At first, everything was fine. Andrew found that he was actually thriving now that he could leave the house. Sure, he had so bodyguards, but that wasn’t anything crazy. They just behaved like they were new friends who were joining him at the gym.
And they were fit. Andrew only went to the gym to work out so steam, but these guys? Andrew was sure you could grate cheese on their abs. They were shredded.
But they were also super nice, if not super quiet. It was clear that they were there to support them, and so of them even helped him with his form. All in all, a great experience, he was happy to have them around.
I an, sure, there were so things he found overwhelming. Like, the scents of everyone around him who wasn’t a beta, and even then, sotis them too, but that wasn’t insane. He could get used to it. Even if it made his whole body itch and he wanted to get violent. That’s what going to the gym was all about. He could work it out. It was fine. Everything was fine.
But it all ca to a head when an oga, and an alpha ca in back to back after he’d been going to the gym for a week. Sothing was...different about them. They didn’t co in together, and so of the security did give them a strange look, but Andrew thought nothing of it. Until they passed him, one by one, and suddenly, his heartbeat was in his throat.
Andrew almost dropped the weight he was squatting, and thankfully, one of the security team rushed him, saving him. Another whipped out their phone as Andrew lay wheezing on the floor of the gym. He couldn’t breathe. Soone was wrong. He could feel how slow his heart was pumping blood through his veins, and his vision was blurring. He knew he was twitching, and he worried about what others thought of him.
"Call the young master! Now!" A man ordered above him and Andrew didn’t know who it was since his vision was fading.
"Drag him to the change room! Everyone else, stay out! We’re trained professionals!" A male voice ordered and in the back of his mind, Andrew wondered who would disobey soone so loud.
"Mr. Knox? Fuck, Dr. Knox? Can you hear ? I promise everything is going to be okay. Mr. Beckett, the younger one, is on his way. He’ll be here soon. Everything is going to be okay?" Andrew wanted to respond, but couldn’t open his mouth. He was shaking too much. He felt like he had no control over his body.
"Does anyone have any slling salts? To clear his nose? Who the fuck cos into a public space so close to their heat and rut respectively?" One of the guards growled, and soone snorted.
"I don’t know. Maybe they were flirting? They seed to know each other. It’s also none of your business. Hold his head so he doesn’t hurt himself. Sorry Dr. Knox. We’ll take responsibility for this situation." Take responsibility for this situation? What the hell were they on about? Who could do that? Wasn’t it obvious that sothing had gone wrong with him, and it wasn’t anything that they could do?
Fuck, this was all his fault.
He knew that just pretending everything was fine was going to bite him in the ass.
"Take off his glasses so he doesn’t-Dr. Knox? Are you alright?"
"Shit shit. We’re in big trouble if Mr. Beckett finds out he was crying. You don’t need to cry, Dr. Knox. Everything will be fine. We’re here to protect you." Andrew wanted to laugh. How could these n protect him from his own stupidity? Everything he had done in the last two weeks was coming to bite him in the ass. Literally.
His body was freaking out. He wasn’t sure why, but he had a feeling...it had to do with what Tracey had done to him. What Tracey had turned him into. He had suspected as much, but hadn’t truly connected the dots. No, he hadn’t wanted to connect the dots.
Face the music, Andrew, it wasn’t normal for a beta to sll people like that. It wasn’t normal to notice if people slled like tropical pineapple or minted forest. That wasn’t sothing normal people had to worry about. It was only sothing a freak like him would have to worry about. Things had changed about him internally. He wasn’t who he used to be. He was...
He was like his Father now.
Panic welling up inside him, his sense of hearing dulled and he could hear the n above him panic, but there was nothing he could do. There was never anything he could do. This kept happening to him. He kept being put in situations he had no control over, and he hated it. With his own birth, his father leaving them, and watching his Mother slowly die from his father’s neglect...and now this bullshit that Tracey had done to him. Who had he angered in the past? What had he done in a past life? He tried to live a good, honest life. He helped people. He liked helping people! Why was he suffering now?
A scent wafted into the room, and it was everything he needed.
His muscles relaxed, his heartbeat dropped back into his chest, and he could feel his hearing and vision coming back. Where before it had felt like he was trapped in a bubble that was slowly closing in on him, trying to swallow him whole, now it felt like the bubble was slowly releasing.
