Chapter 3: Conflicting Thoughts

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Robin has a part time job at his aunt's salon. He doesn't actually know how to cut hair, he works at the front desk. He's the receptionist, taking calls and dealing with customers—for the most part he makes appointments and takes complaints.

He only works about three to four days a week, usually in the last few hours before they close at 8. He likes the job, since he doesn't really have to do much. Also, when they're not busy, he can play games or talk to Jude on his phone. Sometimes Jude will visit or the hairdressers will teach him things, too.

"Bye!" Robin calls to his aunt, Margo. She gives him a distracted wave from where she's busy organizing some hair care products. He leaves out the back and walks the short distance to his house. When he enters, he hears his parents in the other room watching TV. His little sister, Kat, is probably in there as well. He just makes his way up the steps and into his bedroom, throwing his wallet and house key on the floor and changing out of his work clothes.

After he's in some comfortable clothes, he walks over to his Playstation and loads up a shooter game. He honestly doesn't plan on doing his homework until later, instead wanting to wind down and play some video games first.

It's about thirty minutes later, when Robin's phone begins ringing. He glances at it, and spots Jude's name flashing.

He presses the green button. Immediately, Jude starts talking.

"Is—Robin, hey, is your window locked?"

Robin glances at his TV screen, then presses the pause button. Robin's window is literally never locked, is that even a question?

"No. Why?"

Robin hears some grunting sounds, then his window opens. He looks over at the sound and watches as his best friend tumbles through the opening, phone falling out of his hand as he lands on the floor.

The first thing Robin notices, is that the guy looks rough. His eyes widen in surprise at the scrapes covering Jude's arms. His blue shirt has a somewhat decent amount of blood on it, and his cheek is bruising. Robin has a pretty good idea of what happened, and the thought causes a surge of irritation, but he still stands up to assist Jude in getting to a seated position on his desk chair.

Robin thinks that probably the worst part about this is that this isn't the first time Jude has shown up to his house bruised and bloody, and most likely not the last. It doesn't help that it's always for the same reason.

"What happened?" Robin asks as he dampens some paper towels from his bathroom and comes back over to Jude, beginning the process of cleaning the guy up. He already knows, and his tone betrays it. Still, Jude responds;

"Miles says hi." Robin can't help but feel irritated at Jude repeating his words from yesterday, though he honestly should have expected it.

Robin sighs. "Why?"

"You know why."

Robin tries not to feel annoyed with this guy, since he knows he has his best interest at heart. Still, Jude's hotheadedness is getting out of hand. Usually Robin can at least get through to him, but the guy flat went against his wishes and picked a fight with Miles for no reason.

"After I told you to leave it alone?"

"Robin," Jude starts as Robin begins dabbing away the semi-dried blood on his face and hands. "He needs to know not to mess with you."

"Why?" Robin asks, unable to mask the bite in his tone. "Why can't he mess with me? Why is it such a big deal?"

"Are you forgetting the time he scraped your whole arm on concrete? And almost broke your finger? The only reason he's never done worse is because I keep him in check."

Robin frowns, beginning to clean Jude's few wounds with hydrogen peroxide. He's not too badly injured, but it's still upsetting to look at. He already has a few bruises forming. Robin recalls the instance Jude is referring to. If he remembers right, that was the day that they released the class rankings and it was revealed that Jude was first in the class, Miles second. The guy wanted to mess Robin up a bit to get back at Jude.

Jude didn't react well, to say the least. Robin doesn't know the details, but Miles didn't show up to school for a few days after that.

"I can take care of myself, Jude." Robin replies, and his irritation is leaking through his voice now.

Jude looks up at him, and Robin meets his gaze head on. Even sitting in his chair while Robin stands, the two of them are almost eye level. They get caught in an eye lock and Robin feels determination. He honestly can't reiterate enough how much he hates being an omega. Being caught in a stare down with an alpha has all of his senses in overdrive, and the longer it continues the worse it gets. Everything in Robin is telling him to look away and submit, and he hates it.

Robin's hands start to shake as he ignores his nature. He knows he's going to have to look away soon and admit defeat.

"You've said that for years, but your neck is still bruising and your arm is scarred."

Robin snaps.

"Why can't you just leave it alone? God, you always do this. It's not a big deal."

"Yeah it is, because it keeps happening."

"Just move on, Jude. It's none of your business. I don't need you to take care of me."

"You clearly do."

"No I don't!" Robin is so sick of arguing about the same thing over and over, but he hates it when Jude treats him like this. "I am perfectly capable of handling it myself. It's not your business. You aren't my alpha."

Robin freezes when those words leave his mouth, and finally breaks eye contact. He steps back as what he just said really processes in his mind. Oh shit.

"What?"

Robin refuses to meet Jude's eyes as he internally panics about what to do in this situation. Oh no, that's probably the most suspicious thing he's ever said regarding his secret. This is not good.

"I said I don't need you to take care of me."

"You said I'm not your alpha."

Robin's in trouble.

Slowly, he drags his gaze over to Jude, who is staring at him inquisitively. He also looks a bit suspicious, and Robin wants to hide away from his piercing, icy gaze. His veins are set alight with panic as he internally freaks the fuck out.

"No I didn't." Wow, he just made this way worse. Denial is one of the dumbest things he could have done in this situation.

