The Summer We Reunited {Bonrad}

Chapter 4

Birthdays were now very different. It wasn't the same as it always was. Belly's birthday usually came with lots of excitement. It marked the start of summer. This year, her birthday included her and Conrad being alone in Cousins. Both felt uncomfortable and both felt like the day was supposed to mark something bigger. Conrad had looked at the ocean waves crashing from the house as he heard footsteps coming behind him. He had smiled as he saw Belly and suddenly it all came back to him. It wasn't the day that brought back memories. More what happened on her sixteenth.

"Happy birthday. Was wondering when you would wake up," Conrad said, as he lightly hugged Belly.

"Thanks, I wasn't really feeling the day, but I guess I have to face it eventually," Belly said.

"Are Laurel and Steven coming down?" Conrad asked as Belly shook her head.

"Not even Taylor is. She is still pissed at me for how things ended with Jeremiah. Mom is on a book tour in South America for It's Not Summer Without You, and Steven is stuck working in New Jersey," Belly said.

"Taylor can't still blame you for everything that happened. Jeremiah cheated on you," Conrad said.

"According to Taylor if I had gotten rid of that necklace, none of it would have happened," Belly said.

"Why did you keep that necklace?" Conrad asked.

The question had caught Belly off guard. She never expected to be asked why she kept the necklace, and especially not from Conrad. She had bit her lip, wanting to keep aside why she did keep it. She didn't really know why. But she did keep it these last two years.

"Belly," Conrad said as Belly looked at him.

"I couldn't give it away or sell it," Belly said.

"Why? You were happy with Jeremiah. You had the boyfriend who would give up everything for you. Who made you laugh. Why keep something that just reminded you of your past and the relationship that brought you nothing but tears?" Conrad asked as Belly looked at him.

She was shocked. She knew that her relationship with Conrad was complicated, and there was a time when the relationship had brought her tears. But there was also a lot more times when she was happy.

"My relationship with Jeremiah may have made me happy, but it didn't come without its own problems. As soon as things got stressful, such as when he found the necklace, Jeremiah wasn't interested in fighting. He would give in. We've had various breakups during our two years together, Conrad. More than I could ever have imagined. My relationship with your brother wasn't without many troubles. And my relationship with you wasn't just tears. We both know there was a time when we were very happy. We broke up because you couldn't handle our relationship and your mom's cancer. You never treated me badly, and we both know if we could, we would have fought with everything we had," Belly said as she went back inside the house.