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1. The One where Brett Royally Pisses Liam Off [Because Brett Teases Liam about Theo]
Liam has IED and he’s a werewolf. Which is so not conducive to being a senior in high school who is captain of the lacrosse team. Luckily for him though, there exists these thing called anchors. Anchors are people or objects that help bring the human side of the werewolf back without needing the physical harm of clenching their nails into their skin so deep their healing powers almost don’t work on the puncture wounds.Liam’s anchor used to be Hayden, but once she left, it’s like his connection to her did as well. Suddenly he wasn’t missing her as much as he used to and she wasn’t his first and last thought everyday. Suddenly that position was given to someone else.Theo—used-to-be-evil Theo— was suddenly the one who held that honour in Liam’s books. Not everyone in the pack was okay with that, they still aren’t actually. But the one person whose opinion does matter in Liam’s eyes, approves. So if Scott can forgive and move past, then eventually the rest of the pack will too. Except maybe Stiles, he is a lot harder to impress once you’ve been in his bad graces.But Theo has taken his job as Liam’s anchor in stride. He’s always there for him, even when Liam isn’t always there for him back. Like the time Liam found out Theo had been sleeping in his truck the entire time he’d been back from hell. Instead of bringing Theo with him, he just ran off to get permission from his mother for Theo to stay with them. But Theo mistook that as his way of not caring and tried to run off. Liam had only just gotten back in time to stop his anchor from leaving with a few minutes to spare.Liam’s anger really has seen improvement since Theo moved in with the Dunbar-Geyers.Sleeping with his anchor usually does the trick for Liam to keep his IED outbursts under control, and no, not sleeping together, just sleeping. No funny business. Though the more the ex-evil chimera blushes whenever Liam teases him, the more Liam wishes some funny business were to happen.However, this particular day, Theo was stuck in detention for making a snarky comment towards Coach Finnstock. Coach snapped that if he kept up with his comments, he’d land in a week’s worth of detention because it was only a Monday and Coach wasn’t having any of Theo’s sass, especially from a student who wasn’t a lacrosse player. So of course, Theo just had to snip back that he may not be on a sports team, but he was the Biology Club’s President, in the National Honour Society, and on track to being valedictorian, despite being held back a year (but only if he beats out Mason, because their best friend is also freaky smart).So Theo is in detention when the scrimmage with Devenford Prep is starting and Brett fricken Talbot starts pushing Liam’s buttons.It starts when he intentionally trips Liam with his stick. A smirk on his face as he sweetly (almost with a saccharine oozing tone) tells Liam. “Sorry. It slipped.”Yeah. Slipped my ass, Liam thinks. He just grumbles instead, but ultimately let’s it go. It’s only been five minutes in the game. He can do this. He doesn’t need Theo for every little problem with his anger that he has.The third time that the stick slips is when the first growl escapes. Teeth baring and mouth snarling, Liam has to be pulled away to the side by both Nolan and Corey— more so the latter than the human.A few deep breaths later and he’s back to playing normally in his usual position.“Well, well, well. Welcome back, Dumbbar. Where’s your little pet? Theo, I believe his name is. He’s pretty hot.” Brett teases, smirk wider than normal. It’s almost as if he knows he’s playing with fire.Blue eyes turn gold, teeth sharpen into a wolf-like snarl, fingernails dig into broken skin to keep himself human. He can do this. He doesn’t need Theo for everything.“I’d love to see what damage my nails could do as he writhes under me, moaning my name. Maybe he’d like that too… oof.”Liam leaps from his spot and is tackling the “douchebag” to the ground faster than Brett could even finish his thoughts. Liam starts throwing punches like he would at the dummies from anger management. Liam has had enough of Brett’s trash talking and foul playing. He doesn’t even care that the coaches are yelling at them and their teammates are trying to pull him away from the bastard. He can’t stop though, Brett took it way too far when he started to talk about Theo. Trip and tease Liam all he wants, fine, but the thought of Theo actually dating a douchebag and doing things with the likes of Brett sent Liam broiling over the edge.Suddenly, just as Liam’s bruised and bloodied fist was about to come down again on Brett’s equally bruised and bloodied face, a soft hand plucks Liam’s fist back and strokes soothingly over his knuckles. Theo really knows how to assuage Liam’s anger because suddenly Liam is no longer sitting on Brett, instead he’s wrapped up in the chimera’s arms. Soft sobs rack through Liam’s body and he can already feel the cuts healing so he knows Brett will be fine too. Theo just rocks him back and forth in his arms, making shushing noises and cradling Liam’s head in his chest.The coaches cancel the rest of the scrimmage and gave Liam a two day suspension. Brett is clearly loving all the attention this fiasco is getting him. Loving the attention a certain ex-hunter is giving him as he checks over Brett’s face for any lasting damages.Eventually, once everyone is finally gone from the field. Theo persuades Liam to stand. “Come on, Little Wolf. Let’s go home.” He holds out his hand for Liam to take again, which of course Liam does so.When they get back to the Dunbar-Geyer household, Jenna’s eyes widen at the sight of her bloodied son. It’s Theo who gently shakes his head to warn her not to ask right at that moment. He gently steers the distraught Liam to his own bedroom and then helps him strip. Liam manages to put his own pyjamas on, but when he goes to crawl in bed, Theo starts moving toward the door.“No,” Liam whines out as he grabs the older boy’s hand again, almost wincing at how pathetic he sounds to his own ears. “Please stay.”“I wasn’t leaving, Little Wolf. I was just going to go put on my own PJs.” He gives Liam’s hand a squeeze. “Okay?”Liam nods and of course Theo is true to his word. He hasn’t lied since the whole Dread Doctor scenario. In fact, since coming back from Hell, Theo is almost like a new person. Like the person Liam fell in like with, instead of a charming persona to fool everyone.Theo climbs into the full sized bed and although the bed had plenty of room for them to sleep in their own space, he gravitated towards Liam, snuggling into his chest and closing his eyes. The closer he was, the calmer Liam was. That was the sad truth because Liam really didn’t want to need him, but he did. Theo was his anchor, his ties to humanity. He was the only one who could keep him in line. He was also the only one that Liam has fallen hard for.Hayden was a fleeting love, burning hot and quick like a supernova explosion. But Theo… Liam loved Theo like he needed the sun to stay warm. Or oxygen to breathe. Liam needed Theo to stay his anchor though so he’d never act on any of his feelings. His friendship was too important to risk over some strong feelings of love.Now in the quiet of Theo’s steady breathing, Liam has the courage to quietly mutter, “I love you.”His proclamation in a timbre only slightly louder than a whisper thanks to his supernatural abilities but poor Theo is fast asleep and cannot hear him say it anyways. And it’ll stay that way for as long as he can keep it that way, Liam thinks to himself as he too drifts off to sleep.
