"So fill me in...who is that?" Betty stood to the left of Steven, her head jerking towards a girl that was older than them but younger than the other adults there. She had come with Stevens dad, leading Betty to her own conclusions.

"That's Victoria. My dads girlfriend. She's like 25." Betty nodded at that, her interest only being piqued by the fact that her mother and Victoria seemed to be engaged in some very vigorous conversation. Betty let out a gun of acknowledgment at his words, her eyes panning the party and landing in Conrad who was standing by Nicole now. They had gotten out of the pool and he didn't seem to be as interested in their conversation as he was before she had showed up, something Betty hadn't noticed. Her lips parted as she remembered the intensely romantic gesture he had made for her only half an hour before, her chest aching as she saw how close he was to Nicole.

"I've got something to liven up this party a little more." Betty turned her head to Steven, his eyes slowly meeting hers as he pulled them from Shayla who was talking to the other debs. He raised in eyebrow in curiosity, Betty spotting her Nick from across the pool and gesturing him over. The three of them huddled close, Betty holding a hand out to her brother  and the boy quickly coughing up the hidden alcohol. Stevens face softened into realization as Betty looked between the two, her head jerking slightly towards the house before they all three started to move in the same direction.

Steven pulled Noah by the arm and the four of them headed directly for the downstairs bathroom of the home,pushing the door open and locking it behind them.

"Let's have a little fun, shall we?" Betty said, taking a long swing of the flask and then passing it to Steven beside her. The four of them drank for a few minutes, emptying Betty's dads flask as quickly as possible and then reentering the party. The object of the game was that the alcohol would hit at any moment, and maybe they'd all have a little bit more fun then they'd expected. "I have to pee."

Betty whispered to the others as they left the bathroom, the three boys rolling their eyes as she pushed the door closed behind them all. She quickly used the restroom, already slightly annoyed that she had to use it as quickly as she did. She was a bit of a lightweight, and she was contemplating sneaking over to her house and grabbing a few beers to sip on too.

She washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror, her lips parting slightly as she tried to decide if being there was worth it. Finally she left the bathroom, turning the light off and walking into the hallway at just about the worst moment,  a figure walking past her and making her jump.

"Oh I'm sorry Betty... I didn't see you there." It was Adam , Conrad and Jeremiah's dad, a smile on his lips as he carried a bag down the hallway. He carried on  walking, Betty entering the kitchen behind him as the man greeted his sons and Laurel. Her head turned to Conrad and the look on his face made her stomach drop, Betty feeling like that good mood was gone now that his dad was here.

"I'll have some of what you're mixing up there." Adam said, a smile on his face as he looked at the drinks Belly was holding. She nodded, handing him a glass with a polite smile.

"You're gonna love the fireworks show this year. It's gonna be the best one yet." Jeremiah said, clearly excited his dad was there. When Betty lifted her eyes again, Conrad was looking at her, his frown so deep in his face that she felt her own start to pull. He looked back down at the counter, Betty wanting to leave now that things had gotten awkward.

"Where'd everyone go?" Susannah called, entering the kitchen and immediately taking in the sight of her husband. Her face visibly fell, Betty starting towards the door to the party, knowing this was not her place to be.

She stood outside of the door to the house for a minute, trying to shake off how tense it had been in there. Unfortunately the door opened, revealing Belly, Jeremiah, Laurel, and lastly Conrad, the boys hand wrapping firmly around Betty's bicep as he pulled her with him. He was storming away from the party and taking her with him, the boy already having them outside the gate before she even realized what was happening.

"Where are we going?" She asked gently, knowing something was up. He didn't look at her, her lips parting to speak again as she waited for an answer. He didn't answer though, the girl stopping them from walking, her arm remaining in his grasp as she looked up at him with a worried expression. "What's wrong Connie?"

It took him a moment to be able to look at her, the aching in his chest not seeming to go away as he was once again reminded of the reality of all the secrets he was keeping, all the resentment he was harboring. When his eyes met hers she was shocked by how pained they were, her lips parting once again as she stepped towards him.

"Hey...you can talk to me...you know that." She said it like she had said it before, a long time ago when he had been able to talk to her about anything. And he seemed to realize all at once that he had pulled her with him without a second thought, without a real plan as to what he would do with her now that they had departed. His eyes searched over her face and she used her fingers to brush up his wrist and forearm, showing him that she was there for him. But then he remembered today was supposed to be fun, and they were supposed to enjoy it, and he didn't want to ruin that for her. So he pulled his arm back from her and shook his head.

"That's fine...we can talk later. I just...I think everyone's going down to the beach so I figured—" He cut himself off, chalking his desperate move to be alone with someone whose presence he was comforted by up to nothing but an invitation to join the party. Betty was patient with him, the girl nodding and giving him a tight smile. They walked down the beach silently and side by side, their hands almost brushing but never quite touching. His entire mood had changed since earlier, and she knew why.

