The night was slowly getting away from all of them and the reality was setting in once again. Belly and Jere had fallen asleep on the bean bags. Steven was asleep on the floor with Finn lying next to him. Leaving Bre and Conrad awake and studying.
"I'll send you all the research I did for this" Bre said plugging in her laptop. Conrad was lost looking at Bre, the bags under her eyes were getting darker and he could see how much she was struggling to stay awake.
"You can take a nap if you'd like. I have a few more cards to go through and then I think I'll be set" Conrad said not taking his eyes off her. Bre hadn't even heard what he'd said because she was concentrating on finding the research.
"I used to hate it when you did that, but now I would be lucky for you to ignore me," Conrad said pushing the strand of hair that was dangling in front of Bre's eyes behind her ear.
"What?" Bre said looking up and instantly falling into Conrad's eyes.
"When you are concentrating you have like selective hearing" Conrad laughed. Bre was still confused and wasn't a hundred per cent listening.
"Oh, here it is" Bre said finally finding the research and sending it to him.
"I'm gonna get some fresh air" Conrad laughed getting up and heading to the garden. Bre looked around confused. Had he poured his heart out and she just ignored him?
"Bre, follow him" Steven whispered barely opening his eyes.
"No, he needs to study" Bre said rolling her eyes at her tired brother. She reluctantly got out of the kitchen stall and headed to the garden. Even though it was the middle of the night, the moon was shining and it lit up the majority of the garden.
"You've come to join me?" Conrad asked flirtatiously. He'd felt an electric pull to the girl since they first made cupcakes when they were kids.
"Of course, hey look it's a full moon" Bre smiled looking up at the sky. Conrad wasn't looking at the moon he was taking in Bre, she was beautiful.
"Ugh, it's so beautiful" Bre said sitting down next to Conrad.
"Yeah" Conrad smiled staring right at her. His gaze didn't go unnoticed. She always felt seen around him but for one of the first times, she felt beautiful too.
"So you ready for your final?" Bre asked trying to break the awkwardness. Conrad's head was racing with so much information and the only thing he could come up with was 'I Love You' which is not what he wanted to say.
"If you're by my side then, I'm ready" Conrad hummed looking up at the sky. It was the truth, he could see himself happy again. A new way to life, and an easier one. Surfing early in the morning, study sessions in the library, driving back to cousins for breaks. Everything. If Bre was there he could see a brighter future.
"I hope you do well so that we can see each other more at college" Bre smiled, it was the sort of smile that was reserved for Conrad and Conrad only.
"You can give me a proper tour" Conrad smirked, just thinking about everything they could do next year was motivation enough for him to do well in his final.
"Are you open?" Conrad blurted out, not even really having much thought behind the words.
"Uhh, what do you mean?" Bre gasped in confusion. To say it politely she was more than confused about what he was speaking about.
"To us, this?" Conrad motioned to the pair of them.
"I don't know, what if it doesn't work again or I don't know. I can't lose you again" Bre let out standing up, she didn't even want to think of the possibility of them breaking up again because the first time almost ruined her.
"But what if we don't? Ana we gotta try" Conrad uttered from where he was sitting. Bre could see the genuine smile being created on his face.
"Don't smile like that" Bre scrunched her face, they both knew what happened the last time he smiled like that. And Bre was in no way going to let that happen again.
"No, because I've spent the last few weeks away from you. When you should've been mine" Conrad said walking over to Bre. They were both looking at each other, Bre was trying to talk herself out of it and Conrad was trying to not kiss the girl.
"What if you don't make it to Stanford?" Bre shook her head, Conrad took the opportunity to take her hands in his. Bre sighed making eye contact with the boy and smiled.
"Stop it with the what-ifs, for the first time I'm the one being open with my feelings" Conrad laughed, Bre smiled looking back on the past year. The one thing she wanted he was giving her but she was still apprehensive.
"Fine...if you make it into Stanford. We can go on a date" Bre said scrunching her eyebrows, Conrad smiled off of habit. He loved it when she did that. It was the subtle things he loved about her, the way her freckles formed on her face, or the way when she concentrated she blinked even more. And the cherry on the top was when she scrunched her eyebrows. She usually did it when she wasn't getting her way and ended up getting it anyway.
"Got any cheat codes for going there?" Conrad smirked asking. Bre laughed. This was the Conrad who would always make her orange juice for her in the morning and the one who'd send her good morning texts. It was her Conrad.
Bre and Conrad could've spoken for hours. The past few months escaped their minds.
They both ended up sleeping in the other's arms under the moon and the stars. Exactly how they'd dreamt of when they were kids. Spending every evening under the stars.
YOU ARE READING
tidal wave
Fanfictionanother summer in cousins they all thought but they didn't know it would be last one as they all loved.
