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Liam gripped the box in his hands as he made his way through the corridors of Beacon hills high school. After graduating from his history and teaching degrees in UC Davis he was back in town ready to start teaching in his old school. It wasn't his first choice, but being home closer to his parents was at least something. He was hoping that the town had calmed down a bit. He had really managed to get a control of his werewolf nature and his ied with the help of mason and some meditative electives, but being back at a place where he had nearly died more times than the average student, well that would trigger anyone.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when the principal led him to his class room. He placed the boxes on the desk and looked around. The classroom was bare, nothing a few posters and décor wouldn’t fix. He pulled out a few items from the box, some stationary, a few picture frames of him with Mason and Corey, with Scott and Stiles, but left one in the box. It was a photo he took with him everywhere, it was the one photo he had of him and Theo, it was of the two of them at Scott's on his couch post Monroe, Liam had somehow convinced Theo to come with him after the hospital show down, they were leaning on each other softly both practically passing out of exhaustion. It also was the last time that he had seen Theo. The chimera was gone before the morning leaving no trail. It had almost broken Liam. He thought that after everything the two of them had gotten close. Logically Liam couldn’t blame him for leaving, emotions were high and it was probably overwhelming, but Liam thought he would have come back. He hadn’t. Liam pushed the memories aside, he put that photo in a draw for safe keeping and unpacked the rest of his stuff. The principal came back in then cleared her throat.
“Mr. Dunbar, I see that you are unpacked. Since this was your high school you don't need a tour but I'll show you to the staff room and introduce you to some of the other teachers.”
Liam nodded following her out the room.
Only a few staff were in as it was still the summer but staff would be weaving in and out to prepare for the new semester. He met the English teacher, a happy man who reminded him of Mason, he was sure they’d get along, being young still Liam worried a bit about being taken seriously as a teacher but he was getting on ok. He started small talk with a few when a name he recognised was passed around .
“Wait who?” Liam asked thinking there was no way,
“Mr. Raeken, the science teacher, he's pretty close to your age. Do you know him?”
Liam had heard right his heart stopped, that bastard, he had looked for ages for Theo and he’d been here? He was cut out of his spiral when they continued.
“Oh speak of the devil here he is now, Theo come meet the new history teacher.”
Liam snapped, he whipped around and made eye contact with Theo. He looked the same, well slightly older and with a half shadow of a beard, but it was definitely him. Liam breathed in heavily trying to hold his composure. But there was only so much he could do . Theo looked back at him in shock and quickly snapped out of it sensing that Liam was about to flip. He raised his hand in a half surrender. But it was in vain,
Liam tackled him into the wall, the other teachers around gasped and the violent movement. Theo gasped out the air that was practically forced out of him.
“Good to see you too, little wolf, but maybe this isn’t the time or place for a proper reunion”
God he was still such a sarcastic ass. Despite his initial anger being close to Theo still had a calming effect on him even after all this time, Liam growled under his breath trying to regain his senses.
“You left and now your here what the fuck Theo, why’d you leave us, leave me. I don't understand,” his words were fast and low, as if they were a secret that was only for him and Theo to hear. Theo sighed
“We can talk about this later but right now you should probably let me go before you scare the rest of the staff, like I know you wont actually hurt me but right now they don't." Theo darted his eyes towards the rest of the room.
“Bold of you to assume won't hurt you” Liam quipped at him.
“True , i haven’t had my nose broken since you, could be a trip down memory lane, but considering your eyes are still blue you aren’t actually that out of control, I’m impressed.”
“Well it's in no thanks to you, you dodged my question about leaving.”
Theo was sighing again he moved his hand to cover Liam's that was currently pressed against Theo's collar bone slightly angled towards Theo's throat but not actually pressing hard, Theo could have escaped at any point, but didn't.
“I’d said we’ll talk but first we’d better clear this up for our audience hm?”
