In The Summer I Turned Pretty, fans continue to debate one painful question: did Belly ever actually get over Conrad before starting something with Jeremiah?
For many viewers, the timeline alone tells the story.
Six weeks.
That’s all the time between Belly and Conrad’s breakup and her growing closeness with Jeremiah. And Season 2 unfolds over roughly a single chaotic week.
Was that really enough time to mourn a first love?
She Never Got to Grieve the Relationship
A breakup isn’t just an ending — it’s a loss that needs processing. But Belly never truly had space to mourn Conrad Fisher. Before she could untangle her feelings, she was pulled into emotional turmoil, family grief, and the Cousins house crisis.
Then Conrad was gone.
For some fans, that absence is key. The only reason she was able to “move on” was because he removed himself from the equation. Distance didn’t heal her heart — it just suppressed it.
And suppressed feelings don’t disappear. They wait.
Jeremiah: Love or Convenience?
No one denies that Belly cares about Jeremiah Fisher. He was her best friend. Her safe place. The boy who was steady when everything else felt uncertain.
But critics argue that caring isn’t the same as romantic love.
There are different kinds of love. The comfort-love of friendship. The steady-love of familiarity. And then there’s the consuming, conflicted, gravitational love she shares with Conrad.
To many viewers, Belly has always only been in love with Conrad. What she feels for Jeremiah feels softer, safer — but not deeper.
And that distinction changes everything.
A Relationship Built on Unresolved Feelings
When Belly decides to help Conrad get into Stanford, she even says that maybe if he leaves, they’ll finally be able to move on from each other. That motivation alone suggests something unresolved.
If you’re truly over someone, you don’t need physical distance to help you detach.
Staying away didn’t fix anything. It only buried emotions under layers of pride, hurt, and silence.
Within days of still mourning Conrad, Belly leans into Jeremiah. That speed makes the relationship feel rushed — almost inevitable in its collapse.
Some fans call it doomed from the start.
Who Really Deserves Better?
The tragedy is that both brothers end up hurting.
Jeremiah deserves someone who loves him fully, without hesitation or emotional leftovers. Conrad deserves someone who won’t keep reopening wounds. And Belly, caught between guilt and longing, continues making choices that leave damage behind.
For some viewers, it’s frustrating. For others, it’s heartbreakingly realistic.
But one thing feels clear: Belly didn’t enter her relationship with Jeremiah as someone healed.
She entered it as someone still in love.
And when love isn’t resolved — only avoided — it doesn’t fade.
It waits.
