"So how was the big date?" Stiles asks the following morning. He's at Scott's locker and clearly been waiting for him.

"It was…" Scott's eyebrows knit together as he pretends to consider his words very carefully. "…Amazing."

Stiles grins.

"Really, it was great. My mom was just awesome…"

"As per usual."

Scott nods. "…And Liam even made a joke, you know, about the lunch I gave him after Valentine's."

"Ah yes, I remember that one," Stiles says with a smug look. "I'm glad it went well, man."

Scott's signature smile is everlasting. He opens his locker, switching out books from his bag. "Thanks, me too."

"But, now on to other important things," he changes the subject, turning to his best friend. "I say: you, me and Call of Duty. Tomorow night, your place."

Stiles thinks about that for a second before firmly declining the offer with a blunt "No."

Scott raises his eyebrows.

"If we're doing it at mine's, then we're playing Star Wars Battlefront." He smirks.

Scott groans, slumping his shoulders. "Ah, man. You know I have never seen Star Wars."

"Exactly. You're a disgrace and deserve to suffer, besides, you said this date is all about me, so I can pick."

"I never said-"

"You implied it. Let's face facts here: you feel guilty for not having spent time with me lately and I'm going to take advantage of that."

Scott rolls his eyes, but submits. "Fine. We'll play Star Wars, but you're not allowed to get annoyed at me when I 'm confused as to what's going on or don't know who is who or whatever."

"Deal."

Scott meets Liam during lunch later that day. He has picked a table in a far corner of the cafeteria, pretending to ignore his friends, who are sat some feet away, giggling and waving at him. At some point, Scott is pretty sure he hears Stiles say the words "without each other", followed by a "pathetic" from Malia. Lydia is the only one who seems to defend him, because she has her hand folded over her chest again. Scott guesses she's promoting his and Liam's cuteness.

The teenager shrugs it off, distracted by his boyfriend, who has just entered. Scott waves at him and Liam smiles, which obviously makes Scott smile and in those forty steps that Liam takes to get to him they are both silly smiling idiots.

"Hey," Liam greets him while Scott pulls out the chair next to him.

They share a hesitant moment, followed by an awkward hug, reminding Scott of something he wanted to bring up.

"How do you feel about public displays of affection?" he asks, blunt as always.

"Oh, disgusting," Liam answers, taking his lunch out of his backpack.

Scott's face falls.

"All those couples jamming their tongues down each other's throats makes me gag. Oh! And even worse are the ones that have this possessive need to peck each other's lips every thirty seconds, ugh," he rambles with a sickened look on his face.

But then he looks up at sees Scott's sad eyes.

"Oh... You meant for us, didn't you?"

Scott nods slowly. "Yeah…"

Liam averts his gaze.

"I just asked, because, you know, when we see each other at school it's always so…uncomfortable."

"You mean when we greet each other?"

"So you have noticed it too?"

"Your shoulder in my face is hard to miss," Liam jokes.

Scott blushes. "Sorry. It's just…I see you and I want to kiss you, but I don't know how you feel about that, so then I want to go for a hug, but then I start questioning that as well, so I just end up being this tall mess…" A hopeless sigh escapes from his lungs. "...And apparently body slam you in the face."

Liam chuckles. "Look at you, overthinking stuff."

Scott responds by playfully elbowing him, eyes trained on his peanut butter sandwiches. It stays quiet between them for a moment.

"I think I can be alright with a kiss," Liam offers.

A smile tugs on the corners of Scott's lips. "Really?"

Liam shrugs. "Yeah, as long as it doesn't turn into a full-on make out session."

"Have we ever had a full-on make out session?"

"I see your point."

Scott's smile turns into a smirk, seeing a chance to semi-tease back. With heated cheeks, he prompts, "You know…that's something new we could try as well, sometime…"

Now it's Liam's turns to appear extensively interested by his lunch, his ears red. "I know…" he mumbles. "You don't think I haven't thought about that?"

Scott's aware of his heart thumping against his ribcage. In one quick motion he has pressed a kiss onto Liam's cheek. The boy moves his hands in front of his chest and rubs his upper arms.

Amused by Liam's discomfort, Scott says, "We're awful, aren't we?"

That breaks some of the ice, because Liam laughs and instantly replies, "I'm surprised you still have the guts to flirt with me, considering what happened last time."

"Oh, God," Scott utters at the memory, covering his nose. "Please be careful."

Liam chuckles, shaking his head. "You're a jerk. And, yes, we are awful." He nods his head towards Scott's friends, who are staring at them with cheeky smiles. "Awfully cute."

On Friday evening, Scott pats the cold from his clothes. He shivers as he takes off his jacket, telling his best friend that it's freezing.

"Yeah, you should be careful driving back tonight. I think they forecasted frost on the road in some parts of the country," Stiles replies, waiting for Scott to come upstairs with him.

"You'll have to take me home then. I can't drive my bike when there's frost; way too dangerous."

"Eh, we'll see if it actually happens," Stiles waves it off. "Ready for Star Wars?"

Scott sighs. "As ready as I ever will be."

"You'll be fine. It's a good game, honestly."

"I just don't get what the fuss is about."

Stiles gives him a look before they enter his bedroom. "That's because you've never seen any of them."

Scott shrugs, unimpressed, but is nonetheless excited to have a night with his best friend again. To be fair, Stiles had been right when he said it had been quite a while.

"Have you heard from your dad?" Stiles asks when they are half an hour into the game.

