"This is so weird." Mason said voice soft with awe.

"What's weird?" Liam asked, watching Scott and the others arguing on the artificial lawn.

"I'm just saying laser tag is clearly better than crazy golf!" Stiles hissed.

"I agree with him."

"Laser tag was like ten bucks more and last time we went you made a little girl cry." Scott said.

"You made a child cry?" Lydia asked.

"Alright it was an accident and-"

"Dude." Mason huffed, slapping Liam's arm to get his attention. "Look at it and tell me it's not strange."

"Look at what?"

"That-" Mason said jutting his head towards a small building at the edge of the green. Theo and Corey stood in front of it. Corey hovering uncomfortably, two golf clubs clutched in his hands as Theo handed money over to the girl behind the counter.

"What, Theo?" Liam said, head tilting trying to figure out what about Theo was so strange that Mason felt the need to point it out.

"Yeah man, Theo. He's..I mean he's tried to kill us and we're about to play crazy golf with him, how can you not find that weird?" Mason snorted.

"It's just not." Liam said with a small shrug.. "I said I wanted to get away from the supernatural and that's what we've been doing. Dumb human shit, like bowling. This is just..another day. He's not the person you think he is alright? Weird with Theo is the way he eats or the lake. Not golf."

"What's the lake?" Mason inquired.

"What? Nothing? I don't know. I'm just saying, it's not weird. Weird is that we're about to play with Derek." Liam rushed. "You know I once almost killed him and Stiles in the back of a van?" Mason's eyebrows crinkled together as his face screwed in confusion. "Look, if you act like it's not weird then it's not weird. Theo's actually funny."

"He's funny?" Mason parroted incredulously.

"Yeah man." Liam said, unable to stop himself from grinning at the horrified look on Mason's face at the suggestion of Theo being amusing. "Just trust me alright? Treat him like a normal person and he acts like it. Maybe a bit of an asshole but-"

"Yeah..Yeah. Theo being normal. I can do that." Mason hummed. "Nope, can't do it." he added a moment later, shaking his emphatically. "He tried to kill you-"

"Mason just trust me. Please."

"But-"

"I tried with Corey. You can try with Theo."

"Do you want me to ignore the fact your comparing me getting on with Theo to you getting on with my boyfriend or-"

"Shut up. I just mean..We had every reason not to trust Corey but you did, so I did-"

"Eventually-"

"And it was a good idea. So just, trust me alright. He's different."

"If he tries anything evil I'm going to beat him with my golf club."

"Dude, if he tries anything evil I'd help you kill him but I'm like..ninety percent sure his evil has simmered down to a general annoyance kind of evil."

"Ninety percent? Is that meant to make me feel better?"

"Definitely. I'm only ever like seventy percent sure Stiles isn't going to become a serial killer so-" The two boys turned, eyeing Stiles as he ranted.

"Derek I swear to god. I'm proud of you for getting a sense of humour but if you make one more joke at my expense I'm going to shove my bat so far up your ass you'll be coughing splinters."

"We get it, you want laser tag, maybe we can play later or-"

"Do you ever think we need more normal friends?" Liam murmured.

"Every day man." Mason hummed. "You can't really talk though. I turn my back for a minute and you become best friends with a psychopath-"

"We're not best friends." Liam huffed. "We're not even friends really." Liam muttered scuffing his foot on the grass.

"The dude is about to play crazy golf because you asked him to."

"He's playing crazy golf because we all needed a ride."

"Sure. Like how he came to breakfast because he was just hungry? What's it Stiles says, ones an incident, two's a coin-"

"I already told you on the phone, Theo's not replacing you as my best friend."

"You also said that you weren't braiding each others hair-"

"A little girl did that not Theo."

"Theo stealing my position as best friend is really not what I'm worried about."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"They're coming over. Act normal." Mason hissed.

"I thought we were being normal? Were we not?" Mason ignored him, taking the club offered by Corey with a smile.

"Here-" Theo said, tossing Liam a club and a ball.

"So." Mason said. "You uh..you a fan of golf?" Theo's eyes flickered to Liam, narrowing as if it was his fault Mason was trying to be pleasant, which it was, but Liam wasn't about to apologise for that. He'd even hug Mason for it if it wouldn't look strange hugging someone because they asked someone they dislike if they liked golf.

"No." Theo said bluntly.

