Chapter Text
“I feel like you’re mad at me.” Liam says, a bit more sad than usual and Theo wonders if he’s doing it on purpose, needing to guilt trip him into accepting the werewolf’s insertion into his former friendship with Boyd.
“I’m not mad. I’m slightly upset about the fact I was stabbed by a hunter and now I have to open old wounds that aren’t even important.” Theo explains, lowering his voice to keep the conversation private, and noticing they have an audience.
“That sounds like you're mad. Upset means mad Theo. I’m not dumb.” Liam protests, titling his jaw upwards in anger, as he prepares to be insulted by Theo’s word choices.
“I didn’t call you dumb Liam. Upset isn’t always the same emotion as anger. Upset can be a variety of feelings. Like depression or unsettling thoughts of despair. My personal favorite is aggravation towards a particular person. Stop glaring at me!” Theo sighs, loudly and bluntly, but the only thing Liam does is grumble underneath his breath, keeping his angry attitude.
“Can we get started please?” Malia asks, an unimpressed look on her face and the wry smile on Scott’s lips isn’t helping Theo keep Liam from becoming offended by nothing, other than his obsession with Theo’s vocabulary.
It’s his whole focus right now and it shouldn’t be, but Liam’s not about to stop arguing, even with all eyes on the two of them.
“Yes. Sorry. I was just taken back by the rude tone of Theo’s voice.” Liam sighs, as dramatically as he can, and he loves the way he’s giving Theo a hard time.
“It wasn’t a rude tone. I was staked tonight. I need two more minutes before I have to indulge the rest of you. Boyd isn’t even here and yet, I still have to find the right way to handle this fun surprise. Yes, we can start.” Theo snaps, ruffled by the day he’s had and he can’t help but worry about seeing Boyd again.
It’s too new. It’s always too new. Even though it’s been a long time now. It’s easier to keep things tucked away and never deal with it. That way Theo can pretend he never had a friend in the first place. It stops the guilt from becoming too much.
“Okay. Liam and Theo, why don’t you go wash the mud off from the woods or something. We can fill you in later. Just please go and take a nap. Or maybe just sit down. You’re both stressing me out and I don’t even know what the hell you’re talking about.” Derek points out, getting a nod of approval from Scott and that’s just great because he doesn’t want to be here anymore.
Now they look like they’re acting childish in front of the others but Theo is ready to end the day. A shower or a nap sounds nice.
“Um, I think Theo and I have done a lot for this case but sure. I will not be letting the credit go to anyone else. So just be careful not to say too much while we’re away.” Liam angrily remarks, making sure to throw in the extra detail of wanting a proper thank you for their time, but Theo’s not expecting that.
Liam’s the one who needs the recognition for it. He’s always worried about being in Scott’s shadow. He feels for him but no one’s worried about that right now. Especially not Argent who still looks shaken.
“We got it.” Stiles mutters, shaking his head.
“Come on Dunbar.” Theo smirks, pushing Liam towards the laundry room and letting the stress of the day pass.
“Can you believe this crap? I mean, we really did all the work and now we’re not involved in the meeting with Derek and my pack? Talk about being left out.” Liam’s face falls, washing his hands and pulling off his clothes like he’s in a bathroom and not out in the open, standing in the kitchen for all to see.
“Slow down. What if someone walks in?” Theo nervously frowns, a little too conscious of the others being in the next room.
“I didn’t know you’re shy.” Liam teases, pulling Theo into the small room and locking the door to the laundry room.
“I’m not shy but I’m not getting naked with your friends around.” Theo asserts, watching as Liam strips down to his underpants and puts his muddy clothes in the washer, looking over at him to hurry up and do the same.
“There’s no one here. This is an excuse so you can delay seeing Boyd.” Liam raises an eyebrow, a loud huff of laughter coming out of his mouth, as Theo is about to make a speech about not having to delay anything, but Liam’s already pulling off his jacket to throw it in the washer.
“I can’t stand your—Liam!” Theo cries, exasperated by the hard way Liam’s undoing his pants, and forcing him to be quick so they can get back to the meeting.
The wolf is so impatient all the time.
“What? I’m sorry! I didn’t think inviting a former friend of yours would be the end of the world, but apparently in Theo Raeken’s mind it’s a great offense.” Liam deadpans, and he gently moves back, worrying he’s hurt Theo somehow.
