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ʟᴏɴɢ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴀʜᴇᴀᴅ
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"All right." Belly says as the three get out of the car.

"All right." Jeremiah sighs

"You ready ?"

"Not at all." Liz says

"We got this." Jeremiah says as they walk up the steps

"Yeah."

"Okay." Jeremiah says as he knocks on the door.

The door opens to reveal an older lady with blonde curly hair. "Can I help you ?"

"Aunt Julia. Oh, my God !" Jeremiah chuckles as he hugs her. "Uh, um, Conrad told me you were here. It's-it's been so long. Just wanted to say hi."

"Jeremiah." She says

"Yeah."

"And... ?" She says as she turns to the girls.

"Um, Belly Conklin. Isabel."

"I'm Elizabeth Anderson. We're Laurel Park and Megan Anderson's daughters, Susannah's best friends."

"Right. Sorry. Wow."

"Yeah." Belly says

"It's been so long."

"Yeah." Jeremiah smiles

"You've really got my dad's eyes." She says looking towards him.

"Uh, I got these hydrangeas for you from my mom's garden." He says as he takes the flowers from Belly

"Oh."

"I was just wondering if we could have a second to talk."

"Is this about the house ?"

"Yeah." He chuckles

"I'm sorry, but I've decided to move ahead with the sale. Actually, we're-we're gonna have an open house tomorrow."

"Oh."

"Um, uh, you have to know how much the house means to Jeremiah and Conrad and me and our families." Belly says as she points between her and Liz. "I mean, you spent summers there as a kid, right ?"

Julia nods, "A few, yeah."

"Yeah. I mean, then, you know, why would you want to let go of such a-a magical place ?"

"I remember Susannah calling it that."

"You know, I-I don't understand how you can just get rid of something your sister loved so much. I mean, it's kind of a..." Jeremiah starts

"It's not personal."

"Yeah, I bet." Liz scoffs

"Are you suggesting that I gift the house to you ?" She says as she looks at Jeremiah

"I mean, it is our..."

"No, no, of course not." Belly says

"Then I-I think you and your brother should sort this out with your dad. I'm certain that you have the resources, but I can't put off a sale while I wait for you to get your ducks in a row. I have to be back at work in a week. I barely got the time off as it is." Aunt Julia says

"So then that's why you didn't make it to the funeral ? Because of work ?" Liz squints

"Something like that."

"Mm." Liz's eyes look over as a girl with short hair comes up behind Julia.

"Mom ?"

"Yeah. Hi."

"Jeremiah ?"

"Skye ? I-I didn't know you were here. This is Belly and Liz." He says. Belly waves as Liz gives a tight lipped smile. "Um, their mom's and mine were best friends."

"I thought you were working on the virtual tour for the open house ?" Aunt Julia turns to Skye

"Oh, I-I just finished that, so..."

"Okay. Let's eat. Thanks for stopping by." Julia smiles

"Of course." Jeremiah smiles

"Yeah."

"Uh, don't forget your flowers." He says handing them to her

"Oh. Thanks."

"Yeah, you should get those."

"Thank you." Belly says

"Bye-bye."

"Have a, have a good rest of your day." Jeremiah says as Julia closes the door on him.

Liz rolls her eyes as she walks down the steps.

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"So... what are you thinking about now ?" Belly says as they drive back to the house.

"That I'm an idiot for thinking I could change Aunt Julia's mind."

"Hey, you had to try." Belly says softly as she grabs Jeremiah's hand.

"It's all up to Conrad now and whether or not he can convince Dad to dip into his trust."

"That's gonna go over well." Liz scoffs

"It's still bad between them ?" Belly says looking between them. Jeremiah nods. "You know, you and Conrad should talk to your dad together."

"No, he's gonna try to do it alone, and I'm sick of fighting with him."

"All right, then don't. I mean, you know, with Adam here, you two need to be on the same team." Belly says

Jeremiah looks over at her. He sighs as he looks back at the road. "Yeah, I'll give it a shot."

Liz takes a deep breath as falls back in her seat. Tuning out the rest of the conversation.

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Liz hops out of the car with grocery bags in her hand. As she walks up the driveway, Conrad comes out from the side of the house.

"You guys went to the store ?" He says

"Uh, we actually thought about leaving, but then we decided not to listen to you." Belly says

Conrad hums. "We didn't just get groceries. We actually went to see Aunt Julia." Jeremiah says

"How did that go ?"

"Not great. Talk to Dad yet ?"

"No."

