all too well , jeremiah fisher

chapter twenty

the debs' escorts were doing their dance, which amelia had to admit, was hilarious.

"i wish it was you out there." amelia chuckled, nudging jeremiah. "i bet you do."

every time amelia would lock eyes with conrad, she'd burst out into a fit of giggles. his face was priceless. he looked like he'd rather die, or he was constipated.

after minutes of laughter that made amelia's stomach hurt, the escort dance was unfortunately over, and she had to use the bathroom.

excusing herself, amelia made her way to the restroom. when she was done doing her business, she washed her hands and checked to make sure she still looked decent before exiting the restroom.

when she got back to the table, everyone seemed to be searching for someone, that's when she realized the one they were looking for was jeremiah.

sighing, she turned on her heel, knowing exactly where he was.

"jere?" amelia called softly as she slowly approached the boy.

he was staring at a phone with tears falling freely while he sobbed. amelia's heart sunk as she sat beside him. she grabbed the phone out of his hand, looking over at him with tears welding up in her own eyes.

the boy looked over at her, sniffling a bit. "did you- did you know?" he choked out. just seeing him this way was enough to make her cry.

"i figured it out when i heard laurel and john talking."

"she's dying, mel. and she didn't even tell her own kids." jeremiah sobbed. amelia sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer, letting him to cry into her shoulder.

"let it all out." she cooed, running her hand through his hair. he wrapped his arms tightly around her torso as his body shook while he cried heavily into her shoulder.

after a few minutes of amelia allowing jeremiah to weep into her shoulder as she cried softly with him, the two decided it was time they got back inside before someone came looking for them.

right as they got to the door and amelia was about to open it, jeremiah grabbed her hand, stopping her.

she looked up at him to find him already looking at her. his eyes were red and puffy as he stared down at the girl.

"you know i love you, right?"

"yeah. yeah, i know." she pulled a small smile, not knowing where he was going with this. "so can you promise me you'll never leave?" he asked, his voice wavering a bit.

amelia turned to him, taking both his hands in hers. "jeremiah, i can assure you i will not be going anywhere." she grasped his hand tighter, jeremiah smiling at her.

"good. because i need you." his voice broke as he took his hands out of amelia's and put them on either side of her face. "i know, and i'll always be here."

jeremiah stared at her for a few seconds before leaning down and kissing her lips softly. amelia's eyes fluttered shut as she reciprocated the kiss, but it ended soon after that.

when they pulled back, amelia grabbed his hand from the side of her face, holding it tightly as they walked through the doors.

the girls and guys where dancing, and amelia spotted belly and conrad. her smile faltered a bit as she thought about how they didn't know what susannah was going through. well, she was sure conrad knew.

amelia and jeremiah walked back to where the parents were sitting. "jeremiah, honey, where were you?" his mother asked.

"i-i ate something. i think maybe the shrimp was bad." he lied. "oh. honey, i'm so sorry." susannah said, turning to laurel, "you know, the caterer is gonna be hearing from me." laurel raised her eyebrows in acknowledgment, "okay, karen."