𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋 | 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫

001 | the beginning.

Evyn Byrd.

Evyn fucking Byrd.

A name that lived permanently in Conrad Fisher's mind since the day he even knew who she was.

He stared at her Instagram post, his eyes scanning over the caption repeatedly as his heart raced. She was here.

His fingers hovered over his keyboard as if he would actually comment something, he knew he wasn't going to. But, god, she looked so pretty.

His finger pressed the like button and he sighed.

His eyes refocused at the top of the screen went he got a text message from Jeremiah, telling the girls to come over and his breath hitched.

He had missed her so much his soul ached, and he was itching to see her. But, the last conversation they shared had been less than ideal, and he needed to make an escape, quickly.

The blond gathered his things to surf before he hurried down the stairs, trying his best to make it out the door before the two sisters entered his family's summer home.

"Woah! Where's the fire?" Jeremiah joked as he stepped in front of his other brother, a hand on his chest.

Conrad rolled his eyes. "You sound like a dad." He said as he tried to make his way around the younger boy, only for him to step in front of him yet again.

Conrad groaned.

"Ev and Stas are on their way! Did you not get the text?"

"I got the text." Conrad said, not making eye contact.

Jeremiah sighed. "Don't do this."

"Don't do what?" Conrad spat, finally turning his head to make eye contact with his brother.

"You can't treat the people who love you like shit just because-"

"Move." Conrad said lowly, cutting his brother off.

"Conrad-"

"I said, move."

And with that, Jeremiah side stepped, watching his brother storm out the back door and grab his surfboard, throwing open the back door gate.

Jeremiah can pinpoint the exact day and time that his older brother started acting like this. A million things had been happening, all just stacking on top of Conrad's shoulders, one by one. Susannah's cancer had come back, thankfully not as aggressive as the first time, but Susannah insisted no one outside the family knew, their dad started a new family, expecting a baby girl in the summer, the band was taking a toll, and he fucking missed his friends.

And then that night, the night that made everyone's stomach turn and frowns appear on their faces, that night ruined him. Jeremiah didn't know why, and as far as he knew neither did Brooks, Conrad and August jetted off last minute the night before an important gig, leaving the other two to deal with the repercussions of cancelling the show. All the younger Fisher boy knew is that Conrad had been there that night.

He had kept it together for a long time, as far as Jeremiah knew, but all he saw of his big brother was shadows under his bedroom door and the flush of a toilet or the steady flow of the shower head. He thought he was keeping it together, until he overheard him on the phone with Evyn one night, all he could hear was hushed whispers and sniffles, but he knew it was Evyn because of the small, "Evyn, please." That had been uttered from Conrad's lips, then a dial tone, followed by the harsh sobs of Conrad Fisher.

Jeremiah didn't waste a second before he swung open the door, being met with the broken down version of his once exuberant brother, sitting on the edge of his bed, arms wrapped around his stomach, hands clenching at the bare skin like he was going to be sick, and kneeled in front of him.