Scott shakes his head, eyes not moving from the screen. They are both sat cross legged on the floor. "Nah, not really. I think he called mom once and told her to say hi to me, but that's it."

"Ah, very personal."

"Yup."

"And Liam?"

"Hmm?"

"Has anything happened lately?"

Scott knows what Stiles is referring to. "Last week he texted me to come over. I found him crying… It was a bad one."

Stiles flicks his eyes over at his friend. "Was that the first time you saw him…you know…like that?"

"Kind of," Scott answers in all honesty. "I mean, at the end of our first date at the swimming pool he had one as well, but it wasn't that extreme."

"Extreme?"

Scott sighs. "When I was comforting him I found a shard of glass in his hands. I took it from him."

That's when Stiles pauses the game and fully turns his attention to his friend. "Glass?" he repeats. "You mean…as in…he uses that to…"

Scott shows a brief nod. "Yeah."

"Man…that is…" Stiles licks his lips. "I mean, we never wondered how he did it, like, what he does it with…that must have been shitty to find out…"

"It was," Scott replies.

He notices a small weight lifting off his shoulders. Scott frowns, because he hadn't anticipated how good it was going to feel to admit that to someone. It reminds him that he needs to take care of himself; that Liam's depression doesn't just have an effect on him alone, but also on Scott. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It just means that Scott has to keep in mind to talk about what he and his boyfriend go through. After all, it isn't normal to take a sharp object from your boyfriend's hands, even more so when he uses said object to hurt himself. Something like that is bound to have an impact.

"What did you do with it?" Stiles asks.

"I kept it and threw it into the bin at home," Scott answers. "I didn't want Liam to have it, obviously."

Stiles purses his lips before asking, "Where do you think he got it?"

Scott shrugs slowly. "I don't know… Maybe he just accidentally broke a glass sometime and just kept a piece?"

Stiles nods, staring at him with a hard look. "Eh, doesn't really matter either. What matters is, did he ask for it back afterwards?"

Scott shakes his head. "Even now he hasn't mentioned it."

"At least that's a good sign," Stiles says. "Could mean that he really doesn't want to do it anymore."

"He told me that he doesn't, actually," Scott tells. "Which I think is really something. I mean, just a couple of months ago he was saying cutting himself wasn't a big deal."

"Wow, yeah, that does mean something," Stiles acknowledges. "Sounds like he really is changing."

Scott nods, smiling gently. "He is. I notice it in every little thing. Like, he actually asks for my help now, which is great."

Stiles scoffs. "Remember when you basically had to corner him for him to open up to you?"

"I'm so glad that time's over."

"Me too." Stiles smiles at him before pressing the 'Start' button on his controller again. "And now everything's perfect."

Scott mimics his friend's movement and turns back to the games as well. "Yeah…everything's perfect," he breathes softly.

It's a little before midnight and after he has literally felt the asphalt and has checked the weather app on his phone if it isn't freezing, Scott decides it's safe for him to drive home. He wishes Stiles good night, hugging him tightly for a moment.

"Text me when you're home, yeah?" Stiles says. "And if you ever need to talk about something that happened with Liam, just call." He winks.

The thoughtful gesture makes Scott's heart warm, feeling blessed for having a friend in his life that knows him so incredibly well. "Thanks. I will," he replies with a smile.

Stiles' words follow Scott all the way to his house; repeating themselves in his mind. He really should be more open about what he and Liam sometimes go through. It's not all sunshine and rainbows; which is kind of a hypocritical thing to think as well, because up until two weeks ago it had literally only been thunderstorms and hurricanes. After all, it was natural for Scott to focus on the positive, he's still an optimist, but that doesn't mean he should neglect himself. No, realizing that he had skipped meals had really caught his attention. Especially since it had been accidental: Scott hadn't even noticed. Thinking back now, it still seems crazy to him. Especially since one could argue it's a form of self-harming—not eating, because you feel guilty and subconsciously punishing yourself—which means he and Liam would actually be very similar. Still, Scott's able to see the irony, because it also shows that there might be much more going on beneath the surface than people think of themselves. Then again, looking at it from that point of view everyone could have a predisposition for depression.

Maybe that's true. Maybe that's why depression is like the weather; no one really notices the clouds until it starts raining. Or at least in Scott and Liam's case that's true.

The guy steps into his bedroom and starts undressing himself. After sending Stiles a message that he's home, he steps into his bed and covers himself with the sheets. His body safely tucked in, he does the same with his thoughts; putting them deeper into his mind, where they are in the background, but not forgotten.

He is about to tumble off the edge and fall asleep when he's alerted by the buzzing of his phone on the nightstand. At first thinking it's just a text back from Stiles, Scott ignores it. But when the sound becomes more rhythmic, he moves and picks up the device. Upon seeing the name on the display, Scott frowns.

"Liam?" he asks groggily.

"Scott?"

At the sound of his boyfriend's voice, Scott quickly sits up. He rubs his forehead. "Hey, yeah, it's me. Are you-"

"They know," Liam interrupts him. He sniffs and Scott can clearly hear he's trying to keep his voice from breaking.

Scott frowns. "What? What do you mean? Who knows what?" He swallows and notices his throat has run dry.

"My parents," Liam chokes out, a sob escaping from his throat. "My mom found my notebook. The one I use to vent. The one with the letter to myself. The letter you told me to write."

Scott's heart sinks into his stomach as Liam starts crying.

"They know I have cut myself, Scott. They know I want to die," the boy utters between sobs. "They know."