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Mason and Theo are both walking next to Liam as the beta paces frantically in his own room. The simple fact that they decided to team up to make sure Liam is ready for the pack meeting reveals just how dire the situation is. Both walking rapidly at his side and talking softly to him like they're assistants of a political figure and Liam is on his way to give a career-defining speech, they almost walk right into the wall when Liam suddenly stops.

“Guys, I'm perfectly fine, I don't need a pep talk!” Liam tells them with a light chuckle. 

“You anxiety-vomited this morning,” Theo says, frowning. 

“You what?” Mason exclaims, now even more worried. 

Liam winces. He was hoping Theo hadn't heard that. 

“Alright, fine, I'm nervous! But I've been nervous before and I'm still here! Everything will be okay!” Liam says as he holds on firmly to his tiny, flickering sense of confidence. 

Mason almost believes him… so he turns to Theo and asks, “Did his-”

“His heartbeat skipped, yeah.”

Liam groans angrily before pointing at Theo. “Stop doing that!”

“I thought you wanted to get better at lying.” Theo shrugs with a hint of a smirk on his lips. 

Even if he knows he has a point and that Liam did ask him to help him become a better liar, Liam still gives him a frustrated glare. Normally, Theo’s little attitude is endearing but it’s very gratuitous and unhelpful right now! 

Liam starts pacing again.

“How about you keep yourself in check today, uh? I'm not the one who might turn into an animal if I get too stressed!”

“Small mercies,” Mason whispers while doing a tiny cross with his fingers.

Liam readies himself to dig his elbow into Mason's ribs before he suddenly remembers that that's his only human friend. He slaps his arm instead. 

“What?” Mason asks like he doesn't understand why Liam is trying to be optimistic for the first time in his life. “Stiles is literally coming here to condemn you and probably start a campaign to – at the very least – exile Theo. He's literally coming to fight with you and you're not good with confrontation…” Mason sees Theo giving him an intense glare but he's not sure what it means. “Scott might be coming too but it's just as scary because he's the alpha so if he sides with Stiles – his best friend, his brother – then that's that. He'll have the final word. I mean, what are you gonna do? Rebel against Scott? I don't think-”

Liam gags, a wave of crushing dread driving him nauseous. Thankfully, nothing comes out. Raising his fists a little bit, Liam looks like he's trying to hold on to the air around him for additional stability. Mason immediately takes one of his arms to keep him upright.

“I'll… I'll get some Gatorade or something.” Theo is white as a sheet, obviously frazzled by the state of Liam. Anger, Theo can manage. Even sadness, that's also within his skill set. But so-nervous-Liam-is-about-to-pass-out? Now, that's not something he’s dealt with before. 

Theo leaves quickly for the kitchen downstairs and Liam stays still, trying to catch his breath. 

“Mason… back me up,” he asks pitifully in a small voice, his eyes still closed as he bends over. 

“Your hair looks great today!”

Liam nods with a sniff. “Thanks for noticing.”

“And if ever it becomes too much in there, then we'll just leave. Leaving is always an option,” Mason adds with a kind smile. “And you won't be alone in the pack meeting. We're all coming. And we'll all have your back! Mostly. We'll mostly all have your back!”

Liam straightens himself a bit, nodding at the logical and calming words. 

“Honestly, I'd be more worried about your boyfriend potentially biting Stiles' head off if he says something mean to you.”

Liam sends him a smile. 

“I needed that, thanks,” Liam says and, with one final exhale, he finally looks confident enough to face the day. 

Mason frowns at him. That wasn't… the last one wasn't supposed to be a comforting statement. He was serious!

Theo walks back into the room and hands one Gatorade to Liam, keeping the other one for himself. 

“What about me?” Mason feels the need to say. 

Theo blinks at him. “There are more downstairs,” he says like that's obvious. 

Mason rolls his eyes and looks at the clock on his phone for the hundredth time. They're gonna be late but it seems that Liam and Theo are far more concerned about who should get the blue Gatorade.

“How about you just share and head towards the car? We need to-”

Theo growls but finally lets Liam take the blue Gatorade from his hand, taking the orange one instead. “Fine, let’s get this shitshow done with!”

“It’s not gonna be a shitshow!” Liam growls back.

“It won’t be anything if we never leave,” Mason urges, trying to push them out yet again. 

“Great!” Liam says, much more calm and nodding at Mason.

“Yeah, I vote for that too,” Theo says, pointing at Mason and opening his bottle to take a sip.

Mason wants to pull his hair out. “No, you’re supposed to help me get him there! You don’t get to change allegiance now!” he screams at Theo with angry eyes. 

Theo gives him an unconvinced look. Liam, who was enjoying the temporary peace pact between his best friend and his… his… Theo, feels uneasy at the sudden fight and panics. Just as the beta is about to say something, Corey runs up the stairs and enters Liam's bedroom. 

“What are you guys doing? I've been waiting for 30 minutes in the car!” 

“Destressing!” Liam exclaims with a loud growl, his claws around the blue Gatorade.

Corey frowns at that answer. “Yeah, I can see that!” 

“Not now,” Mason warns gently when he hears Corey’s sarcasm. 

“All I'm saying is that we're gonna be late!” Corey says nervously, looking at his phone to check the time. “Alec's been sending me texts and Scott is already there! Apparently, he failed a big test and he's in a bad mood!”

Liam gags once more but, again, nothing comes out and, at this point, Mason thinks he might be faking. 

As if on cue, Corey's phone buzzes and he immediately looks at it, wincing. Mason walks up to him to read behind his shoulder and his eyes grow just as wide as Corey's. 

“What?” Liam asks nervously, as if unsure if he really wants to know. 

Mason looks at Theo for some kind of help but it seems that their two-man team is now out of commission. The chimera looks like he's now the one who's gonna faint. When Liam follows Mason's glance and notices the cracks in Theo’s composed mask due to the gravity of the situation, Liam panics even more and his stomach is doing something very very wrong.

“Lydia is there and she just got dumped,” Mason blurts out in an attempt to distract Liam. 

“Babe…” Corey whispers to Mason with a reproachful tone. Mason shrugs nervously. 

Before anyone can try to make the situation better, Liam starts whining in despair as he lets himself fall on his bed. 

“I don't want to go! Let's not go!” Liam says passionately into his sheets, his words getting somewhat muffled but they all understand what he means. Until they don’t. “I shwir gorp trusfefete!!!!!”

Mason looks around the room but, obviously, no one here has the backbone to face Liam when he’s like this. So he clears his throat and tries to be mature about this.

“Liam, we have to-” 

“We could hide. They'd never find us,” Theo says with a small and distant voice. Despite being so dangerously pale, Mason still shudders at the weirdly intense and desperate edge in the chimera’s eyes. 

Liam whines again before raising his face from the covers just long enough to say, “I'd kiss you but I still want to throw up!” Curled up on his bed and holding his stomach for dear life, Liam groans again when he sees how terrible Theo looks. He prefers to bury his face in his sheets again. 

“This is bad,” Corey states as he looks at the room, more specifically, at Liam looking like he's dying, clutching his covers, and Theo crazily staring at the void, his face going paler by the second. 

Corey's phone buzzes again but he isn't sure if he wants to look at it at this point. His heart beating fast, he finally reaching for it but before he can even read anything, he looks up, feeling eyes on him. Two pairs of glowing golden eyes stare right at him, both looking like deers in the headlights, and Corey’s form becomes translucent. Very slowly, Corey opens his phone up and reads the new text from Alec. 

Mason, just beside him, drops a mournful “oh god” as he reads it. 

“I'll wait in the car, actually. Take your time,” Corey says in a rush. Quickly, he takes his boyfriend's hand and squeezes it affectionately for a second before letting go and fleeing the scene. 

As the seconds go by, it seems there's less and less air to breathe. Mason isn't sure if he should tell them what the message said but… they need to know all the facts. He looks up at the two ghosts shining in front of him and hopes that they can take it. 

“Stiles arrived,” he says, trying to stay calm. 

“And?” Theo is practically hovering from the faint shaking he's trying – and failing – to suppress. 

Mason sighs. “They kicked him out of Quantico.” 

In one instant, Mason is completely thrown out of the way as Liam leaps towards the bathroom. Struggling to keep himself on his own two feet, Mason still manages to get his head out of the door and into the corridor but he doesn't know if he should be glad that Liam at least managed to make it to the toilet before throwing up. The human grimaces at the gory sound. 

“I think he's gonna need-” Mason turns around and his wide eyes fall on the wolf's dark fur and panicked gaze. “Dude!” Mason groans in disappointment.

The wolf runs out of the room, leaving Mason to sigh in despair in peace.

