#thiam shipper

[elliemarchetti]

A Private Dance

Theo works as a prostitute in the supernatural brothel on the back of the Sinema, Liam is approached by a fascinating stranger and Mason and Corey are cute as always. I do not think there's anything else to add to this plot, except for a warning: as always, Brett and Lori Talbot are part of the story, because I will never forget them nor forgive Jeff Davis for their death. @demonzdust I hope you like this (even if no one gets roughly fucked, at least for now) and that is up to the expectations of Thiam fandom.

Words:2496

Since it all started, control was the only thing that really mattered in Liam Dunbar's life. First, he had to learn to control his transformations, then his anger, then even his feelings. He had understood that by planning, calculating and observing one could avoid many problems, and all thanks to his friends. Planning everything to avoid problems, however, was not always easy. That too had been taught by his pack, but above all, by a person he did not want to think about. The numerous neon signs hung on the walls and the faint track lights on the ceiling, which lit up the bottles of liquor behind the counter, were a mere distraction. Mason and Corey had thought that taking him to the Sinema with them was a good idea, a good way to distract him. They had not calculated that things had gone wrong with the Sinema in the past, and that spending time with Beacon Hills' close-knit pair would not have helped distract him from his love affairs. It all sadly reminded him of how Theo had irretrievably turned away from him once the Monroe army had dispersed and the Anuk-Ite had been defeated.

He was sitting on the same stool for two hours, watching his friends who were dancing sensually on the dance floor. He remembered a time where he would not have felt so uncomfortable, having fun with a group of handsome boys. It had been a while. So many things had happened in a year that he could hardly think about it without getting a headache.

"Is your ex?" asked a boy, approaching him with a provocative look. Liam wrinkled his nose. He did not really want to talk or even gently decline the unfriendly avanches of a stranger, but he shook his head anyway.

"Only my friends."

"It was not nice of them to leave you here." the boy pointed out, and finally Liam bothered to look at him. He was a couple years older, with a contagious smile and a slightly out-of-focus cut.

"They're in love, what do you want to do with it?" Liam replied casually, returning to look at Mason and Corey, committing himself to hurry up to finish the fifth Manhattan. Not that five or fifty made any difference to him. His body dispelled alcohol before it could even feel a slight dizziness. In those cases, being a werewolf was disgusting.

"I prefer bourbon." he tried again, pointing to his drink. Liam smiled a little, but did not answer. He had no idea what to say. His only love story had been a tremendous failure, and what he thought he had with Theo... He shook his head, hoping he could not think about it.

"You know, you seem lost here sitting all alone." the boy pointed out. "We should go on the dance floor."

"I'm not in the right mood tonight." Liam answered, committing himself to keeping the tone as kind as possible.

"Maybe I know what you could do for you ..." the boy began, and unwittingly the younger of the two was immediately attracted by the prospect of leaving, maybe doing something that did not make him think, even for a second.

"But you must trust me." added the taller, whom Liam began to believe, had a familiar air.

"Everything in order to not see another kiss between those two." Liam answered, finally getting up from the stool. He could see Corey and Mason's tongues intertwined, and the idea of being staring at his best friend's public preliminaries was beginning to disgust him a little. They were not always like that, but neither of them had a werewolf's resistance to alcohol and no matter how hard they tried to keep up with him, the four sweet vermouths of Corey and Mason’s third Manhattan began to make themselves felt on their bodies.

With a victorious smile, the dark-haired boy dragged him to a part of the room that Liam had only seen in passing, the year before. It was as if the Sinema had two faces, that of a local libertine, but still legal, and that of old-fashioned brothel, with dancers and dancers wiggling half-naked and wandering around the tables with winking smiles. The thing that most amazed Liam was not to find only old men and slobs, but mainly boys, perhaps a few years older than him, and some, sporadic, forty years old. Moreover, if his senses did not deceive him, there were more supernatural creatures in that place than it would be good to put in the same area.

"Now you owe me an explanation." Liam said, still being dragged by the dark-haired boy.

"Did you really think the Sinema was just a nightclub?" the stranger asked, but Liam still did not know where to place him in his memories.

The boy did not know what to answer, so he remained silent, watching, in shock, the greasy bodies of the dancers. They moved with such grace, with such natural ease, that Brett immediately came to his mind. He had seen him dance, sometimes, and not in that part that came straight out of a hard movie. He attracted everyone's eyes. He tried not to think about how much he missed him. He had had time to mourn his death, when that foolish war was over, but he still could not believe that he would never see him again. They had been friends, once, then they were lost, and once they were found again, they were separated again, this time definitely. Liam was so lost in his sad thoughts that he did not notice that his companion had dragged him into a quieter part of the room, probably some kind of parting.

"I will be right back." he said with a wide smile, and Liam barely nodded. He thought of Lori, how much she still had to give to the world, how she had always been kind to him, even after he had quarreled with her brother. He was so busy thinking about how much he had lost that he almost did not realize that someone had passed the mobile screen that divided the separé from the others. Perhaps, to be honest, he would not have noticed the intruder, if only he had not immediately recognized the figure that populated his dreams, in that last period.

"Theo?" he asked, stunned. The other boy blanched. He could not believe it, he really could not. Was his friend so desperate that he needed to pay for sex?

"What are you doing here?" he asked, without the slightest restraint. It was obvious. Or maybe not?

"I was going to ask you the same question, and then, why are you dressed like that?" asked, naive, Liam. Theo glanced at his clothes; they were a little different from the sweatshirts and t-shirts he had grown used to. In any case, he remained silent. He did not even have the courage to cross those hateful blue eyes with which, he knew, Liam was looking at him, in denial.

"You know perfectly what I'm doing here and why I'm dressed this way ... I do not want your pity and your presence is not welcome either." Theo snapped, hoping to convince his friend to leave. Liam could not have imagined that his new friend had paid a private dance for him.

"Why are you doing this?" Liam asked instead, still sitting in the same spot. Theo frowned. He could not really be that stupid.

"How do you think I pay for gasoline and the food? If I remember correctly, I never came to beg anyone of you." he answered, on the defensive. It was at that moment, when he finally looked up, that he realized that his friend was not at all looking at him with disdain or with a look full of disappointment. He was intrigued.

"Who was that guy?" Theo asked, going around the table where usually the patrons laid their cocktails. Some women had occasionally gone too, but not too many. Besides, Theo doesn’t cared much. They left good tips, but almost none were willing to bend the law a little and take the dancers home or in some sordid hotel outside the city.

"I do not know, he approached me to the Sinema, in other words, in the part I already knew." Liam answered innocently. Theo had been able to talk to him several times. He knew that Danny was not yet twenty-one but entered with a false license and that despite studying in Los Angeles, he was born and raised in Beacon Hills. Even Liam, thinking about it, had to have an unofficial document, if he had arrived there.

"And what were you doing to the Sinema? You do not look like a great dancer." Theo investigated, trying to mislead his friend's suspicions. It was strange to call him such, even in his head. After all, they were not at all friends, or at least, Theo's feelings were not limited to that. Not that he was willing to tell Liam, of course. He had gone away even for that: having no longer a reason to always orbit around him, he should have gave to Liam an explanation, which he could not even give to himself.

"Mason and Corey." Liam answered, standing on the edge. He had not told anyone else about his conflicting feelings about Theo. Or rather, he had said it all to Mason, and perhaps not quite everything, and as much as his best friend insisted on shooting and perjury that he had said nothing to Corey, Liam was more than sure he let something slip. Not that he was sorry: he had overcome the initial distrust he felt towards him.

"I should have figured out..." Theo commented, to himself. The white Oxford shirt he wore as a uniform pulled at his shoulders, but he tried not to care when he sat there, while he shared with Liam the longest look ever.

"Well, now you have discovered my secret." finally, he decided to resign himself to behavior. Liam felt like the sound of a tear in his ears, as if with that comment Theo had broken something sacred and unrepeatable. Not that being blasphemous was somehow new to him. So he looked away, wondering how much longer his friend could have stayed with him. The phone began to vibrate in the pocket of the embarrassing blazer he had stolen from his stepfather in the hope of giving himself a more mature and lived air. A message from Mason. He pressed the lock button, hoping it was not something important. He was not willing to leave quickly; he had so many things to ask him. Yet no sound came out of his lips, perhaps also because of Theo's tight-fitting jeans.

"Do not you find it really hot inside here?" Liam asked, taking off his jacket. Theo looked at his muscular arms, as the t-shirt showed them, and he felt his mouth dry. Here's one of the reasons he thought it was wrong to call him a friend. A lust of that kind should not be tested against friends.

Liam stirred uncomfortably on the sofa, a bit 'baffled by the starving gaze in the eyes of his friend. Had he done something wrong? Suddenly, he realized how copiously he was sweating. He had to leave as soon as possible, or at least that was what his rational part told him. The irrational part, the one that allowed his gaze to fall on the groin area of ​​Theo, wrapped up like a Christmas present from those jeans, did not allow him to move.

"I can bring you something to drink, if you want." Theo pointed out, but Liam shook his head. "Do not worry; I'll have to go back in a while."

As soon as the words left his lips, he repented having said them. There was a flash of disappointment in Theo's eyes, but he was too busy self-pitying and trying to control his excitement to notice. It had been a long time since they were left alone, and surely they had never been alone that way, with no one who could improvise or people who wanted to kill them nearby. Not that at the old zoo had not been exciting, at least at the beginning.

"I guess I will not see you again soon." Theo noted. Liam looked at him with eyes full of horror, but quickly composed himself. "You're the one who's gone, I've got my pack now, Scott's gone, and those who did not seem to be able to forgive you are not here anymore to judge you."

Theo looked down. What Liam could not understand is that it was he who could not forgive himself, who believed he no longer deserved anything.

"You do not even need to do this." Liam added, trying to meet the gaze that the friend held stubbornly fixed on the floor. "Since my parents understood about the supernatural they would have nothing to say if you lived with us for a while, just long enough to get you back on track."

"But I'm fine." Theo answered, with a hint of amused smile on his face. Liam also tried to smile, but a twinge of jealousy struck him in the pit of his stomach.

