It's a mild night in Beacon Hills. The sun set hours ago and now the moon casts a silvery haze over everything within its reach. There's a soft and steady breeze that blows about the air, stirring unkempt objects. The streets are quiet, albeit the buzzing from the insides of houses on the street. The parking lot of Beacon Hills High School is vacant, except for one person.
Nights like this are usually her favorite. It's the perfect temperature for lying on the roof and stargazing. But tonight she is stuck at the school, her car refusing to start, her aimless begging being of no help at all.
Staying at the school this late to research by herself was a stupid idea and she knew it. Unlike the majority of her friends she posses no supernatural abilities. She is helplessly human and unwaveringly stubborn about her independence. A dangerous combination. It's not like she detests the company of her friends, but they've predictably broken up into pairs. Scott and Kira, Stiles and Malia, Lydia and Parrish, Liam and Mason. And then there's her, the odd number in a pack comprised of perfect duos.
She gives her car one last try, starting the ignition. It makes a pathetic sputtering sound before going silent altogether. The driver's side door swings open as she slides out, slamming the door in frustration and kicking the tire as she shouts in dismay.
"Car trouble?" A familiar voice asks.
She jumps at the sound, turning around to make sure her ears do not deceive her. Sure enough Theo Raeken is watching her with an amused expression on his face, the moon casting shadows across his sharp cheekbones and illuminating his light green eyes.
"No I just enjoy abusing my car in my spare time," she snaps, resting her hands on the hood of her failing mode of transportation. This is just perfect. Of course he would be here right now. Of all people. She would have been less irked by a chimera coming to rip her limbs off.
"Your sass has no curfew," he chuckles, noting the late hour. Their encounters have never been friendly. Initially he found her useless, not being able to serve a purpose for his agenda. She's human, even more so than Stiles. There's nothing she can do for him, so he didn't see the point in making sure she warmed up to him. But somewhere between the snide remarks and mean-spirited taunting he actually got to know her. Although he'd never admit it, he kinda liked what he found. And now that he knows the information she's been withholding, letting her run around recklessly is not an option.
"Neither does your douchebag-ery," she huffs, glaring at him.
"That's not a real word," he points out obnoxiously. A stupid grin taking over his face.
"Yeah well a new word is required to encompass your arrogance."
"I'm actually here to help you."
"What could you ever possibly do to help me?" she asks in disbelief. She wouldn't put it past him to use her as chimera bait, so any kind of 'heroic' action seems out of the question.
"Give you a ride home?" he looks at her oddly, as if his response should have been obvious.
"I can walk," she sneers, starting for the road.
"Isn't your house like ten miles from here?" he calls after her, jogging to catch up.
"A little exercise never hurt anybody," she retorts, annoyed with his persistence.
"A 'little exercise' at this time of night in these circumstances could get you killed. Get over yourself and let me give you a ride home."
A ten mile walk home is not practical, not even in the safety of daylight hours. Begrudgingly she stops walking and looks at Theo who's watching her expectantly. As much as she'd rather swallow her own tongue than let him help, she doesn't have much of a choice at this point.
"Fine," she groans, stomping off towards his car with a smug Theo in tow.
**
The ride to her house was surprisingly silent. She expected Theo to gloat about how, in that moment, she needed him, but there was nothing. He kept his gaze on the road and whatever snarky comments were surely floating around inside his head he kept to himself. With her head rested against the window and the heat turned up slightly, she forgot for a moment that Theo wasn't someone she could lean on.
The sight of her house causes her to sit up straight and undo her seatbelt in anticipation. She's confused when Theo turns off the car and unclicks his seatbelt as well.
"What are you doing?" she questions not harshly, just genuinely confused.
"Walking you in," he informs.
"Why?"
"Can you let me do something nice without giving me the third degree? Jesus Christ," he shakes his head, exiting the car.
"Theo Raeken, the gentleman," she scoffs, following him into her house.
**
The only certainty in life is that there are no certainties. As much as we like to think we can predict the way things will happen and the way we will behave in light of them, we can't.
Upon hearing that she is home alone for the night, Theo insisted on staying to make sure nothing happened. Under normal circumstances she would have laughed in his face and pushed him out the door. But these aren't normal circumstances.
"Scott told you. Didn't he?" she sits on her bed, watching Theo lean against her desk.
"About your liver transplant? Yeah, he let it slip," Theo nods in affirmation.
"Is that why you're suddenly so concerned about my wellbeing?"
"I don't particularly like you, but I don't want you to become a science experiment. Why are you letting me stay?" he counters.
She thinks about how Scott and Kira are probably cuddled up in bed, talking, confiding in each other if they're not already asleep. She thinks about how Stiles and Malia are either adding to the 'What We Know' board, or fast asleep in each others arms. She thinks about how Lydia is at the police station doing her best to help Parrish fill in the blanks. She thinks about how Liam and Mason are playing video games in Liam's bedroom, forgetting for a moment that they're not regular teenage boys. She thinks about how for once she wants nothing more than to not be alone.
"Everyone has somebody," she replies, her voice nothing short of a whisper with her eyes trained on a picture hung on the wall next to Theo's head.
