Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When Liam Dunbar was 7 years old, his dad had bought him a shiny red and blue Spiderman lunch box for his first day of 1^st grade. It had been one of those special 3D lunch boxes that moved when tilted one way, as if Spiderman was really moving. Liam had given a loud squeal as he grabbed onto his present, beaming up at his dad with glistening blue eyes and a toothy smile. His dad had smiled back sadly.

On the drive to school, Liam had been vibrating out of the car seat in anticipation, right hand clutched tightly onto his brand new lunch box and mouth moving through a continuous stream of whatever excited 7 year olds talked about. As the door opened and the click of the seatbelt sounded, his mom barely got half a hug in before the young boy was peeling off across the grass and into the building.

Liam practically sprinted into his new classroom, knocking over some chairs as he swept through like a hurricane. He watched eagerly as the other students tentatively approached each other, trying, obviously, to find their best friend for life. Hugging his Spiderman lunchbox closer to his body like a lifeline, Liam hoped that maybe there would be someone perfect for him. It didn’t take long at all for a tap on his shoulder to answer his wish, and Liam turned to see a boy smiling shyly at him. In his hands was a purple and green Hulk lunchbox, with a tape over the box where, in blocky black letters, was the name Mason. The “s” was written backwards. Liam grinned and held his own lunchbox up, fitted with his own tape and own name, Liam, written, conveniently with the “L” backwards.

Two weeks later, kneeling on the floor of their living room, Liam’s mother had cried as she hugged him, apologizing to him over and over again between silent sobs. She had told him it wasn’t his fault, whispered to him as she stroked his hair softly. Liam hadn’t fully understood, not then. All he knew was that his dad had left them, had left him.

“It’s okay sweetheart, we’ll be okay. Sometimes people leave, and that’s okay.” He hadn’t known if she had been talking to him or herself.

Liam sat sullenly in the passenger seat of Theo’s stupid truck, strapped in tightly like some sort of prisoner. He stared out the window angrily, wishing to any higher being that was listening that the drive to Scott’s house was faster. Liam didn’t want to have Theo as his designated chauffeur, he hated it with his entire being. The sheer fact that it had been the mass murdering chimera that had dragged him out of his self imposed isolation to unwillingly attend a post Ghost Rider pack meeting was, frankly, hurtful. He had just wanted to spend the start of summer in peace. And honestly, was he worth so little effort that Theo was who Scott sent? Where was Mason? Probably busy getting lost in Corey’s eyes, Liam thought bitterly. Theo, to his credit, had been keeping blessedly silent, probably overly aware of the scent of anger and annoyance radiating off of Liam in waves.

Of course, blessings don’t last long, they never do. A hitch in Theo’s breath indicated that the blasted science experiment was about to open his mouth. Liam tensed, preparing for the lesson in control he was definitely about to get.

“Look, I know Hayden leaving was hard on you -” Liam squeezed his eyes shut and focused solely on evening his breaths. In, out, in, out, in, out. “- but it’s not like you can’t call each other or visit, it’s not the end of the world.”

“Can you shut up.”

Theo sighed, but rather than giving up like Liam desperately wanted, he continued, because why wouldn’t he? When had Theo Raeken ever shut up when someone wanted him to?

“I guess it’s first love though, am I right? The toughest one to get over, but it will happen with time.”

Now this was rich. The bastard was smirking at him too, like they had just shared a moment or something. Liam couldn’t help but snort in disbelief.

“What on earth would you know about first love? Or love, or even feelings, for that matter? Just leave me alone and drive faster.”

The smirk dropped instantly, and Theo paused for a long time, disconcertingly long. His knuckles cracked as he gripped the steering wheel tighter than necessary, and Liam growled at the sound. He knew he was being petty, but he didn’t care. They continued the rest of the ride in blissful silence.

“We’re here. Get out of my truck.”

“Are you coming?”

“And risk getting my throat ripped out by multiple angry werewolves and werewolf adjacents? I’m good.”

“Alright, see you never.”

Liam got out and slammed the door intentionally loudly, stomping up the driveway towards the McCall house. He heard the sound of Theo’s truck speeding off almost as soon as his foot landed on the pavement. He didn’t care to look back.

The pack meeting was mind-numbingly boring and wholly unnecessary. Liam suspected it was held just so Scott could make sure he was doing alright. Which he wasn’t. He wasn’t at all. But the pack couldn’t know that. Liam didn’t think he could take any more looks of pity or pep talks about “getting over breakups”. He tried to get Mason’s attention, but his best friend was too busy fussing over Corey to really notice. His time spent with Liam had decreased significantly ever since he saw his boyfriend stabbed full of tubes in the Wild Hunt. Now it was as if they were never apart, as if even leaving Corey’s side for a moment meant he would turn invisible and never turn back. Liam empathized, he truly did, but it didn’t stop the feelings of bitterness and jealousy from clawing and winding around his aching heart.

Stiles was currently droning on and on about something or other, while Scott was trying unsuccessfully to watch Liam from the corner of his eyes with barely concealed worry. Liam’s fingers absently found their way towards the woven bracelet on his right wrist, tracing the soft bumps of the worn fabric. Hayden had given it to him shortly after they had gotten together, after being trapped by the Dread doctors. She had made it herself, and painted tiny blue wolves onto it, running round and round, forever and ever in an endless cycle above Liam’s pulse point. He had remembered getting flustered and trying to make one for her in return, only to fail spectacularly and ending up with a ripped and torn monstrosity with flecks of vaguely jaguar shaped paint blobs chipping off the ends. Hayden had smiled brightly as he had sheepishly handed it to her, and looked at it like it was the most beautiful thing in the world. She had worn it proudly, and punched a boy in their chemistry class for making fun of it. He wondered if she still wore it. Probably not.

He had loved her so much, and he thought she felt the same.

But then again, his dad had loved him too.

And they had both left him. Like it as nothing, like it was so easy. Sometimes people leave, and that’s okay.

When Liam got home later that night, he ripped off the bracelet and tossed it into a storage bin tucked away in his closet. It landed right on top of his dust-covered Spiderman lunch box. Liam kicked the bin further into his closet until it was out of sight. Maybe one day he would toss it out for good, like he had told himself all those years ago.

A letter was sitting on the kitchen counter, with a note stuck to the top of it. Liam wiped the sleep out of his eyes and begrudgingly took a look. The note was from his mother, he recognized the looping handwriting almost immediately.

Congratulations!!! We’re so proud of you!

- Remember to eat breakfast, see you tonight dear.

Proud? Liam glanced at the letter, seeing that the envelope had already been opened, though it was addressed to him. Frowning, he tugged out the slip of paper peeking from within the envelope and unfolded it. The first thing he saw was a ridiculously giant logo of two winged lacrosse sticks crisscrossed in front of what appeared to be a wolf howling- ironic. The logo took up a third of the page, but it told Liam all he needed to know. It was a letter accepting him into the highly prestigious and incredibly exclusive Youth National Lacrosse Summer Camp held in Sacramento that year.

It was an unbelievable achievement, to have been chosen among thousands of applicants all over the United States, to have premier league coaching and a real chance at playing professionally in the future. Liam should have been over the moon, he should have been ecstatic, should have jumped up and down screaming and texting everyone he knew. Yet, all he could think of was the soft touch of Hayden’s hands as she urged him to apply, and how her hair smelled faintly of hibiscus when she helped him formulate his cover letter and took him to get ice cream after it was all said and done. He hadn’t wanted to apply, hadn’t thought he was good enough, even with his werewolf powers, but Hayden had believed in him. She had been the reason he made it, and now she wasn’t even here. Liam thought of maybe texting her a short thanks, but even thinking about it hurt. He sat there on the kitchen counter for a long time, folding and unfolding the letter in his hands until the paper was too creased to hold together.

Later that night at dinner, he told his mom and stepdad that he didn’t want to go. He had honestly expected much more push back, and had prepared for a difficult argument, especially from Dr. Geyer, who had once been a budding lacrosse star himself. Instead, what he got was arguably worse. His parents exchanged a defeated look, and accepted his refusal. Just like that. Liam felt the tendrils of rage begin to envelop him, and he fought to keep it back. Why was he getting mad? His parents weren’t going to give him a hard time, this should be good news. He should be happy. So why wasn’t he?

“So you’re not even going to tell me that I’m being stupid?” Liam couldn’t help but blurt out. Sometimes he wondered why he talked. “Isn’t it a parent’s job to convince your kid to go to a summer camp that could literally set him up for life?”

“Liam, we know you’re hurting, and if you’re not up for it, there’s always next summer -”

“I’m fine! What’s not fine is why you’re not even trying to parent me properly.”

“Liam -”

Liam pushed back from the table and stormed upstairs to his room, slamming the door shut. Below, he could hear his parents’ worried murmurs, and he shut himself off from the sounds. He knew listening in would just make him that much more frustrated. Instead, he focused on the stinging pain in his palms as his claws dug into the soft flesh, grounding him slowly, so slowly.

After his mother had remarried, life had generally gotten better. David Geyer was a respected surgeon, and a good man. He treated Liam like his own almost from day one, and played lacrosse with him, a sport Liam had first gotten into as an outlet for his anger. And so he had a father figure again. A calm, reasonable, understanding and supportive one, one which his mother was convinced wouldn’t leave. However, being a surgeon meant late and often unpredictable work hours, and that paired with his mother’s equally taxing job meant neither parent was really around during the day. It was fine when he had school, where Liam would hang out after class with his friends or the pack, or mess around in the lacrosse field until the late night janitor yelled at him to leave. During this particular summer though, it meant Liam was stuck at home alone. Everyone was busy or away. Scott, Kira and Stiles had left recently for a road trip, mainly to visit their colleges. Malia and Lydia were around, but Liam was honestly too intimidated by either of them to approach them without someone else around. Mason would no doubt be with Corey, and Liam would rather be alone forever than see those two engage in any more displays of affection right in front of him. That left only a small handful of people left who he could conceivably hang out with or mooch a car ride off of, none of which Liam thought he was desperate enough to contact. Yet. Letting out a deep sigh, he resigned himself to yet another day of lazing around playing video games by himself.

A hissed curse left his lips as his pants suddenly vibrated aggressively, followed by an obnoxious buzzing sound. Even on silent, his phone agitated his werewolf hearing to no end. Exiting his game mid campaign, probably to the chagrin of his online guildmates (because yes, he was just that desperate for real human contact now), Liam fished his phone out of his pocket. His eyes lit up when he saw it was Mason who was calling him. So maybe his misery was over now, maybe his best friend of a decade finally remembered he existed. Better yet, maybe Corey was out of town for the foreseeable future and Mason could spend the rest of summer hanging out with Liam like he was supposed to.

“Mason?”

“Hey man! What’s up? Just wanted to check on how camp’s going. Scott told me you made it, congrats dude! Though I’m fucking pissed I had to hear the news from Scott and not you.”

“...Camp?”

“Uh, yeah? Like the super mega intense and only-for-the-elitist-of-elite lacrossers or whatever you call yourselves camp?”

“Oh. That. About that. Yeah I’m not there.”

“What? Did I get the date wrong? It is today, isn’t it?”

Liam heard Mason on the other end of the line fumbling around with something, most likely trying to check the date. It was sweet, really, that Mason had remembered the date when Liam himself hadn’t even bothered to. And how on earth did Scott know?

“No, I- I’m not going.”

The silence on the other end was deafening, before it was broken by an almost inhuman screech.

“You WHAT!? Why? What happened? Are you hurt? Did someone kidnap you?” A pause, then, in a hushed tone, “Did Theo-”

“What? No! Why on earth would he be involved?”

“I don’t know dude, he’s been hanging around your place a lot more? Like, I see his truck around the neighborhood all the time? Maybe be careful with that, he could be plotting something. Also, remember when we needed someone to drag you to that meeting we had - he volunteered, said he was ‘in the area’. Like that’s major suspicious vibes right there. Then he didn’t even show up to the meeting, like what was that about?”

Liam would unpack and deal with all that information later. Right now he was just pissed that they were even talking about the chimera. Even when he wasn’t present he managed to weasel his way into Liam’s life, like a freeloading leech, or cockroach, or whatever pest was all the rage nowadays.

“Whatever, I don’t care! I’m not going because I don’t want to okay? That’s all there is to it Mase, leave it be. And well, if you wanted to hang out...”

“No dude, No. We’re not doing this. You’re going. Look, it’ll be good for you. Now that I know you’re not hurt... or something, please, go. I know you hate being told what to do, but trust me you’ll regret not going in a few months when Devenford once again beats your ass.”

“Mase...”

“And I think it’ll help you take your mind off...you know...”

“I don’t know-”

“Think of Brett’s face when you tell him where you were this summer! Think about it, think really hard about it, it’ll be like punching him but not actually, so you don’t get into trouble. I guarantee you’d like that.”

Liam grumbled. He did like the sound of that. Mason always, unfailingly, had a way of convincing him to do things he had previously set his mind against. Signing up for the school choir because Mason had a stupid crush who was also there, dressing up in ridiculous animal themed costumes every weekend to entertain Mason’s younger cousins, agreeing to fake date for a summer to get Mason’s meddling aunt out of his way – that didn’t go well, and, well... writing Hayden an apology letter after punching her... that had been Mason’s idea too... not that it had helped much at all. Sucking in a deep breath, Liam Dunbar admitted defeat.

“Alright. Fine. I-I’ll go. Orientation is tonight, I think. My parent’s are out though, but if I take the bus now I can probably still make it.”

“I can drive you!”

“I-it’s ok, it’s a super long drive, I’ll be fine. Thanks Mase, really. Just. It’s fine.”

“If you’re sure... look, I know we haven’t hung out in a bit, but – when you get back, let’s go do something, just the two of us yeah?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

Liam tossed an assortment of clothes he randomly grabbed from his closet into an old checkered suitcase. Pausing, he tapped his chin thoughtfully and stared. He was definitely missing something. People didn’t just pack clothes, there was usually some other stuff. Suddenly, an idea struck him. He ducked into the bathroom and grabbed several rolls of toilet paper, squishing them haphazardly among the piles of unfolded clothes. He smiled. There, that should be everything.

He stuffed his phone and charger into his pant pocket, and scribbled a quick explanation to his parents on a sticky note he then stuck on the fridge. Taking in a deep breath, he left his house and hoped he wasn’t making a gigantic mistake.

The sky was clear, and the sunshine felt nice and warm against his skin. In the horizon, some storm clouds loomed, but Liam didn’t worry much about them. No bad weather could even come close to the weather he’d endured with the Riders of the Storm. Thankfully, the bus stop was only a few minutes walk from his house, and checking his phone, he was pretty sure it would take him directly to the camp, and he wouldn’t have to worry about transfers. Thank god for small mercies.

Liam had almost forgotten the monotony of public transit. The rhythmic bumps of the road, the hiss of air as the bus stopped and started, the mechanical voice of repeated announcements, a cough here and there, and the general soulless expressions of almost every single passenger on board. Liam felt like he was being sucked into a vortex of apathy, sinking slowly into his dubiously stained and scratchy seat. He had 4 more hours of this to endure, and was beginning to realize he should have packed something other than clothes and toilet paper. Maybe he should have brought that book on Achilles Mason had gifted to him last year. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms. Well, it was as good a time as any to catch up on some sleep.

Oak. Jasmine. Saffron.

Liam’s eyes snapped open at the very familiar scent that had just gotten onto the bus and was now heading his way. He barely had time to scramble into a presentable position before he found himself looking up (and honestly when wasn’t he -) at Brett Talbot, who was staring back at him in mild disbelief, a small and amused smile slowly gracing his features.

Shit. He hadn’t had an exit plan for this scenario.

Liam stared at Brett dumbly, and for a moment neither moved or spoke. Then the bus started again, and Brett flopped down onto the seat next to him, stretching his obnoxiously long legs and getting all up in Liam’s personal space.

“Dude, can you not?” Liam groaned as Brett proceeded to stretch his arms, further encroaching into his already limited space. He glanced around at the bus. It was almost empty. Brett could have sat anywhere, but of course he chose the seat right next to him.

“Not what? You’re gonna have to be more specific, Liam.”

“Not get up all in my space! Have some decency, you’re like 10 feet tall!”
“Sure.” Brett however, made absolutely no attempt at moving. If anything, he leaned closer, gazing at Liam with his trademark grin.

“Why are you even here?”

“Same reason you are, lacrosse camp.”

“How do you even know that?”

“Because I’m not an idiot, Liam. There is no other conceivable reason you’d be on this bus, on this day, at this time. Plus, I know you applied, and you’re not half bad.”

“Thanks, but now I’m thinking this camp isn’t really as great as it’s advertised to be, since you made it as well.”

Instead of snapping back, Brett threw his head back and cackled like a hyena, before turning towards Liam with a wild grin on his face, eyes crinkling softly at the edges like they always did when he smiled genuinely. Liam grinned back, shocking even himself. There was something about Brett’s laugh that was always so infectious, no matter how annoying it sounded.

“All right then Frodo, we’ll see if you’re saying that when we once again beat your ass next year. Ever get tired of losing? Or, maybe you just enjoy being the underdog?”

Liam grimaced at the nickname, but after a short fight with his inner demons, ultimately let it go. He didn’t have the energy to fight with Brett for the rest of the bus ride, let alone the entirety of the next week if they were both indeed headed to the same place. A small part of him was disappointed he wouldn’t be able to verbally punch Brett in the face anymore like Mason had suggested, but a bigger part of him was relieved to have a familiar face with him, especially a fellow werewolf in case things went... south. He hoped they could room together. And that thought alone scared the shit out of him.

“You could maybe try thinking less, if it’s so hard for you.”

Realizing that his resting bitch face had manifested into a scrunched up, constipated mess while he had been deep in thought, Liam immediately schooled his expression back to passively neutral before aiming a pointed glare in Brett’s direction. Strangely, he wasn’t all that mad at the remark. The banter felt familiar, friendly even, and he honestly didn’t remember when the last time he and Brett had had such a long conversation. To his horror, he realized he missed it. Things had been weird and awkward between them ever since the locker room pep talk Brett had given him back when Liam was still being haunted by Berserkers. It was like Brett was trying to make amends, in a weirdly stilted, half-assed way. A few months ago Liam would have scoffed at the sheer notion of that, he had thought their friendship was way beyond repair. But maybe there was some small piece that could be salvaged... He opened his mouth to -

“Here. Cookie.” A cookie was stuffed unceremoniously into his half open mouth, and Liam had 2 choices. He could spit it out and make a scene or eat it and then consider if he should make a scene or not. His traitorous stomach rumbled, making the decision for him. Brett laughed again, flicking Liam in the forehead too while he was at it.

Liam endured.

“They’re girl scout cookies. Lori. They’re good right?”

“And why was one just stuffed into my mouth?” Liam grumbled between chews. Good didn’t begin to describe the heaven that was the cookie he just ate. It was mind-blowingly delectable. He was pretty sure some sort of addictive substance had to be baked into that innocent flower-shaped facade.

"A nice little cookie for a good boy! You didn’t lose your shit at me, that’s an improvement from last year.”

“Watch how you talk to me Brett, I may reconsider.”

“You won’t. I saw what you did Liam, you held back. You never did before. Whatever Scott has you doing, it’s working. Which is... nice.”

Decidedly ignoring most of Brett’s heartfelt statement, Liam instead eyed the box of cookies poking out from the other boy’s backpack ravenously. He blinked rapidly a few times to wet his eyes, before opening them wide and gazing up at Brett with his best impression of a kicked puppy.

“Can I have one more?”

“Nice try. No.” A flick to Liam’s nose. Seriously, what was up with this guy and flicking him? “However -” Brett continued as Liam, wolf taking over now, bunted his head against the other’s arm in a desperate attempt to reach the box with his teeth, “- good boys get cookies. So do good things Liam, and then maybe we can talk.” A brief struggle ensued, which mainly involved Brett pushing Liam’s head back with an elbow while cradling his backpack protectively.

“Fine.” Liam muttered after his head cleared up and he wrestled back some semblance of control and dignity. He leaned back, crossed his arms and pouted. Brett chuckled at the childish response, but thankfully didn’t comment on it. He did however, scooch a little closer to Liam until their

thighs pressed together. A familiar sort of warmth spread through Liam’s body as his wolf settled, sleepy and content. Huh. It must be a werewolf thing.

He was running through the woods on all fours, towards a gigantic stack of cookies piled up higher than the redwoods all around him. He was so close... so, so close he could smell the buttery scent, almost feel the soft crumbly texture between his teeth – and oh, boy, he had a row of fangs now and – when did he learn to full shift? No matter, wolf or human, he would be sure to chow down heartily on those heavenly cookies until his stomach burst. He was a good boy. He was the best boy. He deserved these cookies, and no one, absolutely no one -

“-Iam! Liam! LIAM! Wake the fuck up, jesus are you even alive!?”

The ground beneath his feet- paws? Started to shake, and he struggled to stay upright as a massive earthquake split the earth, and no – no - NO - he had been so close, so CLOSE!

Liam groaned and opened his eyes reluctantly, finding Brett shaking him roughly, a concerned look on the latter’s face at the lack of response he was getting. Liam pursed his lips and glared at the offending werewolf menacingly. That stopped working as soon as he felt wetness at the corner of his mouth, and quickly lifted his arm to wipe the drool off his face. Brett’s look of concern morphed back into an easy smile, amusement once again sparkling in his eyes. Dammit all.

“Well hello there sleeping beauty, good – afternoon. So, news. We need to get off the bus.”

Brett gestured outside, and Liam startled. When had it started raining? Why was the sky suddenly so dark? Was that thunder? Was the wild hunt back? No no no – Liam felt his throat constrict as he thought of the infinite number of things that could go wrong – Scott wasn’t even here! And they were 2 hours away from Beacon hills, did he need to run back? Warn everyone? What about his parents? Mason?

“Calm down, it’s just a regular old storm, it’ll pass. Unfortunately, the road’s blocked. It’ll take hours for it to get cleared. Hours we don’t have if we want to make it to Sacramento on time. The driver’s kicking us all out.”

And sure enough, the two teenagers were unceremoniously ejected from the bus and out into the rain. Liam looked around. Fuck. This was bad, they were in the middle of nowhere, and the few other passengers on the bus have long since left, seemingly familiar with their next steps. He looked at Brett, who hadn’t left, which was... something, at least. The taller boy was fishing for something inside his backpack, finally pulling out a raincoat. Liam thought about the clothes he had dumped into his suitcase, which consisted solely of t-shirts. Fuck. He was so not prepared for any of this. And, as if to mock him more, the rain intensified, drenching him from had to toe with bucket loads of heaven’s piss water.