"See you around then." he answered, knowing that it was the biggest of the possible lies he could tell. Theo would not make himself heard and would not even answer his calls if he ever put his pride aside and tried to contact him.

Theo watched his friend leave embarrassed, his head buried in his bent shoulders. He had driven him off badly, he knew, but it was also the only way not to collapse, not to accept his offer and allow himself a moment of peace in that life that had been returned not to enjoy it, but to make up for the mistakes previously committed. A head of black hair peeked over the divider. "How did it go?" Danny asked, with a smile. Theo shrugged: "Not as I expected, but with Liam it's always a mystery. My question is, how did you know?"

Danny's smile widened further: "I have my sources, and I will have to repay you in some way for your excellent services."

"You pay me already." Theo pointed out, getting up. He knew he would ask him to follow him to his hotel. It had been a great decision, not to stay at home, if he really wanted to have fun with supernatural creatures.

"Then it will mean that I feel obliged to spoil my favorite partner." he answered, before bending over to give him a playful, open-mouthed kiss. Theo closed his eyes, let the sensation take him elsewhere, in a world that Liam was not part of and in which, if it had not been for that night, he thought he could even be able to forget him.

[elliemarchetti]

THIAM FIC PART 8

Words:1608

They divided into two cars. Theo knew exactly where to look, and although the Dread Doctors were just a distant, bad memory now, no precaution was ever excessive, so they split into two cars, Theo, Liam and Corey on one, Scott, Jordan and Lydia on the other. It had not been easy to convince others to stay home, nor to convince Parrish to join their cause, but with a good deal of patience and good teamwork, they had achieved their purpose. The two teams were divided between those who knew better the hideout and the plans of the Dread Doctors and those who held the most power in absolute.

"Are you sure it will work?" asked Corey, leaning between the two front seats. He must have asked it a dozen times now.

"In short," he added, "I do not go back there for nothing. I did not care if you missed that place, but I really dislike this trip on the avenue of disturbing memories, so let's make it as short as possible.”

Liam was not very keen on bringing Corey with them, since whatever happened to him, Mason would blame him, and especially given his total uselessness during a real battle, but he could not object much when Theo pointed out to him that he was the only other member of the pack who knew something about the experiments on chimeras.

When they were near the Dread Doctors' den, a disquieting silence fell into the car. Everyone had their own disturbing memories and their own demons related to that place. When Theo turned off the car, there was no need to talk: they all got out of the car in silence, without even looking at each other. They were all afraid to see their own fear reflected in the eyes of their comrades. Lydia, Scott and Jordan had already arrived, and they were waiting that the two younger boys and the one who had once been their enemy entered the place of their nightmares. Liam also avoided their gaze, and they went headlong, Theo before everyone, then Corey and finally him. A few steps were enough, and Liam felt the fear in the air. It floated like a ghost never forgotten, ready to seek revenge on those who had dared to try to send it back where it had come from.

  Theo quickly realized he was trembling. His hands had slight spasms that he could not control, but he tried to do the same, to clench his teeth and not think of how many horrible memories he had attached to those damp and stinking corridors. He knew where the Dread Doctors kept the documents, the notes on their studies, where evidence of their obsession had been buried, probably eaten by rats and submerged in dust. He turned right, and he felt his heart beating faster. A dozen more feet and he would enter the room that most terrified him, the place where it all began, where his sister's heart had been implanted into his chest and made him the abomination he was.

The machines were still there, now eaten by rust and carelessness: the Dred Doctors had never cared much about that kind of thing.

With his eyes wide open, Theo looked around, waiting for an attack, his nerves on edge. He would not last long in there, he only realized it now. The flashbacks began to assault him with unprecedented violence, and he saw himself as a child watching his sister while freezing in that damn little river. Then the perspective changed abruptly, and he saw himself immersed in water up to his knees, his right hand red with blood. He did not immediately realize that he was leaning against one of the damp walls, he did not even realize he needed support. That was the price to pay for redemption. Maybe Liam said something, or maybe it was Corey. Not that in his eyes it mattered. Their voices reached him far away, as if he were about to faint, but his eyes did not see a peaceful, black oblivion, but the moment when they had slashed his chest, he felt all that pain again. He had no parents, or a house, he had no one who had loved him or believed him: he only had those monsters, their horrible masks, their disturbing voices, and he had nightmares and pain, and morally wrong choices. He felt his legs had abandoned him when he saw Tara emerge from the infernal hole that the fox had opened, and barely noticed his back rubbing against the rough and sharp wall. He could still feel her hands with long, thin fingers, her claw-like fingernails that tore at his flesh and dragged him to hell. So this was the price he had to pay, that was how his parenthesis of fictitious peace of mind had to end. He wanted to close his eyes, but he could not, he could not even blink and keep the tears from flowing warm and salty along his cheeks. What once the thirst for power had obscured, now appeared at his eyes with unnatural clarity, all his mistakes, all the ugliness he had committed, were like an endless film that flowed before his eyes, mixing reality with his biggest fears. Was it really so painful to care of people?

 Liam did not know what to do anymore. He had sent Corey to follow the directions that Theo had given before and he stayed there with him. He did nothing but whisper nonsense, and cry, terrified, huddled against one of the walls. He was pressed against it with such force that it seemed to want to merge with it. Liam was terrified: he had consoled Theo after his nightmares, it was not unusual, but his friend had never reacted that way, his claws firmly planted in the palms of his hands, which bleed profusely. He knew what risk he was facing, getting too close, but he could not ignore that Theo had done the same for him, convincing him not to kill Gabe and knocking him out five times when he had desperately tried to kill Nolan. He would not let him hurt himself like that. So he knelt before him, and looked into those yellow eyes full of terror. Although they were planted on his face, he did not seem to see him, lost in what had no other name if not post-traumatic stress disorder. Liam was used to those classifications, he had heard so many over the years, yet he did not know how to behave. He could not hit him, not while he was there, helpless and terrified, desperate for someone to save him. So he called him, shouted his name, heard his own voice break and then grow into a low growl. He shook him desperately, because he did not know what he had experienced in Hell, he did not even know what he had brought with him, if he would ever recover from that state. He spoke to him, telling him things that he considered useless, since Theo did not seem to hear him. Then the tension in his muscles loosened and the boy blinked only once, and it seemed as though he had come back to see, that he finally understood that nothing that had crushed him that way was real anymore.

“Liam.” he only whispered, and then grabbed his face with relief. What was he seeing during his daydreaming nightmares? What horrors his mind had given birth to? Before he knew it, Theo's lips were on his, and they looked for him with such despair that Liam had no way of resisting him. He did not care where they were, or why Theo was doing what he suddenly understood, Liam had wanted to do for so long. He responded to his kiss with as much despair, and felt the tears wet his cheeks, unable to understand if they were his or those of Theo. When they parted, breathless and both unable to speak, they didn’t look at each other, but Theo held him in a hug. He had already hugged him before, but never like that. He seemed to cling to him, as if he needed support. As if he were his anchor.

 He dragged him out of those corridors before Corey returned. Theo seemed incapable of resisting, as if that experience had emptied him, and he let himself be carried away, without looking back. Liam did not think it was necessary to provide explanations to Scott and the others, when only the two of them came out, Theo white as a rag. One look was enough, and the three boys entered the tunnels from which they had just crawled out. He sat Theo in the back seat of the car, and stayed with him, his senses alert but completely unable to take his eyes off his fragile-looking figure. When it seemed to him that he had calmed down enough to speak, he asked him what had happened in there. He had to know what Theo was facing.

"You were dead." Theo muttered, never taking his eyes off the headrest of the front seat. Liam frowned. He had never been dead before Theo, nor dying: he had always done his job and protected him, even at the risk of risking his life.

When the silence stretched too long, Theo turned and met the gaze of the person he cared most about the world, of the one without whom, by now he was sure, would not be able to continue living.

"Tara was not ripping my heart, she was snatching yours."

[elliemarchetti]

A Private Dance part 3

I know I should write something funny at the beginning of my fics, just to trick you into reading it, and not just write how much words is long, but, as a wise man said, I’m not witty. 

Words: 1216

Liam was pleasantly impressed. He knew that the new Theo was different from the one that had killed almost all his own pack, but he did not imagine he was this different. He did not imagine that he would break away from him without even looking back, that he would follow that boy to the main room, where everything seemed to be going well, where the show went on smoothly. From the corner of his eyes, Liam saw even Mason and Corey laughing.

Even if his presence had not been requested, he followed Theo, hurrying to keep up. The back was not as Liam expected it to be; too cramped and decidedly badly furnished. Everyone seemed genuinely worried, but unable to make a logical decision. A girl even had hands in front of her mouth, as if she had just discovered a corpse. Liam was too used to it to being impressed. Everyone looked apprehensive at a boy with empty eyes, his gaze lost on the ceiling, which had to be slipped from the wall where he was leaning. He was drugged, that was obvious, but Liam was not an expert and certainly could not imagine what drug it was. He breathed heavily, the poor man, and seemed unable to speak. Liam had once experienced the effects of aconite poisoning, and they did not have to be very different, he supposed.

"Move." he growled, seeing Brett's face in that face, all the faces of whom we wasn’t able to save united in a single, unknown face. Everyone backed away, and Theo came up with him.

"We have to take him to the hospital." someone said behind them, but the two boys ignored the voice.

"Do you think Melissa can help him?" Liam asked, crossing Theo's gaze. He could read pride in his eyes, but he was not sure he deserved it. He was not doing it just for his friend; he was doing it mainly for himself.

"I say we should try. Help me lift him, let's just make him look like a drunken kid." Theo told him, putting a young man's arm around his neck. Liam imitated him, and the one who had broken their kiss opened the door for them.

"The chief will not be pleased at all." someone whispered inside the hall.

"I do not see how he could find out." Theo replied, without even turning around. Silence fell again on the back of the stage, and everyone looked with a certain apprehension at the two beautiful and disturbing boys who carried off one of the few humans who worked there. They barely reached the door, out of reach of the customers, but not from the attentive gaze of the staff, when James suddenly bent over himself, almost escaping the grip of the two boys. They just barely had time to close the door behind them and the guy started screaming, or at least he tried.

