Theo is sitting at the dinner table looking at Liam and his friends. Nolan keeps looking back and forth between him and Liam. He seems like he is trying to figure out what to do next. Liam has asserted himself into Theo's business and has decided to try to convince Theo to go back to school to finish.
"So, what do you think?" Liam says.
"I don't want to go." Theo says.
"Why not? My mother always says a good education is a road to endless possibilities." Mason says.
"I have not seen my mother since I was nine, so I don't know what she would say. However, how would I even get in? I would have to explain why I have been in hell the last part of the year." Theo grumbles.
"Oh, that is ok. My mother already figured that part out. Lydia's mom already knows about the supernatural stuff anyway and she is still the principle. As for your mom, you want us to look for her?" Liam asks innocently.
"No, I do not want you to go looking for her." Theo says narrowing his eyes.
What is their deal. He has found himself moved in to Liam's house and now he has to go back to school? It may help him get a job. However, he will be the oldest one there. Not that he is expecting to be bullied. Most people are afraid of him when he talks to them anyway. He has tried to make this little pack of Liam's go away, but they keep coming back. He has no doubt that Liam has a lot to do with it.
"Ok. Well I just think that it may be a good idea to finish. That way you can get your own place and a more stable job. You can go to college if you want. I also need help with biology." Liam says with hopeful eyes.
Theo sighs.
He looks at the rest of them waiting for him to respond.
"If I go back will you leave me alone?" Theo asks.
"Sometimes." Liam says teasingly.
"Fine." Theo says through gritted teeth.
"Good. Now let us go camping." Mason says.
"Camping?" Theo says questioningly.
"Yea, today is Friday and the last weekend until school starts. We are going to camp until Sunday. It is a tradition. Nolan's first time camping too. "Corey says.
How did Theo get roped into this? He did not agree to start hanging out with all of them. He is somehow living in Liam's house and going back to school. It is nice to have a bed, but he feels like he keeps getting more involved with this group's activities.
He looks at Liam who seems to be always happy. He wonders what it must be like to be this happy all the time. Doesn't he have have IED or something?
Theo tried to stay behind but Jenna kept saying that she was not going to be here this weekend anyway, so Theo should not be in the house by himself. He is not sure why he is allowing this woman to dictate his life, but here he is packing to go camping.
"I am glad you're coming." Liam says from the doorway.
Theo eyes him suspiciously. Liam seems to be incredibly involved lately. Unfortunately for Theo he seems to still have a fondness for the Little wolf. It seemed to be a lot easier when he was trying to take over the pack. He finishes packing and heads outside with Liam.
"Am I driving?" Theo asks unsure.
"I mean you can if you want, but Mason can drive. We didn't invite you so you can drive." Liam says.
That was new to Theo. He was used to being expected to do things. Not drive, but just in general. No one usually invites him anywhere just because. Even with the pack. Scott would need help or he would have to go track down Liam in the past.
"Ok. I can drive. I like having my truck anyway." Theo says.
"Ok." Liam says.
They all get into the truck and head off to the campsite Liam has selected. The drive is not too long and Mason decides he is going to play Taylor Swift, much to Liam's protests.
Theo wonders what it is like to have friends that you have known for such a long time. He knew Scott and Stiles when they were younger, but they were very close and Theo didn't have a lot of close friends. He mostly had people that he just saw at school or at little league. Not that he feels bad for himself or anything, but maybe if he didn't end up with the dread doctors he would have had more friends.
Theo looks over and sees Liam looking at him. Theo frowns and looks away.
They get to the campsite and Mason and Corey attempt to set up the tents. He watches as Corey rereads the directions for the 100th time. Nolan is stacking wood for the fire and Liam is just supervising. Seems to be his thing.
"Have you ever been camping without adults before?" Theo asks Corey and Mason.
"No. This is the first time we have been trusted to go alone." Mason says sheepishly.
"I wonder why." Theo says sarcastically.
"Then you help set it up if you know so much about tents." Corey says smiling.
Theo helps them set up the tent.
