It had been 20 minutes at this party, Betty Graham slinking away into hidden spots in the empty house as she sipped at a beer and a cup of whatever concoction they had made. It was strong, the liquor outweighing the juice, but she didn't mind...she wanted to get drunk and forget everything that was troubling her. She just wanted to forget.

Steven had pulled a tipsy Conrad upstairs, his hands on the boys shoulders as he filled him in on what he'd learned.

"He left because of  you...which means she must still feel something. Enough for him to be threatened."

"So what—what should I do?" Conrad asked, his eyes trusting and his mind open. It was now or never, and Stevens meddling would either make or break this thing.

"Take her somewhere alone, apologize, make her feel loved...you love her. Make her feel safe. You've got it, man. This is gonna fix everything." Steven said, and he truly believed it. Conrad hesitated and then he seemed to settle his mind, his head shaking with his decision. Steven and Conrad's conversation died off and they escaped down the stairs and back to the party. Conrad spent a good deal of time stalling, planning out the words in his head and what he would say. He spent a few moments on the stairs as he mulled over the most important words he'd ever have to say. He had to convince the love of his life to love him again. It wouldn't be as easy as Steven had made it sound. Conrad knew the challenge...Betty was stubborn and angry and wanted nothing to do with him. So he would have to pull out all the stops. He downed another cup of their drinks and then walked away from the staircase.

Betty was sitting on the wooden floor, a smaller collection of beer glasses beside her as she stared ahead. She was doing some people watching, her mind elsewhere while she realized talking and socializing and being at a party was about the last thing she wanted to do. Thankfully none of them were in the room she was in, but if she wanted another drink she was going to have to go into the main room, and she was sure there was no way she could avoid the group if she did that. So she sat and continued to wallow, her chest feeling empty like she didn't even have a heart to beat anymore. The more she drank the sadder she got, and the longer she went without Jack the worse the feeling of being abandoned got. She sat in her corner and thought about the fact that everyone had left her. Her mother and brothers had ditched her for the summer, Jack, her dad...everyone that ever mattered has abandoned her in some way, and people wondered why it was so hard for her to try anymore. She regretted sitting there in her own self pity, knowing people in the home were going through more. Her eyes traced the empty walls and she was reminded of the very reason this party was happening. They lost the house, their home, this place that meant so much to Susannah.

Susannah. In all of the turmoil of the last week she seemed to have forgotten about why they were really here. They were all grieving, they were fighting to live normally because they'd lost Susannah. Betty would never admit loud how much Susannah's death affected her. She wasn't close with her the way Belly and Steven were of course, but they'd had their moments. Especially when Betty and Conrad had been together. Betty remembered an event at the country club that she had attended as Conrad's date, she remembered Susannah pinning up her hair and calling her absolutely beautiful. Betty's mother hadn't helped her get ready, she was too focused on other things. Susannah was there...and it was more times than Betty would like to admit. She remembered when Susannah had sat her down one night and told her about Conrad and how he'd acted when he was younger and how she knew he had a wall up but once you got past it you'd see how big his heart really was. She remembered that same night when Susannah had taken her hand, smiled that beautifully radiant smile at the young girl and told her that she thought Conrad loved too deeply to ever let her go. And she had been right.

Betty wiped at her eyes, shaking her head as she realized she was probably the biggest buzzkill in all of party history, crying while they were celebrating. They were celebrating their memories in the house, they were celebrating Susannah, and she knew she needed to try. She had to try. So she pushed herself up from the floor, navigating the path towards the drink table.

She made her way into the living room at just the perfect time she supposed, her head turning towards the multiple familiar voices as Steven held a camera up. He was taking a picture of Conrad and Belly, their smiles wide as the camera clicked. She shook her head and reached for another cup, pouring herself a nice helping of their alcoholic juice and turning away. Her eyes caught only Nicole, and she wanted nothing more than to disappear when the girl seemed to see her too.

"Long time no see. How are you Betty?" Nicole said in her sweet voice, Betty shrugging as the small entourage stood there.

"I'm good Nicole. How are you?"

"Not bad. Hey, I feel bad about everything that went down last summer. I'm sorry for acting like such a mean girl or whatever. I'm glad to see you." Betty wasn't stunned by the apology, Nicole was a nice girl, they just didn't click because of who they both had been fighting over.

