Disclaimer: I hold no claim to any of the characters or places in this story, only to the way they are presented.

look after you/chapter three

1:14 a.m.

Disastrous. It was a word that Liam had come to be familiar with in pretty much all his years of living. In relation to his anger, he had found that a lot of situations and conversations seemed to go awry. He really could not help it. However, in the past year or so, he had learned to minimize his outbursts of anger, therefore reducing the need for the word to even come up. He had pushed the word and all of the associated occurrences that came along with it deep down in his brain never to be thought of again. Though, considering the worst case scenario way in which the past couple of hours of his life had played out, he had found it an appropriate time to use the term to define his life. Everything single aspect of his current state was disastrous. Yet, his predicament was not exactly the one which brought worry to him. He was too busy thinking of the dark haired girl only a few feet a way from him who seemed almost unreachable. She was pretty much all he had been thinking about in the past couple of hours. Aspects of her were fresh and fluttering about in his mind. Her smile. Her eyes. Her sarcasm. Her personality. Everything about her.

He was considering the ways in which she affected him. They had always been so distant before then, just going off of preconceived notions of what the other was about and never taking the time to figure each other out. Initially, whenever she would come to mind, a feeling of annoyance would surface. Not at her, but at knowing that it was the emotion that came up whenever she thought of him. He had never had the opportunity to change her perception of him and honestly, it wasn't necessarily his first priority as he had some internal things to deal with. However, with recent developments and them being thrust back into each other's lives, he was thinking that it might have been an appropriate time to begin to fix things. Though, considering their current positions, he was not sure if he would still be able to follow through with his plans. He almost painfully brought his eyes up and met hers from across the room and let the events of the day re-enter his mind.

9:20 a.m.

"So, wait, just let me get this straight one more time. You want me to lie to my sister and hide away in the school all night?" Hayden questioned both Liam and Scott as they attempted to lay the plan out to her. They were all seated in the kitchen with their heads reeling because of the night before. Scott had spent most of the night brainstorming a way to handle everything while Liam on the other hand was up the whole night worrying about Hayden while she was sleeping. He wouldn't tell her as much though. When they, or at least Hayden woke up, Scott insisted that he should tell them about how he intended to keep her safe.

Liam had to admit that he couldn't blame her for having reservations. Hell, even he was having some. On one hand, it seemed like a pretty safe plan and Scott pretty much tried to guarantee that it would work. Though, on the other hand, Liam couldn't forget that it was only seemingly a temporary plan. It would keep Hayden safe for the night but what were they going to do for the rest of the time? Nevertheless, Scott kept stressing how he believed the plan would work indefinitely. It almost seemed as if he was withholding an aspect that Liam just wasn't getting. Yet, he didn't want to discredit or question his alpha's judgement as his plan was the only plan they had.

"Uh..yeah. Pretty much." Liam responded knowing that being blunt with Hayden about everything was probably the best way to go. He knew how hard everything was on her and ultimately figured that being blatantly honest about every aspect would help her in the long run. Though, now, it just resulted in her shooting him a quick glare.

"Ignoring all of the other flaws in this plan, what if Clarke doesn't believe me? I already had to make up some lie to tell her before she went home last night and started wondering where I was. I don't think she'll believe the same half assed lie about me staying with some made up friend for the night again." Hayden spoke.

"I don't think that will be a problem. You'd be surprised at how gullible adults in Beacon Hills can be." Scott replied and Liam immediately thought about how he'd told his dad that he'd be staying over at Scott's during the weekend, which was only really half a lie.

Liam had to admire Scott. Even when he was at a loss, he had an answer for almost anything. He begun to think that Hayden was beginning to understand that as she looked to be considering his plan with a bit more of an open mind.

"Okay. If we're going to do this, where do we start?" Hayden inquired.

"Well, first, you text your sister. We've only really witnessed the Dread Doctors at night, so it's a pretty safe bet to say you're not in danger during the day. So, we wait and after your sister goes to work, we'll take you there to get some clothes and other things and then I'll drop you and Liam off with Malia at the school to get settled while the others and I get some last minute things ready. Okay?" Scott finished, meeting Hayden's worrying eyes.

