**okay I want everyone to know that I am super fricking proud of this. It's really long and I apologize for that but I feel like I can honestly say it's one of the best things I've ever written.
I really really really hope you enjoy it as much as I do**
Text Post: what I want in life: snuggles. What I have in life: struggles.
People that have to be involved: Liam
"Scott, get up."
"Stiles, I'm kinda busy with thi-"
"Scott, we have to go."
"Come on, dude, we have to wo-"
"Oh my god, Scott, shut up and come on!" the human interrupted, quieting his friend, who he finally gotten the attention of. Stiles grabbed his hoodie and shakily shoved his phone in its pocket. He rushed out of his room, not knowing or caring if Scott was following him or not. The call he had just got from his dad gave him enough panic to make his running feel more like flailing. He ended up hitting his bedroom door and almost knocking himself to the floor.
Scott had reached out to catch him if he fell but Stiles recovered quickly enough and raced down the stairs of his house. He yanked the front door open and jogged to his jeep and clumsily climbed in. Scott was out of the house and into the jeep definitely faster - and with less running into things - than Stiles had gone. The second he was sat in the jeep, Stiles shifted the gear into reverse and quickly backed out of the driveway, fast enough to give himself and anyone watching them whiplash.
"Stiles, what the hell is going on?!" Scott asked in a panic, gripping the seat belt he had just barely managed to get on with Stiles driving. "What's wrong with you?"
Stiles glanced at the werewolf with a worried expression. Scott saw a hint of fear in his eyes too which honestly, scared him. Stiles gripped the steering wheel tight, until his knuckles started to turn white. "I got a call from my dad."
Scott raised his eyebrows at his friend, usually Stiles only got mildly panicked when his dad called him during his shift. Right now he was in full on panic and Scott could smell his anxiety coming off him in waves. It made his nose crinkle a little by how strong it was.
"He said the station got a call about the death of two people. A married couple. That live on the same street as Liam. And in the same house," the more Stiles added onto his sentence the tighter his hands held the steering wheel. He almost missed a turn, momentarily forgetting where they were supposed to be going with all the other thoughts going through his mind.
Scott's eyes widened and it would have been funny under any other circumstance, but at the moment, all each boy could think about was the endless possible of what could have happened. Scott didn't press Stiles to talk more, he could sense what the other was thinking and he wouldn't make him say it out loud. He looked at the road ahead of them and remained quiet.
That's when Scott noticed Stiles wasn't driving to the police station. He had turned onto the street they took to Liam's house. Scott could already hear the faint sound of police sirens and ambulances. His own worry grew immensely as they neared the scene. His breathing was very erratic and uneven by the time they parked on the side of the road, not too far from the scene. Just close enough that Scott would be able to catch Liam's scent.
His eyebrows furrowed when he couldn't smell the beta anywhere in the area. He tried again to see if he hadn't just missed it. Scott's eyes widened again and he turned to Stiles, "Liam's not here," Scott said suddenly, making Stiles flinch and turn to stare at the other with a scowl.
"What do you mean, he's not here, he has to be here. Why wouldn't he be here? His parents just died, Scott, where else would he be?" Stiles rambled, his panic and concern for the beta growing with every word.
"Stiles," Scott said with a discouraged look appointed to his friend, "If your dad died, would you want to be at the scene? At your own house?"
Stiles sighed, he wanted to bang his head on the steering wheel. Feeling frustrated and overwhelmed with worry, he quickly drove out of the neighborhood and waited for Scott to give him directions on where to go.
When Scott finally caught Liam's boyish scent he started shouting directions left and right. Stiles could barely keep up, but when he got on a very familiar road, he had to yell for Scott to stop with his rapid directions.
"I know where he is," Stiles said quietly, with a small sigh at the end. Liam had gone to the exact same place Stiles had gone to for comfort after his mom died. Scott's house.
Stiles drove way faster than the speed limit allowed him to until he pulled into Scott's driveway. He stopped the jeep, but neither of them got out. They worried what exactly they could be walking into. A wolfed out Liam with the blood of his parents dripping from his claws? A wolfed out Liam with his parents murderers blood? Honestly, the worst in both their opinions was a sobbing and broken down Liam. At least they could fight off the wolfed out beta.
Stiles sighed again and looked at Scott who was just staring at his own house. "He's gonna be okay, Scott," was all he could say as a comfort. Scott nodded but didn't take his eyes off the house.
When he finally did, it was to give Stiles a worried, anxious expression which Stiles returned easily. He couldn't be reassuring at the moment because he was feeling the same things as Scott. They both knew this would be something Liam would never be able to get past.
Stiles sighed and opened his door. He practically fell out of the jeep while Scott managed to hop out with some amount of grace. The two ran into the house filled with concern and hope that they'd find their beta there
"I don't smell blood. Well, not very strong blood anyway. And it's his own..." Scott told his friend as they followed Scott's nose. The werewolf didn't mention that the strongest smell was the saltiness of tears and the loudest sound was that of their sobbing beta.
Scott silently thanked any higher power that his mom was on a night shift that night. Especially when they ended up finding the boy in Scott's room, curled in a ball on the bed with Scott's blanket surrounding him. Like a little cocoon.
Stiles heart broke a little when he finally heard the heart wrenching, yet quiet, sobs coming from the boy. Liam's arms were tightly holding his legs to his body as he sobbed into the sleeves of his hoodie. Stiles could tell he had been crying for sometime because his sleeves were practically drenched in tears.
Stiles and Scott sent each other a look, one that resembled the look they gave each other when Scott had first kidnapped Liam. This time with a lot more worry though. They looked back at the boy, briefly wondered what they could possibly do in this situation.
