Going back to school on Monday meant taking the test that they were meant to take on Friday. Theo had studied for it, of course, but he still walked into school that morning with sweaty palms and heart palpitations bad enough that it made him think he should call his doctor.
Theo looked over at Scott as they walked into class together. Scott seemed to be acting normal, but Theo knew that when the moon went up, the shy, sweet boy that he had grown up with would probably be replaced by some sort of monster.
"What?" Scott asked as he caught Theo looking.
"Nothing. How are you feeling about this test?" he asked, changing the subject. Scott's small smile vanished, and Theo chuckled. "Yeah, me too."
"You've got this in the bag, Theo. Your grades are awesome. Mine are—"
"Improving," Theo cut in quickly. "I told you, Stiles and I are gonna help you with studying."
"Last time Stiles tried to help me study, he got distracted and started talking about squirrel-pattern baldness."
"Correction: I'm going to help you study while Stiles takes his Adderall, and then he can help."
This made Scott laugh and smile again; Theo counted that as a win. When they approached the classroom doors, however, that smile was forcibly wiped off of Scott's face. Allison sat in the front row, pencil already out. She looked up at the two boys as they entered, but her neutral face quickly broke and her eyes turned down to stare at the wood of her desk. Scott let out a little pained noise next to Theo; when Theo turned to look at him, however, he was already moving, making his way towards Allison with determination in his steps.
"Allison—"
"Mr. McCall," Mr. Harris said, clearly interrupting whatever speech Scott was going to give, "Please take a seat."
Theo had started moving before Mr. Harris had finished speaking, and he grabbed Scott by the shoulders and steered him towards a pair of empty desks near where Stiles was already sitting. He deposited Scott into one before claiming the other. Theo caught Stiles' eye, and Stiles mouthed 'Is he okay?' at Theo while Scott wasn't looking. Theo quickly shook his head, making Stiles frown even more.
There was a loud slapping sound from the front of the room. Theo turned to see that Harris had dropped a stack of blue books at the front of his row of desks. Harris made brief, probably accidental, eye contact with Theo before he continued down to the next row. The teacher gave some brief speech about putting their name on the cover while he was walking, and when he had made sure that everyone had received a blue book he looked out across the room and told them all to begin the test.
Theo flipped his test open and pushed all thoughts of Scott's crumbling life out of his mind for the time being to focus on his grades. 'An increase in imports of consumer goods is most likely to have been caused by a...'
Not even a few minutes later, Scott McCall forced his way back to the front of his mind. Theo tried to focus on the question in front of him, but all he could hear was Scott's labored breathing. He turned to find Scott hunched over his desk, nails (or possibly claws—Theo couldn't see which) digging into his palm. A few seconds later Scott was out of his seat, grabbing his bag and bolting out the door.
"Mr. McCall?" Harris yelled. Scott paid him no attention as he ran. Theo and Stiles jumped out of their own seats at the same exact time, ignoring the stares of the other students and Harris' calls of "Mr. Stilinski! Mr. Raeken!" in favor of following Scott out the door.
"Do you think this is because of the full moon? Could it be affecting him already?" Theo asked as they raced down the hallway in the direction that they had seen Scott run.
"I'm not sure," Stiles admitted. He slowed down, motioning for Theo to do the same, as they came across Scott's abandoned backpack, sitting in the middle of the hallway. Theo and Stiles blinked at each other for all of a second before Stiles was pulling out his phone and calling Scott. He put the phone up to his ear, waiting for Scott to answer. On top of the ringing coming from Stiles' phone, Theo soon realized that he could hear another phone going off somewhere down the hall. He headed towards the second phone, Stiles racing to catch up with him once he realized that Theo had started walking again. His quest led him and Stiles to the locker room, where they found Scott's shirt and jacket discarded on the floor. A little ways past the clothes, Theo could see that one of the showers had been turned on. A few more steps revealed Scott, huddled against the shower wall and letting the water cascade down over him.
"I can't... Guys, I..."
"What's happening? Are you changing?" Stiles asked, rushing to Scott's side.
"No, I can't... I can't breathe."
The anxiety immediately and totally left Theo's body when he realized that Scott wasn't about to go on a murder spree in the middle of the school day, but it was replaced with another kind of urgency when the reality of the situation set in. He quickly pulled out his inhaler, handing it over to Scott.
"Use this," Theo instructed.
"Really?"
"Just do it, dude, come on!"
Scott's hand reached out and grabbed the inhaler, shaking it up before taking a hit. He gasped, breath finally returning to his lungs. He was silent for a moment longer before looking incredulously at Theo.
"I was having an asthma attack?"
"No," Stiles answered. "You were having a panic attack. But thinking you were having an asthma attack stopped the panic attack."
"How did you know to do that?" Scott asked, looking between Stiles and Theo.
