《Can you not》
Five times Liam was so done with Theo (and the one time that he was wrong)
1: Tap
Theo was doing it again.
Since the day they had been together–no, probably a few days prior–Liam had become aware of one of the chimera's habits whenever he was nervous or irritated: tapping his finger. Liam had first noticed it when they were sitting in traffic. Theo’s finger would leave the steering wheel and drop back every few seconds, making a steady tap, tap, tap sound. Then at the bar. Then at the motel. Then literally anywhere else.
At first, it was kind of okay for Liam, especially because they sounded almost like heartbeats. That sound somehow calmed Liam down in an unexplainable way. Sometimes, he could even tell when Theo was around because of it. But as their lives started to return to normal, Liam began to get a little annoyed by it, mostly when he needed to focus on something important. For example, studying for a test like now.
“Can you stop?” Liam said as he lifted his head from the Econ textbook and stared at Theo across the table.
Theo also lifted his head from his phone and stared back for a second before looking down again.
“It’s an online game. I can’t stop. I’ll be kicked out of the guild,” he said nonchalantly.
“I’m talking about your finger.” Liam pointed at Theo’s left hand, which was now resting on the table.
“My finger?”
“Yes. Your finger,” Liam said impatiently. “You’ve been tapping your finger for hours.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Theo’s head was still buried in his phone, his right hand frantically swiping on the screen, seemingly in the middle of an intense battle.
“Well,” Liam rolled his eyes. “I’ve been reading the same paragraph for over thirty minutes. That’s what’s wrong with that.”
Theo finally looked up from the screen. Liam glanced at the phone and saw a VICTORY pop up.
“I can’t control it,” Theo said evenly.
“You’re telling me you can’t control your tapping when you literally control your emotions and chemosignals all the time?”
“That’s how I relieve my stress.”
“Well, you’re stressing me out.” Liam raised his voice slightly.
Other students in the library began turning toward them with annoyed looks, so Liam lowered his voice again.
“You have to find other ways to relieve your stress.”
“You’re absolutely right,” Theo scoffed. “I lived in the sewers for ten years, and my guardians were basically a group of evil scientists called ‘the Dread Doctors’, so I’m definitely an expert at relieving stress.”
Liam paused for a second. He stared into Theo’s eyes, which were now flashing annoyance and frustration, then he sighed. Every comeback Theo threw at him seemed to have a reason behind it, and those reasons might sound completely ridiculous, yet somehow still valid. Liam couldn’t get angry at anything involving Theo’s past, even though some of those things had started becoming problems in his own life, which only made him even angrier. He wanted Theo to be comfortable around him, but he also wanted to pass this goddamn test.
“Just let me focus on my Econ,” Liam said as he looked down at the book.
“Fine.”
Theo stood up abruptly. The chair slid with a loud creak, startling a couple of students around them. Then he grabbed his phone and headed toward the door. Liam swallowed the urge to go after him and forced himself to focus on his microeconomics. He knew Theo wasn't going anywhere. He could deal with that after the test.
The school day ended smoothly. Liam shoved his books into his bag and walked toward the front door. He didn’t have lacrosse practice today, so he expected Theo to be waiting for him. The moment he stepped outside, he spotted the familiar truck waiting in the parking lot, so he trotted toward it.
“Hey,” he said as he opened the passenger-side door.
“Hey,” Theo said coldly.
“C’mon, Theo.” Liam forced a smile. “You can’t seriously still be mad.”
“I’m not mad.”
“You are mad.”
“Just shut up and get in.”
Liam let out a quiet sigh and climbed into the seat.
The ride to Theo’s apartment was silent. Liam glanced at the chimera nervously every thirty seconds, but Theo simply kept his eyes on the road. Rain started to pour out of nowhere, and the traffic got worse and worse in the rain, like usual in California. Liam noticed that Theo wasn’t tapping on the steering wheel anymore, so he suddenly felt a little bad. Maybe he shouldn’t have judged Theo for the habit earlier, but then again, he had also needed to study for the test.
They arrived at the apartment twenty minutes later. Liam crashed onto the sofa right after they entered the unit. He had three tests in one day, so this was his way of relieving stress. Theo didn’t seem to mind. He dropped his stuff onto the floor and went straight to the bathroom for a shower. The sound of running water came from behind the door, and soon the scent of citrus and pomegranate drifted into the air, making Liam’s eyelids grow heavy. Before long, he slowly dozed off.
Tap. Tap.
Liam was awakened by the sound. He sat up and found Theo sitting on the floor reading a book.
“You’re doing it again,” he mumbled.
“Doing what?”
“This.” Liam tapped his finger on the sofa a few times.
“I’m not. I’m reading a book,” Theo replied evenly.
“Apparently the book stresses you out.”
“Liam, I’m not doing it,” Theo said as he turned around and raised his hands.
Liam blinked. Theo’s hands weren’t touching anything, but Liam could definitely still hear the tapping sound. He followed the sound and turned toward the bathroom, then saw water dripping from the showerhead. Great. Now he felt even worse because he had just accused Theo of something he hadn’t done. He got to his feet and walked toward the bathroom before closing the valve tight.
For the next few days, things changed a little. Theo stopped tapping his finger whenever Liam was around, which Liam guessed was probably a good thing, but the showerhead also started to leak water for some reason. Theo either didn’t seem to notice or simply didn’t care about the water bill Derek would end up paying anyway. So Liam would have to get up from the bed or the sofa to close the valve every time the dripping started again. Strangely enough, it happened almost every time he was asleep.
After five days, Liam finally couldn’t stand it anymore. He called his dad to come to Theo’s apartment and see what was wrong with the showerhead. David showed up thirty minutes later with a bag of wrenches and screwdrivers. He tinkered with the pipes and valves in the bathroom for more than an hour, and finally came out with a tentative “I think it’s fixed” and left. Liam stared at the supposedly fixed showerhead, hoping he would get a peaceful sleep tonight.
He was anything but right.
