↳ COME BACK TO THE SEA ༉‧₊˚✧ C.F

9

⋆·˚ ༘ * RIGHT WHERE YOU LEFT ME
"you left me no choice but to stay here forever"

Juliette sat shotgun in Jere's car, the silence deafening. Her phone vibrated in her lap, her heart skipping. It was just Steven, she gawked at the reminder of last night. Taylor Swifts voice playing made Jeremiah glanced down, watching her decline it.

"Was that Steven?" Jeremiah asked, keeping his eyes on the road, feeling her stare. "Why didn't you pick up?"

"I'll call him later." She replied flatly, reaching for the volume as she turned it up slightly. She tapped her feet, her eyes trailing over his side profile, "Hey, how, uh... how have you been? Since..."

Jeremiah swallowed, his Adams apple bobbing. "I'm okay."

"Because you know I'm here." She reminded, watching as he didn't react, eyes glued to the road. "If you ever need to talk." Her eyes drifted to the window.

"You know, I..." Jeremiah began, pausing to blow out a breath. Her vision flicking over to him. "I went to Cousins with my mom for the Spring once. It's kind of weird being there when it's not summer."

Juliette's face twisted with sadness, forcing her gaze back of the window as she could feel the familiar sting in her brown eyes. "Yeah, I bet."

The green grass and bright sky suddenly changed to a snowy cold night and Jeremiah was Conrad.

"On a scale of one to ten, how much trouble do you think we'll be in when they find out we're gone?" Conrad asked, the corners of his mouth rising.

"Oh, I'm not getting in any trouble." She scrunched her nose up as Conrad stared at her, intrigued. "I'm telling everyone you kidnapped me."

Conrad's mouth feel open as he made a 'psh' sound, "What? Please. You jumped at the chance."

Juliette squinted at him, laughing lowly, "Yeah, only because I've never seen a snowy beach."

"Me either." Conrad smiled, "Last time I checked the
weather out, there was only a 30% chance of flurries,
but hopefully we'll get lucky."

The Christmas music played on low volume as he drove. She turned her head towards him. "Hey, did Susannah like the bike you got her for Christmas? You got the one with the basket, right?"

Conrad nodded with a grin, reminiscing about his mother as he held the wheel tightly, one hand tapping on his jeans. "Yeah. Yeah, she loved it. Thanks to you. I was just gonna get her a bathrobe."

Juliette chuckled softly, "I know, that's what Steven got Laurel this year. Why do boys suck so bad at giving presents?"

"Honestly... I don't think she would have cared what I got her." Conrad admitted, half-serious. "You have no idea how happy she is that you're my girlfriend." Juliette stared forward, fighting the stupid smile begging to come out. "Hey, I haven't told anyone
yet, but I think I'm gonna switch my major to biology."

"Really?" She said in awe, beaming over at him. "Wow."

Conrad nodded with his lips turned up, looking between her and the road, "Yeah. I want to go premed. And for a while, I thought I wanted to go into the research end of it, but no, I think I'd rather be working with actual people."

"Because of your mom?" Juliette furrowed her brows, gawking at him every time they locked eyes. He never failed to give her butterflies, even seventeen years later.

"She's getting better, you know." Conrad rejoiced, the hopeful glimpse in his eyes made her reach for his cheek, her hand falling back in her lap.

"Will you try, uh, Conrad again?" Jeremiah asked.