Roses and dirty little notes on post-its

2

Theo knew he was being a tad petty, even as he yelled at Liam to leave him the fuck alone and stormed off. He shouldn't take his bad days out on Liam when he was just trying to help. But he still didn't want to apologize. He knew he should, and that he was probably - certainly, the one in the wrong. But he refuses to, instead opting to sulk in the guest room.

Now that he has calmed down though, he starts to feel guilty. That's one thing he hates about getting his empathy back. Feeling sad emotions on its own was one thing, but this? Guilt was just too much.

Especially when he's as stubborn as he is and refuses to do anything to ease it. So here he is, wrapped in a blanket burrito and frowning at the wall.

Your face will get stuck that way if you keep that bitch face going.

He knows whose voice that is when the comment, dripping with amusement, comes to mind. Liam never really left his thoughts after all. He was basically Theo's conscience.
Theo burrows down deeper into his burrito, feeling a pang in his chest.

Is it normal to miss someone this much when they're just downstairs? Afterall he can hear Liam move around downstairs. He was never one to sit still when there's tension, preferring to distract himself with mundane tasks. Theo feels even worse knowing that Liam is feeling anxious because of him.

He does this sometimes. Lash out when things get frustrating or when his nightmares come back. And that just adds to the frustration because he hates not being in control of his emotions. And even years later he can't control it and that's just irritating and scary and makes it even worse.

He doesn't know how long he stays there, wallowing in self-loathing and itching to hug Liam. He perks up slightly when he hears Liam's footsteps coming up the stairs.

Liam pauses in front of the guest room door. He stays there, and Theo mentally wills him to knock. To open the door. To call him. Just to do something that might help in getting Theo into Liam's arms faster.

But Liam turns around and goes back downstairs and Theo curses. Of course. Theo had told him to leave him alone, after all. Liam always made sure to respect Theo's boundaries. Theo sighs and wonders if he really wants to stay here and loathe himself some more. Or if he is ready to put his big boy pants on, swallow his pride and apologize. He decides on the latter, because he could smell the anxiety and worry that was practically rolling off his little wolf in waves, lingering in the hallway.

So he wrestles himself out of the covers, falling off the bed in the process - so much for grace - and heads downstairs.

He found Liam in the living room, a mug of tea in his hands. Nerd. He was on one end of the couch wrapped in a fuzzy blanket watching Brooklyn nine nine. Theo sat on the other end and cleared his throat quietly.
Liam hummed.

"You done sulking?" He said turning to Theo and raising an eyebrow. And even though he tried to hide it, Theo can see the concern in his eyes.

Theo sighed and let his shoulders droop. "I'm sorry." He said quietly, and although he's sure Liam heard him, the other didn't acknowledge it. So he repeated it louder. "I am sorry." He said and raised his eyes to look into Liam's. "I shouldn't have taken my frustrations on you. You were just trying to help me. And I took that and threw it in your face. I'm just - I'm sorry."

Liam's eyes softened and he says, "It's okay." To which Theo is quick to snap 'no it's not.' but Liam just smiles at him.

"What I meant is, your apology is accepted. But really, you know communication is important right?" Theo nods slowly. "I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong. And if you need time or space just let me know, okay?"

"Okay." Says Theo, then "When did you become a relationship expert?"

Liam snorted. " Believe it or not, I'm not completely hopeless."
Theo gives him a skeptical look and Liam sighs. "Mason." And when Theo raised his eyebrows higher. "And Lydia."

"That makes so much sense."

"Shut up."

Theo grins at Liam and the other chucks one of their throw pillows at his face. Theo catches it and throws it back, hitting Liam square in the face. Instead of taking the bait and tackling him like he wanted though, Liam puts the pillow on his lap and his face becomes serious once more.

"Do you want to talk about it?"
Liam must have seen something on Theo's face, because he immediately follows with. "You don't have to, right now. But it would probably feel better once you do. And I said, communication is important. You can talk about it whenever you're ready."

"Can we just watch the show for now?" Says Theo.

Liam nodded, stretching one arm and creating a place for Theo there under the blankets. Theo almost fell over himself in his haste to get there, cuddling close to Liam and sighing, this time in contentment.

Liam's hand came up to play with his hair and Theo felt his body release tension he didn't know he held.

He and Liam will definitely have a talk later and as much as Theo didn't like it, he knew it would be okay.

But for now, this was in this small piece of heaven, watching Jake make a fool out of himself with the person he loves, and life was almost perfect again.