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Theo, Peter, and Chris watched the nerve-wracking game. It wasn’t until they saw Liam, always the dramatic one, score at the last moment winning them the game. The crowd went wild, seeing the impressive, and not realistically human, move. Chris had a small smile appear on his face as they won. Peter was the more traditional dad screaming that that was his son, while Theo had his own quiet cheering as his smile grew wider.
On the field Liam was being tackled and picked up by Brett, ripping off both his and Liam’s helmet to passionately capture his lips. The crowd started to stand to go find their players or go home. Theo walked onto the field to be tackled by the two betas. He caught each one in his arms as they nuzzled closer to him. “You two are too much sometimes,” he said without the usual edge in his voice.
“No matter how much you adamantly say you don’t like us, we both know you’re lying.” This was ironic considering everything that was happening. He was not very interested in lacrosse, but when you have two boyfriends who both play and are very passionate about the game it's impossible not to at least learn a few things about the game. He was perfectly happy going his whole life without knowing a thing about lacrosse.
“Aren’t you two supposed to get cleaned up and packed so we can finally leave this place?” This prompted both of them to get up and race each other back into the locker room. Theo made eye contact with both Chris and Peter who were approaching him. They talked about nothing in particular. Just catching up about what had just happened and how Theo was doing in school after being away for so long. They broke off their conversation when they heard Coach’s whistle indicating that they were ready to leave. Theo despite not being on the team got into the bus, because who would Theo be if not persuasive. The trio basically pulled Theo into the back of the bus so they would talk without being disturbed.
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Unsurprisingly, Theo noticed that Chris and Peter were trailing the bus in a protective manner. It was something that Theo had noticed a lot but decided to not to let Liam or Brett into their secret world. He just made eye contact with them and looked away like nothing happened. Theo just zoned out a bit to the sound of other students talking about nonsense and Liam and Brett just arguing about anything that they can think about. Liam definitely has a type. All seemed to go normally, but that never lasts for Theo. While lightly drifting off to sleep he was jerked away by the sudden slam of Brett against him, when the bus took a weirdly sharp turn that caused them to swerve off the road. It was quite a fall that seemed to render some of the other student's unconscious, but from what Theo could tell no one died.
“What happened?” Theo was already in fight or flight but noticed that there were a few scratch marks along the glass.
Liam responded quietly under his breath to not freak any of the other students. “We were attacked by some omegas.”
“Angry rogue omegas to be specific,” Brett clarified.
Theo just let out a grunt as he stood up the best he could. He was the first to get out of the bus assessing the damage. He noticed that the tires were slashed. Looking around Theo knew that they were being watched, but his main priority at the moment was getting everyone out of the bus before it possibly blew up.
He could tell from the commotion behind him that Liam was doing the best he could offering words of comfort to the students while Brett was evacuating students, by more, aggressive means. He was throwing uncooperative ones over his shoulder and shoving others out as fast as possible. If this was a more dire situation Theo would’ve just watched and laughed.
Liam came running out after seeing a few teammates being dropped on the floor. “You can’t just throw them out of the bus!” Brett just looked unimpressed by Liam’s complaints.
“If this would get you out of the bus faster then, yes I can,” Brett stared straight into the other boy’s eyes just asking to be tested. Liam quickly submitted knowing that this is not something that Brett would take criticism on.
After everyone got a safe distance away is when they heard boots stomping against the dirt towards them. If Theo didn’t know any better, he would think that they were being attacked. He could definitely see the spike in the other’s pulses when they heard it. It was a familiar scent of gunpowder, wolfsbane, and mint that Theo has grown accustomed to. He didn’t even need to look in the direction to know that Chris and Peter were running towards them.
“Is everyone okay?!” Chris yelled as he got into sight. He definitely looked prepared for anything.
“Some are minorly injured, but besides that we are all good!” Liam yelled back to try and dissipate the anxiety in the air.
Theo knew that everyone was scared. He was too, but he couldn’t let the others know. “Let’s go. There’s a town a few miles ahead.” Theo was adamant about getting them to their destinations with no obstacles if he could avoid it.
“What about our omega problem?” Liam brought up.
“We will deal with that when it arises,” the chimera responded tersely. Theo was in survival mode. He wanted everyone to get out of there alive even if he had to lose a little of himself in the process. Theo was used to survival, but this was something new. He never had something he could lose before and he wasn’t about to start now. “Let’s go.”
Brett and Liam walked ahead leading the way, while Theo, Peter, and Chris stayed in the back watching them all. “You know you don’t have to do this?” The hunter said as he looked at the boy.
“I don’t know what you mean,” the boy responded with ignorance.
“You don't have to revert to a cold version of yourself just to be the person that you think everyone needs.” This was partly the only thing that Theo knew. He may not be the best at a lot of things, but if there was one thing it was surviving.
Before Theo could respond he heard footsteps fast approaching. He could tell that they were going towards the front of the group. He was distracted until one of them tackled Brett and Liam to the ground. Chris held up his gun but couldn’t take the shot because they were moving too much and couldn’t get a clear shot. On instinct Theo started running towards them, closely followed by Peter.
Theo grabbed the one off of Brett by the throat, suffocating the omega as it fought for air. The look in Theo’s eyes was empty, as if he wasn’t even there.
Peter was helping Liam, but as Brett caught his breath, he saw that Theo was not letting go even as the omega was struggling for air. “Theo,” the taller one said softly. “It’s okay. I’m okay.” He placed a hand on his shoulder. This caused Theo to drop the omega, while Chris ran up to tranquilize them. The calm was short lived when Theo heard a cry from someone. The rage came back when he saw a giant gash across Peter’s body. The omega has been dealt with and was unconscious next to him. Theo didn’t even acknowledge Peter as his only goal was to make the omega suffer. Liam was the one to notice it first as the rest came to help Peter.
The determination in Theo’s eyes was all Liam needed to know that he had to step in. The blond ran up to put his hand against Theo’s chest in an attempt to stop him. “Theo. Stop.” Liam was firm, but Theo pushed him to the side.
“Back off. I’m going to finish this.”
Liam was never one for thinking his plans all the way through. He tackled Theo to the ground and grappled him so that he wouldn’t be able to move. “Get off me Liam! I need to do this.” Theo said as he was trying to buck Liam off.
“Why?!” the boy yelled back. “We won. No one died. Why do you need to kill him?”
“Because they hurt Peter. Because they tried to hurt you!” The chimera yelled back, while his eyes started to fog up with tears. Liam let out a small laugh as a few tears fell onto Theo’s face. Liam placed his hand softly across Theo’s cheek understanding what it felt like to be in that position.
“Theo. We are alright. We can take care of ourselves; we don’t need you to do everything yourself. I got you.” Liam’s words were like a different language. Theo couldn’t exactly understand it, but he knew how it made him feel. It made him feel protected and safe, something he hasn’t felt in a long time.
After a while they got up and dealt with the omegas. Chris and Brett looked at each other giving a knowing smile. Knowing that Theo was growing as a person. They continued their trek back to the next town when Peter’s wounds healed enough for him to walk. Liam and Theo bumped against each other for most of the walk just lost in their own world.