Oh My Ares!

Chapter 1 : Epiphany

I SIT and watch in plain mirth as Dorian's voice fills the karaoke room with it's horrible rhythm and untimely tuning. It's been a rough day and watching the 1/3rd of my friend circle dance around like a merman and sing like a dying cat is surely something that can uplift my mood.

'So tonight, I'm gonna get my mind off it,

don't care if someone's got his hands all over my bo-dy!'

He sings and I turn to Mitch who is trying to hold in his laughter too. It's been a bad break up on Dorian. It must have been heartbreaking to see his boyfriend of a year having it with someone else in their own bed. 

'So no more sad songs,

No more sad songs.'

"There is nothing sadder than this," I whisper to Mitch who had made very little effort to hide his excitement about the breakup. 

"Trust me, the saddest sight was when he was with that dickbag," he mutters harshly, remembering the memory of Dorian's ex- a man all of us disliked but put up with for the sake of our friend. 

Thinking this is the right time, I turn to him and finally speak my mind, "You know, this is where you step in. Not right now, but after he is over him."

Dorian and Mitch have been bestfriends since grade school. They hit it off immediately and supported each other with their whole hearts when Dorian had come out as gay and Mitch as bisexual. But the timing had never been right with them as one of them had always been dating someone else.

Mitch growled, his alpha loving the idea but some part of him still feared it all. 

"I don't know Belle, what if we fail miserably? What if all of that is just in my head?"

I chuckle, "You're kidding, right?" 

He looks at me with confusion written all over his face. "Huh?"

I turn to face him completely, ignoring Dorian screaming his heart out with his back to us. "Dorian has always been so possessive about you, he acts jealous each time any other omega or even beta comes near you. He cuddles you, asks to scent him-Jeez! How can you be that blind, silly?"

It has all been so obvious with Dorian and Mitch till today that their tension has taken a toll on me too. Hell, if they hook up, I'd be the happiest creature on earth. Countless times I've had to endure their longing for each other and be the third wheel in each of their dates. 

"What if someone takes him away from me?" he asks, unsure.

I raise an eyebrow. "Hey!" he protests, "Don't give me that look, if anything, what if you take him away from me?" 

I bark out a laugh. 

Dorian and I had dated for three months in seventh grade before he came out to everyone. We had stayed close friends since then and that's how I'd met Mitch in the first place. Mitch took some time warming up to me after the fact that I'd dated his one true love. 

"Mitchy-Mitch," I squish his face between my palms and give him a condescending look. "If you don't go out there and ask him out, I will take him away from you. But only after punching your balls and kicking you in the stomach for being such a goddamn fool. "

Dorian hits a high note and both of us cringe internally. It only adds to our misery when he starts drinking booze again and shakes his ass. It makes me uncomfortable seeing my friend do the dance of dread, but Mitch, his heart is paining. Paining seeing him in such agony and having to deal with such a betrayal.

"Okay, fine." He looks at me. "I'll ask him out once he's better. But I doubt he'll agree."

"Oh my god. Why?" I ask in defeat. Even after laying it all out for him, Mitch still seems to hold some sort of doubts in his mind. It's exhausting seeing fools in love, because they never seem to get it out there.

His look morphs into a scowl, "Because you'll be all alone then. You know how much he adores you!"

I nearly spit my drink out. "What about you? Don't you adore me?" I look at him with puppy dog eyes and he cracks a giggle. 

"Belle Mason, you need to get some sooner or later."

Ugh.

Why is my dating life the national debate? For the last entire year, I've been haunted with questions regarding the matter and it's tiring. Thanksgiving, Christmas, weddings, funerals, divorces, the list is endless. Why is it that necessary for the society that I date? Does an unmated, twenty-six year old, female omega scare them beyond means?

"Mitch Dawson, I'm going to, give me some time," I roll my eyes at him, watching over Dorian singing 'Bad Blood' at top of his lungs. Tay-Tay would lose her sway-sway after listening to that.

"Isn't three years enough time?" he fires back.

"You know," I counter, "a lot of omegas are mating in their forties nowadays. It isn't uncommon for me to be single."

Mitch huffs a sigh. "Okay, let's make a deal. If Dorian accepts me, you go out there and find someone."

Okay, what?

"Please, Ditch is so going to happen," I slur as I take another sip of my beer.

"Ditch?" 

"It's your ship-name. I've been fangirling a lot lately," I smile.

The blush on Mitch's face tells me he is already imagining the times when Dorian would be his omega and he, his alpha.

"But the deal is still on, or else I'm not proposing to him."

