the collar is for. If you bite Neil, I will be upset with you, Moreau. Neil and I have agreed that should something happen between the two of you, I will not be upset. He is prepared for the possibility that you’re going to be out of your right mind, I think the masochist in him is excited for it actually,”
“I am a little excited to see you lose control,” Neil nodded, his grin a wide and devious thing.
“But,” Andrew continued. “The goal of this is to get you through this rut, not to fuck Neil’s brains out, so he will not be in here with you the entire time. Hence why you have been given so many dirty clothes and toys that should help. And when this is all over, we will have a very detailed discussion on where to go from here,”
“Should someone else not be the one who brings me food and such?” Jean asked. “If I am to behave the way you explain, then something might happen between the two of us. I wouldn’t want to overstep,”
“I assure you, if Andrew was worried about it, he would not have even let me come here at all,” Neil said. “We can talk about all of this when it’s over, alright? So, Andrew and I are going to go shopping now. The padlock is going to go on the door, we will check on you later,”
Then they were gone. Jean heard the click of the lock and then he was alone and locked in this room. Admittedly, due to the fact that he could see outside if he pulled the curtains aside, he felt alright. Though the curtains had been fastened to the wall in almost every way so seeing outside was difficult. He heard when they left the driveway and he heard when they came back as well. He heard mutters of them talking down the hall and he heard their steps as they walked around. Jean sighed, sitting on the bed as he waited for anything to happen. He busied himself with sorting through some of the clothes, his hands working mindlessly as he drifted off, thinking about all of the signs he may have missed while he was in France or when he was in the nest. There was simply no way that every person in his life missed the fact that he was an alpha who had simply not presented yet. There was no way that he had done nothing in all of those years to raise suspicion. There had to be signs, behaviors, something.
After a few hours, Neil knocked on the door before he came in, bringing a bottle of gatorade with him and a bowl of soup. “No rut yet?” he asked as he came in and shut the door behind him. Jean accepted the soup in his hands and looked down into it. It smelled great.
“I do not know what to do,” Jean said and looked at him. “I do not feel like I am going into a rut,”
“You smell like one,” Neil said and pursed his lips. “You really can’t smell yourself?”
“No,” Jean said and then brought the bowl to his lips, drinking it down. When he finished, Neil was staring at him. Then, Neil set the bowl aside and leaned up onto his knees, grabbing a t-shirt from the piles that Jean had made and shoved it into his nose. Jean hesitated a moment but then he reached a hand up and clasped the shirt in it, sniffing it, as he figured Neil wanted him to.
“Nothing?”
“There is a faint scent on it,” Jean said. “But nothing that I would consciously notice,”
“Andrew says that you smell like you’re a day away, so with any luck, you’ll wake up tomorrow and you’ll feel it,” Neil said and looked around them on the bed. “I like the way you organized this, its a half decent nest of sorts. I’ve never seen an alpha do that before, make a nest. There are things I would change, but the shape of it, not bad,”
Jean had been moving things around but he hadn’t been doing it with any rhyme or reason to it. He didn’t even notice that he had brought all of the clothes around him until Neil mentioned it but now he was looking around and noticing that he had built a nest of sorts. “Thank you,” Jean said, hesitant, because he didn’t know how else to respond.
“You know, I think I know how to help,” Neil said and then started to pull his shirt over his head. There was a warmth spreading within Jean’s abdomen but this was one that he knew, one that he had been forbidden to feel. Neil tossed his shirt aside and then shoved his pants down his legs as well. Neil kept his boxers on, but then he flopped down into the center of all of the clothes and stared at Jean. “Get naked,”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Beg as much as you want, just get naked. You’ll be annoyed about wearing clothes when you finally go into rut anyway,” Neil said impatiently. Jean had never been self conscious about his body, this should have been an easy task, but he could feel a blush creeping onto him as he tugged his shirt off and then pushed his pants down as well, tossing them aside. Neil pointed at his boxers and Jean bit the inside of his cheek before shoving them down as well. Neil then motioned for Jean to lay down next to him, so he did, because he was nothing if not a good listener and he knew that Neil would not steer him wrong. “Just shut your eyes,” Neil said softly and Jean nodded, obeying.
Jean could feel Neil moving as he shut his eyes and jumped a little when he felt a hand on his chest. Jean could feel shame beginning to lick at the corners of his mind as he felt his cock twitch. Neil said nothing as he continued to rub his hands against Jean’s chest, his shoulders. Jean did not know how long Neil was touching him for, but slowly but surely, his nose started twitching. It was the sensation of when you needed to sneeze, and yet you couldn’t, but your nose was full and you knew it. Jean sniffled a few times, trying to force the sneeze out, and Neil started to move away. Jean made a noise that he did not recognize and Neil pressed a kiss to his temple. “You’re okay,” Neil said softly. “Just going to go grab something, alright?”
