(BL)Alpha Made
Chapter 143: Together, but not intergrated

Chapter 143: Together, but not intergrated

"Have we...merged our houses?" Andrew repeated slowly, staring down at the coffee in his hands.

"Yes. You two live together. You must have merged everything together by now." Amir’s grandmother was a little bit brash with his words, but he meant well. Andrew knew that. Andrew chuckled awkwardly.

"Well...no." Andrew said. "I still have my apartment, and most of my things are still there." Maxwell was silent next to him, and Andrew, for some reason, couldn’t look at him. He smiled at Amir’s grandmother, even as the others seemed shocked.

"Max let you keep your apartment? Still? Wow. I’m surprised." Will exclaimed, and Andrew jerked. He hadn’t forgotten that Will was there, he had just been so quiet that he hadn’t focused on him.

His fiance was with him today, but they weren’t touching. Still, the atmosphere around them didn’t seem as tense as Andrew expected, but he didn’t care enough to ask.

"Well, where else would I keep my things?" Andrew joked and flinched when Maxwell’s hand landed on his thigh and squeezed tightly. Andrew jerked, nearly spilling coffee all over him as Maxwell pushed his face into Andrew’s, his gaze alight from within.

"I never said you couldn’t bring your things over." Maxwell declared and Andrew stared at him in shock.

"O-Okay." Andrew said. Maxwell leaned in close.

"You can put whatever you want into the house. I don’t care. You can cancel that stupid rental contract whenever you want. I don’t care if I even have to move our bedroom to the second floor to fit all of your stuff." Maxwell stated, and at first, Andrew didn’t know what was happening. He was too overwhelmed by Maxwell’s sudden behaviour to read into it.

His head was spinning from the information, the forceful way that Maxwell was speaking, and the pain in his thigh to fully look at Maxwell. When he did, he realised that Maxwell was sweating, his lips and eyebrows were twitching, and he looked even paler than he had before.

It clicked for Andrew as he stared at him, Maxwell leaning over the edge of Andrew’s chair, his fingers digging into Andrew’s thigh. Even if Maxwell was hungover and upset, he didn’t normally get this into someone else’s face. Maxwell was feeling...worried? Bothered? Andrew wasn’t quite sure if those words fit the exact feeling that Maxwell was going through, but it was clear that this was something that did bother him.

He’d just never brought it up.

It was actually kind of cute that he hadn’t. Did he think that if he never brought it up, Andrew would forget that he had an apartment in his name still? That was adorable. Honestly, Andrew thought Maxwell would have silently forged his signature and canceled his lease for him. To find out that he hadn’t done that warmed Andrew’s heart.

It shouldn’t, but it did.

Andrew put down his coffee, a smile touching his lips as he stared at the flustered Maxwell gripping onto him so desperately.

"Awe, do you mean that? That’s so sweet, Maxy." Andrew told him and watched as Maxwell swallowed.

"Of course I mean it." His tone was serious and Andrew couldn’t help but laugh. He reached out, cupping Maxwell’s face with his hand, forgetting where he was as he stared warmly at the smaller man.

"You were surprised that they brought it up, weren’t you?" Andrew teased. "You were never going to bring up my apartment again if you could help it, weren’t you?" Andrew felt pleasure course through his veins as Maxwell’s ears turned pink. Chuckling, Andrew leaned in and pressed a light kiss against his lips. "Cute." Andrew said and watched as Maxwell’s throat worked.

His grip tightened on Andrew’s thigh. Andrew winced.

"So? Does that mean you’re going to get rid of it?" Maxwell demanded and Andrew’s smile grew.

"That means we can discuss it when we get home, alright?" Andrew’s voice was soft as he looked at the other man. Maxwell seemed desperate for Andrew to agree with him, and Andrew found it so damn cute.

"Wow wow wow." Ben whispered, but not quiet enough for anyone in the room to not hear him. "Maxwell taming in real time. I’ve been blessed with a video, and now this? We should invite Andy out more often." Maxwell grabbed whatever was closed to him, in this case, a muffin, and tossed it at his brother without looking.

Ben dodged, laughing.

"Hey! You could have hit Amir!" Ben protested, and Maxwell shoved a middle finger behind him in his direction.

"I would do nothing of the sort." Maxwell retorted, not looking over his shoulder or breaking eye contact with Andrew. Andrew swallowed.

"Your aim was quite good." Andrew told him, and Maxwell’s lips turned up slightly.

"Thank you, Andrew. I like it when you praise my violent side." Andrew chuckled.

"I had no idea. Should I stand back and let you tear into others when I catch them being stupid?" Andrew asked and Maxwell stared at him before he sighed.

