Monday rolled around as Leo walked into school. He met Cecil, Ruben, and Jo as they walked to class. “How was your week?” Ruben asked Leo. 

“It was the usual,” Leo commented, keeping his conversations with Niko private. His friends still don’t know that he is talking to Niko in the first place, and he doesn’t know when he will tell them. “How about you?” 

“I went to watch the new horror movie with Jo and Cecil,” Ruben responded. “It was okay,” Jo added. 

“You went to watch a horror movie?” Leo asked Cecil. Doesn’t Cecil hate horror movies? Leo thought with surprise. 

Cecil scratched his cheek, flustered, “People said it wasn’t scary, and I wanted to try it. I know you like horror movies, but you cannot go to the movie theater, so I wanted to watch and try to recount it for you.” 

“Thanks, I guess. Hopefully, it wasn’t scary like they said. What was it about?” 

“To me, it wasn’t, but Cecil kept hiding in Ruben’s shoulder so he won’t be able to give you a recount about the plotline,” Jo commented. 

This time, Cecil was full-on blushing. The redness filled his face, ears, and neck. “Why did you say that!” Cecil exclaimed, causing the others to laugh. Ruben patted his shoulder, trying to comfort him. 

Leo and Jo couldn’t stop laughing. “Well, it was a good try, so I give you that.” Leo thought he should give some comforting words. Cecil pouted. 

Times like this are when Leo can deal with Cecil. He likes it when Cecil is a friend rather than trying to force them to be together. It would be better if Cecil could stay this way; he wishes Cecil could let go of his feelings and delusions for him.

“I am never trying a horror movie again nor trusting people when they say something is not scary.” Cecil declared. 

They entered the classroom, taking their seats as other people started to fill in. The professor was already at their desk, starting the smart board. Once everyone had their laptops and notebooks out, the lecture began. 

Leo didn’t bring his laptop and decided to write his notes, but after a few minutes, he started doodling on his notes page. Cecil, sitting next to him, glanced over and saw Leo distracting himself. “Do you want to copy my notes later?” He whispered. 

“If you don’t mind.” Leo agreed. He should have brought his laptop because he wouldn’t get distracted like now. But, he didn’t feel like bringing it today. 

“I don’t.” Cecil returned to paying attention to the professor, ensuring he had all the notes for Leo. 

Twenty minutes passed when something unexpected happened. At first, no one noticed anything, but one student started getting uncomfortable. Their face flushed, they started sweating, and their breathing became slightly erratic. They felt weak, gripping the desk with battered breath when a smell of spring spread around the classroom, hitting the small radius of people around the flushed student harder. 

When the smell landed in Leo and his friends' area, Leo bent over and started gagging. His head felt like cotton as nausea hit him hard. 

Everyone in the class began standing, while most started moving away from the flushed student, who began sliding to the floor, feeling weak. 

“An omega is going into heat!” Someone yelled, causing the class to become chaotic. 

Leo took his mask off, as it no longer helped, especially when he felt his vomit coming. Ruben and Jo tried helping Leo while Cecil backed away, covering his nose. An omega’s heat could trigger other omegas to go into heat. And even though Ruben was an alpha, he had a higher tolerance to omega pheromones. 

Leo pushed Ruben and Jo away as he landed on his knees, throwing up everything in his stomach. The pheromones were suffocating him, making him sicker by the minute. 

The professor grabbed an emergency inhibitor from their desk and ran towards the omega in heat, yelling, “Everyone, out of the classroom!” 

Leo swallowed the rest of his vomit, feeling his vision blacking out. He couldn’t stand as his whole body felt weak. Jo pulled out a rag she kept and sprayed perfume on it. She gave the rag to Ruben as Ruben picked up Leo. He put the rag to Leo’s nose, blocking out the omega’s pheromones. Leo could only rest on Ruben, taking in greedy inhales to gain strength back into his body. 

But the damage was already done, and he passed out as Ruben carried him out of the classroom. 

When Leo woke up, he was lying on the bed in the Student Health Center. A nurse was sitting near him, holding a Gatorade bottle. Leo quickly sat up, covering his nose, which only made him dizzy. 

The nurse stopped him from moving any further, “It is okay. Your friends mentioned that you could not be around pheromones, so we’ve moved you to a private area. Here, you should drink this.” 

Leo took the Gatorade, noticing that he couldn’t smell any pheromones here. He took a gulp, feeling a little better, but still weak. 

“How are you? I know your friends told me about your pheromone disorder. Are there any medications you are taking for your condition?” The nurse asked. 

“I am fine and not taking any medications,” Leo replied. His mouth tasted horrible. I would love to brush my teeth, though. He thought. 

“Is it okay for me to check your temperature and blood pressure?” The nurse continued. 

Leo nodded as the nurse went to get the instruments to check his temperature and blood pressure. After seeing everything was normal, the nurse asked Leo a few more questions before leaving him alone. 

Resting on the bed, he pulled out his phone, which he had felt vibrating earlier. He saw messages from the group chat he, Cecil, Ruben, and Jo had formed. 

[Ruben: Are you awake? How are you feeling? Sorry, we left, but I know you don’t like having others around after an attack.]  

[Cecil: Is there anything you need? I have your backpack with me.] 

[Jo: Let us know if you want us to return.] 

He smiled at his friend’s care; he knew he had freaked them out earlier. Leo also felt bad for the janitor who would have to clean up his vomit left in the classroom. 

[Leo: I am fine. Thank you. I will stay at the health center for half an hour before leaving. I’ll text again once I am ready to go.] 

[Ruben: Okay, we will wait for you.] 

[Jo: Aye, Aye, Captain.] 

[Cecil: Okay, I hope you feel better!] 

Leo exited the group chat and went to his social media. He posted a message telling his viewers that he would not stream today but would stream for four hours tomorrow to make up for it. After making the post, he exited and decided to rest. 

Not long after, his phone vibrated again. He knew it wasn’t from notifications, because he usually kept his notifications from post mute. He saw that Niko had messaged him. 

When he unlocked his phone, the message said: 

[Mad Dog: Why aren’t you streaming today? Did something happen?] 

Leo felt warm when he saw Niko instantly messaging him. 

[Masks: An omega went into heat during class. Due to my disorder, I ended up throwing up and passing out.] 

[Mad Dog: Aw, poor baby. How are you feeling right now?] 

Leo blushed when Niko called him baby. Since that day, when Leo agreed to be good for him, Niko has been calling him ‘baby.’ It wasn’t all the time, but a few slipped out. 

[Masks: Better, but I want to relax for the rest of the day.] 

[Mad Dog: I understand. Although my disorder makes me violent, I still want to relax. Do you want me to help you relax, baby?] 

Leo bit his cheek, not fully understanding what Niko meant by his question. But for some reason, the unknown feeling excited him. 

[Masks: Relax, how?]

[Mad Dog: When you return home, I will help you relax for the rest of the day. Let me know when you make it back home, okay?] 

[Masks: Okay.] 

[Mad Dog: I will let you rest for now. Remember to call me when you are home. Talk to you later.] 

[Masks: Hmm, talk to you later.] 

The call ended as Leo pocketed his phone. He took another sip of his Gatorade, wondering what Niko would do to help him relax. Were they going to play Starlight Journey or casually talk for the rest of the day? Leo couldn’t guess. He felt it was impossible to rest because his mind was moving a mile a minute. 

Leo didn’t know that once he went home and found out what Niko would do to help him relax, he would unlock something new that would never close, no matter how much he thought it could. Once those doors open, there is no going back. 

When that moment arrives, Leo has no choice but to move forward. 

Note: What do you think Niko has in store for Leo?