The romance in The Summer I Turned Pretty is centered on the love triangle between Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah. But there are other romances in the show too, one that involves Belly’s brother Steven and her best friend Taylor. So, do Steven and Taylor end up together in The Summer I Turned Pretty?
In Season 1 of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Steven Conklin was in a relationship with Shayla, a city girl from a wealthy family who’s also one of Belly’s fellow debutantes.
They’ve been through some challenges in their relationship like Steven kissing Taylor in a party. Despite this, Shayla still chooses to forgive him, and they decide to be exclusive.
At the end of Season 1, Steven and Shayla are still together, and Steven even tells Shayla that he loves her. But in Season 2, Shayla is nowhere to be seen, and Steven becomes closer to Taylor.
So, do Steven and Taylor end up together in The Summer I Turned Pretty?
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2. Read at your own risk!
Steven and Taylor's Romance in The Summer I Turned Pretty Explained
Steven and Taylor become closer in Season 2 of The Summer I Turned Pretty, which shows that they could ultimately end up together in the show.
In Season 1, Taylor reveals to Belly that she’s had a crush on Steven for years. She also says that while a piece of her heart will always beat a little bit for Steven, that doesn’t mean she won’t allow herself to fall for someone even more incredible if someone comes along.
In Season 2 of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Taylor has a new boyfriend named Milo, who Steven dubs as a “Machine Gun Kelly wannabe.” Belly and Steven fight at his graduation party, which leads Belly to go home without him.
Taylor and Milo end up taking Steven home, but unfortunately for him, he has to witness both of them making out while he’s in the backseat.
Later on, Steven and Taylor decide to go to Cousins to be there for Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah. Along the way, Steven asks Taylor if Milo is cool about her coming with him.
Taylor asks why Milo wouldn’t be cool about it, and Steven brings up what happened last summer (their kiss). But their kiss doesn’t seem to be a big deal to Taylor, as she says that it was just a two-second kiss.
This seems to upset Steven, and later on, he says some insults about Milo. This leads to an argument, and Taylor emphasizes that Steven berated his grieving sister in front of an entire party.
Later on, Taylor apologizes and says that she doesn’t think he’s a shitty brother. However, she does admit that she thinks Steven thinks he’s better and smarter than everyone, including herself.
Steven then says that Taylor is one of the smartest people he knows, and they patch things up. Later on, they enter the beach house together and surprise Conrad, Belly, and Jeremiah.
Steven and Taylor have one thing in common: they both care about Belly. It is because of their concern for her that they are forced to communicate with each other often.
This leads them to become closer. Additionally, Taylor has had a crush on Steven for years, and in Season 2, it appears she has caught Steven’s attention.
In Episode 5, as the group sneaks into the country club for the night, Steven and Taylor find themselves in the ballroom where the debutante ball was held.
Steven convinces Taylor to dance with him. They dance and look into each other's eyes. As they are about to kiss, the Fisher brothers enter the room.
Later on, Belly tells Taylor that there seems to be a kind of a vibe between her and Steven. Taylor denies things and says that Steven really hurt her last year.
She says that it's not the kind of hurt that goes away easily, or ever. She and Belly then agree to leave first love in the past.
Do Steven and Taylor End Up Together in The Summer I Turned Pretty?
Steven and Taylor get together in Season 2 of The Summer I Turned Pretty. In Episode 6, Steven finally admits that he likes Taylor, and Taylor breaks up with Milo.
In the sixth episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty, the group throws a party as a last goodbye to the house. Steven and Taylor dance at the party, after which, Steven confesses his feelings.
"I like you," says Steven. "Even when you were just my little sister's annoying best friend," he continues.
Steven admits that he misses Taylor whenever she's not around. He says that he doesn't know how or when it happened, "but now, you're my favorite person."
Before Taylor could respond, Milo arrives. Steven and Milo fight until Taylor tells Milo that he's embarrassing her. They argue, and Taylor asks Milo what her middle name is.
Milo doesn't know the answer, and Taylor breaks up with him and leaves. Steven goes after Taylor, but not before telling Milo, "It's Madison."
Steven finds Taylor and apologizes to her. Taylor asks if Steven would take back everything he said earlier, and Steven asks if that's what she wants.
He tells Taylor to say what she wants. Taylor says that Steven remembered her middle name, and Steven emphasizes that it's "Taylor Madison Jewel". Taylor then kisses Steven.
Steven and Taylor only have minor roles in the books, so their romantic storylines were not really explored.
With where the show is going as to their storyline, it is likely that Steven and Taylor will ultimately end up together in The Summer I Turned Pretty.
With them getting together in Season 2, their story in Season 3 is something to look forward to.
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What Happened to Shayla?
Actress Minnie Mills revealed on Instagram last April 2023 that she will not be returning for Season 2.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, The Summer I Turned Pretty author and creator Jenny Han explained why Shayla is not in Season 2. Han said:
"There was one episode that we were trying to get her for, but it didn't work out, which is unfortunate because we would've loved to have given a proper send-off to Steven and Shayla's relationship. There are a lot of characters from season 1 that we really wish we could have seen more of this season, but the challenge of season 2 is the tight timeline, which is just over a week. The other challenge is the really narrow focus of the book storyline — it's a story that's about Belly's grief and her journey to forgiving herself, and every other story in the show has to radiate out from that. Grief can make people turn inward and really look at the people that are nearest and dearest to them, people that have been there all along, and this season is going to reflect that."
In The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2, Steven says in his graduation speech:
“You know, breakups don’t always lead to breakthroughs. Sometimes a girl dumps you after an awesome summer, and it sucks. And you learn nothing from it, but you eventually force yourself to move on anyways.”
So, while their relationship appeared to be getting stronger at the end of Season 1, Steven and Shayla don’t ultimately end up together in the series.
We don’t know why they broke up, and the other update we get about Shayla is that she’s in Europe with her parents all summer.
Additionally, when Taylor asks Steven if he thinks Shayla would come to their party, Steven responds that she's in Ibiza.
While fans thought that Shayla’s storyline would continue in Season 2, that isn’t the case. So, with Shayla out of the picture, it is likely that Steven will ultimately end up with Taylor in The Summer I Turned Pretty.
RELATED: Why Did Belly and Conrad Break Up in The Summer I Turned Pretty?
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