He knew that scent. It was Maxwell’s scent.
"Andrew?" It was Maxwell’s soft, full of concern voice, and Andrew winced. Fuck. He’d made him worried. He was the worst partner ever.
Twitching, Andrew tried to control his limbs, and froze when Maxwell’s smaller fingers gently cupped the back of his head, taking over the hands that had been holding him before.
"Oh Baby, why did you do this to yourself?" Maxwell’s soft, sad voice filled Andrew’s ears and he couldn’t help it. He knew that he had to crying now, but Maxwell made no comnt on it. He just shifted Andrew’s body until his head was resting in Maxwell’s lap and he stroked his temple as Andrew’s body twitched. Andrew was slowly regaining control of his limbs, but it was taking quite a while. He was worrying that he wasn’t going to gain full control ever again. "I’ve already spoken to Dr. Smith. He’s going to be at the house waiting for us when we get back." Maxwell paused, and Andrew blinked up at the blurry form above him. Until sothing wet hit his face. "You can’t do this, Andrew. You can’t. I almost...I can’t handle you hurt, even by yourself. Don’t do this again." Maxwell’s words sounded choked, and Andrew felt his whole body stiffen.
Was Maxwell...crying?
Oh god. Oh no. No no no. He’d really fucked up. Fuck fuck fuck!
Andrew fought back control, trying to open his mouth to speak, but only a low moan ca out. Maxwell didn’t say anything, but the little warm, wet spots kept appearing and hitting Andrew’s skin. His neck, his cheeks. He was going insane feeling the results of his pain but not able to help Maxwell.
Finally able to control his own mouth, Andrew ford the words he wanted. "Glasses." He managed, and soone helped him put them on. What he saw made his heart stop.
Maxwell was looking over him with such a forlorn expression, and his bottom lip was trembling. His blue eyes, normally steely, and hard, were swimming with water. Tear streaks ran down his cheeks, and Andrew felt a bruise on his heart for what he’d done. He’d hurt Maxwell. Oh god.
"Andrew?" Maxwell called his na softly, worriedly, and Andrew licked his lips, trying to respond.
"M-Max?" Andrew responded, and watched as Maxwell’s face crumbled. It was alarming, even as Maxwell bent forward and pressed his face into Andrew’s chest. Andrew had no idea what to do, especially as more wetness radiated from where he was.
"You dumb fucking idiot. Do you even know what you did? You almost had a stroke, Andrew. A fucking stroke! You could have-You could have died! Why did you do that? Why did you repress everything so deeply that you almost killed yourself? Did you not trust ? Did you not want to confide in ? Did I do sothing wrong? I tried to be supportive, but I can’t be if this is the result. I can’t watch you kill yourself!" Andrew let the words wash over him, feeling the raw pain and anger in Maxwell’s words. His chest ached, the pain he felt there having nothing to do with what happened to him.
Maxwell continued to cry into his chest until Andrew was able to wrap his arms around his shaking shoulders. He froze, before sobbing harder, and Andrew felt his heart finally break. He closed his eyes, taking in the pain and fear that filled Maxwell and letting him release it. He had done this. He had hurt him. And why? For pride? For fear? Because he didn’t want to hurt him? Or because he didn’t want to hurt himself? Fuck, he felt like a piece of shit.
"I’m...alright, Max." Andrew managed to speak, his voice feeling a little raspy. Maxwell raised his face, glaring at Andrew even as more tears continued to fall.
"I do not. Believe you." Maxwell spoke, trying to sound an and angry, but his words were clogged with his tears. It only shattered Andrew’s heart more.
"I hate that I did this." Andrew rasped, and Maxwell’s face crumbled.
"The only thing you did wrong was not acknowledging it, Andrew. Everything else? I can forgive everything else. I just don’t want to lose you. Nearly a stroke, Andrew! They were seconds away from calling the ambulance. Do you understand what it is that could have happened? I can’t lose you. Not like this." Andrew couldn’t handle it anymore, and pulled Maxwell closer to him so he could kiss the man, soothe him. Andrew swallowed his sobs as they lay together on the floor of his gym’s changing room, comforting each other. It was all that he could
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