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Their first kiss tastes like blood, because of course it does. It’s also a total accident, which is also right on track with what their relationship has consisted of so far.
Liam has kissed plenty of other people without it starting or ending with either one of them bleeding, but considering who Theo is— or used to be, anyways— he can’t speak to how common of an occurrence it is for him. Maybe he’s into that. How the hell is Liam supposed to know that for sure? Even on a normal day, he wouldn’t claim to know what Theo is thinking, nor would he necessarily want to know.
But on a day like this? It’s a toss up. Liam’s not sure what he’s thinking himself.
Frankly, he’s also unsure that what's happening is real. He’s dealt with enough weird shit in Beacon Hills for supernatural induced hallucinations to be a likely possibility, but Theo's weight pinning him down to the locker room floor certainly feels real. The blood that’s still half smeared at the corner of Liam’s mouth tastes real, though that technically is Liam’s fault. He is the one who split Theo’s lip open by punching him, after all.
To be honest, Liam’s head is spinning so fast he can’t entirely recollect how exactly they got to be where they are. All he knows is that when he’d come off the school track after running a few laps just to burn off some of the pent up stress he’s been shouldering about graduation lately, he’d come into the locker room with the intent of grabbing his stuff and washing up only to find someone else already making their way towards the showers before him.
Today is only the second time that Liam has seen Theo since everything went down with Monroe— since the hospital, the final showdown. Since Theo drove him to Scott’s house in his truck for the obligatory post-battle pack meeting despite Corey and Mason making the same offer.
Theo hadn’t stayed for the meeting despite Liam’s best (and fine, very awkward) attempts to get him to at least let Melissa take a look at his injuries. Leaving him like that had only made Liam hyper-aware of his absence following that night in a way that he hadn’t been even after Kira’s sword sent him straight into the ground. At least Liam then had known where he was, even if he hadn’t been very concerned with what was happening to him.
That was before, though. Things are different now, even if Liam can’t place his thumb on exactly what.
Well, rolling around on the locker room floor with the guy does suggest a definite shift in their interactions, but again— it was an accident. Finding Theo strutting around a space Liam was expecting to have to himself was probably more infuriating than it should have been, but that’s how most of his reactions are with Theo.
A little too intense, Stiles had remarked at the pack meeting after taking note of just how antsy Liam was getting about Theo dropping him off in the driveway and peeling away without a second word.
Mason had been kind enough to keep Liam from biting Stiles head off, but he’d made a similar observation the following week when they spotted Theo outside the gas station in town they’d stopped at to pick up snacks for the cramming session they had planned for that night.
“If you’re this freaked out about seeing him in real life, you could just text him and ask how he’s doing. Since you seem to be so bothered by it.”
Liam had outright snorted at that. Text Theo? And ask how he’s doing? That’d probably only get Theo to block his number, assuming he hadn’t already.
Maybe Liam had stared at Theo through the window a little too long while they were checking out, but in his defense, the last time he’d seen Theo before that was when they were both full of bullets and freshly traumatized by seeing Gabe’s gruesome death happen up close and personal. Watching Theo pump gas into his truck and walk around like nothing had happened meant that he was okay physically, at the very least.
Liam isn’t supposed to care about that as much as he does, but like he said. Things with Theo have always been intense. Anger is usually the emotion that wins out when they see each other most of the time, which includes today.
Theo doesn’t even go to Beacon Hills High anymore. There’s no reason Liam can think of that would require him to be here other than the obvious— and maybe conceited— choice: Theo is following him the same way he’d been doing before. After all, that’s what led to him and Liam being in this locker room together the last time.
Gabe isn’t here this go around, but Theo had given Liam that same smug little look he’d had plastered across his stupid face when he’d sauntered in to find Liam shoving Gabe’s head through the mirror.
Maybe Liam’s question of “ What the hell are you doing here?” comes out a little more demanding than he intended, but it doesn’t give Theo the right to walk around like he owns the damn place. He doesn’t.
This is Liam’s territory. In a non wolf-y way, thank you very much.
Liam doesn’t think he hit his head on the way down, but the details leading up to their current predicament are a little hazy. He knows four things for sure.
- Theo had refused to explain what he was doing here when Liam asked, and had gone so far as to laugh when Liam suggested he was reverting back to his stalker-ish ways.
- Liam may have thrown the initial punch in their impromptu fistfight, but it was Theo who tackled him to the floor after both their noses got bloodied up.
- Theo had also been the one to connect their mouths.
- Theo isn’t wearing a shirt. Or shoes.
As embarrassing as it is to be losing a fight to someone wearing just socks on their feet, the lack of a shirt may or may not have been what Liam noticed first upon seeing the older boy. There are no wounds on his upper body, old or new. Everything else that’s confusing here aside, it’s nice to have an answer as to how Theo’s healed up following the hospital.
That’s one less stressor on Liam’s mind. However, there is a new one weighing on his body. Theo kisses like he fights. Sharp and biting. Confident. Smart. That’s another thing Liam can say he knows for sure now.
It shouldn’t be possible for a simple kiss to be so smug , not when all of this started with them scrapping it out on the floor like the stupid teenagers Liam keeps forgetting they really are. He’s been plenty of fights in his life, and more than a few fights with Theo for that matter, but there’s a sudden shift in the blur of it all sometime during the moment between Theo dragging Liam up by the collar of his shirt and using the newfound closeness of their faces to bring their lips together with such a force that Liam can’t help but let the breath get knocked out of him.
It doesn’t register at first that he’s conceded it into Theo’s mouth until Theo lets out a huff of his own that’s about as close to a chuckle as he can get while they’re… otherwise occupied.
There’s nothing soft about it. It’s just as much of a blur as the actual fight had been, but leave it to Theo to make making out into its own kind of battle. Liam is still completely lost as to how they went from a couple shoves and punches to this, but he’s never been one to back down from a challenge.
This isn’t the sort of challenge he’s used to from Theo, but he can’t say that whatever this is doesn’t feel good. It’s burnt off the same amount of stress in forty seconds that four laps around the track had.
Liam hasn’t kissed anyone since Hayden left. Has Theo kissed anyone since he came back? Has he wanted to? Or was Liam just the most convenient person he happened to stumble across? Does that mean Theo—
Theo’s teeth nicking against Liam’s lower lip effectively cuts off any train of thought his mind is trying to spiral down, and before Liam can think better of it, he lets his tongue swipe out and over until he’s greeted with the taste of blood once more. His or Theo’s, he can’t tell, but he’s not sure it matters with how up close and personal they’ve gotten in the past few minutes.
He assumes it’s only been a few minutes, because when Coach bursts through the locker room door with a yardstick brandished, he’s winded enough to suggest he’s just sprinted down the hall. Liam and Theo spring apart and away from each other before Coach’s jaw has even had the time to fully drop.
“What the hell is going on here?” he bellows, waving the stick around wildly.
Liam feels just as out of breath as Coach looks, chest heaving with what could be the need for more oxygen or the sheep panic that’s building up in him because of what he’s just done. What they’ve just done.
He looks to the side just so he won’t have to meet Coach’s crazed glare and winces at the sight of the bench they seemed to have turned onto its side on their way down here. The crash is what brought Coach here, no doubt.
Liam could blame it on the heat of the moment if he weren’t so busy trying to process that the moment has happened at all.
By some miracle— or some fucking black magic, because it’s Theo , who is nothing close to holy— Theo’s smile and the casual remark he throws out seem to be enough to get Coach to calm down, even if it’s only a little. “Was showing him a new wrestling move I learned the other week.”
Really? What’s it called, the Lip Lock? Liam closes his eyes and silently counts to three just to regain the dignity it takes to stand back up and work on putting the bench back where it’s supposed to be.
Somehow, even with his shirt off and blood drying on his chin, Theo manages to look completely relaxed. Great. Liam probably looks like he’s ready to pop in comparison, because he kind of is.
He’s not expecting Coach to do much more than throw whatever hissy fit he needs to get out of his system. Scott and the others have told him less believable lies, and so has Liam.
But this is Theo. This is Theo, who is a terrifyingly skilled liar, but who also just tackled him and kissed him and led to them getting caught by Coach of all people. It’s humiliating, and even worse than that, it’s confusing as hell.
“I should probably be getting back home anyway. Almost dinnertime,” Theo is saying. He’s on his feet now too, flashing Liam a dazzling smile and clapping him on the shoulder like they’re bros or something before he moves to tug his shirt and sneakers back on.
It’s only when Theo grabs the duffel bag he must have stashed under one of the other benches that Liam realizes Theo is about to ditch him and leave him behind to clean up the mess of their… encounter.
“Theo,” he tries, but Theo has his bag slung over his shoulder and his hand up, waving as he heads towards the door. “Theo!”
“Later, Liam!” Theo’s voice has never sounded this cheerful before. Liam wants to punch him again. It hasn’t even been five minutes since the last time he did.
The silence that settles over the locker room is one of the most painful that Liam has ever had to endure, and that’s counting the times he had to tell his parents that he was a werewolf and they needed a good ten minutes just to process the sight of his fangs popping out as proof.
Coach is the first to speak up. It makes Liam wish the silence had lasted longer. “Listen, Dumbar. I know you said that holding a guy’s hand is what made you change your mind about wanting to be captain— and I get that. I totally get that.”
