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Sonic swore under his breath at the way North was pushing against him, nuzzling into his neck, quietly begging for him, for his attention. At first, Sonic had thought North had just had too much to drink, he had always been the clingy drunk type after all, always holding onto him, wanting to cuddle, sappy and emotional. But now, sitting on North’s old, ratty couch, North whispering little pleas into his skin, reaching out for his shirt, his usual soft floral scent spiking with a syrupy sweetness that could only mean one thing, Sonic was lost on what to do. He wanted to give into him, his own intoxicated brain egging him on, painting very vivid pictures of how beautiful North would look with his toned back arching off the bed, hands gripping onto the sheets underneath him.
He shouldn’t, he knew he shouldn’t. It wasn’t right. But he wanted it. Wanted it desperately.
“Sonic, please, it hurts…don’t you love me?” North whined, slowly slurring his words, one hand sliding under Sonic’s shirt, fingers burning their away across his stomach before tightly holding onto his waist.
Sonic couldn’t take it anymore. Not when he could feel North’s tears soaking into his shoulder as he begged. Not when he smelled so so good. Not when his brain had decided to check out for the night. So he turned around, lips smashing into North’s with a sense of urgency and desperation that matched North’s perfectly. It was a kiss born out of years of longing and want and they both knew it, deep down. Sonic couldn’t hold himself back anymore; in an uncharacteristic show of alpha strength, he got up before picking North up along with him, holding onto him as he led them both to North’s room. He couldn’t wait any longer.
He threw him on the bed, watched as he bounced a little before looking up at him with half lidded eyes, spreading his still clothed legs for him as if he too couldn’t wait anymore.
It was too late to back down now.
~~
North’s eyes slowly blinked open, the light filtering in through the blinds he had forgotten to close. His head was killing him, his stomach was killing him, not unusual for the morning after a night out; but something was different. He felt woozy and there was this dull ache at the side of his neck he couldn’t quite explain. And the longing . He felt like something or someone was missing and he didn’t know who or what. He got up from the bed, noticing the glass of water and painkillers on his bedside table, intending on going to the bathroom but stopping midway when something in his reflection caught his attention. His heart started hammering inside his chest, his body breaking out in a cold sweat, his breathing coming out in quick pants. There, on his neck, clear as day, was a bite.
Deep, jagged, red. Recent. A mating bite.
North was going to be sick. From the alcohol or the shock he didn’t know, but in only a matter of seconds he was kneeling on his cold bathroom floor, emptying all of last night’s drinks. When he was done, he sat on the same floor, trembling, incapable of moving; his head like a spinning vortex as he thought back to the night before, trying, in vain, to remember what had happened. He remembered the club, remembered drinking with the team but the rest was a complete blur of flashing images, pulsating to the beat of the music. He rushed for his phone, quickly opening his contacts when he stopped himself. He could already hear Alan scolding him for not keeping track of his heats, for not protecting himself and letting this happen.
No one could know about it.
So North cleaned up the bite, disinfecting it before covering it in bandages decorated with little ducks Sonic had bought for him when he fell down at the garage and scraped his knees.
Sonic . Would Sonic judge him if he knew what had happened? Would he hate him? North couldn’t believe he had let a random person take this from him when there was only one person he wished to be this deeply connected to. Part of him wanted to call Sonic right away, ask him to come over so he could cry in his arms, maybe get some comfort. But a bigger part of him couldn’t even stomach the thought of running into Sonic at the moment.
Not knowing what to do, he simply messaged Alan, telling him he wasn’t feeling too good and would be away from the garage for a few days, before sinking into his couch with a bowl full of snacks that would remain untouched.
~~
North sighed quietly as he looked at his phone. Delivered. His last message to Sonic had been delivered four days ago and still no answer. He didn’t know what he had done to piss him off but Sonic had never left him hanging for so long before. Hopefully he would see him at the garage.
With another sigh, North checked his reflection in the mirror, adjusting the collar to hide the bite mark. The makeup covered a good chunk of it but North was no expert. Yet, he did what he could, hoping no one would notice it.
By the time he made it to the garage, Alan was waiting for him at the door, arms crossed and looking pissed. North didn’t know how he could have angered him already when he hadn’t even set foot in the garage yet.
“North! Why aren’t neither you nor Sonic answering your phones?”
“I wasn’t feeling well, I told you,” North fought back.
