Who: Liam and Theo What: Talking Where: The wilderness When: Bendy times Warnings: N/A
Liam had only agreed to go with Theo because that way, Liam could keep an eye on him. Because right now, his enemy turned friend, turned anchor, turned a lot of things basically was on the beginning path to self destruction. Which sucked because he just got himself to a point where the past was the past. Why was Theo trying to back track? That wasn’t helping anything. It was like people were talking about him or whatever, so that meant he might as well just be what everyone is saying. Which was stupid. And Liam had no problem telling him that.
Things were fun and good and now they were just stressful all the time because he didn’t know what Theo was going to do. He had already broken up with Molly and left the prison but like - why? Why did he have to do that? He didn’t.
The two of them were walking through the woods and Liam was complaining about how much he hated the cold. Which he did. All he wanted was to be in front of a fire. Maybe with marshmallows. Because who didn’t like marshmallows? Probably Theo. Because apparently Theo hated everything right now.
“You know, if we go back to the prison, we would actually be warm right now. And have food. How are you even going to survive out here?” Sure, Theo had found a place to live, but he still had to set up a generator and clean the place out. It smelled like death. It was gross.
"You’re a werewolf,” Theo said, making a face at Scott’s pathetic beta because that’s what he was being right. Pathetic. A pain in the ass. When did Liam become this much of a cry baby? Theo wasn’t cold and he wasn’t even a real werewolf. Theo wasn’t a real anything because chimeras were just carbon copies. They weren’t supposed to exist but Theo was the last man standing. He was the success failure or at least that’s what the Dread Doctors called him.
“You have like, I don’t know, irregular body temperature. You shouldn’t be cold at all. Stop being such a pussy.” Theo didn’t know where he was going but he wasn’t going back to the prison. There was nothing for him there and he couldn’t face anyone now that they knew the truth about him. Theo tried to tell himself it was just Molly but it wasn’t just her. Theo was afraid that everyone would see him as a monster.
The place he did find was only temporary but was home and he would make it his as time went by. Theo could find gas and he could get what he needed to clean the place up so it didn’t look like complete shit. Theo was lucky enough to have his one and only friend to help him, too.
Liam took a breath. Because he knew if he didn’t and he knew that if he didn’t count backwards from ten, he could get himself worked up because Theo was a fucking jerk. Which he was and it wasn’t something that was surprising or anything, but sometimes Theo seemed to forget that Liam was like, his only friend. Not that it mattered. It wasn’t like Liam was going to leave his side. They were friends for a reason.
“Just saying. This is crap, Theo and you know it,” Liam sighed. He pushed his way through the wilderness beside him, pushing branches and everything else out of the way. Everyone had a past. And Liam could say that a million times and it still wouldn’t register to him, he wouldn’t care.
“What are you going to do? Like, really - what are you going to do? Because at least at the prison, you had the pack. You had Molly. And you can say that Scott didn’t care, but I think he could have if you gave him the chance. Did you even bother talking to him?” If Theo could get the pack at least behind him, that would make a difference.
“I don’t know,” Theo said, for once telling him the honest truth because he had no idea what he was going to do. Everything just sucked and as much as Theo wanted to go back to the prison he didn’t think it would matter. Who was going to actually miss him besides Molly? Everyone would whisper behind his back. They would point and wonder about the people he killed. Theo just didn’t want to face it.
“They’ll judge me,” he said, taking a moment to speak the words wrenching at his gut. “They’ll point at me. They’ll sit there and call me a monster and you know what, Liam? I am. I’ve done...horrible things. You know what I did to my sister. You know everything so can you really stand there and say that I deserve a second chance?”
It wouldn’t matter, he thought. Even if Liam cared - even if Scott, for whatever reason, decided to give a shit it wouldn’t change everyone else and what they heard.
“Yeah?” He said, looking at him. “Okay, so you did things in the past. Bad things, we know what you did. I know what you did, but I also know other things you’ve done, man. Come on. People can change. You changed.” Liam believed that because he watched it before his eyes. He trusted Theo. Like, he trusted him more than he trusted really anyone.
Except Scott. Even if Scott was kind of crazy lately.
“Do you really care what other people think? They don’t know the truth. I mean, not that knowing the truth would make it better, but you should let them get to know who are you now. You’re still an asshole, but you’re not a murderous asshole. I don’t think that and I know Molly doesn’t think that. I think she really loves you.”
