Liam closed his eyes again, collapsing, his head sinking into the blood-stained grass.
"You have to stay awake," Theo pleaded, a hand on his cheek to shake him. "Please, you have to stay awake."
"I know. I know," Theo replied, continuing to rub his thumb against his cheekbone while lifting his shirt. "But now you have to breathe for me? Can you do that?"
The gash was there, bright red and still oozing at a staggering rate, the smell growing more and more nauseating.
He had to stop the bleeding.
"Okay, remember to breathe," he repeated once more before finding the courage to put his hand into the wound.
His head was spinning, nausea rising as Liam's flesh felt warm around his hand.
Liam made the sound of an wounded animal, a hand immediately reaching out for him only to be stopped.
"I know. I know," Theo said again as he dug for the source of the blood, his other hand closing over Liam's. "Just squeeze, okay? As hard as you can."
"Theo, it hurts," Liam repeated, trying to struggle even though he could barely move.
"Hold on a little longer," Theo begged, his eyes watering and making everything so much more difficult. "Just a little, just... found it!"
His fingers finally found the hole, the blood seeming to slow at least a little as his fingers held it in place.
"Theo," Liam sighed in agony.
"I'm here," Theo replied in a faint voice, resting his forehead against Liam's temple. "I'm here, everything's going to be okay."
But the blood continued to drip between his fingers despite the pressure on the wound, the beta's body growing colder and colder.
"I'm dying, right?" Liam asked at that point, his breath starting to fail him, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Theo, I don't want to die."
"No, no, shhh, you're not going to die," Theo then tried to reassure him immediately, pressing even harder, but getting no response. "You're not going to die, everything's going to be okay."
"It doesn't hurt anymore," Liam said, barely moving his lips. "It doesn't..."
He didn't even finish the sentence before his head fell to the side, limp.
"No, no, Liam, Liam, please, please!" Theo screamed at that point, shaking him forcefully as he finally saw the blue lights approaching "Liam!"
💙 Maybe it's 6:45 (maybe I'm barely alive)
Theo entered the club with his heart in his throat, his eyes immediately falling on the person he was looking for.
"Liam," he breathed out in a whisper, walking towards him in a corner of the all, near the bar.
"Theo!" Liam exclaimed in response, laughing as a boy tried to hold him upright in a chair, an ice pack pressed to his head.
"Liam, what have you done?" Theo then asked, motioning for the boy to leave the ice so he could inspect the damage.
"Nothing," Liam shook his head with the drunkest smile he'd ever seen, the purple bruise just above his eye telling a different story. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to get you, idiot," Theo replied, almost annoyed as he pressed the ice pack back to the wound.
"You stopped coming to get me a year ago," Liam replied, shaking his head and letting it fall back.
"He's drunk and fell down the stairs," the staff member intervened at that point. "I called the first numbers on the phone."
Theo merely nodded, then pulled a bill from his jeans and handed it to him. "Thanks for taking care of him."
The boy just smiled politely, making sure Liam wasn't going to fall before finally leaving them alone.
And Theo looked back at Liam.
"Come on, let's go," he said then with a sigh. "Can you walk?"
"I don't want to go home," Liam shook his head, trying to stand up only to stumble dangerously.
It was instinctive for Theo to step into the path of his fall.
"Okay, okay, I got you," he simply said, wrapping his arms around him firmly. "I got you."
Liam didn't even try to get back to his feet, simply staying slumped in his arms while his entire universe was probably spinning around him.
"Come home with me," Theo murmured against his head. "I can stay with you until you'll feel better."
💜 Killing the monster (another spinoff of WHFL)
Liam heard only one hellish noise, the familiar sound of breaking glass that filled the room.
Liam pressed himself tighter against the closet, his hands pressed against his ears as stupid tears filled his eyes.
The noise of the monster, his voice, his smell even.
He was back. He was back for him.
Liam felt his nails digging in the skin of his face.
Liam loved the silence, the silence after the storm, when he could inspect the damage and fix things, when everything just ended.
In that moment, however, the silence unleashed a panic in him that nothing had ever caused before, a fear so ancient and visceral that it overcame his very survival instinct.
Liam stood up despite not even being able to feel his body a moment before, running to the door and throwing it open.
The living room was a mess, as if a hurricane had passed through, but his eyes immediately fixed on Theo curled up on the rug, his arms wrapped around himself as if for protection.
Liam watched in slow motion his father's boot connecting with Theo's ribs, drawing a cry of agony from him.
For the first time, Liam felt a new sensation crackle in his chest, something warm and vibrant, fear giving way entirely to anger.
His father had done nothing but abuse him, hit him, humiliate him, and ruin his life; he had stolen years, life, and experiences from him; he had robbed him of the prospect of a future for the entire time he had been alive.
And yet, it was only in that moment, seeing him hit Theo, that Liam finally managed to react.
His fingers closed on the first thing he could get his hands on, an old wooden picture frame, and then, before he could really think about it, he threw it across the room.
"Stay away from him!" he screamed, his voice breaking hysterically as he also threw a book at him, hitting him in the arm "Stay away from him!"
