chapter four
we're here with you
"FLO!"
Florence's head snapped towards Sydney at the sound of her panic filled voice. The girl was still talking to TJ, a soft smile on her face when Syndey spoke up. Her eyebrows furrowed as she followed Sydney's finger towards where Conrad seemed to be arguing with the boy who was invited Belly to this party.
"Oh my god." Florence let out a sigh, turning to TJ. "I'll be back, again."
"Oh—okay." TJ nodded as Florence scrambled to her feet, Sydney in tow. Florence walked past Camden, who was drinking alone. She smacked his shoulder, gaining his attention as she rushed towards Conrad.
"You're not taking my fucking beer, man." Conrad argued.
"It's one beer."
"Yeah, and it's my fucking beer!" Conrad exclaimed, pushing the guy.
"You guys, you guys, you guys." Belly ran towards them, ending up with an elbow to the nose. The young girl spinning and falling into the sand.
"Belly!" Sydney exclaimed, rushing over to the girl.
"Dude, what the fuck!" Florence scoffed, shoving the guy away from where Belly was on the sand.
"Stay out of it." The guy grumbled, pushing her back harshly.
Florence scoffed once more, stumbling backwards as Conrad rushed at the boy. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
The guy punched Conrad in the face, resulting in Conrad lunging at the boy. The two fought for a moment before Jeremiah and Camden got in between them, pushing the two away from them. Florence checked on Sydney, the two now stood next to Belly and the boy she was talking to earlier.
A siren suddenly chirped in the distance, everyone moving instantly. "Cops!"
Chaos erupted on the beach, people running as fast as they could to gather their things and leave the beach. Loud shouts echoed as Florence looked around, slightly panicked.
"Hey, hey, hey." Camden soothed, grabbing her hand and guiding his two sisters towards where Jeremiah's car was parked.
Florence took a breath, allowing Camden to lead her and Sydney through the crowd of people before they ended up in front of Jeremiah's red jeep. Florence looked at the amount of them, counting them.
"Um, how are we all gonna fit in the car?" Florence asked. "There's seven of us and it's a five seat car."
"Uh—Sydney can sit in the boot?" Camden suggested.
"No." Sydney shook her head.
"We can squeeze four of us along the back with Syd sat on my lap." Camden stated.
"Still a no but it'll have to do." Sydney shrugged.
Florence sighed, looking over and seeing Jeremiah putting a very drunk Conrad in the back of the car. She shared a look with Sydney before climbing into the car, sliding along the seat to sit next to the boy. Sydney and Camden got in next to her, the three all turning to look at Belly, who stood outside with a boy.
"Belly. Let's go. Get in." Jeremiah told her.
"Cam can give me a ride home. Right, Cam?" Belly told him.
"Yes. That's no problem."
"No, you're not gonna get in a car with a guy you just met." Jeremiah stated.
"I'm Cam. Cameron." The boy introduced himself.
"Your name is Cam Cameron?" Jeremiah raised his eyebrow.
"No, it's ju-just Cam." Cameron corrected. "But we actually, we know each other. Seventh grade. Latin convention. So, like, we're not total strangers."
"Okay." Jeremiah nodded. "No offense, but no. Belly, get in the car."
"Just get in the car." Camden stated tiredly.
"Uh, you should probably go. But, um, the whaling boat that I intern on, it leaves at dawn every morning from the piers. I was wondering if you would, uh, want to come." Cam stuttered
"Uh, yeah, yes, sure." Belly laughed. "I mean, how else will you get your hoodie back, right?"
"That's true." Belly leant forward, pressing a kiss to the boy's lips.
Sydney huffed, leaning forward. "Come on, Bels hurry up. We already got a Cam here."
Belly looked awkwardly at the boy before glancing at Sydney and getting into the car. Florence furrowed her eyebrows as she looked over at her sister. Sydney was never known to snap especially at Belly so something must have been going on with Sydney. Florence stayed quietly but looked over at Belly as she put her seatbelt on and Jeremiah started the car, beginning to drive off.
"Uh, Steven!" Florence announced making Jeremiah press on the brakes suddenly, the car screeching to a stop.
"Fuck! Steven!" Jeremiah exclaimed. "Watch Conrad. I'll be right back."
The boy jumped out of the car, leaving the Castillo kids along with Belly and Steven. Florence leant back against the seat, closing her eyes for a moment when she felt someone playing with the ends of her hair. She opened her eyes, looking over at Conrad, who had her hair in between his fingers.
"Your hair is like, really soft." He spoke quietly. Florence didn't say anything, just making eye contact with him. "Florence—"
A light shone through the window next to Conrad, "Have you kids been drinking?"