"Damn it. You’re too good. I was trying to scare you. You didn’t even flinch. Now you’re going to have to move in with me completely." Andrew snorted, turning his head away and covering his mouth.

"Oh, is that right?" Andrew couldn’t hide his smile as Maxwell nodded, leaning even closer. He wasn’t even thinking of letting Andrew have his own personal space.

"Mmhmm. I’m worried someone else might take advantage of your good nature." Maxwell said, and Andrew laughed.

"Take advantage? Of me?" Andrew asked, his lips twitching as he tried his best to play along. He even tried to sound confused. Maxwell nodded.

"Of course. Someone as good as you probably gets taken advantage of. You need someone like me around to help you." His words were so sincere that Andrew had a hard time resisting.

"But you could still be around and help me if I lived in the apartment next door, no? After all, you made sure I didn’t freeze that one night." Maxwell’s expression soured.

"No. Now that you’re newly manifested, you need some more hands on help. Dr. Smith would agree with me." Andrew chuckled at Maxwell’s uppity tone.

"Michael will agree with you because you pay him. He would forgo his loyalty to me for your money, Max." Maxwell frowned.

"No, he wouldn’t. The damn man is-" Maxwell cut off, clearing his throat. "Either way, I just don’t think it’s safe for you to be away from my side. Plus, we have all your other worries, and your fucking crazy ex to worry about too." Andrew winced at the reminder before he sighed.

"She doesn’t know where I live, Maxy." Maxwell growled at Andrew’s words.

"She doesn’t need to. She has other people who look up that information for her. How else would she-" He cut off, well aware that not everyone knew the truth. "Either way, I think it’s safer for you to be with me. I can keep an eye on you, and if you have any problems, I can soothe you easily." Andrew felt a little sensitive with Tracey being brought up.

"How would you do that?" Andrew asked, honestly curious. Maxwell patted his chest confidently.

"With my pheromones." He declared and several people burst into laughter around them. Andrew flushed, his whole face going red. Oh no. He forgot that they weren’t alone. How the hell had he forgotten that!

Maxwell had thrown a muffin at Ben mid conversation!

"I think you should trust him, Andy. Max does have some of the best pheromone control amongst any other omegas I’ve met. Not to toot his own horn or anything." Ben said, a smirk on his lips. "And I agree with the crazy ex thing. I know Dad gave Max some protection, but you really should be careful. She sounded like a total nutjob." Ben piped up. Andrew flushed as Amir gave Ben a questioning look.

"Wait, you know Andy’s ex?" Amir asked and Ben shook his head.

"Not at all. Andy just spoke about them a bit when we were out on the balcony at the family dinner we shared." Ben tsked, shaking his head. "A real piece of work." He told him, and Amir frowned.

"Hmm...I can’t exactly remember if you told us what they did." Maxwell grumbled, his expression dark and angry.

"That stupid son of a bitch got Andy fired and blacklisted from his industry. She’s the reason, well, her and her aunt, that Andy even has to go back to school." Maxwell growled and a loud noise to the right of Andrew made him jerk. He turned in that direction and noticed that Mr. Beckett had slammed his saucer down exceptionally loudly.

"Yes. She was quite...awful. Max did some deep digging on her, and she’s, politely, fucking insane. She shouldn’t even be able to work in the industry. She’s brilliant in the most awful way. We should lock her up for the safety of the human race." He declared, and that seemed to surprise the eldest couple at the table.

"I had no idea you had such a history, Andy. I knew your father was a piece of work, but I had no idea your romantic life was such a mess either." Amir’s grandfather’s voice held genuine concern. Andrew grinned, chuckling as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah, well, I wasn’t really...hmm, this isn’t going to make me sound good, but I guess, choosy? In my younger days." Andrew said with a smile and the room held their breaths.

"Choosy?" Amir pondered. "What does that mean, Andy?" He asked and Andrew glanced at Maxwell, who had gone from being vibrant, aggressive, and emotional, to silent.

"Well, I dated anyone who confessed to me. I never confessed to anyone." Andrew said and Maxwell looked ill. Andrew’s smile was soft as he looked at the omega. It was clear he didn’t like hearing it, but Andrew knew a sure-fire way to soothe him. "Maxy is the first one that I’ve so earnestly confessed to and followed around. My heart knew my feelings for him before my head did." Andrew said, and watched as Maxwell’s ears flushed.

Amir’s soft ’awe’ sealed the deal and Maxwell turned his face away from Andrew, moving back to his seat to grab a bagel. He elegantly, but aggressively began to tear into it and Andrew chuckled.

He found everything this man did adorable.