chapter eleven
i need you to need me back

"Look at what I found!" Jeremiah came into the kitchen a few moments later. Florence was stood alone, the rest of the group having gone to get ready for the party.

"What?" Florence wondered.

The boy bounced over to her, photo album in hand. He handed it to the girl, who flicked through it to see it was the photos of the whole group – Florence, Camden, Sydney, Conrad, Belly, Steven and Jeremiah – from every year that Susannah forced them to take.

"Some of these are so ugly." Florence commented with a small giggle.

"I particularly like this one." Jeremiah shot her a look before flicking to a different page.

Florence took the book from his hand, looking at the photo he had turned to her. It was one from about five years ago, they stood in the same place on the dock, everyone smiling at the camera, well everyone except Conrad, who was gazing down at Florence who was stood next to him.

"It's cute." Florence nodded.

"Hmmm." Jeremiah hummed, a teasing smile on his lips. "Everyone always thought that Conrad just hide his emotions really well but turns out you were just oblivious."

"I was not!" Florence exclaimed, turning the page over to the year before. "He was oblivious too."

Jeremiah inspected the photo, this time it being Florence who was staring up at Conrad, a soft smile on her face and hearts in her eyes.

"Well, you're both idiots." Jeremiah shook his head fondly. "Idiots deserve each other."

"I hate you." Florence stated.

"Liar." Jeremiah retorted.

"Shut up." Florence shoved him in the shoulder. "I should go get ready."

"Get all dolled up for Connie are you?" Jeremiah teased.

"Shut up!" Florence called over her shoulder, grabbing a pair of heart sunglasses from the box on the floor and launching them at him as she walked out of the kitchen, Jeremiah's laughter echoing behind her.

Florence walked up the stairs and into Steven's now empty bedroom. The boy stared at one for a moment before he left, knowing Florence wanted to get ready. Sydney watched the silent interaction with furrowed eyebrows before she let out a small laugh.

"I swung by ours and got you some clothes to choose from." Sydney handed her a bag. "It was lucky we had that a that's 70 show rewatch the other year and dressed up like we were in the show."

"I remember that." Florence smiled before she dug through the bag.

The girl decided to wear a matching shirt and skirt set. It was a pattern of light pink, normal pink and orange with white flowers on it. The shirt tied at the front and had flared arms and the skirt was a simple a line skirt that rested on her thighs. She put on the knee high white books that Sydney brought with her.

Florence put on some pink eye liner that had been smudged out and blended into the orange eye shadow that sat under her eyes, mascara, blush and some pink lip gloss before she sighed, trying to decide what to do with her hair.

She ultimately decided to leave her hair mostly down, only clipping a bit of it up with one pink and one orange butterfly clip, pulling a few strands out to frame her face. Once she was done with her look, the girl turned to her sister.

"What do you think?" Florence asked, doing a small twirl.

"Beautiful." Sydney smiled.

"Thank you." Florence returned the smile before assessing Sydney's outfit. The girl had put on a jumpsuit that was covered in red, yellow and orange flowers. It had a halter top neckline and a collar that allowed her to show off the gold necklace that sat on her neck. Her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail and she had a pair of suede boots on her feet. "You look incredible."

A small blush painted her cheeks, Sydney was never one to dress up. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Florence replied. "I don't wanna go set up."

"Think we could stay here until people start to turn up?" Sydney wondered.

"Hmm, maybe." Florence nodded. "Should we test it?"

"Definitely." Sydney nodded as well.

The two collapsed onto the floor, staring at the ceiling for a while before they broke the silence, simply talking about any nonsense they could think of until the others shouted at them for not helping and they were forced to go downstairs and get set up.

By the time they had finished setting up, people were starting to arrive. Florence had gone upstairs to grab a pair of pink heart sunglasses. The girl put them on, taking a few mirror selfies of just herself and them some of her and Syndey when she came upstairs to see where Florence had gone.

Florence went back downstairs, hand in hand with her little sisters, the party now seemingly in full swing. Belly was wearing Susannah's roller blades and skating around the house, greeting everyone while music blared around them from Cam's DJing.

Florence dragged her sister towards the kitchen. Florence poured them both a shot to get the party started before she got them both a drink. They wandered through the house, saying hi to people they hadn't seen in nearly a year. As they made their way through the house, Florence caught sight of Nicole, a gasp leaving her lips.

"Nicole!" She exclaimed, detaching from her sister and rushing over to the girl.

"Flo!" Nicole smiled, wrapping her arms around the girl. The two swayed for a second before they pulled apart. "I've missed you here."

"I've missed you more." Florence replied.

