After Charles helped Benjamin off the carriage, Benjamin tried to pull away. He moved towards the clinic with heavy, uncoordinated steps.

"You can go home now," Benjamin said, breathing heavily and leaning against the door. "Thank you for taking me to the market. I just... I need to shower and rest."

"No," Charles said, his voice firm. "I'm worried. You look like you're about to collapse. Once you're settled in, I'll leave."

Too exhausted to argue, Benjamin simply nodded and made his way up to his room with heavy footsteps. He dropped his bag by the dresser. The bag tipped over, spilling its contents across the floor. Benjamin didn't notice and didn't look back as he disappeared into the bathroom.

Charles knelt to gather the items. His hands stilled as he picked up several dark glass vials. He turned one over.

Extra-Strength Scent Blocker, the label read. Nearby lay a pack of unlabeled pills. Is this for his patients? Charles wondered, his brow furrowing.

He tucked the items back into the bag and stepped out into the hallway and leaned against the railing, looking down into the quiet, darkened waiting room of the clinic below. 

When he heard the bathroom door creak open and the sound of Benjamin's shuffling footsteps, Charles hurried downstairs to the kitchen. He returned with a large ceramic bowl filled with cold water.

Benjamin was sitting on the edge of his bed, draped in a thin robe. The harsh redness of his face had faded into a sickly, pale flush.

"Do you have any towels?" Charles asked. "I brought cold water."

"Thank you... but really, Charles, you should go," Benjamin whispered. He swayed slightly, his eyes half closed. "I'm fine."

"Where are the towels, Ben?"

"Bathroom," Benjamin sighed, finally giving up and collapsing back onto the pillows.

By the time Charles returned with the towels, Benjamin's breathing had turned heavy and ragged. Charles soaked a small towel, wrung it out, and gently laid it across Benjamin's forehead. The heat radiating from the doctor's skin was alarming.

"Do you need medicine?"

"Mmm... no... already took..." Benjamin's voice trailed off into a weak mumble.

"Okay. I'll stay right here. If you need anything, just ask." Charles sat on the floor, resting his back against the side of the bed.

"Just... go... I'm fine..." Benjamin's whisper was barely audible.

"I'll leave when you fall asleep," Charles promised.

But sleep didn't come easily. Benjamin began to toss, his fists clenching the sheets. Charles replaced the warmed towel with a fresh, cold one, but the fever wasn't subsiding.

Suddenly, a sweet, familiar fragrance began to fill the room. It was the scent of sun-ripened strawberries.

Charles froze. Is he in heat? As Charles came to the realization, his heart started pounding. He's never shown signs of it before. He must have been suppressing it with those blockers.

To ease Benjamin's heat, Charles allowed his own pheromones to release a deep, grounding scent of rain-washed earth. He let them wrap around Benjamin like a heavy quilt. 

Previously, when Benjamin had unintentionally released his pheromones in his sleep, the amount was minimal. But now, his pheromones were overflowing and the air was thick with his sweet scent.

Charles felt a familiar heat rising in his body and a growing bulge that tightened his trousers. He grit his teeth as he tried to hold back his own body from acting out. He took deep breaths in and out, calming himself.

"It smells... nice..." Benjamin mumbled, his body finally beginning to relax under the alpha's pheromones. 

When Benjamin finally drifted into deep sleep, Charles knew he couldn't leave him like this. He stepped out briefly to signal Calix and Felix, instructing them to bring a change of his clothes and a pot of light porridge from the palace and his own herbal suppressants.

While he waited, he searched Benjamin's room for heat regulators, medication that regulated body temperature. He found a small pill pack hidden at the very back of a dresser drawer. 

After he had taken his own herbal suppressants, and had washed up and changed into the fresh clothes, Charles climbed onto the bed beside Benjamin. He pulled the doctor into his arms, releasing his pheromones again to keep the heat at bay.

As he lay there in the dark, Charles looked around the room. It was heartbreakingly sparse, just like the rest of the house and clinic. No photos, no memories or records of his travels, no traces of a life lived. Every book, with the exception of his novel, was academic.

It was as if the house belonged to someone who was prepared to vanish at any moment. Charles tightened his grip around Benjamin, as if he could anchor him to the world by force.

Hours later, when Charles woke up, it was already dark outside. He went downstairs to hear up some porridge. When he returned, he gently nudged Benjamin.

"Ben... Wake up for a moment."

"Mmm..."

"I need you to take your medicine and eat something. You'll feel worse if you don't."

Charles helped him swallow a pill and guided a glass of water to his lips. As Benjamin drank from the glass, some of the water had trickled down his chin. Charles wiped it away tenderly with the edge of a towel.

"Now, some porridge," Charles said.

Benjamin weakly shook his head, but Charles helped him sit up, supporting his weight. Unable to refuse, Benjamin began to take the offered spoonfuls.

"Your pheromones... they smell nice," Benjamin said in a weakened voice, his eyes unfocused.

Charles just smiled, feeding him until the bowl was half-empty. "You did good, Ben. You can lie back down now."

As Charles moved to set the bowl on the desk, he felt a weak tug on his shirt.

"Stay," Benjamin said weakly. "Don't go..."

Charles was deeply moved, his heart swelling. He set the porridge down and crawled back into bed, pulling Benjamin's head onto his chest.

"Your pheromones," Benjamin whispered, tucking his face into the crook of Charles's neck.

"As you wish," Charles replied, letting his earthy scent fill the room.

