𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 // 𝙟𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙖𝙝 𝙛𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧

[ 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧 ]

stella had finally caught a break. she had finally gotten to do some more songwriting after all the drama that had happened over the summer.

she opened up her notes app for some inspiration.

june 22
'cause, baby, when your arms are around me.
i'd swear that i'm holding the sun.

june 22
darlin' i'd wait for you.

shit, stella thought. that's catchy.

*flashbacks*

"you wanna go home?" jeremiah asked, adjusting to her decision to change her position to a side hug. he let his arms rest on her shoulders. it was a small, gentle gesture but it was beyond comforting.

"yeah, let's go," stella said. they walked together in the side hug. conrad led the way and cleared the path for the two teenagers in the back.

stella thought about the whole night as they were exiting the party. she got an idea that she would probably end up writing on her notes app in her phone.

she thought about it carefully, trying not to let the idea slip her mind. 'cause, baby, when your arms are around me. i'd swear that i'm holding the sun.

darlin' i'd wait for you.

*flashback ends*

stella read her little poem from her notes app over and over again. at this point, she couldn't even deny it. she was falling hard and fast... for her best friend's brother.

what would conrad even think? she thought.

her mind probably shouldn't even be going there, but it was. their friendship was so important. never in a million years did stella think that she would catch feels for someone who had been there all along, just on the sidelines.

but now she was realizing. jeremiah had always been there.

she always chose conrad, but she never realized how much effort jeremiah had really put into their friendship.

he was patient and stella was oblivious.

maybe he does like me, she thought. she was still doubtful though. stella was an overthinker. she never thought things would actually go her way.

for example, stella was realizing her feelings for jeremiah, but it was like she didn't want to admit that he might feel the same about her.

but her mind always went back to their childhood.

back to all the times that jeremiah had begged her to play with him in the water fights. all the times that he would invite her to sit next to him during the movie nights but she had always chosen to share a bowl of popcorn with conrad.

and even as they grew up, jeremiah was there for her. he was there summers ago when no one else wanted to ride the ferris wheel with her so he did. conrad was too busy admiring some girl from a distance. stella thought that was bullshit because she just wanted to have fun.

he was her first kiss. he was her only real, meaningful kiss, even if that was years ago. even if they told themselves that it didn't even count, because it pretty much did and they knew it.

jeremiah was there for her.

and now susannah was asking conrad to take her to the ball. it wasn't like stella wasn't going to have a good time either way because conrad was still her best friend, but her feelings were different this time. she had no choice but to admit it.