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There is a series of dings coming from his phone, each one grating on Theo’s nerves more than the last as they notify him of all the text messages he’s receiving. It’s a little after nine in the morning and Theo is trying to sleep in. It’s his one free day from work and he has every intention of enjoying it.
His phone buzzes again and Theo growls into the cushiony lump of his pillow. He’s fairly certain he knows who it is because there’s only one-person brave enough—and stupid enough—to text Theo that many times when everyone knows he’s trying to sleep.
Ding!
“I’m going to kill him,” Theo grumbles, squeezing his eyes closed before opening them will a loud huff of irritation and rolling over onto his side so that he can reach the phone on his nightstand. He paws around for it with blurry eyes until his fingers finally close around the cool metal and glass. He pulls it towards himself and blinks rapidly at the sudden brightness that flares to life before his eyes. He squints and taps at the screen, there are seven text messages from Liam on his phone. A small coil of worry builds in his stomach, he hurriedly tries to open the messages, his fingers clumsy with exhaustion.
He reads over the first three with bated breath, heart thumping rapidly in his chest.
Received 9:07 Theo! R U awake??
Received 9:07 Hey, I really need your help!!
Received 9:08 Please wake up!!
When he reaches the fourth one the coil of worry snaps and turns to ashes, irritation, and exasperation taking its place easily as he reads over the remaining texts. He shakes his head and closes his eyes briefly, wondering idly, how he went from being a complete enemy to being Liam’s go-to-person when he needs help.
Received 9:10 Theo there was a cat stuck in a tree, so I tried to save her and now I’m stuck!!!
Received 9:10 Theo! I don’t know what to do!
Received 9:11 ???
Received 9:11 Fine! Be an asshole and ignore me!
Theo seriously debates about whether or not he should help Liam or just turn off his phone and go back to sleep for several more hours. If Liam is stuck, then it’s not like he can come punch Theo while he’s asleep. He taps lightly against the glass of the phone as he weighs the pros and cons. After several long moments, he sighs and shoots Liam a text, regret already settling deep in his bones.
Sent 9:15 Where are you Dumbass?
Theo supposes it could be worse, Liam could be all the way on the other side of town, but he’s not. No, he’s just a few blocks from the house at Martin Park, a popular open space for people to have picnics and go jogging. Theo thinks maybe the latter is what Liam was doing when he decided to play, and fail, at being a hero for the feline populace of Beacon Hills.
Theo sucks in a deep breath as soon as he steps out of his truck, his nose easily catching the familiar scent of Liam on the gentle breeze. He yawns loudly and slides his phone into his back pocket as he starts the trek across the park. It’s surprisingly crowded at such an early time, people running past him, nodding a good morning as they go. Theo glares at them all, he’s not a morning person, or a people person, depending on who you ask Theo isn’t even a person at all, he’s just evil stuffed into a humanoid shape.
There’s a large redwood tree just up ahead, it looks like every other tree in the park, but it smells like anxiety and frustration, and a little like Theo’s favorite brand of body wash. He swaggers up to the tree with a roll of his eyes, his hands slipping into the pockets of his hoodie, he stops two feet away from the trunk of the huge tree and tips his head back to peer up at the deep green thicket of leaves.
He can’t see Liam, but he can hear his worried heartbeat and soft breathing. “How long have you been up there?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” comes Liam’s voice from the swaying greenery.
Theo snorts.
It must have been for a while, there’s no way Liam texted him as soon as he realized he was stuck. Theo hums quietly to himself in amusement. He wonder’s how exactly he’s supposed to help here, it’s not like he has a ladder or some magical device to teleport Liam to the ground. There’s also no way Theo is climbing the tree to help, that would end in disaster because one of them would punch the other out of the tree.
“Why didn’t you just call the fire station like all the little grandmother’s do when their cats get stuck,” Theo asks curiously. He’s not entirely sure if people actually call the fire station to rescue cats from trees, but he’s seen it in enough of the ridiculous family movies that Liam has made him watch to at least offer it up as a suggestion.
“Because that’s a waste of their time Theo,” Liam grumbles down at him and Theo can just imagine the roll of eyes that accompanied those words.
