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Flashback 1 - Childhood, Fourth of July

Morning - Beck House - Outside

It was just before the Fourth of July party / AJ's party.

Red, white and blue balloons were all over the place, with elegant party decorations, with a big cake for AJ's birthday the next day.

AJ: (voice over) "The Fourth of July is the day before my birthday, July 5th. So every year before this year, the adults combined the 4th party with my birthday party, so that Dad, John and even Adam could all be there, since they all had work all over the world. It's all about traditions. Susannah decks out the whole house, the dads come up for the weekend, the families steam clams and shoot off fireworks."

Seven-year-old AJ was blowing out the candles on the cake, causing everyone to cheer and smile.

Khalid brushed back Young AJ's hair. "That's perfect."

"All of us being here together is perfect," Adilah agreed. They all smiled in agreement. Adilah turned to Young AJ, kissing her head. "Family is forever, and we'll never stop loving you."

"All of us, the extended families, are forever," Khalid agreed. "Us, and all of these guys."

Young AJ grinned. "Forever and ever."

All the kids smiled, as the adults nodded contently.

Young Conrad made an infinity sign in the sand on the ground. "Yeah, like this."

"Like what?" Young AJ asked, looking over.

"Infinity," Young Conrad answered. "It's really cool. I learned it in math class. So, you know how numbers keep getting bigger and bigger? A hundred, a thousand, a milion. To get to the biggest number in the world, you'd have to keep counting, because there's always a bigger number. It's boundless. But it also means forever. Imagine it's a racetrack. You see how there's no starting or ending point? You could travel endlessly around those curves. Goes on forever. That's infinity. Just like Adilah and Khalid were saying. Just like all of us."

Adilah and Khalid smiled, nodding.

"That's right," Adilah answered.

"Absolutely," Khalid said.

Everyone smiled.

Shortly after, standing on her own, Young AJ was having the time of her life as she was dancing around on her own. Granted, she started to feel a little bit of pain in her arms and legs, and she was having a little issue breathing.

She didn't even realize anyone was watching, since she thought the kids were inside and that the adults were setting up the fireworks.

But Adilah, Khalid, Reagan, Helaena, Laurel, Susannah, Boaz, John and Adam were watching after they finished setting up for the fireworks. They were smiling and didn't want to interrupt her moment on her own or for her to get embarrassed if she knew they were watching.

Young Conrad, Young Jeremiah, Young Belly, Young Steven and Young Percy ran outside to join the party when they saw Young AJ dancing.

Young Steven and Young Jeremiah booed teasingly, while Young Conrad, Young Percy and Young Belly were cheering and clapping.

Young AJ jumped and turned to face them in surprise.

The adults laughed lightly at this, all smiling fondly at the kids.

Young AJ was gasping slightly, embarrassed and blushing. "Oh, my God."

Adilah and Khalid walked closer, smiling.

"No need to be so embarrassed, AJ," Khalid told her.

(Song:) Make It Go Away (Radiation Song) - Sheryl Crow

Young AJ couldn't get her breath back, and she leaned down to hold her leg as the pain was starting to get unbearable.

Adilah frowned in concern. "Amina? Your asthma?"

"Not... not just..." Young AJ trailed off, unable to finish.

"What's going on?" Reagan asked in concern.

Adilah rushed to Young AJ's side, having her sit down. "Come here, come here."

Khalid walked closer, kneeling in front of Young AJ, taking out her inhaler, putting it up to her lips so that she could inhale the medicine he sprayed into her mouth. "Amina?"

Young AJ shook her head as a signal, and Khalid sprayed again, hoping it could help.

The other kids walked closer.

"AJ?" Young Steven asked.

Their parents held them back.

"It's okay, just give them some space, guys," Boaz told them.

Young AJ was still holding her leg, as that was what was hurting the most.

"Your leg?" Khalid asked. Young AJ nodded shakily, unable to voice it with being so out of breath. Khalid did a quick visual examination, noticing lumps on Young AJ's neck. "Adilah, get her nebulizer for the road."

Lyrics: "I stare into some great abyss."

Adilah was trying not to show her panic in front of the kids, especially her daughter. "What's going on, Khalid?"

"We're going to the hospital," Khalid told them, instantly picking up Young AJ and carrying her to the car.

Lyrics: "And calculate the things I'd miss."

Adilah ran to get AJ's nebulizer and medicine and ran for the car. "Khalid, seriously. What's going on?"

"I don't know," Khalid admitted, his voice shaky. "That's what we're going to figure out."

The rest of the adults and kids watched them go in worry, having no bad it would actually get yet.

AJ: (voice over) "I was seven on the Fourth of July, the day before my eighth birthday, when it happened."

Lyrics: "If I could only make some sense of this."

♾️

Cousins Hospital - Hospital Room

The doctors let Khalid get to his hospital room office for when he was in town, so that he could begin running tests for Young AJ. Adilah kept giving her breathing treatments when needed.

AJ: (voice over) "Dad ruled out strep throat and the flu, but when he ran tests, he realized that we wouldn't be going home yet. We spent over five hours in the hospital before they had to finally admit me. By sunrise of my 8th birthday, they realized I had acute lymphoblastic leukemia."

Lyrics: "And Madam Butterfly resounds."

♾️

Flashback 2 - Three Weeks Later

Day - Cousins Hospital - AJ's Room

Young AJ was now eight, and going through treatment, when she realized that she couldn't move her hands much or breathe easily at all.

Khalid and Adilah, of course, never left her side, and helped her through every bit they could.

AJ: (voice over) "Three weeks into treatment, I began losing movement in my hands and had a lot of trouble breathing because of my asthma on top of it. Of course, Dad was able to fix that sooner rather than later. For the hand movement, at least. Not so much my lungs. And whenever I did go home, when it got so bad, I was admitted again three times in a 12-day span due to complications with fevers and severe neuropathy. And a two-week intense rehab process was anything but easy. At the beginning of rehab, they noticed that my arm was severely irritated and that begun a long process of finding out what I was allergic to. I was life flighted after showing signs of seizures, and it was because of my spinal tap. Had to go through so many things. Bleeding from the gums. Bone pain. Frequent infections and severe nosebleeds. Lumps all over my body from swollen lymph nodes. Pancytopenia, which is basically tired, shortness of breath, which with asthma is an absolute nightmare, a sucky immune system that left me to get sick all the time and a common cold felt unbearable, and easily bleeding and bruising. Though I tried to keep a smile on my face through it all and try to not let this ruin everything with everyone else."

Lyrics: "Over the mothership her lights flashing around / I float above her and I wonder how / To make it go away / Make it go away / To make it go away / Make it go away."

♾️

Flashback 3 - A Month Later

Day - Beck House - AJ's Room

Young AJ laid in her room, while being treated by Khalid and Adilah, but of course, as soon as they could without overcrowding her, Young Conrad, Young Jeremiah, Young Belly, Young Steven and Young Percy came to see her, visiting her, doing everything they could to make it better, while Susannah, Laurel, Helaena and Reagan kept a close eye on them, worried and wanting to do anything to help.

AJ: (voice over) "I was let out a month later because they knew I hated being in the hospital, away from the moms, Reagan, from the other kids, when I knew that summer was almost over, and they would all be going home soon, so they checked me out, only so they could treat me at home. But Percy, Conrad, Jeremiah, Belly and Steven were great. Everyone was scared because Susannah was also sick at the time, as like with me, her cancer was often off and on, but the parents put on a brave face for us, and the other kids... well, they did everything they could. They brought video games and board games and cards into my room so that we could play and get everything off our minds."

Lyrics: "I crawl into my circumstance / Lay on the table begging for another chance / But I was a good girl, and I can't understand."

Whenever the kids weren't playing games, Young Jeremiah and Young Steven did a silly dance, making everyone laugh.

AJ: (voice over) "Jeremiah and Steven would do a silly dance to cheer everybody up."

Lyrics: "How to make it go away (Make it go away)."

Young Percy was here for Young AJ, intently watching whatever Adilah, Khalid, Helaena and Reagan did to help Young AJ, as if memorizing it.

AJ: (voice over) "Percy wanted to study everything that Mom, Dad and Helaena did to help me, and even Reagan, since he knew a little about being a human doctor on top of a marine doctor, so that he could learn to do the same in the future. Conrad also did that, too, since he wanted to become a doctor to help people like me and Susannah when he grew up."

Lyrics: "Make it go away / (Make it go away)."

Young Belly often came to see Young AJ with pictures and books, while venting and ranting and complaining other times, and Young AJ just listened even while she was exhausted from the treatments, chemo taking affect, etc.

AJ: (voice over) "Belly drew pictures and read books with me and complained that she was being left out by the boys whenever they did something without her, but she said at least she wasn't completely alone when she came to see me. Whenever she wasn't going to tell Laurel so that she could make the boys involve both of us, if it was something that I could do while sick, of course."

Lyrics: "Make it go away / (Make it go away)."

Young Conrad laid in bed with Young AJ while Adilah and Khalid were doing more work, and holding her hand, using his finger to write messages for her to decipher in her palm letter by letter, like he did in present day at the hospital in 1.03.

AJ: (voice over) "And Conrad would lay next to be during whatever test I had to take and write his messages into my hand for me to decipher to help distract me and get my mind off of everything. That's when he started doing that for me, after he had already done it for Susannah too. And even when there wasn't any testing, he'd just lay there so I wouldn't be alone even when the other kids were out doing whatever they wanted to do. Making me feel like I wasn't on my own like he always does. I don't know if he started doing that because I always went with him and Jeremiah to Susannah's appointments in the summer to make sure they were both okay to take their minds off of everything or not, but I was beyond grateful for it."

Lyrics: "Make it go away / (Make it go away, go away)."

♾️

Flashback 4

Day - Beck House - Kitchen

Laurel was placing Young AJ's meds over the counter, including her inhalers.

When Young AJ walked over, Laurel wrapped her arm around her, kissing her head.

Adilah and Khalid gave Laurel a thankful look.

AJ: (voice over) "Laurel would help keep track of my medications and inhalers, knowing I could lose them, and she wanted to help my parents with the treatment anyway she could."

Soon, all of the kids were sitting in the living room. Boaz was over to visit, playing a guitar, causing all of the kids to sway and sing along with the song he sang. The other adults watched with small smiles on their faces.

AJ: (voice over) "Boaz would come over more often and play all of us a song on his guitar, whenever we needed to stop thinking about the sicknesses that both Susannah and I had, which the parents were always grateful for, and us kids loved. I think that's part of the reason why Conrad started to take up lessons later, and our own tradition started."

♾️

Flashback 5 - Near End of Summer

Night - Beck House - Outside

Young AJ was feeling a little bit better and went outside to go to the pool to swim, staying in the shallow end.

AJ: (voice over) "At night, when I felt up to it, and I couldn't sleep, I'd sneak downstairs and go for a swim in the pool. Start doing laps, and I'd keep going until I felt tired. When I went to bed, my muscles felt nice and sore but also shivery and relaxed. I slept so well after being in the water. Like no other feeling."

Susannah walked outside to see this, not surprised.

Young AJ thought she would be busted and get in trouble, but Susannah didn't even say a word before she slipped into the water with her.

AJ: (voice over) "Susannah found me there one night, and this would happen again over the summers later whenever we were still fighting our cancers. We wouldn't talk. We'd just swim, but it was comforting to have her there. Knowing that she knew exactly what I was going through and she did the same thing I did to try and get some sleep at night."

As they were swimming, of course, Young AJ and Susannah didn't have wigs on, and with chemo treatments, their hairless heads showed.

AJ: (voice over) "Those were the only times that I ever saw her without her wig. Back then, because of chemo, Susannah wore her wig all the time. No one saw her without it, not even the other moms or Adam or Conrad and Jeremiah. Susannah had the prettiest hair, soft as cotton candy. Her wig didn't even compare, and it was real human hair and everything, the best money could buy. It was pretty, but it wasn't the same. And I knew she felt self-conscious about it which is why no one else ever saw. But she let me see... so she knew I wasn't the only one."

Lyrics: "Sometimes I wonder which hurts the worse / The thought of dying or reliving every hurt."

So scared and exhausted, Young AJ started to cry without meaning to, and Susannah took her into her arms and held her firmly but gently, comfortingly.

AJ: (voice over) "Sometimes, I'd start to break down, and she'd just hold me and tell me that it would be okay. That we were both fighters and that we would make it through this. Not just for everyone else, but for ourselves, too. And of course, like always, she said it in the way that would make it come true."

Lyrics: "Was love the illness and disease the cure? / Oh, the curse?"

♾️

Flashback 6 - Next Summer

Day - Beck House - Fourth of July / AJ's Party

It was once again the Fourth of July / AJ's party, and everyone was thrilled to see that Young AJ wasn't letting her sickness hold her back, even as she was sick, she was dancing and just having as much fun as she could with the other kids, who were immediately on board and did everything they could do together.

AJ: (voice over) "The next year, I wasn't planning on letting it be the same as the one before. I wasn't going to let the summer be destroyed because of this, and I wanted to have as much fun as ever, even if it took so much out of me. Even if I felt nauseous and I got sick and had attacks more than I could handle most of the time. I could still dance, I could even still learn to defend myself because I kept begging my parents to let me. Of course, they demanded I take it easy most of the time because I could bleed and bruise so easily, but they didn't want cancer to define my life either, so they let me, always under constant supervision, but I was relieved that they trusted me and loved me enough to do whatever I could to be happy. Singing, dancing, training included. And that leads to now."

Lyrics: "Make it go away / (Make it go away). x 8 / Go away."

(Song Ends)

♾️

Now

Day One

Morning - Beck House - AJ's Room

https://youtu.be/Kq0XPWVe3AE

AJ did not have the best time sleeping, knowing that today was the anniversary of the first time she got diagnosed with leukemia, along with her first birthday without her parents, and everything that happened with Clay lately... that she let happen, and she hated herself for it. But she knew that she used to let him hurt her like that before because of all the reasons he said before. She thought she deserved it after Thanksgiving when she was the one that got to come back to life instead of the parents who sacrificed themselves for her, and she would hurt herself and made an attempt on her life. When Clay started hurting her, she stopped that.

She was worried that if anyone else knew, that they would get hurt trying to attack Clay who knew how to fight because of military and self-defense training that far outweighed her own, so he was a much better fighter than her or anyone else. And she was also more worried about the fear that if anyone knew, she would lose them because of how crazy and fucked up she knew it was, knowing that she let it happen to herself thinking that she deserved it, and why.

And she didn't know if she could fully bring herself to stop it again when she still thought she deserved it, which was why she had Plan B bills and birth control on the dresser, knowing that Clay was never 'safe' with her, so she had to be.

Trying to get the sadness and darkness out before she went downstairs to join the others so that she could try and be happy for the day, AJ was singing Bad Dreams, another of her original songs. She was having issues with pulling this song vocally off again because of her virus and breathing issues, but she still did so beautifully, and with a lot of power and technique, passion and pain. "Darling, I've been having dark dreams / They come home to haunt me / I can't seem to let them go / Darling, I've been having sad dreams / I don't know where I've been / But I know what I've gone to / How about we play a game? / I know you'll like it, ooh / You stay as far as you can / Before they get to you / I may seem crazy but / It's only 'cause I am / Before they capture your mind / Run, run, run, run / Run / I'm tired but I can't sleep / 'Cause they're waiting for me / These bad dreams are more than true / And they'll get you / And they'll get you, ooh / Darling, I've been having weird dreams / I don't know what they mean / But I know I don't want to / Darling, this is getting scary / Why can't I stop shaking? / I hope you don't see them / Glances, all I see are glances / Left and right, they like it / When they know I'm anxious / Shadows, all I see are shadows / Hiding where the wind blows / And where my mind got torn / How about we play a game? / I know you'll like it, ooh / You stay as far as you can / Before they get to you / I may seem crazy but / It's only 'cause I am / Before they live in your mind / Run, run, run / Run / They will follow me 'til I can't breathe / And I'm begging for mercy on mine, oh / Run / Run / I'm tired but I can't sleep / 'Cause they're waiting for me / These bad dreams are more than true / And they'll get you / And they'll get you, ooh / And they'll get you / Oh, oh, oh."

As soon as she was done, AJ coughed violently as she had given her all to be able to finish the song like it should be sung in her mind. She still sang so beautifully, powerfully, massively impressive, an amazing vocalist with power and soul, but with her breathing and virus issues, it took too much out of her, trying to get her breathing under control.

AJ: (voice over) "I'm pushing myself. I know it. But I know I have to keep practicing, given if I'm not better by the end of summer, I have no idea what I'm gonna do when my first year at Juilliard starts. That's when it hits me suddenly that I'll have to deal with all of this at college on my own. The breathing treatments, steroids, inhalers. All alone in New York. And I can't help but panic a little. What if things get really bad? What if someone else needs me and I can't get there? This is all just a nightmare."

Percy saw from her open door, frowning in concern.

Percy: (voice over) "Throughout everything she's been through, AJ has always kept a positive spirit, a smile on her face, making everyone laugh, has powered through every test, poke, prod and everything in between. As a kid, she was always so incredibly positive, upbeat and a shining light. I guess that's why, after Thanksgiving, everyone's so shocked that she's not like that anymore, and want her to 'get over it' and 'get back to normal'. Even though fighting cancer is a lot different than being run off a bridge into a lake and drowning in a car with your parents who die in front of you to make sure that you get out alive... even though AJ didn't even do that. And she wouldn't be here today if Conrad hadn't been there to resuscitate her when she drowned, too."

AJ sensed she was being watched, turning to look at Percy in the hallway, visible through her now-slightly open door. She looked sheepish for Percy to overhear, and tried to put on a smile, but it didn't look convincing like it always did before.

Percy managed to give AJ a smile in return, knowing she didn't want to talk today, as she wanted to go through the motions of the day and try to make it through with as little sadness as possible. This was just a venting song so that she could try and enjoy the day.

Percy: (voice over) "And everyone wonders why that light inside isn't anywhere to be found right now. Like it's not fucking obvious. And I know that's why she would rather suffer alone in her darkness than let anyone else see her sad and lonely and depressed. Because she never let them see her like that before, so why would she start now? And she feels like she's letting us down because she can't find the energy to be the shining light for us anymore."

♾️

Kitchen

Jeremiah and Belly were having cereal.

"Can I finish your milk?" Jeremiah asked.

Belly handed it over. "Here."

Conrad walked closer. "Yo, I'm gonna go wash the clams. Did you get the lighter fluid?"

"Yeah, it's already on the beach," Jeremiah answered.

Conrad whistled, turning to walk out of the room, but stopped when he heard AJ and Percy walking in, turning back.

AJ and Percy walked down the hidden stairs in the kitchen to join the others.

Laurel, Reagan and Helaena were sitting at the counter.

Steven and Susannah walked in from the living room, as Susannah was cleaning her hands of paint, a brush in her hand.

Susannah gave AJ a smile. "There's the pre-birthday girl. Oh, that dress is so cute on you."

AJ smiled slightly. "Hi. Thank you."

"Yeah, dresses are rare on you," Laurel told her. "You look pretty."

AJ gave a Laurel a smile in return.

"Yeah, we might not do the big combining parties thing again this year, but be prepared to get a hell of a lot of gifts," Jeremiah told her teasingly.

AJ gave a slight smile, a bit forced, but still appreciative of the gesture, nodding.

Reagan gave AJ a hug. "Since today's not really your birthday, we'll wait for the 'Happy Birthday's tomorrow."

AJ returned the hug. "Got it."

Helaena set out AJ's steroid medicine. "Good morning, by the way."

"Thank you," AJ replied, taking her medicine.

Percy and Conrad glanced at AJ, but gave her the space she needed.

"All good?" Percy asked. AJ nodded. "Okay. Everybody here yet?"

"Boaz is on his way," Laurel answered. "John should be getting here any minute, too."

AJ and Percy nodded in understanding.

Belly didn't know what to say given how she acted on her own birthday on top of everything else, sighing.

"Are we done with the portrait yet, Susannah?" Steven asked.

"Yeah, for today," Susannah answered. "Percy, you're next, tomorrow morning."

"Got it, Susannah," Percy told her.

