EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED, jeremiah fisher

𝘁𝘄𝗼. 𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵

[𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙤𝙢 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙖𝙨𝙩]

𝗚𝗪𝗘𝗡 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗘𝗗 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 the house, a smile forming on her face as she reminisced about all the memories that had been created at the beach house. She noticed her mother talking with Susannah and Laurel, who she was yet to say hello to. Susannah must have read her mind because as soon as the door closed behind Gwen and the boys, she was being ushered into the kitchen by Susannah.

"Gwen! You look so gorgeous, sweetheart." Susannah cooed, her hands cradling the girl's face. "Isn't she stunning, Laurel?" She asked, turning to her friend. Laurel chuckled, walking towards the pair. Susannah stepped out of the way, letting Laurel take her place in front of Gwen.

"She's stunning, alright," Laurel said, pulling Gwen into a hug. The young girl took a deep breath, melting into Laurel's embrace. She loved Laurel's hugs. They were so motherly, and made her feel like as long as she was being held, she was safe from all her problems, and everything in the world around her. Susannah quickly joined in on the hug, gesturing for Margot to follow suit and do the same.

The four stood there momentarily, just forgetting about everything before they heard someone clear their throat behind them. They let go of each other to see Jeremiah standing at the bottom of the stairs, awkwardly watching them. "Uh, can I borrow Gwen quickly? Please?" The girl looked between the mothers before running over to Jeremiah, "Do you wanna go to the beach with me and Belly?" He asked, a hopeful look on his face.

"Of course, I do, idiot." She giggled, turning to her mother, who was standing in the kitchen. "I'm going down to the beach with Jeremiah, is that cool?" She asked, eagerness filling her voice. Margot scoffed, a laugh escaping her lips.

"You know the answer to that, Gwen. Of course, you can go down to the beach. That's why we're here." Her mother replied. The girl flashed a smile at her mother before running up the stairs to her room, Jeremiah trailing behind her. The girl stopped at her door, turning to face Jeremiah, who'd just appeared from around the corner.

"Race you to get ready?" She asked. A smirk found its way onto Jeremiah's face and he was swinging his door open before Gwen could even blink. "You cheater!" She exclaimed, quickly running into her room. 

She loved her room at the beach house, because, unlike her room at her own house, her room here never changed, it was always exactly how she'd left it the previous summer. The walls held Susannah's painting, the bookshelves had Laurel's books, and the dresser stored her mother's makeup brand. Everything in the room reflected her personality, bright and bold, but also quiet and reserved.

She quickly snapped out of her thoughts, rushing to her dresser where she stored her bathing suits. She quickly pulled out a pink bikini and hurried to change into it. Once she was dressed, she grabbed her striped beach towel and sprinted to her door. She pulled it open to see Belly and Jeremiah standing on the other side.

"Loser." The boy said, earning a laugh from the girl beside him. The redhead just scoffed, playfully shoving the boy, before taking off down the stairs. She heard a shocked gasp behind her, which was then followed by the sound of footsteps. She jumped the rest of the way down the stairs, sending the mums a quick smile and wave before sprinting to the back door.

Behind her she heard the footsteps getting louder, accompanied by the mum's laughter from the kitchen. She hurried to open the door before the two teens could catch up to her but she was too slow because as soon as she stepped outside, a pair of arms were being wrapped around her, stopping her from moving her arms.

"Jeremiah!" She screamed, trying to break free from his grip. It was obvious he'd been working out since last summer because it was immensely more difficult to escape from him compared to the last summer. "Belly, help me!" She squealed. Unfortunately, instead of the girl helping her, the only thing that happened was the younger girl bursting into laughter.

Gwen was about to give up and admit defeat when Jeremiah let go of her, a grin on his face. "Sorry, Gwenny, I couldn't let you have all the fun." He shrugged, earning an eye roll from the girl. Gwen started walking the path to the beach, Belly and Jeremiah following suit.

"Hey, did you guys know my dad's coming up for the Fourth?" She asked, a surprised tone in her voice.

Every year, Mr Fisher and Mr Conklin would come to Cousins to celebrate the Fourth of July with everyone. The dads would come visit the beach house a few times throughout the summer but they never stayed for long like the women and the children. It wasn't their place, not like it was for everyone else.

"Cool," Jeremiah replied. Gwen nodded in agreement, she'd always liked Belly's dad, he was funny, kind, and always willing to join in with the kid's ridiculous games. 

"Don't you think it's weird?" Belly asked. Gwen looked at her in confusion, Belly usually loved when her dad came down for the Fourth, why did she sound so surprised?

"Not really. I love your dad." Jeremiah told the younger girl.

"Yeah, but they've only been divorced for, like, a year and a half," Belly said, making Gwen realise why Belly was so surprised about her dad coming to the beach house. Laurel and John had divorced just before last summer, and that year he hadn't come down for the Fourth.

"Well, that's what's so cool about your mum, you know? She just doesn't give a shit." Jeremiah chuckled. The girls beside him laughed. Laurel seemed like this strict mother but when it came summer she was laid back and didn't seem to have a care in the world.

"Exactly. She doesn't give a shit because she's the one who wanted the divorce in the first place." Belly agreed.

"I think if you don't want to be married, then you just shouldn't be married," Jeremiah said. He was right, that was the reason Margot and Gwen's father had gotten divorced. It was so long ago but instead of making up like Laurel and John, they still had this sort of resentment toward each other, like whatever had happened between them was still right there in their minds, always present. It never bothered Gwen though, she'd always preferred when it was just her and Margot.

"Well, tell that to my grandma. She basically collapsed when my mum told her." Belly said, "Did you know my dad has a new girlfriend already?" Belly told them.

"Well, what about you mum? Is she dating anybody?" Jeremiah asked.

"No. Oh, and he has a beard now." Belly laughed. Gwen couldn't imagine Mr Conklin with a beard, he just didn't seem like the person who would have one, but then again, divorces change people so, maybe he'd changed.

"Your dad has a beard?" Jeremiah laughed.

"Yeah, he thinks it makes him look cool," Belly replied.

"Well, does it?" Jeremiah asked her.

"Kind of." She giggled. "I've waited all year for this," Belly told them, as they finally arrived at the beach.

"You guys wanna race?" Jeremiah asked. Gwen grimaced, the last time she'd raced someone down the beach she'd ended up face down in the sand.

"No thanks, last time I raced someone I ended up with a giant ass bruise for like two weeks," Gwen said, rubbing her upper right arm where the bruise had been.

"Yeah, I can't," Belly agreed.

"Oh, come on," Jeremiah scoffed, looking between the two girls.

"Your legs are too long now. I can't do that." Belly whined, before breaking into a sprint. Jeremiah let out a gasp of surprise before sprinting after the girl. Gwen groaned, before following them down.

The three ran down the beach, throwing their towels onto the dry sand. The only sound in Gwen's ears was the sound of their shouts and laughter, filling the once quiet beach. The three finally made it into the water, splashing and tackling each other.

They spent what had to have been hours in the water before they made their way back up to the house for dinner.


𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗬 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗦
im thinking of having multiple
chapters for each episode so
this book may have quite a few
chapters.

honestly this was going to be
a steven book but i decided
against it like right before i
started writing lmao