Hayden looked to be deep in thought before responding. "Okay." She finally spoke quietly, pulling out her phone and sending out a text to Clarke. Scott only nodded in return before heading out of the kitchen and off to make some phone calls, leaving the two teens in the room to wonder about everything that could take place.

To: Clarke

From: Hayden

Hey sis! I'm gonna be spending the night with a friend again tonight so I won't be there when you come home tonight either! See you tomorrow! (:

3:13 p.m.

Liam laid across one of the benches in the boy's locker room, bored out of his mind. Scott had drove them all to Hayden's house where she went in to shower, change clothes, and pack a bag before heading to Beacon Hills High School where Malia was already waiting for them outside. They had also stopped at his house on the way so that he could pick up his lacrosse bag and fill it with a few essentials. Him and Hayden were the only two in the locker room while Malia stood watch outside, though, there was not much of a posed threat during the daytime. They were supposed to wait for Scott, Lydia, and Deputy Parrish to arrive, but they wouldn't be coming until later on during the night, meaning that there was ample free time. The only problem was that there was absolutely nothing to do in an empty school on a Saturday afternoon.

He looked over to Hayden, huddled in one of the corners of the locker room while she aimlessly played around with her phone. They hadn't spoken since they'd arrived at the school and neither of them were doing anything to change that. They'd just immediately sulked off to their respective spots in the room, and sat down. However, the silence wasn't doing much for Liam, so he decided to speak.

"How are you holding up?" He asked, sitting up on the bench. He watched as Hayden's head shot up as if she was startled by his sudden words. She was silent before responding.

"It depends. Do you want the truth or the lie?" She responded to his question and he lightly chuckled at her response.

"I think I'll go with the truth." He spoke back at her.

"Honestly, I still can't believe any of this is real." She paused momentarily. "I keep thinking that this is just some bad dream and I'll wake up and go right back to the way things were this time yesterday." She finished while looking off into space.

"I understand. Sometimes I feel the same way. Everything seems so unreal at times." He responded truthfully. A year ago he was just a freshman starting at a new school whose biggest worry was making the lacrosse team and keeping his anger at bay. Since then, he's had to become very familiar with terms like 'berserkers' and 'dread doctors' as if they were something normal.

"You see, that's hard to believe because you, Scott, and the others...I don't know, this whole thing just seems like a second nature to you guys. I don't think I'll ever fully have this under control." She spoke, twirling around a lock of her hair.

"Hayden, listen, no one ever gets these things down to a science. We've just all had time to learn the ropes and if we're being honest here, everyone is still a work in progress. You're going to turn out just fine, don't worry." He replied, hoping that she could only feel how much he meant what he was saying.

"Yeah, well, I'm having a little trouble believing that." She said a bit decidedly.

"Well, I'm not. If anyone can handle this stuff, it's you." He had barely spoke before she raised an eyebrow at his response, and he was almost certain that she was surprised by his words.

"And why is that?" She inquired almost as if she would be amazed if he did come up with an answer.

"Well, first off, you have a hell of a right hook, which you can honestly rely on if everything else fails." He paused with a smile when he heard her laugh ring throughout the spacious room and instantly filed it in his brain as one of his favorite sounds. "Seriously though, you have to be one of the toughest people I have ever met. You're kind of intimidating at times." He teased.

She playfully rolled her eyes in return. It was nice after all their history for them to be able to have a conversation that did not carry animosity on at least one side. He was being quite honest. Hayden could be considerably intimidating when she wanted to be. Her confidence and independence was enough to put fear in pretty much anyone that approached her, especially him.

"But on top of that, if you seriously think you can't handle it, just know that the pack and I will be behind you one hundred percent to help if you need it. You can even expect us to be there for you when you don't need us too." He spoke. He intended to help her in every way possible, if she would have him, of course.

She smiled for a moment before responding to his sentiment. "You know, Dunbar, you're not as bad as I thought."

