What Could Have Been [Thiam Rewrites]

Chapter 15: Crimson Haze

Notes: So, it turns out that this fic is the backbone of my mental health, and I have a semblance of a plot for the next few chapters, so I've officially removed the epilogue title. Now the chapters will be a continuation of the series post S6 and leading up to the movie.

PLEASE note that this chapter contains detailed recollections of child abuse. I've adjusted the tags accordingly.

Theo

The year was immediately harder than he'd expected. Apparently missing school after being in hell for months and then fighting a war wasn't an acceptable excuse for being behind. He had to keep reminding himself that if Malia could graduate after spending years as a feral coyote, then so could he.

Of course, it also didn't help that most of his free time was spent helping Derek. He was building on five extra rooms and a four extra out buildings that were basically going to be dorms. Construction also turned out to be a lot harder than hammering a few nails in, but he was learning more each day. Thankfully, he didn't have to stay at the safe house since it was almost 30 minutes from school—if he would've had to commute an hour a day to school, he probably would've dropped out within the first week.

The old apartment building that Derek, and apparently Argent, used to live in had an opening on the bottom floor. It was small and basic, but it was a thousand times better than his truck. Indoor plumbing and electricity didn't hurt, either. Theo hadn't anticipated having a roommate, though. Or that it would be Isaac.

Not that he had anything against Isaac anymore. From what Liam had told him, Theo should probably be thanking him. Instead, he let Isaac use his milk for his cereal in the morning without complaining about it and didn't protest whenever Isaac asked Theo to join him on patrols.

Thankfully, they hadn't seen an uptick in activity from the hunters since Theo and Liam's encounter with them at the end of summer. Even though Derek and Scott, even from his place at college, hadn't halted their search for more packs, more lost super naturals, the hunters hadn't crossed the border into Beacon Hills.

Yet, Theo couldn't shake the feeling deep in his gut that a storm was brewing. As alert as he'd been the night of the full moon, he hadn't so much as caught a scent of the female hunter. Either she'd watched them through a scope—the thought made Theo's skin crawl and his blood boil with a familiar protective rage—or she found some way to mask her scent beyond just covering herself in dirt. If the hunters were starting to find ways to trick their werewolf senses, then this war was about to get ugly.

Theo lasted all of about four sleepless nights tossing and turning in the apartment. The last thing he wanted to do was admit that couldn't sleep without Liam. They'd spent all day together at school, studied after lacrosse practice, played video games, and talked on the phone while getting ready for bed. He even tried wearing a shirt he's swiped from Liam's, but it wasn't the same as sleeping next to him.

When Isaac asked if he was okay on the fifth morning, Theo nearly snapped his spine in half and realized that caffeine wasn't cutting it anymore. He needed actual sleep if he was going to keep his promise to Scott not to murder people in cold blood.

So that evening, at the tail end of patrolling with Isaac, Theo broke off toward Liam's house.

"Want me to wait up?" Isaac called after him.

Theo flipped his middle finger up, not bothering to turn around at that, and jogged the rest of the way. Liam's parents probably would've been fine with him walking in the front door and staying in the guest room, but now that he had his own place, he wasn't sure that excuse would work anymore.

He scrambled up a tree beside Liam's house and leaping gracefully onto the pitched roof beside the window and tapped on it. Liam jolted at the sound before locking eyes with Theo. A goofy grin broke out on his face and he shut his bedroom door before sliding the window open.