"I used to get them after my mom died," Stiles said.
"I got them, too, after Tara. The asthma attack thing was how Stiles helped me get out of them."
"Not fun, huh?"
Scott sighed, standing up straighter and finally leaving the support of the wall. "I looked at her and it was like someone hit me in the ribs with a hammer."
"Yeah, it's called heartbreak. There's like two billion songs written about it."
"I can't stop thinking about her."
"Well, you could think about this: her dad's a werewolf hunter. You're a werewolf. It was bound to become an issue."
Theo elbowed Stiles in the ribs. "Not funny, dude."
"Yeah, okay, that wasn't helpful," Stiles admitted. "But yeah, you got dumped. And it's supposed to suck."
"No, that's not it. It was like I could feel everything in the room, everyone else's emotions..."
"It's gotta be the full moon," Stiles said. Theo didn't even have any satisfaction in knowing that he had been right earlier.
"We're gonna have to lock you up in your room later, like we planned. That way the Alpha—"
"—who is your boss!—" Stiles cut in.
"—can't get to you either," Theo finished, glaring at Stiles.
"He's not the Alpha," Scott growled at Stiles. "But I think we need to do more than lock me in my room."
"What? Why?"
"Are you worried that if you get out, you'll get caught by hunters? Because we won't—"
"No, not that," Scott said, interrupting Theo. "We need to do more because if I get out, I'm... I think I might kill someone."
Theo, throughout Scott's adventures into the world of lycanthropy, had tried his best not to be afraid of Scott. He knew that what was happening to his best friend wasn't his fault, that the weird urges and violent tendencies were not coming from him, but rather the thing inside of him; however, at times like this, times where Scott admitted to having the need to kill someone while looking Theo directly in the eyes, he couldn't help the fear that filled him up like a balloon, but as soon as he recognized the fear for what it was, the emotion was overtaken by guilt— guilt about being afraid of his best friend, guilt about viewing Scott as some sort of monster. Scott seemed to pick up on Theo's shifting emotions, because his expression seemed to reflect the guilt gnawing at Theo's heart.
Tentatively, slowly, so Scott could clearly see him doing it, Theo reached out and placed a hand on Scott's shoulder. When Scott didn't react negatively, he took a step forward, pulling Scott into a hug which the werewolf quickly reciprocated.
"We'll get through this," he said quietly into Scott's shoulder. "You've got Stiles and I to help you out. We're not gonna leave you to deal with shit on your own."
Theo felt a friendly hand fall onto his shoulder, and he knew without looking over that Stiles had joined in on the group affection. Scott sniffled, clinging to Theo's shirt as the hug continued. He was really glad that nobody had come looking for them yet; he wasn't sure what people would think, and he didn't want their reputation as the school nutjobs to gain more validity by having someone walk in on the three of them hugging while Scott was shirtless and the shower was still running.
* * * * *
The rest of the day passed by relatively silently. Both Theo and Stiles made sure that at least one of them was with Scott at all times, even if Scott seemed mostly normal after his panic attack. He still looked like a kicked puppy every time they caught even a whiff of Allison, but there was only so much Theo could do about that when they couldn't get Scott drunk or magically make Allison get back together with him.
"You're distracted."
Theo turned away from watching Scott and Stiles to look at Isaac. The curly-haired boy was sitting, as per usual, across the lunch table from Theo, but as his thoughts of Scott and the impending full moon cleared Theo realized he hadn't really been paying attention to their conversation.
"Shit, I'm sorry. It's just—"
"No, it's cool, I get it. You're worried about Scott."
Theo eyed Isaac suspiciously. Isaac raised an eyebrow in response to Theo's questioning gaze.
"Why do you think I'd be worried about him?" Theo asked. Did Isaac know about Scott being a werewolf?
"The breakup. I mean, him and Allison were inseparable. I'm assuming the fallout must be pretty bad, so you're keeping an eye on him because of that, right?"
Theo allowed himself to breathe. "Yeah, I forgot that it's practically public knowledge at this point."
Isaac turned around to look in Scott's direction. He turned back to Theo and asked, "How is he, then?"
"He's... managing."
Isaac hummed, sneaking another look over at Scott. There was something swimming in his eyes, something that Theo couldn't place.
"Why don't you sit with them at lunch anymore?" Isaac asked suddenly.
"Huh?"
"You sat here with me because the popular kids took your spot at your table, but they haven't sat with Scott and Stiles for a while now. You could easily go back and sit with them. Why stay here with me?"
Theo didn't even stop to think before he answered Isaac's question: "Because you're my friend, too, and I enjoy your company. And, between you and me, you looked really lonely, and I wanted you to stop moping over your food every day."