In the back of his mind, Jean knew that Neil was going to leave the room and would lock the door behind him. But Jean allowed him to leave anyway and he kept his eyes shut so he didn’t have to watch as Neil collected his clothes and dressed himself again. Then the door opened, shut, and Jean heard the distinct click of the padlock. Jean rolled onto his side, sniffling still, and then he opened his eyes and sat up. There were a swirl of scents that were beginning to clog his nose but they were breaking through to his mind. The faint scent of almonds and jasmine that his mind distinctly labeled an alpha scent but not one that was in his immediate proximity. Jean came to understand that it was Aaron, which seemed to set his mind at ease more. More pressing was the smell of coconut and something earthy in his nose. A moment later, he could smell something akin to hazelnut and cloves, which got more of Jean’s attention. He had to dig for it a little bit, sniffing the clothes around him until he found a shirt that was distinctly Andrew’s. Jean wasn’t aware that Andrew had contributed his clothes to his pile but distantly he made a note to ask about it.
All of his senses felt aflame all at once as he brought the shirt to his nose and started to sniff it. Then he could smell something else, permeating the room, and he recognized it as his own smell. He smelt of peaches and cinnamon, somehow a perfect combination of the two omegas that were close to his room, in his vicinity. Jean didn’t know how he hadn’t put it together before, but now it all made sense. Andrew had presented as an omega, which is why he couldn’t help Neil through his heats other than to give him some comfort, it was why he could remain so calm in the face of alphas posturing around him, its how he knew what was happening with Neil before anyone else did, he knew what presenting as an omega looked like. It was why he could get along so well with Kevin when Kevin was an ass that any alpha would try to put in his place.
Jean tried to keep a grapple on his thoughts but it felt like coherency was leaving him. Jean kept the shirt pressed to his nose as he slowly moved down the bed, making his way to the box that Andrew had brought in for him. He said that it was filled with things that would help, but Jean didn’t know what could help him in this moment. All of the tension in his body that had been wound up for weeks was beginning to seep out of every pore. Within moments, he could feel a thin layer of sweat over his entire body and he was harder than he had ever been in his entire life. To such a point that it was painful, like his body was punishing him for having waited so long. Jean opened the top of the box, peering into what was a plethora of sex toys. Jean sunk down onto the floor next to the box and shut his eyes. Embarrassment was still an emotion he had his wits to feel and he could feel it curling around him. It was embarrassing to be reduced to this.
He could hear footsteps close to the door but it did not open as Neil shouted through it. “Are you okay? That came on pretty fast didn’t it?”
“Neil,” Jean didn’t even recognize his own voice, half between a cry and half between a demand for Neil to come in. Really it was just something broken and pathetic. “I don’t know what to do, no one ever taught me,”
“No one?” Neil asked and then there was a soft sigh. It sounded like he was conversing with someone, it had to be Andrew. Then there was the sound of the lock clicking and the door opened just enough for Neil to slip in, then it was closed again. He was freshly showered now and one look at the window showed that night had fallen. How much time he had seemingly lost should have been concerning to him but then Neil was there with a smile and helping him back up onto the bed. “I’m going to cuff your hands, is that okay? Andrew is scared you’ll hurt me, just don’t tell him I said that,”
“Please,” Jean said, ragged. Neil produced a pair of fluffy cuffs that wouldn’t hurt his wrists and cuffed his wrists to the headboard. Jean let out staggered breaths as Neil left him and then dug around in the box, returning with a bottle and some contraption. Neil straddled Jean’s legs and uncapped the bottle, pouring some inside of the liquid inside of the toy he held in his hands and then he looked at Jean. Jean didn’t think he had ever noticed just how pretty Neil was. He tugged on the restraints and frowned when he couldn’t get his hands free.
