Page 82 of Shifter Omegaverse AU

Anabelle used to say she could always tell when Milo was staying up late playing video games because they would bundle up the next day before school.

They’d been too out of it to grab a jacket that morning. They actually had the perfect one on their junk chair, a navy blue blazer with pink stripes that Anabelle had loved. It could have been like Anabelle was there, keeping them warm, but instead they were shivering in a restaurant bathroom, hiding out from the surprisingly tense double date they were on with their fated mate, their best friend, their best friend’s fated mate, who just so happened to be their fated mate’s older brother, who seemed to get under his skin in a way no one and nothing else could, because of course he did, because of course that’s the way things would work out for Milo, and of course Anabelle wasn’t here for them to tell any of this to because she was—

“Milo?” a voice called out to them.

Warm hands cupped their face, and they opened their eyes—when had they closed them?—to find Ray staring up at them, his ears and whiskers out.

“Sorry,” Milo said, pressing their cheek into Ray’s palm. “I…just…”

“Got lost?” Ray whispered, and Milo nearly fell to their knees.

Instead of investigating the hygiene standards of the restaurant bathroom from close up, they wrapped their arms around Ray’s shoulders. Ray shifted his hands, hugging Milo around the neck.

“I guess you could say that, yeah. I got lost thinking about…stuff.”

Ray nodded, nuzzling the side of his head and one of his ears against Milo’s neck. “Anabelle?”

“I don’t…really want to talk about it right now, if that’s okay.”

Ray squeezed them tighter but nodded, the fur on his ear tickling Milo’s chin. “Of course it’s okay. But if you ever do want to talk about it, I’m here. And I don’t mind if you get lost along the way.”

Milo squeezed their eyes shut and didn’t stop squeezing until their vision went red and spotty. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Ray said, dropping his nose to Milo’s scent gland.

They didn’t scent each other often, showing their love in other ways, but the comforting scent of Ray’s face and whiskers was somehow exactly what Milo needed.

Except…

“You smell different,” Milo said, opening their eyes and pulling back a half step. “Sort of like Rowan, actually. But different.”

Ray’s smile was small, but happy. “I bet I smell like Ruben. You smell like him, but different, which I’m assuming is what Rowan smells like.”

“Speaking of which,” Milo said, dropping their hands to Ray’s waist but not letting go. “What might be partially your fault?”

Ray tucked his chin and pressed his forehead against Milo’s collarbone. “So…I didn’t want to say anything in case Rowan was having his own conversations with you, but he hasn’t told his family about you yet.”

“I know,” Milo said, reaching up to pet one of Ray’s ears. “Because they’re out of town.”

“Right, well, it seems like Rowan had hoped they could tell the family together, but before he could tell Ruben that, Ruben texted the family group chat about me.”

Oh boy.

“Ruben felt really bad, and apparently, he’s tried texting and calling Rowan to talk about it, but he hasn’t responded.” Ray’s ears drooped. “I didn’t know any of this when I asked Ruben if we could meet his family in person before mating. We’re, uh, obviously not going to meet mine before then, so I thought it would be nice to have at least one family’s blessing. Going off of context clues, though, I think Rowan might have been planning on going home to tell his family next weekend, and so we just messed up his plans…again.”

Godsdamnit. Maybe Milo should have dealt with this pesky familial tension and brotherly strife on Saturday instead of worrying about kissing Rowan.

“He hasn’t said anything about going home, but he was definitely planning on telling them next weekend, so that checks out,” Milo said, tipping his head back to stare at the needlessly ornate lamp on the ceiling.

The entire bathroom was needlessly ornate. Who needed not one, but two velvet chaise lounges? Admittedly, Milo could really use one of them right now, but two?

Milo walked backward, pulling Ray with them until the backs of their knees hit the seat. They sat down with a huff, and Ray practically collapsed on top of them.

“Do you think they’re out there discussing this like mature adults? Or just sitting in awkward silence?” Ray mused, squirming around until he was neatly tucked onto Milo’s lap.

“Definitely the second one.” Milo tightened their arms around Ray’s back. “Can’t they just roll around in the dirt for a little while and get it out of their system? Isn’t that what brothers are supposed to do?”

“I wouldn’t know.”