Sehun was unsure how much time had passed. Someone easily could have told him he had been in the Omega Den for years and he might have believed them. It felt like he had been someone else for several days and then he was returned back to his body while sleeping one night. He woke up feeling like a new person, more jaded, more matured.

            “You’re back from the Fuzz!” A male Omega called to him, coming to clap him on the back in a celebratory fashion.

            “Fuzz?” Sehun’s throat was dry, and the word came out more like a gasp. He started coughing immediately after his attempt to speak. The young Omega laughed and brought Sehun a glass of water quickly.

            “The Fuzz is what the Omegas here call that time when you go into heat that you barely remember. It’s mostly primal urges, and you say and do stuff you wouldn’t normally do. When Alphas go hunting, or need to protect someone they sometimes go into their own version of the Fuzz.” The young boy explained. Sehun was gulping the water down ravenously and doing his best to listen to the long explanation.

            “Did I do anything terribly embarrassing while I was out?” Sehun asked, afraid of the answer.

            “Nothing really embarrassing, no. Lots of calling out, whining, which is normal. You were ually needy too, so we gave you lots of our special concoction, which should have helped with the urges. You were a feisty thing though. You have a nose like no other. A Beta walked a little too close and you were up in a second, your nose alerted to his presence before any of us had picked up on it. Impressive actually.” The boy seemed to be acknowledging Sehun’s skill, and nodded approvingly.

            “I don’t remember any of this.” Sehun scrunched his face trying to bring up some memories.

            “Well that’s normal. That’s why it’s called the Fuzz. It’s fuzzy at best. Also, you did do something a little odd. First of all, you kept trying to howl in human form, which is unusual, but not super weird. The weirdest thing is that you would transform only parts of yourself into wolf form, like you couldn’t make the whole transformation. It could just be that you were reacting to primal instincts but it also seemed like your wolf and your human sides were arguing with each other. A claw here, a hand on the other side. An angry bark followed by a human voice yelling out. You definitely frightened the older Omegas here with your arguing.” The boy looked directly into Sehun’s eyes, as if staring him down. Sehun felt like the boy was digging deep into Sehun to try and uncover his secrets. The boy had these piercing blue eyes like Sehun had never seen, especially on a wolf. It was unsettling.  

            “Have you ever seen that kind of thing before?” Sehun asked nervously. He placed the empty glass on the ground, and wrung his hands anxiously.

            “Well, I haven’t. I’ve grown up here mostly in the Den but I’ve not been here the longest. Some of the older ladies said they’ve seen it happy to widowed Omegas, Omegas that had severe, often abusive relationship issues, and once with a very injured wolf.”

            “So now everyone thinks there are issues with Chanyeol and me?” Sehun inferred in monotone, already aware of the answer.

            “There are… rumors.” The boy had looked up for a moment to come up with the correct word. His eyes then went back directly into staring Sehun down.

            “Rumors like?” Sehun’s heart was racing. He had already done so much damage to Chanyeol; he didn’t want to add more to that. Not to mention this boy seemed to have some sort of end in mind for this conversation.

            “Well you aren’t widowed, much too young for that. You aren’t badly injured either…” The boy trailed off, his eyes wandered for a second and he took a breath before continuing. “It’s pretty obvious already you don’t have the best relationship together. You came here with Yixing, already in heat, and you smelled strongly of one of the other new Alphas who isn’t Chanyeol. You didn’t go to Chanyeol for your heat, yet his name was the one you called out. The Omegas here aren’t exactly sure what to make of it. Some think that the other Alpha may have forced himself on you and then Chanyeol rejected you. Others think that perhaps Chanyeol was cruel or physical with you, and you ran to another Alpha for protection and comfort. No one’s really sure… Except for you.” The boy now motioned toward Sehun. Sehun’s cheeks burned in shame. He didn’t expect someone who seemed so young to be so direct to him.

            “An Alpha named Luhan came around here to check up on how you were doing. He works with Yixing now, odd that he claimed to know nothing about what happened. He smelled awful familiar to me, but I hadn’t met him before. Not to mention he was supposed to be on his shift right before Yixing’s last night.  Chanyeol is also obviously confused, and has been pacing out around the Den almost every night, responding to lots of your whines. Yixing came once to check on you, and he wouldn’t say anything either. It’s definitely odd to say the least. Some think it has something to do with your isolation punishment.” The boy had gained more confidence now, and was stepping toward Sehun now. He seemed to be enjoying the fact that he was making Sehun feel small. Sehun was confused about the boy; at first he had seemed so nice, now cruel?

            “Who are you?” Sehun questioned angrily, trying to gather some confidence about him, and change the subject off of himself.

            “Oh, nobody of importance. I’m the son of a widowed Omega who was killed later in a raid on my village. No one has really even noticed that I’m here. You noticed though, especially during the height of your Fuzz. You growled at me even. So I think we can be friends.”

            A very odd boy indeed.

            “I’m an orphan too you know.”

            “Yes I know. Being invisible means that I pick up a lot. Now, let me get you another glass of water before you go.”

            The boy fetched another glass of water. Sehun was sure he had never seen this boy before, but he did find himself feeling affectionate toward him. He was an odd kid, but they seemed to have a lot in common. Perhaps Sehun could lead him in a good direction, especially considering that the boy seemed able to do some evil things.

            Sehun gulped the glass down in only two swallows. The boy smiled at him, and then motioned toward the entrance of the cave.

            “Your story awaits you, princess.”

            Sehun debated what to do. On the one hand he wanted to learn more about this odd boy, but it could wait. He had a lot to clear up with Chanyeol, and a job to start soon. Sehun took a deep breath that filled his lungs in the most reassuring way.

            “Shut up. You don’t get to call me princess. I’ll be back for you, just wait okay?” Sehun rubbed the top of his head in a brotherly way before going out to face the storm he had brewed up for himself.

            Sehun went first to his tent he shared with Chanyeol. Chanyeol deserved the first explanation. Standing outside the tent, Sehun could smell so strongly Chanyeol’s scent. Sehun’s had almost faded entirely from the site. With a last pep talk, Sehun opened the tent softly.

            Asleep. Chanyeol was asleep, quite soundly it seemed from the look of it. He looked worse for wear, as though he had barely slept. Sehun guessed the little boy had been telling the truth about Chanyeol pacing near the Omega Den. He definitely looked exhausted. Sehun felt his heart soften, and laid down on the other side of the tent to join Chanyeol in a daytime nap. Sehun wasn’t extremely tired mentally, but his body had been through a lot in the past couple of days and needed a break. He drifted off to the sound of Chanyeol’s even breathing feeling warmer inside and out than he remembered feeling in a long time. He felt like he was in the calm before the storm.

            “Sehun?” A sleepy questioning voice woke Sehun up from his happy napping state. He recognized it immediately as Chanyeol’s and felt his heart start racing. He had a lot of explaining to do and he really hoped Chanyeol wouldn’t leave him after telling him about his sickness. He felt it was the inevitable end.

            Sehun groaned in response. He tried to move but the soreness from his activity during his heat had caught up to him. He felt like he was covered in lead.

            “Sehun?” Chanyeol was more alert, more concerned. Groaning apparently a bad idea; now he had scared the poor Alpha.

            “M’alright.” Sehun mumbled, pushing himself off the ground with another involuntary groan. Chanyeol was looking at him, eyes full of mixed emotion. His body was poised and ready to embrace Sehun, but Sehun could see the conflict in his eyes about whether or not to reach out.

            “I was so worried, Sehun. Everything happened so suddenly. You ran away and I decided not to chase you, but I should have. I could have kept you from Luhan. I’m sorry. Then later I saw you and you looked like you were in so much pain, and I couldn’t help you. I’m a terrible Alpha, I’m so so sorry Sehun.” Chanyeol was tearing up and it was killing Sehun to look on.