As Benjamin's breathing finally slowed into a deep, regular rhythm, Charles whispered into the silence, "I don't know what you're hiding. But, I'm glad I can just be here with you... I hope you won't be too upset with me tomorrow morning."

He planted a kiss on Benjamin's temple and finally allowed himself to get some needed rest.

** ** ** ** ** **

The next morning, Charles woke to find the other side of the bed cold and empty. The room had been cleaned. The damp towels, the bowl of water, and the half-empty bowl of porridge from the night before were all gone. Everything had been cleaned.

Following the sound of clinking dishes, he walked downstairs to find Benjamin in the kitchen, his back to the door, washing the dishes from the previous night.

"Are you feeling better?" Charles asked, leaning against the doorframe.

Benjamin jumped. He spun around, his eyes wide, before quickly turning back to the sink.
"Thank you for taking care of me yesterday. I'm feeling much better today," he said, his voice quiet and unusually small.

He's being shy, Charles thought. How cute.

"I'm glad you're feeling better. I'm going to go wash up."

"What would you like for breakfast?" Benjamin asked, still refusing to meet Charles's gaze.

"Whatever you're having."

When Charles returned, clean and refreshed, he found Benjamin seated at the small dining table in the corner of the kitchen. A bowl of porridge and a cup of black coffee sat before the doctor, who was currently hiding behind a wide-open newspaper.

Across from him, a plate was piled high with an omelette folded over fresh herbs and tomatoes, golden fried potatoes, and sliced sausages. A steaming cup of coffee sat waiting.

At the sound of Charles's chair scraping the floor, Benjamin's hands tightened on the paper, lifting it even higher to shield his face.

Charles let out a soft laugh. "This looks delicious, Ben. Thank you. But why are you only having porridge?"

"I should be the one thanking you," Benjamin's voice came from behind the newspaper.

"I was worried sick yesterday," Charles said, digging into the potatoes.

Benjamin didn't reply. He sat in silence, gulping his coffee behind his newspaper. He probably didn't eat a thing yesterday because of me, Benjamin thought, feeling guilty. And now I can't even look him in the eye.

He nervously took a sip of his coffee, holding the newspaper with his left hand. The top right corner of the newspaper suddenly flopped over, revealing Charles staring right at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Benjamin scrambled to fix the paper and remained hidden behind it.

"Thank you for breakfast, Ben," Charles said after finishing his meal. "We should do this more often. But, your coffee is quite strong. You like it strong, don't you?"

"Mmhmm."

Charles stood up, leaning over the table. He reached out and gently pulled the top edge of the newspaper down, inch by inch, until Benjamin's petrified face was revealed.

"Why do you look like that?"

"Like what?" Benjamin chuckled nervously, his eyes darting around the room.

"You're not acting like yourself. Are you sure you aren't still feverish?" Charles asked, although he knew exactly what was happening.

"No, no. I'm all better, thanks to you. But... aren't you busy? You were here all day yesterday. I'm sure the palace is wondering where you are," Benjamin said, squirming in his seat.

"I'm not busy at all," Charles said, sitting back down. "Are you?"

"I'm not opening the clinic today. I need to rest." Benjamin looked down.

"Good. Then I'll stay here and rest with you."

Benjamin's eyes snapped up, wide with panic. "No, no, you should go back. It will be terribly boring here."

"You're kicking me out?" Charles pouted, acting as if he were hurt by Benjamin's words.

"Of course not!" Benjamin waved his hands dismissively. "I just meant—"

"It's never boring when I'm with you," Charles said in a soft, intimate tone that always made Benjamin's heart skip.

Benjamin blinked rapidly, then looked back at his lap. "What... what do you want to do?"

"What do you usually do when you're alone?"

"Exercise, clean, make herbal tinctures... read... I'm very boring, Charles."

"You? Far from it."

Benjamin nodded and thought, Why isn't he bringing up my pheromones? Why isn't he asking about the scent-blockers?

"Is there something you want to say?" Charles asked. "You look like you're holding something back. Come on, Ben."

"Um..." Benjamin felt his pulse racing. 

"Take your time…"

Charles noticed that Benjamin's face had turned pale. "Ben? Are you feeling right? Is the fever back?"

"I'm fine! It's just... yesterday..." Benjamin looked Charles straight in the eye, his words caught in his throat.

"So you want to talk about yesterday?" Charles prompted, suppressing a grin.

"It was... hot. The sun," Benjamin said, nodding frantically at the floor.

"It was. You were soaked," Charles agreed.

"You gave me medicine. And food. Thank you."

"I'm glad I was there to help you. Is there anything else?"

Benjamin just nodded.

"It's okay if you don't feel comfortable talking about it right now. I'll wash these dishes."

Charles moved to the sink, the sound of running water filling the kitchen. A moment later, he felt a presence beside him. Benjamin was standing there, hunched over, his fingers twisting the hem of his shirt.

"So... you know, right?" He looked up with wide beady eyes.

"Know what?" Charles asked, keeping his tone light as he rinsed a plate, and trying his best not to break out into laughter at the sight of Benjamin squirming.

"About... yesterday..."

"I know you were sick."

"About why I was sick," Benjamin said quietly.

"I'm not sure. Why don't you tell me?" Charles leaned down, his whisper brushing against Benjamin's ear.

Benjamin rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I'm... my secondary trait..."

Charles nodded.

"I'm… an Omega," Benjamin said, lowering his head and looking down.