Reagents & Red Flags ~ Theo Raeken
Summary: As the pack are trying to work out Theo's true intentions, you stay late at the library, only to bump into the new arrival.
Warnings: Possible language, teasing, sarcasm.
The problem with chemistry wasn’t the equations.
It was the fact that they insisted on multiplying the equations into forty-six different forms and then expected your sleep-deprived brain to understand all of them.
You were hunched over your notes at a corner table in the library - the same table you always used for studying, self-loathing, and pretending exams weren’t real. Your hair was in a messy bun you didn’t remember making. Your coffee was cold. Your patience was dead.
You stabbed your pen at your notebook.
“Explain why electrons hate me,” you muttered.
“They don’t,” a calm voice said behind you. “They just prefer stability.”
Of course. Of course it had to be him.
You slowly turned, as if hoping you were hallucinating from caffeine withdrawal.
Theo stood there, hands in his pockets, head slightly tilted like he’d caught you mid-ritual sacrifice. His expression was unreadable in that infuriatingly quiet way he had, as if the entire world was a puzzle he was choosing not to solve yet.
You cleared your throat. “You know, for a guy who allegedly doesn’t sneak up on people, you sure do sneak up on people.”
He blinked once. “I said I don’t try to. Not that I fail.”
You stared. “…Are you proud of that?”
“Great. Wonderful. I’ll send you a badge.”
He didn’t leave. Of course he didn’t. He stepped closer, slow and deliberate, and your shoulders tensed before you could stop them.
Because of course he noticed.
His lips lifted - just a hint. “Are you afraid of me?”
You scoffed. Loudly. Immediately. Too immediately.
“Please. I’m afraid of failing my chemistry exam. You I’m just… observing.”
His eyes glinted. “Observing. That’s what we’re calling it?”
“Yes,” you snapped, then added, because you hated lying poorly, “I mean - you’re new. And mysterious. And no offence, but the pack is two conspiracy theories away from forming an official committee about you.”
Theo hummed, low in his throat. “And what does their committee think?”
“And what do you think?” he asked, stepping closer.
You swallowed. “I think you have a suspiciously good skincare routine.”
That earned you a small laugh, soft and warm and completely unfair.
He nodded toward the chair across from you. “May I?”
Then: “…Fine. But if you steal my notes I’ll have to maul you, and I don’t have the energy for that today.”
Theo sat with a quiet grace that made you feel like you were slouching even though you definitely were not.
His gaze flicked across your notebook. “Chemistry?”
You bristled. “Wow. Subtle.”
He lifted a shoulder. “You were muttering threats at electrons.”
He leaned forward, elbows on the table, studying the page like he was reading without reading. “Which section?”
You hesitated again. He was newer than a fresh ink cartridge. The pack didn’t trust him. You didn’t exactly trust him, either. But you trusted chemistry even less, and right now, one of them might actually help you.
You nudged the book toward him. “Stoichiometry. Balancing equations. Which, by the way, is impossible. I’m convinced the first chemist was just making things up and everyone else pretended to understand.”
Theo’s eyes softened - barely. “Show me what you’re stuck on.”
You blinked. “You know chemistry?”
He raised a brow. “Why does that surprise you?”
“Because every time someone asks about your past, you answer like you’re being paid per vague sentence.”
Another soft laugh. He pointed at the first equation. “This one. What’s confusing you?”
“Start with the reactants,” he said.
You stared hard at the page like it personally offended you. “They’re… reacting.”
“That is not an answer,” he murmured.
“It’s an emotional truth.”
Theo shook his head - still amused - and slid your notebook slightly toward himself. His fingers brushed the edge of your paper, and somehow that tiny movement made your pulse jump.
You hated that he noticed. He always noticed.
He glanced up. “Still observing?”
“Still deciding,” you corrected.
He leaned back, folding his arms. “You’re cautious.”
“And you’re smug about it.”
His smile widened by half a centimetre - huge, by Theo standards. “Maybe a little.”
You rolled your eyes, grabbed your pen, and pointed it at him like a weapon. “Teach me chemistry or leave. Those are your options.”
“Threatening me already?”
He lifted his hands in surrender. “Very well.”
Theo explained each step with slow, patient confidence. He didn’t talk too much. Didn’t talk too little. Just enough that you could follow the thread between his thoughts and the page. His voice was steady and low, calm in a way that made the tension in your shoulders ease without permission.
It was annoying.
Suspicious.
…Nice.
You watched him more than you should have. His eyes tracked each number like he understood the logic on a level you didn’t. He didn’t fidget. Didn’t hurry. He existed in this stillness that made everything else quiet.
When he finished balancing the equation, he tapped the notebook lightly. “Your turn.”
You bared your teeth at him. “I’m going to get this wrong on purpose just to spite you.”
“No,” he said, voice dropping just a little, “I’m starting to understand you.”
Your brain went entirely blank. Like, flat-lined.
Theo noticed that too - of course he did - and he tilted his head.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“Don’t-” You waved your pen wildly. “Don’t say things like that. It sounds like flirting.”
“YES,” you blurted, then slapped a hand over your mouth.
“You cannot flirt while I am failing chemistry. It’s rude.”
He laughed again, this time actually audible. “You’re very interesting.”
“Because you’re doing the eye thing.”
“The eye thing where you look like you’re observing me like a science experiment.”
“Ah.” He leaned in slightly. “But I like observing you.”
You choked on absolutely nothing. “Theo!”
You glared at him so hard it could’ve melted steel. “I want you to stop being confusing.”
“I’m not confusing,” he said. “You’re cautious. I’m curious. It creates tension.”
“Oh my god,” you groaned. “You said tension like that on purpose.”
His smile was definitely teasing now. “Maybe.”
You forced yourself to look back at the notebook. “I hate you.”
You scowled. “Shut up and watch me balance this equation.”
And when you got it right on the first try, Theo said softly-
Somehow, that felt like more trouble than chemistry ever could.
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