{archive of our own}
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Liam turned over on his side, pulling the blankets up to his shoulders. It's not there, he told himself, as he forced his eyes shut and pressed his face hard into his pillow.
He heard the distinct sound of the window cracking open, a gentle draft raising goosebumps on his biceps. Don't look. The familiar creak of his floorboards came next, once, twice, louder every time. Don't look. The creaks came closer and closer, until the noise was coming from right by his side of the bed. Don't look.
It was when it stopped that he couldn't take it any more.
He ripped off the covers, vaulting out of the bed, claws out and fangs sharp. There was nothing there. He knew nothing would be there, so why couldn't his brain just shut up about it?
He stood for a second more, heart still pounding, before crawling back under his covers in hopes of a dreamless sleep.
---
At school the next day, he barely made it through his classes. Every time he turned into a new hallway, a berserker's head was visible in the crowd. Whenever he bumped into someone in passing, it felt less like another high school body and more like cold, hard bone. He knew Mason could tell something was wrong -– he had always been particularly perceptive of Liam's problems, and Liam wasn't exactly having an easy time masking his fear -– but his friend didn't press it, and Liam was eternally grateful for that.
He wasn't so lucky at lacrosse practice, though.
"Liam, hey," Scott said, sitting next to him on the bench. "What's wrong?"
Liam shook his head. He knew Scott had sensed something in the weight room earlier. He didn't want to embarrass himself. What kind of idiot kept seeing berserkers when he was trying to sleep? He wanted Scott to be proud of him, not disappointed. He needed to be brave, not scared.
But his alpha wasn't deterred. "Hey. You can talk to me, you know that, right?"
"It's nothing, okay? Don't worry about it." Liam bit the words out, hesitant to meet Scott's eyes with his own.
"'Nothing doesn't make you look like this," Scott said, resting his hand on Liam's shoulder. "Is it the deadpool? I know it's hard to believe, but it's over now. We're safe."
Liam scoffed quietly. Someone like Scott could never understand. Scott was a hero. Scott wouldn't be plagued by nightmares about berserkers. Scott ate berserkers for breakfast.
Liam shrugged off Scott's hand.
"I'm fine," he said, hoping it sounded more convincing to Scott than it did to him. He stood up, grabbing his lacrosse stick. "I've gotta get on the field."
"Alright." Scott stood up with him. "But you can always come to me, okay?" When Liam's nod was more subdued than enthusiastic, Scott sighed. "Here, at least let me fix your shoulder pads. You're going to get hurt with them strapped on so tightly."
---
That night was another exercise in sleeplessness. Liam stared at the clock. 1:43 a.m. He should have been asleep hours ago. He was tired enough, at any rate. But whenever he closed his eyes, he heard the berserker's bones clicking as it walked. When he gathered his courage and opened his eyes, he saw them. When he turned away, they touched his shoulder with bony fingers and he felt a sharp pain at his throat.
He shook his covers off. There was no use in trying to sleep, not now.
Opening his window, taking care not to wake his step-dad, he jumped outside, landing in a silent crouch. Maybe a run would clear his head. He didn't think it would, but it couldn't hurt.
Liam ran. The cool night air surrounded him and he sprinted through the neighborhood, houses and cars whizzing by like they were the ones moving and he was just standing still. Turning a corner, the deserted streets suddenly became brimming with life. Well, maybe life wasn't the right word.
Dozens upon dozens of berserkers were in the street. Their heads snapped up as he rounded the corner, and they began walking towards him in sync.
Liam took a step back. Then another. They're not real. The berserkers kept up their approach, breaking into a jog that was closing the distance between them rapidly.
Liam ran. He urged his body to move faster and faster. His eyes turned yellow and his claws came out and he might have been be using all four of his limbs but he didn't care, primal instinct overwhelming any reservations he had about giving into his werewolf side. He didn't look back, or in any direction besides straight ahead. All that counted was distance, distance between here and there, between him and the berserkers.
When he finally stopped, bent over and gasping for breath, he looked up. Taking in his surroundings, he realized he was in front of Scott's house. He'd only been there a few times, but Scott's scent was strongest here, and the wolf in him had locked on to the smell.
Almost on autopilot, he stepped closer to the door, hand held up as if to knock, but he found himself hesitating.
Scott had said, more than once, that Liam could come to him anytime, for any reason. Did that really apply to nightmares at 2 o'clock in the morning? Of course it does. It's Scott McCall. Steeling himself, he knocked on the door, once, twice, three times in quick succession.
Scott opened the door, a little bleary-eyed from sleep but otherwise alert.
"Liam," he greeted quietly. He took in the scared look on the beta's face, his rumpled, windswept hair, his boxers and t-shirt. "Is everything alright?"
"I can't sleep," mumbled Liam, half-ashamed, half-relieved to finally tell someone. If Scott wasn't a werewolf, he might not have heard it. "I can't sleep at all. I see them. I see..." he trailed off before forcing himself to continue. "I see the berserkers everywhere. In school, on the lacrosse field... in my bedroom. They won't go away. I know they're not real." He was almost whimpering. "But they won't go away."
Scott gripped him by the shoulders. "You're safe here," he said, staring into Liam's eyes. "You're safe with me." It was astonishing how comforting those few words were to the beta.
When Liam nodded uncertainly, Scott's grip moved to his arm. "Come on, you're sleeping here. Let's get you to bed."
Liam didn't protest as Scott led him up to his room, following along absently, mind still reeling from the events of the night and the unwavering support from Scott. He let Scott place him on his bed without complaint, falling into the secure smell of his alpha.
"I'll be right here, okay Liam?" Scott moved to sit down on the floor next to the bed, but Liam grabbed his arm before he could sit.
"Would it be okay if you...slept in the bed, too?" he asked hesitantly. In his head, he cursed himself for being so weak, but Scott just smiled at him.
"Of course," he said, climbing under the covers next to Liam. The beta curled up on the side of the bed and Scott tentatively put an arm around him. When he felt Liam relax into his touch, he smiled again and moved closer.
Liam glanced around the room. There were no berserkers lurking in the shadows. The windows were securely shut and locked.
After a few seconds, he allowed himself to relax into Scott's embrace. He closed his eyes, and, for the first time in days, fell asleep easily.
Besides, even if berserkers did come, Scott was here. Scott would always be here.