"I could take his pain, I ..." Theo began, but Liam glared at him. The bouncer was glaring at them.

"Do not worry, Ben knows everything." Theo answered, and before Liam could look away from that dark face, he saw his eyes become a disquieting blue, in tremendous contrast with the tattooed skin.

"I do not know how much it could do him good." Liam laughed as he followed Theo's footsteps, dragging the guy to the pick-up. "If it's overdosed, we should try to keep him awake." He was nervous, he felt like he was overwhelmed, like, if he was best, different, could do something more. He felt useless, again, and he promised to himself that he would never felt that way again, not after what happened last time he felt like it.

They loaded him onto the back seats, where he curled up like a hedgehog, moaning with senseless grunts. Liam called Melissa, and the woman answered the third ring. After a quick update on the events and what he should have done, she ordered them to take him to the morgue: it was there that Scott's mother practiced her profession as savior of the pack. Moreover, since her son had left, she was even more careful, even more focused on what was necessary or not. Her relationship with Argent, in addition, had made her colder, more ruthless, and certainly more like a hunter. Liam also had the doubt that there was something that, finally, had managed to keep them hidden, but had neither the desire nor the time to investigate. If she wished to keep secrets from them, to divide her life as a human from that of a helper, and now an integral part of the pack, better for her; Liam could not do it, but maybe because he was a werewolf.

They had left for a few minutes when Liam began to clearly distinguish the smell of blood. He tried to study Theo, but he was so focused on the road, on saving what he was little more than an acquaintance to him, that Liam doubted he had decided to transport corpses recently. Also, that was fresh blood. What the hell did that guy took?

Not even halfway, Liam saw the clear signs of an epileptic fit. "Stop the car!" he shouted to Theo, who instead began to accelerate.

"Stop the car or he’ll choke with his own tongue!" Liam told him again.

"We're almost there ..." Theo whispered, now going at the maximum speed allowed by the pick-up.

"I said stop!" Liam roared. Theo widened his eyes and pulled sharply the brake. Liam did not ask him why he suddenly decided to listen to him and he hurled after the boy, trying to stop him from dying under his eyes. He pulled him out of the car with a single, ungainly movement, and laid him on the side of the road, between the dust and the asphalt. Theo threw a sweatshirt under his head, to prevent it from breaking, with his continuous shaking, and held his arms, while Liam took care of the legs. What in their eyes looked like an improvement was only a temporary situation, an apparent calm before the storm, which came in the form of strong retching. Those that looked like liters of white foam were coming out of the guy's mouth, uncontrollable.

"Liam bite him!" Theo exclaimed, and the younger one looked at his friend as if he were mad. He could not turn that guy. He did not know if he would survive, he did not know if he wanted that life of deprivation and composure.

"I can’t." Liam replied firmly, trying to avoid yet another rejection of foam.

"Please." Theo begged him. Was he about to cry? Liam never knew what was the final straw, what prompted him to make the decision that would forever change his life, which would push him to be better, stronger, and certainly responsible for more lives. He had never seen a transformation, as opposed to Theo. He had not realized how disquieting it was, how the movements looked so much like death spasms.

"It's normal?" Liam asked, his voice full of concern. Theo just nodded, fascinated by the whole situation. He was not sure Liam understood what had just happened. Honestly, he was not sure he understood it either.

[elliemarchetti]

THIAM FIC PART 7

Words:1313

Everything went almost right until Theo was captured. It took the whole pack to keep Liam from running to look for him, without even thinking about the consequences. Not that he still did not intend to do it.

"I'm offering you my help." Scott explained to him, sitting at the other end of the table.

"And Malia, is she also offering me her help?" Liam asked, looking around. There was no trace of the werecoyote.

"We have had differences." Scott answered, and Liam did not intended to apologize, despite his hurt expression. How many other secrets did they want to keep?

"Let me guess: she does not think it's worth wasting time and energy to look for Theo."

Scott did not answer, merely lowering his eyes.

"Do you know that an Alpha without its beta is weaker?" Liam asked, reaching out to Scott. The boy continued not to raise his head.

"Do you know that a wolf without its anchor is not only uncontrollable, but also weaker?" Liam continued, rising from his chair.

"Someone taught me all these things, did you taught them to Malia?"

Scott did not answer. Obviously, he did not tell her: he did not know them too.

"Remind your girlfriend that you're not omniscient and that she maybe needs help from someone who knows something more than us about werewolves." Liam hissed, so outstretched on the table that Mason was afraid he was about to attack Scott. Then, as if nothing had happened, Liam sat down again, crossed his legs, and waited for someone to have something to add. When no one moved, he asked if anyone else thought that saving Theo was a waste of time. Corey squeezed the back of the chair on which Liam stood, but said nothing. Of course, he was still afraid of Theo, but he was too addicted to Mason to contradict his best friend.

"So I think we can start talking about a plan now."

 They were interrogating him. Liam was the first to notice, and to understand that his jailer was human. They must have paid him well for bringing Theo there, and they must have even proposed something more, if he was really questioning him with such a calm. Liam could not hear what the man was saying to Theo, his complaints too loud. He did not know if he could endure that situation any further, the constant imploring of the person, he now clearly can see it, was the most important in the whole world. As expected, the light above the man's head began to flicker and then went out, leaving him shortly disoriented. Perhaps Theo understood how to free himself only at that moment, perhaps he had only been waiting for a moment of distraction of the man to put in place a plan already well thought out.

"You are all the same, you humans." Theo growled, finally getting up. For those few seconds he had crouched on the ground, Liam had feared he would never get up again. They went into action before he could kill him, and as they expected, he was not alone. They must have installed some kind of alarm that was not connected to electricity, because armed men and werewolves began to flow into the room like a flock led by a sheepdog. Liam's eyes widened. They were too many. They had neither the time nor the strength to fight them all.

"We have to leave!" he exclaimed, but perhaps Theo was the only one to hear him. In addition, the only possible exit was a service ladder mounted inside the compartment of a disused freight elevator, and they were not even certain it still existed: they could not separate, provided they did not want to condemn their friends. The battle was fair, but only because the space was too small and the opponents could not ring them. Their energies, however, would not last forever and that constant influx of enemies was impossible to manage. It was at that moment that Lydia screamed: she had learned to use her screams as weapons, but in this case, besides knocking down several enemies, they would also serve as a signal for Mason and Corey. They did not have to wait long before the water started to rain everywhere, to slip on the floor, distracting their opponents just enough to get to the conduit. They let Lydia first come in, she was the only one unable to regenerate herself, and then Theo, who had been injured too badly by that torturer, and finally Malia and the other four wolves. It had been a well-orchestrated recovery plan, though completely useless to estimate the weapons and components of that pack, or at least how many mercenaries they had. Not that the important things were those, for Liam.

They split over the various cars and spread out, to prevent anyone from making a big hit and hitting the whole pack.

Liam sat in the back seat of Mason's car next to Theo. He felt unable to speak, to express the anger and apprehension he had felt all that time. So he remained silent, listening to Theo's grunting groans, barely able to sit up straight.

They went to Mason's house: his parents were away for a meeting and it was one of the few places still safe where they could stay.

"Why did not you bring Nolan with you?" asked Theo, as he let Liam help him lie down on the couch, covered with a good dose of towels. Liam was certain that the fabric would have been stained anyway, but he said nothing. He was willing to try to clean the sofa for weeks, as long as Theo came back as his normal self.

"Once the ammunition was finished, it would have been too vulnerable." Mason answered. Liam took a while to understand the reason for that question. Theo had seen him fight; he knew what he was capable of doing.

"He has already helped us enough." Liam reminded him, and Theo closed his eyes, a small smile brightening his face. He remembered what happened at Nolan’s house.

"Why did that guy choose you?" asked Corey, returning with more towels and what looked like a first-aid kit.

"Do you think it will help?" Liam asked, glancing at disinfectants and bandages.

"It works with my dog," replied Mason "I do not see why it should not work with you."

Theo laughed almost hysterically, and Liam realized that this attitude must have been due to something the guy must have asked him.

 "Why did you avoid Corey's question?" Liam asked when the roll of gauze was finished. Theo tried not to look him in the eyes, but it was hard to escape those blue irises.

"They wanted to know more about the chimeras." Theo answered, in a low voice. Liam looked up, looked for Corey in the room.

"Do you believe they are not aware of his existence?" Liam whispered back. Theo shook his head.

"And what do they want from chimeras? They want to create the pack of wonders?" Liam asked, annoyed. He was still struggling to understand what they had done to the wolf he had invested.

"I think it's not the pack, I think it's the individual elements."

Liam looked at him, perplexed. He could not follow him.

"They do not want to destroy Scott's pack because they want control over Beacon Hills, they do not even care about you, or Alec, or Malia, nor Peter, they want some particular subjects, and they want them for power."

Liam blanched. He remembered when Theo had done that crazy experiment for which he had sacrificed his whole pack.

"I think they want to create a bunch of beings that cannot be cataloged."

"They want to create a bunch of invincible beings." Liam concluded, understanding, perhaps too late, the general design.

[elliemarchetti]

THIAM FIC part 3

Words:3639

“Scott?” said Liam, again, looking at the wolf. Malia hid behind the big, black figure and Theo cannot help but show his fangs a little.

Liam never expected to be betrayed that way. He thought Scott had left Beacon Hills to go to college, not to hide in the woods in the form of a monster. He remembered when he left, with the white shirt that made him look even bigger, and the expression of someone who has reached a turning point in his life. He looked at him with a judgmental look, as he came back human and naked as he had come into the world he looked at him with the expression of a child who had been found with his hands immersed in a jar of jam.

"What are you doing here?" Liam asked, not at all troubled by his friend's nakedness. At that moment, nothing that Scott could do would distract him from the answers he wanted to receive.

"I ..." the other began, but Liam stopped him.

