FEELS LIKE • CONRAD FISHER

021, forgotten

IT WAS A week before christmas when conrad and carolina broke up. the two had been on winter break for a couple of days already. carolina had driven to the cousin's houses and planned to meet up with conrad. the last time they saw each other was two weeks before that when they were drinking hot cocoa.

carolina waited all night for conrad to come. he didn't text or call back. minutes turned into hours and carolina gave in and fell asleep on the couch. the next morning conrad called carolina back. "carolina, sorry i missed your call. my high school friends took me to a party. what's up?" he asked and carolina scoffed, "conrad, you know i waited all night for you to come?"

"huh?" he said, he had forgotten.

"our anniversary, it was yesterday. remember we said we'd meet at cousins?" she asked. she waited for a response from him. after a few seconds, conrad gasped, "oh shit, that was yesterday? care i'm so—"

"sorry that you forgot? yeah, you've been forgetting a lot recently. five months was supposed to be today. i hope you had fun at the party. i guess i drove to cousins for nothing." she said about to hang up. "care, please i'm sorry." he apologized.

"i texted and called you and you didn't even answer me! i said, "can't wait to see you tomorrow at the beach house" and you read the message." carolina sighed.

"look, i've been stressed recently. i just need a break, care, like from us. i can't fucking do this right now." he said, making carolina start to tear up from the last sentences. she almost did believe what he said, "you wanna break from us? look, i know you've been stressed with school and susannah, and i've been trying to help you, but if you want a break fine."

"care, look, i'm sorry—"

"conrad, i understand that susannah is sick, but it doesn't give you the right to act like an asshole. who the fuck breaks up with someone over the phone?" she said before hanging up. once the call ended she sat there crying. conrad regretted the words that came out of him soon after he said it to her.

present

carolina watched out her window as conrad ran down to the water with his surfboard. it's been months since she's seen him. she told herself she was past him, but would she ever really be over him? after a while of watching him surf, she walked away from the window. she sat down on her bed and sighed, why did everything have to be so complicated?

her phone rang from across the room, making carolina get up from her bed to get it. "we went to talk to aunt julia. there was no luck in trying to convince her." jeremiah sighed. carolina felt horrible that they couldn't do anything. "i'm sorry jere, do you and belly want to come over to talk about it?" she asked.

"maybe, we'll see. conrad was trying to access his trust. our dad should be on the phone any minute now." jeremiah responded. carolina nodded, "okay, uh, how long are you guys staying for?" she asked.

"i'm not too sure. conrad has to get back soon for his finals. so probably soon." jeremiah responded. carolina nodded, "uh, okay just keep me updated and call me if anything happens." she said with worry.

the phone call was not a success for belly, jeremiah, and conrad. they sat at the table with their heads lowered after jeremiah ended the call. after a couple seconds of silence, the door flew open. "surprise!" steven and taylor came in with pastries.

"aw shit i knew we should have told them we were coming," steven said looking at the disappointment on their faces. conrad shook his head, "no it's not that." conrad shook his head.

"we're—"

"losing the house, yeah i know. sorry i should have not been so excited when i came in." steven said looking down, making the rest of them look up at him. "how do you know?" conrad asked.

"uh, carolina told me. where is she by the way? she's here right? she said she was." steven said looking around him. conrad looked at steven, "what do you mean she's here?" he asked slowly looking around the room and saw jeremiah looking at his lap.

"surprise. she's here right next door." jeremiah said looking up slowly at his older brother. conrad sighed, "she's been here this entire time? just next door?" he asked.

"well i guess it's hard to see with all the bushes and trees, but yeah she's next door." jeremiah answered, "her family's coming next week. she just finished school. i'm sorry, okay!? she told me not to tell you, but technically steven did so..."

"whatever. i can't be worried about her right now, i need to focus on the house," he said shaking his head, but he couldn't help but think of carolina the rest of the night. jeremiah could tell he was thinking about her and not the house.

as the 5 of them watched a movie, jeremiah nudged his brother. "you should go and talk to her. i know you're not thinking about the house or watching this movie right now." jeremiah whispered. conrad looked over at him and shook his head, "no, i can't. not after the way i ended things."

"she's not over you conrad. i can tell, she's concerned about you," jeremiah whispered "the faster you do this, the more you can focus on the house. just try, if she doesn't wanna talk it's fine, but i think you should just try and speak with her. she always asks me about you and how you're doing."

"fine," he whispered, before standing up. belly's eyes followed him as he walked out the door. she knew where he was going. her heart broke every time she saw conrad go to carolina. she knew it'd never be her, but sometimes she wished it was.

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authors note

*insert the tiktok audio* heyyyy....how y'all doing

hehe i know it's been a WHILE but college is currently kicking my ass so i've been busy girl 😭

also, i didn't know how to make them break up but yeah...you can be on whatever side u want lol. i didn't know how to make carolina not look bad for being mad at him so ahhaha please give feedback lol