Susannah chuckled. "But you do look good in a dress shirt, Steven. Which makes me think if AJ and Belly don't hurry up and ask someone to that ball, you should take one of them. Percy can take the other."

Belly gave them a weird look. "Ew. No way."

AJ shook her head, humming. "Mm-mm, mm-mm."

"Uh, nuh-uh," Percy said.

"No, no, no, yeah, yeah, yeah," Steven agreed.

Jeremiah and Conrad smirked slightly in amusement at their reactions.

"Wow, something all four of you agree on?" Jeremiah asked.

"That's a shock," Conrad remarked.

AJ and Percy flipped Conrad and Jeremiah off sarcastically in return, while Belly and Steven smiled sarcastically, causing Jeremiah to laugh, and Conrad did a little too.

"I'm already going with Shayla," Steven explained.

Laurel walked closer, confused. "To the debutante ball?"

"Yes," Steven answered.

"As an escort?" Laurel asked.

"Wrap your head around it, Mom, all right?" Steven asked, sitting at the counter. "Shayla's coming today with Nicole and Gigi, so you'll meet her."

Susannah smiled. "That's wonderful."

Helaena looked at AJ and Belly. "Oh, and don't forget, Ms. Covington's first dance rehearsal is tomorrow, so, uh, tick-tock."

"We'll figure it out, Helaena," Belly told her.

Reagan glanced at Jeremiah and Conrad with a knowing smirk. "Well, personally, I think the answer's pretty simple, but..."

Susannah smiled.

Jeremiah and Conrad raised their eyebrows slightly at that.

AJ and Belly were both caught off guard at that.

Steven snickered.

Percy shook his head in amusement. "Not helping, Dad."

Helaena smirked.

"I don't know you kids anymore," Laurel remarked, pointing out how much each of them changed.

Reagan looked at Laurel and noticed something. "Wait, are you wearing makeup?"

Helaena tilted her head. "Yeah, she's wearing makeup."

Percy smiled. "Oh, my... she definitely is."

Laurel looked away sheepishly, embarrassed by her brother, nephew and ex-sister-in-law teasing her, but it was not done yet.

Jeremiah grinned. "Ooh!"

"Mom!" Steven and Belly said in high-pitched voices.

Susannah was grinning ear to ear.

AJ couldn't help but smile lightly. "What you up to, Laurel?"

Conrad chuckled. "Hot date tonight?"

"So what?" Laurel asked. She looked at Conrad. "And no." The kids smiled. "We're having a party."

Helaena nodded. "Mm-hmm. I'm sure it has nothing to do with John coming to the party?"

"Might have more to do with Boaz than John," Susannah quipped.

Laurel gave Susannah a look, knowing that would only make the teasing worse.

Percy, Steven and Belly couldn't help but laugh.

Jeremiah, Conrad and AJ's mouths dropped slightly, but more to tease than anything.

"Wait, wait, wait," AJ said.

"Back up," Conrad agreed.

"You and Boaz?" Jeremiah asked.

Reagan gave Laurel a wide grin. "Ooh, so you might give something a shot with Boaz after all these years, huh, Laurel?"

"Shut up, Reagan," Laurel told him.

"Wait, yeah, didn't you and Boaz used to date when you were younger?" Steven asked.

"No, they never dated," Susannah answered. "But they would've if John wasn't in the picture. And, um, Irisa and the baby."

At that, the others kind of deflated.

"Irisa was Boaz's wife who died in childbirth, right?" Belly asked. "And the baby died, too."

"Yeah," Reagan answered. "But that was 16 years ago."

"So we could've had another kid here with us wreaking havoc with the rest of us," Jeremiah remarked.

Percy pursed his lips. "Yeah, guess so."

AJ and Conrad both looked somber, but still more lively than they had for a long time, as everyone tried to be in the Forth party / AJ's birthday mood.

Steve bit his lip. "You know, I still don't understand why you invited Dad's girlfriend."

Laurel gave Steven and Belly a look. "Her name is Victoria, and your father wanted us all to meet her. Oh, Belly, I need you to make up the guest bed."

"Wait, Dad and Victoria are staying here?" Belly asked. The next time she spoke, it was in a whine. "In the room next to mine?"

"Yeah," Laurel answered.

Belly threw her head back with a complaining groan, laying her head on the table.

Jeremiah laughed lightly.

Susannah looked at Conrad and Jeremiah. "Oh, speaking of Dads, yours called. He's closing a deal, so he can't come."

Jeremiah was disappointed. "What?"

Conrad processed this, his reaction the opposite of Jeremiah's. "Dad's not coming?"

"Mm-hmm," Susannah answered.

Conrad walked toward the sink.

"But I got some serious fireworks for the show this year," Jeremiah complained.

"We'll take a video," Helaena offered.

Jeremiah shook his head. "It's not the same."

Percy tilted his head. "I know. Sorry, Jere."

Conrad leaned against the sink; he couldn't help his small smile.

AJ noticed, looking slightly amused, confused. "What are you smiling over there for?"

Conrad glanced at AJ before looking at Jeremiah and looking away, shaking his head. "No reason." He looked at the window to see Boaz's car pull up. "Boaz's here, so any second now."

As if on cue, there was a knock on the front door, causing them all to chuckle.

Percy threw his arm around AJ teasingly. "Looks like it's take two of present time."

AJ couldn't help her smile at the way Percy cheered her up like that.

♾️

Living Room

Once again, everyone was in the living room so that AJ could start opening presents.

AJ yawned tiredly, causing everyone else to look slightly amused.

"How are you still tired?" Belly asked.

"I've been trying to sleep, but I can't," AJ admitted, exhausted.

Helaena nodded in understanding. "That's the steroids. Once they kick in, you'll have so much energy you won't know what to do with it."

AJ sighed heavily. "Here's hoping."

Jeremiah clapped his hands. "Yeah, would love to see ball of energy AJ again." AJ raised an eyebrow at him in amusement. "All right, present time."

Percy got excited, handing his present over quickly. "Here, open my first."

Jeremiah mocked a gasp. "Maybe I wanted her to open mine first."

"Too bad," Percy replied. "Snooze, you lose."

The boys laughed, even Conrad a little, as he looked from them to AJ.

AJ smiled slightly, shaking her head, opening Percy's present, tilting her head. "Sleep mask?"

"Sleep mask headphones," Percy corrected. "Built in. Wireless and Bluetooth and all. I know you have trouble sleeping without music, and wake up whenever headphones fall out, and then there's just the whole headphones mess, and..."

AJ smiled at the thoughtful gift. "Thanks, Percy."

Percy nodded. "Plus, with my headphones I always wear, kinda matching."

AJ nodded in agreement. "Kinda, yeah."

Reagan handed over a blue notebook with a bow around it, 'Let it Be' on the cover with multiple multicolored butterflies. "There you go, AJ."

AJ took it, looking it over, a small smile present as she did. "Notebook?"

"You're always writing your songs in whatever you can get your hands on," Reagan pointed out. "Figured you deserved something official."

AJ gave him a bigger smile. "Thank you. It's perfect, Reagan." She touched the words on the notebook. "Let It Be. Beatles." Reagan nodded. "I love it, Rea. Especially the butterflies."

The others smiled because anyone of them knew how much AJ loved butterflies.

Reagan nodded, pleased. "Happy you like it."

Helaena took out a small box, handing it to AJ. "It's not something new. But something I got back for you."

AJ frowned at the words, taking the small box, taking off the paper, opening it.

Adilah's ring:

Khalid's ring:

AJ was stunned speechless when she saw Adilah and Khalid's wedding rings inside momentarily before finding her voice. "Oh, my God."

Helaena nodded. "I know you were looking for them. That you wanted to get them back because they were family heirlooms on Adilah's side. It took a little digging, and a little help from Boaz with the police, but we got them back."

AJ was emotional, putting a hand to her mouth for a moment.

The others were concerned but bittersweet with the sentiment.

AJ swallowed, taking a deep breath. "Thank you, Hel. And Boaz."

Helaena and Boaz nodded sadly in return, but glad that even if it made her emotional, she was still glad that have the rings back.

"Of course," Boaz agreed.

AJ sniffed.

"Why did they have rings like that?" Belly asked. Percy and Steven gave Belly a look. "What? I forgot."

AJ couldn't bring herself to voice it.

Conrad looked down with a knowing glint in his eyes, biting his lip. "Khalid was full Moroccan, but Adilah's side of the family was part Irish." AJ looked up at Conrad, not surprised that he remembered, but touched, not just for remembering but for explaining it when she couldn't at the moment. "Claddagh is an Irish symbol. The heart represents love, the crown represents loyalty, and the hands represent friendship."

No one was surprised that Conrad remembered this, since he seemed to remember everything.

"Which I think all of us know are qualities that Adilah and Khalid lived by, and so does AJ," Reagan pointed out.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Susannah had a knowing smile.

AJ and Conrad's eyes met for a moment. Seeing how relieved and touched that she was that he remembered and explained for her, he gave her a slight smile, which she returned.

While the adults looked amused and knowing, as did Percy, Jeremiah and Steven... of course, Belly was annoyed and jealous and wanted to change the subject quickly.

AJ's eyes were glistening, but she pushed back any tears, sniffing, trying to move on, as she held her parents' rings tightly in her hand. "Okay. Who's next?"

Eager to move on and change the subject, Belly gave AJ a box. "Mine."

AJ took the box, opening it. When she saw the castaway gemstone bracelet, she couldn't help but give a slight smile. "Thanks, Belly. It's so cute."

Belly gave a tight smile in return, nodding. "Yeah, of course."

Gem Joy:

https://youtu.be/l8gSRHiU5TI

https://youtu.be/_XiAtVAmhJM

"I kinda got a bracelet too," Steven admitted, tossing a pack to AJ. "Or, well, three, since it came in three, but yeah." AJ raised an eyebrow, opening the package to see the three gem bracelets. "They're called Gem Joys. They come with this free companion app, and you get to view awesome settings and fantasy world augmented reality images on the bracelet. Stuff like dragons, butterflies, bees, crystals, all that. With journeys and games or whatever."

AJ was actually really impressed, taking out her phone and downloading the app. "Okay, I'm getting that right now." The others laughed lightly. "This sounds awesome, Steven."

Belly gave Steven a look. "And you only got me a Princeton sweatshirt."

Steven gave Belly a look in return. "Did you not hear the part where it came in three?"

Belly perked up at that and turned to AJ.

AJ smirked slightly, taking one of the other two Gem Joys (the pink one) and tossed it to Belly.

Belly caught it, smiling widely. "Yay! Thank you."

The others laughed lightly.

AJ thought for a moment before tossing the third one (the turquoise one) over to Belly too. "And give that to Taylor or whatever." She gave the boys a teasing look. "Unless one of you boys want it."

They all smiled.

"Yeah, no thanks," Percy said.

"It's cool, but no," Jeremiah answered.

"I'm good," Conrad agreed.

Steven shook his head. "I got it, I don't want it."

The others laughed.

AJ put her Gem Joy on her wrist (the blue one) and was already looking at it through the app. "Oh, fire breathing dragon. Hummingbird. Pong, I guess the game Steven was talking about." She smiled a bit, her voice sweeter at this part. "Oh, butterflies." The kids laughed lightly at her reaction to the butterflies given that she liked Reagan's song book so much because of the butterflies. The adults looked amused, but they all liked seeing this AJ back for this. "Fairy. Dragonfly. Unicorn. Oh, this actually awesome. Thank you, Steven. This'll definitely liven up some dark days."

Steven smiled. "Glad you like it. I was hoping it would. Don't really care if Belly and Taylor like it, but I knew you were gonna give them the other two, so that also counts for your present, Bells."

"Part of me wants to say 'thank you', the other part wants to say 'shut up'," Belly replied.

The others were not surprised, chuckling lightly.

Laurel handed AJ a little necklace. "Here you go."

AJ took the necklace, looking at the small cylinder shape, which had White Rabbit engraved on the outside of it. "White Rabbit?"

Laurel smiled. "Yeah. It's an Alice in Wonderland kaleidoscope necklace. I know how much you loved the story. Books, cartoon, movies and all."

"Right, AJ used to be so obsessed with the books, she knew the author by his real name instead of his pen name," Steven recalled.

AJ's response was instant. "Lewis Carroll. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson."

The others chuckled, not surprised.

AJ looked bittersweet and emotional again.

Laurel knew why, nodding. "I know, it's a story that your parents got you so involved in. And you used to play as Amina in Wonderland when you were little, wanting an escape from reality." All the kids nodded in remembrance, as the adults were reminiscing as well. "But look inside."

AJ got curious at that and looked into the small necklace.

Inside the necklace was a miniature, fully functioning kaleidoscope that created snowflake-like patterns when the column was rolled between two fingers. The shifting tapestries of vibrant colors were created by three mirrored surfaces as they reflected tiny grains of sea glass, recycled glass and mineral gems.

AJ was stunned by the beautiful images, lowering the necklace. "Oh, my God. Laurel, that's beautiful. Thank you."

Laurel smiled. "You're welcome, AJ."

AJ was having a little issue with breathing, the emotional portion of the gift giving added with her virus and sensitive asthma taking its toll a bit. And her emotional state from right when she woke up that morning because of nightmares, along with her song when she woke up, wasn't helping matters.

"You all right?" Boaz asked. AJ nodded, though she didn't know if it would get worse or not. Boaz handed over a small box. AJ opened it, taking out a long, dangling necklace, the chain having nighttime star-like studs, while the three charm pendants were celestials; the sun, moon and a star. "I remember how much you used to talk whole days and nights away about celestial occurences and such. You loved them so much."

AJ nodded in agreement, eyes glistening again. "Yeah. It was like another escape from reality. Something Dad taught me."

"Yeah, KJ had a lot of ways to escape," Boaz agreed.

AJ looked up with a slight smile, as she found it rare whenever someone called her father by his nickname which she picked up from him with her own.

"You weren't kidding about remembering everything us kids loved, Boaz," Steven told him.

"No, I was not," Boaz answered, causing some laughter in the room.

Jeremiah leaned forward to give AJ a little box. "Here, take mine."

AJ chuckled at how excited he got.

But as soon as AJ chuckled, she coughed roughly, causing them to frown in concern.

Helaena rubbed AJ's back to help ease her coughing and breathing. "Shh, shh. It's okay. Everything's settling in your lungs, making it worse."

"I promise the steroids will start to work and you'll be back up and running soon," Percy told her.

AJ nodded in agreement, taking a deep, steadying breath as the others saw how hard she had to work to just breathe, somber, but still trying to keep the mood up for them all to have a happy time.

Jeremiah put the box into AJ's hand. "You good?"

AJ nodded, taking the box, opening it to see another bracelet, this time a musical charm bracelet. "Jere, this is... wow."

Jeremiah smiled. "You like it?"

"I love it," AJ answered. "Thank you." She looked at the bracelets from Jeremiah, Steven and Belly on either of her wrists, to the necklaces from Boaz and Laurel, to her parents' wedding rings from Helaena. "I think next I'm gonna need a jewelry box."

There was some more laughter.

"Yeah, at least Dad and I were unique with our gifts," Percy teased.

"Hey, me and Mom got augmented reality and a kaleidoscope twist with ours," Steven replied. "That's unique."

The banter caused more laughter, though AJ was still emotional and taking slow, deep, hard breaths, not wanting to start a coughing fit or an asthma attack again.

Susannah moved closer to AJ. "Well, strap in. Because that wasn't the last of it, AJ. It's kind of following Helaena's lead, though."

AJ frowned a bit at that, taking the small ring box from Susannah, slowly opening it. And inside, saw a gold and silver Claddagh ring with a red ruby in the heart that took AJ's breath away. "Susannah..."

"Adilah and Khalid wanted to get a Claddagh ring for your birthday this year," Susannah explained. "Your 18th birthday. The same age your mother got her first ring." AJ nodded in remembrance at Adilah telling her this, unable to stop the tears from forming in her eyes this time. "They never got the chance to get it, but this was the one that they wanted for you."

AJ couldn't help it when a couple tears fell, sniffling. "So you got it for me in their stead."

Susannah nodded, stroking AJ's hair. "Yeah. I hope you like it."

"I love it," AJ answered, her voice shaky because of her uneasy breathing. "Thank you."

Everyone was bittersweet, but it was a good moment all the same, even with the somber air and the missing people even more prominent today than any other day.

Conrad watched in concern and sympathy, hesitating on his gift because at each gift, AJ was more emotional and looked like she could cry from nostalgia, both good and bad, and it took a toll on her breathing, and she was starting to gaze off again, a whispery, wheezing sound to her breathing which was louder than before, which the others noticed, concerned.

"Laur, where's the..." Reagan trailed off.

Laurel pointed to the kitchen, already knowing what he was asking for. "Where they always are, Rea."

Reagan stood, walking into the kitchen to get AJ's inhaler.

Conrad had taken his gift out of his pocket, in a small black velvet baggie, but when he saw AJ's state, he didn't think he could give her one more thing that would cause her to cry again when she was having trouble breathing as it was.

"You okay, AJ?" Conrad asked.

AJ nodded shakily.

"Reagan," Laurel called.

Reagan came back with the inhaler, holding it out to her. "Here."

AJ took the inhaler, taking a few puffs of medicine to calm her breathing.

Helaena sat forward. "Where's her nebulizer? She needs a treatment."

Percy stood. "I'll go get it."

Percy ran off to do just that.

AJ hated the way they were fussing over her, that they had to at all, but she was grateful that they cared enough to.

Boaz grabbed the glass pitcher from nearby, pouring a glass of water, handing it to AJ. "Here you go."

AJ took the water with shaky hands, drinking slowly so she didn't cough during gasping breaths.

Susannah rubbed AJ's back comfortingly. "Shh, shh. It's okay."

With the gift giving interrupted because of the asthma attack, Conrad put his back in his pocket, looking really concerned and worried.

Percy came back with the nebulizer and medicine, quickly setting it up so AJ could take a treatment.

AJ sighed heavily, taking the mouthpiece to put it up to her lips.

The kids were clearly worried and flashing back to when they were kids when it could get so bad.

Laurel noticed this. "Kids, why don't you go get things ready for the party?"

"She's okay," Boaz told them.

"Jeremiah, can you wash the clams?" Susannah asked.

"Yeah, of course," Jeremiah answered.

"Belly, Steven, Percy, please set up the guest room before John gets here," Laurel told them.

Belly still hated the idea of doing this, but nodded nonetheless, walking upstairs.

Jeremiah, Steven and Percy hesitated, looking at AJ.

AJ nodded for them to go, assuring them she'd be okay with her eyes.

"It's okay, boys," Susannah told them.

Percy and Steven sighed, giving in, walking away upstairs.

Jeremiah walked outside to clean the clams like Susannah asked.

"John should be here soon, too," Laurel told them.

Conrad was looking at AJ numbly as he remembered all the times like this before, taking a deep breath, having to remind himself it was just the breathing virus added to her asthma, and not what they called 'the monster'.

Susannah looked at AJ in concern, looking up when she got an idea. "Conrad, why don't you get the ice cream out for AJ? That always helped her in the heat."

AJ looked up at Conrad.

Conrad nodded. "Yeah, I can do that."

AJ sighed shakily in relief. "Thank you." Conrad nodded. AJ looked at the adults. "All of you."

"Of course," Boaz told her softly.

"Whatever you need," Reagan agreed.

Susannah stroked AJ's hair.

Laurel and Helaena nodded.

Conrad walked into the kitchen, looking truly overwhelmed.

Helaena turned to AJ once she was done with the first dose of medicine, handing her the second mouthpiece with a different medicine. "Keep going, all right?"

AJ sighed, having to continue the treatment just to get her breathing under control.

Susannah ruffled AJ's hair.

AJ tilted her head. "Susannah..."

"Less talking, more breathing," Susannah reminded her.

AJ nodded, putting the mouthpiece to her lips again.

AJ: (voice over) "The treatments are rough. But anything to make them happy. Anything to make them worry a little less."

♾️

Guest Room

Steven, Percy and Belly were setting up the guest room.

"Don't you think it's weird that Dad is staying here with Victoria?" Belly asked.

Steven shrugged. "Well, I'm sure they're not gonna have loud sex."