It started leaking again, just like every night for the past week. Except this time, Liam was starting to give in, especially when he was exhausted after a lacrosse game. He tried clearing his mind, focusing only on the sound.
Tap. Tap.
It felt almost like heartbeats. Almost like the steady thumping sound from the chimera. It kind of made him relax in a weird way, draining away the stiffness in his muscles. Why had he felt so irritated by this noise before? Maybe this could even be some soothing white noise.
Tap. Tap.
Then-
Liam jumped from the sofa and rolled onto the floor when a loud clang exploded in the room. He clenched his jaw against the pain and pushed himself up, only to see Theo stepping out of the bathroom and hurriedly picking something up from the floor. They both froze as their eyes met.
Liam broke the silence first.
“What are you doing?” He glanced at Theo’s hand before realizing he was holding a wrench.
“Um,” Theo paused, eyes flickering. “Fixing the showerhead?”
Liam stared at him for a long second, then suddenly realized something. He stood up and crossed his arms, looking Theo straight in the eye.
“Theo,” he said seriously. “I think you're unfixing it.”
“What are you talking about?” Theo glanced away.
Liam paused for another second, then he let out a loud groan. “Oh my God, Theo. I knew something was wrong. I knew it.”
Theo just stood there, still refusing to look at Liam. After a long moment, Liam spoke again.
“Theo, you’re making the water leak on purpose, so I’d get used to the tapping sound.”
Theo still didn’t say anything, but a sheepish grin slowly spread across his face. He turned back to the werewolf, who clearly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and let out a small snort.
“Took you long enough.”
Liam rolled his eyes so hard that he could practically see the back of his sockets.
“You’re the most infuriating asshole in the Solar System.”
“C’mon, little wolf. Don’t be mad.” Theo stepped over and rested a hand on Liam’s shoulder. “At least now you can relax with my white noise.”
Liam just grunted, then he punched Theo in the chest.
2: Touch
They were at IKEA for a good reason, but Liam wasn’t sure if this was even a good idea.
It had been almost three weeks since they broke the bed frame in Theo’s apartment, and somehow the chimera had just ignored it and continued sleeping on the mattress on the floor ever since. He hadn’t even removed the broken parts underneath the mattress, which was why Liam often woke up several times in the middle of the night whenever he stayed over. He had to shift his body every few hours just to avoid those uncomfortable bumps under his back. But the chimera seemed completely unaffected by it. He was always asleep whenever Liam woke up, and he hadn’t even had a single nightmare. This was so unfair.
“I just didn’t have time,” Theo mumbled as he ate the waffles Liam had just brought him on a Saturday morning.
“That’s bullshit.” Liam rolled his eyes. “You’re literally the freest person on planet Earth. You don’t have school. You don’t have a job. You sure as hell have a bunch of time to fix it.”
“I don’t know how to do that. And seriously, Liam. Hell?”
“Then go buy a new one.” Liam ignored the latter part.
“I don’t have money.”
Liam sighed. Theo was right. Just because he had a place to live didn’t mean he was free from worrying about other things. In fact, Theo had been living on Jenna’s meals every day–she had insisted on cooking for Theo after finding out he was still unemployed. Sometimes, Liam would see some crumpled bills and coins scattered across the bedroom floor, but he had never asked Theo where that money had come from. He didn’t want to know. And he was pretty sure not knowing was better for his mental health.
“Fine,” Liam said as he dropped his plate into the sink. “Finish your waffles quick. We’re going to IKEA.”
So there they were. David dropped them off at the entrance before handing Liam a credit card. “Don’t buy anything else other than furniture,” he said and peeled out of the parking lot, disappearing from sight. Liam and Theo entered the massive building hesitantly.
They definitely did not expect to be walking into a labyrinth.
They both stared at the giant navigation sign hanging from the ceiling, trying to figure out what those numbers and lines actually meant. Math had never been Liam’s strongest subject, even though he wasn’t sure if those numbers had anything to do with math at all. But why exactly was there an additional line between five and eight? And ten and fifteen? And why were they dotted? Liam scanned the entire board a good five times before finding “Bedroom” marked beside the number nine.
“I think we have to go to number nine,” he said tentatively.
“Okay?” Theo seemed equally uncertain. “How do we get there?”
“Probably just follow the arrows,” Liam said, pointing at an arrow painted on the floor.
“Sure, but what does that dotted line mean?” Theo asked, pointing at the line between the number five and eight on the navigation sign.
Liam stared at it for another moment before speaking offhandedly. “Maybe there’s a portal.”
“I think you mean a shortcut.”
“Those are the same thing.”
Before Liam could react, Theo headed toward section one, leaving Liam hurriedly trotting after him. When they reached section five, Liam finally realized the door beside a shelf was probably the portal they were talking about earlier. But then he suddenly noticed Theo staring at something else.
“This looks nice,” Theo said as he reached for a sophisticated-looking lamp.
“Theo, what are you-”
Liam was cut off by a loud clang. The lamp was already swaying from side to side, colliding with the shelf and the items around it. Other customers began turning toward them, whispering in shock and confusion. Liam quickly stepped forward and grabbed Theo’s wrist, dragging him toward the door.
“What? Are you nine?” Liam exclaimed as they made their way into section eight.
“I was just curious. It looked so different from the lights in the sewers,” Theo said innocently, so innocently that Liam immediately lost the urge to punch him.
“Okay,” Liam sighed. “Just don’t touch anything.”
Theo didn’t say a word. He simply shrugged and followed Liam toward their destination.
“There you go,” Liam said as he lifted a boxed bed frame off the rack and tossed it into the cart.
“What do we do now?” Theo stared at the box, which was taller than the werewolf beside him.
“Well, we go straight to the checkout counter and-Theo, what’s in your hand!?”
Liam’s eyes widened as he saw Theo holding a glass vase.
“I’m thinking about putting a vase on top of my dresser, you know. With tulips and lilies and stuff.” Theo snorted.
“Okay, fine.”
