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Language:
English
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Published:
2025-10-01
Updated:
2025-10-09
Words:
61,519
Chapters:
13/?
Comments:
206
Kudos:
804
Bookmarks:
137
Hits:
30,448

Hope, Folded Neatly

Summary:

Five years. Letters lost in time.

She thought he’d forgotten her.
He thought the silence meant goodbye.

But hope has a quiet way of staying—tucked inside the waiting.

Some love stories don’t end. They just find their way back.

 

˚⋆𓇼˚⊹ 𖦹 ⁺｡°

 

Or: Belly never received the letters Conrad wrote while she was in Paris. Now, years later, they find each other again in New York City, away from the others—and it may be the beginning, or the continuation, of what was always meant to be.

Chapter 1: prologue | notes

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Prologue | Notes




📍 Timeline & Setting

✦This story follows the book timeline for many aspects of the relationships:
✧Belly and Conrad dated for 6 months, after the Halloween scene.

     ✧Belly and Jeremiah dated for two years not four → engaged at 18 (Belly) and 19 (Jeremiah).

✦After the called-off wedding, Belly went to Paris to complete her undergrad.

✦The story begins five years later, in the month of May:

     ✧Belly is 23, Conrad is 25.

✦Setting: New York City.

     ✧Steven, Taylor, Jeremiah and Adam are in Boston.

     ✧Laurel and John are in Philadelphia.





🌿 What to Expect

✦This fic explores how Belly and Conrad find their way back to each other after years apart.

✦Their relationship develops slowly, with healthy boundaries, rebuilding trust and love.

✦The tone stays grounded and realistic (minus the fantasy-money aspect that the canon and this non-canon tends to gloss over—because in Belly and Conrad’s world, money grows on trees).

✦Expect moments of longing, intimacy, and the quiet work of choosing each other again.





⚠️ Content Warnings

✦Occasional angst (nothing too heavy — will update if that changes).

✦Descriptions of sexual activity.

✦Mentions of depression and panic attacks.





📌 Pinterest Board

✦ A Pinterest board link will be included at the end of each chapter, and I’m linking it here as well: ⋆.˚pinterest˚.⋆.I like to have visuals when I read and thought I’d add it here too.





🪩 Author's Notes

✦ Hi! I hope the above notes clear up the basic outline of this story. There are a few things I’d like to lay out:
 ✧ I am not a professional, just a girl who fell in love with this trilogy, so please be nice and don’t keep your expectations too high. I’m learning as I go.
 ✧ This is purely a Bonrad fan fiction: Isabel Susannah Conklin x Conrad Beck Fisher.
 ✧ I mostly update once a week, unless unavoidable circumstances arise (example: my fucked up mental health, aha aha!!)
 ✧ Constructive criticism, tips, and suggestions are welcome!! As long as they are respectful and not crossing the line into being rude (this girl has mental health issues, take it easy on her LMAO).
 ✧ I absolutely love chatting with people in the comments, so feel free to leave your thoughts—I reply most of the time and may even ramble a bit!

✦ And lastly… enjoy!!



Notes:

1/10/2025- Hi! I have added a Prologue | Notes chapter before the story begins so that if any new readers stumble across the work, they can have a clear idea of what they're going into :)) This is just to organize the story a bit, and so that there is no confusion over the timelines, settings, ages, etc!

The story begins from the next chapter<3