Fate is a rascal.
It enjoyed butting it's head in the affairs of fated mates. Fate liked to weave their experiences together like threads on a loom, so intricately that only it knew the pattern it would make at the end of time. It led Alphas and Omegas around hoping that each pair would entertain it greater than the last.
Aosh had gone his whole life being a puppet to Fate in his own way. Waiting for a person who may or may not ever come. Loving the invisible. He played Fate's game, fell in love at first sight, let it guide him and his decisions. Let it slowly break him. Until his own fondness started to become his undoing. And maybe that was the purpose of fated mates. To have someone in name but not in heart. To scorn the idea of love all together.
Fate hated love.
Because love tempted Fate. It questioned it, and tried to break the strings that Fate wove. It was a dangerous game, between love and Fate, a game that waged war inside of Aosh ever since he met Tiza.
Embrace love and live in loneliness, accept Fate and enjoy all the lusts of his flesh with no love returned. Aosh was cornered, like a scared animal, forced to take a bullet or die slowly of poison.
Right now he was staring down the barrel of the gun.
Aosh had resolved to do one thing; help Tiza get his closure. Then he would confess his true feelings. If he was discarded like trash after he did then so be it. It was as if he already accepted his rejection before it even happened. To Aosh it was inevitable and Tiza was unreachable. In the beginning he had the confidence masked in disillusion that he could make Tiza his, but Fate violently pulled the strings on their loom, causing there to be gaps in their final tapestry.
The Alpha's heart, full to the brim of love, was tossed around with every situation up until it finally fell in a heap to the ground. Until he hit a breaking point. Until he broke through his disillusion to see the truth.
There was no one meant for him. The term 'fated mates' had no meaning.
Maybe that's why Aosh has been treating this whole situation as a vacation; as if hanging onto the illusion just a tad longer. If this was the last thing he was going to do with Tiza before he was turned away, he at least wanted to take away a few good memories. Aosh spared no expense, pulling directly from the Tiza fund, he booked them a flight to leave in the next few days and rented out a nice place in Tiza's hometown to stay in. Daniella and Shawnee offered to look after Benji while the two were away; Tiza opted to bring a cane instead of worrying about bringing Benji on a plane.
After a fourteen hour flight, Aosh and Tiza landed in France. And because Fate is a rascal, they arrived the day before their birthday.
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Tiza had never been much of a planner. All of his life he had a blurry goal in mind, but besides that lived his life day to day, being swept along by the breeze in any way that it would lead him. It's funny how falling in love can change that.
For some, love could give a sense of purpose. A need to care about something bigger than yourself. In his instance, it also caused him to care more about himself. Curiously he wanted to see in himself what Aosh saw in him, to see all the ways that he had worth. With that he broke free of all these labels he put on himself; that weighed him down.
And then he fell.
He fell so hard for the man that lit up a life Tiza didn't know was dull.
Now Tiza had a plan for his life, because it finally meant more than what it used to. He wanted to excel in his writing, overcome his disability, and live his entire life with Aosh. Before the future was grey and vague, but now it was bursting with color. He could see himself living with Aosh, marrying him, growing old with him; he could see it all so vividly. But it had to start somewhere, and so Tiza planned like he never had before. Because he wanted the moment where he returns Aosh's feelings to be perfect.
They were going to have a picnic in the park that Aosh loved so much; the same one they had spent so many mornings together. Tiza was going to try his hand at cooking as a surprise, he'd even been practicing while Aosh wasn't home. As much as the Omega wasn't comfortable around food, he wanted to make something warm, comforting, and delicious for his fated mate.
On his walks with Benji, Tiza was scoping out the perfect spot at the perfect time of day where the sun would warm up their winter outing. The skys had been clear, the gloom of winter moving into the brisk and bright cold of February. Tiza planned for them to eat and lay around watching people, watching clouds drift in the sky, and watching each other.
He was going to show Aosh the poor excuse of a birthday cake he made. The Alpha would laugh and eat it anyway he was sure. While Aosh ate, Tiza would tell him how glad he was to have Aosh in his life and how he had never loved anyone like this before. He would say love. Tiza would finally put it out in the universe for his fated mate to hear. Aosh would smile, that big, goofy and toothy smile that took Tiza's breath away and made life more bearable.
While Tiza bared his heart, his fingers would pick a few blades of grass and weave them into a ring. He'd grab Aosh's hand and slide the ring on his finger. The ring was a promise to give Aosh his neck when he was ready. Their lips would meet as they had many times before, kissing each other slowly until the need to breathe led them apart. And as soon as the duo made it back home they would spend their first time together.
He wasn't much of a romantic, if at all, but Aosh brought it out of him. It made him want to spoil Aosh with affection and daydream about the perfect birthday. Tiza's plan was perfect. It's a shame it couldn't happen.
Against all odds he was back, in the place that stole his innocence and shaped him into the man he was today. He never cared for his birthday before, but even he knew this wasn't a good way to spend it. Emerald eyes have been staring at the door to his old home for longer than he should've, knuckles just inches away from knocking on the door. His love stands behind him, hand on Tiza's shoulder encouraging. They came all this way and there was no backing down now. He could do this. With Aosh by his side, he felt like he could do anything.
Tiza knocks on the door.