Percy scoffed. "That's foul."

"And why is Mom letting him bring his bitchy girlfriend anyway?" Belly asked.

Percy gave her a look, amused. "Hey. How do you know she's bitchy? What if she's, like, a really nice person or something?"

They laughed lightly, all skeptical of that.

"Uh, what if, uh, and-and, like, just hear me out..." Belly trailed off. "She's a bitch."

They laughed again, a rare really good sibling-cousin moment for them.

Steven picked up a pillow to hit both Percy and Belly teasingly.

Percy laughed. "Stop."

They heard a car horn honk outside.

Laurel called up. "Steven. Belly. Percy."

Steven whispered teasingly. "The bitch is here."

Belly gave him a straight-faced look.

Percy tried to keep a straight face but failed as he laughed.

♾️

Kitchen

Conrad was getting ice cream.

AJ had just finished her breathing treatment, walking into the room.

Conrad looked relieved to see that her breathing was easier now. "Hey."

"Hey," AJ replied.

"All done?" Conrad aksed.

AJ leaned against the island counter, nodding. "Yeah, nebulizer started sputtering. They said my breathing's good enough to go without another treatment, and hopefully it stays that way."

"Hopefully," Conrad agreed, sliding the ice cream over. "You feel better?"

AJ took the bowl. "A little bit."

Conrad nodded in return. "Good."

"Thank you," AJ told him, taking a bite of ice cream to prove her point.

Conrad chuckled, shaking his head. "You don't have to thank me."

AJ took a deep breath before letting it out. "I'm sorry for scaring you guys like that."

Conrad shook his head. "It's gonna be fine, okay? Don't worry about it. It's not your fault."

AJ took a bite of ice cream, which was definitely helping. "I'm sorry your dad's not coming."

Conrad shrugged. "Don't be. I'm not."

AJ tilted her head in curiosity. "Are you doing okay?"

Conrad raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You're seriously asking me that right now?"

AJ rolled her eyes with a slight smirk. "You know what I mean. Just everything lately has been so intense, and..."

"Yeah," Conrad agreed. "Yeah, but let's put all that aside for one day, okay?"

AJ smiled a bit, nodding in agreement. "Okay. Yeah, let's do it."

Conrad and AJ looked at each other for a moment before looking away. AJ took another bite of ice cream in a cute and sheepish way, and Conrad chuckled slightly.

♾️

Outside

(Song:) So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings - Caroline Polachek

Victoria stepped out of the car. A gorgeous young adult, not even 30 yet.

John got out of the driver's seat and joined Victoria as the two smiled at each other, linking their arms, walking toward the house together.

Reagan, Laurel and Susannah were standing on the porch, looking shocked.

"I was kind of hoping for a vapid ditz in Lululemons," Laurel admitted.

"Stereotypical midlife crisis?" Reagan asked.

"Yeah, that," Laurel answered.

"You have a much better ass," Susannah told her, swatting Laurel's ass.

Reagan couldn't help but laugh at that.

Laurel smiled.

(Song Ends)

Susannah greeted Victoria and John with a big smile. "You made it!"

"Yes," John agreed.

"How was the trip?" Laurel asked.

"I forgot how crazy it gets here around the Fourth," John admitted. "We almost hit a guy in a Segway with, uh, red, white and blue body paint." Susannah chuckled. Reagan, Laurel and Susannah eyed Victoria. "Oh, this is, uh..."

Victoria smiled. "Victoria. Hi. Thank you so much for having me." She looked at Laurel. "I'm such a big fan of your work."

Laurel chuckled tensely. "Thanks."

"Did we miss the birthday presents?" John asked.

"Yep," Reagan answered.

John sighed. "Damn. Sorry." He frowned in concern. "How is she?"

Reagan, Laurel and Susannah shook their heads.

♾️

Foyer

Belly, Steven and Percy were peaking out of the windows in the front door toward Laurel, Reagan, Susannah, John and Victoria.

AJ, Conrad and Jeremiah walked up behind them, just as curious about John's new girlfriend since he was one of the dads of the extended families.

"She's hot," Jeremiah stated the obvious.

"Dude," Steven complained.

"What?" Jeremiah asked innocently. "I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking."

Belly shook her head. "I wasn't thinking that."

"Yo, that could be their future stepmom," Conrad said.

AJ raised her eyebrow at Conrad of all people saying that, but she smirked slightly in amusement.

Steven gave Conrad a push. "Dude, what the hell?"

Conrad turned to push him back, just as boyishly teasing. "Don't push me."

Conrad and Steven continued to playfully push each other.

"You guys are such kids," AJ said.

"What's gotten into you today, Connie?" Percy asked. "I like it."

The other kids smiled in agreement.

Helaena and Boaz walked out of the kitchen to see the kids spying and messing around in the foyer.

"What are you kids doing?" Helaena asked.

The kids jumped, turning to face them.

Boaz smirked. "I think that's pretty obvious."

The kids smiled sheepishly.

Jeremiah looked out the window. "Guys, they're coming, they're coming."

"Go, go, go, go, go," Steven said.

The kids ran off, past Helaena and Boaz toward the kitchen.

Helaena and Boaz shook their heads in amusement.

Laurel, Susannah, Reagan, Victoria and John walked in.

John smiled at the sight of the other two adults. "Helaena. Boaz. I knew I was missing the other adults." He winced at the word choice given the circumstances. "I mean..."

"We know what you mean, John," Helaena told him.

John sighed, nodding. "Tough year."

"Yeah," Boaz agreed.

Victoria shook their hands. "Hi, I'm Victoria."

"Hello," Boaz replied. "I'm Boaz. This is Helaena."

Victoria smiled. "Hi."

Reagan, Laurel and Susannah nodded for Boaz and Helaena to follow, which they did.

John saw his kids in the kitchen. "Steven! Belly!" Steven and Belly walked into the foyer. John smiled, walking toward them instantly. "Come give your old man a hug, huh?"

Belly smiled widely. "Dad!"

"Hey, Dad," Steven greeted.

John pulled Steven and Belly in with either arm so the three could share an embrace. "Oh, my gosh!" They pulled away, and John immediately introduced his girlfriend. "This is Victoria."

"Hi, guys," Victoria greeted. "It-it's really great to meet you. I've heard something but five-star reviews."

Steven and Belly nodded awkwardly.

John touched Victoria's bag. "Here, let's put this in the kitchen."

"Okay," Victoria agreed.

John and Victoria walked toward the kitchen.

Belly turned to face Steven. "There is no way she's 27. We have to grab her wallet and check her ID."

"She's in grad school," Steven told her. "Chill."

"I can't chill," Belly replied. "I mean, knock-off Dakota Johnson has her claws in our dad."

Steven nodded, amused. "Yeah."

♾️

Kitchen

Laurel, Susannah, Reagan, Helaena and Boaz were drinking tea.

Victoria and John walked in.

Victoria looked around in awe. "Oh, my goodness. This is the most beautiful kitchen that I've ever seen."

Susannah poured them both a tea, handing them their glasses. "Thank you."

Victoria took a drink. "Thanks."

Belly and Steven walked in.

"Steven, can you get your dad's bags and put them upstairs, please?" Laurel asked.

Steven turned to John. "Yeah, I-I just need your keys to pop the trunk, then."

"Actually, Vic and I decided to stay in town this weekend," John admitted. "Figured you guys had a packed house."

"Oh, that sounds fun," Belly said fakely.

Steven nodded. "Oh, yeah."

"Well, are you sure?" Reagan asked. "You always stay here when you come over."

"Whatever you think is best," Laurel told them.

"There's some places by the country club you could stay," Helaena offered.

"That sounds great, Helaena," John told her. "Thank you."

Boaz looked at his tea jokingly. "Anyone else need something stronger than tea?"

The adults laughed lightly.

Belly and Steven exchanged an awkward look.

Victoria smiled, reaching into her bag to take out a bag of pomegranates. "Actually, I convinced John to stop at a fruit stand on the way over, and I figured I could make some pomegranate margaritas later."

Susannah took the bag. "Oh, how thoughtful of you."

Percy and AJ walked in.

John smiled at seeing Percy, as he still viewed him as his step-nephew. "Hey, Percy."

Percy smiled. "Hey, John. Glad you made it."

John and Percy shared a hug before pulling away, causing Belly, Steven, Laurel and Reagan to smile slightly.

Helaena shrugged a bit, taking a drink of her tea.

John's eyes softened when he looked to the Jalali girl, giving a small smile. "Hey, AJ."

"Hi," AJ replied. "Nice to see you."

"You too," John agreed, reaching over to give her a one-armed hug. "Happy early birthday."

"Thank you," AJ told him.

Although John didn't say anything more, AJ was grateful for that, because she didn't want to talk about what everyone was thinking.

The doorbell rang.

Belly grinned, knowing the girls must be here. "Oh, I'll get it."

Belly ran out of the kitchen.

Steven pointed to the door. "I... Shayla... here."

Percy and AJ rolled their eyes, smirking at their quick bolts out of there.

Laurel gave a slight smile. "The debs have arrived."

♾️

Outside

(Song:) Swimming Pools - Francis On My Mind

The house was set up with Fourth of July decorations and a bunch of snacks, but AJ was relieved that the adults kept true to their word and didn't do a full combined birthday party intertwined this year.

Jeremiah and Victoria were sitting by the pool.

Jeremiah showed her his phone. "And then we do Hayley Kiyoko next. She's super vibey. You would love her."

"Love," Victoria agreed. "Do you listen to SZA?"

"I'm kind of offended you felt the need to ask me that," Jeremiah admitted.

Victoria chuckled. "Okay, of course. What else do you have on there?"

Nicole and Conrad were in the pool, close.

Conrad was entranced by whatever fragrance she was wearing. "I can't stop smelling you."

"Okay, well, it's Le Labo," Nicole told him.

Conrad nodded. "Mm. Well, I 'le lab' it."

Nicole laughed. "You 'le lab' it?"

AJ noticed them from the drink table, looking away quickly.

AJ: (voice over) "Jesus, I gotta pull myself together. There's no way in hell it'd work right now, if ever. He deserves better than someone who puts him through hell without even trying just because of how my body is. And I haven't exactly been free either, so... the twistedness with Clay aside."

Gigi and Susannah were chatting away, smiling, laughing.

Percy, Reagan and Helaena were talking nearby amongst themselves while Percy was waiting for Cam to show up.

Boaz brought out some tea and soda for the drink table, and AJ helped him set them out.

Over by the snack table, Laurel, John, Belly, Steven and Shayla were talking.

"My dad runs a hedge fund," Shayla explained. "I'm not really sure what he does much more than that, but growing up, I always thought he worked on bushes."

"I still think that," Laurel said jokingly, laughing. "And what does your mom do?"

"Mom," Steven complained. "Come on, stop interrogating her."

Shayla chuckled. "It's all right. She's at a wellness retreat in Arizona until August. Code for 'I need to get away from my family for a bit'."

"Shayla," Gigi called. "You have to read this text. Come here."

Shayla smiled politely at John and Laurel. "Duty calls, but it was so nice to meet the both of you. You have really raised an incredible son. He's extremely respectful."

"Thank you," Laurel told her.

"See you later," Steven told her.

Shayla walked away.

"What a rad girl, Steven," John complimented.

Steven groaned. "Ugh, don't say 'rad', Dad."

Belly shook her head. "D-don't... no, don't say that."

John frowned, teasing. "No, I'm a rad dad."

"I like her," Laurel said. "She's confident, knows who she is. I'm surprised a girl like that would want to deb."

Belly looked hurt like that was a personal insult.

John looked at Steven. "Is there a place around here I can rent a tux for you?"

"Um..." Steven trailed off.

"Steven, come here," Shayla called.

Steven looked over, turning back to John. "No. No, no, no. I-I've got it covered, Dad. Thank you."

"Yeah," John agreed. As Steven walked away, Victoria joined them. John looked at Belly. "So, tell me about this deb ball."

Belly nodded bitterly. "Yeah, so, um, apparently, it's for girls like me. Girls who, uh, don't know who they are."

Belly shot a look to Laurel.

Laurel tilted her head. "Belly, I didn't mean it like that."

"You know, actually, my cousin did it in Chicago and they raised a ton of money for public schools," Victoria explained.

Laurel nodded awkwardly with a tense smile. "Great."

Victoria did the same. "Yeah. Uh, Belly, would you mind showing me where I can find a bathroom?"

Belly hesitated, nodding, giving a bit of a smile, nervous and awkward. "Sure."

Victoria and Belly walked away toward the house.

John turned to Laurel. "Victoria really did read your books, you know? I'm surprised she didn't run screaming by the end of Party's Over."

"I'm a novelist, John," Laurel told him. "I write fiction."

"Tell that to Victoria," John replied.

"How late can she stay?" Laurel asked. "Wouldn't want her parents getting upset."

John chuckled. "Okay."

"She can drink, right?" Laurel asked. "I'd hate for those pomegranates to go to waste."

John smiled. "Okay. No, I understand." they laughed. "God, I missed this. All of us together again for a good old Fisher Fourth."

Laurel exhaled sadly. "Almost everyone."

John sighed. "So Adam couldn't make it, huh?"

"Apparently not," Laurel answered.

John closed his eyes, nodding, looking down. "Forever Infinity... for Adilah and Khalid... that was a great one. They would've been honored."

Laurel gave him a small, appreciative smile. "Thank you."

♾️

Inside - Kitchen

Belly, Jeremiah and AJ were sitting at the counter, watching as Victoria was blending pomegranate margaritas.

"That's dope," Jeremiah said.

Belly laughed softly.

"How'd you learn to make these?" AJ asked.

"So, I actually spent a summer in this desert town in Texas near the border called Marfa," Victoria answered. "And there was a bar there that served these, and I told the bartender that I would not leave until he showed me exactly how he made these."

Victoria poured a couple of glasses.

"Can I try a sip?" Belly asked.

"Are your parents cool with that?" Victoria asked.

AJ raised a skeptical eyebrow, exchanging a knowing look with Jeremiah as Jere smirked.

Belly nodded, playing it off. "Yeah, yeah, no, they don't care."

Victoria shrugged. "Oh, then, sure." She picked up the glasses. "I'm gonna take this out to your dad. Do you mind taking those out to Susannah, Reagan and your mom?"

"Yeah, sure," Belly answered.

"Thanks, love," Victoria told her, walking away.

Belly took a drink, making a face.

Jeremiah looked excited. "Well, how is it? Strong?"

Belly laughed. "This is amazing."

"Is it?" AJ asked.

"Yeah," Belly answered, holding out the glass for them to try.

AJ took the glass first, taking a sip. "Mm. No wonder you like it. It tastes just like a Slurpee."

Belly smiled. "Yeah, exactly."

Jeremiah took the glass. "Let me try."

"Knock yourself out," AJ replied.

Jeremiah took a drink.

Belly tapped the counter. "But I have an idea."

"Oh, no," AJ said.

Belly turned to Jeremiah. "Sous-chef, I'm gonna need some more pomegranate juice."

Jeremiah gave a salute. "You got it."

Jeremiah started squeezing out the juice.

Conrad and Percy walked in.

"What are you guys making?" Conrad asked.

"Pomegranate margaritas, but with a twist," Belly answered, bringing over a can.

"Well, you got to use the good blender," Conrad told them.

Belly, Jeremiah, AJ and Percy all looked at him.

"Oh, I-I haven't used that thing since the great Kool-Aid debacle of 2011," Jeremiah admitted.

Conrad smiled, bringing over the good blender, giving a light laugh. "I remember, the counters were sticky for... two summers?"

Jeremiah laughed. "Yeah, just about. Dad kept his, uh, briefcase in my room for a year." He mocked Adam's voice. "'As a reminder that all mistakes are not reversible'."

Percy tilted his head. "Wait, won't he be mad if he finds out?"

"Well, he's not gonna find out," Conrad told them. "He's not coming."

Belly laughed, pouring the ingredients into the blender. "Okay."

Conrad smiled. "Yeah."

AJ was surprised by how good of a mood Conrad was in today, but glad, chuckling, more to test if she would cough again, but when she didn't, she laughed a bit.

"Oh, you're sounding better," Jeremiah pointed out.

"Yeah, thankfully," AJ agreed.

The kids smiled slightly as they all poured an ingredient into the blender.

Percy handed something else to Conrad. "Here."

"Thank you, sir," Conrad replied, pouring it into the blender.

AJ picked up a bottle of tequila.

"Oh, she's going for the good stuff," Jeremiah remarked.

AJ smirked. "Yeah."

"We don't need another debacle," Percy told them.

"What's one more?" AJ asked sarcastically, pouring the tequila into the blender. Conrad tipped AJ's arm to pour a little bit more in. "Hey."

"Hey what?" Conrad replied.

AJ and Conrad couldn't help their laughs.

Percy and Jeremiah were enjoying seeing this AJ and Conrad again, while Belly narrowed her eyes slightly.

Belly: (voice over) "They're having fun, for once. Too much fun. And I feel bad for thinking I prefer to see them brooding and tortured instead of acting like a couple."

Belly's voice sounded jealous to anyone, even her, playing it off as she thought they added too much tequila. "Stop it, stop."

"There's hardly any in," Jeremiah told them. "A lot more, a lot more tequila."

Conrad still had AJ's arm tipped more, until the tequila was gushing out.

AJ laughed as she tried to stop it now. "No, no, no, no, no!"

Conrad laughed lightly, letting her arm go, and AJ put the bottle down.

Percy smiled. "Okay, well, you guys are gonna have to tell me how strong that is, because there's no way in hell I'm drinking that, especially that."

The kids laughed lightly.

Conrad put the lid on the blender, starting it up, and for a second, took his hands off the lid.

Jeremiah instantly reached for the lid. "No, keep your hands on it." Conrad put his hands back on before taking them off again. "Keep your hands on it."

Conrad chuckled, putting his hands down on the lid again, turning the blender off when it was done, taking the lid off. "Man, you know what I miss?"

"Huh?" Percy asked.

"Watching Laurel put Dad in his place," Conrad answered. "You know, she'd walk in, she'd be like, 'Adam'."

Laurel walked in, looking behind the kids. "Adam." The kids exchanged a look at the creepy timing, confused until they turned to follow Laurel's gaze... to see Adam right behind them at the door. "You came."

Adam smiled. "Happy Fourth."

Jeremiah smiled excitedly, standing, going to hug Adam. "Dad! You came."

"Hey, Jere," Adam replied. Once they pulled away, Adam looked at AJ, Percy and Belly. "Hey, guys." He looked at his older son. "Hey, Connie." Conrad's mood took a dive instantly upon seeing Adam here. "I'll have a little of what you're mixing up there."

Belly picked up a glass, handing it to Adam. "Yeah, sure."

"Hey, thanks, Belly," Adam told her. "How you doing, Percy?"

Percy shrugged. "Same old, I guess."

Adam nodded, turning his gaze to AJ, and pity was plan to see in his eyes and expression. "Hey, AJ."

AJ avoided looking at him. "Hey."

AJ: (voice over) "I hate the pitying look that Adam always gave me since Thanksgiving. The few times I've seen him since then, anyway. Literally no one else gives me that look of pure pity, and I hate it more than anything. It was even worse on the day of their funeral."

"Today must be hard, huh?" Adam asked. Conrad shot Adam a glare, incredulous he would say that. Belly, Percy, Jeremiah and Laurel were awkward. AJ didn't answer, scoffing slightly. "We still doing your birthday thing today?"

"Uh, no," AJ answered. "Skipping that this year."

Adam nodded. "Right."

Jeremiah sensed the very awkward tension now, and tried to fix it. "Though you did miss the presents this morning." Adam chuckled. "And you're gonna love the firework show this year. It's gonna be the best one yet."

Adam laughed. "I believe it."

AJ looked at Conrad, noticing how he was retracting again in a second once his father showed up, frowning in concern, whispering. "You okay?"

Conrad glanced at AJ, giving a short nod before looking away.

Susannah and Reagan walked in.

"Where'd everyone go?" Susannah asked.

Susannah froze when she saw her ex-husband.

"Hey," Adam told them.

"Adam," Susannah said. "You managed to get off work."

"Yeah, couldn't miss the Fourth with my family," Adam told them.