“You’re a real pain.” Theo scoffs, and he throws his shirt at Liam, making sure to hit his face with it in retaliation for the sarcasm he’s enduring.
“You know you didn’t do anything wrong right? If Erica was here she….”
“No.” Theo interrupts, refusing to listen to Liam’s carefully crafted remark, which is being used to make him feel better and it’s not fucken working.
“Okay.” Liam nods, accepting he isn’t getting anywhere but if Theo knows anything about Liam, and he’s sure that he does, this will not be the last time they’ll discuss this.
“Nice boxers.” Theo chuckles, seeing the cartoon characters and seeing the indignant look on Liam’s face.
“Oh haha. Didn’t realize this was a fashion show. Not that you would go to one of those since you’re too anti-social and rude.” Liam points out, as he finishes putting the last of their clothes into the washer.
“I’m not rude.” Theo argues, narrowing his eyes while Liam’s laughing at him, and holding his side like he’s about to combust.
So funny.
“Well, okay. We can pretend.” Liam shrugs, causing Theo to drop it and take the high road with the wolf since he’s so adamant about his personality.
“Are we going to stand in this room and wait for our clothes to dry?” Theo asks, waiting to hear Liam’s response, just so he can give him a hard time, annoyed by his judgment on his social skills.
“Are we going to ignore the truth of you delaying the obvious elephant in the room?” Liam questions back, a slow and steady challenge to Theo’s snarky approach.
He might be delaying the interaction with Boyd, but there’s nothing Theo can do to make up for what happened or to fix Erica’s death. No matter how much he wishes it was him that died instead.
“Allison died too. No one was at fault. I wish you’d see how much you’re carrying on your shoulders when you don’t need to be.” Liam says, staring at the washer and unable to connect with Theo’s face, the rest of his words getting mixed up with all of the sad regret filling the air.
“I appreciate your never ending optimism and drive to make me feel better about myself, but all that doesn’t change the reality of me deflecting my responsibility. I wasn’t supposed to leave her alone and I did.” Theo swallows the lump in his throat that’s keeping him from getting more angry, but he’s still shown the way it’s affecting him.
It's all he can ever think about and why he’s doing all he can to avoid a repeat situation.
People die with Theo and he can’t have Liam die. It would break him and he’s never been able to fully understand what love or care for another person really is.
Not until Liam. Now that he’s had a glimpse of what it feels like and what it could be, he can’t help but be protective over it. If he lost Liam it would mean he would finally lose everything he holds dear to him.
“Okay. I wasn’t supposed to go into the woods and I did. Where you found me and decided to help. People make mistakes Theo. We all make mistakes and if you give up, don’t try to be better in light of it, then why are you even trying to control yourself? If you’re such a bad person then why are you here?” Liam sits on the washer, a fiery little smirk on, and Theo wants to ring his neck.
Ring his neck for being good at throwing things back at him and making things so clear and convincing. To the point where he has to think about his own role and if he’s overly sensitive or critical of his behavior.
“My mistakes get people killed.” Theo softly says, the weight of it all crushing him, as he shies away from putting any blame on someone else.
He can’t. He was the one there and if Donovan wasn’t an erratic individual then he wouldn’t have left to go find out what he was doing. It was never his intention or duty to be the one who kept him on a short leash. It just happened and someone died because he was doing just that. Deciding to take on Donovan’s job of controlling his blood lust, instead of demanding Donovan take it on himself.
“Your mistakes?” Liam gently questions, and Theo knows what he’s doing, what he’s implying.
Donovan won’t ever be able to win over Liam’s support, or Theo’s for that matter.
“Next question.” Theo pushes Liam gently to the side, sitting near him and listening to the sound of the wash cycle, almost soothing their own hearts that are riddled with sad tears they won’t let fall.
They’re much too proud.
“Since we need to wait for our clothes, do you want to shower?” Liam asks, so quietly that Theo has to strain and use his supernatural hearing to understand, as the werewolf bites his bottom lip, anxiously waiting for Theo's input.
“You can go first. I have to wait for Boyd.” Theo leans on Liam’s arm, determining if he wants to find a way out of the house and further avoid the awkward moment of seeing Boyd.