“Yeah,” Liam says, voice strangled, because Coach is right in some ways but also very, very wrong. Then again, Liam is in the dark on most of what just went down here too. “I remember you saying so.”
“And while I can condone hand-holding on school property, whatever other mind-changing activities you and that young man want to get up to need to take place at home, or in the back of whatever cars you kids are driving nowadays. Aht!” Coach holds up a hand to silence Liam’s attempt to interrupt him with a protest as to what he and that guy get up to together. “I’ve been at this school for years. Nothing fazes me at this point. You wouldn’t believe the stuff I used to see come out of those shower drains.”
“I can imagine some of it, I’d bet,” Liam says, face burning so hot he wishes he could escape down the drain himself.
“It’s not that I don’t support you or your…” Coach looks over towards the patch of floor he’d found Theo and Liam rolling around on. “Whatever. But putting in work orders and maintenance requests for all the broken mirrors and dented locker doors that get hurt in the process of hormonal teenagers discovering themselves…”
Forget surviving wolfsbane bullets and a Wendigo trying to eat him. Liam is going to die of embarrassment today, isn’t he? “I’ve got it, Coach. I’m sorry for… you know.”
“You don’t have to be ashamed.” Coach reaches out and pats Liam on the same shoulder Theo had, halting Liam’s attempt to make a quick exit after grabbing his bag. Screw wherever Theo got sent. This has to be hell. “But I’ve heard the school is hiring a great replacement counselor for the last nutjob if you need someone to talk to about all these feelings.”
Feelings. Yeah, Liam is definitely having some of those right now.
“I’m going to head home now! But, uh. Thanks for the advice, Coach. I really appreciate it.” That’s kind of true. Coach always tries his best even if his approaches occasionally make Liam feel like ramming his head into a wall.
As usual, Coach is exceedingly pleased with himself as a result. “Good talk, Dumbar. Good talk.”
Liam can’t hightail it out of there fast enough after that. He doesn’t bother texting anyone to see if they can give him a ride home. Running around the track helped him clear his mind a little earlier. Maybe the walk to his house will help him sort out whatever the hell just happened with Theo.
Liam is definitely not texting him for a ride.
-
They don’t talk about it, because of course they don’t. It’s just how they are. They throw harsh words and even harsher punches at each other and pretend none of it hurt the next time they see each other. And now, they apparently make out and pretend that it meant nothing.
Maybe it did mean nothing. Liam is still trying to work that out for himself, but it’s been kind of difficult to accomplish that considering he can’t bring himself to tell anyone about it. For now, the only people who know what happened are him, Theo, and Coach, who has evidently decided to pretend he never saw them together if how he’s been treating Liam at practice ever since is anything to go off of.
When did the two of them even become a them in Liam’s head? Before the zoo? After the hospital the first time? If Liam can’t even figure that out, how is he supposed to make sense of what happened in the locker room?
Part of the reason they don’t talk about it is because they don’t see each other for almost a full two weeks after. Liam has no idea what Theo does during the days, because it definitely isn’t attend school with the rest of them. The option to text him is always there, but what is Liam supposed to lead with? Please don’t block me before you tell me what you were thinking when we kissed? At least in person, Theo will be more likely to respond, even if it’s with another punch or by running off again.
The thought that Theo may have finally left town does cross Liam’s mind. It makes his chest feel oddly tight, but he chalks it up to the same lack of resolution as last time. He’d felt funny about Theo going ghost after the hunters because he’d last seen him when he was hurt. Neither of them are hurt this time, but Liam has a lot of fucking questions.
And yet, when he finally sees Theo next, he doesn’t end up asking any of them. He could blame it on the fact that they’re in mixed company, but that’s not an apt excuse considering the circumstances that they’re brought back together under. It is an all hands on deck situation with the pack and some of the other stragglers in the area—Peter, Derek, and even Braeden, who apparently is back in town for some reason or the others.
The threat they’re going after isn’t hunters or the Anu-Kite, which is a nice change in pace even if Liam isn’t thrilled about having his Saturday taken up by trying to make sure the town isn’t torn through by some supernatural gone rogue. To tell the truth, he’s only half paying attention during the briefing session Scott holds at the house Melissa and Argent now live in together.
It’s hard to concentrate when Theo is in the corner of the room, arms crossed as he leans up against the wall and continues to look utterly bored out of his mind by the plan Scott is explaining. He’s acting like nothing happened. Does that mean… to him nothing did happen? That he kissed Liam for no reason?
“Liam, you and Theo will stake out the Southwest edge of the preserve. You won’t have to go too deep into the woods or anything since we’ll have the place pretty well surrounded, but just… make sure you’re alert. We all need to watch our backs.”
“We need to watch each other’s backs,” Mason cuts in, staring daggers at Theo with no attempt to be subtle.
“Mase,” Liam mutters, shaking his head. Mason gives him an incredulous look, but Liam shakes his head again. “It’s fine.”
“Hey, if I’m paired with Liam, you won’t have to put up with me this time.” Theo smirks and tilts his head. “Think on the bright side.”
If he didn’t know Theo and half the other people in this room could hear him no matter how quiet he talks, Liam would almost want to tell Mason that Theo has saved his ass more than once. Mason won’t ever fully trust Theo, and even if Theo weren’t right there, Liam doesn’t know how to really explain how he knows that Theo won’t turn against him out there as easily as he might’ve before. He just does, and he’s pretty sure it doesn’t really have much to do with the kissing.
“We’ll all have our phones on us in case anything goes wrong with our partners. Backup will only be one call away,” Scott interjects, ever the peacemaker. “Corey and Mason, Liam and Theo, Derek and Braeden, Malia and Peter, me and Argent. Got it?“
Everyone nods, but Liam’s motions are stiff even as he joins in.
Partners? He frowns. For some reason, that word is what makes the fact that he’ll be spending all day alone with Theo in the truck register in Liam’s brain. For two weeks he can’t even catch a glimpse of the guy and now they’re going to be trapped together for hours? How is that fair?
It’s not fair, but there’s nothing else Liam can do besides follow Theo out to his truck alongside all of the others heading to their respective vehicles. The thought that this will be the first time Liam rides in Theo’s truck since that night Theo took him to Scott’s house crosses his mind. There’s also the slightly embarrassing memory of how Theo’d had to haul Liam’s unconscious body and strap him in the passenger seat following what happened with Nolan, but Liam has been trying not to think about that.
He’s had plenty of other things to think about when it comes to Theo lately anyways.
Theo turns on the truck and pulls out into the street while Liam silently stares out the window. This would be the perfect time to ask all of those questions he’s built up over the past two weeks, but now that he’s actually here with Theo rather than imagining his presence, he can’t seem to make the words come out.
It’s not that he’s unsure of what questions he wants answered. He just can’t figure out how to phrase them in a way that won’t end up in him being utterly humiliated, because this is Theo .
Theo, who has threatened to throw Liam under the proverbial bus more times than he can count, which is what makes his recent habit of saving Liam’s ass so confusing even on top of the kiss. Theo, who once almost tricked Liam into killing someone as part of his plan to kill Liam himself. Theo, who is older and smarter and brutally blunt despite his past dishonesties, which makes the thought of asking him a question as stupid as did it mean anything when you kissed me even more terrifying than any of the things they’ve fought against together.
Liam is unsure of a lot of things to do with Theo, including what that kiss is supposed to mean on his own end. Things with Theo were different after the Ghost Riders, and the zoo, and the hospital the second time— and now, they’re even more different after the locker room, at least for Liam.
He digs his nails into his leg, making sure to keep his claws from popping out in the process. He needs to get his shit together. Theo can probably smell the crisis he’s going through right now. They have other things they’re supposed to accomplish today anyways.
Theo switches the radio on before Liam can make a decision as to whether or not it’s worth asking any of his questions, aiming a sideways glance at him that makes Liam’s shoulders tense. Luckily, Theo doesn’t comment on it.
“Got a couple bottles of water in the back if you end up needing something to drink,” he says instead.
Liam blinks. “Thanks?” Theo is being… polite? That’s almost as unexpected as the kiss was.
“Don’t mention it.” Theo’s tone is completely serious, back to the attitude Liam is used to seeing from him. He probably means that in the literal tell-anyone-about-this-and-I’ll-deny-it sense.
Great. There’s another layer for Liam to add to the onion of overthinking he’s been doing about their locker room fiasco. Maybe he should follow Theo’s lead and just pretend nothing ever happened.
Thanks to Coach walking in, technically nothing did happen. What could have happened if he hadn’t is at the very core of all Liam’s overthinking.
The exhale Liam lets out is heavy enough to count as a sigh. He tips his head back against the headrest and slouches down in his seat. This is going to be the longest day of his life, isn’t it? He can only pray that he’ll find a distraction to make the time pass by faster.
-
Having to be rushed to the hospital was not the sort of distraction Liam had in mind, but the universe seems to have it out for him lately, because that’s exactly how his day ends.
The shapeshifter they’d been trying to track down in preserve had wound up attempting to make her escape through the area that Liam and Theo were assigned to patrol, and while catching her hadn’t actually been that hard thanks to Derek and Braeden coming in to assist with the capture. They’re two of the most capable people Liam has ever met, which only made it even more humiliating when he got injured after the fact.
