In a way, it was like the first time they left together. A different town, a different state, but still just the two of them, again a nervous thrum of energy filled the car, the only sounds their hearts and the engine rumbling. Lips pressed together tight, eyes on the road as they waited for something to happen, for someone to pull them back.

It was also different. Easier, because Liam didn't feel the weight of the world crashing down on his shoulders. He wasn't in bloody clothes and tired in the bone-deep way he'd been in Beacon Hills. He wasn't worried about a new battle pulling them back. The nerves weren't the same, it wasn't the sick feeling of anxiety choking him as they drove but a bubbling excitement.

Like even if they didn't know what they were driving into, or where they were going they both knew that it would be worth it.

It was the kind of excitement that left Liam feeling drunk, with his blood roaring in his ears and smile trying to twist on his lips. The street lights flashed past too fast for Liam to believe for a second that Theo was sticking to the speed limit, the dark road stretching in front of them, the waning moon hung in front of the car like a beacon, inching further away even as they followed it. Like it was a beacon for them to follow.

"We are now entering Wyoming," Theo said, the sign flashing past them in a flicker of blue metal. Liam grinned, bright and no doubt dopey looking but Theo was doing the same, even with the bags creeping under his eyes he looked happy, at ease.

"You think they'll follow us?" Liam asked, peering through the rear-view window as if he'd spot Stiles's jeep roaring along behind them, smoke billowing from the engine and an angry pack leaning out the windows with pitch forks.

"Maybe." Theo said. "But we could always run away again."

"I thought we were making a strategic retreat?" Liam said.

"I think we ruined that when we actually ran to the car." Theo said with a light laugh.

"Well. Then where are we running to?" Liam asked. Theo shrugged, eyes moving from the road to Liam.

"I seem to remember you saying something about Disney World."

"You actually want to go to Disney world?"

"I mean, if we're running away might as well go to the happiest place on earth-" Theo hummed. "Besides-" A teasing smile lit Theo's face as he looked back to the road. "Watching you freak out on roller coasters sounds like a pretty good way to spend a day."

"It's on the other side of the country." Liam pointed out.

"If you're going to run away we should do it properly." Theo said.

"You just want to meet Mickey Mouse don't you?"

"Of course not. Goofy though-" Liam huffed a laugh, relaxing into the seat whilst watching the white lines on the road as they flickered past.

He knew he should worry about the pack, about what would happen when Derek told them that he and Theo had ducked out in the dead of night, if he hadn't already but he couldn't bring himself to worry about it yet. His mind filled with ideas of what they could do, about whether he'd be able to force Theo into a Mickey mouse hat long enough to sneak a photo. He was pretty sure he'd be able to, he had a photo of Theo covered in oil, minutes before he was almost sold as a prostitute, mickey mouse ears couldn't be that hard to get.

"This is gonna be great." Liam said, watching as Theo grinned out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm going to have to get you one of those kid leashes aren't I?" Liam ignored the comment happy to turn his attention back to the window.

*

"Will you stop." Theo snapped.

"Stop what? I'm not doing anything." Liam grumbled, glowering at Theo's back as he squinted up and down the dark highway.

"Glaring at me." Theo said, finally turning back from the road. Liam hardened the glare as Theo locked eyes with him, stalking over with an icy look of his own. "This isn't my fault."

"Yeah, okay." Liam snorted bitterly. Theo sighed, forearms resting on the edge of the truck. Liam shifted in the corner of the bed of the truck he'd tucked himself into as Theo silently judged him.

"Alright, Liam, why don't you tell me how this is my fault."

"You were driving."

"It just blew Liam. I don't get a say in when it does that. It's not like we even hit a pot hole or-"

"Yeah because you drive perfectly."

"I drive better than you."

"Well that's not exactly hard is it." Liam scoffed. Theo's lips twitched in a mocking smile. "Oh shut up!"

"You said it not me." Theo said, holding his hands up in surrender. Liam let out a childish groan, letting his head thump back, hitting against the metal with a dull thunk. "Come on Liam. We blew a tire it's not a big deal. Stop pouting."

"We're in the middle of nowhere and it's the middle of the night." Liam stressed. "And you're too dumb to keep a spare so-"

"I had a spare." Theo grumbled. "I used it a few weeks ago."

"And you didn't think to get another one?"