"Cool." Mason hummed. Liam glowered at Theo who rolled his eyes in return.

"What about you? Do you like golf?" Theo asked. Eyeing Liam as if to say 'there, you happy?' Liam was.

"Uh..Not really?" Mason admitted.

"Cool." Theo mimicked. "Then lets get this over with." he stalked off towards the others, already waiting by the first hole.

Well that went well. Liam thought.

"This really isn't weird for you?" Mason whispered. Liam eyed Theo again as he came to a stop, loitering just close enough to the pack to be considered with them, golf ball bouncing in his palm eyes blank. And really, it was weird, but not the hanging out with Theo part, the strange part was seeing Theo about to do something a bit childish and not looking like he was ready to burst out of his skin with excitement.

"Not in the way you're thinking." Liam said with a small sigh. "Come on."

"We should split into two teams-" Lydia was saying as Liam and the other two approached.

"Bagsie not in Theo's team!" Stiles said yelping. Even from his place hanging off to the side of them Liam could see Theo's shoulders tense.

"Will you stop being such a dick!" Liam growled leaving all eyes snapping to him, Stiles's blown wide like a deer in headlights. "Seriously, if you don't like him don't talk to him you don't need to keep taking subtle jabs like a petty little bi-"

"He's terrible at golf." Stiles said.

"What?" Liam asked.

"Were you about to call me a bitch?" Stiles asked.

"How do you know I'm bad at golf?" Theo said. "I could be great."

"Scott's eighth birthday. We went golfing...You almost broke a girls nose when you threw the club behind you." Stiles said slowly. "And then you did break your own nose when you hit yourself in the face." he finished smugly. Liam watched as the tips of Theo's ears turned red.

"You broke your own nose playing golf?" Liam asked.

"No."

"Yes." Scott said. "My mom had to take you to the hospital."

"See. I don't want to be on Theo's team because he sucks, not because he's a lying piece of shi-"

"I'll go on Theo's team." Derek said, loud enough to cover Stiles's voice, something Stiles didn't seem to appreciate judging on the betrayed glower in his direction.

"Dude!"

"Don't call me dude." Derek sighed.

"My Team is clearly the better choice, why would you-"

"So I can beat you." Derek said bluntly.

"And you called me a petty bitch." Stiles scoffed, eyeing Liam. "Come on runt lets show them how it's-"

"I'm going to go with Derek." Liam said. "Mase?"

"Yeah. Sure, us too." Mason said reluctantly.

"Scotty?" Stiles pleaded.

"Yeah, I'll be on your team." Scott said with a smile.

"Haha! I get the true alpha!"

"Stiles, the rest of us have to be with you." Lydia said. "It's already five against four."

"You'd go with me anyway right? Even if you didn't have to?" Stiles said.

"...Sure." Lydia hummed.

"Can we start already?" Malia said. "Derek. Let's play." Derek and Malia moved forwards, readying to take their first shots. Liam swung his club slinking back towards Theo as he watched the golfers with narrowed eyes, as if trying to catalogue every move so he could repeat it early.

"So...you broke your own nose playing golf?" He hummed. Theo let out a low sigh.

"Shut up." Theo said, watching as Mason lined up for a shot.

"You really were terrible at being a human weren't you?" Liam said, smirking at Theo. Theo met is eyes for a moment, Liam was sure he only did it to make sure Liam saw his eye roll. "Seriously, how'd you break your own nose?"

"I was eight alright? The club was really big and- Stop laughing." Theo grumbled.

"I'm sorry I'm picturing it." Liam chuckled.

"You know what I'm picturing? You crying and clinging to Evelyn because you had to walk across a bridge."

"I didn't cry."

"Tell yourself what you want if it helps you sleep at night."

"Theo. You wanna go next?" Mason said. Theo's finger tapped at his club.

"Sure."

"Remember. Keep a hold of it and hit the ball with this end." Liam said, tapping the putter. "Try not to break your nose, or if you do let me film-" Theo swung his club up hitting Liam between the legs leaving Liam collapsing to the floor with a groan as Theo swaggered away.

"Don't worry Pumpkin, I think I got the hang of it." he said over his shoulder, tossing Liam a patented Theo smirk as he waltzed past Mason, who was rushing to help Liam back up.

"This is normal for you?" Mason asked, Liam blinked back tears as the pain receded.

