The Summer Wedding | A Belly and Jeremiah fanfic

Chapter Seventeen

"Belly! You're here!" Shayla almost screams, running over to us with Steven walking behind her.

As predicted, Steven is dressed in a shirt and blazer that could only have been styled by his girlfriend. I can't wait to see Jeremiah's reaction when he finds out that he was right.

"And Taylor! So good to see you both." She welcomes us both and offers to give us a tour of their house. I agree out of obligation, but Taylor manages to get out of it to get us some drinks.

I love Shayla, but right now I'm putting on a good face so that I can survive this night. As happy as I am for my brother and Shayla, I can't help worrying about my shit love life.

"We invited the Fishers, but I don't think they're here yet," Shayla says when it's just the two of us. The house is a lot quieter once we're upstairs. The music from below is more of a hum than anything else.

"Conrad and Jeremiah have always arrived late," I laugh quietly and compliment her house for the millionth time. I know whatever I say about her home, Shayla will eat it all up with a pleased smile on her face.

"Steven is the same. It took him four hours to get up off his ass and help prepare for this party," she rolls her eyes but in a loving way. As strange as that sounds, it's true. I know she loves my brother, even if he does annoy her sometimes. I know this because I feel the same way. I love Steven but he can be a pain in the ass.

I don't know how many rooms are left of this house of theirs, but it feels like a maze to me. I've seen so many rooms that I've already forgotten. I'd be lost if I didn't have Shayla here.

"I hear you've had a fun day," she says as if she's been sitting on the words for a while now. Like she's wanted to say something earlier but held it back.

"Yeah, Taylor wanted to help me forget about the day– because, well– you know." I stumble on the words and ultimately choose not to explain what the day is. In fact, she does know. She was there. She saw everything.

"And Jeremiah," she adds after a few beats of silence, "he helped too, right?"

I nod, "he did. He's such a good friend."

She makes a noise that sounds like she's agreeing with me, but I can't help but hear a hint of doubt. Does she not think Jeremiah is a good person? Does she not like him? I want to pry, but what if I offend her? She is my brother's girlfriend after all– I wouldn't want to upset her.

"Can I ask you something?" I ask before I even register the words. She nods in response and I move onto my question, "was George upset when he realised I wasn't going to show?"

My attempt at changing the conversation away from Jeremiah didn't go as planned, because now I'm stuck thinking about George again. I can't help it, though. The curiosity has been eating away at me all year and somehow I've finally dared to ask the question. I don't know why I've chosen Shayla to be the one to answer it, but whatever.

She thinks about the question for a little while and we make out way back to the party after seeing everything her house has to offer.

"He sort of refused to believe it at first. He wouldn't leave, even when all the guests had."

Her words put a foul imagine in my mind. It makes me sick thinking about George waiting that long for me to return. It hurts my whole body knowing that he thought I'd come back.

"But, hey! If it's any consolation, I think you made the right choice. I didn't know George well, so it's not that I thought he wasn't good for you, I just think that you knew what you wanted and he wasn't it. I'm in awe of you actually." She somewhat makes up for her last words, because I feel a little better. Not fully– but a little.