This article contains spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2, episode 7, “Love Affair.”

“Love Affair” is the penultimate episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2, which means episode 7 establishes the stakes for the sophomore season’s finale. As viewers will recall, The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2, episode 6 ends with Belly leaving her mother, Laurel, a teary, drunken voicemail. It’s the culmination of the Cousins crew’s less-than-optimal party, which they throw to send off Susannah’s beach house in style. Between fistfights, spilled secrets, and on-the-nose Taylor Swift songs, the ocean-side kegger does little to lift anyone’s spirits.

Between Skye and Cam’s kiss and Steven and Taylor becoming official, there are certainly some moments of fun. However, the episode also delves into the friction between Conrad and Jeremiah, further complicating the series’ core love triangle. All of this leads to Belly’s over-the-phone breakdown. Despite being fairly absent in season 2, Laurel returns to Cousins, furious with Belly and harboring secrets of her own. Even so, the Cousins gang hopes Laurel can step in and help them save the beach house from Aunt Julia’s fast-moving sale.

10. Belly & Her Mom Fight Before Laurel Slaps Belly

After receiving Belly’s emotional voicemail, Laurel drives straight to Cousins. When she sees the remnants of the house party, Laurel’s understandably upset. It compounds her season-long frustrations, which have been slowly mounting. “I really hope last night was worth it,” she tells a muddled Belly. Ever eager to help the boys, Belly insists they stay and fight for the house. That only serves to ignite Laurel’s anger. The long-brewing mother-daughter argument finally erupts when Belly invokes Susannah’s name.

“I can’t stand to hear you use her as an excuse,” Laurels yells, before dredging up the not-so-distant past. Belly’s mom tells the teen that she’s still embarrassed about the fight that transpired at Susannah’s funeral. “You made that day all about you,” Laurel says — and Belly feels much the same. After trading verbal blows with her daughter, Laurel slaps Belly, who flees the beach house.

9. Jeremiah & Belly Talk About Conrad

Although both brothers overhear the mother-daughter argument, it’s Jeremiah who follows a crying Belly to the beach. Jeremiah lends an ear and tries to comfort Belly, who can’t help but switch topics. The night before, both Belly and Jeremiah had words with Conrad, and Jeremiah assures Belly that she’s not the only point of friction between him and his brother.

Jeremiah snaps at Belly for trying to “defend” Conrad, but she insists that’s not her aim. “There’s nothing left between me and Conrad,” Belly tells Jeremiah. Yet again, her feelings push her toward Jeremiah, who can’t quite believe that Belly and his brother are over each other. “There’ll always be something between you and Conrad,” he says, voice tinged with a telling sadness.

8. Laurel Reveals That She Knew About Aunt Julia’s Plan

Back inside, an upset Laurel is still reeling from her fight with Belly. When she runs into Conrad and Steven, things continue to go poorly. Distraught, she tells the boys they need to put all of Susannah’s things back and deep-clean the house. Steven informs her that it wasn’t them who moved all of Susannah’s belongings, but Aunt Julia. Who buys the beach house is the focus of The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2, but Laurel is just catching up.

At first, Laurel seems surprised by the news. However, she reveals that Susannah made her well aware for the house’s ownership. Mistakenly, Laurel assumed Julia would keep the house in the family, as Susannah had wanted; her assumption means she’s been keeping the knowledge from Conrad and Jeremiah, which upsets the boys. When Laurel vents her frustrations with Belly, Steven interrupts her. “At least she was here,” he says. “The second they needed her, she stepped up.“

7. Laurel Apologizes To Belly (& Everyone Else)

After Steven gives Laurel the “try harder” ultimatum, she seeks out Belly. Finally, the two have a more honest conversation about their grief — one that’s not saturated in anger at one another. In fact, Laurel admits that the real thing she’s angry about is Susannah’s death. Belly agrees, saying that the house doesn’t feel the same without Susannah.

Through tears, the mother-daughter pair are able to reconcile. Laurel apologizes for striking Belly and for avoiding her grief so thoroughly that it led her to become distant. Belly seeks forgiveness too, especially when it comes to her post-funeral behavior and refusal to fill her mom in on the trip to Cousins. “You all were there for each other,” Laurel says to Belly, commending her daughter’s actions now that she fully understands the house’s fate.

6. Aunt Julia Pulls Out Of The Sale (Thanks To Laurel)

After apologizing to Belly and the boys for not stepping up when she knew about Aunt Julia’s involvement with the beach house, Laurel agrees to speak with Susannah’s estranged sister. On cue, Aunt Julia arrives at the beach house, furious with its disheveled state. Laurel tries to convince Julia that the boys’ love of their mother is “pretty tangled up” in the house. Given her terrible memories of Cousins and her father, Julia can’t quite understand.