“Yeah, it’s a waste of mine too,” Theo kicks lightly at the truck of the tree, the rough bark scraping against the bottom of his shoe. “It’s my only day off and you had to go get stuck in a tree.”
“It’s not like I planned this,” Liam snipes, there’s a shifting sound like he’s just crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t wake up this morning and decide I wanted to make both of our lives difficult by getting stuck in a tree! I was just trying to help the cat?”
“Did you,” Theo asks.
“Did I What,” Liam sounds confused.
“Did you help the cat?”
“No Theo I didn’t help the cat because apparently, she was didn’t need help,” Liam sounds grumpy about this. He’s not sure how Liam has made it this far in life to be honest.
Theo exhales loudly through his nose and taps the tree two more times with the toe of his shoe as he thinks.
“Maybe I should call the fire department,” He muses lightly, a small smirk spreading across his face. “I’ll tell them there’s a puppy stuck in a tree.”
The thought of the fire department having to come rescue Liam makes him snicker. He raps his finger on the edge of his phone in his hoodie pocket in contemplation. He could record the whole thing, use it as blackmail the next time Liam tries to get out of doing the dishes after dinner.
“Don’t you dare,” Liam growls as though he knows exactly what Theo is thinking.
“Or what,” Theo taunts up at him. “What can you possibly do from up there, Liam, other than whine at me?”
“You’re such an asshole,” Liam mutters to himself beneath his breath. “I can’t believe I’m in love with you.”
Theo’s mouth snaps closed, he had been prepared to spit out a comeback about being an asshole, but the rest of Liam’s words steal away his thoughts. The only thing running through his mind is Liam’s voice saying I can’t believe I’m in love with you over and over again.
“You’re what,” Theo finally manages to choke out, his eyes wide as he stares up at the tree. His face feels entirely too warm for such a cool morning, his heart is hammering inside his chest. cx
There’s a tiny horrified whisper of, “Oh, my god, no.” And then there is complete silence, the scent surrounding the tree becoming even more distressed.
Theo takes a step closer to it, he doesn’t know why it’s not like it makes him any closer to Liam himself.
“Liam,” He calls up to the little werewolf, but there’s no reply, not even a stirring of branches.
“Liam,” Theo repeats worriedly, his eyes squinting as he tries to peer through the leaves for a glimpse of the other boy. He’s beginning to think Liam has somehow murdered himself up in the tree as a means of getting out of ever speaking to Theo again.
Theo growls. “Lia—”
“You can just leave me here,” Liam croaks out cutting him off, the sharp stench of embarrassment wafts down to Theo, it makes him wrinkle his nose. “I decided I don’t need to be back on the ground, I’ll live here, it’s fine.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” Theo points out sliding his hands from his hoodie pockets and crossing his arms over his chest.
“Theo,” Liam groans sounding like an embarrassed little kid.. “Go away.”
“No, you texted me to come help you,” Theo grumbles, he glances around at the people milling about the park and hunches his shoulders up to his ears. He probably looks like a crazy person right now, standing here talking to a tree while a cat slinks around his legs in a lazy figure eight trying to grab his attention. “You woke me up for this, so you’re going to get out of the fucking tree or I’m going to climb up there and push you to your death.”
“You wouldn’t, my mother would never forgive you,” Liam says weakly.
“I would, I will, and Jenna would understand, she adores me,” Theo scoffs.
“I can’t,” Liam says petulantly after a long pause, the branches above Theo sway and creak with the shifting of Liam’s weight.
“Yes, you can,” Theo hisses up at him. “Look, I’ll ignore what you said, so just—”
“I’m stuck up here, Theo, remember,” Liam says, sounding entirely too long-suffering for Theo’s patience to be able to handle. “It’s why I texted you in the first place.”
Theo scrubs a hand tiredly over his face. Right. Liam is stuck. This is ridiculous. “You’re a werewolf, Liam, just jump out of the tree.”
There’s a strangled laugh. “Dude, no, do you see how high I am? Can’t you just, I don’t know, climb up here and carry me down?”
“I can’t see anything through the leaves, Liam,” Theo sighs. "And there is no way I’m climbing up there, do I look like King Kong to you, Liam? Look, just jump, okay? I’ll catch you.”
“You won’t,” Liam argues, and Theo wants to bang his head against the trunk of the tree in frustration.
