Liam woke up an hour later. 12:18 to be exact. Theo was on his phone in the dark room and Liam almost didn't want to even move because of how nice it felt to have Theo in his arms. He could pretend he was still asleep, right? Until he saw who Theo was texting. Josh. Apparently that was the allusive stranger's name. Sounds sketchy. Who the hell comes up with a fake name like that? Theo. Well... for safety reasons. This Josh Diaz wasn't well-known. At least not enough that Liam would instantly recognize him. And apparently neither did Theo. They'd hooked up several times and Theo didn't even recognize his voice.
Liam turned a little bit to make sure Theo knew he was awake, but not enough that he should feel like he woke him.
"Hey, did I wake you up? I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep."
"No. It's ok. I just- I don't know."
"Do I need to get off the phone so you can sleep?"
Yes. "No. It's ok."
"Liam you are a shit liar. Has anyone ever told you that?" Theo said as he finished his text then sat his phone down.
"Some say that's a good quality in a person" Liam said as he rolled away from Theo, feeling a little bitter and moody.
"Hey. I'm sorry. I was just messing with you..." Theo scooted down in his bed so that he was actually laying down and rolled on his side facing Liam's back.
Liam didn't reply though. He didn't do anything to signal that Theo was forgiven.
"Liam. What's wrong?"
"Nothing..." he whispered. "I'm just tired..."
Theo wrapped an arm around Liam's waist and Liam tensed, but he couldn't make himself be mad at the contact. After all, Theo was entitled to a personal life and he didn't know Liam's feelings... so... all Liam could do was lean into the touch. It hurt him as much as he got pleasure from it. It was worth it. He knew they'd slept cuddled into each other. It shouldn't feel like it does. It was different now, though. He was aware of something deeper. Now there was a possibility of he and Theo, but also, there was the fact that Theo was into someone else.
It was losing Hayden all over again.
Not the actual breakup, but the initial losing of this best friend. He felt like they were drifting and he gave her space and then more until she just... stayed in space... He couldn't lose Theo like that. He wouldn't. He would just get over his crush and live his life and let Theo be happy. Even if it's with a creepy stranger.
The next morning Liam woke up to alarms, his and Theo's, one after the other. Finally, the last snooze at 8:55 in the morning, plus the fact that Theo had already been up for at least an hour, motivated him to get up. He was supposed to go in at ten this morning and Mason was going to pick him up from his house. Theo was going to grocery shop and then meet Josh at noon. What is it with this guy and noon? Whatever. Liam doesn't care. He decided he would go to work and not deal with it. Take up Stiles's philosophy and just... ignore the problem until it eventually goes away.
That was the plan anyway.
However...
Liam didn't take into account that they would be meeting at their regular spot...
Liam's job...
Liam could feel his heartbeat in his throat. He seen Josh. Actually met him. Why on EARTH would Theo want to introduce them? Josh was paying Theo for sex. He didn't need to know Theo's friends. Unless...
Liam's breath hitched and he felt his face heat up. Everything had already seemed to be going in slow motion, but this... he felt like time was standing so still, it was on the verge of reversing. If that was the case, he hoped so. He wished Theo had never been introduced to Josh. He doesn't even want to know Theo at this point. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. He felt like he was going to die.
"Man he can really make you work for it" a familiar voice rang in his ears, somewhat bringing him back down to earth. Grounding him.
"What?" Liam turned to the voice. Brett. Of course.
"You've been standing up for him and his frivolous actions and he chooses money" Brett said trying sympathy.
"That's not- He's just- You don't know anything!" Liam's face heating with anger now at Brett.
"I knew. I knew you two had something going on. I don't know why you wanted to hide it so bad, but" he nodded in gesture towards the direction Theo and Josh walked. "Now it all makes sense. He wanted to keep you a secret in case something better came along. Just like he did with me."
"YOU'RE CRAZY! You don't know ANYTHING!" Liam spat out with venom. Brett abused Theo and now Liam knew the whole story.
"Let me guess. He told you why I was in prison? And you believe him" Brett deadpanned.
"Registered sex offenders are public domain."
"You can catch a charge like that for pissing on the sidewalk and the wrong person walks by" Brett
squinted his eyes at Liam trying to make sure he got his point across. "It's not likely he told you the whole story."
"I don't need your version."
"So you'll just accept his side regardless because you have a little crush on him? That's hardly fair."
Liam rolled his eyes. He had a point, but he didn't want to admit that he did blindly trust Theo regardless. "Fine. Tell me your side. It won't change anything."
"Look. I'm not a bad guy. I just want a fair chance to show you that."
Liam huffed, thought about it for a second and decided, what has he got to lose by listening to Brett? Other than his sanity.
"Thank you. Now. Me and Theo met when I was like sixteen? Seventeen? Maybe even younger. I pursued him. Obviously. He was an adult and I was still in school. He was... just... the most beautiful person I'd ever met" Brett looked almost nostalgic. He really felt that way thinking about Theo.
"Our relationship was hard, being that he was twenty and I was a high school kid. I knew he had a secret identity. I knew it was because of his sister-"
"What do you mean, 'his sister?"
"Well. His sister died when they were kids. Theo got blamed for it even though he was like... eight? Kids were mean because their parents talked. It was hard on Theo and his family. The rumors. It was so bad they moved. Theo moved back though. His parents pretty much had nothing to do with him after Tara died. Almost like they blamed him too, just not outright."
