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Dakota sat at the table with his sister as everyone was setting up for Belly's birthday breakfast. Except for Conrad who sat at the island eating cereal. Dakota could tell there was some underlying tension between Conrad and his sister. Of course, he got yelled at by her for crashing her date, but it didn't bother him much. His mind was too focused on the texts River sent him the night before.

He did, however, end up apologizing to Liz. The girl simply rolled her eyes, but it didn't seem like she had held much of a grudge since she sat next to him and spoke to him that morning.

"Golden brown and crisp. That's how it's supposed to look." Steven says pulling Dakota out of his thoughts.

"How's it going over there?" Laurel asks from the stove

"Look at these pancakes."

"It's ready." Susannah says. Liz and Dakota look over as Belly walks into the kitchen.

"Morning, everyone." Belly smiles

"Happy birthday." Dakota says loudly

"Hey!" Everyone exclaims

"There's the birthday girl, looking like a vision in floral. Happy birthday." Susannah smiles as she hugs her.

Belly laughs as Jeremiah walks up to her, "Happy sweet sixteen, Bells."

"Happy birthday." Liz comes up beside her as she wraps her arm around her shoulder. Belly's smile widens as she turns to fully hug her.

"Now Belly Button's getting old finally. Happy birthday." Steven says as he eats a piece of bacon

"Thanks, everyone." Belly says

"Happy birthday, sweetheart." Laurel says as she hugs her

"Thanks, Mom." She says as she pulls away.

"Your Mickey Mouse pancakes are ready." Laurel smiles

"Actually, I'm not really, uh, hungry." Belly says

"Oh." Laurel says quietly. Dakota's frown was evident as he looked at Belly.

"Shall we open gifts?" Susannah shrugs

"Oh, you're gonna love mine." Jeremiah says holding up his gift. Belly smiles as Liz looks towards Conrad who stays silent.

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Everyone sat in the living room as Belly opened her gift from Laurel. Dakota internally cringing at the book she pulled out.

"It's a first edition. I got it from a rare book dealer."

"Thanks, Mom." Belly nods.

"Turn to the bookmarked page." Laurel smiles. She turns to Susannah, "It's your favorite poem."

"Oh, yeah. I remember Susannah teaching us to recite this." She chuckles.

"For whatever we lose." She starts as Jeremiah joins in, "Like a you or a me." He smiles before everyone joins in after him. Dakota rolling his eyes, but joining anyway, "It's always ourselves we find in the sea."

"Thank you. I love it." She smiles

"You're welcome." Laurel says

"Okay, open mine now, Belly." Susannah says handing Belly her present

Belly opens the box to see a pearl necklace, "Oh, wow. They're gorgeous. Thank you, Susannah."

The boys lean over each other to see what Belly as looking at. Liz shoving Dakota to the side as his elbow digs into her leg. Susannah gets up to sit beside Belly to help her put the necklace on.

"My mom gave me these pearls for my sweet sixteen." She finishes and gets up to sit by Laurel again, "Radiant, isn't she?"

"They look great on you, sweetheart." Laurel smiles

Belly smiles as Jeremiah jumps up, "Oh, I'm next. Here."

"Thank you." Belly laughs. She opens box and sees a gold charm bracelet.

"It's a good-luck charm to help you pass your driving test." He laughs as she shakes her wrist

"Perfect. Thank you." She smiles

"Think fast, Belly." Steven says as he throws his present

"What?" Belly says as she catches the present.

Dakota chuckles, "Damn."

"Steven." Laurel groans

"Wow, Steven, I can't believe you actually spent money on me." Belly jokes

"Relax. I just didn't want you stealing mine next year when I get in." He smiles

"I didn't know you were still considering Princeton." Laurel says

"You know, I-I think I'm gonna apply for some scholarships, and Dad thinks I can get some financial aid." He trails off, "I-I don't know. I'll see if I get in."

"Okay. Um.." Laurel starts

"Conrad, uh, do you want to give Belly your present?" Susannah says. Everyone looks towards him.

"Sorry, I forgot." He says. Liz frowns as the room grows silent. She turns toward Dakota who shrugs.

"Uh, that's... that's cool. Um..." Belly stutters, "I wasn't really expecting anything anyway, so."

"Dude, even I didn't forget." Dakota mumbles. Liz lightly kicks him as she raises her brows.

"Oh, so I got to go. Um, I promised Cleveland that I'd show him some knots today, so." He gets up as he walks towards the door, "Happy birthday, Belly."

It's silent for a while before Dakota whistles, "Okay, well," He starts, "I didn't know what to get honestly, so this is the best I've got." He shrugs as he hands her money

Belly laughs as she takes it, "Thank you."