There was a long moment of awkward silence as everyone glanced at each other.

Reagan cut through it. "All right, well, let's get back to the party." He narrowed his eyes at the tension, knowing that the Fisher father was behind it, but gave him a tense nod in greeting anyway to be polite. "Adam."

"Reagan," Adam replied.

Laurel nodded. "Okay, let's go, kids."

AJ, Percy, Belly, Jeremiah and Conrad made their way to the door.

Adam reached out to Conrad's shoulder. "Hey, Connie, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Conrad shrugged him off. "I'm gonna head to the beach."

The kids walked out, followed by Reagan and Laurel.

Adam walked up to Susannah, who was overwhelmed and angry. "How you feeling, Suz?" Susannah didn't answer. "Listen, a friend of mine at Sloan Kettering said they're starting an experimental trial soon after--"

Susannah turned to look at him. "What are you doing here, Adam?"

"Laurel called me this morning, said 'get your ass here', so I'm here," Adam answered.

Susannah shook her head. "She shouldn't have done that."

"You didn't know," Adam realized.

"No, I didn't," Susannah answered.

Adam sighed. "Well, I thought you'd changed your mind."

Susannah just wanted to get through the day. "Well, since it's done, we, um, we just need to get through it. Jere's really excited to show you his fireworks. I'm not ruining the Fourth for the boys."

Susannah walked outside without another word.

♾️

Living Room

Percy walked up to Reagan, looking really nervous, but knowing that he would have his father on his side for this. "Um, Dad? Can I talk to you real quick?"

"I thought you kids were heading out to the beach," Reagan told him.

"Yeah, we are," Percy agreed.

"You meeting up with Cam?" Reagan asked.

"Yeah," Percy answered. "About him..."

"Laurel and Susannah said that he can come for the party," Reagan told him. "Don't worry, everyone loved him at the dinner party."

Percy was more reassured by that. "That's not what I was going to say, but I'm glad you said that." Even while knowing that Reagan was definitely not the parent that he had to worry about, he was still scared, which was to be expected. "He's my boyfriend. Cam's... my boyfriend." Reagan looked at him knowingly, not a trace of shock on his face. "I like boys. And me and him, we're... we're going out. And I just... wanted you to know."

Reagan couldn't help the slow smile that spread across his face. "I know, Percy." Percy looked stunned, opening his mouth to speak, but he couldn't find the words, closing it as he just looked at Reagan, processing. "I've known for a while now. And you and Cam are not exactly discreet. But I'm so proud of you right now."

Percy looked so emotionally relieved and set at ease that he could cry, his breathing shaky. "Oh, my God."

Reagan pulled Percy into his arms as father and son embraced. "Thank you for telling me. I'm so sorry if I ever made you feel like you couldn't tell me." They pulled away, and Percy relaxed entirely, all of the tension leaving his body with the relief that his father still loved him and didn't care that he was gay, as it didn't change anything for them. Reagan gave him a small smile. "So you and Cam? How long have you been..."

"A couple of weeks," Percy answered. "But I started liking him way before that." He was still processing how well this went with his father, unable to express how grateful and relieved he was in words. "I love you, Dad."

Reagan smiled. "I love you, too." He patted Percy on the shoulder, and Percy laughed softly. "Go have fun with the kids. And your boyfriend. You deserve it."

Percy couldn't help but grin, running off.

♾️

Outside

AJ was looking around.

Jeremiah walked up to her. "Hey, we're gonna head down to the beach with the debs and to meet up with Cam Cameron." AJ smirked at the nickname. "Everybody else is good to walk in this heat, but we wanted to make sure you were."

"I doubt that, honestly," AJ admitted.

"Yeah, we thought so too," Jeremiah admitted. "Um, you could grab Conrad's keys from his room, and one of your inhalers, and the Slurpee margaritas can help with keeping you cool."

AJ chuckled a bit. "Thanks, Jere." Jeremiah smiled, nodding. "Um, where's the keys?"

"They should be in his desk," Jeremiah answered.

AJ nodded, turning to walk inside.

♾️

Inside - Conrad's Room

AJ walked into Conrad's room, looking around at all of his books, sailing knots and trophies, his guitar, all with a small smile. She walked up to the desk, opening the top drawer to look for the keys, when she found the black velvet baggie, picking it up in curiosity, remembering that the gifts got cut off when she went into her attack, and Conrad was the only one that didn't get to give a gift yet.

AJ: (voice over) "He must've not said anything because everybody was already overwhelmed as it was... especially with all the reminders of my parents. And now he's probably waiting for my actual birthday when things slow down."

AJ didn't want to look at it and spoil the surprise, so she put the baggie back in the drawer, getting the keys, closing the drawer, walking out of the room.

♾️

Outside

AJ walked outside, nearly bumping into Conrad on the way as he was about to go back inside.

Conrad stepped back, hands on AJ's shoulders to steady them both. "Oh, sorry."

AJ chuckled nervously, shaking her head. "My bad. Um, all going to beach, yeah?"

Conrad nodded. "Yeah, I just gotta..." AJ held up the keys. Conrad chuckled, not surprised. "Jere already asked you."

"Yeah," AJ answered.

Conrad took the keys. "Come on. I'm driving."

"Obviously," AJ replied.

Conrad double checked. "Uh, missing something?"

Because of that, AJ just remembered her inhaler. "Fuck me." Conrad raised an eyebrow. AJ pointed at him before he could say anything. "Shut up." AJ turned to go back inside and get her inhaler. Conrad chuckled lightly in amusement. AJ walked back outside with her inhaler. "Now we can go."

They smiled, walking toward his car.

♾️

Pier

Percy was waiting by the piers.

Cam rode his bike down the way, meeting up with Percy, taking off his helmet, smiling. "Hey."

Percy smiled at him. "Hey."

Cam walked closer, bringing Percy into a hug as they held each other close before pulling away, looking at him in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm good," Percy answered. "Actually, I'm great. I just told my dad about me, like you know, being me."

Cam realized he meant about coming out to Reagan. "Oh, you mean, like..."

"Yeah," Percy answered.

"How did he take it?" Cam asked.

"Well, he said he loved me," Percy answered, chuckling to himself. "And he was proud of me and he already knew. So I guess good."

Cam smiled, thrilled, taking hold of Percy's hand. "I'm happy for you."

Percy returned the smile, before it faded. "Now just have to deal with my mom."

Cam nodded. "Yeah, that does sound like it would be the hardest."

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "But I'll be fine."

"You know, you say you're fine a lot," Cam pointed out.

Percy shrugged, not sure what he was supposed to say to that. "I'm sorry?"

"You also say you're sorry a lot," Cam added. Percy was about to say it again, but stopped himself. Cam knew he was about to say it, chuckling. "Don't say it."

"I kinda already did," Percy pointed out.

"Don't say it again," Cam replied.

Percy chuckled. "Okay, okay, I won't."

Cam shook his head, amused, pulling Percy closer into a passionate, sweet kiss for a long moment, which Percy returned without hesitation. They pulled away, smiling at each other.

"So what now?" Cam asked. "Where's all the other guys?"

"They're waiting on the beach," Percy answered. "Come on."

Cam chuckled. "Yeah, we don't want them to miss the only two non-drinking teens at the party."

Percy smirked. "Wee're like the life of the party."

Cam laughed. "Totally."

Percy and Cam exchanged a look before starting to laugh, walking away toward the beach while holding hands.

♾️

Beach

(Song:) Something Like Summer - Caveboy

AJ and Conrad met up with the other kids on the beach, all starting to have a fun time.

AJ made sure that her inhaler wouldn't fall out of her pocket.

The kids were either sitting on the inflatables, or in chairs like Gigi and Nicole.

Nicole saved the seat next to her for Conrad.

Conrad took a seat.

AJ sat down on an infatable ring.

Belly walked up with one glass, and a pitcher of the margarita in either hand. "May I present... the Belly Special?"

Jeremiah raised an eyebrow. "Not sure how it's your special since we got the recipe from Victoria and we all made it, but okay."

Belly smiled sarcastically at Jeremiah.

"Ooh, very nice," Shayla said.

"Those look awesome," Steven told them.

AJ gestured to the last 'seat' next to her. "Uh, we saved you the inflatable unicorn."

"Well, thank you," Belly replied, putting the pitcher down on the table between Conrad and Nicole, walking closer to sit down.

Conrad picked up the pitcher to pour some. "You want some?"

"Yeah," Nicole answered.

Percy and Cam walked up to them.

"Hey, guys," Percy told them. "Hey, check out who I found."

"It's Cam Cameron," Jeremiah cheered.

Everyone cheered. "Cam!"

Percy and Cam smiled, going to take seats on the sand.

"Very cute," AJ teased.

Percy smiled sarcastically, while Cam chuckled.

Conrad offered a glass to Cam.

Cam shook his head. "Oh, I'm good man. Thank you. I don't drink."

Conrad nodded. "Yes, that's right."

Conrad instead handed the glass to AJ.

AJ took it. "Thank you very much."

Conrad chuckled, sitting back.

Jeremiah was messing around with Steven as they slapped hands. "Cool."

"Hey, soul buddy," Steven told him.

"Hey, Jere," Shayla greeted.

Jeremiah walked past to sit down. "Hey, Shayla." He plopped down next to Gigi. "What's up, Gigi?"

Percy and Cam made themselves comfortable on the ground next to AJ.

"Hi, there," Cam greeted.

"Hi," AJ replied.

"What's up?" Percy asked.

AJ shrugged, taking a drink of her margarita.

"What is that?" Cam asked.

"It's a pomegranate margarita," AJ answered.

Conrad was drinking his fast.

"It's not a race, Con," Nicole told him, slightly judgy.

"Yeah, save some for the rest of us, please," Jeremiah told him.

Belly laughed, before she got an idea. "Okay, wait, wait, wait. But what if it was a race? I mean, isn't that... isn't... isn't that the premise of, like, every drinking game?"

Percy raised his eyebrow in surprise. "You want to play a drinking game?"

"Why not?" Belly asked. "I mean, it's the Fourth of July, right? Not to mention AJ's birthday."

AJ looked to Belly, uncomfortable with that given she didn't want a full on party or a lot of acknowledgement, and gave into gifts knowing that everybody had already gotten them.

"Wait, it's your birthday today?" Gigi asked.

"Tomorrow," Conrad corrected, looking at his glass.

AJ glanced at Conrad.

"But we usually celebrated it today," Steven explained.

Percy gave Belly a look for outing that in the first place when AJ made it clear she didn't want it to be known before, and the boys were just explaining after Belly had already outed it. "But we weren't gonna do anything this year."

"Yeah, but it's a party, right?" Steven asked, nudging AJ playfully to cheer her up.

Belly tilted her head. "Yeah, and a girl only turns 18 once. Plus, it's the Fourth. Not like it has to be about your birthday."

Percy and Conrad narrowed their eyes at Belly, not sure what this was about, her motives were for this.

"Then why'd you bring it up?" Percy asked.

Belly didn't answer, shrugging, drinking, seeming unbothered that AJ was uncomfortable.

AJ sighed, knowing she had to get more into the mood for this, drinking the rest of her glass. "Fuck it. Let's do it."

Percy and Conrad knew that she gave in to not "let others down" again, exchanging a look.

Everyone else cheered.

They set out a glass bowl on a flat wooden surface so that they could play quarters.

Jeremiah flipped a quarter and landed it into the bowl, throwing his arm up, pointing at Belly. "Oh, I got it! Drink!"

Belly grinned as she locked eyes with Jeremiah, downing her drink, which didn't escape the notice of AJ, Percy and Conrad.

"Jeremiah, drink," Gigi said flirtatiously.

Jeremiah smiled, drinking.

Belly gave Shayla a glass. "Shayla, drink up."

"What?" Shayla asked, but she took the glass and drank anyway.

Steven was already drinking.

Conrad and AJ drank more.

Percy and Cam, of course, were the only ones not drinking, smiling and shaking their heads, kind of just enjoying watching everyone have pure, unfiltered fun for the first time in so long, even if it was because they were getting drunk.

Everyone was flipping quarters.

Jeremiah pointed to Gigi. "Oh, hey, Gigi, drink."

Gigi whooped, drinking.

"She was going in there," Shayla said.

Belly pointed at Jeremiah. "Drink."

Jeremiah smiled, drinking, making an 'I'm watching you' signal with his hand, pointing from his eyes to Belly.

Steven flipped a quarter. "Oh, drink!"

"Oh, my God, why am I so bad at this?" Shayla asked.

Conrad flipped a quarter, landing it perfectly in the bowl, looking at AJ. "Drink."

AJ smirked, drinking.

Soon, Belly and AJ were up and dancing with Shayla, Nicole and Gigi with the pitcher.

Belly smiled. "Yay! Here you go. Wait, wait, wait."

Nicole picked up a bottle from the ground.

AJ frowned. "That's a new..." Nicole poured more alcohol into the blend. "Ooh..." The girls whooped. "Yes."

Now, Cam and Percy were standing by a wooden board with a black silouhette painted onto it, with a hole in the face of it for bean bag tosses, and Steven, Jeremiah and Conrad were standing several feet away and attempting to make bean bags through the target, as Cam and Percy were almost acting like refs, but really smiling and teasing each time they missed.

"Oh..." Cam trailed off.

"Come on," Percy laughed.

Conrad tossed another. "No way..."

His bean bag made it through, causing Cam to cheer. "Oh!"

Percy laughed. "Yeah!"

Conrad smiled.

Jeremiah and Steven both threw one, but missed.

"That's a shame," Cam remarked.

"Next time," Percy teased. Jeremiah made the next bean bag through the target. "Oh!"

The boys laughed.

Belly was drinking even more than AJ and Conrad were, more than they did usually even, and that was saying something. She was dancing alone, practically vibing in place.

The other deb girls were dancing away, repeatedly saying, "We killed it, we killed it."

The heat was getting to AJ bad even with the cold drinks, once they started to get hot. She took several deep, whistley breaths, taking out her inhaler, putting it to her lips and pressing the canister, puffing the medicine into her as she inhaled as deep as she could to get the medicine to her lungs and open up her airways.

The boys were still playing their game.

"Oh, let's go," Cam said.

Steven tossed a bean bag through the target, cheering.

Percy smiled, clapping and cheering for his cousin. "That's my boy."

Cam smiled. "That's one."

Conrad, Steven and Jeremiah smiled, grabbing more bean bags.

"That's pretty good," Conrad said. "Pretty good."

"What was that?" Steven asked.

"Maybe next time," Cam told them.

"Come on, Steven," Percy cheered. Steven made it through the target again, two in a row. Percy jumped up and cheered. "Let's go!"

Cam was cheering just as much as if already fitting in as one of them. "Oh, my God!"

The boys were laughing, cheering.

Percy and Steven tackled each other in a hug, spinning around.

Cam even ran to do a bro tackle hug with Steven as they spun around.

Conrad and Jeremiah were smiling and laughing.

"What happened?" Jeremiah asked.

Steven threw his arm up. "Oh, yeah!"

Conrad shook his head in amusement. "Jesus."

AJ and Belly toasted their glasses with the deb girls, drinking.

Soon enough, AJ, Belly, Conrad, Jeremiah, Percy, Steven and Cam were walking along back across the beach.

Percy looked at Cam. "You are so good at games."

"Yeah, I know you're kidding," Cam said.

Percy smiled, shaking his head. "No, I'm not."

Shayla ran up to join Steven at his side. Steven wrapped his arm around her and kissed her head.

"Hey, Cam Cameron, could you drive my car?" Conrad asked, tossing him the keys, pointing from him to AJ.

Cam realized what they meant, because of her asthma issue lately, nodding. "Yeah, yeah, sure, man."

"Thank you," AJ told him.

The others started to walk back themselves. The trail was a decent way from the beach house, but in this heat, AJ could already hardly breathe, especially after her attack that morning, taking another puff of her inhaler.

AJ looked across the beach and she froze.

(Song Ends)

(Song:) Begin Again - Taylor Swift

Clay was walking shirtless across the beach, eyes on AJ the entire time, like he had been there all along, but watched from a distance.

AJ swallowed as she looked away.

Conrad noticed this, following her gaze, scoffing at seeing Clay and how uncomfortable he made AJ, though he didn't know completely why, knowing just enough.

Lyrics: "And we walked down the block, to my car / And I almost brought him up."

Of course, in his drunken state, Conrad couldn't resist making snarky remarks about Clay after what happened in 1.03 and knowing that it would cheer AJ up in her drunken state too. "What does he have against shirts?" AJ turned to Conrad, startled. "And he was always kissing you on the forehead like he thought he was the fucking pope. And so angry all the time. Repressed maniac."

Lyrics: "But you start to talk about the movies / That your family watches every single Christmas."

AJ couldn't help but laugh at Conrad tearing into Clay even with snide remarks, and Conrad smirked a slight smile at the accomplished goal.

AJ shook her head. "Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. Not to go into controlling maniac tendencies, but... He's such an idiot."

Lyrics: "And I want to talk about that / And for the first time / What's past is past."

Conrad nodded. "I think he said once that his favorite reading material is paper."

AJ's jaw dropped slightly. "No, he didn't. Did..."

Lyrics: "'Cause you throw your head back laughing / Like a little kid."

Conrad shook his head, biting his lip. "No, he didn't. But the fact you had to ask to make sure tells us both something."

AJ gave him an amused look. "Very funny."

Lyrics: "I think it's strange that you think I'm funny, 'cause / He never did."

Conrad had a slight smirk, nodding to the car. "Come on."

AJ nodded thankfully for Conrad trying to get her mind off seeing Clay even if it was 'roasting him' to cheer her up.

Though she still felt insanely awkward and conflicted and guilty and ashamed because of what happened before with Clay, even if AJ knew that he was taking advantage of her drunkenness and weakened mind state both times now, and his threats against Conrad if he found out and started a fight that would lead to Conrad getting really hurt against the martially arts trained Clay had her all the more nervous and worried. Knowing that it was going to be the same story with anyone she cared about if they did anything against him.

Clay stared AJ down from across the beach, as if taunting her with the truth as he glanced at Conrad, reminding her of his threat silently.

AJ swallowed, turning to Conrad. "Can we just get out of here, now, please?"

Conrad nodded. "Yeah. Come on."

Lyrics: "I've been spending the last eight months / Thinking all love ever does / Is break and burn, and end / But on a Wednesday in a cafe / I watched it begin again."

(Song Ends)

♾️

Beck House - Outside

On the dock outside the house, the girls, Steven, Percy and Cam were sitting together.

"Okay, but did you know that she was one of the last people to visit Lindsay Lohan's beach club in Mykonos before it closed?" Gigi asked.

Nicole was braiding Shayla's hair.

"Are you serious?" Shayla asked. Gigi nodded with a hum. Shayla tilted her head. "Oh, my God, I'd die for Lindsay. Ugh, she's a queen."

"Ibiza is superior, though," Nicole told them.

Shayla scoffed. "As if."

"You don't agree?" Nicole asked.

"No," Shayla answered. She turned to Steven. "Back me up."

AJ, Percy, Cam and Steven frowned.

Percy: (voice over) "So, as you can see, AJ, Cam, Steven and I are completely lost and bored, and having no idea why we're even here hanging out with deb girls like these to begin with. They're nice and all, but man, talk about not knowing what the fuck to say to all this. Belly doesn't either, but she seems to be living for it, or at least she's better at pretending she is than we are. Lucky for Conrad and Jeremiah to get out."

Despite Steven's confusion, he nodded and went along with what Shayla was saying. "Yes, no, I... yes, I agree."

Gigi laughed. "He's lost."

Nicole taunted the words. "'Yes, no, yes, no, I agree'."

"Shut up," Shayla replied.

Nicole shook her head. "Doesn't know what he's talking about."

"He knows what he's talking about," Shayla said. "He's on my side."

They heard Jeremiah from the nearby yard at the Beck house. "Hey, Connie, catch."

Belly and AJ both looked over, seeing Jeremiah and Conrad playing catch with the football.

♾️

Backyard

(Song:) This Life - Vampire Weekend

The adults were still at the party.

Adam walked past the drink table, seeing Helaena there. "Hey, Helaena. Been a while since I've seen you or Boaz."

