Chapter 2:

It was nearly one in the morning when Liam woke up to the sound of thrashing, heavy breathing, and a racing heart rate. He was fearful for a moment before remembering what had happened the night before. He rolled over in his bed to find Theo laying on the ground, twisting and turning and muttering words feverishly under his breath. Since Theo was sleeping on the floor, as he thrashed around, he kept hitting against the wood of Liam's bed.

"Theo," Liam whispered, trying to wake Theo up. It was to no avail.

"Please, Tara. Please. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please. Please." Theo muttered, the fear so evident in his voice that Liam didn't need to sniff Theo's chemosignals to know that the boy was terrified.

Liam tried a few more times to try and wake Theo up just by talking to him, but when it didn't work, he finally leaned over the edge of the bed, shaking Theo's shoulder. Theo woke up instantly, grasping Liam's wrist and throwing him off the bed. Unfortunately, Liam, who had been holding on to the top of his bed to keep himself from falling over the edge of the bed, now landed squarely on top of Theo. He rolled off quickly, too quickly for it to go unnoticed. But it did go unnoticed. Because Theo was now sobbing uncontrollably. And loudly. And then he started howling at the end of his broken sobs.

"Dude! Shut up or you are going to wake my parents!" Liam whisper-yelled furiously at Theo. To his disdain, this only made Theo cry harder.

Liam didn't know what to do. Theo, the impossibly strong, annoying, never let any emotions show or be evident in his chemosignals, was howling and sobbing on the floor of Liam's bedroom. Liam tried to shush Theo, but the more he tried, the louder Theo got, until finally, Liam's mom walked into his room.

"Liam. What is going on?" His mom then caught sight of Theo and the confusion on her tired face doubled.

Liam got up and ran quickly to the door.

"Sorry, Mom. Try to get back to sleep. I'll explain in the morning." And with that, he shut his door again.

Returning to Theo, who was eyes were beginning to turn yellow, and how fangs and claws were beginning to protrude, Liam had no idea what to do. Theo let out a deep growl, a fierce look on his face, and Liam prepared for the worst.

And then Theo did something he never could have expected.

As Theo raised a claw, instead of jabbing it at Liam, he dragged it down his own arm, again and again. Liam was frozen in shock for a moment before he regained his senses and realized what Theo was doing. He hit Theo's hands away from clawing at his skin and did the only thing he could think to do. It was a stupid thing, but it was his last resort.

He wrapped Theo into a firm hug.

Theo tried to push away, but Liam had expected this and channeled all of his wolf strength to not let go of Theo. Eventually, Theo stopped fighting him and just sunk into Liam, soaking Liam's gray shirt with both tears and blood.

It took nearly an hour for Theo to stop crying, and forty-five minutes after that for him to stop shaking. When Theo had finally stopped crying and shaking and his heart rate evened out, Liam tried to let him go, but Theo's arms were wrapped tightly around him and he realized that Theo didn't just have a resting heart rate, but a sleeping heart rate.

As much as Liam wanted to return to his own bed and let go of Theo, there was no way for him to do that without waking Theo up, and Liam just couldn't bring himself to do that. Not after he had just witnessed. Instead, he gently shifted them so his back was against his bed and Theo was leaning on him. It wasn't the most comfortable position for Liam, but if it meant that Theo could get some sleep, he was okay with it.

As Liam slowly drifted off, he wondered how long Theo had been having the nightmares? As long as he had been living in his car? It hurt Liam so much to think that he had been so blind to all of the pain that Theo has been dealing with. As much as the other might not like Theo and as much as everyone says that he doesn't have emotions other than evil, Liam had never believed them. And now he knew just how wrong they were.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I really enjoyed writing it. I know that this is like a lot of other Thiam stories out there, but I still hope that you all really liked it.

Happy Holidays!

Stay happy, healthy, and safe,

-Jewel