"Unfortunately." Liam said. he watched as Theo took his shot, ball swooping up in the air and sailing past the small barriers of the first hole and landed a good ten feet away in the second area. The nine of them watched as it bounced on the springy fake grass and rolled towards the hole, dropping in with a gentle clack.

"I'm not sure if I should be impressed." Derek said.

"Maybe try hitting it a bit lighter?" Lydia suggested. Theo stormed off to retrieve his ball, muttering what sounded suspiciously like 'no shit' under his breath. Liam did a fairly bad job at concealing a laugh.

Liam would have loved to say that Theo's skills improved as the game went on but that would be a bald-faced lie. Three holes in and Liam was fairly sure Theo had a stroke count higher than the rest of them put together which was only getting worse as the holes got more intricate. Unlike bowling Theo's Chimera abilities seemed to be giving him no help. If anything they seemed to be making him worse.

"Look man, just relax or you're going to bend the club." Mason said.

"Hit it as hard as you can."

"Shut up Stiles." Theo said, hitting the small purple ball for the umpteenth time. Liam winced as the ball slammed against the windmill's plates and rolled back towards him making Theo's eyes flash dangerously yellow and a growl roll from his chest. Stiles let out a cackling laugh behind him, sounding half mad.

"This is just getting embarrassing." Derek sighed as Theo took another shot and the same thing happened again.

"Shut up!" Theo huffed.

"I'm pretty sure you're over the nine shot limit dude." Mason said.

"We can turn around while you put it on the other side of the windmill if you want?" Liam suggested, Theo's eyes snapped up to his in a dark glare.

"I got it." Theo said, hitting the golf ball again, Stiles wheezed as it ricocheted back to him.

"You really don't get it." Malia said. Theo reeled back his arms and slammed the club into the ball again, driving it up in a curving loop off the floor, It hit the windmill with a loud clunk before it came shooting back towards Theo's face. Liam would have laughed at the way Theo dropped his club and hit the deck were he not too busy watching the ball continue it's arch through the air and smack giggling Scott in the face. Scott hit the floor with a yelp of pain, the scent of blood wafting through the air as his hand came up to press against his cheekbone.

Stiles's laughing tapered off in a choked sound as everyone looked between Theo and Scott, still sprawled across the floor staring up at Theo in horror as blood leaked through his fingers and the golf ball rolled across the ground between them. Theo broke the moment, a hiss of laughter pushing past his lips, muffled as he slapped a hand over his mouth to try and keep it in.

"I think you broke my cheek-" Scott murmured. Stiles barked out a laugh almost loud enough to swallow Theo's muffled giggle. Liam watched as Theo schooled his expression back to unamused.

"You'll heal fast." Theo said, moving towards Scott. He threw out a hand towards him as if to help him up. Liam saw Scott tense, the way his limbs locked for a moment and Theo's eyes widened as he caught the flinch before his hand was drooping back to his side. Before he could lower it completely Scott was moving, grabbing his hand. Theo froze for half a second before he was hauling Scott from the ground in an uncomfortably awkward looking scene of camaraderie that neither party seemed to wish to be a part of.

"That was an accident." Theo said, all traces of humour gone from his face.

"I know." Scott said with a quick nod, skin already knitting back together. The two lingered uneasily. "I mean, It's not like you're good enough to plan that shot right?" He said with a tentative smile.

"Right." Theo said, finger tapping at the club, once, twice. "You know. I think I've done enough golfing for one day."

"It's really fi-"

"I'll be in the car when you're done. Kick their asses." Theo said, eyes locking with Liam before he turned his gaze back to Scott, he gave a small nod before he turned and walked back towards the front desk. The pack was silent for a moment, watching Theo's retreating back before Mason was clapping a hand on Liam's back.

"Alright dude. You heard him. Get us a hole in one and we might stand a chance." Mason said, nudging Liam towards the course forcing Liam's attention from Theo as he returned his club.

*

Liam had thought that the pack would be heading back to Beacon Hills after the impromptu game of golf so he made no complaints while he and Theo lingered in the parking lot for half an hour watching Scott and Stiles trying to fix the jeep up with duct tape, or the five minutes it took Derek to actually fix it once he'd managed to shove the two teens out of the way.

When the engine finally roared to life Liam had jumped up from the bed of the truck, ready to bid a quick farewell to the pack and wave them off so he and Theo could return to regularly scheduled road tripping.