He knew that Isaac knew he was joking about the moping thing when Isaac smiled and laughed. He was getting better at making Isaac laugh, which had become a personal goal of his as of late. Isaac needed more than a little joy in his life, and Theo was happy to provide as much of it as he could.
Eventually the lunch bell rang, and Theo and Isaac went their separate ways again (even if they periodically texted throughout the day). The rest of the day went by in a flash, and soon the final bell signaling the end of the school day rang. Stiles, Theo, and Scott all rushed towards the lacrosse field. Theo split off from the other two once they reached the locker rooms, heading outside to claim a spot on the bleachers like usual. He found a somewhat empty spot behind the benches where the players sat; hopefully, Stiles and Scott would choose the seats in front of him.
A few minutes later the team came out of the locker room, and, as hoped, Stiles and Scott rushed over to sit directly in front of Theo.
"TheoTheoTheo, oh my GOD, you're never gonna guess what happened!" Stiles yelled as he ran up to Theo.
"What, you learned how to talk without breathing?"
"No, jackass! I just made first line, and Scott's fucking co-captain!"
"What? That's insane!"
"I know! Isn't it great? Also, my name is Biles now."
Theo smiled and hugged Stiles, deciding not to ask about the Biles thing— with Stiles, it was usually better not to ask— but when he turned to Scott his werewolf friend didn't seem to share Stiles' excitement at the good news.
"Dude, are you not freaking out? I'm freaking out!" Stiles said.
"What's the point? It's just a stupid title. And I could practically smell the jealousy in there," Scott replied.
"Wait, you smelled jealousy?" Theo asked.
Scott nodded. "It's like the full moon turned everything up to ten."
"... Can you pick up on stuff like desire?" Stiles asked. Theo eyed Stiles suspiciously; he had a feeling he knew where this was going, and he didn't like it.
"What do you mean, desire?"
"Sexual desire."
"Sexual des—"
"Yes, sexual desire! Lust, passion, arousal!"
"You mean from Lydia," Theo asked dryly.
"No, in a general, broad sense, can he determine sexual desire?"
"From Lydia to you?" Scott asked. Stiles groaned, throwing his hands up.
"Fine, yes, from Lydia to me. I have to know if I have a chance with her. I've been obsessing over this girl since the third grade!"
Theo couldn't help but laugh. Stiles punched his shoulder, a hit which he gladly returned.
"Why don't you just ask her?" Scott asked as he grabbed Stiles' fist to keep him from punching Theo again.
"Because you asking saves me from utterly crushing humiliation. So go over, ask if she likes me, see if her heartbeat rises, pheromones come out. Anything, please."
"Fine," Scott groaned. He got up from his seat and walked over to where Lydia was sitting on the other end of the bleachers. Stiles yelled after him about how much he loved Scott before turning back to Theo.
"I still can't believe I made first line!"
"Yeah, dude, that's fucking huge! I'm proud of you both," Theo said. "Did coach say why?"
"Something about a pink eye epidemic. He says we're "probationary", but I still get to play in the next game!"
"And he made Scott co-captain! Man, you gotta tell me how Jackson reacted to that."
"Oh, he was not happy about it, but Coach didn't really give him a choice."
Theo looked over to where Jackson had just sat down. He noted the scowl on the co-captain's face with a deep sense of satisfaction. His lackeys were crowded around him, either kissing his ass or insulting Scott, but whatever they were saying wasn't good enough to take the sour, sucked-on-a-lemon look off of Jackson's face.
"You know those little troll dolls? With the weird hair? He looks like if you gave one of them really nice cheekbones and then royally pissed it off."
Stiles started cracking up laughing, drawing the attention of more than one of Stiles' teammates. Underneath Stiles' laughter Theo heard a small chuckle, and Theo turned to see Isaac sitting a few feet away from them, a small smile on his face. Theo realized Isaac must have overheard his joke. When Isaac caught his eye, his smile brightened, and he waved at Theo.
"Got a little crush there, Raeken?" Stiles said, elbowing Theo in the side as Theo waved back. Theo turned back to see Stiles waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"What? No."
Stiles rolled his eyes, an obvious indication that he didn't believe Theo, who scoffed and pushed Stiles' head away from him.
"I'm just saying, you spend every lunch period talking to him, you text him in class, you smile when you see him in the halls... Sounds like a crush to me."
"I also spend every waking moment with you and Scott, and I smile when I see you guys in public, too," Theo defended. "I'm allowed to have friends outside of you two."
"Yeah, and you're also allowed to date people, what's your point?"
"If I was going to date anyone, it wouldn't be Isaac. For one thing, he's just a friend. Also, he's straight."
"With that face? No way," Stiles scoffed. His eyebrows knitted together, and before Theo could argue with him about Isaac's sexuality any further, he asked "Am I attractive to gay guys?"
"Fucking excuse me?"
