Chapter Text
“Not again.” Liam is back in the well. All week Liam’s had the same nightmare about the well. Every time the pain of the wolfsbane radiates and burns. Every time the hopelessness of the situation feel so very real. Every time he never makes it out. Every time Liam falls as he climbs. Every time no one finds him. Every time no one saves him. Every time Scott doesn’t save him.
“Every. Single. Night.” Liam screams as he wails on the rock walls of the well, punctuating every word with a punch. “The. Same. Well. Every. Ti--” Liam stops short with his fist an inch away from impact, shocked out of his rage. The dream never changes. It happens the same every time. Down to the minute, it’s the same. No exceptions. Feeling calm and comfortable has never been part of it. “Why am I warm?”
The usual predictability of the dream takes another turn: it starts to rain.
Liam blinks away the rain and opens his eyes to see someone lying above him, holding his arms down. When the figure sees that Liam is awake they let him go and move to sit off the side of the bed. “I had to hold your arms down, you were thrashing everywhere and your claws were out. I didn’t want you to hurt yourself”
It takes Liam a second to recognize the figure in the dark. “Scott? What are you doing here? It’s two in the morning. Not that I’m not glad to see you but… why?”
After a short pause He replies, “I overheard you telling Mason at school that you’d been having nightmares. I couldn’t sleep so I decided to come over and check on you.” Liam gets up out of bed and sits next to Scott, resting his head on Scott’s shoulder. Feeling his beta still shivering a little from his nightmare, Scott puts his hand on Liam’s waist and pulls him closer into a half hug.
“Thanks.” Liam looks at his hand, thinking of the claws that were there only a minute ago. “How do you control your claws? I always end up with them stuck in my hand.”
“Well, It’s like controlling a shift, trying to keep your heart rate down and that kind of thing.”
“How do you get them to come out?”
“That’s a little harder. It’s almost like muscle memory, and you end up getting it with time and a little practice. Don’t worry about that for now Liam. We have school tomorrow and you need sleep.”
“Show me first.”
“What? My claws?”
“Yeah,” Liam says, jumping up to turn on a small lamp by his bed so he can see Scott’s hand better.
“okay I guess. Only if you promise to go to sleep after this” Liam nods and sits back down next to Scott and stares intently at his hand.
“Ready?” Scott closes his hand and snaps it back out in a practiced motion. “and there they are”
“What are these?” Liam exclaims, snatching up Scott’s hand.
“Well they’re claws.”
“No not those, these” dragging him up off the bed and closer to the light, Liam points to raised scars on Scott’s palm. Lifting his own hand he continues, “Mine look exactly the same. My claws always end up coming out into my fists when I have a nightmare. After the first few nights they stopped healing perfectly and started scarring.” He turns and looks at Scott. Now that they are in the lamp light Liam sees that Scott’s eyes are red and puffy. “Are you okay? What happened?”
Scott jerks his hand away, “nothing”
“If you’re hurt I want to help.”
“Don’t worry about it Liam.”
“Scott--”
“It’s not your problem Liam,” Scott says with a little more force. “Come on get some sleep.”
“What are you trying to protect me from? I may be your beta but I’m not a little kid. I care about you, Scott. If you’re hurting I want to help. You’ve sat with me for hours and hours helping me calm down after a nightmare. Is it hard to believe that I would do the same for you or something?”
“I don’t know Liam. I’m your alpha. I’m supposed comfort you not the other way around.”
“Just because you’re my alpha doesn’t mean I can’t ever help you. You’re still human, you still feel. At least tell me where you got those scars.”
Scott sits back down on the bed and reluctantly says, “I get them when I sleep, like you do”
Liam sits down next to him. “What happens in your sleep that your claws end up coming out?”
“Dreams or nightmares, I guess”
Liam sees tears starting to well up in Scott’s eyes and asks, “What happens?”
“I’m at the well. I came too late. You fell. I didn’t catch you.” On the last word Scott’s voice breaks and tears start cascading down his face. “I c-couldn’t save y-you.I k-keep trying to g-grab you but I only g-get the air”
Liam doesn’t hear anything Scott says after that. He doesn’t hear Scott slur out that he needed to see Liam and make sure it was just a dream, he just sees that more tears are pooling in Scott’s eyes. Moving forward, Liam wipes the tears from Scott’s face and ties his arms around Scott’s neck, pulling him into a tight hug. Scott’s arms wrap around Liam’s waist, pulling them closer together.
Liam lies back down on the bed, dragging Scott next to him. He lies sideways, looking at Scott, and puts Scott’s hand in his. Grabbing Scott’s hand, he says, “ It’s okay. You got me out of the well. You saved me.”
Liam doesn’t let himself fall asleep until he sees Scott’s eyes close. When Scott jolts awake in panic through the night, he quietly falls back asleep once he feels Liam’s hand in his. With Scott next to him, Liam falls asleep and doesn’t wake up until his alarm goes off for school. He feels well rested for the first time all week and opens his eyes to Scott’s face grinning back at him.