"This was way less gross before I was a werewolf." Liam mumbled, nose wrinkling as he glared at the shoes in front of him.

"Just put them on." Theo snorted, slipping into his own rental shoes without a fuss.

"They smell." Liam said, poking a socked toe against the squishy carpet.

"Do you ever stop complaining?"

"I would if people stopped leaving bodily fluids on things I have to use." Liam said.

"It's just sweat, Liam."

"It's foot sweat." Liam said. "That's the worst kind of sweat." Theo didn't grace that with a reply, just moved to eye the people wandering around the alley's arcade. Liam sighed and shoved his feet into the stupid sweat-scented rental shoes. "I'm going to need to wash my feet in bleach."

"Just drink some instead. Then you won't care about the foot sweat." Theo hummed, eyes shifting to the bowling alley's little restaurant."You want to get something to eat before or after we play?"

"I'd be dead." Liam grumbled.

"Doesn't disprove my point." Theo said hopping off of the stool. Liam moved to tie his laces. "So food or-"

"After, if that's cool. I want to play." Liam said, eyes moving to the lanes behind them, the sound of pins crashing and families laugher echoed throughout the place. It was a sound that somehow, despite his general aversion to bowling, made him smile. It sounded like childhood, like parties and time spent with relatives. Theo grabbed Liam's arm the moment he'd finished tying the laces, yanking him up and towards the lanes. Liam's bowling shoes slid across the carpet easily, leaving Theo dragging him along like a dog on a leash.

"What lane were we on?" Liam asked, finally beginning to move with Theo. Theo's grip let up on his arm. His hands going into his pockets as his eyes scuttled across the numbers above each lane.

"Fifteen." Theo said, turning onto the correct lane. Liam slipped down the small steps behind him, shoes clacking as they met the shiny floors. "Do you want to start or-"

"We need to set it up." Liam said, shoving past Theo and moving to the small console. He began tapping away, adding in Theo as the first bowler. Liam stifled a laugh, apparently not well enough as Theo was suddenly behind him. Peering over his shoulder at the small screen. Liam felt his annoyed huff brushing over the nape of his neck.

"Theodork, really?"

"It's like Theodore but-"

"Yes. I got that. It's not exactly clever." Theo said. "Change it."

"Can't, already saved it." Liam said happily. Theo's hands settled on his waist, spinning him out of the way quickly. By the time Liam turned back Theo's fingers were already moving at the controls. Liam's eyes flickered to the screen above them.

"Don't-"

"Too late." Theo sang. "It's saved now." Liam grit his teeth. Looking up at the scoreboard.

"Are you ever going to let that drop?" Liam groaned.

"Dream on pumpkin." Theo cooed. Liam eyed the scoreboard with a frown. Theodork versus pumpkin. It sounded like a terrible Disney channel original movie. He looked back to Theo who was dropping into a cheap plastic seat, before he could settle properly Liam was hauling him back up.

"It's your go first idiot."

"I know." Theo scoffed, stalking past Liam to the ball dispenser. He grabbed the first one he walked past, a sparkly pink one Liam was sure was meant for children. "So..What are the rules again?" He asked calmly, tossing the ball up and down in one hand like it were a tennis ball.

"The rules?" Liam parroted, eyebrows climbing. Theo shrugged.

"Yeah, the rules."

"It's bowling."

"Thank you for that illuminating statement Liam." Theo groused. "That doesn't explain the rules."

"Dude. There aren't rules in bowling." Liam said slowly. Theo's eyes moved down to the ball in his hand. "When was the last time you went bowling?"

"Few years ago." Theo said.

"How many's a few?"

"I don't know. Like eighteen."

"Ei...You've never been bowling?"

"Guess not." Theo hummed. Twirling the ball on his finger like a basketball.

"Why the hell did you bet on it then?"

"Because as long as I know the rules I'm sure I can beat you." Theo said turning a cocky grin on Liam. "So come on." Liam resisted the urge to tell him he had to step past the line at the beginning of the alley, barely.

"Alright, well. You get two goes each turn." Liam said. "Unless you get a strike, which is where you get all the pins in one go. So you just, pick a ball. Then throw it down the alley trying to hit as many pins as you can. Just don't step past the line." Liam pointed at the thin red line across the opening of the alley.

"What happens if I step past the line?"

