betty ↳ conrad fisher

seventy-four.

Betty Graham had thrown the towel in, the girl laying on the floor beside her closet as she'd fully given up on finding something to wear. The pain inside of her was bubbling and growing, festering there like an illness and she was hoping to avoid it. She was hoping that it would just go away or get lighter at least. But she knew that was also just wishful thinking. She's just lost the one good thing she had going for her, the one safe place during this difficult week and now she knew no peace, and she wouldn't for awhile. A part of her still wished she'd hear a knock on her door, that she would hear the sound of feet on the stairs and that Jack would come through and tell her that he was wrong and he couldn't bear to be apart from her. That he couldn't leave things that way. But she knew he wasn't coming. They never do. Men never see their mistakes when they've made them...only much later.

She traced the ceiling with her eyes and found invisible patterns, trying her hardest to think of something else but of course she couldn't. She's just been abandoned. She tried to find joy in the fact that she was alone in the house for the summer, she could do anything she wanted...but she knew she wasn't excited, because after all of this she just wanted her family. She just wanted her dad.

She still hadn't cried, which she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. She knew she wasn't numb, she could feel a lot of things, but she figured maybe she was just so emotionally exhausted that it didn't even impact her. It would hit her at another time. She was sure it—

The sound of a knock on the front door did echo through the home, the girl sitting up at lightning speed. Her heart pounded insanely in her chest and she walked as normally as she could down the stairs, her eyes stinging with tears as she reached the front door. There was another knock as she pulled it open, her heart filled with hope. Her face quickly fell when she saw who was on the other side, her stomach unknotting and her eyes drying. It was Steven.

"I was sent to come check on you. You look...what's wrong?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing as he looked at the girl in front of him. She looked so weak and sad, it was written all over her. He knew her well enough to know what she looked like in many different stages. This was definitely her most defeated look. She didn't say anything, just leaving the door open and walking back towards the stairs. He got the memo, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. He followed her up the stairs and she went back to her spot laying on the floor, her eyes on the ceiling as he sat on the edge of her bed. "Where's Jack?"

The question sent her over the edge in seconds, an emotional breath leaving her lips before she pushed her palms into her eyes, it was an attempt to keep the tears from flowing. Unfortunately they didn't and Steven knew her well enough to know she was struggling, his eyes widening as she shook her head.

"He left."

"What do you mean he left? Like...he left left?" Steven asked, his eyes narrowing as he moved to sit on the floor beside her. She sniffled and he felt bad now, his heart hurting for the girl as she spoke again.

"He said it was too much being here. He said that the whole Conrad thing was bigger than he thought and that it was driving him crazy and he needed...space. And he left. And he didn't come back." She let out a well needed quiet sob, Steven feeling bad for not comforting her. He was shocked, his eyes wide as he reached for her and she accepted his attempt at making her feel better, the girl sitting up and letting him hug her. She cried into his shoulder for a second and she realized maybe she just didn't want to be alone, and that was why she couldn't cry earlier. She just needed somebody.

"I'm so sorry. He's so stupid."

"I told him that if I wanted Conrad I would be with him...nothing is ever good enough. This—this entire week has been driving me insane and I had one good thing—one thing that made me happy— and of course it was ruined. Everything always is." Steven felt bad, he felt like he'd contributed to some of this hurt she was feeling but he knew he wanted nothing more than to see the both of them happy again and he knew exactly where they would find happiness.

"I'm sorry Betty. It's been a rough past few days." The plan was formulating in his head and in true man fashion he disregarded the fact that she needed time to heal and instead took this as his opportunity to fix things to his liking. Conrad would say all the right things tonight, he would make sure of it. And once he did, everything would be right in the world again. He just needed a little more information. "Whatever you need to talk about—I'm here."

"I don't know why this keeps happening to me. I just want to feel loved and supported. That's all I want." She said it in a true moment of weakness, and it was exactly what he needed to hear. He pushed for more.

"What did he even say? Actually—what even—what's even been going on with everything I'm so lost."

"I'm lost too. I don't even understand what's going on anymore. He said this place was overwhelming because of my past and because of Conrad and like apparently he found old pictures in my drawer and shit like that. I don't know I just know that I got fucked over again. I just want things to be okay again. This is all too much. I mean Jere—fuck— Jere kissing me and Connie kissing me and then Jack showing up and the thing with the house and it's all too fucking much." Steven was at a loss for words after that revelation, his eyes widening as he realized there was way more to this than he thought. He'd always suspected Jeremiah saw Betty in a different way, but he didn't know he had acted on it. He didn't know Conrad had kissed her, he really had missed a lot.

"Well which one did you—"

"Neither. I just wanted Jack. Now I'm just fucked. I'm fucked." She cut him off and he wasn't too pleased with the answer, but his brain was already calculating ways he could turn this in Conrad's favor. The plan would proceed.

"You're not fucked. Listen...these are all just guys. Don't cry over guys especially Conrad and Jere. You've known them like forever. This shit never changes you know that." Steven tried to be supportive but she just shook her head, wiping her eyes with her hand.

"But that's the problem—don't you get it? Nothing ever changes." She wanted to be alone now, but she wouldn't kick him out. "Conrad is the same he has always been. If I have him another chance it would be the exact same as last time. It's never going to work because he's never been fully in. And Jeremiah...he just sees me as a distraction or something. It happens again and again and I just need things to change. I wish they were different."

"They'll change. Connie can change." Steven said it with a determination and he nodded at her, looking over her face and then pushing himself up from the floor. He pulled her closet door open and then threw a change of clothes at her, malign the decision of what she would wear for her since she seemed to be struggling. "He will change. Now you change. We're gonna go and get drunk as fuck and you'll forget all about Jack and Jeremiah."

She didn't seem to notice that he didn't say Conrad. She nodded her head and he grabbed her hands, pulling her up and then moving towards the door.

"20 minutes. See you over there."