The Alpha's Pretend-Boyfriend

The End of The Trip

When Louie awoke the next morning, he couldn’t help but think that the situation he was in was all too familiar. He felt warm, which he liked because he couldn’t tolerate the cold, but he soon found out that it wasn’t because of his old blankets nor the lack of air-conditioning. It was the weight on his chest and legs that was keeping him warm, and he didn’t have to look down to see that it was Dane hugging him tightly like a pillow like how he once did.

It was probably because it was the second time this has happened and the third time he found himself in bed with said werewolf, but Louie realized that he didn’t mind it. Not at all. He also found that Dane's peaceful sleeping face wasn’t a bad view to look at in the morning—even if he was wearing clothes that were a size too small for him.

Louie would’ve preferred to stay in bed to get some more sleep, but he heard movement outside of his room. Hearing how familiarly heavy the footsteps were, he immediately knew it was his father who had come home.

Dane yawned and slowly woke up beside him, and for some reason, Louie decided to close his eyes and pretended to still be asleep. He could overhear Dane’s panicked but quiet, “Oh no,” as he realized he had unknowingly crossed the imaginary line they had set on the bed. Louie felt Dane very slowly and carefully lift his arm and leg from him to bring them back over to his side of the bed. That was when Louie decided to “wake up.”

“Oh, hey,” he muttered at Dane as he pretended to still be disoriented.

“Morning,” Dane nervously smiled, looking guilty. “I’m sorry, I have to tell you but I crossed the line and I woke up hugging you again. I didn’t mean to.”

Louie chuckled as he sat up. He had already given the man a chance to quietly slip away, and yet there he was, confessing that he did something wrong albeit unintentionally. “I know and it’s fine,” he assured him. “I like warm things anyway.” Louie's mind completely woke up at the sound of what he just said.

“You do?” Dane quickly sat up and asked with a delighted smile on his face.

“Anyway,” Louie averted his eyes and scrambled to get up. “I think my dad's downstairs, so I’ll go check if he needs anything.” He didn’t wait for a reply and rushed out the door, embarrassed, but he heard Dane call out, “Wait for me, I’m coming with!”

Just as he expected, he found his father in the kitchen rummaging through the fridge.

“Morning, dad,” Louie greeted. His dad stood up straight and flashed him a smile.

“Morning. You boys slept okay?” He asked.

Louie shyly nodded. “What are you doing back here? If you needed something, I could’ve brought it over.”

“I figured you boys ought to get some rest. I just had to get some spare clothes for your mother,” he gestured towards the bag on top of the counter. “Aunt Patty’s keeping an eye on her, so I decided to come back and check if you have breakfast here. I tried to be quiet, did I wake you up?”

“No, you didn’t,” Louie replied. “You don’t have to worry about us, dad. We can make do with whatever’s in the fridge.”

“Oh, good morning Mr. Farrik,” Dane greeted as he appeared behind Louie.

“Good morning, Dane. Did you sleep well?” his father asked. It was obvious that he noticed Dane's clothing and found it to be amusing, but he kept to himself.

“I did!” Dane beamed at him. “And, oh, don’t worry about breakfast. I can whip up a decent meal given any ingredients, so leave it up to me.”

“Ah, as expected of someone who owns a restaurant!” the old man nodded approvingly, then proceeded to whisper, “My son isn’t very good at cooking.”

“Dad,” Louie complained as Dane laughed.

“Alright, alright, I’ll leave you two be,” his father chuckled as he picked up the bag. “Oh, by the way, your mom's getting discharged later in the afternoon.”

Louie and Dane followed him to the door. “Really? That fast?” Louie asked. “Are the doctors sure she’s good to go home?”

“Of course. I told you, you shouldn’t worry too much,” his father replied as Dane opened the door for him. “What time are you two heading back to the city?”

“We can go late in the afternoon, after Louie's mom comes home,” Dane said before Louie could speak. “We’ll help you settle back in first.”

Louie leaned in to whisper at him. “Are you sure?” He asked, and Dane replied with a nod and a smile.

“Well, if you say so,” Louie's father said, looking very pleased. “I better get going. See you boys later.”