“Might want to put some clothes on.” Liam laughs, but right before he does, he flinches at Theo for allowing him to go first, but he doesn’t think it makes a difference on who goes first. Liam shouldn’t care either.
“Yeah.” Theo rolls his eyes, and Liam jumps off the washer, shakes his hand, and walks out, running across the hallway to the upstairs bathroom.
That was an odd time for a handshake and it doesn’t fit the—
“Theo, can I come in or is that werewolf in there too?” Boyd swiftly asks, sounding freaked out, and like he's going to walk in on Theo and Liam, the awkwardness Theo was worried about definitely there.
“He’s upstairs. You can, but I don’t have all my clothes on.” Theo pauses, realizing what he’s saying and now he’s more embarrassed than ever.
“Why don’t you have all your clothes on? This is someone else’s house.” Boyd reminds him, and he’s holding back a laugh.
At least someone is enjoying themselves. He’s mortified by this. This will be the last time he lets Liam run off and leave him alone while he’s indecent.
“I’m washing my clothes. Don’t ask.” Theo pleads, leaning against the door and seeing his clothes still have more time until being ready to go in the dryer.
This wasn’t thought out. Washing clothes at someone else’s house while he doesn’t have any of his own clothes isn’t the best idea, but he’s learned to go with the flow when it comes to Liam and allow for his chaotic energy.
“Liam yelled at me by the way.” Boyd informs him, an interesting thing to hear, and he wants to say that doesn’t sound like him, but Liam’s shown he’s very defensive over his friends.
It 100% sounds like something Liam would do if he was worried about a friend. That friend being Theo and it’s still weird to say. To have a friend in his life when he tries so hard to keep people out.
“Sorry, he’s…well..he’s Liam. That’s most likely my fault. He thinks I’m too hard on myself but I’m not. I’m trying to do better.” He explains, refusing to sound rehearsed or insincere but it comes out that way.
“Do you think you’ve found who’s been murdering people? Any leads?” Boyd asks, ignoring his comments and taking the lead on what they’re both here for.
“It’s a woman and Argent almost killed me because he was so freaked out by who he saw. I was supposed to be in this meeting but now I’m washing clothes.” Theo grunts out, the ever changing sound of his voice annoying him to the fullest.
He keeps sounding angry and sad. Then back to normal again. Hearing Boyd is bringing back a lot of hidden memories he’d rather not relive.
“A domesticated vampire. Never thought I’d see the day.” Boyd laughs, his full chest shaking against the wooden door and Theo smirks at the sound of his amusement.
“I’m stranded here because I didn’t think about needing clothes to wear. I’m not suddenly doing everyone’s laundry.” Theo mutters, the laundry still not done and he drifts off into wondering what Liam’s doing. He should be showering, but he can’t hear any water running.
“I don’t know what to say.” Boyd admits, unable to keep his mouth shut and confirming what Theo knows, but won’t dare say. He’s finding it odd he doesn’t know what to say next when they’re used to talking for hours.
“There’s nothing for you to say.” Theo rationalizes, a slow rise of anxiety over the past creating a new feeling of fear and self doubt.
“I think there is, but saying it to a wooden door doesn’t feel right.” Boyd states, and the huff he makes loosens the tension.
If Erica was here, Theo knows she would be laughing at both of them.
“Nothing feels right.” Theo reluctantly agrees, eyeing the laundry for a third time.
He’d like to have some clothes on soon. He should have asked Scott for some but that felt way too personal to ask for clothes when he just wandered into his home with his beta. Theo doesn’t want to overstay his welcome.
“Other than a werewolf named Liam?” Boyd asks, and it’s sounding like an innocent question, but Theo knows Boyd. He knows the ins and outs of his character, and the small things he does to make a point.
“He kind of decided we were friends and the rest is just me agreeing to his decisions. We’ve been trying to find out who’s hurting other supernaturals.” Theo frowns, all but admitting he’s soft for Liam.
“I can’t convince you of anything. I don’t know anyone else who can.” Boyd says, digging through Theo’s wall of denial and he’s not going to agree to that.
Hmmm. Did he just prove Boyd’s point?
“Theo! Hurry up! We’re missing all the important pieces of information!” Liam’s voice complains, knocking loudly on the door as he waits for his clothes for an unnecessary amount of time.
