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Following Jeremiah’s instructions to grab the car keys from Conrad’s room, Belly made her way down the hallway, pushing his door open.
The room was tidy, full of small details that felt uniquely his — a plaque of sailing knots, a megalodon tooth, a silver trophy, and a guitar resting in the corner.
She moved to his desk and rifled through the cluttered top drawer, searching for the car keys. That’s when she spotted a small black pouch hidden beneath the mess. Curiosity burned within her as she pulled it out.
She opened it to find a delicate silver necklace with an infinity symbol, gleaming softly in the morning light. Her fingers hovered above the necklace, trembling slightly, not quite touching it. Something swelled in her chest—ache, wonder, disbelief. Hope.
Doesn’t he know... her thoughts whispered, that for him...
She lifted the box gently, holding it against her chest, eyes fluttering shut.
...I would've travelled endlessly around those curves.
A smile broke across her face—small, secret, soft.
Belly barely noticed the soft creak of footsteps behind her. She was still focused on the tiny silver infinity necklace, tracing the smooth curves with trembling fingers, lost in the fragile hope it stirred inside her.
Then a voice broke the quiet.
“What are you doing?”
She spun around, clutching the necklace to her chest like a shield. Conrad stood in the doorway, eyes wide with surprise, then narrowing slightly as he took in the scene.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The air between them thickened, heavy with a truth neither dared voice.
Belly’s voice broke the silence, quiet but sharp. “Why didn’t you give this to me? Was it supposed to be a secret?”
Conrad’s eyes darkened, narrowing with something defensive—something guarded. “Why’d you think it was for you?”
Her smile faltered, replaced by a flicker of confusion and something rawer. “I just… I thought it was the kind of thing you’d give me. You know, because of the whole syrup thing…” Her words stumbled, trailing off under the weight of unspoken meaning.
He shook his head, voice low and clipped. “I bought it for someone else.”
The lie hung in the air—too thin, too forced.
Belly’s eyes sharpened. She took a step closer, clutching the box tighter against her chest, closing the space between them like a challenge.
“Conrad, what aren’t you telling me?”
He looked away, jaw tight, then sighed deeply, his shoulders slumping as if the fight was draining out of him. “I didn’t know how to say it. Or if I should say it at all.”
The words hit like a confession, raw and vulnerable, breaking through the tension that had held them hostage.
She searched his face, her voice barely a whisper. “Say what?”
Conrad hesitated, then finally let the words out, raw and honest.
“That I like you. You’re it for me, Belly.”
Belly’s breath caught. The world seemed to still, the weight of everything between them settling into something fragile and real.
She stepped closer, heart pounding. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
He shrugged, a small, nervous smile tugging at his lips. “I was scared. That it would change things. That I’d lose you.”
Without thinking, she reached up, her fingers brushing his cheek. His eyes closed briefly at her touch, and then he leaned in.
She rose on her tiptoes and sealed her mouth over his.
The kiss was tentative at first – just a touch of lips, but it quickly deepened with all the words they hadn’t said, the hope they both still held.
When they finally pulled apart, their foreheads still resting together, Belly’s eyes fluttered open. She hesitated for a heartbeat, then slowly held the small black box out to him, the delicate infinity necklace gleaming inside.
“Will you put this on me?” she asked softly, barely above a whisper.
Conrad’s lips curled into a gentle smile, a flicker of nervousness in his eyes. He reached out, lifting the necklace from the box with careful fingers. Belly turned her back to him, lifting her hair off her neck in a silent invitation.
His hands were steady but tender as he fastened the clasp at the nape of her neck. She felt the cool metal settle against her skin, then pressed the charm lightly into her collarbone, the smooth infinity symbol warm beneath her fingertips.
A small, almost shy smile tugged at her lips. The moment was quiet, intimate — a promise made without words, hanging between them like the gentle weight of the necklace itself.