THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW:

"What?"

Tristan had a dark expression on his face. He was anxious. It was as if he was a threatened animal, who was about to get his territory taken away from him.

"W-Well, Xander just said that. I'm not really sure if that's true," Justin immediately said after seeing Tristan's reaction.

Tristan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

'Xander... Xander, again? Why does he keep sticking around Justin?'

He let out a heavy sigh and smiled at Justin. "You're already mine, though?" He chuckled. The nervousness that Justin felt earlier slowly vanished as he watched Tristan's expression soften.

Justin giggled and said, "Whatever."

Tristan drove home and as soon as they arrived, Justin offered to cook dinner for the two of them. He wanted to cook something for Tristan because it seemed like he's stressing about something these days. Thinking that his cooking might make him feel a bit better, he wanted to put a lot of effort in it, so he started cooking as soon as they arrived home.

As they were eating together, the weird expression that Tristan was wearing bothered Justin. His face was blank but his uneasiness was still evident.

'He's even looking so gloomy while eating. I hope he tells me what's going on soon...' Justin thought.

*****

Days passed by, and Justin's expectation of hearing and knowing what was bothering the alpha only made him feel worse. Instead of knowing about it and giving comfort to his lover, Tristan became somehow distant to Justin.historical

Tristan still drives him to school and waits for him after his classes, but he felt like there was an invisible wall between them. God knows how much Justin wanted to talk to Tristan about it. He even tried mentioning it a few times and asking about it both directly and indirectly, but Tristan changes the topic or stays silent whenever that happens. And every time Justin does that, Tristan slowly becomes... colder and colder to him as if he doesn't even want to talk to him.

The situation of the alpha that was unknown to the omega was something Tristan couldn't just talk about with him. He knew that if he does, Justin might get scared and might even leave him for it. He still has over a year left, but he already feels anxious.

The uneasiness that Justin has been feeling lately about their situation was topped with fatigue, frequent headaches, and indigestion, that he often experiences when he is under extreme stress. Instead of getting checked or self-medicating, he chose to just shrug them off, thinking that he will feel better soon enough.

"Hey, you alright? Are you gonna be in heat soon or something?" Xander asked as he raised his brow. He felt worried about Justin because he didn't look too well these past few days, but he didn't want to show it in his face.

"I'm fine," Justin said and groaned when he felt his head throb after he spoke. "Fine my ass. Where's your alpha? Is he not gonna pick you up today?" Xander asked as he sighed.

Justin's facial expression became sullen with the mention of 'his alpha'.

"I... don't know," he said, his voice slowly shrinking.

'We were fine a few days ago... It wasn't this bad. I knew he had something on his mind, but I didn't think he'd suddenly become so distant to me like this.'

"Justin."

The usual gentle voice that makes his heart flutter as if every word that leaves his mouth was coated with honey was now as cold as the wind that was touching his skin.

'Jus... tin?'

His heart throbbed with pain upon realizing that Tristan called him by his name and not the endearment he usually calls him.

"Ah, I'll be leaving now. Thank you for your concern," Justin said without looking at Xander's face and hurriedly jogged towards Tristan.

'Did they fight?' Xander thought as he watched the two get inside Tristan's car.

The whole ride home was quiet. No one dared to speak.

Tristan's usual flowery way of speaking and goo-goo eyes that keep glancing on Justin as he drives was gone.

His face was straight as he looked at the road and didn't even spare a moment to glance at Justin.

Of course, the omega felt hurt with the sudden change of attitude of his lover. It was unusual for him to act like that, and based on his attitude these past few days, one can tell that his treatment towards Justin has gotten worse.

Despite all that, Tristan, himself, did not notice how his attitude towards Justin suddenly changed. All sorts of thoughts were occupying his mind, leaving no space for him to think about anything else. He was thinking about how to get away from his father, how he'd fight back, what he can do to protect Justin, and how he's gonna manage to do that all on his own.

It was too much even for him.

He was never put in a spot where he felt like he was risking something so precious. But with his recent actions, he doesn't even realize that he was already risking everything.

Justin was truly hurt. Not knowing what was bothering his boyfriend so much and not being able to help him put a lot of stress on him. The moments he spent with Tristan slowly became more and more suffocating. He couldn't speak to him about anything because it seemed like he'd get mad at him if he does anything wrong, although Tristan has never gotten mad at him before.

As soon as they arrived in front of the condominium, Tristan spotted a familiar car beside the building. He immediately knew who it was just from looking at the luxury car.

"Darling, you go first. I have something to take care of," he said as he gave him a faint smile.

A strange feeling crept into Justin's heart. It was a mixture of sadness, happiness, and longing. He felt somehow happy that Tristan called him darling again, but he felt sad knowing that... he still doesn't know what was making him act like that.

He gave him a smile, too, and said, "Okay. Take care on your way back. I love you."

Tristan's eyes that usually sparkled whenever Justin says those three words were now looking down as if he's guilty of something.

"Y-Yeah... I love you too," he replied back without looking at Justin's face.

'Ah... I can't even look at him. Not with me being in such a mess... Haaa...' Tristan thought as he bit his lower lip.

Justin's smile turned bitter as he tried to compose himself, trying to stop himself from crying. He opened the car door and hurried inside the condo so nobody would see him crying.

'What am I doing? Why am I crying over something like this? Is this really something to get upset about? Maybe he's just going through something right now. I shouldn't think too much of it. I'm just... overreacting,' Justin thought as he went inside the unit.

The tears that he has been holding back since down stairs came rushing down to his cheeks.

'What happened...? I want to know what happened to him. I want to know what he's going through. I want to share his burden. I want to make him feel like he's not alone, but whenever I try to do that, he always pushes me away...' he thought.

Justin suddenly remembered a scenario that happened just a few days ago.

He woke up in the middle of the night and saw Tristan sitting alone in the kitchen. He looked like he had something on his mind, just like how he looked lately, so Justin tried to comfort him by hugging him from behind.

Instead of embracing the omega, Tristan removed his arms that were wrapped around him and told him to go back to sleep.

"Damn it. I'm... I'm really overreacting," Justin sobbed.

He suddenly felt his stomach hurt as he cried. "Darn this in... indigestion... I don't even know if this really is indigestion because I ate two hours ago..." he sobbed as he held his tummy.

'I'm getting way too stressed about this and I can't even eat properly. I haven't taken any medicine too because I don't want to self-medicate,' he thought to himself as he looked at him tummy.

'Should I just force him and squeeze and answer from him later? Will that make me feel better? Will that make him feel like opening up more to me? Or will that make him build a higher wall and worsen things instead...?' Justin thought.

With all these negative thoughts inside his head, he felt sad again. And with that, his stress levels have gone higher, making his stomach hurt even more.

"A-Ah... It really... hurts..." He said as he struggled to stand up. He hurriedly took his wallet and phone from his bag and went out from the unit.

'Ah... There's a hospital near here. I should go there quickly and go home after I get checked for a bit,' he thought as he went inside the elevator.

As soon as he got out, he called a cab and went inside right away. He then told the driver to go to the nearest hospital.

The color from his face started to drain, and his lips started getting chapped and pale from the pain.

'It hurts...'