"You heard from Shayla recently?" Nicole wondered.

It was as if Nicole had summoned the girl or something when Florence phone began to buzz. She turned it over to see Shayla ringing her right then. The two girls shared a look before laughing as Florence answered the phone.

"Shay Shay!" Florence exclaimed happily.

"Flo Flo!" Shayla greeted in the same tone.

"Look who's here." Florence turned the phone to show Nicole.

"Hi." Nicole waved.

"Hi." Shayla waved back. "Are you guys having a party?"

"Yeah!" Florence stated, her smile dropping for a moment. "The house got sold, this is a goodbye party."

"Flo you should've told me, I would be there." Shayla responded.

"No, you're off, enjoying the summer." Florence shook her head. "You don't need to be here."

"We miss you though!" Nicole told the girl.

"I miss you more." Shayla pouted. "I'll come and visit soon, I swear!"

"You better." Florence threatened. "I have to go, talk soon."

"See you, love you."

"Love you too." Florence bid goodbye before she hung up the phone.

"Hey, Flo, come have a photo!" Steven's voice suddenly shouted.

Florence looked over to see Steven and Conrad stood looking over at her. Florence's eyebrows furrowed, Steven's call having clearly surprised Conrad who was subtly glaring at his friend. Florence nodded, bidding goodbye to Nicole and making her way over to the two.

"Come on!" Steven urged.

Florence rolled her eyes at the boy before moving over to stand next to Conrad. The boy wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling closer to him as she smiled at the camera. Unbeknownst to Florence, Conrad gazed down at her as soon as Steven took the photo, a lovestruck look in his eye that caused Steven to smile brightly.

Florence began to pull away from Conrad when Steven stopped them. "Wait, I need another one, I think Conrad blinked."

Florence shook her head jokingly, her tone light and sarcastic. "Seriously Con, get ever get a good photo with you."

Conrad simply smiled at her.

She began to smile at the camera once more when Conrad leant down, making her turn to look up at him. "You look really pretty."

Florence couldn't help the soft smile that spread across her face, looking up at him, her nose scrunching up the same way it did every time he complimented her – seeing it was one of the reasons he loved to compliment her so much.

"Thank you." She responded quietly, as if it was only those two in the whole house.

Conrad shrugged slightly, the smile never leaving his face. The two stayed like that for a moment before a flash suddenly went off, Steven having taken a picture of them.

"Steven..." Florence's head snapped to her best friend as the polaroid printed out.

"I think that's the one." Steven nodded.

Florence took a step towards him but was quickly interrupted by Belly's voice. "Group shots!"

Belly, Taylor, Jeremiah and Sydney joined the three, a tray of shots in Belly's hand.

"If that's gin, I'm killing you." Conrad turned his brother.

"Ah, it's tequila, come on!" Jeremiah responded.

"Yes, yeah!" Steven cheered as he nodded.

The group all picked their shots up, Florence sniffing it as she did so as Jeremiah decided he would do the cheers speech. "Okay, cups up. Listen, no matter how much time passes, or how far apart we are, we're always gonna love you guys, all right? All right?"

"Aw, Jeremy, you cheeseball." Taylor teased. "That's so cute."

"All, right, to the last night!" Jeremiah exclaimed.

"To the last night!" They all cheered as they clinked their shot glasses together before they all did the shot. Florence's face scrunched up at the taste, shaking her head with a small laugh. The group then dispersed, enjoying the party in their own separate ways. Florence went to get another drink, simply milling around, catching up with the other debutant girls for a while.

"Flo, flo, flo!" Steven came rushing over to her.

"What?" Florence asked.

"Come with me." Steven grabbed her arm and pulled her towards Sydney, Cam and Skye at the DJ booth.

"What?" Florence repeated. "Has something happened?"

"We want you to sing." Steven stated.

Florence let out a breath. "Steven you terrified me, don't do that again, jesus christ!"

"Will you sing?" Cam then asked.

"Um, I can't." Florence shook her head.

"Yes you can." Skye disagreed.

"What would I even sing?" Florence wondered.

"A Florence Castillo original?" Steven suggested, his eyebrows raised.

"What would I even sing with? I don't have—"

Sydney cut her off, holding up her guitar with an innocent smile. "I brought your guitar."

"Oh."

"Please." Steven begged, looking around as if he was looking for someone. "I need to hear 'bad idea right?' live."

Florence let out a small breath, looking around, her eyes locking onto Conrad's. They held eye contact for a few seconds before she turned back to the four sets of eyes that were staring at her expectantly. The girl let out a small laugh before nodding, the alcohol clearly affecting her and her confidence more than she thought.

