Work Text:
"Liam."
Theo was already in bed, already tired, and already too okay with the day being over.
Liam, very clearly, was not.
"Just a second, babe." He mumbled, fingers flying across the keyboard of his laptop.
Theo frowned.
The sun had already set hours ago, and Liam promised Theo that they'd go to bed together for once. Theo finally wasn't out working on some new project, and Liam finally wasn't out pretending to be responsible (really, he just trailed after Scott who anxiously searched for a new threat every night).
Also, Theo really hated it when Liam called him babe. It felt impersonal. After spending so much of his life only being given attention when it was convenient for those godforsaken “doctors,” Theo needed time dedicated to him every now and then. It kept him from biting people.
Liam kept typing for a few more seconds, leaning in closer to the laptop screen.
"Liam." Theo groaned, finally losing his patience and pushing himself up off of their bed, walking over to where Liam was sat at a little desk in the corner of the room. They’d built it together when Liam decided Theo would move in.
"M' sorry, sorry, just one more minute." Liam defended softly. He was still typing, his brow furrowed in concentration as he stared at the too-bright screen displaying what could only be a comment section under someone's Facebook post.
"Liam Dunbar. What could possibly be more important than going to sleep at the same time for once.”
Theo stopped next to Liam's chair and crossed his arms over his bare chest.
Liam finally stopped typing and tore himself away from the screen, staring up at Theo. His gaze met his boyfriend's, then flicked down to the flannel pajama pants he'd borrowed from Liam. They were sitting far too low on his hips for Liam's comfort in a time where he was trying to focus.
He looked back up, meeting Theo's eyes again. Theo cocked an eyebrow, waiting for a response.
"Uh- someone was wrong on the- the internet."
Liam was trying very hard to focus.
Theo's lips ticked upward into a little smirk at the flustered voice Liam was giving him. Without breaking eye contact, Liam reached over, shut the laptop and fumbled out of the undersized chair he'd been perched in. He practically launched himself at Theo. Theo stopped him with a hand on his chest and the other on his neck. But not before Liam got the chance to plaster his body against Theo's.
"That's more like it," Theo said, low and dangerous.
His eyes were dark, and he knew Liam could already see every way this night might end besides sleeping.
Theo’s hands had moved to Liam’s waist. Which was weird. Usually, when something like this happened, Theo would make his presence known, make sure Liam felt his body there. He would do something bold, like kiss Liam first, or touch somewhere he shouldn’t. Now, he was hiding. Hiding behind the look in his eyes that felt dominant, but really said “pin me down, make me yours.” He didn’t like being ignored, so he’d make himself impossible to ignore.
“Are you going to come to bed now?” Theo murmured. He kept eye contact with Liam, tightening his grip just a fraction.
Liam’s hands made their way to Theo’s neck.
“Are you going to beg for it pretty?”
Theo’s body tensed in a way that told Liam he would do whatever he wanted, as long as Liam’s hands stayed on him the whole time. Theo’s gaze flicked down, lower, to Liam’s lips.
And then he dropped.
His hands fell from Liam’s waist to his thighs, his shoulders trembling ever so slightly.
“There you are,” Liam murmured, running a gentle hand through the older boy’s hair. “Was worried you got lost in here.”
Theo knew what he meant. The way sometimes, Theo let his worries get the better of him. The way sometimes, Theo got so angry at possibilities or fears that he took it out on Liam.
“Didn’t forget about you, you know.”
Theo shook his head, looking down at Liam’s feet. “Just found something better…”
That was enough for Liam to snap. His fingers—still tangled in Theo’s hair—fisted at the back of his skull. He pulled Theo’s head back, forcing his gaze up.
Theo let out a little gasp.
“Ngh- Li-”
“Shut up.”
Theo’s mouth clamped shut immediately. Liam pulled his fingers tighter in Theo’s hair.
“You know I don’t forget about you.”
Theo’s breathing was coming shallow, leaving his mouth in rough little pants.
He nodded slowly.
“Then why would you act like that? Why would you walk around half naked? Why would you pretend you want me, when really,” Liam tugged Theo’s head back, harder this time, hard enough that his body jerked too. “When really, you need me.”
Theo’s eyes fluttered closed, his mouth falling open on a soft whine.
Liam pulled his hand from Theo’s hair and stepped back.
“On the bed. Pants off.”
Theo scrambled up, fingers fumbling at the strings in the waistband of his pants. By the time he made it to the bed, he was left in only his boxers.
Liam—who was still standing across the room, pinning Theo with a stare—had his arms crossed across his chest. All Theo could think, all he wanted, was more. More of Liam, more of his hands, his body, his voice. His touch.
Theo pushed himself back onto the bed, knees falling open.
Liam hated when Theo said anything bad about himself. The mild aggression about it was his way of showing he cared about what Theo thought. Theo had always thought of himself as something not entirely human, but not entirely supernatural, either. He wasn’t born or bitten to become a wolf, so he’d never be a truly supernatural creature unless a born or bitten wolf bit him. His ability to fully shift into a wolf form didn’t come from practice of the supernatural. It came from practice of pseudo science.
Sometimes he thought about asking Liam to bite him. He knew that Liam would, if Theo timed it right. He even planned once. He’d get Liam just a little bit angry, make Liam pin him, fuck him. Then he’d ask. He’d beg pretty, ask for it in a way that made Liam want to do it purely out of the visceral need to give Theo anything that he wanted. Right when the anger and lust melted away into the love that made Theo cry some days.
But he didn’t. Because Liam would kill himself before making Theo hurt. Because in Liam’s head, the transformation could only possibly be painful because that was all it had been for Liam. Theo knew the transformation hadn’t been easy for Liam. He knew Liam and Scott carried that trauma every time they looked at each other. He knew they both remembered a 15 year old Liam bound in duct tape, laid out in Scott’s bathtub while Liam cried in fear and pain and confusion while Scott paced back and forth feet away, panicking.
Theo would beg for the bite. But he’d never make Liam do it. Even if it could make Theo whole—he’d never ask for it.
So he stayed stuck in the fear of losing Liam to something better—something real—all of the time. It’s the same reason why sometimes, instead of trying to figure out what he needed, he’d piss Liam off until Liam railed the attitude out of him. It usually worked. Just like it was working now.
Liam finally came over, crawling over Theo where he was sitting on the end of the bed. His knees bracketed Theo’s hips, his hands coming up to rest on Theo’s shoulders. Theo looked up at Liam, gaze open and wanting. He was ready to whine, to cry, to beg. He wanted to. Before he could open his mouth, Liam grabbed his jaw. Not gentle, but not rough either.
“You gonna behave now?”
Theo let out a slow breath, his body leaning into Liam’s. His head fell back slowly. He nodded, lips parting.
Liam saw this as an invitation to slide his thumb into Theo’s mouth.
And now the flannel pants laid somewhere on the floor, forgotten.