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He wasn’t sleeping. The nightmares were back. It wasn’t surprising really, considering all the shit they’d been through recently, but Liam knew he wasn’t dealing with it well.
But, the nightmares, they were getting worse. Every night, at least once, but often more he had one. Sometimes it was about the berserkers, though that seemed like a lifetime ago. Other times it was the beast; his mind loved to come up with scenarios around what might have happened if they hadn’t saved Mason. The ghost riders and Brett and Lori’s almost death were also common, but by far the most frequent was Monroe and the hunters.
His mind raced through possibilities of what could have happened during the war, and what may happen if they didn’t catch her.
Speaking of which, that was the nightmare his brain had chosen from the collection of horror for tonight.
The pack had been cornered, and Liam couldn’t save them. He’d been poisoned with wolfbane, lying immobile on the forest floor whilst hunters surrounded the others. The weres formed a circle around the humans in an attempt to protect them, but it was no use. They all went down in a cacophony of screams and snarls, and there was nothing Liam could do.
There was blood everywhere, and it was all his fault.
Liam awoke with a shout, sitting up in bed and breathing deeply, almost hyperventilating. His door slammed open as Theo sprinted in from the guest room. Luckily, his parents were both working night shifts at the hospital, and so couldn’t hear the racket.
Theo sat behind him on the bed, taking Liam’s hands in his own to stop him clawing at himself. Liam was too deep in his panic to hear any of Theo’s reassurances, but his calm tone slowly brought him back to reality.
“ ‘M sorry.” Liam sobbed. “Din’ mean t’ fall ‘sleep.”
Theo twisted round, forcing Liam to make eye contact with him. “Liam. You need to sleep. You’re allowed to sleep. Okay?”
Liam nodded, exhaustion still washing over him. He hadn’t slept more than three hours in the past three, four? days. He didn’t even know anymore.
Theo sighed, manhandling Liam back under the covers, forcing him to lie still. He tried to shrug Theo off, but he was stronger, especially when Liam was this exhausted. Theo held him, Liam’s back against his chest, until he fell asleep, still slightly shaking from the nightmare. Then, Theo picked up his phone and typed a quick text to Mason, before falling asleep himself, still holding Liam.
Liam woke with a start, as usual. Theo was no longer next to him. With a groan, Liam rolled over. His clock read 6am. Woah. He’d slept two whole hours. That was more than most nights. Maybe he’d be able to act like he was functioning a bit better today.
But, of course, the universe had other ideas. It was when he went downstairs that everything fell apart.
Theo called it an intervention. Mason called it necessary. Brett called it fun.
Liam called it kidnapping.
He was glad he’d decided to get changed before he went downstairs, otherwise he would never have been able to; Theo was waiting for him in the kitchen.
That in itself wasn’t unusual, but the thing that was unusual was the fact that Mason was there too. He never came round without telling Liam. Never.
Something was going on.
As he walked into the kitchen, Theo turned around, with that shit eating grin that meant he was definitely up to something, while Mason just rolled his eyes. Liam stopped, eyeing them
both with confusion.
“What are you two plotting?”
That only made Theo grin more.
Mason rolled his eyes and walked over to Liam, taking his arm in a firm grip.
“You’re coming with us to my house. It’s not a choice.”
Liam shrugged his arm out of Mason’s grip, taking a shaky step back.
“Look, I’m fine, ok? It was just one bad night. You shouldn’t even know, but it’s ok now. You don’t need to do anything.”
Theo sighed, finally walking over to them. “Told you he wouldn’t go willingly.”
Mason whipped round. “Yes, obviously I know that, but I said we should give him the chance!”
“Well now we have!”
Anxiety began to course through Liam’s veins as he watched the conversation.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
Theo’s smirk returned. “You’ll find out when we get there.”
Liam did not like that. It sounded like a lot of hassle for nothing. They didn’t need to know this much about his nightmares, he was dealing with them. Sort of.
He didn’t have time to protest, however, before Mason and Theo seized one of his arms and began dragging him outside. He was in too much shock to properly fight back, so they easily got him out to the car. It was when Theo fumbled in his pocket for his keys that Liam saw his chance.
