. Chapter 16 .

Epilogue: Wait A Thousand Hours

10 years r

SPOV

"Mommy! Mommy!"

I turned to find my daughter rushing into the room with her blanket dragging on the ground behind her. I could tell she had just woken up by the way her chocolate brown locks were a wild mess and her sapphire blue eyes were still slightly drooping.

She rushed forward to tug on my pant leg. "Mommy! Auntie Danielle and Tristan are here! They're here!" And with that the four year old rushed out of the room again and down the hall.

I sighed before shaking my head and following after her. "Riley! Calm down honey," I sighed as I entered the kitchen to find Chad holding Danielle's five year old son Tristan. He smiled slightly when he saw me and then started to struggle his way out of Chad's arms.

I looked to my side to see Danielle standing there with a soft smile on her face. I smirked and quickly brought her into a hug before standing back and watching Riley drag Tristan to her room.

"Is it always this cloudy in England?"

I giggled when Chad rolled his eyes at Danielle's statement. "Dan, we've been living here for ten years. You've visited enough to stop asking us that every single time." I could tell he was amused though. His smirk gave him away. It always seemed to.

Chad and I had almost immediately moved to England after getting rid of Vanessa. And before I knew it he was proposing less than a year later. He had told me that the notion was long over due. I couldn't do much else than cry happily and just hug him.

We had gotten married six months later. All our old friends and family had shown up. Tawni had even taken the time to come. I had ran up to her and hugged her with a whispered "Thank you" in her ear before watching her walk over to where Grady and Nico were sitting, still the best of friends after all the years that had passed by.

A few years had passed before Riley was born. She had been quite the hand full in the first two years with trying to get her to sleep when she needed to. She just seemed to be a baby that was never tired and liked to talk a lot, even though she couldn't speak yet.

"Oh my god."

I was scared out of my thoughts to find Chad standing in front of the TV with a small grin slowly working its way onto his face. I quirked an eyebrow before rushing over to see what he was seemingly happy about.

It was the local news channel. That's not what he had been grinning about though.

The news showed an image of a women who wasn't in the best condition. Her blond hair had dulled to an immense degree and was stringy and greasy. It looked like she hadn't gotten a hair cut in at least a year. Her blue eyes were almost gray and held almost no emotion and she looked so skinny it seemed unhealthy.

In the photo she seemed to be charging at the camera with a wild look on her face and her eyes alight with rage. She had her hands held up in what she seemed to think were claws when really, her nails were almost bitten down to the nub and her skin was sickly pale.

"Vanessa Smith, thirty-two, was arrested this afternoon after threatening a girl with violent actions if she didn't tell her where she could find a certain Sonny Munroe." I gaped at the TV. "She has admitted to threatening other people in the past. This will effectively be landing her in jail and ending her modeling career."

We gaped at the TV for a few more moments before Danielle let out a breathless laugh that grew into her trying to catch her breath, her stomach hurting at how hard she was laughing.

Chad and I joined in on her laughter and only laughed harder when Riley and Tristan poked their heads around the door with expressions of equal confusion on both of their cute faces.

I looked back to the TV to see the news reporter adding another statement before the segment was over. "The police have also decided to get Ms. Smith checked out to see if she has any mental problems."

Chad just chuckled and wrapped an arm around my waist. "I always had a feelings she was mental."

I just wrapped my arms around him and smiled. "She's finally getting what she deserved, as bad as it sounds me saying it. Finally," I said with a small smile on my face and Danielle nodded in agreement.

"Why are you guys so happy?"

I turned to see Riley standing in the doorway with an extremely cute expression on her face. I giggled and swept her up into my arms watching a smile break out on her face. "Just somebody that did bad things to mommy and daddy is finally getting punished."

Riley's eyes widened comically. "Somebody hurt you mommy?"

I just chuckled and shook my head. "Don't worry darling. Not like that." Riley seemed visibly relieved and I just chuckled before kissing her on the cheek and smiling as she snuggled into my arms and rested her head on my shoulder.

There was a moment of silence before I heard Danielle clear her throat. I looked over to her and she winked before walking over to talk to Riley. "Riley, honey, show me your room. I'd like to see where my cute little niece spends all her time." Riley jumped out of my arms with an excited squeal and all but dragged Danielle up the stairs.

It was quiet for a moment before Chad smiled down at me and captured my lips in a sweet kiss. "Tell me, did you ever think we'd be here? Like this, I mean?" he said quietly as his arm tightened around me. I sighed and looked down at my shoes.

"To be honest, no."

Chad chuckled quietly and kissed my forehead. "For a while there I didn't either." I sighed but then he put a finger under my chin and pulled my face up to lock his eyes with mine. "But we are. I love you and Riley and that's all that matters."

I giggled and kissed his cheek as we fell into silence again.

"Do you know what I used to think when you first left? Just a little before the two year mark I was moping around the house and I found this quote online. It went like this: '731 days away from you. Sometimes I ask myself, are you counting too?' I always held onto the hope that maybe you were."

Chad looked at me with a look in his eyes I couldn't quite decipher. "I was. Every minute, every second of every day. I never stopped missing you. And whenever we're apart I will miss you."

I smiled before turning in his arms and bringing my arms around his neck. "I know I say this a lot but I need to say it again. I want you to never doubt how much I love you. Some times I love you so much it hurts, Chad. Just please, never doubt that."

He smiled before leaning in close and slowly shutting his eyes. "Only if you do the same." For an answer I just tilted my head to bring him into a slow and sweet kiss.

We had went through two years without each other. We had nearly been torn apart over some girl who was jealous. We had once doubted each other's love for each other. We had lied to each other to make sure the other was safe.

But none of that mattered now.

We were together now and would be forever.

And that's all that really mattered.

*The End*

A/N: And that's a wrap!

I can't believe all this is really over! This was supposed to be a one-shot inspired by a small quote and it's turned into my longest story yet! Thank you if you stuck with this from when this was published. It means a lot to me.

I wish I could thank every one of you but that would take way too long.

So, special thanks to blissful . daydreamer, Sophie, for being there for the beginning and helping me through my writer's block! I love you twin. Thanks to past decembers for reviewing nearly every chapter and just being awesome! And a small thanks to xxdevilishxx for leaving tons of reviews for many chapters all in one go!

Thank you to everybody that read, reviewed, favorited, or alerted! It means the world to me and I hope you'll join me in my next story I'll be posting in about a week!

It would mean a lot to me if you guys left me a final review!

Thanks again for everything! See you next time!

Lots and lots and lots of love xx

-Taylor