"Everyone but you," he replies in understanding. In a weird way he understands completely. He's alone, too, and even for someone like him it can begin to take a toll.
"Everyone but me," she echoes, a hollow feeling blossoming in her chest.
Theo abandons his post against her desk, taking a chance by sitting next to her on the bed. She doesn't move or push him off, she just sits there in silent despondence.
"Hey," Theo mumbles, letting his fingers dance over top of hers. When she doesn't pull away he begins to play with them, noting how delicate her hands are. You tend not to notice how fragile someone is when they're spitting venomous insults at you.
She turns her head to look at Theo, her eyebrows arching in question. Theo's hands are warm as they mingle with hers. It's a simple gesture, but it makes her forget about the way she's supposed to feel about him.
"I'm here," he says softly, indicating she isn't alone. "I'm right here."
She nods, moving her one hand to rest on the side of his neck while her thumb runs along his jaw. His eyes flutter shut, taken aback by the gentle touch. This is uncharted territory for them. The biting comments from arguments past are dissolved as their bodies subconsciously inch closer together.
Inevitably their lips meet in the middle, a collision of two opposing forces becoming neutral and then complementary. He is strong where she is weak and she is warm where he is cold.
Their lips slide together experimentally at first, feeling each other out. Familiarity sinks in quickly, like it was always supposed to be them that paired up; a perfect duo that found each other underneath all the rubble.
She finds her way onto his lap, her hands on either side of his face as she tugs on his bottom lip gently with her teeth. He breathes out heavily, his hands gripping her hips before sliding up her back in an up and down motion, stopping occasionally to grip at her sides.
Her hands slide down from his neck to play with the hem of his shirt before sliding it over his torso and over his head. This brief disconnection of lips is the opportune moment for him to rid her of her shirt as well, so he does. A tiny pile of clothes begins to form on the floor only to grow as time passes until there are no longer any pieces to be added.
Theo slides back, flipping them over once they've reached just past the middle of the bed. He hovers over her, moving to nip at her neck. The slightest bit of stubble brushes against her skin, making her shudder as he bites down hard enough to leave a mark but soft enough to not cause any pain.
He starts to make a path starting at her neck, across her collarbone, then down to her stomach. She knots her fingers in his hair, sighing softly as her skin becomes an agitated color wherever his mouth has been.
"I'm sorry for being such a dick," he mutters into her skin, looking up at her with apologetic eyes.
"No apologies necessary. C'mere," she motions for him to come back up.
She kisses him forcefully, wrapping her arms across his shoulders to bring him closer. Their naked bodies are pressed together tightly, body heat traveling between the two.
Soft gasps fill the air followed by breathy moans and grunting. In such a short time Theo has managed to go from the bane of her existence to the reason she's seeing white behind her eyelids. For once the odd ones out feel a sense of closeness. For once everything feels okay.
**
Nothing good can ever last. Sooner or later things must regress to neutrality or dip below the line into dark territory. Unfortunately, in Beacon Hills things nearly always tip towards dark territory.
He had only been gone a few hours. Three maybe. He was so angry with himself. One for leaving her unattended when she was a perfect candidate to become a potential chimera, and two for becoming attached to her at all. She was never part of the plan, but somehow she managed to get under his skin and then literally under him which sealed the deal. Catching feelings is the most dangerous thing you can do in a world like this.
He stumbles down the stairs into the operating room, rushed but still graceful. His feet the grungy floor loudly, causing the doctors to turn in his direction. Their new stance leaves the operating table open to be viewed.
She lays on her stomach with her arms at her side and her head turned to the left. He can see mercury leaking out of her ears, the light making it shimmer. It would be pretty if it weren't a death omen.
"Failure," the geneticist says mechanically.
"I n-" Theo begins.
"Failure," the pathologist echoes.
"I need her alive!" he yells, his temper flaring.
"Failures taint the experiment pool," the surgeon explains.
"You can't kill her," Theo pleads.
"We owe you nothing."
"You need me," Theo hisses.
"We do not."
"I am your only success!" he spits back. "Without me you have nothing but a bunch of failures."
The doctors go silent, looking at each other with blurred motions and insectile clicking noises echoing off the walls. Theo is the only somewhat successful chimera they've been able to create. They need him to stick around, no matter how sassy he gets.
"Your responsibility now," the surgeon finally says.
"Fix her," the pathologist adds.
The trio makes for the stairs Theo appeared from. Their figures blur out sporadically before disappearing completely, leaving the two alone in the operating room.
She's conscious, but barely. Her eyes struggle to stay open as Theo approaches her, bending down so they're eye-level.
"So does this mean we're not just fuck buddies?" she asks, her voice weak and hoarse.
Theo laughs, brushing her hair away from her face affectionately. "I guess I'm somewhat fond of you."
"You must be if you risked getting your half-breed ass kicked by them. You're one of the bad guys, Theo. If it were Scott or Stiles or Malia or Lydia or Liam or Mason you would've let them die."
Theo sighs, kissing her forehead tenderly. This situation has become unbelievably complicated and it's all his fault. He should've left her alone last night or at least kept his protective watchfulness as strictly friends. This won't end well, there's no possible way it can. She's right, he would've let everyone else die.
"Everyone but you," he murmurs, resting his forehead against hers.
