Chapter Text
Liam Dunbar doesn’t know what he’s doing.
It starts with the truck. Which is to be expected. Liam might hate Theo, but he loves Theo’s truck. Liam doesn’t know where Theo had gotten it from; he’s never asked. It was probably stolen.
It starts when Liam can’t sleep one night, the residual anger from that night’s lacrosse game still coursing through him. They’d lost their chance at playoffs, and that was Liam’s senior season down the drain.
Running helps. Lets him channel his anger into something else.
The truck is parked outside of Deaton’s office. Liam stares for a moment, confused, before the side door to the building opens and Theo walks out.
He watches Theo make his way across the parking lot before stepping out of the shadows into Theo’s path. “What are you doing here?”
He tries to make his voice threatening, but Theo only rolls his eyes. “I’m helping Deaton with a project. He does still talk to me, you know.” He unlocks the truck. “The real question is, why are you here?”
“I’m not stalking you,” Liam begins. Theo raises an eyebrow. “I saw the truck and I thought…” He trails off.
“You thought Deaton was in trouble. Because of me.” Theo’s voice is hard. “He’s standing right there.” He gestures at the front door, where Deaton is indeed standing, watching them.
Liam waves over at him and receives a raised hand in response, before Deaton steps back into the office.
Liam feels awkward now. Theo is still frowning at him. He’s obviously hurt by Liam’s implied accusation.
Wait. He’s probably not. He’s a murderer, Liam reminds himself. And an asshole.
Still. Liam feels the tendrils of guilt forming in his stomach. He decides to go with a peace offering.
“I like your truck,” he says tentatively. It’s a sleek, b lack F150. Nothing like Liam’s crappy sedan.
“Thanks,” Theo says warily. There’s a pause, and Liam wonders if he should leave now. He probably should.
“Do you want to go for a drive?”
It’s not like they’re on bad terms. After the whole Ghost Rider thing, it was hard to hate the guy. They’d fought together, almost died together. But they aren’t exactly friends. And they aren’t exactly the types to go on late night drives together. Which is why Liam stares at Theo wordlessly for a couple seconds.
Theo seems to take Liam’s silence as a no, and he nods before getting in the truck. Liam starts, and blurts out, “Yes!”
Theo stops mid step to turn and look at him, and Liam steps around and gets in the passenger seat. “That sounds… nice.”
Liam can feel Theo’s gaze on him, and stares resolutely ahead. After a moment, Theo sighs and starts the engine. He pulls out of the parking lot.
What am I doing, Liam thinks to himself. He can almost hear Stiles yelling at him all the way from DC. There’s no logic behind this really, except that Theo helped them once and he seems like he might be lonely and Liam is lonely and maybe he feels like this could make him feel less trapped. Maybe.
Theo has pulled onto the highway. It’s dark. Deaton’s office is just outside the Preserve, after all. Liam figures he should probably ask where they’re going, but he’s a little afraid to shatter the silence that’s been building between them. There’s an 80s song playing softly out of the speakers. He’s heard it before, but he can’t for the life of him remember the name.
They reach the Preserve eventually. Liam’s still trying to think of something to say when Theo pulls off into one of the lookouts. Beacon Hills is spread out beneath them, the lights winking faintly.
Liam opens his mouth and then shuts it. Opens it again.
“How have you been?” Liam regrets it as soon as he says it. It sounds embarrassingly weak, and Theo seems to pick up on the awkwardness. Thankfully, he seems content to ignore it.
“Alright. What about you?”
Liam notes that Theo does not seem keen on eye contact. “Doing okay. Well, actually, tonight sucked. We lost the game. The lacrosse game, I mean.” Theo’s turning to look at him. “It was the playoffs. So. I’m pretty pissed about that.” He isn’t, really. The anger had dissipated before he’d even gotten into Theo’s truck.
Theo nods. “So your season’s over?”
“Yup.”
“And you’re not playing in college?”
“Nope.”
“You didn’t get recruited?”
“I got offers,” Liam retorts, feeling slightly defensive. “I just wanted to be able to focus on school, you know. And I wanted to be able to come back pretty often. For the pack.”
Theo scoffs. “Bullshit. You shouldn’t let them dictate your decisions like that.”
“No one’s making me do it. I just have responsibilities here.” Liam’s feeling annoyed again.
“Well, I’m saying you don’t. The pack will be fine if you move a few hours away.” Theo’s voice is sharp.
“Why do you even give a shit, Theo?” Liam snaps.
“I don’t.” Theo sounds exhausted now. It’s silent for a few moments, and while Liam is trying to think of something else to say, Theo starts up again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to- I didn’t mean to tell you how to live your life. It’s none of my business.”
Liam almost says, “No, it’s not,” but stops himself. He settles for a nod of acknowledgement instead.
Theo hesitates, before saying “You know, I actually admire you. Funnily enough.”
“What?”
“Yeah. You… I think it’s nice. That you have that respect from the pack.”
“Really?”
Theo gives him a crooked smile. “I can’t help being a dick about it. I’m jealous, duh.”
“Oh.” Liam feels the twinge of happiness in his stomach. “Yeah, well, uh, you’re pretty cool too, dude.”
Theo laughs this time. “Thanks.”
Liam shifts in his seat so he’s looking directly at Theo. “I’m really sorry, man.” He tries to put every ounce of conviction into his voice. “For, you know. Assuming shit.”
“For thinking I was after Deaton?” Theo’s tone is more amused than angry, at least.
“Uh, yeah. That was unfair of me. My bad.”
“I get it,” Theo says. Liam gives him a doubtful look. “No, really, I do. But I promise you I’m really just trying to live my life right now.” He sounds a little more wistful now. “Believe me. I have no interest in hurting you or your friends. For whatever that’s worth.”