“And Sonic? Was he sick too?”
“I - I don’t know…he hasn’t been answering me either,” North replied, stopping dead in his tracks when the implication hit him, “when’s the last time you’ve talked to him?”
North could feel panic rise in his throat, his head spinning as he stared up at Alan, waiting, hoping it hadn’t been too long. The idea of something having happened to Sonic, that he could be hurt somewhere made him physically sick.
“A couple of days ago? Maybe three? He said he would be away for a while and left it at that and wouldn’t answer any of my questions…”
What? North couldn’t comprehend what he was hearing. What did Sonic mean about being away for a while? A few days? Weeks? And why had he not even bothered to message him, they were best friends, weren’t they?
After that, the day went by incredibly slowly. North kept checking his phone over and over again hoping for a sign from Sonic, a call, a message, even just the status changing from delivered to read . But no such luck. And with each passing minute, North could feel his nerves growing, his stomach twisting painfully in apprehension. And it didn’t get better by the time he made it home. His whole body was on edge as if the mere absence of Sonic made his world turn on its axis. He felt lost, he felt empty, he felt sick. And he was in pain, the bite mark on his neck throbbing.
He lay down, hoping sleep would take over and he would be able to blackout until the morning came and he wouldn’t have to suffer through this burning longing, worse than any heat he had ever had. But, as he tossed and turned in bed, it became obvious sleep wouldn’t be coming any time soon. So he succumbed to his craving, reaching out for his phone charging on the bedside table, heart squeezing in his chest at his background picture: him sitting between Sonic’s legs who hugged him from behind, Sonic’s chin resting on his shoulder.
To: Sonic || 02:58 am
Please…what’s going on?
Where are you?
You’re my best friend, you can’t leave me like this
Please
He waited. And he waited. And he waited.
Delivered not Read.
— —
North eyed himself in the mirror, the bags under his eyes jumping out at him. He looked exhausted. He felt exhausted. He couldn’t sleep, couldn’t keep anything down, his body feeling as empty as his mind on most days. It had been nearly four months since Sonic had left unexpectedly and the only thing he had to say was a simple ‘I’m sorry’ sent in the middle of a random Tuesday night. And yet, North treasured that last message, held it close to his chest, the last words Sonic had said to him.
But that wasn’t enough anymore. He needed Sonic here, needed to talk to him, needed to tell him the news, needed his help.
His eyes fell from his gaunt cheeks to his stomach, each week growing a little rounder. He had been in denial for so long, but now he could no longer ignore the truth and he didn’t know how to feel. On one hand, he had always wanted a baby and he knew he was gonna love this one, with all his heart but, at the same time, he still didn’t know who the father was, probably the same asshole who gave him the mating bite, and it kept him up at night. This was not how he had imagined things going. And it couldn’t go on like this. Before he could chicken out, he grabbed his phone, going through his contacts before hitting the call button.
“ Hello ?” came a deep voice after three rings.
“Alan? I need your help.”
~~
“You’re WHAT??”
“I - please, don’t scream, I - I’m pregnant and - ”
“And what? Who’s the father? When did this happen?” Alan asked, willing his voice to sound calmer than before, sitting on North’s couch, staring out into the horizon. He knew he shouldn’t be acting like this, it wasn’t like North was his son but he still felt responsible for him, he felt responsible for all his juniors.
“I don’t know,” North replied, feeling small and vulnerable as he sat down, eyes glued to the floor, his hands protectively around his stomach, “I - I - the night we went out to celebrate Babe and Charlie’s engagement, I can’t remember much, can’t even remember getting home but…”
North had to take a deep breath before lowering the collar of his shirt, wiping at the heavy layer of makeup that kept the scar hidden everyday, his cheeks burning bright red in shame.
“This was here when I woke up the next morning, I - I don’t know who gave it to me… phi I don’t know what to do,” he continued, voice finally cracking as he stopped trying to hold back his emotions, letting himself fall into Alan’s arms.
“We’ll help you,” Alan quickly replied as he pulled North closer, heart squeezing inside his chest at the broken look on his face, “whatever you need, you have us…”
They stayed like that for a couple of minutes until North could feel himself calm down enough. He let Alan convince him to share the news with the pack, inviting everyone to his apartment. As it turned out, telling the story once didn’t make it easier to tell it a second time and he found himself stumbling through what he could remember of that fateful night before showing everyone the same jagged mark he had shown Alan.
