Thiam: Times When We're Together

#6

Theo exhaled a huge breath, feeling a different kind of relief as he adjusts himself on the bed of his truck, as he watched the stars glow above him.

It's been one of those times with Theo that almost everything around him becomes too loud or too overwhelming. And these are one of those times that he needs a break from it all.

"The sky must be dreaming." Says the familiar voice of his sister in their younger years.

Theo scoffed. "I still have no idea what she meant by that."

"Who?"

Theo sharply turned his head to see Liam looking curiously across him. He grunts.

"What are you doing here?"

Liam rose an eyebrow. "I went running. You?"

"At eleven in the evening?"

Liam gave him an unimpressed look. "Look who's talking."

Theo doesn't even bother hiding his smile that looked not so close to being embarrassed.

"Touché." He says before looking at the space beside him, hesitantly patting it. "Mind sitting down for a bit?"

'So much for taking a break.' Knowing full well how this started and why he needed it.

Liam stared at where he patted before smiling softly and nodded. Theo's eyes followed the beta as he walked around his truck and was now beside him, though not too close. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, Theo staring back at the night sky and Liam following his gaze.

"What were you up to?"

Theo shugs half-heartedly. "Thinking."

He felt Liam's attention turn to him.

"... You know, when Scott left for college, I was pressured for a while."

Theo hums silently, indicating that he's listening. Liam shifted beside him to get comfortable.

"I was constantly anxious. Always on guard for any other threat in Beacon Hills, helping Melissa and John along the way while trying not to make it look like I overworked myself."

Theo's fingers tapped lightly on his knee, unsure of where Liam is going with this.

"At first I didn't know what I was doing. Didn't care about anything. All I've known is that I should do what I think Scott would have wanted me to do and try go on with my life to be as normal as I could. Until I couldn't anymore."

Theo gulped a lump in his throat, feeling the guilt coiling up to him.

'I'm sorry.' He thinks. 'I should've been there for you.'

Liam released an airy laugh. "It took a while but Mason and Corey finally confronted me with it when I suddenly woke up on my bed instead of the classroom. He said I fainted, having enough of seeing me pretend that nothing's eating me up and sent me home. They missed the rest of school for that, just waiting for me to wake up."

"You're an idiot." Theo mumbles, closing his eyes when they started to hurt. Liam chuckles.

"I am. We argued for a few minutes that Corey had to come between us. Deciding that I needed some time to myself, I missed a few days of school, also involving not talking to anyone."

Liam moved his knee up.

"It took me almost a week to get over myself and talk to them, apologize to them. I even made Nolan worry." Then he paused. "It was quite an adjustment, having to break my routine and all, but I got there. It was on them really."

Theo grunts in disbelief. "It's on you too, Liam."

Liam beamed a bit. "I know."

Theo slowly opened his eyes and turned to see Liam already staring back at him intensely with those baby blue eyes that seem to shine so impossibly in the dark. Those same blue eyes he found so intriguing years ago. Those same eyes where he could easily get lost in.

He quickly passed by them, sighing shakily. 

     "Why are you telling me this?"

Liam pursed his lips before looking back up. "Is it so bad to share stories?"

'Bullshit. You meant something in there.' Theo has an assumption about what Liam meant and he doesn't think he could take talking about it at that moment. Maybe not ever, even.

He sighs. "So is this you confronting me about something?"

"Do you want to confront to me about that something?" Liam asks. Theo met his eyes and saw how strong the sincerity in there, it almost physically hurts.

"... Not yet." 

Liam smiles, now scooting closer and unabashedly taking over what's left of the space between them, their shoulders faintly meeting. 

"Then I'll wait." He says, gently putting his head on the chimera's shoulder. Theo had to suppress a shudder when Liam's hair tickled the side of his neck. "For now, let's just be here."

Theo waited for a heartbeat before reluctantly leaning his head on top of Liam's, subtly smelling his scent. It was intoxicating, especially whenever they're this close to each other. There was also a hint of contentment in there that it made him smile.

They stayed like that for a while, too wrapped up to each other's comfort. He looked up again to find the stars shining brighter than it was a moment ago. It was then that he finally understood what his sister meant in that memory.

"The sky is dreaming." He mumbled, repeating what his sister said.

"Hm?"

Theo's smile got wider. "Nothing."