Mason gives them a few minutes before walking into the bathroom as well. The pair has tucked itself in a little corner. Liam is still heaving and Theo is making an almost perfect circle around him with his wolf body. Making barely two steps into the cold room, Mason is met by Theo’s growl shaking the floor under his feet. He stays put. Liam wipes away the sweat on his forehead with one hand and starts petting Theo with the other. The growl slowly subsides but it’s obvious that Mason better watch it. 

“It’s okay…” Liam whispers to Theo before leaving little kisses on his wolf head and petting the sides of his face. “It’s just Mason.” 

Theo moves slightly but, from Mason’s point of view, all the wolf does is tighten the circle around Liam and there is absolutely no way that Mason is walking closer than this. 

“You can come in, he won’t-”

“He will,” Mason assures him, his eyes never leaving Theo or the way the wolf shows him his teeth every time Liam looks away. 

“No, he won’t,” Liam says, less out of breath than he was a moment ago. He takes Theo’s head who lets himself be manhandled by Liam without so much as a growl or a glare. Actually, Theo completely stops growling and melts into Liam’s hold as the beta looks him in the eyes and says loving little “no, you wouldn’t, right? No, you’re too nice.” Seeing his best friend lean his forehead against the wolf’s, Mason thinks this is a lot. 

The wolf has gone lax under Liam’s touch and the silence makes Mason confident enough to slowly walk up to his friend and extend his arm as much as he can so the rest of his body is not too close. Keeping his eyes on Theo showing him his teeth again, Mason quickly hands Liam the blue Gatorade and immediately pulls away. 

“Thanks,” Liam tells him before taking many avid gulps of juice even if he winces at the feeling of it down his throat, the artificial flavor mixing poorly with bile.

Theo stops baring his teeth the second Liam's hand is back on him. 

Many comments pass by Mason’s mind about this dynamic which is a lot to process so he decides to pick his fights wisely and turns a blind eye to it all, concentrating on getting those two idiots to the pack meeting that was scheduled about 15 minutes ago. 

“I know…” Liam tells Mason as if he could hear his thoughts. “I'm… We're gonna go soon.” Liam takes big breaths, closing his eyes for a second. 

Mason nods, relieved to hear it. Not everyone is, though, and Theo starts growling once again. 

Liam continues petting the wolf before he opens his eyes to look at his best friend. “Can you give us a second?”

The human gladly leaves the room and closes the door behind him. Liam is his best friend and he has years of practice trying to help him calm down. Theo, on the other hand? Not only does Mason have zero clue on how to help that guy, but a more important part of him still isn't sure if he wants to. 

Sitting on Liam's desk chair, Mason takes out his phone. He needs to text Scott. 

Mason

We'll be late… Sorry 

Scott

is everything ok? 

Mason hesitates, the acidic scent of vomit still stuck in his nose. 

Mason

Yes just technical problem! We'll be there as soon as possible! 

Scott

alright! thx for helping today :)

Scott

its a v stressful day for everyone so im glad ur gonna be here. ur always so good at handling everything

Awwwwwww! It warms Mason’s heart to know that Scott thinks that.

Mason then opens his chat with Corey. 

THE “YOU WERE MINE (MY BOO)🎶” PRIVATE CHAT

Lovey 

I’m not handling anything and theyre gonna die at the pack meeting!!!!!!

Dovey

Yeah I didnt want to say anything but I have a bad feeling about this

Lovey

NOT HELPINGGGG!!!

Dovey

🫤🫤

Dovey

💖💖

In the bathroom, Liam is busy trying to calm down a very panicked and stubborn Theo. Coming up with sound arguments why this is going to be okay has the weird effect of momentarily convincing himself. Plus, taking care of someone else is a nice way of distracting himself from the dread pooling in his stomach. Running his fingers through Theo’s soft fur, Liam takes deep breaths. He doesn’t like how Theo is trembling under his hands or the way he’s not meeting his eyes. 

“I know you don't want to do this. I don't either,” Liam says and he then takes an eternity to add anything. Doing pep talks isn’t on his list of special skills. “But we're gonna have to go anyway.” Liam sighs and pets Theo’s little head. “But you're gonna be fine. It's just a few hours tops and then we're gonna come back here and probably do nothing and go to sleep. And tomorrow, we'll wake up and eat breakfast and then you'll probably bully me into doing homework and we could watch some Spartacus or play video games. And then it'll be Monday and I'll go to school and you're gonna work at the clinic and everything will be normal and okay and just like they were.” 

It all sounded great when he started talking. Liam isn’t sure why it sounds so much like he's so desperately trying to stay optimistic. Theo finally glances at him as if asking if he means it and Liam smiles. 

The stress slowly fades away. Liam can’t let himself doubt or fall into despair again. He can't. He needs to help Theo. And, without fully understanding why, it makes him feel more solid and sure. Gazing at Theo’s dark eyes, Liam feels grateful. He can feel his own heartbeat slowing down and Liam’s mind is able to focus again. 

Theo still isn’t in fighting shape, though, so Liam continues talking.

“And it’s just like Mason said, there’s gonna be other people on our side. Alec, Lori, maybe Brett, probably not Corey but Mason for sure! So we’ll-” Liam stops, taking a weird and sudden pause. “No! I can't anymore!” He gets up without ceremony and Theo whines in panic. “It’s okay, I just…” 

Liam lets out a deep groan of relief as soon as he starts brushing his teeth, feeling immediately better. Not feeling like something is rotting in your mouth will do that to you. 

“Technically, we’ll have the majority,” Liam starts talking again, barely making sense through the toothbrush in his mouth and Theo sends him an annoyed glare. “If they ask for a vote, then we’re good! And they’re not the ones in Beacond Hills, we are! So what do they care, you know?” 

Barely understanding what he’s saying himself through the growing amount of toothpaste foam, Liam eventually stops and spits out. Quickly finishing and rinsing his mouth, Liam comes back to the small corner of the bathroom and sits in front of Theo. He lowers his head to look Theo in the eyes but the wolf barely meets his gaze before looking away.

“I'm sorry, I wish I could tell you to stay here and sit this one out but… I need you. I won't be able to do it if you're not there with me. I'll just…” Liam takes a moment to breathe when he feels his emotions clogging his throat again. “I'm scared I'll just start screaming and they'll… they'll be disappointed and… and they won't listen.”

After a small huff, Theo moves to place his head on top of Liam's thigh and looks at him with his big dark eyes which is a bit unfair because Liam can't really resist those. With a small grin, Liam rubs a gentle thumb from Theo's muzzle to inbetween his eyes and then his forehead. He does it a few times, calming down with the repetitive motion. Theo’s heartbeat finally slows down.  

The wolf closes his eyes and just when Liam goes to tease him about not falling asleep, he hears bones cracking and fur give way to clean and naked skin. 

“Oh my god,” Liam gasps, quickly putting his hands over his eyes and, yet, there’s a small debate in his mind if maybe he couldn’t take just a little tiny peek. But really just a small little…

“Alright, unclench your pearls, it's not the first time,” Theo says, clearing his throat after his voice comes out rougher than intended. 

Getting up, Theo eventually fetches himself a towel with a dramatic sigh. Not that Liam would know about that! Not that Liam left a tiny space between his fingers to check him out. And even if he did – which he would never do! – it would only be to make sure Theo is alright and not get a good look at his ass! 

And yet, somehow, Liam doesn’t need Theo to tell him he’s decent again, he puts down his hands the second Theo wraps Liam's towel around his waist.

“Yeah, but that's because you keep shifting and end up naked like an idiot and what are you doing!?”

Theo frowns, his hand on the doorknob. “Getting my clothes.” 

Liam immediately gets on his feet and puts himself between Theo and the door, almost angry. 

“There's Mason in there and you're…” Liam tries to finish his sentence but he loses his train of thought as soon as his eyes fall on Theo's chest. “Just stay here.” 

Theo snorts at the intense reaction but lets Liam do whatever he wants. Which is to get out by barely opening the door, obviously very concerned that the crowd of no one in the corridor might see Theo inappropriately dressed. 

Walking into his bedroom on shaky legs, Liam shows Mason his index, asking him to give him one more minute, before his best friend can say anything. The beta fetches the pile of scattered clothes Theo left on the floor after shifting and walks right back to the bathroom with a faint grin of amusement. 

Mason thinks it must be a good sign. 

Opening the door of the bathroom again, Liam puts the pile of clothes on the counter next to the sink and yet places himself against it, between the clothes and Theo. 

Seeing this, Theo grins but he can't even begin to guess what Liam’s plan is by doing this. 

“Guarding my clothes, uh?” Theo asks with a smirk, sitting against the bath. 

“To be fair, half of it is mine.” 

