**On a very serious note, I want to say thank you to all of you for showing me endless love and support right now. It's been really hard and it hasn't even been 24 hours. The only thing keeping me from just doing nothing and crying is writing, so here's your guy's update for the day.

Hold your loved ones close and tell them how much they mean to you. You never know when the last time you will see them is.

The following was an author's note I wrote right after writing this chapter: Alright ya'll, please keep in mind that this book is a work of fiction! I literally googled "rural villages in Ireland" and this town came up lol. With that in mind, everything I've made up past the name of the village is completely 100% fiction!! Also, the extra information about Irish wedding traditions came from here: https://bridalguide.com/blogs/bridal-buzz/irish-wedding-traditions**

UPDATE: IF YOU'RE A #RR THEN YOU'LL NOTICE THERE'S BEEN A SLIGHT CHANGE IN TANNER'S SITUATION WITH HIS SISTER. THIS IS FOR THE PURPOSE OF TANSY AND TANNER'S BOOK PLOT.

Evan's POV

Everyone had taken a seat at the table as a slightly awkward silence settled around us. For whatever reason, only Scar's grandmother and his two uncles came to dinner tonight while the cousins must have stayed home. Or went out to the bars. I really need a drink right about now. I cleared my throat before getting up and serving Scar a bowl of stew before spooning out my own and passing over the pot to Scar's uncle. I knew it was rude not to serve the guests first, but I didn't want to hear Scar complain that I didn't do him first.

"I'm not sure how you guys do it in your home, but we pray before meals in our own." My mother spoke with a soft smile directed at Scar's grandmother. She smiled widely before grasping hands with me and her son and bowing her head. Scar rubbed the back of my knuckles as my father said our prayer, soothing down my still-heightened nerves.

"So, we should start discussing wedding preparations, yes?" Scar grandmother spoke, getting right to the point and catching everyone off guard. Scar choked on the spoonful of stew he'd just eaten as I patted his back to help him clear his airways.

"Eilis." Scar growled in warning, though she completely ignored him and his tone.

"Um, I suppose we can, that's not a problem." My mother stuttered while shooting me a confused glance. I shot her a strained one back, which only served to further her confusion.

"We've got a plot of family land that we've held every marriage on since the start of our legacy. Well, except for Sebastian's father, but we didn't really consider him family after what he did all those years ago." The older woman rambled off.

"The only issue I see with that is making everyone travel to another state for this wedding. All of our my family and friends are here, and Scar has said there's really no one on his own invite list except for some childhood friends, whoam of which are also located here as well." I explained, trying to stop her train of thought before it gets out of hand.

"Nonsense. We will pay for all of the travel and lodging expenses. It is of no concern. The little village is finally starting to grow and become more modern, so I have no doubt everyone will love it!" She insisted with a wave of her hand. I squeezed Scar's hand as a way of saying help me but he just shrugged his shoulders, also not knowing what to do about the situation either.

"Where exactly is this plot of land?" My father inquired while wiping his mouth off with his napkin before setting it down and going full business mode. I was used to seeing this look on his face whenever he was in the middle of a conference call when I was little.

"Lambourn, Ireland." She stated offhandedly before taking a graceful bite of bread. My dad's eyes shot wide open. She laughed lightly at his reaction before clearing her throat.

"It's still a wee bit rural, but our family has been farmers there for centuries and I can assure you that we can do everything there that the bride would have wanted and planned here. Like I said, we're slowly but surely becoming up to date with the rest of the world."

"We're?" My mother asked, having also caught the odd wording of the statement.

"Yes, well our family owns the entire town, really."

"Well that's fucking new." Scar muttered under his breath while shooting me a sideways glance, just as surprised as the rest of us.

"I've got the Claddagh ring." One of Scar's uncles murmured before whipping out a worn in ring that had two hands grasping a heart with a crown on top of it.

"The what?" Scar and I asked in unison.