"And that form? What was it? What did you become?" Liam asked, interrupting him, and Theo felt a hint of contempt in that voice. Even the solitary wolf was angry. Not because Scott hasn’t left the city, nor because he refused to share his choice with others. He did not feel betrayed, Scott McCall did not owe him anything, but his stay at Beacon Hill was the real reason why Liam could not transform into the Alpha he deserved to be, that Theo, deep down, hoped to deserve: the real Alpha of that pack had never really left, and it was something that stopped the other members from changing and finding their new position.

“I wanted to tell you, someday.” Scott excused himself, but Liam still looked angry. It wasn’t a good thing. Liam’s disorder stood silent for a while but it never left, and with his mantra becoming totally useless after Brett's death, stopping him was not a trivial matter. Theo could see a certain darkness in the boy's eyes, which, fortunately, had not yet turned yellow. If he had turned, he did not know how Malia would react, and there was no chance he would beat his Alpha. Fortunately, no one was wandering in the woods at that time of night, and the hunters did not seem to want to show, at least for once, or it would have been difficult to explain that situation. Because, to an external eye, it would have seemed in all respects a feud between packs.

"Who else knows?" Liam asked, thinking of Mason, how he thought it impossible that his best friend might have decided to betray him.

"Only Malia." Scott answered, looking down at the coyote, who was studying Theo with her blue eyes. The black wolf could not think of anything but Lydia's afflicted expression, which, together with Peter, tried to inculcate some common sense in that poorly assorted group, or Alec, if that's what he was called, that had been received in a pack that soon became a real disaster. He tried to think of the reactions of others because, in reality, he did not want to think of Liam, his lost expression as he tried to come to terms with the tangle that had become his life.

"Do you have any idea how hard it has been going on since you left? Or should I say since you decided to hide in the wood? Have you ever really took that plane?" Liam asked, unable to stop.

"Yes," Scott admitted. "I left, and after just one month, in the waning moon, I decided to go home. You have no idea what it means to turn like that. You have no idea of the strength, of how ..." Scott's voice died in throat.

"And you do not have the slightest idea how I felt!" Liam exclaimed, and Theo could hear his voice almost end in a snarl. "I did not know what to do; I didn’t called  you in terror that you could put your dreams aside and come back!"

Liam would have had many other things to say. How comfortable he felt alone with Theo, how, when his friend decided to get away from him, he suffered and wanted his mentor to help him in that difficult moment, or how it was almost unbearable to go alone on the grave of Brett and Lori, crying all the tears that he didn’t allowed himself to pour before. He wanted to say a thousand things, but his anger clouded his thoughts.

"Liam." Theo called him, resting his hand on his shoulder. The boy turned slightly, just enough to meet the gaze of his friend, who had to be naked too. Liam felt his ears warm up more than they should, but he ignored the feeling. A strange quiet descended on his limbs, as if the only touch of Theo had somehow managed to calm him. Scott avoided the gaze of the one who had once been his enemy, his eyes shining. He felt guilty, and most of all he felt a disappointment. That tragicomic scene could have continued indefinitely, if only Malia had not slammed her head against Scott's bare calf. The sound of footsteps reached the ears of the three boys with a moment of delay. They could be hunters or stupid kids who decided to go into the woods for a bet, and yet, in times like these, prudence was never too much, and Scott returned to his wolf form.

"You have to go." Theo whispered to Liam. The younger boy looked around, confused. It was too late to run away; they would surely have seen it. So he did the only thing that could come to his mind: he climbed a tree. Hidden by the leaves, barely breathing, Liam waited for the inevitable to happen. He watched Scott leave wary, and Malia follow him like a faithful dog. Theo, however, did not move. He hid himself, as far as possible, behind a tree, and waited to engage in battle. The smell of the aconite now permeated the air and it was obvious that they were hunters. He would have to run away, possibly in the opposite direction to Scott, but he was not about to leave Liam there. The younger of the two, however, wondered what the other was waiting to hide as he had done. He did not know there were any other hunters around, and he had no idea they were so well armed, but he would have to known. Of course, they hunted illegally in the land of the Argent, with weapons not legally registered, distributed by a woman who had to flee to avoid the risk of life imprisonment, but beyond that, nothing strange.

"Theo." Liam tried to call him, but the wolf did not want to hear it. "Theo!"

When he met his friend's blue eyes Liam almost regretted calling him. He looked the same as a death threatening. The first bullet struck the bark near Theo's head. The hunters had come close enough to see him, and Liam could see them too. He had never seen them before, a sign that they should not be among the close collaborators of Monroe, but that woman had recruited almost the whole city, in her various waves of madness, so it could also be invaded that they had come to know of the thing only later. There were three of them, a sign that not even they had to know about the presence of the feared, and apparently invincible, Scott McCall.

The shooter who must have missed the blow cursed, and a volley of bullets followed the shadow of Theo, which merged with the surrounding vegetation, aiming to outsmart the enemy. Liam felt his fangs brush against his lower lip, and he was certain that he was ready to enter the battle, if only the opportunity had arisen. Once they had managed to shoot him and the feeling had not been pleasant at all, so he decided to ponder well if and when to move.

"You do not like that $ 46,000, don’t you?" the second man, who had to have an automatic rifle in his hands, teased him,

"The other one offered many more." the third complained. Liam remembered the dead pool, remembered Meredith and remembered his own value on that list. Eighteen million dollars.

"And who says you were a woman?" the second replied.

"For me it was a woman." the third answered, loading the rifle again. "And those were his lovers."

"Some were kids, you idiot!" the second retorted, and Liam was not surprised that those three could not hit Theo even wanting it. They must have underestimated him, because the wolf came straight behind them, throwing the man with the automatic rifle on the ground. The one with a bad aim backed away, probably scared to finally find a real werewolf in front of him. Liam waited a moment longer, then jumped on his shoulders. He did not give him time to scream, taking his head in his hands and twisting his neck. Graceful, he jumped off his falling body and pounced on the third man, who was aiming to hit him. He bent the rifle barrel in two, with a force he did not know he had hidden since that moment. The man did not give up the grip of the weapon, not even when the bones began to creak because of Liam's grip on the barrel. The hunter's wrist broke, and the bone cut the flesh, showing its hard consistency and whitish colour. Theo raised his face covered in blood, and growled at the man Liam was dealing with. It was not clear to either of them that he fainted with pain or terror, but the man slumped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Liam did not miss another battle, which must have been hired farther, near the edge of the city. Theo met his friend's gaze, which with his hands soiled with blood and the wounded expression seemed ready to ignore his task. Liam wanted to stop staring at Theo, he wished he could avoid his gaze full of judgment, but it was not possible, and certainly would not have escaped, not like Scott and Malia. What had changed in the Alpha to make him even a coward, as well as a traitor?

"They do not need us." Liam hissed, more to himself than to Theo, but a yelping made him change his mind. It must have been Malia. Stunned, he looked up at the sky, and with disengaged claws he started running toward the noise font.

Waiting for them was the most unfair battle they had ever seen, and after what Monroe had done everything seemed fair, even Theo's behaviour. Around Malia, four hunters kept it under fire, while Scott desperately tried to free himself from those who, against his huge and hirsute body, looked like insects. They were at least six. Liam ran from Malia. He did not need to find the girl nice to want to stop them from killing her. He freed himself of the first man by throwing him away. From the sound of his body, he must have hit the bark of a tree. A part of him hoped to have killed him. So he threw himself on the second man, with an athletic leap, but he left his belly uncovered. If only Malia had not decided to act instinctively and bite the legs of her assailant, Liam would have found himself with a bullet stuffed with aconite in the middle of his stomach. Theo, meanwhile, was taking care of the other two men, but it was not that simple, fighting in the form of a wolf, when his assailants were armed with rifles. Although the werewolves kept their human mind, if trained to do so, even in animal form, the primordial instincts of the species remained latent, and Theo felt a vague and senseless fear of those weapons widely used in the past to exterminate his species. Even Malia felt that terror, while Liam, still human, was completely immune.

Those hunters had to be more trained, not like Argent, of course, but on that false line, and one of the two men fired at Theo behind him, before he could sink his claws into his companion's chest. The boy fell to the ground, whining. Liam’s heart broke. He did not want Theo to be hurt again because of him. He had already sacrificed himself once, it shouldn’t happen again. So, even knowing that, once the bullet had been extracted and the wound cured with a plaster of arctic rose petals’ ash and a single belladonna leaf, everything would have returned to normal, he threw himself on him. It was not a method that Deaton already knew, but Melissa McCall seemed, in addition to being a wonderful nurse, also able to outsmart the druid, and the cure had always worked very well.

Malia freed herself from one of the two men, while Theo, although unable to use one of his legs as a support, managed to grab the third man, making the job easier for Liam. Despite his size, Scott seemed in trouble, as if he were holding back from using his true strength, and that weakness had been seized by hunters. Even if his skin was too hard to be scratched by normal bullets, the blades seemed to be able to hurt him, and the hunters must have understood it.

Despite the clear numerical inferiority, the retreat of the hunters was inevitable. Scott dragged away from that mess in his wolf shape, much heavier than his human and certainly more likely to heal, as opposed to that of Theo, who collapsed exhausted among the corpses. Liam knelt, intent on trying to put him back on all four legs, if he did not have the strength to come back to himself, but was traumatized by the sound of his heartbeat: it was accelerated, irregular, certainly because of the aconite. He did not even turn to Scott and Malia for help, and forced himself to raise his friend, who wailed in pain. He glared at the wolf couple as he passed them, but said nothing, continuing to mutter to himself.

It was now half-way when, with arms that began to resent the forty pounds he was trying to carry when Theo began to gasp, until Liam noticed that his tongue was hanging out and his breath was almost choked.

