The Summer I Fell

better

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When Jeremiah had seen the dying shade of red in  Jewel's eyes he had known she had been crying, and as much as he wanted to comfort her, he knew he was apart of the problem. She had her dress draped over her arms, Susannah sending her a reassuring smile.
"Alright, Jeremiah did you want to go ahead and take Jewel over? We don't want her to be late." Susannah spoke up, Jewel's stomach tightening a little at the two of them sitting alone in a car.
"Yeah." Jeremiah acknowledged, standing from his chair and slipping the dress from her arms. Jewel reluctantly followed behind him, climbing into the passenger seat as he hung the dress nicely in the back seat. Jewel stared at her fingers in silence as the boy got into the driver's seat, having too much to say but not enough will in her body to say it. Jeremiah pulled out of the rocky driveway, stealing glances at the girl every so often.
"Can we talk, please? I don't want what's going on between us to ruin tonight for you." He finally spoke up as they traveled down the asphalt road.
"Fine." She muttered, finally pulling her eyes up from her hands.
"Belly kissed me before we did anything." He defended, Jewel's eyebrows furrowing as her head turned toward him.
"So that just makes it okay?" She asked, taking offensive to his mindless choice of starting the conversation.
"What? No. I know that it was a mistake, okay? That's why I stopped it." He explained, his eyes glancing over to hers. She hadn't seen the hint of desperation in his eyes very often, but it made her heart clench whenever it was there.
"So Belly likes you?" She questioned, unsure if she had unknowingly hurt Belly the night she told her.
"No, she was just stressed out. Upset about Conrad, I guess." He explained, eyes locked onto her as she simply nodded in understanding.
"I wanted to be with you, there was just too many factors involved. Conrad, our families..." He began again after a moment, Jewel's raising an eyebrow at the mention of Conrad's name.
"What does Conrad have to do with us?" She asked, watching as Jeremiah's mouth moved hesitantly.
"Conrad told me to not get involved with you. He thought it would mess up our families relationship. That's why I tried to keep things between us private." Jeremiah spoke, seemingly ashamed he had let his brother's words impact his decisions so much. Jewel was surprised to hear it, no anger running through her veins, just disappointment. She didn't understand why Conrad hadn't just talked to her about it. Maybe things would've been different if he had.
"Why didn't you tell me you were a virgin?" Jeremiah questioned, brown eyes watching the road in front of them.
"I don't know. I didn't want to make you feel like you had to stop, I guess. We're not exactly on the same level, experience wise." She explained, a slight bit of anxiety and embarrassment laced in her words.
"I wouldn't have minded, Jewel. I don't care about that. I would've planned it better for you. You just...you should have told me." He sighed defeatedly, eyes watching as Jewel nodded, pulling a strand of her brunette hair behind her ear.
"I know, I'm sorry." She apologized, Jeremiah shaking his head at her words.
"You don't have to apologize." He reminded her, the car approaching the building faster than they had thought.
"I still want us to be real and just maybe I'll do better this time around, if you let me?" He spoke, a slightly smirk forming on his face.
"Well we'll see where 'maybe' takes us then." She spoke, her lips pulling into a small smile as he pulled around to the front of the building.
"I'll see you later?" She concluded, unbuckling her seatbelt as Jeremiah shifted the car into park. Jewel climbed out of the Jeep, grabbing her dress from the backseat before pushing the door shut. Jeremiah watched as she walked away from the vehicle, biting his cheek anxiously. He unbuckled his seatbelt a moment later, hastily climbing out of the car and jogging toward the building. He gently grabbed the girl in front of him, turning her around to face him.
"I don't want a maybe." He spoke, Jewel biting her bottom lip as a sweet smile formed on her face. She nodded her head next, looking up to the boy as he shook his head.
"I need to hear you say it." He corrected, a light laugh escaping Jewel's lips as she tore her eyes away from his for a moment.
"Yes." She spoke softly, her eyes flicking back up to his. She watched as a hint of a smile appeared on his face, his hand moving up to cup her jawline. He pushed their lips together a moment later, Jewel knowing in that moment that her crush on Jeremiah Fisher would never truly die.