Nightfall happens pretty quickly and they sit around the fire after they have eaten Mason's attempt at rice. He said is was the easiest thing to make. Theo can't complain though, he doesn't normally eat more than 1 meal a day.
"I think we should all say something we don't know about each other. So we can get to know each other better." Corey says.
"Don't you all know each other pretty well?" Theo asks.
"Mason and Liam do, but the rest of us are still catching up." Corey says.
"I'll go first. I have never dated a girl." Mason says.
"Mason, I think we already know that." Theo says.
Corey laughs.
"You know Theo, I never noticed how snarky you are. I like it." Mason says.
Liam chuckles.
Theo feels kind of weird. He is not used to people liking anything about him. Well, they claimed they did, but it was usually just to survive. He still doesn't trust any of them.
"Ok, I kissed Liam when I was 5." Mason says.
"What?" Nolan says.
"It is not what you think. Mason was trying to get a girl off his back, so he decided to use me without my consent." Liam points out.
"Yes, and it worked. Forever in your debt." Mason says saluting Liam.
Theo has never had a best friend. He remembers being a kid with the dread doctors and passing the time by watching them with their surgeries. When they were not operating on him, they were performing experiments on other unfortunate souls. He got used to it though. He had a little spider he used to talk to when he went to bed. That helped him keep some of his sanity. It is not like the dread doctors were having many conversations with him. He remembers wondering if his parents were mad at him for killing his sister and leaving. He never saw anything about them trying to find him, so he assumed they never tried. He feels a lump in his throat.
"Theo your turn." Corey says.
Theo was not paying attention. He racks his brain to think of something to say. They know about the dread doctor thing, Scott, and Stiles. He is not sure what else they want to know.
"I used to have a friend that was a spider." Theo says.
How lame was he. He could not really think of anything else, and it was on his mind anyway. He looks at all of them. They look sad. He is not sure why they are sad. What is wrong with that?
"When you were a kid?" Nolan asks.
"Yes. When I lived with the dread doctors." Theo says.
"You mean when you were abducted and told crazy ideas from the mad scientists." Liam says.
"I was not abducted Liam." Theo says.
"I mean you were nine and the brain is not fully developed at that age." Corey says.
"Yes, but they told me what their plan was, and I did it." Theo argues.
"I mean if you said no what would have happened?" Nolan asks.
"I don't know." Theo says.
"Do you think they would have killed you? Probably. That does not seem like much of a choice. Plus, those guys were like things of nightmares." Liam says and shudders.
Theo frowns. He was not abducted. Yes, he was nine, but he never thought he did not know what he was doing. He was told what they wanted, and he does remember them saying his sister wanted him to have her heart. It is not like he had to say yes though. Or did he? He does not like the thought of being some helpless little kid. He still remembers the cold feeling when he saw his sister dying of hyperthermia. Now he has nightmares about it.
"Well, I came from a family of alcoholics. I think Mason knows but not everyone else." Corey says.
"I was bullied until middle school." Nolan says.
"My biological dad left my mom when I was 5. I have not seen him since." Liam says.
"I thought all of us knew that?" Corey says.
"Well, I didn't know if Theo knew that." Liam says.
What does that mean? He feels like Liam is trying to relate to him somehow. He also feels like Liam seems to be thinking that Theo was somehow dragged from his room as a kid. He was not and he takes responsibility for his actions. He is not a victim. Liam seems to think he is.
They get done with the fire and head into the tents. Mason and Corey have their own tent.
Nolan passes out almost immediately.
Theo lays down and wonders if he should sleep in his truck. He is not used to sleeping this way and he cannot afford to miss any of the precious sleep he does get. He is up to 4 hours a night now before the nightmares set in. He finally starts to drift off.
This nightmare is a little different from the ones he normally has. He sees his sister coming towards him and then she turns into Liam. Theo tries to run away but his limbs feel weighed down. He stumbles backwards and falls through the floor. He sees the dread doctors operating on an unknown face that he cannot make out. They start to walk towards him and grab at his heart. He snarls at them and tries to flee.
He feels someone grabbing at him and he fights back. He hears someone calling his name.
