"My baby here on earth showed me what my heart was worth."

MY WHOLE BODY SHOOK ALL OF A SUDDEN, I opened my eyes quickly by the rapid movement only to see Jeremiah, peeking right on top of me. His whole face was swollen and red, I instantly worried and grabbed his hand.

Nova: "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Jeremiah: "We need to find Conrad, there's something you guys should know."

He replied, helping me stand up from the emerald couch I had fallen asleep in. I didn't even remembered falling asleep, I must've been out for a while since I no longer heard the music I last listened to nearby.

Nova: "Do I really need to go inside the ball room though?"

Jeremiah: "It's really important, Nova." -he grunted, receiving a nod from me.

Nova: "Fine, let's go then."

We both walked quickly towards the ball room, spotting different people coming over to where we were or other places around the club house. Eventually, we finally arrived at our destination and headed inside.

As I looked around, I spotted Conrad and Belly, dancing. Jeremiah, did as well and he was obviously disappointed about it. I then saw Steven and Shayla, dancing too but I completely ignore it and looked at Jeremiah,
again.

Nova: "We have to wait until the dance is over, what should we do?"

Jeremiah: "Come on." -he said, pulling me towards mom's table.

As we approached, Mom, was quick to notice the both of us walking towards her. She instantly looked back and touched my shoulder.

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

Jeremiah: "I-I ate something. I think maybe the shrimp was bad." -he stuttered, looking over to mom.

Susannah: "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry."

She then turned to look at Laurel, whispering something to her but I instantly knew it was something to do with what Jeremiah had said.

Susannah: "I'll get you some ginger ale. Excuse me."

We then glanced over to where the dance was happening again, continuing to see the beautiful choreography and eventually watching it come to an end. Everyone clapped loudly after, but all I could see was how sad Jeremiah was.

Jeremiah: "I'll be right back."

Susannah: "Oh, no, honey, are you gonna be sick again? Why are you both feeling sick today? And where is that ginger ale?"

Nova: "Mom, calm down...it's okay." -I reassured, rubbing her shoulders but she didn't seem to listen.

Susannah: "I'm gonna get you one from the bar."

She quickly walked off to the nearest bar, leaving Jeremiah and I alone. We both knew it was our chance to go towards the pair now, so we did.

Jeremiah: "Hey."

The boy whispered, gaining Conrad and Belly's attention in an instant. The girl smiled slightly at the boy but then frowned her eyebrows his way.

Belly: "Hey, Jeremiah, where were you?" -she asked, but she was completely ignored by him.

Jeremiah: "Conrad, we need to talk, all right? It's important. It's about mom."

I then opened my eyes slightly wide once I heard what he said, knowing perfectly what he was about to say.

Conrad, seemed to know too.

Nova: "Wait, about mom, really?"

Jeremiah: "Yeah, let's head outside. I found something out."

Conrad: "Um...yeah...we'll-we'll talk about this later, okay?" -he stuttered, looking over to me nervously.

Jeremiah: "No, it's important."

Conrad: "It's okay." -he said, tapping Jeremiah's chest gently.

The boy glanced at his movement and then towards me, his expression changing rapidly into a terrifying one. I nodded, trying my best to reassure him. The boy suddenly pushed my hand away and approached, Conrad.

Jeremiah: "You two already know, don't you?"

Nova: "Jere, please calm down."

Jeremiah: "No, shut up, Meryl." -he snapped, pointing his finger my way and turning to look at Conrad, again.

I knew instantly he was really, really, really mad at me just by the fact of him calling me my actual name.

Belly and I stared at each other completely frightened by the boy's attitude. We stepped back slowly, looking around to see if anyone else was seeing what we were seeing.

Jeremiah: "You've both known this whole fucking time and didn't tell me?"

Conrad: "Jere."

As I was about to approach Jeremiah again, he suddenly swung a punch right towards Conrad's face. Everyone around us gasped out loud including me. The two boys grabbed onto one another aggressively, falling down to the cold ground.

Nova: "Jeremiah, stop! What are you doing?!" -I shouted, watching how more people approached.

I tried pulling them apart but Jeremiah, pushed me back. I fell on the ground as well, letting out a grunt over how strong the impact was against my back.

Susannah: "Stop it! Both of you, stop it."

I looked back as I recognized the voice and glanced at mom, who's expression screamed embarrassment and disappointment. My eyes then darted back to my siblings, watching how Conrad pushed Jeremiah off of him.

Belly and Steven helped me stand up carefully, continuing to see then everything that was happening.

Susannah: "What is going on?" -she asked desperately, taking deep breaths in between sentence.

The two boy stood up and walked towards her, their heavy breathing echoing as well. I covered my mouth to avoid anyone from hearing my crying, watching how my siblings eyes covered themselves with tears too.

Jeremiah: "Mom." -he said, breaking in tears  then.

Conrad: "We know, Mom."

Mom's eyes darted towards me and then back to Conrad, instantly filling up with tears as she realized what he meant.

Conrad: "The three of us know." -he finished, only then allowing silence to cover the whole space.

Belly: "Know what?"
________________________________

I sat completely silent outside our home once we arrived to the beach house, sobs echoing throughout the walls. I couldn't listen to it without breaking down again, I preferred leaving Conrad and Jeremiah with mom, let them have the conversation they needed to have.

My head was aching terribly, I couldn't bare crying again without making the headache get even worse. I grabbed a bottle of liquor that rested on the table near the pool, not even caring if it was old or new.

I drank from it rapidly, as minutes kept passing by tears continued falling down and my throat was burning due to how much alcohol I had drank. I took a glance at the bottle and noticed how big it actually was, unfortunately I was already almost done and whatever would happen next might go wrong because of me drinking.

Susannah: "Nova, honey, come inside."

I turned around and glanced at mom, weakly. She walked towards me once she noticed, her arms instantly embracing me completely. I cried onto her shoulder uncontrollably, holding onto her back as tight as I could.

Nova: "I can't loose you, Mom. I can't live without you."

Susannah: "You're not losing me, love." -she reassured, continuing to hug me back.

I heard footsteps approach soon after and then pairs of arms hugging us as well. I knew it was Conrad and Jeremiah, since they both cried loudly.

Something felt like old times in that moment, yes, it was a sad moment but then again we were all together again...after so long of not doing so.

Susannah: "Let's head inside, it's getting cold out here."

We all stood up and headed inside the house silently, the house's ambience still feeling extremely tense. We then glanced over to mom, waiting for her to speak again.

Susannah: "Go take a shower and change your clothes, I'm gonna try making some dinner."

Conrad: "Mom, you don't have to do t-"

Susannah: "I want to...just please do this for me, okay?" -she interrupted, flashing later on a smile our way.

We then agreed and proceeded heading upstairs slowly, we didn't want to make any noise to alert the rest of the people at home. We knew that the news affected Belly and Steven badly too.

I walked straight to my room and threw myself on my bed as soon as I entered. My whole body ached at this point, I wondered why though. It felt as I ran a whole marathon but obviously I didn't.

My eyes closed for a split second but this time I didn't allowed myself to fall asleep. I stood up from the bed quickly and entered the shower before Conrad or Jeremiah could. I needed the shower badly and I wasn't patient enough currently to wait for them.

I think this was the longest shower I've ever taken, everyone kept knocking on the door and warning me about the smoke that was coming out over the water heater. I finished once I realized they were right, taking a quick glance at myself on the mirror.

I looked terrible.

My face was pale and red at the same time, I looked like I had been stuck on a deserted island or something like that.

My hands reached for my bathroom robe and towel, then I began to dry myself up and eventually put on the robe. I also did my small nighttime routine very vaguely and headed out of the bathroom finally.

As I entered my room, I decided to let my hair dry alone and not blow dry it like I usually do. Making a lot of noise didn't seem like a good idea currently. I brushed my hair carefully and eventually finished getting ready a couple of minutes later.

Soon after, I rested on my bed again and decided to read a book while waiting for the food I supposed mom, was doing. I knew for a fact that Laurel probably decided to help. It made me feel more relaxed and less scared for her.

I couldn't concentrate while reading though, I guessed the alcohol was finally giving that funny feeling. My hand reached for the night table beside me, grabbing the bottle of water that rested on top. I drank from it quickly, feeling much better right after thankfully.

Suddenly a knock gained my attention, making me turn to look over to my door confused.

Nova: "Come in." -I said, watching the door slowly open to reveal, Conrad.

Conrad: "Hey, food's ready...come downstairs." -I nodded and stood up from my bed quickly.

The boy helped me go down the steps since he noticed I was walking weirdly. As we reached downstairs, we heard laughter coming from everyone at the table. It made the both of us stare at each other fully relieved, we knew that...everything was going to be okay possibly.

Susannah: "Hey, come take a seat or foods going to get cold." -she smiled, pointing over at the two empty chairs.

I sat right next to Jeremiah while Conrad right next to, Steven. Everyone looked so happy thankfully, it sort of made everything feel much more chill. I just hoped that Conrad and Jeremiah sorted things out though after that horrible fight.

Nova: "This looks and taste amazing, Mom."

Mom: "Say thanks to Laurel as well." -she grinned, grabbing onto her friend's hand.

Nova: "I knew she would help."

Laurel: "Of course I would." -she chuckled, flipping her hair back.

We all laughed by her gesture, continuing to eat from the food scattered around the table.

Susannah: "I want to say that some of you need to take a walk around the beach later and sort things out...okay? Do it for me."

She glanced at practically everyone, but we knew which pairs she meant though. My eyes searched for Steven's who were already staring back at me. He nodded slowly, agreeing with what mom, said.

Nova: "Well, since the boys were planning a fishing night for themselves...can us girls do something too?" -I asked, smiling towards Belly, excitedly.

Belly: "Oh! We should totally go to the arcade or ice cream shop."

Nova: "Yes, please."

Susannah: "How about a biking marathon? Our biking marathon though, after we could do a picnic and do some flowers crowns." -she requested, looking at us for approval.

Nova: "Wait, yes, I love that!"

Laurel: "We can still go to where you girls want to go after though." -she mentioned, receiving smiles from Belly and I.

Steven: "Wait, that sounds way funner than our trip."

Jeremiah: "True." -he laughed, covering his face right after.

Conrad: "How about we do all of those activities including the fishing trip as a family and not separate?"

Susannah: "I would love that of course." -she smiled, clapping her hands towards Conrad.

I knew she did that gesture to allow him to know she was proud of his decision.

Then, every other second sort of happened in slow but fast motion at the same time. My whole family together, smiling brightly...something I had somehow forgotten how it looked.
________________________________

I cleaned my dishes carefully, everyone had already scattered across the house to do their own stuff. My thoughts were eating me alive technically, I kept on thinking about what mom mentioned.

Make amends with people...by people, she meant Steven.

I didn't know what exactly was I supposed to say, he was the one that needed to apologize not me...right?

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a pair of footsteps approaching from behind, I knew they belonged to mom since she had high heels still on.

Susannah: "Meryl."

I rolled my eyes with a smile plastered on my face, continuing to clean my plate as I listened carefully.

Nova: "Mom?" -I replied firmly, feeling how she stopped right beside me.

Susannah: "Go do what I said earlier."

Nova: "I'm cleaning." -I mentioned, pretending as if I was concentrated on actually cleaning those plates.

Susannah: "I'll do tho-"

Nova: "No, you're not cleaning anything."

Susannah: "Meryl."

Nova: "Please don't call me that to get what you want...you know I don't like it." -I laughed, feeling her poke my arm gently.

Susannah: "Just please do it for me."

Nova: "Why do you want this so bad?"

Susannah: "Cause I know you both love and need each other so much. I can see it without having to pay close attention."

I stared deeply into her blue eyes, this ones shining a little bit too bright. I could tell she actually meant every single one of those words, which to me was unexpected in a weird way.

Nova: "What if we're meant to be just friends?"

Susannah: "I don't think so. There's something about you guys together that just...it just makes sense."

I smiled by her comment and the way she said it so gently. She seemed to be so fascinated by the thought of Steven and I. It was almost as if she was watching her personal romantic movie right there.

I thought about everything she had said carefully, reviewing the outcomes of the situation I could get myself into.

Yes, I wanted to be with him again but I felt like he didn't after I made everything go downhill with us. But there was a chance still, I hoped.

Nova: "Where is he right now?" -I asked quickly, seeing a giant smile forming on mom's face.

Susannah: "He's already at the beach."

Nova: "I'll be back." -I said, running off with no other words left to say.

My footsteps loudly stomped through the hallway and then near the sliding door that led to the backyard. I stepped foot outside and felt the cold breeze hitting me instantly, this sending shivers down my spine almost immediately.

I continued making my way down the small wooden steps that led to the beach, this ones had water splashed all over them. Steven had probably taken a swim and then went down to the beach.

My eyes looked around the beach as I made it down, seconds later I spotted the boy a few steps away from me. He hadn't noticed me though, this since he was giving his back to the steps I stood in.

Nova: "Steven." -I mumbled, not being able to scream his name and gain his attention over how nervous I began to feel.

It was those feelings hitting me back again, those feelings I've had for too long already.

Jesus, Nova...get it together.

I took a deep breath and walked towards the boy carefully, he sat quietly on the sand and looked around the area. My hand reached his shoulder, this one shaking nervously before making contact.

Nova: "Steven." -I said out loud, touching his shoulder and gaining his attention eventually.

He turned around slightly startled by my presence, his expression giving away the sudden surprise immediately. I smiled at him awkwardly, pointing at the ground to try and ask him if I could take a seat beside him.

Nova: "Can I?" -I asked, receiving a nod from him.

I sat down right after, continuing to look at him carefully as he did the same.

We were both quiet, the only sound around us was the waves crashing accompanied by the wind. I could only admire the sunrise that was beginning to happen.

This moment suddenly brought me back to those days when him and I would spend hours down at this same exact beach.

Happy, angry, sad and disgusting moments happened here. From when we were stupid little toddlers running around naked, this as we ran from our moms that tried to get the sand off of us. To now teenagers almost reaching the scary ages we fear the most, not knowing what to do with our lives.

Steven: "So, what do you want to do?" -he suddenly asked, gaining a confused glance by me.

Nova: "What do you mean?"

He smiled by my question and let out a sigh right away, looking over to me then.

Steven: "You came to make amends, right?"

Nova: "Yeah." -I replied, scratching my neck nervously.

Steven: "Then what do you think we should do about it? Well, about...us."

I stood completely still after he finished speaking, not even knowing the answer yet.

Nova: "What do you think?"

Steven: "Why are you asking me?"

Nova: "I don't know." -I replied, covering my face out of embarrassment.

It got quiet again right after my words, I didn't know if I should look up or continue looking down until he eventually said something again. But then something happened...he grabbed my hand.

I wasn't looking still, but he kept my hand opened for a while and then placed something on top. It felt like a cold metal object, this one rested on my hand still. A little after, he closed my hand once again.

Steven: "Nova Fisher, life feels empty when I'm not around you. I'm so scared that you'll never want to hold my hand again...and your hand is the only hand I want to hold for the rest of our lives."

I opened my eyes and glanced up at the boy, seeing how his eyes were filled with tears. They were daring to come out but he held them in strongly.

Steven: "I can't believe it took me all these years to realize how I truly feel about you. I mean, I knew there was something special...but I didn't want to accept it."

Steven: "You are my world, Nova...you'll always be." -he finished, positioning his hand gently on my cheek.

I smiled his way as he rubbed his finger through my cheekbone, the way he looked at me right there and then just made me want to jump onto his arms.

Steven: "Open your hand now." -he said, making me do as he said.

Inside my hand rested the same necklace I had seen on that picture Steven had on his room of the both of us. But this time the necklace had a different engraving in it.

It wasn't "I love you" anymore. It was a "I still fucking love you." I laughed by the sight and rubbed the engraving carefully.

Steven: "Please...never leave me again. I want to stay with you, can I please...stay with you?"

I looked up and grabbed the other boy's hand, his eyes looked onto mine deeply and had pure desperation covering them.

Nova: "You can stay as long as you want." -I smiled at him, seeing how he sighed out of relief.

He then instantly pulled me closer to him, looking down at my lips. His eyes looking then to mine, this ones asking for permission. I nodded, immediately then getting pulled into his soft lips.

So, yeah, mom was right...we loved and needed each other. No one could ever break that now, no one.

I stood up slightly and then took a sit on his lap, feeling how his hand rubbed all of my lower back rapidly. He kept on pulling me closer and holding onto me like there was no tomorrow. His kisses always felt surreal no matter how many times we did it.

His hand suddenly reached inside my shirt, skin to skin making contact then. I pulled away and looked at him up and down carefully.

Nova: "I love you." -I whispered, kissing him once again.

I felt how he smiled in between the kiss, making me grin as well right after.

Steven: "I love you more." -he replied while pulling away once more.

My breath kept agitating desperately over how passionate the kiss was suddenly turning, his physical touch was sending shivers down my spine over how cold his hands felt against my bare back.

I tugged onto his shirt, trying to lift it up as quick as possible. But then I was interrupted by me suddenly feeling his hands unhooking my bra. I glanced at him softly, seeing how he then basically asked me for approval with just one stare.

Nova: "Here?" -I asked, looking around the beach only feeling unsure.

He chuckled and slowly started to realize what we were about to do.

Steven: "Yeah...maybe we should go somewhere else." -he mumbled, awkwardly looking around the area as I laughed.

I hooked my bra again and stood up slowly from the sand.

Nova: "Let's go somewhere else." -I smiled, helping him stand up shortly after.

He grabbed my face gently and then placed a quick kiss on my cheek. I grinned at the boy and grabbed his hand tightly.

His eye suddenly then opened widely as if he was remembering something, I frowned my eyebrows his way and tucked onto his arm to get his attention.

Nova: "What's wrong?"

Steven: "I'm late for work." -he quickly replied, making me laugh over his expression.

Nova: "Well you better start getting ready."

Steven: "Do you also have to work?" -he asked, brushing a hair that was covering my face behind my ear.

Nova: "No, I'm thinking of quitting."

I walked away from him as I spoke, trying to reach the steps quick.

Steven: "What? Why?" -he quickly questioned, stopping my tracks.

I chuckled by his fast tone, looking up at him with a playful smile.

Nova: "The reason why I started working at the club was just to be able to see you more often. Now I'm yours...so I don't need to work there."

Steven: "There's no way."

Nova: "Yup...I'm a mastermind, Steven Conklin." -I bragged, flipping my hair back in a playful way.

Steven: "How did you even knew I was gonna work at the club?"

Nova: "Jeremiah wasn't dropping the topic throughout the whole weekend before we got here."

He laughed by my reply, following me closely behind. I then suddenly stopped my tracks as I remembered something as well, looking back to the beach once again.

Steven: "What's wrong now?"

Nova: "I just remembered something...can you go on ahead? I need to go get something really quick."

Steven: "Here, like, at the beach?" -he asked, receiving a nod from me.

Nova: "Childhood things."

He chuckled once I replied, frowning his eyebrows confused.

Steven: "Okay, I'll wait for you at the house." -he mentioned, brushing the top of my head suddenly.

I walked off quickly and ran throughout the beach as fast as I could.

When I was younger I did something I learned from my cousin, Maia. She told me that if you wrote a letter to whoever you wanted your boyfriend to be and bury it on underneath beach sand, the stars would make your wish come true. Once the wish came true, you needed the letter to be unburied.

I thought it was just her joking around but I still did it, I buried a wine bottle near some trees at the beach.

I reached the place and began unburying, I knew I was probably not going to find it but I still had hope. I kept digging quickly but I then heard muffled voices near, my head quickly turned as I found the voices familiar.

My eyes darted towards the beach's shore and spotted Belly and Conrad talking to each other. They seemed very close to one another which made me instantly wonder why. I kept hiding behind the small trees on the beach, then listened carefully to their conversation.

I kept looking around to see if Jeremiah was near, noticing he wasn't at all. Then, out of literally nowhere...they were kissing. I covered my mouth, making a loud noise echo due to me slapping my lips. I instantly ducked and almost fell into a small pond of water near me. They didn't heard a thing though, they were still practically eating each other up.

Minutes passed and they broke the kiss eventually, I didn't wanted to suddenly confront them and ask Belly why was she kissing Conrad while being with Jeremiah. I knew they were just going to confront me about spying on them. I walked away slowly and reached eventually the steps that led back to the beach house.

I was practically wishing that Jeremiah wouldn't be downstairs because I was not going to be able to keep my mouth shut. As I entered the house, the living room and kitchen was thankfully empty. I let out a short sigh, walking over to the couch nearby.

The sun had already lifted up and it was bright outside, I couldn't believe I pulled an all nighter after so long. Many thoughts roomed throughout my mind and I was a nerve wreck pretty much.

I was once again dating Steven, I was extremely happy and relieved by that. But now I just found out that Belly used Jeremiah and is now dating Conrad, this without even thinking of telling him. I wanted to scream at the girl for the first time ever on my life, scream at her for possibly now ruining their bond.

My thoughts were then interrupted by mom grabbing my shoulder suddenly.

Susannah: "You okay, sunshine?" -she asked softly, beginning to rub my shoulder.

Nova: "Yeah, I'm just thinking about something."

Susannah: "What's up? Did the conversation thing with Steven not work?"

Nova: "It worked...it's something else I have currently on my mind." -I replied, watching how she opened her mouth widely.

I smiled her way and quickly then was pulled into a tight hug by her.

Susannah: "Oh my, God! I'm so happy for you, sweetheart."

Nova: "Thanks, mom." -I chuckled as I rubbed her back gently.

She pulled me away then and grabbed my face with her two soft hand. Her bright smile shined right towards me, making me grin back over the cute expression.

Susannah: "I want you to promise me something."

Nova: "What's that?" -I asked, grabbing both of her hands.

She took a deep breath before speaking, looking around the living room as if she was searching for the right words to say.

Susannah: "Just...promise me that you won't let anything come between you all. The only thing I want from you guys is love, okay?"

Nova: "Why are you saying this?" -I questioned even though I knew exactly why was she saying those words."

Susannah: "You know you know why."

My eyes instantly got teary by her reply and she noticed. I was pulled back into a hug again, this one feeling bittersweet in an instant.

Susannah: "Promise me, okay?"

Nova: "Please stop saying everything as if it has to be a goodbye." -I begged, holding onto her firmly.

Susannah: "Meryl."

I closed my eyes after hearing her firm tone, looking up at the woman soon after.

Nova: "I promise."

[The End...for now.]

Sofia's notes:
FINALLY!! Here was the final chapter of act one 🫶🏼 I don't know how I feel about the ending but I think it's okay since it sort of end in a cliffhanger like season 1 of tsitp.

I'm really happy and thankful for the amount of support I've received from all of you. Thanks to all of my mutuals who kept commenting on my TikTok post and on here as well!! Those comments really helped me gain sm motivation (specially: tearsrotwp I love you sm!!)

Love you all, Act two won't be out in quite a while since I'm going to be focusing on my other books but stay tune for possibly a bonus chapter ;) 💕

See you later 🫶🏼

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