Liam shifted uncomfortably, chewing his lip as he let his gaze slip to Theo. He wasn't talking. Hadn't talked in over an hour. Liam had been fine with it for the first few minutes, while Theo chugged his way through a few of the remaining drinks with a pained grimace and they both shrugged into their clothes avoiding eye contact because he'd rather Theo silent than mocking Liam for the whole tattoo touching situation.

But that was forever ago. Liam had worked on shoving the incident to the back of his mind and ignoring the embarrassment that crawled over him when he thought about how weird he must have seemed to Theo for freaking rubbing his collarbone like a genie's lamp. He was now fully prepared to forget the moment ever occurred, or take Theo's mocking. He had a string of comebacks ready, he had excuses that he could convince himself he believed. He was ready for Theo to come at him.

Theo, however, didn't seem to be on the same page. Liam was pretty sure he didn't even own the book.

The chimera was curled in on himself. Not by much, his legs dangled into the water over the lip of the cave floor but Liam could see the way his shoulder's were almost reaching his ears and hear the stupid tap, tap, of Theo's finger against the bottle clutched in his hand. Liam was pretty sure Theo had forgotten he was there. He was staring out over the water, eyes glazed over. His breathing was steady apart from the occasional hiccuping gasp like he'd forgotten how much air he actually needed and had been running out.

Whereas Liam had been confused by the whole thing, Theo seemed haunted. Like when he'd looked at Liam he had actually seen the anuk-ite. And Liam, well Liam felt helpless because he didn't know what to do. He didn't even know where to start. The moment had been weird for sure, but not scary. It should just have been something to laugh off with a quick 'dude I think the werewolf booze is getting to me.' It shouldn't be something that left Theo in a catatonic state.

Liam stood up slowly, inching closer to Theo, shoes clapping too loud against the stone, Theo didn't even blink. The Beta shifted his weight from foot to foot, following Theo's gaze out to the lake as if he'd find the answer to what the fuck was happening beneath the water. He looked back to Theo.

He was ready to argue, to force Theo to talk about whatever the hell was going on, even opened his mouth to do so before he swallowed it back down only letting out a small strangled sound as he really took in Theo's appearance. His eyes were wet, glistening under the moonlight. His hand was shaking around the bottle even as he tapped it once, twice.

"Theo." Liam said, voice tentative and soft, even so, it made Theo jump, eyes snapping over to him, shoulders tensed. And really, Liam only had one way of getting Theo to chill out when he was freaking out. Liam crouched down next to Theo, grinning nervously. "You need some pre-emptive nightmare prevention?" He joked, reaching for Theo's hand, only the moment his fingers brushed the skin Theo was moving, shifting away like his life depended on it.

"Don't touch me." Theo growled. Liam's fingers dropped from the second time that night, humiliation clawed through his throat as he stared at the now empty place where Theo had been. That definitely hadn't been what Liam expected to happen. "I'm going to bed."

"Okay." Liam mumbled ducking his head as he heard Theo stomping past him trying to hide his flaming cheeks.

"You coming? Or are you going to sleep in the cave?" Theo asked and really, it didn't sound bad. It sounded a lot less awkward than picking up the shredded pieces of his pride and following Theo back to camp. Even so, the idea of actually letting Theo know he was hiding from him in a cave like an actual hermit was not something he could do so Liam pushed himself back up and followed Theo across the stepping stones.

The walk back was quiet, the two ducked into Eric's tent taking a place either side of him. Liam was disappointed to find that using Eric as a literal wall between them did nothing to ease the burn of mortification Liam felt. He twisted until he was facing the wall of the tent Eric snorted in his sleep.

Liam tried to stay still, to convince himself to fall asleep but it wasn't happening, especially not when Theo would shift every few seconds and his dumb finger hadn't stopped tapping since they'd laid down, he was impressed with Eric's ability to sleep through it. When half an hour had past Liam heard Theo shifting again, the rustle of fabric as he stood up. Liam let out a relieved little sigh as he realised Theo was going to duck out of the tent no doubt ready to spend the night pacing and brooding. Something Liam had grown used to before the hand holding had started. He could deal with 'sleep is for the weak' Theo.

It was a lot simpler for Liam to turn his mind off, or at least, calm it down knowing Theo would soon be out of sight. The facts were that Theo had been fine with him up until Liam moved his hand, sure he seemed a bit confused but that was expected, Liam had no fucking clue what he'd been doing either. But Liam moving his hand had changed something..triggered something.

Theo's subsequent freak out probably had a lot less to do with Liam and a lot more to do with whatever had bought the stinging scent of fear.

"Are you okay?" Liam asked before he could stop himself. Theo froze halfway out the door. "I mean-"

"I'll be fine."

"And, and we're okay right?"

"Yeah Liam, we're okay." Theo said softly.

"Okay..Good." Liam decided, cheeks flushing red.

"Get some sleep pumpkin."

*

Liam was happy to find Theo was in a better mood in the morning, sure the bags beneath his eyes were making a swift comeback but he'd sat down next to Liam and struck up a conversation with Guns like nothing was wrong.

After a quick breakfast of the last scraps of food Sammy and her pack had bought they were being herded into helping pack up and clean up the clearing. Bin bags ready as they searched for any rubbish they might have left.

After a final sweep of the clearing and Casa Del Cool they were leaving. Sammy leading the charge as they picked through the woods bags in hand.

"Hey Theo, didn't we come from the other direction?" Liam asked. Theo's cheeks flushed pink as Moe let out a laugh.

"We did." Theo said slowly.

"So..Why are we walking this way?"

"Because Theo sucks at reading a map. Moe said. "There's a car park like two hours this way."

"Two hours?" Liam asked. "You made us walk like six and a half hours when there was a-"

"I grew up in a sewer, I didn't have all that much practice reading maps."