"The claddagh ring. It represents love, friendship, and loyalty in a relationship. It's a very popular wedding tradition amongst our culture. It's usually passed from mother to daughter or grandmother to granddaughter, but since you aren't of irish descent you'll be taking my own. Single women wear it on their right hand with the point of the heart facing the finger nail. The ring is flipped so the point of the heart faces the wrist. This symbolizes that the woman's heart has been captured. When the woman gets engaged, it's then moved over to the left hand with the point of the heart facing the fingertips. The ring is flipped around at the wedding. It's typically worn on the ring finger, but since you've gone the modern route with an engagement ring you'll have to just put it on a different finger." She explained. My mind whirled with the abundant information she was giving me. I felt like I was taking a history lesson rather than having a family dinner.

"We also request that you abide by the handfasting tradition during the ceremony. Now as far as dates go, I don't know if you set one already but I can tell you if it's between May and August you'll have to change it. It's bad luck. Other than that, there's nothing more that we have to discuss really." She finished simply with a smile before she continued eating.

"Since when was your family Irish? And you told me you never had contact with your family, yet you speak their language fluently?" My father questioned Scar in an accusing manner, his voice just low enough that his family wouldn't hear.

"It's kind of a long story. This is the first time I've ever met them, but at my mother's funeral my dad threatened my life if I didn't start learning more about our heritage. I had to learn to speak the language because it's all he spoke to me in and for my safety I had to know what he was saying." Scar explained in a rush before sitting back in his chair. He looked mentally drained as he just blinked down at his bowl of half eaten food.

I couldn't image what it was like having a family I knew nothing about barge into my life and start making huge demands. Not to mention, if they knew how his father was behaving then why didn't they step in and come to America earlier to take care of Scar when he was younger? Why now only after his father had been killed? Did they know he was living on the streets with Tanner? And why did Tanner leave Scar in the first place?

I stared at the side of Scar's face in wonderment as all of these unanswered questions swirled around in my head. Did he even know the answer to any of them? If not, how was he handling the unknown? He never liked not being in control of things.

"I think that's enough for today. You're free to stay and chat, but I think it's time we retire for the night." I softly explained before pulling Scar up with me as I stood from the table. No one objected as I dragged him behind me towards the staircase, his feet dragging as he walked.

Once in our bedroom, he flopped down onto our messy bed and slung his arm over to cover his eyes before groaning deeply. I crawled my way onto the bed before swinging my leg over his hips to straddle him.

"How are you feeling about all of this?" I asked while rubbing his chest in soothing circles. He captured my hands with his own and just kept them where they were as he soothed his thumbs over my knuckles like he did earlier - except this time he was doing it to calm himself instead of me.

"I don't know. I don't understand why they want to be a part of my life all of a sudden when they were never involved when I was growing up." He said with a shake of his head. Well, I guess that answers one of my questions.

"I was thinking the same thing earlier. Do you think they knew about how you were living before you got into fighting? Even after you got into fighting? And also, this is something I've been thinking about since you told me the story, but why did Tanner leave you all on your own when you guys were 18? What happened? I thought you depended on each other to survive?" I rattled off, knowing I shouldn't be overwhelming him with my inquiries right now but also not having the patience to wait to have my questions answered.

He sighed deeply while staring up at the blank ceiling. "I'm not sure baby. I haven't tried to pry it from him yet because I know he'll tell me when he's ready. If he doesn't soon, though, I'm gonna kick his ass." He asserted, causing me to giggle quietly.

"I say we put on a movie and have sex the rest of the night." Scar suggested as I threw my head back and burst out laughing. Always so blunt.

"Our family, my father, is downstairs. No way we're having sex when they can so easily hear us." I stated with finality. He was absolutely insane sometimes, I swear.

"Actually, I haven't even told you about the best feature of this room yet. It's 100% soundproof when you shut the door." He said with a mischievous smile on his face. I just rolled my eyes while muttering a sarcastic of course it is as he began kissing down my neck.

"We need to talk about the wedding." I moaned out, which seemed to put a damper on his mood instantly.

"I don't want to talk about this shit. It was supposed to be a small, casual wedding with your family and a few friends and now it's some fucking giant event that we apparently are going to have to spend out the ass for." He grumbled while sitting up, taking me with him as he went.

"I know. I wanted something small and intimate too, but we don't always get what we want in life. I don't want to anger the only family you have left, so it's probably best to just appease them. Besides, we can still try and make it as simple and cost effective as we want. It'll just have to happen in another country I guess." I huffed out, already feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of it all.

