Shoutout to everyone telling Liam for 2 seasons "you're okay, you're okay, you're okay" and then this tragic, complexed, slutty gay guy comes along and looks him straight in the eye and says "you're not okay, you're not okay at all and there's no reason why you should be" and Liam BELIEVES him.
Liam has spent his whole life thinking he has to change and be different to be accepted and joining Scott's pack hasn't changed that: Liam still feels like he has to appear okay because that's what everyone expects of him.
And what happens is Theo comes along and is like "it's okay, you can stay here with me, just for a little while, you can stay here at rock bottom and catch your breath and then you can start climbing again, you can rest in my absence of expectation" and Liam BELIEVES him.
And what happens next is that Liam catches his breath and then stands up and takes Theo's hand and says "let's go back up" and when Theo tries to object because he is obviously convinced that he has no right to go back up Liam is like "it's okay, you can come with me, just for a little while, you can come back up and feel the real air and then you can go back down, you can breathe in my trust" and this time it's Theo who believes him.
Liam and Theo are at their lowest point and that's what makes everything happen: at least at the beginning it's not respect, or esteem or need, it's understanding. They know each other on a deeper level and understand each other like the reflection of a mirror. And this seems unable to change anything but actually changes the whole course of the narrative because Theo UNDERSTANDS Liam and Liam TRUSTS Theo and I want to die