“Later, Mr. Farrik!” Dane called out after him before he closed the door. When he turned around, he caught Louie staring at him for a second before the human quickly averted his eyes.

“So, um, breakfast?” Louie asked, trying to sound casual as he briskly walked to the kitchen.

Dane frowned, slightly confused but decided to let it go. He jogged to catch up to Louie and said with a smile, “Starving. Let's see what you have in your fridge.”

***

Throughout the rest of the day, Louie found himself unable to keep his eyes off Dane—as they simply ate breakfast, as Dane insisted on washing the dishes, as he drove them to the hospital to pick his parents up, as he caringly helped his mother get on and off the car, as he volunteered to bring all the bags from the trunk to the house, and even as they said goodbye to Louie's parents before they went on their way back to the city.

Louie was amazed at how easily being of service to two strangers he had just met the day before came to Dane, and how he actually managed to capture their favor. If anything, Louie ridiculously suspected that his parents were beginning to like the werewolf more than their own son. But them liking Dane shouldn’t be much of a surprise, really. With his bright, infectious smile and his energetic attitude, it would take a lot more energy to hate him.

Louie thought this as he caught himself staring at the man again as he drove and spoke about how he enjoyed his short stay in a town made up of mostly humans.

“I’ve never seen so much humans before!” Dane was saying with a huge smile on his face as he glanced at Louie. “And they were all so welcoming, too! I don’t get why there’s a stereotype that humans are difficult to get along with.”

“Humans did almost make every other creature extinct,” Louie reminded him a part of their world's history.

Dane chuckled. “That’s centuries ago,” he said. “Humans are much more peaceful now from what I gathered. I mean, just take a look at you! You are, by far, one of the kindest I know.”

“You’re one to talk!” Louie exclaimed. “You’re the one who’s driven me for hours and helped out my parents. Did you see the way they fawned over you? Every parent must be dying to have you as an in-law or their own child.”

“Well, I doubt that,” Dane hesitantly muttered. “I don’t do this kind of thing for just anyone.”

“Oh,” was all Louie could reply as he read between the lines of what Dane had just implied. A faint tint of pink appeared on his cheeks as he fought a smile from forming. “Anyway,” he cleared his throat, “thank you for all you’ve done for me and my parents. I really appreciate it.”

“Ah, it’s no biggie,” Dane waved a hand, even though it was clear on his face that he was quite flustered.

Their little moment was cut short when a ringing sound filled the car. Dane fished for his phone from his jacket pocket to look at the screen. “Excuse me a sec,” he told Louie before answering it.

“Hey, what’s up?” he began, while Louie looked out the window to seem like he wasn’t listening. “Oh, we’re actually together right now, yeah. We just came from his parents' house.”

Louie's head turned towards Dane.

“Alright, I’ll tell him.” Dane glanced at him with a strained smile. “Sunday, right? Okay… okay, I got it. Bye.” He hung up the phone and wrinkled his nose.

“Was that about me?” Louie asked.

“Um, a bit?” Dane answered. “It was my sister, reminding me we have a camping thing on Sunday. She said to bring you along.”

“I see…”

“Before you decide,” Dane hurriedly said, “let me tell you about it first. So, we usually have these family camping trips at least twice a year. We stay in a small cottage in the woods, we hunt, and we catch up with each other. That sort of thing.”

“They'd probably be suspicious if I don’t hunt with you, huh?” Louie asked.

“Well, we can make up an excuse. There are quite a few acceptable reasons werewolves can’t shift anyway. But of course, it’s up to you if you want to—”

“I’ll go,” Louie interrupted, making Dane glance at him with widened eyes. “I’ll go,” he said again, sounding more sure this time. “We can make up an excuse as to why I can’t hunt, and I won’t try to make prolonged physical contact with them. You said it’s highly unusual and rude for werewolves to exude pheromones, right?”

“Yes, my family doesn’t like to—”

“Then it’s settled,” Louie gave him a reassuring smile.

“Are you sure? Like, absolutely sure?” Dane asked.

Louie nodded, trying to seem more confident than he felt. “I’m sure.”