“Just relax,” Neil said, picking up the shirt that Jean dropped. “You like Andrew’s scent?” Neil asked and Jean gave a slow and jerky nod. Neil dug around in the pile for a second and then produced a jock strap, holding it up to Jean’s face. “You’ll be able to smell him better,” Neil said. Shame washed over Jean but he tipped his head forward, burying his nose in them. Neil grinned, pressing them into Jean’s nose as he pushed the toy over his cock, making Jean jump and moan. “Yeah,” Neil muttered, focused. “Just like that,”
In different circumstances, Jean would feel embarrassed about how fast he finished, but Neil didn’t seem to mind in the slightest once Jean filled the toy with his seed. Neil continued to push it up and down, working Jean through his orgasm. Jean was distantly aware that his cock hadn’t even flagged a little bit and Neil was aware of it as he continued to stroke. “Neil,” Jean moaned, and Neil looked up at him. “I want you to stay,” Jean whispered. “I’ll be good to you, I’ll listen, I promise. I can’t do this without you,”
“Oh, you’re sweet when you’re like this,” Neil said and cupped one hand over Jean’s face. “I can’t stay, you know that. You’ll regret it if I do, if we don’t talk about it, the three of us,”
“Why didn’t we talk about it before?” Jean whined.
“Because you didn’t know what you would be dealing with, and neither did we,” Neil answered, stroking Jean’s cheek with his thumb and continuing to stroke Jean’s cock. “It wouldn’t be right if I stayed without talking about this with you when you’re in your right mind. Right now, you’ll say anything to convince me to stay. But when this over, when you know what to expect, then we can all have a fully informed conversation,”
Jean felt like he was going to cry when Neil pulled away from him and then started to unlock the cuffs. Jean went to reach for him, Neil expertly avoided his hands and got to his feet. Jean watched as he slipped out the door as easily as he came, before Jean could collect himself enough to get up and go after him. Jean didn’t understand, he had some coherence to his thoughts, he could think through things, he didn’t know why they couldn’t talk now.
If only he knew how he would feel come morning. For the time being, he was satiated enough that he was able to lay down and find it in himself to sleep. But a mere few hours later, he was awake once more, and he dug his nose into the pile of clothes as he rubbed against his hands. It wasn’t like he had never touched himself before, but he had never felt this horny before. Nothing he did was enough. It took an hour for him to finally get himself off enough that he could relax a little bit, and he was thoroughly shocked by that fact because he had never been able to get off more than once in a short amount of time. He was able to sleep again, but a few hours later was the same thing. Neil knocked before he came in again and Jean had to force himself to stay in the bed as Neil set down some water for him as well as two protein bars. Jean remembered that Andrew said he would be alright if something happened between Jean and Neil but in truth, Jean didn’t want to disrespect Andrew like that and Neil already said that he would regret it if he tried to make anything happen. Not simply because someone would be upset with him, but rather he would be upset with himself, and Jean was inclined to agree. He knew that he would always hate himself if he did something untoward to Neil, who did not belong to him.
It was something new to think of Neil in such primal terms, as if he is something to be well nad truly owned. Jean didn’t think he liked that line of thought, he wished he could erase it from his mind, but the thought of having Neil was comforting him in a way that few other things were. Jean hated, even more, the line of thinking that he wished he could have Andrew as well. He knew that if he ever voiced these thoughts aloud, then he would have a knife between his ribs before he could even finish his thought. But in the confines of this room, in the confines of his mind, he could let himself imagine it as he rut against the bedsheets and he could feel the same of it later.
The worst part of the rut, by far, was how he was losing time. In the nest, he lost time often. He could lose hours at a time after Riko was done with him, if he passed out or found himself in the nurses office. Jean could feel like only a few moments had passed but then he would be able to tell from the amount of light coming from behind the curtain that whole hours had passed while he was lost in his own thoughts and imagination. It subdued him more than anything else could, forced him into place, made him let the heat radiating off of his body ravage him while he tried to recount how long he had been there. Sometimes, Neil would come in. He would cuff Jean’s hands back to the headboard and he would straddle Jean, releasing his scent to bring him comfort. This was not the nest and he was safe if he did lose track of time. There was nowhere he needed to be, he could live in the moment, rest if he needed too.
After four days, Jean couldn’t smell Neil and Andrew on their clothes anymore. Instead, it was all covered in his own scent, which was no comfort at all. Jean didn’t know if Neil and Andrew had planned for his rut to last so long, because he was incredibly sticky as well, and in his moments of clarity, he wished he could have a shower. He was covered in his own spend, some of it was surely lube, and he knew that he was covered in the dirt and grime of layers of sweat. Not to mention all of the sticky fruit juice that had dripped over his hands and over his chest. So with the discomfort of being so dirty and with the fact that he was losing traces of their scents in his nose, Jean was beginning to feel a little unruly and Neil noticed it when he came in because he stripped off his shirt and dropped it into Jean’s lap before leaving the room. Vaguely, Jean could hear them discussing something, likely him, but he couldn’t focus on it. He thought he probably looked pathetic, laying on his side with one hand on his cock and the other pressing the shirt into his nose, but this was all he could do to keep some of his composure.