They all made eye contact, letting out a collective sigh as the officers told them to exit the car. The officers escorted the group home, a few of them in Jeremiah's car while the others went in the police car as they all went back to the Fisher's house.
"Thank you Officers." Laurel smiled politely after the officers explained what happened, the kids stood in the foyer, tiredly. "It won't happen again, I can promise you that much."
"Tell Mr Fisher the chief wants to set up a tee time when he gets back in town." One of the officers told her. The group had gotten off without any trouble because the officers were friends with Mr Fisher.
"Absolutely." Laurel nodded. "Sorry again for all the trouble. Have a good night, Officers."
As soon as the door was shut, Laurel spun around to face the kids, her face full of disappointment. "How could you guys be so irresponsible?"
"Mum, it wasn't a big deal. All right? Seriously." Steven defended them. "The cops were just looking to break up the bonfire."
"Not a big deal?"
"Yes."
"I would say getting picked up by the cops for underage drinking is a pretty big deal, Steven." Laurel stated firmly.
"Were—were you guys smoking tonight?" Steven asked, sniffing the air slightly.
"What?" Laurel furrowed her eyebrows. "Keep your voice down. Susannah's asleep on the couch."
"Well, I wasn't yelling." Steven told her, his voice full of confusion.
"Well, you-you-you were."
"Just so you know, Laurel, I-I didn't drink tonight." Jeremiah piped up. "I was the DD, I swear."
"You're the oldest." Laurel turned to look at Conrad. "What the hell's gotten into you?"
"Actually Camden's the oldest." Florence stated. Laurel looked over at her with raised eyebrows. "You shouldn't put so much pressure on Conrad to look after us all. I mean—we're all old enough to look after ourselves, or at least each other. I mean, we've got each other. Camden's got Conrad, Belly's got Syd and Jeremiah and Steven and I have each other. You just gotta trust us, Laurel."
"I do trust you but it's beside the point right not." Laurel stated before looking at Belly and Sydney. "When did you two leave the house without telling anybody? And what in the world are you wearing?"
"It's Taylor's. And why am I the only one who's not allowed to go out?" Belly questioned.
"It's not that you're not allowed, it's that you should have told us you were going. How did you even get there?" Laurel wondered.
"We walked."
"Jesus." Laurel scoffed. "You know better than to walk that far down the beach alone at night."
"I was with her." Sydney muttered bitterly. "Everyone seems to be forgetting Syd lately."
Florence looked over at Sydney in surprise, watching as the girl glared holes into the side of Belly's face.
"Can you stop treating me like a kid?" Belly exclaimed.
"If you wanna be treated like an adult you need to act like one." Laurel told her.
"Then maybe you guys should too." Conrad retorted.
"What does that mean?" Laurel asked. Conrad didn't answer making Laurel nod. "I hope you realise this night could have ended a lot differently if your family wasn't your family."
"We're sorry Laur." Jeremiah spoke up.
"Just..." Laurel sighed. "go to bed, guys."
Emmeline coincidently then walked down the stairs. "Sorry I was using the bathroom, is everything all right?"
"Can we just go home?" Syd asked.
"Sure." Emmeline nodded. The Castillo family left the Fisher household, making their way over to their car. Emmeline got into the driver's seat with Camden's in the passengers seat and the two sisters in the back. "So, anyone wanna explain what happened?"
"Um..." Florence sighed. "So, me and the boys went to the annual bonfire. We got there, I saw Shayla, all went our separate ways and then—"
"Belly wanted to sneak out and go to the party so I went with her because there was no way I was letting her walk alone." Sydney continued the story. "We got there, Steven and Camden were protective, then Florence and Jeremiah calmed them down."
"Syd came with me and we played some guitar and sung because she looked sad." Florence added.
"I was drinking." Camden shrugged.
"Then Conrad started fighting this guy." Florence said.
"The guy elbowed Belly when she tried to stop them." Sydney told her.
"I pushed the guy away from Belly so he shoved me." Florence added. "And then him and Conrad fought properly."
"Me and Jere broke them up." Camden explained. "Then the cops showed up."
"We ran to Jeremiah's car."
"Belly kissed a guys she had met."
"We realised Steven wasn't with us."
"The cops came over to the car and didn't do anything to us because of Mr Fisher and here we are." Florence finished the story with jazz hands, her two sibling joining in. Emmeline glanced at her children for a moment before turning back to the road with a laugh.
"Sounds like quite the night." Emmeline commented.
"It was something." Florence sighed.
"Oh—and Flo meant this cute boy called TJ." Sydney told everybody in a sing-song voice.
"Really?" Emmeline asked, a smile on her face.
Camden's eyes narrowed immediately. "I feel the need to meet him."
