Chapter 14:

Liam:

What the actual hell just happened? Am I still dreaming, cause it feels like a nightmare to me.

I watched him walk away until he was out the door, and I was frozen in place. He walked away. He didn't even give me a chance to explain. My hand went to my chest. Why was there pain there? Why did it suddenly feel like I couldn't breathe? What does that mean?

"Well, that was unexpected." She muttered from behind me.

My vision tinted. I was beyond angry at this point. Whirling around, I could feel the growl building in my chest. I don't know what she saw but it made her take a step back.

"Your eyes." She whispered. Closing them I shook with the effort it took to switch them back. I could feel the wolf clawing to be free. I was fighting for control, my hands balled into fist and my jaw clenched so hard that I feared it would crack at any second.

"What the hell was that?" I asked in a calmer voice then I thought I could manage. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I took a measured step towards her.

"I-I-." she stuttered her eyes still wide.

"You, what? What were you doing? What the hell were you thinking?" I said getting louder. With every step I took towards her she took one back, her eyes skittering around us as people were slowing and stopping to stare. I knew my friends were trying to push their way through the crowd to get to me, I could hear them.

"Is this a game to you?"

"No, that's-."

"It's been months. Months Hayden since I have even talked to you outside of school. Did you think the few times we went out meant more than they did? I have turned you down how many damn times?" I screamed at her, my voice getting harsher, and I could feel my claws growing.

"Liam, you have to calm down." Mason rushed up to me, whispering so only I could hear.

"W-well I ju-."

"How many times?" I repeated, louder making her squeak and cower slightly. "How thick do you have to be to not take the hint? I don't want you. Is that clear enough for you?"

"Liam, come on. you need to take a step back." Scott said grabbing my arm.

"I don't talk to you; I don't seek you out. I literally stood right here months ago and told you I was seeing someone. Did you think I was just playing hard to get? How stupid are you?" my voice was almost unrecognizable now.

"Liam, enough." Scott said. He started dragging me away. Isaac came up on my other side and grabbed my other arm. I fought against them and continued to stare daggers at Hayden who looked terrified. More words that I couldn't even comprehend falling from my mouth. I didn't care. I was done caring about her and her feelings.

I was shoved into the Chem lab, smashing against one of the tables and moving it back a few inches. The door slammed closed, and I was alone with Mason, Scott, Stiles, and Isaac; all watching me pace along the length of the room. I was completely wolfed out and I didn't even try to gain control again.

Being in a classroom gave limited options unless I wanted to tear the room apart. Not that I had disregarded that option but would rather not have to explain that afterwards. Spotting a glass beaker sitting on a nearby table I picked it up and threw it at the black board, shattering it and cracking the board.

I could hear the others calling my name, trying to get me to calm down as I looked around for something else to throw, I found nothing. I guess the room will have to do. Balling up my hand I aimed it towards the table with a scream, but it was caught, by Scott. I tried to yank away, growling but he wouldn't let go. I balled up my other hand and I wasn't sure if I was going to try again to hit the table or hit my alpha, not really a good idea in any situation, but I needed to hit something. Isaac grabbed my other hand and between the two of them they had me pinned against a wall.

"Let go." I growled, trying to yank away from them. It was futile. I wanted to find her and yell at her some more or find Theo and explain to him. I wanted to scream or cry or something. Anything to not feel like everything was collapsing around me. He walked away…

"Okay, this isn't working. We have to get him out of here. Is the hall clear?" Scott grunted. I heard the door creak open.

"I don't want to go outside." I growled.

"But you are." He said.

"Uh one sec. Let me just get the girls to… terrorize Hayden somewhere else." Stiles said. I snarled just hearing her name. I could hear voices in the hall.

"I don't know what the hell-." Allison's snarl met my ears.

"Ladies, I think we need to clear this hall. right now." Stiles said.

"Let's go." Malia growled. Then I hear a squeak and footsteps fading.

"We're clear." Stiles said.

Something dropped over my head, and I was practically picked up between the two of them and carried out of the room with someone's hand over my mouth to stifle me.

"If he bites me, I'm going to be pissed." Isaac said.

"Let's just hurry up before he draws more attention." Scott said. "Stiles, Mason, you guys stay here and cover."

"And try to keep the girls from killing Hayden." Isaac added.

"Got it." Mason said.

"Give us the hard task." Stiles sighed.

