This wasn't Liam's fault...

It was the delicious cookie's fault.

Looking tasty, chocolatey, shining with sugar.

All those calories, comfort food, best friend treats. He couldn't wait until Mason saw it, grinned and touched his fingers to get it. Liam's palms are sweaty. He's getting nervous, just thinking about his best friend. What did he do in Math? Did his A star streak last in Geometry, and most importantly, why is he late? He frowns at the clock. Mason's never late for anything, always up, ready willing prepared to take on the disasters of the day, from bersekers to that pesky dripping tap in the science room.

He smells him before the worry drains him.

"Hey!"

"Hi...Hey"

"Cookie?" Liam asks waving the plastic wrapped snack. He places it on the table with a smile.

It's one of the rare times that he does smile. In the company of Mason, who doesn't judge. Who doesn't get scared when Liam explodes, when the chairs go flying, when they're escorted out, when Girls and Guys are laughing at them for all the wrong reasons...

It's occurs to Liam, that one day he'll sit Mason down and blurt this out. Not his intentions. Because he's confused, he's not even sure what they are yet. But soon, one sleep over, when the Playstation Four is humming in the background and he's eaten enough Candy to awaken the dead. He'll rest, cradled up against Mason's ear and whisper hidden feelings.

Feelings that he thought were just protection and loyalty. Feelings that just drove him to mark Mason as pack. Feelings that were crushing him by the day when he realised his best friend was taken. He'd always hate Corey for being Mason's first, but then again, he was pretty sure they'd never had sex.

More than Ninety percent sure anyway...

"No more cookies Li...I'm dieting" Mason says.

Before Liam can even swear in shock, Mason's pulling out diet leaflets, Five a day diaries, and smoothie books from the library. It's puzzling, he scans his friend's body, paranoid that he's keeping more...

"What? You're not fat, did someone tell you that?" Liam whines.

"Not in so many words" Mason shrugs.

Liam's fangs sharpen against the lie.