The others joined them soon and they all sat on the beach, Jeremiah, Cam, and the twins also joining the group. Jeremiah waved an excitable hand towards Betty, the girl rolling her eyes but taking her seat next to him with a smile. His arm wrapped tightly around her and she accepted it, a sideways glance a few people around the circle not seeming to bother either of them. Belly passed out drinks, Betty knowing she needed to drink much more if she was going to get through this occasion. It had already been way more than shes initially thought it would be.

"It's not a race, Con." Nicole commented, Betty's eyes lifting to Conrad who was downing his cup.

"Yeah save some for the rest of us, please." Jeremiah said, Betty lowering her cup due to the fact that she had already almost finished it.

"Okay wait wait wait...but what if it was a race. I mean isn't that—isn't that the premise of like every drinking game?" Belly said, Bettys eyebrow quirking at the thought of playing a drinking game.

"You wanna play a drinking game?" Gigi asked, everyone looking expectantly at Belly.

"Why not? I mean it the Fourth of July am I right?!" Belly said, everyone agreeing quickly to the idea. The most unfortunate part of the next little while was that fact that Betty had gotten the short end of the stick in the game, the girl absolutely obliterated by the time they had decided to stop playing.

"Let's dance!" Betty proposed, grabbing Belly by the hand and pulling her with her as she spun. The younger girl was happy to join in, the debs pouring more alcohol for the two girls as they danced. By the time Berry decided it was time to sit down, her brother was grabbing her by the arms, the twins hoisting her up and assisting her with walking back to the party.

"Betty can you please not act like you're shitfaced. Mom will kill you and us." Nick said, his face red from alcohol and the sun. She nodded, saluting him and then walking in her own, the two boys sharing a look as they realized they'd either get away with it or get in heaps of trouble.

"Wait wait... Noah can you please take me to the bathroom? I cant...I cant see." Betty laughed as she said it, the boy nodding as he shared a look with his brother that told them everything they needed to know. Their sister could not handle her alcohol. The two boys and the girl walked through the party with smiles on their faces,the three of them fooling the mother although Nick had his sister held up by the back of her dress so that she would walk straight. They hurried her into the house and quickly let her use the restroom, Betty looking at herself in the mirror again and trying to gather herself. "You're fine. You're not even drunk."

She pulled the bathroom door open, the two boys walking on either side of her but this time without assistance, their heads turning to Conrad and Jeremiah who were throwing the football.

"Go sit with Belly and Steven." Nick pushed her in the direction of the dock, Betty nodding and making her way towards the group on the dock. She greeted them all with a small wave, sitting down on the wood, her back against Bellys legs and a smile on her lips as they carried on their conversation. The boys soon left, leaving just the girls, Betty moving the the spot beside Belly on the bench as she really just enjoyed the breeze and tried to ride out this high that she knew would only either get worse or lighten up.

"I don't get Conrad." Nicole said, the mention of the boy making Betty tune back into the conversation. "It's like one minute he's all over me, and he stays over but then we don't even fuck right? And then this morning he's like super into me, he's all over me...and now he's like—ohhh football."

"Yeah...no he's really hard to read sometimes...like all the time." Belly said, playing into Nicole's words. Betty was having trouble moving on from what Nicole had said, her lip curled up in some kind of disgust as she spoke of him in that way.

"It's kind of gross you're talking about him like that Nicole...about fucking him." Betty said, her head tilting as she looked at the girl. Belly ahead quickly turned to the older girl but Nicole was already looking back at her with a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he's a person...it's kinda gross you're talking about fucking him." Betty kept her eye contact with Nicole, the girl quickly going for the low blow.

"You're saying this like you haven't fucked him." Nicole said, Betty's cheeks immeidtaely lighting up at the comment. There was a silence and Belly slowly turned her head to watch Betty's correction, but it never came, Bellys eyebrows furrowing slightly as she realized something she hadn't before. She hadn't know just how deep her and Conrad's relationship had one. Betty cracked a humorless smile, standing up from her spot and quickly preparing her words before she left.

"Maybe he hasn't fucked you because he realized he has to actually be able to stand being around someone to have sex with them." It wasn't exactly the mic drop she was hoping for but it still did the trick, the girl walking off and away from the others. She passed Cam on the way back, the boy giving her a concerned look when he saw her upset face.

"You alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine...just tired of bullshit." He nodded at her words, his lips tightening into a straight line before he liked back up at her.

"Yeah I uh...I know what you mean." Betty was too exhausted now to read into that the way she knew she should've , her eyes dropping to the water in Cams hand that he was outstretching towards her. "Drink some of this...it'll make you feel better."

"Thanks Cam."