Something was tossed his way, and despite his mind being elsewhere and addled with worry, his werewolf reflexes, dependable as always, caught the object. It was a raincoat. He quickly shrugged it on before he could get any wetter, grateful that Brett had packed an extra. That gratefulness however, was very short-lived when he noticed exactly what he was now wearing. Printed on the front of the dark green jacket, obnoxiously large and proud, was the Devenford Prep crest. Liam whipped his head up so fast it almost snapped his neck. He levelled a murderous glare at Brett for what seemed like the 20th time that day, eyes flaring. It did nothing, as usual. Brett, completely unfazed, had the biggest, smuggest grin on his face as he gave Liam an appreciative once over.

“Well well well, aren’t you a sight in green.”

“You planned this.”

“Do you want the jacket or not Liam?”

“Let me switch with you at least. Why do I get stuck with the stupid prep school jacket?”

“Beggars can’t be choosers, tough luck dude. And watch it, it was once your school, too.”

Liam lunged at Brett, aiming to knock them both over and forcefully switch their jackets while he had Brett pinned down. It had worked perfectly in his head. What did end up happening was a very angry Liam leaping right into Brett’s arms, desperately clawing at the collar of his jacket as the taller boy held him while holding back peals of laughter. It was a ridiculous sight, which thankfully no one was present to witness and which Liam would deny ever having happened till his final breath.

“So, what now?” Liam grumbled, pulling the hood of his stupid green Devenford jacket tighter over his head. He glowered at the blocked road in front of him and cursed the rain still pelting down on him with a vengeance.

“We could make it on foot, if we go now.”

“Are you out of your mind? We’ll never make it!”

“Do you even know you’re a werewolf Liam? It’ll take us longer but we’ll make it before night time if we run past the storm and hitchhike the rest of the way.”

“Okay fine, even if we can run fast enough, I have no idea how to get anywhere, do you even know which way we need to run?”

“We can follow the road.”

“And have everyone see us wolfed out?”

“Follow the road, but through the forest, dumbass.”

“That sounds like a terrible idea, maybe we should just wait.”

“Alright Dunbar, suit yourself. I’ll see you at camp then.” Brett gave him a sarcastic salute and started walking towards the forest. Asshole. Liam was suddenly gripped with a fear he knew all too well, of being left alone. Of being left behind. He nervously fidgeted with the oversized sleeves of his jacket as he watched Brett’s figure grow smaller and smaller, fighting with himself on whether to run after the other boy like a helpless loser or to stay in the rain alone, pride intact.

As Brett reached the very edge of the forest, he stopped and turned around.

The two boys stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, neither wanting to be the first to look away. Then, almost imperceptibly, Brett tilted his head towards the forest, still holding eye contact, and Liam gave up fighting. With a loud sigh, he rushed towards the taller boy, dragging his suitcase behind him. He tried not to pay any mind to Brett’s victorious grin as he watched Liam trudge towards him through the rain.

Chapter Text

Liam was 14 years old when he had his first serious episode of uncontrolled, black-out rage. He had been in the middle of a call with Mason, excitedly planning their first year of high school together and all the things they were going to do, when his mother had glided into his room and pulled him aside, a large smile on her face. Then, she told him the news that shattered all of his 14 year old dreams.

“You’re going to Devenford Prep Liam, your dad and I got the call this morning!” She continued on, telling Liam about how great a chance this was, and how strong the lacrosse program was. Liam didn’t hear much afterwards, just a persistent ringing in his ears that grew louder and louder.

In the aftermath of the news, Liam had trashed his entire room and broke his hand punching a hole through his wall. He hadn’t wanted to go to a stupid private school, despite what his mom had said. All his friends were going to Beacon Hills High, and he had plans with Mason. Lots of them. He was going to be left alone, left behind, and he felt completely helpless. Still, Liam had been terrified of his outburst. Terrified at himself and of what he had done. His parents had accepted his tearful apology and believed it to be a one time occurrence of a growing kid having a hard time accepting change, and probably out of guilt, Liam didn’t put up a fuss when his first day of high school came. He grit his teeth, pushed down the urge to vomit and put up a smile as he kissed his mother goodbye when she dropped him off in the middle of a sea of strangers.

Brett had been a year above him, but they had noticed each other almost immediately. During orientation, Liam had seen him practising by himself out on the lacrosse field and simply couldn’t look away. He hadn’t realized that Brett had been watching him too.

A few days later during lunchtime, he had seen the taller boy lounging horizontally on a bench outside, eating a sandwich and basking in the sunshine. Letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding, Liam had approached and introduced himself. Instead of the expected scoff of disdain at being approached by a freshman, Brett had regarded him first with a look of curiosity before breaking out into a positively radiant smile, eyes crinkling softly at the edges. He stretched lazily and sat up, gently patting the spot next to him for Liam to sit down.

Their friendship hadn’t been nearly as smooth or easy as him and Mason’s, but Liam went home every day noticeably less grumpy, and thought maybe, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

They were lost. Of course they were lost. Liam knew this was a shit idea. He was beyond pissed at everything, at the stupid woods, at the stupid weather, at himself, and mostly at Brett. He should have known Brett’s confidence in finding their way through the woods was wholly unreliable. After all, the last time they had been wandering through the woods getting lost while looking for a hole, Brett had been just as directionless as him and Mason, and hadn’t contributed whatsoever. Born wolf and a natural sense of direction his ass.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this! We could have been on another bus by now! Not to mention dry and warm.”

“I’m not responsible for your choices, Liam.” Brett drawled as he continued forward, Liam having no other choice but to traipse on after him further into the middle of nowhere. It was infuriating how calm Brett was about the whole situation, and it wasn’t just a facade, or him putting on a brave face either– all Liam could smell on the other boy was a lazy mix of serenity and amusement, probably at Liam’s expense. Suddenly, a thought struck him.

“Wait – our phones -”

“My cell service is shit Liam, I have no signal, you think I haven’t been checking?”

“No - I mean yeah same, but isn’t there a compass app on our phones? We know Sacramento is south. So all we have to do is go south until we find a road again, or a town, or anything where we can ask for directions or a ride. The closer we get - ” Liam was still rambling when he smacked face first into Brett, who had suddenly stopped.

“You’re smarter than you look, Liam. That’s a good idea.”

Liam sputtered. That definitely sounded more like an insult than anything, but oh, how could he be offended when Brett was now holding a small flower-shaped cookie in his hand and waving it in Liam’s direction? Liam couldn’t give a shit about pride or dignity at that moment. Growling, he lunged forward and grabbed the cookie out of Brett’s hand with his teeth before it could get any more soaked by the rain. He continued to inhale it in less than a second, barely registering Brett’s hands patting his head, or the softly whispered ‘good boy’ that followed.

Sated and content, Liam watched as Brett pulled out his phone and spun around a few times before uttering a soft ‘aha’ as he oriented himself. Pivoting their direction slightly to what he presumed was now south, Liam prepared to start running again, cradling his suitcase in his arms like a baby.

Brett on the other hand, was... doing something else entirely. He was stripping off his shirt and jacket, and then unstrapping his backpack and re-strapping it onto – his neck? Was he hallucinating? Liam quickly snapped himself out of his shock induced stupor, and yelled at the older boy before he could start unzipping his pants.

“What the fuck are you doing Brett!?” It came out as a shrill shriek, definitely not one of Liam’s proudest moments. Luckily, that seemed to also snap Brett out of whatever he fuck he was thinking, and he paused.

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“Right, we need to full shift to run faster, Liam. You might have to drop that suitcase though, you can put whatever valuables you have in my bag.”

“Full shift?”

“You uh... you do know how to full shift, right?”

“No? Am I supposed to? Is that something you can learn? Scott says that Derek says that it’s super rare and genetic or whatever.”

Brett scoffed, and beckoned Liam closer towards him. He looked around the forest floor, and picked up a smooth moss-covered rock, dropping it into Liam’s hands.

“In order to shift, you just need to let your wolf out, Liam. Not partially, fully. Embrace it, don’t be afraid. You also need to have a connection with the earth somehow. Hold this rock, and tell me what you feel.”

“A rock.”

“Yeah, sure, but what else?”

“Moss. Um, bits of dirt, scratches...”

“Good. Do you smell anything?”

“Rock? Earth? Look, is this going anywhere?” Liam’s cookie high was quickly depleting, and whatever this weird hippy nature session was was seeming more and more pointless by the second. Agitation and frustration built up in his shoulders and arms, and he started to tense up, moving to throw the rock away in annoyance.

A pair of warm hands circled around his wrists.

A breath. He looked up and found Brett staring intensely at him, eyes clear and blue like the summer sky. Calm. Another breath.

“Liam. Can you trust me?”

Oak. Jasmine. Saffron.

The Sun. The Moon. The truth...

Liam closed is eyes and nodded.

“Good.”

The hands around his wrists shifted down ever so slightly, and he felt a thumb circling his knuckles gently, deliberately, in slow, lazy swirls. Liam found his own thumb absentmindedly doing the same to the rock he held in his hands, brushing rhythmically across the grooves of the scratched surface. Cold rain droplets fell in rhythm onto his palm, but Liam didn’t mind, the warmth of Brett’s hand on his own washing them all away.

And then, in the following beats of silence, his wolf emerged, curiously, almost shyly, from the dark crevasses of his mind. Liam pushed away his initial instinct to push it back, to shut it out, to only drag it out kicking and screaming when he was mad, when he wanted to fight. Instead, he focused on Brett’s voice and let his wolf be.

“Do you know why I always use rocks? Because more than anything else, they represent the earth - the history of earth, compressed in a small, tangible object we can hold and feel. This rock in your hands, it was once a mountain, it was once a canyon boulder, it was once at the bottom of a massive sea. Do you ever wonder what it had to endure to get to where it is, right now, right here, in your hands? So hold it, Liam – hold it, and imagine. Imagine how it feels to run free through the mountain forests as the wind brings along the howled song of a distant pack. Or, imagine trudging through valleys shadowed by gigantic canyon walls, catching the scent of prey in the air. Or maybe, you’re by the ocean, paws sinking into the soft sand as you chase the seagulls. You can imagine anything at all, even, say, being lost and tired in a forest in California, wishing you were safe and warm in a den to sit out the rain...”

Liam thought about that dream he had of running through the woods as a wolf, how his paws felt as they landed on the forest floor – the crunching of the leaves and the sounds of his own panting, foreign yet familiar.

Said wolf, now more confident, finally made its presence fully known, taking up the empty space in his mind that Brett’s words had cleared out for it. It took in the scent around it, though it was not the rock it focused on.

Oak. Jasmine. Saffron.

Brett’s scent. Warm, familiar, but with a touch of something hidden – something alluring and mysterious, yet so undeniably real and grounded. It was an unexplored wilderness, a shiny new grove that his wolf was eager to discover...

Brett’s eyes. Blue, not like the ocean, but like the sky reflected in puddles on a clear day. His wolf longed to dip its paws into it, feel how the cool water soaked into its fur...

Even Brett’s voice, calm, soft and rhythmic like the patter of rain, or the gentle rush of a forest stream...

A dull thud sounded as a rock dropped onto the forest floor. Liam opened his eyes. He felt Brett remove his hands, a soft gasp coming from the other boy.

“No way... on the first try too? Looks like someone really loves rocks.”

Liam opened his mouth to question what he had meant, but let out a loud yip instead. A beat, then, in slow motion, Liam lowered his gaze to look down at himself. He saw a pair of furry brown paws where his hands should have been. He snapped his eyes back up at Brett, who was gazing at him in admiration - and what was that – oh – yes – another cookie was held in his hand.

“This’ll be the last one in a while buddy, can’t exactly grab them with no opposable thumbs! Here, catch.”

Brett threw the cookie in the air, and Liam leapt up, catching it perfectly between his teeth.

“Nice!” Brett whooped as Liam did a victory jump and mid-air spin in his new agile body.

After tying some loose clothes around Liam’s neck like a collar, Brett refastened his own backpack around his neck, preparing to shift as well. He turned back to Liam and grinned.

“One more thing - you’re always a good boy in my eyes, Liam.”

Before Liam could successfully lunge at him and land a bite, Brett shifted into a large tan wolf, immediately sprinting forwards like he was expecting exactly that, and leaving Liam to bite the dirt instead. Liam sighed, giving his trusty checkered suitcase one last look before running off after the other wolf. He would be okay with losing a few t-shirts and toilet paper rolls.

To neither’s surprise, Liam and Brett’s journey through the woods had quickly turned into a race. A race Liam was definitely going to win. Brett may have had a whole foot over him as a human, but as a wolf they were actually quite similar in size.

It was exhilarating, flying through the forest with the wind and rain whipping past his face. Liam felt like one of those super fancy race cars in advertisements, leaving a jet of water behind them as they sped towards whatever destination they were headed to. Beside him, he could hear Brett’s heart beating rapidly, the only indication that he wasn’t alone. He grinned and pushed forward, as fast as his legs would allow. Brett had been correct, running as a fully wolfed out werewolf was exceptionally fast. With the amount of ground they were covering, Liam was hopeful again that they could make it to camp, although a small voice in his head was wondering why they were still even bothering at this point. It was good to have some sort of goal in mind, he supposed.

A few minutes later, the two burst through the rainstorm and into the blazing sunlight. Liam slowed down and vigorously shook the water out of his fur, enjoying how warm and inviting the sun rays were. Next to him, Brett did the same. The two strained their ears for any sounds of cars, or people. Suddenly, Brett perked up, sniffing the air a few times. He turned to Liam and barked, beckoning the younger wolf to follow him.

They found themselves on the edge of a clearing where several picnic tables were laid out neatly. On one of them, a group of teenagers sat, and now Liam knew exactly what Brett had smelled. The teenagers were eating freshly heated roast beef sandwiches, and boy did they look delicious. Liam watched hungrily at the juice dripping down their chins as they bit into their hearty meal, laughing obnoxiously and spitting food all over the table. He growled, and glanced at Brett. The other wolf had a mischievous glint in his eye as he observed the teens, and when he turned back to look at Liam, it was clear they were thinking the same thing.

With a loud growl, the two wolves rushed out from the forest clearing, making a direct beeline for the group of teenagers. A stream of curses and screams erupted from the teens as they scrambled away from the picnic tables and ran to their cars faster than Liam had ever seen humans run. They dropped every last sandwich in their frantic scramble, and Liam counted that as an absolute win. He padded over and started wolfing down any bit of food he could see, as apparently food standards as a wolf was significantly lower than as a human. Even a half stepped on piece of beef looked like the most mouthwatering thing Liam had ever seen.

After eating their hearts out and spending some of their post-food energy play-wrestling in the grass, Brett nipped Liam’s snout and nudged him towards the forest. It was too soon to be getting back into serious business. Liam wanted to laze around in the sun longer. And so he whined, laying his head on Brett’s belly and staring up at him with actual puppy dog eyes. The older wolf seemed to cave for a moment, but ultimately persisted. The two ambled back into the cover of the trees, Liam dragging his feet and grumbling to himself. As soon as they were out of sight, Brett shifted back, right in front of him. Liam gawked and covered his eyes with a paw.

“Relax, nothing you haven’t seen before, remember?” Brett had thankfully pulled on a pair of pants and shirt, and was now moving to unfasten the clothes he had tied around Liam’s neck so the younger boy would have a change of clothes within easy reach.

“Now, your turn Liam.”

Liam closed his eyes and willed his body back to its original form.

“Fine, I’ll turn around if you’re so shy.” He heard Brett’s amused voice continue some feet away from him.

Liam opened his eyes, and then his mouth, itching to knock Brett down a few pegs about his stance on indecent exposure.

Me having seen it before due to an unfortunate accident doesn’t immediately equate to me wanting to see it Brett, have some decency. He said. Except, what came out was a series of passive aggressive barks and yips.

Time stood still at that moment, and not for anything good. Brett stared at him. Liam stared back desperately.

Umm... I don’t think I got the memo on how to turn back. Barking.

“Liam? Can you not turn back? Shit that’s hilarious. No fucking way...”

I will rip your throat out. With my teeth. More Barking, followed by low growling.

“Just imagine yourself as a human again, same with what we did before. Imagine yourself writing an essay, or unlocking a door or something. Turning back is usually the easiest part.”

And Liam tried, he really, really did. Nothing worked. Panic started to set in as he imagined a life forever trapped as a wolf. This was all Brett’s fault! He glared heatedly at the other boy, trying to incinerate him with his eyes.

“Calm down, Satomi can turn you back, she has this weird technique to help with shifting. Sometimes the younger members of the pack get too into their wolf forms and refuse to shift back in order to skip school. She forces them to turn back every time. You won’t be stuck forever.”

You better be right, asshole. Also, what an awfully specific scenario. Liam wanted to snark, but ended up snarling instead.

“We uh... probably won’t be able to make the camp though. We have to go back to Beacon Hills. Look, it sucks and I know how much it probably meant to you. I guess I’ll owe you one huh?” Brett gave Liam an apologetic grin and absently rubbed his ear with a thumb and forefinger. Liam leaned into it involuntarily.

If he was being honest, he had already stopped caring about showing up to camp long ago. He wasn’t really sure why, but he quite enjoyed traipsing through the woods with Brett. It was a stark contrast to his depressingly lonely gaming sessions. Plus, once he got a handle on this whole shifting thing, he would totally prank the shit out of his friends. He swelled with pride as he realized that he had managed to full shift before Scott.

Brett was busy tying something around his neck again. It was a bright blue t-shirt that was now affixed to him like a cute little scarf.

“Alright Shortbread, where there’s a picnic area, there’s a town nearby. Let’s go and see if we can find a visitor’s centre to figure out our way home.”

Shortbread!?!?

“You heard me, c’mere boy! Good puppy, come on!”

You’re strong because you endure. Fucking damn right. Brett owed him so much. Liam pushed down his anger and followed after the now-human like a good puppy.

They got strange and worried looks from practically everybody they passed as they made their way into the small town.

“He’s a wolf dog,” Brett explained with an easy smile, “You can pet him, he’s super friendly and loves people.”

Liam wanted to die.

It turned out that Brett had been right. There was a small Visitor’s Centre nearby, and a bunch of maps and friendly staff that gave them all sorts information on which busses to take and pet-friendly hotels in the area, as it was starting to get late.

Afterwards, Brett tossed him a girl scout cookie, followed by a head pat that Liam was mortified to find out he liked now. ‘For entertaining the children’. Liam ate it happily.

Someone cleared their throat pretentiously next to them, and the two boys immediately filled with dread.

“Excuse me, but you shouldn’t be feeding your dogs high sugar cookies.”

A middle aged woman, no taller than 5 foot, had appeared out of nowhere and was now regarding Brett with a look of pure and total disdain.

“It’s just a treat, he likes them.” Brett answered, all the while trying to manoeuvre his way around the woman and as far away from her as possible. She stepped sideways to block his path. Liam wondered what on earth could have possibly possessed this tiny woman to challenge a 6 foot 2 boy and his gigantic, unleashed wolfdog.

“Well it’s bad for them, I can call up animal welfare on you, sir. What’s your name and address?”

“You know what would be bad for you, ma’am? If you don’t continue to mind your own business.”

“Is that a threat, young man?”

“It is if you don’t get out of my way!”

“That’s it, I’m calling the police!” The lady started to pull out her phone, and as amused as Liam was about how flustered Brett was getting, he knew that having the police show up would not end well for anyone. So he did what any over-excited, unleashed wolf dog would do, and knocked her over, conveniently crushing her phone with a paw and proceeding to lick her face as she screamed.

“Shortbread, no! Stop! Leave the nice grandma alone, come here!” Brett put up an impressive if not slightly over dramatic act, and the two booked it out of town and back into the safety of the woods.

“This should be as good a place as any to bunker down for the night.” Brett announced, pushing Liam into a dubious looking cave. It certainly wasn’t a 5 star bed and breakfast, but anything was better than having to deal with more people after their encounter. Plus, Liam definitely didn’t have any money for a motel room, and he doubted Brett did either.

He lay down near the entrance of the cave, peering his head out and looking up through the trees. A soft, hazy lavender sheen coated the sky with dashes of vermilion and fuchsia painted on like brushstrokes. Liam sighed, watching as the sun slowly set and the sky darkened.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Brett breathed next to him, far too close.

Liam turned, and found the other boy leaning against his side, using his soft fur as a pillow. His eyes were bright and awe-filled as he too took in the extravagant display of colors mother nature was giving, just for them.

It’s different this far out, I bet we can see the all the stars. A deep rumbling, almost akin to a purr.

“Yeah.” Brett replied, not at all phased by Liam’s new mode of communication.

The two lay there, side by side, breathing, in and out, until time was lost.

Brett was humming.

Liam blinked slowly, extracting himself from his stargazing daze and swivelled one ear to listen. The older boy’s hand was absentmindedly stroking the back of his ear, down his neck, over the slope of his shoulder blades and back up again, fingers drumming in rhythm with the tune. He stopped when he realized Liam was listening.

“It’s a song my mother used to sing to me and Lori to put us to bed. I don’t really remember what it was called, or what it was even about, really. I actually only remember this one part.” He reached out with his free hand and pointed up at a vague spot in the sky, probably a star. “That’s her, right there. We’re singing to each other right now.”

And honestly, what was Liam supposed to say to that? He didn’t even have the arms to hug Brett.

“You don’t have to say anything, not that you can anyway. It’s alright. This is a happy moment.” Sure enough, the older boy had the most radiant smile on his face, and the scent of contentment practically spilled out of him like a swelling tide. His eyes were closed now, and the humming continued. Liam watched, chest tightening from emotions he couldn’t fully comprehend as the sharp line of of Brett’s nose and angular jut of his cheekbones dipped softly into the moonlight.

He swallowed and fixed his gaze back up at the spatter of stars that Brett had pointed to. Despite what the older boy had said, Liam wanted to do something to contribute, even if it wasn’t much. He shut his eyes, cleared his throat, and proceeded to let out a long howl. The sound echoed through the woods, hollow and haunting, and Liam hoped it would echo all the way up to the heavens too. He looked back at the boy next to him, and if he thought Brett’s smile was radiant before, it was absolutely nothing compared to what was on his face now as he beheld Liam with sheer reverence, as if seeing him for the first time.

Suddenly feeling very overwhelmed, Liam turned away quickly and let his head fall down on his paws, letting the tranquil humming of a nameless song lull him to sleep.

Something was pecking at Liam’s ear. Growling, he lifted an arm to swat it away, and rolled over, pressing himself against something warm and solid.

The pecking continued, and Liam swatted again, this time managing to successfully snag a few stray feathers in his fingers.

Fingers.

Liam’s eyes snapped open. He moved his legs, feeling a pair of very human feet, toes and all, and lifted his hand up to his face to see that yes, he indeed had fingers again. His first instinct was to smack Brett awake, wherever he was, and scream victoriously. Luckily, he still had a bit of impulse control left, for he very quickly realized the situation he was in.

