*Edited*

I woke up the next morning with over 100 texts on my phone. Between my mom, Brennan and the girls, they blew my phone up way too much. Like 100 texts is too many. My mom is fine because she only texted me telling me her and my dad went to work. And Brennan texted me a good morning and saying he'd be over to see me.

Now the girls, they were so dramatic. Like yeah I have a boyfriend but dong send me millions of texts. That's a bit excessive.

Grabbing my phone off charge, I texted my mom and Brennan back. Then I FaceTimed all three of the girls. But first, I got dressed and did my business in the bathroom, and went downstairs to get some lunch at this point.

"What the hell is your problem?" "Where were you?" "Why didn't you answer any of our texts?" Emma, Brielle and Stephanie said at the same time. Damn. "Chill out. After I texted ye I went to sleep. It was late and I was tired. Plus I've only woken up too so I only saw your messages. I'm sorry. You know I would've replied sooner if I was up." I said to them, hoping it would get me out of trouble.

"So.... you have a boyfriend." All four of us squealed at Emma's comment. "I know. Oh my god. I can't believe it. Like I told ye that if he didn't ask me I would eventually ask him myself. But I'm so glad he asked. I would've been so awkward." I said to them. "I want to hear EVERY detail. Like from the moment he picked you up. Go." Brielle can be pushy when she wants to be. So for the next half an hour, I told the girls exactly what happened on the date. Throughout me telling them, they were cooing and squealing. When I finished telling them what happened, I heard the front door open.

In walks Brennan, with a shit ton of junk food. "Hello Livy." He said to me while giving me a kiss on the lips. He didn't realise I was talking to the girls until he heard them squeal. "Well hello ladies. If you don't mind, I'd like to take my girlfriend away from ye." Brennan said to them. "Go ahead." "You can have her." "Make sure to leave visible hickies." I glared at Emma so hard for her comment. What a bitch. "Bye girls." I said to them and hung up.

"Hello boyfriend." I said to Brennan while smiling. "Hello girlfriend." He leaned in closer to me. Next thing you know, we're having a full blown make out session on the couch. "Can I leave them visible hickies now?" He asked when he pulled away from me. Before I could answer. My dad walked through the front door.

"Hey dad. What are you doing home so early?" I asked him breathlessly. "Hi sweetie. Hi Brennan. What are you talking about Liv? It's 4;30. I'm always home at this time." My dad said to me. Wow. Time really does fly when you're having fun. "Ok well, me and Brennan are going upstairs to watch a movie. Call us when dinners ready." I said walking up the stairs. "Actually. Brennan could I talk to you please." My dad said. "Yeah sure." Turning back to me, he gave my lips a peck and turned to walk to my dad. Leaving me confused.

"So. Did you ask her to be your girlfriend?" Nick asked me. "Yeah I did. She said yes if you couldn't tell." I said grinning at him. "I'm glad. She hasn't been the same since you left. She's coming back to her old normal self. And I also know that you found it hard when you were gone too. Is that true?" He questioned me.

"Yeah that's true. It was like I was loosing half of me, you know? Then what happened with my uncle, made me miss her more. Just wanting to be there with her and having fun. It was hard." I told him. "Have you told her what happened yet?" "Not yet. I just can't find the right moment. I don't want her to look at me any different either." I said back to him. "Maybe now would be the best time. It's always good to get everything out in the open. Especially since ye know each other very well. Or so Olivia thinks." He was right and he knew it too.

Walking up the stairs, I had a big decision to make. Do I tell her what happened, or do I leave it until another time? Uh shit. This is hard.

Opening the door, I saw Livy lying on her bed. "Hey. What did my dad want?" She asked. "Oh. On Thursday, when you went over to my house with my mom, I asked your parents for permission to ask you to be my girlfriend. He was just asking how it went." I told her. "Oh my god. You are the cutest." She said to me, leaning over to me to kiss me.

"Hey can we talk? I just want to say some things." I need to tell her now. Or else I'll leave it until the last minute. "Yeah ok. Are you ok?" "Yeah I'm fine. I just wanted to tell you something that happened a few years back." "Go ahead."

I sat on the bed next to her and grabbed her hand to hold. "So you know that I don't drink but you don't know the reason. You also know I have tattoos, cause they're pretty obvious, but you don't know why. So that's what I'm going to tell." "B, you don't have to if you don't want." She said to me. "No. I need to get this off my chest now." She just nodded in response.

"So when we first moved to New York, everything was fine. Some family lived out there so it was good to meet everyone. Three summer after we left, my mom thought it would be a good idea for me to stay in my uncles house for a few weeks. They were very busy with the business and wouldn't be home so I was fine with it. My uncle was great at the start. We would go fishing every day. His wife would cook dinner for us. But I knew there was something wrong. I always heard them arguing. After two weeks of me staying there, she left him. Filed for a divorce. She couldn't handle his demands anymore. So he started drinking more. He was usually fine. Falling asleep after a few beers. But then he became more tolerant. He'd get annoyed at me easily. And when he got annoyed, he thought it would be a good idea to punish me since I was bad. He would whip me on the back to start out with. Then as the weeks went by, it changed to my arms or my stomach. He told me if I told anyone, he'd kill me. Two weeks later, my parents collected me. They saw how malnourished I was. They didn't question him though. That night, they saw the marks on me. We filed a police report and now my uncle is in prison for at least another twenty years. A year later, my parents were pregnant with Amanda. I hated my skin. When I was old enough, I went to a tattoo parlour and got wherever you could see a scar inked. There's still places on my back that you can see the scar if you look close enough. That's also why I don't drink. I can see what it does to people. I never want that to happen to me or anyone I know. I've been trying to get Zeke to stop but he doesn't seem to care. And I don't think I'm ready to tell him my story yet. The girls are the same too. They're like sisters to me but I don't think I can bring myself to it. In time I will though. But for now, it's only you I trust the most."

By the time I finished, Olivia was sobbing. "Oh Brennan. I wish you didn't go through that alone." There she is again. Blaming herself for something that she had no part in. "Livy, I wasn't alone. I had my parents. Then I had Amanda. And most importantly, I had your ring. I never took it off. I never forgot about you. You kept me going because I knew I wanted to come back to you." I'm such a sap. But it's the truth.

"Can I see them?" Livy asks me. Instead of answering, I take off my shirt and turn around. I can feel her tracing each scar. When she's done, she stands in front of me and inspects my stomach. She then starts to cry again. I don't say anything to her. I simply just pick her up and lie her on the bed. No words are said between us. Not even an hour later, her mom calls us for dinner.

Dinner was silent. It was like her parents knew what we were talking about. When we got back to her room, she put on a random movie. She didn't watch it though. She stayed inspecting my stomach and arms for scars. I'm glad I told her. It was good to get off my chest. No lies now. Just the truth.

It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. And I wasn't too long after her. Having the best nights sleep one man could ever have.