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Liam was in a bad mood, and it was all Theo’s fault.
Granted, he’d been in a bad mood for the entire week. Getting crushed by an SUV and breaking most of the bones in your body wasn’t exactly conducive to a sunshine-esque demeanor.
He didn’t remember much of the actual incident, but he did remember Theo. Theo, staying close beside him as the pack cleaned up the evidence of their full-moon camping trip, the backs of their hands brushing during the walk back to his truck. Theo’s head jolting up at the sound of tires screeching across asphalt. The split-second thought of I can’t let him get hurt, the black vehicle skidding in their direction, Liam’s hands on Theo to shove him away with all strength he had before his body slammed into cold metal and his vision went black.
Hazy flashes of green eyes, of mind-breaking pain and blood in his mouth and soft, soothing murmurs of his name, of that’s it, keep focusing on me and don’t you dare close your eyes, and, please, god, fucking stay with me, sweetheart, were all that remained of his memories up until he woke up at the hospital hours later, bandaged head to toe and surrounded by everyone but Theo.
They told him it had been hunters, that he’d been pinned beneath the weight of the car until Theo could lift it off of him, that he would have died if he had been human.
Liam didn’t care. In pain, and high on modified drugs, he just wanted Theo.
Even now, lying in his bed with the waning moon shining through his window, Liam could smell him, the chemical-petrichor of his scent, like he had for days, always out of reach and out of sight, like a ghost flitting at the edge of his vision. He had half-formed dreams of calloused fingers twining with his, of a steady presence holding vigil at his bedside, but when he woke, Theo was never there, his scent fresh and warm.
So yes, Liam was tired, and cranky, and pissed off, and absolutely done with Theo’s bullshit.
Grunting with the effort, he swung himself out of bed, balancing on one leg as he fumbled to grab the crutch beside his bed before hobbling his way out of his room and down the stairs. According to Melissa, his right leg had taken the worst of the damage, to the point where even with his supernatural healing, it would take another week to reconstruct itself fully, so he was stuck limping around with a cast like a feeble human until then.
The screen door to the backyard squeaked when he pried it open, cold night air washing over him with each - mildly painful, his ribs still ached - shuffle out onto the porch.
“Are you really planning on staying out here all night?”
Liam’s voice echoed in the relative quiet of the empty grass yard, the lines of trees stretching out toward the midnight sky, leaves rustling in the light breeze.
Footsteps padded over the ground.
Silhouetted by the moonlight, Theo’s eyes glowed a mesmerizing gold as he came into view, face shadowed by the hood of his threadbare sweater and the messy drape of his bangs. With his shoulders curled inward, and his hands shoved deep into his pockets, Liam couldn’t help but be reminded of a wolf, wary and wild, built for survival in the harshest of elements and unsure of the artificial lights that shone at Liam’s back, the heat of the house amidst the cold of the night.
Liam scowled at him, aware of the ashy spice of anger and irritation that filled his scent. “Get inside. It’s cold and I’m fucking tired.”
And therein was the other side to the young werewolf’s anger: Theo was homeless, and the pack had been trying to gently coax him into moving in with one of them (read: Liam’s guest room), only to be met by the brick wall of the chimera’s sheer stubbornness and self-sacrificing martyr complex. Liam had tried his best to keep him healthy and alive while he still refused the comfort the pack offered, always shoving food at him and snuggling close to try and stave away the perpetual cold that lingered beneath his skin, exacerbated by his lack of warm clothes, but his patience had run out. He couldn’t handle the perpetual uncertainty, not knowing if Theo was safe in his truck or if he’d been taken by hunters, sleepless nights spent tossing and turning in bed, thinking of the bones he had felt beneath his hands or the way the chimera curled up into a ball next to him during late-night pack meetings, so exhausted and worn down he didn’t even notice the blanket being pulled over his shoulders, the conversations that quieted around them.
Theo only stared at Liam, something incomprehensible flashing in his gaze.
As suddenly as he’d appeared, with only the barest of pauses, the chimera slunk back into the shadows, hiding his heartbeat and his chemosignals until the only thing that remained were the imprints of his feet in the grass and a whiff of his scent in the breeze, as silent and invisible as a ghost to Liam’s werewolf senses.
Fine.
If Theo wanted to play this game, then they would fucking play it.
