"Thank you so much! Thank you." Betty Graham said in an overjoyed voice as her front door was opened, the locksmith giving her a nod and a smile. Her dad had paid the man already, the girl hurrying inside and closing the door behind her. She needed this, she needed the time alone. She would enjoy it until someone found out she was gone and called her.

She'd stayed long enough for everyone to pass out before she had disappeared into the night, calling an uber to take her home. It was sweet relief to be home and thankfully she was alone. She's reluctantly accepted Conrad's words and stayed, by being here and alone was the best thing she could possibly think of. Even thought it was short lived.

There was a knock on the door and she figured it was the locksmith again, the girl hurrying back down the stairs after she'd thrown herself onto her bed. She was smiling when her fingers gripped the doorknob and then she pulled the door open, her smile dropping and her eyes widening in pure shock and surprise.

"Surprise!" Jack stood on her doorstep, looking as excited and handsome and perfect as ever, his lips turned up into a bright smile as he looked down at the stunned girl.

"What are you doing here?" She said, her hand reaching out to pull him inside and the girl closing the door. He looked around at the home, his lips turned up into a proud smile as he spoke.

"I was worried about you, you seemed like you were having just—you seemed bad and so I drove here."

"What about your bio final?"

"I moved it up to yesterday because I wanted to get done early. Worked out pretty well. I brought your uh—your books." He handed her the books she needed for her classes and she grabbed them, her lips turned down into a frown as she tried to comprehend what was happening. This was probably the worst thing that could happen, Jack showing up to blow up the shit show even more. Not only would it cause conflict with Conrad but Jeremiah too and probably any and everybody else. This was not the time.

But past all of the reason why she didn't want him to be here she actually found a sliver of happiness, of relief, the girl putting the books down on a table and jumping into his arms.

He hugged her and she didn't realize how much she needed that hug until she was in it, her entire body filling with warmth from being in his arms. He pulled back first and she knew what was coming next, the boy grabbing her by the face and pressing a kiss to her lips. Out of all the kisses she'd had in the past 2 days this one was her favorite, her stomach knotting and then unraveling at the how much she'd missed him.

His lips felt like pure relief and she knew this was exactly what she'd needed, just not in this way. Not here.

When he pulled back he hesitated, his neck moving to almost kiss her again before he slightly shook his head, the boy knowing if he kept kissing her he wouldn't stop. He'd missed he more than she knew, he'd spent months and months missing her and now that they were together again she was all he wanted. But he needed to control himself. His eyelids felt heavy as he actually seemed to be in some sort of trance from the kiss and then he took a full step back altogether, knowing that if he kept his hands anywhere on her...he needed to calm down.

"So since I'm here...can you catch me up? Get me up to speed?" His words made her falter. Catch him up? Get him up to speed? As if he planned to help or to be a part of it himself. She didn't need that drama at the moment. Did he not know how much trouble just him being here would get her into?

"Well...Conrad and Jeremiah's mom just died and their aunt is selling the house that means so much to them and yesterday we went to the boardwalk because the AC was broken and when we got back everything in the house was gone. And everyone's just having a hard time, I'm having a hard time...it's just hard. I was being a little bit dramatic yesterdays I feel like maybe I just hit my breaking point. But you definitely...you didn't have to drive all the way here. I feel bad." Parts of her wished he'd get up and go, but a bigger part of her loved the fact he'd come all the way here to make sure she was okay.

"Oh so you don't want me here?" He said it jokingly but she did hesitate, the boy not seeming to realize that she had. "That is rough...and do they have like trusts or anything?"

"They do but their dad said they can't use them for this. He's not giving them access." Jack nodded, looking deep in thought as he took a step back towards her. His look of pondering slowly faded and he gave into all of his compulsions to kiss her again, his arm wrapping around her waist. She didn't argue, the girl actually reaching up first and pushing a hand into the hair on the side of his head. He kissed her and she welcomed it, his kisses a welcome distraction from everything she'd been dealing with. Kissing him felt right, and it was necessary, because she'd had something pent up since she got here.

She wanted to curse herself for admitting that the night she'd spent with Conrad had ignited something, but it had quickly fizzled. The day on the boardwalk had started something too, but his anger had snuffed it out. And kissing Jack was like an outlet for all of that built up emotion she'd had towards Conrad, and she wasn't sure if that made her a bad person or not. Kissing Jack was allowed, because kissing Conrad wasn't. And she was too mad at him and done with him to even think about how much she wanted to.

As if the universe wanted to laugh at her there was a very frantic knock on the front door, the girl pulling out of the kiss in a daze.

"Be quiet." She looked towards the door and her feet sent her there, his lips plump and pink after her small make out session. There was another knock and then she cleared her throat, slightly opening the door, only enough to peek outside. This was the worst case scenario, Jeremiah and Conrad standing shoulder to shoulder at the door, Belly, Skye, Taylor, Cam, and Steven all standing on her porch. "Hi."

She said it in a choked tone, her eyes wide and her face guilty as she looked at them all. There was a defeated look amongst them and her eyebrows furrowed, her head being the only thing peeking out of the door as she spoke.

"What's wrong?"

"Julia accepted an offer. She's sold the house." Jeremiah finally answered, the small groups defeat being explained. Betty's face fell and she wanted to throw up, knowing they'd failed at what they'd come to do. Knowing they couldn't do anything anyways. It was too much to comprehend, and then something even worse happened, a loud scraping noise sounding from behind her. Every eyes looked towards the crack but they couldn't see past her, Betty internally cringing as Conrad's eyebrows furrowed and Steven spoke.

"Is there somebody in there?" Steven asked, Betty quick to shake her head. She looked back quickly and saw that Jack was sitting at a chair at the kitchen island, the scraping sound come from the chair. She wanted to punch herself in the face for being so stupid and looking back, but she couldn't help it. "Who is it?"

