Lᴏᴠᴇ Sɪᴄᴋ
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"What the hell do you mean why is she here? She's the whole reason we found you." Dakota says as Conrad looks away from Liz.
"So this is why you haven't answered any of my phone calls and texts?" Jeremiah says
"Jere. Jere. Did you not hear what I just said? We're going to lose this house. Mom's house."
"Why would your dad sell this house?" Belly says
"He's not. Our Aunt Julia is."
"Susannah's sister?" Belly says
"Susannah had a sister?" Dakota says looking to Belly
"Half sister. Apparently, the house belonged to the both of them. And then when Mom..." He stops, "Now Aunt Julia owns the whole thing, so..."
"Okay, we'll just call Dad and figure something out. That's it." Jeremiah says
"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 and the..." Conrad starts
"Yeah, I know how much the medical bills cost because I was there." Jeremiah spits, "How long did you know about this and not tell me?"
"Jere, this was all happening so fast. I was going to tell you after I'd taken care of it." He tries
Jeremiah chuckles humorlessly, "And this is you taking care of it? Going AWOL, ditching school, not talking to us."
"Fuck school! I don't care!" Conrad exclaims
"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?" Liz says
"You have no idea what you're talking about." Conrad says not even looking at her
"Seriously? We went to Brown to check on your ass." Dakota says stepping up
"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 says before storming off outside and slamming the door shut behind him.
Belly follows after him. Dakota looks to Liz who nods before he walks out with them. Conrad turns and leans on the fire place.
"Sorry if me being here is weird." She mutters, "So, the-the house..."
"It's for sale. And Jere doesn't even care."
"Of course he cares. But he cares about you more. After everything that happened... you go missing?" She says as she steps closer, "I mean, he thought something really bad happened to you. We all did."
"I got a call two days ago. From Liam." Conrad says, "He was asking me about a "for sale" sign in our front yard. I thought it was a misunderstanding, so I drove straight here. I pulled the stupid sign out of the ground, and I threw it in the garbage. Seeing that sign was like losing her all over again, and I didn't want that for Jere."
"I'm going to use my trust as down payment for the house. Talking to my mom's financial guys in the morning." He says crossing his arms. Liz looks over his face, "I didn't mean to worry anybody. I'm handling things. You guys can go."
Liz furrows her brows, "You're not the only one who cares about this house. If we want to stay here and help figure things out, that's our decision. And you don't get to make it for us."
Conrad looks her in the eye right before she walks out.
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It was dark out as Liz sighed when she came up from the water. Hours had passed since they'd gotten there. She decided to get in the pool to think over things. She couldn't exactly grasp the idea of actually losing the house. She went back under and swam again before she popped back up. This time, Conrad sat on the edge with his feet in the water. He looks away as they make eye contact.
"Do you still pretend you're in the Olympics?"
"Uh, no. Not-not anymore."
"When you swim, I don't think you'd notice if the house was on fire." He chuckles, "You're so into what you're doing. It's like you're someplace else."
"That's what I like about it." She nods before she goes back under water. She swims to the end and swims back. When she comes back up, Conrad is gone.
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Liz comes down the steps with Belly not far behind her, "I know. But you're sure there's no way to access my trust without him?" They hear Conrad say as they walk into the kitchen.
"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. Okay. Yeah. Thank you." He says as he hangs up. He tosses his phone on the counter
"Morning." Belly says
"You want to talk about a plan B?" Jeremiah says from behind Belly
"There's no time for a plan B, Jere."
"There's no time? Come on, dude. Is your ego really that big or is...?"
"Jeremiah." Liz says
"Aunt Julia is already here." Conrad says
"What?"
"Yeah, she got in yesterday. She's at Ocean Harbor."
"You saw her?" Dakota says
"I mean, we talked on the phone for about five seconds. She 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 says leaning on the counter, "What's the big rush?"
"It doesn't matter why." Liz says
"This isn't a game, okay? This is serious shit. So just go back to bed and let me deal with it." Conrad says before he walks out.
"That went well." Dakota says
"You know, he keeps saying he's going to figure things out. He hasn't figured out shit." Jeremiah scoffs. Liz rubs at her temples, "Can-can you talk some sense into him?"
She looks up as he sits by her, "You are the only person that can get through to Conrad."
She sighs as Belly and Jeremiah look to her hopeful.
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"Did you get your tux yet?" Liz asks. She was sat on the counter as Conrad went to the cupboard for a mug. He turns back to her.
"Oh, n..." He mutters, "I still have time, right? Prom's not until, like, the 2nd."
"Uh, the 1st."
"The fir..." He says as Megan walks in
"Hey, Connie." She smiles
"Hey, Megan."
"Liz, you might study better in an actual chair."
"No, I-I think better from up here." She smiles, "Oh, um, we have to pitch in our share if we want to get that hotel suite with River and Dakota."
"Mm-hmm."
"Wow. Talking about getting a hotel room right in front of me. I must be a cool mom now." Megan teases
"No. Ew! Mom. It's just so we can hang out after."
"Okay."
"Yeah. No, you know that." Liz chuckles. She turns back to Conrad as Megan leaves, "Do you want me to order your tux?"
"No. No, I got it."
"Okay." She says softly, "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I just forgot the date."
"Okay." She nods. He walks over to stand right in front of her as he leans on the counter. He lays his head on her shoulder. She smiles softly as she rubs his back.
"My mom's doctors are considering putting her on new meds. Which must mean that the current ones stopped working."
Liz's face softens, "Oh, okay."
"Sorry. I'm not trying to worry you." He says as he pulls away
"No, no, no, no, stop it. You can talk to me about anything. Especially Susannah." She says as she pulls his face up, "My mom always gets really down when Susannah's going through it. And she's clearly in a good enough mood today to think that she's funny. I'm sure the new meds just means she's doing better and she needs a smaller dose or something."
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure you're right." He says to himself. He lays his head back down on her shoulder.
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"Uh, Conrad may have listened to me at one point, but I don't think he cares what I think anymore." She says. Jeremiah and Belly look to Dakota who shrugs, "I'm hungry. Are you... you guys hungry?" Liz says as she stands up and walks to the cabinet.
"Man, Susannah used to have this place filled to the brim before we got here." Dakota says. Liz opens the cabinet and sees Hot Cocoa mix. She takes it and throws it out.
"I can get something. Can make some frittatas. The grocery store is right next to Ocean Harbor." Jeremiah says
"We're going to go find Aunt Julia?" Belly says
"We're going to go find Aunt Julia." He says as he holds out his fist.
"All right." Belly says as they fist bump
"You guys can go find Aunt Julia." Dakota says as he sits up, "I'm gonna go find my girlfriend." He says as he pats Jeremiah on the back and walks up to his room.
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