If I don’t end up back here at some point, that means shit went extremely sideways, and I’m not exactly a fan of that outcome.
“So, you’re really doing this?”
I try my best to force my insta-smile into a smirk as I turn down my hall and see Niko standing in front of the wall to the left of my door. “I am.”
He sighs as he leans against the frame, scratching his chin while he looks at me thoughtfully.
Niko showed up not long after I did. Oddly enough, he also came blazing into Omega’s Haven with a few bullet holes in various parts of his body.
I just happened to be in the lobby when it happened, and I got to see his intake start to finish because I wound up rooted to the floor. I’m honestly not even sure if anyone knew I was there. I probably heard too much info, and might have been in some weird breach of HIPAA or something but what’s done is done.
Watching that six-foot-one omega built like an Olympic swimmer or some shit walk through the doors smelling like lavender and blood was enough to grab my attention. Then I kept staring like an asshole holding up traffic for the car crash on the side of the road.
Niko was a beautiful disaster, and his entrance was intriguing to say the least.
He was a lot less skittish than I was, though. I could see that right away. Which told me that our trauma was different despite a similar result, and he was a lot more used to his than I was mine. This has only been reiterated since I’ve known him, because he was almost too comfortable with his wounds. He knew how to tend to them, and he didn’t really care about the number of people who touched him when it came to those holes in his body.
It was strange, to be honest.
The comparisons that could be drawn, the similarities in our arrivals and how they clearly stemmed from some horrible event with similar results. Even though they were roughly six months apart, it was a little like experiencing déjà vu. Déjà vu that instantly grabbed onto my heartstrings and tugged on them tightly.
We both walked in here with a ton of baggage, old and new. Each of us was nearly catatonic for a short stretch. It took a long time for Niko to say more than one or two words to anyone, just like it did for me.
Maybe that can be chalked up more to our designation and being uprooted from our normals than anything else, but something has always told me that’s not the only reason our behavior was, and still is, so similar.
Two fucked-up peas in a traumatized pod.
Yet, despite the similarities there are vast differences between us. Differences that no one knows because neither of us have shared why we’re here and I doubt that’s going to change.
The closest I’ve gotten is planning my newest venture, and that’s strictly need to know if I can help it. Even then I’m not giving anyone specific details but I’ve found it kind of hard not to share some of them with Niko.
He’s the first person I’ve wanted to open up to in two years.
Which I might hate a little bit.
Just like admitting how drawn to him I was the first time I saw him. Not a big fan of feeling that way but I haven’t been able to stop it, and at this point, I’ve accepted it to some degree.
Niko has a presence about him, a big one for an omega if you ask me, and even though he’s soft spoken and closed off, he sucks people into his orbit easily. Too much for his liking because I seem to be the only one he’s willingly let into it, and he actively tries pushing most people back into outer space. Far, far away from him.
I think that, in the beginning, it was those similarities that brought us together but as time has gone on, the less that seems to be the case. Mainly because they stop there. Now? I have no idea why I want anything to do with Niko after hating everything about my existence for the few months before I met him. Especially since that hasn’t entirely changed. I still hatea lot of things, more than what could be considered healthy if hate wasn’t so toxic, but I’ve apparently made room for the male omega to wriggle his way inside despite that, and I really need to stop questioning it.
“Sure you’re ready?”
No. “I feel ready.” I lean against my door and mirror his position. “It’s not like it’s permanent, it’s just time for something new.”
Niko arches a perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Mhm.”
“It is,” I say a little defensively. “What’s with drilling me about it, huh? Ever since I mentioned the camper you’ve been all cryptic and mysterious about shit.”
He shrugs a shoulder as he keeps eye contact, not saying anything while he stares.
“You think I’m making a mistake?”
“I didn’t say that.”
I roll my eyes. “You didn’t say anything at all and that’s loud as fuck.”
“I guess.” He glances behind me briefly before pushing off the wall. “I guess I’m not a huge fan of you going alone. That’s all.” Niko reaches out and flips a few tendrils of my hair over my shoulder then starts backing away. “Make sure you come say goodbye, yeah?”