He was lying, stark naked, curled up right next to the aforementioned boy, his face literally pressed into the crook of the other’s neck.

Shit shit shit.

Sucking in a deep breath and holding it, he very carefully wiggled his way out of his compromising position and frantically looked around for any bits of clothing he could toss on.

“There’s a clean set of clothes in my bag. It’s right behind you.”

Liam froze. He dropped his eyes down and found Brett staring right back up at him, clear mirth swimming in his eyes as he grinned with his teeth.

“Stop staring, you absolute – argh! Just. Fuck you, Brett.”

“Sure.” The absolutely infuriating boy rolled over and started to loudly count backwards from 10 as obnoxiously as possible while Liam scrambled to get decent.

“So, what now?” He asked after he was fully dressed.

“We can probably go back into town, with you uh – all human again, catch the early bus back home. I doubt Sacramento’s going to let us waltz in anymore.”

“Okay.” He hesitated. And Brett noticed.

“You don’t want to?”

“I – um. Camp goes on for what, a week, right? So technically we’re not really in a rush. No one’s going to be looking for us. Maybe we could... walk back? Like go the opposite direction, like up – er – North.”

Brett regarded him keenly for a long time. Liam wanted to shrivel further up into the cracks on the cave wall with every second that passed. Finally, the other boy spoke.

“So... you’d willingly want to spend more time stuck in the woods, with me?”

“I mean, we had fun, didn’t we? And you’re not so bad... anymore.” Brett continued to analyze him. “Dude it’s not that deep. I’m bored, I’ve been stuck inside playing video games by myself every single day. The woods are exciting. And if you don’t want to it’s fine, we can -”

“Alright. Let’s go then. Full shift or nah?”

“Fuck no. Never again until I manage to get Satomi to teach me how to reliably shift back.”

They both shared a chuckle at that, holding eye contact for longer than what was normal, and Liam’s chest tightened again. He turned away first, thinking of something, anything to say to snap himself out of the weird funk he was in.

“Maybe we can pick up my suitcase on the way.”

“So you can get all four rolls of your precious toilet paper back? Sure Liam.”

Liam grimaced, but at least the familiar banter was back. He let out a breath.

It was weird. Brett was being more pliant and reserved than usual. He went along with whatever Liam wanted and responded to most things without snark, but with an amused smile instead. It was as if he was constantly analyzing Liam, trying to decipher something about him that was apparently so intriguing.

Liam didn’t think he was a very complex person. He was basically an open book. Whatever Brett was trying to dig out of him, he would probably be disappointed.

“Why are you being so weird?” He finally blurted out, unable to take it anymore.

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s like you’re looking at me like I’m a puzzle now. I’m not. If you want to say something just say it.”

“Those shape puzzles. You know, the ones where you have to put the right shape through the right hole.”

“What?”

“That’s you.”

“Am I supposed to be offended?”

“Except you’re missing a shape. And I’m trying to find it.”

Liam stared, completely flabbergasted. Brett grinned innocently, flicked his forehead and continued forward. What the fuck.

Liam was a fidgety mess. He hated walking in awkward silence. Maybe he should have just agreed to take the bus. Maybe this was Brett’s new way of torturing him.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I kind of miss the old antagonize-Liam-until-he-explodes you compared to this new I’m-so-mysterious-and-speak-only-in-riddles you.”

“Shh.”

“Wow, seriously? You’re such an a-”

“Shut up. Do you hear that?” Liam strained his ears, and sure enough, a low, menacing growl sounded from somewhere in front of them. Brett sniffed the air, then froze, his face blanching. “It’s a fucking bear. Shit.”

“It’s fine, I can take it.”

“Are you actually serious.”

“Werewolf, remember?”

“Born werewolf, remember? And bears are serious business, if it charges us we’re good as gone. We need to move, quickly.”

“Wait... I think I see it.”

Liam peered through the thicket of trees directly in front of him, catching a glimpse of the back of a large grizzly bear. He sucked in a breath. Even from a distance the bear looked gigantic, a lot larger than he thought. He made a quick mental note to revise his bear fighting tactics with Mason after he got home.

“How far away is it? We need to go in the opposite direction before it catches our scents.”

“Wait. There’s – it’s growling at something.”

“As long as that something is not us, then I don’t care. Liam. Come on.”

Liam refused to budge, eyes trained on the scene unfurling in front of his eyes. He moved towards the bear carefully, craning his neck to see what it was growling at. Long fingers circled his wrist, yanking him back forcefully. He turned and hissed at Brett, flaring his eyes. Momentarily taken aback by the outburst, the taller boy let go.

“You seriously have a death wish.”

Liam ignored him and stepped forwards a bit more. After a beat, he heard Brett curse silently before moving to join him.

The two inched as close as they could towards the bear and ducked behind some conveniently placed bushes before peering out from the top. The thing the bear was focusing all its attention on was now as clear as day.

A lone coyote was standing in front of a downed elk, lips pulled back in a snarl, doing everything it could to make its body larger while staring down a 600 pound grizzly bear.

“We have to help it!” Liam hissed.

“That coyote has got to be rabid.” Brett whispered at the same time.

They looked at each other. Liam set his jaw and refused to back down as Brett rolled his eyes dramatically.

“It can’t fight a bear by itself, it’s just defending its meal.”

“No way did that single coyote bring down a whole ass elk.”

“Don’t underestimate coyotes, Malia is pretty badass.”

“Alright, but remember the number one rule of the nature channel, Liam. Do. Not. Interfere.”

Liam shifted forwards, but as soon as he did, Brett’s hand clamped down on his shoulder and held him down. He shook his head, narrowing his eyes at the younger werewolf.

“What about its family?”

Brett scoffed, wrinkling his nose at the mere suggestion.

“They’re not pack animals, Liam. It’s not in their nature. This one is clearly alone. And crazy. Or rabid. Or just plain greedy if it wants to hoard all that elk to itself. Please, I am begging you, let’s go before this bear wipes the floor with that coyote and then proceeds to wipe the floor with us.”

“You can go. I’m going to help it.”

“Liam.”

“I’m serious. It could have a family waiting for it. Also this bear looks like it’s eaten enough already.”

“Liam.”

This time, Brett was the one activating wet blue eyes to plead silently to Liam.

“Brett. Go.” Even as the words left his mouth, he knew it wouldn’t mean anything. Brett wouldn’t leave him, and although Liam felt the weight of that responsibility, he also couldn’t turn his back on the coyote. Call it a sixth sense maybe, but something else had to be going on.

He closed his eyes, drawing out his anger and letting it take over. Then he charged, unleashing an earsplitting roar as he jumped directly in front of the grizzly. The bear froze briefly as it accessed the new danger level, but soon reared up on its hind legs and roared back, challenge clearly accepted. Liam clenched his fists and squared his shoulders, preparing for a fight. Was it the nose? Or the eyes that Mason had told him to go for first?

Another roar pierced the air, blasting the bear from the side. From the corner of his eyes, Liam saw Brett emerging from the bushes, fully shifted, eyes glowing a bright gold and teeth bared in a daunting snarl. He smiled despite himself, jutting his chin out at the bear in a silent war of wills. This clearly caught the grizzly off guard, as it flopped back down on all fours. After pacing a few steps, it turned tail and ran, clearly judging that the elk was not worth the energy of fighting off 3 challengers.

He pulled back his fangs and beamed at Brett, excitement and glee still thrumming through his veins from the adrenaline rush.

“I would give you a high paw but, you know...”

Brett visibly rolled his eyes. Suddenly, he froze, eyes fixated on where the coyote had been.

Liam turned around to look at where Brett was staring and gasped. A red fox had emerged from underneath a tree branch, followed by four tiny cubs. It approached the coyote and the two seemed to scent each other. The coyote, to both their shock, then stepped aside and allowed the family of foxes to get first dibs on the elk. It then joined in after a while, occasionally nipping playfully at the fox and swatting amicably at the pups.

“No family, huh. I guess we’re more than just our nature.” Liam gloated.

Brett however, barely seemed to be listening. He was sitting down on his hind legs, head tilted slightly to the side, eyes fixated on the found family in front of him as if they held the secret to the universe.

Liam took advantage of Brett’s shocked and also fully wolfed out state, plopping down next to him and running his fingers through his fur. He started at the back of his ear, then down his neck, over the slope of his shoulder blades and back up again, fingers drumming in rhythm to a nameless song. After a few seconds, Brett sighed and leaned in.

The apology Liam didn’t even know he had been waiting for came at the most unexpected time. It had been around two hours since their epic bear fight (it was a fight, Brett – it totally counted), and Liam had just picked up the largest, coolest stick ever. He was waving it around like a staff, pretending to be a travel-weary wizard and speaking in a faux British accent to annoy his companion.

They had been in the middle of a heated discussion about whether Gandalf could beat Dumbledore in a duel. It was leaning towards Dumbledore, although both acknowledged that Gandalf was far more bad-ass in terms of fighting prowess, versatility, and most importantly, drip.

“You can’t beat the literal death jinx though, it’s so bullshit it’s almost cheating.”

“Almost cheating? It is cheating – plus its existence is only a plot device anyway -”

“I was wrong about you.”

Liam’s mind blanked at whatever the hell that was.

“Huh?” Was the best his brain could offer.

“Satomi... she says we can’t escape our nature, but maybe she’s not right about everything.” Brett looked up and met Liam’s eyes. “I was – I was not fair with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Back at Devenford, I - I fucked up Liam, I fucked up so bad. I’m sorry.”

And there it was.

Two words. Two simple words, and suddenly Liam’s head was so scrambled he didn’t know how to feel. He desperately wanted to just go back to talking about wizards.

“It’s okay. I mean, we’re cool now.”

“No, it’s not – look. I - well. Before Satomi, Lori and I were in foster care. Our foster dad, he would blow up at the slightest provocation, and he- he hurt us. Sometimes. I didn’t want that around Lori, ever again.” Brett stood rigid, hands clenching and unclenching at his side, looking as if he was about to keel over, but he continued. “I thought, when you... when you did what you did to coach’s car, that maybe you were – like him. Or even if you tried not to be you’d inevitably become like him. I was wrong. You’re nothing like him, and you won’t ever be. And for that and everything I’ve done to you after - I’m sorry Liam, I really am. Look – this isn’t an excuse, it’s just – it’s an explanation. I’m not expecting anything from you. I just needed to say it.” Brett sniffed, and stared down at his feet.

Liam realized that this was the first time he had ever seen Brett Talbot cry.

“I -” But what had he even wanted to say? Liam frowned.

An anger simmered beneath his skin, an anger he had locked away and stomped down every time he’d caught sight of the other boy since their friendship fractured, cleaved clean through by cruel words and crueller actions. It was bubbling at the surface now, threatening to spill over and taking Liam utterly by surprise. He shook his head and clenched his fists, already beginning to feel the tips of his claws digging into his palm.

“Liam? Are you -”

“I MISSED you, Brett!” Liam roared, unable to contain it any longer. “I missed you so much... And then you spat in my face when I tried to explain and acted like I was a fucking monster, a freak! And I BELIEVED you! I hated myself, I hated myself... I still...”

And what had the point of that been, exactly? Liam collapsed on the floor, sobs racking his body as his mind desperately raced to catch up to whatever the fuck was happening to him. Why was he crying? Was he crying? A torrent of rage and sorrow warred inside his head, twisting and warping as they grasped and ripped and tore, thunder against his eardrums and cannon-fire against his heart.

At some point Brett had knelt down beside him, wrapping him tightly in a hug as he apologized over and over, telling him it wasn’t his fault, that nothing was his fault, that he was nothing but good...

...And suddenly Liam was a little boy again, sad and confused on the kitchen floor as his mother cried and held him between silent sobs, whispering an empty lie that sank like lead in his heart.

Sometimes people leave, and that’s okay.

“So... wizards?” Brett offered shakily.

Both boys were sitting cross legged on the floor, idly tracing doodles on the dirt with sticks. Their eyes were both equally red and puffy, but their breaths and heartbeats had evened out.

“Wizards.” Liam whispered back, his voice rough and raspy from all the crying and yelling. Despite it all, Brett grinned.

Liam’s British accent really needed some work.

Eventually they continued their hike back, realizing they couldn’t sit on the ground forever. The two boys quickly found a steady cadence between squabbling loudly over random topics and chasing each other through the trees, as if nothing bad had ever happened.

The resilience of youth, so brazen and bold.

At one point on their trek, Liam had goaded Brett into full shifting, daring the tan wolf to give him a ride on his back. ‘If I’m such a ‘tiny little guy’, then you probably won’t have any problem carrying me right?’ What he had been sure was a cool idea quickly devolved into something ridiculous and frustrating. If he thought riding a horse was bad, this was much worse.

However, stubborn as they both were, neither called the dare off.

Once Liam had finally wiggled into a relatively firm position, they took off, gliding with ease through the trees, past clearings and carnelian poppy fields, across rushing streams and cascading waterfalls, chasing flocks of warblers as they flew on by.

And then Brett tripped on a tree root, sending them both tumbling down a small embankment and straight into the stream they had been following.

Lying there afterwards, covered in mud and debris and completely soaked, Liam felt the closest thing to pure, undiluted happiness in a long, long time. Maybe he should give horse-back riding another shot after all.

When night fell, they propped each other up and sang loud, cheesy pop songs up at the sky, trying to out-cringe the other. Brett handed Liam what was left of his cookies, with a stern warning to pace it, after his first reaction was to grab 3 cookies in one hand and stuff them into his mouth. Liam looked up at the older boy and made a face, crossing his eyes, cheeks stuffed to the brim like a chipmunk. He watched with glee as Brett doubled over laughing.

“I think we’ll be okay.” Liam said. He moved closer and this time, purposefully leaned his head against Brett’s shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

In the distance, a coyote howled. Liam wondered if it had been the one they helped.

“So, what’s going to happen when we get back to Beacon Hills?” He asked, unsure what their relationship was going to look like after their surreal adventure through the woods ended.

“Well, I’ll have to take a long shower. Then maybe eat an actual meal.”

“I mean – what are we going to do? Are you going to hang out with Mason and I, maybe the rest of the pack? Maybe you could help me when Scott leaves for college, you know.”

A chuckle.

“Putting me to work immediately, I see. Alright little alpha, whatever you want.”

Liam shrugged. He sat up, suddenly very excited about the new ideas swimming in his head.

“Or, we could just play video games. I don’t have any plans apart from that after this. Oh, do you think Satomi would have time to teach me a few shifting tricks? I want to see the look on Mason’s face when he sees me all wolfed out! I could go on forest runs with Malia, maybe then she won’t intimidate me so much. Ooh – maybe you could help me corner Theo? Scare the shit out of him, that’d be nice too.”

“Theo?”

“Oh, right – he’s a mass murdering psychopath I let out of skinwalker prison... I uh... that sounds really bad but I think he’s kind of just hanging out in his truck all day now and contributing absolutely nothing to society, good or bad.”

“And you want me to help you prank him? This mass murdering psychopath?”

“When you put it that way... probably best to leave him be.”

A familiar breeze swept through them, carrying with it a lingering scent of someplace familiar – Beacon hills - home. Both boys perked up, trying to hold onto the scent. They were close.

“Come on Brett, let’s move! I’m not tired yet, and I don’t want to lose the scent.”

“Oh, so now you’re suddenly in a rush?”

But Liam was already off, dashing towards the direction of the scent like a bloodhound after prey. Shaking his head with a huff, Brett begrudgingly followed after.

Liam darted through the darkening forest, leaping over fallen branches and rocks, nose trained on the faint whiff of home. He stopped abruptly when he reached a clearing, trees parting into an absolutely breathtaking view of Beacon Hills from above. He had never seen his town from this angle before, and everything looked so distant and small... if he strained his eyes he could kind of make out the school...

He lurched forward as Brett careened into him, groaning and rubbing his nose.

“Warn a guy before stopping like that. Idiot.” Then, “Oh wow.”

“We’re back.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m kind of bummed I didn’t find my suitcase though.”

He could feel Brett rolling his eyes, but when he levelled a shy glance at the other boy, there was an unmistakable fondness in his eyes, something tender and directed, just for him.

The trek down the overlook and into town was short and quiet. When they reached the large ‘Welcome to Beacon Hills’ sign, Liam slowed and turned. He and Brett lived in opposite directions. This was where their paths split.

“So this is it, huh.”

“Not in the slightest. Don’t forget you still have lacrosse games to lose against me!”

Liam shook his head, and dug his hands into his pocket. He knew it was irrational and stupid, but he had to ask, even just for peace of mind.

“You’re not just going to l-leave right? Like, pretend this trip we had never happened?”

Brett’s gaze sharpened.

“No Liam,” he spoke slowly, deliberately. “And I don’t think you should think this way.”

“What way?”

“Like everything is so – I don’t know, final. I know how you hate being left behind, believe me I know. I just kind of wished you wouldn’t be like that around me.”

“Sorry I can’t help it.” Liam grumbled, bitterness lacing his tongue. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go...

“People leave, Liam. They just do. You can’t control that.” Brett’s voice quivered, his previously confident facade crumbling slightly. Liam suddenly felt very small and insecure, and he hated himself for it. How could he have forgotten? Brett had practically lost his entire family, and then he had lost half his pack. The other boy had lost more than Liam could ever even comprehend, and here he was, still having to pull himself together to deal with Liam’s issues.

“How do you get through it?” He asked, dropping his head down and kicking at the dirt beneath his feet.

It took a while as Brett mulled over the question, but when he eventually responded it was with assured certainty.

“I just try to remember that, sure, people leave, but the ones who matter will always find a way back to us. Sometimes, they come back in ways we don’t always realize immediately... like, my mom.” Brett looked up at the night sky wistfully. “If you need to hold on to anything Liam, hold onto that.”

Liam nodded.

The air around them was tense now, and he had been the cause of it. He and Brett had been good – they had been great, and because he had to let his stupid insecurities take over, there was now a space between them, growing wider by the minute. Liam hadn’t wanted it to end this way. He rocked back on his heels and drummed his fingers anxiously against his thigh, waiting for something, anything to break the tension. Usually he had something stupid to say for these moments, but his mind was blank.

He heard Brett let out a long sigh.

“I’m not going to stand here forever, and I’m also not going to let this,” he gestured between him and Liam, “be ruined by whatever that depressing conversation was. So, I’m going to do something, and you’re going to promise not to punch me.”

In one swift stride, Brett closed the space between the two of them. He cupped Liam’s face in his hands and kissed him first on the cheek, then on the corner of his lips, so softly Liam thought he dreamt it. Pulling back, trademark grin on his face, he patted Liam’s head. “I know you’re still getting over Hayden, so this is all you get. But when you’re ready, let me take you out, okay? Properly.”

Oh.

Oh.

Liam gaped dumbly at the boy in front of him. In his head, the pieces of a puzzle he hadn’t bothered to even think about was now slotting itself into place, and with it, a lot of things began to make sense. In hindsight, it had been so obvious. So completely, utterly obvious. Perhaps it had been there all along, ever since the day they had first noticed each other, and then simply couldn’t stop noticing each other.

Liam finally jump-started whatever was left of his brain that worked, and forced himself to look up, staring right into Brett’s eyes, blue and blue, the ocean meeting the sky.

“That better be a promise, Talbot.”

A breath.

Then the other boy smiled, eyes crinkling softly at the edges.

“Of course, when have I ever broken my promises? See you around, Dunbar."

Liam stood, watching for the second time that week, as Brett’s figure grew smaller and smaller. This time though, he wasn’t scared. He was hopeful.

Chapter Text

Liam was 15 years old and feeling entirely out of place as he paced nervously outside Sinema.

“ I don’t like that boy you’ve been hanging out with Liam, he’s a bad influence.”

“He’s not, he helps me with lacrosse.”

“And how many classes have you skipped because of him? This isn’t how I raised you.”

Liam scratched at his chin and briefly considered if he should just leave and pretend he’d had a stomachache.

An arm wound its way around his shoulder, tugging him tightly into a half-hug. Liam groaned.

“You’re late.” He hissed, but with no real venom. “So, how do we get in?”

“Easy, we walk. Look, they may claim to be an 18+ establishment, but half the people in that club are underage, hell, half the employees are underage. Trust me, we just have to smile and look pretty, which -” Brett gave Liam an affectionate glance and patted his cheek amicably. “- We both got in the bag.”

When picturing what he’d be doing that night at the club, Liam thought he would have been sliding up to the bar and chatting up some girls, then letting lose and dancing his heart out with one of them – like what teenage boys were supposed to enjoy doing. Instead, he was frozen in a corner, majorly overwhelmed and entirely at a loss among the mass of gyrating bodies.

Brett managed to find him before he lost it completely. Sensing his discomfort, the older boy quickly used his tall frame to block Liam’s view of the blaring lights, offering him some breathing room. Liam smiled gratefully at his friend, already feeling better.

“It’s alright Liam, just focus on me, and let’s have some fun.”

Liam nodded, and didn’t question it.

Brett had a spatter of gold glitter painted across his cheek. It dazzled and glimmered beautifully under the neon lights as he swayed, bringing out the blue of his eyes. Liam could barely pay attention to anything else.

And as the two of them danced, grinning wildly at each other like idiots, the blare of the music and the jostle of the crowd seemed so, so far away. The world was spinning wildly, the beat thundering down, but Liam barely registered any of it. All he knew was the heat of Brett’s body next to his, and how they moved so perfectly in sync like they were made just for this.

“He helps me break out of my shell. It’s like he’s the sun, and I’m a little green planet spinning around him and soaking up his rays. ”

His mother had given him a look - weary, but fond.

“Well, then I hope you don’t get a sunburn.”

The next day, Liam smashed his coach’s car with a baseball bat until every inch of the vehicle was covered in dents. He had stood over the mess he made, chest heaving and arms bleeding from the glass. A red hot anger burned through him from the inside out.

After that, Brett’s eyes, once so soft and warm, had hardened into something cold and distant. When Liam had tried to explain himself and apologize, Brett had shoved him into a locker and sneered cruelly at his misery with the older lacrosse players.

“Summer’s over, Liam.”

Brett sneered at him from under his helmet, mocking, cruel.

Liam flared his eyes, unable to control the rage welling up inside him. The next time Brett ran at him, he rammed his entire body into the other boy, sending him flying. Gripping his crosse to the point of cracking it, he swung with all his might and watched as the ball ripped cleanly through the net and onto the sidewalk. He stormed off, not bothering to pick it up.

Nobody noticed the woman who was watching them silently from the sidelines, eyes narrowing as she saw the ball fly through the air at impossible speeds. Gingerly, she reached down and picked the stray ball off the ground, peering at it with a calculating gaze.

