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Everyone was sat at the table for dinner. River went home to get ready for the party that was happening tonight. Belly sat with her "boyfriend" Cam and Taylor on the sides of her. Liz sat on the other side by Conrad with the boys as Susannah and Laurel sat on the ends.
Conversation was happening all over as Jeremiah spoke up. "So, Cam. You mind if I call you Cam Cameron ?"
"Mm-hmm. Yeah, man. Feel free. That's funny." He chuckles
"Cool."
"I'm glad you're here, Cameron. I know your mom, Denise, from the club. I have heard a lot about you." Susannah smiles
"Thank you so much for having me, Susannah. My mom says hi." He smiles back
"Cam, have you ever had miyeok-guk before ? It's a Korean birthday tradition." Laurel says as she hands Cam a bowl
"No. Looks so good. Thank you."
"Belly told me you're vegetarian, so I didn't put any meat in it." She smiles
"Thank you, Laurel. Oh, geez." He nods gratefully
"Why don't you eat meat, Cam Cameron ?" Jeremiah asks
"Uh, the meat industry is, like, the number one contributor to global warming." He starts
"Mm." Dakota mumbles as he takes a bite of his food
"And I just, I like animals." He says
"Just don't come for my leather jacket." Taylor jokes. Liz frowns to herself.
"I'm pretty sure you mean pleather." Steven says as Taylor sticks the middle finger at him
"Ooh." Jeremiah instigates as everyone laughs
"You know, uh, actually, Belly eats meat. So, you let her kiss you with those lips ?" Jeremiah says
"Guys." Belly tries as the boys laugh, "Stop."
"No, I don't judge people for eating meat. It's just, like, a personal choice. I don't care." Cam shrugs
"So you don't mind if, uh, like, her lips touch a dead animal, and then those dead animal lips touch your lips, right ?" Dakota says, but groans as Liz reaches behind Conrad to hit his head, "Ow."
"I don't mind at all. Um, in fact." He smiles before he leans over and kisses Belly
"Awe." Susannah says as the three boys start to gag.
"All right. All right, all right. Belly's allowed to kiss, but that's it." She laughs as Cam nods
"Mom, please. No. You're so not funny. No more wine for you, okay ?" Belly says with a slight smile as Liz chuckles.
"I'm sorry. I just don't understand why anybody would want to kiss somebody who once fully shat in the bathtub." Steven says
"I was like two years old." Belly defends
"Two ? More like six." "Six." Steven says as Dakota joins in with Jeremiah laughing
"Shut up, Steven." Belly yells
"Steven." Laurel says
"Aw, I remember that. God, that feels like a lifetime ago." Susannah says
"I remember when I visited last summer, and you and you," Taylor says pointing to Jeremiah and Dakota, "dared him to pee in the fireplace, and you stunk up the entire house for days. Do you remember that ?" She says to Steven as everyone laughs
"I blamed the neighbor's cat." Susannah says sipping her wine
"We were drunk. We were drunk." He says
"On like half a White Claw." Liz chuckles as she furrows her brows
Everyone laughs again as Jeremiah backs her up, "She got you there."
"You know, um, I'm thinking maybe we should go to Nicole's party." Belly suggests to Taylor
"Yes. Oh, my God. I love you. I'm so excited." Taylor smiles
Conrad looks down before turning to Liz, "Are you going ?" He asks as everyone goes back to their own conversations.
She shrugs, "Yeah. River wants to go."
Dakota perks up at the mention of River. As he looks towards Liz, he finds her looking at Conrad. She looks back at her food, but his eyes never leave her face.
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Dakota laughs with Jeremiah as they stand with Conrad, Steven, and a few other friends. He takes a sip of his drink as he looks around. His eyes landing on his sister standing on the other side of the room. He stands up straight as his eyes bounce between the people she was standing with. She knew River couldn't have been far.
Much to his dismay, she's standing across from Liz with another guy. He didn't know who the guy was and he didn't care. He just knew he didn't want her around him.
But what could he do ? Just go up and tell the guy to back off when not even 12 hours ago River was calling him an asshole ? He'd look like an idiot.
So, he looked away. Trying to keep his focus on whatever Jeremiah was raving about.
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"You're not gonna make it." Jeremiah taunts with his arm wrapped around Cam.
"Fuck off." Dakota says as he aims his ball for the cup. He and Conrad were on teams against Jeremiah and Cam playing beer pong.
"You got nothing."
Dakota shoots the ball and groans as he misses.
"Oh." Cam says as the ball falls to the ground. Jeremiah gives a thumbs down as he imitates a buzzer.
Conrad tosses his ball and sighs as it just misses the cup.
"Really ? Not even close." Jeremiah teases. Dakota flips him off as Cam sets the ball on the table.
Conrad looks up, "Wait, Cam, have you started the waltz lessons yet ? Ms. Covington's a real sadist."