            “No! No, no no. You can’t be sorry. Everything is my fault. I have so much to explain to you. Luhan didn’t do anything to me, I started things with Luhan.” Sehun admitted, lowering his eyes as he remembered his make out session with the Alpha.

“You kissed him first?” Chanyeol looked hurt again. Sehun wanted to kcik himself; he really couldn’t get anything of this right. “Why? Was it your heat?”

            “Well a little yes and a little no. I… Well I was testing him, and myself, and kissing too I guess?” Sehun trailed off as he tried to phrase things correctly, he just seemed to be making things worse.

            “You wanted to test him ually then?” Chanyeol’s voice was getting quieter and quieter each time he spoke. He looked like a beaten puppy, and Sehun felt terrible.

            “Wait, I really need to start from the beginning. None of this is coming out right!” Sehun groaned in frustration, and hit himself on the forehead.

            “Hey no need to beat yourself up. If you like Luhan more than me, I understand. He’s really quite attractive, and…” Chanyeol’s voice faltered as though he were about to cry.

            “Chanyeol, no, please. Luhan is nothing, he was an experiment. You mean more to me. Look, I was in heat, right? When you’re in heat you go through this thing called the Fuzz apparently and you do and say stuff you don’t remember. I didn’t call out Luhan’s name, I called out yours. Does that prove anything to you? In my time of basic unconsciousness, I called out for you.” Sehun was enthusiastically trying to get his point across. He couldn’t stand the pathetic look on Chanyeol’s face anymore.

            “You don’t like Luhan? Then why kiss him? And so much? I mean we kissed, but not the same way you did with Luhan from what he told me.  I don’t understand Sehun. In fact, I don’t understand you at all. You avoid me constantly. You’ve made it very clear you wish you could have been left alone and I’ve done my best to give you space. Then you go and make out with my previous pack mate, and you tell me you do in fact have feelings for me and not him. I want to understand. Help me understand.” Chanyeol was finally getting it all out. He was angry, and wanted Sehun to know just how much. It wasn’t fair for him to be treated like this, and he was tired of holding it in.

            Sehun took a deep shaky breath. He really was going to have to start from the beginning. He felt his heart breaking as he knew he was going to tell Chanyeol about his flaws, his issues, and he knew this was the beginning of the end.

            “I know you’re angry, I know you’re confused, and you have every right to be. Let me speak for a while, I have a lot to explain.” A pause. “Before you showed up, and before Baekhyun and I were even truly friends, I was just a young pup. I couldn’t do what the other pups were doing though once we got older. I was constantly tired, and I was useless in hunting and fighting. Once I was old enough to know I was an Omega, everyone was relieved because I was such a bad fighter.” Sehun laughed bitterly as he remembered all of his failed attempts at hunting and fighting. Chanyeol was listening intently, leaned forward on his hands. “I had no friends, no use, and no family. So I ran away into the human world to look for answers. I went to a doctor, sure they would tell me I was dying somehow, but they didn’t.” Sehun paused, and closed his eyes. He could feel tears building up and he was trying so hard to hold them back. He took a few shaky breaths and couldn’t find it in him to continue speaking. Chanyeol scooted over toward Sehun and put a reassuring hand on his back, rubbing slowly.

            “Keep going.” He spoke softly, with a tone Sehun had never heard before. It was loving and empathetic, but somehow held so much authority.

            “I’m sick, Chanyeol. I’m broken. The doctor said I would feel tired for the rest of my life. Chronically tired, Chronically fatigued. I get migraines, and I’m a sad excuse for a wolf. I can’t contribute anything because my body won’t let me. I’ve been given an excuse for the rest of my life to just be a lazy good-for-nothing wolf. I couldn’t bring anyone into my world. The Alpha wouldn’t kill me despite that I was useless. I even asked. Baekhyun became my friend somehow, and he forced me to face life. He really saved me. I was up on shaky legs, barely out of my own isolation. Then you showed up and called me your mate. I shut down and couldn’t handle it. I made the conscious decision to keep you out, to keep myself in isolation so I didn’t bring anyone down with me.”

