The days passed quickly, everyone easing into more of a normal summer routine. Laurel showed up a few days after the rest of them, and things felt easier with her there. Since Jeremiah and Steven were both working at the club, Belly and Taylor spent a lot of time on the beach playing pick up volleyball games. Laurel worked hard to do the same things they'd always done with Susannah, but things were different and that was starting to be okay.

"Conrad should be here soon," Laurel told Belly one morning when the two of them were eating cereal.

Belly nodded, taking a bite. "I'm glad he'll be here a few days before the fourth," she said. "It'll be nice to spend some time together."

Laurel watched Belly, eating her cereal in silence for a moment. "What?" Belly finally asked her.

"I don't know what to say here, Belly," she admitted. "I don't fully understand what happened with you and Conrad or him and Jere." She sighed. "I don't know how to make any of this easier for any of you. I feel like maybe Susannah and I overstepped too much in the past and created some of this mess."

"No," Belly said, shaking her head. "I did this on my own. I thought I knew what I wanted, and it was just a disaster." She rested her arms against the counter, looking at her mother. "I'm happy. Happier than I imagined I could be."

Laurel put her hand over Belly's. "I can see that," she said, squeezing slightly. "And I'm happy for you. And for Jere. I'm just worried about everyone all together."

"It will have to be okay," Belly said. "We'll make it okay somehow."

"Make what okay?" Steven asked, coming into the kitchen and grabbing a bowl.

"We were talking about Conrad coming in in a few days," Laurel told him, handing him the cereal box.

Pouring his cereal, Steven looked up at Belly. "Have you talked to him at all?" he asked her.

Belly shook her head, pushing her bowl of milk aside, knowing Jeremiah would want it. "No, I haven't heard from him. He's texted with Jere a few times, but that's it."

"I'm sure it will be fine," Steven said, sounding hopeful.

"Yeah," Laurel said, sounding less hopeful.

Belly put her face in her hands, making a noise.

"Good morning," Jeremiah said, coming into the kitchen. "Nice, Bells," he said, grinning and taking her bowl. "Taylor still asleep?"

"You two are the soundest sleepers I've ever met," Laurel said. "A bomb could go off and you'd both still be snoring."

"Hey," Jeremiah said with a laugh, "I do not snore."

"You totally do," Belly laughed, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's okay. It's cute."

"Cute? How can snoring be cute?"

Belly shrugged. "I don't know but you pull it off."

"What are you all doing today?" Laurel asked the group.

"Cam's boat is coming in today, and we're going to go out with them," Jeremiah said, pouring cereal into Belly's bowl. "Whale watching. The man loves his whales."

"That sounds like fun," Laurel told them, rinsing her bowl out in the sink. "I'm going to run into town, do some shopping."

"See Cleveland?" Steven teased.

Laurel blushed. "Maybe see Cleveland," she said.

Belly smiled at her mother. "I like him," she said. "He seems like a really good guy."

"He is," Laurel said simply. "Your fathers are coming for the fourth," she told them. "I wanted to tell you yesterday and forgot."

The three teens were silent for a moment. "Good," Jeremiah said finally. "That's good."

"I thought so too," Laurel said, relieved.

After eating they all got dressed, including Taylor, who finally woke up. Cam was waiting for them on the pier. "Hey," he said, hugging Belly and greeting the others. "You guys ready to see some whales?"

Belly didn't care about seeing whales. What she cared about was seeing her friends out enjoying themselves. She cared about seeing the smile on Jeremiah's face and knowing that it went all the way to his eyes. She cared that he and Steven and Cam were able to goof off and wrestle with each other, dare each other to do crazy jumps off the boat, laugh loudly. She'd missed Cam Cameron, and found herself wishing he was more than just a summertime friend. Maybe when she, Jere, and Taylor were all at Finch he could come visit.

After a couple of hours whale watching and swimming, the group laid out on the front of the boat, drying in the sun. "This is better than anything I've ever done in the summer," Taylor said after a while. "I'm glad you guys invited me."

