Work Text:
Liam has never dreaded a single day more than today. As soon as his alarm blares into the silence of his room, he slams his fist into the clock to silence it - preferably for good. With a small groan, he rolls onto his back and glares at the ceiling petulantly for several long minutes. Unconsciously, his eyes drift to the corner of the room, where several untouched bags of decorations sat collecting dust.
It was months in the making, his eighteenth birthday. He and Mason had sat up countless hours planning every detail, down to the color plastic cups they’d use for the punch. Liam saved and scrounged money for each item in those bags, and his mom had ordered a custom cake weeks in advance just to ensure it would be ready for his big celebration. Liam had been so excited, bouncing with energy every time someone mentioned it. He’d designed the invitations himself and mailed them off personally to every member of the pack, wanting to use actual stationary instead of something so impersonal as an email or text.
But then, little by little, Liam’s heart sank as the replies came in. Malia had sent a text, brief and to the point, saying she couldn’t make it because she was leaving the day before to go backpacking in the Grand Canyon. Liam was disappointed, of course, but still hopeful that everyone else could come. Then Lydia called with an apology, claiming she was doing a study abroad semester in Italy and was leaving the week prior. Stiles’ email came almost immediately after, something about a field mission in Washington. Derek and Argent are both in Mexico; Parrish is taking vacation days to visit family three hours away; Brett, Lori, and Nolan have college tours that they had scheduled a couple months in advance; even Alec is going to be away, overnight for a lacrosse practice game at a different school. The season has just started, but Coach wants to get every bit of experience he can muster with the new batch of freshmen, Alec being the main one since he’s up for team captain once Liam and Nolan graduate.
Liam had thought the most devastating “no” would be from Scott, who video called him to explain that he’s going to join Derek and Argent in Mexico while he takes a gap semester in college, so he can help track down packless betas and omegas that Monroe is still trying to hunt down. Liam had nodded in understanding, forcing a reassuring smile across his lips, glad that Scott couldn’t smell the sad chemo signals saturating the air around him.
His alpha’s absence hit a very sore spot, but it was nothing compared to Mason calling him only hours later, crying because Yale had offered an application interview on the day of Liam’s party, and he didn’t even have an option to schedule for a different day. Liam had choked on his tears, telling Mason he absolutely had to go, that everything was okay and that he didn’t want Mason to pass up such an amazing opportunity just for a silly birthday party.
Mason had flown out the night before, after Liam dropped him off at the airport. Now, Liam is laying in bed, decorations in the corner that aren’t going to be used, his parents both working double shifts that they couldn’t get out of, feeling completely and utterly alone.
This isn’t at all how he expected his eighteenth birthday to go. The thing that hurts the most - though there are many reasons as to why it shouldn’t - Theo had texted him three days ago saying Argent was sending him on a diplomatic mission, and he wasn’t sure when he’d be back. Liam hasn’t heard from him since, and it shouldn’t bother him, really. Theo is free to come and go as he pleases, especially when it involves pack business. A part of him, though, a part that he won’t admit to being bigger than it should be, was hoping at least Theo would be here. At least his anchor would be here for his birthday and celebrate with him.
Yeah, Theo is Liam’s anchor. Liam has known for a long time now, coming up on a year. It happened the moment Theo convinced him not to kill Gabe in the locker room. When he dropped the hunter boy and looked into the mirror, watching his shift fade back into normal, that was the moment he knew that he could never let Theo go - not now, not ever again.
What they have - what they’ve turned into - it’s… complicated, to say the least. Theo stays with Liam more often than not, though he still refuses the offer of the guest bedroom as a permanent residence. Four or five nights a week, he’ll come over for dinner and then he and Liam will go to Liam’s room under the pretense of playing video games or doing homework. When the door clicks shut, however, Theo is on him in an instant, and all thoughts of anything besides the building heat between them flies out the window.
They don’t talk about it, not really, but they both know. Liam belongs to Theo, in every way imaginable, and Theo is tied to Liam’s soul with no intention of leaving, for better or worse. They don’t talk about it, but Theo spends a lot of time lavishing that one spot on Liam’s neck with kisses and marks that fade far too quickly. Theo keeps promising to give him a real mark one day, and Liam holds onto that, but they don’t talk about it.