Derek and Braeden hadn’t laughed at him for running into that barbed wire fence, but Theo had. Liam is still sort of pissed about it, but he’s trying to bite back most of his complaints considering Theo is the one taking him to the hospital where hopefully Melissa will be able to take a look at his fucked up arms and leg.
He might’ve taken a tumble down through the fence on top of running into it. He also might’ve gotten a strand of barbed wire lodged in his bicep that Theo’d had to pry out after he was finished laughing. Normally, this is something Liam would be fine with Deaton handling, but Deaton is currently out of town, so that option is out.
And then there’s the fact that Theo has been listing random facts about how tetanus can affect the body for the past ten minutes, because not only was the fence Liam ran into sharp, but also incredibly rusty.
Can a werewolf get tetanus? Is that a thing that happens? He should have asked Derek the born werewolf when they were with him, but he and Braeden had been busy wrangling their target into the back of the van they were driving.
He settles on doing something he’s never done before— texting Deaton. Thank God Scott gave them all his number in case of an emergency. This counts as one of those, right?
Hi. Liam here. Hypothetically, if a werewolf were to run into a really rusty fence, should they be worried about getting tetanus?
He’s a little taken aback by how fast Deaton responds. Most of the adults he knows are terrible at texting.
A werewolf’s body is designed to ward off most human afflictions, but getting the wound properly cleaned out and using antibiotics to prevent infection can never hurt. A majority of people are vaccinated against tetanus as children, but I’m sure that you could ask about a shot if you think it may be necessary.
Liam can’t hold back the stressed sound he lets out upon reading the words infection and shot.
Theo keeps his eyes on the road, but tips his head towards the passenger seat. “What’s the verdict? Deaton say you need to be put down?”
“Shut up.” That comes out whinier than Liam intends it to, but that’s Theo’s fault for telling him all the horrors of tetanus induced symptoms.
“Liam, you ran into a fence. It’s not like you have rabies or something. You’ve survived worse.” Is Theo trying to be helpful now? After freaking Liam out? “Will you quit acting like such a baby once we get you to Mother McCall?”
“Just drive,” Liam groans, curling his hands over his upper arms where they’re still sticky with blood. “Please.”
Even Theo seems to be shocked that he’s added that last word on, because he doesn’t say anything else before flooring the gas.
Small kindnesses.
Very small kindness as it turns out, because Theo is right back to being an asshole as soon as he and Liam have made it into the hospital.
Liam ends up having to tug on one of Theo’s jackets to cover his bloodied arms, not wanting any of the other nurses or doctors to try and take care of him lest they notice the inhuman speed of his healing capabilities. Theo doesn’t make too big of a deal out of Liam having to borrow his clothes, but he’s wearing one of his signature smirks once he’s finally finished asking the lady at the front desk for Melissa’s whereabouts in the building.
“She’s on the fourth floor. Someone is sending word to her that her son’s precious protégé is here.”
“If you don’t knock it off I’m going to make sure you have a real reason to be in this place,” Liam says through gritted teeth, limping towards the elevator with what he hopes is more dignity that he’s currently feeling.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was supposed to be practicing my bedside manner.” Theo pushes the close door button once they’re inside the elevator, turning to Liam with raised brows before he punches the floor number in. “Was me being your getaway driver not enough?”
Liam glares at him. “Not when you spent the entire ride here trying to fill my head with worst case scenarios!” he accuses. “You knew what you were doing.”
Theo snorts. “I wasn’t doing any—“
“You were trying to freak me out and it worked!”
“If that was my intention, I assure you I would be more pleased with the result.”
Liam scowls and rubs at his arms over the sleeves of Theo’s borrowed black zip-up. It’s a nice jacket even if the over is the most infuriating person Liam has ever met in his life. “I don’t claim to understand how your brain works.”
“I’m not the only headcase in his elevator,” Theo hums. “But I am the only one who definitely doesn’t have tetanus.”
“Stop saying that!” Liam hisses, stepping forward and shoving at Theo’s chest like it’s a reflex. At this point, it may as well be. “You’re not helping!”
“Is this you admitting you want my help?”
The crooked smile Theo gives him makes something in Liam snap. He goes to shove Theo again, but the growl that’s about to leave his throat turns into a gasp when he’s prevented from doing so by Theo’s own hands coming up to cup around his cheeks and hold his head still so he can kiss him a second time.
The first coherent thought that pops into Liam’s head is the word finally, which is confusing as hell, but also kind of makes perfect sense. They’ve had a lot of close calls in these elevators. It figures that this is the place where Theo pulls this on him again.
In contrast to the locker room, this kiss is short, and singular. There’s no rolling around on the floor, and the blood is limited to Liam’s arms rather than their mouths. It isn’t Coach who walks in on them this time, but they still do end up getting interrupted. They get a split second of a warning when the ding of the elevator doors opening rings out, but even with their supernatural reflexes, it’s not enough time for them to fully part before the nurse outside of the elevator sees them.
Liam freezes. With Theo’s hands still on his face, he can’t move much more than his eyes, which he’s sure are just as wide as this poor woman’s. “Uh—“
Just like in the locker room, Theo is the one who comes up with an explanation for their position. “He’s nervous about seeing the doctor. This is pretty much the only way to properly shut him up.” He has the nerve to pat Liam on the cheek before letting him go and stepping towards the open doors with one hand placed between Liam’s shoulder blades to push him forward.
“Sorry!” Liam squeaks.
Theo doesn’t make any such apology. All he does is smile at the woman and shake his head like Liam is somehow being left out of a joke they’re both in on despite being total strangers. “You know how it is.”
The nurse still looks a bit shocked, but she nods and smiles back. “Young love. It’s sweet of you to take care of him.” Then, to Liam, who is positive his entire face is blushing beet red, “I hope everything goes well.”
Young love? Theo being sweet? If Liam weren’t about to pass out from embarrassment— and possibly his injuries— he’d laugh in her face.
“Have a nice day, ma’am,” Theo calls cheerfully, ushering Liam down the hall. He waits until they’re out of earshot of the closing elevator doors to let the polite-young-man mask drop. “Are you calmed down now?”
Calmed down? Calmed down? Liam opens his mouth with the full intent of snapping back at Theo, but before he can, they’re interrupted by yet another member of the hospital staff. This time, it’s one Liam knows.
“Liam? What are you doing here?” Liam’s stepfather looks down at him, concern written across his features.
The universe has to be out to get him. It’s the only explanation. At least it wasn’t Dr. Geyer who caught them in the elevator. Explaining why he’s here is going to be awkward enough already. Explaining why Theo is with him might be even worse.
“Um.” Liam glances at Theo, then to his stepfather. “This is my…” He can’t bring himself to say my friend. He doesn’t know what they are if he’s being totally honest. “ This is Theo. I kinda got into an accident when we were out in the woods?”
“Why were you—“ Dr. Geyer cuts his own question short. “Werewolf business?” He’s still new to being clued in on all of the supernatural activity present in Beacon Hills, but he’s been pretty good about it so far. They operate on sort of a don’t ask, don’t tell basis, but it looks like Liam is going to have to tell him about today.
“Werewolf business,” he confirms.
“We were looking for Nurse McCall,” Theo interjects. “She should have been told we’re here by now.”
It comes as no surprise to Liam when his stepfather shakes his head and gestures for Liam to step towards him, which he does. The loss of Theo’s touch leaves his back feeling oddly cold. “I’ll take care of him.”
“Please don’t tell Mom about this,” Liam says immediately. He can see the corner of Theo’s mouth twitch, but he contains whatever snarky remark he’d normally make due to the presence of Dr. Geyer.
Mostly, anyways. Theo is still Theo, so he still has to get the last word in. “Text me later about your diagnosis.”
Liam glares at him for what feels like the umpteenth time of the day, but Dr. Geyer takes care of saying their goodbyes for him.
“Theo, thank you for bringing him in. I know how easily trouble finds him.”
Theo is trouble, Liam wants to say, but he doesn’t, because he doubts his parents would let him anywhere near Theo if they knew the full extent of their shared history.
The smile Theo gives Dr. Geyer is the same one he’d given the nurse, charismatic and perfectly serene where Liam feels so stressed out he could explode like an actual IED. “It was no problem. See you around, Liam.” He nods to Liam before turning to walk away, leaving Liam to deal with his very worrisome stepfather.
No problem. Liam really, really wishes that were the case for him.
-
The only reason Liam ends up texting Theo that night is because Theo had asked him to. Whether or not he was joking when he made the request is up in the air, but Theo doesn’t get to judge Liam for sending him a late-night text when he’s kissed Liam out of nowhere not once, but twice now.
He still ponders over how to phrase his message for a good five minutes before finally sending it.
No tetanus. You had me worried for nothing, dick.
Not the best conversation starter to send most people, but it’s true to tone for them, right?
Theo doesn’t respond during the time it takes for Liam to brush his teeth and wash his face after checking his faded injuries in the bathroom mirror, but the familiar ping of Liam’s message notification sounds almost as soon as he’s crawled under the covers of his bed.
I never said you had tetanus. I said you COULD have it. There’s a big difference, Dunbar.
Liam rolls his eyes and types back a response that he doesn’t think twice about sending this time.
I hate you.
Theo’s reply comes much faster.