It took only a few minutes for us to get outside. I was dropped unceremoniously on the ground and my head uncovered. I looked up, my claws digging into the dirt.

"Go Liam, run." Scott said in a thundering voice, eyes glowing red.

I launched myself into the woods, running. I didn't pay attention to where I was going. I didn't avoid branches I broke through them. I bulldozed through the trees feeling like I needed to do something. Something violent. Blood lust was still clouding my mind when I stopped in the clearing, not sure of what to do or where to go from there. I turned when I heard Isaac and Scott burst through as well. He took one look at me, seeing I was no better. Taking off his shirt he tossed it to Isaac.

"Don't interfere unless he goes for the kill. Got it?" he told Isaac. Isaac looked between the two of us and nodded, stepping back.

I was too far gone in rage to understand what he was doing.

"Let's go Liam." He said crouching in a defensive pose.

"What?" I jerked my head back.

'You're too aggressive right now. You can't go back there like this. You need to get it out of your system. Let's go." He said beckoning me. I shook my head taking a step back.

He wanted me to fight it out. That didn't sound like it would end well for either of us. I can't fight him. I didn't want to hurt him, and I really didn't want him to hurt me. He says I'm strong but he's a freaking alpha. If he went true alpha on me he could snap me like a twig.

Scott, seeing that I wouldn't attack him, shifted, and let out a roar, like a battle cry. Something about it forced my moves, with a growl I sprang into action. Claws out, I attacked. But I didn't make contact. He blocked me, shoving me to the side. That's pretty much how it went. I would swing or swipe at him and he would block. I made contact once, with my fist and he threw me into a rock. No real damage was done, to either of us. He did get an accidental swipe in, leaving claw marks on my shirt, very little blood at least. After however long, I really couldn't say, I stopped, feeling less violent and more tired, though I was still plenty angry. Shifting back, I dropped to the ground, panting.

"Better?" Scott asked sitting down next to me. I could feel the sting in my eyes.

"No." I answered hearing the crack in my voice. "Not really."

"But do you feel less like you want to tear something apart?" Isaac asked sitting in front of me.

"Maybe." I sighed sitting up.

"Well, that's a start. Want to tell us what happened?" Scott asked.

"I don't even know what happened. But I didn't go out with her, not willingly."

"Okay, so what did happen?" Isaac asked.

I explained about my mother asking for a dinner date for just the two of us to celebrate my birthday. But that had turned out to be a set up and how Hayden and her mom showed up. I told them about calling my mother out on it and how that started another fight between her and my dad. Then I just vented to them about how I was over it all and that I was tired of hoping my mother would just accept it and move on.

"damn, that's rough." Isaac said.

"And now she has Theo thinking that I cheated, and I didn't. I should have just called him last night and told him what happened. But I didn't want to think about it anymore then. I was going to tell him today and then Hayden showed up and ruined everything."

"No, I don't think so. Theo's hurt and he's probably mad but this is fixable."

"I don't know. I don't want to lose him but how much more can he take. With all the hiding and secrecy and then this."

"Liam don't let this deter you from being with him. For right now, give him a bit of space. Try talking to him later and explain what happened. Once he knows the truth he'll understand. But don't make any decisions on being together on your own or because of this situation."

"Maybe." I shrugged.

"At least think about it." he sighed. I nodded.

"Come on lets head back. I'm sure the others are worried." He said, rubbing at some dried blood on his lip.

"I'm sorry about that." I said pointing.

"Don't be. You did exactly what I wanted you to do. Sometimes you just need to fight it out. I'll be fine."

"Lydia may be pissed." Isaac snickered. I must have looked panicked because Isaac fell over laughing.

"She's gonna skin me alive." I groaned.

"I promise, I won't let her hurt you." Scott snickered getting up. He offered me a hand and pulled me up then looked me over.

"Tell me you have another shirt?"

I looked down at my ruined shirt and sighed.

"Yeah, in my bag, in my locker." I said.

"We should go get that before anyone sees you." Isaac said.

The slow jog back to the school helped me to clear my head some more. I tried to think of ways to get Theo to talk to me and what to say. How to explain. All I could picture was his despondent face when Hayden hinted that last night was a date. Why didn't he ask me or hear me when I said it wasn't? questions to ask later I suppose. If I get the chance. If I want the chance. Maybe its better this way. I cant keep putting him through all this.