Sehun gave a sad smile to Chanyeol, “I couldn’t help myself though. You were so kind and considerate. No matter how cruel I was to you to try and push you away, you knew exactly what to do. Then, I kissed you. I blamed it on my heat, but I really wanted to.” Chanyeol blushed at this, and felt very conscious of his hand on Sehun’s back.

            “What about Luhan?”

            “He was a relapse of sorts.” Sehun juggled some words in his head, “I don’t really know what that was. I was shocked at having kissed you. Luhan had said some… objectifying things so I figured I would use it to my advantage. I had this stupid notion I had to prove to myself that a kiss didn’t mean anything, so I kissed Luhan. Even though it was more intense, I kept thinking of our kiss.” It was Sehun’s turn to blush, and he felt the weight and heat of Chanyeol’s presence next to him.

            “And that’s why you pushed me away? Because you thought no one wanted a sick mate?” Chanyeol asked directly, processing all of the new information in his head. Sehun flinched as he heard the words come out of Chanyeol’s mouth.

            “Basically. I mean, I’m not an Omega to be proud of, so I understand that you regret your choice.” Sehun responded, heart pounding as he waited for Chanyeol’s response. He knew that Chanyeol would wish for a different mate, one that didn’t need so much constant care and attention. Sehun was waiting for Chanyeol’s polite rejection with closed eyes.

            Sehun had expected to hear the tent opening perhaps, imagining Chanyeol to go on a walk and think about everything. Maybe he was waiting for Chanyeol to say something off topic, to try and avoid the subject of them mating altogether. He even was ready for Chanyeol to insult him for how horrible he’d been to him through this whole thing, only to be a letdown in the end. One thing Sehun was not ready for was the sudden feeling of Chanyeol’s lips on his own.

            This kiss was different, more sure than the last they had shared. Sehun knew this kiss meant something, even without the intensity that he had forced with Luhan. Sehun kept his eyes closed, still sure at some point that Chanyeol would choose to leave him. Chanyeol had come around to the front of Sehun, and was sitting with his knees touching Sehun’s. One of his hands was on Sehun’s thigh, the other was caressing his nape. Chanyeol had thought of all kinds of words to say to Sehun, but nothing could get his feelings across as much as this kiss. Chanyeol took charge and kept the pace slow, trying desperately to get his message across. A quick pull away for a breath and glance at Sehun showed Chanyeol that it wasn’t working. Sehun’s fists were balled, and tears were falling. Chanyeol pulled away completely, and Sehun noticed felt the cold air replace the warmth of Chanyeol.

            Sehun was sure this was a pity kiss, a last sign of respect for what their relationship could have been. He was sure the ephemeral moment was already over, and he felt a sob rack his body as Chanyeol pulled away. He refused to look, he didn’t want to watch Chanyeol leave him.

            “Open your eyes.” Chanyeol commanded lightly, his heart aching as he watched Sehun make himself so upset.

            “I don’t want t-to watch you l-leave me.” Sehun’s words cut straight to Chanyeol’s heart.

            “I’m not leaving you.” Chanyeol grabbed Sehun by his shoulders, and lifted him into Chanyeol’s lap. Sehun’s legs straddled Chanyeol in order to be comfortable, but it felt too intimate for Sehun. Sehun opened his eyes at this point from the surprise of being moved, and was met with Chanyeol’s eyes looking directly into his.

            “Hello again.” Chanyeol smiled, “I haven’t seen your eyes in awhile. I’ve missed them. Always so expressive, even when you’re trying not to make eye contact with me.”