Then quit texting me and go to sleep, Patient Zero.
Liam stares at that message for longer than he should. It’s not even close to the meanest or shortest Theo has been with him, but he can’t help feeling just a tiny bit let down. He doesn’t know what he was expecting. Theo hasn’t acknowledged either of their kisses to his face, so why would he through a phone screen?
Even after Liam has rolled over to plug his phone into his charger and switched off his light, his mind stays on that message. On Theo. It doesn’t help that his jacket is thrown over Liam’s desk chair, which is right in the line of Liam’s eyesight when he’s got his head on his pillows. If he concentrates hard enough, he can pick up on how Theo’s scent has mixed with his on the fabric. It’s oddly… soothing, which is something Liam will deny if he’s ever asked about having such a thought.
He’ll have to give the jacket back eventually. That isn’t even meant to be an excuse to see Theo, but Liam is tempted to use it as one. How is he supposed to figure out what the hell is going on between them if they only see each other once a month?
Liam is going to give it a few days, but only a few. He needs all these questions answered, because if he has to spend much more time trying to overthink what the fuck Theo’s intentions are. He doesn’t even care if that makes him sound like some sort of infatuated weirdo. Theo doesn’t get to just walk around and kiss Liam whenever he wants without telling him why.
It doesn’t occur to Liam that the thought of not wanting Theo to kiss him again at all hasn’t even crossed his mind until he’s on the verge of falling asleep. It’s more food for thought, but not something he’s going to have the energy to tackle until tomorrow.
-
Liam holds out on texting Theo again for two and three quarter days. He says three quarters because he ends up texting Theo at about 9:30 P.M. into the third day of giving them both some space.
Ironically, the text isn’t even about giving the jacket back, which Liam had promised himself it was going to be. It actually ends up being about a party, of all things.
It’s not an invitation. Liam isn’t that crazy. In fact, the only reason he texts Theo about the party at all is because he’s desperate. For a ride. Not for anything else.
He’d tagged along to this party with Mason and Corey, but Mason had pulled him to the side about half an hour ago and asked if he could find a different ride home so he and Corey could leave together early since Corey’d been called into work for an opening shift the next day at one of his jobs. Liam had said yes, because how hard could finding a ride home be at a party where most of the attendees had known each other since they were kids?
Very hard, apparently. Liam might need to actually look into the possibility that he’s cursed, because every single person he’s asked to take him home has had a reason they can’t come up, and with Scott and Malia out of town with Argent for the week, it’s left him with only one option.
Theo.
Liam sighs and scuffs the heel of his sneaker against the street where he’s sitting on the curb that lips up beside the driveway of the house the party is still going on in. Walking the ten miles it’d take to get to his house in the dark of night isn’t a plan he’s too keen on, but it’s the only other choice he has if he can’t suck up his pride and send Theo this stupid text.
He holds his breath and counts to ten before he exhales, jamming his thumb against the screen at the same time so he won’t have the opportunity to back out. He locks his phone immediately after, not wanting to watch Theo read it in real time.
He’d done his best to make the message sound less pathetic than he feels having to send it.
I know this is kinda random, but can you pick me up? I need a ride home.
He only has to wait thirty seconds before the screen lights back up with Theo’s response.
Let me guess. I was your last resort.
Liam is biting the inside of his cheek trying to figure out how to reply when the second half of Theo’s message comes through.
Give me an address.
He frowns and tilts his head. That was… surprisingly easy. He taps the address of where he’s at out and shoots it Theo’s way, along with the address for his own house. He can see that Theo reads it almost immediately after it’s delivered, but he doesn’t send another response, which Liam takes as a sign that Theo is on his way. He smiles to himself, lips lifting into a wide grin that he’s grateful no one is around to see when he realizes what he’s doing.
Theo has kissed him twice, but that doesn’t mean Liam is undignified enough to make goo-goo eyes at their text messages. Theo is doing him a favor, not asking for his hand in marriage.
It takes about fifteen minutes for Liam to spot Theo’s truck turning onto the street. He gets up from the curb and brushes his pants off, feeling nervous for a reason he isn’t sure of.
Thankfully, his nerves are shoved to the side as Theo rolls the passenger window down and gives him an expectant look.
“Are you gonna get in or what?”
Liam huffs, yanking the truck door open and climbing inside. He doesn’t miss the once over Theo gives him, probably taking in the outfit Liam had picked out to wear to the party. It’s a bit more dressed up than what he wears to school, which means it’s the nicest thing Theo has seen him in, even if it is just a tighter henley and his favorite pair of jeans rather than the loose shirts he usually finds more comfortable.
Theo doesn’t dress the same way he used to when they both went to Beacon Hills High, but Liam assumes that’s because the whole Abercrombie model look was a part of Theo’s cover. He’s more partial to plain tees and layered jackets rather than the preppy button-downs-and-khakis combos he wore all the time before.
Liam has a vivid memory of Theo coming to school one day wearing a pink sweater that looked so ridiculously soft he wanted to steal it for himself despite the guy being sort of (totally) evil. He does still have his jacket though, so that kind of counts. Besides, he can’t see Theo wearing that sweater nowadays.
At the current moment, Theo is in a gray hoodie, his hair messed up enough to suggest he had the hood pulled up not too long ago. Liam tucks a strand of his own grown-out hair behind his ear, awkwardly clearing his throat as Theo rolls the window back up and pulls out onto the street.
“Thanks for doing this.”
Theo shrugs and flicks the blinker on when they make it to a stop sign. “Didn’t have anything more interesting to do tonight.”
“ Still.” And Liam shouldn’t say this next part, not to Theo, but it only feels right to tell him— “I owe you one.”
It comes completely unexpected when Theo shakes his head. “Those are dangerous words, Liam.” I’m a dangerous person is an unspoken addition to Theo’s statement that Liam wouldn’t necessarily disagree with, but Theo’s saved his life multiple times now and hasn’t held it over his head once.
It’s the one thing he doesn’t use as ammunition to be a dick, and although Liam doesn’t understand why that is, it makes him feel a lot better about talking to Theo like this.
“I’m not offering to hide a dead body for you or anything. I’m just saying. You’re driving me home. You need anything…” Liam is the one that shrugs this time. “Feel free to ask.”
“Tell you what.” Theo looks over at him while they’re slowed to a stop at one of the lights in town turned red. “I won’t make you wait too long to pay me back. There’s a McDonalds up ahead. You alright if we stop there?”
His tone is much lighter than what Liam is used to hearing from him. Does that mean Theo is in a good mood, or he’s just pretending?
Either way, Liam is never one to pass up the opportunity for fast food, even if it sounds like he’ll be the one paying. He pulls his wallet out of his back pocket and checks the amount of cash he has on him before nodding “I could go for one of those little pies and a McFlurry.”
Liam is thinking that they’ll eat their respective items— a Big Mac, fries, and vanilla shake for Theo and the aforementioned McFlurry and two apple pies for Liam— while parked outside the building, but Theo winds up steering them towards the drive-thru and making Liam hold the bag once they’re back out on the road.
“Where are we going?”
Theo reaches over and snags a fry out of the top of the bag. “Somewhere quieter. Unless you want me to turn back so we can watch the workers cycle through taking their smoke breaks by the dumpster?“
Liam squints at him, but doesn’t further comment until Theo puts the truck in park again, presumably having reached the spot he had in mind. The spot in question is quieter, mostly because it appears to be devoid of anyone else besides the two of them. Most church parking lots are empty at night, Liam would imagine. He isn’t totally sure considering he hasn’t been to church on a regular basis since his mom was married to his bio dad, but Theo must be comfortable in their solitude, because he has no hesitation in turning the truck off and leaning over to rummage around the bag still in Liam’s lap.
Liam’s stomach does a funny flip at that, but it’s hard to focus on any stress with a McFlurry right in front of him.
They begin eating in silence, but Liam can only stand that for so long. He waits until he’s finished his first pie to speak up, fiddling with the flaps of the little cardboard box it had come in while he tentatively asks, “You spend a lot of time in church parking lots?”
If he remembers right (and he always does when it comes to Theo), Theo had told Sheriff Stilinski he was an atheist. What reason would he have to hang out around a church?
As usual, Theo has a perfectly logical explanation lined up and ready to go. “It’s less about the church and more about the fact the lot is on a hill.” He gestures a hand towards the window. “I like the view sometimes. Sunset’s a better show, but…”
“The stars are nice too,” Liam says quietly, discarding his empty box in favor of picking up his McFlurry and using his spoon to scoop up some of what remains in the cup. “There’s this place in the woods Scott and Stiles used to take me during full moons that overlooked the entire town.”
“And here I thought I’d already heard all the full moon horror stories about you wrecking Lydia’s lake house and running naked through the streets.”
“How do you—“ Liam almost spits his McFlurry out. “ Who told you about that?”
Even in the dim glow coming from the light built into the ceiling of his truck, Liam can see Theo’s lip twitch in what could be either repressed laughter or a smile. Maybe both. Is that a good thing? It doesn’t make Liam as angry as it might’ve a few weeks ago.
Things are just so… normal now that no one is trying to kill them. They can be dumb teenagers eating ice cream, out too late and not as worried about it as they maybe should be.
