Alone • Liam Dunbar

Twenty

A thin cloud of steam pours out of the bathroom behind me as I exit, and the scent of Melissa's vanilla soap and mint ointment lingers on my wounded skin. It was a difficult process, but I had cleaned and wrapped my injuries as she instructed and downed a fair amount of painkillers. Hopefully, in a week or two, the scratches would scab over and I wouldn't have to be bothered with tending to them so meticulously.

I shuffle toward the living room, following the sound of voices. When I round the corner of the hallway, Liam is the first one to notice me as Scott and Stiles continue to talk. He wears a soft smile on his lips and seems calmer, and cleaner. Scott had lent him some of his old clothes, presumably from his pre-bite age, because they weren't baggy on Liam's smaller frame. 

Scott was second to pick up on my presence. He sits on one of the plush armchairs beside the couch that Liam and Stiles were on. He twists in his seat to face me, his nose lifted in the air as he catches my scent. I move to sit on the armrest of his chair, making Scott grin as I choose to be close to him of my own volition. Stiles gives the two of us a sly, sappy look as he stacks his flimsy paper plate with pizza from one of the boxes on the coffee table.

Sometimes I wish I could give them more; be forthright with my feelings, and tell them how much they meant to me, but every time I thought I could, there was a hidden gag in my throat that triggered itself and prevented me from doing so.

"Stiles got us pizza." Scott cheerfully gestures to the food in his hands.

I chuckle as I look at the Stilinski boy, his cheeks rounded out as he stuffs them with dough and cheese. 

"I'm assuming that if I checked my wallet for my card it'd be missing, right?" I ask him, my eyes narrowed mockingly. Stiles doesn't even attempt to look guilty as he takes another bite. 

"Dude." Scott frowns at his best friend. "This is like the one time we should be paying for stuff."

Stiles shrugs as he stacks his plate greedy amount of pizza.

"She said I could use her card for food whenever I wanted," he argues dismissively, balancing his food as he stands, appearing ready to leave. 

"Scotty and I have important adult business to take care of upstairs, you two kids have fun down here though, okay?" Stiles smirked playfully at Liam and I.

I cringe at his words and reach to lazily smack the plate from his hands. Stiles' eyes widen in horror as he dodges my half-hearted swipe.

"Nice try," he snaps, cocky for no reason. 

I roll my eyes fondly and allow him to belive he actually was able to miss one of my advances. Scott trails behind him, sneakily adding another slice of cheese before going. In their absence, I rise from the side of the armchair, and move to sit on the couch with Liam in the spot Stiles had been in a second ago. 

The silence is semi-awkward as Liam and I stare at the television. My mind wasn't processing the random movie the boys had put on, too drained to function and attempt to understand the plot. Liam wasn't paying attention either, considering he kept glancing over at me every other second with a complete lack of subtlety.

When I feel him looking again, I turn to meet his gaze. 

He pretends he wasn't watching me and darts his eyes off to the side. I keep looking at him, though, waiting. He deflates a little when he realizes I wasn't going to play it off, and returns his attention back to me fully as I patiently wait for him to say whatever's on his mind. 

"I'm sorry about earlier," he says almost shamefully. "If I scared you, or made things difficult-"

"You don't scare me," I cut him off, speaking firmly.