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Liam was having the worst headache ever.
He didn't even know werewolves could get headaches like this, it was an intermittent sting on both his temples and the music was not helping, not at all. Not to mention he hated this bullshit of a song. He had listened to it way too many times already, on the radio, at the supermarket, and now at this fucking party and it was making him mad, stupidly mad.
He agreed to come with Mason because why the hell not? It seemed like an amazing idea at the time, just to get a break from everything; school, the weekly supernatural menace, you know the drill. But now, Mason and Corey were nowhere to be found and the stupid headache, along with the smell of cheap beer and sweaty bodies messing with his senses were making him so angry he almost lost control of his shift. Twice.
That’s how he found himself at the back of the house, sitting at a picnic table, hidden in dim lighting, sipping from a cup filled with a drink that wouldn’t make him drunk no matter how hard he tried.
He could still see the crowded kitchen through the window and the muffled sound of music was still too loud for his liking. It made for a surprisingly nice setting.
He took another sip from the red cup. It tasted like cough syrup mixed with hand sanitizer. He wondered if people just pretended to like it or if they ignored the burning sensation until they were drunk and couldn't feel it anymore.
“You look miserable”
Liam turned around, tilting his cup enough so some of the liquid spilled on the grass. He looked up.
Theo was eyeing him curiously, mildly amused and half smiling. He looked good. He always looked effortlessly good.
“I thought you said you weren’t coming” Liam gave him a cheeky grin.
“I had nothing better to do...so.”
“Guess it’s my lucky day then.” He said, probably sounding drier than he intended.
“Where’s your lame ass pack anyways?” Theo asked, sitting on top of the table, with his elbows resting on his knees, looking up at the sky.
The night was clear and starry. You could probably see every constellation ever, but Liam’s eyes were focused on Theo’s face, and the mole on his cheek.
“I don’t know, somewhere around here”
Theo’s eyes moved to him. And Liam turned his gaze away as fast as he could. It wasn't fast enough though, ‘cause he caught a glimpse of Theo’s smug face, like he'd known all along that Liam had been staring at him.
Liam could feel his pulse raising and his cheeks burning. It made him wanna punch something, or scream, or maybe laugh out loud like a maniac. But he stayed still. There was a moment of silence. Then Theo went ahead and broke it.
“Why were you drinking that shit? It's not like you're gonna get drunk and it smells like it tastes like ass” He used that judgy tone, with just enough disdain and superiority.
“Well I don’t know!” Liam turned his body so he could stare directly at Theo, who was already staring back at him. “Maybe I just wanted to have a normal high school experience.”
“And how’s that working out for you?” Again with the judgy voice.
Liam rolled his eyes dramatically and Theo grinned even wider.
“I have a headache, my drink tastes like hand sanitizer and some asshole is annoying the shit outta me,” He groaned and then smiled “I think it’s going great.”
Theo let out a chuckle. Too quiet. He wouldn’t have been able to hear it if it weren’t for his werewolf senses. Then the silence came back. It wasn’t an awkward silence though, it was a peaceful one, the kinda silence that could last forever.
“Do you miss it?” Theo asked, looking right into his eyes. It was almost as if he wanted to decipher his soul, which made Liam shift uncomfortably on his seat and shake his head to look away.
“Do I miss what?”
“Being normal.” His voice soft enough to almost seem gentle.
He blinked.
“Normal?”
Theo nodded.
“You know… before everything.”
Liam was almost embarrassed to admit it, but he didn’t know the answer.
A monster. That’s what he’s always been afraid of becoming. Just a ticking time bomb ready to destroy it all. He doubted that’s what normal people felt like, but that’s how he’d feel more often than not… way long before the bite.
“I don’t even remember what normal felt like” He said in a whisper, mostly to himself.
He looked up at Theo and let their eyes meet for a moment. It felt normal. Funnily enough, it felt more normal than being at a party, drinking vodka, dancing to a pop song on top of the sticky floor.
Now his headache was gone and the faded sound of the music didn’t seem as annoying.
“I mean I guess it would be nice not to have hunters on my ass… but, it’s not all bad.”
Theo nodded, once. Then he went back to look at the sky, without saying another word.
“What about you?” Liam asked. He almost expected to be told off.