            “I don’t understand.” Sehun said, trying to get more distance between himself and Chanyeol, but squirming only made things more… intimate.

            “I’m not leaving you, now or later. I still think you’d make a fantastic mate, the best in fact, if you’d have me still. I gave you my story already, and now I have yours. Seems like a fair trade to me. Now stop your crying, I want to see a happy Sehun.” Chanyeol made a dramatic frowning face and Sehun smiled at the attempt to lighten the mood.

            “What about my sickness? That’s not something that’s going away.” Sehun reminded.

            “It’s not going away, neither am I. Every couple has things they need to work out. We’ll work around it. I love taking care of you, and I hate to see you in pain. I don’t care if I have to work for the rest of my life; I want to make you happy. I just hope you feel similarly for me.” Chanyeol gave a shy smile to Sehun, who returned it.

            “I do want you to be happy. I just think happy would be with someone else, someone less flawed.”

            Chanyeol reached up and wiped away some of the tears that sat on Sehun’s face before responding, “We’re all flawed, Sehunnie. I’ve done lots of things wrong myself, one of them being taking so long to talk with you. I’m a rash decision maker, I am constantly late to things, I’m a bit reckless, and when I was a kid I used to break things constantly. My pack mates say that I snore badly during the spring time, Luhan says it’s probably unchecked allergies. I don’t like to speak in front of crowds, and despite that I’m good at hunting moose and fish, I can’t catch a rabbit for my life, they’re too fast!” Chanyeol laughed, “Everyone has things wrong with them. Yours is significant, but it’s nothing to stop loving you for.”

            “Love? That’s kind of strong.” Sehun said shyly, but his smile and red cheeks gave away how much he liked it.

            “I would say so.” Chanyeol switched to a babying voice, “Is someone afwaid to say the world wuv~ Do you wuv me Sehunnie?”

            “I’m not a child.” Sehun pouted, “You don’t have to patronize me. Also, you’re ridiculous.”

            “I am ridiculous, another flaw to add to that list I suppose. Also, I don’t know, I could have sworn I just saw a crying baby in front of me just a second ago.” Chanyeol joked, poking at Sehun’s sides to tickle him. Sehun couldn’t help but laugh and he let out a sigh of relief as he realized Chanyeol meant what he said about not leaving. This made Sehun’s heart swell. He could have his dream: A mate who loved him, sickness and all. He could finally be himself completely with someone. He also didn’t have to suffer his heats alone like the last one. This gave Sehun a thought suddenly.

            “Would a child do this?” Sehun sassed, feeling cheeky all of the sudden. He grinded down on Chanyeol, taking advantage of this position Chanyeol had put them into. Chanyeol’s face showed his shock, and he bit his lip to hold back a groan.

            “No, definitely not.”

            Sehun laughed once again, and then let his head rest on Chanyeol’s chest. He decided not to continue the ual turn of their interaction.

            “I’m sorry I took so long to talk to you.” Sehun said, enjoying the warmth that Chanyeol gave off.

            “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you earlier. I’m not a very good Alpha.” Chanyeol chuckled. The noise reverberated through his chest, and Sehun could feel it resonate through him.

            “Well I’m not a very good Omega.”

            “Maybe we’ll make a good pair after all then.”

            They stayed like that, hugging and close for almost the whole day. Only their grumbling stomachs could make them part. Sehun then knew he needed to prepare Chanyeol for the onslaught of emotion that Baekhyun would likely bring once they told him that they were kind of together now. After a proper briefing session, the new couple went off to find Baekhyun and Jongdae (or Chen as Chanyeol continued to call him).

Author's Notes: THIS WAS SO HARD FOR ME TO WRITE. Wow, but I did it. So glad I finally get to write happycouple!Chanhun hahahaha y times to come soon, as well as more Mamma Baek. Considering a side chapter with Chenbaek, maybe during Baek's heat. Thoughts? Thanks for being so patient, love ya'll and love to hear what you think!