The young werewolf limped his way over to the couch swing his mother had installed on the porch last summer, floral-patterned cushions dipping under his weight as he shuffled onto his back, hissing at the ache in his ribs and gingerly letting his crutch fall to the ground. The knit blanket he pulled over himself didn’t provide much warmth, but, being a werewolf, he didn’t need it much, anyway.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Liam could feel the burn of Theo’s glare on his skin as the chimera made his reappearance known, but he simply kept his eyes closed in determined resignation.
“If you’re not going inside, then I’m not either,” Liam stated.
Terse silence followed this declaration.
“You’re being ridiculous.” The natural rasp of Theo’s voice flattened, deadpan, as it usually did when he was annoyed at the young beta wolf. “Go back to sleep. In your bed.”
“No.”
“Liam.”
Liam flipped him off, still not opening his eyes, and said, “Suck it, asshole.”
“It’s not safe out here.” His tone sharpened. Openly harsh, a falter in his usually stone-cold facade.
All Liam said in response, was, “If it isn’t safe for me, why is it safe for you?”
With his heightened senses, he could hear the click of unsheathing claws, the rustle of palms over jeans, the bitter tang of emotions in a chaotic, unidentifiable mixture as boots shuffled over the ground.
Liam knew Theo almost as well as he knew himself, had spent most of the days since he’d dragged him headfirst out of the ground with him, which was why he cracked open one eye before the chimera could even part his lips. “You can’t make me go inside with force. My leg is broken and my ribs are only considered not broken as of yesterday. You’ll hurt me.”
That elicited a proper snarl, but it sounded pained, bereaved, a stark contrast to the bared teeth and gold irises that flashed in the darkness. Yet, despite this, he hovered, just at the edge of the light that lit up the wooden porch. Hesitation wearing thin.
A pale hand reached out, calloused from years spent curled around a lacrosse stick, as blue eyes softened with something like understanding.
“C’mere, Theo.”
And, like a moth drawn to a flame, he did.
His lips trembled at the first brush of Liam’s thumb against his cheek, and he fell to his knees in front of the couch, burying his face into the younger werewolf’s stomach with a dry sob even as gentle fingers pushed his hood away and stroked through his dark hair, pulling him closer, kissing the top of his head and murmuring hushed assurances as a surge of protectiveness thrummed through the pulse of blood in his veins.
“I’m sorry.” A choked gasp. “I’m so sorry, I’m -“
“Shh. Theo. Theo. Hey.” A hand, under his chin, lifting it up until Liam could search red-rimmed hazel eyes, the pad of his other thumb rubbing soothing circles into the nape of his neck. “The car wasn’t your fault. None of this is your fault.”
“But -“
“But, nothing,” he stated firmly. “It was my choice to take the hit in your place, and I don’t regret it.“
A low, painful noise, and Theo shuddered, clawed fingers reaching up to hold onto Liam like a lifeline as his eyelids fell shut and his head dropped heavy onto his chest.
“I’m not -“ His voice cracked. Trembled. “You don’t understand. Liam, I had to set your bones before they healed wrong. I had to hold your skull in place. You were - you were so broken you couldn’t even scream.” Another horrible sob, tears soaking the thin fabric of the young werewolf’s shirt, and Liam held him a little tighter, unsure of what else to do but reassure him of his presence. “I hurt you.”
“Theo.” It was soft, hushed with concern. “You did it to keep me alive. You didn’t do it out of malice.”
A full-body shiver, and Theo curled further into Liam’s embrace, his chest rising and falling in shallow heaves even as the young werewolf continued to rub tiny, soothing circles into the nape of his neck with his knuckles.
“What if I had?” he rasped out, tremulous. “I could… I could hurt you so easily.”
Oh. Oh.
“That’s why you won’t let us help you.” The realization made his heart clench in his chest. “It isn’t that you don’t trust us. It’s that you don’t trust yourself.”
“I can’t.” Liam could hear the panic in his voice, the uptick in his heartbeat, the exhales of breath through his nose. “I - I don’t know how.”
“Hey. Baby.” He tapped at Theo’s jawbone, guiding him into looking up, into the weight of his serious gaze. His tongue darted out to dampen his lips, and he chose his next words carefully, wiping away the wetness that stained his chimera’s cheeks with a few gentle touches. “Until you learn to trust yourself, trust me. I know you, and I trust you.” The tip of his nose nudged at Theo’s, their foreheads resting together, sharing space, sharing breath. “You don’t have to do everything alone, okay?” Quieter, he added, with a small smile, “You’ve taken care of me, now let me take care of you.”
