With everything that happened the day before, Aosh really couldn't bring himself to go to the exam. He felt foolish, spending all that time and money preparing for it, but in the end, it was too soon to see Tiza again. He didn't know if he'd be able to look the other in the eye, let alone dance in front of him. He resigned himself to sulking in his apartment, more content in his self-loathing and sorrow than he would be doing something productive. It wasn't until a few days later he managed to leave the solemn comfort of his home for something other than work.
Daniella had basically threatened him to get out of his apartment or else. There wasn't much she could do to him, she lived a good ten hours away, but her concern reached him nonetheless. At some point Aosh had grown tired of sitting in the dark anyway, there used to be a time in his life where he would sulk for hours on end, but the current him no longer held such luxuries; if they could be called that.
The warm midsummer, morning air breezed past him as he jogged at a leisurely pace down the block. Getting his blood pumping in the morning helped the Alpha immensely, and since he decided not to go to the gym for a bit, a morning jog had been his exercise of choice. Well worn sneakers hit the pavement as he continued; sugar-sweet pop lyrics filtered out the outside noise via his earbuds. Aosh refused to let his mind wander on the things that had upset him and instead focused on the music and the scenery of his neighborhood.
Aosh lived close to the college he attended, not in student housing, but in an apartment complex that wasn't too far of a walk to campus. Being so close to the college the neighborhood contained many things a young twenty-something like himself would enjoy. A couple of bars, plenty of interesting restaurants, coffee joints, a park, stores that sold clothing to niche hobbies, and many more other things hidden in between.
Aosh had been living in this part of town for a couple of years and there were still things he was discovering about his neighborhood. Like what he was about to find as he turned the street corner. Aosh's bulldozer of a body ran somebody over as he turned the corner.
"You need to watch where you're going, asshole!"
"Oh god, I'm sorry! Here let me help you u-" When the person on the ground turned Aosh's sentence faltered.
Tiza glared up at him through his platinum bangs, a hint of disbelief in his facial features. The Omega was about to enter his apartment when he ran into this guy again! Here he thought that the Alpha not coming back to class was going to be the last he saw of him. The outstretched hand offered to Tiza was ignored completely as the man got up and dusted the dirt and grime that the sidewalk transferred onto his legs.
Aosh felt a lump form in his throat, him thinking that it was too soon to see Tiza again was correct. The echoes of the rejection he got the other day reverberated in his memory and the face Tiza made at him reminded Aosh of how he was driven away. He mumbled an apology once more and continued on his way down the street. He knew when he wasn't wanted, so he'd leave. Before getting too far away, he chanced a glance back towards the Omega to see him entering the apartment complex that sat at the corner of their collision.
Tiza lived only a couple blocks away from him! Aosh desperately tried to push this new information into the deepest part of his brain. Later that day his text conversation with Daniella went like so:
[TsuTsuTsunami]: Thanks for telling me to leave my house, now I feel worse…
[o0DSweety0o]: I was just trying to help :'(
[TsuTsuTsunami]: I ran into him on my jog, like I literally ran into him, I knocked him to the sidewalk. Why does he live so close?! He's too handsome to have a glare that could kill someone, ugh. Sorry, I'm not blaming you, I just don't know what to do with this new information.
[o0DSweety0o]: I mean I would take it slow and give him some space like I said last time, but if he does live that close that might be hard. You also have the attention span of a walnut when it comes to him so try to have some self-restraint!
[TsuTsuTsunami] : Is it too late to stay inside forever ;_; ?
...........................…..
The Alpha soon found himself jogging down that street every morning around the same time. The scenery was just too nice to not jog by there every day; that's the excuse he told himself. He was keeping his distance just like Daniella said, at the most, all he did was try to get a glimpse of the Omega.
It was from this daily jog that Aosh noticed that most days of the week Tiza would return home with a coffee cup in his hand. After doing a jog around to see where the nearest coffee shop was he found one, tucked away by the park in a small shopping center.
Highland Brews was the name scrawled on the door as he pushed it open one early morning. The decor was rustic and the aromatic atmosphere was filled with light music. Not many people were inside, aside from a few customers, the barista and a few people he could hear making what Aosh assumed were baked goods in the back. After ordering a macchiato and a muffin he sat down at the table and eyed the hot drink in his hands.
'What am I doing…?' he thought solemnly.
Jogging down his street every day, practically spying on him out of sight, and even going to what he suspected was the Omega's favorite coffee shop; was Aosh crazy? He was basically stalking the other at this point. Taking a sip of the dark roast in the mug, he could feel something warm him from the inside out, whether it was the shame he felt at his actions or the coffee, Aosh couldn't tell.
