Jeremiah pulled into the driveway of their beach house, Betty feeling her stomach twist into a knot at the thought of seeing Conrad after their fight. After he had told her to leave him alone. This was the exact opposite of leaving him alone. Betty still didn't hesitate to get out of the car, her legs carrying her into the house just as quickly as Jeremiah's were. They entered at the same time and Conrad was standing in the living room looking like he was waiting for them, his head shaking the instant he saw Betty.

"No. Absolutely not, no. Get the hell out of here." Conrad immediately spoke, his hand lifting towards the door as he stared right at her. Betty shook her head, her arms crossing over her chest as she stood her ground. "I'm serious Betty, this is my house. Get out."

"You think you can just disappear and ignore everyone like that?" Betty hadn't realized how worried she was until he was standing right in front of her, the girl taking a few steps towards him. He looked at her with a look that called her ridiculous without even saying it, his lip curling up as he spoke.

"Don't act like you care."

"You can't do shit like that! You cant!" She pushed him, Conrad looking down at her in disbelief as she wiped at her nose and took a few steps back from him. She let out a few heavy breaths and he looked at her like she was insane, his look not softening like it usually would. It took until he saw how genuinely worried she looked that he finally broke, his hand lifting to where she had pushed him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Either of you. But I'm not going back to school. I don't care about school. I'm not leaving." Jeremiah spoke now, his expression tense as he watched the scene unfold between the two of them with some kind of misguided fear.

"What do you mean you're not leaving?" He asked Conrad, the boy shaking his head as he refused now to look at Betty who was trying to regather herself.

"The house had been put up for sale." Conrad said, just as Belly finally joined them in the living room. Betty felt an initial panic at his words, her hand going to her head and running over her hair as she tried to comprehend what he had said. The house was for sale. Betty wasn't prepared to think of all the implications and problems that would bring...so she looked back at Belly as she spoke.

"What do you mean, the house is for sale?" Conrad looked over at Belly when she spoke, his eyes holding a cold gaze when he realized she was there too. Internally he was wondering who Jeremiah didn't bring, his stomach already twisted into a painful knot at the sight of Betty and now —Belly had come too. They had come together.

"What is she doing here?" Conrad asked, his eyes stuck on the younger girl as she looked back at him with an unreadable expression. Betty watched the two of them, supposing that the wound was still fresh and that was okay. And she was okay. And she was shocked that she was okay when she saw this moment. She wasn't sure she had ever been okay with seeing the connection between them. But for some strange reason...it didn't hurt.

"So this is why you haven't answered any of my phone calls and texts?" Jeremiah asked, Conrad's eyes being pulled away from Belly and back to his brother.

"Jere. Jere. Did you not hear what I just said? We're going to lose this house. Moms house." Betty understood as soon as he finished his sentence that his urgency and panic and determination was a grief response to losing his mother. She stood silently as she let them fight and figure it out amongst the three of them. This didn't concern her...at the end of the day she still had a home here in Cousins. She still lived here. She knew how much this place meant to them.

"Why would your dad sell this house?" Belly asked, but Conrad was quick to shut her down.

"He's not. Our Aunt Julia is." Conrad couldn't even look at her again, Betty observing the strange dynamic between the three of them as she stood back.

"Susannah's sister?" Belly asked, and Conrad shut her down again.

"Half sister. Apparently, the house belonged to the both of them. And then when Mom...now Aunt Julia owns the whole things, so..." It was surely a dilemma, especially because of the strained relationship between the Fishers and their Aunt Julia. Betty remembered night laying on the beach where Conrad would delve deeply into his family history and the dramatics of his mother and her sisters relationship. It had been a long time since they had seen their Aunt, and now she was selling the house that reminded them of their mother.

"Okay, we'll just call Dad and figure something out. That's it."

"You think I haven't already done that? He says legally the house is hers." Conrad said, Betty watching as his back began to tense from arguing too much. She was leaned against the fireplace, her eyes briefly closing as she tried to brainstorm a way to help them through this mess. This was beyond her help though, her only thought being to call her own father and ask him what he would do. At the thought of calling her father she remembered Jacks words, that he had wanted her to call him when she found Conrad. She made a mental note to do that at the least conspicuous time, knowing that apparently it was a sensitive topic for some people in the room.