"Yes!" They all cheered in unison.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Florence muttered, shaking her head as Cam plugged her guitar into a speaker and Steven gained everyone's attention.

"For the next song, we have some live music!" Steven announced loudly making everyone cheer. "Our very own, Florence Castillo, everyone!"

The whole party cheered as Steven stepped aside to reveal Florence stood there. The girl began to play her guitar, the backing track also playing through the speakers from her phone. Florence took a breath before she began to sing.

"Haven't heard from you in a couple of months but I'm out right now, and I'm all fucked up and you're callin' my phone. You're all alone and I'm sensin' some undertone and I'm right here with all my friends but you're sendin' me your new address and I know we're done." Florence sang, glancing over at Conrad every few seconds. She had written the song recently, after their breakup, because they kept in contact and she knew it was a bad idea but still did it anything.

"I know we're through but, God, when I look at you, my brain goes, "Ah". Can't hear my thoughts, like blah-blah-blah. Should probably not. I should probably, probably not. I should probably, probably not." The girl made direct eye contact with Conrad, the boy raising his eyebrows slightly. "Seein' you tonight, it's a bad idea, right? Seein' you tonight, it's a bad idea, right? Seein' you tonight, it's a bad idea, right? Seein' you tonight, fuck it, it's fine."

The party cheered as she continued to sing, Steven cheering the loudest out of everyone. "Yes, I know that he's my ex, but can't two people reconnect? "I only see him as a friend," the biggest lie I ever said. Oh, yes, I know that he's my ex, but can't two people reconnect?. I only see him as a friend, I just tripped and fell into his bed."

"Now I'm gettin' in the car, wreckin' all my plans, I know I should stop-, but I can't and I told my friends I was aslee but I never said where or in whose sheets." Florence sung with the biggest smile on her face when she noticed people dancing around. "And I pull up to your place, on the second floor and you're standin', smiling at the door and I'm sure I've seen much hotter men but I really can't remember when."

"My brain goes, "Ah". Can't hear my thoughts. Like blah-blah-blah. Should probably not. I should probably, probably not. I should probably, probably not. Seein' you tonight, it's a bad idea, right? Seein' you tonight, it's a bad idea, right? Seein' you tonight, it's a bad idea, right? Seein' you tonight, fuck it, it's fine."

"Yes, I know that he's my ex, but can't two people reconnect? "I only see him as a friend," the biggest lie I ever said." Florence laughed softly when Steven shouted the last lyric back at her, the two of them sharing a look because they knew it was true. "Oh, yes, I know that he's my ex, but can't two people reconnect? I only see him as a friend, I just tripped and fell into his bed."

Florence let out a small breath, as she got ready for her guitar bit. "Oh, yes, I know that he's my ex. Can't two people reconnect?. The biggest lie I ever said. I just tripped and fell into his bed."

She broke out into her guitar solo, the whole party cheering for her as she did so. The brunette laughed at the cheers, the brightest smile on her face as she looked over at Conrad once more. The boy smiled proudly at her, a camera pointed at her that she hadn't noticed before.

"My brain goes, "Ah". Can't hear my thoughts. The biggest lie I ever said. My brain goes, "Ah". Can't hear my thoughts. I just tripped and fell into his bed." Florence played the last note of the guitar and cheers erupted in the room. "Thank you!"

She turned around, taking her guitar off with a bright smile before rushing over to where her friends were stood. Her arms immediately wrapped around Steven who spun her around.

"My superstar bestie!" Steven exclaimed. "You're gonna be a star!"

"I love you." Florence responded.

"Flo, that was amazing!" Belly complimented.

"Thanks."

"Aren't you glad I forced you into that." Sydney smiled.

"You sneaky little—" Florence turned on her sister, shaking her head before bringing her in for a hug. "Thanks, Syd."

Jeremiah hugged her as well, and both Skye and Cam complimented her. The group then dispersed once more, leaving only Conrad and Florence left.

"The song was amazing." Conrad told her. "And you look like a natural performing."

"Thank you, Conrad." Florence smiled.

"I have a feeling that's one of the better one written about me though." Conrad made a face.

"How do you know it's about you?" Florence questioned, her eyebrows raised.

"Is it not, I—"

"It is." Florence stopped him. "I'm teasing you. Uh, but, yeah, that's probably the best one."

"Noted."

"I'm gonna go get another drink." Florence pointed over shoulder.

Conrad nodded, allowing the girl to leave. She made her way back towards the kitchen, pouring herself a drink and downing it immediately, the sound of 'Party in the USA' fading behind her, before pouring another one. She let out a small sigh before people rushing past her caught her attention. Her eyebrows knit in confusion before she decided that the others would deal with it.

