Theo didn't know what was wrong with him. It had only been a couple of days since Stiles moved in, but so much had already changed. Stiles still seemed really shaken up about everything that had happened between him and Scott, and that bothered Theo for some weird reason.

In all honesty, Theo had gotten to a point where he found it hard to even look at Stiles. Over the last few days, Stiles had gone from his usual pallor to a somehow even paler shade, making him appear sickly. He also seemed to have low energy, spending an unusual amount of time sleeping. Theo assumed this had something to do with the fact that the vampire had refused to feed since Scott. While he'd try to coax him, Theo wasn't exactly sure the best way to approach the subject, until it got to the point where he decided that he'd officially had enough.

That was how he found himself waking Stiles up forcefully.

Stiles groaned, slowly opening his eyes and stretching his arms up.

"What? What's going on?" He inquired groggily.

"Get your ass up. We're going to school," Theo said.

Stiles pushed himself up into a standing position so he was at eye level with Theo before shaking his head. He sighed.

"I'm not going," he said, forcing himself to look Theo in the eyes so that his gaze wouldn't fall to his neck instead.

"Stiles..." Theo began.

"It's not safe. I️ could lose control just like I️ did with Scott," Stiles interrupted, moving sideways as to create more distance between him and Theo.

Theo sighed.

"You can't stay paranoid about that forever," Theo said.

"I️'m not paranoid! I'm trying to keep people safe!" Stiles exclaimed.

Theo took a step toward Stiles.

"And there's no reason they wouldn't be as long as you're fed. So here," the werewolf said, offering his wrist.

Stiles breath was caught in his throat as he found his eyes moving down toward the other's wrist and he mentally traced the veins that were so close to the skin.

Stiles shook his head rapidly, taking a step back and putting out a hand in front of him to indicate to the other to stay back.

"C'mon, you know I️ can't. That was a one time thing," Stiles said, mostly talking to Theo but also trying to convince himself not to give into the ever growing temptation right in front of him.

Theo shrugged.

"It doesn't have to be," he replied.

"Yes, it does. Besides, it's been too long since I️ last - I️ won't be able to stop," Stiles said, hoping that the other would finally just drop it.

However, Theo was persistent, approaching slowly. His heartbeat was slightly elevated and he smelled kind of like fear but not entirely. It was a hint of fear, but Stiles could tell that Theo wasn't afraid of him. If Stiles didn't know any better, he would've identified it as the other being worried about him, but he knew it couldn't be.

"You need this, okay? I️ trust you," Theo said, his voice lowered.

With a trembling hand, Stiles gently grasped at Theo's wrist and began to lift it up. As he began to bring the werewolf's wrist up to his mouth, he paused.

"Are you sure?" Stiles asked through fangs, giving Theo one last opportunity to escape.

Theo nodded.

"Yes, I'm sure. Do it," Theo affirmed.

With that, Stiles bit down, trying to be as gentle as he could. He didn't know why he cared so much about whether or not he was hurting the other. He knew that it probably shouldn't matter to him either way.

However, when the taste of blood hit his tongue, he was able to stop overthinking so much, biting down harder and sucking blood faster, causing Theo to moan at the sensation.

Stiles enjoyed the feeling of his teeth sinking into flesh as he drew warm blood and Theo liked the other biting into him and draining him.

Theo's muscles tensed before he exhaled and allowed himself to relax into the other. A relieved sigh escaped his lips as the vampire continued to feed on him. He felt more at peace knowing that at least for now, Stiles was going to be just fine.

Stiles grasped at Theo's arm with his other hand, firmly keeping him in place as he drank his fill.

He listened the chimera's heartbeat, remembering that the goal was to not kill him. When he heard Theo's heart rate begin to slow down, he took a few more gulps of blood before forcing his mouth away.

Absentmindedly, he licked away the spare droplets of blood from Theo's wrist, not letting any of it go to waste. He then watched with slight disappointment the bite mark healed before locking eyes with the werewolf. To make sure that he was alright.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked, fangs still present.

Theo nodded.

"Mmhmm," he hummed.

Stiles shook his head.

"I️ shouldn't've taken that much," he concluded. In his defense, he was really hungry as he literally hadn't eaten in days, but that was sort of his own fault so really just more gray area there.

"Hey, I'm fine. Seriously. Are you okay? Did you get enough?" Theo asked. S

tiles took a moment to answer, taken aback by the concern that seemed to have crept its way into Theo's tone.

Stiles nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm good. That was...yeah," he responded.

Theo nodded before changing the subject.

"Okay, well hurry up and get ready before we're late," he said.

Ah, yes, school. Stiles had forgotten all about that.

—

Stiles knew that he could only avoid talking to Scott for so long. They hadn't spoken to each other at all since Stiles had freaked out and run off to Theo, unless you count the texts from Scott that Stiles didn't respond to. He felt guilty. It wasn't like his best friend hadn't been on his mind, it's just that he didn't know what to say. Scott had been so forgiving and, as messed up as it was, a part of Stiles actually wanted Scott to be mad at him. He felt like he didn't deserve to be off the hook so easily.

Of course it was just his luck that Scott was already waiting for him by his locker. He'd texted asking if he'd been in school that morning, but Stiles didn't respond.

"Hey," Scott greeted.

Stiles pressed his lips together, swallowing the lump in his throat before responding.

"Hey..." he replied.

"Are, are you okay? It's just I've texted and-"

"I'm fine," Stiles cut off. He really didn't want to talk about his feelings at that point in time. He just wanted to get through the day with as little drama as possible.

"Oh, okay," Scott replied, dejected. He was trying to seem unaffected, but he looked and sounded like a kicked puppy and Stiles couldn't help but feel bad.

"I've just been worried," Scott added earnestly, unintentionally piling on an extra layer of guilt.

Stiles nodded.

"I know. It's just after what I️ happened, I️ just...look, man, I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry," he said, not knowing what else there was to say.

"It's okay," Scott replied.

Stiles shook his head, the event replaying in his head. He remembered the smell of fear and blood permeating through the air and how much he'd relished in it. The mark where he'd bitten down had healed, but he could easily trace it with his eyes, recalling exactly where he'd torn him open.

"It's not okay," Stiles said, a look of horror in his eyes. "If you hadn't-" he began before looking around and lowering his voice to a whisper. "If you hadn't stopped me, I️ would've killed right there in your own home."

Scott wasn't exactly sure what to say to that. After all, Stiles wasn't exactly wrong about that.

"Look, what could have been doesn't matter. What does matter is that I️ am okay. I know that it's hard, Stiles, but you are going to eventually have to find some way to forgive yourself," Scott said.

I️ don't deserve forgiveness from anyone, Stiles thought to himself.

Before Stiles could say anything, he was saved by the bell.

"I️ gotta get to class," Stiles said.

"Stiles..." Scott began.

"Catch ya later," Stiles said before walking off.

"Yeah, catch ya later," Scott muttered quietly to himself before going off to class.