It was Liam's turn to sigh, he hated that Theo was right. He stepped away, but didn’t fully detach himself from Theo, subconsciously he had moved his hand down and wrapped it around Theo's arm, not allowing the chimera to get away.
“So..uh yeah I do know Theo, it’s kinda a long story, sorry that must have looked..” he trailed off not knowing where to go from there.
“Intense” Theo finished
The teachers just looked at the two of them and nodded.
“Well as the two of you can teach without tearing each other's throats out then we’ll forget we saw this ok?”
Theo chuckled at that, Liam knew that sentence was more accurate than the teacher knew. Theo then was pulling Liam out of the staff room, it left Liam dazed, even when they were close they didn’t actually touch that much but Theo had changed the grip and was pulling Liam hand in hand. Well technically the pulling wasn’t new, they often dragged each other out of the way, but hand in hand that was new. They arrived at the science room and Theo shoved him against the wall this time. Liam was a little lost but welcomed the proximity. Theo deflated then.
“What in god’s name was that?” he whisper-shouted. Liam looked back at him perplexed.
“God you-just what a reunion- but seriously little wolf i have not missed the bruises you give out.”
“That sounds dirty when you say it like that, and i thought you were an atheist and i could say the same, you're in beacon hills after all this time, do you know how long i looked for you, you left and i-” Liam drifted his sentence again, unsure what to say to the man across him, he had pictured it, the day he would find Theo again, he really did want to find him but he had mostly given up hope, Theo had dropped of the face of the earth and yet he was here, it was barely registering with him
Theo almost flinched at that, he tried to hide it but Liam could read him well, even after all this time.
“I had to leave, i mean some part of me didn’t want to, wanted to be around for you, but i couldn’t- i mean your pack, like they would have sooner sent me away as soon as the threat was dealt with i left on my own terms.” Liam pondered that.
“You really believe that.” he asked
Theo looked shocked
“Scott called you to come help me, you kept coming to help when you could have left at any point. He trusted you, we all did. I did. I think you were running from that, the idea that we saw you for more than what you thought you were. You had changed Theo and if you had let us we would have helped you get through it all.” Liam sighed “but I also get it, it probably was overwhelming and you needed to figure things out, so i change my question to " why did you stay away, and will you run from me again?”
Theo's eyes widened at that last question. He drew in a shaky breath and shook his head slowly.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he confirmed. “You really wanted to help me?”
“Of course you were-are my friend. I just wanted you to be safe”
“Friend?”
“Well yeah I mean I think at some point even you were my anchor, hence the whole massive trigger of seeing you again..”
“Eere ?”
Liam bit his lip. “..hmm yeah i think somehow you still are, hence why this time our whole against the wall thing didn’t end up bloody.”
Theo sucked in another breath. “I was- I mean, am your anchor and I left you, god I’m sorry.”
“No none of that Theo, I was serious, I understand why you left and I managed ok, i still had my pack” he lifted his hand to Theo's chin and drew their eyes together. “I know you did what you needed to do and you did right?”
“Yeah uh, i got out of town got my GED and went to community college and like fell back into science for me this time you know not the..” doctors went unspoken but Liam knew. “I just wanted to be able to help others more for once so teaching made sense”
“And beacon hills?”
Theo tried avoiding eye contact then.
“You were hoping I'd still be here?” Liam asked
“Don’t ask questions you know the answers to.”
“Maybe I just want to hear it. You missed me too, right?”
“You were the only thing that could have got me to stay. I would have had you asked, but I wasn't ready for that then.”
Liam felt hope rise in his chest.
“Then? And what now, I mean we will be seeing each other a lot working together and all.”
Liam was trying not to push but he needed to know.
“Now I don't think anything could keep me away. I mean if you still want me around that is.”
Liam broke into a massive smile. And grabbed Theo again and pulled him in close, a proper bone crushing hug that was so long overdue. Theo all but melted into him. They still had a lot of things to talk about but for now this was everything that Liam had wished for.