Satellite

- 001

Liam slowly opened his eyes, feeling his jaw ache and a thumping headache coursing through his mind. As he groggily tried to make sense of his surroundings, he realized he was not in his bed as he had initially thought. Instead, he found himself in the passengers seat of a truck and felt the motion of the vehicle as it jostled over the rough terrain.

The events leading up to this point were a blur. The last thing Liam could remember was was attacking Nolan at the zoo, the rest couldn't appear in his mind..

"Yeah, sorry for knocking you out." said a familiar voice, accompanied by a scoff and a mocking laugh. Liam gazed up at the driver's seat, blinking multiple times to regain his full focus.. Theo Raeken, his friend— well enemy, who had been forced to knock him out in order to prevent Liam from going too far in his anger and potentially killing Nolan.

Memories of the past began to flood back into his mind, as he reflected on the chain of events that led up to this moment. He had let his anger get the best of him and he nearly lost control of his actions, leaving Theo with no other choice but to render him unconscious.

"How many times?.." Liam inquired, groaning and hissing in pain as his hand gingerly pressed against his jaw, which was bruised and sore. It was defintely not just once. His eyes were narrowed with a mixture of anger and frustration towards Theo.

Theo just laughed at Liam's comment, his expression a smug smile as he continued to drive, which was kind of weird since Liam rarely ever saw Theo smile. The only time Theo did smile, is when he had nearly killed Scott.. Without taking his eyes off the road, he briefly turned his head towards Liam. "Five" he stated, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Liam let out a heavy sigh, his tone of voice laced with irritation and annoyance. "Do I just not heal when I'm knocked out?" He complained, gritting his teeth as he gripped his jaw tighter. Theo rolled his eyes from the Betas complaining.

Theo's laughter died down and his tone of voice became cold and stern, almost as if all the levity was sucked out of the car, the emotion change wasn't surprising to Liam, since Theo was just never happy in general. "You heal slower while your not conscious, you still heal- obviously.. Just not as fast." He assured, his eyes focused on the road. "But since you're now awake, it should soon go back to the pace you normally do heal at."

Liam felt a sense of relief wash over him at Theo's words. The pain in his jaw still lingered, but he felt some of the pain in his body begin to fade. He closed his eyes and leaned back into his seat, hoping that the rest of the drive would be more pleasant now that Theo had stopped laughing at him.

"So do you want me to drop you off at your place or not?" Theo inquired, his eyes still focused on the road, it was absolutely empty and there was no noise, it was calming- in all honesty.

Liam quickly opened his eyes and gazed over at Theo, who was looking back at him with a mixture of irritation and just a tiny bit of amusement in his gaze. Liam reached for his phone to take a look at the time, realizing that it was much later than he had expected. "Are you kidding me?! It's 11PM! My parents are going to be so mad!" he exclaimed.

Theo let out a deep, long-suffering sigh. "Dude, it's literally 11PM. You're sixteen and you still have a bedtime?" Theo laughed mockingly, earning a rough shove by Liam in return. "Okay- Okay.. Jesus christ, calm down anger issues. Am I taking you home or not? As bad as I want too, I'm not leaving you out here in the middle of nowhere all night."

Liam's brow furrowed as he let out a low growl from the anger . "Are you seriously mocking me for having a bedtime at sixteen?! That's a perfectly normal curfew for my age!" He exclaimed, frustration evident in his voice. "You know what, I think I'll just walk home," he muttered, gritting his teeth as he turned away from Theo, he went to open the truck door. It was locked. He tried again, it was still locked. "Let me out, Theo." Liam growled.

"You don't scare me, little Beta." Theo replied and rolled his eyes at Liam's outburst but didn't pursue the argument, he knew about Liams I.E.D and knew how bad it was.. Instead, he let out an annoyed sigh and shook his head. "Fine, dude.. I guess I'll take you home after all," he said, his tone still slightly fed up.

"Fine." Liam's face remained expressionless as he sighed dramatically and gave in to Theo's offer for a ride home. He let his head rest against the car window and closed his eyes, feeling his eyes grow heavy and the warmth of the night's breeze brush gently against his skin, he tried to keep himself awake because falling asleep in Theo Raekens car would be very embarrassing.

But Theo could sense the fatigue in Liam's body language and his emotions.. Liam wasn't exactly the best at hiding it. The chimera spoke up, looking at Liam for a few seconds before putting his eyes back on the road. "Go to sleep, Liam. I'll wake you up when we're at your house. I can sense you're tired."

Liam could feel Theo's eyes on him, even with his eyes closed. But he didn't have the strength or energy to protest further. Instead, he let out a deep, heavy sigh and allowed himself to drift off..

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"Liam. Liam..? Dude- we're here.. Liam, wake the hell up!" Liam's tired eyes flutter open to the sound of Theo's voice, calling out to him in a firm tone. He tries to clear the fog from his mind and sit up, but his body is sluggish and heavy from the long car ride.

But before Liam can fully comprehend what's going on, he's met with an all-too-familiar and unpleasant sight. His step-father is standing at the car door, his expression stoney and unamused. As soon as his father lays eyes on him, he seems to grow even more upset, his features softening into what could be best described as a scowl.