↳ COME BACK TO THE SEA ༉‧₊˚✧ C.F

10

⋆·˚ ༘ * AFTERGLOW
"put you in jail for something you didn't do."

After a half hour, Juliette and Jeremiah were back on the road. His music playing on low as he drove in a comfortable silence. Until, she shifted uncomfortably, her stomach gurgling loudly.

"Oh, my God, was that your stomach?" Jere asked wide-eyed, watching her cheeks grow red with embarrassment.

"Shut up. I'm starving." She whined, placing her hand onto her clothed stomach. "All I had to eat today was an Icee. And even I know that doesn't count as a meal."

Jeremiah's lips turned up into a slight smirk, peering at her in his passenger seat. "Well, lucky for you, we are almost to pie."

"Rosie's?" She nearly squealed, the window cracked up, the wind blowing on her face.

"So you want to stop or..." Jeremiah asked, hissing in pain as she backhanded just under the rib. "Ow."

Juliette giggled with excitement, the sweet smell of pie already hitting her nose. "Yes."

Jeremiah pulled into the gravel parking lot as Juliette was already unbuckling her seatbelt, the indistinct chatter in the distance as they two exited the truck.

She grinned ear to ear as they walked past the fresh fruits, her feet skipping on the concrete path as they approached the small window, pies on display.

"Okay. Um.." Juliette clicked her tongue, her hands folded by her face as she scanned the pie options, "I think I'm gonna get..."

"Blueberry?" Jeremiah answered for her, his eyes peering down at her as she had her grin still plastered on her face, her voice was barely above a whisper as she said, "Blueberry."

Juliette turned to face him, her face twisting as she observed his features, "Yeah. You always could read my mind. Mostly. I mean..." She bit her bottom lip, "I'm glad it's back anyway, our ESP."

"Yeah, me, too." Jeremiah sniffed, the permanent smile on his lips.

She placed her fingers on her temples as she narrowed her eyes at him, watching his expression turn to amusement. She exhaled. "know that you're not eating
any pie because..." Juliette shut her eyes for a moment. "Mm, you're worried about ruining your abs."

Jeremiah gasped, his hand falling to his stomach before he shrugged cockily. "Yeah. I mean, they
are a service to mankind, so..."

Juliette rolled her eyes as she shoved his arm, her head tilted to the side slightly as she stared at him.

"Julie?" Her name being called caught her off guard. Both her and Jeremiah looked behind her. Nicole biking closer to them, her mouth fell agape.

"Nicole!" She rejoiced, approaching her. "Hi."

Nicole smiled brightly at her, her appearance still the same from last summer. Her eyes saddened as she noticed Jeremiah. "Jere, I was so sorry to hear about your mom. She was so lovely."

"Yeah. She was." Jeremiah breathed, nodding in appreciation. Juliette squeezed his hand for a moment. "Thank you. Hey, I think, uh, our order's ready."

"Yeah. Yeah. Uh, me, too." Juliette chuckled awkwardly, glancing between the two plates and Jeremiah, then back at Nicole. "If you wanna grab it."

Jere nodded before walking off. Juliette looked back at her waiting for her to talk.

"How are he and Conrad doing?" She asked, voicing her worry. "I reached out after the funeral, but I never heard back, and I figured things were intense, so..."

"Yeah, you know, they're hanging in there." Juliette chuckled softly, knowing she they both made it sound simpler then it really way. "Um, how-how have you been? Have you seen any of the-the debs yet this summer?"

Nicole's lips went flat as her shoulders dropped, her hands gripping the handlebars of her bike, "Uh, I saw Marisa last week, but, uh, Gigi's dad got caught in some insider trading thing and they had to sell their house."

Juliette felt her eyes grow bigger in shock. "Oh, wow."

"Yeah. Really awful. And supposedly they're making a documentary about it." Nicole added with a small frown. "And Shayla's in Europe with her parents all summer. And so the gangs broken up. But I guess that was bound to happen at some point."

"Yeah. That's so..." Juliette parted her lips, searching for the right words. "It's too bad."

Nicole shook her head in agreement. "What about you? I didn't even know you guys were coming this year."

"Yeah, we weren't. It, um..." Juliette fist plunged into her opposite palm gently as she licked her lips. "It just... It kind of came up."

"Well, we should definitely hang." Nicole suggested with a closed-lip smile, "You still have my number."

Juliette tapped her phone in her back packet with a nod. "Mm-hmm."

Nicole's smile slowly faded as she looked between Juliette and Jeremiah, she sighed lowly to herself before bidding goodbye.

Juliette watched her peddle off. They both knew she wasn't going to call, it wasn't the same. Her eyes watched Nicole up until she couldn't, her shoulder dropping.

Jeremiah tapped her lightly, holding the pie out for her, she smiled gently at him, taking it as they walked back to his truck. She felt so sick she could barely eat, she wasn't ready to see him.

She ate half of the pie before letting it sit on her lap, the scent of blueberries blocking her nose as she stared out of the window, her leg bouncing up and down against the leather seat.

Her heart came to her throat as they pulled into the all-to-familiar makeshift driveway of the beach house. Conrad's Range Rover parked on a slant. Jeremiah glanced over at her, her face paling.

"Ready?" He asked, she flashed him a reassuring smile with a nod. She didn't think she'd ever be ready for this.

authors note<3
apologies for the short chapter 🤭🤭
the next scene deserves its own.