OLIVIA RUBBED her eyes as she woke up that morning in Cousins. The sunlight shines bright into Conrad's room as she lazily rubbed her eyes.

She had been up all morning listening in on plans with Conrad on how he could save this house.

She said that she would only be asleep of several minutes... which turned into an hour.

With a yawn, Olivia reached for her glasses on the bedside dresser, slipping them onto her face and instantly feeling her world come into focus.

She stood slowly, stretching her arms up as she made her way towards the window to close the blinds... only to pause and see a red Jeep sitting in the driveway.

"Shit." She muttered and left the room, making her way downstairs.

She heard two voices become louder and louder as she reached the bottom step and made her way into the living room to see Conrad and Jeremiah going back and forth.

"So this is why you haven't answered any of my phone calls and text?" Jeremiah asked.

"Jere... Jere." Conrad called, "Did you not hear what I just said? We're gonna lose this house. Mom's house."

"Why would your dad sell this house?"

Olivia looked up. She hadn't even noticed Belly. She didn't know anything about her coming. She knew that Jeremiah would eventually find out where Conrad was, but she didn't think that Belly would tag along.

"He's not." Conrad quickly answered, "Aunt Julia is."

"Susannah's sister?"

"Half sister. Apparently, the house belonged to the both of them. And then when Mom... Now Aunt Julia owns the whole thing, so..." Conrad explained.

"Okay, we'll just call Dad and figure something out. That's it." Jeremiah said.

"You think I haven't already done that?" Conrad asked, "He says legally the house is hers."

"Okay, then he'll buy it."

"He doesn't have the money to buy it." Conrad raised his voice, "Between Brown and the medical bills and the..."

"Yeah, I know how much the medical bill cost because I was there." Jeremiah paused, "How long did you know about this and not tell me?"

Conrad sighed, "Jere, this was all happening so fast. I was going to tell you after I'd taken care of it."

Jeremiah chuckled, "And this is you taking care of it? Going AWOL, ditching school,—"

"Fuck school! I don't care!"

"Connie, you have to go back or you'll fail your class."

"How are you going to become a doctor if you fail out of college, Conrad?" Belly asked.

Olivia didn't know that Belly knew that Conrad wanted to be a doctor. She didn't even know that the two of them were even communicating.

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Seriously?" Jeremiah questioned, "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." He paused, "Maybe yourself and Olivia."

With that, Jeremiah left the living room and Olivia followed after, giving a small smile towards Belly as she made her way outside.

"Jeremiah." Olivia called, "Jeremiah!"

The boy turned, pausing at his Jeep. It was the first time in almost a year since the two of them had seen each other. She always called, but never answered. She always reached out, but he never replied.

"Why didn't you call me an tell me where he was?" He asked.

Olivia furrowed her brows, "I did. Two days ago. I called and told we would be in Cousins. You didn't answer. I left a voicemail."

Jeremiah's stony facade faltered as he hesitantly pulled out his phone, navigating to his voicemail and finding her name. Olivia's voice filled the space between them, confirming her attempt to reach out to him.

Jeremiah sighed deeply, shoving his phone back into his pocket and not looking up at the girl.

"I'm sorry."

Olivia rolled her eyes, tugging at the ends of her shirt as she approached Jeremiah.

"You're sorry?" She asked, "All year I've done nothing but reach out to you. I called, you never answered. I texted, you never replied. You know better than anyone that I would never keep anything from you."

Jeremiah looked over at the girl. Her eyes danced back and forth across his face before she heavily sighed and sat down on the steps on the house.

Olivia finally looked up, "I know things have been hard, but I've always tried to be there for the both of you and you pushed me away."

Jeremiah remained silent, his emotions all over the place. He knew he had shut Olivia out, but it had felt like the only way to cope with the pain and confusion he was going through. Yet, seeing her sitting there, her vulnerability and honesty laid bare, made him realize that he had hurt her in the process.

"I'm sorry, Liv." He finally whispered, his voice tinged with regret. "I didn't mean to push you away."

Olivia sighed, "I know." She muttered, standing up, "Let's just try to figure things out with the house and get it over with, yeah?"

She didn't wait for his answer as she made her way back inside the house, leaving the boy there alone.