"Do not even think about it, do not think about letting you die here because I would never forgive you! I pulled you out of Hell once, do not force me to do it a second time!" Liam exclaimed, terrified. Slowly, Theo moved his head, perhaps a sign that he had heard what his friend was telling him, but his situation did not seem to improve. When they arrived in Liam's backyard, Theo's eyes began to close with exhaustion. He had never felt worse. He had already been hurt in the past, but usually the pain, one way or another, was a constant that accompanied him until complete healing. Now, however, he felt only his slow and irregular beat pulsing in his head, as after those pathetic lessons he had himself forced to attend at Beacon Hills High School, but stronger, as if a bored boy had decided to start beating the bongos in his head. There was no rhythm in that sound, no constant, and it terrified him. He did not want to die. He had already been in Hell once, and his sister had given him a warm welcome, he did not want to repeat the experience. Moreover, he did not feel he deserved it. He had done a lot to redeem himself and of course the road was still long, but he had good intentions, not so selfish, at least not as selfish as they were before, and he had just started to like people - not everyone, of course, but what was the importance? He had started to appreciate someone, and small steps are the key to better days, or at least was something his mother used to tell when he was a child- and in all the time he had spent with the Dread Doctors it had never happened. Sure, he liked someone but just for their wit or their cunningness, not for both merits and flaws.

Liam left his friend in the back garden, but the wolf could barely object. He seemed lost in a world of his own, and Liam hoped that at least it would not be full of nightmares. He entered the house sneaking, sure he could find what he was looking for immediately. He rummaged through the drawers, full of socks, underwear and shirts, but he could not quite find the jar he was looking for. Yet he was sure he had left it right there, under the red shirt Theo had lent him... He stopped only when he realized that the light in the corridor had been turned on and someone was watching him.

"I believe you have something of mine." Liam hissed, without the need to turn around to meet his mother's gaze.

"Do you talk about this?" he asked, and Liam knew perfectly what she was holding between her tapered fingers, her red-enamelled nails in perfect contrast to the anthracite poultice.

"May I know what is wrong? Or do you think you want to explain it to your father?"

Liam had no time for those games. He did not have time to think about the school, to answer her stupid questions or to worry if after that reaction he would end up in punishment, so, without saying a word or taking his eyes off his mother's, he approached her. The woman was afraid. Liam had never seen his mother so frightened, but he did not cared. He was afraid too, and not of her reaction if she saw his eyes gleaming gold in the dim light of the room, or if she had noticed that his nails were actually claws retractable on command, just like those of cats, but that his friend could die, to stay alone in that city that did not want him but that so desperately needed him. Beacon Hills would not have been saved by Scott McCall, not anymore.

Although his mother tried to back away, Liam reached her earlier than expected and stretched out an arm to tear the bottle out of her hand, before jumping out of the window. The woman escaped a scream, and then ran to see her son's condition. Liam was fine and was running towards a black figure in their garden. Because of the darkness, Mrs. Dunbar did not see well, but she was more than certain that it was a wolf.

When Liam reached Theo, his hair was soaked with sweat and he almost seemed to hold his breath, his rib cage swollen and his tongue sagging on the grass.

With a tweezers for modeling, which her mother had decided not to be something important enough to remove it from its place, he took out the bullet. Inserting the tweezers was not so complicated, he had seen Melissa do it many times, and yet when it came time to tighten the bullet that practice did not seem so simple to him. His hand began to tremble visibly, and Theo winced as his friend lost his grip on the bullet. That situation was a real torment, on one hand the pain and on the other the impossibility of controlling the spasms of his lungs. He had never coughed in wolf-form and it was not a good feeling. Surely, everything was made worse by the fear of dying and the worried expression of Liam. Was he so terrible even to look at? The boy managed to extract the bullet a few moments before someone else decided to enter the guard. Liam rolled his eyes as he slipped two fingers into the glass jar and began recovering all the greasy and slimy substance he needed. Why did that woman always have to stick her nose in business that did not concern her? He heard her screaming like a madman, not caring that the whole neighbourhood could wake up and the sight of a werewolf in the garden of the neighbour could bring to mind unpleasant memories that they would all prefer to forget.

"Go away," Liam growled, and from the woman's expression, he knew he had looked at her with shining eyes and an angry expression. He was amazed when he realized that he did not feel anything when he saw her flinch back, and then rushed home to wake her husband, as if she had just seen a monster. But he was, in her eyes, he remembered.

"You still have to hold on for a second, ok?" Liam asked Theo, aware that his friend couldn’t answer him, and maybe not even hear him. He dialled Mason's number without thinking: he did not have time to look for him in the phone book, and he memorized it when they were younger. He prayed for a few moments that for once the friend had decided to leave the ringtone even at night, but realized it wasn’t like that. Even Corey's cell phone rang for a long time, until the answering machine clicked. Only one option remained. The boy answered the third ring, even though Liam was sure he had woken up at the first. In that little time together, he had learned to know his friend better than his pockets.

"Can I know what you want at 3.30 a.m.?" Nolan asked.

"Come to my house, we have a problem."

[elliemarchetti]

A Private Dance part 2

Words:3033

Liam was certain that he would no longer set foot at the Sinema. He was so sure that he avoided even that part of the city, not to come to terms with the feelings that the only view of that place gave him. He was so resolute, so convinced, that as soon as Mason and Corey offered him an evening there that Friday he accepted without even having to think about it. He did not know why he said yes. For five long days he said to himself the exact opposite, yet, finally, he had accepted so easily that he wondered if he had not wanted to come back from the start. Surely it was a good excuse to see Theo, even if he had no idea how much money he would have to pay to be able to get away with him again. He had not put much aside in that week, and already the cost of entry was not indifferent. Not that all those little inconveniences would have stopped him from implementing the plan that, within a few seconds, had been drawn in all its glory and simple perfection in his mind.

 Theo had never felt guilty about the way he had chosen to live, at least not before Liam arrived at the Sinema. The night with Danny had been useful to distract him, almost beautiful, as they may be nights when you are paid to be with someone, but for the next five days, working had been a real hell. That evening he arrived at the Sinema in a thick denim jacket that he had managed to get at a secondhand shop for little money. It was not bad, and it suited Beacon Hills’ climate of mid-March perfectly. With a grunt, he greeted the bouncer, who made him go through the back without asking questions. They had to put someone to watch the service entrance, since someone had used it to enter illegally. Theo was not sure, but had the distinct feeling that it was Scott and some of his friends. When he entered, he saw that everyone was already starting to get ready, at the back of the stage. The dancers of the show, which mainly served to distract from the shady trafficking that took place in the booths, were all there, so Theo sat down quietly, waiting to find the will to undress the civilian clothes and wear the uniform that the boss had provided them. Everyone was preparing in their own way. They were almost all men, perhaps partly because of the preferences of the manager, perhaps because the request was greater, but Emma and Olivia still did their figure, with matching, nearly transparent, black bodies. In addition to that, they did not share much else: one was brunette and the other blonde, although clearly bleached, one had childlike, hazel with golden specks, big eyes large, and the other very thin and dark almond eyes, because of the Chinese origin of the mother, the former was lower and smaller, while the other was taller and wider. The differences could have gone on indefinitely, yet together they were a formidable team. They always opened the show, and they were part of the team of people who attracted customers, luring them in bar or restaurants. Theo was not part of it. He was not brought for that kind of job, and he was usually engaged in more imaginative ways with clients who were paying more than his boss was willing to give him, in that hours. The Host took the stage, and began his usual lecture on what would be granted or not. Those with a careful eye would have understood that they were all bullshit. Theo did not even listen, enjoying the smell of talcum dispersed by fake fog. After all, he liked that environment, and in part, it suited him: few said they were who they really were and even less wanted to share their stories and the reasons why they were there. A perfect place, where despair and lust were united and where the outbursts to the worst depravities began. He felt the Dorian Gray of the situation, young and apparently immortal, certainly superior to most of the people around him and to all those who sat, more or less neatly, on the sofas in front and around the stage, ready to idolize him or whoever wanted to show up. It was far more than what he asked before going to hell, yet it was not enough for him now; he tried to get the situation right, but it was not correct, something fundamental was missing, that Theo was sure it would be the ruin of everything. Nothing too perfect could last long enough.

 Emma and Olivia finally got on the stage, and at the sound of an old song, they wriggled caressing each other's bodies, wrapped in a fake fog and wearing tremendous men's hats. Fortunately, Theo did not have to take part in that farce.

He almost did not notice that Noah had disappeared, except when he realized that soon it would be his time to enter the scene. It was not official, but Theo had been instructed by the owner to take a look behind the scenes, in the various evenings he was not present. It had not been difficult for him to understand why he had chosen him: despite his face so young, he gave everyone a certain fear. It did not matter if he was the last one, or that he did not even perform on stage: everyone was afraid of him. Perhaps because most of them knew what he was capable of, and the few remaining had been told in a hurry, whispers within those was, that he killed most of the people who loved him and betrayed the remaining ones.

He turned to William, furious. "Did you see where the hell went Noah?" he asked, but received no answer, except a quick gesture of dissent. Noah had been nicknamed The Doll, and it was not difficult to guess the reason: with those blue eyes and blonde hair, slightly wavy, but still short enough to stay in place after any activity (and Theo knew it was really any), seemed like he directly been out from a toy store.

"He had an appointment." James answered behind him. Theo did not retort, merely rolling his eyes. He knew well what it meant to need money. Furthermore, there were many people who could replace him; not at that time, of course, it was too early for everyone to arrive, but he would surely find someone. There were plenty of accompaniers and entertainers, sometimes even too many, and Theo was sure that if his boss had continued that way he would quickly go bankrupt.

"It does not matter, William, you replace him, you don’t have the same muscles, but you still have a doll's face."

"The important thing is that you do not take off your pants." James joked, but he immediately shut up when Theo glared at him. And so, when the fog had dissipated and The Host announced his arrival, William went out on the stage dressed as a firefighter. Theo did not even deign to peek at his unsuccessful attempts to reach the level of his colleague. The Theo he once was would have gone to look for Noah to strangle him with his bare hands, but the Theo who had returned from Hell had also learned empathy, had experienced what it meant to be on the margins of society, not feared but despised, and he doesn’t care if Noah had managed to make some extra money, even though he was in full working hours. The boss was not there, and that was the only time Theo could make decisions like the born leader he was. He established a new line up, which included even a return of Emma, presented as The Diva. Noah's absence began to be felt, and the dances never lasted more than five, at most ten minutes. He even allowed The Host to dwell a little longer. Or Noah's carnal meeting was going well or his client was very rich. No one there wanted to be paid at performance; everyone decided they had to be paid basing on the time they spent with the client. Most of them paid for the whole night and let them have breakfast in the morning. To the kindest, everybody done a small discount.