Liam almost screamed when he saw the chimera casually drop the vase from one hand, but then he caught it with the other and threw Liam a smirk.
“I’m gonna punch you in the face,” Liam growled.
“No, you won’t. My face is too pretty.”
“Asshole.”
They began making their way toward the checkout counter, which meant they had to pass through fifteen more sections, which meant Liam had to keep an eye on Theo to prevent him from touching any more stuff for another ten minutes. Luckily, Theo seemed satisfied and just walked quietly beside him. They entered section twenty before Theo had something to say again.
“Liam, I think there’s another shortcut.” He pointed at the door beside a shelf.
“No. Theo. There’s only four sections-”
Again, Theo took off without warning. He shoved the door open and soon disappeared behind it. Liam cursed quietly and sprinted toward the door, leaving their cart behind. The moment Liam stepped through the doorway, he bumped into Theo’s back with a thud, then he heard the door close with a soft click. His eyes darted around, only to realize they were in some kind of storage room.
“Well, sorry I was wrong,” Theo apologized in the most insincere way possible. Liam could practically hear the ‘LOL’ in his voice.
“Theo, I swear I’m not taking you to IKEA again,” Liam said flatly as he reached toward the door handle. He turned it.
Locked.
They both froze.
He turned it again, only to be met with the same result.
“God...” Liam pressed his back against the door and slid to the floor. “Why is every shopping trip with you such a disaster?”
“You got clothes last time.” Theo snorted.
“I just hope we won’t be stuck in here for the rest of our lives.”
“Liam, don’t be dumb. Somebody’s gonna come in at some point,” Theo said as he snatched up a small box from the shelf.
“Don’t. Touch. Anything.” Liam growled in the deepest voice he could manage, but Theo just threw the box straight up and caught it again. Liam swore his heart literally stopped for a few seconds.
“It’s just a box.”
“You didn’t pay for it.”
Theo paused for a second, then he snickered and tossed the box toward Liam. It hit the wall with a loud thump.
“Alright, you wanna play this game?” Liam snapped before grabbing another box from the shelf and throwing it toward Theo.
The chimera caught it smoothly and tossed it right back.
“Okay, we’re really playing this game now.”
Liam reached for another box, but something suddenly hit him in the head. He shot Theo a glare before throwing it back. More boxes disappeared from the shelves as they started throwing everything they could see in the room. The earlier tension gradually faded away as Liam found himself laughing and shouting with Theo in this improvised competition.
They finally stopped when the door was pushed open again. A staff member walked in and froze the moment he saw the boxes scattered across the floor.
“Um...” Liam stuttered. “Hello?”
Theo just stood there in silence.
The good news was they were rescued by a random staff member thirty minutes after they got locked in, so they didn’t have to spend the rest of their lives in a storage room. The bad news was they got kicked out of the store before they even had a chance to buy the bed frame.
“You know, we could’ve just yelled.” Theo glanced over as they were escorted out by security.
“Shut up.”
3: Tenant
At this point, Liam had already resigned himself to anything ludicrous happening in his life, whether that involved Theo or not. He had been turned into a werewolf, which was fine in hindsight, minus all the near-death experiences, but he definitely didn’t expect to be awakened by a call from Derek at three in the morning.
“Liam.” Derek’s voice sounded too drowsy for a cool guy.
“Why are you calling me at three in the morning, Derek?” Liam mumbled every word through his teeth.
“I just got a complaint from one of my tenants.”
Liam paused for a second, his mind still processing the random information he had just heard.
“...Congrats?” he said tentatively.
“No, Liam.” Derek’s voice turned more serious. “It’s the fourth time this week, and they’re all complaining about your boyfriend.”
“Complaining about what?” Liam finally woke up a little.
“Noise complaints.”
Liam paused for another second. He glanced at the alarm clock, which was set for seven o’clock, and dropped his head back on the pillow.
“Derek, you’re the landlord. I’m pretty sure you can handle it.”
“I can,” Derek snorted. “But I figured I might have to inform his boyfriend before kicking him out.”
Oh, fuck. That escalated fast. Liam’s eyes grew wider.
“Okay, Derek,” he rushed. “I’ll deal with him tomorrow. Please don’t kick him out.”
“Looking forward to it.”
“By the way, Derek,” Liam added hesitantly. “What kind of noise?”
“Well, they said they heard some kind of screaming and shouting.”
Liam froze for a second, but Derek quickly cut in again.
“No. Liam, I’m pretty sure it’s not what you think, or else I’ll definitely smell it.”
“Okay,” Liam replied, still not fully convinced. “I’ll talk to him.”
Derek hung up before Liam could even finish the sentence.
Liam pinched the bridge of his nose, hard. He hadn’t stayed over at Theo’s apartment for a couple of days because it was midterm week, and then this guy just somehow managed to piss Derek off. His mind rapidly scrambled for clues. What kind of activities involved screaming and shouting at three in the morning? He grabbed a small piece of paper and started writing.
Option one: Theo was killing someone. Well, Liam didn’t need to think for another second before crossing it out. He trusted Theo, not only because he believed Theo had changed, but also because he knew Theo wouldn’t be that stupid to do this kind of stuff in his apartment, especially when his landlord also had a superhuman sense of smell.
Option two: Theo was having a nightmare again. If this was the case, then Liam definitely needed to check on him.
Option three: Theo was sleeping with...Liam didn’t want to think about this possibility, so he crossed this one out anyway.
That left Liam with only option two. He let out a long sigh before flopping back into the bed. If Theo started having nightmares again, they surely needed to talk about it. Liam would even risk getting grounded just to sneak out the window and stay with him, but right now, he should probably sleep for a couple more hours before dealing with Theo.
He sent Mason a quick text then got back to sleep, and he definitely didn’t expect to be awakened again by a call from Mason just three hours later.
“Dude,” Liam exclaimed sleepily. “It’s six thirty-”
“Liam, what do you expect me to do after I saw a message from my best friend asking ‘what activities involve screaming and shouting at three in the morning’?” Mason’s voice cut in sharply. Liam could practically hear shock, irritation, confusion, and amusement all mixed together in it.