It would be hard for him; the instincts created by a decade of having to use his own claws and teeth to survive wouldn’t just disappear overnight. A part of Liam suspected they never would, not fully, that Theo would always have remnants of the wild in him, would always be the coyote ready to fight for scraps and the wolf stalking through the shadows.
That was okay, Liam was a little wild, too.
A shaky exhale against his mouth.
Theo’s hands tangled with his, tight, gripping onto him like a rope hurled over the edge of a cliff.
“Okay.” Dark lashes fluttered shut, and he swallowed, his throat bobbing with the force of the movement. “But - I can’t- I don’t think I can be away from you. Not like this. Not when -“ His voice hitched, and his fingers flexed around Liam’s, as if in subconscious reassurance of his presence.
“You’re a dumbass.” The younger werewolf grinned, a little crooked, a little fond. “Did you think I was just going to banish you to the guest room? Someone has to make sure I don’t fall off the bed and re-break my legs.”
Something softened the terse edges of Theo’s features, but Liam didn’t think he truly relaxed, truly let the rest of his tension melt away, until they were curled up in Liam’s bed, Theo in only a pair of borrowed sweats, Liam’s head of messy raven hair tucked under his chin, limbs attached to his favorite chimera not unlike those of an octopus as he fast approached the realm of sleep, surrounded by warmth and safety and Theo, content and sleepy Theo, his scent sweet and his heartbeat slow.
“Sleep well, baby wolf.” The soft, raspy murmur vibrated against his cheek where it pressed against the base of his throat.
“G’night.” A yawn, and a little nuzzle into his collarbone. “Love you.”
Liam was finally lulled to sleep by the pulse beating in time with his, the gentle pressure of a kiss to the top of his head, and the echo of a quiet, affectionate, I love you, too.
~
“C’mon, Theo, hurry up,” Liam complained, tugging at the older chimera’s sleeve while he rocked back on his newly un-casted foot, practically vibrating with all the energy he’d been bottling up over his week of bed rest. “All the good food is going to be gone by the time we get there.”
“Jesus Christ, Liam, it’s been thirty seconds since I parked the car,” Theo groaned aloud, but he let himself be bodily dragged out of the driver’s seat, fumbling to unplug his phone from the charger with the hand not captured in Liam’s grip.
“Exactly. Have you seen Alec when he gets his hands on Melissa’s sausage rolls? We have two minutes, maximum.”
For their monthly special pack gathering, the pack had planned a picnic at a park across town, which coincidentally happened to be scheduled on the day Liam finally got his cast off and was given a clean bill of health, so he was more than a little impatient to get going as Theo grabbed the containers of double-chocolate-chip brownies from the backseat - made by the chimera in question, over the course of the morning - and tucked them under one arm, allowing himself to be drawn along behind Liam like a tethered balloon with only a few complaints (“Liam, I swear to god, I spent way too fucking long baking these, if you make me trip -“).
Contrary to Liam’s statements, the food had not been inhaled by the time they arrived, the rows of dishes spread over two picnic tables guarded by one Melissa McCall, who greeted both boys with a hug and observed Theo set down his addition to the spread with raised brows.
“Oh, my, Theo, you’ve outdone yourself. Chocolate chip brownies? Am I allowed to preregister for the leftovers?” Her affectionate teasing had the young man ducking his head, shy, but he matched her smile with a small one of his own, sweet and genuine. Those smiles were becoming less of a rarity, now that he had proper meals and warm clothes and a real bed - his or Liam’s - and Liam couldn’t help but always beam at the sight, delighted to see Theo comfortable enough to let down his stone-cold mask.
“Did someone say chocolate chip brownies?” Alec yelled from his place tossing a football across the grass field between Brett and Nolan. “I want one.”
“Ah, not until everyone’s here, we talked about this,” Melissa called back with a playful wag of her finger.
Liam spent the time it took for the rest of the pack to arrive basking in his newfound freedom by starting a game of modified football and proceeding to tackle Brett to the ground. The satisfying ache of his muscles as he darted away from the fist sent in his direction with a laugh was exhilarating, shoes skidding over the grass, the mid-afternoon sun warming his skin and illuminating the bright shine of life in his blue eyes.
