Work Text:
It had been a rough day. Every time he answered an email, two more appeared in his inbox. When he printed this month’s report before the board meeting, the printer jammed. When he tried to unjam the paper, the toner cartridge exploded. Now, three of his fingers are grey and there’s a big black smudge on the front of his favourite baby blue jumper. He was thankful to take a break at noon, only to realise someone had stolen his lunch from the fridge.
By the end of the day, Harry was exhausted and defeated. He wanted nothing more than to curl up on the couch next to his alpha. He couldn’t wait to watch some Below Deck as Louis pet his fingers through his curls and scented him.
Before he could get to the relaxing part of the night, he needed to stop at Tesco. The list in his purse was short, just a few essentials that they were running low on. He considered putting it off until tomorrow, but he remembered pouring out the last of the milk into his travel mug before heading to work that morning. If he wanted milk for his tea tomorrow, he had to bear the busy shops now.
Thankfully, he made it through the shops with little incident. Even the queue at the register was not as long as he expected. His luck might have finally turned around.
He was back home before he knew it. He carried the reusable grocery sack into the house. Despite only grabbing a few essentials, those essentials were very heavy. He shifted the bag to his other hand as he struggled to open the door.
“Lou, I’m home.” Harry called out, bumping his hip into the door to make sure it shut.
He headed toward the kitchen, and was nearly there when the strap of the reusable bag gave out. The stitches ripped and the bag dropped. Peaches and cans of peas rolling across the kitchen floor.
“Fuck!” Harry groaned.
“What was that?” Louis called, running in from the other room. “Haz, are you okay?”
Harry dropped down and began gathering up the dented cans and bruised peaches, trying to hold back a flood of frustrated tears. “It’s fine.”
“I’ll help.” Louis started picking up other groceries. A bag of rice, the carton of milk, a box of cereal, all thankfully undamaged. Breathing deeply to take in Louis’ familiar, calming scent, Harry put the groceries away.
“Ouch, shit!” Louis cried out.
Harry whipped around. “Are you alright?”
Louis held up a finger to examine a fresh slice across the knuckle.
Harry’s eyes went wide, tears pooling as he saw a drop of blood. Harry couldn’t look away. He was too stunned by the sight of blood to help Louis. What kind of Omega couldn’t handle the sight of blood? They were supposed to be the caretakers, the nurses.
“It’s alright, just a minor cut.” Louis reached into the reusable bag, more carefully this time, and pulled out a shard of rounded glass covered in orange marmalade. “This jar broke, but I think everything else in here is okay. We can wipe the marmalade off the other things.”
“But you’re bleeding.”
“Nothing a bandage can’t fix.” Louis tossed the broken jar and sticky marmalade covered reusable bag into the bin before heading off to find a bandage.
Harry couldn’t bear it. The angry red cut, the blood, the pain, it was all his fault. He should have known that bag was too old. He should have used one of the nicer ones. He was careless and now his mate was hurt. Harry burst into tears.
Louis came back, bandage still in the wrapper. As soon as he heard Harry, Louis’ worrying scent filled the kitchen, sweetness and warmth, spiked with something sharper.
“Haz, it’s alright, I’m okay. It’s nothing.” Louis quickly unwrapped the bandage and wrapped it over the small cut. “See it’s fine. I fixed it.”
Harry only cried harder, turning away from Louis and burying his sobs in his palms. Everything was going wrong.
“Haz, look at me. What’s wrong, baby? Please talk to me?” he pleaded.
Harry turned back slowly, peeling his hands away from his eyes. Everything was too much. As he began to talk, the day’s struggles flooded out, one after the other. Louis listened intently as Harry explained the endless emails, the broken printer, the stained jumper, his stolen lunch. “I just wanted to come home and have a relaxing night with you, and I can’t even do that right. I fucked up everything. And you got hurt because of me, and I was too scared to even help you. I just stared. What kind of Omega can’t take care of their mate when they’re bleeding? I’m a failure.”
“No, no Haz. Where is this coming from?”
He started hyperventilating, Louis’ voice faded away as his vision went grey at the edges. Stress overpowered him. He was going to drop. Each ragged breath pulled him closer.
Louis’ hand pressed firm into the nape of his neck. He scruffed him, fingers gripping the skin tight. Harry focused on the pressure of his alpha’s palm. It was his anchor.
His breathing calmed. His pulse steadied. When he finally opened his eyes, the bright blue of Louis’ irises focused only on him.
“I’ve got you, love.”
Carefully Louis walked them over to the couch, spilled groceries forgotten on the floor for later. Harry settled into his alpha’s lap and buried his nose in his neck. Drinking in Louis’ strong scent from the source, he began to purr. Louis’ hand loosened, but didn’t leave. Louis’ grip tied him to their sweet reality.