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Another yawn escapes Theo while he wipes down the counter one last time.
His bar tending shift at the Sinema ended twenty minutes ago but since he is the only staff who stays this late - Everybody knows that he needs the money - cleaning the bar was added to his tasks.
Just when he had collected his stuff and started digging for the keychain in his bag to finally lock up and drive home for a well deserved ten hour nap, Theo’s phone ringed.
It still has the ridiculous song Liam liked so much as a ringtone, the beta insisted on putting it as his personal tone because “that way you always know that it’s me Theo, isn’t that great?”
His answer “Yeah, this way I know not to take the call” had brought him another bloody nose, but it was worth it. Besides his words he actually liked the thought of Liam having a special ringtone just as he had a special place in Theo’s heart...
Where the hell does this come from? I really need to sleep.
“Hello? Liam?” Theo finally answers the call.
“No, it’s me, Mason”, a voice whispers at the other end of the line, “Theo, you need to come and help me.”
The Chimera nearly missed half of the sentence because even though he has supernatural hearing, the loud, enthusiastic (and very off-key) singing in the background is hard to tune out.
“Mason? What happened? Where is Liam?”
Mason laughs and it sounds borderline hysterical “No, Liam is fine, don’t worry”- the singing is getting louder and Theo can identify the song as “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”. Barely. What the hell?
“What the hell happened?” He repeats, a growl barely concealed.
You leave those two idiots alone one night, ONE NIGHT and they manage to get a werewolf blackout drunk?!
The hysterical laughter is back, apparently Mason isn’t 100 percent sober himself.
“We just wanted to try this new vodka my dad bought and then it sort of turned into a drinking game? And maybe the wolfsbane was a teeny tiny bit too strong?”
“Where are you Mason?”
“At my house. Thank you Theo.” The relive is clear in Mason’s voice, then:
“LIAM! COME BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE SHIT!”
Theo winces, before he hangs up and makes a dash to his car. Sounds like he can’t drive fast enough...
~♤~
The truck comes to an abrupt stop in front of the Hewitt’s house and Theo hasn’t even closed the door when he hears yelling again.
He barely has time to turn around and prepare himself before he has an arm full of drunk beta.
Liam jumped and now hangs like a weird mixture of koala, wolf and baby on Theo’s body. With an ooompf the Chimera manages to prevent Liam from falling to the ground.
“Hey little wolf”, he coos slightly amused by the whole situation, “what is the matter?”
“Missed you”, is the mumbled answer before Liam buries his face even deeper into Theo’s chest. The boy does his best to ignore the warm flutter that is the reaction of his body and turns towards Mason, who just comes to a stop next the pair.
“I am sorry?”, the human says meekly, posture shrinking under Theo’s eyes.
“I am too tired to really want to know what exactly you two did tonight. Go to sleep, I bet your hangover in the morning will be punishment enough for whatever this is.”
With that Theo turns back to his truck, Liam still cradled in his arms “Come on, Li, let’s get you to your bed...”
It turns out that Liam, even drunk of his ass and on wolfsbane is still the strongest beta Theo has ever seen, because he stubbornly lodges his arms and legs even tighter around Theo’s body, unwilling to let go.
“No”, He mumbles, “wanna stay here, it’s warm.”
The warm feeling in Theo’s body intensifies but he just chuckles and leans forward so Liam falls backwards and lands like a helpless turtle on the passenger seat.
The car ride itself is fairly quiet, to Theo’s surprise as he expected Liam to be even more communicative when drunk, given how much the beta talked on a daily basis.
But Liam stayed calm, if you ignored the constant humming of “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”, a song that Theo was sure he would have stuck in his head for several days now. Thanks, Liam.
As soon as they arrived at the Geyer's residence, however, he seemed to get new energy. The process of parking a car is not as easy as it sounds when you have a giggling and very cuddly boy over your lap.
If you asked Theo how he managed to get himself and Liam into the house, up the stairs and into Liam’s bedroom – everything without waking up Jenna and David, he wouldn’t know it.
(But it was a very welcome miracle as a tired Jenna was nothing he wanted to experience, ever.)
The moment he kicks the door closed and manages to manoeuvre Liam on his bed, whatever spell kept Liam fairly quiet is broken and the blonde werewolf starts giggling uncontrollably while Theo tries to get at least his shoes and jeans of.
