CHAPTER NINE » REIGNITE
"I shouldn't have done that."

☽

"Okay, how the hell do you merge worlds?" Stiles asked, probably voicing everyone's questions, as the four of us followed the train tracks. "Okay, nowhere in the manual does it say that werewolves can do that," he turned, glancing from Scott to face me instead. "And Scott and I pretty much wrote the manual."

"We can't even move between them," I added, feeling slightly deflated by the whole situation. I wanted nothing more than to get my friends back, especially Brett, but what the hell were we supposed to do?

"Yeah, look what it took to break you out," Scott practically mumbled, the mood dampening significantly.

After a pause, Liam glanced up at us, his pulse rate seeming to rise with sudden excitement. "We can't move between worlds," he spoke up, capturing our attention as he continued. "But Corey can. He can exist in both worlds," his eyes wildly flickered between Scott and Stiles. "And he can take people with him. At Scott's house, he pulled a Ghost Rider into our world."

"At the lacrosse game he brought us into theirs," Scott trailed off, pausing to probably think things through, but I could see the hopeful glint in his eyes.

"Wait," I said, a thought sparking in my own mind. "What if that's how Douglas is doing it?"

Liam nodded in agreement, our gazes meeting for a few moments before he addressed Scott again. "What if Corey's the key?"

"Interesting theory, okay," Stiles said dismissively. The new, hopeful feeling I'd previously conjured was beginning to falter. "Solid logic. It is. But he's in there and we're out here. So the only way to save everyone now is to just divert the train."

"We have to find him," Liam stated, a newfound determination suddenly seeming to strike him.

Upon hearing Stiles' reasoning, that Corey was in there and we were still here, it seemed that any idea to use him was going to be impossible. Liam's determination was all well and good, but the chances of pulling it off were becoming slimmer and slimmer. "How?"

"I'm going into the Hunt," he stated, immediately making me wince at the idea. Admittedly, the four of us had come up with some awful ideas in the past, but that was possibly one of the stupidest.

"No, no, no. Liam, I think you're confused," Stiles said nonchalantly, almost with a light laugh, as he began to step towards him. "We're trying to get people out of the Hunt."

"He can get taken by a Ghost Rider," Scott suggested, as I raised my eyebrows at the idea.

"It's just..." Stiles trailed off, hesitating slightly. "That's not a pleasant option. I'm just speaking from experience."

"I- I don't need to get taken to get into the Hunt," Liam stuttered out, his eyes seeming to light up. We watched him carefully, expecting him to continue.

"Okay. Seems like you got an idea, let's disc–" Stiles cut off as Liam suddenly rushed past us, sprinting back in the direction we had just come from. "Where are you going?!"

"I'll be back!"

The three of us froze still, watching after him until Stiles turned his head to look at Scott. "Were we like that?"

My brother turned to face his best friend, not missing a beat. "Worse."

"I'd agree with that," I added in, glancing back over in the direction Liam had ran off in. His scent was still strong, and I didn't doubt I'd be able to catch up quickly. "I'll go after him," I announced, causing the the two of them to whip their heads around to face me, concerned expressions on their faces. "I'll be fine. Just going to make sure he doesn't get himself, you know, accidentally killed or anything."

After some reluctance, Scott nodded, much to Stiles' surprise, it seemed. "Be careful."

I took a step backwards, giving them both an assuring, small smile. "Always am."

"Promise?" Scott asked, our eyes meeting properly.

I found myself swallowing thickly, nodding carefully. "I promise."

"Hey, we mean it," Stiles added on. "Don't go getting yourself into trouble."

"I'll try not to," I grinned back, eventually turning my backs on them as I followed Liam's scent. He hadn't actually got far, much to my surprise, so it wasn't too difficult to follow him. Up ahead, he came to a stop, and I did the same, regaining my breath to shout his name. "Liam!" I called out, catching his attention. He turned back around, confused.

"What are you doing?" He asked as I jogged over to reach him. "You should go back."

"I wanted to help," I said, as Liam began to walk ahead again. "Trust me, you'll need it."

"I don't need your help," he muttered harshly as I began to follow him, making sure to stay a few steps behind.

"And why's that? Because I'm pretty sure I've saved your ass way more times than–"

"Becca, seriously," he came to a halt, facing me properly. "Just go back."

"No, I promised Scott I'd help you," I said, tilting my head to the side. "And you know I don't make promises lightly."

Liam shifted his gaze, glancing back towards the hospital. I looked away, wondering if I'd said something wrong. Recently, when it came to talking to Liam, I usually found myself putting up a bit of a front, but that Rebecca was the complete opposite to the real one.

"I'm sorry," he said, so quietly that I almost didn't hear. I looked up, realising his eyes were set on me again.

"It's okay," I dismissed, lazily shrugging my shoulders. "I probably wouldn't want my help either–"

"No," he shook his head. "About Brett. I don't know why I got so mad, something about him just really gets to me."

"That's not important right now," I told him, although I was mildly amused by his apology. I was beginning to look forward to seeing Brett again and telling him about this conversation.

