Animals

47.

LIAM'S POV:

I was seated on one of the bar stools in front of the counter in the McCall's kitchen while Mrs. McCall stood in front of the stove cooking breakfast for Callie and I, even thought Callie hadn't made an appearance this morning yet. In fact, I wouldn't have known she was even here if I hadn't have caught her scent when I walked out of the guest bedroom and into the hallway this morning. I put my elbows on the counter in front of me, closed my eyes, and began to try to focus on listening to Callie, "Liam is here too," I heard her say. Scott and Stiles left twenty minutes ago so she must be on the phone with someone, "Yeah, I'll see if he wants to," her voice trailed off as I began to focus more on her heartbeat, it was at a calm rate. I listened to it beat its even pace until it began to pick up just enough for me to notice. I opened my eyes and glanced behind me towards the ending of the staircase and I met her brown eyes. She gave me a smile as she walked towards the empty stool beside me, "Morning Liam... Morning Melissa." Mrs. McCall turned around and smiled at her then went back to cooking the eggs.

I cleared my throat and she looked over at me, "How are you feeling?" I asked her as I looked down at my hands.

"Good, all healed and healthy again," she smiled at me and then looked down at her chest where the mark Garrett had given her was just the day before, "I see you're healed too," she let out a small laugh and then pulled out her phone.

"How did you get your phone back after Garrett took us?" I raised my eyebrow at her when she didn't look away from the small screen and kept her thumbs tapping against it.

"I put mine in my locker before I met you guys for the run," she said, "Scott or Stiles got it for me last night, I guess." she glanced over at me, "Lydia wanted to hang out today."

I gave her a confused look, "Shouldn't Lydia be at school with the rest of the juniors?"

"See that's what I thought," she pointed a finger at me, "But she said that she took that test her freshman year." I nodded my head at her, "We could go to Lydia's lake house. That way she can lay out or do whatever she wants, and we could swim or hike,"

"Sounds good to me," I grinned at her when her eyes came back to mine.

Her smile grew wider at my words, "Okay! I'm going to go call Lydia!" she jumped from the stool and pecked my cheek before she skipped towards the stairs to go call Lydia. I watched her walk until her body was no longer in view.

I looked away from where she had walked when I heard Mrs. McCall placing a plate in front of me. I turned to face her and I noticed that she was grinning at me, "What?" I asked her.

"You like her, don't you?" I felt my cheeks become warm as she leaned against the counter in front of me and set a fork down next to the plate, "You don't have to lie because I can see it. She likes you too, honey." she smiled and then motioned towards the food on the plate, "Eat up, you'll need it if you two swim and hike today,"

"Uh, yeah.." I stuttered a little, "Thank you, Mrs. McCall," I said and then took a bite of the eggs.

"Of course, sweetheart." she smiled, "I have to get to work, tell Callie bye for me," she walked pas me while grabbing her jacket, "Oh and Liam," I looked over at her, "Call me Melissa," I nodded my head and she slipped out the door.

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CALLIE'S POV:

"Why can't we stay right here on the patio? Why do we need to go all the way down to the water?" Lydia complained from behind Liam and I as we walked from the lake house down to the lake, "Callie, you said tanning and relaxing," I glanced back at her to the look on her face.

"Sorry Lydia, I guess it's just the werewolf in me," I watched as she rolled her eyes at me and I turned back to Liam, "Maybe we should've picked the short way down to the lake. I didn't know she would complain this much."

He let out a chuckle, "Once we get past these trees the lake should be right there," he said, "I remember from my first full moon because the boat house is right..." he paused as he helped me push past some trees, "There," he held out his hand to show me that he did know what he was doing.

I smiled at him, remember his first full moon, but then remembered Lydia behind us, "Lydia, come on... You can lay out now."

"Why didn't we just walk down the actual path from my patio to get here?" she held her arms out as she pointed to the stone path. Liam and I shared an eye roll as we continued to walk.

****

I pulled my tank top off and my jean shorts followed, leaving me in the bikini that Lydia had let me borrow for the day. I threw my clothing on the ground beside Lydia, who was laying out on a towel. I took one more look at her with her big sunglass and then walked past her. I also casually walked past Liam with his staring blue eyes, and continued to my way towards the lake. I stood at the edge of some rocks as I looked down at the blue water, "Liam, are you going to-" I began to say when a pair of hands wrapped around my waist and then I felt the cold water hitting my skin. When I finally came back above the water, I screeched, "Liam!" and splashed him in the face with some water.

He let out a loud laugh, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it." he floated away from me as I continued to splash him and attempt to stay above the water. I quit splashing and just glared at him, "You're cute when you're mad." he smirked at me.

I couldn't help but let a small grin creep onto my face at his words, "Oh am I?" I questioned as I kicked myself back towards the rocks I had originally been standing on, "Am I still cute?" I asked him, he nodded his head at he watched me. I slowly got out of the water and grabbed his towel that he left near the edge, and I wrapped it around me, "What about now?" I grinned.

"I thought you were much cuter when you were in the water with me," he said quietly as he stared at me.

"Hmm..." I hummed, "I don't know about that, Dunbar." I smirked at him from the rocks.

He grinned, "What do you think of me?" he began to slowly swim over towards me. I gave him a confused look so he went on, "I always tell you what I think about you," he said. I shrugged my shoulders as he lifted himself up out of the water so he could stand in front of me. I stared down at his bare chest as the water droplets glistened, "Tell me what you think of me." I opened my mouth but closed it again as I tried to think of the words to say, "Anything, Cal."

I blinked and looked up at him, "Okay," I nodded my head then took a step towards him, brought myself up onto my toes, placed my arms around his neck, and then, after taking a deep and nervous breath, I pressed my lips to his. His hands automatically went to my lower back as he kissed me back. For a split second I wanted to stop the kiss because Stiles popped into my head, but my emotions pushed him out of my head. I wanted to be kissing Liam, I wanted to move on and to be happy, like Stiles is with Malia. I pulled Liam closer to me so I could deepen the kiss with him.

As we continued to kiss, I heard Lydia sigh and then muttered to herself, "Finally,"

Finally is right.