"A buzzer goes off saying you foul and you get an automatic zero for that throw. It's really simple."

"Right." Theo said. "So I just..Throw it?"

"Yeah." Liam said, Theo nodded, tossing the ball between his hands again, he moved closer to the line, weighing the ball in his hand Liam watched as he raised it up. "NO! UNDERARM! UNDERARM THEO!" Liam screamed. Theo quickly averted the path of the ball, hugging it to his chest and turning to Liam with wide eyes. Liam mimed an underarm throw not even trying to fight back the amused smile on his face.

"I knew that." Theo said. "I was joking." Liam raised an eyebrow. "Shut up." Theo huffed.

"The holes on it are for your fingers." Liam said. "Just..in case you weren't joking." Liam watched as Theo repositioned his hand smiling smugly at his back.

"Stop grinning idiot." Theo grumbled.

"I'm not the one who doesn't know how to bowl." Liam muttered quietly.

"Heard that." Theo said, launching the ball into the lane. Liam watched it hit with a bounce before it continued rocketing towards the pins. It curved drastically towards the end. Liam was sure he wasn't meant to wish failure on Theo's shot but he still felt himself grinning as the chances of a good shot got less and less. Unfortunately, it still hit a few pins, taking down three from the side with a clatter.

"That was..Decent." Liam lied.

"I'm just warming up." Theo scoffed, grabbing a new ball and marching forwards again.

"You need me to put the sides up for you?" Liam asked, Theo didn't reply, just launched the next ball. Liam raised an eyebrow as it bounced again.

"You might have thrown that a bit hard." Liam said. The ball span once again, veering back to the same corner. Liam grinned as it sailed through the gap they left.

This is gonna be easy Liam thought happily.

"I'm sure you'll get better with more practise." Liam hummed, patting Theo's back as he slumped back towards the seats. He collected a ball and moved to the line, tossing the ball and watching with a smile as it sped in a straight line down the center of the ally.

The smile fell when it decided to veer off like Theo's had, hitting a few pins on the side.

"Do you want the sides up?" Theo asked, practically oozing smugness.

"I'm taking it easy on you." Liam grumbled, stalking over to collect another ball.

"I appreciate it." Theo said with a low nod.

The thing about bowling was there was a reason Liam hadn't been in a few years. That reason being he wasn't exactly good at bowling, sure, he wasn't terrible. He'd usually get a few spares throughout the game but he didn't excel at it either. He was average.

And Liam...Well...He was competitive. It wasn't just that he liked to win, it was that he hated losing. Maybe he was a bit over dramatic but loosing made him feel awful most of the time. Like he was a failure. He had to quit playing candy crush after he'd thrown his phone at a wall after failing a timed level for the umpteenth time.

Liam would bet his life on Theo not having bowled with the dread doctors, he'd just figured that Theo would have played at some point before he went with them. He thought that perhaps he should try to go easy on Theo, but..he just..didn't like to lose. And it was bowling, something he usually wouldn't win at and now, well now he didn't have to be a great bowler, he just had to be a better bowler than someone who hadn't bowled before.

Should it cheapen the win? Probably.

Would it? No chance in hell.

Liam would milk Theo's inexperience for all it was worth and then they'd have a conversation about Theo's nightmares and then, well then Liam would shove Theo's ass into the car and make sure he slept for fifteen hours or so to get rid of the perpetual bags under his eyes.

*

"Okay are you fucking kidding me?!" Liam hissed glaring at the screen. They're final scores flashing proud, both equal at 117. Theo let out a sudden bark of laughter next to him, hair falling into his eyes as he ducked his head to laugh. "It's not funny! It's like..impossible." Liam growled. Theo's last three scores were strikes. Liam had been about to win before Theo had cheated.

"Obviously it's not."

"A tie dude!" Liam exclaimed. "That's not normal! That's just-Is there something supernatural around here? Are we being targeted by something?" Because no, Liam wasn't above claiming supernatural evil being the reason for him not winning.

"Yeah because evil creatures have been known to screw with bowling games." Theo said, voice light with amusement as he snapped a photo of the scoreboard. "Liam, it's just a coincidence," Theo said placating Liam.

"Stiles said there's no such thing as a coincidence."

"Stiles once thought Jar Jar Binks was a Sith lord. Believe me, his opinion isn't always the right one." Theo murmured.