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2. The One where Stiles Grates Liam’s Every Last Nerve [Because Stiles sneers at Theo]Pack meetings were always kind of awkward whenever the older members were back from college on break, or whatever.The puppy pack had been doing fine on their own, meetings once a week on Saturdays. Their meetings consisted of forming a circle and debriefing their section of patrol that each had been given. Then immediately following the formality of it all, they would pile up in a cuddle fest and watch two movies that the two weekly designated pack members would pick. Usually without fail Theo would choose anything with a horror aspect, Lori liked musicals, Brent went for action, Nolan would pick a rom-com, Mason liked sci-fi, Corey consistently chose comedies, and Liam would recycle 80’s movies like they were going out of style. Nobody complained about choices as long as they weren’t skipped over. Pack nights were familiar. Pack nights were for them to enjoy each other’s company without the stress of school and to decompress from the staggering problems discussed during meetings.But with a recent incident involving a new magical creature that maims and eats its victims until they have become unrecognisable and with none of the puppy pack able to figure it out, the rest of the pack was called in, albeit reluctantly, to help.Stiles was the first of the OG pack to arrive and the first thing they were ordered to do was to hit the books so they could research as much as possible because— as Stiles pointed out— “This creature has to be written down somewhere. It couldn’t just be new, folklores were out there for a reason, you know?”“You think we didn’t try that?” Liam had questioned, feeling as if the OG pack really thought they were incapable of figuring this out on their own. Liam tried holding in his anger, he did his 4-7-8 breathing technique, but it wasn’t until Theo came to stand by and grab hold of his hand that Liam was able to calm down and not bite Stiles’ head clean off his lithe body.So hit the books they did. It payed off in a way because in the end, Lydia found a creature that matched their descriptions perfectly, to a T.“It’s called a Arabian ghoul, that takes on the form of a hyena-like creature,” she read out loud to everyone. “They feed on the flesh of the dead, just like you said, by luring their victims to someplace abandoned and killing them. Then they take the form of the body they partake on, but tend to stay in their hyena form. This means they could be anyone right now.”Scott’s brows furrowed as he thought about the creature. “So how do we tell when a person is a ghoul?”“Well they only eat human flesh and if they go too long without it, they become less human. That’s all the folklore really says on it.”“And how do we stop it?” Liam asked, curious now.“Decapitation.” Lydia responded without missing a beat.So one decapitated ghoul later, the entire pack— Puppy and OG alike— were in Liam’s living room, trying to debrief and wrap their heads around what just happened that night. What did happen was everybody paired up and went looking for the ghoul. Lucky for Liam, he of course got mad at Theo at one point and went off on his own. This is how the ghoul found him. Yeah, not the other way like everyone had planned, but it worked nonetheless. So Liam was by himself in an empty alleyway and then all of a sudden, he wasn’t alone anymore. Suddenly, Mr. Beauregard was in front of him asking if he was alright, if he was by himself, and if he needed a ride home. Liam decline gently, thanking his French teacher for the offer, but saying he was waiting for Theo to come back and he’d give him a ride. The French teacher grew a lewd smile on his face and started ranting that he hadn’t had werewolf in such a long time and it was so lucky that he ran into Liam the way he did. Great.Liam had stuttered out a question of what Mr. Beauregard was even talking about when it hit him that this was the ghoul and Mr. Beauregard must have been one of the earlier victims. Great, just friggin’ fantastic, Liam thought. And as Mr. not-Beauregard enclosed Liam into the dead end of the alleyway, Liam suddenly let out a warning howl and hoped to God that the rest of the pack heard him.Whilst the rest of the pack did feel his distress in the pack bond, only Theo heard Liam’s cries and rushed to where he left the younger boy. Coming back to the alley, he stopped dead in his tracks as he sees Mr. Beauregard, the school’s French teacher, cornering Liam with a malicious grin on his face. Theo lets out a roar of his own to warn that he was not playing around when it came to Liam’s wellbeing before he rushed to Liam’s aid. With one swipe of a clawed hand, he had scratched Mr. Beauregard on his back, blood seeping through his stupid button down shirt. Mr. Beauregard just laughed with glee and leered at the two boys, “Oh joy, looks like I’m going to have an absolute feast tonight. Two werewolves, what a treat.”However, Liam was now scratching at the ghoul— Mr. Beauregard, Theo guessed— to bring his attention back towards him. This gave Theo time to remember that he had thrown the machete to lie behind a dumpster in his angry haste to leave Liam by himself. Theo ducked an incoming blow and rolled towards the discarded machete, picking it up and running back to the action. Without even a moment’s hesitation, Theo swung and Mr. Beauregard’s head rolled left away from both he and Liam with a sickening swish sound. Blood splatter on both boys as they blinked at one another owlishly, letting the events sync in.Thus leading them to where they are now, in Liam’s living room discussing what happened with the rest of the pack. Stiles was quick to snort when Liam called Theo’s actions heroic.