truly mine

011. truth is

Belly

I woke up the next morning to the light of the sun peaking in through the curtains and Taylor's loud snoring next to me. I don't remember much from the night before, only looking at the disgusting cake Steven and Jere's friends made and Steven telling me not to sleep with Jere last night.

I spotted Conrad eating cereal as he stood behind  the kitchen island as soon as I got downstairs and felt my lips curl into a hearty smile. "You're back! Where did you go last night after you and Nicole were going to try the cake Steven and Jere's friend made?"

He choked on his cereal for the shortest millisecond and then swallowed it before saying, "I, uh, just had to get out of the house. Needed some fresh air." I frowned at his vagueness. "That's all? Then why did everybody else leave and Steven get mad at Jere?"

Conrad raised an eyebrow as he stared down at his cereal and said, "I don't know, they were all gone when I got back. I guess you'll just have to ask Jere what happened last night. I'm sure he'll fill you in on... everything."

"Okay, well, Jere's not awake yet, so I'm asking you," I said firmly. "What happened?" He shook his head and picked up his cereal starting to walk towards the back door. "Just ask Jere, okay, Belly? I wasn't there, and he was the one who got all pissed off at you last night when I wasn't there. Just talk to him about it. I don't want to get involved with this."

I frowned even deeper taking in his last words. "Wait, stop. Jere got pissed off at me last night?" Conrad shrugged as he opened the back door. "That's just what Steven told me, okay? I don't know anything else. Just ask Jere when he wakes up." After saying that, he walked out without saying another word.

I didn't know what he was talking about, and I definitely wasn't going to wait for Jeremiah to wake up to ask him about why he got mad at me. That would be another six or seven hours if he slept in as late as usual, and I needed to fix things with him as quickly as possible.

Jeremiah

I woke up to the feeling of Belly shaking me awake. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders, and she had a really serious look on her face. "Good morning to you too?" I said with a confused face as I sat up.

"We need to talk. Can we go out to breakfast or something? Just get out of the house?" She asked immediately. I sighed as I rubbed a hand over my face. "Uh, sure. Just give me about an hour to wake up first, Bells. It's early, and I didn't get to sleep until late last night."

"This isn't some sort of joke, Jeremiah. It's serious. Can you please try to be ready in the next few minutes?" Belly said with daring eyes. She stared at me so intensely that I knew something was wrong. I sighed as I shook my head and frowned. "Okay, what's this all about? Did someone get hurt last night on their way home? Are Steven and Taylor both okay?"

Belly looked taken aback as she shook her head. "No. No, they're all fine. This is about you and me." I raised an eyebrow. "Uh, okay. What about you and me? Can we just talk about this now instead of going some fancy place?" She didn't blink as she nodded. "Yes. Let's go downstairs to the front porch."

I slowly got up out of bed and brushed my teeth quickly before going downstairs to meet her. Countless thoughts invaded my mind as I shakily stumbled down the stairs and through the front door. Was this about the night before, about what Conrad had said— or not said? Had she remembered what had happened? Was she about to try to end things with me?

As soon as my butt hit the seat, Belly asked me, "Did I do something wrong? Why were you angry at me last night?"

Well, shit.

"I got angry at you... but it doesn't matter why anymore. We fixed things after you woke back up. We're okay, Belly. We're better than okay. I promise," I said with a soft smile as I reached and squeezed her hand with reassurance.

She immediately pulled her hand away as if she'd been bitten by a snake. "Why aren't you being honest with me? What did I do to make you so angry?"

I frowned and shook my head. "I'm not lying to you, Bells. I just got way into my head last night and took it all out on you."

"No, I'm not talking about that," Belly muttered as she looked away for a split second before looking directly into my eyes. "You said that we made up after I woke up, and we didn't. Steven said to wait to talk until this morning, and I went to bed. Why are you lying to me?"

"It's fine, Belly. We didn't make up, okay. I just realized that the whole thing didn't matter if you didn't remember," I muttered with an eye roll.

She stared back at me like I was a menace to society. "That's not okay, Jere. If you got mad at me for something I said or did, I have a right to know what it is that I did to upset you. The fact that you weren't going to tell me what happened at all is really concerning."

She stared at me for a second after saying that before standing up to leave. I sighed reluctantly. "Hold on, Bells. Where are you going?"

"I need some time to think," she replied quietly.

I shook my head. "Belly, come on, it's really not that big of a deal. It's better for all of us if you don't remember what happened last night."

She turned around and stared me dead in the eye and asked, "Better for all of us or better for just you, Jeremiah?"

I was about to say something in return, but she stormed off back into the house before I could, and this time, I had no interest in chasing after her.