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Theo’s world had always been cold, colder than most people’s world. It wasn’t just the absence of his soulmate that made it feel that way, it was everything that happened in his life that made it so frosty, from killing his sister, to being used by the Dread Doctors, to living with them, to manipulating people. Theo’s life was cold, icy cold, and that was a fact.
Going to hell only made it colder.
Hell isn’t burning hot like people like to believe, at least his personal hell isn’t. His personal hell is waking up in the morgue of a chilly hospital, his sister appearing to take back what he stole from her, goosebumps appearing everywhere wasn't his body every time he heard her voice, again and again, a loop of coldness that he couldn’t escape, a loop of coldness that he knew he deserved after everything he had done. Hell isn’t burning hot, hell is freezing.
When Liam brought him back from hell his world didn’t heat up, it was still cold, not freezing like hell, but the normal type of cold, the type he was supposed to feel until he and his soulmate shared a meaningful long touch. That is if Theo even had a soulmate that wanted to touch him, he sometimes doubted that someone like him had a soulmate at all, he wasn’t a good person so why would he deserve someone who loved and cherished him? He didn’t, but apparently there was someone out there for him, specifically for him, perfect for him.
The first time Theo felt a spark of warmth, the Dread Doctors were still in Beacon Hills, but he couldn’t even remember exactly when, where or how it had happened, much less who had been the one he had touched, he just remembers a spark up his fingers, a spark that was gone as soon as it came. A part of him still wondered if it had really happened, if he really had a soulmate and if he really had touched them. A part of him still doubted it.
That is until he couldn’t doubt it anymore, until it was impossible to do so.
It happened the day Theo and Liam had gone to the abandoned zoo to lure the hunters away from the warehouse, during the whole day there had been a weird feeling in the air around Theo, something he couldn’t exactly describe, something new but not exactly unpleasant (not unpleasant at all, to be completely honest). The feeling stayed with him during the whole day, even through all the mess with the hunters and the pointless fights with Liam, the feeling stayed. It was there and it was leaving him restless. He felt restless the whole day, his mind not being able to rest until he understood, hours later, what was happening around him, what was happening to him.
He had knocked Liam out, - five times to be precise, but that is not the point, - he had knocked him out and when it got late, night settling over the zoo, Liam was still unconscious, and they needed to leave, so Theo really hadn’t had another choice, he had had to carry him to his car.
At first, Theo had tried carrying him over his shoulder, but that had soon proved to be a struggle since Liam wasn’t exactly light and there were a lot of stairs in the zoo, it was hard to carry him like that and climb stairs at the same time, so he had tried a different way. He put Liam down and, after some minutes that he had used to rest his back, Theo moved to pick Liam up again, this time putting one arm around his back and the other under his knees.
It wasn’t supposed to be intimate, it wasn’t supposed to be anything, really, it was just meant to be Theo carrying Liam to his car after having knocked him out in order to take him back to Beacon Hills as soon as possible, but it didn’t happen like it was supposed to happen, just like most things in Theo’s life.
That feeling that had been around Theo the whole day had intensified as soon as he had walked the first steps with Liam in his arms, it had intensified so much that Theo had to stop in the middle of the walk back to his car to catch his breath, the change in the atmosphere overwhelming.
It had wrapped around him, the feeling soft and unlike anything Theo had ever felt, it was making his skin tingle in ways it never had, it was a sensation he wasn’t familiar with, but, somehow, he knew what it was, the word appearing in his head like a whisper as soft as the feeling around him.
Warmth.
The feeling some lucky people talked about, the feeling people in love talked about, the feeling you felt for the first time when you touched your soulmate long and intimately enough to change the air and the atmosphere around you.
Theo looked down at the unconscious boy in his arms and it made sense, somehow it made sense. There were tingles everywhere in his body, skin feeling like it never had before, soft and warm and everything Theo had, subconsciously dreamt about, everything he needed. It wasn’t cold anymore, not even the night breeze disturbing the warmth around him.
