A/N: The Do's and Don't of Liam

1. DO NOT pick on Liam unless you want to be Werewolf food. (JK) (Not really)

Liam sighed as he approached his house. He knew he was in for it. He tried to calm his heart rate, which seemed to be so loud that he feared his neighbours could hear it as he twisted the doorknob. Yet, as hard as he tried, he knew he couldn't hide things from his brothers for long. They had a way of knowing when he was lying, it was uncanny! He never got away with things for long in his house, whether it was a stolen cookie (he was 4, sue him!), or something larger like going to a party when he was grounded (weren't the teenage years meant for experimenting?). His brothers always seemed to be one step ahead of him.

He kept his head down as he closed the door and shed his jacket, trying to act as normal and nonchalant as possible. He hung his coat up on the coat rack and it fell off. He sighed and picked it up again, aggressively hooking it onto the rack.

He didn't know where his brothers were but he knew that Scott had as keen hearing as he did at lie detecting so he tried to run as quietly as possible past the living room and the kitchen.

It turns out, he wasn't as successful as he thought.

"Liam, what is that?" 26-year-old Scott asked from his spot at the kitchen table. It was such an unusual question that it made Stiles look up from his phone (where he was playing Angry Birds) to watch his little brother speed across the room.

"It's nothing. Don't worry guys." 16-year-old Liam tried running up the stairs but after a quick exchange with Stiles, Scott used his werewolf speed to catch up with his athletic brother. He gently, or as gently as he could, grabbed Liam and pinned him up against the wall.

"I'll ask again and this time I expect a real answer little brother." Scott looked Liam squarely in the eye and repeated his question, punctuating every word. "What. Is. That?"

"Really it's-."

"If you say it's nothing again I'll smack you." Scott threatened. Nothing brought out mama Scott faster then an injured brother.

Liam sighed and took off his sunglasses to show Scott a huge shiner covering his right eye. Scott growled under his breath and grabbed Liam's chin, turning it right and left, to get a better view. Liam sighed and looked at the ground to escape Scott's glares.

"Woah! What the hell?!" Stiles exclaimed. He had come up, unbeknownst to Liam, behind Scott and got a full view of Liam's black eye. "Someone's defiled our baby brother?" Scott twisted his neck so he could face Stiles.

"Defiled? Was that one of your SAT words Stiles? Nice memory." Liam said sarcastically, despite the fact that he was in no position to taunt someone bigger and stronger then him.

Scott snapped his head back to Liam and fixed him with a look only a big brother could manage. He knew, like only a big brother could, that Liam only got sarcastic when his walls were going up.

"Okay, you're going to tell us what happened so we can go and knock some sense into this guy, in more ways then one." Stiles threateningly cracked his knuckles in the background. Liam rolled his eyes but winced because of the pain.

"Do you know how much legal trouble you could get into for doing that?" Now it was Scott and Stiles' turn to roll their eyes.

"Our dad's the Sheriff and moms a nurse who is very good at keeping secrets. I don't think we'll have any problems. You know, unless this was your fault then I'd have to knock some sense into you!" Scott grabbed hold of Liam's shirt to keep Liam against the wall. The teenager held his hands up in defence even though he knew his brothers would never hurt him too badly. They might roughhouse sometimes but they were always gentler with him then they were with each other. His mom said it was due to the age gap but Liam had a feeling Scott was stronger then he looked and he was just too afraid to really get at Liam.

'Woah! It definitely wasn't my fault! I didn't even throw the first punch." Liam protested. "What happened to innocent until proven guilty?"

"What happened?" Stiles asked. Liam looked down at his shirt that Scott was still gripping onto.

"If you release me I'll talk." Scott laughed and just tightened his grip.

"Kid, we know you better then that. Keep talking or I'll put you in a headlock." Liam sighed and looked up at the ceiling as if praying to a higher power.

"You're pulling out chest hairs."

"You have chest hairs?" Stiles asked. "Oh the wonders of puberty. You know, when we were your age-"

"Fine!" Liam grumbled under his breath before turning back to his brothers. There was nothing he hated more then getting 'the talk' from his brothers. Sometimes he couldn't tell whether they did it out of brotherly love or if they just liked seeing him turn firetruck red. "Eric Whittmore was calling mom and you guys names and stuff."

"Oh well that was quite informative." Scott joked. "That clears things up."

"Liam, you're going to have to elaborate." Stiles smirked. Liam was just like him in so many ways. He remembered having a similar conversation with his dad over the word 'lie'. Liam was like a carbon copy of Scott and Stiles combined in so many ways. He was athletic (Scott), smart (Stiles), sarcastic little sh*t (Stiles), and was like a little puppy (Scott all the way).

