The next day dawned cheerful and sunny, casting long beams of sunlight across the bed where the sleeping boys lay. Reluctantly, Tyler opened his eyes, blinking in the bright sunlight. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw Ivory still curled up against him, one of his small hands clutching a fistful of Tyler's shirt.

Sighing, he did his best not to wake the sleeping bit as he breathed in his scent deeply. Thinking back to the events of last night, Tyler remembered his promise. He had to find some way to save Ivory, he just wasn't sure quite how he would do it.

After a few moments of silent thought, Ivory shifted, his eyes fluttering open. To Tyler's dismay, the boy's first reaction was fear, and he bolted up to see where he was. "Hey hey hey it's okay. You're here, with me, you're safe." He said, taking the omega's hand and gently guiding him to relax again.

"You...you didn't-didn't do anything?" Ivory stuttered, almost too quietly for Tyler to hear. "Of course I didn't, I will never do anything to you against your will." At that, Ivory's eyes briefly met his with a look of amazement, before they flicked back down to stare at the covers.

Almost as if someone had pinched him, Ivory jumped again. Quickly searching the room as he stammered, "What-what t-time is it?" Tyler looked at his watch, "about 7:00, we still have time to get to school, don't worry." But Ivory definitely seemed to be worrying. "I h-have to get h-home. Dad will be-will be angry."

Tyler shook his head, "No it's okay, we'll just go to school and everything will work out, I promise." The omega was hyperventilating, his shoulders shook as he seemed to lose his breath, scrambling out of bed and away towards the corner. When he reached it, he fell to the floor and curled into himself against the wall, rocking and crying silently into his folded arms.

At first, Tyler was stunned. Unsure of what to do, he approached slowly, watching Ivory's shuddering frame as he curled into the corner. He spoke gently, doing his best not to scare the boy, "I know this is scary, but you need to breathe. Can you take a deep breath with me? In...out...in..."

As he continued to help Ivory calm his breathing, Tyler could see his shoulders rise and fall with each breath. "That's right, good boy. Is it okay if I come a little closer? Is it okay if I hold you?" To his surprise, Ivory gave a tiny nod, and the alpha took his cue to approach.

Tyler moved forward, reaching out to pull Ivory towards him. The omega allowed his body to be moved, curling back into the fetal position against Tyler's chest. His tears had slowed now, and were running silently down his flushed cheeks as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Rubbing soothing circles into Ivory's back, Tyler rocked him gently, "It's alright, everything will be okay. I'm going to take care of everything, I'm going to take care of you. You're safe now Ivory." He was calming now, cuddling closer as Tyler spoke gently to him.

"I...I don't kn-know how to be-how to be safe." The alpha's heart broke for him, and he wrapped his arms tighter around the small frame. "That's alright baby...I'll show you."

~

By some miracle, the pair ended up at school just in time for first period. They stopped by Ivory's locker, and then Tyler walked him to his first class, seriously considering staying with him the whole day to make sure he was safe.

When they arrived in front of the biology classroom, Tyler looked over Ivory's shoulder to see that Xavier and his friends were not in this class. Placing a hand on the omegas shoulder, he bent down, whispering in his ear, "You can do this, text me if you need me."

His mind still on the boy he had left in biology, Tyler strolled leisurely through the red bricked halls on the way to his first period class. What the hell was he going to do about this whole thing? Of course he had thought of calling the police, but it couldn't be done while Ivory was there, the poor thing didn't need anymore trauma.

First period English slogged by with Tyler's mind far away from the teacher's lecture. When the bell finally rang, it took a moment for him to realize everyone was packing up. As he entered the hallway again, he immediately had the impression something was off.

Sure enough, as Tyler passed students in the hall he heard whispering and giggles from every corner. Racking his mind, he tried to figure out what everyone could be so interested in. As he passed the soccer team, huddled next to their lockers, he distinctly heard the words "omega" and "honey."

Then it clicked. Ivory hadn't taken his scent blockers. The realization hit like a ton of bricks, and Tyler was frozen to the spot. His mind raced, where would he be? What was happening to him?

The first place that came to mind was the bathroom he had found Ivory in on his first day. Racing off down the hall, he did his best to stay calm, whatever happened, he had to protect his omega.

Approaching the bathroom at the end of the sunlit hallway, Tyler could smell the scent of cream and honey thick in the air. But there was something else there too. The heavy scent of citrus lingered with the light scent. Breathing heavily, Tyler burst into the bathroom. The sight that greeted him made him freeze in his tracks.

