Cousins Beach isn’t just a place; it’s a battlefield of unspoken feelings, stolen kisses, and tears that taste like salt water. Over two gut-wrenching seasons of The Summer I Turned Pretty, we watched Belly Conklin transform from the awkward girl in oversized hoodies into the axis around which two brothers orbit, love, and ultimately destroy each other.

Season 1 gifted us the slow-burn magic: the debutante ball glow-up, the midnight swims, the infinity necklace that became the symbol of every teenage heart’s wildest dream. Conrad Fisher (moody, guarded, carrying the weight of his mother’s cancer like Atlas with the sky) tried so hard not to let Belly down. Every time he looked at her like she was the only real thing in his crumbling world, we felt it in our bones. He pushed her away to protect her, chose silence over confession, and still showed up when it mattered most: driving through the night to bring her home, dancing with her under fairy lights even when his heart was breaking.

Jeremiah, golden retriever energy wrapped in sun-kissed skin, spent both seasons fighting a ghost. He smiled through the pain, threw the parties, kept the summer alive, but underneath he was screaming: Why am I never enough? Every joke, every flirt, every “I’m fine” was a shield against the truth that Belly’s eyes always drifted back to Conrad. When he finally kissed her in Season 2, Episode 6, it felt like triumph… until we realized he was still the second choice wearing first-place confidence.

Season 2 detonated everything. The beach house went up for sale, Susannah’s absence haunted every room, and the love triangle became a war zone. Conrad self-destructed at Brown, disappeared for days, let Belly believe the worst, because in his mind keeping her away from his darkness was the only way to love her. Jeremiah, raw and furious, finally snapped: “You don’t get to keep deciding what’s best for everyone!” The motel fight scene, the rain-soaked confessions, Belly choosing Jeremiah at the Christmas party only for Conrad to whisper “It should’ve been you” at the funeral… we’ve never recovered.

Yet the cruelest moments weren’t the breakups; they were the almosts. Conrad touching Belly’s face in the car and pulling away. Jeremiah watching them from the window like a kid locked outside his own life. The volleyball game callback in the finale when both brothers reached for her at the exact same second. Every glance, every unsaid “I love you,” every time Conrad swallowed his feelings so Jeremiah could have a chance, and every time Jeremiah pretended he didn’t notice, carved deeper.

By the end of Season 2, Belly stood between two shattered boys who loved her so fiercely they broke themselves trying not to break her. Conrad never wanted to disappoint her. Jeremiah never wanted to be the runner-up. And we, the audience, are left sobbing on the floor because no one wins when love this big collides with grief this cruel.

Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah? At this point, we’re just Team Therapy for Everyone.