"Not long enough, Adam," Helaena replied, not hiding her distaste for him at all.

"Haven't changed a bit," Adam remarked, walking away.

John and Victoria were dancing by the pool.

Boaz walked up to the snack table to place another dish down.

Laurel smiled at him. "Thank you, Boaz."

"No problem, Laurel," Boaz replied. "Even without the combined parties, this seems to be blown out more than the usual Fourth parties."

"Yeah, well, I think that's because..." Laurel trailed off.

Boaz already knew the answer. "Susannah still wanted to celebrate AJ's birthday even if not directly like she asked us not to do with this party."

"Exactly," Laurel agreed.

Boaz looked at Laurel, smiling a bit, chuckling lightly. "It's a nice thought behind it." Laurel nodded, chuckling in return. They both looked over the party, seeing Susannah was arguing with Adam now before walking away from him, trying to ignore him. "What's going on with Susannah and Adam?"

Laurel frowned, shaking her head in confusion. "I don't know."

Adam sighed, walking away toward the front yard.

(Song Ends)

♾️

Front Yard

Jeremiah and Conrad were still playing catch.

Conrad was about to throw the ball toward Jeremiah. "All right, here it comes."

When he threw, Jeremiah barely caught the ball, but he did, turning to Conrad. "Oh, easy with the velocity, Tom Brady."

Seeing that his sons were playing catch, Adam ran in front of Conrad to catch the ball at Jeremiah threw it. "Ho, hoo."

Jeremiah smiled. "Interception."

Conrad was not happy, looking away.

Adam looked at Jeremiah. "Go deep." Jeremiah ran back. Adam threw the ball, turning his head to Conrad just slightly, still watching the ball as Jeremiah caught it. "Your spiral's looking pretty tight. Must be in the genes."

Jeremiah threw the ball back. "Touchdown, Patriots."

Conrad looked away, stepping away from Adam as he got too close to him, right up against him.

Adam caught the ball. "Oh, hey. I talked to Coach Walsh from Brown. He says there's a spot on summer sessions waiting for you."

Conrad shook his head. "I'm good here."

Adam threw the ball back to Jeremiah, giving Conrad a look.

Jeremiah caught the ball. "Hey, Dad. Uh, we're lighting that big firework you got in Mexico, the one that, uh, makes the big palm tree. It's gonna be awesome."

Jeremiah threw the ball back.

Adam caught the ball, smiling. "Can't wait. Just don't aim it near the house, all right? Hey, come here. I want to show you how to run a post."

Conrad completely detached again when around his dad. "Yeah, we got to go dig the clam pit."

"Oh," Adam said. "I'll help."

Conrad picked up his shoes, walking away without looking back. "Why don't you go spend some time with Mom?"

Adam frowned at that.

Jeremiah gave an awkward smile, picking up his shoes, turning to follow Conrad.

♾️

Dock

The girls, Percy and Cam were still on the dock.

Steven was gone.

"I don't get Conrad," Nicole admitted. "It's like, one minute he's all over me. He comes to my party and we're making out, but we don't even fuck, right? I mean, I did kinda kick him out after Clay picked that dumbass fight with him, and couldn't even fight him one on one, but still. Clay had to use his goons to prove a point." AJ looked away awkwardly, taking a drink, biting her lip, not just because of Conrad, but because of Clay and what happened at that party. "And then this morning, he's, like, super into me, he's all over me, and now he's like, 'oh, football'."

AJ looked down, pursing her lips.

Belly noticed, and drunkenly took a shot at her. "Yeah, no, he's really hard to read sometimes. Right, AJ?" She laughed. "Like, all the time. Like you, huh? You two share that, like a lot of other things."

AJ turned to give Belly a hurt look for the way she kept seeming to take shots at her ever since she got out of the hospital, off and on with acting nice and sweet like a best friend, scoffing, looking away.

Percy gave Belly a look, but she was too drunk to give a damn, taking another drink.

Nicole turned her head to AJ, raising an eyebrow.

AJ rolled her eyes. "She means what happened. With me and him and my parents."

"That might be the cause of the back and forth, by the way," Percy pointed out. "Happens a lot with PTSD and trauma survivors."

Percy looked at AJ knowingly as well before looking away.

Nicole considered this. "Guess I didn't think of it that way before." Belly clearly hadn't either, but she clearly didn't care, especially not when this drunk. "So I guess what AJ said at the party, about not being ready for anything serious. That's probably right, too."

"I said that about me, that I wouldn't be ready for anything serious until I got better," AJ pointed out. "Not necessarily him. I said it wouldn't surprise me if it was the same with him. Very different."

Nicole nodded. "Right. Well, do you really think he likes me?"

AJ rolled her eyes at still having to talk about this even when they made it clear that that should not be what she should have been focused on right now.

Percy and Cam shook their heads in annoyance as well.

However, Belly just smiled through it and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, totally. I mean, he talks about you a lot."

The boys and AJ looked at her in disbelief, because that was clearly not true, and Belly seemed to be just trying to stir up drama.

"Really?" Nicole asked.

Belly nodded. "Yeah. Mm-hmm."

Cam stood, grabbing some water bottles, bringing them over to Belly and AJ. "Hi. You may want to hydrate. Water."

"Thank you, Cam," AJ told him.

Cam nodded, sitting down next to Percy again.

Percy gave him a thankful look for helping his adoptive sister and his cousin.

Belly smiled. "Cam Cameron, you are so sweet. Isn't he sweet?"

The girls smiled and nodded. "Mm-hmm."

Cam turned to Percy. "Percy, do you want to go for a walk on the beach?"

Percy spoke quietly. "To get away from the brewing drama here? Absolutely."

Percy took Cam's hand, standing. Cam followed with a smile as they grinned at each other.

"Cam Cameron, you be good with Percy," AJ called after him drunkenly, but funnily.

"Bye, Percy!" Belly told him.

Cam laughed lightly.

Percy was embarrassed but amused. "Oh, my God."

They laughed, running off.

Shayla looked at Belly's dress. "Belly, by the way, I love that dress."

"Really?" Belly asked. "Thanks. Taylor got it for me, actually."

Shayla tilted her head. "Mm, Taylor has great taste."

"Yeah, I know, right?" Belly asked. "She totally does." She looked between the girls in front of her. "Oh, my God." She pointed to Shayla. "You and Taylor are, like, twins. Because you're both mega-fashiony."

Nicole smiled. "True, true."

Belly pointed from AJ to Nicole. "And you two are twins too. You're both, like... baddies, wouldn't you say? Baddies. And you all like the same summer boys. Which is..." She looked at AJ and Nicole. "And, I mean, I'm half your twin, without the baddie part, but..."

AJ scoffed in disbelief, looking away.

Shayla frowned. "Excuse me?"

Nicole frowned. "What?"

AJ stood, taking Belly's arm, pulling her up gently. "Okay, come on. Let's go for a walk."

Belly put out a hand against the railing to stop her. "No, no, no, AJ. I'm talking. Look, Shayla, like, don't worry, because my brother is an idiot. And it didn't mean anything. It didn't mean anything."

AJ tugged at her arm lightly. "Belly."

"Wait, what didn't mean anything?" Shayla asked.

"Uh, Steven and Taylor kissing," Belly answered.

AJ closed her eyes, knowing it would've been better if Shayla heard that from Steven and not his drunk sister. "Hey."

Belly ignored her. "It was like... he-he, like, loves you. He loves you. And..." She looked at Nicole. "And you don't have to worry either, Nicole, because even if AJ and Conrad are always in that little fucking bubble and clearly love each other..." AJ pulled her along slightly, but Belly stopped her by grabbing the railing of the dock to hold herself in place, looking at Nicole. "She's right. Nothing happened between them. Not even a kiss! Well, unless you count the time he brought her back to life, but... they really are too fucked up to be with anyone seriously right now, believe me, I've tried."

AJ pulled Belly's hand off the railing of the dock to pull her along. "We're going."

Nicole and Shayla watched them both go in disbelief.

♾️

Beach

Conrad was digging a hole in the sand for the clams.

Jeremiah walked toward him, grass and dirt in his hands from pulling it up from the ground nearby. "Hey. Can you be nice to Dad for one day? Seriously, he's trying."

Conrad barely reacted. "Good for him."

Jeremiah threw the grass and dirt at Conrad, making the dirt spread over his shirtless chest, shoulders and neck, and even a bit on his chin.

Conrad looked up in slight annoyance, sighing.

"Whatever you have with Dad, squash it, all right?" Jeremiah asked. "Please."

Conrad looked at Jeremiah with a conflict in his eyes, taking a deep breath, not knowing what to say, exhaling, going back to digging.

♾️

Beck House - Kitchen

Helaena and Steven were cleaning some wine glasses.

"Yeah, it's mostly a work summer," Steven admitted. "I mean, Princeton is pretty expensive. And t-that's if I get in, so... I just wanted to thank you for the chance to work at the country club."

"Of course," Helaena replied. "And you will get in, Steven. You got hustle." She considered for a moment before bringing this up. "You know, there's this card room. At the club. It's off the men's locker room. Most days, there's a high-stakes poker game in there. Private bar, dedicated server."

"And big tips?" Steven asked.

Helaena nodded. "When the game's rolling, the men hand out Benjamins." Steven laughed lightly in surprise at the offer. "You interested?"

"Yeah, yeah," Steven answered. "Thank you, Helaena."

Helaena patted Steven on the shoulder, walking away.

♾️

Outside

AJ was sitting down, having a little issue with breathing, taking some of her inhaler, looking overwhelmed, confused and hurt after earlier with Belly.

Belly walked along, drunk, another drink in her hand, when she realized the deb girls were getting their stuff. "Wait, AJ, everyone's leaving. Tell them-tell them not to go." She laughed. "Tell them not to leave."

"Yeah, I'm sure they don't wanna talk to me after what you pulled either," AJ told her.

Nicole's glare toward AJ proved her words right.

Belly walked up to the deb girls. "Stay, you guys."

Nicole made an excuse. "Uh, Shayla doesn't feel good. I think we had a little too much."

Belly pouted. "Oh. O-okay, yeah. Well, I'm... I mean, I still feel... I feel gr... great." The deb girls walked away. Belly took a drink. "You know what? Let's do this again tomorrow. Let's do it again tomorrow, you know, AJ's birthday!"

AJ looked away at that being brought up again, and knowing that the deb girls wouldn't want that or even humor it after what Belly said about Nicole/AJ/Conrad earlier, and AJ herself didn't want to say or do anything for her birthday, and yet Belly kept bringing it up.

"Bye," the deb girls said, walking away.

Belly smiled. "Okay, bye."

AJ stood, taking Belly's drink from her, setting it on the table. "I think we can talk when you're a little less..."

Belly turned to face her. "A little less..."

AJ looked away, shaking her head. "Um, just drink water."

Belly giggled, shaking her head. "But I'm not-I'm not drunk."

"Drink a lot of water," AJ told her.

"I"m not drunk," Belly insisted. "I'm..."

AJ shook her head, walking away, just needing some space after earlier. Her breathing was getting bad again, and the inhaler puffs weren't working as well as they did before. She knew that if it kept going like this, she would need a breathing treatment, looking exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally.

Belly shrugged, turning to see Conrad walking up to the house from the beach with the dirt still all over him. "Hello, sea creature."

Conrad looked back, barely waving back, frowning a bit because of the casual, drunken way Belly greeted him after the way she acted for the past week or so. "Hello."

Conrad continued to the outside showers.

Belly looked around, getting an idea.

♾️

Driveway

Steven was looking for Shayla, finding her with the deb girls walking toward a car in the driveway. "Hey, w-whoa. Are you guys leaving?"

"Our Uber's here," Nicole told him.

"Your Uber's here?" Steven repeated.

Shayla looked at her friends. "Just give me a minute."

"Are you sure?" Gigi asked.

"Yeah, it's fine," Shayla answered, walking toward Steven.

"Can I come with?" Steven asked.

Shayla shook her head, awkward but playing the whole thing off. "It's cool, we don't, like, have to do everything together. It's not like we're a thing. I mean, I was busy in New York last weekend, and you were hanging out with Taylor at Nicole's party."

"Taylor?" Steven repeated. "No. No, no, no, no. S-she's just Belly's best friend."

"I know you guys hooked up," Shayla told him.

Steven's face fell, looking really guilty and nervous. "Sh-Shayla, that doesn't... that really doesn't mean anything. Look, she doesn't mean anything. It's not..."

"You can relax," Shayla told him. "I mean, it's not like we're exclusive. Debs aren't even supposed to date their escorts. We're just having fun, right? Nothing serious."

While Steven looked relieved that Shayla was so cool about this, that she didn't blame him or wasn't angry at him, he still looked dejected because he thought it could be something more, now. "Yeah. Yeah, no, w-we're just, uh, having fun."

Shayla nodded. "Yeah. I'm glad we're on the same page. I'll, uh, I'll see you later."

Shayla turned around, walking toward the car, getting in with Nicole and Gigi so their Uber could drive them away.

Steven watched them go, conflicted.

♾️

Inside - Bathroom

Laurel led Adam into the bathroom to talk to him alone.

"Laurel, what the hell?" Adam asked.

"Just get in here," Laurel told him, closing the door when he did. "What's going on with you and Beck?"

Adam sighed. "This is all your fault. You shouldn't have called me like that. Not without asking her."

Laurel gave him a look. "Your wife is dying of cancer and you can't make it to her favorite holiday?"

"I'm staying away because she told me to," Adam told her. "I thought you knew that."

"Why doesn't she want you around?" Laurel asked. "What did you do?"

"I fucked up," Adam answered. "Just like you knew I would."

Laurel sighed, shaking her head, not knowing what happened, but already frustrated with him.

Adam walked out of the room.

♾️

Outside

Conrad was taking an outside shower to get the dirt off of him, still wearing his swim trunks.

Belly wandered over to the shower with two margaritas in either hand. "Oh, sea creature... where are you?"

Conrad frowned, hoping she would take the hint and walk away. "Um, I'm in the shower."

Belly chuckled, moving closer still, looking at Conrad in the shower. "Everybody left. But we still got margaritas to drink."

Conrad gave her a look as he tilted his head. "Okay, well, I can't drink it in the shower. Can you just go put it by the pool and I'll get it after?" Belly didn't move, staring at him in a way that was really uncomfortable. "Can I shower? Without an audience?"

Belly laughed softly. "I've always liked you with wet hair. It's so... romantic."

Conrad frowned. "What's so romantic about wet hair?"

Belly exhaled, shaking her head. "You just don't get it."

Belly took a drink.

Conrad scoffed. "How many of those have you had?"

Belly shrugged. "Two, five. It's... it's not important."

Conrad was trying not to lose his patience. "Can I please... can you give me some privacy, please?"

Belly finally took the hint and walked away.

Conrad shook his head, sighing, turning back to the showerhead.

♾️

Inside - Kitchen

Belly walked in, draining the rest of her glass.

Laurel was there, seeing this, giving Belly a look. "Who said you could have a margarita?"

Belly froze. "Um... Victoria?"

Susannah walked in from the back door, giving them a smile. "Cake time."

With a giggle, Susannah picked up the Fourth cake, walking outside.

Belly put down the other glass, laughing softly.

Laurel gave Belly a look.

Belly gestured to the door. "What? It's cake time."

Belly ran toward the back door.

Laurel sighed, following.

♾️

Outside

Reagan, Boaz, Helaena, John, Victoria and Adam were sharing a drink.

AJ was sitting on the outside couch, looking lightheaded and out of it, breath getting a bit harder.

Susannah walked outside with the cake. "Where'd the other kids go?"

Boaz shrugged. "Uh, more for us."

Susannah smiled. "That's the spirit, Boaz, my eternal optimist."

Belly ran outside. "Ooh, I want the piece with the strawberries!"

Belly tripped on the stairs for going too fast, crashing right into Susannah, making them both tumble to the ground.

The cake fell to the ground, the plate shattering as the cake exploded all over the concrete.

AJ looked up in worry and concern. "Oh, my God. Are you guys okay?"

AJ was about to stand and go over, as were Reagan and Boaz, but Laurel and Adam beat them to it.

Laurel ran to her daughter. "Belly, are you okay?"

"No," Belly complained.

Laurel helped Belly sit up, sitting in front of her to make sure she was okay.

John walked closer to make sure she was all right, too.

Adam ran to Susannah. "Are you okay?" He put his drink down. "Here, let me help you up."

"Adam, I'm fine," Susannah told him.

Adam knelt next to her. "Come on, please."

"I got it," Susannah snapped. "I got it, stop it. God, just go away."

Belly's face fell. "I'm sorry."

Susannah looked so sad yet so frustrated, pushing herself up with a grunt, walking away.

John and Laurel helped Belly up to her feet.

Susannah walked inside.

The other adults watched in concern, not knowing what to do to help.

(Song:) Castles Crumbling - Taylor Swift feat. Hayley Williams

Note: Some lyrics apply to how AJ and Conrad feel, and some apply to how Belly and Jeremiah feel, and Percy in the mix.

Belly walked away toward the couch where AJ was sitting, across the party from the adults, so they didn't hear what was said until much later.

AJ gave Belly a look. "Are you okay?" Belly nodded. "I told you to stop drinking."

Belly scoffed. "What's your problem?"

AJ looked up. "Are you really asking me that right now? Susannah just got hurt, and so did you, which was why I told you to stop." Conrad was walking up to the house, just done with his shower and dressed again, noticing AJ and Belly and their argument. "And what the hell was that earlier?"

Jeremiah walked up from the other direction, overhearing the fight, listening and watching it mostly as he finally saw AJ and Belly fight over whatever happened.

Lyrics: (Taylor) "Once, I had an empire in a golden age / I was held up so high, I used to be great."

Belly shrugged. "What, with the girls? The truth?"

"Okay, but it's none of your business," AJ told her. "And you're doing it just to stir up drama. To get back at Steven and Taylor, or Conrad because of whatever fight is going on between you two?"

Conrad closed his eyes, sighing, having hoping to avoid this, but thinking he should've known better.

Belly and AJ noticed Conrad, looking over to him.

Lyrics: (Taylor) "They used to cheer when they saw my face / Now, I fear I have fallen from grace."

Belly laughed, nodding, not surprised, but sarcastic. "Whatever fight. Right. So Conrad still hasn't told you, huh, AJ? That's great."

"Belly," Conrad warned.

AJ looked between them. "Told me what?"

"About the fight we had the night on the beach, right before you fainted from your attack and got sent to the hospital," Belly answered. "I confess my undying love for Conrad, and he treats it like a silly crush." Conrad sighed, looking away, shaking his head. AJ looked at him with a frown. "And when I try and get him to admit that he actually feels something for me, he snaps."

"I didn't snap," Conrad told her. "I told you that I didn't like you back, and you just acted crazy."

Lyrics: (Taylor & Hayley) "And I feel like my castle's crumbling down / And I watch all my bridges burn to the ground."

AJ was in disbelief, shaking her head. "That's what this has been about?"

"Yeah, and he didn't tell you," Belly said. "Maybe he thinks it'll be too much for you and break your delicate little feelings all over again. Can't put too much on AJ, right, Conrad?"

Conrad and AJ both gave her an incredulous look.

"Or maybe we're just dealing--" Conrad started.

Belly nodded sarcastically, quoting him. "'With other, actually important shit'. Isn't that what you said? But you two aren't dealing with anything. You're just brooding and sad and sucking the life out of everybody and making the entire summer and world revolve around the two of you because everybody is just so worried and it's all they can think about."

Jeremiah was still watching, and even though he had put up a better face than Belly did during all of this, he looked like he agreed with her on this one point. He always seemed to think that Conrad was competing for attention, and that everything was a competition between them, and this was one of those things, realizing that Belly felt the same way about her and AJ's relationship. How AJ and Conrad seemed to be so good at everything they did, and Belly thought she had to be better than AJ, like Jeremiah thought he had to be better than Conrad, though Belly's competition was about trying to win Conrad.

Lyrics: (Taylor & Hayley) "And you don't want to know me / I will just let you down."

AJ looked like what Belly said was a slap to her face because that was the opposite of what she wanted, but what she feared would happen.

