The Alpha's Pretend-Boyfriend

The Humans

They ended up going.

After Dane's crazy suggestion that they just get up and drive to a town hours away from the city to see Louie's parents, Dane only made a stop to the gas station to fill up his tank, and then they were on their way. They arrived in town in the afternoon, making only one stop along the way—for Dane to buy a fruit basket for Louie’s parents. Louie had told him that he didn’t need to, but he insisted, stating, “I’m a stranger visiting unannounced. I don’t want to be rude.”

Throughout the car ride, Louie watched as Dane admired everything in awe—the dirt road, the abundance of trees, the small buildings, and even the fact that he can look up and see an unobstructed view of the afternoon sky. It was obvious that he rarely visited the countryside. Even as they arrived at the hospital, Dane couldn’t help but be amazed. Only this time, it was for a different reason.

“Is everyone here,” he leaned towards Louie to whisper as they got on an elevator with a few people, “human?”

“Yes.” Louie chuckled and whispered back, “Don’t worry, other kinds are rare here but they’re all welcome.”

“Oh, nice,” Dane simply smiled.

“By the way,” Louie shifted uncomfortably as they stood outside of his mother's room. “My parents are a but, um, old-fashioned, so maybe don’t bring up that I’m helping you with the, uh, you know, with your parents?”

“Understood,” Dane nodded.

“And there might be a few guests in the room, just a few neighbors—maybe 2 or 3, but I’m just telling you so you’d be prepared.” Louie nervously smiled. “They can be quite… nosy.”

“Seems like neighbors of any kind have that in common,” Dane chuckled. “Got it.”

“Alright, here goes.” Louie knocked on the door and opened it, while Dane stood closely behind with his fruit basket by his chest. For some reason, Louie abruptly stopped under the doorway, and when Dane peeked to see what was happening, he understood why. In the room were not a “few" guests as they had expected. There were at least 10 humans crowding Louie's parents, engaged in loud chatter.

“Louie!” one of the neighbors was the first to notice their arrival, causing everyone to look their way. Louie's eyes widened, clearly overwhelmed as he faked a smile.

“What’s going on here? Dad, I thought you said there were only a few visitors?” he asked.

“There are only a few,” his father shrugged. It seemed that they had very different definitions of what that word meant. “Come in, come in! Is that your friend behind you?”

Dane perked up and stepped out of hiding. “Hello, Mister and Missus Farrik! My name is Dane,” he energetically said with a smile so bright that made everyone else smile with him. “I hope you don’t mind my stopping by. I brought something for you, Ma’am. I’ll place it here.” He proceeded to say a few “excuse me's" to get to the table full of presents, while Louie walked to his mother to give her a kiss on the forehead.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have!” Louie’s mom said, even though she was visibly pleased. To Louie, she asked, “How was your trip, dear? I told your father not to call you because I knew you’d only worry.”

Louie sat beside her on the bed. “The trip was fine, mom. And how could I not worry when you’re in a hospital?”

“I told him he didn’t have to come,” his father piped in, “but then he’s suddenly on the road with his friend Dane over here.”

“Boyfriend?” one of the other visitors asked, and suddenly, everyone was chiming in like seagulls.

“Boyfriend? Did he say boyfriend?”

“Louie, I didn’t know you have a partner!”

“How long have you two been together?”

“He has such kind eyes.”

Louie looked around in panic while Dane awkwardly smiled, not knowing what to do.

“A-actually, h-he's,” he mumbled under everyone's murmurs.

“Louie!” his mother asked, looking delightedly surprised, “you have a boyfriend?”

At that moment, Louie understood what it must have felt like for Dane when his parents visited Hestia's. The hopeful look in his parents' eyes as they assumed wrongly was enough to make Louie blurt out without thinking, “Yes, he's my, uh, boyfriend.”

That prompted a lot more excited inquiries and comments from everyone, but what only mattered to him at that time were the smiles on his parents' faces.

“Well, come here then,” Louie's mother waved at the surprised Dane to come closer. “I want to see my son's boyfriend up close.”