"Am. I. Attractive. To gay guys?" Stiles asked again, emphasizing every other word as if his pronunciation was what Theo was having trouble understanding. "Scott never answered me the other day."
"Scott's not gay."
"Point taken, but you are, so give me an answer."
"I... I guess so?"
"What do you mean, you guess so?"
"You're essentially my brother, dude. I've seen you shove lasagna into your face with your bare hands, I'm not sure I'm the right gay guy to ask about your level of attractiveness," Theo answered. "Also, you aren't really my type."
Stiles waved him off, making a dismissive sound in the back of his throat. "You don't have a type."
"I have a type! You just don't know what it is."
"Yeah, but in order for me to figure out what your type is you have to actually show interest in someone."
Their conversation stopped once Theo caught sight of Scott and Lydia returning to the field. Lydia took her previous seat in the bleachers, checking over her belongings to make sure nothing had been touched while she was gone, while Scott made his way back to Theo and Stiles.
"Hey, what happened?" Stiles asked as soon as Scott's ass touched the bench. Scott just looked at him, confusion written all over his face.
"What?" Scott asked.
"What do you mean 'what'? Did you ask her? Did she say anything? Did she say she liked me? Imply she liked me?"
"Yeah. Yeah, she likes you. In fact, she's totally into you."
Theo narrowed his eyes at Scott, mulling over his answer. Lydia had never given Stiles the time of day since the third grade, outside of life-or-death situations like the night they were trapped in the school. Theo may not know a lot about love, but he did know that ignoring someone and their obvious advances wasn't usually how someone acted when they were "totally into" that very same person. It didn't make any sense to him. Stiles didn't seem to have this same intuition, however; his face lit up with more joy than Theo had seen before, and he let out a weak chuckle at his supposed good luck. While Stiles was distracted, Theo leaned forward and tapped Scott on the shoulder to get his attention.
"Scott, are you alright?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Scott replied in an eyebrow-raising tone.
"Are you sure that Lydia—"
"Yes, I'm sure."
Theo leaned back and away from Scott. It was obvious Scott didn't want to talk about it, but that just made Theo more suspicious.
Eventually Stiles and Scott left him to actually participate in practice, and Theo brought out his homework as per usual. He kept half an eye on Scott, though, just in case he needed to come up with a quick exit strategy if Scott started shifting on the field. Things were going okay, right up until two players slammed into Scott at the same time and forced his back to hit the ground with a painful-sounding thud.
"I guess some people don't appreciate your new status, McCall!" Coach Finstock yelled as Scott went down. Immediately, the werewolf was back on his feet; something had changed within the last few seconds, however, and the weird vibes that had been subtly radiating from Scott only intensified. When Coach called out for the next player in line—Stiles— to run the drill, Scott held out an arm to push him back and took his place, intending to run the drill again.
"This is gonna get ugly," Theo muttered to himself as he shoved his homework back into his backpack.
The whistle blew, loud and harsh in Theo's ears, and Scott bolted forward once the ball was in his possession. He smashed through the two long stick defenders as if he were a battering ram and they were two thin pieces of cardboard. Danny stepped forward to defend against Scott's onslaught, but, to Theo's horror, Scott elbowed Danny directly in the face, cracking his helmet down the middle and making Danny cry out in pain. A crowd formed around Danny as he fell. Jackson pushed his way to the front, concern for his friend evident on his face and Lydia on his heels. Theo weaved his way through the mass of people and made his way as quickly as he could over to where Stiles had pulled Scott away.
"Dude, what the fuck?" he asked as he came within earshot of his two friends.
"What the hell is wrong with you? You just took down Danny!" Stiles yelled. Scott didn't seem bothered by either of their words; instead of showing remorse or regret, or even concern for Danny, he just shrugged.
"So what? He's twice the size of me."
"So, everyone likes Danny, which means everyone's gonna hate you," Stiles pointed out.
"I don't care."
Theo could hear an EMT pushing through the crowd to get to Danny, but his focus remained on Scott. His friend's expression was horrifyingly neutral considering the situation, but when the scent of blood filtered through the air Scott's lips twisted upwards in a smile that reminded Theo more of a bloodthirsty vampire than a werewolf trying (and, in all honesty, failing) to deal with the effects of the full moon.
"Scott?" Theo asked weakly. Stiles' head turned around from where he had been looking at Danny, and his face turned even more pale than it had been before when he caught sight of Scott's smile.
"What?"
Scott didn't even wait for either of them to respond before he walked away, heading back towards the school. Theo hesitated a bit, reluctant to go after the werewolf but knowing that he probably should anyway.
"I should... I'm gonna go follow him," he said after a few seconds.
"No," Stiles said, surprising Theo. "I need to go get some things from different stores, so I need you to go to the hardware store and get these things." He handed Theo a piece of paper—Theo was confused about where he had pulled it from— as he talked. "We'll meet back up with Scott later at his house."