Asking Brett for help had clearly been a mistake. A mistake Liam would not make again. He had been played the fool too many times. He tore his gloves off and threw them across the floor, letting out a frustrated scream.

“You want to talk about it?”

Liam’s head shot up, eyes still flaring gold and fangs poking out. Brett was leaning casually against one of the lockers, and Liam sneered at the familiar situation they were in.

“You’re an asshole.”

“Oh yeah? I was just trying to help, Liam. But duly noted, I’ll stick with the cookie method next time.”

The corner of Liam’s mouth quirked up, and he felt his entire body relax as his anger subsided. He hated how little it took, how easily he clung onto every word Brett said.

“Glad you finally remembered I existed, after ghosting me all summer.”

Brett actually had the audacity to look ashamed.

“I – it wasn’t intentional, my cell service is terrible, and I was away working. I’m trying to save up for an apartment for me and Lori after I graduate. I don’t know, I thought maybe you might have also needed some space still. But yeah, I should have told you.”

“You should have.”

A pause. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, “I’m not perfect, Liam. I’m still learning. I’ll do better.”

Maybe, maybe, maybe. Liam would play the fool again.

“Can I cash in that date now then?” He asked in a huff.

Brett stared at him. For a minute, Liam’s insecurities started to twist their way back into the forefront of his mind, but thankfully the older boy recovered before they could fully take over.

“Y-yeah, of course. Actually, I did have something to give you as well.”

A smooth, moss-covered rock was dropped into his hand. Liam gaped dumbly.

“...Is it?”

“Yeah. I uh, kept it and cleaned it up a bit. Thought you should have it, since you had such a strong reaction to it.”

Liam traced his thumbs over the familiar grooves on the scratched surface. He looked up at Brett and beamed.

“Thanks, Brett.”

“So, see you tomorrow at 7? I can come pick you up.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

When Liam met back up with Mason and Corey, spring in his step and an extra dopey grin on his face, they didn’t question it. He stared out the window at the clouds as they drove back home, the rock a comforting weight in his pocket.

Brett and Lori were lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the road. He was dead before Liam could reach him, eyes blank and cold, staring at the sky.

Liam felt himself break apart, inch by inch, tendon by tendon, bone by bone, until there was nothing left.

Sometimes people leave, and that’s okay.

Sometimes people leave, and that’s okay.

Sometimes people leave.

Sometimes... and that’s okay.

Chapter Text

“Your dead friends are dead. And they’re going to stay dead, no matter what-”

Liam threw everything he had into the subsequent punch, relishing in the sickening crunch of Theo’s jaw cracking under his knuckles and the thud of the chimera’s head as it smashed against the bathroom wall. Droplets of dark red blood dotted the grey concrete. Liam stared down impassively as Theo groaned, holding his jaw as it creaked back into place. Satisfied, he stormed pass the downed chimera, kicking him in the stomach “accidentally” as he went.

“By the way, I’m still working on my anger.”

Another groan, then, “good to know...”

Some part of him knew what Theo had been trying to do. In his own twisted way, the other boy had been trying to help him. Hearing Brett and Lori being so callously referred to as random roadkill though, that had been it. Theo could stay and rot on the floor of the Sheriff station bathroom for all Liam cared.

Unfortunately, Theo seemed to have other plans. Liam saw the chimera emerge from the bathroom a mere 5 minutes later with not a drop of blood in sight, hair immaculately brushed back as if he hadn’t just had the daylights punched out of him. Liam clenched his jaw and flared his nostrils, unable to hide his overwhelming annoyance at the older boy’s casual nonchalance. To make things even worse, it looked like he was trying to help Scott come up with a plan to trick Monroe. Since when had Theo started willingly helping the pack? And Scott just let him? He narrowed his eyes, hoping beyond hope that Scott wouldn’t let his guard down too much. Honestly, where was Stiles when you needed him?

The trick failed, obviously, but due to Rafael’s timely arrival, they were thankfully still bullet-free. Liam would be lying if he said he trusted the handlers that were currently leading Jiang and Tierney away into the back of a shoddy FBI van, but he was too tired to argue, and if anything, he had to trust his alpha’s judgment. Theo stood next to him, right next to him, and stared straight at him unblinkingly as if Liam wouldn’t notice. He decided to ignore it.

Theo kept staring.

Using everything in him to keep himself from decking Theo again, Liam finally turned and gave the other boy a questioning look, quirking an eyebrow for emphasis. Of course, the chimera turned away then. Fucker.

“Need a ride?” Theo nudged Liam’s elbow with his after things settled down and the hunters left the sheriff station. Liam frowned. Hadn’t he just punched this guy in the face so hard his jaw broke? Did the punch scramble his brain too?

“No.” Automatic answer.

“Suit yourself.” Theo sauntered off towards his truck, twirling the key around his index finger. Rather than getting in however, he merely leaned against the frame, crossed his arms and observed the rest of the pack as they stood around the Sheriff station parking lot and figured out their next move.

With his life now out of immediate danger and adrenaline quickly dissipating, Liam started spacing out. Once in a while Scott or Lydia would ask him a question to nudge him back to attentiveness, and thankfully a quick nod or grunt usually satisfied their worried glances. The situation rapidly unfolding was bad, and everyone knew it. Even if the hunters were gone for now, they were definitely planning something large scale and could not be taken lightly. Simply having the numbers and weapons to surround an entire sheriff’s station was terrifying in of itself.

There was a chance none of them would even survive the night.

Liam knew it was crucial for them to stick together. Now more than ever, he needed to be there for his friends, for all of them, which meant actively listening and contributing. However, he was just so tired. So tired all the time. Following blindly without question was usually the easier route. He just had to remind himself to pay enough attention to actually follow along and stay up to date with his pack’s plans. After all, lone wolves wouldn’t make it far, especially with an entire town of hunters intent on slaughtering every single one of them.

He snuck a sideways glance at Theo.

The chimera was still there, leaning against his truck and watching them, grey eyes sharp and focused. Despite his cool exterior, Liam knew. He knew Theo had to be fucking terrified. It was why he was choosing to stay. A mere month ago, before... Theo would never have stuck around, clearly convinced Malia would rip his throat out without a moment’s hesitation, and he’d probably been right. Now though, now he desperately clung to the sidelines of the only pack left in Beacon Hills, trying to be helpful enough to be tolerated. Just a scared, frantic boy parading under a mask of nonchalance.

...Nowadays, which one of them wasn’t?

Despite everything, Liam didn’t want to see Theo die. He didn’t think he could take another death. Not now, and not even if it was Theo.

He’s my responsibility. He’d boldly told a concerned Scott and a downright furious Malia that day he’d made the fateful decision to let Theo out. He’d meant it too.

Well, he’d been doing a pretty shitty job of that as of late.

“Liam, we’re going to have to pack and ‘leave’ Beacon Hills, understand?” Scott gave him a look that usually meant they were going to do the opposite. “Just to be safe, we need to stay together as much as possible – come over to mine a soon as you finish packing. Lydia can give you a ride, text her when you’re done packing and we’ll pick you up also – do not walk around on your own, I mean it.”

Liam’s weary mind almost agreed, until.

“What about Theo?” He could barely believe his own words.

Scott frowned, clearly having forgotten about their stray chimera, and glanced over at where Theo still stood.

“He has a truck, he’ll be fine. I’ll text him where to meet up.”

Liam thought that sounded perfectly reasonable, and even pretty darn generous on Scott’s part. His mouth however, didn’t get the memo.
“He offered me a ride already. I’ll go with him.” Then, seeing Scott’s eyes widen in surprise, “It’s okay, I won’t be alone. Go worry about the others, Scott.”

“Are you sure?” Scott gave him a ridiculously parental look, one that spoke of being torn between being the overprotective alpha or respecting Liam’s decisions. Eventually, he settled for the latter, giving Liam a curt nod that the younger beta mirrored gravely.

Sighing, Liam reluctantly made his way towards his responsibility. He gave Theo a glower as he walked around him to unlock the passenger side door, slumping heavily down on the seat before slamming the door shut. He didn’t bother to wait for Theo to get in or raise his voice, knowing the chimera could hear him fine.

“We’re going to mine. I need to pack and figure out an excuse to tell my parents, then we’ll go to your place before meeting up at Scott’s.” He shut his eyes and leaned his head back, releasing some tension from his shoulders. All he wanted was for this to be fucking over.

“Oh. So now you-”

“I really don’t care, Theo. I’m tired. Just for once in your life do as you’re told.”

He heard the clicking of the truck door as Theo slid into the driver’s seat, and the revving of the engine as the truck started. Then, almost imperceptibly, “I’ve always just done as I’ve been told, Liam. Nothing else.”

Liam turned his head away and stared out the window at the passing trees silently.

“Don’t go anywhere.” He jabbed a finger at Theo as they pulled up to the front of his house. Theo huffed and raise his arms in mock surrender, barely managing not to roll his eyes.

Liam’s parents weren’t home, which was becoming more and more typical now. Despite loving them dearly, Liam was glad. It made everything easier to explain away. This though, pretending to leave Beacon Hills with his group of ragtag friends? That wasn’t going to be as easy to explain, but at least he could deal with it afterwards and not now, not when he had urgent matters to attend to. He scribbled a messy note about some excuse or other and stuck it on the fridge. He felt terrible, and he hated himself for his stupid cop-out excuses, but honestly, what was new?

Liam trudged up the stairs to his bedroom. Instinctively, he opened his closet where he kept his suitcase, only to remember it wasn’t there. Ignoring the way his chest tightened, he moved to grab an old Osprey backpack from the furthest corners of his closet and brushed off the dust. His eyes darted to the storage bin next to where the backpack had been, and his hands absently found themselves in his pants pocket, tracing the surface of the rock he carried with him everywhere. Liam shook his head, shoving the pain away. He grabbed enough clothing to last a few days and stuffed it into his backpack, making sure to bring a jacket this time.

Theo was still in his truck when Liam left his house, sitting sullenly with his head bowed. He made no attempt to move as Liam strode closer, completely lost in a world of his own. He saw the older boy bring his arm up to thump at his chest several times in evenly-timed succession, staring blankly at somewhere under the steering wheel. Theo had always been a little strange, even though he tried so hard to act normal.

Maybe in another life, in another time, Liam would have taken some time to figure him out.

He yanked open the door, tossing his backpack onto the floor carelessly before depositing himself sluggishly onto the seat. Theo startled at the sudden intrusion, eyes widening a fraction, though he very quickly straightened himself out.

“Alright. Your place now.” Liam muttered. In response, Theo lifted up a frayed backpack of his own from under his seat, filled with what was probably clothes.

“No need, I already packed everything.”

“When?” Liam asked incredulously. He didn’t remember Theo leaving at any point, though if he was being honest, he probably wouldn’t have cared to notice.

“Before I arrived at the station.” Theo’s heartbeat was steady. Liam ignored the voice in the back of his head telling him that that didn’t make any sense.

“Okay then, whatever.”

“So, Scott’s?”

Liam nodded, mind already drifting off elsewhere. He passed the time by tracing the lines of his palm with his thumb, seeing just how hard he could dig his nails in without breaking skin.

Liam’s hands shook as he slammed the can down on the kitchen counter, spilling drops of his drink onto the marbled counter top. He stared blankly out the window in front of him, swaying slightly. It was dark out, so maybe there would be owls watching him back.

He’d been bunking out in Derek’s loft for the last few days along with the rest of the pack, resolutely ignoring the insistent ringing of his phone from who were no doubt his parents. They had decided to lay low for a while as they planned out how to effectively fight back. Sheriff Stilinsky had told him he’d have everything under control regarding his loved ones, and Liam didn’t bother questioning it. Still, He felt sick. He was tired of lying, tired of hiding, even temporarily. And now, even as he was surrounded by his pack, he’d never felt more alone. The one saving grace was the fact that he was pretty sure they were going to make their move soon, and then he would finally have something worthwhile to focus on.

Liam lifted the partially crushed can back to his mouth, taking another deep swig. His throat burned like crazy, and his mind was hazy with the wolfsbane he nicked from Deaton’s clinic a few days ago. He looked outside again, thought of the owls, and suddenly felt the very real need to take a walk.

One foot in front of the other... the grass felt funny. It tickled. Was this how animals felt? Maybe they were so used to the grass they were immune to tickles. That’s a shame, Liam’s mind supplied. He nodded in response. As he stumbled further towards the forest, he craned his neck and squinted his eyes real hard at the trees - he knew the owls were out there. Why were they hiding? Liam had never seen a real owl before. Mason had, he had seen one hiding in a bush on a trip to the Everglades. Liam remembered being jealous.

Reaching the edge of the preserve, he frowned as he recognized a familiar blue pickup truck partially hidden among the brush. Gasping dramatically, he lurched towards it and banged on the side window.

“Theooo? You in there? So this is where you’ve been. I knew you were hiding out in the forest, you creep! I’m g-gonna tell Scott!”

Nothing but silence answered him. Liam frowned.

“Theo?”

Nothing. Lifting his hand sluggishly in a gesture akin to shielding his eyes from currently non-existent sunlight, Liam peered through the window. No one was inside the truck. That left only one option. He sniffed the air.

The distinctive smell of salt and brine, followed closely by something minty, wintergreen. Theo’s scent. It wafted out of the truck and into the forest, coincidentally the very forest that Liam had wanted to go into anyway. Perfect.

After a few minutes of stumbling around in loops, Liam reached a creek. The sound of trickling water tickled his eardrums. He had a sudden and overwhelming urge to lie down and lap the water up like a deer. It probably tickled, just like it did to his ears. But if he was a deer -an animal -he would be immune. Maybe he should try it then. As Liam got down unsteadily on one knee, something caught his eye in the distance. A bridge. He paused, thinking real hard about whether he wanted to drink from the stream or cross the cool-ass bridge.

The earth was 70% water. It was definitely not anywhere near 70% bridges. The decision was already made for him.

Liam found himself on the other side of the bridge, just a little bit disappointed in his uneventful adventure. So, what happened after someone crossed a bridge? He wasn’t sure. Did he – should he cross back?

Wintergreen. Harsh and sharp.

Immediately forgetting about his little bridge dilemma, Liam eagerly chased after the newfound scent trail with renewed vigor. It wasn’t much farther before he found Theo.

The chimera was standing in the middle of the rushing stream, barefoot and seemingly entranced by the splashing water as it rushed past his ankles. There was a vacant look in his eyes that made Liam feel inexplicably uneasy.

“Th-that’s not how you take a bath, Theo.”

The chimera jerked his head up, jarred out of his stupor by Liam’s voice.

“Wha-Liam? What are you doing here?”

“Looking for owls. They don’t want to meet me though. The water looks tickly. Does it tickle?”

Theo’s shocked expression swiftly morphed into confusion and then concern as he took in Liam’s disheveled state for the first time.

“Are you drunk?”

“No! Werewolves can’t get d-drunk. Everyone knows that, dumbass.”

“With that bit of wolfsbane you nabbed from Deaton you can, and I know you know that too. I saw you take it, you’re not subtle.”

Liam huffed, feeling put out. “Well, what are you doing staring at me a-all the time? You’re not subtle either, creeeeep.”

“I bet Deaton will be real happy when he finds some of his stash missing. Messing with wolfsbane isn’t smart, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, because neither are you.” Theo pushed on, tone serious. Liam didn’t like that.

“Shhhh! S-snitches get stitches, Theo.”

“What?”

“’Mnotdrunk.” Liam flopped down onto the grassy embankment near where Theo stood, and closed his eyes. “Tired. Gonna sleep. Don’t murder me.”

Silence, then an exasperated sigh, followed by the sound of water sloshing as Theo dragged himself out of the stream. A pair of ice cold hands grabbed him, looping under his arms and hoisting him up. Liam immediately put up a fuss, kicking and thrashing. Theo evidently didn’t care, as he continued to wordlessly lug Liam back out of the preserve. Liam’s head spun like crazy, so he eventually stopped resisting. Instead, he craned his neck to look up at the stars in the sky.

“Hi.”He whispered at them. They didn’t respond.

Liam was back in the passenger seat of Theo’s truck, once again strapped in tightly like some sort of prisoner. He watched groggily as Theo struggled to turn on the ignition.

“It won’t work if you keep on shaking.”

Theo glared at him, jaw clenching as he fought for control over his movements. Shivers continued to rack his body nonetheless.

“I’m trying.”

“I have a jacket. Remembered. You c-can have it when I get it.”

“Okay.” A grunt, then a frustrated growl as the key once again slipped.

“This wouldn’t be happening i-if you took a shower like a normal person. That stream was freezing. S-serves you right.”

“Yeah, serves me right, I guess.” A click. The truck rumbled to life, and Theo sighed in relief.

“Can you even drive properly?”

“Have to. You certainly can’t.” Liam couldn’t really argue with that.

“We’re here. Get out of my truck.”

Liam took a good look at Theo. The boy looked exhausted, the dark bags under his eyes were worse than his own. His hair was also longer and flopped uselessly against his forehead, which was coated in sweat, or creekwater, or both... Liam couldn’t be sure. The suffocating stench of wintergreen filled the truck. Liam didn’t remember Theo ever smelling so strongly of it before, but something about it triggered a rush of clarity to surge through his befuddled mind.

“You should come with me.”

Theo turned his head and stared at Liam, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“Scott needs someone to distract the hunters for the plan. I volunteered. You should come with me.”

“And be the bait?”

“You have the experience.”

A chuckle, low and amused.

“Alright little wolf, but on one condition”

“I’m not little – wait what condition?”

“You’re not going to mess around with wolfsbane again.”

Liam’s face stiffened abruptly. He hugged his chest tightly and glared resolutely out the window.

“Liam, I’m going to need some verbal confirmation from you.”

“I wasn’t drunk.”

“Liam.”

“FINE! I won’t alright? F-fine. I don’t know why it’s even any of your business.”

“If I’m to work with you as hunter bait, I’ll need someone with a clear head. Come on, let’s get you back to bed. You owe me a jacket.” Theo’s heartbeat was steady as usual, but the scent of wintergreen thickened even more. He wrapped an arm around Liam’s waist and towed him, half stumbling, back into the Hale residence.

When Scott woke up the next day to see Theo’s truck parked in the back alley, shoddily hidden by a silver tarp, Liam just shrugged.

Liam’s current psyche was a flimsy wooden door, shaking and splintering as a horde of red-eyed demons threatened to break through. He had thrown Nolan and himself off a ledge, mind temporarily blanking as it had been doing a lot more often. Picking the abandoned zoo as a distraction location was ending up more of a hassle than not, and he knew he was the one currently fucking everything up. Yet, he didn’t have it in him to care, mind fracturing from every little sound and movement the hunter made.

He landed on cold cement, curled in on himself as he screamed soundlessly, trying to superglue himself back together enough to function...

Breathe ... in, out, in, out...

“Liam...” His own name, whispered like a song, danced around the concrete walls of the abandoned zoo and caressed his cheek teasingly.

“Liam...” Again.

Liam cracked open his eyes, and it was like he was shattering to pieces all over again. Brett was standing in front of him, tall and regal in his old Devenford jersey, crosse gripped tightly in his hands. Everything around the boy flickered and tremored like a heatwave, but he alone persisted, clear and so, so undeniably real.

Liam opened his mouth but no words came out. All he could do was stare. Stare and continue to breathe, in, out, in, out . Maybe this was his punishment... he had known it would come for him one day.

“...I’m thinking you should share some of my pain.” Brett’s face morphed then, into something unrecognizable, trails of black blood flowing down his eyes and mouth.

As the lacrosse balls pelted down on him, Liam couldn’t stop his own tears from falling down his face, dripping hot and searing onto the cement floor. It was what he deserved.

When he looked up again it was Nolan, panicked and fearful, who was staring back at him, gripping the end of a large crossbow in his shaky hands. Liam’s heart fell. It was not fair... he shifted and surged forwards, driving them both against a wall. His wolf, repressed and vengeful, had every intent on hurting, maiming, killing. Still, Liam held on desperately as the last remaining shreds of his humanity slipped further and further away.

Night had already fallen when he woke up again, and like a recurring bad dream, he found himself strapped up in Theo’s truck. He groaned, rubbing his head and vaguely remembered being hit with something before he could seriously hurt Nolan.

The chimera who was currently sat next to him grinning from ear to ear was more than likely the culprit.

Liam groaned again, annoyed that this was yet another instance of Theo saving his life. He wasn’t sure what to think about that. Sure, before, it had been easy to explain away as just Theo trying to get back into Scott’s good graces by helping his first-bitten beta. Going through all that simply to stop Liam from killing though, that was a whole... other thing.

“Yeah I had to knock you out five times.” Theo snarked, way too happy about his achievement.

Liam sighed and sank down as low as his seatbelt would allow him in his seat, unable to get mad at Theo’s smugness. He had royally fucked up. Liam would let him have this one.

“I almost killed him.”

“Yet you broke your hands trying not to.” Theo’s eyes were uncharacteristically soft as he stared at Liam instead of the road.

“That’s something, I guess.” He glanced back down at the dried blood staining the lines of his palm. His own hands looked entirely foreign to him.

People only feel one emotion at a time, Liam...

Bullshit.

Liam constantly felt way too many emotions at the same time. That was his whole problem. But maybe, he thought, that was how Theo’s mind worked, rigid and guarded, unable to process more than one feeling at a time before malfunctioning. If that was indeed the case, then... well, Liam felt sad for him. He wondered what the chimera was feeling right now.

It took a while of unusual stillness for Liam to realize they had pulled over. Were they already back? He didn’t see any houses outside, only the dark silhouettes of trees. When he levelled an inquisitive glance at Theo, he found the chimera staring straight ahead, brows knitted and lips pulled in a tight line. That couldn’t be good.

“So,” Theo started abruptly, “are you going to start being honest with me now? I’m not going to move this truck until you do.”

Oh god, so it was this again, this was going to be fucking exhausting.

“Like I said before, I had no idea this place would trigger me, okay? I wouldn’t have knowingly picked the location if I had! Look, I’m sorry you had to drag my ass out of there, that it was such an inconvenience for you, but honestly you don’t have to help me again if it’s so much trouble. I’ll just ask Scott, or Malia or someone.”

Theo had the audacity to shake his head, rejecting Liam’s very earnestly given response. For a moment after, it was as if the chimera was struggling to come up with what to say.

Eventually, “Why did you take the wolfsbane, Liam?”

Something in Liam’s mind clicked at that very moment, and his heart dropped. This couldn’t be happening, not this, not now, not him.

“You can’t actually care.”

Theo scoffed, hands tightening around the steering wheel as he twisted his mouth into an ugly sneer. A fire burned inside his eyes as they began to flare gold.