I remember muttering a small 'fine' and getting engrossed in the evening before joining Dorian for 'My Heart Will Go On'. Mitch joins us for another song before we call it a night. They will forget about it as soon as they are a couple.

~

They don't forget about it, making it all a big issue and now both of them are on my back saying that I should at least go on two blind dates with one of their alpha friends. 

"Can we please drop this topic? You guys are supposed to be in your honeymoon phase before you collectively start obsessing about other's love life." I stir my coffee and look out the glass window of the diner. 

 Three months. That's all it took for Ditch to happen and my words to come and bite me in the ass. Now, subtle instances of undying love and angst for each other have been replaced with passionate snogs and groping. Even in front of me, even in public.

"Honey, you are a young omega, you need someone to at least help you out with your heats. Or else, you'll get touch deprivation," Dorian points out as he munches on his waffles.

"You know, experts say touch depri has increased by twelve percent in twenty something omegas since the last five years? B, get out there," Veronica agrees.

Veronica Smith is a mutual friend of ours and my neighbor, but it's her untimely effort of adding to a conversation that bugs me. But, it turns out, it's only me that has a problem with her and Ditch agree to her words.

"I really can't. I have tons of work to do and my new job begins in two weeks. I still have to finalize the documents and send them to Mr. Polson so that he stops hammering me with more work."

My current job has been hectic as it is. Mr. Polson is a horrible boss and the sooner I get out of there, the better. Working under a strict boss has definitely taken a toll on my social life. There have been countless parties, birthdays and get-togethers that I've had to miss in order to get a particular job done. Working after hours had become a recurring event and that was surely pissing me off.

On top of that, me being an omega seemed to be another major problem for my earlier boss. Low pay, constant heavy workload because I 'miss a lot of days in my omega heats' and a constant microscope over me to double check every single paperwork is definitely something exhausting. 

The conversation delves into another mundane gossip over the local it-couple and I heave a sigh of relief. But still, I don't notice the looks Veronica constantly gives me. Her habitual biting of lip and sneaky gazes constantly demand my attention. Weird. Even for Veronica.

After half an hour, we bid our goodbyes leaving the new couple all to themselves before taking the subway. 

On our way home, Veronica continues with her secretive antics. "Okay, what?" I decide to humor her as we enter the subway.

It being a fairly uncrowded train, we manage to get ourselves seats. She licks her lips and looks at me with uncertainty. "You're interested in b**m, right?" 

Um.

What.

The.

Hell.

Did she seriously ask me that?

How the hell does one simply throw a curveball out there and expect me to respond? Veronica has been nothing but a mutual friend, a habitual acquaintance that I've grown to tolerate. Does she not know any privacy boundaries? 

I blush. What I like and dislike is not her business and she needs to get a brain to mouth filter. "No. I don't." I wish to end this here.

No, I'm not ashamed of what I like, I'm just keen on keeping my personal life private. 

"Yes you do. I've been your neighbor for long to know that," she maintains her adamant and unnecessary stand. 

I huff. "Veronica, what I do or don't do is none of your concern."

She rolls her eyes at me. "I know we haven't been especially close, but Mitch and Dorian worry 'bout you."

"They worry about my s****l preferences?" I hiss sarcastically, keeping my voice down.

"No, they worry about you not getting any."

"That's weird, you know that right?" I just wish to get out of here.

She doesn't say anything anymore and I don't expect her to. Her bizarre question simply hangs in the air. On our walk home, we maintain a distance between us, choosing to stay mum. I whisper a little 'bye' before entering my own apartment and falling back in my bed. 

Choosing not to indulge with her, I fire up my laptop and get to finalizing some of the final documents that would free me of my shackles of s*****y.

Shackles.

Being bound.

Being bound and controlled-

I shake my head and give no room to those thoughts. It's ridiculous. I'm too busy for a relationship and I don't trust any shady 'Dom-You' sites after the dangerous incidents that have been reported. So, I channel all the frustration into my work like I always have and work tirelessly for another two hours. It's just as I'm about to get some coffee (again) that my phone rings. It's a text. A text from Veronica. 

Puzzled, I open it. 

Veronica: Look into this or whatever.

Veronica: -Link-

I click on the link hesitantly. It takes some time for the page to load and I wait eagerly for the mystery link to open. Oh God! The link has it in bold and I read in horror and amusement at the same time:

'ATLANTIS CLUB'

-Find your passion.

Further reading tells me that it's a b**m club. Veronica, someone that I'm not close to, pitied my loneliness so much that she sent me a link to a b**m club!