“Theo, I may be in love with you, but I am not that easy! You have to go out with me on a rende- rondez- on a date! before I let you see me naked. “
Theo freezes, his hands still at Liam’s belt. “What?” Liam blinks up to him innocently and if the situation was any different Theo would have some very unholy thoughts at the sight of blue eyes shining through long lashes, but Liam’s words hit him unprepared.
“Liam, what did you just say?”
“You have to take me on a date?” if it weren’t so painfully obvious that Liam is drunk, Theo would have questioned if the beta played with him, but one look is enough to make it clear just how out of it he is – blue eyes glazed over, cheeks flushed and uncoordinated hands that try and open the buttons on his shirt (not that there were any).
Theo sighs and gets up from Liam’s bed.
“How about you take your pants of on your own then, while I get you some water and aspirin?”
“No leaving!” the iron grip around his arm is back. But seconds later Liam lets go again to point out a particularly fascinating spot on his ceiling.
It really has to be an amazing spot because when Theo returns five minutes later with a glass of water and some pills, Liam is still babbling on about how it looks ‘like a heart, Theo! Just like a heart!’
Once again Theo is surprised by drunk Liam and how easy it is to get him to take the painkillers and drink the whole glass of water. Maybe he is finally getting tired because when Theo returns to freeing Liam from his jeans the beta does not complain anymore, he just starts to mumble again and even if most of it seems to not make any sense Theo can single out his name and ‘pretty green’ as well as ‘stupid hot' and he can’t help but blush.
After carefully hanging Liam’s jeans over his chair (not that it would make a difference in the chaotic room) and plugging his phone in (yes, he can be considerate. Yes, he will still make fun of the beta’s hangover tomorrow.) Theo turns back to check on Liam one last time.
He pulls up the blanket a bit more and just when he starts to turn around, Liam’s hand grabs his again, soft, nearly hesitating.
“Stay?” it is just one word this time, still slightly slurred, but it brings the warmth in Theo’s belly to light up again.
“I will always stay with you, Liam”, he whispers back and even if the beta can’t understand it, this is a promise that covers so much more than just this one night.
~♤~
The first thing Theo notices when his mind slowly glides back to consciousness is the warmth.
Theo is always cold, not that he is freezing but the air around him always seems to be a few degrees colder than for everyone else.
But now it is as if he is wearing a particularly comfy sweater, as if he drank a whole cup of hot tea, as if he is lying next to a fire.
In that moment he feels the heavy, warm arm slung around his waist.
Liam...
The memories from last night come flooding back.
He said he loves me.
Thankfully Liam seems to sense that Theo’s brain is starting to overreact - before the Chimera can move another muscle his arm tightens and curls on Theo’s stomach.
“Theo? What is wrong?” Liam’s voice is still rough from sleep and his words are tired but real worry swings in the betas tone.
“Nothing.” Theo brushes it of. “Can you let me up? I need to go to the bathroom.”
But Liam won’t budge. “Nope. First you tell me what has your heart beating like you just ran a goddamn marathon.”
Theo’s mind races, he is always in control, why not now? Stupid heart.
(But he really should have expected it. The organ betrayed him like he betrayed his sister.)
Then Liam speaks again and this time his voice is small and as scared as Theo feels.
“Is it because of what I said last night?”
“You remember that? I could have bet all the wolfsbane you and Mason mixed into the vodka was enough to permanently erase your whole short term memory...”
Liam scoffs: “Werewolf, remember? I remember every word. And I am sorry.”
I knew it.
(Stupid heart, always hoping.)
“Not that I said it. Because it’s true. I do love you, Theo. But I wanted it to be different when I first told you.”
Theo’s brain stops listening at I love you.
After that everything is a blur, turning around and wrapping his arms around Liam is one fluent movement. The Chimera buries his face on the beta’s warm shoulder. He feels a careful pat on his back and Liam laughs softly.
“So I take it that you are not running is a good thing?” Theo nods.
“And... could you, maybe, imagine yourself to return my feelings?” Another nod.
“Care to say that to my face?” This time Theo lifts his head and when he turns to look at Liam, his eyes are glistering with unshed tears.
He leans in and their lips meet for the first time. The kiss is soft, hesitant and nearly fragile, but both boys lay all their feelings in this simple gesture.
Words are unnecessary after all.