the rest of last night had been quiet. the rest of the car ride home was quiet. when they got home, it was quiet. conrad and stella didn't speak until they reached the top of the stairs.

he sort of regretted telling her his secret but at the same time, it felt like such a weight off his shoulders. "goodnight, stel," he mumbled at the top of the stairs.

he was planning on spending the night at nicole's but stella needed a ride home and he wanted to offer. it was going to be a painful ride back to nicole's house for him. he was so tired.

"yeah, goodnight," she replied tiredly. it was surprising that she even made it to the top of the stairs without falling asleep in the middle.

she had conrad though. he wouldn't let her fall asleep in the middle of the stairs even though he felt like he could do the same.

it was the next morning and stella found herself waking up earlier than usual. she was "thriving" off three hours of sleep since she couldn't sleep much last night. the events from the party were still lingering in her mind.

stop thinking about it, she told herself. stop it. stop it.

*flashbacks*

she squirmed under his touch. she wanted to get out. she tried to push him but he was much stronger than she was. her voice wavered. "daniel, stop."

*flashback ends*

she crept down the stairs to find only jeremiah sitting at the kitchen island. stella placed herself down onto the stool next to him.

"good morning," he greeted cautiously. he had a worrisome look on his face that only made her think about last night even more. "you want one?"

the boy had offered her another one of his concoctions that he had whipped up that morning. she gave in and took a sip out of his cup. he just shrugged and let her.

"is it good?" he asked. he didn't know if he should talk to her about what happened or not.

she nodded and wiped her mouth. "it's good."

when stuff like this happens, am i supposed to ignore it and not say anything or am i supposed to comfort her and be there for her? he asked himself. he liked the second option better.

"so... about last night," he started.

stella stopped him immediately, shuddering at the thought of last night. "i don't... really wanna talk about it."

"oh okay, yeah- that's cool," he replied.

okay, so maybe option two was not the way to go, jere, he thought.

"have you heard about the drama with taylor and belly?" he changed the topic.

stella's eyes widened as she set down his glass. she had been taking consistent sips at this point, but she insisted that she didn't want her own. "isabel and taylor have beef?"

"yeah, she made out with steven," he said bluntly, making stella almost spit out the drink.

"she what?"

jeremiah smiled crookedly at her. "you heard me."

he gave her time to take in the information. he was proud of himself for switching the topic so well though. he had learned that the events from last night were probably going to be a sensitive topic so he knew to stay away from that now.

stella raised an eyebrow at him. "so she...?"

"yep."

"and then they-"

he pressed his lips into a line. "uh-huh."

"and then belly saw-"

"yes," he said.

stella scratched the side of her head, still a bit confused with the situation. "woah."

"i mean, good for tay-tay and steven but imagine walking in on your brother kissing your best friend. poor belly," jeremiah said, not even noticing stella start to zone out.

she was sitting at the kitchen island next to him still, but now she was staring at the patterns on the counter. she thought about what jeremiah had said.

but imagine walking in on your brother kissing your best friend.

her mind should have gone to andy. well, actually, maybe it shouldn't have. but instead, her mind went to conrad.

she started thinking, what would conrad do if he walked in on- stop. stop thinking things like this.

but she couldn't help herself. it was hard not to imagine a potential situation like this. she was an over thinker; she couldn't help herself.

she couldn't help but imagine jeremiah closing the door shut and gently pushing her up against it in one quick motion on a nice night like the fourth of july.

he would press his lips against hers roughly, but still gentle enough to where she would be comfortable. the kiss would be hungry, like it was something that they had both been waiting for for a long time.

and her hands would be in his hair and he would secretly like it.

he would be wearing one of his signature button-down shirts and she would be wearing one of her t-shirts that she always wore. while they were making out against the door, his hands would make their way under her shirt, attaching to her waist and hips.

her hands would travel down from his neck to his chest where she would carelessly undo the buttons on his shirt, leaving his chest and abs exposed. her hands would run down his abs, making a small groan leave his mouth.

without breaking from the kiss, she would guide him to the bed directly behind him. the lighting in the room was mellow from the sunset, but that only made his skin look more beautiful.

she only had a second to admire his face before he was gently laying her down on the bed. it's not that he wanted to be in control. he just didn't want to waste much more time.

other than the quick breaths once in a while, the kiss had still not been broken. his hands found their way back underneath her shirt. her soft gasps from his touch only made him want to kiss her harder, which he did.

"jere, have you seen stel- oh fuck! oh my god!" conrad would be standing at the doorway, speechless and frantically shielding his eyes.

stella and jeremiah would pull apart and-

"stel? stel?" jeremiah poked at her shoulder. he tried calling her name a few more times before gently lifting her face out of her hands. "stel, did you hear me?"

stella's face was a subtle shade of red. she looked at him in the eyes. his beautiful blue eyes.

i can't believe i was thinking of that while sitting next to him, she thought.

she felt as though he knew what she was thinking. of course, he didn't. but she had felt so guilty about her thoughts that it was hard to even look at him after what had ran through her mind.

"no, sorry, what did you say?" she shook her head to get rid of any of the thoughts still lingering in her mind.

"i said, do you wanna go on a muffin run with me?" he repeated himself. "i have to make a to-go cup so can you grab the keys from conrad's room?"

"yeah, sure."

she could feel that her face was still warm, meaning that her face was probably still a little red.

cut it out, stel, she told herself.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

author's note

tbh i didn't even expect myself to write that until it was happening but whatever. that happened. if this was boring lmfaoo, please let me know in the comments how i can make it less boring, ig :)

also additional question: who do you guys ship stella with rn?

pls vote, comment, etc. THANK YOUU <3

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

[ unedited ]