"Is that your excuse for everything?"

"Pretty much." Theo said, hefting a trash bag further up his shoulder.

"Okay, but still, our truck is the other direction."

"Car's faster than on foot." Moe said.

"I'm already dropping those two off." Sammy said, nodding to Moe and Eric. "We'll go past where you're parked so I can drop you two at your car."

"Oh well thank you."

"Don't thank me yet." Sammy said. "I love my kids but believe me, give this walk fifteen minutes and you'll be wishing you were doing the six-hour one alone."

"I don't know what you're talking about. We're a delight."

"Of course you are honey." Sammy said.

Ten minutes later Guns started a game of eye spy.

Five minutes after that the word tree had been the answer twenty-seven times.

"Will they stop?" Liam asked hopefully, Sammy shrugged.

"Eventually."

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with T-" Eric said.

"Is it tree?" Sara asked.

"How'd you guess?"

"I'm just lucky..Okay, I spy with my little eye...something beginning withhhhh....T." Moe cackled out a witches laugh as Theo swore under his breath.

*

Reaching the car park felt a lot like finding water in a desert. The teens finally stopped the dumb word games they'd been playing for the past hour and a half and sprinted towards their respective vehicles.

The garbage bags were tossed in a nearby trash can until it was overflowing and then people were peeling out of the car park until only those Liam actually knew the name of were left. Guns and Theo were bent over the roof of a bubble gum pink mini as they exchanged numbers on tatty scraps of paper, everyone's phones long since dead. Eric and Moe were helping Sammy pack too many bags into the back of a station wagon.

"Choir boy!" Liam's head bobbed up from where he was watching Sara climb into the garbage, trying to force it down enough to fit in the final bag. Dodo marched towards him, a bottle under his arm. "Here." He said, thrusting the bottle under Liam's nose. "Don't drink it all at once, you will throw up."

"Um-" Liam floundered, taking it and glancing down at the label-less bottle of spirit.

"Next time maybe bring more clothes. You're really starting to stink." Liam watched in bemusement as Dodo patted him on the shoulder and waved a quick goodbye to the others before climbing onto an old Harley and taking off with the splutter of an engine.

"Looks like you made a friend." Sammy said. "Dad doesn't like just anyone, you should be happy."

"Why doe he like me?"

"Beats me." Theo said, walking over and shoving the slip of paper with his newly acquired phone numbers into his pocket "You're a pain in the ass." Liam was pretty sure smiling when someone called you a pain in the ass would be considered strange and yet his lips twisted anyway. He'd been worried Theo had been lying when he said they were okay. He wasn't exactly sure why insults let Liam know that he was telling the truth and that whatever happened, apart from making Theo lose some sleep, wouldn't be a lingering annoyance in the days to come.

By the time Sara had finished her fight with the bin the cars were packed and the others ready to leave. Moe had already claimed shotgun. Throwing himself into the front seat. Eric had bitterly slid into the back with little more than a middle finger in his sister's direction.

Liam found himself being yanked into a hug by Guns.

"Theo'll give you everyone's numbers. I expect at least a text okay. You're always welcome at Casa Del Cool. You may be a grumpy shit but I kinda like it." she said pulling back with a teasing grin. Sara took her place, only ruffling his hair instead of pulling him in for a hug.

"You ever want a tattoo gimmie a call. You can even come to our place so it's not done in a 'dirty forest'." She said before turning around and yanking Guns from where she was trying to suffocate a wide-eyed Theo in a tight hug.

Sara bid Theo a quick goodbye before the girls were climbing into the mini and Liam and Theo were joining Sammy and the boys in the station wagon. The two cars inched out of the car park. The mini blasting rock music as the two girls waved their middle fingers at the boys who retaliated just as maturely. Sammy turned left, Guns turned right and then they were sailing down the road. Eric yapping about 'next full moon' while Moe rolled down the window and lit a cigarette. Sammy caught the boys eyes in the rearview mirror and rolled her eyes fondly.

Liam may not have fit in with the pack quite as well as Theo but he couldn't deny that they were definitely an interesting bunch.

"Hey Sammy." Liam said. "Thanks for letting us crash your full moon thing."

"It was really no trouble." Sammy said with the same crinkle nosed smile she greeted them with. "It's what the halfway house is there for."

"If you're looking for suggestions on how to make it better, actual toilets and a shower would be good." Theo said.

"And beds." Eric sighed. "I can't wait to get back to my bed."

"Internet wouldn't go amiss." Moe agreed.

"It's a night of being one with nature." Sammy said with a roll of her eyes. "We have only what you need."

"And an old man spitting fire is what you need?" Theo asked.

The car descended into an amicable shouting match as Eric and Moe gave suggestions on how they could update Casa del cool with actual furniture and Sammy defended that tepees were more than enough for actual structures in the middle of the forest.

"Liam, what do you think?" Sammy asked when the chatter had died down enough for her to get a real word in edgeways.

"I think a lacrosse field could really liven the place up." Liam said.

"DUDE! You play lacrosse?!" Eric screamed. "How did I not know this, alright so-" The journey passed quickly after that. Liam locked in a debate about which sport is better, lacrosse or hockey while Moe and Theo looked to each other for help, equally as clueless about sports.

When they finally turned the corner into the car park he and Theo had left the truck in Liam was seriously considering taking Eric up on the offer of going to the local field to play a few rounds. That was until he looked out the window to see why they were slowing down and saw the truck coming up, a familiar blue jeep parked next to it, smoke billowing from beneath its hood as the pack huddled around it. It was really quite unnerving the way Scott and the other's head's all turned to the approaching car in unison.

"Who are they?"

"My pack." Liam grimaced. Theo's head flopped back against the headrest, a small string of curses spilling from his lips.