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"You guys seriously aren't coming to Cousins?"

Cousins.

A word Dakota hadn't heard in what felt like ages. A word he wished he could say he hadn't thought of all year. But he had. Truly it was all he could think about. For the past 18 years, that's where he spent his summer. No matter what happened, Cousins always stayed the same.

Now, he wasn't sure he would ever go back.

Dakota shook his head, "No. We haven't even said Cousins since Susannah's funeral."

"Well, wouldn't it be what she would want? For you guys to continue on with the tradition?" River tries

"I don't know. I don't even wanna talk about it." Dakota mutters

River sighed as she watched Dakota. Even through the phone she could tell he wasn't as okay as he made himself out to be. However, she couldn't really help considering he never wanted to actually talk about it and just brushed her off.

"Okay, well, how's Liz?"

Dakota scoffed, "She's been locked up in her room ever since the funeral. Barely comes out and when she does she definitely doesn't say anything." River nodded as she looked around her room. Dakota squinted as he watched her, "She hasn't talked to you?"

"No. The only reason I know she's alive is when she likes my stuff on Instagram."

Dakota raised his brows with a smile, "Well, don't feel too bad. At least you're still talking to one twin right?"

"Yeah." She chuckles. Dakota's smile widens. At least he still had River.

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River sighs as the call ended. Although hearing Dakota's voice was amazing, something about it didn't feel the same. Losing Susannah had changed him. Whether he wanted to admit it or not. River knew that and she didn't blame him. He had just lost someone that's he'd known his whole life. His family. She'd be more shocked if he hadn't changed. Susannah dying hadn't only affected them, but her as well. She had to watch as the two most important people in her life crumbled.

And knowing she wouldn't see Dakota or Liz for the first time in years, hurt her. But she knew they needed time. As River sat there, her mind reeled back to the twins. God, she missed them. Even more so, she missed Liz. Her best friend.

River couldn't remember the last time they had even went two hours without talking to each other. Now, over the past few months the contact had lessened by the second. Each message she sent slowly got left on delivered. Even then, she couldn't be mad at her. Liz had talked so highly of Susannah over the years. Each time she talked about her, Liz's face lit up. She admired her. And now, she was gone.

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As Dakota walked into the kitchen, Megan turned to him, "Hey, honey. You ready to go?"

"Yup." He sighs grabbing a water from the fridge

Megan's smile widens as Liz steps into the kitchen, "Morning, Liz. You ready to go?"

Dakota opens his water and takes a sip as Liz nods softly, "Yeah."

When it goes silent in the kitchen, Megan sighs, "I know you guys aren't exactly thrilled to sit in a car for hours, but it's Steven's graduation, so we gotta suck it up."

"That's not the problem, Mom." Dakota says

"I know." She says rubbing his shoulder, "But they're our family and we all need the support right now. Susannah would kill us if we didn't all show up."

"Conrad and Jeremiah are gonna be there?" He asked. As Dakota looked to his mom, she stayed silent. He knew the answer before he even asked. He still couldn't help the anger that coursed through him as he glared at Liz, "Right."

Without another word, Dakota storms out of the kitchen. Liz looks down at her hands as the front door opens and slams shut.

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Dakota could feel a glimmer of excitement run through him as he sat in the front seat of his mom's car. Dakota missed Steven, as well as Belly, and truly couldn't wait to see them. But as he continued thinking, he suddenly realized that Jeremiah nor Conrad were gonna be there.

"Are you guys excited?" Megan tries

"Ecstatic." Dakota mumbles sarcastically as he leans his head on the window. Megan looks through the rear view mirror at Liz.

"Liz, honey?"

Liz turns as Megan raises her eyebrows, "Uh, yeah. I'm excited."

Dakota chuckles humorlessly, "Yeah, you sound so excited."

"Dakota." Megan scolds

"It's way too early for this, Mom."

"Well, I'm sorry, but we're not missing Steven's graduation."

"Conrad and Jeremiah aren't even gonna be there." Dakota mutters

Megan sighs as Liz puts her head down, "They were busy, honey."

"Yeah, sure." Dakota scoffs as he adjusts himself in his seat and pulls his hood down to cover his eyes. He huffed as he got comfortable. Of course they were "busy". That was the excuse he kept getting from them or his mom and he was tired of it.

He wanted to believe it. He really did. But everyone knew it wasn't true. No one could face seeing each other again knowing that an important piece of all of them was gone.

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