Theo shrugs, the half-smile still playing at his lips even as he presses the straw of his milkshake between them. “How do you know I’m not the one who snitched on you to the cops?” Liam opens his mouth with the full intention of firing back with something equally as asshole-ish, but Theo is rolling his eyes and interrupting him before he can. “I’m kidding. Don’t worry about it. We’ve all been there.”
“Naked in the street?”
The half-smile is replaced by a wicked grin that feels much more in character for the Theo Raeken Liam is acquainted with. “I prefer to keep my streaking limited to places where families aren’t present, but I suppose the suburbs could have their appeals if you’re that much more of an exhibitionist.”
The heat that flashes through Liam hits both his face and his stomach, but the anger that usually lingers after the fact is stranger missing. “It was hot!” he tries to defend.
“Oh, I’m sure it was.” Theo leans over towards Liam’s seat while Liam is still trying to process the tone Theo’d taken when he said that. An odd feeling rises in Liam’s chest until Theo reaches out and plucks the bag from his lap. The feeling sinks back down, leaving Liam almost disappointed.
“Wasn’t on purpose,” he mutters. Even to his own ears, he sounds like he’s sulking.
“Of course it was. Little beta like you would never be that much of a rebel when you’ve got an alpha as straight-laced as McCall.”
The anger does end up accompanying the heat this time. He’s not sure if Theo calling him little beta again is what makes it so strong, or if this cat-and-mouse game between them has finally made him reach a breaking point. Either way, the heat makes it into his voice when he demands— “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Theo isn’t taken aback by the sudden surge of anger, it seems. If anything, it only makes him study Liam’s expression even longer, though the answer he settles on isn’t very carefully chosen. “I suppose it means you’re sort of a prude.”
Is that fucking amusement Liam is hearing? What the hell does Theo have to be amused about? For that matter, what does Liam have to be so angry about? This isn’t even the worst teasing from Theo he’s faced by now, yet something about it gets under his skin in a way that makes him growl.
“I’m not.”
Theo hums, and this time when he leans in, Liam is pretty sure he’s right about what the intent behind it is. Theo’s words only provide him with more evidence for the assumption. “Prove it.”
And listen. Liam knows , okay? He knows that Theo is trying to provoke him. He knows that listening to the goading and letting Theo get to him is just giving him what he wants, and that if Scott were here, he’d warn Liam not to let Theo get him to play this game. Liam doesn’t owe proving himself to anyone.
But Scott isn’t here, and Liam has read enough about the concept of fatal flaws in mythology to know exactly what his is. He’s always been a proud person, whether it’s Theo he’s going up against or not.
Granted, his pride usually leads him towards punching people rather than kissing them, but there’s a first time for everything, isn’t there? Leave it to Theo to be the one who takes that first time achievement for himself.
It’s embarrassing to admit, but like Theo, Liam kisses the other boy exactly how he usually starts off a fight with him— sudden and stubborn in equal parts. At least Liam is consistent in his impulsivity.
It’s less awkward kissing Theo in his truck than it would be in a different vehicle thanks to the lack of a console between their seats, but Liam does still sort of knock their noses together when he overestimates the force he needs to lean forward with. Turns out Theo had been leaning in to meet him halfway, which is another thing Liam would overthink if he weren’t so busy doing.
Somewhere in the back of his mind— which feels like a very, very distant place at the present moment— he has the thought that making out in the front seat of someone’s car is just another one of those things that normal teenagers spend their nights doing. Truck. Whatever. The difference doesn’t matter as long as Theo’s mouth is against his, because Liam may have been the one to initiate the kiss this time, but Theo is just as enthusiastic about returning it as he had been when he was the one behind the first two times they did this.
Theo’s hand moves forward to firmly grip Liam’s thigh just above the knee at the same time his tongue presses at the seam of Liam’s lips, the combination of advancements making Liam’s anger melt into something equally as hot, but a little more malleable. He might let Theo do anything if it meant feeling like this for longer, unable to differentiate exactly where the anger ends and the desire for more begins.
Unfortunately, the saying might go third time’s the charm, but where Liam and Theo are concerned— it couldn’t be any more wrong. If the third time truly was the charm, there wouldn’t be a goddamn deputy knocking on the passenger window not two seconds after Liam has let his lips part.
Liam is the first to groan, right into the end of the kiss that Theo breaks off in order to voice the exact thought Liam is having.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
The deputy standing outside Liam’s door does not look to be in the mood to kid whatsoever. The disapproval doesn’t end at his expression, as they find when Liam twists to press the button that lowers his window down. The deputy keeps his flashlight up, shining directly at Liam’s overheated face and Theo’s irritated one right behind him.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you boys to get a move on. There’s no loitering allowed at night out here, you know.” Is Liam imagining it or is this guy glaring at Theo like he’s caught him in this position before. Does that mean Theo has brought other people here?
That thought shouldn’t bother Liam as much as it does.
“We understand, officer. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” It’s a little scary to be reminded of just how easily Theo can make a lie come off as believable. He actually almost sounds regretful about not being a model citizen, which is so laughable Liam would roll his eyes if they weren’t still in the presence of law enforcement. “It’s getting past his bedtime anyways. I’ll take him straight home.”
Liam whips his head around to glare at the older boy. Bedtime? Liam doesn’t even have a real curfew now that his parents know he has a reason to be out late at night sometimes. That reason is supposed to be werewolf stuff rather than kissing boys in trucks, but what they don’t know won’t hurt them.
“See that you do,” the deputy is saying. He finally lowers his light after tipping his head towards them. “Have a nice rest of your night, boys.”
“Will do, sir.” Theo reaches an arm around Liam’s front and rolls the window back up just to mutter, “ Dick.”
“You’re one to talk.” Liam knocks Theo’s arm away from him and crosses his own around his stomach. “‘ Past his bedtime?’ Fuck off.”
“And you think getting all cranky isn’t just proving my point?” Theo snorts and twists his keys in the ignition until the truck rumbles to a start. “I can’t tell if you’re playing dumb or actually dumb.”
Liam scowls and slouches down in his seat, trying his hardest to avoid thinking about what might’ve happened if that officer hadn’t walked up. “Just shut up and drive, Raeken.”
Surprisingly, Theo does. It makes not thinking about things even harder, but even though now is probably the perfect time to ask all of the questions he’s pent up since the locker room debacle, Liam just isn’t in the mood to do any more talking.
The rest of the ride to Liam’s house is spent in silence, Theo staring straight ahead at the road and Liam staring out the window to watch the sidewalks pass by. Thankfully, the Dunbar-Geyer house isn’t too far from where they were parked, because the tension that’s settled between them is so thick a knife would be needed to cut through it.
Theo doesn’t bother pulling into Liam’s driveway. Instead he comes to a stop by the curb beside the mailbox and puts the truck into park while Liam grabs the bag filled with their trash and pats his pockets to make sure he has everything he needs. Once he has, he reaches up and grabs the door handle, but finds himself hesitating before he moves to get out.
He can’t just leave without saying anything. Theo’d done him a favor tonight, and even if they’re technically even now–
“Are you going to move anytime soon or am I supposed to waste all my gas waiting?”
Liam huffs and fixes Theo with an unimpressed glare despite the fact he’s actually relieved Theo was the one to speak first. “I’m going. I was just…” He swallows and searches for an excuse that he’s not even sure is necessary. “I remembered that I still have your jacket. I can run in and get it before you leave? So I can give it back to you, I mean.”
“Nah.” Theo shakes his head, Liam blinking in surprise at the decision. “Keep it.” His mouth twists into a wry smile. “But only if it’ll stop you from complaining about me ripping your shirt at the zoo.”
“I was wearing two shirts that day and you ripped them both,” Liam reminds him, just because he doesn’t know what else to say. Theo wants him to keep his jacket? That’s… unexpected.
Theo lifts a brow, but doesn’t take the offer back the way LIam was expecting him to. “I would say one jacket is worth two shirts.”
That may very well be true, but what Liam is really left wondering is just how much this gesture is worth in terms of Theo’s ever-evolving character. He’s brushing it off as an equal exchange, but something about it feels different. Everything between them has felt different lately.
Liam stares at Theo for a second more just to see if this’ll be revealed as a joke. Theo has always had an odd sense of humor.
The punchline doesn’t come.
Theo is the first to look away. “Get out and go to bed, Liam.”
Liam opens the door slowly, tucking his lower lip under his teeth until he has both feet on the ground and looks back up at Theo in the driver’s seat. “See you soon?”
“I’ll see you when I see you.” Theo phrases that like he’s avoiding giving Liam a real answer to that question.
Liam is getting used to the lack of answers between them, so the sigh he lets out is only slightly resigned. “Night.” He shuts the door and turns towards the house.
He can hear that Theo doesn’t drive away until Liam has made it safely inside. That, among so many other things, makes him stare at where Theo’s jacket is still draped over his chair for a good ten minutes before he even bothers trying to fall asleep.
-
Texting Theo isn’t so scary now that Liam’s done it a couple of times. He waits not even 12 hours after Theo takes him home from the party to send the first message, a simple two word statement of something he’d forgotten to say again before Theo drove away.
Thank you.
It takes Theo three hours to respond, which is long enough for Liam to start worrying he’d somehow fucked things up more with a measley text than the impromptu make-out sessions. At first, all Theo sends back is a peace sign, but then, while Liam is still staring at his phone screen trying to decipher what that means—
Thanks for the food.
