I love it when I warn you the next chapter might take a while, but then I end up finishing it a day before it was even supposed to be posted XD I hope you love it too! We're slowly nearing the end of the fic, only a few updates to go… Thank you so much for reading and commenting as always, and happy new year for everybody! 3 :)

More than two weeks had passed since Rhys' birthday dinner, and the heated night that had followed. But this afternoon, even the memories of that night couldn't stop Feyre from being nervous. It was Friday, and they were driving on the highway, going down to Springfield for the weekend.

Her mother had organized a party for Elain's birthday, and even though the date was tomorrow, they were supposed to arrive on Friday evening and leave Sunday afternoon. The party was organized on a small estate located on an island off the coast, so they were to take a ferry after the car. The estate was owned by Elain's fiancé, Graysen, overall a decent man but with an extremely strict father that Feyre could barely stand to talk to. And he'd apparently invited many of his business partners to the party, because he wanted his son to meet them, Elain had told her on the phone the night before. Her sister hadn't seemed thrilled about the weekend either.

"At what time do you think you'll be there?"

"I don't know, I took the day off but Rhysand gets out of work around two, so we won't leave before at least three in the afternoon. Then it's a four hour drive to Springfield so we won't arrive before seven, I think."

"That's pretty late, be careful with the ferries, there aren't a lot of them at night. Plus with all the people Nolan invited sleeping here, it would be better if you two didn't arrive too late."

"How many are they?"

"About twenty in town, but just a few coming to the island. Apparently mom offered to help him decide which one."

"Since when is mom an expert on business meetings?"

"She said she knew most of them personally and could give him insight, whatever that means. I hope they'll leave on Saturday morning though, if they're only here to meet with Graysen, I'd rather it not spoil the whole weekend for us. I really don't see why they had to meet this particular weekend."

"I'm sure they won't stay long."

"I don't even see the point of this big reunion anyway, we could have just ate together in Springfield, it would have been much simpler to organize. Plus Nesta wouldn't be so angry at me because I apparently forced her to spend a weekend with mom."

"She's still mad, huh?"

"At mom? Yes, and I don't think she's on the verge of calming down any time soon, she yelled at her twice on the phone this week alone. I mean, I know what mom did, leaving us and all, was really bad, but Nesta should have forgiven her by now… It's been almost a year now since she came back, it's time for all of us to move on and be a family again."

The conversation had then moved on to how hard it must have been for their mother, and Feyre hadn't dared bring up her feelings, not wanting to sound bitter and telling Elain that frankly, she didn't care how hard it could have been.

Besides, the words her mother had spoken to her on their dinner were still ringing loud and clear inside her head, waking her up at night and sapping her energy in the middle of the day. You're exaggerating. She knew, deep down, that her mother was in the wrong about Tamlin, but it hurt so much to know what she thought. And it shouldn't have. When her mother had left them all those years ago, Feyre had spent months yearning for her presence, mourning for her, but then she'd had to work after school and she'd just stopped caring about her. When she'd come back into their lives almost a year earlier, Feyre had told herself that it didn't change anything, that she didn't need her mother's approval in her life, but she'd still craved for it in spite of her best efforts. She wasn't like Nesta, who had ignored her return like it was nothing, despising her mother to this day. And she wasn't like Elain, who'd welcomed her back as if she'd been gone to the grocery store. Seeing her mother still made her so happy and so mad at the same time, it was hard to imagine an entire weekend in her company.

They quickly ate dinner at a drive-through and arrived at the dock barely in time to catch the last ferry out of Springfield, and the ferry ride calmed her down a nudge, the smell of the sea and the light of the sunset helping her nerves. It was night when they reached the shore, and headed to the family estate, one of the five spread out on the island, surrounded by pine forests.

They passed the security guard at the entrance and approached the giant white house that seemed to be bustling with life. Rhys pointed out to a small opened shed beside the house, where were stored what looked like bags of… fabric?

"Tents. And mattresses and sleeping bags. They must go camping sometimes here. Maybe I'll take you this weekend, take your camping virginity," he winked at her and, rolling her eyes, she opened her mouth to answer him.

"Rhysand?!"

They turned around to find a short man coming for them, probably in his sixties, a burning cigarette in his hand.

"Mark? Hi," Rhys answered, and then whispered to Feyre "You should go ahead. He's one of my father's old business partners."

She nodded and turned towards the house, having the time to hear the beginning of their conversation.

"I didn't know you were working with Nolan, you secretive boy."

"I'm not, my girlfriend is Elain's sister."

"Who?"

"Elain? The girl whose birthday is tomorrow?"

"Oh right, I thought you…"

She didn't hear the rest as the door closed behind her. The hall of the house was… weird. Somehow welcoming, with its large windows and light marble floor, but very impersonal, not one decoration adorning the walls. Not one flower. Feyre had a hard time imagining her outdoorsy sister fitting in this house, trying to make it her own, even just for vacations. But Elain had chosen her fiancé, and she seemed to love him. There was just hoping she would be okay after her wedding.

"Feyre, sweetie," her mother's voice resonated from the room where she came out of with her two sisters. Elain was beautiful, wearing a cobalt woolen dress that would have brought out her eyes if she hadn't looked so somber and nervous. Nesta, in her usual pantsuit, seemed downright furious, there was no other word for it. Only their mother was beaming as she approached.

"What's going on, you guys?" Feyre asked, letting her mother hug her.

"Oh it's nothing, sweetie, they're just a bit cranky over the guest list for the weekend, that's all. How are you, did you have a good trip?"

"Not bad, we drove down this afternoon." She moved on to hug Elain, who seemed so anxious that she forgot to hug her back. "We barely caught the ferry, though! A few more minutes and we would have had to find a hotel for the night."

She was on her way to hug Nesta when the next words her mother spoke had her stopping. Not the word, per se, but the tone, surprised, cold and angry.

"'We'?"

Feyre turned around. "Yes, 'we', me and my boyfriend, Rhysand. I told you about him last month at dinner."

"You… brought him here?"

"Well, yeah. The invitation said 'plus one' and I confirmed with Elain yesterday."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, mom," Elain said softly from beside her sister.

"Why? Is there a problem? Wasn't he invited?"

"Oh, our dear mother had some other plan in mind." And Feyre could feel the pure hatred in Nesta's words. "She didn't plan that you'd bring a man and ruin her weekend."

"Nesta, you can't talk to me like that."

"Well, you can't abandon three children all of a sudden but you did," and Nesta stormed upstairs without letting her mother answer.

But Elain stayed beside her, and whispered: "Feyre, I had no idea he was going to be here. Mom and Nolan handled the guest list and I just arrived and found him here…"

"Who? Who's here?"

And the voice that answered sent chill down her spine, as if the glass cabinet was chattering behind her all over again.

"Feyre," Tamlin's soft voice resonated behind her.