"Do you know how much tires cost?"

"Yeah, I can't even drive but I love to look up the prices of tires." Liam scoffed. "So what? Obviously, a spare is necessary."

"It doesn't matter if it's freaking necessary! I couldn't afford it. I have to eat, and fill the stupid tank, Useless crap like spare tires aren't important."

"It doesn't seem very useless right now." Liam muttered. Theo let out a low sigh that bordered on a growl. Liam looked back as he shoved himself away from the truck and stalked back to the edge of the road, he glowered at the horizon like he could summon a car with the sheer force of a bitch face.

"Just be patient. Someone will come soon."

"Can't we just call a tow truck and-"

"No."

"But-"

"That also costs money."

"We have money."

"Which I'm not spending on pointless shit we can do ourselves." Theo sighed. "We'd already be on our way back by now if you'd just walk to town-"

"No we wouldn't! I told you, it would take like two hours to walk to the-"

"Then shut up and wait for someone to come."

"Oh my god you're insufferable." Liam hissed, resisting the urge to let out a scream of frustration. Things had been great for all of an hour when they made it into Wyoming before the front tire had blown and they'd been stuck at the edge of a dark road surrounded by trees for almost forty minutes, jabs flying between them as Theo refused to call a tow and Liam refused to walk two hours to the closest auto shop.

"I wouldn't be if you'd just let me go and-"

"You're not leaving me at the side of some random road!" Liam said, shoving himself out of the bed of the truck and beginning to pace along the tree line.

"It would be ten minutes-"

"Yeah, maybe if you were the flash. We may be faster than regular humans but-"

"You know I'm beginning to hope that the pack is following us so they can take you away and deal with your tantrum-"

"I'm not having a tantrum!" Liam growled, foot slamming against the hard ground.

"Did you just stomp your foot?" Theo asked, spinning round with a disbelieving smile.

"No."

"You're literally five, you know that right?" He said, looking far more at ease than he had in the past twenty minutes, ever since they'd had the 'tow truck, hitchhike or walk' argument for the first time.

"Are you really smiling because I'm in a bad mood."

"Well, that and a cars coming." Theo said. Liam perked up, eyes flickering up and down the road as he listened. He could hear it, the rumble of an old engine. "Get over here and stick your thumb up." Theo said, shifting from foot to foot at the side of the road as he waited for the car to appear on the horizon.

"What if they're a murderer?" Liam asked, scurrying to Theo's side.

"So what if they are? At this point being in a car with a murderer really shouldn't bother you."

"Seriously Theo." Liam urged. "My dad treated a guy who got stabbed while hitchhiking and-"

"There are also people who have drowned in puddles." Theo said with a pained sigh. "Just because it's happened once doesn't mean it will happen to you."

"But it doesn't mean it won't happen to me."

"You're a werewolf Liam. If someone stabs you you'll heal."

"That doesn't make me feel any better!" Liam said. Theo's lips twitched in amusement. A white van appeared on the horizon, creaking towards them ominously. Theo held up his hand, thumb sticking up proudly. "I don't-"

"If you carry on I'm going to be the one stabbing you." Theo interrupted. Liam groaned, watching as the van got closer. A man with a beard barely visible behind the harsh glare of headlights in the darkness. The van pulled to a stop a few feet from them.

"Theo I don't think this is a-" Theo shushed him, rushing to the window.

"You kids alright?"

"Tire blew." Theo explained, leaning against the window with a charming smile that left Liam rolling his eyes. "You headed down toward Dubois? We could use a lift to the auto shop." The man thought for a moment, eyes flickering between the two of them. Liam tried to smile but he was sure it came out as more of a grimace.

"Heading close enough-" He said, eyes moving back to Theo. "'Fraid you'll have to sit in the back though."

"That's fine."

"Then hop in."

"Let's go." Theo said, ushering Liam to the back of the van. He opened the door with a flourish.

"Tell me you're not actually thinking about getting into a big white van with a strange man." Liam whispered.

"I'm not thinking about it. I'm doing it." Theo said, casually hopping into the van like it wasn't a death sentence.

"Have you ever watched a horror movie?"

"No but I'm pretty sure they lose their edge once you've lived in one." Theo said. "Now come on. Get in the van."

"Dude." Liam whined.