“Why not? Because I’m a psychopath? Because I’m an evil manipulative bastard? Because this thing beating inside my chest isn’t even my own? Why not, Liam? Why not?”

“Because you just can’t, okay? Because it’s- because I’m not worth it!” Liam roared back in desperation, equally gold eyes meeting Theo’s. Twin outbursts from two boys who held onto pain a little too well, a little too tightly.

Theo was silent then, but Liam pushed on.

“You want to know why I took that wolfsbane so bad? Because I’m drowning, Theo. I’m drowning, and when I – for just a brief moment I could breathe again.”

Liam was shaking all over when he finished, chest heaving as he gripped tightly to the sides of his seat. The confines of the truck suddenly felt so tight and suffocating, and he needed to get out , to get away. He moved to unbuckle his seat belt, pre-emptively angling his body to launch himself out the door as soon as he was free.

Something cold tentatively grazed the edge of his hand. Liam froze.

“We can walk back, if you want.” Theo’s voice came out hesitant, almost timid. Inch by inch, he shakily covered Liam’s left hand with his own, flinching every so often as if expecting to get hit.

When Liam turned around fully to gawk at the chimera, the look he got back was so desperate and unbarred that he couldn’t do anything but be shocked into nodding. It was only after they had both gotten out of the truck that Liam noticed the erratic, thundering sound that was Theo’s heartbeat, rapping wildly out of control in his chest.

Thankfully, they hadn’t been parked that far from home, and after only 15 minutes minutes of walking, the familiar sights and smells of Liam’s neighborhood greeted him. Liam usually hated long stretches of awkward silences, but curiously, with Theo it felt natural, more tolerable, even. The walk, combined with the cool night air did wonders to clear Liam’s head and calm him down, and judging by his controlled heartbeat, Theo was back to normal as well.

“Are you going to go back for your truck?” He asked when they got close to Scott’s house, where Liam was supposed to meet up with the rest of the pack later that night.

Theo shrugged. “I live just nearby, I can go pick it up in the morning.”
Liam frowned, now that he really thought about it, none of them actually knew where Theo lived. A part of him was now very curious, it was a wonder why he hadn’t been earlier. If he managed to get Theo’s address, it would probably be good info for the pack to hold onto in the long run, just in case...

“You really shouldn’t be alone right now… maybe I can walk you back? Maybe uh, um, crash at yours?” Fuck. He’d bungled that for sure - Liam had never been good at playing it cool. Evidently his worries were founded, because Theo immediately stiffened.

“Aren’t you supposed to meet up at Scott’s?” He asked suspiciously. Ah. Right. That.

“Uh- I could just text him, he’ll understand.”

“He’ll understand ? Do you hear yourself? Go see your alpha, Liam. I’ll be fine.”

And Theo was off again without so much as a goodbye or backwards glance. He disappeared so quickly Liam had to pinch himself a few times to convince himself he wasn’t dreaming.

Fucking Theo and his stupid, annoying, confusing ways. Liam kicked a small pebble on the ground and watched as it skipped several feet before skidding to a halt. He heard the faint wail of sirens in the distance and instinctively swerved directions to avoid the source of the sound. Where there were sirens now, there was usually… hunter trouble. He couldn’t trust anyone anymore, especially if they were loaded with weapons. Unfortunately, it just meant a much longer detour before he could get to Scott’s, since the blaring was coming from the direction of where he should be headed.

Even as he fumed, he couldn’t help but wonder if Theo had heard it too, and if he was alright.

Theo reappeared in his life when he’d least expected. Granted, Liam had been just a bit occupied with Scott’s house getting shot up that he had no room to think, or care, or even worry about anything else other than smashing Gabe’s head repeatedly against the bathroom mirror.

Bang!

He should have been there.

Bang!

If only he’d gotten there earlier. Stupid, stupid, stupid - always late. Always too late.

Bang!

Blood, dripping down onto the sink and the stubborn boy – no – murderer still refused to talk. Liam’s wolf roared as it thrashed in the back of his head. Maybe he should let it out- maybe he should give it the vengeance it so desperately craved…

For the second time that week, Theo swept in like a rushing river, carrying Liam away in his frigid waves and depositing him on the grassy embankment, angry, but untouched. He watched as the chimera did what he had just been doing moments ago, heartlessly and brutally extracting information out of Gabe, grey eyes cold and unfeeling.

“Why do you keep trying to save me?” He had asked, letting a rush of emotion get the better of him. Realizing just as quickly that he wasn’t ready for the answer, he’d rambled on before Theo had any chance to reply, throwing in a few choice insults here and there to derail the subject. He knew he was being cruel, maybe unnecessarily so, but he could now accurately recognize the minuscule twitches on Theo’s face as certain words got under his skin, and that absolutely sickened him. When had he learned that? When had he started to care in return?

In the end though, he told himself, it didn’t really matter. Liam was Liam, and Theo was – Theo. And it would always be, just that.

“I’m not dying for you.”

“I’m not dying for you either.”

Liam definitely wasn’t prepared to hear Theo’s usually well controlled heartbeat skip so obviously, but that paled in comparison to the absolute shock he felt when he heard his own heartbeat skip as well. The two boys gaped at each other unblinkingly in that cramped hospital elevator, already shell-shocked before the battle had even begun.

When Theo took Gabe’s pain without a word, Liam was the only one not at all surprised.

After the gunshots subsided and they were all still alive, Liam limped over and gave Mason the tightest hug he could muster. It was overdue. The bullet wound in his leg stung with the effort, but he didn’t care. It was over. Monroe lost. And they would get her, and hunt her down just as she did to so many of them. He gave Corey, then Melissa a hug as well, languishing in the mixture of utter relief and thankfulness they all felt. To Nolan, he granted a hesitant nod. The ex-hunter though, didn’t seem to have processed anything, staring blankly at Gabe’s corpse in a blind stupor before Melissa gently ushered him away from the bloody scene. Liam felt for him, more than Nolan probably knew.

Then there was just Theo.

Theo, who had watched his back throughout the whole fight, Theo, who had taken at least 2 bullets for him as he pushed Liam towards safety, Theo, who quite honestly didn’t even have to be at the hospital, dragging Liam away from yet another foolish mistake.

Liam didn’t hesitate anymore. He strode towards the chimera, gritting his teeth at the pain inhis leg and wrapped him up in a warm embrace. As expected, Theo stood rigid, arms held stiffly at his sides as he tried to process which emotion to latch onto at that moment. Then, slowly, ever so slowly, he relaxed, starting from his shoulders then down his arms and torso until he was jelly in Liam’s grip.

Liam grinned from ear to ear, relishing in this brief moment of happiness before it would inevitably get torn away from him.

At that moment, Theo had smelled like the open sea, wild and free.

“3 big macs, 20 piece chicken mcnuggets, and an extra side of large fries please! Oh! And a chocolate milkshake.” Liam grinned sweetly at the McDonalds waitress a she took their order impassively.

“Apple slices.” Liam’s smile evaporated into thin air at Theo’s order.

“Dude, seriously?”

“Not hungry.”

“You could at least make me look less like a slob by ordering more. It’s basic etiquette.”

Theo actually smiled at that, a real smile, not the fake ones he plastered over his face all the time. Liam fought back a reciprocal grin by pretending to examine a stain on the table. He really couldn’t do this again.

After digging several bullets out of him, Melissa had released him from the hospital with a firm warning for everyone to get some sleep. Mason and Corey had decided, wisely, to heed her warning, but Liam’s stomach had begged to differ. No amount of puppy dog eyes could get his friends to go with him to the nearby McDonalds for a midnight “snack”.

Liam, you’re covered in blood. At least get changed first. They had said. So Liam had hung around waiting for Theo, who had been treated last. He had pounced on the older boy as soon as he had been released, and resolutely refused to take no for an answer.

That’s how Liam ended up at Mcdonalds, eating a midnight “snack” as Theo watched him in amusement, occasionally nibbling at his apple slices like a haughty rabbit. Both boys were still in their bloody, bullet-ridden clothing, but the collective apathy in a 24/7 fast food chain at midnight should not be understated.

Liam was just getting started with his big mac on one hand and a sauce-slathered chicken mcnugget in the other, dreaming about his first bite before the aforementioned first bite – the bite before the bite, per se, when Theo decided to speak.

“You asked me why I keep trying to save you -” Taking advantage of Liam’s full hands, Theo casually swiped one of his fries before continuing, “- it’s because I could tell something in you changed. Not sure when, maybe when this whole thing started, but maybe a bit before.”

Liam had just been about to take his first bite, and here Theo was, dropping heavy topics like this and stealing his defenseless fries. God dammit.

“I’m -” His stomach growled loudly in protest, and Liam could only silence it by taking a gigantic bite of his burger mid sentence. Between chews, he tried to sound as coherent as possible, “- the same as I’ve always been, Theo. Dunno what you’re talking about.”

“You suck at lying, Liam. You’ve closed yourself off, you’re way more self destructive, your rage is out of control, and you honestly suck at masking your chemosignals.” Theo dipped an apple slice into Liam’s sweet and sour sauce, effectively contaminating it forever. He growled and angrily bit into his burger, pretending it was Theo’s arm.

“I’m fine-” Munch. “ -Like I said before, stop caring so much-” Munch “- it’s beginning to feel stalker-ish. Should I be worried that you’re going to mount my head on a wall?”

Theo shook his head, then took a gulp of water, sloshing the ice cubes around with his tongue obnoxiously. Liam’s eyes twitched – Who drinks water like this? Theo had to be doing this on purpose.

“I know what everyone else says, but I know it’s not stress, Liam. I know because I’ve been there- and you’re good , Liam. Good . Don’t let bitterness at the world consume you and turn you into a monster, it isn’t worth it.” Then, in a quieter tone, “Trust me, I know from experience.”

Liam finished his first big mac in record time. He glanced at his second one, already lined up and smelling delicious. Drumming his fingers nervously on the plastic table, he chose instead to eat a fry first, dipping it into some honey mustard and relishing in the crunch as he bit into it, readying himself for the confession he was about to make. Theo was eyeing him attentively, like he knew.

“I saw Brett, back at the zoo.”

Theo leaned forward and stole another fry before reclining back, chewing on the end, and only the end, thoughtfully. Liam continued despite his disgust.

“He felt so real, I could practically smell him…”

“It was just a hallucination Liam, a bad dream. It wasn’t real.”

Liam suddenly didn’t feel very hungry anymore. He pushed the rest of his fries towards Theo.

“That’s the thing. I – Maybe I wish it was.”

A silence fell between the two as neither moved. Liam felt heat pool around the corners of his eyes, and he fought back the tears that threatened to spill over. Why did he even try, it wasn’t as if Theo wouldn’t know, observant bastard.

“Did you love him?”

The question should have taken him off guard, but it had been Theo who asked, and strangely, that made complete sense.

“...Yeah.”

An unreadable expression flickered across Theo’s face. It was followed by one of those minuscule twitches that Liam was now familiar with.

“I’m sorry Liam, I didn’t know.”

“No one did.” Throat suddenly feeling very dry, Liam grabbed his combo coke and slurped loudly through the straw. He continued on, unshed tears beginning to cloud his vision. “Sometimes, I think, what if we had continued just being angry at each other? M-maybe I wouldn’t have asked him for help. Then she would have been after me instead, and he would be okay.” Liam wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and pulled out his second big mac as a distraction.

“You can’t dwell on what could’ve been, Liam.” Theo offered him a napkin, but Liam was already too busy munching his woes away.

“It was my ball,” He finally said after stress-eating the burger in five big chomps, “the one she used to poison him with. It should have been me . It’s my fault, Theo. It… it should have been me…”

Liam sniffed, reaching for his last burger to further drown his sorrows, but Theo got there first, grabbing it away from the carton and biting into it in one swift motion. He also confiscated Liam’s nuggets before he could choke down anything else.

Theo finished the burger in four bites.

“I would say it’s not your fault, that it’s Monroe’s, or Gerard’s or maybe even the Anuk-ite’s, but the truth is – only you can truly convince yourself of that. You’ll never be able to let go of guilt and pain until you forgive yourself. And forgiving yourself- that’s the hardest part.”

Liam thought about it. He glanced at Theo, then at the mcnuggets he was holding. Striking like an adder, Liam snatched one from the box before Theo could stop him.

“So did you forgive yourself?” He asked as he dipped into the honey mustard.

Theo shook his head, now moving his arms to physically shield the nuggets from Liam.
“When I was dead – or underground -or in hell, or whatever you want to call it, I would wake up trapped in one of those cold boxes in the hospital morgue. When I got out, Tara, m-my sister, would hunt me down and rip my – her – heart from my chest. Then I would wake up again, back in the morgue, over and over and over again. She always got me in the end. I- I still dream about it every night.”

That was- well, Liam really had no words. He'd had absolutely no idea. He stuck two straws into his chocolate milkshake and offered one end to Theo. Together they sipped the milkshake wordlessly. Liam bumped Theo’s knee gently with his, hoping it would be a form of reassurance where words failed. Theo bumped his in return.

“I’m really sorry Theo... and thanks. For telling me. I mean it.”

“It’s nice to finally let it out.”

The waitress walked over, unperturbed by the two bloody, red-eyed boys both sipping the same milkshake. She slammed the bill down on the table and walked off.

“Let me get this one, okay? As a thank you for watching out for me. I owe you.”
Theo didn’t put up much of an argument, but there was shame in the way he absently rubbed his arms as Liam emptied his wallet of change.

To lighten things up, Liam grinned and added, “See? I told you to order more.” The older boy smiled, but it didn’t fully reach his eyes.

Theo held the door open for Liam as they made their way back out into the breezy California night. They walked silently, side by side, shoulders bumping occasionally. Liam looked up – the sky was clear.

“Oh, could you, um. Could you not tell anyone? About me and Brett? I was serious when I said nobody knew. I just – I’m not ready to really deal with it yet.”

“And who would I even tell, Liam?”

“That’s true, I guess. I promise I won’t tell anyone either. About your nightmare.”

“Pinky promise?” Theo stuck out his pinky finger and wiggled it, smirking teasingly. Liam rolled his eyes, but looped his own finger around Theo’s, sealing the deal.

“Hey, do you have some time to go somewhere?”

“Where?”

“You’ll see.”

Liam grinned, shook his hand free of Theo’s pinky, and sprinted off.

“Wow, am I right?” Liam beamed proudly at Theo’s stunned face. He had taken the chimera to the clearing overlooking Beacon Hills that he and Brett had inadvertently stumbled upon on their way home. However, the magnificent view of Beacon Hills was not what he had wanted to show Theo.

He grabbed Theo’s chin and tilted it up at the night sky. He watched eagerly as the other boy’s eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, and thousands of shimmering stars started to appear before him. Liam could pinpoint the exact moment Theo managed to discern the galaxy, eyes widening a fraction as he sucked in a sharp breath.

“Someone once told me, that sometimes people come back to you as stars.” Liam made a silly face at the sky, before continuing, “I think he’s up there right now, along with Lori, Satomi, Jiang, Tierney, all of them. Together. Looking down on us.”

Theo didn’t speak, so Liam took a deep breath, braced himself, and continued.

“I brought you up here, because, maybe Tara’s up there too. The real her, not the ghost who haunts you. I’d like to think she’s proud of you, of how much you’ve changed for the better, of how much you’ve grown. I-maybe this isn’t my place, b-but I think she loves you Theo, despite everything. You are still loved.”

Theo started to shudder next to him, and Liam didn’t have to look to know he was crying. He leaned his shoulder against the other boy in silent reassurance as he finally stopped fighting and let his own tears fall as well.

After a while, Theo finally spoke, voice subdued and timid.

“C-can we stay a bit longer?”

“Of course Theo, we can stay as long as you want.”

Theo stayed until every single star faded into the hazy sunrise, and Liam stayed with him. The adults could scold him later.

Chapter Text

Beacon Hills Conservatory was a secluded domed greenhouse in the middle of the preserve, deep in the forest and very well hidden. According to Mason, it had been a family run establishment that ended up closing down a few years ago due to a lack of visitors. Liam wondered if it had ever even been meant for visitors in the first place, given the location far away from any major roads.

He slowly crept up to the vine-covered gate and tested it. It was unlocked. Somewhere, a cicada buzzed. He knew that just within the greenhouse in front of him was apparently a massive supply of wolfsbane and mistletoe, and more than likely several murderous people who wouldn’t hesitate to use it on him. Despite the seemingly peaceful ambience, he had to be extremely careful.

Liam couldn’t believe that it had only been 4 months since Monroe’s defeat. It felt more like 4 years. For the most part, the people of Beacon Hills went back to living life like normal. Well, as normal as normal could be, all things supernatural... considered.

Two months ago, Scott had finally packed up and left for real, heading south for UC Davis, and with him, the rest of the older pack had dispersed as well, Malia to Paris and Lydia and Stiles to the east coast. It had been challenging in the beginning, with everyone being so far apart, but Liam had managed. It wasn’t as if they didn’t have weekly pack meetings still, it was just all online now, human bodies replaced by rectangles on a screen. In fact, meetings had actually increased, though that was likely due to Monroe’s recent resurgence. They still didn’t know where she was hiding out, but every once in a while something way too similar to a hunter killing would crop up on the news or police radio. Liam had learned that Monroe’s hunters had started to brand their kills, which made him want to throw up... it wasn’t just a flawed sense of justice anymore, it was a game for her, she enjoyed the notoriety and fear. Liam knew she had to die, and he vowed to hunt her down to the ends of the world for the rest of his life if that was what it took.

So, when a Monroe-related task in Beacon Hills came up, Liam didn’t hesitate to accept, despite being severely behind on his schoolwork.

“Stiles just got back with some intel. Monroe’s main wolfsbane supplier operates from the old conservatory in Beacon Hills. We need to cut off her supply somehow. Liam, I know you have practice and school, but -”

“I’ll do it.”

Scott had beamed at his enthusiasm like a proud parent, but Liam hadn’t missed the very obvious frown of concern Mason had shot at the camera through his own small rectangle on the top right corner. Still, like a true best friend, he gave Liam all the information he could possibly dig up on the establishment, knowing full well that with or without his help, the werewolf would be in that conservatory as soon as he found the opportunity.

Sure enough, Liam had gone the very next evening. He crept further along the outer walls of the domed complex, straining his ears for any irregular sounds, but heard nothing artificial or human among the consistent orchestra of crickets and cicadas. Reaching the greenhouse entrance, he pushed open the conveniently unlocked door. The whole building felt completely abandoned, which was certainly not the information he had been given. There had to be hunters around guarding the facility, this was their biggest supplier after all, they couldn’t have just relied on geography.

The door opened up into an unassuming supply hall filled with large storage boxes, gardening tools, trowels, gloves, pesticides and watering cans stuffed onto painted wooden shelves. Beyond the innocent display though, Liam could undoubtedly make out the ominous rows upon rows of purple and yellow wolfsbane, as well as a central section for several towering mistletoe trees. He gulped. The greenhouse was beyond packed with the stuff, barely leaving room for several narrow walkways that slithered between the groups of toxic flora.

He reached into his pocket and took out an unassuming metal lighter before creeping closer towards the plants, occasionally glancing back to keep his exit within sight. Upon hearing of the idea, some members of the pack had been opposed to so callously (and illegally) razing down a once ‘beloved’ public attraction, but it didn’t take much convincing after the full extent of Monroe’s escalating crimes were laid out in a power-point chart Stiles had made. Liam had been on board since the beginning.

Something tugged at the tip of his boots, causing him to stumble forwards before he quickly regained his footing. As he turned around and bent down to examine what he had caught on, his ears only just picked up a faint click, then brief swishing, like wind blowing through bare branches. It had been a thin, translucent tripwire he had just crossed, too focused on using his ears and nose than his eyes, apparently. Liam cursed as he realized he was now surrounded by a small circle of mountain ash, freshly released from the sprinkler system above his head.

Tripwires? Seriously? In this day and age?

‘You fell for it though,’ his inner vice supplied helpfully.

Grunting, he tried to step out, only to be expectantly pushed back by a powerful force. Well, he had to try at least once.

“I guess I just stand here then, and wait until someone comes to save me.” Liam exclaimed loudly in annoyance, listening as his voice echoed through the large glass dome. He had left his phone back in the truck, and it had taken half an hour of mostly uphill trekking just to get to this isolated location, fucking fantastic. He should have never -

“Afraid that’s not going to happen, werewolf.”

A tall woman wearing a washed out blue hazmat suit and a half mask respirator around her neck strode into view. Liam hadn’t sensed her presence before, she must have been underground... In her left hand she held a small metal device, spazzing out as it buzzed hysterically, flashing red. A robotic voice droned ‘alert: tripwire activated’. Liam’s eyes however, were fixated on what she held in her right hand. It was a needle – the largest needle Liam had ever seen, and it was filled with a noxiously bubbling substance. An ominous purple gas leaked out from the tip, and Liam felt weaker just being near it.

“Is that meant for me?” He gestured at the syringe, trying to sound as unbothered as possible. The woman chuckled darkly.

“Let’s find out, shall we?” Tossing the buzzing device to the side and crushing it with her foot, she raised the needle, poised to sink it into Liam’s neck. “Poor, little werewolf, all alone and helpless, so, so... easy.”

Despite her face being half-obscured, Liam could clearly make out the wild-eyed look of crazed glee on the woman’s face. The sinister needle inched closer to his face, and the smoky scent of wolfsbane assaulted his nostrils, causing his muscles to involuntarily relax. Shit shit shit, why did they always have to be so deranged? Why couldn’t the bad guys just choose simple, straight forward methods?

He prepared himself as best he could for a struggle, the mountain ash circle was tiny, leaving him very little room to move around freely, but he could move, and that meant he had a chance.

The struggle however, never came. A thump, then a hollow thud sounded as the woman collapsed in front of him, just shy of the mountain ash line. Liam was just a little bit disappointed.

“Maybe try being less presumptuous next time, you should know wolves never run alone.”

Liam rolled his eyes on instinct, but couldn’t help the little smile that dashed his lips as his partner in crime finally decided show up. Theo was dressed in a tight black turtleneck and equally dark slim jeans, looking very much like a shadow. In his hands he held two giant gas canisters, one of which had a sizable dent in it. They had planned for Liam to move in from the main door, and for Theo to sneak in more covertly via the employee’s entrance at the back of the complex, just in case. The chimera obviously took dressing for the part seriously. Liam on the other hand, looked down at his lacrosse uniform and sighed.

Said chimera placed the canisters on the ground and began circling him like a shark, obvious mirth and amusement swimming in his grey eyes as he observed Liam’s unfortunate situation. Liam wanted to grab him and shake him like a glow stick.

