Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Collin hadn’t really felt like himself—not for a while, anyway. Ever since his younger sister, Kayla, was born, his whole world hadn’t felt normal in any sense of the word. For starters, Kayla was a late-in-life baby for his parents. She was born when Collin was 15, going on 16, and for his parents, it felt like a fresh start. It was exciting, new, and a chance to raise the girl they’d always wanted. For Collin, it felt like the end of an era. 

As a former only child, Kayla’s existence was uncharted territory for him, and instead of his parents embracing Kayla as being a new addition to their family, they decided to let her take over all of it. Ever since then, his parents had essentially devoted all of their love and attention to her. They’d promised to take Collin to Universal Studios when he turned 16, they’d even been saving up for a couple years, shortly after he turned 14. Instead, they went to Disney because, “there’s just more stuff for Kayla to do. I’m sure you understand.” You’d think that there’s still some fun stuff for teenagers at Disney right? Right. But, if Kayla couldn’t do it, his parents decided they’d rather accompany her for the things she wanted to do—at least, as much as a one-year-old can want to do. Of course, Collin’s interests weren’t always aligned with what Kayla considered “fun.” His parents’ solution?

“Oh, you can go ride the rollercoaster, honey. You can meet back up with us in front of the castle after we take Kayla to do the meet-and-greet with Minnie.”

In other words, if Collin had any interest in doing anything other than what Kayla wanted to do, he had the freedom to do so. His parents weren’t so horrible to deny him that; he just had to do it alone.

After Kayla’s second birthday, his father had finally had a big break in his career. What’d that mean? They were moving, of course. A state or two away? Heavens no. They were hauling ass all the way out to Vermont… in the middle of nowhere. Well, not nowhere: Burlington. But to Collin, it made no difference. Speaking of Collin, when did this news reach him? Not until after they were “sure” it was a good idea; so, only a few weeks before starting his senior year.

Collin hadn’t moved. Not once. Not even as a baby. He’d spent his entire life in the same house surrounded by the same neighbors, the same trees, the same parks… the same friends in school. He was heartbroken. He and his friends even had plans to attend the same college. They’d made plans to rent an apartment together as a more economical option in comparison to the dorms. They’d made plans for what sports they were going to play, what majors interested them, what gaming equipment they’d wanted to invest in together… all plans that were now ruined. Before Collin could even argue, he’d lost any chance at changing their mind; they’d already closed on the house. They were moving. And that was final.

Collin had lost count of how many times he’d cried over the move. It was the most un-alpha he’d felt in his life; sobbing over a couple of childhood friends, the same neighbors he’d come to know and love, the same trees he’d pass on his way to the bus stop in the morning… it was all gone. In a matter of 8 days since he was informed, their house had been cleared out. Emptied. All of it: gone .

Upon arriving in Vermont, one of the first things his parents did was get Collin re-enrolled in high school, which he was frankly surprised they remembered to do. Once high school started, Collin was just numb. He felt as though he’d just melded into the background along with the lockers; just off to the side, not talking to anyone or making any effort to socialize. Though one person refused to leave Collin alone: Gavin.

Maybe it was because he was persistent, or maybe it was simply because he’d been giving Collin the attention he’d been craving for the past couple of years, but soon enough, they grew closer, and after a few months, they were dating, though Collin never truly felt present for any of it. And before long, that caused trouble in their relationship.

It was simple: Gavin wanted sex. Collin did not.

To Collin, having sex was something that happens only when there is real attachment, and Collin refused to get attached to Vermont.

By the start of the new year, Collin had gotten word: he’d been accepted to two universities. The one he’d planned to attend with his friends in Wisconsin, and the local one in Vermont that his parents forced him to apply to. But the choice was clear as if it wasn’t already:

“We’re not paying out of state tuition, honey. We just can’t swing it.”

Then what was the point of getting the new job?

Wasn’t it for more money?

And if we’re not making more money…

Why’d we even move in the first place?

“Ok.”

Collin had given up.

That summer marked one year in Vermont, and though he felt absolutely zero desire to celebrate, he still attended Gavin’s graduation party. Collin thought it was weird that there were no relatives or anything; just him and some of their high school friends. In fact, his parents disappeared after a few hours.

As things got dark, the drinks came out. Collin hadn’t actually drank before, and with no responsible adults in sight, he wasn’t keen on starting then and there. But peer pressure’s a bitch, so he caved as almost all do. It tasted very different from how he thought it would, and the effects were strong.

Only, the effects that he was feeling weren't from the alcohol. It was from something else. An additive. A drug. And as Collin regained semi-consciousness, it took him some time to realize what was going on. His body felt hot, yet groggy and sluggish. He couldn’t move. And by the time he’d felt brave enough to open his eyes, he saw Gavin taking advantage of him. He tried again to move his body, but it felt like his muscles had been turned to stone; his arms and legs were simply too heavy.

