Chapter Text
BELLY
Belly dropped her bag the moment she spotted Jeremiah, hair messy from the wind, arms thrown open like he didn’t know what to do with all the joy pouring out of him.
“You’re here!” he shouted as he dashed across the parking lot.
She didn’t even think. She just ran, skipping straight to him, grinning wide. He caught her mid run, arms locking tight around her, lifting her clean off the ground. The world slowed and for a moment it felt like everything revolved around them.
“Of course I’m here,” she said as he put her down, her cheeks already hurting from smiling. “What, you think I’d let you run this place without me?”
He chuckled, radiating with wild excitement, arms still looped around her waist. “You know what the best part is?” He tipped his forehead to hers, voice dropping to a whisper. “We don’t have to say goodbye at the end of the weekend.”
She could fell it, how badly he wanted to kiss her. It danced just beneath his smile. But he was trying to be good. Her parents were there. Steven was there. Belly could feel her brother’s glare, slicing through the warm September air like a cold front.
“Hey,” Steven called. “We have a full car here that needs unloading.”
Belly’s eyes shot daggers right back at him, but Jeremiah turned with a bright smile and an eager nod.
“I’ll help with that,” Jeremiah took a couple of the heavier boxes from Laurel, making a show of how effortless it was.
Belly bit back a smile, and Jeremiah caught her watching and winked. Steven rolled his eyes.
It was cute, and Belly loved watching him. The entire day, Jeremiah was on his best behavior, trying to stay on her mom’s good side. He jogged over when she demanded help with assembling her desk. He thanked her any time she handed him something, even if it was just a wet wipe. He cheerfully saluted when she asked him to break down the empty boxes. It was like watching border collie trying to win over a cat.
Belly wished her mom could see him the way she did. It wasn’t that Laurel ever outright questioned her decision to be with Jeremiah, or any of her other choices. She didn’t have to, it was there in the space between her words. The way she asked her not once by three separate times if Finch was the right school before she sent the tuition payment. And then she told her that college was really more about the experience than anything else.
Belly couldn’t shake the feeling that her mother had already written something off, or thought that maybe Belly had settled. With Jeremiah, with Finch. It wasn’t like she was valedictorian. She definitely never had a shot at Ivy. She barely scraped the grades together to get into Finch, and even then, it took a lot of financial aid.
The whole day, it seemed like something was hanging over Laurel. She kept looking over Belly’s shoulder as she arranged her bedding, her desk, like she was taking a careful accounting of her setup and checking some invisible boxes in her head. How did Belly do? Did she pass?
Once everything had been brought up and Jeremiah proudly declared they were done, Laurel stood there by her dresser, folding and refolding her sweaters, trying to delay the inevitable.
“Mom, it’s okay,” Belly said, a little sharper than she meant it. “I can handle the rest.”
Laurel eyed the cardboard boxes stacked in the corner of her room.
“If anything breaks, let me know.”
Belly nodded.
“And don’t forget to call me,” her mom said, clipped. She looked like she was considering writing her a note just to be sure.
Belly wrapped her arms around herself. “Yes, mom.”
Not I’m proud of you. Not I’ll miss you. She reached in for a hug, her arms a little stiff, like she was bracing herself for an inevitable emotional breakdown when Belly finally decided it was all too much.
When her dad hugged her, it was so tight that she almost had to tell him to let go. He handed her a folded up twenty like she was getting on a bus and about to disappear forever.
“You’re gonna do so great, Belly,” John said, giving her a soft smile.
“It’s Isabel now,” Laurel corrected him. Because being here meant growing up, and putting away old names and old selves. No more excuses, she was an adult now.
Steven punched her on the shoulder. “See you later at dinner.” And then he left to catch up with Taylor, who was already moved in and living across campus.
After her parents left, Belly watched them out the window, piling back into the car. The parking lot was full of people, climbing out of packed minivans, dragging carts, pretending to be braver than they actually felt.
The room felt quieter, lighter, but Belly still felt a weight pressing down on her chest.
Jeremiah dropped her backpack on the floor, wiping a hand across the light sheen on his forehead.
“There,” he said, stretching his arms up over his head. His shirt rode up just enough to give her a pleasing glimpse of his stomach. “You’re officially moved in. This place is cute.”
He sat down on the bed and looked around.
“You can say tiny,” she said.
Jeremiah smiled, pulling her by the hand until she was standing between his legs. “Okay, but that just means I’ll have to stay real close to you,” he dropped feather light kisses along her collarbone. “And I don’t mind that.”
Belly tried not to melt, but she felt it happen anyway.
He leaned back, studying her face. “Does it feel real yet?”
Belly looked around the room, at the half unpacked boxes, the comforter on her bed still wrinkled from the packaging, like it didn’t fit in yet. Just like her.
“Yeah,” she lied. “I think it does.”
The truth was, she was nervous. Not just about classes or schedules or getting lost on day one orientation. About all of it. Who she’d have to become to make this work. That version of herself still felt too far away, out of focus. Maybe she would never come into view. Maybe her mother was right.
Jeremiah kept looking at her, head tilted, eyebrows drawn together. “What’s wrong?”
His hands went to her waist, his thumbs rubbing against her hips in slow, steady circles. The feeling calmed her more than any deep breath ever could.
She chewed on her thumbnail. “What if I’m not good at this?”
“At college?”