“You're the one who wanted me to get some clothes. I don't mind being like this.” Theo gets on his feet, calling Liam’s bluff. “Let's get a third opinion, let's hear what Mason has to say about-”

“Theo…” Liam’s warning is very clear and it’s not just expressed by his voice but by the light glow in his eyes. “Come back here.” 

Theo grins but slowly walks back to Liam, standing in front of him, a light shiver on his skin. They look at each other for a moment before Liam breaks the silence.

“How are you?” 

Theo's smile drops. He rolls his eyes. Ugh. Emotions… again! 

“I know, I know. Ewww! Emotions! Ewwwww!” Liam says with a childish voice. “I know it's sooooo annoying that I care! Ew.” 

Theo blinks at him, not finding this funny. Or at least not as funny as Liam seems to think it is. 

“Here. That's just a freebie.” Liam hands him his boxers. 

“Freebie?” he asks before taking them and putting them on. He discards the towel and lets it fall to the ground. Liam looks at it for a moment, annoyed by the mess. His eyes naturally coming back to Theo, he decides that he'll just replace later. Liam sits on the counter instead. 

“Yep. I'm gonna ask questions and you're gonna get one article of clothing for each answer,” Liam says with a little smile, obviously proud of his little scheme to get Theo to talk.  

Theo blinks at him. “Congratulations, Liam, you just invented the opposite of stripping. Not that anyone asked.”  

Letting out a light growl, Liam thinks about it for a few seconds before coming up with something better. “Fine. You get a piece of clothing and a kiss.” 

Theo chuckles, still staring at him. 

“What?”

“Don't take this the wrong way, Liam,” Theo warns him but Liam is squinting at him like he's very much waiting to badly react to whatever Theo is gonna say next, “but I can get a kiss from you whenever I want.” Theo’s voice is low as he finishes his sentence, barely a whisper. Inching closer towards Liam, the chimera can’t help but grin when he realizes that Liam has stopped listening to what he's saying. “I don't need to answer questions to get one.” Liam can barely focus enough to consider that this closeness might be a trap. Everything around him dims as his mind purely focuses on Theo's lips which are now close enough to reach. He’s fighting the urge to close the tiny distance but he’s not sure if he remembers why.

Slightly out of breath, Liam is careful not to move and thus prove Theo's point. He's actually growing annoyed that he can't kiss him now. Maybe that’s why he stays stubborn enough to say, “Well, now you do.”

Theo smirks like he knows something Liam doesn’t. The beta doesn’t have the time to brace himself for whatever is about to happen before he feels Theo’s hand, sure and warm, on the top of his knee. The hand carefully opens Liam's legs, making himself just enough space to fit between them. Liam’s mind spins and his entire body turns red. With a hitched breath, he glances at Theo’s hand still comfortably resting on his thigh. 

Who needs pack meetings anyway?

Staying here and seeing where this might go sounds so much better! Besides, Liam’s fingers are itching to touch him and he can feel this want building up in his chest and making him forget about unimportant things such as Theo calling out his bluff. Liam leans forward, ready to finally kiss Theo but the bastard pulls away, keeping a firm few inches between them.

Victory written in his eyes, Theo fakes a saddened frown. “Oh, so I need to do things to earn your affection.” 

Liam’s pupils shrink in horror. Quickly realizing that he has been bested, Liam grimaces and then sighs. “Can't you just do it because I asked nicely?”

“When? When did you ask nicely?”

Liam takes the chimera’s naked shoulder and yanks him forward so he's just as close to him as before, their breaths mingling. Theo, smug, smirks despite Liam’s threatening growl.

He knows that Theo is probably stalling the pack meeting but… if he's honest, so is Liam. 

“How are you?” Liam doesn’t let him escape the question, he stares at him expectantly. “Stressed? Tired? You barely slept last night. Are you angry that I’m kinda making you come or-”

“I’m fine, Liam.” 

Liam doesn’t move, he just blinks at him.

“I thought I was supposed to get my clothes back now,” Theo sighs, obviously trying to change the subject. 

“I don't know, this look is growing on me.” The beta lowers his gaze slightly. 

“How about we make it fair?” Theo proposes. “I ask questions and, when you answer, you strip.” 

Liam beams. “You have questions for me?”

“Yes. One. Can you take your clothes off?”

Liam snorts and rolls his eyes at the bad joke. He finally throws Theo his clothes. 

“Fine, you win. Let's not talk about how you just shifted out of fear or the light tremor in your left hand,” Liam says as he gets off the counter, shaking his head.

Frowning, Theo looks down at his own hand and he’s shocked by what he sees. He clutches his left hand with his right. 

“It’s okay,” Liam sighs, “I just thought we were at a point where we could talk about our feelings freely but I guess you don't- Ah!”

Theo gets behind Liam and throws his arms around him, gripping him hard. With his clawed hands keeping Liam in place and his head against the beta’s shoulder, Theo feels goosebumps when he feels Liam's warm shirt against his naked chest. 

“Don't worry about me,” Theo says with a light growl, almost like an order. 

Liam groans back. “I'd worry less if you were honest.” 

There’s a long pause where they both stay quiet, Liam reaching for Theo’s hands around him. 

“I don't want to go and see the pack… but I will and everything will be okay.” Theo’s heartbeat is shaky as he says those words and Liam didn't know heartbeats could reveal uncertainty until today. He can feel it fluttering against his back. “And then we'll come back here and go to sleep early. Tomorrow, I'll bully you into doing your homework and we'll watch some Spartacus, and then it'll be Monday and you'll go to school and I'm gonna do my shift at the clinic,” Theo continues, repeating what Liam told him just a few minutes ago. “And everything will be just like they were before.” There’s a hint of vulnerability and fear when the chimera adds, “Right?” 

Liam squeezes his hand gently. 

“Yeah. Nothing's gonna change,” Liam says, his voice even softer than his touch. 

After what Mason thought was an eternity but knew better than to interrupt, Liam and Theo finally come back to the bedroom and, without a whine of protest or an attempt to buy more time, they get their things to leave. They’re ready. Or, at least, as ready as they’re gonna be. Mason is practically shooing them out of the room, eager to get them in the car before they can come up with yet another dumb reason to waste time and be even more late than they already are!

“Alright, just one final thing!” Liam says quickly, making Mason sigh in frustration. “No matter what… we can't let Stiles know that we're going out!”  

“Obviously.”

“Obviously,” Liam says again, nodding at Theo with relief. “Great!”

Liam takes his backpack and walks towards the door.

“Are you sure?” Mason asks, stopping their “exactlyyy” moment. “Maybe it would be better to come forward and-”

“No!” Both Liam and Theo exclaim at the same time.

Mason isn’t the angry type. At best, he gets annoyed and then, a few minutes later, he somehow forgets about it. Liam has always been envious of that quality. That being said, it also means that, when Mason looks at him with that peeved look, Liam knows something is definitely bugging him. That light squinting is probably the equivalent of Liam getting his claws out and growling. So he thinks about it for a few seconds. 

“Maybe after the pack meeting,” Liam suggests, trying to find a compromise.

“Yes, like in ten years,” Theo adds with a snort. 

Liam slaps his arm but, based on Theo’s puzzled “what?”, it seems the chimera didn’t spot the human putting his foot down. 

Mason’s intense look lands on Theo and Liam knows he’s about to get it. 

“Didn’t take you for a romantic, Raeken, but ten years? Wow, you must love Liam a whole lot to picture yourself still with him in a decade.” 

Theo doesn’t move but his face gains just enough blush for Mason to be satisfied as he turns his heels and heads for the door. Liam takes Theo’s hand and chuckles in Theo’s arm before he drags a paralyzed Theo towards the stairs. 

They almost thought that they might never make it but, for better or for worse, they eventually park in front of the McCall House.  

Although the house isn’t silent, it’s quieter than it usually is when they have these types of bigger pack meetings. Normally, Liam would be putting both of his hands on his ears as soon as he gets past the door, trudging through the first few minutes of cacophonous chatting. Today, he can barely hear the hushed comments coming from the living room. Glancing at Mason, Liam sighs and tries as best as he can to shake off his nervousness. His best friend gives him a smile before heading towards the living room, Corey following him closely. 

Liam stays in the entrance with Theo for a moment. This is it. This is the moment Liam has been dreading since the start. Since he saw Theo in his backyard for the very first time. He slowly looks at Theo who’s already staring at Liam, waiting to see what Liam will do. 

“We could still make a break for it,” Theo suggests in a whisper, barely sarcastic. 

Smiling at him, Liam lets himself enjoy the sight of Theo being here. He could’ve run away at any given point today. Or even planned an escape yesterday to make sure to miss this damned pack meeting. But he didn’t. Theo’s here. With him. The beta’s affectionate gazing is only broken by Liam looking down when he sees Theo raise his fist slightly. Liam’s smile twists into a lovey-dovey pout.