Once it was over, Collin left. He didn’t say or do anything else. He simply just went home. He walked, afraid to call his parents, and as he arrived home at 11:00 pm sharp, he was unsurprised to find that everyone went to bed without him.

He wrote a breakup text, but never sent it. He figured it was obvious enough that things were over, so he simply just ghosted Gavin even though he knew that soon enough they’d be going to the same school again. 

Collin considered dropping out, but decided against it. After the past couple years of having his concerns and feelings brushed aside, he was in no mood to try and explain things to his parents or risk drawing their attention away from his precious baby sister. Back in Wisconsin, all he’d wanted was for things to feel normal again. He’d yearned for his parents’ attention so strongly. But now, he had no desire for it. All he wanted was to disappear. And the best way to do that was to avoid attention, at least for now. He’d go to school. He’d play the part of the happy loving son with the best sister in the world who, indeed, deserved all the love and attention she got—and then… he was going to disappear. And though half of him worried that his parents might miss him, the other half wondered if they’d even notice at all.

Chapter Text

Collin woke up before his alarm. Again.

Though he normally considered himself a morning person, this time it was from a pure lack of peaceful sleep. He kept having the same dream over and over, and it kept waking him up repeatedly throughout the night. It was always the same: he and Gavin have classes in common, Gavin sicks his friends on him and makes college miserable, Collin goes home and is miserable some more, his misery goes unnoticed, the end—though he usually would wake up before even making it home.

He rolled onto his side and checked his phone: 6:41 am. His alarm was set to go off at 7:00; there was no point in trying to go back to sleep. He sat up and looked around his bedroom and sighed. There was no point in trying to put off the inevitable.

Collin threw on some clothes and made his way downstairs. As he walked in the kitchen, the lively noise of his younger sister Kayla was enough to fully wake him up, though he still obviously lacked sleep.

“Morning, Collin.” His dad greeted while in the middle of putting Kayla in her booster seat at the table.

“Morning.” Collin lifelessly greeted back, making himself a bowl of cereal.

“Ready for the first day of school?” His mom smiled, sneaking past him to grab Kayla’s sippy cup from off the counter.

“Oh yeah. So ready.”

“That’s good to hear.” She replied, ignoring the deadpan sarcasm in his voice.

After breakfast, Collin quickly grabbed his backpack from upstairs and was ready to head out the door, but his mom stopped him.

“Honey, the picture!”

“Picture?” Collin questioned. “Oh, we’re still doing that? But I already graduated…”

“C’mon…” His mom begged, “What’s wrong with 4 more years? You’ve already put up with it for the last 13.”

Collin wouldn’t have described it as “putting up with” anything. In fact, when he was younger, he enjoyed it. Every year, his mom would take a picture of him by the front door and eventually print it and put it in their photo book, labeling it with the year he was starting in school. But Collin really just wasn’t feeling it today. Even still, he waited patiently as she pulled out her phone—and waited for Kayla to put on her backpack to be included in the photo, too.

“I thought this was a back to school photo, mom.”

“Mhm.”

“So why is Kayla in the photo? She hasn’t started school yet.”

“She’s starting a new preschool!” She beamed, “Isn’t that right, Kayla. You’re off to the Flower Patch!” She cheered, picking Kayla up and setting her in frame then standing up to look at Collin, “and you: college! Gonna go make some friends, meet some girls, maybe try alcohol for the first time…”

Collin smiled. It felt good that his mom was teasing him a little bit.

“Now! Places people! We’ve got a photo to take! Everybody say cheese!”

And just like that, Collin was out the door for college. On his way to the campus, he prayed that nothing bad would happen to him, though he still ended up getting lost of course, and it wasn’t because he wasn’t paying attention, the campus was just that confusing, and the inside of the buildings were even worse to navigate. Just when he felt like giving up and skipping his first class, he finally found the lecture hall and snuck inside, ready to face his first obstacle: “College Statistics”.

Unfortunately, his attempt at sneaking in didn’t go so well.

“Well, well. We have a latecomer. Please, come in.” The professor said in a very flat yet sarcastic tone. “You caught me in a good mood today, I usually don’t give attendance points if you’re more than 5 minutes late. Someone pass him the attendance sheet.”

Collin’s stomach dropped. Being called out on the first day… great.

Trying to move on, Collin shifted his focus to the front; the professor was just going over the syllabus, what was the big deal?

After the syllabus, the professor moved on to a powerpoint presentation to introduce himself to the class just when the door swung open and another student casually walked inside.