“Liam,” Mason continued. “There’s only two answers. One involves blood and the other involves sper-”
“Okay, okay. Mason, I get it.” Liam cut him off hurriedly. “You don’t have to finish that sentence.”
Mason let out a long sigh. “What happened?”
Liam hesitated, but he realized he probably could use some help now, so he answered. “It’s about Theo.”
“Theo?”
“Yes, Mason. I’ll tell you more when I meet you at school.”
They met at school and instantly jumped back into the conversation. Mason insisted that options one and three were the most likely answers, and Liam insisted that option two made the most sense. They finally came up with some more options, including partying, exercising, and sleepwalking, all of which were eventually crossed out by Liam.
They spent the whole day discussing every possibility, but none of them made sense anymore. Defeated, they decided to ask Theo directly after school, which they really should have thought about earlier, but that option was eliminated too when they didn’t see Theo’s truck in the parking lot as they walked out.
“This is so weird,” Liam blurted out, bewildered.
Mason immediately offered Liam a ride to Theo’s apartment. When they arrived, they saw Theo’s truck parked in his assigned space like it hadn’t moved all day, so they quickly made their way to the fourteenth floor. As they stepped out of the elevator, they were suddenly met with screams and shouts thundering through the hallway. They froze for half a second before sprinting toward Theo’s unit.
Liam knocked, then waited.
He heard Theo’s footsteps stomping toward the door.
Thump, thump, thump. Then Theo opened the door.
Liam and Mason both gasped when they saw Theo standing in front of them. The chimera looked like hell. His hair was a tangled ball of wire. His skin was pale. He had large bags hanging under his eyes, and he was still in his pajamas.
Nightmares. The word slipped into Liam’s mind.
But then he saw the smile on Theo’s face.
“Theo wha-”
“Hey, little wolf.” Theo cut him off cheerfully. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice the time.”
The screams still lingered in the air. Liam tried to peek inside the room, only to see darkness. His mind stopped functioning for a moment before he finally managed to force out the words.
“W-what are you doing?”
“Oh, perfect timing. I was about to show you anyway. Mason, you can come in as well.”
They followed Theo hesitantly to his bedroom, then saw the most horrifying thing they had ever seen in their lives.
They saw a man in a hospital gown strapped to an operating table, his stomach completely cut open, and tubes and wires were running through his whole body.
Except Liam would probably throw up if this wasn’t on a massive TV screen.
“Th-Theo,” Liam stuttered. “What is this?”
“This is a new game I just found a couple of days ago. I can be a doctor and operate on my patients. I can perform any organ transplant, and I can also test a bunch of new medications on them. Oh, and it also has laser scalpels so I can-”
“THEO!” Liam snapped, his voice loud enough to force Theo’s lips to zip together.
“You’ve been playing this all night?”
“Yeah?”
“Oh my God. I can’t believe it.” Liam stomped toward the TV and violently pulled the wires off the console. The screams instantly stopped and a DISCONNECTED popped up on the screen.
“Liam, what the fu-” Theo exclaimed, only for Liam to punch him in the shoulder. “Ow!?”
“I got woken up by two phone calls last night and spent the whole day figuring out what happened to you just because of your stupid video game?”
“Wha-who called you?” Theo’s eyes widened slightly.
“Derek said if you keep bothering your neighbors with noise at night, he’s kicking you out.” Liam crossed his arms. “And why did you turn the volume to max?”
Theo stilled for a moment, then snorted. “Maximum immersion.”
“Oh God...”
Liam had given Theo many things. He had given him clothes, food, and even a home, but he had never thought he would also need to give Theo headphones just to keep the ‘home’ part around for a little longer.
4: Threat
Halloween was around the corner, and Liam was stressed out more than ever. He didn’t want to be Little Red Riding Hood like in ninth grade, or a pumpkin like in tenth. He needed to come up with something new, mainly because Theo was coming to Beacon Hills High School’s Halloween party this time, and he couldn’t lose to his gorgeous boyfriend. Liam was scrolling his phone in the school library with Mason and Corey, scrambling for ideas, and soon a thought flashed through his mind. How could he not think about it before? He was a werewolf after all.
“No.” Mason and Corey vetoed at the same time.
“Why not?”
“It’s too dangerous.” Mason sighed. “Remember the time you nearly killed someone when you couldn't control your shifting?”
“Which time?” Corey added mercilessly.
“C’mon, guys, that was almost two years ago,” Liam protested.
“Still,” Mason said firmly. “We can’t risk the lives of the entire school just so you can look fly at a Halloween party.”
“Alright, fine.” Liam pouted.
“What’s Theo gonna be?” Corey asked.
“He wouldn’t tell me. He said I would know when I saw him.”
“That’s kinda terrifying,” Mason said flatly.
“What are you two gonna be anyway?”
Liam left the school frustrated. He was mad at Mason for turning down his idea, not because Mason thought it was dangerous, but because Mason was the one going to be a werewolf this year. Like, seriously? And Corey was going to be a chameleon, not a werechameleon like he already was, but a real one, with a tail and bumpy skin and stuff. These two should really go see a therapist.
Theo’s truck was already waiting in the parking lot. Liam hopped into the passenger seat and soon spotted a black plastic bag sitting on the backseat. He narrowed his eyes.
“Is that your Halloween costume?” he asked suspiciously.
“Don’t. Look.” Theo stressed every word with ridiculous effort.
Liam’s eyes narrowed even more, but he also didn’t challenge Theo any further. He didn’t want them breaking anything in the truck, after all. They arrived at Theo’s apartment smoothly, and Theo climbed out of the truck immediately after parking it, leaving Liam still sitting in the passenger seat. An evil grin slowly surfaced on Liam’s face.
Theo only told him not to look, but he didn’t tell him not to peek.
