AUTHORS NOTE: I know this is kinda shorter than what I usually post but I'm actually terrified that this one sucks and had so much anxiety writing it that I just wanted to post it before I talk myself out of it.

If you don't like it that's more than okay, just please don't roast me too hard. It's kinda rushed, and I'm sorry about that but now I'm sitting here in a Theo vibe and I'm trying so hard to keep this a Liam fic like 14 year old me intended

When she got back to the bullpen, she was informed of the plan.

Since Monroe had never seen what Jiang and Tierney looked like and they had a male and a female body, they were going  to try and pawn off the two deputy's bodies as the omega werewolves they were protecting. With three minutes until the deadline of midnight, it had to work.

Hands stuffed in her pockets, Katherine watched Scott and Theo follow her dad out to the parking lot with the two body bags. Thinking about the people inside them, about the horror that she'd seen, she grew nauseous. It was difficult to push away.

"Does anyone actually think this is going to work?" Malia demanded as she peered through the blinds. She answered her own question when she noticed the unimpressed looks she was given. "I'll stop asking."

"It has to work," Katherine said quietly, twisting the blinds open just enough to see what was going on.

The boys slid the zippers open and Monroe stepped forward, her stupid heeled boots tapping against the pavement. She said something to the Sheriff, and for a moment no one moved.

Their attention was suddenly brought to the open lot behind them and for once in her life, Katherine could say she was close to being happy because of the presence of Scott's dad. She hadn't said that many times in her life.

Within five minutes, he'd made an offer to deescalate the situation. Hand over Jiang and Tierney to him, and everyone walks away. It was an impossible decision, knowing why they did what they did.

Hand them over to the FBI?

Or an angry mob?

In the end, they decided the best option was Scott's dad. They had a much better chance at survival that way.

The only issue was that the pack leaving was part of the deal too. Scott and Malia, Lydia and Liam and Theo all had to leave the state to appease Monroe's ridiculous demands.

After everything she had gone through with him, Liam was being forced to leave.

It was bullshit, and Katherine was furious.

They all went outside and watched as the two were put in the back of the SUV. At the same time, her dad let Nolan go. Katherine watched him stumble over to Gabe, who waited with arms folded over his chest. He watched her as Liam put a firm arm around her shoulders, and she stared right back.

She meant every word she'd said and more.

They were the reason she was losing her family. If it weren't for Liam's arm around her shoulder, she would've tackled them both to the ground, bat or no bat.

After the hoard left, Katherine went with Liam to pack his things. She clung tightly to his hand the entire walk, but remained quiet.

There wasn't a lot she could say.

She couldn't ask him to stay.

Couldn't ask him to take her with him.

Couldn't even muster up the courage to ask when him and the others leave.

Katherine knew she had never been good at handling loss. After Allison she didn't talk for days, not even to Stiles—

Stiles.

What would he make of all this?

He's been gone less than four months and the entire town was all but falling apart.

"What're you thinking about?"

She closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying. "I'm just being a baby, it's fine," she mumbled and yanked him further down the street.

They were nearly at his house anyways, and she wasn't going to waste the time she had left by getting snot everywhere.

Unfortunately, Liam was a lot stronger than she was and just stopped walking. She tried pulling him for a little while but eventually gave up. There was no point. He didn't say anything, only stared at her and waited.

For someone with anger issues, he was surprisingly patient with her.

"I'm thinking that I really don't want you guys to leave," she admitted quietly, eyes focused solely on the pavement.

Liam gently tugged on her arm and pulled her into him, arms wrapping tightly around her. She buried her face in his shoulder. "You'll be okay," he told her gently and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"You guys are my family."

"I know."

"I don't like change."

He pulled her away just enough to make her look at him. "I know you don't, baby, but it has to happen if everyone is going to be safe."

Katherine dropped her face into his shoulder again. "There would be nothing to be safe from if you'd just let me handle things."

A soft laugh made his body shake and she couldn't help her own smile. "If we let you handle things you'd be spending the rest of your life in prison."

He wasn't wrong.

There were very few things Katherine wouldn't do for her family; jail was on the list of things she would. "I don't care what happens to me," she frowned. As soon as the words left her mouth his grip on her tightened. "I want all of you to be safe, you deserve it after all you've done."

Again, Liam gently tugged her away from him. He gently raked a hand through her hair, pausing at the tangles. "Well, we all care about what happens to you," he said, rolling his lips inward. "You've done just as much as we have, you and Stiles. You both deserve to be safe just as much as the rest of us."

Her mouth pulled to one side as she thought of what she wanted to say, then decided against it. "Stop being right," was all she managed.

For the rest of the evening, Katherine helped him pack a bag and come up with an excuse to give his parents. When they couldn't come up with anything good they just said Scott was showing him the school he was attending and how good their lacrosse program was.

It was a horrible lie, but it was the best they could come up with.

She watched him go through his dresser and closet, taking every important thing and putting it in his bag. Her bottom lip remained trapped between her teeth and for an unusually long time, Katherine didn't say anything at all.

There were a lot of things she wanted to say to him, and all of them were things she didn't know if she should admit out loud.

"What aren't you saying, Kat?"

Her head jerked up to look at him.

Liam was standing in the middle of his closet, two sweaters draped over one arm and a third held in the other. His hair was messy as usual, and he was watching her in a way that had her cheeks flushing red. "Nothing."

