"Liam?" the voice repeated.
Liam opened his eyes fully to scan the boy's face. He looked worried and scared. Liam could easily see the bags under his eyes, even with such little light in the room. He smiled to himself, looking at him.
"Liam, what is it?" He said getting up from the chair he was sitting in and moving closer to Liam.
Liam just smiled wider, his eyes scrunching slightly, "I know your name," Theo smiled at his words, "and you saved me."
Theo's smile fell. His eyes left Liam's and a look of guilt passed over his face.
"What?" Liam questioned.
Theo shook his head, when he looked back up at Liam tears were pooling in his eyes, Liam felt his heart shatter. "I-I also was the one who put you in danger. Yeah, I stopped that man from killing you, but there wouldn't have been anything to stop if I'd just stayed away from you. They took you cause they wanted me, I could have easily avoided all of-"
"Shut up, please," Liam interrupted. Theo's mouth shut quickly.
Liam tried to sit up a little but winced.
Theo reached out to help him, 'Liam don't-"
"Nope!" he held up his hand, "Listen I have been in this room for god knows how long, I want water, and I want someone to explain to me what happened and who the hell those guys were."
Theo closed his mouth and nodded.
"Okay. Yeah, okay." Theo glanced down at the end of the bed, asking silently if it was okay to sit down. Liam nodded. "Okay, so, um." He glanced over towards Scott and Liam, making sure they were both 100% asleep, and not waking up anytime soon. "When-when I was 8, I-uh- found out I could fully shift. That's what the full wolf thing is. Most werewolves can't do that, so it was pretty special.' Theo smiled to himself, "God my parents were so excited. They helped me learn how to control it, and after a few months I basically had it down. But-uh- then these guys showed up." Liam frowned at him. "They told my parents they wanted to take me, said it would be safe, but obviously my parents knew they were lying. When they first told them 'no' the guys left. We all thought it was just a weird, creepy thing that happened, that they were werewolves too and that that's how they knew. But a few weeks later they showed up again. My parents tried to get them to leave, but they wouldn't." Theo's voice cracked and he went silent, staring down at the floor. Liam reached forward slightly and rested his hand on the back of Theo's, rubbing his thumb over it.
Theo took a deep breath before continuing, "They-uh- murdered them in front of me," Liam's hand stopped for a second but then continued. "God, I remember it like it was yesterday. I still have nightmares. They took me that night and brought me to this building. They threw me in this cage and started experimenting on me. They said they wanted to develop a chemical that would be able to kill all werewolves. Universally." Theo's voice was growing shakier.
"After a few years, I got older, started trying to find a way to escape from them. I'd done it successfully on multiple occasions, the longest I was out was 5 months." Theo paused again, tears falling from his eyes, 'The day I went back..." he couldn't get the sentence out.
"Hey, " Liam said, gently, "You don't have to."
Theo just nodded, "this time was different. One of the higher-ups was shot and killed. There was less security on me, so I managed to slip away long enough to get out and come here." Theo looked up at him for the first time since he started, "Then I found you." Theo smiled, tears still staining his cheeks. Liam blushed at the words.
"You were the first person in so long that really looked at me. You managed to understand me even when I couldn't speak. I was working up the courage to try and shift out, but then... They got to you, They knew that getting to you meant they could get to me and I just... Shit, I'm so sorry." Theo's eyes left his again, "If I just went back, they never would have taken you, we wouldn't be here right now. I just- god- what if-"
"Theo shut the hell up and listen to me," Liam spoke.
Theo's mouth shut and he nodded.
"Listen to me, because I don't want to repeat myself. I. Do. Not. Care. Alright? I don't care that you are indirectly responsible for this because guess what. As far as I know, everyone's still alive, at least everyone that matters. Unless you want to sit here and tell me that Stiles got stabbed or something." he paused and Theo just shook his head. "See? Guess what? I'm fine, everyone else is fine. Do you know who isn't fine? That guy that tried to shoot me. I don't remember much, but I'm fairly certain he's dead. Now, I, the person to who you are trying to apologize, am telling you to shut up, because it wasn't your fault." Liam leaned forward forcing Theo to look in his eyes, "Those men were the monsters, not you."
Theo sobbed.
Liam just hugged him.
"-iam? Liam? Are you awake?"
Liam groaned and rolled to the side, away from the voice. "Go away" he croaked out."
A woman's voice chuckled, "Liam. I know you want to sleep but we could check you out soon if you get up. You could go to sleep in your own bed. It might be more comfortable."
Liam groaned and opened his eyes. They met a young woman with brown hair, she looked strangely familiar.
"There we go. Listen, your brother told me a little about your situation, so don't worry about paying for anything but I still need to make sure you are okay before you leave, alright?"
Liam groaned but nodded.
They ran a few tests all of which went well, Liam was scheduled to leave the hospital in a few hours once they made sure he wasn't having any bad reaction to the drugs they gave him.
After what felt like hours, Isaac came into his room and hugged him tight.
"Hey, Li, you scared the ever-loving shot out of me yesterday."
Liam smiled, "love you too."
"I'm sorry, what?" Derek asked, completely disbelieving.
After it was established that Liam would be okay, he was sent back to stay at his house but instructed to stay relaxed for a few days. The others had all come to say 'hi' when they found out he was home. They were all gathered sporadically around the living room. Liam lying down comfortably on the couch.