"Then he'll just buy it." Betty shuddered at Jeremiah's outrageously privileged solution, wondering how he was throwing the words out like he was insinuating buying a dollhouse instead of a real, livable home in this economy.

"He doesn't have the money to buy it. Between Brown and the medical bills and the—"

"Yeah, I know how much the medical bills cost because I was there." Jeremiah said this to hurt Conrad, Betty and Belly actually sharing a look as things seemed to be starting to get vicious.

"Guys maybe we should just calm—" Betty tried to intervene but the two boys paid her no mind, Jeremiah quickly picking up where he left off.

"How long did you know about this and not tell me?"

"Jere, this was all happening so fast. I was gonna tell you after I'd taken care of it." Conrad said, Jeremiah letting out a humorless chuckle.

"And this is you taking care of it? Going AWOL, ditching school, not talking to us."

"Fuck school! I don't care!" Conrad said back, his arms lifting to show that he really didn't care.

"Connie you have to go back or you'll fail your class." Jeremiah said back, and Betty figured maybe it was time to butt in. She had no place to speak on all the other stuff, but she had a place here.

"How are you going to become a doctor if you fail out of college, Conrad?" Belly intervened before Betty could, her head turning to look at the younger girl as Conrad once again refused to look at her.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Conrad said, shaking his head slightly as Betty finally chimed in.

"You've got to go back Conrad...if you don't show up for your bio final you fail." Conrad was quick to turn his head to the side, his eyes attaching to the front of her shirt as he was unable to make eye contact with her either.

"Who told you that...Jack?" Betty scoffed at his dig, seeing that he was still upset about the whole her and Jack getting back together thing. Jeremiah didn't give her the chance to say something back, his voice cutting through the tension between the two of them.

"Seriously? We went to Brown to check on your ass. You know what? I didn't think you'd pull this shit again. But you don't give a shit about anyone but yourself." Jeremiah stalked off angrily as he let the words sit, Conrad turning away from his spot and moving towards the fireplace. Betty saw his face and realized she didn't want to be in the same room as him at the moment, her face falling as she pushed past him, following after Jeremiah to make sure he was okay. Betty knew Conrad would be fine, Belly was there with him...of course he would be fine with her.

"Jeremiah." He was sitting on the porch, his head in his hands as he mumbled to himself. He didn't look up when she said his name, her head tilting to the side in sympathy before she walked towards the spot and sat beside him. She reached towards him, wrapped her arm around his shoulder and pulling him towards her. "Jere."

"I can't believe this. I cant—I just wish that for one day of this shitty year I could have some peace. It's always something. It's always—first it was mom was getting worse, and then it was them, and now mom is gone and they're selling the house. And Conrad just does whatever he wants without having any concern for anyone else. It's too much. It's too much." Betty held him as he let his frustrations out, the boy gripping the front of her shirt in his fist as she stared out at the lawn.

"I know...I know." She said, tightening her grip on him so that he knew she wasn't going to let him go. They sat there in silence for a few minutes and he found solace and comfort in the way she was just there, she seemed to have that effect on him constantly. After a good few minutes the front door opened, Belly stepping out and looking to the two of them. She hesitated to move for only a minute before she went on, Betty's eye contact making her feel small and unwelcome. Belly thought it was strange to feel unwelcome here...she had never felt that way before but now she was feeling it from every perspective. She walked off down the beach path, Betty's eyes going back to Jeremiah. "Listen Jere...you know I don't do false hope but I really think you two will figure this out. I'm sure you will. Okay? You just gotta believe that you will."

"Okay. Okay..." He didn't seem like he believed her all that much but he pulled back, his eyes brimming with actual tears as he looked back at her. She gave him a hopeful smile, mustering all of her strength to keep it on as she pushed some curls away from his face. She gave him a nod and he nodded back, Betty pushing herself up from the porch and gesturing towards the house.