“What?” Liam asked, “Theo was really brave.”“I’m sure he was, but is it really bravery if he’s just executing his murderistic tendencies for the greater good?” Stiles wondered aloud.Liam growled, but Theo held a hand on the boy’s shoulder to keep him calm. Theo then looked to Stiles as he said, “I didn’t want to do it, but that is the only way to stop the ghoul and he was going to kill Liam and myself if I hadn’t decapitated him.”Stiles rolled his amber eyes. “Shut up, Theo, I never asked you. What are you even doing here, Theo? Nobody wants you here—”“Stiles.” Derek cut his boyfriend off before he could do anymore damage.“Shh, Derek, it’s fine. I’ve got this.” Stiles flailed his lanky arms around. “Theo, here, doesn’t feel anything… because he’s a sociopath. He can’t feel real emotions, which is why he was okay with just killing Liam’s French teacher.”Theo’s whiskey brown eyes filled with unshed tears as he let Stiles’ words sync in and he took a shaky breath, ready to defend himself.“That’s enough,” Liam snarled instead, eyes flaring gold and teeth baring sharp, pointy canines. “Theo does have feelings and I want him here. I will always want him here.”Theo’s sharp intake of breath came as a surprise to Liam. Did he not know how much he’s cared for? Liam would lay down his life if Theo were to need him to.Mason stood up from his perch on the couch, “I want Theo here, he’s a friend, he’s family… he’s pack. And I will not stand for you treating him in this manner of cruelness.”Scott let a small smile peak on his face before it was a stony, neutral look again, “Anyone else feel the same as Mason and Liam? Stand up now?”Theo didn’t expect many to stand, but the entire puppy pack stood and to his mighty surprise, Scott, Lydia, Malia, Jackson, Ethan, Parrish, the sheriff, Mrs. McCall, Cora, and Derek stood up as well. Everyone but Stiles had taken a stand for Theo.The tears finally ran down Theo’s cheeks quickly as he felt the love he felt he had always been missing out on. The loyalty of pack, something steadfast that will not be broken over time because pack… well, pack is forever.“Stiles will never trust me again. Even with the support of the rest of the pack, I may never regain his trust. But I don’t need his as long as you never lose faith in me.” He announced to everyone in the room. Then he turned to Stiles with a small smile on his tear-stained face, “That doesn’t mean that I will never stop trying to make it up to you, though.”Stiles, for his part, at least looked partly guilty and with a shaky breath of his own, “I still don’t trust you, you’re right about that, but I will try for everyone’s sake and that will just have to be enough for now.”A small smile graced his tear-stained face. “That’s all I could ever ask for, Stiles.”...That night when Liam crawled into his bed, they faced one another, foreheads touching in an aspect of affection. Theo’s soft snores were echoing around the room and Liam smiled at the sight of a peaceful Theo. A Theo without a care in the world was the most beautiful Theo he had ever seen.Before the darkness could completely take over, Liam whispered out, “I’m proud of you, Theo. I love you.”
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3. The One where Mason Gets Real [And Discusses Liam’s Feelings for a Certain Chimera]Liam and Mason. Mason and Liam. They’ve been thick as thieves since their toddler, diaper-wearing days. Liam was the first person Mason told when he knew for sure that he was into guys and only guys in the sixth grade. Liam had laughed and said, “Well good, more girls for me.”
They were the best of friends.
Liam was there for Mason when he came out to his parents. Although, that was kind of a moot point since his father just chuckled and his mother had a twinkle in her eyes as she smirked, “Sweetie, we know. You don’t just have those full body Justin Timberlake posters up because you enjoy his music. Liam will you be staying for dinner?”That night, Mason’s parents had told him how proud they were of him for coming out and how proud they were of Liam for sticking by his boyfriend’s side. The laughs the two boys had at that thought were just never-ending. Mason’s parents rolled their eyes and said it was an honest mistake as Liam was always over and because Liam was there to support him coming out. But Mason told them that Liam was like a brother, Liam agreed that Mason would always be his brother.
They were. Brothers, that is.
Mason was there in the seventh grade when Liam had gotten into a fight with an older kid and went to take a swing, but accidentally punched Hayden Romero on picture day and she punched him back in retaliation. They both had a broken nose (and suspension for three days), but Liam got the extra bonus of a black eye as comeuppance for his poor management of his anger.
They might not be biologically related, but they were always there for one another.