"Stiles, this only has "chains" written on it in all caps."
"Yeah, so?"
"Not much of a shopping list. Did you have to write it out? Couldn't you have just told me you needed chains?"
"I thought that we would need more stuff, so I started writing, but it turns out we don't so you're stuck with that piece of paper."
Theo sighed. "He's not gonna be happy about this."
"He'll get over it," Stiles said dismissively. Theo's response died on his tongue, however, as a conversation between Lydia and Jackson reached their ears.
"What?" Lydia asked. Theo missed what Jackson had said before, but when he turned to look at the couple he saw the co-captain's eyes focusing on Lydia's face, specifically her mouth.
"Your lipstick," Jackson said simply. Lydia pulled out a compact mirror, checking her makeup in it and then adjusting her lipstick when she noticed the smudge of color that had strayed from the outline of her top lip. It looked like it had been smeared during a makeout session, or when she wiped something off of her mouth after eating; Theo really hoped it was the latter and not the former.
"Oh. Wonder how that happened," Lydia said. Theo narrowed his eyes; there was something off about her voice, something that told Theo she knew exactly how the smudge happened. Next to him, Stiles sighed, and his whole body seemed to deflate. Theo didn't say anything, choosing instead to gently pat Stiles on the back in a comforting motion before leading his friend off the field.
* * * * *
Later, after running his Stiles-appointed errands, Theo ended up pulled into the McCall driveway mere seconds after Stiles. He parked his truck, picked up the bag he had purchased, and made his way to where Stiles had just climbed out of the driver's seat.
"Did you get—"
"Yes, Stiles, I got the chains." Theo held up the plastic bag from the hardware store as proof. Stiles was quick to grab the bag from him. "Do you really think we'll need them?"
"You saw how he was today, Theo. He hurt Danny and didn't care about it. I'm hoping that we won't need them, but I'm not about to risk lives on my optimism."
"I don't think you're very good at optimism," Theo muttered. Stiles ignored him. His wiry friend shoved the chains into the duffel bag, the contents of which remained a mystery to Theo, and then picked the bag up and moved towards the front door. Stiles pulled out his keyring and unlocked the door, letting himself and Theo in.
"Scott?" This was Melissa, coming around the corner. She paused when she saw that whoever had unlocked her door was not, in fact, her son, but her son's two best friends.
"Stiles and Theo," Stiles sang. Melissa looked from Stiles to Theo, then back down to Stiles' hand where his keys were still out.
"Key."
"Yeah, I had one made," Stiles answered. Theo and Melissa both turned to stare at Stiles, who shrugged after a few seconds of judgmental silence.
"That doesn't surprise me," Melissa sighed. "Scares me, but doesn't surprise me."
"Dude, why'd you make a key?" Theo asked.
"I have my reasons."
Stiles dropped the duffel bag onto the floor after his deflective statement. Whatever was in the bag had a significant amount of weight to it, and the heavy thud reverberated throughout the house as Melissa and Theo both stared at the bag.
"What is that?" Melissa asked.
"Uh... School project," Stiles lied.
"Guys," Melissa said, her tone slow and cautious. Theo thought they were finally gonna be busted, but then she asked "He's okay, right?", and he realized she was just worried about her son.
"Who? Scott? Yeah, totally," Stiles rushed out. Theo sighed, holding his head in his hands before turning to Melissa.
"He's alright. He's just upset about the breakup, but he'll be okay," he added, trying to cover for Stiles' nervous response.
"He doesn't talk to me that much anymore, not like he used to," Melissa admitted.
"He's had a rough week," Stiles said, sounding much more like the concerned best friend he was supposed to be than he had earlier.
"Yeah, I get it," Melissa sighed. "Alright, I've got to head out. Be careful tonight, there's a full moon."
"What?" Theo and Stiles both asked at the same time. Melissa paused, halfway in her car already, and raised an eyebrow at them.
"There's a full moon tonight. You should see how the ER gets, all the nutjobs come out."
"Oh, right," Theo breathed.
"You know, it's actually how they came up with the word 'lunatic'."
With that, Melissa walked out of the door, leaving Theo and Stiles alone with their duffel bag.
The two made their way up to Scott's room. Melissa had said that Scott wasn't home yet, but when Stiles turned on the light in Scott's room there was a very familiar curly-haired werewolf sitting in a chair next to his bed. Stiles jumped, and Theo totally did not scream.
"Dude, you scared the hell out of me!" Stiles yelped.
Scott didn't reply, so Theo cleared his throat and said "Your mom thought you weren't home yet."