“I will,” he stresses through gritted teeth.
He wouldn’t honestly let Liam fall to his death, no matter how much he jokingly threatens the little werewolf. The truth is, he cares too much about the dumbass stuck in the tree. Way more than he had ever expected to when he accepted the invitation to move in with Liam and his parents several months ago. The angry little wolf had grown on him and then, when Theo wasn' paying attention, he had somehow become the most important thing in Theo's life, the most important person. He'd become someone Theo could depend on and trust with every fiber of his being, and while that was scary, nothing had ever made more sense than loving Liam.
“But… How do I know you’ll catch me,” Liam asks quietly, his voice achingly hesitant it sends a sharp little pain to Theo’s core.
“You trust me… don’t you,” Theo asks just as quietly, his eyes falling to the ground. There’s a colony of ants the cat is playfully pawing at, her tail swaying back and forth like a pendulum.
“I, yeah,” Liam says and Theo can hear the loud swallow. Liam’s voice is soft, barely there over the gentle shushing of wind blowing through the leaves. “Of course I do, you know that.”
Theo’s tongue flicks out of his mouth, nervously wetting his dry lips. He glances around again at all the people and tugs at the hood of his hood, he pulls it up over his head, so it hides the pink of his ears from prying eyes.
“Then trust me when I say I’ll catch you because…” Theo trails off when his throat goes dry and his tongue feels too thick for his mouth.
“Because...” Liam prompts hesitantly. “Why?”
Theo swallows loudly and tries again. “Because I love you,” He murmurs, ignoring the burning feeling in his face and the nervous swoop of his stomach at having said what he feels for Liam out loud. He clears his throat and says a little louder. “That’s why.”
There’s a shuddery inhale of breath, an exhale of Theo’s name and then Liam is falling down, down, down towards Theo and the ground. Theo makes a noise of surprise and jerks back a step his arms held open and feet parted to center himself as Liam crashes into him, both of them letting out small grunts of pain as the air is knocked from their lungs.
“See,” Theo wheezes out with a tiny laugh as he stumbles back dragging Liam with him as he crashed onto his ass, the little werewolf sprawled over his lap. “I caught you.”
“Yeah,” Liam says a little breathlessly like he almost can’t believe it. “You did.”
The cat meow’s loudly and rubs her charcoal colored body against the leg of Theo’s jeans, covering it in little wisps of fur. He glances down at it, conflicted over whether to be angry with the obnoxious little feline or thank it for finally allowing him to get his feelings off his chest.
“She likes you,” Liam murmurs, his breath ghosting hotly over Theo’s chin.
“What,” Theo blinks, his eyes flicking back up to Liam’s face and realizes that he’s still holding onto Liam, their bodies pressed tightly together. Liam’s face is bright red, his pale blue eyes wide as he stares back at Theo.
“Um,” Liam whispers. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Theo says just as quietly, his hands sliding down to rest on the small of Liam’s back, he wants to pull Liam closer.
“Thanks for saving me,” Liam slides his hands up Theo’s chest to the back of his neck, pushing the hood away from Theo’s head. The soft summer breeze tousles their hair, and carries Liam’s scent around them, he smells nervous, his palms sweaty and trembling against Theo’s skin.
“Anytime,” Theo says without hesitation. “Are you… okay?”
Yeah,” Liam smiles softly, and ducks his head down, his ears burning red through his hair. “Yeah, I’m… I’m good.”
“Good,” Theo murmurs and when Liam lifts his head to meet Theo’s eyes, Theo leans in and kisses him. It’s clumsy and dry, Liam squeaking against his mouth in surprise, his nails digging into Theo’s skin before he calms and melts into the kiss. Theo pulls him closer, swipes his tongue along the wolf’s bottom lip once before nipping at it with his teeth. Slowly, Theo pulls away and rests his forehead against Liam’s, their breath mingling together hotly.
“Good,” he says again, his chest expanding with happiness, his arms wrapping tightly around Liam. All he had wanted to do on his day off was sleep in, but instead, he ended up playing hero, getting a boyfriend, and also, maybe a cat. Though, one of those things he could live without. He nudges Liam’s nose with his own. “We’re not keeping the cat.”
“We totally are.”