Who Does Belly End Up With In The Summer I Turned Pretty?

If you've spent your entire summer hearing about "The Summer I Turned Pretty" and its main character, who is inexplicably named "Belly," you're not alone; The Amazon Prime original series absolutely blew up while its third and final season aired from July of this year until mid-September. Let's get that "Belly" thing out of the way — her legal name is Isabel Conklin (Lola Tung), and while I think it's deeply cruel and twisted for her parents Laurel Park (Jackie Chung) and John Conklin (Colin Ferguson) to choose to call her Belly instead of literally anything else, I guess that's not my business. Throughout the entirety of "The Summer I Turned Pretty" (which is based on a series of books by Jenny Han, the "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" author who also helped work on the adaptation of "The Summer I Turned Pretty"), Belly is torn between the two Fisher brothers: Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and Conrad (Christopher Briney). So, which one does she choose?

Here's some much-needed context before we get to Belly's choice. For Belly's entire life, she and her mom Laurel have spent their summers in the fictional, Cape Cod-inspired town of Cousins Beach with Jeremiah, Conrad, and their mom Susannah Fisher (Rachel Blanchard, whom you might remember from "Flight of the Conchords" or that weird "Clueless" TV show where she played Cher Horowitz instead of Alicia Silverstone). Even though Belly has been pining for Conrad since she was a little kid, and despite the fact that she, Jeremiah, and Conrad are essentially raised together as siblings, Jeremiah confesses his feelings for her in season 1, creating a classic young adult love triangle.

So, who does Belly choose at the end of "The Summer I Turned Pretty?" Is it Conrad? Is it Jeremiah? Is it a secret third thing — like, perhaps, a dashing boy named Benito (Fernando Cattori) who lives in Paris? Allow me to explain. (It's not the secret third thing, though. Sorry, Benito.)

At the end of season 1, Jeremiah, Belly, and Conrad all get horrible news: Susannah has cancer, and she's choosing to not seek treatment as she knows that the disease is quite advanced. During the season 2 premiere, we learn that Susannah has died, and ultimately, her passing drives a wedge between Conrad and Belly, largely because Conrad is so resistant to asking for support and so closed off that it's impossible for him to be a functional partner to Belly. Then there's a whole kerfuffle for the rest of that season over the beach house — honestly, a lot of "The Summer I Turned Pretty" is about real estate — and once Conrad, Jeremiah, and Belly manage to deal with their obstinate Aunt Julia (Kyra Sedgwick) so that the house stays with the Fisher family, Belly makes a final plea to Conrad to try and restart their relationship. Nevertheless, he resists.

This leads Belly back to Jeremiah, because this girl has apparently only met two boys in her entire life. At the end of season 2, the two lovebirds get back together and the series fast-forwards to Jeremiah's senior year at the fictional Finch College, which Belly also attends. Jeremiah, a clown, is missing credits and can't graduate, and Belly learns, while she's trying to be supportive, that he also cheated on her during a recent spring break vacation to Cabo with a girl named Lacie Barone (Lily Donoghue). They break up again during the season 3 premiere, only to hastily get back together when Belly's brother Steven (Sean Kaufman) almost dies in a car accident.

Jeremiah proposes without a ring and standing upright, and Belly, who is way too young and traumatized to be making a decision like this, says yes. Despite understandable opposition from Laurel and the Fisher patriarch Adam (Tom Everett Scott), these two wild kids decide to plan a wedding at the Cousins house ... that is, until Adam relents, decides to fund the whole thing, and demands that it be held at a stuffy country club instead. However, as the wedding day approaches, Belly starts to wonder if this is the right decision, particularly as the country club aspect of it all ruins her vision of a small, sweet, and deeply personal wedding at the beach house. Finally, after a blowout fight with Jeremiah where he correctly accuses her of still having feelings for Conrad, the wedding is called off.

So, what does Belly do after calling off her totally inappropriate and poorly thought-out nuptials? What any girl would do: run away to Paris. (Early in season 3, Belly is given the opportunity to study abroad for a semester but turns it down for Jeremiah, so that's the first place she goes.) Despite the fact that the study abroad program doesn't have a spot for her anymore, Belly makes some friends who encourage her to stay, and stay she does, finding a cheap room in an apartment with three French roommates who openly hate her and working two jobs under the table to support herself. (Take notes, "Emily in Paris." This is how you depict the life of a young American in the French capital.) 

Back at home, everyone basically is forced to accept that Belly isn't going to come back to the United States any time soon; she builds a nice life for herself and is even able to get a serious apartment upgrade after one of her friends moves out and transfers the lease. That's when Conrad finally gets his act together. See, right before Belly and Jeremiah's botched wedding, Conrad told Belly he still loved her and asked her to run away with him — and Belly, quite fairly, told him where to shove it, so things haven't been right between them for a while. Conrad's been sending handwritten letters to Belly in Paris, and when she responds with her new address, he takes action, books a plane ticket, and ... shows up.

Despite the presence of the aforementioned Benito (whom Belly did briefly date during her time in Paris), the connection between Conrad and Belly is genuinely undeniable. As Taylor Swift's sexiest song "Dress" kicks in, the two reignite their flame. (To say this show includes a wild amount of Swift needle drops is a massive understatement, to the point where I'm pretty sure it singlehandedly funded Swift's mission to repurchase her masters, but the "Dress" pick is really good.) There is, of course, a minor incident after the two spend the night together, as Belly worries that she and Conrad are getting back together for the wrong reasons, but when he leaves for a work conference in Brussels, Belgium, she sprints to the train station, tracks him down, and professes her love. "I choose you, of my own free will. If there are infinite worlds, every version of me chooses you, in every one of them," Belly tells Conrad, sporting an infinity necklace he once gave her for her birthday. 

There's a "The Summer I Turned Pretty" movie coming at some point, but for now, there's your answer: Belly chooses Conrad and gets the beach house too. "The Summer I Turned Pretty" is streaming in its entirety on Amazon Prime Video.