"It's important," he stated. "I mean, it might not be important to help everyone else, but it's important to me."

"Liam, now isn't the time to be selfish," I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes at his words.

"I'm being serious with you right now," he said, holding eye contact with me as he took a step in my direction.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You've had plenty of opportunities to be serious with me, and you're picking this as your moment?"

"If I go in there and we don't figure a way to get everyone back out," he paused, hesitating. "I need you to know how sorry I am. About me and you. About everything."

"Liam, please–"

He moved towards me again, closing the space between us slightly. "You don't get it, Becca. It's like, whenever I see you with him, with Brett, you're always smiling or laughing at something. And I can't help but think about a time when that was me and you, you know? But it's– there's something different in your smile now. And it's something that I caused. I hurt you, and I'm always going to hate myself for it."

I found myself falling silent, unsure on what to respond. I wasn't sure about the signals I was receiving from Liam, and I wasn't sure how I was even feeling at the moment.

My eyes flickered down to my trainers, which were currently bathing in dirt. "It doesn't matter."

"It matters," he said. "It matters because you matter to me."

I bit down on my lip, lifting my head up again. There had been a blissfully dull ache in my heart for a while now, but suddenly that weight felt even heavier. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I think I know how you're feeling and–"

"No you don't," I found myself snapping back, the words stinging my tongue. "You don't know how I feel, and you don't get to know– you lost that privilege a long time ago."

"You're right," he eventually said. "But I wanna earn that privilege back. I still care about you, Becca."

I glanced to the side, doing my best to avoid eye contact with him. "Do we really have to do this now?"

"I'm sorry," he answered softly. "I just keep thinking about everything I didn't say. And if this is gonna be the last time we see each other, then I just want you to know how much you still mean to me."

"I–" The words caught in my throat, and all I could really do was watch Liam helplessly.

"It's okay," he assured, a hint of a smile ghosting on his lips. "You know, I once made Scott and Stiles a promise that I thought I'd always keep. I promised that I'd never leave you. And I haven't truly kept that promise. But if we make it out of this alive, I intend to."

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep," I said, giving him a teasing smile.

"Trust me," he said, letting a light laugh leave his lips. "Ever since I met you, I never have."

Liam fell quiet all of a sudden. When I lifted my eyelids, looking up at him properly, I realised he was staring. Our eyes met, his seeming to search mine for something.

I found myself feeling self conscious, but was unable to look away. His eyes had always drawn me in. But only now, did I notice how blue they really were. And how much emotion they held in the depths of them.

I found the strength to tear my gaze away, and did so quickly. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, I reached to brush a strand of hair from my face, which seemed to amuse Liam. "What?"

"It's just–" he grinned. "You've got a smudge of dirt on your face."

"Oh," I said, shifting on my feet awkwardly. I brushed my finger over the area he was pointing too, which only made him chuckle more.

"No, it's–" he reached forwards, his hand brushing against mine. I felt my breath catch in my throat, and I stiffened as he guided my hand towards my cheek. "Just there."

I pressed my fingers down, hoping to brush it away. I moved my hand away, looking up at Liam again. "Gone?"

"Gone."

It fell silent again, and only now did I notice just how close we were stood together. Something in the air had changed, and when I looked back at Liam again, I realised his smile had faltered, his eyes holding a greater intensity than they did before.

Slowly, very slowly, he inched closer, the gap between us closing. I found myself sucking in a breath, completely frozen on the spot. I knew this wasn't right, but as I cast my gaze down to his lips, I felt myself being pulled in even further.

Gently, as if he was still unsure, he pressed his lips to mine; his mouth warm, his lips soft. I found myself responding almost immediately, the kiss deepening. Slowly, the world melted away. He rested his hand beneath my ear, his thumb softly brushing against my cheek.

It took a few moments before I pulled away, my heart pounding in my chest. Liam jumped away, and looked in another direction, scratching the back of his neck, and I turned away from him, running a hand through my hair.

"That wasn't right," I said, my words sounding almost strangled. I turned back to face him, unable to meet his eyes. "That wasn't right."

"I'm sorry," he said, our gazes meeting for the briefest instance. "I shouldn't have done that."

"It's okay," I looked down at the ground, wondering why I felt so disappointed not to continue. "We should probably–"

"Yeah," he said, looking back in the direction to the hospital. "Yeah we should go through with the plan, um," he paused, glancing at me again. "What's the plan?"

"I don't know," I replied. "I, uh, thought you had one?"

"Right," he said, grimacing slightly. "Maybe we should split up. You could go and find your friend, and then I'll try and get taken by the wild hunt."

"Liam, you don't have to do this alone," I told him, fully aware of what I signed up for.

"No, you should stay here," he dismissed, meeting my eyes one final time. "You're probably better out here than in there."

"Okay," I nodded, knowing that he was probably right, my powers would be more helpful out here. I guess, deep down, I was just a little scared of letting him go. "Well, be careful. And good luck."

"Stay safe, Bec."

❥

A/N

That was a long time coming, huh?

Hella awks tho.