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

Eye of the Hurricane

Liam never minded thunder and lightning. He actually found them kind of cool. As long as the sound wasn't too loud or too close the low rumble that the electricity made was strangely relaxing. Sometimes, when there were storms, he would open his windows and listen to the sound ring through his room while he fell asleep. Like how some people fall asleep to noise machines that play ocean wave sounds. He knew he had a morbid relationship with them. Sometimes the harsh sound of rain and the clap of thunder would distract from the other noises in his house. While the initial sound would still make him jump, once he was aware of it, it was weirdly comforting.

It wasn't always the same. Some days it was worse than others, but good and bad days in relation to anything was something Isaac and Liam were very familiar with.

Isaac had a worse relationship with the weather phenomenon. He hadn't had a panic attack from a storm in a long time, like years. But they still made his hands shakier than usual, and he wasn't particularly a fan of them in general.

However, they were both surprised when it wasn't one of them that panicked.

Instead, Liam had witnessed something incredibly strange, and sort of terrifying.

Scott and Isaac had gone upstairs to grab clothes. Derek and Stiles had returned to the living room (the fort), and Theo and Liam were cleaning up dishes in the kitchen. Stiles had offered to help but Derek had looked between Theo and Liam subtly and then dragged him backwards.

Liam was wiping down the counter with a washcloth when the light flashed and the sound cracked through the house. He jumped slightly but centered himself quickly. He was about to finish cleaning the counter when he heard something hit the ground and bounce a few times.

He turned around to see a plastic cup rolling away from him, and Theo sliding down the kitchen cabinets onto the floor. His eyes were closed and his breath was shaky. Liam reached out towards him and helped him sit on the floor.

"Hey, hey, everything's fine. It's just thunder," he said in a calming voice.

Theo's eyes blinked open and Liam froze.

He wasn't looking at him, he was looking straight forward. His mind was elsewhere. The dissociation wasn't what made Liam freeze. It was the fear in his eyes.

Liam loved Theo's eyes. From the day he first met him, or rather, when he met a wolf in the woods, he thought they were beautiful. Not just the color, although it was beautiful how easily they seemed to shift with the light. They were beautiful because of how expressive they were. Even the most subtle shift in emotion was so easy to notice. Liam had mentioned it to Mason once. He'd asked him if he noticed Theo's mood shift one day, a couple of weeks ago. Mason had just looked confused.

"What do you mean? He was smiling the whole conversation, which seemed normal to me."

But it wasn't normal. Half way through the conversation his eyes changed, he was smiling, yes, but his eyes. His eyes said how sad he was. Liam hadn't known why at the time. But looking back on it he understood now.

Liam had been talking about going to the clinic over the weekend because one of the dogs was expecting puppies. Theo had genuinely laughed at how excited Liam was. Liam had then turned and asked Mason what he was doing, and if he wanted to come with him.

"Can't," he said, "It's my sister's birthday on Sunday and my mom's making us go on a trip to some fancy restaurant she's always wanted to go to since it's her 21st."

That's when Theo's eyes changed. 'Sister.' The word must have rung through his mind a thousand times. Theo had left shortly after that. Liam hadn't gone with him. He wished he did.