"I said I already knew," Liam shrugged.
"How did you know we were werewolves?" Scott asked, just slightly less surprised than Derek.
Liam laughed, "I mean you all do a shit job at hiding it."
Derek growled.
"Point proven," Liam said, "listen I can tell you if you want."
"Yes," Derek growled.
"Okay, okay. One, Derek, the sniffy thing you do when you enter a room, not subtle in the slightest, might want to keep an eye on that. Two, the way your dumb ass was lurking in the forest, really weird. Which leads to three, you were all way too invested in that whole wolf thing," Liam laughed, so did Theo, "Four, Scott's eyes glowed the first time I saw him look at Isaac. At first, it freaked me the hell out, but then I started googling shit, and well I stumbled down a rabbit hole," Scott blushed and looked at the ground, Derek just glared at him. "Five, I fucking met a wolf in the woods who was somehow able to understand English." They all looked at Theo, he just shrugged, smiling. Now, I didn't know exactly what was going on, but it was obviously weird."
"Wow, yeah okay he's got a point," Malia laughed.
"God, Liam, your ability to piss off Derek will always have me envy you." Stiles chuckled. Derek glared at him, "Oh don't be a sour wolf, we all know none of us would have figured it out on our own. That was impressive."
Derek just rolled his eyes.
"I would like to ask one thing," Liam said.
"Last night, Theo was explaining what happened, the whole kidnapping thing. He mentioned that he was 'special' because he could... What did you call it?" He glanced over at Theo.
"Full shift," Theo stated.
"Right, yeah, so what exactly does a non-full shift mean?" Liam looked around.
"We could just show you," Scott suggested.
"Okay,"
The others all looked at each other before their eyes glowed. Their faces started to change shape slightly. Fangs grew from their teeth, and claws sprouted from their nails.
Liam just smiled, "Cool, so what do the different colors mean."
They were all a little shocked at how aloof Liam was when it came to the whole situation.
"Uh," Scott started, "Well it's sort of a rank thing I guess. Mine are red 'cause I'm an alpha, so are Derek's. Malia's are blue because... well, it has to do with whether or not you've killed someone. More specifically innocent people." That seemed to surprise Liam just a little, his eyebrows raised slightly when he looked over at her.
No one else said anything, "Well I'm sure you didn't mean it." Liam decided on, "What about yellow?" he pointed to Theo.
"Um, it just means you're a beta, not an alpha, but it also means he hasn't murdered any innocent people," Scott explained.
Liam smiled at Theo. "Good to know,"
"That's cool," Liam yawned, "Thank you for the supernatural lesson and the company but I'm very tired."
Everyone made their way out of the house saying their goodbyes and heading to their cars. Scott stopped Theo when they were out on the porch.
"Hey, I wasn't kidding, you're coming home with me, come on," He dragged Theo into his car.
"You really don't-"
"Don't you dare say I don't have to. I don't have to do anything. I want to. Because you've been through hell and you don't deserve to keep running. You should have a place you feel safe, where you don't feel like you're being hunted all the time. You deserve, at least, a semi-normal life." Scott declared, starting the car and driving off, "Also tomorrow I'm taking you shopping."
Theo smiled to himself, 'Thank you"
"Don't mention it. We have a spare bedroom no ones using, and I'm sure my mom and I could use the company." Scott watched out of the corner of his eye as they shifted nervously.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I just- can't remember the last time I slept in a bed on my own. As y'know, me."
Scott frowned at his words, "Well you will tonight, and from now on. No more caves or wherever the hell you've been staying."
"Shit!" Theo exclaimed.
"What?"
"I forgot something, do you think you could wait here a second, I can run back and grab it, it'll only take a minute I promise."
"Yeah, of course."
Theo jumped out of the car and ran back down the street for a minute, back to Liam's house. He slipped past it and around into the backyard, stealthily making his way into the shed. He picked up the familiar piece of cloth. He ran quickly back down the road, hiding it under the sweatshirt he was already wearing (one that Isaac had lent him as a 'thank you for saving my brother' gift)
He opened the door and slid back into his seat.
"You get it?"
"Yup"
They drove to Scott's house and made their way inside.
"My mom is working tonight so she won't be back until tomorrow morning. The kitchen's over here. Feel free to eat or drink whatever, whenever" He pointed to it, "but I don't know about you, I just want to sleep."
He led them up the stairs and down the hall. He brought Isaac to a large room with a gray queen-sized bed. Navy blue walls, and black metal accents. It was simple, but it felt more comfortable than anything Theo had known in a long long time.
"Make yourself comfortable. The bathroom is through that door. There should be some random shampoo and stuff in there, but if you need anything I'm the only other door in this hallway. I'll grab you some sweatpants." Scott left for a minute before bringing Theo a pair of pants and declaring that he was going to go pass out.
Theo put on the sweatpants and took off the top sweatshirt he was wearing. He slipped the other one-off as well. He climbed into the bed. Getting easily comfortable under the covers, and buried his face in the fabric of the hoodie. He was out in minutes.
Across town, Liam was listening for the sound of Isaac's bedroom door closing. When he heard it, he lifted the pillow he was using and grabbed the sweatshirt he had stashed underneath it. The one Theo had given him in the car, the one he never let go of.
He slipped it on over his head, pulling the hood over himself, and slowing down his breathing until he felt a wave of sleep pass over him.