Mason was also there the day Liam got his IED diagnosis in the ninth grade after he had one too many fights in school over basically nothing. His mother cried and David just held her as she shook with sobs that her baby would have such a difficult life. Mason just squeezed his hand and said, “You’re still you, you’re still Liam, my best friend.”
And would always going to be there for one another.
Mason stuck around after Liam turned into a furry, short-tempered werewolf and kept him in the dark about for months, even when his own safety could’ve been jeopardised. When Liam did tell him, Mason took it in stride, “So does this mean you’re going to rub your butt all on my carpet? Because if so, we’ll have to housetrain you.”
They wouldn’t ever abandon one another, even if one is trying to push the other away.
Mason was there for Liam when he was super agitated that Hayden left him and his heart was left shattered in pieces. Mason was there for him when Liam told him of the realisation that somehow Theo had become his new anchor. Theo, the ex-evil, murdering, conniving chimera. Mason just shrugged and said, “He’s not so bad now that he’s come back from Hell. I can see why he’d be your anchor. You two fight a lot, sure, but you’re good for one another. You keep each other in line. Your mutually good for one another.”
They may fight, but they’ll always make up one way or another.
The day Mason and he have a huge fight, was pretty similar to others. It was a Monday morning in the late October of their senior year. School had just started. Homeroom was a good twenty minutes for the student of Beacon Hills High to just catch up on their sleep a bit, goof around before serious classes started, or to catch up on gossip. Luckily, Mason and he shared the same homeroom. None of the other puppies of the pack were in this room.This morning in particular was already not a great starting day. Liam and Theo had slept separately and although Liam heard Theo having a nightmare, Theo’s bedroom door was locked so he couldn’t comfort the chimera. Liam couldn’t sleep a wink hearing Theo tossing and turning and crying out for Tara to take his heart. Liam’s own heart broke each time Theo mumbled that Tara could have it.Mason turned to Liam with an annoyed facial expression as he snapped, “Enough. Liam. Enough is enough. You’re in love with Theo. I know it. The pack knows it. We all know it. Hell, the only one who doesn’t know it is Theo, himself. But it’s time you tell him.”“Mason,” Liam growled with warning, “Leave me alone about this. I’ll tell him when I’m ready.”“When Liam? When will you be ready? Because you two almost died when the ghost riders came. You almost died when the town turned on you just because you were different. And yet, you still haven’t told one another how you feel. You could die and he’ll never know how you felt.”“Mason, enough! They’re my feelings, so I’ll tell him when I’m ready! When I’m ready, not when you’re ready for me to tell him.” He huffs loudly and realises the entire homeroom is watching him curiously with prying eyes.Wanting to get out of the spotlight, he stands up, chair scraping obnoxiously against the linoleum floor. He doesn’t even feel bad for leaving Mason by himself. He brought it on himself.Upset, he walks straight out the front doors and starts his long, thoughtful journey home. One hour later, he’s slamming shut the front door to his house and climbing the bedroom stairs rapidly. He knows that Mason is right. It’s not healthy keeping his feelings from Theo, but he’s just too afraid of losing his friendship with Theo that it keeps the words stuck on the tip of his tongue each time the beautiful chimera is around. Keeping his friendship is more important than these feelings he has. Even if it means the rest of his feelings eat at him.Liam lets a few tears escape him as he thinks of his life and how he may never tell the older boy that he cares for him in a romantic way.His pacing didn’t help because he was still seething at the thought that his best friend of over 17 years was pushing him into something he wasn’t ready to do. He wasn’t ready for the fallout if things went south when he told Theo. He wasn’t ready for the good if things didn’t go south. Liam was afraid. Simple as that.No amount pushing from his human best friend would convince him otherwise. He was not telling Theo how he felt because he wasn’t ready for the change.“Can you quit pacing? Jenna said you’re creating a draft,” speak of the handsome devil. Theo had a soft smirk, an almost fond smile, on his face and his eyes were dancing in mirth.Liam automatically sat down on the bed.“Ooh, you didn’t even put up a fight, this must be serious. What’s going on?” Theo quickly made his own spot.“I don’t want to talk about it right now.” Is Liam’s terse, panicked reply.“Well, okay then, Mr. Snippy. Sorry I asked. Are you okay though?”Liam looked up now and breathed out a quick, “I’m okay. It’s nothing bad. I’m just working through some of my own shit right now and Mason won’t leave me alone about it.”A comfortable silence enveloped the two boys and then suddenly, Theo was kicking off his shoes and laying back on the bed, arms behind his head. His foot nudged Liam in a silent invitation.Liam lays back and allows Theo to pull him on top of him. Liam’s chin rests on Theo’s right pec and the top of his head is nuzzled perfectly in the nook of Theo’s neck. Soon enough, the two boys are drifting off to sleep. Theo first with a light snore to his breathing.Liam gets a text message. It’s from Mason, of course.
From: Brother from Another Mother
To: The Fast and the Furriest
I’m sorry, I know you’ll be ready in your own time. 💕
Liam thinks about how he wants to respond. Does he forgive him so easily? The answer is yes, Mason would never intentionally push Liam into something he didn’t want to do. He was only doing it because he wanted Liam to be happy like Mason was with Corey. So with his mind made up, Liam texted back.
To: Brother from Another Mother
From: The Fast and the Furriest
It’s alright, bro. No harm, no foul. Just please don’t push me into it again. I will tell him on my own eventually.