“Sonic might be able to help…you two left together that night,” Kim said after a quick moment, as he thought back to all those months before.
“Yeah, well, if you can reach him send him my - wait, we left at the same time?”
“Not just at the same time, you left together in the same car”.
“Are you sure?” Alan asked as he eyed both Kim and North. He felt absolutely useless but when he thought back to that night he could only think about how pretty Jeff had looked under the neon lights, how his eyes shone as he looked back at him from under his lashes.
“Yeah, I tried to stop them from leaving, none of them were in any condition to drive but I got - huh - I got sidetracked and by the time I looked Sonic was driving both of you back in his car”.
“By sidetracked do you mean ‘ got pulled into a dark corner by Kenta’ ?” Babe asked with a snort, now remembering the exact moment Kim had been talking about.
Before Kim could squawk out a reply, North was turning his attention back to him, brows drawn in confusion, “in his car? My car was in my garage the next day…did I leave by myself and come back for it?”
The wheels were now turning in his brain. If he came back for his car, drunk and possibly in heat, it could have explained how he ended up in this situation. But what random creep would drive him back to his apartment and leave him in the morning with water and painkillers on the nightstand? What kind of pervert was so thoughtful?
“No, your car was definitely in the parking lot all night,” Dean squeaked from his corner on the floor, eyes burning holes into North’s fluffy rug as he ignored the looks being thrown at him.
“Oh yeah, Dean should know, he had Winner draped all over the hood for a good chunk of the night,” Charlie replied, beaming from ear to ear until he remembered the whole situation being discussed here.
“Dude…you fucked Winner in my car? That’s gross…”
“I - we - we just made out,” Dean tried defending himself, cheeks dusted in pink, “and - and it was technically on your car not in.”
“Let’s focus back on what’s important?” Alan quickly let out when he noticed North getting ready to say something else. The last thing he needed was for these two to get in a fight about Winner.
“Okay, then most likely Sonic drove you home and then came back for your car…could you have called someone else while in heat?” Babe asked, trying to make sense of the situation.
“Who would I even call? Pretty much all the alphas I know are sitting here…”
“Maybe you left the door unlocked and someone broke in?” Charlie added.
“I mean…I guess. I was pretty out of it that night…”
“I think,” Jeff started, saying something for the first time that night, “I think we’re forgetting something…Sonic is an alpha.”
The entire room’s eyes were on him, confusion written all over their faces until one by one seemed to catch on.
Oh .
“You’re not saying that Sonic did this are you?” Alan asked, wondering if maybe Jeff could have had any vision that showed him what had happened.
“It makes sense though,” came Kenta’s quiet voice from his place next to Kim, “they left together, North was in heat and they were both drunk.”
North felt like if he wasn’t sitting down already he would have fallen to the floor. It couldn’t be, could it? No, of course not…Sonic didn’t like him, not like that, he would never have done it. But then he thought about Sonic’s last message to him, his heart racing in his chest. I’m sorry , he had said. At the time North meant he was apologizing for leaving but now he wondered if he had meant something else.
“You should call him.”
~~
To: Sonic || 11:32 pm
Sonic, please
If you were ever really my friend…call me, it’s important
Please
North had spent the whole day calling Sonic, over and over again with no success. He stared at the message, his last resort before he gave up on it, until the status changed. He nearly dropped his phone when it started ringing, Sonic’s picture appearing on the screen.
“ North? Is everything okay?”
North felt like he could cry just from finally hearing Sonic’s voice after months of radio silence. It felt like home, like his world was finally aligned again, like he was finally at peace. And right there and then he knew Jeff had been right.
“I know it was you…why did you leave?”
“ What - what are you talking about?” Sonic stuttered, voice coming out shaky and nervous. He knew exactly what North was talking about.
“Four months ago, you know what I’m talking about…come home, we need to talk…”
North tried to hold onto his emotions, willing them to not show in his voice but the way it wavered as he pleaded with him gave him away.
“ I - North, I can’t - ” Sonic said desperately into the phone, until he heard North letting out a small, broken please , “ okay, I’ll come back…don’t hate me. ”
He could never say no to him.
