The Little Wolf (Teen Wolf: Thiam)

Chapter 18: Pack Grief

Liam shook his head as they left the house to go to the funeral home for preparations.

Liam and Theo were the first two there; they jumped out of Theo's truck and walked into the funeral home. The funeral director started telling Liam where he would stand and asking him if he was having anyone standing with him. He nodded and told him, Theo. He asked the boy if he wanted some alone time with his parents before the visitation. Liam decided to go in alone to say his goodbyes. He walked in and saw the two caskets laying there, open. He saw Dr.Geyer's smooth skin, his eyes closed, looking peacefully sleeping. Liam started to cry thinking of the hours he spent playing lacrosse with the man, how he adopted Liam as his father from the moment he met him. He helped him with homework, showed him how to be a man, even working on the house with him was always a good time. Liam knew he disappointed the man who gave him everything; the doctor had so much hope for Liam. He saw his disappointment when he crashed his ex-coach's car, hearing about him getting into fights at the school, and losing his temper with him and Jenna. He didn't deserve such a great father as him and know he had ultimately led to his death. The man was full of love and compassion; it should be Liam laying in that casket, not him. The man saved countless numbers of lives, was so helpful to everyone, and was the friendliest man he had ever met. Tears continued to stream down the beta's face as he apologized to the man and thanked him for everything he did for him since he was a little kid. 

Next, Liam moved to his mother; he knew it was going to be even harder than his father. The woman raised him his whole life, chose him over his abusive father, took care of him single-handedly before she met Dr.Geyer. She went through ever trouble with him from his IED to his PTSD from his abuse as a child. No one knew this except Mason, but this wasn't Liam's first time struggling with an eating disorder. He went inpatient at eleven years old from feeling worthless after his father blamed him for everything. She came every day to visit him and helped him recover, dealt with him destroying things, punching holes in the walls, and all the detentions he had received. She took him to the park, the zoo, and sacrificed everything to make him have a better life. She gave him hugs while he was crying, put bandages over his wounds, and wiped up his messes.

Both of his parents accepted him when they found out he was a werewolf. They didn't fear him and even understood he needed his independence sometimes to do pack stuff. They let him bring Theo into his house and accepted him as a son. Liam was shaking so badly as he was crying over his mother. Looking at her peacefully lying there, her hair pulled off her face, soft lips, and gentle face he grabbed her hand and told her how much he was sorry for everything he put her through. She deserved everything, and he took that away from her. Liam thanked her for everything she had done for him. He wasn't very religious, but he did believe in God. His parents were both strong Christians, but Liam never really practiced anything. For the first time in a long time, Liam prayed, hoping his parents were in Heaven (he definitely knew there was a Hell from Theo) and asked God to help him through this. The beta ended up staying in the room with his parents for an hour. Theo sat outside listening to the boy's heartbeat making sure he was okay. Eventually, the rest of the pack showed up; they all agreed to stay during the entire viewing. Mason and Corey were the first ones there. They asked Theo where Liam was.

"He went in to say goodbye a while ago; I've been listening to make sure he's okay," Theo told his boyfriend's best friend.

"He's not going to be okay for this," Mason told the chimera. He knew Liam better than anyone, and he knew Liam didn't go through hardships well. The boy tortured himself for a year after Jenna left his birth father for his safety.

Corey sat there in silence, feeling bad for Liam. Being quite a lot made Corey very observant. Since he met the boy, he could sense the boy was constantly pushing down pain and ignoring his feelings. He watched him on the lacrosse field beat himself up, for missing a ball, pushing himself harder to be better than everyone on the field He gets angry at himself for losing control, and he will never forget the grief the boy was going through when he thought he lost Hayden.

The McCall's, Stiles, and Argent showed up next, expecting Liam to be by himself. They stood there trying to keep up small talk with the boys to lighten the mood. Argent and Scott were having flashbacks from Allison's funeral. Stiles was remembering his mom's funeral and was clearly upset. Scott saw this and put a hand on his best friend's shoulder for reassurance. Theo hadn't thought this might be hard for him to watch, losing a parent himself, and blaming himself for no reason. He remembered when Stiles's mom died as a kid; he was in a bad place for a long time. He watched his mother slowly degrade and then not even remember her own child, he blamed himself for everything. Noah, Scott, and Melissa had to bring him out of his grief and depression. Theo killed his sister not long, after her death, so he wasn't really there for the aftermath, but knew he couldn't have been pleasant.

Malia, Derek, and Peter showed up next, pretty somber themselves. All of them knew what it was like to lose their family members. Lydia and Parrish along with Noah and Natalie showed up next. Melissa, Natalie, Noah, Peter, Derek, and Argent went to discuss some planning with funeral arrangements as the adults in the pack. Lydia came over and hugged Theo for some reason; she was always more open to him than the other members of the pack, despite him placing her in Eichen House. Parrish smiled some reassurance to the chimera. Liam finally came out of the room; everyone could see his red eyes, puffy from crying. He looked beaten and worn out. His suit hanging off his small body, his cheekbones protruding out of his thin face, his little hands were shaking, and his eyes refused to look off the floor. 

No one really knew what to say; Mason walked over and grabbed his best friend. They stood there hugging; Liam crying in his friend's shoulder he knew Mason understood everything more than anyone. Mason was unsettled by how small Liam felt in his arms but let him go giving him a reassuring look and whispering he'll be here to get through this. Scott went up to his beta next and wrapped his arms around the small boy. Everyone knew Scott treated Liam as a younger brother; he would do anything to support the beta. Scott would never tell Liam this, but he took some of the blame himself. I mean if it wasn't for him Liam would have never been a werewolf in the first place, but he would also be dead at this point, killed by falling off the hospital roof. Scott finally let him go, and Theo grabbed his boyfriend's hand with a firm grip, assuring him he wasn't ever going to let him go.