Red String of Fate - Thiam

Chapter 6 - I hold a guy's hand

December 3rd - Friday

Liam P.O.V. 

I am woken up by a strong smell of fear that enters my lungs and almost suffocates me. I quickly sit up, ready to fight, but find the room quiet. My gaze falls on Theo sleeping next to me, his body shaking slightly and his skin soaked in sweat.

"Theo." I shake his body trying to wake him up as I feel the smell of terror getting stronger and stronger. "Theo, wake up."

"Stay away from me..." I move away a little thinking that I had finally woken him up but I realize that he is still sleeping. "No!"

"Theo!" I shake him harder, starting to feel his despair on my own skin. "Wake up, please."

I place my hand on his chest and feel his heart racing extremely fast, with the other hand I grab his wrist trying to stop his shaking. Black veins start to run up my arm and I close my eyes tightly as I feel the pain Theo is in. It's then that everything stops for a second, only for the silence to be filled by a scream of horror from Theo, almost as desperate as the one I heard months ago when they had sent him to the underground.

Theo's eyes open suddenly and he puts his hand over his mouth as if that would make his scream disappear. My hand remains in his, squeezing it tightly. His eyes lock onto mine and look at me with pure despair. My heart breaks at the sight.

Theo tries to move away from me and I realize that he has put his protective barrier back up again because I no longer smell any emotion coming from him.

"Theo..." I grab him, stopping him from running away to his room and force him to look at me. "It's okay, don't run away from me."

Theo is pale and when I hear his stomach turn, I let go of his hand realizing he's going to vomit. Theo runs to the bathroom and sits down in front of the toilet, vomiting inside. I sit down next to him and gently place my hand on his back. The smell of vomit makes my own stomach turn but I take a deep breath and remain by his side. Theo gets up after a few minutes to wash his mouth and face. I watch him closely as he brushes his teeth and notice that his shoulders are no longer tense. I pay attention to the sounds of the rest of the house, trying to understand if my parents had woken up, only finding their calm breathing. Theo turns off the tap and takes a deep breath, when he turns to leave the bathroom he's stopped by my body. Theo says nothing, his eyes showing insecurity.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" I ask in a low tone.

"No."

Theo walks past me and when I think he's getting ready to leave and go to his room he sits on the edge of my bed.

"Can I stay here?"

"You can."

We lie down on the bed side by side, I glance at Theo who is staring at the ceiling.

"Are you going back to sleep?"

"No."

His body doesn't show any kind of emotion, but it seems that Theo forgot that his eyes also speak, because in his eyes I saw a glimpse of fear. I extend my hand towards him and when my fingertips touch his hair Theo jumps away from the touch.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Harper used to play with my hair every time I woke up with nightmares, to help me fall back asleep."

Theo lies down again, this time letting his head fall against my touch. I start playing with his hair in hopes that it will calm him down. Who knew that Theo Raeken would like physical touch. None of this seems strange to me, being like this with Theo. Because even though he is Theo Raeken, the boy with no feelings, and I'm Liam, the boy with the IED, we both seemed to find peace in each other, and within two days he became one of my best friends.

"Tell me about your friend." I turn my attention back to Theo who now looks in my direction. "I've heard you talk about her several times but I still don't understand who she is."

And then I start talking about Harper in an attempt to distract Theo from his thoughts.

"Harper went to my old school with me, a year ahead of me. She was one of the only friends I had at the time and when I was expelled she stayed by my side. Unlike everyone else, she didn't blame me for my crisis and always helped me with my IED. Of course whenever I had these angry episodes I would distance myself because even her couldn't calm me down, but when I came back she was always there, waiting for me, never upset that I left. When I came to Beacon Hills High School, we still saw each other a lot and had a lot of sleepovers. When I was bitten, I distanced myself again and it didn't take long for her to realize that something was wrong. I was terrified that she was going to run away from me for good because she's like a sister to me and I can't imagine losing her, but she eventually just found out and instead of running away she looked at me like I I was the coolest guy ever and I had just given her a credit card with all my money."

Theo lets out a small laugh and I continue playing with his hair, still a little damp with sweat.

"She always loved reading fantasy books so she thought it was awesome to have a werewolf as her best friend." I smile at the memory. "With the war we stopped spending that much time together, she said she wanted to help but I never let her do it. So I called her almost every night to tell her about our missions. If she ever talks to you, don't be surprised that she knows everything about the pack, I made sure to tell her all the details." I pause, Theo is completely focused and I no longer see any sign of fear in his eyes. "I haven't seen her in four months since she went to college. I miss her, but we continue to talk via calls and texts regularly."

"I'm sure she misses you too."

"She would like to meet you and I think you would like her too."

"I don't like anyone." Theo states and I roll my eyes.

"You like me." I tease.

"Don't be so sure about that Dunbar."

"Anyways, you would like her, it's impossible not to like Harper."

"If you say so."

We were silent for a few seconds until Theo broke it, taking me by surprise.

"Every time I fall asleep I have nightmares about my sister. She rips my heart out. Memories of when I was underground."

My eyes widen and my fingers stop momentarily in his hair.

"That's why you were in pain..."

"How do you know?"

"I took away your pain when you were still sleeping." I confess feeling his gaze on me.

"You did?"

"Yeah."

"It hurts so much, like she is actually ripping my heart." I could swear I saw a tear fill his eyes.

"Don't worry, it wasn't real, she can't hurt you here." Only now I clearly notice the dark circles under his eyes, he probably hasn't slept for days. "You should sleep."

"I don't want to."

"I'm here to wake you up if the nightmares come back, and I'll take your pain too. I promise. You need to sleep."

Theo smiles at me, warming my heart. It's not the first time I've seen Theo smile, I'm more than used to his smirk and his small shy smile. However, now he smiles showing his teeth, a real smile, one that I have never seen before. A beautiful smile.

"You should smile like that more often, maybe it will make people believe that you are not a psychopath." I giggle.

"You're so funny." he responds sarcastically.

And with that, Theo doesn't take long to fall asleep. I remain awake, paying attention to his heartbeat, prepared to wake him up if necessary. When the sun rises, I smile as I realize that no more nightmares have plagued him this night.

____________

I love them so much. 

Thank you for reading.

Megan x