Louie looked at him apologetically, but Dane smiled back at him like it was no trouble at all.

***

It had been a tiring afternoon for both Louie and Dane. After the little “reveal" in a hospital room full of spectators, they were pestered on with many, many questions regarding their “relationship.” Thankfully, Dane was quick on his feet. He was able to twist the truth of how they met to make it seem more romantic, while Louie only nodded and agreed with everything he said.

Everyone seemed to buy it, especially his parents who were just completely ecstatic that their only son had someone to lean on in the big city. And when it was revealed that Dane was an Alpha werewolf from an affluent family, they were even more relieved.

Once the visitors went home one by one, Louie insisted that he stays in the hospital to look after his mother so his father could get some rest. His father didn’t allow it, of course, stating, “You two should stay the night at the house.”

Louie had tried to argue, saying he wanted to help out, but his mother suggested, “You can help clean out the house. Your dad and I haven’t been home in a few days, so the dust must be accumulating. You can come back tomorrow during visiting hours.”

To that, Louie could no longer argue. So he headed to the house with Dane, who claimed he didn’t mind the idea of cleaning as he was too excited to see the place that Louie grew up in.

“This is your home?” Dane asked as they stepped out of the car. It was an old simple two-story brick house that Louie's great-grandfather had built, but Dane looked at it as if it was something grand.

“Yup,” Louie bashfully smiled as he opened the front door. “Lived here for more than 2 decades. Come in and make yourself at home.” He took off his shoes and placed them on the rack, and Dane followed his example.

“It looks great! Can I—” he looked at Louie like a child waiting to be given permission.

“You can snoop anywhere except my parents' bedroom,” Louie said, and Dane wasted no time to look around.

Louie began cleaning up as he said he would—even though the place was pretty much spotless the way they found it. He found everything in their usual places, the way he had left them. After all, he had only been gone for a while even if it felt like a lifetime.

He couldn’t help but compare the house to his small apartment in the city. His apartment was “okay" if one didn’t mind living in a cramped up space along a grimy, sketchy street where you don’t know anyone. The house, on the other hand, was clean, bright and spacious, its fridge was always full of food, and if he stepped outside he would be greeted by a neighborhood of humans he had known since he was a child.

Louie had admittedly thought about moving back to the comfort of his childhood home around once or twice after he got scammed in the city. But he remembered how suffocating it was to stay in a town he'd been in forever. How limited his world-view was, and how sheltered he had become. The city had yet to feel like home, but with his newfound community at Hestia's—no matter how seemingly crazy they were—he realized that it was starting to feel like it.

As he reminisced while wiping the countertops, he heard Dane's excited footsteps rushing down the stairs before he appeared in front of Louie with a wide smile on his face.

“Look what I found,” he announced, raising a photo album to show to Louie.

Louie dropped his rag and took the album. “Where did you find this?” he asked as he flipped a page.

“Somewhere around the attic?”

“You got to the attic?” Louie laughed.

“Our house never had one, so I was excited!” Dane defensively said. “Come on, let’s look it over.”

“Alright, let me just finish cleaning up, then let’s have dinner first. Sound good?”

Dane straightened up and nodded. “I’ll help you clean up! Tell me what to do,” he said with much enthusiasm.

Without his uniform, outside of the restaurant, and miles away from the city, Dane really seemed like that normal, supportive friend. But that was the thing with him, as Louie found out. He was a good and effective boss at work, but he genuinely cared for everyone around him, and that’s why he had such loyal employees and friends by his side.

Louie returned his smile and handed him another rag. “You can help me wipe down the countertops then mop the floors later,” he said. Dane gave a small salute and complied.

As Louie said, they cleaned up the house—fairly quickly, at that—then they had some of the meals his parents made him bring home from the stack of food they received from visitors. Afterwards, they washed up and prepared for bed.