Conrad had been trying to avoid this directly, knowing that Belly had already been making AJ feel bad subtly about the way she was grieving and dealing, but saying it so brutally like this when she was so drunk was another thing entirely, not to mention how he had been trying to keep things close to the vest himself to try and not let it get like this either.

Yet despite both their efforts, it ended exactly like this because of Belly's jealousy.

Lyrics: (Taylor) "You don't wanna know me now."

"What the hell, Belly?" AJ asked. "Why are you acting like this? I haven't done anything to you."

Belly pouted. "Aside from take all time and attention and Conrad and focused it on you?"

Conrad scoffed. "No, you'd rather the attention to be focused all on you lately, right? This isn't AJ's fault, all right?"

Belly didn't answer, glaring.

AJ looked away, hurt, pressing her lips together. "You know I didn't do that on fucking purpose. Not like you've been doing. Is that why Taylor hit me with the volleyball? Because of whatever the hell you said to her about us?"

Belly shrugged slightly. "She keeps saying it was an accident, but..."

AJ stood, shaking her head, slightly sarcastic, though she was hurt because this was the kind of thing she had been trying to avoid all summer. "I'm sorry that I've been such an inconvenience to you. I didn't mean to do anything to you or to 'take time and attention' away from you, so why don't you just leave it alone?"

Belly shook her head. "No, just you being sick, your asthma, your parents, all of it always ends up going back to you. But, yeah, you don't mean for it to happen like that. You're just the little victim."

"Knock it off," Conrad told her.

Lyrics: (Hayley) "Once, I was the great hope for a dynasty / Crowds would hang on my words, and they trusted me."

AJ swallowed as she tried not to let Belly's words get to her as she knew she was drunk, looking away, but her being drunk herself, she couldn't stop her response. "Like you're one to talk. Who's playing the victim now, Belly? Because it looks like you're blaming everything on me and making yourself out to be the victim."

Percy, Cam and Steven walked up to the party, when they heard some of what was going on just now.

Jeremiah was just watching the fight in silence, letting it go on, until he saw Percy, Cam and Steven, finally stepping in like he just got there. "Everything okay?"

AJ shook her head, looking away, sniffing. "Fine."

Lyrics: (Taylor & Hayley) "Their faith was strong, but I pushed it too far."

Jeremiah threw his hands in the air. "You're such a shitty liar." He looked from AJ to Conrad. "Both of you are, and you're constantly lying to us when we ask you if you're okay."

Conrad was confused on how Jeremiah's fight in this came along, frowning.

While Belly was lashing out drunkenly because of her grudge with AJ, Jeremiah was lashing out not just because of his 'competition' with Conrad, or because of his reaction to Adam and how he was 'treating' their father, but because of how Conrad and AJ were 'treating' Belly when she was the one that started this, and because he felt like he was more on her side than their side given their similar views to their relationships with Conrad and AJ.

Lyrics: (Hayley) "I held that grudge 'til it tore me apart."

AJ gave a heavy sigh, just exhausted. "Maybe we don't talk because we're trying to protect you."

"No," Jeremiah replied. "You're trying to protect yourselves. It's the same fucking story every fucking time. You don't want to have to actually deal with reality. You don't want to have to put your emotions out on the table and work through them with the rest of us."

"Maybe we just don't want to talk about it, Jere," Conrad told him.

Jeremiah scoffed. "You never do anymore. But kinda have to this time. AJ, you're shutting down. And you're sick, and I get that. But this isn't leukemia, so I don't get why you're doing this now."

Lyrics: (Taylor & Hayley) "Power went to my head, and I couldn't stop / Ones I loved tried to help, so I ran them off."

AJ couldn't even bring herself to make a retort, as her breathing was starting to become an issue again.

"You weren't at the specialist appointment," Conrad told them.

Belly shrugged. "Didn't have to be to know exactly how this was all gonna go down. She pretends she's fine, then starts to pull away and self-destructs."

AJ closed her eyes at the words, because on a high level, they were true, but not in the way they were thinking. She was self-destructing when it came to other aspects of her life, like with Clay, and letting him hurt her like she used to after Thanksgiving, because otherwise she would hurt herself and likely make an attempt at her life again. She hated that Clay hung that over her head because she was scared of it happening again, scared that he was right.

Lyrics: (Taylor) "And here I sit alone, behind walls of regret."

"That's a pretty shitty thing to say, Belly," Percy told her, raising his eyebrows. "How can you seriously say that after everything that happened?"

"You're seriously telling me that she's not doing it for attention?" Belly asked.

Steven scoffed. "The last thing AJ wants is attention, Belly. Trust me."

Conrad shook his head in disgust at the words Belly said. "Yeah, I think the only one trying to get attention is you."

"You're being pretty cruel right now," Steven pointed out.

Belly glared at them, looking away.

Lyrics: (Taylor & Hayley) "Falling down like promises that I never kept."

"You don't know the first thing about everything AJ is going through, so don't pretend that you do," Percy told her. "Just like before when she was grieving and spiraling. Instead of trying to be there for her, and help her, you're judging her, making her out to be the bad guy here."

"AJ's scared," Conrad told her. "So instead of trying to do things to your own agenda, why don't you just be there for one of your supposed best friends?"

AJ couldn't breathe enough to get a word in, and she hated how this turned out.

Lyrics: (Taylor & Hayley) "And I feel like my castle's crumbling down / And I watch all my bridges burn to the ground."

Belly looked away. "I just don't understand why everyone is making such a big deal out of all of this. If it's not leukemia--"

"You know that she can still get insanely sick because of her history with it," Steven replied. "We all know that. Just give her a break."

"What?" Jeremiah asked. "Why should we after AJ and Conrad get to be a buzzkill, sucking everyone around them into their little black hole of pity--"

AJ looked down because that was exactly what she had been afraid of doing and tried to avoid doing at all costs. She could brush it off when Belly said it because she was still drunk off her ass but knowing that Jeremiah felt the same way even when mostly sober (since clearly all the teens were still a little drunk from that afternoon, except for Percy and Cam of course) crushed her to think that all of that had been in vain, because it happened anyway.

Conrad gave Jeremiah a hard look. "I swear."

Lyrics: (Taylor & Hayley) "And you don't want to know me / I will just let you down / You don't wanna know me now."

The fight was getting so loud that the adults were starting to hear it from across the party.

"Guys, come on," Cam sighed, trying to get everything to calm down again.

"Why do they get to be like this, and the rest of us get yelled at for trying to snap them out of it?" Jeremiah asked.

Percy shot him a look. "You really think it's that fucking easy to snap out of it? Or for them to even have the energy to be into the things that they used to be? To be happy and have fun? You truly do not understand the meaning of depression and PTSD if you think it's that fucking easy."

Lyrics: (Taylor) "My foes and friends watch my reign end / I don't know how it could've ended this way."

"Guys," Cam tried again.

Belly ignored Percy, looking at Cam. "And why are you even still here? Just because you're Percy's boyfriend doesn't mean you get a say in this."

Percy's eyes went wide as he realized that Belly said that in front of his parents, loud enough for them to hear, his breath caught.

Of course, the fact that Belly just outed Percy to his parents in the middle of a heated, drunken fight didn't register in Jeremiah, Belly and Steven's minds, but AJ, Conrad and Cam's eyes widened in shock.

Reagan's eyes went wide as he looked from Percy and Cam to Helaena, worried.

Helaena frowned in denial. "I'm sorry, who has a boyfriend?"

"Helaena," Reagan warned.

Helaena held up a hand toward Reagan. "Because you said Percy, Isabel. But that would mean he..." She trailed off, unable to say it, shaking her head before looking at Percy. "And you're just not."

AJ, Conrad, Steven, Reagan and Laurel looked horrified with Helaena's response to Percy being outed, wondering how in the world a mother could react like that.

Lyrics: (Taylor) "Smoke billows from my ships in the harbor / People look at me like I'm a monster."

Percy couldn't look Helaena in the eyes. "Mom--"

Though, they didn't have much time to continue.

AJ felt her airways constrict, wheezing filling the air. She pulled at the collar of her shirt and coughed.

AJ: (voice over) "Great fucking timing."

Conrad walked toward her. "AJ? AJ, hey."

AJ knew that they were all looking at her, putting her hands on her knees as she leaned over, trying to breathe. "I'm fine. It's fine."

It definitely wasn't. AJ tried to will herself to breathe, to calm down.

Lyrics: (Taylor) "Now they're screaming at the palace front gates / Used to chant my name."

Jeremiah and Belly realized how far they actually went when they saw this, looking guilty, even while they were still angry. "AJ..."

Percy held out a hand to stop them. "Stop."

Reagan and Boaz walked closer.

"All right, kids, just calm down," Boaz told them.

"AJ, it's okay," Reagan told her, helping steady her.

Conrad walked closer. "Hey, we've got you. Where's your nebulizer?"

Lyrics: (Taylor) "Now they're screaming that they hate me / Never wanted you to hate me."

AJ pointed up to her bedroom window, her legs nearly giving out from not being able to breathe and all of the warring, overwhelming emotion and conflict.

Conrad caught AJ and lifted her in his arms in a cradle, much to her to surprise.

"You got it?" Reagan asked.

Conrad nodded, carrying AJ into the house and up the stairs. AJ didn't have the energy to argue, too focused on the fact that she was inhaling but wasn't getting enough air.

Laurel, Reagan, Helaena and Boaz watched them go with concern, all still reeling from the end of the fight that they heard, and seeing what it led to, added with AJ's sickness.

Lyrics: (Taylor) "My castle's crumbling down / And I watch all my bridges burn to the ground."

John, Adam and Victoria were speechless, having no idea how to react.

Laurel looked at Belly, disgusted by her daughter's behavior today, shaking her head.

Belly noticed, her face falling when she realized Laurel heard the fight and saw what just happened. "Mom?"

"I'll deal with you later," Laurel told her, walking inside.

Percy looked at Belly in hurt betrayal after what she just did to AJ, and outing him in front of all the adults, especially his parents, and the fact that she was so drunk that she didn't even seem to realize what she just did.

Lyrics: (Taylor & Hayley) "And you don't want to know me / I will just let you down."

John walked toward Belly, knowing that it would be best to get her inside. "Come on, let's go."

"Dad?" Belly asked.

"Yeah, sweetie?" John asked, helping her toward the house. "There you go."

"I think Victoria's really cool," Belly mumbled.

John nodded a bit. "That's great, sweetie."

Jeremiah saw Adam's disappointed look and looked like that alone could crush him after what just happened, looking down, biting his lip.

Lyrics: (Hayley) "Just let you down."

Cam placed a hand on Percy's arm, not knowing what else to do, but he quickly removed his hand when he saw Helaena staring them down.

Percy followed his gaze to Helaena and his heart was beating like a hammer, having no idea how she would react, and looking scared of her reaction.

Steven shook his head in disbelief.

Helaena shook her head, walking away.

Reagan turned after her. "Don't do this."

Helaena glared at him. "I'll speak with you later, Reagan."

Helaena walked away from the party toward the driveway.

Percy walked toward Reagan. "Dad, let me talk to her. Alone."

Reagan hesitated, knowing that wouldn't end well one way or another, but he knew that Percy needed to talk to Helaena alone, nodding.

Lyrics: (Taylor) "My castle's crumbling down / You don't wanna know me now."

(Song Ends)

♾️

Inside - AJ's Room

(Song:) Breathless - Taylor Swift

Conrad carried AJ into her room, placing her down on the bed, trying to get the medicine into the cup so that they could start a breathing treatment.

Conrad sat AJ up against her pillows. "Hang in there, AJ." AJ went into a coughing fit, the wheezes between each barking cough deep and grating. "Here we go."

Lyrics: "Here you are now / Fresh from your war / Back from the edge of time / And all that you were."

Conrad held the misting mouthpiece to AJ's lips.

AJ tried to hold it herself, trying to speak between gasps. "I can... do it."

Lyrics: "Stripped to the bone / I thought you'd want to know / That when you feel the world is crashing / All around your feet."

Conrad pushed her arm down. "Let me help you and stop talking." He was brushing AJ's hair out of her face with one hand and squeezing her right hand with the other. "It's all right."

Lyrics: "Come running headlong into my arms / Breathless / I'll never judge you / I can only love you / Come now running headlong / Into my arms / Breathless / Breathless."

Boaz walked in. "Is she okay?"

AJ gasped for breath. "Percy? Is he... okay?"

Neither Conrad or Boaz were surprised that AJ was more worried about Percy than herself.

"I don't know," Boaz admitted. "I just know that Percy's talking to Helaena and Reagan right now. Can't imagine how it's going. Maybe we should take her to the ER?"

AJ immediately shook her head.

Boaz and Conrad both gave her a look at that, sighing.

"We might be better off keeping her home and doing back-to-back nebs like Adilah and Khalid did when we were kids," Conrad admitted. "ER would be filled with firework mishaps anyway."

AJ relaxed slightly. They sat there for the duration of the treatment, AJ's coughing getting better but her wheezing staying about the same. She was squirming, trying to get a few good breaths, and failing.

AJ: (voice over) "Happy fucking Forth, everybody."

Lyrics: "Lay down your guns / Too weak to run."

Conrad continued soothing out AJ's hair, and it calmed her a lot, making her less focused on difficulty breathing as it pulled her attention to him. "It's all right."

Lyrics: "Nothing can harm you here / Your precious heart / Broken and scarred / Somehow you made it through."

Boaz pulled the mouthpiece away, checking to see if there was any medicine left in the cup.

AJ took one breath and coughed, an unexpected gob of something moving in her chest and making its way up. Conrad was there with a tissue at her mouth before she could say anything, and she spit, feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment.

"Easy, easy," Conrad whispered, as AJ's lungs went at it again. "It's okay."

Lyrics: "I only ask that you won't go again."

"I'll get a glass of water," Boaz told them, walking out of the room.

Conrad held the mouthpiece up to AJ's lips again.

AJ's coughing finally slowed, and she took the mouthpiece from Conrad so she could finish the treatment, feeling a lot better now. "You don't have to stay with me."

"I'm not going anywhere," Conrad replied.

AJ couldn't help but smile slightly.

Lyrics: "I'm so glad to see you smiling / So good to hear your laugh."

Conrad listened to her breathing. "You're not wheezing as badly as before, which, yeah, glad. But I'm worried once the medicine is out of your system that it's gonna start up... again."

AJ knew he was right, and she hated having to be looked out for like this, but relieved and grateful that they did at the same time. "I feel okay now."

Lyrics: "I think that you've found you even / Missed yourself."

Conrad eyed her with suspicion. "You don't have to lie to me. I know you feel like shit. I can see it in your eyes." AJ rubbed at the burning in her chest. "You were working pretty hard to breathe."

Boaz walked into the room to place down the glass of water. "Here you go, AJ. You've got a few more minutes on this treatment."

"I'll be fine, Boaz," AJ told him softly. "You can go. Thank you."

Boaz gave her a soft smile, not wanting to leave her if she needed him, but he could see that she was starting to feel better and knew that she needed some space and not to be hovered around all the time, nodding. "Conrad, call down to one of us if she gets worse?"

"Of course," Conrad promised.

Boaz nodded, walking out of the room.

Conrad laid down next to AJ... just like he used to when they were kids and she was sick.

AJ: (voice over) "Even after what happened, or because of what happened, Conrad stayed with me. Like old times. And at the moment, that's all that mattered."

Lyrics: "I'm only asking this because I think that / Truth be told."

AJ took several deep breaths. "Are you okay?"

Conrad shook his head, not surprised, chuckling. "You really shouldn't be asking about me right now."

"Deal with it," AJ replied.

Lyrics: "Oh, you'll never go again / Again, again."

Conrad tilted his head. "Shh. Just let the medicine do its thing."

AJ wanted to keep talking, but she knew that he was right, and she had to stop so that she could finally get her breath back.

Of course, AJ realized that Conrad didn't answer her question again. And even if she had the breath to, she wouldn't push him to tell her until he was ready. Not like what everyone was doing to them which only made things worse.

Lyrics: "When you feel the world is crashing / Come running into my arms."

(Song Ends)

♾️

Driveway

(Song:) God Must Hate Me - Catie Turner

Heleana was waiting in the driveway for her driver, clearly still dealing with the revelations, looking haunted like her worst nightmares came true.

Lyrics: "Do you ever see someone and think 'Wow, God must hate me'? / 'Cause He spent so much time on them and for me, He got lazy."

Percy walked toward her hesitantly, stopping at a distance. "Mom?"

Helaena swallowed. "Not now, Percy. Go back to your father."

"Can we just talk about this, please?" Percy asked.

Lyrics: "Got ample metal illness personality flaws / While their only flaw seems to be is that they have none at all."

"Talk about what?" Helaena asked. "How you've been lying to me and mocking me for who knows how long?"

Percy frowned, not knowing where Helaena got that from. "I didn't want this to happen. I never meant for any of this to happen. From what I am to this situation, all of it. Mom, I swear."

Lyrics: "Do you ever see someone and think, 'Wow, God must hate me'?"

Helaena gave Percy a heated look. "Oh, that is quite clear, considering I had to find out from that mess of a girl Isabel."

Percy took a nervous breath. "I know you're upset."

Lyrics: "I'll let 'em take accountability / For everything that's wrong with me."

Helaena scoffed. "Of course I'm upset. You know what else upsets me? The fact that everybody seems to be aware of something about my son besides me. But at least your father knew, right?"

"What does Dad have to do with this?" Percy asked.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me Reagan doesn't know about this... situation," Helaena told him, struggling to say the last word.

Lyrics: "Can't hold myself responsible / So I blame the metaphysical."

Percy looked hurt but unsurprised by the way she was acting. "I didn't know how to tell you. I was afraid of this exact same situation."

"But you told your father?" Helaena asked.

"Well, yes," Percy answered. "But--"

Lyrics: "If Jesus died for all our sins / He left one behind, the body I'm in."

"So you love Reagan more than me?" Helaena asked.

"I didn't say that," Percy told her.

"You don't have to say it," Helaena replied. "It's quite clear you want to live with him now, I imagine too."

Lyrics: "Same hands that made the moon and the stars / Got carpal tunnel and forgot some parts."

Percy shook his head, desperate to know why she had to turn it into this whole ordeal while purposely avoiding what mattered. "I don't wanna live with anybody. I just want us to talk about this."

"So this entire thing was just some plot of you and your father to leave me behind," Helaena rambled. "I can finally see it."

Lyrics: "I don't know what I believe / But it's easier to think He made a mistake with me."

Percy scoffed incredulously, emotionally. "Are you actually making this a battle between you and Dad? For God's sake, Mom."

"This is about how you think you feel for boys," Helaena told him. "You're just confused."

Lyrics: "Do you ever see someone and think, 'wow they got lucky'? / The craftsmanship of their bones, their brain and their body."

Percy put up a hand. "Mom, stop. I'm sorry that you feel betrayed. That was never my intention. But I'm not confused. I'm sure that I'm gay. It's the only thing that I'm actually sure of in my whole life."

Helaena put a hand to her head. "I need to think. I need to make sense of this."

Lyrics: "When I look into the mirror for too long, it hurts / They don't track how many steps it takes to burn off dessert."

"What do you mean, make sense?" Percy asked.

"Yes, make sense," Helaena repeated. "How am I supposed to make sense of this?"

Percy shook his head, his voice breaking. "You're my mom. Your job isn't supposed to make sense of it."

"Then what do I do?" helaena asked, truly not knowing what to do.

Lyrics: "Do you ever see someone and think, 'wow, they got lucky'?"

Percy looked like he could cry at any minute, fearing that he could lose his mother because of this, because of who he was and how he loved.

Percy: (voice over) "She actually sounds genuine, like she has really no idea what to do or how to handle this. My mother's the most decisive person in the world. I have never seen her struggle before. I'm scared. I'm really scared."

Percy managed to shrug. "Love me anyway."

Lyrics: "I'll let 'em take accountability / For everything that's wrong with me."

Helaena was about to speak when her driver finally arrived. She turned to look at the car before at Percy, shaking her head. "I can't do this right now, Percy."

Helaena turned around, walking away toward her car.

Percy started to cry. "Mom." Helaena stopped but didn't turn around. "Please."