She was bored of dealing with other people's problems.

The alcohol had clearly began to seep into her brain, her thoughts slowly mushing together until she couldn't quite bring herself to care about anything. She had spent the last year catering to everyone else's needs – Conrad's, Sydney's, Belly's, her mum's – she just wanted to focus on herself, her own problems.

The only person who ever focused on her problems was Susannah.

But Susannah was dead.

And soon her house would be gone too.

That thought alone was enough to make Florence want to sink into a hole and cry until she had no tears left, never to see the light of day again.

And just when she was about to down her drink, Skye came rushing into the kitchen, grabbing her hand and pulling her outside where Jeremiah, Conrad, Sydney and Belly were all gathered.

"What's going on?" Florence questioned.

"So, I've been talking to my mum and she was able to put a condition into the sale." Skye began to explain. "Since the buyers are only gonna use this place as a vacation home, they've agreed to let you rent the place for one week every summer."

"Wait..."

"Wait are you serious?"

"We get to come back?" Jeremiah asked as Sydney and Belly began to get excited. "Oh my god, Skye, this is amazing. Oh, my god!"

Jeremiah turned and lifted Belly up excitedly, spinning her around before placing her back on the ground again. The group all laughing except Conrad and Florence. Florence didn't see it as quite the win the others did.

The house still wasn't theirs. All trace of Susannah would be destroyed and they would feel like guests in their own home, paying to stay in the house they grew up in. It would be just the same as staying at the Castillo's for a week every summer.

"No, it's not." Conrad voiced, looking over at Skye. "You can tell you mum thanks, but no."

"Come on, Conrad, at least hear them out." Belly stated.

"It's over." Conrad announced, the boy now stood opposite them all.

"Why are you the only one that gets to make this decision?" Jeremiah questioned, his voice raising.

"Jere, we're not gonna pay another family to rent our house." Conrad argued.

"This isn't our house anymore." Jeremiah retorted.

"If you guys are worried about being able to come back, you can come stay with us." Florence piped up. "But, Conrad's right, this isn't much of a win."

"Exactly." Conrad nodded, pointing at Florence before looking back over at Jeremiah. "Let it go."

Jeremiah scoffed. "Yeah, cause you're an expert at that."

"Jere." Belly reprimanded.

"No, no, this is the shit he does." Jeremiah spat. "When things aren't perfect, instead of trying to fix it, he decided to throw it away. And it-it's not just the house. You did it to Florence too, which meant that Belly got hurt as well. You came to me, you and Sydney fucking begged me for my blessing for Sydney to be with Belly, so you could be with Florence."

"Is that true?" Belly looked over at Sydney in shock.

"What?" Florence looked between them all in shock.

"Jere, that was between us." Conrad clenched his jaw.

"Yeah, it's fucking true. And of course he kept it a secret, he's good at that too." Jeremiah responded before he looked over at Florence. "You know, when shit got tough, he couldn't handle it, and he dropped you."

"Shut up, Jere." Conrad warned.

"Don't use me as a pawn to try and win your childish argument." Florence snapped.

"Florence, come on!"

"You know what? I'm not getting involved." Florence held her hands up. "I'm done."

"Flo..." Jeremiah let out a small sigh as Skye rushed after the girl.

"Florence!" Sydney began to walk after her sister before she stopped, turning around to face Jeremiah. "You know, you act all high and mighty when you talk about Conrad hurting Florence, when I hurt Belly, but you're just as much as a dickhead as the rest of us."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jeremiah questioned.

Sydney took a few steps towards him. "Where were you at the debutant ball last year?"

"I had just found out my mum had cancer, Sydney!" Jeremiah defended himself.

"Oh, so shit got tough? And you dropped Belly!" Sydney exclaimed. "Camden had to step in. So what, you're a white knight and we're just assholes even though we all did the same thing?"

"I did beg someone for their blessing just to dump them on one of the most important nights of their high school life." Jeremiah sneered.

Sydney scoffed, and Belly took a visible step back from the group, the two turning to her. "I'm done too. Don't use me to get to each other. I don't need this."

Belly then spun on her heel and rushed off inside the house as well, bumping into Florence as she did so.

"You okay?" Florence wondered.

"No." Belly shook her head.

"Me neither." Florence sniffled.

"Wanna get really drunk?" Belly suggested

"A hundred percent." Florence nodded, grabbing her hand as the two made their way through the hoards of people and towards where the drinks are. Florence grabbed the first bottle she could find, taking the lid off and downing as much as she could.

