querencia // JEREMIAH FISHER !

ten

the morning of belly's birthday went the same as every year. wake up, scream happy birthday, pancakes and presents. this year gens routine had an added step. wake up, makeup on neck, scream happy birthday, pancakes and presents. so far she had made it until midday and no one had noticed the marks on her neck. gen can thank colour corrector for that. she was going to tell grayson, probably after she broke up with louie. just so grayson didn't pound his face in.

" hey. " gen said, knocking once on the door to conrad's bedroom before opening it. he was laying on his bed, facing the ceiling.

" i know you're not asleep. " she added when she noticed his eyes were closed. conrad opened his left eye, looking at her.

" well i'm not anymore. " he said and sat up on his bed. gen shook her head and walked over, taking the empty spot next to conrad.

neither of the two dared to speak, knowing that the topic of conversation was going to be why conrad didn't give belly a birthday present. genesis watched him get the present out of his pocket, she also watched him put it away. gen knew conrad enough to know that he got her a present, he wouldn't not. the pair knew eachother like the back of their hand. she knew something was dragging him down this summer.

" why didn't you give it her? " she asked and looked over at him, he was still staring at the wall infront of him. conrad shrugged and gen sighed. she waited a few seconds before placing her head on his shoulder.

" i know something is going on with you this summer, " she started, taking his hand into hers and giving it a squeeze. if anyone else had done this to conrad it would of been romantic, but the pair were very much strictly platonic.

" whenever you're ready to tell me what it is, i'm here. " gen finished. she didn't need to look at conrad to know that his eyes were filling with tears.

" we're back! " she heard jeremiah shout from downstairs, followed by a trail of giggles from taylor and belly. gen gave conrad's hand one last squeeze before getting up.

" you coming? " she asked and nodded her head towards the door.

" i'm going to go get nicole. " he said, composing himself and swinging his legs off of the bed. gen nodded and headed over to the door, stopping when she had her hand on the handle.

" for what it's worth, belly will love that necklace. " she said, turning over her shoulder to look at conrad. gen gave him a reassuring smile, which he gladly returned, and she went downstairs.

. . .

belly's birthday went pretty uneventful, apart from taylor hitting nicole with a ball. even though they're friends, genesis couldn't help but find it pretty funny. gen sat on the sunbed, trying to catch a little bit of a tan whilst steven, jeremiah, belly and taylor played in the pool. on a normal day gen would join in, but given the bruise on her neck she decided it would be best to stay away from water. of course, steven noticed and she had another lecture about telling grayson. before dinner genesis spent a whole twenty three minutes making sure there was no trace of louie's hand on her neck, she even considered wearing a turtle neck but decided against it after realising it would draw too much attention.

genesis had received many text and calls from louie about the day but she just ignored him. the only time genesis replied was to let him know that the moms didn't cook enough food for him to come to belly's dinner. that was obviously a lie, but gen couldn't come up with much better.

" so why don't you eat meat, cam cameron? " gen didn't know if the clock was going backwards or this dinner was just going very slow. she sat next to belly, directly opposite jeremiah and throughout the evening the two had been sneaking glances at eachother. it had been nearly a day since their little moment in the car and neither had spoken a word to the other.

gen tried her hardest to make it seem as though she was paying attention as cam started speaking about why he doesn't eat meat. she was just focused on jeremiah. the way his hand clutched the fork. she loved his hands, they were beautiful.

" why didn't louie come, gen? " she heard her brother asked and she looked over at him. gen cleared her throat and picked up some more of the food that was on her plate.

" he was busy. he's going to nicole's party later though. " the excuse was very brief, everyone at the table could read through the lies but no one said anything.

" he's going later? " steven interrupted, not sounding impressed. gen looked at steven before giving his leg a kick under the table.

" jheez steven, don't sound too excited. anyone would think you have a crush on gen. " taylor joked. everyone at the table let out some sort of laugh apart from genesis and steven.

" okay one, gross. two, i just don't like the guy. " he said before shovelling a spoon of food into his mouth. gens hand automatically reached up to rub her neck, she suddenly got even more cautious about her mark.

" i like him, he seems like a decent guy. " grayson shrugged his shoulders as he said it. if only he knew what was under his sisters hand, his opinion would change. what gen didn't notice was Jeremiah staring at the tiniest bruise she must of missed when covering her neck. his hand was clenched and jaw was locked. what the fuck.

" okay enough louie slander. let's get party ready. " taylor groaned and genesis agreed, shooting out of her chair as quick as she could and running up the stairs.

. . .

" steven. " jeremiah called as he followed the boy upstairs. steven turned around, smiling at jeremiah, waiting for him at the top.

" yo, what's up. " steven said, patting jeremiah on the back as the two walked towards their room.

" did you notice anything on gens neck? " jeremiah asked, placing his hands in his pockets. jeremiah didn't miss the small panic on stevens face and both boys stopped in the hallway.

" oh yeah, the bruises. " think steven, think.

" she was pissing me off yesterday so i put the vaccume on her neck. " steven laughed as normally as he could, bumping his arm with jeremiah's. jeremiah could see through his bullshit. steven knew something.

" she was so pissed. " steven added, trying to get his story as solid as he could.

" anyway bro, i gotta get ready. " he said quickly, slapping jeremiah on the back before walking as quick as he could to his room. jeremiah stood and watched him. did steven really think he believed that bullshit?