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You’d been five years old when you met for the first time. Young and innocent and sweet. He’d stepped up and said he would always protect you, because he was strong and you were pretty. You’d just giggled. You were seventeen when you met again, and everything was different. He was changed, but then so were you. He stepped up, and took your hand, and said he would still protect you.
Then he was gone. He was taken to hell, hidden away for his crimes, and you had to wonder what could transform such a sweet boy so dramatically. You resented Stiles comparing you to Bella Swan, but it was unfortunately apt. You’d been forlorn, having lost him again, seemingly so much more concretely. Then the wild hunt came, and you couldn’t afford to just stay still, gathering dust. But everything changed for you when Liam brought him back. Theo was there and you were looking at him, but you couldn’t just stare, you needed to do something. The wild hunt was still at work.
Scott looked at you with sad understanding when he saw the two of you stood shoulder to shoulder, but you refused to allow it. You gave him a hard stare, and he looked away, but not looking as intimidated as you’d hoped. Stupid true alpha. You would not allow him to take Theo away. Neither of you had seen the hunters, what could they possibly do? Could you allow the hunt to take away people you’d known your entire life, just for a boy?
Yes. You could.
So, you found Theo’s abandoned truck and you got inside, your entire life packed into a few duffel bags, and you started to drive. You had to come up with an entire story for yourselves, procured some fake IDs, at least until you turned 18, and you just kept going. Kept driving. Stayed together.
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The story was that the two of you were young sweethearts who finally escaped your home town and your suffocating, abusive parents, travelling to find somewhere you could belong and do work along the way. It was only half untrue, because after all the best lies were constructed with pieces of the truth. Whenever you went for dinner, you’d link fingers across the table, helping to sell the vision. It got you free food from sympathetic middle aged women more often than not. Which was a big bonus, considering you had limited chances to earn some money while on the road.
You finally settled in Oregon, more than ready to get out of that damn truck and into an apartment. You’d not travelled straight there, you’d gone into Utah first and ended up in Salt Lake City, having stopped once before arriving there. You lingered there for a few days doing odd jobs for cash in hand so you could stock up on gas and keep moving. You then decided to drive up into Idaho to visit West Yellowstone, just while you were on the road, and it wasn’t far. You stayed there for a day, just to experience the nature around you, both spending the night as Coyotes sleeping under the stars. Then, two days later, you were in Oregon, having split the almost twelve hour drive into two chunks rather than going all night. After all, you had all the time in the world together now. What could’ve been less than a two day journey, developed into nearly ten days, just enjoying being on the road together.
The day you arrived was Theo’s eighteenth birthday, which made life just a little easier. You found a hostel to stay in for the two weeks that it took for you to turn eighteen, during which Theo found himself a job as a waiter. You managed to find yourself a job as a bartender, and both of you used your spare time to get your GEDs, in hopes you’d find better paying jobs in future. Your apartment together came another three weeks later, with those three weeks spent in the cheapest airBnBs that you could find, a week each. You were thankful that the landlady was an older, sympathetic woman, who was willing to let you live there, chose you over other candidates that you knew would have just as easy a time finding an apartment in another building.
You’d officially run away together, to another state, and started a life together. You pointed that out one evening, now that the initial chaos was over, and the two of you broke down into fits of loud laughter. You decided in that moment that you’d made the right choice.
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Theo stood outside his workplace after a shift, waiting for you to join him. You’d had the day off, and had errands to run, and it’d ultimately led you past his workplace just as his shift was ending. The rain had started about ten minutes prior, and he had nothing to shield against it, and he refused to go back inside, lest a customer try to make him do something. The life that the two of you were leading had settled, allowing you to be adults, independent of everything you’d left behind. Sometimes you still couldn’t believe the two of you had just run away, just so you couldn’t be ripped apart again. Judging by the fact that you could still remember Beacon Hills and your lives before, and hadn’t seen any signs of the wild hunt here, you assumed the pack had found a way to survive the hunt without you both.