~~
North jumped out of his seat the moment he heard the doorbell ring. He fixed his hair and his clothes, as best as he could in the panicked state he was in. He couldn’t believe he was finally going to be seeing Sonic after all this time had passed. He didn’t even know what to say to him, or how to feel. Part of him thought he should be angry at Sonic for what he did, but he could never bring himself to listen to that part of him.
“Sonic,” North said, voice catching in his throat as he opened the door.
Before he could stop himself, he threw himself into Sonic’s arms who stumbled backwards a little as he caught him. Sonic tensed for a moment before pulling North closer, letting him melt into him.
“How could you leave me?” North sniffled into Sonic’s neck, face buried in him, inhaling his scent, too light and sweet for an alpha, but North’s favorite.
“I’m sorry,” was the only reply Sonic could come up with, fingers carding through North’s hair as he himself let North’s scent wash all over him.
After a long hug, they finally pulled away, North taking a long hard look at Sonic. He looked beautiful, as he always did and North didn’t know how he could have survived so long without seeing him, without touching him. It was like his inner omega had been starved of something, of someone , and was now getting its fill.
North pulled Sonic in by the hand, reveling in how nice and warm it felt in his. He led him to the sofa, sitting down side by side. As much as he wanted to avoid this conversation, preferring to lose himself in Sonic’s scent that felt like home and having his arms around him, protecting him, keeping him warm, he knew it was unavoidable. He just wished Sonic wouldn’t run away from him again.
“Where have you been?”
“At first, my parents’ house but then the temptation to call you was too big so I left…been traveling abroad for a while,” Sonic replied, grabbing the hand North had placed just above his knee, playing with his fingers. It was a nervous habit of him that North had seen hundreds of times, but never because of him.
“Why did you do it? Why did you leave without so much as goodbye? Without an explanation?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Sonic replied again, sounding even more on edge than before, “I couldn’t face you after what happened, regret was eating at me and -”
“Regret?” North interrupted, pulling his hand out of Sonic’s, his heart breaking into tiny million pieces. Of course Sonic regretted it, North didn’t know why he had been so stupid to entertain the thought that Sonic could have done it because he loved him. He had probably just been too drunk to realize what he was doing.
“No, no, no…it came out wrong,” Sonic desperately grabbed onto North’s hand, pulling it to his heart, working overtime inside his chest.
“It’s okay, I know I’m not the mate you wanted, you don’t need to -”
North tried pulling his hand away one more time but this time Sonic didn’t let him, holding tightly onto it before pulling North into him, into his arms, pumping out calming pheromones even though he himself was not calm.
“That’s not true…you are the mate I’ve always wanted, it has always been you, North,” Sonic confessed, not worrying about wiping the tears that were threatening to fall down his cheeks at any moment, “but I was selfish in claiming you for myself when I’m not who you wanted…”
North’s head was turning with each word falling from Sonic’s lips, a ringing sound in his ears. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I’ve been in love with you for years…you’re the mate I’ve always dreamed of,” North confessed, too tired to try and hold himself back, simply falling deeper into Sonic’s hold.
As he took a deep breath of Sonic’s scent, he was hit with a jumbled image in his mind of Sonic right above him as he cried out “ claim me, please Sonic, make me yours ”. He had to pull away, breathing hard at the thought. Was it a memory? Had Sonic’s scent unlocked it?
“Did - did I ask you to do it?”
“You did but - but you were in heat, you didn’t know what you were saying and -”
Sonic’s words died on his lips as North crashed into him, lips slotting together in a desperate kiss that mimicked their first kiss so well, it made Sonic’s head spin. For a moment, he thought about doing the right thing this time but North wasn’t in heat anymore and Sonic was weak, he couldn’t bring himself to push North away now that he knew what his kiss tasted like. So he kissed back, harder, deeper, losing himself in the moment and North. His mate .
“You’re so stupid,” North said in between kisses, “we could have had this for months if only you just talked to me instead of assuming I would hate you,” he continued as he pulled away, one hand cupping Sonic’s cheek.
“I know, I know,” Sonic replied, wanting nothing more than to pull North into him again, kiss those lips he had missed so much, over and over again, “I’m not leaving anymore, I promise…come here.”
North let Sonic pull him on top of him as he lay down on his back, looking up at North with so much adoration, so much love, that it made it hard for North to breathe. And then, before he got lost in the moment again, he remembered why he had even called Sonic in the first place.
“I - there’s something else we have to talk about,” North said as he sadly got off of Sonic, his inner omega screaming at him to go back into his alpha’s arms.