"He thought what-"

"It doesn't matter. Come on lets-"

"No. We're playing again."

"What?"

"You cheated. I would have won. I was about to win and then you cheated."

"How do you cheat at bowling, I thought there weren't any rules."

"I saw your eyes flash! Those strikes were bullshit. We're playing again and this time. I'm going to kick your ass."

"Really?"

"Really." Liam insisted. "If I'd known we could use our powers I would have wiped the floor with you." Theo crossed his arms, eyeing Liam for a moment, tongue darting across his lips.

"Alright." Theo said, mouth twisting in a smirk. "I'm up for beating you again."

"We drew! That's not a-"

"I've never played before, I think it counts as a win from sheer ski-" Liam ignored him. Jabbing at the screen for a new game.

*

Liam glowered as people let out booming cheers from all around him. Theo turned, giving a slow bow to the roaring crowd. His eyes met Liam, lips curling in an arrogant smirk as he winked. Liam put up his middle finger in reply.

"Have fun beating that." Theo said, strutting over. Liam grabbed a ball, shoving past Theo and moving to the alley. He shot the ball. Eyes flaring briefly.

He watched it with a sad sigh as it careened into the center of the pins taking them all down. The cheers echoed from the crowd once again. Liam's shoulders drooped, They'd tied again. A loud bang sounded as the worker let confetti fly. Theo grabbed him, spinning him round to face a man in a little red bowling alley uniform holding Theo's phone.

"Smile pumpkin." Theo said. Liam glared at the side of his face, at least, he tried to, but his eyes caught the confetti falling into Theo's hair and the way the bags beneath his eyes seemed to disappear as he smiled, wide and proud. Liam hated the smile that crept onto his own face.

Of course Theo would make it so he couldn't be happy about scoring a perfect game by scoring one a few seconds before him. And of course he would make it so Liam couldn't even be pissed off at him for it, not when he was smiling and happy and getting someone to take a stupid photo of them as if it were a god damn graduation or something. Liam couldn't even be annoyed that there were a group of people shouting 'well done pumpkin' at him, because there was another group of strangers cheering for Theodork.

*

"That was fun." Theo murmured, stretched across the backseat, shiny flakes of confetti still lodged in his hair.

"We drew. Twice." Liam said glaring out of the window.

"We scored a perfect game and got free food for it." Theo said, Liam heard the seats creak as he moved. "So stop brooding." Liam ignored Theo kicking at the headrest of his seat. "Liam, seriously what's your-"

"It was a waste of time." Liam huffed. Theo was quiet, his foot stopping its assault on Liam's chair.

"A waste of time?" Theo said after a few moments, voice quiet but steady, accusing. Laced with heat. "Sorry to waste your time with trying to have fun. You know we don't need to keep state hopping. We can go back to beacon hills if this is too bor-"

"I don't want to go back to Beacon Hills." Liam scoffed. "I just. We had a bet. And now the bets pointless."

"Seriously?" Theo asked. "That's why you've been scowling all night? Because neither of us won the stupid bet?"

"No. Because I didn't win the stupid bet!" Liam hissed.

"You're such a sore loser."

"You have bags the size of Texas beneath your eyes." Liam snapped, finally spinning around to look at Theo. Theo's head was rested against the car door, hands locked behind it. He raised a sardonic eyebrow at Liam. "You spent all of last night pacing around the car drinking coffee."

"No I did-"

"Yes. You did, I could hear you and it was really annoying. So yeah, I may be a sore loser but this isn't about that. This is about you being sucky at taking care of your self. I don't want to spend another night listening to you try to kill yourself from sleep deprivation because you're too scared to sleep-"

"I'm not scared to sleep." Theo hissed, sitting up with a glower. "I'm not scared of anything. I'll sleep right now." Theo said threateningly, which, really, was probably the strangest thing Liam had ever been threatened with. Theo seemed to realise that as his shoulders went lax again, his hands moving from behind his head to cover his face.

"What?" Liam asked.

"Just..shut up and admit you had fun today."

"How am I meant to do both at the same time?" Theo dropped his hands to glare at Liam. "I want to help. Is that so bad?"

"No." Theo said, features turning oddly soft. "But I don't need your help."

"If you don't need my help then why did you offer to tell me."

"Because, I thought I'd win and you'd have to feed me." Theo admitted with a small shrug, lips tilted in a smile.

