Imperfect Perfection; Liam Dunbar

11. Old Habits Die Hard

CHAPTER ELEVEN
OLD HABITS DIE HARD

"So what are we going to do with her now?" Stiles asked before he started driving.

"We're taking her with us." Liam told him, as though it should have been obvious. "And then you're going to stop being a dick to her so she doesn't run off the face of the earth again."

"Can't I be a little bit of a dick?" Stiles asked, but didn't get a reply from either werewolf; the beta glaring at him, eyes flickering golden; and the alpha looking disappointed. "Fine. I'll be on my best behaviour."

Liam nodded in acceptance and Stiles drove them back to Scott's house, which was thankfully empty, and they lay the chimera on the couch to wait for her to wake up and explain what happened at the diner.

"So... be honest with us, now." Stiles told Liam, averting his attention from the chimera that he was watching intently as though he could wake her up with his force of mind. "I'm curious about something."

"What?" Liam asked.

"Do you like Thea?" Stiles asked seriously.

"You know I do. Me and Corey are pretty much the only people who do." Liam said exasperatedly, dismissing the fluttering in his stomach when he thought about what he felt for the chimera.

"You know what I mean." Stiles muttered. "You can't function normally anymore if she's not around, not that you really did before but that's not the point. Plus you didn't deny it when that woman from the diner called her your girlfriend."

Liam looked over at Scott with betrayal, knowing the alpha must have been listening to what was happening inside the diner whilst they waited for Liam to come outside.

"Sorry." Scott shrugged sheepishly. "We were getting worried when you were taking so long."

"Are you attracted to her? It's not a hard question to answer." Stiles asked him.

"She's my friend... well, she will be my friend when you stop scaring her off and I stop embarrassing myself." Liam said, feeling his face flush uncomfortably.

"Okay." Stiles relented his questions just in time for Thea to gasp awake with a sharp, painful sounding breath as her hand flew to her chest, covering her heart, and her eyes closed.

"It's okay." She mumbled tiredly. "You don't have to stop."

"Thea, you doing okay?" Scott asked and the chimera stiffened, fear subsiding as she put her mask of control back up and opened her eyes.

"I'm fine." Thea said dismissively. "Just thought I was somewhere else for a second."

That statement was like a red flag in Liam's mind, he'd heard Thea say that before when the two of them had been in the hospital on the run from the Ghost Rider's. Thea had frozen in the middle of the corridor and Liam had found her and not know what to do.

"Where?" Stiles asked, paralleling what Liam had asked the chimera before.

"A bad dream." Liam said before he could stop himself and Thea looked over at him with surprise and then recognition as she also noticed the similarities between their past encounter.

"Yeah, a bad dream." Thea mumbled, sitting up fully, before narrowing her eyes at Liam. "Did you knock me out, again? I really don't want this to be becoming a habit for you."

"No." Liam shook his head jerkily. "Not this time. You fainted."

"I fainted?" Thea asked with disbelief. "I've never fainted in my life."