I Was Hoping For A Quiet Life, But You Gave Me So Much More

You Don't Have To

"Liam?" the voice repeated.

Liam opened his eyes fully to scan the boy's face. He looked worried and scared. Liam could easily see the bags under his eyes, even with such little light in the room. He smiled to himself, looking at him.

"Liam, what is it?" He said getting up from the chair he was sitting in and moving closer to Liam.

Liam just smiled wider, his eyes scrunching slightly, "I know your name," Theo smiled at his words, "and you saved me."

Theo's smile fell. His eyes left Liam's and a look of guilt passed over his face.

"What?" Liam questioned.

Theo shook his head, when he looked back up at Liam tears were pooling in his eyes, Liam felt his heart shatter. "I-I also was the one who put you in danger. Yeah, I stopped that man from killing you, but there wouldn't have been anything to stop if I'd just stayed away from you. They took you cause they wanted me, I could have easily avoided all of-"

"Shut up, please," Liam interrupted. Theo's mouth shut quickly.

Liam tried to sit up a little but winced.

Theo reached out to help him, 'Liam don't-"

"Nope!" he held up his hand, "Listen I have been in this room for god knows how long, I want water, and I want someone to explain to me what happened and who the hell those guys were."

Theo closed his mouth and nodded.

"Okay. Yeah, okay." Theo glanced down at the end of the bed, asking silently if it was okay to sit down. Liam nodded. "Okay, so, um." He glanced over towards Scott and Liam, making sure they were both 100% asleep, and not waking up anytime soon. "When-when I was 8, I-uh- found out I could fully shift. That's what the full wolf thing is. Most werewolves can't do that, so it was pretty special.' Theo smiled to himself, "God my parents were so excited. They helped me learn how to control it, and after a few months I basically had it down. But-uh- then these guys showed up." Liam frowned at him. "They told my parents they wanted to take me, said it would be safe, but obviously my parents knew they were lying. When they first told them 'no' the guys left. We all thought it was just a weird, creepy thing that happened, that they were werewolves too and that that's how they knew. But a few weeks later they showed up again. My parents tried to get them to leave, but they wouldn't." Theo's voice cracked and he went silent, staring down at the floor. Liam reached forward slightly and rested his hand on the back of Theo's, rubbing his thumb over it.
Theo took a deep breath before continuing, "They-uh- murdered them in front of me," Liam's hand stopped for a second but then continued. "God, I remember it like it was yesterday. I still have nightmares. They took me that night and brought me to this building. They threw me in this cage and started experimenting on me. They said they wanted to develop a chemical that would be able to kill all werewolves. Universally." Theo's voice was growing shakier.

"After a few years, I got older, started trying to find a way to escape from them. I'd done it successfully on multiple occasions, the longest I was out was 5 months." Theo paused again, tears falling from his eyes, 'The day I went back..." he couldn't get the sentence out.

"Hey, " Liam said, gently, "You don't have to."

Theo just nodded, "this time was different. One of the higher-ups was shot and killed. There was less security on me, so I managed to slip away long enough to get out and come here." Theo looked up at him for the first time since he started, "Then I found you." Theo smiled, tears still staining his cheeks. Liam blushed at the words.

"You were the first person in so long that really looked at me. You managed to understand me even when I couldn't speak. I was working up the courage to try and shift out, but then... They got to you, They knew that getting to you meant they could get to me and I just... Shit, I'm so sorry." Theo's eyes left his again, "If I just went back, they never would have taken you, we wouldn't be here right now. I just- god- what if-"