"You're an idiot."

"I'm a great bowler though."

"Yeah.. when you cheat." Liam grumbled. Theo returned to kicking his chair, Liam slapped him away. "If you don't need help will you sleep tonight?"

"I would if you'd stop brooding." Theo said. "Do you know how hard it is to try and sleep when you're sulking. You make the whole car smell like angsty teenaged boy."

*

True to his word Theo did sleep. Liam was pretty sure he didn't actually mean to, that he'd just been waiting for Liam to nod off so he could get out of the car and walk to the coffee shop they'd passed before they stopped for the night. But Liam had slept a lot more recently than Theo, and he was still burning off the petty annoyance that he hadn't won. So he'd been more than happy to distract himself quietly swiping away at his phone until Theo's quiet annoyed huffs had died out into even breaths when he was forced to let his eyes close and succumb to sleep.

By the time Theo had fallen asleep, Liam had gone from searching for things to do in Utah and had moved to searching for things to do in Europe. Sure, none of it would be helpful for this trip, but well, he did owe Mason for running off with Theo and well, now that he could actually say he knew someone who lived in England there would be a chance his Mom would be okay with him going. Especially if he returned home safe from the road trip. Liam had searched from England to Croatia, listing things he wanted to do to Mason in seemingly endless texts that he was sure Mason would bitch at him for in the morning.

When he felt goosebumps raising along his skin as his nose wrinkled against the rising scent of fear. Liam's fingers froze, hovering over the screen when he heard a whine. His eyes snapped to Theo, sweat already beginning to seep from his pores as his breathing hitched and his heart rate picked up.

Liam watched, phone dropping to his side forgotten as Theo shifted in the back seat. His face scrunched, eyebrows pinched as if he were in pain. Another quiet groan left Theo, a whisper of his sisters name that had Liam's face screwing up the same way.

His eyes fell on Theo's hand, fisted in the thin blanket as he let out another moan. Liam never thought he'd look at Theo moaning in his sleep and wish with every fiber of his being that he was having a sex dream. and yet, here he was, Stuck in Theo's truck praying to every deity that this was a sex dream. He could deal with a sex dream, he could sit and laugh as Theo got all hot and bothered and mock him for it the next morning.

But a nightmare, well, that was a lot more terrifying. Mainly because he knew Theo would find it more embarrassing knowing Liam knew he was having a nightmare than knowing Liam knew he was having a sex dream. Theo would brush the latter off, sure his cheeks would flush but then he'd no doubt flip it around and leave Liam feeling more embarrassed for having been anywhere near him while he was getting hot and heavy, even in a dream, that he was about having had the dream in front of Liam.

But a nightmare. A nightmare would leave Theo in a bad mood, would leave the car with a thick scent of terror that neither would be able to ignore. A nightmare was painful to listen to, because Theo wasn't meant to get scared. He wasn't meant to be affected by the crap he'd seen. He was meant to be unshakable. Theo was meant to be the one you had nightmares about, he was meant to be the monster beneath the bed and everyone knew monsters didn't get scared.

Theo let out another groan, his heart rate picking up further, the scent of panic rising in the car. Liam reached out before he could stop himself, fingers gently unhooking Theo's from the blanket. Theo's hand was clammy as Liam took it in his, arm stretched awkwardly over the back of his seat to try and keep Theo's as still as possible. The only thing worse than Theo waking up from a nightmare in front of Liam would be Theo waking up from a nightmare in front of Liam while Liam was sneakily holding his hand to try and comfort him.

Claws dug into his hand and he bit back a yelp, tightening his grip, he shifted, letting his other hand join the fray, engulfing Theo's between his. Liam licked his lips, forcing himself to ignore the sting of pain from claws. He tapped his finger against the back of Theo's hand, once, twice. Recreating his own heartbeat on Theo's skin. Calm and steady.

Maybe he'd missed his chance for Theo to tell him about the nightmares, For him to be able to help when Theo was conscious. Maybe Theo was so stubborn that he wouldn't have even held up his end of the deal even if Liam had won and Liam still wouldn't have been able to do anything more than ask for a chance to help. but this, this he could do. So Liam ignored the way Theo's palm was too hot against his, he ignored the claws in his skin and focused instead on the tap of his finger against Theo's skin. Once, Twice.