“Don’t make me like you too much. I can’t even kiss you here!” Liam complains in a hushed voice, heartbroken, before he fist bumps him and then walks at a courageous pace towards the living room. 

Theo breaks into a soft smile of his own.

“Come!” Liam orders innocently when he notices that Theo isn’t following him. 

The chimera doesn’t even think about it, he simply steps out of the entrance and joins him. 

Even if Liam’s feet barely stepped into the packed room, it still feels like he’s face to face with his older friends. The quiet chitchat immediately stops, making this even more awkward, and Liam tenses. He can barely look anyone in the eyes as he does an uncomfortable wave with an even more unsure “hi”. The vibe is rancid and the room reeks of anxiety and discomfort. He feels people’s eyes leaving him to glance behind him and there’s a weight on Liam’s chest making it hard to breathe. 

Patting the couch, Mason shows him the space between him and Corey and Liam quickly walks up to it. He doesn’t even think about it, he just does the first thing he can think of, but, as soon as he sits down, he immediately gets back up with a quiet gasp. He looks around. There are no more seats for people to sit on and surely no more space on this couch. He can’t just sit and let Theo stand up the whole time, what if- 

Mason immediately yanks him back down. The tension is getting too much for everyone, even the humans who can’t even smell how nauseating it is. Liam stays seated but he glances back, only mildly relieved to see that Theo has found himself a place… leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. If Liam hadn’t searched for him, he would’ve lost him in the crowd. Of course, he can see that the mask is back on but he figures that it’s better than Theo shifting back into a wolf in front of everyone. 

Liam sends him a private smile and Theo gives him a small nod in response.

Feeling a bit better, Liam turns around and finally looks in the direction of the supposed Council (Stiles, Scott, Lydia, and Malia). To be fair, Lydia and Malia are sitting more to the side, obviously uninterested in the topic of today. Lydia is showing something to Malia on her phone, sipping on the straw of what’s left of her pink smoothie.

“Hi,” Liam says again, this time more official, thinking that they should get on with it.

“Oh, we can start now? Is my king ready? It’s not like we took a plane to come here or anything!” Stiles rolls his eyes, more out of frustration than actual resentment.

“You’re the one who wanted this talk! Who insisted on it!” Liam bites back, ready to get up once again but Mason places a firm hand on his shoulder, reminding him that there’s no need to jump at Stiles’ throat in the first minute. Liam takes a deep breath. “Sorry…” The tension in his shoulders eases somewhat and he looks at the faces he missed so much. Stiles looks like a cartoonish raccoon with the two dark bags under his eyes, Scott either has been growing a beard or he hasn’t had enough time these days to shave, and Lydia’s normally perfectly manicured nails are chipped. Still… “I’m happy you’re here,” Liam says genuinely in the silence of the room.

It’s hard not to be affected by Liam’s genuine friendliness and, like they’ve been hit by a Niceness Beam, the older members of the pack all ease slightly, a tiny smile on their lips. 

“It’s been too long,” Scott says with a nod. 

And just like that, it feels like it’s easier to breathe. 

Sitting at the beginning of what will certainly be a difficult discussion, the solace of a better start doesn’t last long. They all know why they’re here and there’s no escaping it. Like shrinks like to say, the only way out is through, so Liam gathers the fearful strength necessary to disagree with a friend. 

Straightening his back, Liam’s eyes shift to look at Stiles. Let’s get this started!

“I agree,” Stiles quickly says. “I mean, I wasn’t even sure that I would ever see you again. What with harbinging a serial killer! No, It’s great to see you, junior!”

Liam doesn’t bite this time. He stares at Stiles, waiting for him to do his worst, waiting for any type of argument or real concern. He’s not gonna waste his energy on snides.

“Stiles…” Scott whispers, probably trying to cut his best friend’s venom in the bud. 

“This is me being cordial, Scotty!” Obviously, Stiles’ attitude doesn’t limit itself to Liam and Theo.   

“It is,” Malia says with a nod. 

Stiles points at her so that maybe Scott will at least listen to his girlfriend. 

“Okay, but let’s just… you know… not point fingers.”

Stiles immediately takes his hand back, not pointing at Malia anymore.  

“...just stating facts,” Stiles mumbles as he crosses his arms. 

Liam rolls his eyes. 

“Was he?” Alec, tightly squeezed in between Lori and Brett, whispers as he looks at the two siblings.

“See, this is exactly what I mean!” Stiles uncrosses his arms to point at Alec before remembering what Scott just said and crossing his arms once more to keep himself from pointing. “It’s too convenient for him,” Stiles says as he pushes his body forward to point at Theo with his nose, “if we just forget what happened!” 

“Alec knows about Theo,” Lori tells Stiles with a sigh, “he just talks when he’s nervous.”

The whole puppy pack nods at that comment. Even Theo does a small shrug as if agreeing. 

“Oh, so you’re allllllll okay with the fact that he’s here?” Stiles scoffs, scanning over their faces for the weakest link. The puppy pack does the same with their own but they all subconsciously look Corey’s way. Of course, Stiles sees it. “Corey! There’s no way you suddenly trust Theo! Not after what he did!”

Everyone’s eyes turn to him. Corey, who thought he’d just stay silent the whole time and stay away from the drama, looks more like a deer in the headlights than an actual person. He glances at Mason before his eyes go to Theo and then Stiles. A long moment passes before he shrugs nervously.

“I don’t,” he says honestly.

“THAT’S EXACLTY-” Stiles says victoriously before being cut off. 

“But the first time I saw Scott he planted his claws into my neck and almost paralyzed me,” Corey says. “So…” He stays in thoughts, unsure where he was going with this. 

Everyone keeps quiet. Most of them forgot about that. There’s an awkward moment which is only worsened by Lydia making a ruckus as she tries to sip on the two drops of smoothie left in her cup with her straw.

“A small mistake from an otherwise pure heart, yes,” Stiles finally concedes.

“Again, I’m very sorry,” Scott tells Corey with genuine shame in his eyes. 

“It’s okay,” Corey says quickly more to change the subject than because it doesn’t affect him still. 

“It’s not,” Lydia reassures him, a gravity in her thoughtful expression. She knows very well how dangerous and careless Scott had been that day, her more than anyone else. It’s purely luck that didn’t get Corey thrown in Eichen House just like she was. 

Again, a tense silence envelops the room. Without much surprise, Stiles is the one who breaks it. 

“Alright, we can settle that later though, this isn’t why we’re here today.” 

“Why are we here?” Liam asks because he’s still not clear about that. He just hopes that Stiles keeps quiet about the freaking sword and doesn’t try to exile Theo just like Mason said he would. It’s not like Stiles is the mayor of the town anyway! Although, his dad is the sheriff… 

The question shocks the young man and, speechless, Stiles starts making wide gestures towards Theo who’s still suspiciously quiet at the back of the room. Liam glances at the chimera but it’s more to make sure that he’s still okay.

“More precisely…?” Mason asks, just as lost as everyone else. 

Stiles frowns at them all, confused that his pantomime didn’t clear things up.

“We were worried,” Scott admits with a sigh.

“Aw,” Alec says but it’s more to fill the newly growing silence than anything else.

“Well, we’re fine.” Liam shrugs and he looks around to make sure everyone agrees. Just like he thought, when they see him checking on them, they nod.

“What about the chupacabras?” Scott asks, his voice hard. “Deaton told me that-”

“No one got hurt,” Liam assures him, his jaw growing tense.

He feels the eyes of the puppy pack on him but they at least have the courtesy of not saying anything. The only pair of eyes Liam is concerned about is Scott’s. But the alpha doesn’t stop staring at him. He’s waiting for Liam to admit something. Which… is kinda fair. Liam groans as he looks away.

“This. This is why we’re here. This right here.” Stiles points at Liam, walking up to him and towering over Liam’s sitting form. “What happened? Why are you lying to us all of a sudden?”

“I’m not!”

“Liam, we know you got hurt. And about the…” Scott can’t even bring himself to say it. 

“The two dead chupacabras!” Stiles finishes for him. “So let me rephrase all of that in a way that Scott is too nice to do! You, Dread Doctor Junior, and two chupacabras walk into the forest-”

“Don’t call him that,” Liam growls through gritted teeth, his eyes shining for a moment as he looks up to meet Stiles’ eyes.

“…and he is the only one who made it out perfectly fine? And then, you lie about it? What the hell are we supposed to think?” the human finishes, not one bit intimidated by the werewolf’s warning.