"It's all good. It's nice to see you too." Betty said, using that as her chance to slip past them and away with her drink. She grabbed a beer out of the ice too, running off towards the sliding doors and pulling them open. Just before she could make it out her name was called, her head turning as the last people she wanted to interact with seemed to spot her.

"Betty come on! Group shots!" Belly said, a smile on her lips as she held them up. Betty considered making a run for it but then Steven and Belly were both excitedly waving her over, and no matter how sick it made her to pretend everything was fine, she knew she had to do it. She sauntered over to them, pushing the best smiling she could only her lips and then lifting her hands.

"Alright alright." She said, the girl being handed a shot as she held her other drinks in the crook of her arm.

"Cups up. Okay, no matter how much time passes or how far apart we are, we're always gonna love you guys, okay?" Jeremiah said, Betty's eyes doing their unfortunate flicker towards Conrad who was looking back at her already.

"Alright? Alright."

"That's so cute." Taylor said, her lips turned up into a smile.

"To the last night!" Jeremiah shouted and they all lifted their cups higher.

"To the last night!" They all shouted back and then they took the shots, Betty taking it insanely easy and realizing this shot might've been her indication that she was getting pretty drunk. She felt like everything was smooth, she was conscious but supposed she had drank quite a bit, figuring that soon enough she'd be calming down so she didn't black out. The group dispersed and she made another beeline towards the sliding doors, hoping to get out of dodge and avoid any uncomfortable instances. She walked the edge of the pool as people splashed around and talked and yelled and it was nice to feel the outside air, the house was suffocating her. She imagined being there with Jack, how much fun she'd be having. She hated how much she already missed him, he had acted like he'd put up some big fight to keep her, and then he'd walked away like it was nothing. She thought it was cowardly the way he didn't try to keep her. She thought if was sad the way he just let her go.

"Fight!" The sound pulled her from where she had been gazing at the blue water, the girl pulling her feet out of it and heading towards the house. When she got to the circle she realized it was Steven, and then after a shout from Taylor she realized the other guy was Milo, her boyfriend. After a few moments of them lamely trying to hit each other Steven tackled him to the ground. Belly yelled for Conrad and Jeremiah to help and they pulled him off, but Steven pushed away from them, ready to fight. Betty sipped her beer a few times as she watched, tucked away in the crowd like she was none the wiser. Milo geared up to act like he was going to do some kind of karate and Taylor stepped in front of him, shaking her head as she spoke.

"Milo stop! You're embarrassing me right now." She said, and it was a hit to his ego visually. He scoffed and then shook his head, clearly fed up with the situation.

"Man, fuck this. Come on, Taylor, let's go. These people are too pedestrian for us anyways." Milo said, and Taylor was quick with the reply.

"These people are my friends. Do you even know me? Like, at all?" Betty was bored with this now, her head shaking slightly before she stepped away again, making her way towards the sliding doors and finishing her drink. She cut herself off, running a hand through her hair before she started towards the path to the beach, her shoes discarded somewhere unknown. She let her feet sink into the sand and she really enjoyed it, her eyes closing as she walked the path she knew like the back of her hand. This path itself meant so much to her...but now was not the time to get into that.  She just wanted to sit in peace and watch the water, maybe cry, but enjoy her solitude on this somber night. The party wasn't covering anything up, everything was still shitty and sad, and tonight was the end of something real. Something special.

Betty ran her hand over her face and reopened her eyes and she was closer to the beach than she thought, stopping in her tracks and staring out at the water. There was a post right by the end of the path, she leaned on it in an attempt to figure out how drunk she was, her head spinning as she tilted slightly. There was something about the moment that felt familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it, her eyes trailing from the water to the sky. The stars were out more so than she'd expected, and she traced the heavens looking for constellations. She did this until she felt a chill run down her spine and she turned her head, not being surprised by the fact that she had been followed, and not being surprised by the fact that it had been Conrad.

"Just hear me out Betty." He said, and his tone was filled with desperation. She looked back at the beach and then down at the sand, still leaning against the post as he spoke again. "I know I fucked up like always but I just need you to hear me out okay? Can you not say anything and let me try and fix this. I'm going to—"

"Okay." She cut him off, the drinks hitting her a little harder as she entered this exact scenario that she was trying to avoid. She didn't look back at him as his face flickered past a shocked expression, he was surprised she'd said yes. He was so caught off guard by it that he actually went blank for a moment, forgetting his prepared script and hesitating. His hesitation forced her to look back at him, and she turned her body fully towards him now, her eyebrows furrowed and her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against the post with her back now. It was intimidating actually, the way she seemed so genuinely ready to hear what he had to say. He concluded that she either had already made her mind up, or she was so drunk she wasn't comprehending what he was saying.  Neither of the choices were ideal.

