✸ ANYONE ELSE
chapter thirty-four ━━ laurel saves the day

      JULIE HAD NO idea where Laurel had appeared from, but she had never been more thankful to see the older woman.

"Laurel." Julie practically fell into her arms as she appeared in the doorway, squeezing the brunette in a tight hug.

"Jules . . ." Laurel kissed the girls head softly, caressing her back as they stayed in the much needed embrace.

The two boys who had previously been focused on making peace and forgiving each other, were now fixated on the two women in front of them.

"Mom—" Steven began, but Laurel cut him off with a sharp glare.

After savouring the last of the hug, they eventually pulled apart, but the older woman keeping a grounding hand on Julie's arm.

"What the hell happened here?" The sharp question was angled towards her son.

"Look, it wasn't our fault—" He tried reasoning.

"Belly drunk dials me, and I drive all night to find this?" She interrupted him. "I'm very happy your mom isn't here to see this," The sharp words were now meant for Conrad. "I want this place spotless, every single thing of Susannah's back exactly where it belongs. If even one thing is broken I swear to G—"

"It wasn't us who moved her stuff," Julie softly explained, cutting off Laurels angry rant.

"It was our aunt Julia." Conrad continued, venom lacing his voice. "She's the one who emptied it. Not us. She is going to sell the house."

"But I thought Susannah talked to her lawyers?" Laurel's confused gaze swept over the three teenagers. "She told me she reached out to Julia just before things got bad."

"Why didn't you say something then?" Steven angrily asked his mother.

"I assumed that they resolved it." She paused momentarily. "Connie, does your dad know?"

"Of course, he knows!" Conrad replied, fighting hard to keep his emotions at bay. "And of course, he's done nothing to help us at all."

"And that's why we came here." Steven joined in. "We were trying to work something out with Julia."

"And?" Laurel looked at her son in question.

"And we failed." Conrad answered. "Aunt Julia has sold the house to another family. They finalised the deal yesterday . . . but like you said, at least my mom isn't here to see it."

He walked out after that, leaving the remaining with a soft frown.

After a moment, Laurel went to call Adam, and she soon returned with the rest of the teenagers behind her. The entire Conklin-Fisher clan was together in the kitchen, and it almost felt like old times. It felt freeing and comfortable and so right.

The group turned as Laurel cleared her throat to get their attention. "I owe you all an apology." She started. "You guys have been there for each other and I haven't and I'm deeply sorry for that."

"We've all made mistakes, Mom." Belly muttered, from next to the older woman. She still hadn't lifted her eyes to look at the other teenagers.

"Well, my biggest one is trusting that Beck and Julia had come to an agreement about the beach house before she passed." She sighed before continuing. "It's probably too late to change things, but I'd like to try. I'll talk to Julia, see if I can change her mind."

"I also called your father," She held gentle eye contact with the Fisher siblings. "He's coming to talk to Julia as well."

"He isn't gonna do shit." Conrad sneered, kicking the kitchen cupboard in frustration. Laurel immediately sent him a look, and he took a step back to mutter a quick apology.

"Before my mother gets here though, we should probably try and make this place look less . . . shitty." Skye spoke.

They all quickly agreed, spreading out through the house to clean it up as much as possible before Julia would be arriving.

With Laurels help, everything would end up alright. All would become like it was supposed to be.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

AS EVERYONE SCATTERED around to start cleaning up, Julie and Steven found themselves alone in the kitchen once again.

The blonde was sitting down, her legs swinging back and forth beneath her as she eyed the older boy affectionately.

"These past days have been quite messy, huh?" Steven walked over to her, positioning himself in between her legs. Even though she was sitting on a high stool and he was standing on the ground, he was still taller than her, towering at least a couple of inches above the blonde girl.

"Yeah, everything's been a bit crazy." She replied, looking up to meet his eyes.

For a moment, they held eye contact, sharing a sweet moment of togetherness, savouring the feeling of being in each other's vicinity again. His eyes shone as they watched her, his gaze holding an indescribable adoration. He wasn't just looking at her with love. He was looking at her like she put the shining moon, the sparkling stars and the ever burning sun in the sky. Like she was his entire world. His entire universe.

She had been constantly, consistently, continually on his mind for the last months, and now she was standing right in front of him, close enough to reach out and touch.

So he did exactly what he so desperately craved to do. He reached out to touch her cheek, delicately caressing her soft skin.

"I love you," he whispered, the words only just loud enough for her to hear. "So, so much."

She smiled softly, shying away from his intense gaze. "I love you too."

"Can I kiss you?" Both his hands had found their way to her face, tilting her beautiful features upwards so their lips were as close as possible without touching.

"Of course." She breathed, closing the gap between their faces in a sweet touch of their lips.

It wasn't a feeling of arousal that enveloped them as they lost themselves in the moment; it was a feeling of love. All consuming, doubt free, electric love. Too good to be true, but then again so realistic, because this was Julie and Steven. They were made for each other, and they couldn't imagine being with Anyone Else.

It would forever be the two of them against the world, and that was enough. That would always be enough. Together, they would be able to face every hardship the world might throw at them.

✸ author's note ✸
the end is coming . . . only a few chapters + an epilogue and then it's completely over :((

the next chapter should be out soon but i'm going to the eras tour tomorrow so i don't think i'll get the chance to write

thank u for reading, don't forget to vote and comment! please tell what u though of the chapter!!!