stella had finally caught a break. she had finally gotten to do some more songwriting after all the drama that had happened over the summer.

she opened up her notes app for some inspiration.

june 22
'cause, baby, when your arms are around me.
i'd swear that i'm holding the sun.

june 22
darlin' i'd wait for you.

shit, stella thought. that's catchy.

*flashbacks*

"you wanna go home?" jeremiah asked, adjusting to her decision to change her position to a side hug. he let his arms rest on her shoulders. it was a small, gentle gesture but it was beyond comforting.

"yeah, let's go," stella said. they walked together in the side hug. conrad led the way and cleared the path for the two teenagers in the back.

stella thought about the whole night as they were exiting the party. she got an idea that she would probably end up writing on her notes app in her phone.

she thought about it carefully, trying not to let the idea slip her mind. 'cause, baby, when your arms are around me. i'd swear that i'm holding the sun.

darlin' i'd wait for you.

*flashback ends*

stella read her little poem from her notes app over and over again. at this point, she couldn't even deny it. she was falling hard and fast... for her best friend's brother.

what would conrad even think? she thought.

her mind probably shouldn't even be going there, but it was. their friendship was so important. never in a million years did stella think that she would catch feels for someone who had been there all along, just on the sidelines.

but now she was realizing. jeremiah had always been there.

she always chose conrad, but she never realized how much effort jeremiah had really put into their friendship.

he was patient and stella was oblivious.

maybe he does like me, she thought. she was still doubtful though. stella was an overthinker. she never thought things would actually go her way.

for example, stella was realizing her feelings for jeremiah, but it was like she didn't want to admit that he might feel the same about her.

but her mind always went back to their childhood.

back to all the times that jeremiah had begged her to play with him in the water fights. all the times that he would invite her to sit next to him during the movie nights but she had always chosen to share a bowl of popcorn with conrad.

and even as they grew up, jeremiah was there for her. he was there summers ago when no one else wanted to ride the ferris wheel with her so he did. conrad was too busy admiring some girl from a distance. stella thought that was bullshit because she just wanted to have fun.

he was her first kiss. he was her only real, meaningful kiss, even if that was years ago. even if they told themselves that it didn't even count, because it pretty much did and they knew it.

jeremiah was there for her.

and now susannah was asking conrad to take her to the ball. it wasn't like stella wasn't going to have a good time either way because conrad was still her best friend, but her feelings were different this time. she had no choice but to admit it.

she wanted jeremiah to take her to the ball, not conrad.

she added another note to her notes app.

july 21
i'd give you the sun

she sighed. she crossed her arms over the top of her guitar and leaned her head in between them.

she felt like she was running out of time. the summer was flying by. even if they had started something, they wouldn't be able to enjoy it for long before they were separated until next summer anyways.

she added another note.

july 21
darling, i'd wish that you could give me more time

the song that she was writing felt peaceful. every lyric that she thought of felt peaceful, almost tired.

she thought of the perfect name for this mixture of lyrics that hadn't been put together yet.

july 21

just then, she heard footsteps running up her stairs. she quickly locked the note in her phone and closed her phone, looking extra suspicious.

she was met with jeremiah who stood shirtless at the top of her stairs, confused with her sudden movements.

"hey," he chuckled hesitantly before continuing, "come on. let's go swim."

seeing him after writing those notes about him was like an adrenaline rush. she felt like he knew what she was writing.

"oh, uh-" she started, trying her best not to check him out.

he glanced down at the guitar in her lap and her phone that had been shoved into her bed. "oh, did i interrupt something?"

"oh- no, not at all," she replied carefully. "just some... writing."

"right," he laughed softly, entering her room. "what about?"

her eyes widened. she averted her eyes away from him, trying to hide her facial expressions. "nothing really... just... you know."

"i don't know," he smiled playfully at her. "but whatever. let's go swim."

"i- later," stella said. she had to calm herself down and make sure that she could keep herself sane before spending time with him.

he pouted his bottom lip out and tilted his head. "how come nobody ever wants to play with me?"

jeremiah threw himself onto the side of her bed gently, careful not to knock anything off it. stella rolled her eyes, shoving his bare shoulder playfully. "later," she said, more sternly.

he smiled lightly and pushed himself off her bed. "fine," he replied with a mischevious grin on his face. "later."

