Pet // Completed // Liam Payne AU

EPILOGUE PART 1

 Second to last part of Pet. Can you hear me sobbing? Just a couple things - 

first, thank you to RaeSarai for the new cover! I really appreciate it and love it!

Second, if you follow me, you may have seen that I uploaded two new stories - Sugar and The Lion and The Lamb. The former is a werewolf story, the latter a Harry Styles fanfiction. Idk which one will have priority when I decide to begin uploading the both of them, but whichever one gets the most traffic by the first few weeks of summer will most likely be uploaded first. 

So please check them out! 

Please enjoy the rest of the story! Love you all. 

 When Liam reappeared, the media's suspicions raised. It was easy to fight the cops when he wasn't here, and Niall, Tanner, and I all had the same story, one that didn't give them any leads, but when suddenly someone else that I was obviously head-over-heels for appeared, they thought he was the criminal, and I was suffering from Stockholm syndrome.

It took two months before it was officially over. No one else recognized me outside, the cops stopped asking questions, the news outlets had moved onto some new celebrity rumor.

And Liam and I decided to leave. We packed all of our stuff - from my old apartment and our new one - and had a condo rented on the coast of Cambria, California for several months, until we established ourself. Cambria was one of the few territories unclaimed by another pack. So Liam would be allowed there, and we could live in peace.

Niall and Tanner were staying in the other apartment, and both of them had jobs that would keep them taken care of.

"You'll come visit?" I asked Niall hopefully.

He nodded, beaming at me and pulling me in for another hug. "Yeah. I need some sun on this pale skin."

"Good."

Tanner was sitting quietly on the couch a few feet away, and the familiar feeling of betrayal echoed in my belly at the sight of him. I hadn't quite forgiven him yet, to be honest. I was trying, but it was hard when I was plagued with nightmares of that day, all them end with him standing over Liam and killing him - sometimes with a gun, other times with a knife.

Liam squeezed my side, kissing the side of my face. "Say goodbye to him, at least," he whispered. "He deserves that much."

Out of everyone, Tanner was probably having the most difficult transition. He was incredibly guilty, but refused to get help. Niall had caught him trying to harm himself, and since Tanner was under careful watch. But he seemed to be doing better, now that he had a job and freedom to do what he wanted.

"Tanner," I called out, moving to stand in front of him.

I couldn't even get out what I wanted to say before he was embracing me tightly, crying into my shoulder. I stood rigid in his hold, a little surprised. "I hate myself for it, I hate myself," he sobbed. "I'd take back everything if I could."

"Tanner, stop," I sighed, patting his back in a failed attempt to soothe him. "It's over now. Nothing can be changed."

"But you still don't forgive me."

I sighed again, pushing him off of me. "I... Time. I still need time. That's all I can promise you for now, Tanner. I trusted you with everything I had, and that isn't natural for me. Come visit sometime soon and hopefully I'll have moved on," I told him. "Okay?"

He nodded, wiping at his wet face. "I don't deserve a friend like you. I really don't," he claimed. "I don't deserve anything-"

"Shut up, you big crybaby," Niall teased. "Stop crying and say goodbye."