Liam took a deep breath before he began talking. "He kept on saying that I was a mistake, and mom was a whore, and he even said Stiles was a snarky little shit and Aunt Lydia should dump his sorry ass. It was so ridiculous I should've just left it..." Liam began stammering off so Scott tightened his hold on him and he was brought back. "A-a-and I began to, I swear, but then he threw a lacrosse ball at me and I had to retaliate. I threw it back at him but purposely hit him in the leg since, you know, the principal and me aren't exactly best friends. His friends were egging him on to fight me." Liam rubbed the back of his head, feeling the bump Eric left on him.

"So then he punched you?" Scott asked, his anger growing.

"Oh no, then Mr. Yukimora came out of his classroom and stopped us."

Stiles sighed in aggravation. "Okay, THEN what?"

"Well, nothing happened during the rest of the school day but then when I got to the parking lot..."

"Yes...?" Stiles leaned forward to hear him better.

"He keyed the Jeep and wrote things with spray paint ALL over it and he even threw a rock through the back window." Liam shuddered at the memory. "T-then as I was examining the car he jumped me. I got a couple good punches in but he gave me a black eye and sore ribs."

Scott released Liam and took deep breaths to control his anger and his inner wolf that was threatening to take over. Stiles moved cautiously towards his best friend and brother and rubbed his shoulders. Scott pushed him away and started down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Stiles called after him. Liam slowly slid down the wall and hit the floor. He put his head between his legs and did some deep breathing. Liam had anxiety issues; something that he was diagnosed with when he was 8, and deep breathing helped him stop on-coming panic attacks.

"What? You think I'm going to make our parents pay for the repairs on the Jeep? This little shit is getting a visit from the big dogs tonight." Scott opened the garage door and felt around for the light switch.

"DogS? Plural? Can't we just send him a Howler by owl?" Stiles asked and Scott ignored him, knowing his brother would follow him anyways despite his protests. Scott found the light switch and grabbed his jacket off the hook. He entered the garage and, with a 'beep beep', unlocked his car.

Stiles looked back at his completely wrecked (emotionally and physically) little brother and then back at the garage. Stiles shook his head and mumbled under his breath 'why me?' before yelling, "I'LL BE THERE IN A MINUTE!" to Scott. Even without yelling he was sure Scott could've heard him. Besides, Scott wouldn't leave without him. He was Robin after all.

Liam looked up at Stiles with teary eyes. "Please don't go." His voice cracked on the last word and his lip wobbled. Stiles sighed and crouched down so he was the same height at Liam, who was still on the ground.

"Kid," Stiles put his hand on Liam's shoulder. "When have we ever backed down when another kid was messing with you?"

The answer was never. Even if it was a stupid argument like who fouled whom in basketball at the local park, Scott and Stiles always supported him.

"B-but you'll only make it worse!" Liam's hands were shaking and Stiles got the sense that this had been going on for a while, and he was genuinely terrified of Erin. "P-please. S-stiles, I'm beg-begging you!" Hot tears ran down Liam's face but the younger boy didn't care.

Stiles knew Liam was beyond comforting at this point so he just drew his brother in and hugged the life out of him. Eventually, minutes later, Liam's shaking ceased and instead of sobs there was a little sniffling.

"Kid, I'm going with Scott and that's that. Do you want me to lock you in your room until we're done, or chain you to the front porch like a dog so you can't try and stop us?" Liam let out a watery laugh and wiped his nose on the back of his sleeve.

"Maybe." Now it was Stile's turn to laugh.

A honking outside alerted the two that Scott was getting tired of waiting.

"Promise to try your best not to anger him any more then usual?" Liam said. His voice was less shaky then before but it still wasn't average.

"Kid, you have my big brother promise." Stiles held out his pinkie finger and Liam just stared at it. "You shake it, c'mon." Stiles wiggled his pinkie in Liam's face.

"I know how to pinky swear Stiles, I'm not stupid, but a big brother promise isn't a real thing." Liam sneered.

"It is if you want it to be." Stiles hid his smirk well. Until Liam was 10, he always made Scott and Stiles swear on their 'big brother promise'. Clearly his little brother had selective memory. He wiggled his pinkie finger but Liam refused to shake it.

"Dork." Liam shot at him but he sent Stiles a shy smile to let him know he was joking. It was hard to know with Liam so those little social cues worked well.

"Midget." Stiles laughed as Liam's jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

"I CAN STILL GROW! You're stuck like that forever, or until you shrink like Mrs. Klein." Stiles cackled and ruffled Liam's hair as he stood up. Mrs. Klein had been their neighbour since they'd moved into their new house. She was always complaining about how she was once 5'9 and was now only 5'3; something about a curved spine. She was always yelling at Liam for slouching.

Scott honked twice and Stiles rolled his eyes at his best friend. All the boys sometimes took advantage of their dad being the Sheriff.