They don’t talk, they just know.
Liam misses those lips now, misses the blunt human teeth nipping at his shoulders and between his thighs. He sighs and rolls over to check his phone. There’s a text from his mom and one from his dad, both wishing him happy birthday and promising to take him somewhere fun as soon as they’re able to. There’s one from Mason, time stamped at midnight, wishing him a happy birthday and apologizing again for not being able to be there. One from Scott, another well wish and apology. No other messages, and Liam tries not to be too disappointed that there isn’t one from Theo.
Another heavy sigh, and Liam finally hauls himself out of bed. He decides on a quick shower, something easy for breakfast, and then covering up on the couch for a boring day of movies he won’t really pay attention to. With that plan in mind, he grabs his comfiest set of clothes (sweatpants softened with too many washes, and one of Theo’s hoodies) and makes his way to the bathroom.
Breakfast is a boring affair, just some cereal and a cup of coffee. He takes the coffee with him into the living room and grabs the largest blanket out of the basket in the corner. Curling up on the couch, he grabs the remote and starts flicking through titles to find something even remotely interesting.
He eventually settles on some mindless action movie, a lot of explosions and quick cuts and basic dialogue that he doesn’t need to fully invest in to follow the plot. That’s where he spends the next several hours, one shallow movie after the next, until he eventually falls asleep halfway through London Has Fallen, his head pillowed on his arm resting against the arm of the couch.
When he wakes up again, it’s dark outside. The clock reads 10:32pm. With a jaw-cracking yawn, Liam rubs the sleep from his eyes. His stomach grumbles, so he reluctantly pushes himself up to search for dinner.
As he heats up leftover pasta, staring blankly at the bowl spinning in the microwave, he thinks to himself that this is by far the worst birthday he’s ever had.
A loud and sudden knock at the door causes him to jump. Only a second passes before there’s another knock, this one more frantic than the first. Liam approaches the door slowly, confused. Who on earth is pounding on his front door this late at night?
Focusing on his werewolf senses, he hears a rabbit-fast heartbeat and heavy breathing, like someone had been sprinting. Rain is still pouring outside, and there’s a foot tapping on the porch.
“Liam, I know you’re in there, please open up!”
Liam’s own heartbeat stutters then starts to race. He hurries for the door, opening the latch and swinging the whole thing inward. His eyes widen.
Theo is standing there, breathing heavily, soaked with rain. In his hands is a small wet cardboard box with a plastic window on top, and a plastic grocery bag that crinkles when he steps forward.
“I’m sorry I’m so late,” Theo apologizes, stunning Liam further because Theo never apologizes. “I tried to get here as fast as I could, and I know it’s almost midnight so your birthday is basically over, but-“
“What’s in the box?” Liam blurts, causing Theo to cut himself off with a blink.
Theo’s eyes shift and he shrugs with one shoulder. “I didn’t have time to make anything, and the store usually has them on sale in the evenings. I had them write your name on it, but when I ran it got smeared and-“
Liam cuts him off again, but this time without words. He grabs Theo by the jacket and yanks him forward into a bruising kiss. It’s awkward and messy, and Liam is at an odd angle to avoid the cake box between them - a cake box, Theo got him a cake - but it’s the best kiss he’s ever had, especially when Theo recovers from his own shock and kisses back.
When they part, Liam is smiling with tears in his eyes. “Thank you,” he murmurs.
Theo breathes out a relieved sigh. “Always, Liam.”
They eat the cake that has lost most of its icing while Theo ran for Liam’s house through the rain. Liam opens the plastic bag Theo hands him, and nearly cries again when he pulls out the slightly soggy bouquet of newspaper roses that Theo had taken the time to make before he realized he was late. Theo changes into a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie that he’d left during one of the puppy pack sleepovers weeks ago, and they make out on the couch with Liam in Theo’s lap for an indeterminable amount of time.
“Good birthday?” Theo asks during one of the times they break the kiss to breathe. “I know it’s not much, but I didn’t want you to be alone.”
Liam nods, kissing Theo’s nose and nuzzling his cheek. “This is the best birthday ever.”
And it really was.