Liam smiles, content now that he and Mason had made up in their own way.He looks down at the resting octopus, currently tangled all around him. Their legs were tangled together and Theo had his right arm tucked under and around Liam’s torso, the left arm was just resting gently on Liam’s upper chest. The older boy’s face was buried in Liam’s neck and he was lightly snoring again.“I love you.” He breathes out softly.Liam looks up at the sleeping boy and almost groans. Why can’t he just tell the boy when he’s awake?For now though, he just snuggles deeper into the chimera’s neck and allows the darkness that accompanies sleep to wash over him like an ocean tidal wave.
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# 4. The One where Theo pisses and calms Liam down All at the Same Fucking Time [Because of Brett again, too]
Theo Raeken is the only member of the pack with the inevitable ability to both piss Liam off and calm him down at the same time.Case in point. At this current moment’s time, he’s flirting with Brett, of all people. The guy who literally makes fun of Liam for no reason. He’s laughing— no, giggling, of all things! Absolutely absurd… how could he do this to Liam? Theo knows that Brett is the bain of Liam’s very existence.Liam already punched Brett once for making lewd comments about Theo and now Theo’s gone to flirt with the menace, not even two days later. Granted, Theo didn’t know what Brett said, but still. The point is still a valid one.As if feeling the daggers that Liam’s oceanic eyes were throwing at them both, Theo turned towards Liam and as if things couldn’t get any worse, Theo’s smile widens and he beckons Liam over to them. Arm’s crossed and eyes narrowed, Liam shakes his head defiantly, feeling a little victorious over Theo rolling his eyes.An annoyed huff escapes Theo’s infuriating lips and suddenly he’s in front of Liam. “Little Wolf, come here for a minute.”Crossing his arms like a petulant child, Liam’s nose crinkles in disdain and he sneers, “I’m not going anywhere if it means going near Brett.”Theo has curiosity shining in his bright brown eyes. “What? What did Brett do now?”Liam just rolled his eyes. “What hasn’t he done? But anyways, he knows what he did. And I’m not going over there until he apologises to me.”“Not even if I told you that Brett scored us tickets to Dying Ivories?”Curses, Liam thinks, Theo’s using this against me because he knows I love that band. Hell, Theo loves that band just as much, if not more.“Fine, but I’m only going over there because of Dying Ivories. Capeesh?”“Duly noted.” But the smirk on Theo’s smug, handsome face tells Liam that he’s gonna be hearing about this moment for the rest of his long, werewolf life.When Liam and Theo make their way back over to Brett, Liam can’t help but laugh with satisfaction. Brett’s nose still has a bandage and a healing bruise around it. Apparently, werewolf strength used against another werewolf could take longer to heal if hit hard enough. Who knew?Liam is smirking, Brett is glaring, and Theo is just looking between the two with a look that just tiredly says what did you two fight about this time? Theo is the first to break the tension, clearing his throat so as not to disturb the awkwardness further.“Okay, enough with all the testosterone contests between you two. Brett, as you were saying, you had tickets to Dying Ivories for this Friday?” Theo is in between the two glaring boys and clearly, it’s a good idea as Brett is acting just like a petulant child too.“I don’t know if I should give you the tickets anymore.” Brett’s arms are crossed and he looks like he’s just sucked on a lemon as he glares viciously at Liam.“What? Why?!” Theo cries out.“Liam knows why. Ask him. Maybe I’ll reconsider when I get an apology.” Then Brett walks away without another word.Theo turns to Liam with a glare of his own. “Now just what happened between you two. Now I absolutely have to know, since you know, it’s gotten in the way of us going to see our favourite band!”Liam growls, “Nothing important happened. Brett said something and I punched him. End of story.”“That’s nothing important? Wow, I’d hate to see what would happen if you fought over something actually important. Just suck it up and apologise to the brat. Please?”“I can’t,” Liam bites out, gritting his teeth in anger. “It goes against my principles to apologise to asswipes who absolutely deserved everything they had coming to them.”Theo throws his hands up as if he’s giving up on everything. “Well, your principles are standing in the way of us going to see Dying Ivories! What did you guys fight about? Maybe I can still fix this and convince him to give me the tickets.”“I can’t tell you.” Liam refused to tell Theo what actually was fought about.Theo’s face flashed with hurt, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. “Why not? I’m your best friend? Well, second to Mason, of course.”“You are my best friend. I’d tell you anything. Anything, but this.”“C’mon, just tell me what you guys were arguing over and I’ll smooth things over with Brett for you. You won’t have to do a thing, you won’t even have to face him again.”“It was nothing. He just said something crude and I got angry over it.” Liam tried to brush it off like it didn’t matter. Of course it mattered though. Liam was firm on his belief that he’d never apologise for defending his friend.“Well what was it? I’m not going to stop asking until you tell me because if you’d only just tell me—”Liam interrupted Theo quickly. “It was you, alright?”Theo was confused now. “What was?”“Brett said something about you and I got pissed, okay? So I hit him.” Then Liam smirked, “Multiple times.”Theo is silent for a minute and then… thwack. Theo’s hand has connected with the side of Liam’s blonde head.“Ow!” Liam cries indignantly, dramatically holding his head in the spot Theo hit.“You idiot! Just go and apologise to Brett. I don’t care what he says about me, just apologise so we can go see the concert together!” Theo’s pacing was going to create a hole in the ground if he didn’t stop soon.