| A Tepid Homecoming |

"It's good to be back," Jeremy said.

"Is it?" Liam replied, leading them towards the Arrivals exit.

"I missed the smell. You don't realize how fresh it is here until you're away."

"Yeah, I guess there is a difference, isn't there?" They walked through the automatic doors and out into the hot sun. "There she is."

"Mrrow!"

"Just a little while longer," Jeremy said to the black cat inside the cage in his hand.

"Liam! My Liam!" Mrs. Geyer yelled by the car, waving at them exuberantly.

"Hey, mom!" Liam called back, the pair making their way to her.

"Oh, my baby, I missed you!" she said, pulling him into a hug. "You look so pale. Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," he tried. "Just happy to be home."

She gave him one final look over before turning to the other boy. "You must be Jeremy."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Geyer," he said, letting go of his suitcase and sticking out his free hand.

"I'm a mom; we do hugs," she said before pulling him in. "Alright, let's get you boys out of here." …

"I really appreciate you picking me up," Jeremy said from the back, his arm resting on top of the plastic cat kennel.

"Your mom moved to Beacon Hills, right?" Mrs. Geyer said, eliciting a nod from her guest. "It's no trouble at all." She paused, looking over at Liam who was in a trance looking out the window. "Liam told me about your dad and your grandparents. It breaks my heart. If you need anything…"

"Thanks, Mrs. Geyer."

"Pamela. And please, I hope you'll trouble my kid. I want you to get accustomed to our little town."

"It'll be different from San Diego, I'm sure."

"You grew up there?"

"I did. I think we moved there when I was six. Moved to China when I was 18."

"Where were you born?"

"Seattle. My mom couldn't stand the rain, though."

"My home town," she said, smiling and looking back at him in the rear-view mirror. She looked over at her son again and bunched her lip. "Liam, you need me to pull over?"

"Hm?" the werewolf grunted.

"Are you car sick?"

"No, I'm okay."

She stared at him for a few seconds, pausing her words. She returned her eyes to the road before looking back at Jeremy. She mouthed at him, "Is he okay?"

The older boy nodded, though his expression clearly told her he knew more than he was able to say.

/ | * | * | \

Liam continued his silence on their way home from dropping Jeremy off with his mother. Pamela Geyer continued stealing side glances his way, her worry towards her son growing with each one. They'd been on trips before. Flights out of the country. That behavior...it was obscenely unlike him. When she finally parked the car, Liam's mother pulled out the key and turned to him. "Honey, I love you. I want you to know that. You don't have to talk to me right now, but I am your mother and I can tell when something's wrong. When you're ready, please, come to me. I'll listen to whatever you have to say and we can figure out anything that needs doing or...accepting. And, if you really don't want to tell me, or can't, you can always talk to Mark or we can even work out time for you to see a counselor, again."

"Mom—"

"You're my baby. You always will be. Even though you're 20 years old and travelling the world, you're still my little boy. And I'm here for you, whenever, however. Okay?" Liam looked into his mother's eyes and nodded, quickly looking away as her verge of crying was about to break his own resolve. "Let's get you inside; there's a surprise for you."

"Cake?"

"Maybe," she said with a grin. She opened her car door and Liam nearly jumped out of the vehicle. Collecting his things, his mom led him inside. He left his suitcase at the door, the sound of voices drawing him down the hall into the kitchen.

"Surprise!" a familiar and welcomed woman yelled.

"Aunt Jayna!" Liam yelled, a smile tearing at his lips. She slipped around the corner of the island to meet him with a hug.

"Welcome home, kid," she said. "I wanna' hear all about this trek into the wilderness."

"It was a city," Liam said with a playful frown.

"And yet I remember something about a field trip into the woods."

"Oh, yeah, there was that one time," Liam said, looking away to his stepfather.

"Good to see I was missed, too," Dr. Geyer said with a teasing scowl.

"I missed you, dad," Liam said, breaking from Jayna's personal space to give his stepdad a tight hug.

"You grew. Again," Dr. Geyer remarked.

"And he's been working out I see," Jayna said, looking at Liam's bulging biceps. "You were a scrawny, short little man the last time I saw you."

"A lot's changed," Liam replied, pride fueling his smug expression.

"Bet I can still kick your ass, though," she said, getting into a defensive martial arts stance.

Liam laughed. "Well, we're gonna' eat before you do that," Pamela said, walking into the dining room and retrieving a yellow and chocolate icing cake.

The werewolf's eyes discarded their hollow glaze and immediately lit up. "Homemade?" he said eagerly.