"Um, I'm-I'm gonna take these inside." Belly says as she takes the bag from Jeremiah.

"Thanks." He says.

Liz follows behind her. Conrad's eyes follow her until he has to turn back around to Jeremiah. Liz turns back to him as she walks in the house.

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"So, what should I expect when I walk in there ?" River says as she turns to Dakota.

"Uh, complete and total awkwardness. Maybe some goo goo eyes between Belly and Jeremiah." He says as he looks out at the road.

"Okay." She nods, "And I'm guessing the awkwardness is Liz and Conrad ?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay." She laughs

"Isn't it crazy how our relationship lasted the longest out of everyone ?"

"Yeah, that is kind of crazy." River smiles, "Our one year is coming up."

"I know. What exactly do you want to do ?"

"Road trip."

Dakota frowns. He turns to her quickly before turning back to the road. "A road trip ?"

"Yes. A road trip."

"A road trip where ?"

"Everywhere." She smiles.

Dakota stops at a red light. He looks at her and her smile widens. "A road trip ?"

She hums as she nods. He takes her hand as he nods. He turns back to the road as the light switches. "Road trip it is."

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"Dad should be calling soon." Conrad says as Jeremiah, Belly, and Liz walk into the dining room.

"Yeah."

"Do you guys want to talk to him alone ? We can wait upstairs." Belly says

"No, stay. Stay. You've helped me and J get this far. Plus, it's your house as much as it is ours." Conrad says as he looks at Liz. She looks away as she sits down.

The phone starts ringing as Belly and Jeremiah sit. "Dad, hey."

"Hey, Con. I only got about a few minutes here."

"Hey, Dad."

"Jere ? You're in Cousins, too ?"

"Yeah, just got here last night."

"All right, look, I got a heads-up from the bank telling me you're trying to access your trust. That's not gonna happen." Adam says

Liz frowns. "So you've already made up your mind ?" Conrad says

"Yeah. I mean, that money is for your future. I'm not gonna let you blow it on a beach house."

"It's not just a house, Dad." Jeremiah says

"You want me to beg, Dad ?" Conrad says. Liz looks over at him. "'Cause I will. I will. I'll do whatever you want..."

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Liz sat on the bench with red puffy eyes. Dakota on her left and her Mom and Dad on her right. She looked up at Susannah's picture that sat on the stand next to her casket. She couldn't focus on what the pastor was saying. All she could think about was the fact that Susannah was gone.

She watched as Conrad stood up and walked up to the front. He sat on a stool with a guitar in his hand.

"This was the song that she always asked me to play for her." Conrad says. Liz watched as he started playing. She'd heard the song before. There was a time when she actually caught him singing it to her. Her face scrunched up again as she thought back to how happy they were. The biggest smile on Susannah's face. She took a deep breath as Dakota grabbed her hand that sat in her lap.

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Liz walked into the house with Dakota by her side. "I bet half of these people barely knew her." Dakota scoffs.

"I wonder how Mr. Fisher's doing." Liz says. Dakota looked down at her as she stared over at Adam. "Did Conrad ride over here with him ?"

"Uh, I don't know." He shrugs. He squeezes her shoulder as he walks away. Liz inhales as she walks over to the food table.

As she approaches, she can see Belly making a plate.

"Hey, Bells."

The girl looks over and gives a weak smile. "Hey, you okay ?"

"No, honestly. You ?"

"Trying to be." She chuckles. "I was actually making Conrad and Jere some food. Did you wanna bring Conrad his plate ? I think he's upstairs. My dad said he might be in the rec room."

"Yeah, of course." Liz says as she takes the plate. She makes her way upstairs and down the hall. As she enters the room, she freezes. She sees Conrad laying on a girls lap.

She looks up, "Oh, hey. That for us ?"

Liz doesn't say anything as she places the plate down. Conrad sits up slowly.

"Thanks." She says. Liz stays silent as she walks out.

"Liz." He calls out. She ignores him as she continues down the hall.

"Liz, wait." Conrad says as he grabs Liz's arm. The girl turns as they make it downstairs.

"What do you want ? Let go of me." Liz says as she snatches her hand away.

"Liz, that was just Aubrey."

"Sorry to interrupt your little moment."

"She was helping me."

"With what ?" She asks. He stays silent. "So you'll accept her help but not mine ? Got it. Glad to know where I fall in the ranking of ex-girlfriends."

"Grow up." He says. Liz chuckles humorlessly. "I should have known you'd be like this."

"What do you mean ?"

