✸  ANYONE ELSE
chapter twenty-three ━━ be strong

          "WHAT ARE YOU doing here?"

Conrad didn't seem pleased to find his two younger siblings—accompanied by Steven Conklin—standing in the doorway of their beloved beach house.

"I think the real question is, what are you doing here, Conrad." Jeremiah was quick to respond as he took an aggressive step forward. "You were supposed to be studying for your finals."

"To hell with finals!" Conrad exclaimed. "The house has been put up for sale, guys" His voice quieted down as he looked between his siblings.

"So this is why you've been ignoring me? Not answering any of my calls," Julie took a step forward and Conrad's eyes softened for a moment. Only for a moment.

"Look, that doesn't matter. We're losing the house. Mum's house,"

"It does matter! I was worried sick, Con. I thought something had happened to you! I thought—"

Steven cut off the argument between the two siblings by placing a comforting hand on Julie's right shoulder. "Nothing happened to him," he said as he gave her shoulder a soft squeeze.

"Why would your dad sell this place?" He asked, this time directed towards Conrad.

"It's not our dad," Conrad said. "It's our aunt Julia." He sighed loudly. "Apparently, the house belonged to the both of them, and now—" He took a deep breath. "—it's all her's."

"Then let's call dad!" Jeremiah exclaimed. "Let him figure it out. He can buy it!"

"He doesn't have the money, Jere!"

The two brothers continued to shout at one another while Julie just stood there, lost in thought.

The house was up for sale. The beach house. Their mum's favourite place in the entire world.

Behind her, Steven was completely nailed to the ground as well. He felt like he was intruding on something private. He had never seen the two boys fight like that. They usually never fought at all.

If it wasn't for Julie's still body in front of him suddenly taking a step back, he probably wouldn't have snapped out of it, but as her back hit his chest, he was suddenly aware of the scene going on in front of him.

Jeremiah was storming away from a still furious Conrad, and Julie quickly followed suit, leaving the house with quick steps. For a moment, he contemplated following her, but she was already too far gone, and instead, he found himself alone in the kitchen with Conrad.

Steven had always looked up to the oldest Fisher boy. In his mind, the boy couldn't do anything wrong—at least not until now. Disappearing like that was a terrible move, and Steven saw it as his responsibility and to have a serious conversation about that.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

          THERE WAS A specific reason why Julie hadn't visited the beach house in Cousins since the death of her mother: she didn't think she would be able to handle it.

Everything in the house was a reminder Susannah Fisher; her mother and best friend, whom she would never see again.

Just standing in the living room had brought back feelings that she had fought desperately to get rid off. She had fought so hard to keep herself strong in the last couple of months, but now, one of the many inevitable breakdowns were coming over her as she let out a sob, strangled by the sleeve of her jackets that she was crying into.

The sound of the crashing waves did little to comfort her as she continued to cry out her heart. Normally, the beach was her place to get away and think. In that moment it was still a place to get away, but now, there wasn't done much thinking behind the blue eyes and freckled cheeks. She knew that if she thought too much, the pain would only get worse.

She hadn't had anyone to comfort her in a long time. She preferred it that way. Then it was easier to appear strong. She had to be strong.

It had been her mother's last words to her, be the strong girl I know you are, darling, and she wasn't going to go against that.

She didn't need anyone. She only needed herself. If she depended on anyone else then her strong facade would fade.

That was the reason for her hurried movements as she brushed away her tears and placed an emotionless smile upon her face as she took the walk back to the summer house, ready to be the strong person she was expected to be.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

CONRAD AND JEREMIAH was fighting again the next morning when Julie appeared in the door opening. Their heated discussion rang through the air of the kitchen as the girl sat down in the seat next to Steven.

She couldn't bother to intervene. She had tried way too many times in the past, and their bickering had become a part of their daily life at that point. They were never on the same page, one of them always had something against the other's decisions.

She didn't care about it anymore, but she figured that it would be good for her to get out of the house. Giving Steven a fleeting look, she asked: "Do you want to go see my aunt with me?"

Surprised by her offer, the boy was quick to his feet, nodding his head enthusiastically as he almost shouted yes.

He hurried after her as she exited the house, and quickly sat himself in the drivers seat of his car. He knew how much she hated to drive, and she almost smiled when she spotted that he remembered.

"So," He began once they've started the drive. "are you close with your aunt?"

"Not really," she hummed, "haven't seen her in ages,"

He only nodded, and none of them said anything for the rest of the drive, so he just kept his eyes on the road till they reached their destination.

The place where Conrad had told them that Julia was staying was nice. They exited the car, still in silence, when they reached the building, and walked till they reached a bright blue door with the number five written on it. Julie hesitated for a moment before knocking. She didn't know if she would be able to recognise her aunt.

When Steven felt her hesitation, he went to place a hand on her back. She quickly shook it off, though, not wanting his comfort, and quickly went to knock on the door, ignoring the hurt look on his face.

It opened only a moment later, revealed a woman with curly blonde hair looking back at them with confusion evident on her face.

"Can I help you?"

"Aunt Julia, hi!" The girl put on her best smile as she looked at the woman.

"Julie, oh, hi," It seemed like the woman suddenly recognised her. "And..." she at Steven who quickly introduced himself.

"Steven." He stuck out his hand for her to shake. "I'm Steven Conklin, uh, Laurel Park's son."

"Oh, yeah, hi." She shook his hand awkwardly before looking between the two teenagers. "Is this about the house?"

"Yeah?" Julie smiled her most charming smile, but it didn't phase Julia at all.

"Then I'm sorry, but I'm going ahead with the sale. There's really nothing you can do. We are actually going to have a open house tomorrow."

Julie couldn't believe that. She was speechless for a moment, and Steven caught up on that, because he began defending the beach house by telling how wonderful it was, but it was all for deaf ears. It became clear that Julia wasn't listening to them.

The house was getting sold whether they liked it or not.

✸ author's note ✸
still haven't completely decided if skye is going to exist in this story. what do you think?

also, this is SO chaotic, but i promise that i have a plan (kind of at least...)