The loud door slam drew Collin’s attention as he looked behind him and up at the guy who’d just walked into the lecture hall.

He was Collin’s height with fair skin, brown eyes, and dark hair. Though one thing in particular caught Collin’s eye: he was wearing a packer’s hoodie.

Collin watched as he stared down the professor, and as the professor gave him daggers in return.

“Mr. Opdyke.”

“Andrew.”

The professor’s eyes narrowed at having been called by his first name. Collin watched on in surprise as the student—Mr. Opdyke, apparently—slid past a couple students to finally take a seat in the row behind Collin.

“You’re late.”

“I know, man. The line at the drive thru was crazy, but America does run on Dunkin’, so y’know… priorities.”

“Don’t expect any attendance points—”

“You’re still using the damn points system? Y—I didn’t even miss anything!” He half-shouted, gesturing to the powerpoint, “You’re just talking about yourself! What are you—like 50? And you’re showing pictures of you and your dogs to a bunch of college kids? That’s pretty cringe to expect us to be on time for that.”

The professor was livid.

“For those of you who don’t know, Mr. Opdyke failed my class last year. Don’t be like him. Now, moving on.”

Collin tried to refocus his attention, but he couldn’t help but overhear “Mr. Opdyke” telling a fellow classmate about how the professor failed his marriage last year, but at least he can always retake the class.

Collin did his best to ignore the laughing from behind him and pay attention, but he just couldn’t.

Who the hell was this guy?

After class, Mr. Opdyke was the first one to stand up and begin to leave, even as the professor was still covering last-minute material. Collin decided to go after him.

As Collin stepped out into the crowded hallway, he immediately lost sight of him. Checking the time, Collin realized that he only had 10 minutes to make it across campus to his next class. He sighed, and rushed out of the building.

Writing. Collin hated writing, yet there he was in a class just for the subject.

Collin’s major was left “undecided” in official terms. He was more focused on just getting the gen-eds out of the way until he figured out what he really wanted to do… if anything at all. In class, all he could think about was that student from behind him. And as Collin looked down from the second story window, there he was: Skating on the sidewalk with his Patrick Star heelys toward student lot C.

Collin didn’t even make an attempt to go after him; he knew he wouldn’t catch him. Instead, he just continued day dreaming until it was time to go home, and after classes, Collin did just that. Collin went home alone, and there was nobody waiting there for him; his parents were off at work, and Kayla: at the Flower Patch… whatever that was.

He grabbed some chips and settled into the couch, mindlessly scrolling through instagram. He still followed Gavin, and he wasn’t sure why. He looked at Gavin’s story, on it: first day of school posts at the same campus Collin was just at. He unfollowed Gavin in that moment while also being silently grateful the two hadn’t seen each other.

Just then, a text from his mom:

Hey honey, we’re going to be working late tonight. Could you run and pick up Kayla for us? The flower patch closes at 6.

How could he say no?

He checked Google Maps to get a good idea of the distance and decided that he’d start making his way there now… 2 hours early. He also just wanted to get better to eat and figured he’d find something on the way. 

He didn’t. He ended up at The Flower Patch exactly 1 hour and 48 minutes early, and instead of turning around and walking all the way home in defeat, he went inside.

It was actually very cute inside; there was a flowery welcome mat, flower stickers scattered across the doors, and a tulip-shaped lamp glowing faintly at the reception desk. The whole place smelled faintly of Play-Doh and baby wipes.

“Huh,” Collin hummed, rocking back on his heels.

Before he could sneak back outside, a woman spotted him from another room and hurried to the desk, wiping her hands on her jeans.

“Hi! What’s the name?”

“Oh… Kayla…” He shifted slightly, already feeling awkward.

She checked the clock.

“Oh, so early pick-up then?”

“Um… no. I just—my parents sent me?”

“Oh. Well, they’re watching Finding Nemo right now. She’s in the tulip group, right?”

“Uh…”

“Or is she a daisy…?”

“I don’t know what any of that means.” He half-laughed, scratching the back of his neck.

“Sorry, we’ve got a couple of Kaylas. Which one is she?”

“Kayla Beryl.”

“Oh, gotcha! Yah, she’s a daisy alright!” she said brightly, clicking something into the computer. “We’re just gonna need permission from mom or dad to let her go with you, y’know? Since you’re not on the release form.”

“I can call them.”

Collin pulled out his phone and dialed, pacing a little by the counter. Of course, no answer. He tried again. Still nothing. He sighed, typing out a text with more force than necessary.

Just then, a familiar voice drifted over his shoulder.

“Hey, Jareli? Lily’s crying for you. She said it’s important.”

Collin looked up, and his stomach dropped.

