What Could Have Been [Thiam Rewrites]

Chapter 3: Not Quite Enemies Anymore

"Define stupid—"

"Leaving in the middle of the night to be hunter-bait." As soon as he said it, Liam thought back to the night they beat the Ghost Riders and Theo had single-handedly taken down dozens of the Riders, been the bait, all so that Liam could get information back to Scott. He wondered if Theo was remembering the same night when he threw Liam in the elevator.

If he was thinking about it, Theo didn't show it. He rolled his eyes dramatically. "Fine. Whatever. Truce."

Liam stuck his hand out, and Theo's glare sharpened, thoroughly unamused at having to shake on it, but he did. When he started back toward the house, Theo didn't follow right away.

"Be right there," Theo said quietly, opening the backseat of his truck and pulling out a ratty old blanket.

"Does the big, bad chimera seriously need a blankie to sleep?"

Theo tossed the blanket over his shoulder. Liam thought he might just ignore the remark but as he walked past, Theo's fist slammed into his face.

"Now we're even."

...

In the morning, Liam nearly broke his phone trying to turn his alarm off and scrubs the sleep from his eyes. If he slept until noon, it still wouldn't be enough. He got ready like normal—if anyone could consider sharing a bathroom with Theo normal.

Liam pounded on the door. The water to the shower had shut off ten minutes ago but Theo was still being a bathroom hog and Liam's time to shower and brush his teeth was shrinking rapidly.

"I'm gonna miss the bus, Theo!" Liam growled through the door. "Hurry up!"

Five minutes later, Theo emerged squeaky clean with a fresh smirk. "Relax, I'll drive you. It'll be faster."

Liam was seriously starting to regret letting this smug bastard into his house. After a quick shower, Liam padded downstairs where his mom was waiting with two bags of food. It smelled like bacon, and Liam's stomach growled. Except that the last piece of it disappeared between Theo's lips.

"Thanks for breakfast, Mrs. Dunbar, I'll make sure Liam gets to school safe and sound."

"Oh, please," his mom said with a genuine smile. "You can call me Jenna. Liam, your friend is sweet. He can stay as long as he likes."

Liam said, "He's not my friend" at the same time Theo said, "I'm not his friend."

His mom shot him a confusing look with a raised eyebrow that he didn't understand. "All right, then, boys, whatever you are, you better be on your way before you're late for school. Li, I packed breakfast and lunch for you since you took forever getting ready."

If his mom hadn't been watching from the doorway, Liam would've sunk his elbow into Theo's gut the first chance he got. Instead, he hopped in the truck with a huff.

Theo

Theo put the truck in gear and started down the road. Liam opened he packed breakfast—a bagel with cream cheese that already had a bite taken out of it. With a low growl, he shoved it back into the bag. Liam crossed his arms and leaned as far away from Theo as he could get.

Before he could call Liam out for pouting like a hurt puppy, Liam said, "Take a right here."

"But the school's the other way." They were only a few blocks away from his house.

"I'm not going to school."

"Then why did you care if you were late—"

"I needed my mom to think I was going."