Liam is stunned for a moment. He didn’t anticipate this to be an issue. It’s such an insignificant lie. And they’re making it out to be like he was lying for Theo when, in reality, all he wanted was to not make them worry about him getting slightly hurt. Liam doesn’t know what to say and he looks around to see if he’s the only one confused by this. His eyes first land on Theo who’s glaring at Stiles like he’s sharpening daggers in his mind. He then looks at Mason who’s probably the calmest person in the room right now but that might be for Liam’s best interest. He glances at Lydia and Malia who both look up, interested in the conversation for once. Even Alec and Lori stare at Liam expectantly. Has everyone been asking themselves the same fucking question!?

“Fine, I got hurt but that wasn’t Theo’s fault. I could’ve died if he hadn’t been there!” 

“The chupacabras died,” Scott argues.

“Who cares about the chupacabras!?” Liam shouts, panting, feeling like he’s losing control of the conversation. This isn’t what he thought would happen. 

Stiles backs off at the scream and Liam shrinks in his seat. He doesn’t want to make them scared, he doesn’t want to scream.

“We can’t just kill people or creatures because they’re bothersome,” Scott says, his voice low but firm.

“No, but we can send them into skinwalker’s hell for eternity? ‘Cause that’s showing mercy, right?”

Shit. Liam didn’t want them to talk about this and he’s the first one to bring it up? Stupid! He listens to Theo’s heartbeat and he doesn’t like how fast it’s going. 

“...if it was for eternity, we wouldn’t be having a fight right now.” Stiles scoffs

“This isn’t a fight,” Scott urges as he stares at his best friend with an intense look.

“Oh, really? You’re having fun right now? Is this how you envisioned our grand reunion?” Stiles snaps, obviously annoyed by Scott’s denial. 

“I think we can talk about this, no need for it to be a fight,” Mason tells Stiles with a pointed look and, coming from Mason, it’s the equivalent of your mom raising her voice. Normally, no one could ever stop Stiles, he’s a machine that fuels itself, but Mason’s words seem to make him pause. If Mason, Liam’s best friend and other human anomaly of the group, thinks that maybe this can be settled peacefully, then maybe…

Scott sighs, hoping to make his best friend sway towards the peaceful option. “Stiles… Please, you said you’d come here with an open mind.”

It does the opposite.

“Oh, my mind is open, alright! Open to potential villainous scheming!” Stiles preaches in the middle of the living room, an accusatory finger pointed at Theo. Obviously, the crusade isn’t done. “Don't even think that I don't know what you're doing!” 

Theo snorts. “And what am I doing?” 

“Seducing our poor little Liam…” Theo and Liam both stop breathing as the puppy pack tries to hide its nervous chuckling. “…by victimizing yourself and using his big fat heart to your advantage! To grease yourself a place into this pack, you snake!” 

Theo and Liam both ease, breathing out a deep sigh of relief. Liam can’t help it, he glances back at Theo who raises his eyebrows at him as if to say “thank god Stiles sounds crazy right now”. 

Nothing gets past Stiles so, of course, he frowns at their reaction. “See,” he tells Scott, “they don't even listen to me. They're in cahoots, Scotty. They're cahooting!” 

“Oh, they’re hooking up, alright…” Brett says under his breath. 

Before Liam can beat him up for trying to reveal the one thing they can’t have Stiles know about, Alec and Lori are already on it, pushing and punching Brett until the tall boy doesn't wear that smug grin anymore. Liam feels better knowing that at least some of his friends are hoping for something other than a trainwreck! 

But it’s too late, the damage has already been done. Lydia is whispering to Malia to check her phone. They’re obviously texting each other – Liam guesses that the banshee knows how to translate Malia’s hieroglyphs – and Lydia keeps glancing at Liam, eyes narrow like she’s trying to size him up. Feeling a shiver go down his spine, Liam can’t even focus on Stiles’ new rant. Malia lets out a small laugh and Lydia smiles when she looks at her phone again. Liam’s mind is going a thousand miles an hour. If Lydia finds out about Theo and him, this whole thing will be over. Stiles just accused Theo of trying to seduce him, if he finds out that they’re together, it’s done. Stiles will have his proof! 

“You guys suck!” Brett gets up after he finally had enough of Alec and Lori’s punishment and walks towards Lydia and Malia while Stiles is still screaming about everything Theo did. Alec seems to be the only one paying attention right now, throwing a semi-helpful “but did anyone die?” since, well, “yes! Many people did”. But Liam is too occupied staring at Brett “snitching is not a moral thing, I just like the chaos” Talbott walking towards Lydia “if there’s gossip to be had, I’ll be the first to know” Martin and Malia “discretion and subtleness are words I didn’t learn in the forest” Tate.  

Liam looks back at Mason and Corey with a frightened look. They both tense but they can’t look away from the interaction, they’re watching someone put together a bomb that will inevitably blow up in their faces. 

Malia and Lydia frown at Brett standing in front of them. 

“I don't want to be here either, at least let me laugh at their dumb faces with you,” the tall boy suggests like it’s the most obvious deal there could be.  

Lydia considers him before glancing at Malia who shrugs. 

“Brett, right?” He nods with a smirk. “Tell me, what's going on there?” Lydia points at Liam and then Theo. Brett laughs before he sits down on the arm of the sofa next to Lydia and gets his phone. Liam grips Mason’s and Corey’s arms so hard that they both groan quietly in pain. Receiving a text barely a few seconds later, Lydia's eyes grow wide and her expression turns from wickedly amused to horrified as her eyes suddenly land on Stiles. “Oh no,” she mumbles. 

Yeah, she's not psychic but she could make a pretty good guess as to what would happen if Stiles was to find out. 

Liam doesn’t know what to do. He turns and looks at Mason with horror written on his face. That’s when he sees his friend’s tense and agonizing face. He quickly lets go of Mason’s arm and, after an apologetic look, telepathically begs him to do something. Mason takes out his phone in a hurry and starts texting. Liam doesn’t even feel Corey finally ripping his arm from the tight clutch. Perched over Mason’s shoulder, Liam frowns when he sees that Mason already has a private chat with Lydia. They’ve texted recently too. Uh. Liam didn’t know those two texted. He looks at his best friend but realizes maybe now is not the time to ask about this. Still, he watches as Mason tries to solve this crisis.

THE “COMMON SENSE IS A GIFT NOT A RIGHT” PRIVATE CHAT

Puppy Common Sense

Don’t tell Stiles!! 

Liam waited too long and now it’ll blow up

Pls pls pls

Master Common Sense

you keeping info from stiles is fine but you keeping things from me?

not the same🧐

Puppy Common Sense

I’m sorryyyyy 😭😭😭

Liam asked me not to tell

Master Common Sense

…

i can see why

stiles didn’t talk to me for 2 weeks when he learned about aiden

this is worse

much much worse

Puppy Common Sense

No need to tell me!!!

Liam slaps his arm because he’s supposed to be supportive!

“Are you even listening!?” Stiles suddenly shouts in the living room, making Liam look up from Mason’s phone. “You’re not gonna deny the fact that your little boyfriend’s mission has always been to cause a drift in this pack?”

Liam quietly gasps again. He can’t feel his fingers. 

“What? He’s not my… We barely see each other. Alright, he kinda lives at my house but that’s it.” Liam clears his throat, keeping his breathing steady just like Theo has been teaching him. Lies are more believable when you also admit something else, that’s what Theo told him during one of their “Lying Classes” which are essentially Theo giving him an advice or two after Liam bugged him enough. Liam subconsciously glances at Theo to make sure that he did it right and Theo gives him a subtle nod. The beta beams at the crumb of validation. 

Seeing the complicit nod, Stiles immediately screams, “Did he tell you to say that?!” 

Liam turns so fast that his eyes struggle to land on Stiles again. “What? No!” 

“I saw that nod, Junior!” 

“It wasn't-” 

“It's exactly as I thought!” Stiles continues. “Theo's the one making you do this and-” 

“No!” How many times does Liam need to say this?! “It's just that he's been teaching me how to lie and-” 

“He what?” Scott finally intervenes, his face more serious than ever.  

Theo and the rest of the puppy pack rub a hand over their tired faces. 

“Oh,” Liam whispers, now hearing how it might sound. He turns for support but even Theo is giving him an unimpressed look. Liam winces. Right, first rule of lying: always deny the fact that you're lying. 

He keeps forgetting about that one!

Scott’s hard look then lands on Theo who just stands there, shrugging. 

“Don’t look at me like that, it’s obviously not working.” 

Scott’s eyes flicker red and brown as he sends a low growl towards Theo. 

“So almost killing all of us wasn’t enough now, he decided to turn Liam evil? Is that his new plan? Get the pups against us?”

“You’re accomplishing that great on your own,” Theo mumbles with a smirk.

“Not helping!” Liam warns him with a glare. 

Theo raises both of his hands and doesn’t say anything more but he still wears that smug grin. 

