Chapter 07: Back to reality

I swiped to answer, pressing the phone to my ear. My voice came out softer than I meant. "Hey."

"Where are you?" Her words tumbled out fast, but it wasn't sharp — just worried. "I woke up and you weren't in your room. I thought maybe you... I don't know, left or something."

Guilt twisted in my chest. I shot a glance at Conrad. He was already watching me, jaw tight, the glow from the dashboard painting his face in shadows.

"I'm fine," I said quickly, gentling my voice. "I'm on my way home now."

There was a pause, the faint crackle of static between us. Then Belly again, softer this time: "Are you... with Conrad?"

The question landed heavy. My grip tightened around the phone, my pulse drumming in my ears. Slowly, I turned to face him. His gaze didn't falter. He gave the smallest nod, steady, sure, like he was telling me it was okay.

My throat felt dry, but I answered anyway. "Yeah. I'm with him."

Another pause. Then Belly let out a breath I didn't know she'd been holding. "Okay," she said gently. "Good. Just wanted to make sure you were safe. I'll see you when you get back. Be careful, okay?"

The line clicked dead.

I lowered the phone, staring at the dark screen. My chest felt tight, too tight. Beside me, Conrad's hand shifted from the wheel, his knuckles brushing mine like he wanted to ground me but didn't quite know how.

"Back to reality," I muttered, almost to myself.

The words hung in the air, tasting bittersweet.

The rest of the drive passed in silence, only the hum of the engine filling the space. My phone sat heavy in my lap, the screen dark, but the echo of Belly's voice clung to me. Are you with Conrad?

When we finally pulled into the driveway, the house loomed quiet and dark, every window still. The kind of stillness that made me wonder if time inside had even moved at all while everything between us had shifted.

Conrad cut the engine, and the headlights blinked out. For a moment, the two of us just sat there in the dark, the air between us buzzing with things unspoken.

Then he pushed open his door, slipping out without a word.

I frowned, my chest tightening, and followed. The gravel crunched under my sandals as I trailed after him, but his stride was different now — slower, more careful, like he was already pulling away.

On the porch, he finally glanced back at me. Just a flicker of his eyes, shadowed and unreadable. Not the Conrad who kissed me like I was oxygen. Not the Conrad who pulled me closer in the sand like he'd never let go. This was... something else.

Distant. Guarded.

He let me walk in first, holding the door just long enough for me to pass, but he didn't touch me. Didn't brush against me the way he always did without thinking.

And somehow, that absence felt louder than any words he could've said.

I swallowed, forcing a small smile that didn't quite reach my chest.

"See you around," His voice was quiet, flat. No smile. No teasing comeback. Just a nod.

Something inside me tightened, but I didn't push. I just turned, slipping down the hall, the weight of his silence trailing after me like a shadow.

In my room, the door clicked shut behind me. I dropped onto the bed without even changing, the sheets cool against my skin, and stared at the ceiling.

My chest rose and fell, too fast, my thoughts racing even faster.

What happened?

How did everything shift in the span of a drive home? How did something that felt so wild, so impossible, so ours just hours ago suddenly feel fragile, like it was already slipping through my fingers?

For the first time all night, the silence wasn't comfortable. It was suffocating.

I pressed my eyes shut, trying to push the thoughts away—when I swore I heard the faintest creak outside my door. Footsteps. They lingered, just for a second, before fading down the hall.

I didn't move. Didn't check. But something in me whispered it was him.

And even though the fairytale felt like it was unravelling, some small part of me held onto that pause—like maybe, just maybe, he wasn't ready to let go either.

The sheets cool against my skin, but no comfort came with them. My eyes stayed fixed on the ceiling, tracing shapes in the shadows until they blurred.

The more I thought about it, the tighter my chest pulled. Belly's call. Conrad's look. The unspoken things threading between them. What stung the most wasn't even what it might have been—it was that nobody wanted to let me in. Not Conrad. Not Belly. No one.

