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Things weren’t normal in Beacon Hills. Things would probably never be normal in Beacon Hills again, but at least there was no immediate threat. There hadn’t been since the Anuk Ite, since everything had gone down with Munroe, with Gerard, with Kate. The pack knew that they couldn’t expect things to stay like this forever, but they were taking full advantage of the time they had before the next “big bad” came into their town.
For Liam, that fear loomed over his head at all times. Scott, Lydia, Stiles - they were all gone. Sure, they checked in, and Scott was never too far away, but Liam was more or less in charge, and he wasn’t sure he wanted that role when whatever happened next happened. He also had to grapple with the incredibly difficult decision concerning Theo’s status with the pack. Mason, Corey and the rest were unsure, but they hadn’t experienced what Liam had with Theo, and after a lot of convincing, they had all agreed that Theo could stick around.
On a trial basis.
Well, as fall faded into winter, that trial basis faded into a certain comfort with Theo, and for Liam, even a friendship. It was an odd friendship, full of bickering and the like, but in the downtime they had, Theo was helping Liam work on his anger. It was yielding impressive results, leaving Liam grateful and far more amenable to spending time with Theo. At first, it was only when they were working on something, but lately, they had simply found themselves hanging out.
A lot.
“So, that movie was...interesting,” Theo said as they walked out of the theater. He reached into his pocket, pulling his beanie from his winter coat and tugging it over his head and ears to help with the cold of a very, very chilly December.
“I liked it,” Liam said defensively, coming to a stop a few feet away from the theater doors.
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it. I said it was interesting,” Theo said.
“Okay, well, your tone implied that it was the bad kind of interesting,” Liam argued.
“I think you just like arguing with me,” Theo shot back, a challenging smile crossing his lips.
“You’re impossible,” Liam said with a sigh, though he couldn’t deny his own slight smile. Bickering with Theo was an unavoidable necessity in his life, and if he was totally honest, he didn’t hate it. It was playful now, so much more so than it had been at first, and it was even comfortable for the two of them.
“This isn’t news,” Theo pointed out.
“Yeah, no, that’s very true.” Liam punctuated his sentence with a short laugh, some of his long hair falling over his eyes as he did so.
“So.” Theo shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. “I’ll see you soon?”
“Oh, yeah,” Liam nodded, moving to push the fallen hair from his face so he could get a proper look at his friend as they parted ways.
“Or…”
Theo paused, and that pause was enough to give Liam time to detect a small blip, a pickup in his heartbeat that Liam wasn’t terribly used to.
“Or...what?”
“Or,” Theo said slowly, looking as though he was heavily weighing some sort of option. “Or you could come with me.”
“Come with you?” Liam raised an eyebrow, half confused by what Theo was getting at, half intrigued. He was pretty sure that if Theo chose to listen in that very moment, he might hear a similar blip in Liam’s own heart rate.
“Yeah.” Theo looked down at Liam with a completely new expression. A look of determination had found its way onto his face, and it was clear that he had finished whatever internal grappling he had been doing before. “Come with me - to my apartment.”
Liam studied the other man for a moment, brow furrowed, trying to detect deeper meaning, if there was any, in the words. It was dark and it was getting late and Liam knew that if he didn’t go home his mother and stepfather would wonder, might even worry, where he was. He opened his mouth to say as much, but didn’t get the chance before Theo spoke again.
“Stay the night.”
Those three words changed everything. The look in Theo’s eyes when he said them, the tone of voice that he used, the pick-up in his heart rate at the words, it didn’t leave anything to the imagination. And the smirk on his face a moment later? That told Liam that Theo had detected the racing heart that threatened to beat out of the younger wolf’s chest with the request.
Or was it a command?
Wordlessly, Liam nodded, and with a smile, Theo took his hand, pulling the other towards his car.
The drive was short, but even in those few minutes the tension in the cab of the truck was almost too much to deal with, and by the time they made it up the stairs to Theo’s fifth floor walkup, desire was taking over the both of them. Theo fumbled for the keys to the door, opening it quickly, and Liam? He wasted no time. The moment that door was open, he grabbed Theo, pulling him inside, pushing him up against the wall, kissing him furiously.
Theo returned the kiss with passion, aggression, and an intensity that only months of pent-up, frustrated tension could convey, growling slightly before grabbing Liam, flipping their position so that Liam was now the one pushed up against the wall.