“Of course, he’s not helpful,” Stiles exclaims. “The point of him has always been to bring mayhem to our pack! It’s probably his way of getting revenge. Or he just gets off on it! Probably both!”

Liam presses a heavy hand against his face, slowly developing a migraine. “I just told you that he helped us with the chupacabras.”

“Yeah, yeah, we already knew that he could murder without remorse, it’s nothing new. It’s not because he massacred a few creatures that he’s suddenly good! Actually, it kinda proves the opposite! Early signs of psychopathy anyone?”

Oh no. This is what Liam didn’t want. 

“Liam was hurt. It could’ve been way worse without Theo!” Mason chimes in.

As the days were leading up to this pack meeting, Liam made a promise to himself. 

“He gives me lifts sometimes,” Alec adds with a nod.

He would never let it twist itself into a trial about Theo’s goodness. 

“He helped me with my math homework the other day,” Lori says, a bit shy now that she’s in front of the older members of the pack. 

Liam shakes his head. This is not why they're here.

He takes a deep breath. 

They're here because people are scared. 

Looking around, Liam can see that, in some way and for different reasons, everyone here is scared.

“Wow, a homework. Let’s give him sainthood!” Stiles screams. 

“Enough!” Liam says with a calm yet firm tone. 

Everyone stops for a moment and Liam tries to find a nice way to say “I don’t care if Theo is good or not.” without receiving concerned looks from Stiles and Scott. It’s actually harder than he thought it would be to put this into words and, as a result, the room stays silent for a longer moment than he thought but he’s grateful for everyone’s patience. 

“It doesn’t matter,” he finally tentatively says.

“Of course, it-”

“It doesn’t matter what I say,” Liam cuts Stiles off. “It doesn’t matter what any of us says because you won’t believe us! You didn’t come here to talk things through, you came here to ‘convince’ me or, at least, the majority! But it won’t work! And when you’ll be here next semester, you’ll see that Theo isn’t a threat anymore! Maybe if you see it with your own eyes then-”

“When what?” Stiles’ words are so fragile, they break as soon as they leave his mouth.

Liam frowns at the unexpected reaction. Looking at Stiles, he can’t even see a hint of anger in the human’s eyes. He’s so confused that it takes him a moment for him to remember Stiles asked him a question.

“When you hang out with us, you’ll see,” Liam repeats, sounding less sure of himself but it’s purely because Stiles doesn’t look right.

Besides the light shock in his eyes, Stiles’ face is blank when he asks, “You want me to…” 

Liam looks around him. Sometimes, he doesn’t understand things that other people have already comprehended but this doesn’t seem to be one of those cases. Everyone looks confused.  

“You’re coming back here, no? I just thought…” Liam says before he finally gets it. “But, no, yeah, I guess that’s dumb. You’ll probably want to go with Scott or something. Forget I said-”

“No- No, I’m coming back, actually.” 

Liam breaks into a smile hearing this. 

Stiles is still frowning but a small grin draws itself on his lips and, just as suddenly, relief washes over the room. Scott taps Stiles’ shoulders and squeezes. 

“Did you think I wouldn’t want you to come back?” Liam asks, puzzled by the intensity of the relief. 

“Well…” Stiles shrugs, coming back to his defensiveness for a moment but his voice is much softer when he adds, “You haven’t texted me in months so…” 

“Well, yeah, because every time we text, you’re on my case and scolding me like I’m a kid!” 

Stiles ponders on this for a moment before he nods like Liam might be right about this. Everyone stays silent because this weirdly feels like a couples therapy session without a therapist. So this feels a bit personal and intrusive. Plus, it seems to be going well? Like maybe everything will be okay, like this is the best conclusion they could’ve hoped for. Sometimes, the best thing to do is hope that time will fix things and that your friends will want to stay your friends. The silence that follows isn’t so tense. It’s almost nice and everyone finally settles in their seats with ease. 

That’s not the only reason Alec breaking the silence ruins the moment.  

“Anyway, Theo is so whipped, he wouldn’t do anything that might make Liam mad so I doubt he’d get revenge or-”

Like a chorus of demons, every member of the puppy pack starts screaming Alec’s name. Liam’s body barely had the time to relax and now the renewed tension is making his claws come out.

Malia winces at them like this isn’t good and Lydia puts a hand over her face like she can’t bear to watch or maybe she’s just tired of the absurd levels of messiness. Brett, on the other hand, stares at his friends with a bright smile, enjoying the chaos. 

“Wait, what? What do you mean ‘whipped’?” Stiles immediately asks. “Hey, hey! Let him talk!”

Embarrassed and taken aback by this new information, Scott stares at the floor, his mouth slightly open. 

With a vindictive growl, Liam can barely hold himself from brutalizing Alec even if Lori and Mason are already punching the young beta. Even Corey is dutifully glaring at Alec for his stupid slip up. 

“I'm not watching one of your plays ever again! And! I did notice when you messed up that line on stage! We all did! I just said that we didn't because I was being polite,” Liam says with venom at Alec. 

Alec gasps. Slowing shaking his head, he says sadly, “Hurt people hurt people.” 

Liam pounces on Alec but Theo is suddenly next to him, holding him back just in time for the beta’s claws to miss Alec’s face by a hair. Although he’d normally revel at having Theo’s hands on him, he’s now an obstacle in his very righteous mission to punish Alec and it’s only making him angrier.

“He’s just trying to lighten the mood. Liam. Liam, look at me,” Theo whispers close to Liam’s ear as the beta tries to break free like a kitten trying to claw its way out of the only thing keeping it from a sure fall. “It’s just Alec. You like him. You play video games with him. He’s always on your side when you want to rewatch Night at the Museum on pack nights.” Liam’s strength falters and the beta is merely shaking in Theo’s hold, stuck with the energy of retribution and the wolf’s bloodlust. Theo can feel every wave of goosebumps on his warm skin. “Everything is okay.”

Their eyes glued to the two boys standing in the middle of the living room, Stiles, Scott, Malia, and Lydia all stare at Liam who managed to calm down without hurting someone or himself. 

“Interesting,” Lydia whispers out loud like she’s a detective gathering information, her eyes never leaving them. 

“I thought he could restrain himself from killing people by himself,” Mason whispers at Theo with sass. 

“Killing, yeah,” Theo whispers back, annoyed and making it clear that now is not the time. “But he really was gonna beat him to a pulp.” 

Alec whimpers in fear behind Lori who quickly pushes him away. “No way I’m being your shield, this is your fault.”

“I was trying to help!”

“This is a joke, right?” Stiles starts once more, his face scrunches with barely contained disgust. “You’re not seriously-”

A deep roar hits Stiles in the face like a powerful wind and the human stubbles back into his seat. Gasping for breath, all Stiles can see are Liam’s claws and fangs, far too close to his face for his liking. He forces himself to look up and doesn’t like how Theo is panting in exertion, paining to keep Liam from taking the foot of distance required to grip Stiles’ head and crush it until the human falls into eternal silence. 

“Well, don’t just fake holding him back!” Stiles tells Theo, his rabbit heart pounding in his chest. 

“If I was faking, you’d know!!” Theo growls, his eyes shining gold from the effort required to stop Liam. 

Stiles is digging a hole in the armchair but he stays there, his prey instincts telling him to run but overall hoping that someone would prevent his untimely death in a room full of his closest friends. 

“Come back, it’s okay. It’s a rough day, you knew it would be hard. It’s okay…” Theo tries to whisper even more silently in the beta’s ear but he hates how he can feel everyone’s eyes on them. Surely, that’s not helping Liam either. “I know you’re tired, just let yourself be tired. It’s okay.” 

Liam’s breath comes out jagged and rough and Theo isn’t sure if he’s crying or if he has been holding his breath for too long in hopes of controlling himself. He holds him tighter. 

“Okay, so now that the conversation is done, we could watch a movie! Right?” Mason says, trying to change the subject and hopefully make people focus on something other than his friend having a crisis.

“Wow, wow, we’re not done. New and very upsetting-” Liam growls at him again and Stiles jumps. “…information just came in and we-” He looks back to check on Scott for support but Scott is still staring at Theo and Liam with a furrowed brow, speechless and deeply in his thoughts. “Scotty?”

Scott blinks out of his trance and slowly looks back at Stiles, something pained in his expression. Seeing this, Liam completely deflates in Theo’s arms, not even bracing for the impact of his alpha’s disapproving words, already defeated. Scott stays silent, thinking and sharing a look with Stiles.

“Scott?” Lydia says, her chin high but her voice wavering.

Scott turns and looks at her instead. Lydia’s face is relaxed but her eyes are cold and her words, although warm, sound severe to anyone who can hear them.

“It’s not your decision to make.”