Theo looked around. Olivia had already left, probably accompanied by someone, and William seemed decidedly exhausted. James, however, the only human among them, collapsed on the ground, between a rickety sofa and the wall. He was an addict, and Theo did not want to judge him for that, but he turned out to be really useless that night, having done only one performance.

"Fuck." he muttered to himself, taking off his shirt. He should have known that that night he would have to dance.

"I hate you." he hissed to nobody, while The Host introduced him as The Beast. Theo was stunned: he had never danced, and even if that guy had something strange, it certainly was not on the list of people who had seen him show off his full strength, the one he had collected before Hell, betraying his pack. He was not proud of it, but that was not the time to think about it.

 He didn’t even heard the beginning of the song, all taken to study those starved looks, who could not wait to see a stranger undressing for everyone and anyone. That situation was definitely too strange. He wore a flamboyant sweatshirt, borrowed from the scenic wardrobe of Noah, the only one who wore a size that could hold his arms, and a pair of baggy pants, which made him look shorter and much more like one of those guys your parents tell you to stay away from. Not that he was not, in fact, just outside of that stage would never have worn that stuff. Maybe he had chosen it for that.

The song was rhythmic, and after a first moment of embarrassment, he found himself following the rhythm, even if his eyes were off, the look of those who would be in a completely different place. Not that those people was much interested. They were all attracted to his abs. Then something changed dramatically among the public. He felt a single strange reaction, that only his wolf senses allowed him to grasp, and that the coyote ones clouded. Jealousy, maybe? Or was it anger? To be honest, it could be anything, even embarrassment. So he reviewed those unknown faces, enjoying some success with that move. Everyone felt unique, while Theo did not give a damn. He stopped only when he met a pair of familiar eyes, the blue of those of children, innocent and at the same time intrigued by the whole scene. Theo felt, for the first time in his life, a twinge of embarrassment, which suddenly, however, was replaced by the unfounded concern of disappointing the boy he could not place in his life. By now, he knew of his gigolo job, he would certainly not care if he had stripped himself in front of a small crowd. Or would he? It was at that moment that he decided to test it, slowly getting rid of the belt that supported his trousers. He threw it haphazardly on the stage, as far back as possible, and continued a few steps on the stage, as if approaching the position where Liam was standing. The freighter descended almost to the middle of his firm ass, exposing a pair of tight boxers that bound his buttocks. He almost seemed to hear a comment from Mason, but he was not sure, so he continued with his show, which suddenly had a decidedly more interesting twist for him.

It was all wrong. The inappropriate comments that Mason whispered in his ear, Corey's giggles, his ears on fire, or the urgent need to hide that he felt. He wanted the shirt he wore to be longer, which would allow him to cover a part of his cock, that did not wanted to stay quiet and in his place. However, the worst thing was Theo, who was winking on the stage, staring straight in his eyes, wearing only a pair of pants that were inexorably falling. In his head, things would not have to go that way. First of all, he would have managed to get in from the entrance to the Sinema discotheque, and not the Sinema night club full of beautiful semi-naked boys, second, he would be able to abandon Mason and Corey to their strange mating practices and would sneak where at that precise moment he was, he would have understood how to request a private session with a dancer in particular and would have asked Theo all the questions of the case, with no inconveniences from his penis or his sweat glands. Above all, and his mind wanted to spell it out more than he should, he would not give in to the temptation to look at his friend's cock. He would not have yielded to that senseless lust and that made him want to bang his head against the wall till the faint. Yet he was doing it, unable to make Mason shut up and look away from Theo. There was something in his way of moving that seemed almost a challenge. The situation degenerated when, at the end of the exhibition, he also got rid of his trousers. Liam could not remember ever having seen him in his underwear, and if it happened in the past, he should not have noticed, probably because it must have been a life or death situation. However, that evening his mind took note of every single detail of that body that seemed to come straight out of a history book, section of Greek mythology. Theo did not show even a hair, as opposed to Liam, and his skin was smooth and somehow, perhaps because of the lights, he did not look so embarrassingly pale, as he was. After the winter, Liam felt a real disgust, nothing that could compete with Theo. However, judging by the boy's expression, he should not have been so disappointed.

The song ended, and with it the show. Liam did not wait for the next stripper to come onstage, and looked around for what was to be the back door. He set himself out without saying anything to Mason, also because he was sure that, after his spicy comments, if Liam had not moved he would have kicked him, werewolf or not. Even Theo must have had the same idea, because he had nearly reached his destination when he saw him go out bare-chested, wearing only a pair of sneakers and sports shorts. He could smell adrenaline on him, and even something else, but Liam could not catalog it.

"I did not think you'd be back." the major said, greeting Liam.

"I'm a boy full of surprises." he merely replied, vague. He could not take his eyes off him. As long as he remained dressed, his thoughts were limited to a chaste attraction and to questions more reminiscent of the sentimental sphere than the sexual one, but in those conditions, with a light patina of sweat that glistened on his abdomen... Liam swallowed, hoping that the friend had not noticed anything.

"Are not you tired yet of seeing me dancing?" Theo asked, with a brash smile. He did not even give him time to formulate a meaningful phrase; he just let out an amused laugh. "I think a private dance would do well, you know, to relax a little."

Liam could not believe his ears, or the fact that really Theo Raeken was dragging him to the booths, regardless of how much money he would have lost that night, or what his gesture meant.

Theo almost threw it on the sofa inside the booth, but it was Liam who looked up, crossing Theo’s gaze. In their eyes there were an infinite number of unspoken words, of misunderstood gestures, of suppressed feelings and truths hidden for too long. They burned like two fires, too close to not be attracted to each other, not to join in one single flame. Liam was breathless. All those sensations were making him gasp slightly, and perhaps he was also a little shocked at how events were unfolding. Perhaps it would have been better to escape, before things could become really complicated, before losing Theo completely. He was willing to have half of him, to share his time with a thousand other people, even not to touch him ever again, if necessary, but losing him would make him go crazy. So their lips were not the first thing to meet. They hugged each other, finding halfway, smiling, peacefully, Liam’s head on Theo’s bare chest, Theo’s lips near Liam’s right hear. When they parted, they enjoyed the light that they could finally see in the eyes of the other, the possibility to touch each other without being interrupted, without worrying. They had missed each other so much; after all they had faced together, that now they seemed to have to rediscover themselves, to know each other again. They had never lost each other, they had never even been in two different cities, yet they had lived on parallel worlds for too long, unable to reach each other, to arrive at a compromise. When finally their lips met it was like a blood pact, something neither of them would have had the courage to break, something that stipulated a bond that could not be broken, not even by death. They had waited so long, before they realized that this was what they needed, that was what would make them feel good. It was a first full-blown kiss, complete with interruption by a guy whom Liam had never seen, and a respective twinge of jealousy.

"I'm sorry to disturb you." said the guy, peeping into the booth. How long does he stood there?

"But I think James is dying."

[elliemarchetti]

THIAM FIC

This is the fanfiction I was talking about yesterday (or Thursday, I don’t remember), hope the Thiam fandom likes it. Probably there’s going to be a part two, because I’m a sucker for slow burn. Feel free to message me (or comment) what you’ll like to see in the next part and any kind of prompt for any kind of fic. Sorry for the error, English isn’t my first language.

When Liam’s mother found the envelope in the mailbox nearly fainted from happiness: it was the end of their problems! Unfortunately, Liam didn’t shared her happiness. Usually he wasn’t a particularly disobedient son, and he really wanted to make his family proud, something that he hadn’t done for a long time, but it was a little too much all at once. He didn’t wanted to go to college. For the record, when he was younger he dreamt to win a sports scholarship and go to an Ivy League one, but I t was some years ago, before he discovered the supernatural, before he found out Beacon Hills needed someone to take care of its people. And now that the Hales were gone and Scott’s pack was tore apart, he knew he was the only one who can take care of the city. Therefore, he didn’t want to go to college. He didn’t even want to try to go away! He went to take refuge in his room, trying to avoid his parent’s chatter, trying to find a topic to convince his mother to let it go. Sure, someone else could take care of Beacon Hills. There was Peter, Jordan, Sheriff Stilinski… and Theo. Since the end of the last fight against Monroe’s army, he kind of disappeared. Sometimes he texted him, to assure him he was okay, that he wasn’t in trouble, but nothing more. Liam, even if he doesn’t wanted to admit it, missed his friend. It was impossible for him to forget the look on Theo’s face after he took Gabe’s pain. He was … Liam didn’t even knew how Theo must have felt; since he changed, he was always been able to take people’s pain. Anyway, he cannot avoid his mom for much longer, since it was nearly lunchtime, so he dragged himself out of the bed, ready to enter in the lions’ cage. His mother threw him a suspicious look, but she didn’t really said anything. Nobody said a word when she placed the macaroni in each plate, everyone trying to avoid each other look. He knew that if he tried to do something that wasn’t eat they would have started interrogating him. This tactic, however, wasn’t going to work forever. “Do you want some chicken?” his mother asked, kindly. Liam shook his head, staying away his half-full plate of pasta: “I’m full” he said, and he knew the lie was unbelievable. Since he changed, he was always hungry. “Are you feeling well?” asked his father, worried. “I don know” Liam said, trying to take time “Maybe I just need to go bed.” “But you slept a lot.” his mother pointed out. “Last night I stayed up a little too much.” He said. “I was reading.” he added, when he met his mother look. He wanted to bang the head against the nearest wall. Every time he tried to get away with a lie, he needed to build a castle of lies that made him feel guilty. Why his parents can’t be like everyone else’s? His phone buzzed on the table, breaking the uncomfortable silence. He picked up, without even looking at who called. “Hello?“he said, excusing himself from his parent. "Liam?” asked a male voice on the other side. “Theo.” “You seem…” the guy started, but Liam cut him off. “Worried. Yeah I’m really worried and now I need you to come to my place and pick me up because I need to run away from this house.” he whispered. “What happened?” asked Theo, and Liam heard the sound of the car that was set in motion. “Nothing this bad, I just need someone to pick me up.” “And a lie.” added Theo. “Why should I lie?” Liam started, but he stopped before Theo can laugh at his naivety. “I suppose it’s something that has to do with your parents.” the oldest guy said, laughing a little. Liam was still a teenager with a normal life, after all. “Tell them you help me in history. They must know you’re a pro at the subject.” Liam sighed. He didn’t wanted to lie to his parents again, but sometimes it was unavoidable. And then, Theo was serving him, on a silver plate, the chance to ask him why he suddenly disappeared after the battle.