He hadn't been expecting for Stiles to rattle off the directions to a motel as he hopped into the jeep with the promise that he'd be waking everyone up bright and early tomorrow to play laser tag before they left town so he'd stupidly agreed to meet them there before the words sunk in and turned back to a frowning Theo as the jeep pulled out of the car park.

*

"I hate motels." Liam sighed peering out the window to the grubby looking building.

"It's your fault we're here. Deal with it."

"But they smell." Liam whined.

"You smell."

"Mature."

"No seriously." Theo said. "I don't know how no one's forced you to have a shower yet, you stink." Liam opened his mouth ready to retort. "Calm down. I do too-" Theo placated. "We've been in the same clothes for three days. It's way past time we stopped at a motel and showered." Liam, unfortunately, couldn't argue against that because it was fairly true. The dips in the lake had done little to clean their clothes, instead just threw a damp smell into the mix of sweat. "and since I just paid for your lunch, took you golfing and have to pay for the room. It's only fair I get the first shower."

"That's so far from fair! You haven't given me any money!" Liam said.

"I gave you money. It's not my fault you spent it on Star Wars and a tacky souvenir for Mason."

"That definitely wasn't half of three grand-"

"It wasn't, but you owe me for the babysitting fee so I took that off the top. You're lucky you got any." Theo said, shouldering the duffel and throwing himself out of the car. Liam followed his lead. Chasing him across the parking lot towards the reception.

"You know, if you really are my babysitter you should let me use the bathroom first."

"And why is that?"

"You know, child welfare and all that. Putting them before you and-"

"I'm giving you an important life lesson." Theo scoffed.

"Oh really, and what's that?"

"Money does buy happiness. Or in this case, the first shower."

"You're so weird-"

"Liam!" Liam blinked as Mason and Corey left the reception, Mason grinning brightly as a key jangled in his palm. "Dude, good timing, I just got us a room-"

"You got us a room?" Liam repeated.

"Yeah, come on, you really need a shower-"

"Told you." Theo muttered.

"I was going to-"

"Have a nice sleepover." Theo hummed, ducking in through the doors before Liam could finish his sentence.

"You were going to what?" Mason prompted. Liam glared through the glass as Theo stood at the front desk.

"Nothing, lets go."

*

It was only after getting out of the shower that Liam realised Theo had all of their things, including a change of clothes for Liam to wear and Theo had been annoyingly correct about how much he, and the clothes, stunk. Liam couldn't put them back on. Not unless he wanted to have another shower.

"Come on Mason-" Liam pleaded

"Liam, he didn't answer the door." Mason said with a sigh.

"He probably just didn't hear you." Liam insisted.

"Dude, no I could hear him laughing about it through the door."

"I need clothes-"

"Then you go get them. I'm not breaking into Theo's room, he'd kill me."

"I can't go! I'm in a towel."

"I'm sure no one will mind."

"Dude-"

"I'll walk you to the door." Corey sighed.

"What part of I'm in a towel don't you understand?"

"No one will see you." Corey took Liam's hand and he felt the familiar shiver pass through him as he turned them both invisible.

"..Fine. Thanks." The two left the room and picked their way across the car park to Theo's room. He kept one hand locked around the towel, invisible or not the idea of his towel falling leaving him naked in public wasn't exactly a nice one. Within a minute they'd reached Theo's door. Liam slammed his fist down in a hard knock.

"What?"

"Let me in!" Liam hissed. He heard Theo chuckle before footsteps creaked towards the door.

"See you in a minute" Corey said, dropping Liam's hand and scurrying away just as Theo threw the door open. His eyes flickered from Corey's retreating back to Liam as he shuffled on the doorstep.

"Didn't realise it was my birthday-" Theo said, leaning against the door frame with a smirk, gaze trailing down Liam's chest. Liam barely registered the words, too busy shoving past Theo with a muttered 'asshole' hoping that no one had been around to see him in the few seconds Theo delayed his entry. The duffel was tossed on a large bed, clothes spilling out of it as if Theo had grabbed his stuff in a rush. Liam scooped some clean clothes out and dropped his dirty ones in.

"You know it's rude to barge into someone's room right?" Theo said kicking the door shut behind him.

"You could have stopped it by giving Mason my clothes when he asked for them."

"How was I supposed to know he was being serious?" Theo hummed. Liam stuck his middle finger up at him as he stomped towards the bathroom to get dressed.