"I'm sorry for falling asleep last night, thank you again, I had a nice time" Louis messages Scott and Harry the next day, although Louis wasn't affected by their smell so much, he feels drained and so tired

"Don't apologise little wolf, we hope you're okay and had enough sleep, same time next week?" Scott messages

"Sure, I'd like that" Louis replies.

Scott and Harry seem too good to be true and Louis doesn't want to get this hopes up, but they are so kind and understanding, Louis is really surprised, and he really hopes he doesn't stuff anything up, deep down he really hopes they are his soulmates, although he won't admit it.

The next week goes by fast thankfully as Professor Dean has purposely started his class fifteen minutes earlier which means Louis absolutely won't make it on time at all. Louis knows it's on purpose, Professor Dean has been hurting him quite badly, because he's an alpha a shove into a wall and grab of the arm can really hurt and bruise an omega. Louis is trying to take it all on the chin but hiding his bruises from his brothers has been tough.

The boys have definitely noticed Louis withdrawing and being quiet, a natural response for anyone who's being abused. The boys don't know that though and Louis doesn't ever plan to tell them.

"Lou, dinners ready" Drew knocks on Louis bedroom door at 7pm Thursday night

Louis doesn't want to come eat, he's made an excuse up every night this last week to skip out on dinner and Drew and the boys won't accept another one tonight

"I'm not hungry" Drew hears through the door, Louis voice timid.

Drew sighs.

"Louis open this door please" Drew says a little sternly

He gets no response from Louis

Inside Louis is lying on his bed, reading, he's finished his coursework for the week and just wants to escape to another world for a while, he just wants to be left alone, his body sore, he doesn't want to move.

"Louis I'm not asking again before the boys, and I pick to lock" Drew says

Louis again doesn't answer and continues reading.

Drew goes back downstairs to the boys around the table.

"Where's Lou?" Edward asks

"Refused to answer me and come down, says he's not hungry" Drew says

Andy sighs

"This is getting completely out of hand" Andy says as he gets up

"I told him we would come and pick the lock" Drew says

"Girls stay here for us, Sammy, would you mind calling Harry and Scott, just ask them if they aren't busy could they come over" Andy asks

"Sure" Sammy says

Andy smiles and kisses Sammy in thanks before the boys are leaving the table and heading to Louis room

"Louis" Andy knocks with authority

"Leave me alone please Andy" Louis says

"I can't do that bud; I need you to open up" Andy says

"I'm 18 Andy, I don't have to follow your rules, and do as you say, I'm busy and I'm not coming out, please leave me alone" Louis says loudly

"Louis Tomlinson, 18 or not, you are omega, and part of this family, while you are under our roof and until you find your mate you will do as your told, now open this door" Edward yells sternly

The boys don't yell at Louis often and they never use their alpha voice on him, but Edward sounds like he's one step away from using his and Louis has to suppress a shiver

Louis let's a tear slip, he just wants to be left alone. He wipes his tear and heads to the door, he opens it slightly and sticks half his body out, the other half hiding behind the door.

The boys are relieved to see Louis open the door, he looks so small though, his black sweats and sweater are falling off him and his blue eyes look scared and like they've lost their sparkle

"Thanks for opening the door bud" Drew says

Louis just looks at them.

"We can't let you skip another meal kiddo; you need to eat" Andy says

"I'm fine Andy, I'll eat later or something, I really want to be left alone" Louis says sadly

"Louis, we're worried, I'm not going to lie, please know that we are here for you and want to help you through whatever is up" Edward says

"K, well I'm okay and fine, just have a lot of schoolwork and I can look after myself, you don't need to worry" Louis says trying to sound convincing, but he falls so far short

"If school is causing this than I think we need to take another look at your schedule and workload. We always said we would monitor that and if we thought it was too much you would drop a few classes" Drew says

"No Drew, my workload is fine, finals are coming up okay, I always have more to do around finals. You're overreacting and it's getting frustrating please just let me be" Louis says and he's starting to get agitated. His omega feels worthless and like he's disappointing his brothers.

