CH 8

Before opening his eyes, Liam knew the older boy was no longer in bed with him, disappointment flooded at the lack of warmth. Glancing around the room everything seemed like it was in place, listening intently, there were no other heartbeats in the house. Had Theo disappeared or ran away? Jumping up, the werewolf bolted down the stairs and peered through the house's front door. The truck was still there, but no chimera in sight. Pulling out his phone, he shot a quick text to Theo.

["Hey, are you okay?] Almost immediately his phone vibrated in response.

["Yeah. I went for a run. Is everything okay?"]

Relief deluged the younger boy, then a sadness crept in. Had Theo escaped early in the morin to avoid him after last night?

["Everything is good."]

Quickly he tossed his phone on the kitchen counter. After making breakfast, enough for Theo, the younger boy grabbed a plate full of waffles and headed back upstairs to his bedroom.

After an hour of fiddling with more chemistry notes, another heartbeat entered the house. Theo's scent filled his nose before he even started up the stairs, nerves flooded Liam's body as a knock forced him to face reality.

"Come in." He tried to sound casual, not sparing a glance towards the door as it swung open.

"Hey…" Theo's voice was much softer than expected, finally turning towards the older boy, Liam spoke.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Nothing I…I didn't know if maybe you'd want to…" Theo hesitated, nerves and anxiety pouring off of him.

"I was wondering if you'd want to get dinner and a movie or something tonight?"

Why was Theo nervous to ask him to hangout? They hung out all the time, almost every day.

"Sure, is there a movie you want to see or something?"

"No, you can pick. I'll uh…just be ready at like 6." Quickly Theo hurried into his own room. The werewolf could hear him taking calming breathes. What the hell was going on with him?

After a couple hours, Liam headed to Mason's house, since he left way before Liam even woke up. Once inside the two boys sat playing video games.

"where's Theo? He didn't want to come over?"

Guilt flooded the younger boy immediately.

"I…didn't even ask him." Or even mention he was leaving.

"That's rude."

"I know…but he probably wouldn't have come anyway, he was acting super weird this morning."

"Really? How? It was super cool of him to let us sleep in his bed. I wanted to thank him but he wasn't there when we left this morning."

"That was cool…" Liam smiled at the thought of Theo in his bed the night before.

"But it was weird. He went for like a 3-hour run this morning, hen came into my room to ask me to hangout tonight."

"To hangout? Don't you guys do that like literally constantly?"

"Yeah. He asked me if I wanted to get dinner then go to a movie. Weird right?"

Mason tried to contain his shit-eating grin, only to fail miserably.

"What?... Why are you smiling?" Nerves coursed though out his entire body again, why was everyone acting so weird?

"Liam…" Mason started, watching him, expecting him to magically understand what was going on.

"Liam. Theo is asking you out. On a date." Mason quickly clarified.

Liam stood dumbfounded.

"What?"

"When he asked you, was he nervous?"

"Ye...yeah, his chemo signals were all over the place. But he wouldn't ask me out. I don't even know if he likes guys."

"Li, isn't this what you want? You were just talking about how much you like him last night."

Softly Mason laid a reassuring hand on his best friends' shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze.

"It is. But I didn't think that he would ever like me back."

"Liam…you don't see how he looks at you. It's not that surprising. I could tell at the fair."

"Really?"

"Yes. You are going a on a date; with the guy you have a huge crush on."

"I have a date tonight. With Theo Raeken. What the hell am I even going to wear?"

Mason burst into laughter, releasing some of the newfound tension in the werewolf.

"Hey…. everything will be okay." With a soft smile, Liam gave his best friend a hug, then headed out the front door and back to his own house.