BACK TO YOU

seven. things change

▬▬ "ARE YOU READY YET?" Nate called out as he leaned against Lennox’s door, his hat sat on his head and all he wore were his swim trunks. “How long does it- woah.” He was cut off when Lennox opened the door and he fell backwards, catching himself on the doorframe.

“You’re an idiot.” She laughed and he pulled himself up so he stood up right then he turned to face her. “Can you tie this for me?” She turned, pulling her hair to the side and he grabbed the strings and tied them before putting his hands on her waist.

“Are you ready now?” He asked, leaning down a little.

“Yeah,” she turned, her eyes stopping on the navy blue shirt that was draped over the back of her desk chair. “Just a second.” She quickly grabbed the shirt and haphazardly folded it before crossing the hall. His door was open, so she walked straight to his bed and laid the shirt down. “Okay,”

“Finally.” He mumbled before turning and making his way down the hall, she chuckled as she ran and jumped onto his back. He stumbled a little, but regained his balance and locked his hands together under her butt to hold her in place. “So, there’s a party tonight. Wanna join me?”

“Uh, sure. It’ll have to be after dinner, though. It’s Belly’s birthday dinner, remember? Suze invited you and It's kind of a big deal. I’m sad Callie’s missing it, I wanted to introduce you guys to everyone.” She told him, resting her chin on his shoulder and he nodded.

“She had a thing with a few friends from school.”

“She texted me. I’m just bummed.” She mumbled as he opened the back door and stepped out. “Hey, I didn’t know you guys were back.” Lennox greeted when she saw Belly, Steven, Jeremiah and Taylor in the pool.

“Hey, Len.” Taylor waved. “Who’s the hottie?”

“I’m Nate.” He waved and she smiled as she wiggled her fingers at him.

“Nate, this is Taylor. Belly’s best friend.”

“Oh, uh, happy birthday, Belly.” He told the girl, adjusting his hold on Lennox, who was still on his back.

“Um, thanks.” She gave him a smile and he nodded.

“Okay, put me down. I wanna-” He didn’t give the girl a chance to finish as he fell forward, right into the pool. “Asshole!” She shoved him when they both resurfaced but he just laughed. She rolled her eyes before grabbing his hat, which had been floating in the water, then she put it on her head and swam away from him.

“She loves me.” Nate smiled at Belly and Taylor, who shared a giggle, before swimming after the girl then Taylor suggested that they play chicken.

“You wanna play, Lenny? We’re undefeated.” Jeremiah called over to her and Nate.

“No, I’m good.” She shook her head, Nate’s hat still sat upon her head.

“You can go, I’ll be okay.” He told her, his elbow propped on the edge of the pool.

“No, I really don't wanna play. I mean, I love chicken and Jere and I are undefeated, I’m just not really in the mood.”

“Why not?” He asked and she shrugged, giving him a half smile and he nodded, catching onto her tone. “You look good in my hat.” He changed the subject and she rolled her eyes, shoving his chest and he laughed.

“Shut up.” She mumbled, looking away from him and over at the other four. “I do, however, wanna watch this.” She pointed at them then swam to the other side of the pool and lifted herself out, the boy simply followed her.

“Len, call it.” Jeremiah told her and she adjusted the hat on her head.

“Go!” She shouted and they started pushing, all of them laughing then Taylor and Steven fell backwards. “And it’s Jere and Belly for the win!” She cupped her hands around her mouth as she cheered and the two celebrated, then Steven and Taylor resurfaced, arguing, as usual.

“Hey, guys.” Everyone looked over to see Conrad with Nicole, the smile that had been on Lennox’s face dropped but she quickly fixed it. Nate noticed and leaned back a little, wrapping his arm around and she smiled up at him before leaning into his side.

“Hey, Nicole.” Belly smiled at the girl from her place on Jeremiah’s shoulders.

“Hi. Happy birthday, Belly.” She told the girl before looking around at the others in the pool. “Are you guys playing chicken?” She asked.

“No, they’re winning chicken.”

“It was Taylor’s idea.” Belly added, looking over at her best friend.

“Hey, I’m Taylor.”

“She’s my best friend from home.”

“Just visiting for the weekend.” Taylor told her.

“Oh, that’s cute.” Nicole mumbled and Lennox clenched her hands around the edge of the pool, which Nate noticed and he leaned a little closer to her, his lips close to her ear. Conrad looked over at the two, his hands tightening into fists as he shoved them into his pockets, but he didn’t look away from the two, which his brother noticed.

“Breathe.” Nate whispered, his hand moving up and down her back and she turned towards him, a smile pulling at her lips as she released the edge of the pool. “You have anger issues, don’t you?”

“Not usually. It’s been a pretty shitty couple of months.” She told him, her voice also low and he nodded his head before reaching up and lightly thumping the bill of his hat that she still wore, making her laugh.

“I was serious before, you look really good in my hat.” He told her, his voice a little louder so everyone heard him, her cheeks went pink as she shoved his shoulder a little and looked away from him.

“Hey, love birds!” Jeremiah shouted. “Talking to you and the boy-toy, Len.” He added and they looked over at him, the girl’s eyes slightly narrowed.

“I will end you.” She pointed at him, but he just smiled that charming smile of his.

“We’re gonna play volleyball, wanna join?” He asked and Lennox looked up at Nate.

