Belly overhears Lacie confirm in a bathroom that she hooked up with Jeremiah during spring break in Cabo.

Belly confronts Jeremiah, who admits to sleeping with Lacie; she slaps him and leaves the party.

Jeremiah proposes to Belly on one knee with a diamond ring, and she accepts after realizing she cannot give up on their relationship.

Jeremiah announces the engagement at a post-ceremony lunch, leaving both families shocked into silence.

Laurel tells Belly she will not support the wedding and refuses to attend.

Belly decides to spend the rest of the summer at Cousins Beach to plan the wedding and escape her mother.

Belly arrives at Cousins Beach and discovers that Conrad has already been staying at the beach house all summer.

Conrad secretly meets Laurel for breakfast and convinces her to attend Belly's bridal shower.

Belly and Laurel reconcile at the bridal shower, and Belly's anxiety about the wedding lifts for the first time.

Conrad overhears Jeremiah's friends at the bachelor party bar discussing Jeremiah's sexual escapades in Cabo.

Conrad finds Belly on the beach after the bachelor party and confesses he still loves her, asking her to leave Jeremiah.

Belly tells Jeremiah that Conrad confessed his love for her; Jeremiah grows furious and leaves the house alone.

Jeremiah punches Conrad at Susannah's memorial garden and tells him he never wants to see him or Belly again.

Conrad gives Belly the infinity necklace, apologizes for not confessing his feelings sooner, and leaves before the wedding.

Belly admits to Jeremiah that she will always love Conrad at least a little, and they call off the wedding.

Belly's summer unravels when she discovers Jeremiah cheated on her during spring break, and his surprise marriage proposal sends their relationship in an unexpected direction. She accepts and moves to Cousins Beach to plan the wedding, only to find Conrad already living at the house. Conrad quietly works behind the scenes to help Belly reconnect with her estranged mother, while growing more tormented by his own unspoken love. On the night of the bachelor party, Conrad finally confesses his feelings to Belly on the beach, setting off a crisis she cannot contain. After Belly tells Jeremiah the truth and the wedding morning arrives in chaos, she makes the most difficult admission of her life, and the ceremony never takes place.

The central romance and its dramatic collapse.

Belly finds Jeremiah asleep in her dorm room holding her stuffed polar bear after finishing her last exam of freshman year.

Belly recalls the spring break argument that caused her brief breakup with Jeremiah before the Cabo trip.

Taylor rushes to Belly's dorm with food after hearing about Jeremiah's infidelity, and they talk about whether Belly might get back together with him.

Belly secretly visits the empty Cousins Beach house over winter break and discovers Conrad there, realizing she is still in love with him.

Belly meets Taylor at a coffee shop, tells her about the engagement, and asks her to be maid of honor.

Belly tells Anika she cannot room with her next year because of the engagement, and Anika asks whether Belly knows what she is doing.

Belly goes wedding dress shopping without her mother and finds the perfect dress at the very last store.

Jeremiah arrives at Laurel's home with a bouquet of flowers, but Laurel remains firmly opposed to the wedding.

Conrad drives Belly into town to mail her wedding invitations, and the two recall that the last time they were in his car was the night of their breakup at prom.

Conrad and Belly visit the florist together, and the attendant mistakes Conrad for the groom.

Conrad buys Belly a second peach at a roadside fruit stand and wipes the juice from her face with his shirt in an unexpectedly intimate gesture.

Belly and Jeremiah tour two apartments near campus and cannot agree on which one to choose.

Conrad visits his former boss Ernie, who tells him that when a girl is the one, all bets are off, even when it comes to family.

Belly gets dressed on her wedding morning without knowing whether Jeremiah will return from wherever he has gone.

Belly receives the first letter from Conrad while studying abroad in Spain, beginning a months-long correspondence between them.

This pool traces the smaller but essential scenes surrounding Belly's whirlwind engagement to Jeremiah Fisher. From discovering him asleep in her dorm room to the heartbreak of choosing a wedding dress without her mother beside her, Belly's path is lined with tenderness and growing doubt. Key relationships shape her journey: Taylor's fierce loyalty, Anika's gentle skepticism, and the rekindled closeness with Conrad during their daily life at Cousins Beach. The differences between Belly and Jeremiah's visions for their future quietly accumulate, while Conrad's unspoken feelings press closer to the surface in small, intimate moments. It is only years later, when Conrad's letters begin arriving in Spain, that a new chapter quietly takes shape.

The quieter moments that shape Belly's summer and its aftermath.

Belly decides not to tell Jeremiah that she secretly visited the Cousins Beach house over winter break and saw Conrad there.

Belly's father and Laurel present a united front against the marriage, and Belly refuses their compromise of simply living together instead.

Conrad arrives late to Susannah's garden dedication ceremony and feels jealousy flare as he watches Jeremiah take Belly's hand from across the room.

Conrad suggests to Jeremiah during a morning surf that perhaps he and Belly should wait to get married, and Jeremiah tells him to stay out of it.

Conrad drives to his family home in Boston and sits with his father, who asks whether Conrad thinks he should do something to stop the wedding.

Belly tells Jeremiah that he found a stray dog named Rosie on the beach as children, and Jeremiah corrects her, revealing it was actually Conrad who found the dog.

Belly and Jeremiah argue at dinner over their conflicting visions for the wedding, including Jeremiah's idea for a viral reception dance video.

Conrad surfs and cuts his leg; as Belly cleans and bandages the wound, they nearly lean in close enough to kiss.

Taylor reveals to Belly that Conrad secretly visited Laurel to convince her to attend the bridal shower, a fact Taylor had been hiding to avoid confusing Belly.

Conrad returns to Cousins after driving away and is confronted on the porch by Taylor, who warns him to stop treating Belly like something he picks up and puts down.

Belly climbs into bed with sleeping Jeremiah after walking away from Conrad on the beach and quietly tells him she loves him.

Conrad first claims he was drunk and barely remembers confessing his love, then admits to Belly that he does still love her and always has.

Jeremiah reveals to Belly that he has always known about her secret winter visit to Cousins Beach, and waited for her to confess it herself.

Jeremiah reads Susannah's wedding letter and discovers it is actually Conrad's letter, which says she only ever saw Conrad truly in love once, with Belly.

Belly sees Conrad for the first time at her college graduation after years apart and immediately knows they are meant to be together.

Beneath the surface of Belly's engagement lies a web of hidden truths and pivotal moments that slowly pull the story toward its inevitable conclusion. Belly buries her feelings for Conrad from the start, while Conrad silently wrestles with jealousy, guilt, and a promise he made to his dying mother. Tension builds through small but charged encounters: a near-kiss over a bandaged wound, a misremembered childhood story, and Taylor's quiet revelation about what Conrad did for Belly behind the scenes. When Jeremiah uncovers the secret Belly has been keeping about her winter visit, and Susannah's mislabeled letter lays bare the depth of Conrad's love, the truth can no longer be avoided. Years after the wedding falls apart, Belly sees Conrad at her college graduation and understands that some loves cannot be outrun.