Theo cannot stand Liam when he was this stubborn. “There nothing wrong, really. I wasn’t in his pack anyway so why do you think someone would wanted me around?” Liam didn’t bothered himself to answer. He shouldn’t have been surprised by Theo’s behavior. He always was like that: when he tried to know him more, he ran away, closing himself in a shell with thick walls. They were in a coffee shop in the suburbs, quite far from Liam’s house for his parents to not find him, in the case they wanted to see if he was lying or not. God, he was such a terrible liar. A waitress took their orders, but neither Theo nor Liam thanked her or looked at the smoking cups. They was studying the other’s reaction leeringly, hoping to see something they both hide. They were too proud to admit they missed each other. Liam missed Theo’s bitter comments, and Theo missed Liam, plain and simple. “Why don’t you want to go college"asked Theo. In the end, someone would have to speak first. “I never said I don’t want to go college” Liam pointed out, but the wall he tried to build between himself and Theo wasn’t thick like the other guy’s. “Yeah you just don’t want to leave this hell of a place, and to me it seems an excuse for not wanting to go to college.” Liam looked Theo in the eyes, trying to figure out when he started to say the word “hell” without shivering. “It a great opportunity and everyone took it even the oh-so-brave Scott.” he added, with a bit of… it was disdain? “But if everyone keeps take the opportunity…” started Liam, but Theo cut him off. “Peter is never going to go away and neither Malia. She’s smart but not in a college way.” “And what if the Hales wants to try be a family again? Do you think Cora is going to go back to Beacon Hills?” Liam asked. Theo thought about it for a second, then shook his head. “Nolan won a sport scholarship before me and I suppose he’s going to run away from this place the day after graduation.” “Yeah nobody wants to remember the wrong he has done.” agreed Theo. His sudden change of attitude made Liam struck, but he tried to don’t make it known to his interlocutor. “But don’t worry. I will always be there trying to save this place and redeem myself. Maybe this time when I die my sister won’t haunt me like the last one.” he said, trying to joke, and failing miserably. “Are you sure everything is okay? You seem a bit down.” “I’m just in the mood to self-pity but don’t look at me with your puppy eyes I’m not searching for compassion.” he snapped, and Liam felt the shell closing even more tightly. “You don’t have my pity but if you want to talk you have my number. Plus, I owe you a favor.” he responded. “You owe me nothing. Just go to the damn college and find a work far away from here, I don’t want you in my way for rest of my life.” Theo said, with one of his grins printed on the face. Liam replied with a smile, and then he took a sip of the now-nearly-cold coffee. There was something wrong in his friend and he was determined to discover what.

When Theo brought him back home, it was nearly dinnertime. Liam entered the entrance door, ready to answer at all the question his parents were going to ask him. “How the reps went?” asked a voice that clearly wasn’t his mother’s or father’s. “Mason.” he greeted, begging his friend with his eyes to don’t betray him. “What do I owe your presence to?” he asked nervously. The last time they talked they had a big argument about Theo. “It’s Saturday and every last one of the month we have Call of Duty night, remember?” he asked, showing him his controller. It was true, when they were younger and they didn’t knew about the supernatural. So basically, when he was still human and his anger issue was somehow controllable. “Mason came here just to remind you but we asked him stay for the dinner.” said Liam’s mother, appearing from the kitchen. “Great.” replied Liam, with the fakest smile.

The dinner was a nightmare. He didn’t knew what Mason wanted, and why he was acting in this strange way, but Liam was really worried his parents was about to discover that all this he wasn’t helping a friend study or doing some kind of school project with him. “So where are you going to the college?” asked Liam’s mother, out of the blue, making her son nearly chocking on the food. It wasn’t the right topic, not after his encounter with Theo, not after what they said two days ago. “They accepted me to Harvard, Stanford and Yale but I suppose I’m going to go to Princeton with Corey.> he said, with a lovely voice. Liam’s mother smile widened. "We didn’t knew you’re this good! You should inculcate some common sense in our son’s head!” she exclaimed, taking her husband hand. “We both went to Duke. We met there.” said Liam’s father, squeezing his bride hand. Liam thought he was about to puke. He didn’t wanted to talk about college, or graduation, or his parents sexual life when they were younger, because he knew the topic Duke always led here. “Mom this meatball are really good probably the best you ever made.” he said, trying to lie, again, about his lack of appetite.“But i’m really full.” His mother look at him, suspiciously, but he avoided her eyes. “Mason why don’t we go in my room to beat up some nazis?” he asked, but he didn’t even bothered to wait for his answer. “Liam’s right.” he tried to say to his friend’s mother, when Liam was dragging him away “The meatballs were really good.” “This is not the right moment to start again our cod night.” brutally said Liam, right after he shut his bedroom’s door close. “I didn’t really wanted to play some videogame I just want to talk to you. You switched off your phone for the whole afternoon yesterday, and I get it, you were angry, but you done the same today and I was worried” Liam silenced him by putting a hand on his mouth. “Don’t shout” he whispered, collapsing blatantly on his bed. “I came here monday and there wasn’t this tension in the air. God you mother…” “…wants to kill me now, yeah, I get it this morning when he saw the look on my face.” he said, ending his best friend’ sentence. “What have you done?” “Why should it always be my fault?” asked Liam, hoping he could be swallowed up by the bed. “Because it’s you the one she wants to kill.” replied Mason. “It was rhetorical!” Liam exclaimed. Mason sat on the edge of the mattress, trying to figure out what happened to his friend.“ Any college yet?” he tried, and Liam asked himself if his friend wasn’t some kind of bard. “Just one.” he replied, but he didn’t really wanted to talk about it, not with Mason. He could choose between Harvard and Stanford as Liam chose what to take from the school cafeteria “Which one?” asked Mason, insensitive at Liam’s inner’s delusions. “Pomona.” “Not bad at all!” exclaimed Mason but Liam stood silent. “Right?” added his friend, trying to understand what he cannot. It wasn’t because Mason was stupid, or because he was human, he simply didn’t felt the weight of Beacon Hills’ security on his shoulders: he wasn’t Scott’s beta, and even if he wanted to, he can’t protect Beacon Hills, not alone. “Right, I just want more time to think about it I suppose.” Liam lied. In addition, Mason didn’t told him the real reason why he was in his house that night. It wasn’t the right time, not when his best friend wasn’t sure if he wanted to go to college or not.

That night was exhausting. Theo nearly collapsed, trying to go back to his car. When Scott was there, things were easier, but now they were just a bunch of survivor trying to figure out how to stay alive and keep the city safe. They all needed a leader. Since he really knew Liam, he always thought that, when Scott would have decided to leave, he would become a true alpha, finally able to take full advantage of his true potential. Instead, the guy was still full of insecurities, he still needed someone to help him and guide him. In a first moment, Theo was disappointed; he didn’t wanted a pack, but he needed one and the only person on Earth he would have accepted to submit to was Liam. And then the guy let him down by being a neurotic teenager who can only think about “buts” and “what ifs”. After this thought, that made him feel guilty, he understood why he wasn’t fully able to evolve: it wasn’t necessary. Scott became a true alpha when he really needed it, but Liam never really needed to be something more than a beta. Lydia thought they should’ve pushed him a little more, that he needed to improve, like Scott did, but neither Theo nor Mason agreed. Liam wasn’t Scott and he never would have been. He was different, more sensitive, more naive, more caring. He was just more, and they cannot push him to be something different, something he wasn’t and it wasn’t required to be. Malia once suggested he wasn’t worth, but Theo didn’t bothered to stay to listen to the rest of her bullshit. Once he thought she was somehow interesting, but knowing her well, she wasn’t: she was just a Scott’s blind follower, who had never wondered if the deeds of her hero were right or wrong. Once Liam was like her, then, Theo didn’t even know how or the exact moment, he changed. Probably it was when he made an agreement with the kitsune to take him back from wherever he was. He liked the sneaky Liam, for how long it lasted. And now it was his friends who were sneaky. They all lied to the poor boy, Theo first: everyone knew about the assaults, even his best friend, except for him. First Theo didn’t wanted to get the poor guy involved: he was risking failing his last high school year and even if Gabe hated him and nearly beat him to death, he lost his schoolmate, and it was hard to him. Then Stiles left again, soonly followed by Scott, and everyone in school started blabbing about college, Ivy League, scholarship, and Liam didn’t even send his admission letter. To crown it all, his mother lost her job and started to make Liam’s life a living hell. It was nothing, compared to the last years, but Theo knew the boy and didn’t wanted to overwhelm him. So he made a step away, trying to avoid the urge to follow him around, to surprise him, to message him constantly. And even if the only thing he wanted was to listen to his chatter about history and his school day and what his mother made him do, he stood quiet, and asked to Liam’s friends to do the same. So they all took his not-so-little secret, until Corey was injured and Mason wanted to tell Liam everything. Theo begged him, but the guy seemed immovable, thanks to Malia’s support. Against all odds, the girl grew a soft spot for the young couple, probably because Corey was still afraid of Theo, who, after he knew Liam, just wanted to protect the boy and see nobody else’s face, maybe unless Lydia and the new wolf, he didn’t even know his name, but not too much. He was a loner and he will always be one. Unless…he shook his head, trying to shake off the thought. It would never have happened, anyway. Once, maybe, if he hadn’t done what he had done, but now, it seemed impossible. His phone buzzed in his pocket. Who wanted to call him this late at night? Mason. He felt the blood on his vein freeze. What if Liam’s reaction was a little too much and he needed backup? Liam’s anger issue, added to the fact that soon there would be a full moon and his mantra wasn’t working anymore… Or maybe it was Liam himself, telling him he didn’t wanted to have nothing to do with him anymore. “Hello?” “I can’t do it.” Mason said, trying to lower his voice. “Where are you?” Theo asked, perplexed. Why did he needed to whisper? “In his bathroom.” “And why the fuck do you think is a good idea to call me from his bathroom?” asked Theo, trying to stay focused. Why the guy always have to be this stupid? “He has super hearing you should go out and then call me again.” “But…” he started, but Theo cut him off. “No but. I wait for your call.” he said, before hanging up. It was hard for him, but now that he saw a chink in Mason’s mind he didn’t wanted Liam to discover his secret. He drew near a parking lot and he waited. After ten minutes, he thought he wasn’t going to pass the night. Then the phone buzzed in his hand. He knew it was Mason. “What did you said to him?” he asked, worried. “To whom?” asked a female voice. “Oh, Lydia, I thought it was someone else.” “I noticed. I only called to be sure you’re okay. When the fight ended you seemed pretty injuried but you ran away.” “Just some scratches, nothing more.” he downplayed. He looked at his naked abdomen, blood still pouring from a deep cut. He wasn’t doing great, like at all, but his vision was still clear, so it was manageable. He was distracted during the battle. He was thinking about Liam, about what he could have thought of him. Maybe the thought he always knew he will always be a liar. Maybe he felt it as if he was betraying him. “Are you still there?” asked Lydia, a little worried. “Yeah, I have to go. See you tomorrow, I suppose.” Theo said, and hang up. During the last minutes, Mason wrote him a message.