The door opened at some point and Neil slipped in with a basket. It was only half full but it had the clothes they had been wearing for the last few days in it. Jean watched as Neil poured it onto the bed and then started to pick out clothes to wash so they could wear them. Neil’s gaze landed on him and he gave a sympathetic smile. “No one knows how long this will last. We called Abby but she doesn’t know either,” he said and pressed a kiss to Jean’s temple. “Just hang in there,”
The answer was six days, almost twice the amount of time that a normal rut takes place in. He woke up one morning feeling violently sick and managed only to get to a trashcan placed in the room for his empty bottles, wrappers, and fruit cores before he was vomiting up everything that he had consumed in the last few hours. But, this was apparently enough indication that it was over because Neil’s hands were on his back and then Neil was wrapping a blanket around him and guiding him out of the bedroom. Jean was relieved to hear the sound of running water and Neil helped him into the warm bath. Jean sighed and shut his eyes tightly, gripping the sides of the tub.
“Abby warned us this would happen,” Andrew said, appearing in the doorway. Jean opened an eye to look at him and found Andrew’s searching gaze. His shoulders were tightly set, he was tense, and Jean could imagine why. Jean was now aware of something that very few people were. Andrew was good at hiding his scent and everyone assumed he was an alpha, but he wasn’t. Andrew Minyard was an omega, a sweet smelling one that even now Jean had the urge to pounce on. But he had enough control over his body to stay where he was at and Andrew was looking to see if Jean was going to behave himself. If he was going to be one of those alphas who felt entitled to the omegas around him. Jean was not one of those alphas, he didn’t even know how to be, because he didn’t know how to be an alpha.
“That I would become truly ill?” Jean asked.
“It happens to omegas too,” Neil supplied. “When they don’t have their heat in a long time and then they also don’t get mated. It’s like your body is rejecting you. I was sick for like two weeks, couldn’t get out of bed,”
“That sounds miserable,” Jean said and Neil gave a half smile.
“I think it’ll be better for you. Omegas always draw the short end of the stick,”
“That seems wildly unfair, biologically,” Jean said and sunk deeper into his bath. “I feel wretched,”
“You smell wretched,” Andrew said. “And our room reeks, we’re definitely going to need to fumigate,”
“He’s being an ass,” Neil said and Jean shrugged.
“I do not mind,” he said. “Let him be as mean as he wishes,”
“I have one more mean comment,” Andrew said. “Neil tells me you got off sniffing my underwear, thats true?”
“Thats true,” Jean nodded and turned to look fully at Andrew. “I do appreciate you and all that you did. I did not know that you would put your clothes in as well but they helped, truly,”
Andrew stared at him. “I was expecting you to be a lot more violent,” Andrew said. “When Aaron got his first heat, I heard that he clawed the walls, ripped curtains down, he was beyond angry. Not to mention horny out of his mind. I would doubt the validity of the story but I saw the claw marks myself, his mom didn’t pay to have his room repaired. I made all of these preparations for you to be violent. Bought this thick collar for Neil to make sure you wouldn’t bite him, but you didn’t even try. Nailed down the curtains, reinforced the walls, did you even try to bang down the door because I didn’t hear a sound,”
Jean continued to stare and then pursed his lips. “I believe it was beaten out of me,”
“I don’t think thats how it works,” Neil said. “Maybe we should let him get washed up before we start talking about all of this,”
“It is alright, Neil,” Jean said and averted his eyes, looked for the words. “I know he is not mine. It is a fact, one that did not leave me even in my hazy moments. I can imagine, him and you, but I cannot have either of you. Attempting would make things worse,”
“So you imagined me too? Tell me all about that, Moreau. How did you imagine me while you were sniffing my underwear?” Andrew said, meanly, but he was clearly trying to make a point.
“Do not try to make it into something that it is not,” Jean responded, furrowing his brows. “I did not ask for you to give them to me, none of your clothes. I did not even know what reaction I would have. You did it, you cannot throw it in my face when I had the appropriate reaction. Of course I imagined you under me,”
“And if in your imagination I demanded to be on top?”
“Then I imagine I would be just as satisfied. Andrew, I do not care that you are an omega and I am not going to take advantage of you because of it,” Jean said, cutting to the point of this all. “You do not need to hold yourself ready for a fight, I am not going to touch you,”
Andrew huffed, “you’d be the first,” he said but then he moved closer and he looked Jean over. “I will not be okay with you touching me for a long time,”
“Okay,” Jean nodded.