There he was: Mr. Packers-Hoodie-Patrick-Star-Heelys from class. Only now he was wearing an apron with The Flower Patch logo on it, and—holy shit—he had a baby swaddled against his chest inside the apron.

“Oh my god,” Collin said out loud.

His head turned. “What—never seen a baby before?”

Collin blinked. “What are you wearing?”

“An… apron? With a baby swaddle in it…?” He said obviously, tilting his head like “duh”.

“You can just… put babies in your apron?” Collin asked, face scrunching.

“Uh… yeah? This is a daycare, y’know.” He said casually, shifting the baby higher as if he’d done it a million times. The infant made a soft grunt and then settled back into sleep.

“And you… work here?” Collin questioned.

He narrowed his eyes a little. “Do I know you?”

“Oh, we’re in the same class, actually. College statistics?”

“From this morning?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, okay.” Sawyer adjusted the straps of his apron. “And you’re here because…”

“He’s here to pick up his sister,” Jareli supplied with a smile before hurrying off.

“Oh,” He said, brows lifting. “Oh, what an age gap. How old are you?”

“Eighteen.”

“And your sister is…”

“Three.”

“Holy cow. That’s… not something you see every day.”

“I know.” Collin shifted his weight, suddenly hyper-aware of his own height compared to Sawyer’s. “So… the Packers hoodie?”

“Oh.” Sawyer glanced down at his sweatshirt like he’d forgotten it existed. “Yeah?”

“Do you have family in Wisconsin or…”

“Oh, no.” He shook his head and waved his hand.

“Just a fan.”

“Nah.” He smirked. “It just looked cute on the hanger at Goodwill.”

“Oh.”

“You’re from there…?” He asked Collin.

“Born and raised. I moved here last year.”

“That’s crazy. Why? There’s pretty much nothing out here.”

“It’s… a long story.”

“I believe you.” He sighed as he leaned against the desk, bouncing the baby slightly.

Just then, a small voice cut through.

“Mr. Sawyer!”

Sawyer turned, softening instantly. “Yes?”

“Nemo… he’s gone…” Kayla’s eyes were wide with devastation.

“Yeah… it’s kinda in the title,” he chuckled, his smile easing her frown a little.

“And he—” She stopped mid-sentence, finally noticing Collin. Her whole face lit up. “Collin! Ohmygosh! What’re you doin’ here?”

“I came to pick you up, but I gotta call Mom first.”

“I’m going home?”

“Yeah.”

“Can Mr. Sawyer come?” Kayla whined, clutching Sawyer’s hand like she’d known him forever.

Collin blinked. “Your name is… Sawyer?”

“Yessir.”

“Haven’t heard that outside 1800s literature.”

“Tough talk from a guy who looks like he’d be named Anthony or something.”

Collin froze. 

“No way!” Sawyer grinned. 

“Not exactly spot-on, but it’s my middle name, so I’ll give you points for it anyway…”

Just then, Collin’s phone buzzed with his mom’s call. He answered quickly, but his eyes didn’t leave Sawyer the whole time.

Colling passed the phone to Sawyer and watched as he hummed and filled out paperwork. With official permission granted, Sawyer passed the phone back to Collin,

“It’s for you.”

“Honey,” Collin’s mom started, “Thank you so much for picking up Kayla! Oh—I almost forgot; how was school?”

She remembered. Collin was almost too surprised to speak, so he decided to push it off.

“It was fine. We can talk when you guys get home, okay?”

“Oh, ok. Sounds good! See you at home!”

As the phone call ended, Kayla emerged yet again with her itty bitty My Little Pony backpack in tow.

“Ready?” Collin asked, watching as Sawyer disappeared off into the distance.

“Ready!” shouted Kayla.

“Just one more thing,” Jareli said, sliding a form toward Collin. “Just a signature.”

“Okay” He said, signing. “Y’know,” he started, trying to make conversation, “I never would’ve figured a… guy would be working at a daycare like this.”

“Yeah, he’s the only one.” Jareli said with a smile, “But he is an omega, so I guess it make’s sense; his love for kids and all.”

“Sorry—He’s what?”

“An omega.” She nodded, nonchalantly.

Collin’s eyes widened

“That guy?” He said, pointing at Sawyer playfully dangling a toddler upside down in the other room.

“Yep.”

“He’s my height… and he just looks… I don’t know… like a—”

“A guy? Yeah. Believe me, I almost didn’t believe him at first either.” She tucked the sheet away in a folder, looking back over at Collin. “You guys have a safe trip home.”

“Yeah…” Collin mumbled, still surprised from the revelation.

As the two walked home, Collin couldn’t get him off of his mind;

Who the hell ends up with a name like “Sawyer Opdyke”

It was almost unforgettable.