"Wow look, there are puppies and candy in here-" Theo said dramatically.

"You're an idiot." Liam said, cursing the fond tone and smile inching onto his face as he poked his head into the back of the truck and peered around for signs of previous victims. It was dark, dingy, Liam was pretty sure there'd be barely enough room for both of them to sit thanks to most of the space being packed with awkwardly shaped packages covered in white sheets. He took a slow sniff, trying to figure out what the strange smell wafting out of the van was.

"Just..Ask him what he does for a living."

"He's giving us a lift, Liam. We're not on a blind date." Theo said. Liam pursed his lips, distinctly unamused. If Theo was expecting him to risk getting stabbed the least he could do was ask a simple question. Liam wasn't sure how the question would help, surely the driver wasn't going to say 'I'm a murderer' but maybe he had a good explanation for driving in the middle of nowhere in a creepy white van at near three in the morning. "For fu-Fine. Okay." Theo hissed before he raised his voice loud enough for the driver to hear. "So, what's got you out this late anyway? You work as one of those cross-country truckers or something?"

"This aint a truck kid." The driver scoffed. "Got a school that ordered a few pieces and-"

"Pieces?" Liam asked, deflating slowly. "You're an artist?" That..didn't sound murderous.

"Of sorts." He hummed making Liam tense once again. That sounded far more 'serial killer' than artist did.

"What does that mean?" Theo inquired. Liam would have been smug about the way his shoulders had tensed at the cryptic answer if he weren't thinking about how much it was going to suck to be stabbed by a random man on the side of a road because Theo was too cheap to call a tow truck.

"I'm a taxidermist." Theo's gaze met Liam's, their eyes wide. The two turned in unison to look at the packed space. Theo reached out, inching a sheet up until a dead fox was staring at them with glass eyes and a jaw that seemed somewhat lopsided.

"Nope. Not happening." Liam said quickly. He reached for Theo ready to drag him out of the van only for Theo to already be shoving him out of the way as he took a stumbling dive out of the van and slammed the doors shut. Blocking the stuffed fox from sight.

"You know what we're good!" Theo said, bodily shoving Liam back towards the truck, still parked uselessly off to the side of the road.

"You sure you don't want a ride?" The man asked, leaning out the window, eyebrows pinched as he looked between them. Liam shifted behind Theo.

"I'll call a tow." Theo said. "It'll be easier." There was an uncomfortable pause where the man watched them. Theo's shoulders were squared, his hands curling and uncurling at his side as if ready to fight.

"Suit yourself." The man drawled, within moments the van was rattling off down the road leaving the two boys standing at the tree line, eyes following the tail lights as they slowly vanished into the night.

"Oh my god." Liam hissed.

"I'll admit..." Theo said slowly. "That was a bit weird."

"A bit we...Dude he had like a million dead animals in the back of his freaking ca-"

"I'm sure he didn't kill them."

"Are you?" Theo shrugged. "I bet his house is decorated with the bodies of hitchhikers. God, just call a tow okay and-"

"Nope."

"What?"

"We'll wait for someone else."

"You can't be serious. We just almost died!."

"Don't be so dramatic. I'm sure he was normal."

"Then why did you run out of his van like a-"

"Because it's weird! Who drives cross-country with the animals of farthing wood dead and stuffed in the back? Just, get some sleep alright? I'll wake you when someone's coming."

"You want me to sleep when we're stranded at-"

"Liam, you've spent half our time on this road trip sleeping on the side of roads. It's really not a big deal."

"We're meant to be going across the country. Not sleeping on a road a few hours from a pack who's already found me once."

"I'm pretty sure they would have got the hint by now." Theo said. "It's been a long day Liam." He wanted to object, but honestly, it had been a long day. It was only that morning that Liam had been waking up unsure if Theo would even talk to him and yet here they were, a state over having left not one but two packs behind that very day. Even the motel felt forever ago. "Get some sleep." Theo said, nudging Liam gently. "You can even have the back seat."

"You're just trying to get rid of me, aren't you?"

"Well your snoring's actually less annoying than your complaining so-" Liam threw the truck door open and climbed in, answering Theo with only a middle finger.

*

Liam woke slowly, wrapped in Theo's blanket, his feet sticking out of the open window at what he was sure would be an uncomfortable angle if he was awake enough to care. Sunlight streamed through the glass leaving him grumbling bitterly. Why didn't cars have curtains? Surely that would be a good idea.