“So, can you let me out now?” He grumbled through gritted teeth.

“Hm.” Theo had the nerve to act like he was thinking real hard, as if this was such a difficult decision. Liam pouted at him and crossed his arms, patience quickly running out.

“Well? Get on with it!”

“What’s in it for me?”

“What’s in it for you? Are you kidding me? You really want your ass dumped back out on the street like before?” Then, piercingly hissed under his breath “You literally owe me so much, you fucking lying piece of shit.”

Theo rolled his eyes dramatically and threw his arms up, all previous amusement replaced with exasperation. He aggressively brushed his hair back with a hand like he always did when faced with Liam’s particular brand of obstinate tomfoolery. For extra measure, he planted his left foot on the downed hunter in irritation, receiving a muffled grunt that was quickly silenced by a hard stomp.

“Are you still mad about that?”

“YES!!”

“Jesus Liam, I swear you act like it was you who was living out of a truck instead of me.”

“Well if it had been me I wouldn’t have lied about it, I would have trusted my friends to help, because I’m not an emotionally stunted emo manchild.”

“Manchild!? Okay- honestly? It wasn’t even a huge deal, Liam! I was fine, I could have managed!”

Liam grew dangerously silent. The abrupt shift in his expression from outraged to deadpan was enough for Theo to stop mid rant, looking concerned. Liam slowly lifted his lighter up and flicked it on, making direct eye contact with Theo as he did so.

“Let me out Theo, or I’ll burn this place down. Both of us included.”

“Liam...”

“Because YOU’D LOVE THAT wouldn’t you? Not a huge deal? Not a huge deal? I’LL SHOW YOU WHAT’S NOT -”

“Fine! God! I’ll let you out!” Liam had never seen Theo do anything as fast as when he kicked away the mountain ash that day.

Later, Liam sat cross legged on the roof of Theo’s truck, watching in satisfaction as trails of thick smoke billowed upwards from deep within the preserve. In the end, him and Theo had begrudgingly decided to drag the crazed botanist-turned-hunter out of the burning building, down the forest trail, and handcuffed her to the bed of the truck. The entire way down, they had been arguing about whether or not Liam’s eyes would have turned blue if he’d left her to burn. Liam took it as his win, since they’d saved her in the end.

He could hear the sirens of sheriff Stilinsky’s squad in the distance as they pulled up to the preserve, ready to make an arrest and probably put out a fire before it could spread any further. He felt guilty for delaying the call, but Theo had told him they needed to wait a bit to make sure all the wolfsbane was destroyed. Said boy hopped onto the truck roof next to him, nudging against his side to get him to scoot over. Liam did, and reached out a hand for a fist bump which was heartily returned. A job well done, despite the hiccups. Monroe’s wolfsbane access was sure to take a major hit.

“Did I ever tell you how cool your powers are?” Liam asked suddenly, as he gratefully took a sandwich Theo handed him, packed for them by Liam’s mom earlier that morning before she left for work.

“You think?” Theo asked, unwrapping his own and biting into it hungrily.

“Yeah! You have all our powers, even though it’s weaker it’s still cool, but you’re immune to our weaknesses. The hunters never see you coming. I love the look on their faces every time you walk right through a mountain ash trap.”

Theo grinned, the smell of the tide strengthening as he preened a little at Liam’s compliment.

Eventually the sheriff made his way to where they were parked, taking the still unconscious hunter off their hands. He eyed Theo warily, and gave Liam a questioning look, obviously still uncertain about Theo in general. Liam nodded back at him with an air of certainty, and that seemed to be enough for now.

“As much as I appreciate your work, you boys better get back home soon. It’s late, and it’s a school day tomorrow. Werewolf or not, I know your parents are worried sick, Liam, there’s only so much I can do before they demand the full extent of the truth.”

That was enough to get Liam moving. He stuffed his whole sandwich into his mouth, pushed Theo off the truck before jumping off himself, almost tripping over is own bootlaces as he flung himself bodily into the vehicle and yelling at Theo to drive.

A whistle was blown, loudly, directly into Liam’s ear as he once again failed to score. He almost passed out from the sound.

“I don’t care about your new furry problems Dumb-bar, if you don’t play like you used to as a puny freshman, I’ll continue to blow this damn whistle until your ears bleed!” Coach’s voice erupted over the ringing in his ears, somehow even louder than the whistle. Liam could only nod weakly as he prayed werewolf healing applied to hearing loss as well.

Truth be told, coach’s anger was completely warranted. Liam had stopped training outside of mandatory team practices, and as a result his lacrosse skills had rapidly declined to Stiles-levels of bad. Unfortunately he didn’t have the latter’s unique brand of persuasive charm, which constantly landed him in hot water. He had actually wanted to quit a while ago, heart no longer in the game, but ultimately stayed for the team. At least, that’s what he convinced himself had been the reason after being metaphorically clobbered by Nolan’s insane sad doe eyes as the ex-hunter begged him not to leave. Nolan was going through it as well and had most definitely needed him around for some sort of trauma-bonded solidarity. Liam was just shocked he’d met his match as far as kicked puppy expressions went.

Somewhere in the stands, Theo snickered at his misfortune. Liam snapped his head up and snarled. The infuriating chimera was present at almost all of his practices and games now, often sitting next to an equally uncomfortable and confused Mason and pretending to read a book or browse on his phone in abject boredom. His excuse had been promising Liam’s mom he’d be Liam’s personal chauffeur in return for offering him a place to stay, but Liam knew when Theo lied- he was just there to piss him off.

Practice seemed to drag on longer every day, the minutes ticking by like hours. Liam wasn’t trying very hard despite coach’s building fury. He didn’t plan on attending their next game anyway, so why should he bother? It was going to be against Devenford Prep. Simply thinking about the name was like a dark cloud over his head, feeding into a swirling black hole in his chest he kept locked up so tightly it hurt to breathe. Nolan would often have to hold him back in the locker rooms when he overheard teammates talking about how easy it was to beat Devenford, now that... now that he was gone. He still hadn’t told anyone apart from Theo, but he suspected Nolan knew. Sometimes he would occasionally see the other boy get the same faraway look on his face when he glanced at the empty locker next to his. It was a thin, shaky thread that connected the two of them, a river of pain stitching through their broken hearts that blurred with time, but never fully gone.

“Are you going to be at the game next week?” Nolan asked hesitantly after practice. Liam shook his head.

“Stomach bug.”

Nolan nodded, giving him a sympathetic pat on the back.

“Feel better.” He said quietly.

And that was enough.

It turned out Monroe was still in California. And she had been the whole time, and Scott knew.

“What do you mean you knew where she was all along!?” Liam roared into his screen, rage and betrayal flowing rapidly through his veins as he shook uncontrollably. He couldn’t believe Scott would withhold that very important piece of information from him.

“Who else knows? Does everyone know? Everyone but me?”

“Liam, please understand...” Scott’s placating voice and guilty look did nothing but anger him more.

He was just about to rip his table apart when an empty toilet roll was thrown at his head, temporarily snapping him out of his rage. He turned to glare at Theo, who was leaning casually against his bedroom door.

“You’re out of toilet paper. Don’t be a neanderthal and actually replace it when it goes out next time.” That was all it took, and Theo was gone as quickly as he had appeared, probably off to the guest bedroom downstairs where he often stayed now.

Liam loosened his grip on the table and looked back at the screen, gold eyes slowly fading back to blue. It was like he was poked with a needle and drained of all excess anger, enough to save his table, at least. Scott however – well, he took several deep breaths, repeating his mantra several times over before he could face Scott without exploding.

“Was that Theo?” Malia asked suspiciously, not helping Liam’s situation. To his surprise, Mason hurriedly answered for him.

“Yeah – uh, he actually helps us out sometimes, since most of you guys are away.”

Sometimes was actually all the time, every time, Liam wanted to correct, still twitching with irritation at everyone. And when had the world suddenly turned upside down? When had so much changed in less than a year? Because Liam trusted Theo now, more so than anyone else, more than his alpha.

“But why is he with Liam?”

This time Liam cut in, probably a bit too harshly for his liking, but he didn’t have the energy to school his voice while he was so actively trying to hold back his emotions. Theo was careful to never make his presence known when Liam was in pack meetings because of precisely this.

“Because he lives with me now. He was homeless, and none of you cared. Somebody had to, and that person is me. Now can we get back to why you were all lying to me?”

Several people looked as if they wanted to question the Theo situation further, but Liam really wasn’t having it.

“I swear I am going to leave this stupid meeting if we don’t get back to what’s actually important.”

Scott finally spoke, slowly and carefully like Liam was some sort of rabid animal. He hated it. For most of his life after being diagnosed with IED, people treated him like he was a ticking time bomb, constantly walking on eggshells around him. He just wanted to be taken seriously, like a normal person, like he could be trusted.

“Liam, I guarantee you, not everyone knew. Only me, Stiles, Lydia, Derek and Chris, I promise.” Ah, so the inner circle. Of course. Liam snorted, he wasn’t at all surprised. “I was never going to keep this information from you for long, but I just needed to wait a little bit. We needed to get her in a vulnerable position, and now that you managed to stifle her wolfsbane supply, she is.”

“That’s supposed to make me feel better? That you asked me to do your dirty work without trusting me with all the info? Why?”

“So you don’t go after her, Liam.”

Liam clenched his jaw. He had no real rebuttal to that. He knew he definitely would have, but that didn’t stop him from still being angry and hurt. The zoom call was silent as everyone looked on nervously, not wanting to come between their alpha and his first-bitten beta. Even Stiles was uncharacteristically silent, fidgeting with his earbuds every few seconds as if they were malfunctioning.

“Liam, I know that Brett and Lori– that it was hard for you, but you have to learn to move on.”

“Don’t tell me that. Don’t use them like some sort of device of convenience to- to guilt trip me, or as an obstacle I have to just get over. They’re more than that.”

Scott was silent for a long while, and the atmosphere only grew more tense. It was Lydia who finally spoke up next.

“We’ve all loved and lost, Liam. Scott may have, worded it rather unfortunately, you’ll have to forgive him. I’m sorry we weren’t honest with you before, but I promise to be now. So I’ll cut to the chase, as I trust you can handle it. We have plans to cut Monroe’s supplies and corner her, which we’ve mostly achieved now. The next move is to force a deal with her to minimize the bloodshed from both sides. That’s why we didn’t want you going after her. If you do, it’ll destroy all our plans.”

“We tried a peace summit before, it didn’t work. She fucking brands her kills now, are all of you out of your mind!? The only way to stop her is – is to... kill her.” Liam was almost begging near the end, unable to believe his own ears. He heard Lydia sigh.

“If we kill her, she’ll become a martyr. It’ll create a ripple effect that will be massively beyond our control. Last time it didn’t work because she had the upper hand. Now we do. It’ll work Liam, trust us.”

Liam thought of Brett and Lori, lying in pain on the cold concrete road, choking on their own blood while bleeding out from multiple open wounds, but still trying desperately to take each other’s pain until the bitter end. They had been hunted down like filth, not even worth a merciful death.

“Liam, can you promise to trust me?” It was Scott this time, voice still irritatingly placating.

There was nothing he could do. Scott had evidently made up his mind already, so what could Liam even say in this situation?

“Yeah, okay.” He muttered, trying his best to sound convincing.

Brett had been his sunbeam, and Monroe had shot him out of the sky.

Scott very obviously let out a sigh of relief, and quickly moved on to other matters, namely their list of demands and how to adequately punish Monroe without killing or hurting her. He tried to get Liam’s input, but at that point Liam felt too empty to care.

The door to Theo’s room was closed, which usually meant he didn’t want people, namely Liam, bothering him. That never stopped Liam before, and it didn’t stop him now. He pushed the door open, took two large steps, and collapsed face first onto Theo’s bed, right on top of said boy. Theo had been busy scribbling something onto a moleskin notepad, and upon the intrusion, slammed the book shut and tossed it under his bed like he had been caught doing something shameful. He turned his attention to the boy currently draped across him.

“Tough call?”

Liam groaned, burying his head in Theo’s blanket.

“Yeah. How much did you hear?”

A pause, then, “just about everything.”

Now that he was away from the scrutinizing eyes of his peers, he finally let his tears out, seeping into soft, absorbent fabric. They were silent for a long time. Liam felt Theo’s hand rubbing small and hesitant circles on his back.

“I want to go after her.” He declared after a while.

More silence. Liam was sure Theo was carefully formulating the right words to say to convince him not to. He had been trying to prevent him from killing this whole time, after all.

“Alright.” And he honestly hadn’t expected that – “but you’re going to promise me, that when the time comes, you’ll let me be the one to kill her.”

He breathed in harshly and turned to face the chimera, who was looking back at him, expression deliberately blank. Theo constantly managed to surprise him, while acting just as consistent as he always had. Liam mulled it over for a while, very aware of the fact that Theo had casually inserted himself into Liam’s plan like it was expected, like they were meant to be a package deal. And honestly, maybe they were now. He couldn’t really remember what it was like to fight anything without Theo constantly watching his back anymore. The idea of Theo landing the killing blow didn’t offend him like he thought it should. Instead, he found himself being okay with it- because it would feel like his own achievement too.

Liam was Liam, and Theo was Theo. A harsh line scratched into the sand, dividing them. Somewhere along the way, that distinction begun to fade with every rising tide, ebbing and flowing as it chased the moon.

“Okay.”

Theo nodded, patting Liam’s back as he did. Then, in a soft whisper, “Then I’ll promise as well, that this will be my very last kill.”

Liam and Theo. It was not even a question now. The last remnants of what once was, washed away by one last wave.

Mason pulled him aside after class, a look of sheer determination in his eyes. Liam had been on quite a happy streak for the past few days, feeling very much like he was skipping on a cloud, so he went along easily.

When they were far enough from prying ears, Mason clasped Liam’s shoulders tightly with both hands and gave him a penetrating look. He cleared his throat, undoubtedly preparing for a lecture.

“I am still your best friend, right?”

Well that certainly knocked Liam off his mental balance. He blinked once, twice, then remembered he needed to answer.

“What? Of course Mase, always.”

“Okay...” Mason glanced to the side, pursing his lips like he wasn’t so sure.

“Why don’t you sound convinced?”

“Well, you used to tell me things, all the time, and now you’re hiding stuff from me, like, super important stuff.”

Liam gulped. It wasn’t exactly untrue. He had been keeping things from Mason, but what did the truth matter now? He lamented his misfortune as his rare streak of bliss came to a sad, halting end as a complex stream of emotions – guilt, anxiety, uncertainty and fear among others contaminated his mind.

“... What do you mean?”

Mason rolled is eyes, exasperation written all over his face.

“Are you serious? You and Theo! When on earth did you two start dating?”

Oh. Oh, okay. Of all the things he had been hiding from Mason, this hadn’t been one of them at all. When he thought about it though, from any outsider's perspective, especially that of his lifelong best friend, it was a totally reasonable assumption. Liam opened his mouth to correct his friend, but Mason pushed on, “I’m not stupid Liam, he’s always around you now, he stands right next to you and stares at you for a living, he goes to all of your lacrosse games, hell, he lives with you, I mean, are you actually serious? You thought I wouldn’t notice?”

“Er- uh, Mase, it’s really not like that.”

Mason looked at him incredulously, then shook his head. Liam flinched, did- did Mason not believe him? He felt the fingers gripping his shoulders dig deeper.

“Look I get it, it’s Theo after all, but I’m honestly hurt. I thought you’d know I would support you no matter what. Sure, it may take a bit of... getting used to, but honestly, who am I to judge? I’m also dating a reformed chimera after all, feels like something we could bond over. As long as he doesn’t threaten Corey or scare him anymore, we’ll get over it.”

Liam frantically thought of what to say to convince Mason that no, him and Theo were not dating, yes, they were friends, but that was it. He knew Mason though, when his friend thought he was onto something juicy, he was almost impossible to stop. It was like when Mason had doggedly gone after his theory on the supernaturals’ existence despite everyone (mostly Liam) trying everything to convince him otherwise.

The scary thing was, Mason was usually right.

The subtle aroma of seasalt brushed his nostrils as he desperately tried to find a way out of Mason’s grasp. Liam’s stomach dropped. No, this couldn’t be happening now.

Sure enough, a few seconds later Theo stepped into his line of sight, as well as Mason’s line of sight, perking up as he saw Liam, a bright smile spreading across his face. It was Liam’s traitorous blood vessels, he told himself later, that caused him to involuntarily blush. Mason gave him a very knowing look, followed by a positively wicked grin.

“See? Your boyfriend’s looking for you.” His traitorous best friend whispered to him in glee, before letting him go and spinning around to greet Theo. He clapped his hands together conspiratorially like some sort of cartoon mega villain.

“Hey Theo, just the guy I was looking for! I was just telling Liam that Corey and I were planning on going mini golfing this weekend! We thought it’d be more fun to bring the two of you along, it’d be a double date sort of thing.”

Liam slid down the wall until he landed on the ground with a thump. He was red as a tomato now. At least he could count on Theo’s snark to end this whole charade, but he was definitely not ready to be mercilessly teased by the chimera about this for the foreseeable future.

“Double date? Sounds fun, we’re in.” There hadn’t even been a second of hesitation on Theo’s part.

He wanted to shrivel up and die. Traitor. All of his friends were complete traitors. Then, as if that hadn’t been enough, Theo pranced over to him, pulled him up and wrapped an arm around his waist, winking at Mason.

“Up you go, babe. Time to go home, I was getting worried, you know, you’re always out so late, makes a guy jealous.”

Liam decked him in the face. As Mason looked on in amusement, Theo just laughed, rubbing his now four-times broken nose as it healed.

“Don’t worry, punching is definitely one of his kinks.”

“Intense.”

Theo’s days were numbered, if Liam had any say in the matter.

This was karma, Liam thought smugly as he sat on the curb outside of Putt Putt Par-tee. Theo was seated on his right, sporting a slowly fading black eye. To his left, Mason and Corey were huddled together tightly, sat as far away from Liam and Theo as possible, unwilling to be associated with them. Liam almost felt a little bad looking at their shell-shocked faces, but honestly, what had they possibly expected?

What had started off as an innocent ‘double date’ at a quirky indoor mini golf course had turned chaotic real fast. They had decided to play in teams, with Mason and Corey on one team and Liam and Theo on the other. Theo had a look of crazed determination in his eyes, whispering to Liam that they were going to crush their opponents, and that he’d done research on how to dominate the game of mini golf with 100% efficiency. Liam was so not ready to deal with whatever nightmarish schemes Theo had cooked up. To make things even worse, the sight of balloons and a large sparkling banner that read ‘Happy 6^th Birthday Kaylee!’ greeted them as soon as they entered the facility. They were going to share the course with a children’s birthday party.

Just great.

By some miracle, they lasted 2 holes with little to no issues. It had all gone downhill however, on hole 3.

The first two obstacles had been pretty straightforward, and Liam managed to succeed in a few hits without putting in too much effort. Theo on the other hand, had been meticulous. It was absurd. He measured the slope and distance of the starting point to the hole with a blasted measuring tape, which he had brought along after doing a thorough google search on what ‘mini golf’ entailed. If Liam had actually been dating him, he would have broke it off right then and there. It had been an hour, and they had only just finished hole 2. Liam could sense Mason and Corey’s annoyance, but he had to give them credit- they held it together remarkably well in an entirely misguided mission to show Liam their support for his new non-existent relationship.

“I got us 2 hole in ones, don’t see you doing that, so you honestly should be thanking me, babe.” If children hadn’t been present, Liam would have pummeled Theo with his golf club without a moment’s hesitation.

Then hole 3 came around, and the difficulty level increased tenfold. The hole was above their heads. Luckily, there was a well placed, curved ramp leading up to the goal, and if hit with the perfect amount of force, the golf ball would theoretically go up the ramp then plop right in.

Mason and Corey went first, giving each other words of encouragement and soothing pats on the back every time the ball failed to land on the mark, which was what normal, well-adjusted, healthy couples did. After they both made it, they had hugged and given each other gentle pecks on the lips. Liam, despite his moodiness, couldn’t help but smile at their loving display. His happiness was short-lived however, as he was forced to endure Theo’s 30 minutes of measuring and pondering and growling at the little kids who had tried to rush him.

“You know there are 18 holes in mini golf, right?” He hissed angrily.

“There wasn’t a time limit on the ticket, now hush, I’m about to carry us, Liam.”

“You’re hogging the course from literal 6 year olds, just hurry up!”

Theo rolled his eyes, then swiftly made another hole in one. He smirked haughtily at Liam, as if it was something Liam should be proud of. Unfortunately, Mason and Corey both cheered, giving Theo twin high fives. Liam’s irritation grew.

“Don’t encourage his bad behavior.” He snapped.

“Calm down Liam, you’ve been a grouch all day, just relax and have some fun.” Liam’s mouth fell open as Mason all but snapped at him.

“You’re taking his side? Mason!” He screeched.

“Look, I’m just trying to make Theo feel more comfortable and welcome around us, he is your -”

“He’s not my boyfriend, Mason! He’s messing with you! It’s what he does!”

“Ouch. That really hurts, babe.” The chimera seriously had some sort of death wish, butting in like that. Maybe his kink was getting beat up in front of a bunch of kids in a public space. Liam clenched his fists tightly. Theo noticed, and quickly handed him the golf club before his claws could break his skin.

“Come on then, let’s see if you can hit a hole in one.”

It turned out he couldn’t, though it wasn’t for lack of trying. Liam had attempted over a dozen times already, progressively getting angrier and angrier with each failed shot. At around the 20^th miss, Theo started looking visibly distraught.

“Are you serious, Liam? Just hit the damn thing! They’re almost catching up!”

“I’m trying.”

“Well try harder! I’m not going to let all my efforts go to waste just for you to lose us the game.”

“There are still 15 more holes, Theo! We’re never even going to finish the game, if you continue on like an arthritic snail!” Their voices had gradually increased in volume, which got them several dirty looks from the adults in the room. Some of the children looked like they were about to cry. Liam could make out a few parents comforting their sobbing kids, telling them that no, the rude man was wrong, that winning wasn’t everything, and that having fun was. Theo probably caught it too, as he at least had the basic decency to lower his voice after.

“I’ll adapt, I’m good at adapting, you’ll see.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” THWACK. Liam hit the ball with excess force as his anger overtook him. It flew upwards and ricocheted off the ceiling, hitting Theo square in the eye. The string of curse words that left Theo’s mouth afterwards was definitely not suitable for children.

Liam’s immediate reaction had been to double over laughing, regardless of how terrible it made him look as a person. The parents were absolutely mortified, and without any further hesitation, ushered their thoroughly traumatized kids out of the building with a promise to never give this place their business again.