“Can’t go away, I stay the night. Nobody should say what’s happening to him. I think he’s about to break.”

A glimmer of hope grew in Theo’s chest. Maybe he was able to protect the only person who has ever cared about. Suddenly, the awareness that Liam could be changed beyond repair hit him like a slap, leaving behind only a strange, cold feeling in his stomach. His Liam was strong. He would never break.

[elliemarchetti]

A Private Dance part 5

Words:1853

Theo had tried in every way to force himself not to go to that lunch: while they decided the place, while they agreed for the hour. He told himself that in the end he would not appear; it would have made Liam angry and probably should not have heard those words that would have hurt him more than any kind of torture. Instead, against all logic, at noon he was already waiting in the parking lot for his friend to arrive. They had chosen a place near Liam's house, where he could easily walk, and Theo had not escaped the irony of the situation: he yearned for a moment alone with Liam while the other boy did not even want to share the same car with him. And when Liam arrived early too, Theo saw all the moments they had spent together passing through his mind: as Liam’s had been the first face he saw when he had been brought back from Hell, the empty threats he was giving him, the joy in his eyes when they had found the key that had saved them from Wild Hunt, and the blind terror, the sense of loss, when he had chosen to sacrifice himself. He saw every moment, even the smallest ones they had shared, while the youngest looked around, hoping that the other was not there yet. When their eyes met, there was like a spark, a current that made the hairs stand on Theo's arms. He prayed that Liam was not immune to everything, that he did not want to part with him, but it was a vain hope. He should not forget that he was the one who had to prostitute himself to pay for the gas.

Liam greeted him with his hand, like a child who, after the first day of school, cannot wait to see his parents again, and Theo got out of the truck, ready to suffer as he had never done. In all his life, there had never been hope, there had been no real joy, except with Liam, and the mere idea that the only source of that feeling could decide to escape from him froze the blood in his veins.

"Heavy night?" Liam asked, with his usual crooked little smile. Theo's lips acted as if he had no control over them and smiled in turn; it was not a sneer, or a gesture of satisfaction, he simply felt embarrassed.

"In a sense." the other answered, vaguely.

"Well, I hope you have appetite, because I'm starving!" Liam exclaimed, and dragged him inside the steak house. Theo was speechless: he did not expect such a reception. Liam could not understand how much that kiss was important for him? God, he felt like a little girl in Middle School with her first crush. He was pathetic, just like Hayden or Tracy.

 They sat at the first free table they found: the place was nice, intimate but not much to allow the occupants of the nearest table to listen to their conversations, and Theo appreciated the choice of place. Liam ordered as if he had not eaten for centuries, while Theo tried to spend as little as possible: he had to save money, if he wanted to afford gasoline and going out for lunch was not one of his usual habits.

"I always came here with my parents when I was young, and after a lacrosse workout, a good steak is the best." Liam said, perhaps to break the silence, perhaps because he really wanted to share that story with Theo, who just smiled, tense. He was just waiting for Liam to start that conversation, and honestly began to get impatient. Why prolong his agony?

Their orders arrived, and Liam ate in a hurry, continuing to talk about this and that, and even trimming some taste to Theo, which began to melt a bit ', but was still tense.

"But do not you ever get tired?" Liam asked suddenly, and catching Theo completely unprepared. He knew what he was talking about.

"I think it's a matter of choices." Theo began. "Of morality, and how much are you willing to push yourself to survive, to be independent and ..."

"I was talking about living on the pick-up, always moving around." Liam interrupted him. Theo laughed. It was a long time that he did not laugh like that. He laughed hysterically and without restraint, because Liam was always the same naive, and did not care about his job, but how many hours of sleep a night he could do.

"I assume the answer is the same." he answered, trying to behave. "Maybe given lighter."

"And what are you doing?" Liam insisted. "Do you like?"

Theo would not call it pleasure, but it certainly was not the worst of options.

 They left the steakhouse early in the afternoon, and Liam did not seem to be letting him go so easily, even though he did not seem to know how to stay. As if it were needed.

"Do you want a ride in the pick-up? As in the old days." Theo suggested, and he had never felt so embarrassed.

"In the old days we were trying to eradicate an army of crazy hunters, but I think a ride on the pick-up could be enough." Liam joked, sitting on the passenger's side.

"Don’t you get your driving license yet?" Theo asked, starting the car.

"Let's say I do not feel calm enough to drive." Liam lied. He had been too busy all the time, and his parents would never buy him a car. They were still finishing up repaying his old coach's.

"Any preference on the destination?" Theo asked, taking the main road for the city center.

"As far as possible from here I think it could go." Liam answered, with his innocent irony that made Theo lose his head. With a mischievous smile, he reversed in the clear street, and watched amusedly as Liam clung to the door as if it were worth his life. They laughed for most of the journey, and talked about what they had shared and what they were leaving behind.

"I decided not to go to college." Liam admitted, after a moment of silence of both. He did not feel uncomfortable when the silence fell between him and Theo: it was a comforting silence, a luxury that did not seem to be able to afford with anyone. "I want to live here, I've just become an Alpha and I do not want to lose this privilege even before I understand its objections and faults."

"There are also merits." Theo pointed out. "But I guess you do not stay for those." he added, when he realized that Liam would not answer.

"I'm not just for the pack." Liam answered, but did not bother to explain to him what the other reasons were.

Theo led to a small lake. It was a nice place, which he had discovered during his wanderings. They sat at the back of the pick-up, and although it was uncomfortable and hard, neither of them seemed to complain. They rejoiced in silence and futile chatter, until Theo realized that Liam had come close enough that he could take his hand, if only he had extended his own. In the end, it was Liam who interwoven his fingers with his. It was a strange feeling, that slight pressure on the leg, as that hand seemed to fit perfectly with his. Everything seemed to come out of a stupid story, and Theo could not stop himself from kissing those fingers, calloused from the sport practiced for years, something that his werewolf side could never take away from Liam. He felt like a knot in the pit of his stomach, and closed his eyes, resting his head on the back glass. He wanted that peace, that absence of guilt, to last forever. He did not care if it would take too long to come back, if he would be late for work: he just wanted to enjoy that moment and put it in his mind, before he could escape again.

 They stayed like that for a long time, and Liam watched as the sun lit up the face of the one he wanted at his side, who wanted to help him direct a pack he had never asked for. He watched him until it was only painful to look at him, then he moved closer enough to rest his head on his shoulder. He heard Theo moving, but did not move in turn: he did not want to see the annoyed expression in his eyes, did not want to ask him to move, to act as a man. If he had been brave, Liam Dunbar would have asked Theo Raeken what he had to ask, he would have gathered all his cold blood and would have moved his lips, perhaps at that moment, but the peace of that afternoon seemed to him sacred, impossible to upset. So he remained motionless, until Theo left his hand and put an arm around his shoulders. He clenched with his hand that could be lethal the fabric of his jacket, as if he were not willing to let him go, until the sun began to fall, and it was undeniably the moment to return.

The return journey was serene; they listened to bad music on the radio, and talked about light subjects. They seemed unable to stop, as if they could not bear the idea that they would soon have to separate.

Now arrived in front of Liam's house, the boy took his courage and decided to speak: "Tomorrow do you have to do something?" he asked, and he cursed himself in a thousand ways, because it was not really what he had to talk to him about. A smile appeared on Theo's face, and then he shook his head.

"Prepare something comfortable, I have an idea." said Liam, enigmatic. He was about to get out of the car when Theo put his hand on the back of his head, bringing him back into the interior of the car. They were so close that Liam could see the darker straws in his green eyes. He stroked his cheek, fingers almost trembling, and Liam wondered what he was afraid of, what stopped him that way, so he covered the distance between them. He kissed him gently, unlike their first kiss, and almost only touched his lips, and then leave, reminding him that they would see each other the next day.

 Theo led up to the Sinema in a state of total disbelief. He still felt the slight pressure of Liam's lips on his, and prayed that that feeling would never leave, that’ll remain until the next day. Moreover, he could understand the most ridiculous fact of the whole situation: he had been madly worried for so long that he had lost the ability to recognize a pure feeling when he saw one and so he did not understand, at least until it became clear, that he had just had an appointment with Liam Dunbar.