By My Side
“No, no – you’ve gotta blend here and then create some texture over here,” you laughed as you directed Ellie on how to paint the landscape in front of you.
“This is so hard!” Ellie whined.
“You’re doing better than me!” Dina quipped, “my painting ain’t even looking like anything”
You smiled, “it doesn’t hafta look like anything! There were many famous paintings that didn’t hold any form”
Dina huffed.
You laughed before going back to your own canvas.
“What’s going on with you and Joel by the way?” Dina asked – earning her a questioning look and prompting her to continue, “I’m bored and you guys seem a lot closer,” the beta shrugged.
“There’s no label – if that’s what you’re asking,” you sighed.
“I’m pretty sure kissing in the stable counts for something” Dina teased, causing you to splutter.
There was a clatter of brushes hitting the ground and you and Dina looked over to Ellie whom appeared entirely shell-shocked – startling a laugh from you.
“So?” Dina prodded.
“You ain’t gonna let this go are you?”
“Nope!”
You sighed, “I don’t know… As I said before we haven’t really put a label on it,”
“You had sex yet?”
“OH MY GOD DINA!!” Ellie screeched, covering her ears, “I do not need those images in my head!”
Dina was cackling and you looked mildly horrified at the prospect.
Ellie shuddered – the last thing needed was to think about Joel doing… that.
You blushed.
“Aw! You’re blushing,” Dina cooed.
You and Ellie seemed to mutually decided then and there to shove Dina off of her stool.
“Ack!”
“And I’m out,” you said, walking back into your house.
“Same,” Ellie said blandly – following you.
Of course, when the two of you pushed through the front door Joel was there.
“Morning,” he greeted.
Both you and Ellie completely avoided eye contact with the alpha.
When Dina trailed in after and got a questioning look from Joel she just burst out laughing again.
“(y/n),” Maria started – making you look up from the paperwork in front of you, “what’s wrong?”
“What?” You asked, utterly confused.
Maria just shot you an unimpressed look, “you’ve been fidgeting non-stop, look like you’re about to bolt at a moment’s notice and you reek of anxiety.”
You wrinkled your nose at the thought, before sighing, “it’s nothing really.”
“Sometimes nothing can mean everything,” Maria said wistfully, finally putting down her pen and giving you her full attention.
“I’m not even gonna ask.”
“I’m guessing it’s about Joel?”
You groaned, letting your head smack down onto the table, “what is up with everyone and Joel today!?”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” in response Maria just got a mumbled gargle of words, “want to speak properly?”
You huffed, turning your head slightly so you could look at Maria.
“I don’t know where I stand, nor what he wants out of this,” you grumbled.
The alpha hummed in thought.
“So you want to be able to label your relationship?”
You sighed, sitting back upright, “not exactly. I think having a label will just put pressure on this… but I’d like to know where I stand and what I can and can’t do. I also just wanna know what Joel wants out of this. Cause I don’t want to be just a toy.”
Maria laughed at that, “believe me hun, he ain’t think of you like that,” the alpha smiled gently at you, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Joel is feeling the same way – he’s not exactly the best with this stuff, romantic or not. So why don’t you just do what you want? You’ll just have to move around each other and adjust to one another. It’s probably the easiest way to find out where you stand… That or you could talk about it – but I have a feeling both of you would prefer not to.”
You snorted at the last comment before thinking over this for a while – letting it sink in.
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” you flashed Maria a smile, “thanks.”
“Anytime. Now, back to work – this event is s’pose to be happening this weekend!”
Maria’s words rang through your head as you made your way to the mess hall with Ellie.
It didn’t escape your notice that you were pretty much escorted everywhere. As much as you would like to argue and complain that you were a grown as woman and didn’t need babysitting, you were pretty sure they wouldn’t hold back their arguments either.
You sighed.
“What’s up?” Ellie asked.
The two of you still had a bit of an awkward tension around you after Dina’s comment. You were pretty sure it was because Ellie was pretty much Joel’s adopted daughter, despite how much she denied it.
“Life,” you drawled bitterly.
“Well that’s dramatic,” Ellie rolled her eyes at your ominous response.
“I live for theatrics,” you supplied – earning another eye roll.
The two of you continued to walk in silence till the mess hall came into view.
“How’s the planning going?” Ellie asked – albeit a little awkwardly.
You decided to take pity on the alpha, even though you weren’t exactly great when it came to navigating your way through most social interactions.
“It’s going good – finally managed to convince Maria to let them serve alcohol.”
Ellie blinked, “really?”
“Yup,” you grinned at Ellie.
“I thought it was s’pose to be a family event?” Ellie narrowed her eyes at you suspiciously – almost no one could convince Maria on anything.
“Oh it is,” you chirped, “but I need alcohol if imma show up.”
Ah, Ellie thought, that makes sense. I
It didn’t take a genius to notice your discomfort when it came to crowds. But Ellie was glad to hear that you’d be coming.