This was something that skipped both of their minds. They had rushed out of the city on a whim, and only then did they realize that they hadn’t packed any clothes. Louie fared alright since he still had some old clothes left behind in his bedroom. Dane, on the other hand, had to borrow from him. It was convenient, yes, but it sure wasn’t comfortable, which was obvious when Dane stepped out of the shower wearing pajama bottoms that hung a few inches above his ankles, and a shirt that hugged his upper body in a tight fit.

Louie was in his old bedroom, looking over the photo album that had just been unearthed, when Dane came into the room. As soon as Louie looked up and saw the state of him with his hair damp and his clothes a size too small, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Are you sure these are the largest you have?” Dane asked, his discomfort was obvious as he pulled on the sleeves of the shirt to loosen them up a little.

“I’m sure.” Louie tried to stifle his laugh. “Sorry, we should’ve gone out before to buy you some clothes since the stores are closed now.”

“It’s fine,” Dane smiled, pulling down the shirt by its hem. He sat beside Louie on the bed, much to the human's surprise, and leaned in to see what he was looking at. It was at that moment that Louie realized it was the first time someone else aside from his parents had come into his room and sat on his bed.

“Oh, was that you during Middle School?” Dane asked, completely unaware of what was going through the other man's head. He shook his head like a dog drying its hair, making a few droplets fly around.

“Yeah, I was a small kid back then,” Louie chuckled as he placed another towel on top of Dane's head.

“Thanks,” he smiled, then proceeded to carelessly rub his head with the towel.

“Oh, by the way,” Louie closed the photo album and turned to face Dane. “About what happened in the hospital,” he started, looking ashamed. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t know what to do and my parents just looked so happy at the thought that we're together.”

“Psh, don’t worry about it,” Dane chuckled. “I’m not exactly in the place to complain.”

“Thanks for saving me back there,” Louie sheepishly smiled. “I think I understand now why you also lied to your parents about us, even if the situations are pretty different.”

“I guess we have to add more on that cheat sheet you have,” Dane jokingly said, pertaining to the notes that Louie had taken in order to remember details about their supposed “relationship" and Dane's family.

“I guess so,” Louie chuckled. “Anyway, I’ll just get a few pillows and I’ll be out of your hair,” he said as he stood up.

“Getting pillows for what?” Dane asked.

“I’m going to sleep on the couch,” Louie stated, as if it was something obvious. “You can sleep here. I already changed the sheets.”

“Oh,” Dane muttered, his smile faltering.

“Why? Is there anything you find uncomfortable? My bed’s pretty wide, and I have a night light if that would help. The air-conditioning is also—”

“No, it’s not that, I just,” Dane looked at Louie, embarrassed. “I can’t sleep in unfamiliar places,” he said in a whisper.

“You were able to sleep in my apartment just fine,” Louie recalled with a frown.

“Well, that’s because the two times I slept there, I was one, drugged up with inhibitors, and two, dead-drunk.”

Louie narrowed his eyes and thoughtfully nodded. “That’s right,” he agreed. “So, um, what do you…”

“Would you mind if we sleep together? In your bed, I mean, beside each other,” Dane asked, looking completely aware of how ridiculous he sounded. “I just need something familiar, you know. In this case, you’re the familiar “someone.””

“Oh,” Louie muttered, his mind having had stopped the moment the words “sleep together" entered his ears.

“I promise I’ll behave!” Dane said in a panic. “I mean, not that I intended otherwise the last two times we shared the same—anyway, I promise I’ll just lie still like I sleep in a coffin. Like how Germain probably sleeps at night. Actually, no, I don’t think that’s how vampires sleep anymore in this century, but anyway, that’s not the point. If you ever feel the tiniest bit uncomfortable, you can kick me out and get my keys and wallet to—”

“It’s fine,” Louie interrupted before Dane's ridiculous flight of ideas went even further. “I‐I guess we can. It’s just for the night anyway, and it would be weird if my dad suddenly comes home and finds me in the living room.”

Dane's face brightened once again. Louie dropped the pillow he had picked up. “It’ll just be like a sleepover,” he thought. “A sleepover in our late twenties, with an attractive werewolf pretending to be my boyfriend. It should be fine.”