“You’re wearing too much,” Theo growled as he pulled back, hands ripping the buttons of Liam’s winter coat apart, tossing it to the floor, not caring at all that the door was still ajar, keys still hanging from the lock.
Liam reached out, being slightly more careful with Theo’s jacket, but not much as he pulled apart the toggles, pushing the jacket off of Theo’s shoulders, letting it drop to the floor beside his own.
From there, it became a fumble of taking off winter boots, beanies, fighting for control, both of them taking turns grabbing the other to flip their positions against the wall, slowly making their way down the hallway with their aggressive actions.
As they moved towards...something, anything further than the hallway, now littered with shed winter gear, Liam’s socked feet slipped on the tile of the kitchen floor, and he reached out, grabbing for Theo, taking them both down with a loud thud.
“Are you okay?” Theo asked, laughing as he propped himself up just enough to put an inch of space between his body and Liam’s.
“I’ll heal,” Liam said, searching Theo’s eyes, fully taking in that moment of worry that the other man had for him, turning it into a smile before he reached up, his hand going to the back of Theo’s neck, pulling him down for a kiss.
Theo didn’t say another thing. He pressed his lips to Liam’s, hands running down Liam’s sides only to slide up through the hem of the other man’s shirt, pulling it up. Liam lifted his body just enough for Theo to be able to pull the shirt off of him, tossing it away as he leaned back in for another kiss.
“Hold on,” Liam breathed, reaching up, quickly tugging Theo’s own shirt off and over his head. “There.”
“Weirdo.” Theo dove right back in, lips bruising kisses against Liam’s, hands exploring the smooth skin on Liam’s torso.
They stayed like that for awhile, Liam pressed against the kitchen floor, the cool tile countering out the warmth of the other man’s hands and mouth on his body. As Theo pulled away to catch his breath, Liam took his chance, flipping them quickly. He took Theo’s wrists in his hands, pinning them against the floor.
“You know I could break free from you in a second, right?” Theo asked.
“I’m stronger than you think,” Liam objected.
“I’m stronger.”
“Prove it.”
“Maybe I like you on top.”
“Coward.”
Instead of retorting, Theo wrapped his legs around Liam’s waist and pulled him down, forcing Liam’s chest flush against his own.
“Hi,” he said with a sinister smirk.
“Ooof... hi.” Liam smiled back at him, though there was none of the cheeky look in his eyes that Theo had.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Theo asked, keeping his legs wrapped tight around Liam.
“Looking at you like what?”
“Like you’re in love with me.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” Liam rolled his eyes, but he was fairly certain that it didn’t matter. Theo could probably hear and feel his racing heart. The jig was likely up for him, and he wasn’t sure what that meant.
Liam didn’t know what Theo wanted. He could tell that there was something between them, yes, but was it more than this? More than the incredibly intense sex that both of them were sure was going to follow this kitchen floor makeout session? Liam didn’t like to admit that his feelings were more than that, more than sex, and that by allowing himself to act on this, he might be putting their friendship in jeopardy.
Fortunately for Liam, Theo didn’t push the issue. Instead, he leaned up, pushing his tongue back into Liam’s mouth, causing the temporary anxiety of the situation to completely disappear from Liam’s mind in favor of focusing on the young man he currently had pinned to the floor.
With his entire body.
After a while, Theo looked up at Liam.
“I have a bed, you know.”
“Oh yeah?” Liam raised an eyebrow. “Prove it.”
“Kind of hard with you on top of me.”
“Oh, yeah, I can feel that,” Liam teased.
“You know what I mean.”
“I thought you could break free anytime you wanted?” Liam challenged.
“‘Wanted’ being the operative word there.”
“Keep talking like that and I’ll start thinking you want me to chain you to this theoretical bed of yours.”
“Hey, I’ll try anything once,” Theo said with a wink.
That caught Liam off guard just enough for Theo to easily dislodge him, and he got to his feet quickly, walking towards the back of the apartment. He turned, looking over his shoulder at a still slightly stunned Liam.
“You coming?” He asked.
Liam scrambled to his feet, following the other man to the bedroom.
Giving in to Theo was something that Liam had imagined many times, and it wasn’t something he had ever expected to be a reality, but this? There was no denying that this was happening. It was happening, and it was intense.
“Fuck.” Liam lay back on the mattress, sheets pooled around him, gasping for air as he stared up at the ceiling.
“Not bad,” Theo replied with a smirk.
“Not bad?!” Liam looked over at him.