“I do not care what you and Neil agree to, as long as you tell me, and you will respect any and all boundaries he sets,”
“I do not understand why you are setting these rules. I have no intention of crossing any boundaries,”
“Andrew is allergic to being straightforward about relationships,” Neil said and only grinned when Andrew glared at him. “Andrew is going to need a little bit of time to get close to you, physically, but he is attracted to you emotionally, even if he would never say it. And he is attracted to you physically but you have to earn his touch, but I don’t think you’ll have a difficult time doing that,” Neil said.
“What are you referring to?” Jean asked and Neil reached hand over so he could take one of Jean’s in his hands.
“We want you to be one of us, like, date both of us. The three of us,” Neil said and Jean stared at him.
“That is allowed?” Jean asked after a long and admittedly uncomfortable moment of silence where everyone waited to hear what he was going to say.
“If you want it to be,” Neil nodded. “You get to make your own rules, decide how to live your own life. We want you to spend that life with us, but you can say no, if this is too much for you. No hard feelings,”
“I can have both of you?” Jean asked.
“That is what he just said,” Andrew said and Jean looked up, intending to glare, but the set of Andrew’s shoulders had relaxed and Jean focused on that instead. Andrew was relaxing, he was becoming more comfortable, his fears had been placed aside. “Do you want that, Jean?” Andrew asked. “It is a yes or no question,”
“Yes,” Jean nodded. “Yes, I would like to have both of you as my partners, if I am allowed to,” he said.
“Neil is going to help you wash up, get all of the everything off of you. I am going to try and clean our room,” Andrew said, excusing himself. Jean relaxed into the bath as Neil started to wash his hair, using a cup to pour water over it before scrubbing at his scalp. Jean allowed his eyes to shut, letting out soft breaths at how good it felt to have Neil’s hands in his hair. Neil washed the shampoo and conditioner out of his hair and scrubbed at Jean’s body in an almost clinical matter. Which was fine with Jean because his dick was sore, if he was being honest.
“Your knot is cute,” Neil said and Jean opened his eyes to look at him.
“What?”
“Well, this was your first rut, so this is the first time it’s really inflated to a point where now it’s noticeable. I imagine you’ve probably been achy for a couple weeks now while it’s grown, your body rearranging itself. It’ll probably get bigger as you have more ruts but for now, it’s kind of cute. Manageable, I could take that,”
“Please do not talk about sex right now,” Jean said and shut his eyes again. “My cock and I cannot handle it,” he said and Neil laughed. Once he deemed Jean clean enough, he helped Jean out of the bath and wrapped him up in a warm towel while he grabbed some clothes. Jean peeked down the hall and could see Andrew hauling arms full of clothes and his bedding to the laundry room. Neil came back with some clothes and Jean got himself dressed. Neil took Jean to the couch and sat him down, sitting down next to him and texting a group chat of people that Jean was fine. Jean did not try to see who it was. When Andrew came back, he sat on the other side of Jean and focused on the television.
Jean didn’t know when he fell asleep but when he woke up, he was startled to find that he was leaning on Andrew. He pulled himself away quickly enough and Andrew just slid him a bored stare. “If I cared, I would have shoved you off,” Andrew said, voicing his thoughts before Jean could apologize for his actions. Jean slightly nodded and looked back at the television to find that Andrew had put on a cooking show. Jean watched it for a moment, relaxing into the couch. “We’re going back to town in two days. Enough time for you to begin to feel better but still with enough time before summer practices begin for you to be checked out by Abby. She’s already decided to put you in a no touch jersey,” Andrew said and Jean scrunched his nose.
“I can play,”
“And you sound just like Neil. How I am going to deal with two of you is beyond me but maybe the two of you will be able to entertain each other while I watch,” Andrew said and finally connected his gaze with Jean’s. Jean didn’t even realize he had turned to look at Andrew again. “If you tell anyone I said this, I will gut you, but I’m glad you decided to stay in Palmetto. You would not have survived around all of those sunshine freaks,”
“No one would ever believe me if I told them,” Jean nodded and then settled his gaze back on the television. “I am glad I decided to stay as well. Against what Kevin believes, I think I will find precisely what I need here. People who understand every facet of me and do not expect me to hide the ugly parts,”
“Oh yes, show all of those ugly parts,” Andrew said sarcastically but he didn’t disagree because he thought the same. This was right where Jean needed to be.