“Excuse me for defending you. Brett was saying some really lewd things about you and I put a stop to it.” Liam crossed his arms again, feeling like a child being lectured for doing the right thing.Theo quit pacing and his face softened. “Li, it’s sweet that you think I need defending, but the truth is, I don’t. What I do need is to go see my favourite band with my best friend who shares the same interest. If you really want to be my knight in shining armour, you could suck it up and apologise to Brett so we,” Theo points back and forth between the two of them, “can enjoy Dying Ivories together. Understand?”Liam is looking at Theo like he just kicked his puppy. “Are you kidding me? I defended you for nothing then?! No! I refuse to apologise to Brett. We’ll just have to get tickets some other way.”Theo pinched the bridge of his nose, breathed deeply in and out, then released his nose. “Liam, these weren’t just tickets… they were backstage passes too. Please, please, please?”Sighing because he knew he’d lose this fight, especially when Theo gave Liam those very pretty puppy dog eyes. Liam walked over to where Brett was talking with some of his own lacrosse teammates. Liam approached slowly from behind and then sighing again, he took his own deep breath before he tapped Brett on the shoulder.Brett turned around smiling, but dropped the smile once he realised who was there. “And what do you want?”Liam took another deep breath. “I came to apologise. I shouldn’t have hit you like that.”“Attacked. Say it again, but with the word attacked instead. Aaaand from the top, go.” Brett smirked.Liam gritted his teeth and almost bit his tongue off as he bit back was he really wanted to say. “I’m sorry I attacked you. It was wrong of me and I wish I could take it back. Now will you please still give Theo the concert tickets?”“Yes, I will still give that gorgeous piece of ass his tickets, don’t worry.” Brett nodded and then turned back to his friends.Liam knows he only said that to push Liam’s buttons, but it worked. Liam pulled his arm back as if he was going to punch Brett again, when someone grabbed his fist. It felt desperate and then suddenly there was warm breath on his ear.“Take it easy, Little Wolf. He’s not worth it. Let’s just get our ticket and go, okay?”Liam nods and Theo threads his fingers with Liam’s hand that was previously in the shape of a fist.In the end, it was worth it because not only did Brett follow through, but Theo was also pressed against Liam the entire night of the concert. By the time they got home, Theo was ready to pass out and Liam had to convince the chimera to change into pyjamas.Theo, of course, promptly passed out as soon as his head hit Liam’s pillow instead of doing as he was told. Liam whispered into the quiet of the night as he watched Theo’s peaceful face. “Goodnight, Theo, I love you.”
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#5. The One where Liam is Frustrated with Himself [And with his Feelings for a Certain Big Bad Chimera]Liam certainly never planned to catch feelings for a previously homicidal maniac of a boy. Admittedly Theo is a very handsome boy, so it’s easy to see why no one questioned his motives (well, except for Stiles, but he doesn’t trust anyone so…) and let Theo manipulate the pack like a bunch of Play-Doh. But the truth is he’s not like that anymore. No one knows when he grew a heart, but everyone is certainly thankful he did because he’s actually a very valuable pack member now.Now that’s not to say he left his sneaky, ambitious ways behind for good. Admittedly, though, there are quite a few times where that came in handy. He was able to see right through their newest ally, who ended up being a secret loyal Monroe follower, when no one else in the pack was any wiser. Theo had warned the pack that he wasn’t who he said he was and the pack ignored his warning, but when Monroe was able to follow their every move, they finally believed Theo. The guy tried to kill Theo for foiling his plans, but the pack was able to stop him in time before he could succeed. Theo had really understood that he was part of the pack for real after that, despite the fact that Liam had been telling him for months that he was indeed pack.But just because Theo was pack did not mean that the pack wasn’t blind to certain problems. Like the fact Theo was homeless for a good six months and no one really noticed, except Liam, who was the one to stumble upon this very fact. But Liam had made the mistake of forgetting to tell Theo that he was going to ask his mother if Theo could stay with them. He had just run off to do it and Theo thought that meant he didn’t care. Which hurt him. When Liam came back to tell him the good news, Theo was crying.That was when Liam stepped up and offered the spare in his house. He said that Jenna and David talked it over and agreed that Theo could stay with them. Of course they decided to take the misguided boy in and the rest is history.Since then, Liam and Theo have been attached at the hip like Siamese twins. More so than even Liam and Mason used to be. This happened to be a different kind of attachment than the one with Mason, though. Way different.Where Mason and he were like brothers, Liam’s feelings for Theo were… less than platonic.Although Liam didn’t notice it at first, it happened slowly. Then all at once he realised he had completely fallen head over heels for the chimera. And that was the turning point, the point of no return, he had crossed the rubicon. There would be no stuffing these feelings back in the box where they came from.When Liam even caught a hint of Theo’s tantalising, warm vanilla scent, his head would pivot towards the other boy. When Theo spoke, the rest of the world would fall away. It was like it was just the two of them in the room, even when people were actually in the room with them. Everyone else just disappeared.It hurts Liam that sometimes Theo doesn’t even see his own worth. There are days that Theo would be reclusive and pull into himself, those days Liam is sure to let him know he’s not alone anymore. Those were the days Liam got most frustrated with Theo. But more importantly, frustrated with himself for not getting the