“Bed’s still intact.” Theo shrugged.
“Oh, yeah? Sorry about that.” Liam reached over, patting Theo on the chest.
“I think we can do better. Next time.”
“Next time, huh? Who says there’s gonna be a next time?”
“Come on,” Theo rolled onto his side, looking at Liam with a pointed stare. “There’s going to be a next time.”
Liam paused, trying to hold out, trying to object, but he was in the palm of Theo’s hand right now - a position he had always told himself he would never allow himself to get into. But he couldn’t lie to Theo, not right now.
“Fine,” he said.
“Stop that.” Theo moved closer to him. “Don’t pretend to be dejected about that. I know you’re just pretending. I know you. I know who you are and I know what you want.”
“Oh, yeah? And what’s that?” he asked skeptically.
Theo reached over, placing his hand on Liam’s cheek. He pulled him in, kissing him with the same passion as before, but slowly, more intentional. Gone was the wild aggression, gone was the rough desperation. This kiss was entirely different than the many they had shared leading up to this point, and Liam felt himself melting against Theo’s touch.
“Fuck,” he breathed as Theo pulled away.
“I told you I knew what you wanted,” Theo said with a smirk.
That brought Liam back. Theo was going to use this, to lord this night over him, and of course they couldn’t just have one moment without someone having to win.
“Whoa there,” Theo said with a frown. “What the hell do you have to be angry about right now?”
God damnit. Liam thought. He really does know me.
“Nothing. I’m not angry,” Liam lied.
“You’re steamed about something. Come on, you’re naked in my bed, right next to me. You really can’t lie to me in this position and expect to get away with it.”
“Okay, fine!” Liam sat up. “I don’t like that you’re fucking with me.”
“Who says I’m fucking with you?” Theo asked.
“You’re always fucking with me,” Liam pointed out.
“Yeah, and you’re usually fucking with me right back,” Theo said with a smile. “It’s fun. It’s our thing.”
“Our thing?”
“Yeah.” Theo sat up, nudging him. “Our thing. How we flirt.”
“How we flirt?”
“Okay, if you’re just going to repeat everything I say I-”
Liam cut him off with a kiss, one hand going to the back of Theo’s neck, the other to his chest, resting above his heart. When he pulled back, he was grinning.
“Ohhh, you love me!”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Theo said back, though his smile betrayed him, just as Liam’s gaze had betrayed his own denial on the kitchen floor.
“How long?” Liam asked, lying back down on the bed, pulling Theo with him.
“I’m not sure exactly. How long for you?”
“You really wanna know? The exact moment?”
“Yeah.” Theo put his arm around Liam, pulling him in close. “I do.”
“Okay.” Liam rested his head on Theo’s chest, his fingers running gently up and down Theo’s side. “When you helped Gabe. He was everything we were fighting against. He wanted to kill us, he tried to kill us...and you didn’t want him to suffer. That was the moment I realized you’d really changed. That you weren’t the same Theo that manipulated me into killing Scott, that you weren’t the same guy Kira had sent away. In that moment, you weren’t just the bad boy who helped when it was convenient for you. There was nothing for you to gain from helping him, and you did it anyways.”
Theo didn’t say anything. He reached out, toying with Liam’s hair. He liked it long - he liked being able to run his fingers through it. He had thoughts of pulling it, hard, while Liam called out his name, but right now, those thoughts, those fantasies were a million miles away.
“You just…” Liam sighed. “I could see then, that you weren’t all talk, and some action. You have to really care to take someone’s pain like that, and I honestly had myself convinced before that that everything you had done: pushing me into that elevator, taking on those Ghost Riders for me, pulling me to safety from Gabe’s bullets. That all of it was somehow a selfish play on your part, but some things are transparent, and that was one of them.”
“That made you fall in love with me?” Theo asked.
“Well,” Liam sighed. “I’m not sure if that made me fall in love with you. The feelings to some degree were already there, but that moment let me truly believe what I had been convincing myself was impossible.”
“And that was…”
“That you were human. That you were capable of caring about someone other than yourself. And if you cared enough about a hunter who died trying to kill you then...maybe you could…”
“Care about you,” Theo finished for him.
“Yeah.” Liam nodded. “Stupid, I know.”
“Not stupid.” Theo shifted them, pulling Liam close so that they were face to face. “Not stupid at all. My whole life everything I’ve wanted has been just out of reach, or...or difficult to track down, and you? You took me by surprise, Liam Dunbar.”
