Juggling two sodas, a bowl of popcorn, and a bag of sour candy, Theo reentered the bedroom. A giant grin plastered immediately on his face at the sight before him. Sprawled out with his head hanging off the edge of the bed, remote held loosely in his grip, soft snores escaped Liam's' lips.
Setting the snacks down, Theo gently lifted the werewolves head onto the pillow, lightly running his fingers through silky brown locks. Pulling the comforter over Liam, he stole one last glance at the adorable younger boy. Next, he turned off the light and tv, then headed back down the stairs to put all of the snacks away.
Glancing at the clock, 2 a.m., with a sigh the chimera crawled into his own bed, collapsing into the warmth of the blankets. Staring at the ceiling, subconsciously fighting sleep, Theo's mind was racing with thoughts of what had almost happened between himself and Liam. Lost in thought, everything slowly began fading into black, the older boy was blissfully unaware of the nightmare to come.
The room around him is dark, almost black, he can just make out a shadow behind him, getting closer. The sound of approaching footsteps filled the space, he knew what was to come. Jumping up, he began running into the heavy darkness.
"Theo…" Her voice echoed throughout the blackness.
He kept running, trying to get away, but making no headway. He halted to a stop at the next voice in the darkness.
"Theo…Run" The voice was weak, but all too familiar. Turning towards the muffled voices he saw her. Tara stood above another body, fingers deep in his chest, an evil smile on her lips.
"Liam?" The mop of brown hair turned his head towards him.
"Tara stop." He could no longer feel his feet as he rushed towards them. The closer he got the deeper Tara dug her fingers into the werewolves chest.
"Theo…it is okay…just run…" Liam spoke in gurgles, blood splattering the ground from his lips, the blue draining out of eyes to a mute grey.
"Tara. Please stop. You want me, just take it- take your heart back, please just let him go." He dropped to his knees in front of his sister, pleading for the younger boy's life.
"Theo…go…while…you…still…can." Liam was becoming harder to understand with each word, the gurgling intensifying by the second.
"You don't deserve to be saved." Tara's words cut through him like a knife.
"I know…but he does…please Tara." Tara spared a glance towards the younger boy, then ripped his heart out. Dropping the red glob in front of Theo. Before he had a chance to scream or even react, her hand surged into his own chest, like many nights before.
"You did this, you deserve to be hated, you deserve to pay for what you have done."
"I know…" Suddenly her hand pulled out of his chest. Once again surrounded by blackness.
The darkness is gone, instead he's met with blazing blue eyes staring worriedly down at him.
"Hey…it's okay…it's just a nightmare."
Closing his eyes, Theo tried to hide the tears, turning his back towards the werewolf.
"It's okay…everything is okay." Soft whispers were accompanied by a gentle hand drawing soothing circles on his back. They stayed like that for a few moments, Liam whispering while comfortingly rubbing the older boys back.
Once reality set in, aware he was okay, Theo rolled to face the blue-eyed boy.
"I'm sorry…I hope I didn't wake you."
"No, I woke up a little while ago and was watching a movie, I couldn't fall back asleep. Then I heard your heartbeat going crazy."
"You should get some sleep then." Theo forced a smile, not quite reaching his eyes.
"Do you want me to leave?" Liam watched the chimera cautiously, worry clear in his eyes. Theos heartbeat started to pick up again, there was no point in lying.
"No. I want you to stay. But you shouldn't"
"Why not?"
"I don't deserve it…you-you should hate me."
"Theo" the younger boy spoke in the gentlest voice he'd ever heard.
"Liam, I am the bad guy. I have done horrible things, hurt people. I have hurt you. I don't deserve your kindness; I don't deserve any of this." Motioning around the room as he spoke.
Gently Liam pulled the older boy against him, laying on his back, with Theo's head against his chest, running nimble fingers through his hair.
"Theo please listen to me. I know you think you don't deserve to be forgiven. But you do. You've changed so much; I have seen it. You have saved my ass multiple times, you took away someone's pain who just shot you, I don't hate you; I cannot even imagine my life without you in it. I care about you, you're important and matter. You deserve everything good happening. And if you need me to tell you this everyday until you believe, I'm here.