Hearing the barista call his muffin order he went up to the counter to retrieve it. Two different hands reached out to touch the bagged treat. Aosh only had mere seconds to feel the light touch of Tiza's fingertips on the back of his hand before it was pulled away. This time neither man said anything, Tiza instead turned to the barista.
"Excuse me, is my order ready yet?" He was impatient and ready to leave.
"I'm sorry, sir. It'll still be a few more minutes until there are more blueberry muffins ready."
"Here have this one," Aosh said, scooting the bag towards Tiza. Looking between the bag and the Alpha, Tiza's hand tentatively reached for it.
"...Thank you," was the only answer Aosh received before the Omega curtly left.
"Sir," another bag was set beside him on the countertop, "Sir, here's your muffin."Coming out of his reverie, the Alpha didn't realize he had been staring into the distance for an inappropriate amount of time.
"Ah, uh, thanks." Embarrassed he grabbed the bag and returned to his table and his cooling coffee. Grabbing his phone he furiously sent out a message.
[TsuTsuTsunami]: I was just touched by an angel T_T
[o0DSweety0o]: Oh lord. Do I even want to know?
[TsuTsuTsunami]: I found a new coffee shop to go to.
[o0DSweety0o]: YOU HATE COFFEE!
..................................
It became routine at this point. Going on his morning run and stopping by the usual coffee joint to get his dedicated black house blend and blueberry muffin; only to see 'that guy' there as well.
After the first couple of times he had Tiza's exact coffee order ready for him, already paid. It grated on his nerves somewhat. The first couple of times he was suspicious that the Alpha would follow him home but he never did, he even stayed out the door for a while after he left only to see the Alpha jog in the opposite direction. He didn't know what Aosh was playing at. Tiza had already told him he wasn't interested, but if Aosh was willing to pay for his morning essentials...well Tiza wasn't going to outright refuse.
Tiza offered him no thanks besides the one he gave the first time. He still felt the same about Aosh, and still thought he could get lost like all the other Alphas before him. The initial anxiety he felt around the other seemed to dissipate, his feelings slowly going back to where they were before he found out they were fated mates, but Tiza thought nothing of this and refused to fall into whatever trap this Alpha was setting up.
......................................
That was the first instance of the universe being cruel to him, the Alpha thought. The second occurred at the laundromat. Aosh ran haphazardly into the old laundromat by his apartment, a haven for every broke college student who can't afford a washer and dryer. It wasn't a few moments later that rain poured down outside.
'God that was close!' He thought. The Alpha ran the entire way here, forgetting to do his laundry was bad, but forgetting when it was forecasted to rain any minute was worse!
Setting his basket of clothes next to a nearby washing machine, Aosh got to work putting everything inside. Getting to the bottom of the basket he is shocked to find he left his detergent at home.
'Oh c'mon…'
He eyes the rest of the room to see if anyone was willing to share some; knowing full well that the laundromat was so old that they no longer sold detergent in the dispensers on the walls. Hell, all the candy in the candy machines by the entrance was probably older than the man himself. He was alone in the building aside from one lone person a row of washing machines away from him, sitting at a table.
'...OH C'MON!'
Tiza sat at the table, headphones in, eyes locked on his phone screen; it looked like he was watching something. Aosh cursed whatever force had set this situation up! Hiding behind the machine he peeked over to take another look. The Omega still hadn't noticed him yet. Approaching from the front, he gently knocked on the table to get the other's attention.
The blonde looked up and his face wasn't subtle with the 'Oh god, it's YOU again.' look it gave.
"Listen, I just need to borrow some detergent...I, uh, forgot mine." he tried to make his smile not as awkward as he felt. Tiza looked around the empty building momentarily and sighed reaching into his basket and setting the bottle on the table. Hitting play on his show once more, Tiza could still hear the dejected 'Thanks' the Alpha mumbled as he walked back to his washing machine.
'He didn't have to sound so pathetic,' Tiza thought, trying to pay attention to his show. The brutal re-enactment of a murder went unwatched as the Omega side-eyed Aosh. The man in question sat at a table by the window, looking out into the gloomy early evening rain; the two washing machines running the only noise in the space they occupied. Tiza couldn't help but think how much he looked like a kicked puppy.
'Really? It's just the two of us here and you're going to sit over there?'