“I did?”
“I never thought someone would just...be right there, so close that I could reach out and touch him, take him, keep him. And then...you. You brought me back from a hell where I died a thousand times every day,” he said. “You said you wouldn’t fight for me, you wouldn’t help me, but when push came to shove, you did what you had to do to save me - me, someone who had always hurt you, manipulated you. No one had ever - and I mean ever - done something like that for me. It hit me that the person I needed could really be right there, right in front of me, snarling at me, and threatening to send me back to hell.”
“Yeah,” Liam smiled. “I got really good at that, didn’t I?”
“No.” Theo shook his head. “I never believed you would do it for an instant.”
“Liar.”
“Nope. Truth. All the way. You’re not that kind of person, Liam.”
“I hated you.”
“Didn’t matter,” Theo said. “You wouldn’t have sent me back there, not knowing what it had done to me.”
“Fuck you,” Liam groaned.
“You’re saying that because you know I’m right.”
Liam didn’t reply, he just pulled Theo close, kissing him again and again until he was out of breath, and out of energy, falling asleep in Theo’s arms.
They both awoke a couple of hours later to Liam’s blaring ringtone.
“Turn that off,” Theo groaned.
“Mmm.” Liam nodded, grabbing his phone, rejecting the call without looking and curling back up against Theo.
Moments later, however, the phone rang again.
“Jesus Christ,” Theo sat up, grabbing the phone, about to throw it at the wall when Liam stopped him, grabbing his wrist.
“Wait, wait, wait, shit, it’s my mom, shit.” He took the phone, answering it gingerly. “Hello?”
“LIAM MICHAEL DUNBAR WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?”
Theo couldn’t help but snort out a laugh as Liam’s mother yelled at him through the phone.
“Mom, Mom! I’m fine. It’s okay.”
“OKAY!? IT IS ONE IN THE MORNING! WHERE ARE YOU? I AM COMING TO GET YOU.”
“Oh God, Mom, no!” Liam panicked, reaching out to swat Theo, who was still snickering at the situation. “I’m at Mason’s, okay? I went there after the movie, we were playing video games and I guess I fell asleep. I’m coming home right now, okay?”
“I’ll come get you. Do you know what’s been going through my mind? Do you remember where we live?”
“Oh, no, Mason will drive me! It’s fine, okay? I’ll be home really soon. I promise. I’m sorry, Mom. I never meant to worry you.”
“You’d better be home before two,” she said, with a ragged sigh. “Or I’m coming over there.”
“Okay, it’s okay. I’ll be home before two, I promise. I’m sorry. I’ll see you soon. I love you.”
“I love you too, but if you-” Liam hung up, sighing. He was going to get hell no matter what. He just couldn’t stand hearing it all over the phone anymore.
“I have to go,” he said, turning to Theo.
“No, you don’t.” Theo pulled him back down.
“Sorry, but I really, really do.” Liam wriggled away from Theo, sliding out of the bed. “If I don’t go home, she’ll go to Mason’s, wake up his entire family. Everyone will realize that I am definitely not there, and everything will just get worse.”
“She won’t be able to find you here,” Theo said, getting up, putting his arms around Liam’s waist, kissing him softly. “Stay.”
“I...really wish I could,” Liam said, feeling his resolve weakening in Theo’s arms. “But if she finds out I lied to her, I’ll get grounded, and then ‘next time’ will be in like...five years.”
“You’re eighteen,” Theo said.
“I am,” he agreed. “But I live under her roof, and I know she’s just worried about me, okay?” He leaned in, pecking Theo on the lips before slipping out of his arms, grabbing his boxers. He pulled them on, followed by his jeans, and set out to the kitchen to find his shirt and the rest of his clothes.
Reluctantly, Theo began dressing himself, following Liam out into the kitchen.
“What are you doing?” Liam asked, pausing as he finished lacing his boots.
“I’m gonna drive you home,” Theo said.
“You don’t have to do that. I can run home and be back well before two.”
“I know,” Theo said with a smirk. “But it’s freezing out, and...if I drive you, we have just a little bit more time... “ he leaned in, kissing Liam again, his hands cupping Liam’s face. “Mmm…” he grinned when he pulled back. “I like that you smell like me.”
“I like that, too,” Liam admitted, smiling as he gazed at Theo. “But I really have to go. The faster I get home, the more forgiving she’ll be with me.”