He took a step forward. "You pick at your sweater like that when you're trying not to say something, so what's up?"

"I do not--" Sure enough she was rolling the hem of her sweater sleeve between her thumb and pointer finger. Shit. "I'm just not sure if I want to say it," she admitted.

"Okay...I would like it if you did because you're making me nervous," he grinned. She could see the uncertainty behind it.

After taking in a shaky breath, Katherine said, "I want to be safe, but I don't feel safe if you guys aren't around so I don't know how to make this feel okay because it isn't, I can't pretend to make it work—"

"—hey," he murmured, "none of us will let anything happen to you, okay?"

"I just...I really just love all of you guys a lot and I don't know what to do without all of you here."

Liam looked surprised as his eyes scanned over her. "You love all of us?"

Fuck.

He continued to stare at her, brows furrowing and mouth twisting into a slight frown.

Oh.

Fuck.

"Um..."

You can't unsay that one.

Oh god.

Oh god oh god oh god.

"Yeah, I do...um, it's probably way too soon to be saying that, I'm sorry, but—"

"—Kat," he chuckled, eyes widening with realization as he moved to hold her face in his hands. "I'm sorry, that face wasn't at you, I'm sorry; I was trying to figure out if Theo was included or not."

Despite the panic roiling through her, Katherine laughed. "Sorry," she choked out, hands still trembling. "Oh my god, I really thought I fucked up."

Liam pulled her into him again, holding the back of her head gently in his palm. "You didn't fuck up at all," he promised. After a long moment he pulled away to smile at her. "I love you, too."

*********

Katherine didn't go to school the next day.

After the events of the night before she was grateful her dad didn't push it. One look at any of the hunters and she'd be leaving class in handcuffs. Especially Monroe.

Nolan and Gabe were both complete dumbasses, but they were scared children whose fears were being fueled by un-informed adults. That wasn't their fault. She would love to show them just how fucking stupid they were, but it wasn't completely their fault.

Truthfully, they were just really annoying.

She spent the entirety of her morning in bed eating pop tarts, a stack of Tinker Bell DVD's on her bedside table. She'd watched them all several times but hadn't really been paying attention. She'd been too busy thinking of her family.

When her phone buzzed that afternoon Katherine didn't answer it.

She didn't feel like talking to anyone.

But the text messages came again and again, and they became more frequent, so she was left with no choice but to look:

🏳️‍🌈BEASTMODE🏳️‍🌈
Kat

Katherine answer your phone

Katherine

K A T

K

A

T

H

E

R

I

N

E

K

A

T

H

🍫KITKAT🍫
oh my god what the fuck do
you want from me man

🏳️‍🌈BEASTMODE🏳️‍🌈
animal clinic

now

🍫KITKAT🍫
I don't want to people today

🏳️‍🌈BEASTMODE🏳️‍🌈
suck it up, you'll want to see this

So she did what Mason asked and got herself dressed, then began the twenty minute walk to Deaton's clinic. The music she played on the way all had a heavy base loud enough to drown out the rest of the world.

There were no cars in the lot when she got there, as she expected. It was never busy on Wednesdays. She shoved the front door open with a sigh. "This better be good, Mason," she grumbled while locking it behind her. "Because I was in the middle of something vitally important to my existence."

Mason peaked out from the exam room. "Tinker Bell marathons aren't what keep you alive," he rolled his eyes.

She gaped at him. "They are too!"

"I don't believe that," Mason snorted.

"It's true, she gets cranky without them." Her heart caught in her throat.

"Lydia?" She breathed out.

When she stumbled over to the doorway of the exam room, she almost cried.

Scott, Lydia and Malia stood closest to her, so she launched herself at them first. Malia caught her easily, grinning.

Mason stood with Corey in the far corner, and she did a little shuffle over to him so she could give him a hug.

On the far side of the room was Theo, leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Katherine walked over to him and opened her arms.

He stared at her.

"What."

"Hug me."

"...why."

"Because I'm a nice fucking person that's having feelings; now hug me you asshole."

He looked over to the others, but they all just shrugged and watched.

Finally, Theo awkwardly gave her a hug and when she pulled away from it she smiled at him. "I'm glad you stayed," she told him honestly.

He arched a brow. "Yeah?"

"Obviously, you'd be really sad and lonely without us."

He rolled his eyes and leaned back against thew wall.

Still smiling, Katherine turned to Liam. "Hey, asshole," she said quietly.

He grinned at her. "Hey, Kat."

Without another word she ran and jumped at him, not worried he'd drop her. He'd only let her fall when she was being stupid. She hooked her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder as he did the same. "Douche bag," she muttered.

She felt him smile as he kissed her shoulder. "I love you too."

Katherine decided the blush on her face wasn't there.

Finally she let go and turned to the others. "You guys all planned this?" She asked while grabbing Liam's hand.

Scott nodded. "Sorry, guys, my Dad had to believe we left Beacon Hills. Everyone has to believe it."

When her brows furrowed, Mason raised a hand. "I didn't know, either. I texted you as soon as I found out."

"What happens next," Mason asked, frowning. "We fight back?"

The smile Scott gave him was usually one she saw on her brother. "What did you think we'd do?" He frowned. "Run?"

Katherine couldn't help but grin and tightened her grip on Liam's hand.. "You can't run with asthma, bitches, we aren't going anywhere."