*Saoirse's POV*
I couldn't believe that Kathy thought to bring us to Maria and Justin's home. Although, if we were to be hidden away from the rest of the world, at least there would be someone fun to spend time with. I was also excited to get to know my future sister-in-law a bit better. Spending the Thanksgiving weekend with her had been a blast, and it made me feel better about who she really was when I watched her stand up for Claire at the bridal boutique.
Justin and Maria greeted us at the door, giving us all a round of hugs. Justin shook his head as he closed and locked the front door after retrieving our bags from the trunk of the car. "I guess I'm really outnumbered now."
Kathy laughed at him and patted his cheek. "Now you know how I felt raising you and your brothers."
While I limped into the living room, Justin brought our duffle bags up to the spare rooms upstairs. Maria slipped away to the kitchen to make tea and lunch for everyone with Claire following quickly behind her. We were told that we would be sharing the bedroom across the hall from Justin and Maria, while Kathy was to stay in the room at the top of the stairs. Not thrilled with the fact that I'd have to climb the stairs to get to bed in the evening, I sat quietly by myself in the living room while everyone dispersed to their own projects.
Kathy went to help Maria in the kitchen, while Claire returned from the kitchen to help me prop up my foot on a couch pillow on top of the coffee table. She left me only for a moment to fetch a bag of ice for my ankle before returning to the living room. I could tell she was nervous when she finally sat down next to me and began fidgeting with her fingers.
"I'm sorry I slept the whole way here," she whispered to me, avoiding eye contact.
I smiled at her and patted her twitching hands. "Relax, Claire, it's fine. Kathy and I talked a little and the rest of it was just a quiet trip."
After quickly looking over her shoulder, she leaned in closer and whispered, "Are you nervous about being here? I don't want to seem like an inconvenience to them."
"Yeah," I admitted nodding my head, "but I don't think they'll view it that way. I'm actually looking forward to getting to know Maria better. Justin and I had gone to elementary school together, but we never really talked until after I beat Sean up in middle school."
"Wait! You did what?" Claire asked in disbelief. Her blue eyes widened as her mouth dropped open.
I laughed at her surprised face. "Yeah, he said I was stupid, so I coldcocked him right in the face."
"No wonder you guys don't see eye to eye," she said through a quiet laugh.
"Sean talked about that for years after you did that," Justin said suddenly appearing from upstairs with a chuckle of his own.
"He did?" I asked, a bit embarrassed that I had been caught sharing such an awkward childhood moment with Claire.
Justin nodded and flopped down on the sofa across from us. He propped his feet up on the edge of the coffee table and relaxed into the couch. "Yeah, he was obsessed with figuring out how to get back at you. Did you never notice how often you two would run into each other at school? I mean, I know you didn't speak to each other, but Ryan always caught him staring at you whenever you went by. He never could come up with anything that our parents wouldn't trace back to him though."
"I guess he finally got the last laugh," I said rolling my eyes.
"What do you mean?" Justin asked bunching his eyebrows.
I gestured to my injured ankle then back to myself. "We're stuck together for the rest of our lives whether we like it or not. I'd say he got his payback."
The smile started to fall from Justin's face. "You aren't happy about the arrangement?"
Claire stared at me with large eyes, silently pleading for me to stop before I got us both in trouble. Knowing Justin was easier going than the rest of his family, I sighed and honestly replied. "Not exactly, but it's not like he is either. You saw him at Thanksgiving. He hates me, and we just don't get along well. Your mom thinks we'll grow to love each other, but I just don't think that'll ever really happen."
Justin glanced over his shoulder to peak down the hall making sure his mother and fiancée didn't hear him. He leaned slightly forward when he returned his attention to us. "I know they can be a couple of assholes. Both of them," he said as he glanced to Claire before returning his attention back to me. "But they do care. I got a message from each of them after you two left, asking me to make sure I keep you safe."
My eyes dropped to my lap as I processed what Justin revealed. Did they really care about our safety? Or was that just what they did to make it appear as if they cared? Maybe Ryan was sincere, but Sean? Could it be possible that he cared about my safety?
"Uhm," Claire started then bit her lower lip to stop herself.
"You don't need to be afraid to talk in front of me. We're going to be family soon, so we might as well be open and honest with each other," Justin chimed in with a friendly grin.
Claire glanced to me, so I nodded my head in agreement with Justin. "I just..." she took a deep breath before continuing. "It's hard to think that they really care about our safety. I mean, I know they're trying to get used to the idea of having wives, but... It just, it seems like, maybe, they'd rather not have us to worry about."
