Fortunately, after the bowl of soup and an hour of talk, Kayla decided to go home. Sebastian brought the bowls back to the kitchen while Kayla got ready to leave. She stepped to the front door, followed by the pair.

Before opening the door, she stopped right at the door, looking at her son. “Listen, Chet,” she reminded, pointing a finger at her son. “Take care of yourself.”

Rolling his eyes, Chester replied in a bored tone. “Yeah, yeah.”

“And—” she tried to say something, but then glanced at Sebastian and back to Chester. She shook her head. “Don’t silent your phone. I’ll call later.”

Chester nodded, waving a goodbye to her mother as she opened the door and stepped out. As the woman closed the door behind her, the pair remained on the doorstep, eyeing the door in silent.

Chester knew exactly what she wanted to say at the end—again, most likely about him finding an Alpha. She didn’t say it because she was trying to be ‘considerate’ to Sebastian who was ‘merely a Beta’ in her eyes.

He turned his gaze towards the college boy next to him, which caught the boy’s attention right away. Forcing a grin that turned into a grimace, he said with heavy tone, “Well, it is what it is.”

Sebastian could notice the mixed feelings in his tone. Spinning himself around, Chester strode back inside, slumping down on his couch and sighing. Sebastian followed him, sitting back down on the stool he used before. His eyes followed Chester, examining the office worker’s exasperated huff.

Leaning his head back and gazing at the ceiling, Chester debated whether to talk or not. He had an urge to spill everything to Sebastian—whatever was weighing his mind, he wanted to share them to someone. That someone would be Sebastian—he trusted him, and he wanted to trust him more. In the end, he resolved to tell Sebastian. “My family is full of Betas,” he started, garnering the attention of the Alpha. “Well, my dad, specifically, has a family full of Betas.”

Sebastian clasped his hands and placed his elbows on his laps, leaning a tad bit closer as he listened to Chester.

“My mom was the one that brought the gene in her bloodline, even though her parents and grandparents were also Betas,” Chester continued, assuming that Sebastian had full focus on him. “I’m the only Omega in my family, and she blamed herself for my second sex.”

Chester bit his bottom lip. Even from his seat, Sebastian could see that Chester was agitated and in verge of tears. He wanted to rub his back to soothe him, but he knew that he shouldn’t get too close right now.

“That’s why, she tries so hard to have me mate with an Alpha,” he gritted his teeth. “She is really conservative—she thinks marriage and giving birth are the end all be all. She’s nagging me constantly about finding an Alpha this, finding and Alpha that. I hate that—”

Chester caught a long breath.

“I mean... I get that she’s concerned about me, but... I don’t want to be defined only by my secondary sex,” Chester’s eyes clouded in gloom as they started to water in tears. His emotions overflowed—and he blamed his heat period. He rubbed the tears away a little too hard, causing his eyes to feel burning. “I—I don’t want my worth to be dismissed as a mere property of an Alpha that can’t even see me past my sex.”

Sebastian was speechless. He tried to suppress the urge to stand up and walk towards Chester to rub on his back. He couldn’t—at least, not now. He dropped his gaze, fidgeting his fingers while his mind debated whether to comfort the other man or not.

In the end, Chester grew calm by himself. He rubbed his eyes one more time before flickering his teary eyes towards the man who had been listening to him. “Thank you for listening,” he said in a sore voice. “Sorry—what I said was insensitive.”

Sebastian cocked his head, confused of which part of Chester’s word that was insensitive. Upon realizing what Chester meant, his mouth gaped in O-shaped. “No, no, it’s alright,” he assured, waving his hands in an assurance. “I’m not in place to tell you that not all Alphas are bad. I believe you know that some Alpha aren’t inherently bad, but that doesn’t discredit your dislikes. After all, I don’t know what you’ve been through.”

The words comforted Chester that he formed a faint smile almost immediately. He sighed. “You’re a nice guy,” he said. “Why are you an Alpha?”

The Alpha chuckled—more at the fact that Chester was comfortable enough to banter rather than the remark itself. “So I can be your fated partner, y’know?” he deflected Chester’s words in a friendly manner.

Snorting and pursing his lips, Chester tried to suppress his laughter. “Don’t get cocky, man,” he replied, waving his hand to shoosh the man away. “You’re a thousand years early.”

“Damn, that’s long,” Sebastian made an ugly pout, causing Chester to finally burst in laughter. Seeing his fated partner freely expressing himself and finally smiling again, Sebastian gazed at him in adoration, learning every move and expression the man could make.

Maybe, he was really in love after all—and it wasn’t a work of fate. It was genuinely him falling in love with Chester as an individual, rather than him being infatuated by the idea of fated partner.

“I know I can’t always understand what you’re going through,” he said in a serious tone, in the end. “But, just know that you can always rely on me.”

And Chester—he grew into a smile of gratitude, one that was warm and thankful and genuine. Perhaps, it was the best moment that could happen in his heat period—and he was grateful. He was really, really grateful.