"Let us in please Lou, we would like to talk this over" Andy says

Louis starts getting upset, he pushes the door open frustratingly and moves back towards his bed as the boys enter the room.

"Calm down bud, it's okay" Drew says gently as he sees Louis growing more and more uneasy and upset

Drew then walks towards Louis to comfort him, like always, but Louis gets scared and steps back abruptly, backing up against the wall

"Don't touch me" Louis says but it's angry and the boys are confused

"Lou, we would never hurt you buddy" Andy says worriedly

Louis has never acted like this, and the boys are extremely concerned

Louis eyes then become as wide a saucer's as he looks to the boys upset

"Why are they here, why did you call them" he asks extremely upset

"Who bud" Edward asks

Before Louis can reply the doorbell is ringing and the boys know Louis could smell and sense Harry and Scott before they could.

"No reason other than to say hi kiddo, it's okay" Edward says after he realises who Louis was talking about

Louis can smell Scott and Harry and it isn't as overwhelming as when he first met them, it's somewhat calming for his omega, but he becomes more anxious, now he has to lie to them as well and he doesn't want to stuff things up or get upset and act weak in front of them. Louis starts breathing heavily and irregularly the closer Harry and Scott get to his room

"Boys?" Harry says as they make it to Louis room, they can smell Louis distress as they walk in.

"What's going on?" Scott asks.

They see Louis upset and pretty much having a panic attack in the corner and the boys watching on worriedly

"We don't exactly know" Drew says

"Lou, darling" Harry says as he and Scott move closer towards Louis

Louis stiffens and slides down the wall, he brings his knees to his chest and wraps his arms around them, resting his head on his legs. He tries to regain his breathing

"He won't let us touch him, or go near him, he hasn't eaten dinner all week and we're worried" Andy says

"We thought you might help?" Edward asks unsure

"We've never seen him like this, we just...." Drew says

"It's okay, we've got him, why don't you go finish dinner and we can have a chat to Lou" Scott says smiling

"We will look after him, go back to your omegas, we will settle him" Harry says reassuringly

The boys nod and reluctantly leave the room, closing the door behind them.

Once the boys are gone Scott and Harry make their way slowly towards Louis

"Hey there darling" Harry says softly

Louis looks up at them both, tears in his eyes and his face so innocent and sad

"I don't want to be touched" Louis says as they come toward him

"That's okay sweetheart, we will just sit here hey" Scott says as they sit down in front of Louis, as close as they can without touching him

"Can you do us a big favour darling, can you just relax your breathing for us" Harry says

Louis puts his hands over his face and cries a little more, he's so humiliated and scared at the same time. He doesn't want Harry and Scott to see him like this, but their scent is relaxing him a little.

"Little wolf, I'm going to have to touch you and scent you if you can't calm down by yourself" Scott says gently

"I'm not your omega" Louis says angrily as he brings his hands down and starts getting more worked up

"You're as good as Louis and we will scent you if we think it will help you calm down" Harry says his voice firm

"I can't...I don't want to do this anymore; I just need space from them" Louis says as his breath hitches as he tries to calm down

"We know, it's okay, we can talk about it all when you're feeling better okay" Harry says

Louis tries his hardest to calm down, but he's overwhelmed, and he can't, he just keeps getting worse

He looks to Harry and Scott, them both in their sweats and T-shirts, adidas shoes on their feet and backwards caps. Their muscles on full display. They look beautiful and safe and not like Louis has seen them before.

"We're sorry Lou, we're going to scent you okay, just relax" Harry then says, making the decision

Louis protests until he's straddling Harry and Scott is leaning against the wall, Louis back to his chest. He's engulfed in their smell. He tries to move away; he tries to get free but he's panicking too much.

"Shhhhhhhh, it's okay little wolf, we're here" Harry says

"Just relax baby, just relax" Scott says

Harry and Scott share a look above Louis before they both nose Louis scent glands, one on either side of his neck, just below his ears.