It should be weirder than it actually is to Liam that he and Theo have done so many things out of order. Saving each other’s lives, making out on locker room floors, and sending casual texts are things that usually happen in a much different order than they have for them.
It’s not like Liam has been staying up all hours of the night just to talk to the guy, but they’ve had a pretty good conversation going over the past few days, all stemming from the link Liam’d sent Theo to some stupid video he saw online about joking about people who drive big trucks trying to compensate for something.
It felt like something Liam would probably say to him in person, so it wasn’t too weird to send it, right? He’d decided against attaching the caption made me think of you and settled on a smiley face instead, only for Theo to reply with a middle finger emoji and a message dripping with so much sarcasm Liam could practically feel it through the screen.
At least I have a working vehicle and a license without a curfew attached.
It seems like inability to punch Theo or otherwise attack him when they’re communicating keeps the irritation subdued, or maybe Liam is just less infuriated by Theo’s every move these days.
They talk about a lot of things over the week following their awkward encounter involving the deputy and Theo’s truck, but still don’t talk about the kissing stuff. At this rate, Liam’s not sure they’re ever going to. It’s been almost a month since Coach first caught them going at it, and Liam is no closer to understanding why Theo kissed him now than he was back then.
He wouldn’t say he’s scared of texting Theo anymore, but he finds himself hesitating to actually send the message he has typed out right now.
How nicely would I have to ask to get you to bring me a burger or something to the library? I’d pay you back.
Liam frowns and continues to stare down at his phone instead of the half dozen textbooks and notebooks he has spread out in front of him. He should be focusing on memorizing the formulas he’ll need to pass this stats exam, but he’s hungry , and Mason isn’t going to get out of leading his tutoring session in the chemistry lab for at least the next hour.
And fine, maybe Liam wants to make sure Theo is still hanging around town.
Fuck it. Liam exhales hard and taps the send emblem before he can convince himself not to, throwing his phone down and grabbing his pencil so he can at least pretend to be working on the flashcards he’s supposed to be making. He’s barely gotten the definition written down for his next term when his phone buzzes. He finds himself reaching towards it embarrassingly fast.
Why the fuck are you at the library right now?
Liam bites the inside of his cheek and taps a reply out.
Late night study session. Trying to bring my grades up now that Monroe is gone.
Theo’s response comes before Liam has time to put his phone back down.
What do you want and from where?
A grin makes its way across Liam’s face without him even realizing it. He didn’t even have to say please. Texting Theo really isn’t scary at all. It only takes him a second of mulling it over for him to settle on an order and send it Theo’s way. He finally gets back to studying once he can see Theo has read the message, smile not fading away even as he begrudgingly throws himself back into trying to comprehend his own messily scrawled out notes.
It only takes about fifteen minutes for his phone to light up again. Liam reads it from the lockscreen.
I’m at the side door. You make me wait longer than five minutes and I’m eating your fries.
Even as he’s rolling his eyes to himself, Liam pushes his chair back from the table and makes a beeline between the shelves towards the entrance Theo is talking about. He’s one of the last people in the library, so he doesn’t bother keeping his voice too low after he shoves the door open.
“You’re not a vampire, you know. You could have just come in on your own.”
Theo flashes his eyes at him as if to remind him of what kind of supernatural creature he actually is, the gold around his pupils burning bright in the shadows provided by the shelves. “I also could have let you starve tonight.”
“You came, though.” That slips out unintentionally. They aren’t quite at the stage of acknowledging most of these things out loud, but luckily, Theo seems to be willing to make an exception just this once.
“I came,” he agrees, stepping over the threshold. He holds up the bag with what must be Liam’s order inside. “Where’s your table?”
“Oh, uh—“ Does this mean Theo is going to stay while he eats? What does that mean? “It’s in the back corner. So it’d be quieter.” He sighs and begins heading in that direction, hyper-aware that Theo is following behind him. “Math isn’t my strongest subject.”
“You like history.” That’s not a question. It’s a statement of fact.
Liam blinks, surprised Theo actually remembers him mentioning that from the day they spent together at the zoo. He doesn’t know what that means either. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” Once they’ve reached the table, he turns and holds a hand out for Theo to pass the bag into. “Here, I’ll just—“
“Nice jacket.”
Liam freezes where he’s just set the bag down beside his notebook and slowly lowers his gaze to the chair he’d been sitting in before— the chair where Theo’s jacket is currently draped around the back. “Uh.” He flicks his eyes up to Theo, then back down. “It went with my outfit?”
Theo rolls his eyes. “Right.” Liam doesn’t have the time to defend himself any further, because the next thing he knows, Theo is wrapping a hand around his wrist and using it to yank him back between the nearest set of shelves.
The sound Liam lets out when Theo’s lips find his is embarrassingly close to a squeak, but Theo is a little too busy backing him up against what Liam is pretty sure is part of the nonfiction section to make fun of him for it. Instead of grabbing him by the face like he had in the elevator, this time Theo keeps him held by the hips.
Liam brings his own hands up to grip at Theo’s shoulders once he’s gotten his bearings back enough to reciprocate, chin tilting up to make up for the slight difference in their heights. The reminder that Theo is taller than him should be infuriating. It usually is, but right now, Liam is the furthest thing from irritated.
Was this his subconscious intention when he chose to put on Theo’s jacket this morning? Did some part of him anticipate Theo reacting like this? Did he want him to?
The library isn’t completely empty, so they can’t lose themselves to the kiss completely, but it’s still intoxicating. Kissing Theo is different than kissing any of the other people Liam’s done this with in the past. It’s not even about the fact that Theo is a guy, or that he’s taller, and older, and such a goddamn control freak— he’s just… he’s Theo. Liam has never met anyone else like him, and making out with him in a school library might be a weird time and place to have this realization, but Liam is pretty sure he wants Theo to kiss him every day.
Liam likes this, and he doesn’t just mean the kisses. He likes wearing Theo’s jacket. He likes it when Theo texts him. He likes the way that Theo will bring him food and give him rides even if he pretends to be annoyed about it all the time. He likes it when Theo is surprisingly kind to him at the most unexpected moments.
He likes Theo.
There’s no denying anymore that he wants Theo to keep kissing him, even if he does still want to know why Theo kissed him to begin with. Is there ever going to be a right time to ask? What would happen if he just asked right now?
They have to part to take a breath, though neither of them loosen the hold they have on each other. Their faces are still so close that Liam’s nose brushes Theo’s cheek when he tilts his head up even further and opens his mouth to try and finally ask the question that’s been plaguing him for weeks.
“Why—“
“Liam? Are you still in here?” Mason’s voice cuts across the library before Liam can get the words out. His tutoring session must have ended early.
Jesus fucking Christ, are they going to get interrupted every single time they do this? How is Liam supposed to ever figure out what this is?
He curses under his breath, Theo letting out a low laugh that Liam thumps him in the shoulder for.
Theo grins crookedly at him. “I think that’s my cue to leave.” Liam scowls at him, but the expression is quickly wiped away when Theo leans in and kisses him again. It’s quicker than the last, clearly meant as a goodbye. Theo is still smiling when he pulls back and steps away. “Later.”
“Theo—“ Liam groans when Theo slips around the edge of the shelf without looking back. He can hear the side door shutting a moment later. Great. Liam is left to deal with the aftermath of getting caught yet again. Almost getting caught, anyways. Thank god Mason didn’t actually see them.
“Liam?”
Liam runs a hand through his hair and uses the back of it to wipe off his mouth after just to make sure there isn’t any evidence left behind of what just happened. “Back here!” he calls, hurrying towards his table and sitting down so that Mason finds him staring down at his notes and pretending to read them when he finally makes it over.
Mason doesn’t seem to notice anything off about Liam’s appearance, but he frowns at the fast food bag sitting on the table. “Where’d you get that?”
“Friend brought it to me.” Is that a lie? Theo is sort of his friend now, right? “You want some fries?”
Lie or not, Mason buys the story. He shrugs and slides down into the seat across from Liam. “Sure. You need any help studying?”
This is an answer Liam can be completely honest about. “Yes. Please.” If he can’t understand why Theo keeps kissing him, he’d at least like to understand how to pass this stupid statistics test.
-
Theo doesn’t bother texting Liam before he shows up at his house. Or more specifically, outside of his bedroom window.
The knock comes even later than Liam’s text to him after the party had, close enough to midnight for Liam to be busy brushing his teeth when he hears the rap of knuckles against glass. He frowns at himself in the mirror and spits, but takes the time to rinse his brush off. He doubts anyone trying to attack him would bother knocking.
He is a bit shocked to see that it’s Theo waiting outside in the bushes, but to be honest, there’s a pretty limited pool of people that it could be. Almost all of them would use the front door, but Theo?
Yeah, it makes sense that he would be the one trying to get in through the window.
Liam furrows his brows, taking in the sight of Theo’s face half-shrouded in the darkness before he unlatches his window and slides the bottom pane up. “Theo? What are you—“ He stops mid-sentence when he notices the red splotch soaking its way through the shoulder of Theo’s t-shirt, but he smells what’s wrong even before he sees it. “Is that blood?”