"I'm going but I'll try to see you before you go to bed. Don't forget to lock the door behind me."

"Please come back in one piece." Liam said, only half joking.

"Oh, I will, but I can't promise anything for Scott or Erin." Stiles replied.

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" was Liam's parting words before Stiles closed the door on him. Liam sighed and walked into the kitchen. His eye was still throbbing and he prayed that someone bought frozen peas.

"How do you know where Eric lives?" Stiles asked as Scott drove his own car, a second hand Toyota Corolla, down the dirt paths of Beacon Hills.

"I scented the Jeep so I'm just following that." Scott turned onto a road with rows of townhouses lined up on both sides of the street.

The car lurched forward as Scott came to a sudden stop in front of house number 27. It was a medium sized home with a nice floral landscape growing on their front yard. There was a path of cobblestone bricks leading up to the grand red front door.

"Well, here we are." Scott turned off the car and got out with Stiles following closely behind him.

"Well, it doesn't look like it houses Satan's child but looks can be deceiving." Stiles replied sarcastically. "Just look at Jackson."

"Stiles," Scott sighed as he locked the car.

"Isaac? What's up with him and his scarf anyways?"

"Stiles." Scott sighed again. "Try not to pick on my pack so much."

"Eh, no promises." Stiles said cheekily. Stiles hummed the Batman theme song under his breath as they approached the house.

"Dude are we back to that again?" Scott sighed, getting flashbacks to his sophomore year.

"Hey, sometimes I want to be Batman, okay?" Scott shook his head but he couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. They stomped up the steps leading to the house as if they were thunder gearing up for a huge storm. Their front door stood menacingly in front of them.

When Stiles knocked threateningly on the door with the side of his fist Scott gave him a reproachful look.

"We sound like the police Stiles." Scott said. "We're not here to arrest someone-" after seeing the look on his best friend/brothers face Scott quickly added, "No! Those handcuffs are only for emergencies!"

Stiles rolled his eyes. "You're no fun."

Scott sighed, "Okay when someone answers the door what do we say?"

"We're not here for you, we're here for justice." Stiles said, cracking his knuckles and neck.

"That was so cheesy dude." Scott chuckled. He stopped and stood up straighter when he heard the clicking of heels behind the door.

A woman dressed in a very voluptuous and Junoesque fashion answered the door. "Hello?" She was wiping her hands clean with a dishtowel in one hand and the faint sounds of a football game were echoing in the background.

"Hello Ma'am we're Liam Dunbar's brothers." Scott introduced themselves. She had to squint as the night time made it hard for easy vision, for those without super human senses.

"Oh, hello." She said. There was a pause as she was clearly waiting for more information about why two men in their late twenties were knocking on her door late at night.

"Uh, we're here to talk to your son. He has some homework for Liam. Our brother was sick today with the flu."

"Oh how nice. That poor Liam and his anger issues. You must have such a hard time." Stiles had to grip Scott's hand to keep both of them from punching the lady.

"We get along just fine, Ma'am." Scott, ever the gentlemen, said. She clicked her tongue as she thought of Liam.

"Well go on up, it's the least we can do." She spoke of Liam as if he were a charity case.

"His bedroom is the first door on the left." Mrs. Wittmore stepped aside and let the boys in.

The boys climbed up the stairs loudly like a herd of elephants. They located the door with a big crossbones picture on it with the words 'keep out' written in red and dripping with blood. Stiles rolled his eyes and knocked on the door twice.

"Yes?"

"I'm Stiles Stilinski-McCall and I'm here with my brother, Scott. We have something we want to discuss with you."

"I don't want to talk to you. Go away!" Eric yelled.

"Kid, we knocked on the door simply to be polite. We don't have to listen to you." Stiles laughed and pushed open the door.

"GO AWAY! MOM HELP!" Eric leaped up from his bed and tried to close the door on the boys. "I don't want to talk to you," Eric glared at Scott, "or your f-a-ggy brother." He hissed through his clenched teeth as he struggled to close the door on the entering duo. Scott saw a flash of yellow in Eric's eyes as the boy tightened his jaw.

"Go ahead and call for your mommy. How would she feel to learn about what you've been doing at school?" Stiles taunted.

"Your brother has anger issues, everybody knows that. It's not my fault that freak couldn't-." Eric didn't get to finish his wildly offensive sentence because Scott grabbed him by the collar, ceasing his pathetic attempt at closing the door, and flung him onto his bed.

12:35AM

Liam watched the TV screen with blearily eyes not even comprehending what he was watching. It was all just a blur of colours. His parents had said goodnight to him some time ago, he couldn't remember the exact time. They let him stay up because they knew he would be too restless to go to sleep. His brothers weren't home yet, and he couldn't sleep until he knew they were safe. It might sound ridiculous that he was worried about his healthy, fit brothers going up against a mere teenager but he always felt very protective of them.