"It's not like how you and Maria fell in love," I jumped in. "You guys got to find your soulmate. We got pushed into this arrangement and so did they."
Justin suppressed a laugh as his sea green eyes lit up, "Did Maria or Sean not tell you how we met?"
I shook my head, "No, but I just assumed that with how in love you two seem that it wasn't really like our situation."
"Oh, I kidnapped her," Justin replied matter-of-factly. Almost proudly, even.
"I'm sorry, what?" I said, leaning forward and blinking my eyes.
"Ryan mentioned something about that to me last night," Claire said in a low voice as she began fidgeting with her fingers again.
My head started spinning with the shocking information presented so casually. "I must've misheard you. I thought you said you kidnapped her."
"Yeah, I did," Justin laughed. "There was a serial killer after her, so I kidnapped her to keep her safe."
"That sounds... counterproductive."
He shrugged his shoulders. The boyish grin made me want to laugh. "Well, it made sense at the time. She and I had already started getting to know each other beforehand, but then the serial killer showed up again. So, I kidnapped her and brought her here to keep her safe. Then she ended up killing the serial killer. Afterwards, I gave her all the resources she needed to start over somewhere else, but she didn't want to. So instead, I proposed, and we're living happily ever after."
Justin burst out in a fit of laughter as I leaned forward with my mouth agape. "You fucking nutjob!" I couldn't help but burst out in laughter myself. "God, you Donnelly boys are all missing a few of your marbles, aren't ya?"
"It's working out okay though, isn't it?" he smiled.
Finally, Claire joined in in the laughter. She shook her head in surprise, "It sounds ludicrous when you say it all like that."
"Yeah, it's a bit unconventional, but we're both happy," he admitted and shrugged his shoulders. "She had a lot to process, and I've tried not pushing her in one direction or the other. The wedding's still on though, or hopefully it is. Who knows with all that's going on in Chicago right now."
The mention of our attempted kidnapping suddenly sobered us up. I looked at Claire who sat silently nodding her head before turning my attention back to Justin. "How did you two figure things out? I'm assuming she wasn't keen on being around someone who kidnapped her at first."
"No. No, she was not," Justin said, his eyes widening as he shook his head. "There was a lot of physical fighting and yelling on her part, and a lot of eye rolling and flirting on my end. But we made an agreement to coexist as peacefully as possible until the threat from the serial killer was over. Over the next few weeks, we started working together harmoniously, and when it was all over, she decided to stay. I knew from before I kidnapped her that I loved her, but it took her longer to feel the same way."
"I mean, I hope it would. Your love story certainly isn't normal," I blurted out.
Justin chuckled at my bluntness. "You're not wrong, but neither is yours."
"We don't have love stories," Claire murmured.
Both Justin and I turned our gazes to the quiet brunette next to me. I glanced back to Justin and told him, "She's not wrong."
"Not yet," Justin slowly stated. "I think you will though. Ryan and I used to tease Sean all the time that I got to see you and talk to you all through middle school and early high school. It drove him nuts. I think he's always liked you ever since you punched him in the face. I've also never seen him focus on a woman like he has with you. As far as Ryan goes, I've never seen him get so upset about how a date went. He called me last night and spent two hours complaining about what an idiot he was. Both Ryan and Sean reached out to Maria this week to ask how to make you both like them and how to take you on proper dates."
"Justin, I know you're trying to help," I started, "but you're reading more into this than there is. They're not falling for us. They're just trying to figure out how to get out of the engagements while still appearing as if they care."
"Did either of you ever play any instruments in a group?" Justin asked, suddenly changing the subject.
I shook my head, but Claire piped up. "I used to play the clarinet in the school band."
"Okay, so when a group of players first get together and see a piece of music for the very first time, does it sound right?"
We both sat silently pondering his question. Claire slowly shook her head no, and I thought about the people I knew who did play instruments. They never sounded good the first time they played a song, so I slowly shook my head as well.
"Right now, you four are like a newly formed quartet, right? You all know your own parts, but you're having a hard time figuring out how to piece them all together. You and Claire have managed to learn your parts harmoniously, and Sean and Ryan have done the same. Now you just need to figure out how to transition from a quartet of frustration and misery to a quartet of desire and harmony."
Claire and I looked at each other, neither of us knowing quite what to say to that. Silence enveloped us as we contemplated Justin's analogy.
"I better go see if Maria and Mam need help with lunch," he said, leaving us alone in the living room with our thoughts.