betty ↳ conrad fisher

twelve.

A RETURN

:::

Betty Graham awoke to the sound of rustling, a drawer closing and waking her up fully. She sat straight up, her hair a crazy mess around her head as she tried to gather where she was. Belly was standing at the vanity, applying mascara when she notice Betty was awake, the older girl stretching her arms over her head before she dropped her hands and scratched at her ribs, a smile crossing her lips as she looked at her friend.

"Good morning sunshine." Belly said, laughing slightly at the sight of her. Betty hummed on acknowledgement, pulling the blankets off of her legs and moving to the edge. The door of the bedroom was closed and luckily enough, considering when Betty stood, her underwear were showing. Belly laughed to herself again, leaning towards the drawer and grabbing a pair of pajama pants from the top one. She threw them at Betty, the older girl rolling her eyes as she looked down at where they had fallen on the floor. She slid them on, pulling the bedroom door open and scratching at her side again. "Susannah's making breakfast...she said when you're ready you can go down and get some."

"Okay." Betty muttered, heading towards the bathroom. It was empty, the girl using the restroom, washing her hands, and fixing her hair a little bit. She figured she'd leave after breakfast and brush her teeth, the girl smiling at herself in the mirror before frowning. Finally she figured she looked awake enough, slapping herself on the cheek and then pulling the bathroom door open. The opening of the door was a reminder of the middle of the night conversation she had had with Conrad Fisher, his words to her reminding her that she was kind of upset with him. She was halfway between deciding if it was a dream and accepting that it was real, the girl hurrying down the stairs with the smell of breakfast hitting her nose. She followed the aroma, ending up in the doorway of the kitchen and her eyes on some bacon. Susannah and Laurel were standing together with mugs, talking about something that she couldn't hear. Other voices came from the table that had the boys sitting at it, Jeremiah and Steven bugging Conrad about something. Of course he was on the side of the table hat faced the doorway, so when she appeared in it he was able to stop eating and maintain eye contact with her. He blinked a few times when he realized she wasn't looking back at him, his head lowering back to his food. "Good morning."

Betty's soft voice pulled the attention of the women and the boys, Jeremiah and Steven looking at each other in confusion.

"I didn't know you were here...come sit. I'll get you a plate." Jeremiah proposed, Betty smiling at the two older women and then starting towards the table. There was a seat between him and Steven, and then a seat between him and Conrad, the girl obviously choosing the seat between Steven and Jeremiah, the one that sat her directly across from Conrad at the table. His face had gone sheet white but she refused to look at him really, not wanting to give him the benefit of the fact that he had gotten to her in the middle of the night. His admittance of wanting to disappear with her the night before entered her mind and she felt her stomach flutter, the girl keeping her head turned towards Jeremiah. He returned with a plate for her in only a few moments, Steven too busy chewing to say anything.

"Thank you. And thank you Susannah and Laurel. It looks delicious."

"Oh of course. Enjoy." Susannah said, giving the girl a smile before looking to Laurel with a knowing look. Laurel furrowed her eyebrows, not sure what the look was for until Susannah used her head to gesture towards the table, Laurel looking to see what she was referencing. It took her only a second to see what she was pointing out, her lips pursing as she saw the intense look on Conrad's face, his eyes glistening with something serious. Laurel was mesmerized by it for a moment before she looked back at Susannah, the woman already looking back at her with raised eyebrows.

"So what do I owe the pleasure of your presence to?" Jeremiah asked, Conrad's fork scraping across his plate as he looked down at it again. Betty lifted a piece of bacon, ripping it between her teeth and then shrugging her shoulder at the boy.

"Belly invited me over last night to tell me about her date with Cam. I fell asleep here." Betty said, returning to chewing her food after she finished. Steven chimed in nod, Betty turning her head to look at him.

"Gross I don't want to hear about my sisters date with Cam Cameron." She giggled at the nickname, the sound of her laugh warming Conrad's heart as he refused now to look up from her food. "Where'd you go at the book party last night?"

This was the first time she glanced up at Conrad, the boy not looking back at her as she recalled what he had asked her at the book party. She shrugged again, running a hand through her hair and then answering.

"It was getting late I figured my mom wouldn't want me to be out all night."

"And then you stayed here." Jeremiah said, shaking his head at her. She didn't say anything, just eating her food as they sat in silence. The sound of footsteps on the stairs pulled everyone's attention and Belly entered the room, looking as fresh as possible, her frown already directed at the boys. Betty figured she was still mad about them crashing her date, and she figured she would be too if it were her. Belly sat down at the table moments later, between Jeremiah and Conrad. Conrad's head lifted to glance at her when she wasn't looking, Betty looking between the two of them as she ate some eggs. There was endless trivial and useless conversation before finally Betty realized what time it was, scooting out her chair and grabbing her plate.  "Where you going?"

"I should head home...my moms gonna be wondering where I'm at. Thank you Susannah for letting me stay and I'm sure I'll see you guys soon." She used the sink to rinse her dish as she spoke and then she waved to the others and the women, making her exit.

When she stepped outside she realized it was easier to breathe out of that house in general. She walked around the bushes and to her house, checking her phone as she made her way to the door. She pushed it open and was surprised to hear the sound of voices from the kitchen, it having been earlier than she had thought. On weekends like these her family usually slept in, so she was surprised. She slowly started down the foyer and into the kitchen, her face instantly lighting up when she saw who was standing in the kitchen with mom and brothers.

"Dad!" She said in an overjoyed voice, a smile crossing her lips as she started towards him. She jumped into his arms, the older man laughing as she did so before hugging her back.

"Someone's excited to see me." He joked, her other family members laughing at his words. He didn't even know...Betty's dad was her favorite person in the world, the only person in her family that's he felt truly knew her, understood her, loved her.  "How have you been?"

"I didn't know you were coming home! I was at Conrad's and I—" Her brother picked up on her words before she was cut off by her dad, the two of them sharing a look.

"How is my favorite son in law?  He still playing football?"

"Dad come on...you know we broke up. If you're gonna ask anybody it'd be them." She said, scolding the older man slightly and pointing to the boys. They shrugged, Betty actually knowing the answer to her dads question. Belly had told her in a Conrad rant that he had quit football. Nobody knew why. Or at least Belly didn't know.

"He quit...nobody knows why." Nick answered for the girl, Betty gesturing with her hand towards her brother as he did exactly what she expected of him. Her heart felt full as her dad stood in the kitchen, his briefcase sitting on the counter. The look on her mothers face was one Betty lived for, the gleam of love in her eyes and the smile that graced her lips. It was days like these that they were all at their happiest.

"Well that's a shame." Her dad said, shaking his head slightly and then throwing an arm around his daughters shoulders. "Well how about I take my Betty down to the farmers market, and we'll get some stuff for a family dinner tonight...how's that sound?" It was a tradition for the two of them to go to the farmers market, a place her dad absolutely despised but tolerated for his daughter. Overtime he had grown to enjoy it but it was his job to keep the facade that he hated it, so that it still felt the same as it used to. The others agreed and Betty excitedly nodded, dismissing herself from the group and running up the stairs to get changed and ready.