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Leo fought not to flinch as the front door opened, Josh’s heat scent hitting him all at once. Leo had been in the fog of heat scent more times than he could count, but Josh…Josh smelt really fucking good.
Damon smiled at him faintly, his eyes strained in the corners. Leo could imagine that heats weren’t exactly a happy and fun time for him and Josh.
“Come in. You want a drink of something?” Damon greeted.
“Water’s good. Josh doing okay?”
“He’s…same as always. The start is pretty shitty. I mean,” Damon laughed humourlessly, “it’s all pretty shitty, but we can’t do much until the heat really hits.”
“Okay. Still, I can get the supplies ready if you want. I know you said he doesn’t eat much, but maybe this time it’ll be different?” Leo suggested.
“We’ve got that all ready. Omegabars and electrolyte drinks in the bedroom. He’s just drinking water now, got a heating pad.” Damon walked Leo into the living room, the heat scent thickening around them.
Leo’s heart squeezed as he spotted Josh curled up on the couch, hands pressing the heating pad to his middle, eyes closed and eyebrows drawn in pain.
Leo approached slowly, checking with Damon that it was okay before sitting down. “Hey, man. How you doing?”
Josh blinked his eyes open, gaze surprisingly clear. “Oh, hey. Fuck, you smell good.” He glanced at Damon. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—”
Leo interrupted him. “That’s what I’m here for. Sniff away.”
Josh snorted, but he looked miserable, sinking into the pillow his head was propped on. “I’m just gonna give you a blanket apology for anything I may say or do during heat. And, uhm. Sorry, we should have said this before, but obviously you know that you can leave any time if it ever gets too much.”
Leo smiled slightly. “I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem, but noted.”
Josh nodded, closing his eyes again, mouth pursed in discomfort.
“Here, wanna put your legs on my lap? No funny business.”
Josh laughed. “Sure. No funny business.”
Leo slid under Josh’s legs, carefully slipping a hand under the bottom of Josh’s loose sweatpants and stroking the skin of his calf. “This okay?”
“Mm, yeah,” Josh mumbled.
Leo hadn’t even noticed that Damon had left until he returned with the promised water, looking at the two of them with a strange, blank expression on his face.
Leo watched him carefully. “You good?”
Damon seemed to shake himself out of whatever he was thinking about. “Yep. Hey, Josh. How far along?”
“Thirty minutes, probably.”
“Okay. I’ve—I mean…we’ve got you.”
Josh gazed up at him, the sweetest smile Leo had even seen on his face. “I know.”
They all shifted so Josh was lying half on top of Leo, half on top of Damon. Leo couldn’t help but stare at the loving way Damon stroked Josh’s hair, thumb rubbing against his cheek as if he were the most precious thing in the world.
For long, drawn-out minutes, everything was calm, silent as the storm approached. Even if Leo hadn’t known what was going on, he could have figured out something was wrong just by the scent. It grew more potent by the second, an acrid, sick edge to it that put Leo on edge.
“Damon,” Josh moaned eventually, his body shuddering.
“I’m here,” Damon assured. “Let’s get you to the bedroom, yeah?”
Leo followed silently as Damon picked Josh up and carried him deeper into the apartment. He paused in the doorway for just a moment, watching the careful way Damon lay Josh on the bed without letting him go.
Damon stroked a soothing hand down Josh’s side, but Josh seemed beyond that sort of touch now, arching with a broken sound, dragging Damon in for a kiss.