You stepped up beside him, holding the umbrella above his head with a smile.
“It’s raining.” You said simply, which made Theo look around, pretending he hadn’t noticed.
“So it is.” He then responded, looking at you with wide innocent eyes, but a smirk twitching at his lips.
“You were getting wet.”
“And you’ve saved me.” You sighed and shook your head, accepting Theo’s arm when he offered it to you, and the two of you walked home together, enjoying the cool air and the smell of the rain, listening to Theo complain about his shift. You weren’t sure you needed to link arms really, you were both capable of simply walking shoulder to shoulder to escape the rain and you didn’t need to sell the illusion of your relationship to strangers on the street, and yet it had become a habit that brought you comfort, so you did nothing to change it.
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The two of you had picked a relatively small town to live in, it was cheaper and you found that you both enjoyed how slow paced the small town life was. It reminded you of Beacon Hills in some ways, but not in others, and that was comforting considering you’d run away to an entirely new state. That did mean, however, that sometimes you needed to travel to do things. Like go clothes shopping. The nearest big mall was a half hour drive away, so when the two of you had the same day off, you hopped in Theo’s truck early and set off.
Then promptly got lost.
You’d not even been here for an hour, it was a large clothing outlet with a bunch of stores, and you’d split up to go into different stores, agreeing to meet back at a particular spot. Somehow, you’d gotten turned around as you’d left the store that you’d walked into, maybe you’d somehow left through a different door, but you were firmly lost. You extracted yourself from the growing crowd, making your way back into the store you’d come from, and took a breath. You hadn’t thought getting separated from your friend would be so stressful at almost nineteen years old. Your phone began to ring, and when you pulled it out from the pocket, you saw Theo’s name, but the call ended before you could answer.
“There you are.” Theo said, a relieved smile spread over his face. You turned quickly, surprised to see him, and even more surprised when he wrapped his arms around you.
“You followed my ringtone.” You observed, wrapping your arms around him in turn. He just nodded, and for a moment basked in your embrace. As the two of you separated, Theo pressed a kiss to your head, and you felt a small warmth rushing to your cheeks. After that, the two of you spent the rest of the day going everywhere hand in hand, sure to not get separated again.
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It was a perfectly normal day when there was an unexpected knock on your door. You never had visitors, you’d made acquaintances in your new town but not really any friends you’d expect to come to your door. Maybe it was the older woman who lived across the street - Theo had mowed her lawn a few weeks ago, and you both thought she seemed lonely, maybe she wanted company. You put down the dish you’d been washing and dried your hands.
“Coming!” You called out, tossing the towel aside, then headed for the door. The very last person you’d expected to see on the other side was Scott McCall, and yet there he was, at your front door, looking the same as the day you left.
“Hey.” He said, voice soft, looking a little nervous. Good was all you could think, considering he had tracked you down across state lines after over a year of being gone, with no contact.
“What.. what the hell, Scott?” You’d wanted to ask so many things, but you figured that covered all of them.
“Can I.. come in? I brought drinks.” He said, lifting the six pack of sodas he’d brought. You hesitated for a moment, then stepped aside to let him in. You fired a text off to Theo, aware he wouldn’t be able to look until his break, but honestly that was probably for the best.
The two of you sat opposite each other at the small dining table you and Theo had thrifted, each with a can in hand, in silence. Neither knew where to start, or how to do it. The only sound in your entire apartment was the fridge running, and the occasional clanging of the pipes that followed your upstairs neighbour flushing their toilet.
“How did you find us?” You asked eventually, looking down into the can you held.
“Danny, Stiles, and Lydia. Little bit of Peter.” He said, as if that was any sort of explanation, and you supposed it was.
“Why?” You asked then, looking up at the boy that’d been your friend for so long, though you’d never been as close as Scott and Stiles, never able to truly enter their friendship that was more ScottandStiles than it was anything else - there was no room for you, once Theo left.