Nothing would ever be the same between Jeremiah and Olivia.

OLIVIA WOKE up that morning, running her fingers through her hair as she made her way downstairs.

There, she spotted Conrad in the kitchen, pressing his hands against the counter as he spoke on the phone.

"I know. But you're sure there's no way to access my trust without him?" He asked, pausing as the person spoke, "No, I haven't... talked to him about it just yet. But, um, it won't be a problem. He's calling soon and I'll get him to sign off." Another pause, "Okay. Yeah. Thank you."

"Morning." Belly spoke softly.

"You want to talk about a plan B?" Jeremiah asked.

"There's no time for a plan B, Jere."

"There's no time?" Jeremiah asked, "Come on, dude. Is your ego really that big or is...?"

"I'm sure what Jeremiah is saying is... that you don't have to do this alone." Olivia sighed, "I'm sure there's something else that we can do."

Conrad paused, looking down at the girl, "Aunt Julia is already here."

"What?" Jeremiah questioned.

"Yeah." Conrad muttered, "She's at Ocean Harbor."

"You saw her?"

"I mean, we talked on the phone for about five seconds." He scolded, "She's couldn't be bothered to come to Mom's funeral, but she'll hop on the first flight to come sell this place."

"I don't get it. Why?" Jeremiah asked, "What's the big rush?"

"It doesn't matter why. This isn't a game, okay? This is serious shit. So just go back to bed and let me deal with it."

With that, Conrad left, shutting the back door behind him and leaving the trio in the kitchen.

"That went well." Belly muttered.

"You know, he keeps saying he's going to figure things out. He hasn't figured out shit." Jeremiah huffed, turning towards Olivia, "Can-can you talk some sense into him? You are the only person that can get through to Conrad."

Olivia sighed, "Maybe we could just... give him some space. Let's go get breakfast, yeah?"

Olivia rushed upstairs, slipping on her beat up Converse and throwing her hair into a ponytail as she made her way back downstairs.

She furrowed her brows as she swung her keys around her finger.

"Where's Belly?" She asked.

"Uh, she's gonna stay behind." Jeremiah answered, "We'll bring her something back. Come on."

Olivia sighed, following Jeremiah out the door and he insisted that he drive.

So, when Olivia tossed him the keys, they grabbed food and made their way to the motel that his aunt was staying at.

"Are you sure bombarding Julia at random is the best idea?" Olivia asked, "I mean, she hasn't seen you or Conrad in what? Several years?"

"Come on, Liv." Jeremiah smiled, "We're just going to play with my strengths."

"Meaning... you're going to charm her or some shit? That's what the flowers are for?"

Jeremiah smiled, "Exactly." He turned to face her, "I wish I had more to go off on, but she and my mom weren't exactly close. I mean, the last time I saw her and Skye I was probably, like, seven, eight years old. Honestly, I don't really remember that much about her, so I'll-I'll just wing it."

"I'm sure you'll be able to read her or something. Just don't... offend her." Olivia smiled.

"Trust me, I won't. I'm sure Conrad took the righteous anger route when he talked with her. And I'm sure that went over like gangbusters."

"Yeah, Conrad's never been good at putting on a happy face when he's not feeling it." Olivia sighed, "He just pushes people away when he needs them most."

"There's only so many times I can take being pushed. It's fucking exhausting." Jeremiah said.

"I know." She sighed, "I went through it last summer." She muttered under her breath.

The duo finally pulled into the motels parking lot. They exited the vehicle and Olivia held the flowers close as they made their way up to Julia's room.

"We got this." Jeremiah softly smiled, resting his hand on Olivia's back.

The girl only nodded and followed begging Jeremiah as he gently knocked on the door.

The door quickly opened and on the other side stood a blonde woman who Olivia could only assume was Julia.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"Aunt Julia." Jeremiah smiled, "Oh, my God!" He chuckled, taking Julia into his arm for an awkward hug, "Uh, um, Conrad told me you were here. It's-it's been so long. Just wanted to say hi."

"Jeremiah." Julia smiled, looking over at Olivia, "And you are?"

"Oh. I'm sorry. I'm Olivia. Olivia Lovell." She spoke softly, "I have a house near the boys and um... just very close with everyone."

