After Liam's confession at the party, not much happened. Embarrassed about spilling his secret and crying in front of Theo, Liam quickly called an Uber to pick him up and take him home. However, Theo knew it was not over for either of them yet. He knew that this was the thing that Lydia was referring to, and somehow Hayden was lying about it. But how? What did Lydia know that could prove whatever this lie is? Theo refused to sit and speculate what was going on. He decided to go back to the source itself, to hear it straight from her mouth. Therefore, when school started on Monday, he marched down the hallways, looking for Lydia. He saw her at her locker, talking to some guy, so he approached her and simply said, "Lydia, we need to talk, now."
She waved her hand, dismissing whatever piece of eye candy she was messing around with this week, before turning to look at Theo. " No, we don't need to talk, you want to talk," She replied as she began to pull her books out of her locker, "but I have the sneaking suspicion that you are not going to leave me alone until we do talk. Therefore for my sanity, I suppose you are right, we do need to talk."
"Cut the crap Lydia, you know this is about Liam," Theo snapped back, getting a bit irritated with her nonchalant tone at this serious matter. Why would she tell him if she was not going to take this seriously?
She sighed and rolled her eyes before looking at Theo. "Yes, I know, but rumors spread like wildfire Theo, which is why you need to keep your voice down." She then walked down the hall to an empty classroom, waving her hand for Theo to follow her. Once the door was shut she looked at him again, "So I am assuming he told you? I figured he would, alcohol is like truth serum to Liam."
Theo nodded to her, "He did, in a teary eyed confession, he told me that Hayden was pregnant, so are you telling me thats a lie? Is she not really pregnant? Because that lie is going to be really hard to keep up in a few months," he responded, hoping that Lydia could give him some answers to this situation.
She shook her head, " No, Hayden is pregnant, trust me, I know that for a fact," Lydia replied before looking out the door of the classroom to make sure no one was listening. " A while back, when Liam and Hayden were still together, I walked in on Hayden and Nolan at a party. I did not see much, but trust me it was intimate, and by the amount of passion between them, I doubt it was the first time they had done it. I wanted to tell Liam, but Hayden begged me not to, she said that she it was just a mistake and that she loved Liam. However, I could not keep the secret for long and I ended up telling Liam, which is why the two of them broke up at the lacrosse game a couple weeks ago."
Theo nodded as he listened, a little bummed. He remembered watching the breakup at the lacrosse game, and part of him thought that it might have been because of him, because of the night of the storm, because of the kiss. Nonetheless, he was still proud of Liam for standing up to Hayden like that, but he was still confused on what all of this meant. "Ok, so they broke up, and then got back together because she was pregnant. I am not seeing the lie here."
Lydia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Use your brain Theo. Who did Hayden run to right after the breakup, before running right back to Liam?" she sighed and then leaned against the desk, "Hayden and Liam have only slept together once, and he was wearing protection, don't ask me how I know, the boy tells Scott everything. Now, protection can be faulty, but its rare."
Theo nodded as he began to put the pieces together in his head, "Nolan is the father isn't he? Thats why when they broke up she ran to him, because he is the father of her child."
Lydia nodded to him, "Nolan doesn't know, Hayden was planning on telling him after they dated for a few weeks, until she saw an opportunity to get Liam back. Liam had texted her saying that he wanted her side of the story in regards to her cheating on him, she used that chance to manipulate him into losing his trust in me and his other friends. She convinced him that I lied about seeing her with Nolan. Hayden also knew this was her chance to trap Liam, by saying her baby was his. Liam comes from a great family, not to mention he's a great guy, and Hayden wants him, now as the father of her child, and when they graduate, as a husband."
"Oy my God," He replied as he listened to all of it. None of this was familiar with him, but Lydia seemed to be handling it as if it were another day at Beacon Hills High. Perhaps Liam was right, and Theo did not understand what it was like for the rich kids of Beacon Hills. "So thats why you called me, because he won't trust you anymore."
Lydia nodded, "You are the only person that can get to him that he might believe, just plant the seed go doubt in him, he will come back to his real friends in time, and maybe we can save him from making the biggest mistake of his life."
Theo could not think after all that he had found out. With all this information stirring in his head, he could barely concentrate on school, so he checked himself out and went home, asking his mother for a mental health day, which she accepted. As he arrived home, he was surprised to see his mother at home, but then remembered she took a few days off work so she and Jordan could catch back up. "Hey Theo, sorry you're having a bad day," Jordan replied, as Theo walked in.
"Its not to bad, I am just stressed with work and school and all, I just needed a breather," He explained to his brother before joining Jordan and his mother in the living room.
"I hate to make your day worse Theo, but we do need to talk," His mother said as Theo sat down, "I am begging you not to go to the Talbot's party on Friday. You do not know this, but he is an evil man, please don't go."