Theo laid silently, absorbing the werewolves' words. In a soft voice, barely above a whisper, he finally responded.
"I care about you too, you know."
"Good. Now try to get some sleep." Liam's bright smile lit up the room. The chimera made no move to leave his chest, embracing the warmth. Liam made no attempt to pish him away, instead began running fingers through the Theo's hair.
"Thank you…for everything Liam. I don't know what I would do without you. I…I'm not used to needing someone."
"Don't thank me, I need you too. Just having you here helps with my anger, I don't know why, but it does." Focusing on the touch, the older boy smiled as he fell asleep again.
A Blanket of yellow woke up the chimera, immediately he missed the warmth. Heading to the shower, he could hear a train of profanity and frustrated huffs and grunts from the adjoined bedroom.
Knocking on the door, the grunts went mute.
"Yeah?" Anger clear in his voice, even though he tried to hide it.
"Can I come in?"
"Uhm, sure."
Once in the bedroom, he examined the scene. Liam sat at his desk with a chemistry book open and notes scattered all over the place, including the floor.
"What's going on?" Theo asked, genuinely concerned. With a long sigh, the werewolf answered.
"I…I'm just stressing out right now, I have my chemistry midterm Monday morning and it counts as a third of the overall class grade. And I am horrible at chemistry. The teacher gave us this practice test, and I think I have gotten every single question wrong. I cannot afford to fail this test. Usually David would help me study, but him and mom are gone until next week." With every word the werewolf got more worked up, erratic breathing, and his face bright red.
"Hey…just breathe." Theo rested his hand on the younger boy's shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze. Glancing at his face, he saw eyes full of frustrated unshed tears.
"It's okay." Theo continued in a calming voice.
"Sorry. I probably sound so dumb right now." Slowly his breathing became regulated, the redness and built-up tears subsiding.
"No. You don't. I did not like chemistry either, but I always had an 'A'. I can help you study if you want." He was met with a vibrant smile that made his heart skip a beat.
"Really? I don't want you to give up your Saturday to help me."
"I don't mind. I want to help, plus the sooner we study the sooner I can kick your ass playing video games."
The two boys spent the next five hours in the younger boy's bedroom studying. Multiple times Liam got frustrated when he did not understand something and each time Theo calmy explained why each answer was the correct one, watching the werewolf visibly relax when he truly understood something. Finally, they reached the point that Liam got the correct answer on each question of the practice exam.
"Theo, how can I repay you for helping me today?" Liam wondered around the kitchen, searching for something to eat, turning as he spoke to face the older boy sitting on the counter.
"You don't need to repay me, I'm just happy you get it now and are confident for about your test." Theo answered honestly.
Liam grabbed some cash off of the counter.
"Since mom and David are gone, do you want to order pizza?"
"Obviously." With a wink, the chimera jumped off the counter, dialing the restaurant.
Forty minutes later, both boys sat on the couch shoveling pizza into their mouths, laughing at the movie playing.
Liam couldn't contain his smile, watching the older boy fully relaxed.
A knock on the door startled both boys. Sharing a glance, Liam went to the front door. Opening the door, he was met with a wave of half-drunk teenagers, with Mason and Corey leading the group.
"What the hell is this?"
"Uhm Liam your parents are out of town, obviously it's time for a party." Immediately the wave crashed around them with the teenagers pouring through the entry way carrying bottles of liquor, cases of beer, and one kid even had a keg. With wide eyes he turned to a confused Theo.
"I guess we are having a party?" Liam innocently shrugged his shoulders as he spoke.
"Looks like it."
"Hey, I even brought you two a gift. Wolfsbane, that way you can get drunk too." Mason's smile was contagious, causing both boys to break out in laughter.
Glancing at Theo, the werewolf spoke.
"It's going to be a long night."
"Yeah, we're screwed."
Together the three boys raced to the kitchen for shots, unaware of what the night had instore for them.