Right at the entrance we stopped and all we could do was stare.

"Does she have an actual death wish or something?" Isaac asked in awe as Hayden walked hesitantly towards us.

"She might." Scott muttered back.

"What now?" I asked her, crossing my arms.

"Can we talk, alone."

"Do you really think I would go anywhere alone with you?" I asked. "No. They are here to keep me from doing something stupid today. Say what you have to say because I'm done with this and you."

She nodded blowing out an exaggerated breath.

"Look, I didn't mean for that to happen."

"You didn't mean for what to happen?"

"I was just joking around. I didn't actually say we went on a date."

"But you implied it. By not saying no it wasn't, you planted that seed that it was a date, and it wasn't."

"But I didn't think he would get so mad about it."

I raised a brow at her, and I could hear Isaac snort behind me.

"Okay, so maybe I thought he might get a bit annoyed or something. Maybe it would start an argument or something. But I didn't think he would walk away. And I didn't think you would get that mad about it. I was just kidding around." She crossed her own arms, self-consciously.

"Kidding around? How was that supposed to be funny?"

"Well, I mean. You guys are dating, right? Does he really think you would cheat on him? Do you guys have trust issues or something?" she snapped, defensively.

"She really DOES have a death wish." Isaac whispered.

"Wait, who told you we were dating?" I asked her.

"You're mom told me the other day."

"My mother, told you I was dating Theo?"

She nodded.

"When?"

"Earlier this week. Before we planned the dinner."

"Before you-." I huffed, running my fingers through my hair. "Why would she tell you that?"

"I-."

"No, I mean why would she tell you of all people. Why would you and her ever be talking. And don't give me the bull of her being friends with your mom. Because that wouldn't explain why she was talking to you about me."

"Well, I mean-." She stuttered seeing the anger on my face. The doors opened and the rest of the gang came out. "She kind of told me that the reason you didn't ask me out again after our date in January was because of him. She said that you were just really nervous around girls and that he was taking advantage of that." She explained.

I blinked at her.

"And you believed her?" I asked incredulously.

"It made sense." She shrugged.

"How did THAT make sense?" I yelled.

"well what other reason would you have for not asking me out again?" She huffed.

"You do realize that, besides homecoming, January was the one and only time I actually asked you out right? And did you ever think that the reason that I never asked you out again is because I didn't like you in that way? It had nothing to do with Theo. We weren't even friends then."

"I… but once you started hanging out with him you started ignoring me." she said, confused.

"We have class together; we are lab partners so no I did not ignore you. What I did was try to not hurt your feelings and still tell you that I wasn't interested in dating you. But you apparently can't take a damn hint. It was only after you kept trying, even after I told you I was seeing someone, that I started trying to stay away from you."

"Well, I mean…"

"What all did my mother tell you?" I said, cutting her off.

"Right after you guys got back from your trip, your mom came over, and her and my mom were talking. I was eavesdropping but couldn't hear everything. But I heard her say it was this Theo's fault and he was turning you or something. I didn't understand what she meant until Tuesday when she came over. She and mom explained how they had a plan to get us together and that's when we planned the dinner. The goal was for us to start talking and then they planned to disappear for a while to give us privacy once we started hitting it off again. But things didn't turn out how they hoped. You wouldn't talk or relax so they stuck around." She said, nervously.

"And today? What was that about?"

"I told you, I -."

"The truth, Hayden. What did you think you were doing in there?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to go that far. At first I was just going to tell him that our mothers decided to get us together."

"But…" I said.

"But then I remembered what your mom said, and I thought that if it weren't for him then we would at least have a chance. I just wanted…" She said, trailing off. I could feel the explosion impending.

"We just got him calmed down." Isaac groaned.

"So, let me get this straight. Because of something you overheard my mother say in a conversation that she was having with your mother, which never should have happened in the first place, you decided that since I didn't want you that he was to blame. Which made you decide to ruin things by scaring him off, just so you would have a chance?"

"Yeah." She nodded, though this time more warily.

"Do you even hear how pathetic that sounds?"

"it's not pathetic. You didn't even really give us a shot. It's like you decided I wasn't worth your time or something."

"And this was your solution?" I shouted back at her.

"I was still mad about last night." She took a couple more steps away from me.

Growling, I felt my eyes flash and stopped myself from taking a step closer to her.