"I'm sorry." Was all he managed to get out, his eyes dropping to the sand as he said it. It sounded almost defeated, and she wondered if he'd finally given up.

"It's okay. I'm sorry too." She said, and she meant it. She was sorry. She was sorry for everything. Because at this point all she ever was was sorry. Sorry she wasn't enough, sorry she was mean, sorry she didn't trust him, sorry they were wrong. She was sorry. And he seemed to be too. His head lifted when she said it and he saw how genuine it was too, and something in his mind seemed to click and something in his chest seemed to warm and he knew exactly where to go from here.

"I think the real reason it never worked out with me and you was because I was too scared of how much I felt for you. When I got to the point where all I thought about was you I got scared. And I've been scared ever since. My parents taught me nothing about how that feels because they don't love each other. I don't know how to be that person for anybody. I think maybe that's why I keep hurting people." It was extremely vulnerable, and it was just the right path, Betty's heart splitting as her face softened. She took the words in and her lips parted at his honesty before she nodded, her mouth closing as she turned her head to look towards the water again.

"I can't believe it's really over. The end of an era." Betty said, referencing the house. He hadn't looked at the beach once, his eyes on her or the sand and right now they were stuck on her face, how beautiful she looked in the moonlight. He'd give anything to kiss her again, to just touch her. He'd wanted it all for so long he forgot what it would even feel like, a kiss she wanted, a touch she craved. He'd made stupid mistakes and he'd been trying to make up for them ever since.

"I know. We won't be neighbors anymore I guess." He said, her chest tightening at the mention of it. Through all of it she actually hadn't thought of that, her eyebrows furrowing and then her head turning to him. Their eyes met and he took the leap of all leaps, wondering if he could land it. "I still love you. You know that right?"

It was simple wording, her eyes glazing over at the sound of it. It was different than any other time, the way it was spoken so softly, not as devastatingly. Like this could be the end. They fought and went back and forth and were angry and hated each other and for some reason, he got to her with just those few simple words she'd heard before. Maybe she wasn't as strong as she thought she was, maybe she needed the familiarity and safety of him after what Jack had out her through. Maybe Jack was right. Maybe she was drunk.

"I know. I love you too Connie." It was soft, her voice shaky when she said it but she meant it, and for some reason when they weren't acting like they didn't it was much easier to talk to each other. Something like that didn't go away, no matter how hard they tried to fight it. And she was too emotionally tired to fight, she only had the strength to give in. They just looked at each other, and he fought everything in him that told him it was the right time to drive this thing home. Another path presented itself and he chose it, his eyes finally going to the water as he spoke.

"Let's get you home...yeah?" He suggested, and she stared back at him for only a moment before she nodded, her lips tightening into a straight line. He walked over to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and letting her wrap hers around him, the boy walking her silently back towards the houses. They were both pretty drunk, but there as something poetic about the walk back. The way they silently took each other in, the way they were peaceful for the first time in ages. In a different world she had showed up at the beach that night. In a different world this is how they'd gotten home that night. Conrad's heart was hurting from what Jeremiah had said to him, calling him a coward. But he pushed those thoughts away, focusing his foggy mind on getting back to her house. When they reached the back gate he let her go, pulling it open for her and letting her go on the other side of it. He debated and then he let it close, looking at her from the other side of the fence.

"Have a good night Betty. I'll see you in the morning." He said, and for some reason everything had changed. They were no longer at war. It was a mutual understanding. She hesitated before she nodded, her eyes tracing over him before he turned away. She fought hard against herself as he started to take steps away but in the end she still spoke, changing the trajectory of his life with her words.

"Connie I don't want to be alone. Will you stay with me?" She asked in a trembling voice, and her sucked in a deep breath. This was the safety that Steven had told him to demonstrate, he had succeeded. He turned back and for the first time in awhile she didn't look like she was regretting what she'd said, she didn't look like she was already feeling the mistake. She looked like she meant it, and he would be an idiot to say no.

"I'll stay with you." He assured her, his words soothing an injured part of her soul as he pulled the gate open. She nodded and they headed towards the house together, the party long forgotten as they embarked on a journey that they'd been needing to have.