Liam feels like such an asshole. “No, I believe you. Why… why did you want to go on a drive? With me, I mean.”
“I guess I just wanted to tell you that. That I’m not out to get you or your pack. Even if I don’t actually like them all that much.”
“You just don’t know them,” Liam protests.
“We should be getting back,” Theo says. He turns the engine back on. Liam feels a little affronted.
The drive back is silent too, but this time it’s a comfortable silence. Not so much awkwardness about it.
Liam eventually starts murmuring the directions back to his house, which is probably a little risky considering Theo’s past, but he’s feeling optimistic about this.
They pull up in front of Liam’s house. Theo stays silent.
“We should do this again,” Liam blurts out. He doesn’t know why, really. Loneliness, probably. And it was enjoyable, in the end.
Theo is still silent. Liam can feel his cheeks start to redden. He’s about to take it back when Theo speaks.
“Yeah, why not. You don’t suck as much as the rest of the pack, I guess.”
Liam laughs. He doesn’t think he could be angry right now. He gets out of the truck and flips Theo off. He doesn’t need to turn around to know that Theo’s returning the favor.
“Tomorrow night,” Theo calls out. Liam raises a hand in acknowledgement and hears the truck drive away.
Liam gets into bed that night with the faint buzz of excitement coursing through him. Nice, he thinks. Me and Theo, we could actually be friends. Theo, unlike every other person in Liam’s life, didn’t seem to expect anything of him. Seems to understand the suffocating pressure of everything, and wasn’t inclined to push.
So of course, Liam fucks it up immediately.
Theo picks him up the next night and they go back to the Preserve. Liam’s stashed some of that wolfsbane vodka he’s been saving into his backpack and pulls it out once they get there. He thinks for a second that Theo’s going to tell him to put it away, but Theo only smirks and takes it out of Liam’s hands, taking a long swig out of the bottle.
“You know, you’re a pretty good guy, Theo. Super nice.”
Shit. He’s not even drunk and he’s already getting weird.
Theo doesn’t seem to weirded out, though. He just kind of gives an awkward nod, which makes Liam feel a little better about himself.
They keep passing the bottle back and forth, and it’s nice, really. They talk aimlessly, just about little things, like how Scott’s doing, where Malia’s gone while on her year of travel, what Stiles is doing at the FBI. They don’t mention anything close to the topic of Theo’s evilness, which is for the best.
Theo, face flushed red, is seemingly fascinated by Liam’s fingers. Liam laughs as Theo pokes and prods, feeling more relaxed than he has in months. None of this actually seems that weird, surprisingly. He’d thought it’d be a lot more awkward.
Theo takes another drink and wipes his lips with the back of his hand. Liam follows the movement with his eyes. He’s never seen this side of Theo before. Only the evil side and the begrudgingly helpful side. He’d never really thought of Theo as another teenager before.
“What?” Theo asks, catching Liam’s eye.
Liam shakes his head. And then leans forward.
The kiss is nice. Really nice. He hasn’t kissed anyone since Hayden.
It only lasts for a few seconds before Theo pulls away, but only by a few inches. Liam suddenly feels very sober.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I- I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s fine,” Theo says quickly. He seems to realize how close his face still is to Liam’s and he sits back. “That was um. Nice.”
“Yeah,” Liam says, watching Theo’s face closely. Waiting for him to continue. When it becomes obvious he’s not going to, Liam stands up, shakily, and offers Theo his hand. “So-”
“I’ll give you a ride home,” Theo says abruptly. He stands up without Liam’s help and gets back in the truck.
The drive back to Liam’s house is silent. Liam steals glances at Theo, but his face is completely impassive. Great, he thinks miserably. I find one person to talk to and the first thing I do is plant one on him.
Theo pulls up in front of Liam’s house and kills the engine.
“Look,” Theo begins, and then stops. Liam decides to take the lead.
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, man,” he says, which he thinks is a very mature way of going about it.
Theo snorts, which isn’t encouraging. “I feel like I should be apologizing, not you.”
“What?”
“I don’t want you to think I got you drunk and took advantage of you,” Theo says with a slight stammer.
“I’m the one who kissed you, Theo.”
“Yeah, but I’m the evil one, right?”
Liam isn’t sure what to say to that, so he decides to redirect the conversation. “Did you like it?”
Theo says, “I beg your pardon?”, which isn’t the best reaction, but he says it with a slight laugh, which is a lot better than before.
“Did you like it?”
Theo looks straight ahead and says, “Yes, Liam, I liked it. Happy?”
“Ok. Well. So did I.” Liam isn’t sure where he’s going with this.
Theo gives him a side eye. Liam decides to be bold.
“Let’s do this again. This weekend.” He figures the kissing part is implied.
Theo is silent, and Liam’s stomach churns, and then he says, “Ok. I’ll pick you up here?”
Liam nods, and then opens the door. Better leave before he says something dumb. “See you.
“See you, Liam.”
Liam walks in the front door, hears the truck drive off, and slips up to his bedroom before his parents can ask where he’s been all night. He lays back on his bed.
So maybe he hasn’t completely fucked it up, but it sure is a lot more complicated now. And yet, Liam feels excited about something for the first time in months. This is something just for him. No one else. Something outside of the pack.
The fallout that would occur if they found out would be devastating though. Liam doesn’t let himself think about it too hard. Tries not to picture Scott’s disbelief, Stiles’ look of betrayal.
He watches Theo’s tail lights until they disappear down the road. Only then does he let out a disbelieving laugh. He clamps his hand over his mouth. Better not to let his parents hear him.
Liam Dunbar doesn’t know what he’s doing.
He knows this is a mistake. He figures that if he’s that worried about the pack finding out, he probably shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.
But Liam Dunbar has never been good at following the rules.