"Mine looks really lame now compared to everyone else's, but.." Liz says as she hands Belly a little bag. Belly opens it and pulls out a black bracelet with a butterfly charm. "It's a matching one." Liz starts as she holds out her wrist, "I don't know." She trails off

She smiles as she holds it, "This isn't lame at all. I remember our butterfly phase." She laughs as Liz smiles at her, "Thank you."

"Yeah." Liz says softly as she nods

"Hey. Why don't we take my car and practice driving before we have to pick up Taylor from the bus station?" Jeremiah says. Liz and Dakota look over at each other at the mention of Taylor. A look only the two of them could decipher.

"Sure." Belly says

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River walks into the kitchen of the summer house in search of her best friend. As she looks around, she sees Dakota rifling through the cabinets. She sighs, "Where's Liz?"

Dakota turns quickly at the sound of the girl's voice. Her brows raise as she holds her hands out impatiently. Dakota scoffs, "Shouldn't you know? She's your best friend."

"She's your sister, asshole-"

"She's outside, River." He says cutting her off. River's mouth closes slowly, "Where else would she be?"

She rolls her eyes before making her way toward the back door. Dakota's eyes follow her, "A thank you would be nice."

"Fuck off." She says before slamming the door behind her. Dakota smiles to himself before turning back toward the cabinets again.

"Your brother's an asshole." River says as she spots Liz sitting on the pool steps. Liz laughs as her best friend sets her phone on a table. She takes her shoes, shorts, and shirt off before slowly stepping into the pool and sitting beside Liz.

"You say that every time you see him." Liz smiles

"Because every time I see him, he reminds me."

Liz shakes her head before turning back to River, "Oh, before anything happens. I have to let you know something."

"What?" River groans. Before Liz could answer, the back door opens.

"Liz!" They hear. River's face drops as Liz cringes turning to Taylor. Dakota laughs at River's face as he walks out.

"Hey, Taylor." Liz says as she looks back at River who has an annoyed expression, "Sorry." Liz mouths as Dakota, Taylor, Steven, Jeremiah, and Belly get in the pool

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It had been a little while of catching up before Taylor suggested they play chicken. Everyone agreed out of boredom and the game went on for a little while before Belly finally pushed Taylor off of Steven's shoulders. They were laughing as the gate opened.

"Hey, guys." Liz turns and her heart drops. Dakota wipes his face as Conrad and Nicole come into view.

"Hey, Nicole." Belly smiles

"Hi. Happy birthday, Belly." Nicole smiles before she frowns, "Are you guys playing chicken?"

"Um, yeah. It was, it was Taylor's idea." She stutters as she points behind her

"Hey, I'm Taylor." She smiles

"Hi."

"She's my best friend from home." Belly says

"Just visiting for the weekend." Taylor finishes

"Oh. That's cute." River looks over at Liz as Nicole nods. The two friends rolling their eyes at Nicole's condescending tone. Dakota squints as he watches them before turning his attention back to Belly.

"Yeah." Belly says quietly. It's quiet for awhile before Belly shrugs, "You guys want to play
a real game?"

"Yes." Steven says

"Hell yeah." Dakota yells

"Yeah." River smiles

"Sounds good." Jeremiah says before pushing Belly back off of his shoulders.

Liz looks over at River who shakes her head with a knowing look on her face. They swim over to the middle of the pool as everyone laughs together around them.

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The teens had decided to play volleyball. The two teams were Belly, Taylor, and Liz against Dakota, Steven, and Jeremiah. River was keeping score and commentating as the game went on.

Liz was very reluctant to play seeing as she sucked at volleyball. She almost didn't play at all, but with everyone egging her on and it being Belly's birthday, she decided to play anyway. Everything was going okay until Liz had to serve. Dakota had a feeling it wasn't going to go well.

As she threw the ball up and hit it, her face dropped as the ball went completely sideways and hit Nicole in her face. Now they remembered why she didn't play volleyball.

"Ow." Nicole says as she holds her face. Dakota turns the other way holding in his laugh as Liz went to apologize.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't..." She trails off

"Oh my god." Taylor laughs

"Taylor." Belly says

"It was an accident. It's a bouncy ball." River says

"I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Liz asks ignoring River's comment

"Yeah, no, I'm totally fine. Y-You guys keep playing." She waves them off

"Let me see it." Conrad says, "Let's go inside. I'll get you some ice."

"Conrad, it's okay." She says as they stand up to walk inside

"I'm so, so sorry again, Nicole." Liz says

"Feel better, okay?" Belly says

"Yeah." Nicole says

"Come on, Liz. Conrad can take care of Nicole." River starts as Conrad turns to her, "Let's go inside and look at ourselves in the mirror some more." She nods sarcastically. Liz's eyes widen as she turns to River who keeps her eyes on Conrad.

"Yeah, have fun with that." He says before he follows Nicole. Liz sighs as River rolls her eyes before swimming to the edge of the pool.

"What the hell just happened?" Jeremiah mumbles to Dakota. The older teen holds his hands up in surrender as he shrugs.

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