**

I squirmed awkwardly in my seat as Scar and Tanner continued to laugh over something or other while ignoring my presence completely. I was royally confused earlier when I told Scar I was heading out to have a late lunch with Tansy, and Tanner suggested that they both join us. Now, I was confused as I continuously caught him rubbing her upper thigh under the table or playing footsy with her under the table. That was most certainly not a one night stand.

"Two unrelated questions." I suddenly interrupted Tanner in mid sentence.

"Yes?" He asked with furrowed brows.

"One, why did you leave Scar for eight years with no contact whatsoever? Two, when did you and Tansy start having sex on a regular basis?" I asked. It was almost comical the way Tansy's face lit up bright red in seconds as Tanner opened and closed his mouth, unable to find the right words to say to answer me.

"We're not, well I mean not really - it's...it's not regular." Tansy shot back quickly, already admitting to what I already knew.

"Bullshit. He's rubbing your thigh under the table and snuck a bite of your food a couple minutes ago. When did you two start...whatever this is?" I motioned between her and Tanner. "And don't think I forgot that you haven't answered my first question yet either." I said before giving Tanner a warning glare.

"Well, it all started when you and Scar broke up. Everyone was so stressed and worried about you. Tanner said Scar wasn't any better. He called me to come over so we could both...relieve some tension and then our sleeping arrangements just, I don't know, became an unspoken agreement of me sleeping over all the time." Tansy squeaked out. I smirked before taking a sip of my water so that I didn't have to say anything back.

"And how about my first question?" I asked Tanner with a raised eyebrow. His expression turned solemn as he crossed his arms and looked away from the three of us.

"Tanner?" Scar prodded, clearly wanting to know the answer as well.

"I left to find my mom. I don't know why, but I just felt I needed to ask her why. It was something I needed to do on my own. I couldn't tell anyone. I just wanted to know why she abandoned me. It took me four years to find her. I was contacted by a guy I know who lives where my mom had been hiding out. That's how I found out I had a sister. He said he'd had his suspicions because one second my mom was pregnant, and the next she wasn't - just back on the streets all day and night without a single trace of a baby with her. Can you fuckin' believe that shit? My mom was dumb enough to get knocked up again by another random dude. Anyway, problem was that she was in foster care by the time I got up there to see what was going on. Turns out my mom had dropped her off at the fire station's doorstep and then they immediately put her in the system. It took me a four more years to get the court to let me have custody of her. That's why I was gone so long."

"Wait, where the fuck is she now?" Scar asked with bewilderment.

"Living with me at my apartment..." He trailed off, looking apprehensive for Scar's reaction.

"Is that why you never let me come over? What the fuck dude! I can't believe you kept this from me! I could've fucking helped you all these years!" He yelled, outraged. Tanner glanced around us as people began staring, but Scar didn't seem to care.

"Chill man. I was looking out for the both of us. I knew for a fact if I came to you with a little baby who happened to be my sister you would've bent over backwards to help me, and that would've killed you. We were both already struggling so much. I was at least getting help from the government at first. I did some off and on manual labor work here and there to make up the money for the lawyer and other legal fees. I finally got enough money to move back here and afford a suitable place to stay." He explained. That seemed to sooth Scar's ruffled feathers enough for now.

"Were you ever going to tell me about her?" Scar asked, his expression just showing an ounce of hurt.

"Of course, man! I just didn't know when. There's been so much going on in our lives, and I wanted it to be perfect. She's really skittish around new people. Like really skittish. She took a liking to Tansy instantly, though." He said with a smirk before glancing at her sitting next to him.

"I'm just so loveable." She teased before flipping her hair dramatically. "Speaking of family, how did your dinner go the other night? I remember you fretting about it for a while but you never called me to tell me how it went!" Tansy yelled before leaning over the table and flicking my arm. I slapped her hand away before rubbing the reddened skin.

"It was...it was dinner alright." I huffed before rubbing the bridge of my nose in annoyance. Scar and I had yet to decide what to do about his family quite yet.

"Hmm, sounds complicated." She commented.

"You have no idea."