Page 19 of Just Like in the Movies
Micah
Iwatched Lew go, my heart pounding so hard I thought it was going to leap out of my chest and go racing after him. But two weeks! How was I going to win him back in just two weeks?
Grandma, I wish you were here to help me. You'd know what to do.
I shoved the covers back and dug into my dresser, throwing on whatever was there without looking at it. Then I ran up the stairs to look for Mom, because I thought she'd have more sympathy for me than anyone else. And maybe she could talk my omega uncle into giving me some pointers.
Dad was at the entrance to the kitchen, giving me the eye. I stumbled to a stop, like I wasn't twenty-four and living on my own in an entirely different state. "Morning, Dad," I said awkwardly.
He stared at me for a moment, just two alphas in a hallway. "Don't hurt that boy again, do you understand me? You did enough damage before."
"I won't."
He shook his head at me. "You say that, but I don't think you see how an omega is different from an alpha. You think because he's not quiet like other omegas that he's just like you, but he's not. Society tells him he's different. He can't make the same choices that you can. Things you can get away with can ruin him. You think he's as resilient as an alpha, but he isn't. Not in the same ways, anyway." He gripped my shoulder—not a threat, but in a kind of alpha solidarity. "I like Lew. I'd love to have him as a son-in-law, but not if I'm going to be constantly picking up the pieces when you break him. You need to think about whether you're doing this for him, or for you. You're a man grown now and that makes you responsible for your choices." I nodded and he let me go. "Where are you off too in such a hurry anyway?”
"I just wanted to talk to Mom, see if Uncle Blaine would go for coffee with me."
Dad raised his eyebrows. "Looking for sneak intelligence?"
"I need to know how to fix this."
Dad just shook his head and continued on into the kitchen. I could tell he didn't believe that I'd truly meant what I said. Looked like I'd have to prove it to him too, as well as Lew.
I'd never wanted a time machine so badly in my life. If I had one, I'd be heading back to kick younger me in the ass right now. But what Mom had said last night was right—I’d created the situation I found myself in now. If I wanted a different future from the one I was currently looking at, I had to make some changes. Make my best choices, as it were, and hope that in another five years they’d turn out to have been the right ones.
