Thiam: Times When We're Together

#1

He gripped his phone in his jacket pockets to hide his nervousness.

'Where are you, Dunbar?'

     He heard a car door slam shut behind him and out went Liam with a bright smile on his face while carrying his bags in his hands. Theo can't tell if it's either the sun, his lack of sleep, or the shine on Liam's face that got him momentarily blind but whatever it is, he had to look away from him.

"Hey. Sorry I took so long, ran out of gas." Liam spoke, embarrassed.

Theo blinked before snorting, standing up from where he sat.

'Typical.'

"And you hadn't prepared your own gas gas tank before you drove off?"

Liam opened his mouth, probably planning to lie but knowing he's gonna get caught anyway, he pursed his lips. "... I was in a pack reunion."

"Figures." Theo says before eyeing the bags Liam has in his hands. He pointed at them. "Want some help with those?"

Liam looked down as if he just remembered that he's holding two heavy packed bags, not to mention another one on his back, and nodded with a not-so-shy grin. Theo knew he controlled his heartbeat but if he hadn't, it could've skipped a beat.

Theo moved to get them, strapping one on his back and the other at his front. When he did, he almost fell off.

"Jeez Liam, what did you put in your bags? Rocks?"

Liam's grin widened before walking up to his apartment, Theo struggling to walk in tow.

     Theo couldn't even suppress his sigh of relief when they entered a familiar apartment door, wringing his arms to massage his shoulders underneath his jacket and slumped on to one of the cellophane wrapped couch, abandoning the other's bags beside it.

"So I'll be seeing you in the neighborhood more often?"

"Yup." Came Liam's chirpy reply.

'Great.' Theo can't determine if that's good news or bad news.

"Why do you have so many things?"

Liam threw his bag beside another couch, flexing his arms that showed his bones behind his back that Theo didn't at all stare at just because he thought Liam got a lot muscly, before half-heartily shrugging.

"Gotta make a house feel homey, right?"

"You got an apartment. Not a house." Theo deadpanned, forcefully sitting up.

He shrugged again. "Same thing." He mumbled before facing him. "You live in one, how did you decorate it?" He says before grabbing one of the boxes stacked nearby.

"I didn't exactly decorate it, Jane did it before I moved in."

"Does she know you're moving?"

"No. She just decided to add some life to their spare room. I'm an unexpected addition."

'That became a friend along the way.' He was proud to think about it.

"How did you guys meet?"

Theo faced up, a glint of amusement shone his eyes. "Are you interrogating me, Little Wolf?"

Liam sputtered, unconsciously slamming the box onto the table and cursing when he heard something heavy rumble inside. Theo didn't flinch, only more amused.

"You..."

"What?"

Liam glared at the box before him, not bothering to bat an eye at the chimera.

"I haven't heard you call me that in a while." Liam's voice was like a whisper that Theo didn't even catch it.

"What?"

Liam ignored him as he opened the box and rummaged through it, probably looking if he broke something. He sighed in relief when there isn't.

"Nothing. Wanna help putting these on those?" He says, gesturing to the other boxes and points to the shelves. Theo's eyebrows furrowed for a second before nodding. Yeah, it was probably nothing.

     Liam kept on asking questions though and Theo didn't mind answering those, accurate or not. It was awkward at first, with Liam not knowing how to start it and it took Theo to say something for Liam to get into it until it reached to their usual banter, arguing about which place is better to put some things, how he went for Architecture instead of Biology. To be honest, it was unexpected for the both of them. Theo wouldn't admit it out loud but he kinda missed talking to him, feeling close to him like this. It's kinda funny considering they hadn't had contact to each other until a few days ago.

"You had my number, right?"

"Hm?"

"My number. Why didn't you bother calling me years ago?

Theo's hand almost stiffened just as he reached for another slice of pizza. 

"... I lost it."

Liam frowned. "Why?"

Theo munched on his pizza, not looking at Liam. "Broke my old phone so I got a new one. New card too."

Liam bit on his pizza, not saying a word, his eyes calculating.

"Well good."

Theo side glanced at him, unsure of what he's saying. Liam took out his phone and grabbed Theo's already opened phone on the table, typing out his number. After a few seconds, he gave back his phone with a grin.

"Because you won't be needing it anymore. I got a new number too."

     "How did it go, lover boy?"

Theo grunts as he passed by Jane at the door, wringing his arm again since it ached.

"Nothing happened. I helped him, we talked, had pizza, that's it."

"You told him about us?" Faust says as he constantly sipped a blood pack on one hand and rapidly pressing buttons on the console on the other, eyes focused on the screen.

"He was curious, that's his excuse. Of course I told him."

"And you really have no feelings the entire time?"

Theo whipped his head to see Angela playing the video game with a teasing smile.

"Gela, not you too."

Out on the corner, he can see Jane's eyebrows wiggling at him.

"I knew dating Jane would be a bad influence on you."

Angela chuckled. "You're sounding just like my papa, T."

     Theo found himself staring at his phone once he plopped on his bed, eyes starting to hurt just repeating itself on the numbers under the beta's name on it.

In the end, he sighed, shutting his phone off and puts it on his sidetable.