“Yeah, I’m in.” He nodded and the girl smiled.

“Okay.” She nodded before she slid into the pool and swam over to the other side, but Jeremiah grabbed her waist. “What are you doing?”

“I want you on my team.”

“Jere,”

“Please?” He poked out his bottom lip and she sighed as her eyes met his.

“I’ll totally be on Belly’s team.” Nate spoke up. “And we’re gonna crush you.” He gave them a smile before swimming over to the birthday girl and her best friend.

“He has a winning attitude, I like it.” Belly mused and the boy chuckled.

“See, they like me.” He added and Lennox chuckled as she shook her head at him.

“Oh, you are so dead.” Lennox gave him a sweet smile as she turned the hat around on her head. “So dead.”

“Yes, I love it when you get like this.” Jeremiah grinned, kissing Lennox’s cheek. Then they set up the net and the game started.

Lennox hit the ball over the net and Belly hit it back and when Jeremiah moved to hit it, it hit the net. “Come on, Jere!” The girl huffed as she hit the water and Nate laughed as he wrapped his arms around the two girls, all three cheering. “Enjoy it while it lasts.” Lennox told the three on the other side of the net, her eyes narrowed. “Give me the ball.” She held her hands out and Jeremiah tossed it to her and she served it, hitting it over the net and Nate jumped to hit it, sending it back. Steven hit it and Lennox moved forward and hit it over the net but the other three missed it and she cheered as she threw her arms into the arm.

“She’s back, ladies and gentleman!” Jeremiah cheered as he lifted her out of the water slightly and spun her around, the girl just laughed as she held her arms up. Conrad couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his lips. He hadn’t seen her smile that big in a while and it was nice, she had a great smile and he had missed it.

“Sucks to suck!” She called out and Nate just smiled at the girl, shaking his head a little. They hit the ball back and forth for a while, sometimes they would miss and the other team would cheer. Then when Taylor tossed the ball up and hit it, it hit Nicole in the face and everyone turned towards the girl.

“Ow!”

“Are you okay?” Conrad asked the girl.

“I’m so sorry.” Taylor told her, a slight chuckle behind her words.

“Taylor.” Belly scolded.

“It was an accident.”

“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” Belly asked the girl.

“Yeah, no, I’m-I’m-I’m totally fine.” Nicole nodded. “You guys keep playing.”

“Well, speaking from experience, ice helps.” Lennox told her as she swam towards the edge of the pool. “I’ll take you inside to get some.” She lifted herself out of the water then extended her hand out to the girl, who took it and she pulled her up before leading her into the house, and all Conrad could do was watch them go.

“You really don’t have to do this.” Nicole told the shorter girl as she sat on a stool and Lennox went to the freezer.

“I know. But growing up with the Fisher boys, I’ve gotten my fair share of hits to the face. The worst was a basketball. Conrad blocked my shot and slammed it right into my nose.”

“Oh, no.” Nicole chuckled a little and Lennox nodded as she handed over the ice pack.

“Yeah, it was gushing blood and he was freaking out. Had two black eyes for the rest of the summer and a really weird tan-line from the brace thing I had to wear.”

“Sounds awful.”

“No, it wasn’t too bad.” She shrugged. “He got me ice cream whenever I wanted and when I couldn’t go to the boardwalk he stayed and played video games with me. He felt so bad.” She smiled at the memory before she shook her head a little. “All right, let’s have a look.” Nicole moved the ice pack and Lennox leaned closer. “It’s just a bruise. You’ll be fine by the time the deb rolls around.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, of course.” Lennox nodded.

“So, you and Nate seem pretty close.” She mused.

“Uh, yeah. He’s a good friend. Even if Jere insists on calling him my boy-toy.” Lennox rolled her eyes, neither of the girls hearing when the back door opened.

“He’s one of the cutest boys in Cousins, why don’t you go for it?”

Lennox chuckled a little, adjusting the hat on her head. “Uh, I hate to admit it, but I’m kinda hung up on my ex.” She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. “I shouldn’t have told you that.”

“We used to talk all the time.” Nicole told her, a gentle smile on her face. “We still can, you've just been different this summer.”

Lennox sighed, shaking her head a little. Even Nicole had noticed. “Yeah, it's just…”

“The guy?” She offered a knowing smile. “Um, this isn't my place but Con-” the door closing cut the girl off and they both turned to see Conrad standing there, his phone in hand.

“Um, I’m late. I have to go. I have this thing.” He rushed out. “I’ll, uh, see you later.” He stated, his eyes bouncing from Lennox to Nicole for a moment.

“Go, I’m perfectly capable of pretending I’m a doctor.” Lennox waved him off.

“Thanks, Len.” He mumbled then he was gone.

“Bye.” Nicole mumbled, slightly confused. “Any idea what that was?”

“I, uh, I think it might be a work thing, but I’m not sure. We don’t really talk all that much.”

“You used to.”

“Things change.” Lennox shrugged. “Um, do you need a ride home or something? I mean, you’re welcome to stay but I can’t promise you that there won’t be more chicken and the possibility of further injury.”

“A ride would be great.” Nicole nodded and Lennox gave her a smile.

“Let me put something on, then we can head out.”

⚘‎ nova speaks┆i swear i haven't forgotten about his book its just that the twisters brainrot is real and apparently it's not going away any time soon lol

but i'll still be updating this book but just a little slower