Liam carefully climbed over to the backseat, reaching for the bag. Theo was walking casually toward the entrance, so Liam had about ten seconds to find out what was in the bag. He quickly pulled the bag open with one finger, making it just wide enough to see inside, then leaned his whole body forward to look. He saw a white dome-shaped thing with a plastic visor attached to it.
A space helmet.
A loud gasp escaped Liam’s throat. Not a shocked gasp, but a victorious one, because Theo’s choice was both lame and adorable at the same time. It was even a little too mundane for a person like him. Liam’s smile grew bigger. Even though science was Theo’s passion, Liam still wanted to top his costume, and topping an astronaut seemed fairly easy, at least that was what he believed.
He hurriedly closed the bag and jumped out of the truck before trotting toward Theo, who seemed completely oblivious to what Liam had just done. Liam still did his best to pretend nothing had happened before walking into the building with Theo. A plan immediately formed in his mind.
Days passed, and Saturday finally arrived. Liam walked into the school auditorium with an aviator hat and goggles. He soon found the (fake) werewolf and the (real) chameleon standing by the entrance. They both froze the moment they saw Liam enter the venue, then suddenly burst into laughter.
“What’s the problem with you guys?” Liam grumbled.
Mason was still laughing his head off, so Corey spoke first. Liam could still see tears in the chameleon’s eyes.
“Liam,” Corey said between breaths. “Are you a pilot?”
“Yeah?”
“Liam,” Mason finally managed to catch his breath. “It’s the twenty-first century, not the Great Depression.”
“Says the creature who’s existed for a thousand years,” Liam shot back.
“You’re a werewolf yourself,” Corey added.
“Fine. Just keep laughing your asses off.”
“Where’s Theo?” Mason asked abruptly.
Liam pulled out his phone. “He said he should be here in five.”
They saw Brett walking toward them, followed by Nolan and Lori. Brett had really put a tremendous amount of effort into his basketball player costume. Liam could practically see him putting on the tank top three minutes before heading out. Nolan was a vampire. He seemed to have recovered from the bloodbath a few months ago pretty easily. And Lori was just a fairy. An unusually sophisticated one, though.
They laughed at each other’s costume for a while (with Liam mostly being the target), but Theo still hadn’t arrived yet. Uneasiness began surfacing in Liam’s chest.
“What’s Theo gonna be?” Brett asked casually.
“Uh...” Liam stalled for a few seconds as Mason and Corey turned toward him in confusion. “I-I think he’s gonna be an astronaut.”
“An astronaut and a pilot. How cute,” Nolan blurted out.
“No.” Liam shot him a glare. “I’m pretty sure I’ll top his costume.”
“You think you’re gonna top an astronaut with a pilot?” Brett exclaimed like he had just witnessed someone die.
“Well, it’s more stylish, and pilots are in way more movies,” Liam replied lamely.
“What kind of movies have you been watching, Liam?” Corey snorted.
“And you can’t see his face under the helmet,” Liam added.
“Fair point,” Lori muttered.
“Liam,” Mason finally said. “You think you can top someone who’s literally flying on TOP of you?”
Liam shot him a deeply betrayed look. “Shut up, Mason.”
The crowd suddenly erupted into screams. They all jumped before turning toward the source of the sound. A man dressed in black and wearing a mask stormed into the venue, carrying a shotgun and a crossbow. Students ran around frantically to find a place to hide. Then Liam smelled something.
Wolfsbane.
A hunter.
The Puppy Pack bolted in the same direction, but the hunter sprinted inhumanly fast after them. He soon appeared behind Liam and grabbed him by the collar. Liam squeezed his eyes shut, but then he heard a familiar voice and froze.
“Sorry I’m late, little wolf.” The hunter pulled off his mask. Liam turned around and saw Theo standing in front of him with the biggest smirk on his face.
“THEO!?” Liam shouted.
The Puppy Pack all froze the moment they heard the name.
“You like my costume?” Theo asked as if the students around them weren’t still screaming.
“Th-Theo, wha-” Every word caught in Liam’s throat. He struggled to make a sound, only to find his tongue was basically dead.
He stared at Theo for what felt like a millennium, his whole body malfunctioning.
“Theo, what the fuck!?” Mason's exasperated voice cut in abruptly. Liam jumped again two seconds later as his muscles finally remembered how to move.
“Hey, Mason, it’s nice seeing you again.”
“Theo!” Mason yelled again. “Why are you dressed like that?”
“Because it’s Halloween?” Theo tilted his head one degree.
“Oh my God, Theo.” Mason slapped a hand to his forehead a little too hard. “W-why did you bring a gun? Where did you get the gun? Why do you have a gun?”
“And why did they let you in with a gun?” Corey cut in.
“I told them it was a toy.”
“THAT’S IT!?” Everyone screamed.
Theo shrugged like this was the most obvious thing in the world.
“And the crossbow?” Nolan asked hesitantly.
“Same.” Theo pulled out a rubber arrow from his quiver and bent it in half.
“W-what-” Liam finally managed to generate words. “What about the wolfsbane?”
The humans turned toward him in shock.
“Oh, about that,” Theo chuckled. “That’s for later. I thought we were going to Sinema after this.”
“Theo. You’re. Such. A. Jerk!” Liam basically collapsed onto the floor.
Theo just laughed as if he had won the competition.
Because of the chaos, Theo’s (toy) gun was confiscated by the school until the end of the party, but he was somehow allowed to keep his (rubber) crossbow. After everyone had recovered, Theo suddenly became the star of the show. Everyone scrambled to take a selfie with him, and the smile never left his face the entire time.
Liam stared at him, wishing he could delete the whole October from the calendar.
5: Things
“Theo, what’s that?” Liam asked as he pointed at a metal disc on Theo’s table.
Since Theo had moved into Derek’s apartment, this place had become messier and messier as time passed. Not only were there more things, but those things never seemed to be in their correct places. A shelf that used to hold only books was now occupied by a bunch of random snacks. A hammer and an extension cord somehow both ended up on the kitchen counter. And sometimes Liam would find the remote buried under a pile of pillows.