Mason and Corey had tried their very best to apologize, but the four of them ended up getting kicked out anyway, and also banned from the establishment for the next 10 years.

“You’re a terrible boyfriend.” Theo grumbled, still rubbing his eye.

“Oh yeah? Let’s break up then.” Liam snarked back. Theo didn’t respond, choosing instead to fixate on a crack on the ground in front of him. A partially squished dandelion sprouted out from the crack, crooked, but not yet broken.

After a few more minutes of sulking from everyone involved, Mason finally decided to offer them an olive branch.

“Look, tonight... probably wasn’t the best idea. I should have known, since it’s you two, but I meant it when I wanted to uh... get to know you better, Theo.” He looked over hesitantly at Corey, who gave him an affirming nod and bumped his shoulder. “Well, Corey and I have been planning a road trip during the long weekend to visit the UCLA campus, since I got in on early admission, and Corey will get in too I’m sure. You also applied right, Liam? I remember you said you were interested in their anthropology program, and they also have a lacrosse team! Maybe, we could go together? I’m sure it’ll be chaotic but at least we won’t be stuck in a room with children.”

Liam tensed, and started tapping his foot against the ground nervously. He leaned into Theo subconsciously, searching for something to ease his anxiety. It was nice of his friends to invite him along, but... he traced the lines of his palm obsessively, trying to think of a valid excuse to decline the invitation. Maybe him and Theo had plans? Maybe he had to stay behind in case Monroe...

Monroe.

Scott had said she was currently operating from a penthouse in LA.

“We’ll come.” He said instantly. Mason beamed, and Corey offered a shy smile. Next to him, Theo displayed no outward reaction.

It was later that night when they finally made it home that Liam let his emotions out. After forcing a smile and exchanging a few pleasantries with his mom and dad, he yanked Theo into his room as soon as they were out of sight, and exploded.

“Why did you do all that!?” He accused, chest heaving as he focused hard on keeping his breaths even. He had to make sure his voice didn’t reach his parents’ prying ears, despite how hard it was.

It spoke volumes to how well they’ve learned to read each other in these few short months when Theo didn’t even have to question what Liam was angry about.

“Come on, it was funny, Liam.” First line of defense. Always sarcasm.

“It’s not. My best friend actually thinks we’re dating now! Fuck!” He threw his arms up in frustration, clasping his hands behind his head as he paced back and forth. He exhaled through his nose, calmed himself a smidgen, then said, quieter, almost pleadingly, “why did you do that, Theo? You know I’m not ready.”

Theo looked completely dejected now, and that affected Liam more than he ever thought was possible.

“It’s just, you never got that first date. You said, before he died... I just thought, maybe...” Theo was evidently struggling with how to put his thought into words, and at the same time very obviously beginning to self reflect as several different emotions started flickering across his face in rapid succession. He eventually settled on a small sad pout, deflating a little. “Yeah, it was a stupid thing to lie about. I’m sorry, Liam. We could tell Mason we broke up, you know... because of the mini golf thing.”

Liam considered it carefully.

“No, it – he’d just blame himself. I’ll have to tell him the truth, I suppose. Sooner rather than later.”

Theo was curled up at the foot of Liam’s bed looking impossibly small, a far cry from how he’d been mere minutes ago.

“Thanks, Liam. For – putting up with it. With me.”

Liam shook his head, and wrapped himself around the other boy, holding him tight.

It was unfair, life was so unfair. The stone in his pocket, the one he had once held so closely now felt indescribably heavy, weighing him down like a ball and chain. Nevertheless, he couldn’t bring himself to throw it away, couldn’t even go a day without it in his pocket, it’s presence the only physical reminder that they had ever existed. He could only promise Theo that he wouldn’t stop trying.

“I’m not just putting up with you, Theo. Never.” Liam found himself floating in an uncertain space, where paths diverged in front of him like branches from a tree, or capillaries sprouting from veins. It was all laid out, an infinite number of choices, all leering at him to choose. “Theo, look, I-”

“It’s okay Liam, I know.”

With those few words, Theo swept in like a cascading current, wrapping him up tightly as he soaked up all the pain.

And how much more could this boy take, Liam wondered, before he left as well?

“So, the sheriff offered me some work as an assistant in the lab.” Theo brought up conversationally as he separated some clothes and carefully fitted them into a pair of brand new, matching suitcases. One for him, one for Liam.

Liam was laid on his back, draped across his bed with his head hanging off the side of his mattress. He was languidly bouncing his old lacrosse ball off the ceiling and into his hand, occasionally rolling over to pick it up with a huff every time he missed and it hit him on the forehead. He stopped immediately and flipped himself over after hearing what Theo said.

“Really, Theo? That’s great! But don’t you need to go to school for that stuff?”

“Usually, but after I walked them through a live autopsy, I don’t think there was any question left.” Theo puffed out his chest proudly and happily tossed a few books into his suitcase. “Looks like years of helping the dread doctors out with their experiments actually paid off. Live dissections every other day really adds to my list of hands on experiences. I also read, of course... and, well, the photographic memory helps.”

Normally Liam would have rolled his eyes at the boasting and come up with something snarky to say, but Theo was clearly having a moment. The chimera was rarely this genuinely delighted when talking about himself, and Liam couldn’t help but feel the same as he watched Theo cheerfully quip on.

“You know, who would have thought that the skills I learned to hurt people with might end up helping now...”

“That’s progress.” Liam mimicked Theo’s voice, and was met with a pair of socks to the face.

“Did you have anything to do with this?” The chimera suddenly asked suspiciously, though his tone remained carefully light.

Liam shook his head and shrugged, he honestly hadn’t spoken to anybody from the sheriff’s station since their greenhouse heist. It made him feel uneasy. If anyone helped Theo, it should have been him, he couldn’t believe he was now envious of whoever had put in a good word, if anyone.

“Maybe Stiles?” He offered, then grimaced almost immediately. Theo shared his incredulity.

“Stiles trusts me even less than his dad does! Which- truthfully, I’ve been racking my brain all day trying to figure out why he’d even give me a job. Not that I’m not grateful...”

“Who else could it be? Scott?”

“Maybe. I guess it’ll be forever a mystery. I’ll just have to focus on doing a good job. Maybe I can finally save up for a place, you know? Stop freeloading off people.”

Although the last part was said in jest, something heavy burrowed itself in Liam’s chest, and the familiar feeling of dread and anxiety started seeping in.

“When do you start?” He asked, trying to shake it off.

“After the road trip. It’s only part time for now, so I’ll still be able to pick you up from school.”

“Okay.”

He tried to offer a weak smile, which didn’t fool Theo one bit. He watched in apprehension at the shifting muscles in the older boy’s jaw as he tensed. The chimera halted his packing and slowly sat down next to him on the bed, twisting the corner of Liam’s blanket between thumb and forefinger as he carefully observed the younger boy. Liam groaned and buried his head in his pillow at the scrutiny. Here he was again, dampening the otherwise jovial mood.

He surprised himself by talking first.

“It was probably stupid of me not to apply to any colleges, huh.”

“Well, that depends Liam, is going to college what you really want?”

“I don’t know what I want anymore.” The whispered confession terrified him as he realized just how completely and utterly lost he was. Liam used to think he knew what he wanted, that he’d be able to go on the various stages of life like every other normal person, and at some point, he had. Now though, now he was wading aimlessly through a thick swamp, and every passing day was a pound of weight pushing him down as he watched everyone else pass him by. “I guess I’m just scared of everyone moving on without me. Going off to college, moving away...”

“Well have they? Has everyone?”

“No, but everyone will eventually.”

Theo didn’t respond immediately. He was shrouding his expression again, face carefully neutral and devoid of any emotion.

“I’m not going to leave, Liam.” He finally said, voice resolute, like it was the most obvious thing. “Even if the world burns.”

And somehow, despite absolutely everything in the whirlwind of his mind that wailed and wallowed at him, despite the forlorn look his dad had given him, despite the quiver on Hayden’s lips as she had turned away one last time, despite the tight hugs Scott and Stiles had wrapped him in, despite the clear line of tears that had streamed down Brett’s blood-soaked face, despite it all... Liam finally allowed himself to believe it.

Because if there was one thing Theo Raeken was good at, it was to keep coming back, even if the world was against it. ‘Like a freeloading leech, or cockroach, or whatever pest was all the rage nowadays...’

“... I know, Theo.”

“Good,” The chimera chirped, springing back up to his feet and slapping Liam across the back, “now get up and finish packing, you can’t expect me to do everything for you.”

To his surprise, Mason had taken everything extremely well. Sure, they had hugged each other and cried for almost an hour, but that was no longer anything out of the norm when it came to Liam’s life.

Mason had aggressively made sure to remind Liam that college wasn’t for everyone, and that he wouldn’t be judged for it, and that as long as Liam had some sort of goal and motivation in mind, he was happy for him. In any other scenario Liam would have cried for an hour again out of sheer heartfelt gratitude, but his current goal was Monroe, and well, that was the last remaining secret he still held onto. Everything would be alright again after him and Theo got her though, was what he had adamantly told himself.

“Might be too soon, but although I can tell why you’d stay away from Theo after mr. 8 pack abs,” Liam very obviously grimaced, and Mason immediately paled. “Yeah okay, that was very insensitive, sorry.”

“It’s alright.” He mumbled weakly.

“Let me try that again.” Mason clasped his hands together and sucked in a deep breath. “You and Theo obviously care a lot about each other. I really think you should give it a real shot, it’ll be good for you, you know. Both of you. Why keep on punishing yourself, Liam?”

Liam let out a pained laugh that sounded more like a wheeze.

If only his feelings were so simple.

“Trust me, I’m working on it, Mase.” That was enough to satisfy his best friend, at least for now.

A loud honk disrupted their heartfelt catch up, and they turned to see a familiar blue truck pulling up next to them. Corey was already inside and looking thoroughly shaken at being trapped in a car with Theo. Alone.

“Oh god, Corey, I’m so sorry!” Mason rushed over, all but dumping Liam to the curb.

Sighing, he shook his head and hurried after his friend.

Though Mason and Corey had initially planned the trip, Theo had ended up being the driver, having been the only one who actually had a car, saving them the pain of renting. Liam wondered if Mason had actually plotted this all out from the start.

“I need to pee.” He suddenly realized, smacking Theo’s arm from where he was seated shotgun (another benefit of letting Theo drive).

The chimera let out an exasperated groan.

“You pick the worst times, we’re in the middle of the highway!”

“You can just pull out the next exit.”

Theo opened his mouth, clearly intent on continuing their petty argument, but Corey spoke up timidly before he got the chance. “Actually, I kind of need to go too.”

Wordlessly, Theo made a sharp turn at the immediate next exit, sending everyone inside careening to the right. Liam winced at the screeching of the truck’s wheels, followed by some angry honks from the cars unfortunate enough to be behind them. They drove a bit farther in silence before Theo pulled up into the parking lot of a small outlet littered with several humble looking local owned stores. There was a bathroom sign on the front of one of them, which Liam made an immediate beeline for as soon as the truck came to a stop.

After meeting back up with Mason and Corey, they decided to take a short break and shop around. Theo, the eternal annoying grouch that he was, didn’t even consider it, choosing instead to lounge out in the bed of the truck and bury his face in a truly disturbing book about medical anomalies. Liam was just a little disappointed, but he let the chimera be, choosing to visit a trinket store he saw on his way to the bathroom which had caught his eye.

“Meet back here in 30, don’t get lost!” Mason yelled, mostly at Liam since him and Corey were almost always joined at the hip. He gave a thumbs up, setting a timer on his phone.

The entrance to the trinket store was made up of a curtain of colorful beads that hung from the top of the doorway. They made a melodic clinking sound as Liam entered, oddly soothing to his ears. He could smell the musky odor of incense being burned, and the low hum of what must have been an air conditioner, though it felt more organic and alive than artificial.

A woman dressed in a handwoven shawl was busy embroidering a small tapestry at the sales desk. She smiled warmly at him as he came in, but otherwise didn’t say anything else. He took a quick glance at her tapestry, and had to do a double take. It was of a pair of wolves running through the woods, fearless and free.

Liam gave a mournful smile. It was beautiful, and he hoped that whoever owned it one day would take good care of it.

Sighing wistfully, he wandered deeper into the store until he came across a collection of hand-carved animal figurines held in a small bentwood box. The tiny grey soapstone coyote was what immediately caught his eye. It had two inset blue beads as eyes, and it was perfect. He gingerly picked it up and held it in his hand for a while before turning it over to check the price. It was only 3 dollars, which was pretty affordable in this day and age. As he prepared to check out, he saw a knocked over sign that had originally been leaning against the box.

‘Buy 1 get 1 free’, it read. Liam beamed. He loved free stuff.

He eagerly rummaged around in the box, looking at the other animals that were available – an eagle, a turtle, a rabbit, a bear, a deer, some sort of fish creature, a dinosaur, and...

A fox. Lying at the very bottom of the box was a small, orange and red fox, peering up at him with yellow-beaded eyes.

“I uh, only have a 5, do you have change?” Liam asked as he delicately dropped the two figurines onto the counter.

“I can attach them to a bracelet for you for an extra 2 dollars.” The woman offered instead.

“You know what? Sure. Um... could I get them on separate bracelets actually? If that’s okay?”

The woman nodded, and silently got to work. Liam took the time to admire the tapestry further, taking in the flowing strips of color that made up the dusk sky. His fingers itched to brush the surface, but he knew better than to mess with someone’s art without permission.

“Here you go.” Liam startled as the shop owner handed him the carved animals, now firmly attached to two simple black bracelets.

“Thanks so much! And uh, your tapestry is really nice, ma’am.”

She made no reply, just smiled cryptically at him as he hurried out the store, his phone alarm ringing almost the moment he stepped out.

The sun had already set by the time they made it to their motel, a modest little bed and breakfast a few minutes walk from the UCLA main campus, mostly courtesy of Mason.

“How was your little shopping trip?” Theo asked cheekily as they made their way to their room.

“Good.” Liam quipped back.

“Did you buy anything?”

“Yeah.”

“What?”

Liam sighed. Trust Theo to be an irritating, nosy bastard.

“You’d know if you’d have come along, instead of being boring.”

“Fine, keep your secrets.”

Then trust him to completely flip the script and pretend he never even cared in the first place. Hot and cold, typical Theo. He jammed his keycard into the slot in the card reader, only to have it blink red. Cursing, he tried again, and again, and again. Theo stood to the side, leaning casually against his suitcase and watched Liam with burgeoning amusement.

“Let me try yours.” Liam muttered in defeat, holding out his hand. The chimera grabbed Liam’s other hand, the one still holding his keycard, and proceeded to move them both one door down.

“Try again.” He said with a light smile.

Upon entering their room, Liam tossed his suitcase to the side and immediately flopped onto the bed closest to the window, claiming it for himself. Taking out his phone and charger, he checked the time then plugged it into the socket on the nightstand. Now all they had to do was wait a bit until everyone was asleep. He sighed and pushed his face right into the soft sheets, rubbing his cheeks against the plush fabric.

“Ever heard of a blacklight?” Theo chirped, walking around the beta and pulling their suitcases together as he started to unpack.

Liam jumped up and flung a pillow at the chimera before storming off into the bathroom and locking the door. He stayed in there for at least 40 minutes, just to be petty.

“Do you think it’s time?” Liam asked impatiently for about the 7^th time, tapping his foot anxiously on the ground without considering his werewolf strength, which caused the entire room to shake. Theo had finally coaxed him out of the bathroom with some beef jerky that he’d packed. Moving towards the door, he pressed his ear to the wall, listening for any chatter. When there wasn’t any after a few minutes, he straightened up and gave Liam a curt nod.

Together, the two boys pulled on matching black hoodies and slipped out the door as silently as possible.

An ugly sneer formed on Liam’s face as he looked up at the dazzling modern penthouse in front of him, set with 40 stories of absolute luxury and a rooftop pool to boot. According to google maps, this was where Monroe was ‘currently hiding out’ in.

“Looks like that career change really helped her out, huh.” Theo whispered next to him. Liam could hear the same disgust he himself felt in the older boy’s tone. Gritting his teeth and curling his hand into fists. He nodded, ready to execute their plan. A hand tentatively touched his shoulder.

“Stay safe, alright?” Theo said, voice trembling minutely.

“I will. You too.” They stood there in silence for a few more seconds, and Theo’s eyes quickly darted to his lips, though the older boy hastily turned away.

Liam took a long, drawn out breath, steeling himself. This was no longer the lighthearted road trip they had started off with. This wasn’t even the botany heist, or anything they’ve ever done since the fight at the hospital. This was Monroe, a hardened, more experienced and more prepared Monroe. He gave Theo one last look before he walked off to enter the lobby ahead of his partner.

Miraculously, he wasn’t really noticed as he slipped in through the sliding doors, finding a love seat at the corner of the lobby conveniently hidden away from curious eyes by a tall papyrus plant. He sat down, careful to conceal his face as best as possible. According to Stiles during their pack meeting, the entire top floor of this particular penthouse was controlled by Monroe’s men. They could be identified by a simple phoenix tattoo, symbolizing rising up from the ashes, a motto Monroe liked to use as a way to inspire new recruits, referring to herself, of course. She must have gotten the whole tattoo idea after tearing the one off Tierney’s arm, Liam thought bitterly. Late at night, the hunters would often send a few people down to the lobby to welcome business associates in order to facilitate black market weapons deals. Usually, they’d have several guards out nonetheless.

The elevator doors slid open, and Liam saw a bored young woman step out. She was wearing a simple leather jacket and on her right wrist, the feathers of a phoenix tail could clearly be seen poking out from under her sleeve. Behind her, a slightly older man followed closely, a phoenix tattoo displayed proudly on his neck. They barely tried to hide it. He pulled out his phone and texted Theo, who had strictly told Liam to not engage until Theo gave the go ahead.

“They’re here.” He sent.

“How many? How old?”

“2. Young woman, slightly older man. Just 2.”

“Okay. Wait. I’ll text you when you can come up. Stay put, unless they’re beating me up or something, then I’d appreciate the help.”

Theo hadn’t actually told him what this part of the plan entailed, only that it would get them access to the penthouse and Liam could help out with taking out the rest of the guards after they figured out Monroe’s exact suite. It made him extremely nervous, being in the dark. He scanned every single possible vent in the ceiling, just waiting for Theo to pop out of one of them like James Bond and strangle the two hunters with each others’ socks. Maybe he’d been camouflaged as one of the many plants in the lobby the whole time, and he’d suddenly stick out a leg and trip them. What Liam hadn’t expected however, was for Theo to boldly saunter in, straight through the front entrance.

His mouth dropped, and he had to hurriedly cover it with his hand and duck further down in his seat.

Sometime between seeing Liam off and now, the chimera had discarded his hoodie, revealing a simple black dress shirt underneath with nearly all the buttons unfastened, granting everyone and everything a very generous view of his toned chest. His hair was now even more immaculate, one well-curated strip curling down around his eye like superman, and honestly when did he get such tight pants? Liam couldn’t look away, eyes fixated on the older boy as he strolled towards the two hunters with intention, slightly tripping over his own feet before steadying himself against the wall. Despite his drunken act, the chimera still managed to look impossibly elegant, as if every stumble was a well choreographed dance. He gave the two hunters a charming smile, then a very obvious once over as he wet his lips.

“Is it curfew already? Must have stayed up too late at the bar. Silly me.”

And how did he manage to make that stupid statement sound so... alluring? Liam had never heard Theo’s voice sound like that before, it was low and sultry, absolutely dripping with temptation.

Unfortunately for him, those were the last innocent words he heard. The rest of the conversation went downright filthy shockingly fast, and Liam wondered what he had done to deserve the blatant display of public indecency that was now unfolding in front of him. The two hunters eventually pulled Theo into the elevator, hands still – everywhere, and the door slowly slid closed. He supposed people were just more wild when no one was around. Liam didn’t really know if he could look Theo in the eye ever again.

After a while, his phone buzzed.

“Alright, you can come up now. 39^th floor.”

He moved quickly, slipping into the elevator as soon as it opened. During the following few seconds of peace, Liam successfully managed to gaslight himself into believing that what he had just witnessed had been nothing more than an illusion.

Theo was standing overtop the bodies of the two downed hunters, shirt thankfully buttoned up, and an earsplitting grin on his face. He jerked his head towards a silver-lined double door with a gigantic phoenix emblazoned on the front. Ah. Could they be any more obvious?

“I hear 4 heartbeats in there, I think. We can take them.”

Liam nodded, and without any more delay, slammed his shoulder into the door like a human battering ram, breaking it down easily.

They burst into the spacious penthouse, surprising the group of hunters who were lounging on a large sofa in the center of the room, beer cans in hand. They scrambled around frantically for their weapons, but Liam got to them first, grabbing hold of the first one and flinging him into his peers so hard it knocked all four onto the floor. He frantically surveyed the area around him, realizing with fury that Monroe wasn’t among them. Meanwhile, Theo hurriedly snuck off to clear the remaining rooms of any other possible hunters or traps.

And in that very brief absence of the chimera, Liam lost control.

His wolf had waited so long for this very moment as it paced and prowled in the back of his head, eagerly watching, waiting for an opening. And now, an opening appeared. Rushing forward, yearning for the feeling of throats tearing under its teeth, it shattered its chains and encompassed the entirety of Liam’s mind in one fell swoop. In that moment Liam felt nothing but pure, overwhelming hatred.

He continued his ruthless assault, the combined sound of glass shattering and objects crashing meshed melodically with the screams of agony as he threw the hunters against walls and furniture with reckless abandon. It was all music to his ears, his wolf growling in maniacal glee as it finally got what it had always craved, ever since its heart got torn in two.

Liam sunk his claws into the first hunter, the one he had initially thrown, and sneered in delight as flesh ripped and tore underneath his fingers. Moving on to the second, he slammed him hard into the glass table. Something else which decidedly wasn’t glass snapped. The third, he socked repeatedly in the face, and the fourth he kicked across the room so hard the wall split upon impact.

With three hunters brutally bloodied and downed, he reached for the last conscious one. The boy was not much older than Liam, but that fact barely registered in his frenzied mind. He was on his knees, wheezing and holding his chest, desperately feeling around the floor for anything he could grab to defend himself. Liam stomped towards him and hoisted him up by the shirt collar. He moved them both towards the gigantic floor to ceiling window, pressing the hunter’s back to the glass menacingly.

“Where is she?” He spat, shaking from head to toe with the sheer effort of holding himself back.

The boy’s face was so bashed up he could barely form words, a mix of spittle and blood bubbled out of his lips every time his chest heaved with the effort.

Liam showed no mercy, pressing the boy harder into the glass until they both heard it cracking.