He looks around and sees a very terrified Nolan who is holding his hands up in surrender. He looks and sees he has his hands around Nolan's throat. He quickly drops him and leaves the tent. He knew he should have slept in the truck.
He climbs into the backseat and grabs his blanket. He doesn't expect to sleep.
He hears a tapping on the window. Does Liam ever give up?
"Yes Liam?" Theo asks.
Liam opens the door and climbs into the truck next to Theo. He just sits there waiting. Theo is not going to volunteer any information so he can just keep waiting.
"I should not have come." Theo finally says.
"Nolan is fine. He knows it was a dream." Liam says.
"I normally do not act it out though." Theo says.
"Is it because we brought up all that stuff before? We should not have tried to get you to talk about your past. I'm sorry." Liam says.
"I don't need an apology." Theo says annoyed.
He does not know why Liam is apologizing anyway. He was the one that volunteered the spider information. If he were that annoyed, he would have not taken part in their game and left. He does not like people thinking he is forced into anything.
"OK, but I am sorry." Liam says.
Theo rolls his eyes. He looks down and sees his shirt is slightly torn.
"You were trying to get it out." Liam says sadly.
"Get what out?" Theo asks.
"Your heart I think." Liam says.
That could be a problem. If he is trying to rip his heart out, he could actually kill himself. Maybe he should not be sleeping as much anymore. He is just really tired. He is not sure how he is going to pass this senior year he is being forced into.
"You know sometimes it helps if we have something we sleep with or if we use a light?" Liam says.
"I am not child Liam. I do not need a teddy bear but thanks." Theo says dryly.
"I did not say you needed a teddy bear, but I know it helps kids. Maybe we can use a night light or something? We seem to forget about the stuff that helped us when we were younger. Maybe it will help. It is not a bad thing if it helps you sleep. I still get freaked out about scary movies sometimes." Liam says.
"Light doesn't help. I had a lot of light with the dread doctors, and I did not sleep there either." Theo says.
All of a sudden Liam hugs Theo.
He freezes and feels confused. That was not an invitation to hug him. He is not used to being hugged or touched for that matter. He awkwardly pats Liam on the shoulder.
"What was that for?" Theo asks.
"I don't know you seemed like you needed a hug." Liam says.
Theo looks at Liam. He seems sincere but still.
Theo rolls over to lay down and so does Liam. He looks back at Liam. Liam smiles back at him.
"Uh Liam. Are you going to go back to your tent?" Theo asks.
"I figured I would stay in here. It used to help me and Mason to stay over each other's houses when we had nightmares." Liam explains.
"I do not need you to stay here." Theo says.
"I know but I am." Liam says.
Apparently, Liam's father was right when he said that you cannot argue with Liam. Theo grumbles and tries to sleep.
He wakes up to see the sun shining through his windows. He must have fallen asleep.
He checks the time and sees it is 10am. That is the longest Theo has slept in a while. He feels something pulling at his shirt. He turns over and sees Liam asleep and his hand gripping Theo's shirt. He slowly gets up and gets out of the truck.
He sees Nolan attempting to make coffee. It does not look like it is going too well.
"Do you need some help?" Theo asks.
"Yea. Everyone is still asleep." Nolan says gratefully.
Theo is not helping because he cares. He is helping because he wants coffee. He helps Nolan with the coffee when finally, the rest of them emerge.
They eat breakfast and Corey attempts to explain his reasons for loving Star Trek better than Star Wars, while Liam completely horrified objects to every reason. Theo has never seen either. He didn't have a lot of normal things to do when he was younger.
"What about you Theo?" Liam says.
"What?" Theo asks.
"Which one do you like better?" Liam asks.
"Um, I haven't watch much tv, or any of those movies actually." Theo admits.
There is a stunned silence.
Well, that is utterly unacceptable. We will do a marathon Sunday night when we get back." Mason says.
"The night before school starts. All of them? Both movie series?" Nolan says unsure.
"Yup. Why not. You only live once." Corey says smiling.
Theo turns to look at Liam who is smiling at him.
Theo must be getting sick or something because he feels a strange warmth in his chest.
Dammit.