"I came in through the window," Scott said, as if that explained everything. His face was deceptively calm, but Theo could still feel the energy of the full moon coming off of him in waves. Theo knew Scott was trying his best to keep it below the surface, but it was still present enough for Theo to notice.
"Okay, well, let's get this set up. Check out what we bought," Stiles said, hauling the duffel bag onto Scott's bed. Scott didn't even blink, nor did he look towards the bag as Stiles opened it.
"It's fine, Stiles. I'm just going to lock the door and go to sleep early."
Stiles turned his head to look at Theo. Neither of them were buying it.
"You sure about that? Because you've got this serial killer look going on in your eyes. And I'm hoping it's just the full moon taking effect, because it's starting to freak me out."
"I'm fine. You should go now."
"All right, we'll leave. If you take a look in the bag and let me show you what we bought, and maybe you use it and maybe you don't. Sound good?" Stiles compromised. Theo didn't trust his casual tone, and he wasn't exactly sure what Stiles was playing at, but he was smart enough to know that Stiles had a plan, so he kept his mouth shut as Scott stared at them. Eventually Scott seemed to give in, and he stood up and moved towards the bag. Unzipping it, the first thing that Theo caught sight of were the chains that he had bought, which Scott picked up and lifted out of the bag. Scott stopped cold, looking up to stare at Stiles and Theo.
"Do you actually think I'm gonna let you put these on? Chain me up like a dog?" he asked. The anger Theo could sense was boiling now, making the hairs on the back of Theo's neck stand up at the danger emanating from the werewolf.
"Actually, no," Stiles said. He moved faster than Theo could follow, but soon Stiles was pulling Theo to the far side of the room and Scott was handcuffed to the radiator.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Scott yelled. He tried in vain to free himself, yanking at the wrist currently caught in the handcuffs, but he remained stuck no matter how hard he pulled.
"Protecting you from yourself," Stiles said. "And giving you some payback for making out with Lydia."
Theo's eyes moved from watching Scott struggle to watching Stiles glare at their best friend. He had known that Stiles was mad, but now that he focused he could sense Stiles' own anger mixed in with Scott's, and he realized that Stiles' anger went deeper than he had originally thought. He placed a hand on Stiles' shoulder; Stiles flinched but didn't shove him off, so Theo tightened his grip and practically dragged Stiles out of the room. He shut the bedroom door, looking in one last time to make sure Scott hadn't magically gotten out of the cuffs in the ten seconds it had taken them to leave.
"Dude, you need to calm down," Theo said. "I know you're upset, but this isn't about you. This is about Scott."
"Yeah, it's about Scott kissing the girl I'm in love with!"
"No, Stiles. It's about making sure Scott doesn't hurt anyone, or himself. I'm not saying you can't be mad at him, because you have every right to be, but just... tone it down until the full moon passes, okay? He isn't in control of himself right now, and we need to be there for him."
Stiles muttered "No promises" under his breath, but Theo didn't release his shoulder or look away until Stiles groaned and agreed to keep his anger in check. Theo sighed, leaning against the hallway.
"Do you think those handcuffs are gonna be enough to hold him the entire night?"
"If they aren't, that's what the chains are for," Stiles answered.
The two boys sighed in unison. The sounds of Scott yelling and trying to break free filtered in through the closed door, but they both tried their best to ignore it. Scott's yelling ranged from creative threats about how he was gonna kill the two of them to just straight-up screaming. Theo was really glad that Scott's next-door neighbors were out of town for the week.
This was weird for Theo. Scott never got angry; he was the passive one, the one who was there to help mend the bond between Stiles and Theo whenever their arguments went a little too far. He was the glue of their friend group, to put it in a cliche. Now the glue had homicidal tendencies, and Theo didn't know how the events of the night were going to affect the adhesive tendencies of the glue.
"Hey, Theo." Theo looked up to see Stiles looking at him curiously. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Theo said. "Just thinking."
Stiles hummed just as Theo's phone started vibrating in his pocket. He took it out and saw, confusingly, Isaac's name illuminating the screen.
"Hold on, Isaac's calling me."
"Why is Isaac calling you?"
"Jeez, I don't know, why don't I ask him when I answer the call?" Theo replied sarcastically.
"Fair enough," Stiles said as Theo took a few steps away and pressed the answer button.
"Hey, Isaac, what's up?"
"Theo." Isaac sounded pained, panicked, and terrified all at once, and Theo's posture straightened as the warm feeling in his chest from hearing from his friend outside of school turned cold. "Theo, I need—"
"Isaac, what's wrong?"
"It's my dad. He broke my arm, and he won't drive me to the hospital. I can't ride my bike like this, I need... I need you to drive me there."
"Isaac—"
"I'm sorry for calling you, I know you're probably busy, but I don't have anybody else to call and I know you know what this is like, and—"
"Isaac!" Isaac finally stopped talking; Theo felt mildly bad about raising his voice, but it got Isaac to take a breath and let him speak. "You don't need to explain yourself. Don't ever be sorry for asking me for help. I'll be there as soon as I can."
