1 Step Forward and 3 Steps Back

"Conrad," Susannah said as Conrad exhaled when he came down the stairs.

He knew that his mother was probably mad at what had happened the previous night, especially since he was supposed to look out for everyone. He was focused on Belly for the most part of the evening and maybe he shouldn't have done that.

"Morning, Mom. I'll wake Jere up in a bit," Conrad said as Susannah shook her head and pulled her son to the couch.

"I'm proud of you. The officer didn't just tell us that you guys were busted because half of you were drunk, but also that my 18-year-old son decided not to drink so that he could keep an eye on a fifteen year old girl and make sure she was okay, and if she needed help, he was lucid. I am so proud of you, my boy," Susannah said as Conrad smiled.

"You are, hey? Not so sure if I should be proud of me. I didn't look after my own brother," Conrad said, feeling guilty that he wasn't there for Jeremiah.

"Jeremiah is all grown up. He'll be fine. Belly was the one who needed protected and you did just that. Which is good. She's still asleep, but I think she'll appreciate a wake-up," Susannah said.

Conrad smiled as he kissed his mother's cheek before he had gone to the kitchen. He poured two cups of coffee. One with milk and one sugar, and another one black with two sugars. Belly used to be known for loving black coffee, but lately Conrad heard she loved milk coffee. He had gone up the stairs and smiled as he saw how the young girl was still asleep. Her brunette hair fell over the white pillow case, and for a moment, Belly looked like an angel for Conrad.

"Good morning, Belly," Conrad said as Belly slightly moved and looked at him.

"Morning," Belly said as Conrad handed her the coffee.

"Oh, thanks. What's the time?" Belly asked as she took the cup in her hand.

"Seven. It's still early," Conrad said sitting down next to Belly on the bed.

"Are our two drunken brothers still asleep?" Belly asked.

"I assume so," Conrad said as he saw how Laurel came into the room.

"Morning," Laurel said.

"Morning, Laurel. I just came to wake her up," Conrad said as he got up.

"No, no sit down. Enjoy your morning. Steven is throwing up in the bathroom and Jeremiah is doing it on the plants. Would you mind taking Belly out for breakfast?" Laurel asked.

"Yeah, of course. Wanna go on a muffin run? We can then eat on the beach," Conrad said as Belly nodded.

"Yeah, I'll get dressed quickly," Belly said as Conrad and Laurel left the room.

"Good morning, Jere. How's your head?" Conrad asked as Jeremiah looked at his brother.

"I thought that you would be looking out for your sister last night. That clearly wasn't the case," Laurel said as Steven looked at his mother.

"I didn't even want her there," Steven said.

"I think she enjoyed it though. She seemed to be loving it," Conrad said as Laurel smiled.

"Thanks for looking out for her then. At least one of you acted responsible," Laurel said as Belly came down the stairs.

"Good morning, Bells. Muffin run?" Jeremiah asked as he got up.

"Me and Conrad are going," Belly said as Susannah handed her card to Conrad.

"She needs styling for that debutante ball. There ain't a limit. Go crazy and the Deb tea is at 1," Susannah said.

"Come on. Let's go," Conrad said, grabbing the cat keys as both he and Belly were off.

"What the hell was that?" Steven asked.

"Someone acting their age. Now, about the behavior of you two," Laurel said as she and Susannah stood in front of them.

"Let me guess; our brothers are getting the lecture of a lifetime right now," Belly said as she and Conrad were on the beach eating muffins.

"Yup, they are. Are you excited for the deb thing?" Conrad asked as Belly motioned with her hand kinda.

"I want to ask you something tho," Belly said.

"Shoot," Conrad said.

"Will you go with me to do debutante ball? I know this isn't really your thing, but..."

"Belly," Conrad said, laying his hand on hers.

"I would be honored to do it. Now, let's go and style you. Before we both hit the ocean," Conrad said.