Read The Boy I Shouldn't Want To Love :: I thought you were past that

As he predicted, that night he slept badly, too aware of the presence of the other boy less than two feet from him. He slipped in and out of sleep repeatedly, bad memories that filled his mind so far that at a some point he wondered if he was dreaming or if he was just lost in his thoughts. Bad memories that made him even less inclined to let himself go to sleep, almost fearing what Theo could do if he caught him defenseless for a moment.

Like that time when he had pushed him into a fountain during a school trip in front of hundreds of people, or when during a cross-country race he had double-crossed him, spraining his ankle, or when he had locked him in the janitor's closet for three hours, or when he had brought his collection of stickers to school to exchange them with Mason, to find them hours later scattered in the school pool (he hadn't seen him do it, but he knew it was Theo's doing), or when he was trying to pick these stickers up, bent over the edge of the pool, and Theo had pushed him from behind, almost causing him to drown because obviously he could not swim (Thanks God Mason took swimming lessons) or when - well yeah you get the picture.

Liam wondered how he would survive that way until graduation. It was two and a half years away. And at that moment it seemed like an eternity.

To find a distraction, he took his cell phone. His eyes wandered over notifications of unread messages. He had so fucking many!

He swallowed. He knew they were there, and he knew that most of them had to be from Stiles. But he didn’t have the guts to read them. He didn’t have the guts to talk to him. He was afraid to feel anger, contempt or disapproval in his voice. He was afraid to feel sorrow in his voice. He was afraid, so he avoided it. He ran away... To the point that he preferred to change school.

He tried to swallow the lump that he felt in his throat. He was about to put down his cell phone when he received a notification. He smiled when he saw that it was a friend request from Mason. He accepted quickly, and his smile widened when Mason texted him immediately.

Yay, we’re friends now, see you tomorrow at school?

Liam quickly answered. Sure! (:

Great, Dunbar, 'night.

'night Hewitt.

Liam finally blocked his cell phone and smiled back into the bed, trying to get some sleep.

In the morning he woke up when he felt something soft hitting his head. He opened his eyes suddenly, raising his head. The pulled pillow slipped down and he met Theo’s gaze, sitting on his bed, messy hair and sleepy eyes, staring at him with a grin that appeared more like a confused smile..

"You sleep like a dead man, eh, Dumbar" he commented. "You better hurry, or I’ll leave you here".

Theo rolled out of his bed, and Liam followed him with his eyes, trying to process his words. He was still sleepy but not enough to not be shocked. "Do you want to give me a ride?" he asked in disbelief.

"If you prefer to take the bus, go ahead" Theo just said as he left. "By the way, you snore".

Liam blushed, sinking again with his head in the pillow and choking a scream..

When they were in Theo's truck, the silence invaded the car, crushing, heavy and embarrassing. But Theo kept driving, staring ahead and Liam enjoyed the view outside his window. At least until Theo stopped abruptly to the side of the road. Liam looked around confused. It didn't seem like they had arrived to school.

"Why did you stop?"

"Get out"

Liam watched him for a few seconds, in disbelief "What?"

"I said get out"

"Are you kidding?"

"I look like someone who's kidding?" Theo rolled his eyes. "I don't want the whole school to see us coming together. They will get the wrong idea"

Liam could not avoid blushing, but kept eye contact, responding to him annoyed. "So you're leaving me in the middle of a road?"

Theo rolled his eyes again "Don't be dramatic, Dunbar, it will be about half miles away"

Liam snorted angrily before violently opening the door. He slammed away with his bag over his shoulder. Theo bent over with a sardonic smile to see him through the open passenger side window. "See you always here at the end of the day" he shouted, the teasing tone.

Liam turned to give him a dirty look as he moved away. "Fuck you" he muttered between his teeth.

Liam arrived late. When he stepped into the main door, the bell was ringing. His schedule said that he had to be at the history class, so he cursed internally, as he set off in search of the right classroom.

When he walked in, Mr Harris was already there. Liam froze in the doorway, under his stern gaze. "Good to see you want to join us, Mr ..." he left hanging. He heard someone giggle in the background. "Dunbar" he replied, his cheeks already on fire, feeling everybody's eyes on him.

"Welcome to our school, Mr. Dunbar, but learn to be more punctual next time. Now sit down." Liam nodded, taking a quick look at the class to find a place. He stopped. Obviously, who could have been chuckling of his misfortunes? Just him. And the only free place was the one next to him. Theo met his eyes defiantly, almost as if he didn't believe he would have the guts to sit next to him.

"Do you plan to sit down, Mr. Dunbar?" Harris urged him annoyed.

"Um, ye-yes ..." He gave in, starting to walk towards the desk shared with Theo, when a beautiful girl slipped from the close seat in the one next to Theo. Theo looked at her, taken aback, as she cheerfully waved to Liam, pointing to his old place. It was at that moment that Liam recognized Tracy, and turning to the next desk, he noticed Hayden smiling at him. Liam, more relieved, smiled back by taking a seat.

Theo just glared at them before snapping up his textbook.

"So you have a date with Hayden?" Mason repeated cheerfully.

Liam nodded. "Yeah, I mean, she told me- if I wanted to sit with her at lunch, it's a date"

"It is" Corey said, as they walked through the hallway towards their lockers.

"Uhm Corey is right"

"You just say that because he's your boyfriend" Liam joked.

"Perhaps, he use very convincing arguments" Mason chuckled, to which Corey rolled his eyes.

Liam laughed as he stopped, opening his locker

"But you know that-" Mason's tone changed, making him to turn to him "-probably also Theo will be there?"

"What?" Liam asked, suddenly restless.

