Micah

Alistair dropped me back off at his place and told me he would discuss what he expected from me as a roommate. We weren’t able to pick out much of my belongings, and after digging through my things, it only hurt more. 

I went straight to the guest room that Alistair mentioned and immediately collapsed into the bed and fell asleep to escape my problems. I felt like I had failed. No matter how much I tried to keep myself afloat, I eventually and inevitably failed. 

I laid in bed until the sun had set, only getting up once to use the restroom, and I went right back to bed, sleeping on and off again, unable to process my emotions. 

I just wanted something to go my way for once. I wanted to be able to focus on my art, my passions. But all I was doing was surviving, if I could even call it that. Days off were a luxury to me. Hell, the looming thought of how much Alistair expected me to pay for my portion of rent scared me. 

It was obvious he lived in the penthouse of the building in the middle of the city, meaning I would have to get two more jobs to be able to make the payment to him. He actually seemed so genuine and kind when he talked about letting me stay in his place. 

I couldn’t help but think about the ulterior motives that he had. Like, did he only want me for what most alphas believed omega’s good for? To make a home? To only be a hole to fuck?

Most of the alphas I had encountered at the bar all seemed to be the same. They always wanted to fuck, and nothing more. Most of them had wives and husbands, but they didn’t care about the feelings of their significant others. To them. I was another hole to fuck, a means to an end of pent-up frustrations on their part, and shamefully mine as well. 

Later in the evening, someone knocked on the bedroom door. I answered for them to come in, assuming it was Alistair himself. When the door opened to expose the tired-looking alpha, I sat up, pulling the covers that I somehow managed to get under while I had slept up to my chest. 

“Hey,” He said in a calming voice.

“Hey,” I responded, looking down at my lap. 

“Did you eat? I can order something for the both of us?” He asked, leaning against the door panel. 

“That sounds nice.” I bit down on my bottom lip. 

After a while of waiting for the food to be delivered, Alistair asked for me to wait in the living room as he went to take a shower. When he joined me back in the living room, he made sure to show me that my comfort did matter to him. 

I could tell he did have a million questions on the tip of his tongue, but he refrained from asking. When the food arrived, we both sat on the floor of the living room in front of the coffee table, and he turned on the news, letting it play in the background. I didn’t know how to break the silence we sat in as we ate the Chinese food he had ordered for us. 

When his yellow eyes met mine, it was almost as if the air was sucked out of my lungs. It was like I had finally opened my eyes and actually saw the man in front of me. I mean, really saw him. 

I mean, he had taken me into his place while I was in heat. He didn’t take advantage of me. If anything, he took care of me more than any alpha had in my lifetime. 

“Is it okay for me to ask questions?” He finally spoke. 

I nodded my head in response as I swallowed down words that I didn’t know how to form. I didn’t know what he had to ask, and I was afraid of what it would be. 

“Omega’s typically don’t live alone unless it’s a complete last resort, mainly because of laws and stuff. And them not making it easy for omegas to get into a place of living without an alpha’s consent. So, um, that leads to the question– why are you in this predicament?” He sat his chopsticks down in a resting position. 

I did the same and looked down at the food in front of me, suddenly losing all of my appetite. I swallowed and looked up into his concerned eyes. “My parents kicked me out right before I graduated high school.” I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. The thought alone of how my life had been before to what it was now made my heart hurt at the thought. “They found out that I was gay and kicked me out for that….” I swallowed. 

“But, it’s been widely accepted for people to be gay since well before we were even born.” Alistair furrowed his eyebrows. 

“They were a part of some religious group that followed the old world traditions before alpha, beta, and omegas, where only women could get pregnant or something. They protest at clinics and shit because” I held my hands up and made air quotes. “‘Abortion is bad,’ and other shit. Not knowing what the fuck is actually happening in there.” I hugged my arms to my chest. 

“I’ve never even heard of that.” He furrowed his brows. 

“Yeah, it’s a dying religion because of them being such a hateful group of people.” I frowned. “People really don’t buy into the hateful propaganda they push.” 

Alistair nodded, picking up his chopsticks and stuffing a bite of food into his mouth. He was probably trying to stall his next question. Once he was finished, he asked his next question. “So, how were you able to get that apartment without an alpha co-signee?” 

“Well, I paid him under the table, which is why the apartment wasn’t really that nice, and I was probably paying well above what that apartment would typically go for someone with the permission of an alpha.” I poked at my food. 

“How much are you able to pay me in rent?” He asked. 

“I’m down to only one job now, granted it’s the one that pays me more.” I looked down, thinking of all the possibilities of how I could make extra money. “How much are you looking to have me pay?” I gazed up into his eyes.

“Whatever you’re able to afford. Of course, I don’t have a problem affording what I have alone; it’d be extra income for me.” He shrugged. 

“Do you at least have a ballpark of what you’d want me to pay you?” I asked. “Because I don’t know how to answer that. I mean, if you gave me the choice, I’d only want to pay a dollar each month for rent.” I chuckled, and I could feel my face getting red. 

“I mean, if that’s what you wish to pay, then so be it.” He shrugged nonchalantly, taking another bit of his food. 

I furrowed my brows, “No– No, what do you want? I’m not going to pay you a dollar in rent each month. It’ll feel like I actually owe you more. Are–are you wanting me to actually be your whore?” I asked. My chest tightened at the thought of him actually answering with a yes. 

He raised his brow at me, finished chewing the mouthful of food, and swallowed. “That’ll be all up to you if you want to be.” His lips turned up into a smirk. He then rolled his eyes, chuckling and shaking his head. “I’m kiddin’, that would be kicking someone when they’re already down, and I’m not going to do that. I genuinely want to help you. If you wanna pay a dollar, I’m not going to fight you on it.” 

I sat my chopsticks down and clasped both of my hands together under the table, trying to keep my composure. The thought of him only wanting to help me made butterflies go absolutely crazy in my stomach. 

I hadn’t felt butterflies since my first boyfriend. It made me feel somewhat desired to be around, almost like I belonged. 

Alistair waited for a moment, realizing I was almost stuck in place with my thoughts. “How about a hundred dollars?” I nodded my head in response. “That way, when you get fed up with me, you’ll move right on out with no worries for cash.” 

“Thank you,” I said quietly. 

When my eyes met his again, it was almost like the air was taken from my lungs. I was seeing him in a new light. 

He might have been annoying at first, but it was because I had put all of these walls around myself to protect myself from being hurt. The realization was that I didn’t know how to deal with those emotions. I didn’t want to let the walls I had desperately tried to build collapse into a pile of rubble. 

I let my body react in its own way. I got to my knees and reached myself over the table, placing a small kiss on his lips. “Thank you,” I repeated.