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Theo has a teddy bear. It’s often seen in his room, up on the dresser, or on his bed sitting up on the pillows. Theo will even take the bear with him to places but he doesn’t let anyone else see it, only Liam. Having the bear has caused Liam to start calling him little bear which Theo tells him only he can call him anything with the word little in front of it, aka: little wolf. He said the “little thing” was his thing.
But it’s more often than not used for something else. The bear was given to Theo by Liam after figuring out about Theo being touch-starved. Theo was embarrassed the first time it happened, when he was actually touched in a nice and gentle way as opposed to a negative and harming way.
It was Halloween night and Liam had convinced Theo to help him hand out candy to any kids that came knocking on their door. Theo said he refused to wear any type of costume since he already agreed to the candy thing. While he was pouring all kinds of different sweets into a bowl, he heard Liam upstairs, giggling to himself. Theo didn’t think much of it, it was Liam after all. But when he finally came downstairs, he had on very ripped jeans, a ripped t-shirt with holes in the sleeves and most importantly, his fangs and claws were out.
“Liam, are you out of your mind?!”
“It’s Halloween, Theo! People will just think I have an amazingly accurate depiction of a werewolf costume on!”
“You are insufferable.”
“It’ll be fun!”
“Just don’t come complaining to me when you scare the shit out of some 8-year olds .”
“It’ll be fine! Don’t worry!”
It was not fine. While most kids found it cool, Liam had managed to make 2 kids cry because his said fangs and claws did in fact scare them a bit. Theo had to hide behind the door with a hand over his mouth to try and stop himself from being seen laughing. The moment he shut the door after giving the kids candy and hearing the parents trying to explain to them that it was just a costume, Theo burst out laughing and Liam hit him on the arm, which made him laugh harder.
“I told you, you shouldn’t have done it!”
“Oh, shut up.”
After another hour of handing out candy, they finally turned off their apartment light off. They had gotten an apartment together just a few months ago. Liam had shut the door and walked into the kitchen.
“Thanks for helping me hand out candy to the kids tonight.” He said as he walked up to Theo and hugged him. He didn’t think anything of it. But when Theo froze and it seemed like his knees buckled, Liam basically had to hold him up so he wouldn’t fall and started asking if he was okay.
“Yeah-no-yeah yeah, I’m okay. It’s just, um, it’s nothing. Never mind.” Theo rambled and then he left, leaving Liam confused out of his mind in the kitchen.
Theo didn’t come out of his room for the rest of the night. The next day Liam asked him about it and Theo said he wasn’t expecting to be hugged.
“You put your arm around me and my knees fucking buckled. It’s so pathetic.” Theo said, not looking at Liam. They were sitting on Theo’s bed.
“ No, its not.” Liam said. "Everyone needs hugs. They make you feel better.”
“Yeah, well, someone like me doesn’t get or deserve them.”
“Yes, you do. And you need one right now.” Liam scooted closer to him and leaned over to wrap his arms around him. Theo didn’t freeze as bad as he did the first time but he still took in a short breath and didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands or what to make of Liams arms around him or his chin on his shoulder.
“It’s okay. You can hug me.”
Theo slowly moved his arms around Liam’s waist and let his forehead fall against his shoulder. He let himself relax, finally.
So then, after a not very long conversation about Liam thinking that Theo was touch-starved, Liam decided on something. The next day he came home with a brown teddy bear and gave it to Theo, explaining that no matter what time of day or night it was, that if he ever needed a hug for any reason at all, and he didn’t want to say it out loud, he could hand Liam the bear and everything would be okay.
It didn’t happen all at once. Theo didn’t just start handing Liam the bear every single day. It was a gradual process. It usually happened once a week, or sometimes not at all. Theo would come into Liam’s room, holding the bear in his hands, Liam would notice him and go over to wrap him in a tight hug.
But after a while, hugs didn’t seem to be what Theo needed and he didn’t understand why. He liked hugging Liam but he wanted more. He just didn’t know what. He did, however, start bringing Liam the bear more frequently, a few times a day. Liam never complained about it either. He was more than happy to give Theo a hug.