I turned onto my side, pressing my face into the pillow, but it didn't help. The questions clung, looping, relentless.

Why did it feel like the fairytale I'd stumbled into was already unravelling?

I barely got three hours of sleep.

By the time pale light crept through the blinds, I gave up pretending. I didn't go looking for Belly, even though some part of me wanted to. Instead, I lay still, the echoes of last night looping over and over. Her voice on the phone. Conrad's silence. That fleeting pause outside my door.

It wasn't anger that kept me from her. Not entirely. It was something sharper. Betrayal. Because it didn't take much to connect the dots—something was happening, something everyone else knew, and I was being left in the dark.

The more I thought about it, the more the fairytale twisted. The beach. The ice cream. The way Conrad's hand had lingered on mine like he didn't want to let go. All of it felt fragile now, like glass already cracking at the edges. And yet... I couldn't shake the memory of his voice, low and broken, confessing that I'd gotten past walls no one else had touched. That scared him because he already felt too much.

Those words wouldn't leave me. No matter how much distance he tried to put between us, they rang in my head, steady, undeniable. Which was worse? That he mean them? Or that he might regret them now?

...

The floorboards creaked under my feet as I dragged myself to the bathroom, my head still foggy from too little sleep.

Taylor was already there, hair tied up messily, her toothbrush hanging from her mouth as she leaned against the sink. She caught my reflection in the mirror and grinned around the foam.

"Morning, sunshine," she mumbled, voice garbled.  "I'm heading to the store with Steven and Jere in a few, grab some stuff for breakfast."

I nodded, reaching for my face wash. "Sounds good. I'm fine with whatever you bring back."

She spat into the sink, rinsing quickly before turning to look at me fully. "You sure? I was thinking pancakes, maybe some fruit, eggs..."

"Taylor," I cut in gently, forcing a small smile, "anything's fine. We're leaving today anyway, right?"

Her expression softened. She studied me for a beat, like she wanted to press, then just nodded. "Right." She reached for her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. "We won't be long."

And just like that, she was gone, her footsteps echoing down the hall until the front door clicked shut.

I stood in the bathroom alone, staring at my own tired eyes in the mirror, wondering how I was going to get through the rest of the day when last night was still sitting heavily on my chest.

I slipped into a denim dress, the tie straps brushing against my shoulders as I knotted them tight. Sneakers laced, bracelet tugged over my wrist, the knit bag slung across me — it was the kind of outfit that said I'm fine, even if my chest still felt knotted.

In the mirror, I looked simple. Breezy. Like someone who had slept through the night without a care in the world. If only.

I gave my reflection one last glance, forcing a smile I didn't feel, then turned for the door.

As I go down the stairs, I hear Belly's voice cut sharply, jealousy threaded through every word.

"So the moment I bring her here, you realise you're not in love with me anymore?"

Conrad's tone was low, steady, but his jaw was tight. "Drop this, Belly."

"Drop it? Say it, Conrad," she pressed.

His voice rose, frustration cracking through. "You don't get to do this, Belly. You made your choice. You ended us. You chose Jeremiah. I loved yo—"

"You loved me until when, Conrad?" she snapped, her voice breaking.

He swallowed hard, but when he spoke again, his words were deliberate, rough. "I'll always have feelings for you, Belly. I probably always will. Is this what you want to hear? But what you're doing right now isn't fair. Not to me. Not to my brother. And not to Stephanie."

I stood there, just inside the kitchen, every word they'd thrown at each other still hanging thick in the air.

That was all I heard. That was enough. I didn't need to hear another word to know where I stood.

Luckily, nobody saw me.

I slipped away quietly, my heart pounding in my ears, and didn't stop until I was safe in my room. The door clicked shut behind me, and only then did the tears come—hot, relentless, spilling faster than I could wipe them away.

