The Look in His Eye [Jeremiah Fisher x Reader]

~ 1 ~

For the past two summers, my dad was sick. As soon as I hit highschool, things just seemed to off... And before we knew it he was gone. This summer mom wanted to carry on the tradition, but I knew it killed her. So of course, she invited the Baldwins. Jolene Baldwin had been a friend of my mom's since college and the two had always joked about getting me and Spencer together. And somehow... This summer just worked, in a weird and slightly creepy way. We made our way to Cousins, me driving since I had gotten my license earlier in the year. It felt odd to know that in the trunk was my father... Well, his ashes at least. Mom had wanted to give him one last summer before we did anything with them. 

"Y/n?" she called from beside me, grabbing some of my attention. "I don't want you getting into too much trouble this summer. But I do want you to get out. We'll have two cars at the house this summer so you and Spencer can go out, but I don't want you staying out too terribly late, okay? And no getting pregnant! I know that I want you and Spencer to get along, but not that much!"

I nervously laughed at her comment. "It's okay mom. I haven't even met him yet, at least not from what I remember."

"You both used to spend a lot of time together, we thought you both were just so cute!"

"And that was when? When we were 5?" I asked teasingly.

"Around there... yeah," she said, defeated by my comment.

We arrived at the house. Every year it was the same. The beach house was always this homely place covered in blue paint that matched the skyline. I sighed. We were here. But I couldn't help the fact that it felt like it was missing something... And that was dad running into the house with me on his back like I was flying an airplane, or the happy kiss and hug shared between my parents when they knew they could relax. We unloaded our things into the house and by the time I was bringing in the last bags mom was out front giving Jolene directions over the phone. Jolene pulled into the driveway and hopped out to hug my mom. I could see Spencer slowly get out of the car and give me a nervous smile, he looked so uncomfortable. This was gonna be a mess... But if it would make mom happy, I was glad that they were here. 

I heard a few excited cheers next door. I looked over and saw that as they did every year as well, the Conklins and Fishers were here. I chuckled as I watched hugs. I had known those four fairly well, mostly Belly though. Susannah and Laurel would make sure their kids would play with me every once in a while since she knew I was the only kid in the house next door. Last summer though... I hadn't really seen any of them. Dad had been so sick we were almost sure he was going to die. So we made it all about us. I'm glad we did... I knew it was what he wanted. It was the last thing he...

"Y/n?" a voice said.

I looked out in front of me to see Spencer.

"Everything alright there?" he asked.

I blinked a few times, realizing I had spaced out. I quickly saw he had bags in his hands and looked back up at him.

"Yeah, here, let me help you with your bags and getting to rooms," I said, taking some for him and leading him upstairs. 

We set things down in his room and I still felt out of it.

"Do you know anyone around here?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, well. Sort of. The Conklins and Fishers are next door, they're a fun group," I chuckled.

"We should see if they know anything fun to do tonight. It's our first night here," he said.

I nodded. I searched through my phone to see if I still had Belly's contact. Right. Belly's insta. We didn't talk super often, but there was the occasional conversation or reel. I texted her to see if we could come over and she quickly replied that we could... A bit too intrigued by the word "we".

We checked in with the moms before we headed next door. We knocked and Belly quickly answered the door just... completely soaked. 

"So Miss Mysterious. This is the we?" she questioned.

"It's not-" we both spoke. 

We looked to each other and I sighed before stepping inside. Down the hall I could see Susannah smile at me.

"Hi Y/n!" she said enthusiastically. 

We made our way to the kitchen where she was at and I saw Laurel unpacking some food and drinks. 

"Y/n, its good to see you," Laurel said.

"Thank you Ms. Park," I said with a smile.

"You can call me Laurel, you're not such a little girl anymore," she said.

"She's right about that!" Susannah said as she came and hugged me. "Say, who's this you've got with you?"

"This is Spencer Baldwin, he's the son of my mom's college best friend who's staying with us this summer... Kind of like you both," I chuckled.

"Well nice to meet you Spencer, feel free to come over whenever you'd like. Feel free to drag Y/n here too, we don't see enough of her. Though I am glad you have someone else to help keep you company. Speaking of which, you all should come to dinner tonight. It'd be a good way to start off the summer!" Susannah said cheerily.

I smiled, "I'll let my mom know, she'll probably be happy to do that."

I turned back to see that Belly was gone and I went upstairs to look for her. There I found her in her room with Jeremiah.

"Y/n, do you wanna-" Belly started.

"Y/n?" Jeremiah looked back at me. 

I looked him in the eye. Jeremiah and I had talked a bit when we were younger, but we hadn't stayed in touch, and after last year... He hadn't seen me in a while. He stood up from Belly's bed and took my hand, twirling me around.

"Why hello there, look at you," he joked.

I giggled. I guess I had changed a lot, but I hadn't fully realized it. 

"Who's this?" Jeremiah asked.

I looked back to see that Spencer had stuck to my side like a lost puppy.

"Spencer, he and his mom are staying with us this summer," I introduced.

"I see... Hey, you would go with me for a swim right, Y/n? I waited for Belly but she's going to Whale of a Tail," Jeremiah asked.

I laughed, "Sure, we can go for a swim."

Jeremiah smiled, grabbing my hand and rushing off. We made our way to the beach after I changed into a swimsuit, quickly making our way to the water. It felt like summer, playing around in the ocean like this. For just a moment, I forgot everything that had plagued me the past six months. As I came up out of the water I felt a splash only to see Belly and Spencer had decided to join us. We all splash each other, fighting in the water. Maybe this summer really could be great.