It was around 10 pm when Theo made his way into Liam’s room, holding the bear close to his chest. When Liam saw Theo standing in the door frame, he felt his heart swell, seeing how shy and vulnerable Theo looked.
He didn’t waste any time as he got up from the bed and met Theo half way before taking the bear out of his hands and hugging him tightly. Theo turned to press his face into his neck and gripped the back of his shirt.
When Liam went to pull away, Theo held him tighter. “Can we just, like, stay like this for a little longer?”
Liam smiled to himself. “Of course, but I’m getting tired so could we maybe cuddle instead?”
“Like, platonically?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
Theo walked over to the other side of Liams bed and slid in under the covers. They had obviously been in the same bed before but it was for either watching movies or playing video games. Never to sleep or to cuddle.
Theo was still sitting up when Liam got under the covers as well. He didn’t know what he was doing. He felt awkward.
Liam noticed and stretched out his arms. “It’s okay, just come here.”
Theo shuffled a little across the bed and laid on his side while Liam laid on his back. They were laying in the middle of the bed. He hesitantly put his head on Liam’s chest. Liam’s arms wrapped around him. He felt a warmth spread through his chest. He felt safe, secure, and comfortable. This was what he needed. He gripped the blankets to pull them over his shoulders as he snuggled up more against Liam.
After that, the cuddling became more frequent than the hugging. It happened almost every night where Theo would come in, they would curl up in Liam’s bed, (or if they were in the living room then they would be on the couch), and cuddle then find themselves waking up the next morning next to each other, having dopey smiles on their faces. Sometimes when Liam would try to get out of bed, Theo would latch onto him and say, “No, you’re legally obligated to keep cuddling me.” Let's just say that Liams heart completely melted and the sudden urge to kiss Theo was a feeling he was starting to get used to.
Then after the cuddling became a thing, spooning suddenly got thrown into the mix. Liam woke up one night to the sound of a racing heartbeat. He knew it was Theo. He got up and headed down the hall into Theo's room. This was one of the now rare nights where Theo didn’t come to cuddle with him.
He opened the door and saw Theo lying in his bed, facing the other way, towards the wall.
“Theo? You okay?” He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, placing his hand on Theo’s shoulder.
“Theo?” Theo didn’t seem to be listening to him and he didn’t want to push him. He didn’t know what made Theo’s heart start pounding in his chest. If it had been a nightmare, Liam would've woken up to Theo crawling into bed with him (with the teddy bear) or he would’ve woken up to the sounds of Theo gasping for air and sometimes shouting in his sleep.
Liam didn’t want to leave him; his heart hadn’t calmed down yet, and it didn’t seem like it would any time soon. So, he pulled the covers back on Theo’s bed, Theo not reacting at all, and got under them. He turned to lay on his side, so he was facing Theo’s back.
It wasn’t long before Liam felt the bed shift ever so slightly. He thought he had just imagined it then it happened again, and he saw Theo move backwards towards him. It wasn’t that dark in the room, due to the moon light coming in from the window.
Liam didn’t know what Theo was doing, he knew he wasn’t asleep but he still wasn’t sure if he was doing this purposefully .
When it happened again, Theo moving just an inch closer to him, Liam acted on instinct and slowly shuffled towards him, hoping Theo wouldn’t punch him in the face if this was taken the wrong way, if you could somehow take this the wrong way. Theo’s back was now pressed against his chest and he slid an arm around his waist.
Theo seemed okay with it as he sighed, happily Liam hoped, and tried to move back closer to him. Liam heard, and felt, Theo’s heart start to calm when he placed his hand over his chest, to keep him secure. “Is this okay?” He asked, just wanting to make sure. Theo nodded. He pressed his nose to the back of Theo’s neck and felt himself falling asleep.
So, hugging, check. Cuddling, check. Spooning...yeah, check. The next morning when they woke up, Liam asked him about his rapid heart rate last night and Theo said it was because of a random burst of an anxiety. They stayed cuddled up in Theo’s bed for most of that morning.
~~~~~~
It was about two months after Liam had given Theo the bear and they started hugging and cuddling on the regular when Liam was in the living room, seated on the couch and his phone rang.
