7 YEARS LATER

Shell cottage was home to Louis and his family and simply being there made him feel so completely comfortable; regardless of the fact that he had long since moved out of his family home. So he made a point of visiting home as often as he could and he took me along with him each time. Whilst it made him feel so comfortable, it did the very opposite for me.

Every time I visited his family I couldn't help but feel like I was undergoing the most intense interview possible. His family, his sisters and mother especially, were still trying to figure out whether my feelings for him were 'real' or whether they were a result of him being a veela. I tried to make an excuse each time Louis brought up visiting home and I knew that he thought something was up. It was for that reason alone that I had made no protest this time and accompanied him without a comment – I didn't want to cause any trouble with his family.

"Mum," Louis called out as we emerged from the fireplace and I found myself bracing myself already. Reaching out towards Louis, I grabbed the back of his shirt to keep him close and he looked down at me with a smile, unknowing of the tension brewing inside of me.

Louis' mother, at the sound of his voice, emerged from the living room and approached her son with a smile. The two conversed in French and I shifted on my feet, looking at the two women who followed after their mother.

"What are they doing here?" Louis asked, clocking his sisters as they walked further into the room.

"We took some time off work," Victoire answered her younger brother and I didn't need to look in her direction to know that she, and her younger sister, were watching me. "We can spend the weekend together as a family."

The women in his family were beautiful, regardless of the veela gene and I couldn't help but wonder whether they were secretly disappointed about Louis' choice of girlfriend. No one had to tell me that I couldn't hold a candle against his sisters, or his mother for that matter. I already knew that.

"Louis," his mother called out, "Why don't you go and unpack? Dinner will be ready by the time you're downstairs."

Louis took my hand in his and pressed a kiss to the back of it, "I'll just go and unpack for the two of us. Why don't you stay here and talk to my sisters?"

"Louis –"

He grinned, "It'll be good for you to get to know your sister-in-laws."

"Did I say I would marry you?" I threw back, nudging him with my elbow.

"You didn't need to." He pressed another kiss to my temple and I flushed red when Dominique cleared her throat.

"Don't worry about her Louis," Dominique assured him with a smile, "We'll look after her."

"I'll hold you to it," Louis said cheekily, throwing me a wink over his shoulder before he headed upstairs and towards his old room.

When I was left alone with the three women, I chewed on the inside of my cheek. Merlin, it was going to start any moment now. Louis' mother shared a look with her daughters before heading into the kitchen and leaving me alone with them. Victoire smiled pleasantly at me and gestured for me to take a seat.

"Let's catch up," she declared, sitting down in the seat across from me. "You didn't visit the last time that Louis came home?"

"I couldn't," I explained steadily, knowing that the interrogation was going to begin already. Merlin, 7 years on and they still continued to do this. "I was out of the country for work."

"Of course, Louis did say something similar." Victoire nodded, accepting my answer as Dominique joined her sister to sit beside her. "It was a shame, we were so looking forward to seeing you."

Oh, I bet you were.

I remained silent and said nothing. Dominique took over, clearing her throat again in order to get me to look at her.

"You don't want to marry my brother?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" I furrowed my eyebrows in question; why was marriage popping up all of a sudden?

"I mean, you essentially said so just minutes ago," she said, referring to Louis and my earlier conversation.

"That was a joke," I protested quietly, looking between the two sisters, "He's not actually considering marriage yet, he just said that to –" to annoy me.

"Regardless, it appears that our brother is much more serious about your relationship then you are."

I let out a quick breath, trying to restrain myself. But the self-control that I'd exhibited for over 7 years was ready to snap. Merlin, I did not need to listen to this. And this was just his sisters! His mother was worse and I'd have thought that she would have been easier to deal with. After all, her mother-in-law hadn't exactly welcomed her with open arms in the beginning so I'd have thought she would understand. But it appeared that she was going to continue the tradition.

"We've been dating for 7 years," I protested, rising to my feet, "How in Merlin's name could you think that I'm not serious about our relationship? Or about Louis for that matter?"

There was a concerned call of my name and I watched the two sisters' tense a little at the sound of Louis' voice; they had hidden their dislike of me from their brother. Turning to look at Louis as he walked down the stairs, I felt relief fill my body. With Louis here they wouldn't say anything.

"Are you alright?" he asked, walking towards me and wrapping an arm around my shoulder. He looked between his sister's and me.

"I'm fine, Louis," I insisted, turning into him slightly. "Really."

Scanning my face, he frowned, "You're lying to me." He looked back to his sisters, "What's going on?"

"It's nothing." I nudged him, "Stop freaking out."

He sighed, "What have I told you about trying to lie to your mate?"

"That it's impossible to do," I muttered as his sisters repeated the word mate in shock.

"She's your mate?" His mother asked appearing from the kitchen, mouth parted in shock.

"Of course she is." He looked between the three women in his family. "Merlin's beard, you're veelas too and you had no idea?"

"So this is serious then?" Victoire struggled for words, "She's not just some girls who's been confused by your veela blood?"

"Of course not." Louis went rigid beside me and I sighed knowing that he'd put it all together, "That's what you were talking about earlier; all this time – for 7 years – you've been acting that way towards her? Tell me that this is some sort of mistake, that I've got it wrong."

They couldn't say a thing.

"Come with me," he demanded, taking my hand and leading me up the stairs to his old room.

Shutting the door behind us, Louis sighed and sat down on the bed. He ran a hand through his hair before sighing into his hand.

"Louis," I said gently, approaching him. "Forget about it."

"How am I supposed to do that?" He looked up at me with an apologetic frown, "I've dragged you here with me for 7 years and they've been acting that way towards you the entire time? All this time I thought I was helping you join our family but –"

"Louis –"

"I'm sorry," he apologised with another sigh, "You never said anything either. I should have seen it or –"

"It's nothing for you to apologise for," I insisted, rubbing a soothing hand up and down his back. "I swear."

"Any other girl would have left straight away, but you kept coming back with me." Taking my hand in his, he played with my fingers, struggling to believe it. "Why?"

"They're your family Louis and I didn't want you to fall out with them over me." I leaned my chin on his shoulder, studying his side profile. "And besides, I'd have won them over eventually."

"I don't think I can stay here anymore," he admitted, "Let's go home."

"No, stay here." He went to protest but I gave him a look. "I mean it. I don't want you to fall out with your family over this, let me handle it on my own."

"I don't think I can."

"Please?"

He sighed and pressed a kiss to the top of my head, "I just want to take you away from here."

"I don't think they'll continue to be like that," I admitted, looking up into his face, "When you told them I was your mate then they started to look at me differently. I think they'll accept me now."

"They should have accepted you earlier," he protested, "It's not fair that –"

There was a knock on the door before his mother peered into the room. Louis tensed beside me and I took a hold of his hand to calm him. This was exactly what I hoped wouldn't happen. I had no idea how long it would take to fix Louis' relationship with his mother and sisters but I would make sure that it was just as strong as it had been originally.

It would take a while, but we'd get there.