"Theo?" Liam said, voice raspy with sleep, ready to tell Theo about his brilliant idea. Only to be met with the sight of empty front seats. "Hey, Theo?" Liam gruffed, louder. there was no reply. he closed his eyes, listening for the familiar heartbeat only to find it wasn't there. He could hear birds chirping, the far-off sound of engines rumbling down the road and the whistle of wind passing through the trees either side of the road, but no Theo.

He hit the floor with a small groan as he made a mad scramble out of the car. His eyes flickered up and down the road, squinting against the glare of sunlight, waiting for Theo to waltz out from behind a tree. Liam turned his eyes back to the car, the front wheel was still dimpled and flat.

"THEO?" Liam span, hands cupping his mouth as he bellowed out Theo's name. He waited, listening for Theo to shout back about not even being able to pee in peace. He was met with silence again. Liam threw the door open again, yanking his phone out from where it had taken up residence between the seats. He dialed Theo's number only for the dashboard to vibrate as Theo's phone rattled on top of it.

"Really?" Liam grumbled, glaring at Theo's phone. The least Theo could do if he was going to abandon him in the middle of the night was take his phone with him. Unless he had no choice. Liam checked the time. It was just after seven, he'd had almost four hours of sleep.

Liam couldn't help but wonder if their taxidermist friend had come back and kidnapped Theo to add to his collection. Mind flickering between images of a fluffy black wolf with glass eyes and a little white patch of fur sat unnaturally still beneath an army of stuffed squirrels and Theo as normal human Theo sat at a corpse dinner party. He could see the appeal of both, Theo's wolf was gorgeous and his fur was unfairly soft. It would be like having a life-sized wolf teddy bear and Theo...well Theo was objectively attractive.

He peered down at his phone, wondering how a call to the pack would go, to explain that Theo had been kidnapped by a human taxidermist to add to a creepy museum of dead things. His eyes moved back to the road.

How much of a head start did they get? Maybe if Liam ran he'd be able to catch them or-

What would they even do with a stuffed Theo? Bury him? Stiles would probably suggest they use him as a coat rack. Or target practise. Maybe he'd end up being Liam and Mason's rowdy. Then again, Turk and JD having a stuffed dog was creepy enough, keeping a stuffed Theo as if he were part of the family would probably be enough to get a psych evaluation.

It was really far too early for Liam to be living his very own weekend at Bernies.

Before Liam could start to really panic he heard the clap of shoes on concrete. His eyes snapped to the horizon. The small bubble of worry that had grown in his stomach settling as he spotted Theo. Waltzing over the horizon like he hadn't left Liam to think about a life of trying to explain why he had a stuffed teenaged boy placed in the corner of the living room. Liam narrowed his eyes as Theo came closer, one of his hands wrapped around a large cup of what Liam could only guess would be coffee, other working at a tire like it were a DJ's deck, rolling it down the road at his side.

"Your hair looks ridiculous." Theo said as he got closer, bringing the coffee cup to his lips with a smug smile like he looked any better, sleep deprived and windswept.

"Where the hell have you been?" Liam growled.

"I'll give you three guesses." Theo said, giving the tire a final shove. Liam watched as it span towards him, bumping and bouncing over small dips in the road. despite going far it still fell short of Liam by a good five meters, toppling around in a slow circle before it fell with a loud clap.

"I thought you were going to wake me?" Liam said, watching as Theo reached the tire and begrudgingly picked it back up and rolled it the last few meters.

"I lied." Theo said dryly. It was ruined when he stifled a yawn a second later. Liam glowered at the bags beneath Theo's eyes.

"I'm pretty sure coffee isn't what you need."

"No, what I needed was peace and quiet and I got it." Theo said with a smirk. Liam narrowed his eyes. "Oh come on, I left the window open and you had plenty of water-"

"I'm not a dog." Liam snapped.

"Do you want to complain about me doing the hard work and walking to get a tire or do you want to put the tire on so we can get back on the road?"

"Honestly? Complaining sounds good." Liam gruffed. Theo's lips twitched in an amused smile. "I didn't know where you were."

"Were you worried?" Theo mused, looking far too smug.

"What if the fox stuffer came back? I could have been stuffed."