“Hey, Theo. It’s getting late, when are you-”
“Li, h-help.”
Liam froze. “What? Theo, are you okay?” He was already getting up off the couch, trying to find his shoes.
Theo’s voice was weak. “Hunters.”
“Where are you?”
“W-Woods.”
“I’ll be there in a minute; don’t you dare die on me.”
Liam quickly ended the call, got his other shoe on, grabbed his keys and ran out the door. His heart was pounding in his chest and he was running on autopilot while he got into his car and drove. He called Scott on the way, telling him to get everyone to the woods.
He drove as fast as he could down the road and when he finally made it to the woods, he saw Theo’s truck and there was Theo, leaned up against one of the tires. Liam could hear him breathing, but it was shallow.
Liam ran over to him, dropping to his knees and seeing the gunshot wound that was way too close to Theo’s heart. There was blood all over his shirt and the ground.
“Theo!” Liam shook his shoulder. “Come on, T, wake up!” Liam shook him again. Theo’s eyes barely opened.
He took Theo’s hand and started trying to take his pain, but nothing happened.
“What, why-why can’t I take your pain?” Liam squeezed his hand harder.
“Because it doesn’t hurt.” Theo said, his voice barely above a whisper.
“T-”
“It’s okay, Liam.”
Liam shook his head. "No , it’s not, we have to get you to Deaton.”
“It’s no use Liam.”
“Theo...” Liam looked into the teary eyes that matched his own. “I have to at least get the bullet out.” He said, his claws coming out.
“I told you, It’s no use, Liam. There's no time left.”
Liam didn’t know what else to do but next thing he knew he was cupping Theo’s face and kissing him. Theo seemed to be using what little strength he had to kiss back.
“You’re not gonna be able to take my pain like that either, Little wolf.” Theo mumbled when they pulled away.
“I wasn’t trying to take your pain that way.” Theo’s eyes widened a bit and a tear slipped down his cheek. “I-I was just kissing you.” Liam felt the tears well in his eyes. They fell silent, just staring at each other. Theo's eyes started to slowly close, he was trying to keep them open and his head started to fall to the side.
“No, no, no come on Theo, don’t do this.” Liam was starting to sob as he took Theo’s face in his hands again, trying to get him to keep his eyes open and to keep his head up. “Don’t go.”
“ M’tired .” Theo mumbled.
“I-I know but keep your eyes open.”
Theo's eyes continued to open and close a few times. Soon enough the sound of a car pulling up caught their attention.
Liam glanced over at Theo before rushing over to Scott and the pack.
“Scott! You have to do something!”
“Liam-”
“Scott please!” Liam pleaded.
“Liam!” Scott shouted and Liam finally stopped. “He’s gone.”
Liam whipped his head around to see Theo, his eyes were closed, his head had fallen a little to the side and he couldn’t hear him breathing anymore.
He let out a strangled sob and ran back over to Theo. He started shaking his shoulder, cupping his face to get him to open his eyes, anything to bring him back.
It took Scott and Malia to get him away from Theo’s body. Liam felt his world come crashing down.
~~~~~~
Liam walked through the cemetery, trying to find the headstone he never thought he’d have to find. When he did find it, he could barely look at it without tears gathering in his eyes.
He took a deep breath as he brought his backpack around his shoulder. He unzipped It and took out the brown teddy bear, holding it close to him.
“I-I wish I could give this to you, T, because I r-really really need a-a hug right now but...I can-can't.” He wiped at eyes with his sleeve.
Liam talked (rambled) for a good 10 minutes before he decided he needed to leave before he broke down once again. He debated on leaving the bear with Theo, sitting it on the headstone, but he couldn’t bring himself to let go of it.
“B-Bye T.” A sob escaped his mouth and he turned away, walking back to the cemetery entrance where his pack was.
They each took turns going in and talking with Theo. They let Liam go first and now he was crying against Lydia’s shoulder, holding the bear.
Later that night, and every other night afterwards, Liam slept with the bear, hoping it would feel like holding Theo close to him...but it never did.