“Your house was closer than the clinic,” Theo says through gritted teeth. “I just— I need a first aid-kit. Figured you would have one.”
“You look like you might need stitches .” Liam bites his lip and looks around, trying to think of what to do. “Fuck. You’re not coming in through the window with your arm that fucked up. I’m gonna go unlock the front door.”
“Won’t your parents hear?” The last thing Theo needs to worry about is waking them up, but Liam probably should think more carefully about what’d happen if his stepfather caught him sneaking a handsome high-school dropout in the house.
But Theo is bleeding and he looks exhausted, so Liam shakes his head. “Mom’s not home, and it’s probably a good thing my stepdad’s here. Doctor, remember?”
“I don’t need a doctor,” Theo says, but Liam can see that he’s limping when he turns and walks towards the front of the house. Liam watches him go for a second, shaking the worry off before he follows suit and heads down the hall to meet Theo at the door.
Now that he can see Theo’s full body in the yellow lamplight of the front-stoop, Liam’s eyes grow large. He looks like hell. Not as bad as they’d both looked after the hospital and Monroe, but still.
He has to ask. “Did… did hunters do this?”
Theo winces when he steps over the threshold. “In the literal sense.” At the confused tilt of Liam’s head as he leads the way towards the bathroom, Theo sighs and elaborates. “Actual hunters, not werewolf ones.”
“What?” He can hear Theo sit down heavily on top of the closed toilet seat once they’ve made it inside and Liam has turned to pull Dr. Geyer’s perpetually stocked first-aid kit out of the cabinet. “Why would they shoot at you?”
“You’re cute when you ask stupid questions,” Theo mutters, making Liam almost fumble the kit once he finally finds it. That has to be the blood loss speaking. “I was full shifted on a run through the preserve. Guess some guy saw me and thought it’d be a smart move to try and shoot a few rounds at the big, bad wolf.”
Liam has heard enough stories about Theo shifting from Malia to know that Theo turns into a wolf rather than something closer to the coyote part of his DNA, but he wonders what it actually looks like in person. Is he brown, like his hair? Black? A mixture between the two? Is he actually that big? Would it be rude to ask?
He opens his mouth and turns with the kit in hand, but the remark he’s planning to make about Theo huffing and puffing dries up in his throat when he sees that Theo has stripped down to nothing but his briefs in order to examine his injuries.
It’s a perfectly logical thing to do. It doesn’t mean anything. Well, the fact Theo showed up here of all places while wounded might mean something, but letting Liam see his bare torso is just a byproduct of him getting cleaned up. Liam should leave and let Theo have some privacy, shouldn’t he? Theo has never liked being seen when he’s vulnerable.
Theo takes the kit and pops it open after setting it on the counter, pulling out the pair of tweezers inside. “Get me a wet rag?”
So maybe he doesn’t want Liam to leave yet. Liam nods and swallows hard before fulfilling Theo’s request by grabbing an old washcloth from the closet and wetting it with warm water in the sink. “How… how bad is it?”
“Bullet in my shoulder went clean through, but I think I’m gonna have to dig the other one out of my calf.” Theo hisses at the first touch of the cloth against his upper arm. Liam can see his jaw tense when he begins to gingerly wipe some of the blood away. “I’ll be fine. At least there’s no wolfsbane to burn out.”
“Is there anything I can do?” It’s a tentative offer to help, one that Liam is fully expecting Theo to shoot down.
But instead, Theo nods and glances up at him. “Get the disinfectant and some gauze out. And—“ Theo exhales hard when he moves the cloth down to press over the wound on his leg. “Something to drink?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I can do that.” Liam pulls the gauze and bottle of disinfectant out of the kit before moving towards the door. He doesn’t know what to do with all of his nervous energy besides go overboard trying to complete the tasks Theo has given him.
He grabs one of the bottles of Gatorades he usually takes the lacrosse practice from the fridge, figuring Theo could use the electrolytes, also brings a glass of water just in case Theo doesn’t like the blue flavor. His second stop is in his room to pull an oversized t-shirt and a too-long pair of sweats he rarely wears from his dresser so Theo won’t have to change back into his bloodstained clothes.
Their first kiss tasted like blood. Figures Theo’s first time inside Liam’s house would also involve one of them bleeding.
Theo has already begun the process of searching for the buried bullet by the time Liam makes it back to the bathroom. Just watching him makes Liam want to flinch, but if Theo can suck it up as the person having to dig around his own flesh, Liam can suck it up enough to supervise.
“You don’t have to babysit me through this.” Theo doesn’t look up or remove the tweezers from his leg while he talks. It makes Liam’s stomach turn. “I’ve done this before.”
“Believe it or not, that’s not very comforting to hear.”
“Once you’ve undergone a couple surgeries without anesthesia, one little bullet extraction is no problem.”
Liam highly doubts Theo would appreciate him pointing out how fucked up of a statement that is considering that he’s not the one who lived through it. “Are you sure you don’t want me to wake up my stepdad?”
“Liam.” Theo sighs and finally halts his motions with the tweezers to look up at him with an expression that’s equal parts tired and exasperated. “You asking me if I’m okay over and over is only going to make this take longer. Go sit on the bed if you need to.”
Liam tries to scoff, but it’s half hearted. “Are you trying to boss me around in my own house? You’re the guest here.”
“Then be a good host and humor me by giving me a second.” Theo’s voice is firm, but not as unkind as it might’ve been a few weeks ago were they to have found themselves in this position. “You’ve done everything you can for now, okay? Go. I’ll be fine.”
Theo keeps saying that, but Liam is yet to believe him. Theo is only human, even if he likes to pretend to be above it all. He’s tired and hurt, and Liam is supposed to just leave him alone?
“Liam.” Theo says his name more sharply this time. “ Go.”
The only way Liam can get himself to comply is to tell himself that he’ll be right outside to check on Theo once he’s done. They’ve made out a couple times and saved each other’s lives even more, but somehow, offering to dig a bullet out from under his skin feels like it’d be crossing a line they’ve just now started to approach.
So Liam looks down at his socked feet and nods, expression sober. “Call if you need anything?”
“I’m gonna be across the hall. You’ll hear if anything happens.” Theo raises his brows and smirks. “But the mother-hen act is touching. You really are McCall’s mini-me.”
“Asshole,” Liam mutters, because it’s true. He slips out of the bathroom but leaves the door cracked behind him, returning to his bedroom and immediately flopping down on the mattress to lay flat on his back and stare at the ceiling. He keeps track of Theo’s heartbeat while he waits.
It’s not like he’s a stranger to seeing blood and gore up close. In comparison to some of the other injuries he’s dealt with— some of them on himself, for that matter— Theo’s two bullet wounds are a simple fix. They should be fully healed within the next 24 hours, and if Theo’s story about the hunter mistaking him for a real wolf is true, there’s nothing to worry about. Theo’s just a little banged up.
Objectively, Liam knows all of these things. It just doesn’t make him feel much better when he’s still close enough to listen to Theo grunting and hissing as he continues to search for the wayward bullet in his leg.
It only takes him about three more minutes to find it based off the sounds of the triumphant sigh that drifts across the hall. Liam closes his eyes when he hears it, relieved enough to pay a little less attention to listening in on Theo’s actions. When Theo finally exits the bathroom, Liam sits up to watch him walk across the hallway, still chugging away at his half-empty Gatorade. He’s wearing the clothes Liam got him, but Liam can see the white corner of a bandage poking out from under the sleeve.
Theo looks even more exhausted than he was before, but he manages to flash Liam with one of his trademark smirks. “See? All better. I’ll get out of your hair now.“
“You got shot,” Liam says, not caring how dumb he might sound pointing out the obvious. It’s shocking to him that someone who claims to be as selfish as Theo has such little regard for his own well-being. “You can’t leave.”
Theo snorts, balling his bloodied-up clothes and grubby sneakers under his arm and heading towards the window he’d tried to enter through before. “You’re gonna tell me what I can and can’t do now, Dunbar?”
Whether he wants Theo to keep kissing him or not, the guy will always know how to piss Liam off with minimal effort. Liam crosses his arms across his stomach and glares, feeling very suddenly defensive. “I’m just saying that you shouldn’t go. It’s the middle of the night and you’ve barely started healing. It’s a miracle you were even able to get here in one piece.”
Theo doesn’t immediately scoff and jump out the window like Liam was half expecting him to. Instead, he stares down at him in silence for a few seconds, jaw just as tense as it was when Liam was watching him dig around with the tweezers. “I don’t know what you’re expecting me to do here,” he finally says. “If this is some kind of pity because I don’t have—“ He looks away without finishing that statement, leaving Liam to try and piece together the second half on his own.
It takes him a second, but he finally gets it when he glances out the window to where Theo is staring at his truck.
Because I don’t have anywhere else to go.
For a long moment, neither of them say anything. As they both continue to stare out the window, Liam thinks back to that day in the locker room and how Theo had been about to take a shower when Liam walked in. He thinks back to the sarcastic remark Theo had made about getting home for dinner and the fact the favor he’d asked Liam for as repayment had been to buy him a meal. He thinks about all the nights Theo had spent in the jail cell when Liam still didn’t trust him before the hospital.
Liam thinks. He keeps quiet. And then, finally, he looks back at Theo.
