𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 (𝐂𝐅)

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧- 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐞

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It was two days before Belly's birthday. Which meant tonight was the party Nicole was hosting in honour of her. I hadn't spoken to anyone since that night a Cam's house.

Everyone had tried to check on me, well except Conrad. The only person I let in was Jeremiah. He would try convince me to come downstairs but I just had no energy to.

I knew I had to sort things out with my sister, Taylor I didn't care about so much. On good timings Jeremiah bursts through my door making me jump.

"Right enough is enough!" He sighs going to my curtains opening them as the sun practically burns me eyes.

"No Jere." I moan turning over burying my head into my pillow. "What is it going to take you to just get up?!" He pleads with me as I ignore him.

"I'll be back Smelly!" He warns me walking out of my room abruptly at a failed attempt to get me out of bed. As I start to fall back to sleep there's a knock at my door.

I ignore it and then my door opens again. "Jere I told you I'm not getting up!" I sit up turning to my door but it wasn't Jeremiah, it was Conrad.

"Oh." I say quietening my voice as he shuts my door. "Ellie it's like a vampires lair in here." He chuckles looking around before taking a seat on my bed.

"If you're trying to get me out of bed, it's not going to happen." I sigh as he ignores me. "When I first found out, about my mum. I shut myself out, I wouldn't eat, get up. I quit football and fell out with Jeremiah." He begins to tell me as I listen intently.

"Ellie you can't do the same, it will make you feel worse." He grabs my hand squeezing it tightly. "I just feel that I keep messing things up." I admit as his eyes soften.

"El's, you have done nothing wrong. I don't like seeing you like this." My heart warms a little, I look to his eyes. He truly meant it. "Come on, get ready and we'll go get your favourite pastries." He squeezes my hand giving me a small smile.

"Belly's also beating herself up thinking she's made you feel this way." Finally, I knew I couldn't lie here any longer. I never wanted Belly to feel like that.

"Fine let me have a shower." I roll my eyes as his smile increases. "I'll meet you downstairs." He let's go if my hand and leaves my room.

I have my shower and throw on some sweats, putting my hair up before meeting Conrad in the kitchen. "Where is everyone?" I question noticing no body was in the house.

"Not sure." He says, too quickly, it was suspicious. I ignore it as we get in Conrad's car and head to the Joe's pastry's. Conrad turns up the music as he starts to sing badly, he was doing it deliberately to try make me laugh.

It worked, I let a giggle as he stops singing and turns to me with a smile. "What?" I ask as he blinks a little turning back to the road. "You're laughing at my singing? The girl who sounds like a drowned rat?!" He laughs looking back to the road.

"Shut up." I say blushing as I look out the window. Guilt kept eating me up about what happened last night with Jere, but I could never say anything. It was going to the grave so I decided to put the memory of it happening in the back of my mind.

What Conrad doesn't know, can't hurt him. "I'm sorry about that night at the party." He starts as I turn back to him, a feeling of hurt lingered from that night, it still pained me.

"El you have to remember, Nicole and your sister were they're, and all there friends. You would've regretted it the next day when all the girls in cousins hated you." What he said made sense, Nicole and Belly would be heartbroken, I didn't even think how they would feel.

"Then why didn't you just tell me that?" I furrow my eyebrows. "Because..." he stumbles on his words looking out to the road with focus.

"I was stupid, my first thing to to do is go defensive and try shut down it in the worst possible way." He laughs a little as he speaks, like he knew his own stupidity.

"But I can't do that with you, we'll I try and then end up just feeling like a biggest dick." He looks to me for a second. "I'm sorry El." I could tell he really meant it, I knew when Conrad was lying and he wasn't, in some ways I wish he was.

He was being so honest with me and taking responsibility. The complete opposite of what I was doing. "Don't worry about it." Is all I managed to say before looking out the window once again.

We get to Jo's bakery and park the car. We get inside as my mouth nearly drools looking at the pastries. "Can we get two white chocolate scones please." Conrad said knowing my favourite.

"After this we're meeting the others at the beach." He insists leaning on the counter as he looks to me. "I-"

"Let me rephrase, you're forced to come to the beach, if you don't I will carry you there." I giggle a little as his face looked serious. "Fine bossy pants." I joke as his face eases up and he rolls his eyes.

We get our pastries, Conrad pays as we leave and go to the edge of road and sit on the hill over looking the beach. I took a big inhale of the cold sea air, refreshed I felt a lot better.

I take a bite of my pastry, it was my favourite since I was a kid. Me, Belly and the boys would go all the time. Susanna and my mum would tell us we could spend five dollars in Jo's.

The boys and Belly always went for cheap pieces of taffy's, one dollar donuts and other picky bits. But me, I would always get the white chocolate scone. It made me feel sophisticated and mature.

Still to this day getting this scone made me feel that way, at cousins I always felt like a little child, the nostalgia and memories. It's one of the only times I feel my age.

I turn to Conrad who lied in the grass eating his. I flip back submerging myself in the grass next to him. I finished my scone and looked up to the sky. "Doesn't this feel weird without stars?" I point out as there's a long pause.

"Ellie when are you going to get it? It doesn't matter if there's a hundred or zero stars in the sky, you're the one that burns the brightest." I turn to look at Conrad who had his eyes closed.

I decided to not fixate on what he just said and I go back to looking at the clouds passing by. That's when I felt a light touch on my left hand, the one next to Conrad.

My breath hitched, I didn't want to get to exited in case it was a blade of grass if the wind had picked up. But soon I felt his hand snake around mine, we interlock our fingers.

His hands soft and gentle on mine as he traces circles on my thumb with his.

We didn't say a word, or even share a glance while we laid hand in hand. All I knew is I could stay in this moment forever.

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