chapter five!

season 2, episode 3 - love sick (pt.2)!

MIA'S PARENTS HAD AGREED TO LET HER GO WITH Belly and Jeremiah as she was in her room, changing out of her pajamas.  She quickly put on an orange ribbed - knitted tank top, black high rise flared jeans, and sneakers.  She walked downstairs, offering Belly a smile.  "Let's go find Conrad! I call the driver's seat!"

"Not if I have it first, Mia!"

"Hey! It's my car, remember?"  Belly got to the driver's seat, wearing a triumphant smile.  "I win!"

"Alright, alright.  You won fair and square.  But can I be in control of the music?"  Belly nodded her head, "Of course you can!"

"Yes! That means... Jeremiah gets to sit in the back. How does that sound?" The blonde rolled his eyes, looking at her. "Fine. I'll sit in the backseat." With Belly driving and Mia sitting in the passenger seat, as the two sang along to "That's What I Like".  Belly eventually pulled up to the summer house, allowing the three to get out of the car.  Jeremiah entered first, leaving Belly and Mia outside.  The two girls slowly walked inside, hearing the sound of two voices talking.  "Jere, the house has been put up for sale."

"What do you mean, the house is for sale?" Belly asked. The brunette stopped talking, staring at the two.  "You're okay! Thank God!" the girl exclaimed, pulling the boy into a hug.  "Mia, hey.  What are you doing here? And what is she doing here?" Mia pulled away, looking at him.  "I wanted to see if you were okay.  Also, Belly wanted to see if you were okay too."

"Oh." Mia furrowed her eyebrows, "But I thought that after... you know... you guys would be able to keep the house."

"Well, apparently not. Our Aunt Julia is selling the house." Belly tilted her head a bit, looking at Conrad. "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..."

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

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

"Okay, then he'll buy it."

"He doesn't have the money to buy it. Between Brown and the medical bills..."

"Yeah, I know how much the medical bills cost because I was there. How long did you know about this and not tell me?" Conrad's eyes softened, "Jere, this was all happening so fast. I was going to tell you after I'd taken care of it."

Jeremiah chuckled bitterly, "And this is you taking care of it? Going AWOL, ditching school, not talking to us."

"Fuck school! I don't care!"

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

"How are you gonna become a doctor if you fail out of college, Conrad?" Belly asked. "You have no idea what you're talking about." Things between Jeremiah and Conrad were getting much more heated and all Mia could do was watch. "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 stormed out of the room, leaving Belly and Mia with Conrad. "I don't... I don't think he meant that, Connie. You aren't selfish." Mia stated. "I think he did. I mean, he's always been like this."

Mia placed a hand on his shoulder, "Listen, I'm glad that you're okay, alright? You guys hungry? I could get you some food if you want."

"No, Mia. I'm good, thank you though. But I'll call you if anything else happens." Mia gave him a small smile, "Okay, good. I'm gonna check on Jere. I'll be right back. You hungry, Bells?"

"No, Mia. I'm good."

"Okay. I'll be right back, guys." Mia walked outside, finding Jeremiah sitting on the front porch. She took a seat next to him, staring out into the distance. "Look, I know you're upset that Conrad didn't answer your calls or texts but he's just distraught about all of this. He's just trying to do this on his own... I guess because he feels like it's his job as the oldest to make sure that things are going to be okay again. He isn't selfish, Jere."

"Then why didn't he tell me about this? He always hides stuff from me."

"He didn't want you to worry, Jere. He knows you love this house just as much as he does and he didn't want you to feel sad that it was up for sale. He's trying his best, Jere. And you need to understand that." Jeremiah sighed, looking at her. "But what if shit gets bad again? What if we can't save the house?"

"I'm sure there's something we can do. I mean, you guys have Belly and she cares about this house a lot. She must have an idea. But if things get bad, you can always call me." The two hugged as Jeremiah smiled, "Thanks, Mia."

"No problem, Jere." The two pulled away, sitting in comfortable silence. The two hadn't spoken since Susannah's funeral, often being busy with school and other activities. "So... where are you going for college?"

"I'm planning to go to Finch. They have a great sports program."

"That's great, Jere. I'm still trying to figure out where I want to go."

"You'll know with time. You can always take a gap year to decide."

"I don't think I'm going to do that. I'm not sure if I want to stay here for college or go away."

"Ah, yes. The classic college dilemma." Mia laughed as Jeremiah joined in, finding familiarity in it all. It was nice, the two reconnecting again.

If only it would last forever.

THE NEXT MORNING, CAM WAS in his room. He couldn't get over the fact that last night, his heart was beating fast around Mia. Not to mention his palms were sweaty as he led her to the dance floor. There was only one person he could go to in order to get an answer to his problem. Cam knocked on the door. "Who is it?"

"It's Cam." Kiara opened it, furrowing her eyebrows. "Hey, Cam. What are you doing here?" The curly haired boy scratched the back of his neck, staring at her. "Can I talk to you please? It's important."

"I have time." She allowed him inside, shutting the door behind her. "What do you want to talk about?"

"It's about Mia, actually." Kiara turned away from him, silently cheering. She turned back at him, "Do you want to go upstairs?"

"Yes." The two walked up the stairs and into Kiara's room.  Cam sat in a bean bag chair while Kiara closed the door, taking out a blue notebook and a pen. She then plopped onto her bed, ready to listen. "You may begin."