He worried his lip between his teeth as he contemplated the situation. It agitated him, did this guy not almost confess his love for him weeks earlier? Wasn't this the prime opportunity for an Alpha like him? It's not like he wanted to be relentlessly pursued, but it just kinda always happened. Still...the dejected look the Alpha wore gazing out the window made Tiza feel bad rather than happy he had run the other off. Turning up the volume he tried to tune out the other as he anxiously awaited his laundry to be done.
Later that night:
[TsuTsuTsunami]: I know it's late and you're probably asleep but I can't sleep. Everything smells like him and I feel like I'm having an out of body experience.
.................................
The third occurrence that Aosh chalked up to the universe being cruel happened while he was at work. Put in charge of a certain vendor's stall while they had some business to deal with, Aosh ran into the Omega once more. Or more like he saw the other shopping.
Aosh didn't know why this kept happening, aside from making the Omega's regular coffee joint a part of his morning routine he didn't actively seek out the other. He thought the first encounter at his work was just coincidence since he'd never seen Tiza shop there before, but now thinking back on it, had the other always come around here?
How many times had he passed the other casually in town without realizing it? Granted Tiza said he moved here only a few years ago, but the thought of it made Aosh's mind run with the possibility his fated mate had been right under his nose for some time.
Tiza stood at a stall, picking out vegetables and checking it before putting it in bags. The man truly was stunning even doing mundane things such as shopping. Aosh remembered how they got along during those private lessons and their interactions at the coffee shop and laundromat. They weren't entirely negative, but not positive either. Aosh didn't know what to make of them.
If he was honest with himself he was growing tired of the constant rejection from his fated mate. It took a toll on his mental state. The Omega's actions confused him, he would be cold one moment and then open up just a fraction to him. Aosh still yearned for the other deep in his heart, and after seeing him and getting to know the little he did he craved more. Was it foolish of him to want that? After finding his fated mate it seemed this relationship he dreamed of was farther away then when they never knew the other existed. Aosh couldn't stop his idiotic heart from wanting to close the gap between them.
Having an idea, he went up to the front when the stall owner returned, mindful not to let the Omega spot him.
......................................
Thirty minutes later Aosh clocked out of work and headed to the parking lot, bags full of fresh produce and other organic food in his hands along with his keys and phone. He felt good for the first time in a while, hopeful that his gift to Tiza would make the other happy; or at the least be a token of goodwill between the two.
Speaking of the Omega, the man was sitting on a bench in front of the entrance, bags of groceries sitting on the ground at his feet. Hadn't he left a while ago? Aosh approached him, setting everything in his hands on the bench next to Tiza.
"Are you waiting for someone?"
Tiza turned his head towards the voice. The Omega no longer held a surprised expression when seeing the other; his existence steadily becoming a daily occurrence. Instead, the expression was exchanged to one of annoyance. Sweeping his gaze back out to the parking lot he answered.
"I'm waiting for my ride."
"I can give you a lift if you want."
"Just what kind of game are you playing at?" Tiza sighed hotly.
"What are you talking about?" Aosh took a step closer and Tiza finally looked at him with an aggravated expression.
"I mean you! You keep doing things I don't understand, buying things for me even my damn groceries, and showing up everywhere I go! You're worse than any Alpha I met before! At Least they all would've done something by now, but you-!" he stood up with fists clenched at his sides, "It's like you're tormenting me! Why can't you just get whatever you want to do with me over with and get the hell out of my life?!"
Aosh had enough of this.
"Me tormenting you?! You're cold to me one minute but not the next, who's tormenting who?! You think after getting told to fuck off I want to keep running into you!? After waiting to meet you for so long, I just wanted to get to know you! I bought you stuff because I was being nice, why do I have to have a hidden agenda! God- I just- ARGH!" Aosh snatched up his groceries and his keys. "If you want me gone so badly fine! Sorry for even offering to do anything nice for you, because you're obviously incapable of doing anything nice, PERIOD!"
The Alpha stormed off to his car, so angry and hurt his eyes were wet. Tiza sat back down and watched while Aosh sped away.
'Good riddance…'
Now maybe all of these confusing emotions would go away. He tried to not let his mind process what had just happened; tried not to let his thoughts linger on the pure hurt on the Alpha's face as he went off on him. Tiza didn't have to be nice to Alpha's, he had earned more than his right to be cruel to them and to anybody else who treated him like shit.
'And when did he treat you like shit?'
No! He did not have to justify his actions! It felt like Tiza's head was going to explode arguing with himself like this, so he was glad when Sean finally pulled up to the curb. Getting up and grabbing his bags, the sound of something hitting the pavement caught his attention; a cell phone. Aosh's cell phone.
"Get in the car!" Came his brother's voice behind him. Quickly throwing it in one of the bags he hurried to the car.