"Well I'm definitely glad you came," Steven said, reaching his head over and kissing her.

Belly was glad she'd come too. They had no trouble sharing Belly's room, which was good because they'd be sharing a room at Finch. Taylor loved Jeremiah, and Belly knew that he'd be welcome every night. "How long will you be gone this next time?" she asked Cam.

"We'll be gone for a few months," he told her. "Mom was upset, but she got over it. She knows it's what I want to do."

"So how does that work with school?" Jeremiah asked.

Cam shrugged. "I'll start in the winter. The time I spend on the boat is more valuable than any gen ed class I can take. I'll take some summer classes and make up what I miss."

Belly shielded her eyes and looked over at him. "Is it just a bunch of men?" she asked.

"No, there are a couple of girls," he said, blushing a little.

"Ohhhhh," Jeremiah said, laughing. "Cam Cameron's got a crush."

"It's not a crush," Cam said, grinning. "It's just, well, there's this one girl…"

"It's a crush!" Steven yelled, laughing with them.

Belly laughed too, closing her eyes and sending up a silent thanks for moments like this. Jeremiah reached for her hand in that moment, making it even better.

Once they were off the boat and back on the pier they decided to go for pizza. While the others went to the arcade after they ate, Belly and Jeremiah sat in the booth. "You've been smiling a lot today," she said warmly, brushing a piece of hair out of his eyes. "I like it."

"I've been happy today," he said, kissing her forehead. "I like it." He looked toward the arcade. "I like our friends. I feel like we all fit together."

She nodded. "I think so too." She moved closer to him on the seat. "How are you feeling about Adam coming in? How are you guys?"

He shrugged. "It will be good to see him, I guess," he said. "We haven't really spent a lot of time together since the funeral."

It wasn't the time or the place, but Belly had to ask. "Was he around much, when Susannah was sick?"

"No," Jeremiah said. "Mom didn't really want him around much. He came in and out some, but most of the time it was just me and her."

"So when she was the sickest you took care of her? Alone?"

Jeremiah nodded, swallowing hard. "I watched her slip away a little more every day. She didn't want me to know how much it was hurting, but I could tell." He cleared his throat, wiping at his eyes and blinking fast. "It was bad, Belly."

"I'm so sorry," she told him earnestly. "I should have been around more. I should have done something."

"There was nothing you could do, Bells," he told her. "There wasn't anything any of us could do. She was just gone."

Belly held his hand, running her thumb along his. "I shouldn't have brought it up. It's not a good time."

"You can talk to me about anything any time, Belly," he told her. "Are you excited about seeing your dad?"

"Definitely," she said. "I miss him a lot. I'm glad he and mom are still so close. It makes it easier."

"What about Conrad?" he asked. "Are you excited about seeing him?"

It was a loaded question and they both knew it. "I always enjoy seeing Conrad," she told him. "He's a big part of the summer." She was worried about how he'd act. She didn't want to hurt Conrad, even though he'd spent the last year hurting her. She knew he didn't mean to, it was just what he did.

"Yeah, I guess he is," Jeremiah said, looking up when Steven came to the table.

"I just got the high score on pinball," Steven told Jeremiah, taking a sip of his coke. "Just thought you'd want to know."

Jeremiah laughed, standing up. "We'll see how long that lasts," he told his friend. "You ready to watch your man destroy your brother?"

Belly laughed. "Always." The three of them went into the arcade to join the rest of the group. Jeremiah was always the life of the party, and tonight was no different. He made sure everyone had a good time, no matter what. She knew he had a lot on his own mind, but he never acted like it. She loved that about him. There was a lot she loved about him.

When they finally got back to the house she got dressed for a night swim. It had been a long day and she was tired, but the warm water always helped her think. Conrad teased her about pretending to be in the Olympics, but she'd spent many nights racing against imaginary opponents and taking home the gold. After a particularly rousing match, she lifted her head out of the water to see Conrad sitting on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water. "Hey," she said, happy to see him.