"Um, you know- he's kinda dating Tracy, so-"

"He's not dating Tracy, he's fucking Tracy, it's different" Corey said sourly. "I seriously doubt that Theo Raeken is capable of developing romantic feelings towards someone"

"Well, he’ll be there." Mason turned to Liam, and caught his frightened look. So he hurried to make up for it. " You know, I don’t think you need to worry about him," he said. "Of course, Theo is an asshole, he’s a poser, he thinks he’s the king of this school just because he’s the 'popular lacrosse team captain'..." Mason rolled his eyes "-but that doesn’t mean he’s still the immature idiot he was when he was ten. He won’t... he won’t do anything to annoy you..." He bit his lip, looking at Corey for support "I guess..."

"Mason told me about you two" Corey intruded. "I honestly don't know how you could stand him without smashing his face."

Liam shifted uncomfortably on the spot. Then Corey smiled at him. "If he bothers you, know that you are not alone"

Mason nodded "Yes, dude, we all got your back. Even if he will probably tear us apart, we will fight him together" he joked. Liam laughed.

Hayden had told him during one of the last classes that she would wait for him outside the cafeteria, and she did so. When they had taken their lunch, they set off in search of a table, until they heard someone calling them cheerfully. They turned to meet Tracy, who waved from a nearby table. "Hey guys" she greeted them as they sat down.

"Hi" Liam greeted her shyly.

"I feared we should have eaten standing" Hayden said looking at her relieved. She giggled before focusing on Liam.

"So Liam ... What's it like being back in Beacon Hills? You were in Los Angeles right? How I envy you!" she said dreamily.

"Um, yeah, but actually I came back to Beacon Hills last year."

"Really?" Hayden asked in surprise.

"Yes, I was at Devenford Prep"

"The private high school near by? And why did you change school in the middle of the year?" Tracy asked stunned.

Liam fidgeted nervously. It was a topic he didn't like to face. He was about to open his mouth, looking for a way to dismiss the question, when someone distracted them.

For the first time, Theo Raeken had been useful at least.

He and another boy slipped next to Tracy and Hayden respectively. "Guys, what a crazy line, what does a man have to do to get his food?" The boy complained dramatically, attacking right away his fries.

"Man? I don't see any man here" Tracy said sarcastically.

"You want to check for yourself, Stewart?"

"Very mature, Josh" Hayden commented. Liam winced at the name, turning to look at him. So there was also Josh. Looking at him well, he had changed not much.

He too met his gaze. "And who is he?" He asked curiously, tugging a fry in his mouth.

"Who is he, you ask?" Tracy said chuckling. "It's Liam"

"Liam..."

"Liam Dunbar, you idiot.Don't you recognize him?"

Josh froze with a fry close to his lips, his mouth half open to form an O. He looked from Theo to Liam, then back to Theo, that was sitting, feigning indifference, even there was a slight tension barely visible on his shoulders.

"Oh my God, seriously?" Josh looked at him, a smile spreading across his lips. "Damn it, I would never have recognized you, Dunbar" he laughed. "How much time has passed? Five years?" Josh turned to Theo "My God you remember when-?"

"Shut up you idiot" Theo snapped shutting him up. Liam looked up at him, almost surprised.

"Uh okay, stay calm, dude" Josh snorted raising his hands in surrender before returning to his fries

"Shall we talk about anything else mmh?" Hayden interjected in an encouraging attempt, turning to look at Liam sitting to his right . Liam looked at her, and gave her a grateful smile.

Theo shifted his gaze from Liam to Hayden several times, before commenting, perhaps a little too loudly "How's your boyfriend, Hayden?" He asked, smiling indifferently, stealing a fry from Josh "I haven't seen him around in a while"

Hayden tensed, and Liam lost a beat. So Hayden had a boyfriend ... "Like you care he's fine, Theo"

"Is he still in junior high?" Theo tilted his head, with a grin.

Hayden blushed, and Liam looked at her in confusion. "Yes Theo" she replied acidly. "Like the last time you asked me"

"Theo, stop being an asshole" Tracy rolled her eyes, as if she wasn't seeing anything new.

"I think it's impossible" Josh commented from his corner. "I've always said it, asshole must have been his middle name. Did you ever think about changing it?" Josh said cheerfully

"Shut up Josh"

"Are you okay?" Liam whispered to Hayden.

She looked at him. "Yeah" She gave a shrug. "I stopped caring about what Theo says years ago"

"Look, I hear you"

"Good. Fuck you, did you hear that?"

Theo snorted angrily. Liam's lips twitched into a smile. He wished he had Hayden's nerve. He probably wouldn't be in that mess now.

Theo spun around to look at him, his lips clenched. "Do you think it's funny, Dunbar?" Liam winced, raising his head towards him, the memory of Theo slamming him violently into the wall still fresh. Theo made a mocking sound. "Don't you feel pathetic to stay here five years later still hoping that the same girl will look at you? What are you going to do, will you write another love letter?"

Liam blushed furiously, but he didn't have time to talk that Hayden got to her feet, the chair squeaking hard on the floor. "You're such an asshole!" This time there was no joy or amusement in Hayden's voice. "When will you grow up?" Hayden took her bag and placed a hand on Liam's shoulder "Let's go, Liam. Tracy, I'll see you after school"

Tracy nodded weakly.

When Hayden and Liam disappeared from the cafeteria, Tracy turned to Theo, bewildered. "Seriously, Theo? Was it really necessary?"

Theo ignored her shamelessly. Tracy snorted angrily, before getting up and storming out too.

"Don't say anything" Theo just said to Josh.

"I won't" he said seriously. "But I thought you was past that"

Theo stayed silent.