"Nobody is in here. Stop! Stop!" Steven put his hand on the door and pushed, the boy slightly stronger than Betty and managing to get the door to swing open. The door slowly creaked and she closed her eyes, her jaw clenching as she looked down at her shoes. She definitely didn't want to see the reactions.

The first person to comprehend exactly who was sitting at the island and staring at the door was Conrad, his entire face somehow dropping even more. His stomach twisted and the already sickly feeling he had from the mornings revelation only festered, his jaw clenched at the sight of him and his lip curled up in some kind of surprised disgust as he looked at Jack. Next was Jeremiah's face paling, his lips tightening even further into that straight line, some feeling of betrayal in him as he looked at her boyfriend. Belly also knew who he was, her eyes slightly widening as she realized this could be a big deal. She remembered something going down with him and Conrad. She couldn't quite remember the details. She knew he didn't need more stress. She also remembered Betty Graham escaping his room the day before. The other four looked at him in some sort of confusion, Steven once again being the one to speak.

"Who is that?" Steven had a sneaking suspicion as to who it was, Betty not really answering as the chair scraped again and the boy stood up. He walked towards the door, his friendly smile on his lips as he dropped an arm on her shoulder. Conrad felt a burn in his chest at the sight of it, his ribs aching as he watched the way Jacks hand wrapped around her shoulder. Betty was still looking down, quiet as a mouse as Jack spoke.

"I'm Jack...I'm Betty's boyfriend. And you are Steven, and I remember you are Belly. And Jeremiah we met the other day too. And...Conrad. Nice to see you man." There was a sleek confidence in his words, Jack seeming to know what he was doing. His arm was wrapped around her and he had won no matter what, because she was with him. There was no reason to still be mad at Conrad because he lost. That was his philosophy.

There was surprise amongst the group as the words settled, everyone being surprised by the boyfriend thing and the fact that he was actually there. Skye was shocked behind them all, absolutely surprised she had a boyfriend after how much they'd observed her and Conrad's tumultuous relationship. Stevens head turned quickly to Conrad and he could see the pain and defeat on his features, the boy feeling awful for the fact he couldn't catch a break. His mom, the house, the girl he loved. It was all very unfortunately timed.

"What are you doing here?" Conrad asked, Betty's head slowly lifting from her shameful stance, her eyes going to Conrad and then to Jack as he answered.

"Well Betty was having a rough time and I was worried so I came to check on her." It was true, but Conrad still couldn't help but find something deceitful behind it. He nodded his head slightly and then his eyebrows furrowed, his gaze not faltering as he spoke again.

"You couldn't just call?" Betty wanted to let out an exasperated sigh at this, her stomach in endless knots as she realized for someone who had "given up" he sure was adamant on getting an explanation from Jack about why he was here. Jack could hold his own though, the corner of his lip lifting  as he began to fight back.

"I did call. Yeah I called and my girlfriend was crying her eyes out which to most people who actually care about the person they're with...that would be alarming. I'd travel anywhere to make sure my girl is okay." Jack tightened his grip around her shoulder and smiled down at her with an endearing grin, Conrad shaking his head slightly and letting out a humorless laugh.

"That's rich coming from somebody who left her at a party with a bunch of people she didn't know, blacked out drunk with alcohol poisoning because he just...forgot." There was a shift in the group and they all kind of looked to Jack for his reply, the boy smiling wider and then dropping his head in a laugh. Betty quickly reacted to the jab, pulling out from under Jacks arm alone and looking between the two of them.

"Okay that's enough. Come on guys. Let's just—can I speak to you alone?" Her fist was holding a handful of Conrad's shirt, a dangerous look in her eyes as she pulled him away before he could even answer. He shot a look back at Jack but the older boy was just smiling, the only evidence of his anger being the burning look in his eyes. "What the fuck?"

"Don't what the fuck me! What the fuck is he doing here? You asked him to come here?" Conrads attention was fully on her, on the way her hair laid against her shoulders, the way her lips were kind of red and the way she still had his flannel on. She looked guilty and so he knew she had, the boy trying his hardest to control how mean he wanted to be.

"I technically did say I wished he was here. I didn't think he would come. I just was overwhelmed and I was upset and you had kissed me and Jeremiah had kissed me and I just—"

"So Jeremiah did kiss you." Betty's ranting had revealed too much information, her eyes widening as she looked up at Conrad  with a worried look.

"No I— listen he— don't—don't make it a big deal okay? I'm trying...I have to figure out how to tell him that that is never going to happen and I-"

"But it did happen. It happened twice actually." Conrad said, and just like that she was sucked right back in to groveling and begging for Conrad to be okay again.

"This time was unwarranted. I had no idea. I thought he was trying to get with Belly I didn't know he was trying to get with me. I don't know. I'm so—I don't know what's going on. And now...now Jack is here and its my fault. And I'm sorry. And I'm sorry about the house—and I'm sorry about Jeremiah. And I'm sorry that I showed up here I should've just  stayed at school. And I'm sorry that shit just keeps getting worse. I'm sorry, Connie. I know you're mad but I-"

"Why are you so sorry? I thought you gave up." The shift in his expression made her blood run cold as she realized she once again had revealed too much. Giving up was impossible. And it would probably never happen. But he needed to believe she had.

"Play nice, Conrad. For the sake of our truce and my mental stability...please don't bitch at him the entire time."

"I'll make you a deal." Conrad said, his lips turned down into his usual frown.

"Great, what is it?"

"I won't bitch at him if you promise to try and get him out of here." Betty sucked in a breath at his words. She couldn't have said it better herself.

"Deal."