timeless, jeremiah fisher

thirteen

gina's pov

i looked around the clubhouse for a while before i saw him. i was really worried about him. and seeing him there, the way he was, didn't help. he was sitting by the pool, crying. one of his hands was on his was and the other had susannah's phone. i didn't know when he took it, but that didn't matter.

"jere," i said softly as i sat down next to him and hugged him. his tears were falling on my shoulder. and i didn't know what to say to him besides, "everything will be okay."

"no gi," he said, still crying. "my mom. her-her cancer is back. i just saw the e-mail about a trail."

i was completely shocked. i was disappointed in myself for not noticing that something was going on with susannah. but i could not afford to think about that right now. not when jeremiah was crying like that. not when i knew he was hurting.

"look at me," i said as i left the hug. i wipe his tears with my thumbs. "she will fight it as hard as she can, i know it. and all of us will be there with her. that's all she needs right now." he looked into my eyes and just nodded. that was good enough for now. i smiled at him as i slowly got up. "come on," i said. "everyone inside probably is waiting for you."

he wiped his tears as we got up. and we walked back silently towards the hall. i needed my time to process everything i had just heard too.

-x-x-x-

we walked in to see the dance had begun. conrad and belly were dancing together as if nothing else mattered. i turned to look at jeremiah as we stopped in front of the main door. i could tell from his face that he was not happy to see that he missed the dance. he was disappointed. i gently touched his arm before we started to walk towards our table.

"jeremiah, honey, where were you?" susannah asked jeremiah as we walked up to the table.

"i-i ate something. i think maybe the shrimp was bad," he lied. i nodded.

"oh, honey, i'm so sorry," susannah said. "you know, the caterer is gonna be hearing from me."

"okay, karen," laurel chuckled. making me laugh a little too. i definitely would have been laughing harder if the situation had been different.

"i'll get you some ginger ale," she said. she turned around and beckons one of the waiters. "excuse me."

my attention was pulled back to the dance as it came to an end. belly and conrad looked like they could only see each other. i could see that the sad expression on jeremiah's face too. and i hated that.

"i'll be right back," jeremiah said as he was about to walk towards the two of them.

"oh, no, honey, are you gonna be sick again?" susannah stops him. "where is that ginger ale? i'm gonna get you one from the bar."

she heads off to the bar. jeremiah immediately starts to walk towards belly and conrad, and i followed right behind him. i needed to.

"hey," jeremiah said, turning conrad to face him.

"hey, jeremiah where were you?" belly asked. i gave the girl a small smile.

"conrad. we need to talk right now," he said, ignoring belly's question "it's important. it's about mom. i found something out."

"um. yeah. we'll talk about this later, okay?" conrad said.

"no, it's important."

"it's okay," conrad said, tapping him on the chest.

"you know, don't you?" i said softly, everything that happened this summer falling into place. the way he acted. how moody he was. this was the only explanation. "that's what has been on your mind all summer. that's what has been bothering you."

"you've known this whole fucking time and didn't tell me!?" jeremiah said, glaring at him.

"jere..." conrad said softly. jeremiah punched conrad before i could stop him. he lunges at him and they fall to the floor, wrestling each other. i didn't know what to do.

"stop it! both of you. stop it" susannah said as she walked towards us, with dad, laurel and john right behind her. conrad pushed jeremiah off of him and both of them get up.

"what is going on?" she continued.

"mom..." jere said, starting to tear up, standing right in front of her. he looks away.

"we know mom," conrad continues. susannah looked at him. "we both know."

"all three of us," i added, looking at susannah sadly as i stood beside jeremiah. susannah seemed shocked as she looked at laurel.

"know what?' belly asked, looking at all of us. she looked really confused.

-x-x-x-

"how long have you known?" i asked dad as we sat on the bed. i had tears in my eyes. it was giving me flashbacks to when my mom passed away. and why wouldn't it? she had cancer too. and that was one of last times i had cried this much.

"you know i wanted to tell you when i found out in spring," dad said, trying to comfort me. "i just wanted the boys to find out first. and susannah was going to tell them soon."

"you had to carry it all by yourself," i said. "i honestly feel so stupid. i should have seen what's going on with her. i had seen the same thing before. all the signs were right there."

"maybe that's why you didn't." he paused for a minute. what he said made sense. "and susannah wanted it exactly like that. for you all to enjoy the summer. have the best summer possible."

i knew that's how she was. but it didn't change the fact that she was going through a lot. and we didn't know. "she isn't getting any better, is she?"

"no," he said. i could see his eyes well up too. "but she'll be okay. mia will be with her."

"i know," i said with a sad smile, tears still in my eyes. "it's just hard to accept that she might not be here for long. it's like mom all over again. and cousins? this house? won't be the same without her. it was the one place i -"

"i know," he hugged me as i cried silently. "i know."

we stayed in the room till we were called for dinner downstairs. i was happy to hear that susannah was giving the cancer trail a chance. the two boys had convinced her. maybe, just maybe, she'll be fine. i wanted to have that hope. everything else seemed normal during dinner, and i was happy about that. i could not handle it any other way. i knew i could always come back here, to this place, to these people. they were my home.

-x-x-x-