“I know it sounds dumb,” she said, scrunching her shoulders up. “But I have this picture of myself, who I’m supposed to be. Someone who knows what I'm supposed to do and clicks with people, and… I don’t know, I just don’t feel like her yet.”
“Bells…” his voice went soft as he pulled her down onto the bed. They lay on their sides facing one another. “You don’t have to be that person on day one. Or ever.”
Jeremiah’s hand brushed her hair back. She shifted a little closer, linking her feet between his.
“You have plenty of time to grow into whoever you want to be,” he went on. “Don’t feel like there’s something wrong because everyone else is already posting about how amazing college is.”
Belly let out a breath, feeling the weight in her chest lifting. Her hand found his, fingers lacing together. “You’re just saying nice things because you’re hoping to get lucky.”
“Normally,” he grinned, “I’d own that.” Jeremiah brought his other hand to her cheek, stroking her jaw gently with his thumb.
His expression softened. “But I mean it. People are going to love you. And this place has no idea what just hit it.”
He said it so easily, like it was undeniable, and she had simply forgotten the obvious. And somehow, he made her believe it.
“When you say things like that it makes me want to keep you around,” she said, smiling playfully.
Belly leaned forward to kiss him, slow and sweet.
Jeremiah’s voice dropped, husky and low. “So keep me around.”
He deepened the kiss, tilting his head and pressing even closer to her. For a few minutes, there was no pressure, no expectations. Just him. Just his mouth and his warmth and the feel of his curls caught between her fingers.
“Oh! Excuse me,” said a polite and slightly startled voice.
Jeremiah pulled back enough for the two of them to see her. A neatly dressed brunette walked over to the opposite side of the room.
“You’re, um, supposed to put a sock or something on the door knob,” she said lightly. Her side of the room was already unpacked, her books neatly arranged on her shelf, her desk straightened and tidy.
“Oh, hi,” Belly scrambled upright, tugging her shirt straight and brushing her hair behind her ears. She reached a hand out to greet the girl. “You must be Jillian?”
“Yes,” Jillian said, taking her hand and giving it a firm shake. “I guess you’re Isabel.”
“That’s me!” Belly chirped, smiling extra wide.
Jeremiah stepped up to Jillian and offered his hand, too. “I’m Jeremiah. Isabel’s boyfriend. Though she usually just calls me ‘the muscle.’ I’m only really around when she has some heavy lifting to do.”
Belly grinned and elbowed him in the side.
Jillian gave him a friendly but forced smile.
“Before I forget,” she said to Belly. “Do you want to trade class schedules? That way we can coordinate our study times. Or share notes, that sort of thing.”
From her desk drawer, Jillian produced a folder, removed a crisp printed sheet, and handed it to her.
“Sure,” Belly said, taking the printout and examining the neat margins and color-coded highlights. “Yeah, that’s smart.”
Jillian stood there quietly like she was waiting for something.
“Oh, right, let me…” Belly checked a few boxes and bags looking for the folded piece of paper she printed back at home. “Sorry, I haven’t quite… figured out my organization system yet.”
Belly dumped the contents of her backpack and found it, only slightly crumpled from being in her bag.
“Here it is!” She said brightly, offering it up. “But it’s my only copy so if you could just take a picture or something…”
Jillian eyed the paper. She unfolded the dog-eared corner and snapped a picture with her phone. Then she handed it back.
Jeremiah cleared his throat, “I should get going, let you two get settled.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Belly said, following him.
They stepped into the hallway and she clicked the door shut behind them. Belly buried her face in her hands and groaned.
“Well,” she said. “That was mortifying.”
“Ouch, Bells,” Jeremiah said with a grin, pretending to be wounded. “Wasn’t like she caught us doing anything freaky. Unless kissing me counts as scandalous now.”
He tried to laugh, but something flickered behind his smile.
“It’s just… I’ve never had a roommate, and… she has actual binders, Jere. Did you see? With tabs. I don’t even think I brought enough paper to fill a binder. How do I already feel behind and orientation hasn’t even started yet?”
Jeremiah took her by the hands and stepped towards her.
“Okay, so you didn’t make the smoothest first impression,” he gave her a reassuring smile. “Big deal. That doesn’t mean you’re gonna fail your classes or never make any friends. Who even needs binders? No one.”
Belly chewed her lip. She smiled at him.
“Look,” he started as he walked towards her door. “You’re going to be so busy having the time of your life here, that you’ll soon forget I exist.”
Jeremiah grabbed the marker attached to the small whiteboard sign hanging from her door. He popped off the cap and stared scribbling on the board.
You’re the milk to my shake.
Belly snorted when she read it. “This is going to make me friends?”
“No,” he said, grinning now, “this is to remind you of your hilarious and charming boyfriend when you’re too busy with all your new friends.”
“Hilarious?” Belly raised an eyebrow as her hands swung around his neck to pull him in closer.
“But charming, at least? Or cute?” He looked at her, overly serious. “Tell me I’m cute. Your approval is everything to me.”
“Very cute.” Belly‘s smile finally cracked into a laugh, and she leaned into him, pressing her lips against his.
Jeremiah sighed, his hands wrapping around her waist and squeezing her tightly.
They broke apart, his forehead resting against hers. “I’ll see you tonight. You’ve got this, okay?”
Belly nodded.
He kissed her again, soft and easy, before he let her go, smiling as he walked away. Belly couldn’t hold back her own smile, even well after he left. He had that effect on her, making her heart feel so full and so light all at once. As long as he was there with her, she didn’t need anything else.