“Fine.” Theo groaned. He grabbed his keys from the still-open door and put his jacket on. “Come on.” He took Liam’s hand, walking with him back to the truck.
The drive to Liam’s place was as silent as the drive from the theater, but was missing the anticipation of their first excursion. When he pulled up a block from Liam’s house (Liam’s mother would know it wasn’t Mason’s car), Liam leaned over, kissing Theo softly.
“Thanks for driving me home,” he said with a smile.
“Of course,” Theo said.
Liam moved to get out of the car, but stopped, giving Theo a long look before opening his mouth.
“I’ll leave my window open.”
“It’s freezing,” Theo said.
“So don’t keep me waiting.”
With a smile, Liam got out of the car, closing the door behind him.
As he expected, his mother read him the riot act when he got home, but due to the late hour, she let him go up to his room, insisting that they would discuss his punishment tomorrow.
Liam walked up to his room, opening the window before heading to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and changed into a pair of sleep pants before going back to his room - the cold air already lowering the temperature. He pulled a soft shirt from his dresser, but started at a hand on his wrist.
“You really don’t need that,” Theo said with a smirk.
“Shhh,” Liam laughed. “My mom’s probably still awake.”
“Mmm…” Theo leaned in, whispering in Liam’s ear. “I’m sure you can think of some clever ways to shut me up.”
“Close the window.” Liam moved towards the bed, lying down.
Theo closed the window and and walked over to the bed, shedding his clothes one by one along the way.
“C’mere.” Liam pulled Theo down onto the bed with him, leaning in, kissing him softly.
“Thank you,” Theo said, smiling at Liam as he pulled back.
“What for?”
“For...coming over,” he said. “For wanting to stay the night.” Theo bit his lip. “For loving me.”
Liam studied the other man’s face for a moment, saddened by how truly grateful Theo seemed to be by the idea of someone actually caring for him. Liam simply moved forwards, kissing him again.
“Goodnight, Theo,” he said, lying down, pulling the other wolf’s arms around him.
“Goodnight, Liam.”
***
“Oh my God, that movie sucked!” Theo laughed as he exited the movie theater, his arm around Liam’s shoulders.
“I don’t know...it wasn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen…”
“Okay, but it still wasn’t good,” Theo argued. “They should never make fourths. Nothing good ever happened to movies past the third one. Trilogies are as far as something should go.”
“The fourth Star Wars is great!”
“The fourth Star Wars was the first Star Wars. The first Star Wars came fourth, and it sucks,” Theo pointed out.
“Okay, Harry Potter, then,” Liam challenged.
“That’s different, it was a book series, fully completed and established, with it’s own plot arcs for every movie, not a lesser-than carbon copy of what came before it.”
“X-Men: First Class,” Liam challenged.
“Basically a re-boot.”
“Fine.” Liam paused for a moment to think, then grinned. “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.”
“Okay, that’s one,” Theo admitted. “I’ll let you have one.”
“Let me have one?” Liam turned to him. “You love that movie.”
“I like it alright.”
“You love it,” Liam stated. “We’ve been together four years. I know what you love.”
Theo rolled his eyes, but didn’t argue. Instead, he pulled Liam into a kiss.
“Nope.” Liam pulled back. “You always do that - you kiss me when you don’t have a good retort so that I can’t bask in the glory of my victory. Well, it won’t work this time. I won. I was right, you were wrong, ha.” Liam smirked.
“Alright, alright, fine, you were right.” Theo slipped his hands into Liam’s jacket pockets, pulling him close, kissing him softly.
Liam grinned when he pulled back. “You want to go home and watch Ghost Protocol now, don’t you.”
“Damnit,” Theo muttered under his breath.
“I know you,” Liam teased, pressing his forehead against Theo’s. “I know who you are. I know what you want.”
“Oh, yeah?” Theo smirked. “And what’s that.”
“To go home and watch Ghost Protocol,” Liam teased.
“And?” Theo laughed.
“And...me.” Liam closed the distance between them, kissing his boyfriend softly.
“And you,” Theo agreed. “I love you,” he breathed. It was rare, even now, for Theo to say those words out loud.
“I know,” Liam smiled.
“And?” Theo coaxed.
“And let’s go home and watch Ghost Protocol,” Liam snickered.
“And? ’ Theo pushed, shoving Liam playfully.
“And I love you, too.” He tucked himself against Theo, taking his regular place under Theo’s arm as they walked towards the car, snow crunching beneath their boots, both feeling as though they had won.