"Listen to me carefully because I will not repeat myself again." I said slowly. Her eyes widened.

"All the games, the flirting, the trying to get my attention stops now. Unless we have to communicate in class, you will stay away from me and Theo. Understand?" I waited for her nod before continuing. "You better pray to every God you know that I am able to fix yours and my mothers screw up. If not…" I swallowed down a growl. I had to turn away from her to try to gain control. I knew my eyes had already switched again and my senses heightened. I could hear her pounding heart and rapid breathing behind me.

"You should go now." Scott told her and I heard her rush into the building.

"I guess we are going back to the woods." Isaac sighed.

My breaths were coming out in rasps as anger rolled through me.

"Liam, don't." Scott said. I probably should heed his warning, but I slipped from his and Isaac's grasp and ran to my car, pulling my keys out of my pocket.

"Liam, wait." Mason called.

My hands trembled as I started it and peeled out of the parking lot. I took all the side streets, blowing through a few stop signs as I went. I would feel bad for it later and I would kick myself for it but right now I wasn't thinking clearly enough to care. I did take care to park carefully in front of the house before storming up the stairs and slamming the door open. My dad who was in the living room got up in a hurry.

"Liam, what are you doing here? What happened to your shirt?" he asked.

"Where's mom?" I asked, shaking. He didn't answer seeming surprised at my anger.

"Mom." I shouted, walking from room to room before heading back to the entry way and seeing her come down the stairs.

"Liam, what are you doing at home? Are you hurt?" she asked.

"Congratulations mom. You finally got what you wanted." I said again calmer then I thought I would be.

"What are you talking about? What's going on?"

"You didn't want me dating Theo? Well thanks to you and Hayden I'm not anymore."

"Wait, what? What happened?" dad asked.

"Oh yeah. Hayden told me all about the plan to get us together and get Theo out of the picture. How she, Hayden and her mom planned that damn dinner to get me and Hayden in the same place and then leave us to have dinner alone." my voice rose with every word until I was yelling.

"Liam-."

"But not before you coached her, right? Not until you told her that I was nervous around girls and that Theo was taking advantage of me like I'm that damn gullible. Oh and of course not until after you outed me to her mother."

"You what?" my dad growled. Movement at the front door made me glance over to see Scott and Stiles there.

"I-I- I didn't know it was a secret. You told us, I thought that maybe everyone else already knew." She stammered staring at me.

"So that makes it okay? Me telling you makes it okay to discuss it with other people. People I don't even know."

"Liam, I'm sorry. I just… you can choose to date a girl. It would be so much easier if you did."

"Easier for who mom, you?" I asked. Her mouth opened and nothing came out. "Yeah I can choose, and I did. I chose Theo. It was my choice to make. He's who I want not Hayden." I snapped trying to quell the urge to shift.

"I just don't think that you really understand what that would mean for the rest of your life. I don't think you truly know what you want." She said.

"And you do?" I screamed making her jump.

"Liam, calm down." My dad said.

"Why should I? she doesn't want me calm. She's been waiting for me to explode since last year. Why else would she constantly hound me about my medication while simultaneously hounding me about a girl I have repeatedly told her I had no interest in? She's been so worried about me having another episode, but she keeps pushing and pushing." I said, ripping at my hair.

Looking around, I saw my mother's fear and my dad's trepidation as they stared at me. I saw Scott and Stiles watching me, not in fear but in sympathy. Taking a minute, I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"You know, I have tried to be patient and to stay calm about all of this. I have spent months since what happened at Devenford trying to get you to see that I changed, that I am not him anymore. Theo has been telling me to give you the benefit of the doubt about us. My friends have been saying to give you time to come to terms with it. But I am so over this." I sighed, resigned.

"I'm tired. I'm tired of people telling me to calm down. I'm tired of people thinking they can tell me my own mind and how I feel. I know how I feel. I know who I am, and I know who and what I want. I'm tired of feeling like I'm lesser or a disappointment to you because I'm not who you thought I would or should be."

"No, honey. That's not true."

"Save it. I'm done caring. I don't care if you accept me anymore. I don't care if you continue to walk on eggshells around me for the rest of my life. I just don't care. But you can't keep playing with my life like it's a game of chess." I told her. She had tears in her eyes, but I was too hurt and drained to really care. "I'm done. I'm so done."

I pushed past Stiles and Scott, ignoring my name being called by multiple people.