The omega focused his mind. Remi needed to be himself a little longer. Dimitrios was going to pick him up at 5:00, and he’d told him that their dinner wasn’t until 7:30. They had two and a half hours. He was sure that Dimitrios would help him, would take charge and let Remi free himself for just a little while.
Remi took one last deep breath, fixed his hair, straightened his spine and walked out of the bathroom and on to his other classes. Throughout the day, Remi heard little tittering whispers following him wherever he went, and each one was like a tiny papercut. Not a devastating wound on its own, but together, it was death by a thousand cuts, each one sharp and painful. Remi just held his head high and walked on, though in his mind, he was playing that few seconds over and over on repeat.
“Okay, pretty boy. I need you to focus for just a little longer on being Remi Laroche. Once we get home then you can let go, okay?”
By the time Remi finished his last class and headed over to the kitchens, the omega felt like he was too wrung out, too sensitive to handle it all. He didn’t have the strength to deal with Cade, but Remi just put on his same old mask of friendly indifference and walked into the kitchen.
The alpha was already there, wearing an apron and setting out ingredients. He smiled when Remi walked in and gave a quick wave as he set down a bag of flour next to the other ingredients he’d gathered.
Remi took off his backpack and retrieved the items that he’d bought the previous evening and added them to the pile. The omega took off his coat and grabbed an apron. As he turned around, Cade’s smile faltered as his eyes found the dark hickey on his neck. The alpha stared at it for a few moments before he seemed to shake himself free of his trance and slapped a much less genuine smile on his face.
“Hey, Remi. How are you doing today?” Cade asked, looking somewhat down. Remi was certain if the alpha were a dog, his tail would be tucked between his legs.
“Fine, Cade. And you?”
“I’m great.”
Thankfully they were so busy working that chit-chat was kept to a bare minimum. They simultaneously created three different versions of their pastry, each with subtle differences. The end results were very telling, and it was easy to pick which crust, filling and frosting was best.
Once they had established a final recipe, Remi wrote it down in his notebook and copied one for Cade. He checked the time on his phone to see it was almost 5:00 and Dimitrios would arrive soon. Remi pulled off his apron and tossed it into the hamper for dirty aprons before dusting a bit of flour off his sleeve and going to wash his hands in the sink. From a few feet behind him, he heard Cade’s voice, quiet and hesitant.
“I was going to tell you… You look really pretty today.”
Remi snatched a few paper towels to dry his hands on before tossing them into the trash can, and turned to see Cade rubbing the back of his neck shyly.
“Thanks, I have a date after this. Actually, my boyfriend should be here to pick me up, so I’ve gotta go. I’ll email you what I have on the essay so far, yeah? We can work on it in class. I think we’re ahead of the curve on this one. Most of the other pairs aren’t as far along as we are.”
“Okay… I guess I’ll see you later then.” Cade said, giving that kicked puppy look again.
“Bye.”
Remi threw on his hat, coat, scarf, and mittens, slinging his backpack onto his shoulders as he headed out the door. He walked down the hallway and out the main door. The first thing his eyes found was Dimitrios. The alpha was standing outside his car, waiting for him.
As soon as Remi saw the alpha, he immediately felt his grip onRemi Larochestart to slip and he fell instantly into his subspace. He’d had a hard day and he wanted his Daddy to take over for him. He smiled and waved at Dimitrios before he heard the door behind him open and Cade’s voice called his name.
“Hey, Remi!”
The omega turned automatically at the sound of his name as he tried to keep himself together with very little success.
“What?”
Cade had that sheepish look again as he jogged toward him to stand in front of the omega, who was holding onto the tenuous strings of himself with weak, uncoordinated hands.
“I just wanted to say… Sorry about calling you this weekend. I was hoping that we could just let bygones be bygones and move past it.”
Remi glanced over to Dimitrios, where he wanted so badly to be, and the omega just agreed to get the encounter over with. His body felt like a magnet was pulling him toward Dimitrios.
“Yeah, sure. No problem.” Remi said quickly with a wave of his hand.
“Thanks, Remi. You’re the best.”
Before the omega knew what was happening, he was being embraced in a strong hug and lifted off the ground. Again, his mind was too distracted by the prospect of getting to Dimitrios for him to really think about what he was doing. Remi patted Cade’s back awkwardly with his arms pinned down to the elbow. Finally, he was set down and released. The whole situation was bringing back his earlier stress and he wanted Dimitrios.
Remi didn’t want to talk to Cade anymore. He didn’t want him to touch him again. The omega turned without another word and walked toward Dimitrios. A few steps in his direction and Remi met the alpha’s dark eyes, and a hot surge of panic slammed into his chest as another mental clip of Dimitrios played in his head.
“I don’t want him touching you. I know you have to work with him, and you have to see him outside of school. I get that. Your education is important. But don’t let him touch you. Do you understand?”
Oh no… he’d been bad. Remi had broken the only rule that his Daddy had given him. Dimitrios' eyes were dark and dangerous as Remi approached, and as soon as the omega was within reach, the alpha wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him into a hard kiss. His fingers dug into Remi’s nape and his kiss was unforgiving as he forced Remi’s lips open with his tongue and plundered his mouth. Remi whined into the kiss and Dimitrios pulled back and slid his lips around to Remi’s ear.