Tara. Liam realized that he'd never been told about Theo's sister. Brett knew. Theo trusted Brett with this intimate detail... but not Liam... Maybe Liam wasn't as close to Theo as he'd hoped he was. He felt dizzy after that.
"Whoa. Are you ok? Sit here" Brett said as he pulled Liam toward a chair in the lobby.
"I'm fine... It's just..."
"He never told you about Tara."
"No."
"Well it's not exactly dinner conversation. It screwed him up. She was his best friend. He lost her and then essentially, his parents."
Liam looked at Brett and then down at the ground. Brett took this as a notion to continue.
"When Theo came back to Beacon Hills, he tried to get any job he could. People just weren't lining up to hire a high school dropout. Then some people heard his name and remembered that he was 'the boy that killed his sister' and that didn't help either. Peter and Derek were the only ones that took him in. Apparently he stayed with friends at first but- I don't really know who they were."
Scott and Stiles. He never met them?
"Anyway. He was working at the bar when we met. Satomi, my adopted mom, took us in there for one of our birthdays. The bar was more of a restaurant with a bar at the time. Peter tries to
constantly make changes and Derek shuts it down. At least that was what Theo told me" Brett said, still with the nostalgia. Maybe Brett did really care about Theo once.
"From the first time I saw him, I knew he was the love of my life. I knew I would do anything to protect him-"
"Except you didn't. You hurt him."
"You think he didn't hurt me? Get your head out of his ass. Everyone goes through shit. We all hurt each other. We heal. We grow. We move on."
"Yes but it doesn't usually end up with a rape charge."
"I wasn't charged with rape!" Brett realized he was yelling but he almost didn't care. "I was charged with sexual assault. There is a difference."
"And what exactly would that be?"
"I didn't fuck him."
Liam's eyes were wide with confusion, anger, disbelief. Had he heard that correctly? He didn't make Theo have sex with him? "Excuse me?"
"I. Didn't. Fuck. Him." Brett looked at Liam with a serious look on his face.
Liam didn't buy it, however. "Then what did happen?" he asked, voice a little too sarcastic for Brett's taste.
"You know what. Your mind is already made up about me. At this point, you could have seen it, but after hearing his side, you'll only hear his side. That's what he does. It's who he is. The forever victim."
"Maybe if you didn't come across as the villain, even just your general presence, then you'd seem more credible" Liam argued.
"Alright. Fair enough."
A few moments passed before either of them spoke, Brett eventually breaking the silence.
"I did love him. It wasn't just pure hostility like I'm sure he'd like you to believe-"
"He told me you were in love. Even that you were completely different than the way that you seem to be now. Of course, that's usually why relationships end. People put on a mask."
Brett laughed at this. "True. But. Theo and I were different. He was... he wanted me to finish school when Satomi died and I moved in with him. In retrospect, we probably shouldn't have moved so fast. Especially being so young. He just didn't want me to have issues with my family. Satomi wasn't alive to keep the peace. So, when he said I could live with him, I didn't even have to think about it. I was like- we probably will eventually so why not?"
Brett seemed sad talking about Satomi. Like it was a fresh wound. Liam couldn't imagine losing his parents. They did everything for him. They were extremely close and Liam didn't like to even think about it. He'd almost hoped to die before having to lose his parents, just so he didn't have to deal with the loss. Selfish as it is.
"Things happened when we lived together. He switched from bartending to stripping, which was
kind of disrespectful to me, because he didn't even discuss it with me. He just expected me to be ok with it. Then his hours changed. He had told me not to worry about getting a job to help, but he worked all the time and... you gotta understand how hard that was for me. I felt like a burden. Here I am just moving in this guys house because my mom died and he's now having to support me, but he won't let me work, but he's never home, but I'm expected to be home and have a schedule, but he can't do the same?"
"What do you mean?"
"Theo didn't want me to go places or do things with my friends. He wanted me to be a recluse. I was allowed to do lacrosse, but he wanted me to get a scholarship to a good college. Academic or athletic. He said without it, I wouldn't be able to go... then he sends me to prison... so whatever" Brett shook his head with a sarcastic laugh.
"Just get to the point."
"That is the point. He didn't want what was best for me, and he doesn't want it for you. He is upstairs right now fucking the highest bidder... you're better off without him."
Liam felt a lump in his throat. They had been there Liam's whole shift and Brett knew it. He'd been talking to Brett just about the whole time, and the only time Theo had come down was to introduce Josh to Liam...
"My shift is over..." Liam said looking down at his phone.
"I figured as much."
"I don't have a ride home. My friends seem to be... preoccupied..." He got a text from Mason asking if he could get Theo to bring him home tonight.
"Well. I'm not doing anything. I can take you... Unless of course your presumptions are going to keep you from being alone in a car with me" Brett said with an over the top expression that can only be described as 'clutching his pearls, oh my word, how scandalous'. It actually made Liam laugh. After all. Brett never really did do anything to Liam. It was just his weird ass overly assertive personality.
"Thanks."
"Cool. Let me grab my keys."
Liam saw a completely different side of Brett. Maybe he just didn't know because of Theo. Maybe he was being a bit presumptuous. He knew Theo first, so he maybe let that shape his opinion.
"Ready?"
Liam nodded and out the door they went.