The girl didn't notice Belly's hand slip from her own, the girl going to find her own alcohol. Florence wandered through the house for a few moments before she ended up in one of the crowds of people. She looked around, her alcohol filled mind going fuzzy as people surrounded her from every side.

Suddenly, it was as though, she couldn't breathe. Too many people were around, suffocating her to no end. The girl looked around for someone she actually recognised, some kind of lifeline but came up empty. Florence began to push through the people, her hand to her chest as she rushed outside and down towards the beach. She stood on the sad, looking out into the ocean, taking in a few deep breathes.

She decided to stay there, not wanting to deal with the party anymore but it wasn't long until another person joined her. She took her shoes and socks off, leaving them away from the water as she stood in the ocean.

"Florence!" A voice she recognised all too well called for her. "Flo, come back inside."

Florence ignored Conrad, taking a sip out of the bottle she still had in her hand.

"I'm not carrying your dead body out of the ocean if you drown out there." Conrad stated. "Come out of the water, Florence."

"Please, leave me alone." Florence shouted, not looking back over her shoulder.

"I can't." Conrad replied and Florence could hear him moving towards her. The boy walked over, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her up, walking her out of the water.

"Let me go, let me go!" Florence shouted, slapping his arm as hard as she could.

Conrad walked out of the water, trying to keep a hold of her until he couldn't anymore, dropping her onto the sand.

"Let me be." Florence told him.

"Stop pushing me away." Conrad stated. "I'm not leaving you, Flo."

Florence scoffed, tears brimming her eyes. "You already did. Why didn't you tell me you went to Jeremiah?"

"I don't know." Conrad exclaimed. "It wasn't for us, it was for them."

"You fought for Belly and Syd so we could be together." Florence cried. "If I had known how you truly felt I would've tried harder, I would've—"

"I thought you knew. From the moment we kissed on the beach, I thought you—"Conrad replied, his voice breaking. "I told you."

"But you didn't show me." Florence responded, tears falling down her cheeks. "I am not pushing you away Conrad, I am holding on for dear life. I wrote songs about you, I—I begged you to say you loved me, I wanted to hear that. I need you to need me back, okay? Why didn't you tell me you went to Jeremiah about Sydney and why didn't you let me help with your grief about your mum a-and why won't you let me all the way in?"

Florence was full on crying, touching Conrad's chest with the alcohol bottle in her hand as she begged for some kind of action on his part. She looked up at him. "I thought we loved each other."

"We did—I do." Conrad stated quickly.

"I guess not enough." Florence shook her head, turning around and grabbing her shoes before making her way up the beach and back towards the house, however one look at it had her turning around and walking down the road, her phone dialling a number in her phone.

"Hi sweetie, how's the Conklins?" Emmeline's voice came through the phone as sweet as ever.

Florence collapsed on the ground, tears falling freely. "I messed up."

"What's wrong, Florence?" Emmeline asked, panic in her tone.

"They sold Susannah's house, I'm in Cousins, we tried to stop it but we couldn't, so we had a party, a goodbye party but now everyone's drunk and trashing the place and I don't wanna go back there a-and Jeremiah and Conrad are fighting and I couldn't help, I failed, I'm a failure." Florence began to hiccup. "I failed Conrad, I failed you, I failed Su-I failed Susannah."

"No you didn't." Emmeline disagreed without hesitation. "I am on my way, okay? Just go back to our house, let everyone know where you are and I'll be there in the morning, I promise."

"I'm sorry." Florence whispered.

"Don't be sorry, sweetheart." Emmeline let out a small breath. "Just get some sleep, I love you."

"I love you more." Florence responded, picking herself up off the floor and making her way back to her own house, sending a quick probably unreadable message in the group chat.

When she arrived back, the girl walked up to her mum's bedroom, opening the door and collapsing onto the bed she spent so much time sleeping in when she was younger, hugging one of the pillows and crying until she had no tears left and passed out from exhaustion.

( 💌 ) isobel's notes
HEYYYY LONG TIME NO SEE
MY PRIME WAS FUCKED FOR
A WHILE BUT IM BACK WITH
THIS VERY HAPPY CHAPTER
YAYYYY !!!!
shayla mention woooo !!
bad idea right is their song !! and
i don't care that guts wasn't out when
season 2 was released 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️
(we'll pretend because olivia is the
faceclaim that she wrote it specifically
for tsitp and released it early 😊)
yes i used lucas and brooke's
break up as inspo im not
sorry i needed maximum pain 🤷‍♀️
emmeline my goat i love her she's back
next chapter 🤭🤭
also go check out the newest of my
spam book please i need help

this was florence's outfit this chapter btw

and sydney's

until next time...