Isaac breathed out a small "Thank you" before hanging up the call. Theo put his phone back in his pocket and turned to Stiles, who was staring at him like a kid at the zoo looking at the weird exotic animals.
"I need to go. Isaac broke his arm, and he needs me to drive him to the hospital."
"Why can't his dad take him? We're kind of busy here, in case you forgot about the rabid werewolf in the next room!"
"He's not rabid, Stiles," Theo said. "Isaac's dad can't take him because he's the one who broke his arm in the first place. Isaac says he refuses to take him, and he can't ride his bike there."
"Oh."
"Are you gonna be okay if I leave you alone with Scott?"
Stiles scoffed, then winced as another scream shook the house. "If he breaks free of the cuffs, between the two of us I think I have a better chance of wrangling him into the chains. No offense."
"Some taken," Theo muttered. He sighed but fished his keys out of his pocket anyway. "If you need help, you call me, okay? Keep me updated on what's happening."
"Will do. Go get your damsel in distress."
"I'm gonna kick your ass one of these days," Theo threatened as he made his way down the stairs. He rushed out to his truck, tires screeching and brand-new battery humming as he made his way towards Isaac's house. He had been there a handful of times before, mostly to work on homework or projects, but he was still relieved when he managed to make it there successfully without trying to use his GPS.
When he pulled up to Isaac's house, his lanky friend was waiting for him on the sidewalk next to his driveway. Theo wasn't sure if he was out there voluntarily or if his dad wouldn't let him back inside; either way, Theo didn't care as he pulled up in front of Isaac and put the car in park. Isaac stood and pulled open the door with his good arm, climbing in as carefully as he could manage. Theo didn't wait for him to put his seatbelt on before he was tearing down the road towards the hospital.
"Thanks," Isaac mumbled. His voice sounded rough, like he had been crying.
"You're welcome," Theo said. "I'll always be here when you need me, alright?"
Isaac didn't respond, so Theo took the opportunity to look over at him. His face was red and blotchy, which only confirmed that he had been crying, and his eyes were staring holes into Theo's dashboard. He had another black eye, an injury that seemed to be way too common for him. His right arm was bent at an unnatural angle, a point of bone nearly breaking through the skin, and the whole arm was swollen and turning an ugly shade of purple. Theo had to look away, or else he absolutely would have vomited. Overall, Isaac looked like shit, and Theo felt his heart break even more for his friend.
Theo waited for Isaac to speak first, but instead of words, the only thing that came out of his mouth were quiet sobs. Carefully, Theo took one hand off of the wheel and extended it palm-up towards Isaac. Isaac's crying paused, and soon there was a warm (non-broken) hand grabbing Theo's own. Theo squeezed, and Isaac squeezed right back.
"What's the hand for?" Isaac asked.
"Comfort," Theo explained. "Usually, Stiles or Scott will hug me, but holding your hand is the most I can offer you right now."
The rest of the ride to the hospital was spent in silence, with Isaac clinging to Theo's free hand for dear life. Eventually they arrived at the hospital, and Melissa was in the lobby when they walked through the front doors. She smiled when she saw Theo, but the smile was quickly erased as she took in his worried expression coupled with Isaac's broken arm clutched to his chest.
"What happened?" she asked as she ran towards them. Theo looked at Isaac, who sighed. He didn't want to tell Melissa anything that Isaac wasn't comfortable sharing, so he was prepared to let Isaac do the talking.
"I was riding my bike over to Theo's house so we could hang out. A cat ran out in front of me, and I swerved to avoid it and crashed."
Melissa looked over to Theo, and Theo cursed. Apparently, letting Isaac talk was a bad idea.
"Well, considering Theo showed up at my house moments before I came to work, I think it's pretty amazing that he managed to be in two places at once, don't you agree?"
Isaac's pale face went even paler at being caught in a lie. His hand found Theo's again, squeezing so hard that he almost broke the delicate bones there. Melissa's eyes flicked down to their joined hands, and the suspicion on her face melted away into a sort of motherly understanding.
"You can tell me what really happened after we get you checked out, okay? Let's get you away from this crowd, honey," she said. She gently laid a hand on Isaac's shoulder and led him away. Isaac turned back to look at Theo, who had stayed in the lobby, as he was led around a corner.
* * * * *
Not long after Isaac had been taken away, Theo's phone started ringing for the second time that night. Instead of Isaac's name, though, Stiles was the one calling him. Theo's stomach dropped down to his knees as he answered.
"Stiles?"
"Theo, Scott's gone." Stiles sounded like he was in his car with the windows open; there was the harsh sound of rushing wind in the background of the call.