"It's nothing." Florence exclaimed. "I met him less than two hours ago."
"I always thought you and Conrad would have something." Emmeline commented.
"Why?" Florence asked, leaning forward.
"I don't know." Emmeline shrugged. "It's always what me, Susannah and Laurel thought. I guess we'll have to get another one of our kids with one of theirs."
"Like who?"
"I don't know." Emmeline shook her head. "Maybe Jere will be in love with Belly? Or Syd and Steven?"
"No." Sydney stated.
"Or Syd and Belly." Florence muttered, making Sydney hit her harshly. "So Syd, what's your favourite song at the moment."
"Um—I think I'm in my 1989 era so You are in Love." Sydney answered quickly.
"Oh." Florence made a face. "I think Syd has a crush on someone."
"Ooh." Camden turned around, poking the girl in the leg.
"Who are they?" Emmeline asked. Florence watched as Sydney smiled at their mum's use of the word 'they'. Florence had a sneaky suspicion that Sydney had a small crush on her best friend, hence why she had been actually so weird since they arrived in Cousins, and she knew that Sydney would be afraid of what everyone would think of her feeling for a girl.
"I don't have a crush on anyone!" Sydney disagreed.
Florence hummed. "I think otherwise. Little Syd's got a crush."
"Flo, our baby girl's growing up." Camden turned to face them with a pout.
Florence pretended to cry, "Time's gone too quick."
"Stop it!" Sydney groaned, hitting them both while also trying to hide her reddened cheeks.
Florence and Camden began laughing, making Sydney go even more pink in embarrassment. Emmeline shook her head fondly. "Stop embarrassing your sister."
"It's what we're put on this Earth to do." Florence told her.
"It's literally our only job." Camden added.
The family arrived at their home, each of them getting out of the car and walking up to the house. The kids were about to go their separate ways, Florence towards her bedroom, Camden into the kitchen and Sydney into the living room when Emmeline stopped them.
"Guys." They all spun back to face their mother. "Want a snack or something? I can make cocoa."
"I'm tired, mum, I'd rather sleep right now." Florence sent her an apologetic smile.
"Yeah, I need a drink and then I'm heading to bed." Camden told the woman.
"I'm gonna watch a movie and sleep on the sofa if you wanna join." Sydney shrugged.
"Uh—no it's okay." Emmeline shook her head, forcing a smile onto her face. "I'm just gonna sit in the garden for a little while."
The kids all watched as Emmeline made her way into the back garden. They all shared a look, noticing their mother's downtrodden mood. Florence looked over at her two siblings, "This summer feels different already, right?"
"Yeah." Camden nodded.
"Feels like the end of something." Sydney stated.
Florence let out a small sigh, "Chocolate covered strawberries or just flat out marshmallows and m&ms."
"Marshmallows and m&ms." Sydney and Camden both nodded.
The three of them walked into the kitchen, gathering what they needed. Sydney made her famous hot cocoa, using a recipe that her and Belly had perfected a few years back. Florence grabbed a tray, allowing Camden to open the packets of sweets and pouring them into bowls before placing them on the tray.
Florence held the tray while Camden and Sydney carried two cups of hot cocoa each. They made their way outside, standing in front of their mother with a smile.
"A snack and cocoa, just the way it should be." Camden commented as they put the stuff on the tray and sat down. Florence sat next to her mother while Cam and Sydney sat on the other outdoor seating sofa.
"Aw guys." Emmeline cooed, hugging Florence and smiling at the other two. "Thank you."
"We've always spent the first night of summer together." Sydney told her. "Belly and I snuck out so we couldn't stay."
"And we were all gonna head to bed when usually we at least watch one episode of a show together." Camden stated.
"We have all summer to blow you off, mum." Florence shrugged, making Emmeline laugh gently. "But for now, tonight, we're here with you."
"I love you guys." Emmeline smiled.
"We love you too mum." The kids replied.
The Castillo family spent the rest of the evening enjoying each other's company, eating the sweets and drinking their hot cocoa. Laughter echoed throughout the garden, teasing each other like family does. Eventually, without even realising, they all began to fall asleep outside. One by one until it was only Emmeline awake.
The woman let out a small sigh, grabbing the blankets and placing them over the three kids. She glanced between them as she sat back down next to Florence, a soft smile on her face. Emmeline knew that this summer was different, in all kind of ways, and each of the kids would be heartbroken at some point, but at the end of the day they had each other.
She just prayed they would always have each other.
( 💌 ) isobel's notes
my fav (currently) undysfunctional family
flo is my bbg she will always stick up for
connie baby
flo and conrad next chap 🤭🤭🤭
and flo's deb ball dress