I sank onto the bed, the sobs shaking through me until I couldn't breathe. For a moment, I just let it happen. And then, as if my body knew before my mind did, I started pulling clothes into my bag. Grabbing whatever I could reach, shoving it down as if I moved fast enough, maybe I could outrun the ache in my chest.

Halfway through, I froze. I knew how it looked. Dramatic. Reckless. Running after two days of knowing Conrad? Two days of kisses, of confessions, of letting myself fall into something I didn't even have a name for. Who does that?

But I couldn't help it.

Because it wasn't just two days. It was the first time since my past—the first time since him—that I'd let myself feel again. Let myself open up. Let myself trust enough to give pieces of myself away. And Conrad... Conrad was the first person who made it feel like maybe I wasn't broken anymore.

And now? It all felt like it was slipping through my fingers before it even began.

I zipped my bag, the sound loud in the quiet room, and wiped at my face. My reflection in the mirror looked foreign—eyes red, cheeks streaked, but set with a determination I didn't even know I had.

Maybe it was dramatic. Maybe it was a mistake.

But I couldn't stay here. Not tonight.

I grabbed my phone, called for a cab, and waited in silence, every tick of the clock pounding against my ribs.

By the time the cab pulled up, my chest was tight, my thoughts messier than ever. I stepped outside with my bag slung over my shoulder, the morning sun glaring far too bright for how hollow I felt.

I opened the back door, slid into the seat, and just as the driver shifted into gear, another car pulled into the driveway.

Jeremiah, Steven, and Taylor tumbled out, grocery bags in their arms, laughter and chatter breaking through the quiet morning. Their smiles faltered when they saw me sitting in the cab, bag at my side. Confusion flickered across their faces, then concern.

I lifted a hand in a small wave—fragile, almost apologetic—and the driver pulled forward.

The last thing I saw before the house disappeared behind us was Taylor's wide-eyed stare, Jeremiah's frown, and Steven already setting the bags down to step forward like he might stop me.

But I was already gone. Back to college.

*INSIDE THE HOUSE*

The front door banged open, and the sound of grocery bags hitting the counter filled the kitchen. Taylor, Jeremiah, and Steven stepped inside, voices overlapping—until they all stilled at the sight of Conrad and Belly.

Taylor was the first to speak, her tone clipped. "We just saw Stephanie leaving."

Jeremiah dropped the last bag onto the counter with a dull thud. "Not just leaving. She was in a cab. Bag packed. She didn't even stop—just waved at us like it was goodbye."

Steven frowned, his brows pulling together as he turned sharply to Belly. "What the hell, Bells? She's your friend. What happened?"

Belly's eyes widened, her face paling as she shook her head too quickly. "I don't know. I didn't think she would—" She stopped, fumbling for her phone with trembling hands.

Conrad stood a few feet away, stiff as stone. His jaw was set, his shoulders tight, his face unreadable—but his eyes... his eyes gave him away. Like he wanted to speak, but the words wouldn't come. The moment he realised, something shifted in him. He didn't fight. Didn't explain. The Conrad they knew was back. And the one I had seen—the one who had let me in—was gone.

Taylor's arms crossed, her eyes narrowing. "She looked heartbroken. Whatever happened here... she didn't just leave for no reason."

Jeremiah's jaw clenched, his gaze shifting between Conrad and Belly. "You two want to explain? Because none of this makes sense."

Belly's eyes darted to Conrad, searching, pleading—but he stayed frozen, lips pressed into a hard line, his silence louder than anything he could've said.

Finally, Belly swallowed hard, forcing herself to speak. "I'll find her. If she won't answer now... I'll find her when we're back at school." Her voice was rushed, desperate. She shoved her phone into her pocket and turned toward the stairs. "I need to get my things together."

No one stopped her as she hurried out of the kitchen, but the air she left behind was heavy—accusations unsaid, questions unanswered, and Conrad still rooted in place, his gaze distant, like the ground had just shifted beneath him.

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Outfit Links

Denim Dress: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/492649954159312/