Lyrics: "Can't hold myself responsible / So I'll blame the metaphysical."

Percy: (voice over) "This is it. This is your chance to choose me. So just turn around and choose me, please just choose me."

Helaena closed her eyes, letting a tear fall, looking like she really wanted to turn around and go back to Percy, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, wiping her cheek, walking toward the car, getting in.

Lyrics: "If Jesus died for all our sins / He left one behind, the body I'm in."

Percy froze for a moment, starting to cry, a strangled, pained sound leaving his lips. He ran toward the car, banging on the door, trying to open it, but it was locked. "Mom, please, don't go. I'm sorry."

Helaena couldn't watch, turning her head, taking a breath before speaking to the driver. "Let's go."

The driver turned on the car, driving away, leaving a broken-hearted Percy behind.

Percy watched the car drive away, crying.

Lyrics: "Same hands that made the moon and the stars / Got carpal tunnel and forgot some parts."

Reagan walked outside, hoping that Helaena would have still been here, but he also wasn't shocked to see her driving away, leaving Percy in tears. "Percy..."

Percy broke down, sobbing. "Dad..."

Lyrics: "I don't know what I believe / But it's easier to think He made a mistake with me."

Reagan walked closer, wrapping his arms around Percy, and Percy buried himself into Reagan's hold, needing to after being abandoned by his mother in this way when he needed her more than ever, struggling to relax in the calming and comforting embrace of his father.

Lyrics: "Do you ever see someone and think, 'Wow, God must hate me'? / 'Cause He spent so much time on them and for me, He got lazy."

(Song Ends)

♾️

Inside - Susannah's Room

Susannah was still shaken up from the fall earlier, taking off her jewelry, angry about how this whole day turned out, sitting on her bed.

Laurel walked in. "I'm sorry about your grandmother's cake stand."

Susannah rolled her eyes, looking away. "Whatever."

"Well, I see you're not wearing your ring," Laurel pointed out. "Want to tell me what the hell is going on with you and Adam?" Susannah didn't answer, didn't even look at her. "I'm sorry, but how was I supposed to know the two of you weren't getting along?"

Susannah stood, stepping away from her bed. "We should get back to the party."

Laurel walked toward her. "No, we're not leaving this room until you tell me what's going on."

Susannah sighed, turning to face her. "He cheated on me three years ago with his secretary."

Laurel was shocked. "What?"

"While I was going through chemo," Susannah answered.

Laurel looked at her in disbelief. "Are you..."

Laurel sighed, looking away as it all clicked.

Susannah plastered on a smile, trying to joke her way through it. "So '80s, right? Then again, Adam never was very creative."

Susannah tried to walk past.

Laurel stepped in her way. "Wait. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you would've told me to leave him, and I didn't want to, and now I do," Susannah answered.

"Why now?" Laurel asked.

"I don't want him next to me at the end," Susannah answered.

Laurel was furious. "I'm gonna kill him."

"Laurel, I've handled it," Susannah told her. "By the time we get back, he'll be moved out."

"Uh..." Laurel trailed off, frowning. "Hold on. Y-y... slow down a second. Adam's a dick, but you're gonna need him. The boys are gonna need him."

"We will be fine without him," Susannah disagreed.

Laurel gave her a look. "Okay, but clearly you aren't."

Susannah shook her head, scoffing softly. "You always think you know so much better than everyone else. Just-just stop trying to manage my life."

"If I don't, who will?" Laurel replied. "Beck, you're not thinking this through. Who's gonna drive you to your appointments, who's gonna make sure the boys are eating and going to school?"

"Look, I am doing my best, okay?" Susannah asked. "So just stop pressuring me."

"You know I'm gonna be the one who has to clean all this up," Laurel told her.

Susannah's comment was snarky, snide. "Well, nothing will make you happier. You handled everything with Adilah and Khalid fine, didn't you?"

Laurel gave her a cold look for the low blow, hurt, offended. "Fuck you."

Laurel turned around, walking away.

♾️

Belly's Room

Belly was passed out in bed.

Boaz saw her bedroom door open and checked on her before closing the door.

♾️

Hallway

Boaz looked into AJ's open door, seeing Conrad and AJ also both fell asleep in AJ's bed, leaving the door open, but glad to see that they looked slightly calmer and better after earlier, that they both seemed to be fine.

Laurel walked into the hallway, seeing Boaz checking on the kids. "How are they?"

"Better," Boaz answered. "Good. Asleep." Laurel nodded in relief, even though she was still angry at Belly for the stunt she pulled at the party, the mess she caused for everyone involved, including Susannah during their fall. Boaz looked at Laurel knowingly, concerned, checking in. "You good?"

Laurel shook her head, exhausted and overwhelmed with everything going on. "No."

Boaz nodded in understanding. "You wanna go get a drink? I know I could use one after today."

Laurel thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Laurel and Boaz walked downstairs and left the house.

When they were gone, Susannah walked out of her room, noticing AJ's bedroom door open, walking closer, looking inside to check on her after hearing about earlier. She was only slightly surprised to see Conrad sleeping next to her in bed. Even with her own raging conflict of emotions, she couldn't help but smile at the sight of them like that.

♾️

Sunset - Beck House - Outside

A few hours later, Jeremiah and Steven were cleaning up the outside of the house by the pool.

Jeremiah kept picking up trash and throwing it at Steven, missing the trash bag in his hands each time. "Ready?"

"Why is your aim so bad?" Steven asked.

"Hey, listen, it's not my fault you can't hold a garbage bag," Jeremiah replied.

Percy walked closer. "Hey, Dumb and Dumber, can you guys help me set up the fireworks?"

"Yeah, sure," Steven answered.

Jeremiah nodded. "Let's go. Come on."

Percy, Steven and Jeremiah walked away.

♾️

Inside - AJ's Room

(Song:) Willow - Taylor Swift

AJ and Conrad had fallen asleep together in AJ's bed.

When AJ woke up next to Conrad, she thought she was dreaming, as she ended up as the little spoon, with Conrad behind her, his soft exhales making the skin on the nape of her neck tingle.

Lyrics: "I'm like the water when your ship rolled in that night / Rough on the surface but you cut through like a knife / And if it was an open-shut case / I never would've known from that look on your face / Lost in your current like a priceless wine."

AJ smiled, taking in the quiet moment.

AJ: (voice over) "Is this what it would be like, when we were older? Me and Conrad together? If this ended up being something?"

Lyrics: "Wait for the signal and I'll meet you after dark / Show me the places where the others gave you scars."

AJ closed her eyes, hoping the moment could last forever. She liked having Conrad's warm body against hers, the two of them wrapped together. Soon, she was falling back to sleep.

Lyrics: "The more that you say / The less I know / Wherever you stray / I follow."

And alternatively, Conrad was starting to wake up, noticing AJ slipping back into sleep next to him. He watched her for a moment, pain, longing, denial and contentment equally visible in his expression. He reached up to brush her hair out of her face.

AJ hummed softly at the action, in the middle of consciousness.

Lyrics: "Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind / Head on the pillow, I could feel you sneaking in / As if you were a mythical thing."

Conrad chuckled a bit at the reaction, slipping out of bed without moving too much so she could go back to sleep if she wanted to, knowing she needed sleep from lack thereof lately, walking out of the room.

Lyrics: "I'm begging for you to take my hand / Wreck my plans / That's my man."

(Song Ends)

♾️

Hallway

(Song:) Where'd All the Time Go? - Dr. Dog

Conrad walked into the hallway, waking himself up from the short nap, running a hand through his tangled hair to pull it back out of his face.

Adam was in the bathroom across the hallway, about to smoke a cigarette.

"Hey, Dad?" Conrad asked. "Can you not do that around AJ's room, please?"

Adam realized, nodding, putting the cigarette away. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Did you just wake up?"

"Yeah," Conrad answered.

"I'm proud of the way you took care of AJ," Adam admitted. The words made Conrad think that he could talk to his father for a moment, about to say something, before the next thing ruined it completely. "But why'd you two let Belly get so drunk? You're lucky she and your mom didn't get hurt. Let alone, that fight with you kids was because you let her get so drunk."

Conrad frowned at the way that Adam was blaming him for that. "I didn't know she was drinking that much. And AJ tried to stop her, but Belly wouldn't listen to AJ."

"You're the oldest," Adam told him. "You're supposed to look out for all the younger kids. And whatever's going on with you and Jere, let it go. He's a kid and lashing out because all of this going on with what happened with Adilah and Khalid, and you and AJ, and it's taking a lot of attention. And Jere shouldn't have lashed out like that, but, I mean..."

Conrad was hurt, incredulous but not surprised, scoffing, shaking his head. "This isn't Adilah and Khalid's fault for dying, or AJ's for going through hell yet none of the other 'kids' but me and Percy seems to give a damn. And it's not mine. I'm sorry that us almost dying and dealing with it now, and AJ being sick is taking attention away from the other kids. I don't know why, but I thought I could talk to you."

Conrad turned to walk away.

Adam stepped after him. "Hey, hold... Connie, hold on. I'm sorry, man. I got a lot going on right now."

"Just leave, Dad," Conrad told him, walking away.

Adam sighed heavily.

(Song Ends)

♾️

Night - Beach

Percy, Steven and Jeremiah were setting up the fireworks.

Jeremiah was further down the beach than they were, setting off a green firework, cheering when he did. "Yeah! That was awesome!"

Percy and Steven weren't into it right now because of all the drama that Belly started and the fight that happened.

Steven looked at Percy. "You okay? You and Cam?"

"I'll get back to you on that," Percy told him.

Steven nodded in agreement. "How did Reagan and Helaena take it?"

"Can we not talk about that?" Percy asked.

"Sure," Steven answered.

Percy sighed, letting out a heavy breath. "So what about you? I know why I'm a depressed mess right now. Why are you?"

"Shayla knows about Taylor," Steven answered.

"Oh, shit," Percy said, frowning, before realizing. "Let me guess."

Steven and Percy both said it. "Belly."

"Yeah," Steven answered. "And I think she outed AJ and Conrad to Nicole, even though they're not even fucking together."

Percy scoffed. "Of course she did. She was on a fucking tear today." Steven nodded in agreement. "What about you and Shayla?"

"That's the thing, man," Steven told him. "Like, Shayla didn't even seem mad. I don't... I don't know, she didn't even seem to care. She said we weren't anything serious anyways."

Percy scoffed. "And you bought that? Dude, it's like Nicole with Conrad, and why she's mad even though they're not anything serious anyway either. Nicole wants Conrad to say they're exclusive, and Shayla wants the same thing from you."

Steven was startled by that. "What? No."

"Yes, dummy," Percy told him.

Steven shook his head. "No. No, no, no, no."

Percy tilted his head. "Yes. I know how girls think."

Realziing he was right, and going nuts with his own emotions, Steven started pacing. "Oh, fuck." Percy chuckled. "Dude, I don't know, man. I'm just... I am just crazy about her. I swear, I've just never felt this way about anyone else."

"Well, quit your fucking moping and go tell her," Percy told him.

Steven nodded to himself. "What about you and Cam? Are you guys still..."

"I don't know," Percy admitted. "I just know that I'm freaking out after that party, and I'm freaking out about losing him, because I am quite certain he's the best thing that's happened to me lately, or, like, ever, but..."

Steven tilted his head. "Well, maybe you should go talk to him, too. Take your own advice, Percy."

Percy realized he was right. "Thanks, Steven."

Steven held out his fist. "Give me some. Come on."

Percy smiled, fist bumping with Steven as his cousin returned the smile.

♾️

Beck House - Belly's Room

Belly was starting to wake up, extremely hungover.

There was a knock on the door.

Belly sighed. "Yeah."

John opened the door, walking in to join Belly with a plate of food and a glass of water. "Hey, there. How's my little Bean?"

Belly held her head, struggling to sit up. "Bean is broken. Ow. Oh, my head." John put the water on the bedside table, sitting in front of Belly. "Is Susannah really mad at me?"

John tilted his head. "Susannah could never be mad at you."

Belly sighed. "Well, Mom is, after the fight."

"Yeah, I'm not happy about all that either," John admitted. "But I'm not gonna blame you for drinking. I'm not one to talk, and neither is Mom. I remember on July Fourth when Adilah rented a margarita machine. All us adults were there, but we were your kids' ages." He whistled, laughing softly. Belly gave a soft laugh in return. John handed her the plate. "Here, this helped. Trust me, the bread and grease are your friends."

Belly picked up the pizza that was on the plate, taking a bite, humming, putting it back down, wincing at the pounding in her head. "I can't really picture Mom drunk."

"Well, didn't happen often, but when it did, look out," John said lightly.

They both laughed softly.

"Do you still love her?" Belly asked.

"Um, I think I'll always be a little bit in love with Laurel," John answered.

Belly clearly held the resentment she felt toward her mother because of the next thing she said, this reason being why she wasn't really nice to her mother and blamed her for the divorce. "But, um, she stopped being in love with you?"

"It's not that simple," John told her. "Um... sometimes, people change. They grow in different directions. It doesn't mean they stop loving each other."

"Where is Mom?" Belly asked.

"She left," John answered. "I think she and Susannah had some kind of fight."

Belly frowned. "What?"

"Don't worry," John told her. "They'll work it out. They always do."

Belly sighed. "Is everybody else still here?"

"The debs are gone, Cam went home after the fight, because of a scene with Helaena, Percy and Reagan," John explained. "After what you said during the fight, about Percy and Cam... and Helaena took off, and Reagan needed a moment on his own, too, after the way she reacted."

Belly realized. "Oh, my God. I outed Percy to Reagan and Helaena."

John nodded, looking down, disappointment clear in his features. "And very unkind and unsympathetic toward what AJ and Conrad have been going through since what happened on Thanksgiving." Belly didn't answer to that, looking away; she felt a little guilty about taking it too far when she was drunk, but she still thought everything she said. "I think you owe all of them an apology."

Belly didn't know what to say, sighing, looking down, continuing to eat her pizza.

♾️

Foyer

Jeremiah walked in.

Adam was walking to the door with his bag.

"Dad?" Jeremiah asked.

Adam set his bag down. "Hey, kid."

Jeremiah frowned at his bag. "Are you leaving already?"

Adam nodded. "Yeah, uh, Barclay deal's falling apart. Got to get the next flight back to London tomorrow."

"It's Fourth of July weekend," Jeremiah pointed out.

Adam shrugged. "Yeah, the Brits don't really consider our independence a holiday, so..."

Jeremiah was disappointed, hurt. "I thought you were going to teach me some curl routes."

"Promise, all right?" Adam asked. "After I close this deal. And we got to talk varsity football for next year."

Jeremiah shook his head, his voice bitter even to his own ears as he said this. "Oh, I'm not that good, Dad. I'm not Conrad."

"You're faster than he ever was," Adam told him. Jeremiah gave a slight smile at that, barely noticeable. Adam gave him a hug. "All right, love you, son."

"I love you, too, Dad," Jeremiah told him, upset that he was leaving so soon.

Adam pulled away, picking up his bag. "All right, see ya."

Without another word or look, Adam walked out of the house, closing the door behind him.

Jeremiah turned to look at the door, his expression falling in disappointment and sadness.

♾️

Shayla's House - Outside

Steven walked up to the house, seeing Shayla sitting on the couch on the porch. "Hi, uh..."

Shayla gave a forced smile. "What's up?"

Steven walked closer. "Look, can we revisit, you now, the whole thing about you and me being casual?"

"Sure," Shayla answered.

"Uh, can I sit?" Steven asked.

"Sure," Shayla answered.

Steven sat down next to her. "All right. Um... so, look, I-I fucked up before. Uh, uh, no. Actually twice. First, when I hooked up with Taylor... w-which was the dumbest thing I've ever done, okay? And then... and then earlier today, when you said we weren't anything serious, and I agreed with you. I-I didn't... I don't know. I didn't mean that shit."

"Then why did you say it?" Shayla asked.

"Because I choked," Steven answered. "I... Look, I'm sorry. All right? I-I'm sorry. You just make me so nervous."

Shayla frowned. "Why?"

"Why?" Steven repeated. "W... Because you are you. I don't... I don't want to be with anybody else. All right? I mean, do you?"

Shayla smiled, shaking her head. "No."

They both smiled, starting to kiss.

♾️

Beck House - Outside

(Song:) That Funny Feeling - Phoebe Bridgers

Percy looked out over the distance, wind blowing through his hair, so upset and overwhelmed, and on the verge of crying again, feeling like he couldn't really breathe.

Lyrics: "Stunning 8K resolution, mediation app / In honor of the revolution, it's half-off at the Gap."

Cam slowly walked closer in concern and worry, sympathetic.

Lyrics: "Deadpool's self-awareness, loving parents, harmless fun."

Percy turned to see Cam, surprised. "Cameron?"

"I'm not gonna ask if you're okay," Cam said softly. "But I'm here."

Lyrics: "The backlash to the backlash to the thing that's just begun."

"You've been waiting this whole time?" Percy asked.

Cam nodded, not knowing what to say at first. "I just..." He exhaled, speaking from the heart. "I just couldn't handle leaving you here alone."

Lyrics: "There it is again, that funny feeling / That funny feeling."

Percy's defenses melted away at the words, and he started to cry, immediately reaching for Cam. Cam met him halfway and pulled Percy into his embrace as they held each other tightly, and Cam let Percy cry into his shoulder, just holding him comfortingly and protectively, stroking his hair.

Lyrics: "There it is again, that funny feeling / That funny feeling."

Cam calmed and comforted Percy until his sobs eventually settled. No other words needed to be spoken as they just held each other tightly and Cam was just there for Percy.

Lyrics: "The surgeon general's pop-up shop, Robert Iger's face / Discount Etsy agitprop, Bugles' take on race."

Finally, they pulled away enough to look at each other.

Percy shook his head. "I can't take it anymore."

Cam cupped his neck. "Let's get out of here. I think I have something that can take your mind off of it. We deserve to have something good tonight. You especially."

Lyrics: "Female Colonel Sanders, easy answers, civil war / The whole world at your fingertips, the ocean at your door."

Percy looked at Cam curiously, nodding, tears still on his cheeks, which Cam wiped away with his thumbs before taking his hands and leading him away. They walked away together toward the beach.

Lyrics: "The live action Lion King, the Pepsi Halftime Show / Twenty thousand years of this, even more to go."

♾️

Beach

Cam led Percy to the beach to cheer him up, so they could have a little picnic of their own on the beach.

Lyrics: "Total disassociation, fully out your mind / Googling derealization, hating what you find."

They continued walking until they came upon the picnic with lights over it, hung by posts in the sand.

Lyrics: "That unapparent summer air in early fall / The quiet comprehending of the ending of it all."

Percy and Cam smiled and sat down to enjoy the picnic, and just enjoying the breeze as they looked over the ocean.

Lyrics: "There it is again, that funny feeling / That funny feeling."

When the fireworks started, Percy and Cam could watch the fireworks from here, together.

Lyrics: "There it is again, that funny feeling / That funny feeling."

♾️

Bar

(Song:) False God - Taylor Swift

Laurel and Boaz were sitting at the bar together.

"Gin martini, very cold," Laurel ordered.

"Bourbon, neat," Boaz ordered. The bartender nodded. "Thank you." Boaz looked at Laurel in amusement. "Hemingway would approve. He used to freeze water in tennis ball cans and put them in the martini pitcher so his martini was ice cold."

Lyrics: "But we might just get away with it / Religion's in your lips."

Laurel chuckled at the little piece of trivia. "That's right, you were really back into literature back in the day."

Boaz shrugged. "Still am. Just not my life's work like yours."

Lyrics: "Even if it's a false god / We'd still worship."

Laurel nodded in acknowledgement. "Thank you for this. I just needed to get away for a while."

Boaz tilted his head in toward Laurel. "I think we all need to get away once in a while."

Lyrics: "We might just get away with it / The altar is my hips."

Laurel was staring at Boaz. Boaz returned her gaze, as their look was heated and longing, as if finally letting down some barrier they kept up between them over the years when they knew that both of them were free, the subtle but obvious sexual tension from before very obvious and on the brink now.

Lyrics: "Even if it's a false god / We'd still worship this love."