He didn’t know how to say it, didn’t even know how to start. It should be easy, just two words and the truth would be out. But he couldn’t bring himself to say them. He had just gotten Sonic back, he couldn’t lose him again.
“What is it?” Sonic asked as he sat back up, clearly nervous about whatever it was North was about to say. What if hadn’t forgiven him after all? What if he wanted him to leave?
Instead of replying with words, North simply grabbed onto Sonic’s hand, leading it to his stomach. It wasn’t too visible to the naked eye yet, unless you really really looked but the extra pudge was definitely noticeable to the touch. Still, Sonic looked confused, cupping North’s stomach not truly understanding what he was trying to say until it hit him, eyes growing wide as he stared at North.
“Are you saying - are you…?”
“I’m pregnant,” North finally let out, staring nervously into Sonic’s eyes, hands growing clammy with each second Sonic kept quiet.
“Please say something,” North whispered, sounding small and afraid when Sonic seemed to be glued in place, staring incredulously at his stomach. The fear that Sonic wouldn’t support him was all consuming and he felt like he was going to pass out.
North’s terrified voice broke Sonic out of the stupor he had been in, immediately pulling North into his arms. Out of all the things North could have said, Sonic had not been expecting that . He felt like he was the one ready to faint now but having North in his arms kept the fainting spell at bay.
“Are you happy?” Sonic asked, careful not to add his own feelings to his voice.
“I am, I - I think,” North whispered again, allowing his body to melt into Sonic’s embrace, his inner omega immediately relaxing at being in his mate’s arms. He was definitely happier now that he knew it was Sonic’s and not some random creep but there was still the fear that Sonic wouldn’t feel the same way.
“Are you?” he asked, face buried in Sonic’s warm chest, listening to the way his heart hammered inside his chest. Good to know he wasn’t the only one nervous here.
“I am… so so happy. I never thought I would have you like this…never in my wildest dreams would I think I would end up raising a family with you.”
Sonic pulled softly on North’s hair, getting him to pull away from his chest only long enough so their lips could mesh together again, this time in a soft, mellow kiss that perfectly matched their state of mind.
“I love you,” Sonic whispered against North’s lips, one hand cupping his cheek as the other petted his barely swollen stomach.
Both of you, he thought.
— —
“I don’t know how you can stomach that…” Sonic said, thinly veiled disgust written all over his face as he set down a plate of what could be considered a culinary atrocity.
“Blame your daughter,” North replied happily as he dug onto his bowl of pickles buried in whipped cream and fish sauce, little gummy bears sprinkled on top. Sonic had actually tried to make it as pretty as possible and North loved him a little more for that.
“No,” Sonic said as he sat down sideways on his chair so he could caress North’s round tummy, “my daughter is perfect and could never do anything wrong,” he cooed directly at the tummy before looking up at North, “that monstrosity is all your fault.”
Before Sonic could walk away from his mate, North grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him for a peck, laughing as Sonic let out an horrific screech, complaining about his kiss tasting like sugary pickles.
“If it wasn’t for our princess, you would be sleeping on the couch tonight,” Sonic threatened lightly, playfully pinching North’s muscular arm.
“You love me too much for that,” he said contentedly, sitting back in his chair as he savored the food on his spoon.
“Yeah, I do,” he quietly confessed, kissing the top of North’s head in an uncharacteristic show of affection before walking out the garage’s kitchen door, nearly walking into Winner who was standing in the doorway, watching North’s bowl, his face getting paler and paler before he took off running in the direction of the bathrooms.
“See? Your concoction made Winner sick…”
“Don’t blame me, Winner’s always sick nowadays,” North replied defensively, one pickle pointed at Sonic.
After only a quick beat of time, North and Sonic’s heads snapped to look at each other, a sharp glint in their eyes.
“You don’t think…”
“Oh, but I do,” Sonic replied in glee as he looked towards the bathroom, the unmistakable sound of Winner throwing up echoing in the hall.
Immediately forgetting what he was supposed to be doing, Sonic came back into the kitchen, sitting next to North, leaning close to him, ready to start gossiping. He looked into his shining eyes, the love of his life smiling back at him, and couldn’t help but think about how different things would have been if they hadn’t spent North’s heat together all those months before.
He couldn’t be more thankful for his past mistakes that led him to this moment.