"promise," stella said, waving him away. she smiled before adding, "now go."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

𝐣𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐚𝐡

jeremiah went to the kitchen to get a glass of milk. he was bored out of his mind and was just finding things to do at this point. he was waiting for the night to come so that him and stella could go swimming.

he found conrad in the kitchen at the same time as him. "hey," he said dully.

"hey," conrad replied dryly. he was cleaning up feverishly.

jeremiah just shrugged and continued pouring himself a glass of milk. after downing the glass and hesitantly putting it in the sink, he glanced up at his older brother who was sending him a gentle glare. "really?"

"what?" jeremiah said defensively.

"wouldn't kill you to clean that." conrad scrunched his nose up spitefully.

jeremiah laughed. "what's this all about?"

"look." the older boy pressed his lips together frustratedly. "we all just need to be helping the moms out right now, okay?"

"they made this mess," jeremiah shrugged cluelessly.

conrad's phone kept buzzing in his pocket. jeremiah couldn't help but be nosy. he wiped his mouth of any milk and stared at the device from across the kitchen. "who's blowing up your phone?"

"stella."

almost jealously, jeremiah asked, "what's she saying?"

"nothing," conrad replied simply, continuing to organize the kitchen again. "can you please put that away?"

"yeah. yeah."

conrad sighed. "thank you."

while conrad wasn't looking, jeremiah put the milk back in the fridge and left his cup in the sink. he left the room without another word.

he wasn't jealous that stella had been texting conrad. she texted him all the time. they were friends.

but it bugged him for some reason. he longed to be closer to her. he wanted something with her so desperately. he hoped that this wasn't a phase.

it can't be a phase, he told himself.

she meant too much to him for this to be a phase.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚

hours later, stella finally had a small tune. of course, it was about jeremiah. she couldn't help but write something about him, even if there was a chance that he was never going to hear it.

she started strumming a soft chord on her acoustic guitar instead of her electric one to make it more peaceful sounding. she started to sing a quiet melody, as if she was too scared to sing too loud.

this song felt like she was confessing her feelings. it felt personal and she wasn't ready for everyone to hear yet.

"darling, i'd wait for you...
even if you didn't ask me to...
tie a lasso 'round the moon...
and bring it on down to you."

every time she played this song, she was brought back to all her memories with jeremiah. she felt nostalgic even though he was still in her life. there were more memories to make.

*flashbacks*

𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨

"tell her i miss her too!" jeremiah's voice was heard in the back of the facetime call between conrad and stella.

"jere misses you too," conrad repeated in a deadpan tone.

stella giggled and waved to the screen. "i miss you too, j."

𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨

"no way. you got me tickets to see 5 seconds of summer?" stella opened her very late birthday gift from jeremiah.

he nodded excitedly. "yep. are you excited?"

"are you kidding? i'm so excited! j, you're the best."

she threw herself onto him in the biggest hug ever. they rocked back and forth until she let go and admired the tickets again.

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫

playfully, jeremiah started swaying side to side, snapping his fingers. "summer loving, had me a blast," he sang, raising his eyebrows at the girl.

he held out the microphone, which she gladly leaned into. she was a little tipsy so she ended up leaning into his side rather than the microphone. "summer loving, happened so fast."

she was on her fourth cup by now. she was probably a lightweight just like andy. he had an arm around her though so she wouldn't fall.

it doesn't feel uncomfortable with j, she thought.

*flashbacks end*

she must have been playing guitar for a long time because she noticed that it had become dark outside.

in perfect timing, jeremiah was jogging up her stairs shirtless in swim shorts. "you ready?" he asked.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

author's note

i'm thinking the iconic kiss that everyone is waiting for is gonna happen in the next chapter. if this chapter was boring, pls let me know. :) sorry that this chapter took so long. i've been busy with the summer coming to an end and cheer. AND a huge headache that i got at some point. i can't really remember. lmfaoo

pls vote, comment, etc. if you want :) THANK YOUU

if you guys have any ideas, pls comment them down below :))

[ unedited ]