They were just words. Simple words at that. Yet, they carried so much weight to Liam. He just wanted to prove to to her that he had changed and her words were a small indication that he might get a chance to do that. Before he knew it, he was grinning back in her direction, unable to contain it.

Liam inwardly sighed. Things had been going so well. Now, everything was just a mess. Not necessarily for him, but for Hayden, and that alone made it hard on him. He couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when things began to fall apart afterwards. Maybe it was when Scott had finally arrived and he had realized that he had more planned for the night than he was originally letting on. Or maybe it was when Hayden announced that she had unintentionally left her medicine and needed the bottle from her locker. Though, if he was being honest, he knew there was a real problem when Scott and Lydia did not immediately return after leaving to get the aforementioned medicine. Part of him knew something was wrong from the moment his friends ventured out into the hallways. However, his suspicions were of course proven when he saw three distinct pairs of black boots enter the locker room.

That was how he and Hayden had gotten there, with there seemingly being the laboratory where the Dread Doctors both made and broke their experiments. In recent times, there was not very much that continued to scare Liam. Yet, he had to admit that his current location was creepy as hell. His eyes wandered to vats of severed body parts and various utensils that were surely not intended for any good use. He even found himself hooked up to some unidentifiable machine of which he had no idea of the purpose. He did note that whatever it was doing was causing him to feel extremely weak. He couldn't get up. He could barely move. Yet, what was going on with him was nothing compared to what was happening across the room.

When he initially regained consciousness from whatever they had done to him at the school, he'd awaken to them beginning some sort of follow up experiment on Hayden. He couldn't see exactly what it was they were doing, though he saw the dripping blood on the floor and her pained face as she slipped into unconsciousness that was enough for him. He had begged and pleaded for them to stop, but they didn't even falter. He didn't want to see them hurt her, or even see he hurt in general, yet, he couldn't bring his eyes away.

Liam couldn't help but feel responsible as he watched them work on Hayden. He was so sure that the pack would be able to keep her safe, and instead, everything that they had been trying to avoid was happening. He felt so disappointed in himself. It actually pained him to think that Hayden could possibly end up like Tracy or that guy Lucas from the club.

Just as he was figuring out the worst case scenario of how everything could continue to turn out, he saw them stopping, or rather pausing their procedure on Hayden. Two of the doctors left the room as one was left to clean up the supplies of whatever it was they were doing. They were no longer touching Hayden and wondered when she would regain consciousness. For a moment, he had to wonder if she even would, but was relieved when he saw a small flutter of her eyelids. He sighed a breath of relief. She was waking up. Thank God!

Just as he was considering what to say to her considering the predicament that they were in, the remaining doctor in the room appeared in front of him. He gasped at the sudden action. The doctor hovered over him for only a second before moving on and unhooking him from the machine. Liam furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't understand what was happening. Are they letting me go? Are they going to kill me? He ultimately decided that the latter thought was most likely the accurate one when the doctor grappled his body and lifted him from the table. As they began to move away from where Liam had been laid out, he thought it useless to yell or ask where the doctor was taking him as he would probably be ignored. Though, he realized that it was moving him away from Hayden, which was something he didn't want at all. He strained his neck to see her caught a glance of confusion in her eyes before he was completely ushered out of the room. He really did not like the idea of not being around her for all of this, but there was nothing he could do as he was still utterly weak.

He expected to be carried for a considerable amount of time, yet, was very surprised when after a minute or so, he was dropped on the hard, wet floor of the laboratory. That's not good. Liam's eyes roamed the room that he was now in. It was nowhere near far from where he originally was placed, though, it did in fact obstruct his view of Hayden. He looked back up at the doctor and waited for it to do something to signify his impending doom, but was greatly surprised when it just turned to walk away. In any other case, he would take it as an opportunity to catch an aggressor off guard. When he weighed his options, he realized that it would be a very bad idea in this situation. First off, he was to weak to even get up and stand on his feet. Then, there were two more doctors to deal with if he could even overpower the first one. Besides that, he had no idea where exactly he was or how he was supposed to get out. He sighed for what he guessed was the millionth time that night.

