______________________________________

"Say cheese." Megan says

"Cheese!"

"Love it. Okay. Here, you want to see?"

"Yeah. Yeah."

"Oh, oh, no."

"Oh, that's so cute!"

"Okay." Steven says as they walk off of the dock. Conrad and Dakota linger behind.

"Hey, thank you for being here, man. Seriously, it means a lot."

"Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I was pretty clutch." Dakota jokes

"You were pretty clutch, man." Conrad chuckles

"Yeah." Dakota laughs. He watches as Conrad stares at Liz who's running away from Steven and Jeremiah, "You gonna tell her?"

Conrad snaps out of it and looks over at him, "I mean, I want to. I just... don't know if I should."

"Look, a couple days ago, I would've begged you to stay away from her, all right? And I would've probably threatened physical violence if you ever hurt her again." Conrad smiles as Dakota laughs, "That doesn't mean I'd actually do it... I just want to put the thought out there."

"No, no. I'd deserve it."

"Yeah, no shit. But today..." He pauses. His smile widens, "I just can't wait to go and see River again. That's all to say that people change. If you love her, man... tell her how you feel." He nods at him as he walks away.

______________________________________

Liz walked towards Megan's car with her bag on her shoulder. Megan and Laurel stop her before she makes it, "Thought you guys could use some caffeine for your drive to Brown." Megan smiles as Belly walks up next to her.

"Are you serious?" Belly gasps as she looks to Laurel

"You should finish what you started. That doesn't mean you're off the hook for lying to me repeatedly. There will still be consequences." She says, "But I'm proud of you."

"We know Beck would be, too." Megan says as she looks between the girls

"Thanks, Mom." Belly smiles as she hugs Laurel. Liz takes the coffees as she hugs Megan.

"Jere, Conrad, We're coming with you!" Belly screams as she runs towards their car. Liz laughs as she follows her.

"Yeah!"

"I call shotgun." Belly yells. Liz groans. They all gather around Megan and Laurel's cars.

"Well? How soon can we get back here?" Jeremiah says

"I'm free any time, bro." Steven says

"I'm not. Got a road trip ahead of me." Dakota says as they laugh

"Yeah, uh, and volleyball camp's not happening, so I'm... I'm good, too." Belly says

"I have to go to Stanford for orientation, but I could probably get back here for, like, the Fourth maybe?" Conrad nods

"The Fourth? Cool." Jeremiah says

"I might be going in school next year, so I'll have to see." Liz says

"Yeah."

"Alright."

Dakota looks at Conrad with raised brows. Jeremiah nodding towards Belly as he looks at Steven.

"No, no, no!" Belly says as the boys laugh, "We don't have time, no, no."

"Can we? Please?"

"Come on, for old times' sake." Steven says

"Fine." Belly sighs

"Yeah!" The boys says as they throw their bags down. Steven and Jeremiah pick up Belly by her arms and legs. Dakota takes Liz's bag causing the girl to frown. 

"What? Since when am I apart of Belly flop?"

"Since now." He says as Conrad picks her up by her torso. Dakota grabbing her legs.

"Belly flop! Belly flop!" They chant as they walk to the pool

"Come on, come on."

"All right, here we go." Dakota says as they start to swing the two girls.

"Two... three!" Liz and Belly scream as they let them go. Both girls landing in the pool as the boys laugh.

As they come up, Dakota jumps in. Jeremiah next as he lands by Belly.

"After you!" Conrad says as Steven cannonballs in front of Belly. Conrad scoots back before he runs and jumps in by Steven. He comes up with his arms around Steven as they float around. Both girls laughing as they all splash each other.

•••

"Bye!" Belly says

"Bye, you guys!" Steven says as they pull out of the drive way

"I love you guys!" Jeremiah says. Dakota leans over Megan and blows kisses.

"Drive safe!" Conrad says

"Text me when you get home." Belly yells to Laurel and Steven

"Good luck, Connie!"

"Thanks!"

______________________________________

As Megan and Dakota pull up, they see River putting a bag in her trunk. Dakota smiles as he gets out.

"What's going on, baby?" River smiles as he walks up. He gives her a quick kiss before he turns to his mom.

"You two be careful, okay? Text me when you can." Megan says

"I'm gonna see you soon, Mom. I have to come home to pack." He says as River laughs

"Still text me." She waves him off. She looks at River, "Good luck. He's the worst when it comes to taking trips."

River nods with a smile as Dakota frowns. Megan winks before she starts to drive off, "Love you." She calls out

"Love you, too." He says confusion still written on his face. He turns to River who chuckles as she fixes the bags, "I'm not even that bad on trips."

"Yeah, okay." River says sarcastically. Dakota's frown deepens, "Get the suitcase please." She says as she points to her porch.

Dakota huffs in fake annoyance as he walks around her.

______________________________________

It had been about a few hours since River and Dakota had taken off. River decided to drive first to force Dakota to take the wheel at night. The comfortable silence that had fallen over the vehicle was interrupted by Dakota's phone ringing.

He pulls from the cupholder and hums before answering, "Hey, man. How'd the final go?"

"Yo." Conrad says, "You ready to visit me in California?"

"Hell yeah!" Dakota laughs

River smiles before leaning over slightly, "Congrats!"

"It was the flashcards, wasn't it? Yeah. Yeah, yes, it was the flashcards. You can thank me later." He says as Conrad laughs, "So you, uh... you still feeling confident about the, uh... you know, the plan?"

"Plan Lizzie?"

Dakota shuts his eyes, "Do not remind me who this is about. But yes, that one. I'm wishing you luck, bro."

"Thank you." Conrad says, "All right, I gotta dip. Bye."

"Bye." Dakota says before pulling his phone away

"So, what plan are you talking about?" River asks

"Plan Lizzie." He says with finger quotes

"What's 'Plan Lizzie'?" She chuckles

"Him finally telling her how he feels.Hopefully not screwing it up this time." Dakota says with raised brows before he frowns, "Where are you going?"

River pulls into a gas station parking lot and puts the car in park, "Change of plans. I'm sick of driving."

"Wha- It's only been like two hours."

River simply gets out and rounds the car. Dakota huffs before hopping out meeting her. She smiles and presses a kiss to his cheek, "Love you."

"Yeah, yeah, love you, too." He mutters as she giggles

______________________________________

ᴛʜᴀᴛ's ᴀʟʟ ғᴏʀ sᴇᴀsᴏɴ 2!!! ᴜɴғᴏʀᴛᴜɴᴀᴛᴇʟʏ, ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋ ɪs ᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ ʜᴇʀᴇ. ɪ ғᴇᴇʟ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ sᴛᴏʀʏ ʜᴀs ᴘʀᴇᴛᴛʏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴛᴏʟᴅ. ᴀs ғᴀʀ ᴀs ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɪɴ sᴇᴀsᴏɴ 3, ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴏɴʟʏ ʙᴇ ᴍɪɴᴏʀ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴɪɴɢ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ғᴇᴇʟ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ɴᴇᴇᴅs ᴀ ʙᴜɴᴄʜ ᴏғ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴛᴏ ᴛᴇʟʟ. ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ɪɴ 'ᴇɴᴄʜᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ' ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜ, sᴏ ᴛʜɪs ɪsɴ'ᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀsᴛ ʏᴏᴜ'ᴅ sᴇᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇᴍ. ɪ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴅᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇsᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ sᴏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ʜᴏᴘᴇᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴜʏs ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ɪᴛ. ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ sᴏ sᴏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ғᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜʀ sᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛ. ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴜʏs <333