I was rushing trying to get down to the little diner in town on time.

Liam was expecting me, as he had asked to speak with me the day before. My guess was that Theo had mentioned his staying over a couple of nights before, and Liam wanted to tease me for details, none of which he would receive, and I took a small luxury of remembering the morning after, when I'd made us breakfast and we, stupidly, had flirted a little back and forth.

An emergency situation had showed up last second at the hospital, and I'd been delayed meeting him by ten minutes. Hopefully he didn't think I had ditched him.

I was relieved to see him sitting in his favorite spot and I waved as I climbed out of my car. I hurried in to see him nursing a coke and I sat down across from him. "Hey, Liam, sorry I'm late. Someone showed up just as I was about to walk out and they needed help."

"No biggie." He said, nonchalantly taking another sip of his drink.

"So," I said after ordering a drink, "what is it you wanted to talk about? Is there any new info on the creature?" "Yes, Doctor Deaton has discovered a new trait to typical wyverns. Apparently, they can't talk. Like, they're mute." "Huh, so we need to be on the lookout for someone who can't talk?" "Yeah, which doesn't narrow it down a lot. There are lots of people here who can't speak, and most are in a place called Eichen House. It's like an insane asylum."

At the mention of an insane asylum, I felt my gut clench in dread, fear and sadness, but quickly pushed them away so Liam didn't catch on.

"Well, we'll keep our eyes peeled. We're going to find it, don't worry."

"Sure," He said, tapping on the rim of his glass.

"What's on your mind?" I asked, noticing that he wasn't acting like his usual self. He wouldn't even meet my eyes, and it was like there was a war going on inside him.

He sighed, letting it out heavily and finally met my eyes.

Good grief, I hope that he hadn't found out anything about my past. That was a dark look, and I wasn't completely sure that it wasn't aimed at me. His blue eyes were steely, his mouth set in a hard line. If he knew that I had lied to him…

"Are you…and Theo…?" He asked, running a hand through his hair. "Lord, no, Liam! We're…friends. Just like you and I are friends, and Cora and so on." I rushed, both relieved that it had nothing to do with Damian and embarrassed because he thought I was sleeping with Theo.

I felt my cheeks heat up and I somewhat glared at my soda. "He told me that he stayed over the other night. That usually only means one thing." "How would you know?"

Now he looked embarrassed. I guessed it didn't really surprise me that he wasn't a virgin. I thought too much of the time that he was a lot younger than he actually was.

"Liam," I said, waiting to continue until he looked at me, "I'm not sleeping with Theo. You know I have a past that remains unspeakable, and so many times I didn't have proper shelter. Theo admitted to me that he had been taking up residence in his vehicle. I've been there, and I invited him to sleep on my couch now and then. Besides a little flirting, nothing happened."

I didn't allow my heart to speed up with the fly-by memory of Theo's arms around me, his body pressing mine into the mattress of my bed, and that nearly unused, genuine smile.

"Rachel, he's dangerous. He lures you into trusting him, and then he stabs you in the back. He's only in if it profits him, and let's face it, you're a pretty girl who doesn't take his crap. You wouldn't be the first girl that shared his bed or whatever for the night."

I avoided shrinking back like he'd hit me, but I wanted to recoil all the same. I had really let my emotions get too invested in Theo, but it was because for the first time, pretty much ever, I felt safe.

When I was with Theo, Damian felt like a bad dream, one in the past that didn't matter. Feeling his arms around me the other night made me feel sheltered, made me feel innocent. It made me forget that the demons of my past lay in wait until my eyes closed. And it certainly made me feel like I was important to someone. Not a throw away, not a reject, not a secret.

He made me feel like Cassia, the girl unloved by her brother who was a lost soul, and not Rachel, the fake girl who had a haunted past, but got by with the help of her temporary home.

I suddenly didn't feel so good.

What if what Liam was telling me was true, and I gave away that part of myself due to broken promises and lust?

What if Theo really didn't care?

My chest ached, and I felt more crushed than I should have. Liam seemed to pick up on my feelings, because his face turned terrified and softened at the same time.

"Oh, my g…you really DO care about him, don't you?" His tone was incredulous, surprised, and a tad angry. "Liam, I've never met someone that has made me feel the way that I do about him. If what you say really is true…" I sighed, pushing away from the table and standing, "I need to go back to work. I'll see you around."

~Theo POV~

"Damn," I groaned in frustration. Of course the oil had needed changing, and of course I had managed to drop the dipstick somewhere inside the hood.

I had been planning on saying hi to Rachel at the hospital, but the engine had stalled and upon opening it up, it needed more care than just a looking.

Now, I had to go on the errand of hunting down the damned dipstick that oh so inconveniently hadn't fallen straight through to the ground.

I thought about ripping parts out in anger to find it, but that would only destroy my ticket to get around and sleep…at least on most nights.

I thought back to the night, and morning, that I had spent at Rachel's little home.

Every inch of her body was designed for mine, from her pretty little toes to her gorgeous little head. Her hips had fit to mine like puzzle pieces, her little head could tuck perfectly under my chin. All of that, I'd gathered in the three seconds I'd had her pinned to the bed in playful banter.

It had taken at least two hours for my heart to slow down from that, and I could hear from her own heartbeat before she'd slept that I had either scared her, or excited her.

Sleeping there had been the best sleep I'd gotten in the past couple years. Plush cushions, no cop knocking on my window at the crack of dawn to make me move, and no worries of the wyvern.

The next morning, she'd gotten up and showered, making her smell even more floral, and then proceeded to cook the best food I'd had in years. Not to mention I got to stare at the back of her frame while she stood over the stove. When I'd flirted, she returned it. Her response to me now was so different from when she'd first gotten here, and I guessed mine was too.

Deep in my thoughts, I jumped to when Liam's car roared by me, sliding in the dirt and tires squealing from him stomping on the brakes so hard, and came to an abrupt stop diagonal from me. I sensed that he was pissed before he even got out, and was sure when he jumped out and slammed the door, which cracked the driver's side window.

"What now, Hulk?" I asked, annoyed that he'd ruined my good mood.

"Shut the hell up," he snarled, snatching the reclaimed dipstick from my hand and throwing me against the side of my truck. "Liam, what the fuck?!" I asked angrily, grabbing his hand that was wadded up in my shirt front.

"I told you to stay away from her! I told you that she was too good and you still didn't listen!" "What are you talking about?" I asked. "Rachel," his voice dripped with venom, "she cares for you."

I would deny it if he wasn't so pissed off. Him pissed off made it true, because otherwise, he wouldn't be angry. I wanted to address that, but it didn't seem to matter when I took what he meant seriously.

Rachel cared for me too.

It both excited and disgusted me. Not because I didn't want her, but because I knew that my past would hurt her. If she simply played me, then I could have gotten over it, but if her emotions were involved as mine were…

"THEO!" Liam's growl brought me back to my spot. "What?" I asked. "Stay away from her. I won't let you pull the bullshit you pulled on us on her. You could fuck us over, because we had a chance of survival, but she doesn't. You leave her at a killer's mercy and she won't make it."

"You really are stupid," I said to him, which darkened his look, "have you truly not seen, felt or allowed yourself to address the fact that I also care for her?"

Liam looked taken aback, and I must have had a similar expression.

Never before had I admitted my feelings about anything or anyone, especially to Liam.

"Is…she aware…? Because of you?" I asked him. "She's not dumb, I'm sure she knows, but no, I haven't said anything." "I wouldn't fall for a stupid girl," I told him, flashing him my smile, then taking the dipstick back from him and replacing it in my truck. "Theo, you don't really seem to understand that I will brutally and mercilessly, without prejudice, kill you if she even so much as gets a hang nail due to your presence."

"Hell Liam, you're like a dog in heat. Since when did you get so protective over people?" "Rachel isn't people. Rachel is my friend, and I protect my friends." "You tried to kill your Alpha," I said. "And you actually did kill him, what's your point?" "He did not die for long if you recall."

Liam shook his head. "That means nothing. What does mean something is that you killed him. For a brief time, his heart stopped, his brain shut down and he bled because of you. You killed your pack, you attempted to kill mine, and you killed innocent people in Beacon Hills, and the cherry on top, your sister. There is no one that you won't hurt."

"I'm not stupid enough to deny my past stupidity. But you're the bastard who brought me back, so you can't act like my being here is my fault. I was perfectly fine rotting in hell away from you. Rachel is the first thing in my life that makes me regret all of those things I did, and you cannot use her against me." "We'll see about that," Liam replied, "I'll break her image of you before you can do anything to stop me. Unfortunately for you, I'm already a quarter of the way there."

My heart leapt into my throat and I could say nothing, do nothing, but glare at him as he got back in his car and sped off.

**With a troubled past on Cassia's end already, what do you think will happen when she hears about Theo's past behavior? More soon! Thanks for reading and have a good day!**