"I'm gonna go to the restroom and then I have to make a phone call. Just try not to think too hard about it right now. It's new. Feel through it." He nodded as she back away towards the house, the girl making her way back inside. She started towards the bathroom but was caught off guard by a sniffle from another room, her head turning towards the living room where they had all been arguing minutes before. She tried to warn herself to not fall into the trap but she couldn't help herself as she heard another sniffle. Finally she entered the room to see Conrad, his back facing her and his eyes on something he was holding. She took the bait regardless, speaking softly so she didn't startle him.

"Are you okay?" She asked, the boy letting out a deep sigh as he heard her voice. Although he was angry with her it was still soothing, the tension in his back easing up the slightest bit as her presence became known.

"What do you want?" He maintained his anger towards her, Betty not letting him affect her. He had acted worse towards her than this...she could handle it.

"I just told you. I asked if you were okay. Are you okay?" His head turned slightly and then he turned fully, the itching and incessant need to see her taking over. He mulled over her question but they both knew the answer, a great discomfort filling him as he spoke the truth.

"No...I'm not okay." She wasn't surprised by his honesty, she was surprised by his vulnerability with her. She stared back at him with a gaze that he was familiar with, one full of worry and care and for the first time in his life he hated that she cared so much. He hated that she was here. "Everything in my life has fallen apart in the last month and I can't seem to do anything about it but watch."

Betty's lips tightening into an apologetic smile and his eyebrows furrowed together, the boy getting the notion that she didn't know what to say. Except she parted her lips anyways, because Betty Graham almost always knew what to say.

"As long as I've known you Connie, you try and take everything on yourself. You always hold everything on your shoulders. You try and protect him from the bad things but you can't always do that. He needs to know them. He needs to know them like you know them. You cant take everything on yourself. You cant take this on yourself." Her words cut deep into him, Conrad recognizing the truth behind them. He tried to spare Jeremiah's feelings in every instance, he tried to carry the brunt of the weight so that Jeremiah could enjoy the spoils when it worked and it had shaped Conrad into who he was today. Conrad wondered how Betty could possibly know that before he remembered they were the same, she did it too. She carried everything for her family, and they enjoyed the spoils of her hard work.

"This is too much for him." Conrad said, Betty shaking her head and taking a few steps towards him. She had a look of hope gleaming in her eyes and he was unsure about how he felt to see it shining so brightly.

"This is too much for you, Connie. That's why we came. That's why I came. I can't do much for the situation but if I could just take a little bit of that weight off of you. If you could just stand a little bit taller because you're not being crushed then I will. I will do it." She nodded. "I know you think I don't care, you think that just because I got back with Jack that you don't matter anymore but you do. You're my friend Conrad. I know you and I want to help you. And I don't think you're selfish."

Conrad looked down at her, his heart beating fast than he could comprehend as she expressed to him how she wanted to be there for him. She was right, he felt that if she had Jack then he didn't matter. But that was never the case. He just wasn't sure if there was a world where he could be just her friend. And she could have someone else. He wasn't sure if he could do that. So in the face of her devotion and clarity he sneered, his lip curling up as he looked away from her.

"Of course you brought him up. Of course. I don't want your help Betty. I asked you to leave me alone." The hope drained mercilessly from her eyes as she realized he couldn't get past Jack, her heart aching as she looked up at him. He just couldn't do it. She wanted to fight and yell at him for it but she didn't, she just let out a sigh and shook her head. She took a few steps back from him and then made her way towards the entendres to the living room, Conrad unable to even look at her as he knew he had made a mistake and had said the stupidest thing possible. She stopped in the doorway, looking back at him and speaking.

"One day you're gonna end up alone because you're too stubborn. Don't try and run back when you realize you have nobody because of it." She left the room and the entire house, making a beeline for her own home as she felt tears bite at her eyes. Of course he still affected her, of course he still hurt her. She was living a fallacy thinking that she was over it. She was living a lie thinking she'd moved on.