______________________________________

The final dance was about to start and everyone noticed that Jeremiah was missing. Liz watched Belly walk around frantically in search of him.

"Where's Jeremiah?" Susannah asks, "Connie. Connie, have you seen your brother?"

"He was just here a second ago." He shrugs. She then looked to Liz who shook her head. Belly looked around nervously as she kept asking around for Jeremiah. Liz sighed softly before turning to Conrad.

"You should go dance with her." He quickly turns to her, "You know all of the dances and she can't be embarrassed at her first deb because Jere is awol." He turned to Belly who was still looking around, "Go, Connie, please."

He turned to her as he nods, "Okay." He says softly as he stands. Belly notices him standing and furrows her brows. She looked at Liz who nodded quickly as she smiled. Conrad walked up to her and took her hand as he pulled her into place just as the dance was going to start. Liz smiles and sighs in relief as the dance started and everything was okay.

"Look at them. She's luminous." Susannah smiles. She looks over at Liz, "I really wish you were out there sweetie."

"This is Belly's time. It's about her." She says

"I meant with Conrad."

Liz frowns. Laurel turns to her with a knowing look, "For you, Conrad is the sun, and when the sun comes out, the stars disappear."

Liz's face softens as Laurel turns back to the dance. She looks over at Susannah who winks before she does the same as Laurel. Liz was lost in her thoughts and had hardly realized that Jeremiah had come back.

"Jeremiah, honey, where were you?" Susannah says

"I-I ate something. I think maybe the shrimp was bad."

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. You know, the caterer is gonna be hearing from me."

"Okay, Karen." Laurel says sarcastically

"I'll get you some ginger ale. Excuse me." She says as she calls out to a worker. Liz looked up at the sound of applause and realized the dance was over. Belly gave Conrad a side hug as she smiled.

"I'll be right back." Jeremiah says

"Oh, no, honey, are you gonna be sick again? Where is that ginger ale?" Susannah frowns looking around, "I'm gonna get you one from the bar." She says as she walks over. Liz looked at Jeremiah's face and could tell something was wrong.

"Jere." She called out as he walked out to Conrad and Belly. She stood up and walked over.

"Hey." Jeremiah says quietly

"Hey, Jeremiah, where were you?" Belly asks

He ignores her, "Conrad, we need to talk, all right? It's important. It's about Mom. I found something out."

"Um... Yeah..." He says as he looks at Liz, "We'll-we'll talk about this later, okay?"

"No, it's important." Jeremiah says as he tears up

"It's okay." Conrad says putting a hand to Jeremiah's chest.

Jeremiah stops as his face falls, "You already know, don't you?"

"Know what?" Liz asks

"You've known this whole fucking time and didn't tell me?" He spits

"Jere..." He trails off. The girls look to each other in confusion. They watch as Jeremiah punches him in his face. The girls, as well as everyone else, gasp in shock.

"Jeremiah!" Liz exclaims. He then tackles Conrad as they start fighting

"Oh, my God!"

Dakota looks over and his face drops as he sees the boys on the ground, "Shit."

"Stop it. Both of you, stop it." Susannah says as the boys separate. "What is going on?"

"Mom..." Jeremiah says choked up

"We know, Mom. We both know." Conrad says

"Know what?" Belly says

"What does everyone know?" Liz says as she looks around. She looks up to Conrad who looks back at her with a sad expression.

______________________________________

Liz sat on her bed in complete shock. The teens just found out that Susannah had cancer. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she sat there not knowing what to do. She barely looks up as someone knocks on her door. Dakota stands there with red eyes as he sniffles.

"You okay?" He says softly. Liz looks down as more tears escaped. She shakes her head no. Dakota takes a seat beside her as they sat in silence.

"This whole time she's had this and we didn't even know." She says as she looks up to her wall, "The whole time."

Dakota nods softly, "We sit here and fight over the dumbest shit sometimes and meanwhile Susannah has been in pain this whole time."

They look at each other as Liz's face scrunches. A sob escapes her lips as she curls into herself. Dakota quickly wrapped his arms around her as he pulled her into him. His eyes shut with his own tears falling down as his sister sobbed in his arms.

______________________________________

Everyone sat at the table with happier expressions, still very sad, but no tears. Susannah agreed to go through with the trials to maybe get rid of the cancer which was some sort of a relief. Dakota didn't know what to make of it, but decided to go with what everyone else felt.

He was sad. Extremely sad. Susannah was like his second mother at times and to know that she was going through this by herself hurt him. He couldn't blame Conrad for not saying anything. It wasn't his business to tell and Susannah didn't even know that he knew.

While it hurt that he didn't tell them, he understood. He also carried the guilt of Conrad having to go through this alone. To know that he was calling Conrad a buzzkill and blaming him for not spending time with them made him feel horrible. He had already apologized to Conrad and of course, Conrad forgave him because Conrad understood. But that didn't stop Dakota from feeling guilty.

Dakota let out a small chuckle before taking a bite of his food. He looked over toward his sister who had her eyes on her food. Using her fork to push food around as conversation blossomed around her.

Dakota leaned over and bumped shoulders with her causing her to look up. He raised his brows showing concern. Liz gave him a small smile as she nodded. Dakota nodded slightly as she looked down at her food again. His eyes lingering on her before lets out a quiet sigh, turning back to the conversation.

______________________________________

Dakota looks over as a knock is heard at his door, "Come in."

He sits up from his bed as the door opens revealing River. His brows furrow as he hangs his feet off the bed.

"Hey." She says softly while closing his door

"Hey. What are you doing here?"

"Liz told me what happened."

"Oh." He says looking down at his hands, "Well, shouldn't you be with her?"

"I was. She's outside with Conrad." She says taking a seat beside him. Dakota kept his eyes on his hands, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He mumbles

"Dakota." She sighs as she uses her hand to cup his cheek. Forcing him to look at her, "It's okay if you're not okay. This is serious."

Dakota's eyes bounce around her face as she stares at him, "I don't know what you want me to say."

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to." She says, "But I wanna be here for you if you'll let me."

"I want you here." Dakota nods as he tears up

"Okay." River nods. She bends down and slips her shoes off before scooting back toward his pillows. She lays back and opens her arms to him.

Dakota hesitantly lays his head on her chest. Her arms immediately curl around him. Her hand coming up toward his head before her fingers comb through it. She feels him let out a deep sigh before his arm wraps around her stomach.

A comfortable silence falls over them as she holds him. The silence didn't bother River because she was willing to stay however long she needed him to. She feels him shuffle causing her to look down at him. His blue eyes peer up at her causing her to frown, "Yeah?"

"I wanted to ask you something." He says

"Okay." She nods as she moves around to get more comfortable, but still keeps her arms around him

"Does me being your date to the ball mean you're my girlfriend?"

River's frown deepens, but a small smile spreads across her face, "Not really. You kind of have to ask that sort of thing."

"Well, I didn't know you were into the formal stuff."

"Asking someone to be your girlfriend is formal?" River chuckles

"Kind of." Dakota smiles as River scoffs

"Well then yes, I'm into the formal stuff."

"Okay, then." He says sitting up and resting on his elbow, "River, will you be my girlfriend?"

River's smile widens as she rolls her eyes, "I guess so."

"You guess so?"

"Yes, Dakota." She laughs, "I will be your girlfriend."

"Good." He says before leaning down and placing a soft kiss on her lips. River melts into the kiss as her hands go up into his hair. Dakota placing a few chaste kisses before sitting up. River's eyes soften as she looks up at him.

"Thank you." He mumbles, "For being here."

"Of course." She says, "I told you to come to me whenever you needed me."

Dakota smiles softly before taking his place on her chest. His arm wrapping around her snugly as he tucks his head in her neck. River places a small kiss on his forehead before pulling him closer. If that was possible.

______________________________________

ᴛʜᴀᴛ's ɪᴛ ғᴏʀ sᴇᴀsᴏɴ 1!!! ᴛʜᴇsᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ sᴘᴇᴄɪᴀʟ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ɪɴ ᴍʏ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴅɪᴠᴇ ᴅᴇᴇᴘᴇʀ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ʀᴇʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴsʜɪᴘ. ᴀs ᴀʟᴡᴀʏs, ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴜʏs sᴏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ sᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ <33