Once again Liam awoke in a cold sweat gasping for breath. He'd always had bad dreams. It was his anger and his fear that he would hurt someone, get angry enough and kill them. Recently, they had gotten worse, being a werewolf had intensified his fear of hurting someone. It would be much easier now than it was before to do serious damage.
Heart still pounding, he slid out of bed. Bare feet padding out of his room and across the landing. Quietly he reached out to the door in front of him and turned the handle. He slipped into the room and made his way to the bed with an ease only practise can give you. He'd started coming to Theo almost an entire month ago.
Theo was already sitting up and when Liam reached the bed, he flipped back the covers. Liam crawled in and Theo tucked them back in. Snuggled up in bed, Liam rested his head on Theo's shoulder, hand clinging to his other shoulder and leg hooked over Theo's hip. He settled in quickly. Drawing in deep breaths of Theo's scent, his heart rate slowed and the vivid images of the classroom piled high with bloody bodies faded. He fell asleep to Theo's hand running through his hair softly.
Light filled the room so suddenly that when Liam tried to open his eyes he felt like they were burning. Groaning he turned his head into Theo's shoulder, hiding.
His mother said something but it was lost to him as he tried to press closer to Theo. Liam was not a morning person. Theo, on the other hand, liked to be up at 5:30 to go for an hour and a half run, get back shower, dress and make breakfast, then finish any work. Liam was supposed to get up at 7:00 to give him an hour to get ready, however at 7:30 he would finally drag himself out of bed, fall downstairs and flop into the kitchen. Wherein, Theo would put cereal in front of him. He'd eat, shower and dress and then stumble out to Theo's truck ready for school.
The door clicked shut as his mother left.
"you hear that Liam?" Theo's voice reverberating through his chest.
Liam made a noncommittal noise.
"your parents will be out from around 1pm until tomorrow morning." Theo summarised.
Liam nodded.
"okay I'm getting up now." Theo announced, pushing Liam to the side. Liam whined and tightened his grip. Nevertheless, Theo managed to sit up, Liam now in his lap.
"It's 8am. On Saturday..." Liam argued,
"yep. Run time!" Theo sounded enthusiastic.
Liam groaned again and nuzzled closer. Theo pushed him off and down onto the bed. He grabbed a hoodie on his way to the door, chucking it at Liam. Liam pressed it to his face, Theo's scent surrounding him once again. He drifted off. The door banging open rudely awoke him.
"Liam!" Scott yelled, sounding gleeful. "come on... lacrosse practise?" he tried when Liam groaned and rubbed his face further into Theo's hoodie.
"Liam... what is that? Why are you in... um... not your room?" Scott suspicions rose.
Liam peeled himself off the bed and stumbled towards the shower without answering Scott's questions. His alpha quickly dropped them in favour of running through lacrosse practice strategies and ways of avoiding or stopping Brett as they were practicing with Devonford Prep today.
'a fun friendly match' they said. We'll see. Liam thought.
The lacrosse stick was almost comforting in his hands. Brett pushed past him, nocking him forward. But still feeling the effects of sleeping with Theo, he was able to brush it off. His scent had become comforting to Liam almost as good as a new anchor. Brett looked irritated that Liam wasn't bothered and came back over.
"hey IED." He sneered,
"morning Brett." Liam replied civilly,
"ready to lose control? Maybe demolish another car?" Brett tried again,
"Not today thanks. Not really in the mood," Liam turned towards Scott, who appeared dumbfounded that Liam wasn't even slightly strained. He offered a smile and Scott beamed back. Brett snorted behind him, but strode off towards his own friends, who were still watching curiously. Upon seeing Brett giving up, they looked disappointed.
After an hour, Brett had pushed, hit and full on tackled Liam, but he still hadn't lost control. However, Theo's scent was almost gone now and he could feel his irritation at Brett building.
When Brett ran straight into him for the 5th time in a row, Liam's eyes began to glow. Brett sneered, finally getting a reaction.
Devonford Prep's coach called for a break and Liam trudged over to the stands. He slumped down miserably on the first step.
"Hey," a soft voice whispered,
Liam would recognise it anywhere, "Theo?"
"you were doing so well, what happened?" Theo crooned,
"where are you?" Liam twisted around eyes searching for him.
"Liam, your anger? What happened?" Theo prompted,
"Your scent faded. How come I can't see you?" Liam muttered distractedly, "can you see me?"
"yes. What do you mean?" Theo remained focused on Liam's anger.
Liam remained focused on finding Theo, "are you outside?"
"I'm to your left. Liam what did you mean?" Theo tried again.
Ignoring him, Liam stood up and wandered vaguely to his left. He rounded a corner and there was Theo, lounging languidly against the wall which had been hiding him. Liam lunged forward, wrapping his hands in Theo's shirt. He nosed Theo's neck, drawing in deep breaths of Theo's scent.
"Liam?" Theo's soft voice bringing Liam back to the present. He glanced up at him, eyes wide and pleading. "you okay?" he whispered. Liam nodded and nestled back into Theo's chest. "You used my scent to stay calm?" Theo questioned. Once again Liam simply nodded. "Okay, that I can help with."
Theo pushed Liam back, "swap shirts with me?"
"why- oh," Swapping shirts meant Theo's scent would be there. Hastily he pulled off his lacrosse jersey, dumping on the floor in order to pull off his shirt. Theo took his shirt and passed his own across. Whilst Theo's shirt fit his body, it was a little too long on him. He smiled as he pulled back on the jersey, surrounded by Theo's scent again.
Theo raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at him. Hastily Liam re-joined his team mates, and not a moment before the game resumed.
Brett sneered at him and he smiled back. So it began.
In every way he could, Brett tried to make Liam lose control but with Theo's scent surrounding him, it wasn't going to happen. Brett nocked him and kicked him and struck out at him and tackled him but Liam remained firmly in control. By the end Brett was either furious or impressed, Liam couldn't tell. Scott on the other hand, was ecstatic.
"You didn't shift!" he exclaimed and yanked Liam in for a hug. He flinched back almost instantly, "you smell of Theo?"
Thinking quickly, Liam blurted out "um, yeah I picked up his shirt by mistake. Oops."
Scott nodded taking it for face value. Stiles clapped a hand on his shoulder in praise.
"we should celebrate." Scott murmured, "pack sleep over and pizza."