He was just nodding off when he heard the lock turn and the new voices enter the front hallway. All of a sudden, life was put back into Liam and he was as awake as ever.

When Scott and Stiles entered the living room they weren't surprised at all to see him sitting there in the dim lit room. They shared a look, that despite living with them for all his life he couldn't decipher, and sat down on either side of him on the couch. They wrapped their arms around him and squished him in between them.

"So..." Stiles began.

"Just-" Liam took a deep breath. "Just tell me if he's alive." When Stiles snorted Liam rephrased his question. "Is he in the hospital?"

"Liam, you're tired-" Liam's heart rate sped up when Scott spoke.

"Oh my gosh! I told you guys not to mess with him and what do you do? Ignore me!" He tried to stand up but his brothers held him back. He was near tears when he thought about what school on Monday would look like. Liam didn't realize he'd bit his lip so hard that it bled until Stiles, out of nowhere, had a Kleenex on it and was whispering in his ear to draw him back into reality.

"Shh." Stiles pulled him up close and rubbed his hand up and down Liam's arm. "Shh, kid. It's all right." Liam just shook his head and let his tears fall down his face. He drew himself closer and clutched onto Stiles, loving the comfort the mere smell of his brother brought to him. When he was younger and had a bad dream, just being in his brother's presence helped calm him down.

"I'm going to make you some tea." Scott stood up and walked into the kitchen, which was to the right of the living room. It was an open concept kitchen, which mean Scott could watch (and hear if he used his werewolf senses) what was going on in the living room.

"Liam, it's tearing us apart that this guys scares you so much. We taught you better then that."

"H-he just freaks me out. I'm terrified, scared out of my wits. I'm always wondering where he is. He makes me feel small, and dirty and-" Liam choked on his sobs.

"Well he is a Whittmore after all." Stiles mumbled. Liam shuddered.

"What does that mean? Was there a Whittmore in your grade?" Scott and Stiles shared a secretive look over Liam's head. Before they could reply Liam was stifling a yawn.

Scott returned with a steaming mug of tea that he wordlessly handed to Liam. Liam took two small sips of it and then put the mug down on the coffee table.

"I can't drink anymore."

"Oh c'mon." Scott handed him his discarded mug. "Have some more tea, it'll help calm you down." Realization dawned on Stiles as he watched Liam drink some more under his older brothers watchful eyes.

"T-this kind of tastes different. Did you use a n-n-new kind?" Liam could barley stutter his sentence out in between yawns. Stiles pulled Liam close and made the younger boy rest his head on his shoulders. "Yo-you did something to this, didn't you? Sccooottt!" Liam tried to lift his head but Stiles pulled it back down.

"Rest. We'll discuss this later." Stiles ordered. Liam glared at Scott with tired, glassy eyes before they were pulled down to sleep.

Scott sighed and took the mug from Liam's lax grip. He got up and emptied the mug in the kitchen sink. "I hated doing that to him."

"Well, what would we have said to him? His bully is just a Beta werewolf who hasn't mastered control yet?" Stiles snorted. He grabbed a blanket that was hanging over the couch and wrapped Liam in it. The younger boy barley stirred.

"Maybe we should tell him." Scott said as he rejoined Stiles in the living room.

"Really Scott? He has enough to worry about."

"I'm just surprised he hasn't put two and two together yet."

"Me too. He hasn't even picked up on any of our hints!" Stiles said. "And I've made more dog jokes then James Potter by now, probably."

"Maybe he's in denial?"

"It's not just a river in Egypt you know?" Stiles added not so helpfully.

Scott groaned, "Did you swallow a pun book or something?"

Liam let out a loud snore. Stiles nodded at the idea. "He's certainly stubborn enough. Like a mule. Hey, is that a combination? A were-mule?"

"Oh gee, he's mulish? I wonder where he gets that from?" Stiles cuffed Scott's head.

"Oh shut up Scott." He laughed. He stopped when he heard his mothers heartbeat spike and voice take an angry turn. "Uh-oh."

"What?" Stiles asked. Scott shushed him and tried to tune into his mothers phone conversation but she'd already hung up.

"Mom's coming." Scott warned.

"Oh how nice of you to warn him Scott." Melissa said as she came down the stairs. "Does someone want to tell me what you two were up to tonight?" Melissa asked, seeing her grown sons and her sleeping youngest. "I just got a call from Mrs. Whittmore, whose very upset, saying that Eric's in the hospital after you two visited him! Did you two do something?" She accused.

"Don't mess with Liam unless you wanna be werewolf food." Scott and Stiles said in unison.

A/N: What did you guys think? Should I make this part of the Liam series? Don't worry, another genius Isaac story will be soon.

Please read and review!