How had this person even managed to plan evil plots without the ability to survive basic human life? Liam thought as he kicked a DVD case aside from the middle of the living room.
Theo stared at the disc for a long moment, as if he also had no idea where it had come from, then his eyes lit up as he finally remembered something.
“I picked it up yesterday,” he said like this was just a normal thing to do every day.
“Picked it up where?” Liam stepped over to take a closer look.
“On my way home,” Theo answered ambiguously. “I think it’s a titanium disc.”
“Why did you pick up a random titanium disc on your way home?” Liam stared at him.
“Dunno.” Theo looked away casually. “I guess it reminded me of Derek’s talisman.”
Liam took another look at the smooth shiny silver disc, trying to figure out if he had misunderstood the meaning of the word ‘remind’ his whole life.
The next evening, Liam found the disc gone. Instead, two tennis balls suddenly appeared in the corner of the living room.
“Do you even play tennis?” Liam stared at the yellow-green balls.
“No.” Theo’s head was buried in his phone. “I picked them up from the school parking lot.”
“Why did you pick up tennis balls from the school parking lot?”
“They reminded me of your lacrosse balls.”
Liam definitely didn’t expect Theo to throw such heart-melting words all of a sudden. He stared at Theo for a second, his face softening slightly, but then his expression hardened again because, one, Theo could always ask him for lacrosse balls if he wanted to keep them, and two, Liam didn’t want to trip over those stupid rolling things in Theo’s apartment.
He stepped toward the tennis balls and picked them up before tossing them into the corner of the bedroom, as if it made any difference at all.
Theo just glanced at him silently.
During the next few weeks, Liam would occasionally see random things pop up in Theo’s apartment. Sometimes it was a metal ring, sometimes a giant, beautiful leaf, sometimes a wooden stick. Liam had to constantly repress the urge to ask Theo what the hell was going on, but he soon forced himself to get used to it. They all ended up disappearing a few days later anyway.
But still, his patience had to run out at some point.
“Why are you picking up random stuff every other day?” He pointed at a rock that looked surprisingly like a bunny.
Theo lifted his head from his phone and glanced at the rock for a second. “Dunno.”
“Theo,” Liam grumbled, grabbing Theo’s phone from his hands. “You tap your fingers. You touch things in IKEA. You bother your neighbors. You scared the hell out of me at Halloween. And now you’re picking up stuff on the streets?”
Theo held Liam’s gaze for a long moment. Liam couldn’t quite grasp the emotions in his eyes. Then Theo finally sighed and spoke.
“Liam,” he said calmly. “I do everything for a reason. I tap because of stress. I touch things because I haven’t gotten to see much in my life. I play video games to blend in with other people. I dressed as a hunter to brush off my trauma. And I pick things up because they remind me of something in my memory.”
Theo finished in one go, as if he were giving a speech rather than talking to his boyfriend.
Liam just stared at him, his mind still struggling to process the whole thing. He understood Theo’s past very well, probably a little too well, so everything that Theo had done suddenly made sense in his head. He wanted to help Theo become a real boy, but sometimes he forgot Theo was also trying very hard to do that. Liam trusted Theo in every way, so maybe Liam should just let him be, except the evil surgeon video game probably wasn’t a good choice to blend in with people.
Liam’s whole body relaxed as he walked toward Theo and wrapped an arm around his waist.
“I get it, Theo,” he said softly. “I know a lot of shit has happened in your past. I probably don’t know about everything, but I know how you feel about it. Maybe this is your way of healing, or maybe you just need some other things to distract you from thinking about it. But I know, Theo. And I’m sorry for getting mad at you.”
Theo turned toward Liam, looking him straight in the eye. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then a small grin began spreading across Theo’s face.
“Apology accepted.”
“Now you’re acting cocky.” Liam rolled his eyes.
“Liam, I don’t need to act cocky. I am cocky.”
“Don’t make me regret saying those words.”
“Guess what, it’s already accepted, so you can’t take it back.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
Liam punched Theo lightly in the shoulder and finally broke into a smile. Of course, Theo had always been an asshole, but now Liam wasn’t able to get angry with his asshole acts anymore, at least not until he crossed one too many lines. He had chosen Theo for a reason, and it was because he knew under all the masks and armor Theo had built to protect himself, he was still a childish boy.
“So...” Liam broke the silence. “Where did all that stuff go? Did you just throw them away?”
“I didn’t,” Theo said casually.
Liam threw him a perplexed look, but Theo just walked toward the door and waved him over. Liam followed him tentatively.
They made their way into the corridor. Liam walked behind Theo in confusion while the chimera headed toward the end of the hallway. Then he pushed open a door. Liam stepped inside the room and soon found himself in some kind of small storage room. The shelves lined the walls, with plastic and cardboard boxes stacked on them.
“Um, Theo, what’s this place?”
“It’s the storage room for the fourteenth floor.”
“Okay, but why are we here?”
Theo didn’t answer. He simply walked toward the back of the room and lifted up a plastic box from the bottom shelf. Liam suddenly realized what Theo was doing.
“Theo, is that all the stuff you adopted from the streets?” He pointed at the box Theo was holding.
“Yup,” Theo confirmed like he owned the entire building.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to put it in here. It’s a public space.”
“Nobody’s gonna notice.” Theo smirked.
Liam pinched the bridge of his nose. At this point, he had kind of just given in to Theo’s lack of civic-mindedness, as long as the chimera wasn’t about to get himself kicked out again. He sighed and looked back at the box.
“Show me.”
Theo opened the box.
The moment Liam saw what was inside, his eyes widened in complete shock. He saw the titanium disc, the tennis balls, the metal ring, the leaf, and the wooden stick, but he also saw...socks. A lot of socks.
Liam’s socks.
“Th-Theo, are those...” Liam’s eyes were about to pop out of his head.
“Yup.”
Liam let out a loud groan.
“That’s why I’ve been losing socks!”
“You probably shouldn’t have left them literally everywhere you’ve been.”
“Why didn’t you give them back to me?”
“Well,” Theo smirked. “These are relics of the memories. They belong here.”
“Oh my God, Theo.” Liam let out a prolonged sigh. “I can’t even with you.”
“I’m pretty sure you can. Your socks are still here.” Theo flashed him a shameless smile.
Liam just turned around and walked away.
6: Time
Liam sat on the bench by the field. The audience was cheering for a match that hadn’t even started yet. Coach was yelling at whoever he felt like, and Nolan was shifting every thirty seconds nervously as usual. It was the finals of the Beacon County Lacrosse Tournament, and they were playing Devenford Prep. Of course it was going to be Beacon Hills High versus Devenford Prep. He didn’t even need to think about it.
His old coach’s car was sitting beside the entrance. Some dents and scratches were still visible on the body. Liam let out a sigh. His IED had improved a lot during the past year. Maybe becoming a werewolf had helped a little. Maybe it was because of the mantra or whatever. But he was still afraid he might explode again if someone didn’t show up in ten minutes.
He glanced toward his parents. The seat beside David was still empty.
Where was he?
Theo was no stranger to being late. Sometimes Liam wondered if the clocks in Theo’s apartment were just decorations to him, or if time worked completely differently in the guy’s head. Liam would have to lie about the schedules of their dates or pack meetings just to keep them on time, but most of the time Theo just saw through the lies and showed up late anyway. He always used his intelligence for all the wrong things.
“Dunbar, get your ass on the field!” Coach’s voice thundered through the entire school.
Liam’s eyes darted around. He saw his teammates already standing in their positions, and Coach was frantically blowing his whistle like a trumpet. He hurriedly trotted toward the center before settling his stick over the ball. Brett was doing the same right in front of him.
“Dude, what’s going on?” Brett’s voice came from behind the mask.
“What do you mean?” Liam looked up at him.
“You smell anxious.”
“Stop smelling me.” Liam rolled his eyes.
The referee's whistle pierced the air. Liam drove his stick toward the ball, only to see Brett already flicking it toward his teammate. Liam grunted and launched forward.
The first quarter ended smoothly–for Devenford Prep. Liam glanced at the scoreboard and saw a giant five-to-one, and the one came from Nolan. He trotted toward the bench, shaking his head, then suddenly felt a hand grab his shoulder. He turned around and saw Brett standing beside him, looking worried.
“Stop smelling like that,” Brett said.
“Why are you still smelling me?” Liam shot him a glare.
“Liam, your scent’s literally all over the field. You’re stressing all the supernaturals out.” Brett threw an arm out and spun in a circle.
Liam just glared at him silently. After a long moment, Brett let out a sigh.
“It’s because Theo still isn't here, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know what you're talking about.”
“C’mon, Liam.” Brett rolled his eyes. “You smell just like you do every time he’s not around for over an hour.”
“Stop. Smelling. Me.”
“Fine.” Brett let out a loud sigh and held up his hands in surrender before running back toward his teammates.
The second quarter began shortly afterward. Liam tried to focus only on the ball, but he still couldn’t help glancing toward the empty seat every fifteen seconds. He saw his parents cheering for him, but then he saw David cupping his hands around his mouth, trying to yell something. Suddenly, the ball hit the back of his head, knocking him onto the ground. A few students started running toward him, Nolan being the first.
“Dude.” Nolan reached out a hand. “Are you okay?”
“‘M fine.” Liam muttered, ignoring the hand before getting to his feet.
“I tried to pass the ball to you, but you’re not even looking at the game,” Nolan continued.
“Then thanks for throwing the ball at me when I wasn’t looking,” Liam said discontentedly.
“Liam, you’re in a game.” Nolan grabbed his shoulder. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
Liam sprinted back toward his position, leaving a confused Nolan behind.
The second quarter continued. Liam didn’t get hit by the ball anymore, mostly because his teammates stopped passing to him. He ran around the field randomly like a pinball. Coach’s “What the hell are you doing, Dunbar?” rang through his ears, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.
The buzzer rang, and someone immediately grabbed Liam by the collar. He turned around and saw Coach’s enraged face.
“Dunbar!” Coach roared. “You’re benched!”
“What?” Liam blurted out.
“You’re benched for the rest of the game. You hear me?” Coach’s voice became even louder with every word.
Liam stared at him for a second.
“Fine!”
He turned around and walked toward the bench, lowering his head. He didn’t really care about being benched. Not anymore. Especially when someone couldn’t see him like this anyway. That someone hadn’t even seen any part of the game. He sat down, exasperated, then two sets of hurried footsteps drifted into his ears.
“Liam, what happened?” Mason’s voice rang out sharply.
“Why were you doing donuts on the field?” Corey cut in even more sharply.
“You weren’t even looking at the ball!”
“Everybody was afraid that you might run into them!”
“Your mom and dad are worried!”
“We are worried!”
“SHUT UP! MASON!” Liam screamed. “And you, Corey.”
The two froze, but quickly stepped even closer.
“Look, Liam,” Mason began softly. “I know Theo isn’t here, but I’m pretty sure he has a reason.”
“And he always shows up,” Corey added.
“Yeah, at the end,” Liam growled. “And he sure as hell always has a reason.”
“Liam,” Mason rested a hand on Liam’s shoulder. Liam twitched slightly. “You don’t have to be mad at him. It’s just a game.”
“The finals.”
“Right.” Mason sighed. “But you don’t have to be that mad right now. You can call him, or yell at him afterwards.”
“I’m not calling him if it’s his fault.”
“Liam,” Mason grabbed his arm tightly. “Maybe he’s just busy. Maybe someone dropped by unexpectedly. Or maybe something else happened to him.”
Liam fell silent for a moment. If this was a few months ago, he would’ve thought something bad had happened to Theo. Probably hunters, or some new generation Dread Doctors. And Liam wouldn’t have hesitated before looking for him. But now, Liam was fairly certain Theo was either sleeping or doing some random stuff.
The third quarter started, and Corey was up. Liam sat on the bench with Mason quietly, his mind spinning with hundreds of emotions, mostly anger. He stared at the scoreboard, watching Devenford Prep’s score climb higher and higher, while his team’s stayed at three. He closed his eyes, dying for the stupid finals to end, but time seemed to pass even slower.
By the time the game finally ended, the Devenford Prep players were shouting and cheering, while Liam’s team walked slowly off the field. Coach’s face twisted in fifty impossible ways, and Liam was prepared for a volcanic eruption. Nolan was shifting nervously again, then Liam suddenly noticed Brett shoving his teammates aside and trotting toward them.
Liam only got to hear Coach inhale because the second his first word came out, Brett violently grabbed Liam’s arm and dragged him toward the other side of the field. Liam’s whole body froze while he shouted in protest, but Brett just ignored him and kept dragging him. Mason and Corey joined halfway through. The chameleon somehow managed to escape Coach’s bombardment, but Liam's mind couldn’t process anything anymore.
They finally stopped at the school parking lot.
“Brett, what the hell!?” Liam shouted, dropping onto the ground.
“I’m preventing the school from exploding,” Brett said evenly.
“What are you-”
“Liam,” Brett cut him off sharply. “You literally looked like a nuclear bomb.”
“And I’m pretty sure Coach can’t survive your claws,” Corey added.
Liam looked down at his fingers and saw his claws poking out. He tried to put them back, but they just stayed out stubbornly. He let out a growl.
“Liam, you need to calm down,” Mason said firmly.
“No, I can’t,” Liam said as he was still desperately trying to retract his claws, his voice faltering slightly.
“But you have to. Say the mantra. Say any-”
“I can’t,” Liam cut him off. “I-I can’t do it without him.”
The other three froze while Liam just stared at them silently. A moment later, Brett’s eyes lit up as if something suddenly hit his mind.
“He’s your anchor,” he said quietly.
Liam didn’t say anything. He just stared at him as Mason and Corey turned toward Brett, their eyes widening slightly.
After another long silence, Brett let out a small chuckle. Mason’s and Corey’s eyes grew wider.
“Well, that makes things easier,” he said lightheartedly.
“What do you mean?” Mason asked.
“We just kidnap him, throw him into Theo’s apartment, and everything will be fine.”
“Really? But Theo’s the one who made him-”
“It doesn’t matter. The anchor will figure things out himself.”
“What if Liam just punches him?”
“That’s even better if it makes Liam less-”
“Guys! I’m still here!” Liam yelled. The other three turned toward him, the tension in the atmosphere fading a little.
“Liam,” Brett started. “We’re taking you to Theo’s apartment.”
Before Liam could react, the three dragged him toward Mason’s car.
Mason drove as fast as possible without running any red lights, not only because he wanted Liam to be okay, but also because he didn’t want the screaming werewolf breaking something in his car. They arrived at Theo’s apartment in ten minutes. The moment they climbed out of the car, the two werewolves and the chameleon instantly felt something strange. Something didn’t smell right in the air.
“Is that...” Liam sniffed.
“Oh no!” Corey yelled abruptly. “Something’s burnt!”
They immediately rushed toward the entrance and made their way to the elevator. As they arrived at the fourteenth floor, the stench in the air became strong enough that even Mason wrinkled his nose. They stormed into Theo’s unit and were instantly met with a horrifying scene.
The kitchen was completely black, with broken plates and pans scattered across the floor, and smoke was still rising from the stove.
Theo was lying on the floor, his skin looking burnt and blistered.
“THEO!” Liam screamed.
“Hey, little wolf,” Theo said weakly with a small grin. “Sorry I missed your game.”
“No, no, no, Theo, are you okay?” Liam sprinted toward the chimera. The other three quickly followed.
“I’m okay. I’m fine.” Theo lifted his head a little. “I’ll just need a couple more hours to heal.”
“No, you’re not.” Liam hurriedly pressed a hand onto Theo’s shoulder. His face twisted as a huge amount of pain suddenly surged through his arm. Oh my God.
Sweat burst from every pore of his body, but he never let go. He finally pulled his hand away as the pain gradually faded. He collapsed onto the floor, panting sharply.
“Do-do you feel better? Do you need...the nine herbs? I can call Argent or Melissa...” Liam spoke between breaths.
“No, Liam,” Theo said softly. “I’m healing.”
Liam scanned every part of Theo’s body. The color of his skin began to return, and blood stopped dripping from his cuts. The tension slowly left his face. Liam exhaled heavily.
They held each other’s gaze in silence while the other three were still too stunned to talk. After a long moment, Theo was finally able to sit up. Liam immediately wrapped an arm around his shoulder to steady him.
“What were you doing?” Liam asked, his voice still trembling slightly.
“I was cooking...something,” Theo answered quietly.
“Why? You don’t even cook.”
Theo snorted softly.
“I was trying,” he said. “But I didn’t know it would be that hard.”
“That’s kind of an understatement when your kitchen literally exploded.” Liam’s voice softened a little.
Theo turned toward him, looking him in the eye. Then he spoke again.
“And I definitely didn’t think an explosion would be the best surprise for our six-month anniversary.”
Liam’s eyes widened. Words caught in his throat. He heard his friends gasp, but Theo continued.
“Liam, happy six months.”
Liam was speechless for another second, then he finally broke into a smile.
“Six months? Seriously?”
Theo let out a sheepish laugh. “I don’t know what people celebrate, so I kind of just went with my gut.”
Liam’s heart ached a little, but he quickly pressed a kiss on Theo’s cheek.
“I’m gonna kill you if you try to kill yourself again.”
They ended up ordering takeout from a fancy restaurant nearby as their friends left. Liam groaned a little when he saw a good chunk disappear from his wallet, but the smile never left his face. He didn’t ask what Theo was cooking, though. Because whatever it was, he would probably never see it again. He promised himself that he would never let his boyfriend leave his sight in the kitchen again.
And they also had to figure out how to tell Derek about this.