At his next sob, much louder than the others, the two sprung into action.
At first, Liam hadn't noticed the two others in the room, all he could think about was his complete and utter despair. He sobbed until it hurt and then even more than that. He felt blood running down his legs from where his hands were gripping them. His claws had come out at some point in his crying, but that was the very least of his worries at the moment.
When he felt two other weights present on Scott's bed he could only curl in on himself tighter. The blood running down his leg accelerated rapidly, probably soaking into Scott's blankets. Just another thing to struggle with at the moment.
Liam lifted his head and looked at the two other teenagers, tears streaming down his face and snot no doubt dripping from his nose. He sobbed pathetically while Stiles and Scott rubbed his back and spoke words of comfort. He wanted to throw himself into their arms and stay there forever.
But he didn't. Instead he let Scott and Stiles painfully pull the claws from out of his legs. He watched through tears as Scott carried him to the bathroom, as he was sat on the counter and as Stiles cleaned up the blood that was still rushing down his legs. Liam winced when the warm washcloth made contact with the place his claws had been. He whined at Stiles who just shushed him and lessened the pressure he was putting on the wounds. They would heal, but Stiles knew it hurt.
Scott took care of the bloody sheets that Liam had been sitting on. He threw them in the washer while Stiles finished up on Liam's legs. Scott ran a hand down his face as he trudged back to the bathroom. He felt horrible seeing their beta like this. He just wanted to scoop him up and hold him until everything was okay again. He walked back in the bathroom and stood behind Stiles and watched him work his magic.
"Okay, kid, show me your hands," Stiles said to Liam after running the washcloth under the water again.
Liam raised his hands to Stiles, sans the claws. Stiles shakily grabbed each hand and washed the blood from his fingers, looking sadly at the crying boy. He sat the washcloth down on the counter and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy.
The tears finally subdued when Liam was pulled into a tight hug from Stiles, but they didn't stop. He felt like they'd never stop.
When the older boy reluctantly let go of Liam, he stayed close and used his thumb to wipe some tears from Liam's cheeks. Seeing the boy cry so much and with so much agony made his heart ache. Scott came up from behind Stiles with a warm washcloth that he handed to the human. It was a different one than the one he had used to wipe down his legs, thankfully. Stiles took it from him with a thanks and used it to wipe Liam's eyes and nose, holding the back of head with his other hand.
Liam couldn't even bring himself to push him away, instead he welcomed the childish treatment, trying to imagine it was his mom or step-dad doing it. He let out another sob, this time acompanied with a whine, when Stiles stopped to run the washcloth under the water. Stiles looked back at the boy and dropped the washcloth in the sink, rushing back to stand in front of Liam.
"S-S-St-til-es," Liam cried, looking at the other miserably. His arms hung at his side and he felt like he couldn't hold himself up anymore. Thankfully, Stiles grabbed hold of his arms and gave him the strength to continue, "Th-they-'re d-dea-ad, St-tiles," he let out a sob and Stiles shushed him, knowing that talking about it would only make it hurt more, "Wh-Why is my life like this, S-Stiles? Why is this all happening to me?"
"I-I can't answer that, Liam. There's no reason I can give you that could justify any of this and I'm so sorry for that," Stiles said softly, looking quickly over his shoulder at Scott, hoping he wasn't over in the corner blaming himself for all of this. Of course he was though. Self sacrificing bastard.
Liam sniffled, looking from Stiles to Scott and back again. The concern and care on their faces reminded him of his parents which made a new wave of tears start to flow. "I-I just- I c-can't just- Y-You know what I want in life? Snuggles. You know what I h-have in life? Struggles. So many struggles and all of them make me want to either break something, punch someone or cry my eyes out."
Stiles nodded at him sympathetically, he knew those struggles all too well, "I know, I know it hurts so bad, kiddo. I've been through this, I know how you feel, Liam. Well, I halfway know how you feel," Stiles rested a hand on Liam's shoulder and the other on his cheek, gently wiping away the tears that would never end. He pulled the boy's head down slightly so he could press a kiss to his forehead. "Now, are you gonna let Scotty take you back to bed or are you planning on sleeping on the bathroom counter?"
"I-I can st-stay here?" He asked with a small hiccup, directed at Scott this time. Scott didn't trust his voice not to crack if he spoke so he just nodded.
Liam let Scott carry him back to the bed, but he stayed clinging to the older boy when he was about to be set on the bed.
"Liam?" Scott asked, looking down at the boy in his arms worried what he had down.
Liam shook his head slightly and gripped Scott's arm. "Please stay with me."
Scott lowered Liam down in the middle of the bed and when Liam whined, he shushed him and climbed in with him. Scott pulled the blankets over himself and the younger, "We'll never leave you, Liam," Scott said in a hushed tone.
Stiles quickly changed into some of Scott's sweatpants before coming back into the bedroom and laying down on Liam's right side.
The betas eyes hurt from crying and his legs were sore from the now absent pressure of his claws. He still felt the pressure of tear behind his eyes, but he sighed in comfort when he felt the arms of his big brothers embracing him from both sides. He let out a small whine, cuddling into one of them, he didn't know or care which boy it was. He expected it was Stiles due to the much thinner frame. He rubbed at his sore and very damp eyes with one hand and felt a much stronger body behind him. Definitely Scott.
He held Scott's arm in between himself and Stiles, clinging to it like it was his only life support. Thought at the moment, it kind of was.
Liam yawned and held tightly to Scott's hand, never wanting to leave the arms embracing him. He was afraid they too would be ripped away from him just as harshly as his parents were that same night.
But the arms never left and neither did their quiet words of comfort.
**please please please comment with your thoughts, I'd love to know what you thought about this one :)**