Jordan then nodded, "You should hear the stories Derek has told me about him. Theo, we aren't from their world, Mr. Talbot is worse than you can imagine. He's a vile person and a snake. He is notorious for hiring young women to be the family maid, until he has to fire them because Mrs. Talbot grows jealous of his wandering eyes. He's a creep."
"Cora asked me to go and I said yes," Theo responded, not wanting to deal with this discussion right now, " I am not going to cancel on her with less than a week's notice. I do not care what Mr. Talbot has done, this is a charity event, I am sure whatever sleazy actions you have heard about will not happen on Friday. I know you are looking out for me, but I already committed to going."
Though Theo took a mental health day from school, he knew he could not miss work. Not just because of the money, but because of Liam. Whenever the Dunbar's were away, which was most of the time, Theo made sure never to call in to work, because he did not like Liam being in that house all alone. Even if they did not speak, Theo knew that Liam appreciated his presence. However, today there was also more at stake. Theo had a job to do, he needed to speak with Liam about Hayden and convince him somehow that Lydia and his other friends were on his side. As Theo worked, he noticed Liam's car pull in and he jogged to the driveway, "Hey Liam!"
"I do not want to talk about it," He mumbled as he marched towards the door.
"But we have to, you can't just tell me that and expect not to talk about it," Theo pleaded as he got in between Liam and the door, "We need to talk this out."
"No we don't!" Liam snapped and pushed Theo out of his way. "I do not need to do anything for you or with you! You get to know what I want you to know, I don't owe you anything else, you're the help!"
As much as it stung to hear Liam talk like that, Theo knew that it was not genuine and that it was coming from a place on anger and anxiety. "Liam, how do you know that this child is even yours?" he demanded, getting straight to his point, knowing this would lure Liam in to talking. "I am sure if you slept with her you would have used protection, you're smart."
Liam turned and looked at Theo, as if having heard this similar question from someone else. "Why would you say something like that? What has someone told you?"
Theo shook his head, refusing to throw Lydia under the bus, and he also knew if Liam knew that Lydia was talking to Theo, the Liam would shut Theo out too. "No one has said anything to me," he began and took a deep breathe, was he really going to throw himself into all of this drama? For Liam, of course he would. "I am trying to look out for you. I do not know Hayden, but I know you and you're a great guy, a girl would probably do some desperate things to keep you."
His rage and suspicion vanished, and Theo could see a twinge of fear in Liam's expression. " No, she loves me to much to lie to me."
"Maybe she loves you to much not to," Theo suggested, knowing that Hayden was not someone who deserved sympathy, but he knew in order to get through to Liam, he could not slander Hayden, even if it was true. "Perhaps she made a mistake, and was scared of losing you, so she lied. Of course, all of this could be explained if you slept with her without using protection."
"Well we did sleep together," Liam explained and looked down, "But we were using protection. But that doesn't mean anything, sometimes protection doesn't work, condoms can break. She is definitely pregnant, I was with her when she took the test."
Theo nodded as he listened, so far everything backed up Lydia's story. "You are right, protection can fail, but it is rare, like very rare. This almost seems as if, perhaps, this child was not even yours." Theo could see the anger appear on Liam's face when he said those words, but now Theo knew Liam needed to hear this. "Who did she run to when you broke up?" Theo said, more stern than he was before.
Liam shook his head, tears of sadness and anger welling up in his eyes. "No!" He yelled and clenched his fists, "That would mean she cheated on me! Hayden wouldn't do that, we've been together since the sixth grade, we love each other! Hayden didn't cheat, those were lies told by people who did not want us together!"
"But don't you want to be sure? Where there is smoke theres fire Liam, you have to admit this is all suspicious," Theo demanded, trying to get through to Liam as much as he could. Theo was surprised by how invested in this he was. He did not just feel like he was helping a friend, he felt something more, like an urgent need to save Liam. Theo then sighed, calming himself down as well as Liam, "Listen. I want you to be there fore Hayden, and your child, but this is not just your life, but a baby's life, you need to be sure."
"What do you suggest I do?" Liam asked as tears rolled down his cheeks, he was now that same fearful teenager he was at the party, and the night of the storm. "We will just have to wait until the child is born and get a paternity test."
Theo shook his head, "No, we don't. Ask her about this at the Talbot's gala on Friday, you will have me there, Scott, Lydia, Stiles, Mason, and everyone else there to back you up if you need it. Just ask her about this and see what she says and watch her body language, if she's lying, you'll know." After a moment of silence, Liam nodded in agreement to the plan. Theo sighed in relief. He did not know if the confrontation at the Talbot's gala would solve this problem, but the fact that Liam was going to ask proved he too had doubts about Hayden, meaning there was still hope to save him.
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