It was as you rounded the corner to the mess hall’s entrance, that Dina stomped out angrily with Jesse shouting after her. The beta hadn’t noticed either you nor Ellie, but looked rather upset.
“What was that all about?” You raised your brow in questioning towards Ellie, who just shrugged.
“My money’s on another break-up,” the alpha quipped.
“Wait they’re together!?”
“You didn’t know?” Ellie asked incredulously.
“No!” You exclaimed.
The alpha just snorted at you.
“They’ve been dating on and off for a while now,” Ellie supplied.
You just hummed.
“Wanna make a bet?” Ellie asked.
“What on?” You replied skeptically.
“How long it takes those two to get back together,”
“And what exactly are we using to bet?”
Ellie paused, thinking this over.
“Painting lessons,” she finally settled on.
“Okay, and what do I get?”
“Bragging rights,” Ellie shrugged.
“You’re so gonna regret that,” you snorted.
“You sure about that?” Ellie teased.
You smirked, “my money’s on them not getting back together,”
“Wha-” Ellie looked rather surprised by your answer, before her shock melted into a smug smirk, “I bet two weeks max.”
“May the best man win!” You announced as you stuck your hand out.
“You bet,” Ellie grinned, wrapping her hand around yours and giving is a firm shake.
Oh Ellie, you thought, if only you knew.
You had seen the way Dina had started to look at Ellie.
As you had gotten to know the two it was obvious that Ellie liked Dina more than a friend and that the beta was taking the alpha’s hesitance and mixed signals in a different way. But you saw that the two had started to grow… closer, in a sense.
The ‘flirting’ you had witnessed when they had first stumbled upon you must’ve been new, as it seemed to only double-fold and strengthen as the two spent more time together.
It was funny really – how easy it was for you to read others. If only you could understand your own feelings more, you mused as you watched Joel delicately carve the block of wood in front of him.
You were in Joel’s little studio – windows open to help air out the small room – and the two of you were doing your own thing. Joel was carving at his desk and you had your paints set out and your make-shift canvas in front of you.
These little ‘art sessions’ – as you dubbed them – had started two days ago. It was a suggestion of Joel’s and you honestly quite enjoyed your time just basking in his presence as you delicately marred the pristine ‘canvas’ with coloured paint.
But you couldn’t focus at the moment. Your thoughts running rampant - constantly fighting the urge to fidget or pace around the room.
You could feel your heat itch at the back of your mind – but your omega still didn’t feel entirely safe… not after the Elijah fiasco. It was honestly a relief, because heats scared you.
You didn’t like being out of control. Heats not only forcefully made you surrender that control, but also caused you – or, well, your omega – to act blindly on both instinct and feeling.
Despite you always feeling rather in tune with your omega, you knew that said omega had no fucking shame and would probably bloody well jump Joel. A situation you would love to avoid the second-hand embarrassment of.
“You okay there?”
You jumped at the sound of Joel’s voice – narrowly avoiding falling off your chair.
“Yup! Just great,” you chirped.
“Pretty sure last time I heard you say that, you had stabbed Jesse,” Joel said, amusement shining through his eyes.
Asshole.
“I’m doing just fine, excuse you,” you sassed back.
Joel chuckled and you could feel your omega preening at the fact you had elicited such a beautiful sound.
“Fuck,” you grumbled as you shook you head.
“You gonna tell me what’s wrong?” Joel now had his full attention on you his head resting in his hand and his body angled away from his workbench.
“Just my omega,” you sighed.
Joel’s brow creased, “you okay? Is your heat coming? Do you need anything?”
The sudden onslaught of questions shocked you but you took it in stride – ignoring your fucking omega that was having a ball over the alpha’s concern.
“Nah, probably will come soon – but I don’t think it will for another week or so.”
Joel nodded his head – seemingly in a daze – before snapping back to attention.
“Wanna go for a walk?” The alpha suddenly asked.
“Sure…?” You replied hesitantly, but Joel was practically already out of the door.
Weird, you thought.
The two of you were walking aimlessly around town.
Your chatter had died down and you were now walking in a comfortable silence. You felt your hand brush against Joel occasionally and each time Maria’s words rang through your head.
You’ll adjust to one another.
You closed your eyes and sucked in a deep breath before reaching out and bumping your hand against Joel’s again and before your hand fell away again you quickly laced your fingers together. There was no reaction from Joel expect for a quirk in his lips as he gave your hand a squeeze.
“Hey, Joel?” You called softly.
The alpha hummed in acknowledgment.
“Wanna go to the event with me this weekend?”
“You asking me out?” Joel tilted his head towards you, his eyes shining with emotions you couldn’t place.
“Sure am cowboy,” you quipped, acting far more confident than you felt.
“Okay,” the alpha shrugged, “I’m looking forward to it.”
It was then that Joel flashed you a grin which had your heart fluttering and blood rushing to your cheeks.
You shoved Joel with your shoulder and mumbled, “idiot”, under your breath as you continued to walk aimlessly with the alpha by your side.