How long were the clothes put in for? The time doesn’t seem to be moving or he could be paranoid and overly excited about what’s happening.
“I don’t have clothes. Go get me some and I can come out.” Theo snarks right back, listening to Liam sigh loudly.
“Forgetting to say please? Tyler’s here too and he’s a bit mad you left him with Derek.” Liam explains, whispering something to Boyd, and Theo can’t bear to pay attention long enough to hear it.
Having no clothes and freezing in this laundry room isn’t the greatest feeling.
“I didn’t leave him with Derek.” Theo protests, pulling the door open, and he’s hit with a variety of clothes that Liam’s found.
“You kinda did.” Liam solemnly says, infringing on Theo’s privacy by letting Boyd and Tyler stand outside, while they argue about their version of events.
“Okay I did. Sorry.” Theo apologizes, and it’s not much of an apology but Tyler is merely standing outside the door, appearing nonchalant about everything.
“Theo clothes!” Liam shoves Theo back into the laundry room, shutting the door.
“Whose clothes are these?” Theo asks, upset by having to wear someone else’s clothing. He’s not one to share clothes and he’s particular on what he does wear. He wanted his own clothes.
“Scott’s.” Liam replies, and it doesn’t make Theo any more willing to wear them.
“I will wait for my clothes. Thanks.” Theo vocalizes, and it doesn’t matter if he’s being difficult or not. He doesn’t want to wear another person’s clothes and definitely not if it’s a werewolf.
Unless it’s Liam, but only because he’s more comfortable with him.
“He always does this.” Liam tells Boyd, and what the hell does that mean because that’s not true. This is the first time this has ever happened.
“I do not! Liam.” Theo groans, refusing to bend to the idea of being someone who’s always causing problems.
“Theo. Wait. I’ll go see if I can make Mason take Corey to go get yours.” Liam stomps away, leaving him with Boyd and possibly Tyler on the other side of the door, listening to his objections.
Tyler hasn’t said much so who even knows if he’s still there since he was so quickly shoved back into the room by a worried werewolf.
“So that’s Liam.” Theo explains, as if they don’t know who Liam is but he’s more embarrassed by the scene he caused and sounding unappreciative of Liam’s solution. He has to fill the silence.
“For someone who doesn’t like werewolves you sure have a lot of them around you.” Tyler points out in a not so nice way, confirming he’s been here the whole time and irking Theo to death.
“Oh whatever.” Theo scowls, the subtleness of Tyler’s words hitting him hard and Boyd is way too quiet to be disagreeing with Tyler so that’s very frustrating.
“Theo, hello. It’s me.” Liam greets him, knocking on the door quietly.
“I know your voice Liam. You don’t have to say who you are.” Theo leans against the door, waiting for his clothes and wishing he hadn’t been stabbed with a stake.
He wouldn’t be wet and muddy if he didn’t get outside his truck and care so much about finding out who was behind it.
“Right. Okay, so they’re going to get your clothes. I’m coming in.” Liam loudly announces, opening the door just enough so he can weasel his way through; worried he will show Theo to Boyd and Tyler, who likely don’t care one way or another. Liam’s the only one worried about Theo being shirtless.
“Okay. Since we have to wait for your picky ass to be in your own clothes, I had to get filled in by Scott. Terrible news.” Liam frowns, and it kills Theo’s positive attitude of being ahead in this case.
The look he gives is not showing signs of being happy about their time in the woods.
“And?” Theo inquires, attentive to Liam’s body language and his uncertain attitude.
“Argent said the gun was that of a hunter. A skilled and experienced hunter. He found a bullet casing on the road and it screams of a supernatural hunter.” Liam grows puzzled, lacking the knowledge of a hunter but knowing none of this feels right.
“A hunter can’t rip supernaturals throats like that.” Theo attests, not believing that’s the answer to the puzzle they’ve been working on.
“I know.” Liam agrees, letting out a breath of air and thinking about all they have found out, weighing the possibility of what it all means.
“So she’s working with someone else or he’s wrong.” Theo expounds, adding in a small smile as Liam scoffs at his weak point he’s trying to make that doesn’t have any real evidence to back it up.
Only Theo’s opinion and Deaton’s photos that were shown to them previously is what he has to go on.