“I was never normal, Liam”
“Yes you were.” He pushed back out of pure instinct.
“Was I?” Theo scoffed and turned around to stare harshly at him.
“When you were a kid” Liam said, like it was an obvious statement.
Theo’s face went through an incredibly broad set of emotions in just a matter of a second and Liam thought he would never understand how Theo could be so incredibly expressive and yet so hard to read. His face went blank again. Emotionless. Then thoughtful.
“I was never normal”
“Yeah… I guess that makes sense”
Silence.
“You know, ‘cause you’re too much of a weirdo” he half smiled, staring at Theo’s face, half smiling right back at him.
They stared at each other for a little bit too long, yet not long enough. It was always like that between them.
It would happen all the time, whenever Theo picked him up from practice every Friday and he'd pretend he doesn’t notice when Theo takes the long way so they could drive around a little bit longer than necessary. Or when Liam would drop by at Theo’s apartment with takeout and a new movie that he claims is essential for Theo’s reintegration into society journey and Theo would pretend to be annoyed but still open the door for him, just for them to miss half the movie cause they ended up talking about whatever else they had in mind.
They would have these quiet moments where he was sure they were both aware of the tension in the air and the knowing glances. But neither of them had yet dared to say a word about this… unspoken thing.
“If you could go back and change it, would you?” Theo’s voice took him out of his trance.
“No.” He answered, a little too fast.
“Huh, that’s interesting…”
He almost didn’t notice how Theo’s body seemed to shift closer. His foot now bumping Liam’s knee and the dim lighting framing his face that was now a little bit closer than the appropriate amount but still so far away.
Liam placed his hand on the table, right next to Theo’s and he felt their fingers brushing, barely, just enough.
Theo gave him a cheeky smile followed by a smug chuckle, ‘cause he knew exactly what he was doing. And his eyes lingered a little bit too long, going slowly from Liam’s blue stare to his lips, still stained by the red coloring of the now forgotten drink from before. Liam stared back and held his gaze for one, two seconds too long.
“THERE YOU ARE!”
They both jumped on their seats, backing away from each other. Liam turned around to see Gwen, running wobbly and calling his name. She looked wasted, like she was having too much fun.
“Come, I need a beer pong partner, nobody wants to play anymore” She pulled his arm with zero to no force, only for Liam to reach out for her before she nearly fell on her back.
“Maybe you should slow down with the drinking”
“Don’t be a party pooper, come on” She tried again, and Liam laughed slightly at her.
He stood up, and turned around. Theo was gone and Gwen had fallen on her butt cause she was trying to get ahold of her half empty can of beer. He dragged Gwen back to the kitchen and made sure someone watched over her before running to the front of the house.
He spotted Theo immediately, making his way to an overly familiar blue Toyota Tundra parked at the end of the street.
Liam ran fast. He barely caught Theo’s arm with the tips of his fingers before he could reach for the handle of the truck’s door. He turned around, already grinning. Knowingly.
“You leaving?” Liam asked, still catching his breath.
“No, I’m just walking to my truck cause I thought it’d be fun to stay in it in silence for a while.” He deadpaned.
“Well you used to live in it so I wouldn’t be surprised if you kept a pillow around.”
Theo gave him an amused look, then a sarcastic chuckle. Then he opened the door.
“Bye, Liam”
“No, wait.” He pulled Theo by his jacket. And they were close again. Their arms touching and their faces so close Liam could feel the air getting warmer. “Can you give me a ride home?”
“Isn’t Mason giving you a ride?”
“Well yeah but he’s with Corey and I don’t wanna third wheel” He said, knowing it’s a shitty excuse.
Theo laughed at him, almost fondly.
“You always third wheel them and now you have a problem with it?”
Liam smiled back, pretending to be annoyed. There it was again, the unspoken thing.
They stood there, staring at each other, challengingly. Building up the tension, like a competition to see who’d break first.
And it was the same as before. Liam’s pulse started rising again, and his cheeks burned. Maybe this was the closest thing to getting drunk he’d ever experience. Maybe this was the most normal thing in the world for a teenager to feel.
“What are you staring at?” Theo broke the silence first, as he so often did. Then he smiled, letting his hands drift forward just enough to barely brush against Liam’s.
“Just drive me home”
And of course, Theo took the long way back.