𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑷𝑰𝑵𝑬𝑺𝑺 // 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑹𝑨𝑫 𝑭𝑰𝑺𝑯𝑬𝑹²

𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳

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As I stepped out of the car my heart had already reached my toes and my breathing was caught in my throat. "You okay?" Belly asks sensing something is wrong 

"Yea, just nerves of seeing him," I say while whipping my hands on my pants to rid of the sweat "Okay, I'll give you a second by yourself," She says before catching up to Jere and I let out of biggest sigh ever. 

"You got this," I tell myself repeatedly each step I take to be closer to the house. All I could possibly think about it is how Susannah would run out here the second anyone got here to greet you and it could always calm your nerves and now she's not here to do that. 

I finally make it to the porch and the door is open, I can hear the faint voices of them talking and I take a deep breath before walking in. "Jere, the house has been put up for sale," is the first thing I hear while stepping into the living room 

"What do you mean the house is for sale?" I ask completely confused as to why Conrad would sell the house. He turns his head to look at me and my breath is immediately stripped away from my lungs again, and it feels like the world is spinning faster by the second 

"What is she doing here?" He asks and my heart drops "So this is why you haven't answered any of my phone calls?" Jeremiah asks and Conrad takes his eyes off of me 

"Jere. Jere. Did you not hear what I just said? We're gonna lose this house. Mom's house," Conrad says and it clicks in my brain that Conrad isn't the one selling the house 

"Why would your dad sell this house?" Belly asks confused while standing beside Jere with her arms crossed "He's not," Conrad says and now I'm confused again 

"Who is selling the house?" I ask confused "Yea who?" Belly asks 

"Our Aunt Julia is," Conrad says and I look over at Belly and Jere to see them looking at each other quickly "Susannah's sister?" Belly asks 

"Half-sister. Apparently, the house belonged to both of them. And then when my Mom... Now Aunt Julia owns the whole thing, so..." Conrad says and Jeremiah sighs 

"Okay, we'll just call Dad and figure something out," Jeremiah says with his arms crossed "You think I haven't already done that? He says legally the house is hers," Conrad says and I just sense the anger coming off of him 

"Okay, then he'll buy it," Jere says "He doesn't have the money to buy it," Conrad says raising his voice "Between Brown and the medical bills and the," Conrad says and Jeremiah cuts him off 

"Yeah, I know how much the medical bills cost. because I was there," Jeremiah yells and Conrad's shoulders tense and he gives Jere this look of disappointment as to what he just said 

"How long did you know about this and not tell me?" Jeremiah says pissed off "Jere, this was all happening so fast. I was going to tell you after I'd taken care of it," Conrad says as Belly and I just watch their conversation 

"And this is you taking care of it?" Jeremiah says while sarcastically laughing "Going AWOL, ditching school," 

"Fuck school!" Conrad says and I didn't think that was ever something I'd hear come out of his mouth "I don't care!"

"Connie, you have to go back or you'll fail your class," Jeremiah yells "How are you going to become a doctor if you fail out of college, Conrad?" I say to him and he turns his body slightly toward me but not his eyes

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Conrad says to me and I scoff "I more than a hundred percent know what I'm talking about. You have been wanting to become a doctor for so fucking long, Conrad," I say to him and his eyes still not meeting mine 

"We went to Brown to check on your ass. You know what? I didn't think you'd pull this shit again. But you don't give a shit about anyone but yourself," Jeremiah says before walking away and Belly following behind him. While Conrad just stares at him with hurt filling his eyes 

The air between Conrad and I becomes thick while he turns around to lean onto the mantel and he won't even look at me. "Sorry if me being here is weird," I say before even realizing that I'm speaking out loud

"But you had us worried sick, Con. When I found out that you weren't answering anyone I was scared shitless something happened to you." I say while taking a step closer to him "I get that the house is for," 

"It's for sale. And Jere doesn't even care," He says looking straight ahead at the painting in front of him "Of course, he cares, but he cares about you more," I say to him

"After everything that happened. You go missing? It's going to affect him because you're practically the only thing he has left besides your dad. He thought something bad happened to you and he was just thinking about you being safe in that moment." I say to him while he traces the bottom of the picture frame 

"I got a call two days ago. From Liam. He was asking about a "for sale" sign in the front yard. I thought it was a misunderstanding, so I drove straight here. I pulled the stupid sign out of the ground, and I threw it in the garbage," He says while turning around to lean on the fireplace but still not moving his eyes to meet mine 

"Seeing that sign was like losing her all over again, and I didn't want that for Jere." He says "I'm going to use my trust as down payment for the house. Talking to my mom's financial guys in the morning,"

"And that makes what Jere said about you only caring about yourself not true. Because you were trying to protect him from being more hurt by the loss than he already is." I say 

"I didn't mean to worry anybody. I'm handling things. You guys can go," He says and I shake my head 

"Conrad, you're not the only one who cares about this house. Jere and Belly have every right to stay here and help figure things out. I know I didn't come here as often as all of you but my happiest moments happened in this house and the thought of never being able to see it again makes me want to help just as much," I say and his eyes finally meet mine

"But you guys shouldn't have to worry, I don't you guys to feel the weight of losing this house," He says turning his whole body toward me "But Conrad, that's not your decision to make, if we want to help you then we are going to. You don't have to handle all of this alone," I say to him 

"But you guys shouldn't have to deal with this weight. You should be enjoying your summer," he says "So should you, Conrad. You should be having a great summer without having the weight of this on your chest. If you can deal with it so can we," I say 

"Tate, can you help me?" I hear Belly says from the front door "Yea, be right there," I say turning my head to the door and when I turn back around Conrad is walking away. I sigh before walking over to Belly.