WHO: Liam Dunbar and Scott McCall WHAT: Liam's trying to comfort Scott WHEN: Tuesday WHERE: The Pack House WARNINGS: Nah STATUS: Closed/Completed Gdoc
Liam might not have been the most sensitive person ever born, but even he wasn’t blind to how miserable Scott had been since Kira had gone home. He’d kind of been avoiding his Alpha because he was a sixteen year old boy and not that great at feelings, but with the holidays starting and all that “goodwill towards others” shit being drummed into his head, his guilt had been getting worse and worse and he knew he had to do something. At least talk to him. That couldn’t hurt too much, right?
Actually, he was pretty sure it could, but he was going to do it anyway. He needed to do it anyway.
Feeling that he should take him some kind of cheering-up treat, he stopped by Walmart and bought a thing of Reeses Trees for Scott. They were Liam’s favorite Christmas candy, so hopefully he’d appreciate them too. Or if not, maybe he’d give them to Liam. That would be okay too.
Having made his way to Scott’s room, he knocked on the door, hoping that his Alpha was at home.
***
Scott was home, and he called through the door to tell Liam to come in. He knew it was Liam, because the strength of his scent increased in the moments before he knocked.
Scott was sitting on his bed, a magazine open on his lap though he wasn’t really reading it. He’d had it open to the same page for half an hour. He sighed, and closed the magazine when Liam came in.
“Hey.”
***
“Hi,” he said. This was awkward. Scott was obviously still bummed out and to be honest Liam wasn’t sure what to do about it. He thrust the Reeses Trees towards him, and shook them a little for him to take them. They were just chocolate, but sometimes chocolate helped a lot when life sucked. And it wasn’t like they could get fat by pigging out on it. “I brought you these. I hadn’t really talked to you in a while. So. Hi.”
***
Scott took the candy offering from Liam. “Thanks.” He smiled and while it didn’t quite reach his eyes, it was sincere. He could smell Liam’s discomfort, the fact he was uncertain and awkward. Of course he was, who wouldn’t be? Scott was hurting, but it was mental, emotional. It wasn’t something that could be fixed with bandages and medicine.
Scott looked at the packaging around the candy because it gave him something to focus on. “This is perfect, Laim. It means a lot.” Because while it wasn’t much, and could be eaten in all of ten seconds, it was thoughtful, the fact Liam brought him something, anything at all, was sweet. Scott truly did appreciate that.
He looked up at his one and only true beta. “And hi. Sorry. I’ve kind of been MIA lately, haven’t I?” Hiding out in his room. Around, but not really present.
***
“Yeah, kind of,” he said, looking at his feet. “But, I mean, I get it.”
He didn’t, really. He couldn’t imagine what Scott must be feeling right now because Molly was still here. He didn’t even like to think what it would be like if she disappeared. He’d be crushed. Really, really, really crushed. Just like Scott, probably.
“We miss you,” he said. “I mean, all of us do.” He did, and he was sure the others did too. ‘We’ sounded less lame than ‘I’, too, and made him sound less wimpy.
***
Scott drew a breath. He scrubbed a hand over his face, then let it fall to his side. He held the candy in his other hand. “I know. I’m just…” He shook his head. Feeling sorry for himself, that’s what he was doing. And that wasn’t going to bring Kira back. All it was going to do was make Scott more miserable.
“It’s hard, you know? She’s gone and I’m trying to pick up the pieces.” He had known she could go at any time, anyone could. He knew he needed to be thankful all his friends were still around, that Kira had been the only one to disappear. “I keep hoping she’ll come back, but…” But the longer she was gone, the less likely it seemed she’d return.
***
“We’re all here to help you, you know,” he said softly. He was acting like picking up the pieces was something he had to do alone. It wasn’t. He had a whole pack who would do pretty much anything for their alpha. And he didn’t really even have to ask. He just had to let them know that he’d accept their help.
“Do you want to go for a run with me or something? Clear your head?”
It couldn’t help to be spending all his time in this stuffy room.
***
Scott set the candy on his dresser. “I’d like that.” He didn’t really feel like it, but he knew Liam was trying. And that it was awkward and hard for him. Scott appreciated the effort, and he wasn’t so far lost to his own grief to shut his beta down.
He found a slight smile. It was sincere, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “I should probably get out of the house,” he said with a nod. He really did appreciate Liam making the effort to reach out to him.
***
“Fresh air can’t hurt.” It might not help, true, but it couldn’t hurt him. And it was worth trying. At least that was how Liam saw it. He thought of a lot of things he could say, but dismissed each one almost as quickly as he’d thought it. He didn’t want to upset Scott, and he didn’t really understand what he was going through. How could he?
“Maybe we can go stuff ourselves with Hinkleburgers too.”
That had to help, right?
***
“Sure.” Scott didn’t want to go to Hinkles. But he would. Because he knew he couldn’t hide out in his room forever. Kira wouldn’t want that. She’d want him to get back to his normal routine, live his life. She wouldn’t want him sitting around feeling sorry for himself just because she was gone.
“Give me a few minutes to freshen up and I’ll meet you downstairs, okay?”
***
“Yeah,” he grinned. “Take a shower, dude. You kind of stink.”
Okay, maybe that was mean, but he needed to know it, too. Getting up and getting a shower could only make him feel better anyway, right?
***
Scott raised and arm and sniffed. He grimaced. “Yeah.” He nodded. “Definitely going to take a shower.” He forced a smile. “I’ll meet you downstairs in twenty minutes or so,” he said. Because a shower was necessary if he was going to go out into the world. Definitely.