Thiam One Shots

things we cant avoid

They don’t talk about it.

They don’t talk about it when the rift breaks, and all the people tumble out of it blinking and disoriented, and the first person Liam looks for is Theo. They’re all standing in a disorganised crowd, cramped in the dank underground space, and people are hugging each other and crying because – and really, Beacon Hills, it’s about time – they can’t pretend the supernatural doesn’t exist anymore. Stiles and Scott are looking for their respective parents, and Lydia is already standing with her mother, and Malia and Peter are off to one side looking awkward, and Liam should be looking for his stepdad, or for Hayden. But he isn’t.

He sees Mason first, but his best friend hasn’t spotted him yet – too busy sucking face with Corey – so he bypasses him, shuffling through the crowds, frowning because even to himself he can’t admit what he’s looking for.

And then he sees him.

He’s just standing there, on his own – who would he be with? – with his hair kind of falling into his face and this oddly vulnerable look in his eyes, and then he glances up and sees Liam.

For a second it’s like everything just stands still, like all the movement and noise around them stops mattering, because it’s just the two of them in the room. Theo’s mouth is just slightly open, and Liam’s hands are shaking, and they both take just half a step forward—

Then suddenly Hayden is in front of him, throwing her arms around his neck, and whatever moment there might have been is lost. Hayden – Hayden is his girlfriend, and he loves her, and he’s missed her ever since she threw herself under the bus. She trusted him to save her, and that means something. That means something.

They don’t talk about it when the entire group gathers in the Sheriff’s office, Argent inexplicably holding Scott’s mom’s hand, and discuss in loud whispers what should be done with Theo now that the crisis has been averted.

Hayden and Malia are all for putting him back in the ground, until Theo – listening in from behind bars, because none of them are bothering to hold their conversation out of his earshot – points out that Liam broke the katana. Scott turns betrayed puppy-dog eyes on Liam, which makes his stomach do that awful twisty thing until Stiles points out that he hadn’t had a choice.

“What if we just keep him in here?” the Sheriff suggests, gesturing vaguely towards the cells. “He’s a criminal, I’m the Sheriff…” His voice trails off.

“I don’t like him any more than you do, but he’s a kid,” Scott’s mom says.

“He’s a murderer,” Malia says flatly.

“Still here, if you were wondering,” Theo says. For some reason, Liam finds himself suppressing a smile.

“So what do we do?” Scott asks earnestly. Most things Scott says are said earnestly. “We can’t trust him.”

“No shit,” Stiles mutters. The Sheriff cuffs him around the back of the head, although a moment later he’s stroking it fondly. It’s still kind of weird, remembering someone he forgot.

“Maybe we can,” Liam says before he quite knows he’s done it. Several pairs of incredulous eyes turn on him. He shrugs self-consciously. “He saved me,” he says quietly.

Hayden frowns. “He did?” She turns almost accusingly to Theo. “You did?”

Theo looks uncomfortable. “I didn’t have a choice,” he says.