Unfortunately, he did have to slow down once more pack members arrived and joined in the game, but that didn’t stop him from the glee of giving Stiles a heart attack by barreling toward the shrieking human at full speed before swerving and body-slamming into Brett - again, because he couldn’t do it when he was fourteen, and he was taking advantage of the opportunity for some long-awaited revenge.
“What the fuck is wrong with you. You were crippled, like, half a week ago.” A groan, from the blonde-haired born werewolf’s place flat on the grass, covering his face with his hands.
“Sucks to suck, loser,” Liam replied with a cheery grin.
Brett kicked his shin, to which Liam retaliated by stepping on his ankle, and it would have devolved into a full-blown wrestling match had the shout of, “Liam Eugene Dunbar!” not echoed over the field, Lydia’s voice fond but firm from her place over by the picnic tables, making him jump. “Don’t you dare. Get your ass over here and sit down before you break any more bones.”
Liam pouted, ready to protest, but Theo let out a murmur of his name and reached out a beckoning hand from where he sat on one of the picnic benches, green eyes twinkling with his quiet, C’mere, baby wolf, and he couldn’t possibly deny Theo anything, so he faked a put-upon sigh abandoned the game and traipsed over to him, ignoring the outstretched hand in favor of wrapping his arms around the chimera’s torso and nuzzling into his soft hair.
“Don’t think I don’t know your evil tricks,” the young werewolf grumbled out, feeling Theo smile against his neck. “You’re manipulating me into not playing football.”
A pleased hum, and a deceptively innocent, “Is it working?”
Liam, in response, fitted his palm around the back of the chimera’s head and pulled him into a kiss.
He’d learned, over the course of the few days since Theo moved in with him, that as much as he liked to tote himself around as cocky and arrogant, Theo practically melted whenever Liam smothered him in affection, unused to being treated with such care, his mouth pliant and warm as his fingers curled into the fabric of the young beta wolf’s shirt, holding him close.
He would have been perfectly happy to deepen it further, caught up in the sweetening layers of his chimera’s scent, had the sound of someone choking not interrupted them, and had Theo not put a hand on his chest to push him away with a bemused, “Liam, I think your alpha is dying.”
True to his word, Scott was wheezing at the other end of the table, staring at the pair of them with bulging eyes as he coughed into his elbow in an attempt to clear out his airway.
“You - but - when?” He waved his hand at the two of them, so desperately confused and a little afraid that it made Mason snort from his place next to him. “How long has this been going on?”
“Dude, this has been going on since Liam brought Theo back,” Mason responded, completely unperturbed. “If you didn’t notice their constant heart eyes, that’s on you.”
“I mean, it definitely explains how I managed to bribe Theo into making us brownies on such short notice.” Liam’s blue eyes glittered with something mischievous as he rested his chin atop the young man in question’s head, ignoring Theo’s embarrassed hiss of, “Liam,” from beneath him. His cheeks flushed an adorable pink, which only served to remind Liam of the very specific form of bribery he’d used, involving his hands gripping strong, flexing thighs, his mouth dragging over blushing skin, Theo’s red, red lips parting around high, helpless gasps as his fingers tugged at locks of raven hair -
“See, heart eyes, what did I tell you?” Liam’s best friend sounded bemused.
“Don’t start on heart eyes with me, Hewitt, we’re the ones who have to deal with you and Corey turning every pack outing into a personal date,” Theo shot back, green eyes narrowing.
“Yeah.” Liam, petulantly, stuck his tongue out at Mason, still attached to Theo with no intention of moving.
“You’re not helping, Liam.”
“I’m totally helping. I’m reaffirming your statement.”
“Wow, that’s a big word, baby wolf, did you finally decide to start reading books without pictures in them?”
The offended exclamation he got in response just made Theo laugh, which quickly turned into a yelp when Liam decided to pull him off the bench, the two of them ending up in a pile on the ground engaged in a short-lived wrestling contest that lasted until Liam started peppering ticklish kisses all over Theo’s cheeks and neck, unable to stop from grinning as he pinned the chimera beneath him in spite of his halfhearted grumbles about cheaters and overly affectionate baby werewolves.
“Okay, okay, fine, I yield, you win.” The softness of his smile ruined any facade of irritation he might have managed to put up. “Happy, now?”
Liam gazed down at him. Observed the healthy flush in his cheeks, the light in his eyes, the ease with which the tension relaxed from his muscles, as the laughter and chatter of their pack echoed in the background.
“Yeah,” he admitted, his grin melting into a matching smile. “I am.”