↳ COME BACK TO THE SEA ༉‧₊˚✧ C.F

3

⋆·˚ ༘ * NEVER GROW UP
"wish i'd never grown up"

"I feel awful." Juliette wept, her chin resting on her forearm. "I mean, he was so angry at us. And he has every right to be, honestly." She shook her head, the wind whooshing in her ear.

Conrad placed his hand on her cheek, the cold touch didn't even make her flinch, "It's gonna be okay, J, I promise."

"How?" She swallowed, lifting her head, running her eyes over his features, the thought of Jere pinging her chest, "I think maybe we should hit pause."

His face twisted in confusion as he stared at her blankly, "What? No."

"I don't want to make things harder for you guys than they already are." Juliette bellowed, sadness written over her expression.

Conrad's hand came to swept the side bangs from her eyes, "You're not." His tone was desperate, "I promise."

"The most important thing right now is that you and Jeremiah are there for each other, are there for Susannah." Juliette explained, the breeze making her shiver, leaning into his touch, "And...us being together right now would make that impossible."

"J, come on." Conrad pleaded, inching closer to her, sand brushing against her bare calves, his thumb resting on her bottom lip.

She flicked her eyes between his, her hand resting on his wrist, "I can't do that to him." She sniffled, her eyes stinging. "I hate this."

"Yeah, me too." Conrad agreed, his hand falling from her soft skin, finding its way into his pocket, her eyes trailing his movements, the velvet bag revealing itself. She couldn't fight the grin on her lips, knowing exactly what was concealed in the small bag, "Um... this was always yours."

Her eyes were glued to the silver necklace, the infinity sign dangling on the chain as he held it, his fingers grasping it as he put it around her neck, "No matter what happens, we'll still be infinite."

Juliette leaned closer to him, resting her forehead against his, their noses touching, smiles on each of their faces, eager for one another.

"Juliette." Her father's voice made her shake her head, glancing around.

The car vibration made her snap back into reality, she brought her hand up to fix her ponytail, "Sorry, uh, what?"

"I asked if you had the tickets. What's wrong with you? Are you well?" Liam voiced his concerned, pulling into the schools parking lot as she nodded, handing him the two tickets.

"Yeah, just tired." She forced a smile as the car rolled to a stop, the two getting out of the truck, her hand shook by her side as she ran her palms over her wrinkled maxi dress, the solid pink made her look paler than usual.

The school was packed with eager families, smiling faces, and chairs filling fast. Juliette sat beside Belly and Taylor as her father sat beside John and Laurel. The crowd cheered as Steven stepped on stage, slightly towering over the podium.

Valedictorian. Susannah would have been so proud, her mother would have been so proud. She shifted in the chair, staring blankly at him as he glanced around the room, leaning down to the microphone.

"They say...that everything happens for a reason.
Now, who "they" are, exactly, is unclear. Maybe a theologian coined it." He shrugged, laughter echoing, "Or, I don't know, whoever configured the simulation
we're clearly living in. Maybe it was Rihanna." Juliette chuckled to herself. Good ol' Steven. "No, no, Rihanna can do no wrong. It was definitely not her. But we've heard it time and time again. It's supposed to convince us, you know, that everything had to happen exactly so, in order to teach us something about ourselves,
in order for us to grow and meet our destiny."