This wasn’t necessary.
He broke free of the grips on his arms with surprising ease and sprinted down the driveway. Mason and Theo yelled after him but neither tried to follow. Strange.
He didn't get far before he slammed into the brick wall that was Brett Talbot. Liam groaned as Brett grabbed him, one arm around his waist and the other around his shoulders, forcing him back towards Theo’s truck.
“Hey Liam.” Brett said.
Liam growled. “Get. Off. Me.”
“Sorry, no can do. Now c’mon.”
Theo and Mason stood together, wearing matching looks as Liam was dragged towards them. They really were the perfect partners in crime.
Mildly concerning.
“I hate you.” Liam growled at them.
“Aw, you love us really.” Mason said, smile growing.
Theo laughed as he went to open the passenger door. Liam was shoved in roughly, still growling lowly. Brett and Mason got in the back, now having a meaningless conversation about school.
Theo stayed silent as they drove, occasionally glancing over at Liam, who was staring stubbornly out the window. He wasn’t really angry, more panicking about what everyone was going to say. The drive passed too quickly for comfort, and they pulled up outside Derek’s apartment building.
Wait, what? Why were they here? He’d assumed they were going to Mason’s, after all that was where they always seemed to turn up.
“Mason’s parents are home, and this was the next best place.”
It was like Theo had read his mind.
Liam sighed, realising there was no way he could get out of this. Begrudgingly, he allowed himself to be guided up the stairs to Brett and Lori’s part of Derek’s building.
He’d given it to them after the war, what with them losing their pack and home, and nearly dying. They’d had nothing left.
Alec sometimes stayed with them, but mainly lived with Nolan, who’d been left living alone after the war. Theo had also been given the option of an apartment, but had chosen to move into Liam’s spare room. He was pretty sure Theo was saving up for his own place.
The other two occupied areas of the building were Derek’s loft and Peter’s apartment, though he rarely stayed in his. So, there was plenty of space for the pack to hang out.
They got up the stairs quickly, too quickly for Liam’s liking, and Corey opened the door, a grin plastered on his face.
“Wow, thought you’d look more beat up than that.”
Liam shoved past him, with a mutter of “Shut up Corey.”
He stalked into the living room, taking a seat in the furthest corner. Lori and Alec were on the sofa opposite, currently having a food fight with popcorn. Nolan was on the chair next to them, cowering behind a cushion. Brett went over to them, rolling his eyes and snatching the bowl of popcorn out of Lori’s hands.
“I swear, I leave you guys alone for half an hour.”
His sister, of course, then immediately tried to grab the popcorn back, but Alec tackled her, and they tumbled to the floor in a flurry of pillows and giggles.
Theo watched the chaos of the food fight become a pillow fight with a smirk as Nolan breathed a sigh of relief when Brett took the popcorn away.
Mason clapped his hands, gathering everyone’s attention.
“Time for Operation Sleep guys.”
Operation sleep????
What did that even mean? And there was no way he could sleep around the puppy pack; he would just have a nightmare, and then they would be even more worried.
And that would ruin everything.
The others all moved in a way that suggested they’d rehearsed this, all taking specific seats around the massive TV that Derek had bought them. Nolan sat next to Lori, Brett on his other side, separating her and Alec. Mason and Corey sat together, obviously and Theo flopped down next to Liam, putting an arm around his shoulders.
Alec chose the movie, something he’d been begging them all to watch for ages, but Liam couldn’t focus on it properly.
He was so tired.
Fighting to stay awake, even with his head nodding, he shifted position for what must have been the seventeenth time in five minutes. Theo glanced at him and rolled his eyes, before pulling Liam into a half hug.
He couldn’t fight the sleep like this. And maybe, just maybe, he didn’t want to.
It washed over him, drowning out the whispers from the pack, until it completely claimed him.
No nightmares came that night, and, for the first time in a long time, he slept a whole 8 hours, interrupted.
Maybe having the pack around him did help.