"Forget it." He shakes his head

"No, say it. Tell me." She says as she steps closer.

"I knew it was a bad idea, starting something with you."

Liz's heart drops as tears fill her eyes. "I don't believe you."

"It was a huge mistake."

Liz nods, "I hate you."

"Good." He mutters

"Right." She sniffles. "I never want to see you again." She bumps his shoulder as she walks out.

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Liz looked towards Belly who sighs.

"Guys, I had my lawyers look into any possible loopholes right after the funeral, but there's none." Jeremiah frowns as he looks at Conrad. "Okay ? The house is legally Julia's."

"Wait, so you've known we're losing the house since the funeral ?"

"Jere, I'm not your evil father trying to ruin your life. And believe it or not, I'm just as upset as you are about it."

"That's such bullshit. That's such bullshit." Conrad says, "You never cared about this house, Dad. You never cared about it 'cause you never cared about Mom."

"You know that's not true. Jere, come on. You get it, don't you ?" Adam tries

"Dad, I-I don't, I don't get why we can't just use our trust to buy it, and then we can sell it later if we need the money."

"No. Julia's gonna go ahead with the open house tomorrow. I really appreciate the attempt here, but this is the end of the conversation. You just make sure that Julia gets everything that she needs. You got it ?" Adam says sternly.

"Conrad was right. Talking to you is pointless." Jeremiah says as he hangs up.

Liz sighs as he lays her head in arms on the table. They hear the door open and multiple footsteps.

"Surprise !" Steven smiles as he walks in.

"Oh, shit." Dakota says

"I-I knew we should have told them we were coming."

"No, it's not that. It's..." Conrad says

"We're losing the house. They put it up for sale." Jeremiah says as Liz looks up. Her face softens as she sees River. The girl immediately gets up as River holds her arms out.

Belly walks up to Taylor. "Oh, Cinderbelly... They're selling the house ?"

"Yeah." She says as they hug. Liz pulls away from River. River cups her face as she smiles.

"Um, I-I brought you blueberry." Steven says to Belly.

"I'm glad you're here." She says as she hugs him.

"That's a terrible gift. Blueberry is disgusting." Liz sniffles. Everyone chuckles lightly as River pulls her in for another hug.

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A couple of hours later, the teens decided to watch a movie together. Everyone sat on the couch as Conrad stood behind them. Liz walked in with a movie in her hand.

"So, how's Jere ?" She asks

"You know, I think he's okay. I told him we're not giving up." He says

She nods. "Good. 'Cause we're not."

He looks over at her and she looks right back at him. He smiles, "Thank you, Liz."

She chuckles as she walks over to River. He watches her the whole way.

"Dakota, you're in my spot."

"Oh, well, you snooze, you lose." He chuckles. "You can sit on the floor now."

"Get your ass up." River says as she pushes him. "Don't... No, just let her have it."

"What ? Are you..."

"Get off the couch. Just let her have it."

"No. Absolutely not. My back is killing me." He fakes

"Oh, you're back is killing you." River squints

Liz chuckles as the watches them. "You know what ? Fine. Fine. I'll sit on the bad couch."

She walks over and plops down on it. River looks over at Dakota who holds his hands up.

"Sorry, Liz. Oh, uh, I ordered pizza. It should be like 30 minutes, but I only ordered one with pineapple, so I call dibs on two slices, all right ?"

"Jeremiah, I think that's all you." Conrad says

"Take the entire box." Liz says. Everyone laughs at his dumbfounded expression.

"What ?" He says

"Uh, so what do you guys want to watch ?" Conrad says

"I was thinking It Happened One Night." Liz says as she holds up the movie. Conrad comes over and takes it from her to put it in the player.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Cool."

"Throwback."

"You can move more..." Steven says to Taylor.

Conrad walks over and sits by Liz. "Thank you." He mouths. She nods as he sits. He throws his arm on the back of the couch behind her. She moves around to get comfortable.

She hears his phone vibrate in his hand behind her. He brings it closer to himself as he reads the message he got. She didn't think anything of it until he started fidgeting. She looked at him as he stood up and walked out.

No one else really spared him a second glance, so Liz turned back to the movie. However, her conscience got the best of her and she followed him out.

She took quick steps after him as he made his way to the beach. She saw him stop in front of the water. She could tell he was breathing heavily as he kept bending down and coming back up.

"Conrad !" She yells, but he doesn't respond. She watches as he brings his hand up to his chest. "Conrad, what's going on ?"

She slows her steps as she comes up behind him, but not close enough to touch. "Connie ?"

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