"Would I treat you wrong?" his mother replied.

"You are the greatest," Liam said, immediately shoving next to her as she put the glass container on the counter.

"You are still a garbage disposal," Jayna said, going into the cabinet to get out some plates.

"Have to feed the beasts," he said, flexing his arm.

"Definitely missed you, kid," she said. "So, tell us, how was China?"

/ | * | * | \

"Hey, sorry I'm late," Liam said walking up to a three-top group of tables at Jonesy's.

"My man," Mason said, standing and embracing his best friend. "You are a sight for sore eyes."

"He actually just needs you to settle an argument," Corey said, standing and slapping hands with his fellow supernatural.

"What happened?" Liam grumbled, fist-bumping his knuckles with Nolan before sitting next to him and across from Mason.

"If one invaded, who'd be worse? Zerg or Flood?" Mason said.

"Oh, Zerg, without question," Liam answered.

"See," Nolan exclaimed, he and Mason exchanging a challenging look.

"I still don't understand why you wrote off the xenomorphs so fast," Corey muttered.

"Because they don't have interstellar travel," Mason said. "And we haven't seen them infest an entire planet."

"This is what I came home to?" Liam grumbled to Nolan as the couple across from them continued their argument.

"We obviously can't discuss werewolves versus vampires," Nolan whispered with a grin. Liam's eyebrows bounced in agreement, smirking back. "Hey, you okay?" his former co-captain asked, looking directly into his face.

"Yeah, I...it's nothing."

"You sure?"

"Mm," he offered, nodding. He looked around, trying to divert the subject, but quickly noticed empty booths around them. His eyes then followed and saw five waters on the table. "Are we expecting someone else?" the beta asked.

"Uh…" Mason tried.

"It's not Th—"

"Nope, not him," he interrupted abruptly.

"Who…?" Liam started until he spotted her. From around the corner leading from the bathroom was Hayden Romero, making her way towards them.

"Hi," she said, hands going to grip the top bar of the chair next to Mason. Liam looked at her, stunned by her mere presence.

"Liam?" Nolan tried.

"I think he short-circuited," Corey said.

Liam finally blinked and got up. "Excuse me," he said, his head shaking as his brain returned to that moment. He walked away, heading for the entrance. He didn't hear the swear from his best friend, or the scuff of chair legs that followed. His vision had tunneled. His breathing shortened. He was suddenly at his car. He searched frantically through the pockets of his shorts. "Fuck!" he yelled, smacking the top of his car door.

"Liam," Hayden said, reaching out to touch his outstretched arm that balanced him up.

"Don't!" he said, recoiling back.

"Dude, dude, it's okay," Mason tried, coming up behind her, Corey and Nolan on his heels.

"Why did you invite her!" Liam yelled. They all seemed to freeze. "Why...why today…?" he said more slowly, turning around and crumpling to the ground against his car. They watched as he started to cry, a fist raising a smacking down hard against the concrete. Hayden smelled it first, but they could all see that his claws were digging into his palms, blood leaking out onto the ground.

"What happened?" Nolan whispered to Corey. The chimera shook his head, watching the scene unfold with his own equal disbelief.

Mason went to comfort him when Hayden crouched down first. "Liam…?"

"Please, go…" he croaked.

"Liam, talk to me," she said. "What's going on?" The werewolf shook his head, not taking his hands away. "Please?" She moved her hand slowly towards him. She took it as an encouraging sign when she wrapped her fingers around his wrist and he didn't jerk away. Hayden tugged at it, towing it away from his face. She held it, waiting for Liam to make the next move. With his thumb and forefinger, he swatted at the tears and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's okay…"

"It's not," he said.

"Why isn't it?"

"It just…"

"Did something happen?" He shook his head again, but dropped his hand to one of his curled-up knees, blood staining his jeans. "Did something happen in China?"

She waited, being the only one to hear the jump in his heartbeat and the increase in pace. She squeezed his hand encouragingly, hoping that subtle coax would help. "I…" They didn't push, knowing this had to happen naturally. "I never should have gone."

"Why?" Liam turned his head away, pulling at his hand to try and escape. "Liam, why shouldn't you have gone?"

"Because of this," he said, turning to look at them. Sorrow and grief dripped from his every part of his face. He looked wrecked—emotionally drained to his core. But it wasn't the tracks of his tears that they looked at. Nor was it the red-stained cheeks or the sweat-dampened hair. It was his eyes, and not the red-veins that screamed that he'd been crying. No, it was the glow. That werewolf-glow. But now, instead of yellow, they were blue.