That's all he has by way of evidence but he doesn’t think he’s wrong on this.
“Argent isn’t normally wrong about someone being a hunter.” Liam warns, but he’s not so sure and Theo can see the wheels spinning in the wolf’s head.
“He said he saw a ghost in the woods. Let’s talk to him and see what he means. No matter how crazy it sounds. I can’t bank on the fact this is all a hunter. Not when all of the murders have shown signs of being an animal or something more supernatural.” Theo defends his theory, happy to see the washer has gone off and he only has to wait for his clothes to dry.
“Okay but put on clothes first.” Liam orders, a jealous smile on his lips and Theo is a bit stunned by this new attitude of his.
“Fine. I was going to go out like this but since you asked.” Theo smirks, a glimpse of amusement and a jab at Liam’s own teasing he likes to unleash on him.
“Was that sarcasm Theo? Wow.” Liam eyes widen, filled with a blazing smile and an eye roll that has Theo regretting joking around when he can see the haughty side of Liam’s personality that feeds on stirring him up.
”I don’t think Corey and Mason are coming back.” Theo makes a point of telling Liam, but he’s nodding in agreement, and he has to wonder if there was even a point of asking them to go get his clothes if Liam knew that they were going to take a while.
“Yeah. The enthusiastic yes from both of them to go back to the house alone was a good indicator of that. I enlisted Boyd and Tyler’s help.” Liam happily states, proud of himself for thinking on his feet and getting more eyes on the case.
“What!” Theo hardens his position of not wanting to have others involved, or around when they’re working alone.
There’s too many opinions when there's too many people and it only makes things more confusing.
“Two werewolves are better than one and we technically have two and a half. We have a vampire and a half too since Tyler is a hybrid. You failed to disclose that originally.” Liam seethes, a little more rudely than before and Theo can’t argue. He can see the firm stance on Liam’s face. He won’t let this go.
“I’m not thanking you.” Theo sneers, remembering what Liam said before they came into the house.
“Too late. I’m saying you’re welcome anyway.” Liam laughs, side eyeing Theo’s voice of anger.
“Sometimes you make me wanna scream.” Theo throws his clothes in the dryer and waits for Liam’s next argument and ecstatic thoughts on what they should do.
“That’s pretty easy. You get annoyed easily.” Liam responds, and then he laughs, loving the hard stare he’s seeing from Theo.
“Maybe.” Theo sighs, as Liam brightens up and decides this is the best time to kiss him, and he’s not ready for it.
He misses Liam’s lips entirely, and it’s hard to stop his cheeks from growing hot by the missed moment.
“I’ve really enjoyed kissing you in random places but maybe next time we can find a better atmosphere.” Theo jokingly offers, as he remains hot and warm from the embarrassment, along with the excitement of being with Liam.
A crash and breaking of glass breaks the tense silence that Liam is giving him, a slow but effective response of stalling their conversation.
“What was that?” Liam worriedly asks, opening the door and sprinting out the door before Theo can find his clothes.
He has to put partly damp clothes on and it's uncomfortable and itchy, but he throws them on anyway; running out of the laundry room and nearly tripping over Tyler’s feet that are in the way of the door of the kitchen.
“What’s happening?” Theo asks, loudly and with no intention whatsoever of apologizing for his loud and obnoxious tone.
“A stray bullet came in the window.” Tyler answers, with a nod of unexpected sarcasm as he doesn’t take any chances in believing some stray bullet happened to find its way into the McCall household.
It’s too coincidental.
“Hurry up. I haven’t been this excited in a long time.” A woman's voice flies into the room, a daring and powerful threat to eliminate all who get in her way.
“Derek, is that?” Boyd looks over at Derek, eyes wild and filled with shock and fear.
“Come on!”
Theo’s ripped backwards and pulled into the living room, Liam’s hands ripping his shirt so tightly he’s almost thrown off his feet.
“Who’s that?” Theo stills, a woman standing inches away from them, a serious and vengeful glare in her face.
“You two don’t have brown eyes, but they're still pretty.” The woman holds her gun against her side, her dark hair wet from the rain and her hands steady on the trigger.
Bullets fly at her, and Theo grabs ahold of Liam as Argent approaches with his weapon, his face pale and white but intent with unyielding determination.