"Hey," he said, a smile on his face. "You win?"

"Of course," she laughed, treading water. "They didn't stand a chance." She looked back toward the darkened house. "Did you just get in?"

"Yeah," he told her. "Put my stuff up and came out. I figured you'd be out here."

"Oh," she said. That made sense, she usually was. "How was your trip?"

"Long. Boring." He shrugged. "The usual."

Belly laughed. "I rode in with Jere and Taylor," she told him. "It was definitely not boring."

"I bet," he agreed, smiling. "How's Jere?"

"He should be out here in a few minutes," she told him. "He was finishing up a game with Steven."

"I must have missed that." He looked toward the house. "You two good?"

"Yeah," Belly said with a smile. "Really good." They were.

Conrad turned to hold her gaze, searching for…something. "I'm glad," he said finally. "Jere has needed someone."

Belly knew this to be true. She sometimes felt like everyone looked over Jeremiah, and she knew she had done it herself in the past. Everyone seemed to just expect him to be fine all the time but he wasn't. And that was okay. "Well he has me," she told him. "And I'm not letting him go through anything alone."

Jeremiah chose that moment to come out. "Hey," he said to Conrad, surprised. "I didn't even know you'd come in." He wasn't surprised to see that the first person his brother talked to in the house was Belly but he didn't say anything about it. Jumping in the water, he made sure to splash both his brother and Belly.

"Jeremiah!" Belly yelled, laughing and sputtering. She reached for him, trying to push his head under water.

Conrad stood up, wiping water out of his eyes and smiling. "I'm going to go say hi to everyone," he told them. "I'll see you two in the morning."

"Goodnight," Belly and Jeremiah said at the same time. Belly left her arms around Jeremiah's neck as she watched Conrad go into the house. "Who won the game?" she asked him.

"He did," Jeremiah told her, spinning her around in the water. "But it looks like I got the prize."

Belly smiled up at him before kissing him. Every time she was around him she couldn't seem to stop kissing him. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she moaned softly as he deepened the kiss, her mouth opening under his. She forgot all about Conrad, Steven, breathing. Jeremiah and his hard body pressed into hers was the only thing on her mind. Even in the cool water he was so warm, his tanned skin seeming to carry the heat of the sun with it.

After a few minutes Jeremiah relaxed his hold on her and she sighed. He was always the one to pull away; if it was up to her, they'd never stop kissing. She'd wondered why he never seemed to want to go any farther, but she was too embarrassed to ask him. She didn't know if she'd like the answer.

"What was Conrad saying," he asked, swimming on his back.

Belly shrugged. "Not much, just that he had a boring trip." She grinned widely. "I told him I couldn't relate."

Jeremiah laughed. "It was anything but boring."

They swam in silence for a minute. "Jere," she said softly, waiting for him to look at her. "I love you too."

He was on her before she could take a breath, his body pushing hers against the pool wall. His mouth captured hers in a heated kiss, his arms around her tight. She felt the longing he'd been holding back, shocking in its strength. "Belly," he whispered against her lips, his voice hoarse. "Say it again. Please."

"I love you," she said, her hands holding the sides of his face. "I love you, Jeremiah Fisher."

He closed his eyes, swallowing hard. When he opened them again she was surprised to see tears in them. "Jere…"

He shook his head, kissing her sweetly. "I didn't know if I'd ever hear that," he told her.

She wrapped her arms back around his neck. "You'll have to get used to hearing it," she told him. "Because I'm going to be saying it a lot."

He smiled down at her. "I'll try."

The two of them played in the pool for another hour, alternating between trying to drown one another and kissing. Belly felt lighter than she had since Sussanah had died, and she knew the older woman would be happy for her and Jeremiah. Now she just had to figure out how to help Conrad like Susannah had asked her to.