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Stiles was outraged. So outraged that he didn’t even notice that he had ripped off more than a little bit of the cuticle on his thumb while he was snooping on what Theo and Liam were doing. Now his finger hurt, blood pooled on its side, and the realization that Theo and Liam were something felt like a slap in the face.
It was strange enough that Liam was all smiles at Theo as if Theo hadn’t done horrible things to all of them in the past. But much stranger was watching Theo, the great and first Chimera Of Death, evil and selfish, blinded by power, with a passionate smile, bigger than his face, looking at Liam as if there was no one else in the room—and there was! Mason and Corey were on one of the couches, hands intertwined, talking, and Malia was slumped in the armchair with a book. And no one cared that the ex-murderer and the almost-murderer were flirting right next to them.
Why was he the only one paying attention? Why did he seem to be the only one to find their behavior strange? And who was that talking to Liam? Stiles knew Theo. Both versions. And that wasn’t one of them.
“What are you looking at?”
Stiles looked away for a few seconds but managed to catch the frown and the smile forming on Scott’s lips.
“Are you seeing this?” he asked, and without a hint of shame, he pointed at Theo and Liam with his index finger.
Scott pulled out the chair and sat down.
“What? Theo and Liam? So?”
Stiles almost jumped out of his chair, such indignation. He opened and closed his mouth a few times and threaded his fingers through his dark hair.
“So? Liam who almost killed you and Theo who really killed you, dating?”
Scott laughed.
“You’ve been possessed by an evil spirit and are dating a harbinger of death. I don’t think we can measure weirdness here anymore.”
“But, but…” And with his hand, Stiles, vehemently, indicated the couple again. “Theo smiling? This is not normal!”
Scott, however, was just having fun.
“They can hear you, you know?”
“I don’t think they can,” Stiles insisted. “Can you hear what they’re saying?”
Scott turned his gaze to Theo and Liam again. Theo, who had previously been sitting on the arm of the other sofa, was now sitting next to Liam—too close, he would say. His arm was on the backrest, and that could be on purpose, but Scott didn’t think it was. Theo seemed comfortable there. His posture was always so rigid, his eyes always on the ground and his almost imperceptible presence during pack meetings always made Scott think that Theo felt uncomfortable in the presence of others. Something Scott wanted to change. After all, they had been a family for some time. Now, however, so close to Liam, shoulders touching, poring over a book, happiness, affection, love, and comfort were mixed throughout the house.
Scott smiled, his heart warming with the feelings.
This was how it should be.
“How about we give them privacy, huh?” he suggested.
“If they want privacy, they shouldn’t be dating in your living room!” Stiles replied.
“They’re just reading a book, Stiles. No need to be so dramatic. After everything we’ve been through, we deserve moments of normality like these. Dating or not, they’re happy. Living where we live, and dealing with supernatural creatures here and there, moments like these are rare.”
Scott stood up and gently squeezed his friend’s shoulder before walking away, leaving Stiles alone with his thoughts.
Scott wasn’t wrong, he knew that. He wasn’t really judging Theo like he used to, when Theo turned the pack inside out. He was part of the family now, and he had helped the pack more than Stiles could count—he had helped Liam, who was in constant trouble with I.E.D. and his wolf.
It wasn’t much different from him and Malia on full moons in the near past. And that wasn’t the same Theo Raeken that Stiles knew when he was a kid. Or the Chimera Of Death from two years ago. He learned to like Theo again. Theo was learning to let go of his rigidity and accept his place in the pack. Stiles was also not the same Stiles from years ago or, as Scott had reminded him, the guest body of an evil spirit that caused destruction and deaths in the town. Normal moments like these, at his best friend’s house, his brother’s house, just hanging out with his girlfriend and all the important people in his life, were a reminder that there was always hope.
When his eyes flicked back to Theo and Liam again, what Stiles saw was different. Theo’s body was leaning over Liam’s, who was laughing with his face resting on a pillow, trying to catch the book that Theo was raising with his arm at a height he couldn’t reach. Liam accidentally scratched Theo’s chin, and Theo hit the book in the back of his head. They were still laughing when they sat down, the book forgotten on the coffee table, Liam with his leg wrapped around Theo’s, their eyes in love.
It was only then that Stiles realized he was smiling too. There was no room for outrage anymore, because regardless of who Theo had been in the past, this version he was observing now, he realized, was not only as harmless as a stuffed animal but also someone he truly cared about. Someone Stiles wanted to see just as happy as Liam. He may not have supernatural powers, but he didn’t need that to see genuine happiness orbiting between the two.
They were happy. That was all that mattered.
Stiles left the kitchen and went to find Lydia.