“We thought you’d got taken by the hunt, that was why you’d disappeared. Then we couldn’t find you. Even after the hunt was gone. Then we thought maybe it was hunters, but there was a quiet period over the summer, no sign of someone that had taken hostages. Liam was the one to mention that your own parents had finally realised you hadn’t come home in a long time. You’re considered a missing person in Beacon Hills, you know?” He explained, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.
“Well, you found me.” You simply said, words dry, uncaring.
“We did. I knew you weren’t dead I can.. Still feel your pack bond.” Scott then replied, rubbing his chest like it ached. You supposed it probably did, yours did the same.
“I’m sorry. We just couldn’t stay.” Scott nodded, though he looked sad. Maybe some part of him had hoped that him turning up would prompt you to come back, but it hadn’t. You couldn’t go back. The two of you were happy here.
“Who else knows?” You asked, as Scott sipped his drink.
“Me, and the four I already said. Liam wants to know, but we figured we shouldn’t tell him without permission, cause he will just.. Come see you. He misses you both.” You nodded, and pulled out your phone, sliding it across to him. Scott entered his number, and Liam’s, building those bridges for you.
“We aren’t coming back.”
“I figured. You two have built.. A life here. Jobs, an apartment, hell I wouldn’t be surprised if the next time we heard from you it was a photo of your wedding.” Scott said, a soft chuckle escaping him, but it sounded sad.
“Wedding? We’re not dating, Scott.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” There was a long pause then, where you regarded each other, and you thought hard about your relationship with Theo.
“When did you grow up, Scott McCall?”
“When did you?”
Scott didn’t stay long, and you embraced at the door as he left. He promised that he forgave you both, and if either of you ever needed him then he was just a call away. You promised you’d talk to Liam, and get him off Scott’s back. There was so much else that both of you could say, life updates, questions about pack, asking after those you cared for, learning who you’d met. You didn’t. Scott walked away and got into his truck, and you stayed leaning in the doorway as you watched him go, waving until he was out of sight.
When Theo got home that night, he climbed into your bed instead of his own, and wrapped his arms around you. You cried together, finally for the first time truly mourning all you’d lost by leaving. You didn’t regret it for a moment, were confident in your choice to stay in your new home, but that didn’t mean you didn’t miss the life you’d had before sometimes. You texted Liam, just before going to sleep, promising that you’d call him tomorrow over breakfast, and get him caught up.
Scott’s words played in your mind on loop. “The wedding.”
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You dragged yourself through the front door with a loud sigh, dropping yourself onto the sofa immediately, not even taking off your jacket. Theo looked up from where he sat at the kitchen island and laughed, standing to cross the room to you, and help you get more comfortable.
“I’ve been talking to Liam.” He remarked casually, hanging your coat in the hallway and putting your work shoes on the rack. You hummed to signal that you’d heard him, but you had no concrete words to offer in that moment.
“He said something that really stuck with me, I’ve been thinking about it all day.” He added, and you glanced over, your interest in the topic slowly overtaking your exhaustion following your shift.
“Yeah?” You asked, and for a moment you could hear Scott’s voice in your mind “the wedding”.
“Why are we still pretending? And.. I mean that genuinely. I don’t think I even remember why we started, but it’s been a year.” Your stomach dropped, the colour draining from your face.
“I think we just got used to it. I mean, it has been nice.” You said, hoping that you weren’t humiliating yourself, putting yourself out there only to be denied. Theo’s eyes searched your face, and then he surged forward without warning, pressing your lips together.
You reached up and wrapped your arms around his neck, keeping him close, desperate to be touching, to be feeling him.
“I don’t want to pretend anymore.” He whispered against your lips, and you nodded eagerly as the two of you met in the middle again, kissing eagerly, desperately. Now that you’d given in, you weren’t sure you could stop. How were you ever meant to stop kissing him when it felt this good?
“Me neither.” You managed to say as Theo peeled your shirt from your body, and his lips trailed down your neck.
The next morning, you texted Scott a simple,
Asshole.
To which he responded,
Congratulations.