"What do you mean, gone?" Theo asked. He could already imagine the carnage that was bound to happen now that Scott was free; his mind conjured up an image of Scott, fangs bloody and claws buried in Allison's chest, and he shook his head to get rid of the gore that filled it.
"I mean he's gone, dude. He was saying stuff about making out with Lydia, and it made me feel like absolute shit, and then he jumped out of the window and escaped while I was distracted. I don't think I can explain it in any more detail."
"How did he get out of the cuffs?"
"Fuck if I know. It looked like he literally pulled himself out of them."
"Jesus," Theo hissed. "Are you out looking for him?"
"Yeah." Stiles paused, and Theo could feel the tension through the phone as Stiles found the words to say what he wanted to say.
"How's Isaac?"
"I'm not sure. Melissa took him back about half an hour ago, and I still haven't heard anything."
"Do... Do you want me to come pick you up, or do you want to stay with him? Because I can be at the hospital in a few minutes, but I also understand if you don't want to leave him alone."
Theo blinked. That was not at all what he had expected Stiles to say. "I don't know. I don't want to leave you to deal with rabid werewolf Scott—"
"What happened to him not being rabid?" Stiles joked.
"He wasn't rabid before. He probably is now, though," Theo said. "But we need to find him—"
"If you want to stay with Isaac, I can handle finding Scott."
"Stiles, are you sure about that?"
"Yes. Now go be there for your man."
"He's not—"
Stiles had hung up before Theo could finish his sentence. Theo sighed, once again mentally cursing the universe for throwing Stiles Stilinski into his life. Theo texted Stiles a firm reminder to keep him updated on the Scott situation and settled deeper into the chair to wait.
He was scared. Not just for himself, but for the town of Beacon Hills as a whole. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to spend tomorrow looking for Scott's dead body, or have to break him out of jail, or do something equally as drastic or illegal. His phone screen kept flashing on and off as he checked for updates every thirty seconds or so, as if Stiles would be stupid enough to text while driving.
Eventually, Melissa came back out into the lobby, and as soon as she made eye contact with Theo he was on his feet and moving towards her. She didn't say anything, simply motioning for Theo to follow her as she turned back around and made her way through the door she just came out of. Theo took long strides to catch up to her, and soon they were stopping in front of a closed door.
Isaac looked paler than Theo remembered. He sat silently in the hospital bed, looking out of the window to avoid looking down at his arm, which was now covered in a clunky, dark blue cast. His head turned when he heard the door opening, and his dark eyes lost some of the storm clouds brewing in his irises when he saw Theo. Isaac reached out his non-broken hand, and Theo strode across the room in seconds to take hold of it.
"How are you doing?" Theo asked softly.
"Better, I guess," Isaac answered. He hesitated, but then squeezed Theo's hand. "Thank you again for bringing me here."
"You don't have to thank me. I told you, dude, I'll always be here for you."
During their brief exchange, Melissa had moved closer to Isaac's bed, and when Theo finished speaking she had ended up right behind him with a hand placed lightly on his bicep.
"Isaac, sweetie, your dad's on his way to pick you up."
Isaac's hand immediately tensed up in Theo's grasp at the mention of his father. "You called him already?"
"We had to. I'm sorry," Melissa said. Her soft, brown eyes were looking at Isaac with the same concern-filled stare that she had pointed at Theo more than once in his lifetime.
"It's okay," Isaac said quietly. Melissa's concerned frown only deepened; Theo could feel her heart gushing for this sweet, scared boy.
"I'll stay until your dad gets here, okay?" Theo said to Isaac. Isaac nodded, squeezing Theo's hand again. Theo let go for a second in order to rearrange the single chair present in the room so that he could comfortably sit next to Isaac's bed, but when he was seated his hand found Isaac's again. A semblance of peace settled over the two boys, and Melissa left them with the promise to come get them when Mr. Lahey arrived. 'She must have given up on getting him to talk,' Theo thought.
"The moon's pretty tonight," Isaac murmured. Theo looked out the window to see the full moon hanging in the center of the sky, its bright light illuminating everything underneath it.
"It is," Theo agreed. Despite all of the craziness the moon caused, whether intentional or not, it was still a beautiful sight to behold. He didn't think about the werewolves running around, or the hunters chasing them; instead, he simply counted how many craters he could see on the moon's surface and noticed how the light turned Isaac's blonde hair silver.
His phone buzzed only once during his stay with Isaac, and Theo read over the text from Stiles— 'scott safe, apparently derek handled it' — and decided to deal with whatever the fuck was happening with the supernatural side of Beacon Hills after he and Isaac left the hospital. He didn't feel as bad about staying now that Scott was safe. For now, he leaned forward to rest his chin on his forearm and listened to the now-steady beating of Isaac's heart.