Ivory was on his knees in the corner, his back heaving and shoulders shaking. In front of him, Xavier was zipping up his jeans. At the sound of Tyler coming in, Xavier whipped around, smirking at the alpha fuming in the doorway.

"Oh come on new kid, the little slut is practically begging for it." Xavier sucked in a deep breath, "I mean smell that, I've never felt anything like it." Tyler was shaking with anger, it took everything he had not to jump at his throat. "What's wrong? Sad because you don't get to go first? Don't worry the whore can take a second-"

Tyler snapped. Lunging at Xavier, he landed a deft punch with his right, pushing him back against the tile wall. For a moment, the two faced each other, breathing heavily as they sized each other up. Then it was Xavier's turn to hit.

Stumbling back from the force of the hit to his jaw, Tyler struck back. The hit landed across the other alpha's face, and a bruise began to bloom across his left eye almost immediately. "Fuck new kid, look what you've done!" He shouted, catching sight of the bruise in the middle.

Before the next hit could land, Xavier was gone, the door slamming closed behind him as he scurried away. "Coward, you could hardly call that a fight." Suddenly realizing the reason he was there in the first place, Tyler spun around to see Ivory. He was still on his knees, frozen in place, his head bowed and his hands submissively behind his back.

Tyler approached slowly, squatting down to Ivory's level to speak gently to him. "He's gone now, it's me, it's Tyler." The omega didn't move, his eyes still fixed firmly on the floor. Reaching out, Tyler gently lifted his chin. As he did so, the boy allowed his position to be manipulated, following like a rag doll as he was moved.

When Ivory finally looked up at him, Tyler saw the terror reflected in his eyes. But, more than that, he saw a strange blankness, as if there was nothing else behind the blue irises. He considered what to do. Maybe now was his chance. If Ivory went home with him, he could call the cops without causing anymore pain.

Making up his mind, Tyler's attention snapped back from Ivory of the future to Ivory of the present. "What's wrong love? It's me, you know I'm safe." He waited a moment for a response-nothing. Shit. Something was definitely wrong. For now though, he needed to be taken somewhere safe.

The omega was unresponsive as Tyler lifted him from the floor, carrying him like a damsel in distress down the hall he now knew so well. As he was set down in the passenger seat, he was still limp as a rag doll, his eyes as vacant as ever.

As he drove back home, Ivory's behavior seemed more and more strange. Tyler expected tears, begging, the kinds of things he usually saw. Instead, it seemed that he had gone completely numb, as if something had gone out.

When they pulled into the driveway the house was dark, and the garage was empty as the door opened. In a few minutes, the door to Tyler's room closed behind him, and Ivory was being laid carefully on the bed. As he sunk into the sheets, the first sign of life since finding him in the bathroom occurred. He let out a sort of quiet whimper, nuzzling closer into the bed.

Silently, Tyler breathed a sigh of relief, there was some hope afterward. Crossing the room, he called over his shoulder that he would be back soon, and walked out onto the landing to make the phone call. When the responder picked up the words seemed to tumble from Tyler uncontrollably.

After a few minutes, the responder had promised for the third time that officers had been alerted to the case, and he finally hung up. Returning to his bedroom, Tyler found Ivory in the exact position he had left him in, his eyes squeezed shut this time. Taking a deep breath, he sat down on the bed next to him, there had to be something he could do, something that would make this better.

"Can you hear me Ivory? Do you understand what I'm saying? Give me some sign..." for a second, the boy's eyes flicked up to Tyler's the look in them almost begging for help. Moving closer, he spoke softly, "I'm going to hold you, if it's too much, just make any sign."

Gently pulling Ivory into his chest, Tyler rocked slowly, repeating the same motion that seemed to calm him before. They sat there together for 10 minutes, Ivory still seemingly in a distant realm. Then, as if he had suddenly woken up, he turned his face to the left, burying his nose in Tyler's chest.

'Thank god' thought Tyler, relieved by even this small sign of life from the omega. They sat quietly again for a while, before Tyler made up his mind. He straightened up, lifting Ivory from his chest so he could look into the deep blue eyes.

"I need to tell you something. I know that someone is hurting you, and I can't let it happen anymore. I'm going to help you Ivory, keep you safe. From now on, I'll be protecting you, and you don't have to be afraid anymore. Ivory, love... you're my mate."