The effect is instant, and Louis instantly stops struggling

"That's a good boy darling" Harry says as he noses Louis and scents him

"Such a good omega baby" Scott says as he too noses Louis

When an omega is stressed or upset, they usually scent their alphas, and it calms them instantly. Harry and Scott don't want to push Louis omega by letting him scent them though. Not until they know he's theirs for sure. Them scenting him though, will still calm him down without the emotional attachment you have as mates. Their alpha pheromones will relax Louis omega enough that he can come back to reality a little and calm himself

Louis begins to calm down, Harry and Scott's scents really helping. He registers pain though, Harry and Scott have a tight alpha grip on Louis, trying to make him feel safe. They are pressing on his bruises and his back on his right-side hurts

"You're, hurting me" Louis says quietly

Harry and Scott instantly loosen up their grips on Louis

"Gosh Louis, we're sorry, we didn't mean to" Scott says upset

"No, it's not your fault it's mine I'm sorry" Louis says

"Is it your shoulder? Is it still sore?" Harry asks concerned

Louis forgot the boys told them about his shoulder, they didn't mention it the other night, so Louis figured they didn't know.

He sighs as he prepares another lie

"It's still a bit sore I'm fine though, sorry" Louis says

"It's not your fault, everything is going to be okay Lou" Harry says as he strokes Louis hair

Louis calms down and rests against Harry's chest, it's silent between them for a while, Harry and Scott just loving having Louis in their arms and Louis feeling so safe wrapped up in their strong alpha arms

Louis begins getting uncomfortable with his pain though and begins to move off the boys, as much as he wants to stay, he can't

"I'm sorry" Louis says

"Don't apologise again Louis, it's okay, we love being there for you" Scott says

Louis stands up and goes over to his bed, he sits against the bed head and brings his knees to his chest

Harry and Scott stand up and come to sit at the end of the bed, facing Louis

"Let's talk about what happened hey" Harry says calmly

"Nothing happened, the boys wouldn't leave me alone and said they would cut back my classes, I'm fine. I'm just studying lots and need to pass my finals. They are overreacting" Louis says frustratingly

"Darling, they care and can tell you're stressed and not okay, Harry and I could tell from the driveway your smell was distressed. If you're running yourself into the ground maybe it is a good idea to cut a class" Scott says gently

"No, I'm not, it's fine, I'm just having a bad week, I'm allowed one of those" Louis says

"Of course, you are, and that's okay to have those weeks but we know it's not just this week, you've been upset for a little while and we think we should talk to Professor Dean" Harry says

Louis looks at him petrified and his breaths start coming out fast

"No! Harry No! I said No" Louis says angrily as he jumps up of the bed

"Louis" they try

"Get out, please just get out, I don't need your help, I don't need you to fix anything for me, but I do need you to leave! NOW" Louis yells at them

The boys are completely taken aback by Louis reaction, there is more to this than meets the eye and more to Louis behavior

"Please stop yelling at us little wolf" Scott says

"Then leave! Whatever this is between us, I don't want it, I don't want anything to do with it. You don't need to protect me or fix things or be there for me. I'm not yours and I never will be. Just get out, I don't want to see you anymore" Louis yells

Harry and Scott are extremely hurt and upset at Louis words but know he's upset and needs space.

"Okay darling, it's okay, we will leave you alone okay" Harry says

Louis starts calming down as Harry and Scott get up to leave the room.

"We will talk to you soon okay; we promise everything is okay" Scott says

Louis doesn't respond and as soon as they disappear behind the door Louis is racing to lock it. He runs to his bed, hides under the covers and cries himself to sleep. The boys can hear him from outside the door. Harry and Scott sighs and hug each other close, it's a seriously upsetting situation and they have to hold back their alphas from running in to help and settle their omega.

There is no doubt in their mind that Louis is theirs, but they just can't do anything about it and it's so frustrating.