“I’m not saying you have to stay,” he says softly. “I’m just saying that you don’t have to go.” He takes a deep breath and pushes up off the bed until he’s standing only a few feet away from Theo’s suddenly stiff form. “I’m saying that I don’t want you to go.”
There are a lot of other things he would like to say and even more that he’d like to ask. Stuff about the kissing, but also about why Theo didn’t let anyone know about how he’s been living sooner. Stuff about how Liam is sorry it took him this long to realize because he’d been so busy trying to convince himself they were getting back to being completely normal teenagers.
They’re Liam and Theo. The truth is, they might never be normal, but that might be alright as long as they stick together.
“You disappeared after the Anu-Kite,” Liam continues, creeping slowly towards Theo, who watches him with guarded eyes. “I didn’t know where you were or if you were still hurt and— I don’t want it to be like that this time. I don’t want to have to keep wondering when or if I’m ever gonna see you again, Theo.”
“I can’t promise you I’m going to stay in Beacon Hills forever,” Theo finally says. His voice is rough, but he doesn’t step back even as Liam comes closer. “I don’t know if I can, Liam.”
A pang hits Liam’s heart hearing that, but he can’t blame Theo for saying it. Hell, half the time he doesn’t know how long he’ll be able to stay in Beacon Hills either. “I don’t need you to promise me forever. Just… stay tonight.” Liam’s voice drops into a whisper as he reaches a hand out to gently lift Theo’s from his side. “With me.”
The simple brushing of their fingers as Liam laces them together is the most tender touch Liam thinks has been shared between them so far. Even when they completely hated each other— or kept pretending to, anyways— they had a tactile dynamic. If they weren’t trading punches, Theo was always dragging Liam along by the wrist or Liam was shoving at his shoulders. But this isn’t that. This is so much gentler.
When Liam leans forward and presses their mouths together, that’s gentle too.
Every kiss they’ve shared so far has been markedly different from the last. The one in the locker room had been frantic and angry, more to burn off steam than anything. The one in the elevator had been sudden and short. The one in the truck had been impulsive. Heated. The one in the library had been rushed and furtive because of how many people were around.
This one is different. It’s slow, almost sensual. They finally have the time and the privacy for it to feel like they might be able to follow through on the promise it holds.
Theo’s clothes and sneakers hit the floor with a quiet thud as he brings his free hand up and curls it over the nape of Liam’s neck, squeezing with the one still tangled with Liam’s. Liam has watched Theo rip through flesh with these hands. He knows how easily his claws can come out and how sharp they feel tearing their way through flesh, but he isn’t afraid of having Theo touch him like this when Theo has devoted so much of himself to keeping Liam safe, even if it’s sometimes been in the roughest of ways.
He only has the time to be sad for a split second when Theo lets go of his hand, because he finds himself being walked towards the bed and pushed back until he’s sprawled over the mattress with Theo rolling halfway on top of him. Their lips don’t fully disconnect when Theo tilts his head sideways to laugh at the high-pitched sound of surprise Liam makes, meaning Liam can feel more than see the way that Theo smiles after.
“Fucking asshole,” he mutters, but he doesn’t mean it in an angry way. Theo will always be an asshole. Liam has just grown to like it a little more.
“What are you gonna do about it? Kick me out?” Theo doesn’t give him a chance to retort before connecting their lips again. He may have been onto something that day in the elevator. This really is a good way to shut Liam up.
Maybe they should be taking things faster now that they’ve got more than five seconds alone, but Liam finds himself content to continue idly trading kisses with the both of them laying in bed. Theo is still healing and this is as good a way as any to savor the moment, anyway.
The moment comes to a close after about ten more minutes of them making out when Theo groans in pain at the tweak of his shoulder wound as he tries to push himself up on his elbows to hover over Liam, who is still flat on his back, hair messed up and out of breath. He looks up at Theo, whose eyes are half-lidded with want, but also exhaustion.
“Sorry,” Theo murmurs, nuzzling back in for another kiss that Liam cuts short with a regretful groan that Theo gives him a questioning look for after.
He licks his lips and traces a finger down the line of Theo’s jaw where he has a hand gripping at his good shoulder. “Should probably go to sleep if you want to heal faster.“ He sighs. “But… it’s Saturday, so… maybe we could go somewhere for breakfast tomorrow?”
“Are you trying to ask me on a date, Dunbar?”
“Uh…” When the worst case scenario of Theo interrupting him to say something along the lines of I don’t do dating doesn’t occur, Liam releases the inside of his cheek from between his teeth and looks up at Theo from under his lashes. “Only if you’re alright with that.”
The look Theo gives him is incredulous. “We’ve been making out for a month, Liam. Take a guess.”
“But we’ve never talked about it!” Liam defends. “I still don’t know why you kissed me the first time.”
“Let me give you a hint.” With that, Theo lowers his head and drags his nose in a line up Liam’s cheek, shifting his weight onto his uninjured arm to press Liam further down into the mattress before sealing their lips together in another languid kiss that ends with their tongues lazily curling together for what’s probably only a few minutes but feels like it could be hours. Liam has almost forgotten that Theo was trying to prove a point by the time they part for some air, but Theo cuts straight to chase while their mouths are both still swollen. “Against my better judgment, I like you, moron. And I know you like me too. I figured someone had to make the first move, even if it was a little… unexpected at the time.”
Liam has to take a second for that to fully sink in. Theo likes him? Theo knew Liam liked him a month ago? That means he knew about Liam’s crush before Liam was even aware of it himself. That should be insufferable— and it kinda is, even if it’s also kinda sweet. But still— “I thought you hated me.”
“Guess I have a thing for hot headed little betas who enjoy stumbling through life completely clueless,” Theo mutters. He flops on his back to stare up at the ceiling beside Liam, but neither of them make a move to get under the covers just yet. “Pretty sure we hated each other for a while, but… I don’t know. We’re not the same people we were when we met.”
To tell the truth, Liam’s not sire Theo’s even the same person he was when Liam and Hayden brought him back, but he knows that’s not the point Theo is trying to make.
They’ve both changed, and maybe the old Theo would have gone through with his plan to kill Liam or the old Liam would have left Theo to rot in a prison of his own making— but that’s not who they are anymore. They both got their second chances and have come out the other side a better match because of it.
“I don’t hate you,” Liam admits, voice so quiet it’s a whisper. He tips his head sideways to look at Theo, then wiggles closer so he can press it into the crook of his neck, breathing in the scent he’d been so sad to notice fading from the jacket. “I don’t think I have for a while.”
“That’s good.” Theo inhales, slow and deep. He tugs one of Liam’s hands up to rest on his stomach, linking their fingers together. “Makes things a little less complicated.”
“We’re always gonna be complicated, Raeken.” Liam frowns and lifts his head. “Is it fucked up that that kinda makes me like you even more?”
“Yeah, you’re a real weirdo.” When Theo smiles, it’s wicked in a way that resembles more of a baring of the teeth.
Liam huffs, tucking his head back down, voice coming out muffled against Theo’s skin. “Good thing I found a guy who’s just as weird.”
They lay like that for a few more minutes, Theo’s thumb tracing absentminded circles against the back of Liam’s hand while Liam listens to the sound of their hearts beating together. Eventually, Liam yawns and sits up, looking blearily towards his pile of pillows a few feet away.
“We should probably actually get under the covers,” he sighs. “And I should probably lock the door so my parents can’t barge in tomorrow morning.”
“What, you don’t wanna get interrupted?”
“Again?” Liam grunts as he pushes up off the bed and towards the door in order to lock it. “You weren’t there when I had to get Coach off my case about seeing us. Thanks for that, by the way.”
Theo’s smile doesn’t dim even when Liam switches his lamp off and heads back towards the bed. “You’re welcome.”
Liam gives him a side-eye and yanks the covers down, Theo waiting until Liam’s settled down on his chosen side of the bed to slide in behind him. “I’m going to make you leave through the window tomorrow morning.”
“Treating me like a one-night stand? Low blow, Dunbar,” Theo says, mockingly wounded.
“You’ll live,” Liam deadpans. He bites at his lower lip for a moment before blindly reaching back until he catches Theo’s forearm in his grip and can tug it forward so Theo has it draped over his side in a proper spooning position. “But play your cards right and I might let you borrow a toothbrush before we go.”
“You just don’t want me to kiss you with morning breath.” Liam can feel Theo’s lips brush against the back of his neck in such a soft touch that it makes him shiver despite the blankets covering them both.
“I’d let you kiss me anyways,” he says, because he really would. Their first kiss tasted like blood. What’s a little morning breath?
“Liam.”
“Yeah?”
“Turn over.” Liam does, Theo’s arm tightening around his side to pull him closer until they’re face-to-face in the dark, curled around each other like parentheses.
Theo only has to lean forward a few inches to give him a final kiss. Liam kisses him back, and when it’s over, he smiles. Theo does too, small and soft into the secret space between where their foreheads are leaned together.
“Kiss me again,” Liam whispers, just because he wants to see if Theo will. He does, and when their lips connect, it doesn’t taste like blood or toothpaste or anything else but Theo. It’s private and on purpose with no interruptions to cut it short.
Out of all the kisses they’ve shared, this one might be Liam’s favorite so far, but somehow he doesn’t think he’ll have to wait too long for there to be some other contenders for the spot.