“Tell me where she is, or I’ll throw you out the window.”

The boy opened his mouth, but no words came out as he struggled to breathe. With a growl, Liam yanked him backwards, preparing to thrust him through the glass as promised.

Theo came sprinting into the lounge right on time, taking in the pure carnage around him in disbelief.

“SHIT, LIAM! PUT HIM DOWN!” He screamed frantically, voice cracking in agitation.

The chimera rushed towards him without a second of hesitation, wrapping his arms around Liam in a desperate effort to drag him backwards, as far away from the window as possible. Liam however, didn’t relent, already too far gone. He pulled them both towards the window step by step as he lurched forward, still gripping the now unconscious hunter tightly in his claws.

“LIAM! STOP!”

He barely heard Theo’s anguished screams, it was as if the other boy was yelling at him behind a wall of water. Growing desperate from the lack of response from the beta, Theo was using all of his strength now, and Liam found himself genuinely struggling to move forward. The older boy’s rapidly beating heart thundered against his back, his arms an iron grip around his shoulders. It still wasn’t enough. Letting out a roar, he thrashed and fought back with all his might, but despite being certain he’d broken something in Theo, the chimera stubbornly held on.

“Please stop, Liam, please, please.” Repeated, over and over again.

The ocean waves crashing against the beach, never ending.

“PLEASE!!”

With one last shove, he finally dislodged Theo and sent him careening towards the opposite wall. Anger not dimming one bit, he continued his mission to throw each and every one of these disgusting humans out the window. He could still hear all their heartbeats, weak, but present. That wouldn’t do.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Theo had managed to struggle back up, and was beginning to make his way towards Liam again. That was going to be a consistent problem, and he knew he had to deal with it somehow. Something deep in the recesses of his mind sobbed with guilt, but he stomped it down. Now was not the time for other emotions to get in the way.

Before either could move further however, the clicking of a new pair of boots sounded, drawing closer and closer towards them. They stopped abruptly at the broken down door. A shocked gasp.

For a fleeting moment, Liam felt absolutely nothing at all. It was a strange, dislodged feeling, like floating through a never-ending tunnel in his dreams.

Then the world came rushing back at him as each cell in his body surged with every iota of rage they could carry, all redirected at the intruder.

Monroe.

“Liam, no.” A strained hiss as Theo noticed her the second Liam did. They moved at the same time.

But it was Monroe who was faster. Taking advantage of Liam’s brief short-circuit and Theo’s injured state, she pulled out a gun, aimed directly at Liam’s temple, and shot.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Liam had been more than prepared to take the hits, even if they killed him, as long as he ripped Monroe’s throat out first.

Several things happened at once. Liam lunged towards Monroe while Theo used up every shred of energy left in him to rush towards Liam, successfully blocking all three shots with his body as he wrapped himself against the younger boy’s waist, pushing them flat against the floor. Monroe, wholly unprepared for the break in and fresh out of bullets, flipped a switch on the penthouse wall before taking off.

Brain momentarily scrambled, it took a while for Liam to get a grip of his bearings. Monroe had escaped. Again. Liam’s heart crashed at the realization of his failure. Suddenly, a pungent, smoky scent assaulted his nose- a scent he recognized instantly. Wolfsbane gas was quickly filling up the room. He wearily wondered if this was the last of what Monroe had in store. He hoped it was.

Somewhere beside him, Theo moaned in pain, breaths strained as he also took in mouthfuls of the toxic gas.

Liam’s vision swam, mind growing heavy and hazy as his eyelids drooped. It felt like all the muscles in his body decided to stop working at once, and he was slowly turning into a pile of skin, boneless and deep-fried. He was so tired, maybe a quick nap could help him get back the energy he needed to chase Monroe down...

Oak. Jasmine. Saffron.

A small, distant silhouette . A hidden grove, a clear puddle in the dirt, a bubbling stream. He had walked through them once, a fading memory . One paw in front of the other, but they moved away. One paw in front of the other, but it couldn’t end like this.

He had yet to reach the ocean.

Liam surged upwards with renewed vigor, catching the last trails of Monroe’s scent. With the speed in which she had left the vicinity, she must have already gotten into a vehicle. Good thing he was now fast enough to outrun her. Crashing through the once broken door, he flew past the hallway, leaping down the stairwell 10 floors at a time, heart racing, nose in the air, and a snarl on his lips. He felt the smooth marble floor of the lobby slip past his paws as he sped out the penthouse door in an explosion of glass.

The cool night air slid past his fur as he ran faster than he had ever run, doggedly on a trail he promised himself he wouldn’t lose again. He would run until he couldn’t run anymore, until his feet tore off and his bones shattered with the effort. Then, maybe he would retire back into the forest, curl up under a fallen tree and await his end. Liam didn’t care if he never turned human again. It wasn’t as if he ever figured out how. Like the wind rushing past his ears, he decided to let the remaining shreds of his humanity go.

Something heavy slammed into him from above, and he tumbled several feet before crashing into a street lamp, abruptly halting his pursuit. A mess of black fur pushed up against his snout as he tried to roll over and get back up, growling in annoyance and rage. A paw, no, two paws pushed him down. He looked up and met a pair of piercing gold eyes, attached to a shaggy black wolf. There was something achingly familiar about the way it stared back at him pleadingly.

Something warm and wet dripped onto his chest, right above his beating heart.

Slowly, his claws retracted and the fur covering his body subsided. Bones creaked as they morphed and shifted, flesh rippling and contorting to reform into something smaller and compact, something undeniably human.

“Th-Theo?”

Liam blinked back tears as he fearfully wiped his fingers across his chest, noticing that they came back drenched in blood. Theo’s blood.

After a few more seconds, the chimera released a shaky breath and the body that collapsed on top of him was undeniably human, fragile and so very, very real.

Somehow, Mason and Corey found them tucked up in a back alley. Liam was cradling Theo’s body protectively, their hands clasped tightly together as black veins snaked up his arm and towards his neck.

“I dug the bullets out.” Liam said numbly. “They were wolfsbane, but he’s not dead. Maybe a chimera thing.”

Mason nodded, handing Liam some bandages and clothes. The werewolf shook his head feebly.

“I c-can’t Mason. He’ll hurt.”

Liam adamantly refused to let go of Theo’s hand.

Mason looked at Corey, and his boyfriend looked back grimly. Together, they hauled the two boys into the back of the truck and wrapped them snuggly in a few spare blankets.

To his eternal relief, Theo bounced right back to health the very next day, brushing off every single word of concern levied at him with nonchalance.

“I guess I’m decently resistant to wolfsbane too, who knew.” He grinned triumphantly at Liam, who was sitting listless on the motel bed. The latter hadn’t slept a wink.

Liam tried to smile, but he had somehow lost the muscle memory to pull it off convincingly. Theo frowned before stepping directly in front of Liam. He kneeled down, and pressed his face against Liam’s chest, wrapping him in a tender hug.

“Hey, little wolf. We’re alright.” He coaxed.

That finally got to him, and Liam couldn’t stop smiling as he hugged Theo back, gripping him like his life depended on it. Maybe it did.

“I think you’re my anchor.” He murmured, thinking of just how easy it had been for Theo to turn him back human, when he himself had already given up on the notion.

“Hm.” Theo murmured back, inhaling Liam’s scent as the two continued their long embrace.

“Do you ever wonder,” Liam started softly, unwrapping himself and moving off the bed to sit on the floor next to Theo. He quickly intertwined their fingers, not wanting to lose contact. “What if you never met the dread doctors? You probably would have stayed Scott’s friend. Maybe I would have known you first. Maybe we- maybe we could have been happy. Us, just us, and we could have skipped all the painful parts.”

Theo contemplated this for a while.

“Pain is what helps us grow as people, Liam. Hayden and Brett, as painful as they were for you, they taught you what love- to be loved, feels like. It's brought you here. I-I'm honestly still learning myself.”
Liam nodded. It made sense, he supposed, but it had come so close to consuming him entirely.

“I uh - actually have something for you.” He pulled out the small coyote bracelet from his pocket, delicately dropping it in Theo’s lap. Suddenly shy, he turned away and stared at the wall. He heard Theo chuckle.

“Is this because I’m part coyote?” He asked, turning it over in his hands and bringing it up to his eyes so he could examine the striations along the rock.

“Yeah, I suppose. I have one too.” Liam fiddled around in his pocket until he felt the matching fox bracelet, pulling it out as well.

“A wolf?” Theo guessed.

Liam shook his head and tugged the bracelet onto his right wrist, flashing the fox at the chimera.

“Huh.” Theo mused out loud as he mimicked Liam’s actions, but on his left wrist instead. “Out of wolves?”

Liam smiled cryptically in reply, and Theo didn’t pry further.

Despite Mason and Corey keeping quiet for Liam’s sake, the news eventually got to Argent, who naturally relayed it to both Derek and Scott in quick succession. Although Liam had prepared an extensive apology, what he received from the pack was not anger, or even disappointment. It was instead an overwhelming mixture of relief, worry and concern for his well-being.

He had been so lucky, Liam realized with crystal clarity, that he’d had people who cared for him so much, even if he didn’t always notice them. He made a promise then, to Scott, to Theo, to himself, that never again would he allow pain and vengeance to overtake him so wholly. He’d already foolishly made the same mistake twice, there would be no third time.

Liam, Mason and Corey collectively decided that Theo was not fit to drive in his current state, despite him nearly throwing a fit about how he was already fully healed.

“It’s my truck!” Theo turned to Liam, as if expecting some sort of verbal back up and straight up whined when none was given.

Mason’s jaw dropped and Corey’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head at the childish display coming from the ex-mass murderer.

Liam ended up finding a middle ground for the sake of peace, sacrificing his shotgun seat in the process. “I don’t care how much better you feel, you still need to recuperate, Theo. Sit in the back with me and we can cuddle while you read your gross medical books.” He sighed.

Theo furrowed his brow and tapped his chin thoughtfully, making a grand show of mulling the offer over. To absolutely no one’s surprise, he eventually relented, grabbing an illustrated book on the bubonic plague and brazenly waved it in Liam’s face as he grinned roguishly.

Mason gave Liam a pointed look that screamed we’re going to have a talk about this later.

As Liam watched Mason slip into the driver’s seat, Corey following quickly behind and taking shotgun, he couldn’t help but feel his body involuntarily tense. He was hit with the sudden realization that this was it, that it was back to Beacon Hills for Liam Dunbar, and... well, he had no idea what came after. Invisible hands wrapped around his ankles and rooted him firmly to the sidewalk where he stood, and for a brief second the truck in front of him seemed more like a prison vehicle.

Through the slightly tinted window, he could just make out Theo waiting impatiently inside. The chimera was set to start working at the sheriff’s station as soon as they got back. It was an opportunity that could finally turn his life around for good, and Liam needed to be there for him.

Taking a deep breath, he shook off the chills that settled around his ankles and sat himself in the middle seat, snug against Theo’s side. Together, they made their way back home.

It was another beautifully clear night. Liam and Theo were parked on the overlook, lying in the soft grass as they stared up at the endless sea of stars. It was something they did routinely now, any time the sky was clear.

“Liam, do you ever think about travelling, seeing the world?” Theo asked, out of the blue.

Liam nodded. In fact, ever since their fated trip to Los Angeles nearly half a year ago, it was all he could ever think about. He heard the sound of rustling beside him as Theo angled himself to face the younger boy.

“I think you should go.” The chimera said with finality. Liam could feel his grey eyes on him, staring unblinkingly and with utmost intensity.

“Do you have upcoming vacation days?” He asked with a smirk. Another vacation would be nice, preferably one with less blood.

Theo shook his head. “Not me. You.”

Liam frowned, peeling his eyes away from where they had fixated on a brightly flickering star to look at the chimera in bafflement. Though, a small part him already knew where this was going.

“You want me to leave?”

Theo shook his head. “I know you hate it when anyone brings it up Liam, but it’s obvious to me that you’re still lost.” He paused, expecting Liam to retort, but the beta remained silent. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and I realized something. It’s because of Beacon Hills, isn’t it? It’s still drowning you.”

Liam hadn’t really thought about it in that way...

Sometimes he felt like he owed it to a lot of people to stay. Some were still with him, some weren’t, and some wouldn’t be. He never considered being the one to leave.

“I can’t just leave. Who’s going to protect this place? What about my parents? What about you?”

Theo grabbed Liam’s hand then, stroking the lines of his palm reassuringly with his thumb.

“I’ll be fine. Beacon Hills will be fine, your parents will be fine. We’ll all be in one piece when you come back.”

When you come back. Because, those who matter always do... don’t they?

He thought about what it would feel like to leave Beacon hills, to leave everything he knew behind. When he glanced back at the stars above, they told him that they’d always be there, no matter where on the planet he was. Liam felt something dangerously close to hope.

Theo had done well for himself. He had a full time job now, socialized more, had eventual plans to go back to school, and a relatively healthy friend circle that wasn’t just Liam and whoever Liam decided to drag along that day.

Theo would be okay. He was healing and finding himself again in this second life he was granted. There was nothing more Liam could give him, not anymore.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you what you wanted.” He said finally. The unspoken truth that had hung over their heads for so long, snapped by an murmured breath.

Theo chuckled, stretching wearily as he adjusted his position again.

“That’s where you’re wrong, little wolf. You already have.”

A peaceful sort of silence settled between them as they lay there, fingers still intertwined.

The cool surface of a little soapstone coyote pressed against his wrist, right above his pulse point.

“So you’re going to let me go, just like that?” Liam asked.

They were at the airport. Theo had driven him there, and before the drive had helped him pack, making sure he had all the essentials he needed. Liam had short term plans to meet up with a friendly pack in Oregon and help them out with some stray hunters in return for a place to stay. Thanks to Scott, he had a very extensive list with the contact info of all their oversea allies, which he would be able to use to move on after he finished helping the first pack.

Liam still didn’t know what was in store for him, where he would end up, and when he’d come back, if ever, to Beacon hills. The usual fear was always there, always present, but he had learned to live with it, to work with it.

And now, with absolutely no idea of what his future held, Liam felt excitement, much more so than fear.

“Just like that.” Theo replied.

He smiled, and though it reached his eyes, there was a tinge of sorrow in the way his lips curled.

In the end, Liam couldn’t find the courage to kiss Theo, or to even hug him one last time. He instead chose to nod tersely before crossing the gate into the security section hurriedly, mumbling an excuse of not wanting to be late. As he took the final turn though, he paused and gave a last, furtive glance at where Theo had stood.

The chimera was gone, swallowed up by the mass of people rushing about, as if he was never even there.

Chapter Text

It was summer again.

Liam strolled past a row of cherry blossom trees on his way back to Dotonbori, their verdant leaves a sure sign that spring was decidedly over. It was strange, how fast the years went by in adulthood. He could have sworn he’d only just arrived in Japan a few months ago, but this was now the fourth summer he’d spent, blooming along with the sakuras in the land of the rising sun. He was currently carrying four large grocery bags, filled to the brim with fresh ingredients from Kuromon Market, a popular spot for local produce. He hoped it was enough – Hikari was way too meticulous with the ingredients she liked to work with, and Liam was sure to get an earful if he got anything wrong.

When he had first arrived in Osaka, it had been right after the end of a grueling 2 year campaign to dismantle a disturbing new hunter sect in Eastern Russia. The hunters had been killing supernatural creatures to harvest their body parts- teeth, claws, eyes, sometimes other things in order to make a downright frightening amount of money on the black market. Liam had stayed with a Siberian pack, living out in the cold and desolate landscape for months on end, often in full shift. When it had all been over, he had taken one look at an old travel brochure for Japan and decided that it was definitely time for change of pace. Vibrant, peaceful, beautiful Japan, the perfect place to wind down and relax for a few months before moving on.

It was just his luck that Hikari’s pack had been on Scott’s list, their alpha having been a childhood friend of Noshiko’s before her move to America. They had welcomed Liam in with open arms, immediately treating him like family, with no expectations for a single thing in return. After so many years of being on his own, jumping from pack to pack, Liam had almost forgotten how that felt. He hadn’t really been all that surprised when he ended up staying a year, then another, then another, then another after that. It was the longest he’d stayed at any one place since he’d left home.

A tranquil, 5 note jingle played as he stepped through the door of The Fox and Wolf, his and Hikari’s restaurant. He moved to the back kitchen and set the groceries on the table, beginning to sort through them. He rolled his eyes at the sound of high pitched giggling and excited squeals coming from the newly opened cafe directly facing them. It was something called a ‘maid cafe’, was what Hikari had said, and it was completely stealing their business, and the business of everyone else on the street. The place was almost always teeming with customers, and for what!? For a bunch of women in maid outfits? Liam grew angrier and angrier just thinking about it. Hikari and him had visited once, just to take notes on their competition, and the food hadn’t even been good.

“Cool it, fireball,” a playful voice teased from the doorway, “you better stop fuming before you crush my tofu.” Hikari stepped into the kitchen and snatched the groceries from Liam’s grasp, starting to examine each and every item closely before putting them away, satisfied.

“I can’t believe people would choose some gimmick over legitimately good food!” He couldn’t help but vent, grimacing as yet another peal of laughter drifted to his ear. Sometimes having enhanced hearing absolutely sucked.

Hikari just shrugged, not at all bothered. “It’s the nature of business, my dude. You know, I actually had an idea. We should do something like that for here, except with like, hot guys wearing wolf ears.”

Liam gave a her a dead-eyed glare.

“What? It’ll be cute. And, it’s on theme.”

Oh. Liam realized. She was being serious.

“Absolutely not. You didn’t graduate top of your class in culinary school just to be overshadowed by half-naked dudes strutting around. This is a restaurant. People need to come here for the food. Specifically, the amazing food that you make.”

“Aww Lili, that’s sweet! But, while I appreciate that you’re like, my biggest fan, in order to thrive we have to keep up with the times! Plus, it’s not like they wouldn’t still be eating my awesome food. I can totally cut the tofu on the kitsune udon to look like abs... tempting... not to mention the extra eye candy around at work...”

Liam sputtered incoherently. Sure, it was a joint business, but Hikari was the life and soul of the place. More often than not her innovation got them through many tough times, and even ended up winning their quaint little restaurant multiple awards and high praise from critics. If she thought this was a legitimately good idea, then... he crossed his arms and did his best to imitate a stern, parental figure, a look which he definitely did not steal from Scott.

“Are you sure?”

“Yup. I actually did a lot of thinking, I know it may seem scandalous to your old man sentiments, but-”

“I’m 32!”

“Yeah? And? Age isn’t a number, it’s a lifestyle.”

“I’m not old.”

“Oh. I see. Then explain that old man beard and the constant harrowed look in those cold and empty eyes. Plus, last week you called my wireless charger a doohickey.”

Liam frowned. He liked his beard.

“Fine. Fine. Just... make sure it’s not too... demeaning or anything.”

“Yessss!” The kitsune fist-pumped. Then, noticing Liam’s eyes narrowing at her obvious over-enthusiasm, “I’ll start posting some job ads. I promise you, we’ll earn big.”

Liam groaned. It was going to be a long week.

Sometime between lunch and happy hour the next day, Liam felt unsettled. It began with the small hairs at the back of his neck standing up, and goosebumps forming along the back of his arms in odd intervals. Then, his wolf had started to pace listlessly, but he couldn’t sense any anger or belligerence. It wasn’t his gut telling him something was wrong, but rather, a bizarre feeling of anticipation. He shrugged it off, focusing on serving his customers. If it wasn’t danger, he didn’t need to worry.

“You must be here for the job posting!” He heard Hikari swoon from where he was busy gutting a yellowtail in the back kitchen. He rolled his eyes. They had been getting so many walk in applicants in the last few days that it was ridiculous. Hikari was having a great time. Liam was not. If he was going to be asked his opinion about one more of these guys from a ‘male perspective’ again, he was going to chop himself up and throw himself into a bowl of piping hot ramen.

“Uh, no. I’m actually here for someone.”

Liam froze mid-cut.

Suddenly, the restaurant was engulfed in a roaring riptide. It flooded straight through his lungs as he breathed in, salt and brine. How had he not known?

The knife dropped onto the table with a heavy clang.

Standing at the counter, still bloody from the fish gutting and looking an absolute mess, Liam stared into a pair of clear grey eyes. Within them, he saw his own face reflected, gaunt and unfamiliar. With a mournful jolt, he realized that Hikari had been right. When had he let the years pass him by?

The corners of Theo’s lips twitched into an achingly familiar grin.

“Hey, little wolf.”

And just like that, it was like no time had passed at all.

His reflection blurred around the edges as Liam saw a boy again, standing at the airport, hands gripping a single suitcase that he didn’t know would last him for 15 long years.

“Theo?” He breathed. The words came out stilted, foreign. “What are you doing here?”

The man in front of him blinked slowly before stepping closer, and this time Liam could see himself clearer than ever, a confident, assured young man who was no longer afraid.

“I’m finding my way home.” Theo replied, like it was the most obvious thing.

Liam had travelled the world and helped out more people than he could count. He had more than paid his dues. Maybe, he thought, maybe it was time for him to find his way home too.

Disregarding the gasps of shock and concern from his customers, Liam vaulted over the counter top in one swift movement, haphazardly knocking over a row of ramen bowls as he flung himself into Theo’s arms, almost knocking them both over too. He heard Theo laugh, bright and carefree.
Without hesitation, he enveloped the other man’s lips in a bruising kiss which was returned in full. Though it was embarrassingly messy and uncoordinated, something deep within him settled then, the missing heart-shaped puzzle piece finally slotting itself into place.

It was 15 years overdue.

Liam lay on his back in Theo’s hotel bed, wrapped up in the chimera’s limbs as he let the first warm rays of sunlight caress his face through the paneled blinds.

Theo was still asleep, peacefully snoring away, head half tucked up beneath Liam’s chin and an arm flung loosely across his chest. He took the opportunity to gaze at his partner, taking in the familiar features of his face. The chimera looked almost the same as he always had, just a bit less angular now, cheeks fuller and dusted with a lively shade of rose. He had a spattering of stubble lining his jaw, and Liam held back a snort. That’s cute, he’s trying to copy my beard. Theo sighed in his sleep, squirming around before settling again, burying his face closer into the crook of Liam’s neck and breathing in deeply. His nose was adorably scrunched. Liam smiled fondly as he realized they had both slept through the night soundlessly.

Though he still had a barrage of questions running through his head, about Beacon Hills, about the pack, about his parents, about Theo and what he had been up to, he just wanted to relax a while longer, wrapped up in Theo’s arms as he absentmindedly ran his hands through his hair. He could be patient. They had promised each other an eternity, after all.

Sometimes people leave, and that’s okay. It’s okay because in the end, those who matter will always find a way back to us, a way back home .