Throwing a werewolf through a window is not an easy task, it’s very heavy and difficult to maneuver, and Liam’s angry and flailing arms don’t help Theo do it as well as he’d like, but he does manage to open the window and hurl him outside after a moment of difficulty.
“Theo!” Liam roars, standing up and attempting to hurl himself back into the house, but Theo’s not quite ready to get involved in this mess when they aren’t prepared for it.
Theo’s truck pulls up, the headlights flashing and the hood damaged; but it works and Corey and Mason’s faces are a welcoming sight. He’s relieved they aren’t dead yet.
Without any care for Liam’s inevitable anger at him, Theo opens the door and shoves Liam towards it, Tyler jumping in after him.
“Wait, we’re missing Boyd.” Theo mentions, and he needs to make sure he’s okay before hightailing it out of here. It’s the least he can do.
“Right there!” Tyler points, directing them towards Derek and Boyd running out of the back door, and yeah, he should have used the door instead. Maybe Liam wouldn’t be growling at him right now, but he’s not thinking clearly when there’s a crazy woman with a gun. He’s sure that gun has something that could hurt supernatural beings.
“Go! I’ll follow.” Derek orders, pulling Boyd to the right and Corey floors the truck; while Theo is impressed by the amount of pressure and damage his vehicle can take, happy it’s reliable in times of trouble.
Corey skids onto the highway, the water still on the road and they almost fishtail off the highway, the speed they’re going too fast for the road's conditions.
“Your shirt is on inside out.” Liam growls, eyes gold with fury for having to leave Scott, and Theo’s sure he’s blaming him for it.
“You’re bleeding.” Theo softly whispers, seeing red splattered on Liam’s shoulder and he shrugs it off, his only concern being his friends.
“I take back what I said. I’d like to let you guys handle this.” Tyler grumbles, running his hand through his hair and catching his breath as Theo fights to keep up with all that’s going on.
“You’re hurting my hand.” Liam flinches, his hand over Theo’s and the vampire’s fingers are around his wrist without even thinking about it.
“Sorry.” Theo pulls his hand back, counting the seconds it takes before he settles down and isn’t affected by the unsettling sound of the wind blowing.
“Deaton called on the way back to the house. There’s another werewolf that was found. He said it was recent.” Corey fearfully says, eyes on Theo for his opinion about what this means.
“So she had time to kill and get to the house?” Liam frowns, a small voice of reason to this madness.
“No. She didn’t. There’s another one.” Theo confidently says, just as his phone rings with Derek’s name flashing across the screen.
“Yes.” Theo answers, formal and to the point. No need to delay the reason for the call.
“Okay. Well, good news I got the face I.D. and the bad news is someone’s back from the dead.” Derek explains, a rush of adrenaline pumping in his voice and reaching Theo’s head, making him more aware of the dangerous situation they’re facing.
“Who?” Mason asks, leaning back and listening.
“An Argent. Not just an Argent though. She’s a werewolf now too.” Derek regretfully replies, a low tone of ominous laughter and dark humor in his voice that doesn’t even breach the surface of all the questions Theo has.
“So it’s just her?” Liam asks, leaning on Theo and interrupting, the cold wind breaking his silence.
Headlights flash and the truck flips over, the sound of metal and glass flying through the air, hitting the ground with a force that has Liam yelling in fear for Mason, the only one who’s not a supernatural creature that can withstand more than most humans.
The truck lands on its side, skidding across the road and causing Theo to close his eyes, the painful moment of not knowing if they’re all going to make it out, creating a panic.
“Theo? Are you dead?” A voice asks, and it’s not a very kind or sincere question based on the fact the person is sounding hopeful about the possibility of his death.
“You better hope I am.” Theo slowly replies, a loud and steady anger building inside of him as he comes to terms with the voice talking to him.
It’s a voice he’s always hated and one he could never understand why it bothered him so much. Not until now.
A cynical laugh is heard and Liam slowly opens his eyes, moving in pain and reaching for Theo, but he doesn’t reach him because the vampire is pulled out of the truck.
He’s thrown to the ground, with a panicked cry from Liam being the last thing he can hear before he faces a mouthful of fangs and blood.
Well if this isn’t a deadly twist.