point across so that Theo would never doubt he was loved.Like today… Theo just threw himself in front of a Monroe follower who had a gun! As if he had no regard for his own life. Sure, he saved Liam from getting shot because the gun had been originally pointed at his chest. But that’s besides the point! He should not be throwing himself in front of large weapons. Especially not for Liam. It’s like he has no regard for his own life at all.Liam is just so… so mad. At the Monroe follower. At Theo. At himself.He’s so mad in fact, that he was afraid of hurting someone so he’s off on his own taking his anger out on his lacrosse stick. If he breaks this one, it will be the fifth one in the last month that he’d have to replace and his mother threatened to make him pay for it out of pocket if it happened again. But it’s not like he can control his IED, can he? Especially not as a pseudo-’roided teen werewolf. Ugh, why can’t he just be normal?He’s currently beating his stick against the ground and tearing up the grass as he did so. He’s so busy pulverising the patch of grass that he almost doesn’t notice the warm vanilla scent that appeared almost out of thin air. Almost.“Hey.” Theo is standing there on the field about six feet from where Liam stood, still slamming the stick into the earth. Theo’s got his hands in his jean pockets and he looks really good in the golden lighting of the sunset. Of course he does.Liam starts grumbling to himself about stupid pretty boys and their idiotic heroic acts.Theo’s brows furrowed and he stepped closer, grabbing the pole and stopping Liam’s bashing motions. “What did you say? I hate it when you mumble, Little Wolf.”Liam looks up at the older boy, holding his chin high. “I said, ‘those stupid chimeras and their stupid need to make up for past actions, always getting in the way of someone else’s fight.’”Theo laughed. “Okay, I know that’s definitely not what you said because that was much wordier than the incoherent mess of whatever you had originally said.”“Okay, first off, rude. Secondly, that is exactly what I had said in the first place!” Liam growled, arms crossed defensively across his chest, lacrosse stick awkwardly held in place.Theo raised his hands placatingly, “Okay, Little Wolf, I believe you.”It was silent for a beat and then, “So do you want to tell me what’s really bothering you?”“You shouldn’t have stepped in front of the gun!” Liam blew up. “Don’t you know when not to take a bullet for someone! It's called self-preservation, you should get some.”Theo kept his calm demeanor. “You’re not someone, though. You’re Liam. I can’t imagine a world where I let a bullet hit you and live guilt free.”Liam felt like he might melt a little. He felt the same, it’s why he was so mad. But he couldn’t express that without spilling his well-kept secret. He wasn’t ready for the let down of Theo not returning his feelings. Especially not right now.“Now,” Theo interrupted Liam’s thoughts, as he always seemed to do, “Can we go home?”Liam nodded and together they rode in Theo’s truck to the Dunbar-Geyer house. The first thing Liam did when he got home was shower and change into a t-shirt and boxers. He crawled under the covers on his bed and closed his eyes. He was just starting to drift off when he noticed the sound of pacing at his door.“Come in,” he croaked.The door slowly cracked open and Theo walked in, shutting the door behind him. “Hey, mind if I sleep in here with you tonight?”“No, now come on.” Liam held open the comforter so that Theo could crawl in on his normal side.Once Theo was settled, Liam pulled him closer, snuggling into the older boy. He inhaled lightly and there was that soft, warm vanilla essence and something else that he could not place that was totally Theo. He snuggled deeper into Theo’s hair. He heard Theo let out a content sigh and soon enough, light snores were echoing around the room.“I love you,” Liam breathed into the night air so quietly he was sure that even a super-hearing chimera wouldn’t catch what he said. Then loudly he gave his own content sigh and whispered, “Goodnight Theo.”
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+1. The One where Theo has a Bad Day [Hell isn’t Only a Place in Nightmares]It’s been a bad day for Theo.First, Brett just had to say something about his feelings for the little beta. He would not shut up about it. Then, as if it weren’t bad enough, Brett has to rub it in that Liam could never feel that way about him. Nolan tried to get Brett to shut up, but the comment had already done its damage.Okay, Brett didn’t exactly say that, but he implied it. Theo knows he did.Then, Theo bombed a quiz in biology because he had been up all night worrying about Liam, who had landed himself a visit to the hospital from their latest big bad villain of the week. The hospital! Where Theo’s hell resided.Liam’s back home and not at school for the day, recovering well, if what Dr. Geyer said is true that he would heal up within a day.But Theo’s mind couldn’t help but be swarmed with worry over his Little Wolf. It was like this all day.Finally, when school is let out and all Theo wants is to go back home and check on Liam, he can’t because the pack called an emergency meeting. Sans Liam, of course.But after the pack meeting, which was really just useless since all they talked about was how to stay safe from attacks, Theo was finally able to go home and see his Little Wolf.Liam seemed to be recovering well, but he had flinched a lot as he moved.Leading to Theo deciding to sleep in his actual bedroom alone that night. He insisted to Liam that he needed to rest without worrying that he may wake up in pain if Theo moved at all during the night.So here was Theo, in his bed all by himself, currently having his worst nightmare.“Theooo,” dream Tara taunted as he escaped from one of the morgue’s dead body drawers.Theo ran out of the morgue like hell was on fire. He took a right as he could hear his sister coming from the left. But as he got to one of the hallways, she suddenly appeared in front of him. Her lips were blue and her chest had a bloody hole the size of a fist, her heart was missing.