"Who you talking about ?" Cam frowns
"The-the dance teacher. For the ball."
"Oh." Cam nods, "Belly hasn't really asked me yet."
"Damn, and I thought I was a procrastinator." Dakota chuckles
"Oh, dude, I'm sure she will. Trust me." Jeremiah reassures him
"Yeah." Cam says
"Seriously."
"If you say so." Cam smiles as he tosses his ball toward the cup on the other end. Jeremiah shouts as he misses.
"Let's go !" Dakota cheers
"Oh ! Oh, that was close. All right, that was close." Jeremiah says as he stands up for his turn, "Ready ? All right, ready ?"
"Go ahead, man." Cam says
"Don't mess up." Dakota says as Belly comes up beside Cam. His eyes catch Liz as she rushes past Jeremiah.
"Belly." Jeremiah says as he hugs her. She hugs back quickly before looking for Liz who's already out on the lawn.
"Yo, Liz." Dakota yells out as he looks over at Belly. Conrad looks over as the girl keeps walking. She hesitates to give him an answer before he ultimately follows after her.
"Lizzie." He calls out. She finally stops upon hearing the nickname he used to call her when they were kids.
Dakota stops as Liz turns to him with tears in her eyes. His heart drops. "What's wrong ?" He asks softly
"I'm just ready to go home." She says as she sniffles.
He nods quickly, "Yeah, okay. Just uh." He says as he looks to the porch, "Just give me a second to get the keys from Jere." She nods as she sits on the curb.
"Yeah." He whispers to himself as he hurries to the porch. The others look over as they hear his quick steps. "I need the keys, bro."
"Why ? What's wrong ?" Jeremiah asked already fishing for them in his pocket.
"I don't know." He says before looking toward Belly, "Did something happen ?"
"Um.." She stammers. Dakota mutters a 'thanks' to Jeremiah before his attention is back on Belly.
"Belly ?" He calls out
"I don't know." She finally says. Dakota huffs before turning to Jeremiah and Conrad.
"I'm gonna take her home. Call me if you need me to come back."
"Got it." They nod before he rushes off toward his sister.
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For majority of the car ride, Liz had been silent. Which wasn't abnormal for them since Liz wasn't as outgoing as her brother, but she was never this quiet.
As the car stops in the driveway, Dakota shuts it off. He turns toward his sister to find her lost in thought. "Liz."
"Hm ?" She hums finally looking up. Dakota can see her register that they made it home, but doesn't move to get out of the car.
"What happened ?"
"Nothing."
"Don't do that." Dakota interjects. Liz looks over toward him, "You might be able to fool everyone else, but you can't fool me. I'm your twin."
"We don't have twin telepathy, Dakota." She chuckles lightly
"Yeah, we do. We proved this years ago."
"No, we didn't. You just copied all of my answers."
"You can't prove that."
"I caught you."
"No, you didn't." He shrugs. Liz narrows her eyes at him before she laughs. A smile spreads across Dakota's face as she shakes her head in amusement. As her laughter dies down, he nods, "So, what happened ?"
Liz sighs, "Belly likes Conrad."
Dakota's brows raise, "Really ?"
"Yup." She mumbles, "Taylor said it after we found her and Steven making out."
"What ?" He exclaims as his eyes widen. As he looks at his sister, her look tells him that what she was saying was true. Dakota falls back in his seat, "Holy shit."
"Yeah."
"Oh my god." He chuckles in disbelief, "Wait, how do you know what Taylor was saying wasn't just because she was upset ?"
"Because Belly didn't deny it." Liz says, "She likes Conrad."
"Okay, even if she does, so what ?"
"Because." She says looking toward him. He shakes his head in confusion, "I don't want to be in competition with her."
"You're not in competition with her, Liz."
"And Belly is so much better for him." Liz shakes her head, "She doesn't have all the shit that I deal with on her shoulders."
Dakota looks out the window. A beat of silence passes between them before he sighs, "He likes you, Liz."
His sister looks over at him, but he keeps his eyes on the house, "How do you know that ?"
"Because I do." He chuckles looking over at her, "Literally everyone does and that's why Belly didn't tell you anything. Susannah wasn't bringing up one of her kids ending up with one of us for nothing."
"How do you know she wasn't talking about Jeremiah ?"
"Because Jeremiah is too much like me, which is why you wouldn't date him." He nods, "And neither of them are my type."
Liz smiles, "You have a type in guys ?"
"Of course I do. I don't like guys, but if I had to pick one, it wouldn't be them. No offense." Liz laughs as her head falls back against the seat, "I'm just saying, you guys are the only ones who don't see it."
Liz smiles lightly as she nods, "Thanks, big bro."
Dakota chuckles as she starts to get out, "Anytime, little sis."
Liz laughs as he gets out of the car himself.
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