"Oh, you and Jeremiah were dating. I remember." Julia smiled, "Sorry. Wow. It's been so long." She turned towards Jeremiah, "You've really got my dad's eyes."

Jeremiah only smiled, turning towards Olivia as he grabbed the flowers from her hands.

"Uh, I got these hydrangeas for you from my mom's garden." He said, passing the flowers towards her, "I was just wondering if we could have a second to talk?"

"Is this about the house?" She asked.

"Yeah." He chuckled.

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

"Maybe you just hear the boys out?" Olivia asked, "You have to know how much that house means to the boys. Not-not only them but to Susannah's best friend and her kids. Didn't you spend your summers there as a kid?"

"A few, yeah."

"I know it's been a long time since you've stepped foot in Cousins, but Jere and Conrad even the Conklin's come down here every summer... just to free and with each other. It's really a family. I've only heard about how magical that place is."

"I remember Susannah calling it that." Julia said.

"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—"

"It's not personal." Julia said, cutting Jeremiah off.

"Yeah, I bet."

"Are you suggesting that I gift the house to you?"

"I mean, it is our—"

Olivia stepped forward, "No, not at all. They really just want to sit and talk with you about it. Maybe come up with a deal or something."

Julia sighed, "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 pull off a sale while I wait for you to get your ducks in a row."

"If you thought they had the resources, wouldn't you have just... given them the house?" Olivia asked.

Julia didn't bother to answer her question. Only looking between the two of them and continued on like the girl hadn't spoken.

"I have to be back at work in a week. I barely got the time off as it is."

"So that's why you didn't make it to the funeral?" Jeremiah asked.

"Something like that."

"Mom?" A voice called, "Jeremiah?"

"Skye? I-I didn't know you were here." He paused, "This is Liv. Um, she's my ex, but we're friends."

"Yeah." Olivia smiled, "Great friends."

Julia turned towards Skye, "I thought you were working on the virtual tour for the open house?"

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

"Let's eat." Julia smiled, turning towards the others, "Thanks for stopping by."

"Of course." Jeremiah smiled, "Uh, don't forget your flowers."

The door quickly shut and Olivia and Jeremiah sighed.

"Bitch." Olivia muttered and began to make her way back to the car with Jeremiah following behind.

Olivia decided to drive back. She looked over at Jeremiah with a small smile as he held a stoned look.

"Don't be sad. We'll figure something out." She reassured.

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

"You tried, Jere. That's what matters. Maybe... it shook her up and she'll think it over. So, don't worry."

"It's all up to Conrad now and whether or not he can convince Dad to dip into his trust." He paused, "That's gonna go over well."

"Maybe you should talk with him." Olivia suggested, "Whenever Conrad calls just join in."

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

"Don't argue then. Trust me, I know it's exhausting. But with Julia here, you two need to get alone and try and be on the same team."

"Yeah, I'll give it a shot."

"Good." She smiled, "Think about it this way. If you're not doing it for Conrad, do it for yourself, and if not for yourself, do it for me."

Jeremiah playfully scoffed, "Why you?"

"Because I'm cool and I think you owe after mentioning that I was your ex in front of you aunt and cousin that you haven't spoken to in years."

"I was nervous." He smiled, looking over at her.

"I was nervous." She mocked, "Shut up."

Olivia rolled her eyes, pressing the volume button on her stirring wheel as Back to You by Selena Gomez blasted through her radio.

Jeremiah looked over at the girl, his head pressed against the seat as he watched a smile painted on Olivia's face.

It was something that he hadn't seen in a long time. He missed it. Dare he might say, he missed her.

He couldn't deny that he missed her – the way her laughter lit up a room, the feel of her hand in his, and the warmth of her presence beside him. They had shared two years of their lives together and he knew that he fucked that up.

Olivia caught his gaze, and for a moment, it felt like they were back in time, back when they were inseparable. Their eyes locked, and a knowing spark passed between them, unspoken words hanging in the air.

The car ride continued in comfortable silence, the lyrics of the song becoming familiar to them as it died down with the next song playing.

Jealous by Nick Jonas.

— lucy has something to say !!

oh wow a jeremiah chapter what ever shall we do?

bye :))))