Scott takes a moment to swallow that down. The room is completely quiet. Finally, Scott nods like he knows she’s right. He looks back at Theo who stopped holding Liam but still stays close to him, Theo who is looking just slightly away from Scott, unwilling to admit that he can’t look him in the eyes. Scott looks back at Liam who is staring right at him, waiting in a fighting stance for him to say anything bad even if everyone can hear his heart breaking and see his eyes filled with tears. 

The first thing Scott did to Liam was injure him. Scott never really saved Liam’s life. He’s the reason Liam was at the hospital in the first place. He’s the reason Liam will never have a normal existence. There’s a world where Scott could forgive Theo for what he did. Forgiveness always came easy to him. He doesn’t know why people hold on to things when it feels so good to simply let it go and start anew. He hears Stiles’ rapid heartbeat and suddenly realizes that Trust is the opposite of Fear in a lot of ways. So, yes, there is a world where he could trust Theo again… but he can’t get himself to cross over. His own heartbeat is speeding up just like his best friend’s and he doesn’t know how to make it stop. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t bring himself to talk about this and why he let Stiles take the wheel. He wishes he could be as forgiving as he was before and he’s scared of what it means to not be that person anymore. 

Still, he can’t stand to have Liam looking at him like he’s just taken away his human life again. So he takes the leap he can manage to take for now. 

“If something bad happens to Liam or anyone else,” Scott starts, his eyes hard on the chimera and his voice close to a menacing growl, “I’ll know it was your fault.”

Liam is the first one to object. “Bad things happen to us all the time, you can’t-” 

“Alright,” Theo says with gravity.

“I will strangle you!!!!” Liam screams at Theo before looking at everyone else but especially Scott. “Not alright! Definitely not alright! You’re all insane! Theo is here and he’s gonna stay here for a while and I don’t care what you’re gonna do about it! I don’t care what you think!” he yells at Scott. Liam turns towards Stiles and points at him. “And you need to think before you talk! Not every single one of your thoughts is a gift to the world!”

“Pot to kettle…” Brett murmurs to Malia and Lydia and they smirk but they can’t bring themselves to laugh.

Liam continues, apparently on a roll. He looks at Lydia and points at her. “And you should speak more!! It doesn’t matter that you’re the smartest if you don’t help.”

Lydia frowns at him in offense but she doesn’t say anything. 

“And you…” Liam points at Malia and pauses for a moment, losing steam. She raises an eyebrow as if challenging him to say anything bad. “You should hang out with us more. You’re cool!”    

A series of “yeah” and “that’d be cool” and “she is” emerges from the puppies and Malia straightens a bit with the smallest grin of pride. 

“Do me next!” Alec exclaims, excited.

“Calm down,” Lori taps Alec’s head patronizingly. “It’s not about you.” 

Liam is still heaving despite his stunted anger as he waits for someone to scream at him or kick him out of the pack. But it’s just silence. Liam thinks maybe he overdid it. Crossed a line of some kind. His body shivers in anxiety. A warm hand presses itself on his back and he knows it’s Theo. It helps a bit. He glances at Mason but he’s shocked to see that his best friend isn’t looking aggravated or even embarrassed. Actually, he smiles at him softly. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that bad. Liam can’t even remember what he just said. All he knows is that he just screamed and, normally, people look at him like he’s crazy when he screams, like he’s dangerous. There’s this apology stuck in his throat, ready to burst out at the first sign of fear or disapproval from the older members of the pack. 

“Okay.” Scott nods and it doesn’t sound angry. “Okay…” he repeats when he sees that Liam isn’t calming down. Looking at him, Scott hopes that it’s because he hasn’t blinked in a minute that Liam’s eyes suddenly fill with tears. “You’re right.” 

I am?!

Liam is still shaking and he immediately looks at Stiles, a part of him thinking that this must be impossible, that someone will refuse him this reconciliation. He’s waiting for Stiles to prove his brain right and say that Liam has just crossed a line. The human looks deeply annoyed, obviously biting his cheeks, but when he finally opens his mouth, it’s Lydia who speaks for him.

“Stiles will work on it,” she says for him. 

Liam and Lydia’s eyes meet and Liam finally breaks into a shy smile, relief flooding his veins. He can finally breathe. He looks at Malia next but it’s barely a reflex.

“You guys are annoying a lot of the time but…” She shrugs. “I could swing by once in a while.”

“You better!” Stiles exclaims with a scoff. “I’m not babysitting them on my own next semester!”

Theo’s hand on his back rises to his shoulder and squeezes as Liam breathes through the crushing relief. A part of him wants to crumble and cry from the emotional toll of what just happened but he knows that this isn’t the time so he simply leans into Theo’s touch, trying his best to take deep breaths despite the overwhelming dizziness. 

Now that the Main Topic is over with, the group’s deep reassurance doesn’t distract them from the sudden awkward silence. They glance at each other, not quite sure what to do or say next.  

“Well, anyone else has awful news they’d like to share?” Stiles asks the assembly. 

Liam sends him a low growl but Theo quickly distracts him by bringing him back to the sofas. Seeing this, Lori gets up and sits next to Corey and Mason so Theo and Liam would have two free spots on Alec’s couch. 

“Lori and I did the school play!” Alec says cheerfully like he missed the “awful” in the question or Liam’s roast of before.

“We even have a DVD with the recording and everything!” Lori adds proudly.

“Of the night we saw? With the…” Liam half-whispers to her, pointing vaguely towards Alec.

Alec’s mouth opens in shock. Without his usual wingwoman by his side, Alec turns to the person sitting next to him for support but he’s clearly barking up the wrong tree. 

“You said ‘line?’ on stage, Alec,” Theo says with his usual neutral face, baffled that this is news to him. 

Alec crosses his arms and keeps his mouth shut.

“Okay, now I definitely want to watch it!” Stiles exclaims with a laugh. 

They both drag their exhausted bodies up the stairs and finally arrive at Liam’s bedroom. They thought for a moment that they wouldn't make it. Theo has been especially tense since they left Scott's house but it's probably just him letting himself show the tension he’s been feeling all along rather than him actually becoming more and more nervous. Liam is proud of him for resisting the shift all day but he also knows that Theo won't be able to keep at it for much longer. So Liam closes his door behind them and gladly lies on the bed with a sigh that's so strong, it's almost a groan. 

Just as he thought, Theo immediately starts taking off his shirt. Liam closes his eyes and waits for him to join him on the bed. The mattress dips but it's not the familiar weight of one small wolf and, before Liam can understand what's going on, Theo's lips slowly start kissing him. Liam opens his eyes and he inadvertently breaks the kiss when he realizes that Theo is straddling his legs with only his boxers on. Blush rising to his face, Liam needs a moment to wrap his head around the unexpected reaction but he still keeps his hands on Theo's shoulders, keeping him close with a loose hold. 

“Wait, wait, are you okay, do you want-”

“Yes, Liam, I took off my shirt ‘cause I wanted to talk about it,” Theo groans, staying close to his face but waiting for Liam to give the green light to continue. 

Liam weighs his options for a moment but it's hard to refuse Theo like this and today has been emotionally taxing as it was, maybe they could do without yet another Talk. Maybe Theo is right. This is better. 

“Okay,” Liam says, actually growing more and more relieved. It's been so long since he kissed Theo! At least four hours!

Theo frowns like this is too good to be true. “Okay?”

That's all it takes for Liam to backtrack. “I mean, unless you really want to talk about it. We can totally-”

Theo crashes his lips against Liam’s and, oh yeah, this is much better! He sighs into the kiss and lets his fingers run through Theo's hair. He receives each kiss, each touch, and proof of affection with soothing delight. Shivers run down his spine when he feels Theo's hand slide under his shirt and he inadvertently breaks the kiss, his mind pleasantly overwhelmed by the sensation of Theo's confident touches all over him. Of course, a small, tiny, and unimportant part of his mind knows that they should slow down but, honestly, even if he wanted to slow down, which he doesn't, he's pretty sure it wouldn't change anything. Theo seems pretty adamant on scent marking him and kissing every inch of his face. Not that Liam is complaining!

Joy slowly bubbles in his chest and he could probably cry. They're back in his room. Nothing changed. Just like they hoped. He gets to keep Theo. He could even kiss him in front of the entire pack and they'd just have to deal with it. Not that he would have settled for less! 

“Wait, wait,... Just,” Liam, breathless and his mind foggy, struggles to say. He doesn't wait for Theo to ask what's wrong, he just traps him in a deeply needed bear hug. Pressing his nose into Theo's neck, he takes deep inhales of his comforting smell and closes his eyes so that he might not tear up. 