Cam took a deep breath, "I was at the school dance when Mia asked me for a cup. When I saw her, I don't know what happened. I was at a loss for words and my cheeks were pink. It was weird. And then, when we danced, I noticed how pretty she looked, the way that she smiled, her laugh... actually, have you heard her laugh? It's adorable actually and..."

"Cam?"

"Yes?"

"I know what it is." Cam sighed in relief, "Thank God. Because I think it's -"

"You have a crush on her." Cam looked at her in disbelief, "I'm sorry. What?"

"You like her... as in like like her."

"No, I don't. Sure, she's pretty, smart, and nice, but I can assure you that I don't have a crush on her." Kiara furrowed her eyebrows, "Really? What if she gets a boyfriend?"

"What do you mean?" Kiara stared at him, rolling her eyes. "If she gets a boyfriend, what would you do?"

"Hope that he treats her right." This made Kiara laugh as she scribbled in her blue notebook. "Judging by the way you were looking at her talking to Kevin on Halloween, I beg to differ."

"You saw?"

"Dude, I was right next to you. But you were too focused on her to notice."

"I was not! I swear!"

"Admit it, Cameron! You like my best friend."

"For the last time, I don't."

"Your so smitten with her that your denying it. You looked like you wanted to kill Kevin in that moment."

"How?"

"Your jaw was clenched and you looked like you were going to hit him. You like her."

"Kevin is a jerk anyways... plus, he's flirty with a lot of girls."

"And he was flirting with Mia. You're jealous."

"No, I'm not."

"You are so oblivious, dude. You like her, end of story." Kiara smirked, having an idea. "Mia looked hot in her costume, right?"

"Yes." Cam stated absentmindedly. "So you agree?"

"What?"

"That Mia's hot."

Cam's mouth widened, realizing what she asked him. "I take back what I said.  I mean, she looked good, I'll give her that."

"I bet you wanted to kiss her all night too."

"No."

"You like her, Cam. I can see it in your face. You look at her like some lost puppy, just like you did two days ago at the dance. Plus, you're blushing."

"No, I'm not!"

"You're red as a tomato. You definitely wanted to kiss her before 7 minutes was over and you thought she looked good in her costume. Therefore, you like her."

Cam was trying to hide his face. He noted that next time, he would talk to Olivia or Alan because Kiara knew him a bit too well it was scary.

"Look, I'm probably just sick or something. Whatever I have, it will go away in a few days."

"Yeah, you're sick with something."

"What?"

"Love, dude. You're lovesick."

"I'm going to go now. Later, Kiara!"

"Later, Cam!" Kiara was right about one thing: he was in love with Mia. He was just too oblivious to notice. 

NIGHT HAD FALLEN AS THE FISHER BROTHERS, BELLY, AND Mia were sitting at the table, listening to the phone call with Adam. Long story short, it didn't go well. The four sat in frustration, staring at each other. The sound of the door opening could be heard as Taylor and Steven entered the house. "Surprise!" Mia gave Steven a look, signaling that it wasn't a good time. "Oh, shit. I - I knew we should have told them we were coming."

"Mia." Taylor stated, looking at her. "Taylor." Mia said, staring back at her. "No, it's not that. It's..."

"We're losing the house. They put it up for sale." Belly and Taylor hugged each other as Mia stood up from the table. "I should probably get going. But it was nice seeing you guys... well, not everyone."

"Uh... I could drive you home?" Steven offered as the girl nodded her head. "Sure. I'll put my address into your gps. Bye, guys. Taylor."

"Mia."

"It was so nice seeing you again." Mia stated sarcastically. "Aw, same here." Mia and Steven left the house, getting into his car. Mia put in her address as Steven drove her home. "So... I heard you're going to Princeton."

"Yeah, I am. I'm really excited. Have you found any schools yet?"

"No, not yet. I don't know what I want to do as a career yet."

"You still have some time left. Do you want to practice law? Your mom's a lawyer, right?"

"Yeah, she is. I don't really know, maybe I'll practice law? Who knows." The two sat in silence as the radio played some music. Mia looked out the window, thinking about everything that happened today. Susannah's house being on sale, finding Conrad, Taylor coming back? It was too much for her to handle. She just hoped things would be better.

If only it could.

Maya Speaks 💫:

All jokes aside... it runs in the family atp

Skye my love 🫶🏾 they could NEVER make me hate you like they're awkward and amazing WHAT DID THEY DO WRONG??? EXIST??? Because if we're going to talk about a character doing something wrong and sadly exists, let's talk about J*R*MIAH

The math joke will always be iconic to me like go Skye! Use your knowledge of math to make a sick burn! Omg Skye would definitely use those cheesy pick up lines it's canon

Conrad and Mia reunion YAYYYYY 🫶🏾🫶🏾 I'm VERY salty that I made her have a crush on J*r*miah instead of Conrad LIKE Conrad's the better brother

It's criminal that Cam was in Season 2 for three episodes but he DEVOURED like his curls were curling

Belly and Mia are in their bonding era and I'm living for it! And J*r*miah's there too... he gets on my nerves so bad I NEED him to get smacked

Also writing him and Mia's friendship made me want to cry... he irritates me so BAD and I changed his faceclaim 💀 he's still terrible tho that's why I just made Steven drive her home