Jude doesn't even argue, just gets straight to the point (in typical Jude fashion). "You realize only omegas can be claimed by an alpha, right?"

"I-Uh..." Robin genuinely doesn't know what to say. "I don't know... you might have claimed someone and... uh... think I'm them or something."

God that makes no sense. Please don't catch on.

"What? You're not an omega."

Robin winces, and does little to hide it. He fucking wishes he wasn't an omega, goddamn. Jude gets this thoughtful look at Robin's reaction. Then, he says something that makes Robin almost pass out.

"...right?"

Robin does his best to get a handle on his composure—the future of he and Jude's relationship relies on it. "You know I haven't presented yet."

"Yeah," Jude replies, his tone a bit off. "You do kind of act like an omega sometimes, though."

Robin blinks, an expression of distaste taking over his features. What? He acts like an omega? But he tries so hard to hide it! He's literally risking so many health problems to keep this secret—specifically from Jude—and the guy thinks Robin acts like an omega?

"What? How?" Robin asks, anxiety being replaced with slight frustration. He's starting to feel a bit offended.

Jude shrugs, staring at Robin, examining his every reaction. God, Robin needs to be so careful right now. Jude is unbelievably smart and observant, one more wrong move and no doubt this guy will know.

"You're just kind of... small. You pretty much do whatever I say and you're really not confrontational. Also, you suck at eye contact."

At the last part, Robin realizes he'd been avoiding Jude's eyes. He can't help but to feel a bit uncomfortable. He knew that he sort of acted like that, but he had no idea he was this bad at keeping his nature hidden. Some things are just out of his control.

Robin looks up to meet the alpha's eyes, and is met with an expectant look. Robin is still on edge from the paranoia of nearly being found out—though he's still not in the clear—however he's a bit irritated at Jude's words. Being an omega is already bad enough, but being told that he acts like one? This is ridiculous.

"None of that is true." Robin replies, even though the more he thinks about it... well, he can come up with many instances that prove everything Jude just said to be correct. Robin hasn't ever really liked eye contact, especially with alphas, it makes him uncomfortable. He is around 5'5" which isn't super short, however about 95% of alphas are over 6 feet tall. Jude mentioned the other day that he needed to dye his roots, and Robin made plans for it immediately. Also, any conflict Robin has ever been in, he's deescalated.

"Yeah? Look at me, then."

Oh shit, Robin looked away. He didn't even realize it! He quickly snaps his gaze over to Jude's, and ignores every urge he has to look away. You'd think this would be easy for him after pretending for so long, but defying his nature will never be anything short of difficult.

"Jude, stop. You know I haven't presented. You'd smell me, and how would I have hidden my heats from you?" Robin begins convincing. "Besides, male omegas are rare."

Jude's expression softens a bit. Good, maybe he's starting to believe Robin. God, he hates lying to Jude. He was right, though, male omegas are rare. They can't get pregnant or anything, and they have the typical male body, but they're still not treated very well and suicide rates for them used to be extremely high, as well as homicide, so it's not very common in the gene pool.

Jude stares at him for a moment longer, before finally seeming to concede. "You're right. I know you wouldn't keep something like that from me."

Jesus, Robin already feels like shit about it, why did Jude have to say that? Robin scratches the back of his neck, internally pulling himself together and ignoring how guilty he feels. He grabs another paper towel, wetting it with the hydrogen peroxide, and continues cleaning Jude's wounds. His movements are a little shaky, and he's back to avoiding eye contact.

It's quiet for a while, until Jude is eventually cleaned up. Jude wasn't as badly injured as Robin originally thought, most of the blood on him wasn't his. Still, Robin isn't too happy. After Jude takes a shower, Robin watches him change out of his shirt and into one of the many that Robin keeps at his house. Jude has his own drawer in the dresser, and his clothing goes through the wash with Robin's frequently. Because of this, Robin ends up wearing Jude's clothes half the time.

Once Jude looks normal again, he walks over to stand in front of Robin, who is seated on the edge of his bed. Robin glances up from the book he'd been reading, and Jude is looking down at him.

"I'm not going to stop."

Robin purses his lips, knowing immediately what this guy is talking about. Jude isn't going to stop protecting him. Normally Robin would start arguing, but it's the middle of the night and almost being found out earlier was exhausting.

"I know."

Jude leans down, so that his face is even with Robin's. His intimidating blue eyes pierce through Robin's own, and it takes everything in the omega to not look away. Jude is really close like this, his hands on either side of Robin as he leans into his personal space. Their noses would be touching if the alpha were any closer, and this is kind of new. Robin isn't used to Jude being so... alpha-like with him.

"Then stop fighting me."

Robin feels really nervous right now, as well as an overwhelming urge to comply with whatever Jude asks of him. This is troubling, but Robin is in no frame of mind to resist it. Almost in a trance, he responds;

"Okay."

Jude seems satisfied with how compliant he's being, and finally pulls away. He doesn't even say goodbye as he climbs out Robin's window, closing it behind him. Once the alpha is gone, Robin falls back on his bed and stares up at the ceiling. His heart is racing, his cheeks flushed, but he knows that Jude is happy that Robin won't argue with him about Miles anymore.

The concept of pleasing an alpha—of pleasing Jude—has Robin feeling warm and content, despite losing the argument.

Robin closes his eyes, and falls asleep to the conflicting thoughts in his head.

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