✔️| 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒓 ─ 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒓𝒂𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒓

SIXTY-TWO

Conrad wanted to cry. The boy doesn't cry often but when he does, it's serious. He cried when he found out his mom had cancer. And now he wanted to cry because he lost the one person that meant so much to him. 

Briella Swift. Even hearing her name brought a smile to his face. Conrad might seem like a person who gave no fucks about anyone. But recently, this summer, he gave a billion fucks about Briella. He didn't know how dependent he was on her until now. She was his light in his dark life. 

He even smoked less when he was with her. Granted both of them did. They just did other things that made them happy that they didn't need to turn to pot. But right now, as he sat on the edge of the pool with his pot, he thought about how shitty of a person he was. 

Conrad treated Briella like shit. What he did was so shitty that even he recognized it. And that was a lot for the boy to admit. He knew he couldn't blame it entirely all on Belly. Yeah she played a part in it, but he did too. He didn't stop her from kissing him. He didn't say no to being her volleyball partner. Hell he didn't stop himself for asking her to the deb ball. 

So when he saw the girl walk out the house for a night swim, he wanted to leave. 

"Hey Conrad." Belly said. The boy hasn't said a word to her ever since the Play It Forward tournament and after what happened tonight, she needed to fix this. 

Conrad sighed as he quickly tried to finish his bunt. He wasn't in the mood to talk to her. "Not now Belly."

Belly nodded. "I know you hate me right now after everything's that happened but..."

"Do not finish that sentence Belly." Conrad warned the girl. "I'm not putting all the blame on you with what happened with me and Brie because I'll admit I lead you on but I don't want to talk to you right now. Not now, not ever."

"I know Conrad. I just... I'm so sorry about what happened. I didn't mean to come in between you guys."

"She's your best friend Belly. And you know damn well she would never do anything like that to you."

"And so are you Conrad. You say you're not putting all the blame on me but are you not gonna own up to what you did. You're the one who stopped talking to her after her mom died. You know how many times I had to sit in her room and listen to her cry as to why you all of a sudden stopped talking to her?"

"Don't you think I know that!" Conrad shouted, earning some attention from a certain boy in the kitchen. He wasn't trying to blame it all on Belly but if she didn't try to kiss him, this wouldn't happen. But he leaned in too. And he was the one who sent her that text a few hours ago. And don't even get the boy started with him not talking to Briella last summer. When did this get so messy? "I'm gonna have to live with that for the rest of my life knowing how much I hurt the only girl I've ever loved."

Belly was speechless. She's never heard Conrad say he loved someone other than his family members. She didn't know he felt like that to her friend. Maybe it was obvious for other people but for her? Because she was blinded by wanting everything Briella wanted, she failed to see it. And it made her feel even more shitty. 

"Everything ok out here?" Steven asked, walking down the steps. 

Belly nodded and turned to go back inside. "I really am sorry Conrad." With that she left.

Even if Steven hasn't been around as often as he would like, he still knew the gossip. It didn't take a genius to find out. 

"You ok man?" Steven asked, taking a seat on the pool chair behind Conrad. 

Conrad shook his head. "No."

"Look dude I know I haven't been around but I can see the way you look at Brie. You love her." Conrad smiled when he heard his friend say that. He did love Briella. "And I know how overwhelm you get with change. So when you started to date Brie, it was different. And not the bad different, the good different because you started to smile more. You laughed more. Hell dude you let me have the last piece of pizza last night." Conrad chuckled. "You never do that man."

"With Brie I want to be better."

Steven smiled. "I know you do. And maybe the reason why you wanted Belly was because she's not risky. You know what you'll get with her. But with Brie? You learn more and more about her every day. And that scares you." Conrad smiled because he knew his friend was right. Like last week, he now realizes how sassy she gets when she tells him off. It's hot. "But dude you stopped talking to her last summer. She needed you the most but you didn't even bother to see her. Or even talk to her. Why?" Steven needed to know why Conrad stopped talking to the girl last summer. Hell everyone did. He remembered all the times Briella told him about her and Conrad's late Facetime calls and how excited he was for the summer. What changed?

Conrad sighed. Nobody knew that answer. Jeremiah asked him millions of times but even then he didn't tell his brother.  "I love her man. I've never loved anyone as much as Brie. And I guess I was just so overwhelmed by it because I didn't know how to love so I ran away. I stopped talking to her because I thought it'll make me love her less. But it only made me more guilty of how much pain I've caused her. Back then, and now." 

"So what are you gonna do about it?"

The boy thought about that question. What was he gonna do to fix this? And the idea immediately clicked in his head. He was gonna do this for her. Because for Briella Swift, he would walk to the end of Earth for her. 

✄-----------------------------

idk about you guys but steven gives me the vibe where you can just tell him anything and he'll listen. yeah he was dick and lowkey annoying with belly in the beginning but he's a sweetheart at the end of the day and I LOVE HIM!!