She seemed to love him anyway. Liam didn’t really know that for sure. But Liam would tease Theo sometimes about it and there was just a way that Theo acted that told Liam he actually cared about her too.
“Just - okay. Take a few days, think about it, but I think you’ll realize you know where you belong and it’s not out here. You’ve wanted this. People to care about you. And they do. So what if it’s just me and Molly and even Scott.”
Was it enough? Theo didn’t know. He felt this ache in his heart that started ever since he left the prison. He missed Molly. Theo never thought that he was capable of missing someone so damn much but he did and he hated it. Was this what emotions were supposed to feel like? The kind that you could share with someone else? Friendship was still new but this - this feeling - Theo knew that it was…
“And I love her,” he said, telling Liam this because out of everyone in his life Liam was the one who didn’t give up on him. Liam was there to fight next to Theo and he was the one there to witness Theo taking pain for the first time. He was supposed to be a fluke. Chimeras weren’t supposed to be able to have actual abilities from shifters but did - Theo could take pain.
He just wished that there was someone who could take his.
“Alright. I’ll give it a couple of days.” It was the least Theo could do but he didn't think that it would change anything. He was dead set on finding someone else to stay for the time being, too.
Liam’s expression slowly softened as Theo told him how he felt. It was weird, listening to him talk about his feelings because it never really happened and he couldn’t help but slowly smile. He loved Molly. Wow. He could see the look that Theo was giving him and he put his hands up.
“Hey, I’m not saying anything …” He paused. “Loverboy.” He chuckled a little and just nodded. “I’m kidding. And I’ll stay with you for a couple of days. Make sure you don’t do anything stupid.” Because it was Theo and well, sometimes he did stupid shit. At least Liam would be there to either do the stupid shit too or at least stop him.
Which meant he’d have to talk to Mal, but he was pretty sure she got the gist when he said he was leaving with Theo. Of course Liam wasn’t going to turn his back on him, but now Liam had a girlfriend and he didn’t want to just cut her off.
“Come on, let’s go.” Liam went ahead and walked, heading back to the crappy cabin Theo found. At least they could clean it out in the next few days. It could be a hide out or something. A fort they could use to all hang out in or whatever. The idea was nice anyway.
Theo knew that Liam didn’t have to do shit. The other werewolf was part of Scott’s pack and he had a girlfriend of his own. Theo wondered what Mal thought of him because he had a feeling that she wasn’t too happy about Liam tagging along and yet here he was, sticking by him even though Liam had absolutely no reason to trust him or any obligation to be his friend. Theo had killed some of Liam’s classmates and yet that didn’t stop him from continuing their weird friendship.
“Look,” Theo began, not entirely sure how to start this but he wanted to get it out before he changed his mind. “You didn’t have to be here with me so...thanks. I know I did some pretty fucked up shit and I made you try and kill Scott. I deserved what you guys did to me but you’re the one who let me out of that hellhole. So, honestly, if there is anyone I have to prove myself to it’s you.”
He still felt like he had a long way to go but in the end it was Liam who was there. Nobody else could take that role and Theo didn’t want it to be anyone else, either. Sure, he knew that he had to figure out a way to make it up to Scott but at the end of the day it was Liam who released him from that nightmare prison.
The surprise in Liam’s eyes just wasn’t going away as he looked at Theo and his admission about how fucked up he could really be. Not that Liam didn’t already know, but he guessed it was just something that Theo had to say or whatever. It was just different than what Theo usually said. Either way, Liam shook his head.
“You have nothing to prove to me,” Liam told him as they walked. “I watched you change.” Which was true. Sure, Theo could be a dick. He would always be a dick. But like, it was different than before? He wasn’t killing people. And that was what Liam was trying to prevent.
“And the whole Scott thing, even Scott got over it. Kind of. I mean, he knew you were helping the pack. Not when you killed him but after that. You know that.” He just wanted Theo to know that things would be better. And okay, so everyone knew about what he had done, but he doubted anyone else’s past was perfect in that prison. It wasn’t.
“Anyway, let’s get back before you make me melt,” Liam said with a flutter of his eyes, teasing him before shoving Theo away, getting a head start as he took off toward the cabin.