p style="text-align: center;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"strongChapter Eight:/strong/span/p
p style="text-align: center;"strongConrad:/strong/p
p style="text-align: left;"Everything Belly said in the dorm room made sense. I had hurt her so many times. I just thought that she could find it in her heart to forgive me, one last time. This is the time I would have gotten it right. /p
p style="text-align: left;"I spoke to Agnes when I went back to California. She said that no matter what happens, I have to trust fate and destiny and all this other bullshit. Belly trusted "The Universe" to make sure she ended up with her soul mate, and look where that left her. I have to fight for Belly. I can't just keep running away. /p
p style="text-align: left;"The only place I know Belly will be, for sure, is the beach house. She goes there any time she's upset or needs to be reminded of Susannah. I drive straight there, only stopping for gas and the occasional pee break. She needs to know how much I love her. I have to figure out a way to show her I love her. The perfect idea pops into my head. I head to the nearest jewelry store and hope that I won't max out my credit card. /p
p style="text-align: center;"strongBelly: /strong/p
p style="text-align: left;"I wake up around 6:30 A.M. Jeremiah is still sound asleep right next to me. I want to stay like this forever. Even though he's hurt me in the past, I feel safest when I'm in his arms. I snuggle back into his chest and decide to enjoy the moment for a little longer. /p
p style="text-align: left;"About and hour later, Jeremiah starts to wake up. "Good morning," he mumbles as he rolls over to face me. /p
p style="text-align: left;""Morning," a smile creeps across my lips because, damn, he's so perfect. "Can we go to Cousins?" The question escapes my lips before I have a chance to think about what I'm actually saying. /p
p style="text-align: left;"Jeremiah doesn't even hesitate, "When do we leave?"/p
p style="text-align: center;"strongJeremiah:/strong/p
p style="text-align: left;"I quickly threw a few things into a bag and within the hour Belly and I were on the road to the beach house. I made sure to pack a bathing suit and a few extra tee-shirts because Belly used to love to wear them when we were dating. The shirts were always way too big on Belly because she's so small and it would look like she was wearing a dress. It was adorable, I loved seeing her in my clothes. I miss it so much. I miss the people we were before I had to go and screw everything up. /p
p style="text-align: left;"Belly turned up the radio and the noise brought me back to reality. "Aren't you scared that one day your ear drums will burst from how loud the music is?" I asked jokingly. /p
p style="text-align: left;""Shut up, it makes me feel... free," She had such a pure smile on her face. A warm feeling spread through out my whole body. We could never go back to the people we were last year, but maybe we could grow together and become better together. We didn't speak the rest of the way. Sometimes not speaking conveys your true feeling better than speaking, though. /p
p style="text-align: center;"strongBelly: /strong/p
p style="text-align: left;"We pulled into the driveway of the beach house a few hours later. Jeremiah and I didn't say much the whole ride, but it was a comfortable silence. Ever since Jere cheated in Cabo and our almost wedding, I felt like I couldn't trust him. Like at any second he would morph from sweet, caring Jeremiah to heart breaker Jeremiah. However, these last few days, I only feel safe with him. /p
p style="text-align: left;"I was lost in the music and the smell of the salty air, I didn't even notice something was wrong when we pulled into the driveway./p
p style="text-align: left;""Shit," Jeremiah whispered under his breath./p
p style="text-align: left;""What, what is it?" I surveyed my surroundings and my eyes landed on Conrad's car. /p
p style="text-align: left;"He was here. I definitely couldn't handle this. I was just starting to feel safe again. It was becoming harder and harder to breathe. My chest felt tight and I could hear somebody hyperventilating. It took me a minute to realize that was me. Hot tears poured out of my eyes. My arms and legs felt limp. /p
p style="text-align: left;"Jeremiah was freaking out next to me. He didn't understand what was happening. I got panic attacks all the time in Spain. They started after the almost wedding. I just needed to wait a few minutes for it to pass. This attack felt like it went on forever. /p
p style="text-align: left;"Jeremiah was rubbing my back and telling me it was going to be ok. The words weren't even registering in my mind. /p
p style="text-align: left;"After a while, my body got tired and my breathing returned to normal. I didn't have any tears left to cry. I didn't say a word to Jeremiah. I just grabbed my bag from the back seat and walked up the stairs and into the house. I didn't even blink when I saw Conrad on the couch, staring at me. /p
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