Just as he was preparing to stare aimlessly at the ceiling for however long, he was interrupted by footsteps and a sudden loud thud on the ground a few feet away from him. He looked over to see a writhing Hayden as the same doctor who had brought him in retreated for the second time. He looked over her carefully. She was hurt. "Hayden." He spoke quietly as he used just about all of his energy to crawl or more so glide closer to her. "Are you okay?"

He watched as she twitched her body in either direction and knew the answer was obviously not going to be a good one. Her breathing was heavy and his heart just broke to think that she had to witness any kind of discomfort.

"It hurts." She spoke while clutching her back, as if she was asking for some sort of relief. He let his eyes wander down to where she was referring to and immediately saw the dried blood on her shirt from where the doctor's were far from careful. He gulped at the sight. Hayden didn't deserve any of what she was getting. He wanted nothing more than to get her out of there and keep her safe from all of the things in the world that could harm her. Yet, he was just as helpless as she was.

Liam looked back at her face just in time to see her wince in pain. He wanted to help her. No, scratch that. He needed to help her. He couldn't stand to lie there and watch her suffer. He ran through possible courses of action in his head before landing on one that might actually help. "Give me your hand."

She didn't ask why or think about it, she just did as he said. Yet, he knew that the only reason she did not was because of how much pain she was in and she was probably wondering why he was asking her to do so. "It's something Scott does. It'll take away the pain...I've never done it before, but I can try." He spoke to reassure her.

She simply nodded indicating that it was okay for him to do so. So, he begun to try. He focused everything he had into trying to take her pain away. He squeezed her hand and tried to think of only her in perfect health as if it might have an influence on what he was doing. After a few seconds, it was clear that it was not working. He sighed while letting go of her hand. He only wanted to ease her pain and he couldn't even do that.

"I'm sorry." He spoke defeated, not even bothering to look back at her because he guessed that she would be disappointed in him too.

"Why are they doing this to us?" Hayden choked out, quite obviously panicked at the situation they were in. He turned to look at her once again. She held an innocence in her face that seemed like she never deserved to witness anything bad or hard in her life. Yet, she already had and he had to admire that about her.

"I don't know." He stated simply. He wished he could tell her something to comfort her and wash all her worries away, but he couldn't. He felt her hand move back towards his and instantly moved to grab it. The least he could do was let her know that she still had him.

"Liam...what if we don't make it out of this?" She questioned. He was immediately taken aback. He had to admit that he had been thinking as much. Yet, hearing her toss the possible happening up in the air made it seem so outrageous to him. He had to believe that they, or at least Hayden would be okay. She had to.

"Don't talk like that." He stated, yet, it was more of a plead as he didn't think he could take it. He looked towards her to see her expression.

"I'm not. I just have to be realistic." She replied back to him, not meeting his eyes and he could tell that she was scared shitless.

"Hayden, remember what I told you earlier? You're tough enough to get through all of this." He spoke, knowing that she needed as much reassurance as possible. He just didn't like to see her worry.

"I'm not that tough..." She trailed off.

"Well, in that case, I will be." He struggled to push himself up so he could get a better look at her before settling and staring straight at her. "And I will do everything in my power to make sure you get out of here." He said, needing to hear himself so that he too could believe it. Knowing that she thought she didn't have a chance made it that much more important to make sure she did. There was silence while Hayden just laid and took in what he was saying. He hoped that she didn't doubt his words.

"You mean we." She spoke after a while.

"Huh?" He questioned, not immediately understanding what she meant.

"We. We're both going to get out of this. Not just me." She replied plainly, giving his hand a small squeeze while she churned out what he figured was her first smile in the past few hours. It wasn't one of her biggest or brightest, but it was enough to make him believe as much.

A/N: Hi again! First off, was everyone else as obsessed with all the Liam/Hayden scenes in 5x07 or was it just me? Back to this story, though, I really meant to have this chapter up by Thursday but I got so sidetracked with like fifty million things this week and at one point I was really unsure of what all I was going to put into this chapter. Anyways, I finally sat down and wrote everything and now it's here! Hope everyone enjoys! Feel free to leave questions/comments/concerns. (: