ৎ  ָ࣪    𓄹 ﹙ 𝟬𝟬𝟱 ﹚˖  ᨒ  .ﾟ ꗃ  𓄸
❛ BIRTHDAY GIRL ! ❜

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𝓣oday was no ordinary day. In fact, it was a very special day. Belly's birthday. It was always the same. Every single summer the whole house gave her presents and made her special pancakes. The one day in summer  that the boys actually included her in everything. The entire house came together to cook and set up breakfast for her before she would wake up.

            Aurora and Rose were up extra early just to prepare for Belly's gifts. The older woman bought a couple of designer outfits and expensive jewelry to match them. Even though Belly was very easy to please, Rose always went overboard with her gifts. Aurora went much more simpler, her gift being something she knew Belly would love because of the thought that counted.

           Rory got her best friend a new stuffed animal. Now, it may not seem like much of a gift, but the story behind it is actually amusing. Belly and Rory were only nine and ten years old when they got into their first real argument. It was over their favorite stuffed animal and which one of them got to take it home.

            The blonde girl had already taken it home the previous summer so it was Belly's turn to have it. But she had grown quite attached to it and didn't want to give it to her. Rory did what any reasonable kid would have done, or so she thought. She ripped it in half and gave Belly one half and kept the other. Belly ended up crying so bad that they eventually had to have a funeral for it and buried the ripped animal in the backyard.

            The stuffed animal she got Belly for her birthday was identical to the one they shared as kids.

             "Morning, everyone!" Belly walked down the stairs, greeting everyone in the room.

            They all cheered at the sight of the birthday girl, making her feel loved and seen on her day.

            "There's the birthday girl, looking like a vision in floral. Happy birthday!" Susannah was the first one to approach the clearly excited teenager.

            "Happy sweet sixteen, Bells." Jeremiah was next, smiling sweetly as he hugged her and it melted Rory's heart. She hugged Belly as well, kissing all over her face like a mom before dropping their kid off.

            "Ok, ok." Isabel eventually pulled away from the girl, laughing at her affectionate kisses.

            "Now, Bellybutton's getting old finally. Happy birthday!" Steven cheered as everyone else showered the older girl with love and hugs.

           Conrad was the only one that didn't utter a single word to the girl. Aurora noticed and bit her lip sadly, wondering if he was still mad about their argument. Belly had told her everything. Usually, Conrad was the sweetest boy alive, but this summer he changed. It was like he had given up on everything. She made a mental note to ask him about it later on.

           "Shall we open gifts?" Rose asked everyone, they all nodded and headed to the living room where all the gifts they got her were laid out.

The first present she opened was her mom's, a book with her favorite poem in it. The second present was from Susannah, a beautiful Pearl necklace. The third present was from Rose, her being super dramatic as she presented the outfits to the girl and even made her try everything on for them all to see. The fourth one was from Jeremiah, it was a good luck charm for when she takes her driving test. The fifth was from Steven, a Princeton sweatshirt. Then everyone turned to Conrad, and he ruined the whole mood by saying he forgot to get Belly a present. That was the worst lie ever.

"Uh, that's cool. I wasn't really expecting anything anyways." Belly looked heartbroken and defeated as the words left her mouth, but she still smiled.

"You still haven't opened mine. Hurry!" Aurora tried to change the subject as everyone in the room gave each other silent, confused glances.

Belly opened Rory's gift and immediately started to tear up from trying to hold in her laugh.

"What is it?" Steven furrowed his eyebrows, wanting to know what was so hilarious.

"You got a new Mr. Snuggles!" Belly hopped up from her seat, attacking Rory with a hug and both girls ended up hitting the floor afterwards.

"Mr. Snuggles? The one you two fought over for weeks?" Jeremiah laughed at the two of them.

"Oh, I remember that bear! They forced us to attend its stupid little funeral." Steven began to laugh as well as everyone else in the room, from the corner of her eyes, Belly spotted even Conrad joining in.

"Listen, I gotta go. I promised Cleveland I'd show him some knots today. Happy birthday, Belly." Conrad stood up, quickly leaving the house.

"Hey, why don't we take my car and practice driving before you have to pick up Taylor from the bus station?" Jeremiah offered, trying to lighten the mood. It was clear that Belly's mood was dampened.

"Sure," The birthday girl forced a smile at him. The two of them left and it was just Rory, Steven, and the moms left in the house. Awkward.

"Hey, Rory, wanna play mortal combat?" The oldest Conklin eventually piped up and the girl nodded as he tossed her the other controller.

The two of them moved closer to each other as they played the competitive game. Rory was winning every single round, annoying Steven.

"You're cheating!" Steven slammed his controller on the couch. It was just the two of them in the living room by then. The moms had left hours ago.

"Am not!" Aurora stuck her tongue out at the boy, angering him to his breaking point.

"Yes, you are! How am I supposed to fight back when you keep spamming the same moves?" Steven was almost shouting in frustration.

"That's not cheating, it's called strategy." Aurora grinned, causing Steven to attack her. He fell on top of the younger girl, crushing her under him. She began to claw at him breathlessly, but it was no use.

𝓣aylor arrived at the beach house and all the teenagers decided to get in the pool, except for Conrad. He had never returned so they got in without him.

            Rory couldn't stop thinking about the oldest Fisher. After seeing the way he acted on Belly's special day, she knew he was hiding something that was tearing him apart inside. It made her feel so bad for him. She knew Conrad better than most people.

            "Conrad is going to lose his mind when he sees you in this bikini." Taylor told Belly as the girls swam around the pool. The brunette disagreed.

            "No, I doubt it. I honestly think he couldn't care less." Belly spoke, shaking her head. Aurora patted the girl on the back empathetically.

             "Come on, Belly." Taylor gave both girls a deadpan look. They sighed.

             "Seriously. He didn't even get me a present this year." Belly explained, hurt by his actions.

             "He claims he forgot. That's bullshit." Aurora stated softly, her tone surprisingly relaxed. She was pissed, but knew he had his reasons.

             "Ugh, what a little bitch." Taylor complained, her face was not only shocked but also full of disgust.

             "She's like the hottest girl I've ever met." Steven exclaimed from the other side of the pool. Him and Jeremiah were having a conversation about Shayla and how her and Steven were boo'd up.

            "We know you're gossiping about us over there." Taylor had this dreamy look in her eyes as she teased Steven. Rory blinked twice as her vision darted back and forth between the two teenagers. Oh.

             "Yeah, you wish," Steven teased back. Have they always been that flirty with each other?

             "Let's play chicken." Taylor came up with an idea. Belly shook her head, disagreeing.

             "Hey, I'm down." Jeremiah approached the girls. Steven followed after being splashed a few times.

             "Dibs on Jeremy." Taylor called out, winking at Rory, as if she was up to something.

             "Great that means we're stuck with Steven! Ror, you can go first. I'll go the second round." Belly called out, pushing Rory towards her brother.

              "Hey, that isn't fair. Are you kidding me? Taylor's so much lighter than you two." Steven let out a complaint. Everyone stared at him.

              "Are you calling us fat?" Aurora was offended more than Belly. She weighed the most out of the three girls and her stomach had more of a pudge.

              "No! She's just shorter than you two. That's all." Steven began to choke out his words as Belly splashed him in the face with water a bunch of times.

              "Such a complainer. Let's just switch." Taylor winked at Rory again. Did she plan to get on Steven's shoulders all along? That devilish girl.

               "Fine!" Steven wiped some water out of his eyes, going right back under. Taylor took the hint and climbed onto his slim shoulders with ease.

              Jeremiah did the same and Aurora grinned as she sat on his shoulders as well. She ignored the feeling of butterflies fluttering in her stomach as his soft but veiny hands gripped her thighs, rubbing circles on them to make sure she was comfortable and steady.

              Belly watched in amusement. She knew that the pair was undefeated in a game of chicken.

              "Steven, why are your shoulders so slippery?" Taylor looked down, wiping her hands. "Maybe it's all that oil you slather on your legs." He remarked.

              "Maybe if you had some chest hair I wouldn't be sliding all over the place." She bit back. Everyone in the pool laughed at their playful squabble.

               "Ok Start! Three, two, one, go!" The birthday girl called out. Taylor and Aurora began shoving each other back and forth, resulting in Taylor slipping first. Her and Steven sunk under the water.

               "Good job guys!" Belly cheered. Aurora and Jeremiah screamed with her still on top of him.

               Steven and Taylor started to argue about why they lost and whose fault it was.

               "Hey, guys!" Nicole called out. Everyone looked up to see Conrad and Nicole standing there.

               "Hey, Nicole!" Belly was the only one that verbally responded. The rest of them waved.

                "Happy birthday, Belly. Are you guys playing chicken?" Nicole spoke, looking at them weirdly. Is she judging them for having fun?

               "Uh, yeah, it was Taylor's idea." Aurora stated dryly. She didn't have a problem with Nicole, but she just wished the girl would disappear.

               "Hey, I'm Taylor." The girl responded, making her self known to Conrad's girl friend.

              "She's my best friend from home." Belly smiled rather friendly at the girl, earning one back.

               "Just visiting for the weekend." Taylor added, not knowing what else to say. It was just awkward. "Oh, that's cute." Nicole nodded at them.

               "You guys wanna play a real game?" Belly proposed, and everyone nodded. With that being said, Jeremiah threw Rory off his shoulders.

              The girl sunk under the water, nearly drinking a mouth full since it was open in shock.

              As her head popped back up, she caught sight of him grinning devilishly at her. She charged forward, trying to drown him with all her might. The pool area was full of laughs and screams from the girls.

             Aurora got out of the pool as the two boys set up the net for their volleyball game. She dried her hair and face with a towel, sitting at the edge and deciding to just dangle her legs in along with Conrad and Nicole.

             The three of them had a brief conversation while the two boys played against the two girls. Suddenly, the ball went soaring in their direction and smacked Nicole right in the face. Everyone went silent.

             "Oh, my God. I'm so sorry." Taylor laughed out an apology. That was definitely on purpose.

             "Taylor!" Belly scoffed at her best friend angrily, making her smile drop completely.

             "It was an accident." The girl defended herself, her voice sounding small and full of guilt.

             "I'm so sorry. Are you ok?" Belly seemed genuinely concerned, her eyes worried.

             "Yeah, I'm totally fine. You guys keep playing." Nicole called out, holding her head.

             "Let's go inside. I'll get you some ice." Conrad spoke softly to the girl. He helped Nicole up and she went inside, leaving him behind.

              "I'm so sorry again, Nicole. Feel better, ok?" Belly told the girl and she nodded.

               "Come on, Belly. Conrad can take care of Nicole. Let's go inside and look at ourselves in the mirror some more." Taylor sarcastically exclaimed.

               "Yeah, have fun with that." Conrad stared at Belly for a few seconds then he left.

               Aurora face palmed, watching as the girls left the pool as well. It was just her, Jere, and Steven left but that didn't stop them from enjoying themselves.

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oo. ┊ 𝐒𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐀❜𝐒  𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 ！ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ     
❪  𝙰𝚄𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚁'𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙴  ❫  ✩₊˚.  ◛ ·˚ ༘ ᝰ ── 💌

I'm actually obsessed with Jeremiah and it makes so much sense because I've always been obsessed with young Damon too ... why is he so perfect ??