He felt Liam move a little, on the line between conscious and unconscious, he felt Liam move a little, head resting against Theo’s chest, moving slowly and settling once he was closer to Theo, snuggling into him, and Theo wondered if it was because, without knowing, Liam was feeling the warmth too and was trying to get closer to it.
Liam was his soulmate.
That had been when Theo had realized it, but he had never approached the subject with Liam. He knew the younger boy must feel warmth around him like Theo did, it wasn’t as strong as it had been when Liam was in his arms, but it was still there, impossible not to feel, but Theo didn’t know if Liam knew it was because of him, it was fairly obvious, but Theo still couldn’t be sure, and he didn’t know if he wanted Liam to know it was because of him or not.
He didn’t know if he accepted that Liam was stuck with a soulmate as broken and fucked up as he was. Liam certainly deserved better than that.
Therefore, Theo didn’t bring up the subject and, since Liam didn’t do it either, it wasn’t talked about, they didn’t mention it and Theo was ok with that, while they didn’t talk he could still try (fail) to deny himself the pleasure of knowing he had a soulmate.
It was a mutual silent agreement that they wouldn't talk about it and they didn't do it, they ignored the subject and it hadn't ever been brought up, but then, at the hospital, after the war was over, it was impossible to ignore anymore.
They both had felt the warmth spread across the elevator the moment Theo had pulled Liam into his body and saved his life, it was warm despite the war going on. It was nice, but scary at the same time.
Theo and Liam sat side by side in an empty corridor after the hunters had been defeated. There was silence around them, just like there was a warm feeling surrounding them, skin tingling where their shoulders touched.
“Are we ever gonna talk about this?” Liam asked.
“We can't ignore it forever,” Theo shrugged, acting like he wasn't too worried about the subject.
“It's you,” Liam said finally.
“Apparently so.”
“I have dreamt about my soulmate since I was little. You're not exactly what I had in mind.”
“How so?”
“I hadn't thought that my soulmate would end being the guy who fucked up my pack, tried to get me to kill my Alpha and did it himself when I didn't do it.”
Theo didn't know how to answer, he knew Liam was right, he knew the things he had done, he knew how much he had fucked up his whole life, but he regretted some of the things he had done, he would change some things now if he could. He didn't know how to answer, so he didn't and only got ready to be rejected by his soulmate, knowing that if Liam rejected him it would be more than understandable and all Theo’s fault.
“Look, I know you changed, I mean a number of times you helped us and saved my ass prove that, the Theo I knew before hell would never do any of it,” Liam started, getting up and standing in front of Theo.
Theo looked up at him, eyes wide and hopeful and he hated himself for showing just how affected he was by the situation, hating himself for showing vulnerability.
“I'm not saying I'm gonna forgive what you did, I probably never will, but I'm willing to try something if you want to.”
“Try what?” Theo asked.
“I want to get to know this new Theo, the one that came back from hell and helped me and my pack win a war, the Theo that saved my life multiple times,” Liam explained. “I want to get to know the Theo that makes me feel warm. If you'll let me.”
Theo got up from where he was sitting and, without thinking twice, threw his arms around Liam, hugging him close, relieved that he hadn't been completely rejected by the person that was meant for him.
If carrying Liam had felt warm, hugging Liam felt like an explosion of warmth; it wrapped around them like the blanket Theo had only started appreciating after the day at the zoo, it left a soft and beautiful touch on their skin. Liam's arms around him feeling like fire.
“I'll let you get to know that Theo,” Theo whispered in Liam's ear, not letting go.
Theo lost track of time after that, not really knowing how long they stayed like that, in each other's arms, but when they finally let go, the warmth stayed, nice and comforting around them, and, even if they didn't know how their story would progress, they knew that they wanted to give it a try and get to know each other in ways no one else did.
Because the world had been cold, full of blues and purples, but now it was warm, reds and oranges filling it, and it was all because Theo and Liam had bonded in the right way, not like they had in the past, but in a new way that was completely theirs.
Because they were soulmates and, somehow, meant to be.