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Liam's room was dimly lit, he only had one lamp on and the natural light from the large windows had disappeared with the sun. Theo watched as Liam turned on another light and then sat back down on his bed beside him, crossed-legged. He didn't look away for a second, but the two of them somehow still never made eye contact. Theo tossed his notebook to the side and fell back onto the bed he was sitting on with a sigh and he closed his eyes.
"Hey," Liam's voice was soft, but loud enough to break the silence. Theo turned and opened his eyes without sitting up, but promptly closed them again when he saw that Liam was looking down and not at him still.
"What's up?" His voice was louder than Liam's, but sensing the seriousness of the other boy's tone he made sure to be careful of his own.
"I..." Liam paused, clearly considering his words carefully. "Look, I'm not really sure how to say it but... I'm really sorry." Theo could quite literally smell the anxiety radiating off of Liam as the words left his mouth, so he opened his eyes once again and sat up properly next to him. Liam's eyes finally met his and Theo raised an eyebrow, silently asking him to continue.
"I'm sorry for saying you deserved to be in hell. I was pissed off, and hating you seemed like a better option. It was so much easier than trying to understand anything. But I know you still believe you belong down there, and you do believe you deserved it and still do now. But you don't. And I'm sorry that I said you did." Liam spoke quickly, stuttering on the odd word, and he never looked up to face Theo. The silence began to fill the room again, and Theo stared pensively at the way Liam's injured and bruised hands fidgeted in his lap. He wasn't really sure what to say. Liam was right, he believed he deserved every minute he spent in hell and countless minutes more even beyond that. He didn't believe he had any right to be here with Liam right now after everything he'd done. He hadn't really put much thought into whether or not Liam still thought he deserved it, nor would he blame him if he did. But here he was, sitting next to Liam and listening to him apologize for ever believing that he belonged in hell. And for the first time in as long as he could remember, Theo was actually at a loss for words.
After another moment of silence passed, Liam stood up from the bed and began quickly apologizing for saying anything and bringing up bad memories. Theo immediately stood up with him and put his hand on Liam's arm, stopping his pacing and his apologies the second his hand made contact. Liam looked up at Theo, and then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Sorry," he muttered quietly, staring back at the floor.
Theo looked at the other boy, and moved his free hand up to the bottom of Liam's chin, tilting his head up to face him. Theo leaned in and placed a light kiss on Liam's lips, and then he slowly pulled away.
"You don't have to apologize for anything you said to me, okay? You had good reason to believe everything you thought and said. Hell, you still do. So don't stress about it anymore." Liam's eyes were fixated on Theo’s lips as he spoke. He hadn't even known Theo could be so gentle.
He finally looked up again, and his eyes looked confused, his brow slightly furrowed. "Why'd you kiss me?"
"Because I wanted to?" Theo said with a playful smirk, to which Liam rolled his eyes.
"That's it, you just felt like kissing me? What, do you kiss all your friends when you feel like it or something?"
"You say that like I even have any friends other than you." Liam smiled at that which made Theo let out a small laugh. "I never really want to kiss anyone except you anyway."
Liam paused, still staring at Theo who moved his hand away from his chin and was now carefully pushing his hair out of his face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Theo sighed with a small smile, one that Liam could easily tell was genuine. “Liam, you’re lucky you’re pretty because you are unbelievably oblivious.”
“Hey!” Liam pushed Theo’s shoulder lightly, who laughed at Liam’s jokingly angry expression. He then reached up and put his hands on the side of Theo’s face and pulled him in for another kiss, this one lasting much longer than the last. When Liam finally pulled away he held his face less than an inch away from Theo’s lips.
“I did that because I felt like it too, then,” he whispered with a smile, before pulling Theo’s grinning face back in for another kiss.
Theo was the one who pulled away the second time. “I know we’re not human but I’m pretty sure both of us still need regular amounts of oxygen. To, you know, breathe.”
“Hey, you started it,” Liam said with a laugh. Theo smiled again, and Liam couldn’t quite believe how delicate he looked when he smiled genuinely. He’d seen Theo’s smirks countless times, in a lot of different contexts, but his smile, his real smile, was rare.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Theo asked after a few moments of silence.
“Thinking,” Liam said, still staring at Theo’s small but genuine smile.
“Like, thinking about how hot I am? Or thinking about how this is the worst decision you’ve ever made by far? Either way I’ll be flattered, since you’ve made a lot of pretty shitty decisions since we’ve met.”
“I was thinking about how happy I am to be here with you like this, but you’re really making me doubt myself.”
Both boys laughed, and Theo’s gaze softened as he looked at Liam. “Thanks for forgiving me. I don’t know what I did to deserve you but I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to be someone you deserve anyway.”
“Who knew you could be so damn sentimental,” Liam said, wrapping his arms around Theo’s warm chest. He closed his eyes and listened to his heartbeat, and they stayed like that until Liam decided it’d probably just be easier to cuddle on his bed, which is exactly what they did until they dozed off, still in each other’s arms.