Theo had a free period, so he decided to spend it in the library. (It was the first day of school and he already had a load of homework.) That didn't happen, though. He found himself suddenly ambushed in the hallway. Scott and Stiles appeared on either side of him to grab him and practically shove him into the boys' empty locker room. He didn't even get a warning; they came out of nowhere. This is quite the welcoming Beacon Hills has, and he's got to say, he's not a fan.
Theo is startled as he looks up at them after being shoved into the room, but he laughs it off. He tends to laugh in uncomfortable situations — like this one — or when he's nervous. Which so happens to be both at the moment.
Theo cards his fingers through his hair nervously. "Hey, guys. What's going on?" he chuckles, trying to keep the air light. By the way that Stiles is looking at him, there was no room for jokes.
"We're going to have a little chat, Theo," Stiles says. "And you're going to tell us the truth because see, Scott here, he knows when you're lying." Theo glances at Scott. He wears a stoic expression on his face while he watches his best friend. Theo tries to ask how, but Stiles beats him to it. "Don't ask how he knows. He just does," he says vaguely.
"Okay," Theo says simply. He wants these guys to trust him. He sets his backpack down after he follows Scott and Stiles behind a row of lockers. Nobody says anything at first. Theo stuffs his hands deep in his pockets. "Where do you want me to start?"
"Why are you back, Theo?" Scott asks him.
Theo shrugs. "It's not like I really had a choice. My dad's job transferred him here. Apparently, the pay is better."
"What we don't understand is why we haven't heard from you in like 8 years, and now suddenly you're just back," Stiles says.
Theo gets this creeping suspicion that he's under interrogation. He looks back between Scott and Stiles and pushes his back off of the lockers. Theo wondered what happened to make Stiles so untrusting. He never thought of himself as a suspicious guy and Stiles is making him seem like the bad guy in an action flick. He wondered if Liam was an action movie kind of guy. Probably.
"I guess I can't understand why you don't trust me."
"Because maybe you're not who you say you are," Stiles replies, waving his hands around as he talks. Seems like a tick of his. He drops his hands when he notices Theo's observation.
Theo huffs out a laugh and furrows his eyebrows. "Who else would I be?" Stiles is being downright laughable. Did he expect him to still want to play Legos after the trauma he's been through? His sister died. Or did they forget that?
"Humor us."
He's not gonna get anywhere with Stiles. He was always closer with Scott, anyway.
"Okay," Theo sighs, glancing at Stiles like he was insane. Theo thought a memorable moment of his from the 4th grade might satisfy him. He looks at Scott and says, "In the fourth grade, you had an inhaler. I had one, too. I remember this day where I ended up in the nurse's office with an asthma attack — a bad one. I was waiting to be taken to the ER. You were waiting for the principal." Scott looks as if he remembers what he is saying, and Theo continues. "You told me what would happen when you go to the ER for asthma. How they give you oxygen, an IV of prednisone. You made it sound easy like everything would be okay. I've been by myself this whole time, kind of a lone wolf. I swear, I'm that same kid from fourth grade. I was hoping you are, too."
Scott looks back at Theo with sympathy before the school bell rings. Theo sighs and picks up his bag. He kind of wishes they had more time to talk.
"I better not be late for class," Theo says, looking at them both. "You're not the only ones I need to make a good impression on," he chuckles.
Although by the softened look on Scott's face, he thinks he did well. Stiles, on the other hand…
Scott gives him an agreeable chuckle and Stiles gazes at him speculatively. He doesn't seem to believe his story.
Speaking of good impressions…
Theo leaves the two boys alone in the locker room, just to run into Liam out in the hall once more. He must've been leaning on the door or something because when Theo opens the door, they are literally crashing into each other. Chests collided just as they did in the hallway earlier. He thought Liam had acted weird by the way he couldn't wait to get away from him. He had wanted to talk to him about it, but he couldn't help but feel like he had offended him somehow.
When he saw Liam, he couldn't help smiling. Their running into each other is becoming a habit. If he didn't know any better, he'd think Liam was doing it on purpose. When he tells him as such he doesn't quite get the reaction he was hoping for. The corners of Liam's mouth twitch, but that doesn't matter because Scott and Stiles are coming out of the locker room, ruining everything. Liam doesn't even look at them. Instead, he stares at the wall like it was telling him the most interesting of tales.
"Liam..." Scott says with a smug smile while Stiles looks at him with an annoyed expression.
Liam tries to act all innocent like he wasn't just caught eavesdropping. He's not fooling anybody. Especially not Scott. Theo would find it adorable if Liam wasn't acting like he was a dead bug he found under his shoe. Maybe he imagined seeing Liam this morning, after all. Because this was not the Liam that made Theo's heart almost leap out of his chest this morning.
"Yeah, hi, Scott. I was just on my way to class," Liam rushes out, shouldering past Theo. He misses the way Theo's eyes follow him. He can't actually be serious. This is why he doesn't get invested in other people.
Theo is bewildered when Scott starts apologizing for Liam like a parent would for their child. Then Stiles goes and calls him a little runt. Theo couldn't help asking how exactly old Liam was.
"Don't listen to him. Liam's a Sophomore. He's mature for his age, though," Scott says.
Oh, Stiles was just a dick.