Julia makes it clear that she not only resents the fact that Susannah didn’t call her before her passing — she just wrote a letter — but that she never said goodbye either. Returning to Cousins stirred up a lot for Julia: she was put in the middle of their parents’ divorce, while Susannah just enjoyed Cousins. Laurel apologizes for stepping into the sisterly role when Susannah had a sister, but Julia assures her that it’s okay. It wasn’t Laurel’s or Susannah’s job to make her feel welcome in Cousins. When Laurel assures Julia that it isn’t too late to mend things, Julia decides to pull out of the sale.

5. Conrad & Belly Talk About Their Breakup

For the first time since the ill-advised house party, Conrad and Belly have a private conversation. Conrad admits that his approach to their breakup was wrong — something viewers saw in last week’s The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 timeline jumps back to prom. Belly is understanding, as Conrad was going through a lot while they were dating. Even so, Conrad wants to make sure Belly doesn’t ever regret their time together. Agreeing that they both hurt each other a lot, the characters promise to move forward as friends and, as much as possible, spare each other any more pain.

4. Adam Agrees To Buy The House From Julia

Although Laurel convinces Julia to pull out of the sale, the Cousins gang has one last hurdle when it comes to saving Susannah’s beach house. In order to avoid dipping into Conrad and Jeremiah’s trust fund, Laurel deduces that their father, Adam, should purchase the house from Julia at market value. The plan is great in theory, but they have to convince Adam to get it on it. When Adam arrives at the house, he wrongly assumes Laurel and Julia are on his side.

Frustrated by Laurel’s accusations, Adam fears he’s being made out to be the bad guy. In his view, he isn’t letting the boys lose anything because it’s not his responsibility to salvage the house. “Get past your own grief and see what’s best for the boys,” Laurel says. Eventually, Adam admits that it’s hard being at the beach house — Susannah’s presence lingers everywhere — but he agrees to do one last thing for his late wife and purchase the house. This allows Conrad and Jeremiah to save the Cousins beach house for good.

3. Conrad & Jeremiah Seemingly Reconcile

Although Conrad and Jeremiah have spoken briefly throughout the day, they have yet to really discuss their heated argument from the night before. Jeremiah admits that he was wrong to give Conrad his “blessing” when it came to dating Belly; he also confesses he no longer wants to be the person who’s always smiling even when he’s unhappy. The brothers agree that if something comes to mind, for either of them, they’ll bring it up. Even if it hurts at the moment, they decide talking honestly about everything is the best course forward.

2. Belly & The Boys Pull An All-Night Study Session With Conrad

When Conrad shares that he got into Stanford, Jeremiah encourages him to pursue his California dreams. Afraid of leaving his brother behind, Conrad hesitates, but Jeremiah argues that if Conrad stays because of him, he’ll never forgive it. The only problem is that an intimidating exam stands in Conrad’s way of transferring from Brown to Stanford. To help Conrad study, Jeremiah convinces Laurel to let Belly and Steven stay one more night.

After an all-night study session, Belly almost tells Conrad about her newly blossoming feelings, but he falls asleep. The next morning, Steven encourages Conrad to tell Belly that he still loves her. Clearly, Steven’s happiness with Taylor is pushing him to sing a very different tune. Before everyone leaves the beach house, Laurel suggests that Belly join the brothers on their Brown University road trip and “finish what you started.“

1. Belly & Jeremiah Kiss Before Conrad Walks In On Them

Given the love triangle at the center of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Laurel’s words carry extra weight. At first, Belly’s road trip with the brothers seems pretty neutral. After all, the most important thing is getting Conrad to his exam so that he can pass with flying colors and attend Stanford. In the back of her mind, Belly believes that some physical distance will help her and Conrad mend their friendship.

After dropping Conrad off at class, Jeremiah gives Belly a tour of the nearby Finch College. Over the course of a flirty afternoon, Belly decides to rejoin the high school volleyball team and admits she can see herself at Finch with Jeremiah. Back at the car, the romantic tension between the two is palpable. Jeremiah admits that he can’t take Belly changing her mind about him again, though she assures him that things are different — they’ve grown up.

Then Belly explains that, although she spent most of her life dreaming of Conrad, “dreams aren’t real.” Moving closer to Jeremiah, she says, “Now I want something real. I want you,” and kisses him. In true love-triangle fashion, Conrad appears, clearly devastated to find the pair making out. While it’s not clear how Belly’s big kiss in episode 7 will impact Conrad and Jeremiah, The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 promises a finale full of super-charged romantic tension.