Theo's hands, which were so confident a moment ago, only hesitantly wrap around Liam, slowly digging themselves a place between the beta's back and the mattress. He knows that his touch must be bruising on Theo's shivering back but he can't help but hold on to him tight. He really thought that maybe…

But it's fine now. Everything is fine. Nothing changed. Or rather, it did. But not for the worse.

Just as Liam starts to feel the stress of the day finally ebb out, there's a knock at his door. 

“Liam, are you okay?” his mom's voice asks from the other side of the door. 

They separate as painfully as velcro but it’s just as quick. Their wide eyes barely have the time to meet before Theo is suddenly off him and there's a loud crash as he ungracefully falls to the floor, on the side of the bed opposite the door. 

Liam is still unbalanced by the sudden lack of Theo on top of him and trying to speak isn’t easy when his lips are still buzzing and his hands are painfully missing the warmth of Theo’s skin. Clearing his throat, Liam opens his mouth to answer before he remembers to flatten his hair and fix his shirt. 

“Yeah, I'm fine.”

She opens the door –  Fuck!!!!! – and he tries really hard not to hold it against her. 

“You went to see Scott and Stiles? How did it go? I know you were looking forward to it,” she says but her tone lets him know that she knew he was actually dreading it. 

“It was okay.”

Jenna smiles at him, relieved. “Great.” She barely skips a beat before she adds, “And did you go with him, Theo?”

Liam's heart entirely stops. Trying to look casual and not at all caught red-handed, Theo slightly sits up to look at Jenna, making sure that only his face and part of his neck are visible above the bed hiding his barely clothed body. 

“Yes, I did. Hi, Mrs Dunbar.” 

Jenna smiles brightly at him, clearly enjoying both of them being embarrassed. Liam groans, hiding his blushing face behind his hands and Theo tenses as the silence drags on, looking anywhere else but at Liam’s mother. 

“Hello.” She chuckles. “Are you naked again or do you just prefer to sit on the floor?”

“Well, I was giving Liam some space since it was a-”

“I can see your shoulder,” she points out, more than happy to catch him in a lie. 

“…And I had a stain on my shirt so I was changing it.” 

Jenna nods, biting her tongue not to laugh. She then points at a piece of clothing near the desk. “Aren't those your jeans?” 

Theo’s mouth opens as he looks at them. He lets out a sigh and, in many ways, gives up. He fully sits up and simply smiles at her as he says, “Technically? They're Liam's.” 

Liam crashes his foot against Theo's chest and forces it down until Theo’s back hits the floor and he can’t say dumb things to his mom again. Theo smirks but he stays still under Liam's decisive leg. 

“Well, since you're fine, could you help me with the dishes, please?” Jenna asks Liam with an unimpressed look.

“Yep!” he says happily. Anything would be better than staying with the heavy stench of embarrassment! “Be there in a minute.”

She walks away with a smirk, leaving the door open as she goes. 

He makes sure that she’s all the way back to the kitchen before he takes off his foot and kneels by Theo’s side with an intense look.  

“Stay!” he commands rather angrily before giving Theo a peck on the corner of his lips. 

Liam's footsteps leave the room and Theo stays there, a warm buzzing enveloping him as he continues respecting the order. With not much else to do, he closes his eyes and listens to Jenna and Liam talk as they wash the dishes. 

“So… still not your boyfriend?” 

“I… uh… He… might be my… boyfriend. Hopefully.” 

Theo can't help but smile. He might as well since there’s no one to see it. Liam and him never really Talked about what It was. They barely had a moment to themselves in the past few days, with the other members of the pack coming soon and the load that is regular school, work, patrols, and friend activities. Technically, they still haven't gone on a real date! 

“And when were you gonna tell me about him being able to shapeshift?”

Theo immediately sits up, his heart racing and, hearing how Liam's heart speeds up as well, he didn't see this coming either. He so vehemently hopes that Liam will just laugh it up and try to change the subject. Instead, he hears a plate shattering on the floor.

Cursing under his breath, Theo struggles to put back his pants and shirt back on as he rushes down the stairs two at a time. Just before his fingers can feel the beautiful promise the doorknob of the front door offers, a voice stops him.

“Theo, don't you dare!” Liam warns, his tone low with an anger that hides his desperation.

“Theo, would you come here please?” Jenna says too, her voice trying to be light but there's a scary authority in it. 

Theo freezes and stares at the inch between his hand and the door. He can’t even think, his fight or flight activated and eclipsing anything else. 

Just then, the door opens and Theo immediately backs away. David seems surprised to see Theo so close to the door and he breaks into puzzled amusement. 

“Were you going?” he asks, his face losing its lightness when he sees how panicked Theo looks.

“No, he wasn't!” Liam and Jenna say at once with the exact same tone. A firmness shielding nervousness. 

David closes the door and gives Theo an apologetic look. Taking off his jacket and putting down his bag, he can’t help but notice that the boy still hasn’t moved a muscle. Although there’s not much he can do to help him, he still tries.

“Jenna, I thought we were doing that next week,” he asks, speaking louder so she hears him from the kitchen. 

“Change of plans.” 

David lets out a little sigh. 

“Sorry, buddy, we're doing this apparently.” He taps his shoulder before heading for the kitchen. 

Theo closes his eyes for a moment before he turns around and walks away from the door. 

Liam lets out a shaky sigh when he finally settles next to him but there’s no erasing the worry written on his face. He has gone pale again and he fights the urge to grab Theo’s hand. Why couldn’t his mom be selfish and uncaring for one night? What’s wrong with letting your children endure their hardships on their own?!

“Relax, sweetheart, we’re not here to throw any stones, we just…” Jenna pauses for a moment, her eyes going from her son to the boy standing beside him. At a loss for words, she finally looks at David for help. 

“We just wanted to say that we know,” David says with a nod and a confident face before he thinks for a moment. “Well, actually, we weren’t sure sure but…” He looks at Jenna and she looks back at him. “Alright, so your mom was sure.”

She nods with a proud smile. “And David said that he saw some weird things at the hospital. Unexplicable things. And so have I! You know about the ghost I saw in the grocery store a year ago!” 

“It probably wasn’t-” David tries again like this is the 100th time he had to bring her back to earth.

“Honey, I know what I saw!”

David lets out a quick sigh that ends in a chuckle. An amused smile breaks his exasperated expression and he nods at her like she’s right.

Watching them ping pong like this, Liam focuses on breathing as he waits for the death sentence. His mind is screaming in agony after the day he’s had and there’s no shutting it up now. He lets out a pitiful little whine on an especially hard exhale and both of his parents finally turn back to look at him. Their faces soften in worry as they realize they forgot and left him to stress in the corner for a moment.

“No, no,” Jenna immediately says, trying to comfort her son. “It’s nothing bad, Liam. Please, just… Take a breath in.”

Following his mom’s instructions and taking a deep breath with her, Liam doesn’t like the way tears start to fill his eyes. He can’t do this a second time today! He won’t make it through another freaking trial. So he just starts blurting anything that can cross his panicked mind.

“Yeah, okay, so I didn’t tell you but I think it’s pretty fair ‘cause, I mean, isn’t-”

“Liam. Liam!” his mom tries to stop him.

Even Theo grazes his hand with his own.

“Liam, we know this. We’re not mad at you or Theo. We’re just saying that if he you want Theo to sleep at the house, then you don’t need him to change into a dog,” David quickly says so that Liam might finally calm down.

“I-” Liam’s voice breaks and he clears his throat. He stretches his index to feel Theo again. “What?”

“It’s okay. We um… We don’t know much on the subject but it’s okay. We can… learn.” She offers a genuine and easy smile at both of them. David nods enthusiastically. 

Liam blinks at them for a moment. They’re acting like he just brought a… a deaf boyfriend who only speaks ASL or like… someone with unusual pronouns. What the hell are they saying?! Theo is a chimera!? An anomaly even in the supernatural world!

Glancing at Theo, he sees an equally as puzzled frown on his slightly tilted face and feels a bit comforted by it. 

“Really?” Liam asks tentatively. This is way too good to be true. Suspiciously so. 

His mom and stepdad both nod.

“Oh, that’s such a relief!” Liam exclaims with a powerful exhale. The adrenaline leaves his bloodstream and he can barely stay upright. “It's been so hard to hide this from you and I was mainly trying to protect you! Ever since Scott bit me, it's just been crazy and dangerous stuff after other crazy and- Oh!”

Oh no. 

Jenna and David stare at him with stunned faces. 

“Scott did what?” David asks, his face very serious and as close to angered as the soft-hearted doctor can be.

Liam winces, backed into a corner of his own making. “Um…” 

“He's a werewolf,” Theo says because at this point there’s no use denying anything. 

“YOU'RE A WHAT?” Jenna blurts out, her face struck by bafflement.

Liam whines, rubbing a harsh hand on his tired face. Can't this day end!?