“Leaving so soon? But the party was just getting started.” She leers at him menacingly. “I want something of mine that you stole, Theo.”Her hand, quick as a bullet, reaching into Theo’s intact chest cavity to pull out his— no, rightfully, her — heart. Theo screamed from the pain he felt as she took back was rightfully hers.That’s how Liam found him, still screaming out loud at his nightmare repeating.Liam shushed him and tried to get him to wake up, but he seemed more relaxed as Liam climbed into the bed with him and pulled Theo tightly against himself.Theo snuggles deeper into Liam’s chest, but Theo’s heart is steady so Liam knows he’s asleep. He whispers the I love you that then ghosts the quiet air around the two of them.Liam hears a gasp of breath that did not come from him and he freezes. Theo’s squirms so he’s facing the other boy. They don’t say anything for one of the longest moments of Liam’s life, just staring into one another’s eyes in the dark... and then all at once, Theo breaks the silence. “Say it again?”Theo’s warm breath hit Liam’s lips and the werewolf let out a breath of his own that he hadn’t realised he was holding.“I love you, Theo.” He smiles sadly. “I’ve wanted to say that to you when you were awake for such a long time.”The air smells like sadness and something else that Liam can’t quite put a name to. Liam can also pinpoint that it has a salty-like quality to the scent. Theo is crying, he realises.Suddenly, Liam is on the verge of tears too. “I’m sorry if this ruins our friendship, I’ll understand if you want some time away from me.” He starts pulling away to get out of the bed, despite this being his room and his bed that they’re laying in, to go cry himself to sleep in disappointment.Theo’s arm reaches out to stop him before he can sit up fully. “Say it again,” his voice deep, rough from the toll of crying, but he sounds so resolute, as he demands to hear it again.Liam looks at him sadly, “I love you, Theo, and I’m sorry if you don’t feel the same way, but that’s okay with me because I do. I love you so much that I’d be willing to push aside my feelings for you so we could stay friends.”“But I don’t want to be friends.” Theo whines, exasperated as if Liam doesn’t get it. Oh Liam gets it alright, if the pain in his chest is anything to go by.This time tears do make their way from Liam’s eyes down to his chin, streaking his cheeks as they fall. “I’m sorry you feel that way. I, um… I’ll just go, I guess.”Theo slaps the back of his head with a look of annoyance and fondness shining in his bright green eyes. “No, you dumbass, you keep misunderstanding me. I don’t want to be just friends because I love you too. Christ, Liam, I’m an atheist and you’ve got me praying for a chance with you! You’ve got me saying cheesy shit like that. I’ve been in love with you for a long time and you finally say the three little magic words and then think that I couldn’t love you back. But of course I love you! How could I not? What with your anger issues that make you look like an angry chihuahua, the way you fiercely protect your pack and anyone you deem a friend, or the way you growl whenever I tease you but smile anyways and just tease me back. The way I sometimes get my hopes up thinking you might have feelings for me back when you crawl into my bed or I crawl into yours. And for the record, I was crying because I was so happy and I couldn’t believe you’d like me back, much less love me back!”He huffs after his rant and looks up at Liam through his long eyelashes. The chimera clearly doesn’t see the effect he has on him.“You love me?” Liam blinks slowly. “You really love me back?”“Yes, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all this time! But you always avoided the topic when I brought up dating.”“Because I didn’t want to listen to you talk about liking someone else! It hurts too much to even think about.” Liam told him honestly.Theo smirks, “Well why don’t you shut up and date me then? Then you can call me yours.”Why that smooth motherfucker, Liam thinks as a smile plants itself on his face from joy. “You really mean that? You actually want to be boyfriends with me?”“Yes, Liam, I actually want to be boyfriends with you,” Theo grumbles out, “Now will you shut up and kiss me?”“I thought you’d never ask,” Liam smirks as he leans in to touch his lips to his new boyfriend’s lips.They’re mouths intermingled and soon they were so absorbed in one another that they hadn’t even noticed when Liam’s mother and stepfather had stepped into the room and saw them together. Mrs. Geyer slipped her husband a twenty dollar bill, which he accepted with a smirk.The two boys finally broke apart with matching grins on their faces, two pairs of eyes held so much love and joy.“I love you, Little Wolf.” Theo pecked his lips again.“And I love you, my Chimera from Hell,” Liam teased.“Hey, why is that my nickname? You actually got a cute nickname.” Theo complains.Liam sticks his tongue out at his now boyfriend. “Ah, but you should have thought of that before.”“Not to interrupt,” Dr. Geyer said, breaking their moment of ribbing one another. “But it’s 2am and your mom and I have to be up by 5, so we’d appreciate it if you two went back to bed now.” Then he adds, “Although, we’re very happy for you both.”His mom decides to chime in as well, a soft smile on her features, “And very proud too.”Liam’s mom and dad give each of the boys kisses on their foreheads and tell them to go to sleep now before they return to their own bedroom.Liam is the first to climb into bed on his normal side and pats the open spot. “Come on, my Chimera from Hell. Come join me in snuggling.”Theo laughs at the stupid nickname again, but joins Liam on the bed. They face one another as their arms wrap around each other to keep themselves close.Liam’s nose is buried in Theo’s neck. “I love you, Theo.”“Say it again,” Theo pleads.“I love you so much, Theo. Nothing will get in our way again and I’m going to make sure you know just how much I love you because you’re worth all the love I can give.” He leaves a soft kiss on Theo’s neck.Theo whispers into the night, “I love you too, Liam.”