For a while, they just drank and had fun, laughing and smiling and chatting away, until finally, Laurel surprised even herself when she was the one that asked. "Hey, do you wanna get out of here?"

Boaz raised an eyebrow with a slight smile. "Where to?"

Lyrics: "We'd still worship this love / We'd still worship this love."

♾️

Boaz's Car

As soon and Laurel and Boaz got back to Boaz's car, it didn't take them long before they were hooking up.

Boaz turned his head just in time so that Laurel's lips were mere inches from his own, parting her lips, hand coming up to her face to caress her cheek over so gently, their eyes fluttering shut, their lips meeting in a slow, sultry, heated kiss. They went for another, and another after that.

Lyrics: "I know heaven's a thing / I go there when you touch me."

Boaz pulled Laurel over the console and into his lap, kissing her, cupping her face between his hands, breaking apart from her lips just enough so he could look in her eyes, kissing her again, becoming very hot and heavy, quick and hungry, until his hands found their way to the area of her hips where her dress bunched up.

Lyrics: "Honey hell is when I fight with you / But we can patch it up good."

Laurel placed her hands over Boaz's, which were gingerly grazing the folds of her dress, awaiting permission, egging him to push her dress up higher by moving his hands with hers, inching her dress up higher and higher, until he lifted it up off of her, savoring every touch, marveling at her.

Lyrics: "Make confessions and we're begging for forgiveness / Got the wine for you."

Laurel ghosted her hands down Boaz's stomach, peeling his shirt up his body, and he lifted his arms so she could take it off, tossing it into the seat beside them, along with her dress. He kissed her, holding her waist.

Lyrics: "And you can't talk to me when I'm like this / Daring you to leave me just so I can try and scare you."

Laurel kissed Boaz, grounding her hips up and down and in circles over his pants, causing him to groan into her mouth, moving her lips along the curve of his jaw, trickling down his neck, across his collar bones, releasing one of his hands, running it through his hair.

Lyrics: "You're the West Village / You still do it for me, babe."

Laurel leaned to the left and pulled the lever at the side of his seat that made it recline, straddling Boaz's lap, pushing up on his chest. Her hands fiddled with his button and zipper as her back lightly pushed up against the steering wheel.

Lyrics: "They all warned us about times like this / They say the road gets hard and you get lost when you're led by blind faith / Blind faith."

Laurel pulled down Boaz's pants and he kicked them off, along with his shoes. Their eyes met, and she unclasped her bra, letting it fall, shifting back up his body, kissing him, kneeling over him with her knees on either side of his hips, reaching behind her, taking hold of his cock, positioning it at his core.

Lyrics: "But we might just get away with it / Religion's in your lips."

Boaz helped by pushing the satin material that covered her entrance to the side so he could enter Laurel. She lowered herself onto his length, as both whimpered and moaned. His hands lightly grasped her hips as the soft skin of her inner thighs finally touched his pelvis.

Lyrics: "Even if it's a false god / We'd still worship."

Boaz gently pulled Laurel down to kiss her again as they moved in sync. Just after they broke their kiss, she swiped her tongue over her lips to taste him again, moving her hips up and down, her hands gripping onto his biceps, digging her nails into his skin. His hands made their way up her waist and to her chest, grazing his thumbs over her nipples.

Lyrics: "We might just get away with it / The altar is my hips."

Boaz smiled slightly, as they were taking their time, but eager all the same as this felt like it had been a way too long of a wait for them both, leaning forward and sucking on both of her breasts, making Laurel shiver.

Lyrics: "Even if it's a false god / We'd still worship this love."

Boaz wrapped his arms around Laurel's body, bringing her back down with him so she was lying on him with him holding her to his chest, impaling her again, gradually picking up the speed, their foreheads pressed together as her body jerked up against him with every thrust.

Lyrics: "We'd still worship this love / We'd still worship this love, ah."

Boaz drove into Laurel harder and harder at an even pace, faster, kissing her hard to remind her of who was making her come undone. Her spine arched, grinding her hip bones into his. He pushed into her as far as he could, holding himself there while her body shook with every wave of ecstasy that rolled through them both when they reached their limit.

Lyrics: "Still worship this love / Even if it's a false god."

Both of them were breathing heavily by the end, and neither of them made a move to break away, their foreheads resting together as they just caught their breath, remaining in each other's hold.

Lyrics: "Even if it's a false god / Still worship this love."

(Song Ends)

♾️

Beck House - Kitchen

Laurel walked in through the backdoor, taking off her shoes, running her hands through her hair, smiling as she thought about what just happened with her and Boaz, walking into the kitchen.

Belly was sitting at the kitchen counter, eating. "Hi."

Laurel jumped, putting a hand to the doorway. "Jesus. What are you doing?"

"I'm just having some cereal before I go for a swim," Belly answered. "Where were you?"

Laurel sighed, not talking about her sex life with her daughter. "Just went for a drive."

Laurel grabbed a glass from the cabinet.

"Aren't you going to yell at me?" Belly asked.

Laurel walked toward the sink, filling her glass with water. "Do you want me to yell at you?"

"No," Belly answered. "What I want is to go back in time so that I didn't barge in on Conrad in the shower."

Laurel raised an eyebrow at this. "Was he naked?"

Laurel took a drink.

"No, he was wearing a bathing suit," Belly answered. "Ugh. But I did tell him that he looks very romantic with wet hair."

Laurel shook her head. "I hope AJ wasn't there for that."

"Thank God, no," Belly answered. "And I took it too far with AJ. I know that. And I outed Percy and Cam to Helaena and Reagan. And outed AJ and Conrad's non-relationship to Nicole. And outed Steven's hookup with Taylor to Shayla. And now they all probably hate me. And I feel bad. I just screwed up so much tonight. I'm never drinking again."

Laurel didn't see the need to make Belly feel worse when she was already beating herself up enough, nodding. "I'm gonna make hangover soup. You can have it for breakfast."

Laurel walked toward the fridge to pull out the ingredients for the soup, setting them out on the counter.

Belly looked up curiously. "Did you feel fireworks with Dad, at least in the beginning?"

Laurel sighed, shaking her head. "What I felt for your dad was... steady. It was like a... cozy campfire that would keep me warm all through the night."

"But that wasn't enough?" Belly asked.

"I guess not," Laurel answered.

"Have you ever felt fireworks for anybody?" Belly asked.

"Once, but it was never going to work out," Laurel answered. "The fire would've burned us both alive."

Belly frowned. "But it... it didn't work out with Dad, either, so how-how do you know when it's the right person?"

Laurel thought about the right way to answer. "You'll know when you want to be with that person no matter what. Too hot, too safe... you won't care. It'll just feel right."

Belly nodded at that. "Hmm." She pointed to Laurel's dress. "Um, your bow is untied."

Laurel startled, hurrying to tie the bow. "Ooh. Um..."

Belly laughed. "Love you, Mom."

Laurel was relieved to have a moment like this, where they were both happy and content, and Belly was being nice overall. "Love you, too, Bean."

Belly walked out of the house.

♾️

Outside

AJ walked outside, looking out of it, but feeling better than before.

Susannah was outside by the side door of the house, seeing AJ, giving her a slight smile as she watched the fireworks exploding into the sky in the distance from the beach. "Hi."

"Hi," AJ replied. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Susannah answered. "And you?" AJ nodded a bit. Susannah raised an eyebrow at AJ. "So, you and Connie?"

AJ blushed and pressed her lips together. "We kind of... fell asleep... together... after earlier."

Susannah hip-checked AJ softly. "Kind of?"

"We kept the door open," AJ said instantly. "I promise you, Susannah, we didn't do anything. Con was as exhausted as I was, because the next thing I knew, I was waking up next to him."

Susannah smiled. "Wrapped up in him is more like it."

AJ couldn't help a soft laugh. "Susannah!"

Susannah shrugged. "What? He was glowing when you two came down."

"He was not," AJ argued.

Susannah grinned. "AJ, he couldn't keep his eyes off of you for even a second."

"Okay, you're so wrong," AJ told her. "But also, it's weird to hear you of all people excited about this."

Susannah chuckled. "I always thought you and Belly would end up dating my boys. You know, the whole first comes love, then comes marriage thing."

AJ's eyes went wide. "Susannah!"

Laurel walked outside, hearing this. "Beck, please tell me you're not planning AJ and Belly's weddings without me." Susannah turned away awkwardly given her and Laurel's fight earlier. "And I hope we're not making tonight a habit, Amina."

AJ was blushing. "Laurel!"

The moms smiled.

Conrad walked outside. "What about tonight?"

AJ frowned, wondering how long he had been standing there. "The door was wide open. And it was an accident. We didn't mean to fall asleep."

Susannah smirked. "But I bet you didn't hate it."

Conrad scoffed a laugh in disbelief, blushing. "Mom!"

AJ put a hand to her head. "Oh, my God."

"Any plans tonight for our love birds?" Laurel asked.

"Can you... not call us that?" AJ asked, sheepish. "Please?"

AJ looked over to Conrad.

Conrad was already looking at AJ, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh, I thought maybe we could bike to the lighthouse and watch the fireworks? Like we always did before?"

AJ lit up at the suggestion.

But immediately, she knew that the moms were going to caution against it.

Laurel raised her eyebrows. "That's four miles roundtrip from here."

"Yeah, can you two not do that this year?" Susannah asked. "We just want you both to be okay."

Conrad expected them to caution them, tilting his head. "It's only about a mile and a half roundtrip if we drive to Cooley's Bay and start at the bike path there."

Susannah looked impressed but unsurprised. "Oh, so you thought this through."

AJ couldn't help a small smile at knowing that Conrad did think it through for her, touched.

Laurel looked at AJ. "Not that you need our permission. But you needed multiple treatments tonight to get your attack under control. I know it's summer and you want to keep busy, and I don't want to confine you to the house because that's not good for you either, but maybe biking isn't the best activity choice."

AJ tilted her head back, sighing. "Okay. Not tonight." She looked at Conrad, tilting her head. "Maybe when I feel better?"

Conrad nodded in agreement. "At least the dock has a better view."

AJ chuckled lightly, nodding a bit, glad that they could still make the most of it, walking onto the dock with Conrad.

Laurel and Susannah watched them go.

Belly and Jeremiah were nearby the house, watching AJ and Conrad, having heard most of the conversation.

Belly looked jealous and pissed all over again because of the conversation, while Jeremiah was pissed because of the fight earlier and getting in trouble for it, and Adam leaving.

Belly sighed, looking at Jeremiah. "So... does everyone hate me now?"

"Who could ever hate you?" Jeremiah asked.

Belly laughed lightly. "So I think my mom just got railed."

Jeremiah lit up slightly, smiling. "What?! By who?"

Belly shook her head with a laugh. "Do we even need to ask that question after this morning? Boaz took off too, and he's usually still here, so..."

Jeremiah nodded. "Wow. Go, Laurel. At least she got Boaz, that's badass."

Belly laughed.

♾️

Dock

(Song:) Electric Touch - Taylor Swift feat. Fall Out Boy

AJ and Conrad stood on the dock.

It was warm out, but the cool breeze made it comfortable.

Lyrics: (Taylor) "Just breathe, just relax, it'll be okay."

"At least it's far enough to where the smoke can't really do anything," AJ pointed out.

Conrad nodded in agreement. "Yeah." His joke revealed that he had heard most of the conversation. "So my mother is planning weddings?"

AJ couldn't help but laugh lightly. "Probably. You know she can't wait to see me and Belly in white dresses for the deb ball. I swear these dresses are more like wedding dresses."

"I think that's the point," Conrad pointed out.

Lyrics: (Taylor) "I've got my money on things going badly / Got a history of stories ending sadly."

"Yeah," AJ agreed with a sigh. "You wouldn't want to marry me though, Conrad Fisher."

Conrad looked at her curiously. "And why's that, Amina Jalali? At least you don't snore when you're tired."

"Besides the obvious?" AJ asked. "I wheeze even when I'm not tired." They both laughed. Suddenly, she was concerned with the state of her breathing earlier, and that Conrad had been with her. "I didn't keep you up earlier, did I?"

"Not at all," Conrad answered.

AJ tilted her head. "Don't lie to me, Conrad."

Lyrics: (Taylor) "Still hoping that the fire won't burn me / Just one time, just one time."

Conrad shook his head. "I'd never lie to you, AJ." AJ had a sheepish smile. "You? Did you sleep well?"

AJ smiled softly. "Best sleep of my life, especially lately. No nightmares. No nothing."

Conrad smiled at that, nodding. "Good."

Lyrics: (Taylor) "All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life / Got a feeling your electric touch could fill this ghost town up with life."

The area was filled with an electric energy, the air thick with unspoken desires.

Conrad looked at AJ, his eyes searching for something, anything, that would give him a clue as to how she felt. But she remained silent, her heart pounding in her chest.

Lyrics: (Taylor) "And I want you now, wanna need you forever / In the heat of your electric touch, mm."

Conrad looked at the time on his watch. "You know... it's 12. You know what that means." AJ nodded in agreement. Conrad held out the small box towards her, his voice barely above a whisper. "Happy birthday, AJ."

AJ took the box from his hands, her fingers brushing against his. The touch sent shivers down her spine. Slowly, she opened the box, revealing the necklace.

AJ's breath caught at the infinity necklace with the Claddagh symbol, with her birthstone in the heart (ruby), a slight gasp of awe as she couldn't help a small smile, emotional and completely moved, touched.

Conrad watched her reaction intently, smiling a bit when he saw that it wasn't a bad one. That it was a really good one.

AJ: (voice over) "Forever Infinity. Laurel gave the perfect name for all of us. Forever was family. And infinity... well, that's something I always tied to Conrad since my birthday all those years ago. For him, I would travel endlessly around those curves. Just like he's doing for me."

Lyrics: (Patrick) "I've been left in the rain lost and pining / I'm trying hard not to look like I'm trying."

AJ looked up at Conrad, her eyes filled with tears, a mix of gratitude and longing, her voice a whisper, barely audible. "It's perfect. Thank you."

Conrad nodded, his gaze fixed on her. "I... I wanted to give you something special. Something that would remind you of... us. I just... I got worried, because I knew that it could also..."

Lyrics: (Patrick) "'Cause every time I tried hard for love, it fell apart / Whoa."

"Remind me of my family," AJ finished. "I know. I thought I'd hate gifts like that. That it would make me sad and angry. But... the ones from today... well, now yesterday didn't. I mean, sad, yes. But not in the bad way. And this doesn't either."

Conrad let out a shaky breath of relief, nodding, glad that his worries, and AJ's worries, were both proven wrong. "Oh."

AJ chuckled, nodding in agreement.

Lyrics: (Taylor & Patrick) "I've gotten used to no one calling my phone / I've grown accustomed to sleeping alone."

The tension between them was palpable, the unspoken words hanging in the air. They both knew that this moment could change everything, that their unspoken desires were finally coming to the surface. But they also knew that they weren't quite ready to fully share their feelings, to take that leap into the unknown.

Lyrics: (Patrick) "Still, I know that all it takes is to get it right / Just one time, just one time."

AJ took a step closer to Conrad, her heart pounding in her chest, her voice trembling slightly. "I... I don't know what to say."

Conrad reached out, his fingers gently brushing against her cheek. "You don't have to say anything. Just know that I care about you, AJ. More than you'll ever know."

AJ bit her lip, shaking her head. "I'm not sure if I'm worth that."

Lyrics: (Taylor & Patrick) "All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life / Got a feeling your electric touch could fill this ghost town up with life."

Conrad knew most of the reasons why AJ thought that, because of her history with Clay, or Belly and Jeremiah fighting against them earlier, shaking his head. "You are. All right, don't listen to them, because they're wrong." AJ wasn't thinking just about Clay, Belly and Jeremiah when she said not sure if she was worth it, but because of everything in her life, and Conrad knew that. "AJ, you don't know the effect you have on people."

AJ looked at him, taking a shaky breath. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Conrad looked her in the eyes. "Yeah. You do."

Lyrics: (Taylor & Patrick) "And I want you now, wanna need you forever / In the heat of your electric touch, mm / And maybe I call you mine / And you won't need space / Or string me along while you decide."

As they stood there, underneath the night sky filled with bright colors of fireworks, the infinity necklace glimmering in the light, Conrad and AJ drifted slightly closer. Not even meaning to or realizing it. Like something neither of them could see or explain was pulling them closer together.

AJ: (voice over) "I could feel my heart beating through my ears. A quick metronome. Conrad's different. I'm different. Both sad, depressed, grieving, changed, damaged. Like we're living as ghosts. But the way we act around each other and affected each other didn't change. It's that little bubble around us that seems to make the entire world disappear. Keeping out all the noise and distraction, the pain. And with Conrad, I felt like I was at the top of the Grizzly at Kings Dominion, right about to go down the first hill. Ready for free fall, which is both calming yet terrifying. And if this starts, it can end so badly because that's how it always ends for me. I always end up getting burned. But I'm hoping that it won't this time. This could either break us... or bring us back to life."

Lyrics: (Taylor + (Patrick)) "I was thinking just one time / (Just one time) / Maybe the stairs align / (Just one time) / And just one time / (Just one time) / Maybe the moment's right / (The moment's right)."

Just as AJ and Conrad got dangerously close to kissing, Jeremiah lit a firework and let it loose, making it fly right past AJ and Conrad on the dock, making them both jump and pull away as they watched the firework explode with green light right over the water in front of them.

Lyrics: (Taylor) "It's 8:05 and I see two headlights..."

Belly looked at Jeremiah, weirdly thankful that he did that, even if it was just because of his issues with Conrad, but she was glad he did it because of her issues with both him and AJ.

Jeremiah met Belly's gaze expressionlessly before turning around, walking inside.

Lyrics: (Taylor & Patrick) "All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life / Got a feeling your electric touch."

On the dock, AJ and Conrad looked conflicted, half-relieved that an interruption happened because it could make everything worse in the long run, but also mostly sad and tense given that it could finally make things a little better. Both worried about taking a risk in case it all came crashing down. They spent the rest of the night silent as they glanced at each other before looking away and watching the fireworks still shining across the sky.

Lyrics: (Taylor & Patrick) "All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life / Got a feeling your electric touch could fill this ghost town up with life / And I want you now, wanna need you forever / In the heat of your electric touch, mm."

(Song Ends)

♾️

Beck House - Outside

Finally, when Percy got home, everyone had got inside, and he was alone outside. He walked toward the pool, and the table where the cake had been picked up to be thrown away. All in pieces all over the table.

Percy: (voice over) "I was told I had to face my truth. And now, it's all too clear."

Lyrics: "I wanna be an idle teen / I wish I hadn't been so clean / I wanna stay inside all day / I want the world to go away."

Percy was already almost on the verge of tears as he grabbed a fork from the table, staring at the cake in front of him, knowing what was about to happen, and he couldn't stop it no matter how hard he tried.

Percy: (voice over) "Who cares what I eat? I just don't want to feel this pain. I don't want to feel anything at all. So I turn to the only friend I can in this time of need."

Lyrics: "I wanna drink until I ache / I wanna make a big mistake / I want blood, guts and angel cake / I'm gonna puke it anyway."

Percy used the fork to scoop up the first piece of cake, eating it. Then another, and another, tears streaming down his face.

Lyrics: "Adolescence didn't make sense / A little loss of innocence / The ugliness of being a fool / Ain't youth meant to be beautiful?"

Percy picked up a piece with his hand, eating right out of his palm, before putting another forkful into his mouth instantly, then another and another.

Percy picked up some more cake with his hand and ate it intensely, like it was the only thing he had left. 

Lyrics: "Yeah, I wish I'd been, I wish I'd been, a teen, teen idle / Wish I'd been a prom queen, fighting for the title."

Percy dropped the fork altogether and ate cake from both of his hands, as much as he could.

Lyrics: "Instead of being 16 and burning up a bible / feeling super, super, super suicidal."

It was so disturbing and upsetting, and Percy hated himself so much for this, but he couldn't bring himself to stop, knowing that after he binged, he would purge, and do it over and over again.

And he couldn't stop.

Lyrics: "The wasted years, the wasted youth / The pretty lies, the ugly truth / And the day has come where I have died / Only to find I've come alive."